There are two characters from Buffy that I always loved, but
felt their characters got screwed over a bit. Faith was one.
I always wondered what she would have turned out like if
she'd had a family. So I gave her a dad and decided to
explore another side of her. I wanted to bring a different
side of her character to light that I always felt could have
been there if her cards had been a bit different. The second
character is my personal fave, Cordelia. Unfortunately for
her, popularity was the price she paid for having zero real
relationships. Once she put it aside on the show, she found
she could have real friends. Now in this fic, Cordy's
popular status has been handed down to her and is something
that won't be taken away. The only thing she has to lose is
her friends. Unfortunately, the sweet side of Cordy's
character was never really explored until she moved over to
Angel. And I think I fell in love with her. I always felt
like she could be a real sweetheart if she had a proper
support group behind her, much like Angel's crew on his show.
So, for this fic, I have completely revamped the series and
plan on making it an ongoing thing. Buffy and Faith are both
in Sunnydale at the beginning and neither are slayers...yet.
Of course Xander and Willow are around. Angel, Spike and
Harmony are all human. Riley, Anya and Jessie are around,
though, they are more side characters that don't get much
page time, so if you like any of them, this might not be your
fic. The main pairing in this fic will be Buffy/Cordelia, so
if that's not your thing, move it along. There will be more
pairings as I move this along, but this will be mostly based
on B/C. You'll have to forgive me for the slight lack of ass
kicking action in this section. I really felt like I needed
to devote these chapters to connecting the characters with
strong bonds before I could really get the action going on.
Hope you enjoy the fun.

Buffy Summers was pissed. She was pissed off and sad, and it
was all because of her parents. Divorce. The big D word.
Buffy hated that word. None of her friends had parents that
were divorced. She had to be the outcast. And to make
things worse, she and her mom were moving. To some hickville
town named Sunnydale. Did they have any idea how hard it was
going to be for her to move the summer before high school?
No, all they care about is themselves, she thought bitterly.
Besides all that, some weird old man caught her after school
one day when her dad was late picking her up and he totally
freaked her out talking about Slayers and vampires and
demons. He was a weird one for sure. He said she should be
prepared for the day she was called. What the hell did that
mean? Ugh, life can really suck sometimes. They were
leaving in two days for Sunnydale and she was only going to
have a month to meet people. Most of her belongings had been
packed away in boxes scattering the house. At least she had
her big going away party tonight. That was something to look
forward to. It was going to be tough though. Leaving her
now ex-boyfriend Pike behind. They broke up right after
Buffy got word of the move. They had talked about it and
decided long distance wasn't really the thing for them. She
scowled at the last box of stuff she packed and kicked it for
good measure. Well, she thought, at least Mom took me guilt
shopping.

Buffy came bounding downstairs early about a week after they
moved in and joined her mom in the kitchen for coffee.

"Hi honey." Joyce gave her a warm smile.

"Hey mom." Buffy gave mom her best California girl smile and
grabbed a mug from the cabinet.

"Any plans for today?"

"I was hoping to hit the beach for a few hours. I need to
work on my tan. Is that okay?" She asked hopefully.

Joyce smiled widely and nodded. "Sure, do you want a ride?"

"Okay, I'll just walk home when I'm done."

The two Summers women shared the morning paper, both silently
wondering how many wild dogs Sunnydale really had.

A few hours later, Buffy spread her towel out on the sand and
removed her shorts and tank top. She adjusted the straps to
her red bikini before applying her tanning oil. She grabbed
her headphones and slipped them on and relaxed in the sun.

An hour later, she sat up and grabbed her bottle of water
from her backpack. A group of six teenagers caught her eye.
She watched as the two guys of the group began tossing a
football back and forth as the four girls got settled for
sunning. A tall brunette girl in a skimpy white bikini
caught her eye. She had the perfect body. Long legs,
perfectly toned stomach, she was gorgeous. Now, Buffy had
never been with a girl before, though thoughts of girls had
crossed her mind before, but something about this one had her
attention. She watched them enviously as she turned to her
stomach and began flipping through a magazine. Through her
headphones she didn't hear the male voice call out to her
until it was too late. Suddenly a football came flying by
her head and she nearly screamed. She ripped her headphones
off and stood up to see one of the guys jogging her way. He
was wearing a sheepish grin as he approached and she couldn't
help but give him a tiny smile.

"Hey, sorry about that, my buddy doesn't know his own
strength sometimes."

Buffy smiled wider. "It's okay, it just startled me."

He grinned and stuck out his hand. "I'm Riley Finn."

Buffy shook his hand. "Buffy Summers."

Riley walked a few paces and picked up his ball before
turning back to her. "Are you new? I've never seen you
around before."

"Yeah, my mom and I just moved here from L.A."

"Cool, I can imagine it must suck to come from L.A. to
Sunnydale. This place pales in comparison."

Buffy shrugged. "I'm sure I'll get used to it."

Riley turned and waved his friend off when he started to
shout about the football and turned back to Buffy and eyed
her towel. "Do you wanna come join us? I know it can be
hard to meet people when you're new. The guys won't mind."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, grab your stuff."

"Thanks."

Buffy threw her clothes, headphones and water bottle in her
backpack and grabbed her towel. She followed Riley to his
friends. Buffy gave a shy smile at the rest of Riley's
friends and they sent smiles back.

"Guys, this is Buffy Summers. She just moved from L.A.
Buffy, this is Cordelia, Harmony, Aura, Anya and Angel."

She gave them a small wave and grinned when the hot brunette
almost bolted up from her towel and grabbed her hand. "You
moved from L.A.? That is so cool. I would kill to live near
that many shoes."

Buffy smiled and before she knew it, the girls had her
dishing on everything L.A. The guys went back to football
and they spent the next few hours lounging on the beach.
Angel and Riley left together in Angel's black convertible
and Anya offered Buffy a ride home in her 4Runner with the
girls. Before they dropped her off they managed to convince
her to make an appearance at the Bronze with them that night.
Buffy was practically beaming when she came home. She made
new friends. They were friends like her old friends. And,
geez, she was going to have a few problems hanging out with
Cordelia for sure. She was hot. It had been difficult to
say the least to keep her eyes off the bronze skin shown off
by the bikini. Buffy began humming quietly to herself as she
headed for the shower. She figured Sunnydale wasn't half bad
after all.

Rupert Giles was a happy man. His flight had just touched
down and he was about to put his life's training to work. He
was going to be a watcher. The council had learned that
sometime in the next two months, a new slayer was going to be
called. In Sunnydale, California. The Council set him up
with a job at the high school as librarian and he was
thrilled. Of course the idea of living on a Hellmouth was a
bit disturbing, but he took it all in stride. Yes, he was a
happy man.

"So how do you guys all know each other?" Buffy asked Cordy.
The two were sitting at the group's usual table at the
Bronze waiting for the rest of the crew to show up. .

"Well, Angel and I have known each other for ever. He lives
a few houses down from me and we were always forced to go to
parties in our neighborhood." Cordelia rolled her eyes
dramatically. "Really boring. It was just a bunch of stuffy
adults showing off their money. He and Riley got to be
friends a few years ago. They played football together in
junior high and they play on the varsity team together now.
Harmony and Aura have been friends of mine since we could
walk. They're kind of shallow, but we've known each other so
long, we kinda got used to it. Anya just moved here last
summer and we met her in school. Anya is really the only one
of my friends that has a unique thought. The guys are cool,
but sometimes I wonder why I hang out with Harmony and Aura."

"Probably because they agree with everything you say?"

"Yeah, probably." Cordelia said with a smile. "Although,
Anya has a tiny problem with her current crush status."

"What do you mean?"

"See that guy over there?" Cordy pointed to a group of teens
in a booth across the club. "The guy with the dark hair and
goofy smile...Xander Harris. He's king of the dork squad and
Anya has been crushing on him for like six months. I don't
get it."

"He's kinda cute in a goofy way, I guess." Buffy noticed
with a small shrug.

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Ugh, him and the redhead, Willow,
have been friends for ever. We were all in kindergarten
together. They always tell loser ass stories about Xander
stealing Willow's Barbie and something about a yellow crayon.
It's lame."

Buffy watched the other group as they all laughed at
something one guy said. "Who are the other two?"

"Oh, Jessie and Spike." Cordy rolled her eyes dramatically.

Buffy raised an eyebrow. "Spike?"

"I think it's a nickname. He just moved here a few weeks
ago. He's a pain in the ass; he's always talking shit to
Angel."

"How do you know so much about him if he just moved here?"
Buffy asked with a tiny smile.

"Oh, please, this is gossip town USA. Everyone knows
everyone else's business. It's a small town curse."

"Great, I can't wait to hear what's being said about me."
Buffy wondered warily.

Cordelia smiled widely. "Trust me, you moved from L.A. and
you hang with me and mine...nothing but good will be said about
you. Angel and Riley practically own the school, which means
so do we, by association."

"Good to know."

The two shared a grin and Buffy found herself watching the
people on the dance floor. One couple in particular caught
her eye. A drop dead gorgeous brunette was dancing with some
guy that looked like he'd been hiding in a cave for the last
twenty years. He was dressed like a cheap knock off of John
Travolta in Disco Fever. Yuk. The girl could move though.
Buffy kept her eye on the couple and a few minutes later the
rest of her friends showed up. Harm and Aura immediately
dove into somebody's fashion mistake, they of course demanded
the attention of everyone at the table, so Buffy was
distracted for several boring minutes. She soon felt her
gaze travel back to the dance floor. She was surprisingly
disappointed when she saw that the girl had disappeared. She
found herself getting dragged into countless idiotic
conversations about celebrities and fashion. Buffy had no
problems with any of that stuff; she just found that it got
old after a while. She noticed a similar look of boredom on
Cordelia's face, and Anya was too busy staring at Xander to
even acknowledge her friends' conversation. Riley and Angel
grew weary quickly and moved to the pool table to play a few
games.

After a few hours, the group split up and headed home. Buffy
knew then and there that she liked Cordelia. She could tell
that there was someone deeper on the inside that she refused
to show and Buffy found herself wanting to know more about
her. She absolutely loved Angel and Riley. Anya was sweet,
but utterly distracted non-stop. She honestly couldn't stand
Harmony or Aura, but would play nice since they were supposed
to be friends. As she crawled into bed later that night, she
tried to figure out the best way to deconstruct the walls
Cordelia built around herself. She smiled happily at her new
life and drifted into peaceful slumber.

Giles wasn't a slayer. He had never been a slayer. At this
point he felt sorry for the girl that was the slayer. He had
been on patrol for almost two hours and had managed to stake
five vampires. He was tired and sore and he was praying to
whoever would listen that his slayer would be called soon.
If she hadn't been called already. He had spoken to Quinten
Travers earlier and was assured that there was no new slayer.
He was about to head home when he heard a scuffle in the
alley. He looked around and realized he was coming up on
that silly dance club the teenagers of this town frequented.
The Bronze...what a bloody stupid name. He grabbed his stake
from his jacket and did his best to locate the scuffle. He
ran down the alley and found a Vampire trying to feed on a
young girl. She was doing her best to fight him off and was
doing quite well. Giles managed to sneak up on the vamp and
stake it before it could bite the girl. She was surprised to
say the least when the bumpy headed guy she was fighting
disappeared into dust and she was left facing an older man
with a wooden stick.

"Are you alright?" Giles asked as he tucked his stake back
in his jacket.

"Yeah, five by five." She replied as she wiped some dust off
her leather pants. "What the hell was that thing?"

"A vampire."

The girl bust out laughing until she realized he was serious
and she raised an eyebrow. "Very funny, is that like a trick
you and your buddy play on young girls in creepy alleys?"
She made a motion with her hand at the fairly creepy alley
they were standing in.

Giles scowled. "No! Don't be ridiculous; I'm old enough to
be your father. He was a vampire." Giles rolled his eyes
and removed his glasses to clean them.

The girl gave him a wry look. "You want me to believe that
vampires are real?"

"They are real. But what you choose to believe is up to you.
Now, if you are alright, I would suggest you go home and
strength in numbers always seems to help." He gave her a
frustrated wave and turned to leave.

"Do it again." She called out after him, and he stopped
before turning slowly.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Do it again. The dust thing. If it's real, do it again."
She placed her hands on her hips and gave him an expectant
look.

"I certainly will not."

"Okay, then plan B is for me to follow you home and hope you
come across another. I thought that was wicked and I wanna
see it again." She shrugged and fell in line behind him.

Giles rolled his eyes and heaved out an exasperated sigh.
"Fine, we'll find another."

She grinned triumphantly. "Cool."

"And you are?" He asked as the two made their way out of the
alley.

"Faith Cooper."

"You must be new around here."

"Yup, me and my pops just moved here about a few days ago.
He's an artist and he's got a bunch of his stuff that's gonna
be put up in a new gallery in town. We moved from Boston to
San Francisco, but I got kicked out of my school for fighting
all the time. Sunnydale high is the only school that would
accept me." She grinned wickedly and eyed him a bit. "Who
are you?"

"Rupert Giles."

"So how do you know about all this vampire stuff?" She asked
as she gestured wildly with her hands.

"I am what's called a watcher. I was sent here because a new
slayer is to be called in the next month or so and I wanted
to be prepared when she was called."

"What's a slayer?" She asked curiously.

"She is a warrior chosen to fight the forces of darkness.
She has super strength and incredibly quick healing powers.
She is meant to help wipe the forces of evil from the Earth."

"Wicked cool, G-man. So what, is she not pickin' up her
phone or something?" She asked as she stuffed her hands in
her pockets.

He drew his eyebrows together. "I don't follow."

"You said she was gonna be called...why hasn't she been called
already to do the dirty work?" She hopped on the balls of
her feet and jabbed a few times at the air with her fists.

"There is a slayer already. My sources tell me that a new
one will be called here in Sunnydale in the next month."

She shook her head and raised an eyebrow. "Okay, I must have
missed a turn, cause I'm lost."

"There is a slayer, but she is in China right now. In order
for a new slayer to be called, the current girl must die...and
her death is foretold in ancient prophecies at the hands of a
Master vampire. Once he is free and kills the slayer, he
will be on his way here to open the Hellmouth."

"Lost me again, G."

"The Hellmouth is a center of mystical convergence. Anything
evil is drawn to it and Sunnydale just happens to sit right
on top of it." He said warily and Faith raised an eyebrow in
amusement.

"Man, I'm really glad we moved." She said sarcastically as
she shook her head.

The conversation didn't get much further due to the vampire
rising from the grave. Faith stood back as she watched him
pull himself from the ground and fight with Giles. After a
few punches and kicks, Giles struck the heart with a stake
and he turned to dust. Faith let out a low whistle and Giles
noticed a very impressed look on her face and it made him
smile a bit.

"Do you believe me now?"

"You don't really leave me a choice...besides at least I know
that if my believing sends me to the looney bin, at least
I'll have company." She laughed a bit, but scowled at him
playfully when he remained serious.

"Well, I've found that most people around here tend to forget
most of what they see and rationalize what they can't forget,
so I don't think we'll be locked up any time soon."

She nodded absently as they walked out of the cemetery. She
bit her lip and sighed. "So, you're supposed to help this
slayer fight evil right?"

"Yes."

"Can I help?" She asked slowly, with a hopeful expression on
her face.

"Help?"

"Yeah, it seems like the right thing to do. Plus, I can
fight. Maybe you can train me to fight better." She
shrugged slightly and trained her gaze on the ground.

He gave her a small smile that she missed, as she was
apparently looking for something in the grass. "I suppose we
can arrange something." At this, her head snapped up and she
grinned widely.

"Cool deal, well, I guess I'll see ya around G-man."

"Goodnight Faith."

Giles smiled to himself as he watched Faith walk away. He
had always prided himself on being able to read people and he
sensed that Faith was a good person deep down; she just
needed a little guidance and support. Watchers are experts
at guidance and support, so he figured he would help Faith.
He felt maybe she needed it.

"Ugh, I can't believe we start school next week, it's so
lame."

Buffy and Cordelia where sprawled out on Buffy's bed flipping
through magazines. The radio was playing a random song in
the background and a cool summer night breeze swept in from
the open window.

"True, but the upside is the whole high school thing." Buffy
offered lamely.

"Yeah, but it's just four more years of stupid, horny guys
and bitchy, backstabbing girls."

Buffy smiled and shook her head slightly. "Wow, see I knew
you could shed a positive light on just about anything if you
put your mind to it."

Cordelia gave her a mock glare. "Bite me, Summers."

"Sorry, biting usually isn't my style." Buffy raised a
playful eyebrow and grinned slyly.

Cordelia felt butterflies in her stomach at the thought of
Buffy biting. "Oh really? What is your style?"

Buffy tapped her chin with a finger thoughtfully. "I'm more
of a nibbler to be perfectly honest."

Cordy rolled her eyes and smacked Buffy lightly on the arm.
Buffy grinned and switched her position so she was sprawled
out on her stomach. They both heard the door open and close
downstairs and Joyce call out to her.

Buffy glanced at Cordy and raised an eyebrow. "Ready to meet
mom?"

Cordelia gave her a grin and hopped off the bed. "Trust me,
any mom is better than my mom."

Buffy gave her a sympathetic glance and headed downstairs.
She found her mom in the kitchen making tea and the two girls
wandered in, Cordelia sitting on a stool at the island and
Buffy hopping up on the counter.

"Hey mom, this is Cordelia Chase. Cor, this is mom."

Cordy grinned her thousand-watt smile and extended her hand.
"Nice to meet you."

Joyce gave her a warm smile and took the extended hand.
"Nice to meet you too, Cordelia. I've heard a lot about
you."

Cordelia raised an eyebrow at Buffy who did her best to look
innocent. "Good things I hope."

Joyce chuckled lightly. "Nothing but." She gave Cordelia
her patented mom smile. "So are you as excited as Buffy is
about starting high school?" Joyce asked, her voice dripping
with sarcasm.

Cordelia shrugged and smiled. "It has to be better than
junior high, I guess anything is better than junior high, so
I don't think it will be that bad." She shrugged again and
leaned forward and rested her elbows on the island. "So,
Buffy told me that you work in the new art gallery in town."

"Yes, actually, it just opened so there's a lot of work to be
done. A new artist from Boston will be putting up quite a
few of his prints. He has a wonderful reputation."

"That's great. I'd love to stop by once everything is set up.
I love art galleries."

Joyce smiled widely, liking Cordelia immediately. "Well,
feel free to stop by anytime once we're up and running."

"I will." Cordelia said with a grin. Buffy suddenly hopped
off the counter and grabbed Cordelia's hand.

"We have to run mom, we're gonna be late meeting everyone."

"Okay, go have fun, it was very nice to meet you, Cordelia."

"Thanks, Mrs. Summers, it was great to meet you too. Have a
good night." She called out over her shoulder with a wave as
Buffy pulled her from the room and out the door. Joyce
smiled her mom smile as she watched the girls leave. She was
thrilled that Buffy made new friends so fast. It was one
less thing that she had to worry about. She made herself a
cup of tea and settled in for the evening, smiling her mom
smile all the while. (Wow, total Dr. Seuss moment.)

Cordelia was uncomfortable. It wasn't a feeling she was used
to. When your parents are rich, your life becomes very
comfortable. You have great clothes and cars and credit
cards and life is very cushy. Cordelia liked it that way.
But lately she'd been having feelings that had her a bit on
edge. She had a tiny little crush on someone and it was
turning bigger everyday. Now, usually that wouldn't be a
problem for Cordelia. She was rich, gorgeous and smart.
Guys would literally line up around the block if she wanted
them too. But this crush was something different and she
hated it. She knew she was alone and couldn't talk to anyone
about it. Her friends would freak and disown her. Nope, she
was alone in her grief. She had a crush on none other than
Buffy Summers. She thought back to the day they all met her
on the beach. Cordelia saw her a mile away. At first she
almost felt sorry for her because she had to sit by herself,
but the thing that had her floored was the fact that Buffy
sat there on the beach, by herself and was completely
comfortable doing it. Cordelia herself could never have done
that. She needed lots of people around to feel secure. That
was probably due to the fact that her parents were never
around, so she needed to have people around her to feel loved
because she never really felt like her parents loved her.
Buffy seemed different than all her girlfriends anyways. She
didn't always agree with Cordelia and at first it pissed her
off. But she found it fun sometimes to get in stupid playful
arguments with someone. She also felt like Buffy genuinely
cared about her and her friends. Usually, the girls would
sit around and talk about superficial crap while the guys
would ignore them, but Buffy actually wanted to get to know
them. Yup, Cordelia had a crush. You might even say she had
feelings for Buffy, because for the fist time in her life,
Cordelia actually felt like someone wanted to get to know her
just because. Not because she was rich and popular and
beautiful. Of course, in her opinion, the jury was still out
on whether or not Buffy liked her, but she was Cordelia
Chase, she could win anyone over. And she would, dammit.
She would have Buffy Summers, whether she liked it or not.
Hmph. With that thought, she picked up the phone to call her
friends. Its time she had a nice friendly get together with
her crew and a lot of drinks while mom and dad were still in
Rome for the summer. Cordelia Chase never loses.

Angel came over to Cordy's a few hours later with the alcohol
she requested. They hopped in his car and headed to the
store to pick up some munchie food, mostly for the guys,
since the crap they ate goes straight to the hips.

Cordy sat silently for a moment, staring at her hands in her
lap. "Angel, can I ask you something?"

Angel glanced over and saw her expression and knew she had
something serious on her mind. "Sure CC, what's up?" He
gave her a small encouraging smile.

"Do you have a problem with gay people?" She asked
tentatively.

His eyebrows shot up in a look of utter confusion. "Gay
people?"

Cordelia nodded. "Yeah."

"Uh, no. My cousin Jake is gay remember? He was like a
brother before he moved away. I have no problems with gay
people...why?"

She fidgeted for a second. "So you wouldn't have a problem
if Riley or Anya was gay right?" She looked over at him,
with a hopeful expression.

"No, especially Anya...gay girls are great." He wriggled his
eyebrows suggestively.

Cordelia rolled her eyes and slapped his arm. "Angel, don't
be gross."

He held one hand up in mock surrender. "I'm just kidding.
Seriously though, you know you're like a little sister to me,
what's up?"

Cordelia sighed. "I think I have a crush."

Angel smiled slightly and raised an eyebrow. "Really? On
who?"

"Promise you won't freak?"

"Yes, CC, just tell me, I won't freak or say anything, so
spit it out."

"It's Buffy." She braced herself for the blow out.

"Buffy?" He raised his eyebrows and smiled. "I have to say,
you have great taste in girls, she's cute and sweet, good
choice." He gave her a cute lopsided grin and she gave him a
small smile in return.

"I just don't know if she likes me." Cordelia furrowed her
brow for a moment, rather sadly if you asked Angel.

"I have seen her check you out a few times." He offered with
a smile.

"Really? Hm, that's good news, although lots of people check
me out, it doesn't mean they like me, it just means they like
the way I look."

"Since when is that not enough?" He asked carefully.

She sighed out wearily. "I don't know...I feel like you're the
only person who really knows who I am and you don't like me
for the same reasons anybody else does. I feel like she
likes to hang with us because she likes us, not because we're
popular and have money."

"Well, from what I've heard from her, her and her mom don't
have a ton of money, I don't think it's that important to
her."

