by beautiful_love » Mon May 16, 2011 4:12 pm
Update
Title - An Everyday Life
Author name – beautiful_love a.k.a. Jessica
Rating – PG-13
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: Special thanks to Ariel for her beta assistance. So holy crap I posted two weeks in a row! I'm so on a roll! Much less angst-y for this chapter. Hope you're all having a great week so far.
Chapter Twenty One
Willow cracked open her eyes as she felt the last vestiges of sleep leave her. She blinked rapidly to focus as she tried to figure out where she was.
What the hell? Did I fall asleep on a rock? she thought as she flexed the ache in her lower back. And why am I in the living room? she thought as she finally got her vision in focus enough to recognize her surroundings.
Slowly she sat up, pushing off the blanket wrapped around her, her stiff limbs protesting. She listened for any sign that someone else was home and hearing the bang of a pot falling in the kitchen followed by a loudly whispered “shit” she deduced she wasn’t alone. Standing up, she limped toward the kitchen, the smell of coffee combined with the faint sound of her roommate singing along with the radio making her smile. She stepped into the doorway between the kitchen and dining room, her smile growing even bigger when she saw Buffy, dancing around the stove, spatula in hand, a pan of french toast sizzling in front of her.
“Boy you got my heartbeat runnin' away, Beating like a drum and it's coming your way, Can't you hear that boom, badoom, boom, boom, badoom, boom, bass, Yeah that's that super bass.”
Willow’s giggle was enough to alert Buffy to her presence but Buffy just smiled at her before flipping the bread in the pan.
“Hey Will. How’d you sleep?”
“Well my body feels like I got run over by a truck but I actually slept pretty good,” Willow said, limping over to the island and sitting on one of the stools there.
“You needed it,” Buffy said as she poured a steaming mug of coffee and sat it down in front of the redhead.
“Yeah, about that…,” Willow trailed off, thinking of the kindness and compassion Buffy had shown her the night before. “I just want to say thanks. For, you know, being here last night and taking care of me.”
“No problem,” Buffy said, flipping the few squares of french toast from the pan onto a plate already heaped with bread. She turned and set the plate on the island between her and Willow and slathered it with syrup. “Fork?” she asked the redhead who only nodded. Each girl grabbing a utensil, they dug in with gusto.
“Wow. That’s good Buf.”
“I may be an awful cook, but I know french toast,” Buffy said around her fork. Willow just nodded, swallowing the final piece of the square she was working on. “Are you going to work today?” she asked after a few more bites. “Or are you taking a mental day to recoup?”
“I’m going,” Willow answered, glancing at the clock and noting she still had plenty of time to get around. “I want to keep things as normal as possible.”
“I’m not trying to bring it back up or anything but I’m really proud of you, Will,” Buffy said, catching the redhead’s gaze. “I know it was hard and I’m sure it won’t get easier anytime soon but you did the right thing and you know I’ll be here for you, no matter what.”
“I know. You always have been,” Willow said, feeling a lump rise in her throat and tears sting her eyes at the memories of Buffy’s continued support over the years.
“Hey now, no more tears,” Buffy warned. “You can’t be the new big boss and go into work all puffy eyed.” Willow just gave a small smile and nodded, taking a sip of the coffee in front of her. “Besides if you-”
A quiet knock on the door interrupted the blonde mid-sentence and the roommates stared at each other, wondering who was at their back door at six-thirty in the morning.
“Dawn?” Willow suggested. “Maybe she forgot her keys.”
“Even if she did, she’d bang the door down. But it can’t be her. It’s way to early for her to be out of bed,” Buffy said as she eased her way to the door and pulled back the curtain covering the window pane in the upper half of the door to see who was outside. Without another word she unlocked and opened the door, surprised even further when she saw who the visitor was. “Faith? What are you doing here?”
The brunette stood there on the back porch, a paper sack in one hand, a tray of steaming styrofoam coffees in the other.
