Feedback:Finey_McFine - Yes, I did have a little smirk on my face when I read that.

Sorry. But I hope this update will more than make up for it.
Savannah - I have no plans of abandoning this fic. I was terrified to put it up but now I'm really enjoying it and happy to have another update ready today!
LonelyTara - Update! Update! Update! Here you go.
SMGOVAN - See I didn't make you wait that long.
zampsa19752001 - Enjoy and thanks for your continued support.
And now...
Title - An Everyday Life
Author name – beautiful_love a.k.a. Jessica
Rating - PG for this chapter
Disclaimer - I don't own these characters.
Feedback- absolutely
Summary- Totally AU - Tara meets Willow - the happy bumblings of falling in love - I'm not too good at this summary thing.
Notes- Finally! Some proper interaction from our girls. Sorry for the build up and making you wait this long but I hope it will be worth it.
Chapter 6 Tara stood there for a moment, holding the five dollar bill in her hand towards the startled redhead in front of her. Time seemed to expand as the two girls stood there longer and longer, neither one of them moving. This was the third time Tara had seen the beautiful redhead and was rapidly trying to come up with a reason to approach her when the petite woman dropped the five dollar bill and walked away without noticing. Tara gathered up all her courage and made her way to the counter to retrieve the bill, thinking that someone was finally smiling down on her. Now though, she wasn't so sure. She'd obviously surprised the woman, though she couldn't figure out why, but they'd been standing there for almost a full minute now, Tara's hand still outstretched with the money and the redhead backed against the counter, eyes wide.
"Are you ok?" Tara finally asked, unable to take it any longer.
"Yeah, sorry. Yes, thank you,” the redhead said, finally reaching for the money. Tara felt her stomach flip as their fingers gently brushed and struggled to keep her feet beneath her.
“Sure, no p-problem,” she answered, letting her hair curtain her face, cursing her stutter that reappeared at that moment.
“No really,” she heard the redhead say. “I mean, most people would just have picked it up for themselves instead of returning it. Five bucks won’t buy much but it’s something and not a lot of people are honest enough to return anything these days. I once saw this little old lady drop handful of change and before she could turn around to collect it all this teenager swooped in and stole it all. I was like, really? You’re stealing from an eighty four year old grandma with a walker? What’s wrong with you? I felt awful for her. So I walked over to her because I had a pocketful of change and pretended the coins had all rolled further away than she thought and handed them to her. She was so grateful and I didn’t mind doing it. I just couldn’t believe that kid. Like do you really have to steal $1.17 from a sweet little old lady? Who is that hard up for cash?”
“Yeah,” Tara said after a moment, surprised at how the redhead could talk so quickly and lengthy without taking a single breath.
“Sorry,” the redhead said, a blush coming over her face. “I tend to babble.”
“Oh, no it’s fine.” Tara smiled at the girl, trying to reassure her. She couldn’t get over how beautiful the redhead was. She’d thought so the first time she’d laid eyes on her few days earlier after coffee and had been struck by her beauty a second time earlier that day when she saw her after her meeting with Mr. Sanders. The redhead had been walking out the door with her new client as she had been packing up her car to head back to her own office for the day. This time she'd decided to take a chance and hoped it would work in her favor. “I’m Tara.”
“Willow. It’s nice to meet you,” she said, extending her hand. Tara took it and again felt her stomach flip. “Could I buy you a cup of coffee? You know, to say thank you.”
“That’s not necessary. I have a full cup at my table,” Tara said, feeling a blush rise on her cheeks. “But m-maybe, if y-you’d like, you c-could join me?”
Willow stared at the girl for a moment, in awe that she was actually talking to the beautiful blonde and wanting nothing more than to sit down and enjoy her company when she remembered the pile of work waiting for her in her car. Tara saw the unease in the redhead and immediately cursed herself for being so forward. She dropped her head, allowing her hair to curtain her increasingly red face and stepped back. Willow saw this and immediately wanted to comfort her. She opened her mouth to do so when the barista behind the counter interrupted her.
“Here’s your drink,” said as she pushed the cup towards Willow. Willow smiled quickly before turning back to Tara.
“S-Sorry. That w-was w-way too forward of m-me,” Tara said, cursing her stutter again. She hadn't stuttered this bad in years.
