The First Day and The Second Year
Everything Falls Into Place
Everything Falls Into Favor
Tara stood in front of the mirror, adjusting the collar on her black shirt until it was smooth.
“You know something, babe?” Willow asked as she sat on the bed with her back against the wall and her legs laying up in front of her. Her Macbook sat in her lap with a half-finished assignment for her Neural Networks class idling in the background.
“No, tell me,
babe,” Tara replied with a hint of a crooked smirk sent through the mirror.
Willow made a mocking face and shut her laptop. She slid off the bed and came around to embrace Tara from behind.
“You are
very hot in black.”
She slid her hands down the smooth fabric of Tara’s black pants covering her thighs and then up under her breasts.
“You’re making me crinkle,” Tara chastised, pulling away to fix her shirt.
“You liked me making you ‘crinkle’ last night,” Willow murmured as she returned to her paper, indignant.
Tara arched an eyebrow but a light blush rose on her cheeks so she turned away to tie up her hair in a high ponytail.
Behind her, Willow let out a little whimper.
“Tara,” she whined.
“What?” Tara asked in exasperation.
Willow pouted.
“You’re not allowed to look so sexy when you’re leaving me alone all night.”
Tara pulled her ponytail so the hair tie sat snug.
“I can’t blow off my very first shift.”
Willow’s bottom lip protruded more.
“Can’t you just clone yourself or something?”
Tara smiled wryly.
“One Tara to go bring home the bacon and one to stay here and fawn over your every sexual whim?”
Willow nodded once.
“Yes, that sounds reasonable.”
Tara could only smile and shake her head.
“You build the machine and I’ll let you clone me,” she said and leaned down to rest their foreheads together, “Until then…”
She kissed Willow softly and straightened up.
“I have to go.”
Willow was smiling and pursing her lips to retain the little tingle there.
“Sure you don’t want me to walk you?”
Tara shook her head as she put on the long, red leather jacket she bought in Iceland. She winked.
“No, finish your schoolwork so you can come party with me later.”
Willow’s eyes slowly flickered up to Tara’s body; finally meeting her eyes.
“What’s the company policy on their new hires being taken into the coat check to be ravished by their girlfriends?”
“Probably the same as the Fijian police,” Tara replied with a pointed stare.
Willow immediately lifted her phone and took a picture.
Tara frowned at the little clicking sound.
“What are you doing?”
“Ever heard of a ‘spank bank’?” Willow asked with a smirk.
“I’ve heard of a spanked butt and you’ll be getting one if you don’t stop,” Tara countered.
Willow’s lips just turned into a bigger grin.
“Ever heard of ‘fuel on the fire’?”
Tara took a step forward and Willow stood. They stood millimeters from each other, doing an eye dance between lips and above.
“What is making you so cocky today?” Tara asked in a tone that told Willow it was turning her on.
“Just feeling lucky,” Willow returned and arched an eyebrow, “Punk.”
Tara just couldn’t resist planting another kiss on Willow’s lips; cupping her cheeks to deepen it as much as possible for a glorious five seconds before pulling back and stepping away reluctantly.
“Now I really have to go, oh temptress of mine.”
With a dazed look and smear of Tara’s lipstick on her mouth, Willow watched Tara go through a slow blink.
“Good luck baby,” she said breathlessly and added on in a whisper, “My core is your call.”
Tara waved her fingers and finally left through the bedroom door, leaving Willow alone in the room.
Willow waited for the door to click closed before shaking herself out of it and returning to her laptop.
She had work to do.
Neural Networks be damned.
Willow pulled her long t-shirt over her hips so it sat loosely mid-thigh. The maroon was a little pop against her gray jeans and the round neck allowed her yellow-sun necklace to sit against her skin.
She thought she looked nice enough to meet Tara at work; she’d seen people a lot more casual that one night they’d been there, but still. She didn’t want to embarrass her girlfriend.
Her clothing and choices thereof had always been a bit of a sore point. Not that Tara had ever made her feel anything less than beautiful no matter what she wore, but Willow sometimes berated herself for not being more of a grown-up.
