Dear Readers and Reviewers,

So some of you have asked questions about Rachel's motivation in all of this and I have to tell you that you are right to say that she is a bit of a pushover (especially in this chapter). Please remember though that she is terrified of Eric, though she is not being held against her will… he still scares her. No, she is not some kind of supernatural creature and just unaware of her powers… she's human who's facing a bit of a dilemma. Godric's too nice, Eric's too cruel and Jason's a slut… to put it simply. Don't worry, those labels are going to change a very soon. So maybe Rachel will get more badass, Godric won't be so humanity loving, Eric might be the voice of reason and Jason might be… monogamous? Who knows what could happen? I'm leaving this whole thing very open ended at the moment so don't hesitate to tell me what you think should happen! Also please keep telling me whether you're Team Godric/Team Eric OR Team Jason… if that's what your into.

XOXO

Summer Jane

~Rachel~

30 minutes later I was walking into Fangtasia. I had called a cab to take me there from Merlotte's and thank god I had gotten a lot of tips that night or else I wouldn't have had any money to pay the guy with. Pam shot me a smug look as she let me in but I tried to ignore her the best I could.

"He's on his throne." She told me. I was more nervous to see Eric than I had been in a while. Sure, he always brought up feelings of unease but he scared me a lot more when he was angry. Even with the liquid courage I had consumed I couldn't shake the feeling in the pit of my stomach that was telling me to run for it. I approached the throne to see that 2 girls were already talking to Eric. They were giggling and twirling their hair, nibbling on their glossy red lips and smiling like infants. I bit back my pride and waited. He noticed me almost immediately and much to my satisfaction he didn't ignore my presence and make me stand there like a kid who had been picked last for teams.

"Excuse me ladies." He muttered. The girls looked at one and other confused and a pout was visible on their lips. I had to stop myself from laughing at their faces. I assumed that I was meant to follow Eric so I did. I weaved my way after him through the growing crowd of dancing people, vampires and humans alike. I took deep breaths as I tried to pull myself together on the way to his office. When I reached the door that Eric had disappeared into I was surprised to see that he had closed it behind him. I knocked hesitantly before turning the door handle and walking into the room. Before I could even blink I felt a cold hand over my mouth and teeth sinking into my neck. This is it. I'm going to die. I tried to scream but the hand muffled it and I knew that no one was coming to help me. So this was how it all ended. I guess it served me right for playing with fire… or in this case I guess ice. My body was going limp, my struggling was futile, I could feel my eyes closing but before I felt total darkness take over me. There was hope.

~Eric~

"You stupid little girl!" I hissed at her. She was staring blankly in front of her on the couch I sat her on. Blood was dripping down her neck. It teased me as it slid past her collarbone and down her shirt. I hadn't bothered cleaning up after myself let alone offering her my own blood. I was in no mood for sympathy, "How dare you treat me with such disrespect?" I demanded. I had heard Pam on the phone with her and I had heard the voice of the man she had been with. I did not take kindly to infidelity… well not on her part anyways.

"I'm sorry." She said simply, "Thank you for not killing me." She sounded so sincere that it decimated a little bit of my anger.

"Who were you with?" I asked. She smelled of him, whoever it was and I was hoping for a straight answer so that I wouldn't have to glamour her to find out.

"Jason Stackhouse." She said flatly.

"Stackhouse?" Sookie's brother, "Why were you with him?" Jason Stackhouse was one of the men Lafayette had been selling the V to. I didn't want him hanging around my human. Besides I knew of their little relationship and that didn't make me anymore willing to letting her speak to him.

"We're friends, we were talking at Merlotte's after my shift. That's it Eric I swear." I contemplated what she said and found that I believed her. I retreated behind my desk, sat down on my chair and put my feet up on the table. I leaned back and continued to watch her. She looked up at me suddenly and caught my eye, "I'm not going to grovel you know." She stated firmly though she still looked weak.

"What do you mean?" I asked, already losing interest in this conversation. She was trying to prove something again and I really couldn't care less what it was.

"Pam said that I should beg for your forgiveness, well I'm not going to. I just thought I'd let you know." I was standing in front of her in an instant. She didn't even flinch. Perhaps she was starting to get used to my sudden actions or perhaps she was too numb at the moment to react. Either way I didn't understand why she couldn't let anything go. She continued to torment me. Did she really just come here to tell me that she wasn't going to apologize for the way she had behaved?

"I'm sorry that I disrespected you but I'm not going to apologize for asking you to let Lafayette go." Rachel whispered. Her voice was soft but held no emotion. Her eyes were drooping and she seemed to be only half conscious of her surroundings. I glanced at her throat and the blood still hadn't stopped falling from the rather large gashes in her neck. I sighed and sat down on the couch next to her. My fangs extended and I brought my mouth to my neck and bit into my wrist.

"Come here." I said and pulled her to me. She didn't resist and calmly put her lips to my wrist and tentatively started sucking. The color began to return in her cheeks and the wounds on her neck closed up. I pulled away and she licked her lips before looking up at me again.

"Thank you but that doesn't change the way I feel." She said. God she was stubborn. I sighed again and massaged the bridge of my nose.