“No. No it wasn’t,” Willow said, taking another step towards Tara. “I just was thinking of all the work I have waiting for me. But that can wait. I’d love to have coffee with you.” Tara looked up, surprised by the eagerness in Willow’s voice to find the redhead looking at her, her face full of hope.
“O-Ok. I’m right over h-here,” Tara said, pointing to the table where she’d left her cup of steaming coffee and a notepad full of ideas for other projects she was working on. Willow smiled and followed her to the table, still a little in disbelief that she was sitting down across from the beautiful blonde she’d been thinking about for the last few days. Tara dipped her head again as Willow smiled at her, a small grin playing across her own lips.
“So, Tara… tell me about yourself.”
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“I can’t tomorrow. I promised my friend Anya I’d have dinner with her before she leaves on her trip. Tara and I are meeting her downtown after work,” Faith said as she and Buffy crossed the street, hand in hand, towards the coffee shop.
“Ok, well that’s fine. Another night this week then,” Buffy said as she gave Faith’s hand a brief squeeze. Faith just smiled and opened the door to the coffee shop, allowing the blonde to enter first. They both stopped at the counter, Faith waiting patiently for Buffy to decide what she wanted, knowing it would be a few minutes. She smiled at the concentration on the blonde’s face and then turned to check out the rest of the shop. She’d never been a big coffee drinker but Buffy dragged her from shop to shop everyday they spent together so she was learning to get used to it.
The shop was fairly busy and most of the tables were full. Thankfully Buffy just wanted to make a quick stop on their way to a movie so they wouldn’t have to stay. She was turning back to her date when she heard the distinct sound of a familiar laugh above the other patrons. She turned back towards the sound and spotted Tara, sitting with another woman, obviously enjoying her company. Faith watched for a moment and saw all the usual signs. Coy smiles, extended eye contact, nervous hand wringing.
‘She’s totally flirting with her. Who is that redhead?’ Faith thought, a smile crossing her face as Tara laughed again at something the other woman said.
“Faith!” She was snapped back to reality and turned to see both Buffy and the barista behind the counter staring at her.
“Oh, sorry. Just a bottled water please,” she said, smiling at the cashier.
“What’s up?” Buffy asked as she handed the girl a twenty and waited for her change.
“Nothing. I just was looking around,” Faith answered, looking back at Tara again, seeing her legendary half smile gracing the blonde’s lips. “Tara’s here.”
“Oh?” Buffy said with a smile as she tucked her change in her purse. “We should go say hi.”
“I don’t think so. She’s with someone.” Buffy looked up at the brunette, the question evident in her eyes.
“I thought she was single.”
“She is. At least I thought she was. She hasn’t said anything about seeing anyone,” Faith said, trying to recall if Tara had dropped any hints about a new lady in her life.
“Maybe it’s a first date. Where is she?” Buffy asked as she turned to look in the direction Faith was staring in. It didn’t take long for her to find Tara but it wasn’t actually Tara that she noticed first. It was the red hair of her best friend who was seated across from Tara, frantically talking with her hands in huge, wide sweeping gestures. “Oh my God!”
“What? What’s wrong?” Faith asked as Buffy pulled her further down the counter and out of site of their roommates.
“How does she know Willow?” Buffy hissed as she peeked around a large planted palm, watching as Tara nodded enthusiastically and wrote something down on a sheet of notebook paper in front of her.
“Willow? Wait, you’re Willow?” Faith moved to Buffy’s side and peeked around the same plant, watching as Tara handed Willow a folded up piece of paper with a shy smile and nodded. “That’s her?” Faith whispered. Buffy only nodded. “What’s she doing with Tara?”
“I don’t know. I’m as surprised as you are.” Buffy leaned closer, trying to hear what the two were saying, which caused Faith to laugh as they were about fifteen feet away from the table. Buffy just brushed her off and continued to concentrate on their obviously smitten friends. “Should we go over there?”
“No. Let them be. I don’t know how they met but it looks like they don’t want to be bothered by anyone else,” Faith said as she pulled Buffy back to the counter where their drinks had just been placed.
“Well maybe we could just hang out here for a bit,” Buffy suggested, meeting Faith’s gaze with a hopeful look as they reached the door to the shop.
“No. We’re going to the movies. We aren’t staying here to spy on them,” Faith said, pulling Buffy out the door.
