-

ALEX LAID HER KEYS down the counter softly. She untied her hair and stripped off her clothes, leaving a trail of her garments from the living room to her bathroom. The hot shower welcomed her with open arms. After standing under the scalding water for what seemed like an hour, she turned the handle, shutting the water off completely.

Her hand connected with the mirror and she wiped away the fog. The dark circles under her eyes implied she was physically and emotionally drained. She dried off quickly, getting out a tank top and a pair of pajama pants, ones that Adele had gotten her for Christmas years ago.

A knock on the door made her peak into the hallway. A killer wouldn't knock. She thought. She figured whoever was at the door could wait long enough for her to open a beer from the fridge. Alex twisted off the cap and walked over to the door.

"What happened?" Eric asked, no sudden emotion on his face. He blankly walked in, following her to the couch where they plopped down beside each other.

She bit her lip, "My grandmother died." Alex raised the bottle up to her lips, swigging back the dark alcohol until the very last drop. Eric watched with curiosity and caution in his eyes. The blonde sitting in front of him seemed so calm. There were no tears, no frowns. Just pursed lips and guilt.

"Want a Tru Blood? I bought some for you. It could feel like I have a drinkin' buddy?" Her light smile with pain in her eyes was enough to make Eric's head nod. Even though he could hardly stomach the imitation blood, he would suffer just for Alex.

Alexandra hopped up from the couch, going over to the fridge, pushing past all of the leftovers and beer bottles to reveal a four pack of O NEG TRU BLOOD hidden away from Jason. She grabbed one, along with the rest of the six pack of beer and sat them on the counter.

"How long am I supposed to heat this? I read up on it and it said until like, 98 degrees but how many minutes does that translate to?" Alex twisted the cap on the dark red bottle, placing it in the microwave. She looked back at the long haired vampire who shrugged slightly.

"A few minutes should be fine."

Silence fell between them, and it was just the faint hum of the microwave running in the background. Alex could tell he was uncomfortable and he didn't know what to do. She figured the best thing to do would be to get drunk, and talk about it.

"She practically raised me. My parents died when I was young in a flash flood. After that, it was just me, Jason, and Sookie. Everybody thinks Granddaddy Earl ran away from Gran, he left right after our parents died. I don't think he would've left at a time like that. He must've passed too." Alex grabbed his bottle of O Neg. and her pack of beer, making her way to the couch to sit beside him.

"Gran was everyone's grandmother. All of our friends loved her, Hoyt, René, Tara. When I started talkin' about how I was psychic and that I saw Jason's hamster die, she believed me. Her house was a safe haven for anybody and everybody. Everyone loved Adele Stackhouse. Plus, she could make a mean pie." Eric nodded his head slowly, sipping the blood. He suppressed the urge to spit it out.

"It's quite a shame I didn't get to meet her." Eric finally spoke, and Alex gave a thankful grin. She grabbed his hand, intertwining their fingers. With her free hand she held another bottle up to her lips, finishing of its contents.

"She always did appreciate a handsome man." Alex began to laugh softly. "I told her about you, y'know."

"Oh, really? About how I'm a 1,000 year old Viking vampire who is helping you with your psychic abilities?" Eric's lips twitched up into a smirk and he watched as her grin faltered a bit, but then reappeared flawlessly.

"I may have left out some minor details." Her fingers traced his cold, pale hands in a way that made Eric relax completely. He sat his drink down and pulled her onto his lap in one swift move. Alex was startled at first, but she quickly melted at his touch, nuzzling her forehead into his neck inhaling his sweet scent. Mint, leather, familiar.

Sometime later, Eric had quickly moved them to her bedroom. They sat laying there, a lot of talking had unfolded between the two of them, making Alex's mood rise slightly.

"Do you sleep in a coffin?" She questioned, keeping her head glued to his chest.

"Sometimes. Other times I go underground. Most of the time I sleep in my bed." He answered laying one of his hands on his stomach, the other still intertwined with hers.

"Why doesn't Bill like you?" One of the more titillating questions she had been anxious to ask him about. The constant warning and the eerie glances Bill would give her worried her to no end, but Eric seemed very genuine, for a vampire.

"Bill Compton is a vampire in my area. His words are no concern to me, and they shouldn't be to you either. Most of my subjects are extremely threatened by me, the ones that are not are idiots and oblivious as to what I could and would do to them." Eric explained, making Alex's eyebrows furrow. She shifted her head to make eye contact with him and he let out an unnecessary sigh.

