The Three of Us

Reviews and Feedback are more than welcome.

This Chapter was beta'd by Faerys Delight, many thanks for her help. She also has stories on this site!

Last time I checked none of these Characters belonged to me!
************************************************************


Buffy and Faith walked down the steps from Giles’ house. They turned toward Buffy’s and the knuckles of their hands gently brushed against each other, once, twice, then their hands automatically clasped each other. A small, gentle smile creased each of their faces. They walked quietly in the warm afternoon sun. As they turned up Revello Drive, Faith could feel Buffy gripping her hand tighter.

“It’ll be okay, B,” she broke the silence. “Yer mom’s pretty cool, give her some time to adjust, and everythin’ll be good.”

“You keep telling me that,” the blond sighed, “and maybe one day I’ll believe you.”

Faith stopped and turned to face her girlfriend. She took her hand so she was holding both of them. “I’m speakin’ from experience.” She pulled their hands up and held them to her chest. “She didn’t flinch when I told her about my past. She listened to what I had to say, and let me stay in spite of it.” She leaned forward and gently brushed their lips together. “She’s yer mom, and she loves you. When it comes to moms, me and Queen C got the shit end of the stick. Yours is great, so you don’t have ta worry.”

Buffy looked at her quietly for a moment. “I have to go in there and say, ‘Hi mom. I’m gay. Oh, I’m also sleeping with Faith and Cordelia. What’s for dinner?’ Of course I’m expecting her to lose it.”

Faith dropped Buffy’s hands and pulled her into a hug. “She knows yer a slayer, right?” Buffy nodded against her. “Did she tell ya to get out when she found out?”

“No.” Buffy said quietly. “But she was pretty freaked for a while.”

“Yeah, but that was more’n likely findin’ out things that go bump in the night actually do go bump in the night. Tellin’ her about us after all that probably won’t even register.”

Buffy smacked her on the arm, “Don’t make fun, Faith, this is serious.”

“I know,” Faith said. “Did she tell ya ta quit hangin' around with Red and Blondie, after she found out they were gay?”

“No.”

“Okay,” Faith pulled back and looked at her. “We’ll tell her and give her a chance to deal. Then we’ll figger out everything else after that.” She smiled at the blonde. “You’ve got me ‘n Queen C on your side, it’ll all work out.”

Buffy sighed, and let go of Faith, “I really hope you’re right.” She grasped Faith’s hand and they walked toward the house.

Dawn was sitting in the living room when the two slayers came in the door. “Hey, Dawn,” Buffy spoke. “Where’s mom?”

“She’s still at the gallery. We’re s’posed to order pizza.”

“Oh.” Buffy paused and looked at Faith. Turning back to her sister, “Did she say when she’d be home?”

“Yup,” Dawn’s eyes never left the TV. “She’ll be home about seven. We’re s’posed to save her some pizza, so order lots.”

Two hours later the front door opened, revealing a cranky and tired Joyce. “I hate people that think they know what they’re talking about, pretentious asses.” She kicked off her shoes and dropped her briefcase on the floor. She rested her back against the door as she closed it. “They couldn’t spell ‘art’ if it hit them in the head.”

Dawn peered wide eyed around the corner of the living room, “Are you okay mom?”

Joyce smiled wearily at her youngest daughter. “Yeah, it was just a tough day, that’s all. I’m home now, and I can relax.” She looked into the living room, “Are Buffy and Faith home?”

“Yup, I think they’re downstairs.”

“Do you have homework?”

Dawn looked sideways at her mom standing in the living room. “Some, not very much.”

Joyce picked up the remote and turned the TV off. “Do it now and you can watch some TV later, before bed.” Dawn sighed and her shoulders slumped. “Not tonight, Dawn,” Joyce‘s voice was hard. “I’m not in the mood.”

Dawn slowly rose from the couch, “Yeah, fine.” She trudged past her mom and headed up the stairs. She stopped at the first step, “Left over pizza’s in the fridge.”

Joyce smiled wanly at her, “Thanks, I’ll see you when you’re done. Okay?”

