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| REBECCA |
She awoke her body a bit sore, her mind a bit fuzzy but with a feeling of contentment running through her. She blinked away the sleep and took in her surroundings. She hadn't had much time during the dark hours to take in her finished bedroom so now she let her eyes roam. The room was a rich cream color on three walls a deep ruby red on the other. She reached back and touched the bed's headboard which used to be a castle door in a long lost family home. The wood a rich darkened mahogany the hardware bronzed steel. She had spent a ton of time and money working to get this piece and several others across the ocean in the last year. She was amazed at the craftsmanship and the pieces ability to weather the tests of time. Mason's work was brilliant even back then. She gave her body a full stretch and let out a few creaky grunts to push away the rest of the previous nights sleep.
" You just going to sit there staring at me all day?" She turned to her right and found Alcide lounging in a chair across the room.
" Didn't want to wake you. You looked like you needed some sleep." He was relaxed and grinning from ear to ear.
" Hummmm can't imagine WHY I needed the sleep." she shook her head when the grin grew wider. " You are quite proud of yourself aren't you?"
" Would you think less of me if I said yes?" He stood and came over and took a piece of the bed.
" No you'd be no different from any other man the morning after he got laid after a long drought"
"Afternoon and it wasn't that long of a drought."
"Ah yeah right whatever you say but that shit eating grin does not say short term to me." She crawled over to him and gave him a kiss. "What time is it anyway?"
"Just after two" He pulled her into his arms "Good afternoon beautiful" he whispered after a long lingering kiss.
"Ummmmmm nice" She hugged him close. " You been up a while I take it?"
" Was restless. Got up and made some calls. The boys were at Janice's at dawn. Mason offered them triple over time to work through the weekend and of course they jumped at it. Max says that everything was ready and waiting when they got there."
" The money was only part of it I'm sure. Your and your crew are family and family does for family. I'm sure they are more than happy to help Janice out,"
" They're good men, good friends. I talked to Janice to she is in heaven and told me to thank you again."
" No need to thank me. We business woman have to look out for each other. I consider my loan an sound investment." She ruffled his hair " Man I love doing that" and giggled slipping out of his arms and headed toward the bathroom. The shower and bath weren't up and running but the toilet worked and she was in need of the use of it. " Be back in a minute."
"The showers working in the other bathroom when your ready. I went down to the trailer and brought back some towels since I had no idea where to find them in all this mess. I also made sure the girls were feed. They were invisible until they heard the food going into their bowls."
" They are going to be pissed when I gather them back up and put them back in that box." She called back. " I probably shouldn't have brought them up her at all until the could stay for good."
" It won't be long before they can claim it theirs. A week or so. Then it will be all exterior work."
" I can't wait. Everything has gone so smoothly I don't know what to do with myself."
She found her travel bags sitting on top of the sink and pulled out her toothbrush and toothpaste. While she brushed she gave herself a once over in the mirror. Her hair was in need of a good brush but her cheeks were flushed and a glow radiated from her skin. Her drought had been much longer than Alcide's and she concededly thought that the sex looked good on her. She rinsed and gargled washed her face and brushed out her hair. She felt almost human, from the neck up anyway. She was still in need of a nice hot shower though.
" So what did you tell everyone about why you weren't working along side them today?" She asked walking back into the room and tossed her toiletry bag next to him on the bed.
" I told the boys I had a meeting with a potential client." He looked at her guiltily. He didn't want the crew to know they were together. He still cared about how it would look him sleeping with a client.
" Do you honestly think they bought that? Or that they are not going to know we are together?"
" They ain't stupid but I ain't about to hand over details either."
" I see and what did you tell Janice?"
" That we made up."
" And that you were getting lucky?"
" I didn't say that part but she did."
" Smart cookie your sister. I take it she forgave you for your absence."
" She did." He grinned. She had told him he'd been an ass wipe for months and to get as much as she was willing to give up.
" So your mine for a while then?"
" At your service Ma'am."
" Excellent." She wrapped her arms around his neck and let him pull her in. Kissing him helped quench a deep lingering thirst. After a few minutes of drinking him in she moved back " Shower first. Then food. After that you can help me do some decorating."
" Not exactly the servicing I thought I be providing but I'll take what I can get."
" Oh your going to provide some of those services right now." She took his hand " You can start by giving my back a proper scrub." Alcide's eyes brightened as she pulled off her tee and threw it behind him on the bed. " Come on let's go see just how much hot water we can get into." She pointed to the bag and he grabbed it happily following her nakedness across the hall. He more than willingly performed all of his duties.
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| ALCIDE |
They had just finished lunch and Rebecca was sitting behind him at the kitchen table writing in her journal while he cleaned up the dishes. She had thrown together a grilled chicken cobb salad and bowls of corn chowder that Silvia had made before leaving for New Orleans while he made a few calls in the library. He figured the least he could do was take care of the clean up. Each of them pulling their own weight in the kitchen was another step into the relationship stage he thought. He looked out the big bay window that overlooked the sink and thought that the weather outside was the opposite of his mood. It was still dark and rainy here in Bon Temps and it didn't show any signs of clearing up. It was the perfect day to be inside playing house. He put the last bowl in the draining board and wiped his hands dry. Rebecca was lost in thought, her pen in between her lips trying to get the right words together in her mind before putting them on to the paper. He was tempted to go lean over he shoulder to see if what she was writing about was him. She looked up at him then.
" Just one more thing and I'll be right with you." She wrote a few more sentences and then with pen in mouth closed up the journal. " Gonna put this away be right back." She stood and as she walked through the door she called back. " Think the first thing we will do is hang those pictures by the far wall. You wanna get what you need from the dinning room?"
" Sure thing." He walked through the kitchen and went across the small hall that lead to the basement and separated the kitchen and dinning rooms. The tool box he needed sat right inside the door so he was back in the kitchen before her. He picked up the first picture, his intention to place them out on the table so she could figure out how she wanted them arranged but stopped short when he turned the first frame over and saw what the pics were of. The field of tall grass that had haunted his dreams stared back at him. The prints were done in a sepia tone but he was sure it was the same place.
