Chapter 10 – You Can Offer Me Escape

And if I'm gonna talk
I just wanna talk
Please don't interrupt
Just sit back and listen
'Cause I can't face the evening straight
You can offer me escape
[Radiohead – Last Flowers]

She had an excruciating headache and felt a bit cold when she came to, but this time she instantly knew that she was situated in Godric's house, in his room – in his arms. But unfortunately she was also painfully aware of the reason why she was being held by him so carefully, why she was at his home at all...

She'd never have the opportunity to look into her grandmother's caring eyes ever again or listen to her soothing voice. She'd never share a meal with her and never tell her about her everyday-problems. She'd neither be able to take a hot-air-balloon-ride with her, nor would they enjoy the view over Paris from the Eiffel Tower together.

Her Gran was gone.

When a sudden feeling of suffocation overwhelmed her, Laura clung desperately to the lifeless body beside her and only when she sensed the familiar, faint scent of Godric, which reminded her of a blend of cedar wood and wet earth (both really pleasant scents in her opinion), she felt with relief how fresh air flooded her starved lungs again.

Even when he was dead for the day, he helped her – it was ridiculous...

Laura was embarrassed by how childish and maybe somewhat unfair she had reacted after their argument a few nights ago. She had lost her temper when she realized that Godric had been watching her and James, for she always had valued her privacy very highly and that was one of the few aspects, even her parents shared and had no problems to allow her.

It was new for her, that someone meddled in her affairs in that way.

Sure, her parents never kept their opinion regarding her decisions to themselves and mostly persuaded her to arrive at them the way they wanted her to. It had taken her quite a few years to even realize that they manipulated her fairly often, because they did it very subtly and with such tact, she would've been impressed by their expertise if it hadn't concerned her...

But they had never watched her doing something she didn't want them to see. They had always trusted her enough, to give her some space.

And now that she had finally fled her parents' home for their relentless interference, she had a new friend who also showed tendencies in that direction.

But it definitely spoke in his favor, that he didn't even try to smother his prying up – no, he had almost shouted it in her face and combined with the fact that he'd even gotten emotional about the scene he had seen, it attenuated the circumstances distinctly.

And at least after Laura had received her mothers phone call – telling her about the passing of her Gran and the upcoming funeral with a cracked, but not even a bit consoling voice – she hadn't wasted a single thought about what had happened between Godric and her and where she'd flee to.

Not for the life of her she'd have been able to stay in her Gran's apartment any longer, for almost everything in there reminded her of her grievous absence and all she could think of was the gentle vampire's comforting embrace she so badly longed for.

She involuntarily snuggled up against his cool body and took a deep, soothing breath through her nose, while her head rested relaxed against his neck. If someone had watched her now, their roles could have been interpreted the wrong way round...

That he had welcomed her with open arms and even gone out of his way to comfort her last afternoon was a miracle after how she had behaved. He really was some kind of saint, even if he had a different opinion on that matter.

Laura also had the slight suspicion that he had glamoured her on various occasions and was sure he had at least used his ability once, to help her fall asleep. She had fought the sleep off as long as she could (for she feared to be haunted by nightmares), but still she dropped off eventually and the last thing she remembered doing before, was looking into his captivating eyes – what a coincidence...

When she felt one of her human needs making itself felt, she wiggled herself out of Godric's embrace to head for the bathroom. Her head hammered like mad, but she refused to take a pill just now – the pain would at least keep her from thinking too much...

When she washed her hands afterwards, she realized that Godric had obviously unpacked at least one of her bags, because her facial care products were positioned meticulously on the sink.

A talk about boundaries was definitely called for...

Because she made the mistake to risk a quick look into the mirror and the sight almost caused her to back away, she spontaneously decided to take a shower.

When she stepped into the beautiful glass-walled rain shower, she also found her shower items neatly strung together on a shelf in the cabin. She even grinned a little, when she also discovered her toothbrush and paste in there and relocated them onto the sink when she was finished.

After she had rubbed herself dry she tended to her face until she looked at least alive again and headed off to search for her clothes. She peeked into every room she was able to open in the basement (which narrowed down to three guest-rooms besides Godric's own room), but neither did she find her clothes, nor any of her bags. He obviously had left them on the upper floors...

