Title: Love Thy Neighbour



Author: Sheba

Spoilers: NONE

Disclaimer: All the characters belong to Joss, that lucky man!

Spoilers: None, this is more or less my own story.

Pairings: W/T.

Chapter 1

"New neighbours" she thought, as she sat in the backseat of her Mercedes S Class, and saw the moving van in front of the house next to hers. New neighbours didn't excite Willow as much as they would the normal American 20 year old. That was probably one of the many prices a person had to pay for being one of the most well known faces in the world, she thought to herself, as her chauffer pulled out of the drive and moved towards the mail road, taking Willow Rosenberg, America's Sweetheart, to another day of filminge.




******************




Tara McLay, the heads sports correspondent for the Cable News and More CNM) network, drove into the driveway of her new place! It had taken months of house hunting with that annoying real estate agent by her side, before Tara had finally found a place she could call "home".


The split level red brick home, with the swimming pool and tennis court at the back was all that Tara wanted to make herself comfortable. She glanced up at the house next to her own as she walked up to the front door. All that Tara knew was that the house belonged to Willow Rosenberg, the red head who's picture was perpetually in tabloids, and who had half of the world's population in love with her.
"Well, at least I won't have neighbour hassles, since I'll bet Miss Rosenberg loves her privacy". With that Tara turned the key in the lock and stepped into her new home.




*******************




It really had been a tiring day on location, Willow thought. The shoot had gone on way past sunset, and after a day of facing the camera under bright lights for hours on end, all Willow wanted to do was collapse into her water bed with Mr. Teddy, and go far away to dreamland. She was just about to drift off when there was a loud splash from somewhere outside her window. Turning to look at the clock on her bedside drawer, Willow rose to move onto her balcony, to check out the source of the splashing sounds. Her bedroom, on the

upper floor of her house, was hidden from view by a large tree, which Willow had had transplanted a year ago, so as to block her room from the photographers prying lens'. The tree had been placed cleverly so as to give Willow and unobstructed view of the outside world, while at the same time hiding her from sight.


Now Willow peered out from behind the leaves, and saw someone swimming in the pool in her neighbours' backyard. Although the pool was dimly lit, Willow could make out the grace and swift movements with which the person swam up and down the length of the pool. After sometime, the "night swimmer" as Willow had started calling the person came out, and now Willow could make out that it was a woman with long hair, wearing a one piece black swimsuit. The woman took a sip of something that was on a small table next to the pool, before turning to dive back in, and begin the swift laps once more. Willow turned around and headed back to her bed. "Tomorrow going to be another long day of filming" Willow thought, as her eyes shut. Soon she was asleep, snoring softly, somehow soothed off to her dreams by the soft slashing sounds coming from outside.




*********************




"I don't think my body can take much more exhaustion" thought Willow.
As her chauffer turned into the driveway of her home. She'd complained of a headache, and the shoot had been immediately wrapped up. No movie could afford to have a queasy looking leading lady now, could it? Telling her chauffer to take the rest of the day off, Willow locked the front door, and made her way upstairs. Deciding to take a cold shower before turning in for a while, she headed straight for the bathroom. Ten minutes later she was out, feeling much better, and was about to lie down when she heard a crash from her living room. Willow tensed. "What could that be? A cat?"


Then she heard noises of people talking. "Oooookay definitely not feline language there. What do I do? Aha!" she moved to her bed and pulled out the baseball bat that she'd played with as a child from underneath it, before slowly making her way downstairs. Steadily creeping to the living room, she moved up behind a masked man who had his back turned to her, and was about to swing when...

"Well, well, well...what have we here? it couldn't be THE Willow Rosenberg now can it?" a nasty voice said aloud. Willow turned around to see that she was faced by another masked man holding a knife threateningly in one hand.


"Put the bat down babe, or it won't be good for you." This came from the second man, who had turned around and produced a knife from somewhere too. Willow had no option but to do as she was told.

Chapter 2

"Now all we wanted to do was grab some loot and get out of here ,but you had to ruin things for yourself didn't you? Now what do we do with her mate?" The first man asked. Something clicked in Willow's brain then, and she began screaming for help.


"Somebody help me. HELP ME!!!"


This seemed to amuse the two men, and they humoured her for a few minutes, before the second man spoke up "You live in house all by yourself. You haven't had neighbours ever since you moved here. Just who do you think is going to come rescue you?"


"Maybe I will" Tara said, emerging from the kitchen. "For burglars you sure are dumb. You'd left the backdoor open! Now maybe you'll just let her go...I mean, if you know what's best for you!"


"Or else you'll do what Blondie?" said the second man, as he moved towards Willow with his knife pointed towards her.


"This" said Tara, and with lightening speed she pulled a gun out from behind her back and shot him on his left shin. Crying out in pain, the man fell on Willow, who in turn felt the sharpest pain in her ankle as he toppled her over. the first man tried to flee, but stopped in his tracks when he heard Tara taunted "Oh no you don't! You wanna take a look at the medals I've won for my skills as a marksmen???"


That was the last thing Willow remembered hearing before she passed out from thepain in her foot.




*****************




Willow awoke to find herself tucked into the most comfortable bed she's ever slept in. she stretched with her eyes still shut, and then realized that the bed wasn't her own. Mid stretch she opened her eyes and looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings. Then she looked down to see that her foot was wrapped in a pink crape bandage.


"Ooook... where am I?" she thought, before it all came rushing to her. The thieves, the knive... and the blonde.


"So where the hell am I now?" Willow wondered as she considered attemptingto get up. Just then Tara walked in. Willow looked at her and said "You're her!"


Seeming to understand what Willow meant, Tara said "Yeah. I'm her. Tara. Tara McLay."


"What.. what happened? What am I doing here?" Willow questioned.


Tara began to explain "You were being robbed, and were screaming for help. The burglar's didn't expect you to be home I guess. And I doubt they expected you to have neighbours either!" she grinned as she went on. "I heard your shouts, so I just jumped the wall between our houses."


"And where am I now?" asked Willow, who was still pretty much dazed by the entire afternoon.


"My place, which happens to be right next to yours"

said Tara, moving towards the window to pull the curtains aside, giving Willow a brief view of her own house. "I brought you here as soon as I finished locking those two in your basement!"


"How did you bring me here?"


"I carried you. Your ankle is twisted pretty bad, and you live alone. I think it'll be a good idea if you stayed over here till you're better. If that's fine with you that is." Tara finished, looking away.


"Yeah, I'd like that. Thank you. But you didn't have to carry me, you know! I mean you could have called for help."


"Oh, I did! I called the police and told them to come over. but then I figured that maybe you didn't want to face the cops and have everything in the paper and stuff, so I moved you before they came, and said that you were a little disturbed by the entire incident, and would talk to them when you were better. Besides, you're not at all heavy, so it was easy carrying you over to my place." Tara added.


Willow found herself blushing, and somehow the idea of being carried by this blonde deepened her blush.


"Now getting to your ankle, it's pretty bad, and I don't think you should out any pressure on it for some time...I'm talking days. Trust me. I'm an expert on sprains."


For some reason Willow found that she did trust this blonde with the soft voice, even though she was sure that she wasn't a doctor!


"Now if I were you, I'd get some more sleep. I'll wake you up in some time to eat ok?"


Tara said, as she turned to leave the room. Willow nodded her head and shut her eyes, and was asleep in a few moments, with a small smile on her face!

Chapter 3

By the time Willow woke up the sun had set she figured, since the room seemed even darker. "Ok, I guess I'll just wait here for Tara to come...

Tara... that's a nice name..." As if on cue a light came on in the passage outside the room, and Tara popped her head in to check on her guest.


"Hey you're up! Ready to get some grub?" when Willow nodded her head in assent. Tara said "Be right back then" and went out again, only to return with a large box of pizza in her hand.


"I've just moved in yesterday, and haven't really had time to set up in the kitchen, so I just ordered pizza. Is that ok?"


Willow couldn't think of anything else that she'd rather be eating, so she simply nodded her head, as Tara continued " I didn't know what topping you liked either, so just called for a plain cheese. Cool?"

again Willow her head enthusiastically.




Tara placed the box on the bed, smiling "Don't worry about stains and crumbs. Sheets and blankets can be washed."


Willow found herself reciprocating the smile as she helped herself to a slice of cheesy delight! For a couple of minutes they ate on in silence, before Willow suddenly remembered "Oh Tara, I completely forgot to thank you for....for saving my life today. You have no idea!


Tara cut her off by raising one hand and speaking " I'm sure anyone would have done their best to help you Miss Rosenberg. It was just fortunate that my best was good enough today."


"Miss Rosenberg????" Willow though, before saying "It's Willow. Willow, Tara, Willow. Just plain old Willow.." stopping before she launched into babble mode on that Willow went on "And your best was way better than good enough. It was more like Woo Hoo! At least what I can remember of it." she finished. Seeing Tara smile, she ventured on "So where did you ever learn to shoot like that?"


"Well I always had a thing for toy guns, then when I was old enough I took up rifle shooting as a hobby, and it turned out that I was pretty good at it. then on my 18th birthday my grandpa bought me my own gun. Of course it's registered and I do have a licence "Tara added quickly.


"I'm sure you do" Willow reassured her, smiling.


They lapsed into silence for a couple of minutes before Willow said "So you're my new neighbour, huh? Where are you from?"


"Oh I'm pretty much from around here. I just moved places `cause my last place was in an apartment block, and I guess I just wanted my own swimming pool!" she grinned.


"So you're the mysterious night swimmer" Willow said aloud.


"Huh?" Tara questioned.


"I saw you swimming last night. Your splashing kind of attracted me... I mean, it made me wonder where the sounds were coming from." Willow finished hastily.


"Oh, I'm so sorry... I had no idea" Tara started, before Willow cut her off.


"No, no...it was kinda nice, knowing that I wasn't in the middle of nowhere anymore."


Tara smiled and took another slice of pizza. Willow found herself curious to know more about her new friend, and asked "So you alone here? I mean family, husband...a boyfriend maybe?" and waited anxiously for an answer.


"No I live alone... my folks moved to New Zealand earlier this year. I'm an only child, and I'm currently unattached. Work takes up most of my time and energy really."


Willow released a breath that she didn't even know she was holding, before venturing on "So what is it that you do?"


"I'm a correspondent with CNM."


Willow froze. "A showbiz correspondent? Oh please don't let her be one."


"What is it that you specialize in?" she asked, staring at the pizza box.


"Sports. I'm a sports correspondent. The head of the correspondent actually."


"Oh that's great" Willow exclaimed. "For a minute there I thought you were one of those showbiz journalists. I mean, no offence, but..." she let off.


"I know what you mean" Tara said. "People prying into your personal life must be pissing off. Don't worry. That isn't me. Poking my nose into other peoples lives just isn't my kind of thing. Now a good match between Hingis and Davenport, or a game of ball between Man U and Liverpool... That's more like what I'm interested in."


The both looked up at the same time, and locking eyes for a minute smiled, before both simultaneously looked down at the box of pizza, that seemed to be getting more interesting by the moment!




*********************




After finishing the pizza and clearing up, Tara took the crape off Willow's right ankle, to examine the sprain. Willow almost fainted again when she saw the size of the swelling. It looked like someone had stuffed a giant potato up her foot!


