Buffy's Cousin

It was an ordinary day for Willow Rosenberg,a day like any other. She sat comfortably on her king-sized bed, hugging the teddy bear that Tara had given her for Valentine's day. "Why is it so quiet?" Willow asked softly. This was after all Sunnydale, a town known for its creepyness. Quiet was never good for Sunnydale; it meant that something big and bad was coming.

Willow started nibbling on her fingernails. It was five o'clock and Tara had promised that she would be back by four thirty. Willow was really starting to get nervous. Tara never broke a promise unless. . .Willow jumped up from the bed, hurriedly dropping the teddy bear, and grabbed her jacket. She hoped that nothing had happened to Tara. The sun would be setting in a few minutes. . .

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"So, you've been attending Sunnydale University for how many years you say?" a girl in black attire asked Tara. Tara looked at the girl and smiled a gentle smile. She did not know how to tell the girl that she had to go home, that she had to go see her girlfriend. Tara was too patient and way too nice to tell the girl anything. "Um. . .S-Sunnydale for um. . .a y-year. I've been going there for a year now." Tara answered. She looked outside, wishing that she could make herself magically disappear without drawing suspicion.
"Well, I think I will be transferring very soon. I heard that the theatre program here is really good." The girl smiled as she took a sip from her diet coke. "Oh. . .you're a theatre m-major?" Tara asked. "I. . .I've b-been looking all over for y-you." Tara looked at the girl with confusion written all over her face. "What the h-" Tara started to say as she turned her head to see a red Willow standing with her hand on her hip. Tara rushed to catch an-out of breath Willow.

"S-sit honey." Tara said as she half-dragged, half-carried her girlfriend to the seat. For a few minutes, all three women sat quietly, each wondering what was going on. Finally, Willow raised her head from Tara's shoulder and stated, "Hi. My name is Willow. And who might you be?" The girl smiled and answered simply, "I'm Laura." Willow smiled then took a bite of Tara's chocolate cake. "It's nice to meet you Laura but we have to go. Do you live around here?" Willow asked. "Because if you do we wouldn't mind walking you home." Willow looked over at Tara and Tara nodded gently. "Well, my girlfriend and I have sort of taken occupancy in the Summer's residence. Do you two know Buffy Summers?" Tara and Willow both nodded. "Oh. Well, I'm her cousin." Laura grinned. Willow got up. "Well then. You are on our route then because we also live in Buffy's house." Willow smiled as Laura gained a confused look on her face. "Don't worry. Buffy has room for all of us." Willow helped Tara out of her seat. Tara whispered in Willow's ear. "There better be.

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Buffy Summers, a young woman of barely nineteen years of age, carried the burden of being the vampire slayer in Sunnydale. Sunnydale just happened to be on a hellmouth, the gateway to all evils. She was a strong woman,very, very, very strong and capable of handling almost any evil being but she could not claim that, she could have ever slayed as many vampires as she did, without the help of her friends: Mr.Giles, Xander,Tara, Spike, Angel, and especially Willow. So having any of her friends live in her home was something that Buffy had to do. This small sign of gratitude barely thanked her friends for all the help that they had provided her over the years.

"Buffy! Buffy!" Willow shouted as she keyed herself into the house. The house was a grand house with four bedrooms, a large living room, a large dining room, two bathrooms, and a fully furnished basement. Joyce, Buffy's mother, had died of cancer earlier that year. Tara and Willow had moved in shortly after Joyce's death in order to keep Buffy sane. The temporary move, that was meant to last for just a few weeks, ended up lasting for four months.

"What's all the shouting for Will?" Buffy stated as she walked down the stairs. "Any bad-" Buffy stopped mid-sentence as she took in the s of of her cousin. She had not seen her sister in nearly three years ever since. . ."What are you doing here?" Buffy asked with such malice. She wasn't happy to see her cousin- Tara and Willow both knew that. They made their way into the living room to watch the interaction quietly. "I asked you a question. What are you doing here?" Instead of answering Buffy, Laura made her way into the living room, carrying a small duffel bag. Buffy followed cautiously. Laura looked around the living room before plopping herself on Buffy's sofa with a sigh. "Do I really need to ask you again why you are here?" Buffy was getting annoyed.

"I am so tired. I've been driving for so many days. Drove from NYC to here and I just need a place to crash for a while because. . . there are things that came up. Just too many reasons to say right now." Laura looked at Buffy, pleading with her to just accept her answer. "Okay Laura. I'll take that answer for now but we'll need to talk soon. Really soon." Buffy looked at Tara and Willow and nodded. "Tara and Willow will show you to the guest room. The room should be more than adequate. There's a king-sized bed and a personal bathroom and a closet." Willow picked up Laura's duffel bag. "One more thing Buff. Can my girlfriend stay here too?" Laura asked. Buffy took a moment to think about this. She would be happy to have another person around. "Sure. She's bound to be a better person than you." Laura looked at Buffy, ready to give her a snide remark but she thought better of it. Laura just grabbed her duffel bag from Willow and said with an angry voice, "I don't need your help."

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