The next morning Kaeson woke up in her bed to her phone ringing. She sleepily reached over and grabbed her phone, "What?"
"Kae?" Sam's voice came through the receiver.
"Yeah." She replied rubbing the sleep from her eyes.
"I was just making sure that you remembered you were working this afternoon at 12:00."
"Shit. What time is it?" Kaeson asked getting up and noticing her whole body was sore as she tried to remember how she got to her bed.
"1:00" Sam replied in a concerned voice.
"Damn it to hell." Kaeson mumbled as she went to her closet and grabbed her work clothes.
"Are you alright? It's not like you to forget work."
"Yeah, I'm fine Sammy. I just had a long night."
"Alright, I'll see you in a bit then Kae."
Kaeson hung up her phone and jumped in the shower, still bleary. She could not stop thinking about what had happened between Eric and her last night. She had to admit it was amazing, he handled her as if she was fragile and regarded her with tenderness. She liked that Eric, the Eric that was not afraid to be open with her and actually tells her what he was thinking. She regretted not being able to stay up longer to talk to him, but frankly he wore her out (not that she was complaining.)
After she dressed she was putting on make-up and noticed the fang marks on right side of her neck. She smiled as she lightly touched them, recalling the feeling when Eric had sunk his fangs into her skin. She shivered from the recollection and then fixed her hair so it covered most of her neck, not that she was ashamed that Eric had fed on her, but it was more to avoid drama that she knew was inevitable. On her way out the door she grabbed a granola bar, took a last look at the sea scape and smiled.
She hopped into the Corvette and sped to work, it was still the rush hour for the half that took the later lunch and the staff at Merlotte's was not going to be happy having to cover so many shifts. As she pulled into the employee parking lot, gravel flew and she could not help but smile and silently thank Eric. 'I didn't have time to thank him for that.' She thought as she locked it and walked into the back of Merlotte's.
She was greeted by teasing from Lafayette, "Well shit! Look who decided to show up to work."
Kaeson smiled and waved him off as she grabbed an apron.
"I've never seen someone that looks like shit, but still looks like a fine mother fucker quite like you Kae." He said as he walked over to her.
Blush graced her cheeks as she laughed and rolled her eyes.
"So how was it?"
"How was what?" Kaeson asked a bit puzzled.
Lafayette raised an eyebrow, "Come on, Kaeson, you know what the fuck I'm talking about: sex with your little vamp."
Kaeson's brow creased, "Is it that obvious?"
"Only to smart bitches who can tell differences in women's behaviors and looks." He replied laughing.
Kaeson blushed and laughed.
"Enough said, sister! I'm glad you had fun though." He said smiling and waving as he walked back to the stove.
Kaeson tossed her stuff into Sam's office and picked up her tables. A few hours later and many tables and orders later, the bar started to slow down and she was able to take a break.
"Do you know where Sam is?" Kaeson asked as she walked by Sookie, who was wiping down a table.
"Yeah, he's in his office I think." Sookie replied looking up to see Kaeson turning and catching a glimpse of the fang marks.
"Kaeson, can I talk to you?" Sookie asked in a tight voice.
"Yeah, sure. What about?" Kaeson asked as she slid into the both next to the table Sookie was cleaning.
"I know it's not really my place, but the marks…" Sookie replied in a low voice and gestured to Kaeson's neck.
Kaeson bit the inside of her lip, 'Here it goes' she thought before she asked what about them.
"Are they Eric's?" Sookie asked narrowing her eyes at Kaeson.
"They are." She replied curtly, bracing for the retaliation that was bound to come.
"Kaeson, I told you to stay away from him! That's why I haven't seen you. I knew you had a thing with him, but I didn't think it was this serious." Sookie said exasperated.
"Well, it is that serious. I'm sorry to disappoint you, Sookie. In my opinion you have no right to criticize the men I choose to be with, last time I checked Bill was still a vampire." Kaeson replied, her temper rising.
"Bill is not Eric." Sookie said matching Kaeson's tone.
"I wasn't comparing Eric to Bill; I was only saying that both of them are vampires."
"It's not the fact that you're with a vampire-"
"Come off it Sookie. You need to accept the fact that Eric and I are together." Kaeson hissed as she stood up and turned to leave.
"Kae, I'm just worried for you-" Sookie started as she reached out for Kaeson's arm.
Kaeson whirled around and sneered, "I can take care of myself. As for Eric, you think you know him but you don't know anything about him, Sookie Stackhouse."
With that last statement she turned and left Sookie sitting at the booth. She starting waiting on tables deciding that she needed to calm down before she talked to Sam. She had been taking orders and serving for about ten minutes, when Sam brushed by her carrying a dish bin.
"Can you stay a bit late to help me close up?" He asked in a low voice.
Kaeson looked down at her watch, 7:05. "Yeah, sure thing Sam and I need to talk to you too."
"No problem, Kae. Can it wait 'til we get a break?" Sam asked as he glanced around the bar.
"Yeah, it's not an emergency or anything." She replied as she wrote down another order and turned on her heel toward the kitchen to drop of the order. She dropped off the order and decided to catch a breather, in order to avoid Sookie. Lafayette had apparently noticed the tension around Kaeson.
"What's going on, sugar? Is one of those lousy bastards fucking with you again?" He asked looking at her with a spatula in his hand.
"No, I'm fine."
"One thing you are horrible at is lying Kae and everyone in this fucking place knows it."
Kaeson could not help but let out a small laugh as she picked up one of her orders and smile at Lafayette before she turned to leave.
