Restless

Chapter One – the Vampire in the Restaurant

Word Count: 8,030

Updated: 21/01/2019

Note: I do not own True Blood, only my OC Louisa.

Thank you to all the fans of this story who've stuck around, your continuous support over the years has meant more to me than I could ever express.

-0-

It was rather busy inside of the small diner considering it was only 3 o'clock in the afternoon. The black and white checkered floor clashed perfectly with the bright red booths that lined the photo-framed clad walls and as Louisa Marie busied herself with two chocolate shakes she swayed side to side along to the 50's tune that played from the old jukebox in the corner. It took her only a moment to pour the thick, brown concoction into two separate glasses before she was off towards the table of three at which sat a single mother who currently fussed over her two young children. She knew that the woman was single for the same reason she knew that the man sitting in one of the corner booths was currently having an affair with a woman he worked with; regular customers liked to chat and she liked to listen. The two boys could be no older than five years old and as soon as she placed the drinks on the table they both stopped their fussing immediately and set to work on their respected milkshakes.

"Did you need anything else before I go Wendy?" asked Louisa.

"No sweetheart, this will do just fine as per usual – and thank you" the older woman responded, her hair was currently pinned out of her face and the few loose strands that had come loose were tucked behind her ears. Wendy usually looked more tired than she did right at this moment, she figured the boys must be behaving more than they usually do.

"Alright, well let me know if you change your mind"

Wendy went back to busying herself with her boys, they were settled now for sure but once those milkshakes were finished all hell would break loose once again. After giving the boys each a cheeky face Louisa returned to her spot behind the shiny counter that sparkled when the light hit it just right, something that never failed to amuse the two boys seated at the table where she had just come from. Louisa allowed herself to close her eyes and then she took a deep breath, a moment passed and she released it slowly – it was the last time she was going to be able to do this for a while as the 6 and 7 o'clock dinner rush loomed ahead. This is something she liked to call the calm before the storm.

The afternoon continued to be busy and despite her co-worker Julie joining her at 5 o'clock she was flat off of her feet, though this was partly due to the fact they were still down one staff member for the night. Helen called in sick five minutes before her shift was about to start which left Louisa and Julie to fend for themselves; not that they weren't used to it, of course, this week alone Helen had done something similar twice already.

Despite the flood of customers Louisa couldn't help but smile, even before she had started working in the small diner she herself had too once been a regular. Gemma's Diner opened relatively early and closed late, you could find food for everyone of any particular diet which catered for even the odd gluten-free and vegan customer. Neither lifestyle suited her though, no – not when such a thing as Desert Pizza existed. Gemma's was indeed far from being a fancy restaurant but it was even farther from being a complete hole in the group and that was why she loved it so much.

"I can't stand her, I can't believe she called in sick again and she always does it at the last minute possible so we can't even get a replacement to cover her shift" Julie grunted, the blonde was standing beside her and looked positively annoyed at their current topic of conversation.

"I know," Louisa agreed with a small nod "Makes it tricky to juggle everything when it's two of us doesn't it?"

"She just can't stand the thought of firing someone ya' know? But that's just how Gem is, couldn't imagine her any other way" Julie sighed, it was then that she took a deep breath and leaned forward so that her body rested on the countertop before them"I'd do it if she asked me too"

"Oh I know you would," Louisa replied with a laugh "C'mon Jules, look on the bright side – you only have an hour before you clock off"

"Yeah – the bright side for me! How in God's name can you be so happy saying that when you're here til 12 every night? And don't get me started on starting your shifts the next day – do you ever sleep in?"

"Not really, I barely sleep as it is you know"

"What's it called again?"

"Insomnia"

"Gosh, that's awful. I don't know how you do it"

"It's something I got used to after a while, I guess" she replied and that was a simple truth. Some mornings when she woke up she missed it; the idea of waking up after a good eight or nine hours' worth of sleep and just stretching into the bed sheets, eyes still full of sleep as they adjusted to the light - but it's been five years since she had anything more than three to four hours sleep in a single night.

As the hour grew late the dinner rush became steadier and steadier, soon it was heading into ten and the only occupants were a few teenagers that lounged in one of the corner booths and three lone customers spread out in random seats. Julie looked like she was practically falling asleep; her elbows currently supported the weight of her upper body as she leaned against the counter and her usual neat, tidy blonde hair had escaped from her ponytail. Even though her hair was a mess she still looked gorgeous, Louisa didn't know how she did it.

