(Author's Note: As am quite sick and feverish I may not take responsibilty for this chapter when well. Thanks again to every one who has left me a review. Someone mentioned something about betas once and I really should look into that if they are still interested.)
The last week before the first day of classes had passed in a whirlwind. The hunt for the gem was well underway and Tara was confident that they would have it by the following weekend.
She had gone a bit wild decorating the house. It looked in parts shrouded and mysterious and in others glittery like a fairytale. It was better than she had expected. Most of their new furniture had been put together. Only Spike's bedroom remained in pieces. But Tara was unconcerned with that. She'd shared a bed with him for the better part of the last year and a few more days would be fine. She glanced into the room that would be Spike's right across the hall. If they placed the bed where she wanted to they would be laying side by side only nine steps away. She'd counted.
Tomorrow was the first day of her life as a university student and she was tired but strumming with excitement. She had her bag all packed, her course schedule and campus map printed and waiting on the kitchen table. She was beyond ready. Spike had always said, 'There was prepared, and then there was Tara.'
She forced herself to close her eyes. Spike was off at the dig site and wasn't there to soothe her to sleep. She was a big girl, she thought, she didn't need her Spike-shaped security blanket.
Three hours later he came home to Tara baking in the kitchen and made her go to bed.
* * *
The first thought that crossed Tara's mind when she woke up was, 'Oh, goddess, no.'
The second was how quickly she could get to the bathroom when she needed to. Then Spike was there holding back her hair and rubbing her back. Her entire body was trembling and weak. Her jaw ached from throwing up and her eyes seeped tears of frustration.
“I can't be sick on the first day, Spike, I just can't!”
But she was whether she willed not to be or otherwise.
* * *
Spike tried his best to make everything better. He was a good nurse. All that practice with Drusilla had been for good ends. But she was nearly inconsolable.
“I'll miss everything and I'll be SO behind! What am I going to do? I was really looking forward to this.”
Spike fluffed her pillows and made her lay back down before she got dizzy again, “Now, pet, it's not that bad. You'll just get the notes from someone and catch up in no time.”
Tara sniffed, “I don't know anyone, though. And-“ A look of excitement crossed her face that made Spike worry, “Unless you go to class for me and take notes! Please, Spike! Please! It'll just be for a few days and I'll be right on track and you're good at summarizing. I've heard you break 'Passions' down in ways I don't think the writers could do!”
Spike winced, on one hand, it would make his girl happy and he'd go to the ends of the Earth to do that. On the other hand, he'd look like a ponce in a college classroom with a bunch of eighteen-year-old humans.
He looked at her pleading expression again and sighed. As if it were even a debate.
* * *
It wasn't so bad, Spike thought, wedging himself in a weirdly shaped desk in the front row. He opened Tara's bag and pulled out her pink clipboard full of loose leaf and uncapped a fluffy purple pen. And it was only for a few days.
That was until he saw her and she spotted him.
It would have been much more of a surprise if Buffy's mother hadn't gone on forever about how nice dinner had been with Spike and his new friend. Buffy had tried to explain to her mother why it wasn't a good idea to go about inviting the evil undead in to eat and her mother had only given her exasperated looks and informed her Spike was on the 'no-people' diet. Buffy had snorted at that, but as her mother was still alive, Buffy could only huff in private.
Now seeing him in her Psych 101 class was a bit more of a shock.
“What are you doing here?” She demanded, hand on hip.
“Keeping up with the old book learning, And yourself?” Spike cock one eyebrow in that way that made her crazy.
“If you are quite through with your conversation? Would it be alright for the rest of us to carry on with this class?”
The loud voice made Buffy spin on a dime. She realized everyone else had sat down already and the professor was glaring at her. The room was dead silent and Buffy turned bright red. She spun back around and realized the only free seat was at Spike's right, she dropped her books on the desk and sat down hurriedly.
* * *
It was just like him to ruin her first day of college, Buffy thought, glaring at the vampire next to her who hadn't taken his eyes off the page in front of him since the class had started.
His hair was different, she noticed idly. He still dressed the same, black jeans and Doc Martens and she could see the infamous Black Duster hanging over the back of his chair. His shirt was actually not black though it was a very dark blue that brought out his eyes. Buffy forced her mind away from this scary thought. He'd let the bleach grow out so only the tips were white. And he had CURLS! This was major teasing material. She could wait until the class was over to bring it up.
Class. GAH! Her eyes snapped to the clock on the wall and she realized Professor Walsh had been talking for twenty minutes and she had yet to take a single word down. Her eyes skittered to Spike's notes. He had three-quarters of a page worth. She quickly began copying them down.
Spike glanced over at her blatant cheating and rolled his eyes. Little chit couldn't manage her own notes? His were perfect, of course, because they were for Tara. He'd written as carefully and as neatly as he knew how and he'd used different colored pens for each new topic. He'd also highlighted the topic-titles and refrained from doodling in the margins.
He closed the clipboard carefully when the class ended so he wouldn't smudge the ink and made a quick exit in order to make it to the next class.
Buffy looked up and Spike was gone. She pouted a bit. A perfectly good taunting opportunity was wasted. She felt put out. And immediately shut her brain down. She did NOT want Spike around under any circumstances. Even if he was all not with the people-drinking.
* * *
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