Disclaimers in Chapter 1
As the song ends, Dawn melts into her Slayer's arms, returning her kisses. She leans forward for another, but pulls back, confused as Faith moves backward a little.
When Faith drops to one knee, Dawn wonders why for a split second, then comprehension races through her mind. Her eyes open wide, then wider still as her girlfriend's hand finishes opening and she sees what was hidden there.
Two smallish white gems, diamonds her gibbering mind tells her, lie on either side of a much larger deep blue sapphire. The three stones are set in a thin, white gold band, the ring itself lying in the center of a palm lightly calloused from years of handling weapons. The dumbstruck woman forces her eyes off the ring and onto the face of her beloved, as she tries to focus on the words Faith is saying, but her gaze immediately shifts back to the piece of jewelry.
"...stay with me forever?" Faith is terrified, but resolute as she kneels there, heart in her hands, waiting for Dawn's answer. A very small corner of her mind marvels at the fact that vampires, demons, all the hordes of hell, as well as the California state prison system, none of these things could scare her. Yet, here she was, so scared she was shaking that the mere slip of a girl in front of her might say no. After nearly a full minute, she feels her stomach begin to cave in on itself as still no answer has come from the woman she loves.
Dawn stands there trying to make her mind work it's way passed the stuttering, "She's asking...She's asking..." Finally, as Faith slowly starts to close her fingers over the ring, breaking Dawn's line of sight of it, the young woman snaps out of her stupor.
Plunging her hands into the Slayer's hair, the brunette pulls her love to her feet and into a deep, passionate kiss, lips begins to slide on lips before Dawn's tongue dives across to tangle with Faith's.
Breaking apart as oxygen becomes a problem, Faith leans her head forward until their foreheads touch. Looking into the glowing blue eyes of her lover, she inquires, "That a yes, D?"
Dawn tries to smirk, but is simply too happy to pull it off. She simply gushes, "Whadda you think, silly? Of course it's a yes! I was planning on asking you at Christmas!" She pulls her girlfriend, 'No,' she thinks, her fiance into another deep, soulful kiss. As they ease back, Dawn holds her hand out, fingers splayed. Faith takes the engagement ring and slides it home onto her future wife's finger, then leans back into yet another passionate kiss.
Willow and Kennedy stand watching everything that happens, the redhead is practically bouncing in her excitement, while Kennedy simply smiles hugely. Both of them hold their breaths as Dawn seems to hesitate, then hug ecstatically as the other couple begin to kiss.
Dawn and Faith finally break off, both panting air into starved lungs. The younger girl is still smiling brightly as she presses another, almost chaste kiss onto her Slayer's lips, then turns excitedly to Willow and pulls the witch into a tight embrace. Backing out of the embrace as swiftly as she initiated it, Dawn giddily shows Willow her new ring.
Willow smiles at her, tears shining in both their eyes, "It's beautiful, Dawnie! Buffy'll be so happy!"
Kennedy swiftly hugs Faith, then smirks at her, teasing, "Wondered if that's what you were doing. Never seen you so scared of anything before! It was just a little question, tough girl."
"Just wait til it's your turn, K!" Faith replies hotly, scowling at her.
The young Slayer just laughs and leans closer, saying, in a conspiratorial tone, "Gonna be way cooler than you! Besides, I got it all planned." Kennedy looks at her friend, then quietly asks, "You didn't tell Buffy you were gonna do this, did you?"
Faith shakes her head hard. "Hell, no, Junior! Remember what B was like when Dawn and I started dating? Figured she couldn't get with the crazy and say no if D said yes first."
"Works." Is all she has time to say before Dawn envelopes her in a bone-cracking hug. Kennedy returns the hug, telling the excited girl, "Happy for you Dawnie!" She draws back from the hug and smiles sadly at her friend. "Still not too sure about your taste in women, though!"
Dawn pouts and swats at the laughing Slayer. "Hey! Don't talk about my future wife like that!" Then she smiles, dreamily, as she thinks about what she's just said. 'Wife!', she thinks joyously, then tackles Faith for another hug.
They kiss again quickly before Willow suggests they move back to their table to continue the celebration. Kennedy peels off and returns a few minutes later, bottle of champagne and glasses in hand. For one toast to the newly engaged couple, Dawn's age is ignored as she sips the bubbling liquid with the others.
