Willow lugged her bag off the revolving belt and put it on the baggage cart she'd acquired when she got off the plane.
"Please come soon," she muttered to herself, putting her hands over the bar of the cart and resting her head atop them, "Wanna go home."
Having finally finished her nine weeks of extensive training the day before, the redhead was eagerly awaiting finally seeing Tara again, as well as taking a couple of days to just relax before she'd have to start the pack-up to move to her still-unknown first assignment and attend to any last-minute wedding preparations.
She raised her head for a moment and spotted a red flash that she recognised as her bag, squealing and rushing forwards to try and grab it. Luckily, a man seemed to notice and hoisted the bag off before it started another turn around the constantly-rotating belt, turning and putting it on the cart.
"Thank you," Willow said with a relieved smile, "I think I would've screamed if I had to wait any longer."
"No problem," the man replied, running his eyes up and down Willow's body, though the redhead was too tired to notice, "My name is Andy by the way."
"Oh," Willow responded, taking the hand he offered gently, "I'm, um…I'm Willow."
Andy shrugged his own small bag on his shoulder and took a hold of Willow's cart.
"Let me wheel this out for you."
Willow finally noticed the flirtatious tone and look in Andy's eyes and internally rolled her eyes, not wanting to deal with it at that moment.
"That's okay, really, I couldn't put you out."
She hoped he would take the hint and leave her alone but Andy apparently thought he was on to a good thing and started walking towards the exit route. Willow quickly followed, more concerned about being with her bags than letting the guy down easily anymore.
"So, you here for business or pleasure?" Andy asked as they continued walking.
"I live here," Willow replied, not wanting to give too much away but not wanting to be rude either, "You?"
"Just a business trip. I'm a very successful stockbroker. You know, if you wanted to ever…meet up while I'm in town…?"
Willow resisted the urge to gag and wondered if that line actually ever worked as they walked into the arrivals section filled with waiting families. She was just about to resign herself to the fact that she'd probably have to stay listening to Andy until she got in a cab to get home when she saw Tara standing about ten feet away, her eyes shining brightly as they saw each other. She quickly grabbed hold of her own cart again and patted Andy on the bag.
"Thanks for your help, Andy."
"Wait!" Andy replied, reaching a hand out onto Willow's shoulder, "What about getting together…you know, for a drink…maybe see what that leads us…into something...maybe more?"
Willow sighed and turned to face him fully, so she knew she had his attention, before pointing at Tara, who was looking a little confused.
"See that blonde?"
Andy looked over the redhead's shoulder at Tara and grinned, wondering if he'd managed to score two women. Willow saw the grin and scowled, any thoughts of being nice flying out the window.
"Well, that is the love of my life. So the only one I will be drinking with, or 'maybe more' – actually, you know what? Make that definitely 'more', 'cause the sex we have is so hot not even your wildest dreams could compare – is her; only her; always her so stop trying to make cheesy lines work and seriously, trying to pick someone up at an airport? How big of a sleaze are you?"
Andy opened and closed his mouth a few times in shock and Willow rolled her eyes before turning back towards Tara, walking as fast as she could towards her whilst still controlling her luggage until she arrived at the blonde and jumped into her arms, holding on tight as their lips met passionately, hungrily. They eventually pulled back to a few stares, neither caring and Willow cupped the blonde's cheek.
"What're you doing here? I thought I was just meeting you back at the apartment?"
"I didn't wanna wait," Tara grinned, holding onto the redhead's waist, "I missed you like crazy."
"Oh god, I missed you too," Willow replied, getting a devilish grin too, "I don't know how I'm gonna keep my hands off you in the cab."
"Maybe I don't want you to…"
Willow's eyes lit up and she took Tara's hand in her own.
"Come on. Let's get outta here."
Tara followed Willow out of the airport and to the taxi rank set up there, throwing her bags into the trunk before hopping in the back seat and giving their address. The couple sat as close as possible and held hands as the car started.
"Hey, who was that guy?" Tara asked after a moment.
"Some asshole, thought he could whisk me off for some no strings sex. Idiot didn't even remove his wedding ring. Anyway, enough about him. How're you?"
"I'm good," Tara replied, tracing the smaller girl's features with her index finger, "Excellent now you're home for good. And, uh, very, very excited. Only sixteen days."
"I'm counting the hours," Willow smiled, "It's really gonna be the start of a whole new life, huh?"
"It is…and um, speaking of…"
"Gonna get a call tomorrow," Willow whispered, understanding what the blonde meant, "I'll be told where I'm assigned and we'll go from there."
Tara nodded her understanding and let her finger trail down the redhead's top teasingly.
"Speaking of tomorrow…I may have taken it off work…"
"Really?" Willow asked, her lips turning upwards in a grin, "So we can spend all day…"
"Catching up," Tara finished, with an almost predatory leer, before adopting a teasing tone, "Or we could always start packing. I bought boxes and everything."
Willow put a hand on the blonde's hip and squeezed it, nuzzling their noses together.
"Not a chance. Plenty of time to pack. I think we can find a better use of our time."
"Oh most definitely."
Willow gazed between Tara's eyes and her mouth and licked her lips in anticipation of kissing them. Just as she was about to close the tiniest of gaps, their lips already practically touching when the cab jerked to a halt, making the redhead fall forwards into Tara's lap.
The blonde held back a giggle and reached into her pocket to get money as Willow muttered something incomprehensible, a pout on her face. Tara handed the money over and opened the door, retrieving the redhead's luggage from the trunk, pulling the handles up and handing one to Willow to drag along.
"I was this close to a kiss," Willow mumbled as she walked into their building, "This close."
Tara walked up the first set of stairs, then when Willow got a bit ahead of her, tapped her shoulder lightly. Willow turned to see what was wrong and was immediately shoved up against the nearest wall, her lips captured in a steamy kiss.
