Willow had had a concussion to add to the list of her injuries, but none of her breaks had been negatively affected by the strange attack on their dorm, and she was scheduled to get the cast off her arm two days before Thanksgiving. That was fortuitously the beginning of their holiday from school, and Giles had invited Willow and Buffy to stay at his apartment over the break since Joyce was out of town and they weren't permitted to stay on campus over the holiday.
Xander had picked them up from the school in Mrs. Summers' Jeep, requisitioned to transport Willow and her wheelchair to the hospital. He and Buffy waited impatiently while the doctors checked out Willow's arm, making sure that the bones had healed enough that she could get the cast removed.
They were pacing the hall outside of the room while they waited, anxious that the redhead be alright. They both jumped in surprise when the door finally opened and Willow pushed her chair into the hallway with a wide grin on her face.
"Check it out!" she said cheerfully, bending her right arm happily, if gingerly. Buffy and Xander laughed as she guided her wheelchair in a circle. "Look at what I can do!"
Buffy hugged her tightly, relieved and moved to feel both of Willow's arms wrap around her. "I'm glad you're better, Will."
"Me too," the witch agreed as Xander hugged her. "And after I build up my strength a little in this arm, they said I can start using crutches to get around."
"That's great, Willow!" Buffy said, excited.
"Although, I'm a little pooped right now, so you two aren't off the hook yet for the pushing," the redhead informed them with a smirk, putting both arms on the armrests of her wheelchair with a satisfied sigh.
"Happily," Xander said as he took the handles. "Are you good to go? Because hospitals are no places to spend vacation. Not that all of us are on vacation," he commented with a sigh.
"Got to work tomorrow?" Buffy asked, smirking sideways at him.
He nodded. "Yeah, it's a construction job. They want it to be close to Thanksgiving because the site they're building on was once an Indian burial ground, or battle ground, or something. But it's just for tomorrow, so no big."
Willow smirked up at her best friend, but nodded. "We can get out of here then, wouldn't want you to waste your day off. Buffy, can you get my crutches? They're right inside the room there."
The Slayer collected the crutches, following her friends out into the sun. Willow said she wanted to drive the chair again once they were in the parking lot and they laughed as she pushed herself along. Buffy surprised the redhead by grabbing the handles and tilting the chair back onto its big back wheels, running the rest of the way to the Jeep playfully.
"Don't want you to overdo it on the first day, Will," Buffy advised with a grin as she guided the chair back onto all four wheels without a bump.
Willow was fidgeting in the backseat as they drove to Giles' apartment, excited to be able to use both of her hands again. "I feel like I want to juggle or something," she commented, giggling excitedly.
"I don't think Mom keeps anything to juggle in the car, Will," Buffy said, laughing. "Oh, hey, look. It's Tara," she said, pointing as they turned onto Main Street. "Slow down, Xander," she directed, rolling the window down quickly.
The witch was walking alone on the sidewalk, her jacket pulled tight around her to cut through the late November chill. She looked over as the Jeep pulled up against the curb next to her, smiling in surprise when she recognized the Slayer.
"B-Buffy, hey," she said, her arms curled across her stomach. The back window rolled down after a second, and she could hear Willow's excited greeting. "H-hey, Willow," she said, giggling softly.
Willow had her right leg stretched across the backseat, leaving her leaning against the backdoor on the driver's side of the car. She couldn't get to the other side, but she leaned forward, waving excitedly. "Look, I'm not quite as invalid as last time you saw me," Willow called happily.
Tara stepped closer to the car and leaned in the back window to smile at the hyper redhead. "I-I'm g-glad to s-see that," she said, genuinely happy that the redhead seemed to be on the mend.
"Where are you heading? We could give you a ride," Buffy offered.
"I just left the m-magic shop, but I'm h-heading back to campus now," Tara said. "It w-would be out of your w-way."
