A/N *** Thanks to everyone who has read and reviewed. Trust me when I tell you that it won't be long before some lemons are happening. Anyone who has read me knows that I can't hold out for too long, I'm smut-a-licious. Please keep the reviews coming, they make my day!

The date had ended with a simply beautiful kiss as Forrest bid me goodnight at my front door. Even with my desperate nervousness due to knowing that Eric now knew where I was and that I was dating again, the feel of his mouth on mine was breathtaking. I watched from the picture window as he backed the roadster out of the driveway and gave him a little wave before closing the drapes. Now I stand here listening as the sound of the antique engine roars away, giving him plenty of space before I do what I don't want to.

I know Eric won't answer me, he will refuse to hear me out because he's that fucking stubborn. I need to try and dissuade him anyway. My hands shake as I dial the number that will forever be seared into my memory. Two short rings and straight to voicemail, just as I figured.

"Eric, its Sookie. Well of course you know who this is, I mean who else would it be?" I'm rambling already so I stop and take a deep breath before continuing. "Listen, I know you're probably pissed right now and thinking of doing something really stupid but I'm asking you to respect my wishes. I don't want to see you; I don't want you coming here. I know you probably already know where I am but I'm telling you that I've started a new life here and I'm happy. I don't need you sweeping in here with your grandiose ideas, being all high-handed and making my life miserable again…"

I'm cut off as the voicemail reaches its allotted time limit. I hesitate but end up calling again to get everything off my chest.

"Furthermore," I continue without missing a beat, "You are a married man now and I'm not that kind of girl. I could never be the other woman and you know this about me. You are the one who made this choice for yourself, for us. Regardless of your reasons, you and I don't have ties anymore. So stay away… I mean it goddammit! Don't come here and ruin this for me! I'm not yours so you can't get all territorial anymore!" I'm screaming into the phone but I can't help it. I'd rather be angry than to cry over this again.

I end the call and feel more drained that I have in a while. With the whirlwind of a first date with Forrest that had so many ups and downs followed by being terrified of coming home and finding Eric Northman on my front porch somehow, I am a complete and utter mess. I need to talk to someone. Someone who might just understand… I pick up my phone again and scroll through my relatively short contact list. It only rings once and I can hear the sounds of closing in the background as my only friend here in Newport anwers.

"Hey Dawn, yeah sorry to bother you but I figured you'd be done with work by now. Listen, you think you could come over for a little while?"

Two hours and a half bottle of cotton candy vodka later, Dawn is sitting on my bed opposite me wearing a pair of my pajamas with her mouth hanging open.

"Shit," is all she can seem to mutter over and over.

"Yeah," is all I can seem to offer in reply.

"So I know who Eric Northman is."

Now it's my turn to be shocked.

"Yeah, a friend of mine back home sent me the calendar… Mr. January," she says and I nod. "Damn, chick, what was that like? She leans in closer and I can't help but laugh at the blatant improper curiosity. "I mean was it really as big as all the rumors say it is?"

"Well, yeah," I mutter, suppressing the urge to blush. "And while that was all well and good, it was his ass that really did it for me."

"OH MY FUCKING GOD!" she screams as she hurls a pillow at me. "But seriously, I can definitely see why you left. Who wants some bitch queen's leftovers? I think it was incredibly shitty for him to even think you'd be okay with being his chick on the side. Ain't no dick good enough to justify that as far as I'm concerned."

"Yeah, but you know, I don't think he even took the time to see it like that; I don't even know if he's even capable of seeing things from my point of view. He probably looked at it as a way to keep us together and that I would think that was the only thing that mattered. He's positively medieval in his thought process."

"Do you really think he'll show up here?" Dawn drawls as she sips on her drink, apparently un-phased by the idea.

"I hope we won't but I know deep down inside he will. I don't want to think about it, it scares me to think of seeing him again. I can't always control myself when I'm in the same room with him. He does something to me, he has this way of giving me a look and it's like I would kill myself trying to please him."

"What about Forrest?"

"Ahh, Forrest. What can I say? There's something about him that just draws me to him. He's as easy as Eric is complicated. I don't think there's any deception to him, I don't believe that he has any political aspirations or is in any danger of getting scooped up by some horrible vampire monarch. I think I could very easily fall for him. He has this way about him and this smile that makes a person melt. It's like I would do anything I had to just to see it again. He's so unlike anyone I have ever known, he's much more my speed than anyone else I have ever dated."

"Sounds to me like you already have fallen for him, at least a little bit," Dawn says as she downs the last of her vodka drink.

"Maybe," I half whisper just as I sense an empty "space" outside of my bedroom window. Time to switch up the conversation before I reveal too much to whomever is eavesdropping outside my window, "So anyway, what do you say we camp out in the living room? I have every single Twilight movie…"

"Jesus, I thought you were my friend! I hate that twat Edward and that girl who can't seem to close her mouth. Don't you have anything violent?"

We spend the next couple of hours watching some UFC fights that Jason had recorded for me and sent along with some mail that managed to find its way around being forwarded. Luckily for us we don't work the lunch shift today because the sun is already on the horizon as I feel myself getting sleepy. Just before I drift off I hear Eric through some remnant of the bond. It could be my imagination but I really don't think so, it's just the same as it was before I had Amelia break the bond with her witchy magic.

Sookie, I'll find a way to make things work. I'll be there soon, my lover. Soon.