The next morning, I awoke groggily in my bed. I tried to remember how I had gotten there but, when I couldn't, I simply assumed that Godric had taken me to bed when I had fallen asleep on him. Oops. Poor guy. I wasn't even sure how I felt about him and I was already using him as my own personal pillow.

I mean, sure he's attractive. Enough so that I would probably walk up to him and introduce myself if I had met him at a bar. But he was technically my body guard—and deserving of someone much higher than myself, I reminded myself. Geez. What the hell was wrong with me? Usually I wasn't so concerned about my value of self-worth but he seemed to make me more self conscious than usual in that department.

As I mulled over my thoughts, I began trudging downstairs with the goal of breakfast. I fried up some eggs, bacon, and made some toast before seating myself at Eric's kitchen table. There was usually a chef who would cook anything I wanted. But I hadn't even thought to go looking for him. My thoughts seemed more important than the task of eating, which I did faster than normal just to be done with it. I was staring at the drying butter on my plate when Michael walked in.

"You look like you're contemplating the importance of the universe," Michael joked lightly, giving me a crooked grin. I looked up at him with raised eyebrows. "Oh, hey, I didn't mean that was a bad thing if you are. I used to do that all the time when I was your age. But after awhile you just stop trying to contemplate why the hell you're here and you just start living because, well, what else are you going to do while you're here?"

I bit my lip at him. "Are you married?"

"No," he looked startled by my question.

"Sorry, I'm just trying to find someone a little more adept at relationships than me," I admitted.

"Godric?"

"God, did everyone but me know?"

"Well, you do seem unusually unobservant in that area," he admitted. "I suspected it but he confirmed it whenever he and Eric were communicating telepathically. I could sense his emotions shift when you came into question." I wondered again vaguely what exactly Michael was. "But he does genuinely care about you if that's your concern."

"No, I'd trust him for that," I admitted. "I just—why me?"

"Why not you?" He shrugged. "This isn't exactly an exact science. Stop over thinking it and just go with it. You seem to like him just as much as he likes you." I winced. Going with the flow wasn't my strong suit.

"I don't know for sure that I do," I shook my head, running my fingers through my chocolate hair. "What if I don't care about him as much as he cares about me? That seems to be a pretty nasty recurring problem in my love life. There's never a balance."

"You're one of those people who just can't enjoy a moment, huh?"

"I'm a werewolf and a woman," I grinned. "Easy isn't in my dictionary."

"Even if you were human, I don't think you'd be able to enjoy the moment," he shook his head.

"Hey! That's kind of offensive." I pretended to pout. Michael raised his eyebrows at me. "Okay, I suck at pretending to be offended when I'm not. So sue me."

"I don't think I'd even be alive if I harbored the thought."

"Probably not. Alcide and Dad are pretty tough."

"And you have two vampires willing to bend over backwards for you. One of them far older than most of them still in existence today." He grinned, standing up. "I'd be a dumb dead man if I even thought of hurting you at all."

"I can take care of myself, you know."

"I know—but you have people who want to take care of you. If I were you, I'd let them."

With that, he left me alone with my thoughts. I returned to them eagerly, frowning when I found that I was still in the same spot I had been. Oh well, perhaps a swim would help to ease the frustrations of my mind. I've always felt more at ease in the waters. Almost as if I were safer. If I had known a mother, I imagined that this was the type of comfort she would have provided. But I had never known my blood parents. And Alcide's mother had died shortly after she and Jackson had adopted me. I was too young to even remember the adoption, honestly.

Hell, I don't even know what it takes to be adopted in werewolf standards. I'm not even sure who all in the pack knew about it. There couldn't have been too many people who knew. Some of the people I've unfortunately gotten to know would have surely spilled this information whenever a little bit of alcohol entered their systems. But they never said a word. Maybe they were sworn to secrecy? But Jackson wasn't the packmaster. He couldn't command them all into silence.

Thinking about all of the possibilities made my head hurt, I realized as I floated on my back. I stared up at the sun, watching it slowly move across the sky. The clouds flowed freely around it—almost, but not quite, blocking its light from my face. I guess I should thank my lucky stars that my faery blood prevents me from getting sunburn. The thing about faeries is that we always seem impervious to the elements. Weather and the like never really seem to make much of an indent on us. Sure, we can get cold or hot but it's not quite like humans get. I naturally have a higher body temperature than humans, thanks to my werewolf side. But my faery side tends to neutralize extreme temperatures. It's kind of hard to explain—but I can be just as comfortable walking the Himalayas in jeans and a t-shirt as I am walking in the Sahara Desert. There's a difference but it's subtle. And it doesn't cause me discomfort.

