Well, I seem to have promised smoochies so here they are... no, not really. Well okay, there are some smoochies...but nothing major. This is a PG-13 fic after all ... *sigh*
Thanks to Charlie for being able to do her beta-magic, despite being a little busy beever (that's bee and beaver combined, mind you), and completely overloaded in school. I'm keeping her from school work - how evil am I?
***
Chapter 4: California Women - Part B
6:57
Willow glared at her alarm clock, willing the digits to change. She sat on her bed, nervously fiddling her fingers. Tara's class was supposed to be over at 6:45 and they were going to go out when she got back. It only took five minutes to walk from the Art building to Stevenson so Willow was getting a little bit nervous. What if Tara stood her up? What if the blonde met someone in class and fell instantly in love? What if right now they're kissing and falling down on the bed, discarding clothes and running their hands all over each other. Tongues dueling, teeth nibbling, fingers thrust-
Tara opened the door to her room and walked in, "Hey sweetie, sorry I'm late. I got assigned another team as-oof" The force of a Willow-shaped person flinging themselves in her arms knocked the wind out of her and she stumbled back and hit the door.
"Um, I missed you too?" Tara questioned and tentatively embraced Willow back who mumbled something against her shoulder. "What was that?"
Willow pulled her head away, "I said: I thought you had stood me up," she pouted then buried her head back in the crook of Tara's neck.
Tara smiled, then giggled, then full out laughed. She squeezed Willow a little tighter. "You are just too cute for words, you know that?"
Willow smiled against Tara's skin and nodded her head.
"Okay," Tara said and pulled from the embrace, "I'm just gonna jump in the shower really quick and then we can go? It's been a long day — I feel all bleh."
Willow stepped back and appraised Tara, "Hmm, well, you don't look like it, but okay. I'll wait — patiently this time." She flashed Tara a toothy grin then sat back down on her bed.
Tara hurriedly went around the room and tossed a jacket and a book bag on her bed, kicked off her shoes, then went to her closet, got her bath kit and her robe and left the room. When she came back four minutes later Willow was still sitting on her bed with the same toothy grin. She returned it with a lopsided smile and Willow actually curled her toes in excitement. Tara went to her closet and found a suitable outfit for the evening. Judging from Willow's clothes casual yet not was the way to go. She placed her khakis and her light-blue shirt on the bed and then went to untie her robe when she remembered that in her hurry earlier she had forgotten to take underwear with her. Which left her naked under the robe...and Willow was in the room.
"Um, Will?"
"Yah?"
"Could you um, turn around for a s-second? I'm sort of n-naked underneath my robe."
Wide-open green eyes stared back at her. "Yah," Willow squeaked, "sure." But she made no move to turn around.
"Um, Will?" Tara made a motion with her hands for Willow to turn around.
"Oh, right...that might help." Willow smiled apologetically then turned around and lay down on her bed, facing the wall. She heard the robe drop to the floor and closed her eyes. Images of naked-Tara flittered through her mind, and she just barely suppressed a moan.
"Okay, I'm ready."
"Me too." Willow whispered and rolled off the bed. Tara stood in front of her smiling brightly and looking beautiful as ever. "Wow, you look...um, nice." Willow finally settled on, shaking her mind of the long lines of poetic phrases it had wanted to shower upon the blonde.
Tara blushed and almost ducked her head but stopped herself just in time. "Um, thank you. You too. You look nice too." Tara nodded in agreement with her words. Willow really did look nice. Beautiful even. The denim skirt and the light pink t-shirt complemented each other nicely.
"So, s-shall we?"
Willow nodded, "we shall!"
***
After trying to decide where to go for dinner for the better part of the walk down town they settled on a nice health food restaurant, which served a range of delicious sandwiches as well as soups and salads. They sat in the corner booth and ordered their food.
As they waited they kept stealing glances at each other then looking away, blushing. They were both completely silent, not having any idea what to talk about. Yet Willow was talking up a storm in her mind. Finally she couldn't take it anymore.
