Rachel—POV

Pam came looking for me after a while. Eric and I were still sitting on the roof, just being quiet together. I thought it was nice of him to stay; I knew he was still hoping I would come back to Shreveport eventually, but I appreciated his presence anyway. "What are y'all talking about?" she asked as she swung herself up onto the roof edge next to me.

"Monogamy" I said dryly.

She raised a brow and looked questioningly at Eric. "Just a minor disagreement", he said. "And much as I would love to stay, I have to be getting back." And with that, he swooped off the roof and was gone.

"I want to do that" I sighed.

"He's showing off" Pam said.

"I know."

She smiled a little as she gazed after the black speck that was Eric. There was sadness in her energy, but mostly she felt peaceful. "He's trying to get you to come back to Shreveport once your employment with Sophie-Anne ends."

"I know that, too." I studied Pam's carefully made-up face. No matter what, she always had her eye shadow on.

"I don't suppose you'd be willing to consider it."

"Sure. Why not?"

"His motives haven't changed, you know."

"And yours?"

She paused, then shrugged. "More or less the same. Plus the fact that I'd actually miss you."

I couldn't help laughing. Pam was making such an effort not to look at me as she said it. I reached down and took her hand. "Oh Pam...I'm truly honored."

Pam stared down at our hands, looking disgruntled. "You don't believe me?"

"Actually, I do. I can feel it. It just tickles me that you're so nervous about it. It's cute."

"Thanks a lot, brat." Pam snorted but she didn't let go of my hand. "Quite honestly, I'm starting to wonder if you've hexed me."

"Oh?"

"I'm not sentimental. I don't believe in it."

"Well, if it gets too bad, how about I just beat the hell out of you with a pillow again? Bring you back to your senses?"

"Hey, I won that fight."

"Uh-huh."

She let go of my hand and put her arm around me. It still felt weirdly comfortable, sitting with her, my head on her shoulder. I kept wondering where this new Pam had been, and what would happen when/if the old one returned. I felt her kiss the top of my head.

"Pam?"

"Hmm?"

"I hate to break the mood, but…why have you been so…"

"What?"

"Kind…" I spoke slowly, choosing my words with care. "Nice…Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you have been, but why the change of heart? A few months ago you could barely stand to be around me for two minutes and now…"

Pam sighed and rested her head on mine. "You get to me, Rachel. I don't know why, but you do. I told you once that I would be honest with you, so let me say now that like my maker, I do hope that you will come back to stay in Shreveport. Your gifts make you valuable wherever you go. But the other reason is simply that you get to me. When I'm around you I feel…"

"Human?"

She was silent for a moment. "Maybe."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"It's dangerous. Anything that makes you vulnerable is dangerous."

"Is it just the sex, do you think?"

"I don't know" Pam said, sounding irritated. "I wish I did. Is it just the sex for you, do you think?"

I thought a moment before I answered. She had been honest if sarcastic, so I wanted to be, too. "It was never that I wasn't attracted to you. It was that I couldn't ever see you caring about me or anyone else. Sookie and Eric both said not to take you at face value, but you seem pretty cold."

"Sookie said that?" Pam pulled away slightly and peered at me, her blue eyes incredulous.

"She said that vampires are possessive and because I'd been living with you and you'd been looking after me, you probably thought of me as yours, no matter how much you seemed to dislike me."

Pam laughed a little bitterly. "Well, nobody ever said Sookie wasn't perceptive. When did y'all have this little conversation?"

"It was after I hooked up with Sophie-Anne."

"Ah."

"I knew you were angry, but I didn't understand why. I never thought you'd care one way or another, and it's not like I could have told her no."

"I know that" the bitterness had evaporated; Pam actually sounded a little sheepish. Another miracle. "If you want more honesty, it kind of surprised me. I tried to tell myself it was because Eric and I didn't need you to go running off to New Orleans to be one of her dogs, but frankly, it galled the hell out of me. What did she have that I didn't?"

I couldn't help but smile. "She had the fact that she controls all of Louisiana, and that I didn't have to live with her as punishment for running away, and she didn't seem to hate me, and—"

Pam took my chin in her hand and leaned close. "Let's get one thing straight right now—I never hated you." Her lips brushed across mine like cool silk. I leaned into the kiss with a sigh. Another nice thing was that Pam had been less sexually ferocious since Tante Aurelie's death. I appreciated the consideration. Especially since she had taught me what kind of havoc frustration wreaked upon her nerves.