The Courtship of Buffy Summers

Buffy is unbelievably nervous as she waits in the living room for Faith to arrive. Dinner starts at six and the blonde has been waiting nervously since five forty-five. At first she was so nervous she actually helped her mother with the cooking, and when that was done she set the table, and used the good china because she wanted everything to be special. She wasn’t just inviting Willow or Xander over. This is Faith, it changes everything.


Buffy’s going to have to be on alert tonight and keep her mother from telling any embarrassing stories about her or something. A favorite among Buffy’s friends at Hemery was hearing about the time Buffy got her head stuck in the banister at her house, and her mother had to cover her neck and head in butter to get her free. That story would not be told tonight. She’ll also have to be very careful about leaving Faith and her mother alone for too long. An interrogation could break out at any second and Buffy wants to be there to run interference.


The blonde jumps a little when there’s a knock at the door. ‘Why didn’t she just use the doorbell?’ she asks herself and gets up to answer the door. The closer she gets to the door the more anxious she becomes. Horrible images of this night going bad keep playing in her mind and she’s scared about what’s going to happen once she opens that door and invites Faith into her home. But she calms down and reminds herself that this thing with Faith is really new and if it doesn’t work out then it doesn’t work out. It’s not like they’re in love or anything. She opens the door and smiles when she sees Faith standing there with half a dozen red roses in one hand and half a dozen calla lilies in the other.


“I hope I’m not late. I had to sweet talk the guy at the flower shop to stay open for a few more minutes so I could pick these out,” she says and hands the roses to Buffy. The blonde says a polite thank you and takes the flowers from Faith and smells them a little and she has to bite back a little moan because the fragrance is perfect.


“No you’re not late. And who are the lilies for? Do you have a hot you have to get to after dinner or something?” she says in a joking manner and raises an eyebrow at the brunette. Faith smiles and shakes her head a little bit and decides to play along with the other girl.


“Oh yeah, really hot. About yay tall,” she raises her hand to about Buffy’s height and smiles a little more. “Gorgeous hazel eyes, a nice smile and a wicked perfect body.” Buffy blushes a little bit and moves out of the way so Faith can walk into the house. Then Faith goes from a teasing mood to one that’s a little more serious.


“You’re the only date I got, B, so don’t worry about it. And these are for your mom. I wanted to make a good impression. I hear your suppose to do that or something.” She gives Buffy a little smile and the blonde perks up quite a bit. ‘She wants to make a good impression with my mother. That has to mean that this whole thing is about more then just getting into my pants. It has to, I really don’t want Willow to be right about this.’


“My mom will be very impressed. And you look very nice tonight.” She lets her eyes quickly roam over the taller girl’s body and she likes what she sees. Faith is wearing a black short sleeved t-shirt that is tight in all the right places, some dark hip hugging jeans that look brand new, and some new looking sneakers. Buffy is a little surprised because the only shoes she’s ever seen Faith wear are those ridiculous boots. ‘I mean honestly, she’s not a biker so what does she need those boots for?’


“Thanks. You look great. Did you get highlights in your hair?” Faith asks and Buffy nods a little bit and blushes at the compliment. She did put highlights in her a couple of days ago, but she hasn’t seen Faith since then and she’s very happy that Faith noticed. It means that Faith is paying attention, that her mind is on more then one thing. And it’s a little obvious that Buffy is trying to impress Faith with the way she’s dressed. The skirt is a little shorter then she’d normally wear around the house, the shoes are brand new, and the shirt is cut low enough to give Faith a good view, but not low enough to look trashy.


The girls walk into the kitchen and Faith greets Joyce in a very friendly voice and hands the lilies to the older woman. She compliments her on what she’s wearing and says that dinner smells great. She is really is trying to be on her best behavior tonight because she doesn’t want to screw anything up. She isn’t too sure why. She’s done the ‘meet the parents’ thing before and it was no big deal. But those girls didn’t really mean anything to her. They were just some play things for her to use and discard. This is Buffy and for some reason she does mean something to the younger girl.


