New Fic: Currently Untitled

[Mainer]

I've written this new story which I still haven't managed to think of a name for yet. I'll take any suggestions you have for a name. Basically it takes place in Sunnydale, their junior year in high school, and it's a Willow meets Tara story cause I those. I hope you all enjoy it. I'll do my best to post often but I can't make any promises as I have to use a friends computer right now until I get my own.

Title: ?
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, except the ones I've made up.



The beat-up old car pulled to a stop in front of an equally beat-up old house. A young blonde looked out the passenger window surveying the scene, her blue eyes trying to take in every detail of the worn colonial. It was a good size house this time, she thought, much bigger than the last house. After all the moves she had been through, Tara should know that size means nothing. There was no reason to get all excited about a big house cause it was quite possible that this house, despite its size, had fewer bedrooms than the smaller one they had just moved from.
“Whatcha thinking?”
“Just wondering if I get my own room this time,” Tara said turning to look at her older brother. The California sun gleamed off his blonde hair highlighting his classic good looks, not unlike her own. “It looks big, but you never can tell from the outside, you know?”
“Yeah, it looks big and gross,” Donnie said looking passed his sister to their new house. “I’m thinking my summer vacation is going to be filled with home repair, not girls.”
“It wouldn’t have been filled with girls anyway,” Tara smirked.
A knock on the car window startled them both. “Let’s go,” a voice commanded.
“Sorry, sir,” Donnie said as both he and his sister climbed out of the car, “we were just admiring this fine house.”
“Isn’t she a beauty?” John Maclay said, putting his arm around his son’s shoulders. “We’ve got a great few weeks ahead of us fixing up this place.” He ran his hand through his cropped, graying hair.
“How many bedrooms does this beauty have?” Tara asked.
“We’ll discuss bunking assignments inside,” John said ushering his two oldest children toward the house. They walked up the crumbling front walk, and John opened the door, the door slipping off its hinges as he did. “Job number one,” he said happily slapping his son on the back. His smile broadened as he saw his children lined up in the entry way, awaiting their orders. They stood in perfect formation, lined up oldest to youngest. Eighteen year old Donnie leading the line, and twin nine month old boys, Christopher and Dillon, being held by their mother at the end. It was the perfect family picture.
“As you know I’ve been transferred here to Sunnydale indefinitely. That is the only information you need to know about my new assignment. My superiors have supplied us with suitable housing and I’ll hear no complaints about it. You’ll be given your bunking assignments and it’s your responsibility to get them in top order by 1900. Donald your room is down this hall to the left, next to the head.”
“Downstairs?” Donnie questioned.
“Is there something wrong with your assignment, son?”
“No, sir,” Donnie said heading quickly to his new room.
John led his family upstairs to the remaining four bedrooms. He first sent his wife to the nursery with the twins finding everything easier without the presence of his wife and youngest sons. It would have been easier to ditch the girls next, but Tara required more instruction than his three middle sons. He was pleased that his children did as told and no one complained about their rooms. He was proud to be turning his children into good soldiers.
Tara trudged downstairs on her way to the kitchen to retrieve a bucket for herself and one for her two little sisters. It wasn’t enough just to do her chores. She had to make sure Katy and Lily did their chores. She pushed her long blonde hair back out of her face as she entered the kitchen.
“Hey little sis, what’s the deal?” Donnie asked as he filled his own bucket at the kitchen sink.
“Don’t talk to me,” Tara said grabbing two empty buckets.
“That bad?”
“I’m sharing a room with a six and four year old. I have to clean out my room, the nursery, the dining room, and the living room all the while making sure that Katy and Lily are getting the bathrooms clean. Oh and let’s not forget to mention watching the twins so Mom can get all her work done. Be thankful you’re a boy,” Tara said exasperated.
“Hey, I don’t have it great either just because I’m a boy. I mean my bedroom isn’t even a bedroom. It’s a den with no closet and a glass door. And as for chores, after I finish my room, I get the pleasure of helping Dad fix the front door and any other Mr. Fix it job he can find.”
“I’m sharing a room with preschoolers,” Tara stated again.
“You win.”
“Thank you,” Tara said moving passed her brother to fill the buckets.
“A five bedroom house this time, that’s a plus,” Donnie shrugged.
“Yeah, I guess. Ohhh… I’m never gonna get all this done,” Tara sighed.
“Sure you can, sis, and then you can help me,” Donnie said flicking water at his sister’s face and running off before she could pay him back.
Tara rolled her eyes and carried the buckets upstairs. She dropped one off in the bathroom for her little sisters. She started them off by showing them how to clean the bathtub. She figured that would give her the most time before she’d have to show them how to do something else. She headed down to the nursery with her bucket. She knew that was the best place to start. The twins would be ready for a nap soon, and she knew her mother would appreciate her getting that room clean and ready. She tried not to get too down about her bedroom. It could be a lot worse. Two houses ago she had been forced to share a tiny bedroom with Katy, Lily, and the twins. So what if she was sixteen almost seventeen. So what if she was a junior in high school living in Barbie land, it’s not like anyone would ever know. In all the different places she had lived she had never invited anyone to her house. Sure, she had made a few friends a long the way, but no real true friends. Her only true friend was Donnie. She didn’t know what she would do next year when he went off to college. Tara knew he wanted to go back to Texas and probably would. Texas is where they had spent the most time. Not that they had ever spent much time anywhere. She hated always having to move, always starting over, never being able to make any close friends because every time you start making friends you’re moving again. She wondered how long they would be in Sunnydale. They had never been told indefinitely before; something wasn’t right about this place. Tara could tell that already. At least she had three weeks to figure it all out before she started school. On the one hand, school got her out of the house six hours a day. On the other hand going to school also meant being treated like an outsider for six hours a day. Every one would be staring at her like she was some kind of freak and probably teasing her, at least at first. Oh yeah, Tara’s life was really looking up.

[mangled_monkey]

Wow... great start... I love the putting Tara into a big family. Can't wait till school... Keep it up whenever you can, and good luck on getting a computer!

