Unrequited Love

Don't own them, never will. Such a shame, they look good together.

Tara pulled the car into the multiplex parking lot. So far everything was going good; dinner was excellent despite the asshole that was Angelus. All in all it was shaping up to be a really good night.

"It's eight-thirty now we should probably find out what's playing." Tara relayed to her companion.

"I guess you're right, lets go and see what's playing. If it nothing good then we can always make it a Blockbuster night." She gave her a smile.

Both women got out of the car and headed towards the theater, it was a comfortable night, not too warm or too cold.

"Okay, we can see 'Elizabethtown', 'Chicken Little', or whatever else jumps out at you." Tara suggested.

Buffy looked over the movies playing and frowned up her nose. The movies suck this time of year, there is really nothing that piqued her curiosity. She wondered how Tara would feel about renting some movies and going back to her house to watch them. She was having a nice time and really didn't want it to end. After all unlike her friends she is a mother with very little of a social life.

"I don't see anything worth paying $8.00 for. Why don't we stop by Blockbuster and pick up some movies. We can go back to mine and make a night of it." Buffy suggested.

Tara thought about it, and the more she thought about it, the more it sounded like a good idea.

"I think that would make a lot more sense, besides I have always wanted to see 'Monster in Law." She replied.

They walked back to the car and got in. This time there wasn't silence, they talked about what movies they wanted to see. If Buffy had any pop corn, and when was the last time she actually went out on a date. Annie came up in the conversation a lot, Buffy missed her daughter immensely. But tonight was for her enjoyment, it was one of the rare times that she had time to herself. Tara pulled the car into the Blockbuster parking lot, Buffy was the first one out. She followed the smaller blonde into the store and began picking out their selections.

"I found 'Monster in Law'. Is there something else that you would like to see?" Buffy asked Tara.

"Let's get 'Guess Who' with Ashton Kutcher and 'The Grudge'. Those are really good movies." Tara suggested.

"Sure that sounds good." Buffy agreed.

"It's funny how that Karen character look just like you." Tara joked.

"You and Xander need to stop with the comparisons. He told me I looked like Kathryn from 'Cruel Intentions' I so do not look good as a brunette or red head whatever she was." Buffy began to pout.

"You look better." Tara gave her a sly smile. This made Buffy smile a million watt smile.

They took their movies up to the counter and the woman behind the counter started flirting with Tara.

"Hope you found everything you needed honey." The girl behind the counter spoke to Tara.

Buffy tried to hide her distaste, but it was getting harder the longer the woman kept flirting with Tara.

"Yes, we did actually." The blonde replied while looking at Buffy.

Buffy couldn't hide her smile at the expression on the clerks face. She bagged their movies and Buffy paid. The girl behind the counter slipped Tara a piece of paper. Tara took it politely, but when they left the store she chucked it in the trash.

"Why did you do that?" Buffy asked as the got into the car.

"She was too butch for my taste." Was the only thing the blonde said.

The drive back to Buffy's didn't take that long. Tara pulled up behind the car already parked in the driveway. She stopped Buffy before she could get out.

"I really enjoyed this evening; I hope we can have more times like it." She said honestly.

Buffy gave her a small smile, "I enjoyed tonight also, and I would love to have another night like it. But it's kind of hard when you run a full time gallery and a mother of one." She smiled sheepishly.

Tara smiled at her sympathetically; the past five years have been torture for the young mom. Hopefully things will get better for her and her daughter. Sometimes she blames her brother's death for what Buffy is going through, if he was still here, then she wouldn't be so consumed as she is now. Then again her brother's death was a good thing, because it gave her the opening that she needed. She kicked herself mentally for that thought.

"It's okay; we can include Annie from time to time. I feel a little guilty for not spending enough time with her."

"It's alright; I think she understands more than we give her credit for. Besides she's just more than a pretty face." Buffy joked to try to lighten the mood, "Now come on woman we have movies to watch and junk food to eat."

Buffy unlocked her door and Tara entered as she closed the door behind her. Throwing her keys and her purse on the table beside the door, Buffy was finally able to relax. Tara took off her shoes and went into the living room.

"Do you need any help with anything?" Tara called out to Buffy who was now in the kitchen.

"You can get the drinks ready while I put the popcorn in the microwave." She called back.

Tara came into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator and pulled out two cokes. Buffy took the popcorn out of the microwave and put it in a bowl.

