Reviews:
Kim - Thanks!
Just Me - Thank you! (To let you know, I've worked quite a few chapters ahead that I'm tweaking as I go - plus if I have a slow period of not being able to write I'll have something to update!) Anyhoo - yes there is a morning after scene.
Randy - Two words - FAN FICTION ! Don't take it so seriously, dude!
Caren - Thank you! Glad you're enjoying the story. I may take you up on the offer if my brain decides to take a vacation (which it does most frequently - it just doesn't take me with it!)
Sink or Swim - Thanks for the great review - I'm not worried about Randy. Obviously he's a Spike/Buffy fan and I hit a nerve - can't please everyone! You'll find out where the hands have been real quick! LOL And an answer to Faith's perceptiveness - I'm surprised nobody guessed. You guys are going to be totally flummoxed if you don't start picking up on the subtle hints I've been laying down - there's a few more in this chapter!
:0) - By the way -- Does anyone have a preference for what two days of the week they would like updates? Say Monday for crappy go back to work day? and maybe Friday's for a good start to the weekend? E-mail me and let me know which way you would like it and I'll go with the most popular. (And No it can't be an every day update - unless you only want to have a very, very short chapter - as in cut off in the middle of a conversation!LOL)I have worked ahead roughly 9 more chapters - but I am still making small changes on them - nothing huge. Haven't been able to write much the last week - works been busy and I haven't been able to write during the downtime!
Chapter 10
Tara slowly gains consciousness feeling a weight across her stomach and thighs and a hand playing with her… Eyes opening wide she looks down at a sleeping slayer with her head on her left breast, snoring softly and her left hand lightly squeezing and releasing her right breast. 'Well, she wasn't kidding when she said she liked to snuggle.' Tara thinks to herself with a slight giggle.
"Mmm." Buffy mumbles in her sleep, shifting her body closer and rubbing her face against…opening her eyes wide Buffy jumps back slightly. "Tara, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to…"
Tara softly places her finger on Buffy's lips stilling her worried ranting. "Buffy, it's okay." Smiling lopsidedly at the Slayer. "I mean you probably don't want to rush into anything, but I am SO not complaining." Tara replaces her finger with her lips and gently kisses the slayer. "Good morning."
Blushing slightly Buffy grins and returns the kiss. "Good morning. So, good morning groping is allowed?" Buffy smirks slightly.
Blushing herself Tara smirks back "Right up there with good morning kisses. Want to lay back down?" Tara asks glancing down to her breast and back at Buffy with an arched eyebrow.
Grinning in appreciation Buffy nods her head before snuggling back down. "Mmmm. I can definitely get used to this." Pulling back slightly Buffy asks worriedly "I'm not hurting you, am I?"
Wrapping her arms around the slayer, Tara tugs her back down against her. "No, you're not hurting me Buffy." Tara smiles as she runs her fingers through Buffy's hair. "What time do you have to be at work today?"
Buffy groans loudly at being reminded about work and hears the slight inhale from Tara. Pulling back she looks at Tara. "Now I know I did something." Buffy looks worried at Tara.
Blushing a darker red, Tara lightly bites her bottom lip to keep from giggling. "Buffy, it wasn't a bad something." Hesitating trying to decide how to phrase it. "When you groaned, it vibrated and…" Trailing off she smiles at the slayer, reaching up to brush her thumb down the soft cheek. "It felt good." She whispers.
Eyes opening wide in realization Buffy smiles hugely. "Good. Ummm. You know I've never…"
"I know, Buffy. Just relax and when the time is right, it'll be right. And don't be so worried about doing something wrong." Tara smiles before leaning up and kissing the tip of the slayers nose before tugging her back down to lay her head back on her breast.
"What time is it?" Buffy mumbles smiling slightly as she runs her hand over the blondes stomach where her shirt had ridden up.
"Hmmm…" Turning her head to look at the alarm clock Tara closes her eyes at the soft fingertips playing with her stomach. "It's 8 o'clock."
"I have to be at work at 10:30 for the lunch crowd and I get off at 4:30 today." Buffy mumbles shifting her leg to run it over Tara's.
