A/N: Tara x Reader
Summary: Y/n is very protective over Tara even though they aren't dating and when Y/n gets in a fight because of it, Tara begins to question why.
⚠️Spoilers⚠️: Scream 6
HERE WE GO!
______________________________________________________________________________
Y/n's POV:
I'm in my film class right now, and as I'm writing down notes for it - since we have an end of semester exam - so I think it might be beneficial.
I hate when something randomly pops up and you questioned revising it then it ends up showing up and you have that moment of "Why in the fuck did someone do this? I wanna die" you know? I feel like it's a worldwide experience that I just don't want to go through again.
"Yeah, I'm Caleb. Nice to meet you." I hear a voice say, I glance up and see who this 'Caleb' is talking too— Okay, nope. He's gotta go.
I clear my throat, standing up and moving between him and Tara.
"Hey, dude. She's... fine. Move along, now." I say, his eyes glance between mines as he smiles.
"I'm Caleb—"
"—Heard you the first time." I reply, feeling Tara tug on my arm.
"Leave it." I hear her mouth, I clench my jaw and look at Caleb, seeing him offer a short smile. I go to walk away before hearing him say something,
"She's crazy." I hear him say, I quickly turn around, pushing him.
"No—!" I punch him in the face, my friends moving me away and trying to calm me down.
"Hey, it's all right. You're fine. Let's just take a walk." I hear Anika suggest I do,
"Yo— Yo, what'd he say?"
"He fucking called me crazy—!"
"—So? Come on, let's go before the teacher comes back." Tara says, all of us going to the 'bathroom'. "You have to stop punching people."
"He was an asshole."
"Okay? But you need to stop getting violent. It isn't healthy." She continues to lecture me on, everyone else just listening but more trying to calm me down.
"He had a bug on his nose, though." I try to justify, seeing Tara hit my arm while Chad, Mindy, Anika, Quinn, and Jack all laugh at my attempt of justification.
"Y/n."
"Tara." I reply, in the same stern voice but more mockingly. She sighs, before beginning to chuckle softly.
"You're ridiculous."
"I know." I reply, quietly laughing.
*****
Right now, me and my friends are hanging out. We're all having a lot of fun. Tara's wearing something really pretty, I feel Mindy wrap her arms around my neck.
"How you doing, kid?" Mindy asks me,
"Not bad, you?"
"Not bad." She replies, smiling. "Woah, look at that guy." She points out, I follow her finger and see a guy staring at Tara. I remove myself from Mindy and head over to Tara. Resting my hand on her back and beginning a conversation.
"Yeah, you look nice today." I compliment,
"Thanks, you look nice as well." She compliments, her resting her head against my chest. I smile softly and I feel her pull up her low rised jeans and I move her t-shirt down, earning a laugh. "Okay, Miss Protective."
"I just don't want any guys thinking of something that is objectifying." I reply, feeling her place a kiss on my shoulder since she's too small to reach my cheek. I smile, widely, feeling my cheeks heat up.
"Thank you, Y/n."
"No problem."
***
We're all sitting in mine, Tara, Quinn, and Sam's apartment, watching a movie.
"I'm really cold." I hear Anika complain, beginning to cuddle into Mindy. Mindy smiles widely, placing a kiss on her cheek. Rubbing her back with her left hand and rubbing her forearm with her right hand.
"It is so cold." I hear Tara complain, I take my hoodie off and I tap her hand, she looks over at me and I move the left sleeve up her left arm then do the same for the right arm. I move the hoodie over her body and she keeps the hood up and is smiling. "You didn't have too."
"It's okay," I reply, quietly. Seeing her smile widely.
"God, just make out already." We hear Quinn say, me and Tara look over at her.
"What?" Tara questions, glancing at me.
"What, no." I deny, looking over at Quinn.
"What—? What? You're telling me you two don't like one another?"
"Shut up." I say,
"Shh, movie." Tara says, giggling and pointing at the TV. I chuckle softly and lean more into the couch, getting myself comfy. I hear movement and notice Tara lean into me, progressively falling asleep.
