Tara woke up and the first thought she had was that somebody had put sandpaper in her mouth.

That thought was swiftly followed by thinking that someone had turned her mattress into something lumpy and uncomfortable. She reluctantly opened one eye, thanking all the deities there were that it was an overcast day so the sun wasn't shining in and realised her mattress didn't feel like it's normal bouncy self because she was in the living room, sprawled out on the sofa.

"Ohhh," she groaned, shutting her eyes and clutching her head when she tried to sit up and the room started spinning.

She didn't remember falling asleep; all she could remember was that the party started getting pretty rambunctious after the New Year had been called in and that she had definitely enjoyed herself. She decided to try opening her eyes again and saw Becky and Brian draped across the other sofa, Becky lying on top of her boyfriend, thankfully both fully clothed.

She tentatively stood and after a moment of dizziness felt able to move again and slowly made her way into the kitchen and turned on the coffee pot, popping a couple of painkillers and downing three glasses of water as she waited for it to be made. When the coffee boiled she poured a cup and sank down into one of the stools as she gratefully downed the dark liquid.

Two coffees later, the pain pills had begun to kick in and she was starting to feel some semblance of her normal self again when the back door opened and Alice walked in.

"That should've been locked," Tara said with a small frown, hoping that no matter how inebriated she got she wouldn't have risked their house by not locking it up.

"It was," Alice replied, holding up a key, "This was under the mat. I was, um, kinda hoping avoiding anyone seeing me."

Tara finally registered the fact that Alice was still wearing last night's clothes and make up, the look on her face indicating that she hadn't just gone for an early morning walk.

"Where were yo – oh my god, did you spend the night with Jesse?"

Alice looked pained but nodded her head.

"We were both just so drunk and he was so nice all night..." she explained, going over to sit next to Tara and holding her head in her hands, "It just all happened so fast."

"Oh I'm sorry sweetie," Tara replied, rubbing Alice on the back comfortingly, "That's no good."

"No, that part wasn't fast," Alice said, rolling her eyes at her friend, "That part was..."

Alice closed her eyes briefly and shuddered in delight at the memory before opening her eyes to see Tara with an amused grin on her face.

"Anyway," she said, trying to contain the blush she knew was on her face, "I meant the whole situation happened so fast. I mean, we kissed at midnight but I thought that was just a spur of the moment thing and we kept talking and then when he was leaving he grabbed me and we were like, full-blown, tongues-involved kinda kissing and then we were in his place and well..."

Tara nodded, not needing to know any more details.

"And this morning?"

Alice looked guilty.

"I left before he woke up."

Tara quirked an eyebrow.

"Al..."

Alice put her hands up defensively.

"No, it was the right thing to do. Willow's told me about him before, how he's a 'love 'em and leave 'em' type, so this avoided all the awkwardness in the morning. We both knew it was a one-night thing anyway, I'm going back to Boston this afternoon."

Tara turned her head in thought; unsure if Alice was just putting on a front.

"You sure?"

"I'm sure," Alice replied definitively with a nod of her head, "We both had some fun, which I really needed. And that's it. It's like a vacation fling. Perfect for both parties."

Tara tapped her fingers against the island.

"Well as long as you're okay with it..."

"I am," Alice said, taking one of Tara's hands in hers, "Really."

"Okay then," Tara said with a smile, "In that case...Alice Kenter, doing the walk of shame. Never thought I'd live to see the day."

Tara giggled as Alice hit her playfully on the arm, blushing all over again.

"I know, I know. But, um, can we keep this between the two of us? I just..."

"I get it," Tara nodded, "Between you and me. But you might wanna go and get outta those clothes before anyone else sees you."

Alice looked down at herself and nodded before smirking at her friend.

"Right. Although by the looks of you, you didn't quite get into your pyjamas either."

Tara adjusted the straps of her dress, wondering how she'd managed to sleep all night in the tight-fitting garment.

"Yea...I'm not sure what time everyone left, it all becomes a blur after about 1am, but I woke up on the couch. Beck and Bri are in there too."

Alice looked towards the door fondly.

"You know, I never thought it before, but those two are perfect for each other."

Tara smiled and nodded her head.

"I know what you mean. I'm glad they're happy."

"Me too," Alice agreed, before a thought crossed her mind and she frowned, "Although now I'm a little creeped out that they both just didn't really have to pee when they went off to the bathroom on the plane at around the same time. And came back smiling."

"Oh god," Tara laughed before pushing her friend towards the door, "Go, quickly, before you remember any more illicit encounters you were obliviously witness to."

Alice went to leave the room, but turned back for a moment.

"Happy Birthday, Tara."

Tara smiled as Alice left with a small laugh and a couple of minutes later Becky and Brian appeared in the kitchen, holding themselves in a similar way to what Tara was when she'd first woken up. She took pity on them and poured them coffee and water each, giving it to them with the box of painkillers.

"Thank you," they both croaked before slugging back both liquids with the pills.

"God," Becky said after a moment, "I haven't been that drunk since-"

"Willow's bachelorette party?" Tara asked with a wry grin.

"Yea," Becky replied, managing a small smirk, "Hey, Happy Birthday by the way."

"Happy Birthday," Brian echoed, the coffee having put some colour back in his pale face, "How does it feel to be a quarter-century?"

"Oh don't say that," Tara groaned, "Please. I feel old enough already."

The other two sniggered and Tara put on another pot of coffee just as Alice appeared back in the room, fresh-faced and in jeans and a t-shirt.

"How do you look so well?" Becky asked, gesturing towards her own hair and attire, "When I look like...god only knows what."

"Well unlike you, I actually managed to sleep in a bed last night," Alice replied and Tara had to hold back a laugh, "Where's Willow? I thought she'd come down here?"

