Chapter Seven
Pairing: W/T – be patient.
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I in no way, shape or form own the characters from BtVS. I’m not making any kind of profit; this is simply for my own amusement – and hopefully the people reading it. This is completely AU, so something new for in that way, and there may be some dialogue stealing on my part here and there. There’s no hellmouth, no oogly-booglys, only a few of the Scoobies will appear – so don’t expect a family reunion – I hope you enjoy.
Email:
riverwillows@me.comFeedback: I will love you forever for it.
Author’s Note: After realizing there was absolutely no way possible that I could drag things out for five more chapters before I introduced Tara, and since things just kinda worked out this way anyhow, I hope everyone enjoys.'Tis the Season...
Over the next three weeks I scanned the papers and renter’s guides and couldn’t find anything that screamed out “home”. On the weekends and in the evenings I must have dragged Erik all over the city looking at almost everything that must have been up for rent at the time. Duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, townhouses, condos, sublets, guest houses, apartments; then I began to look to buy hoping to have better luck – less than a week before Christmas I still hadn’t found anything and I just wanted to
scream!
Patience is
not my strong suit.
Buffy and I were at lunch two days before Christmas. We were sitting inside The Keg Bar and Grille. I had just polished off a huge buffalo burger, and was contemplating dessert while looking at my watch to see how much time I had before I had to be back at the gallery.
“So are you ready for Christmas?” Buffy asked. “Do you even celebrate, Will?”
I looked up at her from the menu. “This time of year is always a bit of a funny time for me. I don’t really celebrate Christmas, or Hanukkah anymore either for that matter – not in the traditional senses anyway. My parents just send money, and the only people I really exchange gifts with are my close friends, so…” I shrugged.
“Erik will be going to Denver to be with his folks, so we were going to exchange gifts before he leaves. Brenda’s holding an “every religion under the sun” type holiday party on Christmas Eve, but I thought I’d sit home and watch Charlie Brown in peace. What about you? Robby must be a handful to have under foot all the time right now, huh?” I asked as I ate the last of my fries.
“I think that child is part bloodhound! We have to hide his presents at the shop in the storage room every year or he finds them!” Buffy laughed. “Mom says I was just as bad as a kid, though. Tara and I don’t even bother to bring them home any more – all gifts go right to the shop so we can hide them away. Robby will be in later this afternoon to play in the arcade if your free, by the way.”
I smiled. “Sure, I’ll stop by after work. It’s slow right now, so I may even be able to cut out early. With only a few days left before the holidays no one is really working on anything much.”
“If you stay long enough, you might even get to finally meet Tara too, she’s going to pick us up,” Buffy said.
“Ahh yes, the wonderful and fabulous “Tante Tara”; how can such a bastion of wonderfulness ever live up to the tales?” I asked jokingly. “Robby adores you both, so I hear stories all the time. Sure, I can hang around; I don’t have any plans tonight.”
“Have you found a place yet?” Buffy asked with a smile, as she finished her soup.
I rolled my eyes, sighing heavily and began to whine about the lack of anything decent to rent or buy at that time of year fit for a rat to live in.
“I think I have the perfect solution for you, but let me make a phone call, okay? It’s not a place, but I think I know someone that can help,” Buffy said.
“Help? Like a roommate? Aww, thanks Buffy, but I really want a space of my own…” I tried to politely turn down the offer of help.
Buffy held up her hand, shaking her head. “No, no, not a roommate, look, come over for dinner tonight and I’ll take care of the rest. This will be perfect!” Her eyes twinkled merrily.
I looked at her a little surprised and unsure. “Uh, sure, okay.”
“Great! Robby will be so excited when I tell him you’re coming over,” Buffy said with a wide grin and signaled for the check.
******
I walked into the shop a little after 3:30pm that afternoon, and a bell over the door rung out cheerily. Buffy came from behind a door that said “Employees Only” smiling brightly. When she saw it was me, she looked at her watch in surprise.
“You’re here early,” she said.
I shrugged. “Not a lot to do, so Brenda sent everyone home early. We had only two people come in today, and they didn’t even make a mess.”
“Well, you’re timing is perfect Robby should be here any minute,” she said. “You can come back here with me; I was just going over some of the shipping orders. You know the fun stuff.” Buffy rolled her eyes. I followed her through the door into an office that had two desks in it; Buffy’s desk was covered in little piles of what looked like packing slips, and the other desk had several unopened boxes on it.
