Part 6
Faith could feel her legs beginning to quiver; she was not used to be the deer caught in the headlights. Tara had her arms crossed across her chest and her eyes narrowed staring mercilessly at the brunette slayer
"Here, let me take Ariel" Simone offered feeling that Faith was starting to shake
"No…" Tara interrupted "I don't have time for this conversation right now" she informed moving to the study room and returning with a book in her hands "I'm late for a class…but I'm not gonna let you off the hook that easily" she warned seriously "we'll talk tonight" Faith didn't make a sound, so the blonde moved, kissed her daughter and left again
"Now look what you've done" she snapped at the nanny
"oh please" Simone rolled her eyes in exasperation "you're the one who's been acting like a love sick teenager" she took Ariel from the slayer's arms "I stand by my opinion…it would be a lot easier if you just told her how you feel"
"What for?" she opened her arms dramatically
"Well, what have you got to lose?" she questioned "she's single and not seen anybody as far as we know it…what are you so afraid of?"
"She used to date Red, for Christ sake…I can't think of anybody more different than me" she explained "she would never want anything to do with the likes of me"
"you'll only know it if you ask her" she tried to reason the slayer "maybe she likes you…and if she doesn't, you can move on with your life" she said ignoring the slayer's protests "think about it, ok?" she grabbed the baby's toys and left the brunette alone with her thoughts
Faith was stubbornly resolved not to run into Tara that night, so after patrolling she went to a bar determined to have sex. She made out with two hot chicks but couldn't get any further because her mind was occupied by a certain blonde witch. She gave up and left feeling very frustrated.
She got home very late; the sun was almost rising when she tiptoed to her room. She closed the door silently and turned the light on
"Jesus Christ" she jumped placing a hand over her heart "you scared the shit out of me" Tara was sitting on an armchair by the window, facing the door and looking very unpleased "what are you doing up?"
"I was waiting for you" she said humorlessly
"Look, T…" Faith started but was interrupted by Tara's raised hand. The blonde stood up and moved to the brunette's side
"I just want to apologize" she said softly
"For what?" the slayer furrowed her brows in confusion
"I don't know" Tara shrugged "I don't really know what I did to offend you" she started pacing "b-but whatever it w-w-was…I d-didn't mean to" Faith's heart sank at the blonde's sorrow expression "I thought we were friends and I must have crossed some kind of line…so I'm sorry"
"Tara" Faith choked
"It's late…or early" the blonde smiled sadly "whatever…just get some sleep" she turned and left the room. Faith felt a lump forming on her throat; her heart was running a mile a minute, she couldn't bear the sight of a distressed Tara
"Idiot" she cursed and run after the blonde. She found the witch sitting on a bench at the backyard, her head was bent forward and she had both hands covering her face; by the slump of her shoulders Faith could tell that she was sobbing. The slayer felt her heart tightening inside her chest; she rushed to the blonde's side
"hey…please, stop it" the brunette was breathing heavily "why are you crying?" the blonde simply shook her head "hey, come on, T…look at me" she pled and knelt in front of the witch "you did nothing wrong…it's my fault" she removed Tara's hand from her face gently "I'm a stupid moron" Tara sniffed and opened her eyes to look at Faith. The brunette slayer was on the verge of tears and Tara saw genuine concern in her eyes
"I'm so confused" she offered honestly "Anya and Xander are getting married in three weeks and everybody is pressuring me to come"
"Are you going?" Faith asked sitting next to her
"I don't think I'm ready to see W-Willow again…" she dried her face "to face her after what I did"
"What you did???" she furrowed her brows
"She doesn't know about A-Ariel" Tara said watching the sun coming up in the horizon "I t-took off and never said a word about the p-pregnancy" she sighed despondently "keeping it from her is killing me"
"Why don't you tell her now?" Faith was worried; she wasn't used to see Tara stuttering so much
"I c-can't…" she shook her head and sighed again "I c-can't just show up after all this t-time and say: 'gee Will, I forgot to tell you…but you have a child'" she snorted and ran a hand through her hair "she'll hate me" Faith felt a burning sensation in the pit of her stomach, she could sense how much the redhead still meant for Tara, and she didn't like it…at all. She decided to push her jealousy down though; she wanted to comfort the blonde
"Then don't go" she offered "stay here…and maybe one day, when the kid is older and your heart is healed, you two can sit and talk" she offered honestly. Tara looked deep inside hazel eyes, and saw nothing but warmth emanating from them
"Thank you" she whispered and suddenly something came to her mind "why were you avoiding me?"
