"I don't see why we have to do this."
"Because," Tara replied, holding Willow's hands on her waist, "We agreed to spend the night before the wedding apart. That way we'll be even more eager and excited."
"But I can't sleep without you next to me," Willow whined, discreetly moving her hands behind the blonde to cup her ass, "And I don't want to be cranky on our wedding day."
Tara grinned and put Willow's hands back on her hips.
"Take a sleeping pill."
"Then I'll be groggy!" Willow protested, moving her hands back again, "And don't take them away this time, at the very least I get a final grope!"
Tara rolled her eyes playfully but made no effort to remove the redhead's hands, instead opting to try and reason with her soon-to-be wife.
"Honey, you were in Virginia for two months without me sleeping next to you. So unless you were using Buffy as a cuddle buddy…"
"No," Willow replied, a small pout still on her face, "Fine. One night. I guess I can deal with it. And hey, Buffy should be here soon!"
Tara smiled as Willow perked up at the mention of her friend. Buffy and Angel were staying at a hotel close to Public Gardens and Willow, Buffy and Becky were going out that night for the redhead's bachelorette party. Tara was going over to Alice's to stay the night and she; Alice and Brian were planning an evening in for her 'last night of freedom'. Ira had decided to spend the day exploring Boston and was going to have a quiet evening in by himself.
Just then there was a knock on the door and Willow jumped back from the embrace excitedly, opening the door and jumping up and down when she saw Buffy standing there.
"You're here, you're here!" she yelled as the two hugged, Tara looking on in amusement, "It's so good to see you again!"
"Whoa, chill out Willster," Buffy said, pulling back and smiling, "You'll have a heart attack and won't make your wedding."
"Not a chance I'm gonna miss that," Willow grinned, "Come in, come in. This is Tara, by the way. Tara, Buffy."
Tara stepped forwards with a smile
"So nice to finally meet you, Buffy. Will's always talking about you."
Tara went to extend her hand but Buffy quickly pulled her into a hug instead.
"You were right, Will. Even hotter in person. If I didn't have Angel and we'd met my freshman year of college…"
"Hey," Willow said, only half-jokingly, pulling Buffy away from Tara, "There will be no ogling my girl."
"Hey now, don't go breaking out the Willow-fu," Buffy replied, holding up her hands in surrender, then frowned in confusion, "Do you know martial arts?"
"No…" Willow responded, putting her arms over her chest defiantly, "But I could kick your ass at…at…"
"Wording things in the most obscure ways?" Tara suggested from the sidelines.
"I think we'd draw in that," Willow replied dead-pan, then shrugged, "Hey, where's Angel?"
"Oh back at the hotel," Buffy replied with a nod, "He didn't want to get in the way of all our girlie fun."
Willow nodded her head before a thought crossed her mind.
"Oh well, hey, we're probably gonna end up at Becky's tonight anyway 'cause my dress is there for tomorrow and stuff, if he wants to come here and hang with my Dad he can. You know, drink beer, play cards...do general guy things."
Buffy mulled over the idea, getting a smile on her face.
"He does complain about not doing enough guy things…I'll give him a call, thanks."
The friends smiled at each other and Tara took the opportunity in the break of conversation to grab her overnight bag and walk over to the door.
"Right, I better go."
"Wait!" Buffy said suddenly, clapping her hands together, "First I have something to say and I wanted to tell you both. I got a call this morning."
"Vague much, Buff?" Willow asked with a snigger.
Buffy rolled her eyes before putting her hands on her hips.
"Shush and listen. I got a call this morning. Know how I got assigned to Chicago?"
Willow nodded, remembering how happy Buffy had been that she wouldn't have to leave Angel.
"Well apparently they have two other language specialists on staff there, but since they cover a large jurisdiction and with the rate of organised crime there, they can always use more and they assigned me there taking that into account as well as the fact it was my first choice."
Willow and Tara nodded together, following the story.
"But…" Buffy continued, getting excited, "The only language specialist they had in another office had to go into witness protection. Something about testifying against some big mafia boss. Anyway, I've been reassigned."
"Aw, I'm sorry, Buff," Willow said, putting a hand on her friend's shoulder comfortingly, "I know how much you wanted to be with Angel."
Buffy sighed and shook her head at the redhead.
"You really gotta let a girl finish a story, Will…"
"Sorry," Willow replied, holding up her hand in surrender and biting her lip, "Please continue."
Buffy looked between Willow and Tara for a moment, her smile getting wider.
"I'm moving to Buffalo!" she eventually blurted, "And Angel's moving with me!"
Both Willow and Tara's eyes widened in surprise, though the redhead was the first to snap to attention.
"Oh my god!" Willow said, lunging at Buffy in a tight hug again, "Buffy, that's amazing! We'll practically be working together!"