" Alcide?" Rebecca stood in the doorway " They aren't that bad are they?" She gave him a you can honest with me look.
" No it's not that...It's just..." He turned the picture around. " Where is this place?"
" Malick Meadow where I grew up in Tennessee." Her face grew soft, the worry that had been there a second ago dissolved into a slight smile. " It was my favorite place to go growing up. I'd pull back the first layer of grass and get lost in it. There was a small clearing in the middle of it and I'd make my way there and daydream away the hours. Whenever I disappeared for to long everyone knew where to find me. Only a few were ever brave enough to come in after me. I spent more hours sheltered within the walls of that field than I did in my house. It was my sanctuary, where I went to write down my thoughts and where I whispered my secrets to the wind. I took these when I was nineteen. Everything was changing around me and I wanted to capture my place with the innocence I still had in my eyes. I have to originals in the library if you'd like to see them?"
" Yes if you don't mind."
" Of course." he followed her into the library and waited by the desk while she went into a cabinet and pulled out the proper album. On a shelf behind him he caught sight of something else that made his mouth go dry. A picture of the girl he'd seen in the field sat at the back of a shelf full of other frames of Rebecca and her family at various ages. He reached up and pulled the picture down. " This is you right?"
She stood and nodded. " Yes I was about eight there." She sat the photo album in front of him " I was such a cute little thing. Can't imagine where things went wrong."
She was trying to keep things light but her body language told him she had picked up on his discomfort. He just kept starring at the picture of her. She was even wearing what he saw her in his dreams. Her hair pulled back in a dark green headband that made it look even more red. What the fuck he thought to himself. How was it possible?
The photo album was now opened to the show the field as he had been envisioning it. Think,tall and wild spreading into the distance in varying shades of green. It was a real place. The girl really was Rebecca. But what did it all mean? How could he have known?
" Rebecca what would you say if I told you that since I meet you I have been dreaming about this field?"
" Really? This exact place?"
" Yes with you in it?" He held up the picture still in his hand.
" I'd say that the mind works in mysterious ways. That maybe the universe was trying to tell you something. That your subconscious was trying to lead you here to me.
He didn't speak his mind went racing through what she had said trying to make sense of it.
" Would it help if I told you that the first day we meet I felt I knew you before. That there was something about you that seemed familiar." His head moved up and down which encouraged her to go further. " This may be a bit heavy and more than a little weird if you don't share the same beliefs but I think that maybe we knew each other before. In another life and that we were connected and now we have found each other again. I felt a pull towards you since day one. It isn't like any I have known before."
He wasn't sure if he believed in soul mates and past lives but he couldn't deny that he felt that pull to. It made it seem less crazy knowing that she had felt the same things he had.
" Yeah that is some deep shit." As always when anxious his hands went through his hair. The urge he got to run in situations like this wasn't there though. He felt like he could stay here and work through it. Eventually it would all make sense and he was ready to stick around and find out how it all fit together.
She didn't say anything but sat on the edge of the desk lost in her own thoughts. He was glad to know she didn't feel the need to try and fill in the silences but was willing to let it linger without it being some kind of sign of trouble. He enjoyed the silence when his mind worked over time. The quiet gave him the opportunity to absorb everything he was feeling and these days his feelings were in overdrive.
He put the picture down on the desk and sat down and started looking through the album. They weren't just of the field and the meadow but the surrounding woods as well. Occasionally he would ask her a question and she would answer with the usual exuberance she exhibited when talking about things she loved. Hearing her talk about her home and the places she had been made him realize that he had done far to little wondering of his own. He had wanted to travel into space once but he found he barely made it outside of his little southern box. He'd like to go to Tennessee with Rebecca someday and see her sanctuary for himself.
When the album was closed so was the conversation. Rebecca as always went with his flow and they moved on to other topics as they worked though the kitchen and then back up to the bed room. He didn't let himself think about anything but the task at hand as usual using work as his escape from dealing with questions he'd rather not deal with or know the answers to. It was after dark when they finished sitting on the edge of the bed together surveying their work. The room was complete and looked pretty damned good if he did say so himself. He heard the basement door open and the sound of Mason's footsteps on the kitchen tile. A realization hit him smack in the face.
" They stay in the basement?" Rebecca nodded in the affirmative. He couldn't believe he hadn't realized it before. They had arrived in the drive every night but in reality they had been under his feet the entire day. There had been little cause for him or his men to go into the basement Mason's crew having taking care of the electrical before they had even arrived.
" Besides me you are the only one who knows this. Like I said Mason likes you." Mason had to trust him to for he knew there was more potential danger in Alcide knowing where he went to ground than most humans.
The footsteps stopped at the bottom of the stairs and Rebecca left his side and walked from the room. He followed and watched as she moved her way down the steps and stopped when directly in Mason's eye line. He looked up then his eyes guarded but resolved. He wasn't thrilled to see Alcide ensconced so easily back into Rebecca's life but whatever Rebecca wanted she would get and Alcide could tell that Mason knew that better than anyone.
" Good Evening Alcide. I take it you had a good day?"
" Yes sir and you a good rest?"
" Yes thank you. I will be heading out to your sisters in a moment but if it is alright with you I'd like to borrow Rebecca for a few minutes."
" Of course." She took his outstretched hand and right before they disappeared from view she looked up and gave him a smile and a wink.
