Categories > TV > Buffy the Vampire Slayer > Ordinary Lives
Tara was simply enjoying being with her girlfriend. Even though the redhead was still in a hospital bed and most likely would never walk again. But this was really making her happy. She did not want to think about the fact that in a short time, she would have to go home and face her father. And she worried about what Donny was going through.
"You are so beautiful." Willow smiled at her girlfriend sitting on the bed next to her. It still amazed her that the two of them had been able to find one another. And there still seemed to be so many things that were pulling them apart. "That's what I'm most thankful about. Being able to see you with my own eyes again. I think that was the thing that I was going to miss the most." Tara blushed at the statement. "Or would that be making you blush like that."
"Stop it." Tara sighed heavily. If only the two of them could be like this all the time. "The doctor says that you'll be able to come home in a week. I'll be here every day before and after school until than."
"I wouldn't have it any other way." She smiled at the blond. "I just thought of something, did Mom and Dad ever show up?"
Tara began fidgeting. "Well, um, yes they did."
"Let me guess." Willow sat up a little in the bed. "They didn't deal well with your Jewish daughter has a girlfriend scenario." Tara nodded. "Well, I could have told you that one. They never really take an interest in my life except to say that I have to maintain my grades so that I'll get into the right college. And they ignore everything else as long as I'm keeping those grades going. But the minute I do something that they don't like or isn't of the norm, they throw a hissy fit."
Tara leaned in and gently kissed the redhead on the lips. "Calm down, sweetie. Mr. Giles is going to talk to your father for you."
"A lot of good that'll do." She looked deep into the blue eyes of her girlfriend. "Like it will do any good to have a nice talk with your father, either." Willow sighed heavily. "Maybe this just isn't going to work out."
"What?" Tara could not believe her ears. "Are you saying that you don't want to be my girlfriend any more?"
"No!" Willow took her hand in her own. "It just seems that there are so many forces working against us. It really sucks beyond the telling of it." She smiled shyly at the blond. "But you are really worth it."
"You are more worth it." Tara again leaned in for a nice long tender kiss.
***
"Have you gone mad, little brother?" Ira Rosenberg stared at his brother. "You know our faith as well as anyone. Or have you decided to follow your father's teachings and be a Catholic."
Giles shook his head. "I dare say that it is you that is the one that knows not of your faith." Giles took a step towards his older half brother. "It is true that the bible says it is a sin. But also in the Jewish faith does it not say to respect love in all forms. And to respect nature and itself."
"Are you trying to say that this is natural?" Ira shook his head. "This is disgusting. You have no right to help fill my daughter's head with such dribble. I think it is you that knows not what is right." His face was now turning a dangerous shade of red. "I think you need to stay away from my daughter. You are no longer welcome in the Rosenberg house."
Giles shrugged at the comment. "Was I ever really?" He eyed his brother. "I've always been mother's little mistake anyways. Father, your father, never really accepted me. And that's just fine with me. My real father is a good man. I don't really care if I'm a part of your family or not. In fact, I dare say that it is you that should be careful."
"What are you talking about?" Ira eyed his brother.
"I'm talking about the fact that you are about to lose your little girl." Giles folded his arms across his chest. "And I will be more than happy to take her in, if she so chooses. In fact, I think I'll give her that option."
"What!" Ira took several dangerous steps towards his brother. "I can't believe you would do this to me, Rupert. You would take away my only child?"
"It is you that are going to push away your only child." Giles uncrossed his arms and sighed heavily. "I'm going to go visit my niece now. And I'm going to offer her the choice of staying with me or with going home with you. What decision do you think she will come to when I tell her that you will forbid her to have anything to do with her girlfriend."
"But, but..." Ira trailed off as he watched Giles walk away.
***
"What are we going to do?" Spike looked at his big brother. He was starting to actually like the guy. At least he was somewhat standing up for what he had done.
"I wish I knew." Angel looked at his little brother. "I don't want to hurt Dru. But I don't know how to help her. And I know that Willow will need some help. Somehow, we have to be there for her and her family."
Spike could still hardly believe that this was his brother that he was talking to. He actually seemed to care what was going to happen to someone that just days before was less than dirt to him. "I think we need to get her into a program. She is on the drugs again."
Angel nodded. "Yeah. I think mostly it's because she knows that I really didn't care for her. At least, not the way that she wanted me to. So she was using them for an escape again. If feel so bad. This is all my fault."
"Not totally." Spike looked at his big brother. "I knew that she was back on the drugs. I could have said or done something. What, I don't know. But it's too late to be second guessing ourselves. We just have to try and fix this mess the best that we can. I say that we get the car fixed so that no one will know. Lucky Dad has a few illegal businesses, eh?"