Tonight, as she checked herself in the mirror, she thought she’d reached a very happy medium and even felt good doing it.
Turning on her heels and bouncing on her toes, Willow put her purse over her chest and quietly sneaked out of the room.
Unexpectedly, the living space was not empty. Willow recognized Crystal, but not the man with her. Still, she was very aware of angry eyes on her.
When he hissed something at Crystal and Willow heard her call him Oleksii, Willow finally placed him as the landlord Tara had mentioned.
Crap, Willow thought. Maybe she shouldn’t be here alone.
“I heard you leave,” Crystal called out.
Willow’s eyes widened but then realized Crystal obviously couldn’t even tell she or Tara apart.
“Had to pop back,” she lied, “Going again now. Just me, Tara, with my sweet angelic voice and perfectly round boobs.”
She smiled awkwardly with tense shoulders.
Oleksii turned his back but Willow could hear their whispers as she crept toward the door.
“She
is g2s,” Oleksii said with a smarmy look over his shoulder.
Crystal nodded.
“Extra scent.”
“Uh, bye,” Willow called out and didn’t give anyone a chance to respond as she flung the door open and ran right down the stairs.
She wiped the back of her hand over her forehead as she glanced unsurely up at the apartment. The last thing she needed was to get Tara in trouble.
Tara was working 2-10 which would be her regular hosting shift unless she was doing a split shift to cover the 10 pm-2 am slot helping out the bar, as she would be the following night. That fit perfectly in with Willow’s plans.
It was dark out but Tara lived in such a lively neighborhood that Willow didn’t feel out of place or uncomfortable walking the few blocks to Delicatessens.
The night was young in West Hollywood and Willow passed many young party-goers and couples enjoying the copious nightlife the city had to offer. She smiled at how normal it was to see two men holding hands as they strolled past her on a night-time walk with their puggle and how it sprouted joy in her heart and not the fear it would have not so long ago.
The line at the club was only a few people deep and as Willow checked the time, realized it was because it was only on the cusp of changing from restaurant to nightclub. Willow hadn’t even realized it was a restaurant the night they’d been there, so it must be a pretty big transformation to flow from one into the other.
The bouncer didn’t even look up from his phone as he waved everyone on through. Willow could only guess he wasn’t worried about whatever lame-os would be out at this ‘early’ hour. She just smiled as she passed for not even a silent display of disrespect could quell Willow’s happiness at going to see her love.
Her confidence dropped slightly as she entered the club and found herself at a loss of where to go or what to do.
When they had come here the last time, it had been in full nightclub mode. One-sided booths stretched either side of the room in a semi-circle as you walked in with the bar connecting either side to make a half-moon shape. Half the floor was set out to dance while the other had small circular wooden tables for people to sit. The upstairs was an extension of this with a view out over the whole bar.
Music played as Willow stood there idle, though it was on the speaker system and not live from the small platform just off from the dancefloor. Willow instinctively glanced over to it and noticed it didn’t have the big curtain pulled behind it like it did the last day — instead, there was an open window space into the kitchen and a big table set up on the stage like a chef’s table. The dim red lighting showed this quite clearly where the disco lights before had only offered flashes of vision to this area.
On her other side, Willow saw the tables she had before but they looked much bigger now. Willow heard a snapping motion and followed the sound until she saw someone releasing a switch under a nearby table and sliding the two sides together to create the smaller, more intimate ones Willow remembered.
She was so impressed with the engineering that it took her a moment to realize she recognized the dainty little fingers doing the snapping.
Like she could sense the dopey gaze that suddenly settled on Willow’s face, Tara looked up and smiled. Willow blushed which was thankfully hidden by those red lights, and raised her fingers in a wave.
Tara continued to smile and raised one finger to indicate she’d be a moment and pointed quickly at the bar. Willow looked over her shoulder, then back, and gave a thumbs-up before spinning to walk in that direction. She sat at the bar and there were only a couple more people around it so she got the bartender’s attention quickly.
