a/n: who is ready for a new chapter? I know I am! who's excited for Damon to meet Sam? I am! Hehe who's pumped for Eric Northman and Damon Salvatore to be in the same room? *faints at the thought*-okay I'm back. Here we go! Happy Reading!
p.s. from here on out, at least until Delena goes home, we will be in Bon Temps! Yay!
Bon Temps
Damon pulled into the parking lot of Merlotte's beside a cute little yellow Volkswagen and gently shook Elena awake. "We're here."
"Your house?" she asked, sitting up with sleepy eyes. The music of the juke box sneaking out through the open door, the laughing and other people sounds that always seemed to follow such a place helped her realize they weren't at his house at all. "Where are we?"
Damon smiled, got out of the car and zipped around to her side. He had her door open and his hand out before she could even comprehend what he had done. "This lovely establishment is called Merlotte's. I haven't been here since it first opened." Elena watched the thoughtful expression on his face. "It sure hasn't changed too much."
"And we're going in there?" she asked, looking down at her clothes and wondering just how messy her hair was after the ride.
"Yes. I thought it would be nice to introduce you to some old friends. Plus I have a few questions for Sam."
"Who's Sam?" she asked as he dragged her in through the open door.
"That is Sam." Damon said, pointing to a slightly gruffy looking man behind the bar. Elena watched as both men's eyes connected, a look of astounded recognition on the bar tenders face.
"Fuck off!" Sam smiled, coming around the bar. "What is Damon Salvatore doing back in my bar?"
Damon grinned and released Elena to walk forward and give Sam one of those 'guy hugs' where they shook hands and wrapped one arm around each other. "I thought it was about time I came for a visit. I like what you've done with the place."
"Looks the same as last time you saw it," then he leaned close and whispered low, but Elena caught it. "you look the same too. What are you doing back here so soon?"
Damon shrugged. "This pretty thing here needed to get out of town, and I figured what better place to take her than into the sweet southern charms of Bon Temps."
Sam smiled and held out his hand to Elena. "Welcome to Merlotte's."
She hesitated for just a second, but there was something in his eyes that just made her trust him. She found herself stepping forward and taking his hand, much to Damon's relief. "I'm Elena Gilbert."
She noticed the look shared between the two men, but let it go for a second.
"It's nice to meet you Elena." There was something about the way he said her voice that made her think he didn't quite believe her. "Why don't you take a seat, anywhere you like and I'll have one of the girls come over and offer you something. Damon, would you like to talk in my office for a minute?"
"Please." He nodded, but turned back to Elena once Sam had started walking away. "Will you be alright for a few minutes?"
Elena nodded and picked out a booth with her eyes. Everyone around looked pretty harmless. "I think so. Don't be long?"
"I won't." he promised, kissed her hand and went after Sam. "Wait for me you old dog."
Elena watched them disappear into the back and sat herself in the booth, looking around at the people. There was a table of middle aged woman pointing and gossiping. Another table of men talking and laughing and drinking themselves into a stupor. A waitress with red frizzy hair served them a large plate of wings and an even large platter of burgers. "Eat up ya'll." She said, smiling and patting one with blonde hair on the shoulder. "Soak up some of that beer."
The blonde haired man wrapped his arm around her waist a little too intimately, which had a voice calling out from the kitchen. "Watch where you're putting those hands Jason Stackhouse."
The blonde man laughed and tugged the red head into his lap, kissing her thoroughly for a second, before letting her up and setting her back on her feet. "There Arlene, that outta give Terry something to yell about."
Arlene smacked Jason's head and walked away, but smiled anyway. "Damn drunken men." She muttered as she walked past Elena. "Hey hunnie, have you been helped?"
Elena shook her head. "No, I'm just waiting for Sam to give me back my…" she paused, just what the hell was she supposed to call Damon? Boyfriend was too much, and not even true yet, companion sounded too old, and friend was an understatement. "friend." She decided and looked up at Arlene. "Just a water and two menu's for now please."
Arlene nodded and went to the bar to grab the water and the menu's. By the time she got back, Elena had learned a few more names of the guys at Jason's table. Hoyt was one of them, and if she let herself admit it, he was pretty cute. Just then, a slight breeze moved through the room as a beautiful young woman with pale skin and fire red hair came into the bar. A few people stopped and looked on impulse, including Elena. She was so beautiful. Then Elena watched her walk over to Hoyt and kissed him. A suddenly scared feeling came over Elena, and she just knew that whoever that girl was, she was a vampire.
