After The Fall
by wolfkin
Chapter 6
[reviews]
Chapter 6
Faith walked into the little restaurant, glancing first at the buffet tables with their clusters of new Slayers around them. Her lips twitched up slightly as she felt the slightest bit of sympathy for the restaurant's owner and pictured his reaction to the report of this morning's business. Twenty five Slayers and an all you can eat buffet was definitely bad news. If you were the guys supplying the food.
Still smirking a little, the sultry brunette looked around the interior, ignoring the girl asking if she wanted to be seated for the moment. Frowning, she finally acknowledged the girl. "Yeah, I wanna sit down, but lemme ask ya. Have you seen this guy come in, average height, brown hair, patch on his left eye?"
"Um, no ma'am. I haven't seen anyone like that. Would that be smoking or non-smoking?"
"Smoking," Faith answered absently. She followed the girl, her thoughts centered around the fact that this place was her last hope that Xander had made it out of his room and he was apparently not here either. Growling lightly under her breath, Faith decided to get a box and take the man a little of everything from the buffet tables. [Boy's gotta eat, right?]
She sat at the small table the hostess led her to and nodded at the offer of coffee, then looked around the restaurant while she waited. She felt a wide grin break out over her face as she glanced at each cluster of Slayers and took note of the amounts of food on their plates. A thought wandered through her mind as she silently tallied up roughly how much their group was gonna put away just for this meal. [Maybe I oughta tell Giles to pay double to the poor bastard who runs this joint. Guy *might* break even that way!]
The dark Slayer smiled and shook her head as she realized what she was thinking. Not that it was a bad idea, but before, she'd have never worried about such shit. [Huh. Maybe this leader shit is rubbin' off on me.] Looking up at the waitress, she nodded her thanks as her coffee finally appeared. She ordered the buffet and after a few sips of caffeinated goodness, got up to load up her first plate.
Much later, the brunette sat back, taking small sips from her 5th cup of coffee and rubbed her stomach. [Yeah,] she decided. [G-man needs to give this place twice as much as the bill.] She looked over the eight plates she's consumed, then smirked. [Maybe triple.]
"Will there be anything else, miss?" a voice asked, the undercurrents of it a fervent hope that the answer was no. The waitress, Connie her nametag read, had never seen so much food being eaten as she had that morning. At least, not without a minimum of three or four tour buses being involved. Three or four *packed* tour buses. The fact that there were less than two dozen people involved and nearly all of them had appeared to be girls in the their mid to late teens astounded and confused her.
Faith glanced up at the older woman and nodded a little. "Yeah, just one more thing. You guys got some kinda take out deal for the bar over there?"
The woman tried to stop her eyes from widening. Surely this relatively short woman wasn't *still* hungry! "Um... I'm sorry, miss, but you're not allowed to take your leftovers or more food out if you order the buffet."
"No, I didn't mean for me. I meant, I got a friend that couldn't make it over here this morning. I want to take him back somethin'. You know, maybe one pass and grab a little of everything? Could I do that if I bought another buffet?"
"Oh!" Understanding lit the woman's eyes. "I, uh... I don't see why not, in that case, but let me go ask my manager." She glances toward the serving table only about half full of food and the group of Slayers nearby. "She's kind of in a grumpy mood this morning," Connie says confidentially.
Faith grins and shakes her head. "Yeah, I can kinda see why. I'm gonna see what I can do about that, too. Maybe if you tell her that, it'll make her feel better."
"Um, okay. Could you wait just a few minutes, please?" Without waiting for an answer, the waitress leaves and heads for the kitchen area. She returns almost immediately, the large styrofoam box in her hands telling Faith that the answer was yes. "She said okay, so here you go, Miss." She hands Faith the empty container, then scribbles something on her order pad. Tearing the top sheet free, she hands it to the Slayer. "Have a good day."
Faith watches her retreat with a feeling of amusement, then stands and moves over to the breakfast bar one more time. She spends several minutes there, then, after reminding the mini-Slayers still in the restaurant to not wander too far from the hotel, she pays her bill and leaves. A quick stop at the convenience store beside it and she heads back to their temporary lodging herself.
Entering the building, she quickly made her way toward the elevators. Rounding the corner, she spots Buffy and remembers the events of the night before, especially telling the girl, Katie, that either she or Buffy would help her if the assholes came back. Chuckling to herself, Faith thinks, [Guess I better tell her what I signed her up for.] "Yo, B!" Faith called, jogging a little to catch the blonde before she could get on. "Wait up!"
