So I guess I'm going to do an update every Sat. Thanks everyone who left reviews and favorites and follows. :] It's very encouraging. Please leave more! lol

The drive to Eric's was a silent one, and I felt myself struggling to stay awake. I must have lost the battle because when I opened my eyes I was being carried into a living room by Eric. I jumped and felt Eric tighten his grip slightly before setting me down. "I was going to just put you to bed since you were wore out." he said. "I would have left you a note to wake up to."

I nodded silently and looked around the house. It was big, that was for sure. And I loved the art that lined the walls. I didn't see the one thing I was looking for though- the bathroom.

"Bathroom?" I asked. Eric nodded toward the staircase.

"First door on the right."

I went upstairs and found the bathroom quickly. It was painted a light blue and had a bathtub to the right that I was pretty sure I could swim in if I really tried. Why did someone even need a bath that big? A shower head extended from the ceiling over the tub, and a his and her sink was set up against the far left wall. The toilet was against the back wall, and I was very happy to see it.

After some time to tend to my needs, I gave myself a good look in the mirror. It was more horrible than I could have imagined. My light brown hair was matted and caked with blood, and my eyes had dark circles under them that made it look like I hadn't slept in weeks. I was covered in dirt from being on the ground earlier, and I still had blood crusted on my throat and chest even though the wounds had healed. It was disgusting. I felt mortified as I realized I'd been standing around talking to people while looking like this.

There was a light knock on the door, the only warning before Eric barged in. I silently thanked God that I wasn't still sitting on the toilet. "I put some clothes for you to sleep in in the bedroom across the hall, and there's some towels in the closet right behind you to use after you get yourself cleaned up." He stared at me as if he expected me to get to business right away. I blushed and crossed my arms infront of me. "Shy?" Eric asked.

"I am not getting a shower with you in the bathroom." I said flatly. A smirk made it's way across Eric's face.

"As you wish." he said, and suddenly he was gone.

The shower felt heavenly as it rained down on me. It had been so long since I had taken a real one that I used up an entire hour just washing out my hair and covering myself with suds. It was sad to get this excited over getting to use a shower. I didn't even mind that all of the soaps had manly smells. Beggers can't be choosers.

Once my body was dry and my hair was combed, I wrapped myself in a towel and quickly ran across the hall to the bedroom. I was not about to let Eric get any kind of a peepshow. Just as he said, there was a pair of sweatpants and a black tshirt folded up neatly on the bed. I slid them on and silently wished I had some clean underwear to put on. I didn't give it too much thought, however, because I was dead to the world as soon as my head hit the pillow.

When I woke up the next day there was a note on the table beside my bed.

Anna,

Hopefully the pants and shirt I left you last night will be good enough for you to go shopping in. I called my daytime runner, Leah, to come get you around three. She'll take you to buy some new clothes. Also, pick up some food that you'd like since my dining selections for humans is scarce in this house.

P.S.- You look good in my shirt.

-Eric

I immediately felt myself blush. How long was he in here last night while I was asleep? That was so creepy! I checked the clock and it was already 2:30. I must have been really tired last night.

As I scrounged around the drawers of the bathroom sink, I finally managed to find a ponytail holder. My hair was the only thing I could work with this morning since I had no other clothing options. I was deeply embarrassed that I didn't even have a bra to slide on since the wolves had managed to shred the one I had been wearing.

Leah pulled up in a black Dodge promptly at 3:00. She was dressed in black slacks and a dress shirt and actually gave me a genuine smile. Our conversation was lacking since I wasn't sure what all she knew about me. I really doubted that Eric had gone into any details.

We drove to an outlet mall just a few miles into Shreveport. Leah walked around with me and did the faithful duty of swiping the credit card when the time called for it. I felt really awkward about this. I hated when people bought me things. It made me feel like I was getting handouts.

I tried my best to only get what I needed. I bought several pairs of underwear, a couple bras, two pairs of jeans, and a handful of tshirts. As I looked at my shoes I realized that my worn pair of Converse might just not cut it anymore and I decided to get a new red pair. I felt a little bad about buying those. My original pair could probably have still made it a couple more months.