"So what should I do?" She began chewing on her lip
absently.

Angel shrugged. "Well, we're having everyone over tonight,
you should test the waters."

"How do I do that?"

"We can play a few drinking games and get stupid like we
always do, especially if we play wheel of intoxication. I'll
help...the first dare I get, I'll dare her to kiss you and see
if it sparks something."

"Hmm, that's a good point, but you can't make it obvious, we
have to get everyone kissing everyone."

"We'll be very sneaky don't worry. Plus, we can all get
trashed and stay at your place. Me and Ri can take the guest
room with separate beds, Aura and Harm can take second spare
room, Anya can have the small spare room and you can get
Buffy to share with you. It's perfect."

Cordelia grinned her thousand-watt smile. "Oh, good
thinking. Thanks Angel...for everything. It's good to know I
have you on my side."

"Anytime, CC. You know I love you." He drawled out
playfully.

Cordelia rolled her eyes and smiled at him. "I know, I love
you too ya big mush."

Once Angel and Cordy returned from the store, they made a few
pitchers of margaritas and put them in the fridge. Riley
arrived shortly after and Harmony and Aura arrived a minute
after him. They got to work with drinking out by the pool.
Buffy was the next to arrive and Cordelia felt butterflies in
her stomach when she ushered the blonde into the kitchen for
a drink. Cordelia was nervous and she hated being nervous so
she ushered Buffy outside as another knock on the door
signaled Anya's arrival. After a few hours Buffy was getting
very curious about Cordelia's odd behavior. She seemed to be
nervous and she picked up on a few strange glances exchanged
between Cordy and Angel. She finally grew tired of the
strange behavior and grabbed Cordelia's hand and led her
inside.

"Where are we going?" Cordelia asked confusedly.

"I want to talk to you for a second."

"Okay, let's go upstairs." Cordelia said as she nodded
towards the stairs.

Buffy nodded and followed Cordelia upstairs to her room.
Once the door was closed Cordy stood with her back against it
as Buffy sat on the bed.

"Cor, are you okay?" Buffy asked, eyeing her friend
carefully.

Cordelia felt a flutter of anxiety rush through her stomach.
"Yeah, I'm fine, why?"

"Well, you just seem to be acting funny and I just want to
make sure you're alright."

This confused Cordelia more, nobody cared about if she was
okay, except Angel. "Why?"

"Why?" At Cordelia's nod, Buffy gave her a comforting smile.
"Because you're my friend, and I care if something's
bothering you. I just hope you'd tell me if something was."

Cordelia felt her heart flutter slightly and tears prick her
eyes.

Buffy saw her expression and stood and pulled the brunette
into a hug. "Cor, what's wrong?"

"Sorry, I'm fine. Its just Angel is the only person who's
ever cared about me before." Cordelia murmured from Buffy's
shoulder. The blonde felt a flutter in her stomach as
Cordelia's warm breath trailed across her neck.

Buffy pulled away and held the brunette at an arms length.
"Does this have something to do with him? I've seen you two
exchange a few weird looks tonight."

Cordelia shook her head. "No...it's just...I kinda told Angel
something earlier. It's kind of a personal thing and he
helped me."

Buffy thought about that for a moment as she chewed on her
lip. She glanced up at Cordelia. "Do you wanna talk about
it?" She asked hesitantly.

Cordy moved away from Buffy and sat down on the bed. She
grabbed one of the stuffed animals beside her and played with
it for a minute. "I kind of have a crush on someone, but
it's not a normal crush." She admitted quietly.

Buffy saw the worry on Cordelia's face and moved to sit next
to her on the bed. "What do you mean normal?"

Cordelia took a deep breath. Okay, moment of truth. Here
goes nothing. "It's kind of not on a guy." She winced
visibly, waiting for the inevitable freak out bomb. When it
didn't come, she glanced at Buffy hesitantly. Buffy had a
silly smile on her face, and Cordelia instantly relaxed.

"So you like a girl?" Buffy asked carefully, hoping Cordelia
wouldn't think she was being a smart ass.

The brunette nodded slowly and kind of sadly. "Yeah...I can
understand if you are freaked and never want to talk to me
again."

Buffy rolled her eyes and gave the other girl her most
encouraging smile. "Don't be stupid, Cor. I've had crushes
on girls before. With the wide array of loser guys that I've
dated in the past, it's kinda hard not to crush on a girl
once in a while."

Cordelia stared at her with a look of astonishment that Buffy
found to be adorable. "So you aren't freaked?"

Buffy gave her a little grin and shook her head. "No, silly.
I am curious to know who it is though." Buffy raised an
eyebrow playfully.

Cordelia felt her stomach drop and panic was evident on her
face. "No way, Summers, Angel already thinks he can play
matchmaker, I don't need to you play too." She gave her best
stern look to the blonde sitting next to her.

Buffy decided to draw her big guns...the pout. "Aw, come on
Cor, please tell me?"

Cordelia almost smiled at the adorable pout, but held her
ground with her resolve face. "Nope."

Buffy set her face in a premiere pout and Cordelia's heart
almost melted at the sight, so she grabbed a pillow from the
bed and smacked Buffy with it.

"Hey!"

Buffy grabbed a pillow and soon an all out pillow fight was
underway. The pillow fight soon turned to a tickle fight,
which almost turned deadly since both girls where
ridiculously ticklish. Finally, Cordy used her deceptively
strong thighs to pin Buffy below her. She looked down at the
beautiful blonde sprawled out under her and her heart rate
increased dramatically. For her part, Buffy might have
thrown the match just to end up pinned under the most
gorgeous girl she had ever seen, but she was planning on
keeping that to herself. Both girls where breathing a bit
heavy and Cordelia had to keep herself in check and not just
lean in and kiss Buffy. In the moment that the two girls
locked eyes, it was like magic. They both felt something
pass through them that caused a shudder. Buffy unconsciously
licked her lips and watched as Cordy's eyes grazed over her
lips with the action. She smiled shyly and to Cordelia it
was one of the cutest sights she had ever seen. Both girls
turned their heads as they heard Riley yelling to them from
downstairs, so they both reluctantly got up and re-joined
their friends downstairs.

Angel worked out the sleeping arrangements later and he
watched Buffy's eyes light up a bit at the thought of sharing
Cordelia's room with her, and he smiled to himself when he
saw this. The group eventually drifted off to their
respective bedrooms and got ready to sleep. Buffy followed
Cordelia into her room for the second time that night, after
almost having to be carried inside. She closed the door
behind her and stood hesitantly watching the brunette wander
around finding sleeping clothes for both of them. Once they
were both changed, they climbed into bed and shut off the
lights. They were silent for a few minutes, but neither fell
asleep.

Cordy finally turned on her side, facing Buffy and broke the
silence. "So, you've really had crushes on girls before?"

Buffy shrugged. Yeah, a few back in L.A. Nothing ever came
of them though."

Cordelia's interest was piqued again. "Why not?"

Buffy let out a long sigh. "My friends were super uptight,
so I figured they would disown me if I ever told them about
it."

"I know the feeling." Cordelia said sadly.

Buffy shook her head. "I don't think everyone would disown
you. Harm and Aura might wig, but then again, they always
follow in your footsteps, so who knows, they might start
dating each other."

Cordelia's face scrunched up in distaste and Buffy smirked
for making her squirm. "Eww, okay, bad visual place." She
was silent a moment. "You don't think they'd disown me?"

Buffy shook her head and gave the brunette a reassuring smile
"No, Angel and Riley absolutely adore you. They aren't that
shallow. Anya doesn't care one way or the other what's going
on with anyone as long as she gets what she wants. You know
it doesn't bother me, so I think you're in the clear."

Cordelia nodded and was silent a minute. But, being
Cordelia, curiosity got the better of her. "So you've never
done anything with a girl then?"

Buffy smiled recalling a memory. "I was about two seconds
away from kissing another girl once, but my friends burst in
and almost caught me. Other than that, nope."

"Hmm." Cordy was trying to keep her calm exterior, but she
was jumping for joy on the inside that Buffy had thought
about girls before.

Buffy's interest suddenly decided to make an appearance.
"Have you?"

"Nope."

Buffy decided to see how far she could push this issue.
"Ever thought about it?"

"Maybe once or twice." She said airily.

Buffy smirked. "With your mystery girl?"

Cordelia smiled and the tip of her tongue peeked out between
her pearly whites. "Maybe."

"Tell me who she is." Buffy said with a grin.

Cordelia resumed her resolve face and shook her head with a
tiny smile. "No way."

"Please?" Buffy tried the pout one more time.

"Nope." Cordy smiled.

"Why? Do I know her?" At this point, Buffy's heart was
about to beat out of her chest.

Cordelia smiled lazily, drawing it out because she knew Buffy
was eager for information. "Maybe."

Buffy gripped Cordelia's arm lightly and tugged on it a bit.
"Cor, tell me. You tell me yours, I'll tell you mine."

At that, Cordelia sat up in the bed and grinned down at the
blonde next to her. "You have a crush?" She asked
playfully.

"Maybe." Buffy decided two could play at this game.

Cordelia decided that her stomach couldn't take much more of
this game. "Okay, how about you tell me yours, then I'll
tell you mine."

Buffy eyed her carefully. "Promise you'll tell?"

Cordelia rolled her eyes and tried to play cool, but her
insides were in knots. "Pinky swear."

The girls did a short pinky swear with a tiny giggle.

Buffy was silent a moment. "Promise you won't wig?"

"Promise." She replied quickly, eager to know who this crush
was.

Buffy took a deep breath. Okay, moment of truth. Here goes
nothing. "You."

Cordelia was elated at the one simple word that tumbled out
of Buffy's mouth, but she had to be sure, so she played dumb.
"Me what?"

Buffy rolled her eyes as she sat up and met Cordelia's eyes.
"I have a crush on you doofus."

Cordelia could hear the words, but she had to be sure. Extra
sure. This was her heart she was playing with, and nobody
played with Cordelia's heart. "Me?" She asked again as she
smiled shyly.

Buffy met her gaze softly and nodded. "Yes you."

"Really?" Again with the reassurance.

"Yes." Buffy said with a soft smile that assured everything
in Cordelia's heart and head.

"Wow."

"Your turn." Buffy teased with a small grin.

Cordelia took a deep breath. It's now or never, Chase.
"It's you."

Now it was Buffy's turn to be elated, but she played dumb,
just like Cordy, just to be sure. "Me?"

"Yes you." Cordelia gave her a sweet smile and tucked a
stray strand of blonde hair behind Buffy's ear.

"Wow..." Buffy said with a smile.

"Yeah."

Buffy caught Cordelia's dazed expression and panicked a bit.
"But look, if you're not ready to act on anything, I'll
understand. I know you're afraid of your rep getting trashed
and I understand that. Me being new, I don't have a rep, so
it really doesn't matter what I do. But if Angel and Riley
have as much pull in the school as you say they do, then you
really don't have much to worry about and-"

"Summers, shut up." Cordelia said sweetly as she placed a
finger over Buffy's lips.

Buffy dropped her gaze to her hands and blushed. "Sorry, I
babble sometimes when I'm nervous."

"It's okay, it was actually kind of cute."

"Really?"

"Yes really." Cordelia smiled. "I don't know what I'm ready
to do to be honest with you. I talked to Angel and he's
totally cool with it. I know Riley will be too. It is true
what you said about Anya, Harm and Aura, but I just don't
want to rush into anything. I haven't actually felt like
this before."

"Felt like what?" Buffy asked curiously.

Cordelia dropped her gaze to the blanket on the bed and
traced the pattern with a finger. "Having actual feelings
behind a crush. Usually I go for the hunky guys with their
flashy cars, I like you because you're sweet and funny, don't
get me wrong, you're beautiful, but there's more there that
there ever has been and I don't want to rush it."

Buffy felt her heart flutter at the beautiful comment and she
gave Cordelia a warm, comforting smile as she grasped her
hand lightly. "Okay, we can take it super slow and just see
where it leads us. I won't push you into anything."

Cordelia almost cried at Buffy's utter sweetness. "Thanks
Buffy."

"You're welcome." She replied with a smile, lying back down.

"Can we cuddle?" Cordelia asked softly as she snuggled back
under the blanket.

Buffy grinned widely. "Yay! Definitely, cuddling is good."

Buffy turned on her side away from Cordelia and instantly
relaxed as a slender arm wrapped around her waist.

"Night Buffy."

"Night Cor."

"Why people would willingly move here is beyond me. Don't
get me wrong, Summers, you're cool, but that Spike guy is a
weirdo and there's another new girl who apparently likes to
play dress up with mommy's dominatrix wear." Cordelia told
her friends as she placed a tray of margaritas on the table
by the pool.

"You mean that girl we saw at the Bronze last night?" Angel
asked from the pool. "She seemed okay. Certainly not bad on
the eyes, right Ri?"

"Got that right. Definitely a hottie."

"Ugh, she was skankalicious. Am I right?" Cordy raised an
eyebrow to the girls spread out in lounge chairs around the
pool.

"Oh yeah, she was totally weird." Harmony agreed.

"Yup. Total skank." Aura chimed in.

Anya scowled from her chair as she grabbed a drink. "She's
trying to steal my geek from me...did you see the way Xander
was drooling all over her?"

Cordelia rolled her eyes and sighed. "Anya, you really need
to get over this geek fetish of yours. Seriously, forget
about Xander. He's just a little boy." Cordy sat up and
looked at her blonde friend. "In junior high it was okay to
date high school guys, but now that we're in high school, we
need to set out sights higher." She grinned and said
dramatically, "College men."

Buffy smiled as Angel and Riley rolled their eyes and went
back to playing basketball in the pool. She knew that
Cordelia was putting on a front for her friends.

"So, back to school bash at the Bronze tonight? It is after
all our last night of freedom before the hell of school
begins." Cordelia asked with a groan.

"Yup, I'm there." Buffy said with a grin.

The rest of the crew agreed and settled in for a long day of
sun, tequila and apparently, gossip. Buffy wondered silently
if hanging out with Harmony and Aura was doing damage to her
brain. Oh well, she thought, can't be any worse than skin
cancer or liver disease. Ah, to be young and blissfully
ignorant.

Faith eyed her enemy carefully and decided she wasn't backing
down from this fight. The two locked gazes in a staring
contest that would put medusa to shame, but neither would
fold.

"Just one."

Faith rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically. "No way, Dad.
Nope, I'm drawing the line. This is high school, no more
pictures on the first day of school."

Brad Cooper grinned at his little girl, wishing in moments
like these that his wife, Sarah, had lived to see their
little girl so grown up. "Fine, I know you're at a 'fragile'
age right now and any parental mishaps could turn you to the
dark side, so go." He gave her a charming grin and tousled
her hair. "Go on, you're gonna be late, kiddo."

Faith grinned back at her father and reached in to peck him
on the cheek. "See ya Pops." She gave him a small wave as
she grabbed her backpack and raced out the door. He watched
her run up the street for a moment before heading back to his
art studio to finish a few prints for the gallery in town.

Faith slowed her pace to a carefree saunter after a few
blocks and pulled her bag around so she could grab the packet
of M&M's in the small pocket of her backpack. She slung her
bag back around and adjusted the straps before ripping the
package open and dumping the candy into her hand. She picked
through the multi-colored candy, discarding any that were
yellow. She hated any form of yellow M&M's because of the
stupid TV commercials. The peanut M&M was always yellow and
she hated peanuts, so she was against all yellow M&M's. She
wondered briefly if that made her racist on some level, but
before she could explore it any further a male voice brought
her out of her thoughts.

"Are you leaving a trail so you can find your way home?"

Faith turned and found a cute, but goofy looking guy jogging
casually to catch up with her. She grinned at his joke and
shook her head. "Nope, I just don't like yellow M&M's."

He shook his head in mock shame. "Some might consider you a
candy racist." He grinned a lopsided grin that Faith found
slightly contagious, so she smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Well, don't expect me to throw on the white sheets and start
burning yellow M&M's on a cross or anything."

"That's a good thing too, have you ever lit chocolate on
fire? Talk about yuck." His features soured slightly as if
remembering a bad experience.

"Sadly, I have and you got the yuck part right." She gave
him a grin. "I'm Faith Cooper, I'm new."

He grinned again and jutted a thumb to his chest. "Xander
Harris. Where are ya from?"

"Originally from Boston, but we moved from San Francisco. I
kinda got kicked out and Sunnydale was the only high school
that would take a delinquent like me." She gave him a wicked
grin.

"Ooh, I might actually have someone to cause a little trouble
with now." He shared her wicked smile and drew his fingers
together mocking Mr. Burns from the Simpson's. "Very
interesting." He quipped in the perfect Burns drawl.

Faith laughed at this. "You are too funny, X." She paused
to toss a few pieces of candy into her mouth and offered him
the bag. He grinned and snagged a handful. "How long have
you lived here, anyways?" She asked.

"Sadly, my whole life. Never had the pleasure of a big
city." He shrugged as he tossed the candy in his mouth.

"It has it's good and it's bad. Although, I find people
around here to be kinda nosey." She said with a small scowl.

Xander smiled apologetically. "Yup, us small town folk are
always looking for some juicy gossip."

"It wouldn't be that bad, but all these weird women have been
dropping off pies at my house." Her face twisted into a
confused expression.

"So you live with just your dad then." He stated pointedly.

She raised an eyebrow. "How did you know?"

He rolled his eyes and made a few weird gestures with his
hands. "It's pretty standard practice when a single man
moves into town...all the eligible 'ladies' come a knockin'."

"Eww, well they need to knock elsewhere. I haven't seen one
yet that deserves my dad."

Xander gave her a nod. "Ah, so we're a little overprotective
are we?"

"No. I just don't want my pops dating some reject loser
woman." She scowled at him playfully.

They continued their playful banter until Xander caught sight
of someone.

"Will!" He waved her over. Faith smiled at the pretty
redhead that came over. "Will, this is Faith Cooper. Faith
this is Willow Rosenberg, my life-long pal and all around
bestest buddy. Faith's new." He added with a wink at Faith.
"Oh, and she gave me candy."

Willow smiled widely. "Hi, it's nice to meet you."

"You too, Wilma."

"Um, it's Willow...Will-ow." Xander specified with a goofy
grin. Willow just blushed.

Faith slapped him on the arm and grinned. "I heard ya, X, I
just gave her a nickname is all."

Xander smiled sheepishly before grinning widely. "So what's
your nickname than, miss smarty pants?"

Faith thought for a second and shrugged. "My old buddies
used to call me Coop."

"Coop it is then." Xander grinned at the two girls as they
headed down the hall.

If one was to stand in that hallway at that moment, one might
hear the beginnings of a babble from the redhead. Actually,
one certainly would hear a babble from Willow. She always
was nervous around new people, especially new people who
looked like Faith. Yup, this would turn out to be the
beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Buffy was spread out on her stomach looking through a
magazine as Cordelia went through her closet to find
something to wear out to the Bronze. The two had been
spending every afternoon together for the past three weeks
and had been growing very close. They were still very
insistent about taking things slow...so slow in fact, they
hadn't even kissed yet. The reason behind this little fiasco
was the fact that both girls took first kisses very seriously
and they both knew their feelings could grow into something
more and wanted that first kiss to be phenomenal.

Cordy suddenly peeked her head out of her closet. "Did I
tell you I talked to Riley today?"

"About what?" Buffy asked absently.

"About us, silly." Cordelia rolled her eyes and ducked back
into the closet.

At this, Buffy sat straight up on the bed, the magazine
abandoned. "You did? How did it go?"

"Great, just like you said it would."

Buffy smiled, obviously relieved and resumed her former
position. "See, I told you he would be cool about it."
Buffy flipped a few pages and thought for a second. "So
Harmony and Aura are the only one's who don't know, right?"

"Yup, but I'm telling them at the Bronze tonight, so expect
some fireworks."

Suddenly, Buffy's eyes almost glazed over and she smiled
widely. "Ooh, pretty."

"You are such a dork." Cordelia shook her head and smiled
fondly.

"Yet, you continue to hang out with me, what's up with that?"
Buffy asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I can do anything I want." With that comment, Cordelia
stuck out her tongue.

"And why is that?"

"Cause, you and I, my dear, will rule the school in due time.
We're about three seconds away from it, and the fact that
we're both going to be cheerleaders will only help matters,
so in turn, we can do whatever we want and nobody can say
anything."

Buffy gave Cordelia an amused grin and went back to her
magazine as Cordy changed so they could go out.

An hour later, Cordy was sitting at their table at the Bronze
talking to Harmony and Aura, while Angel and Buffy shared a
slow dance, trying to give them some space.

Buffy looked up at Angel and gave him a warm smile. "I'm
really glad you're okay with this Angel. I know it means a
lot to Cor." She said softly.

"I love CC like a sister, and I think you're good for her."
A sly grin came over his features as he looked down to the
tiny blonde in his arms. "Although, you know if you hurt
her, I'll have to kick your ass right?"

Buffy grinned up at him. "Of course...it's absolutely the
brotherly thing to do in this situation." Her features
softened slightly as she glanced over his shoulder and saw
the three girls arguing. "You should know that I wouldn't
hurt her though. Not deliberately anyways."

He gave her a comforting smile. "I know you wouldn't."

Buffy nodded absently as she watched Harmony and Aura get up
from the table and exchange a few short words of good-bye
before they stormed out of the club. She tapped Angel on the
arm and nodded in Cordy's direction.

"Come on."

The pair weaved through the crowd and approached Cordelia
slowly. Buffy could see that she was visibly upset, so she
slid into the booth and pulled the brunette into a hug.
Angel decided to grab a drink and give the girls a minute
alone.

"You okay?" Buffy asked carefully.

Cordelia sniffled and nodded her head. "They are so stupid
and simple minded."

"It's okay, Cor, they'll probably realize they were being
stupid and you guys will make up soon." Buffy gave her a
hopeful smile and grasped her hand lightly.

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "No, I don't care about them, it
just pisses me off that after all these years, they're going
to abandon me for something this trivial." Cordy replied,
almost bitterly. She saw the hurt flash over Buffy's
features and instantly retracted. "I don't mean you and I
are the trivial thing here, Buffy. I meant who I choose to
date shouldn't come between friends who have known each other
all their lives."

"Well, I don't have to come between you at all, if that's
what you want." Buffy's eyes fell to the table sadly.

Cordelia saw the hurt in Buffy's eyes and swore that she
would never be the person to make her sad like that again.
"No. I want the opposite. If they can't deal, then they
weren't really my friends anyways. I have you and Angel,
Riley and Anya...you guys are true friends."

Buffy met her gaze with hopeful eyes. "Really?"

Cordelia's features broke out into a huge grin. "Yes silly."

Buffy smiled that shy smile that Cordelia found adorable and
before she could process the thought, she brought her hands
to Buffy's face and cupped in gently.

"You are so worth it." She said softly.

Cordelia leaned in slowly and brought her lips to Buffy's in
a sweet and innocent kiss that felt all encompassing. It was
slow and gentle and everything a first kiss should be. When
they parted, Buffy brought a hand up and brushed a few errant
strands of hair out of Cordy's eyes and smiled. Cordy
grinned and leaned in for one more small kiss. She pulled
away and brought her lips to Buffy's ear.

"You wanna dance?" She breathed out, and was delighted when
a tiny shiver passed through the blonde.