He stood on the stair railing until his curiosity got the better of him and he found himself walking down the stairs and down the hall stopping in front of the now closed library door. They were talking about some Vampires that had been seen roaming around the grounds. Apparently Bill had been looking into who he was and why he was there. The trail had gone cold in New Orleans where he had seemingly disappeared. Bill was reluctant to ask Sofie Anne about him for fear of stirring up her curiosity about Mason and the other Vamps here in Bon Temps. He had however gone to Eric who had already heard rumblings of rouge vamps in his territory but hadn't had any concrete proof until Bills account of what he had seen. Now they were working together to see if there were any other discreet channels they could go down to find out why they were being watched. Whatever his reasons Mason and Bill were doubtful their intentions were honorable. There was movement in the room and Alcide moved down the hall and into the kitchen and peaked his head into the oven. Rebecca had put in a roast a few hours ago and from the looks of it was ready. He took it out and covered it with the foil she'd left on the counter. He moved around the kitchen prepping for dinner both because he was starving and in the hopes that his movements here would make his presence less suspicious to Mason.
He heard them come out of the library. Mason wishing Rebecca a good evening and asking her to give relay the same to him before heading out the front door. Outside he heard a truck pull up and then after a few seconds pull out.
" Good you got the roast." She came in the kitchen all smiles " And everything else it looks like." She looked around at the table and the sides all warmed and ready. She put her arm around his waist and stood on her tippies to give him a kiss on the cheek. "Why don't you sit down I'll serve and you can relax."
He took a seat at the table and poured himself a glass of tea. " Becca?"
" Ummmmm" She was concentrating on cutting the roast in long unbroken slices.
" I overhead some of what you and Mason were talking about in the library." He stopped and waited.
" Go on Alcide there's no point in eavesdropping on a conversation when one of the parties is a Vampire." She gave her body a half turn." For future reference I prefer you didn't listen but if you would like to be included ask for an invitation." She went back to plating their meal. She was not angry but her voice held authority and the desire for her wishes to be honored.
" I will do that." She nodded her head not turning back to see his face, his word enough for her to know he would do as she asked." This Vampire do you really think he is watching you?"
She brought two plates over to the table and as she placed them down he stood and pulled out her chair for her.
" Thank you" she said sweetly pouring herself a glass of tea before answering. " There have actually been at least two but we have only seen one of them and he seems to be the one spending the most time hanging about. We have no idea what he was doing here. He's goes back and forth between William's and our property. He sits in a tree and watches the house or walks the grounds in the middle of the woods but never comes directly up to either house. At first we thought it was just curiosity but William has tried to engage him a couple of times but he always flees. If he was just interested in his fellow vampires he'd have made some sort of contact."
"But what would he have against Mason or William?"
" I truly have no idea Alcide. That is what we would like to ask him though I honestly would be fine if he just went away and did not come back. State your reasons for being here or leave. Stop running away like a cowardly peeping tom. It has become more than annoying at this point." Rebecca's eyes were ablaze and there was venom in her words. Having someone invading her privacy really got her back up. Having often felt like he was being watched himself he knew how she felt. He thought back to the night of the cancelled pack meeting. He'd felt like he was being watched then. A few times since then to both here at Belle Vita and in Shreveport. He'd thought it was Were but maybe it was Vampire instead. " Maybe you should cast your net a bit wider."
" What do you mean?"
" I've felt like I was being watched several times the last few weeks. It could be possible your vamp is checking us all out." He'd have to ask some of his crew if they felt eyes on them to." My Dad owes a lot of people money Becca. They could be looking at you as a possible way to get their money back."
" That is not a possibility we'd thought of before but it's as good a theory as any. Do you want to look into the possible connection yourself or do you want some help?"
" I'll look into it myself first. If I need any help I will let you all know. Could you keep me in the loop from here on out." Whatever the reasons he wanted to know about anyone who could cause possible harm to Rebecca. He felt like her safety was just his responsibility now as it was Mason's.
" Of course anything we find I out I will let you know. For now though let's not let it ruin our weekend. William is keeping a eye on the grounds and he will surely let us know if anyone comes a calling. I want to enjoy our meal and our evening together."
" Sure thing."
" Good." She said " Now what do you think we should do with the rest of the evening?"
Alcide stopped mid-forkful and looked at her suggestively. " You want me to make the plans?"
" Well I thought maybe we could toss a few ideas in the air and see what stuck but from the look on your face I can see you have already made your decision." She shook her head " Maybe we could save that part for a little bit later on?"
" As long as that idea doesn't get tossed out completely and we don't hang any more pictures I'm game."
" Good to know your tired of hammering at least one thing." She said sweetly
" Oooooh.... Very bad Becca very bad." He doubted he would get tired of hammering her for a very long time.
" Yes but you like it." He did indeed.
" So how bout we go on a little jog down Becca lane and you show me more of your hometown. We can curl up on that leather couch of yours and you can tell me all about it."
Her head snapped back " Really you want to spend your Saturday night looking at old photo albums and listening to me talk about my upbringing?"
" Sure. What's so strange about that?"
" Nothing" she said the surprise still lingering on her face " It is a perfectly normal thing to do." She grew silent and they finished their meal that way. This time they cleaned up together side by side and as they did so Alcide couldn't help but ask why she went silent.
" It's nothing really. Just me questioning things I should leave be."
"Tell me." He gave her a nudge.
" Well it's just." She paused and put her thoughts together. " It's just that we seem to... I guess I am scared that we may ruin the good thing we have started here this weekend by learning to much to fast. I feel like I have already bogged you down with so much of my past. I'm afraid your gonna bolt from information overload. "
He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him. " I know you've known a world of hurt and if you don't want to kick any more dirt in your wounds right now I understand. But you gotta know I want to learn all 'bout you Becca. The good and the bad."
" The happy and the sad" she finished for him. He kissed her forehead.
" Everything."
" You know Alcide that desire goes both ways." She looked at him expectantly. " You can't expect full disclosure if you aren't willing to give up the emotionally charged goods of your own."
