It's Always the Pain That Knocks You - Chapter 2

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Willow felt like hugging herself with joy as she walked to her Wicca Group meeting. Although the incident at lunchtime was still haunting her slightly, she didn't want to forget what had happened that morning. Being with Oz always filled her with a warmth that she couldn't explain but in the shower it had just been, well, mind blowing. She still couldn't really comprehend how far she had come from the little girl in high school who would blush at even the hint of something sexual. She cursed herself again for having to attend the meeting. She didn't even enjoy it. The girls who ran it didn't even seem to know anything about Wicca or magic. But she had made a commitment, and that meant she had to go. Some things didn't change from high school, she still wasn't one to back out of a commitment.

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"So, Mary-Anne came up with a great idea on how to get more people interested in Wicca. Why don't you tell us Mary-Anne?" Stacey, the Wicca group leader was saying.

"Well," Began Mary-Anne, seeming very excited. "Flyers just don't work. I mean, how many flyers are we handed daily?"

Mary-Anne was looking at Willow, "Well?"

"Oh. You want an answer? I thought it was rhetorical. Um.a lot?"

Mary-Anne shook her head, "Yeah. But how many would you say. On average."

"Ten?"

"Right, and how many do we actually look at before we shove them in the bin?"

Willow sighed with relief when she realised Mary-Anne wasn't expecting an answer from her. She noticed that she was now looking at the blonde girl sitting crossed leg on the floor.

"I d-d-d-don't know. I a-always l-l-look at them."

Willow smiled, she always looked at them too.

"Oh you d-d-d-d-do do you? Hmmm." Mary-Anne turned towards another girl in the group as the blonde girl bent her head down towards the floor. But Willow had seen the hurt in her eyes and the shame on her face.

Outraged she stood up. "Who do you think you are?" She demanded.

"Excuse me?" Mary-Anne asked, looking at Willow like she had grown an extra head.

"You can't talk to people like that. You can't make fun of her because she stutters. You should be grateful that she bothered to attend this meeting. You don't have any right to demand answers from any of us, just because you set up this group doesn't mean you have any control over us! And this meeting, where the hell does the Wicca part fit in? Do you people even know what Wicca is?"

Willow turned towards the blonde girl who was looking at her with awe, 2Do you want to get out of here?" She placed her hand out towards the girl.

The girl nodded and stood gently taking Willows hand in her own.

"Bye."

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Once they were out in the fresh air Willow felt like she could breathe again.

"You were amazing in there."

She looked at the blonde girl and smiled, "Thanks. I just got pissed off. That was really mean what she did. Are you ok?"

"I'm f-f-fine. Thanks to you."

Willow grinned "I'm Willow."

"I k-k-know. I'm Tara."

"Well, since we have no meeting now, do you want to go somewhere and grab a coffee? We can talk, get to know each other a little better."

Tara ducked her head as she nodded "I'd like t-t-that"

It wasn't until the started to walk that Willow realised they were still holding hands.