“I didn’t say anything about spying,” Buffy protested. “I just… I enjoy the ambiance in here. I love it. We should stay.” She got out of Faith’s grasp for a moment and was almost back to the door before Faith got a hold of her upper arm again and pulled her away.
“Come on. We’ll catch the movie and then maybe, if you’re good, we can go back to my place for a bit.” Buffy immediately stopped resisting and fell into step beside the brunette.
“Really? Your place huh? Well come on. Let’s get this movie started.” She entwined her fingers with Faith’s and smiled as they made their way down the street.
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“So you’re going to be designing our new office? That’s cool. I’ve always thought architecture was interesting but I don’t really know too much about it,” Willow confided as she took her final sip from her cup. “Was that what you always wanted to do?”
“Well actually n-no. I mean I always l-liked drawing but I didn’t actually s-start liking the idea of d-designing buildings until I started college,” Tara answered. “I t-took a class to fill a c-credit and I ended up really liking it.”
“Well you certainly have my boss loving your ideas. I had a meeting with him today and he was raving about how great the new office is going to look and how functional it will be.”
“Have you always b-been into computers?” Tara asked, trying to dodge the compliment.
“Oh yeah. I’m a huge geek,” Willow joked and Tara couldn’t contain the smile that lit up her face. “I’ve been hacking away for as long as I can remember.”
“I’m n-not the best with computers,” Tara admitted.
“You don’t like them?”
“It’s not that. I j-just am not so good with the understanding of how to use them w-without making them crash.” Willow couldn’t contain the giggle that escaped from her and Tara only smiled harder at the adorable sound.
“Well if it makes you feel any better, I can’t draw. My stick figures are atrocious at best.” The two girls sat there for a moment then, letting a comfortable silence envelope them, each lost in their own thoughts of the other. Finally Willow noticed the clock on the far wall of the coffee house and signed in disappointment when she saw it was almost eight o’clock. “Wow, I didn’t know it was so late. I should get going. I have a ton of work to do and it’s not getting done sitting in my car,” Willow said, hating the fact that she couldn’t stay with Tara forever.
“I do too,” Tara said, staring down at her now empty cup. It had been empty for the last half hour but she’d been too busy enjoying Willow’s company to notice.
“But maybe we could do it again sometime,” the redhead said hopefully. “Like another coffee date or maybe a dinner date? I mean not that this was a date. I mean we just met you know. How presumptuous do I sound! I just meant maybe we could meet up again and hang out because I had a really nice time with you and it would be fun to do it again. But not like ‘hey let’s go on another date’ because this wasn’t a date. I mean it could be a date. Like we could go on a date but… well never mind because now I’m being way presumptuous. Like why would you even be interested in dating me? You probably already have someone or… oh God you probably aren’t even like, into girls and here I am all ‘let’s go on a date’ and… oh I’m so sorry. I just-”
“Willow, you’re doing it again,” Tara said with a smile.
“Sorry,” Willow said, taking in a much needed breath. “I told you. I babble.”
“It’s ok. I l-like it,” Tara said, feeling her cheeks grow warm at the admission. “And yes, I’d like t-to do this again. A-And th-there’s no one else. Just me.”
“Oh, ok. Well maybe I could call you sometime?” Willow asked.
“I’d like that,” Tara said as she wrote her number down on a clear sheet in her notebook, folded it, and passed it to the redhead.
“Great,” Willow said as she carefully placed the number in her pocket. “Well I really should be going.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“Can I walk you to your car?” Tara just nodded, letting her hair curtain her face to hide the smile she couldn’t contain as she packed up her things. The two walked out, side by side, neither one saying anything else. “This is me,” Tara said as they arrived to her car, literally ten feet away from the door of the coffee house.
“Wow, prime parking,” Willow joked. “Well I guess I’ll say good night then. Drive home safe, no speeding. And I’ll give you a call later this week. Maybe we could have dinner this weekend?”
“I’m f-free Saturday.”
“Great. Maybe we can go to that new Greek place that just opened up over on Bleeker Street,” Willow said as she rolled onto the balls of her feet, unable to contain her excitement. “I’ll call you about it this week.”
“Ok. It was n-nice meeting you Willow.”
“You too,” Willow said with a small waive as Tara climbed into her car. She watched as the blonde pulled away from the curb and drove off. But even after the car was out of site the butterflies in her stomach refused to settle.