A huge thanks to all who are reading this story, and an even bigger thanks to all who've taken the time and interest to review or favorite this story. You've made me feel so welcome here!

This is a completely AU timeline for Eric & Sookie. I love the characters created by Charlaine Harris, who owns everything especially the divine Eric, but from the start, I always imagined an alternate existence for Eric and Sookie's love. Bear with me, it will become clearer in a couple of chapters!

This story is meant for adults over the age of 18. I know it seems tame right now, but it is rated M for a reason. A lemony good reason, which will also become more apparent in a couple of chapters.

As always, reviews and comments are deeply appreciated.


"Lover. Look at me."

My vampire called to me as he always did, softly, reverently. I look up to meet his eyes, confusion lighting inside me as I gaze upon him, noting the bloody tear tracks that mar his exquisite face.

"Invite me in, lover. You must invite me in." My vampire was heartbroken, so different from the passionate lover of my dreams.

"Don't cry, my love. You can come in, please don't cry." I reached for his face, but my arm felt like cement. My body was cradled in his strong arms, pressed tight to his chest. Why did he cry so?

My dream shifted, changed, to find me in my own bed, my vampire tenderly removing my clothes, his hands skimming over my body, searching for something I couldn't understand. His cool, silky tongue laved my body, worshiping each curve and valley he encountered. His fingers moved gently across my ribs, probing, searching. His face was buried against mine now, that magical tongue lapping at my ears, my eyes, my jaw and throat. His whispered endearments washed over me, filling my soul with love. The air around us crackled with electricity, filling the room with a rainbow of color. I felt myself yielding, melting into him. We are one.

My dream warped and changed again, sending me into a warm spray of water. My vampire held me under the spray, his long, cool fingers massaging me, washing away the tension and pain I carried. Pain? Why would I hurt? I whimpered into his shoulder, struggling to raise myself in his arms.

"Hush, lover. Let me care for you. I'll make it all better; I promise you." My vampire's words reached the troubled part of my soul, easing the torment in my mind. I sank back into him, letting the dream take me where it would. I knew my vampire would make it better. He always did.

I awoke with a bit of a start that day, memories of the night before flooding into me. Tears rose in my eyes as my dreams faded and memories of the night before flooded into my brain. I cried out, scrambling in my bed until my back was pressed deep into the headboard. My hand covered my mouth, trapping my screams there. Those first moments were horrible, terrifying as my brain came to grips with the terror of the night. When my heart settled, I started to realize how foolish I must look, realization sinking in to me. It was just a dream. I was fine.

Wow! That was a dream! I swung my feet over the side of the bed, the adrenaline in my system propelling me from the bed. That was the strangest dream I had ever had. My vampire dreams were almost always filled with love and tenderness, not nightmarish agony. My vampire had saved me last night, and the love was there, but the pain. I had never, ever felt such pain in my life, and it was just a dream. I shook off the uncomfortable memories of the nightmare, giving my poor heart a moment to settle.

I was halfway to the bathroom before the second realization hit me. I was stark naked! What on earth had happened to me last night? Gran would have given me a telling off for that one, for sure! A lady doesn't sleep without clothes. It had been drummed in to me since I was a child. I glanced around the room for my nightclothes - maybe I had stripped off during the night. Nope. No clothes. I shrugged before heading to the bathroom. I must have been exhausted last night, and fallen in to bed without remembering. I had obviously showered before bed, I could smell my strawberry body wash, not the lingering smell of Merlotte's, but I don't remember that, either. Jeez, I didn't think I was that tired! I don't even remember making it home, let alone going to bed. I've got to talk to Sam soon about hiring a new waitress - all these long nights were doing me in. I need the money, but I can't afford to crash my car into a tree cause I'm too tired to drive home.

The third shock of the day occurred in the bathroom as I was brushing my teeth. I glanced into the mirror above the sink, and promptly dropped the toothbrush right out of my mouth! What in the world? Sure, it was me staring out of the mirror, but what alternate universe had I woken up in? I looked just like myself, but yet, so very much better. My skin was glowing, my tan nearly luminous. My eyes were so incredibly clear, I nearly lost myself staring into them. And my hair? What on earth? I always had thick, shiny hair. Gran had always called it my crowning glory. But today it looked even fuller, and even in the dim light of the bathroom, I could see how much shinier it was, how the waves had turned into loose curls. What the heck?

I left the toothbrush right where it was, and stumbled my way back to bed. What was going on? I closed my eyes, letting my mind sink back into my dream. What was different? My vampire had not made love to me in my dream. That was surely different. I hadn't dreamt of a platonic vampire since I was a teenager. Although there really wasn't too much platonic about last night's dream, really, it was just different from the way he usually loved me in my dreams. Every dream for the last years had been highly erotic, to say the least. I might not have experience in real life with men, how could I, after all? Normal men thought I was crazy, and I knew there was nothing much normal them, anyways. How could I ever give myself to someone when I could hear every perverted thing they wanted to do to me? But my dream vampire lover showed me all I needed to know about love. If I couldn't have a real love life, I was surely glad my vampire visited my dreams every night. I don't know how I would survive without him now.