"Thought you'd never ask."

More than a few Sunnydale high students witnessed the
couple's first kiss. The males in the room came close to a
minor coronary, while the girls took note of the fact that
the most popular underclassman was now dating another girl.
Of course Angel and Riley's popularity grew by the minute
with the guys in the room and more than a few girls
considered lifestyle changes. One thing was certain...next
week's gossip would certainly be juicy. Yummy for them I
guess.

Cordelia practically ran out of her second period class and
in the process, came close to bowling Buffy over, who was
waiting for her outside the door. They exchanged a grin and
moved down the hall side by side.

"Yuck, I totally hate my anatomy class." Cordy said with a
scowl.

Buffy nodded in agreement and rolled her eyes. "Ugh, me too,
we already have a project assigned. It's only the third week
of school."

Cordelia gave her a teasing smile. "Okay, you win. No
projects yet for me."

"Plus, I was assigned to work with Willow and Xander.
They're coming over tomorrow after school so we can work on
it." Buffy wasn't sure how she felt about that, so she left
it alone.

Cordy gave her a sympathetic look as she stopped at her
locker. "Oh, that sucks. I feel bad for you. We're still
going to the Bronze though, right?"

"Yeah, we're only working on it for a few hours, just so we
can figure out what we're gonna do for it." Buffy shrugged
as she glanced down the hall and saw Angel and Riley
approach. She watched with a mixture of confusion and awe as
the entire student body seemed to part for the two guys.
They didn't take notice as they laughed at something or
other, tossing a football back and forth. They both grinned
as they approached the girls.

"Hey Buff, Cordy." Riley said with a mock bow.

Buffy grinned and slapped him lightly on the arm. "Hey
Riley."

"Hey Ri." Cordy replied as she dug through her locker.

"So girls, cheerleading tryouts next week right?" Angel
asked as he leaned against the locker next to Cordy's.

Cordelia grinned widely as she shut her locker door. "Yes,
which reminds me Buffy, we should practice this weekend."

Buffy nodded with a grin. "Sounds good to me."

"You know that both of you are a shoe in right?" Angel asked
both girls as they made their way down the hall. "I talked
to Allison and she told me last week that she thinks both of
you are perfect for the squad."

Buffy glanced from Cordelia, who was grinning madly, to
Angel, who appeared oblivious to his weight at the school.
"Who's Allison?"

Cordelia grasped her arm excitedly. "She's the captain of
the varsity squad and probably the most popular girl in
school." She jutted a thumb at Angel. "Angel used to date
her."

"So why don't you guys hang with her?" Buffy asked.

Her three friends exchanged a look and both Riley and Cordy
looked to Angel. He rolled his eyes. "I can't stand her.
But she's hot and all the guys on the team want her, so I
hooked her up with Andy and now they seem to be inseparable."

Buffy took a moment to process this and shrugged slightly.
"Oh."

The thought that Angel couldn't stand someone seemed strange
to the tiny blonde, but she shrugged it off figuring that
she'd hear the rest of the story later from Cordelia. The
group split up and headed in different directions for their
next class. She almost ran into Willow as she rounded the
corner and the redhead immediately blushed. "Sorry."

Buffy gave her a bright smile. "It's okay. Are you headed
for Algebra?"

"Yeah, I was just waiting for Xander. Cause this is his
locker and he told me to wait here for him."

Buffy's smile widened. "Okay, well I'll see you in class and
don't forget about tomorrow night."

Willow smiled shyly. "I'll see you later Buffy."

Buffy gave her a wave as she moved down the hall and into her
next class. She thought about Willow and Xander for a moment
as she waited for the bell to ring. She knew they were both
incredibly sweet people and she was slightly jealous of their
close friendship. She wished that she'd known someone all
her life like the two of them and Angel and Cordelia. She
couldn't complain though. She did have a group of great
friends to hang with. She couldn't complain at all,
especially since her teacher came in as the bell rang and she
was swept off into knowledge land. Besides, who would she
complain to anyways?

Buffy, Xander and Willow had their books and papers spread
all around Buffy's bedroom the next night trying to get
started on their project.

"Okay, so we have to pick a body system and describe its
purpose and do a model right?" Buffy asked as she flipped
through her book, trying to locate the appropriate chapter.

"Right, and I thought since you two ladies are better with
the books and I'm better with my hands, maybe you could do
the book stuff and I'll take care of the model." Xander shot
them his best hopeful grin.

Willow gave him a fond smile and rolled her eyes. "You just
don't want to read, Xander."

"Well, one might say that." He offered sheepishly.

Buffy grinned at the two of them. "It's fine by me." She
said with a shrug.

Willow admitted defeat and picked up her book. "Fine."

After working for a few hours, the three decided to call it
quits, since it was Friday night. Buffy was surprised at how
well she got along with both Willow and Xander. Sure they
were dorks by Cordelia's standards, but they were still nice.
The phone rang as Willow and Xander were packing up their
books and Buffy grabbed it on the second ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey Buffy."

Buffy smiled unconsciously hearing Cordelia's voice. "Hey
Cor."

"I'm just getting ready to leave, are you gonna be down there
soon?"

"Yeah, I'm just going to change and I'll meet you there."

"Okay, I'll see you in a bit then."

"Okay, bye."

"Bye."

"You're going to the Bronze tonight?" Xander asked as he
slung his bag over his shoulder.

Buffy nodded as she placed the phone back in its cradle.
"Yup, not much else to do around here."

"We can walk you if you want, we're headed there too."
Xander gave her a goofy grin. "Hopefully by now you've
learned that Sunnydale isn't the safest place after dark."

"Yeah, I've seen all the stuff in the paper about gangs and
PCP, and dog attacks. But, I would like the company, I just
need to change first."

"Okay, we'll wait downstairs." Willow said with a smile,
pushing Xander from the room.

"Okay, great."

After a short walk to Willow's house to drop off backpacks,
the three made their way into town. Xander managed to keep
both girls giggling the entire way and Buffy knew she liked
both of them. They arrived at their destination and called
out good-byes as Buffy went in search of her friends.

Buffy, Cordelia and Angel were in their usual booth at the
Bronze when Faith arrived. Buffy watched her as she moved
languidly through the club, winking at a few guys and moving
through the crowd of dancers, stopping a few times to dance
with a few lucky guys, but only for a second. She left the
poor boys on the dance floor and joined, surprising to Buffy,
Willow and Xander at their table. Buffy watched as Xander
and Faith exchanged a few words and Faith turned her gaze to
Cordelia and she winked and blew a kiss to her with a smug
smile plastered on her features. Cordy caught the
'affection' and flipped Faith the finger before sending her
own smug grin to the other girl.

"I'm guessing you and Faith aren't big on the love these
days."

Cordelia rolled her eyes and glared at Faith again. "She is
such a bitch. She thinks because she can pull off the whole
bad ass look, she should back it up with a smart ass mouth."

"So, it's safe to say you two are friends then?" Buffy asked
with a silly grin that Cordelia couldn't resist returning.

"Don't make me smile Summers, I want to be pissed off at
her."

"Why? Come on, don't let her ruin our night out, let's dance
instead."

Buffy stood and held a hand out to Cordelia, who took it and
slid out of the booth. Angel watched with an amused grin as
the two headed to the dance floor. Angel had known Cordelia
long enough to know that she was a bitch. But he loved her
anyways, mostly because she wasn't a bitch to him. She was
to pretty much everyone else though. He always became
frustrated with her over the years, when new people came into
their group of friends. She always acted like Queen of the
Universe and they willingly fell in line behind her. Angel
was pleased at the new development between Buffy and Cordy,
at least Cordelia felt like she could be herself around
Buffy, and not the person she was around everyone else.
Buffy was good for Cordelia, that much was certain...especially
right now, because said blonde was currently restraining
Cordelia from what looked like fighting with Faith. Angel
got up from the booth, leaving his thoughts about Faith for
another day. By the time he made it through the crowd, Faith
and Cordelia had taken their fight outside. He exited the
club and approached the girls cautiously. He noticed Xander,
Jessie and Willow standing together, near Faith and Buffy was
standing close, but slightly behind, Cordelia.

"What are you gonna do, prom queen, kick my ass?"

"Damn right I will, nobody calls me a bitch to my face and
gets away with it."

"Would you like it better if I called you a superficial whore
instead?" At that comment, Buffy stepped up.

"Hey! Cordelia's gonna have to wait her turn, cause I think
I might kick your ass for that."

"Oh really, blondie? Think you can take me? Come on, I'll
give you a free shot...on the house."

"Don't mind if I do."

At this point, the Buffy and Faith were standing nose to
nose. Just as Buffy brought her arm back to take a swing at
Faith, something hit them both. They both suddenly felt
dizzy. For her part, Buffy felt like she could hear her
heartbeat in her ears. Her hands started to tingle and she
felt a weird buzzing on every inch of her skin. She felt the
strangest tingle on the back of her neck that was about to
make her crazy. Faith felt like she was about to explode.
She could almost feel the blood surging through her veins.
She felt a weird rush of something shoot through her spine
and just as quickly as Buffy threw her punch, she
instinctively raised an arm to block it.

Cordelia, Angel, Willow, Xander and Jessie all stood
practically dumfounded as they watched the fight between the
two girls escalate. The speed at which they punched, kicked
and blocked was phenomenal and they were stunned that these
two could fight like they did. They all came to individual
conclusions that night that revolved around the exact same
thought...never mess with Faith or Buffy, unless you want your
head smashed into an alley wall, just like Buffy was
demonstrating on Faith right about now. After a few minutes
of watching the fighting, Angel felt a tap on his shoulder.
He turned and saw a stunned Riley standing behind him.

"You think maybe we should break them up?" He asked, never
taking his eyes off the two girls.

"Yeah, give 'em a minute though." Angel replied absently,
turning back to the fight, cocking his head slightly.

Riley nodded and they watched on. After all the male
fantasies were taken care of, the four guys standing around
managed to get the girls separated and into their respective
corners. Jessie and Xander began dragging Faith away, but
she turned and glared at both Buffy and Cordelia.

"We're not done girls, we're only getting started." With
that, she pulled out of the hands holding her and sauntered
out of the alley.

Cordelia, Angel and Riley stood staring at Buffy as she
collapsed on the ground and put her head in her hands.

Cordelia knelt beside the blonde and put a hand on her back,
running her fingers up and down her spine softly. "Summers,
are you okay?"

Buffy shook her head to clear it a bit and rubbed her eyes.
"I don't know. I feel kinda funny."

Angel crouched down and grasped her arm lightly. "Maybe we
should get you home. Come on I'll give you a ride."

Buffy looked up at him and smiled. "Thanks Angel."

Cordelia kept her eyes trained on the blonde. "Is your mom
home Buffy? If you feel weird, maybe you shouldn't be
alone."

"No, she's at the gallery all night, she said she wouldn't be
home until tomorrow." Buffy glanced up at Cordelia and gave
her a shy but pleading smile. "Will you stay with me?"

Cordelia felt her heart flutter slightly and she smiled
softly. "Of course, come on, let's get out of this alley and
get you home."

Angel and Cordelia helped Buffy to her feet and Cordy wrapped
an arm around her waist to keep her steady. They got Buffy
to Angel's car and took off towards Rovello Drive.

Faith was sprinting through Sunnydale like a madwoman. Ever
since she left the alley, she felt like the energy encased in
her compact body was about to split her in two. She assured
her friends that she was fine and took off. She had been
running full tilt for twenty minutes and barely felt winded.
As she approached an intersection, she turned right and
headed through the gates of Shady Acres cemetery. She had no
idea why...her body was acting purely on instinct at this
point. She upped her pace and began hurdling headstones like
an Olympic athlete and kept right on going. Faith grinned as
she approached a clear patch of grass and began doing round
off back handsprings and flips as she ran. She did a final
flip and hopped up on a headstone and lit a cigarette.

"I don't know what the hell is going on, but I love it."

She may not have known what was going on, but somewhere in
Sunnydale a certain watcher was getting some very interesting
news regarding his new slayer. Or should I say, slayers.

Angel made sure both girls were safely inside Buffy's house
before pulling out of her driveway. Cordelia watched him
drive off and turned towards Buffy, who was acting a bit
strange. She watched as the blonde shed her coat and tossed
it over the railing before heading towards the kitchen.
Cordelia followed suit with her jacket and trailed the blonde
into the kitchen. Buffy had the refrigerator door open and
had her head half way inside.

"Are you hungry? I'm starving."

"Nope, can I get a water though?"

"Sure." Buffy grabbed a bottle of water and handed it to her
before turning back to the fridge. "Oh, yummy pizza."

Cordelia sat at the island in the middle of the room and
watched her friend with slight concern. She had never seen
two people, let alone girls, fight like Buffy and Faith had
battled earlier. She didn't think Buffy even knew how to
fight.

"Buffy are you okay?"

Buffy scrunched up her forehead in thought as she set the
pizza box on the counter. She chewed on her lip absently for
a moment before lifting her gaze to a set of chestnut eyes
watching her carefully.

"I don't know what happened back there." She paused for a
second and pushed some hair behind her ear. "It was weird,
all of a sudden something came over me and my body took over
where my brain left off. I was punching and kicking Faith
without even thinking about it. I don't know how to explain
it."

Cordelia gave her a sympathetic smile and reached out
grasping Buffy's head lightly, pulling the blonde closer so
she could kiss away the crinkles in Buffy's forehead. "Tell
ya what, let's just veg out and stuff ourselves silly,
watching stupid infomercials and corny movies. Then we can
sleep in and figure all this out tomorrow, sound good?"

Buffy smiled at her gratefully and leaned in for a light
kiss. "Sounds perfect. Thanks Cor."

Cordelia smiled and kissed her softly. "No problem, Summers.
Come on, let's eat."

Buffy was forever sworn to secrecy regarding Cordelia's
calorie intake that night. But Buffy would never tell.
After stuffing herself about four pounds past silly, Buffy
wrapped her arms around Cordelia in her bed and the two
drifted off to sleep. Actually, to be more specific,
Cordelia fell asleep and Buffy lay awake staring at the
ceiling wondering why she suddenly felt like a caged animal,
desperately trying to get loose. So, she untangled herself
from the gorgeous body beside her and headed downstairs to
pace. All night. No sleep for Buffy. And a tired slayer, I
mean blonde, is a cranky blonde. (We know what she is, but
she doesn't)

The rain poured down on the streets of Sunnydale the next
morning and nobody was happy about a perfectly good Saturday
being wasted with rain. Angel pulled the top up on his car
and backed out of the garage. He pulled down the street,
heading towards the Espresso Pump for his typical Saturday
coffee. As he approached downtown, he spotted police cars
and a truck from the morgue. He caught sight of Faith
standing next to an older man under an umbrella and pulled
over to see what was going on. He stepped out of the car as
one stretcher was being loaded into the back of the truck and
he caught sight of blonde hair peeking out from the sheet.
When Faith caught sight of him, she gave him a small sheepish
smile, probably remembering the way she acted the night
before and was feeling kind of silly.

"Hi Faith."

"Hey Angel." She gave a small nod to the man standing with
her. "This is Giles. G-man this is Angel. He's a good pal
of your girl Buffy."

Giles gave her an exasperated look and turned to Angel with a
small smile and extended his hand. "Nice to meet you."

Angel shook Giles's hand and furrowed his brow. "You know
Buffy?"

Giles nodded. "I work at the library at school, I know many
of the students."

Angel nodded and gave a small nod towards all the commotion.
"What's going on here?"

Faith glanced up at him, but dropped her gaze to the ground,
kicking a pebble with her boot. "Harmony and Aura were
attacked by dogs they think. They died." She added quietly.

Angel's eyes got wide. "What?"

Faith stuffed her hands in her pockets and met his gaze.
"They got attacked when they left the Bronze last night.
Some jogger found them this morning and called the cops."

Angel stood in shock for a full five minutes before Faith
finally snapped him out of it. He said a quick good-bye to
both of them and ran across the street.

Giles and Faith watched him leave and Giles turned to her.
"We need to talk to Buffy."

"Yeah." She looked at the ground and fidgeted a bit. "Look,
G-man, I'm sorry. If I'd known what was going down last
night, I woulda skipped the drama with the cheerleaders and
done something to help those girls. I screwed up."

Giles gave her a comforting smile. "Faith, you had no idea
that what happened last night was you being called. You
turned into a slayer in a heated moment and usually in those
moments, your body will run on instinct. You had no idea.
I'm not disappointed in you."

She looked up at him hopefully. "You're not?"

"No." He readjusted his glasses and sighed. "I think we
should be on our way. I doubt if Buffy will be as receptive
to the idea of becoming a slayer as you were."

Faith rolled her eyes dramatically. "Dumb blonde."

"Faith." Giles said with warning.

She raised her hands and gave him a small grin. "I know, I
know. We're a team now and we need to get along, for the
sake of humanity and all that."

Buffy grabbed the phone on the second ring, having been up
all night, the phone was a welcome interruption from the
infomercial marathon that seemed to be on TV at the moment.

"Hello?"

"Hey Buffy, it's Angel."

"Hey, what's up?"

"I need to talk to you and Cordy, can I come over?"

"Sure."

"Okay, I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

"Okay, see ya then."

"Bye."

"Bye."

Buffy hung up the phone and stared at it for a moment, hoping
that she'd imagined the worry laced in Angel's voice. She
shrugged it off and headed upstairs to wake Cordelia up. She
almost gasped as she took in the sight of Cordelia asleep in
her bed. She was tangled in the sheets and had the most
adorable look on her face. Buffy eased the door shut and
slid onto the bed next to the brunette. She propped herself
up on her elbow as she swept a few strands of hair out of
Cordelia's face. Buffy smiled lovingly as the brunette
stirred under her touch. She watched, almost captivated as
Cordelia's eyes fluttered open and her sleepy chestnut eyes
focused on her.

"Hey." Buffy whispered.

Cordelia smiled in response and pulled Buffy close. Morning
was her favorite snuggle time and she intended on using it
wisely.

"Angel's coming over."

Cordy scowled and stretched slightly. "Why? It's Saturday,
I want my morning cuddles."

"I know, I do too, but he sounded weird. He'll be here in
fifteen."

Cordy pouted slightly, and Buffy took the opportunity to kiss
the protruding bottom lip lightly. Cordelia smiled slyly and
wrapped her arms around Buffy tighter. She trailed her nails
up and down the blonde's back lightly and smiled triumphantly
when she got a shiver from her. They remained snuggly until
a knock on the door downstairs roused them from the bed.
They both trudged downstairs and Buffy opened the door for
Angel who walked in with a tray of coffee and a box.

"Sorry to get you up early. I brought coffee and doughnuts
as a peace offering." He smiled hesitantly holding the
aforementioned items up in front of him, using them,
hopefully, as a shield from the morning terror that was
Cordelia Chase.

Cordelia grabbed her coffee as she passed Angel on the way to
the couch and yawned as she flopped down with an unusual lack
of grace. Buffy smiled warmly at him and thanked him quietly
as she accepted her coffee and followed Cordelia to the
couch. Angel set the box on the coffee table and sat
gingerly next to it.

"I got some bad news this morning." He started carefully.

That small confession was enough to get the full attention of
the two girls quietly sipping their mochas.

"Apparently after they left the Bronze last night, Harm and
Aura were attacked. They're saying it was a wild dog
attack."

Buffy was silent, praying that this bad news didn't end the
way she'd been reading most 'wild dog attacks' did in
Sunnydale.

Cordelia sat up a little straighter and looked Angel dead in
the eye. "Are they okay?"

Angel let his gaze drop to the floor for a moment before
returning it to the dark eyes about to stare holes in his
head. "No. They were being taken to the morgue when I saw
them."

"Oh God."

Angel pulled Cordelia into a hug and she clung to him for a
long time that day. Buffy remained silent for most of the
day. She couldn't help but feel partially responsible for
Harmony and Aura's deaths. If she'd never said anything to
Cordelia about her feelings, she never would have had a fight
with her friends that caused them to storm out of the club
last night.

Three days later, both girls were buried in Restfield
cemetery. Cordelia had taken a few days off from school and
had spent every night since Buffy's fight with Faith at her
house. Buffy found it strange that the day Harmony and Aura
died, Faith showed up on her doorstep with an older man who
needed to talk to her. She turned them both away explaining
that someone close had died. Giles understood immediately
and left with no further action or explanation. He and Faith
began training a bit. It consisted of a lot of Giles
talking, mostly about vampires, and Faith listening. They
went on patrol those nights and as they were heading into
Restfield the fourth night, a recently sired platinum blonde
vampire and his newly sired ditzy blonde were leaving. L.A.
sounded good to both of them. Small towns just plain sucked.
Too bad for Aura, though, she just had her neck snapped.
Spike said she talked too much. Ha, just wait til he gets a
load of Harm. Then again, he always did have a thing for
blondes.

A few days later, Cordelia, Buffy and company were at their
usual table in the quad eating lunch. Cordelia was watching
with great interest as her girlfriend consumed more than
everyone combined at the table. She took in the sight of the
blonde and became a bit concerned as she noticed something.
"Have you lost weight, Summers?"

Buffy looked up from her third slice of pizza and nodded.
"Yup, eleven pounds in a week." She furrowed her brow for a
moment. "But I'm constantly hungry, I don't get it."

Cordelia gave her a comforting smile and kissed her temple
lightly. "Maybe you should see a doctor. That can't be
right."

Buffy shrugged. "I feel fine, for the most part."

Cordelia rolled her eyes and propped her chin on her hand.
"So you feeling fine is being starving all the time, losing a
ton of weight, not sleeping, fidgeting constantly and getting
those tingles that you get from time to time?"

Buffy suddenly looked up and scanned the quad. "Speaking of
tingles." She murmured.

Cordelia followed her gaze. "Again?" She asked quietly.

Buffy nodded absently as she caught sight of Faith walking
towards them. Faith seemed to have lost her confident
swagger as she approached the table slowly. Buffy and
Cordelia both glared at her and the others watched with
interest.

Faith gave Buffy a tiny smile. "Um...the librarian, Mr. Giles
said he needs to talk to both of us in the library."

"Why?" Buffy asked shortly.

Faith shrugged and averted her eyes to anything besides the
hazel ones boring holes in her skull. "Don't know, he just
said he needs to see us after school."

Buffy felt bad for being bitchy, but she didn't really care
so she continued. "So why did he send you? Can he not tell
me himself?"

"He caught me in the hall and asked me to ask you." Faith
paused uncomfortably. "So can you be there?"

"Yeah, whatever." Buffy replied dismissively.

"Cool, I'll let him know." Faith departed with a tight smile
and Buffy sat staring after her, wondering why the tingles
she felt seemed to be going away as Faith left. Cordelia's
hand running up and down her back brought her back to reality
and she gazed at her perfect girlfriend and smiled warmly
before moving in for a tiny kiss.

"Yay, can't wait for school to be over." She rolled her eyes
and pushed some hair out of her eyes. "I wonder if that will
make the day go by quicker." She considered absently. Buffy
shrugged it off and finished off her lunch just as the
warning bell sounded to get them herded back to classes. The
group stood and discarded their trash and Cordelia grabbed
Buffy's small hand in hers and the two made their way to gym
class.

A few seemingly quick, for Buffy at least, hours later,
Cordelia was standing with Buffy outside the library.

