zampsa19752001 - Oz is just unable to let go and move forward. This story isn’t about bad things happening. Thank you for reading.
vampyregurl73 - Sorry you assumed Oz was going to do something bad. I put that stuff in my books, not my fanfiction. Thanks for what you did read.
Azirahael - Oz isn’t so much a villain as a guy who doesn’t want to let go. Thanks for reading!
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<--- too cute!
=====================================Title: Meant To Be
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these Characters, just borrowed them and wish I did own them.
Rating: PG-13 – NC-17
Author: Branny72
Feedback: Pretty please…it helps me improve and if I get stuck it gives me ideas on where you would like to see the story go!!
Summary: AU – Willow is graduating from college at UC Sunnydale and has accepted a job with a company that is new in town. One night, while out with some friends Willow sees an attractive blonde who turns her life upside down. (No Vamps, No Hellmouth, No Magic...)
Authors Notes: I’m trying to do more frequent updates. I hope that is okay.=====================================Chapter 60Willow and Tara had spent most of the day making love and were now starting to get up and get ready for their family to come over for dinner and to hear about their trip.
“Will? Do you remember where we put the good wine glasses?” called Tara, from the kitchen.
“They are on the top shelf of that cabinet,” Willow said, pointing at one of the upper cabinets in the kitchen.
“Thanks, gorgeous.” Tara pulled Willow close and kissed her gently. “How does Caribbean Jerk chicken, mixed veggies, and coconut rice sound for dinner?”
“Sounds great to me. That’s what you made the night we told your dad and brother about us.”
“You’re right. I had forgotten about that.”
“Do you need any help?” asked Willow, still being held by Tara.
“I could use another kiss.” Tara leaned forward and kissed Willow. The kiss started simple and small, but the longer their lips were together the greater their need for the other grew. Tara pulled back from the kiss, and glancing at the clock, saw they still had two hours until everyone was going to be arriving. “Give me ten minutes to finish this prep and then meet me in the bedroom naked.”
Tara heard Willow audibly gulp, but saw a knowing smile cross the redhead's face.
“Eleven minutes and I’m starting without you,” teased Willow.
This time it was Tara’s turn to audibly gulp at the thought of Willow touching herself. As much of a turn on as that thought was, Tara wanted to be the one turning her wife on and making her scream her name. Tara set to work in a hurry so that Willow didn’t have to start by herself.
Tara finished the prep work for dinner and put the marinating chicken back in the fridge and washed her hands before making her way to the bedroom. When she arrived her breath caught as she saw Willow laying there naked.
“God, you are beautiful,” said Tara, removing her own clothes.
“Eight minutes and counting,” Willow said in a seductive tone.
“Mmmm, as tempting as it is to watch you, I’m in the mood to make you scream.” Tara finished removing her clothes and crawled onto the bed and on top of Willow, her leg parting the redhead's legs.
“Make love to me,” whispered Willow as Tara leaned down and kissed her.
“With extreme pleasure,” said Tara.
=====================================Willow and Tara were just finishing getting ready again after their little interlude when they heard a knock at the door. Willow hurried to answer it while Tara rushed into the kitchen to get the wine out of the wine fridge and get some glasses ready.
“Hey, Red,” said Faith as she and Emily entered the house.
“Hey, guys!” Willow directed them toward the kitchen hoping Tara was ready.
“Wow, this place looks so different now that you have furniture in it,” commented Emily as they made their way to the kitchen and sat down around the island.
“Hey guys,” said Tara as she opened the bottle of wine and poured four glasses.
“I’m amazed at what you guys were able to get done before you headed to Ireland,” said Faith, taking the glass of wine Tara offered her.
“That is all Willow. She coordinated with the delivery companies. We still have a few rooms to buy for, but those aren’t rooms that we’re using just yet.”
“Oh, you mean the kids’ rooms.” Willow smiled at the thought of them having kids.
“Kids, ew,” said Faith with a full body shiver. “I will love your kids and be the best Aunt that I can be, but I just don’t think that parenthood is in my future.”
“I have to agree with Faith on this,” said Emily. “I love other people’s kids, but really don’t have the desire to have them myself.”
“Well, then you will both just have to settle for Aunty Faith and Aunty Emily.”
They were laughing when they heard the doorbell ring and Tara jumped up to get it.
“Daddy! Hey, Donnie! Everyone is in the kitchen. Can I get you something to drink?” asked Tara as she followed the two men into the kitchen.
