Summary: It's, eh, been a while, so I suppose it would probably help to summarise...
There was an attack on the Magic Box which led to the shop being wrecked, Xander and Anya being injured and Willow landed in hospital. The long process of recuperation has conveniently brought the two broken couples back together, most recently Willow & Tara, having danced around each other for 33 chapters.
And that's pretty much the gist of it.
Chapter 34
Post-Finally!
“Did you find her, Xander? She upstairs? We agreed today was Buffy/ Willow walk and talk.”
“Yeah, I think she’ll be a bit tired for a walk and talk.”
“Why, ‘cause of her escapades with you yesterday? No fair, I want fun. It's been a long and serious few months.”
“No, because of her sexcapades with Tara last night. From the very brief look of the room I got before getting the hell outta there, they were pretty busy.”
“Tara’s here? Oh my God, d’you reckon this means they’re back? God I hope so, Dawn misses Tara so much. So do I.” Buffy was almost afraid to get her hopes up; she had been praying this would happen for months, holding her breath every time the former couple looked like they would finally crack and do something about their situation. Yet this had never happened, leaving the rest of the Scoobies to put up with the palpable sexual tension between the two for months.
“Let’s hope so. Okay, I have to get back to work, just tell Will that Anya said yes, whatever that means.”
“Sure. I suppose I’ll find something else to do today.” Well, now that my role-model couple’s back together, I get to feel that fun emotion - what was it again? Ah yes, loneliness. And, let’s face it, jealousy. Still, at least someone’s happy. Buffy idly thought it odd that she could feel such relief that Willow and Tara had found each other again while at the same time envying them the same.
Eight hours later, not all of them having been spent asleep, Tara and Willow made the mutual decision that it was time to get up.
“That would involve moving though.” Tara snuggled tighter to Willow. It was now not humanly possible for the two to be closer.
“How’s about we stay here for a little while longer, and psych ourselves up for the effort in moving. But no shenanigans yet ‘cause otherwise it won’t be ‘til next week.”
“Right.” Tara paused. “Or maybe we could talk?” She felt Willow tense in her arms, before she rolled off. Her brow was creased and she looked nervous as she looked at Tara.
“Don’t worry, sweetie, it’s not a bad talk. I think.”
Willow looked ready to burst into tears. “You’re gonna tell me this was just a one-time thing, aren’t you? That now you feel better we should do the friends thing again? God, I shoulda seen this. I shoulda known it was too good to be true. Of course you’ll never forgive me. Just ‘cause you looked as horny as me doesn’t mean anything. It’s just I was so frustrated not being able to touch you. Because I wanted to, I always want to touch you, everywhere. Even if it’s just holding your hand on the street, but even better tearing your clothes off at night, I always want to touch you. And now, now I had so much of it, but just for one night - and day, I suppose - and I’ll have to go back to imagining feeling you up in public, and back to the hot dreams that Buffy was talking about. Because I’m not feeling sorry for myself when I say I know, I understand why you’ll never take me back but it’s just so hard.” And so came the tears.
Tara waited patiently for Willow’s upset chatter to end and brushed the tears from her face. “Sweetie, unless you want this to be a one-night thing, and from the sounds of it you don’t, then it’s not. I didn’t come here, no pun intended, just to stop myself from bursting from frustration whenever I’m around you. And I don’t know about you, but that’s exactly what I feel every time I see you. I finally stopped this painful no naughty contact thing because I love you and I need you and, quite clearly, I want you, badly. My original plan was to come back after about 6 months when I was sure you’d finished with magic and then to take it slowly once we were back together, but I’m pretty sure all that’s changed. I know you’re off magic for months now, and personally, I think that the last few months of being with you but not being with you are quite enough slow time. If you think so too.” She paused and lowered her voice to almost a whisper. “Did you really think that after last night – and today – I’d go back to that hell? Where I could wash you in the bath but not be in there with you?”
“I don’t know. I guess I panicked. I suppose I’d just begun to accept it that we’d never be together again. That you’d never forgive me.”
“I do. I forgive you, okay? So we start, from a clean slate. Like we were first, only we’re already at the ‘I love you’ stage.”
“I was already at that stage when we started the first time.”
“Yeah, me too. So, clean slate?”
“Clean slate. Reckon we should get up? I think I hear banging downstairs; I hope Buffy’s not trying to cook. I don’t fancy us all getting food poisoning: I don’t plan on losing you now that I’ve just got you back.”
“I’m not going anywhere. Which reminds me – can I move back in?” Her question was answered by a very enthusiastic kiss, resulting in another lengthy postponement of any movement beyond the room.
lol
