"You like that, baby?"
Tara purred an affirmative response as Willow tickled her fingers along the blonde's side, dipping inside the waistband of her pants and squeezing her hip.
"Good."
Willow decided to put her mouth to better use and bunched the collar of her wife's shirt in her hand, pulling it down and kissing along her clavicle and over the swell of her breasts.
Tara moaned her appreciation and marvelled at the fact that no matter how many times the redhead touched her – and that past weekend it had been innumerable times, both having spent the entire time since they finished unpacking in a state of nudity, ensuring the curtains had been drawn around the house so there was no reason to have to put on clothes at all – it always, always felt fresh and new, yet skilled and trained at the same time. In short, it was wonderful.
"Willow, you're amazing," she panted after a moment, grabbing the back of her wife's head and pulling her up for a kiss.
"I can't stop touching you," Willow breathed in response, dipping her fingers into the blonde's panties and running them along the hairs of her mound.
"Don't stop. Never stop."
Willow resumed the kiss, pushing her tongue into her wife's mouth, eliciting a deep moan from both of them and was about to slip her fingers lower; to the area she knew so well but still loved to explore, to feel the tight, wet heat that she loved to feel surrounding her, to show Tara how much she was loved, to feel how much Tara loved her back.
Her fingertips had just started to feel the barest of wetness when a loud ringing sound emanated throughout the house. Tara groaned and threw her head to the side, puffing her cheeks out in frustration.
"Dammit! I thought we had more time."
Willow frowned as well; the only reason they'd gotten dressed at all was that they'd arranged to meet up with Buffy and Angel, to see the Botanical Gardens like Tara had suggested.
Willow had made breakfast and once they realised they had an hour to spare before the other couple were meant to arrive, they had found their way to the sofa, lips had met and hands had begun to wander and now, it appeared they'd spent the best part of that hour building themselves up, time passing without them even noticing and wouldn't be able to finish. The redhead cupped her wife's cheek and placed a playful kiss on her nose.
"Worth it," she whispered quietly before jumping up and leaving the living room to go answer the door.
Tara smiled, despite her frustration, at the other girl's words and took a few deep breaths to try and control the flush she knew was evident all over her body before popping closed the button of her jeans and pulling her fly up, then sitting up and readjusting her shirt until it fitted her properly. She got off the couch and walked into the foyer, smiling at Buffy and Angel who were standing in the doorway.
"Hey guys! Good to see you!"
She eagerly walked up and embraced Buffy warmly, the other blonde hugging back before pulling back and smiling at Angel, knowing he wasn't one for hugs.
"Come in," Willow said, stepping aside to allow their guests inside, "We'll show you the place."
"Did you get here okay?" Tara asked, as they walked further into the house.
"Oh yea," Buffy nodded, "Willow had Google map directions emailed to me, we flew through the city."
Tara grinned.
"That's my girl. Always prepared."
Willow blushed and led them around the house proudly; showing off each room with sounds of approval from Buffy and even Angel seemed to be impressed by their abode.
"If I didn't love apartment living so much I'd be asking if any of your neighbours were selling up," Buffy said as she took a seat in the kitchen and accepted the glass of juice offered to her, "Great house."
"Thanks," Willow smiled before holding up the carton in her hand, "Angel?"
Angel just shook his head.
"Oh, no thank you Willow."
"He's fussy about what he drinks," Buffy said with a roll of the eyes, "Has this thing for blood-orange juice."
"It's good for the immune system," Angel said defensively.
Willow laughed and put the juice back in the fridge.
"Well I'll make sure we have some in for the future. Speaking of living arrangements, how's the apartment?"
Buffy squealed excitedly, almost spilling her drink in the process.
"It's amazing. I mean, it's my first place outside of college dorms, so anything beats those dives, but it's really nice. We were able to afford a two-bed place between both our salaries and it's got this awesome kitchen/living room space."
"And a 40'' TV," Angel added, a small grin coming to his face, "It's quite a place. And I get to live with the girl I love."
"Aww," Buffy said, scrunching up her nose and leaning over to kiss Angel on the cheek, "Look at you being all uncharacteristically lovey-dovey. I like it."
Angel blushed, trying to shrug off the comment to retain his cool demeanour. He had to admit though, while he knew he'd always remain the aloof and private persona he'd made for his job – it's what made him a good PI – being with Buffy had brought out a more expressive and even fun side of him that he kind of maybe even liked.
Still though, he was only beginning to get used to that side of him – it would probably take a while before he fully became comfortable with the different parts of himself or when he displayed those different personality traits.
"So, should we go?" he asked to ease the tension, more within himself than in the room, "It's a half hour drive to the Public Gardens."
"Sure," Tara replied, seeing the man appeared to be uneasy over something, "Let's go."
"We were thinking we'd take our car as well," Willow said as they walked back into the foyer, "That way you guys wouldn't have to go the hassle of dropping us home after."
