A Hollywood Horror

by Dark Child

Copyright © 2004

darkchild72@hotmail.com

Rating: R
Disclaimer: I own Buffy in no way.
Distribution:  The Mystic Muse:  http://mysticmuse.net
Feedback: Feedback is welcomed. It gives me motivation and boosts my self-esteem.
Spoilers: This Year's Girl.
Author's Notes: AU where Tara's lived in Sunnydale all her life.
Pairing: Willow/Tara

Chapter 1    Chapter 2    Chapter 3

Chapter 1

"Tare! Wait up!" Buffy quickly caught up to her best friend. "Did you get the Psyche homework?"

The blond witch gave her friend a large grin. "Yeah." She was already digging through her bag to get it. She waved it mockingly in front of her friend. "Next time, try not to fall asleep." She handed the papers over.

The slayer grinned sheepishly. "Hehe. Yeah."

"So what is it Giles wants to tell us?"

"Don't know. It involves Faith so…" The petite girl scowled at the name.

"You don't think Faith broke out of j-jail, do you?" The thought made Tara nervous.

"As I said before. I don't know. I don't think that's it though. If it was, I think Giles'd make it sound more urgent."

"I guess you're right."

"C'mon, let's get to class."

"It's just wrong when Giles is late." Xander looked over to the three girls with him.

"I'm sure he has a good reason." Tara said.

"Either that or his head caught on fire."

"Anya!!!" They all cried in union.

"Hello everyone." The Scoobies turned to see Giles. He turned to the ex-vengeance demon. "On fire? Why would that happen to my head?"

Buffy grinned. "So what did take you so long?"

Giles sighed. "I'm only ten minutes late." A pause. "I was settling our visitor in."

"We have a guest?" Xander wasn't sure whether to be excited or worried.

"…Faith's sister."

The slayer gaped at him. "A sister."

The watcher began to rub his glasses. "She's here under observation. The Council wants to make sure that she's stable."

Buffy sneered. "Unlike her…sister?"

"Yes." He put his glasses back on. "She's upstairs."

"Is she a little or big sister?" Anya questioned.

Buffy glared. "Does it matter?"

"I said she's upstairs, Buffy. She can hear you." He turned to Anya. "Younger, by a year."

Nobody knew what to do with this new arrival.

She watched the group from the stairs. They didn't seem very enthused with her being there. Why would they though? They didn't get along with Faith. They're gonna hate me. They'll send me home.

She began to examine each of them. The small blond, what was her name, Bunny?, was the slayer. What her sister was. She could see a dark haired man, a brunette, and another blond. The latter caught her attention. So beautiful. She tried to clear her head of those thoughts. Bad! I'm being a bad girl! If they knew her thoughts, they'd hate her even more. She couldn't let them find out.

"Does she know about…vampires?" Tara knew that this was critical.

Giles sighed again. "She's a witch."

The slayer sneered. "You've got to be kidding me!"

Out of the corner of her eye, Tara noticed someone hiding behind the wall. Is that her? She's…beautiful. Beautiful? What am I thinking? She returned her attention back onto the topic at hand. They couldn't keep talking about…she didn't know her name!

"What's her name?" the blond witch couldn't even think before she blurted it out.

"Willow. Willow Rosenberg." Giles responded.

"So that's Faith's last name." Xander said, full of wonder.

"Guys?" Tara cut in.

"Yeah Tare?" Buffy smiled at her friend.

"She's here." Tara paused. "Watching us."

They all turned to where Tara was looking. The figure quickly vanished. Giles called out to her. "Willow, it's okay!" She came back.

Now that Tara could see her, she knew that the redhead was indeed beautiful. She couldn't take her eyes off her. And their eyes met. She almost wished they hadn't. The girl's eyes had been large and frightened. And haunted. She thought. Can't forget haunted.

Chapter 2

Now that Tara could see her, she knew that the redhead was indeed beautiful. She couldn't take her eyes off her. And their eyes met. She almost wished they hadn't. The girl's eyes had been large and frightened. And haunted. She thought. Can't forget haunted.

The girl standing in front of her was a petite, thin redhead. She should eat more. She was also quite pale. She stood in the corner, in an oversized sweater, desperately trying to blend in with the wall.

It wasn't working. She was the one thing in the room that was worth looking at. Though to Tara, she was thinking something completely different from the others. The room was silent, no one spoke.

"I-I…maybe I should…sorry." The redhead struggled to get the words out.

Tara's heart went out to the girl right then, if not earlier. "Hi." She walked forward and held a hand out to the witch.

The girl looked away and ignored the hand. "Hello." She wouldn't look any of them in the eyes.

"I'm Tara." The hand still waited. Finally, the redhead gave in and took it. The other girl's hand was small. They released. Her hand tingled form the touch. She hoped no one else had noticed her reaction.

