The Kitten, the Witches and the Bad Wardrobe - Willow & Tara Forever

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 Post subject: Road to Recovery [Complete]
PostPosted: Sun Jun 13, 2010 4:53 am 
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7. Teeny Tinkerbell Light
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Joined: Wed Aug 19, 2009 9:20 am
Posts: 673
Topics: 1
Title: Road to Recovery
Disclaimer: Don't own them, don't sue me.
Spoilers: Season 4-5
Summary: After a horrible accident, Willow meets a new friend. As they grow closer, can they fight the growing tension on the Hellmouth while they struggle to deal with Willow's recovery? *AU Season 4* Starts after 'Wild at Heart' with one major difference that will be evident immediately.

I'm sorry to do this, but I'm going to have to go back to posting once a week (Sundays) because I've got too much going on and these chapters are just too long for me to try and edit more than one a week, and I want them to be in good shape before I post so once a week will give me time to make them better - and because I realize not everyone can read as fast as I do, so it'll give more people time to read each one.

Chapter 1 of 15

There was a steady beeping somewhere behind her and it was making her head pound painfully as she rose to consciousness slowly. She raised one hand to swat at whatever was making the noise, but the attempt sent sharp pain through her arm. Quickly there was a firm but gentle hand on her shoulder, holding her arm against the mattress.

She could hear a voice and she knew that she knew the speaker, but it took her several seconds to recognize the other person. “Buffy?” she groaned out, trying to force her eyes open.

“Willow, it’s me, I’m here.” She felt Buffy brush hair back from her face, and she managed to get her heavy eyelids to obey her. The Slayer was obviously worried, and didn’t appear to have showered in a few days.

“Where are we?” she asked, her voice hoarse and rough.

Buffy looked decidedly guilty, her fingers pushing at her own hair now. “We’re at the hospital, Will. How much do you remember?” she asked gently.

Willow tried to think, her brain still fuzzy. The first thing she remembered was Oz, naked and curled around that wolf woman. She dimly remembered fleeing, tears blinding her. She’d made it out of the graveyard, remembered bumping into someone on the sidewalk, remembered hearing Buffy scream her name, but then nothing…

“What happened?” she asked hoarsely, feeling pain radiate in her chest as she coughed.

Buffy helpfully held a straw to her lips, prompting the hacker to drink. Willow took long sips of the cold water as Buffy tried to gather herself, tears in her eyes.

“I couldn’t get there fast enough, Will. I’m so sorry,” the Slayer apologized. “Riley tried to pull you back, but we were too slow…”

Willow swallowed her water, mustering the courage to look down at herself. She couldn’t move her neck far enough to see anything and it occurred to her that she was in a neck brace.

“You got hit by the car, Willow,” Buffy said, her tears streaming down her face.

Willow let her eyes close, sucking in a deep, shuddering, painful breath. She could hear Buffy crying and she wondered how long the Slayer had been there, watching over her.

“How bad?” she asked simply, not opening her eyes.

Buffy pulled herself together, sniffling as she spoke. “You cracked a bunch of ribs, and your right leg is broken in four places and they had to put some pins in it, or something. Your right arm isn’t as bad, but it’ll be in a cast for a few weeks.” She hesitated, taking a deep breath. “The doctor says you’ll walk again though. You’ll be in casts for a few months, and after you get them off you’ll have to use a wheelchair or a cane or something until you finish physical therapy.” She smiled weakly, repeating herself anxiously, “The doctor said you should be able to walk again though, it’ll just take a while and you’ll have to be careful from now on.”

Willow surprised Buffy and herself by laughing softly. “I can handle that. I was never much good at sports and stuff anyway.”

Buffy let out a sob even as she laughed, and she couldn’t restrain herself from leaning over to press a kiss to Willow’s forehead. “Willow,” she started to speak, stopping as Willow shook her head as much as she could.

“Buffy, please don’t,” Willow pleaded with her, tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes. If Buffy lost it, there would be no way to stop herself from completely collapsing. “How long have I been here?” she asked, voice cracking.

“You were in surgery for eight hours the first day, and you’ve been asleep since then. Three days total,” she answered. “Riley went to all of your professors, and he’s getting all of your assignments though, so don’t worry about that.”

“What about your classes?” Willow asked, smiling weakly. Buffy blinked in surprise, smiling guiltily. “You’re looking kind of rough, Buff.” She coughed as she finished speaking and Buffy held the cup of water for her to drink again.

The Slayer grimaced, letting out a deep breath as Willow finished drinking and Buffy let her hands turn the cup absently in her grip. “I didn’t want to leave you here.” She hesitated. “Your parents…”

“They’re not here,” Willow guessed knowingly.

“Not yet,” Buffy agreed. “Xander’s been coming and going only because they would only let one of us sleep here.”

“And you’re staying because you feel guilty,” Willow guessed again, cracking a smile as Buffy sighed but didn’t argue. “It was an accident, Buffy.”

“You’re my best friend, Willow! I should have gotten to you! I should have been there!” Buffy said vehemently. The plastic cup in her hands creaked as she unconsciously tightened her grip and she hesitated again, her eyes lingering on the cup. “Willow, Oz, he hasn’t…he told Xander you wouldn’t want to see him.”

Willow squeezed her eyes shut, tears streaming faster now. She tried to move her arm again, frustrated by what she now realized was an IV tube in her wrist. Her other arm was in a cast from fingers to shoulder, and she couldn’t muster the strength to lift it.

She heard herself whimper in pain, but she wouldn’t have been able to say if the pain was physical or emotional. “I can’t, not yet,” she groaned. “She was there, that morning, that wolf, Veru…” she choked on the name and Buffy put together what had happened.

“Willow, I’m so sorry.” Buffy felt her eyes slide closed. “God, Will, I’m sorry.”

Willow opened her eyes as she heard Buffy suddenly moving quickly around the room. “Where are you going?” she asked weakly.

“I’m going to find her and finish this,” Buffy said ominously, lifting the phone at Willow’s bedside and starting to dial. “I’ll get Xander to come sit with you.”

She stopped as Willow’s hand closed over her wrist, the redhead hissing in pain at the motion. “Please stay with me,” Willow requested, tears sliding quickly down her face. “I…please, Buffy,” she pleaded, hiccupping back a sob.

Buffy dropped the phone back into the cradle, leaning over to wrap her arms around Willow gently, letting the redhead cry against her, sobbing her pain into her shoulder. The Slayer soothed her gently, her fingers sliding through her friend’s short red hair. “I love you, Willow. I’ll do anything you need me to. Anything you want me to do,” she breathed, feeling Willow tremble against her, her small body racked with pain as her tears finally slowed.

Buffy’s fingers found the button on the side of the bed to trigger the painkiller, and she felt Willow relax suddenly against her. She pulled back as she heard the door open behind her. A glance over her shoulder revealed Xander in the doorway, Willow’s parents in the hall behind him.

“Just a second, Xander,” she said quickly, grateful when he nodded and shut the door without comment. “Will,” Buffy prompted her, snatching tissues from the box on the bedside table and gently wiping the tears from her friend’s face. “Your parents are here. Do you want me to let them in?”

The witch squeezed her eyes closed tightly, more tears sliding down her face. Buffy wiped them away with the tissue, her brow furrowed in concern. “They can come in,” Willow gasped, her voice still rough and hoarse.

“Want me to stay?” Buffy asked.

Willow took a deep breath, her eyes still closed. “I want you to stay, but you need to take a shower my friend,” she said, a weak smile rising to her lips.

Buffy snorted in laughter, feeling something like relief that Willow was joking with her. “I love you, Willow,” she said, resting a hand on her friend’s shoulder.

“I love you too, Buffy,” Willow said, her eyes opening slowly. “You’ll go home, right? Don’t go after…”

The Slayer sighed, nodding reluctantly, her arms crossing over her chest unconsciously. “I’ll go home Will, but I’m coming back after I get a shower and grab a change of clothes.”

“You need to patrol, Buffy,” Willow objected.

“I’ve already failed you once this week, I’m not just going to leave you here alone,” Buffy denied.

Willow sighed. “You didn’t fail me, Buffy. It could have happened any time. I learned a long time ago that you’re supposed to look both ways before you cross the street.”

Buffy grimaced, knowing Willow was right, but shaking her head. “I’ll patrol, but I’m sleeping in that chair,” she said firmly, pointing at the chair in the corner, the cushions obviously the subject of some recent abuse. Willow’s mouth opened to protest, but Buffy cut her off. “Listen, Will, I know you’re going to say I should go home, but I can’t go back to our room when you’re here. You’re my best friend, the closest thing I have to a sister, and I need to be here with you.”

Willow stared at her in silence, taking a deep breath, and finally nodding. “Thank you, Buffy.” There was a long silence and Willow smiled wearily. “You can let my parents in now. Go home, take a shower, and I’ll see you later.”

Buffy leaned over, pressing a kiss to the redhead’s forehead. “I’ll be back soon, I promise. I’ll make sure Xander is going to stay the whole time your parents are here, okay?” she offered. “Do you need anything before I go? Is there anything I can bring back for you?”

“I’ll be fine,” Willow breathed unconvincingly. “And you don’t have to come back.”

“I’m coming back,” Buffy reiterated firmly. “I’m going to stake some vampires, and then I’ll be back to spend the night. I’m not out of this hospital until you are.”

Willow knew she should argue with the Slayer, but she honestly couldn’t muster the willpower. The truth was, if she was trapped in the hospital, potentially going to be stuck in a wheelchair, she didn’t want to be alone. “Thank you,” she said quietly.

Buffy nodded, squeezing Willow’s shoulder gently before she moved to answer the door. Willow’s parents pushed into the room, leaving Xander and Buffy in the doorway. A doctor followed them into the room, and Willow’s parents gave him all of their attention, barely giving their daughter a perfunctory glance and nod.

Xander and Buffy exchanged looks, the young man crossing his arms over his chest. He gave Willow a sympathetic glance, letting out a deep breath. Buffy guided him out of the room by an elbow, giving Willow an encouraging smile.

“How is she?” he asked, anxiety and concern on his face and in his voice.

Buffy sighed, glancing through the doorway. “I don’t think it’s all hit her yet,” she said, wincing before the statement was even out of her mouth. “You know what I mean,” she said almost guiltily. “She told me what happened with Oz.”

Xander’s arms loosened from across his chest, swinging anxiously at his sides. “What did she say? What happened?”

“That chick Veruca is a werewolf. She was in the cage that morning when Willow went to see Oz…”

Xander grimaced, groaning. “He didn’t…” Buffy just nodded, glaring at the smooth linoleum of the hospital floor. “He did…” Xander corrected himself. “Willow caught them…”

“And left crying and got hit by a car,” Buffy finished the statement. “I know you saw Oz once since the accident, where was he?” she asked.

Xander glanced at her, surprised. “He found me at the bar,” he said. “I had a shift the other night and he came in. He didn’t mention that Veruca girl though, just told me Will wouldn’t want to see him.”

Buffy shuddered, glaring at him. “I thought you were going to quit working at that place,” she grumbled. “Did Oz say where he was heading?” she asked.

“No. Why? You going werewolf hunting?” Xander asked, frowning.

Buffy sighed, shaking her head. “No, Will asked me not to. And it’s not a wolf night anymore. I was just hoping that if I bumped into him on the street, I could justify kicking a little wolfy butt,” she confessed.

“If you find Veruca, I think you should go nuts, full moon or no,” Xander said bitterly.

Buffy nodded firmly. “Definitely.” She took a deep breath. “Will’s sending me home to take a shower and a patrol, but then I’m heading back here for the night. Will you stay with her while her parents are here?”

Xander nodded. “Of course. I should probably get back in there for moral support. You be careful on patrol,” he said, giving Buffy a stern look. “I can’t look out after both of you if you end up in here too.”

Buffy nodded, clapping him on the back. “I’ll be careful. You’ll stay until I can make it back?”

He nodded. “Yeah, no problem.”

Buffy gave one last glance into Willow’s room, the diminutive redhead looking smaller than ever in her hospital bed surrounded by wires and casts, and Buffy had a flash of memory of Willow’s last incarceration in the hospital after the library had been attacked by Angelus’ men a year and a half before. She heaved a heavy sigh before setting off down the hall.

Willow was asleep when she returned, but Xander was as good as his word and was still there. He had turned off the lights to allow the witch to sleep, and was reading an old magazine in the light from the lamp. Buffy handed him a cup off the cardboard tray in her hand and dropped a brown paper bag into his lap.

“I brought some dinner,” she said quietly, perching herself on the armrest of the chair.

Xander took a long sip of his drink, holding one of the sandwiches out to her. “Did you already eat?” he asked, keeping his voice down as well.

Buffy shrugged. “Not really hungry. I should have gotten to her, Xander. She shouldn’t be here.”

He looked at her in silence, her eyes lingering on the body of their friend. She looked down at him as he pushed the food into her hands firmly. “Take the sandwich, Buffy,” he ordered as she opened her mouth to protest. “What happened to Will was a horrible accident. It wasn’t your fault.” She still looked ready to argue with him and he pressed a hand against her knee. “You can’t help her get better if you’re beating yourself up over this. She’s going to need us, and we need to be there for her.”

Buffy wilted, her shoulders slumping suddenly, and she picked up the sandwich, unwrapping it slowly. Willow stirred as the paper crinkled, a short moan tearing from her lips as she moved, and Buffy and Xander both moved quickly to the bedsides.

“Will, you awake?” Xander asked, one of his hands finding her fingers where they stuck out of her cast, the plaster leaving only her ring and pinky fingers free. The digits twitched under his touch and her eyes cracked open slowly.

“Hey, Xander,” she greeted him softly, voice thick with sleep and pain. “You’re still here.”

He nodded, swallowing thickly. “Yeah, of course I am, Will. And Buffy’s back,” he said, gesturing to the other side of the bed.

“Hey, Will,” Buffy said, trying to force cheerfulness into her voice.

“The doctor said I can go home in a few days,” Willow said.

Buffy smiled genuinely at that news. “Really? That’s good, right?”

Willow nodded as much as she could. “Yeah, and they’re taking the neck brace off tomorrow. They want me to sleep in it tonight, but the x-rays are back and my spine isn’t broken, so I can go home once they’re satisfied that there’s no internal bleeding. I need to stay for observation, but I should be able to leave by the weekend.”

Buffy rested a hand on her friend’s shoulder. “That’s great, Will. And we’ll have the day off to help you move your stuff.”

Willow frowned in confusion. “I know I got hit by a car, so my brains are a little fuzzy, but I think I missed a step there.”

“You said you’re going home,” Buffy said, confused herself.

Willow snorted, immediately grimacing as pain spread through her chest. “I didn’t mean I was moving back in with my parents, Buffy. They’re leaving to go back to wherever they were on Sunday. They would never let a little thing like getting hit by a car cause me to drop out of school, even just for the rest of the semester.”

Buffy exchanged looks with Xander, grimacing apologetically. “Sorry, Willow. That’s kind of harsh.”

Willow shrugged as much as she was able under all the bandaging, coughing weakly. “I’m not surprised. And you know me, I’d be going nuts if I didn’t have something to do while I’m going to be trapped in a wheelchair. Schoolwork will be a good distraction.”

The little redhead was yawning before either of her friends could think of anything to say in response. “I should let you get some sleep,” Xander said. “I don’t have to work tomorrow, so I’ll come back in the morning,” he offered, getting a weak smile from Willow. “I’ll bring doughnuts,” he said.

“Thanks, Xander,” Buffy murmured, smiling over the bed at him.

Willow’s eyelids were dragging, and she muttered something unintelligible, her two fingers curling around his. Xander leaned over slowly, pressing a kiss to his oldest friend’s cheek.

He collected his sandwich and the jacket he’d been wearing, lingering in the doorway. “You’re sure I can’t stay?” he asked.

Buffy followed his eyes back to Willow. “You know I would appreciate it, and so would Willow, but that night nurse is a real stickler,” she complained. It was not the first time that the Slayer had faced off against this particular night nurse, and their efforts to insist that both of them should be permitted to stay had only ensured that the nurse checked every night to make sure that only one of the Scoobies had stayed.

He sighed, nodding. “Fine, but I’ll be back first thing tomorrow,” he said, sliding one arm over her shoulder in a sideways hug. “You get some sleep, Buffy. The shower helped, but you look almost as bad as Willow. Just, you know, without all the casts and stuff.” The blonde sighed heavily, another wave of guilt washing over her and Xander squeezed her again. “Stop it,” he said seriously before her expression could change. “Sleep good, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

She nodded and walked him out, shutting the door behind him with a quiet click. Willow looked pale and shrunken in the dimness, and the sight sent an almost physical pain through Buffy’s chest. Her steps were silent as she crossed the room, clicking off the lamp and curling herself into the armchair that had been her bed for the last three days, her eyes watching the steady breathing of her friend in the darkness.

*****

The sun was bright enough to make Willow’s eyes water when Buffy eventually wheeled her out of the hospital Saturday morning. The doctors had finally relented to Willow’s claims that she was feeling as well as could be expected and that there was no reason for her to remain incarcerated in the hospital.

“You’re sure you’re ready to go?” Buffy checked a final time, hesitating at the top of the wheelchair ramp.

Willow sighed, nodding eagerly. “Yes! Please! How are you not going crazy to get out of here? We’ve been in here for almost a week! You haven’t left since Wednesday!”

Buffy shrugged. Honestly, she had been getting antsy in the hospital room, but she was determined to stay until Willow got to leave too. “I just want to make sure you’re ready for this,” the Slayer said, seeing her mother’s Jeep pull into the parking circle. Buffy guided the chair down the ramp, Willow unable to drive the chair for herself because of her right arm’s cast from shoulder to fingers.

Joyce was already out of the car when they reached her and she leaned over to kiss Willow on the cheek. “I’m glad you’re finally out of the hospital, Willow dear,” she said sincerely.

The redhead nodded, smiling gratefully. “Me too. Thank you so much for the ride, Mrs. Summers.”

Joyce nodded. “Of course, Willow,” she said, opening the door to the car for Buffy.

The Slayer studied her friend’s wheelchair for a long moment before she leaned over, sliding one arm around Willow’s shoulders, the other sliding under her knees. “You ready?” she asked, waiting for Willow’s nod before she lifted her friend.

It was tricky with both Willow’s right arm and right leg frozen with no flexibility, but Buffy managed to get the redhead into the backseat without jostling her too bad, her injured leg lying flat across the backseat. Buffy carefully shut the door, giving Willow something to lean on, and she broke down the wheelchair as quickly as she could and stuck it inside the cargo area at the back of the car.

Joyce had the car started when Buffy got into the front seat, and the Slayer leaned over into the back to buckle Willow’s seat belt for her, the redhead unable to reach it. Willow gave her a grateful, if frustrated smile, and Buffy nodded as she turned back forward in her own seat.

They rode in silence and Buffy carefully lifted Willow back into her chair when they reached the UC Sunnydale campus. Joyce gave them both another kiss on the cheek before leaving them, and Buffy pushed the chair into the lounge of their dorm.

It was only then that Willow remembered that their room was on the second floor of Stevenson. “Buffy,” she started, looking over her shoulder questioningly as the Slayer pushed the chair through the lounge and down an unfamiliar hallway.

The Slayer seemed to be counting in her head as they walked down the hall, and she pulled the chair to a stop outside of a room. She leaned over Willow’s shoulder to knock and gave Willow a reassuring smile. The door opened a second later and Willow was surprised to see that all of her and Buffy’s belongings had been transported into this new room.

“Ta-da,” Buffy announced dramatically. “I got us switched to the ground floor so you wouldn’t have to count on that questionable elevator,” she said.

“And it might have been suspicious if Buff had to carry your chair up the stairs,” Xander agreed as he came into the hallway, careful to keep his voice down as Riley came out after him.

Willow giggled, seeing Buffy wink at her as she pulled Xander into a hug with her good arm. “You guys, thank you,” she said sincerely, pulling a flustered Riley into a hug after she released Xander.

“I think we’ve mostly got everything the way it was upstairs, but check it out and let us know if we messed anything up too bad,” Riley offered, one hand rubbing at the back of his neck.

Buffy gave him a grateful smile as she pushed Willow’s chair into their new room. Everything looked the same as their room upstairs, and she smirked as she noticed the strap of her weapons bag sticking out from under her bed, smiling sadly as she saw the Dingoes poster on the wall.

“It looks good guys, thanks a lot,” she told them as the boys followed them back into the room. Something occurred to her suddenly and she smirked, resolutely pushing the problems with Oz to the back of her mind. “How did you get our clothes down here?” she asked, gesturing to the bolted down dressers that each room was equipped with.

Riley blushed and Xander shrugged. “We didn’t look at anything!” he denied loudly. “We switched the drawers! And look!” he exclaimed, pulling a flattened pizza box from somewhere. “We used this to cover the top of them so we couldn’t see anything!”

Willow and Buffy exchanged glances and grins, laughing. “Well, we appreciate the discretion,” Buffy said, stepping forward to pat each of them on the chest, and standing on her toes to give both of them a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks for doing all this for us.”

“No problem, Buffy,” Riley said, his eyes dropping lower to find Willow. “I’m glad you’re going to be okay,” he said, giving her a smile. “I hate to rush off, but I’ve got some work due for the professor, so I need to go, but all of your assignments are on each of your desks whenever you’re up for it,” he said, gesturing to the stacks of papers on either side of the room.

“Thank you, Riley. I really appreciate it,” Willow told him. He nodded, giving Buffy a final smile as he slid out the door. Buffy was staring after him and Willow twisted herself slightly to poke the Slayer with her cast. “Go on,” she prompted with a smile. “Xander’s here to make sure my chair doesn’t tip over or something, and I won’t be responsible for what I do if I have to put up with the sighing for the rest of the day because you didn’t get to see Riley,” she said, laughing as Buffy threw her arms around the wheelchair bound witch before running out the door after Riley.

“I’ll be right back!” they heard Buffy call over her shoulder.

Xander grinned as he took a seat on the corner of Willow’s bed, uncomfortable looming over her since she couldn’t stand up. “That was nice of you,” he said.

“Yeah, well they’re completely obviously crushing on each other,” she said. “And I’ve been keeping Buffy away from her life enough.”

Xander frowned at her. “You and Buffy need to stop it with the crushing guilt thing you’re both doing,” he chided. “You feel guilty that she’s trying to take care of you, and she’s guilty that she didn’t somehow stop that car from hitting you.” He leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “You might not like it, but we’re your best friends and we are going to help you through this. Just let us try at least?” he requested, one hand coming to rest on her good knee, careful not to squeeze it, the skin still covered in scratches and yellowing, slow to fade bruises.

Willow sighed, nodding. “I know, I just already hate being in this chair, and I know it won’t be easy to live with me, and you guys have already done so much.”

“You’re our Willow,” Xander said simply. “You know that there’s nothing we wouldn’t do for you.”

She smiled weakly. “Thanks, Xander. Can you do something for me now?”

He jumped to his feet with a wide grin. “Name it,” he said cheerfully.

She giggled, nodding her head backwards at the desk. “Is my calendar still on the desk?”

He nodded, finding it quickly in the organization they’d duplicated on Willow’s desk, taking care that everything was where it had been upstairs.

“Can you put these dates on it?” she asked, finding a folded sheet of paper in the pocket of the baggy sweatshirt she was wearing, actually one of Xander’s if she wasn’t mistaken. They had had to cut the right sleeve off the sweatshirt, but she was wearing shorts to accommodate the bulky cast on her leg. “And maybe get me a blanket?” she added. “My leg is cold.”

He glanced around the room, finding a folded blanket at the foot of Buffy’s bed and he rolled playfully across Willow’s bed to get to it. Willow laughed, but gave him a kiss on his cheek as he tucked the blanket around her carefully, draping it over her bare toes as well. With Willow settled, he took his seat back on the corner of the bed, holding her large calendar in his lap. She handed him the folded paper, and he carefully transcribed the dates onto their respective days on the calendar.

“What are these?” he asked as he glanced back and forth between the paper and the calendar.

“Doctor’s appointments, and tentative days when I can get casts off,” she answered.

Buffy returned just then, flopping onto Willow’s bed to read over Xander’s shoulder. “Hey, you get your arm cast off in a month!” she said cheerfully. “That won’t be too bad.”

“And once it’s off, I can start using crutches some instead of this stupid chair,” Willow added.