Dawn keeps staring at her hand, smiling, tears sparkling in her eyes. The fingers of her right hand are interlaced with Faith's, as the Slayer, also smiling, just watches her girl.
Willow and Kennedy watch their friends, smiling at their reactions, though Willow can't help but feel a faint twinge of jealousy for the other couple's newly engaged state. She's sure that she'll never find anyone that can make her happier than Kennedy does and, witnessing Faith's proposal, the redhead starts thinking that she just might like being married to her Slayer.
Unknown to her, Kennedy has been thinking about that for quite some time and is simply waiting for the proper moment. She thought about Willow's birthday, but that seemed too cliche, so she's been biding her time, knowing her instincts will tell her when. The small brunette had commissioned the ring months ago and it was safe, stored where Willow would never find it.
Willow notices the way the other couple is starting to lean toward each other, and stifling a fake yawn, announces, "Guys, it's been a long night, with lots of excitement. Go home, now?" She looks at her girlfriend and winks.
Kennedy grins and stands, helping Willow to her feet. "Yeah, I'm kinda tired, too. You guys coming?"
Neither of the other women hear their friends for a second, still lost in each other and the moment. Finally, Faith notices the couple standing up and glances their way, expecting them to head for the dance floor. She frowns, a little confused, when they start pulling on jackets, but thoughts of getting Dawn home and celebrating properly cause her to smile. "Looks like they wanna go, baby. You ready?"
Dawn physically pulls her eyes away from her ring, happy smile still in place. She stares up at her fiance, not understanding what's being asked for a moment. Then thoughts of taking her girl home and not leaving their bedroom for days enter her mind and she jumps up and grabs her coat. "Sure, let's go. I can't wait to show Buffy and Xander!"
Faith grimaces slightly, thinking the worst about her soon to be sister in law's reaction to the news. The younger brunette notices the expression and takes the Slayer's hand, reassuring her, "She'll be happy, don't worry." Then she grins confidently, "Besides, even if she isn't, you can take her!"
Faith laughs and tugs her love into her side. "Rather take you!" she declares as the two couples leave the club and make their way to their cars. All the way home, the former Key and her Slayer trade excited ideas for a wedding, tempered, of course, by the knowledge that they can't make anything legal. Neither worries much about what anyone but their friends and family will think and they know they'll all be happy and will consider the couple married afterwards.
Willow and Kennedy's conversation on the short drive home is also centered on the other couple's new relationship level, both trying to feel each other out. Each trying to see whether the other might like the whole marriage thing.
When they get to the apartment building they live in, bought and refurbished to their needs by the council, both cars are parked and the four women get out and head inside. Walking into the common area downstairs that serves as an informal meeting area and place to hold the weekly movie nights, they find Buffy and Xander curled up together watching tv with Rona and her latest friend occupying another sofa.
Faith and Kennedy rarely bother to learn the names of the guys the younger Slayer brings home, since they rarely stay longer than a couple weeks.
Seeing what she knows is her sister's soft drink can, Dawn picks it up in her left hand and, making sure her ring is plainly visible, extends it into Buffy's field of vision.
"Something to drink, sis?" she says, mildly.
"Hmm?" Buffy looks up at Dawn, confused. "Oh, no thanks." Her gaze returns to the movie. Dawn frowns, but Faith and the other couple grin.
Xander, on the other hand, notices something sparkling and looks closer. "Shpidoinkle! Is that what I think it is, Dawnie?"
Now Buffy looks back up, really confused until the glint of the sapphire catches her attention. Her eyes open wide, so wide, Dawn's momentarily afraid they're going to fall out. The blonde quickly spins and sits up, automatically grabbing at her sister's hand. She stares at the ring on the third finger for nearly a full minute before shifting her line of sight to Faith.
"You proposed?!? Without asking me first?"
Faith just smirks at her future sister in law. "Sorry, B, not really into blondes these days. Besides, didn't think Xan-man could stand the competition!"
Everyone but Buffy laughs. The oldest Slayer glares at the next oldest. "That's not what I meant and you know it! She's my sister! You should have asked me if it was ok, first!"
