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2. Floating Rose |
Joined: Fri Aug 22, 2008 12:16 pm Posts: 30
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Title: Songs For A Mix Tape Author: Sarah (unionjill30) Email: unionjill_30@yahoo.comRating: PG - PG13ish? Disclaimer: I don’t own the characters from ME, and really I don’t own the other characters so much either. Though Kim would like to think she owns me. I'd also like to add that I don't own the bands mentioned nor do I own any of their songs. I only own a third of my own band and very few songs. Sorry, I'm not as cool as the other bands. Also, brand names and all that jazz don't belong to me either. Apparently not much does belong to me. Feedback: Yes please. Summary: So basically this is an AU fic that I dreamt up one day while I was having a cup of coffee. It starts off around spring of 2004, and Willow and Tara are both 23. Other BtVS characters pop up as well, but the whole vampire/Hellmouth thing doesn’t exist here. I’m really bad at these kinds of things so I’ll give the Reader’s Digest version. Willow and Tara meet, get together, fall in love, happy story, the end. And it seems I’ve ruined the ending, but then again this is Pens (and me writing it) and it wouldn’t happen any other way. Besides, it’s not always the ending but the stuff that happens on the way to that ending that is fun. Notes: This pretty much started out very far from a W/T fic, but somewhere along the line I decided I’d convert it to one. Once I got started, my original story kind of fell by the wayside and the whole thing took off in a new direction. So, if this sucks, I’m sorry, and I’ll stick to my own stuff considering my writing professor liked the original piece. Also, anyone who has ever really gotten to know me is aware of this slight obsession with music I have. It tends to come out a little bit in this story. I personally recommend the music mentioned, but I know not everyone will like it. I’m going to try to give each chapter a track number and song that kind of reminded me of the chapter to go along with the title of the story, which is actually inspired by an Ataris song of the same title. Thanks: I have so many people to thank. First, I’d like to thank that girl who ran into my table at the coffee shop and gave me the original idea. You really would creep me out because you stared a lot and never said anything, but thanks anyway. You were a real inspiration. Thanks to Kim for just being you. Thanks to Sarah Headley (I don’t care if you did get married, I’m still calling you by your maiden name). Headley, you’re going to school to have a career where you play with dead bodies. I think that’s just gross, but I still love you and you’ve been a real fountain of knowledge. Thanks to Garner for being my beta reader. You’re a huge help in improving my writing, and I greatly appreciate it. Thanks to Kasey for listening to me talk about nothing for hours on end and sometimes instigating insane conversations that only a select few would probably understand. I get a lot of crazy and creative ideas when I talk to you. Last I’d like to thank all the people I’ve met who have helped create characters for me to write about. Thanks everyone. Track ListTrack 1: Dream Girl by Jeffries Fan ClubTara was having a horrible day. It was only three o'clock on Wednesday afternoon, but she, along with the other three members of the band she was in, had already auditioned five people to replace Corey, the drummer with an attitude problem who abruptly quit four days prior. Apparently, Corey didn't care that they had a show lined up a mere week and a half away. That gave zero time to find a replacement, let alone teach them even a handful of songs. It was quickly becoming obvious that they would have to cancel, which upset Tara beyond belief. They never cancelled. It was unheard of. What Tara needed was a little time to herself to relax and forget about the stress that she called life. The secret to banishing stress had been discovered a few years previous to be a steaming mocha and a good book. Who would have thought a commercial for international coffee actually held a little truth? In order to fulfill her needs, Tara was walking the few blocks in the direction of Penny Lane, a local coffee house that had become a regular haunt for her in the two short years she'd lived in Sunnydale. The place was actually a small, old house that was converted into a business establishment. It wasn't extremely spacious, with only room for about ten small tables and a few comfortable chairs, but there was enough room so it didn't feel cramped. Also, it had a warm and cozy feel to it. This was one of the main reasons Tara loved the place. That, and they made great mochas. Sure, Sunnydale had the Espresso Pump, one of the more trendy places to hangout, but it just didn’t have the intimacy of Penny Lane. As she walked through the door, Tara quickly realized that she wasn't the only one who wanted a cup of coffee. Nearly every seat and table in the place was occupied. She was feeling hopeful that she'd find a place to sit and braved her way to the front counter to place her order. Standing behind the counter was Adam, one of her friends who worked at Penny Lane. She smiled brightly at him as she stepped up to the counter. "Tara, sweetie, how are you?" Adam