[will]

Hey I love the start of this story it's great.
I can't wait to see what will happen next and i can't wait to read how willow and tara will meet.
Pleae update soon.

[cantbefredless]

Tara with a huge family is soo cool.. and i feel sorry that she has to share her room with two little girls... i know how she feels... but cant wait till to find out how she meet Willow... and i will dance now.

[goatrider]

hey mainer,
i like your new fic. i read your old ones too and i am actually happy to see that you use more narration and describe the scenery and the reactions of the characters more. that makes the story (at least in my opinion) more alive and it's more fun to read it.
looking forward to the new update.
GR

[WillowRulez]

Great idea placing Tara in a big family where she has a lot of responsiblities! Her dad and her mom just giving her all the work is pretty convenient for them hm? I like that Donnie and Tara are so close.

[taralicious]

Mainer,
As if the default gruff hostility of Tara's father wasn't threatening enough for such a sensitve and loving woman as Tara, your variation brings to mind Robert Duvall's performance in the 80's film "The Great Santini" as the father who demanded military precision and attention to detail from his family.
Tara is lucky to have the support of her brothers and sisters as they can shield each other from dad's bluster and wrath.

[Mainer]

I'm here and ready to post the next update of my story. I still haven't managed to come up with a name for it, but hopefully I'll think of one soon. I hope that you are all enjoying it.

Title:?
Rating:PG-13
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except the ones I made up.
Warning: This update starts out a bit graphic with an abuse sceen, so if that offends you, you probably should not read it. I promise it gets better though.


There’s nothing like waking up at five in the morning after a long, hard day of work. Tara thought as she reached over and turned off the alarm. She could hear the alarm in her younger brothers’ room still going off. She flopped back onto her pillow thinking how nice it would be to go back to sleep, but before she could finish the thought her two little sisters pounced on her.
“Rise and shine, sleepy head,” Katy said getting right in Tara’s face.
“Ewww… morning breath,” Tara said pushing her sister off.
“I do not,” Katy sulked, climbing off the bed.
“Yes you do,” Tara grumbled, rising out of her bed. “Both of you go potty and brush your teeth before the boys get up.”
“Clothes!” Katy demanded as Tara ushered them toward the door.
“You can get dressed when you’re done,” Tara said closing the door behind them. At last a five minute privacy break, probably the only one she’d get that day. She knew that she would be on car washing detail all morning after her regular chores were done of course. She was hoping to stretch washing the three vehicles out well into the afternoon. Washing cars had to be more fun than whatever else her father had planned for her. She realized she had just been standing there day dreaming when she should have been getting herself dressed and ready. Any second now Katy and Lily would be back and she’d have to focus her attention on them. She threw on a pair of shorts and a gray tee shirt, and quickly ran a brush through her hair. The door opened just as she threw clothes on the bed for Katy.
“The boys made Lily pee her pants,” Katy said rushing into the room.
“Oh Lily,” Tara groaned, she did not need this today. Lily looked up at her sister, her sad eyes brimming with tears. “It’s okay, I’ll clean you up, Daddy will never find out,” Tara said pulling her little sister into the room. Even as she said it she knew it wasn’t true. Her father probably already knew what happened, when she herself didn’t even know the full story. All that mattered to her father was that his potty-trained four year old had wet herself and that was wrong, and when the Maclay children did something wrong they were punished. It didn’t matter though, Tara had to try.
“I’m sorry,” Lily whispered.
“It’s okay, sweetie,” Tara said embracing her little sister.
“My clothes please,” Katy said tapping her foot impatiently, the importance of the situation apparently lost on her.
“They’re on the bed,” Tara said hurriedly taking off Lily’s wet clothes, “and don’t forget to change your underwear.”
“Awww… do I have to?” Katy groaned.
“Yes,” Tara said searching the dresser for Lily’s clothes. The bedroom door flew open and slammed against the wall causing all three girls to jump.
‘What’s going on?” John demanded.
“Nothing sir,” Tara stammered. “I’m just getting the girl’s ready.”
“Is that so? Lily Beth, front and center,” John commanded. Lily walked slowly to her father. “Did you soil yourself?” Lily looked wide eyed at Tara.
“No sir, she didn’t,” Tara answered for her sister. “I spilled water in the bathroom this morning and I didn’t take the time to clean it up because I was in such a hurry. I know I should have cleaned it, sir, but I didn’t and Lily fell in it.”
“Is that true?” John asked disbelievingly.
“Yes, sir,” Tara answered with as much confidence as she could muster.
“You’re aware of the punishment for lying?” John calmly asked his eldest daughter, his hands clenched firmly behind his back. He knew his daughter was lying. He knew everything that went on in his house. Although he was calm on the outside he was furious inside. He couldn’t believe she had the nerve to look him in the eye and lie. His adrenaline rushed as Tara nodded her head to confirm she knew what was coming. “Go get a switch,” he said as he began removing his belt. Tara would be dealt with, but first he needed to deal with Lily. After all she had done something wrong too.
Tara heard the sound of the belt against her sister’s delicate flesh as she left the room. A tear slid down her cheek. Her little sister’s cries carried down the stairs. She hated her father for being such an ass. How could he do that to sweet, little Lily? She saw her mother peek out the kitchen window, tears streaming down her face. Tara winked at her mother to let her know everything would be okay. It seemed like every other day she was getting punished for something, it all seemed rather routine now. She was relieved to see her father enter the backyard so quickly. She put on her very best strong face, handed him the switch, raised her shirt to reveal her bare back, and prepared herself for the worst.
“When are you going to learn that lying is not acceptable?” John asked delivering the first blow.
“When you learn not to hit defenseless children, sir,” Tara said not flinching as the switch made contact a second time. She knew she had really pissed him off this time. The vein was practically exploding from his head. He raised his arm back and brought the switch down much harder than he ever had before, and continued for so long that Tara wasn’t sure he was ever going to stop. Her back was screaming in pain, but she kept it all in. She didn’t make so much as a peep even when she started to feel the blood running down her back. She just gritted her teeth harder determined not to let her father see that he was hurting her. Relief washed over her as the switch hit the ground, her father storming off in the direction of the garage. Despite the horrific pain she was in, she pulled her shirt down, and calmly headed upstairs to check on Lily. When she got there she saw Katy gently brushing Lily’s hair.
“I got her a dress, I couldn’t match the other clothes,” Katy quietly said, looking sadly at Tara, her spunkiness sucked out of her.
Tara reached out her arms and her little sisters ran into them. Katy didn’t know why her father had whipped Lily so hard, and she didn’t know exactly what happened to her big sister outside, but she could feel the welts on Tara’s back, and she could see the blood on her little hands when she moved out of her sister’s embrace. She looked down at them and back to Tara, and she suddenly understood more than any six year old needed to know.


