Um... sorry for any mistakes. I'm really just lucky I'm concious at this point.
-Ker
Oh yeah... I *AM* tired enough to consider lack of feedback reason to quit right here. :-P
****
“I can’t believe you completely blew Dawn off today, Tara,” Willow teased as the two women spread a large blanket out between them. “I’m pretty impressed!”
She smirked, sitting on the cloth underneath ‘their’ oak tree. “I’m pretty sure she understands that the hairdresser’s appointment can wait.”
The redhead stretched out on the fabric, half on her back and half on her side. Her feet hung over the edge, keeping her grassy sandals off the picnic blanket. “She may think your priorities are a bit messed up.”
“No. She knows that my priorities are in order,” Tara said, pulling the two bottles of juice from the basket, followed closely by the chunky fruit salad mix she had made that morning. “It gives her and Hannah a chance to go out and do girly things. I don’t usually have the time for that kind of stuff, so I’m sure Hannah’s loving it.”
“She doesn’t seem like the prissy kind of girl.”
“Ultra fem, you mean?” Tara supplied with a laugh, handing Willow a few napkins. “No, she’s not. She’s pretty down to earth but I’m sure this is a nice change for her.”
“This is a nice change for me, too,” Willow smiled. “I haven’t had a picnic with you in years and I really like this plan of yours today. Pretty day for a picnic. Pretty girl to go
picnicking with. And I think you managed to find the prettiest picnicking spot…Hey! Tara, this is our spot. Why are we at our spot?” Willow said, seeing the initials W & T carved into the oak tree’s bark.
“Because it’s our spot. Where else would we go picnicking?”
She frowned. “I didn’t think…I mean…this is our romantic spot.”
Tara smirked. “Do we have a non-romantic spot? I mean, the only spot I can even possibly think of is the laundry room in the dorms.”
A naughty little smirk settled onto Willow’s features. “That was pretty romantic. You and me trapped in a room all by ourselves without words-“
“Must have been really painful for you, not being able to talk,” Tara teased, leaning her back against the tree as she finished unpacking the bag.
“Hey! I’ll have you know that I’m not as talkative as I used to be!”
The blonde smiled and stretched her legs in front of her.
“I’m not!” Willow demanded, then laughed, and realized that she wasn’t helping her case any with the constant
protests. “Ok, maybe it’s just you, Tare. You bring out the babble in me.”
“Is that a compliment?”
Willow smirked, stretching out on her back and remaining silent. She looked up through the canopy of the tree’s leaves. She watched the branches dance in the wind, her eyes finally moving and settling on the curves of Tara’s face.
“See anything interesting?” The blonde asked, having spent a few moments looking at the magazine she picked up at the bookstore on the way there.
“Mmm,” Willow answered, trying to memorize everything all at once. “Beautiful,” She whispered without realizing the sentiment had been vocalized.
“Hmm? What’s beautiful?” Tara asked, tilting her head back and looking up into the treetop.
“You. You’re beautiful.”
“I’m what? Excuse me?”
Willow sighed. “You’re beautiful, Tara. I know you don’t believe me. You never did. But you are. You’re just beauty personified.”
The blonde felt her cheeks heat with blush. “Will-“
“Nope. You are, Tara. You just are. Somedayyou’re going to have to accept the fact that you are just gorgeous.”
Tara snickered, setting down her magazine and reaching for the container of fruit. “Here,” she said, taking a piece of apple and dropping it into Willow’s mouth in an attempt to shut the woman up.
They traded glances for a second before Tara sighed and reached over, sliding a hand under Willow’s shoulder. She moved the magazine from her lap and gently nudged Willow until the redhead was resting on her lap. “Today, Madam Rosenburg,” Tara started, her voice teasing and jovial. “We have a wide selection of healthy fare. Fruit Salad, water, yogurt and peanut butter crackers. What do you fancy?”
Willow rolled her eyes at Tara, though inside she was happy to see the other woman playful. Moreover she was happy that she and Tara had gotten friendly enough for Tara to feel comfortable with Willow’s head in her lap.