“I tried the front door but I think your doorbell’s busted,” she said with a sheepish smile. “Can I come in?”
“Sure, absolutely, sure. Come in,” Buffy said, stepping aside so the other girl could enter. Faith smiled gratefully as she stepped past the blonde and noticed Willow sitting at the counter, a small smile on her face.
“Hey Will. Sorry, I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”
“No, we were just finishing breakfast,” Buffy said, closing the door but making no move to come any closer to the brunette.
“Guess I should’ve gotten here earlier,” Faith said, holding up the contents in her hands with a shrug.
“Well I’m going to go get ready for work,” Willow said, feeling way too uncomfortable to be in the middle of such an awkward moment between the two girls. She stood up and quickly moved out of the room, avoiding eye contact with either girl as she did so.
“Wait, Will!” Buffy called just as she was about to leave the dining room She turned looking expectantly at her best friend, wanting more than anything to just be away from the uncomfortable kitchen. “I’m sorry, I forgot to tell you. Tara called last night after you fell asleep.”
“Oh ok. Thanks,” she said before turning and bolting out of the room, grabbing her blinking Blackberry off the coffee table near the couch and bounding up the stairs. She barreled into her room, closing the door behind her and looked at her phone, hoping there was a message of some sort from Tara. She couldn’t stop the disappointed sigh that escaped her when she saw nothing there. Setting the phone down on the nightstand she gathered her clothes for the day and moved towards the bathroom where the high pressure shower was beckoning her aching muscles. Just as she was at the door she quickly turned back, dropping her clothes on the bed and grabbed her phone again. Finding Tara’s number but knowing it was too early to call she settled on a text, quickly typing what she wanted to say and sending it before grabbing her clothes again and making her way to the bathroom.
******
“Sorry about just showing up like this,” Faith said, setting down he load in her hands and turning towards Buffy who still stood near the door.
“It’s ok. I was up.”
“And I’m sorry about yesterday. Not calling you back and all. It was just… well it wasn’t a fun day,” Faith said, leaning back against the counter and staring down at her shoes.
“Is everything ok?” Buffy asked, taking a cautious step forward. Faith risked a glance up at her, the hurt in her eyes unmistakable and shook her head before looking back down at her shoes.
“I need to talk to you about something,” Faith said, looking back up at the blonde and seeing fear flash through her eyes.
“Um ok… Is this about us?” Buffy asked.
“No,” Faith answered, standing up straight and stepping towards her girlfriend, confusion furrowing her brow. “What gave you that idea?”
“Well just, you’re not talking to me and the showing up now, being all mysterious at the crack of dawn. I just thought… I don’t know,” Buffy said with a shrug.
“Buf, no. This has nothing to do with us,” Faith said, closing the gap between them and wrapping her arms around the petite blonde. “I just got some bad new yesterday and I didn’t know how to tell you without telling the whole story. And it’s not a story I’m a big fan of recounting to anyone.”
“What is it?” Buffy asked, the fear in her eyes replaced by concern.
“Can we sit down and talk?” Faith asked, motioning towards the empty stools at the island counter.
“Sure,” Buffy answered, taking Faith by the hand and leading her to the seats.
“Donut or bagel?” Faith asked as they sat down and she grabbed the paper sack she’d come in with.
“Um…”
“Both?”
“Yeah,” Buffy said, smiling when Faith chuckled and handed her a glazed donut and a whole wheat bagel.
“You have to eat the bagel first,” Faith said, laughing again when a pout appeared on the blonde’s lips.
“Fine,” she said, taking a huge bite. “Now tell me the story.”
