A/N: When I say RL has kicked my ass, then kicked me again when I'm down, would you believe me? Ugh. Seriously, apologies for the non-frequent updates. This has been a terrible month all-around. I just hope things will be different from now on, but you know the rules, right? When it rains, it pours. Just, keep your fingers crossed for me.

On to happier things! I want to thank each of you, who continue to follow me, and take the time to review. I may not have been able to answe every one of you this time, but I hope you know how much it means to me. *hugs all around*

I hope you all check out my Picasa page! The link is on my profile. My wonderful, amazing friend GabrielleBlue made a beautiful banner for this story for birthday a couple weeks ago. She got the imagery PERFECTLY. You are awesome, as always, chica. xoxo

Of course, thanks to my awesome beta, Northwoman, who's become such a wonderful friend.

Disclaimer: CH owns 'em. You know the drill.

WARNING: You MAY need some tissues toward the end. Just sayin'.

Chapter 25

BPOV

I'd done what I set out to do that night. I scared the wits out of my sweet, delectable Sookie. That will teach her to try to stop me. I have to break her again; she needs to relearn her place. She needs to be back where she is meant to be; at my side, at my beck and call, and when I need it, on her knees.

The restraining order? Surely it wasn't her doing. My Sookie would never want me out of her life completely, even if her lips say so. I know what is inside of her. She knows she is a far better person when she is at my side. No, that annoyance, that little piece of paper demanding I stay away, had the spoiled playboy's name written all over it. He is such a nuisance. But no matter. None of it will matter, not in the end.

When darkness finally descended on the day, I found myself watching. Waiting. Those god-awful friends of hers finally took their leave. I never did like them. They were a bunch of useless wastes of time, constantly calling her, trying to poison her against me. Perhaps when she finally submits to me, I will take her away from all of this. We will start anew, someplace far from all these mundane distractions. She will be a good little wife, and I will have the life I was meant to.

Lorena, of course, will come with me. She's become a reliable little piece of ass. She hopes one day I will marry her, but her lot in life is to simply please me when I get bored. No, my darling Sookie will be the lucky one. What beautiful children she'll give me...

Movement out the back door of Sookie's home caught my attention. I stood in the shadows, just at the treeline beyond the pool in her yard. She'd never notice me.

Fuck, why was he here again? Didn't he ever leave? No, Eric Northman seemed to have attached himself to my future wife's side. This would never do.

I watched as the unnaturally tall moron made his way to the pool. His guard was down, but I wasn't stupid. I knew I couldn't take him. I would simply take Sookie, when the time was right.

Speak of the devil, there she was. I took in her absolutely fuckable body, covered in nothing more than a few white scraps of fabric. I fixated on her movement, ignoring the leering neanderthal in the water. No, this show was for me. She would learn to behave like a lady in public, but here, in private, she would submit to my fantasies.

I couldn't help noticing the difference in her, as she walked seductively toward the pool. There was something within her that was never there when we were together. Was it fire? Passion? No matter. It would all be mine, but I had to be patient.

I licked my lips as Sookie removed her clothing with the expertise of a high-end stripper. I felt myself get hard, watching her naked body in the glow of the ambient lighting. I stroked myself roughly, willing myself to imagine it was me she was fucking in the water, submitting to my every whim.

I stayed exactly where I was, watching them together. Pretending it was me who was making her moan. I watched, and stayed where I was until they went inside and the last light was turned off. I knew I'd have her again. Sookie would be mine.

Soon.

SPOV

Living with Eric was effortless. It just seemed to work, which was surprising, considering how many horror stories you hear about partners living together for the first time. Hell, take Bill as the best example, and worst case scenario. Everything was fine until he moved in. Once he did, he completely changed personalities. I tried not to compare the two, but it wasn't an easy feat. Like it or not, Bill was my only other major relationship. It's all I had to go on. I considered how different they were; like night and day. Eric wasn't Bill. Eric was everything Bill would never be, even if he tried.

Over the following two weeks, we visited Godric as much as we could. I was surprised, and delighted, at how he perked up whenever he saw me. Stan was helping me learn the commands, and Godric responded to both myself and Eric remarkably well.

At the end of the second week, Stan finally declared it was time to bring our new baby home. We bought everything we needed on the way over to the farm, and I was practically buzzing with excitement.

"Sookie, the dog will think something's wrong if you don't calm down!" Eric laughed, as we pulled into Stan and Thalia's long driveway.