“Yeah,” Dawn replied as she turned up the stairs.

Joyce walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. ‘Hmm,’ she thought to herself. ‘Let’s see what they’ve left me.’ She pulled out the box and dropped it onto the counter before flipping the lid up. ‘Let’s see... there’s a slice of Faith’s Meatatarian, Buffy’s Deluxe, and four slices of Dawn’s Pep and Mush,’ she looked towards the basement door with a furrowed brow. ‘Those two never leave anything behind, I wonder what they want?’ Opening a cupboard, she pulled out a plate, put the pizza on it and put it in the microwave. She started the timer, then went and opened the basement door. “Girls,” she called downstairs, “I’m home.” ‘They’ll be up in a minute to tell me what they want,’ she thought as she walked back to the microwave.

The two slayers were sitting on the opposite ends of the bed when Joyce called downstairs. Faith looked up from her book, at the blonde, and waited. The seconds ticked by, and the blonde hadn’t moved. “B,” she spoke quietly. “We talked about this, I know yer scared. So am I.” Buffy looked up, nervously chewing on her bottom lip. Faith smiled at her again. “We’re doin’ this together, ‘member?”

“Yeah,” Buffy sighed and closed her notebook. “But it’s still not your mom.”

Faith nodded and turned, dropping her feet on the floor. “You’re right,” she gently squeezed Buffy’s thigh. “But I got a big investment in this too, ya know.”

Buffy tilted her head as she moved to sit next to Faith. “What?”

“You.”

Joyce was pulling the plate out of the microwave as the basement door opened. She put it down on the island and pointed to it. “Help yourselves; I’m assuming you left some of yours behind so I wouldn’t have to eat alone.” She smiled as the two girls blushed slightly. “I didn’t think so,” she sat on one of the chairs and faced the slayers. “What do you want?”

Faith leaned against the kitchen wall, as Buffy looked back towards her. The blonde sat on one of the chairs, facing her mother. The silence hung in the air. Joyce looked between the two girls for a moment. “Buffy,” she spoke. “I’ve had a really crappy day. I want to go have a hot bath and put it behind me. Just spit it out.”

Buffy blinked wide eyed at her mom, and started to slide out of the chair. “Umm,” she quickly glanced at Faith. “Maybe it can wait...”

“B.” was spoken quietly from behind her. She felt her nervousness calm as Faith reached over and gently squeezed her shoulder.

Joyce watched the interaction between the two girls. ‘Somehow I don’t think this is about borrowing the car,’ she thought to herself. She put her pizza slice back down on the plate and waited for her daughter to speak. Faith stayed behind Buffy with her hand on her shoulder, and Joyce’s eyebrow rose slowly as Buffy brought her hand up to cover Faith’s. ‘Oh God,’ raced through her mind. ‘This has nothing to do with the car.’
Buffy sighed, and drawing strength from Faith she looked up into her mom’s eyes. “There’s something I need to tell you.” Her eyes dropped down, and her fingers started to outline a random pattern on the counter top. Moments passed in the deafening silence. She looked back up, setting her jaw, “It’s about Faith, Cordelia and me.” She glanced quickly at Faith before resuming. “Before we went to L.A. this weekend, Faith and I had become fairly close.” She watched as Joyce’s shoulders sagged slightly. “There is a connection between us; we can tell when we’re getting close to each other.” She sighed, “It’s like a humming, but it also creates a sense of warmth.” She paused again and looked around the kitchen. “Because of that, we sort of developed feelings for each other.”

Joyce’s eyebrows shot straight up, “Sort of?”

“Okay,” Buffy mumbled. “We did develop feelings for each other.”

“And?” Joyce asked.

“We’ve started to date.”

Joyce nodded, “Anything else?”

“Ummm, yeah.” Buffy replied in a hush.

Faith let go of her shoulder and moved behind her. She put both hands on her shoulders and leaned down, whispering into Buffy’s ear. “Yer doin’ okay, yer halfway home.” She stood and looked at Joyce watching them.