“If you have a beer, I’d love one,” said Donald catching his daughter by surprise. He rarely drank beer.
“I’ll have one as well,” said Donnie.
Tara went to the fridge and grabbed out two beers and handed them to the guys. Everyone sat down around the island again and started to discuss their day while Tara started to put dinner together.
Once they had eaten they moved downstairs to the video room that Tara had put in and Willow brought up the pictures from their trip. She put them on an autorun and she and Tara took turns telling them about some of the pictures.
“These are the ones taken in Dublin at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.”
“This is from the Guinness Storehouse.”
“Did you guys try the beer?” asked Donnie.
“We did, but I think we both preferred the whiskey over the beer,” answered Tara, seeing Willow nod her head in agreement.
“From there we went to Sean’s Bar.”
“What’s the big deal about a bar?” asked Donald, confused as to why they singled this bar out.
“Well, this bar was established in 900 AD. So, it is over eleven hundred years old.”
“Whoa,” Faith and Emily said in unison.
They then moved to Belfast and showed them the pictures of the Titanic Quarter, the Titanic Hotel, and the various other sites they saw. Willow then pulled up the pictures from Cork and of the Blarney Castle & Gardens.
“That place is beautiful,” commented Emily as the pictures of the gardens scrolled by.
“The pictures don’t even do it justice,” Willow replied.
“So, did you actually kiss the Blarney Stone?” asked Donnie.
“Yeah, we both did. Will and I got pictures of it somewhere in here.”
“I’m not sure I could kiss a rock that millions of other people have kissed.”
“Your mother and I did it when we were there with you when you were younger,” said Donald. “We tried to get you two to do it as well, but you both thought you were going to slip and fall down the hole.”
“I have no memory of that,” replied Tara. “That hole is a bit daunting, I figure they wouldn’t make it an attraction if people weren’t safe doing it.”
“It looks to me like you girls had a pretty good time. I’m surprised you hit as much of the country as you did,” Donald said as the pictures were still playing in the background.
“Well, we weren’t rushing ourselves, we just decided we were in the mood to travel,” stated Tara, wrapping her arm around Willow and kissing the side of her head.
“Here, I thought you would just find a hotel and stay there the whole time and never leave the room,” Faith said, laughing at the mock glare on Tara’s face.
“That would have been a waste of a trip. And, we didn’t think you would appreciate us staying home and doing that,” retorted Willow. “I’d have bought you earplugs though.”
“Touche, Red.”
Tara quickly steered the conversation into another direction that didn’t involve their sex life. As the group discussed current affairs and places they would love to visit, Tara couldn’t help but smile about how good her life was.
=====================================As the alarm went off, both Willow and Tara knew Monday had arrived.
“I love my job, but I love being with you more,” mumbled Tara to Willow as she turned the alarm off.
“I know, Baby. I love being with you more, too.” Willow curled up closer to Tara and felt the blonde pull her even closer. Their naked bodies coming together as one. “Mmmm, are you sure we have to go to work today?”
“A big part of me wants to say no…” Just then the alarm went off again and it was time to face the real world again.
Willow and Tara got up, showered separately, got dressed and met in the kitchen where Tara was about to start some coffee.
“Let’s hit the Espresso Pump on the way and get some breakfast and coffee. I think Janice said she was working mornings this week so we can get them Willow-style.”
“Mmmm, I love the taste of Willow...style,” Tara said in a sultry voice.
“Not helping the whole leaving the house when you are all sexy and turning me on,” replied Willow, laughing and then leaning over to kiss Tara.
“I wasn’t trying to help. I missed my morning sex.”
“How about I make it up to you later and we can set the alarm for earlier tomorrow and I promise you won’t be missing a thing.”
“There is room for negotiation,” teased Tara.
The couple made their way out of the house and over to the Espresso Pump.
“Hey! How’s the happy couple?” asked Janice as Willow and Tara entered.
“In desperate need of two Willow-style Mocha’s and two chocolate cherry scones,” Tara said.
“Today is your first morning back isn’t it?”
“Uh huh,” whimpered Willow as she leaned against the counter.
Janice got them their scones and then went and made their drinks. “I made them a little stronger than usual, I thought you could use the extra ‘pick-me-up’ from it.”
“Thank you!” Willow was grateful for the coffee and that Janice had made it strong for them. She could already feel the day taking its toll and it hadn’t even truly begun.