Later when he thought back on that moment he wished he had taken her Que. She wanted him to let her in but he backed away and turned the conversation back towards her. Once again she let him, choosing to keep the peace instead of forcing the issue. It was a mistake on both of their parts but neither of them wanted to rock the rickety boat that they were sitting in. They just wanted to spend a few moments in ignorant happiness. He sat in the library his arm wrapped around her while she flipped pages of albums. He learned her Father had passed away the year before Christian and Sage. He saw Rebecca in all of the women of her family. He learned a bit more about the dramas that kept her and her family from being whole. She moved from each face and each situation with such ease. Little did he know that there was more to each one of those things than she let on. He was getting to know Rebecca but only the one on the surface. There were many facets to who she really was and he had barely scratched the surface. He wouldn't truly get to know her until both of their cards had been dealt.
|
| REBECCA |
Alcide's truck pulled out of the drive just as Sookie's car pulled in. Sookie had offered to help and today Rebecca was taking her up on it by putting her to work in the closet. Alcide had drawn the line at helping her unpack her clothes and shoes and bags and other unmentionables he would just want to see her in and then out of. He needed to make an appearance at his sister's and she had willingly let him go. Having a girlfriend help you out with this part of the move in was much more fun anyway.
" Morning Rebecca. You sure you want to spend the day unpacking your closet instead of hanging with that hunky man who just went down your drive?" Sookie was giving her a look that told her she knew exactly what she had been up to the last two days.
" He needs to get to his sisters and give the rest of his men a hand before they mutiny and unpacking the closet will be a welcome break and as close to rest as I have gotten in the last two nights."
"Oh really?" she raised an eyebrow. " First time ya'll have sex it's make up sex. Must have been nice."
" Who said we had sex? Maybe we just stayed up all night talking about our feelings and our hopes for the future." Rebecca pretended to be offended.
" Alcide told me you to had sex when he stuck his head out that truck window with more of a grin on his face than I would have thought he was possible of. That and a flash or two from his head told me more than I really needed to know." She reached Rebecca and let her loop her arm into hers and walked up the steps of the house.
" Such a braggart. He could have easily kept the flashes to himself. He just had to get it out to someone since Mason is still not happy with him and he doesn't want his crew to know where he was yesterday so he's got to put on a cool I have not been having sex with Rebecca facade before he gets to Shreveport"
" It's alright I didn't have to go looking for it either. I'm glad you two worked it out. Listening to you on the phone while you were away I wasn't so sure." She had called Sookie a few times while she was away to check in with her and to moan a little about what had happened.
" He was waiting for me when I got home Friday night. I pretty much forgave him the moment I saw his face. Which I suppose makes me a very easy mark. Should have let him squirm and beg more but I just didn't have it in me. I didn't like what he thought but felt guilty as hell that I was in his head in the first place. I just 'bout shit myself when the anger welled up in me and I started foaming at the mouth. So stupid... It is a completely unfair advantage that I have over him but I guess you know a thing or two about that."
They walked into the kitchen the plan being to have a nice brunch before they got to work. Everything was waiting for them on the counter and they got things started before Sookie continued the conversation where it had left off.
" Yeah I have gotten into trouble a few times reading someone's thoughts and then getting into an argument about what they were thinking. You end up looking like an ass and the fight becomes less about what it was you were offended by and more about you invading their privacy by reading their thoughts. I do the best I can to ignore it until they have the nerve to say it out loud. I've never had that problem with a lover though. The only man I've ever been with was William and I couldn't read one thing on his mind. Wish I had been able to now."
" I was lucky he didn't catch on. Alcide being ignorant of what I am has it's advantages." She cracked several eggs into the frying pan while Sookie watched after the french toast and bacon.
" I bet that is true now but what happens when he finds out. Don't you worry he's gonna be pissed that you been rummaging around in there without him knowing?" Sookie was worried that her friends keeping things from each other would end in both of them as broken up as she was.
" Yes I do worry about that amongst other things. Last night I gave him yet another opening to tell me he is a Were. I kept giving hints and he just didn't take the bait. He knew what I was trying to do but he just didn't want to go there. It's getting to the point where I am just going to have to spit it out for him. It's beyond ridiculous now that we are sleeping together."
" He's spent his whole adult life hiding his other nature from people. Even with all of the signs he's been slapped in the face with it's still to hard for him to come out and say. But I agree you two need to just get your abilities out there. Can't try to build anything solid with secrets hanging over your heads." They composed their food on the plates and took their places at the table.
" Rebecca I've been seeing Bill walking through the woods the last few nights you know anything about that?"
" Sorry Sookie I should have warned you about that. Remember I told you about the wolf I saw with Alcide?" She nodded " Well we've had a few other visitors since then. A couple of Vamps and Debbie. William and Mason have been taking turns walking the grounds trying to catch one of them"
Sookie's face relaxed "Believe it or not that is a relief. I am used to Bill checking in now and again but to have him walking back and forth all night long.... I thought he'd taking to stalking me."
" He's just being a good neighbor. He does miss you though Sookie." Sookie started to protest the sentiment but Rebecca stopped her and corrected the meaning behind her statement. " I'm not trying to sway you in any way. I know you are hurting and need to do what's best for you. I just wanted you to know that he is remorseful for what he has done. He told me his lies to you were the biggest mistake he's made."
" After what he did he don't deserve to be anything but miserable."
" While it may be hard to tell with William but I do believe he is just that."
" Good" She got up from the table and went to clean off her plate. Rebecca stayed put knowing that Sookie needed a minute to get her emotions in check.
" Well reveal in his misery honey if it makes you feel better."
" I just want to not feel anything for him ya know"
Rebecca walked over and put her hand on her friends shoulder. " You will never feel nothing for him Sookie. There will always be something even if it is just the feeling of his memory."
" That don't make me feel any better you know." She flicked some suds in Rebecca's direction.
" Maybe not but it is the truth. You and I we are going to make that a corner stone of this friendship. You speak your mind and so will I. We're both strong enough to take it and not kill one another." She said a little chant in her head sending Sookie some calming vibes. She waited until she felt her friends emotions stabilize and then patted Sookie on the shoulder and started to put things away in the fridge.
