Chapter 5 –

Sookie?" He asked, once he'd come back to his senses.

"Yes, Bill?"

"Truth or dare?"

O.K., I'm no fool. I may not be educated, but I wasn't dumb enough to take the dare option after making the guy dance around in his undies for me. Lord knows what he'd plan for revenge! So I opted for truth.

"Did you really rumple the Were's clothing with your derriere, Sookie?" He kept smiling, but I could tell he wasn't happy about the prospect of me hanging out with Alcide Herveaux sans clothing. Though for all he knew, Alcide had just shifted.

"Yeah," I said. "I came home to find him sprawled out naked in my bed! Uninvited. Well, uninvited by me anyhow. Amelia thought it might sway me to forget about Eric, but it didn't work."

"Hmm," Bill hummed. "Would it work for me?"

"I don't know," I said, deflecting. "But I can ask Alcide to come over and crawl into your hidey hole with you. It seems to work for Bubba."

"Touché, but I'm not fucking Bubba. Besides, you were the one who showed up naked in my hidey hole. Twice."

"And you have yet to do anything about it, so . . ." I trailed off, deciding any snappy comeback I could throw back at him would probably come across as whining. Or begging.

He leaned back, propping himself up on one elbow as he lay on his side. It had the desired effect on me and he knew it. I was getting ready to tackle him, but then he had to go and open his mouth again.

"It's your turn, Sookie."

"Fine! Truth or dare, Bill?"

"Truth."

"If I hadn't emailed Judith, would you have just let yourself waste away?"

He rolled over on his back and sighed. Typical Bill Compton. Did I really expect him to tell the truth? Shit! I actually did! I was like Charlie Brown, always running after the damned football to kick it even though Lucy was just going to pull it out of the way at the last minute and let me fall on my ass.

But then he surprised me by sitting up and looking me square in the eye as he said, "I had been to see Dr. Ludwig, and she had some ideas about treatments. I don't know if they would have worked or not, but I was willing to try. Your kindness spared me the unknown and gave me a sure-fire cure, as I told you. I am only sorry that I hurt Judy in the process."

Huh, I hadn't even thought about the witch doctor, or supe doctor, or whatever she was . . . Oh, healer! That's right! Well that made sense. I was glad to know that Bill hadn't been suicidal. Of course, he was quiet now. Suspiciously quiet.

"What aren't you telling me?"

He sighed, but he didn't look away. I could tell he wanted to. His every instinct was to shut down and close himself off. It was kind of his M.O., at least since I'd known him. Turned out, I was in for more truth than I'd bargained for.

"I've been seeing Dr. Ludwig for a while now, Sookie."

"Why? Are you sick?" I felt my heart sink and then begin to race. Vampires didn't get sick! But, Bill had been so sick with the silver poisoning, and he'd been so weak and in a lot of pain. I couldn't stand it, which is why I did my little B&E number and looked up his vamp sis. But if they could get silver poisoning and the sino virus, maybe vamps could get other things.

Jesus Christ, Shepherd of Judea! Could vamps get cancer?

I felt his strong arms grip me and pull me into his lap, soothing me. His fingers washed away the tears that I hadn't realized had started to fall. He hesitated for a moment before licking them from my face. It was too much. I reached for him and kissed him gently, my lips pleading for entry as my heart pleaded for him to open up to me. He groaned and started shaking before he pulled away.

"Bill, don't -"

He held me at a distance as he calmed. His eyes held something I hadn't seen before, I thought. He was afraid.

"We need to talk some more."

"Bill, I -"

He looked at me again, his eyes imploring. Did he think I would leave him right now? Oh my God, he did. Of course he did. It's not like I hadn't walked out before.

I moved my hands to cover his and said, "I'm not going anywhere."

He relaxed a bit, then he said, "I've been seeing her for depression. I recognized the signs a while back, of course. Even before I took the human psych course, I'd followed the field."

"Is it because of me?"

"Not entirely," he said. "I needed to deal with a lot of issues. The loss of my maker, as much as I loathed her, was a traumatic experience. It is for any vampire. I grappled with the effects of the torture, then the Fae war, and us."

"Did you ever think about . . .?"

"The true death? No, that would be the coward's way out. I decided to face my demons and heal. The silver made it more difficult, but you removed that particular obstacle."

I understood all too well about loss, trauma, and breakups. He didn't have to explain that part. Still, I never thought of Bill as the sort of man who struggled with anything. He'd always been so cool and collected. I felt sad at first, realizing that I'd never known that side of him. But, he was telling me now. That made me feel better. Like I knew some part of him that no one else did. And I would make sure to keep his confidence.