"You only have five more minutes, go on – I can see your mom from here" She said with a nudge to Julie's side

"Are you sure?" Julie asked "I can stay Louisa, I don't mind, just needed a minute"

"Go," Louisa repeated with a little wave "I know it takes you a little bit to get home"

"I dunno' what I'd do without ya" the blonde grinned and before she walked out, belongings already in her hands, she gave Louisa a hug "You're my lifesaver you know that right? I'll see you when we're working together next"

Louisa smiled as she watched her friend retreat for the night and then closed her eyes and enjoyed the relative silence. The dinner wasn't at all busy after 10 o'clock at night which was the reason why they only required a single waitress to close. As the hour passed by she chatted with a few regular customers who she only ever saw late at night; Nigel who was currently reading yet another small paperback novel and even Sylvia dropped by who never failed to talk about how her garden was coming along. Every now and then she would see someone new, but this was very far and in-between. It was only when she bid farewell to both Nigel and Sylvia, as she did she took notice of the time on the wall, did she grow a little excited; it was 11:07. With haste, she cleaned up the empty coffee cups from the now empty tables and once she was done she retrieved a bottle of AB- Tru Blood from the very back of the little fridge under the counter and placed it in the microwave.

"Hey – we're ready to pay" a voice interrupted her thoughts and when she turned she saw the teenagers from the corner booth

"Oh – sorry of course, now are you all paying together or separately?"

"Separately" a young girl commented, she wore thick eyeliner and dark brown lipstick.

Louisa didn't mind separate payments, though it did get difficult when it was incredibly busy and she was short staffed. All five paid with cash and each left a tip generous for their age group and as they walked from the diner two men dressed in business suits walked in, they too chose to sit in one of the booths against the wall. Because of the late hour she left her notepad and pen by the register and walked towards their chosen booth.

"We'll call you when we're ready to order," one man said in an almost lazy tone as he flipped through the menu

"No problem" she replied.

From her spot next to the booth she could hear the microwave go off, that was her cue to leave. She was halfway across the diner when another regular walked through the doors but unlike Nigel and Sylvia and so many others that she'd become familiar with she did not actually know his name, but it wasn't like she had ever asked. His name was something she definitely did not need to remember him by, not when he was so hard to forget. They were about the same height, short chestnut coloured hair framed his face and as her eyes sunk lower she eyed the few tattoos that could be seen on his pale skin, after a moment she studied his face again. All of these features made him hard to forget, but above all, he was a Vampire and the first that she had ever encountered.

It was about four months ago, at the exact same time on the exact same day of the week that he had walked in here for the first time and ever since that night every week on Tuesday he would come in, order his drink and sit at the same table that looked out into the dark Dallas streets. He was like a clock, ever so constant and punctual. What intrigued her most was that he looked so incredibly young, certainly no older than she was and as she thought about it she grew sad.

Louisa shook her head and smiled and he returned the gesture with a little one of his own, it took her no time at all to have the blood on the counter before him

"Ah, you remembered," he said, which is what he said every single time she gave him his order

"It's not like your order is hard to forget" she joked lightly

"You make a good point" he replied with a nod, it was then he took his leave and it was only when he sat down did she notice that he had left a fifty dollar bill behind where his blood had once been.

Vampires are real. The news broke a few years ago now and ever since that day all she had ever heard about were horrible stories regarding them; how they drain humans of their blood but not before they torture them in the most horrific and brutal ways possible. But the only Vampire she had ever met has never been anything but polite and kind. Louisa, once again, shook her head and tried once more to go back into work mode – but it was hard seeing that the counters had all been wiped spare the ones that were currently taken, the dishes were in the dishwasher and everything else was already tidy. She crossed her ankles and leaned against the counter, she had roughly 45 minutes to go until she'd be leaving the diner and she silently couldn't wait.

"Can we grab some service?" A voice called out, which was enough to finally put her back into work mode. It was one of the suits in the corner.

"What can I get you this evening?" She asked politely when she arrived.

"A coffee please, sugar," the first said; his hair was shaved and since walking into the diner a couple of minutes ago he had undone his tie so that it hung loosely around his neck, she couldn't help but notice the way that he eyes her up and down. It had taken her a while to get used to the lingering looks from men when she'd started working here, but after a year she had finally settled.