Angel nodded in agreement. "The other thing I think that we could do is maybe start a fund up at school for Willow. We could make some pretty big anonymous donations towards her recovery. Just the thought that she might not be able to see or walk again is driving me insane."
"Yeah, well." Spike smiled at his big brother. "I guess that shows how much you really are coming around. Is there any reason for this sudden change?"
Angel shrugged. "Maybe." He eyed his brother. Now was not the time to share the good news that Darla was back in town. And that was the reason that he was suddenly seeing himself for the jerk that he had become.
"Doesn't matter." Spike sighed. "I hate hiding things. And this is a lot to hide from people." His thoughts went to Buffy. He looked into his big brother's eyes. "We could be in for some serious hurting if someone ever found out."
***
Faith sat in the passenger seat of the van. Oz was driving them both to the hospital. Now that they knew that Willow could at least see, she wanted to stop and see the girl.
She kept a steady eye on her boyfriend. If he were to say what he was going to say it would be so huge. After all, no one had ever said that they had loved her. It was all about the chase and the wham bam thank you ma'am kind of thing with her other boyfriends.
He remained as silent as ever. Not really even paying attention to the fact that she was constantly staring at him out of the corner of her eye. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. "So, were you going to say what I thought you were?"
Oz turned and looked at her. He only had a small smile on his face. It was driving her nuts. She couldn't tell what he was going to say or do. "Probably. But now is not the time. Later. I want to make it special."
Faith swallowed hard. Special? He wanted to make it special. This was getting more and more interesting now. She so couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen and when. "You are going to drive me insane, do you know that?"
"Probably." Oz never looked at her, just smiled that small smile again. "Shit!" He slammed on the breaks.
Faith looked at him. He rarely if ever swore. She looked out the window to try and see if she could make out what he was seeing. That's when she saw. There was a very pale figure lying on the sidewalk. "What the hell!"
Both got out of the van as quickly as they could. When they got over to the figure, they realized who it was. "Drusilla." Oz reached down and felt for a pulse. "She's getting cold. We have to get her to the hospital and now."
He managed to pickup the much taller woman and carry her to the van. Faith opened the back doors so that he could put her in the back. Faith than got in back with the girl. "She's barely breathing. I'd say we haul ass and now." The tires squealed Oz took off so fast.
***
"A little help here!" Faith shouted as she and Oz burst into the emergency room. Oz was carrying Drusilla. An orderly grabbed a gurney and made his way over to him.
Oz sat the unconscious girl on the gurney. "What happened to her?" The orderly started to take vital signs.
"Look, all we know is that she was passed out on the sidewalk." Faith watched as they wheeled the very pale girl into the emergency room. She noticed that Xander was there. And with Willow's parents. This could so be interesting. She quickly made her way over to her cousin. "So, Xanman, any news on our girl?"
"Just what Tara told you." Xander grabbed his cousins arm and veered her away from the Rosenbergs, Oz following. "You missed it. Willow's parents went ballistic when they found out about her and Tara being together. I kinda stood up for them. It was really pissing me off what they were saying. And than Giles let them have it. He's even offering to take in Willow if she doesn't want to live with them anymore."
"Woah!" Faith eyed her cousin. "You for real here, man. That's some heavy shit."
"You know it." Xander shook his head. "At least Will is going to be all right, seeing wise. Still not sure about the whole walking thing though."
"Man, the last thing that girl needs is for her parents to be tripping." Faith eyed the Rosenbergs with a little bit of anger in her eyes. "I'd really like to give them what for."
Oz put his arm around her shoulder. "Take it easy. Everything will be all right."
Faith smiled at him. His touch made her feel so good. "So, is Tara in with her girl?"
Xander nodded. "So is Giles. He's going to spring the news on them."
Just than, the orderly made his way out of the emergency room. "Miss." He eyed Faith. "Do either of you know the girl's name or how we can reach her parents?"
"I'm not sure about her parents. But her last name is Diamond." Faith eyed the man. "Is it that serious?"
"I'm afraid to be the one to tell you this." He paused for a moment. "But Miss Diamond is no longer with us."
***
"Are you serious, Uncle Giles?" Willow looked at her uncle, not sure what to say.
"If you find that it's too much for you to stay with your parents, I would be happy to take you in." He smiled at his niece. "It might take some doing."
"I've wanted that for like forever." Willow smiled brightly. "The only time I've ever really been happy is when I spent time with you." She looked at Tara. "Well, at least until Tara came along that is."
Giles smiled even bigger. "And I'm glad for that, dear." He turned towards Tara. "And I haven't forgotten about your situation, my dear. I would like to extend the same offer to you, if you'd so choose."
