Buffy grumbles quietly under her breath as she leaves the house, her mother insisting on her coming by the Art Gallery after school to help unpack a shipment she got in. “Go to school, get a diploma, fight vampires and demons, save the world, help unpack shipments. I would really, truly love to have a life!” Taking a deep breath, Buffy looks up, allowing a smile to come to her face at the sight of her two best friends, Xander and Willow waiting at the corner for her. Seeing the happiness on Willow’s face for the start of the new school year and Xander’s having his usual goofy grin, Buffy can‘t help but chuckle. Picking up her speed, she quickly closes the gap between them.
“Good morning, Buff!” Xander tosses her an apple. “There’s you a little snack for the way into school.”
“Thanks, Xan.” Buffy grins as she hooks her arms through Willow and Xander’s. “Sooooo, what are we going to do this year? We pretty much trashed Giles’ library last year. Have to do something bigger for this year.”
Willow laughs quietly and shakes her head. “I don’t think so, Buffy. It took them almost a month to get the library fixed. Giles was not too pleased.”
“I could have stayed dead and let the Master live, how happy do you think that would have made him?” Buffy grins as they quickly make their way towards the high school.
“Don’t even joke about that!” Willow turns wide eyes on Buffy. “You very easily could have died!”
“I did die.” Buffy shrugs and bumps shoulders with Xander. “My big Xander-shaped friend came and saved me.”
Xander blushes lightly and looks down at the concrete. “Had to. Between you and Willow, you’re my only two real friends. Gotta keep what I have!”
“Well, I don’t know what this year will hold, but hopefully not anything too terribly bad.” Willow admits quietly as they walk up the steps. “Wonder what Giles has planned for us.”
“Research!” Buffy and Xander both pipe up at the same time, laughing as Willow rolls her eyes at them.
“Come on! Brand new school year, new kids and who knows what else is going to happen. It’s exciting, and I can’t wait!” Willow bounces as they make their way to the library.
***
“Baby girl, you can wait until the bruising finishes fading to go to school, if you want.” Dianna watches as Tara pulls the book bag over her shoulder as she heads towards the front door of the small house they were renting.
“No, mama. I’d rather start the same time as everyone else.” Tara whispers, smiling briefly as she glances back at her mother.
Dianna smiles sadly at Tara and nods her head in agreement. Looking over the bruising that was almost gone, but the slight darkening around one eye and cheek still noticeable. Between the bruises and the cast, Tara looked like a poster child for abuse.
They had been in Sunnydale for a couple weeks and were surprised when they had went to the bank to open an account, that there was already a bank account there in their names and a house rented for them. When Dianna had opened the large, thick envelope and read the letter on top, she couldn’t help but cry at the thoughtfulness of her niece. They had finished filling out the paperwork needed and made their way towards their new home. The small two-bedroom house perfect for them, already furnished with the necessities. Nothing fancy, but just very dependable furniture. When Dianna had tried to call the number to reach her niece, she’d been told that she was out on a mission, and probably wouldn’t be back for a month or longer. Giving the young man a quick note to give to Justine, Dianna and Tara had quickly settled into the house with their few belongings.
Shaking her head to get out of her musings, she smiles at Tara. “Have a wonderful day, baby girl. I’m going to go look for a job, that way I hopefully won’t have to dig into the funds Justine gave us.”
“Love you, mama.” Tara hugs her mother quickly before smiling and heading out the door.
“Love you, too, baby girl.” Dianna smiles softly at the lack of stutter coming from her daughter, but knows that when Tara’s around other people it still comes out. Taking a deep breath, Dianna grabs the newspaper, silently perusing it and circling possibilities as she considers when and how she might see her college friend, silently wondering if she was married, had kids and if she would even remember her. Shaking her head, Dianna smiles briefly. “I’ll see if I can’t find a job first, before hunting her out.”
***
Tara waits nervously in the office, holding the piece of paper with her schedule on it, while waiting for the student that was going to show her where her classes are.