Buffy sighed and looked at her mother again. “When we were out with Cordy in L.A., we went to a demon karaoke bar. The owner is a friend of Angel’s.” Joyce didn’t move, she just watched her daughter. “The first time you go, you have to sing for the host. While you’re singing, he reads your soul.” Joyce’s lips curled downwards and she crossed her arms over her chest. Buffy watched the stiff moves, but wasn’t able to read her mother. “Faith sang, then I did, but he could only read part of our souls. The rest was blank.”
“What does that mean?” Joyce spat out.

“It’s okay Mrs. S,” Faith spoke for the first time. “Nuthin’s wrong.”

Joyce seemed to hug herself tighter, “Continue,” she barked.

Faith could feel the trembling in the blonde as she started to speak again. “He came back and asked the three of us to sing, without telling us why. After we’d finished he told us what he saw. That he saw the three of us together for a very long time. That the three of us belonged together.” Buffy’s voice trailed away.

The seconds dragged as Joyce blinked slowly, “I don’t understand, what, are you trying to tell me?”

“She’s tryin’ to tell you that the connection between me and B is shared with Queen C.” Faith spoke as she looked into Joyce’s eyes. “The three of us can feel each other, when we’re together.”

Joyce’s, brow furrowed as she thought for a moment. “What does that have to do with the singing demon?”

“I didn’t explain it right,” Buffy said quietly. “Shortly after we got to the bar, we figured out the connection when we said hello and shook hands. We could feel it between the three of us. After that we had to sing,” she took a deep breath. “Lorne, the demon, couldn’t read our souls until after the three of us sang together. It’s because the three of us are soul mates.”

“So let me get this straight,” Joyce’s voice was icy. “Because some...” She sighed, waving her arm around, “Some, demon, told you the three of you are, ‘soul mates’, you believed him? All of you bought that, that... load of crap?”

“Mom!” Buffy yelled.

Joyce could see the tears welling up in her daughter’s distraught face. She put her elbow on the countertop and dropped her head into her hand. “I’m sorry, Buffy,” she sighed. “I’m having a hard time trying to comprehend what the hell is going on.” She looked at her daughter again, “Are you dating Faith or not?” Buffy nodded and waited for her mother to continue. “And you’re also dating that Cordelia girl?” Buffy nodded again. Joyce looked up at Faith, “Who are you dating?”

“Buffy and Queen C.”

“And everybody is comfortable with this...” she sighed as she searched for the words, “This relationship, I guess?”

“We are,” Buffy answered.

“Yup,” was all that Faith said.

Joyce’s eyes moved back and forth between the two girls for a few moments. “This is the same Cordelia you used to hate, right?”

“Umm,” Buffy stammered. “She’s uh, changed since, she, umm, moved to L.A.”

“She’s not the only one,” Joyce muttered under her breath. She looked at her daughter for a moment. She could see the need for acceptance and the fear of rejection chasing each other across her face. “Faith,” she turned to the dark slayer. “I want to talk to my daughter alone.”

Faith quickly glanced at Buffy, before turning back to Joyce. She spoke to both of them, “I’ll be downstairs if you need me.” She squeezed Buffy’s shoulders gently, and whispered, “It’ll be okay.” The two locked eyes for a moment before Buffy nodded and looked back to her mother.

“Faith,” Joyce spoke. “I’ll talk to you when I’m done with Buffy.” Faith nodded and closed the door quietly behind her as she went downstairs.

Joyce and Buffy sat in silence, unable to look at each other, both of them afraid to speak. After a few moments, Joyce stood and walked into the dining room. Buffy sat there, tears forming in her eyes, ‘Oh God,’ she thought, ‘she doesn’t even want to be in the same room as me!’

Joyce walked back into the kitchen with a bottle of wine in her hand. She plunked it down on the island and started to look for a corkscrew in the cutlery drawer. “I just need to get my thoughts together,” she said over her shoulder. “I also decided I needed a drink.” After retrieving the corkscrew, she pulled a glass out of the cupboard and proceeded to open the wine and fill it. Buffy sat still, her eyes following her mother’s movements, not wanting to say a word. She just wished she could wake up and find all of this was nothing but a dream.