"Are you sure you don't want us to wait? I know Angel won't
mind." Cordelia asked, brushing a few small strands of hair
away from Buffy's beautiful eyes.

Buffy smiled softly. "No, it's okay, I'll walk, I need to
burn off some energy anyways."

"Okay, but call me when you get home and let me know what all
this is about, okay?" Cordy asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Sure." She leaned in for a kiss that ended up becoming a
bit more passionate as the seconds ticked by. Buffy pulled
away, slightly flushed and smiled at her girlfriend. "Bronze
later?"

Cordelia grinned widely. "Absolutely. Be good."

"Always am. See ya sweetie."

"Bye honey."

The girls shared a grin over their goofy lovey dovey-ness and
shared one final quick kiss before Cordelia turned and
sauntered away. Buffy watched her go for a moment before
taking a deep breath and pushing through the library doors.
She found Faith and who she figured was Mr. Giles sitting at
a table in the middle of the empty library. They both looked
up as she entered and Giles stood with a smile and approached
her. "Buffy, I'm Rupert Giles, please come in and sit down."
He motioned with his hand at the table where he had been
sitting.

Buffy approached the table cautiously. "Okay. What's going
on here?"

"Sit down and I will try to explain everything." He gave her
a reassuring smile.

Buffy gave him a tight smile and moved further into the room.
She glanced at Faith, who appeared to be nervous, as she
dropped her backpack and jacket on the floor next to her
chair. She sat down and immediately crossed her right leg
over her left and began tapping her foot rather rapidly.

Giles sat in the chair opposite hers and folded his hands.
"Buffy, do you remember the night in the alley when you and
Faith fought?"

Buffy nodded. "Yup, it's not something a girl tends to
forget. Why?"

He glanced at Faith quickly and returned his gaze to the
blonde in front of him. "Do you recall any strange feelings
you had before you started to fight?"

She narrowed her eyes. "What is this all about?"

Giles held his hands up and gave his best comforting smile.
"I promise I will explain everything, I just need you to
answer a few questions for me."

"Fine." She sighed. "I was just standing there about to hit
Faith when something just came over me and it felt like my
body just took off on it's own. I didn't even mean to really
fight with her, my body just wouldn't stop. It was very
strange."

He nodded and considered his next question carefully. "Have
you ever heard of a slayer, Buffy?"

Buffy furrowed her brows as her gaze flickered between the
two people at the table. "Only once...some guy came up to me
back in L.A. and rambled on about slayers and vampires and
demons. I just ignored him, I thought he was crazy." She
shrugged.

"Well, I'm going to try to explain all of this to you, but I
need to ask you to keep an open mind and allow me to finish
before you say anything, alright?"

"Sure, explain away." She said with a tiny wave of her hand.

Buffy sat listening to Giles go on about the Watchers
Council, slayers, vampires and demons for about twenty
minutes, and when he was done, she just stared at him.

"You actually want me to believe that I'm a slayer and so it
Faith, and vampires and demons are real and Sunnydale is
sitting on the mouth of hell?" She glanced from Faith to
Giles and back to Faith. "You believe him?"

Faith nodded and glanced at Giles. "It's true, B. I saw it
with my own eyes, hell, I've dusted a few vamps myself in the
last few days. He's all truth."

"So if this is all true, why are there two of us? You said a
Chosen One. Singular." She emphasized her point by holding
one finger up to him.

Giles removed his glasses and began cleaning them. "Yes,
well, the fact that two potential slayers where in such close
proximity when the spell was released comes into play. The
coven in England cast the spell so that if a slayer dies, the
new slayer automatically gets called. All potential slayers
have the true power of the slayer inside them, but it's
behind a closed door. The spell just opens that door and the
power comes flooding out. The two of you being as close as
you both said you were allowed the spell to activate you
both. That's why there are two of you. This is the first
time this has ever happened, I can assure you." He added
while replacing his glasses.

"Does that explain the weird tingle thing I get every time
Faith is close?" She looked at the brunette. "Do you feel
it?"

"Yup. It's wicked weird. You'll feel a different one when
you're close to a vamp. It isn't quite as nice. It feels
kinda like an itch you can't scratch. Until they poof that
is." She added with a tiny grin.

Buffy furrowed her brow trying to take in all this
information. "Well, what if I say I don't want to do this?
I mean, Faith obviously likes it, why can't I just let her
take the Chosen status?"

Giles stood up and began to pace back and forth. "Well,
regardless, you'll still be a slayer, and just as you can
sense vampires, they can sense you. You won't be able to
turn your back on this. Evil will fight its way into your
life, literally and figuratively."

Buffy slumped down in her seat, defeated. "So, I'm stuck
then?"

Giles gave her a small smile. "I'm afraid you are. I'm not
going to lie to either of you, being a slayer is dangerous.
You will risk your lives on a daily basis, but the reward is
saving humanity. I'm sure at times, you will be called on to
save the world. You should consider yourself lucky that
there are two of you. A slayer's life can be quite lonely.
At least you have each other." He offered hopefully.

Buffy and Faith both exchanged a long look at this, finally
Buffy looked to Giles and sighed. "So, what do we do now?"

He tried to hide his wide smile, but failed miserably.
"Well, Faith and I will patrol tonight as usual. I want you
to really think about everything I told you and get a grasp
on it. We'll start the two of you training tomorrow after
school." He paused and removed his glasses. "Buffy, the
other thing you must understand is that this is to be kept a
secret. You can't tell anyone about it."

Buffy pouted slightly. "But what about our friends? They
saw us fighting like crazies the other night and I know
Cordelia has noticed all the weird stuff going on with me
lately."

Giles sighed and rubbed his chin absently. "Let's keep it
quiet for now. If we have to tell them, we'll find a way.
This really should be on a need to know basis, and I don't
think anyone needs to know right now."

Buffy nodded solemnly and glanced at Faith. "Wanna grab
something to eat? I'm starving."

Faith grinned at her sister slayer and hopped up from her
seat. "Yeah, let's roll. I'll be back after we eat, G-man
so we can patrol."

Giles smiled widely again. "That's fine, you two have a nice
time."

"Bye, Giles." Buffy said with a small wave after she
collected her stuff.

Faith gave Giles a mock salute and turned to leave. "See ya
G."

"Goodbye girls."

Giles watched his slayers leave and heaved a sigh of relief.
He was surprised Buffy took everything as well as she did.
He guessed that perhaps Faith learning about things early was
a blessing in disguise. He doubted that Buffy would have
lasted five minutes without Faith telling her everything he
said was true. He smiled his little Giles smile and went
back to his trusty books for the remainder of the afternoon.
Oh! And tea, you can't forget tea.

Buffy and Faith walked along the sidewalk side by side, in
complete silence. Buffy had a million questions burning her
brain that she wanted to spit out, but didn't know how,
considering the girl next to her tried to fight her
girlfriend not long ago.

"So, what's it like?" Buffy asked hesitantly.

Faith glanced up at her questioningly. "What's what like?"

"Staking a vampire."

Faith grinned from ear to ear. "Oh, wait until you do it, B.
You get hit with this wicked rush of adrenaline and you just
fly. Once it's done your whole body is humming."

Buffy smiled slightly at her enthusiasm. "I felt plenty of
humming the night we fought."

Faith smiled knowingly. "Yeah, me too." She dropped her
gaze to the ground and stuffed her hands in her pockets.
"Sorry about that by the way. I know I acted like a supreme
bitch. Your girl just drives me crazy."

Buffy nodded slowly. "Well, you drive her crazy too, so
you're even. But since we have to do this slaying thing
together it wouldn't be a bad idea to lay off her."

Faith thought it over for a moment and shrugged. "I will if
she will."

Buffy smiled and nodded. "I'll talk to her, don't worry."

Faith kicked at a stone on the sidewalk and looked up at her
blonde companion. "Why does she have to be like that
anyways? I mean, I met X and Wilma the first day of school
and one of the first things they said to me was to watch out
for Queen C. She gave me shit because I dress differently
and she gives the two of them shit for nothing all the time."

Buffy's face contorted with confusion. "Who's Wilma?"

Faith smiled and rolled her eyes playfully. "Willow."

"Oh, had me confused there, I thought there was another new
girl." Buffy shook her head. "Look, Cordelia can be a
bitch, and I know that. But once you get to know her, she's
really sweet and really great. I know she picks on you and
yours and since I asked you to play nice, I'll ask her to do
the same. Deal?"

"Deal."

The two continued into lighter talking territory as they
entered the pizza place Faith had picked out. The waiter
gave them both strange looks as they sat down and each
ordered a large pizza, but they just grinned.

"Have you lost any weight?" Buffy asked once the waiter was
gone.

"Yup, close to ten pounds, you?"

Buffy nodded. "Eleven in a week, that's certainly a
plus...although my girlfriend thinks I'm a total pig because I
eat so much. She wants me to see a doctor." She scowled at
the thought.

Faith shrugged absently. "G-man told me that it's a
temporary thing for us to lose so much weight. He said the
slayer takes over and will mold our bodies into top-notch
fighting machines."

"Did he say if this antsyness would go away?" Buffy asked
noticing both of them were fidgeting.

"He said it's normal for us to feel antsy. He said we're
meant to be on the prowl and hunting and some shit. I've
always been fidgety; it's normal for me. Is yours bad?"

Buffy sighed and rolled her eyes. "Yup, I can't sit still
for two minutes."

Faith nodded and ran her hand through her hair. "I think my
hearing has picked up a bit. I heard somebody walking their
dog last night, and I could hear a twig break across the
street when I was in the backyard. I can barely sleep, every
little sound wakes me up."

"Yeah, I've found my sight has improved, especially at
night."

"Yup, mine too. G said all this is normal and will get
easier as our bodies adjust to all this crap surging through
us. We just need to give it time." She offered with a shrug
and a smile.

The girls chatted for a few more minutes until their pizzas
arrived and were scarfed down. The waiter looked impressed
when he removed two empty pizza trays. Once they paid and
were outside, Faith grinned at a random thought.

"Ya know, I bet we could have wicked games of hide and seek
with this tingle thing once you get into patrol."

Buffy broke out into a grin. "Ooh, that would be fun. Will
Giles be with us when we patrol?"

Faith rolled her eyes and nodded. "He said he wants to come
with the first week or so, just to make sure we aren't in
over our heads, which is stupid in my opinion. I left his
ass in the dust more than a few times the other night.
Watchers are meant to watch, slayers are meant to slay."

Buffy gave her a silly grin. "How very observant of you."

"Bite me, blondie." Faith replied with a playful scowl.

Buffy grinned and glanced at her watch. "Crap, Cor's
probably worried, I should call her. You Bronzing tonight?"

"Yup, after patrol, I'm meeting X and Wilma. You?"

"Yeah, see ya there?"

"Yup. Later, slayer." Faith grinned and headed off towards
the school.

"See ya, Faith."

Buffy turned and started walking home slowly; trying to wrap
her brain around everything she'd learned that afternoon.
She decided for now to keep the slayer stuff to herself. She
didn't want to lie to Cor or her friends, but she didn't want
them to think she was a freak and abandon her either. For
now, she would just have to think of something to tell them
in regards to the situation this afternoon and figure out a
way to get out of spending afternoons with Cordelia, since
she would be training. By the time she made it home, she
figured she had a good enough story to tell her girlfriend
and headed for the kitchen once she was inside. She found a
note with a twenty-dollar bill on the counter and knew right
away that mom would be out for the night and left her money
for pizza and a movie. She grabbed the phone as she opened
the door the fridge and dialed Cordelia's number.

"Hello?"

"Hey." Buffy replied.

"Hey, how are you?"

"I'm okay. You?"

"Good. So what was up with the secret meeting this
afternoon?"

Buffy winced slightly. "Actually, I'd rather talk to you in
person, wanna come over? Mom's gone for the night."

"Sure, I'll be over in a bit. You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, Cor, I'm fine. I'll be better when you're here
though."

"Aw, isn't that sweet? I have my very own sap factory."

Buffy scowled. "Hey! Fine, no more sappy from me. Hmph."

"I'm only kidding, you know I love it. I'll see ya in a
bit."

"Kay, bye."

"Bye."

Buffy hung up the phone and went upstairs to change. She
grabbed a pair of gray workout pants that were fairly loose
and a form fitting red tee shirt with tiny sleeves. Once she
changed she headed back downstairs and flopped down on the
couch. For the first time in a week, she felt like sleep
might actually be a possibility that night. She flipped the
TV on and sprawled out finding a comfortable position on her
stomach. About ten minutes later there was a knock on the
door and it opened to reveal Cordelia's face peeking in.
Buffy looked up and grinned, feeling enormously comforted by
the other girl's mere presence.

"Hey, come in."

"Hey." Cordelia came in, doting a similar outfit, black
workout pants with white stripes down the legs, sneakers and
a plain white tee. She looked amazing to Buffy, who rarely
saw her this dressed down. Cordelia plunked down on the
floor, sitting Indian style in front of Buffy and she leaned
in for a kiss.

"Is everything okay? Ya seemed kinda weird on the phone."

"Yeah, it's just been a long day and I'm glad you're here."

Cordelia reached out a hand and played with a few strands of
silky blonde hair. "Wanna tell me what's up?"

Buffy remained silent for a few moments as she had an inner
debate about whether she should lie or tell the truth to
Cordelia. She absolutely hated lying, and she knew if
Cordelia eventually found out what was going on, it would
most likely end up causing more problems for both of them.
She finally decided on the truth, and it scared her half to
death to think about Cordelia's reaction.

"Hey." Cordelia said softly, seeing the inner turmoil in
Buffy's eyes. Buffy met her gaze and found Cordelia's stare
to be welcoming and comforting to her. Buffy took a deep
breath and sat up fully on the couch.

"Remember how you were worried about everyone's reaction when
you told them about us? You were afraid they would disown
you and think you were weird?" Buffy glanced at Cordelia
nervously and the brunette nodded, silently urging her to
continue. "Well, I kind of have to tell you something, and
I'm afraid that you might disown me and think I'm a freak, so
I'm kinda scared right now, but I want, no, I need to be
completely honest with you about it, good or bad."

Cordelia pushed away the terrifying thoughts coursing through
her brain and gave Buffy her most encouraging smile, reaching
out and grasping her hand lightly. "Summers, just tell me.
I've seen and heard some of the weirdest things growing up in
Sunnydale, you'd be surprised what doesn't stun those of us
who have lived here forever. Just tell me."

Buffy gave her a small smile and squeezed Cordelia's hand
lightly, very lightly, very, very lightly. Slayer strength
and all that. She took a deep breath and sighed out. "As
you know I went to see Giles, the librarian, after school
with Faith. It turns out he knows a lot about what's been
happening to me lately. He has a job at the school, but he
really works for an organization in England called the
Council. He was sent here to watch over me and Faith. It
turns out, the reason we went so crazy on each other and
fought so well last week is because we're what's known as
slayers. With Giles's help, we're supposed to fight against
evil. Here in Sunnydale, because apparently this town is
sitting on the mouth of hell." Buffy winced waiting for
Cordelia to run out of the house screaming about her being a
total weirdo.

"So you guys fight vampires and stuff?" Cordelia asked
expectantly with an eyebrow raised.

Buffy sat stunned looking at the brunette like she had a
second head.

Cordelia rolled her eyes and grasped both of Buffy's hands in
hers. "I told you, living in Sunnydale forces you to believe
in the Boogey man. They must think that we're all completely
retarded when they make up stories about wild dogs and gangs
and stuff. Too many people, who are only attacked at night,
have been found dead and they all mysteriously have two bite
marks on their necks and no blood left."

"So you know about vampires?" Buffy asked, completely
baffled.

Cordelia nodded and tilted her head. "Yup, I've been
attacked three different times coming home from the Bronze,
Angel and Riley somehow always manage to fight them off and
we escape." She said proudly.

"So you don't think I'm a freak?" She had to ask, she had to
make sure.

Cordelia gave her an impish grin. "Well, aside from the fact
that I think you're a little too fascinated with fire, no. I
think you're brave and noble for wanting to fight against all
the scaries out there. But I don't think you're freaky or
anything. I've heard vampires mention the slayer before,
they have major wood for you guys, let me tell you."

Buffy raised her eyebrows at that comment. She thought for a
moment. "Well, actually, there was only supposed to be one.
The spell or whatever backfired and now we have two."

"You and Faith?" Cordelia asked, her voice dripping with
disdain at the second name.

"Got it in one."

Cordelia's features soured slightly. "So you actually have
to hang with her now?"

"Yup, actually, that's why I got back so late, we grabbed
pizza and talked a bit. She's not that bad." Buffy offered
hopefully.

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "I still think she's a bitch,
sorry, I know that you're gonna have to get along with her
and stuff, but don't expect me to."

"Nope, although, could you play nice? For me?" Buffy pulled
out the puppy dog eyes and Cordelia rolled her eyes,
obviously immune to their powers.

"I will if she will." She agreed reluctantly.

"She will, I already asked her to." Buffy gazed at the
gorgeous brunette on the floor in front of her and a smile
immediately graced her lips. "You have no idea how glad I am
that you're not running out the door screaming about me being
looney."

Cordelia grinned and kept her looney joke to herself but
suddenly a thought occurred to her and she turned serious.
"I'm just glad you decided to be straight with me. It means
a lot that you're honest about big stuff."

Buffy smiled shyly. "Giles said specifically that I wasn't
supposed to tell anyone, but I knew I couldn't keep this from
you. But would you mind if we kept it quiet from Angel and
Riley for a while?"

Cordelia sighed, not liking lying to her best friends, but
ultimately felt she had no choice. "I will because you want
me to, although, they're pretty much gonna take the news the
way I did. They've come face to face with this stuff too."

"I know, but it's supposed to be kept quiet and I probably
will have to tell them eventually, I told you mostly because
I knew I would have to give you some explanation about my
whereabouts after school and some nights."

Cordelia scowled. "So, this is going to cut into our time
isn't it?"

Buffy gave her a sheepish and apologetic smile. "Yes, to a
certain extent, but I'm not gonna let it come between us,
I'll make plenty of time for you." She added with a nod.

Cordelia smiled triumphantly. "That's all I needed to hear."

Buffy grinned and leaned in for a small kiss. She paused for
a moment as she remembered something. "One question though."

"Okay."

"When Angel came over last weekend and said a dog attacked
Harm and Aura, you guys knew it was vamps?"

Cordelia shrugged. "I figured as much, and I'm sure he did
too, he probably didn't want to freak you out about it and I
didn't either, so I just agreed with it."

Buffy smiled warmly and tugged Cordelia off the floor and
onto the couch next to her. "It's kinda weird to think that
we both tried to hide the same thing from each other, don't
you think?"

Cordy grinned. "Just trying to protect you is all."

"Well, I'm a big slayer now, so we can be honest about it
from now on."

"Deal." Cordelia agreed with a nod.

"Kiss on it?" Buffy asked impishly.

"Absolutely."

Cordelia leaned over and kissed Buffy gently. Buffy snaked a
hand around Cordelia's neck and pulled her closer, deepening
the kiss. Buffy moaned at the softness of Cordelia's lips,
yet the utter passion behind them. Cordelia smiled into the
kiss and opened her mouth allowing Buffy's tongue to enter.
Buffy dipped her tongue into Cordelia's warm mouth and felt
the brunette's hands slide through her hair. Cordelia leaned
back and caught her breath for a second and locked her gaze
with the Buffy's darkening hazel eyes. She eased herself up
and slid a leg over both of Buffy's and gently settled her
weight on Buffy's lap. Buffy placed her hands on Cordelia's
thighs and leaned in for a searing kiss. She began trailing
small kisses down Cordy's jaw, to her neck. She sucked
lightly on her pulse point, eliciting a small moan from the
brunette on her lap. She pulled away and as she gazed up at
her girlfriend. Her breath hitched in her chest and she felt
a wave of emotion pass through her entire being. Cordelia
ran her fingers through Buffy's hair gently and kissed the
slayer's forehead softly.

"You are so beautiful, Cor." Buffy breathed out.

Cordelia smiled sweetly. "Honey, if I'm beautiful, then
you're stunning."

Buffy gave Cordelia a loving smile as she gazed up at her.
"Stay here tonight?"

Cordelia grinned and kissed her girlfriend lightly. "There
is no place I would rather be."

"Mmm, good." Buffy moved her hands from Cordelia's hips to
the small of her back and slid her fingers under the fabric
to find smooth skin. She watched as Cordelia closed her eyes
and bit her lip, biting back a tiny moan. Cordelia allowed
her head to fall back slightly and Buffy seized the
opportunity to kiss the brunette's throat lightly. Buffy
tightened her grip and suddenly stood up, bringing Cordelia
with her, who gasped at the sudden movement. She quickly
grinned and wrapped her legs around Buffy's waist as the
blonde turned and moved towards the stairs.

"Wow, this slayer thing is something I could get used to."
Cordy said with a grin, wrapping her arms around Buffy's
neck. Buffy just smiled impishly and kissed Cordelia as she
ascended the steps. Once she reached her bedroom, Buffy
kicked the door closed with her foot and moved to the bed.
She leaned over and placed Cordelia on the bed gently, but
was surprised when the brunette didn't release her arms or
legs. Buffy kissed her quickly. "I'm gonna hit the lights."

Cordelia smiled and kissed Buffy gently as she relinquished
her hold on the slayer. As Buffy moved across the room,
Cordelia shed her sneakers and socks, and slid her workout
pants down her legs before she crawled under the blankets.
Once the lights had been shut off, Buffy moved back to the
bed and slid her pants off and slinked into bed.

As soon as she was between the sheets, Buffy pulled the
brunette closer to her, immediately wrapping her arms and
legs around her. Cordelia allowed her hand to trail up one
of Buffy's legs and it made a final stop under the fabric of
a tee shirt at the small of Buffy's back. Buffy finally
managed a full night of sleep that night, wrapped pleasantly
around her girlfriend with a smile gracing her features as
she drifted off.

Ethan Rayne stepped out of his car and grinned as he took in
the sight of Sunnydale high school. He watched the students
leaving for the day as he made his way across the street. He
finally managed to find the library as he weaved his way
through the corridors. He peered through the circular window
on the door and watched his old pal Ripper as he took his
slayer through a sparring drill. Ethan had to bite back a
laugh as Giles was sent flying through the air and landed on
a nearby table.

He pushed the door open and sauntered inside. "Well, some
things never change, it seems as though I remember you
spending a lot of time on your back in the library back at
the academy, Ripper."

Buffy and Faith watched as Giles rolled off the table and
moved slowly towards the other man in the room.

"What are you doing here Ethan?"

Ethan smirked. "What, I can't pay old friends a visit?"

"I'm not your friend." Giles almost growled out.

Ethan laughed loudly and waved him off. "Don't be so British
you old tweed, I just stopped by to say hello to my new
neighbors."

Giles glared at the other man. "Neighbors? You live here?"

"Yes, actually. I just bought a nice old house, this town in
quite lovely." Ethan replied with a wide smile.

Giles suddenly lunged towards Ethan and grabbed him by the
front of the shirt and pinned him against the wall. "You
listen closely Ethan, I don't want any trouble from you. If
you so much as breathe in the wrong direction, I will
personally see to it that I finish what I started years ago."