Reluctantly she returned to his bedroom, still clad only in a towel she had extracted from a bathroom cupboard and stood indecisive at the bottom of the bed. She felt miserable and knew it would be the best if she busied herself with something – anything – but she couldn't for the life of her bring herself to think of anything different than snuggling into the bed and crying her heart out.

She gulped to get rid of the lump in her throat, but as she had feared – it was in vain.

With slow and clumsy steps she approached the bedside and reached for her purse to finally take one or two painkillers – as her theory about not thinking too much had been idiotic anyway. She gulped them down with a glass of water she had retrieved from the bathroom and reached for her cellphone.

Laura hoped to find at least one missed call from her mother or father, showing her that they cared and thought about her, but all she discovered were five missed calls from Pat, one from Eric and a message from each of the two.

Pat:

20:23 – Your mother told me what happened. Please call me back, as soon as you're ready to talk about it...

The Giant:

02:11 – Godric told me about your grandmother – I am sorry for your loss. Tell me if you need anything. If you feel up to a change of scenery, you and Godric are always welcome in Shreveport. E

She wasn't surprised that the Viking had taken the time to write her a few comforting words, but still she was touched by his condolence. If she thought of the Eric nearly slamming her – no, her Gran's – apartment door down and how he behaved now, it was as if he was a different person.

That he trusted her enough to show her his real face now (at least she thought it was his real face), although they only just met a few weeks ago, still amazed her and somehow also filled her with gratitude and maybe a tiny bit with pride too.

With a faint smile she sluggishly swiped over the touchscreen until she found the name she had looked for and pressed the call button.

"Hey Laurie – how are you?", she heard Patrick's concerned voice ask her from the other end, "Your mother was quite terse when she told me..."

"I'm as fine as I could be – fortunately Godric took me in. I couldn't stay at the apartment any longer..."

"Sure. You're on good terms with him again?", he asked with a disbelieving voice and she could almost picture him cocking one of his eyebrows.

She had already had the slight suspicion that he had been quite pleased when she told him about her argument with Godric and how angry she was because of what he had done. But the disappointed undertone in his voice just a moment ago, caused her to feel certain about it.

"Of course – at least since he welcomed me with open arms yesterday, ignoring the sunlight and only being concerned about the tear-stained mess I'd been. I mean I downright told him to fuck off a few nights ago, when I found him waiting in front of Gran's apartment, but still he took me in without hesitation...", she explained with regret and bit on her bottom lip in shame.

"You had every right to be mad at him-"

"Yeah – he told me so himself. Still I feel horrible for how I treated him...", she admitted with a cracked voice. A deep sigh was all she heard from the other end of the line for a few moments.

"I'm going to come to the funeral", he told her matter-of-factly, "I already excused myself for monday, the Professors didn't really mind. I could also take a plane tonight if you need me..."

"That's really not necessary Pat!", she quickly told him, but couldn't help feeling relieved about that news, "you don't have to do that, I'll be fine."

"Ok, but I'll definitely come to the funeral! I also knew her Laurie, she somehow was my family too – I want to bid her farewell..."

"Well if that's your wish, I certainly won't keep you from attending to it", she told him with a small voice, "I'm glad I'll find at least one friendly face there..."

"Your parents still refuse to talk to you?", he asked with disbelief, "They couldn't possibly still be mad at you – not now! As soon as they'll see you again, they'll forget about their grudge, you'll see Laurie."

"I'm afraid they still are, but I also hope they'll change their mind as soon as we see each other...", she admitted quietly and sighed before she continued, "When will your plane arrive?"

"On sunday at 15:10 – from what I've been told, the ceremony will take place around five pm – I should be able to make it to the Lincoln Memorial Park till then, even with traffic. I have to admit I was a bit surprised when I heard she'd be buried beside your grandfather – I thought you said he was a Jew, shouldn't he be interred in a Jewish cemetery then?"

"He converted shortly after he came to America. From what Gran told me", Laura explained, but paused a second after she had mentioned her grandmother and gulped before she continued, "he had never been very religious and somehow wanted to ring down the curtain on the things he had to endure while he still was in Europe."