Joyce sat down at the island again, and slowly took a sip of her wine. Another minute ticked past. Joyce was staring somewhere over Buffy’s shoulder as she collected her thoughts. “Buffy,” she started. “How did you go from a boy crazy girl, to a...” she drifted off as she tried to find the words she wanted, “to someone involved with two other girls?”

Buffy blinked, “I don’t know.” It was her turn to figure out her answer. “When Faith showed up, and I started to get to know her,” she looked to the counter top and started to draw a random pattern again. “When she showed up, I found myself attracted to her. It was like ‘WOW’, you know.” She paused for a bit, “It didn’t feel weird, because it was a girl, it just was a good feeling.” Joyce nodded and had another sip, while she waited for Buffy to continue. “I thought it was just a slayer thing, but then I remembered Kendra, and there was nothing like this between us. It was very, very faint. I can feel Faith from a couple of blocks away, and it gets stronger the closer we get. When she holds my hand it’s like an electrical charge running through me.” She looked at her mom, “Is this making any sense?”

“Yes dear,” the corners of Joyce’s mouth turned up a little bit. “It is.”

Buffy released the breath she was holding, “When I figured out I was attracted to her, I went and talked to Willow. I asked her how she had figured it out for herself.”

“What did she tell you?” Joyce asked tersely.

“That I needed to look within myself and find out what it was I wanted. To go through all the relationships in my life and follow wherever it led me.” She shifted in her chair and watched her mother’s eyes. “When I did that, that’s when I found that only one other person affected me like that.”

“Angel?” Joyce asked.

Buffy’s looked down to the floor and slowly shook her head. “Cordelia,” was all she said.

Joyce’s brow furrowed as she processed the statement. “But I thought Angel was your one big love?”

“That’s what I thought,” Buffy replied quietly. “But when I looked back and went over everything, it pales in comparison to what I feel with Faith and Cordy.” She sighed and looked away for a moment. “When Cordy first started to hang around with us, I was all tied up with Angel. I didn’t recognize...” she paused. “Or more likely chose to ignore the feelings Cordy brought up. I think we both chose to ignore them.”

“I can understand that,” Joyce said quietly.

Buffy’s lips curled up slightly, “Yeah, we were pretty good at ignoring things.” Her small smile slowly faded. “At first, I didn’t like her a lot because of her attitude to others. But after we started to spend time together, I saw a different, more likeable side. I didn’t mind being around her anymore. I guess the connection helped me see the good side.”

“Did you stay in contact after she left?” Joyce asked.

“Not really,” Buffy answered. “I’d talk to her once in awhile, if we had to call Angel, but we didn’t make any serious attempts to stay in touch.”

“So why did you decide to call her and go visit?”

Buffy sighed and bit her lip. She looked around the kitchen, thinking about how much she should say. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, “Remember the time you found Faith in my room with a stake and a knife? I’d had a bad dream and she’d come upstairs because she heard me?”

Joyce thought for a moment, “Right, I remember. I didn’t hear anything till Faith crashed through the door.”

“Yeah,” Buffy said quietly. “The dream involved some bad things happening to Cordy, and they scared me. I’d already started examining my feelings for Faith, and realized I had the same ones for Cordy.” She chewed on her bottom lip briefly, before continuing. “A little later that night, I called her, to check. She was okay, a little cranky ‘cause I’d woken her up, but alright. We ended up talking for a couple of hours, and I told her about Faith. She asked the two of us to go to L.A. for the weekend and we did.”

Joyce looked at her daughter for a moment, “You had feelings for Faith and Cordelia, so you took Faith to L.A., to meet her or what? Were you dating Faith at the time?”

Buffy fidgeted under her mother’s glare. “Earlier that day I told Faith that I had to deal with some feelings I had for Cordy. It was just dealing with some issues I had with her, then we’d be good to go. When I talked to Cordy, I told her that Faith and I had started to explore our feelings for each other. She was all excited and wanted to meet her, so she asked us to visit.”