asked. "Hey, Adam. Let's just say I've been a whole lot better," she sighed. Adam put his elbows down on the counter and looked up at Tara with a face that showed he was ready to listen. "What's the problem? Is it trouble with the ladies because you know I'd love to help you with that?" Tara knew he was just joking around to try and get her to laugh. She couldn’t help but smile. “To have trouble with the ladies, I’d have to actually have a lady. But seriously, you know how Corey quit? Well, we've been listening to potential replacements all day, and it's been horrible." "No luck talent wise, or what's the deal?" he pushed. "Let's just say that a two year old banging on pots and pans probably has more rhythm than most of these people," she said in all seriousness. Adam kept himself from laughing at the comment recognizing she wasn't joking about the talent. "That bad, huh?" "That bad, and probably worse," she added. "Well, what can I get you to make your day a little brighter? The usual?" he asked. "Actually, I was thinking grande instead of tall, and I missed lunch so throw in a banana as well." She had to admit it had been a while since she'd eaten and her stomach was starting to protest. The banana wouldn't be much, but it would hold her over until she had a chance to eat a real meal. "Okay, that leaves only the one huge question remaining. Do you want to drink this here and fight the crowd or do you want me to put it in a styrofoam cup so you can take it to go?" She wanted to stay and have a seat, but she hesitated at the question. Looking over her shoulder, Tara spotted a single empty table across the room. With her mind made up, she turned back towards Adam. "I'll stay here." As Adam turned to fill her order, Tara turned back to the room and began scanning over the crowd of people. As her line of vision tracked toward the empty table she planned to occupy soon, her eyes fell upon a redheaded woman sitting alone at a table that fell in the path from the counter to the empty table. The woman had a laptop on the table and was intently focused on whatever was on the screen. Hello. Amazingly beautiful woman at twelve o'clock, Tara's inner dialogue voiced. Hearing Adam approach the counter, she turned back to pay for her order.
"It's gonna be $4.56, hon," Adam said.
Reaching into her bag, Tara pulled out a five-dollar bill and handed it to her friend. "Thanks. Keep the change, sweetie."
The two smiled at each other, and Tara turned to make her way to the empty table. From the moment she turned, her eyes locked on the redhead once more. Walking and watching apparently wasn't one of Tara's strong suits because as she neared the redhead's table she failed to notice the angle of the table. One of the corners was turned just slightly causing it to jut out into the walkway. The outside of her left leg barely clipped the corner causing the table to shift. Fortunately, she was able to keep her balance and didn't spill any of her mocha. Unfortunately, the table shifted enough to tilt an open bottle of water causing it to take a graceful dive into an unoccupied chair and spill its contents almost completely.
The redhead made a futile attempt to catch the bottle before it fell, but she was too late and could only shout an angered "Hey!" before looking up at the culprit.
Tara immediately placed her mug on the table and grabbed a handful of napkins so she could mop up the mess. She felt like a complete idiot with her clumsiness. "Oh my god! I'm s-so incredibly s-s-sorry."
As the redhead looked up, her eyes locked on most beautiful sight she'd ever seen. A blonde haired, blue-eyed goddess was bent down beside her attempting to soak up water in a chair. Her anger seemed to be replaced with stupidity because she suddenly forgot how to properly use the English language. "I, uh, you, no, uh, yeah." Form sentences you moron, she chastised herself. Slowly regaining her composure, she was able to muster a quick, "It's ok."
Tara stopped what she was doing and both women seemed frozen in place for a moment just staring at each other. Breaking the trance, Tara slowly stood with a handful of wet napkins. "Um, I-I should throw these away a-and get s-some more. There's still q-quite a bit of w-water on the floor," she explained.
"Yeah," the redhead muttered, still in a dreamlike state. Suddenly she snapped out of it and jumped up. "I'll go get some while you throw those away, and I can help you out," she said as she nearly ran to the front counter.
When the redhead reached the counter, Adam was standing there with a bottle of water in one hand and a handful of napkins in the other. He held them out for her to take while saying, “Tell Tara she owes Adam a bottle of water.”
The redhead had no idea what he was talking about and stared dumbfounded.
Adam, realizing he should probably clarify, added in a slow voice that made him sound like he was explaining something to a child, “I’m Adam. The clumsy girl over there is Tara. She knocked over your water, so I’m giving you this bottle to replace it. That means Tara owes me a bottle of water. The napkins are to soak up the water that was spilled.”
Too caught up in wanting to get back to the beautiful blonde, the redhead didn’t even register that Adam was deliberately being sarcastic and merely nodded while taking the offered items and telling him, “Okay.”
