CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT: TARA
Sunday: 3am11th July 1999
California: Sunnydale
"Hey people!" Buffy greeted enthusiastically.
The group all greeted her vocally, except of course for Olivia who merely scowled. Buffy ignored her once more and took a seat on the floor next to her brother.
"So…everyone seems to be nicely vocal once more," Buffy observed.
"Uh, quite," Giles replied. "You uh…didn't have any problems then?"
"Nothing too major. My jacket got ruined, but that's nothing new," Buffy said. She shrugged the jacket off and looked at the small hole in the top shoulder where the demon had stabbed her with the scalpel.
Jay moved onto his knees to look at her back. He moved aside the material of her shirt and wiped away the dried blood. "The cut's already healed."
"Gotta love Slayer healing," Buffy commented. "Makes my life so much easier."
Buffy looked to where Tara was seated, still looking a little shocked. Buffy shifted so that she was directly in front of the girl.
"You doing okay?" Buffy asked quietly.
Tara nodded. "Still s-s-shaky, but…I'll b-be alright. T-thank you."
"You're welcome," Buffy replied. "Do you want to crash here for the night? I could walk you home if you don't want to stay."
"My uh…m-my room-mate m-might be a l-little worried," Tara said.
Buffy nodded and stood up, reclaiming her jacket. She grabbed a stake and pocketed it quickly.
"I'll just walk Tara home. I'll be back in about half an hour."
Jay and Faith stood up. "We'd better get going as well," Jay explained. "I'll walk Faith home and give you a call when I get in. Mom's probably getting worked up over me being out. She was royally freaked out by this whole thing."
Buffy nodded, wishing that she could just come clean to her mom about what she did at night.
"Alright. I'll see you guys tomorrow," Buffy said. She glanced at the clock on the kitchen wall. "Well…today technically. Anyway. G'night guys."
Jay hugged her and kissed her cheek before tugging Faith out the door. Buffy waved to Ethan and Giles before walking out the door with Tara.
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"It's just d-down this s-street," Tara said.
Buffy nodded and the two blondes headed down the darkened road. Tara stopped in front of a house that still had the lights on in the living room and turned towards the shorter blonde girl.
"T-thank you. For w-what you did tonight," Tara said shyly.
Buffy smiled and placed a hand on the girls arm. "You're welcome. Just don't go wandering in the streets at night, okay? It's not exactly safe out here."
"I w-won't. Don't worry," Tara said with a small smile.
Buffy grinned and went to walk away but reconsidered. "The Gang's going to the movies tomorrow afternoon," Buffy said. "Did you wanna come with us?"
Tara's eyes went wide, shocked at the invitation. "Uh…I, uh…I – I don't…I…"
"If you've got plans it's alright. We could catch up next week, just hang out or whatever," Buffy said.
Tara swallowed hard. She wasn't used to people being so incredibly friendly to her. She definitely wasn't used to friendliness from people who had just saved her life.
"I…I d-don't have p-plans," Tara said.
Buffy smiled. "Cool. We're meeting at Jay's house. 1630 Revello Drive. The movie starts at 12, so we're meeting there at 11:15," Buffy explained.
"J-Jay…which o-one was t-that?"
"My brother. The tall blonde guy," Buffy explained.
"You're b-brother. But…y-you don't l-l-live together," Tara said. "And you're a-accents are different."
"Long story," Buffy said. "I'll explain, I swear, but…it's late."
Tara nodded. "I'll uh…I'll see you t-tomorrow."
Buffy gave her a genuine smile and bade her goodnight. The Slayer idly wondered whether the Scooby Gang, as Xander liked to call them, would be able to cure Tara of her innate shyness.
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Sunday: 11:15am11th July 1999
California: Sunnydale
The was a light knocking on the door, barely herd over the loudness that was the Scooby Gang. Buffy jumped to her feet as Joyce emerged from the kitchen. Joyce opened the door to see a shy looking blonde girl on the other side.
"Tara, you made it!" Buffy said, pulling the girl inside.
Tara smiled shyly. "Hey Buffy."
"Oh, mom this is Tara. Tara, my mom Joyce Stanton," Buffy said.
"N-nice to meet you Mrs S-Stanton."
Joyce smiled warmly at the girl. "It's just Joyce dear."
Tara nodded and gave a shy smile that disappeared almost as quickly as it had appeared.
Buffy pulled Tara into the living room where the rest of the group was seated. Everyone looked up and smiled, waving to the new comer.
"Guys, you remember Tara," Buffy said. "Tara, this is everyone. Jay, Faith, Xander, Willow and Oz. I know you guys met last night, but…if you can remember everyone's names after one meeting, you're doing far better than I ever did."
Tara went a little red under everyone's scrutiny, but she bravely stepped forward and took a seat on the couch a little awkwardly. The room burst into noise once more.
Tara looked towards the Slayer who seemed to be sitting back and taking the noise in rather than being part of it. Tara noticed the small glances that the girl kept giving to the brown haired boy and wondered whether there was a romance there that she should know about.
Tara still wasn't clear about what had happened the night before, but Buffy had promised to explain everything. Tara was content to just know that she wasn't dead and that it was because of the blonde girl next to her.
"What m-movie are we seeing?" Tara asked quietly.
"Ten Things I Hate About You," Buffy replied. "They were debating which guy had better acting abilities, Heath or Andrew."
Buffy was slowly becoming more accustomed with the popular actors and actresses. She still had a fair way to come with the pop-culture references, but Xander, Willow and Oz were integrating her into the more popular movies. She found herself to be an avid Star Wards fan and was eagerly anticipating the Second and Third episodes of the six part series.
"Heath," Tara replied.
Buffy looked at her curiously. "You think so? Why?"
"I like h-his a-accent," Tara replied.
Buffy grinned. She too had liked Heath Ledger's Australian accent far better than Andrew Keegan's American one. Of course, that was only from what she's seen of the trailers for the film.
Seemingly as one, Faith, Jay, Willow, Oz and Xander stood up. Buffy and Tara followed their example.
"We'll need to get there kinda early if we wanna get good seats," Jay explained.
Buffy nodded and the group headed towards the door. Buffy and Jay both stopped simultaneously when they were halfway down the path. Tara watched them curiously as they both looked at each other and asked in unison: "Where's Sunrise?"
Jay sighed and went back into the house.
"Who's Sunrise?" Tara whispered.
"Our sister," Buffy replied.
When Jay and Dawn emerged several moments later, the group started out again. They walked in two groups, Jay, Faith, Willow and Oz in the lead. Tara, Buffy, Xander and Dawn stayed behind.
"Dawnie, this is my friend Tara, Tara, my sister Dawn."
Tara waved shyly and Dawn just grinned at the girl.
Dawn pointed to the group in front and saw that both couples had separated a little and were walking holding hands.
"Isn't it gross?" Dawn asked.
Buffy and Xander exchanged shy glances, Buffy looking away first.
"I t-think it's cute," Tara said.
Dawn shrugged and shook her head.
"You'll understand the attraction in a couple of years Sunrise," Buffy assured her younger sister.
Xander grinned and fought to keep his laughter down. They still had yet to talk, but he knew that when they finally got a moment to themselves, things were going to change. And Xander for one couldn't wait.
Hey hey ppl!
Glad you're all reading and still enjoying this fic. In answer to the question of why Willow isn't in the dorms…I wrote this assuming that they hadn't started college yet…are my dates horribly wrong? (they probably are…) Well…they haven't started college just yet. This is set in the summer between their graduation and going to college. Very AU, cos of the whole Key thing that's being introduced…
As for Tara and her deal…you'll just have to wait and see.
Toodles.
K.