Title: Making Up For Christmas

Rating: NC17

Pairing: Buffy/Faith

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters and I make no money off this.

Summary: Post-Chosen. A huge misunderstanding has caused Faith and Buffy to break up before Christmas.

There are days where I think I'll never top some of the stupid shit I did back when I was a teenager.

I've been proven wrong a lot lately.

I'm not talking about breaking the law or, you know, killing anyone. Those days are far, far behind me and haven't even gotten into so much as a bar fight since I moved to Scotland with everyone. At least, not any where only humans were involved.

My current level of stupidity, something I'm reminded of everyday right now, has to do with my lack of relationship expertise. Most days I have no idea what I'm doing but B had always been fine with that. I'd do something stupid, something I'm sure a normal person would never do, B would tell me about it and I'd do my best to fix it. She always said that's the way it worked and we were fine.

She won't be saying that to me anytime soon though. We broke up two weeks ago over a ridiculous misunderstanding. At least, I think it was a misunderstanding. According to her and a few others I cheated and it's completely unforgiveable. She kicked me out of our room and since then I've stayed at the far end of the castle, something I really didn't have a say in.

Right now, I'm fine with the distance. Our last fight ended with lots of broken furniture and destroyed door.

There's two problems with everything that's gone down. First, we broke up after a long party weekend in London on what would be Thanksgiving weekend in the States. For anyone paying attention that means we broke up right in the middle of the Christmas season. Not exactly great timing on our parts and I'm being reminded of that every day by multiple people.

The second and most important problem is this: I didn't cheat!

I would never cheat on her, especially not with who she thinks I did, but I don't know what to say to convince her of that now. She only talks to me when we have to work on something together or be on the same patrol and even then she won't look me in the eye. She says it's 'cause she can't believe what I did but I contend it's that she's afraid of what she'll see. She'll see that she's very, very wrong.

It all comes down to what actually happened the night she thinks I cheated. B and I decided to take a trip to London and relax for a couple days, do a little partying and have some fun. Some of the slayers who were feeling a little homesick now that the holidays were coming tagged along 'cause we thought they could use a little downtime, too.

Saturday night we decided to go to a club and it was fun at first. We drank and danced a little, felt each other up on the dance floor, and it was just what we needed. That was until one of the girls drank a little too much too fast and B volunteered to take her back to the hotel solo. I had suggested we all leave but she thought the rest of the girls needed a fun night and wanted me to make sure they got back to the hotel safely.

Easy enough, right?

Not really, especially when it was B's idea to bring everyone else along. I just wanted a weekend away with her and all of a sudden I was playing babysitter to a group of slayers. It wasn't exactly a happy moment for me.

After B left I sat down at the bar and didn't move. I didn't feel like dancing or hanging out with the rest of them and they seemed fine without me. They probably didn't even want me to stick around and I thought about just sneaking back to the hotel but since B insisted on it I stayed. There's not much I won't do for her.

About an hour after she left a guy sat down and started talking to me. Donny was drowning his sorrows with glass after glass of whatever the bartender handed him and I joined him. I didn't have as much as him though. I wanted to be somewhat alert when I got to the hotel. There was someone who would hopefully be waiting up for me.

Donny was funny and sarcastic and I could tell right away he was flirting with me. I didn't pay for a single drink after he sat down next to me even though I didn't try to flirt back at all. It kind of made me proud of my flirting skills.

At the end of the night, Donny was drunk and so were the girls. We weren't in the greatest area and I wanted to make sure everyone got home safely. I told the girls to grab their things and I started walking Donny outside. He seemed like a nice enough guy and spent the better part of the night telling me his sob story so I wouldn't have felt right if I left him vulnerable to getting jumped by anyone or anything.

That's when it got interesting and the misunderstanding happened. Donny was pretty much leaning on me when we got outside and of course, the moment we're through the front doors he started kissing me. A kiss I didn't return but it took longer than it should've to stop because I was keeping him upright and I wasn't going to let him crash to the ground. As far as I was concerned, he only tried 'cause he was so drunk and he didn't try anything else.