"Throughout the country there are different states. There are a wide array of Areas in a state. Each Area has a sheriff. I am the vampire Sheriff of Area 5. Area 5 stretches over Shreveport, Bon Temps and many other parishes. My duty as Sheriff is similar to your standard police sheriff. I notify higher authorities when vampires are committing crimes, murder, et certera."

Eric Northman is no Bud Dearborne. Alex quirked her lips up. If Eric only knew he was comparing himself to a square dancing hillbilly sheriff, he would've stopped talking.

"Oh so you guys have your own government and FBI and police department. Do you have like, your own president?" She questioned and Eric gave her a small smile, finding her curiosity so innocent.

"The so called 'president' in our case is called The Magister. As for the government, they are called the Authority. And as for the FBI, they are most like our Queens and Kings. Each state has a Vampire King or Queen. For Louisiana, Queen Sophie Anne rules over all the Areas, she is who I have to report to, unfortunately." Eric rolled his eyes mentioning his so called 'Queen' and Alex gave him a small grin.

"Sounds like a lot of stuff I can't comprehend."

"It's not terrible if you're used to it, I guess." He commented and glanced at their hands.

Alex was still tracing patterns on his palm, not even knowing the effect it had on him. She yawned, "Did you ever think you would be cuddling with me?"

"Not exactly. I thought we would be having rough, passionate, primal sex. But I guess this is nice." He teased, she rolled her eyes. Alex looked up at him and traced over his features. Her eyes soon caught the alarm clock, 4:15am. "It's gonna be dawn in a little bit." She softly spoke and Eric nodded, his hand gently rubbing her back.

"I should go. I have to help Pam close the bar. Behave yourself." A small smirk grew upon his face as he stood up, delicately laying her head on the pillow. He slid his jacket over his black tank top, Alex stood up along with him. She stretched and yawned, slipping her robe on.

"I'll walk you out, man bun." Her hand went up to the back of Eric's head, where his hair was tied up in a ponytail. Eric quickly ripped the ponytail holder out, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Alex snorted, grabbing his hand, slowly going down the hallway until they reached the living room. "I'm gonna have to visit your place sometime. I'd like to know where you live." Eric stopped in his tracks when he heard her say that.

He turned to face her, "I usually don't bring anyone into my home. Pam doesn't like the lingering smell of humans. But I'll think about it, though, since you have been such a gracious host." Eric let his fingers trail over her jawline and she blushed slightly.

"I'll be going, Alexandra, I'll see you tomorrow night." Eric's eyes flickered to her lips and before she could make a move he was gone, disappearing into the night.

-

It was the morning of Adele's funeral and Alex walked around her grandmother's house, looking for Sookie or Tara to zip her dress up. She had left her house as soon as she heard Jason come in. That was about 10 minutes after Eric had gone back to Shreveport.

"Tara!" Alex walked into the den, seeing her help Sookie get into her dress. Tara's head whipped around, laughing when she saw Alex with her dress half on. "I need help." Sookie gave her sister a smile and slipped her shoes on. Alex stood straight as Tara zipped her dress, clasping it at the top.

Alex stopped to admire herself in the mirror. The lace from her dress went just below her knee, and the dress was slim fitting. Her hair was down, pinned back with a simple black clip. Alex looked over seeing Lafayette sneak his way over to her.

"You behavin'?" He asked, his hands going up to her hair, puffing it out a bit more. Alex gave him a smile and leaned in for a hug. He wrapped her arms around her and squeezed slightly.

"Everything is gonna be okay, right?" Alex looked up and Lafayette nodded, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. She walked with him, following Sookie and Tara out of the front door. Alex gripped her purse until her knuckles were white as they walked over to the cemetery.

It was a bright and sunny day, which comforted Alex. It was almost like Gran was sitting right beside them when they sat down. Hoyt who was dressed in a black suit jogged up to Alex, wrapping her in a gigantic hug. Alex wrapped her arms around him slowly, leaning into him.

"I'm so sorry Alex." He pulled away slightly, holding her hands at their sides. "I loved that woman, with all my heart. She was like everybody's Grandma." He wiped Alex's tears away and she nodded, giving him a big smile.

"Thank you, Hoyt." She leaned into him as they walked to their chairs. Alex took a seat next to Sookie and Hoyt sat directly behind her. Tara sat beside Alex, slipping her hand in the blonde's. Sookie grabbed her other free hand and held it in hers.

"This sucks." Alex bit her lip, trying to stop the tears that were rolling down her cheeks. The woman who was standing up at the pedestal sang one of Adele's favorite songs. Alex just frowned, and looked around at all the people who had came. A few moments had passed and Alex hissed in pain when her sister's grip tightened.