“Ok,” Faith said as she took a deep breath. “So you’ve told me all about your mom and family. And I haven’t contributed much to those ‘getting to know the family’ conversations. Well it’s because…”
******
Tara had been in her office since the unheard of hour of six a.m. and had been working furiously to try and get as much done as possible so she could spend all of tomorrow with Faith, helping in any way she could. When she’d left the apartment that morning, Faith was still asleep in her room, the two girls having nodded off together sometime around three that morning, after the brunette had shed a few more tears. Tara had tiptoed out of the apartment around five-thirty, hoping her roommate would get some rest, and pumped herself full of coffee before heading to work. She’d been at it for a few hours now and noticing that it was approaching noon she decided to take a much need break.
Grabbing her cell phone that she’d tucked away in her desk drawer, she left her office and made her way to the break room for a fresh cup of coffee. As she waited for a fresh cup to brew she pulled out her phone, checking to make sure Faith hadn’t called. All she had was a couple text messages, the most recent from her roommate.
‘I told Buffy. Not everything but almost. You were right. Again. And don’t work too long today.’
Tara smiled at the comment. She knew Buffy wouldn’t judge Faith for a past she had no control over. But instead of gloating she just wrote back:
‘I’m glad.’
The second message made her smile all over again before she even read it since it was from Willow.
‘I miss you.’
Tara’s smile grew even larger as she read the sentiment a few times, feeling her stomach flip at the thought of the beautiful redhead it came from.
‘I miss you more… call me,’ she wrote back after a moment.
She grabbed her freshly brewed cup of coffee and left the break room, making her way back to her office for some research. With the events of the day before taking precedent, she didn’t have a chance to look up a nice restaurant for her celebratory dinner with Willow. Going into search mode on the computer was not something she had much interest in but with the evening quickly approaching she was running out of time. She scrolled through the results Google had given her, trying to distinguish one place from another when her cell phone started vibrating from the corner of her desk. She saw Willow’s name flash on the screen and immediately answered.
“Hello?”
“Hey Tare, it’s me.”
“I know. I mean, hi,” she giggled, giddy with excitement at hearing the redhead’s voice.
“Hi,” Willow giggled back. “What are you up to?”
“Nothing, just work. What about you?”
“Same. I just got your text. Sorry I missed your call last night.”
“Yeah, Buffy said you were asleep,” Tara said, replaying the conversation she’d had with Willow’s roommate in her head. “Is everything o-ok?”
“Yeah. I mean now it is. Or it will be. Sorry I just… it was a bad night. I got into a fight with my mom and I was just really upset,” Willow explained.
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that. Is everything ok now?”
“It’s… It’s a long story Tare. One that I’m just not up to telling right now,” Willow sighed.
“Oh. O-Ok,” Tara said, trying unsuccessfully to hide the sting she’d felt at those words.
“Not that I don’t want to talk to you. Because I totally do. We can talk about anything. It’s just the whole story with my parents, it’s really long and difficult and with everything that happened yesterday, it was just really hard and if I start talking about it now I’m just going to start crying in my office. That would be so embarrassing. But I don’t want you to think I don’t want to tell you because I do. I really do. I’m not trying to keep anything from you and I know we need to be honest with each other if we want this to work. I just don’t want to talk about this now but I don’t want you to be mad at me or get your feelings hurt or-”
“Willow!” Tara didn’t want to yell but worried if she allowed the redhead to continue on her verbal tailspin she’d lose her forever.
On the other side of the phone the redhead sighed and slumped down in her office chair.
“Sorry,” she said, leaning her head back and closing her eyes.
“No it’s ok,” Tara said, taking a deep breath before continuing. “Will I don’t want you to ever feel uncomfortable or pressured with me. I mean I do want to know more about you and your family and everything else in your life but I understand if you’re not ready to tell me. If it’s too hard for you, that’s ok.” Tara paused and when Willow didn’t say anything she took it that she had the redhead’s full attention and kept going. “Will, I like you. A lot. And this is still really new… for both of us. I mean, we can take our time. I’m not in any big rush and I hope you aren’t either. We can take our time and just get to know each other as we go.”
“You’re right,” Willow said after a moment. “You’re absolutely right.”
