A/N: Hey, so you guys are pretty awesome! Some of you mentioned that you had read stories with Barowner!Eric and Vamp!Sookie but not exactly identical to this one, so I'm going to go ahead and post this, even though I'm on vacay in NYC (where I'm stalking ASkars. Jokes.) As always, I'd love to hear what you think, even though I didn't have time to respond to y'all the last time around (and I'm so very sorry about that). If there are any typos, blame it on the time, since it's midnight. And also, once again, remember that I sadly can't update very often, so bear with me.
All my love,
Pers.

Chapter 2

Three nights later my wish came true when Sookie walked in and took a seat right in front of me at the bar.

"What can I get you?" I asked, not hiding my pleasure at seeing her.

"The same," she answered coyly.

"A-negative, coming right up," I smiled back and retrieved the correct bottle, popping it into the microwave to heat it. "How has Bon Temps been treating you?" I asked conversationally and she shrugged.

"Well. I've been busy with renovations to my home but it's tough, getting people to get back to me when I'm only awake at night."

I shook out the bottle and slid it across the bar with a napkin. "What do you need done?"

"Some electrical rewiring and I need a new floor. The painting I can do myself," she added with a shrug.

"Well, why don't I come over and see if I can help?" I offered. "I'm a pretty good handyman."

"Even if you do say so yourself," she teased.

"Oh I have references," I assured her with a grin.

"Okay," Sookie laughed. "When are you free?"

I glanced at the time, it was past midnight already. "We close at one, so I should be done here by two at the latest and then I can come take a look?"

"Sounds like a deal. I've got a book, mind if I hang around?"

I liked how casually she diverged from the vampire archetype, and smiled as I responded, "Of course not. Do you want to go sit in the office? It's quieter."

"I'd rather hang out with you," she admitted and I felt my face light up with pleasure. I liked her, in that hesitant middle school way that gave me the butterflies and made me shy, which was all a new experience for me past the age of ten. But based on her actions I guessed that she liked me too, though I was unclear on how vampires went about relationships.

Outlaws' was closed by half past one and I followed Sookie out to the parking lot where I hesitated, shooting a puzzled look at her. "How did you get here?" The lot was empty.

"I ran," she shrugged.

"Vampire speed?" I guessed and she confirmed it with a nod. "You're going to have to give me directions." She did, and opted for riding my bike with me. I smiled internally when she wrapped her cool body around mine and even rested her head on my shoulder, holding tight as I took us to her little cottage on the outskirts of town. She had a little porch out front and a comfortable-looking swing reminiscent of the one Adele had, though the paint on the window shutters was peeling and in need of some work. Sookie was right about needing a new floor, and I asked her what she had in mind for it and for the place as a whole. The front room was the living room and she had barely furnished it, telling me that she was waiting on the renovations before she really moved in. The kitchen and a bedroom were at the back of the house, and a little hallway led to the bathroom and the narrow set of stairs that led downstairs to the custom-built basement Sookie told me she'd had to ensure would be completed by the time she moved in. It was light-tight and quite secure, and happened to be the only room Sookie didn't show me, which I understood. The place where you spend twelve vulnerable hours in would not be on anyone's house tour. I figured I could do the job, free of charge, though Sookie insisted otherwise.

"I will accept alternative forms of payment," I told her, shaking my head.

"Such as?" Her brow quirked upwards.

"Go out on a date with me."

A small smile curved across her face, though she shook her head as she quietly explained, "I don't think that would be a good idea."

"So you just flirted with me for fun?"

"It's not that I'm not interested. I just don't think I'm in a position where I can date you."

"Because you're only awake at nights?" I cocked my head to the side. She was keeping something from me.

"No."

"I see."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be," I grinned. "I'll wear you down eventually."

"That's awfully confident of you."

"It's a gift. And a curse," I sighed dramatically and she laughed at me. My phone buzzed at that moment with a text from Dawn, asking me if I wanted to meet up. I ignored it – she would just think I was already asleep – and put the phone back in my pocket. Sookie noticed and asked me if there was someone waiting for me. Was that a subtle way of asking if I had a girlfriend? Right after I asked her out? I wasn't sure.