The eldest Slayer turned to look at the next oldest, her eyebrows contracting as she took in the styrofoam box and bag in the brunette's hands. As the doors to the lift opened, the blonde stepped backwards and inside the car, but put a hand over the door.
Faith smiled as she slipped in beside her. "Thanks. Needed to talk to you anyway. I kinda did a patrol last night and I was thinkin' you might want to know what I sorta got you into." Faith's smile turned slightly apprehensive.
The blonde's eyebrows drew down even further in consternation. "You need to explain that really quick," she responded, her voice laced with threatening undertones.
The Bostonian held up the hand with a bag, trying to convey a 'hold on' gesture. "Whoa! Don't worry. Not like I signed you name to a car or nothin'. It's just somethin' happened last night and I kinda promised one of us would come runnin' if this girl I met calls us."
Buffy opens her mouth to ask, but the elevator doors pick that moment to open and she's distracted. Glancing back at the brunette, she motions to her. "C'mon." She leads the way down to her room, opening the door and entering, confident that Faith is following her.
The dark Slayer, though, is looking up the hall toward another room, then back down at her burdens. Sure enough, Xander hadn't come down for breakfast, so she'd gone through and loaded a little of everything into the biggest take out box the restaurant had, then grabbed a cup of coffee and a bottle of both milk and oj at the convenience store beside it. She didn't want the man's food to get any colder, but she also knew she had to tell Buffy what had happened the night before. The other thing she was sure of was, Xander wouldn't eat if she wasn't there to guilt him into it, so she couldn't just take him the food and come back.
Sighing, she followed the blonde, setting the box and bag on the dresser near the door, then turned to face Buffy, leaning back against the same dresser.
Buffy had watched her, impatient to hear what kind of trouble her former(?) enemy had gotten her into. "Well?" She finally snapped. "What did you do this time, and how did I get dragged into it, since I was here all night!"
Faith's eyes widen slightly at the other Slayer's tone, then narrowed into a 'fuck you, too' glare. Standing up, then leaning slightly forward, toward the other girl, the former rogue snarled, "Y'know what, B? Never mind! I just thought maybe... *maybe*, we were finally getting along like we did way back when. Almost friends and shit, but hey, you wanna keep up the barely toleratin' each other, fine by me, girlfriend!"
Turning, the brunette picked up the styrofoam box and bag and moves toward the door. She stops when she feels a hand on her arm. "Faith, wait."
"Why?"
Sighing heavily, Buffy replies, "Because I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that and I would like us to be friends again. It's just... the last time someone committed me to something without first telling me what it was, I ended up with a little sister." The blonde chuckled lightly at the confused expression the younger Slayer turned on her. "Never mind. Come back and tell me what happened, okay? What am I supposed to be doing?"
Growling sub-audibly, Faith turned back toward the room and once more set Xander's breakfast on the dresser. She hated being confused and had no idea what the crack about little D had meant. Shaking her head and dismissing it from her mind, she took a deep breath and tried to wave the older girl off. "It's nothin', B. Just, if you get a call from this girl Katie, just find me quick and tell me what she said, okay?"
Buffy took in the defensive body posture the other girl was maintaining and sighed softly. This was going to take time, she knew. "No, I can help. I just wanna know who I'm helping and why, that's all. Did this Katie get attacked by vamps last night or something?"
"No. Only found one vamp last night and he was across the road lookin' for a trucker to snack on." The brunette pauses, wanting to tell Buffy what happened, but she's reluctant for some reason. "Look, seriously, don't worry 'bout it, B. I got it covered, 'k? Just find me if she calls, that's all I'm askin'."
She reaches to pick up her bundles once more and once again Buffy stops her. "Faith, please. What happened to Katie? Why would she call one of us?" The blonde's voice is soft, conciliatory.
Faith sighs heavily, but doesn't turn around. Finally, she quietly says, "'Cause these two assholes tried to rape her last night and I stopped'em and she was worried they might come after her, so I told her to call me if they tried and I'd come kick their asses again."
The eldest Slayer stood stock still as she absorbed Faith's words. Unbidden, unwelcome, the memory of that terrible night over a year ago, goes through her mind. She can still feel Spike's body on hers, his hands ripping and tearing at her clothes. See the wild desperation in his eyes as he tried to force himself on her. She can remember her sense of helplessness when she couldn't seem to stop him, even though she was stronger than the vampire. "You didn't kill them?" Buffy asks softly, her thoughts a million miles from her body's location.