"How would you like it?" she asked

"What would you recommend?"

"I'm not much help; I don't drink coffee" she smiled

"Alright, alright well I'll just have a flat white with two sugars"

"And you sir?" she turned the second man

"Black, three sugars"

"Alright well, I won't be but a minute," she said

When she had first started working here almost a year ago she had never even made a coffee at home let alone with a machine but after two weeks' worth of training she was practically a professional – now she was certain she could do the task blindfolded. It took her only a couple of minutes to whip up both of the orders, once done she placed both steaming cups on a small saucer with a spoon beside each and then she made her way back over without spilling a drop – another task she had to get used to quite quickly.

"-fangers, I had no idea this place catered for such filth, wouldn't have come here otherwise," the first man said and as he saw her approach he stopped his rant. It was none of her business so she acted as if she hadn't heard anything at all.

"Will you need anything else at all tonight?" she asked as she placed the saucers on the table

"You know sugar I've been coming in here for quite some time now, and I never knew ya'll serve those monsters," the man who was ranting before said and with a hatred so obvious it caught her off guard.

"I-" but Louisa had to pause as she had absolutely no idea how to reply, the situation was rather awkward, she could lie and agree or tell the truth and possibly start an argument. She wasn't about to lie.

"C'mon sugar don't play sly with me, that over there-" he paused for a moment to point to where she knew the Vampire was seated "-they're abominations to this planet, demons! And that's all they're ever gonna be"

"He may be, but I can't turn away a paying customer simply because of what they are, that'd be prejudice. Gemma, she owns the place, she's actually quite happy with the clientele she has"

"Missy, are you standing there in front of me defending those things?" he asked and when she did not reply he barked with laughter

"I'm just stating the policy, that's all-"

"I think we're gonna have to find someplace else to drink our coffee from now on" the man interrupted angrily and Louisa couldn't help but look on in disbelief as he drank the still hot coffee in a single gulp and the across from his followed suit "I got no interest putting my money that I work hard for into a business that serves fangers or payin' a waitress that's probably screwing one"

For a moment time stood still and she didn't know how to feel; throughout her time in the Diner over the past eleven months she had seen her fair share of rude customers but never has she ever been spoken too so bluntly before "Well you have a lovely night," she began "And don't let the door hit you on the way out now"

"Ya got a lot of nerve for a tiny little thing," he says as he walked passed her on his way to the door "Got a lot of nerve sugar"

They didn't leave money for the drink they both ordered but at that moment she didn't care too much, she was just happy that they were gone. What a way to end the night. Before she left to go stand behind the counter again she picked up the empty cups and placed them in the dishwasher and it was then, crouched on the floor in the kitchen area that she realized the Vampire was still sitting by the window. Slowly she walked back into the diner and as soon as she glanced across the room his eyes met hers, a few moments passed and then he was on his feet walking towards her. He had the most peculiar expression on his face as he slowly made his way across the diner, one that she had never seen before in all of her months of serving him blood.

As he walked she couldn't help remembering the first night she had met him; it had been rather busy for 11 o'clock at night so when he turned around and ordered a bottle of synthetic blood she shocked. Gemma kept the synthetic blood in stock, but she'd never heard of anyone actually coming in and ordering some. They'd never conversed apart from when she would order him his drink and the nerves she felt in the pit of her stomach were in full swing. Finally, he stood across from her, his bright eyes staring curiously into hers.

"I am quite inquisitive as to why you would defend me against those men," he started and for a moment he paused "You do not know me young one, for all you know I very well could be the monster that he said I was"

"I – I just, it doesn't matter," she stuttered out and for a moment she closed her eyes in utter disbelief as to what just flowed out of her mouth "I mean, turning you away just because you're a Vampire would be the exact same as me turning away a customer because their skin colour is different to mine. I don't believe in prejudice and I'm not afraid of stating that opinion when it's needed"

"Fascinating," he murmured "I don't think I'll ever truly understand the human mind" and with that, he turned away and walked towards the exit.

