Time frame: Years after "From Dead to Worse"

This is a companion piece following "Family", "Bowling for Vampires" and "Leather Underwear" Please read the end of Family or you will be extremely confused.

Disclaimer: I don't have any claim on any characters in the Sookie Universe. Please don't sue me. The other characters are my own creation and just wanted to play with them for a while.

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Chapter 6

Bill left for his house at around 4 the following morning. He asked if he could bring some clothes here so that he would be able to stay the night next time. I sleepily agreed and he gave me a soft kiss on my lips and breezed out. I woke up at around 7. The years of working at the diner had conditioned my body to rise early. I let out a groan as I stood to go the bathroom. Although my nature allows me to heal at a miraculous rate, I was still sore from last night's activities. I smiled to myself- Bill was insatiable.

I cleaned up the room and threw the sheets in the washer. Bill had thoughtfully grabbed my top from downstairs and folded it on the machine.

After a nice hot shower, I felt right as rain.

I barely had enough time to throw on a lacy black tank and pull on some jeans before I heard a steady knock on the front door.

I opened it to find Cole standing there. He was wearing a fitted black t-shirt and jeans. His eyes lit up as soon as he saw me and before I could blink, he had pulled me into a warm hug.

"Good Morning, Ally." he said cheerfully, gently letting me go.

"Good Morning, Cole. What's up?" He gave me a sheepish grin.

"Nothing, I was up early and thought you might be too. Have you eaten yet?"

"No, I haven't." I answered honestly. "Where do you want to go?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "It's your town. What's a good place for breakfast?'

"I usually grab something here. Everyone else I know keeps much later hours." Cole winced.

Nice job Ally-rub it in.

I went back inside and grabbed my car keys and my purse.

"Come on, handsome. I think I know of the perfect place. Then I'll show you around a little." I said grabbing his hand.

He gave me a winning smile as we headed off in my car.

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"I thought you'd be sick of diners." Cole laughed.

"I always liked the food, it was the groping that I hated." I emphasized the remark by pushing up my boobs. He laughed harder.

This felt good, it felt comfortable. It was nice having someone around who you didn't have to explain yourself to.

Our waitress, Cathy, came to take our order. Probably in her late 40's she had a narrow face and wore too much makeup, her over-processed blond hair swept up in a pony tail.

"What would you two like to order?" she asked Cole, totally ignoring me. Ah well, nothing I wasn't used to.

Cole shot Cathy an irritated glance, then looked at me warmly. "So, Ally...What do you think...French toast?" I nodded enthusiastically. I haven't had that in ages.

"Two orders of French toast... please." he said brusquely. She nodded and a I said a quick "Thank you" to her and she was off.

When we were alone again he said, "I don't understand why you insist on being so nice to people who don't deserve your kindness."

"Everyone deserves kindness, Cole. Everyone." I said softly reaching across the table for his hand. He took it, looking at me with proud wonderment.

I couldn't help but blush under his gaze.

Looking into to those sparkling blues, I asked slowly, "Are you okay, Cole? I mean are we okay?"

He frowned for a moment, then looked at me ."We're okay, Ally. We just need to figure out our relationship, that's all. I want us in each others lives, even if we're not together."

"I would love to have that too, Cole. You're my family." I said sincerely.

We sat in comfortable silence for a while eating our breakfast when a thought popped in my head.

"Cole?"

"Yes?" he replied taking another mouthful of food.

"How were you able to leave Oklahoma?" Then leaning forward I whispered, "Aren't you afraid that they might follow you here- to us?"

"Nope."

I arched an eyebrow at him. Grinning, he reached in his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. Opening the the flap he pulled out a folded piece of newspaper. Unfolding it carefully, he smoothed it flat with his hand then slid it over to me.