The couple left and made their way to work. Stopping to exchange several deep kisses before heading into the building to start the workday.
=====================================Tara heard the elevator ding and slowly exited and made her way toward her office. As she neared she saw her assistant Melissa was already at her desk.
“Good morning,” said Tara as she walked up to Melissa.
“Welcome back.” Melissa saw a tired look pass over Tara’s face. “I know it doesn’t feel like it, but you’ll get back into the swing of things.”
“I know, and I love what I do, but--”
“You had an amazing honeymoon and it is hard to come back?”
“Very! How bad is my office? Do I want to go in there? Or do I want to camp out here with you?”
“Well, it is pretty bad. I don’t think in the nine years I’ve been your assistant that you have ever taken two weeks off at one time. Well, while the company is open that is. I don’t count December.”
“I had to have taken...no...wait, I think you are right, this was the first time I’ve take two full weeks off together. Wow.”
“We’ll get you back into the swing of things. I tried to go through as much of the stuff as I could.”
“Thank you for that. I know I have a full department at my disposal, but there are still some things that a manager needs to do. Can you be the manager today?” laughed Tara as she headed into her office. She stopped in the doorway. The table and her desk were piled high with paperwork and there were two large bins of what looked like mail to be gone through as well. Tara took a deep breath and sat down at her desk to start her day.
=====================================“Willow, it’s good to have you back,” said Jesse as he walked up to her cube.
“I really want to say that it is good to be back, but--”
“Yeah, Ireland is pretty spectacular. Coming back to work doesn’t compare. But, since you are back, I need your assistance on a project and your thoughts on something else. Would you be free around two today to talk?”
“Yeah, I’ll swing by your office at two.”
“Great, I’ll see you then.”
=====================================“Hey, Sweetie,” said Willow, poking her head into Tara’s office.
“Hey, gorgeous. What brings you up this way?”
“I came up to see if I could sneak lunch with my gorgeous wife.”
“It’s that time already?” Tara looked at the clock, surprised at how fast the morning had gone.
“Been a busy day so far, Baby?”
“Well, it took me over three hours to get through just my mail bins. I’m scared to know how much Melissa actually filtered for me.”
“It sounds to me like you need a break, outside, in the park, with me.”
“I think that sounds amazing.” Tara stood up and grabbed the blanket they used to sit on when they went to have lunch in the park across the street from TDM. They stopped and got lunch at one of the sidewalk vendors and found a quiet place to sit. “How’s your morning been?”
“Not too bad. I think I had over two thousand emails to go through.”
“I have that in just one of my email folders,” cringed Tara. “I bet Jesse is happy to have you back though.”
“Well, we’ll find out at two. I have a meeting with him. He needs my assistance with a project.”
“It’ll be okay. Why don’t we get Angel’s for dinner tonight since I have a feeling neither of us is going to feel up to cooking.”
“Deal. Dinner, some kissing,” Willow started, then leaned forward and kissed Tara softly. “Maybe some evening making out.”
“Mmmm, maybe some of that love I missed out on earlier today?”
“God, I hope so.” Willow leaned forward again and kissed Tara not so softly, but very sensually. “I miss your sexy body pressed tightly to mine.”
“Mmmm, baby,” moaned Tara into Willow’s lips.
They finished their lunch, exchanged a few more kisses, and then headed back to work.
=====================================“Hey, you ready to head home?” asked Tara as she came up to Willow’s cube.
“I need just a couple of minutes to finish this program,” Willow said, motioning for Tara to have a seat in the spare chair.
Willow quickly finished her coding and then started to shut down her computer. As she did Tara caught sight of her desktop and saw it was a picture of them from their honeymoon. Tara couldn’t help but smile thinking back.
“I need to find a picture like that for my backdrop.”
“We’ll go through them sometime soon and find you the perfect one. Let’s head to Angel’s so we can get home and relax.”
The couple headed to Angel’s and then home for their relaxing evening.
=====================================It had taken them several days to get back into the rhythm of things. Willow and Tara stopped at the grocery store on their way home. They still hadn’t done a full grocery shopping since they had gotten back from Ireland. Tara had gone and picked up a few things to get them by, but tonight they needed to stock up.
“Okay, where do we start?” asked Willow as Tara pulled her list out of her purse.