"No," I replied, mirroring her earlier tight-lipped response.

"I see," she smiled, not looking at all upset at my subterfuge.

For the next few weeks I would head over to Sookie's on my nights off to help her with the renovations. We would sit on the floor and watch TV or just talk whenever I would take a break, and she started storing human food to offer me when I came over. A couple of times she insisted that I didn't need to work so late into the night but I genuinely didn't mind, the simple company she offered was more than enough incentive for me to stay with the work as my excuse, and as time went on I genuinely began to regard her as a friend.
A friend I wanted to date, despite her continued resistance.

By the end of the three weeks Sookie's little cottage had polished cherry hardwood flooring and functioning electrical sockets and lights, plus flawless paintjobs in every room. With the last stroke of the paintbrush I flopped unceremoniously onto the hardwood and stared up at my hard work, feeling beyond pleased with myself. Looking up at the sound of footsteps I saw Sookie carrying a slice of pie and a glass of iced tea for me, wearing a smile identical to mine.

"All done?"

"Yup! Is that for me?" She set down the tray and I dug in gratefully while Sookie sank down beside me to take a good look around. "What do you think?"

"I think it looks great! Thank you so much."

"Don't thank me, go out with me instead."

She didn't even bother responding to that, choosing instead to continue admiring the walls. Undeterred, I leaned back on my hands, my palms planted far enough away that Sookie was almost in my arms. She gave me a look to let me know she realized what I was doing, but didn't move away. I knew I had to leave soon but was unwilling to accept the fact just yet, content as I was just to sit on Sookie's floor in the silence.

"I should go," I murmured at last, desperately wanting her to ask me to stay.

"It is late," she agreed instead and I bit back a groan.

"So I'll see you later." And with that, I left, sighing as I answered my ringing phone.

888

My head fell back against the wall as her lips eased around my cock and I groaned, enjoying the sensations washing over me.

"So-" I snapped myself out of the haze of pleasure, mortified and fairly embarrassed at how close I'd come to saying the wrong name. The warm mouth on my cock moved down to take in my balls and my groan grew in urgency. "So good," I murmured, as a bit of a cover up for my earlier indiscretion and Dawn hummed, returning to her earlier task. The hand I had tangled in her hair pulled her away when I felt myself getting too close and bent her over the couch. I was rougher with her than I liked to be most of the time, but she screamed my name and begged for more anyways, letting loose a string of vulgarities as she described in graphic detail what she wanted me to do to her. I almost rolled my eyes but did as she so eloquently asked, and not long after she shrieked as she clenched around me. My climax, when it hit, was a paradox in that it was rather anticlimactic, and I sighed when I pulled out and tossed the condom into the trashcan of the small living room. Dawn teetered to the bathroom and I took the opportunity to pull on my boxers and pants.

"I wasn't done with you yet," she whined when she emerged, her lovely porcelain skin still flushed red with pleasure. I cast about for an excuse as to why I had to leave, for the first time feeling incredibly cheated for not having an excuse like women did to not have sex for a whole week.

I really was a bit of a dick to Dawn, but she wasn't a saint either. She brought out the worst in me but she filled a hole in my life, one without any other potential candidates.

Except now I knew that wasn't right, because I wanted Sookie, but here I was fucking someone else because I couldn't work out my frustration like a regular adult. Disgusted with myself and feeling quite a bit of unjustified guilt, I made up an excuse and left Dawn's, knowing that this time had been the last time.