"Does this feel awkward?"
Tara nodded her head once, "a little."
"Why is that?" Willow questioned, "We talk all the time, about anything and everything."
"I think it's because this is a date, and not just us hanging out. There are totally different expectations and um...what?" As Tara was talking Willow's expression had turned from apprehensive to ecstatic and she was now grinning very dopily.
"You know it's a date?"
"Um, well...isn't it?"
Willow nodded her head enthusiastically up and down. "So this doesn't bother you?" Willow pointed to both her and Tara.
"Bother me?" Tara asked and took a sip of her water.
"Yeah, you know...me, lusting after you." Willow winced.
Oh my god, did I just say that?
Tara almost sprayed her water all over the table, but she managed to swallow with some dignity. She wiped her mouth with her napkin. "You what?"
"Umm..." Willow's eyes darted from left to right and she felt herself getting warm all over. A small smirk found its place among her expressive face and she could do nothing but shrug her shoulders.
The waitress came around with their dinner and interrupted any further discussion on the topic for the time being. Tara was secretly relieved. She had just gotten used to the idea of Willow having a crush on her - Willow lusting after her...that took some further adjustments.
They started on their meals in silence until Willow piped up, "Okay, random topic of discussion...um...oh, color harmonies!"
Tara swallowed the bite of chicken and flushed it down with some water. "Color harmonies?"
"Yes, do you have a specific color harmony you favor over others in your work, or does it depend on the work itself and what you are trying to express with that, um, work?"
Tara giggled, "Will, have you been reading my Color Theory notes?"
"What? No! Of course not. You know I think notes are sacred and never to be shared unless specifically permitted to do so. But I may have, and I'm not admitting to anything, just so you know, glanced through your textbook."
"You read the textbook? Will, it's 200 pages."
"I..ahh...I don't know. I was bored?" Tara raised her eyebrow in response. "No? Um, I was curious?"
"About color theory?" Tara said incredulously.
"Okay, fine. I read it so I would know what you were talking about when you were talking about your classes. And so I could have a conversation to you about art and actually understand what you were talking about. And so that you wouldn't always shy away from speaking about your art projects because you think I don't understand or don't find it interesting. Which I do...so much." Willow ended her explanation with a sad yet hopeful look.
"Oh." Tara wasn't sure what to say. "You did that for me?"
Willow nodded her head and took a sip of her water.
"That's...very sweet actually."
Willow grinned. "So, color harmonies. Any favorites?"
Tara laughed then and Willow sighed with happiness. This might just work. "Well actually, analogous color harmony is probably what I use most, but that's because most of my work so far as been realistic..."
After their first hurdle, or two, the date went of smoothly. Tara talked about her art, and Willow talked about programming, they both talked about web design and decided then and there that they should start their own web design company in the future. WT and TW designs had been mentioned but they quickly discarded that idea. Tara wanted Little Tree designs but Willow's scowling made her back out. In the end they settled on Maclay-Rosenberg, and Willow had laughed and said it almost sounded like they were married. Several blushes later talks of music, movies, books and cartoons surfaced and by the time they reached the movie theater Tara was sure she had exhausted her ability to speak for the rest of the night, but a smile from Willow was like a kick-start to her vocal cords and soon words tumbled out of her in streams of coherent and not so coherent thoughts and speculations. Willow suspected babbling was contagious and that Tara had caught it.
"So, what movie do you want to see?" Willow asked as she looked up at the board announcing tonight's features: The Bachelor, The Bone Collector, Bringing Out The Dead, Fight Club, House on Haunted Hill or Three to Tango.
"Um," Tara looked at Willow instead of the board, "doesn't matter. What do you wanna see?"
Willow pursed her lips as she went over the options. "How about the Bone Collector?"
Tara glanced up and finally read the announcement board. She frowned at the choices, "Um, doesn't that sound a little, um, scary?"
