Fic: Crimson Love (3/?)

[Jenny Dapper <dap311@xxxxxxxxx>]

Title: Crimson Love (3/?)
Author: dap311 (dap311@xxxxxxxxx)
Pairing: B/W 
Rating: R/NC-17; WARNING: description of sexual
assault. 
Disclaimers: Buffy and Willow belong to Joss and
Mutant Enemy. 
?Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely? is property of
the Backstreet Boys. 
Spoilers: Some general 3rd season spoilers; Faith is
now in the picture; Oz is not and never has been.
Feedback: Yes, please- it is my crack.
Summary: Sequel to "Fascinating New Thing." Buffy and
Willow go through some difficult times and Faith isn?t
making things any easier.
Distribution/Archive: My site,
http://dap311.freewebsites.com or just ask.

?Show me the meaning of being lonely 
Is this the feeling I need to walk with 
Tell me why I can't be there where you are 
There's something missing in my heart.? 
-Backstreet Boys, ?Show Me the Meaning of Being
Lonely?

Previously in ?Crimson Love:?

?I can?t, Buffy. Not right now. Not yet.? With
that, Willow gathered up her pillow and dinosaur and
headed to the guest room, leaving the slayer to simply
stare into the space her best friend had just vacated,
a pained look on her face. 

--------------------------

A couple of days had passed since Buffy had told
Willow about what Faith did. The two friends still
weren?t right, and the slayer was having a hard time
seeing the situation changing any time soon. Willow
had stopped sleeping over at the Summers house and
would only see Buffy in school. It hurt both of them
to have such little contact, but Buffy knew she
couldn?t force the issue with Willow. And Willow
still was unsure of what she should do. The redhead
was dealing with the situation better than could be
expected, given the recent circumstances, though. She
had the desire to hurt herself a lot, but had managed
to fight off that desire, determined to have a clear
mind to think about Buffy. If anything, Willow was
proud of herself for being able to do that. It had
been a long time since she?d been able to ignore the
urge to cut. 

Buffy, for her part, had stepped up her patrolling in
her expanded free time due to Willow?s absence. She
hadn?t seen Faith since the dreadful night, but was
sure the dark slayer would show up sooner or later. 
It was the third night since she?d last seen Faith,
and Buffy was walking through one of Sunnydale?s many
cemeteries. She?d just dusted a newly risen vamp when
she heard someone coming up behind her. Buffy knew
instinctively that it was Faith and tensed instantly. 
She?d been hoping to prolong seeing the other slayer
for a few more days, but that obviously wasn?t an
option now.

?Hey B. How?s it hanging?? Faith leered
suggestively at her as Buffy turned around. The blond
slayer gave Faith a dirty look.

?Oh, it?s pretty much hanging, Faith. Thanks to
you.? Buffy made no attempt to hide the contempt in
her voice. 

The dark slayer played dumb. ?Really? What do you
mean?? She took a couple of steps towards Buffy,
trying her best to be skanky and seductive. 

?Oh, I think you know what I mean. That stunt you
pulled a few days ago. You?ve caused a lot of
problems for me. Namely Willow isn?t speaking to me
right now. And, really, that doesn?t make me the
happiest of people. Kind of pisses me off, actually.?
Buffy took a step away from Faith, trying to keep out
of reach. She desperately didn?t want a repeat of the
other night. 

?What?s Red got to do with this? She jealous? What,
were you saving yourself for her? Cause, gotta tell
ya, B. You already gave that up to Angel. And that
didn?t really turn out too well, did it?? Faith
continued to advance on Buffy. When the blond slayer
didn?t answer a light seemed to go on in Faith?s head.
?You were, weren?t you. You were saving yourself for
the geek. God, B. Since when did you quit driving
stick??

?You?re disgusting, Faith. And it?s none of your
business who I?m saving what for.? Buffy was seething
with anger, but there was also a layer of fear
underneath that. She didn?t like the look Faith had
gotten; her eyes were wild and her mouth was opened
slightly, as if she were having trouble breathing. 

?Well, I?m about to make it my business.? With that,
Faith closed the distance between her and Buffy,
taking the blond slayer by the arms at the elbows,
basically immobilizing her. Buffy tried to struggle,
but either Faith was stronger than the other night or
Buffy was weaker. Either way, she couldn?t get out of
Faith?s grasp, and the more she struggled, the tighter
Faith held on. ?What?s wrong, B? Can?t fight back??

?Let me go, Faith. I don?t want to hurt you.? Buffy
seethed through her teeth.

?Ha. I don?t think you could hurt me right now. In
fact, I?m pretty damn sure of it. And how do you know
I don?t wanna hurt you? It?s not always about you, B.
This is about me, and what I want. And right now, I
want you to hurt in every way I can imagine.? The
venom in Faith?s voice nearly dripped out and onto the
ground. Buffy?s fear grew exponentially with that
last statement. 

--------------------------------

Willow had stayed after school to help Giles with
some research into the Mayor?s Ascension. She wasn?t
sure where Buffy was, but she guess out patrolling. 
And Faith was probably with her. None of the Scoobies
had seen the dark slayer since Buffy?s run in, and
Willow was more than thankful for that. She wasn?t
sure if she could be trusted in the same room with
Faith right now. 