“I’ll catch up to you second period!” Willow grins and waves as Buffy and Xander split off to go to their different classes, walking into the office, she stops and smiles at the young girl in front of her. “Are you Tara?”
Tara slowly raises her eyes, surprised at the tiny redhead standing in front of her. “Y-yes.” Tara slowly nods.
Willow bites her lip as she notices the light bruising on the girl’s face, taking in the cast Willow almost asks what happened, but for once, decides to keep her mouth shut. “I’m Willow. Let me see what classes you have.” Willow smiles gently at the blonde as she holds her hand out.
Tara gently places the paper in Willow’s hand, silently watching the girl.
“You’re a senior?” Willow looks up, smiling as Tara nods her head quickly. “I’m actually a Junior, but I’m taking some advanced classes. Come on, I’ll show you where the first two classes are, then I’ll come and get you for the third class that we have together.”
“Okay.” Tara whispers softly as she follows the redhead.
“Have you had a chance to get your books yet?” Willow questions as she glances up at the clock in the hallway, seeing they still have ten minutes.
“N-Not yet.” Tara shakes her head, looking down. “D-d-didn’t know where the l-l-library was.” Tara admits quietly.
“Well, we’re going right by there. We can stop in and I’ll tell Giles what books you need, and you can get them either at lunch, after school or before school tomorrow.” Willow grins as she heads quickly towards the library.
Tara giggles quietly as she follows the exuberant redhead.
“GILES!” Willow yells as she enters the library, grinning as he pops up from behind the counter with a scowl on his face. “Can you get together the books Tara’s going to need for her classes? She’ll come back by later and pick them up.”
Giles accepts the list from Willow, quickly making a copy of it before handing it back. “You know, you really don’t need to yell. I’m not deaf, you know!” Giles grumbles as Willow and the other girl leave the library.
“I know. I just like to see you get irritated.” Willow throws over her shoulder, grinning at the watcher. “See you after school.”
“Y-you call the l-librarian by name?” Tara questions softly as they quickly make their way to her first class.
“Yes, it’s this thing.” Willow grins and shrugs. Willow points out where Tara’s second class is while they continue heading down the hallway to her first period. “This is it. I’ll come and get you at the door to your second period class, to show you to the next class.” Willow grins and waves at the blonde before trotting off to her class.
“T-thanks.” Tara shakes her head at the quickness the redhead disappeared. Taking a deep breath, Tara makes her way into her first class of the day, smiling at the thought of possibly being able to have a life outside of home, now that her mother and she had moved out from the controlling influence of her father and brother.
***
Dianna rubs a hand over the back of her neck, sighing before she reaches for the cup of coffee as she looks at the want ads. Confused as to where to start as she looks at the ads, seeing that there were job openings for practically every job imaginable. Having already filled out applications at four different places, she decided to take a small breather and have something to drink as she considers where else she would like to put in an application at.
“Would you like something to eat?” Elizabeth smiles down at the older woman as she fills her coffee cup.
Dianna smiles as she looks up. “I wouldn’t mind a little something. Any suggestions?”
“The muffins are quite good. Personally, I like the banana nut muffin the best.” Elizabeth smiles softly as she looks at the newspaper. “Looking for a job?”
“The muffin sounds wonderful. Yes, I am.” Dianna nods, sighing quietly. “My daughter and I just moved into town a few weeks ago…” Dianna trails off, shrugging.
“Well, in this town there is an abundance of openings. If you don’t see what you want in the paper, I would suggest going to the particular business’ that you may be interested in.” Elizabeth pats her gently on the shoulder. “Let me go get you your muffin.”
Dianna smiles softly as she looks back down at the newspaper, circling a couple other ads that peaked her interest, before the hair on the back of her neck starts to stand up. Slowly raising her eyes to the front of the small coffee shop, she inhales deeply at the site of the tall, blonde woman striding into the shop. Watching the woman intently, Dianna takes in the tall, lithe form, realizing that time had been kind to Joyce. Silently wondering if she’s married and has kids, Dianna continues to watch her as she places her order at the counter before paying for the food and moving down to wait for her lunch to be fixed.