"Are you sure it isn't broken?" she asked in a shaky voice.


"I'm sure. I've had my share of sprains, and this one isn't even half as bad as some of mine have been."
Somehow the idea of the gentle blonde in even more pain than she herself was in right now sent a shiver down Willow's spine.


Tara went on "I think the swelling should start decreasing in about two or three days, but to be on the safer side I don't think you should put too much pressure on it for about two weeks. I mean, let it heal completely, or you may have recurring problems, especially since I'm guessing that in your line of work you wear a lot of stiletto' s and stuff, right?".


When Willow nodded Tara finished "So I've made my point. Now I'm just going to ice your ankle a bit and rub in some ointment, and in the meantime I want you to write down a list of stuff you want me to get from your place." Tara handed her a sheet of paper and a pen, and waited till the redhead began writing, since she didn't want Willow to concentrate on her foot, because she was sure to feel a lot of pain when she started icing the swelling. Sure enough when Tara touched the ice to the lump Willow's entire body jerked. Willow couldn't believe the amount of pain she felt, but when she heard a soft voice say "Concentrate on the list... please" she tried to ignore the shooting sensations up her leg, and soon was in the flow of remembering what her essentials were. "Toothbrush... my strawberry scented shampoo... car keys in case someone runs off with them... Pyjamas... Lingerie... How the hell can I tell Tara to go through my lingerie drawer??? Well it's not like I have much of a choice now do I?" Willow thought as she wrote that down. "What else... Mr. Teddy? No, I think he'll be better off at home. Money? I doubt that Tara's going to take any of that from me, even if I offered..." Suddenly Willow was aware of the softest fingers gently massaging her ankle. She looked up from what she was writing to see Tara's hands moving on and around her swollen foot. Lifting her gaze upwards Willow saw that the blonde had her head bent in concentration, and her hair cascaded over her shoulders, hiding most of her features. Willow looked back down at the way her hands were working on her foot, and she thought that Tara had the most beautiful fingers that she's ever seen. Suddenly Tara looked up.


"Have you finished the list?" she asked, as her fingers continued to move on Willow's ankle.


"What?" Willow asked, before she realized what Tara was asking her. "The list? Oh yeah. I'm done. Here." She handed Tara the sheet and the pen. Tara stopped massaging, reached for the stuff, glanced at it, and then went back to Willow's foot, this time picking up the crape to wrap it up again.


"You'll have the stuff in a while. Now just one more

thing. What are your favourite movies?"


"Huh?" Willow questioned. "Where did that come from?"


"Just tell me, I'll explain later" Tara said, as she finished clasping the hold around the crape.


"Oooook... There's `A walk In The Clouds' which I just love..." Tara looked up at that, but quickly went back to looking at the sheet of paper that she was writing this down on. "Umm.....'The Matrix', `The X-Men', `Jerry McGuire', `The Truman show'...Umm...'The Sixth Sense', `Grease', `Gone In Sixty Seconds', 'Forest Gump'...that's all I can think of for now. Why?" she asked again, as Tara finished writing all of that down.


"I'll explain later. For now I have to go finish clearing up in the kitchen" Tara said as she got up.


"Could I help maybe?" Willow asked hopefully.


"Nah, you just lie back. You've had a hard day" Tara stated, as she left the room. When she got back fifteen minutes later. Willow was fast asleep again. Smiling to herself, Tara quickly moved to the bed, tucked the blanket in around the sleeping girl, and stood there staring at her for a couple of moments, before turning to leave, switching the lights off on her way out.

Chapter 4

The next morning Willow awoke bright and early, and this time she was quicker to figure out where she was! She lay in bed for a few minutes, waking up properly, before she finally pulled herself up, raising her body with the strength in her arms. Immediately she noticed a single sheet of paper on the bedside table, bearing her name on it. She picked it up and saw that it was a note from Tara.


"Good morning. I've already left for work and won't be back till later this evening, so here's some things I thought you should know. The Sony remote next to you is for the TV, and the Panasonic is for the DVD player. I already have three DVD's in the player. Disk 1 is `A Walk In The Clouds'. I had that one lying at home because it happens to be my favourite movie. Disk 2 is `Girl Interrupted', and Disk 3 is a new movie called `Shrek'. I've seen it and it's really cute if you like animated movies. There's no need to move for anything. The movies can be completely controlled with the remotes.


The paper bag at the side of your bed contains all the stuff you wanted from your place. There's a pair of crutches to your right that you should use if you want to move around. If you move out of your room, the kitchen is to your left. I have a bowl of spaghetti already made. It's in the microwave. Heat it for two minutes when you get hungry, and feel free to raid the fridge. There's a phone next to the remotes. I figured

that you'd want to make a couple of calls.


If you need anything else buzz me on my cell. The numbers on the back of this sheet. I've also jotted down my office number, just in case. Call if anything at all.


Make yourself at home.


Tara.



Willow finished reading the note, which was more like a letter, and realized that she was grinning from ear to ear. "What a way to start the day" she thought, smiling!




**********************




Tara pulled her car to a stop outside her house, and just sat there for a minute with her head resting on her seat. Today had been a hard day.


"Who would've thought that Martina would sprain her ankle now, when she was in probably the best physical form she'd ever been in. Poor thing...she's been putting in so much time on her fitness of late..." thought Tara. Sprains reminded her of Willow. Actually just about anything that day reminded her of Willow: A look at Gillian Anderson's interview while it was being edited in the studio, with her red hair standing out so clearly, Brad Pitt, who co-starred with Willow in her last movie... why even catching Seth Green on the tube that afternoon reminded her of Willow for some strange reason!!!


"It must be just `cause I never expected to have Willow Rosenberg living in my house, much less asking me to call her by her first name!" Tara thought, as she got out of her car and moved towards her front door. Letting herself in, she immediately went towards Willow's room. "Wait, wait, wait!!! did I just think of that as `Willow's room'???" Tara thought, correcting herself, "Guest room, guest room." Willow was at the end of `Shrek' when Tara walked in, and she smiled at Tara as she walked in.


"Hey. How was your day?"


Tara wasn't used to being asked that question, and at the back of her mind she realized that she liked it. "Fine. A little tiring though. You?" she questioned Willow.
"Oh great. I made myself at home" she grinned at Tara before going on, "The spaghetti was yummy! You make it?"


Tara nodded, before asking "How's your leg?"


"Pretty much the same I'd say. Boy, it's tough moving around on those things" she said, pointing towards the crutches.


Tara smiled "Tell me about it. As a child I was so used to using them that sometimes I thought of them as two extra feet that I'd been born with!" Anyway, you hungry yet? No? Ok ten, I'll just go take a quick dip before we eat, ok?"


With that Tara left the room, with Willow gazing after her till she was out of sight.

Chapter 5

Twenty minutes later Tara was back, fresh from a swim and a cold shower, waiting with Willow for the Chinese take out that they'd ordered. Willow was explaining how much she like `Shrek' when the food arrived. Tara quickly paid the delivery, tipping him nicely in her rush to get back to willow, and took the containers back to the room. While they ate willow filled Tara in on how she's called her director, and how sympathetic and understanding he'd been. "Of course tomorrows papers will probably read `Willow Rosenberg Narrowly Escapes Death' since Steve will probably already have his think-tank working on a way to get the movie some free publicity with this incident" she added dryly. "Anyway, he said to call him as soon as I was up to working again. And oh, Tara, I called a close friend to tell her what had happened, and she wants to come see me. Is that ok?"


"Is that even a question? Of course your friends can come see you! Actually, there was something that I wanted to talk to you about."


She looked directly at Willow and Willow noticed that she has beautiful blue eyes. "I have to leave town for two days day tomorrow. So I thought that it'd be helpful if you had a friend come over and stay here with you."


Willow said "Hey! Tara it's cool if you have to go. I mean, I could leave too. I don't have to stay here. I mean, I could go back home and have Buffy or someone come take care of me."


"No!" Tara said firmly. "Please don't go. I made you an offer to stay here till your foot healed, and I really want you to stay. I'm feeling bad enough that I have to leave town, and I'll only feel worse if you leave."


Willow saw the look in those blue eyes ("Oh so blue" she thought) and knew that Tara meant every word she said. "Ok" she conceded. "I'll stay right here, and I'll make sure I have someone come and stay over with me".


"Great" Tara smiled. "Whoever comes can stay in the room across yours. And if there's more that one person, they could use my room upstairs, since the other rooms aren't really furnished yet."


"What are you going for anyway?" Willow asked.


"Oh, you know Martina Hingis, the tennis player?" When Willow nodded her head Tara went on, "Well she sprained her ankle pretty bad, and CNM got the exclusive to shoot her in recuperation. Since this is a biggie, the network wants me to take this one up personally, since I'm the head orrespondent. Orders right from the top I believe."


"Well, I'll miss you" Willow said softly, and she knew that she meant it.




*************************




"So some stranger, even though she IS Tara McLay, tells you to stay over at her place, and you just agree? Why the hell didn't you just call me up and tell me to come and stay with you instead?" Buffy almost yelled at her oldest friend.


"Buffy she saved my life? What was I going to say?

`Oh, no thanks. I'll just hobble around till Buffy comes. In the meantime could I borrow a pair of crutches?' " Willow finished sarcastically. Ever since Buffy had arrived an hour ago she was acting like she's completely lost it. Tara had left early that morning, before Willow had even woken up, leaving behind a note that simply read...


"Didn't want to wake you, so this is good bye. Take care,
Tara."


Now Willow was feeling bad enough that she hadn't been up to say goodbye, and she really didn't need Buffy telling her about how she shouldn't have agreed to Tara's offer. "Look Buff, Tara really saved my life. The way cowboy's used to in those old western movies. I trust that she wouldn't want to hurt me. Don't ask me why. And I also believe that she isn't being so nice to me just because I'm her famous neighbour. Can't you just trust my judgement?"


Buffy stared at Willow's solemn expression for a moment before she gave in. "Oh, alright. I trust your judgement Will. But look, if you expect me to stay here then you better be prepared for the raid on your clothes, since you didn't have the sense to call me and tell me that I was going to be staying here!"


Willow smiled and nodded her head, before sticking

her tongue out when Buffy asked her "Were your brains in your ankle by any chance? Kidding! Ok now how about some grub? I'm famished!"


"Well Tara's just moved in, so nothing really set up. Take out sound ok?"


Buffy nodded her head. While they were going through the menu cards that Tara had on her fridge, Buffy remarked "So she saved you like in one of those movies you say? You mean like one of those knight in shining armour flicks?"


Willow nodded her head, thinking " I couldn't have put it better myself!"

Chapter 6

Two days later Willow and Buffy were sitting in Tara's kitchen sipping coffee, when Tara walked in. "Hi!" she started, before stopping in amazement and looking around at her perfectly set up kitchen. She turned back and looked straight at Willow who shrugged her shoulders and said "Well, take out can really ruin your appetite you know?", before she went back to sipping her coffee, as if that explained everything!


"Tara? Hey I'm Buffy!" Buffy stood up and put out her hand, smiling when Tara shook it. "It's great that your back. I mean, it isn't that Willow isn't loads of fun to take care of "she said sarcastically, "but for the past two nights all I've heard are complaints that I can't massage a sprained ankle as well as you do!"


