Thank you Superdani a.k.a Gillian Smith, , leteverythingsparkle, Hilda , and caleb's babe for the lovely reviews. Also this story needs a Beta, the program I usually use to edit is currently uninstalled and missing in my house. So editing is a little hard without it.
Carla ran her hand through her hair ignoring the pain her knots caused her when she pulled at them. That was the thing with curly hair; it seemed no matter how much you brushed or took care of your hair it always seemed to tangle.
With a yawn she pulled her hair up into a messy pony tail, she knew her hair must have looked horrible but on her day off she didn't really cared what she looked like, and cared a lot less of what she was wearing. She had chosen wisely when she put on a pair of white shorts and a light pink silk tank top.
She had planned to stay home all day and hang out with her dogs. It wasn't like she had any friends in the area and even if she did she wouldn't have made plans with them. Placing a spoon in her mouth she lost herself in thought. The local grocery store had a few coupons in the mail and she was trying to decide if she really wanted any of them, or if they were really worth using.
She was right in the middle of debating if she even liked oranges when she heard screaming outside. A look of irritation crossed her face and she shook out the wrinkles in her newspaper trying to ignore the woman. It was clear a woman was angry at what could only be her husband, or some other male. But when the argument begun to get louder she rolled her eyes and slammed her fists on the table.
Lucy jumped not expecting the sudden reaction from her owner and eyed Carla carefully. Pushing her chair away from the table with a loud screech she made her way towards her front door. The reason she moved into a nice neighborhood was to avoid things like this, because even if she was off duty she was still obligated to act a certain way in public. This meant even if she was off duty, she still responsible for her actions, and had to intervene.
She concluded by the way the woman outside was carrying on that it could only get worse. Slamming the front screen open she quietly made her way down the porch, her toes curling on the cold damp ground. She would have thought to put on shoes if she wasn't so mad. Bruce happily followed at her heals curious about what was going on.
Her eyes quickly darted across the road to the culprit. A woman much taller than her and wearing a lot less clothing was screaming at Alcide who was trying to calm her down. His hands were held up as he tried to hush her. He had already seen the few shadows of people in their front windows as they peeked outside to watch. He could only imagine what they all talked about later.
He was use to Debbie just showing up in random places and start freaking out. She would accuse him of sleeping around and saying anything to hurt his feelings. Most of the time she managed to do it, because a small part of him was still in love with her. This part of him also hoped that one day she would come back to him and they could start a family. But his common sense screamed at him that he was an idiot and what he wanted would never happen.
He knew he was attracted to the young woman; she was tiny, beautiful, and blonde with a great personality. She like him was a lone wolf, and this was why he was so attracted to her. His inner wolf wanted to be with her, latch on to her and use her as some form of support. Form a friendship and have someone to watch his back. There was also the urge to mate with her, and start their own pack but it was such a small desire that he didn't even realise he had it until now.
Carla had walked across the street in her pajamas. It was clear she wasn't wearing a bra because although the top covered her, he could clearly see her shape. He silently noted a couple other things like her hips and legs, quickly determining that she would be a great mate. Her body would carry healthy pups to term as well as feed them. She would be a great provider and protector. He tried to stop his thoughts from going beyond that. It was normal for a male to think about other women as mates, but now was not the time, nor did he think it ever would be.
Shaking his head he turned his attention back to his current situation. Debbie had noticed the woman crossing the street and jealousy lit her eyes. Bruce completely unaware of what was going on bolted towards Alcide stopping to sit in front of him proudly.
"Who the fuck are you?" Debbie snapped, she took a sharp inhale of Carla's sent and released a growl from her chest when she realised what Carla was. If that wasn't enough Debbie could smell the obvious attraction between the two, sending her off into a new rage.
"Alcide is she bothering you?" Carla asked clearly ignoring the woman before her, Alcide could only nod his head yes. He didn't want to say anything in fear that Debbie would get even worse. The last thing he wanted was more drama.
Carla shielded her eyes from the sun, turning her full attention to Debbie who was boiling in her own anger. "I said who the fuck are you?" Debbie snapped a second time, Carla licked her lips.
"Mam, I suggest you leave before you cause any more trouble for yourself." Carla's suggestion seemed unworldly to Debbie so when she exploded in anger Alcide wasn't surprised.
"It's none of your business you whore! Do you enjoy fuck…." Carla suddenly cut Debbie off; a hard look on her face that could make any man wet their self.