“That’s great!” Buffy agreed, nodding.

“Can you help me with something?” Willow asked, laughing as Buffy hopped to her feet as eagerly as Xander had. “Xand, where did my laptop end up?” He looked around, finding it tucked under the desk. Buffy retrieved it quickly, holding the case where Willow could see it. “Can you set it up on my desk?” she asked, struggling to turn her chair with only one hand. Xander abandoned his writing to help her, turning the chair so she could see her desk.

Buffy put the assignments Riley had collected neatly to the side and carefully set up the computer, crawling under the desk to plug it in. She grinned as she turned it on. “What’s next, boss?”

Willow laughed, her good hand rising protectively to her ribs. “Xander, did you see a dark green backpack when you were moving the room?”

He thought for a second, tapping his pen idly against his bottom lip. “Yeah, I think it ended up in one of the closets.”

Buffy nodded quickly, already moving to check in Willow’s closet. “Found it!” she called from in the closet. “Do you need the whole thing, or just something that’s in here?” she asked as she carried it into the room.

“There should be a microphone in there,” Willow answered, using her good foot to scoot her chair closer to the desk, groaning as pain shot through her weak muscles at the sudden exertion. “And where are those pills the doctors gave me?” she asked, her hand covering her stomach now.

Buffy slapped the pockets of her jacket, finding the bottle quickly and shaking out several of the pills while Xander moved to the mini fridge and retrieved a bottle of water. Willow blinked as both items were thrust under her nose, taking them one at a time and smiling gratefully after she swallowed the medicine.

“Thanks, guys,” Willow murmured, feeling almost embarrassed, and Xander went back to his writing without commenting.

“What do you want me to do with the microphone? Where did you get a microphone anyway?” Buffy asked. Barely a second later, she was slapping a hand to her forehead. “Oh, yeah, never mind,” she commented sheepishly.

“Just plug it in,” Willow directed, her voice hoarse suddenly. “There’s a place for it on the side there,” she said, pointing with her good hand before surreptitiously wiping her eyes and clearing her throat, blinking her eyes furiously.

Buffy found the spot and plugged the microphone into the laptop. The computer didn’t do anything and she turned her eyes back to Willow.

“Move my chair over there, so I can reach it,” Willow directed, taking a deep breath. Buffy tried to put the chair into a typical position at the desk, but was frustrated by Willow’s frozen right leg. She finally ended up parking Willow’s chair parallel with the desk and moved the computer to the edge of the desk so that Willow could reach it with her left hand.

The hacker did something, little boxes popping up on the screen, and Buffy tried to understand what her friend was doing, but she gave it up as an exercise in futility and went back to reading over Xander’s shoulder as he finished up with the calendar to give Willow a moment of privacy, noticing the struggle on her friend’s face. Buffy also noticed that the wolf nights were circled on the calendar, and she pointed at them, sharing a grimace with Xander as he stood up.

They looked around for somewhere to hang it so that Willow would be able to see it and Buffy found a nail in the wood of the window frame. It was nailed in too high for the chair though, and she pulled it out, Xander’s eyes widening at the display of strength. His jaw dropped when she pushed it back in lower down on the frame with only her thumb.

“That is so not fair,” he grumbled as he hung the calendar so that it was hanging between the two beds at a height that Willow would be able to read from her chair.

They both turned in surprise as they heard Willow speak behind them. “Testing, testing. Wheelchair, banana, elephant, psychology,” she was saying into the microphone.

Xander and Buffy glanced at each other, both shrugging. “Whatcha doing there, Will?” Xander asked as they moved closer, leaning over to look at her computer.

“I set it up so that whatever I say into the microphone is typed into the computer,” Willow told them, smirking proudly. “This way I won’t have to figure out how to write with my left hand, and Buffy won’t have to type up my homework for me,” she said, laughing as the Slayer threw her arms around Willow’s neck.

“Oh, you are just the best!” Buffy cheered.

Willow nodded, yawning suddenly. “I can just dictate my papers into the computer and print them out,” she said, her eyes drooping heavily. “Buffy, you might still have to go turn them in for me though,” she said slowly.

Buffy and Xander exchanged looks again as Willow’s head dipped against her chest. “I think those painkillers are also knock-out drugs,” Xander guessed.

Buffy found the bottle on Willow’s bed where she’d dropped it and read the label. “You’re right. Let’s get her in bed.”

Xander quickly cleared off the bed and pulled the covers back while Buffy guided the wheelchair next to the bed. She carefully deposited the mostly unconscious Willow into the bed, covering her protectively with the blankets.

Willow moved slowly, her eyes managing to flutter open. “Buffy,” she said lowly, and the Slayer leaned close to hear her. “Wicca group, in lounge, can’t go,” she managed before the drugs took her and she was unconscious.

“I think she wants you to tell the witches that she won’t be joining them,” Xander guessed with grin.

Buffy smirked, but nodded. “I think you might be right, but I can’t just leave her in here alone. What if she rolls out of the bed or something?” she asked.

“I’ll stay with her,” Xander said easily. “I don’t have to be at the bar until five, so I’ve got some time.”

Buffy stared down at Willow, nodding finally. “Okay, thanks, Xander.”

“No problem. I think I have some walkie-talkies at home too, I could bring them over tomorrow and that way you can leave the room without being scared she’s going to fall or something,” he suggested.

Buffy smiled at him gratefully. “That’s a good idea, Xander. That would be great,” she agreed.

It only took her a few minutes to walk from Stevenson to the academic building where she knew the Wicca group normally had their meetings. They were already in session when she arrived, and she lingered at the edge of the room, waiting for a moment to interject.

The women finished praying, or whatever they were doing, she wasn’t really sure, and Buffy cleared her throat, drawing the attention of the group. “Um, hey, I don’t want to interrupt, but I just wanted to let you know that Willow, you know, the little red haired girl that’s normally here, she won’t be able to join you all for a while.”

“Communion with your sisters is very important to a Wicca’s aura health,” one of the girls informed her haughtily. “Why would sister Willow put herself at risk like that?” she asked, and Buffy had to fight an urge to smack the girl in the head.

“Willow would be here, but she got hit by a car last week and she’s in a wheelchair right now,” Buffy informed her, struggling to not be sarcastic. “She’ll be back as soon as she can be.”

She turned to go, but was stopped by the speaker’s next sentence. “We will gather around our stricken sister, lend her our power in her time of need. Does anyone know where sister Willow lives?” the presumptuous girl asked the group.

“Um, we’re in Stevenson, 112 I think, I’m not really sure, we just moved, but Willow just got out of the hospital this morning and she’s taking it slow, and she’s got these really strong pain meds that just knock her out, so it’s not a really good time right now, but I’ll be sure to let you know when she’s up for company.”

The witch seemed to consider Buffy’s statement and nodded finally. “That seems wise. We will form the power circle here, and concentrate our energies on speeding sister Willow’s recovery,” she decided.

Buffy let out a deep breath, satisfied that her room wasn’t about to be overrun by haughty wannabe witches. “Thanks,” she said over her shoulder as she turned to go back to her room, missing the lingering blue eyes that followed her out of the room.

*****
Next Time: Willow makes a new friend, and an old enemy makes trouble…

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Every Step That I Retrace/Always Leads Me Back to You/But I've Loved You All Along
Road to Recovery, The Call/The Lightning Strike, The Sun Will Rise


Last edited by leonhart17 on Fri Aug 20, 2010 3:47 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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 Post subject: Re: Road to Recovery - Updates every Sunday
PostPosted: Sun Jun 13, 2010 7:58 am 
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Dibbbbssssssss!!!
Wow, you're a productive kitten, aren't you? And don't worry, though I'll pretty much will be biting my finger nails with all the suspense going on, your updates are really long, so they could easily go for two... Nice start! Nice idea, too... It's always nice to see how little changes to the story can change so much in the end (except for, you know, W/T-love. *Sigh*, I'm such a romantic :blush ).

Grool, :kitty

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 Post subject: Re: Road to Recovery - Updates every Sunday
PostPosted: Sun Jun 13, 2010 9:44 am 
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Yay for interesting beginning... I guess Tara volunteers to visit Willow for the Wicca group... I hope Buffy finds Veruca and :smash that bitch...

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 Post subject: Re: Road to Recovery - Updates every Sunday
PostPosted: Sun Jun 13, 2010 2:30 pm 
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Heya ! Well, I can't stop a tradition because of a new fic, can I ? ;-)
So here is the second review ! What I didn't say is that I really enjoy that once again, you only changed one little thing in the original plot, which leads to a whole new story...very nice ones, on top of that ^^.

Two very enthusiastic thumbs up !

:peace

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 Post subject: Re: Road to Recovery - Updates every Sunday
PostPosted: Sun Jun 13, 2010 3:10 pm 
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Oh. I like the start. Poor Willow but I love Xander and Buffy's dedication. I hope Oz is gone-amundo.

The idiots at the Wicca Group seem even more posery than in the series which is saying something. I can only assume that Tara will be a visitor in the next one and hope that goes well. I'm looking forward to the regular Sunday updates.

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 Post subject: Re: Road to Recovery - Updates every Sunday
PostPosted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 1:52 pm 
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Like the story so far. Wish Buffy wouldn't blame herself for something she had no control over. Glad Xander is there to help keep both Willow and Buffy from playing the guilt game. Looking forward to see how you will introduce Tara to Willow.


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 Post subject: Re: Road to Recovery - Updates every Sunday
PostPosted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 5:38 pm 
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I can haz moar now, yes?

This is a really awesome beginning. I can't wait to see where this goes :)

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 Post subject: Re: Road to Recovery - Updates every Sunday
PostPosted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 8:16 pm 
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Nice beginning. It's kinda sad that Willow is on a wheelchair, but if it means that she'll have Tara to help her get better, then I don't complain.
I'll be anxiously waiting the Sunday updates.

:peace

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 Post subject: Re: Road to Recovery - Updates every Sunday
PostPosted: Tue Jun 15, 2010 9:36 am 
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Hmm, well I guess a specific promised day, no matter how far off, is a good thing :-).

D'jever notice, at the Wiccan meeting in "Hush," only Willow and Tara have as much as a single strand of hair out of place? Everyone else is absolutely perfect; I'd swear the stylist put the final touches on them right on the set in those chairs. (It's not that Aly's hair came loose shooting a prior scene, since it was Amber's first scene of the day too.)

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 Post subject: Re: Road to Recovery - Updates every Sunday
PostPosted: Thu Jun 17, 2010 6:48 am 
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Mrs. Pineapple: I'm trying at least... this is the last one that I have completely done... the rest are just fragments... yeah, this update is longer than the first one (and is about the average length of the rest of the chapters) I'm changing stuff, but I'm never going to change the W/T love, don't worry :)

Zampsa1975: I'm glad you liked the beginning! Good guess... Thanks for reading! I hope you like the chapter!

KiWy: Yay! Double reviews! I'm glad you like it - I have trouble writing AU's that are attached in some way to the original story, so I'm glad it's working...

JustSkipIt: I'm glad you liked it! Hopefully I can keep everyone interested... Thanks so much for reading!

love_2003: Yeah, Buffy's got guilt issues... Tara has more than a cameo in this one, so I hope you like it!

Bellalocke: Yeah, early update this week - hope you like it!

abarda: Yeah, I'm mean to Willow in fic...but she really is my favorite character! Hope you don't mind the early update...

DaddyCatALSO: Sorry I had to go back to posting once a week, but these chapters are just too long and I've got too much going on right now to edit more than one a week (stupid having an out of town job!) But I promise they will be up every week by Sunday... I have never noticed that before, now I'm going to pay attention to that next time I watch Hush... :)

Okay, I know I said Sunday updates and it hasn't even been a week before I'm not following it...but I hope you wont hate the early update. I've got a wedding to go to tomorrow and I'm going to be out of town until Sunday and then it's father's day so I won't have time to post...

Chapter 2 of 15

The first week was tricky as the friends tried to get used to their new realities with Buffy trying to juggle her classes, taking care of Willow, hanging out with Riley, and slaying. Luckily, the roommates were in most of the same classes so Buffy was with Willow whenever she needed anything. There was only one class that Willow was taking that Buffy wasn’t, and the Slayer had to drop off Willow, run to her own class, and come back to pick up her friend at the end of the class.

They had talked to their professors, and all had agreed to speaking into Willow’s microphone so that the redhead would have a transcription of their class lectures, and wouldn’t be forced to rely on Buffy’s note taking efforts.

Xander was working frequently, but he would spend as much time as he could in the dorm with the captive witch and her protective caretaker. It was only at night when Willow was left alone, when Xander would go to take his shift at the bar, or whatever job he was working that day, and Buffy would go out on, admittedly brief, patrols. Giles and Joyce came by frequently just to sit and talk with her or, in the case of Mrs. Summers, to clean the room when it got too messy.

The only person who hadn’t stopped by was Oz. Willow was doing her best to not think about him, but it was hard when she was trapped in the chair and there were tiny reminders of him everywhere. Buffy had taken down the Dingoes posters after the first night Willow had cried in her sleep, the Slayer holding her friend soothingly until she calmed down enough to sleep peacefully. But Buffy hadn’t managed to get everything hidden, and it wouldn’t have mattered if she had, because thinking about Oz, missing Oz, felt like something that was completely beyond her control. She could just hold on and do her best to keep herself distracted.

Willow was alone one night two weeks after the accident, trying to get a makeup essay finished when there was a tentative knock at the door. Grumbling, she tried to pull her chair over to answer the door, but wasn’t able to get more than a foot before pain was screaming through her body.

“Who is it?” she called, knowing better than to just shout ‘come in’ in Sunnydale.

“Um-m, it’s T-Tara. From the W-Wicca group-p,” came the answer.

Willow frowned, trying to remember if she knew Tara. Most of the girls from the Wicca group were completely harmless. Annoying, but harmless, and she decided to risk it. “Come on in,” she called, gritting her teeth and resting a protective hand over her screaming muscles.

The door opened slowly, a head peeking around the edge. Willow remembered Tara suddenly, the pretty but painfully shy blonde girl who rarely spoke during the meetings. Willow smiled as best she could around grimacing at the pain.

Tara moved more quickly into the room as she realized that Willow was in pain. “A-are you…? W-where are your pills?” she asked, sliding a box onto the corner of Willow’s desk.

Willow grimaced, shaking her head. “No, it’s fine. I promised Buffy I wouldn’t take them when she was gone.” The girl gave her a confused look and Willow continued. “They make me pass out almost immediately and I can’t get myself out of my chair without her.”

Tara seemed to be thinking about that and she opened and closed her mouth without speaking for a few moments. “C-could I try something?” she asked hesitantly, crouching next to the chair slowly and holding up one empty hand.

Willow nodded after a moment. “Okay,” she said softly. She didn’t know this girl, but there was something in her eyes that told her that Tara wouldn’t hurt her.

The blonde rubbed her hands together for a few seconds, her eyes finding Willow’s. “Where do-does it hurt?” she asked, holding out one of her hands.

Willow took the hand after a second of hesitation and guided it to where the muscles of her stomach were screaming. Tara’s hand was warm through her shirt, and the heat seemed to grow hotter after several seconds, the pain receding as the warmth grew. Willow felt the magic rush through her, sending tingles to the ends of her fingers, and she looked down at the girl in surprise. “You’re really a witch!” she blurted, seeing the blonde suddenly blush brightly and snatch her hand back.

“H-how…? How could you know-w that?” she asked warily.

“Oh, no, don’t be afraid. I am too,” Willow said. “Really,” she said, seeing the doubt in Tara’s face. She let her eyes close in concentration, her bottle of pills lifting itself from beside her laptop and crossing the room to her hand. “See?” she said with a grin as she opened her eyes.

Tara’s eyes widened as she felt Willow’s power. The redhead was strong. Stronger than anyone she’d ever met before. “You’ve got power,” she said without thinking, surprised to realize that she hadn’t stuttered.

Willow blushed, shaking her head. “No, I’m just really getting started. You’re the strong one,” Willow stated, her hand dropping her medicine bottle into her lap to rub over her stomach. “You fixed my tummy,” she said cheerfully and Tara blushed brightly. “Thank you.”

Tara nodded, still blushing, and she stood up, looking around the floor at her feet. “You’re w-welcome, Willow.”

“Hey, you know my name. That’s cool. Have a seat, Tara,” Willow offered, gesturing to her own bed.

Tara took the spot, lifting the box she’d brought in with her and holding it protectively on her lap. “It-it’s a cake,” she said, holding the box out.

She’d noticed the redhead the first time Willow had ever come to a group meeting, but she’d never spoken to her, never really spoken up in meetings at all, just sat in silence and watched the others. For the most part, the ‘witches’ of the Wicca group were all talk. But besides being beautiful, Willow had been immediately noticeable because of her aura, the magic and power weaving themselves into a second skin that glowed in Tara’s view. It had been too much to expect that the redhead knew of her own potential though, and Tara had tried to push any hopes that she might have found a real witch out of her head. Now though, she couldn’t keep her eyes from lingering as the redhead reached to accept the box.

Willow grinned as she took it. “Thanks. You bought me a cake?” she asked, arching an eyebrow.

Tara shrugged, her empty fingers fidgeting with the fabric of her skirt. “I m-made it. T-the group wants to have a bake sale, b-but I thought you might l-like it.”

“And they’re better with bake sales than actual magic,” Willow finished for her, smirking. “Fortunately for me, you’re good at both,” she commented, opening the box to sniff at the cake. “You want a piece?” she offered.

Tara blushed, shaking her head. “No, it’s f-for you,” she said.

“I can’t eat that whole thing by myself! Come on,” Willow prompted her. “It smells delicious, and you made it. You should have a piece,” she said. “And since I’m not going to be able to cut it for myself, I’m going to have to insist that you cut yourself a piece as a thank you for slicing it up for me,” she proposed.

Tara bit her lip, but nodded, smiling crookedly as she took the box back from Willow. She put the cake on the bedside table carefully before turning back to look for a knife.

“There’re plates on the shelf over there and forks and knives are in the basket on top of the fridge,” Willow said, pointing. Her walkie-talkie crackled in the pouch of her sweatshirt and she pulled it out.

“Hey Will, I’m on my way home. Sorry it took me so long,” Buffy said. “You’re okay, right?”

Willow laughed, sending Tara a smile as the blonde moved back behind her to slice the cake. “Yeah, I’m good. Tara from the Wicca group brought me a cake, so she’s here and we’re hanging out.”

Buffy got the unspoken hint to not mention anything about vampires or slaying and answered. “Aww, well that was nice of her. Thank you, Tara.”

Willow grinned, holding the walkie-talkie over her head so Tara could answer. Willow felt another tingle shoot down her arm as Tara’s hand touched hers to stabilize the walkie-talkie, but there was no magic to cause it.

“No p-problem. Would you l-like a slice of c-cake?” Tara asked into the speaker, blushing again.

“Sure, that would be great. Thank you. I’ll be there in a few minutes to meet you in person,” Buffy said.

“Be careful,” Willow told her. Tara’s hand appeared in front of her, holding a plate and fork. Willow slipped the walkie-talkie back into her pocket before taking the plate from her. “Thank you,” she said gratefully as Tara moved around her chair to sit on the edge of Willow’s bed again.

“C-can you get it?” Tara asked hesitantly, watching Willow balance the plate on her left thigh.

Willow nodded, fiddling with the fork in her left hand. “Oh, yeah, I’m good,” she answered. “It just takes me a few seconds to get settled.”

“O-okay,” Tara said, settling back into her spot and taking a bite of her cake.

“So, you’re a witch,” Willow commented with a smile. “And you can bake. I just met you, but you seem like an amazing person, Tara.”

The blonde blushed brightly, glancing at Willow shyly. “T-thank you. I-I’m o-okay, n-not as s-strong as y-you.”

Willow shrugged, smiling around a bite of her cake. “I’m not sure about that, but I burn water, so you’re miles ahead of me on the cooking thing. It was really nice of the group to send you to visit me. I sent Buffy to tell them I wouldn’t be around, but I didn’t really think they would notice that I was gone.”

“T-they didn’t send-d me,” Tara said, her ears burning as she ducked her head to cover her face with her hair. “I-I n-noticed you at meetings, a-and after Buffy said you were h-hurt, I just w-wanted to see y-you.”

Willow blinked in surprise. “Well, that was nice of you, Tara. And I’m glad the group didn’t send you. They need to focus on their very important bake sale,” Willow teased with a smirk. “No time to actually practice spells, or do real magic.”

Tara smiled, nodding. “Y-yeah, cause what kind of Wicca g-group would want that?” she agreed, giggling.

Willow snorted, shrugging with her good arm. “Not the one we’re a part of, apparently.” She glanced at the blonde speculatively. “You know, if you wanted, we could practice some spells sometime, once I can move more than half of my body, I mean. Of course, if you don’t want to ever come see me again, you don’t have to, but you’re the only real witch I know, at least the only one that isn’t currently a rat, and it would be cool to hang out some more.” She blushed as she realized that she was rambling, but she couldn’t stop herself. “I mean, I’d like to get to know you more, even if you don’t want to do spells, we could just talk, or watch TV, or whatever you wanted.” She took a deep breath, tapping at her plate with her fork. “If you can’t tell, I haven’t met any new people in a while, I’m a little rusty, not that I’ve ever been really smooth with people,” she commented, both of their eyes jumping to the door as the knob twitched before Tara could speak. “Oh, thank God, an interruption,” Willow muttered to herself, smiling as Tara giggled at her.

The door opened after a moment, Buffy entering. She had her weapons bag over her shoulder, but she had zipped it up before she came in, grateful for Willow’s warning. Patrol had been fairly uninteresting, and she had felt guilty that she’d left Willow, but was grateful that Willow hadn’t been alone all night.

“You must be Tara,” Buffy said. “I’m Buffy, Willow’s roommate and bestest friend.”

“And she does know how to speak proper English, she just chooses not to,” Willow commented, ducking her head away from Buffy’s playful swat, grateful that her friend’s arrival had stopped her uncontrolled rambling.

Tara smiled shyly, but didn’t say anything. Buffy was surprised to see that the blonde had already set aside a piece of cake for her and she smiled thankfully. “This cake is great,” Buffy said sincerely as soon as she swallowed her first bite. “You made this?” Tara nodded, still without speaking. “Well, it’s great. You were sweet to bring it for Willow.”

“I just hope you f-feel better s-soon,” Tara said softly, standing up as she finished her cake. She carefully brushed the crumbs into the trash can and put the plate neatly on a stack of dirty dishes Buffy had been meaning to wash. “I should g-go,” she stuttered.

“You don’t have to go, Tara,” Willow objected. “Stay for a while, if you want to, I mean, obviously you don’t have to, but if you don’t need to leave, you’re welcome to stay and hang out with us for a while, cause you seem really nice, and you can actually do magic, and I’d like to spend more time with you.”

Buffy was smirking as her friend finished her mini-babble and Tara was smiling at her, a crooked little half smile. “You’ll have to forgive Willow. Sometimes she forgets to breathe when she’s talking and she tends to babble,” Buffy teased while Willow blushed brightly.

“It was cute,” Tara said, instantly blushing bright red. “But I really do h-have to go,” she said regretfully. “I’m sorry. I c-could come back sometime, if you w-wanted me to,” the shy witch offered, glancing rapidly at Buffy before her eyes went back to Willow.

The redhead nodded quickly, smiling. “That would be great,” Willow agreed immediately. “I mean, if you want to.”

“I w-will, if it’s n-not a b-bother,” Tara said. “I d-don’t want to w-wear out my w-welcome.”

Buffy laughed. “You two are going to go around in circles like that all night, aren’t you?” she asked. “Tara, feel free to come over whenever you want. It would really help Willow to not kill me, and you seem really nice.”

Tara blushed again, but there was a shy, crooked smile on her lips. “T-thank you. I’ll come b-back sometime.”

Willow looked around quickly, trying to find something. Buffy figured out what her friend was looking for, collecting a piece of paper and jotting down their phone number in a rush.

“I think this is for you,” Buffy commented as she handed the paper over to Tara. “Hopefully we’ll see you soon.”

Tara nodded, still smiling. “T-thank you.” She played with the paper in between her fingers. “I hope you f-feel better s-soon, Willow.”

“Thank you for coming over, Tara. I really appreciate it, and not just for the cake,” Willow said cheerfully. “I hope you’ll come back soon.”

