Summary: Set a few weeks after FDtW. Eric decides it's time for him and Sookie to have their little talk. Rated T, possibly M for later chapters.

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters or anything else to do with this series. Everything belongs to Charlaine Harris.

A/N: Since this is my first fanfic, reviews=love. They also encourage me to keep writing :)

Chapter 1

He was there, leaning against her old car, when she walked out of Merlotte's employee entrance. He was looking up, admiring the darkened sky and apparently oblivious to her presence, but Sookie knew his vampire senses had warned him of her presence the moment she put her hand on the door handle. Well, I knew this was coming, she reminded herself as she walked towards him. This should be interesting. He seemed to sense her reining in her annoyance and frustration at seeing him through the blood-bond, and looked down to grin at her, their eyes finally meeting.

"Well, hello lover." He greeted gently, his grin remaining on his face as he looked her over, not bothering to be discreet.

"Eric." She nodded and crossed her arms across her chest, all but tapping her foot as he took his time taking her in. "What brings you to Bon Temps?" His head rose at last to meet her expectant gaze. A determined look replaced his grin.

"We need to talk."

Sigh. Of course, I knew that. She realized that until that point she had been holding on to the vain hope that maybe Eric was making a social call. Wordlessly, she walked past him to unlock her car. He followed her lead and claimed the passenger seat.

"Are you gonna tolerate my driving?" Sookie couldn't help but snap. A flash of amusement crossed his face before he responded.

"I'll do my best." He promised with a deprecating smile. Sookie huffed and ignored him. The drive home was a quiet one, but not awkward or uncomfortable in the least. Eric kept his promise and spent the majority of the drive looking out the window, occasionally humming something to himself, looking ill at ease. Sookie, on the other hand, was nauseous with anxiety. There appeared to be several species of butterflies in her stomach, effectively causing the heat to leave her hands and feet, and her heart to beat expectantly. Oh, calm down! She snapped at herself as she pulled into her gravelled driveway. What's he gonna do? Kill you? Bite you? She was being overdramatic, she knew, but somehow, she worried that what Eric could do to her was considerably worse than any physical pain. She sighed as she parked the car behind her house, and pretended not to notice Eric's questioning gaze.

"True Blood?" She offered tersely as she led the way inside her house and into the kitchen.

"Please." He leaned against the counter as she warmed up the liquid and handed it to him, making sure to shake it before doing so. Eric thanked her politely and drank from the bottle. Sookie used that opportunity to mutter something about freshening up and disappeared down the hall and into her bedroom. Once inside, she closed the door and leaned against it, sighing with relief. First thing's first, she thought, and set to following her bedtime routine. She even changed into a decent pyjama set: light blue shorts and matching tank top. Having gained some calm from the mundane routine, she took a deep breath and returned to the kitchen. Eric was standing with his back towards her, looking out the window. He didn't turn when she walked in, and Sookie allowed herself to admire him. All 6 feet and 4 inches of him, dressed to kill (casually) in fitted designer jeans and a black polo shirt (no doubt very expensive). His golden hair was in casual disarray, and his world-class butt looked fantastic in his jeans. Sookie quickly calmed the quiver of desire in the pit of her stomach and cleared her throat. Eric turned around and took her in, once again. She had reapplied some eye make-up to avoid looking entirely ready for bed, but only a little. Eric met her gaze with his, and immediately the room atmosphere changed from slight awkwardness to sobriety.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Eric asked softly, but his gaze let her know he wasn't in a joking mood.

"Tell you what?" Sookie was honestly thrown. What haven't I told him??

"That I offered to leave everything for you."

"But I did tell you!" Sookie leaned against the counter opposite him.

"You failed to mention that I loved you." He put a strange emphasis on 'love', as if it left a bad taste in his mouth, or it was a word he hadn't uttered in hundreds of years.

"There was no point to me telling you." She retorted coolly. Eric's eyes blazed with anger and annoyance.

"You had no right to hide it from me!"

"What was I supposed to say?" she snapped, her voice rising in pitch as her agitation grew, "Hey, Eric, I know you remember nothing from the time you spent at my house, but you kinda proposed to me. Catch you later!?" Her voice rose at the end, making it a question. He decided to ignore that last bit.

"It was not your call to decide whether or not to let me know." He seemed to be trying to calm himself down. His gaze cooled, and so did his voice. Sookie? Sookie was beyond cooling down.

"Oh, but it was my call. It involved the two of us, and your memory wasn't exactly in the best shape. So don't you go telling me that I had no right to hide it from you. I had EVERY right, Eric. It was my call, and I decided it was irrelevant." He began to say something, but she cut him off: she wasn't done yet, "It was irrelevant. How you felt was based in your memory, and when you lost that, you lost them both. It was my call." She repeated the last sentence to make sure he was clear. He wasn't.

"Regardless of the state of my memory, didn't you think I might like to know what I had felt and done while living with you?" His voice was dripping with sarcasm and acid, "You didn't feel that was crucial to my relationship with you?"

