AN: Hello, I'm Deangerous, and I have returned from the hallowed lands of not posting fanfiction to, well, post fanfiction. A Tillow fanfic is something I've wanted to write for a while now, and finally this idea just occurred to me.
Basically, the plan is to do thirteen mostly unconnected one-shots in the vein of Willow/Tara, each one based off of a song from the Beatles Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. This one is the one that's probably most clumsy in terms of tying the two together because it's a rather specific song title. However, I pretty much know exactly where I'm going with it so, yay? They will all be in chronological order.
This first one is set in between 'Hush' and 'The I In Team'
Also, I don't own Buffy The Vampire Slayer or any of the characters (They're all the creations of the superbly Joss Whedon and crew). I also don't own the Beatles, they are also far more talented than me.
Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Tonight was the night. Well, she hoped it was the night. Tara had a way of being sucked up into Willow's wake, forgetting herself and just being sucked in by her mere presence. It was nice, to have someone's presence to be sucked up by. But tonight, she wanted to take charge. She didn't want to just be in Willow's wake. She wanted to be curled up on the cosy bed in Willow's boat, with Willow, as they sped off into the sunset.
It was a clumsy metaphor, yes, but she thought it described the point well enough.
She'd have to think of a better one.
With that she started pacing back and forth again, running her fingers through her hair, straightening her clothes. Willow thought they would just be playing around with some light magic. Racing pens across the desk, dancing pineapples, sparkly light shows. Nothing neither of them hadn't mastered, but something neither had tried with someone else. It could be fun, and educational to exchange tips on technique.
And if some smoochies just happened to be slipped in there somewhere, well, who could be blamed, really?
She smiled at the thought of smoochies. Not the actual act (Well, not just the actual act) but the word itself. It was what she considered a Willowism. Willow actually attributed it to a Xanderism (Or Buffyism, even she seemed uncertain on the point) but to Tara it was a word that fitted Willow's fast and colloquial speech perfectly. As such: Willowism.
She was finally allowed to stop pacing when she heard a knock at the door. It was the knock of someone who was trying to seem suave, but was hardly containing enthusiasm. If it wasn't Willow, she would be very shocked indeed.
She opened the door and, sure enough, there was the auburn haired bundle of energy, grinning. Under one arm she was holding a large book of what looked like spells, and in the other hand she held a bag that looked to be full of supplies of some kind. Tara smiled and stepped aside as Willow rushed into the room, frantically placing her items down and pacing. Her mouth began to move but Tara didn't hear a thing, instead just focusing on one thought, that made her grin like an idiot, in that oh so special way only Willow could cause.
'Hurricane Willow has arrived'
"-And I'm really tired because, you know, rituals, tiring and all, so I was thinking instead of doing spells, we could, you know, eat food" Willow said, as Tara tuned back into the world around her. When she noticed Tara's bemused look, she continued rambling. "Hence the food, in the bag. And um, I was going to take the book with the ritual in back to Giles'. I've told you about Giles, right? Yeah, well, I was taking the book back to him and um… I need to breath"
"It's OK sweetie" Tara replied, a second before her brain actual caught up.
"Huh?" said Willow, looking up from the food she was now taking out.
"I said it's OK… Will" she amended, ducking her head to let her hair drop over her face. "I haven't actually eaten yet, so, that's OK" Why was she being so awkward? In her imagination this had gone so smoothly. She'd looked Willow straight in the eye and whispered huskily, 'Hey babe' and then they'd kissed, passionately, forcefully, until they were lying on the bed, and her hand would reach down and she would…
Be having very inappropriate about the girl who was in the room with her. Well, that was a good start.
"Good, well, I brought, well, food" Willow said, grinning uncertainly.
They both moved to the bed and sat on opposite sides of the bag of food. Tara peeped in.
"Animal crackers and… turkey sandwiches… and Jaffa Cakes?" Tara said, looking up at Willow, raising an eyebrow and trying to repress a lopsided smile.
She failed.
"Well, I didn't have much money so I kinda raided Giles' cupboards and that's all he had. That he'd let me take anyway. I tried to get the Weetabix, I did" she said, putting on a slightly dramatic air for the last part, causing Tara to giggle.
"Well, it's certainly healthy…" she deadpanned in response. Willow grinned back at her and for a moment their eyes met. Suddenly though, a bout of logic hit Tara.
"Wait, if you were at Giles', why didn't you return his book?" she asked. Willow stared at her for several long seconds, before she said several long, profane sounding words under her breath. Tara giggled at Willow's positively fowl language. She'd never heard some of the words before, and she'd been going to college for a good half a year.
