Hello there! This story is my first ever fanfiction, I'm pretty nervous but also excited to write this story down finally. I've been playing with this story in my head for a very long time; I finally decided to get it written down. While the True Blood Series is getting a bit old, I do enjoy making up fantasies in my head. This story starts way before the True Blood series and will eventually catch up to where the True Blood books went. Though it will have a different ending, I assure you. The main character of this series is the primary focus, and Eric won't make his grand appearance until a couple of chapters in, so bear with me! I want to lay the groundwork down so we can have some character development. The lore in this story is also a mix of things from pop culture, books, and anything I might have come up with throughout the years. I hope you all enjoy this story and I hope you find it interesting!

November 9th, 1900

Florence Edwards was born on a Sunday Friday morning in Auburn, New York. She was born a healthy 7lbs 8oz with a set of strong lungs. As soon she came out of her mother's womb she was screaming. Her mother, Irene, smiled at the sound of her screams. When asked what her name would be, she replied.

"Her name is Florence."

At that time, Florence was a trendy name, and her mother loved it. She wanted her daughter to be as strong as possible, giving her a name like Florence meant she wouldn't live life like every other girl out there. Once they cleaned up Florence, they handed her to Irene and then went to fetch her husband.

Irene was an older mother at the time; she was around 43 years old. Finding out she was pregnant was a surprise, she was also worried about her baby and her health. Florence was her 11th pregnancy, the midwives warned her that the pregnancy might be hard and they weren't sure if Irene could carry full-term. The labor and birth had been especially tiring, but Irene still looked as beautiful as ever.

Irene had long brown hair, brown eyes, slightly tanned skin, and a welcoming smile. While she thought of her self as plain and old, many people thought she was beautiful. No one would have suspected that Florence was her 11th pregnancy, she looked young for her age. Even with her youthful look, it was still a dangerous pregnancy that had her worried a majority of the time. Here she was, holding her beautiful baby girl. All of the worries she had melted away as soon as Florence was in her arms.

While looking at Florence, she noticed her hair was slightly curly, her skin was slightly darker than her past pregnancies, and her eyes were a striking Emerald green. Irene's heart sank, she knew this child was not her husbands. It was the child of a handsome man she had met ten months ago. She had spent a magical night with him and would never forget it, especially now that Florence was in the world. Her husband would never forgive her; she smiled at Florence with a tear running down her cheek. With sadness, Irene made a vow to herself. She would never tell James about the infidelity, and hopefully, James would not notice. She looked down at Florence and with sadness in her voice she said.

"I will protect you no matter what."

Irene's husband, James, came running into the room with a smile on her face. He ran up to Irene and asked to hold the baby. With a bit of hesitation, Irene handed him Florence.

"OH! She has beautiful eyes. Didn't you tell me your grandmother had green eyes? I'm so glad she got them. You did great."

Irene let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding and smiled back at James. He didn't notice that Florence looked different than their ten other children, he was just happy to have a new baby. The doctors and midwives left their farm shortly after that. Irene was healthy and had delivered Florence safely without any complications. With that, their lives as new parents started over again. Their youngest child, Helen, who was 17 had just gotten married and moved out of the family home. Florence would grow up an only child, and for that, Irene was grateful. Raising multiple children at her age would be hard, and being able to focus on just Florence was a blessing.

August 24th, 1910

Florence had been at school all day, learning about basic math and English. While she did not enjoy math, she did enjoy English and everything they had read. Every night Florence would go home and read to her mother, Irene, who was illiterate. A word Florence had recently learned meant she couldn't read or write. Her mother loved being read to and shown how to write things. Today during class they started reading the Wonderful Wizard of Oz! The teacher wanted them to keep reading after school, and she couldn't wait to read it to her mother.

