A/N: This chapter definitely has a "use the loo-first; no eating or drinking while reading" warning. And fear ye not: the next chapter is almost done!

Eric POV

I had managed to time our date so that we would be at the Fountain of Rings for the final show of the evening, which happened at nine o'clock. While I had seen nearly all of the different shows before, seeing one with Sookie made it that much more wonderful. If I was being completely honest, I'd say I got more joy from watching her reactions than I did from the show itself.

And then, that kiss.

I could have spent all night kissing her. I hadn't wanted to stop, but I really didn't want to get carried away in public. If we hadn't stopped, it only would have gotten more intense; I knew that for certain. With her in my lap, snuggled in my arms, we talked for almost two hours. She seemed content to stay right where she was, and I was ecstatic to keep her there. As the time passed, she grew quieter; not talking less, just in a softer tone.

Eventually, I noticed one of the park's security guards had started heading in our direction. The minute I saw them approaching, I knew what was coming: the park was closing, and we had to leave. It was difficult to not growl at him; instead, I merely nodded and hoped that was enough for him to move on.

Sookie hadn't seen the guard, so she seemed a little surprised when I nudged her. Looking down into her eyes, I could tell she was starting to get sleepy. As much as I hated to burst our cozy bubble, I let her know that it was almost eleven o'clock, and we were being shooed out of the park. The adorably sleepy pout she gave me only encouraged me to kiss her again. That kiss was as intense as the first had been, but in a different manner.

After we stood up, I tucked her back under my arm; I didn't think she'd let me carry her, but I wanted to be as close to her as I could possibly get. We walked slowly back to the car; it seemed neither of us wanted the evening to end just yet. I had to keep reminding myself that our good thing wasn't ending; we were just putting it on pause for a few hours.

As much as I really hoped those hours were numbered in single digits, I didn't want to scare her off. The fact that I hadn't done it thus far was a good sign.

If nothing else, we both needed to get some shut-eye. Sookie had mentioned that Amelia had done a good job of distracting her the night before. I hadn't fared nearly as well, and had been running on adrenaline for most of the day.

I helped Sookie into the car, then went over to my side, slipping behind the wheel just in time to see her trying to stifle a yawn.

"Holy slap, I'm creepy."

I blinked, then turned to look at her. Did I hear that right? She had leaned her head back and closed her eyes. Momentarily distracted by seeing her in that position, I was still staring at her when she opened her eyes and turned her head to look at me.

"What?" she asked, looking confused.

"That's what I was about to ask you. What did you just say?"

"Um... 'Holy crap, I'm sleepy.' Oh my god, I switched my words, didn't I? I do that kind of thing when I'm tired. How did it actually come out?" She squeezed her eyes shut, but started giggling when I told her what she'd actually said.

I chuckled along with her and started the car. "It's called a spoonerism, I think. I remember my dad telling me about one he'd heard back when he was in college. One of his fraternity brothers had gotten him hooked on General Hospital, of all things. Back then, television was all broadcast live; there was no editing. During a particularly tense scene, one of the characters asked for a 'hypodeemic nerdle.'"

Sookie went from giggling to a full on belly laugh; it was infectious, and for several minutes we just sat there like a couple of loons, laughing until we had tears in our eyes.

"Oh," she gasped, "That's almost better than the one Jason did back when we were kids. Whenever he got into trouble for something that he'd obviously done, he would say that he hadn't done it, that it had been his evil twin, Skippy. Well, one day, it came out wrong, and he said something about his 'evil skin, Twippy.'"

At that point, I was laughing so hard that my sides were aching. Some tiny part of my brain that was still rational managed to turn the car engine back off. We were there for another ten, maybe fifteen minutes, just laughing and giggling like a pair of deranged hyenas.

A few times, we would start to calm down, our ha-has changing into hee-hees. Then we would look at each other and start giggling again. Just when I thought we were finally done, Sookie muttered "nerdle" under her breath, and we were off again.

Eventually, we regained our composure long enough for me to be certain that it was safe to drive. The unfortunate thing about that was it felt like I'd gotten another wind. I could easily stay up a few more hours, but I wasn't sure the same could be said for Sookie.

I started the car again, "Where to?"

She pulled out her phone to check the time. "It's almost midnight, which means the only places that are going to be open are bars and 24-hour restaurants. And I don't know about you, but I'm not tired anymore."

I got a warm feeling when I realized what she was really saying: she didn't want the date to end yet, either.

"I'm not much of a bar person," I said. "Are you hungry?"

"Not really. You?"

I could always eat, but there was no way I was going to get what I was really hungry for. I shrugged, hoping it came across as nonchalant. When she bit her lip, I had to bite my tongue before I asked her if she needed help with that.

Sookie POV

"Would you like to find somewhere to hang out and talk?" Eric asked. "Or should I get you home so you can get some sleep? I mean, I know you said you're not tired, but you have been up a long time."

When I'd checked my phone earlier, I'd seen several missed text messages from Amelia; she wanted to let me know that she was going to be out for the night, and that if came home from my own date, I shouldn't wait up for her. I fired off a quick response letting her know that my night was going well and hoped hers was, too.

