Here you go kittens, another update for you. There'll be more soon if you're nice!
Same disclaimer blah blah blah..I dont even get the ratings anyway!
Chapter 12.
Buffy released Willow from their hug and the redhead stepped over to the end of the table where Tara sat. The blonde looked up at her with big soulful eyes, and smiled again.
“Hey,” Willow ventured.
“W-willow!” Tara breathed, her voice almost cracking with emotion. All she wanted to do was to stand and take Willow into her arms, but her two best friends were there, unaware of the situation between them.
Willow was thinking much the same thing; but she also didn’t know how Tara would react if she did try and hold her. As happy as the blonde looked to see her, she still hadn’t called her after the kiss. The redhead could feel her fear begin to melt away, though, as she looked into beautiful blue eyes, and saw the warmth there.
Buffy was confused. Why were they standing there in silence? It had to have been a good thirty seconds now! She had realized that something had happened the night that Tara and Willow had stayed out on their own; that they’d probably had some kind of fight. She signaled to Xander that they should go, so that the two could sort out their differences.
“Erm, sorry guys, I just remembered that Xander and I were supposed to meet a friend…yes, a very important friend, so we have to go,” she announced quickly. Xander looked at her with a puzzled expression,
“No we don’t,” he started
“Yes, Xander, we do,” she replied through gritted teeth.
“Oh,” he picked up on her expression and knew that he was in trouble if he didn’t listen to Buffy, right now. “Yes, we do, so we’ll catch you guys later?” he continued.
Tara looked up at her two best friends gratefully. She knew that Buffy hadn’t figured out exactly what was going on between her and Willow and she was glad of this. She knew that they had a lot to talk about, and it would be much easier without Buffy and Xander there.
“o-ok, see you l-later,” she replied quietly. Buffy did not miss her slight stutter. She’d been right, there was something going on; Tara only stuttered when she was nervous. Smiling at her perceptiveness, she left the shop with Xander.
“Can I sit down?” Willow broke the silence.
“Of c-course, Willow,” the blonde answered, savouring the feel of her name on her lips.
The redhead took a seat next to Tara.
thought Willow.
“I’m s-s-sorry,” Tara managed to stammer, breaking Willow from her reverie. Her head snapped up, in confusion.
“What for? Tara?”
“Willow, I’m s-so sorry I didn’t c-call you, I really wanted to but I couldn’t…” she began, but Willow interrupted,
“It’s ok, Tar, I didn’t want you to feel obliged to call. I…I understand that you didn’t want to see me again.”
Tara’s eyes brimmed with tears as she looked at the look of utter rejection on Willow’s face. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.
“No, you don’t u-understand,” she said quickly, “I couldn’t c-call you because I l-lost your number. I left it in my p-pocket and my Aunt washed it. I r-really wanted to call, but I didn’t even know your s-surname so I couldn’t look you up and…” she was interrupted by Willow’s hand resting on her own.
“Really?” Green eyes met blue, full of hope. A feeling of calm washed over Tara as she felt Willow’s skin against her own.
“Really.”
Willow visibly relaxed. Then she turned and threw her arms around the blonde.
“Oh Tara,” she murmured against her shoulder, as she felt Tara return the hug.
It felt so good, sitting there with Willow’s arms wrapped around her. Tara would have done anything to kiss her right there, but they had already received more than one curious glance from other customers. With a newfound confidence, she let go of Willow and stood.
“Come on, l-let’s get out of here. We can t-talk at my p-place,” she suggested.
Willow smiled and nodded, standing to grasp Tara’s hand in her own. She wanted to take this one step at a time, to work through the confusion, and so the simplest thing she could think of was to entwine her fingers with Tara’s.
        The girls walked in the sunshine, stealing glances at one another. After a couple of minutes, Willow glanced to her left and caught Tara watching her. She felt her insides melt again when Tara flashed an adorable lop-sided grin; it seemed to light up her whole face. They carried on the walk in silence, not wanting to break the spell that they had created between them.
When they reached Tara’s dorm room they sat down on either side of the bed, facing each other. The blonde was yet to unpack all of her belongings, but she had already pinned up a few photos of herself, Xander and Buffy, and had strung fairy lights across the wall above the bed. It already felt like home to Willow. Tara, feeling more confident in her own room, started to speak,
“So, I don’t mean to sound rude Will, but what are you doing here?” She smiled, “It’s just that you never mentioned anything about coming to UC Sunnydale,” she finished, and was shocked to hear not a trace of a stutter in her voice. The redhead laughed; what Tara had said was true. Before meeting the blonde the thought of coming to college here hadn’t crossed her mind seriously.
“Well…after the vacation, after meeting you I mean…I waited for you to call, and when you didn’t I thought that maybe you didn’t get my note, or something had happened to you…I couldn’t bear the thought that you just didn’t feel what I felt that night,” she babbled, “I knew that you felt it too, I knew that I just had to find you…and I didn’t know how, the only thing I could think of was to come here…even though I don’t know anybody, I was sure that I’d be able to find you…I was going to knock on every door in Sunnydale, that is, until Buffy was my roomie. Then it was just spiffy ‘cos I knew that you’d be here, I just didn’t know if you’d want to talk to me. But now I…”
Her stream of consciousness was interrupted by a pair of soft lips upon her own. The kiss was brief, and gentle, but full of feeling.
Tara pulled back a little, breaking the kiss, and looked into Willow’s eyes.
“I can’t believe you did that for me. Thank you.” She said simply.
Then they both leant towards each other again and their lips crashed together, becoming one. What started off slow soon became hungry, as they each got what they had been waiting for, for so long. Willow’s mouth opened slightly, and her tongue crept out, tasting the blonde’s bottom lip. Tara’s opened in return, and soon their tongues were tangled in a dual for dominance of the kiss. The redhead’s fingers explained the soft contours of Tara’s face, and then dropped down to the smooth plane of her neck. Tara moaned her approval into the kiss. She’d never felt anything so wonderful. The kiss slowly came to a stop, and Willow pulled away, placing a few light pecks upon Tara’s full lips. When she opened her eyes, she was looking into oceans of blue, which were full of unshed tears.
“Tara, what’s wrong?” she whispered. The blondes hand came up to rest on Willow’s cheek.
“I’m just so happy. Nothing could be wrong with you here.”
Willow felt a great sense of pride and wellbeing fill her senses, as she realized what her girl was saying.
“I know what you mean,” she replied simply.
TBC
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