***
“I need to get out of here for a while.” Joyce rubs her eyes before she stands up to leave the gallery. Quickly striding towards the front of the shop, she stops momentarily at the receptionist’s desk. “I’m going across the street to get something to eat. I’ll be back later.”
Kathy nods her head at her boss, smiling apologetically at the woman, knowing that Frederick leaving like he did, left Joyce in a bind for a buyer.
Joyce quickly crosses the street and places an order for a Diet Coke and a Reuben sandwich. Waiting for the food, she sighs quietly, wondering what she’s going to do now. Not really wanting to have to go out of town in two weeks for the weekend to the convention in LA, but knowing that they needed to get some new artists showing at the gallery soon. Having counted on Frederick to go and buy some fresh paintings, and make contacts with hopefully some young and upcoming artists. Accepting the tray with her food and drink on it, Joyce slowly scans the busy coffee shop, wondering if there were any empty tables when her eyes come into contact with deep blue eyes watching her intently. Blinking in surprise at the woman that she hasn’t seen for roughly twenty years, Joyce isn’t even aware of her legs moving towards Dianna.
Unconsciously licking her lips, Dianna watches Joyce quickly make her way towards her table, her hazel eyes never breaking contact with hers. Folding the newspaper, Dianna sets it down on the edge of the small table and watches as Joyce stands there looking down at her, a surprised look on her face. “Would you care to join me, Joy?” Dianna questions softly.
Joyce swallows hard as the soft, dulcet tones practically caress her shortened name. “Dee...” Joyce shakes her head before sitting down and staring intently at the woman that she figured she’d never see again. “How…?”
Dianna blushes lightly and looks down at the table. “It’s a long story, but short version is that I came here, because I knew this was where you were at. I wanted to at least have a friend, someone I could talk to, be here for me.”
“How did you know I was living here?” Joyce frowns as she allows her eyes to drink in the sight of the one person that she always wondered what had happened to, after college.
Dianna bites her lip and shakes her head. “I’m not so sure you’d believe me if I told you.” Looking up from where she’d been staring down into her empty coffee cup, she searches the hazel depths. Looking up as the waitress, Elizabeth, sets the muffin in front of her, Dianna smiles quickly and pushes her coffee cup towards the woman, so she can fill it again. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Elizabeth smiles quickly, glancing towards the other woman, recognizing her from the other times she’d come in here. Nodding her head at the woman, Elizabeth quickly hurries off to help her other customers.
Joyce looks from Dianna’s dark blonde hair, to her kind blue eyes over the soft features, noting the slight differences that age has brought to her college friend. Realizing that if anything, time had made her more beautiful. “You’d be surprised at what I’d believe.” Joyce admits quietly as she lifts her drink, taking a sip of the diet soda.
Dianna bites her lip and shakes her head after a few seconds. “I’ll tell you, but it isn’t something that should be discussed in public.” Dianna allows herself to look at Joyce’s hand, a quiet sigh of relief easing out when there’s no wedding band on her finger. “I was going to look for you in a couple more weeks, after I found a job.”
Joyce tilts her head looking at Dianna for a few moments. “How long have you been in town?”
“A couple weeks.” Dianna tears a small piece of muffin and pops it in her mouth, chewing as she thinks. “My daughter and I moved here. We’ve been trying to get settled in, and now I’m looking for a job.” Dianna smiles quickly as she watches Joyce start to eat her sandwich.
Joyce runs her finger over the edge of the tray as she considers questioning Dianna further. “Married?” Joyce whispers, her eyes looking up to wait for the answer.
Dianna wipes her fingers before reaching for her cup to sip at the coffee for a moment, getting her thoughts in order before gently placing it back on the table. “If you want to call it that, yes. I’m married.”
Joyce raises an eyebrow in silent question, noticing the tensing of Dianna’s body and the slight paling of her skin tone, even though the woman had always been on the pale side, what coloring she did have seemed to disappear with her question.
