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Murgatroid-98: Whoot for enjoying the story!

Chapter Seven: Secrets.

"The fact that I'm getting paid for this makes me feel dirty," I said, moaning lightly as Sam's lips tackled my neck.

"I'm good with that," he muttered, pushing me back against the door again. I buttoned my jeans, sliding down against the door to better reach his lips. I began buttoning his shirt back up, while he simultaneously started unbuttoning mine.

"Sam!" I chided, finishing the last button and pushing him back a little.

He looked up, smiling, "What?"

"There's no one tending the bar."

"We were fast," he muttered, lightly kissing my nose.

I smiled, "You need to learn some self-control." I re-buttoned my top, "I don't want Arlene down my neck because I'm banging the boss or anything."

"You are banging the boss," he said, "Would you rather me fire you?"

"Of course not," I said, "I love our innuendo-laden conversations." I kissed him again, "We're just not fucking every ten minutes."

"Damn," he frowned, tucking a hair behind my ear, "Go on out, I actually have work to do."

"Thank you," I said, spinning and walking back towards the bar.

I was busy making margaritas and ignoring my cell phone when Sookie and I exchanged glances. I had a meeting with my other boss tonight, and she knew it, at which point I was verbally abusing her in my head, hoping she'd pick up on that for once.

Sam and I talked about Sookie sometimes. He said that we were hard to read—or at least, he was. He figured I was pretty much the same way, riding on waves of emotion instead of really thinking things out. It's not like she spends all her time listening to me anyway; I had the feeling she was much more focused on Sam.

It was obvious she wasn't my biggest fan. The looks she shot me every time I spoke to him, the way she felt the need to say something to one of us every time we got too close, and the fact that I could practically feel the anger rolling off of her every time she even looked at me. I don't know how to tell her that I wasn't my boss, without sounding rude or like I'm in denial.

I suppose it was just a matter of time until some of Eric actually did rub off of me, but I don't think that's happened just yet.

I hadn't seen Eric for a week. I'd been avoiding him. I really just didn't want to have to talk about Sam with Eric, and I really, really didn't want Eric meddling in with my personal life. I liked Sam, and didn't want Eric fucking that up.

I was also kind of afraid to talk to him again. I don't like being some vampire's protégé, and I wasn't really sure what Eric had in mind when it came to me. As long as I was staying on his team, I wanted to have some sort of say in what I did and didn't do, and if that meant asserting my independence by not seeing him for a week or so, that's what I was going to do.

That's how I got my promotion. It's not like a connection with Godric is going to get you an assistant position immediately. It took work. A shit-ton of work. In my phone is a complete contact list of vampires, a direct line to one of the queen's body guards, the Fangtasia employees, and a few of Lafayette's clients (vampires and users alike). I was an asset. I ran errands. I fired people. I hired people. I took care of the bar during the day. Hell, I've even tracked down some humans when Eric sent out Pam and I to find people. I helped. I didn't start that way though, my first job here was basically to keep the vampires happy.

Well, that's still my job, I just have a bunch more responsibilities.

That's why I liked Merlotte's. I just made drinks. No more complications. No more danger.

The detective came up. Andy was his name, at least, that's what Sam called him. I physically stopped my eyes from rolling.

"Hey, Andy," I said, deciding to play nice in case he remembers how ruse I was. The bodies he found were long gone, why would he be back—

He didn't suspect someone here? That was crazy. Maybe some more were killed. That wouldn't really be all too surprising.

"Um, hey," he said, looking at me like I was crazy.

I smiled, "Anything I can get ya'?"

"No, I'm on duty," he growled, "Where's your boss?"

"Sam's in the back, I'll get him for you." I turned around. It would be a lot easier to be nicer to that man if he had a better attitude.

I opened the office door and slid in as quietly as possible, looking at Sam as he counted out some cash and wrote something down with a pencil, sliding the utensil behind his ear. I giggled.

He turned quickly, "What are you laughin' about?"

"You look like such the intellectual," I said, "That detective's here to see you again."

"Andy?"

I nodded, "Out at the bar."

Sam shrugged, "Okay. Then we should probably go meet him."