Tara blushed, but nodded, ducking her head so that her hair slid in front of her face. Buffy finished her cake and stood up. “Where do you live?” she asked, glancing out the window at the full darkness. It wasn’t a werewolf night for another week, but that didn’t mean that there weren’t the average vampires out on the streets. “I think I left something at the gym earlier, so I could walk with you,” she offered.

Tara shook her head. “I l-live in Fike, b-but it’s okay. Willow would be a-alone then.”

“Oh, it’s no big deal. Buffy will take her walkie-talkie, and I’ll call if I need anything,” Willow said immediately. “It’s not safe to be out alone at night.”

“Come on,” Buffy said encouragingly. “It’s on my way, and it would make Will feel better if you’re not out so late alone,” she prompted, and the redhead nodded quickly in confirmation as Tara glanced at her.

“O-okay,” Tara sighed, her feet shuffling against the carpet. “T-thank you, B-Buffy.”

The Slayer grinned, making a point of being obvious about sliding her walkie-talkie into her jacket pocket. She was more subtle about the stake she slid up her sleeve. She gave Willow a wink and patted her on the shoulder. “Want me to move you back to your computer?” she asked.

Willow nodded, and Tara moved quickly out of the way. Willow caught Tara’s wrist with her good hand, smiling up at her as she felt the rush of sensation she was beginning to realize occurred whenever her skin touched Tara’s. “Thanks so much for coming, Tara. I had a great time and I hope you come back and see me soon. I’m here all the time, so feel free to drop by whenever you want to,” Willow offered, squeezing the wrist in her hand gently.

Tara smiled, still looking shy. “T-thanks Willow, I will.”

Buffy parked Willow’s chair by the desk and handed her the microphone before the hacker could ask for it. “Be back soon,” Buffy said, letting Tara lead the way out of the room.

They walked quietly for a while, Buffy keeping a cautious eye out for any unwanted company. They had almost reached Tara’s dorm when she heard the steps echoing theirs. She stopped walking abruptly, spinning to face the darkness.

“I know you’re back there, come on out,” she prompted, feeling Tara stiffen behind her. Buffy let her fingers slide closer to the hidden stake, but dropped her hand as their guest revealed himself. “Oz, what are you doing following me?” she demanded, not bothering to keep her voice civil.

The young werewolf looked rough, dirty and scruffy, his jeans torn and his shoes and shirt missing entirely. “I wanted to talk to you…about Willow. She told you what happened?” There were scrapes and bruises on his skin, and Buffy felt a stab of unwilling sympathy.

“She told me. Xander told you what happened to her, right?” Buffy asked, crossing her arms over her chest.

Oz nodded. “He told me.”

“It’s been two weeks, Oz! She’s been in a wheelchair for two weeks and you haven’t shown your face, or called, or anything!” she said angrily, only then remembering that Tara was still behind her, and Buffy glanced over her shoulder at the confused witch. “Oz, this isn’t a great time. Tara’s on her way home, and I forgot something at the gym, so we need to keep going because the gym is going to be locked up in a little bit.”

Oz sighed, his shoulders slumping. “Okay, Buffy. I just…could you tell her that I’m sorry?”

Buffy let out a deep breath. “Oz…just wait here for me, okay? I’ll talk to you soon.” He nodded desolately. Buffy started to walk again, Tara falling into step behind her, only to stumble when the Slayer abruptly stopped walking. She didn’t turn to face Oz again, but spoke clearly. “Is she still in town? I’m cutting you a break that may or may not be temporary, but she gets no second chance,” she said plainly.

“She’s gone, for good,” he said, his voice quiet.

Buffy started walking again without asking for clarification of that ominous sounding statement, leaving Tara looking between the two of them in confusion for a long moment before she walked quickly after Buffy. The Slayer seemed angry, but Tara didn’t feel comfortable speaking up.

A growl of frustration prompted her to say something finally. “H-he’s Willow’s b-boyfriend?” she asked reluctantly.

“Ex-boyfriend, if I have anything to say about it,” Buffy growled, feeling her fists clenching and unclenching at her sides. She let out a deep breath to try and calm herself down. “Tara, I’m sorry. You just met us and there’s already drama going on. I hope it won’t put you off going to visit Willow. She really does get lonely in our room with just me and Xander for company.”

“N-no, I s-still want to c-come see Willow,” Tara said slowly. “I j-just…s-she’s okay, r-right?”

Buffy sighed, letting her shoulders slump. “I hope so, but I don’t really know for sure,” she confessed honestly. Tara’s eyes widened and she sucked in a surprised breath. “I mean, she’ll recover from getting hit by the car. She should be able to start using crutches in a few more weeks even, but the Oz stuff…I don’t know how she’ll do with that.”

“H-he h-hurt her?” Tara asked, a frown on her mouth.

“It’s more complicated than that, but the very, very short answer is yes,” Buffy said, forcing down her frustration with the werewolf. They arrived at Tara’s dorm and the Slayer ran a hand through her hair as the witch lingered in the doorway of the lounge.

“T-thanks for w-walking me back,” Tara said, not meeting Buffy’s eyes.

“Yeah, no problem, Tara. I really hope we’ll see you again soon,” Buffy said. “I mean, I guess I wouldn’t blame you if tonight put you off wanting to get to know us, but…”

Tara surprised both of them by interrupting the Slayer. “I want to k-know you,” she said quietly.

Buffy nodded, smiling. “Well, I’m glad. I guess I should go see what Oz has to say. Sorry if I’ve made you late for anything,” she said, waving as Tara turned to go inside. “Good night, Tara.”

Buffy thought about walking slowly back, giving herself time to think, but the restless energy demanded an outlet. She idly thought about going out to seek out something to beat, but decided against it. With a sigh, she pulled her walkie-talkie out.

“Willow, I might be a little late getting home. Are you going to be alright?” she asked. There was no response, and images of potential horrors flashed through her mind immediately. “Willow!”

There was still no answer, and without another thought she took off running, her feet flying across the campus. She realized dimly that she’d bolted straight past Oz, but she didn’t pause. He chased after her, staying several paces behind her, unable to catch up to her. The lights of Stevenson were all dark and she felt a knot tighten in her stomach. There were several people crouching in the lounge, but she sprinted past them without a glance.

“Willow!” she yelled as she turned the corner into their hallway. She could hear a muffled struggle going on in front of her, but the darkness made it difficult to see. Oz tore into the hallway behind her, nearly colliding with her back as she tried to find Willow.

“She’s in there,” Oz said, pointing at a shut door.

The door crashed open before Buffy could kick it down, several men in military garb wrestling another man to the ground. Their captive’s platinum blond hair made him recognizable as Spike, even in the thick darkness. They rolled as they struggled, but Buffy just planted her foot against the struggling mass of men and pushed them forcibly away from her.

As soon as the doorway was clear, she was inside. “Will, where are you?” she called, cursing the darkness. She heard a low groan and followed the sound until she found her friend’s wheelchair with one hand. “Come on Will, talk to me,” she pleaded, dropping to her knees next to the chair.

A gentle touch to Willow’s face elicited another groan, the witch’s head rolling away from the Slayer’s fingers. “Come on,” Buffy muttered, trying not to panic. “Wake up, Willow,” she hissed.

“Buffy?” Oz asked from behind her. “How is she?”

“Unconscious,” she said shortly. “What’s going on in the hall?” Her voice was brusque and harsh, but she couldn’t bring herself to temper her attitude.

“Those trooper guys dragged that other guy away,” he answered. “Was that Spike?”

“Looked like him,” Buffy commented, not able to concentrate on that when she couldn’t get Willow to wake up. “I need to check on Willow. I need the damn lights to come back on.”

Even as she spoke, the lights flickered and snapped on. Willow’s head was leaned against her chest and Buffy sat forward to find her friend’s pulse in her neck. She let out a breath of relief, sliding a hand down both sides of Willow’s neck, checking for bites. Another deep breath escaped as she found only unblemished skin.

“Come on Will, wake up,” she muttered, sitting back on her heels. “Oz, is your van around? We need to get her to the hospital.”

“I’ll get it,” he said, moving out of the room.

Buffy glanced around, seeing the crushed clutter in the room. She didn’t know whose room this was, but she felt bad that their room was wrecked. She tried to imagine how Willow could have ended up in this room, but there was no prospect that didn’t make her angry.

The most likely possibility seemed to be that Spike had come looking for Buffy herself and had found Willow, alone and injured, and decided to take his meal to go. She didn’t know how he hadn’t bitten the witch, but she was bitter that she had failed her friend again.

She cleared the debris in front of the wheelchair’s path and started pulling the chair toward the doors. Oz’s van was at the curb when she got the chair outside and she slid open the side door and lifted the entire chair into the back of the van before he could get out of his seat.

“Drive,” she said, balancing herself on the balls of her feet in the seat-less back of the van. Her firm grip kept Willow’s chair from moving, Oz driving almost recklessly toward the hospital. He screeched into the parking circle at the hospital and Buffy slung the door open and lifted the chair out almost before the vehicle had stopped moving.

She carried the chair up the stairs herself rather than try and navigate the curved ramp. “I need help,” she called as soon as she was inside, relieved when they were immediately surrounded by nurses and doctors. “She got attacked, I don’t know what happened exactly, but she was hit by a car two weeks ago, and I haven’t been able to wake her up.”

“Do you know how long she’s been unconscious?” one of the doctors asked.

Buffy shook her head. “Not really. It’s been about twenty minutes since I found her.”

They nodded, taking the chair from her and wheeling Willow away. “We’ll take her in for some x-rays, make sure she hasn’t broken anything again, and we’ll need to keep her overnight for observation.”

Buffy nodded. “Okay, just please tell me whatever you find out,” she requested anxiously. She paced for a few minutes before realizing that she had some calls she needed to make. Xander was asleep when she called, but woke up as soon as she told him what had happened. Riley sounded oddly awake for it being so late at night, but he agreed to collect their assignments for the next day.

She had just hung up the phone with Giles when Oz came into the waiting room. He had found a shirt somewhere, but his bare, dirty feet were only covered by the dragging edges of his torn jeans and Buffy noticed the receptionist staring at him with a distasteful expression on her face.

He was shuffling his feet, and Buffy jerked her head toward the corner, leading him into the closer quarters. “Buffy,” he started to speak, but she cut him off, one finger shoved into his face.

“No Oz, you listen to me!” she said. “As much as I’ve been blaming myself for not getting there fast enough, Willow in that chair because of what you did, and you have to live with that, but I cannot let you break her heart again. If you think you’re getting within a hundred yards of her without her wanting you there, you’re crazy.”

“I’m leaving, Buffy,” he interjected quietly.

“What?” she asked, her arms crossed over her chest.

“I can’t be around her. Not the way I am now, not until I get some stuff worked out. The wolf, I have to get it under control.” He took a deep breath. “Will you tell her goodbye for me? And that I’m sorry…”

Buffy stared at him, nodding wordlessly. “When are you going?” she asked after a long moment.

He shrugged under his dirty clothes. “I’m thinking now would be a good time,” he said, letting out a heavy sigh when she nodded her agreement. She didn’t speak, and he turned to leave.

“Good luck, Oz,” she breathed quietly, too low for him to hear her as she watched him leave. She knew that this would only make things harder for Willow, but maybe with time and distance, the pair could make things work again.

*****

Tara was surprised when her phone rang. It was the middle of the afternoon, and she was done with classes for the day, but it was rare that she got phone calls at any time of the day.

“Hello?” she answered uncertainly.

“Hey. Tara. It’s Buffy, Willow’s roommate,” her caller answered.

Tara giggled, smiling. She’d visited Stevenson several times since her introduction with cake a week earlier, and knew perfectly well who Buffy was. “I know who you a-are, Buffy.”

“Yeah, well, I’m calling to ask for a favor, so I thought I’d remind you,” Buffy teased.

“What do y-you need?” Tara asked, already knowing that she would agree, whatever it was.

“Will’s kicking me out, and I was hoping you would come over and hang out with her,” Buffy explained.

“What?” Tara asked, confused. “Willow kicked you o-out?”

“Yeah, she says we’re spending too much quantity time, and she’s making me go out with Riley this afternoon. But I’ll be home by dark if you’ve got something to do tonight.”

“Oh,” Tara breathed, blushing as she realized her misunderstanding. “She’s m-making you go on a date?” she asked skeptically.

“Well, she didn’t have to push me too hard, but I don’t want her to be alone all day, even if I do have the walkie-talkie with me,” Buffy admitted. “So it would help me out if you could just casually swing by the room and hang out with Willow while I’m out.”

Tara laughed into the phone. “That’s not such a b-big favor, Buffy.”

“So, you’ll do it?” Buffy asked happily.

“I was going to c-call her when you called me,” Tara said, giggling again. “S-so it’s really no problem.”

“Great! That makes me feel tons better. Just forget I called then,” Buffy prompted cheerfully. “Thanks, Tara. Riley is picking me up around three. I’ll be back in the room in a few minutes, I just got out of class.”

“I’ll g-get there before three then,” Tara offered. “So she doesn’t k-know that you set up a b-babysitter for her.”

“Tara! It’s not like that! I just don’t want her to get hurt, and I know you don’t either, so if you happen to be hanging out in the room when I’m gone, that’s not the same as getting her a babysitter,” Buffy protested, hearing the witch’s giggles through the phone. “Fine, make fun of me,” she grumbled good naturedly. “As long as you’ll still come hang out with Will.”

“I’ll be there,” Tara assured her, still laughing. “See you soon,” she said as she hung up the phone. She held the phone for a few moments before she dialed the number for Willow’s room.

“Hello?” Willow answered, her voice distracted and tired.

“Hey, Willow. It’s Tara,” the blonde greeted her.

“Oh, hey Tara!” Willow said, sounding more cheerful. “What’s up?”

Tara played with the phone’s cord, smiling. “Want some company?” she asked. “I’m out of c-class for today, and I wanted to s-see you, and I’m hoping you don’t have p-plans…”

“No! No plans! Come over! Please!” Willow interrupted eagerly. Tara giggled and could hear the door open on Willow’s side of the phone. “Hey Buffy, Tara’s coming over!” she announced happily. “You are coming, right?” she checked into the phone.

“I’ll leave as soon as I get off the phone,” Tara assured her. “Want me to b-bring anything?” she asked.

“Nope! Just yourself!” Willow said cheerfully.

Tara laughed again, smiling happily. “I’m on my way,” she said. Willow cheered into the phone and Tara reluctantly clicked the button to end the call. She realized she was smiling rather goofily to an empty room, and she sighed, her smile fading after a moment. She knew after spending time with her over the last week that she had a crush on the redhead, but Willow was straight, she reminded herself. Charming, adorable, gorgeous, and straight.

She kept that reminder at the front of her mind as she gathered her keys and her wallet, but the smile was back before she was out the door. It was still there when Buffy answered her knock a few minutes later.

Willow was putting her computer away as the Slayer let her in, and Tara gave her a questioning look. “I thought you didn’t have p-plans,” she said, arching an eyebrow.

“Oh, she doesn’t,” Buffy answered for her friend, shaking her head. “Not even getting hit by a car can slow Willow down. She’s already caught up on the work she missed, and she’s trying to get ahead.” She was smirking as she spoke and Willow blushed.

“Well, it’s not like I can go out dancing,” she objected weakly, glancing down at her chair.

Tara frowned. “When’s the last time you l-left the room?” she asked, glancing between Willow and Buffy.

“Oh, we had class this morning,” Willow answered, shrugging with her good shoulder.

“Well, it’s a beautiful day,” Tara said. “Do you w-want to go somewhere?”

Willow looked up at Buffy, the Slayer just giving her an encouraging smile. “You don’t have to stay in here,” Buffy reminded her. “I’m sure Tara wouldn’t mind pushing the chair.”

Willow smiled at the other witch, looking embarrassed. “There’s no need for you to do that. We don’t have to go outside.”

“I w-wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t want to,” Tara objected. “We don’t h-have to go anywhere if y-you don’t want to, but…”

Buffy’s laugh interrupted her. “You two are always doing that. It’s so funny,” she said as she poked through her closet for something to wear on her date. “It’s going to be great when one of you actually steps up and tells the other one what you want,” she observed, her head turned away from them, sorting through her clothes distractedly.

Willow and Tara exchanged glances, Tara hoping desperately that she wasn’t blushing too brightly, while Willow just grinned.

Buffy noticed nothing, poking an arm out of the closet with a hanger on her fingertips, holding it out for inspection. “What do you guys think of this one?”

They helped the Slayer choose an outfit, and Tara answered the door for Riley as Buffy threw on one final clothing change before they left. The couple left, and Tara took a seat on the edge of Willow’s bed.

“So, where do you want to g-go?” she asked, the room feeling suddenly very quiet in the aftermath of Buffy’s departure.

Willow shrugged with her good arm, her hand scratching absently at the edge of the cast on her leg. “Anywhere outside sounds like heaven to me,” she said honestly. “Is there somewhere in town that you like to go?”

“We could go to the park,” Tara suggested. “Or, if you don’t want to go that far, there are some big grassy fields on campus.”

Willow let out a blissful sigh. “That sounds perfect,” she said with a smile.

“Have you eaten lunch? We could get some f-food,” Tara said, moving around the chair and propelling it toward the door. She paused outside to let Willow lock it behind them. “You’ve got your walkie-talkie, right?” she checked.

Willow nodded, already brighter now that she was facing the prospect of spending time outside. “Yep!” she responded cheerfully. “Let’s go!”

Tara laughed and started pushing the chair down the hall toward the lounge. They made it outside, and Willow took a deep breath of fresh air. “You don’t relax o-often, do you?” Tara observed.

Willow was silent, thinking the question over. It was true that she didn’t let herself chill very much, but her inability to move freely had given her more time to do so. But that didn’t mean she had been using her downtime to relax, instead working endlessly on schoolwork or spells, anything to keep her mind off Oz.

“No,” she answered. “Not really. I’ve always been kind of an over achiever.”

Tara pursed her lips as they walked down the sidewalk, the chair jostling slightly as they went down a sloped curb and across a street. “Well, you s-should relax more. It’s not the end of the w-world if you take some t-time for yourself.”

Willow sighed, the sound distinctly different from her happy sigh from only a few minutes earlier. “Doesn’t feel like that,” she said, her voice heavy.

“I d-didn’t mean…I’m sorry,” Tara said, realizing that she’d unintentionally said something that had Willow upset.

“No,” Willow protested, dropping her head into her good hand. “It’s not your fault my life is screwed up. You actually help make it better,” she said, looking over her shoulder at Tara with a weak smile. “And I’m not going to let my crappy life ruin our day out,” she said firmly, forcing herself to smile more naturally.

“Okay,” Tara agreed. “Well, where do you w-want to go?”

“Food sounds good,” Willow said. “What do you like?”

“Oh, I eat a-anything,” Tara said. “Y-you decide.”

Willow turned her head to look over her shoulder at the other witch with a smile. “Buffy’s right. We do that a lot. We need to make a deal, okay? We need to agree to just say what we want. Alright?”

The blonde blushed, but nodded. “O-okay,” she agreed softly. “H-how about that deli on Main Street?” she suggested, smiling shyly.

Willow grinned in satisfaction. “That sounds great to me. Lead the way. Or, I guess, I mean, technically I am, because you’re pushing me in front of you, and even if you were walking beside the chair, my leg gives me an extra two feet of distance, but none of this means anything, I’m just talking because that’s what I do when I’m excited.”

Tara giggled, pushing the chair down the sidewalk toward downtown Sunnydale. “You don’t get out m-much, do you?” she teased.

“You know I don’t,” Willow agreed, grinning over her shoulder at the witch.

Tara was relieved to see that Willow’s pensive mood seemed to be waning, and she returned the smile. They reached the diner after a short walk, and Tara positioned the chair so that Willow could order for herself, not wanting to do anything to make the redhead feel helpless. It took a few minutes to get their food and Willow took the bag from the counter, holding it in her lap as Tara pushed the chair back outside.

Willow let out a deep breath as they went back into the sun, almost relieved to be outdoors again, even after only a few minutes inside.

“You really n-need to get out more,” Tara commented, squeezing her hands tighter around the handles of the chair to keep herself from touching Willow’s hair as an errant breeze blew some of the short strands into the redhead’s eyes. She let out a deep breath of her own.

Willow nodded, brushing her hair back herself. “I really do,” she agreed. “It’s just tricky. Buffy’s really busy, and Xander works a lot, and I hate putting either of them out just because I can’t do something for myself. It’ll be easier once I can drive the chair for myself.”

Tara nodded, giving her a sympathetic glance. “Yeah, I b-bet it will be. In the mean time t-though, if you w-want, I could c-come take you o-out, if you w-wanted,” she offered, grimacing at her stutter.

Willow looked over her shoulder at the other witch. “That’s sweet, but it’s already so nice of you to just come over to the dorm and spend time with me. It can’t be much fun for you, but I have a great time when you visit me, and you’re really nice, and sweet, and funny, but you don’t have to do anything just because you feel sorry for me.”

Tara surprised them both by stopping the chair on the sidewalk and rounding the wheelchair, crouching in front of it to put herself at Willow’s eyelevel. “Y-you said I s-should tell y-you when I w-want something, so… I l-like spending time with y-you, Willow. You’re f-funny, and smart, and I h-have fun hanging out in the d-dorm.” She smiled, suddenly feeling very shy. “I d-don’t do it because I feel s-sorry for you.”

Willow smiled gratefully, leaning forward. “Thanks, Tara,” she said softly. “I want to hug you, but it’s going to be weird with one arm frozen.”

Tara laughed, leaning up to hug her and feeling Willow’s good arm squeeze her gently. “T-thank you, Willow,” Tara said. “Does the p-park sound good for lunch?”

Willow nodded, smiling as Tara returned to pushing the chair. “You’re already getting better at saying what you want,” she observed, smirking teasingly.

Tara didn’t say anything, just blushed as they crossed another street and she wheeled Willow into the park. Willow pointed out a tree a short distance off the paved walking path and Tara steered the chair carefully off the concrete. The wheels of the chair dragged a little in the grass, but Tara got Willow to the tree.

“Want to sit in the shade or the sun?” she checked.

Willow pointed to the tree. “As much as I would love to have a half body tan, it might be better for me to sit in the shade,” she said. “Having the only half of my body that doesn’t hurt get sunburned wouldn’t be fun.”

Tara wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “No, I don’t s-suppose that would be good.”

“And I don’t want to give Buffy any more things she has to help me with,” Willow added, glancing to where Tara was sitting down against the tree as the blonde sighed heavily. “What?” she asked.

“Buffy doesn’t m-mind taking c-care of you, Willow. She l-loves you.” She glad the redhead a chiding look. “You’re n-not a burden. Not on your f-friends.”

“Not on you?” Willow asked softly.

Tara shook her head slowly. “N-no, not on me.”

“Good,” Willow sighed. “I’m tired of being driving people away from me,” she groused.

“W-what does that m-mean?” Tara asked.

Willow closed her eyes, running her good hand over her face before reaching into the bag for their lunch. She handed Tara’s sandwich over, meeting her eyes. “It’s nothing. You don’t want to hear me complaining about my life.”

Tara frowned at her, not speaking for a moment. “I-if you w-want to talk about a-anything, I’ll l-listen,” she offered.

Willow nodded quietly, fingers fiddling with the paper wrapping of her sandwich. She didn’t speak for a few minutes and Tara settled back against the tree, taking a bite of her lunch. She looked up from her food when Willow spoke softly.

“I know you met Oz, Buffy told me,” she said, meeting Tara’s eyes. The blonde nodded without speaking. “Well, he is…was, my boyfriend.” Tara still didn’t speak and Willow took a deep breath. “He sort of left after the accident, and I haven’t seen him, or talked to him since that day.”

“I-I’m s-sorry,” Tara breathed.

“He slept with someone,” Willow blurted, not sure why she was compelled to share this with Tara in the middle of the park, in the middle of their day out, but she knew that she trusted the blonde, knew that she felt better, or as good as she could, whenever Tara was around. It was just something about the blonde that made her comfortable, made her relax, made her feel almost like everything could be okay again someday.

“I came in and they were…naked, and he tried to talk to me, tried to explain, but I left. I couldn’t bear to hear it, but I was crying, I wasn’t watching, and…well, you know…” She let out a deep breath, covering her eyes with her hand. “Sorry, Tara,” she groaned. “I didn’t mean to dump all of this on you.”

