A/N -- I just finished watching tonight's episode of True Blood. I loved the beginning, but was a bit disapointed to find that it was a dream. Although it looks like next week we will be getting more of our favorite Viking! :)

Hope you like this next chapter..

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Sookie's POV

The sun is low over the horizon as I wake up. I stretch and sit up on the edge of the bed, wondering what the night will bring tonight. I know that Bill is going to be angry when he wakes up and finds that I have already come home without him, but I just can't seem to make myself care. I'm still too hurt at his actions this morning.. from his hostility toward me, to his going out and buying a whore. And that's how I saw what did. I don't know if he actually had sex with the girl or not, but I know that for a vampire, feeding and sex are closely linked. There can be one without the other, but more often than not.. that isn't the case.

I know that he was angry that I had spent a little time with Eric over the last couple of days.. but that still gives him no right to go out and betray me. And it was a betrayal. I think I would feel differently if he fed from humans on a normal basis.. but he doesn't. In fact he prides himself on the fact that he main streams. No, what he did this morning was to get back at me for having Eric's scent on me. It didn't matter that his scent was on me because I was cold and Eric kindly gave me his jacket to wear. Bill didn't care what the reason was. He was too lost in his possessive anger. He didn't care that I was just being there for Eric as a friend, that I was just showing him compassion.

I wonder if he would have even told me about his 'donor' if I hadn't already been informed about her this morning. I think the answer to that is more than likely, yes. I mean, he knew that I was going to be the one to check us out of hotel, and all of the charges were listed on the itemized invoice. He had to have known that I would see the list and see his order. He didn't even try to cover up his actions. The bastard didn't even use cash. He charged it to the room, expecting Eric to pay for it.

Maybe that was why he did it.. to hurt me. He had to know how it was going to make me feel when I found out about it. He just didn't care. Maybe he didn't care about me like I thought he did.. I mean, would you hurt someone you are supposed to be in love with like that?

I feel my eyes fill with tears at these thoughts. I know that he will come over here after he drives over from Shreveport and I know that it's not going to be a happy visit. We have a lot of things to talk about.

Looking out the window, I see the last rays of the sun slipping behind the blanket of night. He would be waking soon.. and then he would be on his way back to Bon Temps. I decide that I need to get showered and changed before he gets here, and I walk into the bathroom off of my bedroom to start getting ready.

After spending almost a half hour under the wonderful hot water of my shower, I feel almost back to normal. I even take the time to slather myself with lotion. I hadn't had time to do that in Dallas and my skin was starting to show the signs of my neglect. I rubbed the lavender smelling lotion into all of the skin that I could reach and then set about blow drying my hair.

After I got finished with my hair I walked back into my bedroom, going up to my closet and pulling out my most comfortable pair of jeans and a light blue cotton shirt. I grab a matching light blue bra and panty set from my dresser and get dressed. Leaving my feet bare, I walk back up the hallway toward the kitchen to grab a bite to eat.

I look through my kitchen cabinets and fridge trying to find something that looks appetizing. There really wasn't much to choose from. Sighing, I realize that I need to go to the grocery store sometime soon. Looking in the freezer, I find a grilled chicken Lean Cuisine that looks like it will be decent. I pop it in the microwave and set about making a pitcher of sweet tea.

Once the tea is finished brewing, I fill a glass with ice and pour myself some of the sweet liquid. There is nothing like sweet tea.. it's my weakness. Taking a large sip, I go over and take my dinner out of the microwave and take it over to the table. I quickly finish my meal and throw away the trash. I refill my glass and walk back through the kitchen into the living room.

I plop down on the ancient floral sofa and grab the cordless phone from its cradle dock along with a pad and pen from the end table. I turn the phone on and dial information. The operator finds the number I requested and I copy it down on my little pad. I look down at the ten numbers for a few moments and then decide it's now or never. I quickly punch in the numbers and hit the send key.

"Fangtasia, the bar with a bite." A girl answers.

"Hi, may I please speak with Eric Northman?" I politely ask her.

She reply's, "The Master is busy right now and can't be disturbed. Want to leave a message?"

"Sure." I tell her. "If you would just please let him know that Sookie Stackhouse called and wanted to thank him for his gift, I would appreciate it."

"I'll tell him." She says and then I hear a click and realize that she has already hung up on her end.

'Well goodbye to you, too.' I think with a trace of annoyance. Gran always raised me to say goodbye before hanging up on a call and it irks me to no end when other people don't offer the same courtesy.

I replace the phone back on its dock and put the pad and pen back into the little drawer. Standing up, I take another sip of my iced tea before sitting it on the little end table beside the sofa. I walk back across the living room to pick up my suitcase from where it is still sitting by the door. I take it down the hallway and into my bedroom and lay it on my bed, taking my clothes out and putting them into a little pile on the bed. After I finished emptying it out, I put it back up into it's normal place on the top shelf of my closet and walk into the bathroom to get my towel and washcloth from my earlier shower. I grab them, along with all of my clothes from Dallas and take them out to the back porch and load them into the washer. Just as I am turning the machine on, I hear a knock on my front door. I am almost positive that it's Bill.

I take a deep breath and start heading back through the house. I open the front door and see Bill standing there in the moonlight. I move aside to let him come in and I softly close the door behind him. He walks past me and enters the living room, taking a seat on the floral sofa. I enter the room a second later and take a seat in my Gran's chair. For a moment we just look at one another and then he takes an unnecessary breath and speaks.

"I was displeased when I woke tonight and found that you had already left, Sookie. I thought that we were going to drive back together tonight."