Faith's expression clears, though she's obviously getting angry too. "Ok, Buffy, we're only gonna have this part of the conversation once. I didn't talk to you for two reasons. One; Dawn's my girlfriend," She stops and smiles apologetically at the younger brunette, "well, fiance, and she's going on nineteen. It was her decision, not yours. The other reason is because I knew you'd get like this, all super-protective. Just didn't want to deal with it first. Had enough on my mind tryin to get things perfect without your shit!"
She grabs Dawn's hand, then glares back at the blonde. "Now, if you'll all excuse us, I'm going to take my fiance to bed and celebrate. Think about it tonight, Buffy, and maybe you can be happy for your sister tomorrow morning!" She starts to storm of, but Dawn doesn't move.
Faith looks back, confused, so the former Key takes her into her arms and kisses her softly. "It's ok. Go on. I'll be there in a minute. Promise. I love you, remember that." She kisses the older woman again and the Slayer nods. Dawn releases her and turns to her sister as Faith moves off toward the stairs.
The younger Summers looks at the older for a moment. "Buffy, I know you're my sister, so the whole watch out for me thing is always there, but I thought you'd be happy for me. I found the person I want to spend my life with and, when she asks me to spend mine with her, you give her hell about not checking with you first? No!" she slashes her hand down, cutting the blonde's words off. "I love you, but this is my decision, not yours. I want you to do what Faith said and think things over tonight."
She turns and starts to leave, then stops and looks back. "Think about this, too. Mom would've been happy for me. Without all the drama." She leaves.
Buffy sits and stares at the door Dawn went through, trying to think, but her mind is mired in doubts, anger and guilt. Xander looks at her and makes a decision. Standing, he gently takes her arm and says, "Come on, Buff. Let's go to bed. We can sort this out tomorrow."
The Slayer looks up at her lover, not really tracking what he's saying for a moment, then she nods and gets to her feet. "Night everyone." she mumbles as they head for their room.
"Our turn, baby." Kennedy says, leading Willow off. They head for their bedroom and get ready for bed, neither talking, but both thinking about all that's happened.
Willow finishes getting ready for bed and climbs in between the sheets, followed a few minutes later by Kennedy, who immediately spoons around her love.
"God, your feet are cold tonight, Will!"
"Sorry." The witch tries to pull the offending body parts away, but Kennedy threads her legs through Willow's and draws her body closer.
"Come back here! What good is having your own personal heater if she can't warm you up, right?" the Slayer flirts. She hugs her girl tight and starts planting little feather kisses on the back of Willow's neck.
Willow smiles at her girl and wiggles a bit, getting enough room to spin and face her lover. She kisses her lightly on the lips, pulling back before things can begin getting heated.
Kennedy looks at her, a little confused. "Willow? Something wrong?"
The redhead sighs. "Just thinking about Dawn and Buffy. And Faith, of course. Why can't Buffy just be happy for them? Why has she never been able to see that they balance each other so completely!" She stops and smiles at Kennedy, then kisses her chastely. "Like us."
The Slayer smiles at her love. "We balance? You think we're the perfect couple?"
Willow shakes her head, then, seeing Kennedy starting to misinterpret what she said, hurries to add, "No such thing as a 'perfect couple', but we come as close as anyone can, in my not so unbiased opinion. So do Faith and Dawnie."
She presses a gentle kiss onto the Slayer's lips. "Don't worry, sweetie. Never gonna find anyone closer to perfect than you, and I'm not planning on looking anyway." She kisses her girl again and softly strokes her arm and back. "Found the one I want. Well, she found me!" The witch adds with a teasing grin.
Kennedy smiles back, and leans in for a kiss, then another, her tongue easing out to flick across Willow's lips, asking permission. It's swiftly granted and the Slayer plunges her tongue into her girlfriend's mouth, licking the top of Willow's and drawing it out to play. Hands stop caressing and start roaming, first on top of bed clothes, them finding their way under them.
Willow breaks off from kissing, moaning, as Kennedy's hand begins to lightly rub her breasts, one then the other. The brunette smiles at the sound, then swiftly licks her way up Willow's neck, from her collar bone to her ear. She nibbles a bit on the lobe, the retraces her path, rolling Willow's onto her back. She kisses the redhead again, before pulling back and saying, "Willow. Look at me."
