I was going to publish this tomorrow but I thought that if I gave you guys some extra love, you would turn it back on me.
permisable: Lol. Your comment made me laugh, it was so out of the blue. I didn't even think twice about that sentence in last chapter.
Rakeun91: I can't give away all my secrets! I promise you that it will come out in the next two chapters though.
MicroSpider: Thank you!
lozzylol16: I'm so happy that my writing is a good end of the day-esque ritual. You're always welcome to distress with my characters! By the way, I love your picture. So cute.
time-twilight: Secrets, secrets~ I promise that it'll be revealed soon though. Cross my heart.
str8jacket: Doesn't he always? :)
X Blue Eyed Demon X: Thank you!
Chapter Five: Cher (And Other Things That We Say)
Good sex and a shower. That was how I dealt with unnecessary emotions like grief.
I got a shower.
"Fuck," I murmured softly to myself, watching the dribbles of water splash from my skin and onto the wall. There was nothing sanitary about showering in Cooper Abellard's shower. He had beer bottles in the goddamn bathroom, spilling from the sink and tumbling from the waste basket. "Fuck dammit."
Unwanted, images of Tina flashed through my mind. It shouldn't have matter. It shouldn't have made my jaw tighten and the feeling of tears building up behind my eyes start. But dammit, it did. It was more than the fucking cat. It was that he had just walked into our house again. And when he had found Sookie and me out, he had gone for the only other living thing in our house.
He had killed our fucking cat.
I squeezed my eyes shut, pressing my forehead to the browning tile of the shower walls. He had grabbed her, stupid Tina who thought that everyone was a friend. He had picked her up, cooed her to him and then he had pulled out a knife and sawed through her throat, yanking off her skull like it was a fucking bottle cap. I drew in a shaking breath, turning off the shower quickly and opening the curtains.
Something like a fucking cat dying shouldn't have made me bawl like a child. Not after my Gran's death. But getting into a beat up yellow car, vamp blood and Tina's mixing into my converse, I had shut down. I had screamed and cussed and sobbed into my wrists until I didn't have anything left. And then I had tucked it all inside me. And after a couple shots, I went to Cooper Abellard's and had sex with him until he fell asleep, his chest shivering as he let out chainsaw-like snores.
"Up so early, baby?" Oh jesus. By the way that he was staring at me, I had definitely given him the wrong impression. He was smiling at me like I was going to marry him after tonight. I hid a grimace, forcing on a strained smile as I took in the disheveled mess of sandy blonde hair and overgrown morning stubble. And then the rest of Cooper Abellard. He had an okay body - the ones that you kind of shrug at and move on. Unwanted, blonde hair and the body of a spartan flashed through my mind. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
Mutely, I let him pull me closer to press a lingering kiss to my cheek, his fingers running down the slick curve of my spine and then to my hips. Against my stomach I felt the tell-tale press of his open excitement at having a naked female in his bathroom. I let out a strained laugh, gently pressing him away from me.
"Early bird gets the worm, darling," I said, reaching for a towel to dry myself off and finding nothing on the racks. What was I expecting? The man didn't even have a goddamn matt on the floor in front of the shower.
"And what a worm it is," Cooper laughed and I held back a yelp as he slapped my ass. Desperately, I tried to hold in my self control. I was the one who had given him the wrong impression. I was the one who had come to his door and then kissed him back into the hallway and into his bedroom.
Now he was standing here wanting to go another round. A round that would last about as long as it would take me to heat up a hot pocket and be about as entertaining.
Reaching up, I patted his cheek. "Listen, honey I know you might be thinkin' an awful lot about what this might mean-"
"I think it's pretty obvious what it means," he growled and before I could speak, he was lunging forward, his tongue like a fish as he forced it into my mouth. Apparently he thought wiggling made every activity better for the opposite sex.
I shoved his face away, spatting on reflex at the stale breath and beer on my tongue. When I looked back up, I was remiss to see that his cheeks had gone red. Skipping quickly through embarrassment, he went straight to angry.
"I'm sorry," I amended, pulling back until there was a bit of space between us. "I gave you the wrong impression-"
"You had sex with me," he stated blandly, his color rising.
"I know and it was-" I cut myself off. Mistake was a very big word. And kind of insulting.
"Aw, fuck no, Runa" he hissed, running a hand through his hair. His eyes went dark as a blood vessel in his forehead pulsed a purple SOS signal. "I knew I shouldn't have fucked a fucking Stackhouse."
I reeled back. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
His eyes met mine, mean and disgusted. "You're brothers a fucking serial maniac dipshit who killed a bunch of fangbangers and your sister - Well, she is a fucking fangbanger. Your whole fucking family's weird. I should have listen to Royce-"
I seethed, my eyes narrowing as anger took over. "I almost forgot what a little bitch you are. Does it feel nice having Royce's leash around your neck twenty four seven or does it get itchy?"