We chatted while she separated the sheets out into piles before her, and before long the bell clanged again. Before we could leave the office, Robby came bursting in chattering away to someone behind him which happened to be Joyce.
“Well, hello, Willow. It’s nice to see you again,” Joyce greeted me with a smile.
“Will is gonna come over for dinner tonight. She’s still looking for a place and I have an idea of someone that might help, okay?” Buffy said as looked up from the sheets she was sorting through.
“Sure, one more won’t hurt,” Joyce said.
“Yay!” Robby shouted as he dropped a backpack, then a hat and mittens around the office, which was quickly getting crowded.
So I stood and held out my hand. “You, little man, are coming with me.
We have a date with a “Centipede” machine!”
Robby started to pull me towards the door giggling. “How long do I have Aunt Buffy?” He asked as we went.
“Tara will be here at 5:30pm, so you have to be back by then,” Buffy looked up and smiled at us.
Robby’s eyes got big. “C’mon, Willow, we have to hurry,” he said.
I laughed and waved goodbye as we rushed out and over to the arcade. Robby went over to the machine while I got some quarters, and when I came back he was steadily loading quarters into the machine.
“Whoa, little man!” I said. “How much have you already put in?”
He thought for a few minutes before answering. “I brought a roll of quarters from home… so a lot.” He said with a smile as he held up an almost empty clear plastic sleeve.
I laughed, shaking my head. “Okay, let’s start with that and see how far we get. You wanna go first?”
“Nah, I went first last time, you go first this time,” he said. “I can’t believe you’re coming over for dinner, we’ll have so much fun. I have a PlayStation and we can play more games when we get home, if you want.”
“Sure, what games have you got?” I asked.
Robby continued to talk while I played, telling me all about his games. Back and forth we played, the time passing quickly. The alarm on my watched chirped at five minutes before Tara was due to arrive.
“We have five minutes left, buddy,” I said as Robby played.
“Okay,” Robby replied, his tongue sticking through the gap where his two front teeth were starting to come in at, and I smiled down at him. “Yes!” he said but it came out sounding more like “yeth” as he lisped around his missing teeth, “I beat you, Willow!” He smiled triumphantly.
“This time, little man, this time,” I said grinning back at him and tousled his hair. “Let’s go, your Tante should be here soon to pick you up, if she isn’t here already.”
His little hand slipped into to mine as we walked through the arcade and out into the breezeway. It was dark already, and the cold was setting in. Snow was wrapped around some of the pillars and patches of ice were easy to see on the cement.
We walked into the shop, the bell jingling once again. Buffy was leaning over one of the counters talking to a woman a little shorter than me, with honey blonde hair a shade or two darker than Robby’s. They both turned to look at us as we came in.
“Tante!” Robby exclaimed letting go of my hand and charging the young woman.
I noticed her eyes were the same striking blue as Robby’s as she swept him in for a hug. When she looked back to me and smiled, I saw Robby’s shy crooked smile too. She was absolutely lovely. She was standing with her hands in the pockets of a three quarter length dark dress winter coat that was over a cobalt blue sweater that brought out her eyes, making them dance and heather grey wool slacks. I couldn’t seem to stop staring at her, and clasped my hands nervously in front of me.
Robby turned, taking my hand and pulled me over. “Tante, this is RED, well, Willow, ‘member I told you all about the “Centipede” game? We play in the arcade together now,” he said smiling.
“Yes, I do
remember,” Tara corrected gently as she stroked his hair. “I’ve heard all about your video game prowess for months now.” She teased me smiling.
I smiled and stuck my hand out. “Hi, I’m Willow, nice to meet you.”
“Hi, Willow, I’m Tara,” Tara said as she took my hand.
It started out as a simple handshake, but soon we stood holding hands, just staring into each other’s eyes. We weren’t really shaking hands anymore, just gazing at one another. It was the oddest thing, her hand was warm and soft, and fit mine so well, but her eyes just had me mesmerized. Deep pools of gorgeous blue and I wanted to dive right in.
“Tante, Willow’s coming over for dinner, Aunt Buffy said so, right Aunt Buffy?” Robby said watching us.
“Sure did,” Buffy replied as she watched us stare.
“Really?” Tara asked absently as we still held hands, her thumb had started to stroke the back of my hand.
“Yeah, so you guys can hold hands there too,” he said giggling mischievously.