"It is clearly my business; you are standing outside all of these people's homes causing a scene. I've seen your type before so I'm going to make this fairly clear to you so you understand. If you do not leave right now, I'll arrest you and drag your sorry half naked ass down to the station. Let's see how you fair when they do a drug test on you, because I'm positive that there is something in your system." Debbie snarled her eyes glowing, with a turn of her heal she walked around Carla and to her car that still had the driver's seat open. Both Alcide and Carla could have sworn that they heard Debbie mutter 'bitch' under her breath before she left.
A short pause of silence hung over the two as they both watched Debbie's truck pull away from the house. She honked her horn and flipped Carla off before leaving. Carla could only chuckle at the bravery of the woman and she noted that if she saw her truck again that she might have to pull her over and give her a speeding ticket. A short whine came from Bruce as he impatiently waited for Alcide to pay attention to him.
"She seems like a piece of work." Carla said, turning around. Alcide had complied to his K-9 friend's request and crouched down to scratch his ears. Bruce's tongue was instantly hanging out of his mouth, in pure happiness.
"She wasn't always like that." Alcide said calmly, he remembered Debbie once was a kind, caring, and compassionate person. She use to bake for the old folks at the home when they were in high school, and throughout most of their twenties. He wasn't sure how the addiction to V started, and he was at the point now where he didn't care. But it was hard to forget your first love.
"People always say that about people like her." Carla said, although Alcide hated to hear it, it was true. He wouldn't be the first or the last to say their loved one was different before the drugs. Things like that changed people, and it was never for the better.
"Who was she?" Carla asked crossing her arms, Alcide pulled his hands away from the dog silently shooing him away. Bruce did as he was told and ran into his front yard where he began rolling around. The dog proved as a great distraction from Carla because no matter how hard he tried his mind kept wandering back to the idea that she wasn't wearing a bra. It reminded him how long it had been since he had been with a woman. He had spent too long waiting on Debbie.
"Debbie, she was my fiancee." He said leaning up against his truck, his eyes glued on Bruce who was on his back, legs in the air. The sight of how foolish the dog was brought a smile to his lips. A sigh came from Carla and she rubbed her arms. Her toes were starting to become numb, the sun had yet to warm up anything.
"I'm really sorry to hear that." she said softly, she curled her toes trying to get more circulation to flow to them. She felt if she stood there any longer they might fall off, and then they would really have a serious situation. Alcide looked saddened by the conversation. At that moment Carla decided that she needed to leave Alcide alone.
"Look if you need anything just let me know." Carla uncrossed her arms and chewed her lip. She barely caught Alcide's eye but she could see that he was smiling. For a split second he looked at her grunting a thank you and the customary 'see you later'. Carla nodded in response calling her dog after her. Bruce barked happily and followed after her without question.
Carla yawned as she stood at the front of the station, she could feel the long day's work wearing on her bones. She thought of the wonderful bathtub she had at home, and how it would feel to fill it with hot soapy water. The very idea made her want to rush through her paperwork so she could do just that, but her writing was next to impossible to read if she wrote fast.
"Hey!" Jason seemed to skid across the floor. He tried to play it cool and rested his arm on the counter earning a look of irritation from Kevin who wasn't at all impressed with Jason lately. Jason was very good at getting on everyone's nerves. Not that he intended to, it was just Jason had no idea how annoying he could get. He was totally clueless.
"Hey." Carla chuckled; it was amazing to her that just saying hello to the man sent a smile across his face. She thought Jason was adorable, he always seemed happy. But Carla had learned her lesson with dating fellow co-workers when she was in college. While at placement she dated a boy by the name of Jamie Hanson and it didn't end well, it never ended well when you dated someone in a work setting.
Carla firmly believed that you had to spend some time away from each other in order for the relationship to work and if you couldn't get away from them at work, where could you? This had led to a short and bitter conversation with Jason. Carla made it very clear that she wouldn't date him, and as she expected she hurt Jason's feeling. But when he shy fully asked if they could be friends and she agreed a huge smile spread across his face.
"Me and um, some of the boys are going to the bar tonight for a couple drinks, you wanna come?" he asked, he pointed his thumb towards the direction of the glass doors his eyes almost seemed to dance with excitement.
"I don't know Jason, I'm not huge on the bar scene." She said tapping her pen on the counter top, she didn't like the idea of going to a bar. She had to work the next morning, but her answer didn't seem to satisfy Jason.
"Please, come on!" He begged, grabbing her sleeves and gently shaking her. Bruce stirred uncomfortably at her feet, not liking that Jason was touching her. She wasn't in any danger so he didn't attack, but his dislike for Carla being touched was evident.