Tara turned to look at Willow, who was as red as a beetroot! "How is your foot?" she asked in a slightly amused voice.


"I think the swelling a little less, but it's still very sore and even the slightest movement sends a shooting pain up my leg." Willow said, still not looking at Tara.


"Sounds normal to me." Tara said, and Buffy nodded her head with a wise expression on her face.


"Yup it does. I know about this stuff too" she explained. "I'm a karate instructor you see. Pains part of the game!"


Tara smiled "I guess I'd better go and unpack. I'll be down in about ten minutes. By the way guys, thanks for setting up the kitchen." She turned to walk away, but stopped when she heard Willow ask "Tara? You want some coffee?"


"Yeah, I'll have some when I get down, ok?" With that she smiled and went out of the kitchen. Willow stared after her, and came back to reality only when she heard Buffy say "You know what? I like her!" before she sipped her coffee.


"So do I!" the thought never came to her tongue.




**************************




Tara, Willow and Buffy had just finished dinner, and Buffy had headed for a dip while Tara and Willow sat talking in Willow's room. Tara had decided that while Willow was staying with her, it was natural to call it just that. Right now Tara was filling Willow in on her trip.


"Martina was as co-operative as ever. She's always been that way, at least with me. Right now she's a little worried about her ranking. She's sure to lose her top spot to Jennifer Capriati this week, and she's not really used to being anywhere besides the top. I had a chat with her, and told her not to worry about that right now. She was bound to lose the ranking anytime now anyway, since she's been losing

to all the poser players. She has to come up with

a game plan to beat them. I told her to just concentrate on that, and getting back to top form right now."


"Are you two close?" Willow asked.


"Well we go back a long way. I took an interest in her game even before she made a name for herself. We actually play together whenever we have time. I advised her on her game at the start of her professional career.


She thinks that helped her. She also calls me up

if there's something she needs to talk about. So yeah, I guess we are close." Tara got up and sat down back down near Willow's foot, which she hadn't checked on since she's gotten back. She was taking the crape band ofslowly when Buffy walked in, refreshed from her swim.


"Hey" Willow said, "Have a nice dip?"


"Yup! Tara it's so great having a pool to yourself. Now if only Willow would make sure that hers was cleaned more often..." she let off as she glared at Willow!


"Well you can come over whenever you want. Not only for a swim, even of you feel like dropping by" Tara offered.


"Thanks Tara, I'll be sure to take you up on that offer! Anyway, how's her foot?" Buffy asked.


"Hmm... The swellings gone down a little bit. Buffy could you do me a favour and me some ice from the freezer?" Tara questioned.


"Sure" Buffy nodded, disappearing out the door for a few moments before coming back with a bowl full of ice cubes.


"Thanks" Tara said, as she took a large cube of ice and began gently icing Willow's swollen foot.


"So..."


Buffy began, "did I tell you that I watch your news broadcast every evening?"


In reply Tara just smiled, while Willow suddenly

realized that Tara was a well known face too! "Why didn't I think of that?" she wondered. Buffy went on "Tell me, how the hell did you know that France would win the World Cup, even before the championships had started?"


"I don't know" Tara said, looking up for a second, "It was just gut instinct".


"Do you rely on your instincts a lot?" This came from Willow, who up till now had been biting down on her lip because of the shooting pain going up her leg every time Tara put a bit of ice on her ankle. Tara looked up and help Willow's gaze for a moment, "Most of the time, yeah."


Buffy yawned. "Well guys, I'm dead tired. You have no idea how tiring it can be taking care of a movie star with an almost broken foot!" she grinned.


Willow stuck her tongue out at her and said " `Night Buff!"


"Good night Buffy."


After watching Buffy leave, Willow turned her gaze back to Tara, and saw the blonde squeeze some ointment onto her fingers from a blue tube. Willow suddenly realized that those fingers were going to be on her skin in a moment, and her entire body shook in anticipation. Tara caught the movement, and looked up at Willow. Thinking that her foot was giving her trouble she asked "Does it hurt that bad Willow?"


"Oh! That's the first time she's said my name. She says it so beautifully!"


"Willow?"


"Hmm...that sounds so nice...Wil-low..."


"Willow?"


Suddenly Willow realized that her name was being phrased as a question! She snapped out of her dreamy state and looked at Tara, seeing the concern in the blue eyes of the woman across the bed.


"No ,no I'm fine. Just a little fatigued I guess." The truth was that Willow was more awake then she thought she had ever been, but she couldn't explain that to Tara right now could she? She needed to understand it herself for starters!


"Oh ok! I'll just finish rubbing your foot, wrap it up again, and then you can go off to sleep. I don't want to keep you up."


Willow didn't want Tara to go, but she couldn't think of anything that would be a logical excuse to keep her here now. Five minutes later Tara was done. Saying good night, she got up, turned the lights off and left the room. Willow found that she couldn't sleep just yet, and kept tossing her head from side to side on the pillow. Every time she closed her eyes she saw Tara. Ducking her head, smiling, wrinkling her brow in concentration, speaking in that oh-so-soft voice...


Splash! "She must've gone for a swim" Willow thought. "Wonder if she's wearing that black swimsuit again....Stop that Willow Rosenberg." she scolded herself. "Why am I thinking like this?" Closing her eyes, Willow was soon soothed off to sleep by the soft splashing sounds. Her last thought before drifting off was whether she would've gone and watched had her ankle not been sprained..


**********************

Edited by: Willow wtch  at: 4/21/02 2:44:59 am

Chapter 7

The next day Buffy left in the morning. Since it was a Sunday, Tara was home. Apparently she didn't work Sundays.


"I only work Sundays when I have to cover the finals of a major championship, or something like that" she's explained to Willow. Since it was the first day that Tara had gotten off since moving houses, she set about setting stuff up. Willow still couldn't move

without crutches, so she just spent the morning in her room, watching `The Wizard of Oz', which Tara had had

at home. The morning passed, and at one o'clock Tara walked into Willow's room carrying a tray.


"Lunch" she said simply. Willow looked up at her and almost forgot to breathe!


Tara had been moving stuff all morning, and her face was red with the effort, making her look even more beautiful then she was. "If that possible" Willow

thought, as she stared at Tara. The fact that Tara was dressed in a pair of shorts that were just that-

short, and a t-shirt that was cut at the mid-riff didn't exactly help Willow stop ogling at her! Tara handed her a plate with two sandwiches and a glass of coke, took her own plate and sat down beside Willow on the bed, watching the movie. Willow was finding it

extremely difficult to concentrate on anything with Tara next to her, still breathing a little heavily with all the effort that she'd had to put into house moving that morning. As it is Willow always became

very aware of herself when she was anywhere near the blonde, and this time it was even worse than ever. After few minutes of eating in silence, Tara

asked, "You want me to make you more sandwiches?"


"Nah, but thanks. I don't really burn as much as I eat these days, so I guess I just get full quicker." Willow explained.


Tara nodded her head and was looked like she was going to say something when the doorbell rang. Wordlessly Tara stood up and went to see who it was. Willow could make out the sound of some voices talking and some stuff moving, and a few minutes later Tara was back, looking quite pleased.



"Who was that?" Willow couldn't help but inquire, her curiosity aroused by Tara's expression.


"The delivery men. My piano arrived" Tara said, smiling.


"Piano? You play the piano?" Willow asked in an awestruck voice.


Tara nodded "Uh huh… We had this one at my house growing up. When Mom and Dad moved away, I got to keep it at my place."


Willow could see how happy that made Tara, so she just smiled and gulped down the last bite of her sandwich, wondering if she'd ever get to hear the blonde play.


"Well, I'd better get back to moving. You want anything?" Tara asked, as she stood up.


"Nope. I think I'll just take a nap for a while. Ok?" Willow questioned.


"Sure." Tara said, as she piled the plates and glasses back onto the tray, making for the door. "Sleep tight."


Willow lay back and was asleep in a few moments. Tara spent the rest of the afternoon finishing up around the house. She took only one break, which she spent quietly drinking from a cup of coffee while watching Willow sleep.


For some reason that she couldn't quite put her finger on, Tara found that she was drawn to Willow. When she was around her she found herself sneaking quick glances at the redhead.


She had been nothing like the full-of-attitude

celebrity that Tara had expected. "She's more…down-to-earth and homely then I expected. Not to forget sweet and caring…" When Willow softly snorted in her sleep and moved, Tara left the room, not wanting Willow to wake up suddenly and see her sitting there watching her. "She's probably think I'm one of those crazed stalker people" Tara thought, as she tiptoed out of the room.



Willow woke up just as the sun was setting. Lying there in bed, she thought of the dream that she's just awoken from. For some weird reason, she had gone to Disneyworld, and she hadn't been alone…she'd been with Tara, and they were having an amazing time. She was just thinking about how they'd both been screaming on Space Mountain, when she heard the first keys of

a song being played on the piano. A few seconds later a low, beautiful voice began to sing…


"How can I just let you walk away,


Just let you leave without a trace?


When I stand here taking every breath, with you?"


"Against All Odds" Willow thought, recognizing the Phil Collins classic.


The voice went on…



"How can you just walk away from me,


When all I can do is watch you leave?


`Cause we've shared the laughter and the pain,


And even shared the tears.


You're the only one, who really knew me at all.


So take a look at me now,


There's just an empty space.


There's nothing left here to remind me,


Just the memory of your face.


Take a look at me now,


There's just an empty space.


And you coming back to me,


Is against all odds,


And that's what I've gotta face…"



At this point Willow sat up in bed and reached for her crutches. Like a steel pin attracted to a magnet, she realized that she was being pulled towards Tara by some invisible force.



"I wish I could just make you turn around,


Turn around and see me cry.


That's how much I need to see you,


So many reasons why.


You're the only one,


Who really knew me at all.


So take a look at me now,


There's just an empty space.


There's nothing left here to remind me,


Just the memory of your face.


Take a look at me now,


There's just an empty space.


But to wait for you is all I can do,


And that's what I've gotta face."



Willow reached the living room and saw Tara. The blonde had her head ducked, facing the keys of the piano. She sang without any signs of strain on her

face, and looked completely at ease with herself, a

vision of complete beauty to Willow.



"Take a good look at me now,


`Cause I'll still be standing here.


And you coming back to me is against all odds,


And that's a chance I've gotta take…


Ohhh…take a look at me now…


Take a look at me…now…"



As she played the last notes of the song, Tara looked up to see Willow staring at her with a look of complete admiration on her face. And then she smiled… "Oh she's so beautiful" Tara thought, as she

found herself smiling back, before shyly looking away.




***********************




"That was…amazing!" Willow breathed. Tara looked back up and smiled again.


They stared at each other in silence for a few seconds, both wanting to say so much but not sure exactly what.


Finally Tara broke the silence "You want to go sit by the pool for awhile?" Willow nodded her head and

followed Tara as they walked out to the back of her house. Once there Tara pulled out a chair for

Willow, and then sat across her. Again both realized

that they didn't know what to say to each other.


This time it was Willow who broke the silence. "That's my room" she said, pointing.


"Where?" Tara asked, since all she could see were leaves.


"Behind that tree. I actually had the tree specially moved and planted there. When I moved in I had photographers outside my place 24/7, violating my privacy. So I just got the tree put there so my room was out of view. But I can still see from behind it. That's the cool part." Willow finished.


