We made it half way to my apartment in a tense, awkward silence before Godric finally spoke. The streets were mostly empty though we passed the odd couple of people every few minutes. It was a cool night so I walked with my arms crossed, hands digging into my arms anxiously.

"It has been quite some time since we had a moment to talk" Godric commented slowly.

I nodded "Yes, it has. Eric has been walking me home most nights" I added though I figured he already knew that.

Godric glanced over at me for a moment before turning to look ahead of us again "I hope he hasn't been too much trouble for you. I know how Eric can be."

I shrugged "I've adjusted to him by now, I suppose. He's a good person deep down."

Godric let out a small chuckle "don't tell him you think that."

I hummed in response and waited, surely that hadn't been what Godric wanted to talk to me about. But he didn't say anything further until we reached the entrance to my apartment building.

"Eric has brought it to my attention that perhaps there has been a misunderstanding between us, little one" Godric mentioned, reaching forward to hold the door open for me.

I raised my eyebrow at him in question, wondering what he was getting at and what Eric could have possibly told him.

"I do not want you to believe that I have distanced myself from you due to a desire to no longer be in your presence." Godric continued.

I remembered Eric mentioning several nights ago that I should talk to Godric. It had come up after I had pushed him too much in one night to further things with Sookie. I had snapped back that Godric clearly didn't want to be around me and Eric had seemed confused at first and then very frustrated. But he hadn't said much else about it so I had all but forgotten about it.

I frowned at him "so what am I supposed to think when you suddenly stop spending time with me?"

"It is only that I am trying to do what is best for your safety, little one."

"How? How is this any more safe for me?" I demanded, spinning to face him in the hallway.

Godric dropped his eyes to his hands "it is because of me that you were kidnapped Alyssa."

"It's because of you that I got out of there!" I huffed.

Godric shook his head "if they hadn't thought you were close to me…"

"They would have taken me anyway because I work at the bar! Dammit Godric, that isn't your fault and you have no right to suddenly cut me out of your life just because you decide now that I'm safer. Wouldn't it be safer to spend more time with me to make sure I'm protected, if that's your mission?"

Godric looked extremely uncomfortable to have me scolding him in the hallway to my apartment building. I wondered if my neighbors were behind their doors, watching through the peepholes.

"That is why I had Eric keep an eye on you" he admitted.

I threw my hands up and rolled my eyes "how is that any safer? You just replaced one vampire with another! It doesn't make any difference to them!"

"Eric did make a similar argument" Godric sighed.

I snorted "why didn't you listen to him?"

Godric started to speak several times before he decided on what he wanted to say "I care for you very much, Alyssa" he said softly.

My heart sped up and my stomach did little flips. It was the first time he had said anything along those lines and it renewed all the hope I had once had about him having feelings for me. Maybe it had all been a misunderstanding and I should have trusted that gut feeling from the start.

"You do?" I questioned, my voice a tone or two higher than I would have liked.

Godric glanced up at me, gauging my reaction. His eyes had a spark to them that made my stomach beat even faster. But he blinked several times and seemed to shake himself out of whatever thoughts he had.

"You see, little one, I do not have many people I can consider friends so the few I have are very precious to me. Perhaps I am a little irrational when it comes to keeping them safe. There are many people out there who would readily do me harm by whatever means possible, even by hurting you" Godric explained.

"Oh. Of course" I mumbled, looking away from him.

My hopes, which seemed to be getting shot down frequently as of late, dropped to an all-time low. My shoulders slumped and I couldn't bring myself to look at him again.

"I'm glad we cleared that up, Godric" I spoke after a moment.

Godric's head tilted slightly to the side as if he wasn't sure of something before he nodded "I believe you are right however, and I hope we can resume our previous routine of me seeing you home."

I nodded in response, pulling my key out of my pocket to unlock the door. "That would be nice" I sighed, then "have a good night" as I stepped into my apartment.
"You as well, little one" Godric replied as my door slid shut.

"You said what?" Eric demanded, slamming his fist down on the coffee table.

Godric pursed his lips "I said that I have very few friends and the ones I have are very important, or something to that effect."

"Why the fuck would you say something like that?" Pam snapped, tossing her magazine to the side.

Godric narrowed his eyes at her and tried to defend himself "you did not see the alarm in her eyes when I said that I cared about her. It would not do well to push my feelings onto her when she clearly does not return them."

