A/N: Okay, another chappie for my lovely, wonderful reviewers! I know it's on the short side :( (sorry, that seems to be the trend lately) but I have another chapter waiting in queue that I might be persuaded to release this weekend instead of next week… *wink wink* Hope you enjoy!

"You're joking, right?" The words were out of her mouth before she could consider how wise it was to ridicule a vampire's plan. She paused, this didn't seem like Eric's brand of thinking. Her eyes narrowed as she slowly pivoted toward Sookie.

"It's the fastest way," she said in that earnest Southern drawl Ava was coming to detest.

"It's suicide," Ava said slowly, as if she were speaking to a particularly dense child – which, was not that far from the truth. She could see Bill nodding in strong agreement from behind Sookie.

"This is not matter of asking for your approval," Eric snapped. "You are being informed of what will happen. Your role will come later, once Sookie has discovered where Godric is being held."

"Fine," she bit back curtly. "It's not like us humans matter, right?" She didn't wait for an answer and whirled sharply around, slamming her bedroom door behind her.

She was very methodically ripping apart tissues into a fine pile of squares when Eric flung open the door. The heap scattered as she jumped in shock, and she swung her back toward him and crossed her arms angrily. Real mature, she thought to herself.

"Ava."

"Ava," he was in front of her now. She moved to turn the other way, but his strong arms grasped her firmly around the shoulders.

She scowled crossly, "You suck."

Surprise flashed across his face before he smirked, "Yes, I do."

She rolled her eyes, "That's a tired joke."

"It made you smile," he pointed out.

"Did not," she lied.

"Did too."

"Did not," she stuck her tongue out childishly.

"Don't tempt me," he chuckled ruefully as he seated himself beside her. He continued before she could ask the question floating on the tip of her tongue, "The plan stays." He held up a hand, anticipating her protest, "It's not perfect, and it's not foolproof, but it's the best one we have. Sookie will be fine, Bill will ensure that. You will be fine. I will ensure that. Is that acceptable?"

She nodded dumbly. What did he mean by that? Did he, could he…care about her?

No, her mind rejected.

She was being ridiculous, trying to read things that were not there.

Wasn't she?

The door shut, she hadn't even noticed him standing up and leaving, and on the other side Eric leaned weightily against it.

"You matter," he musters – giving form to the words only because he knows that she won't, can't, hear them.

**

Ava was standing in her bathroom half an hour before sundown, towel wrapped around her freshly-showered (she fully intended on using this miracle shower as many times as possible) midsection, as she stared exhaustedly at the foggy vanity.

30 minutes of sleep, in 5 minute increments.

Taking a deep breath, she rubbed her face tiredly before rubbing clean the steamed mirror. "Holy shit," she swore violently as she caught sight of a figure behind her.

She spun around and moved to slap Eric across his laughing face, although he caught her wrist before she could make impact. "Don't do that," she snapped irritatedly, letting her hand drop. His hand remained steadfastly clasped around her wrist.

"You shouldn't hit people," he said teasingly, his voice light with laughter.

She eyed him suspiciously. He was awfully cheery for someone about to break into a terrorist/church camp to rescue Sookie and Godric. Although, she mused absently, that probably was his idea of fun.

"You shouldn't scare the living daylights out of people."

"But I don't like light," he retorted

She snorted inelegantly at that. "Is there any particular reason you're creeping in my bathroom?"

"I'm not creeping," he corrected. "I waited until you were done with your shower and dressed before I snuck in."

"The key word in that sentence being "snuck,""she pointed out.

"Semantics."

"I'm not dressed either."

"Close enough," he shrugged negligently, his eyes lingering for a moment on the stretches of white skin tantalizingly within sight.

She rolled her eyes as she turned back toward the mirror, "Creeper." Uncapping her Neutrogena moisturizer-sunscreen (she had found it on the rather extensive list of amenities that Eric had tossed at her yesterday when he had awoken at sundown), she steadily applied a thin layer to her face and neck.

"You don't need sunscreen," Eric spoke up from behind her.

"I guess it's just habit."

"Habits should change. You're not in the sun anymore," he insisted.

"I might go in the sun."

"Do you always have a backup plan?"

She paused, and put down the container. "Yes," she said, unable to ignore the unsettling feeling that they weren't just talking about sunscreen anymore.

"Do you trust me?" his asked after a slight pause.

"Should I?"

"No," he whispered, stepping so close to her that she wondered that he wasn't touching her. He pressed a soft kiss against the smooth expanse of her neck, and her skin tingled where they met his. It took all his self control not to press his fangs, which had descended, into her now-rapidly pulsing vein and take a taste of that all-so-seductive blood. But his lips lifted, her skin still intact, and he pushed the sunscreen into her hand.

Eric stepped back and strode away before he couldn't, and – had he been human – he would've never heard her soft reply.

"I trust you."

The bottle clattered to the floor.

A/N: Read and review? :D :D Please? :D