Chapter Two

With Alcide around, it was almost impossible for her to be mopey, but somehow Sookie managed it. A couple times that afternoon, she burst into tears without any warning, and hide her face in the throw pillows on her couch. Alcide knew to keep his distance; somewhere around three in the afternoon he escaped up to the guest bedroom. For almost twenty minutes, Sookie just listened to Alcide walking around upstairs. His footsteps sounded like pacing, as if he was moving back and forth from one side of the room to the other—probably putting away his clothes and making himself feel at home.

Sookie figured that she should offer her assistance; after all, she needed to do something to get Bill out of her mind. With great effort, Sookie pushed herself from the couch and padded up the stairs as she wiped away the sheen of tears from her rosy cheeks. Alcide didn't close the door to the guest bedroom, but she knocked lightly on it anyway so she wouldn't scare him. "Need some help?" Sookie asked, hating the way her voice sounded.

"No, but I'd love some company if you're up for it," Alcide said with a small, knowing smile. He had been there, of course. He knew what she was going through—in fact, he probably understood heartbreak better than Sookie had. He was engaged to Debbie when she had fucked some other guy, and that couldn't have been a walk in the park for him. "Just promise me one thing?"

"What's that?" Sookie said through a tiny hiccup as she perched herself in the middle of the bed, crossing her legs in front of her as she leaned against the bed frame.

Alcide turned to grab a plaid button-up shirt (he had to have a million of those darn things) and worked it onto the white plastic hanger in his hand. "No more tears," he said with a grin before he stowed his shirt away in the cramped closet.

"You're really going to have to distract me if you want that," Sookie said with the faintest smile on her lips.

"Well, I know a couple different ways I can distract you," Alcide said happily.

"I already told you I am not going to sleep with you, or do any other sexual stuff." Sookie folded her arms over her chest stubbornly and gave Alcide a curt nod, but she couldn't stifle her chuckles.

"Fine," Alcide said, fishing out another plaid shirt from his duffel bag. "Why don't you tell me about your family?"

Sookie almost pipped back, asking about what family, but she did have her brother. "Well, you've met Jason, so you know what he's like. My parents died when I was young, and my Gran was murdered not too long ago. I suppose that's...well, I also have a cousin named Hadley. She came by out of the blue a bit before Debbie showed up. I hadn't seen her in God knows how long before that." She really hoped that Alcide wouldn't pity her; he must have a rather close-knit family. Sookie never really had that opportunity after her folks died in that flood, but she was used to it by now.

"Really? What did she want?" Alcide asked, stowing away a pair of worn and faded blue jeans.

She hesitated; the message that Hadley gave was a strange one, mainly because it was from Eric Northman. Sookie was still curious as to how she knew him, but still had no answer. "Just that everyone and their brother are coming after me now, it seems," Sookie said, conveniently leaving out the don't-trust-Bill part.

"Well, it's a good thing I'm here," Alcide said in a matter-of-fact tone, pulling out a pair of dark gray boxer briefs.

Sookie flushed a light rosy color at the sight of them. "Hey, those aren't plaid!"

Alcide held the pair in his hand with his eyebrows cocked. "That's right...they aren't." He looked so confused that it was almost cute. "Are they supposed to be?"

"Well, practically everything you wear is plaid!" Sookie protested, propping herself up on her knees.

"I've been told that it suits me," Alcide huffed, tossing his boxer briefs in the opened drawer.

Sookie tilted her head to the side like a curious pup. After she stared at Alcide for a moment or two, she finally announced, "It does."

Alcide released a small chuckle before grabbing his duffel bag, folding it up, and placing it inside the closet. "All done."

"That's all you brought with you?" Sookie asked incredulously.

"Yep, I figured I shouldn't be too cocky and pack for a couple of weeks," Alcide said, sliding his index fingers through his unused belt loops. "I'll eventually have to go into town and get some more clothes, I think."

Sookie wondered if he actually under-packed because he was hopeful that she'd say yes about joining him back in Jackson, but she didn't look into Alcide's brain for the answer. "Can I come with you, if you go on a day I have off, that is?"

"Sure you can," Alcide said, looking as if he wanted to go right now, but it was nearing dinnertime. "You can let me know what looks good."

She thought that just about anything would look good on Alcide. Even though she was dealing with her broken heart, she had to admit that he was easy on the eyes, and he also felt good beneath her palms...Sookie had to stop herself; she was emerging into dangerous territory. She didn't want to say anything brutally open and honest like she did last time Alcide was with her—when she told him that if she knew what was good for her, then she would have fallen in love with a guy like him. "We'll probably have to go into Shreveport."

"Fine with me as long as we don't have to go see Eric." Alcide didn't care too much for vampires.

"We can go during the day," Sookie suggested as she started to maneuver herself out of the soft guest bed. She faltered a bit on her way off the mattress, and Alcide held out a hand for her. Sookie grabbed it, and he easily helped her out of the bed—a little too easily; Sookie stumbled over her feet and fell into his arms, the side of her face was pressed against his warm chest. "Oops, my bad," Sookie said, immediately drawing herself from Alcide's body with sanguine cheeks.

Alcide slowly inhaled her scent. She smelled like springtime to him; fresh and clean, sweet and airy. "You smell nice."

Sookie's cheeks flushed a deeper shade of rosy red. "Must be because of those bath beads."