“I’m going to put my roses in my room. Faith, wanna come?” She says yes and as the two make their way out of the kitchen Buffy blushes when her mother tells her to keep the bedroom door open. ‘Jeez, it’s not like we’re going to be doing anything bad. Hopefully some kissage but not much. I don’t want to seem too eager. And I really hope I remembered to clean up my room this afternoon. I might have things hanging and that would be totally embarrassing. I guess it doesn’t matter now since we’re both in here.’


“So, this is your room huh?” Faith asks and takes a look around. It’s just as girly as she thought it was going to be, but she likes it. It’s clean and smells nice and she can totally see herself in here more often. Like at two in the morning when she sneaks in for a late night make-out session. As Buffy starts telling her a little bit about the place Faith starts walking around the room, touching some things on the dresser and finally ending up at the bed. She sits down on the edge of it and picks up the little stuffed pig and smiles at the blonde. “Nice pig.” The blonde looks a little embarrassed and gently takes the toy from the brunette.


“That’s Mr. Gordo, had him since I was little, can’t seem to part ways with him.” She puts him back by her pillow and sits down about a foot away from Faith. “The bear you won me is downstairs. Some juice spilled on her and my mom is going to wash it off.” ‘Could you babble more like an idiot?’ “So, what do you think? Was it everything you thought it was going to be? Not that you were thinking what it was going to be like. I mean, I’m sure you don’t put much thought into what other people’s bedrooms look like.” ‘Shut up, shut up, shut up ’ Faith laughs a little and moves a little closer to Buffy and the blonde tries not to tense up.


“It’s nice. Way cleaner then mine.” She moves even closer to the blonde so she’s almost in her personal space, but not quite. “So, how much longer do you think we have until your mom calls us down for dinner?” Buffy gulps and tries to think but her mind just won’t work. Not with Faith sitting so close, her perfume invading Buffy’s senses and those dark eyes looking at her with some mischief in them.


“I-I don’t know. Um, maybe in ten minutes.” ‘Why can’t I just get a sentence out? Why am I getting so nervous. I said on the way up here that there might be some kissage. So just calm down and let it happen.’ She nervously licks her lips in case they’ve dried in the last fifteen seconds. She watches as Faith gets a little grin on her face and leans in a little closer. Buffy subconsciously holds her breath and preys that she remembered to rinse her mouth out with mouthwash this afternoon when she got home from school.


“Well,” Faith whispers and Buffy feels the room getting a little warmer then she remembers it being five seconds ago. “I hope you don’t mind if I do this.” She closes her eyes when Faith’s lips touch hers. The kiss isn’t much, there is no tongue, just the gentle movement of their lips, and Buffy thinks she’s died and gone to heaven. She wants to feel more of Faith’s lips, more of Faith in general, and that thought scares her a little bit. They pull apart from the kiss with big grins on their faces.


“No, I definitely don’t mind,” she whispers and leans in for another kiss. But right before their lips are about to touch they hear someone cough behind them. They jump away from each other and turn towards the door and see Joyce standing there with one eyebrow raised. Buffy’s cheeks flush with embarrassment. Kissing Faith is fun, but getting caught is not something she wanted to happen. But it has and now she has to deal with it.


“As much fun as that looks, dinner is ready. So wash up and come downstairs.” ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe she just said that! Is she trying to embarrass me in front of Faith? Is that her plan, to do as much embarrassing stuff as she can so Faith won’t want to see me anymore? Because I really think it could work if she plans it just right.’ Faith chuckles a little bit and the two go into their bathroom to wash their hands and then make their way downstairs.


They sit down at the table where Joyce has it all set and ready to go. She passes around the vegetables, and the rolls, and then the platter of baked chicken that she took the liberty of slicing up while she was still in the kitchen. Not much as been said so far, but Buffy is still fearing the worst. She just wants to get this night done and over with so her mother will be happy and she can get some more alone time with Faith. She knows almost nothing about the other girl, and she really wants the chance to learn more about her. And she can’t really do that with her mother giving them an amused glance every once in a while.