"No," Tara shook her head, "I thought she was still asleep."

"Oh," Alice said, looking confused, "It's just, your bedroom door's wide open and she's not in there. Didn't even look like the bed had been slept in."

"What?" Tara asked, putting her mug down, "Then where the hell is she?"

"Hey, Tara, chill," Becky said, putting a reassuring hand on her friend's arm, "She probably got confused and fell asleep in one of the guest beds. We were all really drunk."

"Right," Tara nodded, "I'm just gonna go check."

"She's not in my room," Alice said, having been in there to get changed, "Just so you know."

Tara nodded again and hurried up the stairs, bypassing the first guest room that Alice was in and going straight to what had been Brian's but turned into Brian's and Becky's. She opened the door and bit her lip when she saw the room was empty and the bed unslept in.

She went over to the bathroom and saw that that was empty as well and quickly went into their bedroom, where everything was as it had been when they'd left it before the party the night before.

She was about to run down the stairs as full-blown panic started setting in when she heard a soft snoring from somewhere off to the side. She followed the sound, leading her to their closet. She pulled back the door, her eyes widening when she saw the redhead asleep on the floor, using a collection of shoes as a pillow – how that managed to be comfortable, no matter how much alcohol was consumed, Tara had no idea - and a blanket half-strewn around her feet.

She knelt down and wiped the hair from her wife's brow, softly calling her name.

"Willow...Willow...Will, honey..."

Willow's brow crinkled but she didn't wake up so Tara started softly shaking her shoulder.

"Sweetheart, wake up..."

Willow mumbled something that sounded like 'don't wanna' and Tara sighed and contemplated plugging the smaller girl's nose, but knew that if her wife felt anything like she had when she'd woken up – and she had a pretty good idea that she did – that that definitely would not be well received, so instead opted to lean down and place a small kiss against the redhead's lips.

She let it linger long enough that Willow started to respond before pulling back and seeing her eyes start to flutter open, confusion shining in them.

"Wha...?" she tried to speak before a flash of pain crossed her face and she reached behind her neck, pulling out a stiletto that was digging into her skin and throwing it away, "Ow. What...?"

"You're in the closet, honey," Tara said with a straight face, "I thought you came outta that years ago."

Willow blinked a few times as she became aware of her surroundings and the full events of the previous night came back to her, which brought on a sudden jolt of pain in her head. She groaned and put a hand against her forehead.

"I know, love," Tara soothed, wrapping her arms and best she could around her wife and helping her stand up, "Come on, sweetie, just over here..."

She walked them both over to the bed and sat them down, resting Willow's head on her shoulder and stroking her hair. Willow let the soothing action relieve her aching head until she felt able to lift it up and look at her wife.

"You okay?" Tara asked tenderly, cupping the redhead's cheek.

"Little shaky," Willow replied, clearing her throat a few times to get some moisture in her mouth, "But you're helping."

Tara nodded and kissed her wife's temple, hearing Willow let out a small, happy sigh at the action, before the blonde looked the smaller girl in the eye, a small grin playing on her lips.

"Why were you asleep in the closet?"

"Um..." Willow closed her eyes and tried to think back , "I remember...saying goodbye to Xander and Anya...I think they were the last to leave...and then I saw you asleep on the sofa...and I came up to get you a blanket...and then I got really sleepy."

"Oh honey," Tara replied, her heart melting that Willow's thought process was completely on her, even when inebriated, "That can't have been comfortable."

"Wasn't," Willow pouted, "My neck feels like...well, like I slept on a bunch of shoes."

Tara let out a low laugh and kissed her wife's temple again.

"I'm gonna get dressed," she said, standing up, "This dress was not designed to be slept in."

"Mmhh, yay," Willow replied sleepily, shifting up on the bed so she was sitting against the headboard and grabbed a pillow, holding it against her front and resting her chin on it.

"What're you 'yay'-ing?" Tara asked, closing their bedroom door.

Willow just continued to smile.

"Get to watch you get changed. Best hangover cure there is."

Tara raised her eyebrow with a smile when Willow suddenly remembered what day it was.

"Hey, Happy Birthday, baby."

"Thank you, sweetheart," Tara replied, as she pulled the dress over her head.

"I was planning on cooking you a big romantic meal and then ravaging you all night," Willow said, smiling again over the pillow, "But we've got those dinner reservations now."

"We do. Becky was right; I've heard great reviews about that place too. And..." Tara dragged her panties off her body before pulling another pair on in what was an obvious teasing manoeuvre, turning her head and giving a half-smile, "You can still ravage me all night."

Willow bit her lip and raked her eyes over her wife's half-naked form.

"Just try and stop me."

Tara grinned and grabbed a pair of jeans to wear.

"You need to get dressed too. We have to get the guys to the airport soon."

"Oh right," Willow nodded, glancing at the clock on the nightstand, "It's later than I thought."

"I know. Turns out you sleep late when you don't go to bed 'til the wee hours."

"Oh funny, miss sarcastic," Willow replied playfully, gingerly getting off the bed.

"Are you feeling okay?" Tara asked, now fully dressed and going over to her wife.

"Yea, just need a coffee IV," Willow responded, before turning to the blonde with hopeful eyes, "And a kiss?"

Tara grinned.

"That I can help with."

They kissed softly for a few minutes as Willow felt her headache lift completely, instead feeling the pleasant dizziness that occured every time she got to be close to her wife until they naturally broke apart for air.

"You get dressed and I'll go make some breakfast and make sure there's enough coffee for you," Tara said with a smile, "The others were knocking it back when I came up."

She turned to leave but Willow pulled her back, shaking her head.

"Just give me a couple of minutes to get sorted and then I'll make breakfast. It's your special day, baby. And I'm gonna make it as special as I can."