"How are you staying on campus? I thought everyone had to go home?" Willow asked curiously. "Don't you want to go home for Thanksgiving with your family?"
Tara shook her head rapidly, her eyes dropping and hair sliding over her face. "N-no-o, I-I'm s-staying h-here. J-just b-being s-sneaky o-on campus-s."
Willow frowned, noticing that Tara was stuttering worse than she'd ever heard her. "Well, that's unacceptable. No one should be alone on Thanksgiving. You should come over and eat with us," she declared. "We have enough, right Buffy? And it's important to spend holidays with people, even if the holiday is just a celebration of the murder of an indigenous culture, and you haven't known us that long, but we're friendly and we promise to be on our best behavior."
Tara giggled, glancing into the front of the car as Buffy turned on her seat to nod to the blonde witch. "She's right. No one should be alone on Thanksgiving, and we are friendly types, even if we are propositioning you from inside a running car, which, admittedly, doesn't look great for us," Buffy commented with a grin, "but we're nice, and we'd love to have you join us."
Willow was giggling giddily. "You sounded like me, Buff. We have been spending a lot of time together lately, haven't we?"
"I-It's okay. I don't w-want to in-intrude on your dinner," Tara said, shaking her head.
"It's no intrusion," Xander interjected. "I know I haven't been introduced, but I'm Xander, and you must be Tara. I've heard all kinds of good things. Willow talks about you all the time, and it's weird we haven't run into each other before this, but it's nice to finally meet you." He held one hand into the backseat to shake.
Tara took it after a second, smiling shyly. "I-it's nice to meet you," she said. "I h-hear good things a-about you too."
He grinned cheerfully, noticing that Willow's good mood and excitement seemed to be rubbing off on the others. "Come to dinner," he prompted. "It's just going to be us, and Giles, and my girlfriend, Anya."
"And you haven't met them, but they're harmless and perfectly friendly," Buffy chimed in.
Willow snorted in the backseat, rolling her eyes as Buffy and Xander gave her simultaneous chiding looks. "You want Tara to come, right?" Xander asked. "So stop it with the scaring her off."
"They're both very nice," Willow agreed quickly. "Please say you'll come," she pleaded, smiling widely.
Tara giggled, pushing her hair behind her ear. "O-okay," she said softly. "If you're s-sure…"
"We're sure, we're very sure," Willow said quickly.
"So, we'll see you Thursday?" Buffy prompted, smiling encouragingly. Tara nodded, her hair sliding in front of her face again. "Great," Buffy said cheerfully. "One of us could come pick you up, if you want. We've got my mom's car for the whole week because she's out of town."
"T-thank you," Tara said, pushing her hair back with one finger. "S-should I bring a-anything?"
"Just you!" Willow said happily. "We'll take care of everything else."
"Can we give you a ride back to campus?" Buffy offered again. "It's getting cool out."
"Please?" Willow asked, smiling widely.
Tara blushed as she saw Willow's smile directed at her, and she nodded before she realized she had made a decision. She blinked as the redhead's smile widened, feeling her knees tremble, a tremor she didn't want to look at too closely. Willow, for all appearances, was an outgoing sweetheart who was most definitely straight. Acknowledging her crush on the redhead would only cause problems, she reminded herself firmly.
She opened the car door hesitantly, smiling as Willow used her hands to push herself up straighter, moving her frozen right leg to give Tara more room to sit in the car. The redhead hissed at the unaccustomed strain, a grimace crossing her face, and Buffy and Xander both turned in their seats to check on her.
There was a frown on Tara's face as Willow opened her eyes, and she gave her a weak smile, her eyes moving to Buffy and Xander. "I'm okay," she gasped. Tara moved to slide back out of the car, stopping as Willow leaned forward quickly, grabbing the blonde's wrist and feeling the tingle shoot down her arm. "Don't go, I'm fine, it's okay, I'm good."
"You sure?" Buffy asked, frowning in concern.