"Oh" Tara said, and then as an afterthought "Why do you live alone?"


"Well I moved out of my parents' place when I was just seventeen. I… I was in love with this guy, and we lived together for a year and a half, and that's when I started working. A couple of months later I walked in on him and another girl in bed, so I kicked him out. Luckily for me I got all the right roles, and pretty soon I was able to afford this place" Willow said, nodding towards her house.


For some reason Tara felt herself boiling with anger at the thought that someone could hurt Willow. "Why

didn't you move back in with your folks?" She asked, surprised to hear herself asking so many questions.


"I don't know really know" Willow said. She was even more surprised to hear her answering so many questions. The only other person who knew so much about her was Buffy, and that too because they had been best friends since Willow could remember. "I mean, when I moved out in the first place my parents weren't exactly the happiest people in the world, and I didn't want to move back in and have them give me

those `We told you so' looks you know?"


Tara nodded and blurted out "So you're not seeing anyone right now?", and then thought that maybe she had gone too far with the questions.


Willow didn't seem to notice Tara's dilemma, much less mind the fact that Tara was getting personal with her. "No…I mean I have dated and stuff after that, but the guys from Hollywood…well…they're just a little too full of themselves…and the blind dates that Buffy's set me up on have been outright disasters! Most of the guys are so surprised to see me at the other end of the table that all they do is stare!" she grinned as she went on "So that's my love life. What about you?

What's a beautiful girl like you doing single?" Willow suddenly realized how that sounded and blushed!


Tara would have noticed the red in Willow's cheeks if she hadn't been busy blushing and looking away herself! "Well" she started "Mine is the `once bitten

twice shy' story. Heartbreak in high school, and that was the end of my belief in true love I guess."


"Oh, one bad experience with a guy and you just gave up?" Willow questioned, a slightly concerned note in her voice.


"Well I didn't really give up…I just lost interest in pursuing anyone you know? Figured that I was better off alone…didn't think that I would get hurt again that way." Tara finished.


Willow nodded her head, understanding what Tara meant, as Tara continued…


"And by the way Willow, it was a bad experience with a girl, not a guy."

Chapter 8

"Oh" Willow said, not knowing how to respond to that. She looked up to see that Tara was watching her to see how she reacted. She knew that she had to say something so she blurted out the first thing that

came to her mind. "So are you gay?"


"Pretty much" Tara said, nodding her head, while silently thinking "Yay! She isn't freaking out!"


"Hmm" Willow went on, now warming to the subject. "Never been attracted to a man?"


"Oh of course I have. David Beckham" Tara said grinning. "He's actually a good friend. I got to know him pretty well since I cover most of the big international matches myself, and England and

Manchester United are both big teams. You have to be blind not to think that man is hot! He actually

sent me an invitation to his wedding and all through the ceremony I wondered what my chances were of pushing Victoria aside and saying the vows myself!


But that's about it. otherwise my general attitude towards men hasn't exactly been `Oh! Date me! Date me!'" she finished, with a smile on her face.


They sat there, each lost in her own thoughts for a few a minute, before Willow asked slowly "How did you know? That you were gay I mean."


Tara was slightly surprised by the question, but answered anyway "Well I really don't know how I knew exactly. I guess that when you find yourself

thinking about the scent of a girls hair, or the dimples in her cheek, or the warmth in her voice, you just kind of figure out that you're attracted to her. In my case I was thinking about other girls like that quite a bit when growing up, while guys didn't really interest me as much…I think the most difficult part of being gay, or even bisexual for that matter, is

admitting it to yourself. Once your done with that part, it all gets a lot easier."



Again they lapsed into momentary silence, reflecting on what Tara had said. After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Tara suddenly got up. "I don't

know about you, but I have a sudden craving for a tall

glass of cold milk with Hershey's chocolate syrup! You want?" she asked smiling.


"Mmm…sounds like a plan to me!" Willow smiled back.


"Ok then…a glass of yummy chocolaty milk coming up!" Tara said, turning away and walking towards the kitchen.


Willow watched her go, not missing how her hips swayed ever so gently, along with her long blonde hair, and thought "So she's gay… why does that make me so happy? Do I like her? Am I attracted to her? Does she like me? Would I be happy with her? Since when have I

started thinking like this???"


Lost in her confusion, Willow was startled when Tara softly called her name and handed over her glass to her.


"Where were you?" Tara asked, sitting down again.


Not knowing what to say Willow lied "Oh! I was thinking that I should call my folks and tell them about what happened. They must be kind of concerned after reading the article in the paper and not

getting a call from me."


Tara nodded, and just then her cell phone rang, "Hello? Hey!!! Yeah I got back alright honey!"


"Honey???" suddenly all of Willow's attention was

on the conversation, though she acted like she was observing the first stars that had begun to come out.


"No, I doubt anyone was about to kidnap me sweetie! Anyway, how are you feeling? Good. Uh huh…you are? When? Oh that'll be great hon! Yup, it's a date! Ok then…you too! Bye!" Tara pressed the clear button with a smile on her face.


Throughout the one-sided conversation Willow felt an emotion she's never felt before …Jealousy…

Chapter 9

"I thought you were single?" Willow asked, trying to make her question sound carefree and light, even though she was dying to know whom Tara had just spoken to.


"I am." Tara said, surprised at the question, and even

more so at the forced note that was so obvious in Willow's voice. Suddenly it dawned upon her "oh my God! You didn't think that I was talking to my

lover did you??? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard! That was Martina. She just called to see if I'd gotten back alright Willow."


She stopped, and as an afterthought added "And the date that we've made is to play a game of tennis when she gets better." Tara didn't know why, but she felt

like she just had to convince Willow that she

and Martina were just friends.





All of a sudden Willow felt stupider than she'd ever felt in her entire life! "Oh…I guess I just got the wrong idea…I mean, you seemed really comfortable

with whoever you were talking to, what with all

the "honey" and "sweetie" talk, and…" she trailed off, not knowing what more to say without sounding even stupider!


"I am comfortable with Martina Willow. We've been friends for so long that it's natural for us to be comfortable with each other. And the "honey" and "sweetie" and "darling" stuff is just part of our

normal conversations. " She stopped, not knowing what else to say.


Suddenly Willow broke the awkward silence "God! Imagine the scandal that would cause! I can see the headlines already. `Martina Hingis In Love – With Another Woman!'" she finished, grinning.


Tara laughed at the thought, and Willow breathed again, thankful that she'd been able to make amends her idiotic mistake. They both sat back in their

chairs, not talking again, but this time the silence was comfortable.



After a little while Tara rose "I'm making dinner. You going to stay here?"


"Are you going to let me help you out in the kitchen?" Willow asked.


When Tara shook her head in negation, Willow said " Well then, since I don't think your going to let me win an argument, I guess I'll just stay put here for some time."


Tara smiled and walked inside the house, leaving Willow alone with her thoughts. "I just got jealous! Me, Willow Rosenberg, arguably one of the world's most envied women, got jealous!!! And why did I get

jealous? Because I thought that a woman was seeing someone else! A WOMAN! A woman with eyes the most sparkling shade of blue, hair that smells better than a dozen freshly bloomed flowers, fingers that feel

like heaven on my skin, a voice as musical as notes played on a piano, lips the most beautiful shade of

pink…Oh God…I soooo have a crush on Tara" Willow finally admitted to herself.


"Now what do I do? Do I tell her? But what if she doesn't like me that way? Just because she likes women doesn't mean that she falls for each and every damsel

in distress that comes her way. On the other hand, if

she does like me, how will I know? Will she tell me? Oh God, oh God, oh God…"


Again Willow was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn't realize that Tara was standing right next to her, calling her inside for dinner.


Tara laid a hand on Willow's shoulder and suddenly all of Willow's senses came crashing down to earth and centred on the feeling of warmth starting at her shoulder and running all through her body at Tara's touch.


"Dinners served Ma'am" Tara said in a low voice, her voice bearing traces of the smile that lit her face.

Thankfully Willow's power of speech decided to

return at that time, and she said in what was barely a whisper "Coming."


Tara realized that her hand was still on Willow's shoulder, and with great reluctance she lifted it from it's resting place and turned to walk back into the house. Without taking her eyes off Tara's retreating figure Willow rose, and without thinking she put her right foot down. Pain shooting through her leg immediately, she cried out and began to lose her balance. Hearing her cry out, Tara spun around to see Willow falling sideways into the pool.


Without even stopping to think, Tara quickly moved ahead and dived right in after her. She went in headfirst and seconds later resurfaced, holding

onto a spluttering, gasping and completely dazed Willow. For a minute the world spun around Willow, and she wasn't able to grasp the situation.


Then it all became clear…she was being taken out of the pool, towards the house…and now she felt safe again…


Safe because she was being carried in Tara's arms…safe…

Chapter 10

Willow lifted her arms and put them around Tara's neck, as Tara entered the house and walked towards Willow's room. If it had been a normal situation

then Tara was have undoubtedly marvelled at how

wonderful it felt to have Willow right there, but under the current circumstances all she could think

about was getting Willow to the safety of the room.


Meanwhile Willow, cold as she was from her brief `dip', was dreading the moment when they'd reach the room and she would lose the contact that she had with Tara's body.


"It feels so nice being so close to her" she thought,

as they reached the bedroom. Tara walked through

the doorway, moving towards the bed, and gently placed Willow on the mattress.


Upon losing contact with Tara's touch, Willow immediately felt cold. She began to shiver and

put her arms around herself, wishing that they were Tara's instead. Tara noticed the action, and immediately went to the closet to take out a thick blanket, opening it up and draping it around Willow. "One moment" she said, and rushed out of the room, only to return seconds later with a towel and a lose pair of warm sweats and a t-shirt. Putting the clothing on the bed, she handed the towel to Willow, saying "Dry your head" before she sat

down at the foot of the bed and began to take off the crape band from Willow's wet leg, since it was drenched.


Willow did as she was told, her eyes not once leaving the way Tara's hands delicately moved around her foot, so as not to hurt her, and how her brow crinkled in concentration as she looked at the swollen joint.


"Hmm…I'd say that the swelling has gone down a little

bit more today. But you have to be careful."


Looking up she asked in the gentlest of tones "What in the world were you thinking Willow?" Her concern

was completely evident in her tone.


"About you" Willow thought to herself. Since she couldn't say that aloud (could she???) she said "Oh I wasn't thinking, no siree! My mind seemed to have just gone blank back there" she finished, trying to make a joke out of the affair.


From the look in her eyes, Willow could make out that Tara didn't see any humour in the situation. After staring at Willow for a few seconds Tara said "Willow,

please be more careful. If something happened to you, I…I…" she trailed off into silence.


"Oh please complete that sentence, please" Willow's head almost exploded with her screams inside her mind.


The silence was broken when Tara sighed and rose. Handing Willow the clothes that she'd brought with her she said "Here…change your clothes…you'll feel better. I'll bring dinner in here." With that she turned and left the room. Willow watched her go, closing the door on her way out, and sighed herself, before stripping

the wet garments and changing into the one's Tara had left for her. Tara was right.


The clothes were more comfortable, and smelled of Tara. Willow was breathing in their scent, when there was a knock on her door.