“Can I get, um, two cherry cokes please?”
Two quick flicks of a fountain gun later, two cold glasses were slid across the bar and Willow tapped her card to pay for them.
It was a little while before Tara joined her but Willow didn’t mind; she found it fascinating to watch the background transformation going on. There wasn’t one big switch but a gradual change from low lighting and soft music to something more lively and upbeat. Willow felt like a frog in boiling water; not realizing she had primo bar real estate until more people started to trickle in and she realized the transformation was complete.
“Sorry I took so long.”
Willow looked over as Tara hoisted herself into the stool next to her, kissing her cheek on the way.
“That’s okay,” Willow replied, taking Tara’s hand on the outside of the stools, “How was it, how’d it go? This place is really cool.”
“It is really cool,” Tara confirmed, gently loosening her tie, “Everyone is really nice and showing me the ropes. And I got a free meal.”
“Oh good, I was worried about that,” Willow replied, finding herself having to raise her voice slightly as the music got louder, “I got you a cherry coke!”
Tara took her glass and clinked it against Willow’s glass.
She took a long sip through the straw and watched with amusement as Willow bounced in her seat along with the music. She couldn’t wait to get up on the floor to dance, though she did wish she’d brought some clothes to change into. She would have to remember that for next time she planned to stay on again, which she probably would. She never worked somewhere before that she actually had the desire to stay after she was contractually obliged to stay, but she loved the vibe here, and apparently, Willow did too.
Just then two more glasses hit the bar in front of them and the doe-eyed and giant-muscled man smiled at them.
“If you’d told me you were with her, I’d have comped your drinks,” he said, looking at Willow but cocking his head at Tara, “Welcome, kid.”
Willow beamed and leaned over to Tara.
“I like this place.”
Tara smiled.
“Me too.”
Very quickly the décor became dark and the music began to hold a certain pulse around the room as the transition to the nightclub was completed. The bar got busy and Tara acquiesced their prime sitting real estate to invite Willow onto the dance floor.
As they walked over, hand-in-hand, flashing blue lights suddenly penetrated them from all sides. There was a loud, flourishing announcement, and then bright lights poured over the stage, where a set of decks now sat and a DJ sat behind wearing oversized earphones and a neon jacket.
There was one evocative beat of silence before the beat dropped and the crowd went wild.
Tara was mesmerized.
Tara woke to a fluttering of light behind her eyelids and a fluttering of sensation on her shoulder.
She stretched softly and felt the warmth of Willow’s body curled around her from behind. Something wisped past her hair, brushing it to the side before that same sensation appeared on her neck.
Tara smiled as she recognized the feeling of Willow’s lips; still pillowy soft from falling asleep kissing the night before. She reached back and let her fingertips dance over the back of Willow’s shoulder blade.
“Good morning, love.”
Willow pressed her nose into Tara’s hair and kissed below her ear.
“Good morning.”
She nuzzled that same spot and let her arm settle around Tara’s middle, which she squeezed affectionately.
“Last night was a gooood night.”
“Wasn’t the DJ great?” Tara murmured, “Her transitions were so perfect.”
“Uh-huh, she was amazing,” Willow agreed and smiled against the back of Tara’s neck, “Not as good as DJ Tarot, though.”
Despite Tara’s eyes being closed, Willow was sure she had rolled them. Her tone of voice confirmed this.
“Ha, ha.”
“No ‘ha’ or ‘ha’,” Willow protested and pressed herself tighter to Tara, “It’d be sooo hot to see you up there like that.”
“Oh really?” Tara replied, the quietest of moans vibrating just past her lips when Willow’s hand coasted over her hip.
“Uh-huh,” Willow breathed heavily in Tara’s ear, “Though I admit there isn’t any situation where you’re not hot…”
Tara slowly turned herself over so she faced Willow. She cupped her hand over Willow’s cheek and gently kissed her lips.
“Even at my worst…” she intoned softly, nuzzling their noses before parting just enough to look at each other, “But one crazy night in Iceland behind the decks does not a DJ make.”
