<see
Part 1 for
disclaimers>
October
10
Willow smiled when she opened her eyes again and saw
Xander sitting in the chair last occupied by Tara. The young man was reading one of Willow's schoolbooks and had his
feet on the bed. She also noticed he
had a pistol tucked in his waistband.
Her friends were determined to
protect her, Willow realized with a smile.
First they saved her life and now they were going to make sure Oz didn't
get a second chance at the redhead.
"Hey," she said softly and
smiled wider at the extremely pleased look on her best male friend's face as he
scampered to his feet and hugged her gently.
"Hey,
yourself, beautiful!" he grinned and put the book down. Willow noticed it was her biology book as he
reached for her glass of water and handed it to her one good hand.
"Biology? I thought you and
Anya were practicing enough already," she said softly, teasing him.
"I thought I might take some
junior college classes next semester and maybe try for the University next
fall," he responded with a blush.
"How long was I asleep this
time," she asked. Willow was
becoming used to waking up and finding she had been asleep for hours. The doctors had told her that it was a
normal reaction after what her body had been through. Being stabbed through the heart and having her hand mangled had
been rough on the young witch.
Especially since she had died from the knife in the chest, only Tara
leading a magick circle had saved her, pouring the unconditional love of her
friends and the two women she was very much in love with: Buffy and Tara.
"About nine hours," Xander
smiled.
"Your eyes are better,"
she mumbled, trying to keep her eyes open.
"Yeah, the nose isn't too bad
either," he continued to grin and turned on the light above Willow's bed,
looking at his watch.
The young man's nose hardly looked
like it had been broken at all and his eyes were finally losing their boxer
look. Anya kept insisting that it gave
him character and crowed how brave he had been trying to protect her by
fighting off vampires and werewolves.
He noticed Willow's head falling
forward again and turned out the light as he realized she probably wasn't going
to stay awake this time.
Xander's hand went to the gun in his
waistband as the door to Willow's hospital room opened; he relaxed with a smile
when he saw Detective Santiago. The
would-be college student dropped his shirt over the evidence of a gun in his
trousers and Detective Santiago ignored the movement.
"Has she woke up at all
today?" he asked softly.
"Yeah, just a minute ago but
drifted right back off," Xander answered softly and moved to the end of
Willow's bed. "Any sign of
Oz?"
"No," Brad Santiago
noticed Xander's frown and nodded in agreement. "It's been a week and I won't be able to keep up the massive
manhunt for him much longer. He's going
on America's Most Wanted and they'll want to talk to all of you."
"I don't know if Willow will
want to be on camera," Xander's frown deepened.
"The show helps catch some of
these bastards and they won't use Willow, they'll use an actress," Brad
assured him.
They both looked over as Willow
whimpered in her sleep and then was quiet again.
"She has nightmares all the
time," Xander growled.
"They'll ease up over
time," Detective Santiago said softly, his own face reflecting his
concern. The young Ms. Rosenburg looked
a lot like his young teenager daughter and the police officer wanted to get his
hands on Daniel Oswald very badly whenever he saw Willow's pale and pained face
lying on that hospital pillow.
"What about the guys outside
the door?" Xander asked the Detective about the police protection outside
Willow's door ever since they had found her.
"Only for the weekend and then
they'll be reassigned,”Brad answered and tried to ignore the sullen look on
Xander's face. "Once Willow is out
of the hospital next week we'll increase the patrols past Ms. Summers’ house
and Mr. Giles' place as well. That's
about all I can do."
"I know, it just sucks,"
Xander complained.
"At least she won't be
returning to the dorms this semester," Brad pointed out.
"Yeah, they're putting her on
home-study and she's staying at Buffy's home," Xander confirmed. "Mrs. Summers wants to look after
Willow with the rest of us since Willow's parents are in Europe."
"I can't believe they went to
Europe with Willow in the hospital," Brad growled, looking down at the
fragile looking young woman.
"Didn't they know how close they came to losing her?" he hissed,
trying to keep his voice low.
He was surprised when Xander Harris
merely shrugged. "It's
Sunnydale," the young man said, as if that explained everything.
"What do you mean?" Brad
Santiago, a newcomer to the Sunnydale police department from New York City,
demanded.
"You'll figure it out
eventually," Xander said sullenly.
"Nobody cares here, Detective.
They don't notice things like people disappearing for no reason and without
a trace, nobody notices their kids."
"Experience that
yourself?" Brad asked softly.
"I think the last time my
parents noticed me was when my father walked in on me having sex with my
girlfriend last week," Xander grinned but it wasn't a happy smile, it had
more bitterness than pleasure in it.