"Come in" she called, and a second later Tara came into the room, carrying a tray that had two steaming bowls on it. Tara walked around the bed and

placed the tray on it, before sitting down herself.


Willow noticed that the bowls contained chicken soup.

Tara looked up at Willow "Since I think you had better keep your hands inside the quilt in case you catch a cold or something, I though it would be better if I fed you." She stared at Willow, her eyes asking whether that was alright. Willow nodded her head.


Smiling, Tara picked up a spoon and stirred the contents of one of the bowls before scooping up a spoonful, blowing on it gently to cool it, and moving the spoon towards Willow. Her eyes not missing a

single movement that Tara made, Willow opened up her

mouth like an obedient child and drank the soup. Tara smiled again, before picking up her own spoon tasting the soup herself.


They ate on in silence, with Tara alternating between feeding Willow and drinking the soup herself.


After they were done with the soup, Tara went to the kitchen to get the simple macaroni and cheese that

she'd made, and again proceeded to alternate

between feeding Willow and then herself.


"It's good" Willow commented, her mouthful of the macaroni that Tara had just fed her.


"Thank you" Tara said, blushing a little at the compliment.


"You cook a lot?"


"Yeah. Learned pretty young. My Mom's a whiz in the kitchen. She taught me everything I know." Tara finished.


"All the more reasons that you'd make an ideal girlfriend" Willow said, and then stopped, realizing what she's just said. She turned to look at Tara, who was staring at her with an unreadable statement on

her face.


Neither said a word, and there was an awkward silence, in which Tara kept feeding Willow. Suddenly Willow sneezed… thrice. "Looks like you're catching a cold" Tara said, her voice concerned.


Willow continued to sneeze throughout the meal, and by the end of it she definitely had a headache. Worried Tara felt her forehead, and realized that Willow was running a slight temperature.


She left the room with the plates, and returned to the room with a glass of water and a tablet, which

Willow took without even asking a question. Ten minutes later she was asleep, tired from the happenings of the day. Tara sat there on the easy chair next to the bed watching her like a mother hen, and soon fell asleep herself.





The night passed and the morning dawned. Willow woke up feeling much better the next morning, and the first sight that greeted her took away any signs of sickness that she might have felt. "She's looks so adorable" she thought to herself, smiling at the vision that met her eyes.


It was true, Tara fast asleep in an easy chair, her blonde hair spread around her, with the most peaceful look on her face was indeed an absolutely adorable sight…

Chapter 11

Willow turned on her side to get a better look at Tara. "I swear if someone hadn't already written Sleeping Beauty I would've done the job."


It was true, Tara snoozing on the easy chair was inspiration enough to any writer!


Willow had a sudden brainwave. Slowly she sat up and moved her legs over the side of the bed. Remembering this time not to put her bad foot down, she reached over for her crutches and rose slowly, making her way out of the room, towards the kitchen.


Once there she put her crutches onto one side and set about making waffles and coffee.


Half an hour later everything was almost ready. And Willow was just about to put the plates in their

places when a groggy voice asked "Since when do I have a cook?" Willow turned around to see a still sleepy eyes Tara smiling at her.


"God it is just me or does this woman actually get more beautiful by the moment? Probably the latter" Willow thought to herself. Returning the smile she said "Well I thought that maybe for a change I should do something helpful around here…and it so happens that breakfast is my speciality! Now come here and dig in gal!"


Still smiling Tara sat down and was handed a plate with two waffles on it. "Butter, maple syrup or honey?" Willow asked.


"Butter and maple syrup please...and you joining me at the table would be nice too!" Tara laughed. Willow sat down with her own plate, handing Tara the bottle of syrup and the butter, and began to eat. "Mmm…not bad

if I may say so" Tara said after swallowing her

first bite.


Willow grinned and said nothing, but was visibly happy

with the compliment. "So how are you feeling now?" Tara asked, taking another bite.


"Great! I could run a mile if it wasn't for the sprain." Willow exclaimed.


Tara smiled "So the headaches gone?"


"Yup! I told you, I'm feeling fit as a fiddle! Wanna

arm wrestle?" Willow joked.


Tara just grinned and helped herself to another

waffle. After a few moments of savouring the taste of her own cooking Willow asked "So what are your plans for the day?"


Swallowing her bite Tara replied "Monday's are usually busy days, since all the tournaments taking place

through the week get over on Sundays. So I'll be leaving for work as soon as I shower, which will

be right after I get my hearts fill of these delicious

waffles!"


Willow grinned while thinking "She's gonna be gone all day… why oh why can't she stay?" She stopped her flow of thoughts when she realized that Tara was speaking again.


"I found the number for a place that rents out DVD's. I'll leave it with you before I leave for work. Call then up and rent out whichever movie you want. You don't have to pay them since I just started an

account with them by which I have to pay them a total amount at the end of each month.


Now, what would you like to eat for lunch?" Tara

asked.


"Well, usually when I'm home I just make myself sandwiches for lunch. Do you have salami and mayonnaise at home?" Tara nodded. "Then I'll

be fine. I'll just make myself a sandwich when I get hunger pangs, and I'll wash that down with a glass of good ol' milk!" Willow finished.


"You're sure?" Tara asked, wondering if Willow was just being polite so that she wasn't inconvenienced.


"Positive. Don't you worry about me Tara!" Willow reassured her.


"Like that's possible" Tara thought, as she rose

to put her plate in the sink. "Ok then" she said aloud. "I'll just go take my shower then", and with that she was moved out of the kitchen.


Twenty minutes later she pulled out of her drive way, on her way to another day of work.




**********************





"She's back!" Willow thought, when she heard a car pull into Tara's driveway.


She waited, almost patiently, for Tara to come to her room, and sure enough five minutes later a golden head, followed by a body walked into her room.


Willow smiled the widest grin of her life when she saw her, but got worried when she noticed how Tired Tara

looked. "Hi" she said, "Hard day at work?"


Tara nodded and attempted to give a small smile "How are you today?"


"I'm good…basically relaxed all day…I rented out Rocky IV! You wanna watch it?"


"Maybe after I take a dip and a shower, that always helps to relax me. Do you want to eat first? I picked up some burgers on my way home, so if you're hungry we could eat first."


Willow shook her head. "No, you go freshen up first."

Tara smiled and left the room. Willow was concerned about how fatigued she looked. She's never realized that Tara's job was tiring… but then most people never realized that her own job was tiring either. "Most people only look at the glamour part of the job…the

autograph signing, the pictures and interviews in the papers, … but there's so much more to it…it's all

hard work really…real hard work… hard, hard work…
Great, now I'm even babbling in my head!"


A couple of minutes later Tara was back, carrying two plates with burgers and fries. "Done so fast?" Willow asked, surprised to see Tara so soon.


"Well I didn't really swim. I mean, my backs been kinda hurting today and the minute I got into the pool I realized that it was a bad idea," she handed Willow her plate and sat down with her own, "so I just got out pronto, showered and here I am now, ready to eat!"


All that Willow's mind grasped was that fact that Tara had said that her back hurt. "Your backs paining?

Well then, as soon as we're done with dinner I'm giving you a massage".


Tara opened her mouth to protest but was silenced when Willow finished "And I'm not taking no for an answer."
Tara looked up to see Willow's face set in what she could only call a `resolve face' and decided that for the rest of the meal she's try to avoid the subject of her aching back, and maybe that way Willow would forget all about it. but boy oh boy was she

wrong! Throughout dinner Willow plagued her with questions… how the pain started…when it started…why it started…what could have caused it…



As soon as the meal was over she ordered Tara to lie down on the other side of the bed and gently began massaging her lower back.


"Oh God…her hands feel so wonderful…I think the pains already gone" Tara thought, as she closed hr eyes and gave into the lovely sensation.


Meanwhile Willow was overjoyed to be so close to Tara. "She's so soft" she thought as she glided her hands up and down her back, making sure they were gentle. She massaged on, and ten minutes later

she realized that Tara's breathing had evened out. "Oh…she's fallen asleep…how sweet!" Willow smiled to herself. Moving off the bed she slowly made her way to the light switch, flicking it off before turning back to walk to her side of the bed. She lay down and closed her eyes, able to feel the warm presence of Tara's body so close to hers, and was comforted by the feeling. A few moments later she too was asleep, content and happy.


The next morning Willow awoke to the feeling of comfort and warmth.


Something felt different about the bed. Different but nice… still sleep, Willow opened her eyes and realized that she was snuggled up to Tara, with her hand lying

across Tara's tummy and her head on Tara's arm, her face just inches away from Tara's neck…

Chapter 12

Willow stared at Tara's neck, so, so, sooooo close to her face. All she had to do to kiss it was lean in a wee little bit, and at that moment that was the most tempting thing in the world!


"She smells so good, I'm sure she wouldn't even notice a small peck…" Willow thought, and with that she moved her head in and a little and kissed Tara's exposed skin…not a quick peck, but a slow kiss. Pulling back,

Willow licked her lips and saw that Tara was still asleep. She didn't seem to have noticed the kiss. "Good" Willow thought, as she propped

herself up on one elbow and watched Tara sleep. The sun hadn't even risen yet, so Willow figured that Tara could get some more sleep. "She could most certainly do with some rest" Willow thought, remembering Tara's condition the previous night. All that Willow

wanted was to have Tara snuggle up to her and sleep all day in her arms, so that she could rid herself of her fatigue. "But I don't even know if that's what she wants…to be with me…" Willow sighed. "How the

hell do you know if a girl likes you???"


She continued to stare at Tara's sleeping form, her eyes taking in the sight of Tara's chest as it rose and fell, her flat tummy, her highly kissable lips, her skin that looked so deliciously soft, …just then Tara moved, and Willow realized that she would wake up anytime now. "So much for my personal `Good Morning Willow' show" she thought Wistfully, as she

quickly lay back down on her side, deciding to pretend that she was just waking up too.


Closing her eyes, she counted to sixty, before slowly opening them up again…to see the most beautiful pair of blue eyes looking right at her.


"Thank God I'm lying down, or else I would've probably passed out." Willow thought.


"Good morning" Tara said, her voice still think with sleep. Willow didn't think she was in any position to use her vocal chords so she just smiled back. "I'm so sorry I just fell asleep last night…I didn't kick you or anything did I???" Tara asked worried.


Willow found her tongue and replied with a grin "No Tara, you didn't! And I took the fact that you fell asleep while I was massaging your back as a compliment! How does it feel now by the way?"


"Much better, all thanks to you" Tara said, "If you weren't one of the world's biggest stars then I would have offered you the job of my personal massage therapist!"



Willow was considering how tempting that offer sounded when Tara rose. "Have to get ready for work. And

before that I'd like to make us something to eat…breakfasts on me today…scrambled eggs and toast sound ok to you?"


When Willow nodded her head Tara turned and walked headed for the door, and Willow watched each and every movement that she made until she was out of sight. Her heart almost skipped a beat when Tara raised her hand and absentmindedly rubbed the exact spot where Willow

had kissed her…


"Coincidences" Willow thought, as she got up and hobbled over to the bathroom…




**************************




Willow walked into the kitchen fifteen minutes later and was greeted by the smell of fresh scrambles eggs, soft Irish notes playing in the background and best of all, an unobstructed view of the curves of Tara's body! Willow just stood there quietly in the doorway, taking in the sight. What she wouldn't give to be able to just go and pull Tara to her from behind and wrap her arms around her figure. She'd really liked the closeness they'd shared that morning…Tara smelled so good…and boy, she tasted even better! "Would Tara have liked it had she been conscious? How will I even know???" Willow asked herself, as she stood there.