Joyce’s eyebrows rocketed up her forehead, “And Faith was okay with this?”

Buffy sighed briefly, “Not really. She asked me in the morning, who I had been talking too. She could hear me with her slayer hearing. I told her about the dream and talking to Cordy, and that Cordy had asked us to L.A. for the weekend. She was kind of nervous about the whole situation, but I told her that Cordy was looking forward to meeting her, and I wanted her to go. I thought it would be a good way for the two of us to spend some uninterrupted time together.”

“Uninterrupted?” Joyce asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Umm, on the, uh, drive there and back,” Buffy stammered. “We were alone in the car.”

Joyce just nodded. Buffy wasn’t sure if her mother believed her or not. She certainly wasn’t going to ask. “We got to Cordy’s place, got changed, then met her at Carita’s. That’s the bar that Lorne owns, Angel’s friend.”

“That’s where you did the singing, and he read your souls.” Buffy nodded in response. “Okay,” Joyce paused for a second. “How did you get from three girls in a bar, to three soul mates? Was it just because he told you, or did something else happen?”

Buffy’s eyes widened as she stared at her mother. “Umm, I, uh...” she stammered. Her shoulders sagged, as she thought about how much to tell her. A sigh passed her lips and she looked up, “Part of it was because of the connection. We were attracted to each other before he even heard us sing. His telling us what he’d seen only confirmed that the three of us felt something special about each other.” Her gaze dropped to the floor, “There was an issue that came up while we were there.” She looked into her mother’s eyes. “You can’t say anything about this to anyone. You can’t even hint to Cordelia that you know. Promise me mom, please?”

“Of course Buffy,” Joyce answered. “I won’t say a word.” She reached forward and patted Buffy’s arm to assure her.

Buffy smiled at the gesture, before it faded from her face. “The dream I had about Cordy wasn’t entirely wrong,” she said slowly. “My dream was about a bunch of Vahrall demons using her as a kinda sacrifice, and I couldn’t save her. That’s why I called.” She paused for a moment, “Earlier this year, she was raped by one.” Joyce gasped at the statement. Buffy held up her hand to stop her from saying anything. “While we were there, it came into the bar. Faith and I didn’t know what had happened to her at the time, but Faith picked up on the change in Cordy’s attitude. We were both checking out the bar, but we couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary. After Lorne told us about our future, he jokingly asked if we were virgins, because of the strength of his vision. Cordy asked if demon’s counted. When we started to joke about it she told us it wasn’t her choice. Faith figured out right away that the demon was there, and got Cordy to tell us what happened. When Cordy pointed him out, Faith and I, umm, talked, uh, too him, and then, uhh, met him outside.”


Joyce reached out and took Buffy’s hand in hers, “And?”

“Well,” Buffy looked into her mom’s eyes. “He won’t be hurting anyone ever again.”

“Good,” Joyce reached for the wine bottle to refill her glass. “I’m very proud of both of you for that. How did Cordelia react?”

Buffy blinked quickly, “She was a little nervous when we went outside, but was happy to see us come back. We made Lorne wait with her until we returned. Why?”

“It’s rather chivalrous to have somebody defend your honour like that. Not to mention rather romantic.”

“Mom!” Buffy yelped. “That’s not why we did it. We killed him to keep him from hurting somebody else.”

Joyce had a small smirk on her face, “Did he threaten her if she told anyone?” Buffy nodded silently. Joyce picked up her glass and tipped it slightly in Buffy’s direction. “I rest my case.”

Buffy snorted, “That’s not why.”

Joyce smiled at her daughter, “No, but if you look at it from Cordelia’s viewpoint, it certainly does. I’m fairly certain it had a rather large impact.” Joyce rearranged herself on the chair and looked at Buffy again. “How is she dealing with what ‘it’ did?”

“She’s handling it okay. She said she felt better after she told us, that being able to share helped.” Buffy sighed as her shoulders sagged, “She hadn’t told anybody, and she didn’t want to tell us. Faith was amazing when she talked to her. All that attitude and bravado was gone. There was just an earnest, caring, person who wanted to take all the pain away.” She smiled, “I’d have never been able to do that. She’d known Cordy for a couple hours and got her to open up about her biggest secret, to both of us.”

