I understand that most of you all probably aren't following this fic anymore. You've probably moved on and will see this update notification and say 'What the hell is that?' I get it, really. I'm sorry for the delay and my only excuse is life got really... really hectic.

For those of you still hanging in with me, thank you so so much. I appreciate all of you and if you could please, read this and then review after, I'd appreciate it so much. I want to go back and reedit this fic so I'll probably do them one at a time. Edit in word, paste it and post it. Thank you for your continued patience. I won't promise the next update will be soon but please, be a little more patient with me?

Faith laughs when they enter the apartment later that evening.

"…. Could be some kind of creeper!" Amanda says again. She shakes her head, holding the door for Amanda to enter and shuts the door.

"Cordy, can you take over?" she asks, not surprised to see her neighbor sitting on her couch. Cordelia raises an eyebrow and gives Faith a smile.

"So was orientation everything you expected it to be?" Cordelia asks, resting her hands on her lap. Amanda's eyes widen and Faith turns to leave the apartment before falling into a fit of giggles.

Later that evening, Faith leans back on the sofa and watches Amanda and Andrew interact. They were looking through some kind of magazine and discussing Amanda's day. She feels the already familiar smile coming to her face as she watches them, rubbing her hands together lightly for no reason. She almost jumps out of her skin when she feels Cordelia sit beside her. It's a little closer than she'd liked, but she doesn't comment on it right now.

"You could've warned me." Cordelia chastises her. Faith only lets out a light chuckle and shrugs, accepting the bottled water from her friend.

"But where's the fun in that?" she asks innocently. Cordelia merely huffs.

"Fun she says." Is her only comment before looking at the television and letting her eyes drift lower to the children. "Do you think she's ready?" she asks Faith, not bothering to whisper. Amanda would've heard them anyway.

"I know she's ready." She responds confidently. "But how do ya help a kid like that balance bein' a slayer with bein'…. Happy?" she asks thoughtfully. Cordelia hums and nods her head a couple times.

"Well, I can't really answer that question," she starts, looking over at Faith. Faith turns to face her and Cordelia gets quiet for a moment. Realizing things were going to get really awkward, really fast, she speaks again. "But at least you're not worried about it alone. You've got Andrew and I to help you." She said, looking straight ahead quickly. Faith follows suit and seems to think it over for a moment before raising her fist.

Cordelia isn't sure what gave her a pause just then and honestly, she didn't want to be. Sure, there may have been something, an appreciation growing there. She could admit that Faith was not only hot, but she was also quite beautiful when she relaxed. The only reason she began noticing that was because Faith seemed to relax around her more often lately and that felt… well it felt special to Cordelia. Like their friendship had reached another point and she enjoyed it.

But the way she felt for a short moment, possibly a fraction of a second, isn't what she'd define as friendship.

She feels calmed by the fact that it was so short and was over so fast. Before falls deeper into her thoughts she sees Faith's fist out the corner of her eye and sighs as she tries to fight away a frown.

"Faith, no." she says firmly. Amanda and Andrew look back and giggle before turning back to the television.

"Come on…" the former slayer says shaking her fist. Cordelia actually has to take a sip of water to fight her grin.

"No. Stop being lame." She rolls her eyes at her friend. Everything is silent until she feels a slight nudge against her bicep followed by another.

"Eh? Eh?" she glances over in time to see Faith grinning at the show they're watching. With a defeated sigh, she finally caves with a smile of her own and bumps her fist against Faith's. "That wasn't so bad." She comments. Cordelia scoffs.

"Please. I have a rash now."

Patrick sits across from Annie, his hands hanging between his legs as he listened to her.

"You actually….spoke to her?" he asks again. Annie raises an amused eyebrow at him and he grunts. "Whatcha lookin' at me like that for?" he huffs. She shakes her head.

"She seemed sweet. But that look in her eyes…" she trails off. He nods, wiping a hand down his face and sniffling once.

"Kid's been through some things, huh?" he asks. Annie nods, thinking back to the newspaper articles. "I wanna find her." he announces suddenly. Annie frowns.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" she asks softly.

"Of course it is. I'm her father!" he looks clearly insulted by the question.

"No, I know. It's just that maybe –"

"What? Maybe what?!" he snaps and she flinches back. He looks at her for a moment before his body sags and he sits back down. "Maybe it's a shitty idea, runnin' in there playin' daddy after being gone for so long?"

"Yes." She responds. He looks at the floor and nods.

"I wanna make this up to her." he says softly. She reaches out hesitantly, resting her hand on his.

"But is that what she'll want?"

"Saturdays can be workout days, right?" Faith asks. Cordelia shakes her head, looking over her shoulder at the schedule Faith was trying to figure out while Amanda wasn't there to distract her.

"No. She wants to join some kind of team at school." She reminds her. Faith raises her eyebrows in acknowledgement before sighing. "What about Sundays?" Cordelia tries.

"Nah. Kid's gotta rest up on Sundays. School the next day and tired from all the shit through the week? That's her break day." She explains. They both stand there, Faith tapping her pen and Cordelia looking thoughtful.

"Mondays?" Cordelia offers finally. Faith seems to think it over.

"Patrol? Maybe… every Thursday? Friday's usually a slack day in school, right?" she asks.

"It all depends on what teachers you have." Cordelia says waving her hands. "Patrol can be part of her training, right?"

"Right. Kinda like a vocational school or somethin'." Faith agrees. "Which means that Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays I should be doin' a work out of some kind." She adds.

"I'm free if you'd like to do them in the mornings like we have been. Take Andrew out with us on Tuesdays and Thursdays; let him hang with Amanda on Sundays." Cordelia offers. Faith smiles up at her before writing all this down. She holds it up and the two of them look it over.

"This entire schedule will go to shit by week two, won't it?"

"Definitely. It definitely will."