“What were you thinking?” Donnie asked throwing a sponge at Tara.
“What?” Tara asked, looking up from her dad’s truck, which they had just started washing.
“Why did you lie?”
“To protect Lily,” Tara said going back to washing the truck. “Why do I ever lie?”
“Did it work?” Donnie asked sarcastically looking at the small blood stains on the back of Tara’s white tank top. She had changed her shirt after seeing blood on Katy’s hands.
“It worked well enough.”
“When are you going to learn that Dad is just Dad? He’s gonna do what he’s gonna do and you can’t stop him, so you might as well just stay out of his way.”
“How could you even suggest that to me? I don’t want to stay out of his way. I couldn’t live with myself if I did. Let’s just drop it. Dad’s dad, you’re you, and I’m me… I get it,” Tara said rolling her eyes.
“You’re such a pain in the ass,” Donnie said flicking water at his sister.
“Not as much as you,” Tara said throwing a soaked sponge at her brother’s chest.
“You’re dead,” Donnie said grabbing the hose and chasing his little sister, soaking her. “Hey, check it out,” Donnie said halting his pursuit and focusing his attention on the road.
Tara looked up and saw three kids walking down the road. They looked to be about her and Donnie’s age.
“Check out that blonde,” Donnie said doing his best flirty face attempting to get the blonde’s attention. Tara was too busy checking out the redhead to even notice the blonde. Cold water splashing against her face and chest snapped her out of her reverie.
“Donnie!” Tara yelled, tossing her wet hair out of her face as the stream of water stopped.
“Sorry,” Donnie apologized still making eyes at the blonde, “it was an accident.”
“Yeah, right,” Tara said trying unsuccessfully to cover herself up as her tank top was now see through, as she ran into the house.

“Careful there, Will,” Buffy said as her best friend tripped, nearly falling face first onto the concrete sidewalk. “What was it?”
“Nipple, NICKEL, it was a nickel,” Willow said quickly, trying to cover her mistake. Her face was almost as red as her hair. “I thought I saw a nickel and I wanted to pick it up, but in my lack of coordination, you know how clumsy I can be, like just yesterday when I ran into the wall on the way out of the espresso pump, anyway, I tripped and now I don’t know where it is, and maybe it wasn’t even a nickel at all. Sometimes there are little shiny bits of metal on the sidewalk or it could have been a rock, a really shiny rock, so there’s no point in going back to look for it cause it might not even exist, so hey… new kids,” Willow said ending her babbling with a subject change, flashing a smile at Buffy.
“Hot new girl you mean,” Xander said, running his hand through his dark hair, “Did you see her with the flipping of her hair and the tight tank top, and her perky, little bre… I need more guy friends,” Xander said off the look from Buffy.
“You’re disgusting,” Buffy said swatting Xander, tossing her own blonde hair back.
“Yeah,” Willow agreed, swallowing hard at Xander’s description. Although he had been slightly inaccurate, the new girl’s breasts were anything but little. What was she thinking… and why was she thinking it. “Owww..., “Willow said landing hard on her butt.
‘Tree,” Buffy said laughing.
“You could have told me before I walked into it,” Willow said rubbing her face where it smacked into the tree.
“That wouldn’t have been as much fun,” Buffy smirked, helping Willow off the ground.
“Besides, we thought you would have seen a big tree in front of you,” Xander added.
“Yes, you would think,” Willow said completely embarrassed.
“What’s wrong with you today? You’re totally off,” Buffy commented.
“No I’m not, I’m not off at all. I’m the opposite of off. I’m unoff. I’m more unoff than anybody. So what if I had some thoughts that doesn’t mean anything… look at you… you’re name is Buffy, and Xander’s …. Well Xander,” Willow babbled.
“Hey!” Xander exclaimed.
“Sorry.”
“Calm down, Will,” Buffy said. “I just meant that you’re all clumsy today, more so than usual… You know tripping and running into trees.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Willow said, ashamed of herself for attacking her friends that way. “I think I’ll just go home.”
“Now I know something is wrong,” Xander said. “You never want to go home.”
“I think I’m coming down with something. I must be getting sick, I’m sure I’ll feel more like myself after a long cold… nap.”
“A cold nap?”
“Yes,” Willow said storming off.