That meant that if Eric and I wanted to go back to the apartment I shared with Amelia, we'd have the place to ourselves. There were so many ways in which that was both a good and a bad thing.

"I could really go for some hot chocolate," I said.

He nodded. "Ooh, that does sound good right about now. You know of any places we could get some at this hour?"

Without thinking, I responded, "My place."

He was doing it again. Eric was looking at me like I was an oasis in the desert. I felt a slight twinge of anxiety, wondering how on earth I'd find the nerve to tell him that if he was going through a dry spell, he had nothing on me. I knew all about the things I wanted to do with him, but I'd never actually done any of them.

And as much as I wanted them, I didn't want them to happen tonight. I liked where we were. It was fun; I had the feeling that once we got serious, it would stay that way. It wouldn't be serious in the sense of not being fun anymore, but it would almost certainly be way more intense.

I liked flirting. For all my shyness, I was good at flirting. That's basically what I got paid to do. I had no idea if I was good at what came after flirting. I tried to diffuse the intensity of the moment by letting out a small chuckle.

"Wow, so you really like hot chocolate, huh?"

That seemed to snap him out of it, but it also seemed to make him feel awkward. I reached out and grabbed his hand to hold it.

"Hey, it's okay. Tonight we had a lot of fun walking around together. I have this crazy notion that we're going to be walking in the same direction for at least a little while. Just because we know where we're currently headed, doesn't mean we have to run there."

He smiled as he looked down at our joined hands. "You're right. I like walking with you, Sookie."

And just like that, we were back in a comfortable place. He took his hand back long enough to get the car running. He stopped the car at the exit of the parking lot and turned to me.

"You know how to get to your house from here?"

"Eep. Um. I know how to get there on the trains. Can you get us to Decatur Square? I can give you driving directions when we're a little closer to home."

"Sure thing."

Neither of us had any interest in being stuck in the Friday night traffic. It wasn't as bad as it would have been in Buckhead, but apparently we were close enough to Underground Atlanta for there to be a fair number of people still driving around. Luckily, he seemed to know the downtown area well enough to take us down some of the less-busy side streets. Once we were within a few miles of my apartment, I was able to take over directing him through the side streets. We managed to get home in half the time it would have taken if we'd taken the main roads.

When we got into my place, I saw that Amelia had left a note on the kitchen table.

Sooks,

Went out on a hot date, hope yours went well. Text me when you read this so I know you got home okay. Deets at brunch?

'Meels

I grinned and got out my phone so I could let her know I was indeed home safely. If her night was going well, she wouldn't be reading it anytime soon, but I knew she'd check her phone before she passed out.

"Have a seat and prepare to be amazed. My hot chocolate isn't as good as what 'Meels can make, but it's up there."

Eric grinned and took a seat on one of the stools at the breakfast bar.

"Is this a secret recipe, or can you tell me what you're putting in it?" he asked.

I grinned. "The way I make it isn't a secret: it's just milk and Nutella."

"Nutella? What's that?"

I turned to gape at him. "You're kidding. You've never had Nutella?"

When he shook his head, I reached into the silverware drawer to get out two spoons. After getting the lid off the jar, I took one of the spoons and scooped up a little bit of Nutella. I walked over to Eric, holding out the spoon, but at the last minute, I stuck it in my own mouth instead.

"Hey, that's not..."

I cut him off with a kiss. When our mouths opened to each other, he moaned and snaked an arm around my waist so he could pull me closer. It felt like he was trying to devour me. I melted against him, but jumped when I heard something clatter nearby.

The spoon. I'd dropped it. I pulled back a little and smiled at at him. "So... hot chocolate?"

He took a deep breath and shook his head before leaning his forehead against mine.

"Are you okay?" I asked nervously. He'd closed his eyes and his brows were furrowed, as if he was trying to concentrate.

He opened his eyes and gave me a look that was simultaneously intense and gentle. "I'm wonderful. But I think I'll just stick to water for now."

"Oh. You didn't like it? I think we have some Hershey's..."

He cut me off by placing a finger against my lips. Once I'd quieted, he gently ran a thumb across my lower lip. "It was delicious, but now I'm not going to be able to taste it without thinking about all of the things I want to do with you. As much as I want you, I also want to respect your wishes about what you want."

My stomach clenched with need. And anxiety. It must have shown on my face.

"Did I say too much?" he asked, frowning.

I gulped and shook my head; when I opened my mouth to speak, nothing came out. My throat felt dry, so I tried clearing it to get my voice back.

My brain was tossing out suggestions, right and left. Tell him you want him. Tell him you want to wait because you think this is something special. Tell him you want to savor it slowly. Or tell him you don't want to wait and then give him directions to the bedroom; maybe he'll even carry you there. Tell him something. Tell him anything. Don't leave the poor boy hanging. Hell, offer him a glass of water or something. Just don't mess this UP. For Pete's sake, say something.

But none of that came out.

Oh, it wasn't that nothing came out, no. My mutinous mouth blurted out the truth before I could stop it.

"I'm a virgin."

Disclaimer: All of the characters contained in this story are property of Charlaine Harris. I don't own them; I just like to play with them a bit.