Willow was going to reply, but Tara caught her in a kiss before she could. Willow slowly melted, forgetting her train of thought.
By the time Tara pulled away, Willow-brain had jumped somewhere else.
“Do you have any homework to do today?”
Tara shook her head.
“No, not specifically. They took it easy on us for the first week.”
“Me too,” Willow replied and lifted her hand to rub Tara’s upper arm, “Let’s go to the bakery across the street and get some pastéis de nata.”
Tara smiled softly.
“Won’t be as good as Belém.”
Willow pretended to get out of bed.
“Well hang on one second while I charter my private jet…”
Tara quickly pulled her back and they wrapped around each other closely while giggling.
After a few moments, shyly, Willow found Tara’s gaze.
“Do you know what date it is?”
Tara closed her eyes to think about it.
“It’s the…” she started to recount the date after calculating it in her mind but stopped suddenly. Her eyes fluttered open, “…it’s our anniversary.”
Willow’s fingers danced awkwardly on Tara’s arm.
“I wasn’t sure if it was a ‘thing’ in your mind…”
Tara closed her arm around Willow’s shoulders.
“We missed it last year. I would hate to miss it again. Thank you for reminding me.”
Willow exhaled softly.
“Feels crazy that all that was a year ago.”
“Crazier that it’s been two,” Tara replied, rubbing her thumb on Willow’s cheek, “Since you changed my world.”
Willow shook her head.
“You did all of the changing.”
Tara shook hers back.
“No, Willow. I always stayed the same.”
“I just had to catch up,” Willow deduced slowly, then smiled wryly, “If you’d just have shown me your boobs, we could have saved a lot of heartache.”
Tara laughed and the joy bounced in Willow’s eyes.
“You may have passed out.”
“I may have,” Willow agreed in an adoring tone.
She leaned in and pressed their lips together for several lingering seconds before releasing Tara and rubbing her hip.
“Let’s go have breakfast.”
Another kiss followed that only broke when they rolled out of bed.
They got ready and made their way downstairs and across the street to the little bakery on the corner. They nabbed the last little metal table outside with their coffees and various indulgent breakfast pastries which they just about resisted feeding to each other, only for the benefit of the other patrons.
“Do you like the new job?” Willow asked, reaching over to wipe a flake of pastry from Tara’s mouth.
Tara smiled gratefully and wiped at her own mouth.
“I do. Hosting is less rushing around than waitressing. I don’t get tips but I’ll get a share on bar shifts. And so far, no cranky customers but it’s only been one shift.”
“Is it a gay restaurant?” Willow asked as she settled her arms on the table.
“A what?” Tara questioned with a playful arched eyebrow.
The little twitch and crooked tug on her lips made Willow grin.
“Well it’s a gay bar after hours, right? Is it a gay restaurant during the day?”
Tara leaned forward with her chin on her upturned palm and looked off inquisitively.
“Well, it does offer a menu that’s a subversion and radical departure from gastronomic norms.”
Willow frowned unsurely.
“Really?”
Tara laughed and again, Willow felt her heart thump.
“No, it’s fritto misto and short ribs,” Tara replied, gently hitting Willow’s arm teasingly, “But the chef is a gay guy from Ecuador so I guess that makes every dish gay. And delicious. And cheap. I guess that is one thing that’s undoubtedly queer about it all — everyone is welcome. There’s veggie dishes and meat dishes. Less expensive cuts and cheap meals. Very community-focused. I’d want to eat there even if I didn’t work there.”
“Sounds like somewhere built for Tara,” Willow replied affectionately.
Tara’s eyes glanced down for a long second before her eyelashes fluttered back up at Willow.
“Mmm. Somewhere else you mean…”
It took Willow a moment, but then her cheeks flamed red.
Tara clinked her cup against Willow’s and sat back with a satisfied look on her face.
Willow couldn’t help but smile back and scooted her chair just that inch closer that was barely separating them already.
“Vixen,” she said, stealing Tara’s sobriquet of afore, hoping it would evoke a knowing look, which it did.
