saturday night and the moon is out

[feel_human]

Tucked away off the road in Bon Temps, there's a road house. Warm light spills from its windows, and the sound of a jukebox playing drifts out into the muggy Louisiana night. The regular assortment of trucks and Hail-Mary-please-keep-this-lemon-goin'-just-a-little-longer cars sit in the dirt parking lot; what amounts to about half the town's small population... or, at least, of those of the 'drinking age and above' persuasion.

Inside, it's a bar of the type scattered all across the American South: homey, no-nonsense. Booths and tables. A man in a plaid flannel shirt wiping the bar; a crossdresser in the kitchen singing Gospel hymns and rolling his hips in time with the words just to scandalize the prep cook. A handful of waitresses, bustling about.

Sookie makes her way briskly through it all, a tray balanced on her palm and her eyes kept stubbornly front, as voices swarm around her. Aloud, and... less so.

...I’m just going to have one beer tonight Jesus one beer that’s all...

...better not gripe about me eating fries not after what I did for him last night...

...I cannot wait to get the hell out of this podunk town...

 

 "Well, make sure you do, and before it’s too late," she responds, thoughtless, to the young man. "Because every year you wait? You just get more and more stuck here. Believe me, I know."

He stares at her. So do his parents.

So does the other table. And she realizes, too little too late, that he hadn't said that out loud, not at all. She laughs, uncomfortable. "I’ll get y'all some ketchup," she says, brightly, and flees, ponytail swinging against the nape of her neck as she goes.

Stupid, Sookie, she chides herself. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

 

Comments

[feel_human]

Why? wants to come to her lips, but she doesn't let it, just twines her fingers with his and looks up into his face. "Okay," she says, soft and smiling.

"Then I guess... that's settled."

[gavemea_45]

His gaze drops to her mouth for a long moment as he brushes his thumb lightly over the side of her hand.

"Mm-hm."

[feel_human]

Her heart thuds against her ribs as his glance drops, and the brush of his thoughts makes her cheeks pinker than ever.

"But you were gonna take me out today," she points out, her breath coming quick and shallow. "And if you had, I guess... it would have been ending right about now, right?"

[gavemea_45]

"Mm-hm," he says again, more intently than before. She'd answered what he was thinking - and she hadn't rejected the idea.

Sam runs one hand up her arm to her shoulder and leans down a little, giving her the chance to stop him before he goes further.

[feel_human]

A thrill skitters over her skin from the hand he runs up her bare arm, and her breath comes quick as her dark-eyed glance drops to his mouth.

He's being so darn polite about it, but she's been wanting to kiss him again since that kiss broke last night and she's starting to get impatient, so she takes matters into her own hands. Reaching up, she curls her hand at the nape of his neck and pulls him down as she pushes up onto her tiptoes to meet his mouth with her own.

[gavemea_45]

His other arm goes around her, pulling her tight against him. Sam runs his hand from her shoulder up into her hair and angles her head as he kisses her back, deep and sweet and seeking.

[feel_human]

His hand runs up into her hair and his fingers get caught in her braid, and she has just about enough presence of mind left to reach up with her free hand to tug the elastic out of the end of her braid so the waves of her hair spill down over the back of her neck and shoulders.

Where the elastic goes, she has no idea. She's too busy putting her arms around his neck and kissing him back, breathless and wanting.

[gavemea_45]

She does something and her hair falls free, skimming over his wrist like silk. Sam groans deep in his chest and kisses her again. She's beautiful and sweet and warm in his arms and against him, and he doesn't want to stop kissing her.

[feel_human]

The sound he makes hits her like a bullet. His thoughts are as hazy with want as hers are, and his arm feels so nice around her, tucking her against him so tightly. "Don't," she breathes, in response to the single thought that made it through in words. "Don't stop."

[gavemea_45]

"I won't." He kisses her again, tilting her head back a little to deepen the next kiss, and pulls her flush against his body as he crowds her back against the wall.

