a/n: Been forever for this story, I'm sorry! For anyone still sticking around, thank you for reading. =)

Chapter 21

I sat down in a chair Eric directed me to. It felt like everything was muffled, like an explosion had just gone off and I could not hear or see clearly. A few months ago I was a telepathic nurse and that was the full extent of my life. Now I had a supernatural tornado swirling around me and it all started with me falling for a seemingly innocent and charming patient.

I needed to call Amelia and make sure everything was okay. I had called her to come in to cover for myself and Octavia once we had to abruptly leave. She was there now and waiting for Kennedy to come in for her morning shift. How many hours had passed? Was the night almost over?

"Sookie?" Eric was leaning against a desk that had been placed in the room. It looked like this was his future office.

"I need to call Amelia." I started to get up but Eric stopped me, gently pushing me back into the chair across from his desk.

"Are you alright?" He kneeled down next to my chair, his eyes searching mine. How could he go from being covered in blood, methodical, and murderous to tender and caring the next?

"No" I was not going to lie to him. This was a hell of a lot to take in for someone who just discovered vampires were real. "I feel like I don't know what is real anymore. I don't know what's right or wrong… everything that just happened, how am I supposed to be okay with that Eric? How are you?"

He sighed and pulled another chair over. It was close enough that his knees were touching mine.

"I am not happy all of this happened tonight, but it is a part of my world. We are not out in the public eye, so we have to follow our own justice system. I hope you believe that I did give that man's friend a fair chance to redeem himself. I am not a ruthless vampire." He slowly reached over and wrapped my hands in his. I could swear he thought I was going to pull away. But I didn't. "And to be honest the time I spent with you made me realize I should be trying even harder to be better. You reminded me that I care about people, hard work, and what it is like to be in love. Over a thousand years it becomes easy to forget those things… I understand if this is too much for you. But I would be lying to myself if I did not try to convince you to keep giving me a chance."

I believed him. His eyes always gave him away and I could see the truth shining in them. This was my chance to get out safely and leave all of this chaos behind. I could get up and walk out the door and know Eric would not come after me. No one in the supernatural world would know I existed except for a were or two. I could go back to normal.

But what was normal worth to me? Was it worth more than Eric? I doubted my mundane existence would give me more satisfaction than being with Eric. Despite the drama that seemed to surround him I still loved him, I was learning to love this new side of him. I had never felt this way my entire life and I also had never been with a man who's mind was not screaming at me. It felt like this was my chance at a happily ever after and I was going to take it, even if it included a few bumps along the way.

"I'm not going anywhere Eric, but just promise you'll keep being open with me? It might scare me a little… but I'd rather know than be surrounded by secrets."

"I promise I will tell you as much as I can." He leaned over and gently kissed me.

"Thank you" I sighed and remembered I really needed to call Amelia. "I need to call Amelia real quick, the hospital is probably still a mess."

"There's a phone on the desk over there you can use. I will also help with any clean up the hospital needs. It will be done in less than an hour if I go." Eric stood up and started checking something on his own cell phone while I made my call.

I updated Amelia on what happened and let her know the problem was hopefully resolved regarding the hospital. Eric had also told me he would find the Long Tooth pack master tonight to settle this matter once and for all. Once she knew Eric was on his way to help with any body parts or wolves left behind she seemed relieved.

"All set" I put the phone down.

"Let's get you home, I think you've had enough excitement for one night." Eric pulled me closer and wrapped his arms around me.

I settled into his embrace and just enjoyed his presence for a bit. Now why couldn't it just be like this all the time? Just us? I really hoped the synthetic blood idea would work and maybe it would make things easier.

By the time I got home I was exhausted. I collapsed in my bed and did not wake up until noon the following day. I rolled over and picked up my cell phone and noticed several texts from Eric. He explained he had gone to the hospital, Amelia was okay, and the place was clean. He also updated me on the Werewolf thing, saying the matter was settled. I wanted to know more but figured he would explain in person. Texting a novel was a pain in the ass.

