Return to The Game of Love Chapter Fifty-Eight



The Game of Love
CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE

Author: Shai
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Unfortunately neither Tara nor Willow are mine. Neither's anyone else in this fic for that matter!


Before Tara could answer Anya's question, her cell phone began to ring. "Evil devices..." Anya muttered, as Tara glanced down at the number, mumbled "Work" and answered it. "Hello? Yeah Gabby..." she said, and making an apologetic face to pacify her friends she mouthed "Five minutes" and walked into the living room to where her lap top was.

Anya and Cordelia sat in silence for a few seconds, with the only sound in the room coming from outside where Tara was taking to her boss as she simultaneously typed away on her computer. "So..." Cordelia said, and continued after a slight pause "Pizza?"

Anya nodded "With extra cheese... ooh, and mushrooms!"

"Cool" Cordelia said, before picking up her own phone and ordering a large pizza. Hanging up, she immediately looked at Anya and said "So who do you think it is?"

Anya seemed to consider that for a few seconds, and then shrugged. "I really don't know" she said, looking confused.

Cordelia sighed and nodded, "Me neither". Both girls sat there looking thoughtful for a few seconds, before Cordelia seemed to have a brainwave. "Hey Ahn?" she said, sounding very unsure, "You don't think it's one of us do you??"

Anya looked as if the thought hadn't even crossed her mind, and now she looked unsure too. "I don't know... I mean I don't think so... I mean, I can totally understand why someone would fall for me", Cordelia rolled her eyes at that, "but I don't think Tara's likes me... or you for that matter. I mean let's see, if you were interested in someone, wouldn't you make sure that you looked your best when you were seeing them?"

Cordelia nodded, catching on to Anya's train of thought and spoke her thoughts aloud "Yeah, and Tara's ready to head to bed in what she's wearing right now..."

"My point exactly. Not a look that says 'check me out', you know?" Anya concluded, as both girls nodded simultaneously, feeling extremely relieved at the result of their deduction.

"I wonder who it is though..." Cordelia said, sounding like she was talking to herself. "Someone from work you think?" she asked her friend.

Anya shrugged.

Tara walked back into the room, armed with three cans of beer. Handing Anya and Cordelia one each she sat down in her spot again, and asked, "So what did I miss?", before opening her beer and taking a sip.

Anya watched her with an evil glint in her eye and said in an innocent tone "We were just talking about how it's probably one of us that you're interested in..."

Tara choked on her beer, her eyes popping out as she prayed she hadn't heard right. Looking up at Anya she saw the mischievous look in her best friends eye, and decided that two could play that game. Pretending that she choked because she had been caught, she said in a pleading voice "How did you'll guess????"

This time it was Anya's turn to look like she was about to gag, and it was all Tara could do to control her laugh as she turned her attention to Cordelia. If possible, Cordelia looked even more distressed than Anya did, and looking at her expression the blonde just couldn't hold her laughter back any more. She laughed till her sides started to ache, and when she finally managed to get herself back into control, she looked at her friends, who were staring back with bemused looks on their faces, although she noticed they did seem to have a twinkle in their eyes.

"That was soooo not funny Maclay" Cordelia said, before rolling her eyes in amusement.

"Well, maybe it'll teach you'll not to be so egoistic" Tara joked, realizing that her friends had been kidding all along.

"Smart ass!" Anya said, before sipping her beer. "Soooo" she said, not bothering to hide her curiosity, "WHO IS IT????" she demanded.

It was Tara's turn to look like a deer caught in headlights again. She wasn't sure she wanted to tell her friends about the object of her affection just yet, but she knew that there was no way she was getting out of this... she knew Anya and Cordelia too well to believe even for a second that they would leave her house until she told them who it was that was making her believe that she "might be gay". She ducked her head slightly, suddenly shy under her friends' scrutiny, only to have her chin propped up seconds later by Cordelia, who said "Drop it Tara! You haven't been the shy self you used to be in years, and this is not the time for shy Tara to be making a reappearance! So who is it?"

"Demanding much?!" Tara asked, looking slightly shocked at how assertive Cordelia was being, but still losing the sudden timidity that had come over her, and looking at the brunette straight in the eyes.

"Yes" Cordelia answered simply, "And it seems to have worked. So now, you can answer!" she winked.

"Yeah Tara... you're starting to piss me off!" Anya added, even though she didn't sound serious.

The blonde looked at her friends, and their stubborn expressions. 'This is what it feels like to be walking towards the electric chair' she thought, before focusing on her hands and quietly murmuring "It's Willow Rosenberg".

Once again there was dead silence in the room for a few seconds, which to Tara seemed like an eternity. 'I need to cut my nails, can't play handball with these... what the hell am I thinking?!' she shook her head, wiping away the random thoughts.

Finally Anya said "Am I imagining things, or did she just say Willow Rosenberg?"

Tara looked up to see Anya looking at Cordelia, who was now speaking "Yup... she said Willow Rosenberg"

"Willow Rosenberg" Anya repeated, looking at Tara this time, who simply nodded her head and repeated "Willow Rosenberg."

The three friends sat there, all of them lost in their own thoughts...

