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Faith jerked awake.
The smell of mid-range perfume assaulted her nose and a beam of sunlight hit the mound of bed clothing that was her feet. Her face was shielded by closed curtains. Her head was pounding from the alcohol last night and her mouth was dry and disgusting. She looked down at herself.
“Ahh!” a feminine high pitch scream escaped her.
“Wha? Huh?” Buffy’s eyes flew open and she looked at the brunette from her seated slouch, “Faith are you ok?”
“Bu-B… What is this?” Faith’s hand fisted the pink monstrosity she was wearing under the equally grotesque butterfly quilt. She peered under the sheets and saw matching bottoms. She jumped out of the bed and hopped and clawed at the clothing as if a mouse was scratching at her. “B get it off!”
When Buffy got over her initial fear that Faith was actually hurt she relaxed into the chair and exploded into a fit of laughter, “Fai-Faith!” she laughed, “Oh my God, what are you doing?”
Faith stood still and glared down at the blonde. “What am I doing?” she poked a finger at her, “You tryna kill me? Was that your game?” She shifted her shoulders as if trying to shove off the pink colour.
Buffy tried to speak but her breath was taken by laughter. She fell of her chair and tears filled her eyes before she could cough a sentence out, “You put them on!”
Faith, for her part, didn’t react too badly to this. She simply blindly picked up whatever was next to her on Buffy’s bedside table, the book she was reading in English – Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar – and began tearing it into little pieces. Page by page she tore out in hope it would keep her hands busy enough not to kill herself. She wasn’t being dramatic at all.
Buffy’s head was between her knees trying to suck in air, but every time she lifted her head to look at Faith she started up again.
“B,” Faith’s face was devoid of emotion as she stared into the distance, “In the pocket of my jacket, there’s a little baggy with a pill. It’s for emergencies. Kidnapping, torture, all that. Would you go grab it for me?”
Buffy looked up again and tried to school her face, “F-Faith that’s. Come on, you’re being a bit dramatic aren’t ya? Yeah, you’re defs being dramatic for a chick who doesn’t wanna be girly.”
“I’m being dramatic?” she yelled and threw what was left of the book at the door. Just before it opened.
“Buffy?” Joyce appeared, “Oh hi Faith, I didn’t know you stayed the-“ she paused upon looking at the pink clothed and red-faced brunette. “Umm…”
“Mrs. S, close the door.” Faith looked at her like I don’t want to hurt you, but I will if I have to.
Joyce pursed her lips to keep from smiling and nodded saying “I’ll make pancakes,” before closing the door.
Faith turned back and looked down at Buffy. “Just tell me, how did it come to this?” she whispered.
“Well…”
Buffy dragged Faith back to her house. The usually vibrant girl has remained quiet after pleading for help.
She quietly, so as to not wake her mum, lead the brunette to her to the bathroom to shower and clean up while Buffy found some clothes. Buffy grimaced, but the least gaudy pyjamas she could find were a pale pink T and shorts. She laid them out on the bed ready.
The bedroom door opened to a sullen Faith dressed only in a towel. She was makeup-less but Buffy found herself jealous that she was actually prettier without it. Another twist in her stomach paired with the jealousy but Buffy suitably ignored it.
“Hey,” Buffy smiled, “Feel better?”
She almost kicked herself for that as the only reply she received was a shrug and a faraway stare.
“Ok, well, there’re PJs on the bed. I’m just gonna have a shower and I’ll be back,” she picked up her own yummy sushi pyjamas and left, closing the door behind her.
She showered, contemplating the odd night, the odd week really. One day she was keeping secrets from everyone, the next everyone found out and had a hard-on for hating her, now she was comforting a lost Faith.
She returned to her room to see a very pink, very passed-out Faith laying prostrate on her bed. She giggled quietly at the sight but stopped herself. She stepped close trying to determine if the other slayer was asleep. When she could hear and see a steady rise and fall of the girl’s back she rolled her slightly to put her under the covers and slid in next to her.
She reached to turn off the bedside lamp and closed her eyes.
“So you did this to me?” Faith flicked the elastic around her hips.
