TITLE: Racing The Rain
AUTHOR: Finey_McFine
RATING: PG13 to R (Eventually)
DISCLAIMER: Willow, Tara and any other BtVS characters, as well as some random dialog, belong to Mutant Enemy.
SUMMARY: Totally AU, Willow and Tara Meet with not so surprising results! Set in LA with lots of W/T fluff and a little teeny tiny bit of angst, but no Hellmouthyness. Just good old regular day-to-day drama.
FEEDBACK: OK
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Hello Kittens! Sorry I’m a little late in posting this chapter. The holidays have kinda thrown off my normal writing routine. So, to make up for it, this chapter is extra long! Enjoy and Happy Holidays!!
Chapter 10: Baby Willow Tara awoke first to find herself spooning Willow from behind. She laid there for a while wondering how she got into this position. She wasn’t even aware that she turned over, much less wrapped herself around the redhead. She thought back to the last time she slept in the same bed as someone else. It had been years, and even then she’d been aware of their every move. Sleeping with Willow seemed like the most natural thing in the world. She was comfortable, and wondered how she’d made it so long without her. Willow seemed to have a calming effect on the blonde, putting her completely at ease.
Since Tara’s Mother had passed, it seemed she hadn’t had a single peaceful nights sleep. Every night she awoke at some point, usually after only 3-4 hours, either from a dream or just the sheer weight of her loneliness. But today was different, she was different and the beautiful girl she was holding was the reason. They’d fallen back to sleep around 6:30am and glancing at the clock, she was shocked to see that it was just after 2pm.
Truly a miracle, she thought.
Tara snuggled closer and kissed the soft freckled skin of Willow’s shoulder. The redhead began to stir and snuggled her back closer into Tara, while mumbling in her sleep.
“No, Commander, don’t alert the tadpoles and advance on the frogs.”
Tara began to giggle.
“Will? Wake up Sweetie, you’re dreaming.” She whispered and she reached up and ran the back of her knuckles along Willow’s cheek. Trying not to startle her yet gently rouse her from her current dream state.
“Tara, no frogs. Baby, please keep the frogs away.” Still mumbling as she climbed from her slumber.
Her eyes fluttered open, as she felt Tara’s warm embrace, and turned to face the blonde.
“Mmhmm, good morning,” She breathed as she leaned in for a kiss.
“More like good afternoon.”
“Well, whatever it is, it’s good ‘cuz I got to wake up with a beautiful woman in my bed.” She said, sweetly grinning at Tara and placing a soft kiss on her cheek.
“Charmer,” Tara said as she gave Willow a lopsided smile and ducked her head a bit.
Willow chuckled and kissed Tara’s forehead. “What time is it anyway?”
Tara rose on her elbow and looked at the clock on the nightstand. “It’s 2:15pm.”
“Wow, we must have been really tired. I haven’t slept that soundly or that long in…gosh, I can’t even remember.”
“Me neither. I was just thinking the same thing, well before you started to talk in your sleep.”
“Oh, yeah. I do that sometimes, well most of the time. Sorry.” The redhead said, a little embarrassed. “What did I say anyway?”
“You told the commander not to alert the tadpoles and to advance on the frogs.”
“Ugh! How embarrassing!” Willow’s face was now bright red and she laid back, placing an arm over her eyes.
Tara snickered, removing Willow’s arm, “I think it’s absolutely adorable…just like you.” She said, as she kissed the redhead on the nose.
“You’re sweet,” Willow said as she traced her hand along Tara’s arm.
“Well I have to be, to keep up with your level of sweetness, and apparently you’ve managed to set the bar pretty high.”
Tara tilted her head and captured Willow’s lips in a deep, intimate kiss. She was in heaven kissing the redhead. Willow was delicious, and she wanted nothing more than to devour her. They stayed lip locked for a while until she could hear Willow’s tummy start to rumble.
“So, I guess you’re a little hungry?” Tara said, patting Willow’s stomach.
