A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! It really made my day. If you didn't, worry not. The conversation made it into this chapter. I'm glad everyone likes what I'm doing so far, and I hope you keep liking it. I did actually take the time to research LSU Shreveport. They have relaxed admission standards for people over 25, that's why Sookie is able to basically just register for classes. I also chose her classes based on what I see as feasible majors for her, and her timetable is based on times for actual classes I looked up. I know, I'm anal, but I hate when people get things wrong about my Alma Mater in fan fic (and people use NYU way too much) so I didn't want to do that to someone else. I did take a few liberties with which classes are being offered this summer, but hey, it's a few years ago in book time so I figured I was allowed! Anyway, I hope it seems realistic and that you guys like it.

My alarm got me up around eleven, and it was a struggle to get out of bed. Part of this was that I was still pretty tired, and part of it was that I was tightly wrapped in Eric Northman. I guessed he'd woken up slightly at some point, because he was snuggled about as close to me as was physically possible. It took a few minutes, and some sharp prodding, but I eventually made my escape and got showered and dressed.

I made myself coffee and resolved to pick up a few things at the grocery store before I came back. There were a few things in the freezer, but a microwaved lean cuisine really didn't appeal as breakfast. I also wanted some milk or cream for my coffee, but for the moment was simply dealing with drinking it black. Of course, Eric didn't have any pots or pans, so whatever I wound up getting would need to be eaten raw. I sighed, made a face and slugged down most of my coffee.

It only took me about fifteen minutes to get to LSU, and I had a nice long talk with an admissions lady. She went over what core requirements I needed, then told me we might as well get my placement exams over and done with. I was nervous, but got it over with quickly. I was happy I hadn't completely forgotten everything I'd learned in high school, and was able to place out of the first level math and English classes. While I didn't declare my major, I was enrolled as a student in the Business school. My hands shook as I wrote a check to pay my tuition.

The lady, Mary-Ann, showed me how to log into the school computer system and set me up with an email account before helping me register for English Composition II, the Freshman seminar for business students, an Algebra class and a computer class that taught you to use business related programs, like spreadsheets, databases and word processing. She even took me to the bookstore and showed me how to use my id card to get a printout of my textbook list, and walked around with me to help me find the books I needed. She left me with a full basket and a handshake, wishing me good luck and reminding me that I'd be getting an email from an advisor in my department, and that I'd have to set up a meeting to get my fall schedule approved. I could have kissed her. Even her thoughts were warm and friendly, simply happy to help me get settled.

All of that took a couple hours, and afterwards I went to a big stationary store to buy notebooks, pens, pencils and highlighters. I even got a big pack of index cards to help me study for tests. I threw in a pack of invitations so I could start organizing Tara's baby shower. When I got back to my car, I had to sit for a few minutes and just take everything in. I'd gone from being a waitress with no real prospects to being a college student in an afternoon, and I was a bit overwhelmed.

Since I knew my schedule, I figured I should call Sam. He picked up the bar phone, then asked me to hold while he went to his office. "So, Sook, how's your day off?"

I smiled. "Pretty good. I was just over at LSU. I've got my summer schedule."

"What's it look like?" he asked.

I looked over the printout again. "I've got class Monday to Thursday, from 10:30 to 3:20, from June 1st to July 31st. I don't know my schedule for the fall yet, but the term starts at the end of August."

Sam was silent for a minute or two, and I figured he was looking at the calendar he marked everybody's shifts on. "Alright, I think we can pretty much make something work. You're going to be down on hours for the summer, if that's okay."

I nodded to myself. "That should be fine. Eric will probably have a few jobs for me, and I've got the money Claudine left me if things get tight. If it's not too much trouble, could we keep me around twenty hours a week, for the first half of June at least? I want to see how I get on with my courses and homework and stuff."

He laughed a little. "Sure Sook. I've had a couple older high school girls drop off applications for summer work, so it won't be a problem. You excited for classes? What are you taking?"

I grinned and told him briefly. "I even got all my text books today, and I just picked up a bunch of notebooks and stuff. It's going to be funny to be a student again."

I could tell Sam was smiling by the tone of his voice. "I'm really happy for you, Sook. I better get back to the bar. See you tomorrow night, alright?"

"Sure thing, Sam. And thanks, for everything." That taken care of, I headed to the grocery store, since it was getting late and I hadn't eaten anything other than coffee. I got milk and cereal, and a bunch of fruit. After that, I headed back to Eric's and ate two bowls of cereal and a big mug of coffee with cream. He was still out for the day, so I decided to start poking through my new textbooks. The algebra looked like it was going to give me the most trouble, so I opened one of my new notebooks and started working my way through the first couple chapters.

