[AU] down to the Gulf

[feel_human]

Recuperating is a long, wearisome process, but she steadily refuses Bill's offers of his blood. "With everythin' that's been happenin', I just need to feel human for a while," she tells him, and he accepts it, if reluctantly.

Sam and Dean keep her swaddled in blankets, ply her with ice cream and soup and oatmeal and eggs, food soft enough not to hurt her bruised throat, and sternly keep her from doing pretty much anything at all but resting, eating, and healing. It feels like ages before her throat has healed well enough for her to eat solid food, but after that point, she gets better faster and faster. After a couple of weeks, she's nearly back to her old self, and the bruises have mostly faded away. She celebrates by baking Dean the long-promised apple pie and by telling Sam Merlotte that she's taking another week off.

There's no chance her little Honda could make it all the way down to the Gulf, even after Dean fixes what René had broken. Jason surprises her by offering his truck – she doesn't take him up on it, but she's touched – but a rental's a lot easier to manage when she's not the only one paying for it.

She leaves the house in Dean's care, warns him that Tara will be stopping by to make sure the place is still in one piece and asks him not to stake the neighbors, then slips into the passenger seat, her bag in the back with Sam's backpack. And then they're gone, gone, cruising southwards away from Bon Temps and vampires and everything that's happened. It's perfect, and that's even before they get to the Gulf.

She's not prepared for the crystalline water, the massive arcing expanse of sky, the soft white sand. It's the most beautiful place she's ever seen.

Comments

[gavemea_45]

"It's nice." Sam shoves his wet hair back from his face and stretches out on the towel, leaning on his elbows as he smiles back up at her. "Warm, clear, and this pretty blue-green color a little further out - but still clear as glass.

[feel_human]

"It sounds real nice."

She pulls her feet up and loops her arms around her knees. "Can you see all the way to the bottom?"

[gavemea_45]

"You can." He nods to the shell. "That's how I spotted that."

[feel_human]

She muses over that, looking out over the water, but doesn't come to any kind of decision just yet. Could be she'll decide to push herself past her comfort zone at some point during this trip, but it won't be in the first two hours of being here. "How'd you learn to swim?"

[gavemea_45]

"You know, I don't really remember not knowing how," Sam tells her, sounding a little surprised. "I know some of the motels we'd stay in had pools, or sometimes there'd be a local lake or something."

He shrugs, then pillows his head on his hands. "I think it was Dad who taught me. Taught us both, I guess."

[feel_human]

"Hmm."

She settles down on her back, her hair spilling out around her head like curling sunbeams made solid. "Well, you sure look like you know what you're doin' in the water."

[gavemea_45]

"It's been useful from time to time." Sam turns his head to look at her. "You look relaxed."

[feel_human]

"I just love lyin' in the sun," she says, dreamy. "It charges me up like I'm a battery. And I don't feel right without a tan."

She stretches a little, partly to get more comfortable and partly because she likes teasing him, likes knowing he looks at her and sees someone he wants. "I was thinkin'... maybe while we're here, you could walk out into the water with me? Just a little?"

[gavemea_45]

He reaches over to take her hand, lacing their fingers together. "Of course I will. Whenever you want."

[feel_human]

She smiles at that and squeezes his fingers. "Okay," she murmurs. "I think I'd feel safe enough, if you were there."

[gavemea_45]

That she could say that, and mean it, even with how badly he'd failed her causes his heart to turn over in his chest. Sam squeezes back.

"Whenever you want," he repeats.

[feel_human]

She lifts their linked hands and presses a kiss to his knuckles, then lets go so she can roll onto her belly, languid, reaching for the little radio. Sookie turns it to some local country station and sets it on the corner of her towel, then pillows her head on her arms and looks over at him, smiling behind her sunglasses.

"Is there anythin' you wanna do while we're here?"

[gavemea_45]

"You mean other than this?" he teases. "Like tourist stuff, or something?"

[feel_human]

She giggles at his teasing and shakes her head. "No. Well, maybe, if that's somethin' you're interested in."

She reaches a hand over to him, resting her fingers on his near arm. "But I'd be happy just spendin' the time lazin' around with you."

[gavemea_45]

"I feel the same. It's been a wild few weeks," he points out. "Just taking a break's enough."

[feel_human]

"Yeah."

She brushes her thumb over his skin, lazy. "I've only just started feelin' like myself again."

[gavemea_45]

"Does anything still hurt?" Her touch sends a frisson over his skin, but he holds still and lets her pet his arm.

[feel_human]

"A few spots are still a little tender," she admits. And she gets tired faster, but she feels a little better every day. "But I'm okay, honey. Promise."

[gavemea_45]

"Just tell me if you're not," he insists. "At any point. We've got time."

[feel_human]

"I will."

She wishes she could call Gran, tell her how beautiful it is here. "I'm just happy to be here with you."

[gavemea_45]

"Me, too - with you." He shades his eyes and glances up and down the beach, then back at her. "But if you think of anything else you want to do or see while we're here, just say. From what I remember, you haven't gotten out of Bon Temps much, so there might be something."

[feel_human]

"I'll think about it," she promises, and gives him a small smile. "Besides, I may be gettin' pretty far out of Bon Temps sometime soon."

[gavemea_45]

Sam rolls onto his side, facing her. "There's that," he murmurs.

[feel_human]

"We don't have to talk about it right now," she says, soft. "I just want you to know I've been thinkin' about it."

[gavemea_45]

"If you don't want to talk about it - now, I mean," he amends, hastily, "we don't have to. But if you do, or you've got questions, or anything... well, I'm here whenever you're ready."