When we got back out in front of the bar, I went back to making drinks, sneaking peeks at the two men as I did so.

"What's up?" Sam asked, placing two hands on the bar and looking curiously at the police officer.

Andy shuffled a bit in his seat, looking uncomfortable at my presence, Sam looked over at me and then back at Andy, and then at me again, "So," Sam said, "Have you met Addie? Addie, this is detective Andy Bellafleur, Andy, this is Addie."

"Adelyn, actually," I said offering my hand, "It's nice to meet you, detective."

He shook my hand quickly, and Sam and I exchanged glances. I turned around, grabbing another glass and making yet another drink.

"Well, there was another body found," Andy said, and I felt the glass slip in my hand. I set it on the counter and pricked up my ears. Andy lowered his voice. "Once again, just out of town. The bodies were drained this time, almost completely… I was wondering if you've seen or heard about any vampires moving around here."

"Well, I've seen the same vampires you've seen, and I honestly don't think they're capable of causing anyone any harm."

Bill and his girl? Nah.

"I'm not talking about them," Andy said, "I've got complaints of soe vamps from Shreveport coming up here, heard anything about that?"

"They haven't been in here, Andy."

Andy sighed, leaning in, "A girl went missing yesterday. Her last trip was to Shreveport. If you know anyone with any connections—"

"Are you trying to tell me something, Andy?" Sam asked.

"Where's that new girl of yours from?"

"She's rooming with Lafayette, I believe."

"Did you know she's been making trips to Shreveport almost biweekly since she's moved here?"

How did he know that? I bit my lip, spinning around and moving to the other end of the bar, so Andy could speak more freely, and Sookie could take these margaritas. Two rum n' cokes and a martini were on their way.

"Yep," Sam said, "She's got family up there."

Was he lying for me? Okay, I had to put a stop to this now. I turned around, and before I could speak Andy did, "What kind of family lives in a vampire bar."

"The vampire kind," Sam said, smiling. "It's not like I want her down there, but she's harmless."

No, I wasn't harmless.

"Nothing happened until she showed up." That is true, but just a coincidence. Godric didn't kill himself until I showed up. It's not like I wanted that to happen.

Sam laughed a little, leaning down, "Andy, she didn't do anything. She's no vampire."

"That doesn't mean she doesn't know one."

"Fuck you, Andy," Sam said, surprisingly coolly. I could tell he was mad; he wasn't very good at hiding it.

"Sam!" I whispered under my breath. Andy didn't hear me, or if he did he didn't say anything.

The last thing I—or Eric—needed was a detective snooping around our snooping around. It's not like this guy was going to be able to take on some Dallas vamps. He might as well kill himself now. I don't know anyone who's that stupid.

But, here sat Andy Bellafleur, who suspected me of helping a bunch of vamps drain civilians.

Under more normal circumstances, I would be offended, but, honestly, being a suspect made me feel kinda badass. This was especially because I didn't do a thing. Obviously, Andy didn't know of my other employer, which was enough to allow me to talk my way out of it before Eric found out.

"Well, let's see what she says," Andy said, looking in my direction, "Miss?"

"Mister?" I said, turning around and giving the most gracious smile I could muster, "Did you change your mind about that drink?"

"Um, no," he said, "Actually I have a couple of questions for you."

"Oh, really?" I asked, leaning down on the bar, turning my head to the side, "Whatever I can do, I guess…"

"What the fuck," Sam whispered as he passed behind me, finishing up my drinks.

Andy coughed, and I tried to maneuver my arms to make my breasts look bigger—anything that would help. I felt kind of… wrong, doing this, but it was either make this detective attracted to me, and make him think I wouldn't hurt a fly, or have Eric glamour him.

I hated it when Eric glamoured people.

"Why were you in Shreveport last weekend?"

"I had a meeting with the owner of the bar."

"Really?"

"Yep."

"Sam said you had family there."

