A/N: So, the rumor is that fanfic is doing housekeeping and may take down any story it deems too risque. I've been saving my stories on a thumb drive and if that happens then I'll set up a blog, probably on wordpress. However, I'm open to suggestions if any of you have good blog formats or platforms that you use.

Thanks to tabularasa88 for her wonderful pre-reads. She is a rock star at keeping me on task and helping make sure I'm not off on some wild tangent.

Chapter 28 – Grit

Seeing Eric walk in with that stunning woman knocked the wind right out of me. I couldn't breathe. I was frozen, locked in place, and I'm sure my face drained of all color. Amelia and I had been talking rather animatedly when I was tore from our conversation by the image before me. At first, she was confused, and said my name a few times, trying to call me back to myself, but after a moment, she too froze, and then she slowly turned and followed my gaze to my boyfriend… and his date.

"Sookie, isn't that… I mean he looks like Eric. At least, he looks like how Eric looks in his bio picture on your firm's website. Does he have a brother?" she asked, clearly as confused as I was.

Finally, I slowly came out of my frozen state and said, "Nope. He's an only child. And yes, that is Eric, my Eric, and apparently that is his date." Just then, Eric's gaze fell on me and Amelia and I saw his body go rigid, his jaw stiffen. After a tense, awkward moment, he placed his hand on the small of his date's back and guided her to a table across the room from me. He sat facing me and it was as if he was trying to talk to me with his eyes, they were so expressive. However, I don't speak eye. I had no idea what, if anything, he was trying to say. In fact, he was nothing but a blur in my vision as my eyes began to fill with tears.

"What the fuck Sookie!" Amelia protested. "I thought you said he wanted to see you tonight? What, after his fucking date?! Uh-uh, no way in hell is that going to happen. Give me your drink, I'm going to go and throw it in his fucking face," Amelia seethed.

"No Amelia!" I urged, grabbing her wrist to keep her from leaving our table. I had no idea what game Eric was playing, and while on an instinctive, primal level I wanted to do just what Amelia had suggested, I knew I couldn't. "Our relationship is supposed to be a secret. I can't make a scene, not here, and neither can you. There are too many people here that I know, people in the local legal community. I can't make a scene, I just can't…." I said, as I choked back by tears. Pull it together Stackhouse! I silently coached. Deep breaths… Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one… and release. After mentally talking myself off the ledge that was a major crying jag, I took all of the hurt and pain, put it in a box, and locked it away. If I could survive Uncle Bartlett, then I could survive having my boyfriend apparently cheat on me. Once that was done, I put on my fake smile and said, "I'm okay. I'm going to be okay." Whether I was letting Amelia know this, or whether I was trying to convince myself, I wasn't sure, but it caused Amelia to settle back down in her seat and she let out an exasperated breath.

"Well, fuck him. Do you want to leave?" she asked, concern filling her voice.

"No, I don't know what he is playing at, but I'm not going to run out of here like I've done something wrong. It may hurt like hell, but I'm going to stand my ground," I said, firm in my resolve. And I meant everyone word of it.

"Well, all I have to say is that it's his loss. Look, you look hot as hell, you're now free tonight, and you don't have to work tomorrow, so we are going to tear this shit up. You hear me Sook!"

Just then our waitress came to check on us. Before she could even ask if we needed fresh drinks, I said "Whiskey, neat," without emotion. Amelia just looked at me with a raised brow.

"That's what I'm talking about," her grin spreading wide. "Whiskey Sookie is coming out to play tonight!" she cheered. "Make that two!"

As soon as our drinks came, we downed them. The sting of the alcohol helped numb the pain in my heart, so we ordered another round. By the time we finished that round, I was feeling comfortably numb and could function a little bit better, notwithstanding the fact that Eric was boring a hole in my head with his gaze. Well, Ames was right. Fuck him and his crazy game.

Just about that time, Alcide came into the bar with a friend in tow and they headed straight for me and Amelia. "Sookie! I'm so happy to see you. Damn girl, look at you!" Alcide said with an appreciative eye.

"I'm glad to see you too Alcide," I said, focusing all of my attention on my friends. "I want you to meet my very good friend Amelia Broadway. We went to LSU together and now Amelia works at McKenzie Phelps in Chicago."

"How do you do," Alcide said, turning on his southern charm. "This here is my friend Tray Dawson. Tray is my dad's right hand man in my family's construction business in Mississippi." Tray, like Alcide, was a mountain of a man, dark with dark curly hair. I couldn't help but wonder what they must feed these boys in Mississippi.

"Ladies," Tray said, taking our hands and kissing our knuckles. Lord help us, southern men sure knew how to charm, and right now, it was just what I need to take my mind off my personal misery.