I guess I'd say it's similar to finding out that my best friend's color is a different color than mine. I'll think about it. But it won't define very much about our friendship. It's the same thing, really, except that the color is the weather.

When the sky began to turn a vibrant shade of pink, I realized just how long I had been in the water and how far my thoughts had really strayed from what I had wanted to mull over today. I always do that. There's something that I swear needs my attention but I run from it. I get close enough to poke it before shying away and decided not to be a nuisance. That's ridiculous. How exactly can I be a nuisance to my own thoughts? Sometimes I astound even myself, I realized dryly as I wrapped a towel around my figure.

I then went upstairs to shower and get ready for work. Thankfully I had to work most of the night so I wouldn't be too tempted to talk to Godric any more. There were more questions that I had—ones that were probably gravely inappropriate. But my mind always borders on inappropriate. I blame my werewolf upbringing for that.

By the time I had finished getting read, there was barely more than the allotted drive time over left to spare. So when I opened the door Michael was outside of it waiting for me. "I thought you were going to hide in there forever," he chuckled. "Come on, you're going to be late. And I'm not sure how much you'll be able to sweet talk Merlotte into letting it slide." He paused, mid-step, and then turned to me. All mannerisms of joking were vacant from his face. Even he himself looked rather vacant, I realized.

"Michael? Are you alright?"

He looked at me for a few seconds before turning away from me and descending the stairs. "Northman!" he barked. I had never heard him use such a commanding tone with anyone before—not even the guards that were technically under his charge. Eric appeared in an instant, his maker at his side. "We have a problem."

"You saw something?" Eric asked, ignoring the fact that Michael was so obviously defying any sense of polite conversation.

"I did. Edgington's enlisted your detective as help," Michael said somberly. "The telepath at the bar used to date him—"

"Sookie," Eric breathed, a frown crossing his features.

"Sookie? Someone's after her?" I asked, instantly worried for my newfound friend. She seemed too sweet to have any enemies of merit. Godric seemed to sense my distress because he moved closer to me, not quite touching me, but allowing me to know that he was there if I needed him.

"Not as much danger as you're about to be," Michael shot me a look. "Bill wants you out of the area as much as Edgington wants to own you. He doesn't like the fact that Sookie has someone else to talk to. Someone else she can't hear—another telepath, even."

"You told her?" Eric turned on me.

"Not intentionally—I didn't know there was a telepath there. So I wasn't exactly locking down my thoughts as tightly as I should have been. Whatever she is is harder to sense," I frowned. "It's a small portion, so it's nearly unnoticeable. Unless you're looking for it."

"She does tend to get herself into more trouble than she seems she's worth. You seem to have the same problem."

"Hey, you're being paid to take care of my problems. Sookie's on her own."

"For now she's safe," Michael interrupted. "The real problem is that Bill remembers her talking about one of the new girls also being a telepath. He doesn't know which one yet, because two other girls are new there. But he has a hunch that it's 'Eric's pet.'" I scowled at being referred to as a pet.

"I can simply overrule Compton into submission," Eric waved his hand.

"Sophie-Ann is in on it as well. She believes that Edgington will tire of Aline and that she'll be able to keep her then."

"What is it with you vampires and collecting people as pets?" I wrinkled my nose.

Gently, the vampire beside me took my hand. I clutched it gratefully. "How do we prevent this from happening?" Godric asked, his light green eyes landing on Michael.

The guard looked between the two of us, studying us. "We'd better get you to work." Before I could protest, I was being whisked out of the house by both Michael and Godric. "Tonight I'm going to be in Sam's office. Too many people have seen me there whenever Aline is working. You're going to have to keep an eye on her." He paused, shooting a worried glance at me. I knew that look. Alcide gives me that look frequently. It was one of those I-know-best-but-you-won't-like-it looks.

"If it'll help, I won't be opposed to it," I relented, though I very badly wanted to reject it before I even heard it.

"If Bill thinks that you're the, uh, companion of someone other than Eric, he'll be less inclined to be suspicious."

I gave him a look, raising my eyebrows.