'I can't believe I just admitted to someone that I have a thing for Willow. Ok, why isn't anyone saying anything????' the blonde wondered.

'Willow Rosenberg... hmm... she's sorta pretty... in a geeky way... nice hair though... I wonder if she's a natural red head though... If she isn't I HAVE to find out where she gets her hair done!' Cordelia thought.

Anya's thoughts weren't very different from what she'd been saying aloud before they'd all fallen silent. 'Willow Rosenberg.' Suddenly the wheels in her head started turning, and she spoke aloud, getting straight to the point "When?"

Tara thought about what she'd been asked, knowing fully well what her friend meant. 'When did I realize that I liked Willow?' she wondered. Taking a deep breath she replied honestly "I can't say when exactly... I guess the more I got to know her, the more I liked her..."

"Are you sure?" Cordelia piped in. "Sure you like her I mean" she clarified, not wanting to confuse Tara.

This time Tara didn't hesitate for even a fraction of a second and nodded her head with certainty "I'm sure" she asserted, "I've thought about this a lot, and I mean A LOT" she emphasized, "and I'm definitely positive that I like Willow".

"Awww" Cordelia said.

"Aww Cordy?" Anya asked, looking at her friend with a quizzical look, even as Tara raised her eyebrow in a questioning glance as well. Cordelia grinned as she answered, "It's just how she says her name!"

Anya grinned at that, and nodded her head, "Yeah, I noticed that the last time she said her name too!"

Tara still looked a little skeptical about what her two best friends were going on about and asked "Noticed what exactly?"

"How you say her name!" Cordelia repeated, looking at Tara like she didn't understand how the blonde didn't get it! "It's like you put more affection into that one word... like 'Willow'" she said, trying to mimic how Tara said the redheads name.

Tara blushed, but said defensively "I do not say her name like that!"

"Do too!" Cordelia argued, before once again mimicking Tara, "'Willow'"

"Do not!" Tara said, a small pout forming on her lips, to which Cordelia sang back "Do tooo!" and Anya decided it was time for her to intervene in their childish argument. "Ok, stop acting like 5 year old brats you two!" she stated, getting her two friends to settle down, but not before Tara sent a mock glare in Cordelia's direction, to which the brunette playfully stuck her tongue out in retaliation.

"So where were we?" Anya wondered aloud, trying to figure out where they'd stopped.

"We were talking about Wi..." Cordelia was about to mimic Tara again, but this time the look on Anya's face shut her up, and clearing her throat she said "Willow" in her normal tone of voice.

"Yeah..." Anya said, and then asked Tara "Isn't she straight though?"

Tara nodded as Cordelia added "I think so... she was seeing the guy with the weird hair... what was his name again?" she frowned, trying to remember.

"Oz" Tara stated.

"Yeah Oz" Cordelia said. "Maybe she's bisexual though?"

Tara just shrugged, since she didn't know. "I dunno... I mean we haven't really had conversations about our sexual orientation you know" she added.

"Well I could ask Xander..." Anya said. "I mean he, Willow and Buffy have been best friends for like, forever from what I hear, so if anyone knows, then he would right?"

"Yeah" Tara said sarcastically. "I think 'Hey Xander, is Willow bisexual' is a question that he's very used to answering!"

"Hmm... you might have a point there" Anya kidded, before sobering down again, "So how do we find out?"

"What difference does it make anyway?" Tara said, and looking at the puzzled looks on her friends faces she explained "Willow has a boyfriend anyway..."

Anya nodded, and Cordelia said "Yeah, you have a point there... so you've got a thing for a probably straight girl with a boyfriend huh? Good pick!"

Tara just sighed, as Anya's phone started to ring. Looking at the number she smiled and said "Xander" and then answered. Tara smiled at her expression and looked at Cordelia "Looks like things are going well with them"

"Uh huh" Cordelia smiled back, even as Anya exclaimed "What?!" Both girls turned to look at her, as she said "When?... Oh ok... Yeah that's alright... no call me after... yeah... bye!"

Hanging up, Anya looked at her friends concerned expressions with a beaming smile and said excitedly, "That was Xander! See, he was supposed to see me for coffee tomorrow morning, but he just called to cancel!"

"And that's good news because...?" Cordelia asked, still not getting why her friend would be so happy because her boyfriend just cancelled on her.

"Because he cancelled on me cause he's going to see Willow instead!" Now she gave her undivided attention to Tara, "Apparently Miss Rosenberg just ended things with Oz..." Anya waited for Tara to let that piece of information sink in. "And even though she sounds perfectly alright" Anya emphasized the last two words on purpose "Xander thinks that as her best friends he and Buffy should go over in the morning just to make sure that she's really alright, and he'll see me right after".

Tara just sat there, even as her mind registered what was happening. 'Willow broke up with Oz... Willow broke up with Oz...' she thought repeatedly.

"So you know what this means right?" Cordelia asked, shaking her out of her reverie. "You now have a thing for a probably straight SINGLE girl! Seems like a slightly better pick now" she winked.

"Yeah" Tara said sarcastically, even as she once again thought in amazement 'Willow broke up with Oz...'


Continue to The Game of Love Chapter Sixty


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