At first, Tara's eyes brightened at the thought. Not only getting to be with Willow, but also living in the same house as her. Now that was appealing indeed. But her thoughts turned to her mother. "I'm afraid that I can't."
"You are so beautiful." Willow smiled at her girlfriend sitting on the bed next to her. It still amazed her that the two of them had been able to find one another. And there still seemed to be so many things that were pulling them apart. "That's what I'm most thankful about. Being able to see you with my own eyes again. I think that was the thing that I was going to miss the most." Tara blushed at the statement. "Or would that be making you blush like that."
"Stop it." Tara sighed heavily. If only the two of them could be like this all the time. "The doctor says that you'll be able to come home in a week. I'll be here every day before and after school until than."
"I wouldn't have it any other way." She smiled at the blond. "I just thought of something, did Mom and Dad ever show up?"
Tara began fidgeting. "Well, um, yes they did."
"Let me guess." Willow sat up a little in the bed. "They didn't deal well with your Jewish daughter has a girlfriend scenario." Tara nodded. "Well, I could have told you that one. They never really take an interest in my life except to say that I have to maintain my grades so that I'll get into the right college. And they ignore everything else as long as I'm keeping those grades going. But the minute I do something that they don't like or isn't of the norm, they throw a hissy fit."
Tara leaned in and gently kissed the redhead on the lips. "Calm down, sweetie. Mr. Giles is going to talk to your father for you."
"A lot of good that'll do." She looked deep into the blue eyes of her girlfriend. "Like it will do any good to have a nice talk with your father, either." Willow sighed heavily. "Maybe this just isn't going to work out."
"What?" Tara could not believe her ears. "Are you saying that you don't want to be my girlfriend any more?"
"No!" Willow took her hand in her own. "It just seems that there are so many forces working against us. It really sucks beyond the telling of it." She smiled shyly at the blond. "But you are really worth it."
"You are more worth it." Tara again leaned in for a nice long tender kiss.
***
"Have you gone mad, little brother?" Ira Rosenberg stared at his brother. "You know our faith as well as anyone. Or have you decided to follow your father's teachings and be a Catholic."
Giles shook his head. "I dare say that it is you that is the one that knows not of your faith." Giles took a step towards his older half brother. "It is true that the bible says it is a sin. But also in the Jewish faith does it not say to respect love in all forms. And to respect nature and itself."
"Are you trying to say that this is natural?" Ira shook his head. "This is disgusting. You have no right to help fill my daughter's head with such dribble. I think it is you that knows not what is right." His face was now turning a dangerous shade of red. "I think you need to stay away from my daughter. You are no longer welcome in the Rosenberg house."
Giles shrugged at the comment. "Was I ever really?" He eyed his brother. "I've always been mother's little mistake anyways. Father, your father, never really accepted me. And that's just fine with me. My real father is a good man. I don't really care if I'm a part of your family or not. In fact, I dare say that it is you that should be careful."
"What are you talking about?" Ira eyed his brother.
"I'm talking about the fact that you are about to lose your little girl." Giles folded his arms across his chest. "And I will be more than happy to take her in, if she so chooses. In fact, I think I'll give her that option."
"What!" Ira took several dangerous steps towards his brother. "I can't believe you would do this to me, Rupert. You would take away my only child?"
"It is you that are going to push away your only child." Giles uncrossed his arms and sighed heavily. "I'm going to go visit my niece now. And I'm going to offer her the choice of staying with me or with going home with you. What decision do you think she will come to when I tell her that you will forbid her to have anything to do with her girlfriend."
"But, but..." Ira trailed off as he watched Giles walk away.
***
"What are we going to do?" Spike looked at his big brother. He was starting to actually like the guy. At least he was somewhat standing up for what he had done.
"I wish I knew." Angel looked at his little brother. "I don't want to hurt Dru. But I don't know how to help her. And I know that Willow will need some help. Somehow, we have to be there for her and her family."
Spike could still hardly believe that this was his brother that he was talking to. He actually seemed to care what was going to happen to someone that just days before was less than dirt to him. "I think we need to get her into a program. She is on the drugs again."
Angel nodded. "Yeah. I think mostly it's because she knows that I really didn't care for her. At least, not the way that she wanted me to. So she was using them for an escape again. If feel so bad. This is all my fault."
"Not totally." Spike looked at his big brother. "I knew that she was back on the drugs. I could have said or done something. What, I don't know. But it's too late to be second guessing ourselves. We just have to try and fix this mess the best that we can. I say that we get the car fixed so that no one will know. Lucky Dad has a few illegal businesses, eh?"
Angel nodded in agreement. "The other thing I think that we could do is maybe start a fund up at school for Willow. We could make some pretty big anonymous donations towards her recovery. Just the thought that she might not be able to see or walk again is driving me insane."
