ooh, nice! i like! please continue this story!

you started with ... Part 1 !



I like that it leads to a part 2 and 3 and so on



please bring on part 2 soon





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

"Dude! like you're getting in the Boob light alright!" - AB Stuff photoshoot

I like the theme you've chosen for this story; retrospectives are always great and warm and fuzzy. And you've managed to get right into Willow's head straight away with this fic.



However, I'm not sure why, but it seems really rushed. The actions themselves and the style of your writing seems very hurried, as though you wanted to just get it over and done with. I would have liked to have seen more interaction between Buffy and Willow; more internalised thoughts and musings from them about the other, as that always helps to mould the character into the fic, whatever setting you choose for it.

----------
No metaphors...just fucking.

I was getting sad watching all the reruns where Willow and Tara are separated so a wrote this fic about happier times. It takes place in an alternate universe in season four.



Title: The Outing

Rating: PG 13

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Joss Whedon.





Part one



Willow paced nervously around her room figdeting with the pen in her hand. Every few minutes she would stop, let out a sigh, and then resume her pacing. The usually orderly room was more than a bit untidy. Clothes were thrown all over the floor and bed on Willow's side of the room. A few stray articles had found their way to the nightstand and desk. Amongst the debris was Willow, still clutching the pen and pacing. ' I wish I knew why this was so difficult,' Willow thought. 'If I wanted to spend time with Buffy or Xander I would just call and ask, no big deal. So why do I go on these pacing marathons everytime I think about calling Tara? When I'm with her I'm so comfortable and at peace, but when I think about her I get all worked up and flustered and I can't think straight. If only I could skip the whole calling her thing and just go over.'



"Will, you're gonna wear a hole in the floor," Buffy said. She had been watching Willow from the doorway for a few minutes and decided she would interupt when she noticed sweat on Willow's forehead. "Why are you pacing, and what happened? Did your closet throw-up?" Buffy said flopping down onto her bed.



"What? Oh, hi Buffy," Willow said stopping to face her friend.



"Okay. Now back to my original questions. What's up? Why the pacing and the closet barf?"



"Well, I was just thinking about stuff. Nothing important really. If it were important I would talk to you about it. So, you know, no big, and the clothes. I was just going through all my stuff and deciding what I could donate," Willow said in one breath.



"What's his name?" Buffy asked smiling not falling for Willow's clothing donation story.



"What do you mean? There's no guy," Willow said turning her back to Buffy to continue her pacing. 'Definately no guy,' she added in her head.



"Oh, come on, Will. I've seen you like this before. Remember? I watched you drool over Xander and Oz. This is your premating ritual. So spill it. Who is he?" Buffy said walking over to Willow and spinning her around so they were standing face to face.



'Oh my God, she's right,' Willow thought, 'Oh my God! That means....Tara.' Willow stepped out of Buffy's grasp and walked over to her bed and sat down.



"Are you Okay?" Buffy asked moving to sit next to Willow, "You don't look so good. Your face is all pale and you look like you're gonna puke. You aren't going to puke are you?" Willow ran over to the trash can and threw up. "I guess that would be a yes," Buffy said walking over and helping Willow back to the bed.



"Thanks," Willow said sitting back down.



"What's with the throwing up?" Buffy asked handing Willow the water she retrieved from the refridgerator.



"I don't know. One minute I was fine and then you said, and then I threw up," Willow said trying to make sense of what happened.



"Something I said made you throw up?" Buffy asked raising her eyebrows in surprise.



"No, well, kinda, but it's not important," Willow said shaking her head, "I think we should just go to class."



"Nice try, but I'm not going anywhere until you tell me who he is," Buffy said.



"I told you. There. Is. No. New. Guy," Willow said punctuating each word. " You know what, why don't you go ahead and I'll catch up. I want to make a phone call."



"A phone call to a non-existant guy?" Buffy asked standing in the doorway.



"How can I call someone who doesn't exist?" Willow asked shoving Buffy into the hallway and closing the door in her face. Willow walked over to the nightstand and threw the clothes off the top so she could locate the telephone. 'Now that I've found it, I have to use it,' Willow thought. It helped to know that she didn't have much time before class. Willow hastily dialed Tara's number.