Pain stung up my scalp as his fingers fist in my hair, dragging my head back as his whole body slammed me into the wall. Fuck. I bit back my resulting wince, glaring up at him. Instinctively, my fingers had dug into the arm holding my head back. I hadn't noticed it before but the other arm was wrapped in gauze.
"I wouldn't say things like that-" He looked like he was building up for a good one, his teeth baring.
I slammed my knee into his junk, forcing his uninjured arm up so that I could dig my teeth into it for good measure. Metallic blood popped along my tongue as he howled, his fingers instantly released their hold on my hair.
Spitting out the sickly red stuff onto the ground beside him, I dug my fingers into the root of his hair, forcing his eyes to mine as he stuttered out a couple of pathetic, halting sobs. I wanted us to be on the same page for this next one.
"You touch me again, Cooper and instead of my knee, I'll shove a pair of scissors into your dick."
His face paled. I shoved him away from me, stepping over his body and out into his small apartment. Fuck taking my time. I would rather go outside looking like a prostitute than spend another minute in this dump. Boiling, I stormed toward the door, yanking an oversized tank that had a bit too much side-boob to be considered a fashion statement and my discarded capris by the door.
I was out the door and in my car making my way down the sleepy roads of Bon Temp within second. Against my naked arms and shoulders, I felt the seats sizzling my skin into seared flesh. It was nothing to how pissed I was at this moment. I should have thrown his naked ass out into the streets and locked the door. I frowned. Then I would have had to wait around in his nasty apartment. On second thought, I should have just taken the room that Bill had offered me. That was where Sookie had gone.
But fuck I had just wanted to feel someone's flesh against my own. Maybe I had wanted to wash off the blood that I had practically bathed in last night.
Or maybe some even more fucked up part of me, the dark carnal one that enjoyed the overwhelming power that came with my gift of nightmares and fears, had wanted to satisfy some of the lust that had been shoved into me by Eric Northman.
"FUCK!" I shrieked, the word bouncing off the windows of my small car as I slammed on the brakes in the middle of the road, hitting the steering wheel in my frothing anger.
I panted, pressing my forehead to the overheated, worn leather of the wheel, blinking futilely against tears. There was nothing else to do. I cried like a baby. I cried like I did when I was little and I wanted to see my parents. Or even remember a simple detail about them other than their names. I cried like I had when I had seen Tara get hit by her Mama and then crumple like a beat dog in the dirt of our driveway. I cried for every fucked up thing that had happened in the past 25 years of my life.
I cried until I had to stop, snot and tears mising into a gooey mess on my face. Sniffing, I pulled Cooper's stinky, beer stained tank up, soppy up the mess. And then I looked around, my eyes stinging as I finally took in the fact that my car was still sitting in the middle of the road but that no one had come by.
And that I had stopped just in front of the construction crews parked cars, all of the men oblivious to me as they took their lunch break. Or what should have been their lunch break. It had turned into a full on brawl just outside of my window. I blinked. With my brother right in the middle of it.
"I COULD GIVE A FUCK IF YOU SORRY!" Rene screamed in his thick cajun accent, his face going red as he gave Jason a good shove before Lafayette and Hoyt were pulling him away. I rubbed a hand over my eyes, trying to check my sight. Rene never got angry. It was one of the few unsettling things I found about him. "I'M ABOUT TO GET MARRIED! THERE ARE PEOPLE THAT COUNT ON! ME!"
What had just happened? Shoving away from Lafayette, Rene wandered off back to the car, still seething. I followed him with my eyes, watching as he pulled off his gloves. My nose twitched. My mind clicked. It felt like something was wrong. Rene's fingers were bandaged with little baby band-aides. Why did that feel wrong?
Back by the tree, a power tool absently left at it's base, Hoyt was staring at Jason like he was worried. Hoyt was always worried though. When Dawn had died, he had been the only one to dream of helping her, his efforts futile but brave. He was a sweetheart. Gently, the bigger man placed a hand on my brother's shoulder.
"Aw hell no," I hissed, getting out of the car quickly and slamming the door shut as I stormed across the street as Jason grabbed ahold of Hoyt's t shirt, his face twisting in anger.
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING, JASON STACKHOUSE?!" I made my way up the steep incline, the muscles of my back tensing beneath my tank as my brother shoved away from Hoyt Fortenberry. My stupid fucking brother had just got done nearly killing Rene and now he was going after the biggest teddy bear in Bon Temp.
"I was just-" Jason started but I shoved him, watching as he stumbled a couple steps back.
"You were just being the biggest dick to someone that wanted to be nice to you?" I hissed, watching as he lowered his head. Behind me, I felt Hoyt shift, his hand coming out to rest on my shoulder and draw my attentions to him.