Willow nodded, her good arm crossing over her body to rub at the sore muscles of her right arm. She was dismayed to notice that her fingers were trembling in her lap. She let out a deep breath, nodding again. "I'm sure," she said sincerely, smiling more naturally. "Let's get Tara back to campus."
Buffy gave her a lingering look, still frowning, and Xander glanced between them before he put the car back into gear, checking the lanes behind them before he turned the car carefully through a u-turn and pointing them back toward the campus.
Tara stayed quiet on their drive, noticing that Willow was still fidgeting with her right hand. "C-can I?" she asked softly, holding up one hand.
Willow smiled, nodding immediately. "Thank you," she whispered.
Tara leaned over in her seat, sliding her fingers gently over the palm of Willow's hand. The same heat she had felt the last time was there immediately, as well as the rush Willow had felt every time Tara had touched her. The heat grew for a few seconds as the pain receded.
Tara left her hand in Willow's after she let the magic fade, her fingers tracing idly over the lines in Willow's palm. "F-feel b-better?" she murmured softly.
"Yeah," Willow said breathily, her eyes lingering on their joined hands. "Thanks," she said, smiling as she squeezed Tara's hand gently.
Tara nodded, letting out a deep breath. "Y-you're w-welcome, Willow," she said, letting her hand slide off of Willow's.
The car pulled up in front of Tara's dorm, and the blonde witch gave everyone shy smiles as she opened her door. "T-thanks for the ride," she said. "S-see you all on Thursday," she said as a goodbye, giving Willow a final smile as she shut the door.
"We'll pick you up around five if that's okay? We can hang out for a while before dinner," Buffy suggested out the window.
Tara nodded without speaking, smiling shyly as she let her hair fall in front of her face again. She waved as she turned back towards her dorm, the campus almost eerily empty around her. She paused as she heard her name from the car, walking back to the vehicle in confusion. She saw Willow's hand shoving a paper at Buffy.
The Slayer took it with a laugh, smiling. "Okay, she's coming back Will, calm down," Buffy assured her. "Willow wants you to have this. You're here all alone, and if you need us, or need something, here's the number of where we'll being staying, okay?" Buffy said, handing the torn scrap of paper out the window.
Tara took it, nodding. "T-thanks."
"See you Thursday!" Willow called from the backseat.
Tara smiled as she walked away, the piece of paper held carefully in between her fingers, hearing the car pull away only once she had made it inside the dorm building.
Giles' apartment was a welcome change of scenery for the invalid Willow and she was eager to escape the confines of her chair as soon as possible so she started practicing with her wheelchair the next day. The others were anxious that she not try too hard too fast and risk hurting herself, but she wouldn't be dissuaded.
Willow insisted on pushing her chair around on her own as a way to build up her arm again, but the tight quarters of Giles' living room made it difficult for her to get much distance. She had opted to wheel herself around the patio instead, but Buffy made her leave the door to the apartment open while the Slayer was engrossed in her manic pre-Thanksgiving meal preparations.
Willow could hear the phone ring, but there was nothing she could do to reach it in time, so she continued practicing in her chair. Giles came to the door after a moment with the cordless phone in his hands.
"It's for you, Willow," he said distractedly. "Someone named Tara," he said off Willow's confused look.
The redhead took the phone from him and the Watcher returned quickly to the kitchen as Buffy yelped loudly. "Hey Tara, how are you?" she asked into the phone. "You're not calling to cancel tomorrow, are you?" she asked anxiously.
Tara giggled at the breathless questions. "I didn't interrupt anything, d-did I?" she asked.
Willow was panting for breathing and realized that there was sweat sliding down her face. "No, I've been wheeling myself around to work out my arm so I can get strong enough to use the crutches. I guess I've been out here longer than I thought I had been so I'm a little out of breath."
"You-you're okay, r-right?" Tara asked, concerned. She hoped the redhead hadn't unintentionally hurt herself, but she was sure Buffy was watching over her. Every time she had visited Willow, her blonde roommate had always been there, protectively keeping an eye on her friend.
