When you woke you were still in the chair but someone had placed a blanket over you. Sitting up you saw that Sookie was still sleeping and the light coming through the window was a pale gray. You figured you'd only gotten a couple hours sleep at most. You got to your feet and stretched before folding the blanket and laying it over the back of the chair. You shut the door behind you as you left.

A murmur of voices drifted up the stairs and you followed the sound until you found Sam speaking with Tara and Lafayette. The conversation cut off as you stepped into the room. Sam stood almost immediately. "Hey, Y/N. You want some coffee?"

"Oh, God. Yes, please."

While he headed to the kitchen, Tara stood to give you a hug. "How's Sookie?"

"She's out. Hopefully she will be for a while. I gave her a valium."

"Oh, sweetness, you and I are on the same page." Lafayette pulled a baggie from his pocket. "I've got our girl covered."

You walked behind him and patted his shoulder just as Sam returned. You took your mug and sat in the empty seat between the two men. Sam glanced at the time and sighed. "We only have a couple of hours before people start showing up."

Tara huffed a laugh. "Nosy old biddies."

"So, let me get this straight, Sookie's grandmother gets killed and people are just going to turn up uninvited?" you asked.

"Not exactly. People bring by food and pay their respects," Sam explained.

Lafayette arched his brow. "Then they stay so they can gossip about the dead and the living."

"We may not like it, but it's tradition. It's just how things are done." You weren't sure if Sam was trying to convince you or himself.

You leaned back in your seat. "Well, it's not how I do things. If Sookie gets up and wants to see people, that's fine. But we're going to let her sleep. We will accept the food gratefully and write down who brought what. And then they're going to go home."

"You can't do that," Sam argued. "You're going to piss people off."

The corner of your mouth kicked up. "No. You can't do that. I don't care if I piss people off."

"Damn it, Y/N. Be reasonable."

"I'm with her, Sam. None of these people give a shit about Sookie. They never have. Who cares if we piss them off?" Tara argued.

Sam looked to Lafayette.

He put his hands up. "Don't look at me, Sam. None of those people like me anyway."

"Fine. I guess you win, Y/N."

You grinned. "You'd think you'd be used to that by now, Sam."

***

You took up residence on the front steps. For the most part, people stopped when they saw you and accepted your word when you said that Sookie wasn't accepting visitors. One of the others would take the food or flowers and add it to the list so she'd know who brought what later.

Then came Maxine Fortenberry. As soon as you saw her step out of the car, you stood. She gave you a tight smile and tried to move around you, but you continued to block her path. "Sookie's not taking visitors right now. I'll let her know you came by."

She huffed. "I'm quite certain that doesn't apply to me."

She went to pass you again, and you put a hand on her arm to stop her. "It applies to everybody."

Her lips pursed. "Then why are they here?" She lifted her chin to indicate the others gathered at the door behind you.

"Well, they're here to take care of Sookie."

"And what is it you think I intend to do?"

The corner of your mouth curled up though there was nothing humorous about the situation. "I think you intend to look for blood. I mean surely some had to be missed, right? We couldn't possibly be that thorough. And then you can tell all the other church ladies how awful it was."

"Y/N," Sam snapped from behind you as he came out the door. "That's enough." He pushed past you so you were forced to move your hand from Maxine's arm. "I'm sorry, Maxine. Y/N's had a rough day."

"I have never been so insulted in my life."

"I find that hard to believe," you said and resumed your original spot on the steps.

Sam frowned at you again and you shrugged. He could waste his time smoothing ruffled feathers if he wished, but you had no patience for women like Maxine Fortenberry. Her holier than thou attitude had set your teeth on edge from the moment you met her. She might want to believe that she was better than everyone around her, but in reality, she was just a bitch.

Your gaze followed the two of them as Sam walked her back to her car. He was full of platitudes and apologies that made you roll your eyes.

"We could just lock ourselves inside and put a sign on the door," Tara suggested as she sat beside you.

You glanced at her. "Why didn't we think of that earlier?"

She grinned. "I did. Sam said no. I figure by this point he'll find it a relief though."

"Hell, I'll lock his ass out if I have to. Make a sign. I've used up all my give a damn already."

Your conversation was interrupted with the arrival of Jason Stackhouse. Anger radiated from him and you got back to your feet immediately. "Tara, go inside and lock the door. Now."

