Sookie

He looked heartbroken when I said that I was going to go home, and it took me a while to realise that he thought I meant Europe, that I would go back with Gunnar. Did he think that Louisiana was no longer my home? The simple fact was we had spent much longer apart then we had ever been together, had things changed over those ten incredibly long years. He had asked me earlier on to go home with him, I knew where he meant. Maybe he was just assuming the worse. I was tempted to peak into his mind but I was not sure I would like what I heard.

It had been one hell of a few days. Actually seeing him for the first time in ten years, to actually see him standing in my room having spoken to him only a few hours earlier, I had no idea what to think. I didn't know why he was there, why he had come to me. The strange thing was that he looked different, and that is the thing you don't expect from a thousand year old vampire who should remain the same from his human days. His complexion looked sallow, his eyes not as bright as they used to be. It even seemed like he was thinner, like he hadn't been eating properly – but then if he'd mostly lived on bottled blood like Gunnar had explained then it was to be expected. His appearance had shocked me. It was something anyone else may not have noticed, but with my vampire eyes, knowing his body so well and having not seen him for ten years, he looked off. I didn't like to think of the fact that it was my doing that had caused this great man such pain and suffering.

When I arrived in Bermuda I was intent on breaking our bond. I had not told Gunnar, but right from the start, as soon as he told me the bond may be able to be broken, I knew that I didn't want to be vampire any more. And now? And now I had renewed my bond with Eric and I was planning on giving us another go. We still had a lot to work through, trust issues and we had not confronted what I had done that night. I hoped that Gunnar would go back to Stockholm on his own as soon as possible. I would tell Eric everything he had told me, and if we were going to have that conversation it was probably better if there was an ocean between Eric and Gunnar. Right now I just wanted to kiss and make up, maybe have some fantastic sex and then talk about the rest when we got home to Louisiana.

I looked down at Eric, the anguish across his face, his emotions spinning out of control. I took his hand and informed him I meant Louisiana. I was almost crushed by the love that came from him in that instant and he pulled me on top of him. I relished the closeness of him and held my head to his chest. We stayed in that position for quite a few minutes until I felt him stirring to move beneath me. I sat up on his lap and he held me close in his arms.

"Thank you."

"For what?" I asked.

"For everything. I know we have a lot to work on, but thank you for giving me another chance. You are my world, I would not go on without you."

He was playing idly with my fingers when he noticed that I no longer had my wedding rings on. I felt a sudden, intense jolt of anger and upset from him and he stood up, almost sending me flying. I had already noticed that he had kept his on. He walked away from me standing with his back to me at the water's edge, the waves gently lapping at his feet. I sat back on the sand feeling defeated. We had only just decided to give this another go and he was already pissed at me. This really was going to take a lot of work.

"I have them in my hotel room." I said softly, knowing he could hear me perfectly well. "I kept them in the box of memories I had of you with the bullet."

I looked over to him, his huge frame standing on the water's edge, his beautiful blonde hair lit by the moonlight. He grief was immense, like he had the weight of the world on his thousand year old shoulders.

"Eric, I'm sorry. For everything."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you have sex with my brother?"

Shit. I did not want to have this conversation now. He still had his back to me but his anger was back. I tried to compose myself and send him calm, but that seemed to anger him further. He turned to look at me, his eyes bright in the moonlight. "Do not try and calm me down, I just need to know the answer."

"I couldn't help myself, the blood consumed me. I was angry at you for having that fangbanger on your lap and when we got back to the house the battle I had with Gunnar to 'let of some steam', as you had put it, was more intense than normal. I was distracted by thinking about what had happened. I ended up stabbing him right through the arm and his blade slashed into my shoulder. I was but a few months old and that amount of blood was intoxicating. I tried to stop myself, I really did, but I could not. I'm not even sure that I was aware of what I was doing. One moment I was overcome by the smell of Gunnar's blood, then we were swapping blood, cleaning each other's wounds, and the next thing I was truly aware of was you ripping him off me. It was blood lust, Eric. I didn't intend to do it. It wasn't that I was getting my revenge on you for biting that girl, which I was mightily pissed off about I must say."