Under the table, their hands linked and didn’t part as they finished their breakfasts and walked off for a stroll around the neighborhood. Lots of other couples were doing the same, plenty more were gracing the eating establishments for brunch and families were filling up the playgrounds.
Willow still found herself surprised by how alert yet at ease she felt just to be in the presence of other gay couples. At one point she found herself tossing a ball back to a little girl with two moms and sort of just stared in promise at how they all interacted until Tara pulled her across the street when the signal changed.
“I’m sorry, did I tug you?” Tara asked when they were over safely.
“Just on my heart,” Willow replied with a casual smoothness she didn’t often possess.
Tara kissed Willow’s cheek and they continued back to the apartment so Tara could get going for the first chunk of her split shift.
“Oh hey, I never told you Chaos Crystal and some guy caught me sneaking out of here last night,” Willow said as she sat on the bed and tossed her phone from side to side, “She seemed like she didn’t know I wasn’t you and he didn’t know who I was at all. Are you paying extra for me to stay at the weekends? I thought I heard her say something like that.”
Tara frowned through the mirror as she straightened the collar on her shirt.
“I was never asked to. Should I offer?”
“I don’t see why?” Willow shrugged one shoulder, “But if you ever get asked, you have to tell me so I can pay it, yeah?”
“Okay,” Tara agreed and sat on the bed to change her shoes.
Behind her, Willow frowned.
“Do you know what ‘scent’ means?”
Tara looked over her shoulder.
“In general?”
Willow frowned deeper.
“As in, she called us that?”
Tara looked forwards and stood up, spinning around to face Willow.
“Maybe because I bought the plug-in?”
Willow’s features evened out.
“Oh, yeah,” she replied, nodding her head, “I think I’m going to take off while you’re out anyway.”
Tara’s brow creased as she gathered her hair up into a bun.
“I feel bad that you feel you have to leave.”
Willow slid back to standing and put her hands in her pockets.
“It’s okay. I think I saw a cute coffee shop not too far away from here and there’s a dog park where some of the dogs looked dangerously unpetted.”
Tara smiled as she fixed her bun and let her hands fall on Willow’s shoulders, kissing her forehead. She offered her hand, which Willow gladly took and they departed again with no odd interrogation from the apartment’s other inhabitant.
Willow walked Tara right to do the door of Delicatessens and said she’d be back to pick her up in four hours. After a quick and chaste kiss goodbye, Tara went in the doors and Willow walked to the supermarket on the corner.
Four hours and six minutes later, Tara walked out and found Willow idling opposite her on her Vespa with its little rear carrier bag attached. Willow popped the visor and looked in Tara’s direction with a smile.
“Hop on.”
Tara walked over and appraised Willow curiously for a moment before swinging her leg over and donning the second helmet without question.
Her arms wrapped around Willow’s waist and her chin fell on Willow’s shoulder and she closed her eyes as they pulled off the curb and onto the street.
Tara wasn’t sure where Willow was taking her; she guessed it was somewhere further than home given the close proximity but was still surprised as they weaved out of the city streets toward the hilly landscape of the Santa Monica Mountains and then onto the recognizable-from-TV (and for Tara, admittedly, the movie) winding Mulholland Drive.
With the wind whipping at their sides and the full-throttle Willow had engaged to keep up with the freeway traffic, Tara felt a thrilling buzz moving up from her core; leaving goosebumps on her arms.
The view from the back of the bike was incredible. Tara had the advantage of taking her eyes off the road and was gifted with visions of the San Fernando Valley, downtown Los Angeles and the Hollywood sign in all of its iconic, if somewhat still underwhelming, glory.
After a quick zip through Beverly Hills, where Tara saw a woman in the tallest heels she’d ever seen off of a drag queen, they were cruising toward the coast until they got to Santa Monica pier.
It was Tara’s first time; her only other visits to a California beach being the Sunnydale shores and usually peppered with sand being kicked in her face by her brother or her mother fussing with enough sunscreen to make her indistinguishable from Caspar the Friendly Ghost.