[feel_human]

She whimpers, soft and low, as her back hits the wall and he kisses her again, deep and sweet and pulling her under inexorable as quicksand. Her blood is singing through her veins and her heart is flying, and she thinks it's got to be a dream, because no way could it be real.

But he's warm and solid against her body, and his arm is strong around her waist, and it sure as heck feels real. She stretches herself up as high as she can, up onto her tiptoes, and kisses him back, letting herself fall into it completely.

[gavemea_45]

She stretches up against him, trying to get closer, and Sam lets go of her head to put both arms around her. He dips his knees and hitches her up off the ground, setting her on the edge of the counter, then cradles her face with both hands as he kisses her again and again.

[feel_human]

He lifts her up easy as anything and sets her on the counter, then covers her with kisses until she's dizzy with them. She has just enough presence of mind to be grateful that she'd set the iron safely on its rest, because the last thing she wants to do is stop. Her fingers grip into the fabric of his doubled-up t-shirt, then spread over his ribs and back as she meets each kiss with eager ones of her own.

[gavemea_45]

“Sookie,” he murmurs, between kisses. “Sookie. I want—- do you —-“

He’s dimly aware that her grandmother’s right upstairs and could come down at any time, that they’d just met yesterday and he might be rushing her, but he doesn’t want to stop. He runs his hands down her arms to her sides, settling them on her hips, and coaxes her closer as he kisses her again.

[feel_human]

"Sam – I – "

Can hardly breathe, when he's kissing her so sweet and when his hands are tracing fire down her arms. They curve, big and warm and gentle, over her hips, and the rough material of his jeans brushes over the bare skin of her inner thigh as he pulls her closer. It sends a thrill through her – and a sudden flash of sense memory, unbidden.

(Uncle Bartlett loves you sweetie)

She gasps like someone poured a bucket of ice water over her head and pulls back, her hands flat on his chest.

[gavemea_45]

Sam freezes as she jerks back from him. "Sookie? Are you okay, did I - did I scare you, hurt you?"

[feel_human]

"No, not you – "

She swallows hard and tries to catch her breath. "Just – give me a second?"

[gavemea_45]

"All the time you need," he murmurs. Sam stays still for a second, then carefully raises his hands from her body and cradles hers to his chest, soothing without restraint.

"It's okay. It's okay," he repeats. He doesn't know what happened, but something did, and that's enough.

[feel_human]

"I'm sorry."

It comes out like a reflex, but she is sorry, sorry to see the concern in his eyes when there had only been warmth before; sorry to make him think he'd done something. "I swear, it's not you, just... somethin' from a long time ago."

His hands cover hers like he's cradling a baby bird. She focuses on the rapid tapping of his heartbeat against her palms, and does her best to banish the memories that keep trying to surface. "You didn't do anythin' wrong."

[gavemea_45]

Something from a long time ago, she says. There's a story there, and not a good one. Sam raises one hand and cups her cheek, moving slow and careful and gentle.

"Hey," he murmurs. "You don't need to apologize. It's okay. Whatever you need, Sookie, it's okay."

[feel_human]

"I'd rather it be what I want."

Because she does want, she wants his kisses and his arms around her body, and she wants to know what his mouth would feel like against her skin. She takes a shaky breath and exhales slowly, watching him back. "But I think what I need is to... slow down, just a little."

[gavemea_45]

His smile is sweet. "We can do that." Very gently, he threads his fingers through her hair and draws them down, spreading it over her shoulder, then pulls his hand back and rests it on the countertop beside her.

[feel_human]

That smile of his is so sweet she feels like a honeybee that can't help itself. Leaning forward and up, she brushes her lips very lightly against his, more of a promise than a kiss. "You're kind of a good boy, aren't you, Sam?"

[gavemea_45]

"Maybe?" He squeezes her hand, just a little. "I don't know. You'll have to tell me."

[feel_human]

"Looks that way from where I'm sittin'."

She reaches her free hand down to curl her fingers around the hand he has on the counter, and lifts it to press a kiss to his knuckles. The look she gives him is rueful. "I better... get back to that laundry before Gran comes back down."