"Yeah, well." Spike smiled at his big brother. "I guess that shows how much you really are coming around. Is there any reason for this sudden change?"
Angel shrugged. "Maybe." He eyed his brother. Now was not the time to share the good news that Darla was back in town. And that was the reason that he was suddenly seeing himself for the jerk that he had become.
"Doesn't matter." Spike sighed. "I hate hiding things. And this is a lot to hide from people." His thoughts went to Buffy. He looked into his big brother's eyes. "We could be in for some serious hurting if someone ever found out."
***
Faith sat in the passenger seat of the van. Oz was driving them both to the hospital. Now that they knew that Willow could at least see, she wanted to stop and see the girl.
She kept a steady eye on her boyfriend. If he were to say what he was going to say it would be so huge. After all, no one had ever said that they had loved her. It was all about the chase and the wham bam thank you ma'am kind of thing with her other boyfriends.
He remained as silent as ever. Not really even paying attention to the fact that she was constantly staring at him out of the corner of her eye. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. "So, were you going to say what I thought you were?"
Oz turned and looked at her. He only had a small smile on his face. It was driving her nuts. She couldn't tell what he was going to say or do. "Probably. But now is not the time. Later. I want to make it special."
Faith swallowed hard. Special? He wanted to make it special. This was getting more and more interesting now. She so couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen and when. "You are going to drive me insane, do you know that?"
"Probably." Oz never looked at her, just smiled that small smile again. "Shit!" He slammed on the breaks.
Faith looked at him. He rarely if ever swore. She looked out the window to try and see if she could make out what he was seeing. That's when she saw. There was a very pale figure lying on the sidewalk. "What the hell!"
Both got out of the van as quickly as they could. When they got over to the figure, they realized who it was. "Drusilla." Oz reached down and felt for a pulse. "She's getting cold. We have to get her to the hospital and now."
He managed to pickup the much taller woman and carry her to the van. Faith opened the back doors so that he could put her in the back. Faith than got in back with the girl. "She's barely breathing. I'd say we haul ass and now." The tires squealed Oz took off so fast.
***
"A little help here!" Faith shouted as she and Oz burst into the emergency room. Oz was carrying Drusilla. An orderly grabbed a gurney and made his way over to him.
Oz sat the unconscious girl on the gurney. "What happened to her?" The orderly started to take vital signs.
"Look, all we know is that she was passed out on the sidewalk." Faith watched as they wheeled the very pale girl into the emergency room. She noticed that Xander was there. And with Willow's parents. This could so be interesting. She quickly made her way over to her cousin. "So, Xanman, any news on our girl?"
"Just what Tara told you." Xander grabbed his cousins arm and veered her away from the Rosenbergs, Oz following. "You missed it. Willow's parents went ballistic when they found out about her and Tara being together. I kinda stood up for them. It was really pissing me off what they were saying. And than Giles let them have it. He's even offering to take in Willow if she doesn't want to live with them anymore."
"Woah!" Faith eyed her cousin. "You for real here, man. That's some heavy shit."
"You know it." Xander shook his head. "At least Will is going to be all right, seeing wise. Still not sure about the whole walking thing though."
"Man, the last thing that girl needs is for her parents to be tripping." Faith eyed the Rosenbergs with a little bit of anger in her eyes. "I'd really like to give them what for."
Oz put his arm around her shoulder. "Take it easy. Everything will be all right."
Faith smiled at him. His touch made her feel so good. "So, is Tara in with her girl?"
Xander nodded. "So is Giles. He's going to spring the news on them."
Just than, the orderly made his way out of the emergency room. "Miss." He eyed Faith. "Do either of you know the girl's name or how we can reach her parents?"
"I'm not sure about her parents. But her last name is Diamond." Faith eyed the man. "Is it that serious?"
"I'm afraid to be the one to tell you this." He paused for a moment. "But Miss Diamond is no longer with us."
***
"Are you serious, Uncle Giles?" Willow looked at her uncle, not sure what to say.
"If you find that it's too much for you to stay with your parents, I would be happy to take you in." He smiled at his niece. "It might take some doing."
"I've wanted that for like forever." Willow smiled brightly. "The only time I've ever really been happy is when I spent time with you." She looked at Tara. "Well, at least until Tara came along that is."
Giles smiled even bigger. "And I'm glad for that, dear." He turned towards Tara. "And I haven't forgotten about your situation, my dear. I would like to extend the same offer to you, if you'd so choose."
At first, Tara's eyes brightened at the thought. Not only getting to be with Willow, but also living in the same house as her. Now that was appealing indeed. But her thoughts turned to her mother. "I'm afraid that I can't."
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