Faith, Paige and Gwen
Faith waited for Gwen to come out of the bathroom. She was happy again, because Zac was back. Gwen came out shortly and looked nervous.
"Hey." Gwen fidgeted by the door. "Is this... are you sure about this?"
"Yeah, I had to do it... and hey, last night you said you were ready."
"I just don't know if I can face everything... I mean, what if Gunn and Angel and..."
"Angel's a forgiving guy. It'll work out. You ready?"
"I guess."
"Paige," Faith said.
Two seconds later, Paige orbed in. "We all good?"
"Yep." Faith grabbed Paige's hand and then Gwen's hand. They orbed into Hyperion, and Gwen's heart started to beat a little faster. Paige gave a little wave and orbed out.
Gwen stood nervously in the lobby, unsure of what to do until Angel and Gunn came out of the office.
"Yo, Angel, came to do some sparring. How about you and I go... do that now?" Faith said emphatically. She gestures to downstairs and he nodded, following her from the room.
Gunn stared at Gwen for what seemed like an eternity. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to talk." Gwen looked at him, then looked away quickly.
Gunn sighed. "Come to my room."
They climbed the stairs in silence and went into Gunn's room. Gwen sat on the couch while Gunn took the seat facing it.
"What did you wanna talk about?"
"I think... I think we should discuss everything."
Hours later, Gwen and Gunn emerged from his room, both emotionally drained, but feeling better than they both had in a long time. What they'd decided was to be friends. Both knew it was unrealistic to expect them to be best friends, and they knew they both needed space from each other for a bit. He didn't love her, and she didn't love him, not enough to hold them together. That was clear. But they loved each other as friends, and that was enough.
Faith and Angel were talking on the couch when Gunn and Gwen came downstairs. Faith called for Paige and after a few minutes of goodbyes, they were gone.
Paige orbed them to New York first to drop Gwen off. Gwen and Faith stood awkwardly, both not being the hugging type. Eventually, they just said a quick goodbye, with Faith mumbling 'good luck' and then Faith and Paige orbed out.
Gwen stared at the school for a few seconds. She took a deep breath and slowly entered the school, heading straight for her room. She opened the door and almost shuddered at the sight of it. She closed the door, locked it and went over and lay down on her bed.
She was back.
But not, in a way.