See first part for disclaimers

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Is It Love? Part 5
 
"What am I supposed to wear?" Faith asked as she sat down on Buffy's bed.
 
The blonde turned from her schoolwork to look at her and shook her head.
"Gee, lets weigh our options here shall we? There's leather pants and a
tight top, or leather pants and a tight top. Not seeing what's so difficult
here."
 
"You're no help at all," Faith grumbled as Buffy turned back to her books.
 
"And you're a big girl Faith. What, do you want me to play mommy and
actually dress you myself?" Buffy asked sarcastically as she studied.
 
"Well now that you mention it," Faith replied as she trailed off.
 
"Are you ever going to stop it with the hitting on me?" Buffy wondered as
she once more looked up at Faith.
 
"Not as long as I'm living," Faith teased.
 
"Oh joy," Buffy replied, rolling her eyes. "Now will you go away already?
It's almost 7, shouldn't you be getting ready for your little date?" Buffy
asked, actually wanting to finish her homework sometime this millennium.
 
"Wait, what if it's all a joke? What if she doesn't show up and then she
just makes fun of me like she always has. I mean, why would she just change
her mind and go out with me? She's Cordelia, she's straight. She can't like
me, can she?" Faith asked all her questions in a rush, panic setting in.
 
"Faith, chill. You've been spazzing worse than Willow on a caffeine high all
day. I'm starting to think I like that silent moody attitude you give
everyone else much better."
 
"Ha. Funny B," Faith snorted. "I'm going to get dressed," she informed the
blonde needlessly before disappearing from the room and heading to the
bathroom.
 
After she changed Faith made her way downstairs to grab a drink. As she
entered the kitchen she noticed Buffy sitting at the table and Joyce
preparing dinner. "I thought you were going to actually change?" Buffy asked
as Faith grabbed a can of pop from the fridge.
 
Rolling her eyes at her best friend Faith sat down at the table with Buffy.
"I did. Are you that blonde?" she shot back.
 
"Oh, excuse me. It's hard to tell one pair of black leather pants from
another."
 
"Bite me."
 
"In your dreams."
 
"Girls," Joyce interrupted in distaste at their conversation.
 
"She started it," Buffy said as she noticed her mom's agitated look.
 
"Did not."
 
"Too."
 
"Not," Faith repeated as she crossed her arms.
 
"Too," Buffy said as she stuck her tongue out at Faith and 'hrmphed'
triumphantly.
 
Joyce just shook her head and sighed. "Sometimes I think you two really are
sisters," she said to no one in particular.
 
Now it was Faith's turn to crinkle her nose in distaste. "Like I'd ever hit
on my sister," the brunette responded out loud, though she had meant to keep
that thought in her head. When Joyce's eyes practically bugged out at her
words Faith just smiled nervously, and then resorted to glaring at Buffy
when she started laughing.
 
"You hit on Buffy?" Joyce asked, mildly concerned as to if there was more to
their relationship than just friendship.
 
Just then the doorbell rang and Faith practically shot out of her chair. "Oh
what a pity, I've gotta run. Big date and all," she gave them both a
lopsided grin before darting out of the kitchen to answer the door. Taking a
steadying breath, Faith opened the door and sighed in relief when she saw it
was indeed Cordelia.
 
Fighting the urge to pounce on the cheerleader and thank her for her perfect
timing, Faith settled for a simple, "Hey."
 
"Hey yourself," Cordelia responded lightly. "You ready?"
 
Faith nodded and grabbed her jacket, softly shutting the door behind her as
she made her way to Cordelia's car. "Here, let me," Faith said softly as she
scrambled around to the drivers side of the car and opened the door for
Cordelia.
 
"Aren't I supposed to be opening the door for you?" Cordelia responded in
kind.
 
"Maybe, but I kinda just figured I'd try again. I didn't exactly get the
best reaction last time I did," Faith said, cringing slightly at the memory
of her meeting with Cordelia out in the school parking lot.
 
"Oh yeah, I'm sorry about that," Cordelia told her sincerely.
 
"No sweat," Faith answered as the cheerleader climbed into her car. She shut
the door and made her way back to the passenger side and climbed in beside
her, hardly believing she of all people was actually on a date with Cordelia
Chase. "Hey umm. Not to sound rude or anything but why'd you agree to go out
with me tonight? This isn't like some joke is it where you're going to go
make fun of me to all your friends tomorrow is it?" Faith asked as they
began driving towards the restaurant that Cordelia picked for them to eat
at.
 