She twisted, reaching for the fruit bowl. Before she reached it, her hand was caught in Tara’s grasp.
“Will?”
“Yeah?”
“Let me?”
The redhead relaxed her stretch, no longer interested in the food as much as whatever Tara had in mind. “’K.”
The blonde took the bowl into her one hand and used the other hand to fish out Willow’s favorite pieces of fruit. She offered Willow another piece of apple, letting it rest just above Willow’s lips, the redhead moving only slightly to catch the fruit in her mouth. Next was strawberry, the slippery berry forcing Tara to grip it harder and Willow to remove it more forcefully. It almost became a tug of war game between the two of them, ending only when the small growl that Willow made, sent Tara into a fit of hysterical giggles. After the third or fourth strawberry, they had both truly lost count, they were both laughing too hard to continue.
They sat for a few moments, just enjoying the beautiful day.
“Tara?” Willow asked, breaking the amiable silence. “Why did we come here today?”
The blonde had been casually fingering Willow’s red locks while watching the children play Frisbee in the field across the park. She didn’t stop in her movement once before answering. “I needed to know.”
“Needed to know what, exactly?”
“I needed to know if I was wrong,” Tara whispered, gently rubbing the pads of her fingers into Willow’s scalp. “The way I remembered it is just like it really is. I know we fought, Will, and I know we do now, too, but…life here is better than at home. I guess this still is home. It’s just near everyone I truly love. I’ve got Hannah here and Dawnie and Buffy and Xander and you. Most of all, you, Willow. I needed to know if I was remembering it as nicer than it was.”
“Were you?”
“Absolutely not.”
Willow smiled, moving so she sat next to her friend, facing her slightly. “That’s a nice thing to hear you say. We all miss you, Tara. I miss you the most, I think, but everyone else isn’t far behind. You’re a part of us. You’re family.”
“We really messed up, didn’t we?” Tara asked, looking at her ex-lover, her face a different tone and the conversation obviously in entirely a different vein.
“No, sweetie,
I messed up.
I did. Not you,” Willow placed a hand on Tara’s shoulder, her thumb tracing idle patterns on the sun-warmed skin.
“I should have stayed.”
“No. No, you did the right thing, baby.”
“I can’t help but think that if I had stayed then you and I wouldn’t be so far apart right now,” Tara admitted.
Willow smiled. “True. But if you had stayed, you probably wouldn’t have Hannah. And I’d like to let the record show that that will be my argument from here on out because she’s just…the best.”
“Will…what if…what if I wanted to be here more? Would you be ok with that?” the blonde asked.
“You mean visit more? Yeah! That’d be fine with me! Why wouldn’t it be fine with me? You’re wonderful. I’d be stupid not to have you around as much as possible. And…I mean, Hannah would come with you, too, right? Because if you’re leaving her behind, then the deal’s off. Definitely off. There’s no way you can visit and not bring her! She’s just like the world’s cutest kid.
Ever.”
Tara smirked, ducking her head to cover her blush. Willow hooked a finger under Tara’s chin and made their eyes connect.
“Don’t hide under your pretty locks,” she whispered, tucking Tara’s hair behind her ear. “Now you’ve got my hopes up, Tara! Say you’ll come visit more? Say you’ll be around more often so I can watch your kid grow up into the awesome woman her mother is?”
Tara nodded. “Promise. We’ll be here,” she tried to duck her head again merely out of habit, but Willow’s warm, reassuring fingers were there to prevent her shyness from taking over. Instead, she tilted her head into the touch, finding them more reassuring than
Willow smiled and just barely resisted the urge to lean in and kiss her ex-lover. “So did you find out what you needed to know?”
The blonde nodded. “Yeah. I still have a few more questions, but nothing you can’t answer later.”
Long fingers dipped into the fruit bowl, pulling out a piece of chilled pineapple. Willow brought it to Tara’s lips with a smile. “Good,” she simply said. “We’ll talk more later, then. But for now, you should eat.”
