Greetings, dear readers. (Much belated) Happy Holidays and Happy New Year, may 2024 be an awesome year for us all. And welcome back to The Blonde at the Bar. Now, *insert one of my prior apologies for chapter lateness here* Apologies done, back to the story.

So, last time, it looked like Mike tried to help Maryse out in regards to the whole "biting and feeding from a human" dealie. But, unfortunately, it seems to have brought up some bad memories for the beautiful vampiress. Is there anything that Mike can do to help calm Maryse? Read on to find out, my dolls, and I hope you all enjoy. =)

"Hey, I was just trying to be nice. I mean, I don't know how big of a deal it is to vampires to bite a human, so I just wanted to maybe help you out with that."

"Don't worry, Mike, I understand what you mean. It's just another one of those bizarre things I was talking about earlier."

"I thought you were only saying that about a lot of idiot humans," Mike said.

"Well, in a way, yes, but I also mean that when it comes to some other vampires," the platinum blonde responded before reaching for her almost empty cup. Picking up the glass vessel and swirling it around, causing what remained of her drink to go with that flow, she couldn't help but fight back a sudden rush of memories, these all sending her back to days she thought she had long since put behind her. 'No. No! That connerie (shit) is behind me! I am nothing like how I was after I was first turned! I have changed, and much for the better!' she thought as she felt her grip slightly tighten on her glass and a low growl escaped her.

Mike had taken notice of this, and honestly, …he wasn't sure what to do. He could tell that Maryse seemed to be getting upset about something. He just wasn't sure what exactly. So, with a slightly nervous swallow, he raised a hand and let it rest on the platinum blonde's shoulder, something that he saw drew a slight flinch and immediately drew her gaze to him, something that made him flinch a bit himself when he saw the color of her eyes. Her eyes were originally a brownish almost hazel color, so seeing the shade of red they had taken on, …Mike swallowed again before asking "I-Is everything o-okay, Maryse?"

Seeing how the human flinched, the platinum blonde calmed herself before saying "Oh! Désolé (Sorry), Mike. I did not mean to scare you. I just …I had some stuff on my mind."

"I-I guessed that much. Does it …does it maybe have anything to do with the bizarre stuff we were talking about?"

A bit of a bitter laugh escaping her, the platinum blonde said "You could say that, Mike, you could say that."

"Oh. I see," the brunette said as he looked at his half-empty glass and the drops of perspiration that had begun to form on the outside. Having noticed that Maryse's eye color changed back to their original brown and not stopping the next words that came out of his mouth, Mike then asked "Well, is it …maybe something you want to talk about?"

Raising an eyebrow in slight suspicion, Maryse asked "Really, Mike? Would you really want to hear my story?"

"Well, you sat here and heard me out while I vented about my ex. So, I figure …why not return the favor?" the brunette responded with a shrug. "Besides, if it's something you need to talk about, I'm all ears."

She wasn't too sure about this. While it was sounding pretty nice and generous on the human's behalf to hear her out, Maryse just wasn't sure. Could she really bring herself to talk about what was quite possibly the darkest night in both of her lives? Her grip slightly tightening again before loosening on her glass, the platinum blonde took a breath before letting it out. "I don't know, Mike. I just …what's bothering me, it's …it's just something that I've never been able to shake. And …I don't know if you'd want to hear it."

"Hey, it's like I just said. I'm all ears if you want to talk about what's on your mind. I'm not just a pretty face, you know?" Mike said with a slight smirk.

Feeling her cheeks a slight bit over hearing what the human said and seeing his smirk-'Wow, Mike is attractive. He'd better not be joking here and just saying what he thinks a pretty woman wants to hear,' the platinum blonde thought-Maryse shook her head before saying "OK, Mike. Since you asked, I suppose I could tell you about what's on my mind. But, I must warn you. It won't be a happy story."

Well, it looks like Mike's going to be in for Storytime with Maryse (which marks the third fic of mine that has someone being treated to storytime...how weird ,). But, it doesn't sound like it'll be a happy one. So, just how will Maryse telling Mike her story go? We shall find out...next time! Until then, don't forget to RR please. =)

(...So, apologies for cutting the chapter short. I'm trying to get myself back in the writing groove after having to deal with some medical stuff. To all of y'all that are sticking with this, I ask that y'all please be patient with me, and I'll do my best to have updates done and posted quicker.)

(Stay safe, warm, and healthy out there, lovelies. *sends much love and positive vibes out to you all*)