Author: TazRaven
Rating: PG
Feedback: Please leave feedback on the Chemistry thread on the Kitten Board.
Distribution: Sure, if you actually like it that much to use it.
Disclaimers: I don't own any of the characters. Please don't sue...

Willow stopped her car and jumped out. She ran at the door and with a flying kick, knocked it inwards. She ran up the stairs with blinding speed and burst into Tara's room. Whisking the blonde up in her arms, she soundly kissed her full on the mouth, only releasing her lips when breathing became an issue. Before Tara could utter a sound, she once again pressed her lips to the blonde's, finally feeling the girl press back. For long moments, neither woman moved except for their mouths. Willow pulled back and gazed at Tara's beautiful visage. The moonlight flowed in through the window, casting a preternatural glow upon the face before her. Very softly, she uttered three words. "I love you."

Tara awoke with a start. She sighed softly as she realized that her fantasy had in fact been a dream. Not like that could have in any way been reality. I mean seriously, a flying kick? Not to mention the impossible admission of love. Tara sighed once again and glanced at the clock to her left. The glaring green numbers read one-fifteen in the morning. She walked down the stairs and put water into the kettle to make a cup of tea. While waiting for the water to boil she sat down at the kitchen table, putting her head into her hands. The kettle whistled and Tara grabbed a mug out of a cabinet. She prepared her cup and sat down once more at the table, sipping her hot drink slowly. A knock on the door made Tara put down her drink and walk into the hallway, wondering who could possibly be here in the middle of the night.

Willow had never been more nervous in her life. She had been so single-minded upon leaving her house and driving to Tara's; but now, parked in the driveway of the two story home before her, she felt something akin to nausea. She didn't know why she was so nervous though. Tara had already told Willow that she was in love with her, and Willow was most assuredly in love with Tara. Willow lowered her head to the steering wheel and sighed. "Aargh," Willow breathed out softly. "Alright, all I have to do is get out of the car, walk up to the door, and… profess my love to the most perfect girl in the world. Gee, that's easy." She sighed again. She carefully considered the only two options she had; to run away or stay and bare her soul. She quickly crossed running away off the list. It wasn't every day that you fell in love with someone and knew that they loved you in return.

Her mind made up, Willow opened the car door and strode slowly up to the house. She walked up the steps and stood before the door, her hand poised over the wood. Before she could lose the small amount of nerve she possessed, Willow knocked on the door three times. Immediately after, she decided to venture a look at the watch on her wrist and realized that it was one-thirty in the morning. She literally slapped herself on the head and started to panic. Sure, Tara had said that she loved her, but how was she going to feel about Willow in the middle of the night once the girl had woken her up. She quickly changed her mind and turned around, almost falling off the porch in her haste. However, before she could reach her car and make a speedy getaway, a light shone on the ground behind her and she heard a soft voice call out.

"W-willow?" Tara asked, confused as to why the red-head would be at her house in the middle of the night, wondering briefly if this was another dream. Willow slowly turned around and gazed at the vision before her. Tara was standing in the doorway in rumpled clothes and messy hair, and Willow thought she had never looked more beautiful. Without thinking she started to walk forward, only stopping when she was within arms length of the blonde. "Are you, what are y-you doing h-here?"

For a moment, Willow's didn't answer. When she finally did, Tara could barely hear her words they were so soft. "I don't know. I was so determined on the way over here, but now…" Willow stopped and took a deep breath. C'mon girl, you can't babble now. Try again. "I love you." Of course, there are worse things than babbling.

Tara blinked once, then twice. She shook her head slightly and then pinched herself on the arm. "What d-did you say?"

"Well, the first thing I said was sort of pointless. But then, I said I love you, and now I'm thinking I really should have said something else first. Like how I broke up with Sam today, and how I think I've loved you since I first met you that day when you saved me from the horse. And then you came back after a year and I realized that I really did love you but not until Sam told me I did, which was purely coincidental by the way. And now I'm saying things all wrong again and talking too much and you probably think I'm a dork." Willow took a few deep breaths and looked at Tara, who had a somewhat confused and dazed look on her face. "Um, Tara? Are you ok? Did you hear anything I said, because I know there were a lot of words in there so I don't blame you…"

"To be honest Willow, I think you lost me at I love you." Tara took a step forward and lightly placed her hands on Willow's waist. She moved her head down until her lips were poised just slightly above the red-head's. She felt the other woman's breath quicken as she gazed into her eyes. Willow felt the next words that were spoken, rather than heard them. "I love you too." With that, Tara closed the gap and pressed her lips to Willow's.

For a moment, neither woman moved; both just luxuriated in the softness of each other's lips. Then, ever so slowly, Tara began to move her mouth against Willow's. The red-head quickly overcame the shock at having Tara kiss her, and began to move her mouth as well. It was a chaste kiss by all accounts, but it conveyed every emotion, every feeling that couldn't be expressed over the past year. Several moments later the two women parted. Tara leaned her forehead against Willow's and slowly gave her a half-smile. Willow smiled back and once again closed the space between them, needing to taste Tara's lips again.

This time, the kiss was not chaste at all. Willow ran her tongue over Tara's bottom lip, silently asking for entrance. Tara obliged her willingly, and as soon as she parted her lips, she felt Willow softly push her tongue in. Willow felt like she could kiss Tara for the rest of forever and never tire of it. For several minutes, they stood on the porch, reveling in the sensations being provoked. Finally, Willow released Tara's lips and gazed deeply into her eyes. She finally understood what love was. The question she had been so occupied with answering for the past year had been solved with a kiss. "I love you," Willow whispered.