"It's no problem," Buffy responded with a smile, "It's not that far out of our way."
"Nah, it's cool," Willow replied with a shrug, "We might as well get some use out the car. It's paid for up 'til Monday but we haven't left the house in three days."
Buffy let out a low laugh at the blushes that broke out on both Willow and Tara's faces at the redhead's words and shook her head with a grin. Tara tried to hide her embarrassment by getting their coats from the hook on the inside of the door.
"Thanks, honey," Willow replied as she grabbed the keys from the hall table, "Let's head out."
Angel and Buffy walked out ahead of them and Tara grabbed her bag as she pulled the front door shut behind her.
"Wow, nice wheels," Willow said with a whistle as she saw the sleek black Mercedes parked beside the Lexus.
"Work perks," Angel replied, pressing a button to unlock his motor, "Always need a good car when you're trailing someone. You can end up spending hours behind the wheel."
"6litre engine?" Willow asked, running a hand along the bonnet.
Angel smiled proudly.
"Oh yea. And four transmission settings."
"Willow's into cars?" Buffy asked, walking up to Tara with a raised eyebrow.
"News to me," Tara shrugged, "We've never had one. She did used to talk about Becky's mustang a lot though. I thought it was just because she thought it looked cool."
"Uh huh," Buffy replied with a nod, before moving towards the other two, "Why don't I ride with Tara and you two can talk engines and catatitic converters or whatever."
"Catalytic," both Willow and Angel corrected at the same time, making Buffy scowl.
"That's what I said. Willow, hand over the keys."
Willow handed Tara over the keys to Lexus and moved to get into the passenger seat of the Mercedes, grinning wildly.
"You wanna drive?" Angel asked.
Willow's eyes nearly popped out of her head and she jumped up and down excitedly.
"Really? I can really drive this baby?"
"You, um...you don't drive like Buffy do you?"
"Okay, mister, you are on very thin ice," Buffy interrupted, her scowl getting more pronounced, "I just need some more lessons is all."
"She's a very good driver," Tara reassured, seeing in delight in her wife's eyes, "You can trust her."
Angel gave a small smile and handed the keys over the bonnet to a gleaming Willow who quickly hopped in the driver's seat and turned on the ignition, mouthing the word 'wow' as she heard the purring sound it made. Tara smiled at the reaction before tapping Buffy on the shoulder and pointing towards the Lexus. Buffy nodded and they both made their way over to the car and strapped themselves in before Tara started the car and pulled out of the driveway.
"So it looks like they've got something to bond over," Buffy said after a moment, "We should have something too. I mean, I spent nine weeks almost non-stop living with Willow, I forget sometimes we've only actually met each other a couple of times. Although, to be fair, the amount Willow's talked about you, I feel like I've known you for years."
"She talked about me?" Tara asked with a small blush.
Buffy cast a sidelong glance at the other blonde and chuckled.
"All the time. But somehow I don't think you need me to tell you that."
Tara shrugged, a small smile on her face.
"I love her," she said simply and Buffy smiled at the utter truth in the statement.
"So what made you want to become a social worker?" Buffy asked, intrigued to find out about her relatively new friend.
"I wanted to help people," Tara answered, "Kids especially. I didn't want kids to have to go through...um, well, I didn't want kids to have to go through anything they shouldn't."
Buffy sensed there was more to the story but saw a glassy look in the other blonde's eyes and decided to leave it.
"Why did you want to become a language analyst?" Tara questioned in return.
"Well I really just wanted to work for my country," Buffy answered, "Being an army kid, obviously made me pretty patriotic. So from there it was just thinking about how best I could serve. I didn't really like the idea of joining the military directly since I'd grown up with that and I knew I wanted a family one day and wouldn't make them move around like I did. I considered applying to become an actual FBI agent for a while, but the idea of waking up at the crack of dawn for nine weeks of training was bad enough, I think I would've died if I had to do twenty. Plus I've always had a thing about guns. Never liked 'em."
"Me either," Tara replied, more than a tinge of bitter sadness in her voice, "My father always used to shoot birds in the backyard. I used to hate it every time I saw him take the shotgun in his hands. It scared me that something so small could take a life so easily."
"Exactly. And if push ever came to shove, I don't think I could ever have shot a man."
"Well I'm glad you're going to be working with Willow, even if it's not in the same division," Tara replied, trying to lighten the mood, "I know she's pretty nervous about starting tomorrow. Having a friendly face there will help."
"I'm pretty nervous myself," Buffy said with a chuckle, "I've only ever worked as a server in a burger joint and that didn't really end well. I still find it hard to believe I'm gonna be a proper adult with a proper job who's living with her proper boyfriend."
"Wait until you get married," Tara laughed, "Then you feel really old."
"I think I've a couple of years of wearing Angel down for that."