I swallowed, looking down, "Well, Sam doesn't actually know the whole story, detective." He smiled a bit, he liked being called 'detective.' "My little sister used to live around here, and like a month before I moved down… she disappeared from Shreveport. She used to go to that bar a lot, and I swing by whenever I get some spare time and talk to some people see if anyone's seen her. I know it's unlikely that…" I looked down, swallowed, squished my eyes together as if I was fighting back tears, "…that I'll find her, or whatever. I mean, vampires are bad news, I know. I just… I just have this feeling that if I do nothing, nothing is going to happen. So, I do have family there… in a way."

"Holy shit," Sam muttered under his breath, eyes wide from what I understood as shock from my amazing tale. I almost smiled, but kept myself under control—I didn't even glance at him.

Andy coughed again, "I didn't know that."

"Well, no one did," I shrugged sheepishly, "And honestly, I'd like to keep it that way. I don't want people around here feeling sorry for me, or anything…"

"No, no," Andy said, "I understand. I'm sorry to take you away from work."

"Oh, it's no problem," I said, nodding, "Have a nice night!"

As soon as the door shut, I exhaled and turned to Sam. "Fuck you," he muttered, coming up and wrapping an arm around my waist, "That was magnificent."

"You really think so?" I asked, smiling and leaning in to kiss him, and then remembering we were in public and spinning out of his grasp, "Sam!"

"Sorry," he said, sighing and flashing me a grin as he bent down to pick up another glass from a lower shelf.

"It was your opinion to keep this out of the bar," I said.

He shrugged, "No one knows you yet. If they found out we were together, people may have gotten the wrong idea."

"People know me."

"Not very well."

"There's not much to know," I shrugged, "Nothing worth telling."

He glanced over, "Your crazy-ass life has nothing worth telling?"

"Not really," I shrugged, "My childhood is too messy. My time in Dallas is too deep. And my time here gets me put up as a suspect for murder," I giggled, "There's nothing worth telling."

"Too deep?"

"I worked in a vamp bar back in Dallas. And not one like Fangtasia, a real high-class place, where even the human clientele were fucking richer than you would ever believe," I smiled, "That's where I met the guy who sent me here, actually."

"What'd you do in a vamp bar?" he asked in hushed tones, calling Arlene over and loading drinks onto her tray, and then spinning and scooting me over so that Mrs. Fortenberry—who was sipping a vodka tonic and eavesdropping like you wouldn't believe—couldn't hear us.

I rolled my eyes, "What type of person do you think I am? I was entertainment."

His eyes got wide, "What?"

"Sam," I said, "What the fuck are you thinking? I was a singer."

"Like music?" he asked, wiping out a glass.

I scoffed, "Duh."

"Seriously?" he asked, eyebrows raised. I nodded.

"No, I'm lying," I snapped, "Geez. Is it really that hard to believe?"

"Yeah," Sam said, "It is."

I popped one of those little paper umbrellas into a drink and looked over, "You're not going to make me do it. So don't even try."

"Fiiiiine," Sam said, "But now, I'm not going to believe a word you say. There's no reason for me to."

I laughed, "'Course there isn't, Fido."

"Shouldn't you be leaving by now?" he asked, leaning against the bar, "I thought Tara was coming in today."

"She was," I said, "At least, according to Lafayette she was supposed to come in tonight. I don't know what one would be doing on a Thursday, but apparently she had some family business she needed to attend to." I turned, "I'm guessing you can figure out the rest on your own, you have a knack for finding things out."

"You think so?"

"Yep," I said, "I should hit it though, so… good luck tending the bar all by yourself."

"What else could you possibly be doing on a Thursday?" he asked, laughing.

"Checking up on Lafayette, and then talking to Pam," She sighed, "And then sleeping, finally."

"Keeping up two jobs is really hurting you, isn't it?" He mused. It sounded like a joke, but there was truth behind it. There was a part of him, a small part, he wasn't totally naïve, that hoped that I would just quit my work with Eric all together.

Unfortunately, that wasn't happening.

"Yeah, my boss is a real hard-ass."

"Which one?"

"Later, Boss!" I called, walking out of the bar and running towards my car.

"Lafayette!" I yelled, opening the door and walking in, "I've got fifteen, get me up-to-date before I visit you-know-who."

He walked back in, "Will you shut your pretty ass up! I've got a friend in the back who doesn't take to kindly to hearing crazy white girls yellin' in my house."

