"So…I was thinking…"
"That could be dangerous," Willow joked as she gathered silverwear from the drawer.
They were having the gang over for dinner to tell them about Willow's job and the redhead was setting the table as Tara cooked her lasagne. The blonde hit the dishtowel in her hand against her fiancée's leg and mock-scowled at her.
"Shut up. As I was saying, I was thinking…when you get back from Virginia, we should get married."
Willow turned, a surprised look on her face.
"So soon? Not that I don't wanna, it's just, I thought you wanted huge and that needs time."
"I just want us. I really don't care about the rest. See, we can legally get married here, is all. And we might have to move somewhere where we can't. And all our friends are here and I mean, it can be done. It won't exactly be easy but I can organise a wedding in ten weeks. That way we can start our new lives wherever as a married couple."
"Baby, the sooner I get to marry you, the better. I think that's a great idea."
"Really?" Tara asked, her face lighting up, "Great. Do you wanna maybe…set a date?"
Willow put the silverwear in her hand on the countertop and took down the calendar that was resting on top of the refrigerator.
"Okay, I leave in eight days…which is September 7th…and I'll be back nine weeks later…which is November 8th."
"And we have three weeks to pack up here after that," Tara replied, looking at the calendar too, "Do we wanna do a weekend?"
"We probably won't be able to get anywhere for a reception on short notice on a weekend…especially so close to Christmas…"
"So a weekday. A Tuesday. We met on a Tuesday."
"So…the 24th?"
Willow glanced at her fiancée and gave her a big smile.
"The 24th. Perfect. We have a wedding date."
"We do," Tara grinned and leaned over for a loving kiss, "Tomorrow, we're gonna sit down and decide exactly what we want so I'll know what to organise while you're away."
"Are you sure you can do that? I feel bad leaving all the stress to you."
"You're gonna be off learning about FBI procedures and having lessons and everything. You'll be the stressed one, wishing all you had to do was organise flowers."
"Okay…but one thing. I want us to pick the rings together."
"Definitely," Tara nodded her head in agreement, "We should do that before you go so we'll have time to get them engraved and re-sized and whatever else. Oh wow. We're really getting married."
"We really are."
They smiled at each other until a knock at the door disturbed their moment and Willow went to answer it, opening the door to reveal Brian standing there, holding a container of french roast coffee beans and a box of chocolates, which he handed over to the redhead.
"Happy Saturday," he said walking it and taking his jacket off, "How're my favourite lesbians this fine day?"
"We're fine," Willow replied, eyeing the man suspiciously, "What's got you so perky?"
"I can't be excited about spending the evening in the company of four beautiful women?"
There was another knock on the door and Willow opened it again, Becky and Alice – who had carpooled together – walking in to the apartment, bearing wine and flowers respectively. Willow greeted them and put the chocolate and coffee on the table so she could take the other gifts offered, putting the flowers in a vase that was already on the table and bringing the rest into the kitchen.
"Okay, drinks?" she asked over the small island that separated the kitchen from the dining/living area.
There was a chorus of 'wine', which elicited a laugh from the group and Willow went about opening the bottle and pouring it into glasses, bringing them over on a small tray to everyone, who were sitting on the sofas.
"Okay, that just needs twenty minutes," Tara said, closing the oven, and walking over to sit next to Willow, "Ooh, wine."
The blonde took the glass that was in Willow's hand and took a sip. The redhead was about to protest at the stealing of her wine but smiled fondly at her fiancée instead and got up to get another one instead.
"Wow. I would not react well if someone took my drink off me," Becky commented.
"What's mine is hers," Willow replied, sitting back down with her own glass.
Tara grinned and clinked her glass against the redhead's.
"And vice versa. I'll ask next time," she whispered with an apologetic smile, "So guys…we need you to keep November 24th free."
Alice choked on her wine and shook her hand in front of her face excitedly.
"You set a date?"
Comprehension dawned on Becky and Brian's faces and they smiled at the couple.
"We set a date," Willow confirmed.
"Wait. Is that November 24th this year? I thought you guys were gonna have a long engagement…" Becky asked.
"Well, yea, about that…there is a reason we're doing it so soon," Willow started, "You know, apart from the fact that we love each other and want to be married as soon as possible."
"Willow got a job," Tara continued, lacing her fingers with her fiancée's.
"That's great!" Alice said.
"Fantastic," Becky nodded.
"It's not in a coffee house, is it?" Brian joked.
"No, no it's not," Willow replied, rolling her eyes.
"So what is it?" Becky asked excitedly, "Did you reconsider pursuing the psych stuff?"
"No. No, it's um…well, it's actually with the FBI."
There was a silence in the room as everyone contemplated what Willow said. Brian was the first to speak up.
"The FBI? Wait, that's not like some sort of code for stripper, is it? Like Female Body Inspector, 'cause guys, if things are that bad, I can help out, I don't have much money but I can still help-"
"No, no," Willow said with a chuckle, "The real FBI. Apparently I've been on their radar for a while because of certain…internet securities I've breached…"
"You mean the hacking you used to do?" Becky asked, aware from their roommate days.
"She didn't stop in college," Tara replied with a mock-stern glare at the redhead, who blushed, "Meet the Boston Area Department of Children and Families poltergeist."
"The lights?" Alice asked, understanding Tara's reference, "The lights thing is you?"
"Yea…" Willow said guiltily, "I was just bored and thinking of Tara and – well, my reasoning's aren't important. But yea, a couple of agents brought me in to their offices and produced this file they had on me and stuff and long story short, I'm gonna be an technical analyst for them and I leave next week for nine weeks of training in Virginia."
"Quantico," Brian breathed, "So cool."
"That's not all…" Tara spoke up, glancing at Willow, who gave her a nod, "When Willow comes back…it's most likely that we'll have to move. We don't know where, we won't know until after her training, but we'll have to go wherever they place her."
The room fell into silence once again until Becky piped up.
"Well that sucks," she said, then quickly backtracked off the looks she got, "I mean, I'm so happy you got such an amazing opportunity, so happy. I'm just gonna miss you guys."
"We'll miss you too," Willow replied, getting up to give Becky a hug, "But we'll visit, we promise. We love Boston. And we love you guys."
"We love you too," Brian said and gave a small smile, "And hey, we don't even know if you'll definitely have to move or if it'll be far away. This shouldn't be a sad thing. You two are starting the rest of your lives together and that's the most important thing."
"Wow, Brian," Willow said, giving the boy a hug as well, "That was really sweet. Thank you."
"You okay, Alice? You've been kinda quiet," Tara remarked as Willow sat down next to her again.
"I'm okay," Alice replied with a smile, "I'm gonna miss you in work, but Brian's right, this is about you two. And it's not like we can't phone and email."
"Definitely," Becky agreed, "And hey, Wills is off for two months next week! We need to give her a proper goodbye. Next Sunday, all of us, Marshalls. Whaddya say?"
Marshalls was their local bar, located just two buildings down from where Willow and Tara lived and everyone nodded their agreement to the plan.
"So Brian has a new girl," Becky remarked and the slight tension that had still been in the air broke as everyone looked at the now-blushing man.
"Becky! You promised you wouldn't tell!"
"I promised I wouldn't tell about the saucy text you sent to me instead of her…oh wait. Oops, sorry dude."
The girls all laughed as Brian blushed some more and Willow sat back in her seat, grinning.
Her life was starting to change around her. And she was excited.