Instead of actually helping Giles with the research,
Willow had let her mind wander. A volume of demons
open before her, the redhead was staring off into the
deep recesses of the library. For the past three days
the only thing that had been on her mind was Buffy. 
She missed the slayer more than anything, but still
wasn?t sure what to do about the situation. She
didn?t know if she could trust Buffy right now. It
wasn?t that Buffy herself was untrustworthy, it was
that Willow was having a hard time trusting in
general. She?d always had some trust issues, but the
depression had magnified them, and with her
relationship with Buffy they were even worse. Willow
knew that the people she should trust the most, the
people who loved her and who she loved, these were the
people she had the most trouble believing. She knew
it was a problem, but she didn?t know how to stop it. 


?That?s it Rosenberg. You know what you have to
do,? Willow said quietly to herself. She had to trust
Buffy and work through this. She was sure that they
were meant to be together and she would give up
anything for it to work. Putting on her resolve face,
Willow excused herself from the library and headed
towards Buffy?s house. 

------------------------------

Buffy limped up the stairs to her room, quietly so as
to not wake her mother. She was about to get
undressed when there was a soft knock at her bedroom
door. Making her way slowly over to the door, Buffy
was hoping desperately it wasn?t her mother. She knew
she could explain the bruises, ripped and bloody
clothes, but the marks on her neck would be harder. 
Instead of her mother, though, Buffy opened the door
to Willow.

?Will. What are you doing here?? Buffy forgot
instantly of her physical pain as her emotional pain
reared its ugly head. She was pretty surprised to see
the redhead standing before her and that shock
registered on her face.

Willow, for her part, had been debating the whole way
over just how she would handle this. She didn?t
really know what she was going to say, she just knew
that they needed to talk and come to some kind of
agreement. She loved Buffy too much to let the events
of the last few days keep them apart. But, as soon as
she saw the condition Buffy was in, Willow forgot
everything instantly.

?Buffy! What happened to you? Was it a vamp attack?
Was it one of the Mayor?s minions? Are you okay? 
Oh, god, let me take a look at you.? The redhead lead
Buffy over to her bed and sat her down. Slowly taking
in the slayer?s appearance, Willow got up and headed
to the bathroom, returning with gauze, hydrogen
peroxide and a damp washcloth. 

While Willow began to clean her up, Buffy simply sat
there, staring down at her feet. She hadn?t expected
to see her friend, but when she had it hurt so much. 
Buffy had missed Willow more than she realized over
the past three days, and with everything that just
happened with Faith, all the emotions were just too
much. The slayer began to weep quietly, her body
beginning to shake. Willow noticed instantly that
Buffy was crying, but continued to finish cleaning her
friend up. She knew she needed to give her friend a
couple of minutes before anything was said. When all
the cuts were cleaned and Willow had managed to get
Buffy into some clean clothes, the two sat together on
Buffy?s bed, quietly looking at each other. They had
been in the exact same position a few nights before,
but now the circumstances had changed. 

?Buff? What happened?? Willow?s tone was calm and
quiet as she finally broke the silence. The slayer
closed her eyes at the question and took a deep breath
before answering. 

?I ran into Faith tonight.? Willow tensed
immediately as Buffy said the words, but the slayer
continued, not seeming to notice. ?She, she found me
while I was patrolling. She started saying stuff,
and-and I tried to tell her how angry I was, but she
just laughed it off. She said she wanted to hurt me,
so that whoever I was ?saving? it for couldn?t have
me. And then, then she?.? Buffy?s voice trailed off
at the memory of what Faith had done to her. 

?I fought her, but I couldn?t get her off me. She
was too strong. I felt so weak, I guess I haven?t
been sleeping or eating well the past few days. She
threw me on the ground and started hitting me. She
ripped my shirt open and shoved her hand down my
pants. It was horrible, Will. She kept hitting me
over and over again with her other hand, and then she
began to bite me on the neck. Saying that wasn?t this
what I liked? She forced my hand down her pants and
made me?. made me touch her. When she was done she
just rolled off me. I figured that was going to be my
only opportunity, so I got up and ran home.? 

Willow listened silently through the entire story,
but her own tears had begun to fall and cloud her
vision. When Buffy had finished, the redhead pulled
her into surprisingly strong arms and rocked back and
forth while the mighty slayer cried. 

?I should have been there with you. This, this
shouldn?t have happened. I?m so sorry, Buffy. I came
over tonight so that we could work things out. I
don?t want to be away from you anymore. I just wish I
had realized that a little earlier.?

Buffy looked up from where her head had been laying
on Willow?s chest. ?It?s not your fault, Will. If
you had been there, Faith might have hurt you, too. 
And I would never forgive myself for that. But, I?m
glad you?re here now. I need you, Will. I hurt so
bad. Please stay with me.? Buffy?s eyes were
pleading with Willow, a look of absolute hopelessness
crossing her face. 

?Don?t worry, Buffy. I?ll stay. I?ll stay.? With
that, Willow pulled Buffy further onto the bed and
under the covers for a fitful night of sleep. Both
were plagued with nightmares, that were lessened only
because of the arms that encircled them. 

To be continued. 


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