"Well, I'm sorry about that," I said, "How much is gone."

"All of it," he said, "People in this town are getting antsy, shit calms 'em down."

My eyes were huge, "All of it? That shit isn't cheap, you know, and I'm not talking literally."

"I'm a good salesman," he said, "Sue me."

"Fuck that," I said, "You got the vial?"

He tossed it to me, "Yeah, and we're going to need a lot more."

I slid the vial into my pocket, "No shit," I rolled my eyes, "Guess I've gotta make it down to Shreveport—"

"Hey," he said, "My friend is staying the night… so if—"

"Fine," I said, "You can take the house. Trust me, I wouldn't want to be here anyway," I smiled.

Ne nodded approvingly, "Good luck."

"Thanks," I muttered, turning and walking out the door, sliding into my car and turning on the radio. "This is crazy," I looked at the vial. Do that many people really buy this stuff? It was full last week, and is gone, just like that. How many people in this little bo-dunk town actually get high off vampire blood?

Ew. That's disgusting.

The last thing I wanted to know was how messed up the people around here were.

I sighed, I did know how messed up they were. It's not like I was the poster child of normality. I was a shifter—uncommon on its own—working for a vampire—practically unheard of in the shifter community—and on top of that I'm dating another shifter who hasn't told anyone he's a shifter.

Fuck, I guess I never realized how crazy things were.

And I wasn't necessarily trustworthy, I could sympathize with Sam on that level, not telling people what he was.

It made sense. It's hard to live among humans without being human, and that's the goal: blending.

Living with others like me was… not what I wanted. Shifters were much too crazy for me, they and the other supes seem to be in a world completely outside my own, and they're all obsessed with each other.

Shifters fighting werewolves fighting vampires fighting… everything—all hiding from humans.

I also hated werewolves. Repulsive.

I turned off the car, stepping out of it and into the dimly lit parking lot of Fangtasia, walking up to Pam.

"Hey."

"You smell like dog."

"You look nice, too," I said, "I'm here for pickup."

"Why don't you go hump someone's leg?" she snarled.

I rolled my eyes, "Oh, Pammy, I'm not a dog. I'm a fox. There's a definite difference."

Her eyebrow peaked, and show moved to the side, following me into the bar, "You do smell like a dog."

"You do dress like a skank," I muttered, "Eric!"

I checked his throne. There he sat, entertaining some pretty lil' thing as she sat in front of him, wide-eyed. She held that same blank look of some crazy feeling of fear and intrigue and pure lust. I will admit, Eric was… charming in his own right, but the idea of sleeping with him made me puke in my mouth.

"Eric," I snapped, "A moment of our time?"

"In a bit, shifter."

"Oh, don't get all high and mighty with me, excuse me, miss," I said, grabbing her shirt and pulling her to the side, "Pam, keep her occupied, god knows how angry the baby gets without that set of keys to entertain him."

"You're in a splendid mood," he said, fangs poking out from the sides of his mouth.

"Showing off?" I asked, "I'd appreciate it if you put those things away so we can have a conversation."

"What do you need."

I tossed him the vial, "Our friend is low again."

"It's all gone."

"All of it," I said, "Which, in my opinion, should raise some questions. Lafayette does not sell this shit cheap, believe me, and on top of that, the fact that so much of that small town in the middle of fuckin' nowhere drains that much in that amount of time scares me half to death."

He smiled, "That's smart."

"I know," I said, "But, I need to go find a place to sleep tonight, so…"

"Do you think you could give us a list of his clients?"

"Why would you need one?"

He didn't answer, just kept staring at me.

"I'll ask Lafayette," I sighed, "Now, I've got to go."

"Pam," he said, motioning her over, "Take Addie, here, to the back, give her what she came for."

"Don't call me that."

He smiled, "When do I get to meet your boyfriend?"

"You already have," I snapped.

"Boyfriend?" Pam asked.

I spun, "You didn't tell her?" I broke into a smile, giggling a little, "Is this like, a present, or something?"

"That's the smell," he said, looking back at his cohort with a devilish smirk.

"There is no smell," I sneered, "And if she comes within near a mile of Sam I will personally put a stake through her chest, don't you dare test me."