"Before that I think they went to a fifth grade play I was
in."
"Mrs. Summers and Mr. Giles
seem to like all of you," Brad commented as Xander walked with him outside
of Willow's room into the hallway.
Xander's eyes always looking for the guard stationed outside the computer
geek's door.
"They're the best!"
Detective Santiago's quick eyes noticed how Xander's face lit up at the mention
of the two adults. Santiago had
interviewed Joyce Summers and Rupert Giles over the last couple of weeks in
dealing with Oz. At first he had been
suspicious of what the older Giles could have in common with kids barely out of
high school. He became even more
suspicious when he discovered the Englishman had been the librarian for the
burned out high school and had been very close to Xander, Willow, Buffy and Oz
when they were in school.
Some of his skepticism were eased
once he met Mr. Rupert Giles and Mrs. Summers and realized that they either
were or had been dating and still cared for each other. Detective Santiago assumed that Giles had
gotten to know Buffy and her friends through his interest in Buffy's Mom.
Brad Santiago still held some
reserve judgment about the Englishman though.
A background check had revealed nothing out of the ordinary except a
couple of arrests for drunken behavior when Giles was much younger. Somehow the clean record made Santiago
uncomfortable, his instincts flaring that something wasn't right and felt wrong
about Giles' overseas record.
What the detective couldn't deny
though was the affection that Giles had for the group of young adults and no
alarms or warning flags went up in the detective's mind about it. Brad Santiago came to the conclusion that
Giles was actually the closest thing to a father figure that most of the kids
had. He also concluded that Giles
actually loved them very much and they loved him with nothing kinky involved.
Brad Santiago wasn't surprised when
both he and Xander looked down the hall and saw Buffy and Tara walking their
way.
"The night shift?" Brad
asked Xander with a grin and Xander blushed and shuffled his feet. "You know the police officer won't let
Oz near her, that's what he's there for."
"We know, we just feel better
being with her," Xander muttered.
"The hospital quit trying to kick us out last week, now they ignore
us."
Having seen the desperate looks on
the faces of Ms. Willow Rosenburg's friends, Brad wasn't surprised the hospital
caved in and let at least one of them stay with her twenty-four hours a
day. It helped keep the young student
calm and made her feel safe. That was a
major plus, Brad reflected. The doctors
had warned against any excitement or fear for at least a month until her heart
muscle had healed a little more. Having
her friends there ensured Willow didn't wake up in a panic, that Oz wouldn't
get through the door, and they could wake her out of any nightmare before it
got too bad.
Brad Santiago had seen the gun in
Xander's belt and knew the others were probably armed as well. He knew he was obligated to at least take
the illegal weapons from the kids but didn't have the desire to. He didn't feel totally secure for Willow
with just one police guard on the door and he knew Willow's friends would die
protecting her.
"Detective Santiago,"
Buffy said when she got close to Willow's room. "Any sign of Oz?"
"No," the detective
repeated. "I'll let Xander fill
you in. I've got to get home for
dinner. My wife gets nervous when I'm
out past dark if I'm not on a case. She
says she hears strange things in the alley sometimes," he said with an
amused grin.
"Tell her not to go outside and
look," Buffy said sternly.
Brad Santiago frowned. He had expected the kids to smile at the
thought of his wife being spooked by noises in the dark, instead they looked
deadly serious. Brad began to wonder exactly
what it was about the town that he had been trying to put his finger on since
he had arrived last month.
<It was like something out of a gothic novel,> he complained to
himself as he walked down the hall. The
inhabitants were reluctant to talk about anything, the parents seemed to be
lost in a fog, and the kids seemed to keep to crowds and well lit places after
dark but seemed confused as to why they did it if you pointed it out to
them. It was like a village living
under the shadow of Castle Frankenstein.
Brad glanced back and saw Xander encompassing both
Buffy and Tara in his arms.
The detective had a gut feeling that it wasn’t quite
over for the young group he had come to like over the last week.
“Hey, Xander,” Buffy said easily, her eyes darting
to the police officer sitting outside Willow’s room, ensuring that he was alert
and watching everything.
“Hey, Buff, Tara,” the young man answered as he
pulled back.
Both young women could see the unasked questions
forming on his face once again and Buffy held up her hand.
“No, we haven’t ‘decided’ anything and we haven’t
talked to Willow about what any of this means,” Buffy snapped.
“I’m sorry,” Xander said softly.
“Its okay, Xander,” Tara said softly as Buffy turned
and entered Willow’s room. “It’s just
been so hard watching Willow struggling to get her strength back and none of us
can do anything, we haven’t even mentioned relationships and feelings.”