I could feel myself starting to get angry and I knew that doing that was not going to help. Eric had turned his back on me again, his emotions complex. We were probably both silent for an hour or so, our emotions flaring, both going through what had happened that led us to that point. We had to make a decision, we either had to put this behind us, not blame each other or ourselves and move on, or we must part our ways, live separately from each other. Me ending it all was now not an option. Gunnar was right, we were too closely tied – even if the bond itself was no more we had still loved each other with an intensity that could not be replaced.

I felt the presence of another vampire come up behind me, it was Pam. "Now why the fuck aren't you two at it like rabbits? I can't even smell sex. What the hell is wrong with the two of you? Enough with being dark and broody." She turned to me. "Sookie, Eric has been a complete fucking nightmare these last ten years and that's not even including the fact of how sick and weak he's been getting. He needs you, he loves you. And I know you love him, you wouldn't be here if you didn't. You both fucked up your relationship big time and you're both to blame for what happened, with blame on Gunnar as well for not being able to keep his dick in his pants. But you two need to stop with the dramatics. Seriously, Eric, you're giving me a headache with the way that your emotions are changing. Now get your butt over here and start fucking your wife."

We were both shocked by Pam's speech and both stood staring at her. I was quite sure that Eric was not used to been spoken to like that. I turned to her.

"Pam, could you do me a favour. Could you run to my room and get something for me. You'll find a wooden box under the bed, and in it you'll find a small velvet bag. Could you bring it to me?"

"I'm not your runner, but on this occasion I will help as long as you agree to come out clubbing with me when we get back to New Orleans in MY choice of clothes." She did not give me chance to argue before grabbing my room key and tearing off towards the hotel.

I turned back to Eric who had an amused grin on his face. "I do hope that you're going to let me come along as well. I look forward to seeing what she's going to dress you in."

"Well, you'll have to ask her that, but I suspect it may be girls only trip." I winked at him.

A wave of possessiveness ripped through me from Eric and he growled his response, "My lover, trust me, if you're going to be wearing something of Pam's choice you will need me there to fend of the men, and probably women as well, who will be throwing themselves at you." His possessiveness was turning me on and we both took a step towards each other when Pam arrived with the bag in her hand.

"I'll have that." She looked to Eric as he spoke, then to me. I nodded my agreement and she gave the bag to Eric.

"We're all booked to stay another night but the plane is scheduled, to leave at and hour after first dark tomorrow night. Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" She gave us an evil grin and then disappeared back to the hotel.

"Come with me." He gave me a lustful look and then ran off into the dark. I ran after him, enjoying using my vampire speed, the wind in my hair as I ran. He had run up a hill and stood at the top of a cliff waiting for me to catch up with him and join him. I was glad I had been wearing flats. When I reached him he held me close to him and he flew us down to the small secluded beach below with one house standing half way up the cliff to the back. It was obviously a private beach as there were a few sun beds around and a stash of beach towels in a sealed box which Eric ripped open. I sat down on one of the beds as Eric lined the sand with some of the towels and indicated for me to join him.

"I found this beach when I came here last time. It truly is beautiful, secluded and quiet. There is no one in the house at the moment, so we're here all alone."

He knelt down at the centre of the square of beach towels and pulled the small velvet bag out of his jeans pocket and emptied its contents into his hand. He looked down at my engagement and wedding rings, but picked up the bullet and fingered it with his other hand.

"I was quite upset that you took this, though maybe it was for the best as I may have destroyed it."

I didn't like to think what Eric had done to the rest of my stuff so quickly banished that thought. He popped the bullet back into the bag and placed it back into his jeans. He beckoned to me and after kicking off my shoes I stepped towards him. He changed position so he was only on one knee.