He looked surprised, she didn't. "Sam Merlotte—the shifter who came in here, with the children."

"Fuck me," I whispered, "Eric, I implore you, keep her away from him."

"Then," he said, "introduce us. I deserve to meet him, I think. We're practically siblings." He was made by Godric, and Godric saved my life. In a twisted way, he was right, but in a much more literal, much more everlasting way, he was very, very wrong.

"No," I said, "We're not. I am not a vampire. I was not made, I was just looked after. There are definite differences."

I turned and started towards his office, Pam arriving there before I did, flaunting her vampire powers. It wasn't like I could retaliate, turn into a fox just to spite her. If she would even care about that.

"He was cute, for a shifter," Pam said, offering me a sly smile as she handed me the red vial, "But he wasn't too bright." She chuckled, "I assume you two are just perfect for each other."

I stuffed the vial in my bag, turning abruptly, "Suck it, Vampira."

"I plan to," she called after me.

"Might want to pull your head out of Eric's ass first," I snapped, practically stomping out of the bar.

I walked past Eric, "I'll bring him if you promise to stay on your best behavior."

"Aren't I always?"

I shook my head on the way out, muttering, "And I'm just a little princess."

"Glad you agree," he shouted after me, and I stomped out of the bar, throwing open my car door in a mixture of anger and frustration and then slamming it hard, subsequently ramming my elbow into my side because I wasn't paying attention.

"FUCK," I yelled, falling back into the seat and turning on the car, slamming on the gas and driving away from that place, stopping at the only place I think I could stop at.

"Sam?" I said, sounding much louder than I really needed to be, but he was already outside.

"Heard your car," he said, walking towards me, "You okay?"

"Fuck no," I said.

"Well," He said, "What's the problem?"

I kicked the ground, "How the hell can you be so damn happy all the time, when we live in a fucking crazy place, in which I'm now being derided as a dog by my mortal—no, that's immortal—enemy and I have to showcase my new boyfriend to fucking Eric, like he's my father or something, all because of fucking Godric, who decided to go around and kill himself because being immortal is such a pain. Well, you know what? That's too fucking bad! Things get tough for me too, but do I kill myself? Hell no, I get the fuck over it and deal."

"So, how's Eric?" Sam asked, bypassing me and walking to his trailer, trying to hide the smile on his face.

I followed him, running around him and standing on the steps, "Can I stay with you tonight? Lafayette is… entertaining."

"Are you going to keep yelling at me?" He teased.

"Probably," I growled, "I mean, I can't believe him! He treats me like I'm a child!"

"The way you argue with that Pam, I can't really blame him."

"Don't sympathize with him," I snapped, "Besides, Pam started it."

"And that's mature thinking."

I rolled my eyes, "He wants me to bring you to him. I don't know why, seeing as the two of you have already met, which was something Pam made me especially aware of. Bitch."

"I don't see a problem with it," he said, shrugging and moving me to the side, opening the door, "And yes, you can stay."

"Thank you," I said, "I do. First of all, you have vampires—don't tell me you don't because you do. And Eric is fucking crazy, and if you hate vampires, you must hate crazy vampires. And on top of that, Pam called you cute. You're not cute!"

"I'm not?" he asked, turning quickly, "You sure you want to stay tonight?"

"I mean, you're adorable," I said, "Gorgeous, even," I smiled a bit, and then frowned, "But she can't call you that."

He smiled and let me in, "Well isn't that just sweet?"

"Almost sickly," I said, "I threatened her. To Eric. And I was serious. I don't usually do that," I walked in, tossing my bag on the floor and looking around, "Nice place."

"It's a piece of shit," he said, "You threatened her? What could you possibly do to a vampire?"

"I believe I said something to the effect of, 'personally putting a stake through her chest'," I shut my eyes, "Jesus, what the hell is wrong with me?"

"Are you calm enough now that we can backtrack on all of what you said earlier?"

"Nope," I said, "I want to… relax." I leaned against the wall, "You really don't mind seeing him?"

"No," he said, shaking his head, "Don't care," he walked over, kissing me.