For the next week time moved by every so slowly much to Louisa's disappointment and while it did she replayed the conversation she and the Vampire had over and over again. Every day, besides Sunday which was her day off, she would arrive at Gemma's five minutes before her shift started and left at midnight, each day very much a repeat of the day before. On the positive side, she did not have another run in with any overly-rude customers, in fact when she spoke to Gemma about it the following day Louisa was pleased to know that her boss was rather upset with the customers in particular.

"If you ever see those men again you have my permission to kick them the hell out of my Diner" she said angrily, her curly hair bouncing up and down as she shook her head from side to side "I won't have my girls being treated like that, no sir, I don't think so – sons' a bitches are lucky I wasn't here! And you tell that Vampire the next time he's here the drink is on us alright?"

It was the Saturday following the incident with those men and her regular Vampire now and Louisa couldn't ever remember a night being so busy! Matt, another co-worker was only able to work until 7 on Saturday nights and ever since he departed an hour and a half ago she and Julie had been run off their feet. It wasn't until 11 o'clock that the steady flow of customers suddenly stopped and not for the first time in her time at the Diner was she thankful that on the weekends she had to have a second person closing with her.

"Boy do I wish I had stayed with you that night Lou! I really, really do and if I had been here I woulda' taught those assholes a lesson or two," Jules huffed "They basically called you a Vampire whore!"

Jules had been ranting about it ever since Louisa had told her, she was practically the big sister she'd never had back home

"It doesn't matter-" Louisa tried, but the blonde wasn't having any of it tonight.

"It does so matter! I would have thrown something awful large and big at his head, that's what I would have done. But we gotta' rewind for a sec, you gotta' tell me a bit more about this Vampire now! Tell me about him? Is he scary? Cute? Describe him." Julie interrupted.

Julie had this ability to be able to jump from one topic of conversation to another within the blink of an eye and though it used to confuse her quite a bit she had grown quite used to the trait

"Well, I guess you could say that he's attractive" Louisa admitted and as she spoke the words she could feel her face heat up with embarrassment.

"You guess?" Julie sighed "Details Lou, I want details"

"Short brown hair, only a little taller than I am and not much older either, or so I've guessed"

"Young? How exciting! You know I still have never met a Vampire before. Anyway – I still can't believe they had the nerve to say that to you, Louisa, I hope you defended yourself and defended yourself well at that"

"I didn't want to cause a scene," she said simply, but she left it at that. Even if she had grown madder, would she have said anything at all? No, probably not. It wasn't like her to lose control of her anger like that.

"I can't stand working Saturday nights, not even because of all of the stuff some of my friends are doing – it just gets so busy. But I guess I can't complain – look at you, what normal seventeen-year-old girl doesn't complain about working not only her Saturday nights but her Friday ones as well?"

"One that does not have a social life as you have," she laughed lightly "And one that needs as many shifts that she can have if she wants to keep her tiny, yet small apartment"

"I forget that you live by yourself sometimes. You know you're going to have to have me over sometimes soon – yeah! And Matty can come too, we'll have like a movie night or something-" Julie said, and as she continued to brainstorm all of the ideas for the theoretical movie night Louisa could not help but count herself incredibly lucky to have the blonde as a close friend. Without her, she would be completely lost.

At the very beginning she had been cautious – in her experience girls in particular (especially ones that looked like Julie) were never so friendly and never wanted anything without receiving something in return. It had taken her a couple of weeks to warm up to her and Matt but it was something that simply couldn't be helped. Meeting such genuine people was such a rare gift in this world and it was something that she was going to hold onto for as long as she possibly could.

As they were momentarily graced with a cool down period they discussed what they usually discussed; Julie listened to Louisa talk about books even though she wasn't the biggest fan of literature and Louisa did the same for the blonde as she in return talked about what had happened on her favourite current television show. Louisa was halfway through eating her fifth chocolate covered strawberry when she heard Julie gasp, and even though Louisa had her back to the entrance she knew that gasp all too well – an attractive man had just walked into the diner.

"Let me guess, another attractive man that you simply have to marry has just walked in?" Louisa joked and as she did she took another nibble of the large strawberry between her fingers.

"Attractive Vampire is more like it" Julie whispered, and her words were barely audible. Louisa rolled her eyes, there was no way it could possibly be her Tuesday Vampire – he only came in on Tuesday's and the idea of him coming in on a Saturday was simply odd. She heard Julie's footsteps as she walked over to the counter to take his order; well at least now she can say she has officially met a Vampire.