Willow nodded, "Yeah, but it's Angelina Jolie..." she trailed off, a little too wistfully for her date.
Tara looked back at Willow, "Oh, you like her? I thought you were lusting after me?"
Willow turned her head quickly towards Tara. The blonde didn't look too happy, but a smirk was teasing around her lips, and she was trying hard not to give in to it.
Willow squinted her eyes as she contemplated how to proceed. Play along or... "I am," it slipped out before she could stop herself. So much for 'play along'. "I mean, I do...um..." Willow rolled her eyes at her inability to form a sentence. Tara bit her lip as she smiled. "Do what? Like Angelina or the um, other thing?" Willow opened her mouth to answer when she was interrupted.
"Can I help you?" A very bored looking ticket booth operator droned out the same phrase for the 138th time that evening.
"Oh," Tara looked at Willow who shrugged her shoulders. She turned back and quickly scanned over the available features and picked the last one she saw, "two for Three to Tango." She dug in her pocket for money when Willow beat her to it and slipped $15 under the glass.
"Will, you don't have to."
"I asked you out so, you know..."
Tara smiled shyly at the redhead, "are you sure?" Willow nodded. "I want to."
"Could you flirt somewhere else, please?"
Tara glanced behind her and saw a rather impatient looking couple waiting in line behind them. The guy rolled his eyes at his girlfriend who made a 'shoo' hand gesture at Tara.
"Oh, um, I'm s-sorry." Tara grabbed the two tickets from the booth with her left hand, grabbed Willow's hand with her right and pulled her towards the entrance.
When they got inside Tara held out one of the tickets for Willow as she scanned the area. She'd never been in here before. The sad excuse for a movie theater in her hometown didn't look anything like this one. That one had been closer to those slide shows in Professor Walsh's class whereas this one...Tara actually spun around in circles, Willow shuffling behind her since she had no intention of letting go of Tara's hand.
"Wow, this place is um...kinda nice."
"You think so?" Willow quickly glanced around the familiar movie theater. She'd been going here for as long as she could remember. Sure it had changed a bit over the years but she couldn't really call it nice. Average maybe or, "it's alright, I guess." It had the concession stand in the middle of the lobby, the sparkling lights around the movie posters covering every wall, the hallway leading to the auditoriums straight ahead from the entrance and restrooms on either side of the hallway. Pretty average.
"Anyway, you wanna get some movie-munchies?"
Tara nodded and Willow pulled her towards the concession stand. They ended up getting a medium Sprite and popcorn and some Jujubes. Sprite because Willow wasn't a fan of Coke ("my mom used to give me a coke when I had the stomach flu, and now it just reminds me of you know... regurgitation."), popcorn because it's against the law not to, and Jujubes because Tara thought the bee on the pack was cute.
They made their way into the correct auditorium and sat down in the back. Willow placed their drink in the cup holder between them and put the popcorn in her lap. The movie hadn't started but the previews were rolling. Willow loved the previews, but she wasn't paying attention this time. Nope, she was staring wistfully at Tara's hands. She had been forced to let go earlier to hold their munchies and she missed the feeling already. Holding Tara's hand was a soothing, calming emotion tinged with excitement and tingling sensation. She liked that feeling. But Tara was twirling the Jujubes pack in her hands, keeping them busy.
"Tara, can I have a Jujube?"
"Of course sweetie." Tara opened the pack and handed it to Willow who took out two pieces. Willow chewed and quickly swallowed the Jujubes.
"Tara, would you like some popcorn?"
"Um, yes, thank you." Tara grabbed a handful and munched on them slowly, Willow watching the whole time.
"Tara, would you like some Sprite?"
Tara nodded absentmindedly and leaned in and took a sip then went back to watching the screen.
"Tara, can I hold your hand?"
Tara's stomach flip-flopped when she heard the question. She is so sneaky. She kept her eyes on the screen as she smiled and held out her hand to Willow, her palm facing up. Willow's heart pounded in her chest at the gesture and she slowly placed her hand in Tara's.