I think the girls saw the kiss and his arm was still around my shoulder when they walked out. He was all smiles and talking complete nonsense, too. At the time I didn't know they saw anything so I just told them to take a cab back to the hotel. They gave me weird looks but didn't say anything, not about the kiss or why I was still letting the guy hang on me. They only got in the car and watched me talking to Donny.

Those idiots immediately told B I didn't leave with them 'cause I was hooking up with a guy I met after she went back to the hotel. They told her we were making out outside the club and then had our hands all over each other as their car drove away.

That's only half true. My hands were only near him to keep him from falling down. His hands were attempting a move but his brain wasn't functioning. I was happy he could walk with me so I could try to figure out his address. He kept mumbling but I knew he'd eventually tell me.

It took some time but he remembered. We got in a cab, I got him to his place safe and sound and then I went back to the hotel.

I almost wish I hadn't gone back.

B threw an alarm clock at my head the minute I walked into our room.

She started in on me right away, asking me how I could do it and that she thought she meant more to me than that. I had no idea what to say and it took about ten times of me asking before she finally accused me of sleeping with that guy.

Truthfully, I thought my word meant more to her than that but one of those idiot slayers had snapped a cell phone picture of us as they drove away. It looked bad but since I really didn't do anything I thought she'd believe me and we'd get past the whole thing. It wasn't like the picture caught anything bad.

B wasn't buying it and then I got as angry as she was. We had a knockdown, drag out fight that was so loud I thought the hotel was gonna kick us out. Eventually she kicked me out of the room and said we were going home in the morning.

We had a worse fight when we got back to the castle but we've barely talked about it since and that's not my doing. She won't let me. Every time I try to corner her so we can talk she runs, sometimes literally. I don't know if it's 'cause she's afraid to believe me or worried as to why she doesn't.

I get why she doesn't. Before her I didn't stick with one person. I refused to get trapped into a relationship and I sure as hell didn't want to find a person next to me in the morning. B knows she's the first I've ever broke all my rules for so it's not a stretch that she thinks I couldn't do it. That I couldn't just stick with her.

That doesn't matter to me though. I'm sure most people would see her distrust as a warning sign that we shouldn't get back together. The problem is I love her and I can't see me falling for anyone else ever. I want her back.

The rest of the group has tried to stay out of it as much as possible and the stupid slayers who thought they were being loyal to B have steered clear of me. I can see why. I told them they better not see me on the other side of a sparring mat 'cause I'll use full slayer strength on them.

What I need right now is to get someone involved in this problem 'cause I'm not giving up on B. Once she gets past my old reputation she'll see that she's it for me and that I am for her, too.

Kind of why I'm walking into Willow's office right now and she's trying her best to ignore me.

"Hey, Red."

"Faith." Her tone is very even, like she's trying hard to remain neutral.

"Got a minute?"

She looks up from a book as she sits behind her desk and I can tell she wants to say no. "I guess but if it's about Buffy . . ."

"If it's about Buffy then you'll help me, right?" I say quickly.

"Faith . . ."

I walk up to the desk, more than ready to plead my case. I've been rehearsing it all morning. "She's miserable, right?" She slowly nods when I pause and I have to stop myself from smiling. That wouldn't look good. "So am I and she won't talk to be about it anymore."

"Well, that's because . . ."

"I didn't cheat on her, Will! I never would. She's it for me and I need some help to show her that."

She sighs. "If I say something are you going to let me finish?" I nod and she continues. "Buffy cried for a day after you got back. That was hard to see but Xander and I agreed not to take sides. Seeing that picture didn't help."

"All that picture shows is me holding a drunk guy up," I say. "That neighborhood wasn't the greatest and I didn't want him to end up as a vamp's dinner when I drank with him at the bar all night while babysitting the juniors. I stayed with him until he got home safely and then went straight back to the hotel. That's it."

"Buffy said you didn't show up at the hotel until a couple hours after the girls."

"Yeah, Donny was wasted," I explain. "He told me his whole sob story, paid for my drinks all night and yeah, once we were outside he kissed me. But I pulled away and told him I was very taken. He mumbled that he was sorry and that's it."

She sighs again. "I believe you but it's not me who you need to convince."

"I know," I say as I sit down in one of the chairs opposite her. "That's where you come in. Can't you use a spell that'll show her I'm telling the truth? Hell, beam her into my brain so she can see it for herself."