"I love you, so much Willow," Tara whispered back, afraid if she spoke in a louder register the dream she was experiencing would end and she would be roughly deposited back in her lonely bed. They kissed again, coming to the silent mutual agreement to never let their lips stray farther than a few inches from each other. After a few more minutes, the two finally parted. Willow glanced down at her watch, once again realizing the late hour. She looked back into Tara's eyes and saw the silent entreaty.

Don't leave.

Without another word, Willow held Tara's hand as she gently guided her into the house, closing the door with a small push of her foot. She allowed Tara to lead her upstairs and into the master bedroom. She recognized the room from when her uncle lived there, but Tara had completely changed it. Candles were placed decoratively around the room, and fairly lights graced the walls. The bed was covered in dark red sheets and a down comforter. Tara released her hand and went to the mahogany dresser across from the bed, pulling out a pair of flannel pajama bottoms and a t-shirt. "You can change in the b-bathroom if you want. It's j-just the door, right there." She pointed to the other door in the room. Willow gave Tara a brilliant smile, hastily grabbed the clothes and made a beeline for the bathroom. She closed the door and breathed a contented sigh. Tara did the same in her bedroom, quickly pulling on her own pajamas.

Minutes later, the two women were lying side by side in the bed, both obviously nervous, despite the heated kisses they had shared just minutes before. Sensing Willow's hesitation, Tara rolled onto her side and draped her arm over Willow's stomach. She pulled her close, pressing herself to the red-head's back. Willow visibly relaxed as Tara initiated the first move, and snuggled more fully into the other woman's embrace. Tara kissed Willow on the cheek and breathed deeply, letting her senses absorb everything about the moment. "Good night, Will. I love you."

"I love you, Tara. Sweet dreams." Both women fell asleep, feeling more content in each other's arms than they ever had before.

Tara awoke much later than she usually did. The sun was already peeking through the window, washing her room in bright light. She blinked, trying to urge her self to wake up. However, when she tried to move her arm to rub the sleep out of her eyes, she discovered she couldn't. More precisely, she couldn't move her left side. Glancing in that direction, she discovered the reason for her inability to shift. Red hair greeted her, as did pale arms that clutched her middle. Suddenly, the night before came flooding back as Tara happily determined last night was not a dream, but a perfect reality. She sighed blissfully and gazed at Willow, content to just watch her sleep. The red-head was sleeping soundly, and had, sometime during the night, curled her body up to Tara's and molded herself to be as close as possible without lying directly on top of her. As Tara looked down the bed, she was amused to see that Willow had also wrapped her legs around her own.

She gently untangled herself to only minor mumbled protestations and went downstairs to make breakfast. Twenty minutes later, Tara came back upstairs and set the tray on the table beside the bed. She let her gaze travel down the bed and back up only to find loving green eyes staring back at her. Before Tara could say good morning, Willow's lips were upon her own. They kissed slowly and softly until Willow pulled away, her face lighting up with a grin that could have cracked her face. "Good morning!" Willow exclaimed.

Tara giggled, "Great morning." She once again brought her lips to Willow's and pressed against her. Tara savored the softness of the inside of Willow's mouth, her tongue. They dueled passionately, allowing all of the love they felt for each other to show through. Tara ran her hand down Willow's side and across the bottom hem of the shirt she wore. She slipped inside briefly and felt Willow's firm yet soft stomach. Pulling her hand out, she moved to Willow's head, pulling at her neck to move them closer. Willow repeated the motions, feeling how soft Tara was, getting lost in the sensations. When they started to become light headed from lack of oxygen, they pulled back. Both women were breathing hard as they tried to reign in the passion they both wanted to express. Willow couldn't remove her gaze from Tara, and she noted how gorgeous she looked with her pink flushed cheeks and dark blue eyes.

Willow took a few more deep breaths and said the only thing her passion hazed mind could think of. "I love you." It was as if saying it again made the whole morning seem more real.

Tara smiled and moved her hand to Willow's cheek, softly stroking the skin beneath her palm. "I love you, Willow." She gently kissed her one more time and turned to the side to pull the breakfast tray onto the bed.

"Ooh, breakfast in bed. Be careful Ms. Maclay, or I may never want to leave."

Tara gave Willow a slow sensual half-smile and leaned close enough to Willow to kiss her. "Promise?" she breathed across Willow's lips. She pulled back slightly and giggled softly. Willow's breathing had become shallow and her eyes were heavily lidded.

Willow blushed bright red and playfully slapped Tara on the arm. "Alright, alright. You've had your fun. Now bring on the breakfasty goodness." Tara giggled again and handed Willow a small plate of pancakes. They ate in silence, broken only by light kisses and small laughs. After both women had eaten their fill of breakfast, they lied back down and held each other, content to just be.

Tara looked at the clock and groaned, realizing that she had relaxed half of the day away. She gazed lovingly at Willow once more and gently kissed her before moving out of bed, grabbing the tray, and going down the stairs. Willow watched her retreating form and couldn't help but grin at the sight. She jumped out of bed and put on the clothes she had worn yesterday. Willow went down stairs and watched Tara quietly. She snuck in behind her and wrapped her arms around Tara's middle. The blonde straightened slightly and moved her head back to rest on Willow's shoulder. Willow kissed her cheek softly. "I have to go home and work on some stuff for tomorrow," she said with sadness in her voice. "Um, could we maybe, that is if you wanted to, though if you didn't that would be alright, it's just-"

"Willow, I would love to go out with you." Tara smiled and kissed Willow lightly on the lips. Willow beamed brightly and kissed Tara back before letting her go and running out the door, throwing one last "I love you" over her shoulder. Tara sighed contentedly and went about her daily activities with a happiness previously unknown to her.