" You did that didn't you?"
" Humm" she replied evasively from behind the fridge door.
" I felt the energy coming from your fingers. You sucked all of the sadness and anxiety right out of me. The tears dried up and my hands stopped shaking and I haven't felt this completely calm in ages."
" Well then it worked." She smiled and looked for disapproval but she found none in Sookie's face. Instead she found Sookie staring back at her in amazement.
" You can do that to anyone? Do you do it all the time cause everyone I have talked to about you says that you put them right at ease. Is it all some sort of magic mumbo jumbo?"
" I'd like to think that my winning personality is what puts people at ease when they meet me and not magical mumbo jumbo as you call it. But yes I suppose that what I just did to you flows through me. I just gave you a more concentrated dose. The person I use the ability on the most is myself, Goddess knows I have needed it.
" Well you got my permission to use it on me whenever you think I'm about to go over the deep end cause right now I feel right as rain." She grinned and hung up the kitchen towel she had in her hand. " Now let's get into that closet of yours so I can see what I would like to borrow."
Rebecca was happy that Sookie was not put off by her calming effect. She shouldn't have expected anything less from Sookie. She was far more excepting of people than most and having been ostracized for her abilities she would never pass judgement on anyone else's.
" Let's get to it!" she was excited to unpack the closet which ran the entire length of the bedroom. It had been a personal request and had taken away from the size of the master bedroom but Rebecca knew she had to have a fabulous closet. Custom made cabinets and drawers lined one side, hanging bars divided into sections lined the other and the back wall was set up in little pockets for shoes. They worked for quite a while not getting a whole lot accomplished because one or the other of them would stop to admire something and that would lead to trying things the day became more fashion show than work. Rebecca made Sookie put her love to borrow pile in one pocket at the end of the closet so she could slowly go through the things she loved. They both enjoyed the simple pleasure of girlfriends spending time doing something fun and frivolous, not letting the worries of the outside world interrupt the basic need to play dress up. They talked about the things girls talk about ,the latest episodes of their favorite shows, the last book they read, their favorite songs on the radio and of course they talked about the most important girl topic, boys.
" Can I ask you an extremely personal question?" Sookie asked at twirling a very revealing piece of lingerie around her fingers. Sookie was currently putting away some of Rebecca's unmentionables so of course it only made since the conversation would lead to sex.
" Since I already have a idea of what is coming by all means ask away." She sent Sookie a tsk tsk naughty girl but giggled all the same.
Sookie undeterred came right out with it. " Okay I know that you haven't been with a ton of men." She paused a questioning look on her face.
" Yes not a ton" Five to be exact she sent to Sookie silently as she continued folding and putting things away in drawers. " Go on Sookie."
" Who's the best lover you've ever had?" She said it quickly as if it were all one word partly out of embarrassment in the asking and partly because she was afraid Rebecca would stop her before she had the chance to get the question out into the air around them. Sookie's experience was limited at this point to one and she couldn't help but be curious about other people's love lives. Rebecca might not advertise hers but she didn't take issue with answering Sookie's question.
" Hum... If a simple one word answer is what you are looking for I am going to disappoint you." She looked to see if Sookie was willing to hear the long version.
She nodded her head but couldn't help but add a bit of a lighthearted dig on herself. " If you asked me it would be a one word answer but I doubt the long version will be disappointing."
" Okay then lets see. In order of appearance?" Sookie smiled and Rebecca bit her lip and worked some things over in her head before continuing. " Let's see Alexander was the first. He was my first everything really. My first crush, my first kiss, my first love, my first lover. He gave me a proper fight before giving in because my Mother and Father did not approve of the match but in the end he gave in and I got what I wanted. I suppose Alex was the teacher. Since I'd never been with anyone before him I knew nothing and Christian having been around forever was a perfect person to learn from. Having your first be a Vampire has it's advantages but it can also ruin you for other men. You simply never forget your first." She gave Sookie a meaning filled glance before continuing.
" Christian came next and we actually did not sleep together until right before we got married. He for some reason that escapes me wanted to wait until we were married but one night a few weeks before the wedding we got into a huge fight and one thing lead to another and that idea ended with my bed cracked down the middle. He was my best friend and when we came together it just kind of worked. But we were both very much in love with other people so neither of us were ever one hundred percent sure of who was in the room at any given time."
" You two got married though if you were in love with other people why'd you do it? Sookie asked " I'm not judging just wondering."
" What Mother wants Mother gets. We got married to shut her up. It was an arrangement we agreed to but we made our own rules. Many of which were unconventional and probably not widely accepted."
" Meaning you had other lovers?" Sookie could understand being drawn to more than one man but found it would still be hard to share knowing that the the one you loved held others the same way they held you.
" Other lover. Singular. But yes." Rebecca thoughts then were of Alcide and what he would think of that part of her history.
" He probably won't like it much but he probably don't got room to talk about it either." Sookie closed a drawer and opened another one. " He's gonna have to trust that what happened between you and your husband was between the two of you. What Alcide wants and expects from you are totally different. You wouldn't cheat on him even I know that."
" Thanks Sookie, your a peach for saying it." She hoped that Alcide would see it the same way.
