Life Goes On by PersianFreak

Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Charlaine Harris. Please don't sue.

Rating: T

A/N: This chapter did not turn out the way I had planned, but I quite like this version of it regardless. Thank you guys so very much for all the fantastic reviews; they made me sit down and squeeze out another chapter even though I hadn't intended on it at all. Thank you to the fantastic people who review every time, and to the amazing 'newbies' that take the time to send me a shot of warm fuzzies. As always, more are welcome.

Enjoy.

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Eric's red Corvette zoomed through the streets of Shreveport and came to a screeching halt besides the Fangtasia employee entrance. Disconcertingly enough, I found I was no longer terrified of his insane driving, but rather enjoyed it. Where a few days ago I would have chastised him for taking so many chances and cutting his turns so close, I found my own hands tightening in anticipation of a day when I would get a chance to drive like that in such a fantastic car. I would have to ask him about that later, when I wasn't so anxious. Going to Fangtasia was slowly making me a nervous wreck of a vampire. I wondered about how Pam would feel when she saw that I had been changed, by her master, no less. Pam and I had always had a comfortable acquaintanceship (we weren't buddy-buddy, but she treated me fairly for a vampire, save for the occasional remark) and I wasn't sure if she would see me as her competition now, and I worried about that. Then there was the question of how the fangbangers would react to seeing their object of affections (or obsession) with someone else; someone whom, until a few days ago, had been a human just like them. And of course, there was the timeless fear of running into someone I did not anticipate (or appreciate) in the bar (say, Bill).

"Sookie," Eric began after he had safely parked his baby in the spot closest to the door, "I have a favour to ask of you." I turned in my seat to face him, my curiosity replacing anxiety. He mirrored my action and, seeing my attention fixed on him, Eric continued. "I don't expect you to agree with everything I say or intend to do. I sometimes wish you would, but I'm not a fool: I realize there is no way that you will become submissive to anyone, and even if there was, it was your pig-headedness that drew me to you in the first place and I wouldn't want to see you lose that." I waited. He was already aggravating me, but I swallowed down the protest forming to see where he was going with this. I nodded at him to continue. "And while I usually have no problems with you defying me personally, in the hierarchy of things I rank higher than you-"

"Because of your position as Sherriff?" I couldn't help interrupting with a hint of irritation in my voice, but he nodded slowly.

"Yes, that and my age. And as I said, while I have no problems with you defying me personally, having you do it in public is not something that will help my reputation."

"So, what," I began, choosing my words carefully, "you want me to be an obedient little girlfriend when we're with other vampires?"

"Yes, and before you start yelling at me," and here he smirked just a little, as if me yelling at him wasn't all that intimidating, "I know what you're going to say, Sookie. I know you're a modern woman, I know you are your own boss, and I know that you don't submit to anyone, but take a minute and think Sookie. I am asking you this as a favour to me. I am asking you to pretend to be under my power around others, and-"

"What if I refuse?" I asked quietly, but my gaze never wavered. Eric's eyes tightened and he regarded me silently.

"You know full well what would happen if you refused."

"I know what would happen to your reputation," I corrected in the same tone, "what would happen to us if I refused?" He hesitated, his brows furrowing ever so slightly as he continued to regard me. At least, he exhaled forcefully and turned in his seat to face the front again, his hands clutching the steering wheel.

"Stop pushing me away, Sookie." He growled quietly. His reaction seemed so random that my growing irritation wavered and I stared at him.

"What?" He turned his head to look at me, and I saw in his eyes frustration, disappointment and... sadness.

"Stop testing my limits; our limits. You spent months pushing me away. What did it achieve?" I stared at him, words having completely deserted me. Was I doing that? No, why would I? I loved Eric, didn't I? "What is it about me that makes you so defensive? What are you rebelling against?"

"I'm not! I don't-" I stopped at the look of defeat in his eyes. "Eric, I love you! You know that!"

"I know that. It doesn't stop you, however. You said you didn't want to deal with my 'baggage', and I let you get away with that. I tried to change. For the first time in hundreds of years I tried to be diplomatic with someone other than those with immense political power over me. It didn't make a difference though; you still don't trust me. You're going to push it until it breaks, and then you're going to tell yourself that I didn't put you first and that you want someone who's willing to sacrifice everything for you, just like you did with your other men."

"That's not fair, Eric," My voice rose in pitch, and tears threatened to fall but I pushed them aside. "What happened with Bill-"

"What happened with Bill saved you from having to pull your routine on him. With the tiger-"

"He betrayed me. He betrayed you! What the hell are you doing, defending him?"