"Xander. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Anya."

Buffy appeared to be sizing the girl up. It worried the blond witch that the slayer would take her grudge on Faith out on Willow. Tara sent her friend a pleading look. Thankfully, Buffy took the hint. "I'm Buffy."

"I know." a pause. "Mr. Giles." She received a look from him. "Err…Giles." A pause. "He told me about you. In a good way, I mean. Not that he would say anything bad about you and even if he did it certainly wouldn't be to me and I'm shutting up now."

Buffy smiled at her. "You and Faith really are sisters?" She turned to Giles. "I think you made a mistake. She and Faith are nothing alike."

The redhead blushed. "Faith isn't that bad." The room became silent.

"I say we should have a girl's night!" Any chirped. "You, me, Buffy, and Tara. What do you guys think?"

Tara smiled at the ex-vengeance demon. "I think that's a good idea. Buffy?"

The slayer grunted a sound that sounded something like a yes.

The four girls sat in Buffy's living room. "Mom said that when she came home she'd try to stay out of the way."

Anya turned to face the shy redhead. "So, tell us about yourself." Willow tried to find a way out of the question.

Tara decided to help out. "How long have you been practicing?"

The redheaded witch blushed. "Years." A pause. "You?"

"Since I was seventeen. We had this issue with An…a vampire and well…"

Anya piped up. "He was Buffy's boyfriend." The girl in question glared at the ex demon.

"You d-don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"So do you have a boyfriend?" Anya was definitely being a bit too chipper. "If you don't, Xander's mine. You can't have him."

The redhead looked like she wanted to disappear. Tara decided it was intervention time. "You don't have to tell us."

Willow smiled gratefully at the blond witch. I'm surrounded by blondes. There was only one she was interested in though. I'm definitely crushing here. Okay Rosenberg, keep it together. All you have to do is avoid any questions based on having boyfriends and on anything else about you. She snuck another look at the other witch. Definitely crushing.

Anya hadn't spent a thousand years as a vengeance demon for nothing. She could tell when someone was interested, and the Willow girl was definitely interested in Tara. Now the question is, do I open my mouth or not? It was tempting, but in the end, she decided not to. And they say I have no tact!

Chapter 3

Willow awoke in a strange place. And panicked. Then she remembered where she was. Buffy's house. She looked over to the other three girls. She left the room.

Tara woke up feeling nice and refreshed. She looked over to find the redhead. Her sleeping bag was empty. She waited five minutes. Still no sign of the other girl. "Buff. Buffy, wake up."

"What is it Tare?" The slayer was not happy about being woken.

"She's gone."

"Who?"

"Willow."

With that said, the slayer immediately popped out of bed. "She's what?!" Tara had to wince at that.

"What's going on?" Buffy's yelling had woken Anya up.

"Willow's gone." The ex vengeance demon noted the note of worry in the witch's voice.

It felt good to get away from prying eyes. The only one of them that she even wanted to be around was Tara. She smiled just thinking the name. There's no way she'd like someone like me though. Even if she did like girls…

The red haired Wiccan was getting a feel for the town. Not that there was much town. It's so clean. It was nothing like were she grew up.

I wonder what Faith's favorite part of town was. She chuckled. Probably some club. She missed her sister.

Xander saw her. She was simply walking around, taking in the town. He ran up to her. "Hey there!" The girl jumped.

"H-hey."

"I thought you and the gals were doing the slumber party thing." He grinned.

"I…I wanted to take a walk."

"Well, in Sunnydale that may not be the best idea." He noticed the look she was giving him. "Demons. They're everywhere." A pause. "Do they know you left?"

She gave him a sheepish look. "Not exactly."

"I get it. The girls were being a bit to prying weren't they?" She nodded. "Do you know anything about computers? I have this outline for work I have to make and well, I'm having some problems with the computer. I'd ask Tare but, she's not that great with them. Out of us she's the best but…" He watched as a grin grew on her face.

"Sure!" a pause. "I mean, I'd love to! I'm great at computers." It was obvious that this was one of the few things she was proud of.

"Thanks."

The three girls shuffled into Xander's house. They were hoping that maybe he'd run into the missing girl earlier. As they came down the stairs, they saw him and the girl in question sitting at the table, using Tara's computer.

"Willow!" The redhead jumped when she heard the slayer's voice.

"B-Buffy!" Her voice squeaked.

"Where did you go? You can't just run off!"

Tara placed a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Don't be too hard on her." Anya's eyes narrowed as she looked at the blond Wicca.

"I j-j-just needed to take a walk." The redhead was nervous. They all could tell.

"Hey Buff, give the girl a break! She's helping me with a project for work. The girl's a computer whiz!" he joked.

The redhead looked down. "Sorry."

Tara looked the other girl in the eyes. "Don't be."

To be Continued...

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