It was our hometown paper. It highlighted our parents death in some kind of car accident. Their car was found off the side of the road crumpled. The cause of the collision was unknown, heck they didn't even know what their car collide into. After 2 weeks of dead ends the police ruled their deaths as accidental. Their wills have named their children, whose whereabouts are still unknown, sole heirs to their sizable estates. Cole's parents, the Flints, were one of the wealthiest people in Texas second only to mine. All that blood drinking really paid off I guess. The article was dated one month ago. A week before I arrived in Bon Temps.

I folded the article back the way it was and handed it back to Cole. We shared a look of relief. The burden had been lifted. No more running.

When we were done, I took Cole to the outdoor mall in Shreveport. Cole had mentioned that he had just moved into a small apartment in the city. He would be staying there until he found something permanent if he decided to stay, that is. We browsed around in the various shops looking for pots and pans and other items that he would need to make things more comfortable. After packing my car with linens and all of the items that he bought, I drove us back to my place so that we could transfer the items to his car.

While we were loading, he asked "What are you doing later, Ally?"

"Well, I've got to check in at Fangtasia for a few hours to work on the website and then Sookie, Pam and I were planning on meeting here for movie night. It's becoming a weekly ritual now'"

He smiled. "That sounds like fun. I'm glad you have friends here Ally. I really am. I know you never really had..."Sigh." Anyway, have fun tonight." he said giving me a friendly peck on the cheek.

"If you want me to help you set up your place, I can come over tomorrow." I offered.

"That would be great." He answered scribbling down his address on the back of a receipt and handing it to me.

"Tomorrow morning at around 8, okay?"

"Perfect. Later Ally. I had a good time today."

"Me too. Later."

I smiled as I watched Cole drive away, happy that he was still a part of my life.

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"So, Ally I hear you've been busy today." said Pam as I popped in our feature film for the evening, "The Phantom of the Opera" with Gerard Butler.

"Yeah, Cole and I met for breakfast and then I drove him to the mall so that he could get some things for his place." I said. "Hey, wait...who did you hear that from?"

"That Fellowship human, Arlene, that works at Merlotte's. She was at the mall and spotted you two. She said that you looked like matching bookends and that you were extremely chummy with each other." I thought about what we were both wearing. I didn't even realize we were wearing the same color combo. That was kind of funny. On the other hand Arlene spreading rumors about me and Cole- not so funny.

"How did you hear of it, Pam?" I asked.

"Well she mentioned it to Sookie saying that it looked like somebody woke up and realized that screwing a dead guy wasn't all it was cracked up to be."

I looked at Sookie. "What did you say?"

"I told her that as far as I knew you and Bill were still together and in love- right?" she said looking at me sternly.

"Right." I said genuinely. I was worried though. Bill lives in Bon Temps. Plus he knows what Cole and I mean to each other.

Suddenly, movie night didn't seem like such a good idea.

Sookie patted me on my knee. "Don't worry Ally. Bill knows you're not the type that fools around."

"I don't know, Sookie." I said shaking my head slowly."You of all people know how possessive he can be. " She nodded.

"I also know that he's changed, Ally. He's made an effort to become more open and more trusting. I think he'll be okay."

"Maybe, I should call him." I said getting up.

"Ally, if you want Bill to trust in you, you must trust in him. He will do the right thing." said Pam.

"Dear Abby?"

"Of course."

I sat back down and pressed "Play". I don't remember watching the movie or even when the girls left my house, I was so lost in my thoughts.

How do I explain to Bill about Cole? If he told me to cut Cole out of my life would I do it?

No, I wouldn't. Cole didn't do anything wrong. I want him in my life. I want to see him happy and finding someone. He was the only one who believed in me, who loved me while everyone else shut me out. I don't think I would have survived my childhood if it weren't for his constant presence and caring.

I heard the chirp of a car alarm in my driveway. Gathering my resolve, I prayed that I wouldn't be forced to make a choice.

I opened the door to find that waitress, Arlene standing on the front step smiling at me. Before I could utter a sound I was struck in the head by a heavy object. As my body hit the ground I heard shrill laughter and several male voices. Then everything grew fuzzy as I blacked out.

TBC