For the next hour or so Kaeson tried to focus only on waiting on her tables and keeping her customers happy. It was working for the most part, no one had seemed to see the fang marks and if they did, they kept their thoughts to themselves. That was a great relief for Kaeson because she did not want to deal with explaining herself again.
The crowd has somewhat slowed and Kaeson was behind the bar washing the glasses when Sam slid in behind her.
"How about I rinse and we can both dry?" Sam asked smiling.
Kaeson returned the smile as she scooted over to make room for Sam. They washed, rinsed and dried in silence for a while. Kaeson noticed Sookie gave her a reproachful glance every chance their gaze met, so Kaeson just kept her head down and focused on washing the glasses. She was busy washing when Sam nudged her with his elbow; she brushed it off as accidental until he did it again. She looked up to see him smiling at her.
"I've never seen you look so pissed, what's going on?" he asked still smiling and drying glasses.
"Nothing really."
"Well, what did you need to talk to me about?"
"I just wanted to apologize for being late for work this afternoon." She replied taking a glass to dry.
"It's no problem." Sam reassured her with his charming grin.
"Thanks Sam but I still should have been in on time." She said shaking her head, which caused her hair to fall to her left side.
Sam glanced over to reply when he saw the fang marks.
"Kaeson can we talk in my office for a sec?" He asked as he finished drying the last glass.
With a puzzled look Kaeson agreed and followed Sam into his office in the back of the bar. She sat on the edge of his desk while he closed the door and leaned against it.
"So…" She began as she swung her legs and looked over at him.
"Your neck." Sam ventured as he looked at the fang marks.
"Mhm, what about it?" She asked innocently as he walked toward her and sat down in his desk chair.
"Are they Eric's?"
"Yeah, who else's would they be?" she asked giving a nervous laugh.
Sam smiled as he replied, "Alright."
"That's it?" Kaeson asked narrowing her eyes at him.
"As long as he didn't hurt you, yeah." Sam said with a puzzled look.
"Wait, so let me get this straight," Kaeson said as she shook her head and raised a hand, "you aren't going to give me a lecture or anything about the bite marks? You just wanted to know if they were Eric's?"
Sam just laughed and nodded in response as Kaeson lowered her hand and studied him.
"Alright, where is Sam Merlotte and what have you done with him?" Kaeson asked sliding off the desk.
"Kaeson, I don't know why you are freaking out." Sam said as he looked up at her.
"The Sam I know would have been furious, lecturing me and threating to kill the vampire that did this to me." Kaeson said in confusion.
"Whoa Kae, you're mad because I'm not mad?" Sam said standing from his chair.
"I'm not mad…" Kaeson said still looking at him skeptically.
"Are disappointed I'm not mad? Would you rather have me mad and then you get mad at me for being mad about something and someone that you love?" Sam asked in bewilderment.
"Everyone else seems to be getting mad about it and lecturing me, I don't see why you have to go and start being nice about it." Kaeson replied as her gaze dropped to the floor.
Sam closed the gap between them a bit and placed his hands on her arms. "Look, I know what it is like to be looked at as if you have some disease because of what you are-"
"I'm not some whore fangbanger, Sam." Kaeson replied defensively and looking up at him.
"You didn't let me finish and I didn't say that you were 'some whore fangbanger', I meant that you're a caring person and know that it doesn't matter what other people are, you still love them."
Kaeson offered a small smile as Sam continued.
"I may not agree with it, but you are happy and that is all that matters. I'm going to support you as long as you are happy and not in danger, no matter what I think, Kaeson."
Kaeson hugged Sam and wrapped her arms around his neck as he wrapped his around her waist.
"Thanks Sam. That's what I needed." She replied as she released him but still stayed with her arms around his neck.
"No problem, Kaeson." Sam reassured as color graced his cheeks.
"What did you mean by the 'I know' part?"
Sam released her waist and slumped his shoulders a bit, which caused Kaeson to let her arms fall back at her sides.
"Kaeson, there is no way to break this to you easy. I'm a shape shifter." Sam said as he looked as his desk.
Kaeson stood in silence for a bit, pondering this latest piece of information over in her head.
"A shape shifter?" She repeated slowly.
"Yeah, let's try to just keep it between us though, not many people know…"
"Oh yeah, yeah. No problem Sammy." She reassured him as she sat back down on the desk.
"Well?" Sam asked reluctantly.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier?" She asked a little hurt.
"I wanted to, but I didn't know how you were going to react and there wasn't a good time really." Sam offered as he rubbed the back of his neck.
"You could have told me, I don't mind. It's a bit strange and interesting though…"
"You took it better than what I figured you would have." Sam said relieved.
Kaeson smiled still lost in thought.
"I shouldn't have told you, you have enough on your mind as it is."
"Sam, it's fine. I'm actually touched that you shared it with me." Kaeson replied smiling.
"Kae-"
Sam was interrupted by Kaeson kissing him on the cheek. As she pulled away he noticed that she was hold his hands.
"I mean it Sammy. If I didn't, do you think I would have done that?" She asked lightly squeezing his hands.
"No." he replied as he looked down at their hands.
"I'm here if you need anything, Sam." She said as she slipped her hands out of his.
"You can take time off, as much as you want. You have a lot on your mind and need to sort it out. I don't want you back to work until you figure everything out. Understand?" He said looking back up at her.
"Yes, Sam and we may have to get together and have a few drinks again, that was fun." She replied smiling as she gathered her things from her cubby.