Willow laughed breathily. "Yeah, I'm fine," she said reassuringly. "How are you? Is everything okay on campus?"
"Y-yes, it's okay. J-just kind of quiet," Tara said. "I just…it's s-sort of lonely here a-alone."
Willow sighed, wiping sweat from her forehead with the sleeve of her shirt. "Well, I'm glad you called me then. Lonely-Tara isn't good," she said emphatically. "Hang on just a second please, Tara," she said into the phone.
Tara laughed. "N-no problem," she said.
Willow tilted the phone away from her mouth as she raised her voice. "Buffy! Can I have some water?" she called loudly.
Buffy jogged out into the patio a moment later, a bottle of water in one hand. "You okay, Will?" she asked as she handed it over. "I can take you inside if you need me to," she offered.
"I'm good, just a little stinky now," she said, laughing.
"At least Giles has a tub so you don't have to take another sponge bath while we're here," Buffy commented.
Willow blushed, belatedly covering the speaker to the phone. "Yeah, you're right," she agreed. Buffy gave her friend a confused look, cocking an eyebrow at the redhead. "Tara's on the phone," she said lowly, still blushing.
"Oh," Buffy said, laughing. "Oops. Sorry, Will." A buzzer went off in the kitchen and the Slayer turned her attention back to her Watcher's apartment. "You're good?" she checked, waiting for the hacker's nod before bolting back inside.
Willow was blushing as she uncovered the phone again. "Hey Tara, sorry about Buffy's big mouth. I'm sure you didn't call to hear about my bathing habits, or lack thereof. Not that I don't bathe, because yuck, but it's just been a little tricky with all the casts, and sponge baths have kind of been my only option, and now I'm drastically over-sharing, and I'm sorry. Please don't let this put you off coming to eat with us tomorrow. I promise I'll take a bath and everything, and I'm over-sharing again, but I promise not to mention bathing at all if you'll come over tomorrow…" she rambled, stopping herself with an effort. "Tara? Are you still there?"
The blonde laughed uncontrollably into the pause, the sound unrestrained and joyful. "Yes, I'm s-still here," she said in between giggles.
"Have I embarrassed myself enough yet?" Willow asked. "Because I'm sure I can come up with something that will just make it impossible for me to ever look you in the eyes again."
Tara kept giggling, feeling giddy. "No, I d-don't want to do that then," she said, her voice soft. "I l-like your eyes." It occurred to her a second too late that she shouldn't have said that, but Willow just laughed as if she'd told a joke.
"So, since I haven't managed to completely scare you away yet, you're still coming to Thanksgiving, right?" Willow asked.
"Yes, I-I'm still coming," she said, giggling.
Willow smiled happily at that reassurance, holding the phone close to her ear. She could suddenly hear footsteps coming down the stairs towards Giles' house, rapid, scrambling footsteps that made her unconsciously tense up. A smoking blanket flapped down the stairs and she dropped the phone into her lap to free her hands to push her chair back as fast as she could.
"Buffy!" she called. "We've got company!"
Whoever was under the blanket bolted straight past the chair-bound witch toward the open door to the apartment, but hit an invisible wall and was pushed back into the sunlight. Willow heard the accented cursing from under the blanket and wheeled her chair back further.
"It's Spike!" she yelled in warning.
The Slayer was through the door before Spike was back on his feet, throwing herself between the witch and the vampire. "You stay away from her! I don't know how you didn't bite her last time, but you won't touch her," she promised. "Willow, can you get to the door?"
"Buffy, he couldn't bite me last time," Willow interjected even as she wheeled herself back toward the apartment. "He tried, but it hurt him. It hurt his head."
"She's telling the truth!" Spike shouted, cowering under his blanket in a corner of shade. "I need your help, Slayer!"
"Yeah, right," Buffy scoffed. "Why should I help you?" she asked.
