feel_human | saturday night and the moon is out

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.

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From:

feel_human

Sookie doesn't turn on the radio, and she doesn't take her eyes off the road, not even to glance at the silver knife in her passenger seat. Her thoughts are all a-tumble, and the thing that annoys her most is the thread of self-pity winding through them.

Of course a guy like that is hanging around town for an actual reason, even if it's a crazy one. She knows better than to let the fact that she was a good excuse hurt her feelings, and yet –

She shuts that line of thinking down right quick, and slows to turn into the lone, grass-lined drive that leads up to the Stackhouse home, an old and graceful farmhouse. In the daylight, it would be easy to see both the age of the place and the care that's obviously been taken with it; without sunshine, it's a pale-painted, woods-backed building with a long, sloping lawn and a wide porch, set about with rocking chairs. A light's on in the kitchen, and, despite everything, Sookie can't help a wry smile as she gets out of the car and shuts the door. "Well," she says, as Sam pulls up behind her. "Welcome to my home."

From:

gavemea_45

"It's beautiful," he tells her, earnestly, as he shuts off the engine and swings off the bike. "Like something out of a movie."

No telling where the Compton place is from here, if the vampire even meant it about holing up there. He looks around anyway, just to be safe.

From:

feel_human

Her smile flickers, more out of habit than anything else, and she sets her purse more securely on her shoulder and turns toward the house. "Come on."

As they walk up the lawn to the porch, she points out in the direction of the churchyard, unseeable past the trees at this time of night. "The Compton house is just over there," she tells him, and indeed if he looks closely, he might be able to see a few window lights in the distance.

The wood of the porch steps squeaks as she walks up them, and the screen door creaks: the house is old, though well cared for. "Gran?" she calls as she heads in to the front hall. "I'm back."

Adele Stackhouse comes quickly out of the kitchen, wearing her dressing gown with her gray hair down around her shoulders. "Oh, Sookie," she gasps, and comes to hug her granddaughter. "Oh, honey. I am so happy you're all right. Was anybody hurt?"

Sookie hugs her back, closing her eyes for a moment and breathing in the warm, comfortable scent of her. "No," she says, shaking her head. "It was after most everyone had left. Gran, this is Sam."

Letting go, she steps back and looks to Sam. "Sam Winchester. He's the one I told you about, who helped me out."

Adele comes toward him with her hands outstretched to take his, her eyes full of earnest gratitude. "Mister Winchester," she says. "I cannot even begin to thank you. Why, who knows what might have happened, if you hadn't been there?"

From:

gavemea_45

He throws Sookie a startled look before letting her grandmother take hold of his hands. Just what did she tell her, anyway?

"Don't think about that," he says, earnestly. "I'm just glad I was there."

From:

feel_human

Sookie lifts her eyebrows at him and goes to hang up her purse, throwing him without regret under the speeding bus of Adele's gratitude.

"So am I," Gran tells him, and squeezes his hands, smiling up at him. "Well! You must be plumb tuckered out. I've made up the guest room, and there's plenty to eat. You ought to have a little something before you turn in."

From:

gavemea_45

Sam's eyes go wide with surprise. "Guest room? Ma'am, uh, Mrs. Stackhouse, there's no need -- I just thought I'd see Sookie home--"

From:

feel_human

"Oh, nonsense!"

Adele waves any argument away without giving it a thought. "I'd like to see the day I'd turn a Good Samaritan out to sleep in a motel! Mister Winchester – Sam – I absolutely insist. You've done me and mine a great favor and I simply will not hear of you spending good money on a shoddy room when you could be much more comfortable here."

From:

gavemea_45

He feels a little like he's just been run over by a truck. A very nice, kind truck, but still.

"Um." Sam tries to look to Sookie for help, even as he realizes she might have been the one to put her grandmother up to it. "I really don't want to be any trouble--"

From:

feel_human

Sookie only gives him a mild, blandly innocent look back, even as she feels a small twist of triumph. "No trouble," Adele is assuring him. "It'll be nice to have some company, won't it, Sookie?"

"Sure," Sookie says, easily, and smiles at her grandmother. "Gran, why don't you show him up to the room? And then you oughta go to bed. I'm sorry to keep you up so late."

Adele pats her cheek, fondly, and looks at Sam. "I'll just show you where everything is," she says. "And then you should come down and have a bite to eat. My, but you're a tall thing! I imagine you have quite an appetite."

From:

gavemea_45

"Yes, ma'am," Sam murmurs. "Thank you. I really appreciate this. This is really kind of you."

He moves to follow Adele upstairs, but shoots a look over his shoulder at Sookie, trying to convey that she shouldn't go anywhere.

From:

feel_human

She leans against the kitchen doorway, arms crossed over her chest, and gives him a slight nod when he looks over at her, then pastes a bright smile onto her lips for Adele. "'Night, Gran," she says. "Sweet dreams."

Adele leads the young man up the staircase, still fairly spry, even for her age. "I hope this nastiness won't put you off our little town," she tells Sam. "Bon Temps really is a nice place, though I suppose we get our share of trouble, just like anywhere."