As if on cue Tara started singing along with the song "What can I do to make you love me? What can I do to make you care? What can I say to make you feel this? What can I do to get you there?"


Tara turned around to dump the eggs onto one of the plates on the table and saw Willow standing there. "Didn't wanna disturb the master at work!" Willow grinned, as she sat down at the table. "What

music is this by the way?" she asked, cocking her head to one side and concentrating on the woman's voice coming from the living room, trying to recognize the artist.


"She looks so adorable when she does that" Tara thought, as she looked at Willow for a moment before answering "Those are The Corrs… Irish band made up of three sisters and one brother. They're like THE

best band in the world!" Tara exclaimed as she took her seat at the table.


Willow smiled at the enthusiasm in Tara's voice and continued to listen for a few moments, before saying "Hmm…I think I like what I hear" and tasting her eggs. "Mmm…these are good girl! Talk about some

people having multiple career options!" she smiled.

"Speak for yourself" Tara laughed.





They ate on in comfortable silence for a while before Willow asked "Sooo…how many days have I been here?"


Tara looked up in surprise and asked "Why?" ,her tone clearly puzzled by the question.


"Well, I was just thinking that my foot feels better…a lot better actually…and the swellings gone down a lot too…so I was wondering how many days it's been sprained…and …Oh! This music is nice!" Willow

said, as the tempo of themusic picked up.




Tara said nothing and continued to eat. After a few more minutes of silence Willow said in a quiet voice "I've been here for eight days."


Tara looked up, her face expressionless. Willow continued "When I came here you said that it ought to take about fifteen days for me to get back to my regular routine. That means that I should be out of

here in about seven days."


Tara continued to look at Willow ,not saying a word. "Why doesn't she say anything?" Willow asked herself.


Looking back at her plate Tara finished her last bite of breakfast, gulped down her coffee and rose, saying "I had better get ready to leave for work" before walking out of the kitchen.


*********************







Will post eps 13, 14 and 15 tomorrow.... it´s 4:23am! My brain doesn´t work anymore.... Need to rest....

:)

I have read this fic in another forum, very good, a lot of fun.

------------


"Everyone's getting spanked but me."

This fic is really sweet. I've been reading it on the list. I hope we're getting close to when they will finally admit that there's something between them besides friendship.



I get a bad feeling from that guy's son, the one who was monopolizing Willow's time.



Heh, the only real 'kind of' complaint I have is that Tara goes to work way too often.

-Kathy
————––
"You made me cry, you told me lies, but I can't stand to say goodbye."

I too have been reading this story on the Willtara list, and I am completly enjoying it. I hope that W&T will soon take the next step and kiss because the waiting is driving me insane. But really I know eventually the goodness will come and I am patient, keep up the good work!

Edited by: VampNo12 at: 4/4/02 12:19:54 am

Tara . . . ever the carer.



I like what you've done with this.

I could paint you in the dark, 'cause I've studied you with hunger as a work of art - Collecting you (Indigo Girls)

I, too, have been reading this on the WillTara list. And I really like it. It's a great AU story.



More please!

--------------------------------


"Honey, I'm the original one-eyed chicklet in the kingdom of the blind." - Glory

Love Thy Neighbour 13



Summary - Read on...Later that day Willow questioned herself "What

did I expect her to say? `Oh please Willow, don't leave'. Nah, there

really wasn't anything fort her to say. I was just stating facts, and

Tara listened." She sighed. "Maybe I should tell her how I feel…but

how do I feel. I mean I know I'm attracted to her…very attracted…

highly attracted…super-duper attracted…Ok Willow STOP THE BABBLING!"

she scolded herself. "What do I got tell her? `Uh…Tara, I'm attracted

to you…' Like how lame is that!" and what if she doesn't like me too?

How embarrassing would that be. And later it would get awkward. I

mean I'd probably not see much of her after that…and then I'd lose

her as a friend too…would I be able to live with that? Definitely no…

big no…" Willow thoughts were interrupted with the ringing of the

phone next to her…

"Hello?" she asked into the receiver.

"Hello. Is Tara there?" a woman's voice asked.

"No, she isn't in at the moment. May I ask who's calling?" Willow

questioned.

"This is her mother" the voice answered.

"Oh, hi Mrs. McLay. Tara's at work right now. Could I give her a

message?"

"No that's fine. I was just bored so I thought I'd call and check on

my baby. Whom am I speaking to?"

"I'm her neighbour, Willow" Willow said.

"Hello Willow. Are you Tara's girlfriend?"

Willow was totally taken aback by the question that came straight

from outta the blue! "N-no…no I'm not Mrs. McLay… I'm just her

neighbour who's got a sprained ankle…and Tara was nice enough to let

me stay over at her place till I got better…I mean, since I live

alone…and…you know that Tara's…?"

Willow left the question in the air but Mrs. McLay understood what

she meant. "Gay? Of course I do! I was the first person she told when

she discovered her attraction to women. I even tried to fix her up

with some lovely young women, but none of those worked out

unfortunately. I think that horrible girl who dumped her in high

school really affected my baby very badly...too badly in fact…I'm

warning you Willow…if you're indeed Tara's girlfriend and you hurt

her, I'm going to come after you with my husbands gun." Mrs. McLay

finished in a `don't-mess-with-my-baby' voice that only mother's can

speak in!

But Willow could also sense the concern in the tone and without even

thinking replied "I won't", before she realized what she'd just said.

Mrs. McLay didn't seem to notice anything, and went on "That's good

then. Now I'd better hang up. Tell Tara I tried her cellular first

but it seems to be off…tell her I'll call again in a few days…and oh!

Do tell her that her father sends a special message…'Miss you Tare

Bear!' You will remember that won't you Willow?"

Willow found herself grinning as she replied "Definitely Ma'am".

"Fine then. Goodbye Willow. It was nice speaking with you."

"The pleasure was all mine. Goodbye Mrs. McLay" Willow said, hanging

up.

Willow sat back in her bed, reflecting on the conversation that she's

just had with Tara's mother. "Gosh, Tara must've really been hurt bad

in high school. How could anyone hurt Tara…she's so sweet and kind

and gentle and patient…such a…Tare Bear!" Willow smiled as she

realized how appropriate the name was! She liked it. There was also

one more thing that she's liked about the conversation…

Mrs. McLay thinking that she was Tara's girl…her girlfriend… "There's

a nice ring to that word" she thought, as she tried it out on her

tongue… "Girlfriend".

-----------------------------------

"Things are not always what they seem to be...." Shakespare
"Once you're fallen for me, you stay fallen...."

Ange's W/T Avatars page: >http://membres.lycos.fr/ange1275/Avatars/

Edited by: xita  at: 4/7/02 1:36:41 pm

Chapter 13b.

Willow had no idea exactly when she snoozed off, but when she opened her eyes several hours later the sun had already set. Rubbing her eyes she sat up and pulled her crutches towards her, before remembering that Tara had said that she didn’t really need the crutches any more since the swelling was less and Willow really ought to start putting some pressure on her foot, before leaving for work that morning. Tara! “She’s probably home!” The thought gave Willow inspiration to walk a little faster! She popped her head into the kitchen, and not seeing Tara there she made her way to the living room, where she found her. Tara was sitting on the couch with a laptop open on the centre table in front of her, and was typing rapidly. She looked up when she saw Willow approach out of the corner of her eye.




“Hey” she smiled, and then, looking down at Willow’s foot lightly placed on the ground, “Hmm…I see you’re taking my advice” she smiled. “How does it feel?”




“It doesn’t really hurt that much, so I would say better. Why didn’t you wake me up?” Willow asked.




“Oh you looked tired” Tara said, which mentally adding “…and peaceful, and happy and so beautiful.” “Have a tiring day?” she asked aloud.




“Uh huh…horrible movies like ‘America’s Sweethearts’ can really make you dizzy! Hey did you know that The Corrs are on the soundtrack?” Willow questioned.




“Of course! The song’s ‘All The Love In The World’. It’s actually the remixed version on the soundtrack. I have the original, the acoustic and the remix!” Tara finished, visibly as pleased as punch with herself.




Willow smiled, glad to see Tara happy. She thought again about how silly that girl must’ve been to dump Tara which in turn reminded her… “Hey Tara…I almost forgot…your Mom called this afternoon.




“She did?” Tara asked.




“Yup, said that your cellular was off, and not to fret, she was just calling because she was bored!” Willow laughed.




“What else did she say? She must’ve asked you loads of questions.” Tara said, more as a statement then a question, though she didn’t sound angry at all.




“Nah not really. She just asked me who I was and I said that I was Willow, your neighbour with a sprained ankle who was staying at your place for a couple of days. That’s all we talked really.” Willow lied.




Tara seemed to buy that. “Oh ok then…any messages?”




“Well she just said to tell you that she misses you, and your father sends you a special message…he says “Miss you Tare Bear”!” Willow couldn’t help but grin as she said that last part, and the blush that spread through Tara’s skin when she heard that only helped in widening Willow’s smile!




“Oh my God!” Tara exclaimed. “She actually said those words?” Tara looked as if she wanted the ground to open up right there and swallow her!




“Yup…and by the way I think the name is very sweet.” Tara looked up at Willow with an expression that said ‘Yeah right!’ “Honest I do” Willow repeated, she sat down next to Tara on the couch. “I never had a pet name as nice when I was small…or ever actually.” Tara looked up and stared at Willow, who held her gaze for a moment, before she turned and looked at the laptop, in fear of getting carried away. “So what you doing?” she asked, nodding her head in the direction of the screen.




“oh, I’m just scripting my report for tomorrow’s show. It’s about Manchester United’s dismal season so far.” Tara replied.




“Aha so you’ve gotta talk about the poor form of your darling Beckham’s team, eh? “ Willow asked in her best Captain Hook voice!




“Well a reporters gotta do what a reporters gotta do Tara smiled. “besides, criticism always helps. Anyway, I’m almost done with the script, so what say we have dinner? I have ice cream in the freezer to eat afterwards!”




“Ooooh…ice cream!” Willow rubbed her palms together in glee. “Is it chocolate?” When Tara nodded her head and grinned Willow smiled “Then what are we waiting for?”




She was about to put her hands on her sides to support her as she stood, when Tara offered her hand. Staring Tara in the eye, Willow took her hand and stood up, holding on when Tara didn’t let go. Together they walked, hand in hand, towards the kitchen…




********************




“Soooo…” Tara started, “I was wondering…you’re sure your foots feeling better?”




They were sitting in the kitchen eating ice cream after finishing dinner. Willow nodded her head as she reached for the bottle of Hershey’s chocolate syrup. “Ok…so do you think you’re up to making a small trip for a couple of days…tomorrow evening…?”




Now Tara had Willow’s full attention. “A small trip? Where to?” she asked.




