Thunder rolled low in the distance, threatening a potential down pour, and a cold wind blew along side it. All around, trees were trembling, shaking off any remaining leaves their bare branches where holding onto. It was late, and the rain was quickening at a steady rate. Tara knew she should have not have been out after night fall alone, but she could not bring herself to pick up her pace. Dragging her feet, she walked along the slick sidewalk, and watched with empty eyes as the soggy leaves squashed beneath her boots. Hot tears intermingled with the cool raindrops on her cheeks and rolled off, slowly falling to the pavement.

She was running on autopilot.

Her mind was buzzing, thoughts and images were flying at her from every which way. Too many feelings were trying to escape at once for her to focus on anything else.

Coming to a street light she stopped leaned against the rock wall behind it. Turning to hide her face from the empty street, she sobbed into the cold stones. She felt as if nothing mattered. Like someone had just stripped her of everything she had. She had nothing left. Nothing but wet granite to cry into.

This was not how things were supposed to be. She was supposed to be happy. Happy that she was her own woman. Happy that she could stand up for herself. And happy that she had made it an entire month with out her .

And she had been, very much so, up until the point at which point she saw her. Saw Willow in the coffee shop sitting next to someone else. Sitting closer than any friendship distance would allow. She looked happy, smiling; laughing even, with a brunette Tara had seen a couple of times before around campus.

Tara was mad at the situation; not at Willow. No, she could not be blamed for it. She was simply living her life and seemingly moving on. No, Tara was mad at herself for letting herself fall. For letting her heart be trampled over again after it was finally beginning to heal. She was angry at herself for falling apart when she saw Willow with someone else and for not being able to move on. Angry because she was left to console herself; crying into a cold stone wall instead of someone's shoulder...

Lightening struck not fifteens yards away, causing Spike to recoil a little. Muttering to himself he continued on en route of his crypt. When he left his place earlier in the evening, it looked like a cool calm night. Unfortunately, in this case, looks had been deceiving. The moment he stepped foot out side of the grocery store, it began to rain at a light steady pace.

Not that he minded the rain, he actually enjoyed it; finding it relaxing. He would just rather not be carrying a paper bag that was capable of disintegrating in it.

As he neared the entrance of the cemetery, something off in the distance caught his attention. Between the steady rhythm of the falling rain and the wind blowing chillingly, he could not be sure what exactly he heard. Stopping momentarily, the vampire looked around, half expecting to see the slayer or a demon of some sorts trailing around in the shadows. Not seeing or hearing anything, he continued. Seconds later, he heard it again. Sure he heard it that time, he glanced about his surroundings. Some ways down the street, Spike caught sight of a young woman standing underneath a street light. He shook his head and thought to himself. 'A young girl like that shouldn't be out alone liked that. She was right fitting for a vamp to jump out for a quick snack.'

Hearing the faint noise again, Spike drew in a deep breath and caught a whiff of her. Despair. Something he used to enjoy feeding off of. But he caught something else. A familiar scent. It was Tara.

Spike sighed and stood there for a moment in the rain, contemplating what to do. He had one of two choices. He could go over to her and make sure she was ok, or he could continue on his way and completely ignore her. The latter seemed like the better idea at the moment. Yesterday, he had a rather precarious gathering with the slayer and her slayeretts and would have preferred to stay out of connection with any of them for the time being.

But this was Tara. He was softhearted when it came to the timid witch. She was not like the rest of them; she was different. Then there was also the fact that she was not part of the whole abusive ordeal.

Sighing, Spike turned and walked towards the young witch. He would have gone home but he knew that if he did, he would have been perturbed about her for the rest of the night. As he drew nearer to her, he heard he sob quietly. She was crying. Shaking his head, he quietly placed his soggy bag of beer and blood on the ground. Purring in a soft voice, he carefully approached her. "Tara luv, are you alright?"

Startled by the soft tone, Tara quickly tried to whip away her tears. "Um, y-yea. I-I'm f-f-, I'm fine."

"No you're not" Slowly Spike placed his hand on her shoulder and turned her around to face him.

"Y-yes I am." She tried desperately to stop her tears from falling but it was in vain. She was in to much pain. So far lost and unable to control herself.

"I don't call crying alone in the rain near a cemetery at night being fine." He cupped her chin and lightly forced her to look at him. "I understand if you don't want to chat about whatever it is that's got you crying, but you know you shouldn't be out here. You should be at home."

"I kn-know but… but…" Her words tailed off into a distressing sob. To many emotions, she could not concentrate.

Spike's heart sank a little as Tara broke down in front of him. He felt the need to help her but did not know what to do or say to her, that would better the situation any. As he considered his options, Spike felt the rain steadily increase. He looked up at the sky for a moment, then looked at the crying form before him. He smiled at her sadly. "Come on luv, we better get you inside"

"Here you go, pet" With a warm smile, Spike walked up to the bed where Tara was sitting and handed her some garments. "It's not much, but it's better than those wet clothes you have on."

Tara nodded thankfully and attempted a smile. She had not said anything since they arrived at the crypt. Spike new better than to push her, so he simply tried to make her comfortable. Before, as the storm took a turn for the worst, he offered the idea that it just would have been best if she stayed at his place for the night. When she gave no protest he felt relived. With the pose he was picking up from her, he could tell that she was unstable and just felt better knowing he could keep an eye one her

"You can have the bed, luv" A little tired himself; he turned and began walking over to the ladder, leading to the upper portion of his crypt. "I'll be upstairs if you need me"

"Thank you" Her tone was barely a washed out whisper. If he hadn't been a vampire he would have missed it.

He turned to her and smirked before climbing up the steps. "You should get to sleep. You look like you've been through hell."