"That's really great," Tara spoke up, smiling, "It'll be nice to actually know somebody there."
Buffy smiled widely.
"I know, right? Anywhere else and I'd be a very depressed Buffy, especially if my honey wasn't moving with me. But now I'm gonna have friends and be living with my guy…it's an exciting time."
Willow and Tara shared a knowing glance.
"It definitely is," Tara replied, "I'm so happy you're gonna be a steady feature in our lives, Buffy. I gotta leave you guys to it, though. Kinda have a big day tomorrow."
Willow's pout formed again and she walked over to the blonde, giving her a hug.
"I'm gonna miss you, Tare-bear."
"I'm gonna miss you too," Tara said, then lowered her voice, "Buffy's great by the way."
Willow pulled back and smiled before leaning forwards and placing a gentle, loving kiss on the blonde's lips.
"Don't go crazy tonight."
"Me?" Tara asked in disbelief, "You're going out with Becky and this one; I think I should be doing the warning."
"Hey," Buffy started to defend herself, before shrugging, "No, yea, she's right."
Willow rolled her eyes before giving Tara another kiss. When they pulled apart, the blonde opened the front door and walked through it.
"I love you."
"I love you too," Willow replied, leaning against the door, "See you at our wedding."
Tara held one hand to her heart and gave a small smile.
"See you at our wedding."
Willow watched the blonde walk down the hallway towards the stairwell, finally closing the door when she was out of sight and turning back to Buffy, who was looking at her with a grin.
"I love you, Tare-bear, I'm gonna miss you," Buffy said in a playful-mocking voice, scrunching up her nose, "You two are so cute together. You're like puppies sitting at the end of a rainbow and um…something equally cute."
Willow chuckled and ducked her head bashfully.
"She brings it out in me. You know, I really missed you, Buff," she said, before shrugging almost shyly, "I figured that line in the handbook, you know about 'forming friendships that last a lifetime' was just that. A line. But I really think we got a strong thing going here. I think we can do good together."
Buffy giggled and wrapped an arm around Willow's shoulder.
"I can see it now, you and me, bringing down the evils of Buffalo with our insane hacking and translating skills."
Willow giggled back, gesturing with her hand.
"We'll be like Cagney and Lacey."
"Starsky and Hutch."
"Sonny and Rico."
"Riggs and Mertaugh."
"Benson and Stabler."
Buffy looked at the redhead strangely at the last one and Willow just shrugged.
"Tara loves Law and Order: SVU."
"Well alright then," Buffy said with a nod of her head, "You ready to start your final night of being Ms. Rosenberg? Wait, unless…what's the name situation?"
"We're double-barrelling," Willow replied excitedly, "Rosenberg-Maclay."
Buffy got a thoughtful look on her face as she nodded to herself.
"Willow Rosenberg-Maclay. I like it."
Willow got a dreamy smile on her face and bounced from foot to foot excitedly.
"Me too."
The two friends looked at each other and burst into laughter until another loud knock on the door startled them their fun. Willow jumped back slightly before pulling the door open to reveal a grinning Becky, shaking a bottle of tequila in one hand and holding a bag in the other.
"You ready to party?"
Willow gave Becky a quick hug as she walked through the door and took the bottle from her.
"No way. I do not want to be puking on my wedding day."
"You're no fun," Becky replied with a mock-scowl, then noticed the athletic blonde standing there, "Hi! You must be Buffy!"
"Indeed I am," Buffy smiled, shaking Becky's hand, "And you must be Becky. Nice to meet you."
"You too. Okay, let's get this bachelorette party started!" Becky said excitedly, taking a crown that said 'bride' in diamond studs from the bag and putting it on Willow's head, "I say we start at Marshalls and see where we end up from there. There's this great new club downtown I've been dying to go to."
"Okay, but I'm telling you now," Willow replied, looking at Becky sternly, "I want to be back at a reasonable hour."
"Don't you trust me?" Becky asked, looking hurt.
Willow just rolled her eyes and went into the bedroom to get her purse. Becky waited until she was out of earshot and turned to Buffy, grinning.
"Tomorrow morning's reasonable, right?"
Alice opened her front door to see Tara standing there and embraced her friend warmly.
"Hey. How are you?"
"I'm pretty good," Tara smiled, walking through the door and waving at Brian, who was sitting on the sofa, "Hey, Bri. How's it going?"
"Wonderful now you're here," Brian replied kindly, getting up and taking Tara's coat off of her, "We've got champagne, Belgian chocolates and – much to my discomfort, but I'll do it anyway because you are one of my closest friends – face masks."
Tara giggled and gave Brian a hug.
"Well, thank you. It looks like we're starting one of the most mature and refined bachelorette parties ever."