Her hair fell out from under her helmet as she took it off and had to blink away the heavy sun.
“Wow. This is gorgeous.”
It was a perfect Californian day, all blue skies and blue water to compliment it and cause a hidden horizon. A giant Ferris Wheel took up most of her peripheral vision, and the pier itself seemed crowded and bore the dirt of the many people passing through, but if she kept her eyes on the water, all of that melted away.
At the bike, Willow stretched out her legs after the long ride. Watching Tara with a smile, she detached the bag at the back of the bike and adjusted the straps so it would fit over her shoulders instead.
She approached Tara and stood side-by-side, looking out over the ocean. She spotted kids playing in the water and smiled.
“My Bubbe brought me here once. I remember her wrapping me up in a huge towel and hugging me dry.”
Tara smiled softly at the image.
“That sounds like a lovely memory.”
“It is,” Willow confirmed and looked at Tara with some sadness but mostly joy, “Come on.”
Tara was about to open her mouth and ask ‘where to?’ but instead just smiled with trust and offered Willow her hand.
It was hot, way too hot to reasonably hold hands, but Willow didn’t hesitate for a second in linking their fingers together.
She led them away from the pier, which confused Tara for a second, but in mere moments Willow had them crossing the street and moving up some steps into a green park area that was so enclosed and beautiful that it was easy to forget where they had just come from.
They walked over a cool wooden bridge and immediately felt the difference from the busy, touristy pier. This place was tranquil and beautiful and had the serenity of beautiful landscaping and water features.
Across from one such cascading effect, Willow stopped them and brought the bag around to her front so she could get a blanket from inside.
Tara watched, touched, and offered to help, but Willow waved her off, albeit sweatily, and smoothed the blanket out on the grass for them. In this sense, the lack of breeze was helpful.
Willow sat and patted the spot beside her and pulled the backpack between her legs. She took out two reusable water bottles, her collapsible set of silverware, and some food containers from the store.
“I call it gap year chic,” she said as she produced each thing, “Boxed salad. Granola and…”
Tara took the sandwich from Willow and held it reverently.
“Tuna and applesauce,” she said as Willow waved a little sealed cup with foil lid, “As if you’d forget.”
“Can’t. It’s on my butt forever,” Willow quipped and their heads rested together for a brief moment as they shared a laugh.
Tara treated Willow to a kiss on the cheek.
“Cutest tuna butt I’ve ever seen.”
Willow blushed and offered Tara a water bottle.
“It’s uh, sparkling coconut water.”
“Fancy,” Tara smiled a crooked smile that only increased Willow’s blush.
“I wanted it to be,” Willow replied softly and held her bottle up, “I-I’ve never celebrated an anniversary before.”
Tara remembered their earlier conversation and smiled as she realized what all of this was about.
“Me either,” she said and scooted that bit closer.
She gently hit the metal rim of her water bottle against Willow’s.
“Happy anniversary, love.”
Willow’s heart thudded in her chest.
“Happy anniversary,” she said, with her eyes fixed and pupils blown from all of the emotion pouring out of them, “I love you so much, Tara. The last two years have been the most incredible, difficult, amazing, heart-breaking, heart-filling, emotion-bursting roller coaster of awesomeness that I could never have done without you by my side. I could never be the person I am without you. I could never have broken away from my shame and self-hatred without you loving me. You are my
everything.”
“Willow,” Tara replied softly, cupping Willow’s cheek.
Willow looked like she might cry.
Some kids skated by on roller skates, followed by their Dad on a skateboard, and Willow and Tara giggled at each other again, breaking the heavy air.
Willow made a quick swipe at her eyes and shook her head as she opened the salad.
“Here, have some. It’s really good.”
Sharing each item of food between them with clacking utensils and coy smiles, they enjoyed people-watching and hearing the sounds of the ocean overlap with the sounds of Saturday exuberance as they ate their lunch.
“I really like being back in a city,” Tara said as she wiped the corner of Willow’s mouth with a napkin, “I forgot, living back in Sunnydale for the summer, how much I enjoy the energy of people and that little crackle of anticipation you feel being ensconced in it.”