"Well, that explains a lot", he admitted, "I mean you and your Dad are both Christians, aren't you? I'm sorry I don't even know that, but you don't talk much about religion and stuff..."

"Even if my grandfather hadn't converted, Dad and I would be Christians as Gran was and Mom is Christian", she told him patiently while a silent tear ran down her cheek as she thought about her now dead grandmother again, "As far as I know it's the mother who passes the Jewish faith on."

"Oh, sorry – I didn't know that."

"Nothing to be sorry for", she assured him and sighed, feeling the need to end this conversation, as her mood slowly reached another low, "Thanks for everything Pat, it was nice hearing your voice again."

"No problem Lala – call if you need anything. I'll see you in two days", he answered easily, immediately understanding that she wanted to hang up.

"See you on sunday Pat. Bye."

"Bye, Laurie."

With a deep sigh she pressed the button to end the call and put her phone on the nightstand again. Eric wasn't up yet, so it would've been for nothing if she called him now.

She sat on the bed for a while, with her bare feet dangling from the edge until she accepted that she wouldn't have the energy to do anything other than curling up into a ball beside Godric's still sleeping form – and that was exactly what she did then.

At first she lay there with her knees drawn up against her chest, embracing her legs with her arms and her back turned towards the lifeless vampire. But as soon as painful thoughts started to nag at her again and her eyes began to tear, she turned around and draped Godrics arm around her body, until it was in a similar position as it had been when she awoke.

She inhaled his comforting scent and rested her head on his outstretched left arm, observing his collar-tattoo, which was now situated prominently in her field of view.

Absentmindedly she started to trace its pattern again, like she had done the first night she had spent in his house, and stuck to it when she realized how relaxing it felt. The lump in her throat was not as suffocating as it had been and this sick feeling in her stomach had gone as well.

She wasn't sure how long she continued to brush his inked skin, for she lost track of time while concentrating solely on the almost silk-smooth texture beneath her fingers.

At first she didn't even realize that his hand had stopped lying lifelessly around her body, but had moved to engulf her in a soft hug. Only when he started to caress her bare shoulder blade, her head jerked up and she found herself staring into two fern-green eyes.

"How do you feel Laura?", he asked her softly, while he still stroked her back. She was a bit taken aback by the question, as she was still surprised that he was awake, therefore it took her a few moments to answer him.

"Quite rested, thanks to a certain someone...", she muttered and averted her gaze, "I'm sorry I touched you like that. I know you don't like it..."

"Who told you such a thing?", he asked baffled and switched hands, now attending to her back with his left, while his right was free to gently grab her chin and title it upwards, forcing her to look at him.

"Eric. He said 'vampires don't like to be touched, because it is their nature to be suspicious'", she admitted with a tiny voice.

"Forget about that. I trust you", he simply stated and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, brushing his hand over her cheek in that process, all the while looking determined into her eyes.

"And why did you back away then, when I touched you in that hotel room?", she asked hesitantly and bit on her bottom lip, before she averted her gaze again.

She remembered how he had jumped back when she traced his tattoos the last time, as if it had been yesterday. But what really bothered her, was the shocked expression she had seen on his face when it happened.

She gulped to dampen her suddenly dry throat and shook her head, as if it would help her to get rid of the picture in her head.

"You forget that I am a vampire, Laura", he reminded her, while he caressed her back in circling patterns and sighed deeply, before he continued to explain, "We are very sensuous beings. Your touch triggered urges I was forced to fight down in order to keep you safe..."

Hesitantly Laura lifted her head to face him again and inhaled sharply, when she discovered his gloomy expression. She hadn't seen him look so forlorn in a while and had hoped, it would at least take a few more weeks until she witnessed it again – but unfortunately that had been wishful thinking...

"I'm sorry Godric", she whispered and moved her hand to caress his cheek, but stopped in midair when she became aware of what she was about to do, "I didn't think it would have such an impact..."

He stared wordlessly at her for a moment, before he gently clasped her still hovering hand and guided it to his cheek, tilting his head to lean into the touch.

"Do not hesitate to touch me, Laura", he whispered and closed his eyes before he continued, "You caught me off guard the last time, but I am prepared now."