As she reached the table, the redhead bent down to help clean up the mess. Tara grabbed some napkins as well and started mopping up the moisture again. Neither said a word as they soaked up the water. After a few moments, the redhead decided to fill the silent void. “Tara, Adam told me you owe him a bottle of water since he replaced the one you spilled, but it’s really no big. I can pay him for it since I’m going to be the one drinking it.”
“Oh, no. That’s okay. I s-spilled your water and you were probably thirsty, s-so I’ll just have him put it on my tab,” Tara started. Suddenly something struck her as odd. “How did you know my name?”
The redhead’s eyes went wide “Oh, um, that guy up there, Adam. He said you were Tara when I went to get the napkins.” Not wanting to be rude by knowing the girl’s name and not offering her own she added, “I’m Willow, by the way,” as she offered her hand to Tara.
Tara took the offered hand and shook it firmly as she said, “Nice to m-meet you, Willow. I really am s-sorry about disturbing you. When we get this cleaned up I’ll g-go find a seat and let you get back to what you were doing.”
For some reason, Willow felt saddened by Tara’s words. She had hoped that maybe Tara would stick around and have a seat with her so they could talk and possibly get to know one another better. Then again, Tara was basically just a random stranger who had bumped into her table. She couldn’t really expect the blonde to stick around.
The two finished cleaning up the mess in silence. Once everything was dry again, Tara began gathering the wet napkins to dispose of and placed the unused ones in the center of the table. As she walked back to retrieve her mocha and belongings, she saw a couple sit down at the empty table where she had originally planned on sitting. She quickly glanced around the room and saw that all the other seats were still occupied.
Somehow, even though Tara hadn’t said anything, Willow knew the other girl didn’t have anywhere to sit. Well, I guess I could give it a shot, she thought before offering, “You can always sit here, you know. I mean, there’s this previously damp, extra seat just sitting here without anyone to occupy it.”
Tara couldn’t help but giggle at Willow’s words. However, she wasn’t sure if the redhead really wanted her to share the table or if she was just being polite. With hesitation she said, “You really l-looked busy before. I wouldn’t want to interrupt or intrude or anything.” Then she thought how that must have sounded and began stumbling over her words. “I m-mean... I wasn’t... It’s n-not like.... um... I didn’t m-mean that like I was totally w-watching you before or anything, y-you know? I j-just meant... uh... yeah.” Great, now she thinks you’re some kind of weirdo or something who was ogling her earlier, Tara mentally berated herself as she attempted to use her long hair to hide her furiously blushing face.
Despite Tara’s obvious discomfort, Willow was now soaring with joy. She was doing a happy dance inside her head as she thought, Oh my god, she totally noticed me before she came careening into my table. She was trying her best to suppress the huge grin that threatened to plaster itself across her face and decided she should say something before Tara died of embarrassment. “It’s okay. Really. Despite what you may or may not have seen, I really wasn’t all that busy. I’m just getting ahead on a project. You wouldn’t be bothering me, and I’d be more than happy if you’d like to sit here.” Willow leaned down slightly in an attempt to look through the blonde locks in order to make eye contact to let Tara know she was being honest.
Tara looked up slowly and locked eyes with the redhead. Somehow, she trusted that Willow actually would like to share the table. The left side of her mouth quirked up in a small smile as she told the other woman, “Thanks.”
Willow smiled back and reclaimed her seat behind the computer screen. Tara sat down in the other chair and began fishing around in her bag for the book she was currently reading. Finding the book, she opened to the page where she had last left off, took a large drink from her mocha, and began reading.
Several minutes passed in silence as the two were wrapped up in their respective worlds; Willow engrossed with her computer screen and Tara far away in a distant land created by another person. The silence didn’t last, however, as Tara let out a frustrated “Ugh” and began grabbing for the pile of napkins in the middle of the table.
Willow glanced up at the noise and noticed Tara furiously dabbing a napkin at a page in a book. Wondering what was going on she asked, “What’s wrong?”
In an annoyed tone Tara replied, “Apparently my m-mouth isn’t as big as some people tell me because somehow I’ve managed to miss it completely, spilling liquidy brown fun all over my favorite book.”
Trying to lighten the situation, Willow joked, “If you want, I can go ask Adam if he has any of those sippy cups that parents always give to toddlers.”
Tara’s irritation faded almost immediately and started laughing. “You know, that might not be a bad idea.”
Still playing around, Willow began to stand. “I’ll get right on that,” she said with as much seriousness as she could fake.
Tara laughed even harder and somehow managed to get out a sentence between her laughter. “I wasn’t being serious.”