***
The movie's done and Tara's fast asleep, as well as Chad and Quinn.
"All right, I'm gonna take her to bed." I inform everyone, whispering quietly.
"Thanks, Y/n." Sam thanks me, I shrug lightly and send her a small smile that she returns before beginning to stretch.
"All right, careful." I hear Anika whisper in reply, I nod my head and move one arm around her waist and the other under her knees. I move her closer to me then stand up,
"Got it?" Ethan asks me, I nod my head, lightly.
"Yeah, thanks." I reply, quietly. I walk to Tara's room and I lie her down, moving the covers over her and turning her light off; I head toward the door, leaving the room, then shutting it behind me, I take a deep inhale in, staring down at the ground. I rub my eyes and head over to the couch, sighing.
*****
Me and my friends are at this party and I gotta say, it's really good. I'm really happy at the moment, I can't wait to get super drunk and take a lot of photos of my friends that I'll probably have to use so they can do something for me in the future.
Me and Mindy are talking with Ethan and Chad and I feel a tap on my shoulder, I turn to see Anika. I love Anika, she's that bitch for me.
"Hey, beautiful. You're needed." Anika informs me, I glance around— Tara. Where the fuck is she?
"Tara?"
"Headed upstairs with some frat boy named Frankie." She informs me, speaking quickly.
"Shit." I immediately walk away, dumping my drink into Chad's chest; he takes hold of the drink, downing it and earning an excited, geeky cheer from Ethan.
I head over, seeing this fucking Frankie guy and Tara heading upstairs.
"Uh, hey—! Yeah, hi, Tara's good here." I announce, seeing them turn around,
"Excuse me?" Frankie asks, glancing at Tara then me.
"I said, Tara's good down here." I repeat, getting annoyed.
"Mhmm, no. We—We're good, actually." Frankie replies, sending me a condescending smile.
"Actually, bitch—"
"—Hey, hey, no. We're not doing this. Let's just go— Y/n— hey." I look at her, "Let's just go." She instructs us, I feel myself begin to calm down.
"See, Y/n? She doesn't want you. She wants someone who can actually give her..." He leans down, "a nice fucking ride." He says with a cocky smile, he grips Tara's arm, dragging her up a few steps. I watch as Tara grunts, falling because of his grip and looking hurt.
Fuck him.
"—Get the fuck off of her!" I grab his shirt, pulling him down and into the wall. He chuckles, shaking his head.
"Guys, can we just talk it out—?"
"—Chad." I say, sternly, he steps back.
"Got it, sorry." Chad apologises, getting hit in the back of the head by Mindy.
"Dingus." She insults him,
"Y/n!" Tara calls on me, as I push him again. He pushes me, I laugh softly.
"That's a mistake." I inform him, he cocks his head to the side and I punch him in the face, shoving him against the wall again.
"What the fuck is your problem?" Frankie asks me, annoyed.
"Don't fucking touch her like that again, or I swear you're gonna be on your deathbed a lot sooner than you realise." I threaten, angry. Stepping toward him but I see Tara move in front of him.
"Hey, look— Y/n, look at me. I'm okay. I'm fine. See?" She glances at herself then at me, "I'm okay." She tells me, sending me a soft smile. "We can move on, he's learned his mistake."
"Yes, Y/n. Listen to your master." Frankie tells me to do, resting his chin on Tara's shoulder. I punch him straight in the nose. "AH!" He holds his broken nose, exclaiming in pain. "What the fuck?!"
"Don't... go near her, Frankie." I say, stepping toward him, I grip his shirt, standing him up. I hold him against the wall, and hit him in the face. "I swear, you even fucking look at her. You are dead." I threaten,
"Should've just left her, man." Anika says, standing beside me.
"You just had to be a dum-dum." Mindy adds, standing on the other side of me. I feel myself get pushed and spit on.
"Fuck you, L/n—!" He exclaims, I quickly right hook him.