“Did you see the way the blonde was checking me out?” Donnie asked with a conceited grin.
“You mean the look of disgust?” Tara teased.
“You’re just jealous that the girls aren’t all over you.”
“I am not, and be quiet. I told you that in confidence and you promised you wouldn’t say anything to anyone. What if dad had come out? Do you want me to get it again?”
“Sorry,” Donnie shrugged, “I won’t say anything else about it.”
“Besides, I like the redhead,” Tara smirked.
“No way… the redhead? She’s too dorky for me.”
“She’s not dorky, she’s intelligent… I can tell,” Tara said.
“Intelligent… dorky, it’s all the same,” Donnie said turning his attention back to the truck.
Tara shook her head, and went back to work as well. After all, what good would it do to talk about it? It’s not like a girl like that would ever want her. She was probably straight and probably into her brother… that’s usually what happened. If the cute redhead wasn’t straight she owed Donnie an apology. He may have soaked her, but at the same time he entered her in a wet tee shirt contest. And just because she wasn’t the prettiest girl in the world there were a couple things the red head was bound to notice. If she was into that sort of thing of course, which she wasn’t. But how cool would it be if she was. It’d be great if she were and if she were attracted to her. Tara didn’t know why she always did this to herself. She got herself thinking about all these wonderful things that could happen if a girl actually liked her back. She didn’t really know what happened when somebody liked you back. It was all theoretical of course. She imagined there would be lots of hand holding, hugging, kissing, touching, and … well stuff.
“Hey!” Donnie said squirting the hose at his sister again.
“Huh?” Tara asked snapping out of it.
“Mom needs you,” Donnie said smirking, knowing exactly what distracting his sister.
“Oh,” Tara said dropping the sponge into the bucket and heading inside. “Hey, mom,” Tara said dripping water on the kitchen floor.
“Are you okay?” Elizabeth asked rushing over to her daughter.
“I’m fine,” Tara said shrugging away from her mother. She loved her mother, but she wasn’t in the mood right now to relive the events of this morning.
“I’m so sorry, I… I had to wait for your father to leave to check on you… I would have…”
“Dad’s gone?” Tara asked interrupting her mother.
“Yes, he had to go into the base for awhile,” Elizabeth said, finally getting the hint that Tara didn’t want to think about this morning.
“So you needed my help?”
“No, not really,” Elizabeth smiled. “I just wanted to get you inside.”
“Well, I’m here now so is there anything I can do?” Tara asked.
“You could feed Chris and Dillon. It’s time for their lunch.”
“Okay,” Tara said putting her brothers into high chairs and grabbing two jars of food. “Mom?”
“Yeah, sweetie.”
“Do you think I’m pretty?”
“Of course I do,” Elizabeth said.
“Honestly? Even if you weren’t my mom?”
“Yes, Tara you’re beautiful. Where is this coming from? Is Donnie teasing you again? You know you can’t take anything he says seriously. He’s your older brother it’s his birth right to tease you. I should know I had three older brothers,” Her mom said smiling.
“It’s not Donnie… it’s just I’m sixteen and I’ve never… I mean there has to be a reason right. So if it’s not because I’m ugly than what is it?”
“You’re shy, sweetie, that’s all. You don’t ever give anyone the chance to get to know you. I’ve seen you around Donnie’s friends and you just close up. I’m sure some of them have been more than a little interested in you. That one kid, what was his name… Ken I think… he really seemed to like you.”
"Yeah,” Tara said frowning at the memory.
“I’m confused… you said you wanted someone to like you and I remind about that cute boy Ken and you frown… there’s something you’re not telling me,” Elizabeth said. “Is there someone in particular that you want to like you?”
“Kinda,” Tara shrugged.
“We just got here,” Elizabeth smiled.
“I’m sixteen, it doesn’t take long,” Tara laughed. “I don’t know if I really want this person to like me or not, I mean I really don’t know them well enough yet, or at all… I just saw her walk down the road,” Tara clamped her hand firmly over her mouth and looked wide eyed at her mother.
“Her?” Elizabeth said raising her eyebrows.
“I… Ummmm”
“It’s okay… I knew.”
“You knew?”
“Yes, I heard you talking to Donnie about it one night. I didn’t want to say anything because I figured you’d tell me when you were ready, or in this case when it just slipped out,” Elizabeth smiled. “But Tara… you can not tell your father, and you can’t let it slip either. He won’t understand it.”
“I know,” Tara said. “I guess it’s good that nobody ever likes me cause that way I don’t have to worry about getting caught.”
“Give it time,” Elizabeth said drying a dish. “I’m sure that things will look up and before long you’ll be beating them away with a stick.”
“Yeah, right,” Tare giggled.

[Mainer]

Sorry about that... it must have worked the first time.

[Boschi]

Neat!
I like the set up so far, particularly, for no justifiable reason, Donnie as a sympathetic character. Looking forward to more.

Regards,

Boschi

[SJ]

Hey how are you doing? So you're back in Maine. PM sometime if you want.
A title suggestion for you "It's Not like the Movies".
Great new fic.

[cantbefredless]

willow clumsyness is so cute... also love the donny and tara bonding.. very cute story.. cant wait for the next update!!

[rezeaka]

I've written this new story which I still haven't managed to think of a name for yet. I'll take any suggestions you have for a name. Basically it takes place in Sunnydale, their junior year in high school, and it's a Willow meets Tara story cause I those. I hope you all enjoy it. I'll do my best to post often but I can't make any promises as I have to use a friends computer right now until I get my own.

Well look who popped out of the woodwork! Welcome back, you!!!! Great to see your name back amidst the authors in Pens!! Great start! It's neat to see Tara being portrayed as coming from a big family for a change. Poor Willow and all her awkwardness...lol Can't wait to see where you take this!

-annie

[cbrymm]

very cute. I love donnie being nice. can't wait for more.

[Mainer]

Well here is the next installment. Thanks for reading everyone, I hope you are enjoying it.





Title: ?
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me except the ones I made up.