I let my mind drift, letting the dream flood back to me. That was the best part of all my vampire dreams - I never, ever forget a moment of them. And I know I had never seen a crying vampire before. He was always so strong, so in charge, but last night he cried. This dream was so different, in so many ways. No sex, but overwhelming love. So much pain, but even more love. I had felt wrapped in love, multifaceted, shimmering love. Shimmering! Yes, we had almost shimmered in the dream last night. That surely was new. Especially the way the room pulsed with a kaleidoscope of color as my vampire licked my body, cleaning my own blood from my skin.

OK, Sookie! Stop daydreaming. Obviously I had gotten a good, solid night's sleep last night. I slept soundly all night, and that's why I look so good today. See? It's already 2:30, I must have slept a good fourteen hours last night. Weird, even for me. I'm not exactly a morning person, no matter how much I love the sun. Working nights meant I usually slept late, but 2:30 was pushing it even for me. If I didn't get my rear end up and off this bed, the day would be over. I jumped up, putting the dream behind me, and shimmied into my old blue bikini. It might be mid afternoon, but it was never too late to soak up a few rays.

I spent the rest of the afternoon lounging in the sun, lazily flipping myself over from time to time. I'd brought a trashy romance novel out with me, but I just couldn't focus on the words. I had my own romance novel running through my head that was just too darned distracting. An erratic slideshow ran though my mind as I drifted in and out of napping, playing a highlight reel from my dreams. My beautiful blonde vampire kissing me, his tongue probing the corners of my lips. Me, cradled in arms of steel, spinning wildly around a dance floor, my vampire looking down with a contented smile as the music washed over us. Him, holding me down on my bed, his gorgeous eyes crinkled with laughter as he tickled me mercilessly. Us, tangled, sweaty, panting with need as we showed each other the depths of our love. Me, boldly leaning over him, my tongue tracing a delicate line down his chiseled abs. Him, growling, begging me not to stop. Us, crying out in our completion, desperately murmuring words of love. Me, telling him how his love filled me. Him, telling me he'd meet the sun before he'd let anyone take me away. Us, swept away by passion, drinking deeply from each other.

I must have drifted off into sleep again as I let my memories consume me. I snapped out of it as my fingers drifted under the waistband of my bikini, my fingers headed for the spot he loved, stroking and caressing myself as I remembered him doing so many times. I sighed heavily, wishing for the millionth time that he was real, that his fingers caressed me instead of my own. Daylight had faded, the gloriously rich sunset washed me in light as my fingers moved faster. My breath came in spurts and gasps as I worked my fingers over my heated flesh, alternating swirling and dipping. His voice rang in my mind, pushing me, pulling me towards another vampire induced orgasm. Come for me, Sookie. Come for me, lover.

I flopped back to my blanket, glorying in the blissful release for a few moments. The chilly evening air drifted over me, cooling my over heated flesh. I sat up reluctantly, pulling the blanket with me as I headed for the house. My stomach growled a little, reminding me I hadn't yet eaten. Dinner and a shower, then. Maybe a movie after, I thought. Lafayette was off tonight, too, maybe I'd give him a call and see if he wanted to join me. I should call Tara, too. It's been a while since we all got together.

I grabbed a old T-shirt from my room to haul over my bikini before washing my hands in the bathroom sink. I studiously avoided the mirror over the sink, not really willing to look upon the high definition Sookie I'd seen there earlier. I hummed a little to myself as I skipped through the house to the kitchen. My orgasm had left me feeling happy, content and starved! I was just looking into the fridge when the doorbell rang, giving me a start. Who could that be? I wasn't expecting anyone.

As I made my way to the front door, I cast my mind towards the step as I often did, checking to see who was there before I opened it. What I found there made me stop, my breath catching in my throat. There was no mind there, nothing but a void. Just like the one I had read at Merlotte's last night. Oh, shit, Sookie! Oh, no! I took a deep breath to calm myself, counting to ten before releasing my breath in a huff. I hadn't spared him a thought today, hadn't even thought about the fact that there was now a vampire living in Jesse Compton's old place. He had given me the creeps last night, and I surely wasn't in the mood to entertain a strange vampire this evening. I arranged a cold expression on my face, hoping he'd get the hint. No way was I going to encourage visits from him.

I threw open the door with more force than perhaps necessary, and steeled myself for what was to come. To my great surprise, though, it was not the vampire Bill Compton who stood on my porch. No, not at all. The vampire standing on my porch was huge, towering over me, his blond hair shining in the porch light. My hand flew to my mouth as my eyes drank him in, from his booted feet, up the never ending length of muscular leg clad in dark washed jeans, to the thick leather belt encircling his trim waist. My wide eyes took in the tight abdomen that flared into a strong, well muscled torso that strained at the tight black T-shirt he wore. My brain acknowledged the black leather jacket he wore like a glove, stretching over the impossibly wide breadth of his shoulders. I drank in the thick column of his throat, the strong jaw that topped it, just barely dusted with a faint golden stubble. His lips, oh, Lord, his lips. My eyes continued their slow journey until finally I was looking into the deepest, bluest eyes I had ever seen outside of my dreams.

I did the only thing that felt right at that moment, the only thing my tortured brain could come up with.

I screamed.

And then I fainted dead away to lie in a crumpled heap on the floor.