" So where were we." Rebecca took a deep breath. " Ummm next would be Mason. My second Vampire and very different from Alex. Mason is the absolute best of both worlds. A giving but forceful lover. Our time together was very passionate because it was filled with so much hurt and anger. We clung to each other like the due on a leaf and when the tears dried up so did the lust. Mason moved me in ways I hadn't known before but I was never in my right mind when I was his. We are much closer now than we were when we were together." She looked around her and then down at the floor. Mason was so very close and while he may not have heard every word he would get the vibe of her reference. Things between them had been cool the last few days. Mason's loyalty was being tested by his disapproval of Alcide's actions. He hated that the man she thought of as her destiny would think such things about her. He had wanted to go after him to make him apologize then and there but she had stopped him dead. She had been sure to keep her melt down to a minimum and had shed her tears quietly and cleaned herself up before opening the doors to find him waiting there. Contrary to his belief it was not his responsibility to pick her up and put her back in the proper head space. His memory was short for she had been in control for a very long time and she was determined not to loose it all now. But being around Alcide and the implications of his arrival had made her unravel more than she would like to admit. He had a hold on her and it was difficult to find a balance between letting her self fall for him and keeping Mason from thinking she was weakening. He loved deeply but he never lost control. He expected the same from her. Rebecca was making the concessions and the sacrifices by letting Alcide keep pretending his nature was not known to her. Because of this she was keeping her true nature from him and squashing her abilities just when they had made their move to return. What Mason didn't understand was it was this place and her connection to Alcide that had awakened her. She believed they would have remained buried deep inside her with everything else she had put away if she hadn't opened her heart to the idea of loving someone again. He had accepted her as she was these last few years but deep within him he had always hoped for the return of the Rebecca who had lived and breathed before. The one who returned from the other side had never been quite the same and once she found herself dangling over the edge she hadn't had any idea how to bring herself back. Nor did she think she wanted to be that Rebecca again. She had been weaker in so many ways and it was only in getting lost that she found herself. HER voice and HER path. She would now be walking a new line to keep the woman she had become but file down the hard edges and bring back a bit of the softness of her past.
" Rebecca you in there?" Sookie sent to her. She apparently had been speaking and Rebecca had not heard a word.
" Sorry Sookie got lost there for a minute. You were saying?"
" I was saying that you could totally skip over my brother cause I really don't need to hear anything at all about him and you and the two of you... you know...."
" Oh come now Sookie how could you NOT want to know the blow by blow details of my one night stand with your brother?"
Sookie covered her ears but then thought the better of it cause with the two of them it would not matter. Rebecca could just send her full screen video as well as color commentary. " UGH!!! You could have kept the blow by blow part to yourself?"
" Now Sookie never under estimate the thrills of meaningless sex. Your brother was the absolute perfect person to get you back into the groove of things. He makes you feel like a million dollars with his flirty words and killer smile. Gives you his absolute all for the time that he is on top of you and then when it's over he gets out and doesn't look back. For the most part he is good for a few good weeks of guilty pleasure and then he's moved on to the next conquest and you are primed and ready to find someone who is actually going to be able to give you what you are looking for."
She looked just briefly like she was going to defend her brother from Rebecca's assessment, she could talk about him like that but it kind of got her back up when someone else did. The power of sibling love. I can dump on them but I'll kick your ass if you do. Rebecca had never known that being a only child. Sookie thought the better of it herself after a minute or two. Resigned she sighed " My brother is a total horn dog."
" Yes Sookie but he is a lovable one. I hold no hard feelings. It takes two to tango and I went along with every move he made. He was a nice distraction. It would have been just that if Alcide hadn't seen and eventually whatever animosity Alcide holds on to will fade as well."
" I sure do hope so cause Sam will ban Alcide from the bar to keep him from killing Jason in it. Jason makes him a lot of money." Sookie looked worried but Rebecca laughed.
" I don't think it will come to that but I will keep that in mind the next time I want to spend the evening there. I kind of owe your brother for his bad behavior that night. It was enough to anger Alcide into action. I didn't think he was ever gonna get off that damned pot."
" But he did." Sookie made a kissy face at her and sent back what she had seen in Alcide's head that morning.
" Holy Hell he DID NOT send that to you?"
" Well her sure didn't try to hid it from the the telepath." Sookie shook her head. " By the way how is your jaw? From the looks of that thing you could have really hurt yourself."
Rebecca threw the clothes in her hands at Sookie's head. " SOOOOOKIE!!!"
Sookie fell back onto the floor resolved in uncontrollable laughter. " Jesus H Christ I kind of knew cause Tara told when she saw him naked post wolf" She paused to breath. But man that thing could kill ya. What the hell Rebecca?"
She stood there looking down at her friend who was thoroughly enjoying the amusement she was getting at Rebecca's expense.
" Honestly" She said plopping down next to her friend the both of them pushing themselves against the drawers. " My insides hurt."
They looked at each other and this time Sookie had the decency to wait until Rebecca busted out laughing before she did. This went on for several minutes both of them would stop and then look at one another and start up again or one would start back up making the other do the same when they finally stopped and caught their breath Sookie still wanted to know the details. "Soooooo?"
Rebecca having laid the other four out for inspection couldn't let Alcide's critique go undone. " From the first time I laid eyes on him I felt the electricity between us. When he touches me I feel the sparks pop off my skin and my bones ache for him. The way he kisses me wakes me up and turns me on and I don't want him to ever stop. I hate the idea of him leaving my side and we don't have be doing anything for me to feel content. Just being near him and knowing he want's to be near me is amazing. He's tentative with me though. Like he is afraid of breaking me. To many Were lovers I think, they have made him scared of what he could do to a human woman if he let himself go all the way. I've have to egg him on but there is only so far I can take it before he backs off. Neither of us have truly let go and we won't be able to until we have been completely honest with one another. The last few days have been wonderful but I think it can and will be so much better." Rebecca's shivered. Just talking about him made her blood boil.
Sookie's eyes were glazed over. She was happy for the two new lovers but felt a longing deep within herself. She wanted to feel what Rebecca was feeling.
" It will happen for you again Sookie. You just need a bit of time and you will find that their will be suitors waiting to show you." Sookie gave her a small smile.
" I sure do hope so."
" No need to just hope it will happen." She knew that if love could come around again for her it would surely happen for Sookie. Sookie's pain would heal quicker and she would be ready far sooner. Not wasting years of her life closed off from every heart even her own.
" Thanks." Sookie said
" For what?" she replied with surprise.