"Must be," Alcide repeated, his voice low.

She stared into his beautiful brown eyes for several moments before Sookie came to her senses and announced, "I should start making dinner."

"Want some help?" Alcide asked, following Sookie out of the guest bedroom and down the stairs.

"Uh, no, you cooked a steak for breakfast in a wok when I was in Jackson, remember? I think we ought to leave the cooking to me," Sookie responded playfully, leading Alcide into her much loved kitchen. The sun was still shining into the kitchen, lighting up the room with fading sunshine. It would probably be dark in a little under two hours, and Sookie sure as hell hoped that Bill and any other vampire wouldn't decide to show up on her doorstep, asking to come inside. "What do you feel like? I have hamburgers or bratwursts ready to be made."

Alcide looked thoughtful. "Do you have beer?"

What a strange question. "Um, no?" Sookie wasn't much of a drinker. She only kept beer in the house for Jason and he recently polished off the last of it.

"Then hamburgers," Alcide said with a grin. He liked bratwursts a lot, but only when they were cooked in beer for flavoring.

Sookie preferred hamburgers today anyway, so she set to work. She liked her meat cooked to medium, but figured that Alcide probably liked his meat a bit more red and juicy. So, she made a variety of different patties, some for her and some for him. Sookie paired the hamburgers with potato wedges and different fresh vegetables to garnish the burgers. As she was chopping up a head of lettuce, she felt hot breath on the back of her neck and heard Alcide inhale her scent nice and slow.

"A-Alcide?" Sookie asked. Her hands were still and she held her breath when one of his large hands rested on her hip. "What are you doing?"

"You're adorable when you're cooking," Alcide said, nuzzling his nose against the nape of her neck. "You made the funniest noises when you touched the raw meat, and your nose scrunched up when you plopped it into the pan. You hummed to yourself when you were slicing the tomatoes." He placed his hand over hers, the one that was holding the cutting knife, and grabbed an onion with the other. "Let me help you chop this up."

Her breath was shaky when she inhaled. "Alcide, you're just doing this because you're lonely," Sookie said in a low voice.

He stilled behind her. "I am doing this because I want to and because I like you, not because I miss the touch of a woman," he explained, breathing in her sweet scent again before he lightly ran his lips across the back of her neck, not quite in a kiss, but more so to test how her flesh felt beneath his warm mouth. "Close your eyes so the onion doesn't bother you. I'll cut it up."

Sookie sighed, but shut her eyes. She felt Alcide tighten his hand around her hand that was holding the knife, but not painfully so, and he guided it to where his opposite hand held the onion in place. In one swift swipe of the blade, he cut the already peeled onion in half. As he chopped the onion up in thin slices, Sookie's head fell back, resting against his shoulder as she nestled her nose into the crook of his neck.

When the onion was finally burger-ready, Alcide pulled the knife from Sookie's hand and turned his head to capture her lips. Sookie gasped and stilled again, but quickly started to kiss Alcide back. His lips were so soft and warm, and his facial hair tickled her face. Sookie reached her hand up to cup the back of Alcide's neck, trying to pull him closer into her. Her mouth opened easily, and she felt Alcide's tongue dive inside her wet warmth, exploring her mouth in smart strokes. His kiss was a lot different than Bill's; she could hear his heartbeat, he felt alive and healthy and hot. Sookie wanted to stay here in her kitchen kissing Alcide for hours, but when she felt an obvious strain in Alcide's pants start to develop against her body, she pulled back.

"We should stop," Sookie panted, opening her chocolate brown eyes slowly to meet Alcide's.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that," Alcide said weakly as he stepped back from behind Sookie and held his hands over his front to conceal the slight bulge in his pants till it subsided.

Sookie's cheeks blushed a fierce pink. "No, it's fine. I wanted you to." Awkwardly, she brought her hand up to pat his shoulder and set back to cooking. "Dinner will be ready in a minute or two. I just have to get everything together."

She spread out the lettuce, tomato slices, onion, and pickles on a little plate. Sookie also melted some cheddar cheese on the patties and browned the buns in the oven for a couple of minutes. She got out the ketchup, mustard, and mayonnaise since she wasn't sure which condiment Alcide favored. "Ready!" Sookie announced happily as she pulled out two plates and passed one to Alcide.

"It looks and smells really good, Sookie, thanks," Alcide said before piling his plate high with food and digging in.

When they finished eating dinner, Alcide said something that Sookie definitely was not expecting. "I think we should be together."

"What?"

"We'd be good together." His thoughts were completely genuine.

Sookie looked shocked, and she certainly felt that way, too. "But you're still not over Debbie." That was the only protest she could think of.

"I am, though," Alcide argued, reaching across the table to place his hand on Sookie's. "She's dead to me after she attacked you that way."

He was genuine about that, too, or at least genuine enough. Even though he meant what he said, Sookie was still hurting. Bill broke her heart with the things he had said on the phone, and she wasn't sure if she could easily trust another man after all that. She also didn't know how Alcide would deal with her telepathy on an everyday basis. It didn't seem to be a huge issue when she was in Mississippi, but they were apart a lot of the time, or focused on other things besides each other.

But a huge part of her was attracted to Alcide in countless ways, and she assumed that it was that part that allowed her to say, "I'll consider it, alright?"

Alcide's mouth erupted in a wide smile, and his thumb stroked her soft hand slowly. "Alright."