It had been three days since Sookie sent them away and she could see the pain in his face when she slammed the door shut, she knew if she let him see her cry he would never stay away. He would know she didn't mean what she said that she did love him and he would refuse to go; Eric had offered his life for hers to many times and she couldn't imagine letting anyone die for her especially someone she loved so much.
Sookie kept telling herself her misery would be worth it in the end if it meant she would be saving her Viking vampire then she would cut him out of her life without looking back. They had only spent of few months together and most of that they spent saving each other form one force or another and she didn't see that changing any time soon.
The following evening Sookie was sitting on her front porch watching the sun set while drinking a cup of tea when her cell phone rang, to lost in her own thoughts to look at the caller ID she flipped it open regretting it immediately.
"Sookie this is Sam" she paused silently cursing herself for not screening the call first.
"Hello Sam how can I do to help you" she didn't want to be ignorant to Sam but she had no patience for people these days not even those who claimed to be trying to help her.
"I was wondering if and when you were planning on comin back to work, I'm sorry to ask now but were short staffed and I need to know if should hire someone else?".
"Damn" Sookie mumbled under her breath;
She couldn't afford not to work even though Eric owned her house now and he has yet to ask her for rent of any kind unless you count sexual favors but she still needed money to live.
"When do you need me in Sam" she felt exhausted at the mere thought of going to work, everyone looking at her, feeling sorry for her, judging her.
"Is tonight too soon" Sookie gasped frustrated she didn't understand why people couldn't just give her a little time, irritated she agreed to work the late shift and hung up the phone before Sam had a chance to ask her for anything else.
She knew her friends wanted to know exactly what had happened and they genuinely wanted to make sure she was ok but like most things in the last two years that she has been running around with vampires she couldn't share the whole story. Sookie made her way through the back entrance of merlot's stopping in Sam's office and taking a few minutes to brace herself before she faced the crowed, she was nowhere near feeling up to working but if she had to she at least wanted to look the part.
The one good thing about being depressed was the five pounds she lost, it made her hips look curvier and her boobs look bigger but hey it would be nice to get a few tips out of it. Sookie was pretty sure the drunks at Merlot's could appreciate the eye candy even if the thought she was crazy and if they didn't then to hell with them there was no way she could feel any worse than she had lately.
It took about an hour for her to get back to her usual work pattern but once she found her groove it was a relief, the fast pace kept her mind off of Eric and she didn't even mind the stares and rude thoughts she was picking out of a few of the bar patrons heads.
Midway through her shift Sookie was smiling; she was actually feeling happy to be back at work. She stood with her back to the door clearing the beer bottles and what was left of a plate of onion rings that her Jason and his longtime friend Hoyt left behind, she was thinking about how much she enjoyed her brothers company and feeling relieved he hadn't asked a ton of questions about the witches and vampires.
Sookie started to feel like she would be ok; she could be normal again or as close to normal as she was before smiling to herself she grabbed her tip shoving it into her apron. The bar went still around her, there was no need to turn around she knew who it was; she could feel how close he was and it made her skin burn.
She felt each drop of blood as it left her face her pulse thumping in her throat she hated how him just being in the same room could arouse her like that, Sookie exhaled pushing all of the air out of her body in a lame attempt to keep herself from turning around and jumping into his arms.
Remembering how much she wanted him made her body ache; her mind flashed back to the nights they shared the way they held her and made the rest of the world disappear. He told her he loved her and how he always knew what her body needed from him without her saying a word, It wasn't until the bar noise picked back up that she realized how long she had been standing at the table like an idiot for a second she wondered if anyone notice her walking backwards to Sam's office.
She knew she would have to face him eventually; she would have been a fool to believe they would never see each other again but she had hoped it wouldn't affect me like this. She could be his friend after everything they had been through tight?
After all she only sent him away because he had risked his life for her to many times, Eric had never actually done anything wrong to her she just couldn't stand the fact that he was willing to die for her and she couldn't bear the thought of losing him.
