"He doesn't think he can make it," Eric came back into the room and set the phone on the table in front of her.

"He can't make it?"

"It appears the Were was called away by an unavoidable emergency and it will occupy much of his attention for the next week. He assured me that he will try his best to return in time, but he is no longer in my debt so he is not required."

"But Alcide is my friend," Sookie protested, feeling a little stung.

"He sounded sincere about his responsibilities elsewhere and his hope to return in time," Eric offered her.

"So, we're going to confront a werepanther on our own?"

Eric sat next to her at the table and looked as though he were deep in thought. "It would be best if we got as few as possible involved in this for their safety and my own. You said that the panther plans to meet Carl close to sunset, perhaps we can remain unseen or out of trouble until dark and I can arrange for Pam to meet us there. Yes," he paused to consider this idea. "That should work well for all parties involved."

"But what if Pam can't handle them both?"

Eric's eyes beamed at her. "You think that Pam would fall to a human and a panther? I can't wait to tell her this."

"I'm serious, Eric," she said stubbornly. "Don't pretend this isn't dangerous. I don't want to die because Pam decides to get a snack on her way to meet us."

"I will not let you be hurt," his voice was fierce and she studied him for a moment before heaving a sigh.

"I trust you," she reached out to pat his hand and a spark passed between them, electric and enticing. There was something different in the way he looked at her in that moment, and she knew he felt it too.

Feeling shaky, she withdrew her hand and motioned over to the deck of cards littering the other side of the table. "Want to play again," she suggested weakly.

"Perhaps we should up the stakes."

She laughed at his suggestive tone and decided to play along. "What do you have in mind?"

His eyelids lowered over his lust-filled eyes and she swallowed thickly.

"Hello?" A cheerful voice called from behind the door and Sookie was out of her seat like a rocket to open it for Pam.

Although she was grateful for this interruption, Sookie couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed with the pastel-clothed vampire. "Never heard of a phone, Pam?"

Pam's heels clicked sharply as she walked into the house. "I could call, but then I wouldn't have the joy of interrupting your exotic exploits with my well-endowed Maker. What were you two lovebirds doing this time? Fucking on the kitchen table?"

"You test my patience with your continual intrusions," Eric said as he strolled into the room. "You should know better."

"But, Eric," Pam protested dryly. "Haven't you missed me?"

Eric smirked at his progeny. "You make it impossible to, seeing as how you always seem to pop up at the most inopportune times. Next time I may not be so forgiving."

She fluttered her eyelashes coyly. "So sorry. Were you two testing out human endurance?"

"No!" Sookie chimed in quickly. "We were just playing cards and getting ready to cook dinner."

Pam's bemused face turned to the telepath. "Eric does not cook."

"Sure he does! He cooked me a meal last night that was absolutely scrumptious."

"Scrumptious?" Pam rolled the word around in her mouth and then turned slowly to Eric. "You made her a human meal? How darling."

Suddenly catching on to the tension between them, Sookie frowned. "It really was good."

"Oh I can only imagine."

Eric's face was stiff. "Enough, Pam."

"Oh no, Eric it's not nearly enough! Sookie please enlighten me to more of these delightful pastimes of the man."

Sookie's eyes flicked uncertainly back and forth between the two figures in front of her.

"Eric," she said softly.

"Perhaps he likes to cry while watching films about young orphans or single mothers?" Pam suggested. "Or do you do each other's hair and nails while gossiping about the boys in the neighborhood?"

"I said enough." Eric's voice was quieter than before but the danger lurking below the surface caused Pam to duck her head. Sookie wondered if it felt odd for the vampire to show such fear toward a human, Maker or not. "You forget your place," Eric snarled. "Are you not aware that I am stuck in this predicament as I wait for you? Had you moved faster and been competent at your task I would not have been forced to suffer under such conditions and perform such mundane tasks for my survival. You dare to find humor in my situation? I suffer as I wait for you. Perhaps I have given you too much credit."

Sookie had never heard Eric speak to Pam so angrily. Although his glare was not directed at her, even she experienced a twinge of fear.

"No, Master," Pam bowed deeply. "I apologize for my insubordination. It will not happen again."

