Layla sat on the couch in the apartment she had been sharing with Alcide for the past three weeks. The laundry in her hands was warm as she folded it. It was interesting, living with a man. She certainly shaved her legs more than she used to. Though she had never dreamed of being a the kind of woman who stayed home all day, she found she liked menial tasks like folding laundry or scrubbing dishes. Lately she'd even been attempting to cook, and Alcide bravely shoveled in her experiments. He'd only thrown up once, which seemed like a victory.

Her sleep schedule was fairly normal now. She woke up everyday at 8am and the first thing she did was open all of the curtains and let in the sunlight. It drained her a little and only made her want to crawl back to bed, but she counteracted the urge with coffee... a lot of coffee. Often by nightfall she was so exhausted by a day spent in the sun she didn't have a problem falling asleep. The dreams were another story of course.

Nightmares or sexually fueled dreams about Eric were he constant nighttime companion. She hadn't told Alcide about them. They were getting along together very well, but they didn't really talk about Bon Temps. She had told him all about her life before moving to Louisiana though, and he had told her about his family. She even had a hair appointment with Janice last week and the two had chatted happily. An anonymous donor had gifted Janice the money to repair her salon, including tanning beds. Though it had nearly made her pass out she'd tried them out at Janice's request. The burn she had received was already gone and left her with a lightly sun-kissed glow and she was due to go back today. She was pushing against the vampire part of herself and embracing her light with everything she had.

If Sookie or Eric had attempted to get in touch with her, or wondered where she was she didn't know about it. She'd never replaced her cell phone after she dropped it into the sewer the last time she was in Jackson. She was glad she hadn't heard anything.

Layla was glad she had thought ahead and bought a few energy drinks before going tanning. She had chugged two before even going back out to the salon proper. Janice nodded approvingly as Layla walked out, sipping her third energy drink.

"Am I burnt badly?" she asked. Janice made a face.

"Not really. You may want to put some lotion on though. Lord you got some delicate skin, girl." Janice noted as she walked over to the register to ring her up. Layla checked out her nails which were long and manicured to perfection thanks to Janice. "I still think you should let me dye your hair again." the tall blonde said.

"Baby steps, Janice." Layla said, running her hand through her still dark hair.

"It's not going to look right once you're all tanned up."

"We can cross that bridge when we get to it." Layla said handing over he credit card.

"So... anything going on between you and my baby brother yet." Janice asked.

"No, we're just-"

"Friends. Yeah, that's what he said." Janice said. "He's a liar."

"Well, I'm not a liar." Layla said with a smile. "Seriously there is nothing going on."

"That's not what my psychic said. Oh, and did you read your horoscope today? 'Be careful what you try to keep out, you may stop love from coming in'." Janice said with a knowing look on her face.

"I'll keep it in mind, Janice. See you next week?" Layla asked with a smile.

"You'd better. Tell my brother I said 'hey'."

On her way home Layla had stopped by the grocery store and picked up ingredients for her next culinary masterpiece. Chicken parmesan was now cooking away in the oven while she tried to master chopping up the lettuce and other salad ingredients without losing a finger. Not wanting to take the chance that she'd ruin it, she had pre-bought the garlic bread. Once the table was set she poured herself a small glass of whiskey and stared out the window at the Mississippi sky.

The last time she had seen Eric he was standing beside Bill as they buried Russell alive beneath fresh concrete. As they had driven away she had felt Eric's distress and had wanted to turn around, but she knew she couldn't. The feeling had eased anyway, and it seemed the more she separated herself from her Vampire side the less she could feel him. Now, she was becoming attuned to Alcide. She knew before he walked through the door what kind of day he'd had. He gave it away in the way he walked down the hall. She knew if he was upset, or happy, or thinking about something. Layla couldn't help the fact that she was attracted to Alcide, and it wasn't like the way she was attracted to Eric. When she thought about Alcide it didn't make her hate herself.

She perked up when she heard his footsteps and smiled. It sounded like it had been a good day. He locked the door behind him as he walked in.

"Smells good in here." he noted. "You look pretty."

Layla ran a manicured hand through her hair. She was glad he thought so because she had actually tried to look nice tonight. She was wearing a light, shimmery eyeshadow but nothing could make her part with her black eyeliner in it's classic, thick cat-eye. Her lips were also boasting a clear shimmer and the tanning was bringing it's own color to her cheeks. Actively avoiding dark clothes she was in a pair of faded denim shorts and an oversized white blouse, which she found rather daring since she would be eating red sauce. She was barefoot, as usual and she wore the same pale pink on her toes as on her fingers.

"Thanks, I just kind of threw it on. It's laundry day. Your clothes are sitting on you bed. I didn't want to go through your drawers." she told him. Alcide wrapped an arm around her and pressed a kiss against the side of her head.

"You're too good to me." he said. Layla smiled and shoved him away.

"Go shower. Dinner's almost ready." she told him.

"Yes ma'am." Alcide said with a smile as he went off to the bathroom. As Layla turned off the oven and pulled out their dinner she fantasized that Alcide thought of her as more than a friend. She imagined him knocking the dishes off of the table and stretching her out on her back and kissing down her throat and over her chest. She imagined running her fingers through his hair and holding his face as she kissed him.

