A/N: Sorry for the delay! I really didn't mean to leave y'all hanging like that. This chapter was stubborn, didn't want to be written. My brain is heading off in a few other directions, but that might just mean I update one of my other stories before the next chapter for this one drops. We'll see. The muses, they are fickle mistresses.

Eric POV

What?

No, she couldn't possibly...

I blinked and looked at Sookie.

She was standing about a foot away from me, eyes wide, with a hand firmly clamped over her mouth. She hadn't meant to tell me that way, and it was something I never would have guessed on my own. It never would have occurred to me.

Wait... what?

She looked like she was about to bolt. I suddenly became very aware of the positioning of my own body, and realized that I must have looked the same way to her. We were a pair of deer frozen in each others headlights.

If there was a contest to tell which of us was more stunned, I wasn't sure who would win.

"...How?" I asked. Brilliant question, genius.

She snorted at the silliness of what I'd just asked, then started giggling. "Um, more of a not-how."

"Are you serious?" I couldn't believe it. This gorgeous woman - this sex-voiced, goddess-bodied woman – had never...?

What? How was that even remotely possible?

I wasn't one of those guys who thought it was "hot" to take a woman's virginity. From what I'd heard, it was most likely to be painful for women. If two experienced, consenting adults were into pain, more power to them; it wasn't really my thing. But with a woman's first time, it wasn't like she could choose whether or not it would hurt; it was a matter of biology, as far as I understood it.

The last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt this beautiful woman standing before me.

Sookie straightened up, squared her shoulders, and walked back over to the kitchen counter. After putting away the milk and Nutella, she grabbed a kettle from the stove and started filling it.

"How does tea sound?" she asked, sounding normal as ever. I think that only stunned me more; we'd just had some kind of crazy moment, but she sounded as calm as if she'd only been telling me the latest baseball scores. Then again, she used her voice for a living; it made sense that she would have excellent vocal control under duress.

"Um, tea sounds good."

"Okay. If you have no objections, I've got a really nice herbal blend that I think would be really good right now. Let's just take a moment to chill out. When the tea's ready, we can take it into the living room and sit and talk."

I nodded and watched as she prepared the tea, finding it soothing to observe her going through a set of familiar motions.

When everything was done, Sookie handed me a mug and beckoned for me to follow her. We walked into what I assumed was the living room, since it had all of the standard living room stuff: a couch and loveseat set, a television, a coffee table, the works.

We sat down on opposite ends of the couch, and I held the mug of tea up to my face, getting a good whiff of the steam. It had an immediate calming effect, and I was already feeling fairly calmed down.

"This smells really good. What is it?"

"It's a blend that Amelia made. She fancies herself a kitchen witch, if you buy into that stuff. Magical cooking, that kind of thing. Honestly, most of the time it just results in a damn good meal, but her teas are something else."

I took a sip, half expecting it to taste medicinal, but found it was rather pleasant. I could tell Sookie had added a little honey, even though I hadn't seen her do it. I must have really zoned out, back in the kitchen.

She turned completely sideways and stretched her legs out on the cushion between us. "Feel free to kick your feet up, once you've taken your shoes off."

Eyeballing the space between us, I was certain there wouldn't be enough room for my bean stalks. Still, I set my tea down on the coffee table, took of my shoes, and gave it a go. Not wanting to crowd her, I let my feet dangle off the edge of the couch.

"So..." I said, not really sure what I was going to say.

"So you probably don't believe me or you have a lot of questions. You know I grew up in a small town in Louisiana, right? And you already knew that I was mostly raised by my Gran after my parents died. She raised me the way she'd raised my dad, with her own generation's set of values and ideals. And since it was just the three of us – me, Jason and Gran – my big brother was really protective of me. Of us. No one was good enough for his little sister. There was always one reason or another to just put it off. I've gone on dates, I've had the occasional boyfriend here or there, but after a certain point..."

She sighed and took a sip of her tea. "Is any of this making any sense? Or am I just rambling here?"

"I think I see where you're coming from. There are a lot of valid reasons why a person would wait, and it's their life, their decision. I'm sorry for my reaction in the kitchen... It just... I never would have guessed."

She grinned wryly. "Because of what I do for a living?"

I chuckled. "Well, yeah. That's a big part of it, I guess. I'm trying to reconcile the two things in my mind, and it's kind of hard..." I could feel myself blushing at that word, and in the split second after I figured out why I was having that reaction, it all clicked into place.