“Yeah, I guess so. Aren’t you hungry too? I mean neither of us has eaten in almost 24 hours.”
“Yeah, I am, but I guess my tummy’s not as outspoken as yours,” giving Willow a wink.
“See? Even my tummy babbles!” she stated proudly.
“You’re a goof. Do you have anything here? We could cook something.” Tara said as she sat up in the bed.
“Doubtful, Sunday is usually my grocery shopping day, and as you can see…that’s not happening. Hey! Let’s order in. That way we can stay all comfy and snuggly.” The redhead proclaimed, grinning widely.
“Mmmm…great idea. What are you in the mood for?”
“Well, I have a whole kitchen drawer full of menus for places that deliver, but I was thinking about the Rock Island Deli. Have you ever eaten there?” The blonde shook her head. “Really? Because they have the best soup on the planet.”
“Ummm, sounds delicious, I could go for some soup.” Tara agreed and Willow hopped off the bed to search for the menu while Tara headed to the bathroom to freshen up.
Willow found the menu and returned to the bedroom. When Tara emerged from the bathroom, she found Willow sitting crossed legged in the middle of her bed intently examining the menu. She hopped in the bed to join Willow, snuggling up and laying her head in Willow’s lap. The redhead’s free hand went immediately to Tara’s head and began to lovingly stroke the silky blonde hair. The girls perused the menu and after making their decisions, Willow grabbed her cell and phoned in their order. Tara was thoroughly enjoying her spot on Willow’s thigh, mindlessly running her hand up and down the bare freckled leg before her. Willow leaned forward and lightly kissed Tara’s forehead, before excusing herself to put some pants on before the food arrived.
Tara laid on her side, propped on an elbow with her head resting on her hand and watched Willow intently. She watched as Willow rifled through her dresser drawers looking for pants and mumbling something about needing to do some laundry. She noticed how Willow crinkled her brow when she concentrated and how her hair seemed to sparkle when hit by the sun that was peeking through the window. Willow bent over to look through the bottom drawer and Tara’s heartbeat began to quicken. As the redhead leaned forward, Tara could see a trace of black lacey panties and the outline of Willow’s cheeks that were peeking out around the alluring laced edges. Willow stood up and Tara quickly averted her gaze. She was feeling a little pervy and could feel her face begin to burn. Luckily, Willow seemed to be oblivious as she shuffled backwards, sitting on the edge of the bed and pulling on a pair of tight fitting sweats.
Without saying a word Willow lifted her legs, spun around and was now lying face to face with Tara. Peering into her sparkling blue eyes, she threaded her hand through Tara’s hair and pulled her into a sensual kiss. Tara responded immediately, placing her hand on Willow’s hip and pulling her in close. They became lost in one another, soft lips clashing together and tongues performing an elaborate dance. After several minutes, they finally came up for air.
“I just can’t seem get enough of you.” Willow said breathlessly.
“Mmhmm…Willow…” Tara responded as she pulled the redhead into yet another deep kiss.
Neither girl noticed exactly how long they had lain there kissing; it could have been minutes or even hours, the time seemingly nonexistent. They didn’t pull apart until they heard a knock at the front door. Willow reluctantly rolled out of bed to go pay the delivery guy, leaving Tara immediately missing Willow’s lips. She let out a long sigh and then rolled out of the bed as well. As she walked down the hall towards the living room, she stopped at several framed photo collage’s that adorned the wall. She flipped on the hall light and examined them closely. She searched for her redheaded beauty in each picture, smiling contently when she found her. One framed set contained all pictures from her stint with Team USA and the other two were what appeared to be friends and family.
“What cha doin’?” Willow asked, as she came up behind Tara. Sliding her arms around Tara’s waist and resting her chin on her shoulder. Tara wrapped her arms around, clutching Willow’s and leaning into her.
“Looking at your pictures. I can’t believe how long your hair was. When was this taken?” Tara asked, pointing to a picture with Willow.