" You've helped me a lot these last few weeks both with pep talks and distractions. It's meant a lot to me. Tara is going through so much of her own I hate burdening her with my pain especially since mine comes from the same type of man as hers. You mention Vampire these days and she nearly jumps out of her skin and goes off on a tangent that gets my back up cause even though I am mad as hell at Bill he ain't nothing like that crazy fuck she got herself involved with. And I ain't saying that was her fault but it's hard to remember what she's been through when she is so God awful mean all the time."
" I tell you what Sookie you lean on me when you need someone to talk to about William any time about any thing. You want to cry, cry. You want to get mad and toss shit you can do that to. Hell I'll call him over and make him stand their and let you yell and throw things at him if you want. This way you can concentrate on being there for Tara without sacrificing dealing with all of your emotional turmoil. Sound like a deal?" She held out her hand and Sookie took it.
" It's a deal." Sookie said emphatically.
At that moment Rebecca's head was filled with a low raspy voice from the back porch William was trying to get her attention. " Speak of the devil." she murmured. "What time is it?" She stood and went out into the bedroom and looked out the window into the twilight and then to the clock by the bed which told her it was just after eight. " Sookie William is downstairs at the back door. I am going to tell him to come in but if you do not want to see him you can stay up here." She told him to come in as she unlocked the back door from where she stood. She picked up her phone and saw she had missed several calls from Alcide.
" What's he doing here?" Sookie's face went ashen. She'd been doing a fairly good job of avoiding Bill and wanted to keep it that way. Rebecca put the phone to her ear and a finger in the air to let Sookie know she'd answer her in a moment. Alcide didn't think he was going to make it back that night. The tone of his voice let her know the circumstances that were keeping him away were displeasing.
" I have no idea but he doesn't sound happy." She started for the door and halfway down the steps she felt Sookie start to follow her. Her curiosity over road her sense to stay put. William appeared at the bottom of the stairs his hardened face softening when he realized that Rebecca was not alone. " Good evening Rebecca, Sookie.
Sookie just nodded while Rebecca returned his greeting ' Good evening William you are out before full dark are you all right.?" She gave him a once over to see if he was singed.
" I am fine Rebecca I kept to the shadows and darkness has fallen enough for me to come out without combusting. I came because I know that Mason is away and I felt Debbie approach the property. She is currently on Sookie's side of the woods waiting."
Rebecca sighed. " Waiting for what? Just the right moment to attach one of us. Meanwhile we have to deal with her showing up at all hours of the day and night. I believe I am kind of done with her. She want's to eat someone, I'll give her something to chew on." Rebecca headed to the door but found it blocked by William. Sookie was close behind and pulled her back.
" I can not let you go out there Rebecca. Mason would not want you to act so impulsively and I will not in-cure his wrath if anything happens to you."
She looked up at William her eyes determined her mind focused. " I will be going out there William and you will be staying in here with Sookie." She put her hand up to silence her friends oncoming protests. " Nothing is going to happen to me and with William in here nothing will happen to you either Sookie. She's not here for you anyway." She could feel Debbie's intentions from here. She knew that the deal had been sealed. She had sniffed Rebecca on Alcide and she was a fire with hatred. Alcide was not here because he was looking for her and somehow she had sent him in the wrong direction.
" Rebecca...." She shook her head at him
" You will be here if I need you?" she put her hand on his arm.
" Of course." He stepped back and opened the door and as she walked through his eyes conveyed his discomfort at his letting her go out there alone and his admiration that she insisted she do so.
The door closed solidly behind her and Rebecca stopped at the bottom of the steps
"Protect this house from foe a field, do not bend or break or yield. Keep those inside free from harm do not release them until the call of alarm." The wards placed within the house were active no one was getting in or out without her say so. She felt eyes on her both inside and out and she looked back to acknowledge William and Sookie and then scanned the woods for Debbie. It was completely dark now and but her eyes adjusted quickly. still she sensed Debbie long before she actually saw her. Rebecca walked further out into the open and waited. She wasn't coming any closer to the wood. If Debbie wanted to confront her she'd do so out in the open. She caught movement in her peripheral vision from the woods at the side of the trailer. A moment later Debbie Pelt emerged from the brush with caution. She was as Rebecca imagined a junkie mess in desperate need of a shower and a few months of forced rehab. Her eyes were blood red and they refused to focus on Rebecca instead they darted all around while she took deep breaths of air trying to sense if there was anyone else around but them.
A devilish smile spread across her face as she realized that they were alone. Debbie thought that Rebecca wasn't just a dumb bitch but a suicidal one to, she also believed Rebecca would be a quick and easy kill. She'd have liked to take her time and savor the moment but she couldn't chance it. Alcide couldn't be to far behind. She hadn't hit him that hard. Rebecca flinched at the memory of Alcide being knocked unconscious in his apartment. Debbie had been waiting for him and when he didn't return she had grown increasingly angry. When he had finally arrived back home that evening she was engorged with pent up distain and had unleashed her fire down on a unsuspecting Alcide. The argument was virtually one sided for Alcide refused to give Debbie any information. Instead he had listened to Debbie spit venom about both Sookie and the bitch in the big house. It was when he tried to restrain her that she had caught it. The scent of Rebecca all over Alcide's skin. Knowing that some other woman had laid her hands and her body all over Alcide sent her over the edge. She went ballistic, throwing punches and then whatever she could get her hands on in Alcide's direction. He had grabbed her and wrestled her to the ground and there he held her until he thought she had calmed down. The moment his grip loosened, she kicked him as hard as she could right in the crotch and then ran to the closet by the front door where she pulled out a wooden baseball hat. Still dazed he didn't see it coming and before his head hit the floor she was out the door. Now she stood here looking for yet another fight. Rebecca would gladly give her one.
"Hello Debbie. I was wondering when you were going to stop stalking my woods and show yourself." She gave her a wicked smile all her own. " What brings you to my home Miss Pelt?"
" I didn't come here to make small talk bitch."
" Then what did you come here for you junkie slut?" There was no point in trying to a lady with Debbie. She lived in gutter so she would speak just as she was spoken to.