"Why would I do that?" Cordelia questioned back as she focused on the road
in front of her.
 
Faith shrugged as she stared out the windshield. "You've hated me all you're
life. Why the sudden change of heart then?"
 
"I never hated you Faith. I was playing my part, just as you always played
yours. We come from different sides of the tracks you could say, and it was
always easier to just go along with everything," Cordelia sighed as she ran
a hand through her hair.
 
"Well why stop now?"
 
"Honestly? Because I'm sick of acting all the time. That night at the Bronze
when we danced." Cordelia trailed off, piquing Faith's attention. "Just your
eyes. No one's ever looked at me like that before," Cordelia tried to
explain but just found her self at a fault for words.
 
"Like what?" Faith shifted in the seat so she was facing Cordelia and began
to study her profile.
 
"Like. Like they actually gave a damn about me. You're the first person
who's ever looked at me as something more than a mere prize."
 
Faith sat silently for a few minutes, in a sort of awe at the older girls
words, knowing exactly how she felt. That's how she felt all her life, like
some prize, or some toy for people to fuck with. Just another person to be
used. Could that be how Cordelia's felt all her life too? Could she have
been just alone as Faith and hiding it behind that bitchy, holier than thou
attitude?
 
"I have friends and stuff you know," Faith started, breaking the silence
between them. "But B. Buffy's the only person that's ever known who I really
am. I don't trust people, or show them who I am, but I. I want you to know
me. The real me," Faith concluded, nervous at opening herself up so much to
Cordelia already.
 
"I'd like that," Cordelia flashed Faith a brief smile as she pulled up at
the restaurant. "And I want to do the same for you." Faith smiled back and
began to open the car door when Cordelia stopped her. "It's my turn," she
said just before climbing out of the car and making her way around it to
open the door for Faith.
 
When the door opened Cordelia held her hand out, offering it to Faith who
just looked up at her hesitantly. "Are you sure? People might see. What
about your rep?" she asked softly.
 
"To hell with my rep. I'm on a date here, and I want to enjoy it, and I want
to hold your hand," Cordelia stated defiantly, causing Faith to break out
into a grin so wide she thought her jaw might shatter at any moment. Seeing
Faith's smile, Cordelia couldn't help but let her own match it. She couldn't
remember a time in her life that she had ever made anyone as happy as she
seemed to be making Faith, and it filled her heart with pride. And the fact
that Faith, who at one time she truly believed to be her worst enemy, was
worried about protecting something as meaningless as her reputation sent
butterflies fluttering around in her stomach.
 
There was still a nagging feeling tugging at the back of Faith's brain,
telling her not to trust Cordelia so easily, but she pushed it down and took
Cordelia's hand in her own as she stepped out of the car. "You know, I've
never held anyone's hand before," Faith confessed, and looked at the ground.
 
Cordelia found this new side of Faith to be very adorable, but decided she'd
actually hold off on telling that one to Faith. She didn't think that
someone who practically lived in leather would take to being called
'adorable' very well. "I have a feeling there's going to be a lot of firsts
between us," Cordelia mused as they began walking towards the restaurant.
 
"Is that a promise?" Faith asked as she raised an eyebrow at Cordelia.
 
"Does your mind ever come out of the gutter?" Cordelia laughed as she shook
her head.
 
"No, but you'll get used to it eventually. Well hopefully. Unfortunately for
B I don't think she ever will. I'm likely to give her a heart attack by the
time she's 20 with the way I tease her all the time." Cordelia just looked
at Faith with a slight pout on her lips and the younger girl started
laughing. "You're not jealous are you?"
 
"Me, jealous?" Cordelia scoffed. "Why would I ever be jealous of her? I know
I'm the hottest girl around."
 
"You got that right doll," Faith responded, fighting the urge to just kiss
her. 'Slow,' she reminded herself. 'You've already got her holding your
hand, don't push your luck' she thought.
 
Cordelia turned and fixed her gaze on Faith as they stepped into the
restaurant. "No one's ever given me a nickname in my life but you. And not
that I have a problem with just C, or Queen C I kinda like that doll thing,"
Cordelia said shyly.
 
"Then doll it is," Faith said as she squeezed Cordelia's hand slightly. They
heard the someone clearing their thoat from behind a podium and looked up at
the hostess.
 
"You hungry?" Cordelia asked Faith as they stopped giving each other the
puppy dog eyes for a few moments.
 
"Starved," Faith answered as they were led to their table, still hand in
hand with matching grins on their faces.
 
TBC...