FIC: By Your Side 1/1, FR13, Faith/Xander
Title: By Your Side
Author: Sweetness (aaronlisa@gmail.com)
Pairing: Faith/Xander
Rating: FR13
Disclaimer: The Buffyverse belongs to Joss Whedon and company.
Notes: Written for fanfic100 for prompt #61 (winter) and for mara_sho who suggested this pairing and the colour green. Set post-Chosen.
The hot climate of Africa had made it hard for him to adjust to the colder climate of Cleveland, especially during a snowstorm. All Xander wanted to do was to get inside where it was warmer. Instead, he was forced to trudge along side Faith, as they hunted a nest of vampires. Xander sighed as he tugged at the green scarf that was around his neck. If it wasn’t for the brunette Slayer at his side, Xander knew that he’d still be in Africa. However, she had sought him out and had begged him to come to Cleveland to help her out. She argued that it was because he had had experience with a Hellmouth. To say that he had been reluctant was an understatement, but somehow she had managed to convince him. He had come to Cleveland on business but Faith and the love that he felt for her, kept him there, even through the bitter winter months when he wanted to leave. She smiled at him as she stepped in front of him and fixed his scarf for him.
“We’ll be home soon enough,” Faith told him.
”Not soon enough for me.”
”Well once we find the nest, we’ll both warm up.”
”Faith, it’s a blizzard.”
”Nah, it’s just a heavy snow fall.”
”Fine, can we get this over with then?” Xander impatiently requested.
”Sure, you know that you don’t have to stay. You can go on back home.”
”No I can’t. The cold just makes me cranky, but I’ll adjust.”
”I’m serious, Xander.”
”So am I, I love you, Faith and if this is where you are, then I need to be here by your side. By this time, next year, I’ll be better at this. More acclimatized to it than I am now.”
”Really,” Faith cautiously asked, with a look of wonder on her face.
”Well yeah, Giles explained it all to me when I first went to Africa and I thought I was going to die of the heat. It’s just a shock for the body to go from one extreme to the opposite,” Xander explained.
”Not that! The other part,” Faith said.
“About loving you and wanting to be here by your side?”
”Yes.”
”Of course, I meant it. I love you, Faith. I thought that you knew that,” Xander told her as he cradled her face in his hands.
“Sometimes it’s hard to believe that this is all real, ya know.”
”This, you and me, is real. I want to be by your side and no where else.”
“Even after all the stuff I did?”
”That’s the past and it doesn’t matter.”
”I tried to kill your friends. Hell, I tried to kill you.”
”I know, but that’s not who you are anymore.”
”Xander, I was very bad, more than very bad.”
”I know and almost all of my friends have fallen at least once and tried to kill the others and me. I was in love with a former vengeance demon, and I never once judged her for what she’d done in her past. Just like I’ll never judge you.”
”But…” Faith started to say.
”No, just accept that I love you and I am not leaving.”
Xander wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on the lips. As the snow continued to fall around them, Faith felt more loved than she had ever felt in her life. It never ceased to amaze her that Xander cared about her. She pouted as he pulled back from her.
”We still have a vampire nest to find and destroy. When we get back home, I’ll show you just how much I love you.”
”Promise?”
”I promise,” Xander said before giving her another kiss.
**END**
Author: Sweetness (aaronlisa@gmail.com)
Pairing: Faith/Xander
Rating: FR13
Disclaimer: The Buffyverse belongs to Joss Whedon and company.
Notes: Written for fanfic100 for prompt #61 (winter) and for mara_sho who suggested this pairing and the colour green. Set post-Chosen.
The hot climate of Africa had made it hard for him to adjust to the colder climate of Cleveland, especially during a snowstorm. All Xander wanted to do was to get inside where it was warmer. Instead, he was forced to trudge along side Faith, as they hunted a nest of vampires. Xander sighed as he tugged at the green scarf that was around his neck. If it wasn’t for the brunette Slayer at his side, Xander knew that he’d still be in Africa. However, she had sought him out and had begged him to come to Cleveland to help her out. She argued that it was because he had had experience with a Hellmouth. To say that he had been reluctant was an understatement, but somehow she had managed to convince him. He had come to Cleveland on business but Faith and the love that he felt for her, kept him there, even through the bitter winter months when he wanted to leave. She smiled at him as she stepped in front of him and fixed his scarf for him.
“We’ll be home soon enough,” Faith told him.
”Not soon enough for me.”
”Well once we find the nest, we’ll both warm up.”
”Faith, it’s a blizzard.”
”Nah, it’s just a heavy snow fall.”
”Fine, can we get this over with then?” Xander impatiently requested.
”Sure, you know that you don’t have to stay. You can go on back home.”
”No I can’t. The cold just makes me cranky, but I’ll adjust.”
”I’m serious, Xander.”
”So am I, I love you, Faith and if this is where you are, then I need to be here by your side. By this time, next year, I’ll be better at this. More acclimatized to it than I am now.”
”Really,” Faith cautiously asked, with a look of wonder on her face.
”Well yeah, Giles explained it all to me when I first went to Africa and I thought I was going to die of the heat. It’s just a shock for the body to go from one extreme to the opposite,” Xander explained.
”Not that! The other part,” Faith said.
“About loving you and wanting to be here by your side?”
”Yes.”
”Of course, I meant it. I love you, Faith. I thought that you knew that,” Xander told her as he cradled her face in his hands.
“Sometimes it’s hard to believe that this is all real, ya know.”
”This, you and me, is real. I want to be by your side and no where else.”
“Even after all the stuff I did?”
”That’s the past and it doesn’t matter.”
”I tried to kill your friends. Hell, I tried to kill you.”
”I know, but that’s not who you are anymore.”
”Xander, I was very bad, more than very bad.”
”I know and almost all of my friends have fallen at least once and tried to kill the others and me. I was in love with a former vengeance demon, and I never once judged her for what she’d done in her past. Just like I’ll never judge you.”
”But…” Faith started to say.
”No, just accept that I love you and I am not leaving.”
Xander wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on the lips. As the snow continued to fall around them, Faith felt more loved than she had ever felt in her life. It never ceased to amaze her that Xander cared about her. She pouted as he pulled back from her.
”We still have a vampire nest to find and destroy. When we get back home, I’ll show you just how much I love you.”
”Promise?”
”I promise,” Xander said before giving her another kiss.
**END**