"Nuh-uh," I said, "This is not a sex thing. I'm legitimately angry," I pushed him back, kissing his nose, "Let's put on some lame-o movie. Popcorn?"

"Shelf above the fridge," he sighed, "You're positive about the sex thing?"

"Damn, just keep it in your pants," I grinned, "Maybe later, of course. I am staying the night."

"I like the positive attitude," he said. I put the popcorn in the microwave, pressing start and turning to look at him.

"It's not staying. We're going to come up with a reason you can't see him."

"We don't have to," he said, "I don't mind meeting your boss."

I sighed, "The only reason he wants to meet you is some macho bullshit. Sam, you don't totally understand the dynamics of my relationship with Eric."

"What do you mean?" He snapped, head flying in my direction.

I sighed, "Not like that," I couldn't even imagine what he was thinking. He couldn't possibly believe that I would ever, EVER, do…. That. A romantic relationship with Eric would be impossible. A sexual one would make me hurt myself. "That's beyond disturbing, Sam. Far beyond."

"Good," he said, rolling his eyes and flipping through the TV channels, "So, what do you mean?"

"Godric, the fellow I mentioned earlier," I relayed, "Was Eric's maker."

His eyebrow flickered upwards, "Like, vampire-maker?"

"Yup," I said, "And Godric liked me. We were close. He was a great person—very solid. Wise," I looked over at Sam, to make sure his jealousy wasn't flaring up. "He offered himself up to the Fellowship of the Sun, which," I turned to face him, after opening up the microwave and holding the popcorn bag, "was incredibly stupid. This is why he sent me away. He knew I would tell him it was stupid, which should have been a huge reason not to do so," I looked down, "He almost died, at the hands of some crazy, scripture-yelling, sweaty little man who wasn't even worth a second of Godric's time," I opened the popcorn and searched for a bowl, "But, Eric, and your friend Sookie, and Bill," I found a bowl, emptying the bag of popcorn into it, "saved him, so he could go up onto the roof of his building and meet the sun, like the end of some fucking demented fairytale. And, he failed to mention any of this to me."

Sam's eyes weren't on the TV, yet his finger was still hitting the channel-up button. "I'm sorry."

"I know," I smiled, "I got the news from Eric. He was pretty beat-up about it, I, of course, overreacted to the extreme."

"What'd you do?"

"Freaked the fuck out and started kicking the side of the bar. Left a dent," I grinned.

"Sweet," Sam said, falling back and sitting on the bed.

"I think it so," I smiled, handing him the bowl as he turned on some old horror flick. I went to my bag, pulling off my T-shirt and trading it for a tank top, grabbing a pair of shorts—well, a pair of pants that were cut off about the knee after I ripped a huge hole in the left knee. "Godric was more important to Eric than he was to me, of course. In the vampire world, it's as if he lost a piece of himself. It's like what it feels like to lose a parent. So, I was sympathetic, but I was more pissed off at Godric for ditching me and leaving me with Eric, and more sad because I'd lost yet another best friend."

"It's not the worst thing in the world, though," he said, looking over at me as I walked and sat next to him, leaning my head on his shoulder, "I mean, none of that, none of this," he said, and I could feel his lips press against the top of my head.

"Oh, isn't that romantic," I said, leaning up and kissing him, "I know this isn't easy to take in, but I want to debrief you on my life before we sit down with you-know-who."

"Don't compare Eric to the dark lord," Sam said, "That's so nerdy."

"You like Harry Potter?"

"Got the movies from Arlene, her little girl got rid of them after she watched the fifth and saw Harry kiss Cho. She got jealous."

I laughed, "I've never really been into Harry. I'm much more of a Weasley type of girl—when I was little I was in love with those twins. Which brings me to the question: why are we watching an alien movie when we could be watching harry potter and still discussing how I can keep you the hell away from Eric Northman?"

He sighed, getting up and dropping in front of the TV, popping in the first DVD he found, suddenly turning towards my bag, "What's that smell?"

"What smell?" I asked, watching him stand up and walk towards my bag, picking it up and glancing at me.

"This bag smells like vampire," he said, sniffing.

