"Willow...Willow, sweetie, wake up."
Tara gently shook Willow's shoulder stifled a laugh as she watched her girlfriend's face contorted into a pout as her subconscious form struggled against waking up completely. Normally the brunette would've let the redhead sleep for as long as she wanted, especially since the loosened rules of being in the school during an official break meant they had the opportunity to sleep later, but they had plans for the day so she needed the smaller girl awake.
When Willow had told her she was staying with her for the holidays, they had agreed that they weren't going to celebrate any particular festivity since neither girl, nor the school, held any great religious conviction and were instead just going to enjoy each day of the break and do fun things together. There were only a few other students still in the school and just four teachers who alternated between day and night duty, but the girls only ever really saw anyone else during meals in the large dinging hall.
The teachers were trying to make an effort to schedule fun things like movie nights and trips into the town for the students left behind for the holidays, but Willow and Tara were much happier to keep to themselves and do those things by themselves. Mostly because it meant they could interrupt their time with intermittent make-out sessions, kissing and gently touching.
Tara was slightly amazed that they'd gone so long being together without anyone else finding out; sure they were careful during class hours and outside their room to not look suspect and knew the night time 'checks' schedule enough that they were always in their own beds whenever a teacher came around but they'd still been extremely lucky.
What are you thinking, Tara, don't tempt fate! And anyway, you're supposed to be waking Willow up.
"Honey...wake up..."
Tara sighed as the redhead still didn't stir so opted to lean down and place a gentle kiss against her lips. She squealed in surprise when suddenly two arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her into a lying position on the bed, warm lips kissing her lovingly.
"That's what I was waiting for," Willow giggled lazily, pulling back just an inch.
Tara shook her head and rolled her eyes.
"How long have you been awake?"
"About five minutes. I woke up when you shook me. Then you just stared off into space for a while, but I knew you'd get to the kiss eventually. What were you thinking about anyway?"
"You," Tara answered honestly, before getting a small grin on her face, "If you'd just told me you were awake I would've given you a 'good morning' kiss and we could've been doing that for the last five minutes. But now you have to go have a shower and get dressed."
Tara jumped back up off the bed and Willow pouted.
"No, that's not fair."
"You're the one who wanted to be a smartass," Tara grinned, her back to the redhead, "You knew we had a time schedule today."
Willow's pout deepened before she threw the covers off her body and stood behind her girlfriend, wrapping her arms around the brunette's waist and placing gentle kisses against her neck.
"Won't be a smartass again," she mumbled as she kissed, "Come lie down with me."
"Willow..." Tara sighed, though her neck instinctively tilted to give the redhead more room.
Willow grinned in her ministrations, she'd discovered just in the past few days that kissing her girlfriend's neck was a sure-fire way to get her to agree to anything, it made her melt completely. The smaller girl tightened her hold on the brunette and kissed just below Tara's ear, a spot that had made her moan on many an occasion since Willow had discovered it, thinking the taller girl would melt into her and was so surprised when Tara pushed off her.
"You can't just kiss my neck any time you want something, Willow," Tara said, trying to contain the flush she knew was rising on her cheeks, "It's not fair."
"Don't be getting all haughty on me, missy," Willow replied, crossing her arms over her chest in indignation, "The only reason we're even doing the thing we're doing today is because you happened to discover that I like getting my neck licked, which by the way, thank you for discovering because I didn't even know and well, I like it a lot, but anyway, you used it to your full advantage!"
Tara looked off to the side and shrugged her shoulders.
"Okay, look," she spoke up after a moment, "I promise an extra-long smooching session when we get back this afternoon."
Willow let her hands drop to her sides and grinned.
"Will you lick my neck?"
"If you're lucky," Tara grinned back, "Now go shower. We have to leave in an hour and we still have to grab breakfast."
Willow quickly scurried off, showering and getting ready for the day in a flash before gathering the things she needed in a small handbag and heading down to the dining hall to get breakfast.
They both ate light, then started on the small trek to the bus stop just outside the school grounds, where they waited just a few minutes before the large vehicle pulled up and they boarded, arriving in the town after the short journey. Their hands clasped together as they walked towards their destination, until Willow started to slow slightly, hesitant.
"Baby, I'm not so sure about this. I know I agreed, but it was under duress and I really don't have any co-ordination of any kind. What if I fall on my ass? Like, a lot? And then I won't be your cool, strong girlfriend, I'll be the girl you had to carry home because she was filled with bruises."
Tara turned to face the redhead, taking both of her hands as they stopped outside the free ice-skating rink the town had set up just the week previous and smiled at her.
"I'll carry you home anytime," she said sweetly, "But I won't let you fall, okay? I'll hold your hand the entire time."
"You've done this before?" Willow asked nervously, glancing out at the large circular rink.
"Yea," Tara nodded, biting her lip as she remembered the only real ice-skating she'd done was when a small lake near her house in Alabama had frozen over one winter, "Not in a few years, but it's like riding a bike."
"I was never very good at that either," Willow sighed, "Tara, I'm scared."
Tara's eyes softened and she shifted closed to her girlfriend.
"Well we won't do it, then. Come on, we'll have just as much fun going to the park or we could browse that market at the other end of the town. Okay?"