"H-hello," Tara answered hesitantly.



"Hi Tara, it's Willow. I was just wondering if you were doing anything tonight?"



"I was going to s-study for my h-history exam. Why?" Tara asked.



"You're studying on a Friday night? Even I don't do that. Okay I do, but not every Friday, not that I'm saying you do, but anyway I just wanted to know if I could come over tonight?" Willow said thanking God that she was able to stop her babbling.



"You can c-come over," Tara said, "Is there anything in particular y-you want to do?"



"No, not really. I just want to hang out," Willow said, " Tara, I'm sorry, but I have to get to psych class. I'll see you tonight around seven, okay?"



"Okay, bye," Tara said.



"Bye," Willow hung up the phone and ran out the door on her way to class.

"Bloodsuckers. They kill by sucking blood. Take it easy, Joan." Anya (Tabula Rasa)

I have to agree with tommo here -- it's a great start, but I felt rushed through Will's inner turmoil. And Buffy's thoughts about Will would have been great -- and maybe even comedic!



My suggestion is to get the ideas out -- and then go back and fill in the details that really make a fic shine.



It's a great beginning and I already look forward to more!

JD

Helen: "What makes you happy?"
Jessica: "Nothing. I'm not."
(Kissing Jessica Stein)

Not bad Willow being Willow now for part 2.

Tara: Assume Crash
Positions

Yay! This is fun! I love reading AU fics where Tara and Willow get to struggle to realize their feelings for eachother all over again. It's so fun seeing them so torn, know that they'll eventually find eachother. I await the next update eagerly.

Your Faithful Reader,

BabyJune

***"Now whatever will become of me? Elegant waste and chivalry."

Nice start. I love early fics... getting to see the stuff that we didn't get to see the first time.



Looking forward to the next update.

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


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


"Futile... like a FOX, baby!" - Tara in The Late Shift by wiccachica

Mainer: Very cool start, I really liked seeing Willow so nervous about her feelings about Tara, I hope we get some Willow and Tara goodness in the next part. I can't wait to read more.



Lonewolf

I love stories of the beginning of the relationship. Please continue.

Adding up the total of a love that's true, multiply life by the power of two
Indigo Girls

Title: The Outing

Rating: PG13

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Joss Whedon.



Part Two:



"Hey," Tara said stepping aside and allowing Willow room to enter.



"Hi," Willow said moving into the room. For the first time in a long time she didn't feel comfortable around Tara. Now that she knew how she felt about her she couldn't help but feel anxious about all the things she wished she could say and do. Willow moved over by Tara's window and looked out. She was sure that Tara could tell exactly what she was thinking and she felt bad for having some NC-17 thoughts in there.



"Did you really c-come here just to t-talk to me?" Tara asked closing the door and then sitting down on her bed facing Willow. She couldn't believe anyone, much less someone as special as Willow, would come just to talk.



"Of course I did," Willow said going to sit next to Tara on the bed. She had never met anyone with such a lack of confidence in her life, except maybe herself. "What else would I want?" 'If she only know what else I wanted,' Willow thought, 'Stop thinking like that about her, she's your friend. Think about anything but that. Frogs, frogs, frogs.' It was the most non sexual thing Willow could come up with.



"I thought m-maybe you wanted to do a s-spell," Tara said looking at her lap, and that was just fine with her. If all Willow wanted was to do spells, at least it kept her coming back. "T-that would be okay."



"I don't want to do a spell," Willow said reaching out and touching Tara's arm, "I just want to hang out with you." Tara looked up and smiled. For the first time Willow's mind wasn't completely in the gutter and she was relaxed and comfortable again. Who would have thought actually touching her would make her not need to touch her. "What movie is that?" Willow asked breaking the intense eye contact and pointing at a video that sat next to a small television. It had caught Willow's attention when she first entered the room because Tara didn't usually have a television.



"T-that's nothing," Tara said scrambling in front of Willow and grabbing the tape.



"Nothing, huh? If it was nothing you wouldn't be hiding it," Willow said grabbing for the video. Tara turned quickly so her back was toward the rest of her room and to Willow. Willow moved around in front of Tara so she had a better angle to corner her. It was just like working out with Buffy, only this time she felt confident she would win and not end up with any painful bruises.