Ethan grinned, not letting his fear be shown as his old buddy
Ripper made an appearance. He pushed Giles's hands away and
moved away, heading for the door. "Don't worry, Ripper, you
won't be seeing much of me." He grinned wickedly and mumbled
to himself. "Although your slayers might." With that he
flung the doors open and sauntered out.

Faith leaned over to Buffy and whispered something in her ear
that made her giggle through the disgusted look on her face,
and Giles swung around to face them both. At his glare, both
slayers moved back into fighting stances and resumed their
sparring. Giles moved to his office to make tea, but parted
with a final thought to the two girls fighting furiously.
"You two will patrol alone tonight, and be careful."

Buffy and Faith grinned wickedly, happy that they would
finally be free during patrol.

"Come on B, let's eat before we go. I'm starving." Faith
said as she tugged the blonde out the door.

"Mmm, me too." Buffy paused for a moment. "But please keep
comments like that about Giles to yourself, you almost made
me lose my appetite.

Faith laughed loudly and slung an arm over the blonde's
shoulders as the Chosen Two made their way out of the school.
That must have been some nasty comment for Buffy to lose her
appetite, hmm, wonder what she said.

Buffy scanned the cemetery looking past headstones and
mausoleums trying to locate her target. She closed her eyes
and tried to hone her senses and she finally picked up on a
familiar tickle on the back of her neck. She grinned and
took of running in the direction of a large crypt with a
cross on the side. As she approached, she saw a blur of
movement and took off. Sprinting as fast as she could, she
leapt over headstones and finally made a jump, tackling her
opponent to the ground. "Ha! Got you, you're it."

Faith was about to reply when both girls heard a rustling
close by. The got up slowly and tried to keep themselves
hidden. The watched as six vampires pried open the door to a
crypt and moved inside. The slayers exchanged a look and
moved slowly and quietly, working out a plan as they moved.

"Okay, you take one side of the door, and I'll take the
other, we can do a one two and catch the first two out the
door by surprise, then we only have two each." Buffy
whispered quietly as they approached.

Faith nodded. "Got it."

The slayers moved into position and waited. A minute later,
the first two vampires were out the door and turned to dust
before the others knew what had happened. The two slayers
squared off with the remaining vamps and five minutes later,
the slayers were surrounded with six piles of dust. Buffy
gave Faith a high five and bent down to retrieve a stake she
had dropped.

"Hey Faith, check it out." Buffy picked up a large amulet
from the ground and handed it to the brunette slayer, who
turned it over in her hands, examining it carefully.

"Huh, guess we give this to G-man in the morning. Wonder
what it does."

Buffy eyed the object warily. "I'm not too sure I wanna
know. Wanna get outta here? I think I've had enough for
tonight."

Faith shrugged. "Sure, wanna hit the Bronze and see if
anybody's there?"

"Sounds good to me. Let's go."

Faith stuffed the amulet in her jacket and the two made their
way to the club. Once inside, the two slayers separated
almost regretfully and headed to opposite sides of the club.
Buffy approached her table and greeted everyone before
pulling her girlfriend to her feet and then to the dance
floor. The two shared a grin and wrapped their arms around
each other exchanging a sweet kiss.

"Hey." Buffy drawled out playfully.

Cordelia grinned. "Hey, how was patrol?"

Buffy shrugged. "It was okay. We caught a group of vamps
stealing an amulet thingie and dusted all of them. So we
have to report to Giles in the morning."

"But you were careful right?" Cordelia asked.

"Yup, just a few bumps and bruises, nothing major." Buffy
reassured her with a kiss.

"Mmm, good."

Buffy leaned in for another quick kiss and caught the
brunette's eyes. "I've been thinking a bit and there's
something I need to ask you."

"Okay, ask away."

"Do you wanna go to homecoming with me?" Buffy asked
quietly.

Cordelia broke into a wide grin. "Absolutely."

Buffy grinned and kissed Cordelia lightly as the two moved to
the music in the club. A few minutes later, Angel
interrupted with a tap on Cordelia's shoulder.

"Hey CC? Can I talk to Buffy for a second?"

"Sure. You two be good." She kissed Buffy lightly and
headed back to the table. Angel wrapped an arm around
Buffy's waist as she draped an arm on his shoulder.

She eyed him carefully for a moment. "What's up Angel?"

He furrowed his brow for a second and looked down at her.
"Well, I've noticed that you and Faith have been hanging
around together lately."

Buffy gave him a small but slightly confused smile. "Yeah,
she's actually pretty cool once you get to know her."

Angel opened his mouth to say something, but snapped it shut.
He pursed his lips for a second before sighing. "Well, see
I've been thinking about her a bit lately. I mean, she's hot
and she seems to be nice."

Buffy grinned, she knew what was going on. "Angel? Do you
wanna ask her out?"

Angel became slightly flustered and shrugged. "Well, I was
thinking about asking her to homecoming. But I don't know if
she'd go with me."

"Well, I have heard her say that she thinks you're yummy."
Buffy teased lightly with a silly grin.

Angel raised an eyebrow and smiled. "She thinks I'm yummy?"

Buffy rolled her eyes and gave him a grin. "You are. And
yes, she thinks so too."

"So should I ask her?" He gave her a worried look.

Buffy gave him her most encouraging smile. "Yes, you should,
I'm sure she'd say yes."

Angel took a deep breath and mentally psyched himself up. He
grinned at Buffy and released her to approach Faith. Buffy
smiled fondly at him as she watched him move to the other
side of the club. She moved back to the table and found Anya
and Cordelia in the middle of a heated debate.

"Anya, I can't believe you asked him to homecoming."
Cordelia exclaimed with a sigh.

Anya rolled her eyes. "Why? I think he's cute and I think I
love him."

Cordelia's fists drew themselves into a ball and she had to
restrain herself a bit. "Anya, he is a total loser. You can
do so much better." She glanced up at Buffy and her features
softened as the blonde slid into the seat and kissed her
temple lightly.

Buffy smiled warmly at Anya. "So, you finally asked Xander
to the dance?"

Anya nodded and Cordelia's head whipped in the direction of
her girlfriend. "Wait, you knew about this?"

Buffy nodded, obviously oblivious to the horror in her
girlfriend's voice. "Yes, I had to do that project with Will
and Xander and Anya asked me to ask him if he had a date yet
because she wanted to ask him."

Cordelia sighed dramatically. "And you support this?"

Buffy grasped both of Cordelia's hands in hers and caught her
eyes. "Cor, honey, remember, just because you don't approve
of who your friends are dating, doesn't mean you should judge
them for it." Buffy gazed at her girlfriend hoping she would
think about the way she was acting. Cordelia caught on
quickly and gave Buffy a small nod. Buffy smiled softly at
her and kissed her quickly.

"Well, Anya I hope you and Xander have a great time. Maybe
all of us can share a limo or something."

Anya smiled at Buffy gratefully; thankful she didn't have to
listen to any more of the Queen's rant. Buffy winked at her,
leaning back into her girlfriend and watching Angel approach
the table with a small smile on his face.

"I'm guessing that was a yes?" The slayer asked with a tiny
smile on her pretty features.

Angel nodded and smiled. "Yup, I have myself a date."

"With who?" Cordelia looked from Buffy to Angel, her
confusion was evident to both of them.

Buffy braced herself for the blow and winced. Angel caught
Cordelia's eye and grinned widely. "Faith."

Cordelia sat stunned for a few moments and closed her eyes,
shaking her head. Buffy squeezed her hand lightly, trying to
silently keep her girlfriend calm. When Cordelia opened her
eyes, she found her girlfriend's hazel eyes watching her
carefully. Buffy gave her a small smile and Cordy rolled her
eyes and sighed. "We were talking about all of us going
together and sharing a limo, so if you and Faith would like
to join us, I'm sure we'll have a great time."

Angel smiled at Cordelia and dropped a kiss to the top of her
head. "I think that sounds like a great idea, thanks CC."

Cordelia smiled up at her oldest friend and shook her head
lightly. "So we're all going to the bonfire next Friday
right?"

Buffy's featured glazed over as she looked at her girlfriend.
"Bonfire?"

"Oh Jesus, Summers, not the fire thing again." She smiled at
the blonde fondly. "There's always a bonfire the night
before the dance. Some weird ass tradition."

"Pretty." Buffy murmured absently with a tiny smile on her
face.

Angel and Riley looked from Buffy to Cordelia wearing
matching looks of confusion. She rolled her eyes and
shrugged. "I have no idea."

The two guys shrugged and they launched into a conversation
about the bonfire and their dates for the dance. Cordy
reached out and played with a strand of honey blonde hair as
she split her attention between the two guys and her
girlfriend, who still seemed to be distracted with thoughts
of fire burning through her brain. Cordelia wondered briefly
if that was normal, but shrugged it off and pushed the
thought away. Buffy did like fire though.

Buffy sat in the kitchen nervously, waiting for her mother to
come downstairs. She had decided that it was time to clue
her mom in on her relationship with Cordelia. Since the two
would be going to homecoming together, she figured she
couldn't really hide it from her mom anymore. Buffy sat,
fidgeting, reading the paper, making coffee, anything to keep
her nerves at bay. She thought for a few brief seconds about
making breakfast, but her culinary skills would probably end
up killing them both, and Buffy wasn't about to check out
anytime soon, so she sat. Fidgeting. Waiting.

Finally, Joyce joined her daughter and knew something was
wrong the second she saw her. She'd read enough books to
know that if she ignored her daughter's fidgety presence, she
would eventually spill.

"Morning honey."

"Morning mom."

Joyce made a cup of coffee and sat across from Buffy at the
island, scanning the paper. Buffy finally decided to spill a
few minutes later, not being able to take any more of this.

"Mom, I have something I need to tell you."

"Okay, sweetie, you know you can tell me anything."

"You remember Cordelia right?" Buffy asked, and her mother
nodded, waiting for the rest. "Well, we've been hanging out
a lot lately and we both sort of realized we kind of had
feelings for each other. We've kind of been dating for a few
months now and we're going to homecoming together." Buffy
statement started slow, but she soon found the words to come
pouring out her mouth quickly as she braced herself for her
mom's reaction. Joyce smiled at her daughter's confession,
almost grateful that she wouldn't have to worry about her
teenage daughter dealing with pressure from boys who only had
one thing on their minds.

"Well, Cordelia seems like a very nice girl, and the two of
you seem to get along well, so I'm happy for you."

Buffy gaped at her mom, wondering briefly if she'd been
possessed or something equally weird. They were on the
Hellmouth after all.

"That's it?"

"Buffy, don't get me wrong. I am a bit surprised that you
are dating another girl, but if that's what makes you happy,
then who am I to say anything about it. Although, this is a
small town, and not everyone will be as open minded about
this as I am. I know you're a strong person and I hope you
don't let small minded people get the better of you." Joyce
gave her a warm, loving smile. "Just be careful, that's all
that I ask"

Buffy pulled her mom into a hug and wiped away a few tears.
"Thanks mom."

"You're welcome honey." Joyce pulled out a few pots and pans
and started making breakfast. "So I suppose we should go out
dress shopping soon?"

Buffy grinned at her mom, thankful that she'd been so great
and nodded furiously at the shopping proposal. The two
settled in for breakfast and discussed dress options for the
rest of the morning, until Buffy moved upstairs to call
Cordelia and tell her the great news.

Angel pulled his car up in Faith's driveway and ran his
fingers through his hair nervously. It was time to meet
Faith's father. Brad Cooper had been less than thrilled that
his freshman daughter was asked to go to the homecoming dance
with a junior, so he and Faith made a little deal. She could
go with Angel to the dance, but only if he met him first. So
of course, she agreed. Angel was nervous. Most of the girls
he had dated to this point had been snotty rich girls and
their parents didn't care one way or the other who their
daughter was going out with, as long as he had money, so he
hadn't met too many parents. He heaved out a nervous sigh
and got out of the car, approaching the house slowly, trying
to keep his cool.

He knocked on the door and was met by Faith, who appeared to
be slightly dressed down. She had on a pair of faded jeans
and a yellow tee shirt, with her hair pulled up in a
ponytail. Angel smiled when he saw her, thinking that she'd
never looked better to him.

Faith smiled shyly. "Hey Angel, come on in"

"Hey Faith. You look nice."

Faith rolled her eyes. "I look like a scrub, but thanks.
You look good too." Angel had on a pair of khaki shorts with
a blue tee shirt and flip-flops. He moved inside and Faith
led him to the kitchen where her dad was waiting. Angel gave
Brad Cooper his best charming smile as the two approached.

"Dad, this is Angel O'Connor, Angel this is my dad, Brad
Cooper."

Brad extended a hand to him with a smile. "Hey Angel, it's
nice to meet you."

Angel smiled and took the hand. "You too Mr. Cooper, I've
heard some great things about your artwork."

Brad smiled widely. "Oh really? Who from?" He asked
curiously. "Oh, and please call me Brad."

Angel smiled and nodded. "Actually, a good friend of mine,
Buffy Summers. Her mother works at the gallery in town and
thinks your work is great."

Faith seemed oblivious to the slightly dazed expression her
father's face wore, but Angel smiled to himself as he picked
up on it. "Ah, Joyce is a real sweet woman, she says a lot
of nice things."

Faith was slightly confused. "Dad, you know Buffy's mom?"

Brad rolled his eyes and smiled fondly at his daughter for
being slightly overprotective. "Yes honey, she works at the
gallery and has been helping me put up some of my prints."

"Oh."

Brad turned to Angel. "So Faith here says you play
football?"

Angel nodded. "Yeah, I've been playing on the varsity squad
for three years now."

"Really? What position?"

"Quarterback."

Brad's eyes lit up. "I used to QB when I played too."

Faith rolled her eyes as her father began going into his
'good old days' speech and prayed Angel wouldn't think she
was a total loser after meeting her father. She loved her
dad dearly, but he could be a bit on the crazy side
sometimes. She tuned the next twenty minutes out as she
thought about slaying and battle strategies. Once the trip
down memory lane was over, the three talked for another half
hour, until Brad finally decided that Faith had been
subjected to enough parental abuse and gave his OK on the
dance.

Angel said good-bye to Brad and Faith walked him to the door.
"Sorry about my dad, he can be a bit too much sometimes."

Angel shook his head. "No, he's fine. My dad can get a bit
'glory days' sometimes too."

"So, he didn't dissuade you from wanting to go to the dance
did he?" Faith asked cautiously.

Angel smiled and shook his head. "No, not at all. Both of
my parents are crazy, your dad seems cool."

"Artists usually are." Faith said with a smile.

Angel paused at the door and gazed at his hands. "Hey, do
you wanna grab a cup of coffee with me?"

"Right now?" Faith asked with a grin.

Angel shrugged. "Sure, unless you have other plans."

"No, I'd love to. Let me tell dad and grab my stuff, I'll be
out in a second." Faith grinned and jutted a thumb behind
her.

"Okay, great. I'll wait in the car."

Angel grinned to himself as he climbed back into the car. He
was completely relieved that meeting Faith's father had gone
so well. A minute later, Faith came bounding out the door
and hopped into the car and they took off towards the Pump,
chatting carelessly along the way. Now, if Faith had been a
good little slayer, she would have taken her surroundings a
little more carefully. If she had looked just a bit harder
she would have seen a certain 'friend' of Giles's hanging
around watching the two of them as they drove off, but Faith
being Faith, wasn't always cautious. Ethan smiled to
himself, now he knew who to go through to have some fun with
both the slayers, and he intended to do just that.

"Dad, just promise you won't go overboard with the pictures."

"I promise sweetheart, relax."

Faith and her father were in the car on their way to Buffy's
house. The slayers decided since they only live a few blocks
from each other, they would meet up and let the parentals
take pictures together and spare them all some time and
sanity. Cordelia and Angel would be riding in the limo over
to Buffy's together since they lived close and they could get
pictures done in one foul swoop. Brad pulled his Jeep
Wrangler into Joyce's driveway and the two got out and made
their way to the door. Buffy answered breathlessly and waved
them both in.

"Hi Mr. C. Faith, you look great." Buffy said with a grin.

Faith blushed lightly. "Thanks B, you too."

Faith was wearing a pale blue, floor length dress with thin
spaghetti straps and had her hair down with the sides pulled
back. She looked stunning. Buffy was wearing a floor length
white satin dress that had several thin straps crossing her
back and had her hair swept up with a few strands pulled down
to frame her face.

"Brad, Faith hello, please come in." Joyce said as she
swooped in from the kitchen and closed the door behind them.

Faith gave her a wave and a smile. "Hey Mrs. S."

"Joyce, how are you?" Brad asked with a grin.

Joyce gave him a warm smile. "Fine Brad, yourself?"

"Fine. Don't our girls look great?" He asked as he waved
towards the two girls.

"Yes, they look lovely. Faith, your dress is gorgeous."

Faith blushed again. "Thanks."

Joyce and Brad immediately pulled out cameras and clicked
away like there was no tomorrow. Both the slayers were
ecstatic when there was a knock on the door, signaling the
arrival of their dates. Cordelia and Angel were whisked
inside and more pictures ensued. Buffy practically drooled
over Cordy's dress. It was, of course, floor length and
black. Form fitting until it got to the waist and it flowed
a bit more. She had her hair pulled up to match Buffy's and
she looked gorgeous. Angel had on a black suit with a black
shirt and vest and a white tie. He looked hot.

Brad and Joyce had a field day with the four teenagers and
almost had to be restrained when their cameras got close to
being out of control. Faith leaned over to Buffy. "B, I
gotta give you something really quick. It's slayer related."

Buffy nodded. "My room."

The slayers excused themselves for a moment and headed
upstairs. Faith held out a thin black strap with Velcro once
the door was shut behind them. Buffy eyed it warily.
"What's this?"

Faith lifted the side of her dress to her thigh and Buffy saw
a similar device strapped to Faith's thigh with a stake
hanging in it. "So we can keep a stake on us in these
dresses. Just in case."

Buffy shrugged and slid her strap into place, and placed a
single stake in hers carefully. "I just hope I don't sit
down wrong, that would hurt."

Faith laughed and shook her head. "Just make sure the pointy
side is down."

Buffy nodded and moved back to the door. "Come on, we'll be
lucky to get outta here alive."

"See? Another good reason for stakes."

Buffy laughed and the two made their way back downstairs and
ushered their dates outside and into the limo before either
parent could object. Joyce and Brad watched as the limo
pulled away with similar looks of happiness yet a touch of
sadness since their babies were growing up.

Joyce saw Brad's face and smiled, knowing how he felt.
"Would you like to stay for a cup of coffee?"

"I'd love to." Brad smiled and followed Joyce into the
kitchen.

Ah yes, parents letting their little girls go. They
definitely had something in common. And those common things
led to five or six cups of coffee and talks that went well
into the night. They didn't mind however, both of their
girls would be staying at Cordelia's after the dance. Little
did they know, so would Riley, Anya, Angel and Xander.
Cordelia figured a party after the dance would be fun. Even
though her friend's annoying dates would be there.

"I wonder if Faith is jealous about Angel having to dance
with Allison?" Buffy asked as she danced with Cordelia.

"Well, it's kind of a tradition for the homecoming King and
Queen to dance together." Cordelia said with a shrug.

"I know, I just feel kinda bad for her. Now she has to sit
out and listen to Anya bore Xander to death." Buffy said
with a small grin.

"Well, too bad for him, we have to listen to her go on and on
all the time, so now it's his turn."

Buffy shrugged and leaned in to kiss Cordelia lightly. "You
really do look amazing, Cor."

Cordelia grinned. "So do you, Summers. I love the dress."

Suddenly Faith came barreling over and tapped Buffy on the
shoulder. "B, G-man needs to talk to you, like right away."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Now? Can he not give us one night
of peace? Is it vamps?"

Faith's eyes bugged out of her head and she gave a slight nod
in Cordelia's direction. Buffy rolled her eyes at her
slaying companion. "Faith, Cor knows about everything,
relax. I don't need an aneurysm from you tonight."

Faith looked from Buffy's knowing expression to Cordelia's
smug smile. "You told her?"

"Yes, she told me Faith, and I was completely understanding
and don't think either of you are weird or anything, so hurry
up and do what you need to do so I can get back to dancing
with my girlfriend." Cordelia waved them off after stealing
a kiss from Buffy and wandered off to find Anya.

Faith slapped Buffy on the arm. "I can't believe you told
her. G said we had to keep this quiet." Faith failed to
mention the fact that Angel had found out about their little
secret.

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Faith, I had to. She would've
wondered where I was and why I couldn't hang out with her
because of patrol and training and stuff. Don't worry about
it. Now where's Giles?"

Faith smirked. "Oh, shit, he's not even here." She said
with a lazy wave of her hand. "I had to think of something
to say around your girl that wouldn't scare her or piss you
off, but still get you away so we could take care of a little
problem."

Buffy looked around carefully. "What's the problem?"

"A few vamps decided to crash." Faith said as she moved
towards the back of the gym.

The slayers took care of the crashers before they could feast
on a few unsuspecting classmates of theirs and returned to
their dates quickly. Cordelia rolled her eyes as she watched
the duo approach. "It looks like you two snuck off to make
out or something, you're all disheveled."

Buffy gave her an apologetic smile and a kiss. "Sorry
sweetie, it's not easy to fight in a dress."

Cordelia gave Buffy a warm smile. "It's okay, I'm sure
you'll make up for it later." She leaned in for another
kiss. "Where do you hide a stake in that dress anyways?"

Buffy gave her a sly smile. "That's for me to know and you
to find out." She replied pulling her girlfriend to the
dance floor for the final song of the night. Faith watched
with an amused expression until she felt a tap on her
shoulder. She swung around and found Angel smiling down at
her.

"Do you wanna dance? It's the last song." He asked as he
extended his hand to her.

Faith grinned up at him and took his hand. "I'd love to."

After the group dropped off Riley's boring and extremely
annoying date, he and the rest of the crew gave the driver
Cordelia's address. Her guests for the night all got their
duffel bags from the trunk and made their way inside the
house. They all split up and moved to separate rooms to
change into more comfortable clothes and reconvened in the
kitchen. Cordelia and Buffy began making drinks as everyone
else made their way out to the spacious patio and pool area.

"Ya know, I think Angel really likes your pal."

"Good." Buffy replied as she gave the brunette a grin and
leaned in for a kiss. "Ya know, I'm really proud of you for
being so great to Faith tonight. Not just for me, but for
Angel as well. And I agree. I think he does like her."

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "She's not that bad, I guess."

"See sweetie, I told you."

Cordelia rolled her eyes again and waved it off. "Well,
don't expect us to turn into shopping buddies or anything."

Buffy smiled. "Of course not. Not buddies anyways. Pals
maybe. After all, pals are just friends, buddies sleep
together."

"Okay, then that's a big no on the buddies part." Cordelia
gave Buffy a sweet, gentle kiss and handed her one tray of
drinks as she took the other. "I'll be your buddy though."
She purred out softly.

Buffy just about dropped her tray of drinks. She watched
stunned for a second as Cordelia kissed her nose and headed
outside. Buffy finally snapped out of it and headed out
after her girlfriend. She placed the tray of drinks on the
table and grabbed one for herself. She moved to a lounge
chair on the patio and settled down into the oversized
cushions. She watched as Riley and Angel tossed a football
back and forth and Xander sat off to the side with Anya
watching them almost wistfully.