"Why don't I get up and make some breakfast for everyone. I'm sure Dawn wants to talk to us. And I'm kind of curious as to how Faith figured out you liked me." Tara smiles slightly thinking the Dark Slayer was probably more aware of the people around her than she let on.
"Not just like, but love you." Buffy whispers leaning up to place a gentle kiss on the soft full lips that she was becoming quickly addicted to. "I could spend all day kissing you." A light knocking came on the bedroom door followed by Dawn's voice asking if they were up yet.
"Well, maybe if annoying sisters weren't in the house I could at least pretend I had all day to kiss you!" Buffy grumbles lightly before smiling and yelling "We're awake just not up yet. Go ahead and head downstairs we'll be down in a few minutes."
"Okay!" Dawn chirps happily before heading downstairs.
"You go ahead and get ready for work and I'll start fixing breakfast." Tara smiles as Buffy growls slightly, before easing away and smiling at the Wicca.
"You are beautiful." Buffy states smiling softly at the beautiful blue eyes looking back at her before leaning down and placing another light kiss on her lips and hopping out of bed to shower and get ready for work.
AAAAAAAA
"So what does everyone have planned while I am getting all grease-a-fied at the DMP?" Buffy asks after swallowing a mouthful of pancakes.
"Can I go to Janice's today and spend the night? She called while you were in the shower." Dawn hopefully asks.
"Yes, you may. AFTER you pick up your room, bring down your laundry and help with the dishes." Buffy states giving her a firm look.
"Ah, Buffy." Dawn whines briefly before smiling. "Okay. Thanks!"
Tara smiles gently looking from one sister to the other. "Well, I do know I have to get some groceries. We're getting down to the bare bones here. I guess we should get Faith set up in the bedroom…" Hesitating Tara looks at Buffy with a questioning look before asking "Do you want us to move your stuff back? I-I mean, I d-don't want to assume anything."
"Tara you aren't assuming anything, and yes if you want me to move back in to the bedroom with you, I would be ecstatic." Buffy smiles at the blonde. "That reminds me, Faith, how in the world did you know that I cared for Tara?"
Faith rolls her eyes before gulping down some of her coffee. "Wicked obvious, B."
Dawn giggles and covers her mouth when Buffy and Tara turn to look at her with a questioning look. "Faith's right."
"Okay, will someone please explain to me how it was so obvious?" Buffy pouts.
"I'll go first Little D." Faith grins at the teenager. "Let's see big honkin' sign - You get me out of jail. The person that held a knife to your best friends throat, tried to kill Xander and Angel, three very important people in your life. You're willing to get me out to protect blondie over here, didn't take much more than that." Faith looks down and scoops up the last bite of scrambled eggs and bite of toast, finishing her breakfast. "Thanks blondie, that was good."
Dawn shrugs and says "My turn?" At Buffy and Tara's nod she smirks. "Buffy couldn't keep her hands to herself. She was always reaching out to touch Tara or sitting beside her. Buffy wasn't that touchy-feely with Riley! Plus the looks you two were always exchanging when the other wasn't paying attention. Come on. Plus the pitt bull mentality that Buffy has about Tara being protected. As Faith said, 'Wicked obvious'!"
"Great, next you're going to tell me Anya and Xander figured it out, too!" Buffy states before finishing her juice.
"Anya figured it out. Her and Xander were arguing about it the other day when I was in the Magic Box waiting for Tara pick me up after her classes." Dawn states smiling as she winks at Faith.
"They were arguing?" Tara asks with a frown.
"Yeah, but not bad. Just Anya was stating how you two were orgasm buddies now and Xander swore up and down that you weren't. That you would tell him if you were seeing each other, even though he did say he had a feeling it was just a matter of time." Dawn states grinning broadly.
Buffy starts laughing and just lays her head down on the dining room table. "Why couldn't someone have told me?"
Smiling softly at Buffy, Tara shakes her head slightly. "It's always best to come to the conclusion yourself instead of someone else telling you, sweetie. If someone were to tell you, you would always wonder if that influenced your decision. And not just you and me way, but in anything in life."