"You're never going to f-find out what's on this tape," Tara said slowly backing away from Willow.



"Is that a challenge, Miss. MaClay? Because if it is you're challenging the wrong girl," Willow said striding purposefully toward Tara. "I'll have you know that I've trained with a slayer, and though I've never actually won any of those battles I've learned a thing or two."



"No, it's not a c-challenge. Just a fact," Tara said still stepping back until she bumped into her bed. She had been so involved in keeping a safe distance from Willow she hadn't been paying much attention to where she was walking, and now she was trapped.



"Looks like you have nowhere to run," Willow said lunging at Tara and knocking her back onto the bed and ending up on top of her. "Now are you going to tell me what's on that tape or do I begin the torture?" Willow asked raising her eyebrows and putting on a mischievous grin. Tara laid there unable to speak. She was shocked that Willow was laying on top of her. Willow took Tara's silence as a response to her question. "Okay, don't say I didn't warn you." Willow began tickling her hoping that she would either drop the tape or confess what was on it. What started out as innocent playing in Willow's mind, something she had done a million times before with Buffy and Xander, was now becoming something more as she felt Tara writhing underneath her. Willow knew she was becoming aroused, but if felt so good she didn't want to stop. She also didn't want Tara to wonder what was wrong if she just suddenly stopped their little game. Tara was feeling it too, but decided that a break would be best. She didn't want to get carried away in what they were doing and have Willow regretting it and regretting their friendship.



"Okay, okay," Tara said breathlessly, "I'll tell you what's on the tape." Willow stopped tickling and rolled off Tara, glad and disappointed all at once. She wasn't surprised the tickle torture worked, it alway worked on Buffy too. "I can't believe you fell for that," Tara said jumping off the bed and running to the other side of the room.



"Hey," Willow said standing up and moving toward Tara like she was stalking her prey. She carefully backed Tara into a corner and placed her hands on the wall on either side of her, and then placed her body close enough to Tara that she could feel her breath on her cheek. 'I might be standing too close,' Willow thought, 'I should back up. No, I shouldn't. I'm supposed to be getting the tape, if I move she could get away. I can't act like I want to have sex with her or she'll know that's what I'm thinking. I'm not supposed to be thinking that right now. Frogs, frogs, frogs.' "So you thought you could get away," Willow said once she got her bearing back.



"Not really," Tara said smiling and the clutching the tape, "but it was worth a try."



"Now that you can't escape are you going to tell me what's on the tape, or do I torture you again? Keep in mind I have many ways to torture you."



"No, t-torture, I'll tell," Tara said. It was a hard decision as she rathered enjoyed her first torture.



"I'm not falling for it twice. I won't move until you tell me," Willow said. Tara smiled knowing already that Willow was too smart to fall for the same trick twice, but she had to try. She was really enjoying their little game of cat and mouse.



"It's my favorite movie," Tara said hoping that would be enough to get her out of the corner.



"So, what's the movie?" Willow asked. She was so close to Tara she could feel the heat radiating off her and it was all she could do to keep herself from lunging forward and ravishing her. When Willow fell, she fell hard. She was trying desperately to keep her mind on the video in Tara's hand.



"You'll laugh at me," Tara said dropping her head, the conversation taking a sudden and abrupt turn into seriousville. Seeing Tara withdraw like that was enough to get Willow's mind focused, and she wanted nothing more than to make Tara open up and smile again.



"Hey," Willow gently said placing her hand under Tara's chin and lifting her head so they were making eye contact, "I would never laugh at you." The silence that followed was almost as intense as the gaze between them. "Well maybe if you were telling a joke or trying to be funny, then I would laugh, but that would be laughing with you, not at you so I guess I was right the first time," Willow said trying to lighten the mood. "That being said, what's the movie?"



"Cinderella," Tara said looking back down at the carpeting.



"The Disney movie?"



"Uh huh," Tara said nodding.



"I love that movie, with the cute little mice, and the nasty cat," Willow said excitedly, "I love when the one mouse is explaining the cat to the big fat mouse, and when the fat mouse is carrying the corn, it's so funny." Willow stopped to take a breath realizing that she got a little carried away. Judging by the smile on Tara's face she didn't seem to mind, but just the same Willow wanted to get Tara back into the conversation. "Why is it your favorite movie?"