"Oh, hush. I'm just excited. He's a great thing to come out of a bad situation," I explained, as we got out of the car.

Eric walked over to my side and surprised me by wrapping his arms around my waist, and lifting me in the air. It caused me to squeal with laughter. While I was busy playfully slapping his arms to let me down, I didn't notice the black and brown furball running up, barking loudly.

Eric quickly let me down, and Godric ran right up to me, with Stan and Thalia close behind. I immediately dropped to my knees, while the dog enthusiastically greeted me, licking my cheeks. While he didn't quite growl at Eric, he put himself right between us, which told me he thought Eric might have been hurting me. It touched me to think he was already so protective.

When he settled down, I looked up at my boyfriend. "Geez, what's he going to do when we have sex?" I was dead serious, but the three of them started laughing so hard, they were clutching their sides.

But I was right! It did take a few tries for Godric to understand that when Eric was kissing me, or touching me, he wasn't trying to hurt me. That night, when Eric and I started going at it in bed, Godric made his displeasure known by growling. But he learned quickly not to bug us, and understood Eric wouldn't hurt me. I think he also learned to be a good boy when the bedroom door was closed. Smart dog.

He did love Eric on his own, but it paled in comparison to the relationship I seemed to have with him. What was it Forrest Gump said about his Jenny? They were like peas and carrots, such were Godric and I. I swore up and down to Eric that somehow, Godric was like a very old, very wise human soul in a German Shepherd's body. Maybe I was just happy he was ours.

Time seemed to fly by. We fell into a routine, and I rather liked it. I started working more on my book, so I cut down on my time at Merlotte's, which didn't make me happy, but I needed to concentrate a little more on work. Eric would work at least four days a week at the bar, usually from mid-afternoon to late at night. He tried to delegate a little more to his floor managers, insisting they needed to learn how to run things without him. I think it was ploy to stay home with me as much as he could. He wanted me to be safe, and I understood that. I was certainly not complaining; I loved having him around. He was never underfoot, and it was nice just having him in the house. He'd come into my office every so often when I was writing, just to give me a kiss. It was wonderful.

Another thing I was happy about, was how well we actually got to know one another. Sure, it may seem like an obvious thing to happen, but sometimes, couples just don't talk to each other. Eric, though, wanted to know every part of my life, the good and the bad. We'd sit in front of the fire together, talking for hours about anything and everything that made us who we are. He shared everything about himself as well, and it led me to learn more about how cruel Elsa really was. He may have been a teenager when things really went south, but he was still a child. It hurt me inside to think of Eric in pain.

About two weeks after we brought Godric home, Tara and Amelia demanded a girls' day out. They both had a Sunday afternoon off work, and convinced me it was the perfect time for a spa day and dinner out. How could a girl say no?

Since the club was closed, Eric was in for the day. He practically shooed us out the door, which I found a little funny, but I figured he could do with the quiet. He'd worked until closing the night before, and hadn't slept much, mostly due to the two separate rounds of lovemaking from the time he got home until the early morning, plus another in the shower when I was getting ready to leave. The man certainly had stamina.

I pulled him in for a hug as I was leaving, leaning up to kiss him sweetly on the mouth. His eyes sparkled when he looked down at me. "Have a great time. I'll be here when you get back."

There was something a little different about the way he was looking at me, though I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I brushed it off, and chalked it up to his fatigue, as I joined the girls in Amelia's car.

EPOV

I tried to hide the fact that I was a little nervous as I kissed Sookie goodbye. She would be off with the girls for a good four or five hours, and I knew I had something to take care of. I was pretty sure what the outcome would be, but I thought it was something I needed to do anyway. It was traditional, and I always thought it was a sign of respect.

Earlier in the day, I'd called Jason and Lafayette, asking them to meet me at the house. We hadn't really had a chance to talk, men to men, in awhile, so I asked them to come over for a couple hours.

It was a nice day outside, so I herded them to the back patio when they arrived. It was a little chillier now, but the afternoon sun was warm and inviting. After handing them each a beer, we sat at the table, and I cleared my throat.

"So... I kind of have an ulterior motive for asking you here," I started. Why the hell was I so nervous?

Laf chuckled. "Sure you do, boyfriend, it didn't take a genius to figure that one out!"

Jason looked back and forth between us, a little confused, but urged me on. "Spit it out, man, what is it?"