"You know we have that pesky 'no spells for personal use' policy in the castle," Willow said, smirking. At least I know she's in a better mood than when I came in. I think I finally have someone on my side.

"And you made that policy. Don't you think this is a good exception?" I give her my nicest, most convincing smile, the one that shows off my dimples.

"I do need to set a good example."

"Come on, you already do and who's gonna know? Only you, me and B."

"And if something goes wrong?"

I'm about to answer when there's a knock on the door and B sticks her head inside. It looked like she was smiling but that changed as soon as she saw me. Damn, this really sucks. I want her to light up when she sees me. I know I still do when I see her.

B scowls. "I'll come back later."

I sigh and get up. I don't have to look in a mirror to know my mood's been deflated. "Nah, I'll leave. We'll talk later, Red. Okay?"

She nods. "Sure, Faith. I'll find you later."

I wait for B to walk into the room before leaving and shutting the door behind me. The only positive I can see from all that is that Willow might actually do something to help get B to see she's wrong about what happened.

That thought is brightening my mood already. I might get B back.

My favorite, redheaded witch came through for me!

Willow found me later in the day and told me she would perform a spell tonight that would both make me remember what happened that night but also pull B into the dream or whatever once we're both asleep. I'm not sure how it's gonna work but she has something of mine and took something of B's and now we're in business.

She said this'll be the only time she does the spell so if it doesn't work tonight I'm outta luck. Will's sure if we get back together 'cause of this it'll be all over the castle that she used a spell to help us. I'm more than ready to deal with the fallout if it means I get B back. She needs to see the truth.

For the first time in a long time, I'm actually nervous to go to sleep. Willow wasn't exactly big with the details, either because she didn't have the time to explain or because she didn't know. I hope it's that she didn't have time to tell me. I do not wanna wake up with some weird side effect.

I don't know how I'm gonna look when we get to this dream/memory area, if I'm gonna be in what I wear to sleep or not, so I decide to put some clothes on for once. I throw on a tank top and shorts quickly then climb into my bed.

Right now, I'm in one of the guest rooms in the far end of the castle, nowhere near the rest of the slayers. The original room I had when the crew first moved into the castle was given to someone else not long after B and I decided to make it official and share a room for good. I really miss that room 'cause this one is small and cold and I have no one to keep me warm at night.

I try my best to relax and before I realize what's happening I'm asleep. At first I don't think the spell has worked at all 'cause it's one of my slaying dreams that I have every once and awhile. It's just B and I, doing what we're made to do: slay vamps. We playfully trash talk each other and fool around some but it ends before we can go too far.

Then I'm outside that club in London. It's weird 'cause I'm not watching it from inside my body or something like that. I'm just standing outside the club and I'm not sure what to do. I don't know if I should go inside and check out how far into the night we are or if anyone can see me but I don't think that's the case. No one is acknowledging me or the fact I'm standing there in what I wore to bed.

Damn good thing I wore clothes to bed.

I just stand there, feeling stupid, when I feel this rush and I know whatever Willow did worked. I turn around and B's standing there, looking pissed off with her arms crossed yet adorable in her pajamas.

"What the fuck is this, Faith?"

She just stands there and looks like she wants strangle me when I remember that I've been in this type of situation before. Granted I was in one of my comas but it still seems familiar. It feels like when Angelus and I had to sit through Angel's memories. I wonder if Willow's using something like that.

"Faith? Do you even realize I'm here?" Buffy waves a hand in front of me before punching me in the shoulder.

"Ow!" I yell out and rub where she's hit me. "The hell, B?"

"Tell me it's not justified," she says, challenging me. "This has to be your fault. I definitely don't wanna remember this place."

"Yeah, it's my fault," I admit, "but this was the only way you'd listen to me. You need to see the truth with your own eyes since my word isn't good enough."

B narrows her eyes at me but she looks hurt, too. "I saw plenty. Are you trying to torture me or something?"

"No, Buffy, I would never hurt you. I promised you that when we started. I want you to see what happened so we can go back. I want you back, B."

She doesn't answer me right away and it looks like she's thinking everything through. "You're using magic for this, aren't you? You hate using magic on your own." She pauses. "Willow's helping you, isn't she? She's the only one you'd ask."