She felt her heart rate speed up at the sound of his voice and the feeling of his skin under, as well as on top of her fingers. That he obviously wanted her to touch him, didn't really help her state either...

They stayed a while in that position and at some point Godric had bent his head, to nestle it up to the crook of her neck, like she had done about an hour ago.

"You took a shower", he stated with a certain kind of disappointment in his voice.

"Yes, I was a tear-stained mess, I needed one! You don't like the scent of my shower-gel?", she asked concerned and bent backwards to bring some space between them, before she sniffed on her forearm tentatively. She couldn't sense anything, as she had started to use less of her body-wash after Eric's remark about a week ago, but that didn't mean that Godric wouldn't smell it.

"It is not bad, just quite prominent", he admitted and smiled faintly, "I take it that you found your hygiene products?"

"Of course. I couldn't possibly have overlooked them", she told him dryly, while her eyebrows slowly furrowed, "I don't really like the fact that you rummaged through my things – please don't do that again, Godric."

He inhaled sharply when he recognized the displeasure in her voice and his expression immediately became concerned again. Obviously looking for any hint on her face for how he should react now, he examined her appearance intently, but she mustered all her willpower to keep a blank expression.

She would definitely not give in now, just because he was able to look even more lovable than Stuart Little...

"I am sorry Little One", he whispered into her ear, when he'd bent his head down beside hers, "I thought you would need these items."

Well, that was an explanation – but a rather sketchy one.

"Why didn't you just bring my bags down here then?", she asked as drily, as she was able to sound and cocked one eyebrow to cover her slightly trembling voice up.

"There was a strong scent emanating from your bags", he admitted reluctantly, "I would not have been able to sleep, if I had brought them down here. I swear I did not rummage around in your things! I can assure you, I merely opened your rucksack Laura!"

For a few seconds she eyed him doubtfully out of the corner of her eye, but smiled faintly before she shook her head in a disbelieving manner.

"Forgiven and forgotten – I'm sorry I brought stinking bags into your home", she noted with some embarrassment and bit onto her bottom lip, "I wasn't aware of their smell..."

"Oh, it is not much of a problem as long as they are not stored in my sleeping quarters", he noted with relief resonating from his voice and chuckled slightly before he continued, "I am going to fetch your luggage – you definitely should put some clothes on..."

And before she could have told him to heed his own advice (!), he was gone, leaving a baffled Laura lying on the bed, clad only in a towel. She was just rubbing her face in a frustrated manner, when he reappeared with her belongings.

Immediately she jumped up to rifle through her bag, searching for a pair of lazy pants and a simple shirt. She wasn't in the mood to dress up as she usually did, as she planned to spend her night on the couch or in bed anyway.

Godric waited, while she dressed in the bath and by the time she entered the bedroom again, he also had clad himself in his usual attire – light brown linen shirt and dark brown linen pants.

"When was the last time you ate something, Laura?", he asked in concern when her stomach suddenly rumbled and examined her appearance while she approached. He took her hand to lead her to the exit when she came within his reach and entered the key-code in such speed, she only recognized a blur before the basement-door opened with a click.

"I think two nights ago. James took me out for dinner again...", she admitted, while they ascended the wooden stairs and bit onto her bottom lip when she realized what she just had said and that it wouldn't have been necessary to mention that.

"Well, then it is high time you eat something Little One", the young looking vampire beside her stated gently, as if he hadn't heard James' name and led her to the kitchen as soon as they reached the first floor, closing and covering the hatch immediately after they had stepped out of it.

Laura wasn't completely sure if she should have been relieved or disappointed by his lack of interest in the fact that James had taken her out for another date. She had already started to hope that his emotional outburst a few nights ago indicated certain feelings towards her, but that had obviously just been a fantasy of her, as his reaction now clearly showed.

"Sit down and relax, Laura", he instructed when he realized that she had followed him to the fridge, "I will cook something for you."

"You can cook?", she asked, baffled and looked at him with big eyes, as if he just told her he'd gone to take a sunbath while she was still sleeping, "I always thought vampires can't stomach anything other than blood..."