I was going through the quadratic equation when I started getting hungry again. I went to the kitchen and pulled a mango from the fridge. I made two cuts around the pit, leaving most of the fruit in the skin so it was easy to eat, popping both halves on a plate before nibbling the bit of fruit left around the pit. I took my plate back to the living room and went back to the algebra. I was surprised at how late it had gotten, since Eric strolled out while I was eating the second half of the mango.

He smiled at me when I looked up from my notebook. "Oh, hey. Sorry, I got caught up looking at my textbooks. I meant to come snuggle with you before you got up."

"That's alright lover. What are you doing?"

I laughed. "Algebra. I haven't looked at this stuff since high school, so I figured I'd brush up a bit. I'm starting summer classes June 1st."

He sat down on the ground next to me and started poking through my textbooks. I took another bite of my mango, then started solving a quadratic. Eric sniffed curiously. "What are you eating? It smells nice."

Eric was a lot more chilled out than Bill had been about food. "It's mango." He looked slightly puzzled. "Uh, it's a tropical fruit."

He nodded slightly. "The only thing I do regret about not being alive in this age is that there are so many more foods these days. When I was alive, we ate whatever was available, and if there was nothing available, we went hungry." He leaned in to kiss me when I put down the mango. "I like that. It tastes of sweetness and the sun."

I laughed and shook my head. "What did you eat?"

He thought for a second. "Fish, most of the time. It was dried or salted to keep, but salt was expensive, so drying was more common. We had cattle, so we had beef sometimes. Wales would beach themselves, and we would eat that. Sometimes we would hunt them, if they came close to shore, by chasing them onto the beaches. If the season was right, we had fruit. I liked blackberries and raspberries very much, and apples. For vegetables, we had carrots and," he paused. "I don't know the word in English, but they were like carrots, but white. They were good in stews."

"Potatoes?" I guessed.

He frowned. "No, those came from the new world, from South America. I never had those. These were the same shape as carrots, maybe a bit fatter."

"Parsnip?"

He shrugged. "That could be it. In the spring and summer we had greens, but those did not keep long. In the winter we ate whatever could be dried. From the cows and goats we had milk, and butter and cheese. We didn't really drink the milk, like you do today. It didn't keep long enough, so we usually made it into something else. We had some grains, like barley, but not much bread. We ate porridge sometimes. We drank a lot. We drank a lot of ale, sometimes mead, you know, from honey. Not too much water. I was probably slightly drunk for most of my life." He laughed and shook his head. "Did you have a good day? You went to the store?"

I tried to imagine what life would have been like for Eric, and what it was like to look back that far, to remember the people he'd known, the things he'd done. It was hard to imagine a thousand years passing me by. "Uh, yeah, I got some cereal, and milk, and some fruit. I got my textbooks, obviously." I gestured to the books strewn over the low table. "I'm all registered for my summer courses. They start in about a month. I haven't declared a major yet, since I can't decide between business administration and marketing, but the first two years are the same for both, so I've got some time to figure it out. I think I'm going to try to finish the degree in three years."

"Can you do that? I thought most degrees took four years in this country."

I nodded. "If I take courses this summer and next summer it should be fine." I started picking up my books. Eric picked up the printout of my schedule and read it over.

"If you want to stay here on the nights you have classes, you can. It will be a shorter drive for you in the mornings." He handed me the paper and I tucked it into the algebra text.

"Sometimes I might." I finished putting the books back into my shopping bags. "It depends what my work schedule is like. So, what do you want to do on your night off?"

He grinned at me. "We could always go bowling. I haven't been in over a decade, but I always found it fun."

I shook my head stiffly. Even the sight of bowling shoes reminded me of my uncle. I hated to even set foot in a bowling alley. "I don't bowl."

He frowned at me. "What's wrong? You're upset."

I shrugged. I figured as my sexual partner, I should probably tell Eric about being abused, but it was difficult to bring up, and awkward to discuss. "Look, I need you to not make a big deal about this, alright?" He was still frowning, but he nodded. "I was molested by my uncle when I was little. He was big into bowling."

Eric went very still. "What is his name?"

I laughed. "Nice try Eric, but Bill killed him. He was a heck of a lot more subtle about it as well. Uncle Bartlett never raped me, but he was working his way up to it, and I could see that in his head. It took me a while to get someone to believe me, but my Gran kicked him out of our life once I told her."

He seemed a bit out of his depth, so I smiled slightly. He reached out to touch me, but his hand dropped before it reached me. "I am glad he is dead."