The innuendos that weren't; the blushing; the flirting that was so much more alluring because of the hesitation behind it. She really was telling the truth. It wasn't that I thought she'd been lying, but I simply hadn't been able to see it before. Now, it all made sense. I wasn't even sure if I could put into words, this complex simplicity of the woman before me: bold yet shy, confident yet hesitant, reaching out even through her moments of insecurity.

I wanted to be the one to help her clear away the shyness, the hesitation and insecurity, and I knew that the mere act of sex wasn't what would do any of that. Those traits required so much more. They couldn't be created, only encouraged to grow of their own accord.

These thoughts confused me; rather, it startled me that I had them at all. I was accustomed to my own intelligence, but emotional intelligence was something else entirely. I was used to knowing myself, but understanding someone else was new to me. As a general rule, I didn't really get people. Sure, I got the occasional flash of insight here and there, but this felt more important. There was something about Sookie that made me want to change that.

Whenever something fascinated me, I wanted to learn as much about it as I could. I would research it until I knew it backwards and forwards.

It wasn't enough to feel things for her or around her. I was fascinated by my feelings for her, and I wanted to know about them just as much as I wanted to know about her.

"Hey," she said, poking at me with her big toe. "You're looking a little lost over there."

"Hmn? Sorry, mental tangent."

"Want to talk about it?"

"I'm not sure if I can put it into words just yet. My brains are a bit fried; it's been a long day." I looked her in the eye and smiled. "A very good day, but a long one nonetheless."

She grinned and seemed to relax a little bit more. She finished her tea and set it down on the coffee table. As she sat back, she groaned and put her hands up to her face.

"Eric, I'm sorry."

I frowned. "What's wrong?"

"The tea. I'm so used to it, it only relaxes me... but I just remembered how drowsy it used to make me. Are you going to be able to drive? How far away do you live?"

Relieved that it was something so simple, I laughed. "I'm bigger than you, it may not hit me as hard as it did you. But if it does, and you object to me crashing on your couch, it wouldn't be the first time I've slept in my car."

She jabbed me with her toe again. "As if I'd make you sleep in your car. As long as you promise to behave, you're welcome to stay. And I swear, I really did forget how strong the tea was."

"Suuuuuuure you did," I said, winking at her. Next thing I knew, there was a pillow being flung at my head.

Sookie POV

"Ha!" I shouted triumphantly. Eric was a much bigger target than Amelia, and he wasn't wise to my pillow-throwing ways. "Gotcha."

Without moving the pillow that had fallen to rest in his lap, he leaned over and set his tea down. He picked up the pillow and set that down on the floor next to the couch. He leaned back, smiling like a Buddha with a secret. Calm, but with a very wicked plan.

Oh hell. I was in for it. I slowly started to pull my legs away, hoping he wouldn't...

And he did.

He was quick, for a big guy. I barely saw him grab my foot before he started tickling it mercilessly.

I couldn't help but react, being extremely ticklish, and when it became clear that he wasn't about to let up, retaliation became a necessity. I managed to wriggle myself into a position where I could yank my foot away, and before he had a chance to recover, I launched myself at him.

I'd taken him by surprise, but that wasn't enough. Pulling a trick out of my brother's book, I licked Eric's forehead. Nice and slow. Nice and gross. Pulling back, I found myself quite satisfied with the look on his face: confused, mildly disgusted, and completely uncertain as to what to do next. I could practically see his brain leaving screech marks in the air.

As I looked into his eyes, something in the moment changed; he seemed more pensive. Gently, he reached up to cup my face and bring it to his own. Without a word, he tilted our heads together and then promptly wiped his forehead against mine.

I groaned. "I totally deserved that, but you started it."

He chuckled. "Truce?"

"Truce," I agreed.

When I went to get up off of Eric, he wrapped his arms around me and held me in place. I relaxed against him, letting my head rest on his chest. I felt no anxiety, no concern that he might try to push me for more. The sound and feel of him breathing under me was almost hypnotic. He gently scooted us down so that we weren't bent at any uncomfortable angles; I draped over him like a Sookie blanket, but he was the one warming me.

"You still awake, Sookie?" he asked, a little bit later.

Only barely, I thought. "Mm-hmn."

"You should probably get into your own bed; you'll probably sleep better there."

"Nuh-uh," I mumbled. "Five more minutes."

He chuckled softly and stroked my hair. Right, like that was going to make me want to move.

When I opened my eyes again, the room was much brighter; it was morning. I was stuck between a rock and a soft place: during the night I had gotten nestled between Eric and the back of the couch. Our legs were entwined, my arms were curled up between us, and his arms were around me.

