I went back to work at Merlotte's the next day curious about what people were thinking of me. I wanted to listen in, but I was still pretty exhausted from all the stress and pain I had been under. I wasn't suppose to work, but I wanted to and plus Bill was coming into the bar tonight. I didn't tell Sookie or Sam that I was coming in or that we were going to be having a guest in the bar tonight. Oh, if only I had realized what was going to be coming through that door tonight besides Bill.

When I came in every one stared in amazement and wonder of how I had survived and been able to walk on my own two feet. They had heard the rumors of me being attacked by an animal and me supposedly dying; they were all lies. I hated hearing that shit coming out of the locals mouths; thank god I didn't listen to their thoughts, they were probably worse. But Sam saw come in and motioned for me to come into his office. He was frowning and I could tell I was about to get a beat-down from him.

"Yes, Sam?"

"I thought you weren't coming into work for awhile?" he asked as he leaned against the front of his desk.

"I felt better and I thought I'd better get back here and help you and Sookie. Is there a problem with that?" I exclaimed closing the door behind me.

"No…no… I just thought it would be awhile till you had regained your strength and that you would be resting." Sam glanced up at me.

I swear he looked at my chest before meeting my eyes; I hated when men do that to women, especially me. I had done anything to gain the size of my chest; in fact I didn't even notice that they had grown until he took a look at them before meeting my gaze. If he wasn't my boss I would have knock the shit out of him, but I wanted to keep this job and stay here with Sookie. I wouldn't work anywhere that I wasn't safe without Sookie knowing.

"Sam Merlotte, I am perfectly capable of working tonight and any other night I'm needed. Don't treat me like I'm handicapped or anything like that. You know that I'm not like that and that I'm a hard worker."

But before I could even continued with my parade of yelling, Sam Merlotte pulled me into his arms and embraced me. He kissed me fiercely and passionately as I melted behind his warm body. My mind went blank and my heart race as I stood there motionless and took him in. My arms laid by my sides as he wrapped his arms around me. I felt a sudden urge to kiss him back, but I didn't. I realized that this was wrong and he was older than me, but Bill was older than me too.

But Sam was my boss and I couldn't do this to Sookie. I wanted them to be together and for them to be happy, and Sam was ruing everything I wanted. I pushed him away and he went flying against his desk; I was strong for my age and my size (size 18). I wasn't no skinny little thing, like Sookie (no offense); I was a strong girl that wouldn't put up with this shit.

"SAM MERLOTTE, WHAT THEY HELL?"

"I'm sorry, Kelly. I couldn't hide it anymore." He replied as he stood up.

"How could you do this? You know my secret as much as Sookie and you tricked me with your own thoughts. I thought you loved Sookie?" I shouted as I stepped away.

He frowned, "I do, but I love you too. You both are always on my mind and I have to hide my thoughts from both of you. It's really hard to see you both and not take you down behind the bar and just have at it. So many times that I've seen, even before you started working here I've wanted to have you in my arms and when I interviewed you for the job here it was even harder to control myself. If you only knew how long I've wanted to kiss you like that and then have you and Sookie both in my arms."

I was in shock as I ran out the door. I didn't even close the door behind me as I ran into Sookie. Tears were running down my face and sobs came out of my mouth. Sookie grabbed me and pulled me into the storage closet. She tried to listen in, but I blocked her. I wouldn't let her hear what I was thinking or what I wanted to Sam Merlotte right then. I wanted to kick, but I also wanted to give in to the temptation that he was expressing. Finally she got me to talk.

"What's wrong; tell me?" she shouted as I fell to the floor with my face in my hands.

"SAM MERLOTTE IS THE PROBLEM!" I cried, knowing that I couldn't hold the pain back anymore.

"What has he done?"

"HE KISSED ME WITHOUT MY PERMISSION AND SAID THAT HE LOVED ME!"

Sookie fell down beside me and began crying; she had always had feelings for Sam, but never truly expressed them except around me.

"THE WORST PART IS THAT HE LOVES US BOTH AND WANTS US BOTH IN HIS BED!"

That changed the mood very quickly and Sookie was up and marching over to Sam's office. But before she left me alone she turned back to me and kneeled to kiss my forehead.

"Don't worry about working tonight, I'll cover you. And don't worry about Sam Merlotte, I'm going to change his mind real fast and I'm going to do it my way." Sookie exclaimed pulling her shirt down low and showing off her cleavage. Uh-oh, I could see where this was going and real fast. Images of wild, erratic moments flashed before my eyes and burned into my skull. I hated seeing things like that and Sookie was showing them to me.

"Don't do this… I'll figure something out."

"The damage is already done and I'm going fix it." She sighed smiling and leaving me alone. I stayed in the storage room until a tall shadow entered; it was Bill with his arms reached out towards me. I grabbed him and held him tightly as we left the storage room. We passed by Sam's office; the door was closed and we could hear voices. But they weren't really voice; we both knew what they were. I turned away and ran out the back down and Bill pulled his car up to the back. I got in and sobbed even more as we left Merlotte's the night I was shunned.

~~Message to readers: Want more? Review and tell me what you think and what you think should happen next in "In the Dead of the Night".~~