When Layla awoke in the morning she was groggy, but stumbled up the stairs to find Alcide passed out in bed. She climbed in and kneeled beside him, poking him until he woke up.

"What?" he grumbled sleepily.

"Get up and tell me what happened last night." Layla grumbled back, her eyes still half closed. Alcide rolled onto his back and flopped an arm over his eyes.

"It's too goddamn early for this." he groaned. Layla stretched her arms above her head and yawned.

"Yeah, well, let's go grab some breakfast and talk. I think we have some catching up to do." Layla said. Alcide sighed but got up.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They sat across from each other in a diner booth. Layla sipped at her coffee while working her way through the massive breakfast she had ordered.

"So, you don't have a pack anymore?" she asked after Alcide had summed up what had happened with Sam and Marcus, and then Marcus and Debbie.

"Nope." Alcide told her, shoveling a forkful of egg into his mouth.

"And Debbie's gone for good?" she asked. "Now that you've adjuncted-"

"Abjured." Alcide corrected, shaking his head at her failure to grasp werewolf terminology.

"Abjured, okay. Well, now that you've done that she like officially dead to you or something?" Layla asked. Alcide nodded and Layla reached across the table to squeeze his hand. "I'm sorry, Alcide."

"I'm sick of telling you all of my problems. Why don't you tell me some of yours." Alcide said. Layla snorted and took a sip of her coffee.

"I don't have any problems." Layla said. Alcide gave her a look and she smiled weakly.

"The same usual bullshit with Eric. It's the same thing Bill does with Sookie. No matter what happens I feel like it's my job to make sure he's okay."

"It's not. He's a thousand year old vampire. He can take care of himself." Alcide chided gently.

"Yeah except when he can't." Layla argued. "Like when witches erase his memory or try to burn him at the stake, or when he tries to sacrifice himself to save someone else. Ugh, just, let's not. I'm so angry with him. I can't think about him without all these stupid emotions bubbling up and if I start crying onto my pancakes I will become seriously pissed off." Layla said.

"Can I ask you something?" Alcide asked, peering carefully at her.

"Sure." Layla agreed with a shrug.

"You used to hate the way he treated you. If he so much as looked at Sookie, you were furious. Now he has actually gone ahead slept with her and you barely seem pissed. It's like he's done the worst thing and you're just shrugging it off." Alcide said.

"Well, the old you would have been spraying him down with silver nitrate and kicking his ass for betraying you. I think I got more shit when you thought I had cheated on you, which I didn't for the record." Alcide said evenly. Layla narrowed her eyes.

"Let's not go near what happened between you and me in the past unless it's the good stuff, okay? As for Eric, I guess I'm more angry with Sookie. I was dating the guy and didn't take advantage, and she did. It was wrong. Eric was innocent when he slept with Sookie. He didn't know who I was, or what I was to him, but when he got his memory back, he remembered everything that had happened while he hadn't been himself. So, he remembered me screaming at him, and not caring if he died, and he probably thinks I had an affair with Bill or possibly you, and on top of it all, I think he and Sookie really did fall in love." Layla said. "I hate it, but that's it. I could try to repair what we had and chalk all of it up to another thing I forgive him for, but I don't want to. Eric fell in love with Sookie, and I can hate them both for it, but that's not something that just goes away. It would be one thing if it was just sex and it was Eric being Eric, but it wasn't. It was him giving his heart to someone else." Layla paused and licked her lips, tapping her fork against her plate as she thought. "I still want him. I still love him, but luckily for me I am just so disgusted by it all that I don't even want to be near him. I don't even know how he could ever convince me that he loved me again."

Alcide sighed. "Not that I'm exactly rooting for Northman here, but you know that none of that means he stopped loving you... theoretically speaking. Assuming that fucker is even capable of love, which I seriously doubt."

"Fine, maybe he does love me. Too bad. He fucked up too badly this time. He fell in love with someone else. Even though I know logically that it was innocent and he never meant to betray me when his memory was gone, I can't just get over that." Layla said, as her eyes filled she sniffled and shoved more food in her mouth. "Enough talking about him. Don't you have work?"

"Yeah." Alcide said, sliding out of the booth. "What are you going to do all day?"

"Sleep. I've been on such a weird schedule lately, and this whole being up in the daytime is draining. I'll probably sleep till sundown and then job hunt online." Layla said as they left.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was late in the afternoon when Layla's cellphone began to vibrate, waking her up. The caller i.d. said ALCIDE.

"Hey, what gives? You're interrupting my beauty sleep." she groaned.

"Debbie's gone missing." Alcide said frantically. Layla sat up and pushed her hair back from her face.

"What do you mean 'missing'? I thought you 'saw her no more' anyway." Layla asked.

"Her parents are in town. She called them, said she was coming home and never showed." he explained. "I know she's back on V, and to top it all off they found her car abandoned near Sookie's house. Cash, credit cards, and her id all still her wallet." Layla sighed.

"Do you want to go looking for her?" she asked.

"No." he said firmly. "But I think I should tell Sookie. I'm going to swing by Merlotte's after work."