"If you don't come it will be a total sausage fest!" He exclaimed, he seemed almost desperate to get Carla to join and she was positive it was just so they had a girl they could look at. She started to shake her head no, but Jason wasn't ready to accept her answer.
"Look bring a friend! A cute friend! Just please come! It's only Merlotte's!" Without warning he pulled out what Carla called his cute face. It was an adorable face Jason used to get his way, although this look didn't work on men, it was a killer for women. Carla wasn't an expectation.
With a sigh she rolled her eyes, "Fine! But only a couple of drinks!" she snapped. Jason lunged at her squeezing her tight before running of thanking her like mad.
"I'll see you there at 9!" He blurted running towards the doors. She figured he was heading home to get ready for their plans, no one wanted to go drinking in their uniform.
"I didn't get invited." Kevin muttered when she handed him her clipboard, and her completed forms.
"Do you really want to party with Jason." She said sarcastically, he thought about it for a split second his face void of emotion.
"You're right." He replied, walking away from her.
When Carla made it home she had decided to wear a simple tank top and sweat pants. Then to complete her outfit she put on some flip flops and tied her hair up in a messy bun, sure she looked horrible and like trailer trash but she didn't care. She was only going to go out for a few hours at the most. She wanted to be home before 11 so she could get at least 8 hours of sleep, that and the poor dogs couldn't hold their bladders if she was out too long.
She was locking up her house when movement across the street caught her attention. Alcide was digging some kind of hole in his front yard although she didn't know what for. She watched him for a moment thinking back to what Jason had said earlier.
He wanted her to bring a cute friend, and although she was sure he meant for her to bring another female, he had never specified who had to be cute. Stuffing her keys in her pocket she walked down her creaky old stairs and looked both ways before crossing the road.
Before she even got close enough to Alcide to carry on a proper conversation he looked up at her. She figured it was because he could smell her; she could after all smell him before she even entered the lawn. Working out in the sun would do that to anyone, and a heightened sense of smell would allow her to smell it much sooner than most.
"Hey!" Alcide greeted sticking his shovel in the dirt and resting his arm on it. He wiped a bit of sweat off his brow with the back of his hand, and then used that very same hand to shield his eyes from the setting sun. In the matter of an hour the sky would be covered with stars.
"Hey, what are you doing tonight?" She asked, crossing her arms. Confusion crossed Alcide's face as he thought about what she was asking and his eyes drifted to the hole he was digging. Carla saw that he didn't really have an answer.
"A couple of my coworkers are going out for a drink, want to come?" Being asked to go to the bar didn't seem to throw Alcide off his questionable gaze; instead it seemed to get him more confused. He would have been able to answer if she asked him out on a date, but he wasn't sure he wanted to go to the bar with her to meet her coworkers.
"I'm buying." She said, tilting her head. Alcide now had nowhere to run, he could just say no but the look of disappointment, let alone the stupidity of turning down a free drink was too much for him.
"I would be stupid to turn that down wouldn't I?" He chuckled looking to Carla who smiled at his very lame acceptance. She had a feeling he would come, and now she couldn't wait to see the look on Jason's face when she showed up with another man.
"Yes, yes you would be." She stated watching Alcide pick up his shovel. With a free hand he pushed himself out of the hole and dusted himself off.
"Just let me jump in the shower." Carla nodded her head; she didn't want Alcide going to the bar all hot and sweaty. Although the sight would be nice, she didn't want the smell. Or the other women prowling around, she frowned at the thoughts that were occurring in her head.
It only took Alcide 15 minutes to shower and change and when he came out of his house his hair was still damp. His skin was still slightly flushed from the hotness of his shower. He was wearing a red checkered shirt, and blue jeans. Carla assumed at that moment it was the only type of clothing he wore. It oddly suited him.
Their car ride to Merlotte's was relatively silent and the only conversation they had was when Carla teased him. She had shown him how the lights had worked in the car and told him that as excited as he was to see her flick them on he wasn't allowed to play with her buttons. The very idea of her explaining to him how the lights worked made him laugh, and it made him wonder how often she explained this to children.
They both pulled up into Merlotte's parking lot, parking the car under a wispy tree in the far back of the parking lot. Most people would have thought the idea was very stupid, but not very many psychopaths attempted to kill a cop, let alone a cop walking around with a large man.
Like most nights Merlotte's was next to full, and the waitresses weaved in and out of tables ignoring the sneers customers were giving them. Carla knew this was the trouble with moving to a town like this, people always thought they were above others because there was simply nothing better to do.
Her eyes quickly scanned the bar looking for the small cluster of co-workers and she found them all crowed at a rounded table on the far right side of the bar. None of them had noticed her yet so when she ushered Alcide to follow her, he didn't really know where he was going. It wasn't until the two reached the table that they were noticed.
