Author's Note: Oh gosh, has it really been 20 days? I'm sorry guys. Between exams, graduation, and a mild case of writer's block it took me a bit. But now it is summer and I should fewer distractions. Hopefully my writer's block will dissipate as well. I know where I want to go with this story; it's just a matter of getting there. Ok, well I hope you guys enjoy!

Chapter 7

"Lover," Eric mouthed into my hair as he laid me into bed. It was the one place we had not had sex tonight. I didn't think there was anywhere in the house Eric and I hadn't had sex during the time he lived here with amnesia. But Eric found those places this time. I was pleasantly sore and completely worn out. I would have worn out much earlier if it wasn't for the ingestion of quite a bit of Eric's blood.

I responded with a murmur that I was exhausted and heard Eric chuckle as he began dressing.

"That was my plan dear one," he said as he pushed a few stray hairs behind my ear and reluctantly pushed himself away from the bed. I turned away from him and my mind drifted to the memory of a scared Eric catching up with me after the witch war and carrying me to the car. Oddly enough I was strongly aware of the intoxicating sent of my blood soaked body, the warmth of my body in Eric's arms, and an intense sense of affection towards… me? I realized, with a fearful shock, that this was Eric's mind taking a trip down memory lane, not mine, and my body stiffened with the realization.

Will she never again love me as she did then? Will I ever be able to stop loving her as I did? His thoughts snaked coldly through my mind and I couldn't help but to look over at him with widened eyes. It was dark and I had no idea if he saw my reaction, but I had a fearful thought that I saw him lift an accusatory eyebrow at me. But with that he was gone and I could fight sleep no longer.

************************************

I couldn't believe the display on my alarm clock when I woke up. Four o'clock in the afternoon! Granted, I didn't go to sleep until around 4am but I had slept almost twelve hours. Despite feeling sore in a few spots, in a good way, I felt quite invigorated. I hopped into the bathroom for a quick shower and some grooming and then threw the last of my belongings into my suitcase. Tonight was the trip, the five hour car ride with Eric. It didn't help that I had read his thoughts last night for a few terrifying moments. More terrifying were the contents of those thoughts, which I refused to even acknowledge at the moment. I had nervously paced myself into the kitchen and realized a blinking light on my answering machine.

"Hey Sook, it's Sam," the answering machine played when I pressed the button. "I know you leave this evening but I'm interviewing a waitress I'm considering hiring and I could really use your judgment. She just came out of a substance abuse program and I need to make sure she is trust worthy and… honest about wanting this job. I'm really strapped for waitresses here and I want to give her a chance but… Ok, I'm rambling. Just be here around five if you can. We can make it quick."

The answering machine sounded its closing beep and I glanced at the clock. I could just make it, although I needed to be back here by six to leave. I didn't like the idea of reading waitress applicants' minds for Sam – what is this Fangtasia? – but I did feel like I owed him. I leave him high-and-dry with no warning so often. With a sigh, I made up my mind and hustled over to Merlotte's.

When I walked into Sam's office in the back he was already sitting and interviewing the young woman. She was pretty, despite being a little too thin and carrying sleep-deprived bags under her eyes. I sat down next to Sam and he patted my leg. The girl's thoughts were practically bombarding me. Please God, just give me this chance. I know I can get myself back on track. I won't use anymore. And I won't go with another vampire neither. I just want a chance. I can do this. Please God. Her jumbled prayers offered no indication of malevolent plans. Here was just a poor ex-drug user, and ex-fangbanger, looking for a second chance. I gave Sam a reassuring squeeze of his hand to let him know she passed.

He smiled at me and then looked from the paper in his hand to the girl. "So, you say you've had bartending experience in addition to waitressing?"

"Yessir," she nodded. "I filled in some at the bar in addition to waitressing. If you ask the other waitresses, I really got along well with the customers while in both positions. I wish my boss could have given me a good recommendation but we just did not separate well. Despite our parting, I do not have a problem with authority and the other waitresses at Fangtasia got along just fine with me."

