Loneliness

Eric's POV

I have been lonely for the past 1100 years of my life. I never believed that there would ever be a chance for me to be happy. Those days of loneliness ended when I first met Sookie Stackhouse. She belonged to a member of my retinue but I did not care. I was sheriff. She had a presence that was stronger than anything I've ever felt in my life. And she was going to be mine. I knew that the first day that I met her. It was something about her. I think it was her eyes. She has the most beautiful blue eyes I have ever seen. Her smile is just as beautiful. But her eyes...there was so much behind those beautiful, sad blue eyes.

No human has ever looked me directly in my eyes before and not be afraid. They have always looked away from me and trembled with fear. They could see death and fear in my eyes; as they should. But not Sookie Stackhouse; she looked me right in my eyes and did it with attitude. It amused me that a young human girl is braver than some vampires when it comes to confronting me.

There she is now sitting alone waiting for her date to return with her drink. I have been trying to get her to come to me but she will not. She can feel my presence around her. Ah...I knew she could feel me. She looks me right in my eyes and smiles...she had to feel me. What is it about her? I have to have her! I regally glide over to her table and sit with her. She says, "What do you want now Eric?" She says it with a sly smile. She has had my blood she knows what I want.

"Do I really need to tell you what I want Sookie?" I ask. I get a smile out of her. I think it's a real smile this time. "I just wanted to see how you are doing tonight. You look ravishing." And I mean that. I can smell the perfume and the summer on her skin. She reaches over and touches my hand. If I had a heartbeat, it would have skipped. She makes me feel absolutely alive.

Sookie puts her hand atop mine and says, "I'm doing great Eric. You look just as tasty yourself. I hear that you have a birthday coming up pretty soon. What do you have planned?" Sookie has been really standoffish with me lately and I'm surprised that she remembers my "birthday" or even wants to. Vampires don't have birthdays. We are so old that we forget; we forger our ages. But I digress. I chose the day of the first time that we made love as my birthday. I will never tell her that though. I chose that day because that was the day that I felt life again; the day that I felt love for the first time in over a thousand years.

"I'm going to be here at Fangtasia waiting on you, my lover." You will be back. You will see that you belong with me. When you come to me on my birthday, you will know what I have planned." I give her a wink and a smile. She rolls her eyes. "That is a beautiful ring that you have. Has Sam given you a raise?" Just as she is about to answer me, she removes her soft, warm hand from mine. I hear Quinn. I hate Quinn. If he would just die already, I would be much happier.

"Hey, babe; are you being bothered by the dead guy?" I really hate Quinn. He's a joke. Why she ever took up with a were-tiger is beyond me. Loneliness makes people do some crazy things. If she had only waited for me, Sookie and I would be so happy. I just want to show her that I can love her and that I meant what I said when I lost my memory. I would give it all up for her; money, Area 5, power; I would give it all away just to be with her.

"Quinn." She gives him the look and he knows. He nods and goes back to the bar. As I get up to leave and she grabs my hand before I glide away. "You are still my friend Eric. I miss talking to you. Will you please call me if you have the time? We need to talk." What is she going to say to me this time; that she's going back to Bill? Is she going to tell me that she loves Quinn? Did he give her the ring?

I become cold. I jerk my hand from hers and tell her she can reach me at the bar. She has a look of sadness on her face; the smile has left her eyes. She looks down and she says okay. She calls over to Quinn and tells him that she is ready to go. He grabs her coat and drapes it over her shoulders. He takes her hand and they walk away. She turns and looks at me and I see tears in her eyes. If I could, I would run to her and beg her not to go. I would tell her how much I love her. I would tell her that she makes me feel alive again and that I would do anything to be with her. But I turn away with a look of disgust on my face and go to my office. I feel an even colder chill go down my spine.

Sookie's POV

I don't understand why Quinn has to keep coming to Fangtasia. Eric knows that Quinn I have been together for eight months now; why he keeps rubbing it in his face, I'll never know. As I told him before we left my house, this is the last time that we will be coming here. I mean that. The entire time we were there, Eric kept trying to get me to come to him. I wanted to; I really wanted to but I cannot be weak anymore. When it comes to Eric I lose all reasoning skills and I will not do it anymore. He has to make a decision. He wants me when he wants me. It always has to be on his terms. I ended that…..and I've been miserable every since.

How can he make me feel so alive and so miserable all at the same time? I think it's his eyes. He has the most beautiful blue eyes but they are so sad. When were together, there were times when I could see the loneliness in his eyes. I could feel his loneliness. Maybe it's because I know what loneliness feels like.

"Sookie, do you hear me talking to you?" I forgot that Quinn was even in the car. He knows that I get moody when we go to Fangtasia but yet and still he insists on going there. "I asked if you wanted to go to a movie." What do you think jackass? You've ruined my mood. I want to say it but I don't.

"No. Can you just take me home? Amelia is waiting on me and we need to get fitted for our dresses tomorrow morning." Amelia and Tara have to get fitted for their bridesmaid dresses and I have to get fitted for my wedding gown. Why did I say yes? "We've been out most of the day anyway. I'm all hot and sweaty. I really need a bath." I give Quinn my fakest smile and reluctantly rub his shoulder. Why did he have to ruin a great day by going to Fangtasia?

As we pull onto Hummingbird Lane, he looks at me. He has love in his eyes. I have heartbreak in mine. "I can't wait to see you in your wedding dress. You are going to be the most beautiful bride to walk down the aisle. You make me so proud. I never believed in a million years that you would be my wife. I love you Sookie Stackhouse. I really love you." As we pull into the driveway, he reaches over and kisses me. It's a sweet kiss but it's not Eric's kiss. A tear drops from my eye; he kisses it away. "You'll never cry again when you are my wife. If you do it will be from happiness, babe."