The pineapple rested only briefly on her lips before Tara parted her mouth and allowed entrance to the fruit. She sucked greedily, taking Willow’s fingers, too. The fruit was quickly allocated to a distant corner of Tara’s mouth and Willow’s fingers became the main course. Her lips took gentle possession of the fingers, only letting them slip away when every trace of pineapple was removed.
The brown eyes opened, having closed when she savored the taste of Willow’s fingertips, and watched Willow’s face for a reaction.
“Um, sweetie?” Tara said, blushing deeply. “Breathe.”
Willow shook her head, clearing her glazed reaction. “Wow. I think I have a new favorite fruit.”
Both women chuckled slightly, Tara this time reaching for the bowl to feed Willow. She just hoped that her daring motion with the pineapple had been enough to push Willow in the right direction.
I want this. I know I don’t have the right to after all this time, but I want you, Tara thought to herself as she offered Willow a slice of fresh kiwi.
I don’t know if I’m strong enough to make the first move.Willow smirked, ducking her lips away from the fruit. She playfully kissed her way up Tara’s thumb and forefinger, towards the fruit, taking it only when she was out of finger to kiss. As she chewed the succulent fruit, she reached into the bowl, coming up with a strawberry that was almost picture-perfect.
The redhead spun the fruit in her fingers for a second before lifting it to her lips and taking a substantial bite.
“Hey!” Tara laughed, having thought it was her ‘turn’ to eat.
Willow’s face because quite a naughty site with it’s ‘come hither’ look and the saucily arched eyebrow. She slid her hand up Tara’s arm and around the other woman’s neck, pulling her forward slightly.
Oh. Duh, I get it. Tara thought, leaning in and taking her own share of the fruit. As she bit down, her lips brushed Willow’s. The two stayed that way and maneuvered slightly, each time allowing more and more lip contact.
They separated and dealt with their mouthfuls of fruit accordingly. Tara smirked, picking up the apple piece she had nearby. She looked at it for a second before pointedly setting it down, the red brow across from her falling sharply, obviously dejected. Tara couldn’t help but allow her lips to curl upwards slightly into the faintest of all smiles as she leaned over and captured Willow’s lips with her own, the pretense of fruit completely gone.
After her lips felt too kiss-swollen to be effective, Tara pulled away and chuckled to herself.
“Don’t laugh. I can’t be any worse of a kisser than I was the first time we kissed!” Willow said.
Tara shook her head. “I hope we’re going to be so late to dinner tonight,” she muttered to herself, covering the fruit and putting everything away in the cooler before crawling to
Willow. “Can I ask you a favor?”
Willow nodded, looking rather scared.
“Do you think you and I could maybe…make-out?” Tara questioned, not even sure what had possessed her to ask.
“Uh…huh?”
Tara blushed. “Never mind.”
“Did you just ask me to make out with you?”
“Yeah.”
Willow smirked and leaned back onto her elbows. “Will you
think less of me in the morning?” she teased, grabbing Tara’s shirt and tugging the woman closer.
“Nope.”
“In that case,” Willow said, grinning evilly in her vixen-like way. “Come’ere baby, and stick out your tongue.”
“Willow!” Tara laughed, blushing down to the roots or her hair.
Willow snickered and rolled the two of them over on the picnic blanket, hovering over her…her what?
“Uh…Tara?”
“Uh huh?” The blonde had her fingertips to Willow’s face, gently mapping the plains with touch.
“So…um…this making out thing? What does it mean? Am I your girlfriend? Your weekend hooker? I mean, if I was a hooker, I’d be pretty cheap. All it takes is a picnic in the park to get me horny…erm…um…” she blushed, realizing what she just said.
“How about we consider this a test,” Tara teased, her hand having moved from Willow’s cheek to her collarbone. “You pass, you become my everything.”
Willow arched her neck on instinct alone. “How do I pass?”
“We’ll figure it out as we go.”
The redhead smirked. “We always do,” she whispered before closing the distance between their lips.
********
"What a curious thing to be so upset about. Nature delights in diversity. Why don’t human beings?" -HBO Southern Comfort
by xita » Tue Jul 09, 2002 12:05 pm 