"Woah!!" I say, excitedly. Smiling and chuckling. He quickly goes to push me again but Sam suddenly appears,
"Yeah, hi, I'm just gonna tase you in the balls." She informs him, tasing him in the balls. Him flopping onto the floor. Letting out an exclaim. I kick him in the face, knocking him out. Making me laugh.
"Woah!" I let out, again. Going to high five Sam, earning a small smile before I feel Tara wrap her arm around mines and pull me away from the crowd.
"Shit, come on!" Tara says, grabbing my hand and directing me away from the crowd. Anika and Mindy gathering everyone and telling them to leave. "Why did you do that?"
"Come on, he's was being an asshole." I try to explain,
"So? It's my choice, Y/n. It's my choice who I want to kiss or sleep with, even." She explains, angrily to me.
"Woah— Hold the fucking phone, you were gonna sleep with that asshole?" I ask, stopping her delicately and she stops walking, turning to me.
"Yes, Y/n! Yes, I was going to sleep with him!"
"Why? He's an asshole and he would mess with you!" I remind her, seeing her deflate slightly as she glances away from me before meeting my eyes, having slight anger in her eyes.
"That's my decision! If I wanna sleep with an asshole, let me sleep with an asshole!" Tara argues, I scoff, letting my shoulders fall.
"Tar, I'm trying to protect you—"
"—I—" She sighs, her eyes shutting and her fingers running over her forehead, down the bridge of her nose and underneath her eyes. She lets her hands fall and her eyes open. "I know. I know that, Y/n. I do." She says, nodding her head. "But I'm getting constantly watched over by Sam and I don't want another protective person. I want a friend."
"I—I am your friend, Tara—"
"—Then act like one!" She replies, glancing around before looking at me again. "Tell me how I should hook up with someone to let loose, tell me to drink however many shots I want because I deserve it. Hold my hair back when I throw up. Let me use your shoulder to cry on when I need it. But please, just stop fighting people in my honour. I'm not going to have any options if this keeps happening." She expresses to me, sounding annoyed.
"I just wanted to help—!"
"—Well, you aren't, okay? You aren't helping. In fact, you are making guys run away from me." She corrects me, crossing her arms. "You're scaring them away from me."
"I didn't do anything."
"You did, don't lie."
"I'm not."
"Y/n..."
"Fuck, Tara, I mean it okay! This is how I love, I protect, I take care, I do it all. I over-love sometimes, and sure, it admittedly isn't great. But you can't blame me for not wanting you to sleep with some jackass! Not when you deserve better!"
"Who then? Give me a list of people you think is acceptable that I can sleep with—!"
"—Me—"
"Fine, then. Sleep with me." She shouts over me before stopping, not meeting my eyes.
"Wh— Wait, what?"
"If you think that you are the only person worth me sleeping with, then fine! Sleep with me."
"Tara..."
"What?"
A beat, nothing being said between us.
"Jesus, Tar. You're so out of it." I complain, shaking my head. I reach my hand out for her, taking her left hand in mines and beginning to walk home to our apartment. I didn't realise our friends were behind us, watching the whole argument unfold.
***
Tara's POV:
We arrive in our apartment and I head into my room, going to shut the door but I see Y/n looking upset, and hurt. Leaning against the back of the couch, staring at the floor while she clenches her fist, then unclenches. Wincing in pain. I sigh, letting my shoulders fall.
"Y/n, can we talk?" I ask her, she nods her head and heads over, walking toward me. She steps inside and I shut the door behind me, seeing Mindy, Sam, and Quinn peaking their heads over the couch but quickly duck. I roll my eyes before hearing Y/n begin to say,
"What's up, Tara?"
"Sit down, I wanna talk to you about something." I express to her, She nods her head and heads over to my bed, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "You gotta stop getting into fights, and you gotta stop getting into them because of me." I add, trying to sound soft but stern as well.
"All right, fine." She complies, shrugging and not even bothering to look at me.
"What, what—?" I sigh, trying to complete my sentence, "what's wrong?" I ask her, stepping closer to her.