I cannot speak. I can only lift my hand to his face and smile. I give him a smile of pity. I will marry him because I want stability. I will marry him because he loves me. I will not marry the man that I love. I get out of the car and walk to the steps. I turn to him and give him a half-hearted wave. He gets out of the car and yells, "I LOVE YOU SOOKIE!" He looks so happy. If only I were.

As I go in the house, Amelia's sitting on the couch. She knows. "You saw Eric tonight didn't you?" I give her a sad nod. She pats the seat beside her on the couch and says, "Did you tell him? Did you tell him that you are marrying Quinn?" I break into heart wrenching sobs. I shake my head no. Amelia holds me; rocks me like a baby. She says nothing else. She leads me to my room. She gets my nightgown and tells me to get in bed and that she will bring me a cup of Sleepytime Tea.

I can still see the pain on Eric's face when Quinn and I were leaving. When he jerked away from me, I hadn't felt such pain before. My heart was breaking. I could see the loneliness creep back into his eyes. Did he realize what I wanted to talk to him about? He did notice the ring. Maybe he didn't. Maybe he just didn't like to see Quinn's arm around my waist. I cry again because he knows.

Amelia brings me the tea; I know it's her special blend. I can smell the magic. "Sookie, everything will be great tomorrow. You will see. We'll have a great Girl's Day Out and it'll be better tomorrow. I promise." She kisses me goodnight. I cry myself to sleep.

Quinn's POV

Driving Home from Sookie's

Why does she care about how Eric feels? If he loved her he wouldn't have left her. She is going to be my wife and no one is going to get in the way of her being my wife. We can have a wonderful life together. She makes me happy and I know that one day she will love me just as much as she loves the walking and talking corpse. I can give her what she wants and what she needs. I can give her a home, love, money, and family. Family is so much to her. Eric can't give her a family. He can't love her the way that she needs to be loved. I can.

What is it about him that she loves so much? What does he do to her that I can't do? It doesn't matter. She has accepted my proposal and she will be my wife. There is no going back. And if that bitch Amelia tries to talk her out of marrying me, I will kill her. I will kill her. She will not get in the way of my happiness. And Sookie makes me happy.

I hope that when we marry I can keep Sophie Ann away from her. She wants Sookie. I can get in good with the Queen because of Sookie but she can't have her. No one can have her. Sookie is mine. I sound like the walking dead things that she loves so much. She has never once told me why she wants to always be near them. When we marry, I will move her away from them. We will move to my house in Tennessee. We can start over. Maybe I can take her so far away she will forget them all. I am popular in the vamp community. We need to go to a place no one knows me. I'll think of something.

I was very pleased when I heard her tell the corpse that they needed to talk some things over. She is finally going to tell him. It's been over a month since we became engaged. We are getting married next weekend. Maybe she has waited so long because she did not want to hurt him. She is going to tell him that she is going to be my wife. How great is that? She has always said that she wants children. We can have so many children. They will not be were-tigers but they will be ours. They will be part of me and Sookie. I really wish that she could love me. In time, she will love me.

She is not only beautiful on the outside but she has a heart of gold. She's loyal and trusting. She is so full of life. I wish that I could have made her life easier when she was a teen but I can make it better now. I make it so that she will never want or need for anything. I will be the man that she has always needed and wanted. I can show her that every man is not like her low life brother. Feeling love and happiness, tears run down my face. Before I know it, I say aloud "Please Sookie, let me love you."

Our wedding day will be the happiest day of my life. This is going to happen. This has got to happen.

Amelia's POV

That Same Night

I hate to see my best friend like that. I want to say "I told you so" so badly that it's giving me gas. I told her that she should not have accepted him proposal because she did not and does not love him. I want to say "Stupid, stupid, stupid" but she is my best friend and I would not do that; not to her face. I have to make it better. I have to make her see that she is wrong about Quinn. He is a dick and he loves no one but Quinn.

Eric is a dick too but he loves her. You can tell. If Quinn loves her so much why does he keep taking her to Fangtasia? Eric would never do that to her. And if he plans on doing something that she does not want to do at least he has to the balls to tell her. I hate Quinn. I have to do something…

OMG! Why didn't I think of this before? Where is that damned cell phone? "Hello, Pam. Are you busy?"

I have spent the last thirty minutes talking to Pam. All she has done the whole thirty minutes was blame Sookie. Sookie should do this; Sookie should do that; Pam should shut up and listen. She has told me how miserable Eric has been since he and Sookie have stopped talking. She said that every time she comes to Fangtasia with the tiger, it ruins Eric's mood and becomes hell on wheels. Pam asks, "What can we do? If she loves him she needs to tell him. He would gladly take her back. She needs only to beg. You seem to be one of the smart humans. Talk some sense into your friend."

"Sookie is not going to beg anyone to take her back! If anything he needs to beg her; stringing her along. If he wants her so much he has an awful way of showing it." I can't believe Pam said she needs to beg. "Pam, let's not do this. We will not see eye to eye on this subject. Let me tell you the reason for my call. I called to tell you that it's not that easy for her to go back to Eric. You have to promise me that you will not tell Eric." When I say it, I know that she will tell him. I am praying that she will tell him.

Pam is surprised by my response. Grudgingly she says, "Ok. What am I not supposed to tell my master?" I can hear the anticipation in her voice. This bitch can't wait to get off the phone so that she let Eric in on the big secret.

Ok; here we go. I hope that Sookie forgives me for this. She is my best friend and best friends help each other right? Right; so here goes nothing. "They're getting married."

The phone dies.

******Disclaimer*******

All characters belong to Ms. Charlaine Harris. Story is mine; based loosely off of True Blood and The Sookie Stackhouse series