‘Could life possibly get any worse?’ Willow thought turning over in her bed. It had been three days since she had seen the beautiful blonde and she had yet to get her off her mind. She couldn’t figure out what the deal was. Why was this girl stuck in her mind? It was enough already, she had hardly slept, she hadn’t gone out of her house, she hadn’t even talked to Buffy on the phone. What was she supposed to say to her? ‘Hey, Buff, you know that hot blonde we saw the other day… I’ve been having some dirty thoughts about her, completely natural, but still naughty thoughts,’ Willow thought. ‘Yeah, that will go over well. What does it even mean? Does it mean that I’m gay? I’ve never been gay before, well there was that one time… no this had never happened before,’ Willow thought shaking her head. ‘There must be some other explanation for all this. There has to be another reason that I’m thinking all these things, and I need to think of it fast. There’s only so long I can pretend to be sick and ignore my friends. I could do another two weeks easy, but once school starts that just complicates everything. Think, think… I know there is some simple explanation for this. That’s it,’ Willow thought bolting upright in the bed. ‘It’s Xander. I can’t stop thinking about this girl because of Xander. He’s clearly obsessed with her and because I’m obsessed with him, than I’m obsessed with her too. It’s some kind of obsession transfer. How could I have not seen this before? It’s so blatantly obvious. I have to call Buffy.’ Willow jumped up out of her bed and ran to the phone; she hurriedly dialed Buffy’s number.
“Hello.”
“Buffy, I have to tell you something,” Willow said excitedly into the receiver.
“Okay,” Buffy said. She hadn’t heard from Willow in a few days and now she was receiving this very strange phone call.
“I’m okay, that is to say I’m perfectly normal,” Willow beamed.
“Okay…ummm… Will, where is this coming from?”
“I was having some trouble, but I’ve worked it all out and I’m okay, so I’m ready to show myself in public again. Come on let’s go and do something.”
“What were you having trouble with?” Buffy asked, not entirely sure she was following the conversation.
“Okay… remember that girl we walked by the other day,” Willow paused waiting for Buffy to acknowledge she knew what Willow was talking about. “Well, I couldn’t stop thinking about her, no matter how hard I tried she just wouldn’t leave my mind, and I was thinking some pretty naughty stuff,” Willow admitted, her cheeks growing red even though there was no one there to see her. “But I figured out that I was just thinking that way because Xander is so into her and I’m so into Xander so it just transferred, so all is good… let’s go to the espresso pump.”
“So you were having like… girl on girl thoughts about the blonde girl?” Buffy asked trying to hide her disgust at the thought.
“Yeah, but its all okay. So do you wanna go?”
“I’m not sure I’m following your theory is all,” Buffy said, her face screwed up in concentration. “You think you are thinking these things because Xander likes this girl, right?”
“Exactly.”
“So when Xander was all crazy about me, you had thoughts about…”
“Oh God no, Buffy I’ve never thought anything like that about you,” Willow jumped in.
“So… how is your little theory true?”
“Well… I gotta go,” Willow said her good mood quickly turning bad. Obviously this was not a good thing to share with Buffy. She hadn’t really anticipated Buffy examining her conclusion and tearing it apart the way she did. Now she was not at all confident about anything anymore and she just felt completely and utterly horrible.
“No, come on Will, we can go to the espresso pump,” Buffy said wishing she hadn’t over thought the situation.
“No, I don’t feel like going anymore. Don’t worry, Buffy, I’m not upset with you or anything. I just need to think some more. I’ll call you tomorrow,” Willow said hanging up before Buffy had a chance to say anything else. Willow flopped back down on her bed. Just five minutes ago everything had been crystal clear, and now she was right back where she started from; confused. Buffy was right, if it was some kind of transference why hadn’t it happened before? Maybe it wasn’t that at all. Maybe it was simply the fact that there was a new girl in town, a girl that she knew nothing about. True when Buffy moved there none of that happened either, but then she had pretty much met Buffy right away and didn’t have time to think anything that wasn’t true about her. This blonde was a complete mystery. Maybe, just maybe if Willow went over there and met her she wouldn’t be thinking any of these things because she would know her. Getting up the courage to go and meet was another thing all together. It would be so much easier if she could just go with Buffy and Xander, but that just wasn’t going to work. She needed to do this by herself. She stood up and cast a glance at herself in the mirror. ‘I look terrible,’ she thought trying to straighten her tangled hair. ‘I guess three days in bed will do that to you,’ Willow thought heading to the bathroom for a quick shower before she went to the meet the mysterious blonde.


