Disclaimer: Charlaine Harris owns the characters. They're just temporarily acting in my fantasy.

A/N: Thank you once again for the reviews and the many readers who have added me to their story/author/favorites alerts. You guys are the best!

I've had several people inquire as to whether or not I would be writing Eric's POV in this story and I want to address that issue. This story will be written mostly from Sookie's POV for several reasons: A) That's the way Ms. Harris writes the SVM books, B) in reality, we all see the world from a single POV...our own, and C) when I read a story/book, I tend to put myself in the place of the main character and when I write it is the same way. So most events will be written/viewed from the POV of the main character...in this case, Sookie. I will say, though, that there will be a handful of occasions where certain scenes will be from Eric's POV...usually when Sookie is "unavailable" for some reason. I hope you all will enjoy the story, even without the benefit of having multiple points of view for every scene.

I apologize if my chapters are shorter than what people are used to, but I hope to make up for it by posting new chapters at least twice a week.

So, without further ado...

Chapter 3:

Two hours later, the event was drawing to a close and Sookie was dead on her feet. Taking advantage of a lull in activity, she found a quiet spot in the staging area store room and plopped down on a large crate to rest her screaming feet. Kicking off her heels, she lifted her feet onto a neighboring crate, closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall, drinking deeply from a bottle of cold water. Based on her observations so far, the event was a huge success. The number of guests was staggering, the applause for Eric Northman when he finished performing deafening, and the excitement surrounding the silent auction frenzied. Eric had even been kind enough to autograph several items to contribute to the auction. Sookie smiled to herself thinking of how the money would be used to help sick children. Her happy thoughts were interrupted by the squeak of the store room door opening. She looked up sharply to see Eric standing in the doorway looking around uncertainly.

"I…I'm sorry," he stammered. "I was sort of looking for a place to hide."

"And you stumbled upon my hiding place," she replied with a chuckle.

"I'll go somewhere else," he said, stepping back into the hall.

"No," she answered smiling, "I can share." "Pull up a chair," she said jokingly, sliding over on the large crate and patting the now vacant space beside her. He sat down and copied her pose, propping his feet up on the neighboring crate and leaning back against the wall with a sigh.

"So what are you hiding from," she inquired with raised eyebrows.

"The love," he laughed.

"Must be horrible," she teased. "To be adored by so many."

"It's hell," he agreed with a grin. "I'm kidding, of course. I just wanted a few minutes of quiet and a place to sit down."

"Your performance was fantastic," Sookie said with sincerity. "I've never seen an audience so enthralled."

"Thanks," he murmured, blushing slightly and looking down. "I just hope I was able to help them raise a good amount for the hospital."

"You did," she assured him. "I've done many of these fundraising events and I can tell you that tonight was a smashing success. I can't say for certain until all of the bids are counted on Monday, but my guess is that we surpassed our goal. Thank you for being a part of that. I'm sure we wouldn't have had nearly the turnout without you."

He blushed again and smiled humbly. "I don't know about that, but thank you."

After a few minutes of comfortable silence he spoke up again, "My friends want to go somewhere for a drink after this. Can you give me any suggestions around here?"

"Sure," she answered. "There are at least fifteen places within two blocks. What kind of atmosphere are you looking for?"

"Nothing crazy," he said. "Just somewhere low-key to sit and have a few drinks. We…or at least I, don't want a dance club or anything."

"Fair enough…then you should head down to the Louisiana Boardwalk. It has several nice restaurants, a couple of sports bars, a dueling piano bar, and even a dance club. If you can't find something there that suits you, you're way too hard to please." She smirked when he laughed at that comment.

"That'll work," he said, standing up slowly from the crate and holding out his hand to her. "Will you come with us?"

She looked up sharply in astonishment. Eric Northman is asking me to join him for a drink? "I don't know," she answered hesitantly, taking the hand he offered and allowing him to pull her up to standing. "I've been on my feet since 8 o'clock this morning and I'm not sure how much longer I can remain upright."

"We're just having drinks," he insisted with a smirk that brought to mind sin itself. "I'll make sure it's somewhere with chairs so you don't have to stand any longer."

"Well…okay," she agreed reluctantly, not sure why her heart was suddenly pounding against her ribcage. "But I need to run home and change first. I can't bear these shoes for another minute," she said, picking up her discarded heels and looking at them with distain. "I only live about 10 minutes away, so if you'll tell me where you decide to go, I can meet you there."

"I haven't asked the others where they want to go yet, so why don't I text you as soon as we figure out a place?"

"Perfect," she said. As she stood up to leave, Arlene suddenly burst through the door and stopped short when she saw Sookie and Eric.

"Oh…I, uh…I'm sorry," she stammered, obviously thinking the worst. Her boss was closed in a small, dimly-lit store room with Eric Northman…what else would she think?

"What is it, Arlene? Sookie laughed with embarrassment, grabbing her garment bag from atop one of the crates and folding it over her arm.

"I was just looking for you to see if you were ready to go. Everything's finished up out here."

"Yes, I'm coming," Sookie answered. "Wanna go for a drink?" she asked, glancing up at Eric as if for approval. He smiled and nodded at Arlene.

"Can't," Arlene sighed dejectedly. "You know I can never stop with just one and I have to babysit tomorrow morning." Arlene lived next door to a family with two small children who thought of her as an aunt. She spent a considerable amount of her free time babysitting 4-year-old Lisa and 18-month-old Coby, and loving every minute of it.

"C'mon, I'll walk out with you, though," she said. "Eric, it was nice meeting you and your show was incredible."

"Thank you, Arlene," he said humbly, holding the door open for both women to walk out.

"Where's Lafayette?" Sookie asked, surveying the few remaining catering staff as they moved back and forth like ants between the kitchen and the back door.

"He left about 15 minutes ago," said Arlene with a mischievous grin. "…said he had a date."

"Poor guy," Sookie remarked with a grin.

"And you don't mean Lafayette, do you?" Both women broke into peals of laughter, leaving Eric shaking his head with a bewildered expression.

"Sookie, I'll find out where they want to go and text you," said Eric as he scanned the room looking for his musicians.

"See you in a bit," she called as she walked away, trying to sound casual, but feeling butterflies in her stomach. Get a grip, Stackhouse…it's just a drink! She turned back to look at him as she reached the front doors and caught him staring after her. Oh my god, did he just watch me walk away?