“No more small-town girl for you,” Willow smiled gently.
Tara shrugged one shoulder.
“Not right now,” she said and her eyes flickered to the side as she watched a new family walk by with a baby in a stroller, “But maybe someday.”
She fixed her eyes back on Willow.
“Unless of course, you’re the small-town girl. Because I very much want you.”
Willow smiled wider.
“Hey, did you know the second-anniversary gift is traditionally cotton?”
Tara’s eyes narrowed a little.
“I didn’t, I don’t think.”
Willow placed her hand on Tara’s thigh.
“Well, since we never talked about it, I figured I’d just get a gift for both of us.”
Tara’s eyebrow arched with intrigue. Willow leaned in.
“There will be some very soft 600-thread-count Egyptian cotton sheets waiting on that bed for us to…enjoy together.”
She squeezed Tara’s thigh, whose breath audibly quickened.
“Wow, Willow, that sounds…amazing.”
Willow pressed a long kiss to Tara’s cheek, who closed her eyes. After a moment, they popped open, bright and excited.
“That reminds me, I need to be home by 9, 9:15 at the latest,” she said, her sudden eagerness contrary to the words coming out of her mouth.
Willow pouted a little.
“I didn’t think your shift started ‘til 10.”
“I have to be there 40 minutes early to set up,” Tara explained, averting her gaze.
Willow just nodded.
“I understand,” she said and gently rubbed Tara’s thigh again, “I’ll keep those sheets warm.”
Tara frowned.
“I won’t be home until late.”
Willow just winked.
They spent another little while enjoying their spot on the grass, this time watching the clouds and the fun shapes that they made until they decided it was time to stretch their legs. Willow picked up the blanket while Tara disposed of their used containers.
Hand-in-hand they walked back to the pier and though the idea of a barefoot walk in the sand sounded appealing, something they had enjoyed immensely on various beaches of the world together, the temperature and general dirtiness around them made them decide to keep their shoes on and link arms.
The beach was busy with lots of families, kids running in and out of the water, unnaturally gorgeous people playing ball games while others increased their chances of developing skin cancer by 10fold but both Willow and Tara were able to find peace in their stroll and didn’t even have to say much along the way.
They walked about a mile along the beach before turning back to walk on the boardwalk and when they returned to the pier, they decided to get some ice cream and end their day with a ride on the giant Ferris Wheel that had dominated most of their view back.
As the ride rocked into movement the sun was beginning to set over the water, casting a gorgeous orange glow. Willow lifted her little plastic spoon of cookies-and-cream to her mouth as she watched it shimmer while Tara licked her mint-choc-chip from a cone.
“This is the best anniversary I’ve ever had,” Willow said softly, slowly dragging her gaze back to Tara and smiling.
They met for a brief, cold kiss and Tara rested her head on Willow’s shoulder. Wordlessly, they finished their ice cream and snuggled on top of the world.
Or the Santa Monica Pier, at least.
The ride home for Tara was even more special than the ride over. Not only was she loved-up and full of delicious food, but the view was even more amazing, especially as they neared home and she got the view of the whole of downtown.
She held onto Willow tighter and let the sparkly lights flash before her eyes as she committed the view and this moment to memory.
By the time Willow pulled up behind the apartment, Tara was fresh-faced and rosy-cheeked with an unending smile on her face.
After Willow had secured her helmet, Tara placed her hands over Willow’s shoulders and let them slide down until her wrists crossed behind her neck.
“You are so amazing.”
“Just trying to keep up with my amazing girlfriend,” Willow replied sweetly.
Tara moved to rest her forehead on Willow’s. She closed her eyes and just breathed until they naturally synced. On the next exhale she pressed their lips together.
When they broke, she pressed the softest of kisses on Willow’s cheek.
“I’ll see you later.”
“I’ll be waiting…” Willow promised, soft and alluring.
Tara took a long inhale of Willow’s sweet strawberry scent to last her the length of her shift.