Zac
Zac knocked on Faith's door. He had been arguing with himself all the way, and even now it was all he could do to stop from turning chicken and fleeing.
"You've knocked! Leaving now would be rude!" he told himself.
Faith
Faith padded out to the door, still changing from jeans into her leather pants. She had just done them up when she opened the door.
"Oh."
She gave an awkward smile.
"Hi."
Zac
"Hi," Zac said quietly. "Umm, look, I'll completely understand if you never want to talk to me again. But I wanted to appologise and otherwise beg for you forgiveness for not believing you, and accusing you of seeing Ike behind my back. So: I'm really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, unbelievably, hugely sorry and if you can't forgive me I shant hold it against you."
Faith
Faith's heart jumped. She stood back and allowd Zac entrance to the house.
"I... come in."
Zac
Zac hesitated nervously for a moment, then stepped inside.
"I really am sorry Faith..."
Faith
"Hey, it's ok."
Faith sighed.
"I'm sorry that I didn't..."
She paused.
"How did you find out that Ike and I were telling the truth?"
Zac
"Umm, well... Ike sorta kinda our particularily wasted the other night, and I sorta, kinda... gave him the third degree..." Zac admitted. "But I... I was stupid. It shouldn't have taken Ike getting drunk (which is a rare occurrence, let me tell you!) before I believed you."
Faith
"Oh... so you... you know everything. No, that's good. I'm glad it's out in the open."
Faith sighed.
"Look, Zac, I can see how you would've jumped to the conclusion. I mean, I'm not the most trustworthy tool in the shed. In fact, as far as trust goes, I'm not even in the shed, but look... I guess I'm sorry that I didn't tell you first."
Zac
"No, it's okay," Zac said. "I haven't exactly been trustworthy either, so I mean, who was I to accuse you and act the way I did? And I can understand you telling Ike first. I mean, he's this nice, solid, dependable guy. I mean... since you felt you couldn't tell me, I understand why you would go to Ike and I... Yeah... I'm sorry for being such a jerk, Faith."
Faith and Xander
"Zac, I..."
Faith sighed.
"I wanted to tell you, I really did... and then we broke up, and I know you still should've been told, but it didn't seem fair. Not when we'd broken up, and you were probably enjoying life without me... it wasn't fair to tell you and have you think you should get back with me out of, I don't know, duty."
Xander took that opportunity to come wandering out of the living room and into the kitchen, pausing as he saw Zac and Faith.
"Oh... I'll just be..." Xander dashed into the kitchen and Faith turned back to Zac, biting her lip.
Zac
Zac eyed Xander for a moment.
"Yeah... well, umm... yeah..." he stammered.
He chewed his lip for a moment, then solidered on:
"I'm... I'm actually seeing someone now... Her name's Rachel. I don't recall if you guys have met or not."
Faith
"I guess you guessed that I'm..."
Faith looked after Xander, then back at Zac.
"She's not pregnant, is she?" she joked weakly.
Faith took Zac's hand.
"It's just... complicated with us, isn't it? I mean, it always has been."
Zac
"Umm... actually... she is..." Zac admitted wrly.
The was an awkward silence.
"Yeah... it has been complicated. Really complicated. On and off since the day we met. Maybe... maybe us being apart will be good for us. Maybe it's better this way."
Each word seemed agonising.
Faith
"Seems like the only person who's not having your baby is me," Faith said, closing her eyes for a second. "Well, actually, I did have your baby. But that's not the point."
She sighed again.
"I... yeah. You need someone who can give you a real family... someone your mom actually likes. And... and as much as the dreamer inside me wishes it was me... the realist tends to know it isn't. I guess what I wanna say is that, even though this didn't work out, I'm glad you put up with me for as long as you did."
Zac
Zac gazed deeply into her eyes and held her hands tight.
"Faith I wouldn't give up my time with you for anything in the world."
Instictively, he started to move closer as if to kiss her, then abruptly pulled back and looked at the ground.
Faith
"No, that wouldn't be fair, would it?"
Faith reached out and lifted Zac's chin, looking into his eyes, then kissed his cheek gently.
"I think we both need the chance to have a normal relationship. As normal as we can, seeing as I'm a Slayer and you're an alien..."
She paused.
"Not that what we had wasn't normal."
Zac
"Yeah, there was nothing not normal about our relationship," Zac grinned. "Y'know, when you forget about the coma, getting beaten up, an unusally high about of pregnancies, the alien stalker, kidappings, that time you went evil, oh... and of course that thing we did in the spa..."
His eyes twinkled merrilly.
"Good luck to you Faith," he went on. "I hope you find someone. Don't forget me, I know I'll never forget you."
Faith
Faith grinned cheekily.
"Who could forget the spa?"
She nodded.
"How could I forget the first person I ever fell in love with?"
She kissed Zac's forehead.
"Good luck with Rachel. You deserve it. And uh... don't get anyone else pregnant while you're with her. Or at all."
Zac
"I'll try," Zac promised with a grin.
He kissed her back on her nose. Then his lips drifted down to hers and kissed them gently as well. Then he closed his eyes, bit his lip and looked into her eyes.
"Nope, better stop right there," he said. "You're with Xander. I'm with Rach. And I'm trying really, really hard to be good."
He stepped back.
Faith
Faith's heart was racing, and she struggled to think clearly.
"Yeah, I, you... for the best."
She sighed.
"I love how when I'm with you, I'm incapable of constructing a sentence."
She lifted a hand ans stroked Zac's cheek affectionately.
"Thank you for all the good times we did have. And the spa incident. That will definitely stay with me." She grinned, her eyes glittering.
"I hope..." Faith bit her lip. "I hope it works out for you. But... stay in touch."
Zac
"I will," Zac promised. "And now, I had better go. Talk to you again soon."
He started back towards the door.
Faith
"Yeah... bye," Faith said softly, watching him leave.
She felt her tears well up in her eyes.
"Why is this so hard?"
Zac
"Bye," Zac replied, and swept out of the door before he did something they would both regret.