"She has such a t-terrible life. People a-always bossing her

a-around. She lost her f-father, and t-then her other f-family is so mean to her, but then she gets r-rescued and she gets to have a h-happy life," Tara said looking up at Willow before adding, "I know it's silly."



"No, it's not silly," Willow said starring into Tara's deep blue eyes. Willow could see in those eyes that the story hit too close to home for Tara. She couldn't stand the thought that someone could be mistreating her. It was time for Willow to get a little bolder. "Do you need to be rescued?"



'More than you know,' Tara thought, but she knew she didn't want Willow to know anything about that. At least not yet. "I am kinda t-trapped," she said referring to the fact that Willow still had her pinned in the corner. Not that she wasn't enjoying the close proximity, but it seemed like the safer answer.



"Then I'll save you," Willow said smiling and stepping aside. She wanted Tara to know that she wasn't just talking about letting her out of the corner, but about whatever it was she needed to be saved from. All Willow wanted to do was protect her, but she didn't know how to tell her that without ruining the friendship they already had.



"Thank-you," Tara said taking the opportunity to walk away over to her bed and compose herself. She had a distinct feeling that Willow was talking about more than just saving her from the corner, and she wanted Willow to just take her away and save her from everything. In some ways she already had. Willow sensed the mood in the room shifting again and she wanted to keep it light and friendly. She didn't want to accidentally confess her feelings to Tara before she was ready. She was racking her brain trying to come up with something that would be fun.



"So I was thinking since tomorrow is Saturday do you wanna have a picnic?" Willow asked sitting down next to Tara on the bed. She wanted to spend every minute of every day with Tara and the suggestion of the picnic seemed to achieve her initial goal of breaking the serious mood that had engulfed the room.



"A picnic sounds like f-fun," Tara said looking over at Willow and smiling, "What s-should I bring?"



"Yourself," Willow said pausing momentarily before adding, "and a blanket."



"A-are you sure that's all I n-need to bring?" Tara asked.



"Positive," Willow said smiling. She was already excited for tomorrow and tonight wasn't even over. She needed something to get her back in the now. "Can we watch the movie?"



"Sure," Tara said, "but if you ever mention this to anyone," Tara said then making a slashing motion to her throat.



"I won't," Willow said in mock seriousness. Tara reached over and grabbed her hand bending her finger back enough to cause a slight pain, and looked Willow dead in the eye.



"Promise me," she said.



"Promise," Willow said this time much more seriously despite the fact that she knew Tara was still playing. Tara let go of Willow's hand and casually walked over and popped the movie into the VCR. "Remind me never to get on your bad side."



Willow never heard Tara say, "Impossible."



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

"Bloodsuckers. They kill by sucking blood. Take it easy, Joan." Anya (Tabula Rasa)

Ve-e-e-e-ry nice. I love the chasing about the room ... tickle-fests often do bring up questions of romantic intentions. Hmm ...



Anyhoo ... great!



And, more!

JD

Helen: "What makes you happy?"
Jessica: "Nothing. I'm not."
(Kissing Jessica Stein)

very gorgeous!

Oh baby, want me to rub your tummy? She likes it when I ... stop explaining things.

Hi, um Tara..how are you? well...I was wondering maybe you want to go out some time...for coffee? food? Kisses and gay love?

Once you fall for Willow, you stay fallen.

Aw that was sweet. And Willow promising to rescue her - lovely!

Adding up the total of a love that's true, multiply life by the power of two
Indigo Girls

aww, I really like this... when will you post your next update?



Patricia

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

W-what were they looking at?

-The hotness of you doofus!!!

I finally had a chance to check this out, Mainer. Very sweet! Looking forward to the next part.

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

YUMMY!

"Say i'm weary , say i'm sad , Say that health and wealth have missed me ,
Say i'm growing old but add; Jenny kissed me"

YUMMY!



Thankyou Mainer!



ohhhhh season 4 seems so long ago now ...



*goes into one of her Steisand moods* -

"....misty water coloured memories ...of the way we were ...."