Frowning slightly at the time, Buffy stands up. "I hate to say it, but I have to get to work. I'll see you guys later." Buffy smiles as Tara gets up gathering up the dishes to take them in the kitchen before coming back out. Blushing slightly Buffy walks up to her and gently kisses her. "I'll see you later." Buffy whispers hugging her tight. Turning to Faith, Buffy growls "Make sure you keep her in your eyesight. She means the world to me."
Faith nods. "You got it, B." Grinning wickedly she looks at Buffy "So if I have to keep her in my eyesight…"
"Faith! Don't even get started!" Buffy interrupts the dark slayer. Shaking her head "Faith can you come out here with me for a moment?" Buffy asks seriously.
"What's up B?" Faith asks.
"I really appreciate you doing this. I want you to know that." Buffy states before saying "I'm glad to have you back. And not just for this." Looking down kicking a stone Buffy looks back up with caring in her eyes. "I miss having you around. Now I got to go, see you tonight." Buffy takes off, leaving a stunned Faith standing on the sidewalk.
AAAAAAAA
"Well, that's the last of the stuff." Faith states looking at the room. "I feel weird having the big bedroom while you two take the smaller one. You sure you don't wanna switch."
"NO!" Tara states loudly before closing her eyes.
Faith's head jerks up at hearing the normally soft spoken woman being so vocal. "Whoa! Sorry blondie, didn't mean to upset you."
"No, Faith. I'm sorry. It's just that you probably don't know that W-w-willow and I lived here together after Buffy died, to take care of Dawn." Tara whispers quietly.
"Don't need to say any more. I'm sorry for treading on your toes." Faith mumbles.
Lightly laying her hand on Faith's arm Tara shakes her head "You couldn't know Faith. You've been here for less than 24 hours and were kind of dropped in the middle of things. Things will come up. Don't take it personally, okay?" Tara asks with a soft smile.
"'Kay." Faith smiles slightly, showing a hint of dimple. 'Damn, B. You sure are one lucky lady.' She thinks to herself before shaking her head slightly. "Well, since we got B's gear situated and my stuff, what there is of it, is up here. Why don't we run to the grocery store."
"We need to get you by the store and get you some more clothes, too." Tara points out.
Shrugging her shoulders Faith grins slightly. "We can run by the thrift store in town and see if they have some jeans and shirts that'll fit. Slaying is too rough on clothes for me to spend a lot of money on them, except my leathers." Looking down at her leather pants and smiling slightly. "They hold up pretty good. Anyway a lot of the clothes there are in pretty good shape most of the time."
AAAAAAAA
As the two women come back into the house laughing, they stop in the doorway to see Willow standing there with her hands on her hips. "So, what's going on now? Buffy not enough for you?" She snarls out looking at Faith. "You went and got the slut from hell out of jail? You must be desperate." Willow states scathingly looking over her ex-lover.
"Willow, please leave." Tara asks shakily.
Moving to stand in front of Tara, Faith sets the bags she was carrying down gently on the floor, keeping her eyes on Willow the whole time. 'Boy, they were right about her. She has gone off the deep end.'
"Willow, I'd suggest you leave." Faith growls out looking Willow in the eyes. When Willow's eyes seep from green to black, with no whites showing Faith's eyes open in surprise
"You don't tell me what to do, bitch!" Willow screams as she incants a spell in Latin before sending it at the Dark Slayer.
Faith feels the charm warm slightly against her chest where it's laying, feeling extremely thankful for it. "Willow, I don't know what's happened to you, but take a suggestion from someone who's been there. Get your act together before you lose everything." Faith states in a quiet, deadly voice as she strides toward the red head.
"You!" Willow yells turning to look at Tara. "Your magic won't protect you guys forever! It's only a matter of time before I figure a way around it, then you'll be mine." Willow starts to head towards Tara, to find her way blocked by Faith.
"You leave her alone. She isn't yours and will never be yours again." Faith growls low and rough.
Sneering in disgust at Faith, Willow grins evilly while she teleports herself so she's standing in front of Tara. Reaching out with her hands she's blocked by a shield Tara had quickly prepared while Faith was talking to redhead.