"I hope you like popcorn with extra butter." Buffy told the other woman.

"There's no other way to eat it." Tara got the glasses out of the cabinet and placed them on a tray along with the sodas.

Buffy put the popcorn on the table and made her way to the DVD player.

"What would you like to see first?"

"I want to see Monster in Law I heard it was pretty funny." Tara gave her a smile.

Buffy put the movie in and got the remote control and sat down next to her companion. Tara picked up the bowl of popcorn and put it between them. As the movie started they got situated and began to eat the popcorn. One particular time their hands touched and neither one decided to move them. It may have been a comforting act for others, but for them it's the start of something new. 'Monster in Law' went off and Buffy was about to change it until the phone rung. Tara got up to change the movie while Buffy answered the phone.

"Hello?... Xander what's the matter?... I'm on my way." Buffy hung up the phone and went back into the living room.

"Buffy, what's wrong?" She asked panic clearly in her voice.

Buffy got her keys and her purse, "That was Xander Annie was admitted to the hospital."

Before Buffy could finish Tara already had her keys and Buffy followed her. They got into the car and Tara pulled out of the driveway like a bat out of hell. Traffic lights be damned. This was the last thing Buffy needed; if anything was to happen to Annie her world would literally end. That little girl was all she had left of Spike and nothing was going to take her away. The trip to the hospital didn't take that long and Buffy hopped out and ran into the emergency room

Xander approached her and gave her a hug.

"What happened? What's wrong with my baby?" Buffy cried.

"She was watching TV when she started complaining about her side hurting. We assumed that it was because she over did it with the pizza. She cried out again as if she was in excruciating pain. Anya picked her up off the floor and laid her down on the couch and began prodding to see where she was in pain at. She pressed her lower abdomen and Annie cried out in pain. Anya took her temperature and it was 103, so we brought her in." He explained to her without taking a breath.

"I'm glad you brought her in when you did. Has the doctor been out to tell you what's wrong with her?" She asked.

At that moment Anya made an appearance out of the bathroom and Tara came running through the emergency room doors. Xander looked at Buffy and then back at Tara.

"It's good to see you Tara. Where's Alexis?" Anya questioned.

Buffy looked at Tara, she gave a nod of her head, "We broke up, it wasn't working out with us." She said softly.

"I'm sorry to hear that, you two looked great together." Xander told her.

"Something's weren't meant to be."

Buffy walked over to the nurse's station a little old woman looked at her and smiled.

"May I help you dear?" The nurse behind the counter asked her.

"Yes, Amberlynn DeAnyale Summers was brought in here, and I want to know how she is?" She asked the nurse.

"I'm sorry who are you?" The nurse asked her.

"Sorry, I'm Elizabeth Summers the patient's mother." She stated calmly.

The nurse did a search on the computer and looked at Buffy, "She is in surgery right now, but is should be over in a few minutes. She had acute appendicitis, it was imperative that they operated." She told Buffy.

"Thank you, very much." She walked over back to her family.

"Is everything alright?" Tara asked, rubbing Buffy's back.

"Yeah, she's in surgery something about her appendix." She said tiredly.

"Where were you to dames up to tonight?" Xander asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"Buffy and I had a girl's night out. I needed a little bit of cheering up after my break up with Alexis. I figured Buffy needed to get out and have fun, so we went out to dinner, rented movies and went back to her house to watch them, and now we're here."

Anya looked at the two women in wonderment. There was something there, but she didn't know what. She decided to keep an eye on the two of them, things could get pretty interesting. They continued to talk softly when the doctor approached them.

"Who are the parents of the patient brought in?" He asked in a gruff voice.

Buffy stood up, "That would be me. I'm her mother is she okay?" Her voice was calm.

He smiled at her, "I'm Dr. Riley Finn, I'm the one who operated on her. She's doing fine and resting comfortably in the children's ward. You can go see her." He gave Buffy a big goofy smile.

"What room is she in? I don't want her to have to wake up alone." She asked as she walked away from her family.

"Your daughter's in room 211, the second door on the right. If you need anything I'm the doctor treating her." He smiled at her again.

Buffy tried to forget his all too goofy smile and walked down the corridor, until she reached her daughters room. Her stomach was in knots, at the thought of her little girl going through surgery. Annie was supposed to get broken arms, scrapes, bruises, colds and everything else, not surgery. Opening the door she saw her little girl lying in the bed sleep, she went over to her and held her hand.