“It’s n-not a p-problem,” Tara said. “I’m g-glad you told me.”

“Thanks for listening. I don’t know if you know this, but you’re really easy to talk to, Tara,” she replied, still messing with the wrapping of her sandwich, the food itself untouched.

“Y-you’re welcome, Willow,” Tara said with a blush. She put a hand on Willow’s cast, smiling up at her. “And t-thanks for coming o-out with me this afternoon. It would have been b-boring inside the dorm by myself.”

Willow scoffed, rolling her eyes at what she knew was her friend’s attempt to lighten the mood. “Yeah, sure,” she agreed sarcastically. “Because pushing the cripple around town is much better.”

“Willow, why do you do that?” Tara asked, surprising both of them with her almost stern tone. “You’re n-not a cripple, you were j-just in an accident. You’re going to g-get b-better though, and you’ll b-be the same p-person you w-were.” Her eyes fell to the grass beneath them. “S-sorry, it’s n-none of my business.”

Willow’s hand landed over Tara’s on her leg as she sighed. “No, it’s fine, it’s me. I’m just frustrated with everything right now, and it makes me a little…bitchy?” she suggested.

“Willow, no,” Tara said, stern tone returned.

Willow smiled tiredly, curling her fingers around Tara’s. “Sorry,” she breathed. “I just mean that I’m not the best company lately, and I know it, and I’m sorry.” Her fingers were stroking lightly over the back of Tara’s hand, feeling the same crackle of energy between them. “Thanks for sticking around,” she breathed, meeting Tara’s eyes for a long moment before she blinked, withdrawing her hand slowly and unwrapping her lunch.

She took a bite, and Tara sat back against the tree to finish her own sandwich. The blonde found a bag of chips in the paper bag and she opened them, but put the bag of chips on top of Willow’s cast so that the redhead could reach them. Willow smiled gratefully, picking a chip out of the bag, relieved that Tara didn’t treat her like the invalid she saw herself as.

Tara took the last bite of her sandwich and lay back in the grass, her arms crossed behind her head. Willow found a bottle of water in the paper bag and pulled it out, but struggled to open the cap with one hand, holding the bottle between her knee and the cast and twisting off the lid. A little bit of the water dribbled out of the bottle and she sighed in frustration.

Tara wanted to ask if there was something she could do to help the redhead, but she knew how Willow viewed her own injuries, and she didn’t want to do anything to make Willow feel more useless or helpless than she did already, so she remained quiet.

“What are you looking at?” Willow asked, tilting her head back to look up at the bright blue sky. The weather was beautiful, warm, but breezy, and white clouds were floating slowly across the sky.

“It’s a horse,” Tara said, pointing up with one hand at a cloud formation above her head.

Willow smiled as she realized what Tara was doing. “There’s a sailboat,” she said, pointing in another direction as she leaned back in her chair as much as she could.

Tara giggled, and they took turns pointing out shapes to each other while they munched on the chips and Willow finished her sandwich. They lingered in the grass for a few hours, chatting idly until the breeze grew colder and sundown was threatening.

*****
Next Time: Willow begins her recovery, and Buffy plans her perfect Thanksgiving…

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 Post subject: Re: Road to Recovery - Updates every Sunday
PostPosted: Thu Jun 17, 2010 10:45 am 
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4. Extra Flamey
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Yay! they meet... And apparently aren't all that hesitant about saying their minds. Tara is way less nervous in this fic (except for the cuteness that is tara-stutter). It's...

Well let's say it takes some getting used to. I always figured Tara would be pretty quick in figuring her feelings out, but she'd be much more nervous because of them, while Willow is really much slower in finding out how she feels about Tara. Did that make sense at all?

Anyway, you updated before sunday, so I say: great!
:kitty

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 Post subject: Re: Road to Recovery - Updates every Sunday
PostPosted: Sat Jun 19, 2010 1:00 pm 
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I saw the update just today, Saturday...
I liked this chapter, though it took me some seconds to realize that there were some weeks between when Oz said he was leaving and Buffy calling Tara... But then I understood.
Mmm... It's nice how Willow and Tara are getting to know each other, and that Tara already knows she has a crush on Willow. I hope there will be some :wtkiss soon!
:peace

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 Post subject: Re: Road to Recovery - Updates every Sunday
PostPosted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 1:24 pm 
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Loved the update. Looking forward to Willow getting her arm cast off and her and Tara's friendship growing stronger.


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 Post subject: Re: Road to Recovery - Updates every Sunday
PostPosted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 3:21 pm 
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Aw. Tara and Willow are so sweet together. I feel like until Willow is slightly healed, they sort of can't really have a relationship because Willow feels like such a burden and Tara is such a caretaker. But they seem to make each other happy. I'll be looking forward to the next.

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 Post subject: Re: Road to Recovery - Updates every Sunday
PostPosted: Fri Jun 25, 2010 4:13 pm 
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I am sorry I am late to the party but my computer was down. I love this story it has caputered my heart. I cant wait for more. :pinky :pinky :pinky

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 Post subject: Re: Road to Recovery - Updates every Sunday
PostPosted: Sat Jun 26, 2010 5:45 am 
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Mrs. Pineapple: Well, in the show Tara did come looking for Willow during Hush... so it's like that, except less frantic and being chased by creepy monsters... Tara knows she has a crush, but Willow's not quite there yet... for a genius she can be a little slow, but she'll get there...

abarda: No worries, lots of people missed it this week... Sorry about that, there's a line in there that mentions that it's been about a week, but I guess I should have made it more obvious... we're getting to the ':wtkiss' soon, but not quite yet... thanks so much for reading!

love_2003: Glad you liked it! I think this chapter fulfills both of those :) Hope you like it!

JustSkipIt: Yeah, they are sweet! You're right, and that comes up later. Thanks so much for reading!

Willowtree252: No worries! Welcome to the party :) Glad you're back! I'm so glad you like it! I've been kind of nervous about this because it's different from the other ones I've written...

Update on Saturday because I have some time, and it's been over a week since the last one was posted and I hate making you guys wait...hope y'all like it!

Chapter 3 of 15

Willow had had a concussion to add to the list of her injuries, but none of her breaks had been negatively affected by the strange attack on their dorm, and she was scheduled to get the cast off her arm two days before Thanksgiving. That was fortuitously the beginning of their holiday from school, and Giles had invited Willow and Buffy to stay at his apartment over the break since Joyce was out of town and they weren’t permitted to stay on campus over the holiday.

Xander had picked them up from the school in Mrs. Summers’ Jeep, requisitioned to transport Willow and her wheelchair to the hospital. He and Buffy waited impatiently while the doctors checked out Willow’s arm, making sure that the bones had healed enough that she could get the cast removed.

They were pacing the hall outside of the room while they waited, anxious that the redhead be alright. They both jumped in surprise when the door finally opened and Willow pushed her chair into the hallway with a wide grin on her face.

“Check it out!” she said cheerfully, bending her right arm happily, if gingerly. Buffy and Xander laughed as she guided her wheelchair in a circle. “Look at what I can do!”

Buffy hugged her tightly, relieved and moved to feel both of Willow’s arms wrap around her. “I’m glad you’re better, Will.”

“Me too,” the witch agreed as Xander hugged her. “And after I build up my strength a little in this arm, they said I can start using crutches to get around.”

“That’s great, Willow!” Buffy said, excited.

“Although, I’m a little pooped right now, so you two aren’t off the hook yet for the pushing,” the redhead informed them with a smirk, putting both arms on the armrests of her wheelchair with a satisfied sigh.

“Happily,” Xander said as he took the handles. “Are you good to go? Because hospitals are no places to spend vacation. Not that all of us are on vacation,” he commented with a sigh.

“Got to work tomorrow?” Buffy asked, smirking sideways at him.

He nodded. “Yeah, it’s a construction job. They want it to be close to Thanksgiving because the site they’re building on was once an Indian burial ground, or battle ground, or something. But it’s just for tomorrow, so no big.”

Willow smirked up at her best friend, but nodded. “We can get out of here then, wouldn’t want you to waste your day off. Buffy, can you get my crutches? They’re right inside the room there.”

The Slayer collected the crutches, following her friends out into the sun. Willow said she wanted to drive the chair again once they were in the parking lot and they laughed as she pushed herself along. Buffy surprised the redhead by grabbing the handles and tilting the chair back onto its big back wheels, running the rest of the way to the Jeep playfully.

“Don’t want you to overdo it on the first day, Will,” Buffy advised with a grin as she guided the chair back onto all four wheels without a bump.

Willow was fidgeting in the backseat as they drove to Giles’ apartment, excited to be able to use both of her hands again. “I feel like I want to juggle or something,” she commented, giggling excitedly.

“I don’t think Mom keeps anything to juggle in the car, Will,” Buffy said, laughing. “Oh, hey, look. It’s Tara,” she said, pointing as they turned onto Main Street. “Slow down, Xander,” she directed, rolling the window down quickly.

The witch was walking alone on the sidewalk, her jacket pulled tight around her to cut through the late November chill. She looked over as the Jeep pulled up against the curb next to her, smiling in surprise when she recognized the Slayer.

“B-Buffy, hey,” she said, her arms curled across her stomach. The back window rolled down after a second, and she could hear Willow’s excited greeting. “H-hey, Willow,” she said, giggling softly.

Willow had her right leg stretched across the backseat, leaving her leaning against the backdoor on the driver’s side of the car. She couldn’t get to the other side, but she leaned forward, waving excitedly. “Look, I’m not quite as invalid as last time you saw me,” Willow called happily.

Tara stepped closer to the car and leaned in the back window to smile at the hyper redhead. “I-I’m g-glad to s-see that,” she said, genuinely happy that the redhead seemed to be on the mend.

“Where are you heading? We could give you a ride,” Buffy offered.

“I just left the m-magic shop, but I’m h-heading back to campus now,” Tara said. “It w-would be out of your w-way.”

“How are you staying on campus? I thought everyone had to go home?” Willow asked curiously. “Don’t you want to go home for Thanksgiving with your family?”

Tara shook her head rapidly, her eyes dropping and hair sliding over her face. “N-no-o, I-I’m s-staying h-here. J-just b-being s-sneaky o-on campus-s.”

Willow frowned, noticing that Tara was stuttering worse than she’d ever heard her. “Well, that’s unacceptable. No one should be alone on Thanksgiving. You should come over and eat with us,” she declared. “We have enough, right Buffy? And it’s important to spend holidays with people, even if the holiday is just a celebration of the murder of an indigenous culture, and you haven’t known us that long, but we’re friendly and we promise to be on our best behavior.”

Tara giggled, glancing into the front of the car as Buffy turned on her seat to nod to the blonde witch. “She’s right. No one should be alone on Thanksgiving, and we are friendly types, even if we are propositioning you from inside a running car, which, admittedly, doesn’t look great for us,” Buffy commented with a grin, “but we’re nice, and we’d love to have you join us.”

Willow was giggling giddily. “You sounded like me, Buff. We have been spending a lot of time together lately, haven’t we?”

“I-It’s okay. I don’t w-want to in-intrude on your dinner,” Tara said, shaking her head.

“It’s no intrusion,” Xander interjected. “I know I haven’t been introduced, but I’m Xander, and you must be Tara. I’ve heard all kinds of good things. Willow talks about you all the time, and it’s weird we haven’t run into each other before this, but it’s nice to finally meet you.” He held one hand into the backseat to shake.

Tara took it after a second, smiling shyly. “I-it’s nice to meet you,” she said. “I h-hear good things a-about you too.”

He grinned cheerfully, noticing that Willow’s good mood and excitement seemed to be rubbing off on the others. “Come to dinner,” he prompted. “It’s just going to be us, and Giles, and my girlfriend, Anya.”

“And you haven’t met them, but they’re harmless and perfectly friendly,” Buffy chimed in.

Willow snorted in the backseat, rolling her eyes as Buffy and Xander gave her simultaneous chiding looks. “You want Tara to come, right?” Xander asked. “So stop it with the scaring her off.”

“They’re both very nice,” Willow agreed quickly. “Please say you’ll come,” she pleaded, smiling widely.

Tara giggled, pushing her hair behind her ear. “O-okay,” she said softly. “If you’re s-sure…”

“We’re sure, we’re very sure,” Willow said quickly.

“So, we’ll see you Thursday?” Buffy prompted, smiling encouragingly. Tara nodded, her hair sliding in front of her face again. “Great,” Buffy said cheerfully. “One of us could come pick you up, if you want. We’ve got my mom’s car for the whole week because she’s out of town.”

“T-thank you,” Tara said, pushing her hair back with one finger. “S-should I bring a-anything?”

“Just you!” Willow said happily. “We’ll take care of everything else.”

“Can we give you a ride back to campus?” Buffy offered again. “It’s getting cool out.”

“Please?” Willow asked, smiling widely.

Tara blushed as she saw Willow’s smile directed at her, and she nodded before she realized she had made a decision. She blinked as the redhead’s smile widened, feeling her knees tremble, a tremor she didn’t want to look at too closely. Willow, for all appearances, was an outgoing sweetheart who was most definitely straight. Acknowledging her crush on the redhead would only cause problems, she reminded herself firmly.

She opened the car door hesitantly, smiling as Willow used her hands to push herself up straighter, moving her frozen right leg to give Tara more room to sit in the car. The redhead hissed at the unaccustomed strain, a grimace crossing her face, and Buffy and Xander both turned in their seats to check on her.

There was a frown on Tara’s face as Willow opened her eyes, and she gave her a weak smile, her eyes moving to Buffy and Xander. “I’m okay,” she gasped. Tara moved to slide back out of the car, stopping as Willow leaned forward quickly, grabbing the blonde’s wrist and feeling the tingle shoot down her arm. “Don’t go, I’m fine, it’s okay, I’m good.”

“You sure?” Buffy asked, frowning in concern.

Willow nodded, her good arm crossing over her body to rub at the sore muscles of her right arm. She was dismayed to notice that her fingers were trembling in her lap. She let out a deep breath, nodding again. “I’m sure,” she said sincerely, smiling more naturally. “Let’s get Tara back to campus.”

Buffy gave her a lingering look, still frowning, and Xander glanced between them before he put the car back into gear, checking the lanes behind them before he turned the car carefully through a u-turn and pointing them back toward the campus.

Tara stayed quiet on their drive, noticing that Willow was still fidgeting with her right hand. “C-can I?” she asked softly, holding up one hand.

Willow smiled, nodding immediately. “Thank you,” she whispered.

Tara leaned over in her seat, sliding her fingers gently over the palm of Willow’s hand. The same heat she had felt the last time was there immediately, as well as the rush Willow had felt every time Tara had touched her. The heat grew for a few seconds as the pain receded.

Tara left her hand in Willow’s after she let the magic fade, her fingers tracing idly over the lines in Willow’s palm. “F-feel b-better?” she murmured softly.

“Yeah,” Willow said breathily, her eyes lingering on their joined hands. “Thanks,” she said, smiling as she squeezed Tara’s hand gently.

Tara nodded, letting out a deep breath. “Y-you’re w-welcome, Willow,” she said, letting her hand slide off of Willow’s.

The car pulled up in front of Tara’s dorm, and the blonde witch gave everyone shy smiles as she opened her door. “T-thanks for the ride,” she said. “S-see you all on Thursday,” she said as a goodbye, giving Willow a final smile as she shut the door.

“We’ll pick you up around five if that’s okay? We can hang out for a while before dinner,” Buffy suggested out the window.

Tara nodded without speaking, smiling shyly as she let her hair fall in front of her face again. She waved as she turned back towards her dorm, the campus almost eerily empty around her. She paused as she heard her name from the car, walking back to the vehicle in confusion. She saw Willow’s hand shoving a paper at Buffy.

The Slayer took it with a laugh, smiling. “Okay, she’s coming back Will, calm down,” Buffy assured her. “Willow wants you to have this. You’re here all alone, and if you need us, or need something, here’s the number of where we’ll being staying, okay?” Buffy said, handing the torn scrap of paper out the window.

Tara took it, nodding. “T-thanks.”

“See you Thursday!” Willow called from the backseat.

Tara smiled as she walked away, the piece of paper held carefully in between her fingers, hearing the car pull away only once she had made it inside the dorm building.

*****

Giles’ apartment was a welcome change of scenery for the invalid Willow and she was eager to escape the confines of her chair as soon as possible so she started practicing with her wheelchair the next day. The others were anxious that she not try too hard too fast and risk hurting herself, but she wouldn’t be dissuaded.

Willow insisted on pushing her chair around on her own as a way to build up her arm again, but the tight quarters of Giles’ living room made it difficult for her to get much distance. She had opted to wheel herself around the patio instead, but Buffy made her leave the door to the apartment open while the Slayer was engrossed in her manic pre-Thanksgiving meal preparations.

Willow could hear the phone ring, but there was nothing she could do to reach it in time, so she continued practicing in her chair. Giles came to the door after a moment with the cordless phone in his hands.

“It’s for you, Willow,” he said distractedly. “Someone named Tara,” he said off Willow’s confused look.

The redhead took the phone from him and the Watcher returned quickly to the kitchen as Buffy yelped loudly. “Hey Tara, how are you?” she asked into the phone. “You’re not calling to cancel tomorrow, are you?” she asked anxiously.

Tara giggled at the breathless questions. “I didn’t interrupt anything, d-did I?” she asked.

Willow was panting for breathing and realized that there was sweat sliding down her face. “No, I’ve been wheeling myself around to work out my arm so I can get strong enough to use the crutches. I guess I’ve been out here longer than I thought I had been so I’m a little out of breath.”

“You-you’re okay, r-right?” Tara asked, concerned. She hoped the redhead hadn’t unintentionally hurt herself, but she was sure Buffy was watching over her. Every time she had visited Willow, her blonde roommate had always been there, protectively keeping an eye on her friend.

Willow laughed breathily. “Yeah, I’m fine,” she said reassuringly. “How are you? Is everything okay on campus?”

“Y-yes, it’s okay. J-just kind of quiet,” Tara said. “I just…it’s s-sort of lonely here a-alone.”

Willow sighed, wiping sweat from her forehead with the sleeve of her shirt. “Well, I’m glad you called me then. Lonely-Tara isn’t good,” she said emphatically. “Hang on just a second please, Tara,” she said into the phone.

Tara laughed. “N-no problem,” she said.

Willow tilted the phone away from her mouth as she raised her voice. “Buffy! Can I have some water?” she called loudly.

Buffy jogged out into the patio a moment later, a bottle of water in one hand. “You okay, Will?” she asked as she handed it over. “I can take you inside if you need me to,” she offered.

“I’m good, just a little stinky now,” she said, laughing.

“At least Giles has a tub so you don’t have to take another sponge bath while we’re here,” Buffy commented.

Willow blushed, belatedly covering the speaker to the phone. “Yeah, you’re right,” she agreed. Buffy gave her friend a confused look, cocking an eyebrow at the redhead. “Tara’s on the phone,” she said lowly, still blushing.

“Oh,” Buffy said, laughing. “Oops. Sorry, Will.” A buzzer went off in the kitchen and the Slayer turned her attention back to her Watcher’s apartment. “You’re good?” she checked, waiting for the hacker’s nod before bolting back inside.

Willow was blushing as she uncovered the phone again. “Hey Tara, sorry about Buffy’s big mouth. I’m sure you didn’t call to hear about my bathing habits, or lack thereof. Not that I don’t bathe, because yuck, but it’s just been a little tricky with all the casts, and sponge baths have kind of been my only option, and now I’m drastically over-sharing, and I’m sorry. Please don’t let this put you off coming to eat with us tomorrow. I promise I’ll take a bath and everything, and I’m over-sharing again, but I promise not to mention bathing at all if you’ll come over tomorrow…” she rambled, stopping herself with an effort. “Tara? Are you still there?”

The blonde laughed uncontrollably into the pause, the sound unrestrained and joyful. “Yes, I’m s-still here,” she said in between giggles.

“Have I embarrassed myself enough yet?” Willow asked. “Because I’m sure I can come up with something that will just make it impossible for me to ever look you in the eyes again.”

Tara kept giggling, feeling giddy. “No, I d-don’t want to do that then,” she said, her voice soft. “I l-like your eyes.” It occurred to her a second too late that she shouldn’t have said that, but Willow just laughed as if she’d told a joke.

“So, since I haven’t managed to completely scare you away yet, you’re still coming to Thanksgiving, right?” Willow asked.

“Yes, I-I’m still coming,” she said, giggling.

Willow smiled happily at that reassurance, holding the phone close to her ear. She could suddenly hear footsteps coming down the stairs towards Giles’ house, rapid, scrambling footsteps that made her unconsciously tense up. A smoking blanket flapped down the stairs and she dropped the phone into her lap to free her hands to push her chair back as fast as she could.

“Buffy!” she called. “We’ve got company!”

Whoever was under the blanket bolted straight past the chair-bound witch toward the open door to the apartment, but hit an invisible wall and was pushed back into the sunlight. Willow heard the accented cursing from under the blanket and wheeled her chair back further.

“It’s Spike!” she yelled in warning.

The Slayer was through the door before Spike was back on his feet, throwing herself between the witch and the vampire. “You stay away from her! I don’t know how you didn’t bite her last time, but you won’t touch her,” she promised. “Willow, can you get to the door?”

“Buffy, he couldn’t bite me last time,” Willow interjected even as she wheeled herself back toward the apartment. “He tried, but it hurt him. It hurt his head.”

“She’s telling the truth!” Spike shouted, cowering under his blanket in a corner of shade. “I need your help, Slayer!”

“Yeah, right,” Buffy scoffed. “Why should I help you?” she asked.

“I’ve got information about those soldier types that attacked your dorm the other night!” he offered, his feet hopping oddly as he tried to avoid standing still for too long.

“They were there to get you! And they could have killed Willow, chasing after you in the dark like that!” Buffy argued.

“Come on, Slayer! It wasn’t my fault! They’re the ones who cut out the lights!” Spike protested. “I was keeping them off of her!”

Buffy glanced over her shoulder for confirmation from the hacker, but Willow shrugged. “I don’t know. I was unconscious during the fighting. But Spike wasn’t the one who knocked me out. Something rammed my chair into the wall and I hit my head, but it wasn’t Spike,” she admitted while Giles guided her chair into the apartment. “He did try to bite me, but those trooper guys ran in right after he did, and he did protect me. From what I could tell before the concussion,” she added.

“See!” Spike crowed triumphantly. “I told you I didn’t hurt her!”

“You went there to bite her!” Buffy protested loudly, her arms crossed over her chest.

The vampire shrugged under his blanket, still dancing away from the bright sunlight. “Yeah, well, actually I was there to bite you if you want to be picky, but the fact remains that I didn’t bite her. I think that earns me some credit of the ‘you not staking me through the heart’ variety,” he declared, scoffing. “Me saving your best friend from being assaulted and all, seems to me like maybe you owe me one. Red is definitely the best of you lot, and a nice enough person, but I don’t make it a habit of saving the damsels unless there’s something in it for me, Slayer. I am evil, remember?”

Buffy rolled her eyes, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like ‘impotent’ under her breath, and looked to Giles. “What do you think?” she asked, her arms still crossed, but relaxing slightly.

He shrugged. “He could have useful information,” the Watcher acknowledged. “It just may not be worth the annoyance,” he added, raising a thoughtful eyebrow.

“Come on!” Spike shouted, smoke pouring off his blanket now.

Buffy made her decision, nodding to him. “You wait there,” she said, walking deliberately slowly back into the house to collect a chair and some rope. She put the chair just outside the door, barely in the protective shade. “Have a seat,” she invited cheerfully.

Willow could hear him grumbling as he sat down and she craned her neck to watch Buffy tie him up. As she moved, she felt something poke her in the stomach and she realized that the phone was still in her lap and presumably Tara was still on the other end.

“Tara, are you still there?” she asked as she picked it up, holding it against her shoulder with her chin while she used both hands to steer the chair out of the living room and down the short hall to the spare room she and Buffy had been using. It took the blonde a second to answer, and Willow let out a deep breath. “So, how was that for scaring you off?” she asked nervously, wondering how much the other witch had heard.

“U-um, it sounds busy over t-there,” Tara commented.

She started to say something else, but was interrupted by Willow. “Please don’t follow that up with ‘maybe it would be better if I didn’t come,’” the redhead requested.

“I w-would have s-stuttered it m-more,” Tara said honestly.