Damon had said there were vampires here, and of course it was dark outside, but she hadn't expected to see one so soon, and not one that flaunted around so obviously. The fact that she was a vampire just oozed off her, and Elena was surprised at how welcoming and happy everyone looked to see her. Arlene dropped a dark red bottle on the table in front of her and smiled. "O Negative Jess, hope that's alright."
Jessica nodded and popped the top off. "Thanks."
Elena watched as she drank back, whatever was in there. When Jessica set the bottle down, Elena saw the faint line of blood on her lips before she licked it off. This was getting too damn weird, and she suddenly felt a little more uncomfortable than before. Where the hell is Damon?
Sam shut the door to his office behind Damon once they were both inside, and locked it. "Alright Damon, what's this really about?"
Damon walked around the small room, poking and examining small things. "I told you, the girl needed to get out of town. I missed you all, and figured it was a win-win."
"Cut the crap Damon." Sam crossed his arms and leaned against the door. "Don't get me wrong, I'm glad to see you. It's been too long, but you can't play me. That's Katherine sitting out there in my bar and I want to know why."
Damon smiled and shook his head. "It's a long story."
Sam checked his watch and smiled. "I got a few minutes."
Damon sighed and let himself collapse in Sam's chair, leaning it back a bit dangerously. "That's not Katherine, that is Elena. She is Katherine's doppelganger. It has a lot to do with the vampires in my neck of the woods. The Originals and all that. Anyway, long story short…that girl is human and she is under my protection."
"Don't tell me you fell in love with her?" Sam asked, letting his arms drop. He knew just what being in love with Katherine had done to him; he'd watched it for a few years before Damon took off again. "Don't you remember what we went through last time?"
"This isn't like last time." Damon promised, standing up and clapping his hand on Sam's arm. "She is a completely different girl, she just happens to have the same face."
"I still don't like it." Sam said, but couldn't help smiling. "It's been too long. How are you adjusting to life now that everyone knows?"
Damon's smiled faded slightly. "That's the other thing I wanted to talk to you about. What the hell is all this Tru Blood crap?"
Sam's eyes widened. "Are you serious? How do you not know?"
"Know what?"
"Vampires." Sam said, doing his best not to whisper the name. Damon had been the one and only ever vampire he'd known or trusted before they 'came out of the coffin' four years ago. "Everyone knows about them."
"Fuck off." Damon took a step back. "How do I not know about this?"
"Well, it hasn't all been pretty. Quite a few people of died from it, and a few other 'creatures' shall we say have come out of the woodwork from it. Hell, I have a human, a fairy and a witch on my staff. No idea what the new girl is, and I doubt she will last long enough for me to find out anyway."
"A fairy." Damon looked at his friend disbelievingly. "You expect me to believe that fairies are real?"
"Man, if you've seen some of the shit I've seen here in this town in the past few years…you'd believe every story book and every nightmare you ever had."
Damon didn't much like the sound of it, but he gestured his arms wide. "Alright, let's have it. All of it."
"Well, this neck of the woods, these vampires here are a little different than you. I don't quite understand it. I mean, they cry blood for christs sakes."
"Cry blood." Damon crossed his arms. "Go on."
"There are still a bunch of people, especially in this town that don't like it, probably never will- but for the most part it's not too bad now. A lot has gone on in the time you left. I can't believe you never heard any of this. I mean, it's not like it's a not a world thing, the Japanese are even involved. They created a fake blood cocktail thing that vampires can drink to stay alive without feeding."
"I don't know if I much like the sound of that."
Sam shrugged. "A few of them say it's not too bad. Anyway, I guess something happened between the time you were created and these guys were created. It sure has hell as never been explained to me, but neither has the explanation of why some people are white and some are black. Just a fact."
Damon nodded, the answer seemed reasonable enough to him. A life as a fantasy creature had taught him that sometimes accepting something at face value was just the best thing for everyone. If these vampires were different than him and his kind, there was a reason for it, but tonight was not the night to get into it. "So, if I were to talk out there right now and scream 'I'm a vampire', no one would laugh or freak out?"
Sam shook his head. "Nope."
"Fuck," Damon shook his head. "that's kinda weird."
"Tell me about it." Sam opened the door and led Damon back out. "Why don't we go check on Elena? She's probably met everyone by now."
As they walked past the kitchen, a thick accented man broke off from swearing in cajun to a sweet, slightly feminine voice. "Well, well sugar. Look who's come waltzin' back into my life."
Damon froze, remembering the voice from his not too long ago past. "Lafayette." He turned towards the open window and laughed. "I must be dreaming."