“You know you don’t stutter as much when you’re
around us now?” Xander pointed out with a smile and laughed softly when Tara
began blushing. He wrapped an arm
around her shoulder affectionately. “I
know we didn’t spend a lot of time together before this but you’re one of the
gang, you’re an official Scooby type person.
I know you’d never hurt Buffy or Willow.”
Tara blushed even more and he quickly hugged her and
slipped his pistol to her. The young
witch stuck it in the waistband of her own jeans and pulled the t-shirt over
the butt.
When Tara opened the door she knew she’d find Buffy
in a chair by Willow’s bedside, holding the computer geek’s uninjured hand,
whether Willow was awake or not.
Night and day both women were by Willow’s beside,
especially when the young witch didn’t bounce back from the knife injury as
quickly as the doctors had hoped. None
of the Scooby Gang could tell them that it was probably because Willow had died
that night and it was only the combined efforts of love and magick that had
brought her back.
“Hey, Xander go home?”
“I think he was heading to his job?” Tara commented.
“What is it this week? Pizza or burgers?” Buffy
asked softly, hoping not to disturb the redhead in the hospital bed.
“Actually he got a job as a security officer at the
mall,” Tara grinned at Buffy’s surprised expression. “He wants to save some money and move out of his parents’
basement and go to junior college.”
“He mentioned that,” a groggy voice joined in the
conversation and both Tara and Buffy smiled as Willow opened her eyes and
smiled back. “Hi, guys.”
“Hey, Wills!” Buffy’s smile widened as green eyes
met her blue ones and the Slayer felt her heart melting all over again.
Without thinking about it, Buffy held out her other
hand and Tara responded by holding it and gently brushing back a lock of
Willow’s hair with her other hand, unconsciously forming a triangle between the
three women. Willow noticed and smiled
even more.
“I love you both,” she said softly.
“I can’t stay long, I’m patrolling tonight,” Buffy
said as a way of avoiding the emotional stuff they had been dancing around.
It had been a hurried decision not to talk about the
emotional confusion the three women were going through until Willow was out of
the hospital and a little more stable.
The doctors had warned against extreme emotional distress and none of
Willow’s friends were willing to add to any worries she might have, especially
Buffy and Tara.
“I’m staying the night though,” Tara said cheerfully
and felt the warmth of Willow’s smile hit her like a physical blow. Then she looked in Buffy’s eyes and felt the
same warmth.
Xander told Willow earlier that during the week, as
she had been in and out of consciousness from her wounds, that Buffy and Tara
had been acting strange. Willow had been worried that they weren’t talking or
something but Xander had said that was the weird thing. Without Willow around, the two women seemed
lost unless they were together. The
strangest thing was that they didn’t seem to talk much, as if they were
avoiding issues but couldn’t seem to be apart from each other. Willow thought she understood, any time she
had tried to bring up her feelings for either or both young women they had
dodged and changed the subject, saying it could wait until she was better.
Willow figured they were going to kill her with
kindness if she let them.
Buffy noticed Willow’s “resolve” face faster than
Tara did, having been around Willow since they were sophomores in school. The Slayer drew back slightly and Tara felt
the blonde slam down mental and emotional shields without even being aware that
she was doing it.
“Wills?” Buffy asked softly as Willow seemed to be
gathering her strength and had a most determined look on her face.
“Look,” the young witch began as Tara caught onto
the “resolve” face. “I’ve told you both
that I love you and you can both say it back.
I don’t expect us to work this out while I’m here but I don’t want to
dance around it and feel like a criminal because I love you both.”
Buffy and Tara both looked pained. “Willow, we’re not blaming you for loving
both of us and you shouldn’t feel guilty.
I…I love you both too,” Tara began.
“And I feel lucky that the cutest women at the
University happen to like me,” Buffy finished with a smirk that eased the
tension.
“More than like you, silly,” Willow grinned. “I know you want to go patrol but can you
stick around for a few minutes?”
“Sure, anything for you, Wills,” Buffy agreed
immediately. “What’s up?”
“They want me to take another walk down the hallway
tonight and I’d like some company,” Willow said, blushing at how weak she
was.
Both Buffy and Tara nodded eagerly, knowing that it
was Willow’s way of asking for help.
With a broken arm the patient couldn’t use a wheelchair or walker and
the doctors and nurses had warned about weakness. Having a friend on either side made Willow feel more comfortable
and not as scared of falling.
“This recovery thing sucks,” Willow grinned.