"A bottle of AB negative, please"

Louisa was halfway through taking a bite of her strawberry and without even thinking she turns around to face the familiar voice. He was dressed in what he always wore; light cotton t-shirt with matching pants and in that moment he was staring directly at her with a slight smirk on his face. It was then that she remembered the strawberry and she grew incredibly embarrassed having being caught midway through chewing.

"It seems as if you're not as punctual tonight" he commented quietly

"I guess you're right, I'm just not used to seeing you in here on a Saturday night"

"I guess you are right" for a moment he lowered his gaze, it was then that Julie passed him his drink – he said a quiet thank you before walking over and claiming his usual seat near the window.

Louisa felt Julie's stare and refused to meet the blonde's eyes, still too caught up with the fact that he had broken his routine, to begin with.

"Excuse me, what was that?" the blonde whispered harshly "Is that your vampire?"

Yes, she knew it – she was blushing as red as a tomato. Her Vampire – well, he wasn't her Vampire, just a regular customer that happened to be a Vampire.

"He isn't-" Louisa whispered, her face still feeling hot at the choice of words her close friend had used "He can hear everything you're saying right this second you know"

"He is cute," Julie grinned, choosing to ignore her words "You were not wrong about that"

Oh god – this could not get any worse.

"I never said – can you please stop Jules. Okay, how about you go back over to that table of teenage boys you were eyeing off before and see if they are ready to order yet? You were going to jump their bones before he walked in"

That was all that was needed – with her new mission in mind Julie walked steadily over to the booth, a strand of her long blonde hair between her fingers as she did. In her time of knowing her she knew deep down that the girl was nervous – a habit she had picked up on after only a month of working with her. By the time she came back, Louisa had was on her seventh strawberry.

"One of the guys that gave me his number" she giggled as she held up a piece of paper – the numbers were small and were written in blue ink, "He said I was cute"

"Are you going to use it?" She asked

"Hmm, maybe. You should go over – who knows, maybe one day we may even double"

"Definitely not," Louisa laughed awkwardly "I'll leave that stuff up to you"

"Why?" Julie asked seriously "Louisa, you are absolutely gorgeous even in these uniforms of ours and I can only imagine what your hair would look like if you wore it down for once. Honestly, so many of the guys that come in here try and flirt with you but you're just too obvious to notice!"

"Can we talk about something else?" she begged

"What kind of seventeen-year-old girl is not interested in boys?" Julie asked, more or so to herself than to Louisa (or so she thought) "I'm slowly giving up on you. You don't sleep, you don't go out, you don't go to school – oh shit, I'm sorry – I know that it's a tough subject I just didn't think is all. I mean you don't date, all you seem to do is work these crazy hours here"

"Leave it be Jules" she sighed, leaving very little room for argument.

"Right," Julie sighed "You always say that"

Louisa didn't like talking about things, and Julie did – it was something she had slowly grown used to over the past year but that still didn't change the fact that she still didn't like talking. Books were fine, art, media and even the odd celebrity here and now. There were just some subjects she would not talk about. At first, she had thought Julie was just sticking her nose into places where it didn't belong, so she held her guard up and refused to let her in – that was until she realized that it wasn't like that at all. Julie cared, and in the end, she only wanted her happiness. But she was happy, wasn't she?

"I get that you worry about me, you don't have to say it out loud. But I am happy Jules, and in the end, it really doesn't take much for me to be happy anyway. I'm simple, I always have been and you know that" Louisa smiled

"You're right, I do worry about your happiness," Julie nodded "And I know I'm on your back a lot – I just – it doesn't matter" she grinned with a small shake of her head. It was then that her focus was back on the table of teenagers who were now the last customers in the store beside the Vampire.

As Louisa looked at his pale from sitting beside the window her eyes crept down to his untouched bottle of blood – she frowned at this. Why would he come in here as often as he did if he was just going to sit at the table and not drink what he had ordered? It floated around in her mind as she watched him from her favourite spot against the counter. How long she had been staring she would never know, but by the time she realized what she had been doing she turned red once more as their eyes met one another. For the second time she felt her cheeks burn, so she turned and reached for the cloth and set out to clean the already pristine tables.

"Can't be much closer now" she mumbled to herself as she bent over a table "Jules – what time is it?"