Willow yells loudly "You Fucking Bitch! I'll be back!" Willow disappears.
Tara swallows, letting the shield release before leaning against the wall, shaking slightly.
"Are you okay?" Faith runs to her, gently turning her to look her over.
"Yes, she didn't touch me. When you were talking to her, I had time to get a shield in place." Tara frowns slightly. "I don't think any of us are going to be able to reach her." Tara states sadly, reaching down to grab a couple bags of groceries and shakily heading into the kitchen.
"I know you guys weren't lying about Red, but, I guess a part of me just couldn't believe that she was actually like that." Faith mumbles following the blonde into the kitchen to help put away the groceries. "It's just kinda hard to accept, you know?"
Nodding her head Tara takes a slight breath, "Unfortunately with great power comes the capability of great corruption or evil. If you don't have a good balance, it's extremely easy to cross the line from good to evil." Realizing what she said she pales and looks at Faith with wide open eyes, "I'm sorry, Faith I didn't mean…"
Shaking her head and holding her hand up, Faith smiles sardonically "It's the truth blondie. That's exactly what happened with me. The sad fact was, I was offered friendship and I was too stupid to accept it. I figured everybody had an ulterior motive, no one could like me for me." Shrugging Faith finishes putting the groceries away. "I guess I should get the clothes we bought downstairs so I can do a couple loads of wash. Got anything for me to add?"
Shaking her head, Tara lets Faith change the subject for now. "Yeah, I'll go get the hampers. I didn't even realize that thrift store was there. Most of the clothes still had price tags on them from the original stores!"
Nodding her head Faith grins "Yeah, that happens a lot."
"Thanks for buying the groceries." Tara softly thanks Faith.
"No problem. I tried to give the money to B last night, but she wouldn't take it. Figure it's the least I can do since I'll be eating here. Maybe I can look for a part-time job, help out with the bills. Don't wanna be a drain on you guys." Faith states quietly before taking the bags of clothes down the stairs.
Tara stands there looking at the door to the basement 'we need to help her find herself completely. She's got a start, but she still doesn't believe someone could actually care for her, Faith, not the slayer.' Frowning to herself, Tara goes to gather up the laundry and clean the house before Buffy gets home from work.
AAAAAAAAAAAA
Faith and Tara both plop down on opposite ends of the couch. They had finished running the vacuum cleaner and dusting. There was a roast with vegetables baking in the oven for the slayers for dinner, and the house was cleaned from top to bottom with the last load of laundry in the dryer.
"Faith, I have to say a very huge thank you for helping with the household chores." Tara blows the hair off her forehead.
Laughing slightly Faith looks over at the blonde. "What, did you expect I would just sit on my ass and lift my feet when you go by with the vacuum cleaner? Plus it feels kind of nice to do the simple things like cleaning and laundry, ya know?"
"Yes. Personally, it makes me feel good that I accomplished something." Tara turns her head smiling over at the brunette.
"It does, doesn't it?" Faith states in realization. "Feeling good from cleaning? Who'da thunk?" Faith grins hugely. "And if you tell anyone, I'll do something mean to you." Faith looks at her with a scowl on her face before laughing.
The front door opens and a disgruntled Buffy walks through, grumbling. "I really have to get a new job."
"Rough day, sweetie?" Tara asks smiling at Buffy.
"You have no idea." Buffy bends over to unlace her shoes before kicking them off and looking at the living room. "Hey, the house looks good!" Sniffing the air she grins "What's for dinner?"
"Roast with vegetables and rolls." Tara grins thinking the two slayers think more with their stomach than anything. "And Faith and I thank you for the house compliment." Tara tilts her head slightly towards Faith.
"Thanks for helping, Faith." Buffy states grinning. "It looks damn good."
"Yeah, Faith moved stuff out of the way while I vacuumed, and she also dusted. She's a Tasmanian Devil with the dusting!" Tara laughs, picking on the slayer.
Groaning Faith rolls her eyes and tilts her head back on the couch looking up at the ceiling. "Great, now blondie is gonna start calling me Taz!"