“Hmmm…10th grade? I think.” Willow scrunched her face trying to remember. It seemed like a lifetime ago. “Yes, 10th grade. I remember now…I got my hair cut just below my shoulders before 11th grade, then shorter before 12th, and I chopped it right before I moved here. Then, after awhile, I started letting it grow out again.”
Tara continued to inspect the pictures until her eyes caught one and stopped.
“Awww…baby Willow! How cute are you? And look at those little boots!” Tara gushed, spotting a picture of toddler Willow, with what appeared to be one of her brothers, sitting on a hay bale surrounded by pumpkins.
Willow giggled at Tara’s little ramble. “Come on you, let’s go eat before our soup gets cold.” She released Tara’s waist, grabbed her hand and guided her to the small dining table.
As Tara began to unpack the food, Willow went into the kitchen and poured them two glasses of iced tea. They sat in a comfortable silence, enjoying their lunch. Tara had ordered a salad with grilled chicken and a bowl of vegetable soup, while Willow had opted for a triple layer club with chips and broccoli cheddar soup.
It was the third time they’d eaten together and Willow was now starting to notice Tara’s tenuous eating habits. All three times she had basically ordered the same thing. Willow remembered the day before at Chili’s when the blonde ordered a grilled chicken salad, while she’d ordered a huge cheeseburger, with fries and a shake. She began to think about what it must be like for Tara, always having to watch what she ate and keep herself at a certain ‘acceptable’ weight. This was something that Willow had never actually pondered before. She had always been slender and physically active. She grew up eating whatever she wanted to and it never affected her. It hurt Willow to think of people giving Tara grief about her weight. She pictured some TV executive telling her to lose ten pounds or someone writing something nasty. To Willow, Tara was beautiful and curvy and if she were to gain a few pounds, it would just make her that much more voluptuous. Willow had always thought that her own body resembled that of a twelve year old boy, surmising that it was probably one of the reasons she ate like she did.
She was snapped from her thoughts at the sound of her phone signaling that she had a text message.
“Gee, I wonder who it could be…??” She said jokingly to Tara, tapping her finger on her chin.
“Hmmm, that’s a tough one to figure out,” the blond replied sarcastically.
The text was from Morgan, as expected, ‘What’s happening? What’s going on? CALL ME!!!.’ Willow sent a quick reply letting her know that Tara was still there and that she would call when she could.
“She’s going to drive me insane until I call her.” Willow said to no one in particular.
“How long have you known Morgan?” Tara inquired.
“Since I moved here, we used to be roomies.”
“What happened, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“Well, I just really wanted to be on my own. I’ve got four siblings, so there was always someone around or up in my business. I shared a room with one of my brother’s for like…ever and then with Morgan. I just wanted my own thing, something for me. I wanted to be able to come home and actually get some rest or study or sit in my underwear without fifty thousand people over all the time. College life is kinda like living in a commune.” Willow rambled.
“So it really is one big party then?” Tara asked curiously.
“Yeah, it is and that’s why we moved out of the dorms after freshmen year. We moved into a two-story condo with a few other girls to cut costs, and believe it or not it was worse than the dorms. I couldn’t take it anymore, so I moved out after a few months and I’ve been here ever since. Almost 2 years now all by myself.”
“Sounds a little lonely, Will.”
“Yeah,” Willow said in a small voice, “kinda like your current living situation. I guess we’re a lot alike in that respect.” She said tilting her head towards Tara.
“Well then, I guess it’s a good thing we found each other.” Tara reached forward, placing a reassuring hand on Willow’s and intertwined their fingers.
Willow was a little worried that Tara would misunderstand exactly what she had been trying to say, but the way the blonde was looking at her spoke volumes. Tara got it and she got Willow. They’d both chosen to be alone, rather than settle for an unacceptable living situation. They continued to eat and hold hands. Tara was astonished at the depth of emotion she felt just holding Willow’s hand. It made her want to laugh and cry at the same time.