888

I spent the next night at Outlaws', being irritated with everything and everybody. Tommy had started working and there were the usual small problems that arose whenever a new employee was hired, but where any other day I would have patiently helped him get adjusted, now I found myself passing the job along to someone else for fear of snapping at the poor kid. I was only grateful that Sam wasn't around because he would have realized that something was wrong with me, familiar as he was with my usual coping mechanisms. Or failing-to-cope mechanisms, because try as I might I couldn't stop thinking about Sookie and how easily I had pussied out of making a move. I should have kissed her, or asked her to go for a walk, or really anything other than pull that passive-aggressive bullshit, mentally begging her to make the first move like a low-self-esteem teenage girl before running off to lick my wounds by sticking my dick in the first available hole. I avoided Sam and going into work entirely the following day, choosing to let myself fall behind on paperwork if it meant avoiding my friend's penetrating gaze. It was worse though, because after weeks of busying myself with Sookie's renovations and work I suddenly had a day free of all obligations, which was a perfect opportunity for my mind to wander – inevitably – to Sookie. At a loss for things to do I went for a run, keeping it up until I felt like I was running the risk of my knees imploding and my heart failing entirely, not to mention severe dehydration in the absurd temperature and humidity. By the time I made it home my clothes were soaked through with sweat and my hair was plastered to my forehead so I headed straight to the shower. Out of sheer boredom I didn't bother dressing, and so I ended up lounging about naked, and eventually jerking off for lack of a better thing to do. That didn't help much, since the image I got off on was that of Sookie's lips wrapped around my cock. Regardless, I cleaned up and made myself the most elaborate dinner I could manage before crawling into bed despite not feeling drowsy. Two hours later I shifted onto my side, growing progressively more frustrated that I still couldn't fall asleep. It wasn't too warm and I wasn't too hungry or too stressed to relax, I was sure of it. Absently, I rubbed my temple and for the first time sensed the pressure that was no doubt the reason behind this bout of insomnia. It felt the way it did when I would swim to the bottom of the deep end of the pool, like my skull was being pressed, but much more subtle and I frowned as I tried to recall the last time I had felt this way, because the pressure was definitely familiar. The memory was right there, I just needed to place it, and when I finally managed it a grin spread across my face. I slipped out from under the covers and got dressed. The door creaked slightly as I opened it and I inhaled deeply in the cool night air, appreciating the light the moon was casting over my skin.

"Sookie," I called, glancing around the dimly lit deserted street for any signs of her.

"How did you know?" She asked as she emerged from the shadows in the far corner of my porch. I had not been expecting her to be so near and I jerked when I heard her voice.

"I just did." I shrugged. I wasn't too sure myself, in hindsight it seemed a little crazy. "What are you doing out this late?"

"Not really late for me. Vamp, remember?" Her lips quirked up in a little smile though something curious remained in her eyes.

"How could I forget? But why outside my house?"

It was her turn to shrug, and I held back the snort. She was so clearly holding something back, unwilling to share it just yet, and I let it slide for the time being. "Why did you come to Bon Temps?"

"That's quite forward, isn't it?"

"So is skulking around my house at two in the morning."

"Touche."

"Thank you. Now answer the question please."

"I got tired of New Orleans. Thought a small town would be nice to live in."

"Seriously? A small town where most people are afraid of you and the rest think you're an abomination? This is where you thought you'd settle down?" I loved Bon Temps but the citizens had the tendency to be shockingly small-minded. The four years I'd spent at Vanderbilt had done quite a lot in terms of opening my mind.

She shrugged but offered no more.

"So that pressure I felt, was that you Glamouring me or failing at it?" I asked, the picture of nonchalance, and saw shock flash across her features.

"You felt that."

"You were keeping me awake," I grinned. "I didn't know you could do it without making eye contact."

"I wasn't Glamouring you."

"Alright then." I cast about for something to say, scuffing my bare feet on the wood while Sookie who had no needs for such human actions stood stock still.

"I'll let you go back to bed. No more skulking, I promise." She turned to leave but I reached out for her wrist, pulling her back to me. Later I would realize that had she really wanted to leave I wouldn't have been able to grab her because she would have darted away at a vampiric speed, but at the time it didn't matter. Her icy eyes flicked down to where my hand was grasping hers but I refused to let go, choosing instead to take a step closer. Her nostrils flared at my scent and I breathed her in in return, detecting cool mint and something warmer, reminiscent of sunshine.