"Sookie, I love you. Much as I hate to say this, Pam was right. I can feel how much we love each other and we must put this behind us. I'm sure we still have things to talk about, and it will be painful for us, but we are better together. Lover, will you do me the honour of being my wife? Again?"

I smiled into his sapphire blue eyes. "Of course I will. I love you too."

He took my left hand, first slipping on my huge engagement ring and then my wedding ring. I had felt lost without them and knew it would take my hand being chopped off for me to not wear them again.

I pushed him back down then laid down on the makeshift bed next to him and rolled to face him on my side. He tenderly pushed a stand of hair away from my face and gazed deep into my eyes. I moved closer into him, lifting my leg up onto his hip and moved my lips so I was only a few centimetres away from his own. He was unnecessarily breathing and I could feel his cool breath on my skin. He ran a hand down my side and pulled me even closer so our bodies were touching. I leaned my forehead against his, and gently pressed my lips to his. It was the softest possible kiss, my lips gently sucking on his lower lip. When I pulled away slightly he returned the kiss with more vigour, licking my bottom lip and persuading me to open my mouth, which I gratefully did. Our tongues battled for dominance and I was grinding my hips against him, our hands exploring each other bodies.

"Lover, we are both wearing too many clothes."

"I agree, just don't rip them as I don't fancy going back to the hotel with no clothes on."

He laughed and we enjoyed the act of undressing each other while not ripping them off. Once we were both naked I took a step back to savour the sight of his naked body in the moonlight. He was truly magnificent, broad muscled shoulders and arms, perfect pecs, chiselled abs and a deep V that was leading down to his gracious plenty, which was standing fully to attention. I think I may have drooled slightly at the sight of him and my fangs had certainly descended.

When I managed to draw my eyes away back up to his oh so handsome face I was greeted with a huge smirk and a cocked eyebrow. "Enjoying the view?"

"Yeah, its a truly beautiful beach..."

He laughed and grabbed me in his arms pulling be back down on the towels, his large frame on top of mine, his gracious plenty sandwiched between us. His lips found mine again and we shared a deep and passionate kiss, my hands running across his back as I dug my fingers into his flesh. He started nibbing and kiss down my jaw line to my neck, his fangs running along my jugular causing me to moan deeply. He slowly moved his kisses, nibbles and licks down to my shoulder, nuzzling the skin at the corner of my shoulder and neck and kissing down my collar bone before switching to the other side. I was on fire, I needed him. I almost screamed in ecstasy when his hands and mouth found my breasts and my nipples hardened beneath his touch and cool breath. His tongue swirled around my nipples and after spending a tortuously long time on one he spent the same length of time on the other before heading further south.

As I opened my legs for him he nuzzled and licked the femoral artery, his cool breath over my sex. He breathed in my scent and then launched his attack on my mound, sucking and pulling with his mouth, his eyes locked onto my own constantly. I wasn't sure if I could move my eyes if I wanted to, I almost felt like I was being glamoured by him, such was the strength of his gaze. When he added his fingers into the equation I thought I would lose it then and there. I had missed his touch so much. Considering the length of time that we had been apart it did not take me long to reach my first orgasm of the night. I felt Eric's joy as he lapped up my juices in long licks along my far too sensitive area. I needed him inside me now, but I was more than willing to repay the favour.

Eric had pulled back up my body and was nibbling on my neck, his chest rumbling with satisfaction almost as if he was purring. With all the strength I could muster I attempted to flip us over, but Eric was having none of it.

"Lover, I cannot wait any longer to be inside you. I have waited ten years for this moment. There will be plenty of time for you to pleasure me with your beautiful mouth at a later date. Right now, I need to fuck you."