“I promise that you won’t be intruding or whatever excuse you were going to use,” Willow prompted. “And, I don’t know how much you heard, but it won’t be dangerous or anything either.”

“I heard s-something about b-biting, and s-someone hurt you?” she asked.

“Yeah, I got a little concussion because some soldier guys swarmed Stevenson a few weeks ago. Remember? It was played off as a prank. I just got kind of knocked around in the darkness induced confusion,” Willow answered.

“B-Buffy w-wasn’t there?”

“Oh, no, actually she was out walking…” Her voice trailed off as she remembered exactly where Buffy had been.

“S-she was w-walking me h-home,” Tara finished the statement as she figured out the truth. “Oh Willow, I-I’m s-so s-sorry.”

“Tara, no, it wasn’t your fault, it’s just…my life is kind of complicated, and it’s hard to explain, but I guess I should tell you some about it so you don’t feel irrationally guilty because I got hurt, and you’re going to be here tomorrow and it might be hard to explain the tied up guy…”

Willow took a deep breath, but was surprised when Tara spoke up. “He’s a v-vampire though, r-right?”

“Vampire? How could you know about vampires?” Willow blurted, surprised.

“M-my m-mother, she was a w-witch too. S-she used to tell me about t-things like that,” Tara answered. “I d-didn’t know it w-was true until I c-came here.”

“Oh, I guess that makes sense,” Willow said. “So, what else do you know about vampires, because if you already know, it’ll make me telling you a lot less like spilling a secret.”

“U-um, she told me a s-story about s-something called a S-slayer?” Tara answered, trying to remember.

“Okay, good, that’s great, and exactly what I was hoping to hear,” Willow interrupted, her words rushed. “It’s all true, and Buffy is the Slayer,” she said quickly. “And Spike is a vampire, but there’s something wrong with him, because he couldn’t bite me last time…”

“B-Buffy’s the vampire S-slayer?” Tara asked, her voice soft and confused.

“Yep,” Willow replied cheerfully. “Since she was fifteen.”

“A-and there’s a v-vampire t-there, with you?”

“Oh, yeah, Spike is tied up in the living room,” Willow answered.

“W-won’t whoever you’re staying with n-notice that?” Tara asked.

Willow blinked, laughing. “Oh, no. We’re staying with Buffy’s Watcher, Giles. Did your mom tell you what a Watcher is, because it’s kind of self explanatory when you think about the title, but if not I can explain it…”

She trailed off as Tara giggled. “I think I g-got it.”

“Okay, I’m really glad this isn’t freaking you out, because I don’t want to freak you out, I want you to come over and hang out with us, or just with me even, because I like hanging out with you, and you’re really nice, and I’m babbling again, and you really should just stop me when I do that…”

Tara was giggling again. “I l-like it,” she said softly. “It’s f-funny.”

Willow let out a deep breath, smiling unconsciously. “So you’re still coming for Thanksgiving?” she checked again.

“I’ll b-be there,” Tara said quietly.

“And you’re not freaked?”

“N-no,” Tara said shakily. “Y-you d-didn’t get h-hurt b-badly, did y-you?”

Willow laughed, shaking her head despite the fact that Tara couldn’t possibly see her. “No Tara, it was just a concussion. It’s not the first one I’ve ever had, and I’m sure it won’t be the last one. Being best friends with the Slayer can be rough.”

Tara wanted to ask if being friends with the Slayer had been the reason Willow had ended up in the wheelchair, wanted to ask about Oz, but knew that the subject was much too personal. “I-I’m s-sorry,” she said instead.

“Not your fault,” Willow said easily. “It might not look like it because of the chair, but I can normally take care of myself. It’ll be better now that I can use both of my arms.” She could hear Buffy and Spike yelling at each other in the living room, and she giggled.

“S-something f-funny? I can g-get o-off the p-phone if y-you’re busy,” Tara offered.

“Nah, Buffy and Spike are just arguing, but that’s nothing new, they don’t need me for that,” Willow objected. “I’d much rather talk to you.”

Tara blushed brightly, grateful that she was on the other end of the phone. “U-uh…” she stuttered, not able to think of something to say in response that wouldn’t scare the redhead away. She wondered silently how it was possible to have such a big crush on someone that you knew was straight, sighing heavily.

“So, your mom was a witch? That’s really cool. I bet you know lots of great spells,” Willow commented. “I already know you’re amazing with that healing spell, cause you’ve helped my tummy and my arm.”

“I-I’m o-okay, that’s a-all,” Tara protested. “A-and I c-couldn’t let you s-stay h-hurting.”

“You’re better than just ‘okay,’ Tara!” Willow disagreed. “You’re amazing.”

Tara laughed quietly. “Y-you don’t k-know me t-that well,” she said. “How c-could you know if I-I’m r-really amazing?” she asked, her voice soft, almost teasing.

Mustering self-doubt was never a problem for her, and it fascinated her that Willow had apparently seen something worthy in her, even if it was just the magic. She had one more year of humanity left, before her demon would demand that she withdraw from every aspect of her normal life, and she was anxious to make this last year count for something.

“So tell me something I don’t already know about you,” Willow suggested. “Prove me wrong.”

Tara smiled to herself. “Um…well, t-there’s not actually m-much to tell, Willow.” She’d escaped from her family, and had no desire to drag up any of her memories of them. Her demon still had to be hidden, and any conversation about her home or childhood would bring up secrets that she had to keep hidden. Especially from Willow. The little witch she was crushing on was best friends with the Slayer, and she was sure that Buffy would be called in to deal with whatever she became once she changed. Tara knew that any friendship they felt for her would become inconsequential once they realized what she was.

The redhead scoffed, and it brought Tara sharply back to the present. “Yeah, right,” she disagreed. “How long have you been practicing magic?” Willow asked to get them started.

“Pretty much my whole life,” Tara answered. “My m-mom taught me when I was l-little.” She swallowed thickly, her voice growing hoarse. “She…d-died a few years ago.”

Willow frowned, blinking in surprise. “Oh, Tara, I didn’t mean…I’m so sorry…I really didn’t…”

“N-no, Willow. It…y-you didn’t k-know…” Tara objected. “I don’t r-really talk about my f-family, s-sorry.”

“Tara, you know I run my mouth,” Willow said apologetically. “I don’t want to hurt your feelings. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

Tara sighed heavily. “Willow, it’s o-okay. Y-you didn’t…” She stuttered, trying to think of anything she could say to get Willow to feel better. “I think I want to be a teacher,” she announced, knowing even as she spoke that it was random and possibly the lamest thing she’d ever said.

“Really?” Willow said, grasping at the straw gratefully. “See, that’s amazing. I could never do that. I mean, I did it for a while in eleventh grade, but that was just because the teacher died, and that is a much longer story than we have time for, and it doesn’t matter anyway because we were talking about you, so I need to stop talking about myself. Rude Willow! Anyway, you must have infinite patience to go along with your incredible talent for spells. That’s really cool, Tara. What do you want to teach?”

“Oh, I don’t k-know,” the blonde responded shyly. “I just l-like kids. I think I-I’d be a g-good teacher.”

“I’m sure you will be,” Willow agreed. “Those are going to be some lucky kids, Tara.”

“H-hopefully I’ll g-get over t-the s-stutter so t-they won’t just l-laugh at me.”

The redhead frowned, instantly rejecting the idea that someone couldn’t immediately see everything Tara had to offer. Even some snotty little kid surely had to have more sense that that. “Psht, if anyone laughs, you just tell me and I’ll beat them up,” she stated firmly.

The blonde laughed, feeling a bright blush burning in her cheeks. “Willow…they’re hypothetical c-children. I t-think I’m safe. T-thank you f-for the o-offer though.”

“Of course,” Willow said immediately. “I’m not very intimidating right now anyway. I could get Buffy to beat them up until I get back on my feet,” she offered.

“Y-you’re s-sweet,” Tara said softly, realizing what she’d said too late. Willow didn’t respond for a moment and the blonde let her eyes close, sure that she’d overstepped the boundaries she’d set up for their friendship.

Willow was smiling on the other end of the phone, feeling inordinately pleased by the praise. “Thanks, Tara, but you’re the sweet one, spending all your time with me. It’s really too nice of you.” She knew that Tara would protest, and she continued quickly to preempt her. “And that brings us nicely back to my point of proving that you, my friend, are amazing…”

“Willow…”

“I can tell,” Willow said firmly. “It’s so obvious,” she declared. The phone beeped in her hands and she frowned as she recognized the caller ID number as Angel’s office in L.A. “Crap, Tara, there’s another call, and I need to take it, can I call you back?”

“Y-you don’t have to c-call me back,” Tara objected.

“I’ll call you back as long as it’s not too late,” Willow said.

“Okay, b-bye Willow,” Tara said.

“I’ll talk to you later,” Willow said quickly, switching to the other line rapidly. “Cordelia?” she asked.

“No, it’s me,” Angel’s voice answered her. “I need your help.”

*****
Next Time: It’s Thanksgiving in Sunnydale!

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 Post subject: Re: Road to Recovery - Updates every Sunday
PostPosted: Sat Jun 26, 2010 2:55 pm 
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I like how they are getting to know each other and that Willow was honest with her about her life and how crazy it gets. You can feel the feelings growning. I know this is diffrent for you but you can do it you more then have the ability for anything you put your mind to. :pinky

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 Post subject: Re: Road to Recovery - Updates every Sunday
PostPosted: Sun Jun 27, 2010 10:44 am 
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I love every line in this story! It's super cute.
It's easy to see that Willow feels something for Tara, even though she doesn't see it yet (I hope she'll realize it soon!)
I'm waiting for the next update!
:peace

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 Post subject: Re: Road to Recovery - Updates every Sunday
PostPosted: Sun Jun 27, 2010 12:09 pm 
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Hey ! Wow sorry I'm late ^^... so, great chapter, as usual, and i like the way it's going :)

Keep it up ! :peace

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 Post subject: Re: Road to Recovery - Updates every Sunday
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Hey there,
Another Sunday. Another lovely update. I'm amazed at just how outgoing Tara can be with Willow in spite of her nerves and stutter. I want to give her a cookie for her honesty. Hell, that's a really attractive characteristic to someone - honestly saying what you like about that. Willow's so into Tara it's really adorable. I wonder what is going on in L.A.

Hmmm...

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 Post subject: Re: Road to Recovery - Updates every Sunday
PostPosted: Sun Jun 27, 2010 10:36 pm 
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Great update. Glad that Tara accepted the invitation for Thanksgiving dinner. I know Willow wouldn't have let her spend the holiday alone. Wondering what is happening in LA.


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 Post subject: Re: Road to Recovery - Updates every Sunday
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Really a very nice story, I look forward to seeing how you let it progress and how you decide to deal with Tara's family/demon stuff.

Please keep them coming!

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 Post subject: Re: Road to Recovery - Updates every Sunday
PostPosted: Thu Jul 01, 2010 6:44 am 
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incredibly well paced plot. I love it so far. I see there's still a long way ahead so keep it up and update soon.


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 Post subject: Re: Road to Recovery - Updates every Sunday
PostPosted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 5:06 am 
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Lol, I gave in, I read!

And I loved! You were right, not too angsty :)

I love how it's all progressing and how Tara is so honest and Willow is so adorably into her (sigh for self-obliviousness...though I'm hoping she'll realise it soon!)

Hmm, what's the sitch with LA? Intrigued...

Glad Tara is doing the whole Thanksgiving dinner thing!

And I'm glad you convinced me to not wait for it to end, now I've got that delicious sense of anticipation while I wait for the next chapter!

:peace

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 Post subject: Re: Road to Recovery - Updates every Sunday
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Willowtree252: Aww, yay! I'm glad you're liking it! I'm trying to make the feelings (at least on Willow's end) a little more subtle but I'm never sure what's too subtle, and what's beating you over the head with it...you're very kind, I hope I can live up!

abarda: Awesome! Super cute is pretty much what I'm going for! I'm so glad the feelings aren't too subtle... Willow's going to start waking up soon, don't worry :) Thanks so much for reading!

KiWy: No worries :) Glad you're enjoying it!

JustSkipIt: Hey :) Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it - I'm so happy that everyone can see how into her Willow is! Thanks so much for reading and leaving a comment! Hope you like the new one!

love_2003: Thanks! Glad you liked it! No one should spend Thanksgiving alone! Especially not Tara if Willow's around :)

vampyregurl73: Aww, well thank you! I'm glad you like it! Yeah, it's going to be a bit different, but we will get to the demon stuff and Tara's family eventually :)

viximon: Yay! That's one of the biggest things I'm worried about on this one is keeping the pacing realistic... Thanks so much for reading!

Laragh: WoooHooo! I'm so glad you liked it! I'm so relieved that everyone is okay with the progression! I've been worried about it being too quick or too slow... Willow's going to start waking up soon - no worries! Yeah, well I hope the wait isn't too long for you!

Yet again, I'm not posting on Sunday - but it's Independence day in America tomorrow (and that's the only holiday that my family actually does something big for) so I'm going to be busy all day... so early update for y'all... and maybe someday I'll actually post on Sunday...

Chapter 4 of 15

Buffy was none the wiser that Angel was in town, her mania to have the perfect Thanksgiving distracting her. Also helping keep her occupied was the sickly Xander, the suddenly syphilis afflicted construction worker moaning and groaning on the couch. The Slayer was scrambling to finish her meal while trying to figure out how to help Xander. Spike wasn’t helping the situation, whining and making demands from his chair.

It was with relief that Willow wheeled herself outside to ride along to pick up Tara for dinner. Unfortunately, the only driver available was Anya. Buffy took a moment from her cooking to carry the witch and her chair to the top of the stairs of Giles’ apartment complex, warning Willow sternly not to attempt the descent without calling her.

Willow pulled herself into the backseat of the car while the clueless Anya shoved the wheelchair into the back of the car without collapsing it, leaving it to roll around while she drove. The former demon chattered cheerfully while she drove recklessly, completely missing that Willow wasn’t answering her, too busy holding onto the back of the seat to keep herself from being pitched into the floorboard.

Anya screeched to a halt in front of the dorm building, surprised when Willow slid as quickly as she could from the car, balancing herself carefully on her crutches. She winced as she took her first steps, the firm pressure of the crutches under her shoulders uncomfortable and moving rapidly toward painful. She knew it was probably much too soon to be using the crutches, but the harrowing car ride had left her craving the feel of solid ground under her one good foot.

Her progress was slow, and it took her a moment to get the door to the building open, afraid she would overbalance herself if she let go of either crutch long enough to open the door. She rode the elevator upstairs, and when she made it to Tara’s door she didn’t attempt to knock with a hand, just banged her forehead against it several times rather than risk moving either hands, crutches, or feet.

Tara’s eyes widened as she saw that Willow was on her feet on the other side of the door. “Willow! A-aren’t you s-supposed to be in your c-chair?”

Willow was panting for breath, and she nodded. “Yeah, probably.”

“W-where is it?” Tara asked. Willow nodded her head back towards the entrance, trying to catch her breath. “I-I’ll get it. S-sit,” she directed with uncharacteristic firmness, helping the redhead to her bed and guiding the tired witch down onto the edge. Willow hissed at the relief from the throb her crutches had caused in her arms, and Tara rushed from the room, returning after a few minutes with the wheelchair.

Willow felt the now almost familiar rush as Tara’s hands helped her gently into her chair, and Willow sighed as she slumped into the seat. “Thanks,” she said gratefully. “I really wasn’t ready for that.”

Tara nodded, bending her knees to crouch beside the chair, bringing herself to Willow’s eyelevel. “Are y-you okay?” she asked softly, concerned and gripping the armrest of the chair to stop herself from brushing hair back from Willow’s face.

Willow nodded, feeling sweat sliding down the back of her collar, and she took a deep breath. “Thanks,” she repeated, glancing regretfully at the crutches where they were leaned against Tara’s bed. The blonde rose to her full height, letting out a breath of relief as she turned to collect the crutches. When she turned back to the chair, she was surprised to see that Willow’s hands were on the grips for the wheels, prepared to push herself back into the hall.

“No,” Tara said firmly, snatching Willow’s hands off the wheels. “You h-hold these,” she directed, laying the crutches across the armrests and taking the handles to push the chair herself.

Willow had to tilt the crutches so that they could fit the chair through the door and Tara kept a watchful eye on her as she let go of the chair to lock her door.

They made it back to the car without incident, Tara watching carefully as Willow stretched out in the backseat before she climbed into the front. Anya was eyeing her speculatively, sticking her hand out suddenly.

“I’m Anya,” she said with her typical bluntness. “I was here when you stole the wheelchair, but you didn’t seem interested in waiting for me to introduce myself.”

“I-I’m T-Tara,” the witch replied distractedly, shaking Anya’s hand as she glanced into the back of the car to see Willow smile weakly, rubbing at her shoulder. Without speaking, Tara extended her arm backwards, resting a hand on Willow’s closer shoulder. Willow’s eyes closed as the tingle shot down her arm, the rush of magic overriding the throbbing pain that had been radiating from her weak shoulder muscles.

“Thanks,” she said, eyes still closed. “Anya, we’re not going straight back to Giles’, Buffy needs us to pick up peas.” She heard Anya’s acknowledgement, and the Jeep squealed away from the curb. Willow curled her hand around Tara’s wrist, keeping them both steady. “Okay?” she checked, ready to let Tara have her hand back if the blonde was feeling the effects of Anya’s erratic driving. Tara just squeezed the shoulder under her hand gently, her thumb making unconscious circles against Willow’s shirt.

The grocery store was crowded when they parked, and Tara pushed the crutches out of Willow’s reach with a stern shake of her head. “I don’t think so,” she said as she pulled the chair out of the back of the car. Willow sighed, pouting even as she pulled herself into her chair.

Tara pushed Willow’s chair into the store, while Anya seemed fascinated by the rampant consumerism around them. They didn’t bother getting a cart since it was difficult enough trying to maneuver Willow’s chair through the crowd. Of course, being Thanksgiving day, there were no fresh peas left, so they collected a package of frozen peas. They were coming out of the frozen food aisle when Angel appeared. He was suddenly standing in front of Willow’s chair, and Tara pulled it to a stop, frowning in confusion as the man just stood there.

“Angel, hey,” Willow said, glancing over her shoulder and to the side where Tara and Anya were both watching. “Tara, Anya, this is Angel,” she introduced them. “So, what’s going on that you came all the way here?” she asked.

“Buffy’s in danger,” he said shortly. “What’s been happening?”

Willow shrugged. “We’re still not sure. Something happened to Xander yesterday, and a priest was murdered this morning.”

“Xander has syphilis,” Anya announced, wringing her hands worriedly. “We can’t have sex while he has syphilis, so you need to fix this,” she mourned, missing the glances of surprise and disgust the others exchanged.

“Xander got syphilis?” Angel asked, smirking.

“It’s an avenging Native American spirit, I think,” Willow told Angel, shooting him a chiding look. She grimaced over her shoulder at Tara. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, it just sort of came up this morning, and it should be perfectly safe at Giles’ apartment, so there’s no reason for you not to come to dinner,” she said apologetically. “We can take you back to the dorm if this is wigging you out.”

Tara shook her head slowly. “N-no, I’m o-okay.”

Willow smiled cheerfully. “Good, because I didn’t want you to leave.” Her eyes moved back to Angel. “Spike is tied up at Giles’ house too,” she told him.

The vampire’s smirk disappeared and he scowled, growling in his chest unconsciously. “I’ll take care of him while I’m here,” he promised ominously.

Willow sighed, shaking her head. “I think we need him right now actually, but thanks,” she told him. “Some people did something to him and he can’t bite anymore, we’re still trying to figure it out.”

Angel was still growling in his chest, but nodded. “Fine. Where’s Buffy?”

“She’s at Giles’, cooking,” Willow answered with a smirk. “We’re on a grocery run obviously.”

He nodded, frowning at the floor. “Okay, well, I’ll stay close, but out of sight, in case something happens.”

“How’d you get here anyway?” Anya asked curiously. “It’s daytime,” she said, looking around him as if he was suddenly going to burst into flames at the reminder.

“There’s a basement with sewer access,” he replied. “You’re going back to the apartment now?”

Willow nodded. “Yeah. Where are you going?”

“I have a friend at the museum, I’ll go check on some things,” he answered. “I’ll call if I find anything, and I’ll come by as soon as the sun goes down.”

“You want me to tell Buffy you’re coming?” Willow asked.

He shook his head quickly. “No, it’ll be easier if I’m…if she doesn’t know I’m here.”

“Okay,” Willow said doubtfully and gave him a look that showed clearly what she thought of that idea, nodding. “Good luck, Angel.”

He nodded, fading into the crowd before anyone could move. “So, that’s Angel,” Anya said matter-of-factly. “He’s large.”

Willow snorted at the understatement. “Yeah, he’s very big,” she agreed dryly. “Now let’s get these peas back to Buffy before she comes looking for us.”

Tara resumed pushing the chair toward the front of the store. It took a few impatient minutes to get through the line, the crush of people persisting as they exited the store, and Anya caused several people’s lives to flash before their eyes before they made it out of the parking lot.

Willow dutifully waited at the top of the stairs for Buffy when they got back to the apartment, sending Anya down with the peas while Tara stayed at the top of the stairs with her.

“Hey, Tara,” Buffy greeted her distractedly, surveying the chair and the steep stairs. “Um, Will…”

“Oh, it’s okay,” Willow said. “Tara knows about you. I sort of told her, I hope that’s okay, but it would have been hard to explain Spike being tied up, and you know she’s a witch, and I know we can trust her, she wouldn’t tell anyone. Would you, Tara?” she rambled, her eyes traveling back and forth between the two blondes.

“I w-won’t tell,” Tara said, smiling crookedly.

Buffy nodded, grinning as she hoisted Willow and her chair into her arms. “Thanks, Tara. I appreciate it.” She carried the witch down the stairs carefully, Tara following them down the steps with the crutches, eyes wide at the Slayer’s unthinking display of strength.

Buffy put the chair down in Giles’ patio, checking to make sure Willow was okay. She blinked in surprise when Tara swatted Willow’s hands from the wheels of the chair.

“She t-tried her crutches e-earlier,” Tara said, giving Willow a chiding look.

Buffy scowled at her friend, ignoring Willow’s attempt at an apologetic smile. “Willow! You know you’re not strong enough for that!”

“You didn’t have to ride with Anya! I’m not even sure she has a license! She only figured out what the left pedal did after we turned onto Main Street!” she objected. “I needed to get out of that car!”

“That’s what your chair is for!” Buffy objected. “You just got out of the cast, Will! What if you had fallen down? You could have broken your leg worse, or you could have broken your arm again.”

“I’m never going to get stronger if I don’t practice,” Willow reasoned.

Buffy shook her head sternly, still scowling. “You’re right, but you know it’s way too early to be trying it.” Her expression changed as she looked at Tara. “Thanks Tara. I’m glad you were there to look after her.” Tara nodded, blushing, and Buffy knocked Willow on the head gently with a knuckle. “Sometimes it’s not a good thing that you have such a hard head, my friend.”

Tara pushed the chair into the apartment as Buffy rushed back to her cooking. Anya was fussing over Xander on the couch and the construction worker waved tiredly with one hand. Tara waved back, frowning at how sick he looked. She exchanged looks with Willow, the redhead shrugging regretfully.

“He’ll be okay once we appease the spirit,” Willow said hopefully.

“Who wants to kill us all,” Anya chimed in.

Tara blanched, eyeing Spike in his chair, the vampire not straining against his ropes, just watching the proceedings in silence. He noticed her arrival and grinned, looking her over from top to bottom.

“Well, this day just turned around,” he commented happily. “How about you come over here and keep me company, sweetheart?” he requested, winking.

She frowned at him, her hands tightening compulsively on the handles of Willow’s chair. The redhead scowled at him, shaking her head. “You leave her alone, Spike. She came over to eat with us, not entertain you.”

He looked at the pair, his eyes lingering on Tara’s hand on the back of Willow’s chair, and he smirked. “I think I know what she’s here for a bit better than you do, pet,” he commented, his voice almost smug, and Tara paled further, shaking her head minutely in a panic.

Willow tilted her head back to look up at Tara, rolling her eyes. “Ignore Spike. He gets his jollies by being annoying,” she said with a grin.