A couple of moments passed by and when she did not hear a reply she frowned. Louisa looked behind her and saw that Julie was not behind the counter, but standing beside the table of what looked to be eighteen or nineteen-year-olds. They were all dressed rather similar in their jeans, khaki pants and t-shirts rolled at the sleeves. It took her a moment to notice his hand and how he was trying to tug her into the booth beside him, a moment later he was successful. When she tried to stand to her feet he tugged her back down and only then did he wrap an arm protectively around her shoulders effectively keeping her in place. Courage was not one of the attributes she would ever use to describe herself, but her feet were moving before she had a chance to think about what she was even going to say as she made her way towards the booth which was now far too crowded to be considered comfortable.

"Hello" she began with a rather forced smile "I'm sorry guys but I need to borrow Julie, we need to start closing and it's something I just can't do by myself"

"We're busy" the guy spoke, the one that had tugged her into the booth beside him. His brown hair was combed back with gel and the leather jacket he wore was far too big "C'mon, you had to have noticed that"

"I really am sorry, but look I have your number and I'll give you a call sometime," Julie said. It was then that Louisa looked at her, really looked at her – she looked completely uncomfortable and it didn't take a genius to know that her words had been a lie

"C'mon gorgeous you were so keen before! Hey, look I'm sure you can close up shop by yourself doll" the brunette said with a wink. Louisa had barely seen it, she had been too busy looking at her friend.

"We need to close up, that's why the two of us are here after all"

"Well I don't want her to leave just yet" he argued, as he spoke he eyed his friends who all nodded in agreement "You're more than welcome to join us you know, you ain't too hard on the eyes either"

"Thanks, but no thanks – we really have to work. Now c'mon, let my friend up and then I think you guys may want to head off. I accidentally locked the registers so we won't be able to take any more orders – don't worry about the milkshakes though, they're on the house" It had been a complete and utter lie, but she felt as if it was necessary. This time she did not bother to force a smile as she gently grabbed a hold of Julie's arm and helped her to her feet – this time the brunette did not bother to pull her back. To say she was relieved was putting it lightly.

Once they were both out of earshot she heard Julie release her breath "Thank you, thank you – they just wouldn't leave me alone. And to think I thought that he was cute! I've definitely had a change of heart"

"You're gorgeous Jules – I'm not saying that it's an acceptable excuse but-" Louisa stopped short, unable to finish the rest of her sentence as she felt a hand wrap around her upper arm and pull her backwards. For a moment she was not in Gemma's Diner with her friend, she was elsewhere and she was terrified. A cry in pain broke her from her thoughts and only then did she realize what she had done – unknowingly elbowing whoever had grabbed a hold of her arm in the face. It was a shocking sight. The brunette who had grabbed Julie was kneeling on the floor and blood was seeping through his fingers. She felt sick – she had done that? Of course, he was a jerk and he deserved far more than what she had done, but not by her hands.

"You stupid – stupid bitch!" he cried from beneath his hands "You broke my fucking nose!"

His blood stood out so clearly against the whiteness of his shirt and more guilt crashed into her like a tidal wave. Movement caught her eye from ahead and it was then that she remembered that this guy hadn't been alone, that he had a table full of friends who did not look too pleased with what she had just done.

"Julie," Louisa said slowly "We-"

"Grab her – grab the blonde too" he shouted from the floor "Don't just stand around doing nothing you fucking idiots – grab her now!"

All five approached them and the anger was evident on all of their faces. Run – just run away! But her feet were not moving – she couldn't just leave the diner alone. Plans were never her forte, not on such notice – she needed pens and paper and time to think about all of the possible things that she could do before actually executing something. As they slowly approached where she stood her eyes grew wider – they were outnumbered and in a couple of seconds, they would be close enough to touch.

"I didn't mean to do that," she began pathetically "-he grabbed me and I just acted"

Each boy stopped in their tracks with a look of utter bewilderment on their faces and she didn't think it was possible for her eyes to grow wider. Surely her words hadn't affected them that much?