“Ok, Faith I think it’s time I cut to the chase.” Faith and Buffy exchange a glance and Buffy just shrugs her shoulders since she has no idea what her mother is talking about. “Now, I know this is going to seem a bit much, but I think I need to be honest with you. You deserve that much.” Again with another glance and another shrug. ‘She is going to say something totally embarrassing, isn’t she?’ Buffy silently asks whoever will listen, and she swears she just heard a little ‘yeah’ in response.


“Raising Buffy and keeping her safe has been my main priority since the day she was born.” ‘Oh God, not a threatening speech, please no.’ “When her father and I divorced I lost everything except for her. She is my life, and I’m not going to let you use or hurt her. This is a very small town Faith, and people talk. They talk a lot in fact, and I’ve heard a lot about you from a lot of people.” ‘So adults like to gossip too. You learn something new everyday.’ “And if the only reason you’re dating my daughter is to take her virginity then you can just leave my house right now.”


“Mom!” Buffy screams and jumps up from the table. Her glass of Coke is knocked down in the process and spills all over the brand new table cloth. But the blonde doesn’t care about that right now. She’s too angry and embarrassed by what her mother just said. “You don’t have the right to talk to Faith like that. You don’t even know her!” She’s about to go on when she’s interrupted by the girl in question.


“It’s ok Buffy, I got it.” Her and Buffy lock eyes and the blonde calms down and returns to her seat. She’s still so pissed about what her mother said, and she’s embarrassed enough that she thinks she’s going to start crying. She didn’t want Faith to know that she’s a virgin. She thinks it will affect the way the brunette girl sees her, and she really didn’t want that to happen. But the cat’s outta the bag now, and there’s no putting him back in. “Look, Mrs. Summers.” Faith turns towards the older woman and is calm, but also very serious.


“A lot of what you heard about me is probably true. I do have a pretty shady past, but it’s all in the past. I’m not going to lie to you I have slept around a lot.” Buffy looks over at the brunette with some shock. She was hoping that those rumors were false, and she also can’t believe Faith just said that to her mother. “But I’ve never dated before, I’ve never wanted to date anyone. There’s just something different about Buffy. I don’t want to use her, and I don’t want to hurt her. I’d like to get to know her, become close with her, if you’ll let me.” Buffy can’t hide the huge megawatt smile she has on her face right now. But it goes away when she hears her mother sigh.


“I don’t know, Faith. You seem very sincere but I don’t know if I can trust you or not. And correct me if I’m wrong, but this wouldn’t be the first time you’ve taken a young woman’s virginity.” ‘Ok, I so need to get out of here. I don’t want to hear anymore of this.’ Buffy stands up, completely embarrassed by her mother’s behavior and a little freaked out at some of the things her mother has heard from the town’s people.


“If you’ll excuse me I just need to go hang myself,” Buffy says in a whisper and leaves the room. She goes through the kitchen and out the backdoor and she takes in a deep breath. Faith isn’t going to want anything to do with her now. She probably thinks her mother is a total psycho and the apple usually doesn’t fall too far from the tree. So Buffy could be psychotic by association and she’s convinced that Faith won’t want anything to do with her. She sits down on the top step of the porch and lets a couple of tears fall. She’s about to let herself sob, when she hears the back door open. She sits up a little straighter and sniffles loudly but doesn’t turn around.


“Your mom said I could come and get you,” she hears Faith say in a concerned voice. She hears the girl walk forward and she gets a little more anxious with every step the younger girl takes. “Are you ok?” She sits down next to Buffy and the blonde looks away from her. She doesn’t want Faith to see the tears that are starting to dry on her cheeks. She hears the brunette sigh and she’s tempted to look over at her. “Look, Buffy.” ‘She’s going to tell me she doesn’t want to see me anymore. That’s what this speech is.’ “There are a lot of things about my past that I know you’re not gonna like. I’ve lied and manipulated a lot of people, and most of them did get hurt. But what I said in there about wanting to get to know you, all of that was true.” Buffy looks over at the younger girl, no longer caring that her mascara has run.