***
After the movie they strolled down the densely populated Main Street. They reached The Grotto and Willow suggested stopping by to say hi to Xander, and see if Buffy was still there. A safer escort back to the dorms could not and would not be found.
Willow and Tara walked down the steps to the local hangout. It was a popular place, mainly because it served beer to anyone who flashed some cash, no ID required.
"There's Xander," Willow noted and pointed Tara towards her friend behind the bar. "Doesn't he need to be twenty-one to work at a bar?" Tara asked as they reached the bar table and took a seat. "Not if you have a fake ID."
"Fake ID? Really?"
"Yeah, and it's a really crappy one too. You should see it. It looks like it was printed of a HP DeskJet." Willow snorted from her own joke but Tara's puzzled look made her frown. "Sorry, tech-y stuff. HP DeskJet is a printer you get when you need to print out easy stuff, like documents, small pictures etc. For a believable fake-ID you need at least a Precision Scan printer...and this is really boring you and I'll stop now."
Tara just shook her head and smiled. She leaned over and kissed Willow softly on her cheek. "You're cute."
"Oh yeah?" Tara nodded and leaned in again. Willow leaned in as well and their faces got closer and closer together until, "Willster! My bestest bud!"
God damn you Harris! They both snapped back as Xander approached them. "Will...and Tara. Well look at that." He leered at Tara, giving her the one over and flashed Willow a thumbs-up. Willow dove into the bowl of nuts in front of her and tossed a handful at Xander.
"Hey! Where's the love?"
"Don't push it." Willow warned her friend with another raised hand full of peanuts.
"O-kay. So what are you two up to?" Xander smirked and sent a knowing look Willow's way. Willow could read Xander like an open book and she knew exactly what he was thinking of. "None of your business Xander."
"I'm sensing some hostility here. Are you unsatisfied about something?"
"That's it. Come on Tara. Let's go." She jumped of the barstool and led Tara away from Xander. "Hey Will, could ya at least take Buffy with you?"
Willow sighed and nodded her head. She looked around the bar but couldn't see the slayer anywhere.
"There she is," Tara said and led Willow through the crowds of people to a corner booth where the slayer sat amongst four boys drinking beer.
"Buffy?"
Buffy looked through her empty mug at Willow and Tara. "Wills, you're all blurry. Are you okay?"
"I could ask the same thing Buff," Willow took the mug from Buffy and placed on the table. "How much have you been drinking?"
"Oh, pfff...just two or three...um, pitchers." She dismissed the notion with a wave of her hand. She then repeated that movement several times as she stared transfixed at her fingers. "Anyway...what have you been doing?" Buffy grinned at the two witches. Buffy moved in her seat and made room for the two of them, "here, sit."
"O-kay," Willow slid in next to Buffy and Tara followed.
"Here, have some beer." One of the boys offered and placed two mugs in front of the witches.
Tara shook her head, "no thank you." Willow declined as well.
"Hey now, drink beer or...um, what was I saying?"
"Beer?" Buffy offered, and the boy nodded in the affirmative. Buffy nudged Willow to take a sip. "It's just beer."
Willow and Tara exchanged nervous looks. They both shrugged their shoulders and smiled at their synchronicity. After Buffy jabbed her in the shoulder for the sixth time, Willow sighed. "Well, okay. One sip couldn't hurt right?"
Several sips later Tara was feeling very talkative and brave and Willow, well...she was just plain frisky.
"You know Buffy, besides Willow, I've never had a crush on anyone. Isn't that weird?"
"Very. Were there no boys where you lived?" The slayer wondered out loud and took a sip from her mug.
Tara shook her head. "Not too many, no."