"Bullshit she doesn't feel that way!" Eric roared "you don't see the disappointment I get when I show up to walk her home at night! Even now she still hopes you're going to be there!"

Godric shook his head "it is not possible, Eric for a woman like Alyssa to have such feelings for a being like me."

"And what of Sookie, then? You have professed up and down that she will return my feelings. Is she less of a woman than Alyssa simply because you do not fancy her? Or is it that you think you're worthless?" Eric snarled at his maker.

Godric sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "She deserves better than me, Eric. She deserves better than a monster. I bring nothing but darkness and danger to her life."

Pam rolled her eyes "stop spouting so much bullshit, Godric. If she was so afraid of the danger she wouldn't still work here after what happened. You're making excuses and you're toying with her. One minute you're in love and the next you don't want anything to do with her. Tell her how you feel or don't, but make up your mind."

I did my best to ignore the blatant awkwardness that had sprouted up between Godric and I as he started walking me home again. Every night I would get a little thrill to see him waiting for me at the end of the bar and every night I had to forcefully shove the feeling aside because Godric and I were just friends and that was all he wanted from me. Before, he had been warm and open when we walked, carrying our conversation easily. Now he was polite but distant, answering my questions with short detached comments. I got most of my information from Eric, who stopped by to talk to me at the bar for a couple of minutes every night.

Sookie and he had gone on a date and he had been on his best behavior which meant they had another date a couple of days later. Eric was happy in a way I hadn't seen him before. Things between him and Godric had seemed tense for a while as well but Eric always brushed it off when I commented on it.

"Eric has informed me that the house will be ready by Saturday night" Godric informed me one night when we stopped outside of my apartment building.

I smiled "that's nice to hear, Godric. Are you glad that you'll be able to live there soon?"

"Yes, it will be nice to have a space outside of Eric's bar to go to. Perhaps you would like to come and see it on Saturday?" Godric offered.

I had to admit, at least to myself, that I was pretty curious about what they had done to the house to make it suited for vampires. Not to mention that I would shamelessly grab at any opportunity that involved spending the evening with Godric. Despite continuously telling myself we were only friends and that was all we were likely to be, it all went out the window when Godric looked at me. So I agreed to go. Godric seemed pleased to hear that I wanted to see their new nest and said that if I wanted I could meet them at Fangtasia and therefore have a way of getting there.

A couple of moments later saw me shuffling into my apartment, tossing my purse in the hallway on my way to my bedroom.

Friday nights were generally busy at Fangtasia and the night was flying by. The crowd around the bar didn't seem to be getting any smaller even though it was already one thirty.

"Excuse me, miss!" A man's voice called down the bar.

I placed a drink in front of a man, collecting his money before I turned towards the voice. A man was squeezed in between two stools several feet down, hand raised to catch my attention. I flashed him a smile and made my way down to him.

"What can I get you?" I asked.

The man shook his head "I know it's busy, but I'm a journalist. I was actually wondering if I could ask you a few questions."

I glanced around the bar pointedly "you picked a hell of a night to come by" I commented.

The man shrugged sheepishly "I realize that now. I can wait, if that would be better, until things slow down here? Maybe after the bar closes?"

I thought it over for a moment before answering. I wasn't sure how Eric would feel about me talking to a journalist about the bar, but I was sure he wouldn't appreciate me doing it while I was working. Better to wait until I was off. I could just let them know that I didn't need them to walk me home. After all, I had a cell phone and money for a cab when we finished plus I had taken to carrying a can of pepper spray in my purse just in case. Not to mention that my telekinesis had come a long way even since I had been kidnapped so I felt pretty confident in my ability to defend myself against the man across the bar from me.

He was fairly slim with a kind face and a gentle smile. Deep set brown eyes gleamed out from behind a pair of thin framed glasses and dark brown hair flopped onto his forehead. He was dressed nicely in a white dress shirt and pale grey vest. A small notebook was clutched in one hand and a pen in the other.

"Sure. If you're willing to wait around until I'm off work then that's fine. It probably won't be until close to three though" I admitted.

The man shook his head quickly "no, no, that's fine! I'll wait!"

So he took a seat in the first stool that came available and stayed there, jotting things down in his notebook until he was forced to file out of the bar along with everyone else. I told him to just wait and that I wouldn't be more than a half hour before I went about cleaning up for the night.

