hapter 9
It's so good that Willow feels a lot happier now that she's opened up to Tara and has found her to be accepting of Willow even after all the shit she went through. Though she does seem to be fretting a little too much that Tara might be another Taylor.
Tara is just so adorable in asking Willow out for ice cream and babbling slightly.
Their teasing each other over ice cream is so witty and just adds to the crumbling in Willow's defensive wall that she built to protect herself from harm.
It's nice to see Willow getting more used to being held, especially by yummy Tara.
I can't believe that Taylor and her friends didn't get reported for attacking Willow the way that they did. Her big heart shows though when she says that she wouldn't wish the beating she took on anyone and at least Willow is now moving on with her life and has new friends who care about her. It's just a pity it took such extreme measures for her to get to this point in her life.
Willow wanted to close the gap. She had never in her life wanted to kiss someone as badly as she wanted to kiss Tara. Everything about this girl seemed so right. She wanted to say fuck it to her fears and just kiss her. She bit the right side of her lower lip.
The sight of Willow biting her lip excited Tara and she couldn't take it anymore. She leaned down.
"TARA!" Both girls jumped apart.
"What?" Tara looked to her left. She rolled her eyes. "What do you want Cordelia?"Noooooooooooooooooo, so near and yet so far.
Cordelia would fight with anyone all day, but Tara was different. Tara had helped her in many ways and Tara was there for her when she couldn't go to anyone else.So is there more to Cordelia than you've shown us? Has Tara helped with a murky background or is she secretly gay herself but scared to come out and Tara helps her or at least listens to her problems?
I love the banter between Tara and Alex over Willow with Tara obviously quite shy in revealing her love for the little redhead.
Alex knew why she didn't want to go get them. She didn't want to leave. He looked from Willow to Tara. He had never heard his big sister talk about someone the way she talked about Willow. He knew she liked her and he was happy. Willow seemed nice, kind of quite, but nice. "Willow do you want to come home with us?" Alex asked.How can anyone not love and his attempts to bring his sister and her crush together.
I gotta say that for me this chapter has been the best so far, in that while it seems there's not a lot of action there's a lot of fun and revelations as Alex tells us what Tara is too shy to say. It also says a lot of about the closeness of Tara and Alex in that she openly tells him about Willow and how she feels about her.
chapter 10
"Bonding," Tommy said. "How cute."This Tommy doesn't seem to be a happy chappy, being rude to Willow like that but at least Amber seems nice.
Willow looked at her. "Women and her 4 kids? Where's your dad?"Why do I have the feeling that there isn't a happy story to answer this question.
"I can hit you in the face," Tommy said.
"Way to sound like dad," Amber snapped.
"That's enough," Tara slammed her fist on the table. Willow jumped and looked at Tara. You could almost see the stem of anger coming out of her ears. She looked at Tommy and Alex who both looked shocked.Definitely a serious case of unhappy families here. It certainly answers my earlier comment and there is obviously a history of abuse here too. Hopefully Tara can open up some more to Willow and talk about her own painful past.
"I'm sorry," Amber said. "Tommy I di..." Before she could finish Tommy slammed his book closed and ran out the kitchen.
"Nice," Tara stood up. "Real nice." she looked at Willow, "I'm sorry," then took off after Tommy who ran up the stairs.Definitely a lot of unhappiness all around here. Perhaps Tara can persuade Tommy to come back and make everyone play nice. I also wonder if he suffered a lot at Mr. Maclay's hands
chapter 11
Mrs. Maclay seems a very nice person but what an about turn in her kids. One minute they're having a go at each other, the next they are all quiet and meek.
It's really good to see Tara's family like Willow. It now means she's not as alone as she always believed.
She wanted to go over to the bed, kneel over Willow and kiss her. But sadly she knew that wasn’t going to happen.Awww, poor Tara believing that she's not going to be ever able to kiss Willow though they nearly did earlier, if only Cordelia hadn't interrupted.
We should go there sometime. I mean,” Tara caught herself. “You should go there sometime.”Why is Tara so nervous? She's friends with Willow and is attracted to her so why would she suggest that Willow go to the bookstore alone????
Actually she was hoping Tara would put her hand on her cheek, move her head to look into her eyes and kiss her, but she highly doubted that was about to happen.What's wrong with these two, they both seem to be in denial of how the other is feeling even though each girl knows the other is gay and must be able to recognise how much they want one another.