“That’s why I love that Slayer healing thing,” Buffy
grinned back, showing the movement of her left arm. Just the week before both bones had been bitten in two and the
muscles ripped viciously by Oz, now there was just angry red scars on both
sides of the Slayer’s arm. Willow knew
from experience that those would settle down into barely noticeable thin white
scars.
The main question was whether the inner wounds had
scarred or were just beginning.
The Slayer had been bitten by a werewolf and there
was still the question of whether Buffy Summers was now going to be cursed and
turn into a werewolf on full moons.
They hadn’t talked about that much during Willow’s recovery either. Tara had assured Willow when they were alone
that Giles was practically living in his books and Tara was helping Joyce,
Buffy’s Mom, do the research on the internet for anything pertaining to
werewolves.
They had three weeks before the next full moon would
reveal whether Buffy had fought off the infection or not.
For now, Buffy refused to talk about it, had
threatened Xander with another broken nose when he had attempted to joke about
it, and ignored the research going on around her.
“Listen, guys,” Willow continued. “The doctors say I can get out of here in a
couple of days if I regain some more strength and don’t over do the walks. Tell
me that one or both of you aren’t going to disappear on me when I get out of
here. I mean, that would not be good,
the doctors said so. No major emotional
trauma they said. Girlfriend leaving
would be a bad thing, or girlfriends leaving.
Bad, very bad.”
Both Buffy and Tara grinned at a typical Willow
ramble and the computer geek began blushing.
“Well, since you’re moving into my Mom’s house, I
guess I’ll stick around,” Buffy teased.
“And I’m the one that will be handling bringing your
assignments and working with the campus teacher they’re sending out, guess I’ll
stick around too,” Tara smiled shyly.
“Thank you,” Willow said seriously. “I know this isn’t going to be easy for any
of us, I don’t want to lose either of you.”
“Wills, you died so Oz wouldn’t hurt any of us or
use you to hurt us,” Buffy said softly as Tara sat down on the other side of
the bed, still holding Buffy’s hand. “I
don’t know what’s happening between the three of us but I’m willing to talk and
work on it.”
“Me too,” Tara agreed simply.
“I died,” Willow said thoughtfully and looked down
at the cast on her hand. “It’s still
hard to think about.”
Buffy
reached up to gently wipe a tear away from Willow’s cheek.
“We live in Sunnydale,” Willow continued. “Buffy is the Slayer and has died before
fighting the Hellmouth things. I’ve
come close several times because we help Buffy. Even Tara almost got killed with those weird Gentlemen
creeps. I can’t live without either of
you.”
“I’ve always known as the Slayer that I probably
wouldn’t live to collect Social Security,” Buffy said thoughtfully. “Seeing you lying there with that dagger…”
Buffy swallowed and fought back tears.
“I’m willing to accept whatever this means between the three of us. Life is way too short for a Slayer to let
outdated morals get in the way of being with who I love.”
“How do you feel about Tara, Buffy?” Willow asked
softly and noticed Tara’s body language retreating back into her normal “shy
mode” of dropping her head and letting her hair cover most of her face, almost
shrinking into herself.
“Wow, truth discussion, huh?” Buffy asked with a
smirk. “Thought we weren’t going to
talk about this until you were out of here.”
“Now,” Willow insisted.
“I… I know for certain I’m in love with you,
Willow. With Tara, it is more than the
beginning of a wonderful friendship. It
feels complete with her near me, especially when I’m with both of you,” Buffy
said, trying to put awkward and new feelings into words.
Then Buffy’s eyes sparkled with an impishness that
Willow hadn’t seen in a long time.
“Besides,” the Slayer continued.
“I think you are both incredibly hot and I get weak in the knees
fantasizing about kissing both of you.”
Tara’s head snapped up and her eyes were wide with
surprise and Willow began blushing as bright as her hair.
“I guess that teaches me to ask!” she muttered as
the Slayer laughed.
“Well, I’ve been dreaming about both of you,” Tara
admitted, blushing even worse than before.
“So have I,” both Willow and Buffy responded at the
same time and raised their eyebrows at each other.
“Whoa,” Buffy said softly. “Does this mean something cosmic with us?”
“I don’t know and I’m not sure Giles wants us to ask
him either,” Willow grinned.
“Well he does begin coughing and cleaning his
glasses whenever he catches us holding your hand,” Tara agreed.
“He can be so British it hurts,” Buffy agreed and
they all laughed easily.
“Goddess, this feels good,” Willow smiled. “I feel better. Thank you both.”
“Anything for my Wills,” Buffy said easily.
“Any sign… has anyone seen or heard from… Oz?”
Willow asked hesitantly.