"Oh – we indeed can not, Little One. But we have quite sensitive noses", he reminded her and tipped playfully onto the point of hers before he grabbed her shoulders and guided her to the kitchen table, where he sat her down with gentle force.

"What are you going to cook then?", she asked, while she rested her head in her hand and propped it up with her elbow.

"You will see soon enough", he just answered and stood in front of the fridge the next moment. He opened its door at human pace and froze for a second, as if he had to contemplate which ingredients he would need.

It was almost cute how he cared for her...

"What is this, Laura?", he suddenly asked with an eerily flat voice and turned around to show her what he just extracted from the fridge.

Her heart sank when she recognized one of the blood-bags she had stowed there yesterday and gritted her teeth, before she reverted to biting her bottom lip again.

"Donor blood?!", she suggested meekly and ducked her head in prospect of a right royal dressing down and squinted her eyes shut.

"And what would you need this for?", he inquired to know, still with a frighteningly even voice, but still she dared to risk a peek at him, when he hadn't raised his voice like she had thought he would. He looked as if he was on the brink to going off and just held onto the last thought of restraint.

It was terrifying – but she had to admit that she also was somewhat excited too...

"To force feed you if need be", she answered as confident as she managed to sound in the presence of this visibly displeased vampire.

And obviously she had said the right thing, because his whole demeanor changed to a more relaxed one and he cocked one eyebrow in a challenging manner.

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

"And how would you do that?"

"I'd wait until you sleep and infuse it with a drinking straw", she told him matter-of-factly and crossed her arms in front of the chest.

"Interesting plan", he admitted and scratched his chin thoughtfully, before he stopped playing around and proceeded to stare her straight in the eye, "Though, I am glad you told me – it could have killed you. You should not try that. Any other idea?"

"Why not? What could possibly happen – you snore me to death?"

"I do not snore", he stated dryly, put the blood-bag down onto the kitchen counter and took a few steps away from it, as if it was contaminated. "I would awake – but not entirely – which would leave me in a state where I would not recognize you and I would probably suck you dry after I am finished with the blood-bag."

"Oh", she muttered dumbly and gulped, "I agree with you then – it's good I told you about that plan..."

He simply nodded, while they kept staring at each other for some time, but when Laura slowly started to feel awkward she coughed slightly and averted her gaze.

"What about my dinner now?"

"I am sorry Little One, I completely forgot!", he excused and immediately started to extract the required ingredients from the fridge with inhuman speed. She tried to follow his doings as good as she could, but she merely recognized blurs here and there – and sometimes not even that.

After a while she realized that he probably cooked some sort of soup, but when she became aware of the obviously heated oven and the apparently used (because not yet cleaned) blender, she was at a loss.

What the heck did he cook there?!

By the time she thought she had seen him being busy with a pan too, she couldn't hold her curiosity back anymore and wanted to ask. But just as she had opened her mouth, Godric stood beside her and put a plate onto the table in front of her.

It contained a yellowish-orange soup with probably roasted pumpkin seeds on top (that's what the pan could have been for!), so it presumably was a pumpkin soup. When she heard a dump sound she looked up and discovered a pepper and a salt grinder.

"You should not need it. But just in case you do find it too mild, please help yourself"

"Thanks Godric!", she whispered and bit on her bottom lip before she continued, "It has been a while since someone took the time to cook something for me..."

"It was a pleasure", he assured her and pulled the chair out beside her, to take a seat, "I would be glad to repeat it."

She smiled gratefully, took the spoon without another word and filled it with a small amount of soup and one of the seeds. Leisurely she blew it a bit cooler, before she finally tried the first bite.

Godric had been sitting tensely beside her, examining her every move as if he feared she wouldn't like it. But he couldn't have been more wrong!

"Godric, it's delicious!", she exclaimed and couldn't hide her mild surprise. Laura had thought it would taste good – but not that good! "There are so many flavors in there! Well there's obviously pumpkin and I can detect ginger as well as a bit curcuma, right? But there's also something else in there, isn't it? Something that makes it a bit sour, but it's harmonizing really well with the pumpkin. What is it? I can't put my finger on it!"

"Well, that will remain my little secret", he answered impishly and smiled at her, "I am glad it is to your liking."