Faith spun around, her face contorted in fury and hurt at Buffy's distracted question. "That's all you think of me, ain't it? Just some murderous bitch that can't ever change! You're just waitin' for me to fuck up so you can finish what you started four years ago, ain't'cha? Admit it, Buffy; You won't ever trust me again, will ya?"
The dark Slayer's words wrench the blonde's attention back from the past and she thought about what she said, suddenly understanding why the other girl is so furious. "No, Faith! I *do* trust you now. That's not even a question," she hastened to reassure the brunette. "I know you've changed. I've seen it for myself and I don't wanna hurt you anymore. I just..." She tried for a sardonic half smile. "I wanted to know if I needed to help hide bodies, that's all."
Even as her words left her mouth, Buffy shuddered at another onslaught of memories, these, though, have to do with the last time the thought of Faith and hiding bodies was brought up. She closed her eyes with a small groan at her own stupidity and took a deep breath, trying once more to banish all the bad memories. Forcing herself to calm down and concentrate of the now, Buffy opened her eyes again to find Faith staring at her. "What?"
"You alright there, B? You kinda faded out on me."
Buffy gave the other woman a wan smile. "Bad memories. And no, nothing really to do with you." She took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment. Opening them again, she nodded. "Okay, if your new friend calls and I can't find you, I'll go help her. Since she doesn't know who I am, that would probably work better, you agree?"
Faith smiled, fighting to keep it from becoming sarcastic or dismissive at Buffy's seemingly reluctant tone. "Yeah, thanks B. That'll be fine." She paused a moment, then shrugging, the brunette started walking backwards. "Okay, gotta go, so later, B!"
Buffy started to respond, to ask where Faith had to be with all those packages, but the dark Slayer had already turned around and was walking briskly away. Shrugging, the blonde mumbled, "Whatever," and went into her room.
* * *
Xander gave a jerk as he awoke from a troubled, accidental sleep. The last thing he remembered was lying there and staring at the ceiling after Faith left, scenes from his life with Anya playing in his mind. Scenes from what should have been their life together, if he'd just had the guts to tell her how he'd really felt, instead of leaving her confused and heartbroken at their not-wedding. Without thought, caught up in his fantasies af what might have been, he automatically reached out, trying to find a warm body that wasn't there, would never be there again. That knowledge once more pressed itself into his brain and he felt the now familiar feeling of anguish roll through him. [Anya...]
Since he was alone, he didn't even try to fight the tears that began to roll down his face. Curling around his pillow, the man finally gave vent to the grief he'd been holding back. He'd been unable to cry the day before. The knowledge and pain of her loss had been too new, too raw. He'd managed to ignore it by being 'joke-guy', trying to make his friends, his family believe he was fine. They'd known better, but had allowed him the illusion, since that was what he obviously wanted.
Finally, the great heaving sobs began to abate and he slowly brought himself back under control. Strangely, even though his eye felt swollen and burned a little, he felt a little better, lighter. He still missed Anya terribly and he had a sneaking suspicion that this was gonna be a somewhat regular occurrence for a little while, but for the moment, he felt a little better.
Running his hand over his face, he dashed the tears from it, wiping at the stubble that was beginning to cover his chin. That was something he'd discovered in the last year or so. If he didn't keep on it, his beard grew in fairly quickly. He himself didn't mind that so much, but Anya... He flinched minutely, feeling his eye prickle like fresh tears were gathering, but completed his thought. [Anya hated for me to not shave, cause it was itchy.]
Rolling onto his back, Xander once more stared at the ceiling and let his mind wander. Occasionally, enough moisture would gather at the corner of his eye and a solitary drop would roll down his cheek to melt into his ear. He did nothing to check them, just continued his contemplation of the tiles above him.
Three sharp knocks distracted him and he looked at the door, frowning a little, unsure if he really wanted to talk to anyone. Maybe if he ignored them, they'd go away. He shifted his gaze upward once more, disregarding the repeat of the rapping at the door. He growled softly in frustration as the knocks sounded for a third time, slightly longer and louder.
