A/N: I decided to attempt to get inside Tara's head in this chapter. *Cringe* hopefully it goes well.

Disclaimer: I do not own True blood; I just borrowed the characters for a bit of fun!

Chapter Twenty-Two
Arguments & Damaged Friendships

Tara didn't know what she was doing here again. Fangtasia wasn't the type of club she usually frequented, her opinion of vampires not high, but when Arlene had first suggested they check out what the fuss was about after she read about it on an online blog she had somehow managed to convince her to tag along.

It hadn't been her intention to look for a bed mate of the undead on her previous visit either, but after finding out from the obviously unhuman bartender that sex didn't always end with a bite it had her own curiosity flaring. It was hypocritical of her, she knew that, but it was hard to give a shit when Arlene had ranted on about all the perks of bedding a vampire over a human.

It wasn't her fault it had made her intrigued.

Dressed in what looked to be a cat suit of black and red latex Tara couldn't help but cringe as both her and Arlene approached the tall vampire from the other night, not being able to stop comparing it to her own choice of outfit. She highly doubted her simple choice of black hot pants and a dark red halter top would be getting her as much action as Arlene whose dress left practically nothing to the imagination.

Personally, she couldn't allow herself to stoop as low as to dress like that much of a slag. She wasn't as desperate as Arlene and it showed. Apparently, leaving the night with no bed partner for once in her life had affected her more deeply than Tara had first realised.

"Ah, back for more I see" an unimpressed glance was shot there way.

Tara couldn't quite manage to hide back the cringe she felt, her lips pursed as she fought the urge to tell the vampire where to stick her comment. Had it been anyone in Merlotte's she would have already given them a piece of her mind, however, here in a club designed for those who desired to have a shot with a vampire, she knew when and where to mind herself.

She wasn't about to get herself killed because of Arlene of all people.

Still, she couldn't help but snap "can we get inside or what?" before she was quickly hushed.

"Jesus, Tara! We haven't even gotten inside yet and you're picking a fight with a vampire!"

The blonde raised a perfectly plucked brow, red lips twisted in an expression of distaste as she glanced at their ID's with an expression of boredom. "You want to enter or fuck off, I haven't got all night?"

Scowling, Tara snatched back her ID before heading inside, automatically scowling as she caught sight of the tacky interior of the place. She couldn't help but wonder what on earth the owners had been thinking when they paid someone to decorate the place, because whoever they had hired had clearly fucked them over big time.

The place looked like shit.

But even with the crappy décor the place was packed. They had arrived at the club early yet were still subjected to waiting in line for a near hour and a half before they had reached the front. It hardly seemed worth it, but Arlene had insisted and her curiosity had gotten the better of her.

Immediately making her way to the bar, Tara bit her lip as she caught sight of the familiar vampire bartending. He wasn't usually her type, but she figured if Arlene was desperate enough to experience what it was like to be with a vampire than she at least had a shot with this one. He was good-looking, but seemed to have more than one stick stuck up his arse as she caught sight of his expression.

Sighing, she ordered a beer when she finally managed to grab his attention.

Spinning on her barstool, having had kicked some younger bimbo off, Tara took a long swing before scanning the club. It was barely nightfall and yet the place was packed. The only reason they had even managed to get inside this early was because Arlene had forced her along from the moment her shift had ended, making her wonder just how early people started queuing to be at the front when the place opened.

Talk about desperate.

Tara scowled, taking in the men and women alike whose only intentioned seemed to be to hook a vamp for the night. It didn't matter that they were undead, their lack of clothing clearly an attempt at enticement.

Personally, Tara didn't see the appeal of being with a vampire. Sure, she had thought about it briefly from time to time, she had seen how attractive most of them were and she wasn't blind enough not to picture it in her head when she was in the mood for a little alone time beneath the sheets when she wasn't interested in getting a man for the night.

She wasn't naïve enough not to take note of their stamina and recovery period. It would be tempting to any sexually active woman.

Sookie hadn't been any help on the matter either. Not only was the nutcase a virgin in her twenties, but the only people she seemed interested in were the undead kind. It was as if she was obsessed with them.

It was pathetic.