Tara heard the truck pull out of the drive and breathed a deep sigh of relief. Her father would be gone the rest of the day and well into the night which relaxed everybody in the house, even Tara’s mother had taken a seat on the sofa which she rarely ever did. The girls were happily running around the house glad to be able to put off their chores for a little bit, and the boys were happily doing the same. Donnie had retreated to his bedroom to play his guitar. Tara was wishing the walls were a little thicker as the strains were filtering through the house and giving her a headache. Since everyone else seemed to be enjoying their down time, Tara decided to grab a book and head outside to the front lawn to read. She threw a blanket down on the grass and lay down to read. That was the plan anyway… she soon found herself laying there thinking about the cute redhead. She had been doing that a lot in these past few days. Usually she didn’t develop a crush until she knew the girl, this was a crush based solely on physical attraction. In Tara’s opinion this girl was hot. She had the most beautiful long red hair Tara had ever seen, and she was just so petite, so little it was just… cute. Tara had often wanted to be that little herself, but according to her mom she was blessed with birthing hips and that wasn’t a bad thing. She knew she wasn’t fat by any stretch of the word, but she had always just wanted to be petite. Even the word was nice. She imagined the redhead had a nice sounding name like petite. Not that she thought petite made a nice name, it was just nice to say and she imagined the redhead’s name would be nice to say too. Tara shifted a little; her back was still incredibly painful. It seemed to get stiffer and stiffer every day instead of getting better. Her mother had put some sort of natural herbal remedy on it. She always had some kind of herbal remedy for any kind of injury or sickness that they got. She always waited until their father wasn’t around to use any of it though.
“Hi.”
Tara shot up, completely startled by the unfamiliar voice. Her blue eyes starred straight into the green eyes of the redhead. “Hi,” Tara replied meekly.
“I walked by the other day with my friends, and just wanted to come over and introduce myself. I’m Willow.”
“Yeah, I saw you walk by. I’m Tara.”
“Reading?”
“Not really,” Tara admitted giving a shy smile.
“I don’t blame you really; it’s a beautiful day. I love to read and even I couldn’t read on a day like today,” Willow said smiling brightly.
“Do you want to sit down?” Tara asked making room on the blanket, and becoming very self conscience about what she was wearing. She had thrown on an old pair of shorts and a tank top that was getting to be much too small. She was scared that the bruises on her back might be showing.
“Thanks,” Willow said sitting down next to Tara. “So where did you move from?”
“We moved from Texas,” Tara said shifting yet again trying to find the best position to hide her back completely, but still not show too much of her front either. She looked like she could burst right out of her shirt. “My dad is in the military, we move a lot.”
“Bummer,” Willow said trying hard not to look at Tara’s chest which was showing so wonderfully in her shirt. Her eyes kept drifting toward her cleavage. “I’ve lived here my whole life. I saw you had a brother, I don’t have any siblings, and it must be cool.”
“It’s okay,” Tara said not really sure if she wanted to tell Willow exactly how many siblings she had. Although with everyone being home it would be fairly hard to hide. “I actually have a lot of siblings,” Tara said deciding to come clean. “Donnie, my brother you saw the other day, he’s the oldest, then me, then there’s Jake, Caleb, Will, Katy, Lily, Christopher, and Dillon.”
“Wow,” Willow said. “That’s a lot of brothers and sisters.”
“Yeah,” Tara shrugged, “but you get used to it.”
“I think it might fun to be part of a big family. It’s just me and my mom and dad, and they really aren’t home all that much. I’m alone a lot, unless I’m with Buffy and Xander, my best friends. Buffy just moved here last year, actually.”
“Really? And she fit in here?” Tara asked nervously.
“Well… to be honest not really. That is to say… Xander and I really don’t fit in here and we’ve been here forever. This probably isn’t making you want to hang out with me. I just admitted to you that I’m a loser,” Willow said blushing profusely.
“I guess it’s only fair that I tell you, I’m a card carrying member of that club too.” Tara was rather impressed with her ability to hold it together enough to be witty. “So what does it take to fit in around here?”
“Money, trendy clothes, money,” Willow said laughing. “But hey, you know, you can hang with us, I mean me and Buffy and Xander. We may not be the coolest kids on the block, but we’re nice and we know how to have fun. Have you ever been to the espresso pump?”
“No, I haven’t been anywhere yet,” Tara said.
“Hey, do you want to go right now?”
“I can’t,” Tara said. “I have to stay here and help my mom with the kids. I don’t really get much of a chance to do anything. I have a lot of responsibilities around here.”
“Yeah, I get that. Maybe some other time though, we can make plans in advance, and then maybe you could.”
“Maybe,” Tara said hopefully even though she knew her father would never allow that. “Do you want something to drink or anything? We can go in and get something.”
“Sure,” Willow said anxious to prolong her visit with the blonde.
Tara led Willow up the walk to the front door. She opened the door and saw toys all over the floor. She could feel her face getting very red. She didn’t want Willow to think she lived in a dump. The truth is, it never looked this way, and it was only because they all knew their father wouldn’t be back until late that it did. She took Willow into the kitchen where her mom was fixing lunch.
“Tara, why didn’t you tell me that you had company,” Elizabeth said smiling brightly.
“I just kinda showed up,” Willow said.
“I’m so glad you did, do you want to stay and have lunch with us. It’s nothing fancy just tuna sandwiches, but you’re more than welcome.”
“Thanks, I’d like that,” Willow said.
“Do you wanna go up to my room?” Tara asked as she heard Donnie coming toward the kitchen. She did not want to have to deal with Donnie right now. She knew he would tease her unmercilessly even if Willow was there. Willow nodded and Tara rushed upstairs passed her brother quickly. Tara’s room was in no better condition than the rest of the house. In her rush to get away from Donnie she had completely forgotten about Katy and Lily. As she closed the bedroom door, they jumped out from behind their beds.
“Boo,” Katy yelled.
“Bye,” Tara said opening the door again and trying to get them to leave. It wasn’t hard getting Lily out, she was very nervous around new people and left as soon as she saw Willow, but Katy was another story.
“This happens to be my room too,” Katy said sitting down on her bed.
“Katy, I love you, I really do, but get out,” Tara said again. Willow couldn’t help but laugh.
“Tara, I love you too, but seriously, this is my room too and I want to play with Barbie in here. This is her home, she doesn’t like leaving it, and it makes her extremely anxious.”
“I’m sorry,” Tara said turning to Willow. “I really can’t make her leave, it is her room too.”
“It’s okay,” Willow smiled. “She’s pretty cute.”
“It wears off.”
“I’m telling,” Katy said jumping off the bed and running from the room.
“That was easier than I thought,” Tara said closing the door and locking it. “They aren’t used to me having company,” immediately wishing she hadn’t said that.
“It’s really okay, I like kids,” Willow said. “I wish I had a younger sister.”
“That’s because you don’t,” Tara smiled, easing her way across the room and trying to hide the pile of her underclothes that had managed to find their way out of her drawer, undoubtedly Katy’s doing. Willow noticed what Tara was doing, but chose not to mention it as it was obvious that Tara didn’t want her to see those things.