[Okay, it's probably Will or Buffy and they'll stand there 'til I tell'em to go away, so...] he thought as he stood. Opening the door, he said, without really looking at who it was, "Look, I appreciate the visit, but I'm fine, so I'll talk to you later, okay?"
"Well, okay Xand, but don't you want your breakfast before I motor?"
The carpenter focussed on his guest and was surprised to see Faith. Faith with a large styrofoam box and a medium sized bag. "Um... huh? Faith?"
A dimpled smile flashed. "The one and only! Listen, can I come in and set this stuff down? Feels like I been carrying it forever!"
Seemingly in a daze, Xander took a step back and to one side, leaving room for the Slayer to enter. Faith smiled at him again and walked in, going straight to the smallish table in the corner and placing her burdens on it. Looking back at the frozen man, she gave him a grin that seemed to be both innocent and smirking at the same time. "Well? You gonna come eat this before it gets any colder?"
"Eat... Huh? Faith, what the hell are you talking about?"
The brunette rolled her eyes. "Still asleep, handsome?" She asked teasingly. Flipping open the box, she showed the man the assorted contents. "Since you didn't come down for breakfast, I brought some to you. Also brought coffee, juice and milk, since I wasn't sure which you'd want." She shrugged. "Whatever you don't want, I'll drink, so no big."
Xander looked at her like she'd grown an extra head. "You. Brought me breakfast?" She nodded, just standing there, waiting for him to react. Try as he might, the one eyed man just couldn't see what her angle was. But, this was Faith, so there had to be one. Finally, when she said nothing else, just stood there *looking* at him, he sighed and asked, "Okay, why?"
Faith shrugged again and smiled sardonically. " Why what? Why'd I do this?" He nodded and her smile became a grin. "Like I said, you didn't come get any for yourself and I was in a good mood. Do I really need a big reason to be nice to a friend?"
Friends? Him and Faith? When had that happened and where the hell had he been? At one time, yeah, he'd tried the friend thing with her, but that was a long time and at least two murder attempts ago. Xander looked at her incredulous. "Us. Friends. Right." He sighed tiredly. "Faith, why are you here? What do you want from me?"
"I told you. I wanna be your friend."
Xander took in her open, slightly bemused expression, thinking about her words for a second before rejecting the idea. Faith always had an angle, a reason for everything she did and it usually went bad for those around her. "Why? What's in it for you?" His expression darkened. "Been out slaying? Needing to get your rocks off? I thought you didn't backtrack!" he snarled nastily.
Faith closed her eyes, fighting down the surge of anger rippling through her. Opening them again, she looked at Xander. "What's in it for me? That's easy. A long time ago, this really great guy offered to be my friend, no strings attached, just the hope I might wanna be his friend in return. But like the stupid bitch I am, I figured it was just a trick to get me on my back again. So I said no, tried to kill him, then tossed him out of my life. It took a long time and a lot more thinkin' about it, but it finally got through my thick skull just what I'd tossed away and all I want now is a chance to earn what he offered. That's it." The Slayer turned a little away from Xander, her eyes dropping to look at the carpet. "But, if you don't wanna, I'll understand. All you gotta do is say no and I won't bug you no more, I promise." She stood there, her body language defensive, waiting for his answer.
Xander heard her words, heard the uncertainty behind them and was confused. In all the time he'd known her, she'd *always* given off this air of invincibility and infallibility that was completely lacking at this moment. Faith had never sounded so... listless, so... "defeated" maybe, as she did right then. Not to mention, she was standing there giving off the aura of a puppy waiting to be kicked and hoping it won't hurt *too* much.
The man thought about that, considered it from all the angles he could think of, but still, he just couldn't see where the sucker shot was gonna come from. How she was going to trick and try to hurt him.
Slowly, so slowly, it finally got through his built up defenses where the dark Slayer was concerned that she was being serious. As incredible as it sounded, she was offering to be friends, for real. A part of him marveled at that concept while another part whispered that here was the *perfect* chance to pay her back for what happened in her hotel room all those years ago. The part that made him the good man that he was, though, was saying to believe her, but not to trust her. Yet. Give her a chance to prove what she was saying.
Faith watched the emotions and thoughts flit across Xander's face, feeling her stomach clench and drop as the silence dragged on. Finally, she felt that if he'd believed her at all, he would've said *something* by now, so, obviously, he was rejecting her offer. With a sigh that she cut off quickly before it could become a sob, the brunette turned from him, heading for the door. Her chest felt heavy and she was fighting tears, but was determined to make it back to her room before she even thought about giving in to them. "Okay. I get it," she said softly. "I'll head back to my room then. Hope you like the food."