"I've got information about those soldier types that attacked your dorm the other night!" he offered, his feet hopping oddly as he tried to avoid standing still for too long.
"They were there to get you! And they could have killed Willow, chasing after you in the dark like that!" Buffy argued.
"Come on, Slayer! It wasn't my fault! They're the ones who cut out the lights!" Spike protested. "I was keeping them off of her!"
Buffy glanced over her shoulder for confirmation from the hacker, but Willow shrugged. "I don't know. I was unconscious during the fighting. But Spike wasn't the one who knocked me out. Something rammed my chair into the wall and I hit my head, but it wasn't Spike," she admitted while Giles guided her chair into the apartment. "He did try to bite me, but those trooper guys ran in right after he did, and he did protect me. From what I could tell before the concussion," she added.
"See!" Spike crowed triumphantly. "I told you I didn't hurt her!"
"You went there to bite her!" Buffy protested loudly, her arms crossed over her chest.
The vampire shrugged under his blanket, still dancing away from the bright sunlight. "Yeah, well, actually I was there to bite you if you want to be picky, but the fact remains that I didn't bite her. I think that earns me some credit of the 'you not staking me through the heart' variety," he declared, scoffing. "Me saving your best friend from being assaulted and all, seems to me like maybe you owe me one. Red is definitely the best of you lot, and a nice enough person, but I don't make it a habit of saving the damsels unless there's something in it for me, Slayer. I am evil, remember?"
Buffy rolled her eyes, muttering something that sounded suspiciously like 'impotent' under her breath, and looked to Giles. "What do you think?" she asked, her arms still crossed, but relaxing slightly.
He shrugged. "He could have useful information," the Watcher acknowledged. "It just may not be worth the annoyance," he added, raising a thoughtful eyebrow.
"Come on!" Spike shouted, smoke pouring off his blanket now.
Buffy made her decision, nodding to him. "You wait there," she said, walking deliberately slowly back into the house to collect a chair and some rope. She put the chair just outside the door, barely in the protective shade. "Have a seat," she invited cheerfully.
Willow could hear him grumbling as he sat down and she craned her neck to watch Buffy tie him up. As she moved, she felt something poke her in the stomach and she realized that the phone was still in her lap and presumably Tara was still on the other end.
"Tara, are you still there?" she asked as she picked it up, holding it against her shoulder with her chin while she used both hands to steer the chair out of the living room and down the short hall to the spare room she and Buffy had been using. It took the blonde a second to answer, and Willow let out a deep breath. "So, how was that for scaring you off?" she asked nervously, wondering how much the other witch had heard.
"U-um, it sounds busy over t-there," Tara commented.
She started to say something else, but was interrupted by Willow. "Please don't follow that up with 'maybe it would be better if I didn't come,'" the redhead requested.
"I w-would have s-stuttered it m-more," Tara said honestly.
"I promise that you won't be intruding or whatever excuse you were going to use," Willow prompted. "And, I don't know how much you heard, but it won't be dangerous or anything either."
"I heard s-something about b-biting, and s-someone hurt you?" she asked.
"Yeah, I got a little concussion because some soldier guys swarmed Stevenson a few weeks ago. Remember? It was played off as a prank. I just got kind of knocked around in the darkness induced confusion," Willow answered.
"B-Buffy w-wasn't there?"
"Oh, no, actually she was out walking…" Her voice trailed off as she remembered exactly where Buffy had been.
"S-she was w-walking me h-home," Tara finished the statement as she figured out the truth. "Oh Willow, I-I'm s-so s-sorry."
"Tara, no, it wasn't your fault, it's just…my life is kind of complicated, and it's hard to explain, but I guess I should tell you some about it so you don't feel irrationally guilty because I got hurt, and you're going to be here tomorrow and it might be hard to explain the tied up guy…"
Willow took a deep breath, but was surprised when Tara spoke up. "He's a v-vampire though, r-right?"