“Faith keeps a lot hidden,” Joyce said quietly. “There’s a large part of her that she doesn’t show anyone.”

Buffy nodded, “She told us some of that yesterday. That’s why she knew what had happened to Cordelia.”

“She told me some of it as well.” Joyce paused for a second, “Buffy, how does Cordelia feel about you two being here and her in L.A.? Have you thought about this at all? Long distance relationships are never easy.”

Buffy looked at her mom, and nodded. “Yeah, we have. Faith actually brought it up and made us talk about it.”

“There’s that depth again,” Joyce smiled.

“Yeah,” Buffy returned her smile. “Cordy said she was okay with Faith and I being together here. We talked about her coming back here to live. She was going to talk to Angel and see if she can open a branch office here. He still has the mansion and his old apartment here, so she might be able to stay working for him.”

“And if that doesn’t pan out?”

Buffy shrugged, “We’ll work something out somehow. For right now, Faith and I will go when we can, and hopefully she can come to see us.”

Joyce tilted her head to the side, “What about your friends?”

Buffy sighed, “I think it’s safe to say that they know about Faith and I, but they don’t know about Cordy’s place in all this yet.”

“What do you mean they know?” Joyce had straightened up at Buffy’s words, and pinned her with a glare.

‘I was afraid of this,’ Buffy thought to herself. “Umm, remember when Faith and I went to the Bronze before I took her shopping?” Joyce nodded. “Well, unh, when we, uh, got home afterwards, before we came in the house, she, unh, kissed me. Out on the porch. And umm, Willow, Tara, and Spike had followed us, and they kinda saw us, kissing, that is.”

“Why did they follow you?”

“Because I’d talked to Willow, and she figured out whom I was talking about.”

“Oh,” Joyce answered, slightly mollified. “You weren’t trying to keep me in the dark were you?”

Buffy shook her head and looked sheepishly at her mother, “Faith and Cordy wouldn’t let me,” she whispered.

Joyce laughed, “At least they’re trying to keep you honest.”

Buffy looked at her mom again, “They also told me that you’d be okay. With us, I mean, the three of us.”

Joyce looked at her for a minute. “It’s not what I expected that’s for sure. Although I had a suspicion that you and Faith were closer than you let on, this thing with Cordelia came right out of left field. It will take some time to adjust to it, but you’re my daughter Buffy, I’ll love you no matter what.”

Buffy jumped off her chair and hugged her mother. Joyce could feel the blond’s tears wetting her own cheek. “Thank you mom, I love you.”

Joyce pulled back from the hug and looked at Buffy, “Don’t thank me yet, I still need to meet Cordelia. Maybe she can come up for your birthday next week?”

Buffy smiled widely at her mom, “I’ll ask and see if she can make it. Thanks mom, you’re the best!”

“You might want to hold that thought,” Joyce’s voice had hardened. “You go up to your room; I’ve got some things to say to Faith now.”

Buffy’s whole demeanour sagged. “Oh, right. I’ll be upstairs then.” She turned and headed out of the kitchen.

Joyce followed her as far as the basement door. She opened it and looked down the stairs, “Faith, can you come up please.”

“Yup,” She stood up from where she’d been sitting on the edge of the bed. She rubbed her sweaty palms on her jeans, as she heard Buffy’s footsteps retreating upstairs. Slowly, one foot in front of the other, she moved up the stairs. It seemed to take a long time to make her way into the kitchen. Joyce was sitting at the island, with a glass of wine by her hand.

“Sit,” she indicated the chair across from her. Faith bit her bottom lip and slipped onto the chair. She looked at the dark slayer for a moment, staring deep into her eyes, trying to read the dark pools that stared right back. “I have some questions for you Faith.” The dark slayer just nodded her compliance. “I expect the same level of honesty as the last time we had a conversation like this.

“Sure Mrs. S.” she replied.

“When we had our conversation, were you already dating Buffy?”