“No, America’s Most Wanted wants to put him on their
list and re-enact the kidnapping and attempted murder,” Buffy explained what
Xander had told them while hugging the two women.
“I don’t want cameras and Hollywood type people!”
Willow protested, her breath suddenly quickening.
“Willow, calm!” Tara urged. “Think calm! We’re not going to let them
near you. We, we haven’t discussed it
but they won’t get near you if you don’t want them.”
“Nope, have to go through one bad witch and one bad
Slayer,” Buffy agreed and was grateful when Willow smiled slightly but was
worried at how she now looked tired.
She saw the same concern in Tara’s eyes and they
both knew that the recovery was going to be long and hard for their beloved.
October
15
Willow surprised everyone by rapidly regaining her
strength after the reassurances from Buffy and Tara that things weren’t going
to change until Willow was out of the hospital. She was able to walk about the hospital several times a day and
had finally gotten rid of the IV of extra fluids.
The doctors were pleased with the change in her
progress and pronounced her well enough to go home, with lots of hesitation,
cautions, and stern warnings.
Willow’s friends and adopted family listened closely
to the doctor’s instructions, especially when they explained that Willow wasn’t
like a normal heart operation patient.
Most patients had valves replaced or even heart transplants and
recovered within a few weeks of the surgery and most were home within a week. The doctors, especially Dr. O’Connor, had
explained that Willow’s injuries were more serious because the operation had
been more invasive. Having a knife rip
open your heart was more damaging than the gentle touch of a surgeon carefully
opening a clogged artery or replacing a valve under perfect operating
conditions. The scars of having her
breastbone sawed into two pieces, a rib spreader thrust into her chest and
hands trying to rapidly repair jagged wounds were going to be painful to heal,
long and bright red. The actual healing
of the heart muscle would take longer than a normal patient but the doctors
were confident of a complete recovery, eventually.
All of the small crowd gathered to lend support to
the young computer geek had gotten very quiet as the doctor’s described
Willow’s wounds and the steps the doctors had taken to save her. They all knew that technically Willow had
died and somehow their love and magick had brought her back. It was hard to hear how serious the wound
had been even with the magickal intervention.
Willow wasn’t totally out of danger yet.
Willow did find it strange to be in Buffy’s home and
not the dorm room or her own room at home.
Not that the room at the Rosenberg’s house felt like home anymore, she
thought as she lay back on the guest bed.
The redhead fought back a sense of displacement, of depression over not
really having a home and reminded herself that it was just probably one of
those moods that the doctors had warned her about. She had been told that depression was common after such an
intense operation; her emotional state would probably be even more up and down
since her operation was the result of an attack by her ex-boyfriend.
Having heart surgery brought up a lot of feelings
and fears, they had told her. Fears
especially about death, about never being healthy again, fear of physical
exertion and even serious fears about sex.
Willow had blushed a bright red but had managed to
keep from squeaking and was pleased when her voice didn’t crack from
embarrassment when she had pursued questions about that kind of activity. The doctors had been frank and honest and
hadn’t seemed embarrassed about talking about sex with a beautiful young female
patient.
Willow hadn’t gone into details about her sex life
or her questions and was grateful that the doctors seemed to have expected such
questions. She mentally kicked and
reminded herself that they dealt with that question from almost every patient
undergoing operation, especially life threatening ones.
The computer geek grinned; she had no idea what was
going to develop between her and Tara, her and Buffy, or between them. She was hoping, however, that they might
explore some of those sexual areas.
“Goddess,” she whispered to herself, listening to
Buffy and Joyce moving in the house outside her door. “What am I going to do? I
love them both.”
A knock didn’t answer her question but it did give
her a break from the thought. She
fought the urge to jump up and answer it.
Willow reminded herself that she wasn’t healed yet and it was going to
take time to return to her normally active self. Everything was going to be a hassle for awhile, including just
sitting up from a bed without losing her breath and increasing her heart rate significantly.
“Come in,” she called and smiled as Joyce walked in
the room with Buffy behind her. Willow
sat up slowly, shifting positions to have the headboard behind her.
Joyce sat down on the edge of the bed and Buffy
moved around to the other side and sat down.
Willow caught Joyce watching her daughter’s interaction with the young
witch and couldn’t blame her. Buffy’s
interests in Willow had come as a surprise to Joyce and Willow knew she was
still adjusting to the situation. It
didn’t help that all their friends were confused over the relationship between
Willow, Tara and Buffy.
Buffy, not noticing her mom’s concerned gaze, smiled
widely and took Willow’s good hand in hers.
“Are you settling in okay?” Joyce asked, ignoring
the questions she was dying to ask.