"He chose to protect his damaged and defenceless family instead of you. You were protected by us, and he knew that." His eyes blazed with anger as he unintentionally crossed the line, "Would you sacrifice someone who needed you for someone whom you've been with for only a few weeks?"

"How dare you!" I hissed, and then shook myself and forced myself to look at him before slowly adding, "Fuck you." And with that, I smoothly opened the door and let myself out. I heard him get out after me, calling my name, but I ignored him. A few more steps, however, and I spun around to face him.

"You know what, maybe you're right." He looked shocked, but I continued. "Maybe I do push away the ones that give a shit about me, but tell me something, Eric. What if you spent all your life seeing through everyone's bullshit without wanting to? What if you knew when people lied to your face?" He tried to interrupt me, but I was having none of that. My rage was taking over me so that I didn't even notice my fangs extracting. "What if the two people who were supposed to take care of you were taken away when you were just a kid, and their replacement was also taken away because you associated yourself with someone who, in the end, turned out to have been lying to you for months? What if the only living relative you had was a good-for-nothing, selfish son-of-a-bitch who only bothered to keep in touch with you just to borrow money from you? So, yeah, maybe I had no right to dump 'the tiger', but look me in the eyes and tell me that I haven't been fucked over by life over and over again when I least expect it. Tell me that I don't have the right to find it hard to trust people, to want to make sure the people who say they give a shit about me actually do." The tender look was back in Eric's eyes and he reached for me but I jerked back, effectively erasing that look from his eyes and making them harden.

"Fine, yes, you do have the right." He said in a clipped tone, "but don't distrust me, Sookie. You saw my soul, for the love of Sjöfn. What excuse do you have for testing me?" I looked away, and he took that opportunity to step forward and place a finger under my chin, turning my head until I was looking into his gorgeous eyes. "What, Sookie?" He asked again. "What do I have to do to get you to realize..." It was his turn to look away.

"What?" I pressed gently. He looked at me with ancient eyes that made me feel juvenile and small.

"... How little power I have over myself when it comes to you." He chuckled to himself. I stared at him as I tried to digest his words. God damn it, he was right, he was always right.

"Alright." He raised his eyebrows in confusion.

"'Alright', what?"

"Alright, I'll pretend to not have a spine when we're around other vampires." Eric beamed at me, a vulnerable look that I was sure I would never grow accustomed to. He leaned down and, taking me into his arms, kissed me until my fangs (which had retracted when I calmed down) grew long for an entirely different reason. Having teased me until I was ready to rip the clothes off of him, he pulled back. I groaned, but he didn't lean back in. I sighed, pouting slightly.

"We should go." He chuckled at my expression and I stuck my tongue out at him, but I nodded as I was once again flooded with apprehension.

Eric, feeling my constant stream of anxiety and fear return, held my hand, rubbing circles on the back of it soothingly as we walked towards the bar.

"Ready?" he asked with a hint of mischief in his eyes. I shot him a calculating look and nodded. He was definitely way too happy to unveil me. Regardless, Eric opened the door and stood aside to let me go inside first. I could hear the muted sounds of the bar, but more noticeable were the thoughts of the patrons of the bar, human and vampire alike. I quickly threw up a wall to block out their thoughts and found it just as easy as it was with Eric. Having finally found something positive, I smiled tentatively at Eric, who grinned back at me, clearly excited like a little boy on Christmas morning. Eric lead me to his office, where I settled uneasily on the edge of his desk as he Called Pam. He then put his arms around me, kissing my hair comfortingly while we waited for Pam. Her knock came a second later, and Eric called for her to enter. My boyfriend's child walked in wearing one of her signature filmy black gowns and mischievous smirk to match Eric's. Her eyes roamed past me initially to meet Eric's and to bow to him, but something about the way I was wrapped in his arms made Pam's eyebrows rise, and then her eyes widened as she really saw me for the first time.

"Well, well," Pam murmured to herself, the corners of her mouth twisting up mockingly as she took me in, "Sookie, I see you have finally decided to join our ranks." Her eyes snapped to Eric's and her grin widened, "In more way than one."

'Eric, are we going to tell her?' I asked urgently, having just realized the need for a thorough discussion regarding just how much we would tell Pam.

'Nothing about Vegas.I don't want to drag her down with us should things go wrong.' While we had been communicating mentally, Pam's expression had become speculative.

"What, Pam?" Eric asked with a frown.

"I'm going to have to be more careful with the antagonism," Pam responded unhappily, "she can fight back now."