When class was dismissed, Florence grabbed her bag and ran outside. Her long dark curly hair, bouncing as she ran. Florence's eyes had become even more striking as she got older, becoming more like Emeralds than ever before. Her skin became the color of caramel. The kids would make fun of her skin color, saying she looked like a Mulatto. She didn't understand why that was a bad thing, but her white classmates thought it was. Her teacher was also unsure about her because of her looks, even though she was the brightest in the class. Florence tried not to let her classmates comments get to her; she didn't care that they didn't want to be her friend. She had her mother after all, and she was her best friend.

She had to walk 3 miles to get to her parent's farm; she didn't mind it though, the longer she got to enjoy the sun the better. Ever since she can remember, she always wanted to be in the sun. It just felt right. As she walked up to her front door, she could hear her parents arguing again. Florence stopped at the door and listened in.

"You lied to me; she is not my child. She looks nothing like me; she looks more like a negro than anything. You keep sayin' she looks like your grandmother, but I don't fucking believe that anymore."

James, her father, had recently started noticing how different Florence looked and had been arguing with her mother almost daily.

"What do you want me to say, James? That she isn't yours? Because you've raised her like your own for the past ten years, there is no way to escaping the fact that you love her."

Irene had slowly started to give in to James and had begun to admit that Florence wasn't his. Irene wouldn't let anything happen to Florence, but she needed to be with James. After all, Irene couldn't read or write; it's not like Irene could support herself and Florence without him. Her tactic was to make James understand that even though she wasn't his, she was because of the love they shared. She hadn't had the chance to talk to Florence about it; she was only 10, there was no need to bring her into this just yet.

"I don't care if I took care of her for 20 years, she ain't mine, so she ain't my problem! I ain't paying for her schoolin anymore; she's done, you can tell her that. If she wants to stay here, she has to work on the farm."

James screamed at the top of his lungs and opened the front door open with force. He was going to the bar again, he couldn't take this anymore. Irene stared at him in disbelief, how could it have gone so wrong?

When James opened the front door, he looked down to see a pair of green eyes crying. Florence had heard the whole argument; she was standing there crying silently. Her eyes showed the hurt and James felt guilty. He wanted to reach down, pick her up, and tell her that he loved her. James couldn't bring himself to do it, as he stared at Florences crying eyes, he saw the emerald green eyes, dark skin, and curly hair of another man. That hurt him more, Irene had been the love of his life, and he betrayed him. Instead of comforting Florence, he yelled.

"You ain't going to school anymore; you are working on the farm until we can marry you off. You aren't my problem anymore."

With that, James rushed past Florence, his eyes slightly wet. This girl wasn't his, so why did he feel so sorry for doing this?

Irene started to cry as soon as she saw Florence's face. She hadn't asked for this; she was born into the world an innocent to the adultery Irene had committed. How did things get this bad? All she wanted was the very best for Florence. Now James refusing to pay for her school and making her work on the farm, Florence is going to end up just like every other farm girl out there. Marrying someone she didn't love, living a miserable life, and giving birth to far too many children.

"Oh sweetie, come here."

Irene opened her arms to Florence; she ran right into them crying loudly. James had hurt her, to her, he was her father; she didn't understand why this was happening. Florence was old enough to understand what they were saying, James wasn't her real father, someone else was. Someone her mom was not married to. Florence's mind started wondering where that man was, and why he wasn't helping her.

March 17th, 1919

It was the start of the planting season on the farm, Florence had been mainly running the farm for the past five years. Her parents had gotten older; they had more aches and pains than usual. She decided to fully take over even though James, who she thought of as a father, had been hesitant to let her do so. He allowed her to plant the seeds and then after that; he would also be working the farm. Six years ago, her mother, Irene, had broken her ankle while farming and hadn't been able to work on the farm ever since. The bone didn't heal right, and it caused her a lot of pain.