At the mention of Fangtasia, my body gave a subconscious jerk. Despite me keeping my face calm, Sam noticed my tension and asked, "Something wrong Sookie?" This is where it all went downhill. At the mention of my name, the woman looked up at me and her mind drifted to a place I didn't wish to see. There she was, in unspeakable positions, in a back hall of Fangtasia being… fucked by Eric. Not only that, but he was calling her Sookie and she was, well, saying some pretty perverted things to him which only seemed to egg him on. I was disgusted to say the least and I swiftly vacated the office. Sam followed.

"Oh God Sam, I'm sorry about that. But she… I just saw in her mind her being… by Eric. And it was so gross and—" Sam cut me off by hugging me to him.

"It's alright. I don't have to hire her."

"No, oh don't do that Sam. She really does want a second chance and she seems nice enough."

He nodded and stuck his head in the door to tell the young woman he was going to check on customers and head right back in. While I calmed myself outside the office, the girl peeked out to look at me.

"Miss, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to offend you in some way. I didn't mean to turn up my nose at your name, but I've only met one other girl named Sookie, well, heard of would be more accurate."

"What did you hear of this other 'Sookie'?" I asked her. She looked uncertain about continuing but then gave a small shrug.

"Well, there was just this guy, this vampire. He was my boss at Fangtasia and we had a short… relationship. He would just always make me let him call me that name. I know it is lame but I was a bit of a fangbanger for a while and he was just so… sexy." She paused and I nodded to say I didn't need to hear more. But then she continued; it was like I opened up the confessional floodgates. "And I wasn't the only girl either, see. I went to these meetings when I was cleaning up, kind of a Fangbangers Anonymous thing. There were quite a few other girls who frequented that bar that had similar experiences with this guy. I mean, I know vampires just don't care about us humans, but even then in my low times I didn't want to be some ho. I would like to be a guy's one-woman. You know? I think I deserve that. Between that bugging me and the constant lawsuits from him kicking tourists around… well I knew if I wanted to get better I'd have to quit. Since I kind of told him off when I quit, well, I couldn't really go ask him for a recommendation. Right?" She finished breathless. She had just spilled her every thought without a breath in between. I was nauseated by the information. Granted I didn't know how long ago this was, but I didn't care. I faked a smile and excused myself.

"Well, I will let Sam know I think you will do just fine here. You've got my recommendation," I paused for her name.

"Melanie, But I go by Lanie."

"Well Lanie, nice to meet you. You take care." I told her as we shook hands and parted ways. I stopped by in the bar to tell Sam I supported hiring her and then I had to get the hell out of there. I needed to recollect my thoughts and straighten myself out before a five hour ride with my philandering Viking.

I scolded myself for the thought once I was in the car. I was engaged during this time. Additionally I had banished Eric from my life and he was complying, kind of. He wasn't cheating on me with other women, because we weren't together. I shouldn't believe he would starve himself of women, for either blood or sex, after me kicking him out of my life. Still how he acted was just gross. And what was that about abusing the customers? This was the second time I was hearing of this.

I tried to reign in my muddled thoughts by the time I pulled around the back of my house. I was startled to see Eric's corvette back there before I realized it was 6:10pm. I was late. I locked up my car and headed in the back door.

When I got into the living room I saw Eric holding a picture frame and staring at it intently.

"You're late," he said without looking up at me. He put the frame back in its place and I saw that it was the one of Alex and me at last year's Christmas party.

"Yea well, I told Sam I'd help him interview a waitress for Merlotte's. He wanted me to help, you know, make sure he could trust her."

"Is Merlotte's stealing business strategies from Fangtasia?" Eric joked with a quick smile he flashed at me before going back to scanning the pictures on the small table. I couldn't help but chuckle a bit at the same joke I had made earlier.

"No but, he is stealing waitresses. It's some girl Lanie, used to work for you." I said as nonchalantly as possible. Eric stiffened and his eyes made contact with me immediately. He stared at me for just a second, as if trying to discern how much I knew.

"Yes, I remember her. She left us three months ago." He shrugged. "I'm sure she'll do fine if she's gotten her drug problems taken care of. Since you are late, we should leave. I put your luggage in the trunk." He walked out the back door and that was that.