A few moments later, a pair of long, tanned thighs were
blocking her view of the boys and she allowed her eyes to
travel up the form standing next to her. Cordelia grinned
down at her and in one quick movement she managed to place
herself between Buffy's legs, leaning back against her. "You
don't mind if I sit here do you?"

Buffy slid some of Cordelia's hair away from her neck and
placed a soft kiss on the exposed skin. "Nope, not at all."

They both watched as Angel was momentarily distracted by
Faith and missed the football thrown to him and it bounced
off his chest and landed by Xander's feet. Angel grinned
sheepishly as Faith burst out laughing. Xander grabbed the
ball and stood up, heaving it in Riley's direction in a
perfect spiral. Riley and Angel gaped at him for a moment
and he grinned under the attention.

"Harris, I didn't know you had an arm. Why aren't you
playing on the team with us?" Riley asked as he made his way
closer to the boy seated on the steps of the deck.

Xander shrugged. "I dunno, I never really thought about it."

Angel thought for a moment. "Ya know, I could talk to the
coach. My back up QB, Steve broke his leg last weekend and
we had to bring up the kid from JV. He's really not that
great. I could see if coach would give you a try out if you
want."

Xander's eyes got wide and a smile crept onto his face.
"Really? You'd do that?"

Angel smiled. "Yeah, we can't have a bad back up. You'd get
to practice all the time and you'd probably replace me when I
graduate after next year."

Riley stepped up next to Angel. "We could practice with you
too. You'll need to know all the plays just in case the big
A-man here gets hurt."

"Riley, don't you dare jinx Angel like that, we're actually
good this year." Cordelia called out from her chair.

Riley smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. But we really can help if
you want."

"That would be great. Thanks guys."

Cordelia rolled her eyes at her two best guy friends, wishing
sometimes they weren't such nice guys. Now she would be
forced to not only hang with Faith, but Xander too. "Angel
needs to keep his mouth shut sometimes."

Buffy continued playing with Cordelia's hair from behind her.
"Why? Xander's a nice guy, Cor."

"I know, he just grates my nerves sometimes and now we have
two members of the dork squad hanging with us because of
Angel." Cordy rolled her eyes and heaved a sigh.

"I'm sure you'll survive sweetie." Buffy said with a tiny
grin.

Cordelia stretched her arms up and wrapped them up around
Buffy's neck. "I know, I'm just waiting for Willow to come
bouncing through the gate only to find out that Riley's been
dating her secretly or something."

Buffy laughed and trailed her hands up and down Cordelia's
arms lightly. "After hanging out with that stupid bimbo
Riley brought to the dance all night, Willow would be an
improvement in my opinion."

Cordelia burst out laughing. "She was an idiot wasn't she?"

"Yes, she was. If I had to hear one more stupid story about
hardware stores and clocks I would've staked myself."

The evening turned out to be fun for all involved, even
though Buffy nearly gave Cordelia a heart attack after Faith
challenged her to a little diving contest. Both slayers were
drunk and Faith climbed onto the roof and did a somersault
and a dive into the pool from fifty feet up. Buffy, who
never backed down from a challenge, climbed up after her and
copied the move with perfection. The two slayers stunned
everyone with their wild antics again...everyone but Cordelia,
who came close to having a stoke when Buffy leapt off the
roof. Strangely, Angel didn't seem too fazed either.
Anyways, Buffy ended up spending most of the remainder of the
evening sitting outside Cordelia's bathroom calling out
apologies after the brunette locked herself in there,
completely furious with her girlfriend. Once she did come
out, Buffy made it up to her with a million kisses and super
slayer snuggles. And of course she had to promise that she
wouldn't leap off tall buildings into swimming pools ever
again. Geez, some girls can be so touchy.

"So G-man, have you figured out what that amulet does yet?"
Faith asked as she and Buffy strode through the library
doors.

Giles looked up from a large book on the table. "Yes
actually, and it's a good thing the two of you retrieved it
when you did."

Buffy dropped her stuff and plunked into the chair across
from Giles. "Why, what's it do?"

"It's used in a ritual to open the Hellmouth." He stated as
he went back to the book.

Buffy eyed the amulet warily. "Are you sure we should have
it then?"

"Yes, I assume the vampires that were looking for it worked
for the Master who needs it to perform the ritual."

Faith thought for a moment. "So this Master guy wants to
open the Hellmouth, right?"

"Yes, and doing so will spill out forces of evil to overtake
the world."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Oh, goodie. Why don't we go after
him?"

"Well, the two of you could do some reconnaissance in the
sewers...I only wish we could get our hands on the plans. It
would make things easier." He said, furrowing his brow.

"Wilma can get that for us." Faith said absently as she
picked at her shirt.

Giles eyed her with confusion. "Wilma?"

Faith rolled her eyes. "Willow. Willow Rosenberg, she can
do just about anything with a computer."

"Do you think she would help us?" He asked with a small
smile.

Faith shrugged. "I can ask, I'm sure it won't be a problem."

"Good."

"So, back to the amulet. What are we gonna do about it?"
Buffy asked.

Giles looked up from his book and removed his glasses to rub
his eyes tiredly. "Well, I have done some research and I
found a spell to destroy it, I just need to gather the
appropriate ingredients."

"So, when do you think you'll have everything?" Faith asked.

"I should have the last few things in the next week or two.
I had to special order a few items and they may take some
time to arrive. I must warn you both, the Master will be
looking for both of you for taking the amulet, so on patrol,
you need to be extra careful."

Buffy took a good look around. "Where exactly is the
Hellmouth, Giles?"

"To be specific, it's directly below us right now."

Both slayers jumped up from their chairs and moved further
away from him. "Here? In the library?" Buffy asked.

"Yes." He stated absently.

Faith smirked. "Maybe that's why nobody but us is ever in
here. Maybe normal people can sense something we can't."

Giles rolled his eyes. "I doubt it, I just think the youth
of this country is far to obsessed with those blasted
computers and the Internet." Faith and Buffy exchanged a wry
look as they reclaimed their seats, hoping Giles wasn't
planning on going into another boring babble about the evil
of computers. "I do want you both to know that I think you
are both doing a wonderful job so far. I'm impressed with
the level of discretion you have both shown."

Buffy and Faith wore similar expressions of guilt that Giles
picked up on immediately and he let out a frustrated sigh.
"Honestly, can you two not keep anything quiet?"

"I had to tell Cordelia. I had to. She's my best friend and
my girlfriend; there is no way I could keep it from her. But
she's totally cool." Buffy offered with a wide hopeful
smile.

Giles rolled his eyes and nodded before shifting his gaze to
Faith.

"Angel and I went out for coffee a few weeks ago and there
was a scuffle that he wouldn't let me check out alone, so he
trailed along behind me and saw everything."

Buffy's head snapped in Faith's direction. "Angel knows?"

"Yeah, B. He didn't tell you?"

Buffy scowled. "No, I'll have to have a little chat with
him."

Faith laughed and shoved Buffy good-naturedly. "Aw, be easy
on him, B. He's a good guy, besides, he got X on the
football team."

"I'll bet Cordy knows that he knows." Buffy said with a
frown.

"She does." Faith replied absently.

"What!" Buffy exclaimed as she stood up.

Faith shrugged. "I heard the two of them talking about it a
few days ago."

Giles, who had heard enough, cleared his throat loudly to get
the attention of his slayers. "Yes, well, if the two of you
are quite finished, let's begin training and be sure to be
careful tonight."

The slayers gave him matching sheepish grins and moved to the
other room to change into workout clothes. Giles went back
to his books as the girls worked out and heaved a sigh of
relief when they left for patrol. Honestly, why one Earth
did the slayer have to be a teenage girl? He shook his head
wearily and went back to research.

Cordelia arrived at Buffy's house and knocked on the door.
She normally just let herself in, but she noticed Buffy's
mom's jeep in the driveway, so she had to be polite. The
door opened to reveal Joyce who smiled widely when she saw
Cordelia.

"Hi Cordelia, come on in."

Cordelia gave her a warm smile. She loved Buffy's mom. "Hey
Mrs. Summers. How are you?"

Joyce pulled her in gently and gave her a small hug. "I'm
fine dear, how are you?"

"I'm good." She smiled as she followed Joyce into the
kitchen.

Joyce poured herself a cup of coffee. "Would you like some
coffee honey? Buffy's not ready yet, I think she's still in
the shower."

"No thanks, I'm fine." Cordelia sat at the island watching
Joyce wander around making a fresh pot of coffee.

"I'm going to need all the caffeine I can get tonight, I'll
probably be at the gallery all night." She smiled at the
brunette. "Buffy told me you made the varsity cheerleading
squad, congratulations."

Cordelia smiled widely. "Thank you, I'm really excited about
it."

"Your parents must be very proud of you." Joyce commented as
she took the seat across from Cordelia.

Cordelia's eyes turned sad as she dropped her gaze to her
hands. "I haven't really seen them since I made the squad so
they don't really know yet."

Joyce stood from her seat and moved around the island,
pulling Cordelia into a warm hug. Cordelia felt her chin
quiver lightly, but she held her emotions back. "I'm sorry
honey. It must be tough having your parents gone all the
time." She pulled back and held Cordy at an arm's length and
swept a few strands of hair from her eyes. "If you ever need
anything, you come to me. Even if you need some motherly
advice, I'm always here to listen."

Cordelia gave her a shaky smile. "Thank you Mrs. Summers.
That means a lot."

Joyce smiled warmly and resumed her position on the other
side of the island. Cordelia took a deep breath and wiped
away a small tear before she stood up. "I'm gonna go see if
Buffy is ready yet." She smiled at the woman who, in only a
short time, had been more of a mother to her than her real
mother. Joyce nodded and began getting ready to leave.

Cordelia smiled at the amazing kindness that both Summers
women seemed to possess and realized she was incredibly lucky
to have them both in her life. As she got to the top of the
stairs she heard the shower running and the sound of the
radio playing rather loudly. She heard Joyce call out to
them that she was leaving and Cordelia called out a response,
knowing Buffy hadn't heard her. She stood at the door for a
moment, as she heard Buffy's voice singing along with the
song she was listening to and her face broke out into a huge
grin.

She knocked on the door and called out to Buffy as she opened
the door slowly. "Summers, come on, I'd like to get to the
Bronze sometime this week if that's okay."

Buffy's head peeked out from the shower curtain and she
grinned when she saw Cordelia. "Hey, sorry. Patrol ran
late, you must have gotten here just after me. I'll only be
a minute." She grinned impishly and raised her hand; she
curled her index finger in the universal sign for 'come
here'.

Cordelia matched her girlfriend's grin and took a few steps
until her face was inches from Buffy's. Buffy leaned in and
captured the brunette's lips in a searing kiss and Cordelia
felt her body temperature become almost uncomfortably hot.
The steam from the shower did little to help as she pulled
away from the blonde, who grinned wickedly and ducked her
head back in the shower. Cordelia sighed and closed her eyes
for a moment, trying desperately to get her hormones under
control. She turned and began fixing her make up as Buffy
began singing again.

Cordy stood for a few moments listening to the sweet sounds
of her girlfriend's voice and a huge grin began to grace her
features. "Summers, you can really sing." She called out
loud enough for Buffy to hear over the roar of the shower.

"You think so?"

"Yes! You have a great voice."

"Thanks." Buffy began singing again and Cordelia went back
to her make up. A few minutes later, the shower shut off and
Cordelia watched through the mirror as an arm snaked out to
grab the towel on the bar. The shower curtain slipped open
and Cordelia almost gasped at Buffy's figure draped in a
towel as she stepped out of the shower. Buffy grinned
wickedly as she took in the look of lust in her girlfriend's
eyes and she took a few slow, seductive steps closer to the
brunette. Cordelia's nostrils where assaulted with the sweet
scent of strawberries and vanilla as Buffy pressed her towel-
clad body snugly against her frame. Cordelia drew in a deep
breath and smiled as Buffy raised her head and gazed up at
her through her lashes.

"So, you liked my singing, huh?"

Cordelia sucked in a shaky breath as she gazed into the
gorgeous hazel eyes in front of her. "Uh huh."

Buffy smiled sweetly and reached in for a kiss, knowing good
and well she wouldn't get too much vocal action from her
girlfriend at the moment. She snaked her hands around
Cordelia's neck as the brunette grabbed her hips and tugged
them closer to her own. Their lips met in a fiery,
passionate kiss, as their tongues dueled for dominancy.
Cordelia raised her hands to Buffy's hair and she ran her
fingers through the damp strands gently, each stroke brought
out a fresh waft of the strawberry scented shampoo the blonde
used. Both girls where wildly aware that their hormones were
getting a bit out of control, so they each took a step back.

"Do you have any idea what you do to me, Summers?" Cordy
asked breathlessly.

Buffy let out a shaky sigh. "I think I have a pretty good
idea."

Cordelia sighed and moved towards the door. "I'll just wait
downstairs."

Buffy nodded, slightly dazed. "Okay, I'll be down in a
minute."

Cordelia retreated to safer ground downstairs and waited for
Buffy. Twenty minutes later the two were out the door and
headed to the Bronze. They found Riley and Angel at their
usual table with a few guests. Xander, Faith and Willow were
sitting with them. Buffy grasped Cordelia's hand as they
made their way over and sat down.

"Ah, Buffster and Corduroy how are you ladies tonight?"

"Corduroy?" Cordelia asked with a glare.

Xander smiled sheepishly and turned to Riley. "So, run that
last play by me again."

"Hey, B, have you two figured out Halloween costumes yet?"

"Not yet, we're still working on it." She grinned at the
couple. "What are you guys going as?"

Faith and Angel shared a wicked grin. "Bonnie and Clyde,
baby." She replied with a smirk.

Buffy laughed. "That will be so cute." She glanced at
Xander and Anya. "What about you guys?"

Xander gave her a goofy smile. "Well, I'm going as a giant
bunny and Anya is going as a clown. We figured we'd scare
each other silly."

"You're afraid of clowns?" Cordelia asked with a smirk. "I
thought the bunny thing was weird."

Xander scowled. "Well, they're scary." He shuddered. "Very
scary." He glanced back at Buffy. "Hey, you two could go as
Thelma and Louise."

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Yeah Harris, great idea, me and
Summers can get all dirty and not wash our hair for a few
days. Then we can put on week old clothes and drive a car
off a cliff. Great idea." She spat out with a sarcastic
grin.

Buffy gave Xander an apologetic smile and stood up, bringing
Cordelia with her. "We're gonna go dance."

Cordelia trailed her girlfriend to the dance floor and
wrapped her arms around her, feeling immensely comforted
immediately. "Sorry."

Buffy gazed up at her and kissed her lightly. "What for?"

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Being a bitch to Xander."

"Honey, I don't think it's me that you should be apologizing
to." Buffy said carefully.

"I know, he just drives me nuts sometimes." Cordelia said
with a tiny scowl.

"I know baby, but just try not to let it bother you. It's
pretty obvious we're gonna be seeing a lot more of him, so we
might as well get used to it, right?" She asked as she gazed
up at Cordelia, who had a dazed look on her face. "Cor?
What's wrong?"

Cordelia snapped out of it and kissed Buffy gently. "You
called me baby." She replied with a soft smile.

Buffy blushed and smiled shyly. "It just kinda slipped out."

Cordelia grinned. "Well, I'll be the first to say that I
wouldn't mind if it happened to slip out again."

Buffy smiled and kissed her again. "Ya know, I was thinking
about Halloween...maybe instead of dressing as a couple, we
should just each get separate costumes, but they can be
sexy." Buffy wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

Cordelia laughed and kissed Buffy's forehead. "You are such
a doofus, Summers." She smiled wickedly at her girlfriend.
"You might have something there though. We would be the
hottest couple here."

Buffy and Faith had been reassured that Halloween would be
quiet on the freaky front, so they knew they could relax for
at least one night. Little did they know, a certain wizard
in town was planning his first tiny funfest with the slayers
and their friends. He grinned when he thought of Ripper's
reaction to his little prank.

"I really hope Giles doesn't kill Ethan." Buffy said with a
sigh as she wandered into Cordelia's room after changing out
of her costume.

"I think he would have if Angel and Faith had been arrested
or someone had been hurt." Cordelia replied as she pulled
the pins out of her hair, letting it flow down her back.

Ethan Rayne decided it would be fun to cast a little spell on
the slayers and their friends at the Bronze. And surprise,
surprise, everyone turned into their costumes. . Angel and
Faith came close to getting arrested for trying to rob the
Bronze. Xander and Anya spent the entire night hiding in the
bathrooms after seriously scaring each other silly. Riley,
who was dressed as an Army commando, nearly killed Angel,
trying to stop him and Faith from robbing the club. Buffy
and Cordelia were dressed as swingers and came too close to
sleeping with about six different guys each. Willow, who
wasn't wearing a costume, saved the day when she decided to
find Giles, since she'd seen him with Faith and Buffy before
and he found Ethan and nearly killed him Luckily it was
only a temporary spell and it wore off leaving a few people
feeling either very foolish or very creeped out. It had been
a long night.

"I can't believe you almost slept with Jonathan." Buffy said
with a small grimace.

Cordelia nearly gagged. "Yeah, well that little weasel
should have known something weird was going on. He knows
we're together and why on Earth would I try to sleep with him
anyways?" She scowled and crawled into bed. "Guys are so
lame."

Buffy grinned impishly as she creeped into Cordelia's bed
next to her. "Good thing I'm not a guy then."

Cordelia grinned at the slayer and pulled her in close as
soon as she could get her hands on the blonde. They fell
into peaceful slumber quickly, while across town, two
terrified teens were wide awake trying to keep the certainty
of nightmares away.

Buffy slipped her key into the lock and slid the door open.
It was late and she was exhausted, more of the Master's
minions had attacked the slayers out on patrol and she was so
ready for bed. She locked the door behind her and trudged up
the stairs. She eased her bedroom door open and drank in the
sight before her. Cordelia was asleep in her bed, as she
usually was after a late patrol. The only light in the room
came from a small lamp next to the bed, and it draped a soft
hue over the long, slender frame in her bed. The sheets were
in tangles around Cordelia's ankles and the brunette was clad
in only a small white tank top and a pair of pale blue
panties. Buffy shed most of her clothes and grabbed a towel
from her closet. After a quick shower, she changed into a
similar outfit and slid quietly into bed, drawing the sheets
up around them. Cordelia stirred slightly. "Mmm, Buffy?"
She murmured sleepily.

Buffy drew herself up on an elbow and kissed Cordelia's
forehead gently. "I'm here baby." She whispered.

Cordelia kept her eyes closed and smiled a sweet, sleepy
smile as she drew the slayer closer. "You okay?"

"Yeah, no problems. Just go back to sleep." She murmured
quietly as she kissed the brunette softly.

Cordelia nodded and wrapped her body around the slayer as the
two drifted off to sleep.

"So you mean to tell me that was the Master? That stupid ass
vamp who looked like he was wearing lipstick was the big
bad?" Faith asked with a laugh.

Giles smiled as he shook his head. "Yes, that was the
Master."

"That had to have been the funniest damn thing I've ever seen
when he was runnin' around squealing like a pig in heat after
B set him on fire." She said as she doubled over in
hysterics.

Buffy giggled with her sister slayer. "See, I knew my love
for fire would come in handy one day." Buffy smirked at
Cordelia and stuck out her tongue playfully.

"Very well done, Summers." Cordelia replied with a grin.
"Your pyrotechnics will surely get you into the college of
your choice one day." She grinned to herself thinking about
how she had to drag Buffy out of the sewers as she stared,
completely captivated with the blaze earlier that night.

Faith grinned at the slayers' job well done defeating the
Master. "Hey boys and girls, let's get outta here and have
some fun. We've done enough work for one day."

Angel smiled fondly at her and wrapped an arm around her
shoulders, dropping a kiss on the top of her head. "You did
good Faith."

She grinned up at him and stole a kiss. "Thanks, big guy,
you too."

"Hey what about me?" Cordelia asked with a raised eyebrow.

Faith burst out laughing again. "Yeah, Queeney, you did
great. I loved the way you screamed like a six year old in a
haunted house and ran around like a fool to distract him."

Cordelia scowled at Faith until the giggles became contagious
and she rolled her eyes in defeat. "Screw you then."

Faith smirked. "Sorry, that's B's job, not mine. Right
blondie?"

Buffy rolled her eyes and grasped Cordelia's hand. "Come on,
Cor. Let's go."

Faith tugged Angel along after her as she trailed the other
slayer, calling out apologies along the way. Giles shook his
head as the four left the library. He raised his eyes to the
ceiling and asked whoever out there, again, why the slayers
had to be teenage girls. Although, he had to admit, they did
kick ass and take names. Yup, another job well done for the
good guys.

"So, you and Angel seem to be quite the couple lately."
Buffy noted as she and Faith wandered around Shady Acres.

Faith shrugged, trying to appear stoic, but Buffy caught a
tiny smile on her lips. "He's a really great guy, you know
that. Plus, he's totally cool with the slayer gig, and not
too many guys would date a girl that could kick his ass."

"It's not like he's a wimp though Faith." Buffy pointed out.

"Oh, I know. He can totally hold his own, he was so proud of
himself when he dusted that vamp a few weeks ago in the
sewers." She replied as her tiny smile turned into a tiny
grin.

Buffy smiled at the memory of Angel standing over a pile of
dust with a stake clutched proudly in his hand. The slayers
had been skeptical about bringing Angel and Cordelia with
them to fight, but the duo insisted, stating, as Cordelia so
eloquently put it 'Anything Mr. Tweed over here can do, I can
do, gimme a stake and a cross, I'm coming.' She grinned in
spite of herself. "Cor may need a bit more work though."

Faith chose, wisely, to keep biting remarks to herself. Past
experience taught her not to go treading into those waters
with Buffy. "How are the two of you anyways? Still
sickeningly sweet as always?"

Buffy grinned like a fool and shoved Faith. "We're not
sickeningly sweet...just sweet with a side of sugar."

Faith smirked. "Just a side of sugar?" She implied
wickedly.

Buffy gave her a mock glare. "Yes. Just a side...for now
anyways." She added with a grin. She glanced at Faith with
a raised eyebrow. "You and Angel are still 'just a side' too
right?"

The dark slayer rolled her eyes and sighed. "Sadly yes, but
I do intend to turn him to the dark side soon if you must
know." Faith grinned wickedly.

Buffy's pretty features soured slightly. "Okay, just be sure
to not tell me when it becomes a full-blown meal."

Faith burst out laughing and slapped Buffy on the arm. "You
got it, Princess." She tossed an arm over Buffy's shoulders
as the two sauntered confidently into the night, daring
anything to challenge the Chosen Two.

"Hey, do you guys want to go up to Big Bear for a long
weekend after Christmas? My parents said it was okay if we
wanted to use the cabin to go skiing." Cordelia asked the
group at lunch. Much to Cordelia's surprise she had actually
started to get along with both Willow and Xander. Of course,
Xander's cool points went sky high after he joined the
football team, but he still grated Cordelia's nerves. She
did seem to find herself liking Willow more and more. The
redhead was genuinely a sweet person, so Cordy gave her a
break and they all hung out together frequently. Besides,
they all had one thing in common. They each had a friend, or
girlfriend that somehow managed to risk her life on a nightly
basis and they all shared in the fear that goes along with
it. Not a lot of people could share that with them.