Willow finally stood and pulled Tara up with her. She walked them to the couch and sat down with her back up against the armrest and her left leg extended flat on the cushions. She pulled Tara to her, sitting the blonde between her legs and wrapped her arms tight around Tara’s stomach. Tara snuggled her back into Willow and laid her head to rest on the redhead’s chest, idly stroking the hands that gripped her tummy.
“Willow,” Tara said, finally broke the silence, “Tell me about your family.”
“Well, as you already know, I have 3 older brothers and 1 older sister. My sister Rachael is 31, a nurse, married to Jeff, an engineer and is 4 months pregnant. Grayson is 28, a career bachelor and works at my Dad’s company. Elijah is 25, engaged to Stella, they have a 4 yr old son…Milo. Eli trains horses and does some riding instruction. Hunter is 23, single and a middle school music teacher. Then there are my parents, Ira and Sheila. My Dad is a big wig at an oil pipeline company and my Mom dabbles in real estate.”
“What’s it like in Texas and growing up on a ranch? It’s funny, I’ve been all over the world, but I’ve never been to Texas.” The Blonde lamented.
“Hot and sweaty.” Willow said blankly, making Tara giggle.
“I thought it was dry, like a desert? I always pictured it like in the movies, you know, cowboys riding across the rough landscape…tumbleweeds blowing by.” She said with a playful quality in her voice.
“Texas is pretty big and it’s exactly like what you described in West Texas, but not South Texas. Where I grew up is the Deep South, kinda like Alabama or Mississippi. The summers are really hot and humid and it rains a lot. I’m talking huge thunderstorms and drenching rains, not like here. It’s weird though.” Willow paused.
“How so?”
“Well, the storms usually come in waves. There’s a saying, ‘if you don’t like the weather…wait 5 minutes,’ because it can be pouring rain in your front yard and sunny in the back. In the summer we get the stuff from the Gulf, along with the occasional hurricane, and then fall through spring we get fronts from the north. They swoop down, clash with the hot air and explode. It’s a convergence zone of sorts.” Willow paused and let out a long sigh. Tara stayed quiet, as she figured the redhead was just gathering her thoughts before she continued.
“When I was a kid I would go riding alone, for hours every day and sometimes I would be out in the pasture when there was a storm coming. I would ride my horse right up to the tree line and wait. There’d be bright bolts of lightning, huge claps of thunder and the smell of rain in the air was so thick I could taste it. My horse would get all fidgety and jumpy. I would have to fight to keep her steady. Then I would hear it, the rain barreling through the trees, like a stampede of wild animals and it would get louder and louder the closer it got. I would wait until the very last second and then I’d bolt and try to outrun it. It was amazing, such a rush.” Willow grew quiet for a moment, recalling those lazy summer afternoons spent racing the rain.
“So did you? Out run it?” Tara asked, in a whisper.
“Only a few times. It would usually catch up and I would get drenched. My Mom would get sooo pissed. I’d come in the house soaked to the core and covered in mud. She used to make me strip downstairs in the laundry room and a few times took me out and actually hosed me down.” The thought of a very young, very naked Willow getting hosed down in the backyard caused Tara to snicker.
“Hey, are you laughing at my misfortune? Huh?” Willow quipped and began to tickle Tara. The blonde began to squirm.
“Ok, ok I give!” She said, as she grabbed one of the redhead’s wrists and spun to face her. She let go of her wrist as Willow held her hands up in surrender. Little did she know that Tara was planning a sneak attack of her own.
“Two can play your evil game!” Tara exclaimed and in one fluid motion was up on her knees with both hands wildly tickling Willow. The redhead was in no position to do anything but try and defend herself, or so Tara thought. Willow quickly wrapped her legs around Tara’s waist, pulling her forward and throwing her off balance. Tara squealed, tumbled forward and off the couch pulling Willow with her. The redhead was now straddling Tara and had the blonde’s hands pinned above her head. Leaving both girls laughing and panting.
“How did you manage that?” Tara said breathlessly.