Sweetjane

"Say i'm weary , say i'm sad , Say that health and wealth have missed me ,
Say i'm growing old but add; Jenny kissed me"

heya,



this fic was sooo amazing lovely i loved reading every second of it!! please write more soon i want to no what happens. willow thoughts are soo adorable lol.



love ellie x x x x

*thats me as a vampire im so evil and skanky and i think im kinda gay*

*no candles? well i brought one its extra flamey!*

Edited by: witchbitchwillow at: 4/30/02 12:26:06 pm

Bumpity bump, bump.



Need update.



Jen

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


"It's good to be a chicken casserole," Tara murmured before passing out. -from "Answering Darkness" by Sassette




Tara: Can you just be kissing me now?

Title:The Outing

Rating: PG-13

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Joss Whedon.





Part Three:



"Whatcha doin?" Buffy asked dropping her things from her night at Riley's onto her bed. As usual when she returned from Riley's she looked a bit disheveled. More so today because she came back in some of his clothes. Patrol had been particularly rough last night, and a demon exploded all over her outfit. She came back to her room hoping to spend some time with her best friend only to find her packing a picnic basket, presumably for a day out of the room.



"I'm going out," Willow said trying not to draw attention to the basket. "I could ask you what you've been up to, but it seems kind of obvious what you were doing," Willow said glancing over and seeing Buffy dressed in Riley's clothes.



"Just because I come back wearing his shirt doesn't mean anything happened," Buffy said. Of course they both knew that something happened. Something always happened when Buffy spent the night and usually she spent a couple hours telling Willow all about it. "So who are you picnicking with?" Buffy asked snagging an apple off Willow's bed.



"Nobody," Willow said knowing immediately that it was the wrong answer. For one, she had way too much food for just herself, and secondly, Buffy would know that she wouldn't go on a picnic by herself. Now she looked like she was hiding something, which she was, but that wasn't the point. The point was that Buffy was now going to try her hardest to figure out what she was up to and she had no one to blame now but herself. She should have just told Buffy that she was going with Tara. Buffy didn't know who Tara was and she wouldn't suspect that Willow had an enormous crush on her, but now it was too late.



"The same nobody you had to call before class yesterday?" Buffy said wiggling her eyebrows suggestively. She was trying her best to get the identity of this mystery man that Willow was so enraptured with.



"That'd be the one," Willow said. She wasn't lying. So what if Buffy thought it was some guy Willow had a crush on, it was better than her knowing that it was Tara she had a crush on. Withholding information was definitely better than lying.



"Must be getting pretty serious if you're going on a picnic. I know that when Riley and I went on our picnic it was to move things along, and speed them up and shortly after that we had se...., never mind I momentarily channeled Anya. Although are you trying to have sex with him?" Buffy more shouted it than asked. She didn't know why she was so shocked at the idea. She knew that Willow had done it before, but the thought of her doing it again with someone else just seemed bizarre.



"No!" Willow answered quickly, "Well, maybe." She had admitted it more to herself than to Buffy. She didn't see the picnic as a way to get Tara in bed, but she wasn't going to deny that it was a place she wanted to go.



"That's great, Will. I guess. Just be careful," Buffy said. She wanted to give Willow the same be careful talk that Willow always gave her, but it just didn't feel right coming from her.



"Thanks, I think," Willow said smiling. Sometimes Buffy could be very strange. "I will be careful. I promise," Willow said hugging her best friend. "Now I have to go, I have a date." With that Willow grabbed the basket and left the room. 'Did I just say date? What if Tara doesn't think this is a date? Of course she doesn't think it's a date. Why would she? She doesn't even know how I feel. That's it, today I'll tell Tara, and tonight I'll tell Buffy.'



'Okay, she called it a date. This is way serious, and she's leaving me out. She never leaves me out. There must be something seriously wrong with this guy, or she would tell me. It's time for a little slayer sneakiness. Now to muster the troops,' Buffy thought grabbing the phone and quickly dialing Xander's number. He wasn't much of a troop, but he would do. Buffy paced nervously around the room, checking the clock about five times a minute. She couldn't figure what was keeping Xander. Maybe she should have made it sound more urgent on the phone. She didn't want to alarm him, though. He was probably trying to detangle himself from Anya. Sometimes Buffy thought they were attached at the hip. Buffy ran to the door the second she heard the knock. "It's about time," she said grabbing Xander by the arm and dragging him into the room.



