**Author's note: This story takes place after Gift Wrap and the first chapter of Dead and Gone. This is my first fan fic, so be gentle. I am addressing a question that I have had that I haven't seen any other fic deal with yet. **Please note all characters belong to Ms. Harris, I am just playing until we get to read the real thing.

1: Surprised

I was a little surprised to see the missed call on my phone from Fantasia. I hadn't talked to Eric for a while, but this being the night of the Were Reveal it just figured that he would want to check in with me.

Ha! Who was I kidding? It was probably Pam calling. Get a grip, Sookie. If he wanted to talk, you know he would just show up in that over the top egotistic way of his. 'IF' being the appropriate word.

I couldn't help but think about Eric though. It was a night like this around a year ago that I had rescued him off the side of the road and cared for him while his memory was lost.

There was also the lingering memory of the were Preston that I had recently rescued as well and had subsequently enjoyed a wonderful Christmas Eve with…Eric hadn't even called.

STOP Sookie. "You and Eric are not together." I repeated this outloud to myself while still standing there in Sam's office. We were not together and I should not expect anything from him….or feel guilty about what happened on Christmas.

Well, I could definitely see a pattern forming there, anyway. This was the second winter in a row that I had taken a supernatural creature into my home to care for him and…and…..oh god!

Okay, Sookie, snap out of it. I can think about that later, time to get out of here.

I collected the rest of my things so that I could make my way home and get to sleep. I was going to need it. The rest of the week was going to be rough with Sam off to Texas to be with his mom and being down a waitress with Arlene quitting. Maybe Amelia will help out until we find someone else. I'll have to remember to ask her tomorrow.

I walked out the back door to the employee parking lot and I stopped in my tracks when I saw who was leaning against my car, presumably waiting for me. I couldn't see his face since he was turned scanning the woods surrounding Sam's trailer, but there was no mistaking that physique.

I stood there frozen in the doorway wondering if I could just flee back inside the bar and maybe even sleep there until I had to work again tomorrow. That option disappeared as he turned and saw me staring at his impressive form. He pushed off my car and walked lithely toward me, his long strides making short work of the distance. It was not well lit in the back lot, but the security light was bright enough for me to see the apprehension in his face.

Not being in his presence for so long, I had forgotten how tall he was as I craned my neck back to look him in the face as he came closer. He had stopped several feet in front of me, both of us silent and not really knowing what to say. My eyes searched his face trying to figure out what was going on and finally out of frustration I simply ended up yelling at him.

"What the hell are you doing here?!"