My house had never looked more inviting. I found myself rushing in, breathing in the familiar smell of home as I slowly looked around. Nothing had changed, yet everything had. While my stalkers were all dead and gone, I had gained a lover. A vampire lover. This complicated things, but it also made my life highly exciting. The kind of exciting that I had missed for a long time. Being normal was fine, but over the past weeks I've learned that being supernatural might be better.

It was already late in the afternoon. The sun was high in the sky, and I spend the rest of the day laying outside. My skin was craving the light, and I didn't mind the heat in exchange for the humid nights. I needed to think long and hard about how Eric and I were going to make this work. The only solution I found right now was shifting my sleep cycle. I was lucky enough to work late shifts at Merlotte's, so sleeping in wasn't going to be a problem.

Merlotte's. I forgot. Technically, I no longer worked there. As soon as I remembered an uneasy feeling took a hold inside of me. Me and Sam hadn't exactly ended things on a good note, and now everything was finally over perhaps I owed him an apology.

I rushed inside, pulled the first sundress I could find in my closet and put it on over my bathing suit. The vampire blood inside me made me quicker than I was before, and within no time I was in my car and on my way to the bar.

When I came inside and people asked me how my trip to New Orleans was, I almost misspoke. "Oh, I wasn't in New Orleans!" I wanted to say, but I could bite my tongue before the words came out, remembering the lie I fabricated days ago. I told them I had a great time.

"Where's Sam?" I asked Arlene, one of the other waitresses. She pointed towards the office. Before I went in I spotted my friends near the pool table, chatting up some guys. Jade held her hands in the air, and I mouthed I was going to come over soon.

I slipped behind the bar and went to the office, knocking on the door. Sam told me to enter, and by the look on his face he was surprised to see me. He raised his eyebrows as he put down whatever he was reading in front of him, leaning back.

"Serena," he simply stated.

"Hi," I began somewhat awkwardly. I had no idea whether to keep standing or sit down, and decided to just remain in my spot. "I came here to apologize."

Sam didn't speak and rubbed his hands together.

"The stuff happening to me, the stalker, it's all over now. We took care of it. But I get your concern. What we did was dangerous and it could have ended badly. I'm sorry for not taking you more seriously, Sam. I really am."

Sam nodded contently. "I am truly glad to hear that, Serena."

"I also kind of wanted to ask for my job back."

That made him chuckle, and I was glad for it. "Of course you can."

I let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, good."

"In fact," Sam said, standing up to move closer to me. "We're a little short on staff right now, so if it's no problem to you would you be able to fill in?"

"Yes!" I replied, probably a little too enthusiastically, "No problem, Sam!'

The next few hours flew by. I don't think I ever worked a better shift than today, I was practically soaring through the bar. If it was like this every time I had Eric's blood, than I wanted it more often. Never before did I make as much in tips as today, and it was much needed considering all the times I hadn't come in to work the past time.

At the end of the shift I drove back and came home to an empty house. I was satisfied with the fact that me and Sam had made up, but somewhere deep inside me I was disappointed that Eric hadn't come to Merlotte's or wasn't waiting for me here. I knew he had stuff to do at Fangtasia after being absent for some time, but I had hoped to see him again.

Still, I had never slept better, and my dreams were sweet too. There, Eric had come to me. He was caressing my body, from my legs up to my breasts. He traced my thigh scar with his finger, and even though I was sleeping I felt tingles running down my spine. He didn't bite me, instead, he made sweet love to me. Never before had I dreamt so vividly about anything, and when morning came I almost wished it was night again already.

As a distraction from Eric, I decided to go for a swim. While I was still a little cautious about changing during the day, I convinced myself that the chance of running into one of those supremacist lunatics again was very slim, especially considering we killed the entire group. The paper that morning featured a story about the tornado. It also came with a picture, and the work Eric and Pam had done was impressive. There was no sign left of a mass murder, and considering even the cops and investigators bought the story, they had to have done their job well.

It felt great to actually swim again instead of forcing myself in a hot tub. The water was refreshing on my skin, and in combination with the sun shining down on me I was one happy mermaid. When I lifted my tail above the water I noticed it was more brightly colored than ever. Vampire blood was good for more than just the healing aspect.

I spent longer in the water than I normally would, savoring the fact that I was free from my stalkers. My skin was wrinkly and my hair tangled by the time I came out.

When I got back inside and changed into a fresh set of clothes, the phone rang, and it was Jade who wanted to catch up as I didn't had the time to speak to them during my shift. It felt strange having two best friends who had no idea what I had been through. In fact, they also had no idea what they had been through. As far as they knew, I was still my old normal self. They didn't even know Eric existed, and I had to admit that he had become a pretty big part of my life.

As I hung up the phone after talking to her for almost an hour, I decided I needed to tell them I was seeing someone. In fact, I was really missing the girl talk we used to have about boys. They didn't need to know the fact that he was a vampire, for now.

When darkness fell I prepared myself for Eric to drop by. My body was aching to see him, and images of me and him making love kept slipping in and out of my mind every time I wasn't focussing. The combination of the blood and the water heightened my senses, and my needs, like never before, and I assured myself that if he didn't come to see me, I was allowed to go and see him.

I jumped up as fast as a vampire would when I heard something on my porch, and sure enough, it was Eric.

My lips curled into a smile as I opened the door. Without hesitation I lept forward, wrapped my arms around his neck, and let my lips crash against his. There was no point in talking when we had our bodies.

Eric's hands moved from the small of my back to my butt and back up again. I was already tugging at him to take off his shirt, when I realized we were still standing outside. While we were supposed to free of the supremacists, I didn't feel comfortable enough to make love under the stars.

I broke off the kiss, and whispered something I never thought I would to a vampire.

"Would you like to come in?" I said, not daring to look him in the eyes before I spoke so I couldn't change my mind.

A smirk unraveled on Eric's face, and before I could blink we were inside, up the stairs, and down on my bed. His lips were on mine again, and for a moment, it felt like everything was truly alright in the world.

A/N: That's it! The first book is done! The chapter is pretty short but I really wanted to write something to wrap up the story before moving onto something else. I am currently very much planning the next book. I was also wondering if any of you have suggestions or things you want to see happening. If so, please leave a comment and I'll take everything into consideration. I've also looked at the critique I received a few chapters ago and I will definitely use that as well.

My strategy is to plan out the entire story first to create one cohesive story line and make sure I won't miss details since I can't edit chapters already published. I am also writing my master's thesis so I cannot make any promises yet when I'll upload the new book. Hopefully you'll understand.

I want to thank you all for sticking with me so far. This story has so many lovely supporters, especially for a show that's already finished. It warms my heart to see that there are still so many True Blood fans out there :) Hopefully, I will see you all again soon! Take care 3