Xander came out of his introspective fugue and registered that Faith was leaving. He noticed the shoulders rolled forward in defeat, the general feeling of sadness and regret that surrounded the Slayer. Almost against his will, Xander reached out slightly. "Faith... wait."
The slayer stopped, but didn't turn around. "What?" She asked, her voice flat and toneless.
He sighed. "You don't have to leave." He took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "If you want to stay, you can."
Faith turned to glare at him, the most basic part of her personality, the part that compelled her to not show any of the "weak" emotions turned her sadness to anger. "Don't do me no favors. You don't want me here, so don't fake it now!"
Xander's gaze hardened. "Faith, yesterday I lost the woman I've been in love with for the better part of four *years*! I don't want *anyone* here, so don't flatter yourself that I'm picking on you or something. *You* pushed you way in here, I didn't invite you, so don't get all indignant if I don't start doing cartwheels just cause you're here!"
Faith started to snarl back, lashing out in a further attempt to disguise her hurt feelings, but Xander's mention of Anya stopped her cold. She remembered how she felt after Mike's betrayal, after she, in effect, lost him. How she felt the night before when Giles had told them about Wood. "Wait, okay? Just hold on." She took a deep breath and slowly let it out, releasing much of her anger with it, just like the counselor at the prison had taught her.
"I didn't mean to piss you off, X-Man, I just... I kinda figured you hadn't eat yet, so I decided to bring you something, y'know? I mean, even Red and her girl have left their room by now, but nobody had seen you, so..." She shook her head and tried to smile a little. "Look, I'm sorry for bustin' in, okay? Just... Eat, okay? Anya wouldn't want you to make yourself sick, right?" She backed toward the door. "I'll see you later, 'k?"
Xander took a step forward. "Hang on. Just... Did they replace your tv yet?" The Slayer looked at him blankly. "You told me last night the one in your room didn't work, remember? Did they get you a new one yet?"
Faith's eyes opened wide as she suddenly remembered what she'd said the night before. "Oh! Right! Uh, yeah. I think so, anyway. Haven't checked yet, but it's been a couple hours, so... Yeah, I'm sure it's fixed." She smiled her very best, 'You believe me, right Officer?' smile.
Xander looked at her with a blank expression for ten solid seconds, then grunted. "Uh huh." Another pause of a few seconds, during which he observed her starting to fidget and frequently look away, then he plainly asked, "Faith, was your tv broken last night?"
"Hell yeah!" She quickly affirmed. "Well, sorta... kinda..." He simply looked at her and a small corner of her mind marveled at how powerful the stare of a guy with only one eye could be. She released an aggravated sigh and admitted, "Okay, I couldn't find the remote."
Again, Xander just looked at her. "Hey, I figured you shouldn't be alone, y'know? And I figured B and Dawn and Red would all come by and try to cheer you up and I knew that wasn't what you'd want, y'know, to be cheerful, so I thought I'd try somthin' else." She smiled a little. "Worked for a little while and you did eat somethin'."
"Did it occur to you at all that maybe I *wanted* to be left alone? Any of you?" Xander growled out, his eye flashing with anger.
It just rolled off Faith's back. "Well, yeah, but we were all worried 'bout you, so we all came by to try to help. I just tried somethin' different. Look," she said after a moment. "You want me to go, say so and I'll motor. Just promise me you'll eat part of what I brought, okay?"
Xander continued to stare at the unrepentant woman for a few more seconds, then turned with an angry grunt and sat down, thinking furiously. To be honest, he wasn't sure how to deal with this Faith. Sexy Faith, the one who came onto everything remotely human and still breathing he could deal with, either by ignoring her suggestions or teasing back. Angry Faith he could handle by staying out of her way until she was calmer.
This new Faith, however, we wasn't so sure how to deal with. She was showing every sign of considering others before herself, of genuinely being worried about him and going out of her way to make sure he was at least taking minimum care of himself while he grieved. Which was another thing he was having trouble with. The dark Slayer had expressed her sympathies for Anya and been serious about it. She hadn't mocked or teased him about his feelings, hadn't really even mentioned them, except the once, but she also hadn't been full of false cheer like he was afraid his family would be. Like Dawn had already been, to tell the truth.