"Well, could you pick me up first? That way I can grab my car and then maybe we can have a drink, okay?" Layla offered, hoping it would keep him calm.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Layla was only a few minutes behnd Alcide as she pulled into a parking space at Merlotte's. Her jeans were artfully shredded and she was wearing a black and blue flannel over a black t-shirt and her favorite combat boots. Walking in she saw Alcide duck into the back of the restaurant just as there was banging. She followed him to see what was happening.

Sookie was standing there in her uniform asking Lafayette, who was sprawled out on the floor, if he was okay.

"What in tarnation? Oh my god!" Arlene said as she and Sam rushed in as well. Layla's eyes went wide as Tara, covered in blood, stepped out of the freezer.

"Tara, what are you doing in there?" Sookie asked, smiling.

"Seriously, Sookie? This is your plan? To pretend none of it happened?" Tara said flatly.

"Why don't we talk about it outside? Alone?" Sookie asked. Layla watched them both and even glanced at Lafayette. They had been acting weird yesterday but it was obvious she was missing something big.

"Why?" Tara asked darkly. "Afraid he won't think you're so cute once he knows what you did?" she asked looking at Alcide. "Or that you'll actually make Layla look like the better choice?"

Layla felt a little sting there. She always considered herself to be the best choice. But seriously, what the fuck was going on? Sookie stepped forward and said something quietly to Tara.

"Tara, please-" Sookie began, but Tara stopped her mid-sentence by popping out a new set of fangs. Arlene gasped and Layla's jaw dropped.

"What?!" she asked to nobody in particular. Tara hated Vampires. She was the very last person in the world she had ever expected to become a vampire.

"Fuck off!" Tara said to Sookie as she stormed out of the kitchen. Arlene was still making little squeaking noises and moved to stand behind Alcide and Layla.

"Hey, Sookie and Lafayette are your friends. They're just trying to help you." Sam said.

"Turning me into a monster? I don't need that kind of help and I don't need yours either." Tara said. Sam tried again to get her to stay but after the usual threat to rip out their throats, he let her go. Alcide tossed Sookie a look that was by no means pleased.

"Nothing's going on, huh?" he asked. Layla tugged at his jacket.

"Come on, Alcide." she said. The man needed to get away from people who were toxic, and Layla may not have been a paragon of truth what with hiding her pregnancy from him, but she figured that it was common practice not to announce your pregnancy until you were 3 months in, so this should be her grace period for omitting the little miracle vampire baby.

As they headed into the parking lot Sookie rushed after them. Layla let out a sigh as the perky blonde called after Alcide.

"If you're gonna lie to me again I don't wanna hear it." Alcide told her flatly.

"It was complicated."

"I think he can keep up." Layla told her, standing by Alcide's side, mostly for support. Poor guy couldn't handle much more bullshit, but she had a feeling he was going to get it.

"What happened to Tara?" he asked.

"Debbie showed up at my house with a shotgun. She was trying to get to me. Tara jumped in front." Sookie explained.

"Debbie shot Tara?" Alcide said. Layla laid a hand on his arm, but was glad he couldn't see how shocked she was. The brunette had a bad feeling in her gut that she knew where this was going.

"I got the gun and I-" Sookie broke off.

"What, Sookie?" Alcide asked quietly. "Say it."

Sookie just stared at him, so he repeated himself. "Say it."

"I killed her." Sookie said simply. Alcide looked away, his eyes filling, and his whole body fidgeting, unsure of how to process this new information. He glanced bak at Layla who held onto his arm and put another on his back, trying to let him know silently that he wasn't alone.

"You were never gonna tell me?" Alcide asked Sookie. "You were gonna let me go looking for her? Wondering what the hell happened to her?"

"Yes!" Sookie admitted breathlessly. "Because you loved her! You forgave her for everything! I didn't know what you were gonna do-"

"Bullshit!" Alcide said, trying to step forward but Layla held onto him. "I have had your back since the day we met. And you owe me more than lying to my fucking face!" he said, ripping out of Layla's grasp and punching the side of his truck so hard it left a dent.

"Alcide! I-I'm sorry! I wish I could-" Sookie tried but Layla stopped her.

"Shut up!" she snapped.

"I don't want to hear it." Alcide growled. "I don't wanna hear another word."

"I don't have a right to ask, but I need to know what you're gonna do. I need to know if you're gonna tell anyone!" Sookie said. Alcide just walked away, followed by Layla. She saw him into his car and then whispered that she would follow right behind him. As she watched him drive off she walked to her own car, aware that Sookie's eyes were on her.

"You have to make sure he doesn't tell anyone." Sookie said tearfully. Layla gave a little laugh at the girl's audacity.

"I don't have to do shit for you. It's his decision." Layla said. She opened her car door and then closed it again and looked seriously at Sookie.

She knew what it was like, to be ready to kill someone because they hurt a person you loved, but you had to be willing to pay the price. She didn't want to go to jail for the rest or my life and have Alcide hate her, or Bill for that matter or even Eric. So thanks to all of them, Sookie got to live to be a bitch another day. The dumb blonde had really better stop hurting the people she loved though, or Layla was going to make sure that she got hurt. She shook her head before sliding into her car and speeding off to Shreveport.

She spent the better half of her night with Alcide's head in her lap as he sobbed and the other half making sure he didn't tear the house down as he raged. All the while she kept her opinions to herself.