by Naeryn » Wed Jul 27, 2005 1:14 pm
Title: Adrienne
Author: Naeryn, aka Megan
Feedback: Goddess, yes!
Distribution: Tell me where and give me credit. Other than that, fill your boots. *pauses to wonder where that phrase came from*
Rating: Rated T, for Teen.
Notes: Yet another of my mini updates. A little longer than the last though.
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CHAPTER 7
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Tara blanched. That wasn’t what she’d been expecting at all. Willow was gay? A thousand questions seemed to scream in her head. When did she figure it out? Why had she chosen Oz? Was she – Tara swallowed hard – in a relationship? Tara didn’t think she could bear it if Willow was. With a man, sure, she could excuse that as Willow being straight, nothing wrong with her, just that she didn’t think of women that way. But if she was now in a relationship with a woman, that was blown away. It meant that Tara was simply inadequate. Not what Willow wanted.
And how could she not be taken? Tara herself had wanted her enough to seek her out in the dorms, a bold maneuver for the shy girl she’d been. Willow was gorgeous, inside and out. Any woman would be out of her mind not to jump at the chance to love her. Tara bit her lip, wondering what this mystery woman looked like. Was she beautiful? With long, sleek dark hair, and full lips and… she shook her head. What on earth was she doing? She was getting jealous over a woman who for all she knew didn’t even exist.
In spite of the music, there was a strange sort of silence between them again. Not wanting things to get as horribly awkward as they were before Willow had begun her small tirade, not that that was entirely avoidable, Tara spoke up. “Oh. Um, wow.” She cringed inwardly. What kind of a response was that? She hastened to correct herself.
“I mean, um… well, I kind of didn’t see that coming.” She laughed nervously. “Well, as… as long as you’re happy, I guess. You have to know I’m fine with it, after all…” Tara made a vague gesture in the air and sighed, fixing her gaze to the latte on the formica table in front of her.
Willow frowned. This… wasn’t working. What did she say now? How did she get to where she needed to be, to tell Tara what she felt? One hand slipped over her torso to scratch her arm absently as she cast her gaze around the little blue coffee house.
Awkwardness consumed both women. Neither was sure what to say, each waiting for the other to speak. Finally, Willow dissolved into a nonsensical babble.
“Well, yeah, I guess I’m happy. I mean, I’m not, but at least I can be me and unhappy instead of… I don’t know, Buffy and unhappy. She’s actually been really happy lately. I think she might have a secret boyfriend or something.” She wracked her brain for ways to keep talking, to prevent that uncomfortable dissonance that was rapidly growing familiar. “Um, and Dawn took it best. I said that, right? Well, she was sort of keeping a secret too. Same one, actually.” Willow giggled, a high pitched, girly sound. “We wound up telling Buffy and Joyce together. It was weird the way Dawn did it though, she invited over her girlfriend and introduced her that way. No one even noticed for about ten minutes…”
Tara looked up. Dawn too? She wouldn’t have thought the girl leaned in that direction. But then, she might just be a good actress. Tara focused her eyes on the rise and fall of Willow’s chest. She was breathing rapidly and shallowly, waving her hands about frantically. Not in excitement, but in agitation. With Willow, it could be hard to tell the difference. Tara smiled a little. Five years, and she could still read the redhead like a book. As Willow’s freckles washed out and her face began to tint blue, Tara decided to interrupt.
“Willow?”
“…Julia. She’s really nice, tall, really short black hair. Kind of a quirky personality but, well, you know us Scoobies. She fits right in. Great with a broadsword, Buffy’s been training her and Dawn together…”
“Will!”
The redhead ceased talking abruptly. “Um, y-yeah?”
Tara swallowed hard. “Why didn’t you, um, tell me yesterday?” Her hands fidgeted in her lap. To give them something to do, she lifted them up and wrapped them around her coffee cup. Still, her fingers tapped out an impatient rhythm on the side of the cup in time with the music.
Biting her lip and opening her mouth to speak, Willow inwardly shook her head. She couldn’t do it, it was just too much. Tara had surely moved on by now. “I didn’t really know… what to say. You know? It’s kind of an awkward… thing…”
With a small nod, Tara sighed. Part of her wanted to ask the next question that pounded at her mind, but most of her was terrified of the answer. ‘Willow, do you have a girlfriend?’ ‘Oh, yeah. We’ve been together for a couple of years now, and we’re really close…’ She wouldn’t – couldn’t put herself through that. If she’d chosen Oz because she was straight, that was one thing. If she liked girls and still didn’t pick Tara, that… that just meant that she didn’t want her.
But maybe… maybe there was some hope? Maybe Willow was single. She seemed… different, somehow. She didn’t babble quite the way she used to, she was… colder. Tara wondered where that came from. She sighed again. Time was when she wouldn’t have to try and figure it out – given enough time, Willow would tell her herself.