That made me laugh. "Yeah, me too. But basically, I don't like bowling. We could go out dancing. I know you spend every night in a bar, but it could be fun to go to one you don't own, sort of check out the competition."

He laughed. "Perhaps. While we are on the subject of difficult conversations, there is something I want to discuss with you. When I made a joke about turning you this morning, you got very uncomfortable. I was only joking. I know how you feel about being turned, and I will respect your wishes."

I sighed. "That's not exactly it, Eric." He stared at me, and I struggled to continue. I figured I should at least let him know my wishes had changed slightly. "Look, Eric, you know how I said I didn't want to be turned, even if I was dying?" He nodded, and the way he was looking at me made me a bit uncomfortable. "Well, if it comes to a choice between death and being a vampire, I'd rather be a vampire."

He looked slightly shocked, and I had no idea what I was feeling through the bond. "It's always a choice between death and being a vampire."

I punched him lightly in the arm. "I meant in a more immediate way. Can't we drop this? Come on, we're trying to decide on what to do tonight."

I thought for a second that Eric was going to actually do what I asked, but I was completely wrong. "No. We are going to discuss this. What has made you change your mind?"

I sighed. "I haven't changed my mind. I just figure that if I'm going to die anyway, why not get turned? If I hate it completely, I can always choose to meet the sun. I came far too close to dying with the torture twins and really, when it was staring me in the face, point blank, I didn't like it. I'm thinking through a lot of things, trying to find some kind of career. I need to get all of that sorted out before I can really start to think of the long term. I just figured you should know, in case I get myself into a situation where you let me die instead of turning me."

He took a few minutes to just stare at me. "You do frequently wind up in those situations." I nodded. "How long have you been thinking about changing your mind?"

I sighed. "I haven't changed my mind, Eric. God, you're like a dog with a bone. I shouldn't have mentioned it."

He laughed. "Sookie, I've been alive for over a thousand years." I didn't point out that he wasn't actually alive. That seemed pretty tactless. "Your human lifespan will pass very quickly for me. Every time I see you, I think about what I will do when I lose you. It would be nice to not have to think about that."

I frowned at him. "It's not like we'd be together forever if I got turned. Heck, I don't even know that we'd be together forever if I stay my mostly human self. We've only been dating for a few months." I sighed. "And what about the whole vampire marriage thing? What happens with that if someone turns me?"

Eric brushed a strand of hair from my face. "I don't like the idea of 'someone' turning you. Let us be very clear. If you decide to be turned, you will come to me first. We will discuss it. If you decide for whatever reason you don't want to have me as maker, you will talk to Pam. I wouldn't trust anyone else to turn you. As to our marriage, which you continue to ignore, it will continue. Since we made no stipulations as to length, we will be married until one of us finally dies, or we decide to dissolve the union. I know that you've been told vampires do not remain with their makers for long, but a new vampire will stay with his or her maker for at least a few decades. I stayed with Appius for two hundred years. Bill stayed with Lorena for about eighty. Pam was with me for over a hundred, and now she is back, though she has much of her own life. Even if we stay together for the rest of your human life, we will have fifty or sixty years at the very most. I am not suggesting you turn soon. If you take my blood every once in a while you won't age as rapidly. It is just comforting that you're willing to consider the option."

I sighed. "I'm not sure, Eric. I will let you know, if I ever make a decision."

"That's all I ask lover." He brushed a kiss across my lips. "So, you want to go dancing." The tips of his fangs showed as he smiled. "I would like to propose a compromise." I arched an eyebrow. "There is a fair in Bossier City tonight. Rides, games of chance, music. It will be fun and I won't need to put on a suit."

I looked at him incredulously. "You like carnival rides?"

He shrugged. "It is something to do, and these events occur mostly in darkness. There are many things I can't do, because I am limited by the night. It's only recently that the widespread use of electricity made night time activity more widespread. Do you dislike these types of things?"

I shook my head. "No, Eric, I like carnivals and roller coasters. I just always thought it would be a bit tame for you."

He grinned. "Come. Let's get changed and go. If we stay here any longer I'm going to decide you need to be chained to my bed for the foreseeable future."

That made me shiver, and I thought about suggesting we do that instead, but I rose and followed him, excited for an honest to god date with Eric Northman.

A/N: So, yeah, hope that was enjoyable. Next chapter will see some interesting times coming up. Hope everyone is liking and please reward the fingers I'm working to the bone for you with reviews! Oh, for my snippets of viking diet and what not, I usually turn to the Viking Answer Lady. Google knows her, and she's pretty cool. Sometimes I dredge up things I learned living in York (Jorvik to the vikings) and spending far too much time hanging about viking museums. I probably make mistakes, but hopefully nothing too glaring!