“No,” Faith answered. “We felt the slayer connection, but we hadn’t done anything about it.”

Joyce nodded, “Did you move in here to be closer to Buffy, so you could start a relationship?”

Faith shook her head, “Unh-unh, what I told you about me, was all true. I’d never been in a relationship.”

Joyce pinned her with a glare, “About that, this isn’t a get some...” she waved her hand at Faith, “Whatever you called it, is it?”

“No Mrs. S.,” Faith sat straight up in her seat. “I’ll tell you the same thing I told B, and Queen C, I wanna do this and see where it goes. I’m here for the long term.”

Joyce took a sip of her wine and folded her arms, “When you told me you were sexually active, I assumed you preferred boys. Why didn’t you tell me you were attracted to girls?"

Faith shrugged, “You didn’t ask and I didn’t really wanna go into details.”

“Don’t you think it would have made a difference?”

Faith sighed and looked down at the floor, “I hoped not, and besides, you weren’t all wrong.”

Joyce looked at her quizzically, “What do you mean?”

“I’ve had my share of boys.”

“Faith,” Joyce said quietly. “Look at me please.” She slowly raised her head. “What are you telling me?”

“I’m bisexual, I’ve slept with more boys than girls, but I’ve slept with both. Sometimes...”

“Okay...” Joyce put her hand out to stop the brunette. “Okay, I believe that’s enough. I wish you had told me before Faith. What do you think is going to happen now?”

“You’re probably gonna tell me to leave Buffy alone and get out,” her head dropped down again.

Joyce looked at the defeated girl. “Faith, if I told you to leave Buffy alone, would you?”

Faith looked up, “Probably not, unless she told me to go.”

“If I told you to leave,” Joyce hardened her glare. “Where would you go?”

Faith shrugged, “Maybe I could move in with G-man, I dunno. If Buffy told me to go I’d probably leave town, maybe go to L.A.”

Joyce looked away then brought her gaze back to the dark slayer, “Why would I ask you to do either of those things?”

Faith’s head snapped up, “Huh?”

Joyce had a small smirk on her face, “Why would I ask you to do either of those things?”

Faith blinked at her for a moment, “Unh, ‘cause you don’t think I’m good enough for her?”

“That would be a good reason if I believed it, but I don’t. What else?”

Faith’s brow furrowed as she pondered the question, “You don’t want me here ‘cause I’m datin’ yer daughter.”

Joyce slowly rocked her head from side to side, as she pondered the statement. “That might be a reason, but it’s not enough. Next.”

Faith stared at her. Finally, her frustration showing, she shrugged her shoulders, “I dunno what you want Mrs. S, I don’t have a clue.”

“Well then,” Joyce shrugged. “I guess you’ll be staying here.”

Faith stared at her like she’d just sprouted a set of horns. “I... I... yer gonna let me stay?” she asked.

“Of course, Faith,” Joyce smiled. “This is your home. Although there will be some new rules. You do understand that?”

“Yeah,” she squeaked. “Yeah, I’m okay with that.” She blinked a couple of times. Joyce watched the thoughts chase their way across Faith’s face. “Yer okay with this, right?” she asked Joyce.

“I’ll be honest Faith,” Joyce answered her. “It’s going to take me some time to adjust. But if the three of you are happy, that’s all I can ask for.” She took a sip of her wine, and looked at the dark slayer. “All I want is for Buffy to be happy. If you and Cordelia do that, then I’ll be okay with it.” Joyce paused for a moment and sipped her wine. “You understand there will be people who don’t agree with the, ahh, choice you’ve made, and may be difficult to deal with, right?” her head tilted to the side as she watched Faith.

“Yeah,” she nodded. “I get it. Remember, the three of us have been through some really rough shi..., stuff, so we should be okay.”

“I don’t doubt the strength of your characters, Faith. It’s just if somebody you care for disagrees, that makes it much harder.”

“We’re not changing who we are, if they care, they’ll accept us because of that.”

“Most people will do that. I’m just saying you have to be aware that it could happen, and not to let yourselves be hurt by it.”