Tara started to walk off but Willow quickly pulled her back.
"You'll hold my hand the whole time?"
Tara got a wide smile on her face and she nodded.
"I won't let go for a second. Are you sure you wanna try? I wasn't just saying it before, I have no problem giving it a miss if you're at all uncomfortable."
"No, I wanna if you wanna," Willow replied, remembering how Tara had gone on the rollercoaster for her at the carnival all those weeks ago for their birthdays, "But I'm really, really serious about you not letting go of my hand, okay? 'Cause when I was learning to ride a bike my nanny promised she wouldn't let go and she did and I fell and then I never learnt to ride properly 'cause I was too scared and-"
Tara cut the redhead off by putting a finger against her lips before speaking emphatically.
"I will never let go."
Willow felt the words as well as heard them and nodded.
"Okay, then. Let's go."
Tara beamed and walked them over to the small booth, getting the two pairs of skates in their sizes before pulling Willow over to one of the benches set up around the rink and sitting down. She placed her own shoes under the bench and pulled on the skates, watching Willow to the same before standing and smiling when she found she was steady on her feet.
"Okay, now give me your hands," she said, turning to Willow and holding her palms out flat.
Willow placed her hands in Tara's and shakily stood up, blushing bright red when she instantly fell forwards into the brunette's chest.
"We're not even on the ice and I'm already making an ass of myself," she said self-deprecatingly, "What's the point?"
Tara moved one hand to Willow's hip and held on tight as she started walking backwards towards the entrance to the rink.
"Just follow me slowly, sweetie, okay?"
Willow carefully and slowly put one foot in front of the other, concentrating so hard that she didn't even notice that they'd made it onto the ice until Tara started speaking.
"See, honey? You're doing great!"
Willow looked down and saw the ice beneath her feet, her head shooting up to smile at Tara.
"I'm doing it!"
"I know," Tara giggled as she gently guided them around the rink, "My cool, strong girlfriend."
Willow blushed but couldn't help a proud feeling when she suddenly felt something cold hit her nose. She looked up and started smiling excitedly when she saw there were snowflakes falling around them.
"Baby, it's snowing!"
Tara looked up and smiled as well.
"I know."
The couple slowly skated around the rink, Willow holding onto her girlfriend for dear life but enjoying the gentle movement and watching the other people around them skate and twirl on the ice until they decided they'd skated enough and Tara carefully walked them back to the bench.
"That was a lot of fun," Willow admitted as she pulled the skates off, "And I didn't fall once!"
"You're a natural," Tara replied, bumping her shoulder against the redhead's as she slipped her flats back on, "The snow's getting really heavy."
"Yep," Willow grinned, pulling her handbag out from where she'd left it under the bench, rooting through it for a moment before producing her camera, "That means picture time!"
Willow turned on the camera and snapped a shot before Tara had a chance to react and the brunette shook her head.
"I don't even wanna see that one. Delete it."
"No way," Willow replied, viewing the picture, "Aww your eyes are closed, you look so cute!"
Tara rolled her eyes playfully and grabbed both of their skates, bringing them back to the man behind the booth with the smaller girl on her heels as they walked back towards the centre of the town.
"Thanks for skating with me, Will," Tara said shyly as they walked, "I had so much fun. Plus holding you is always nice."
"My pleasure," Willow replied with a warm smile, "And being held by you is always nice too."
The girls shared a smile for a moment, a thick blanket of snow beneath their feet as the white flakes fell around them, droplets of ice shimmering in their hair and down their clothes.
"God, look at this," Willow said as they arrived back in the main square of the town, the tall buildings and monuments covered in white, "Seeing this from a taxi really doesn't do it justice."
The redhead started taking pictures of everything around her, encapsulated by her surroundings as she turned in a 360o spin until the screen of camera was filled with Tara and she quickly pressed the shutter, getting a candid shot of her girlfriend holding her hand out to try and catch a snowflake. She looked back on the image and smiled at it adoringly for a second before calling out.
"Baby, c'mere. I want a shot of us in the snow."
Tara made her way over to where Willow was standing and smiled as the smaller girl held the camera out in front of them at a downward angle.
"Okay now like we're trying to catch snowflakes on our tongues!"
Tara giggled at the request but complied, sticking her tongue out as Willow did the same and the picture was taken.
"And now...I want a kiss."
Tara grinned and leant her head down, kissing her girlfriend softly. Willow took a sneaky pic of that as well as she responded gently to the kiss before they naturally pulled apart.
"I think we need to head back to the school," Tara said regrettably after a moment, "Our clothes are getting soaked, I don't want you sick."
"Yea, that's probably a good idea," Willow replied, running a hand through her hair, "If the snow keeps going like this the buses will stop running too and it'd be a disaster if we were stranded out here."
Tara agreed with her girlfriend's statement and they ran the few yards to the bus stop as they saw a bus approaching and didn't want to have to wait the thirty minutes for the next one.
They dried off considerably during the ride back to the school and arrived back in their room in pretty much the same condition as when they'd left. Willow kicked off her shoes and sat down on the edge of her bed, getting a cheeky grin on her face.
"I believe you promised me an extra-long smooching session."