Godric appeared like he always did at the end of the bar as I was finishing up.

"Oh, Godric. Thank you, but I don't need you to see me home tonight" I mentioned before turning to gather my things.

"I do not understand" Godric admitted after a moment.

I motioned to the door "there's a journalist outside who wanted to ask me a few questions so I'm going to talk with him before I head home tonight. I have money for a cab home so you don't have to worry about me walking."

Godric frowned "what does he want to talk to you about?"

I shrugged "I'm not sure. Working here perhaps? Don't worry I don't have anything bad to say about you guys and I know better than to reveal any secrets if that's what you're worried about."

"It's not. You do not know this man or what his intentions are. Are you sure this is safe?" he questioned.

"His intentions are to ask me questions Godric. And if he tries to do more than that, I have pepper spray and my abilities are much stronger now so I can defend myself."

Godric seemed less than convinced and opened his mouth to protest but I raised my hand to stop him "thank you for the concern Godric, but I'm going to go and I'd rather not keep him waiting any longer."

With that I picked up my purse and walked out the door.

A couple feet away, the man was leaning against the building, flipping through his page of notes. He looked up at the sound of the door closing and smiled at me.

"Thank you for meeting with me, I'm sure you just want to get home by now" he hummed.

I shrugged "it's no trouble, I need the time to wind down before I go to bed anyway. I'm Alyssa by the way."

The man nodded and held out his hand "my name is Jim. It's nice to meet you Alyssa."

We made our way to a coffee shop a couple of buildings down. Due to the late hour we were the only people in the shop besides the worker so we had our pick of seats. Jim led me to a table situated in the corner of the shop and offered to buy me a coffee. I declined and waited patiently while he made himself one.

"What can I do for you Jim?" I asked after a moment.

"Right, well you see we're trying to write a piece about human involvement with vampires. I know it sounds pretty boring but I'm interested in humans working in their world who aren't considered 'fang-bangers' if you'll excuse the term" Jim told me.

"What about them?" I asked curiously. He was right, it did seem pretty boring. There were thousands of stories about how vampire culture was taking over and the almost cult like mentality of the humans involved with vampires. If that was the kind of thing he was going to write about then I didn't want to have any part in it.

"Well, I'm sure you've noticed how prevalent news stories about people being obsessed with vampires and getting killed because of it have become?" at my nod he continued "well, I'd like to write about people who work with, or spend a significant amount of time with vampires can still be normal well-adjusted people. My main angle is that people used to have this mentality about different races, or gay people. A lot of people still think that except that it's been overshadowed a bit by vampires coming out of the coffin."

He seemed sincere enough, and eager to get answers to his questions so I let him get started. They were all fairly benign, asking about the similarities I found in working at Fangtasia compared to my previous bartending jobs as well as the differences. He asked about my relationship with them and whether the vampires I worked with had ever tried to come onto me. Since I didn't take Eric flirting seriously, especially since he had started going on dates with Sookie, and Godric had made it pretty clear that he wasn't interested in me, I hardly had to hesitate when I said that they hadn't.

Jim picked up on it and pressed me further so I had to shrug it off "it's no different than any other bar I've worked at. Patrons get a little drunk and see a pretty girl smiling and being nice to them as more than it is and they get a bit out of hand. Eric is very good about making sure no one crosses the line" I told him.

"Do vampires often try to get you to come home with them?" Jim asked, writing quickly in his notebook. I wondered if he had a short-hand that he used to make it quicker, but it didn't really matter.

"At first maybe. But even if I wanted to, Eric won't let any of his staff go home with a patron. He's worried we would get distracted picking people up and wouldn't do our job properly" I informed him.

Jim let it go and moved on to other areas. It was four in the morning before he was satisfied and I called a cab. He waited with me for my cab to arrive as his car was still parked at Fangtasia. Before I stepped into my cab, he grabbed my hand.

"Alyssa, ah, I'd like to give you my card and maybe if you wanted to get together sometime we could go out to dinner or something?" Jim offered, fishing a small rectangle of cardboard out of his pocket.

I was surprised to say the least. I hadn't been expecting him to ask me out. But I found myself smiling and taking the card from him anyway. "Thank you, I think that would be nice" I smiled before sliding into my cab.