“So are you ok?” Tara asked.
“Yeah, I am,” Willow said, opening her eyes, calmed by the blonde’s words.
“Ok good. So are we still on for d-dinner tonight?”
“Absolutely.”
“Ok. Well how about I pick you up at home? Say around seven?”
“I’ll be waiting.”
“Ok. See you later then.”
“Bye. Oh and Tara? I like you too. A lot”
“Bye Will,” Tara said as she hung up, the smile evident in her voice.
Ok, she thought, turning back to her computer. Now to find the perfect place to eat.
******
Willow stood in the living room, shuffling from one foot to the other as she peered out the window, waiting for Tara’s blue Civic to pull up the street. It was a few minutes after seven but she’d been ready for the last half hour, eager to see the blonde.
She replayed their phone conversation in her head over and over for the rest of her work day and each time found herself calm more and more as she heard Tara’s words of reassurance.
She’s right. We have lots of time. And she was so considerate about the whole thing. Of course she’s always considerate… about everything. And she’s so kind… and smart… and funny… and so beautiful. God she’s sexy as hell. I mean I knew when I first saw her she was gorgeous but I swear every time I see her it’s like wow. How can anyone be that stunning? Of course you’re probably not the only one who thinks so. I mean duh, other people have eyes Willow. But do I really want to think about anyone else looking at her? No! Absolutely not! Because then you’re going to start thinking about all those people, trying to make a move on her and- Damn it Willow, you don’t want to think of that!
Her internal babble was cut off by a quiet knock on the door and she refocused her gaze out the front window she’d been staring through to see Tara’s empty Civic, idling by the curb. Quickly she rushed to the door and opened it just as the blonde was about to knock again.
“Hey,” she said, her face instantly lighting up at the sight of the blonde in a simple summer dress, her hair pulled back in a ponytail, looking even more amazing than Willow remembered. Unable to help herself Willow reached for the blonde and pulled her inside, wrapping her arms around her in the process. “You look great.”
“Thanks. You too,” Tara said, wrapping her arms around the redhead’s shoulders. Willow looked down at her dark jeans and off the shoulder blouse, hoping she wasn’t underdressed for wherever Tara had decided to take her. “You’re fine,” Tara said, noticing the apprehensive look in Willow’s eyes.
“I didn’t know what to wear because you never said where we were going.”
“You’re fine,” Tara repeated, leaning in and softly brushing her lips against the redhead’s. “Are you ready?” she asked. Willow just nodded and allowed the blonde to lead her out of the house and to her waiting car.
“So how was the rest of your day?” the blonde asked, once they were both seated in the car and pulling away from the curb.
“Good. Lots of work but that kept my mind busy. How was yours?”
“The same. Lots of work. Sorry I was a little late picking you up. I lost track of time at the office.”
“It’s ok,” Willow said with a reassuring smile, reaching out to take the blonde’s hand off the gearshift and giving it a gentle squeeze as she entwined their fingers. Tara smiled back and the two lapsed into silence for the next few minutes, just enjoying being in each other’s company.
“So where are we going?” Willow finally asked as they jumped on the freeway and sped west.
“Well I’m still not completely familiar with the best ‘hot spots’ around here. I know I should be since I’ve lived here f-for a month now but in all fairness for the majority of the month I didn’t really go anywhere besides work. But I found this little seafood place that a friend of mine from work swears by. It’s called Hamlin’s. She said it’s amazing.”
“Yeah I’ve heard of it but I’ve never been there,” Willow said, squeezing the blonde’s hand.
“So you eat seafood?” Tara asked, glancing over at the redhead.
“Oh totally. I love it. Especially shrimp.” Willow turned just in time to see the blonde scrunch up her nose to that comment. “What? You don’t like shrimp?”
“I’m allergic,” Tara answered.
“Oh. Well I can get something else.”
