AN: Sorry it took me so long to post the next chapter. I had to figure out how I was going to organize the story so that both story lines match up. I also had a few discussions with my friend about how the whole switch thing is going to work (the mechanics of it, what Care and Sook remember and when they remember it and things like that. She was a great help and I know she's probably reading this right now so I'll ask: would it be funny if I added a pirate? Either one will do! ^_^). I finally just said "Fuck it! Let's see where this takes itself!" I know for a fact that one particular ship is going to happen and another is DEFINITELY not going to happen (I'll try not to make which ones I favor obvious) but I am open to possibilities! =) If you love a certain ship I'd gladly try to work it in if it fits with the story (even if the story ends with that ship at the bottom of the ocean: Looking at you ship I despise... haha! more pirate references!) Right now the story is going to stick pretty closely with the cannon and lines from the shows. Later on it's going to go soooooooo "off book" that we may just have to blame Balthazar or The Doctor for creating such a weird AU. I don't know. When I get to that point I will let my weird flow free. Enough talk! I have rambled enough! I don't own any of the characters, places, or lines from the shows.

Caroline PoV

Another stressful night at work. Same as always. Having to fight to keep control. It was really wearing me down.

get me wrong, I love my job. Merlotte's is a great place to work (aside from the redneck assholes that drift into the bar every once in a while). But seriously, when you can hear everyone else's thoughts it's had to work in a bar. Especially a small town bar in rural Louisiana. Everyone has their issues and their secrets (and sometimes I think the people around here got a double dose of both).

Tonight I was tired from working a double shift (one of the lunchtime girls had called in sick), I hadn't been able to take my dinner break yet so I was starving, and right now the thoughts of the people in the bar were not helping me feel better. And on top of all of that something felt off tonight.

It was weird. I felt like something big was going to happen. Something that would send my little life into a tailspin...

I stopped myself right then as I leaned up against the food window and set down the glass of beer that I had for table 2.

What the hell am I thinking? The only big thing that's going to happen tonight is the massive paycheck Sam is going to give me for filling in for Sarah for a week straight. Seriously, I hope he follows through with firing her this time. She's not sick and we all know it. She just takes days off to get over her continuous hangover.

I put the food on a tray, grabbed the beer, and shook of the weird sense of impending… well I'm not sure what but I cleared it from my mind anyway.

I put on my "Sookie Smile" as I rounded the corner into the dining room area. (I call my fake smile that because one of the customers once told me that it made me look like I just ate a too sweet cookie. I tried calling it the Cookie Smile and the Too Sweet Smile but neither sounded right in my head. So I thought 'hey sweet+cookie=sookie right?') As I was expecting I was immediately assaulted by the thoughts of every patron of the bar.

From the guy at table 2 I got:

…Just let me have one beer tonight, Jesus. Just one beer, that's all I need. And if you just give me the strength to say "no" to beer number two then I swear…

Let's be honest. I could tell he was going to fold like a cheap suit once he got halfway through the first one. In fact I think anyone in the bar tonight could, telepathy or no telepathy.

From the woman at the next table over I heard:

…just stuffing that shit in your face without a second thought. No sir, don't you dare rag about me eating fries. Not after what I did for you in the bedroom last night, which by the way was disgusting although I kinda enjoyed it…

Umm… EWWW! I did not need to see the particular mental image that came with that! Seriously, some people are just soooo messed up!

I finally reached the booth that I was bringing the food to. The burger on the plate was for a rather sulky looking teenage boy that I already knew just by looking at him that his thoughts were going to test my patience.

…Who are these people and what the hell is this music? I feel like I'm trapped in some hillbilly's oxi-cotton nightmare. Man I cannot wait to get out of this podunk town…

At that point my patience broke. Insult my customers? Fine, I can't control who comes in here. Insult the music the bar plays? Alright, that's Sam's business since it's his bar. Insult my hometown? That's the line right there. This place was all I knew and this little shit who moved here three years ago (yes, the town is that small. I know everything about everyone… well almost everything.) had no right to dis it like that. I was about ready to shout "Then get the fuck out of dodge already!"

But then my gran's voice floated through my head (figuratively, since she was at home).

Caroline Stackhouse! Don't you dare swear at that young man! It's impolite and un-Christian and you are lady!

So instead I said:

"Well make sure you do and before it's too late because every year you wait you just get more and more stuck here. Believe me I know."

The instant I finished talking I felt like going back into the freezing and not coming out until the end of my shift. The little "Gran" in my head that acted as my conscience had kept me from saying nasty words when really it should have admonished me not to say anything at all. I had just broken my biggest rule: DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES REPLY TO ANYONE'S THOUGHTS (Yes, it deserves to be in bold and all caps because it's that important. Seriously, when I break this rule things get bad really quickly).

The family looked shocked. The kid, scared out of his wits, was wondering how I knew what he was thinking, the mom was speculating on whether I was some secret girlfriend of her son's, and the dad was… thinking about how I looked. Seriously? With his wife right next to him and me acting all weird? That's what he chose to think about right now?

And with that little episode my stress level went to maximum and I felt whatever little control I had over my telepathy go right out the window into the swamp.

I excused myself from the table as every single mental voice in the bar came crashing into my head.

I was not going to be able to last the rest of the night if I kept slipping like this.

I stopped in my tracks and tried to calm myself down. I recited that stupid little saying they teach in elementary school to help you keep your cool in my head. Stop. Take a deep breath. Count to ten. And go with self-control! After I had gotten myself under control I focused in on my "hearing." I imagined turning down the volume of a stereo.

Eventually I managed to make the thunderous noise a dull hum in the background. I took one last deep breath and got back to work with my Sookie Smile back on my face.

So, Caroline has the last name Stackhouse and works as a barmaid at Merlott's. Logic would lead you to believe that the next chapter would be about Sookie Forbes. Good guess, but no. I plan on finishing off True Blood 1x01 before I move on to The Vampire Diaries just to keep myself organized. Sorry I wasn't able to make the entire episode one big chapter. It's late at night and my bed is calling to me. "Come sleeeeeeeeeeep! This shouldn't be read in a creepy voice at all!" If I stay up any later you may wind up with a poorly spelled fic about Care and Sookie going to Pigfarts and meeting Puff the Magic Dragon on the way there. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please review/follow/favorite! And seriously: I LIKE INPUT! TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT TO SEE HAPPEN! I don't want to write a story no one wants to read.