Dianna sighs heavily watching Joyce and the emotions crossing her face. “Home life wasn’t exactly…” Dianna raises her eyes up at the ceiling as she considers the proper wording. Running a hand down her face, not knowing what to say, she finally spits out. “It was shit. Tara and I ran away after the last trip to the hospital.”
Joyce pales even more than Dianna as the words roll around in her mind. Unconsciously she reaches across the small table to clasp Dianna’s hand in hers. “Dee?” Joyce questions softly, her eyes asking what she couldn’t bring herself to say.
Dianna feels tears slowly gather in her eyes and slowly nods her head to Joyce’s silent question. “Tara and I both.” Dianna admits quietly. “We’re praying that he won’t find us. Unfortunately when I go to get a job, when I fill out the paperwork there may be a good chance that he’ll be able to locate us if he knows how to look.”
Joyce squeezes Dianna’s hand gently, slowly shaking her head. “We need to talk, and this isn’t the best place to have this type of discussion.” Joyce finally admits quietly. “Would you like to come over for dinner tonight? You and Tara?”
Dianna looks intently into Joyce’s eyes, seeing caring and warmth with a hint of anger. Knowing intuitively that the anger isn’t pointed at her, but at her husband, Dianna smiles softly. “I honestly wasn’t expecting to run into you like this, Joy.” Dianna admits as she shifts her other hand to cover Joyce’s hand that’s still holding hers. “I was wanting to get everything situated first, then maybe look you up to talk.”
“Things always happen for a reason. Especially in this town.” Joyce smiles softly at Dianna. Gently easing her hand away, she digs in her purse and pulls out one of her business cards, flipping it over she writes down her address and her phone number. Handing the card to Dianna she tilts her head for a few moments. “I’ll get home around 5:30 - come over then, before it gets dark. We need to have a major discussion, not just personal but about the goings on in this town.”
Dianna slowly nods her head, looking at the address on the card, frowning lightly. “This road name looks familiar, where is it?”
“Where are you living?” Joyce questions softly.
“Fremont Drive. A small one story house with two bedrooms.” Dianna looks up as she hears a quiet chuckle coming from Joyce.
“That’s about three blocks from where I live. If you’re heading towards your house, continue down Berkshire and take a left on Revello Drive. We’re the sixth house on your left.” Joyce explains where she lives and smiles as the dawning light comes on in Dianna’s eyes. “Basically a little hop skip and jump from where I live.”
Dianna slowly nods her head and tucks the card away in her purse. “May be handy. What about you, Joy? Kids, husband… somebody else?” Dianna practically whispers the last two words.
Joyce smiles and reaches out to gently squeeze Dianna’s hand before pulling her hand back. “I have a daughter, also. She’s a Junior in High School. I’m divorced and there is… no one else at the moment.” Joyce’s voice drops slightly as she finishes the sentence.
“Tara’s a Senior.” Dianna looks up smiling.
Joyce feels her heart catch at the absolutely beautiful smile crossing Dianna’s face. Feeling her heart start to literally pound in her chest, Joyce swallows as she wonders what this is going to mean to their relationship. And how Buffy may react when she finds out, if it becomes more than friendship. “I should head back to work.” Joyce whispers softly, looking down at her plate, wondering when she finished her sandwich.
“And I need to put in a few more applications before heading home.” Dianna slowly stands, digging in her purse to pay for her muffin and coffee, looking up when Joyce’s hand stops her.
“I’ll get it.” Joyce shakes her head, smiling. Unable to resist, she pulls Dianna in for a hug. “I’ve missed you, Dee.” Joyce whispers softly, smiling as she feels Dianna’s arms loop around her neck hugging her tightly.
“I’ve missed you too, Joy.” Dianna admits, allowing herself to enjoy the feel of Joyce’s arms wrapped around her for a few more moments before gently easing away. “Tara and I will be at your house at 5:30.”
“I’ll see you then.” Joyce smiles and watches as Dianna slowly walks away. Opening her wallet, Joyce drops some money on the table before heading back to work, silently wondering what the future holds in store for her now.