"Why are you here?" I whispered and she averted her gaze with a guilty air.

"I'm here to procure you for my boss."

Wow. I had not been expecting such honesty, despite hoping for it. I took a step back. "Your Maker."

"No," she shook her head and fixed me with one of those gazes that left me to interpret for myself what she was thinking.

"You have to obey other vampires? Ones that didn't Make you?"

"Do you listen to people who aren't your parents?" She retorted.

"I barely listen to my parents."

That earned me a smile. "Well, we have to listen to our Makers. It's in our blood."

"And why do you listen to your bosses?"

"Because they can make our undeath very unpleasant."

"So there's a hierarchy," I stated and she gave me another look, her blue eyes icy.

"It's in your best interest not to know anything about how our society works."

"So why are you telling me these things?"

"Because you're in danger."

I laughed. I couldn't help it; all I could hear in my head was Lafayette drawling, 'Gurl, you in dange-uh!', and her statement and its implications were so out of my world that I didn't even know how to react appropriately. Sookie looked less than pleased.

"I'm sorry," I held up a hand and held back the snort. "I'm the only child of two schoolteachers and I own a restaurant in East Jesus Nowhere, LA. You telling me, exclusively, that I'm in danger… It's not quite going down smoothly."

"Well, you can let me know when you're done laughing," she said, rather stiffly.

"I'm sorry," I repeated and attempted to get a hold of myself. "Okay, why am I in danger? What does your boss want from me?"

"What do vampires want?" The corner of her mouth quirked upwards.

My blood. "Why?"

"Because you're different."

"I know, I'm a special and unique snowflake," I commented wryly. "What do you want from me?"

She hissed, in frustration I thought, and rose to pace in what was the first expression of vampire agitation I'd ever witnessed. Though, considering she was the first vamp I'd ever met this wasn't such a big deal. "There are a handful of bloodlines in the world, we call them the Divine Lines, that are… better."

"Better how?"

"They taste better. Divine blood nourishes us more thoroughly and keeps us sated for longer, plus it tastes-"

"Divine?" I guessed and she snorted.

"Yes. But the bloodlines, they're tricky. Not every person from the bloodline has Divine blood; it skips generations. It's a sort of preservation thing, we think, so that even when a Divine is discovered, their essence will live on in someone who is of no interest to vampires. This way the Line can't be rendered extinct."

"So there are Divine gene carriers?"

Sookie nodded. "Your mother, she's a… a carrier, I guess. And you are a card-carrying member of a Divine Line."

How's that for fucking special? "Hang on, how did you figure out my blood is… Divine?" I stumbled over the word. It sounded absurd, rolling around in my mouth.

"You gave blood, dumbass. Some vampire stole some bags from a blood bank and stumbled upon one particular donation that tasted-"

"Divine?" I grinned.

Sookie rolled her eyes. "Yeah. He reported it to my q-… to my boss, and we tracked you down."

That dragged me out of my lighter mood and into a somber one. "So what are you going to do to me?"

"If I brought you in, you'd be kept locked up in a fancy suite where you'd be forced to feed whatever vampire is important enough to be able to have you. You'd be Glamoured until you're as docile as a lamb, and you'd probably end up getting fucked by a whole lot of vampires that'll feed on you. You'd lose everything you have, everything you are. You'd never see Adele or Sam or Lafayette or your parents, you'd never get to fuck a pretty girl because you wanted to, and you sure as hell would never get to see Bon Temps again." She met my gaze defiantly and I sucked in some air, realizing that I was cold and shaking, a little bit.

"Are you going to?" I asked her quietly and she shook her head. "Why not? Won't you get in trouble?"

"Probably. I'm sure there are some loopholes." When she shrugged, I could see that there was more to it.

"Why, Sookie?"

"Because you don't deserve that life."

"You must not be a very good procurer if you're this tender-hearted."