“No, Will you can g-get whatever you want. This is your ‘Congratulations on being awesome and a big shot’ dinner,” Tara said with a smile as they exited the freeway and came to a stop behind a gaggle of cars waiting at a stoplight.
“But I wouldn’t want to jeopardize my chances of after dinner kisses,” Willow said. Tara turned to the redhead to see if she was joking and burst out laughing when she saw her face was completely serious.
“Shrimp or not, nothing will be jeopardizing that,” she said as she leaned over the console and placed her lips against the redhead’s. Willow tried to leave it as a simple peck but the feel of the blonde’s soft lips on hers combined with the intoxicating scent of the blonde’s perfume proved to be too tempting and she pressed her lips harder against the other girls, moving her right hand up to the back of Tara’s neck, pulling her even closer. Tara giggled slightly at Willow eagerness but quickly allowed herself to get lost in the kiss.
“Hey great show!” They heard from outside the car, breaking them apart as they turned to see who was hollering at them. Beside them was a group of young twenty-something boys in an SUV, obviously enjoying the sight of a little girl on girl action.
“Ew,” Willow said, a look of disgust instantly stamped on her face. “Really? Did they really have to do that?”
“Boys will be boys,” Tara said with a shrug as she followed the car in front of her through the now green light.
“But how exciting is lesbianism nowadays? I mean you see it everywhere. Television, movies, magazines, the internet. Even music videos just throw in random chicks making out for no apparent reason. It’s like ‘Yeah, they’re trying to get into each other’s pants, what’s on TBS?’ It’s over. Move on.”
“Does that mean you have no interest in getting into my pants?” Tara teased when the redhead finished her rant.
“What? No! Wait, I mean yes. Very interested. Very much with the interesting ideas there. That wasn’t what I was saying. I just meant…” She trailed off when she saw Tara smiling ear to ear and realized she’d been joking. “You’re mean,” she pouted, sitting back in her seat, her arms crossed over her chest.
“No, I get what you’re saying. An oversaturation in the media of any subject eventually leads people to be immune to any reaction. Makes sense.” Tara glanced over, noticing the pout still lingering on Willow’s lips. “Don’t worry. I’ll still let you get in my pants.”
“You’re not wearing pants.”
“Fine. My underpants then.”
Willow said nothing but Tara didn’t miss that small grin tugging at the corners of the redhead’s mouth.
******
“So ladies is there anything else I can get for you this evening?” the waiter asked as he cleared away the last of the dinner plates from the feast they’d ordered.
“Will?”
“I couldn’t eat another bite if I tried,” the redhead said, rubbing her stomach under the table.
“Just the check then please,” Tara said with a smile.
“Why do you insist on feeding me until I burst?” Willow moaned.
“I didn’t make you eat that brownie,” Tara said with a smile.
“Well he made it sound so delicious. All warm and gooey… whatever it was worth it,” Willow said. Tara just giggled and then turned her attention back to the waiter who’d returned with their bill. She quickly paid and escorted and still groaning Willow out of the restaurant, chuckling the whole time.
“So I supposed anything beyond taking you home and putting you in a pair of sweats is out of the question,” Tara said as they strolled though the parking lot.
“Well what did you have in mind?”
“Maybe just a quick walk. The sun’s setting and we could just walk over there to the beach,” Tara suggested, pointing in the direction she was talking about. “There’s a couple benches over there.”
“Ok. I’m in,” Willow said, grabbing the blonde’s hand and heading towards the deserted beach.
******
“This is such a gorgeous night,” Willow said as she leaned her head back to take in more of the night sky above her. The sun had set hours ago but neither girl had mentioned heading home yet.
“I know,” Tara said, snuggling closer to the redhead next to her. “I used to sit with my brother out behind out parents’ house when we were kids and we’d try to count the stars. We never got very far though.”
Willow smiled at the story and tightened her arm around the blonde’s shoulders, leaving a soft kiss on the top of Tara’s head.