Tara blushed, nodding in silence. She glanced uncontrollably at Spike, who winked cheekily and rolled his eyes at the oblivious Willow. “Slayer, I’m hungry!” he called loudly, grinning as she yelled back at him.

It didn’t take long before the sun was going down outside and Willow was unsurprised to hear the phone ring almost immediately after it sunk below the horizon.

“I got it,” she called, pushing her chair forward a few feet so that she could reach the receiver. Tara was lingering awkwardly behind the wheelchair and her eyes widened as she noticed the man outside the window with a bow and arrow.

“Willow!” she yelped, toppling the wheelchair as she dove to the ground. The chair landed mostly on her legs, and Willow herself landed mostly on her chest, while an arrow struck the metal rail of the chair and ricocheted, sticking with a dull thud in the back of the couch.

“Thanks,” Willow gasped, grimacing at the uncomfortable strain on her leg, her arms shaky as she tried to push herself up. “I don’t think I can get off of you right now,” she said apologetically, pale with pain.

“I-it’s okay. Are you h-hurt?” Tara asked, not wanting the extricate herself if it meant hurting Willow further.

“Willow?” Buffy yelled. “Are you okay?”

“I’m okay,” Willow called back, struggling to look down at herself. She was still straining to hold herself up off of Tara, but her arms were shaking and Tara put one of her hands on each of Willow’s elbows.

“It’s okay. You won’t hurt me. Just relax,” Tara said quietly, tilting her head up to look down at Willow herself. The redhead’s injured leg was pinned in between the footrests of her chair, and from where Tara was, it looked impossible to get Willow free without potentially hurting her.

It suddenly occurred to Willow that the phone was still ringing, and she tried to reach it, only to collapse as her weak arm gave out from underneath her. Tara let out a surprised breath as Willow landed hard on her chest.

“Giles, phone! It’s important!” Willow called with as much voice as she could muster. Her eyes found Tara and she grimaced. “Sorry,” she said more quietly.

Tara was trying to catch her breath, but her hand moved to Willow’s right arm, feeling the muscles trembling beneath her fingers. Willow hissed as she felt the heat radiating from Tara’s palm, and her head dropped suddenly against the blonde’s shoulder, too tired to hold her head up anymore.

There were still arrows flying into the apartment, but they seemed to be safe where they were collapsed behind the table. The phone stopped ringing, and Tara could hear a British man having a one-sided conversation. There was a thump by their feet, and Buffy was there, guiding the chair off of them before scrambling forward to check on Willow.

“Will, come on, you’ve got to be okay,” the Slayer breathed, checking her friend’s pulse while she was seemingly passed out on the other witch’s chest.

“I’m okay,” Willow mumbled, lifting her head slowly. “Tara?”

“I-I’m okay,” the blonde affirmed.

Buffy looked at both of them, ducking as a hatchet embedded itself in the back of the couch beside her. She yanked it out, whipping it through the air back at their attacker. “Tara, you got her?” she asked, waiting for the witch’s nod before she vaulted herself over the dining room table and into the fight.

Giles had made it to the weapons chest and was quick to toss a knife to Buffy. Spike let out a growl as an arrow hit his chest, complaining loudly even though they had missed his heart. Xander and Anya were scuffling outside while Giles and Buffy fought off one of the spirits who had crashed through the second story window, the Slayer frustrated quickly as she was unable to kill the Indian with her knife.

Willow lifted her head as Tara’s hand slipped off her shoulder, the redhead’s arms suddenly sturdier and she rolled herself off of the other girl, groaning as she landed on her back. “I’m okay,” she gasped before Tara could ask. She yelped loudly as an arrow hit her bad leg, sticking into the cast and quivering. “I’m okay,” she repeated. “It didn’t go all the way through the cast,” she gasped, using her hands to drag herself into more cover under the table.

Tara moved to pull it out, hesitating with a look at Willow’s face. The redhead was grimacing, but didn’t seem to be in pain, at least not pain caused by the arrow. “It’s okay, you can take it out,” Willow said, breathing heavily.

Tara got a grip near the base of the arrow, waiting for Willow’s nod before she pulled it out. Willow didn’t react as it pulled free, and Tara gently probed the hole with one finger, grateful to feel one thin layer of cotton between her skin and Willow’s. She let out a breath of relief, meeting Willow’s eyes with a tiny smile.

Suddenly, all the chaos faded into silence, the Indian warriors disappearing as Buffy stabbed the one she was fighting with his own blade. Xander and Anya returned from outside after several long minutes, the construction worker already looking much improved from his brush with syphilis.

“Is everyone alright?” Giles asked, looking around at the various arrows and hatchets embedded in furniture all around his living room. “Where’s Willow?” he asked, noticing the overturned wheelchair.

“I’m here,” Willow called from under the table, and Tara quickly stopped her from trying to drag herself out from their hiding spot.

Buffy and Xander joined them quickly, the witch moving out of their way as the old friends helped the redhead back into her chair.

“You got shot?” Xander asked in surprise, poking lightly at the hole in her cast.

Willow nodded. “Yeah, but it didn’t go in.”

“Barely,” Tara protested. “T-there’s only o-one layer of cotton left,” she said.

Willow pouted at her. “Tattler!”

Buffy smirked, arching an eyebrow at the redhead. “She’s just looking out for you. Thanks Tara. We’ll call the doctor in the morning and get you an appointment to get a new cast put on,” she stated decisively. She glanced around the living room, taking a deep breath as she surveyed the damage.

Spike was still whining in his chair, an arrow sticking out of his chest, as well as another planted in the seat of the chair between his legs. “Oy, could one of you lot help me out here?” he called, and Giles moved to the chair, yanking out the arrow from the seat before he pulled the one from Spike’s chest with only a touch more gentleness.

There was an arrow in the table, but none of the food had been hit, and Buffy sighed in relief. “Well, now that we’ve had our holiday excitement, let’s eat,” she said, gesturing to the table. Xander guided Willow’s wheelchair into a spot at the table and he took the seat across from her.

Tara took the seat beside Willow after the redhead gestured emphatically, making it clear where she wanted Tara to sit. Buffy returned from the kitchen with the last of her carefully prepared side dishes, including the hastily cooked peas. She and Giles took their seats at the ends of the table, leaving a complaining Spike tied to his chair in the corner.

They chatted idly while they ate, Willow making a belated introduction between Tara and Giles. The meal was a success, everyone doing their best to keep their mouths shut about Angel’s presence in Sunnydale. In fact, Willow even got in some teasing about Riley and Buffy’s daily increasing flirtations before Xander let the secret spill over their pie.

Buffy looked like she was going to bolt immediately, but she restrained herself, sitting tensely in her seat. Willow gave Xander a glare across the table, the construction worker offering a timid “Oops,” in apology.

Willow rested a hand on Buffy’s wrist, giving her a sympathetic smile. Spike was watching with a wide grin on his face, and Giles stood up quickly to turn his chair to face the corner, giving the vampire a sharp word of warning.

Tara tapped her fork idly against her plate in silence, able to figure out that Angel must be someone very important to Buffy. She wondered quietly about the details, the something that no one would say about him, curious if it was the same something that no one would say about Oz.

Willow smiled weakly, able to share her friend’s pain on this subject, and she closed her eyes as the sharp pain of Oz’s departure shot through her suddenly. Buffy slid her chair around so that she was closer to Willow’s seat, letting her head lean again her friend’s shoulder.

“We can talk, if you want,” Buffy offered quietly, seeing the expression on her friend’s face and pushing away thoughts of Angel.

Willow opened her eyes, letting her head shake. “No, it’s okay. Thanksgiving,” the redhead reminded her.

“Later?” Buffy asked, keeping her voice low. Willow nodded silently, struggling to smile normally.

“I-I should p-probably go,” Tara said into the silence, and Willow turned her head to look at the blonde witch.

“You don’t have to go,” Willow objected.

“It’s d-dark,” Tara reminded her. “And late,” she added, glancing at the clock.

Willow was surprised to see that it was almost ten, that the group had been lingering around the table for several hours. “Can I ride back to the campus with you?” she asked.

Tara nodded, smiling shyly. Buffy got up from her chair. “I’ll drive,” she offered.

Anya nodded cheerfully. “Xander’s syphilis is clearing up, so we’re going away now,” she said.

Xander blushed brightly, but didn’t resist as his girlfriend dragged him from the apartment. Giles groaned, but stood up as well and started collecting the dirty dishes.

“We can help with that,” Willow offered before grimacing at her chair. “Well, I could stack dishes if someone else could take them into the kitchen.”

“There’s no need,” Giles objected. “You make sure Tara gets home safely, I’ll deal with the dishes.”

Willow sighed, nodding. The joyful mood of the evening had been suddenly dampened, and she struggled to manage a reassuring smile for Buffy. She pushed her chair into the patio, grateful that Anya and Xander had neglected to shut the door behind them. Buffy and Tara exchanged glances before they followed her in silence.

Willow had been forced to wait at the base of the stairs, and Buffy hoisted the chair into her arms without comment, not saying anything as she helped Willow climb into the backseat. Tara broke down the chair and stowed it in the back before joining Buffy in the front seat. Willow was fiddling idly with her hands in her lap, suddenly fighting tears in the darkness.

Oz had been gone for just a month, and the pain was as fresh as it had been the first day, that bright sunny morning that had signaled the end of life as she knew it. Trapped in the chair day after day, she’d dived into her school work to keep herself from spiraling into depression. But she knew she hadn’t dealt with it yet, all the pain was still just under the surface. She had cried, and Buffy had held her, and soothed her, and told her that it would get better, but the pain still came in waves.

It almost made her grateful that she was in the wheelchair and hadn’t been left alone for long since the accident.

She tried to control herself, choking back tears, but Buffy heard her shaky breathing and her eyes found Willow in the rearview mirror. “Willow,” she started, her voice sympathetic.

“I’m okay, keep driving,” she said, leaning her head back against the window, taking a deep breath as she felt warm tears slide down her cheeks. She could feel Tara’s sympathetic eyes on her, but didn’t open her eyes, just extended one hand toward the front of the car.

She could feel Tara’s fingers slide softly over her skin, no magic but the now familiar rush passing between them and she tried to stifle the next sob. It didn’t work and she leaned forward, squeezing Tara’s hand in her own as she cried, her forehead pressed against her good knee. The car slowed as Buffy pulled over, the Slayer not taking the time to cut the car off as she jumped out and got back in again, squeezing herself onto the seat behind Willow.

“Shh,” Buffy breathed, leaning her head against Willow’s back, feeling the witch’s shoulders trembling as she cried. “Will,” she said, rubbing gently at the back of the redhead’s neck. “It’s okay, Will. We’re right here, it’s okay.”

It took several minutes before Willow got her tears under control, her body trembling with the force of her crying. “Are y-you o-okay?” she asked, turning her head as much as she could to see Buffy.

The Slayer frowned, shaking her head slightly. “Will, what?” she asked in confusion.

“Angel,” Willow offered in explanation.

“What about him?” she asked.

“You should go to L.A., talk to him. I tried to get him to see you, told him it wasn’t fair…”

“I want to, but I can’t leave you at Giles’ alone,” Buffy objected.

“Tara could stay with me,” Willow said, giving the blonde witch a suddenly shy look. “I mean, if you wanted to, of course. You don’t have to if you don’t want to, but you’re all alone there in the dorm, and I like spending time with you, and then Buffy wouldn’t feel bad about going to see Angel and leaving me here,” Willow reasoned, wiping tears away with the hand that wasn’t still holding Tara’s tightly.

Buffy found Tara’s eyes over Willow’s head. “Tara? It’s up to you,” the Slayer offered.

“I-I’ll stay,” Tara said slowly, smiling weakly.

Buffy nodded, smiling gratefully. “Thanks, Tara. I’ll still swing you by the dorm to pick up some stuff, and then we can go back to Giles’ place.”

“Are you leaving tonight?” Willow asked, surprised despite the fact that it had been her suggestion.

The Slayer sighed, shaking her head after a moment. “No, I guess I shouldn’t tonight. It’s already late. Tara, you should still stay with us tonight though. I’ve been patrolling that way, but it’s not safe for you to be on campus alone. Those trooper guys are still a mystery, and there’s the average baddies that are all over Sunnydale.”

“O-okay,” Tara said softly, feeling Willow’s hand tighten around her own.

Buffy nodded, smiling encouragingly. “Will, are you alright?” she breathed softly into her friend’s ear.

Willow didn’t answer for a long moment, letting herself relax against Buffy’s chest. “I’m okay,” she said quietly. “You can let me go,” she said, loosening her grip on Tara’s hand, realizing suddenly that she had been holding onto the other witch rather tightly. “Sorry Tara,” she murmured, letting go of the blonde’s hand.

“It’s okay,” Tara said softly, not taking her hand back but still holding Willow’s. “Are y-you alright?”

Willow nodded without speaking, feeling Buffy’s arms loosen from around her. “I’ll get us back on the road if you’re really okay,” Buffy said, one hand brushing through Willow’s short hair.

“I’ll live,” Willow said, leaning her head into Buffy’s touch.

The Slayer climbed slowly out and back into her own seat behind the steering wheel. The car was still running, and she pulled back into the deserted street. The car was silent as they rode back to the campus, all three deep in their own thoughts.

Buffy looked between the pair of witches as they parked in front of Tara’s dorm. “I’ll be fine,” Willow said. “Make sure Tara gets inside safely.”

Buffy let out a sigh. “Fine, but I’ll stay at the doors. I’m not leaving you out here vulnerable,” she said firmly.

It didn’t take Tara long to gather clothes and her shower kit, and Buffy stayed protectively in the doorway, watching the car carefully to make sure that Willow stayed safe. Tara had a duffle bag over her shoulder when she came out of her room, pausing to lock the door before she joined the Slayer in the lobby.

“Is s-she really okay?” Tara asked, her eyes following Buffy’s through the dark to the Jeep.

The Slayer shrugged. “I wish I knew, Tara. Oz leaving really hurt her. She’s been so busy trying to deal with the wheelchair and keeping up with schoolwork, she hasn’t let herself feel any of it.” She gave the witch a sideways smile. “I do know that she enjoys you coming over to see her. She gets lonely with just me and Xander to talk to. And you can talk about the magic stuff with her, which me and Xand are completely clueless about.”

“I e-enjoy visiting with h-her,” Tara agreed with a shy smile.

Buffy let out a deep breath. “Let’s get back to Giles’. I don’t want to leave Will alone any more tonight.”

They both gave Willow surreptitious glances as they got back in the car, checking to see if there were fresh tears on her face, but it appeared that she had regained control of her emotions.

“I’m okay,” Willow commented dryly. “I wasn’t just saying that.”

Buffy smirked, but nodded. “You know I’m just looking out for you,” she said. “I need my Willow to be okay.”

“And I will be,” Willow agreed. “But it probably won’t be tonight.” She was surprised to realize as she spoke that it was true. It would be slow, and painful, but she would get better, get through this. Definitely not tonight though, she decided as she pushed down fresh tears.

Buffy started the car, letting the silence hang heavy between them as she pulled back onto the road. They were still silent when they arrived back at the apartment, and Tara got Willow’s wheelchair from the back of the car without comment.

She turned away as Buffy lifted the witch into the chair before hoisting the chair and all into her arms. Tara’s hands were wringing around the strap of her duffle bag as she followed them down the stairs. Willow wheeled herself down the hall, still without speaking, and the two blondes followed her, hearing Giles’ shuffling steps in his room on the second floor. Spike’s chair was in the living room, but he was no longer tied to it.

Buffy shut the door behind them after taking a moment to peek into the bathroom and ensure that the captive vampire was still restrained. Willow had pushed her chair as close to the bed as she could get, but couldn’t muster the strength to pull herself onto the bed.

“Ready to go to sleep?” Buffy asked her softly.

Willow nodded, yawning widely. “It’s kind of been a long day.”

“Well, if it’s okay with you Tara, I think I might sleep in the living room. I think I’ll be heading out pretty early in the morning, and Spike’s in the bathroom, so he won’t be bothering me if I sleep out there,” Buffy said, giving the witch a questioning look.

“U-uh, t-that’s okay. Can I j-just talk to Willow for a s-second?” she answered.

Buffy nodded, stretching . “Sure. I’ll just go brush my teeth. I’ll be back in a few to get you into bed, Will,” she said with a wink, relieved when Willow giggled.

Tara watched the Slayer leave, her arms crossed over her stomach uncomfortably. She hadn’t put her bag down yet, the strap tight over her shoulder.

“What is it?” Willow asked, rubbing her left hand over her good knee.

“I’ll s-sleep on the floor tonight,” Tara said, not meeting Willow’s eyes.

The redhead frowned tiredly. “Why would you do that? I know the cast is gigantic, but I promise I won’t hit you with it. And I don’t hog the blankets.”

“I-I’m gay, Willow,” Tara said in a burst of sudden bluntness.

“Oh,” Willow said, her eyes widening. “Well, if you don’t want to sleep with me, I get that. Not that I mean sleep-with-me sleep with me, but just sleeping. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable…”

“No! Willow, I-I’m not u-uncomfortable,” Tara objected. “I just wanted, I t-thought you should k-know before…”

“Oh! It’s not, I’m fine! I don’t want you to sleep on the floor. It’s a big bed, and if you’re not uncomfortable sharing it with me, then there’s no reason you shouldn’t sleep in the bed,” Willow said. “Besides, just because you like girls, that doesn’t mean you like me like that, so there’s no reason to feel weird around me,” she said, missing the look that crossed Tara’s face as she picked at the edge of her cast.

Buffy knocked quietly, letting herself in after Tara spoke up. “Everything good?” she checked, smiling cautiously.

Willow met Tara’s eyes, seeing the blonde’s tiny smile and slowly fading blush, and she nodded, biting her lip. “I think so. I’m good.”

Buffy grinned, moving across the small room to lift Willow into the bed. “You need some clothes?” she checked. Willow had been wearing comfy shorts all day, had worn comfy shorts or sweatpants pretty much everyday since the accident to accommodate her long cast. In an effort to look nice for the holiday though, she’d worn a soft button down blouse.

“T-shirt?” Willow requested.

Buffy had already retrieved one, holding it out with a smile. She crouched beside the bed, bringing herself to Willow’s eyelevel. “You want to talk?” she asked softly, one hand resting lightly on Willow’s good knee.

Willow paused in changing shirts, her fingers hesitating on the buttons of her shirt. “Buffy,” she sighed.

“Will, come on. You need to talk about this. I know Oz hurt you, and he’s gone, but I know you miss him, and none of this is just stuff you get over. Talk to me here, Will. I’m your best friend,” Buffy pleaded with her.

Tara moved uncomfortably toward the door, not wanting to intrude on a private moment between the friends. Her hand was on the knob when Willow’s voice stopped her. “Tara, don’t leave, please.”

The blonde witch turned slowly, lingering next to the door. “I-it’s none of my b-business,” she said, shaking her head.

Willow held out one hand to Tara, seeing Buffy look back and forth between the two of them. The redhead realized suddenly that Tara might not welcome the contact given her revelation, and she pulled the hand back slowly. “Sorry, you don’t…I just want you to stay.”

Tara hesitated slightly before dropping to sit on the bed on the other side of Willow’s bandaged leg, nodding. “O-okay Willow, I’ll stay,” she said softly, glancing sideways at Buffy. “I don’t w-want to intrude though…”

“It hurts,” Willow interrupted, her eyes squeezing closed, and she wouldn’t have been able to say who she was talking to. “It hurts so bad, and you, both of you, and Xander, you guys are the only reason I haven’t broken down. I miss him so much, but at the same time, I’m so angry at him.”

She took a shuddery breath, her head dropping against her chest. “How could he do that to me? He didn’t even tell me that she was like him. He didn’t tell you, and we could have done something, we could have caught her, locked her up, but he didn’t say anything, just locked them up together, let the wolves do…” She trailed off, her tears sliding down her face.

Buffy leaned forward, wrapping her arms around Willow, letting the witch cry into her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Willow. I’m so sorry. You know I would have done something, anything, if I’d known what she was.”

Tara sat silently in confusion. She knew that Oz had cheated on Willow, had slept with another woman, but the redhead had been reluctant to share details beyond that. The picture was starting to become clear now, however, especially given her new knowledge that Buffy was the Slayer. “Oz was a w-werewolf?” she asked.

Buffy stiffened in Willow’s arms, pulling back with a heavy breath. “He is,” she agreed, glancing between the witches. “And so was the other one, Veruca,” Buffy said, spitting the name out bitterly.

“Oh,” Tara said, sitting back on her heels. “I’m s-sorry, Willow.”

Willow was still crying, wiping at her face. “Me too,” she agreed. “I hate that he left me, and I hate this stupid wheelchair, and I hate how bad it hurts, and how it’s not going away. Oz left me, Buffy. I loved him so much, and he just left, and I don’t know if he’s ever coming back.”

Her eyes found the Slayer’s, and she took a deep breath. “And I don’t know if it would fix anything if he did come back. We could have tried to work through it, but he just gave up.”

Buffy nodded, not sure what to say. “Will, I’m not saying this to excuse him or anything, but he’s going through a lot. He absolutely handled the Veruca thing the wrong way, and he shouldn’t have left you, but Oz left to find a cure.”

“Who knows if there is one though, Buffy!” Willow objected. “Or if he’ll find it, or if he’ll come back once he does.”

Buffy shook her head, leaning against Willow’s knee. “I don’t know Willow, and I don’t know what to tell you to do. But I know how much you love him, and how much he loved you.”

Willow blinked back more tears, staring down at her best friend. “Was it like this when Angel turned?” she asked. “Did it hurt like this?”

Buffy smiled sadly, tilting her head back to look up at her friend. “You know it did, Will. How many times have you held me while I cried over him?” she asked. “But it does get better, even when you can’t imagine how it could.” She brushed one hand over Willow’s cheek. “The only thing you can do is try and live again, live your life, and eventually everything will go back to normal.” She sighed, frowning. “It’s a gigantic cliché, but it just takes time.”

Willow’s eyes squeezed closed and she nodded. “I know.”

“And we’ll be with you for all of it,” Buffy assured her. “You just have to get your life back. You’re pretty much covering the school work,” she teased. “But now you’re getting better, so we can start getting back to normal. I mean, no way I’m going to let you go on patrol for a while, but we could go to the Bronze, do normal stuff, you know?”

Willow smiled tentatively, nodding. “Yeah, that will be good,” she agreed, yawning uncontrollably, the long day and all the emotions getting to her.

Buffy smiled softly, pushing Willow’s hair back gently. “You should get some sleep. You’re still recovering.”

“Will you wake me up when you leave?” Willow asked sleepily.

Buffy nodded, glancing at Tara. “Yeah, if you want me to. I’ll be really quiet, Tara.”

The witch nodded, smiling reassuringly. “No problem, Buffy. I normally w-wake up pretty early anyway.”

Buffy smiled and pushed herself to her feet, carefully watching Willow as the redhead slid down to lie on her back. Willow let the Slayer help her with the blankets, and Tara was moving to follow Buffy out of the room, intending to change into her pajamas in the bathroom, before she remembered that it was occupied by Spike.

She glanced over her shoulder, seeing that Willow seemed to be mostly asleep already, and she let an affectionate smile cross her lips as she clicked off the lights. In spite of the darkness, she still changed as quickly as she could, lingering at the edge of the bed.

She’d finally told Willow one part of the truth about herself and hadn’t been summarily rejected. She just wasn’t sure if that made it easier or harder to climb into bed with her. What she did know was that Willow wouldn’t be happy if she woke up in the morning to find out that Tara had slept on the floor, making the entire dilemma a moot point.

She jumped in surprise as she slid under the covers and Willow moved, turning her head to look at Tara. The redhead was blinking slowly, fighting sleep. “Glad you decided to join me. It wouldn’t have been good for me to get up and get you off the floor.” She grinned sleepily. “I’m not so good at the walking right now.”

Tara laughed, squirming her head deeper into the pillow. “You’re not doing great with staying a-awake right now either, Will. Just stop f-fighting it, go to sleep,” she prompted gently.

“Okay,” Willow agreed blearily. “Good night, Tara.” She reached across the sheet with one hand to pat Tara’s arm before she succumbed to sleep, her fingers resting lightly against Tara’s wrist. Tara let herself follow after a few minutes, the unexpected excitement of the day quickly catching up to her now that she was still.

*****
Next Time: There’s a kind of a hush all over the world tonight…

(which is a line from a song that I don't own - so no suing!)