"Ugh, skiing is so lame, CC, you really need to try
snowboarding, it's so much better." Angel said with a yawn.

"Angel, you snowboard? I've always wanted to try that. Can
you teach me?" Buffy asked with a grin.

Angel nodded. "Yup, it's really easy once you get the hang
of it."

"So that's a yes then?" Cordelia asked with a fond smile.
She glanced at Willow and Xander. "You guys are included in
that invitation too by the way."

Willow and Xander both broke into wide smiles. "I'm there.
I never pass up an opportunity to get outta my house."
Xander said with a nod.

Cordelia eyed Willow pointedly. "Will?"

Willow blushed under the scrutiny of the Queen and she smiled
and nodded her head shyly. "I'm sure it will be okay.
Thanks Cordy."

Cordelia smiled warmly. "Sure. Oh, and if anybody's parents
get weird about supervision, just tell them my Aunt and Uncle
live next door and will be keeping an eye on us." She
grinned wickedly. "They do actually live there, but about an
hour away. It's close enough."

Angel turned to Xander. "Hey Xand, if you don't have skis or
a snowboard, I have an extra set of each, with the boots if
you need to borrow something."

Xander grinned widely. "Thanks, that would be great."

"Willow, if you want to borrow skis or anything, just let me
know, my mom has three different pairs that she never uses."

Willow blushed and nodded, but before she could say anything,
Faith came bounding up to the group and plunked herself down
on Angel's lap, kissing him quickly. "Hey, what'd I miss?"

"We're all gonna go skiing after Christmas at Cordy's parents
place in Big Bear." Angel replied with a grin.

"Sweet, count me in." She grinned widely. "I think I got
kicked out of every resort in Boston growing up, they didn't
really like it when you would pelt people with snowballs as
they came down the mountain to see who could make the most
people fall."

Cordelia gave her a very pointed look with a raised eyebrow
and Faith instantly held up her hands in mock defeat as she
grinned. "Don't worry, Queeney, I'll be good." She grinned
at Buffy wickedly. "Hey, B, have you ever wondered if you
could make yourself into a human snowball and roll all the
way down the mountain?"

Buffy burst out laughing as Cordelia cringed, hoping it
wasn't an enormous mistake asking everyone to come along.
She just prayed that Buffy's slaying companion would at least
pretend to hold true to her statement. We'll just have to
see about that.

Two days after Christmas, Angel and Cordelia picked Faith and
Buffy up at Buffy's house. Angel had swapped cars with his
father so they would have a bit more room and a safer drive
into the mountains. Buffy called out her good-byes to her
mom as she slid into the backseat of the Range Rover with
Cordelia. She grinned and leaned over for a kiss as they
pulled away from her house. "Mmm, hi." She drawled quietly.

Cordelia grinned. "Hey you."

"Are we meeting the others at Riley's house?" She asked
Angel.

He nodded as he gripped Faith's hand in his. "Yup, they're
taking Anya's car to make the trip easier. As long as it
doesn't take us long to get out of town, we should be there
at sunset."

Faith craned her head around and glanced at the two in the
back. "Hey, C, Angel said this place has a hot tub."

Cordelia grinned as thoughts of her and Buffy streamed
through her brain. "Yup, it's on the back deck. It has room
for ten, so we should all fit."

Faith grinned widely. "Wicked. Hey thanks for brining us
all along, I'm psyched."

"No problem, but you and tweedle-dee over here need to
promise to be good." She said as she jutted a thumb to the
blonde next to her.

Faith furrowed her brow for a moment. "Does that mean I'm
tweedle-dum?"

Buffy burst out laughing. "I always was the smarter one."

"Oh, give me a break Twinkie, I am so the smarter one." She
replied with a smirk. "I aced that anatomy mid-term, what
did you get?"

"Hey! I got an A. I'm just as smart as you, and I can kick
your ass."

Faith rolled her eyes. "Whatever blondie, I'm gonna leave
your ass in the dust once we hit the slopes."

Angel exchanged a humorous look with Cordelia in the rear-
view mirror and she just shook her head. How these two could
shut their mouths for five minutes was beyond her, let alone
shut up long enough to save the world. She didn't know how
they did it.

Two and a half hours later, the two cars pulled up outside a
huge two-story cabin settled on a spacious area of the
mountain. The slayers watched as Anya and Xander immediately
flung themselves from her car as soon as it stopped. It
seems there was still a bit of left over Halloween fright and
they could barely sit in the same room with one another.

Cordelia ushered them all inside and they took in the utter
beauty of the enormous house. "Okay, Summers and I will take
the master bedroom down here. There are four rooms upstairs,
two have double beds and two have two singles, so you guys
take your pick. There's a bathroom for each two rooms up
there and another down here. The kitchen is that way next to
the living room, and the hot tub is outside behind them on
the deck."

Buffy grinned at her woman taking charge as she headed back
to the car to grab hers and Cordy's bags, skis and her rental
snowboard.

Once the cars had been unpacked, the group settled in for the
night. Angel started making a huge fire as Cordelia made
some drinks and the others wandered around keeping themselves
occupied until the slayers began their nightly antics. Faith
was out on the deck smoking a cigarette when Buffy came out
to join her.

"That is such a nasty habit Faith, you really should quit."

Faith shrugged as she took a final drag and tossed the butt
over the railing. "I know, I'm trying. I have cut down you
know." Faith turned to look back into the house through the
wide windows that graced the side of the house. "Ya know, I
was thinking."

Buffy smirked. "Oh geez, get the crash helmets ready."

Faith slapped her playfully. "No seriously. I was thinking
about Wilma." She gave a nod in the direction of the house.
"You know now as well as I do that she's a really sweet girl,
but she's just too damn shy."

"She really is sweet." Buffy said, following Faith's gaze
inside.

"Anyways, I figure the only thing she's lacking is a bit of
confidence. You and Queeney have enough confidence to fill a
football stadium, maybe you guys could help her out."

Buffy cocked her head and glanced at Faith. "Help her out
how?"

Faith shrugged. "Well, you know me, I'm not big on the
girlie, but you two are. I though maybe you guys could help
her out a bit, maybe a make over or something, just a nudge
in the right direction."

Buffy beamed at the thought of a make over. "I'm sure Cor
would love to help, and you can count me in." She paused for
a moment. "But do you think Will would go for it?"

"Maybe, I'm sure between the three of us we can get her to
try just about anything." She grinned widely. "Besides your
girl gave everyone those mammoth gift cards to the mall for
Christmas, maybe when we get back we can all go out shopping
or something."

Buffy gave Faith a silly grin. "Aw, Faith you are so cute
when you want to be."

Faith scowled and slapped her on the arm. "Hey, shut it B,
I'm not cute. I'm dangerous."

Buffy burst out laughing. "Faith, you are too funny." She
grabbed the brunette's arm and dragged her inside. "Come on,
let's have some fun."

An hour later, Willow was seated at the vanity in the master
bedroom with Cordelia looming over her. The three girls had
finally convinced Willow to allow them to change her image a
bit, and Cordelia decided that a hair cut was first on the
list.

"Just not too short, Cordy."

"Willow, relax, I've done this plenty of times. I'm just
going to give you a few layers to frame your face and thin it
out a bit. I'll give you some longer layers and it will be
just below your shoulders. Trust me."

Willow glanced from Faith who was grinning madly, to Buffy
who was nodding her approval, to Cordelia who was waiting for
the okay. The redhead finally nodded and Cordelia got to
work.

"So Queeney, you aren't gonna join us with the snowboards
tomorrow?"

Cordelia nodded her head absently, trying to concentrate on
her cutting. "Nope, I'm sticking to skis."

Buffy's eyes widened as she thought of something. "Oh, Faith
that reminds me, the guy at the rental shop gave me a thing
to put on the board to help when I get off the lift, can you
show me how it works?"

"You mean a stomp pad?"

"Yeah."

"Sure, come on, I'll help ya." Faith replied with a nod
towards the other room.

Willow and Cordelia watched the slayers exit. Willow had an
amused grin on her face as they left. "Those two are a funny
pair."

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Yeah, too bad Buffy devolves into
a goofy little kid when Faith is around."

Willow laughed lightly. "I heard about their diving contest
after Homecoming."

"Please don't remind me, I've spent the last two and a half
months trying to forget." Cordelia replied with a shake of
her head.

Willow smiled softly. "Thanks for doing this Cordy, I really
appreciate it."

"It's no problem at all, that's what friends are for."
Cordelia replied with a smile.

Once Cordelia was finished she took a step back and admired
her work with a grin. Willow sat stunned at the vanity. She
couldn't believe how a tiny haircut could make her look that
much better. She looked amazing.

"Wow, Cordy. I look..."

Cordelia smiled warmly. "You look beautiful." She pulled
the redhead up from her seat and began dragging her out of
the room. "Come on, let's show you off. Oh, and we can all
go out to dinner tomorrow night and we can dress you up. You
are gonna be so hot." Both girls were momentarily distracted
by a scream and a bunch of voices yelling a second later.
Cordelia clamped her eyes shut and counted to ten before
exiting the room. When they emerged in the living room,
Buffy was helping Faith to the couch and was in the middle of
yelling at her. "...And second of all, next time the mood
strikes to show off your moon walk skills, don't do it on the
railing of the deck!" Buffy paused and let go of Faith as
she noticed her girlfriend enter the room. She grinned
sheepishly. "Faith fell off the deck." Her eyes fell to
Willow, and immediately got wide. "Will! You look so
amazing!"

Willow blushed lightly at all the attention, and soon found
her blush deepening as every single person in the room
stopped what they were doing to gape at her.

"Doesn't she look great?" Cordelia asked her friends.

The three guys in the room remained stunned for a moment
longer than the girls who all immediately began going on
about how amazing she looked.

"Wilma, you look so totally hot." Faith grinned as she ran
her fingers through Willow's hair a few times.

Anya gave her a huge grin. "Willow, you really do look
great. Nice work Cordy."

The group took it relatively easy that night, knowing they
would be up early to hit the slopes, so there were no crazy
antics from the slayers and drinking was shockingly kept to a
minimum.

Cordelia awoke the next morning with a pair of hazel eyes
watching her carefully. She gave Buffy a sleepy smile as she
pulled her in close, looking for morning snuggles. Buffy
burrowed her face into Cordelia's neck and kissed her
lightly. The two pulled themselves as close as humanly
possible and they reveled in the sensation of silky skin
sliding together as legs and arms intertwined.

Later that afternoon, Cordelia and Angel stood waiting at the
bottom of the slopes waiting for the two slayers. A few
minutes later they watched as the pair raced their way down
the mountain. Buffy had picked up snowboarding extremely
quickly and before she knew it, she and Faith were racing
down the slopes at blistering speeds. The duo came to a stop
in front of Angel and Cordy with wide grins on their faces.
Buffy snapped her foot out of her bindings and hobbled over
to her girlfriend.

"Hey."

Cordelia gave her a warm smile and a kiss. "Hey, we're gonna
head back to the house, do you two wanna come?"

Faith and Buffy exchanged a glance. "Actually, I think we're
gonna go a few more times, is that cool?"

Cordelia shrugged. "Fine by me, just make sure you're back
by seven so we can make it to dinner in time. We have
reservations."

Buffy grinned and nodded leaning in for another steamy kiss.
Faith gave Angel a grin and kissed him sweetly. "So, we'll
see you guys in a few hours then? Come on, B, I'm ready for
another race."

The two slayers headed back to the lift as Angel and Cordy
began walking back to the house. "Hey, Angel, can you give
me a lift to the store? I need to pick up a few things."

"Sure."

Once they arrived back at the house, the climbed into the
Range Rover and headed to the store. Cordelia grinned to
herself as she thought about her plan. Did she have
something special planned for Buffy tonight.

Once everyone was showered and dressed they piled back into
the trucks and headed out to a classy restaurant down the
road. Xander eyed the place carefully as they approached.
"This place looks a little too fancy for me."

Cordelia grinned and reached into her purse. When her hand
emerged she was holding a credit card. "See, that's why I
have this and dinner is on me tonight...or should I say daddy."

Willow kept her gaze on the ground until Faith sent her a
light hip check. "Chin up Wilma, if you're gazin' at the
ground, you won't see all these hotties checking you out."

Willow blushed, but raised her head and did in fact find more
than a few gazes sent her way. Faith gave her a knowing
nudge and a grin as she slipped her hand in Angel's.

After dinner, the group headed for the hot tub with two
pitches of margaritas. They all soaked their tired muscles
in the steamy water as they drank their pain away.

Cordelia leaned over to Faith. "Hey, do me a favor and keep
Buffy busy for a half hour okay?" She paused for a moment.
"Just don't do anything crazy."

Faith grinned and nodded. "No problem, Queeney. A half hour
it is."

Cordelia gave Buffy a quick kiss and stepped out of the hot
tub. "I'll be back."

Buffy nodded with a small smile and turned to Faith who was
poking her with a finger in the shoulder, demanding her
attention.

Faith could barely keep Buffy's attention for the half hour
that she promised Cordelia, and the blonde stepped out of the
steaming water and shivered at the snow that started to fall.
She grabbed her towel and dried off, stepping inside. She
furrowed her brow and checked the common rooms of the house,
not finding her girlfriend anywhere. She finally moved to
the bedroom door and opened it slowly. Her eyes got wide as
she took in the sight of Cordelia stretched out on the bed,
in a red silk bra and matching panties. The room contained
probably a hundred tiny, lit candles, draping the room in a
soft glow. Cordelia gave her a grin and motioned her closer.
Buffy felt her heart flutter and she dropped the towel to
the ground, moving closer to the bed closing the door behind
her.

She moved to the foot of the bed and crawled up slowly. She
moved up Cordelia's body dropping a random kiss here and
there as she moved up the gorgeous body beneath hers. She
finally reached the brunette's mouth and leaned in for a
fiery kiss. Cordy allowed her hands to trail the exposed
skin on Buffy's back and she trailed her nails softly down
her spine. In one swift motion, their positions were
reversed and Cordelia hovered over the slayer. Cordy moved
her hand to the strap of Buffy's bikini and pushed the strap
off her shoulder and kissed the damp skin lightly. She
trailed a dozen sweet kisses up to the slayer's neck and
sucked lightly on her pulse point. Her lips felt Buffy's
pulse quicken and she nipped lightly at the skin before her
tongue darted out to soothe the flesh. Buffy allowed her
hands to trail up Cordelia's stomach and her hands gently
cupped her breasts as her thumbs grazed her nipples lightly.
Cordelia dropped her head back and Buffy leaned in trailing
tender kisses down her throat. Cordelia gazed into the hazel
eyes of her girlfriend and watched how they seemed to darken
with desire as the seconds ticked by. She leaned down and
kissed the slayer gently before her lips began to move south.
Cordelia trailed gentle, but searing kisses down the
slayer's compact body. She moved from the blonde's neck to
her collarbone and kissed down between her breasts. Cordy
spent a few moments at Buffy's navel, swirling her tongue
around.

"Cor..." The slayer breathed out softly.

Cordelia slid back up the slayer's body slowly, retracing her
kisses in the opposite direction. She gazed down at her
girlfriend lovingly as she swept a damp strand of hair from
her face. "Yeah, baby?"

The slayer met her gaze evenly and furrowed her brow lightly.
"Are you sure you wanna do this?"

Cordelia gave her a sweet, comforting smile. "I'm absolutely
sure. Are you?" She asked before she sucked on Buffy's
lower lip lightly.

Buffy nodded and cupped her face gently with both hands,
holding the brunette's attention. She lifted her head and
gave Cordelia the sweetest, most gentle kiss she could
muster. "I love you." She admitted softly.

Cordelia felt a wave of emotion surge through her spine and
felt tears prick her eyes. "I love you too." She whispered,
not trusting her voice.

The two shared a loving kiss and their eyes remain locked,
chasing away any fear or anxiety. They undressed each other
slowly, kissing and caressing gently as they did. Buffy
allowed her hands to lazily trail the other girl's body as
she leaned in for a smoldering kiss. She smiled into the
kiss when Cordy moaned as her hands trailed across the
brunette's breasts and tickled her nipples lightly. Cordy
placed a thigh between Buffy's and leaned in close allowing
both of them to feel the contact. Cordy broke the kiss and
leaned her head back as a tiny whimper escaped her lips.
Buffy seized the opportunity to lean forward and place
several blazing kisses on the other girl's neck. Cordy
leaned back into the tiny slayer and the full contact of
their bodies added another fevered moan to the other various
heated sounds coming from both girls. Buffy held Cordelia
close as the friction brought them both closer to the edge.

"Cor..." The slayer moaned quietly, catching Cordy's eyes with
her own, silently pleading.

"I'm here baby, I'm here." Cordelia whispered softly.

Soft kisses were exchanged as their eyes locked and foreheads
pressed together lightly until Buffy was sent over the edge.
Her release was enough to have Cordy writhing in pleasure and
she soon collapsed fully on top of the blonde. She rolled
off of the slayer and cuddled in close to her. Buffy lifted
a hand and brushed a few strands of hair away from Cordy's
face gently. They shared a fevered, passionate kiss before
Cordelia rolled over and pressed her gloriously soft frame
against the slayer. Buffy pressed her cheek against
Cordelia's back between her shoulder blades and breathed in
the sweet sleepy scent of her girlfriend.

As she drifted off to sleep wrapped around Cordelia, Buffy
murmured one last thought. "Love you, Cor."

"Love you too, Summers."

After four blissful days of snow, nights of drinking and hot
tubs, the group returned to Sunnydale feeling refreshed and
ready to tackle the second semester. The girls used their
gift cards from Cordelia wisely when they made an all day
affair out of the mall to get Willow some new clothes.
Cordelia, Buffy and Faith all shared a similar grin when they
thought of the reaction to Willow's new look.

For those who took notice, and most of them did, the students
at Sunnydale high were close to shock as Willow made her
grand appearance with the rest of the crew on their first day
back at school after Christmas break. She still found it
hard not to blush under their intense scrutiny, but she had
the support of Faith, Buffy and Cordelia as they moved
through the halls.

Cordelia grinned widely at the new development. "See, Will,
you're a total hottie."

Faith slid up next to the redhead and linked an arm through
hers. "Yup, you could probably take your pick of the bunch
if you wanted."

Later that day, Willow and Cordelia were in the quad with the
slayers at lunch, trying to find a guy for Willow.

"What about him, Wilma?" Faith asked the redhead as she
pointed to a guy across the quad.

Willow shook her head. "No."

"Him?" Buffy asked as she pointed out another guy.

Willow grimaced. "Ew, no."

Cordelia furrowed her brow as she took in the skinny
selection of guys to choose from. "Him?"

Willow shook her head again. "Nope."

"Do you see any guys of interest?" Faith finally asked with
a sigh.

Willow blushed lightly. "Actually I think I might be more
interested in girls to be honest."

Faith raised an eyebrow and grinned. "Really? Well, I have
noticed more than a few girls take after Queeney and Princess
B over here when it comes to lifestyle changes. I'm sure we
could find you a cutie."

Willow shrugged. "Well, I'm not ruling out guys completely,
I just don't want to rule out girls either."

"Ah, going for a hundred percent of the population instead of
forty-nine. You're a smart cookie, Rosenberg." Cordelia
added with a nod.

Before anything further could be said, the girls were
distracted by Xander, screaming at the top of his lungs as he
ran through the quad. Anya was trailing after him yelling
something about stuffed animals and costumes. The four girls
exchanged a look of sheer confusion. Well, three did.
Cordelia, as always, knew exactly what was going on.

"What in the hell are those two up to now?" Faith asked the
others.

Cordelia bit her lip to keep from laughing. "Well, Anya got
pissed off because some idiotic bimbo was flirting with
Xander this morning so she left him a gift in his English
class. I don't know why she cares anyways, those two have
been terrified of each other since Halloween." She paused
and sighed. "Anyways, she left a red clown nose on his desk.
She keeps one in her locker just in case. Anyways, he
decided to retaliate and left a stuffed bunny on her desk in
her chemistry class. Of course, he keeps one around for the
same reasons. Those two have completely lost it."

The girls all burst out laughing at their friends' utter
goofiness.

"Man, it feels good to be back." Faith said with a shake of
her head.

The students of Sunnydale high were not disappointed on their
first day back from break. The rumor mill was already
running full-tilt with Willow's new look, and her new crowd
certainly didn't disappoint when it came to odd behavior
either. Xander and Anya certainly filled their weekly quota

"Have you ever heard Summers sing?" Cordelia asked Faith one
night at the Bronze.

Faith grinned widely. "Yup, that girl can belt with the best
of 'em, why?"

"I've been trying to get her to do something in public. But
of course, she refuses to join the musical, she won't sing in
the talent show and completely snubs the idea of singing here
on open mic night. I was thinking with dual pressure she
might cave." Cordelia replied with a wicked glint in her
eye.

Faith smirked. "Ah, now I see your plan." Faith sat for a
moment thinking to herself and suddenly her eyes lit up.
"Hey, I know how to get B to sing here. You know as well as
I do that she never backs down from a challenge. I'll get up
there and sing next week and bet her that she won't."

Cordelia grinned from ear to ear. "See, I knew you could put
your slayer induced challenges to good use."

"What are you two grinning at?" Buffy asked cautiously as
she approached the table. She knew anything that had both
brunettes grinning like they were could only mean trouble for
her.

"Nothin' B. Me and Queeney here were talking about me
singing at open mic night next week."

Buffy grinned. "Have you ever heard this one sing?" She
asked her girlfriend, jutting a thumb to the other slayer as
she took a seat next to her. Cordelia shook her head. "She
is awesome. I know you said I could sing, but this one has
some pipes."

Cordelia quirked an eyebrow. "Really?" She smirked to
herself. "Hmm, I could have a singing, slaying duo on my
hands. You two should form a band or something."

Faith grimaced at the thought. "Yikes, no way Queeney, the
whole band thing is so not me. I'm not a big fan of
organized anything."

Buffy rolled her eyes. "She speaks the truth. Faith has
doesn't know the meaning of the word 'plan'. She just flits
all over the place, doing whatever she wants."

Faith snorted and shoved Buffy playfully. "Hey, I'm not the
only bad one here, blondie. Remember that fight in the
cemetery when you nearly got your neck snapped by that group
of idiotic vamps when you decided to yell at me for not being
able to be on time? When it was you that was late?" Faith
gave her a smirk. "Oh, and what about that time that you got
your ass kicked and nearly got stabbed for running off
without me because I had to pee so bad I almost burst my
bladder all over the sidewalk."

Buffy winced and buckled down for the storm.

"What!?!"

At the look of fury on Queen C's face, Faith bolted from her
chair, shooting the blonde slayer apologetic glances as she
left.

Buffy decided that she should get used to calling out
apologies to her girlfriend through locked bathroom doors.
It was slowly becoming a habit. Ah, the rumor mill would be
full of brand spankin' new tales tomorrow.

"So, B, you and Queeney seem to be extra tight these days,
what's the deal?" Faith asked as the two wandered around on
patrol.

Buffy shrugged with a tiny smile on her face. "Nothing big,
just love."

"You're in love, huh? Nice." Faith nodded her approval with
a grin. "Have you told her?"

Buffy blushed slightly. "Yup. We both said it one night up
in Big Bear."