"Of course, only if you allow it," he added hastily. "But it would buy us some time."

I was silent as I mulled over this imposition. True, it would be ill advised to try to steal the mate of not only one but two different vampires. That would mean Bill would look less than he typically would simply because it would be grounds to rip him to shreds. (I may pay to see that eventually, however. I've met the vampire a few times. Though I never really liked him, I hadn't wanted to really stake him until now. But he had just signed his own death warrant. If I lived long enough, I was planning on sinking my teeth into his sorry excuse for a vampire's ass.) By the time we had arrived at Merlotte's, I had made the decision to endure it. I just hoped Godric didn't get the wrong idea. But he seemed to be the type that would respect whatever boundaries I set. Something I was definitely not used to.

"What do I have to do for him to think I'm Godric's companion?" I asked as Michael killed the engine. So that I didn't have to judge the emotions that went across anyone's faces, I was staring intently out the window intently at Sookie's little yellow car.

"You do not have to if—"

"It makes the most sense," I cut Godric off. "We'll talk about whatever implications it has later. For now, I just need to be able to stay alive."

"You won't have to do anything," Michael interrupted me before I could inflict as much pain as I wanted to. "Just allow his advances. Godric will do most of the work."

Without waiting for anything else, I got out of the car. Neither one of the guys followed me right away as I walked inside. I went straight to Sam's office to get my apron and order pad, snagging a pen from his desk. When I walked out into the hallway, I nearly ran over Lafayette. "Damn girl, who pissed in yo' cheerios this morning?" he asked when I mumbled a sorry excuse for an apology and kept moving. "Crazy ass hooker bitch," he grumbled when he thought I was out of earshot.

"Sorry I'm a little late, Sam," I forced a smile as I stepped behind the bar to address my boss.

"Don't worry about it, you're usually early," he waved me off. "Everything okay?"

I forced my smile until it hurt. "Yeah, why wouldn't it be?"

He studied me doubtfully before beginning to make the drinks that the local drunks were asking about. I flicked my long dark hair over my shoulder as I set to work. Sookie was also working tonight but she seemed entirely distracted by something. Something she wasn't exactly willing to share, it seemed, because she avoided me as much as I was avoiding everyone else. That perplexed me.

I didn't have much time to contemplate what was wrong with her, however, because the front door opened to reveal the rather brooding figure of Bill Compton. A scowl threatened to break across my face, but I withheld it. At least I withheld it until he went over to Sookie. Her look of distress increased when he approached her. And, from the way that she tensed, I knew the reason she was upset was because of him. Whatever it was, however, she was unwilling to discuss here. This angered him, so he sauntered over to the bar where Sam was handing me drinks to take to my tables.

"That's the last one," he informed me, handing me a White Russian.

"Thanks," I smiled lightly. He gave me a small, crooked smile before addressing the vampire. Bill ordered a TruBlood—type O positive. Sookie had said that she was his favorite blood type. For some reason, I had found that all the more creepy. Don't get me wrong, I'm okay with swapping blood. But most vampires don't share that kind of information. Bill Compton is a strange vampire, indeed. Probably a lot more unstable than even Edgington. (Though I've never met the latter, I assume that he's highly unstable simply because of the way that Godric and Eric reacted to his name. Eric isn't exactly a pretty, pretty princess so it worried me slightly.)

When I returned to the bar, Godric walked through the front door. Most of the people in the bar turned to stare at him. I realized, then, that he wasn't wearing his usual ensemble of white. Instead, he wore a plain black button up shirt, light blue stone-washed jeans, and black shoes. Still, he attracted a lot of stares. He ignored everyone else, though, focusing his gaze on mine. A smile slowly spread across his pale face. He walked to the bar, sitting directly across from where I was standing.

"I thought that you might want some company, älskling," he addressed me directly. I smiled lightly, propping my elbows on the bar in front of him.

"You just couldn't wait until I got off to see me, huh?" I teased.

"I wanted to see where you worked when it was lively." He glanced around, causing everyone to pretend that they were busy eating, talking, or anything not involving staring at the ancient vampire. "You have a very lovely establishment, Mr. Merlotte," Godric complimented Sam. The shift cocked an eyebrow as he cleaned out a glass.

"Thanks—"

"Oh, how silly of me. I haven't introduced you to anyone yet!" I interrupted. "Sam, this is Godric. Godric, this is my boss, Sam."