"He's the one, huh?"
Buffy turned at smiled at her friend.
"He's my Willow," she said and Tara instantly understood. They shared a moment before Buffy looked away, mirth in her eyes, "God, we're such girls. Talking about our feelings while our honeys discuss transmissions and stuff."
Tara chuckled, but had to admit, Buffy had a point.
"So what do you do for fun, Ms. Summers? And keep it PG."
"Well..." Buffy started, liking how easy-going their conversation was, "I partied a lot in college. I had a friend Faith for a while, she used to be my party buddy but she fell in with a bad crowd so we stopped hanging out."
"That's a shame," Tara said in sympathy.
"Yea, it was. But these things happen. What about you? What're you're PG hobbies?"
"Work and Willow take up most of my time," Tara replied with a smile, "I used to go to ballet and singing classes when I was little though, if that counts. A little bit of horse riding too."
"I love dancing," Buffy responded enthusiastically, "Any type really. I just love moving to the beat. I first got into it when I studied some martial arts when we lived in Korea. My instructor there said dance classes would be a good way to loosen up so I did and loved it. How come you stopped?"
"My mom died," Tara said softly, "And it kinda just...stopped."
She left out the part about her father saying that any kind of dance would lead to being provocative and was therefore the devils way of expressing himself through you, and how once her mother was gone she had no one left in her corner to fight the battles she was too young to fight for herself.
"I'm sorry," Buffy replied quietly, "That musta been rough."
"Hey, you know," Tara shrugged it off, "I remember really enjoying it though."
"Hey, here's an idea I'm totally just throwing out there – I think you turn left here."
Tara nodded in appreciation of the directions, seeing a sign for the gardens and indicating to the left as Buffy continued to speak.
"You wanna join a dance class together? You know, since we both like it. Or you know, even if you try it and find out it was just a kid thing we don't have to go back."
"Really?" Tara asked, her face lighting up at the prospect, "But you'd be way better than me if you've already done classes and stuff."
"Doesn't matter, we can still both start at beginners class. I can be your amazing partner that teaches you all your skills."
Tara laughed but seemed enthused by the idea.
"That sounds like something I'd definitely be interested in."
"Awesome," Buffy breathed, excited at the prospect, "How about we wait until we've settled into Buffalo and work okay – maybe in the New Year? We can do it with all the people making New Year's resolutions."
"You're on," Tara nodded, "Find a dance class and I'll be your humble partner."
Both girls exchanged a smile at their growing friendship until Buffy pointed at something outside the window.
"We're here. I think we park on that ring road over there."
Tara drove along the road until she found a parking space and pulled in, just as a black car sped past them, music blaring loudly.
"Please don't tell me that was..."
"Oh yea," Buffy confirmed with a sigh, "That was Angel's car."
Both girls got out of the car and Tara locked it as they watched the Mercedes pull into a spot just ahead of them and their significant others get out, high-fiving each other. Willow spotted Tara across the road and ran over, her face that of an excitable child.
"Tara, we have to get one of those! It's awesome! So sleek and smooth and it drives so well! Can we get one, please, please, please?"
"Um..." Tara replied, rolling her eyes at Buffy who was laughing hysterically off to the side, "I think we should pay off the wedding first."
Willow began to pout and was about to protest when some common sense took over her and she remembered that she was an adult and not about to act like a petulant child.
"Yea, you're right," she sighed, "But I still want one."
"You can take a ride in her whenever you want," Angel said as he walked up to them, having enjoyed driving with someone who appreciated his pride and joy as much as he did.
"Really?" Willow asked, her face lighting up again, "I'm gonna hold you to that buddy!"
Buffy smiled at her boyfriend, she'd never seen him so open and friendly before and she liked the quality in him. They all made their over to entrance and paid for their tickets to the gardens before starting to explore the grounds.
"Wow, it's so big," Willow commented as they walked around, "And dome-y."
"It's beautiful," Buffy replied, "I'm glad you suggested visiting here, Willow."
"Oh it was Tara's idea," Willow responded, putting her arm through her wife's and leaning against her shoulder, "She used to come here when she was little."
Buffy turned, a surprised look in her eye.
"You grew up here?"
Willow paled as she realised what she said but Tara took it in her stride.
"Near Rochester. We just came to visit here sometimes."
That answer seemed to satisfy Buffy, her attention being drawn to the array of pretty flowers around them. Willow gave her wife an apologetic smile but Tara just shook her head and wrapped her arm around her shoulder, giving it a squeeze. Both couples walked around the gardens, happily chatting and taking in the views, until a loud cracking sound made the three girls spin around in place to see Angel, who had wandered slightly ahead of them, lying on a large patch of ice and clutching his arm. Buffy scurried over there, concern etched on her face.
"Jeez, Angel, I said you were on thin ice, not to fall on it!"