Her eyes flashed dangerously. "I'm an amazing procurer. You'd be my first failure."

"So you're going to fuck with your own reputation because I don't deserve to be held captive? I don't know many people who deserve captivity. What aren't you telling me?"

I waited for what felt like ages as Sookie contemplated whether or not to tell me the truth. At last she muttered, "In for a penny," and faced me. "I'm a telepath. I can read everyone's thoughts, humans and vampires alike, but not yours."

Wow. Jesus. I remembered that line from Zoolander when Matilda tells Derek and Hansel about being bulimic and they blurt out, "You can read minds?!" and had to push it away before I laughed, again. So she could read minds. I suppose if vampires were real, it wasn't such a leap to believe telepaths existed. "Because of my blood?" I asked.

"There haven't been more than a handful of telepaths in the past millennium, and Divines are hard to find. I don't know if the two have ever met, but yeah, my best guess is that it's because of your blood."

"Does this mean you can't Glamour me either?"

She nodded. "I tried, the first night."

I gave that some thought, relieved that I was different. "Reading vampires, isn't that dangerous?"

She quirked a brow at how easily I moved on. "Yes, it is. That's why only Pam—my maker— knows about it, and now you too. And before you ask, I don't know why I told you. I don't know why I'm explaining myself to you past the fact that you asked so I felt inclined to answer. It might be because you're charming and good-looking." She shrugged and I felt my face light up.

"You think I'm sexy."

"I didn't say that," she shook her head but I could see the beginnings of a smile.

"I think you're sexy too."

"One of the many side effects of being a vampire," she dismissed. "It's alluring."

"My attraction has nothing to do with your lifespan or your diet."

Sookie made a sound in disbelief and gave me a long look during which the tension between us began crackling again. Or maybe it was just my imagination, but I certainly hoped not. I had never felt this way around anyone before; she made me feel alive, ironically enough.

"I'd like to kiss you, Miss Stackhouse. May I?"

"How chivalrous of you to ask, Mr Northman."

"Is that a 'yes'?" I smiled and she nodded, slowly, so I leaned forward and just brushed my lips against her cool ones, testing the waters to see if there would be more. I had my answer when she kissed me back, increasing the pressure on my lips until I licked at her mouth and she yielded. A switch was flipped then as our hands came into the mix, Sookie slipping a hand into my hair and mine lifting her up to give my neck a break, pressing her small body into the wall. So strange, I thought absently, that someone so small could literally break me with one move, and yet here she was kissing all thought out of me. Her fangs extended with a snick and I jerked back, feeling the sting of the two small punctures in my lip. Her pupils were dilated and it may have been the light playing tricks on me but her eyes looked to be glowing blue.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, her cold hands gentle as they stroked the back of my neck. She was trying to soothe me, I realized, as if it had somehow slipped my mind that she was a vampire. After the initial surprise had worn off I'd been fine with it, if a bit intrigued as to the logistics and details that went along with having fangs.

"It happens. Right?"

"Yeah. You're bleeding." Nostrils flaring, she stared transfixed at my bottom lip and I leaned forward, trapping her top lip between mine and giving her access to my bloody lip. She licked it clean before sucking, searching for more blood.

"Would you say it's divine?" I joked breathlessly and her unseeing eyes met mine before she nodded and resumed our kissing. Her fangs remained out and I quickly discovered, as she moaned, that stroking them with my tongue was quite pleasurable for her. Eventually it became quite clear that we were giving my neighbours a bit of a show and that we would either have to calm down or continue our mutual exploration of each other's bodies inside, preferably in my bed and for several hours.

"Sookie," I murmured when her hand dropped to my cock, wanting to ask her a question before she interrupted me.

"Yes." I found myself pulling back to stare.

"I thought you said you can't read my mind."

"I don't need to be a telepath to know what you were going to ask," she smirked back before letting the smile fade away. "Take me inside. But don't forget to invite me in."

"Miss Stackhouse, please do come in," I whispered as I carried her inside.