"Personally, I think it's a fitting nickname for you Faith." Tara states tongue in cheek. "Especially the way you were spinning around in the living room when I came down from cleaning the bathroom."
Growling lightly at Tara, Faith shakes her head.
Laughing quietly Buffy walks up to Tara, leaning over her and giving her a brief kiss. Pulling back slightly smiling "I kind of like being able to kiss you whenever I want. But right now, I need to go scrape a few layers of grease off my stinky body."
Smiling at Buffy, Tara says "We got all your stuff in our room. Dinner will probably be ready in about another hour."
"Thanks. I'll be back down in a few." Buffy starts to head up the steps.
"B!" Faith catches her. Looking to Tara she states "We should probably tell her now, what happened."
Buffy quickly turns around and walks over to sit on the table between the two women looking at both of them in turn. "What happened?" She asks tensely.
"When we came back from the stores, Red was in the house waiting on us. She didn't seem happy to see me here. She made a few threats, tried to get to Tara, and then disappeared." Faith growled low and angrily. "B, she was able to pop out of sight and right in front of Tara before I could do anything."
Buffy looks quickly at Tara, running her eyes over her body "Are you okay?" She asks worriedly.
"I'm fine. Faith was able to distract her long enough for me to put a shield around myself. It wasn't Faith's fault, she went to stand in front of Willow, protecting me. Willow transported, it happened so quick. But Faith was right there, ready but Willow disappeared when she encountered the shield." Tara quickly states, hoping that Buffy wouldn't be angry with Faith.
"That's fine. It's a possibility I was thinking about. With her popping in and out at will, even if we are with you 24/7 it's a possibility something still might happen. It's too bad you can't put a spell around the house to keep her out." Buffy half-heartedly smiles, running her fingers over Tara's hand. "Kind of a big talisman for the house." Buffy states, looking down at her necklace.
Frowning slightly Tara thinks. "It actually might be possible, to keep her from entering the house magically. I don't think it will do any good to keep her out if she physically walks in." Quickly getting up she runs up the stairs grabbing a book and coming back down. Flipping through thepages she frowns at one of the spells.
"What did you find?" Buffy asks seeing the frown.
"This might work, but a couple of the ingredients are very expensive. I'll keep looking for other spells and see if I can come up with something that won't cost as much." Tara states, marking the page just in case before continuing researching.
"Maybe we could talk to Anya? She would probably sell them to us at cost." Buffy quietly suggests. "I would feel better if we could have the house protected, that way if Faith and I both needed to be out of the house, you would be safe here. We would just have to change the locks on the doors."
Faith nods her head. "I can change the locks, I'm kinda handy with that sort of thing. And I would feel better if we didn't have any more surprise visits." Smirking slightly and sending a sideways glance at Buffy, Faith goes "And you wouldn't have to share you room with B no more, so you would have your own space back."
"HEY!" Buffy yells out in displeasure. "I do NOT like that idea at all." Feeling Tara put her hand on her arm she turns to see the blonde Wicca laughing quietly.
Winking at Buffy she turns to Faith. "You're just jealous because you're not sharing our bed!"
Buffy's eyes open wide in surprise and Faith guffaws loudly. "Damn, if that's an offer I won't turn it down! Could definitely do a lot worse than you two! Two hot babes? I'd be there in a heart beat."
Buffy blushes and looks at Tara "See what you started? We will NEVER hear the end of this now."
Giggling to herself Tara shrugs and grins lopsidedly. "Oops."
"I thought you were the shy witch?" Faith laughs at them. "I never would have expected you to say something like that!"
Buffy grumbles "I'm starting to find out that she isn't as shy as I thought she was." Eyeing Tara up and down before grinning. "I like it!" Making Tara blush slightly in response.
"And on that note, I'm off to the shower." Buffy smiles, lightly running her hand over Tara's before standing up and going upstairs.
"You know. I never thought I'd see the day that B would be in love with a woman." Faith states sincerely, but sadly. "But you two work. If you know what I mean."
"Faith...?" Tara turns questioningly to the dark Slayer.
"Well, let me check on that load of towels in the dryer." Faith smiles sadly and heads down to check on the laundry.