“Well maybe a two hours drive or so from here…you see there’s this champion race horse about to be retired…so we’re during a feature on him that’ll go on air next week…and it’s not really far so the journey won’t be tiring…and your foot has healed enough for you to be able to move about…plus some fresh air will be very good especially after how you’ve been holed up in here this past week…” Tara stopped talking, not knowing what else she could add to convince Willow that it was a good idea. “Maybe I should beg” she thought, as she watched Willow consider the plan.




Thankfully it didn’t come to that since a moment later Willow smiled “Sounds like a plan to me!”




Tara let out a deep breath, and said “Great! Well, we’ll be leaving in the afternoon tomorrow at about four, and returning in the evening two days later. We’ll be staying at the owners farmhouse, which is where the stables are. Don’t worry. It’s a great place.” She finished, all smiles.




“Ok, so I don’t have to worry about what to wear for a change. Cool!” Willow grinned. “But, um Tara, you’re gonna have to go get me some stuff from my place…if that’s not a problem…”




“Of course it isn’t. Just write everything down for me and I’ll go get them. Don’t worry…I’ll make sure you’re place is locked up just fine. There’s just one thing I’d like to be sure you know…You’ll be going out to my workplace…and much as I hate to admit this, lot’s of my crew is going to tell people that you were there…I mean, since you’re you and all…and then the press will know where you are…and…”




Willow cut her off “I can handle that Tara. Don’t worry, I’ve actually gotten pretty used to it, don’t you fret…anyway, I’m just taking a trip…how much space do you think that going to get in the tabloids???”




“Well considering the fact that for the past week the press has been going crazy wondering where you were I’d say about half the page!” Tara laughed.




“Then so be it!” Willow smiled back. “I can deal.”




“Ok then,” Tara rose, her ice cream over. “I’d better start packing, since I have to go to work in the morning tomorrow. I’ll get back by about three, and we can finish all the last minute stuff and get out of here by four. Here, “ she said, handing Willow a sheet of paper and a pencil. “Write down the stuff you need me to get you. I’ll pick them up for you when I’m done packing”




With that she walked towards the stairs in the living room, leaving Willow thinking “I wonder if we’ll be sharing a room at the farmhouse…”















Chapter 14



Twenty four hours later Willow and Tara were at the farmhouse,

walking to the dining room for dinner. The drive down to the

farmhouse had been nice, with minimum traffic and clear roads. Willow

had sat in the passenger seat upfront, with her bad foot placed on a

soft pillow that Tara had put in the leg space. About half an hour

into the drive Willow had dozed off, with The Corrs playing on the

car's music system. Her last waking thought had been of how she's

really begun to like the band…

Almost two hours later she was awoken by Tara, who gently shook her

to tell her that they had reached their destination. The owner of the

place, a Mr. Klein, had almost done a double take when he'd seen who

the Willow Rosenberg was that Tara had brought along! After shaking

Willow's hand about a dozen times he personally led Willow and Tara

up to the second floor of the house, where he showed them to their

rooms, which Willow noted with disappointment were opposite each

other, and now even connected by a bathroom or something like that…

And now here they were an hour later, standing outside the dining

room area.

"Everything to your liking so far?" Tara asked, as she held the door

open for Willow to walk…or rather hobble, through.

"Oh yeah…the place is great" Willow said, before looking up to see

Mr. Klein standing up as the ladies entered the room. There was also

another person in the room…a young man… "A not so unattractive young

man" Tara thought.

"Good evening ladies" Mr. Klein said. "I hope everything suits you

just fine?" he asked. Willow and Tara murmured polite affirmative

responses, before Mr. Klein turned to the fourth person in the

room. "Allow me to introduce to you my son, Matthew." Willow and Tara

turned their attention to Matthew, and said the polite "How do you

do's" and "nice to make your acquaintance's" that protocol called

for, before Mr. Klein spoke up again. "Now that we're done with the

introductions, what say we eat?" he smiled.

All four seated themselves as a butler walked in pushing a trolley

that carried several silver vessels. They began to eat, silent for a

while, simply observing each other, before Matthew spoke up. "How is

it that you hurt your foot Willow?"

Willow squirmed as she felt all the eyes in the room turn and look at

her. "Um…I kind of tripped over someone and fell" she replied, not

wanting to share any more with someone whom she barely even knew. She

looked up at Tara, hoping that she understood, and knew she did when

she saw Tara smile at her.

"Oh what a shame" Matthew continued. "Is it healing fine?"

"Yup, I have the best care looking after me" Willow answered

politely, knowing that only she and Tara would get what she meant!

For the rest of the meal Matthew continued to ask Willow question

after question, and Tara noticed with growing irritation that he

never once took his eyes off the redhead. Finally when dessert was

being served he kept quiet long enough for his father and Tara to

discuss the schedule of filming for the next two days. It was decided

that the crew would film at the stables and the enclosures with the

horse in the mornings and through the afternoons.

As dessert was being finished Matthew spoke up again. "Do you like

horses Willow?"

"I've never really been near one" Willow responded, polite as ever.

"Hmm…then what do you say I take you on a tour of the estate

tomorrow, and get you acquainted with some of pour prized stallions?"

Matthew asked.

Willow didn't want to accept Matthew's invitation, she'd much rather

watch Tara at work, but she didn't know how to refuse outright. She

glanced at Tara for help, but the blonde was staring fixedly at the

plate of chocolate cake placed in front of her. Sighing inwardly

Willow replied "Ok"

"Alright then, it's a date. We'll leave at 9 a.m." Matthew said,

rising.

Both Willow and Tara had the same thought as they too rose… "A

date???"



************************

The next morning Willow was standing in the living room of the

farmhouse precisely at 9 a.m. she was one of those always on time

people, and hated it when others were late. Fifteen minutes later

Matthew walked down the stairs, and without even apologizing for or

explaining his delay, led her outside to a waiting jeep. They spent

the rest of the morning checking out the farmhouse and it's adjoining

land. Willow was amazed at how huge the place was, and would have

truly appreciated it's beauty had Matthew not droned on and on about

how much money he was set to inherit, how he had finished at the top

of his class at Harvard and what a brilliant job he'd gotten with a

Boston law firm. At one point she felt like plucking all the apples

off the trees in the orchard and burying Matthew under them. She

limited her responses to monosyllables and nods of her head, hoping

that Matthew would take the hint and stop trying to impress her, not

to mention hit on her! Every five minutes Willow wondered where Tara

was, and hoped to see her every time they turned a bend, but with no

luck. At lunch time Matthew stopped the Jeep in one of the fields and

they ate lunch from a picnic basket in the shade of a huge oak tree,

making polite conversation.

Finally at about three in the afternoon Matthew led Willow into the

stables. As soon as she got in Willow stood still, staring at a huge

black creature a few feet from her, stomping it's feet. "It's so big"

was all she could say, as she watched it toss it's head.

"Oh this is a new one. Father says that it's a wild one, and has to

yet be tamed. In fact, I could do it right now. Would you like to

watch?" Matthew asked.

Mutely Willow nodded her head and watched as Matthew told one of the

men to lead the horse out to the smaller enclosure. Picking up a

helmet he beckoned to Willow to follow him out to the back. Once

there he told her to stand outside as he walked into the enclosure

and tried to mount the horse.

For the next half hour Willow watched as Matthew first struggled to

mount the horse, and later tried to get the black beauty to heed his

commands. It would have actually been funny had Willow not been

afraid Matthew, as big a pain as he was, would get hurt. Finally a

physically and emotionally bruised Matthew gave up and came out of

the enclosure. Taking his helmet off he told Willow that they would

now be heading back to the house, and walked towards the Jeep.

They were driving past another enclosure when Willow saw a rider in

it, galloping at full pace on a huge horse. Squinting her eyes Willow

recognized the rider…Tara!

"Stop!!!" she yelled. Matthew braked hard and stopped the Jeep.

Willow turned and told Matthew that she'd like to get off and watch

Tara ride for a while, and then she would walk back to the farmhouse,

which wasn't too far away. "Anyway" she added, "My foot could use the

exercise!"

His ego still hurting after making a fool of himself trying to tame

the horse, Matthew agreed to let her off without any questions.

Willow walked to the fence and leaned against it, watching Tara

ride. "Now THAT is what I call riding" she thought, as she marvelled

at the grace with which Tara rode. "It's like they have one mind…

they're so in sync" she thought, as she followed the way Tara slowed,

then trotted, then galloped,…oblivious to the pair of eyes that were

following her every move. Willow realized how much she'd missed

seeing Tara that day, since Tara had been gone before Willow awoke

for her rendezvous with Matthew.

Finally sometime later Tara looked up and saw Willow standing there.

She smiled, and slowly walked the horse up to the edge of the fence,

near where Willow was standing. Willow instinctively moved back.

"Hey…what are you doing?" Tara asked, as she watched Willow move away.

"Noth – nothing…nothing at all…" Willow stuttered.

"Willow, just tell me will you?" Tara asked in a calm, soothing voice.

Willow knew that she didn't have a choice, so she told Tara about the

earlier taming attempt gone wrong, and ended with "…so I have a bad

effect on horses, and I think I should stay away from them."

"Nonsense" Tara said, and with one graceful move she had jumped off

the horse, puling it by the reins towards Willow. "Come here Willow"

she said.

"No" Willow said, staying away.

"Please, trust me Willow…come here" Tara said, and extended her free

hand towards Willow.

Without even thinking about it, Willow walked forth and placed her

hand in Tara's.

"Good" Tara said, and she lifted both their hands towards the horse,

and rubbed between it's eyes. "Willow, meet Prancer." Tara said, as

she continued to move their hands together over the horses mane. "Now

isn't this nice?" Tara asked?

"Yeah…it's nice…very nice..." Willow replied, staring at Tara's hand

covering her own, and closing her eyes to savour the feeling…

Edited by: xita  at: 4/7/02 2:14:27 pm

I was wondering how they got to that farmhouse so suddenly. Mystery cleared up!



I'd say Tara is curious as to what her Mother thought of Willow.

I could paint you in the dark, 'cause I've studied you with hunger as a work of art - Collecting you (Indigo Girls)

I've been following this story on WillTara, but I must say, it's nice to have it on the board. This way, I can just keep reading it over and over again until I get another update.



JD

...but if I did call, she wouldn't hang up on me.

I just read this for the first time from the very begining and I'm loving it! I can't wait for the next update.



-------------------

Once you fall for Willow, you stay fallen.

Also reading this for the first time and i must say please hurry with the next part! Brilliant

Okay, I'm hooked. How long until our girls finally get together?

*****

She's my everything!

I LOVE this fic ... next part please. pretty please?

A little song, a little dance, a little seltzer down your pants

Ohh, great story...but I want them to be together!!



I so loved Willow's kiss, sweet...



Update??

--Er du måske læge??--

Let's just put it this way, if either Tara or Willow lived next to me- I would COVET my neighbor!!! Now that's out of the way, wanted to let you know that I love this fic. The whole premised is soo cool. Please post an update soon otherwise I will be forced to grovel.(so unbecoming)

"We few, we happy few."
"We band of buggered."

Just read this for the first time,like how you are doing it, need a update.

Tara: Assume Crash
Positions

I love this fic. I am not usually fond of AU or Uber but this works, it's very true to the characters and yes fun.



i have a question. You guys are reposting this from willtara for Sheba? Or is one of you Sheba? Does she/he know their fic is getting posted on the kitty, if not maybe they should know. I don't want fic getting posted without the author's permission. I just want to make sure And if you are reading, more soon please!