"Ow, Sookie! My hand." Alex grumbled, looking up at her little sister who was staring at the entrance to the cemetery. Alex followed her gaze, furrowing her eyebrows when she saw her Uncle Bartlett in a wheelchair, being pushed up beside Jason.

"What the hell?" Alex leaned over, looking at Jason with wide eyes. Sookie did the same, whispering to Jason but Alex couldn't hear anything.

The blonde scowled and sunk back into her seat, watching as the minister called Sookie up from her seat. She walked up to the podium and dug through her purse for a piece of paper.

"To say she'll be missed, just doesn't cut it, 'cause, I can't even imagine a world without her in it. She was always there, with a kind word, and a hot meal, and a shoulder to cry on. Not just for me, but for everyone who knew her." Sookie spoke, her eyes darted around making eye contact with all of the people there. Alex knew the state of mind Sookie was in she probably couldn't block out everyone's thoughts. She cursed to herself and slowly stood up, going to stand beside Sookie when the young girl screamed, "Shut up! All of you, just shut the fuck up!"

Alex's eyebrows shot up and she quickly smiled at the crowd, grabbing Sookie and walking away from the scene. Sookie broke away from her sister's grip and Alex ran after her, along with Jason who was yelling their names.

"Sookie, y'all just hold on a second." Jason stopped abruptly when Sookie turned around, Alex stopped too, slowly walking over to her siblings.

"Why? So you can try to hit me again? Go ahead, tell me it's all my fault. Tell me how you wish it were me in that coffin. I deserve it." Sookie spat, folding her arms. Jason pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head.

"I'm sorry," Jason held his arms out, going to hug Sookie but she quickly backed away, going over to Alex. "Don't touch me!"

"Now, I didn't mean to hurt you all. You gotta know that." Jason squinted, sweat pouring in his eyes. Alex looked him up and down and pursed her lips. His tie was loose and his shirt was unbuttoned. He looked sloppy, and high.

"You invited Uncle Bartlett." Alex scoffed. She bit the inside of her cheek, thinking of what he did to Sookie when she was little. Alex and Gran were basically the only people who knew how much of a monster he really was.

"How could you do that?" Sookie asked, Alex wrapped an arm around her.

Jason shrugged, "He has a right to be here! Look, I know he and Gran had their problems, but whatever they were, it don't matter no more. 'Cause that's what family does. We forgive each other." He reaches out once again but Alex shoved Sookie behind her.

"You have no idea what you're talking about." Alex crossed her arms and shook her head. Jason put his hands on his knees and looked down.

"Please! I mean, we're all we got!" Jason begged, lifting himself up. Alex felt a pang against her heart and she was ready to give in before Sookie spoke, "We've got nothing!" The young blonde ran away and Alex watched as Jason kicked the dirt, running off in the other direction.

She sighed, rolling her eyes and slowly walking back to the ceremony. Almost everyone had left by the time she got there, Hoyt and Maxine were still there, also, Arlene and René. Along with Lettie Mae Thornton, Tara's mother.

"Hey, Ms. Thornton." Alex patted her on the shoulder and Lettie Mae turned slightly, giving the girl a smile. She was surprised to see her here, considering Lettie hated Adele. Their feud never really went away, after Tara's mother had beat on her and stayed drunk most of the time, Adele took her in like she was her own.

Alex walked over to the casket, which was being lowered into the ground. Hoyt walked up, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. He looked down at her blank expression, "Penny for your thoughts?"

"Honestly, I don't know what to think right now. All I know is I want to get drunk and hang out with my best friend." Alex gave him a weak smile and he chuckled.

"We can go to Merlotte's later tonight. I have to go home and change, Mama's making me help her build a new flower bed, but I should be free around 8 or 9. I'll pick you up, alright?" Hoyt suggested and she nodded. He bent down, giving her a chaste kiss on the cheek.

"Hoyt, come on, we better be on our way." Maxine tugged on his arm, sending a smile to Alex. He nodded and gave Alex one last hug before walking away with his mother.

authors note
hey guys! please vote and comment, leave your love, criticism, anything below!

guys if you read these (which i hope you do) i would so appreciate it if you could share this book. i love this story and i would love for more people to read it and give their feedback or any comments! so please help me out!

OKAY UM WHO AM I? two updates in one week?? i know, but when i see all of your votes and comments it makes me so happy and i just want to write and update! this whole chapter is dedicated to MaddyStorger because i love the enthusiasm and comments you give! they literally make my day!

thank you for all of the votes and comments we have gotten so far!

love mack