"If you's was dreamin', we'd both be naked." Lafayette came around the wall to hug Damon, both of them laughing. "What the hell is yous doing back in town baby?"
Damon smiled and shook his head. "Just came to say hi."
"Bull shit." Lafayette waved his hand. "You missed my cookin'."
"Damn right I did. Go fix me up something good."
"On it."
As Sam pulled Damon away from the kitchen, he couldn't help laughing. "Like you never left huh?"
Damon smiled. "Feel's good actually, to be around people that know me, that I know. Where I live everyone either hates me, fears me or is dead."
"What about Elena?" Sam asked as Damon's eyes settled on her. She was sitting with Jason and Hoyt and Jessica.
"We're still working on it."
Elena wasn't sure how she had gotten from her empty booth to a seat next to Jason, but she had, and she was having a great time if she let herself admit it. Before her parents died, she had been pretty popular and didn't mind walking up to a new person and introducing herself, but that had kinda faded away from her. She guessed the strength and self assurance all the training and crap she'd been through in the last few years and helped her get some of it back. "So you two are together?" Elena asked, pointing at Hoyt and Jessica.
"Yep." Hoyt smiled up proudly at the girl that sat on his lap. "She's all mine."
Jason leaned over and whispered in her ear, his voice slightly slurred from the amount of beer in his system. "They just got back together after having quite a rough patch, so it's back to the honeymoon faze." He rolled his eyes. "Jess and I never got to take it that far."
Elena wasn't sure if this drunk ex-jock was telling her all his secrets for a reason, but she had learned fast in the last few minutes to just nod her head and smile. "I wonder where Damon is." She said to herself under her breath.
"Someone wishing for me?" his familiar voice sounded like velvet over her skin, soothing her senses and relaxing her a little more.
She turned and smiled at him. "Talk about everything you had to?" she asked, standing up.
"Skimmed the surface." She smiled and faced everyone that she'd been sitting with. "Who are you're new friends?"
Everyone introduced themselves and moved over so Damon could sit with them. Just as they were all settled in and Damon found himself getting comfortable with the new generation of Bon Temps, a sense he couldn't describe came over him. It was astounding, how drawn to turning around and looking for it, he was. It was like sunlight calling him, blood tempting him and the most wonderful perfume clouding his senses. For just a moment, but a moment long enough it made him forget about Elena, and he turned to look at the door. There was a tall man with short blonde hair, almost as tall as the doorway, but what captured Damon's attention was the short petite blonde with him.
At first it had just been the 'something' about her that had called him too her, but now as he looked he could tell what it was that was going to make it possible to forget her. The same dark brown eyes, the same jaw line…it was like looking at Adele, but a slightly abstract version. Beautiful nonetheless, but still different. Damon found himself standing and moving toward her before he even knew he was out of the seat. Her eyes connected with his across the bar, slight fear and intense wonder in them. She stepped forward to, the slightest of smiles on her lips. The blonde haired man behind her grabbed her arm roughly and pulled her back.
Damon looked up, seeing the other man's fangs extended, his instincts responding instinctively with the same response. Elena came up and grabbed his arm, pulling him back. "Damon, what are you doing? There are people here."
"Shut up." He ordered, keeping his eyes on the other vampire.
Just then the slight scent of wet dog, just the faintest little hint had Damon's eyes shifting towards the door as a tall, extremely muscular man with a beard came in behind. "Oh, what the hell is this?" he exclaimed and stepped forward to grab the vampires arm. "Cool it will ya Eric? You're going to bruise her."
"I can take care of myself Alcide." The blonde snapped and stepped closer to Damon. "I know you." She said slightly and reached down to dig something out of her purse.
"I don't care who he is." Eric hissed and stepped forward again. "You stay away from him."
The blonde girl glared at him over her shoulder. "Eric, I said I can handle this. He's not gonna hurt me."
"And what makes you so sure of that?" Damon asked, stepping away slightly from Elena. He was too focused on the girl in front of him to notice the pained expression on her face.
"Because, you were in love with my grandmother." She handed him the newspaper clipping. "I'm Sookie Stackhouse, and you must be Damon Salvatore." She held out her hand, smiling cheerfully.
a/n: I think that was my longest chapter yet. Hope you all enjoyed it. I think I got a little bit of everyone in there. Yes, jess and hoyt are back together. I just can't stand them being apart, so thanks to the wonderful freedom that fanfiction gives a person, I put them back together. I do so love layafette! Hope I did him justice, I really tried. It's a little awkward cuz this is the first time I've written most of these characters, but I hope I'm making ya'll happy. *excuse me while I go talk in a southern accent now* please review!