I think I may have been standing in the living room with my mouth hanging open. I really expected more out of that. I looked around the house one last quick time, turned out the lights, locked the door, and met Eric at his car.

"We aren't really going to drive five hours in the winter night with the top down are we?" I asked as I climbed down into the car seat.

"Yes, we are. You have a jacket. Besides, I grabbed this blanket off your couch for you." He said as he handed me the afghan, from behind my seat. I took it and wrapped up in it as tightly and warmly as I could before Eric took off down the dark roads.

"I feel like a giant burrito," I said noting my blanket swathed self.

"Burrito," Eric said in a tone that sounded as if he wasn't exactly sure what a burrito was. "At least you are a burrito I could eat." He leered at me.

"That reminds me Eric, we need to talk about that. I don't think… I don't think it is right for us to go on just sleeping together."

"Well lover if you would like more—"

"No," I said, cutting him off. "I'm still grieving. My emotions are still a frazzled mess. I've been seeking comfort in your arms and it's not fair to you. And it's not appropriate of me." I looked down at my hands, this conversation was painful.

"You think you are going to hurt me?" Eric asked, sounding almost incredulous.

"I don't know. Maybe. Maybe you'll hurt me. But I'm not one to just have a friends-with-benefits relationship so… I think we need to end these sexual escapades until I get my feelings sorted out."

Eric looked somewhere between angry and sad, but mostly unreadable. He stared straight ahead and asked, "Is this because of your meeting with one of my waitresses?"

"Eric this is not because you were off having sex with every girl in Fangtasia despite having claimed you—" I stopped. I didn't know where I was even going with that sentence.

"Despite claiming I wanted to be with you? If you remember, you told me you wanted me out of your life. You told me you were happy. Did you want me to mourn your absence every day? Did you want me to go on a hunger strike for you?"

I scoffed. "Oh please Eric, I would have never asked you to do that. I would never believe you even could."

"I would have."

"What?"

"I would have done those things for you. I would have done anything you had asked me if it meant you giving me a chance." He spoke sincerely while making steady eye contact with me. "But you told me you wanted nothing to do with me. You wanted to try a normal life without any vampires, so I did that for you too." He looked away, back out at the road. "Look how well that turned out."

Sometimes I forget that Eric is the ancient vampire that he is. I forget that he has to make a conscious effort to not offend my sensitive human emotions that he likely long forgotten. Sometimes I forget he can say things that can really hurt me. That statement reminded me of all those things and I began to cry. I curled against the car's door and tried to block out the pain in my heart that his words had stirred within me.

We were both painfully silent for a very long time. I was curled against the door, my blanket wrapped tightly around me to stave off the cold of the winter wind. Eric looked more like he was in his freaky vampire downtime than like he was driving. Sometimes when I would look over at him I would even catch him closing his eyes and smiling, enthralled with the sensation of cold air whipping over him. Just seeing him like that made me shiver, despite my warm afghan.

I closed my eyes and let my mind wander to happier times. I remembered warm summer morning breakfasts with Gran. I thought of takeout and movie night with Alex. I even found myself reminiscing of long talks in front of the fire with my amnesiac Eric. I tried to pinpoint when I was happiest; I tried to determine what I wanted. I looked to Eric, this beautiful and yet dangerous creature who was so different from me. Yet at every turn I found myself drawn to him, constantly with him. He was also always with me, always protecting me. This was the case except for this peculiar last year, strange for its lack of actual strangeness, when I told him to leave me alone. He was right, that hadn't turned out well.

"Eric?"

"Yes dear one?"

"How long have we been driving?"

"About 3 hours. We should have less than two hours to go."

I gasped.

"What?" Eric asked.

"No, I just didn't realize so much time had gone by."

Eric merely looked over at me and smiled. It was his strong, unnerving smile that always made me uncomfortable. He would not look away from me.

"Eric, you are driving, you should watch the road. We aren't both immortal, ya know?" I scolded.