“So are you excited about starting school?” Willow asked sitting on the nearest bed, which she assumed to be Tara’s as the bunk beds were both covered in pink Barbie sheets.
“Kinda,” Tara said, “are you?”
“Yeah very excited. I love school,” Willow said completely aware of the fact that she sounded a bit dorky, but it wasn’t like she was trying to impress Tara, right? “I already told you I’m alone a lot and with school I get to be around my friends all day long. I also kinda enjoy the homework,” Willow admitted blushing.
“Me too, it gives me something to do here other than clean,” Tara said. “I signed up for creative writing this year. We didn’t have that at my last school. I love to write.”
“I’m more on the math side of things myself,” Willow said, “math and computers. Don’t get me wrong, I like writing too, but I’m not good at the creative side of it. I’m really good when it comes to creatively writing computer programs,” Willow smiled.
“I’m no good with computers. I have to take a computer literacy class… I’m so nervous,” Tara sat down on her bed next to Willow, finally relaxing. “Maybe you can help with it and I can help you with any writing stuff.”
“I’d be happy to help you,” Willow beamed.
“LET ME IN!” Katy screamed, banging loudly on the door.
Tara looked apologetically at Willow and went to the door to let her sister in.
“Thank you. You thought you could trick me, but I’m too smart for that. I told on you and I still get to come back in,” Katy said climbing onto the top bunk. “I sleep up here,” Katy said to Willow. “What’s your name?”
“Willow.”
“Like the tree,” Katy smiled pleased with herself at her knowledge.
“Yeah,” Willow giggled.
“My sister is named after a flower, Lily,” Katy pronounced still pleased.
“Katy I think I hear mom calling you,” Tara said wishing to be alone with Willow again. This was probably the only time she would have a girl in her room, on her bed, and for some reason she felt like her little sister was an intrusion, even though nothing was happening.
“I don’t think…” Just then her mother came to the door.
“I brought you your lunch,” she said placing a tray on the dresser. “Come on Katy, downstairs. I told you not to bother your sister.”
“Mommy, it’s my room too,” Katy pleaded.
“I know it is, and when Tara’s company leaves you can come back and bug her as much as you want, let’s go,” Elizabeth said smiling at Tara as she ushered Katy out of the room.
“Is it okay to sit on your bed and eat?” Willow asked before returning to the bed with the tray. She had gotten up to retrieve it before Tara had gotten the chance.
“Sure,” Tara smiled.
“I’m really glad I came over today,” Willow said. She was indeed very happy to have officially met Tara, despite the fact that it didn’t seem to be doing anything about the thoughts she was having. Every time she looked at the girl in front her, her shirt stretched tightly across her breasts, Willow found it very hard to think of anything else, but she suddenly could’ve cared less about that.
“Me too,” Tara said, thinking for a moment that she had caught Willow looking at her chest. The thought made her blush and she thought about how stupid she must look blushing for seemingly nothing.
“Do you want to do something tomorrow?” Willow asked.
“I can’t,” Tara frowned.
“Oh,” Willow said feeling very stupid.
“I want to,” Tara said seeing the hurt look on Willow’s face, “I just can’t. I have to be here tomorrow, my dad… I have to be here.”
“Some other time?”
“I hope so,” Tara said. “Willow?”
“Yeah.”
“I… I’m glad that you came today and glad that you want to be my friend,” Tara blurted out.
“I’m glad that you want to be my friend,” Willow smiled reaching out her hand to Tara. She had no idea why she had done it, but she briefly held the others girl’s hand and gave it a squeeze before letting go. It was electric. Tara’s hand was so soft and warm and she wanted desperately to grasp it again, but thought it probably wasn’t a good idea. Tara was probably already thinking she was some kind of freak for doing it in the first place. She looked up at Tara’s eyes, and found that Tara was staring down at her hand as if she were still touching it. Willow was certain she’d made a mistake. “I guess I should go now,” Willow said wanting to run screaming from the room. What a fool she had been?
“Really? Now?” Tara asked looking up disappointed.
“Well…” Willow said, maybe she had been wrong.
“I mean if you have to you know its okay,” Tara said.
“I guess I really should,” Willow said looking at the clock she hadn’t realized she had been gone so long. Her mom had told her to be home at 2:00 because she had some people coming over. “Are you sure we can’t get together tomorrow? If you have to be here I can come here, I can help.”
“I wish you could, but I don’t think my dad would like that,” Tara said.
“Your dad must be pretty strict,” Willow said.
“Yeah,” Tara shook her head. “Are you busy Monday? My dad will be starting work then and he won’t be home all day,” Tara said.
“Sure,” Willow beamed, getting up from the bed. Tara followed her to the door. Willow walked down the stairs and to the front door.
“I’ll see you Monday,” Tara said smiling as she opened the front door for Willow.
“Bye Tara,” Willow said leaning in and hugging her in another shocking moment of bravery. She was pleased to see Tara eagerly accept the hug.
“Bye Willow.” Tara closed the front door behind her friend and leaned back against it. The room must have been eight hundred degrees. Willow had squeezed her hand and given her a hug. Surely that was a sign of more than friendship. Panic seized Tara; she didn’t know how to be more than friends. What if that was what Willow was after? Yes, it would be wonderful, but what should she do next? How should she act? And how do you even tell if someone does like you that way?
“Got yourself a little friend, I see,” Donnie said peeking over the back of the sofa. “Cute little redhead. Is she available?”
“No,” Tara said turning bright red.
“Nice hug.”
“Shut up, Donnie,” Tara said attempting to go up the stairs, but her brother jumped in front of her.
“Oh come on, sis, don’t I even get to tease you for a little while about your little…”
“Don’t say it,” Tara said stopping her brother. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure,” Donnie said unsettled by his sister’s sudden change in attitude.
“Not here, let’s go to your room,” Tara said heading passed the stairs toward Donnie’s room. After Donnie had entered Tara closed the door and began pacing the room. Donnie sat down on his bed waiting for Tara to speak. “How do you know when someone likes you?”
“Likes you how?”
“Likes you as more than a friend,” Tara said turning her back to her brother.
“You want me to tell you if this redhead likes you?” Donnie said a big smirk on his face, he was absolutely loving this. Tara never came to him for advice about anything, much less her none existent love life. There was no way he was going to make this easy on her.
“Willow, her name is Willow, and yes I do. Please don’t torture me and just help me out, you’re my big brother and my best friend,” Tara said turning on the charm.
“I won’t torture you, but honestly, sis, I don’t know if this girl likes you. I only saw her say goodbye. What did you guys do?”
“Well we talked in my room about school and stuff like that. Oh and she held my hand for a minute and then she squeezed it before she let go, and she wanted to make plans for tomorrow, but you know I can’t do that, so we decided on Monday. Do you think that stuff means anything?”
“Maybe.”
“I can’t tell you how helpful you’ve been,” Tara said turning to leave.
“Wait a minute,” Donnie said catching his sister’s attention. He felt kinda bad that he wasn’t really trying hard to help her. “It might mean something, it might not. Some girls are just touchy feely and it doesn’t mean they like you at all. You really need to see her with her other friends to know if it’s more than that or not. I think there’s a good chance she does like you.”
“Do you really mean that?” Tara asked.
“Yeah,” Donnie said, happy that he could make his sister happy even if what he was saying wasn’t exactly true.
“I can’t wait until Monday,” Tara said running from the room.