"Yeah, and who cares about boys anyway?" Willow piped up and scooted closer to the blonde. She put her arm around Tara's shoulder and played with her hair. "You like me and I'm a girl, with girl parts. Just like you're a girl, with um..." Willow eyes glanced downwards and rested on Tara's chest. She brought her hand up and traced a path with her index finger from Tara's collar down between her breasts, and down her stomach and then let her hand fall in Tara's lap, "with girl parts."
Tara looked down at Willow's hand in her lap and squeaked, "yes. I have um, girl parts."
"I know," Willow said huskily, and started stroking Tara's thigh.
Oh goddess! Shivers ran up and down Tara's back and she had to close her eyes and take a deep breath just so she could speak again. "That feels so good Will," she whispered.
Willow smiled wickedly and winked at the blonde, "I know of something else that will feel even better."
"Really? What?"
Willow leaned in and whispered in Tara's ear. As she leaned back Tara groaned. "Oh yes, can we do that?"
"Uh-huh."
"Do what?" One of the boys asked. Willow and Tara looked away from each other and noticed the four boys in front of them drooling. They both frowned at the intrusion.
"I didn't hear all of it," Buffy said, "but something about licking and nibbling."
"Buffy!" Willow yelled, and hit Buffy in the shoulder.
"What?" The slayer pouted and rubbed her shoulder. Willow glared at her friend, but it was of no use. Repentance was not forthcoming.
Tara decided to intervene, "And you know something else Buffy, I'm almost nineteen years old and I've never even kissed a girl, or um, you know...a boy. How pathetic is that?"
Willow gave the slayer one more scolding look then turned back to her gorgeous date, "it's very pathetic, you should do something about that."
Tara nodded and winked at Willow, "I just wish someone would teach me, you know."
"Oh, hey...I can help you with that." One of the boys offered.
Willow snapped her head towards the boy, "what?"
"Yeah, me too." "Me three." "Me three too." The last boy offering to kiss Tara looked around and counted his friends and then him, "um, me four?"
"Really? You all wanna help me?"
"Absolutelelyaly," the four of them slurred and at the same time moved their chairs a little closer.
The sound of four shifting chairs made Willow's jealousy flare up. "Hey!" she pushed the table away from her, hitting all four boys in the stomach. She flashed her 'resolve-face' all around the table. "Tara's my date. If anyone's gonna be teaching her how to kiss it should be me."
"Okay," Tara whispered.
"What?" Willow looked at Tara and saw the sultry half-smile directed at her. "I said okay."
"Really?"
Tara nodded, "kiss me."
"Yes ma'am." Willow wet her lips and Tara did the same, then they leaned in and kissed for the first time. The kiss was soft and gentle and over way too quickly. Tara licked her lips afterwards, "mmm."
Willow smiled and nodded, "How was that?" Tara shifted a little closer, "Hmm, nice."
"Just nice?" Willow pouted. Tara leaned in closer, "Nice is good." Willow moved closer as well. "We can do it again."
Tara's reply came in the form of kiss. It was soft and sweet, just as the first one, but lasted longer. Lips moved, opening and closing against each other, but neither deepened the kiss. Just as Willow was about to pull away Tara latched onto her bottom lip and sucked it back in her mouth. She released it with a pop a minute later and Willow whimpered at the loss. She sucked on her own bottom lip for comfort. It tasted like Tara, but it didn't compare to the real thing. "Man, you're good at this," she finally breathed out.
"Really?"
"Oh gods, yes."
Tara arched her eyebrow at Willow and grinned, "so you don't mind if I do this?" She kissed Willow again and used her body weight to push her down on the bench. I so don't mind, Willow thought as she went down.
"Whoa!" Buffy jumped from her seat and climbed onto the table. "Hot, lesbian sex about to happen." The four guys clambered onto the table as well and leaned over to watch the two witches, "yeeeaah."
--------------------------
Tinna Karen
-tölvunörd í fyrsta ættlið
PLEASE 
.
that was great.. real great.. reminds me of me when ive had one too many 
-More pouty lower lip action.-
It is just W/T have bad judgement in the update. 