"Oh, I'm very aware of that dear one." Eric said solemnly and then swerved the car a bit sharply to correct its path. Perhaps it was that swerve that caused that which was headed for Eric towards me instead, for at that moment there was the whooshing sound and then a sharp pain in my shoulder.

I screamed out in pain as I looked over and saw a long wooden arrow stabbed through my shoulder. Eric looked over at me with shock, looked behind us to see a large SUV was following, and then pulled the car over way too quickly. The lurching of the car increased the pain in my shoulder and I began to feel as if I was losing consciousness. Eric pulled me from the car and laid me down behind it, using it as a barricade. What happened next was blurry. But I know I saw Eric rip his driver side door off of the car to use as a shield against the onslaught of more wooden arrows. The SUV had pulled over with us and I counted at least three shifter brains inside. I had lost consciousness as the battle ensued between the Viking and the three weres.

I awoke later to Eric licking the wound at my shoulder which itched and only barely throbbed with a dull ache.

"You healed me." I murmured as I let my head loll to the side and against Eric's chest. He held me to him.

"Yes, you were lucky, the arrow didn't hit bone."

"You were lucky." I said. "You were lucky it hit me and not your heart." Eric lightly chuckled. How he could find humor at a moment like this was beside me. But I could tell, and feel, that he was ecstatic. The thrill of a victorious battle and a blood exchange with me are just about the two greatest things to this vampire.

"Are you too cold?" He asked with sincere concern. "Do you feel alright?"

"I feel warm actually." I replied honestly, and let him hold me tighter. "I was lucky too."

"Hmm?" Eric sounded his confusion as he placed me back into the car.

"It was lucky for me too, that it didn't hit you in the heart." I clarified.

Eric didn't respond, but he let his hand run through my hair and then cup my cheek before covering me with the blanket and getting into his seat. As we drove away I saw a burning pile that was the SUV containing, I'm sure, whatever was left of the were bodies.

"Are you really driving the rest of the way without a door?" I asked.

"Yes, that little distraction cost us thirty minutes. But don't worry; I'm going to drive faster. That way we won't be on the road as long without a door." Eric laughed.

"Oh yea, that's safer." I muttered and rubbed my shoulder which had only a healing, red raised bump left. Eric flipped out his cell phone to fill Pam in on the details of our "distraction."

The rest of the drive was surprisingly pleasant. Eric and I simply talked and caught up on some of the events of the past year. He only glossed over that perhaps he had been a little more violent with the customers of Fangtasia (because he missed me?) and I related stories from Merlotte's more than details from Alex and my relationship. I realized from our conversation that I had in fact missed seeing him over the past year. He then told me of the conference we were headed to. It was hosted by Felipe de Castro, although mostly through Victor, and there would be lots of business dealings going on with humans tonight and tomorrow. It was here that I was supposed to observe the important ones and read the humans. I nodded my head and tried to keep track of names and events I was supposed to remember.

"Eric, why did those weres attack us earlier, were they after you or me?" I asked, totally changing the subject. Eric didn't seem to be caught off guard.

"I assume both. If I were to guess, and I would have to because I did not take time to ask questions, they were going to get me out of the way when I wasn't prepared so that you would be more vulnerable."

"Right," I said, letting it soak in slowly. "With you gone, I'm dead meat."

"Sookie, I think you are much stronger than you realize. You have survived much. Whoever is after you completely overestimates your vulnerability." Eric responded with a reassuring tone, but he did not look away from the road. This was a good thing because he was driving very fast. I couldn't help but smile, at least a little, at the compliment.

************************************

We were in downtown New Orleans before I knew it. Eric drove so furiously after the attack that, despite the delay, I think we arrived quicker than we would have otherwise. We pulled up to the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in the French Quarter and Eric passed the car keys along to a valet. He handed him a sizeable tip and instructed the valet to find a repair place that would have the car back to perfect condition by Saturday night. As we walked away I couldn't help but notice the shocked face of the valet when he saw the damage to the driver's side.

"Don't worry about the luggage; it'll be in our room when we check in." Eric told me with a perfectly sincere smile.