“I have three older brothers, remember? There’s nothing I can’t weasel my way out of,” she said grinning.
“That is
so unfair!” Tara said, with mock indignation. She was expecting a smart alec-y comeback but instead Willow sat frozen, staring, her expression becoming more serious.
Tara’s eyes locked with Willow’s and that’s when she noticed the look she was getting, a look that she could only describe as purely predatory. Even the color of Willow’s eyes had shifted from her normal bright green to a deeper, darker green than Tara had never seen before. It made Tara’s heart beat erratically and she could feel the warmth start to spread through her body.
Willow leaned forward, as if to kiss Tara’s lips, but turned her head at the last second. Finding the soft milky skin of Tara’s neck instead. She began kissing a trail down her neck, stopping at the sensitive pulse point along the way, giving it a little extra attention. She had already released Tara’s wrists and was now running her hands down the insides of Tara’s arms. Causing the blonde to shiver. Willow, having made her way down Tara’s neck, was now sucking and kissing her exposed collarbone, making Tara moan. The blonde wrapped her arms around Willow and was running her hands up and down her back. She caught the hem of Willow’s t-shirt and slid her hands underneath. Feeling the warmth of her skin left Tara wanting more of the redhead and she began to tug the offending shirt forward. Willow planted her hands on the carpet and pushed up to allow Tara to remove the shirt. Never breaking their lip lock.
For the second time in less than 12 hours, Willow and Tara found themselves in an extremely compromising position. They were at a crossroads, continue and give in to the building passion or apply the brakes. The internal debate continued as the intense fires of raw desire raged.
As Tara began to slide the shirt upwards, the shrill, sudden ring of the blonde’s cell phone startled them.
Panting heavily, Willow mumbled, “You should probably get that.”
“Nu huh, they can wait.” Tara whispered, “Kinda busy right now.”
There was a short silence and then the phone began to ring again. Willow extracted herself, retrieving the phone from Tara’s bag and handing it to her. Tara reluctantly sat up and answered the call, trying not to sound breathless.
“Hello?”
“Oh, Hi Kel.”
“Yeah, still at Willow’s.”
“Fine.”
“Not sure.”
“Uh huh…ok. Just put him in his kennel and I’ll take care of it when I get home.”
“Have fun. Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“I know, by 8am. Kay…bye.”
While Tara was on the phone, Willow had a chance to compose herself and her mind began to race.
“Everything ok, Tare?” Willow had been sitting next to Tara fiddling with the drawstrings on her sweat pants, still suffering the effects of her self inflicted mind babble.
“Yeah, Kelly’s going out and won’t be back until late. I guess I don’t have a sitter tonight.” She said, leaning to place her phone back in her bag.
“Oh, ok.” Willow sounded a little despondent and was still preoccupied with the drawstring.
Tara cupped Willow’s chin and gently lifted her head. “Baby, look at me. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, I just…it’s nothing.” She said shaking her head a bit.
“Did I do s-something wrong?” Tara stammered.
“Tara, no. You did everything right, so right. I-I want to be with you, but it’s just…and I-”
Tara cut her off before she could finish and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips, “Ssshhh…it’s ok, I understand. No pressure, remember? No pressure. We have all the time in the world.”
“I’m sorry, I know I initiated things and it’s not fair to you…” Willow choked out, looking at Tara and desperately trying to get her point across and not hurt Tara’s feelings in the process.
Willow was falling hard for the blonde and the intensity of those emotions were overwhelming. Her mind was still racing and she was feeling somewhat embarrassed by how forward she’d been. Had Tara’s phone not rung, she figured that she would have given in to her desire, but now rational thought was kicking in. Filling her with self-doubt and piling on a heaping serving of insecurity and uncertainty.
Tara was doing everything she could to reassure the redhead. She didn’t want to jeopardize any chance they had at a relationship. Not knowing what else to do, she leaned forward and captured Willow’s lips. Pouring every ounce of love and understanding into the kiss as she possibly could.