“There’s just something different about you. I don’t know what it is, but I really want to find out.” Buffy smiles at her and Faith slowly reaches over and holds onto her hand. “I’ve never been in a real relationship before, and I might screw up a lot or say the wrong things, but if you want,” the brunette is getting nervous and the blonde is loving it. Buffy gets a small smile on her face because of the other girl’s discomfort. “I mean, I’d like you to, but you don’t have to if you don’t want to, but I like you a lot and I really want you to...” she just can’t get the words out and Buffy decides to give her some slack.


“Are you asking me to be your girlfriend, as in we’re both girls in a romantic relationship and not just girls who are friends?” she asks and Faith nods her head yes and smiles a small relieved smile. But the nervousness comes back as she waits for the blonde’s answer. Buffy thinks about it for a minute or two and comes to a decision that she thinks Faith will agree with, and if she doesn’t then it’s the brunette’s loss. “Well, we don’t even know each other, so I’d feel a little weird being exclusive. So how about we go on a few more dates, and hang out after school, or during school, whichever, and if we find that we still like each other then we can be in a committed relationship. How does that sound?” The brunette smiles and moves a little closer to the blonde.


“I think it sounds great.” And she leans in really close, but stops when their lips are only an inch away from each other. “So this whole not being exclusive thing, does that involve more kissing? ‘Cause I do like doing that with you.” Buffy closes the distance between their lips and almost gasps at the feeling. Faith’s lips are just so soft, and gentle, and they’re the greatest things she’s ever felt in her entire life. The kiss isn’t much at first, much like the bedroom it’s just the gentle movement of their lips, but then Faith opens her mouth a little and let’s her tongue tease the blonde’s bottom lip.


Buffy is a little surprised at first, but she quickly recovers and opens her mouth and invites the brunette in. She moans as soon as their tongues meet. It’s all very slow, and gentle and Buffy’s never had a kiss like it. All of the boys she kissed in Hemery wanted to go fast so they could see how far the blonde would go with them, but Faith is obviously taking her time, and not going any faster then the blonde is comfortable with. When the kiss ends they smile at each other and Buffy gives Faith’s hand a little squeeze.


“That was nice,” the blonde says when the silence starts to get to her. The brunette nods her head and the two kiss again. This one is a lot shorter and just as relaxed as the first. But then the blonde pulls back and looks a little worried. “Faith, kissing you is great, and I can’t seem to get enough of it.” The brunette gets a very cocky look on her face. “But I don’t want all of our time together to be spent kissing. I want us to talk, to get to know each other. That’s the only way we’re going to know if we’ll get any long a real relationship.” The brunette gets a serious look on her face and nods her head a little.


“You’re right. Well, I gotta get going. This weekend I’m going to L.A. but how about next Friday we’ll go out on another date, and we can get to know each other.” The blonde agrees and then leans in for another kiss. After a few seconds the brunette pulls back with a playful smile on her face. “I thought you said you wanted more then kissing?” Buffy blushes a little and scoots about an inch away from Faith.


“I did, but we already established a time for talking. I thought maybe we could spend the little time we have left kissing. I know it’s Friday, but my mom wants me in bed early tonight because we’re going to have another mother-daughter bonding session tomorrow.” The brunette can’t help but laugh a little, and she leans over and gives Buffy a little kiss.


“Well then I better take off. I’m pretty sure you mom hates me now so I better go. Wouldn’t want her to see me corrupting her daughter.” Buffy rolls her eyes and kisses Faith one last time before she stands up and walks out of the yard. Leaving through the side gate and not the house is kind of rude, and her mother isn’t going to be pleased but at this point she doesn’t care. Her mother embarrassed her horribly tonight and she plans on being the world’s biggest bitch until she gets an apology. To Buffy it only seems fair. And she determined now more then ever to ignore what everyone has to say about the younger girl, and just go with her gut instinct. And her gut instinct is really wanting Faith right now.