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Faith doesn’t want to move. It took a while, but she’s finally come around to the “no patrolling while your ankle’s broken” order because it’s been over a week and her foot still aches, overriding her Slayer healing to keep her bedridden.
And Faith surprisingly doesn’t mind. It’s honestly been nice to have a bit of a break, just her and the cat and a Friends marathon (and a couple of bowls of snacks thrown at the TV when the Tag plotline starts). If Faith wasn’t busy rotting away on the couch, she’d find it ironic how the tables have turned as Buffy stands over her, trying to get her to come outside.
Who would’ve thought Faith Lehane would become a homebody?
“C’mon, Faith,” Buffy says, putting her hands on her hips after pausing the TV, “we’ll go out with our friends, have a drink. Have multiple drinks. It’ll be fun!”
“Your friends,” Faith corrects, snatching the remote back and pressing play.
Buffy rolls her eyes, and she grabs the remote again, setting it on the other side of the room. “Can you focus?”
Faith looks up from the now-paused TV. “So focused,” she says drily.
Buffy sighs, perching on the end of the couch. “You know they’re your friends too, right?”
Faith scoffs. “Yeah, right.”
“I’m serious,” Buffy says, her brow furrowing. “They care about you, and they want to check in with your ankle and everything.”
“B, they hate me,” Faith says, staring at the TV screen. “I don’t blame them either. I mean, I did try to kill them multiple times and end the world, not to mention the shit with you, and god, with Xander…” She trails off. “They should hate me. Honestly, you should too, but you just won’t listen, will you?” Yeah, maybe not the best time for a joke.
“Faith,” Buffy says, “you don’t seriously think that?”
Well…
Buffy moves forward, cupping Faith’s face, and a wave of self-consciousness hits her like a brick wall. “I promise you, they don’t hate you. You trust me, right?” Faith nods slowly. “I’m sorry that we made you feel like that, but it’s not going to be like that, okay?”
“Okay,” Faith says, and Buffy leans forward and kisses her. “Thanks for, y’know, listening to me,” she murmurs as she pulls away.
Buffy smiles softly. “Always.”
Faith’s outside the Bronze, and she’s sure this is a bad idea. She says so to Buffy, who slips her hand into Faith’s in support. “I wouldn’t lie to you, right?” Faith nods. “It’s gonna be okay.”
Funny how Faith is more scared of her girlfriend’s friends than the creatures that go bump in the night. To be fair, she’s tried to kill people in both of those categories at some point, though she’s only supposed to slay the latter.
They make their way through the Bronze, and Faith automatically braces herself for the worst as she limps to the table. Willow sees her first, standing up to (hopefully) greet them, and Faith winces because out of everyone, she fucked Xander and Willow over the most. And Willow always seemed to have some deep-running hatred of Faith even before the whole evil thing. Like, the amount of times she overheard Willow calling her a skank or something? Not great, even for a group of hormonal teenagers.
But Willow just walks over to them, helping Faith over to the table, and Faith almost stops in her tracks in surprise. “How’s the ankle?” Willow asks, and she seems genuinely concerned.
“Getting there,” Faith says, sitting down with a small wince. “A lot better than last week, anyway.”
“That’s good,” Xander says, smiling. “Soon enough you’ll be back out there kicking vampire butt!”
Faith smiles hesitantly, glancing at Buffy. They’re still holding hands, and Buffy gives a supportive squeeze.
As the night goes on and the drinks go in Faith, she feels herself loosening up, and maybe they don’t hate her after all. Maybe Buffy was right. Normally, she hates when that happens, but this time, she’s not mad about it.
“Well, we should get going,” Buffy says, standing up and helping Faith to her feet. “Maybe hit a cemetery on the way.” Faith’s totally on board with that. Giles and Wesley don’t have to know.
“Wait!” Willow exclaims, quickly walking around the table and enveloping Faith in a hug. And Faith does freeze now, standing completely still for several seconds before remembering that she has arms for a reason, and she hugs Willow back. “I’m glad you came out tonight.”
Xander joins the hug, followed by Buffy, and then Tara and Anya pile on. They’ve formed a giant group hug around Faith, and she’s not going to cry because of this.
They stay like that for a while, Faith in the middle, surrounded by people who were worried about her and actually care about her, until they break apart, saying their goodbyes as Faith limps out of the Bronze next to Buffy.
“So,” Buffy starts when they hit their first cemetery, and Faith groans internally at her semi-smug tone that she’s completely failing to hide. “How’d it go?”
“I hate you,” Faith grumbles, smiling.
“Hey!” Buffy steps away from Faith in mock affront, glaring playfully. “I resent that.”
“...you were right,” Faith begrudgingly admits, rolling her eyes. She’s still smiling, though, and she’s failing at hiding it just as much as Buffy’s failing to hide her smugness.
“Sorry, I don’t think I heard you right,” Buffy says, furrowing her brow. “Could you say that again?”
Faith rolls her eyes, stopping and pulling Buffy in for a kiss. “You were right,” Faith says as she pulls away, “and I love you.”
Buffy softens, the smugness slipping away from her face, and she kisses Faith. “I love you too.”
Faith smiles wider, and she kisses Buffy again. She’s not sure how it happens exactly, but they somehow end up making out against a crypt (maybe that’s why Giles and Wesley didn’t want her to patrol for a month; Buffy’s probably more productive without her).
Buffy pulls away breathlessly, beaming. “I like hearing you say that I'm right.”
“Oh, fuck off.”