Another deep breath and she walked toward his table keeping her eyes on the pencil and pad in her hand, her goal was to not look at him if she didn't look directly at him she might actually be able to take hid order without jumping on him. Success she took his order without drooling and made it to the bar where Tara was already putting the bottle of synthetic blood in the microwave which told her she had been watching her reaction to him.
Sookie repeated his order anyway mostly because she was to numb to say anything else
"I need an O positive and beer" She crossed her arms over her chest
"Who the fuck does he" Tara started to say when Sookie raised her hand in protest
"Tara don't, I can't "and a tear rolled down her cheek. When she had taken his order the voice that spoke was far from Eric's, it was a female voice with an accent that she had heard several times at Fangtasia.
Sookie kept telling herself she could do this but it felt like someone had punched her in the stomach and it showed on her face, the woman sat across from him the bleach blonde Barbie with her fake boobs and acrylic nails it was that Russian bitch Eric hired to dance at his club months ago. Not long before her and Eric were together she had walked in on them fucking in the dungeon under the bar, it was the night Bill went missing and she needed Eric's help finding him. It didn't mean much to her then but that was when she was sure Bill was the man she would love forever, that was before Eric was hers and she was his and they fell in love.
She could feel his eyes boring holes in her back as the tears ran down her face; she brushed away the tears quickly thanking god that her back was to Eric and everyone else. The night she sent Eric away she could see the pain in his eyes and she knew this was hurting him, was he paying her back by coming here with her or did he just not care.
Sookie honestly was surprised he hadn't barged into the house that night and demanded an explanation why she was sending him away, it's wasn't like Eric to give up so easily and he wouldn't have needed an invitation since he owned the house thanks to those fuckin fairies.
Eric always had a wall around his heart and he only let her in because he had no idea who he was, the microwave beeped and Sookie lost her train of thought. The bottle of blood in her hand Tara paused before putting it on the tray, It was like she knew what Sookie was thinking and wanted to break her out of her mood before things went terrible wrong.
"You want me to spit in it "Tara smiled a devious smile and Sookie couldn't help but laugh out loud, she knew Eric could hear their conversation and it defiantly would piss him off. When Sookie was sure the tears had stopped running down her face she turned to take them their drinks, the sight of Eric made the pain in her gut more intense his gorgeous blonde hair, steel blue eyes and rippling biceps plus the fact that he was wearing skin tight black t shirt and pair of jeans snug enough to leave nothing to the imagination.
It wasn't enough that she felt sick seeing him with the Russian tramp but things felt so much worse when Eric didn't bother to even look up at her, he continued his flirtatious conversation with the stripper even as she sat their drinks on the table in front of them. Sookie started to feel short of breath; her thoughts were racing and the tears were welling up in her eyes again, the only thing she could think to do was run so she turned from his table and ran from the bar.
She had no idea how she made it to her car her knees feeling like they might give out any second and the pain in her chest made her want to curl up in a ball, she was right Eric didn't love her anymore and he wanted to hurt her like she had done to him. By the time Sookie made it home her temper was bordering rage, how dare he do this to her coming to her job with that Russian whore and taunting her like that.
He had followed her around wanting her to be his since the day they met and now he just gives up and moves on and with that sleaze bag, Sookie pulled into the driveway of her childhood home and looked around it was just another reminder of him now since those fuckin fairies took her away for over twelve months.
Jason still claims he had no choice but to sell it after six months it was just like Jason to take the easy way out to give up so quickly when she would have never done that to him. She was sitting in her car for about fifteen minutes when she realized she could feel a void with her mind and she would have been afraid or even excited had she not already known it was Bill, more and more lately she could feel him watching her and it was starting to get old.
Bill stood just behind the trees careful not to be seen by any human eyes especially hers but she knew he was there she could feel his buzz with her mind, Sookie sat in her car in disbelief how could things have gotten so messed up so quickly. She hoped sending the vampires in her life away would make things easier but now it was as confusing as ever.
Bills eyes were burning through her and she could see him standing just beyond the trees watching her as she stepped out of her car and hurried toward the house, more and more lately Bill's stare had become uncomfortable and she still didn't understand why he seemed to always be lurking just out of sight.