"It's really alright, Runa-" He actually looked sincere.
"The fuck it is," I snapped, turning back to my brother. "Say you're sorry."
Jason's jaw worked and I snarled out breath, sending him a withering glare. "Sorry."
"Do I have to be your mother?" I questioned, shoving him again for good measure after Hoyt had nodded quickly and wandered over to where Rene and Lafayette were talking by the truck. "Huh? You want me to babysit you now, Jason?"
I hadn't forgotten how he had hit Sookie. Or blamed her for Gran's death. And then disappeared afterwards and come back into town without so much as a call. I hadn't even know that he was around until Tara told me. His big, puppy dog eyes stayed on the ground, his fingers clenching and unclenching at his side as he swallowed.
Dammit. When he had the expression on his face, I couldn't help but lose most of my steam. I sighed, reaching out to draw him into a hug. His taller body seemed to wilt around me, his head dropping to press against my hair and his shoulders slumping.
"You should have called," I whispered.
"You don't want to hear from me," he mumbled. "And I don't blame you. I was awful. Horrible. I didn't mean…"
Against the top of my head, I felt him shake his head. When Gran had died, he had taken it hard. I knew that. I knew that he felt guilty for being against her when it came to Bill and I knew that he felt weak. Jason may have been dumb as a duck but he was kind. And he cared.
I pulled away, giving him a hard look. "You gotta stop doing dumb shit, Jase."
A derisive snort burst from him and he shook his head ruefully. "Easy for you to say. You were always the smart one."
I smiled, turning him gently for the men who had turned to stare at us. Giving him a gentle shove, I nodded. "You go tell Rene sorry. You did almost kill him."
"He was about to kill the tree," Jason defended, flicking a hand towards the roots like they were a living, breathing evidence board.
"Maybe you should consider not being a construction work than, honey," I drawled and he let out a grumble, shuffling down the side of the hill.
Down below, like a child, I saw him rub a hand over his neck, mumbling out a few words of apology. Dumb as a duck but sweet as a kitten. After a few moments, I went down as well.
"You all coming to Merlotte's tonight?" I inquired, earning me a sardonic stare from Lafayette.
"Baby girl, that place is my religion," he said with a bitter twist to his lips. "I eat it, sleep it, and breath it in until I come back smelling like hick ass and burnt fries."
Hoyt snickered, his eyes flicking to meet mine shyly. Lafayette's eyes flicked over me quickly, his smile going sly.
"But you look like you have your own religion there, baby," he said with a smirk. "Tell me who the man is and I'll make sure not to steal him from you."
"Cooper Abellard." The black man's smile instantly soured.
"I thought you had better taste than that, honey."
"Apparently all the Stackhouse's are running a record of being incredibly desirable in the sack but bad at choosing the straw to fill the bag with," I sighed, earning me an affronted look from Jason. Hoyt had gone oddly silent, his eyes downcast and his lips tugged down. I turned my attention to the last man. "What about you? Any plans?"
"Ya," Rene said with a nod, leaning back against the truck. "A' lene geds all boudering if I don' come when she works."
"Women," Jason quipped and I rolled my eyes, sensing that it was time that I left.
"Yeah. Women." I walked around the men, heading straight for my car and then stalled out as Rene turned to me.
"You a goo' ki', cher." He gave me a small smile and then patted my cheek, letting me continue on my way.
I stayed where I was. Blood. My skin shivered as if it were a fur coat ruffling in the wind. I stared at the side of Rene's face.
He had been thinking about Dawn. Thinking about all of them. Not just them. One other one too. A girl that had the same eyes as him. I gulped, backing away. His nightmares were made of them, all still alive, moaning underneath withering men with fangs.
I got in the car.
There was nothing wrong with that. It was okay to have such nightmares but usually - usually the women were all dead. Or dying. That was a fear. That was a reason to go to sleep at night with a shiver and your throat tight. I shook my head, turning my keys in the ignition.
Why did it all seem so...itchy? Disgusting? Unsettling? Someone behind me honked and I jerked, forcing myself out of my own thoughts with a start. My eyes snapped to the time on my radio and I cussed. I had to be at Merlotte's in two hours for the evening shift. Pushing those thoughts to the back of my mind, I headed home. Sookie had told me that she would be coming back early to clean up the house. I had thought that I would be able to help her but…
My lips thinned as I turned onto my road. And I still had to look up that mara? Mare? Meara? Whatever that big, hunk of a bloodsucking spartan had called me. My head spun.
Things seemed to be getting more twisted than my grandmother's nightgown.
As always, if you're interest and want to see more than please show me by follow or favorite. And if you can't leave me a little note. Those things always make me update quicker. ;) *wink wink nudge nudge*
Boudering: A Cajun word for pouting.
Cher: The Cajun way to say cherie and a term of endearment.