I pulled his head back down into a deep kiss and he positioned himself at my entrance, slipping in inch by inch as I was stretched around him. I had forgotten how large he was, how right this felt. How the hell had I stayed away for ten years when I had been missing this? Once he was fully encased inside me, I was quite sure he was probably hitting my diaphragm as he began to move. Slowly at first but as I matched his movements we quickly sped up. It was needy and lustful, my fingers ripping at the flesh on his back as my second orgasm rippled through my body. He slowed down, sensually kissing my neck to allow me time to recover. Once I had regained control of all my senses we resumed at full pace and he shifted his angle slightly, allowing for even deeper penetration. I screamed out into the dark night, pleased that there wasn't anyone in the house by the beach.

I continued to meet him stroke for stroke and we were both unnecessarily panting, desperate for each other, trying to touch as much flesh as we could. I could feel him swell inside me as he was about to cum and I bit savagely into his shoulder causing him to explode. As soon as he bit into me I was close behind him.

He laid on top of me, his full weight pinning me down into the sand and I relished it, my eyes shut tightly as I saw fireworks in the back of my eyelids. I felt something splash onto my face and looked up to see a bloody streak down Eric's cheek. I licked the trail off his face and held his head in my hands.

"I love you Eric Northman. Please always know that to be the case. I will never leave you again."

"As I love you, Sookie Northman."

It was my own turn to shed a tear, which he quickly licked away. We laid naked in each others arms, enjoying the cool soft breeze that fluttered around us. We made soft tender love a few more times before we felt dawn approaching and we dressed before Eric threw me onto his back to fly back to the hotel. He led me back to his suite, and as we entered were greeted by the sight of Pam and Gunnar going at it on the sofa, both moaning in ecstasy as they reached their peak as we walked in.

I instantly knew that Eric was going to lose control as it was a scene very reminiscent of what he must have walked in to on that fateful night. I quickly spun around and put my hand on his chest, drawing his eyes to my own, sending him all the calm I could muster and speaking to him my mind, telling how much I loved him and that he didn't need to kick off.

I was actually quite surprised when he did nothing, our eyes still locked as I sent him love, calm and comfort through the bond. The odd thing was that I got nothing back from him. I heard from behind me that Pam and Gunnar had untangled themselves from each other and put what remnants of clothes on they could find. I leaned in to kiss Eric and he seemed to spring back to life, a little shaken.

"Sookie, what the hell just happened?" Eric was looking from me to Pam and Gunnar who both had guilty looks on their faces. I could feel Eric's confusion, but I was no more clear of what happened then he was.

It was Pam that broke the silence as she squealed and jumped up and down on the spot. "Oh Sookie, please tell me that you actually just glamoured him!"

I was stunned, but the fact was it felt like I had glamoured him. I was scared to look back up to Eric, convinced that he would be angry that I had done such a thing to him.

"Sookie, look at me." He gently lifted my chin so that my eyes were on his eyes. "Did you feel that you did glamour me?"

"I guess, but Eric it was not intentional, I promise. All I wanted was to keep you calm, I know what that would have brought back to you." A shot of pain ran through him and I held him close to me. I was quite sure that he probably staring daggers at Gunnar over my shoulder, but he did not act.

"I know, Sookie. Come, let us go to bed, dawn is very soon. We can talk about this more tomorrow." He led me to his bedroom and took great pleasure in finally being able to rip off the clothes I was wearing which landed in pieces all over the room. He pulled me into bed with him and pinned me down on the bed with a passionate kiss before we rolled over and he spooned me as daylight approached.

I awoke the next morning to see Eric in all his glory stood by the microwave in the room as it pinged. He handed me a warm blood in my favourite flavour, which I quickly downed.

"Still hungry?"

I was. "I normally need two first thing, its the kick start I need. I think it may be reminiscent of my need for coffee when I was human!" He handed me another blood then made one for himself. "Are you okay about what happened last night, with Pam and Gunnar?"

He sat down on the bed next to me and I rested by head on his shoulder as he rubbed small circles on my back. "When I walked in last night I had a flash of seeing him on top of you. If you hadn't glamoured me or whatever you did I know I would have killed him. I'm just impressed you reacted before me, I'm over a thousand years older than you. I should be much quicker. Did you pre-empt me, like you did with the bomb?"