"Vampire? How could you know about vampires?" Willow blurted, surprised.
"M-my m-mother, she was a w-witch too. S-she used to tell me about t-things like that," Tara answered. "I d-didn't know it w-was true until I c-came here."
"Oh, I guess that makes sense," Willow said. "So, what else do you know about vampires, because if you already know, it'll make me telling you a lot less like spilling a secret."
"U-um, she told me a s-story about s-something called a S-slayer?" Tara answered, trying to remember.
"Okay, good, that's great, and exactly what I was hoping to hear," Willow interrupted, her words rushed. "It's all true, and Buffy is the Slayer," she said quickly. "And Spike is a vampire, but there's something wrong with him, because he couldn't bite me last time…"
"B-Buffy's the vampire S-slayer?" Tara asked, her voice soft and confused.
"Yep," Willow replied cheerfully. "Since she was fifteen."
"A-and there's a v-vampire t-there, with you?"
"Oh, yeah, Spike is tied up in the living room," Willow answered.
"W-won't whoever you're staying with n-notice that?" Tara asked.
Willow blinked, laughing. "Oh, no. We're staying with Buffy's Watcher, Giles. Did your mom tell you what a Watcher is, because it's kind of self explanatory when you think about the title, but if not I can explain it…"
She trailed off as Tara giggled. "I think I g-got it."
"Okay, I'm really glad this isn't freaking you out, because I don't want to freak you out, I want you to come over and hang out with us, or just with me even, because I like hanging out with you, and you're really nice, and I'm babbling again, and you really should just stop me when I do that…"
Tara was giggling again. "I l-like it," she said softly. "It's f-funny."
Willow let out a deep breath, smiling unconsciously. "So you're still coming for Thanksgiving?" she checked again.
"I'll b-be there," Tara said quietly.
"And you're not freaked?"
"N-no," Tara said shakily. "Y-you d-didn't get h-hurt b-badly, did y-you?"
Willow laughed, shaking her head despite the fact that Tara couldn't possibly see her. "No Tara, it was just a concussion. It's not the first one I've ever had, and I'm sure it won't be the last one. Being best friends with the Slayer can be rough."
Tara wanted to ask if being friends with the Slayer had been the reason Willow had ended up in the wheelchair, wanted to ask about Oz, but knew that the subject was much too personal. "I-I'm s-sorry," she said instead.
"Not your fault," Willow said easily. "It might not look like it because of the chair, but I can normally take care of myself. It'll be better now that I can use both of my arms." She could hear Buffy and Spike yelling at each other in the living room, and she giggled.
"S-something f-funny? I can g-get o-off the p-phone if y-you're busy," Tara offered.
"Nah, Buffy and Spike are just arguing, but that's nothing new, they don't need me for that," Willow objected. "I'd much rather talk to you."
Tara blushed brightly, grateful that she was on the other end of the phone. "U-uh…" she stuttered, not able to think of something to say in response that wouldn't scare the redhead away. She wondered silently how it was possible to have such a big crush on someone that you knew was straight, sighing heavily.
"So, your mom was a witch? That's really cool. I bet you know lots of great spells," Willow commented. "I already know you're amazing with that healing spell, cause you've helped my tummy and my arm."
"I-I'm o-okay, that's a-all," Tara protested. "A-and I c-couldn't let you s-stay h-hurting."
"You're better than just 'okay,' Tara!" Willow disagreed. "You're amazing."
Tara laughed quietly. "Y-you don't k-know me t-that well," she said. "How c-could you know if I-I'm r-really amazing?" she asked, her voice soft, almost teasing.
Mustering self-doubt was never a problem for her, and it fascinated her that Willow had apparently seen something worthy in her, even if it was just the magic. She had one more year of humanity left, before her demon would demand that she withdraw from every aspect of her normal life, and she was anxious to make this last year count for something.