“God Tara, what you do to me…” Willow breathed.
“The same thing you do to me Willow.” Tara said, lovingly smiling at the redhead.
Willow took in a deep breath and let out a long sigh. She was feeling extremely vulnerable and small. Something she was definitely not used to.
Tara sat up and leaned her back against the couch. She ran her hand down Willow’s arm, then grasped her hand and pulled the redhead towards her. She gently brought Willow’s head down to her lap and began to reassuringly stroke through the soft red tresses. Willow’s mind was beginning to clear and a calm came over her. She finally relaxed and let go of the anxiety that had been plaguing her.
Willow finally spoke, breaking the silence. “It’s getting dark outside, I guess I need to get you home.”
“Yeah, Ralphie’s kenneled and he’ll need to be let out pretty soon.”
Willow sat up and reached up to Tara’s face and brushed a few blonde strays back behind her ears. She leaned in with a chaste kiss before standing and pulling the blonde up with her.
“I guess I’ll get changed and get my stuff together.” Tara said.
“Ok, then I’ll drive you home.”
Neither girl wanted to part ways, but they knew it was inevitable. Tara had to be on the set early and Willow had classes and practice in the afternoon. In fact, the redhead hadn’t cracked a book open in three days. She was dreading all the homework that needed to be caught up.
The girls changed, Tara said her goodbye’s to Miss Kitty and gathered up her purse and cell phone. They made their way down to Willlow’s car, chatting about their upcoming week on the short drive to Tara’s.
“So Will, what does your week look like?” The blonde asked, fiddling with Willow’s fingers with her left hand.
“Well, I have two mid day classes Monday, Wednesday and Friday, then practice from 3pm-7pm. Tuesday and Thursday I have early morning classes and practice from 5pm-9pm. Oh and this week we have a game on Friday at 2pm. No practice, obviously.” She mumbled at the end.
“Can I make you dinner? Tomorrow night? You could come after practice.” Tara asked.
“Thank you Tara, I’d love to.” Willow answered shyly.
“Great! Any special requests?”
“Tara, you’ve seen me eat. I’m sure anything you make will be perfect.” She said, turning her head slightly and giving the blonde a reassuring smile.
They pulled into Tara’s driveway and stopped at the security keypad. Tara told Willow what numbers to punch on the pad and the gate slowly began to open. The blonde reached into her purse and pulled out a small piece of paper and a pen. She jotted down the gate code and slid it into a space in the console just as Willow came to a stop near the front door.
“Thanks Tara, for trusting me with that.” Willow said and Tara simply nodded her head and smiled back at her.
“Would you like to come in Will? Just for a bit?” Tara asked.
“Oh Tare, I’d love to but I’m afraid that if I do, I won’t want to leave and-” Before she had a chance to head into babble-land, Tara cut her off with a gentle kiss.
“Did I mention that I really like your method of stopping
Willow-babble?” “Maybe I should get a Patton on it, ‘cuz I definitely don’t want anyone else using it on you.” Smiling coyly as she leaned in for another kiss.
The kiss began to deepen and both girls became lost…yet again. They finally broke apart and absently played with each other’s fingers.
“Thank you Willow. For this weekend…it was perfect.”
“Anytime Baby, anytime.” Willow replied, leaning in for a last quick kiss.
Tara turned, picking up her purse as she opened the car door and stepped out. As she slid the key in her front door, she turned her head across her shoulder towards Willow giving her a shy smile, pressing her hand to her mouth and blowing her a kiss. Willow pretended to catch the kiss and placed two fingers on her lips.
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***I can't guarantee an update next week with all the holiday chaos, so if you don't see one, there will be one for sure the week after!***
OH MY...my heads a buzzing..what an update..not sure if I can go back to bed...woooo and a hooooo....WOW..
. I have a few like that and I love the wear them, I'm glad she does too 
.
.
Not really all that conducive to quite creative writing time.
to naked snugglies...