"You gave me quite a scare. I don't think I could take it if anything had happened to you. You're all I have left of your father, I'm sorry I couldn't be there with you, but I got here as fast as I could." The tears were rolling down her cheeks.

The little girl stirred at the sound of her mother's voice. She looked at her with piercing blue eyes.

"Its okay mommy, I'm feeling a lot better now." She said groggily.

Buffy let out a gasp of relief, "My baby, I was so worried about you."

"I'm fine mommy, just a little tired." She reassured her mom.

"Where are Uncle Xander and Aunt Anya?"

"They are outside with your Aunt Tara. Everyone was worried about you." Buffy smiled at her daughter.

Annie's eyes got big as saucers at the mention of Tara's name, "Aunt Tara is here? Where is she?" She asked excitedly.

"Calm down sweetie, she's here. She and I went out tonight; do you want to see her?" She asked the girl.

"No thanks, I want to see you first."

"You are a very brave little girl, if it was me I would be throwing a fit right now. You know how mommy doesn't like hospitals. You're going to have to stay here for another day; do you think you could do it?" She teased her daughter.

The little blonde rolled her eyes, "Of course mommy I'm your big girl member?" She said mischievously.

"I know you are, you go ahead and rest. I'll be here when you get up, I love you Annie." Buffy told her daughter.

"I love you too, mommy." She said sleepily. No longer able to keep her eyes closed she drifted off to sleep.

Tara, Anya, and Xander were still in the waiting room. Anya was dozing off on Xander's shoulder while the other two talked. The conversation pretty much centered on Tara's breakup with Alexis, Buffy, Annie, and some of everything. The blonde excused herself; she was getting concerned about Buffy and Annie.

"Tell Buffy, we will be back tomorrow." He told Tara.

"No problem, have a good night." She told him.

Tara walked down the familiar path that Buffy had walked. Tonight had been a fun night the dinner and even the movie watching. Hopefully there could be more times like it, she just hoped that Buffy felt the same way. She made it to the little girl's room, and saw Buffy sitting in the chair beside the bed. Tara walked in and tapped her on the shoulder.

"How is she doing?" She whispered.

Buffy turned around and smiled, "She's doing well for a kid who underwent minor surgery." She turned back to the little girl.

Tara entered the room further and moved another chair towards Buffy.

"I enjoyed myself tonight, how about you?" Tara asked, trying to lighten the mood.

"I had a pretty good time myself. If it's not too forward, I was wondering if you would like to do it again sometime." She replied.

Tara smiled, "I would like to do it again very soon also. Xander and Anya said that they will be back in the morning. Anya was practically falling asleep."

"They have been very good in handling Annie; I don't know what I would do without them." She said, thoughtfully.

"Yeah, they are." Tara agreed.

"Where do we go from here?" Buffy asked a little uncertain.

"Hopefully we go forward. I meant what I said, Buffy I'm in love with you. If this is something you don't want, let me know and we can forget this whole thing." She told her honestly.

"I don't want to forget, I like the way we are moving. I want to pursue this and see where it goes. Who knows where it might go." She gave her a soft smile.

"I like the sound of that." She leaned in and gave Buffy a chaste kiss on her lips.

Neither one said anything else for the rest of the night. Everything that needed to be said was said. Tara watched as Buffy dozed off in the chair she went to the nurse's station to ask for a cot. The nurse brought it in a cot and left, she shook Buffy lightly to get her to wake up.

"The nurse brought a cot for you." She whispered.

"Thank God, that chair was killing me." She gave her a smile.

"I will go to your house and pick you and Annie some things up. It's not to worry, I'll be back." She smiled at her again. Buffy handed the blonde woman her keys.

"I'll be back shortly." She turned and left, but not before she looked over to the little girl and her mother that captured her heart.

A/N: I know there might be some confusion as to Buffy's daughter's name. Her actual birth name is Amber-Lynn DeAnyale (Dee-Ahn-Yale) Summers, but they call her Annie.

Tag- Here is another update for you.

Lilly- I'm glad you are enjoying the story, it gives me a happy.

General Mac- I don't know what to do with you. You are like my personal cheerleader, I like it. I hope this chapter will hold you over until I can update again.