"So tell me something I don't already know about you," Willow suggested. "Prove me wrong."
Tara smiled to herself. "Um…well, t-there's not actually m-much to tell, Willow." She'd escaped from her family, and had no desire to drag up any of her memories of them. Her demon still had to be hidden, and any conversation about her home or childhood would bring up secrets that she had to keep hidden. Especially from Willow. The little witch she was crushing on was best friends with the Slayer, and she was sure that Buffy would be called in to deal with whatever she became once she changed. Tara knew that any friendship they felt for her would become inconsequential once they realized what she was.
The redhead scoffed, and it brought Tara sharply back to the present. "Yeah, right," she disagreed. "How long have you been practicing magic?" Willow asked to get them started.
"Pretty much my whole life," Tara answered. "My m-mom taught me when I was l-little." She swallowed thickly, her voice growing hoarse. "She…d-died a few years ago."
Willow frowned, blinking in surprise. "Oh, Tara, I didn't mean…I'm so sorry…I really didn't…"
"N-no, Willow. It…y-you didn't k-know…" Tara objected. "I don't r-really talk about my f-family, s-sorry."
"Tara, you know I run my mouth," Willow said apologetically. "I don't want to hurt your feelings. I didn't mean to hurt you."
Tara sighed heavily. "Willow, it's o-okay. Y-you didn't…" She stuttered, trying to think of anything she could say to get Willow to feel better. "I think I want to be a teacher," she announced, knowing even as she spoke that it was random and possibly the lamest thing she'd ever said.
"Really?" Willow said, grasping at the straw gratefully. "See, that's amazing. I could never do that. I mean, I did it for a while in eleventh grade, but that was just because the teacher died, and that is a much longer story than we have time for, and it doesn't matter anyway because we were talking about you, so I need to stop talking about myself. Rude Willow! Anyway, you must have infinite patience to go along with your incredible talent for spells. That's really cool, Tara. What do you want to teach?"
"Oh, I don't k-know," the blonde responded shyly. "I just l-like kids. I think I-I'd be a g-good teacher."
"I'm sure you will be," Willow agreed. "Those are going to be some lucky kids, Tara."
"H-hopefully I'll g-get over t-the s-stutter so t-they won't just l-laugh at me."
The redhead frowned, instantly rejecting the idea that someone couldn't immediately see everything Tara had to offer. Even some snotty little kid surely had to have more sense that that. "Psht, if anyone laughs, you just tell me and I'll beat them up," she stated firmly.
The blonde laughed, feeling a bright blush burning in her cheeks. "Willow…they're hypothetical c-children. I t-think I'm safe. T-thank you f-for the o-offer though."
"Of course," Willow said immediately. "I'm not very intimidating right now anyway. I could get Buffy to beat them up until I get back on my feet," she offered.
"Y-you're s-sweet," Tara said softly, realizing what she'd said too late. Willow didn't respond for a moment and the blonde let her eyes close, sure that she'd overstepped the boundaries she'd set up for their friendship.
Willow was smiling on the other end of the phone, feeling inordinately pleased by the praise. "Thanks, Tara, but you're the sweet one, spending all your time with me. It's really too nice of you." She knew that Tara would protest, and she continued quickly to preempt her. "And that brings us nicely back to my point of proving that you, my friend, are amazing…"
"Willow…"
"I can tell," Willow said firmly. "It's so obvious," she declared. The phone beeped in her hands and she frowned as she recognized the caller ID number as Angel's office in L.A. "Crap, Tara, there's another call, and I need to take it, can I call you back?"
"Y-you don't have to c-call me back," Tara objected.
"I'll call you back as long as it's not too late," Willow said.
"Okay, b-bye Willow," Tara said.
"I'll talk to you later," Willow said quickly, switching to the other line rapidly. "Cordelia?" she asked.
"No, it's me," Angel's voice answered her. "I need your help."
Next Time: It's Thanksgiving in Sunnydale!