At the grocery store I mostly bought things that I could throw in the microwave. Ramen noodles were high on my list. It had been a while since I had a stove to cook them on and they sounded incredibly yummy at the moment. One thing I was excited to buy was some tea packets and sugar. I needed some sweet tea like nobody's business.

Once our finale purchases were made we started back to Eric's. Suddenly I remembered something I needed to ask Leah. "Do you think we could go by Fangtasia? I don't need to go in, but I left something in the parking lot last night."

Without any hesitation Leah took the next street and circled around to go towards Fangtasia. When we arrived I looked at her nervously. "I'll be right back." I said, hopping out of the car. In a minute I was around the other side of the building and squeezing myself in behind the dumpster. When I emerged back into the open I was carrying my backpack that I had left the night before. I had been too embarrassed to tell anyone I needed it last night. I didn't want them to see that I had been sleeping in this parking lot for a while.

When we got back to Eric's I told Leah goodbye and thanked her for driving me around today. I wondered what kind of payment Eric gave her. It must be a pretty penny. I wouldn't even mind having a job like that. I wonder if it ever got dangerous.

The sun was just going behind the trees when I went into Eric's house, so I knew he wasn't up yet. I put away all the groceries into the kitchen and then went upstairs to dump all my new clothes out onto the bed. As I placed them all into seperate piles I thought I heard someone walk into the bedroom, but when I looked there was just an empty doorway. As I turned back towards the bed I saw Eric standing next to it holding up one of my new bras.

"Care to model?" he asked, a smirk playing across his face. I reached up and snatched the bra from him.

"I'll pass." I said, shoving the bra back onto it's appropriate pile. I felt a small swell of worry start to build up in my stomach. I had felt okay all day while out with Leah, but now that Eric was awake I was nervous again. I was scared of him. I didn't know why he wanted to know what I was so badly, and I really don't think I wanted to know what he would do if he found out I was in fact something otherworldly. He kept saying the Weres had tried to kill me, but I couldn't even trust him to not kill me himself. As if he could read my mind, he spoke.

"You don't have to be scared, Anna. I have no intention to kill you at the moment."

I stopped messing with the clothes on the bed and looked up at Eric. When I saw his eyes boring into me I looked back down.

"Why don't you keep eye contact?" he asked. I felt my hands start to shake and I crossed my arm to stifle them. "It makes you nervous. Why?" I gave a small shrug and forced myself to look up at him.

"I'm fine." I lied. Eric took a step towards me and I took an involuntary step back. So much for looking like I had any backbone at all.

"I can feel your emotions, Anna. I know you're not fine. I know you're scared of me. I know you're worried I'm going to hurt you. And I know that anytime you see eyes on you, you immediately start to get nervous and anxious. What I want to know is why that is." Eric took another step towards me and I made myself stand still this time.

"I don't really know." I said. "I just can't stand for people to look at me. Self-conscious or something I guess... How can you feel my emotions anyway?" I looked up at Eric's eyes and managed to hold them a full three seconds before looking at his shoulder.

"When I gave you my blood it created a bond between us. I can feel all your emotions now and I'll know if you're in danger and where you are at all times."

I felt my hands start to shake even more. Anna, everything's okay. I thought to myself. He just knows emotions. It has nothing to do with your personal thoughts. Just calm down and breath. My personal pep-talk wasn't working very well. I was such a closed and private person that I couldn't even imagine someone being connected with my emotions or any other part of me. I was a loner that didn't trust anyone, especially not this vampire. I could feel another panic attack rearing it's head and I silently cursed myself. Suddenly I was sitting on the bed and Eric was crouched on the floor in front of me.

"Deep breaths, Anna." He pulled my chin to look up at him and at it made my anxiety spike. Attention on me was the last thing I needed at the moment. "There's no reason to be nervous around me. I promise." Eric brushed his hand across my hair and I tried to focus on that feeling instead of his eyes. I did find it to be slightly soothing. After a few minutes of Eric playing with my hair and making soft shushing sounds, my anxiety had passed without turning into a full attack. I was very embarrassed and as soon as he moved his hand I allowed my eyes to look away from him. It was a huge relief.