The table was set and Layla had made them both drinks, and done it all without managing to spill anything on herself, when Alcide finally reappeared in jeans and a t-shirt.

"If it gives you food poisoning I'm sorry." Layla said as they sat down.

"Smells too good to be poisoned." Alcide said.

"Janice says 'hey'."

"What else did my sister say?" Alcide said. Layla rolled her eyes.

"Don't ask." she said with a little laugh. To her surprise and delight the food was delicious.

"You know, I'm a little surprised that no one's come looking for you." he noted. Layla shrugged.

"Even if they cared, it's not like they would know to look here." she told him.

"I'm sure they care."

"I really don't think they do." Layla said, sipping at her whiskey. "Eric cares about nobody but Sookie, and even that it debatable. Sookie may care about others, but can't see beyond her own selfish wants and will always put herself first. Bill only cares about Sookie. They only reason any of them ever paid attention to me was because they thought I could help her. I doubt they even really liked me."

Alcide shook his head. "Well, I liked you when I met you."

Layla laughed. "No you didn't. You thought I was a Vampire."

"Well, yeah, but as soon as i realized you weren't. I mean, don't get me wrong, you annoyed me a little, but I liked the way you handled yourself. You didn't let your emotions get in your way." he said.

Layla frowned. "I would have to disagree with you." she said, thinking of Eric.

"Look, you never gave in to being scared, or confused, or angry. You took it all in stride and kept going no matter what. You were this force of nature. A beautiful, force of nature." Alcide said with a smile, taking a sip of his drink.

"Shut up. You did not think I was beautiful. You had eyes only for Sookie." Layla teased.

"Sookie's gorgeous, and bright and when I see her I want to help her. I think every guy sees that. It's the whole damsel in distress thing. Any guy with an ounce of testosterone is gonna react to that. But you, you kicked my door open with your combat boots, looking like one of those sexy goth chicks and then the next minute you went all mother hen, hugging Sookie and letting her cry." Alcide said. "And for the record I still think you're beautiful, but I like this look on you. You look happier."

"Still badass?" Layla asked hopefully. Alcide shrugged.

"The pink doesn't scream hardcore, but I still think you're pretty badass." he said with a smile.

XXXX

Alcide turned the stereo on as the two of the them, both a bit tipsy and now on their third round of drinks, cleaned up the dinner dishes. The open window let in the sultry, southern night air as Layla danced around the apartment as the blues played on the radio.

Alcide watched as Layla shook her hips and swayed to the music. Eric Northman was an idiot. Alcide walked up behind her and placed his hands on her hips, pressing against her as they danced. Layla let her head fall back against his chest. She turned in his arms, looking into his eyes. Alcide used both hands to push her hair back from her face before delivering a slow, bone-meltingly perfect kiss.

Layla let herself sink into the kiss as Alcide wrapped his arms around her. The kissing grew more heated and Layla found herself pressing herself closer to him. Alcide scooped her up in his arms as if she were nothing and carried her off to his bedroom.

XXXX

Layla lay in Alcide's arms, her hand resting on his warm chest, feeling his heart beat steadily beneath it. Both of them had a thin layer of sweat on them. Alcide was sleeping and Layla took a moment to kiss his bare shoulder before falling asleep herself.

She dreamt of her dream cabin in the woods. Her hair was longer in her dream and she wore a long white dress that swept all the way down to her bare feet. It was dark outside and she stood on the front porch of the cabin, waiting for something. Someone was coming home to her.

The sound of a cell phone going off made Layla jolt awake as if someone had stuck her with a needle. She rubbed her eyes, and nudged Alcide gently.

"What?" he mumbled sleepily.

"Your phone." she said. Alcide leaned up and grabbed his phone off of the bedside table while Layla settled her head back on his chest.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Who calls in the middle of the night?" Layla mumbled softly. Alcide made a face.

"Yeah well, that's none of your business." he replied gruffly to the person on the phone. His brow furrowed. "Since when?" he asked, then sighed. "Jesus, and you're just calling me now?"

There was another pause before he answered. "Yeah, we'll be there."

Alcide hung up the phone. Layla raised and eyebrow and he pushed her away and stood up.

"Who was that?" she asked, sitting up.

"Eric Northman. Apparently, Sookie's gone missing." Alcide said, pulling on a pair of jeans. Layla jumped out of bed.

"Since when?" she asked.

"Nobody's seen her since we buried Edgington." Alcide said, for a moment forgetting all about Sookie as he watched Layla's lovely naked body wiggle back into her shorts and blouse. Layla didn't even look at him as she ran to her room to grab socks and her combat boots.

She paused as she pulled the shoes on, one hand gripping the door frame for support.

"She doesn't deserve my help. Anytime anyone tries to stick their neck out for that girl they wind up sucked into something they don't want to fucking mess with." Layla said.

"Yeah, but you want to help anyway." Alcide noted, throwing on a flannel over his t-shirt.

"Why?" she complained, running a hand through her hair.

"Because you're a good person." he said, walking over and kissing her hard. "Don't be nervous, okay?" he said, taking her hand.

"I'm not nervous." she replied harshly. Alcide shook his head and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"You don't have to go, Layla." he reminded her gently. Layla threw him a look and he nodded. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Let's go.