Faith thought for a second and suddenly she put all the
pieces together. "You did it, didn't you?" She asked with a
wide grin. Buffy's deepening blush answered Faith's question
for her. "Wow, moved on to the main course before me, nice
going, B."

Buffy smacked her playfully. "It wasn't a contest, Faith."

Faith smirked. "I know, I just figured I'd lose it before
you." She paused a moment and nodded as something occurred
to her. "I guess that's why Queeney asked me to keep you
occupied that night...did she have some big romantic scene
set up for you?"

Buffy sighed dreamily. "Yeah, she had a ton of candles and
lingerie, it was so incredibly sweet with the snow falling
outside and the fire in the fireplace." She heaved another
dreamy sigh. "It was perfect."

Faith was impressed with the Queen. She cared about her
blonde slaying companion and she felt like they were more
like sisters than anything. Faith was glad that Cordelia was
taking good care of Buffy. "So, did you say it before or
after?"

"Before. And after."

Faith nodded. "Did you guys spend all night all cuddly and
stuff afterwards?"

Buffy frowned slightly. "No, actually...we kinda just fell
asleep." She froze in her tracks for a moment and winced at
how awful that sounded. "God, I am so lame."

Faith felt bad for her blonde companion and squeezed her arm
lightly. "Hey, don't sweat it, Twinkie. I'm sure if you
talk to her about it, she'll understand." Her brow furrowed
for a moment. "Besides, she hasn't seemed bent outta shape
or anything since we've been back. Maybe she isn't worried
about it."

Buffy nodded absently as she cursed herself for being an
insensitive idiot to the girl she loved. She spent the
remainder of patrol trying to figure out what to say to her
girlfriend to make things right.

"Hey Summers?"

"Yeah?"

"I wanna ask you a favor." She replied lazily as she drew
her fingers through the blonde locks splayed across her bare
abdomen.

Buffy kissed the skin directly below Cordelia's navel and
propped herself up in her girlfriend's bed to look at her.
"What's up?"

"I want you to teach me to fight better."

Buffy gazed up at her with a warm smile. "Why?"

"I dunno, I figure since Angel and I helped out with the
Master thing, maybe you and Faith could help us fight better
so we could help out more. Maybe help with patrol or
something." She stated quietly, hoping the blonde wouldn't
think she was being stupid for asking.

Buffy grinned fondly and shifted her position so she was face
to face with the beauty in bed with her. "I don't know about
patrol just yet, but I would love to help you with the
fighting." She paused and leaned in for a kiss. "It would
make me feel a bit better to know you could defend yourself."

Cordelia furrowed her brow slightly. "I don't just want to
defend myself, I want to be able to help you guys fight."

Buffy leaned in and kissed away the tiny crinkles in the
brunette's forehead. "I know baby. Let's just take it slow,
okay? One step at a time."

Cordelia nodded. "I just figured since cheerleading and
football are over for this year, Angel and I could focus some
time on becoming more battle ready."

"I'm glad that you wanna help, Cor. It means a lot to me. I
just don't want to see you get hurt, you don't have super
healing capabilities." Buffy eased out carefully.

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Okay, I understand that, but I'm
not going to break, you know I'm stronger than I look.
Besides it would keep me in shape for cheering next year."

Buffy smiled softly and kissed the brunette lightly before
resuming her position with her cheek pressed against the
warm, taught flesh of Cordelia's stomach. "We start Monday
then."

Cordelia grinned, loving that she'd won and the two remained
silent for a long stretch of minutes, simply enjoying each
other's warm presence. Buffy slowly eased herself up and
managed to place herself between Cordelia's thighs as she
looked down into the chestnut eyes below hers. She settled
her weight on her forearms and brushed away a stray strand of
hair from Cordelia's face. "I've been thinking a lot lately.
I feel bad about something and I've been meaning to
apologize for it."

Cordelia leaned in and kissed her softly. "Summers, just
spit it out. We've done this confession thing before and
both lived to not tell the tale, so just spill." Cordelia
got to the point, but her words came out in a soothing
fashion that eased Buffy's nerves immediately.

"I've been thinking about that night up in Big Bear and I
realized, strangely through Faith, that I may not have gotten
my feelings across to you properly." She paused and shifted
her weight slightly. "When I told you that I love you I
meant it...wholeheartedly. But I feel bad because I acted like
a teenage boy by saying it and sleeping with you and then
falling asleep."

"Buffy, I fell right to sleep too. Don't feel bad."
Cordelia would have gone on, but Buffy's eyes said that she
wasn't finished, so she stopped talking.

The slayer smiled appreciatively before continuing. "It's
hard sometimes because as a slayer I have to keep my emotions
guarded carefully when I fight. If I start thinking about
you or my mom or our friends, I could get distracted and end
up hurt, so I have to keep that part of me closed off." She
paused for a moment, choosing her words carefully; she wanted
desperately to get this right. "Sometimes I'll be brushing
my hair, or walking down the hall at school and I'll think
about you and my heart literally skips a beat in my chest. I
know if I let myself think too long, I'll burst into tears
because of the emotion that I feel every time I think about
you." She paused again to take in a shaky breath. "I almost
feel like we were cheated. I feel like the human heart
doesn't come well enough equipped to handle the massive
emotions that come with being in love." She allowed the
thought to linger a moment and smiled shyly. "Well, at least
I don't think mine does, because all it takes is a look from
you and I feel like my heart might actually explode."

Despite Cordelia's rapid blinking, a few tears managed to
escape her eyes. Buffy leaned in and carefully kissed them
away. "Did I say something wrong?" The blonde asked
quietly.

Cordelia let out a cross between a laugh and a sob as she
kissed her girlfriend gently. "No, baby, you said everything
right, it's just that you finally managed to vocalize exactly
how I feel and it makes me so incredibly happy to know you
feel the same."

Buffy grinned widely and kissed Cordelia tenderly. "I just
wish there was a better word than love. I feel like love is
too small a word for what I feel." She thought silently for
a moment. "Maybe we should think of a random word that only
we know that encompasses everything we feel for each other."

Cordelia smiled fondly at the endless wonder that was her
girlfriend. "Any ideas?"

Buffy shook her head. "Nope, you?"

"How about cross?" She asked as she ran a finger over the
silver cross around Buffy's neck.

Buffy smiled. "It seems fairy appropriate, considering a
cross has saved my life once or twice." She gave Cordelia a
silly grin. "Just like you."

"Aw, there's my little sap factory." She grinned and leaned
in for a kiss. "Cross it is then."

The two shared a silly, loving grin as they pulled each other
close, planning on using the entire night to show each other
how much they cross the other. Anyone who said nobody could
match a slayer's stamina had obviously never met Cordelia
Chase.

"Alrighty, Cooperstown, it's your big night, you nervous?"
Xander asked with a grin as he approached Faith at the bar of
the Bronze.

Faith grabbed her water bottle as she slung a pile of bills
on the bar and gave him a confident smirk. "Nope, tonight's
about B anyways not me."

"What are you talking about? I thought you were gonna sing."

Faith rolled her eyes. "X, you know this is all a big scam
to get B on stage tonight, right?"

"It is?" He asked incredulously.

The brunette slayer laughed loudly and slapped him on the
back lightly. "Yeah, Queeney wanted to get B to sing, so we
figured if I did it and challenged her to, she would."

Xander's face contorted from confused to mischief as the plan
was revealed to him. "Ah, how very sneaky of you both." He
glanced around the club and grinned. "It's a busy night too,
you two are gonna knock 'em dead."

A half hour later, Faith's friends watched from their booth
as she took the stage. She smirked at a few loud whistles
and hollers, but her face switched to a sexy grin as the
lights came up and the music started. Her voice came pouring
out through the speakers as she sang to some rock song that
Buffy had never heard before. She was captivated by the way
Faith had every single person in the club focusing all
available attention on her. She was clad in her leather
pants as usual and had on a slinky red top that left little
to the imagination. Buffy glanced around and smiled as Angel
practically drooled in his drink. She leaned over to
Cordelia, who was watching with an expression of utter shock.
"Told ya she had pipes."

Cordelia gave her a grin. "She's amazing, but you could sing
her into the ground. It's no contest, Summers."

They all watched in astonishment as Faith wrapped the crowd
around her pinky as she did her thing on stage, nobody could
argue she was damn good. And the crowd let her know it once
she was done with a thunderous applause as she hopped off the
stage and joined her friends. She strode right up to Buffy
and faced her with the most confident smirk she could muster.
"Beat that, blondie."

Buffy gave her a mock glare and shrugged. "No problem Faith,
you just watch. I'll show you a singing slayer." With that,
Buffy turned on her heel and went off in search of the music
manager.

Faith turned to Cordelia who was looking at her with
admiration that she didn't seem to notice. "See, Queeney, I
knew she wouldn't back down." She jutted a thumb at the
retreating blonde and smirked. Faith raised her eyebrows
when Cordelia didn't answer. "What's up C?"

"Buffy said you had a good voice, but Faith, you were
phenomenal. Seriously, you were great."

Faith blushed slightly. "Thanks." She replied quietly. She
smiled at Cordelia before turning to Angel and flopping down
in his lap.

A moment later, Buffy returned with a smug look on her face.
Cordelia gave her a confused glance as she sat down. "Are
you gonna sing, Summers?"

Buffy gave them a wide grin and nodded. "Yup, there's a few
people before me, so I have to wait." She pointed a finger
at Faith. "You just wait, Cooper."

Buffy and Faith's friends all found this to be the most
enjoyable challenge between the two slayers thus far.
Though, they remembered the main reason they never came to
the Bronze on Thursday nights. The rest of the people who
hit the stage just plain sucked. After suffering through a
few horrible renditions of Hootie and the Blowfish and TLC,
they were all relieved when Buffy took the stage. The lights
came up about half way, bathing Buffy in a deep blue light as
she sat on a stool in the middle of the stage, with the mic
on its stand. Any hints of nervousness faded away as soon as
the first notes of piano filtered from the speakers. She
locked gazes with Cordelia as she began to sing.

Lying beside you here in the dark
Feeling your heart beat with mine
Softly you whisper
You're so sincere
How could our love be so blind

Buffy allowed herself to be drawn into the song as she closed
her eyes and belted it out. It was entirely evident that
Buffy felt completely at home in front of people when she
sang.

We sailed on together
We drifted apart
And here you are by my side

Anybody who was listening, and that was currently everyone in
the club, could hear the emotion in Buffy's voice as she kept
her eyes trained on the brunette watching her.

So now I come to you with open arms
Nothing to hide
Believe what I say.

So here I am with open arms
Hoping you'll see what your love means to me
Open arms

Cordelia's mouth hung open as she experienced Buffy singing
for real. Sure, she was great in the shower, but this was
real. The brunette was completely blown away.

Living without you
Living alone
This empty house seems so cold

Wanting to hold you
Wanting you near
How much I wanted you home
But now that you've come back
Turned night into day
I need you to stay

Cordelia felt tears prick her eyes as she listened to the
words of the song and the way Buffy's voice cracked slightly
as emotion poured into her voice with the last line.

So now I come to you with open arms
Nothing to hide
Believe what I say

So here I am with open arms
Hoping you'll see what your love means to me
Open arms

There was a moment of sheer silence before the crowd went
absolutely frantic over the small slayer. She smiled shyly
and moved from the stage to the booth with her friends. They
all immediately dove into compliments and Faith bowed
playfully. "Okay, you win the award for 'best slayer on the
stage', B. No contest in my mind, damn girl."

Cordelia cupped the blonde's face gently and kissed her.
Buffy was surprised to see unshed tears in her girlfriend's
eyes. "Buffy that was so incredible. There really are no
words."

Buffy blushed under the attention and compliments from her
friends. None of them seemed to notice the stares they
received as they made a hasty exit, trying to escape further
torture from more awful singers. Yippee for them, a few more
rumors to fuel the fire.

"Hello Ripper."

Giles turned at the sound of the sultry female voice behind
him and nearly dropped his cup of tea.

"Jenny." He stated with a touch of awe.

She gave him a slow smile and sauntered further into the
library. "How have you been? I hear your slayers defeated
the Master with no problems."

Giles gaped at her for a moment. He was reeling slightly.
"What are you doing here?"

"The Council sent me." She said as she eased herself up on
the edge of a nearby table.

Giles raised his eyebrows and suddenly snapped out of his
shock. "The Council sent you? For what?"

She shrugged languidly. "Well, after you left I did some
work with them in the magic department and they sent me to
help you."

"Help me with what?" He asked, suddenly a frightening
thought occurred to him. "Did they make you a watcher?"

Jenny burst out laughing and shook her head, dropping her
sexy 'tude. "No, I'd need an accent and a stuffy suit for
that." She paused and her face fell grimly. "Something's
coming, Ripper. Actually, someone. And they say she's got
potential to have big power."

Giles eyed her wearily. "Oh Lord, it's not another slayer is
it?" He rolled his eyes. "I have my hands full with the two
I already have."

She laughed again. "No, it's a witch. Born into a line of
fairly powerful witches before her. I've been told that she
could be swayed in the wrong direction and I'm here to make
sure that doesn't happen." She shrugged. "She won't be here
for a few months, but I thought it would be wise to make sure
I'm prepared when she arrives."

He nodded slowly. "How very un...you-like."

"It is, isn't it? To be perfectly honest, they scared me
when they told me how powerful this girl will be and it's
vital that she plays for our side." She said solemnly.

He gave her a small teasing smile. "She must be something
else to actually scare you. I seem to remember you to be
quite fearless."

Jenny instantly picked her 'tude back off the ground and
slung it on. "Oh don't worry, I haven't forgotten how to be
adventurous. But a power this big can't be ignored." She
paused and gave him a wink. "I hope you haven't forgotten
how to be adventurous."

Giles blushed lightly and began to get flustered. Luckily
for him he was saved as the two slayers and their other
halves came through the door. Xander, Riley and Willow
trailing along behind them. The slayers noticed the new
presence first and stopped in their tracks, causing a five-
person pile up behind them. Both slayers eyed the woman
talking to Giles carefully, almost as if they could sense
something about her. Buffy glanced from Giles to the woman
and back to Giles. "Who is this?"

Giles gave her a comforting smile and waved them all in.
"This is Jenny Calendar. She was sent by the Council to
help."

Faith's eyes narrowed slightly. "You're not a watcher." She
couldn't shake the feeling that something was not entirely
right with this woman.

Jenny grinned widely, and that simple action caused both
slayers to relax slightly. "No, Faith, I'm not. I was sent
to guide someone who will be arriving in Sunnydale shortly.
She's a witch, and so am I. I'll be sort of like her
watcher."

Xander grinned his goofy grin. "A witch watcher? I wonder
if that's as fun as it sounds."

Giles and Jenny exchanged a look and looked at Xander with
matching wry expressions. He grinned sheepishly and moved to
a nearby chair and plunked down.

Faith gave Jenny an apprehensive look. "How do you know my
name, anyways?"

"I read both your files. They include pictures." She
replied with a shrug.

Buffy, who was still weary of this new woman, glanced at
Faith and moved in closer to Giles. "I'm getting a weird
tingle in here. Giles, she's making me tingle." Buffy
almost whined quietly as she pointed to Jenny.

Faith burst out laughing. "Princess, you really need to keep
that to yourself." Everyone exchanged looks of exasperation
at Faith's joke, so she scowled at them and hopped up on the
table next to Xander. "Same boat, X. Need an extra paddle?"

He stuck his tongue out at the room and turned to Faith
haughtily. "It seems that great comedic minds think alike.
Let them suffer humorlessly."

"Buffy, those tingles you are referring to are your body's
way of letting you know when supernatural beings are nearby.
They alert you to the presence of vampires and demons. But
they will also sense supernatural power in humans. That's
why you feel it. It's the magic." She offered with a
hopeful expression. She really didn't want to start off on
the wrong foot with the slayers.

Faith and Buffy exchanged another short glance, and with a
small nod, they relaxed and everyone else took seats around
the tables. Jenny smiled and turned to Giles. "So, Ripper
aren't you going to introduce me to everyone who isn't a
slayer?"

Giles shot her a tiny glare. "Please refrain from calling me
that." He rolled his eyes when her grin widened and pointed
everyone out as he introduced them. "This is Cordelia,
Angel, Xander, Riley and Willow. They know everything, so no
need to hold back information for their sakes." He added
with a pointed look at his slayers, who recoiled slightly.
Giles was still kinda pissed about everyone now knowing about
the three of them.

Jenny gave them all a warm smile that reminded them of Joyce
Summers in the tiniest of ways. "Well, all I can say is that
I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to work with all of you.
I've heard a lot about the progress of the Chosen Two. I
hope you'll let Rupert and myself tag along on your patrol
tonight."

The slayers nodded and smiled politely until Jenny and Giles'
backs were turned and they shared a devious smile. They had
to have some fun, after all. They thought of it more as an
initiation than anything else. You can't just walk in and
expect everything to be fine and dandy. Ah, those poor
slayers, they had no idea who they were messing with. They'd
certainly be surprised.

"Hey, B, you beltin' it out tonight?" Faith asked as she
arrived at the Bronze with Angel.

Buffy was at the front talking to the manager when they
walked in. "Yup, I'm gonna sing a few different things
tonight."

Faith smiled wide with approval. "Nice. When are you on?"

"Ten." She grinned at them both, secretly loving performing
on stage every week. "You guys gonna stick around?"

Angel nodded with a wide grin as he wrapped his arms around
Faith's waist. "Of course, that's the only reason we're here
on Thursdays."

"Thanks guys." She leaned in and hugged them both, grateful
for their support. She jutted a thumb over her shoulder.
"Everybody's here. Giles and Jenny even showed up...I think
they like each other." She mused quietly before shaking it
off.

Faith and Angel said their good luck's as they moved into the
club, leaving Buffy to her previous conversation. They found
the whole gang at their usual table and said a round of
hellos. Angel pulled up an oversized armchair to the end of
the table and sat down first allowing Faith to arrange
herself on his lap.

"I can't believe we only have a month left of school, this
year flew by." Xander said gleefully.

Willow frowned slightly. "It's sad. I'm gonna miss it over
the summer."

"We know, Will. Don't worry, we'll keep you so joyfully busy
for three months that you won't even realize what you're
missing." He grinned widely. "Besides, we won't be freshman
anymore, that's enough for me."

Willow gave him a small smile as she leaned back in her
chair. She took a look around at the amount of people that
were in the club and she smiled widely. "I think Buffy's
made quite an impression. This place is packed."

"She is gathering a small fan base. I really think she needs
to join a band or something." Cordelia noted.

Giles smiled as he looked around. "She does have a
following, that's for sure."

The group chatted happily until the lights went down and
Buffy took the stage. She ended up singing three different
songs that night. Cordelia watched with an enormous fondness
as her girlfriend took command of the stage and every person
watched her undividedly.

Jenny sat in the booth next to Giles and watched one of the
Chosen Two sing on stage and she was baffled. She had no
idea slayers could be such natural performers. Ah, if the
council only knew what one of the slayers was up to...they'd
have a field day with this one. But, they were in England
drinking tea and eating scones as the slayer wowed everyone
again and gained a few more faithful followers.

"Man, Ms. JC back there has some wicked chops in the magic
department." Faith noted as she glanced over her shoulder
and back to Buffy. "Don't ya think, B?"

Buffy nodded vigorously with a tiny scowl on her face. "I
agree, she nearly lit my ass on fire though. She needs to
watch those fireball spells."

Faith burst out laughing. "I think that's the first time you
said 'fire' and didn't have that spacey expression on your
face." She paused for a second. "Maybe you should remember
that next time you see her flingin' those things around. You
had the funniest damn look on your face when they came
shooting outta her hands. I thought you were gonna pee all
over yourself." Faith laughed again and shoved Buffy
playfully.

"Hey, no teasing. She burned my leg and it hurt." Buffy
said with a pout.

Faith gave her a mock pout back. "Aw, is little B hurt?
Maybe you should ask Queeney to kiss it better when you get
home."

Buffy scowled deeper and smacked Faith on the arm. "Kiss my
ass, Coop."

The slayers continued their playful banter as the two adults
trailed along behind them, re-hashing fond memories for both
of them. It was all quiet on the scary front, and all four
knew what that meant. Trouble wasn't too far away.

"I would like to propose a toast. Here's to us, the
freshmen, for surviving out first year of high school with
very few scars and to the rest of you for helping us out
along the way." Cordelia stated to her friends as they sat
around her pool the day after school got out.

They all raised a glass in a toast and sipped at their
margaritas and daiquiris. The school year had ended with
very little fanfare. Although, it remained to be seen if
Xander would get caught for dying the football field yellow
and painting 'Class of '99 Rules!' in bright red paint. He
had to get in one last freshman prank and so far he was in
the clear.

For Buffy, the year had turned out to be much better than she
could have hoped. She had a girlfriend that she loved beyond
comprehension, a noble purpose in life, a group of amazing
friends and family that truly cared about each other.

Cordelia got a bit misty as she recounted the year. She felt
incredibly grateful for the friends that stuck with her
through a rough time and the new friends she'd made. Buffy
had of course been the bright spot, filling her life with a
love she had never known existed. And she had helped fight
the good fight. She felt proud.

Angel was looking forward to his senior year at school. His
last before total freedom. He watched his oldest friend grow
into an amazing person over the last year. He was incredibly
proud of who she was becoming. He was very content with his
life and very thankful.

Faith thanked her lucky stars for more than a few things.
Her being chosen, meeting Xander and Willow, gaining a sister-
type in Buffy, Angel, and even the Queen. She had it good,
and wasn't gonna let anything take that away from her.

Xander and Willow were still feeling slightly stunned when it
came to their sudden rise to Sunnydale popularity. It was
scary, but they felt confident in their long-time friendship
to get them through it.

The group had grown in size, but didn't stretch any
individual relationships too thin. They had faced a lot of
good times together and a few scary and silly times too. The
two slayers somehow had become the center of this family-like
group. Their struggles, triumphs, destinies and even stunts
had forged a bond between the most unlikely people...but they
all knew it was special.

Well, this ends the first section of this fic. I realize
it's rather short, but I felt like I needed to use freshman
year to mainly introduce the characters my way and get them
relatively settled before I start playing with them. I
really needed this first part to solidify Buffy and
Cordelia's foundation for the adventures to come. I realize
that it was a little anti-action, but there's plenty of that
coming in the next sections. I plan on making each school
year a separate section or season, whatever you wanna call
it. I haven't decided if I'm going to take it into college
yet, that will come much later. I hope you have enjoyed and
please leave feedback and let me know what you think.

"Please..." Cordelia begged. Not exactly sure what she was
begging for, but she knew that if something didn't happen
soon that she would either explode or burst into tears and
neither option sounded pleasant.

Giles was in the library one afternoon sorting through his
books when the doors swung open. He looked up to see a
college aged man walk through the doors. Giles stood upright
and removed his glasses.
"Can I help you?"
"Yeah, I'm looking for Rupert Giles."
"I'm Rupert Giles. What can I do for you?"
"The name's Doyle. And I, my friend, have been sent by the
Powers That Be."
"The Powers?"
"Yup, see I get these visions, they're meant to aid a
Champion. I understand that the new slayer hasn't been
called yet, but when she does, my visions are meant to help
her."
"So, you're a seer?"
"Right again."