Tara pressed herself flush against Willow's body, then pulled back with a pop, to a very surprised looking Willow.
"You can have a kiss whenever you want," Tara whispered, smiling at her fiancée, "If you ever 'miss an opportunity', just go for it again. Whenever, wherever, I'll happily, gladly and willingly kiss you."
"Oh," Willow replied as she started to ascend the stairs again, still looking surprised, "I…oh…"
"And no more pouting…" Tara said with a sly wink, "You know I can't resist that pout."
Willow raised one eyebrow, looking back to Tara. At the next landing, she looped one finger into Tara's belt, pulling her forwards.
"Maybe I don't want you to," she said, repeating what the blonde had said earlier in the same teasing tone, "Don't resist."
Tara giggled and quickly grabbed the other bag and fumbled in her pocket for her key. She closed her hand around the metal in her pocket and walked forwards, effectively walking Willow backwards in the process so her back was against their front door.
"Someone's feeling frisky," Willow grinned as Tara practically pinned her, a cheeky half-smile on her face, "I like it."
"Mmhh, well I like you," Tara replied, then shook her head, "No, I love you. And weeks being without your love can make a girl frisky."
"Hey, you always have my love with you. But I for one am happy to reap the rewards of said friskiness. C'mere."
Tara closed the gap between their faces and kissed her fiancée with all the passion she had, pushing her tongue forwards into the redhead's mouth as she lifted the key from her pocket and put it in the lock, opening the door as they continued to kiss.
"Surprise!"
Tara jumped back at the sound of voices coming from their apartment and Willow lost her footing, falling backwards over the threshold, the bag in her hand landing on top of her. She looked up into the shocked faces of Brian, Becky and Alice standing under a banner that said 'Welcome Home!', each with a party hat on their heads and a blowout in their mouths. The three suddenly seemed to snap to attention and rushed towards Willow, taking the bag off of her and helping her up. Tara rushed towards the redhead as well, checking her over.
"Are you okay, sweetie? That bag is heavy."
"I'm fine," Willow replied, shaking herself off, then smiling at Tara, "I can't believe you didn't tell me the gang were here."
"I didn't know," Tara said, biting her lip, "Surprise for me, too."
"When Tara told me she was going to the airport…" Becky started to explain, "I just thought we could do a surprise welcome home thing. You know, to show how much we missed you. Was it a stupid idea? We should go."
"No, no," Willow hastened to reassure, reaching out to put a hand on Becky's shoulder, "That was super sweet. I was just shocked, is all. Please stay. I missed you guys!"
Becky's smiled beamed and she embraced the redhead in a tight hug.
"It's so good to see you! I can't believe it's been two months!" Willow said as she hugged back.
"Not quite," Becky said with a laugh in her voice, "I did see you when you came-"
"Becky," Tara interrupted with a stern look.
"Right. Never mention it again," Becky replied, eliciting a confused look from the other two, "Still, I'm so glad you're home."
Willow smiled and embraced her other two friends warmly, taking Tara's hand when she pulled back.
"It's almost surreal seeing you guys again. I mean, god, how's everyone been?"
Everyone sat down and started to recount stories of their lives for the past two months, Willow included, telling the gang of her experiences down in Virginia. After about an hour, Alice, who had noticed the coy glances and soft touches between the couple, realised that they probably very much wanted some alone time and stood up, pulling Becky – who was sitting next to her – up as well.
"Well, I better be going. Loads of paperwork to catch up on."
Becky looked confused and stared at Alice.
"What does that have to do with me?"
"'Cause you're my ride," Alice explained, "We should give Brian a lift too. The T's so crowded this time of day."
"He lives on the opposite side of town!" Becky replied, bewildered, before noticing the glances Alice were throwing at the couple, her eyes widening a little in realisation, "You're right. Come on, Bri. You finally get to ride in the 'stang."
"But we haven't even heard about Willow's first assignment," Brian said, bewildered, "And the T's fine."
"I, um, don't know yet about my first assignment," Willow interjected, oblivious to her friend's reasons for wanting a hasty exit, "They sort that all out now that we're done. I should know tomorrow."
"Oh," Brian replied, standing with a shrug, "Well, it was really nice to see you again."
Everyone hugged again as the three got ready to leave and Tara, who had seen the looks she and Willow had gotten embraced Alice tightly.
"Thank you," she whispered in her ear, quiet enough so no one else would hear, "See you in work."
Alice pulled back and gave the blonde a knowing smile and a nod before leaving the apartment, Becky and Brian following close behind. When they were gone, Willow started collecting the glasses and mugs that had been used and bringing them into the kitchen, a smile on her face.
"That was so sweet of them to have a surprise party thing for me. Heh, even if I did end up on my ass."
Tara watched her move around for a moment as Willow continued to load things into the dishwasher. When she realised the redhead didn't recognise their friend's motives for leaving and wasn't rushing to get back to the steamy liplock they'd had before they had entered the apartment at all, she decided to take a radical approach and quietly, yet quickly began removing all her clothes.
"And it was so great hearing how they were getting on, ya know? I mean, I got emails and stuff when I was away but it's hard to really know how people are doing without seeing them or hearing their voice."
Tara dragged her panties off her body and added them to pile of her other clothes before walking into kitchen and leaning against the refrigerator, Willow still chatting away.
"And Becky's coaching the debate team now, that's so cool. I always wanted to debate in high school but I never had the confidence. Still, she'd argue about anything, so she's probably right for the job. You think she'll-"
Willow finally turned around, gulping and stumbling backwards when she saw the blonde, holding onto the counter to steady herself. Tara moved forward, drumming her fingers along the smaller girl's collarbone.
"We were kinda disturbed from something..."