I took a breath. "Well, Sookie is closest with the two of you. Jason, since your Dad isn't around for this, I figured the next best thing would be to talk to you both before I did anything. Now, you know how much I love Sookie-"

"Oh, shit!" Laf interrupted me. His pink nail-polished hand flew over his mouth, stifling a shit-eating grin.

Jason hadn't yet clued in, so Laf calmed himself. "'Scuse me, honey, carry on."

"I love her, and I know how fast things have gone for us from the beginning. But, some things, you just know. I know she's the one I want to spend my life with. So, I was hoping you'd both give me your blessing before I asked Sookie to marry me."

Laf made a high pitched squeal, and got up to give me one of his patented bear hugs. "My man! You just... this is just crazy, out of this world, happy wonderful. Shiiit. Course you got my blessin'!"

We both looked down at Jason expectantly. He had yet to say a word. He looked back up at us from his seat, serious as all hell. I got scared for a second, until he cracked a big smile and started laughing happily. "Welcome to the family, bro!" He launched out of his seat and gave me a big hug and a clap on the back. "Shit, man, I knew you two were serious, but not THIS serious! When you plannin' on asking?"

I was so happy, it took me a second to think. "Well, I have a plan, for next weekend. Saturday night." I proceeded to explain exactly how it would go down. Jason was impressed, and Laf was touched I could be so romantic. He wiped his eyes, and said quietly how happy he was.

Things were now in motion. There may have been a little setup involved, but to me, the only important thing left to do was to get Sookie to say yes.

SPOV

It was a strange week, to say the least. Eric's odd mood on Sunday only seemed to get worse as the week progressed. He was a little more on edge than usual, and a lot more quiet. It wasn't like he had a huge, loud personality to begin with, but he was a little less... there. On Wednesday night, he told me he'd finally gotten a great offer on his apartment, which might have explained things. Was he nervous about our living arrangements now? When I asked him about it, he brushed it off and told me I had nothing to worry about, telling me how happy he was, and how much he loved me. I took him at his word. What else could I do?

While Saturday was normally a very busy night at Valhalla, Eric informed me that Pam would be covering for him so he could work on getting the last of his things out of the apartment. He told me he'd take care of everything, only asking that I meet him there later so we could grab some dinner and maybe spend one last night there together. It sounded great to me, so late that morning, I kissed him goodbye, and Eric drove off to Shreveport.

I busied myself throughout the day, taking Godric for a walk, and playing with him in the yard. I then decided to clean the house, and do the laundry. Eric was the one who usually did it, saying it was the one thing he did best, as far as household chores went. But I figured, since he'd be busy cleaning his place, I'd take over and give him the break. Cleaning had always been like a second nature to me, so it never bothered me in the least. And thank goodness, I lucked out with a boyfriend who picked up after himself (most of the time) and could aim during middle of the night bathroom visits. Hell, that alone could make any girl swoon.

Eric asked me to come and meet him a little after sundown, which meant between six-thirty and seven, for this time of year. I made sure to be in the shower by five, which gave me a little over an hour to get ready. Once out, I dried my hair into loose, soft waves, and added a little makeup, which consisted of light eyeliner, mascara and gloss. I chose a heather grey jersey dress with an empire waist, and a matching cardigan, which was about the same length as the dress was, coming down to just above the knees. After adding my favorite jewelled sandals, I was ready to go.

I let Godric out to do his business before letting him climb into the passenger seat in the car. He'd made the trip to Shreveport with me more than once, and loved sticking his head out the window. I thought it was adorable. Since we were spending the night at Eric's, I didn't want him to be alone, in case he had to go when we weren't there. Disaster averted.

Once I was on the road, I speed-dialed Eric and hit the button for the speaker phone. After three rings, he answered, sounding a little out of breath. "Sookie?"

"Hey, honey. Is everything alright? You sound winded."

"Huh? Oh, no, I'm fine. Just had to run downstairs for the phone. Are you on your way?"

"Yup. We're going to be there in about a half hour. Any ideas for dinner?" I asked. We hadn't really decided where to go.

"Uh, yeah. I have an idea. Just get here first, bring the dog up, and we'll go from there, alright?"

Huh. Oh. Kay. "Sure, baby. I'll see you soon. Love you."

"Love you, too. Drive safe."

I disconnected the call and looked over at Godric, who was practically grinning at the breeze from the open window. "What's he up to?" I asked him. He just cocked his head to the side, looking at me curiously. Clearly, he was just as confused as I was.