"Speak your purpose here," he commanded.

"I have located the witch," at Sookie's gasp, Pam's eyes rose to her then looked down again. "It was Yvetta who ordered the spell cast, and it is she who holds the key to its reversal. The witch currently makes preparations to create a potion that will right your…situation, but I must obtain Yvetta for it to be completed."

Eric nodded briskly. "Do it. And do not delay. I grow tired of this arrangement."

When they were left alone again, Sookie began to pick up the cards. She felt, rather than heard, Eric's presence behind her.

"I thought we were going to play?"

"No," she said without looking at him. "No, I don't really feel like it anymore."

"You are upset."

"No," she jammed the last few cards back in their box and tossed it into a drawer before whirling around to face him. "It's just that, I'd hate to, you know, subject you to that kind of awful human behavior. I know you're growing tired of it."

He practically groaned. "Must you take everything so personally?"

"Yes, Eric, I must. You know why? Because it is personal. This is my life, here, my very human life, that I have been kind enough to share with you for some reason and you just, you…you shit all over it again!"

For a second, he looked as though he might laugh at her uncharacteristic expression, but seeing how upset she was, he quickly sobered. "Sookie, what I said to Pam wasn't about you."

"Don't," she held up a hand and stalked away from him. "Don't feed me that crap okay? Because I'm really getting tired of it."

She walked around the house, busing herself by rinsing some dishes in the sink, swiping at imaginary crumbs, picking up a stray towel from the bathroom floor; anything to keep herself from having to look at him, from revealing the hurt behind her eyes that was fueling her anger. He trailed a few steps behind her at every turn.

"Tired of what?"

"You're joking right?" She scowled at him. "This, Eric. This bizarre dance we keep doing. First you're hot, then you're cold. You do something sweet and nice, like cooking me a fantastic dinner and talking with me, then you follow it up by broadcasting how much you hate doing things like that and how they mean nothing."

"It was just a dinner, Sookie."

"Well it meant-"she realized she was shouting and took a deep breath. When she spoke again, her voice was lower and calmer, but even she could hear the emotion crackling at her defenses. "It meant something to me."

She went into the living room and began refolding some blankets, trying to control her trembling hands. Eric sank onto the couch watching her.

"I apologize for causing you pain, but-"

"Pain? Oh, you didn't cause me pain." She curled her lip and shook her head emphatically. "No, Eric, pain would suggest that I care about you, and we don't care about each other, right?"

He blinked at her, but his face betrayed no emotion. "You're acting like a child."

"Me? I'm acting like a child?" She threw a blanket down and went to stand in front of him, practically snarling down at him. "If anyone is being immature here, it's you, Eric. And you're like, a million years old so you need to get over your hang-ups."

"Excuse me?"

"This whole 'I don't care about anyone because I'm a big, bad vampire and I hate being human,' thing, because honestly, the only person you're fooling is yourself."

"I am a big, bad vampire."

"Ugh." She rolled her eyes and walked away and he immediately leapt up to follow her.

"And I do hate being human."

"You know what?" She turned to face him so quickly he almost smashed into her. "That's bullshit." She could see the rage beginning to cloud his face, but she couldn't bring herself to stop at that moment.

"You like lying out in the sun, you like eating human food, you like watching TV, and you like talking with me like we're friends." She poked him in the chest with each word and he began to back-up so that they formed a staggering pattern back to the living room.

He stopped and brushed her hand away from his chest. "Yes, I do like those things; I haven't done them in centuries. But that doesn't mean that I like being human."

"That's what being human IS, Eric! God!" She ran a hand through her hair. "Spending quiet time with someone, sharing details of your life, doing housework together, laughing together," she tried to reason with him. "These are human activities. And you love them. You've been happy doing them."

"Well what am I supposed to do?" He cried out in frustration.

"Admit it to yourself and take a minute to think about what you're so quick to throw away."

"What are you saying?"

"Maybe you don't miss being a vampire as much as you'd like everyone, including yourself, to believe."

"No. No." He was dangerously close to her now, glowering down at her in anger. "You have no idea what you're talking about."

