The End Of Summer
folder
BtVS AU/AR › FemmeSlash - Female/Female
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
5
Views:
4,184
Reviews:
1
Recommended:
1
Currently Reading:
1
Category:
BtVS AU/AR › FemmeSlash - Female/Female
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
5
Views:
4,184
Reviews:
1
Recommended:
1
Currently Reading:
1
Disclaimer:
I do not own Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BtVS), nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Part Two
Morning came by way of the sun penetrating the rich pomegranate velvet sheets under which they slept. Tara woke first, carefully sliding Buffy's hand off of her chest and easing out of the bed. She shut the thick drapes, cut from the same cloth as their bedsheets, and pulled the covers up over Buffy. She stripped and noted that they needed to do some laundry soon, then headed into the shower to rinse the night's sweat off. As was her routine, she turned the hot water on full blast and stepped under the spray, letting it scald her body. She closed her eyes until she almost cried and began scrubbing at her skin roughly with a loofah, watching the top layer peel off in tiny particles. She scrubbed until her body glowed fiery scarlet and she ached from everywhere. She scrubbed until the loofah fell from her hands and she was just clawing at her skin, trying desperately to rip it off. Her nails scraped and dragged along her arms until she drew blood and then she stood, finally still, and watched the droplets fall to the floor and wash down the drain. She held her arm under the boiling stream and washed her hair, scratching her scalp until it tingled sharply and burned as she rinsed the shampoo out. She skipped the conditioner and allowed herself out of her own personal torture chamber, rinsing her raw arm carefully in the sink. She dressed in a gypsy skirt with a short-sleeved peasant top, deciding she didn't honestly care if Buffy saw her arm. Though there was always the good chance that Buffy, so immersed in her own pain, would not notice anyway. After she had brushed her teeth and styled her hair with two small braids from the front meeting around back and pinned in place with a daisy, her body had more or less returned to its normal color. Her mask of peace and disaffection firmly in place, she left the bathroom and nearly ran over Buffy, who was waiting not so patiently to use the toilet. She apologized softly and made her way to the kitchen. She dumped some cat food into the bowl and called for Cosmic, Buffy's birthday present to her. Pets were not all that uncommon now, actually, and it had not been a problem yet to find food for him. Cosmic came scrambling into the room and rubbed against her legs before diving into his breakfast as his human started up the coffee machine. Buffy stumbled out just as the coffee was finished, her hair in disarray though she'd showered and gotten dressed. She groggily drank her coffee black while Tara dumped five spoons full of sugar in hers and they sat cat-corner to each other without speaking. They hadn't, in fact, spoken for two days with the exception of Tara's earlier whispered apology. Finally, Buffy looked up at her. "Would you do something with my hair? It's falling out." Tara remained quiet for a moment as it sunk in. It could be the dye or the radiation and the latter possibility scared her more than she could possibly allow herself to let on. She nodded. "We'll fix it." They finished their coffee in silence, each contemplating Buffy's hair loss and what it could mean, very possibly did mean, for both of them. Buffy washed their cups as Tara gathered what she would need. Twenty minutes later, they sat on the balcony as the waves crashed just in front of them. Tara took her scissors and snipped and clipped until Buffy felt nauseous at the pile of hair on the ground. It kept growing as Tara chopped the dead ends off, inches and inches of dry damaged hair that was like straw gathering at her feet. When she was done, Buffy looked like a pixie. Her ears stuck out just slightly and her long neck was accentuated by her cropped hair. She ran her fingers through it unsurely. Half brown, half blonde due to an inch's worth of roots coming in. "What about the color?" she asked, her voice small and self-conscious. Tara chewed on her lip for awhile, knowing that her hair would not accept another bleaching. "I have something.. I don't know if you want to try it.." She brought out a box of henna dye in a deep russet shade. Buffy was nodding yes before she even showed it to her. When she had finished and the dye had been rinsed out and Buffy sat folded into her chair looking like a lost fairy, it burned her to the core to realize how much she reminded her of Willow. She watched the ocean quietly, smoking while Tara combed her hair and pinned the front pieces in place with small butterfly clips. She studied Buffy carefully, taking in the angular edges and scrawny limbs; the sallow tint to her skin and the cuts along the insides of her wrists. It occured to her that without a mother, a Watcher, or a lover, Buffy needed to be taken care of. She felt it was a shame that she wasn't up to the task