I made my breakfast and hopped into the shower before changing into work clothes. I had an early afternoon shift to get to and I wanted to check on Octavia too. I made a quick stop at her home and she seemed to be doing fine.

"Sookie this is what worries me. Vampires bring a lot of trouble with them. I will admit Eric isn't a bad one but there's a lot of turmoil in the supernatural world." Octavia shook her head slowly as she stirred her tea.

"I know but I trust Eric and I'd rather have him in my life than be without him." I doubted she would fully understand.

"I can't tell you what to do, but as an old lady I feel I have to at least give my advice. At least I know I made you aware of the dangers." She took a sip of her tea and leaned back in her chair.

"I appreciate it and trust me I definitely take it to heart."I did appreciate that she cared about my well being enough to speak up. I had a good friend in her.

Our conversation ended soon after that and I felt like things were good with my boss. She might not love the idea of me and Eric but she accepted it. That was all I needed.

I did not have to work super late that night since one of the other girls was coming in. Once I left I came home to find Eric at the farmhouse waiting for me. He explained the Long Tooth story to me in more detail. The packmaster had ordered his wolves to stand down, that Eric had every right to settle the matter in the way he did. Apparently a few wolves did not listen. This was good news though because it meant the entire pack was not after him and the drama should be settled for now. We did little besides hang out in my living room and watch TV the rest of the night until I fell asleep.

After all of that drama Eric and I actually settled into a nice routine over the next two weeks. Any night that I was not spending the majority of it working, he would come over and just spend time with me. I offered to go to his home sometimes but he always declined. He explained to me one night that since he lived with me my house felt more like home than anywhere else had in years. It was heartwarming and a tad depressing all at the same time. So I let it be and we spent most of our time at my small house since going out to dinner seemed pointless with a vampire boyfriend.

"I have news on the synthetic blood." Eric said as he took a seat in one of my kitchen chairs one evening.

I was baking cupcakes for the simple reason that I was craving them. I would be getting my period soon so that explained the chocolate craving.

"Oh yeah? What's going on?" I cracked an egg over the bowl I was mixing the batter in and dumped it into the mixture.

"They have finalized the formula and will be putting it into production in a few weeks. The vampires are already getting their PR campaigns in order and scheduling TV time to announce our existence." Eric smiled and waited for my reaction.

"Really?!" We had talked about this a lot over the past week. I found out Eric didn't care too much about synthetic blood until he met me, but now he cared a lot.

We both wanted to be able to stop hiding our relationship and he hoped it would force the vampires in the area to be a bit more organized politically. Eric was the Sheriff of Area 5 which meant he held some political power over our corner of Louisiana. I was shocked to find that out but it also made sense. Eric radiated power and authority as a vampire. That was the biggest difference between vampire Eric and the human one I had known.

I also think Eric secretly missed some of the human friends he had made while living with me all that time and working on the road crew.

"Yes, hopefully it all works out as planned."

I stopped mixing the batter and jumped into his lap to hug him. Eric chuckled and wrapped his arms around me.

"Don't get too excited it could still backfire on us." He reminded me but I ignored it for now. I just wanted to be excited that our relationship could maybe be a tad more normal.

"Oops… you have cupcake batter all over you neck." I giggled and swiped some of it off with my finger.

I licked the batter off of my finger and enjoyed the lust I could see simmering in Eric's eyes. He had been extremely respectful and patient with me the last couple weeks while I adjusted to this new side of him. Now I finally felt like I knew enough about him as a vampire to not be intimidated by the idea of having sex with him. I had even let him feed from me multiple times and Eric never made me doubt my trust in him.

I leaned down and licked the rest of the chocolate off of his neck and felt his grip tighten on my hips. When I leaned back and looked into his blue eyes it clicked, I still loved him, just like I had before. He might be a vampire now but he was still my Eric.

"Why don't we go celebrate the good news in my bedroom?" I grinned and Eric wasted no time swooping me up the stairs at vampire speed.

a/n: This will be wrapping up in the next chapter or two, I'm hoping to get that written up much more quickly than this chapter took. Thanks for reading guys!