Buffy should have felt affronted when met with Faith’s glare, but she was secretly happy the girl was back to her old self, and not the quiet girl from last night. The girl from last night scared her.
Buffy pouted, Faith groaned at the sight, “Well. Technically you’re the one who put them on.”
Faith slumped down to sit on the bed, “Come on B. Ya know I’d never wear these if I was in my right mind,” she turned her head and glanced sideways at the older girl. “What was it? A roofy? Spell? No wait,” she sat up straighter, “Is this a slayer dream? How do ya tell?”
“Ugh!” Buffy huffed as she pulled herself to sit next to Faith. She rolled her neck and stretched her back, working out the kinks. She’d woken up an hour earlier than Faith, but worried about the younger girl’s potential argument she dragged herself out of bed and pulled up a chair to sit in until Faith woke up. Apparently sleeping next to Buffy would’ve been the least of Faith’s worries. “Do you remember anything about last night?”
“Umm…” Faith looked around, her hands her empty again and getting jittery. Her knee was already bopping to an unknown tune; she couldn’t have her fingers doing jazz hands. She stole one of Buffy’s hair ties and began twisting it. “I might, but something tells me I don’t wanna find out.”
Buffy tentatively put her hand on Faith’s knee – it still jumped up and down, probably more so.
“You might wanna try.”
Buffy knew that when Faith turned her head and looked into her eyes that Faith had remembered. That she was desperately trying to coax her face into keeping mum about her emotions. It worked, her lips kept straight and her eyebrows lay relaxed, but after a split second of looking into Faith’s eyes, Buffy knew.
“Must’ve had too much fun,” Faith’s face lifted to a smirk, “Can’t remember a thing. Least of all dressing in this willingly! Fuck this,” she stood up and searched for her clothes.
“Faith, you ok?”
“Five by five B. Apart from this killer headache. Just need to get outta these. Ah, there ya’re,” Faith triumphantly held her clothes in her hand. She dropped them on the bed and immediately shed herself of the pink night shirt.
“Faith!” Buffy squealed and whipped her head to face away.
“Chill, Twinkie. Not gonna taint ya virtue. Got same bits as you,” she slid on her shirt from the night before and rid herself of the shorts.
Buffy, thinking she was clothed again, turned back around. Her eyes bulged out of her head. She stared a little too long but gave herself whiplash from spinning back around.
“What, don’t like? Or like too much?”
“You’re not wearing underwear.” Buffy ignored the last half of the comment.
“Never do, it’s a wonder I’m wearin’ clothes at all,” Faith laughed, putting the girl out of her misery by sliding on her pleather pants. “All good now, scout’s honour.”
“I’d wager you’re not even related to a scout,” Buffy scowled in good fun.
“Slept with one once, does that count?”
Somehow that relaxed the mood anymore and it had the girls chuckle lightly together.
“Girls!” Buffy’s mum’s voice reached them, “They’re getting cold, why don’t you come down?”
Faith looked at Buffy and shrugged, “Let’s eat!”
“Yeah one sec. I’m gonna change first, you head down.”
Faith opened the door.
“Faith.”
“What’s up?”
“Stay. Don’t go back to the hotel. Well – do – but only to get your stuff. We have a spare room, we don’t have to sleep together every night,” Buffy bit her lip. She was growing to like the other slayer, a lot, and friends didn’t let friends stay in shoddy, slightly rapey, hotel rooms.
“We slept together B?” Faith raised an eyebrow.
“I- Wha? No! I mean. I-“
Faith winked, “Playin’ ya B.” Faith’s face dropped and she looked away before bringing her head back to have chocolate eyes look into Buffy’s greens. “I don’t wanna intrude-“
“You won’t!”
“I can’t offer your mom much money-“
“We wouldn’t take anything!”
“Why?”
“Because I want to help a friend.”
Faith’s eyes flashed, remembering her begging from the night before. She nodded slightly in thanks and walked out, closing the door behind her.
“Mrs S!” Faith let the pleather and swagger consume her as she walked into the kitchen, “Got maple syrup?”