" You think your cute? The only slut round her is you. Fucking my man and leaving your skank ass smell all over him." Debbie dug her feet into ground beneath her preparing herself to pounce at just the right moment.
Rebecca took a several steps closer the grin widening across her face. " Ah come now Debbie you surely can't be upset about a me spending my nights sexing a man you dumped so you could be the favorite through the back door party girl for a whole pack of drunken bikers?"
Debbie's eyes narrowed was it just a turn of phrase or did Rebecca know? " You don't know who your messing with bitch. I could fuck you up."
" Ummmmmm I'm sure you would like to Debbie but I don't think that is going to happen." She shook her head and went even closer determined to make herself the aggressor.
"You see Debbie I'm not afraid of you. You can wonder around my property every night for the rest of your miserable life, you can stand here in my face and call me a bitch and a whore and threaten to kick my ass but I will never bow down to you." She stood face to face with the last woman Alcide loved. Once she might have been pretty but now she was just a shadow of what once was. Rebecca wished she could find the compassion she knew would be expected of her by her Goddess but when she looked at Debbie all she saw was emptiness of her own making. No one forced Debbie to become what she was. She had greedily desired strength and power and had victimized Vampires to gain it. She had assisted her dead lover in holding William and drinking from him. She had tried to kill Sookie and had left her beloved a broken man. One she was now having to try to put back together. No, no one made Debbie do any of these things. She had done them all on her own and Rebecca felt deep within her and found that she had absolutely no remorse for her actions. In fact she would gladly do them all again and hopefully be more successful at it. So Rebecca felt nothing for her as she silently called upon the earth and asked for it's help. Slowly without a whisper of sound or a rattle of the ground, roots came up from the ground and wrapped around Debbie's feet. She was to strung out and pissed off to even notice. It was then that Rebecca continued.
"You see Debbie you are nothing" She was now but inches from Debbie's face. She could smell booze and blood on her breath and she saw just a touch of fear come across her face when she realized that she could not move. "Nothing to me and someday when he's had a little more time to realize just who he wasted so much of his life on you WILL be nothing to him to." She circled around her darting in and out of her eye sight.
"You see Debbie, Alcide may not have been man enough for you but that is only because you have no idea what a real man is. Maybe he wasn't as exciting as" she paused " Oh yes I believe his name was Cooter?" She laughed which made Debbie lurch forward her face twisted up in a snarl.
" I mean what could be more exciting than a man who gets you all strung out on V and hands you over willingly to all of his friends. Some woman just enjoy being used up and tossed about like a two dollar whore. I can understand why you would pick the life your leading now over a life with a man who treated you right, who took care of you and actually cared if you lived or died. You don't care about any of those things yourself Debbie. Your as dead inside as the piece of shit you cheated on Alcide with."
Debbie's hands were clinched into claws her face caught somewhere between human and wolf. She lunged at Rebecca but instead of finding her fangs around Rebecca's neck she found herself on her knees. The roots held her tightly in her place. She would be going nowhere.
" What the fuck." her hands ripped at the roots but each one she pulled herself free from was replaced with another. She became frantic, cornered. She didn't know what she was up against here. Rebecca was just standing there doing nothing and yet she had to be responsible for what was happening to her.
" What are you doing to me you bitch. Get these fucking things off of me." She wanted to shift and run but she couldn't. She couldn't show herself like that.
Rebecca bent down and pulled Debbie's head up " This is almost over but I want you to know something. If you ever hurt him or anyone else I care about again I will kill you and bury you so deep that no one will ever find you." She threw her head back just as Alcide appeared behind her.
" Rebecca?" Alcide called out. She had felt him coming but did not stop what she was doing until he was right before her. She thanked earth for it's service and released Debbie who predictably sprung to life and came after Rebecca. This time it was Alcide who interceded catching a now rabid Debbie with a close line.
" Debbie calm down." He whispered something in her ear a plea for her not to expose them. He pulled her further and further away from Rebecca.
" You think your such big shit but someday soon your gonna get yours. You think no one sees through you but your wrong."
" Shut the fuck up Debbie." Alcide was desperate to get her out of there before Debbie let the dog out of the bag. He whispered more threats into her ear which caused her to squirm even more. Somehow she broke free. Rebecca waited with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. But Debbie strike came in the form of the words she whispered into Rebecca's face " He knows who you are and he told me all about you. Your hands aren't so clean so you can keep that holier than thou bullshit to yourself. I may not be the one to take you down but you will get yours. You just wait." She expected to win by getting a reaction but she got none. Rebecca' s face stayed frozen in place even as Alcide once again got hold of his ex. He searched her face trying to establish eye contact. He wanted to make sure she was alright. He wanted to see how far Debbie had gone. He wanted to know if once he took care of Debbie if he would be welcomed back here.
" Get her off my land Alcide and when you have found a safe place to stash her you come back. You and I need to talk." She fixed his gaze there was no more time for pretending. One way or another she thought.
Alcide nodded. It was time to come clean and he knew it. He pulled Debbie to his cab throwing her in and telling her to stay put. She shrunk down into the seat her body giving in the glazed over look returning to her eyes. Before he climbed into the cab he looked back to where she was standing.
She gave him a slight smile " You be careful and come back to me you hear?"
Relieved he breathed and gave her her grin before climbing in and pulling out of the drive. It was only then that Rebecca let what Debbie had said hit her. It shook her and took her breath. She released the spell and William and Sookie came running down the drive. William steadied her as her weakened knees gave in. Her friends both thought it was a reaction to the confrontation. But Rebecca truly had never been scared of Debbie. She'd be dead now if there had not been witnesses. Her fear came from the idea that there was someone out there who knew far more than they should. She had read Debbie and knew that she hadn't come up with that off the cuff. Someone had been whispering in Debbie's ear. Someone new was pulling Debbie's strings and whomever it was wanted Rebecca dead.
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