"I have heard a lot of good things about you," Godric smiled kindly at him. "You treat her very well here." Sam was completely confused by this whole thing but went along with it. I made a mental note to buy him some expensive kind of alcohol for his troubles. He probably didn't think hiring a waitress from Mississippi was going to be quite this much trouble. Ah, men. They'll learn sooner or later that we're always more trouble than we appear to be. I just happen to be thrice that amount of trouble on a good day. (Something I blame my werewolf brother for. Mostly. Okay, it's not his fault—but I still blame him anyway. And Alcide would probably let me throw the blame onto him. He encourages me more than he probably should. But so does Jackson. I think that's just part of being a werewolf, really.)

I brought Godric a TruBlood—even though he hadn't asked—and went back to tending my tables. However, I made it a point to talk to him as often as I could, wondering vaguely if he was really like this when he dated. Does he even date? He was born before dating was even a common place ritual. And courtship is a rather new notion in a greater sense of the world. Before it was all simply mating or arranged marriages. Those things still occur today, but they've switched into the realm of being the abnormal instead of the norm. It's kind of funny to sit and think about how things have changed so much. Some people don't even realize things have changed or that they do change right under their noses. Other people are more aware of it, I suppose. I generally like to think that I'm one of those people that can appreciate a good shift in a culture. But I still have a penchant for digging around older societies. I blame me parading around as an interior designer for that.

When people began to leave, Bill moved down the bar to sit beside Godric. I was too far away to hear them talking and using any of my enhanced senses would mean that I would have to unmask my scent slightly. Which, given the current populace in the room (AKA William Compton) was a very bad idea. I would just have to trust that Godric knew what he was doing. I finished cleaning up my table, preparing to take some dishes to the kitchen, when I noticed Bill give a polite bow and walk out of the restaurant.

"What was all that about?" I inquired, pausing at Godric's side.

"I simply informed Mr. Compton that you were already spoken for," he replied simply. Sookie, who had been standing nearby, huffed and immediately headed outside. Sam stared after her in a mixture of shock and worry. Without asking, I shoved my bin full of dishes at him, following the upset blonde outside.

"Sookie," I said softly, worry clearly written all over my person.

"What—oh, I'm sorry Aline," she said sadly. "I'm not mad at you. Bill and I had a fight."

"I'm sorry to hear that," I said sincerely. I sat next to her on the brick half-wall that many of the employees would perch against to smoke. Neither Sookie or I smoked, I mused in a brief ironic thought.

"I just can't believe he would move on so quickly," she confessed glumly. "I didn't even really mean to break up with him. He just made me so mad and he wouldn't even listen to me! I didn't know how else to get his attention. But it looks like that wasn't the right way, either."

"Sookie, he probably wasn't genuinely interested in anyone else," I reassured her. "He's probably just angry. Vampires aren't exactly used to being put into their places."

"I guess they wouldn't be," she admitted. "They're used to just glamouring whatever they want out of people."

"Some of them," I agreed. "But they aren't all bad."

"Like Godric?" I shot me a knowing look. I bit back the silly grin that wanted to cross my face.

"I'm sure he's not the last nice vampire on the planet," I chuckled. "But, yes, like Godric."

She looked at me curiously. "How'd you and he get together? I thought you were with Eric."

"Well, technically I suppose that they share me," I lied, going with Michael's suggestion. She gave me a slightly mortified look. "Not against my will or anything. They're both very sweet. But they both just happen to have an interest in the same girl. And I'm not exactly known for settling down," I teased with a wink, playfully knocking her shoulder with my own. "Seriously. We're only young once. Might as well live it up, right?"

"I suppose so," she said thoughtfully.

"And if you want to live it up, I think I know a guy who is more than willing to fulfill that aspect—"

"Aline!"

"What? Oh, no, I didn't mean I was going to share. I don't share. I was referring to the overly worried man I burdened with a bin of dishes before I came out here."

"Sam?" Before she could venture that thought any further, she realized that we had been outside for a good twenty minutes at least. "Oh! Sam! Work—we should get back to work!"

I stared at her in shock before laughing. That was the first time all night that I had laughed that hard and, by the confused blonde's face, I knew that I looked at crazy as I felt. Maybe I just needed a good night's sleep was all. And less psychotic vampires in my life. But the latter wasn't bound to happen any time soon. I would settle for sleep, then.