a/n: After last week's True Blood, I was dying to write this. In my head, Sookie can't really read Alcide's mind too clearly since he's a were – and I make no mention of her telepathic ability here for that reason (among others).

Enjoy!


Orange Marzipan

The sunlight woke Sookie first. The petite blonde was so used to ignoring the sun, (after all, the sunlight meant the night was over and that all was momentarily well), but something about this morning was different. The rays of the sun seemed to penetrate through her eyelids, causing a sharp strike of pain to slash across her forehead, her head pulsating in angry waves. Why did it feel as if she hadn't slept at all? Ignoring the dryness of her throat and lips, she moaned lightly and rolled over, attempting to block out the sun all together. Instead of comfort, she was greeted with hot, naked flesh. Sookie quickly realized there was an arm lightly wrapped around her torso, an arm that pulled her closer as she tried to burrow into her covers.

Sookie yelped and scooted backwards, her eyes suddenly open and wide with remembering. She shot back too far and landed with a loud thump on her hardwood floor. Pain flooded through her rear end, but it was nothing compared to the pain that seemed to reverberate through her entire head. "Oh Jesus Christ," she said before placing her pounding head into her hands, shielding her eyes from anything and everything.

"Sookie?" Came a muffled growl from the bed.

Alcide shifted, expecting the blonde to be on his opposite side. Instead, when he opened his eyes, the blonde was sprawled on the floor with her head in her hands. He swallowed a laugh, simultaneously managing to gulp down the flutter of mixed emotions that assaulted his throat. "What're you doin' on the floor?" He could see the crimson flush blossom across her cheeks even as she hid behind her hands.

"What the hell did we drink?" Sookie whispered, managing to peek up at him through her fingers slightly. It didn't exactly help that she wasn't wearing any underwear, her feeling of embarrassment palpable in a room that was already filled to the brim with mixed emotions.

Without question, Alcide reached over the side of her bed and lifted her back up with one arm. Sookie resisted the strong urge to settle against his bare chest and flopped against a pillow instead. There were so many questions. What exactly had they done? How exactly had this happened? Would her headache ever go away?

"Alcide," she started before being quickly cut off.

"Listen Sook," Alcide said, lying on his side to face her. He blocked the sunlight from one window and she was more than grateful to actually be able to look him straight in the eyes. "We may have been drunk last night, but I don't regret what happened between the two of us. So before you go and dismiss this, just know that I care about you."

"Why do you have to be so damn nice?" Sookie yelled before pulling a pillow over her head. "Why can't you just be like every other guy?" She sullenly muttered. If he hadn't been a were, there would have been no chance of him hearing her. But he was a were, and he had heard her.

It was Alcide's turn to run his fingers through his hair and sigh up at the ceiling. Already his shoulders were slumping, and he could feel the bitter taste of rejection flood his dry mouth. She regretted sleeping with him and now she wouldn't even look at him. "Sorry I'm not like a vamp, Sookie. Sorry I'm not like everyone else." He angrily pushed away the comforter and stood from the bed. Searching the floor for his jeans, he found them across the room crumpled on the floor. He began to pull them on.

"Wait," came a weak protest from the bed. "Wait. I didn't mean it like that." She was sitting up and Alcide realized she was wearing his shirt – and nothing else. He swallowed heavily and approached the bed.

"Can I have my shirt back, Sook?"

She looked down; only now realizing she actually was wearing his shirt from the night before. Practically swimming in it, she grabbed the edge of one sleeve and pulled it down over her hand relishing the comfort it brought her. "Can you sit for just a second, please? I just – I need the room to stop spinning for a minute."

He studied her and sat obediently, not able to put up a fight when she smelled like she belonged to him. His body was screaming one thing while his mind was screaming another. She looked and smelled beautiful – sitting down was the least of his problems.

Sookie rubbed her eyes and opened them once more, feeling a bit clearer. Memories flooded her mind as Alcide sat in front of her, bare-chested and so close. She had to close her eyes as it all came rushing back, her breathing immediately affected.

The couch – her horrible, cocky words and then her kissing him, but him not protesting one bit. Her shirt was gone quickly and then he had carried her upstairs. In the dim lighting of her bedroom, the rest of their clothing was discarded, flung against the walls. What had begun slowly began to heat up quickly and there had been no turning back. There were moments of fog, things that were too dark for her hungover brain to recover. "Are you sure?" Over and over from her mouth and from Alcide's, and then she couldn't recall much else but knew she had reached the heights of pleasure more than once, more than twice. And then his shirt was covering her, wrapping her up like a precious gift before he pulled her tightly to his chest.

And then sharply, a memory that wasn't foggy at all, came upon her. Just as she was drifting off, he had spun her, managing to keep all of his weight off of her. She had opened her eyes, startled, and looked up at him. Growling softly, he had looked into her eyes and kissed her deeply, not needing to say any words. They had both smiled drowsily and he had inhaled the scent of her neck before rolling her back, her head nestled once again against the smooth planes of his chest. The last thing Sookie remembered was tucking her leg underneath his heavy, warm one and feeling her breath steady.

Her breath wasn't steady now.

Sookie literally shook her head, golden locks flying everywhere. Just look at his face, she kept repeating. Just look at his face and try to ignore everything else. "I don't want you to be like anyone else," she started. "I just meant that you shouldn't be so nice to me! I don't know how you can be so nice to me!" Her lips trembled at the mess she had made, but she urged herself not to cry. "I've ruined our friendship." And then she couldn't help the tears that escaped her eyes as she looked at him sitting there. "Everyone hates me. You're like – " she hiccupped loudly, "the only person left and now – now I've gone and ruined it!"

"Sookie," he started, but she flopped backwards and buried underneath another pillow.

"You can't have your shirt back because I'm never comin' out from under here."

Alcide laughed out loud this time, not bothering to mask it. From the looks of it, Sookie was more embarrassed than anything else and he began to hope that something good might actually come of this. He placed a hand on her back, the only place that wasn't covered by the blankets – the only part he could see.

"You haven't ruined anything."

"I don't believe you."

"When have I ever lied to you?"

"You haven't," came the dejected muffled reply.

"Then come out!" He growled playfully, his slight hangover already receding as he focused on the woman in front of him.

"Not comin' out."

"Fine, then I'll just come get you."

He pounced lightly besides her, burrowing his head underneath the covers. He found her rather easily – the bed wasn't that big and he could smell her miles away. He playfully sniffed her hair, breathing in deeply and blowing the soft strands so they landed away from her face. Though her eyes were closed, he leaned in and kissed her lips lightly. It took her a moment but she kissed Alcide back before pulling away.

"I don't want to lose you," Sookie said. "I can't lose you. I mess things up, people I love leave…"

"I can't promise this is the start of forever – no one can. But I want to try to make things work. I want to try."

"It is nice to wake up with someone in my bed," she conceded. "And you are warm," she said as she scooted further into his chest. "Do you know any hangover cures?"

"No," he laughed. "I'm guessin' you won't be drinking any more orange marzipan's anytime soon."

"Don't even say the words!" she groaned. "I ain't ever drinking again!"

Alcide laughed hard, kissing the top of her head. "Sure you will."

He pulled her to him, digging the rest of her from the covers. The pillow was left behind as she found her torso pressed against his, her chin resting against his lightly. "You can have your shirt back," she said. He grinned and kissed her, sliding the shirt over her head.

This time there were no foggy parts – Sookie remembered everything. Alcide did get his shirt back (eventually), Sookie's hangover did eventually disappear, Alcide stayed for breakfast. And later that evening, when Bill and Eric showed up on her doorstep, Alcide was there – as if he had belonged there all along.

End.