Laura tried to eat the soup as ladylike as she could manage, but at some point a mishap slipped in and she would have spilled a bit of it onto her pants, if Godric hadn't reacted as fast as he did.

He had caught the few drops with his hand, leaving them stuck to his pointer and middle finger and was just about to withdraw it again, when Laura grabbed his wrist out of an impulse. She had absolutely no clue what had possessed her in that moment, but she slowly guided his hand to her mouth and licked the soup off his fingers.

She licked it off his fingers! And he let it happen!

When she became aware of what she had done, she immediately let go of his wrist and bit on her lip embarrassedly.

"Well, it's too good to waste it...", she explained halfheartedly and stared at the almost emptied plate, reverting to spoon the remaining soup into her mouth, to at least have a reason not to look at the vampire beside her.

"There is plenty of it left, if you want more", he noted as if nothing had happened, "But I have prepared something else for you as well. It should be ready at any minute."

And really, just as he had said that, a ringing sounded from the kitchen area and the seat beside her was suddenly vacant. She hurriedly emptied the plate with the soup and just as she had finished, Godric placed the next onto the table.

There were grilled vegetables, tofu and two little cups with sauces on it – one red, one green. She supposed the left was some kind of tomato-pepper sauce and the right guacamole and immediately took the fork to dip a piece of pepper into the red one.

It really was a blend of tomato and peppers, a bit hot, but not too much and sweet, thanks to the tomatoes, but not as sweet as ketchup, so she estimated he hadn't used any sugar.

"How does it taste?", Godric asked hesitantly, as he had taken the seat beside her again, "I am not really familiar with tofu, therefore I am not sure if I prepared it right..."

She immediately tried a piece of said tofu with the green paste next and smiled widely at him, while she chewed on it.

"It's delicious", she assured him as soon as she had gulped it down, "I'm in awe of your cooking skills! Are there any restaurants with vampire-cooks? If not, that's definitely something to think about – you don't have a job at the moment right? Try that next – your customers will love you!"

"Is that so?", he asked and cocked an eyebrow in a disbelieving manner. When Laura nodded enthusiastically while she took the next bite, he just smiled mildly at her and seemed to mull over something.

"Then I prefer to cook only for a single customer", he told her businesslike, while he leant onto his elbows, interlaced his fingers and rested his chin upon them, all the while looking intently at Laura as if there was a deeper meaning to what he just had said.

She gulped and returned his gaze with a slightly baffled expression, but soon averted it again, attending to the plate in front of her and murmuring something about 'food getting cold'.

When she had finished her meal, they silently carried the plates to the kitchen area, where she filled the remaining soup into a food storage box and helped Godric to wash the dishes. By the time they had stored everything away again, the blood-bag still resting on the counter caught her eye.

"You saw to my dinner, allow me to take care of yours now", she pleaded and reached for the bag, holding it up demonstratively. He examined her for a few moments, as if he were indecisive yet, but sighed finally and just nodded curtly.

Although he didn't seem very pleased, she smiled widely at him and fetched a pot, which she immediately used to heat water in. As soon as the liquid was hand warm she put the bag into it, turned the heat down to a minimum and set the egg timer to five minutes. Every minute she fished the bag out again to shake it carefully – just like Pam had instructed her – to make sure it would be heated evenly until the timer finally rang.

Deliberately she filled the red liquid into a thermos flask, she had discovered when Godric showed her the kitchen the other day.

She wanted to prevent that Godric would be forced to gulp it down quickly. He hadn't allowed himself to taste human blood for almost five years – he should have the time to savor it! Of course there was more stored in the fridge, but she doubted he'd allow her to warm that up too – or at least he'd probably refuse to drink it if she did...

He silently accepted it when she handed him the flask, but didn't show the slightest indication of opening it, let alone drinking it.

"Would you be willing to take a stroll through the garden with me?", he asked politely, deliberately ignoring the blood-flask in his hand, "The sun just set and I would like to show you a few spots."

"I'd rather spend the night inside, if you don't mind...", she admitted and bit on her lip, when the loss of her beloved grandmother suddenly hit her again with full force.

She almost felt guilty for not having thought of her for the last probably one and a half hours. Sure, a constant dull feeling had accompanied her the whole time, as if there was something important she wasn't aware of. But she had managed to ignore it and in some situations Godric had even been able to make her feel happy of sorts...