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 Post subject: Re: Road to Recovery - Updates every Sunday
PostPosted: Sat Jul 03, 2010 4:25 pm 
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Another excellent update!
I was worried that it was taking too long before Willow started thinking about Oz again (The faster she deals with it, the faster she'll be ready to be with Tara!). But finally she thought about him, so I think that soon she'll be over him, right?
And I liked how Tara told Willow that she's gay. Being blunt isn't something that Tara usually does, so I guess it was original. And Willow's reaction was the best!
I bet the next chapter will be awesome... 'Hush' is one of the best episodes ever.
:peace

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 Post subject: Re: Road to Recovery - Updates every Sunday
PostPosted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 1:00 am 
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Great update. Glad that the arrow didn't go all the way through Willow's cast. Was not expecting Tara to just blurt out she's gay, but am glad that Willow now knows. I'm sure Buffy and Tara will be able to help Willow through the heartache of getting over Oz. Looking forward to what you have next for us to read.


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 Post subject: Re: Road to Recovery - Updates every Sunday
PostPosted: Sun Jul 04, 2010 3:44 am 
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Great chapter :)

I know Willow will get through her heartache quickly (and realise she's found a much better match in a certain blonde!)

Loved Tara just blurting that she's gay. Hilarious.

Looking forward to next week!

Oh and Happy 4th of July!

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 Post subject: Re: Road to Recovery - Updates every Sunday
PostPosted: Mon Jul 05, 2010 3:21 pm 
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This is so sweet and packed with action. I love the way you're weaving the AU elements in with the canon storyline (re: syphilis, Spike chip, Angel secret visit, etc.). Tara is quite charming but it seems like Willow has a lot of being in pain and then healing to do before she can start to confront her feelings for Tara. It should be quite nice to read. Thank you.

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 Post subject: Re: Road to Recovery - Updates every Sunday
PostPosted: Fri Jul 09, 2010 6:29 am 
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abarda: I'm glad you liked it! I figured that Willow's distraction with the wheelchair would aid her in bottling everything up, so it was time for a blow out... Hope you like Hush - this is the one I'm most anxious about posting... so I hope it turns out good...

love_2003: Well, I'm glad you liked it... Thanks so much for sticking with me! I really hope you enjoy the next one - it's my personal favorite, but it's the one I'm the most nervous about...

Laragh: I'm glad you're enjoying it! I thought Tara blurting out that she's gay would be funny... and it gives Willow a little something to think about :P Hope you like the new one!

JustSkipIt: Yay! I'm glad you're liking it! Thanks so much for reading!

This one is early because I've got friends coming today to spend the weekend so I won't be around the computer...

Chapter 5 of 15

Tara was walking quickly past the library on her way back to her dorm, in a hurry to get inside, out of the brisk mid-December air. The whole campus was tense, the students in the middle of finals. She had just finished her last test for the week, only one left and she’d be done for the semester. Not that she was going home for vacation, knowing that her father would never allow her to leave if he got her back in his grasp.

Willow was staying at Buffy’s house for the break, but both of them had finals for all of the next week. They’d offered her a place to stay with them, but Tara was hesitant to impose in the Slayer’s house for an entire two weeks, and over Christmas (and Hanukah, as Willow kept reminding them.)

She pulled up in surprise as she realized that the girl she’d just been thinking about, the girl she thought about a lot if she was honest with herself, was parked at the bottom of the stairs leading into the library.

It had been three weeks since Thanksgiving, and Buffy was reluctantly allowing Willow to push her chair around campus by herself for brief stints as long as she kept the walkie-talkie with her at all times, and promised to call if she needed anything.

“Who paints a wheelchair ramp?” Willow complained to herself, looking up in surprise as Tara laughed. “Hey!” Willow said, holding her arms open for a hug.

“Hi, Willow. Trying to get to the library?” Tara asked, giving her a smile as she pulled back from their hug.

Willow nodded, glaring at the impassable ramp. “Trying,” she agreed. “Stupid school painted the ramp. I’m thinking about just trying to hop it,” she said, laughing before Tara could shake her head.

“I don’t think so,” the blonde objected. “I know your leg isn’t that strong.”

“I think I could make it,” Willow said teasingly, eyeing the three short steps.

“Don’t make me call Buffy,” Tara threatened with a smile. “What do you need from the library?”

Willow shrugged. “I was just going to study. It’s a little cold to be studying outside, but I can’t stay in the room any more today or I might go nuts.”

“You’re welcome to come over to my room whenever you want, you know that,” Tara said. “It’s warm, and it’s not your room.”

Willow grinned, nodding. “That would be great. I would have just gone straight over, but I thought you would still be in your exam.”

Tara resumed walking back to her dorm, letting Willow push her chair along. She knew the redhead would ask if she needed any help.

“How was your final? You had American Lit this morning, right?” Willow asked.

Tara shrugged. “I think I did alright. There was only one essay, so that wasn’t too bad. You had Prob and Stats this morning, didn’t you? How was that?”

“Yeah, it was easy,” Willow said, winking playfully. “I’m good with numbers.”

Tara laughed, nodding. “Yeah, you are,” she agreed. “That is not one of my gifts.”

They reached Tara’s dorm and the blonde held the door open for Willow to steer her chair inside. Tara’s room was on the second floor, but the elevator in her building worked better than the one in Stevenson, so they walked in that direction. Willow’s long cast barely fit inside the doors, but they made it to the second story with no trouble.

Tara’s fairy lights were plugged in as soon as they came through the door, and Willow wheeled herself to Tara’s desk. She’d been over to the other witch’s room several times since Thanksgiving, the short distance between her dorm and Tara’s making the other room an ideal destination when she was practicing with her chair, trying to strengthen her arm.

“What are you studying for?” Tara asked as she took a seat on her bed, finding the book she’d been reading for fun on her bedside table.

“Professor Walsh’s Psych exam is Monday,” Willow answered, finding her notebook in the backpack that was hanging from the back of her chair. She put the book in her lap, her chair parked out of the way as much as was possible with her stiff leg.

“That one’s going to be tough?” Tara guessed, having heard horror stories about Professor Walsh from both Willow and Buffy.

Willow let out a deep breath, nodding. “It’s cumulative and all short answer, so it’s going to be fairly awful, yeah,” she agreed. “Buffy’s ‘studying’ with Riley,” Willow said cheerfully, putting up air quotes around the word.

Tara laughed, knowing how hard the redhead was rooting for Buffy and Riley to get past their flirting and shy glances. “If Professor Walsh is as tough as you both say, they probably are just studying,” Tara reminded her.

“Yeah, I know,” Willow complained. “It’s just stupid though. They so obviously like each other!”

Tara smiled across the room at her. “Well, sometimes people don’t want to risk losing someone they like. Settling for f-friendship is easier than potentially l-losing the person.” She blushed, realizing that she’d come dangerously close to the truth, though she hadn’t been talking about Buffy and Riley.

The intuitive redhead caught that, raising her eyebrows. “Ooh, it sounds like someone has a crush,” she said, lowering her book as Tara raised her own. “Do I know her?”

“N-no,” Tara denied. “T-that was hypothetical, a h-hypothetical someone,” she said, stuttering around Willow for the first time in at least a week, having grown gradually more comfortable around the witch and her friends.

Willow blinked, surprised to hear Tara’s voice shake. “Okay,” she agreed immediately. “Yeah, I must have just been making things up.”

Tara sighed, knowing that her face was still burning. “Willow…”

“Hey, it’s no big deal. I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but sometimes I run my mouth,” she said quickly. “Don’t be shaky-girl around me again, okay?” Willow requested, fingers playing with the pages of her notebook.

Tara nodded, swallowing. “S-sorry.”

Willow shook her head. “No, Tara, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you nervous or anything.” She smiled supportively. “I mean, I want you to feel comfortable talking to me, if you want to talk.”

Tara returned her smile, feeling her blush fade slowly. “Thank you Willow, but I’m o-okay. N-nothing to talk about.” Her eyes locked on Willow’s for a long moment before she blinked and went back to her book.

Willow let her eyes linger a bit longer, surprised to feel relief wash over her. She studied Tara, letting herself think about that feeling. She’d been spending a lot of time with the other witch, and they had quickly become good friends, but the way she felt, the sudden sharp relief that Tara wasn’t interested in someone, seemed like an overreaction.

At the same time though, it felt perfectly normal. She was enjoying having Tara around, loving getting to know her, and spending time with her. She knew she should want Tara to have someone, want her to be happy, but the blonde did seem to be happy, coming out of her shell, sharing more, stuttering less. They practiced spells together, but that wasn’t the only reason they spent time together, the blonde witch coming over to watch movies, or study, or walk with Willow while the redhead practiced with her wheelchair and crutches.

Willow fought the urge to sigh, confused now, and she flipped her notes open to the correct section, forcing herself to concentrate on her studying. Buffy came by at sundown to walk Willow back to the dorm as she walked back from studying with Riley.

It wasn’t until she was back in her bed, the lights off and Buffy sleeping deeply in her own bed on the other side of the room, that she let herself think about her confused feelings about Tara. It wasn’t like her to be so possessive, but something inside her wanted Tara all to herself. Tara had been a good friend to her since the day they’d met, and their friendship meant a lot to her, but it didn’t give her the right to want it to mean as much or more to Tara.

Tara had every right to have as many friends as she wanted, have a girlfriend if she wanted. She didn’t owe Willow herself anything, could spend time with whoever she wanted, and definitely didn’t have to spend as much time as she did with her, but the thought of Tara finding someone else made her feel sort of sick to her stomach.

Willow groaned in the darkness, wanting to scream into her pillow, but was frustrated by her frozen leg making it tricky to roll onto her stomach. She couldn’t be feeling this way about a girl, couldn’t be wondering these things about a girl. She’d liked boys her whole life, Xander first, and then Oz.

Oz.

He’d been gone for almost two months now, and every day, unbelievably, it got a little easier, a little less painful, and Tara was a big part of that. How long had she wanted it to mean more than just friendship though? Was that what she wanted? Had it been jealousy she’d felt when she’d thought that Tara had wanted someone?

She tried to think rationally, tried to organize her thoughts and her feelings, but the effort was beyond her, her mind just running around in circles, confused and scared, until she unwillingly surrendered to oblivion and let herself be dragged into the soothing comfort of sleep.

Her exams kept her busy enough to justify not giving herself time to deal with her confused thoughts and feelings. Spending time with Tara over the school break felt the way it always had before, the blonde’s uncanny ability to make Willow feel better about any situation just as applicable to her frenzied mental state.

She spent the break trying to convince herself that her strange bout of possessive feeling had been a reaction to knowing that Tara liked girls, the thought that Tara might find another girl to spend her time with. She knew that Tara was important to her, but she spent their time together over the break convincing herself that she was just dealing with Oz leaving by developing an overly strong attachment to Tara.

The winter holidays passed without incident and they returned to the campus two days into the new year. Not having any classes that day herself, Tara spent the whole of the first day back helping Willow practice with her crutches, walking endlessly in circles around the lounge with her, but never complaining once about the boring chore. The sweetness didn’t help Willow’s confused mind, and she was more than merely physically tired when she pulled herself into bed that night.

The next morning any lingering confusion and reluctance to deal with what was slowly becoming clear to her, that she was interested in Tara, was pushed to the back of her mind at the realization that neither she nor Buffy could speak. They figured out they hadn’t been struck deaf when they both heard the phone ring, but whoever was on the other end of the line appeared to be as mute as they were, and Buffy hung up the phone with a huff of frustration.

She helped Willow into her chair before ducking into the hall, not sure if it made it better or worse that they weren’t the only ones affected by the strange phenomenon.

Buffy mouthed her Watcher’s name at Willow, knowing that he was the only one who could possibly help them. She’d told him at their meeting the night before about her dream from falling asleep in class, the strange girl with the box, the creepy rhyme, and it seemed probable that it had something to do with what was happening now. His apartment was likely the only place they could get some answers.

Willow nodded her agreement, wheeling herself toward the closet and quickly throwing on a fresh shirt. Buffy took over pushing once they made it outside, walking them more quickly than Willow could have pushed herself. The streets were eerily quiet, people milling around in confused silence, no one paying attention to the two young women.

Giles answered as soon as they knocked on his door, hugging each of them in relief at seeing them safe. Xander and Anya were already there, as well as Spike, and Giles’ sometimes girlfriend, Olivia.

Buffy could see where Giles had been working at his desk, trying to solve the riddle she’d given him, but the traced and retraced question mark on his notepad told her that he hadn’t reached an answer.

They spent the day researching, the forced silence making them all jumpy and uncomfortable. Buffy and Willow walked back to the dorm with only about an hour of daylight left. Buffy geared up for patrol while Willow started reading through some of her own spell books, searching for anything that might help them regain their voices.

They both looked up from their respective tasks as there was a knock on the door. Buffy moved to the door, a long knife in her hand, but she turned her wrist so that it wouldn’t be visible to whoever was on the other side of the door. Buffy waved her free hand, signaling Willow to move back.

She yanked the door open quickly after the redhead pushed her chair back obligingly. Willow relaxed as she saw Buffy’s shoulders slump with relief and the Slayer moved out of the doorway to let their visitor in. She was relieved herself when Tara moved into the room, her arms full of books.

Their eyes met and Willow could see Tara’s own relief in her face. They were both mouthing the same question immediately, checking on each other. They nodded, smiling weakly to the other. Tara turned to look at Buffy as the Slayer tucked her knife into its sheath. Willow felt sudden gratitude to see Tara, her relief making her lightheaded, and she took a deep breath.

Buffy used her fingers to mime that she was going out, walking her fingers across the palm of her opposite hand. She pointed with one hand between the two of them, silently trying to ask the witches to stay together while she was gone, but she was rapidly growing frustrated with their forced muteness.

Tara seemed to understand what she was trying to get across, and the witch nodded reassuringly, glancing behind her for confirmation from Willow. The redhead nodded, smiling with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.

Buffy let out a breath of relief, nodding and sliding a stake up her sleeve. She pointedly locked the door behind her, leaving the witches secure inside the dorm room. Willow felt uncomfortable in a way she’d never been with Tara when they were alone, and she sighed.

Tara could tell that Willow was anxious and she stepped closer to the chair, crouching down in front of Willow’s good leg, and putting her books on the corner of Willow’s bed so that her hands were free to rest lightly on her friend’s knee.

Willow closed her eyes as she felt the rush of sensation that traveled between them every time they touched. She took a deep, steadying breath, feeling her equilibrium reestablish itself at the contact. Whatever was going on outside, she couldn’t deny that having Tara safe in the room with her made her feel better. Her eyes opened to find Tara’s worried gaze, and she smiled reassuringly. She mouthed her thanks, putting one hand over Tara’s on her knees, her fingers squeezing gently.

Tara smiled softly in return, using Willow’s knee to push herself to her feet, taking a seat on Willow’s bed and lifting the book from the top of her stack. She had spent her silent day researching spells to try and bring back their voices, as clueless as the Scoobies about what had caused the silence.

She showed one of the spells to Willow, leaning close to the redhead’s shoulder and putting the book in Willow’s lap. It required speaking, but Tara was hoping the creative redhead would be able to figure out a way around that, or at least that the spell would give Willow a place to start. Willow forced herself firmly to concentrate on reading the spell, doing her best to ignore her sudden awareness of Tara’s presence, her body so close behind her.

She hadn’t been gay for nineteen years, but now that she was entertaining thoughts that she might have some interest in a woman, she couldn’t seem to help herself from feeling every little thing. She sighed in frustration, hoping that Tara would accept it as an expression of anger at their situation and not look for an alternate explanation.

Her situation was helped slightly as Tara sat back on the bed, putting space between them. A glance assured her that Tara seemed oblivious to her distraction, the blonde already reading to herself. Willow let herself look at Tara for a moment, tracing her profile with her eyes before she forced herself back to work, shaking her confusion off temporarily.

They worked independently, occasionally handing books back and forth. After a while, Tara found something that seemed more likely than anything else she’d managed to find, and she put the book over the one Willow had in her lap. She leaned over Willow’s shoulder, pointing to the section of interest.

Willow scanned it quickly, seeing Tara’s idea immediately. It was a sort of healing spell that temporarily rejuvenated sick or injured body parts. Willow wasn’t sure it would work since they weren’t strictly sick, but it didn’t involve speaking to cast the spell, just concentration and burning a few specific herbs, so it was worth a try. They hadn’t found anything else that seem likely to work.

They exchanged looks and Willow shrugged, nodding. She frowned at her chair, swallowing as she put both hands on the armrests of her chair in preparation for lifting herself out. Tara put both hands over Willow’s quickly, shaking her head in concern. The spell called for them to be facing each other at an equal level, and Willow pointed at that portion of the spell, shrugging. Tara shook her head again, turning the chair so that Willow was facing her own bed, leaning over to adjust the support under Willow’s cast, lifting her bad leg just high enough to clear the edge of the mattress.

Willow was grateful for the unnatural silence making the squeak she let out noiseless, her eyes closing tightly as she caught the scent Tara’s soft perfume as she moved. Tara seemed oblivious as she found the components they would need familiarly in Willow’s supplies, lighting them as she went around to the other side of the bed and sat herself down, reaching forward for Willow’s hands.

Willow smiled sheepishly, almost embarrassed that she hadn’t thought of that herself, and Tara ran soothing fingers over the back of her hand, smiling softly. Willow fought back a sudden urge to kiss her, marveling at how quickly she seemed to be adapting to the idea of being interested in a woman. She met Tara’s eyes, suddenly blushing, grateful that she couldn’t start babbling and give herself away.

Tara could see Willow’s mind working through her eyes and she wondered what the redhead was thinking about so hard. Willow’s focus abruptly snapped back to the present, and she cocked her head questioningly, silently asking if Tara was ready. The blonde took a deep breath to gather her concentration, nodding.

They both let their eyes slide closed, their palms lightly touching. Each concentrated on the spell Tara had found, slowly combining their magic, feeling the same thrill that shot through them when they touched growing with every second of connection.

In the clock tower a small wooden box started vibrating, smoke curling from the crack between the lid and the box. A gray fleshed skeletal hand pushed the lid down before any of the wisps of smoke could dissipate, the Gentlemen giving each other grotesque looks of confusion as they continued gathering their tools.

The book they’d read said that the spell should come into effect relatively quickly so they let their magic withdraw after a few minutes, opening their eyes. They were both hesitant to try speaking though, feeling very close after the combined spell. Neither one moved to withdraw their hands from each other, instead Tara moved closer to Willow, sitting on the edge of the bed.

Willow was feeling another urge to kiss Tara, and she wondered if it was an effect of the spell, some lingering compulsion to be closer to each other since they’d been combining their magic only moments earlier. Whether it was the spell, or simply the fact that Tara looked breathtaking, the shape of her lips infinitely enticing and distracting, Willow felt her ability to restrain herself slipping away with every second. She’d been trying to rationalize her feelings away, but here, confronted with yet another potential life or death situation, she wondered why she was resisting.

Tara knew her desire to kiss Willow had nothing to do with the magic, knew that if she was being honest with herself, she’d wanted to kiss Willow for months. She’d been doing her best to fight those urges however, knowing that she couldn’t risk losing the redhead’s friendship by allowing herself to give into her desire to kiss the straight girl.

All of that restraint went out the window when Willow’s lips met hers. Tara’s eyes widened, but she didn’t pull away, kissing her back almost thoughtlessly as her eyes slid closed. One of Willow’s hands disengaged from Tara’s but only to touch her face, fingertips brushing lightly over what had to be, in Willow’s opinion, the softest skin she’d ever felt.

And who would have thought that kissing a girl would be so much different from kissing a guy? Oz had always been a good kisser, had always been able to make her swoon with his kisses, but kissing Tara was beyond incomparable.

Tara’s soft, full lips against hers, the soft skin under her hand, the blonde’s hand that was sliding into the back of her hair and pulling her ever so slightly closer, it was all perfect. Kissing a girl had never been something that she had known she’d wanted, but now that she’d felt Tara’s lips on hers, there was nothing she wanted more, nothing that could compare.

Willow pulled in a much needed breath through her nose, unwilling to put enough space between them to breathe, but let her bottom lip be sucked into Tara’s mouth, a soundless strangled groan tearing itself from her throat.

The doorknob twitched, clicking as Buffy’s key slid into the lock, and the pair jumped apart as if they’d been shocked. Tara wiped at her mouth as she spun to turn her back on the door, blushing brightly. Willow hurriedly picked up one of their abandoned books, depositing it quickly in her lap to make it appear that she’d been researching.

Buffy appeared none the worse for the wear from her patrol, but was still soundless and it occurred to the witches that they’d gotten so caught up in their kiss that they’d neglected to check if their spell had been a success. Willow felt the failure sharply, overwhelmed with a need to talk to Tara, to explain why she’d kissed her, to talk about what it meant, both for her and for them.

She glanced over her shoulder at the far side of the bed, but Tara hadn’t turned to face her, and Buffy gave her a confused look, looking pointedly between the pair. Willow shrugged guiltily and heaved a heavy sigh. Buffy retrieved a piece of paper from Willow’s printer at a gesture, returning with a pen.

Willow wrote quickly. - ‘We tried a spell to get our voices back, but it didn’t work.’

While Willow was scribbling out a message the Slayer locked the door to their room. Tara looked up as she heard the door lock again, but Buffy was reading Willow’s note, and Willow wasn’t looking at her.

Buffy took the pen and scribbled a response. - ‘You guys okay? You both look kind of out of breath.’

Willow blushed, glancing back at Tara before she wrote again. - ‘We’re okay. How was patrol? Find the baddie?’

Buffy didn’t write back, just shook her head. She mimed putting her head down, closing her eyes, and mouthed Giles’ name after she lifted her head again. Willow nodded her agreement, sighing.

Tara stood up from the bed, having been able to capture the gist of Willow and Buffy’s mimed conversation. She pointed to herself and then mimed walking, walking the fingers of one hand over the palm of the other.

Buffy shook her head firmly, pointing to each of them before pointing firmly at the floor, making it clear that none of them were leaving that room. Tara started to shake her head, but Buffy was scowling and the Slayer pointed from Willow to the redhead’s own bed, and then from Tara to her bed before indicating that she would be sleeping on the floor herself, in between the beds and the door.

Tara’s mouth was open to protest before she remembered that they couldn’t speak, but Buffy’s arms crossed over her chest, and she shook her head again seriously, expression making it clear that she wouldn’t listen to any arguments, silent or not.

Willow glanced shyly at Tara as the blonde witch relented, nodding finally. Their eyes met, breaking apart after a short second and Willow yawned uncontrollably, triggering silent giggles from her friends. She pushed her chair to her bed as Buffy rooted through the top of Willow’s closet, searching for the sleeping bag she was sure she’d seen up there.

She rolled it out, pushing Tara back gently as the witch indicated that she would take it, pointing the other girl firmly to her own bed. A quick trip to the dresser provided some pajama pants and t-shirt for Tara, and Buffy turned to help Willow into bed, a process that was increasingly performed solely by Willow herself, with Buffy merely overseeing the transfer from chair to bed. The distraction gave Tara time and privacy to change, and she sat on the edge of the bed to watch as Willow made herself as comfortable as possible, the redhead keeping her eyes firmly pointed down.

Tara sighed, letting herself drop back onto Buffy’s bed. The Slayer turned off the lights, the moonlight giving just enough light for Tara to see Willow across the room. She could see Willow’s head turn to look toward her, and she stiffened under the blankets but didn’t look away, letting their eyes meet. Willow started to mouth something, but let out a deep sigh of frustration, shaking her head against her pillow and closing her eyes, yanking her blankets over her head in annoyance at her inability to speak.

Willow wanted to scream, wanted to punch something, wanted to kiss Tara again, but couldn’t do any of those things, so she settled for swatting at the sheets, knowing that the thrashing would be obvious, but her frustration was making lying still impossible. When her head surfaced above the sheets again, she could see Tara’s sympathetic smile and Buffy’s concern, the Slayer sitting up and giving her friend a confused frown.

Willow waved, smiling weakly. She shook off Buffy’s concerned look, gesturing for the Slayer to lay back down. Buffy relented after a moment of hesitation, lying back slowly. Willow found Tara again in the dark, giving the blonde witch a shy smile, relieved to see it returned.