Faith looked down at the floor for a second. As she raised her head up, Joyce could see the determination. “I understand what you’re sayin’. I’m sure the other two feel the same way as I do.” She pointed to herself as she spoke. “I believe this is worth fightin’ for, and if there’s somethin’ I’m good at, it’s fightin’.”

“That’s good Faith,” Joyce smiled at her. “But don’t forget that sometimes it’s not worth fighting over. You need to be happy, too.” Faith nodded back. “Would you go and get Buffy, she’s in her room. I’d like to talk to both of you now.”

Faith stood, and turned to go. She stopped, and turned back. “Thanks Mrs. S, for believin’ in me.”

Joyce smiled at her, “Don’t thank me Faith. I’m not the only one that believes in you.” Joyce hesitated for a moment, “Faith, what were you doing with Buffy, and Dawn, this morning?”

Faith’s head snapped up. “I was, unh, teachin’ ‘em Tai Chi.” She tilted her head quizzically at Mrs. Summers, “How did you know?”

“When I didn’t have to wake them this morning, and the house was so quiet, I looked downstairs.” She took another sip, “I watched for a few moments, before making breakfast. It’s another one of the reasons you shouldn’t sell yourself short, Faith. I’ve rarely seen those two civil to each other when they’re doing something. Even Xmas’ have had some real knock down, drag-out brawls. But you were able to get them together and teach them something, with hardly a peep.” She folded her hands in her lap and looked up to the dark slayer. “All three of us believe in you Faith. I’m sure Cordelia does too. You are an important part of this household, and you need to realise it.”

Faith stood there wide eyed. After a few moments, she blinked once, twice, “I’m...” She blinked again, “Wow, nobody’s ever said anythin’ like that to me before.” She inhaled a deep breath, and let it out slowly. She looked into Joyce’s eyes, “Thank you, I won’t let you down. I’ll look after all of you.”

“You don’t have to look after all of us, Faith,” Joyce answered. “The hardest thing you’ll have to do, is allowing us to look after you.”

Faith remained where she was for a moment. “Thanks, Mrs. S,” a small smile flitted across her face. “I’ll go get B.” She turned and ran out of the kitchen, bounding up the stairs, two at a time.

She paused in front of the door to Buffy’s room, and collected herself. She could feel the nervous blond on the other side. Releasing the breath she was holding, she gently knocked on the door.

“Come in,” Buffy answered in a shaky voice. Faith pushed the door open and stood in the doorway, looking at the floor.

“Hey,” Faith said quietly. “Were you listenin’?” Buffy nervously bit her bottom lip as she shook her head no. “Oh,” Faith answered with a sigh. She was still looking at the floor, as the blond nervously watched her. “Yer mom told me, I,” she paused, “Could stay.” Faith raised her head as she uttered the last two words with a huge smile on her face. Buffy was off the bed like a shot and launched herself into Faith’s arms. Their mouths met in a furious kiss as the blond wrapped her arms and legs around the dark slayer. Faith staggered backwards from the impact until she bumped into the wall. She held the two of them up, their tongues duelling fiercely in each others mouth.

“Eww, GROSS!” Dawn squealed interrupting the two slayers. “You could at least go in the room you know! That is why they invented doors, so I wouldn’t have to watch!”

The two slayers were still wrapped around each other and staring at her with goofy grins plastered on their faces. “Hey, Lil’ D,” Faith spoke. “Me and B got somethin’ to tell ya.”

“What, that you like each other?” She tilted her head and put her hands on her hips. “Duh,” she answered herself. “Everybody else figured it out 10 minutes after you met.” She dropped her hands and sighed, “If you two didn’t do something soon, I was going to leave you a note. Now let me by, I’m gonna go watch TV for a bit.”

Buffy put her legs down and moved beside Faith. “Are you sure you’re okay with this, Dawnie?” she asked her sister.

“As long as I don’t have to watch you two mauling each other in the hallways all the time, I’ll be okay.” She shrieked and ran as Buffy started chasing her down the stairs. Faith followed, quietly grinning with happiness.