"What relationship?? There is no relationship!" Sookie was gripping the back of a chair and glaring at the damned vampire standing in her kitchen. Her voice had risen in volume until she was practically yelling, "And drop the 'It-was-my-right-to-know' bullshit, Eric. You think you feel cheated?? How do you think I feel?? You forgot everything, while I had to live with the memory of the old Eric!" At that thought, Sookie's anger disappeared and was swiftly replaced with cold realization. "The man I loved is gone!" She mused to herself, staring at the linoleum, "The man I loved never existed in the first place." All of a sudden, she felt drained. Oh God. She could feel Eric's shock at her reaction turn into concern, but at that moment, she didn't quite care enough. Sookie sank down into the chair she had been gripping and buried her face in her hands. Distantly, she heard Eric put down the bottle of blood and felt him kneel in front of her.

"They weren't gone." He murmured as he gently tried to pull her hands away from her face.

"What wasn't?" Sookie played along wearily. She was too tired, too sad to deal with this. She wanted him to leave already and let her be. It was Eric's turn to avoid her gaze. He was carefully studying her hands as if they were the most fascinating things in the world. When he spoke again, his voice was so low she almost had to strain to hear him, and when she had, she ran it back through her head to make sure he had actually said what she thought he had said.

"The feelings I had for you... they didn't disappear with the memories." He met her gaze for half a second, like he was afraid of what he would see, before looking back down at her hands, "They just didn't make sense to me anymore. I didn't know why I felt that way about you."

"Sookie, I care about you." The words fell from his lips awkwardly, and an unstable part of her wanted to laugh: Eric the thousand-year-old Viking 'cares' about me! The majority of her mind, however was singing a different tune. It didn't matter that the egotistical Eric was nowhere to be found, or that he was kneeling in front of her in a way that reminded her of the old Eric, or that he had just admitted to having feelings for her. This Eric came with too many strings attached, too much baggage.

"So what?" She asked quietly, letting her sadness seep through. His frowned, his confusion apparent on his face. He considered her words for a few moments before responding.

"You don't want to be with me." It was a statement, and though his tone was neutral, she could see the whirlwind of emotions in his eyes: confusion, hurt, sadness, anger, more confusion.

"I don't want to date Sherriff Northman. I don't want to be dragged any further into your stupid vamp politics." She sighed and ran a hand through her hair, pushing it out of her face, "I don't want come second to a bar, I don't want to always wonder what you're doing when you're at Fangtasia and I'm here. I want my Eric back." Sookie's eyes returned to her lap where Eric's hands no longer rubbed hers soothingly. He seemed to be frozen, but she still couldn't work up the courage to meet his eyes, so she explored the bond instead. He was calm, but the crazy mix of emotions she had seen in his eyes a few moments earlier was reflected in the bond as well.

"Would Sherriff Northman have come here? Would he have acted this way?" He makes a good point, Sook. She finally looked up from her lap, and slowly shook her head. "Who's to say I can't be the old Eric? At least give me a chance, Sookie, I deserve that. I've proven how I feel about you over and over, haven't I?" Damned logical vampire!!! She nodded again, and found her voice.

"I have some conditions," a grin tugged at the corners of Eric's mouth, and he nodded for her to carry on, "If I date you, I don't want that to mean that my... telepathic abilities belong to you as well. Anything I do for you will be a personal favour from me to you." She paused, "Unless, of course, de Castro demands it." He nodded in agreement, but his eyes were sparkling with amusement. Sookie ignored him and carried on.

"I don't want to always be the one to come see you at Fangtasia; you have to come here, too. And getting Pam to call me is not an acceptable way of communicating; you want to know how I am, call me yourself." She paused to take a deep breath, but did not continue. Eric raised an eyebrow quizzically.

"Anything else, lover?" Sookie ignored the way her stomach quivered when he called her 'lover'.

"Fidelity. I want to be able to trust you, Eric. I don't care how many fangbangers throw themselves at you, I-" she stopped, unable to continue.

"I won't cheat on you, Sookie!" he looked like she'd insulted him.

"Okay, okay!" she amended hastily, "I just wanted to make sure. Y'know, since you're... nevermind." She snuck a glance at him, and found that he seemed to have calmed down.

"My turn." He announced smoothly, and she looked at him in surprise. What conditions could Eric have? No clothes indoors? No locked doors? What? "I want to give you a gift whenever I feel like it."

"Eric!" She complained, but he interrupted her before she could continue.

"I know you despise being thought of as a 'kept woman', but that isn't what I'm trying to do, so there no reason for you to feel 'kept'."

"Nothing as big, or bigger than a car." Sookie insisted stubbornly. Eric huffed and inclined his head.

"Are we done negotiating, lover?"

"... yes, I think so."

"Good." Eric's eyes shone mischievously, and Sookie gulped nervously. Slowly, Eric leaned forward until his nose was practically brushing against hers, all the time not taking his eyes off of hers, then, very carefully, he pressed his lips against her. Sookie's self-control crashed down around the two of them, and she opened her legs so Eric's hips could fit between her legs. He deepened the kiss, brushing her lips open with his tongue and a moan escaped from her throat. He stood up with her still wrapped around him and carried her to her bedroom.