Oh, yes Martina, I have to say, i cringe, only because Martina is a proven homophobe who probably think Tara is a gross dyke. Maybe Tara could be really good friends with some other tennis player



xita

- - - - - - - - - - - -

"Everything is turning out so dark..."

"No, it's okay. Lost is good. Willow and I always know how to find each other!"

Edited by: xita  at: 4/7/02 2:15:40 pm

I too am enjoying this, and I like Martina Hingis and Manchester United is my football team ... so I'm finding those parts of the story interesting too.



When's the next update planned? A kiss must be coming soon, right?

"She should have died hereafter: There would have been a time for such a word ...

...it is a tale, told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing."

Shakespeare/Macbeth

I´m posting this for Sheba. She knows. She doesn´t have much time so I offered to help her.

She promissed an update soon, so maybe tomorrow... I´m not sure.

"I'm a breast gal myself, but then again you knew that..."






"I'm a rebel! I'm having a rebellion!"





Willow & Tara´s magic

Woo-hoo on the possibility of an upcoming update to this fic. I really am enjoying this story, and I am patiently awaiting for the time when Willow and Tara express their feelings through words and so much more!

Well, I know that I'm enjoying this. Damnit! I need to study!



Well, I hope Sheba knows that she's got some fans here.

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"...the hardest thing in this world is to live in it..."
~Buffy, 'The Gift'.

Love Thy Neighbour (16/?)



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"You ride really well" Willow said, realizing that she'd better keep

talking if she wantedto stay in her senses.

"Uh huh" Tara replied. lost in the sensation of the feel of Willow's

fingers. She couldn't believe that she'd mustered up the courage to

put her hand over WIllow's. "Maybe nows the time to tell her how I

feel " she thought, when she figured that Willow's wasn't in any

great rush to move her hand from it's position. She glanced up at the

redhead, and as it had for the past ten days her voice caught in her

throat when she saw Willow's beauty. "God she's so lovely" she

thought, as she watched Willow come to terms with getting soclose to

a creature that she seemed to be afraid of. "Ok I'm gonna tell

her...and now...before I change my mind..." "Willow?" she said aloud.

"Yes?" Willow asked,looking up to meet Tara's blue eyes. "Her blue,

blue, blue eyes" WIllow thought...

"Umm...I kinda needed to talk to you about something.." Tara said,

not ceasing the movement of her's and Willow's hands over Prancer's

mane.

Willow noticed the hesitation in Willow's voice, and was

concerned. "What is it Tara?" she asked, her tone worried.

"Well" Tara began slowly, "I've been thinking, and..."

She was cutoff by someone calling her name. "Tara"

The pair looked up, startled at being interrupted, and saw Mr. Klein

heading their way. "good afternoon ladies" he said, as he approached

them. he started at their hands moving in unison over the horses mane

for a moment, before he looked back up. After making polite inquiries

about their comfort and general conversation for a moment he turned

his full attention to Tara. "Tara this afternoon Mat tried to tame a

new wild stallion that we ..."

"Umm I know Mr. klein...Willow kinda filled me in on that " Tara cut

him short.

"Ok...right then...well anyway...i was wondering whether you'd liek

to try your hand at taming him then. "

Willow froze. She thought of Matthew's failed efforts that day, and

the idea of Tara on...that...thing...yes, that THING petrified her!

She stood there, thinking of how many languages Tara could decline

the offer in when she heard Tara reply "Sure..I'd like that Mr.

Klein. Tomorrow after I've wrapped up the filming sound ok?"

"Great!" Mr. Klein exclaimed. Now how about I drop you two ladies

back to the house?"

"Well I have to hand Prancer in at the stables...but Willow could go

with you if she wanted." Tara said.

"No thanks. I'd like to walk back" Willow said, still shocked by

Tara's answer.

Mr. Klein nodded his head and walked back to the jeep that he'd

parked a little way off. "So you wanna walk back with me? I just have

to hand Prancer in at the stables to one of the hands, and then I'm

heading back too, so..." Tara let off.

"Sure" Willow responded and watched as Tara walked the horse outof

the enclosure and towards the stables. Tara returned a few

secondslater, and they slowly began to walk back to the farmhouse.

"So...I don't mean to be interfering or something...but are you

crazy???" Willow asked.

"I beg your pardon?" Tara asked, wondering if she'd just heard right.

"You're actually gonna get onto that big horse? That mad untamed

horse???" Willow asked, clearly agitated.

"Oh that!" Tara was now laughing. "Relax Willow..."

"What the hell do mean by relax??? I saw what happened to Matthew

this afternoon. What of something like that happens to you?" Willow

almost screamed now!

Tara stopped andput her hand on Willow's arm. "Look Willow.I've done

this before." Her hand travelled lowet and she's grasped Willow's

hand. "You just met Prancer...wasn't he tame?" Willow slowly nodded

her head."Well" Tara continued, "Prancer used to be wild too. I'm the

one that tamed him." Willow raised her eyebrows as the blonde went

on. " I've known Mr. Klein a long time, and I've worked on a lot of

his horses with him. So don't worry. I know what I'm doing ok?" she

finished, asking if Willow understood what she was saying. Willow

nodded her head, and slowly smiled. "Good, that's settled then!" Tara

said, and they began to walk again.

After a few minutes of silent walking, simply holding hands, the

house came into view. When they were a few paces away from the house

Willow suddenly asked "But Tara, why are you waiting till tomorrow to

try taming the horse?" I mean, you still have time this evening

right?"

Looking anywhere but at Willow Tara replied " Well...just in case I

fall off and get hurt or something...you couldn't have a reporter

with a shiner reporting news right?"

Willow stopped in her tracks at that. since her hand was in Willow's,

Tara was stopped too. She looked back to see Willow with a weorried

look on her features all over again. Walking a step back she got

closer to Willow and said softly "Hey I told you it'll be ok...just

trust me...you trust me...don't you?"

Willow breathed and looked straight at Tara, saying "Yup...I

do...completely".

Smiling at one another they began tomove to the house again...hands

never breaking contact...

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It was now four o'clock the next afternoon. Willow stood in between

Mr. Klein and Matthew as Tara walked into the enclosure. A couiple of

members of Tara's work crew and most of the stable hands had come to

watch the taming, and Willow had the odd feeling of being back at the

circus. "Of course, I have never been so scared for the tamers safety

at the circus..." she thought, as her eyes followed each and every

movement that Tara was making.

Tara walked upto about ten paces away from the horse before crouching

down and staring at him. The horse stared right back and that'sall

the action that happened for the next twenty minutes...Willow was

just beginning to think that this wasn't so bad after all when the

horse began to move towrads Tara's crouching figure. "Ooook what is

happening? Is he gonna eat my Tara? My Tara???" Willow wondered, as

the pace of her heart began to speed up again.

Once he got to Tara the horse stopped, simply standing there. A few

moments later Tara slowly began to raise her right hand towards the

horse, and patted him on the neck. "I'll bet he would've never let

Matthew do that." Willow thought with pride! "Is he tame yet?" she

whispered, turning to Mr. Klein.

"Not by along way" Mr. Klein whispered back, not turning to look at

Willow as he answered.

Willow followed his gaze and saw that Tara was now standing up, still

gently stroking the horses mane. "Thelucky horse" Tara thought, as

she remembered howl ovely Tara's fingers felt. She shook her head

clear superfast of all such thoughts for themoment, as Tara began to

move towards the fence where a saddle had been placed on the top.

picking the saddle up in one hand, she began to move back towards the

horse, and once she got to him began to stroke him again with her

free hand.

"She's winning over his trust" Matthew whispered to Willow, and

Willow nodded without looking at him.

She watched with held breath as Tara threw the saddle over the horses

back, and began to saddle him up, stopping ever few seconds to pat

him. When she was sure that he was saddled up alright she began to

slowly walk him around the enclosure in circles.

"This is like watching The Horse Whisperer live!" Willow thought,

mentally adding"Of course Tara's even nicer to watch then Bob

Redford..."

Tara was right oposite Willow's side of the fence now as she made a

round with the horse, andd glancing up, she smiled at Willow. Once

again Willow was caught unawares by the beauty of the other woman,

and found herself smiling goofily long after the blonde had passed

her. A couiple of rounds later Tara walked the horse to the centre

and stopped. She stood there whispering something into the horses

ears. "Great...now I'm jealous of horses" Willow marvelled!

After a few seconds of 'conversation' with the horse Tara walked to

it's right side, grasped the saddle, put her leg into stirrup and

climbed onto it's back in one graceful movement. Willow's heart was

now beating at a pace that was abnormal for a human! The horse

stomped at the ground where it was standing. Tara bent low and

whispered something into it's ears, all the while delicately patting

it's neck. The horse ceased it's movements and visibly calmed down.

Tara began to guide the horse slowly around the enclosure again, the

difference this time being that she was actually on it! After

trotting around slowly for a while she began to build up on the pace,

and within ten minutes she was galloping full speed ahead!

"The horse actually seems to be enjoying himself! Of course Tara

riding ypumust be very enjoyable...Thank God I didn't say that

aloud!" Willow thought, going red at her thought!

"Now he's tame!" Mr. Klein exclaimed, finally turning to Willow! "God

girl...you've gotta get out of the sun! Look at your color!" he said,

mistaking Willow's blush at her thoughts fpor sunburn!

"No I'm fine really.."Willow started to protest when she was cut off

by the horses owner...

"No you're not! You're red as a beetroot! Now we couldn't have a

person as famous as you fall ill could we?" he asked. With that he

signalled to Matthew to bring the jeep over. Willow took one last

longing look at Tara galloping before sighing and sitting down in the

jeep.

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Have fun!



Ange.

----------------------------------- "Things are not always what they seem to be...." Shakespeare >Ange's W/T Avatars page

How pathetic am I?



Well, I read this on the list ... and then I just re-read it again here. Oh, please please post more. I've truly become dependant on this fic.



(If I have to, I'll just start over and re-read until it gets updated).

...but if I did call, she wouldn't hang up on me.

This is great! The AU works really well. I need more!

Life is full of changes...The better you are at letting go of things, the freer your hands will be to catch something new. ~from Off The Map by Joan Ackerman
"It's good to be a chicken casserole," Tara murmured before passing out. ~from "Answering Darkness" by Sassette

Nice update. Can't wait for the next one. I like reading AU fics.

NEED MORE!!! Oh Please, Oh please, my God, I have been once again reduced to begging...*sighs* Hey, when you are good at something keep going...So keep writing.

"We few, we happy few."
"We band of buggered."

Drat for Tara being interrupted by Mr. Klein just when she was about to express her feelings to Willow. But I loved how you showed Tara's ablility to tame the horse while Willow looked on in fear, love, and awe. Can't wait for them to get past the awkard stage in their relationship (expression of the feelings through words), and get to the stage when they can display their feelings through smoochies and so much more. Great update!

I love this story! I've read it twice and each update just gets better and better. I can't wait for Willow and Tara to finally tell each other about they're feeling, but I'm sure you'll get to it soon enough. *hint, hint*



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Once you fall for Willow, you stay fallen.