“Yes, Mrs. Summers,” Willow smiled. She didn’t have to admit to them that she
was tired; they could see it. Just
getting her checked out of the hospital, into Joyce’s car and back to Buffy’s
home had tired her out. She still
blushed when she thought of Buffy suddenly playing gallant knight and lifting
Willow into her arms and carrying the college student up the stairs to the
bedroom after seeing Willow hesitate at the bottom of the stairs.
Xander had laughed and made a joke about Slayer
strength, Anya had clapped at the apparent act of chivalry, Tara had grinned at
Willow’s embarrassed face and Giles and Joyce had pretended not to notice.
“Call me Joyce, please,” Joyce Summers
insisted. “I have to go to the gallery
and help set up a new exhibit. Will you
two be okay tonight?”
“Sure Mom,” Buffy said cheerfully. “I’m not going out slaying tonight and Tara
is coming over to help set up Willow’s computer stuff in here. We’ll probably watch a movie or something.”
“No pizza!” Joyce warned. “The doctors said no extreme food for awhile.”
“I’ll get Tara to pick up something on the way
over,” Buffy promised as Willow turned red from all the attention.
“Okay, I’ve got my beeper with me in case you need
me and Rupert has his pager and cell phone too,” Joyce continued thoughtfully,
reluctant to be away from the young recovering girl her first night in the
Summers’ home.
“Giles is going to be there?” Buffy asked, her
eyebrows raised.
Willow resisted grinning as Joyce began to blush
herself. “Yes, he’s going to help me
with the exhibit.”
“Excellent!” Buffy exclaimed. “You two are ‘on’ again?”
“Well, maybe,” Joyce admitted with a shy smile.
“As long as you have ‘relations’ at his place and
not here with me in the next room, I think it’s cool,” Buffy declared.
“Elizabeth Anne Summers!” Joyce squeaked and Willow
tried to hide her grin. “I’m leaving
now, thank you!”
“Love you, Mom,” Buffy said sweetly, not passing up
the opportunity to tease her mom. It
had been awkward enough to learn that her mom and Giles had been dating when
she was in high school. It was more
than awkward to discover that, while under a spell, they had wild and
uninhibited sex on a patrol car.
Twice. Buffy wasn’t sure if she
was still in need of some therapy over those images in her head.
Willow grinned at Buffy and drew the Slayers hand to
her cheek, relishing the warmth. She
saw Buffy’s eyes close and the Slayer’s breathing increase a notch.
“Buffy,” Willow said softly. “How long have you been in love with me?”
“Right to the point, huh?” Buffy asked with a
teasing smile. “I don’t know, I
realized recently that it’s always been you, Wills.”
Willow smiled and sighed. She patted the bed beside her and Buffy moved to the head of the
bed and the young hacker snuggled down into the Slayer’s arm. Willow sighed at the feeling of peace
settling over her, even the throbbing of her arm and the pain of the incision
down and across her chest didn’t hurt as much with Buffy holding her.
“I figured out what a jerk I’ve been with Riley and
the damned Initiative thing,” Buffy continued as Willow interlaced her fingers
with Buffy’s. “When Oz left you needed
me and I wasn’t there. You were always
there for me, even when I made major mistakes.
You were there when Angel turned and there when I had to kill him. You even stood by me when he came back and I
made the mistake of keeping it a secret.
I let you down, Wills.”
“You were trying to form a relationship with Riley,”
Willow protested.
“Yeah, and turned into a bitch while doing it,”
Buffy said bitterly about herself. “I’m
sorry, Willow, I should have been there for you and I wasn’t. By the time I discovered that Riley was no
substitute for having you in my life, on any level, you were gone.”
Willow started to sit up in protest and Buffy
tightened her arm around the witch. “I
wasn’t gone!”
“Yeah you were,” Buffy countered, her voice still
soft. “You had found Tara and had
gotten back on your feet, all without me.
It was like I had been smacked in the face when I realized that
one. It hurt a lot and I had no one to
blame but myself. It also didn’t help
that I was fighting the same feelings you were having for Tara.”
“When did you realize that you’re… what, bi?”
“That terms fits better than most, I guess,” Buffy
replied easily. “I asked Giles once
about sexuality and Slayers.”
Willow giggled and Buffy smiled. “I bet he was so not happy with that
questioning!”
“Nope,” Buffy agreed. “I pressed him though.
Faith was always so damned… frisky, especially after a good night of
slaying. I thought it was just me but
Giles said that it was common and it was also common that almost all the
Slayers were bisexual. Actually, I
think it’s just sexual.”