"Okay Buff, you can release the hostage now," Xander said rubbing his now free arm, "Hope you don't mind, but I brought Anya to help with the hunt. If you don't mind me asking what are we hunting?"



"Willow," Buffy said.



"I knew she would turn to the dark forces," Anya said sipping a very large soda.



"Willow did not, and I repeat DID NOT turn to the dark forces," Buffy said glaring at Anya. This was going to be twice as difficult with her along.



"Then why the disaster area?" Anya said pointing to Willow's side of the room, which was still covered in clothes.



"Her pre mating ritual," Xander said.



"Exactly," Buffy said as if Anya should have known all along, "She told me she had a date, but she won't tell me with who. I think, no, I know it's getting serious and I want to check this guy out."



"So we're stalking her," Anya said.



"No," Xander said shocked at his girlfriend, "not stalking, just following her and finding out what she's up to."



"So then, we're spying."



"We would never spy on Willow," Buffy said, "If you can't even understand the mission maybe you shouldn't come. This is serious and in no way a violation of Willow's privacy. Got it?"



"Whatever," Anya said with a dismissive wave of her hand, "It's not like I care. I just want to go with Xander."



"So what do we know about Willow's whereabouts?" Xander asked sensing Buffy was becoming increasingly frustrated with Anya. Not that he could blame her, she could be trying sometimes.



"All I know is that it's a picnic. Knowing Willow, I'm fairly sure she'll want it to be private, and since she's walking I don't think she'd go off campus. So if we stick to the smaller, less populated fields, I'm sure we'll find her," Buffy said hoping she sounded confident. She really had no idea where Willow would go on a picnic. They had never really talked about stuff like that. "So let's saddle up and go."



"We're riding horses. You never said anything about horses," Anya said to Xander.



"We're not...., never mind. I'll explain later," Xander said noticing Buffy storm off in front of them.



'This is going to be a long day,' Buffy thought.

"Bloodsuckers. They kill by sucking blood. Take it easy, Joan." Anya (Tabula Rasa)

heya,



great update. omg what if buffy, xander and anya find willow and tara together he he he. that would just be too funny! cant wait for the next bit!!



love ellie x x x x

*thats me as a vampire im so evil and skanky and i think im kinda gay*

*no candles? well i brought one its extra flamey!*

Edited by: witchbitchwillow at: 5/4/02 12:54:37 pm

Great update! It can't wait to see Buffy's reaction to seeing Willow and Tara together.



More soon? Sorry, I know I'm greedy...



-Aimee

*****
"Pope John Paul today confirmed his opposition to gay marriages, said they're unnatural. Gay marriage is unnatural. Then he put on a pointy hat, his dress, and returned to never having sex at all." -Bill Maher

Thanx for the update! I can't wait to see what happens at the picnic and all the following reactions and so on...!

Oh baby, want me to rub your tummy? She likes it when I ... stop explaining things.

Hi, um Tara..how are you? well...I was wondering maybe you want to go out some time...for coffee? food? Kisses and gay love?

Once you fall for Willow, you stay fallen.

I am so loving this fic More soom please!

Buffy is BAAAD !



Lovin' this...Really great Fic.

vive,valeque.

Brillant update! Gotta love sneaky Buffy, can't wait to see the scoobies reaction to Willow and Tara.



Update soon please?

The potental for truely evil funniness really exists in this story. It is a very fun read keep it up.

T: "I think we can safely say we've lost our Library privileges"

"Final Exam" by: Tommo

Great update and anxious for more.



Thought that you channel Anya very well. Her dialogue sounded so like her. "Dark Forces", well why not throw your own foreshadowing in there, huh?



Playful, spying Buffy is cute. Will she likes what she finds? I liked how Buffy inadvertantly helped Willow figure out her new feelings for Tara in the beginning. More please?

WOW... awesome update!! Thank you so much.



I hope you will have the next update soon. Can't wait to see everyones reaction.



More, soon??



Jen

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


"It's good to be a chicken casserole," Tara murmured before passing out. -from "Answering Darkness" by Sassette




Tara: Can you just be kissing me now?