He had offered. Said that she could take a swing if she wanted. It certainly had not looked much like Faith was going to take him up on it, which was why Sam was struck with a sharp twinge of surprise in addition to the stinging sensation across the side of his face. Physically, the shot wasn't so horrible. Emotionally? Sam didn't stand much of a chance against it. It was practically a knockout shot.
Face turned away from her, angled off slightly to the right so that he was looking down, Sam forced himself to bite back the pain. There was a sting in his eyes, annoyingly, and it kept Sam from looking back at Faith for what must have felt like the longest time.
Love? Loved? Was she confused?
The question that followed wasn't going to help his case by much. Sam stared at the floor, wishing that a hole would open up and something large and vicious would rise through and swallow him whole.
"The first real time we went at it..." He rubbed at his face again, then forced himself, with much difficulty, to look at Faith once more. "It was a little after we got together. That's when I got into it. Small doses. Just enough to get me by." He folded his arms over his chest, looking horrible uncomfortable. "Then it picked up, slowly. After a while, drinking her bl -" He winced. God, that sounded so bad; it was one thing talking about it with Ruby, it was another matter entirely when it came to the people he loved. "Doing what I did. Just came easy."