“Did you and Faith ever…?” Willow asked, her voice
becoming soft and timid as her hand played with Buffy’s.
“Yeah,” the Slayer admitted, hating the way her face
suddenly flushed. “After one really
heavy night of slaying, I went back to her dingy hotel room and we had a
beer. I don’t know how it happened, we
were both so turned on from the Slayer blood lust and we were both on the same
bed. I don’t know who kissed who but it
happened.”
“Did anything else happen?”
“Yeah,” Buffy said, almost in a whisper. “There was ripped clothes, lips everywhere
and a lot of hand action. I couldn’t
take it any farther though. I ran out
of the room with my clothes in tatters.”
“Why couldn’t you? Because of what you felt for
Angel?”
“No,” Buffy hesitated. “It was… I didn’t see Faith’s face; all I could think of was
you.”
“What? That long ago?” Willow asked with a frown.
“Yeah,” Buffy admitted.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Willow demanded.
“What? Why?” Buffy countered. “You were dating Oz and were like totally
happy. I wasn’t going to tell you that
while Faith had her tongue down my throat I was wishing it was you with Oz
sitting there.”
“Okay, I get it,” Willow said reluctantly. “I was always so jealous of Faith; she knew
it too and used to tease me. She more
than hinted that you two did more than just slay together.”
“She could be such a bitch,” Buffy grumbled. After a moment of both young women
contemplating the past, Buffy kissed the top of Willow’s head with a smile.
“Have you ever…?”
“With a female, you mean?” Willow squeaked.
“Yeah, I know you and Oz got together,” Buffy
clarified.
“No to both,” Willow whispered.
“What? I thought you and Oz…”
“He was so terrified that a condom might break and I
would have his werewolf baby,” Willow said bitterly. “We did mutual things.
Like, well… you know.”
“You haven’t been with anyone?” Buffy asked. The Slayer was surprised, she had assumed
that Willow’s relationship with Oz was serious enough to include most acts of
sex, including ‘going all the way.’ On
the other hand, she wasn’t surprised the shy computer geek hadn’t gone that far
either. It kinda described Willow, a
hidden passion held back by a shy exterior and self doubt.
“Well, we did cover a lot of sexual action except
that,” Willow smiled, further clarifying and embarrassing herself in the
process.
“So no males or females,” Buffy grinned.
“Not technically,” Willow agreed, closing her eyes
and snuggling down on Buffy’s chest.
“God, Wills,” Buffy asked softly. “What are we going
to do? I like Tara.”
“Me too,” Willow mumbled. “Fantasies of both of you in the same bed with me are rather
nice.”
“Willow?” Buffy squeaked, never dreaming that her
shy best friend would have those kind of fantasies. She realized with an irritated grimace that Willow had fallen
asleep in her arms.
Tara and all of the rest of the Scooby Gang were now
carrying cell phones and pagers. They
had learned, anti-tech feelings or not, they needed to keep in touch with each
other with Willow recovering and Buffy possibly infected by a werewolf.
When the young witch appeared on Buffy’s doorstep
she arrived bearing Chinese food and rented videotapes.
Buffy’s tenseness eased when she saw Tara’s shy
smile.
“Hey, Tara,” the Slayer said easily and reached for
some of the bags of food, snacks and tapes.
“Hey, how’s Willow?” the witch asked as she entered
Buffy’s home.
“Taking a nap, checking out and in wore her out,”
Buffy smiled and headed for the kitchen.
“She’s okay, though?” Tara frowned.
“Yeah, doctor said she’d tire out easily,” Buffy
continued as Tara followed her.
“Maybe we should take a tray up to Willow’s room?”
Tara suggested.
“Yeah, I agree. I moved my TV and video recorder into her room while she slept,”
Buffy responded, pulling out plates and bowls from various cabinets.
“Cool, like a slumber party,” Tara grinned.
“Tara, I know we’ve been avoiding things while
Willow was in the hospital, I just want you to know that I admitted to her that
I’ve been in love with her for awhile,” Buffy said softly.
“So have I,” Tara smiled.
Buffy lost her smile and frowned, appearing
puzzled. “I know I’m in love with
Willow but you’re driving me crazy too,” the Slayer admitted, gripping the sink
with a killer grip.
Tara hesitated, watching the shorter but powerful
woman in front of her. She felt Buffy
stiffen when Tara walked up behind her and wrapped her arms around the Slayer.
It was Buffy’s turn to hesitate and then Tara felt Buffy relax. Buffy leaned back into Tara’s arms and
sighed, letting the witch’s warmth encompass her. She laid her arms on Tara’s.
“Guess that means you kinda like me, too?” Buffy
grinned.