I thought about it. "I think maybe I did. I think we were both slightly stunned by what we saw, but I just had a feeling that you would attack him."

He brought me to him and wrapped his strong arms around me. "Fancy a shower?" He was trying to have put an innocent look on his face but the lust coming from him gave him away. I nodded and he led me towards the bathroom.

"Hey, wait a minute. Were you awake before me this morning? And you look better."

He had a smug grim on his face. "I woke up before sundown tonight. Its the first time I've done that for many years. And I do feel better, I guess renewing our bond yesterday has done that. Thank you, Sookie. Thank you for coming back to me."

I pulled him into the shower, turned the water on and then sunk to my knees. "Thank you for having me back." I proceeded to show him how pleased I was to be back with him as I took him into my mouth, sucking, licking and nibbling until he exploded into my mouth with a roar. As we enjoyed getting each other clean and as he was taking me against the wall we were interrupted by Pam standing at the doorway of the bathroom.

"Okay, you two, enough. The plane is due to leave shortly, and much as I am tempted to leave you both here, it would probably be better if you were on it. Now remove yourself from each other, get some clothes on, get packed and lets go."

Pam left us stunned, and I turned and grinned up at Eric. "Since when did she become the boss?"

"I have no idea, but I can assure you I'll be putting a stop to it!"

I realised that all my clothes and stuff had been downstairs in my room, but was relieved to see that Pam had laid out an outfit for me on Eric's bed. We quickly changed and Eric packed up his stuff and we were out of the hotel in no time. We met Gunnar at the airport who was packing up his own plane for his flight back to Stockholm. I was stood with Eric's arms wrapped around me from behind and I was leaning against him. I could see Gunnar tentatively searching Eric's face for permission to speak to me, which was obviously granted.

He spoke to me in Swedish. "Sookie, I'm so happy to see that you have sorted this out, and I want to apologise to both of you for my part in what happened. I have never regretted anything I have done more. You two belong together and need to be together. Just promise me that you will always be honest with each other and not exclude the other from your lives. And Sookie, you've shown that you're a powerful vampire with your ability to pre-empt the future and whatever that was when you glamoured Eric, please continue to train and expand your powers. Oh, and I'll arrange for your stuff to be shipped over from you apartment." He lifted his eyes to meet Eric's gaze. "Be careful of Appius. I've told Sookie all this and she can expand, but he made me tell him everything about her. He actually spent a few years looking for her himself, but as she'd changed her name and appearance luckily did not find her. When he hears you are back together you may find he puts in an appearance. I hope to see you both again some day, and any time you are in Europe please fell free to come and visit."

He nodded his head to us both and turned to Pam, drawing her into his arms and giving her a long smooch which she seemed to greatly enjoy. I could feel the surprise coming from Eric but at least he wasn't murderous this time. It was odd that Pam was so affected by Gunnar as she'd never really had a thing for men, but he obviously was the exception. He looked back over to us and winked before going to board his own plane for the journey back.

"So, my lover, since when did you speak Swedish?"

I smiled up at him, "Ah, you know, its just something I've picked up along the way. I spent every spring and autumn in Stockholm for six years, my summers in Svalbard and my winters were in the Canaries. My Spanish is actually quite good as well." I couldn't help but be a little smug.

"Well, in that case I look forward to teaching you much more."

We boarded the plane and settled down for the three hour flight back to New Orleans. I snuggled up against Eric as we watched the latest Quentin Tarantino film, laying between his legs with by back against his chest and his arms wrapped tightly around him. But I could not help but feel a little anxious about returning to Louisiana after all this time. Eric, having felt my anxiety, gently kissed my neck and pushed his love and feelings of calm into me, which relieved my symptoms to some extent, but it did not relieve the knot that was tied in my stomach.