Green eyes pop open and track, locking on Kennedy's chocolate ones. "You gonna love me forever?"
Willow smiles confidently at her lover. "About three days longer than that, baby. Come'ere!"
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Dawn enters the room she shares with Faith to find the Slayer pacing and trying to work off her anger. She loves watching her lover in all moods, but Faith angry fascinates her, because the younger girl has rarely seen her truly angry. True, her girl has a quick temper and often displays it, but that isn't real anger in Dawn's eyes.
Of all the things she's ever learned, she remembers watching countless hours of Discovery Channel animal shows with Tara. Several of them were about predators who hunt in groups and how they behave within the group. Thinking back on that the first few times she saw Faith blow up over something and seem to forget it moments later, she made the realization that that was what her love was doing. A kind of 'Back off, this is mine!' snarl that was forgotten immediately.
Her anger, though, was a tangible force and the Slayer often needed days to work through it. This looked to be one of those times, but Dawn was determined to deflect her from brooding and just getting madder.
"I'm back."
Faith stops her walking and looks up. "What did she say?"
Dawn shakes her head and loosely crosses her arms across her chest. "Didn't give her the chance to say anything. Just told her she could accept things or not, her choice." She drops her arms goes to her lover, wrapping her in an embrace and kissing her lips softly, once, twice. "I also told her Mom would've been happy for us."
Faith smiles teasingly. "Damn, girl! When did you decide to stop playing fair?"
Dawn returns the smiles and answers, "When my over-protective sister started trying to split us up. You're mine, now and forever!" With that, the brunette showers her love with kisses, each getting hotter and longer, as both women stumble back toward the bed.
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Buffy stands in her bedroom for a moment, absently watching Xander pull his sleep clothes out and head for the bathroom. Her mind is still on the evenings revelations and the arguments spawned from the simple news her sister was getting married.
Blonde tresses flying wildly, Buffy shakes her head, trying to deny the truth of the matter, yet also knowing she can't. Her baby sister was going to marry someone who was once a deadly enemy, someone who had tried to kill all her friends, more than once. The blonde Slayer knew, deep in her heart, she had never forgiven the once rogue Slayer for almost killing Angel.
'Is that why I can't accept this?' she wonders silently. As much as she now loves Xander, Angel will always occupy a large portion of her heart, and she will always take what happens to him personally. Faith had almost killed him, just to distract her, and she just couldn't get passed that.
"Buffy."
She starts and looks toward Xander, startled out of her thoughts. "Hmmm?"
"You gonna get ready for bed? I mean, I can undress you, but I can't promise you'll end up with your pajamas on!" he jokes, leering fondly.
She smiles and shakes her head at him. "You're as bad as Kennedy or Faith!" She moves off to the bathroom to change, still chuckling.
Xander smiles to himself, pleased with his attempts to break his girlfriend's mood. 'Buffy can out-brood Angel sometimes and I thought Dead-boy was the reigning champ!' he thinks. The man just shakes his head at the thought and gets into bed, sliding over to his side.
Buffy comes out a few minutes later and climbs in after him, snuggling against him, using one arm as a pillow. She smiles up at her lover and kisses him softly, saying, "I remember to say I love you today?"
Xander makes a show of looking at the clock on his side of the bed, then assures her, "Just made it! Love you too." He kisses the blonde again, then once more before drawing back.
"Hey!" she protests. "More smoochies!"
He gives her nose a quick, pecking kiss, then says, "Want to talk about Dawnie and Faith? Think you're gonna be ok with it?"
She shakes her head. "Don't wanna talk! Want to play." she declares, trying to pull him toward her.
Xander stops her, knowing she's just trying to avoid the subject. "Buffy, we can 'play' all night, if that's what you want, but we need to talk about this first."
Buffy sighs and rolls onto her back. "Why? Xander, I don't want to talk about it, ok? I don't want to think about it. I just want to have crazy sex with the man I love and blissfully ignore my sister's impending romantic disaster! Can we do that, please?"
Xander raises himself up on an elbow so he can see her face. "As much as I want to take you up on that 'crazy sex' remark, we still need to talk about Dawn. If for no other reason than she asked you to." he adds hastily.