For once she didn't argue and hurried away as you stepped between Jason and the house. A quick glance to the side, showed Sam with hands on hips and an empty spot where Maxine had been. Thank God for small miracles.

Jason grabbed your arms and tried to shift you out of his way, but you weren't so easily moved. His brow furrowed. "Get the fuck out of my way, Y/N."

"Not until you calm down. I understand you being pissed about Adele, but there's no cause for you to come here like this." You mirrored his movements just like you had Maxine's. Football player he might be, but you weren't a typical human. If you could throw vampires into a wall, he was no match for you.

"No cause? No cause? I got fucking cause. Sookie sleeping with that fucking fanger got my gran killed and she's gonna answer for it." Tired of trying to dodge you, he decided to just walk through you, expecting you to move out of the way. Instead, you placed your palms on his chest and shoved him backward.

"Back off, Stackhouse."

"Woah," Sam said and stepped closer. "Everybody just calm down."

"Don't tell me what to do, Merlotte." Jason came at you again. His body curled toward you as he stalked forward. You were prepared to block him, but you weren't prepared for him to hit you. Jason could be a dick, but that was out of the norm even for him. So, you were thrown more than a little off balance when his punch landed on the left side of your face. Pain exploded from your cheekbone and up into your eye. Fuck, that hurt. The blow had more power behind it than he should have been capable of.

He took advantage of you being caught off guard to storm past you and kick the door open. As he stomped toward the stairs, Sookie came to stand at the top of them.

"What is going on?" she asked, looking between you and her brother.

"I'll tell you what's going on—"

Jason was cut off when you grabbed his shirt and threw him back toward the door. He flew through the open space to land on the porch. When he tried to scramble to his feet, you picked him up and bounced him off the side of his truck. "Get the fuck out of here before I call the cops."

He got to his feet and stumbled backward around the truck, never taking his eyes off you. Once he'd made his way behind the wheel, he gunned the engine and took off.

You turned to find your friends staring at you with various levels of confusion, concern and fear on their faces. You'd let your anger at Jason get the best of you and had shown more of your strength than you normally did. You cleared your throat as you stepped past them into the house.

Sookie hurried down the steps to meet you. She examined the side of your face which was probably already starting to turn colors. Damn Stackhouse. "Tara, get Y/N some ice. Are you okay?"

You pulled away from her touch and gave a small nod. "Yeah. I'll be fine. I'm just glad I was here."

You took the icepack Tara handed to you and stepped back as Sookie looked around. The cold against your tender skin made you grimace but you held it in place just the same.

"Where is everyone? I expected the house to be full." Her tone was one of wonder not disappointment. She was so used to doing what she should, what everyone told her was normal, that she was surprised when someone didn't.

"Thank her for that too," Lafayette said. "She said you needed your sleep and stood guard outside all day."

"We kept a list of who came by with what," Sam piped up as if Sookie might be angry you kept her from having to deal with half the town.

Sookie threw her arms around your neck and you chuckled as you hugged her back. "Thank you."

"It's not a problem, Sook." You stepped back and pursed your lips in thought. "Do me a favor and don't let Jason in the house unless someone is here for a few days."

"You don't think he'd actually hurt me, do you?"

You shrugged. "I would have sworn this morning that he wouldn't have hurt anyone that didn't deserve it. He didn't smack me, Sookie. He punched me. Hard. If he hit you like that, it might have done some serious damage."

She nodded but didn't say anything.

"And why is it that it didn't do serious damage to you?" Sam asked. "Never mind you tossing him against his truck like he weighed nothing. You want to explain all that?"

You ran your gaze over him. "Nope." You turned your attention back to your friend. "I have an appointment tonight that I need to keep. Are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah, of course. You've done more than enough. Thank you."

You nodded and checked your pockets for your keys. Sookie cleared her throat as you pulled them out and you looked at her expectantly. "I'm going to have Gran's funeral as soon as possible. You're welcome of course, but I understand if you don't make it."

You gave her another hug. "Thanks, Sook." She was one of the few people that knew of your aversion to funerals. There was a lot of reasons for it. Mainly you just didn't like to watch people cry. You glanced at everyone before you walked out the door. "You all know how to get hold of me if you need anything. I might be out of town for a couple of days, but I won't be far."

With that, you hopped in your truck. After a quick stop by your apartment to get some clothes, you sent your dad a text then headed for Shreveport. There were still several hours to nightfall but you had some arrangements to make before you saw Eric.