‘I can’t wait until Monday,’ Willow thought walking back to her house. ‘So things didn’t go exactly like I planned. They didn’t go anything like I planned. I was supposed to not be thinking about Tara anymore, and well I’m definitely thinking about her. Tara, isn’t that the most beautiful name you’ve ever heard, Tara…Tara… I could think it all day. I wish I knew what all this meant. I guess I know what it means, but it can’t mean that. I need to stop thinking about it so much. Thinking about it is just making me all…discombobulated. I just need to not think. It was so easy in Tara’s room to just do what I felt and not think about any of it. I hope I didn’t freak her out cause I hugged her, I mean she totally hugged me back. And hugging doesn’t mean anything; I’ve hugged Buffy tons of times, millions of times even. Oh, but hugging Tara was so different. For one thing I could feel her breasts pressed against mine and… ohhhh… I don’t think I’ll ever forget how that feels. I’ve never felt that before when I’ve hugged Buffy. I’m sure that’s its happened cause well… hello… we’re both girls and we have boobs,’ Willow thought looking down at her own chest. ‘Maybe not big ones, but I do have something there. And the way Tara smelled… that was different too. I never noticed how Buffy smelled, but Tara, it just jumped right out at me, like it was filling me. I’ll never forget that either.’
“Hey, Will,” Xander said running up to his friend. “I was just going to see you. Where have you been? Buffy said she got a weird phone call from you earlier, I was coming to check on you.”
“Hey, yeah… I was a little off earlier. I was just taking a walk and I feel a lot better now,” Willow said unable to wipe the smile off her face.
“So you’re okay?” Xander asked again.
“I’m great, well… I do have to go home, so I could be better. My parents are having company tonight. Hey, do you wanna come?”
“Me come to a dinner party at your house? Yeah right,” Xander said stuffing his hands into his pockets.
“Come on, Xand, help me out,” Willow pleaded.
“No way, Will, not a chance. I hate these things. I always end up doing something stupid and completely embarrassing myself. I can’t ever remember what fork is for what, and then there’s the soup spoon and the dessert spoon, and the cloth napkin, it’s too complicated.”
“I’ll help you,” Willow said.
“The answer is no, stop pressuring me,” Xander said acting hurt. “Just call Buffy; she’s good at this sort of thing.”
“I don’t want to call Buffy. You didn’t hear the weird phone call and I really don’t want to explain any of it to her right now. Maybe I could just play sick again, or you could lie and say something happened and I can spend the night at your house comforting you,” Willow said hopefully.
“Lie to your mom and dad; have you completely lost your mind?”
“It wouldn’t be so bad if you did it though,” Willow said. “Please, I really don’t want to do this tonight. It’s mom’s old friend from college and undoubtedly she’s going to bring her children, who are probably around my age, and then they’re going to get into a contest who’s child is more successful and if that doesn’t happen my mom will try to set me up with one of them. I can’t deal with that, I’m just starting to feel better.”
“Maybe it would be good for you to be set up with someone. I mean you’ve never really…”
“Alexander Lavelle Harris… I don’t believe you. You think I should let myself be fixed up with some… some… loser? I could get someone better than that. In fact I have. I just didn’t want to tell you. I’m dating someone right now, and they’re hot and we’re madly in love,” Willow said fuming.
“Okay, Will,” Xander said laughing disbelievingly.
“I am dating someone,” Willow said.
“I know,” Xander said walking down the street.
‘Great, now I’m lying to my friends,’ Willow thought continuing on her way to her house. ‘He deserved it though. I can’t believe he thinks I should go out with one of these bookworm, study all the time, smarter than smart… wait a minute… I’m describing myself, but still I don’t want to date me. Ughhh… what did I ever see in him.’ Willow stopped in front of her house really not wanting to go in. She kept wondering if there was anything she could come up with that would get her out of this. She could fake sick some more. She had told her mom that she was just taking a walk and she could claim that while she was out on her walk her head had started bothering her again and she had to keep resting on the way home and that’s why she was gone so long. It might just work.
“Willow, where have you been? The Robertson’s are going to be here any minute and you need to change,” her mother said.
“Mom, I’m not feeling well… my head started hurting and I had rest a lot on the way home. I think I need to lie down,” Willow said.
“I need you to be out here for dinner.”
“I know and I’m sorry, but I’m feeling so bad,” Willow feigned a dizzy spell.
“Fine, Willow, I don’t know how I’m going to explain this. If you don’t feel well I don’t want to hear any noise from your room. No phone calls, no TV, no radio, you need to lie down and rest.”
“Of course,” Willow said heading to her room. She broke out in a huge smile as soon as her mother couldn’t see her. It had worked, and her mother didn’t say anything about going online. This gave her the perfect opportunity to look up stuff about being… she couldn’t bring herself to even think it, but she could look it up.

[cantbefredless]

YAY!! loving how Willow went over to Tara's just to meet her.. i love this story its soo cute... Keep writing this story and im going to go do a happy dance

[SJ]

Great update.

[BigBlueEyes]

Yay, I can't wait for more, this is really great.

[BigBlueEyes]

Yay, I can't wait for more, this is really great.

[tarebear]

yup! this is really an interesting story... willow was thrown by the fact that she is attracted with a girl but is slowly getting the grips of things... even going online to research about it hehe... tara is obviously crushing on the girl but there's the fear of her father finding out... if she gets that many paddling for covering for her little sister, i don't even want to think what he would do when he finds out about her daughter's preference in girls...

i can't wait for what happens to them on monday! more soon please.