"Um, baby, I gotta go out for a while, okay?"
Tara looked up from where she was folding laundry and smiled at her wife.
"Where are you off to?"
"Uh, nowhere exciting," Willow replied nervously, "Just out."
Tara's smile turned into a small frown at the redhead's sketchiness.
"Is it a work thing? If it's like a top-secret FBI thing, I totally understand, you know."
"Not a work thing. Just have to do something," Willow replied and leant over to kiss the blonde on the cheek, "See you in a bit. Love you."
Willow turned and practically ran out the door, leaving Tara completely confused and more than a little nervous about her behaviour.
Where the hell does she need to go at 8pm on a Wednesday night?
She shook her head to try and get any bad thoughts out of her head, but this wasn't the first weird thing to happen over the past week or so. Willow had been taking secret phone calls and shutting down her laptop as soon as she stepped in the room.
She quickly finished folding the laundry and poured herself a large glass of wine, which was unusual as she normally wasn't one for drinking during the week, especially when she had work the next day but something was up, that much was obvious and she was starting to worry about what exactly that something was.
Willow cruised down the streets of Buffalo, tapping her fingers against the steering wheel to the beat of whatever song was playing on the radio, sighing as she thought back to her hasty exit from the house. She'd never been good at lying and lying to Tara was just a massive no-no, but she'd had to keep this quiet - Tara couldn't find out. It would ruin everything.
She kept driving until she reached her destination and parked the car before getting out and making her way inside the building, checking one of the small screens and exhaling.
Now I just have to wait.
Tara paced back and forth in the living room, her mind slightly hazing from having almost downed that glass of wine as she contemplated what to do. She couldn't just let the redhead's fishy behaviour go, but she didn't want her wife thinking she didn't trust her.
She did, implicitly, but it was clear Willow was hiding something and she needed to know if it involved them.
If it was some secret work thing, or even something with Buffy that she'd promised not to talk about, she'd understand that, but until she had some kind of reassurance, she knew it wouldn't be good for either of them or their marriage. Just then she heard the car pull up outside and took a deep breath, bracing herself for the conversation she knew they need to have.
"Baby, I'm home..." Willow's cheery voice came from the foyer, "And I've got a surprise..."
Willow popped her head into the living room and nodded, indicating for her to come out.
"Willow, we have to talk," Tara said, knowing she needed to say what needed to be said quickly, before she chickened out.
"Uh, okay..." Willow said, confused, "But I kinda, um..."
"You've been acting weird," Tara blurted, fidgeting with her hands, "There's been phone calls and you're all secretive about your computer and now going out on random trips to places you won't tell me where you're going. I know I'm not your keeper or anything, I'm not saying I need to know every little thing you do, it's just-"
"Oh baby, baby," Willow rushed over and took both of the blonde's hands in hers, "Calm down, okay? Calm down."
Tara nodded her head, but felt like she was about to burst into tears, which Willow saw.
"Oh Tara, I'm sorry I worried you, I just wanted it to be a surprise is all..."
Tara exhaled slowly, question in her eyes.
"You wanted what to be a surprise?"
"If you come out to the foyer, you'll see," Willow replied with a small smile.
"It's not gonna be some woman you're leaving me for?" Tara asked, finally giving voice to her biggest fear.
Willow moved one hand up to cup the blonde's cheek and shook her head.
"That will, never, ever happen," she said, emphatically before a wry grin appeared on her face, "You're gonna feel pretty silly in a minute when you see what I was actually planning."
She leaned up for a sweet, reassuring kiss, which was exactly what Tara needed to seal the words Willow had said before the redhead tugged on her hand and pulled her out of the living room and into the foyer.
Tara's eyes went wide at the scene that greeted her – Becky, Alice and Brian were standing there, amused smiles on their faces.
"What...what are you guys doing here?" she asked in shock.
"Well we were invited for a New Year's/Birthday party," Alice replied, stepping forwards, "Do we not get hugs?"
Tara quickly hugged her three friends before stepping back and biting her lip.
"So I guess you all heard my mini-meltdown in there?"
"What are best friends for if not witnessing your embarrassing moments and reminding you of them for years to come," Brain said with a grin.
"Told ya you were gonna feel silly," Willow said, bumping their hips together, "And I'm supposed to be the neurotic one."
"Oh you are," Becky was quick to point out, "It's clearly just rubbing off."
Willow rolled her eyes before motioning for them all to come into the living room.
"Hey, a real tree," Brian said, admiring the Christmas tree in the corner of the room, "This is a really nice house."
"We'll give you a proper tour later," Willow replied as the three guests took a seat, "But first, wine or beer?"
"Ah, just like old times," Becky said as she relaxed back into the seat, her voice full of mirth, "Wine, please."
"Me too," Alice said.
"And a beer for me," came from Brain, "If that's okay."
"Of course," Willow smiled, turning to Tara, "Help me?"
Tara nodded and they walked into the kitchen. Willow noticed the already-half-empty bottle of wine and picked it up, raising an eyebrow.