She looks into his eye and he sees the conflict there in hers. The wanting to be happy for Dawn and the distrust and dislike for Faith. "Can we please talk about it in the morning? Please? I-I need time to think it over, Xander. I promise, we'll talk first thing after we wake up, ok?"
Xander just smiles and plants a soft kiss on one corner of her mouth, then the other, before his lips fully meet hers. He pulls back and teases, "Still interested in that 'crazy sex' thing?"
She regards him disdainfully. "After the way you stopped me when I wanted to? No, I think I'm just going to... Oooooooohhhhhhhh!" She stops speaking with a deep moan, as Xander presses a suckling kiss on the side of her neck, right where he knows she can't resist it.
He pulls back after a moment. "You were saying?"
"Saying? W-was I?" Buffy suddenly lunges, pushing Xander over onto his back with her on top of the man. "Oh, yeah. I remember. Something about lots of sex, right?" Before he can answer, she kisses him heatedly, both starting to let hands roam free.
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Rona says good night to Steve and kisses him one more time, before reentering the house. Going through the downstairs, she turns off lights and heads for her bed, stifling a yawn. As she tops the stairs, her Slayer hearing easily picks up the sound of six voices blending into a chorus of lust and love. Only occasionally is an individual word distinguishable, usually a name.
'Damned double Hs are bad enough without having to hear that all the time!' the dark skinned Slayer grouses to herself. "No damned wonder I'm so horny all the time!" she says out loud.
Making another mental note to talk to Xander about installing some kind of sound-proofing, Rona goes into her room and slams the door.
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"Oh Goddess, yes!! Kennedy!!!!!" Willow screams as the combination of Kennedy's fingers and tongue causes her to come yet again.
The brunette slows, then finally stops and withdraws her fingers, as Willow's body slowly calms, though she still quivers slightly. Grinning at her redhead, she pops both fingers in her mouth and licks them clean, then slowly moves up her girl's body, planting little kisses all the way up. She ends her journey with a soft kiss on the lips of the sated witch, then rolls of her, pillowing her head on a shoulder.
Both women work on calming their breathing for a moment, then Kennedy notices Willow's mind is busy again. "What's with the something face? Thought we fixed the busy thoughts."
Willow turns toward her Slayer with a smile "We did, but I started up again. Still thinking about Dawn and Faith. Among other things, that is."
Kennedy props herself up and looks at her wicca. "What other things? Like how can we help Buffy accept the inevitable?"
"Well, that too. Mostly I was thinking," Willow stops, swallows hard and resolutely adds, "about us. We've been together for almost two years now, and I'm really happy, so no worries there! Have - have you ever thought about us being a little more... permanent?"
Kennedy's expression turns serious. This is so not where she was thinking the conversation was going to go. "Yeah, a little." She tries to temporize, but adds honestly, "Ok, a lot. I know I probably don't say near enough, but I love you Willow Rosenberg, with all my heart and soul."
The witch smiles and kisses her Slayer, softly, slowly, then sinks into twin chocolate pools. "I love you Kennedy Perez, with everything I am. Always will."
The couple kisses softly again, and again, before Willow rolls over and snuggles back, the brunette spooned around her. Kennedy loosely drapes an arm over her love, gently holding her close.
After a moment, Kennedy says softly, "So, do you want to make things more official?"
Willow is nearly asleep when the Slayer's words register in her mind and her eyes snap open again. She knows what Kennedy is saying, asking really, and tears threaten. "Well, I wouldn't say no. Do you?"
"Wouldn't have asked if I didn't, Red. Does this mean we have an announcement of our own to make in the morning?"
Willow spins again, once more facing her lover. "Yeah, I guess it does." She smilingly kisses her girl, deeply, then pulls back suddenly. "Wait, no."
Kennedy's heart soars as Willow says yes, then crashes back to earth when she says wait. "Um, which? Kinda confused here!"
The redhead smiles. "Yes, we have an announcement, but not tomorrow. Let Dawn have the 'atta-girl's' for a few days before she has to share them. I can wait."
The young brunette kisses her witch softly, then pulls back smiling. "Another reason I love you. Always thinking of everyone's feelings. You're right, though. We can wait a few days."
They kiss again, before Willow burrows into Kennedy's chest and sighs deeply and drowsily. Kennedy's last thoughts before sleep claims her is 'She said yes!'
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