"Perhaps I will let him go in time." I muttered. It was like it triggered something in her and she threw her arms around me and sobbed into my chest uncontrollably. I was unable to react to this kind of sudden emotions. I held very still and waited for her to stop. I couldn't comfort her the way Godric had and might never be able to do so.

"Can I go home now?" She asked and I liked the way she considered it her home. I nodded.

"Pam shall take you." I told her and right on cue Pam appeared in the doorway and nodded at me. I was surprised. Usually this was something she would protest. Rachel stood up shakily and her eyes found mine, they were full of pleading and remorse.

"I will consider letting him go in the very near future I promise." I finally gave in. I wouldn't need her friend for much longer anyways, may as well make her think that it was because of her. She smiled and came over to kiss me on the lips. I returned the kiss with quite a bit of enthusiasm, "I'll be home soon." Her smile grew a bit wider and she nodded eagerly. I planted another kiss on her neck and she turned and followed Pam out of the club. I sighed and fell back into my chair. She had gotten to me. She always seemed to get to me in the end. No matter how hard I try to pull away. I need a drink.

~…~

The car ride with Pam was silent. Rachel looked out the window the entire time and watched the rain fall outside. The drops were streaming down the glass like it was crying, "He likes you, you know." Pam started to speak. Rachel looked over at her with surprise, "Probably not as much as Godric does but that's only to be expected, we know how Godric has a thing for humanity." Pam scoffed and kept her eyes on the road. Rachel looked at her for a very long time before answering.

"Godric doesn't like me like that." She said. Pam laughed and the sound made her skin crawl.

"You sure about that?" Pam asked and turned away from the road for a spit second to glance at Rachel. She smiled as Rachel nodded, "Okay then, whatever you say human." She turned back to the road, still smiling. Rachel looked distraught for a moment before a cute smile slowly crept across her lips.

"Do you like me Pam?" She giggled.

"No." Pam said quickly, "I'm just trying to make conversation. I'm only being pleasant for Eric's benefit." There was something in her tone that tipped Rachel off that she was lying.

"I think you do." Rachel pressed on ignoring the death glares she got from Pam, "Maybe just a little?" She raised one eyebrow and leaned in a little closer.

"Well I don't… hate you." Pam said and Rachel grinned in triumph.

"I knew it!" Rachel laughed contently.

"You're playing with fire." Pam hissed but Rachel just ignored her. She knew that Pam couldn't do anything to her. Especially not if Eric really liked her, the way Pam had described.

"You like me. You like me. You like me." Rachel teased in a singsong voice. Pam cursed under her breath before turning to Rachel sharply.

"You better shut that pretty little mouth of yours before I show you just how reversible that statement is." Pam warned. Rachel just continued smiling and returned her eyes to the window.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone." She said and Pam nodded in approval. They pulled up to Eric's house not long after and Rachel sighed deeply as she got out and walked towards the house.

~Rachel~

I had to admit, I had missed the large bath that seemed to take away every pain and soothe every muscle in my body. I leaned my head back and drifted down into the hot water. I moaned softly in contentment as I relaxed my shoulders and closed my eyes, giving into the perfume smells of the bubble bath. I was in a perfect bliss until I heard this annoying buzzing sound coming from the side of the tub. I opened my eyes and reached for my cell phone.

"Hello?" I said and knitted my eyebrows together as I sat up in the tub. I hadn't really wanted to pick up the phone but hadn't wanted to ignore it either incase it was Eric.

"Hey Rache." I knew who the voice belonged to as soon as I heard that nickname, "It's umm… Jason."

"Hi Jason." I sighed, "What's up?" So long for my happy place, for my moments of bliss… Jason always seemed to call at the worst possible times. Early on in the relationship he called when Eric was sleeping over at my house at some ungodly hour when Jason was drunk. Eric had picked up the phone. I blocked out the memory immediately.

"Nothing I just wanted to talk, I hope I didn't get you in any trouble or anything with that guy…" Jason's sentence drifted off and he must have been picturing Eric.

"No, it's fine. Don't worry about it Jason." I said and there was a long silence, "Was there something else?" I asked when he didn't say anything.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out again or something again soon. We could see a movie or get some dinner or something." His voice was so hopeful that I was at a lost for what to say, "I miss talking to you Rache."

"I miss talking to you too Jason." I did miss talking to him I just didn't miss doing anything else with him. He was a good friend the problem was that we were never really friends so we couldn't really go back to being friends now. Everything with him was always complicated and painful and I don't know how I keep getting sucked into it. There was another lull in the conversation and I could practically hear him smiling, "Look Jason I have to go so… we'll talk about this late kay? Bye Jase." I hung up quickly after that and then dropped my phone on the floor. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. I couldn't believe I had just called him Jase, I only called him Jase when we were together and I did not want to give him the impression that that was ever going to happen again. I sighed and left the comfort of the warm water and wrapped a towel around myself. I knew that I wasn't going to be able to enjoy it after that, "Nice one Rache…" I mumbled to myself and quickly got dressed to go and wait for Eric to come back in the living room. I lit the extravagant fireplace like Eric had shown me. The house got pretty cold at night sometimes and lay down on the living room couch. Thinking about how the hell I ended up here. It was a topic that I went over in my mind quite a lot. I didn't want life to be so complicated I really didn't. Unfortunately for me, you can't always get what you want.