"We may have discussed it." I don't completely want to rat her out.

"She'll hear about this tomorrow."

I want to respond but suddenly a feeling rushes through me and I just know that I'm about to walk out of the club with Donny. "B, I know you wanna hate me and believe whatever the girls told you and that hurts more than I thought it would but you need to shut it and watch this."

I move so I'm a step behind her in order to make sure she's watching and sure enough, there I am walking out with Donny basically attached to me. He looks more drunk than I remember and within seconds he's making his move.

Donny leans in and kisses me. I watch B's reaction more than anything and she immediately tenses up. She keeps her back to me but I'm willing to bet she's tearing up a little, too. I wanna comfort her in some way but I'm sure I'll get punched for my effort. She hasn't seen everything yet.

In a few seconds we watch as I pull away from Donny and thankfully we're close enough to hear what we're saying.

"Dude, hold up," we hear me say quickly as I try to keep a distance from him but still keep him from falling over. "I'm taken."

"What?" he manages to mumble out. "You were alone all night."

"Doesn't mean I don't have someone waiting for me at my hotel," I say to him.

"Sorry," he mumbles out and damn near passes out. I remember being a little annoyed at that 'cause I knew I wasn't gonna leave him and I really wanted to get back to the hotel.

"No harm." I shift him so he doesn't fall.

As B and I watch all this we see the girls right at the entrance watching then finally walking up to me. One of them, Claire, is giving me a weird look and the rest are whispering to each other. I didn't notice that the first time around.

"Faith, we're going, right?" Claire asks.

"Yeah but all of you go ahead without me and go right back to the hotel. I'm gonna make sure Donny here gets home safe and sound. I'll be back at the hotel later."

All of them exchange looks. "Okay . . . should we tell Buffy anything?"

I shrug. "No need."

They all nod and get into the car. Donny smiles and leans against me more and I turn and start walking him a ways away from the club. That's when B and I see one of the girls, Randi, snap a picture on her cell phone.

I move to where I'm next to B and look at her face to see her crying. It feels like a part of me is dying when I see her like that but she's off walking toward me and Donny before I can say anything to her.

"Are we going to my apartment, Faith?" Donny asks then does that drunken laugh everyone seems to do when they've had way too much to drink. "I've got a great place. We could have an after party."

"I tell you what," I start out and I know by this point all I wanted was to get him in a cab and get back to B, "you tell me your address and I'll make sure no one mugs you or worse. Sounds like a good plan, yeah?"

He doesn't say anything and I know at this point I was thinking he passed out and that I would be stuck with him for awhile. A couple groups of shady looking people pass us and I give him a light slap on the cheek.

"Donny, your address?"

"Huh?" He opens his eyes and nods. "Yeah, yeah, I'll show you where I live."

As soon as we watch Donny and I get in a cab everything around us changes. It's trippy and all the movement makes me a little queasy. Once the surroundings settle, I lean over and make sure I don't vomit.

B seems to have the same problem as me but only after a few seconds she's standing upright and looking at me. Her cheeks are wet with tears and I fight the urge to hold her. "Where are we now?"

I look around. "Donny's, I think."

She doesn't say anything else and I think she still believes we're gonna see me cheating. I know she hates being wrong more than anything but at least part of her has to know by now that I didn't cheat on her. I know some people think she's kinda dumb but I'm not one of them.

We're about ten feet away when the cab pulls up to Donny's building and the door opens. Donny stumbles out followed by me, looking none too thrilled. He tried to give directions and we ended up on the wrong street twice before we got there. By the time I reached the hotel the total fare was astronomical.

"You got your keys, Donny?"

His response is to first throw up all over the front steps then to hand me his keys. I make a face then get him inside the building. The thought going through my mind at the time was that I'd get lucky when I told B that I went the extra mile to make sure someone got home okay.

Obviously, that was not the case.

A minute later I'm back outside and getting in the cab. It drives away quickly, leaving B and I standing there by ourselves. She turns and looks at me with teary eyes.

Instantly, I know she knows the truth. She knows I wasn't lying. I want to say something, tell her that I want her back but everything fades away, including her.

TBC...