Jolee sat on a stool at the bar of her club. She watched as patrons entered through doors just recently opened for the evening. Slow music filled the dance area. Jolee could tell it was a week night. The club was mellow and the club seemed empty compared to what it would look like upon opening on a weekend.

Jolee ran her fingers through her soft hair. She missed her regular vampyre companions. Sully, Heath and Lance all hadn't been to visit since the situation with the Vigilante almost a week ago. Joey had stopped in briefly once to check on her. She knew Justin was healing after Joey explained in his short visit. She had especially missed Abigail's presence. The witches absence was felt deeply. Jolee had taken over the few responsibilities Abigail tended, but her fondness to the mortal had grown more so than she ever thought or expected.

Although Jolee was feeling better emotionally, she missed her friends badly. She was thankful Tom and Mark regularly visited and gave her news of everyone. They also reassured her things would blow over soon and her club would once again be full of her friends. Jolee had never expected to depend so much on Tom and Mark, but she was grateful for the opportunity to become closer to them.

Jolee's mind continued to review her situation as she half consciencely watched the club. She felt a small pang of sadness as she thought of the council meeting she knew would happen that night. She had spent the early evening and past nights informing Damon, her second on the upcoming meeting. It was the first meeting since her arrival and addition to the council more than a hundred years ago, she'd have missed. She knew Damon would be fine and would report everything back to her.

Jolee sighed. She wondered how long Sully would keep her on suspension from the council. She wondered how long it would take for him to trust her judgment again. She wasn't even sure how long it would take for her to trust her own judgment again. She could definitely feel the loss of her best friends and longed for their company. She let her mind drift briefly to them as she wondered what they had been doing and how they were.

Jolee had been so preoccupied with her thoughts that she failed to notice that a man had sat next to her and had been watching her for some time. "What's bothering you beautiful?" the man asked with a warm smile.

Jolee looked over to the voice that broke her thoughts. It was Josh. The sight of him immediately melted her worries away. She smiled happy to see him. "Hey Josh," she replied.

"Hey there yourself. Are you busy?"

"No, not really. I'm glad you're here. I missed seeing you around."

"I definitely missed seeing you, which is why I just had to come visit you tonight. I haven't been able to get you out of my mind. I've been thinking of you since Friday night. Tonight as I finished recording some songs I just couldn't stop thinking of you. I felt this strong feeling and I knew I had to see you now."

"That's sweet. I hope you didn't stop recording because of me."

"Well, I couldn't concentrate anymore. All I had on my mind was you."

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to distract you."

"Please don't be, I"m not sorry. I've been recording all day and needed an excuse to go before I took up residence there. Besides, having you on my mind and being here with you isn't such a bad thing. I quite enjoy it actually."

"You're such a sweetheart, thank you."

"There's something bothering you though beautiful. I can tell there's something on your mind. Do you need someone to talk to?"

"I'm fine really. It's nothing just your everyday stresses."

"Sometimes it helps to talk about them. I'd love to help you out if I can."

"Let's just say my friends and I had a little falling out."

"Oh, that can be tough. Maybe that's why I try to stay pretty much a loner. You can't hurt them and they can't hurt you that way."

"So you mean to say you don't have any friends? What about me?"

"I don't' have any close friends. You're the closest I have to a real friend and being that we don't know each other well, that tells you a lot."

"So why is it that you don't have any friends?"

"Friends only end up hurting you, besides I've never really been close to anyone. I've always taken care of myself."

"What about your family?"

"Like I said I look out for myself. I don't really have any family."

"What happened to them?"

"They left," Josh explained softly and simply.

"You mean died?" Jolee interrogated.

"No, one day when I was eight, they left. They said they were going to the store and that they'd be back. They told me not to leave the house until they got home."

"They never returned? Do you know what happened to them?"

"I waited and waited. IT must have been two or three days before I came out. I thought if I left sooner, they'd come back as soon as I left and get mad at me. When I finally left and told a neighbor social services came for me. I found out later that my parents were heavy into drugs and owed someone a lot of money, so they left. I was too much trouble to drag around and take care of, so they left me."

"That's so horrible. I'm sorry."

"I've never really thought of it after I went out on my own. I'm not even sure why I'm telling you now."

"Maybe because you need a friend," Jolee said with a soft smile.

"It was a long time ago and it doesn't matter now anyway."

"I will be you're friend if you want and we can help each other when we need it."

"That sounds great, but I'm not sure how long I'll be staying here. I rarely stay in one place for very long."

"I see, then why are you here with me now?"

"I don't know," Josh answered looking up at Jolee with lonely eyes.

"I think you do," she smiled.

"Hey, I thought we were talking about you. You totally changed the conversation to me," he replied with a soft smile of his own.

"I'm good at that, and for my next topic change, how would you like to go back to my place?" she asked.

Josh looked up into Jolee's soft brown eyes. He felt his heart begin to beat faster. "Are you sure? What about the club?"

"I have someone to watch and close up for me, so don't worry. Besides I think we both need to forget about your worries. So how about we go to my place and forget about everything?" Jolee asked again running a soft finger down Josh's cheek.

Josh nodded, almost intoxicated by Jolee's advances. He knew he wanted her. For once in his life he felt he needed someone. He needed Jolee but he wasn't sure exactly how he needed her. The was definitely a good start though.