“Let’s start with the fruit and produce since it’s right here and work our way around the store. Why don’t you go get us some carrots, radishes, and lettuce while I pick out some fruit and meet you by the tomatoes.”
“Right, rabbit food, I’m on it.” Willow left the cart with Tara and moved toward the produce section. Willow had grabbed a bundle carrots and radishes and was trying to find a head of lettuce that looked good when a guy came over and pulled out one causing the nice neat pyramid of lettuce to start to tumble.
“Oh shit, sorry,” said the man, quickly catching the few heads of lettuce that were making a run for it.
“Thanks for catching those,” said Willow.
“Willow?” asked the man.
Willow turned and looked at the man, “Riley?”
“Wow, small world. I didn’t think I would run into anyone while I was back in town.” Riley hugged Willow quickly.
“Sunnydale isn’t that big. What brings you back to town?”
“Military stuff. I’m only here for a couple of days. How’ve you been?”
“I’m great, well, better than great. Phenomenal or amazing might be a better way to describe how I’m doing.”
“That is great to hear. And please, don't take this the wrong way, but you definitely seem more alive than you did back in College. Whatever you are doing, it definitely agrees with you.”
“I think it is more of who is now in my life,” Willow said, catching a glimpse of Tara out of the corner of her eye.
“Oh, so you finally found Mr. Right?”
“Not exactly, but close.” Just then Tara pulled the cart up next to them and smiled.
“Hey,” said Tara.
“Hey,” Willow said, smiling. “Riley, this is my wife, Tara. Tara, this is Buffy’s old boyfriend Riley.”
“Wife? Wow, um, congratulations! It is truly nice to meet you,” Riley said, trying to contain his surprise as he shook Tara’s hand.
“It is nice to meet you, too.”
“So, how long have you been together?”
“Just over a year, married for almost seven weeks.”
“I’m really happy for you, Willow. It’s great to see a genuine smile on your face.”
“Thanks, Riley. Between Tara and then working at TDM, life is going pretty damn well for this geek.”
“What are you doing at TDM? I saw their building and wow, it’s pretty spectacular looking.”
“I’m a senior programmer in their Analysis and Design department.”
“That is great. I remember that it is the field you were wanting to get into. Tara, what do you do?” asked Riley.
“I work in Marketing at TDM.”
“She’s being modest.” Willow smiled proudly and took Tara’s hand. “She’s the Chief Marketing Officer and part owner of TDM.”
“Wow, that is impressive. I’ve heard really good things about your company and what they have done for the community.”
“Thank you.”
“I’d love to continue to catch up, but I need to get back to campus and to the recruits, we’re picking up this week.”
“It was good to see you, Riley.”
“You too, Willow. And it was nice to meet you, Tara. Keep that smile on her face, she deserves to be happy.”
“That you have my word on.” Tara watched Riley leave and glanced over at Willow who had gone back to trying to pick a good head of lettuce. “He seemed nice.”
“Riley? He’s a great guy. I think if Buffy wouldn’t have been so hung up on Angel that it could have really worked between them.”
“And here I thought you were getting hit on by some guy.”
“Is that why you came over here? To rescue, poor defenseless me?”
“You are anything but defenseless. No, I came over to stake my claim. I already won your heart, nobody gets to try to steal it away.”
“Nobody can, Love,” Willow said, kissing Tara quickly before they went back to their shopping so that they could get home, have dinner, and then relax.
=====================================“I can’t believe the amount of food we bought and it still looks like we have barely bought anything,” Tara said, looking at the cupboards as they were unpacking their groceries.
“That is because we’re starting mostly from scratch. We didn’t bring much from the apartment with us, so we’re just going to have to take some time and build up our stock in things.”
“It still looks weird.”
“It’ll get better.” Willow walked up and wrapped her arms around Tara’s waist and started to kiss her neck lightly.
“Mmmm, that feels nice. I’ve missed kissing you whenever I want now that we’re back in the real world again.”
“I know. We need to get back into the swing of coming home at lunch.” Willow nipped at Tara’s neck in the spot she knew Tara was most sensitive.
“I’m all for that.” Tara threaded her hand through Willow’s hair as the redhead started to pull away from her neck. “Oh no, you aren’t going anywhere missy, I was enjoying that.”
“Well, then…” Willow pressed her lips back to her wife’s neck and Tara let out a soft moan. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” Tara moaned as Willow’s hands started to explore her body. “We need...to finish putting...right there, baby...putting the groceries away.”