Florence had blossomed into a beautiful 18-year-old adult, even though she had been working on the farm every since she was 10. Her looks didn't diminish. Working on the farm made her body lean and yet curvy, she took after her mother in that way. She had a little wider than average hips, a slim waist, and a relatively large bust. Her figure was the epitome of an hourglass shape, though you couldn't tell because she wore large overalls while she was farming. Her wild curly hair had reached her waist; she usually wore it in a bun, it was hard to tame sometimes. Her emerald colored eyes were still the most striking feather, everyone who talked to her seemed to be mesmerized by her eyes. She was a gorgeous woman, and she had many men who wanted to marry her.

Her father, James, started trying to marry her off as soon as she hit puberty. Which for Florence was around the age of 13, her mother thought that was far too young. James didn't care; he wanted to get rid of the disgrace from his life so he could go back to loving Irene. He wanted this chapter in their lives to be far behind them, and the best way to do that was to marry her off.

Florence had men interested in her at 13, but she had turned them all down. James wasn't a ruthless person; he wanted her to at least say okay with marrying someone before sending her off. Even though he was still hurt that she wasn't his, James still had someone of a soft spot for her. He never showed or admitted it. Irene had requested that he find men who were well-off so that Florence could be a housewife. She was far too beautiful to be working out in the fields. Most men who were well-off didn't want anything to do with a farm girl; they thought them to be dull or unentertaining. Florence was neither of these things.

Even though Florence had to leave school at ten years old, she still read as much as she could. She would buy new books with the money she had left over from farm work. Without her parent's knowledge, she would visit suffragette meetings and rallies. She learned that women could be just as smart as men and that they could be just as powerful. During these suffragette meetings and other demonstrations, she learned about the human reproductive system and how women get trapped by men because of pregnancies. She learned a lot while at these meetings and became a woman ahead of her time. She believed women should have all rights that men had and that it wasn't fair that they didn't have those rights.

Over the past year, there had been an even more exciting movement happening among young women Florences age. Flappers were becoming more and more popular. Florence saw herself in those flappers; she had started saving up to buy a dress. Now that the farming season has begun, she should be able to buy one by August and go to some parties. Florence did all of this without her parent's knowledge, of course, if word got out that she was reading, or having ideas, suitors might not want her anymore. However, she didn't see anything wrong with that, and she was hopeful they would find out. She didn't want to get trapped in a loveless marriage and be forced to have as many kids as her husband wanted. That didn't appeal to her at all, but she couldn't argue with her father. He was providing a roof over her head, and she didn't have nearly enough saved up to go to New York City.

It was mid-afternoon by the time Florence has stopped planting seeds. She had been thinking about life off the farm, and it made the time go by faster. Covered in dirt, she needed to go bath; she started walking to the farmhouse when she noticed a car in their driveway. It was a very nice car, and one she hadn't seen around before. Confused, she went into the house.

"Mother, whose car is outside?"

As she said that, she walked into the living room only to see a very well dressed man sitting on the couch across from her father. He looked up and saw her eyeing her in disgust; he must not have liked the fact that she was in male overalls and covered in dirt. The stranger on the couch had looked as though he was in his late twenties; he had hazel eyes, slicked-back brown hair, a strong jawline, and an untrustworthy look in his eyes. Florence decided she couldn't trust him at all. He also had an air about him that made Florence want to stay away.

James gave Florence a stern look that told her to leave, and so she did. She went upstairs and started running her bath. They had recently gotten plumbing installed, it was such a marvel to her, even though they had running water now, it wasn't heated. Florence didn't mind though, she had been working out in the sun, and the cold water felt lovely. She took off her dirty overalls and climbed into the bathtub. Then there was a knock on the door that startled her.

"Florence sweetie are you in there?"

It was her mother, Irene.

"Yes, I am. Come on in."

With that, her mother walked in, closed the door, and sat in a chair near Florence. She had a dress in her hand and looked somewhat sad.

"Sweetie, when you are done. Please put this dress on so you can meet your suitor downstairs."