Laura knew her Gran wouldn't have wanted her to waste her remaining time with mourning, but still she felt awful for almost forgetting about the fact that she was gone now.

"It is absolutely no problem Little One", his gentle answer stopped her train of thoughts abruptly and he put his spare hand onto her shoulder, squeezing it carefully in a reassuring gesture, "I just thought it would do you good to occupy your mind. I can show you around another time."

"Thanks Godric", she whispered and averted her gaze, when she felt tears building up in them, "for caring for me and letting me stay here – I really appreciate it!"

"Look at me Laura", he demanded softly and gently cupped her chin to turn her head in his direction again, "I am glad to help you Little One! If there was a way to ease your pain I would-"

"You already did!", she assured him with a halfhearted smile on her face.

"But you have a problem with that?!", he suddenly realized disbelievingly, "Why?"

"I don't really know Godric – I just feel like I'm supposed to feel miserable and feel guilty when I'm not..."

"I did not know your grandmother Little One, but from what you told me, I cannot imagine her as a woman who would want her grandchild to feel miserable!", he told her gently, but with vehemence, making it clear he wouldn't tolerate any protests, "Surely she would have wanted you to keep her in good memory, but she would definitely have wanted you to feel happy whenever you think of her!"

Laura examined his sincere face intently, her big eyes darting back and forth between his fern-green ones, while she contemplated his words. And of course he was right – Gran would have wanted her to be happy...

"Would you mind spending the night on the couch with me?", she asked hesitantly after a while, "I'd like to tell you more about her..."

"Of course, Laura", he answered without hesitation and smiled at her before he took her hand to lead her out of the kitchen.

And so they climbed the stairs to the second floor, making themselves comfortable on the gray couch. When Laura started to talk, Godric clung to her lips as if she'd tell him life altering secrets, nodding from time to time, sometimes asking a few questions too. She reminded him to drink his blood every once in a while and he indulgently complied without a word of protest.

She told him about her first ride with a bike and how her grandmother had stabilized her by holding onto the carrier at first, but let go without her knowing at some point. How her Gran had encouraged her to practice the piano whenever she wanted to do everything but that and how grateful she was now, for every hour she had persuaded her to improve her skills.

She told him about the tears she had shed when her rat Stuart had died and how only her Gran had managed to comfort her. How she had waited until Laura had overcome her grief before she gifted her with the Bonsai tree, knowing exactly, that she would have refused to take it even a single day earlier.

All the while tears had kept running down her cheeks, but she somehow felt kind of relieved to share some of her memories with Godric. As the night went on, she absentmindedly moved closer and closer to the vampire beside her with every story she told, until she finally found herself in his arms again.

They spent their night like that until the sun started to rise, and even when Godric had carried her down to his quarters, Laura kept talking in her already half sleeping state until her eyelids became heavier and heavier and she dropped off eventually.

Telling him about her grandmother had felt so healing and Godric had been such an attentive audience, that they spent the next night just like the previous one. Her stories were only interrupted by another delicious meal created by the young looking vampire and sips of his True Blood (also filled into the thermos flask) every now and then.

His dose of real blood had given him a noticeably healthier appearance and she was relieved that he hadn't complained when she'd prepared his True Blood.

And so she sat there, telling him her stories, constantly accompanied by tears running down her face. But still a smile emerged on her face whenever she was able to watch Godric taking a sip of his synthetic blood, as it reminded her of the few things she had still control over.

Who had thought a 1000++ year old vampire would ever comply with her wishes...

AN: Hey guy's :) I'm sorry it took me so long, but I originally planned to let this chapter end at another point. So I wrote much more than this, only to realize that it probably would be too much at once. The good news is: the next chapter will be updated soon, it's almost finished and will only take me a few more days :)

Thanks again to Royal Ember, Arenola, Pelawen Night and Senshi of Earth for their lovely and detailed reviews! I really appreciate that you took the time to leave me a few more words than the usual reviewer :) love you guys :-*

I hope you like this chapter and I'll get to read a few comments :)

Thanks for reading!

last update: 05/2021