The next morning was spent attempting to find any piece of information that could help, the newspaper informing them of the heart stealing murders that had occurred while they’d slept. Buffy was frustrated by her supposed failure to save people she had had no way of knowing were in danger. She left Willow and Tara in the dorm while she went into town, determined not to let it happen again.

The witches spent a tense afternoon researching, the atmosphere between them different than it ever had been, charged and taut. Neither one knew what to do, how to deal with their kiss, so they spent the day avoiding each other inside the same room, backs straight and eyes locked on their books. Buffy came back to the dorm in the afternoon, having searched for clues at each crime scene from the night before, but unable to find anything helpful.

It was a only two hours before dusk when there was a knock at the door. The girls exchanged confused looks and Buffy found one of her knives on her desk where she’d discarded it the night before. She motioned both witches back, unlocking the door slowly with her knife ready but hidden.

She relaxed as she jerked open the door to find Giles, Xander, and Anya on the other side. She moved out of the way to let them into the room, relieved to see the papers and books under her Watcher’s arm. She gave him a questioning look, a relieved sigh huffing out when he nodded.

He mimed walking with his fingers, and Buffy nodded, turning to see that Willow and Tara were already moving to follow him. The witches were the last out the door, and Willow paused to lock up behind them, Tara lingering with her.

They stayed behind the others as Giles led them toward a classroom. Tara couldn’t stop herself from glancing at Willow, seeing the redhead doing the same. Only Buffy’s repeated glances back at them kept her from reaching over to brush her fingers through Willow’s hair.

Of course, she had no way of knowing if such a bold move would be accepted. She didn’t know why Willow had kissed her, had no way of asking her, and she wasn’t even sure if she wanted to know. It had been wonderful to kiss Willow, easily the best kiss of her life, but if asking about it would ruin her friendship with Willow, she’d never speak a word about it once they managed to get their voices back.

Giles poked his head into several deserted classrooms before finding one that suited him, his reasoning apparent as he plugged in the overhead projector. He waved for the others to take seats, the Scoobies situating themselves in the chairs with Willow parking her wheelchair at the end of the lowest row. Tara took the seat next to her without thinking about it.

Giles turned down the lights and started his macabre slide show. They all watched in silence, each letting out a sigh of frustration and fear as he reached the end of his animated explanation, taking a long look around the room at each other.

Buffy got up from her seat, crossing the room to the dry erase board, borrowing Giles’ marker. She wrote quickly, giving everyone their assignments. - ‘I’ll patrol. Giles, Xander, Anya, get back to the apartment and lock yourselves in. Willow, Tara, get back to the dorm and stay together.’

They nodded, exchanging looks. They trooped out of the abandoned classroom building, Giles and his group splitting off to head toward his apartment, while Buffy stayed with Willow and Tara until they got to Stevenson. She didn’t follow them inside, instead, watching them protectively until they got inside the building before she started her patrol for the Gentlemen.

Willow unlocked the door for them and Tara locked it back behind them. The unnatural silence stretched out between them and Tara lingered at the doorway, not facing Willow. Her eyes fell when Willow’s fingers touched hers, the contact almost hesitant.

She turned to face Willow slowly, the redhead still holding her hand. Their eyes met and Tara noticed that Willow’s free hand, her weaker right hand, was trembling in her lap. Tara frowned, concerned, and she crouched in front of Willow’s chair, giving her a questioning glance and lifting her free hand hesitantly toward Willow’s weak shoulder.

Willow realized what Tara was doing, willing to help her again, keep her from pain, even in the midst of everything else that was going on. She shook her head, catching Tara’s hand in her own shaky one.

Her hand wasn’t trembling from pain, but nervous anxiety, but there was no way to tell Tara that. So she settled for doing the thing that made her hand tremble to think about. The fact that Tara had come down to be on the same level as her chair made it all the easier to lean forward and press their lips together.

Tara was surprised, but not so surprised that she didn’t respond to the kiss, her fingers pulling Willow’s hand tighter into her own, their palms pressing flat against each other. Willow’s other hand slipped around the back of Tara’s neck, moving slowly through soft blonde hair, pulling her face closer.

Willow didn’t know what had gotten into her, her shy side apparently leaving the building. All she knew for sure was that kissing Tara felt like heaven, felt like nothing she’d ever felt before. She knew that she was still feeling Oz’s departure, still loved him, but Tara meant something to her, something she wasn’t sure she could think about, could deal with presently, but Tara was there, kissing her, and she let her brain shut down.

Tara had been hesitant, letting Willow set the pace, not sure what the redhead was thinking, but knowing that she would take what she could get and never say a word about it if Willow didn’t. She felt it the second Willow just gave in to the kiss, and she reciprocated, letting herself draw Willow’s bottom lip in between her own, hearing the redhead’s sharp intake of breath, but Willow didn’t shy away, just tightened her fingers in Tara’s hair, pulling her even closer.

They grew more comfortable, the kiss quickly feeling natural and familiar almost immediately. Tara felt Willow pressing closer, gently seeking entrance into her mouth. Tara hesitated for only a heartbeat, letting Willow in and deepening the kiss. This new territory was explored slowly and carefully, both moving closer, driven by a desire to be nearer to each other.

They didn’t notice as shadowy mist slipped between their lips. Neither one of them could be sure how long they had been kissing, how long they’d been wrapped up in each other, but after a while they slowly realized that the groans and whimpers that had previously been soundless weren’t any longer, and they jumped apart as the sounds penetrated their kiss-addled brains.

“Oh God,” Willow moaned, one hand covering her mouth.

Tara scrambled back, losing her balance on her heels and sitting hard on the floor. “Willow,” she gasped. “We c-can talk.”

“We probably should,” Willow agreed breathlessly, her voice muffled by her hand. “It looks like Buffy had some success with the Gentlemen.” She lowered her hand slowly, her eyes glancing nervously at the door. “She’ll be back soon, I guess.”

Tara followed her gaze toward the door, standing up shakily, using Buffy’s bed to stabilize herself. “I s-should g-go,” she stammered, not meeting Willow’s eyes as she saw the redhead look sharply at her.

“Tara, no, please don’t go,” Willow said immediately.

“Y-you should talk t-to Buffy, m-make sure she’s o-okay,” Tara said, glancing at the floor, the walls, the ceiling, anywhere but at Willow. “I’ll s-see you s-soon.”

She was moving toward the door before she let herself give into her desire to look at Willow, to kiss Willow again and stop the words she knew were coming. She pulled on the doorknob before remembering that the door was locked. She got it open before Willow’s brain could snap her into motion, the blonde gone before Willow could speak.

She realized the absence a second after the door shut behind Tara, and Willow quickly forced herself into action. She wasn’t so frantic that she was going to rush out unprepared, and she snatched up a stake from a drawer in Buffy’s desk, her walkie-talkie tucked, as always, in the pocket of her sweatshirt.

She scribbled a note for Buffy, knowing the Slayer would panic if she returned to the room to find her and Tara gone. That last task finished, she wheeled herself out the door, making sure it closed behind her. She covered the short distance between her dorm and Tara’s faster than she’d ever done it before, her arms burning from the strain by the time she reached the elevators. She waited impatiently for the car, pushing herself in and out again as soon as the doors opened on the second floor.

She only realized as she knocked on Tara’s door that she’d started sweating from her exertions, and that the tremble in her hands that had previously been Tara-related was now pain related, and she slumped in her chair as she tried to catch her breath.

“Tara, it’s me. Talk to me?” Willow asked through the door. “You don’t have to open the door, or see me if you don’t want to, but I need to explain, or apologize if you want, but either one will involve talking, hopefully by both of us, or just me if you don’t want to ever speak to me again.”

She hesitated for a second before speaking again. “And even if you don’t see me or speak to me, could I possibly trouble you for a glass of water? I’m not as strong as I used to be, and I might have outdone myself trying to get over here so fast,” she said, knowing that she was using Tara’s gentle heart to get her to open the door, but she was feeling pretty desperate, and she really was thirsty.

Sure enough, the door opened a moment later, and Willow sighed in relief, trying a cautious smile. “I know it kind of, sort of looks like I tricked you into opening the door, but I really am thirsty, and I wanted to see you, explain about the kissing, because it’s not like I just kiss all kinds of random people, just you…”

Tara smiled crookedly even as her heart pounded in her chest, interrupting what she knew would be a long, rambling explanation. “C-come inside, Willow. W-we can t-talk.” She moved out of the doorway, suddenly worried about Willow. “A-are you hurt?” she asked softly.

Willow grimaced, but wheeled herself inside. “I’ll be okay. I could use that water though, if you don’t mind.”

“Of course n-not,” Tara answered, crossing the room to her fridge, kneeling to retrieve a bottle of water. Willow had stopped her chair inside the room, and Tara handed the bottle to her before closing the door behind the chair-bound witch. She returned to sit on the corner of her bed, a few feet of distance between herself and Willow in her chair.

Willow took several long swallows from the bottle, fiddling with the lid in her hand as she tried to think of what to say, something that would keep Tara from cutting her out of her life. Not that she had any right to expect anything else from her, she reminded herself sternly.

“So, um, talking,” she started, glancing up from where her fingers were messing with the bottle. “And I normally never shut up, you know,” she said, relieved to see Tara smile at her.

“Y-you know I l-like it when you b-babble,” Tara said, blushing in sudden shyness.

Willow smiled, feeling her heart beat suddenly faster. “Tara, what happened, when I kissed you, I…”

“It-it’s okay, Willow. You d-don’t have to e-explain. It d-doesn’t have to c-change anything,” Tara interjected, meeting her eyes. “I-I’m always g-going to be your f-friend.”

Willow’s eyes widened, her head shaking quickly. “Of course you are! Tara, of course you’re my friend! I know that friends don’t normally kiss each other like that though, and I’m sorry if it made you uncomfortable, or if you want some space, or even if you don’t want to see me again, I understand that, but I feel…when I’m around you…there’s something here! We’re connected, somehow. I mean, you know me, you know me so well, and I really like you, but it turns out not in the same way that I really like Buffy, because I don’t lay awake at night wondering what it would be like to kiss her, and it was amazing by the way, and…” She blushed, feeling her cheeks burning.

“Y-you thought about k-kissing me?” Tara interrupted, ducking her head to send her hair over her face, matching Willow’s blush with her own.

Willow nodded, swallowing thickly. “Definitely,” she breathed.

“Oh,” Tara said softly, leaning forward but hesitating from moving closer.

“I know that you kissed me back, but I know that that doesn’t mean that you like me, or anything. I mean, you’re sweet, and funny, and so pretty, and you could have any girl you want, so why would you want a crippled little geek like me?” Willow said, her eyes focusing on her own broken leg.

“Hey!” Tara said sharply, her voice firm. “You are [i[not[/i] a crippled little geek, Willow. You’re smart, and pretty, and funny, and so, so strong,” She reached forward with one hand, bringing Willow’s chin up to meet her eyes. “You k-know I don’t l-like it when you d-do that.” She sighed as her stutter returned, but she didn’t look away from Willow.

Willow gave her a soft, small smile. “I know, sorry,” she apologized. “I just don’t know if I’m saying the right thing, and I don’t even really know what the right thing is, but I know that I don’t want to lose you. You’re, you’ve become very important to me, very quickly, and you make it better, every single day you make it better, and I really don’t know what I would do if you weren’t around, and maybe I should have thought about this for two seconds before I just kissed you out of the blue and probably ruined everything…”

“You didn’t,” Tara interjected, barely loud enough for Willow to hear her.

“What?” Willow asked, the quiet words breaking through her frantic train of thought. “I didn’t? Really?”

Tara shook her head without speaking, just looking at Willow, her nervousness increasing with every second.

“I’m glad,” Willow said softly, extending a hand slowly to Tara.

Tara took it, squeezing gently. “Does your arm hurt?” she asked.

“No,” Willow said, looking confused before she realized why Tara was asking. “Oh, well, I mean, yeah, it does, but that’s not why I wanted to hold your hand,” she admitted.

Tara blushed, but left her hand in Willow’s. “Oh,” she said, smiling in a way that Willow found perfectly adorable.

“I know I don’t have any right to ask, but could I kiss you again?” Willow asked before she realized what she was doing.

“Willow…” Tara breathed her name, nodding before she said anything else, leaning in slowly with a smile on her lips.

The redhead returned the soft smile before their lips met. She was surprised when Tara initiated deepening the kiss, but she didn’t let the surprise stop her from letting Tara in, the blonde scooting to sit closer, her hand curling into short red hair.

They separated slowly, Tara pulling back just far enough so that she wasn’t teetering on the edge of her bed. “You okay?” Willow asked softly. “I mean, was that okay? Because I don’t want to…”

Tara giggled, interrupting her. “It was fine, Willow.”

“Fine?” Willow squeaked, her kissing abilities offended.

“Well, no, they were so much better than fine, they were the best kisses I’ve ever had in my life,” Tara corrected herself quickly, blushing brightly.

Willow grinned, relieved. “Okay, good. I mean, it’s bad enough that I kissed you without asking you, without being able to talk to you even, but if you didn’t even like it, I’d feel compelled to park my wheelchair outside in a storm and wait to be struck by lightning.”

“Willow, I loved it!” Tara assured her immediately. “You, I’ve never even met anyone like you, and I’ve wanted to k-kiss you for weeks now.” Her smile softened, her eyes dropping. “But Willow, you-you’re straight,” she said, feeling almost like she was reminding Willow of that fact as well as herself.

Willow blinked in surprise, a sudden memory of Oz rising behind her eyes, and she swallowed back tears. “Tara…”

“It-it’s okay, Willow,” Tara interjected. “I k-know you l-love him.”

“I did, I mean, I do, but he’s not here, and you - Tara, I feel something for you too, and I don’t…you mean something to me, and I don’t know where it’s going, but I don’t want to give it up before we can find out. I mean, if you want to find out. Of course, we haven’t really even figured out if you might like me too, but you keep letting me kiss you, which is kind of giving me some hope, so if you’re going to say no, maybe you could do it now before I keep talking and ruin any slight chance I might have of keeping your friendship…”

“I like you, Willow,” Tara said softly, stopping Willow’s ramble. “I l-liked you the first t-time I ever saw y-you.” She smiled, glancing around the room. “You were the only one in the Wicca group who wasn’t…”

“A complete idiot?” Willow guessed hopefully.

Tara smiled, still looking anywhere but at Willow. “I w-wasn’t going to say idiot, but y-yeah. And I saw you at the meeting, and you’re gorgeous, and smart, and funny, and talented, and so strong, but I knew you had a b-boyfriend, and I k-knew nothing could ever happen.”

“Except now it’s happening,” Willow said softly. “I mean, if you want it to happen.”

Tara let out a deep breath. “I w-want it to…but Willow, you, you don’t…you’re still hurting, and you don’t…I don’t know if you even know what you want,” Tara said kindly, her hands gently stroking over her knees.

Willow let her eyes close, taking a deep breath of her own. She knew Tara was right, knew that she still had things she needed to sort out, things she had to deal with, but the only thing that seemed to matter at the moment was making sure that Tara wasn’t going anywhere. She wasn’t sure what she wanted, but she knew that she needed Tara in her life.

“You’re right,” she said softly. “I do have things to think about, but Tara, it’s not some kind of grief that is making me feeling like this about you.”

Tara sighed, nodding as she met Willow’s eyes. “I k-know you t-think that…”

“No, Tara. I don’t know what it is, or what it means, and it’s definitely not something I ever expected, well, there was one time after I met a version of myself from another dimension and she couldn’t stop hitting on me, and I was kind of curious, but I never really thought seriously about it, but now I know you and it just feels right and I don’t want to lose that.”

“Willow…”

The redhead put a hand on Tara’s knee, stopping her words. “Tara, please, if you really like me, please just give me some time to figure this out. I don’t want to lose you.”

“You won’t,” Tara said. “I’m always going to be your friend, Willow.” Willow opened her mouth to speak, but Tara’s hand dropped over hers on the blonde’s knee. “Just listen, okay? I do like you, and whatever you decide, I’ll be here for you, I just…” She’d been keeping her voice steady through sheer force of will, but it was too much to maintain. “I-I don’t w-want you to r-regret anything.”

Willow wanted to argue with her, wanted to object, but ultimately she knew that Tara had a point, something she needed to consider. “You won’t leave town, or something, will you?” Tara laughed, shaking her head, and Willow let out a breath of relief. “Good,” she sighed. “I kind of like having you around,” she teased, trying to bring them out of the serious mood that have surrounded them since she’d entered.

“C-can I ask…why d-did you k-kiss me?” Tara asked, her eyes dropping to Willow’s hand on her leg.

Willow swallowed thickly, wondering how to explain how confused she’d been, how much clearer and simultaneously more confusing everything seemed now. “If I say because I thought we might die, is that going to get me slapped or something?” she joked instead, skirting the issue to keep them from driving back into their previous conversation.

Tara laughed again, her hand reaching of its own volition to cover Willow’s on her knee. “N-no,” she said softly, glancing up at her shyly and smiling cautiously.

Willow grinned back at her just as a ringing phone disturbed the mood further, and Willow let her hand slide off of Tara’s knee so that the blonde could go answer it. She turned her head to keep Tara in sight, smiling unconsciously.

“Buffy, h-hey,” Tara answered the phone.

“The Gentlemen are gone, if you couldn’t tell,” Buffy informed her. “Willow’s with you, isn’t she?”

Tara gave a glance over her shoulder, trying not to break into giddy laughter as she caught Willow looking at her. “Yes, she’s r-right here. Do you need her to c-come back?”

Buffy let out a deep breath. “Actually, I kind of was going to ask if you’d be alright if she stayed there tonight. There’s…I’ve got something I need to take care of over here, and I…”

“It’s o-okay, Buffy. We’ll be f-fine,” Tara said, hearing the stress in the Slayer’s voice.

“Thanks, Tara. I’ll call in the morning, if that’s alright.”

“N-no problem. Good luck with w-whatever it is,” Tara told her as they hung up.

“That was Buffy?” Willow stated more than asked. “She’s okay, right?”

“She’s okay, but she said there’s s-something going on in your dorm,” Tara told her.

“Oh, well, I should get back,” Willow said immediately, concerned for her friend.

Tara shook her head, crossing her arms across her stomach. “Actually, she’s going to call back in the m-morning.”

Willow got the implications of that immediately. “Oh… Are you okay with that? I think I’ll sleep alright in the chair…”

“Willow, no. It’s o-okay,” Tara objected. She blushed as she met Willow’s eyes. “It’s not like we can’t c-control ourselves.”

Willow blushed, nodding. “I wouldn’t, I would never…If you don’t like me, I’ll never say a word about it, it’ll never come up again, I swear.”

Tara smiled shyly, still blushing. “I think t-that’s our problem,” she confessed. “I d-do like you. A l-lot.”

Willow swallowed thickly, her throat suddenly dry. “Oh.” She bit her lip. “I wish I didn’t make you stutter like that,” she lamented softly.

Tara sighed, glancing away from Willow briefly. “It’s just been a l-long day. I have g-gotten better about it.”

“You have,” Willow agreed. “I have to say though, I think it’s cute,” she confessed, biting her lip. “I just don’t like when it happens because you’re anxious because of me.”

Tara squeezed her arms tighter around herself, knowing that they were edging back toward their previous serious conversation. “I…you don’t make me a-anxious, Willow. I just…”

Willow sighed heavily. “Yeah, I get it Tara, it’s fine.”

“Willow, no, it’s not…you, when I’m around you, you make me…I, you…” She laughed, glancing up at Willow through her eyelashes. “This is worse than the s-stuttering, sorry.”

Willow looked at her sadly. “It’s me, isn’t it? I make you so uncomfortable you can’t even speak.”

“No, Willow. It’s just, when you’re around, I just want to, I don’t know, I just want to take it all in,” she said, struggling to explain how Willow made her feel, what it was like to be around her.

Willow blushed, ducking her head. “When you do speak though, it’s a doozy,” she observed.

Tara smiled, laughing quietly. “Okay, I think it’s d-definitely time to talk about something that’s not going to e-embarrass me to death.” Willow smiled up at her, nodding and yawning uncontrollably. “Or maybe we should get you into b-bed,” Tara corrected herself. She moved from her desk to crouch in front of Willow’s chair, brushing hair back from her face. “How’s your arm feeling, sweetie?” she asked softly, the term of endearment slipping out before she could stop it, but the look on Willow’s face made it clear what she thought of the word.

“It’s been sort of throbbing since I got here, but I’ll live,” Willow answered. She bit her bottom lip as Tara’s hand brushed over her cheek. “Suddenly painless though,” she added, smiling.

Tara knew she shouldn’t, knew Willow was still uncertain about how she felt, but Tara leaned up helplessly, kissing Willow softly on the cheek. “Can I do a-anything?” she asked, sitting back on her heels to remove herself from temptation.

Willow thought about the question. “I’m sort of stinky from the workout I gave myself earlier getting over here, and I’m sure you won’t want to sleep anywhere near me, so if I could borrow a towel, I could use some time in the bathroom to clean myself up,” she said, blushing.

Tara nodded. “Okay, um…do you, could I…um…”

“I can handle it,” Willow said, knowing what Tara was trying to ask her. She blushed. “I’ve gotten a lot of practice. I just need the towel and a t-shirt, if you don’t mind me borrowing one.”

“Yeah, okay,” Tara said, embarrassed now. She stood up, moving towards her closet quickly, finding a clean towel and shirt easily.

She turned to Willow, holding them out and collecting her own shower kit, dropping it on top of the towel in Willow’s lap.

“Thanks, Tara,” Willow said, blushing shyly. “I’ll just go do that then,” she said, wheeling herself slowly toward the door.

“I’ll leave this open for you. Just come on in whenever you’re done,” Tara told her, lingering near the bed.

Willow nodded, leaving the room with a smile over her shoulder. As soon as the door closed behind her chair Tara dropped to sit on her bed, her mind reeling with everything that had happened since Willow had shown up at her door.

Rubbing her eyes tiredly, she pushed herself back to her feet, using her privacy to change into her pajamas, suddenly grateful that she had a single room and a full-sized bed. It was going to be difficult enough sleeping beside Willow after everything that had been said and done that day, but having a roommate at the same time would have been more than she could have dealt with.

Pillows were fluffed, and she changed the sheets quickly, idly straightening up her desk while she waited for Willow to come back. She rose to her feet as soon as Willow opened the door, the redhead giving her a smile.

“Expecting someone else?” Willow teased, laughing as Tara blushed. She wheeled herself close to the bed, hesitating. “Listen, Tara, it’s really not a problem for me to…”

“You’re not sleeping anywhere but in the bed,” Tara stated firmly. “I can sleep on the f-floor if it will make you feel better, but you’re sleeping r-right there.”

“No, I mean, it’s your bed. I just don’t want to…I don’t want to make you uncomfortable again.,” Willow sighed.

“You don’t,” Tara said, moving around to help Willow out of the chair, letting Willow pull herself into the bed, the blonde witch carefully shifting Willow’s injured leg from the chair to the sheets. “Are you okay?” she checked as Willow moved slowly to make herself comfortable.

Willow smiled reassuringly. “I’m fine, Tara. Thanks for everything.” She glanced beside her. “You going to join me?” she asked, hesitating.

Tara met her eyes, nodding shyly. “Yeah,” she agreed, lingering for a moment before she turned her back, rounding the bed to the other side and sliding under the covers.

They lay in silence, Tara clicking off the lights to plunge them into darkness. “Sleep good, Tara,” Willow offered, yawning.

“You too, Willow. Wake me up if you need anything, okay?” Tara requested softly.

“I will,” the redhead agreed, already falling asleep.

It took Tara longer than usual to fall asleep, but she slept better than she could ever remember sleeping.

*****
Next Time: It’s the end of the world as we know it…

I feel this one might need a note so -

Okay, I know some people are going to say I'm moving them too fast, but it's Hush! I had to do something with it... and life and death situation reactions are moving the story along... Willow reacted and now something new is going on... and also, notice that there are two time jumps in this one, so it's not immediately after Thanksgiving (the Hush portion itself takes place in very early January)...and she is putting some thought, worry into this... it's not entirely knee-jerk reaction...

_________________
Ripples - Pretty Much Perfect and The Sequel to the Sequel, Who's That Girl?
Every Step That I Retrace/Always Leads Me Back to You/But I've Loved You All Along
Road to Recovery, The Call/The Lightning Strike, The Sun Will Rise


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