Faith was feeling pretty good. The sun was shining, the air felt clean; it was great. Sure, it was in the seventies again only two days after the bizarre Christmas snowstorm, but that was okay. Even that brief glimpse of Boston-type weather had cheered her up immensely.

She grinned, forced to admit to herself that most of her current bubbly happiness was because Buffy was speaking to her again. The exchange of gifts, even through it had been delayed a day by the 'First Evil' thing, had been great. The older Slayer had sat with her afterwards in the Summers living room, and they had talked for hours. Faith had gone home that night in a sort of contented glow. Not because anything sexy had happened; there hadn't been even a hint of that from Buffy, and Faith would never, ever push her. No, this was the sort of warm feeling that came from feeling... connected, to somebody. She had missed that, so much. Buffy had pushed her away before. Several times. Faith wasn't sure why, exactly, or even if the other girl was aware of how much it had hurt her. Anyone else, and they would have only hurt her once. She wasn't in the habit of hanging around to soak up punishment from somebody; she wasn't that stupid, as a rule.

But Buffy was special. Buffy could understand her, what it felt like to be what she was.

Buffy understood the loneliness that came with the job, and the pain that was a part of it, too.

So Faith stayed, and accepted the lack of trust, and the indifference, and the occasional outright attack that the other girl sent her way.

She stayed because no matter how bad things sometimes became, between the two of them, the connection between them, when it was there, could be so much better.

Like now. The awkwardness and tension that had hung over them both since the Buffy vs. Faith rumble over dusting Angel was now a thing of the past. She would even try and get along with the other girl's lame friends, if that would keep things good between the two of them.

She turned a corner, glancing around as she walked up the street. There were people everywhere, enjoying the sunny, Saturday weather. Some kids, determined to have as much fun as possible before returning to school on Monday, were having a snowball war using ammunition from the rapidly-dwindling piles of slush that still lingered along the curbs. As she walked by, some smart guy whipped one at her when he thought she wasn't looking. Without breaking stride, she reached out and caught it, careful not to let it break apart and spatter her. Staring back at the wide-eyed kid, she considered braining him with his own weapon....

Nah. She was in a good mood, after all.

She dropped it to the ground and walked on, sparing him the concussion he obviously deserved.

Buffy's house was just ahead, and she felt a bounce creeping into her stride as she anticipated seeing the other girl. She wanted to thank her again for the cool gift. Faith raised her hands, admiring the leather wrist-bands. The older Slayer knew that she'd sprained a wrist a few weeks earlier, while fighting a particularly tough-skinned demon. Still, Faith had been amazed that Buffy had remembered. They were really nice, too. Not only did the smooth black leather support her wrists when she was punching something, but the silver and turquoise inlay on them was just too wicked-looking. They were the nicest things anyone had ever given her.

So, she'd walked over to say thanks. She didn't often roam around in the daytime; it tended to make her sleepy. Nighttime was a Slayer's natural habitat. Still, when she was around Buffy at night, it was time to work, and that's not what she wanted, just now. She wanted to talk some more, to maintain that connection.

She wanted to be the other girl's friend, not just her fellow Slayer.

Walking up the driveway, she saw Buffy just emerging from her front door. Faith grinned again, that warm glow inside just motorvating along at a comfortable clip.

"Hey B--uffy!"

No more of that 'B' crap. They were friends, and friends didn't give 'tude to each other.

The blonde girl was walking down the steps, adjusting the straps of her mini backpack. She looked up in surprise.

"Faith, hi."

She looked distracted, and Faith frowned in sudden concern.

"Everything okay?"

The other girl shook her head, walking past her, looking around at the empty driveway in consternation. With a sigh, she walked down the drive and out onto the sidewalk. Faith hurried to catch up. For someone whose legs were several inches shorter than her own, Buffy could cover ground in a hurry. Several seconds passed with nothing said, so she tried again.

"Something wrong?"

Another headshake.

Well, this was fun. She paced the older girl for a couple of minutes, wondering what could have happened. Suddenly, something came to her, and she felt her stomach sink.

"Listen, if it's me, I'm sorry."

Buffy turned her head to give her a confused look, and she pressed on.

"I know my gift really sucked, and you got me these cool wrist-things, and that CD, too. I just didn't have much cash, y'know?" She felt awful, saying that, but she had to make sure the other girl understood that she hadn't meant to let her down, or anything. It was important that everything be okay between them. "I'm gonna get you something else, if you can wait a few--"

Buffy interrupted her.

"Faith, it's not that. How many times do I need to say it? I gave those to you because I wanted to. What you gave me was great, and it doesn't matter if it didn't cost as much. I don't really care either way." Her words seemed to be intended to reassure, but the curt, offhanded way that she said them was like a slap in the face. Buffy faced ahead again, still walking. "A lot is going on, today, and I just don't have it together enough to deal with anything but really important Slayer stuff." She paused, her voice filling with dread. "Is that why you were coming to see me? Slayer stuff?"

Faith was stunned, and trying not to show it.

"Uh, no. Not Slayer stuff."

She didn't know what else to say. 'Well, Fuck you too!' was the first thing that came to mind, but that seemed kind of childish. She felt nausea welling up inside her, the good vibes she'd been basking in earlier were now long gone.

"What's wrong?" She ventured.

Buffy shook her head irritably.

"Nothing to do with you. Somebody I knew back in L.A. died, and it was bad. And some stuff with my father, who you've never heard of, let alone met. So don't worry about it."

Faith was half-angry, half-despairing.

What the hell? So what if she didn't know those people! She knew Buffy. She was Buffy's friend, or so she had thought. Didn't friends talk to each other? Didn't they listen to each other, when something went wrong, or someone hurt them? Faith hung her head, not sure what her expression was showing, just then.

Okay, so maybe it wasn't any of Faith's business, if Buffy didn't want to say anything, but....

She wasn't trying to be a stalker, or put her nose where it didn't belong, but....

She didn't even have to be the most important thing in the other girl's life. She knew that she wasn't, in fact. But she had thought she rated a little more than this kind of dismissal. Wrong again, Faith. Wrong again, dammit.

"Okay." Her voice was a whisper, but if she spoke any louder the other girl would be able to hear the trembling in it. "I'll be around, if you want to talk, or anything...."

Buffy gave a sudden start, and waved at a passing car. It pulled to a jerky stop in front of them, and Faith recognized Cordelia. The blonde girl opened the door, tossing her pack into the back seat.

"Cordelia's going to give me a ride to the bus station, I'll be back in a few days. Make sure you go on patrol every night! We don't want the vamps to get any momentum going."

Faith opened her mouth to reply, but the car door slammed shut and in seconds the bright red car had pulled away and vanished around the next corner.

She stood there, in the bright sunshine and clean-smelling air, staring at the passing traffic. Eventually, she turned and began walking. It wasn't too long before she found herself at a familiar door. Moving slowly, mechanically, she unlocked it and went inside. She dropped her keys on the table and went to sit on the bed. Staring blankly at the drawn curtains, she unlaced her boots. The room was dim, but there was nothing there she needed to see. Kicking the boots off, she lay back on the bed. Her fingers drifted over the silver and turquoise inlay on her wristbands, caressing the smooth, intricate design.

They were the nicest thing anyone had ever given her, but she was tired of having things given to her only to have them taken away. With abrupt, angry movements, she stripped off the leather bands and threw them into the corner, where they rolled down a pile of dirty clothes and out of sight.

The warm feeling was gone, and there were only cold ashes left where it had been.

Faith lay there, in the dim room, and waited for the darkness to come.