Instead of backing away, she took a step into him so that her breasts brushed against his chest. "I know that you're afraid," she challenged. When he laughed bitterly, she continued, "You're afraid of not being some stupid vampire sheriff because that's all you've known for so long."

"No."

"You're afraid to admit to yourself that you have those fears because you've been pushing your emotions away and pretending you don't have them, so when they rear their ugly heads, you don't know what to do."

"No."

"And you're afraid that as a human you'll have to man up to those emotions and take a hard look at what your life is like and if it really makes you happy. Because, deep down, you know it doesn't."

"No," Eric roared, and when Sookie took a step back, he bent down so they were nose to nose. She blinked against the onslaught of emotions in his eyes; they were so icy blue they looked like they were on fire. "If I stay a human, I will lose everything."

"Not everything," she said softly.

His breathing was ragged. "You don't know what you're asking."

"All I'm asking is for you to actually look at what you really want, Eric. You've been given a choice here and you're too stubborn to give yourself the chance to consider all the sides."

"I have thought about it-"

"You haven't."

"You don't know!" he bellowed and she thought that she could feel the house shake at his outburst.

"Tell me," her voice was barely a whisper as she stared in awe at the turmoil sweeping across the Viking's face.

"I have responsibilities. I have those who depend on me, who are waiting for me to come back. Because they mean nothing to you, because I do not show my affection in ways that you deem appropriate, you think that they do not matter, but they do."

"That world is-"

"That world is my world. And they are my people and I cannot abandon them."

"Pam would be fine-"

"And if I stayed human, what would I do? What skills do I have for this time besides those that I utilize as a vampire? How will I fit into a world where people watch television all day, and force their families into bankruptcy for the convenience of unnecessary material objects, and poison the earth with their toxins?"

He looked at her and when she remained silent, he shrugged in a poor attempt at ambivalence and then faltered. "If I stayed human, I would die."

"Everyone dies."

"Not me. Not as a vampire."

"Eric," she put her hand on his arm, but he backed away from her touch, his shoulders heaving with his gasps. "You're looking at death like it's a punishment, like it's something to fear."

"Isn't it? You fear death."

"No. You're right I don't want to die right now, and I worry about a painful death, but the act of dying? That's as natural as living. Growing old with someone and then peacefully going back to the earth is a gift. It's a gift that you'll never know if you're a vampire."

"You do not understand."

"Stop being so afraid."

"I am not meant to be a human. I do not have the capacity to love and to cherish…" He turned away and she reached out to him.

"You do! I've seen it. You're just too scared to accept it within yourself."

"Stop it, Sookie."

He did not look at her and she continued to speak to his back. "I could help you. You could be happy."

"No."

"Stop punishing yourself. Let yourself be happy."

He spun at her so quickly she barely had time to gasp before his lips were on hers. He crushed her to him, his mouth slanting over hers. In her surprise, she didn't even consider resisting and he took advantage of her acquiescence by slipping his tongue into her mouth.

One of his hands gripped at her hair and the slight twinge of pain mingled with her pleasure deliciously. His other hand roamed her body, faintly tracing the outline of her breast before resting firmly on her lower hip. She felt a pang of lust hit her so hard that she groaned against his lips. He responded with a low growl of his own, and she twined her hands behind his neck to urge him closer.

She wasn't sure how they had moved so far, but she felt her back flatten against the wall and Eric's firm body pressed her against it so she felt fully enveloped. Trying to gain better leverage, she wrapped a leg around him and when he nipped at her bottom lip, she felt his interest against her thigh.

The kiss was at once tender and aggressive, and it tasted faintly of tears, though Sookie was unsure whose they were, hers or Eric's. When they broke apart, gasping for air, she could feel his hot breath against her neck.

"Eric," she murmured in wonder, her fingers toying with the short hairs at the back of his neck.

She could feel every contour of his body, every muscle straining, so close were they merged together. Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, he was gone, moving with almost vampire speed so that by the time she recognized the cool air around her, he had vanished from sight. The only indications that he had been there were her swollen lips, a dampness between her thighs, and the sound of the back door slamming behind him.

"Eric," she whispered again.