I steel myself for the coming conversation and reply. "I just wanted to get home Bill. Jason rented a car and we headed back. I left word with the airline to inform you as soon as you woke up tonight."

"They told me. But I still wasn't happy about it." He said pointedly.

"Well there are a lot of things that have happened in the past few days that I'm not happy about, Bill. It's just the way things go." I say, looking him square in the eyes.

"Oh really?" He says, and with a challenging look, continues.. "What things are you speaking of?"

Never one to back down from a challenge, I meet his eyes and say pointedly, "Well the way you have unfairly accused me of betraying you several times is one thing, and another is the fact that I had to write a check for three hundred and fifty dollars today for your morning whore is another."

Earlier I had wondered if he hadn't wanted me to find out about his donor, but I didn't have to wonder any longer.. his next response cleared it up for me.. "That should not have been any of your concern. The cost should have been covered by Eric. He was paying for our expenses. You should only have had to pick up the paperwork."

Momentarily shocked by his calm response, I try to find the words to answer him. Taking a deep breath to collect myself, I reply.. "Well I'm sure he would have if you would have ordered her sooner. But he had already paid for all of the expenses by then."

I look down at my hand's, trying to keep the emotion out of my voice. "I am going to need that three hundred and fifty dollars back from you. I don't have that kind of money to throw away, especially not on a prostitute."

He nods at me, "I will see that you get it back. But speaking of having money to throw away.. I noticed your new driveway as I came up tonight. That must have cost you a pretty penny. I thought that you were just going to put more gravel out." He says with a questioning tone to his voice.

"That was my plan, but I didn't have the driveway paved. It was that way when Jason and I returned home today." I answered him, not going into any more detail about the extravagant gift.

"Then who did it?" He asked, but continued without a response. "Ah, Eric.. I assume. The Sheriff moves quick, I see. It seems like you are already his kept whore? I thought it would have taken a while longer, but I see I was wrong." He sneered.

That did it. I had been trying to be civil to Bill.. trying to work things out. I still cared for him, even with my pain at his recent actions, but no one was going to call me a whore.

"How dare you Bill Compton!" I yelled at him, standing up in my anger. "I am not his whore or your whore for that matter. How dare you speak to me this way! I have always been faithful to you, and you know that! I can't believe the way that you have treated me the past couple of days. You tell me that I betrayed you.. when in fact it is you that has betrayed ME! Did you think that I wouldn't care that you ordered that girl, Bill? Did you think that I would just look the other way? I don't know if you just fed from her or had sex with her or both.. but no matter what, it was still cheating. I may not be the greatest catch, but I'm not desperate enough to put up with that kind of behavior, just so that I can have a man in my life!"

By this point tears are streaming down my face and my words are coming out in a shrill tone between my sobs. My legs feel weak and I sit back down in the chair, afraid that I would fall if I stood any longer.

Bill had a slightly surprised look on his face.. as if he knew that he had taken things a little too far. "Sookie.." he started, but I didn't let him finish.

"No, Bill. I can't do this right now. Too much has happened in the past few days. Things have changed.. you have changed. I just need some time to think about everything. But for right now, I don't think that we should see each other anymore." I said sadly.. still unable to stop the flow of tears making their way down my cheeks.

He looks at me, takes in my tear streaked face and sighs, putting his head into his hands. "I don't know how all of this happened, Sookie. I wish we had never stepped foot in Dallas. I knew that it was a mistake as soon as we started talking about going. I knew Eric was going to take you away from me." he said, looking down at the floor.

"Dallas didn't do this, Bill. And Eric didn't do this. You can't blame him for your words, your actions. No one forced you to talk to me the way you have, and no one forced you to cheat on me. Those were things that you decided to do." I said sadly.

"But he started this, Sookie. Can't you see that? He tricked you into taking his blood and turned you against me."

I interrupted him with, "Yes he did trick me. And that was wrong, and I have not forgiven him for that. But Bill, he didn't turn me against you.. in fact he has never said a bad word about you to me. It has been you who has done nothing but speak bad about him."

"He is bad news, Sookie. I don't know why you wont see that. He is like poison. Just the same as he poisoned our relationship, he will destroy everything else in your life." He says, looking in my eyes.

"This isn't about Eric, Bill. This is about us. You and me, and what I thought we had together. I thought that what we had was special. I thought that you loved me." I said through my tears.

"I do love you, Sookie. But you have to remember that I am Vampire. I have needs."

"I know that you are a vampire, Bill. But that doesn't excuse anything that has happened. And as far as having needs? Is that what I should expect from you? Every time something comes up and I can't spend an evening with you.. that you will go find someone else? That's not love, Bill.. that's nothing close to love."

I take a deep breath, trying to find the strength to continue.. "I may just be a human, Bill.. but I have needs too. And one of those needs is being able to trust that my boyfriend wont cheat on me the first time we have a disagreement. I deserve more than that."

With that I stood up and walked over to the front door. "I need time to think, Bill. I would like you to please leave now."

He stands up and walks over to where I am waiting and looks at me.. "I will leave if that is what you desire, but know that I do love you, Sookie.. and I'm not giving up on us."

I open the door and he walks through it, out into the night. I watch him walk across the yard, heading for the cemetery between our houses. When he disappears into the trees, I close and lock the door. My tears start up again and I walk down the hallway to my bedroom. I turn off the lights and crawl up onto my bed, hugging my pillow to me tightly, my sobs shaking the entire bed frame. I don't know how long I lay there, sobbing for myself and for the loss of my first love.