Tara felt Buffy’s breath quicken along with her own
and leaned down to nuzzle the Slayer’s neck.
“I don’t know what’s happening either but it feels
right and I’m not sure we should fight anything that feels right in Sunnydale,”
Tara said softly.
“I’ll second that!” Buffy agreed, her head leaning
back into the witch. “God, that feels
good.”
“What else did you talk about?” Tara questioned,
relishing the smell of Buffy’s hair and the feel of her skin.
“Uh… that I, uh,” Buffy stammered. “That I fooled around a little with Faith
but didn’t… That we didn’t…”
“Neither have I,” Tara said softly.
Buffy turned in Tara’s arms and wrapped her own
around the taller witch’s neck and resisted kissing Tara right then.
Tara leaned down until their foreheads were touching
and both of them closed their eyes in the moment.
“Maybe we should get the food upstairs before it
turns into cold leftovers,” Buffy suggested.
“Buffy,” Tara whispered, refusing to let go of the
Slayer yet. “Willow and I have kissed.”
“I know,” Buffy said softly. “We haven’t. I mean, Willow and I haven’t.”
Both women hesitated, unsure as to what to do next
when Tara finally broke the embrace.
“Let’s get upstairs with Willow,” she suggested.
“Sounds good,” Buffy agreed and began a delicate
balance of plates, bowls and glasses.
“This might take a couple of trips,” she complained as Tara grabbed the
boxes and bags food.
“I agree!” Tara grinned, realizing they still had
the soda, tapes and snacks.
Both Tara and Buffy broke into wide smiles when they
opened the door and found Willow opening her eyes and grinning at them.
“Hey, guys!” the redhead smiled and moved to a
sitting position on the bed.
The next fifteen minutes were spent arranging dinner
on the bed with the three women. The
difficulty of eating Chinese food on a medium size bed was finally solved with
a combination of trays and two nimble college students and one giggling Willow.
The three ended up feeding each other egg rolls and
shrimp and somehow the bedspread was spared any kind of mess.
After awhile, Willow held up her hands in protest as
Tara started to pass her another round of noodles. “I’m stuffed,” she declared.
“Me, too!” Buffy grinned.
“Let’s clear this stuff and settle in for a round of
movies,” Tara suggested and started grabbing boxes and plates with Buffy
gathering up bowls and boxes.
“Wish I could help,” Willow complained. “I feel silly sitting in bed while you guys
clean up.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Buffy grinned. “You can take a trip down the stairs later
for your walk.”
“Does that mean you’ll carry me back up the stairs?”
Willow began blushing.
“Maybe,” Buffy continued the grin and managed an
impressive balancing act out the door with Tara a step behind her.
The rest of the evening for the three students
relaxing watching rented movies, Buffy and Tara on either side of Willow and
somehow leaning behind the computer geek so they could touch as well.
“This is nice,” Willow said softly while one of the
tapes rewound.
“I agree,” Buffy said, bringing Willow’s hand to her
lips and kissing the fingertips lightly.
The redhead giggled and Tara laughed a soft
laugh. Buffy grinned at the blonde
witch and ran her other hand through Tara’s hair.
Willow caught Tara’s intake of breath and her own
quickening heart rate.
“Guys?” Willow said softly.
She glanced up into Buffy’s face and felt her breath
quicken when she saw Buffy’s eyes a shade darker than usual and her eyelids
looked heavier. Willow realized that
the Slayer was aroused.
Willow was about to launch into another “we need to
talk” bit when Buffy lowered her head and lightly kissed the redhead. Willow whimpered as sparks of energy dashed
through her system. It felt like the
rest of the world melted away as the kiss started out tentative but became more
passionate as Buffy moaned and shifted her body even closer to Willow.
Buffy pulled back and leaned her forehead against
Willow’s. “God, Wills,” she
whispered. “I’ve wanted to do that for
so long.”
“Me too,” Willow agreed and then began blushing when
she realized the arm around her waist was Tara on the other side of her. The redhead turned to face the other witch,
her face fearful.
“Its okay, Willow,” Tara said softly and leaned in
to kiss Willow.
Willow felt like she was melting and once again
cursed the cast on her arm, she wanted to hold and touch both of them.
The computer geek leaned back, panting slightly.
“That was very nice!” she stated.
“I agree,” Buffy smiled.
“Me too,” Tara concurred.
“I love you both,” Willow whispered.
“Feeling’s mutual,” Buffy smiled and drew Tara’s
head to her for a kiss while they both held Willow.
The computer tech smiled and snuggled in between the
two of them and basked in the energy flowing from them.