Grabbing two empty chairs at a table beside them they squeezed the chairs as best as possible into the tight ring. A look of confusion crossed Jason's face when he saw Alcide and he had raised both his hands in question. Then without thinking he blurted out, "I thought I said to bring a cute friend?"
"Aww, that wasn't very nice Jason! I happen to think Alcide is very cute." Jason almost choked when he realized what had happened. Carla had invited someone she thought was cute and not someone he would think was cute. Alcide could feel the heat rising to his face, although thankfully no one noticed.
"Alcide this is Jason, Andy and Kenya." She said pointing to each individual at the table. They all gave a respectable nod and continued on with their beers, and food.
"So is Kevin coming?" Carla asked, Alcide tried to not feel the awkwardness creep up on him. He had no idea who these people were, and he was now starting to think agreeing to come with Carla was a bad idea.
"No that boy would rather go home to his Mama." Andy spat, placing his beer to his mouth and taking a long swig. Carla twisted her mouth in irritation, not liking the way Andy spoke of Kevin. She thought the boy was a little awkward, but had a good heart.
"Well, I'd rather be drinking a beer." She snapped waving her hand above her head to summon a waitress. Within seconds Alcide and Carla had their own beers, both silently watching the drama unfold. Jason was explaining that there seemed to be a new rise of vampires in the area, and everyone at the table but Carla seemed to understand that this had something to do with the pretty blonde waitress named Sookie.
There was a silence that overhung the table just as Jason finished his story. Carla took this as appropriate time to check the small delicate silver watch on her wrist. Alcide caught the action, and although it was insignificant it stuck more in his mind more than any story anyone at the table could tell him.
"I think it's time to head home, but I have to go to the bathroom first." Her blue eyes looked up at him, to ask if that was alright. He nodded his head placing his empty beer on the table. A shy smile came from Carla as she pushed herself out from table and squeezed between the chairs. They were sure Carla was the only one at the table who could have squeezed through such a small area.
It wasn't a surprise to any of the men at the table when Kenya stood up and silently followed after Carla. As men they had all learned that women traveled in packs, epically when they wanted to talk about something they didn't want the boys to hear.
Carla pushed the bathroom door open, ignoring the heaviness. It always seemed to take the breath out of her and remind her she needed to go to the gym more often. She headed to the first stall that was open, ignoring the other two that sat happily beside it. She only had enough time to close the door and drop her pants when Kenya walked in behind her.
Kenya crossed her arms and leaned against the sink waiting for her friend to come out of the toilet. When Carla flushed and stepped out Kenya gave her a questioning look. A smile spread across Carla's face and she almost began laughing.
"What?" She chuckled running her hands under the cold tap water.
"Don't what me girl! What's with the looks you've been giving Alcide?" Kenya watched as Carla's face flushed pink. Shaking her head, Carla dried her hands with a coarse piece of paper beside the mirror.
"I haven't been giving him looks!" Carla defended crumpling the paper in her hands and tossing it in the garbage. Placing her hands on her hips she tried to ignore the disapproving look from her friend.
"You have it so bad you don't even know!" Kenya snapped pushing past her to walk out the door. Carla laughed following after her. She narrowly avoided the door swinging back and hitting her in the bottom but before Kenya could reach the main floor of the diner Carla stopped her grabbing her arm.
"Hey, what are you talking about? I got what bad?" Carla crossed her arms, and watched Kenya roll her eyes in irritation.
"Your crush on your boyfriend!" she said loudly, Carla cringed. Of course she meant Alcide, but he was not her boyfriend. Carla was very aware of how attractive Alcide was, but she didn't think any kind of romantic relationship would work between them. She was just the annoying girl across the street that asked too many questions about werewolfs.
Without warning a woman with blonde hair stopped beside them, she had a big toothy grin on her face. Carla had recognized her from around the restaurant, and also as Jason's sister. He seemed to never shut up about her, which Carla found cute. She never had any brothers or sisters so she never had someone to share her childhood with.
"I knew it! You too are just too cute together! Congratulations, Alcide is a really great guy and I can tell you're perfect for him!" The next thing Carla knew the bouncy young woman had almost skipped over to the table and started to congratulate Alcide on his new catch, and how she was much better then Debbie.
Alcide seemed completely confused about what was happening and asked Sookie what she was talking about. Carla stood absolutely stunned Sookie cheerfully boasted, "Well Carla of course!"
It was then Alcide turned his eyes to look at Carla, her cheeks burning brightly pink with embarrassment.