“What else did you guys do together?” she asked, suddenly finding the blonde head of hair on her shoulder much more interesting than the star filled sky.
“Everything. We’re only two years apart and Donnie and I are totally an anomaly. I mean we fought occasionally but we were constantly together, riding the horses and helping my parents with the chores around the farm. There’s a pond about a mile behind my parents house and we’d spend everyday there in the summer together, usually getting in trouble.” Willow giggled. “The only time we were ever really apart was during school.”
“He sounds like a good brother.”
“He’s the best,” Tara said, grabbing Willow’s free hand in her own and tracing the lines on her palm with her fingertips.
“I could stay like this all night,” Willow said after a moment of silence.
“Me too,” Tara agreed. “Unfortunately I can’t. I have somewhere to be tomorrow.”
“More demanding clients?” Willow teased and Tara just giggled for a moment before sitting up straight and turning to the redhead.
“No, not tomorrow. I’m on friend duty tomorrow.” Tara paused for a minute, thinking of her roommate and what was going to happen the next day. “Faith’s mom passed away and tomorrow’s the funeral.”
“Oh my God, Tara I’m so sorry. I had no idea. Why didn’t you say anything? We could’ve postponed this for later in the week. We could’ve just hung out with Faith and done movies and fattening, disgusting food and, well I don’t know but something supportive,” Willow said, standing up and gesturing frantically with her hands.
“Will, calm down. It’s ok. Faith’s been with Buffy all evening. So she’s ok. I offered to hang around and she declined, vehemently. So don’t worry about it ok,” Tara said, standing up and wrapping her arms around the slim redhead.
“Well is there anything I can do? I mean I know I don’t really know Faith that well but she’s important to you and you’re… well you mean a lot to me.”
“I know Will,” Tara said with a small smile, pressing their foreheads together. “But it’s ok. It’s all going to be ok.” Willow just nodded. “It is getting late though. We should probably head home.”
“Ok,” Willow said, placing a gentle kiss on the blonde’s forehead and leading Tara by the hand back towards the restaurant parking lot. The two walked in silence to the car, climbing in and heading towards the freeway.
“By the way, thanks for tonight,” Willow said as they got onto the on ramp. “For dinner and everything. It was fun.”
“It was. And you’re welcome,” Tara said.
It was a quick drive back to Willow’s house, far too fast for the redhead’s liking but she didn’t want to keep Tara away from best friend duty any longer than was necessary.
“Tara, really, you don’t have to walk me to the door,” Willow said as they climbed out of Tara’s car and made their way up the sidewalk to the front door.
“Well I can’t have anything happen to you. You never know what kind of evil doers may be lurking around in the dark,” Tara teased. Willow just laughed as the two stepped onto the porch and she turned towards the blonde.
“Well thank you again. I had a really nice time.”
“Again, you’re welcome,” Tara said with a smile. Willow smiled back and stepped forward, gently placing her lips against Tara’s for a minute before stepping back and reaching for the doorway.
“Good night Tare. Text me when you get home.”
“Night Will,” Tara said as she turned and skipped down the steps. Willow waited on the porch until Tara climbed safely into her car and watched the blonde slowly drive away from the curb.
She’s amazing, Willow thought with a smile as she stepped into the house and closed the front door behind her.
Anya: I don't like the sound of this. They don't sound very ex-demon compatible.
Tara: Are you sure they're English? I thought English people were, um, gentler than uh... normal people.
An Everyday Life
-worthy update.
You are correct, you just can't go wrong with morning after snuggles! Oh and totally hot sex too!! 
It's a horrible spot to be in and I do not envy her one bit. It's too bad that it had to ruin her good mood, not to mention the fact that it also caused her to miss Tara's call, but it was necessary. Maybe now with the promotion and all, she'll be able to take Tara out on a proper date. Unfortunately, I get the feeling that it's not over with her parents. 