I heard Eric mumble something that sounded like my name, but I could tell he was still sleeping. Grinning like some kind of idiot, I snuck an arm around his waist and snuggled closer against him. I closed my eyes, once again lulled to sleep by the soft sound of Eric's breathing.

The sound of a door closing was what woke me up next. Amelia was just now getting home, whenever "now" was. I knew I should get up before she saw me and Eric snuggling on the couch; I'd never hear the end of it. On the other hand, if she saw us like this, she'd figure out for herself how our evening ended, and I'd be spared the third degree interrogation.

Since I'd heard her go straight from the front door to her bedroom, I figured she would think I was still asleep in mine. That was the only explanation as to why she was being so quiet.

When I felt him tense up, I pulled back a little and craned my head to look at Eric's face. Even though he looked apprehensive, he was still blinking the sleep away from his eyes. A slight bit of morning scruff made me want to kiss him, just to see what it would feel like against my lips.

"There's someone else here," he whispered.

"Yeah, Amelia just got home," I said, keeping my voice just as low as his. "I'm pretty sure she's by herself, so she'll probably take a shower before she comes back out of her room."

That seemed to relax him a bit. I hoped he wasn't too nervous about seeing my best friend again; the only other time they'd met was when we'd all had lunch over pizza. "Awkward" didn't begin to describe how all of that had gone down.

He started wiggling, and I realized he was repositioning us so that he wasn't an inch away from falling off the couch. While he seemed quite content to have me draped over him as I had been before we'd fallen asleep, I had to pee like a racehorse. I gave him a smile and a quick kiss, and jumped up before he could stop me.

"I'm just gonna do some morning stuff, I'll just be a minute; I promise I'll be back before Amelia."

He pouted slightly, but nodded as he sat up. I went into my bedroom, shutting the door behind me. I gave my face a quick scrub, brushed my hair and teeth, and changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. A shower would have been really nice, but I didn't want to leave Eric alone out there. Once I was presentable again, I went and knocked on Amelia's door. She'd just gotten out of the shower, and opened the door in her bathrobe.

"Hey 'Meels! You have a good night, I take it?" I grinned.

"Pff. As if: you're not getting a peep out of me until I hear all about your date. Pop a squat, spill me some beanies."

I blushed. "Actually, we came back here and kind of fell asleep on the couch. He's still out there."

"Ooh! Have you guys had breakfast yet?"

"Nope. We only just woke up."

"Awesome. He like waffles?"

"You know, I have no idea. We seem to have pretty similar tastes, so I'm guessing yeah."

"Good times. Gimme a few to get dressed and I'll make us all some waffle-noms."

I went back out to the living room after making sure to close Amelia's door behind me. Eric smiled broadly when he saw me, and got up to give me a hug. When he kissed me, I was surprised to find his breath was minty-fresh. That mystery was solved when I recognized the taste: Altoids. He confirmed that he did indeed like waffles.

Amelia came out and took over the kitchen. Eric and I sat at the breakfast bar, and I found that conversation between the three of us flowed better than it had before. It made me happy; I'd been concerned that things would be uncomfortable between the two of them, and that would put me in a strange position. I wanted them to like each other. Even though I knew she was itching for the details of the previous night's activities, she refrained from asking too much. We gave her a bare-bones run-down of what we'd done, where we'd eaten, but she didn't press the matter. The real Q&A tornado wouldn't touch down until about thirty seconds after Eric was out the door.

Instead of our usual routine of eating the waffles as they came out of the iron, Amelia made a stack of them and we sat at our little dining room table to eat.

"So what are you crazy kids up to today?" Amelia asked as she prepped her first waffle with butter and jam.

I shrugged. "I don't think I have any plans."

Eric gave a shy smile. "Me either. I should at least stop by my place for some fresh clothes, but aside from that, I'm open."

Amelia gave a thoughtful hum. "Oh, hey! I heard the Aquarium got a new whale shark recently. I was going to go check it out, but I've got to spend some time at the shop today."

Eric might have bought that, but I knew better. Still, I was amazed at how toned-down Amelia was being about all of this. I'd have to ask her about that, later.

Before I could even tell it was happening, Eric and I had plans for the day: we would go to his apartment so he could change, then we'd go spend a few hours at the Atlanta Aquarium.

Since Amelia had made breakfast – well, more like brunch, given that it was almost noon – Eric and I cleaned up in the kitchen. It wasn't too bad, since she had a tendency to clean up after herself as she cooked. Once we took care of the dishes and put a few things away, we were ready to get started on our day.

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.