I giggled, "Down, boy," I got up and grabbed my sack, "I just came from a vampire bar, where I was technically living for months. Of course it'll smell like vampire—DON'T OPEN IT." I screamed, tackling him while he tried to open up my bag.

"Damn!" He yelled, "What is this?" he held up the vial I had just received from Eric, not even needing to try to smell the vampire-scent practically rolling off it. Vampires were strong, like you wouldn't believe. They could tell us by smell, and we could do the same to them, easily.

But, Sam finding a vial of vampire blood in my bag was not good at all.

"Nothing," I said, grabbing it, and then retracting my statement, "This is why I don't want you to meet him. My job there isn't as clean-cut as bartending."

"Do you use this?" he asked, "Sell it? What the hell do you think you're doing, Addie? If the wrong vampire finds out about this you're dead!"

My face turned from sheepish to serious, "I know that. I know how to stay out a vampire's way, Sam, it's part of the reason I'm working for Eric in the first place. Don't underestimate me, I'm stronger than I look, and I've… been around vampires for a while. Besides, I do not use this stuff, or sell it. I'm… a… middleman?" I said the last word with a higher inflection, not even really believing the term myself.

"Like a drug dealer?" he asked, as the whimsical harry potter music began to play in the background.

"Like a drug dealer," I nodded, "Except I don't deal, I think we can both guess who does that."

"Lafayette."

"Yeah, Eric kidnapped him not too long ago, and one of the terms of letting him go was that he would sell for Eric. I dunno why, but he is. I mean, it was Sookie who got him out, at least, that's what Lafayette said, but then Eric made Lafayette drink some of his blood, so there's no way he's ever going to escape him."

"Why did he do that?"

"Sookie likes Lafayette, Eric likes Sookie. He's keeping tabs on her, and her boyfriend," I sighed, "Which is reason number two I don't want you meeting him."

"To recap," Sam said, "You don't want me seeing Eric because you don't want me to find out you're a drug dealer, and you don't want him to….?"

"It's like his hobby is finding ways to inject himself into my life, thus messing it up," I grabbed his hand, "I don't want him messing us up," I smiled, "Understand?"

He smiled, "If you were more honest in the first place, I would better," he muttered.

"Don't lecture me on honesty, Sam," I smiled, "We're both dirty liars."

"Whatever," he said, dragging me back onto the bed so we could watch the movie. I popped a piece of popcorn, "So, anything else you have yet to tell me?"

"We'll find out," I muttered, "I have stories, but—"

"But what?"

"But I have an idea," I said, smiling, "Why are you still wearing jeans? Do you sleep in jeans? I understand the pull, but… that's impractical."

"I'd have to get up to change," he muttered, "And you are just so comfortable," he said, leaning his head on mine, opening his mouth as I crammed popcorn into it. "Thank you."

"Change," I said, "I've given you fuel."

He got up, and my eyes drifted away from watching the antics of Harry, Hermione, and Ron in order to watch as Sam pulled off his shirt to exchange it for another, a surprisingly snug T-shirt that made me smile, he dug through his drawers, glancing over at me—my gaze quickly jumped back to Hogwarts, and then slid back just in time for a pair of pants to hit my face.

"Sorry," he said, "What is your idea?"

I grabbed the pants, "Truth or dare?"

"Oh come on, how old are you?" he asked, reaching for his article of clothing, which I hid behind my back.

"Twenty-three," I smiled, "Truth. Or. Dare?"

"Truth," he muttered, "I don't want to know what your mind would consider an appropriate dare."

"Fine," I said, "What do I want to know… Oh, this is good. How and why did you first meet Eric?"

"I knew this was coming," he groaned, "It's really, really complicated."

"So is the answer to a ton of the questions I know are coming for me," I smiled, "So, how?"

He looked over at me, "You know what a maenad is?"

"That's not funny, Sam," I said, throwing a piece of popcorn at him.

"I'm not joking," he said, "Her name was Maryann, she showed up here for a few months, fucked up the whole damn town," he looked serious, but I couldn't help from laughing.

"Here? In Bon Temps? Why?" I wasn't buying it, and in all honesty, I was impressed with his quick thinking.

"Well," he sighed, "That's where things get complicated. When I was a kid, seventeen, I was roaming around and I stumbled in to this house."