"…Dig in" Willow said after a moment, trying to smile but looking more flustered.
The two had quickly devoured their 'meal' quickly and had soon begun chatting away like crazy. The initial awkwardness passed quickly as they both talked about their classes, spell's they had tried and various miscellaneous topics. Tara was lying, head and body on the floor but legs extended up onto her bed, hair splayed around her. Willow lay the opposite way next to her, legs braced against the wall as they giggled madly. Their faces were so close Willow swore Tara's hair was tickling her ears. It was surprisingly cosy.
Everything about her friendship with Tara was surprising, really. She'd never really had many friends. In fact, they could pretty much be totalled as the Scoobies. And she'd never really had many girlfriends-friends, who were girls. Just Buffy and (she was shocked she was admitting this) Cordelia. Neither friendship was like what she had with Tara. It was this mutually awkward attempt at something. Tara made her feel like Jenny Calendar had, actually. Nervous and a little… awed? It wasn't quite that strong, but it was in the same ballpark. A kind of respect and…
Attraction?
She suddenly realised how close she and Tara were. If she turned her head right now and Tara did as well, their lips would meet.
The thought filled her with warm squiggly feelings, and it all clicked. Why she'd been in such a rush to get here, completely steamrolling over Giles and forgetting everything. The extra-strong case of motor mouth and the deep seated yearning for skin to skin contact with Tara.
She… she… she lov-
She had a cru-
She…wanted, Tara. Wanted. In a smoochies sense. In a big romantic gestures and little intimate moments sense. Maybe that was why, of all the things she could have taken from Giles' cupboards, she'd taken the animal crackers. The little reminders of little intimate moments. An item of food that didn't remind her of Oz, just courtship.
She stood abruptly, and started looking for something to comment on.
She saw it in a big stack of album's. She walked over and started shifting through them, being careful to stop her eyes falling on the object of her suddenly realised affections.
She took a moment to calm herself, breathing deeply. She didn't need to panic; it was just a sudden realisation that her sexuality was a lot more open than she'd first thought.
And that had sounded like a very dirty innuendo.
Eventually she picked a Beatles album and, suitable pretending to be calm, turned.
She could have sworn for a second that Tara was looking very confused and a little hurt, but if she had been it was very quickly hidden away as she stood, wearing a small smile. She eyed up the album in Willow's hands.
"Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Good choice" Tara commented. Willow grinned.
"Is it the one with Twist and Shout on?" Willow replied. When Tara's eyebrow raised, Willow looked a little ashamed but enthusiastic. "You know, from Ferris Bueller's Day Off where he's on the float and everybody's dancing and it's like, the best scene in the film" At this point, Willow could have sworn Tara only had one eyebrow, and that her other eye was permanently wide open.
"You've never heard Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band?" Tara asked. "I thought everyone's parents made their kids listen to it. I thought it was law or something. That one was my mom's before… Well, I've heard it like, a million times. Wanna listen?"
"Sure" Willow grinned.
The pair lay on Tara's bed. The album was nearing its end, and both were sleepily listening. Willow was preparing to roll over and admit it was a very good album, and Tara was preparing to come out to Willow.
They both moved at the same time, coming up and turning, until their foreheads lightly touched. Both suddenly became hyper aware of each others breath, warmly brushing their cheeks.
All thought of music and thought as a whole exited Willow's head as the yearning to touch Tara, to kiss her, to hold her, suddenly came to nearly unbearable levels.
"Willow, I, umm, I h-have to t-t-tell, you something" Tara stuttered.
"What is it?" Willow breathed, neither pulling away, but neither wanting to bridge the ever so slight gap between their lips.
"I'm g-g-g-g… lesb-b-b… I like g-girls. I like women. Females. Red lips and smooth skin and short auburn hair. Well, maybe not so much girls as of late, but, girl. A girl. A… You" Tara said, slowly, haltingly, painstakingly.
"Well, that's good. Grand. Great. Spectacular. Well, I mean, homophobia is an issue of course. Not with me! I, uhh, I'm very accepting of, well, that's to say, I um, I kinda only just processed the last part of what you said actually and I kinda, well, I don't know if it's just girls or if it's both or, or if it's just… just you. That I umm…" Willow, in contrast, spoke at a million miles an hour. "Or if it's just you that I… want. I… I, well, I, I want… this"
And she bridged the gap.
AN: So, help me out here. Was it good? Bad? Ummm, somewhere in the middle? Should I continue?
Also, please warn me if any British colloquialisms leak in, because I am British.
