Chapter Twelve: Date Disaster

Walking down the street towards the bar, Willow couldn't help but smile at the difference in her best friend. Willow knew every version there was of Tara, having been friends with her for so long, but she was surprised to see Shy Tara making an appearance. Ever since they left for their date, Tara had become quiet and was nervously fidgeting. At first it had worried Willow, making her think she had done something wrong. Then she realized that Tara wasn't upset, she was nervous.

Deciding to try to ease Tara's nerves, Willow looked over at her and smiled. "Nervous?" she asked, trying to tease Tara until she relaxed.

"A little. Its just...this is new territory for us. I don't want to mess things up between us," Tara admitted, giving Willow a nervous smile.

Coming to a stop, Willow turned to face Tara and took her hands in her own."You won't," Willow promised. "Nothing can mess this up. If the date thing doesn't work out, then we'll always be friends. We've been friends too long to let it end over something like this."

"Yeah. You're right," Tara whispered, still not accepting Willow's words.

"Tara, I won't let anything come between our friendship. If we get together, I promise you that I won't let anything mess up what we already have," Willow said, releasing Tara's hand to cup her cheek.

Closing her eyes and nodding at Willow's words, Tara couldn't help but lean into Willow's touch, loving the feel of Willow's hand on her cheek. After a moment, Tara finally reopened her eyes and saw the depths of green staring into her blue eyes causing Tara's breath to catch.

It was amazing to her how looking into those emerald eyes always drew her in, causing her to get lost. "The club is up this way, right?" Willow asked, forcing her gaze from Tara in fear of losing herself in the blonde's soft blue eyes.

Pulled back to the present, Tara shook her head softly to clear in and nodded. "Y-yes. It's r-right up h-here," Tara stuttered out, stepping away from Willow as though to lead her, but in reality, she was trying to get enough space that she could think.

Willow frowned as she started walking behind Tara, feeling slightly rejected that Tara had pulled away from her completely. After walking for a few moments in silence, Willow decided to break it. "Tara?"

"Yes?"

"Did I do something wrong?" Willow asked, looking at Tara's back.

Coming to a stop, Tara looked at her. "What?"

"Did I do something wrong?" Willow repeated, frowning at Tara.

"No, of course not," Tara responded, stepping towards Willow.

"Are you sure? Cause you just pulled away," Willow reminded her, looking at Tara in confusion.

Understanding Willow's meaning, Tara frowned and took another step towards Willow, taking her hand in her own. "I'm sorry. I didn't want you to feel weird. I mean...I-I've liked y-you for so l-long, and I d-don't want to you f-force you to f-feel like you h-have to like m-me like t-that," Tara explained, getting nervous.

"Tara...I do like you. I'm not sure how I feel about you, but I know there's something there. It wasn't something I was looking for, but it's powerful and amazing. I mean...I've always cared about you because you're my best friend. I've always loved you for the same reason, but this is different. What I feel right now when I look at you, it's different from that. It's something else, and I usually don't use so many words to say something so small, but do you get it, at all?"

Tara smiled at Willow's babble and nodded. "I do."

"Come on. We should get to the club," Willow said, giving Tara's hand a light squeeze and letting her lead the way.

Once inside the club, they danced for hours together, enjoying the feel of their bodies pressed to one another. Willow enjoyed herself, loving the feel of Tara's body against her own. It amazed her how easy things were with Tara. Things that usually made her uncomfortable or nervous were so simple with the blonde. They were constantly flirting with each other now that they were at the club, and neither of them wanted to leave the other's side.

As they made their way from the club that night, both were laughing so hard that they stumbled over a lifted board and knocked into each other, causing Willow's body to force Tara against the side of a wall. Staring at one another from their new position, Willow felt herself drowning in the sea of blue. Her breath caught as she lost herself before leaning in slowly and brushing her lips against the waiting pair before her. As soon as their lips touched, both gave a moan of satisfaction before quickly deepening the kiss, arms wrapping around one another and holding each other close.

Lost in the kiss, neither heard the approaching footsteps or the gasp of frustration. It wasn't until the sound of an angry voice shouting that they realized they were no longer alone.

"You little cheating bitch!" the voice yelled, causing Willow to pull back quickly and the two women to turn in the direction of the voice. "You think you can just go around behind my back with whoever the hell you want? You're mine, you little slut. Whether you like it or not."

"What?" Willow asked, looking at the girl in confusion.

"First that trashy brunette has her hands all over you. Now you're running around with her?"

"A-Amy, w-w-w-wh-what ar-are y-y-you doing h-here?" Tara stuttered, her fear getting the better of her.

"I'm here to be with you, but first I need to take care of these whores you've been running around with," Amy said, stepping towards Tara and pulling something out of her purse.

"Tara, what's going on?" Willow asked, looking at Tara in confusion.

"I told you before that you are mine. Why do you have to continue to try to make me jealous? You know that I don't like you sleeping with these whores," Amy told her, stopping a few feet from them and revealing the object she had hidden by her side.

At the sight of the gun lifting to point at Willow, Tara felt her blood run cold. "A-Amy, this isn't her fa-fa-fault. Willow's just a fr-friend. I promise," Tara tried, hoping the brunette would believe her.

"Oh no, I know better than that. I saw you kissing her, Tara. She touched what's mine, now she has to pay."

"Amy, wait! Willow has nothing to do with this. I'm the one in love with her. I've been in love with her for years," Tara admitted, looking into the cold brown eyes.

"You're...you're what?" Amy asked, staring at Tara in confusion.

"I'm in love with her. I've been in love with her since Freshman year of high school," Tara whispered, watching as Amy's eyes changed from confusion to anger in a matter of seconds.

"You lying slut. You think you can play me like that? You think it's alright to tell me you want me and then tell me later on that you're in love with someone else? It's not. I won't let you get away with that, you bitch. If I can't have you, no one can," Amy said, releasing a dark laugh as she turned the gun towards Tara and pulled the trigger.

From there, everything seemed to move in slow motion. The sounds of Willow's cries, the look of fear in those green eyes as she shouted for someone to call an ambulance, all seemed to just fade into the background as Tara laid there, staring up into Willow's green eyes. It was merely seconds before the world started to fade away.

Before the darkness could take her, Tara looked into Willow's sadden and fearful eyes. "I love you," she whispered, before allowing her eyes to close as she slipped into the dark ocean of unconsciousness.

A/N: Thank you Gimpy72 for being my beta and helping me with my stories. You rock.