But what was creepier was just how interested the undead seemed to be interested in her. She had seen the number of vampires who had popped into Merlotte's with the sole intention to see Sookie, not to mention ever since Bill was out of the picture there were two particular vampires who seemed to make it a point to stop by at least once a night.

They didn't even drink the fucking Trublood.

Sniffing in distaste, Tara couldn't help but nervously scan the place for Sookie. She knew the blonde spent a lot of her free time here, the bite marks on her neck proving as much, but for all the shit she gave Sookie she did value their friendship. Sookie may be a bit on the nutty side, but that didn't stop the blonde from being one of the best friends she had.

It was hard to find such loyalty in a small place like Bon Temps.

That didn't mean it wasn't sickeningly annoying how Sam would dote and crush on the blonde, it being so fucking obvious to everyone but her. It had what made it so bloody amusing when Sookie started to date a whole other kind, completely clueless to the fact Sam saw it as a betrayal.

Sam had not taken it well.

The bloke needed to get a grip, especially since he could hardly talk since it wasn't that long after he found out that he was fucking her into the mattress. If he was so in love with Sookie why was he fucking other women?

To be fair she thought it was more than a little on the hypocritical side that Sam would go on and on about how much he loved her, how he was treat her right and all that shit, yet he didn't seem to have any issues against sleeping around with her best friends.

That had been a night she would rather forget.

Drunk hadn't even begun to describe how much alcohol she had consumed in order for her to willingly sleep with her boss. It hadn't been a pretty sight when she had woken up in the morning only to roll over in a bed that wasn't hers, in a house she didn't recognise, and in the arms of her equally horrified boss.

No, it had not been something she was proud of.

"Snap out of it, Tara!" Arlene pushed her way to her side. "Why the hell are you sitting when you could be dancing? Have you seen how good looking some of these people are?" she gushed, her eyes currently trailing over a sandy blonde who could very well be a vampire.

Tara raised a brow, "and have you seen how much of a train wreak the other desperate fuckers are?"

There was someone only wearing nipple tassels and a thong for fucks sake! Tara wouldn't have cared as much if the woman wasn't overweight, nearly bald and seemed to smell of BO if the way people shied away from her was anything to go by.

Did they really let any kind of trash in here?

Arlene followed her line of sight before cringing. "Yea…but she looks like she's going to get kicked out soon anyway" she pointed to the bartender who seemed to be sneering in distaste.

Tara sighed. "I didn't come here to dance."

"No, but you came here to hook up with" she jerked her head in a vampires direction, wiggling her brows.

Tara scowled, "I said I would think about it, and I have."

"And…"

"It isn't going to happen."

Huffing in annoyance, Arlene flicked her hair over one shoulder before making a move to leave. She was done arguing with Tara if it meant ruining her night. It was her night off for fucks sake; she didn't want to deal with this when she could be laying the foundation of getting laid.

Tara frowned when the mother of two seemed to freeze mid-step, eyes wide and cheeks flushed. It was the muttered "oh shit" that had her following Arlene's line of sight only to have the similar reaction of "fuck!"

Tara wasn't hypocritical, well she didn't believe herself to be, but she was very much aware of the fact that by turning up in Fangtasia after all the shit she had given Sookie about dating a vampire probably wasn't the most honest thing to do. However, it wasn't as if either her or Arlene were interested in dating a vampire long-term considering Arlene simply wanted a change from fucking humans and she was just curious about what was causing self-respecting people to turn into fang-bangers.

If that required some personal experience; then so be it.

However, the one person Tara did not want to see in Fangtasia happened to be frowning in their direction, leaving no opportunity for them to sneak out unnoticed like they had planned if they ever saw Sookie in the club. Neither her nor Arlene had wanted the headache that would have come had Sookie known about their sudden flare of interest.

Her pissed off expression confirmed they had been right in their predications.

Oh fuck.

Tara did not need this today of all days. She knew Sookie could hold a grudge like a bitch when she wanted to.

"I thought you said she wasn't here!" Arlene hissed, turning to face Tara with an expression of panic. She was extremely aware of how much distaste she had expressed in Sookie's choice of lovers, she was so ashamed to be caught in Fangtasia.

Tara froze. "I didn't know!" she whisper screamed. "I scanned the place when we came in; she was probably in the toilet or something."