From:

gavemea_45

"No, ma'am," he tries to reassure her. "I just got into town this afternoon, but it seems real nice so far. Don't worry about that, please."

She's got a will of iron, it seems, and a sweet sort of kindness about her that's the kind of thing he used to dream about when he was a kid, trying to make up imaginary family members to fill in all their missing pieces, before he gave up.

From:

feel_human

Adele gives him a crinkle-eyed smile. He seems like a real nice young man, and his manners leave nothing to be desired. "This was Jason's room," she tells him, showing him up the second half-flight of stairs to where the guest room sits, neatly made up, windows open to the mild night air. "Before he moved out. There's a bathroom and a shower just there – "

She points, showing him. "And plenty of extra blankets in the chest just over by the wall.

The room isn't large, but like everything else in the house, it's sparklingly clean and arranged by someone with more of an eye for comfort than for style. The old wooden bed is spread with a handmade quilt, and the windows look out over the smooth expanse of lawn, fireflies visible at the edge of the woods beyond. Adele leads him into it, then beams warmly at him. "I hope you'll be comfortable."

From:

gavemea_45

"I couldn't be anything else. You've gone to so much trouble."

It's nothing at all like the motel rooms that are most of his lived experience. Was this anything like what their house looked like in Kansas, before, he wonders?

"Please don't worry about me, Mrs. Stackhouse. Thank you so much."

From:

feel_human

"Not a bit of it," she tuts, cheerful. "Trouble! The day it's a trouble to offer a little hospitality is the day they may as well put me in my grave."

She shuffles to the door and turns to give him a warm smile. "You have a good night, and rest up, now. Let Sookie know I've turned in, will you?"

From:

gavemea_45

"Yes ma'am, I will. Good night," he says. Sam waits until she leaves the room to go check the angle of view from the windows. He can't see the Compton place from here; oh well.

He gives it a couple of minutes, long enough for her to make her way down the hall, then backtracks downstairs to the kitchen, looking for Sookie.

From:

feel_human

She'd busied herself, washing the few dishes that were left in the sink, and she's drying them now as she hears the unfamiliar step on the stairs.

"Do you like sweet tea?" she asks, glancing at him as he comes in, but not stopping in her movements. She finishes drying the plates and carries them to the cabinet, then turns her attention to the silverware. "Or there's a couple beers in the fridge; we keep some for when Jason comes by."

It's nerves and reaction, she knows; if she stops, if she slows down, she's going to have to think about what happened and what it means. But as long as she's going about the familiar motions, her hands stay steady and sure, and her voice doesn't shake.

From:

gavemea_45

"Tea sounds good." He looks around, watching where she puts things... and watching just how much nervous energy she's throwing off.

"I can get it, if you tell me where the glasses are."

From:

feel_human

"Catch me makin' a guest get his own drink," she says, scornful, and nods to the table, which is spread with a slightly faded but clean and pressed tablecloth of ditsy blue floral. "Have a seat, Sam."

She goes to the cupboard and takes out a couple of glasses, then heads to the fridge to fill them with ice. "Are y'hungry at all? I could put together a sandwich, quick."

From:

gavemea_45

He sits down at the table and is quiet, watching her. "I'm okay. Sookie..."

He's not entirely sure where to go first, and starts with, "I'm sorry."

From:

feel_human

"For which part, exactly, Sam?"

She opens the fridge and retrieves the pitcher of sweet tea, then fills the glasses. Setting the tea back again, she picks up the glasses and brings them over, placing one on the table in front of him before she looks down into his face, her expression solemn. "You tell me which part was your fault, and I'll accept an apology. But I don't believe you can."

From:

gavemea_45

He curls one hand around the glass and holds her gaze, his own steady. "Mostly I'm sorry that you're having to deal with all this. I know it's hard to accept. And I'm sorry if I scared you, earlier."

From:

feel_human

She meets his gaze and extends her power as far as she can, trying to pick up any sort of lie, but there's nothing. From what she can tell, he's sincere.

After a moment, she nods, and comes to sit across from him, her hands around her own glass. "Seems like you know an awful lot about vampires, considering they're not supposed to exist."

But neither is... whatever she is, she's sure of that much. For the first time, she wonders whether or not he might consider her a monster, too.

From:

gavemea_45

"Not just vampires," he murmurs. It's harder to get the words out than he'd thought it would be, given how ingrained this secret's been for him and Dean for as long as he can remember.

This is different, he tells himself. She's being threatened by a vampire. She already knows the world isn't safe.

It still feels like he's ripping something away, from her and from himself, when he continues,

"There's a lot of other things out there, too. I grew up learning about them."

From:

feel_human

Her head hurts, from the combination of work and keeping her defenses up and the long night. She reaches up to undo her tight ponytail and lets her hair spill down over her shoulders, sighing as she scrubs her fingers through it to mitigate the ache. "Well, let's stick with vampires for the moment," she says, practical, one the initial ache's been rubbed away.

Folding her arms on the table, she looks over at him. "You were expectin' him to attack me. Why didn't he?"