“Anything that will spoil has been put away, the rest we’ll deal with later, I’m enjoying feeling and tasting my wife.”
“Oh yes.” Tara was defenseless as Willow’s hands snaked their way under the blonde’s shirt and made contact with the underside of her breasts. Tara arched trying to feel more of Willow’s hands on her breasts.
“Bedroom?”
“God, yes!”
The pair made their way into the bedroom and stripped each other. Willow laid Tara on her back and then covered Tara’s body with her own. Their bodies fitting together like puzzle pieces.
=====================================Morning arrived quickly for the couple who had spent most of the night and into the early morning hours making love. Their new morning ritual consisted of making love, showering, then getting ready for work. It made for some extra early mornings, but they were both happily relaxed by the time they got to work.
“Don’t forget that tonight I’m supposed to go out to dinner with Buffy,” said Willow as they were quickly putting away the last of the groceries and preparing to leave for the day.
“Oh, right. I had forgotten about that. What am I going to do without my wife for a whole evening?”
“I feel bad leaving you alone,” confessed Willow.
“Don’t worry about it, Sweetie. I’ve got a new book series that I’ve been looking to read. I’ll probably just kick back on the couch and read. Maybe have a glass of wine to wind down from the week.”
“Yeah, but I don’t like the idea of leaving you alone in the house...or at all.”
“Willow,” Tara said, wrapping her arms around the redhead from behind. “There are going to be times in our life when one of us has things going on and the other doesn’t.”
“Yeah, I suppose you’re right, I still don’t like the idea of you alone.”
“I’m not worried. Until you moved in, I had lived alone for several years.”
“Are you sure you don’t mind me going out?”
“Of course not. You and Buffy haven’t had any alone time in a while, it’ll be good for the two of you to get some best friend time together.”
=====================================“Hey Wills,” said Buffy, opening the door to her apartment.
“Hey Buff,” said Willow as she entered the apartment and made her way to the living room.
“How was your day?”
“Long, but thankfully it is Friday and I have a couple of days to recover.”
“Will, you just got back from a two-week honeymoon/vacation. How stressed could you be?” Buffy replied, laughing.
“Getting caught up is stressful and tiring. I had over two thousand emails alone to go through. Jesse decided that since I’m back he is going to make up for lost time and pile on the projects, plus we are still setting up the house.”
“Okay, I see your point. I guess I can’t imagine the workload since I have never even take a full week off at one time.”
“Tara told me this was the first time she has ever taken two full weeks off at one time.”
“How was her week?”
“She was/is more buried than I am. I was barely able to get her to take lunch breaks this week with me.”
“Wow, although, Donnie did say that she was a workaholic for several years so I’m sure she’s used to it.”
“I know, but she still needs a break. How was your week?”
“It was good. Angel and I went out to Maggies for dinner the other night. He needed a break from the restaurant. I ran into Riley of all people last night.”
“Yeah, Tara and I saw him when we were grocery shopping. I told him Sunnydale is a small town so he shouldn’t be surprised to run into people he knows.”
“He mentioned seeing you and meeting Tara.”
“How’s it been living with Dawnie?”
“It’s getting better. She is learning what a kitchen is and that she doesn’t need to live like she is in the dorms and doesn’t have a full kitchen at her disposal. I think working for Emily is helping her mature.”
“That’s good. I know when we ran into her the other day she was really excited about the opportunities she is getting with Emily and Maclay Realty.”
Buffy and Willow spent the rest of the night talking, catching up, and playing video games. Once Willow started to get tired they said their goodbyes and Willow made her way home.
=====================================“Honey, I’m home,” called Willow as she opened the door. She didn’t receive a response, so she closed the door and went in search of her wife. Willow found Tara asleep on the couch with her tablet on her chest as if she had fallen asleep while reading. Willow moved the tablet and leaned over and gently kissed Tara.
“Mmmm, Willow?”
“Hey, baby. Looks like you fell asleep on the couch.”
“How late is it?”
“It’s a little after eleven. Come on, let’s get you to bed.”
Willow helped Tara up and the couple made their way to the bedroom. Willow helped Tara get into her jammies and then into bed. Once Willow was changed she got into bed and Tara rolled over and pinned the redhead down as she became Tara’s body pillow. Willow loved feeling close to her wife and the couple drifted to sleep.
=====================================TBC…