"What are you idiots doing? Grab her-"

"I suggest you all leave," He was so close to her that she could not contain her flinch, by the sound of his voice she knew that he had to be practically right behind her – she had not even heard his footsteps approach "Now"

"I-I'm sure the five of us can hold our ground against you" The boy that spoke was blonde and just like the boy on the floor his hair was combed back out of his face, he wore a blue t-shirt and dark jeans. He did not sound confident, in fact, he sounded rather frightened "You're outnumbered even with the two chicks"

"I am incredibly old," the Vampire spoke quietly, but even so she bet that you could have heard what he said from across the room with how silent it was "Don't make me prove that to you"

Silence filled the air along with tension so thick she was sure she was going to suffocate at any given second, but after a couple of moments the blonde bent down and helped his bleeding friend to his feet. Once he was on his feet once more he eyed the Vampire up and down with a slow shake of his head "Let's go" and that was it, each of the boys headed towards the exit "You better hope I never see your face again, doll"

That should have scared her – but it didn't. She no longer felt frightened. When she turned she nearly flinched again, having momentarily forgotten all about the Vampire that was standing incredibly close to her. His expression fell at her actions and it was then that she felt completely and utterly awful about herself – he thought that she was frightened of him.

"I'm sorry, I mean you no harm," he said softly

After what had just happened he thought that she was scared of him? She couldn't believe it "No – no it isn't anything like that-" she rushed with a shake of her head and at the same time fought herself to take a step back. What if she made him feel even worse? But he was too close, they were too close and it was something that had always made her feel incredibly uncomfortable.

It was then that Julie spoke "Louisa needs space, personal space"

"Space?" he questioned, confusion written all over his facial features as if he was trying to piece together a jigsaw puzzle

"When people stand too close to her it makes her nervous, she needs a little space is all. Thank you, by the way, for what you just did. I have absolutely no idea what they would have done if you hadn't have been here – I don't even want to think about it"

"You do not need to thank me, anyone would have done the same" he began "Their intentions towards the both of you were not honourable ones"

Louisa tried to say something, anything – but she couldn't think of anything. Instead, she glanced around the empty Diner and saw the time – two o'clock "We should have shut this place down already"

"It's alright – we've done mostly everything anyway. It will only take me a couple of minutes to tie up the loose ends – no Louisa I have it, you've done more than enough for tonight" Julie left no room for augment and with that she began to speed around from table to table with a cloth in one hand and a set of keys in another.

"Are you alright? You didn't harm yourself did you?" he asked

"Harm?" she frowned

"Your elbow, did you injure it?"

"No, I don't think so – I'm fine"

"Are you positive? I think he was right, you definitely broke his nose" he eyed her arm warily once more and it was if he was trying to inspect her as if she was a damaged toy

"It feels fine"

The room was sent into darkness; Julie had turned off the lights. Louisa quickly retrieved her bag from underneath the counter and then joined her two companions outside.

"You've got the keys?" she asked

"I've got the keys – this is me we're talking about remembering" the blonde chuckled as she armed the security.

The three of them were left standing outside of the now darkened diner, from here Louisa could see Julie's mum from across the road but it was hard to miss such a full head of blonde hair. The street itself was dimly lit and the air around her was not too warm, her absolute favourite especially seeing as she walked home.

"My mum's waiting – I am definitely not going to tell her about what happened tonight, god I am so happy I saw her pull up after those idiots left. She'd make me quit for sure if she knew," Julie said, she then turned to the Vampire and gave him her brightest smile "Thank you again, for everything. I'll see you on Tuesday Louisa"

"She's awfully bright," he said as Julie crossed the road

"You get used to it," Louisa smiled "I do admit, it took me a while to get used to it"

"Where is your car located?" he asked

"I walk" she explained

"You walk at this time of the night?" he asked, and she could not help but wonder why he sounded shocked

"Yes"

"Where do you reside?"

"About twenty minutes away from here, it's only a few blocks"

"It is not safe for you to be walking unaccompanied at night at such an hour" he frowned

"I've never had any trouble" she smiled.

Her words were true, every single night she walked home and every single night she was left alone. The streets were fairly lit which made her feel better about the journey, but the dark itself did not scare her- horror movies and novels had prepared her for the worst when she had been growing up.

"Would you allow me to accompany you?"