And finally we hear about Tara's life before Willow.
chapter 12
"My dad paid too much attention. He knew everything my mom did. She had to tell him where she was, how long she was there and if she forgot to tell him or couldn't get a hold of him and went and did something without his permission, he got mad." "He was controlling,"Houston, we have a confirmation Mr. Maclay is a psycho.
"The cops came and neighbors said it happened a lot. I think they were trying to help, but with no proof what could the cops do?"Wouldn't Mrs. Maclay have asked for help or at the very least for her kids to be taken somewhere safe so they wouldn't have to suffer the same abuse?
The attack on Anna and then on Tara sounds really violent and brutal, so much that I had to skip most of it, but I was so glad that their neighbour, Rich, was there filming the whole thing with two police officers so justice could be carried out. But a big YAY to Tara for being tough enough to take on her dad and helping her mom. It also shows why she takes such a narrow view on bullying and namecalling having seen first hand what it can lead to.
"You... You..." Willow couldn't form the words. "Are amazing," Willow said. Their eyes were locked.Darn tootin she is, it's why so many of us want to be with her cos she's amazing. And hot
YAY they finally kiss.
chapter 13
"No this isn't how I spend every Saturday. But it's how I spend this day every year." he took another sip of his coffee.
"Are you gonna go see her?" Willow asked.
Giles put the cup on the counter. "I don't know. I haven't been. I did go. Everyday. The whole year after she died. Then I realized that it was just too hard and it made me too depressed and..." I do like the fact that in this story it's not just been Willow, Tara or Tara's mom that have been through a major pain. Giles has suffered and possibly Cordelia too which is a reflection of real life. Everybody suffers some pain at some time.
Wear jeans and a sweater. Like you used to wear when you guys came to see us, Oo do you still have the nice blue sweater? That was her favorite."It's good to seeWillow be there for Giles on what is plainly an incredibly sad day for him. I likethat she suggests what he wears to Alyson's grave using the idea that Alyson's spirit will see them and it's what she would like to see Giles dressed in.
Willow tried to hide the smile on her face from Tara's text. She was too scared to text her. Too scared that Tara would wake up this morning and regret the kissing. She put her phone back in her pocket. She wanted to text her back, but she didn't want to disrespect Uncle Giles.Oh Willow, I don't know whether to feel sympathy for her or frustrated with her. Why is she too scared to text Tara back? I can understand her reluctance over whilst with Giles, this is obviously a time of deep emotion for him but she could have sent a text from home whilst her uncle was getting dressed.
"Hi Marge."Her surname wouldn't be Simpson now would it
"Alex," Tommy said walking up to them. "Leave them alone," he gently nudged his brother away. Then he just looked at Willow and Tara. "I hope this isn't some weird teenage thing because I don't want to look that goofy when I get a girlfriend."It's good to see that Tommy is much more likable than he was the previous day.
"We aren't girlfriends," Willow said finally pulling her gaze away from Tara and looking at her uncle. The look on his face made her pull completely away from Tara.
Tara's heart dropped to her feet when she did.Ok, now what's going on here? Willow and Tara like each other but what's the expresssion on Giles face? Is it one of curiosity, dislike, unhappiness, interest and why is Willow so nervous of Giles knowing that she and Tara are an item?
"Surprising her with flowers," Anna smiled. "Romance isn't dead after all."
"Well she is," Giles said and walked out of the flower shop.I understand that today is the anniversary of Alyson's death and an emotional time for Giles, but I don't think there is any reason to be rude to people over it. Especially people you've only just met.
chapter 14
It's very sad that Giles doesn't think that Willow should date Tara, though he does acknowledge that she is one of the nicest girls in the school, but I can understand his reasoning. Willow was badly abused by Taylor which made Willow take extreme measures against herself. He doesn't want to see this happen again to his beloved niece which is understandable, I just don't think it will work. He can't protect her forever and if he tries to force restrictions on Willow he will end up just pushing her away.
"Ooooo," Amber said.
"Kissing," Tommy said.
Alex threw his arms around himself and made a kissing face complete with sounds.I can see these three causing a bit of mayhem for the girls.
"Kissing?" Giles looked at Willow who's face burned bright red and she looked at the ground. "I don't think," Giles turned back to Anna. "Dinner tonight is a good idea. Maybe some other time."Oh dear, I don't see things going well for Willow here.
Even Tommy can sense an atmosphere in the air. At least he now shows he cares for Tara.
Did he think she was going to hurt Willow? Like Taylor did? The thought angered her. How could Giles think she would do that.How can he think that after he's already stated that Tara is a nice girl.
Alex is adorable at the end offering comfort to his big sis.