"Our room? We are sharing a room?" I was horrified. First there was the fact that I felt it was completely inappropriate for us to share a room, especially after my promise to myself to not sleep with Eric – not an easy task – until I sorted out my feelings. Secondly, it was quite unsettling to think I would be in the room with a vampire during his daytime comatose state.

"Sookie, it is a testament of my trust in you to share a room with you during my vulnerable daytime hours. Are you not honored?" Eric sounded almost offended at my reaction. Before I could respond, he continued. "Besides the vampire floor is the most secure and most importantly, there IS a room in your name, but you will not be in it. This is for your protection; you will be safe with me."

I let out a huff, "Yes, and if there's another bomb, you'll be safe with me."

Eric chuckled, "Yes, yes. That too." His revelry was interrupted when we were approached by a man I hadn't seen for a year and a half, and honestly never wanted to see again. It was Victor Madden. He looked as collected and suave as he did the night of the takeover.

"Sookie Stackhouse, I am genuinely thrilled to see you here this evening." He said as he took my hand delicately in his. "I am truly saddened to hear of your recent tragedy."

"Thank you," I managed to choke out. I still saw Victor as the enemy.

"And Eric, old friend, I hope the drive wasn't too bad."

Eric grinned, "We had a bit of trouble, but nothing I couldn't handle."

"Of course, as if such a trouble existed that you couldn't." Victor responded with a saccharine chortle. I was ready to get as far away from him as possible. I didn't need to read his mind to tell that Victor Madden was not a vampire with which I wanted myself entangled. I suppose my face was betraying my opinion, because when Victor cast his eyes back towards me he frowned.

"Ah, Miss Stackhouse, I feel you likely still do not trust me. I understand we did not meet under the most friendly of circumstances but do let me try to erase that poor first impression. You will be accompanying me tonight for some meetings. I'm sure once we spend some time together, your opinion of me will change." He flashed me a debonair smile and pulled me towards him. I didn't budge, and looked desperately at Eric.

"Victor, I believe Sookie should be accompanying me. She is m—"

"Your bonded," Victor added quickly. "I know, which is why I will take especially good care of her. I, of course, would not escort her away from you if she were yours. But since she was just so recently engaged, I assume I am correct in my supposition that she is in fact no one's." They both looked at me and I felt like a bone between two hungry dogs. Maybe that was not the best analogy.

Eric looked at Victor, his eyes betraying the anger that seethed behind them, and nodded his head. I opened my mouth to protest, but Eric bent to kiss the top of my head and then added with a whisper, "I will never be far. You will be safe." Then he was gone and Victor was leading me away by the arm.

"So Victor, are you the King of Louisiana now?" I asked while trying to calm my nerves.

"No, Felipe is still King. I will just be the acting head of Louisiana while Felipe rules from Nevada."

"Oh. So are you like... the prince?" I asked, mentally slapping myself. I felt dumb the minute the word left my lips, but I really didn't know the vampire hierarchy terminology.

Victor let out a deep, amused laugh and patted my arm. "Yes, I suppose you could word it like that."

"Sookie, I think you will enjoy yourself this weekend. You see, the purpose of this is to demonstrate the supremacy of Louisiana's new… management. We've had a little over a year of settling and restructuring and this weekend we are celebrating that fact. This weekend is for New Orleans, both alive and undead, to assure her that she is in good hands." He smiled proudly, as if he truly believed his line. I couldn't help but smile back. Perhaps I did judge Victor prematurely; he seemed nice enough… for a vampire prince.

So there I was, being led down the hall of the elegant five-star hotel by one dangerous and handsome Victor Madden.

Author's Note: Ok, so this chapter was hard because it was the transition between Bon Temps and New Orleans, so not a whole lot happened. However, the next chapters should move quickly and a lot will be happening. Soon we will know for sure who is after Sookie and why, as well as learn some new questions.

Thanks soooo much for the reviews and PMs. Most importantly, thank you for those who choose to sticke with this even though it is no longer accurate due to Dead and Gone. I hope you guys continue to read and review so I know people are still interested.