“What?” I said coming back to myself, and dropped her hand but I couldn’t drop her gaze, even as I started to blush. “Oh, yeah, dinner, coming, me. Yes! Buffy asked. I answered. You and I’ll be coming. I mean I’m coming, coming over for dinner, nothing else, just a friendly meal among friends… and I’ll shut up now,” I babbled while my blush deepened.
Tara cocked her head to one side as she listened to me babble while smiling at me as we continued to watch one another. “Great,” she said, her eyes sparkle.
Buffy smirked, as she watched us. “Why don’t you ride with Willow, Tara? I’ll take your car and Robby can go with me. That way she won’t get lost.” She began pushing Tara and I to the door, and Robby had already disappeared giggling. “Don’t worry; I have my keys, you two run along, we’ll be right behind you, promise.”
I looked at Buffy like a dear in headlights. I had not planned for this. Tara certainly was… something, that was for sure, and oh, boy was I in trouble. Then there we stood outside the shop with the door being locked on us by a smiling Buffy.
“Real subtle, Buff,” I muttered. I turned to Tara and said nervously, “I ah, I work at the gallery, so I’m parked a few blocks away, do you mind walking? Or I could hurry and meet you on the street.”
“Not at all, lead the way,” Tara said. “And yeah, Buffy is a subtle as a brick to the head.”
We were walking quickly up the block to the gallery, and I watched as Tara’s cheeks became rosy from the cold. I pointed to the stair that led up to a parking lot to our right. I noticed during our walk she was in heels, so I let her go ahead of me up the stairs in case she slipped… and I also got to view her from behind… watch her hips sway beneath her coat…
There are some perks to being chivalrous.
Mine was the only vehicle left in the lot. I led her over, and opened the door for her and making sure she was situated safely before I ran around to my side of the truck. I jumped in and started it up. We kind of leaned into one another in the cold cab of my truck, waiting while it warmed up. Our breath fogged up the windows as we sat and shivered against the chill.
“Ready?” I asked with my hand on the heat controls, knowing there would be a rush of icy air first Tara nodded. “Don’t worry, she warms up fast,” I said as we were blasted with cold air for a few minutes.
I pulled out to the lots entrance and looked at Tara, waiting for direction. My breath caught and I couldn’t seem to stop staring. Tara’s eyes twinkled in half light, and her skin was luminous, with the flush from the cold still visible. Images of different types of blushes on Tara’s skin started to dance in my mind’s eye in naughty, naughty ways. I had to shake my head and swallow hard to get myself under control, what was my problem? It’s not like I had never been in the company of a pretty woman before.
“Uh, Tara?” I asked softly, just becoming aware that she was staring also.
“Yes, Willow?”
“Which way do I go?”
“What?” Tara asked.
I cleared my throat. “Which way, to your house? Which way do I go?”
“Oh!” Tara laughed then looked around to see where we were. Giving me directions, we set off into the cold night, and I was so thankful to have to focus on something other than Tara.
“So you work in the gallery?” Tara asked.
“Mmmhmm,” I murmured as looked over at her briefly.
“Are you an artist? What do you do?” She asked.
I smiled. “You’re going to laugh when I tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m a metal cutter for some of the artists,” I said. “I do some welding too.”
“Why is that funny?” Tara asked.
I looked over at her again. “Buffy laughed herself almost sick when I told her. I guess I don’t seem butch enough or something, I dunno.”
“Ahh. Do you like it?” she asked seriously.
“Yes, yes I do actually,” I said.
“Tell me more about you,” Tara asked softly. I looked at her again quickly as I drove. Her soft smile and those eyes…
My immediate response was to shut down. My jaw clenched; I could feel the muscle jump as I grit my teeth. “What would you like to know, Tara?” I asked staring at the road as I pulled up to a stoplight. Gripping the steering wheel tightly with one hand, the other curled into a fist resting against my thigh.
Then I felt her warm hand on mine again, she squeezed my hand to catch my eye. “We can just sit if you’d rather, we don’t have to talk.”
“No, really you can ask, besides we’ll be in The Springs soon, so you’ll have to tell me where to go again,” I said as the light changed color.
“Okay,” Tara said and continued to hold my hand. Other than directions she never asked anything during our ride, but she never let go of my hand either.
TBC…
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) and the flashback really makes her live. Also love Erik, you have a real gift for creating individual characters quickly! 