"Are you better now?"

"Getting there. But I believe you've taken your turn and then some, Darling. It's my turn. Truth or dare?"

"Truth." I figured after that confession, I owed him some dark secret of mine. Of course, he knew most of them, or so I thought.

He prefaced his next question by asking, "Promise you'll not take this the wrong way and get defensive?"

"Well when you put it like that!" I snapped.

He waited. Patiently. He was good at that. Oh hell, I guess I could try to hear him out! I took a deep breath. Then another. Then I said, "O.K. Fire away."

"Do you want more out of life than being a waitress, Sookie?"

Boy, oh boy did THAT ever pinch a raw nerve! I tried to be calm, but all I could think about was Bill strolling into Merlotte's with Selah and her smug business-woman aura. I know, inferiority complex, but I couldn't help it! School was torture, and most jobs around people were unbearable. I mean, it wasn't like I was hurting for cash right now, with Claudine's dying gift and the money I'd saved from my work for the vamps, but still.

O.K. I had an inferiority complex. But I figured if Bill could swallow some pride and admit to depression, I could own up to my issues.

"I'll preface this by saying that there's nothing wrong with being a waitress and I'm proud of the work I do, understand?"

"Of course. You should be proud of yourself and your work. But you could be so much more."

"Could I?" I asked. Maybe I was asking him, and maybe I was asking myself a little, too. It hadn't occurred to me to ask myself until now.

Bill flashed me a fangy smile. He had a beautiful smile. In that moment, he seemed positively giddy. "Don't go anywhere."

He did that vampire thing and disappeared. When he reappeared just as suddenly, he had his laptop and a folder with him. He passed me the folder while he fiddled around with the computer. I was going to make some comment about what sorts of sites he liked to look at dressed only in his undies, but the contents of the folder stopped me dead in my tracks. As did the sticky note on the cover that read "For Sookie."

"What is all this, Bill?"

"Here," he said, putting the computer in front of me and himself behind me. I was still horny, so I appreciated his position and proximity. But, I was distracted by the overwhelming realization at the depth of his devotion as his gesture began to sink in.

"See here," he said, clicking on a link. "You can take this test and figure out what classes your really need and which ones you can skip. And you can work at your own pace. You took a few correspondence courses when you were younger, right?"

"Um, yeah," I muttered. I'd mentioned that to him once. How long had he been thinking about this stuff? "I have enough credits for first year core courses, I think."

"You do. I checked. Now, I was thinking - just hypothetically mind you - if you used accounting for your math credits and took the basic science courses, you could earn your bachelor's degree in business in a few years. I could help with the computer courses and get you set up for online classes. I mean, if you want."

I was floored. He'd done some serious research on my behalf, and for no obvious benefit for himself that I could think of offhand. I mean, I figured he might have done it to win me back and all, but he hadn't said anything until tonight.

"Well, I might need a higher speed connection . . ."

"I can hook you up with mine. I don't use it during the day, of course, and I can rig it so my wireless reaches your house."

I flipped through the folder. It held print outs for grant and scholarship applications, and even a few for small business loans for female entrepreneurs. Incredible.

"So you've put a lot of thought into this, huh?"

"Well, I thought you might be interested in branching out. Maybe you could be a bar manager or an owner."

I gave him a look.

"Or," he said quickly, "You could start your own business. Anything you wanted. The possibilities are wide open, Sookie."

Holding my face stone still, I said, "Uh huh, planning a lot for me, are you? Trying to run my life and turn me into some fancy lady like Selah?"

He looked defeated. I could see devastation written all over his handsome face. I knew that look well. It was the same look he'd given me when I'd refused his offer to get free clothes from the shop he owned (well, leased) or refused to take those earrings he bought me after Dallas. He hung his head and sighed.

When he looked up again, I tweaked his nose and said, "Gotcha!"

Then I gave him a great big hug for being the only man who would bother to think of me as more than a waitress, or telepath, or pretty face. He valued me. For me. That was the best gift I'd ever received.

After I released him and kissed his cheek, I said, "O.K., my turn. Truth or dare, Bill?"

A/N – OK, I took another little serious turn, but I promise some more funny stuff next. I mean, I have to give piper1715 something other than Michigan J. Vampire to think of at work so she can try to muster some maturity.

Though I don't see why she should bother. I've been on the long road to maturity for years and lovin' it!

I have an idea about another image – but that's for the next chapter.

BTW, thanks to LMTO and miya (and anyone else I forgot to thank in a PM or couldn't thank in a PM) for the lovely reviews and encouragement. I'll try to up the ante with more hilarious foreplay!