At that moment all she could do was blink in response to his question, and to be honest she would have done the exact same thing even if he hadn't happened to be a Vampire. To her embarrassment, she noticed that once again his expression fell "No, no I don't mind! I was just, I wasn't expecting that," she said quickly "The last thing I expected was for you to offer to walk me home"

"Of course, that is no surprise" he sighed "But I would feel better if you allowed me to walk you home, it truly is not safe at such an hour"

The moonlight made his pale skin stand out even more than it usually did and as she looked into his sad eyes she realized just how sincere he was. After all, he had done for her tonight she had absolutely no intention on turning down the offer.

"Alright, we better get walking then," she said and with that, she turned and began to walk up the street. After a couple of moments she glanced behind her and realized that he was standing exactly where she had left him, he had not moved a single muscle "Have you changed your mind? It really is okay, I walk home every night and I'm always fine"

Even though she was not beside him she could see the hesitation but it lasted only another second before he began to walk towards her. When he reached her side she began to walk beside him.

"It feels impolite to just call you Vampire," she confessed – the words sounding awfully childish and silly inside of her head "Am I able to ask for your name?"

"Godric, my name is Godric"

"Godric," she repeated "I've never known someone called that before. Well, my name is Louisa – just in case you were also wondering" she had rushed the last few words upon realizing that he had to know her name by now, it was still pinned to her chest as the required uniform.

"Louisa," he too repeated "I have known many Louise's and even Louis' – but no Louisa's. Your name is quite unique"

"I can say the same about you"

As they walked I silence she tried to count the cracks in the pavement beneath her feet when that deemed to be too difficult she decided to count the unbroken street lights instead.

"You walk home every night," he stated, "Why?"

His question left her a little embarrassed, but she tried not to let it show as she replied "I don't exactly have a car and even if I did no one has ever taught me how to drive one"

"You don't have parents that can pick you up?"

"No," She paused and took a moment to think "I don't really have – well it's just me at the moment"

"You are so young," he murmured and his words were so quiet she had barely heard them at all

"Seventeen is not so young, and if you weren't a Vampire I could say the same about you-you barely look older than I am"

"I assure you I am much older than you are Louisa, by many, many years"

"How old are you?" she asked and once again she grew embarrassed "Sorry, that was rude"

"Somewhere in the early two thousand-" her eyes widened at his words – two thousand years old! "- I think"

"That's truly amazing, honestly it really is"

"You think so?" he asked and it was then that she could practically feel his eyes on the side of her face "Amazing isn't a word I would use to describe it"

"You must have seen so much in your time, I don't know much about history to be perfectly honest but some of the years and things you have probably seen, the list is surely endless"

"What years would you have liked to have seen?"

"I don't have a very good reason for wanting to live in them" she laughed

"I would still like to hear them if you don't mind sharing"

"The 1800's would have been lovely, the fashion sense alone would have been fantastic," she rushed and once again she could not help but feel foolish at the words she had used "Though I doubt that I would be able to live how women did back then, I much prefer today's world. How about yourself?"

"Me?"

"What were some of your favourite years, as a vampire?"

For a while, he did not speak so she went back to counting, though that only lasted for a couple of moments before she finally looked at him. Godric seemed to be in a state of deep thought, his hands lay unmoving at his sides and it was as if he was in a complete trance "10th Century A.D" he said finally

"Why?"

"It was when I met my Prodigy, Eric" he smiled and it was a genuine smile, one that she had never seen before. If she had thought he had looked young before, he looked a lot younger now.

"He means a great deal to you" she stated

"He does and though at times he can still be exceedingly childish, not to mention stubborn he does mean a great deal to me, more than anyone I have ever met in my time"

It was as if a switch had flicked after the mention of Eric, the conversation seemed to flow a lot easier than it had done before and before she knew it Louisa was standing outside of her brown-brick apartment building. It had a total of six stories and on each floor was six small apartments and if they were anything like her own they were all one bedroom one bathroom. The building itself wasn't old but it wasn't exactly new either, it could definitely do with a paint job and some new lights but she doubted this would happen anytime soon seeing as the outside lights had never worked for as long as she had been there.

"Thank you again for walking with me, this is my stop here"

"You do not need to thank me, Louisa, it would have been wrong of me to let you wander the streets alone at this hour" he insisted

"Thank you again for everything tonight, Julie and I, we would have been absolutely lost without you. I guess I will see you the next time you come into Gemma's"

"Goodnight Louisa," he said, and for the first time he sported a crooked smile that she thought suited him rather well "You will see me again"

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