Spike awoke around noon to find the curtains drawn and Tara was nowhere to be found . Probably got over the initial shock and skipped out just to wait for him to leave. Good thing he was a big bad vampire and didn't care what anyone else thought of him or it would sting … you know just a little. Whatever …

He was stuck there for a few hours anyway till the sun went down so he lit up a smoke and started looking through the bird's CD collection to see if there was anything worth stealing. After a few flips of his fingers he decided that he'd rather stuff his cigarette in his ear and eat nothing but rat then ever lower himself to steal this drivel. He was on the verge of exposing himself to sun when he until he saw the familiar tinge of pink that belonged to Never Mind The Bollocks and breathed a sigh of relief, there was hope for the girl yet … you know if he cared at all.

He put on the CD on at a respectable level (Punk wasn't Punk unless the windows rattled) and he collapsed back on the mattress he had slept on the night before as he puffed away. His reverie was broken by the soud of thudding grocery bags as Tara coughed a little and covered her ears at the open doorway. Spike couldn't help but grin and he was never so glad to be proven wrong as much as he was in that moment. He quickly leapt from the bed, smacked off the CD player and butted out the ciggy in a nearby potted plant.

She smiled a little smile and pushed her hair behind her ear " M...Making your self at home?" she said. He skipped his boot across the floor and grumbled out a quick "sorry" as he stuffed his hands in his duster "I'll be making my way, then" he said as he started to walk out . "W...W...wait" she said as her hand grabbed his arm and he could swear her could feel her warmth through the leather. She quickly pulled back and continued " I mean ... I like having the company … so it would be much appreciated if you could maybe stay … if you wanted to" She said her eyes looking anywhere but him. "I'm kinda new here and I live all alone and this place is kinda creepy at times and you seem like a nice enough man for rescuing me and all and it seems from our talk that you don't like where you are staying now … " . His chest puffed a little at her words, Buffy and her little merry men treated him like a monster and he knew he was but it still felt good for someone to treat him like something other than gum on their shoe or a thorn in their side, felt good to feel needed.

"You sure luv? I'm a bit more monster than man" He said as he shifted his face to bring his point home. She looked at him and and studied his face a bit longer before deciding to speak. "You're a vampire … I'm a witch … no ones perfect" she shrugged as she turned and started unpacking the paper bags. He grinned at the back of her head then came up beside her grabbing a piece of rolling errant fruit and handing it to her. " Well my last roommate had me usually tied to a chair and chained in the tub , so I guess you are the next step up"

She gave him another fleeting smile and finished putting away the contents of her bags.

" You do have a telly right? One that gets Passions?"

He left at dusk and came back with his own bag a little while later, she looked like she had just taken a shower and was reading and looked up as he came in.

" Sorry, I didn't ask you if you needed anything today" She quietly said; " Think nothing of it, luv." He said " Just had to get myself some blood and some ciggys after going by the bank" He stopped and looked off into the distance thinking " Well, not so much of a bank more than dearly departed demon's pockets" He grinned widely as he put the pig's blood in the fridge.

She had cringed at his last comment and it bothered him more than he would like to admit as he heard the concern in his own voice.

" Oi there luv, I'll have you know they were all bad demons … terrorizing grannies and eating babies and cheating at poker, the right bastards" he said sitting on the end of her bed.

" I..I .. It's not that, Spike," she sighed and she put down the book , pulled her knees in and looked at him guiltily. " I..I .. It's just t..t..that ..."

"Come on luv. No need to be shy around the big bad. Out with it" Spike said.

She took a deep breath " ItworriedmebecauseI'mkindofpartdemononmymotherssideandnowI'montherunfrommyfamilybecausetheydon'tthinkIshouldbeallowedtohavemyownlifebecauseofit" She exhaled as her eyes started to glass with tears.

He looked at her like she was a little barmy as he tried to process what she had said at the speed of light.

" Sod off !" he chuckled to her now shocked expression "You got as much demon 'n you as I got shag carpet 'n me" He chortled "see ..." he popped her in the nose with a quick jab which sent him flying back as they both yelled out in pain.

" Y..Y..You broke my nose" She said with a look of betrayal.

"Exactly" he said " Soldier boys put a chip in Spikes head you see so now he can't even think of nibblin on any of those tasty little happy meals on legs without one awful ache in the noggin love."

She still looked confused as all bloody Hell.

Spike sighed " Spike can't play with all the other little baddies but can kill them cause they ain't human, ya bleedin git"

As realization dawned on her face so did the hugest smile Spike had ever seen. She almost knocked him flat on his ass as she enveloped him in a hug as tears streamed down her face. Spike was so confused by all the thanks yous and other blessings coming out of her mouth he didn't even realize he was returning the hug after a while.

Spike didn't mind the dorm all that much besides the godawful music that sometimes seeped through the walls. He even nicked some idiot's student ID and the library was sewer accessible and most of the stuff that he liked was buried in the stacks anyway. Pretty soon he had his own little library in the dorm room . Couldn't kill the happy meals on legs so stealing library books and the occasional bag of o-positive was his own way of reminding himself he still had a little bit of the big bad left.

Giving up all the evil wasn't so bad he thought to himself as he leered and gave a little smile at the blonde warmin up the cup of blood while bopping along to the sounds of "Pretty Vacant" while dressed in nothing but his black tee.