It was full dark by the time I reached the apartment building. I parked and headed upstairs, with Godric in tow. I opened the door to the apartment, and was surprised to find it completely dark. Something smelled great, but Eric was definitely not there.

Curiouser and curiouser.

I flipped the hall light switch and found a note in Eric's neat handwriting.

Leave Godric here. Lock up. Go to the end of the hall, and take the stairs to the roof. I'll be waiting.

I love you.

E

I read the note a couple times, and felt a little jolt of excitement. What had he planned?

I quickly did what the note said, heading back down the hall. I'd never been to the roof before, so I had no real idea what was up there. Hmm.

I climbed the short flight of stairs, and taking a breath, I pushed open the heavy door.

Tears immediately filled my eyes when I saw what was waiting for me.

Standing there, decked out in a grey suit and black shirt, with his hands behind his back, was Eric. He stood next to an elaborately decorated dining table for two. On it were two place settings, complete with two covered trays, which I assumed was our dinner. He cooked.

The part that really took my breath away was the fairy lights that adorned the space all around the table. He'd decorated the space so romantically, with lights all around, and candles everywhere. Next to the table was an elaborate seating area; there was a deep red and gold quilt on the ground, covered with over a dozen jewel toned pillows.

I took everything in, and was in complete awe of the man standing in front of me, smiling so warmly, and so lovingly.

I walked up to him, and he took his left hand out from behind his back, procuring a single red tulip. He held it out to me, and said quietly, "I know a tulip may not be what first comes to mind for a romantic gesture. But I wanted to pick something special. Something that has the meaning I'm trying to convey. A red tulip, Sookie, is a declaration of love. So take this," he said, and I took it gingerly, "and know that my love for you is more than I could ever have hoped for. I never knew it could feel like this, but now I know..."

When he trailed off, I looked into his eyes, blinking away my tears. He looked like he was trying to hold it together.

"Know what?" I asked, in a small voice. My heart fluttered and sped up.

"I know..." he paused, and slowly moved his right hand from behind his back. He was holding a small, white box. He held it up to me... and lowered himself onto one knee. I couldn't hold my tears back any longer. "I know, Sookie, that you are the one. You are the love of my life, and you've shown me what it truly means to be a man." Eric choked a little on his words, as he blinked back tears of his own. He went on, "My grandmother left this to me when she died. She told me to give it to the woman who lights up my life and puts a song in my heart; to give it to the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with." He opened the box, and I gasped at how beautiful the ring was. "Sookie, my love... will you spend the rest of your life... with me? Will you marry me?"

I made a small whimpering sound, trying to catch my breath and find my voice all at once. Not achieving that, I nodded emphatically.

"Yes?" Eric asked, grinning excitedly. "You're saying yes?"

"YES! Oh, god, Eric, YES, of course I'll marry you!"

With the tears streaming freely down my cheeks, a laugh escaped my throat, one of pure joy. I was completely overwhelmed with emotion, and I flung my arms around his neck, knocking us to the ground. We were laughing and crying, absolutely overcome with happiness. It was the single best moment of my life.

We didn't get up. Eric just lay there, with me sprawled right on top of him. He cupped my face in his big, warm hands, and kissed me with everything he had. We started laughing happily again, and he peppered the rest of my face with kisses, then wrapped his arms around me, holding me tight.

A minute later, he rolled over a little, so he was looking down at me. He brushed the hair out of my eyes, and took the ring out of the box. "Shall I?" He asked.

I bit my lower lip. "Yes. Please."

He took my left hand in his, and after kissing the back of it very softly, he slid the ring onto my finger. It was a beautiful antique diamond ring, with a gorgeous blue sapphire. It fit perfectly; it felt like it was meant to be there.

"Eric, it's the most beautiful ring I've ever seen. Thank you. I love you so much." I gazed at the ring, then leaned up to kiss him once more.

"And I love you. Now, if you're ready, I made us dinner." He jumped to his feet, then held his hand out to help me up. "My lady?"

He pulled me up, and I found myself back in his arms. He encircled my waist and spun me around, laughing gleefully.

When I was back on my feet, I simply looked up at him. "Eric?"

"Yes, Lover?"

"We're really getting married."

"Yes, we really are."

"You kinda just made me the happiest girl in the world."

He smiled. "It's what I was going for."

A/N: *SOBS* I'm sorry! I can't help it! They make me so emotional! xoxo