"Do you think she's seen us?"

"What the fuck do you think? I'm pretty sure she knows were here considering she's glaring in our direction! You know how close she is with these vampires; if she hadn't spotted us for all we know they would have told her if they recognised us as her friends."

"Fuck."

Tara rolled her eyes at Arlene's flushing panic. Sure she felt bad about being caught red-handed in a club she had yelled at Sookie for going to, but it wasn't as if she made it a regular occurrence. They had been twice; Sookie she figured came here all the time.

It was different!

Chewing her lip, Arlene asked "should we go over?"

"I guess," Tara scowled. "I could use a sit down, I've been elbowed six times in the last minute!" she snapped at the couple standing next to her, attempting to order a drink while seeming not to care just how close they were.

Unlike the usual patrons in Merlotte's they didn't look scolded nor weary by her attitude. It left Tara feeling even more out of her comfort zone. Tara sighed, hating to admit the fact she didn't have as much of a reputation here as she did at work.

She hadn't realised she would miss it.

"That's not what I meant-"

"Yea yeah," Tara shoved someone out of the way. "You telling me you don't want to have a seat for a few minutes? I doubt we're going to manage to grab a booth" she quirked a brow.

Arlene remained silent. The few booths positioned against the far wall got filled rather quickly, not to mention her heels were killing her. They made her legs look amazing but they didn't half hurt after an hour on her feet has passed. She could use a break. Not to mention sweaty was not an attractive quality.

With that, Tara continued to push her way through the crowd with a shameful looking Arlene on her heels.

"Hey Sook, mind if we take a seat?" Not giving her the chance to say no Tara slid into the opposite side of the booth, Arlene following suit as her cheeks flushed. "How'd ya manage to get a booth?"

Sookie stared at them blankly, fire burning behind her eyes.

Squirming, Arlene opened her mouth to attempt to stutter out some kind of apology only to literally yelp when two very intimidating vampires suddenly made an appearance, one of which Arlene couldn't help but flush over.

"Hi-hi…"

Sookie rolled her eyes, "why are you here?"

"We came out for a drink, chill" she rolled her eyes, staring at Sookie unimpressed, "and what on earth are you wearing?"

Looking down at herself Sookie frowned. She knew she was dressed more casual than usual, but she had prepared herself for the worst after escorting Jason to Eric. She hadn't wanted to ruin a perfectly good dress if something went wrong. She wasn't made of money.

She thought she looked quite nice, but apparently that wasn't the case.

"Who are these humans, älskling?" Godric interrupted the conversation, his expression one of disapproval as he stared at the dark skinned female and her friend. Arlene couldn't help but be surprised at the seductiveness of the youthful looking vampires tone. Perhaps she shouldn't have counted him out so quickly.

Sookie sighed, "I work with them. This is Tara and Arlene; they were here the other night."

Simultaneously, Arlene and Tara shared a look. Had Sookie caught them the night before? She hadn't said anything during their work shift so they assumed either Sookie hadn't gone to Fangtasia or she simply hadn't seen them.

Clearly they hadn't been lucky enough to get away with it.

"Would you like for them to leave?" Godric picked up on her displeasure. He did not wish to discourage Sookie from coming to the club, not when the situation could easily be resolved.

Tara felt her eyes widen as her shackles rose. She wasn't used to being dismissed so rudely, "excuse me? We haven't even done anything!"

Not wanting an argument Sookie moved to rest her hand lightly against Godric's wrist. He looked at her. "It's fine, really."

Godric didn't look convinced, "if you are sure. Myself and Eric are expecting a guest, if you require us we will be in his office."

Finding it sweet Sookie nodded, standing up quickly to peck him on the cheek before informing him that she wasn't planning on going anywhere soon anyway. She'd be here until after he had finished, however, if something came up and she ended up heading home early she would let him know.

Receiving a kiss on the cheek from Eric, a very unlike him gesture, Sookie stared stunned as he shot her a fangy grin before he and Godric flashed out of view. She blushed, her reaction catching up with her.

It wasn't until she turned her attention back to her so-called friends that her mood immediately soured. It was Tara's following comment; however, that really had her rethinking their entire friendship.

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