When we arrived back to New Orleans we were met in a Limo by a tall red-headed vampire and he drove us towards the city centre and to the Royal Residence. As we were stuck in traffic I saw that New Orleans had changed a lot in my time away, everything seemed to have been rebuilt since Katrina and the vibrancy was back in the city. It also looked like the vampire tourism was back in full force as I saw many bars around that seemed to cater for all kinds of Supes, vampires and weres, as well as humans. But I was truly shocked when we drove past the bar Stackhouses and the car stopped right beside. I could see that it was packed inside and there was a long queue of humans and vampires alike waiting to enter the bar. I turned to Eric, my mouth agape.

"This is the first one we opened, and it is one of the most popular bars in the city. That idea you had really was fantastic, and you had done a much better job with your plans then Elisabeth had in Seattle. You got the balance just right."

I was quite sure that the success was more down to Eric than me, but I was happy to take his compliment. As we continued on to the palace my anxiety was increasing.

"What are you so nervous about?" Eric asked. Pam cocked an eyebrow at me and waited for my response.

"I don't know. It'd just that I've been away for ten years, I haven't lived with you for such a long time. I guess I'm a little anxious about how we'll fall back into our routine. And living here as well, in the palace – its just a little daunting."

"Sookie, I will not push you into doing anything. You are Queen of Louisiana but I will let you settle. I know that before that there were things I did not tell you, did not involve you in, and I promise that that will not happen again. I will share anything with you and you can get as involved as you wish, and you may do whatever you like. I know that you are not one to sit on your butt and let the world go by, so whatever you want to do I will support you." He pulled me closer to him and kissed me softly on the nose. "I love you, my Queen."

"And I love you, your majesty."

He laughed and the three of us spent the rest of the journey looking out at the sights of New Orleans and Eric and Pam pointed out the improvements and alterations that had been made. It really looked that since Eric had been king he'd done a great job and the city had prospered. We finally pulled up to the residence and the car drove into the underground garage. Someone came to collect our bags and Eric took my hand as we got out the car.

"I will give you the full tour tomorrow night, but right now I just want to show you the inside of my bedroom. And probably bathroom." He winked at me and I heard Pam tutting at him.

"Fine, well, you two have fun. I'm going to go and do some work to keep this Kingdom running." She stomped off upstairs and Eric laughed.

"You know, she's been a nightmare as well at times!" He kissed me on the hand and led me towards his bedroom. "But honestly, I don't know what I'd have done without her. There were times that I could not even face getting out of bed and she has kept the state running. Its almost as if I've just been the public face and she's been doing most of the work behind the scenes. She always kept me updated on what was happening and did everything in my name by email so no one would ever know the difference."

"But do other vampires know about us, about what happened?"

He stopped walking and turned to look at me. "They knew we had split, but they did not know the specifics other than you left me. Vampires can actually be quite big gossips when some kind of scandal breaks, and a king and queen splitting up after only a few months was certainly that. I don't doubt that Rosalind knew all about it, and as she probably recognised you from my smell instantly I'm sure she was loving getting one over on me. But don't worry, I'm quite sure that she kept it to herself at the time. Though more for your sake than mine."

I thought for a moment. "So the simple fact is that probably all of the high-powered vampires across the country know that I left you. Wow, that's not going to put me in a good stead with them. Do you think we should go out in public, host some kind of ball, or something to tell the world that we're back together?"

He had a massive smile on his face, pride and love flowing through him. "If you would be willing to do that for me it would be fantastic. No one needs to know exactly what happened, but as my wife and bonded you were a queen in exile rather than not a queen at all."

He scooped me up and threw me over his shoulder, flying the rest of the distance to his room, sending all sorts of things and people flying as we made our approach. I was desperately trying to apologise for him as we went. But that just made him laugh harder. When we got to the room he threw me down onto the bed and landed on top of me, kissing and licking down my neck. He was the happy care-free Eric again I knew and loved, and I was content to be with him.

"Do you have any True Blood down here? I'm kind of hungry."