"Nothing." She mutters, quietly. "Just get your lecture over with." She adds, rudely.
"Okay, well, I'm kinda giving up on lectures cause you never listen to me, anyway." I counter, beginning to get angry.
"Ever thought of a reason behind that?" She asks me, standing up.
"What?" I question,
"Have you ever thought of a reason why I would do all this for you? I want you to be okay! I want you to succeed and be happy, a—an—and achieve all of your goals!" She expresses to me, intently. "But I want that for you because of how much I care about you, and... it—it's annoying because you—you're acting as if nothing happened last year—" I sigh, covering my face as I try not to get annoyed. "Tara, you can't avoid it. We went through something traumatic. We have to at least talk about it—"
"—I don't want too—!"
"—Okay, so, what? Are you gonna continuously try to avoid the fact that we were attacked!" She tries to explain to me,
"Oh, my god. You are acting just like Sam!"
"So? She has a point, Tara! You need to process what happened! You went through a lot—"
"—And I fucking survived, okay?! I fucking survived." I shout, getting her quiet. "I survived. I'm alive, my heart is beating, my mind is racing all the time! Yet I don't fucking feel alive. I don't feel it."
"Then tell me! Tell Sam, tell someone about this!" She shouts in return, "Jesus, Tara, this isn't you! I mean, what're you doing? You're getting constantly drunk, you're constantly trying to sleep with guys—!" She takes a deep breath in and sighs, letting her shoulders fall, "this isn't... you!" She continues to say, but I feel tears building in my eyes.
"I... I know." I reply, quietly, letting out a soft sob. I cover my mouth and continue to let out choked sobs. I feel Y/n move me closer to her, hugging me and holding me close to her. Letting me cry in her arms. "I... I don't know what to do, I don't want to go to therapy because then I feel like something really is wrong with me and I'm—I'm—I'm—I'm not ready. I'm not ready." I confess to her, through choked sobs and panicked breathing.
"I'm sorry, Tar, I'm sorry." I hear her whisper softly, placing a kiss on the crown of my head. Rubbing my back. "It's just— I... I love you... you—you know? I love you, and I hate seeing you hurt and I don't want you to be feeling like this and not telling anyone." Y/n expresses to me, I remove my head from her chest and look up at her but I can barely see her because of how there's tears filling my eyes.
"You love me?" I ask her, sniffling. She grabs something and begins to wipe my tears away.
"Of course, I love you, Tara." She confesses, sending me a soft smile that makes me weakly smile. "I mean, I... I really like you. In a more than friends way, and I know that it's probably weird to hear this and I'm sorry if I've ever made you uncomfortable with how protective I am. I just... I can't help it. I don't know what it is about you, you just are so amazing, and talented, and—and so smart. You're so incredibly smart." She compliments, continuing to wipe my tears and stroking my face as she longs out 'so', making me smile.
"You—You think?"
"I know so. Tara, the ideas that you create in your mind, are fricken amazing. And I'm also in that class, and I have my own personal style which is completely different from yours but I appreciate and admire yours." Y/n continues onto express to me, "I really like you, Tara. I'm sorry for being so over protective. I'm sorry for ruining your night. I'm sorry about it all, but I don't regret any of it." She confesses, beginning to shake her head. "I really don't."
"You don't?"
"No. I want you to be okay and I want to make sure that nobody is hurting you, or even trying to attempt to do something." She confesses, "But one thing I am sorry about, is if I'm making you uncomfortable with all of this."
"N—No. No, you—you're not." I reply, shaking my head. Resting my head against hers. My eyes focus on her lips and hers are on mines, I tilt my head slightly. Glancing at my lips then at in my eyes.
"C...Can I...?" I nod my head, leaning in and kissing her lips. She kisses me back, melting toward me and resting her hands on my waist. Before one hand, moves around to my back, moving me further against hers. My stomach fills with butterflies and I smile when we pull apart for a break, feeling her kiss me repeatedly.
Gosh, I've been so blind.
________________________________________________________________________________