As the awkward silence grew between them yet again, Willow decided it was time for a change of subject. “Adrienne!”
Tara jumped. “What? What about her?” Where on earth had that come from?
“I want to take her out. Just… just her and me.” She paused. “Do you let her have ice cream? I could take her out for some, but I don’t want to be all ‘no, you don’t have to listen to her now that I’m here, eat whatever junk food you want’, blah blah blah… you know.” She bit her lip and gave a nervous sort of grin. “You know… if Adrienne’s okay with it.”
Tara seemed to consider for a moment. “Not today. I want to talk to her and make sure she’s comfortable with it first… maybe tomorrow, after daycare? It would be better if I picked her up and brought her home first, and then you could come get her… she’s very picky about when she has to be home.” She smiled. “And yes… ice cream is fine. Just, not too much, okay?”
Eyes wide with excitement, Willow began to bounce in her seat, the earlier awkwardness seemingly forgotten. Tara marveled at the redhead’s ability to jump entirely from one subject to another. Adrienne did the same thing… she shook her head. There was no way Willow and Adrienne weren’t related. She wondered briefly if her daughter would have the same affinity for unhealthy amounts of caffeine, and resolved then not to test that until she was at least sixteen. She’d seen what mocha did to Willow. There was a prime example right in front of her.
“Oh… um, Will?”
The bouncing stopped. “Yes?”
“I want to talk to you… about your magic, too. What sorts of things you’ve been doing. I’m not… I mean, I’m sort of curious. That was a really powerful spell you used on Adrienne’s arm, and you didn’t need anything to focus your energy with or anything…”
Willow blushed a little. “That wasn’t really anything. I can… well, it’s like the way you read people’s energy. I can sense connections. That’s why I can heal certain people better than others. Adrienne… she’s related to me. There’s no doubt in my mind about that, I can feel… how she feels, it’s sort of like you, and sort of like me…” She shook her head, sighing. “I’m not making any sense. Anyway, it’s easier on people I have a connection with. Adrienne, my friends… I could probably… uh… well, I could probably heal you, too.” She bit her lip and looked away, but Tara, busy marveling over the redhead’s skill, missed the action.
“You really think? Hmm… why did you learn?” She kicked herself. Of course she learned because of the Slayer.
“Buffy. She’s… well, she’s afraid of hospitals. She was really close to her cousin, Celia, and she died in a hospital when Buffy was… well, really young. Now Buffy can’t stand to be in them. Every time, I tell her to go to the hospital as well, but she usually refuses. I can’t just let her sit there bleeding and not do anything about it.”
Tara’s jaw dropped. “Wow… I never knew that. That must have been rough for her.” Willow leaned back and drained the last dregs of coffee from her cup. Tara rested her head on her hand, propped up on her elbow, and watched her, a bittersweet smile on her lips. Turning away a little, her eye lighted on the clock above the entrance. “Whoa… damn. I have a shift in half an hour!”
Willow frowned. “Where is it?”
Sighing, Tara muttered, “Twenty minutes away.”
“Oooh… do you have a car?”
Tara shook her head. “No. Never really saw the point. Daycare and work are in walking distance, and Max has a car in case of emergencies.”
“Well, come on then. We’ll hurry back to your house and get my rental, I’ll drive you to work so you won’t be late.” Willow stood up, shoving her hands in her pockets.
Tara nodded. “Thanks.” Flashing Willow a genuine smile, Tara led the way out of the coffee shop.
Last edited by
Naeryn on Wed Jul 27, 2005 1:19 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Don't you sit upon the shoreline and say you're satisfied, choose to chance the rapids, and dare to dance the tides - Garth Brooks, "the River"
. Great update. Love sam xx
tension. I live for it, I thrive on it. Well, writing it, anyway, lol.
But I love how you described the name as being feminine and strong...was that what you said? I wish I could scroll back without erasing what I've written...ah well. Anyway, however you described it was exactly how I see my friend. I wish I could show you a photo, she's gorgeous and the marketing manager of this huge company.
way to go you! Keep 'em comin!
Why doesn't Willow just tell Tara how she feels and vice versa? They have to get past this really soon. I don't think my heart can take it.
Children are extremely curious (I suspect a child of Willow's would be twice as curious as other children) and they're not afraid to ask those awkward, revealing questions. And of course she'll relay the entire conversation to her mommy, which will provide Tara with the answers to all those questions she's too scared to ask 
Oh I can just see it now, Adrienne's gonna be a mini cupid 
and make up. Hmm... the phrases "the love of your life" and "the one that got away" both have five words. And Willow/Adrienne interestingness will happen soon!
...nice afterthought there. And technically, it's only been a day and a half.