All the sultry brunette, waiting patiently for him to finish thinking, had done was be there. She'd quietly watched tv the night before unless he started a conversation, lapsing into silence again when they were finished talking. He looked up at her, just silently observing the woman for a minute, then closed his eye and shook his head. His stomach chose that moment to clench and growl its displeasure at being empty when his nose plainly detected food.
Sighing, Xander walked over to the dresser where the Slayer had deposited her bags and moved them to the table. He glanced at Faith. "If you're gonna stay, why don't you find something worth watching, okay?"
His voice contained a slight growl of resignation, but Faith just ignored that. She smiled and nodded her head. "On it." She quickly grabbed the remote and turned the tv on, flipping quickly to the listings channel she'd noticed the night before. Inwardly, she was very pleased that he'd allowed her to stay, even trying to not gloat too much that Xander was talking to her, even when he wouldn't talk to Buffy or Dawn or even Willow. "Hey, I been outta circulation. They still showin' X-Men?"
"Dunno," Xander grunted as he picked through the enormous pile of food she'd brought him. "I haven't had a chance to watch Saturday morning cartoons in a while. What all's in here?"
Faith turned her attention to the man. "Huh? Oh, a little of everything. 'Cept oatmeal. It was just too runny. Anyway, mostly toast, then hash browns and eggs and pancakes with strawberry jam and syrup. Some fruit. Sausage and bacon and I think a piece of ham. Some more eggs. Oh, and there's coffee, milk and oj in the other bag."
Xander used his fork to move some things around, spotting pretty much everything she named off piled together in a jumbled mess. He gave her a slightly nauseous look. "Did you have to just mix it all together in a pile?"
The dark Slayer just snorted and grinned sardonically. "What's the matter, X-Man? It's all goin' t'the same place, right? Just gettin' a little headstart this way." Seeing his dubious look, she gave him a challenging one back. "Just try it, you big baby. If you don't like it, I'll go hit the Mickey D's for you."
Xander stared at her for another moment, then looked back at his "breakfast". Checking, he seasoned the pile of mostly eggs and hash browns a little and started eating, tentatively at first, then with a bit more gusto. He gave Faith a mocking expression when she grunted in satisfaction, taking a sip of coffee to hide his surprise at her being right. "So, find anything worth watching?"
"Maybe," she conceded. "No X-Men, but there's this." She turned the channel and an image of a large black man in leather, a sword strapped to his back appeared. Xander choked a little and looked at the brunette incredulously.
"You wanna watch 'Blade'?!?"
Faith smiled in delight. "That's what this is? Heard about it, but didn't think I'd ever get to see it." She looked back at her companion, then pouted. Well, as best as she could copy Buffy's pouts, she did. "Come on, Xan-man! We can laugh at the shit they get wrong, an' everything! Hell, might even pick up a few new things to try." She looked at him appealingly. "Please?"
Xander was amazed and a little weirded out. Where the hell had this come from? This was most definitely *not* the Faith he remembered, not even the one he'd gotten accustomed too during the last days before the final battle. Truth to tell, she was acting more like Buffy than anyone else. That thought triggered a memory and he looked directly at her through a narrowed eye. "You sure you're not Buffy? Was there another body swap I didn't know about?"
Faith smiled sarcastically at him. "Nope. One hundred percent bad girl in this bod. No Buffy 'round here. Well," she added with a knowing smirk. "Unless she's hidin' in the bathroom or something."
Xander stared at her again for a few seconds, the banter and mood changes once again causing his brain to strip a gear. He finally just shook his head and pulled out a chair at the table, the meal the Slayer had brought him in front of him. "Just... Sure, let's watch that. And thanks for the breakfast, Faith."
She smiled at him, flopping down on the bed so she could see both Xander and the tv. "Hey, no sweat. Let me know if there's anything you can't finish, okay?" The Slayer watched as Xander waved one hand at her, reaching for the bag with his drinks in it. She watched as he started to eat, a warm feeling washing over her at Xander's seeming to accept her as a friend. Smiling to herself, she faced the tv again, deciding to see if she could get him to actually leave the room for lunch.
Author's Note: Still asking for patience and understanding and realization that this story was originally written for a site devoted to Kennedy, so they're not sure what to do with the Faith parts either! ;) Seriously, I needed this chapter for the flow of the story and we'll be back to everyone else next chapter, I promise. Start the count down to the Great Partner Swap! :)