"Why?"

"I needed money," he said, "I didn't have some vampire to fell back on."

"Excuse me," I muttered.

"The woman there was Maryann, and that night she got some crazy idea that if she killed me—"

"As a sacrifice to Dionysus, she would finally meet her God and live in an eternal, orgasmic nirvana," I nodded my head, "You slept with her, didn't you?"

He didn't answer.

"So, teenage Sam ran around robbing houses and sleeping with lonely older women, hm?"

He got angry, telling me that I was wrong, and that he didn't even really know what was happening. It made sense, really, maenads were extremely… crazy. At least, that what I learned from books.

"She came all the way here, took hold of Tara, made the whole town go insane—she killed me, almost, Bill brought me back to life."

"And yet the two of you still don't exactly get along."

"It's better than it was," he said, "Point is, I went to Eric to see if he knew how to kill her."

"And he didn't, because Eric's a dumbass."

"No," he smiled, "He didn't."

He took his pants, pulling them on quickly and sitting down next to me.

"Truth or dare?" he asked.

"Dare," I said.

He thought for a second, "Dare you to kiss me."

I kissed his cheek, and he raised an eyebrow, "Specifics, Sam. Truth or dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you…. To…" I got up and started walking around his trailer, opening cabinets until, "Eat one of these."

"One of—that's not funny."

"Oh, yes it is," I said, shaking the box of Milkbones and grinning, "It's both funny and ironic."

"Those aren't even mine, you should ask the dog permission," he said.

I shook my head, "Oh, he wouldn't mind. Here, would you like me to get you a plate?"

"Addie-"

"Hey, just because you weren't creative—"

"Fine," he said, walking over and taking the treat, popping it into his mouth, and then throwing a hand over it.

"Aw, it is bacon flavored."

He chewed, and chewed, and chewed, and then swallowed. I leaned over a little, checking to make sure he was okay, "That's actually not that bad," he said.

"Really?"

"Yeah, wanna try one?" He grinned, grabbing the box and digging in it.

"No!" I squeeled, running past him.

"Truth or dare?" he commanded, spitting into the sink, "And, by the way, I wouldn't recommend those."

"You sure? We could deep fry 'em and serve them at the bar. Tons of people would order them."

"Not funny."

"Truth."

"Fuck," he said, looking up at me, "Okay… How did you meet that Godric guy?"

"I already told you. I was singing at that club, we talked for a little, he knew what I was, and then shortly after I left he found out I was living in my car—"

"Nice car?"

"The one that's in your front yard."

"Damn," he said, "Then he took you in?"

"Not necessarily," I said, "I didn't accept anything at first, but he kept coming back to check up on me. He said he didn't understand why I was doing that, when I could so easily take the normal way out, and steal," I shot him a glance.

"Okay. Cool."

I looked at him curiously. Sam hating vampires and Sam thinking my life with Godric was 'cool' were two totally unrelated and out-of-character concepts. It could have been his jealousy acting up—him going all revserse psychology on the subject, pretending that he was fine with everything to make me feel better. It was sweet, but unnecessary. "Cool?"

"Well, not cool," he said, "I'm just glad someone was looking out for you all that time."

"Oh, we're being protective, not passive aggressive," I nodded, "Truth or dare."

"Truth," he said, "Fuck no to all dog biscuits."

I thought, leaning back, "What are you terrified of?"

He thought for a moment, "Losing someone."

"That's deep."

"I know," he said, lips quirking into a smile. He kissed my cheek, "Truth or dare?"

"Um… let's go dare."

"I'm thinking kiss again," he grinned, "Especially since I haven't gotten the chance to brush my teeth yet."

"EW!" I said, pushing him back, but he came forward and caught my lips.

I wasn't going to lie, I could barely taste any trace of dog delicacies, and that was after his tongue invaded my mouth. So, plus for me. I pulled him on top of me, quickly ridding myself of those pesky clothes, and allowing him to quickly do the same.

SO! What'd you think? Was it nice? I hope that it was. And I hope that you review.

Do that, REVIEW!

Annnnnd, there's actual stuff happening next chapter, so… be ready for that.