"I can do better than that." He walked to a fridge in the corner of his room and pulled out a couple of bags of donor blood, poured them into glasses and heated them in the microwave. When at the perfect temperature he walked over and handed me a glass, eyeing me for my response. I took a sip – it was the single most beautiful thing I had ever tasted. I quickly gulped down the glass and he handed me the second glass.

"Are you not having any?"

He laughed. "No, I'll just have a True Blood for now, but I'm hoping that you'll let me have a taste of you later?" I raised an eyebrow at him. Was this fairy blood? He seemed to know my question. "That is almost as good as you taste to me. That human is a quarter fairy and is a regular donor. It costs quite a bit, but she reminded me of you, and since I wasn't going to bite her she agreed to donate a few bags to me each month."

I felt a little guilty that Eric would not bite her, and I wondered if we maybe needed to loosen that rule, since that was one of the things that got us in trouble. Eric knew where my thoughts were. "The girl on my lap that night was also one quarter fairy. She was the King of Oklahoma's pet and as a gift for selling him Arkansas he gave me her to taste. Of course he didn't realise that I had my own fairy."He sighed. "I was only hard because she tasted so similar to you."

I drank the rest of the glass and put it on the table behind Eric. I wrapped my arms around him, resting my head on his broad hard chest. "I'm sorry that I didn't give you chance to explain yourself that night. I was certainly being very hot-headed."

"It's okay, my love. We shouldn't dwell on the past, but I do have one more confession." He took my hand and led me into his closet. It was even bigger than the one he had in Shreveport, and his clothes spanned one huge side, completely stacked to the brim of suits, jeans, shirts etc. As I looked around I saw there was a section with clothes for me. As I got closer I noticed they were al brand new and many still had their tags on. He picked me up and sat me on the small table in the centre of the room, my legs open so he could stand close to me.

"The night you left, the night I told you to leave, I destroyed all your possessions. I went downstairs with Pam, took everything you owned or that reminded me of you and I burned it all. I threw out the sheets to the bed and had every other fabric in the house replaced or steam cleaned so I would not smell you any more. And I destroyed the cottage. Mostly by myself but I then got contractors in and they levelled it. I never went down there again even after it was gone." I could feel his pain as relived that night. "I'm sorry I did that. It took about a month until I realised what a fool I had been in destroying everything of yours. That was also when I stopped with the fangbangers. You have no idea how bad I feel about that." I certainly did know how he felt as his grief was so intense I thought I might fall of the table. I looked up at him, his eyes rimmed with red yet he continued.

"I ended up going to your home in Bon Temps. I would just sit in your old room, or on your sofa and remember the days we spent together when I was cursed. I even slept a couple of nights in your hidey hole." He smiled a sad smile. "It was Pam who pulled me out of my depression. I had stopped eating all together and she managed to convince me that I wasn't helping myself. I was going to move the rest of your things over from your house to Shreveport to keep it safe for you, but your house was torched one night about two months after you left. We never knew what happened, but I have my suspicions." So did I. That time correlated with when I had seen Bill in Seattle, would he have done that?"

"So why do I have clothes here then?"

"I always hoped you would come home to me, and since I had managed to destroy everything you owned it seemed only right that I replace it. I'm truly grateful you took the bullet, I know it would not have survived my rage. The only reason the bonding knife lasted was that Pam hid it from me in her own home." The red tear that had been threatening finally made it down his cheek and I pulled his face to me to lick it off. I held my forehead against his.

"Eric, my husband, I think we should put all of this firmly behind us now. We are together now and that is all that counts. The past stays exactly there, in the past. We have a whole new future to look forward to. Although I have to admit, I do have a stake with Bill's name on it."

He smiled at me and whisked me back to the bedroom where we got fully reacquainted with each other's bodies until sunrise.

I'm almost tempted to leave it there - what do you think?

I guess there are some unresolves issues of Bill, Appius and Sookie's reintroduction into vampire society.

I've truly loved writing this and thank you for your kind words of encouragement - its been a rough road for our lovers!