"Cause I'm stupid" she said without breaking their gaze "I'm sorry…I'm so sorry" the blonde smiled sweetly and nodded causing a grin to break in the slayer's features
Things got back to normal that week, the slayer had decided to drop the childish act and face things like an adult; more than that, she was determined to take the blonde's mind off of Sunnydale. On Friday she woke before the rest of the habitants of the house and was already in the kitchen when Tara walked in
"Hey early bird" she smiled at the brunette "fall off bed this morning?"
"Nope…I had some things to prepare" she explained
"What are you doing?" the blonde asked curiously and moved to start breakfast
"No…no" Faith intercepted her "stay away from the stove"
"Why?" she lifted a questioning eyebrow
"Cause today, you me and the kid are going for a picnic" she grinned and showed the basket she had prepared
"Picnic???" Tara asked wide eyed
"Yes…picnic" she nodded positively
"Faith, it's Friday…I have to work" she argued
"Don't worry…I took care of it" she waved a dismissively hand to the blonde
"What did you do?" she asked intrigued
"I asked Giles to inform the university that you weren't feeling well and you'd need someone to cover for your classes today" she told
"Oh my god…did he do it?"
"Yes…I told him you were under a lot of stress and a day off would do you good" she grinned "plus, he lent me the keys to his cottage" she shook the keychain for emphases
"I can't believe you went through all this trouble" she said touched by the brunette's thoughtfulness
"It's nothing…besides, I could use a day off too" she wiggled her brows funnily causing the blonde to laugh
Tara was sitting on a blanket spread over some very green grass. The contents of the picnic basket Faith had prepared were spread beside her. She had a book on her lap, but she wasn't reading it, she was observing from afar Faith riding a light brown stallion with Ariel sitting in front of her. The kid was having a blast; her laughs were echoing all over the place and Tara could sense the joy emanating from the slayer as well. The blonde could feel her body relaxing for the first time in weeks, Faith was right she definitely needed a day off.
Two hours later, Ariel was already fed and taking a refreshing nap. Faith was lying on her side using a hand to support her head; Tara was sitting with her legs crossed Indian style both tasting some fruit
"Hum…this is great" Tara said sucking her own fingers
"Yeah, kid likes it too" Tara nodded and looked to her sleeping baby
"She loves you" she declared softly
"Yeah…I'm her 'fa-fy'" Faith looked adorably at the little girl
"Her what?"
"Seriously…she calls me 'fa-fy'…" she explained "I think 'Faith' is hard for to say"
"Probably…yeah" the blonde nodded in agreement. Faith watched Tara's every move, she couldn't deny how much the blonde meant to her anymore; she was definitely falling in love with that woman. She started wondering if the nanny was right, if she should talk to Tara about her feelings, but how would she react? Would she blow her off? Did she stand a chance? She needed to get some answers before making a move
"Hey, T…can I ask you something?"
"Sure" she nodded
"What happened between you and Red?" she asked directly "I mean, why you guys broke up anyway?"
"It's not a v-v-very h-h-happy story" she stuttered already feeling the lump forming on her throat
"Hey…if it makes you uncomfortable" Faith said sitting up and placing a soft hand on the witch's knee
"No, it's okay" Tara sighed trying to get a hold of her emotions "I've got to be able to talk about that without falling apart"
"I'm all ears" the brunette encourage and she told her about everything that happened between her and the redhead. The more Faith listened the angrier she got; she could not believe how stupid Willow had been to hurt such a wonderful person
"You're an idiot Red" she thought "but it's your loss"