"I got stressed," Tara said defensively, "I was panicking for the hour and a half you were gone. The wheels starting turning in my head and I couldn't make them stop."
Willow turned and placed her hands on the blonde's waist.
"I didn't mean to be gone so long. The airport was busy and their flight was delayed for a while. If I'd known you were freaking out I'd have...well I probably wouldn't have ruined the surprise, but I woulda reassured you a little. I guess I'm just used to me being the one who wigs out and you being all 'calm and comforting-gal'," she said, before a slightly hurt look crossed her face, "Did you really think I was cheating on you?"
"No," Tara replied, biting her lip, "I didn't really, Willow. I just got insecure for a moment. You know, you read all about couples where one partner thinks they're perfectly in love and then bam, it's all falling apart and things are going so, so good for us, we're just going from strength to strength and for a moment it seemed-"
Willow gave her wife's hips a quick squeeze.
"Too good to be true?"
Tara sighed.
"Yes. But it was complete overreaction on my part. I trust you completely. With my life. With my heart."
"Well, good," Willow said with a resolute nod of her head, before smiling, "Now tell me you love me."
Tara grinned and wrapped her hands around the redhead's neck.
"I love you."
Willow shook her head.
"Nope, I want a full declaration."
Tara sighed in mock- exasperation but was still grinning wildly.
"Willow Danielle Rosenberg-Maclay, I love you with all my heart and soul. Always have and always will."
"That's better," Willow replied, a matching grin on her face, "Now say 'thank you so much for arranging for our friends to come to visit and for not only getting Michelle to get you tomorrow off work, but taking the day off myself so we can show them around before the party'."
"You did?" Tara asked, her face lighting up, "You're amazing."
She leant down for a kiss but Willow pulled back, her sly grin never leaving her.
"Nuh uh. Say it first."
Tara sighed and rolled her eyes playfully.
"Thank you sooo much for arranging for our friends to come visit and getting Michelle to get me tomorrow off work and taking the day off yourself, my incredible, wonderful, beautiful wife."
"I sensed sarcasm," Willow replied, her eyes shining with amusement, "But you still get a kiss."
"Mmhh, good."
Their lips met in a slow, soft kiss that lasted for several minutes until a voice from behind disturbed them.
"Nice to see some things never change."
They broke apart and turned to see Becky grinning at them.
"You know, sometimes I think the world would fall off its axis if you two weren't trying to find a way to make-out at every opportunity. It's like the gravitational pull you two have on each other keeps the rest of us stable."
"Well it's good I don't plan on stopping smooching her then, isn't it?" Willow asked, sticking out her tongue at the brunette.
Tara went over to the cupboard and got down some wine glasses.
"You get the beers, Will," she said before walking over to Becky and nodding at her to pick up the wine, which she did and they all made their way into the living room again.
"They were kissing," Becky explained to the other two, as she'd been sent off as a search party.
"Well that's hardly shocking," Alice said with a smile as she accepted a glass.
Tara ignored the teasing tone and settled into one of the seats.
"I'm so glad you guys are here. I want all your news."
They spend the next couple of hours catching up, though most of what they talked about had already been discussed as they'd all made an effort to keep in contact with each other, and it had only been a month since the move. When it started getting late and people began yawning, they decided that it was time to get some sleep since Willow had a busy itinerary planned for the following day, and they had the party the following evening as well.
Brian carried most of the bags upstairs and Becky and Alice settled into one of the guest rooms, while he took the other. They all said their goodnights, with Tara reaffirming how happy she was to see the gang again before going into their respective rooms and falling into bed.
"Thank you for the surprise," Tara said as she rested her head under the redhead's chin, yawning from tiredness and from being slightly tipsy, "I love you."
"I love you too," Willow replied, wrapping her arms around the blonde's body, "And no more getting silly when I'm trying to do something nice for you."
"Promise."
Willow gently stroked her wife's arm until she heard her breath even out and knew she was asleep. She gently lifted Tara's head so it was on the pillow beside her and took a few moments to just watch her sleep, something she gotten into the habit of doing whenever the opportunity arose ever since the first night they'd spend together, which was quite a while before they'd even started making love.
Becky had said it was 'creepy' when she'd mentioned it before, and that if she ever caught a guy she was with watching her sleep she'd sock him one, but Willow adored how angelic Tara looked when she slept and refused to define it as 'creepy'. Besides, Tara had woken up one morning and caught her staring, and though a little embarrassed, seemed quite pleased that the redhead was that entranced by her that she wanted to watch her sleep at all, so Willow knew it was okay.
"You're so beautiful."
Her voice was came out in a quiet, reverent whisper before she placed a soft kiss on the blonde's forehead, then her nose and finally a barely-there whisper of a kiss on her lips, smiling when Tara's unconscious form shuffled closed into her body in response.
She looked at her wife for another moment before entwining their hands under the covers and letting her eyes fluttered closed as well, a few sleepy works leaving her mouth before she too succumbed to slumber.
"I love you."