“I thought you really wanted one,” Willow feigned disappointment. It wasn’t until she said, “They come in an assortment of fun colors to choose from, you know,” that she finally broke down and started laughing along with Tara.
As their laughter died down, Tara began flipping through the pages of her book to inspect the extent of damage. “Well, it looks like pages 275-282 are nice and stained,” she observed.
Curiosity got the best of Willow, and she asked, “What book are you reading?”
“I, Claudius,” Tara answered.
“Hmm. Which part did you spill on?”
“When Germanicus is dying and thinks Plancina is practicing witchcraft against him,” she replied. “You know the book?”
“Oh yeah. Fabulous book. Great mini-series as well,” Willow answered.
Tara was amazed. She only knew a few people who had heard of the book, let alone read it. “Wow, that’s a shocker,” she said with a smile. And I’ve stop stuttering like a fool. Double shocker. Explain that one, she thought.
“What?” Willow had no idea what Tara was talking about.
“Well, usually when I mention something like I, Claudius most people just kind of look at me and wonder what in the world I’m talking about,” she clarified.
Willow let out a short laugh and said, “Well, that’s probably because most people lack any kind of culture and are more interested in reading about tips for better sex in Cosmo and watching the next episode of Days of Our Lives than reading or watching something that may actually hold a small amount of educational value. If everyone only knew that stuff like I, Claudius has just about as much sex and drama as any soap opera episode or issue of Cosmo they might actually give it a try. And I’ll be stepping off of my soap box now.”
“No, no. You’re right,” Tara agreed then laughed. “You just have an interesting way of putting it. So, how do you know about Cosmo and tips for better sex?” she teased.
Willow’s face turned bright red to match her hair and she started spluttering. “I, uh, don’t, uh... I’ve heard, uh, rumors. Yeah, rumors, from friends.”
“Riiiight. Friends. Sure.” Tara continued with her teasing.
“Alright, you’ve caught me, but in my defense, when your best friend is constantly leaving issues of magazines like that on the coffee table you can’t help but thumb through in moments of boredom,” Willow defended herself. “It’s not like I’d actually go out and buy an issue myself.”
“Okay, I’ll believe you,” Tara said. “But, just this once,” she continued with a sly smile. Looking to switch the subject and get to know the redhead better, Tara ventured with an attempt to find out Willow’s last name in the process, “So, Ms....”
“Rosenberg,” Willow supplied.
“So, Ms. Rosenberg, if you don’t mind my asking, what brings a girl into a hole in the wall coffee shop with a computer? There isn’t even an internet connection here. Do you work with computers or something exciting like that?” Tara was trying not to sound extremely nosy.
Willow didn’t mind answering the questions because she was curious to get to know Tara as well. “Yes and no,” she answered. Off of Tara’s confused look she continued, “Yes, I work with computers. Usually. But not today. Actually, the computer is because I’m doing some editing on a current film project.”
“Film? So you’re into the whole big Hollywood film scene then?” Tara pressed. She was hoping the answer was no, because she herself wasn’t interested in what Hollywood had to offer. She was more of a small-time, independent film kind of girl. Hollywood was too interested in where its next million was coming from in her eyes.
Willow almost laughed at Tara’s question. She couldn’t be any farther away from the Hollywood scene. “Actually, I tend to shy away from the Hollywood film scene. To be honest, I don’t really like Hollywood that much. It took an art and manipulated it into a moneymaker. I’m trying to keep it an art.” The fact of the matter was, Willow was incredibly disinterested in making money in the film industry. That wasn’t the point of what she was doing. Film was merely a side venture for her. Sort of like a hobby per se. Of course, it she happened to make some money from a project she’d welcome it. However, she was an intelligent woman and could find a more stable, steady income elsewhere.
Tara was impressed. Willow had given her the answer she desired and then some. This girl just keeps getting better and better, she thought. “How eloquently put. I couldn’t agree more,” she said as she smiled.
Willow smiled in return and thought to herself, Now I get to ask some questions. Willow used the same tactic Tara had used to find out her last name. “Well, Ms....”
“Maclay,” Tara answered laughing in her head at how Willow was obviously doing the same thing she had done to the redhead.
“Well, Ms. Maclay, now that you know a little bit of what it is I do, would you mind if I ask what it is you do?”