"OH! That's another suitor is it? He seems like a jerk. He gave me such a disgusted look when I walked in covered in dirt. If he can't see me covered in dirt, I doubt he is someone I want to spend the rest of my life with."

"Florence, this is serious, you are getting older now, and I do not want you to become a spinster. I was married at 15; you are 18 now! You need to start thinking about your life outside of the farm."

"Oh, I have thought about life outside the farm, mother. It just doesn't involve marrying a rich man and living in a fancy house that isn't my own. I'm going to make my own money and own my house."

"Good God, Florence, you can't be serious. That isn't going to happen anytime soon; you need to find someone with money so they can take care of you. This suitor is exceptionally wealthy and isn't terrible to look at."

Florence stood up out of the bath and grabbed a towel. She was getting annoyed with this conversation and just wanted it to end.

"Mother, that's not what I want."

"It's not always about what you want, Florence. Sometimes you have to do things you don't want to or put up with things."

"Like putting up with James? And his hate for me? I'm your daughter, and yet you seem perfectly content to let him marry me off to the highest bidder like I'm some a cow!"

Irene was starting to get annoyed at this point.

"Florence! Put this dress on NOW, and make yourself look presentable. We need to introduce you to this suitor before he loses interest."

With that, Florence snatched the dress from her mother and stormed to her room. She slammed the door shut and sank down to the floor. She wondered why this was happening, why she was being forced to do this. Her mind also wandered to who her real father was, she wasn't sure if she had ever met him. Every time she brought it up to her mother, she just changed the subject. Florence had an idea, why not use that as a bargaining chip. With that, Florence got up, put the dress on and headed downstairs.

She wore her hair down, letting her curls cascade down her back. The dress her mother had given her was a cotton and silk dress. It was in the old fashion of the Edwardian style. She would have preferred a flapper dress, but her mother wasn't up to date with the current trends. The cotton and silk dress was a light purple; it complemented her skin tone and emerald eyes perfectly. While the style wasn't to her liking the color certainly was. Her parents must have just bought this dress for her; it wasn't one of her usual dresses she wore to see suitors.

When she got to the bottom of the stairs, the suitor on the couch almost jumped up when he saw her. His eyes were wide with disbelief and wonder. Florence stood at the bottom of the stairs with a smirk on her face. She knew he thought she had been ugly, but now he saw she was beautiful. It felt like a small victory, and she enjoyed it. The suitor walked to her, grabbed her hand, and kissed it. In a medium pitched voice, he said

"My name is Arthur Whitmore; it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Hello, my name is Florence Edwards. I wish I could say the same about meeting you."

With that, Arthur let go of her hand and looked at her. Irene had her hand over her open mouth, while James looked furious. Then, Arthur laughed.

"You certainly are a feisty one. I like that. Your parents have agreed that I would get to take you out tonight for dinner, would you be willing to come with me? Or will I have to take you fighting?"

Florence's parents were holding their breath. Arthur still had his eye only on Florence. Then she finally spoke.

"I'll go with you, but first I need to talk to my parents. I can meet you outside if you want, it should only take a moment."

"Excellent, I will meet you outside."

Once Arthur left, Florence walked to the front door and then turned around.

"I'm only going because I want you to tell me about my real father, Mother. I hope you will tell me when I get home. I look forward to our talk."

Florence didn't allow her parents to speak; she quietly walked out to meet Arthur. He offered his arm, which Florence ignored, she walked to his car and went in by herself.

"This is going to interesting," Arthur said with a smirk on his face. Then they drove off towards town.

I hope you liked the first chapter! What do you think of Florence? She's a character I've been developing in my head over the years; I hope you stick around to read the next chapters. Eric should appear in either the 3rd or 4th chapter, and then you'll get to read all the naughty times they'll have. Like I said earlier. This story will span a broad date range. Florence will touch many of our favorite characters from True Blood, and I'm very excited to share my story with you all!