Tara searched for the right way to answer. She suspected this question was probably coming when Willow was telling about herself, and she felt inadequate for some reason. She was in a band and worked in a bookstore and didn’t feel like that was on any level near working with computers or filmmaking. She answered in the best way she knew how. “I don’t mind. I do a few things actually. For the most part, I play in a local band. Also, I work in a bookstore that a friend and I are planning on buying soon and turning into a book and record store.” Now she waited for Willow to tell her just how lame she was.
It never came though. Instead, Willow looked her straight in the eyes and said, “That’s really interesting. What kind of band are you in?”
Tara was thrown for a loop. She was so used to people, including her family, telling her that she was just wasting her time with a no-name band that wouldn’t amount to anything and that she should get a real job. Her mind went blank for a few seconds and she couldn’t even remember the name of the band she was in let alone the type of music they played. She eventually regained her ability to think and replied, “It’s actually kind of debatable what kind of music we play. Nobody likes to be pigeonholed, but I’d say it’s mostly punk to a certain extent, but we don’t necessarily categorize ourselves into one genre per se.”
“But if you did have to categorize yourselves....” Willow prodded.
“If we had to categorize, I would say it’s like a sort of an punk/emo/post-indie-rock thing. And that’s a really horrible description, I know.” Tara stopped to think for a moment then continued, “Let me try to find a band to compare it to. Okay, think Something Corporate minus the piano, which is kind of stupid to say considering they’re all about the addition of a piano. Then if you add in maybe some Tsunami Bomb and The Anniversary, I’d say we’re kind of like that.”
Willow scanned her memory banks to try to pull up anything she knew about a band called Something Corporate. It sounded extremely familiar, and she was almost positive she had a CD by a band with that name. At the moment, however, she was coming up blank. She knew The Anniversary but had never heard of the other band. Not wanting to look like a total idiot, she figured she could look everything up later and said, “So you play good music then.” Wow, that was incredibly lame, she thought.
“I’d like to think we do. We all like it anyway, and I suppose that’s what really matters,” Tara said.
Just then, Willow’s cell phone rang. She pulled it out of the bag at her feet and gave Tara an apologetic look before flipping the phone open to answer it. “Hello?”
On the other end was the voice of her best friend Buffy. “Will, where are you? It’s almost 4:30. The flight leaves at 9:00, so we need to be out of here by 6:00 if we’re going to make it to the airport in time.”
Willow glanced at the clock on her computer screen. Was it almost 4:30 already? The last time she had looked at the time it was only a little after 3:00. She and Buffy, along with Buffy’s husband Liam, were taking a short vacation for a few days to Willow’s uncle’s beach house on Captiva Island in Florida. It seemed like a stupid idea considering they lived only a short drive from the beach in Sunnydale, but the trip would provide some relaxing time away from home and work along with the seclusion of a private beach. “Sorry, Buffy. I didn’t realize it was getting so late,” she apologized as she started shutting down her computer.
“Where are you?” Buffy asked again.
“I’m at a coffee shop a few blocks away. You told me I wasn’t allowed to bring anything in the form of a laptop with me, so I thought I’d get some stuff done before we left. I just lost track of time,” she said.
“Well, I guess I’ll see you in a few minutes then. I cooked so we could eat before we left for the airport,” Buffy said.
“You cooked?” Willow asked suspiciously. Buffy hardly ever cooked, and when she did, it was either not very good or it was something pre-made that she could just microwave.
“Okay, I microwaved,” Buffy confessed.
Willow smiled and said over the phone, “I’ll be home in a little bit. Bye, Buffy.”
“Bye, Will.”
Willow closed the phone and placed it back in her bag. As she began packing up her computer, she explained to Tara, “That was that friend I mentioned earlier who supplies me with the naughty reading material.” Tara laughed as Willow continued, “I’ve got to head out now or she’ll tear my head off.”
Tara nodded her understanding. “So, I’ll see you around then?” she asked.
“Definitely. I come in here a lot, and judging by how well you know the guy who works here, I’d say you’re here a lot too. Just look for me. I’ll be the nerd huddled over the computer,” she joked.
“I’ll look for you then.” Tara smiled as she extended her hand toward the redhead. “It’s been a pleasure meeting you, Willow.”
Willow accepted the hand and shook it as she said, “It’s been my pleasure.” As she stood to leave, she turned and reiterated, “I’ll see you around,” before walking towards the door.
Kim (looking at her car encased in snow): I bet it's warm in there. Me: Probably. You know, like when you build a snow fort and it's warm inside even though it's cold outside. Kim: Yeah, like igloos. It's like the igloo effect. Us (realization dawning): Igloo Effect. Dude, that is so the name of our band! Edited by: unionjill30 at: 12/3/03 2:07 pm
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