"What kind of lawyering do you do up north Ms. Broadway," Tray asked.

"Why, please call me Amelia," she said, literally batting her eyes. "I do M&A work," and after drawing a blank look from Tray, she clarified, "Mergers and acquisitions, and I do think I see something I might like to merge and acquire tonight." Well, no one could accuse Amelia of being shy or subtle. "Dance with me," she said, more as a command than a request.

"Why, it would be an honor," Tray said, giving her a short bow. Then he took her by the hand and lifted her from her chair. As she walked towards the make shift dance floor, Amelia gave me a pointed look, then looked at Alcide, and then she bugged her eyes out at me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. While I may not speak eye, after having lived with Amelia for three years, I knew exactly what that look meant.

"I do think our friends are hitting it off quite well," Alcide said with a chuckle.

"I think that is probably the biggest understatement I've heard all year," I said, forcing a small smile.

"Well, it is only February," and his reminder of what day it was caused my smile to falter and I shot a glance over at Eric. His eyes were locked on me and his gaze was so heated I thought I would combust. Well, too bad for him. "I thought you would have been out on a date tonight," Alcide said, bringing my attention back to him.

"Me too," I mumbled.

"What?" Alcide asked a little louder to be heard over the band, which had just started its set.

"Oh, I said 'no can do.' You know I've been busy with my big trial coming up in a few months. No time for dating," I said.

"Sookie, what's the point of living to work? You gotta find a little time to have fun. Come on, let's dance," he said, gripping my hand and popping me off my seat. I shot one more glance at Eric and I thought his teeth would crumble with as hard as his jaw was clenched, but I couldn't spare a moment to pity him when he had such a gorgeous date to occupy him and his time.

Alcide spun me around when we got on the dance floor, pulling all of my attention back to him. The great thing about dancing is that there is no time for talking. I didn't want to put on the façade, I just wanted to forget my heartache, even if for a short time. Sure, I knew I'd have to deal with it later, but right now, I just wanted to get lost in the movement of dancing. And Alcide was a fine dancer for such a big man. He shook and shimmied… twirled and spun me… and when it came to slow dancing, he pulled me close and held me tight. After fighting the initial shock of being held close by someone who wasn't Eric, I finally just let go. I rested my head on Alcide's chest and inhaled his strong masculine scent, taking comfort in his friendship.

After a while, we pulled ourselves from the dance floor and went back to our table. We pulled over a couple of chairs for Alcide and Tray and had another round of drinks. At this point, with the drink and friendship, I found I was coping okay. "Hey, you gals sure know how to dance, and while this band is alright, how about we head over to this new place a few blocks away. It's called Wolf's Den and it is supposed to have a hot DJ," Alcide suggested.

"Excuse me," a low, deep voice interrupted, and I felt my heart leap up to my throat, threatening to choke me.

"Mr. Northman, good to see you," Alcide said, although his tone indicated he was anything but happy to see Eric.

"Alcide … Sookie," Eric said, his eyes falling to me. "Sookie, do you mind if we have a brief word. I forgot to ask you something about our case before you left today."

"Oh, I don't know Mr. Northman. Seeing how you're on a date, I'm sure it can wait until tomorrow."

"Sookie …" Eric started, but then he was interrupted himself by said date.

"Eric, can we go now? I want to go. This place is boring," the date whined and she clung to his arm like he was her life preserver in a sea of mediocrity. She was even more stunning close up, with piercing green eyes to match her dress, set off by her dark brown hair. She was tall too, probably about 5'9" if I had to guess. In fact, she fit just perfecting under Eric's arm as she demonstrated by niggling her way under his arm.

I don't know what came over me, but I suddenly thrust my hand out to the date and said, "Hi! Sookie Stackhouse. Alcide here and I work with Mr. Northman. And you must be …"

"Oh," the date said, seemingly noticing me and my friends for the first time. "Dawn, Dawn Green," and reluctantly, Dawn shook my hand with a weak and ineffectual grip, almost as if she thought she would get cooties from the contact.

"So Dawn, have you known Eric long?" I tried to ask nonchalantly, but even Amelia gave me a raised brow at my poor attempt.

"We've known each other, for a while," she said with a coy smile.

"Oh, so are you a lawyer too?" I asked. I don't know where my burst of boldness came from, but I just couldn't help myself.

"Uh, look at me," she said, her voice full of disdain and loathing. "No, I'm a model." Of course she was. I suppose our blank expressions made her feel she needed to go on and provide us with her curriculum vitae, "Sports Illustrated, Swimsuit Edition, 2012 and 2013, Victoria's Secret New York Fashion Show 2011, 2012 and 2013, Elle magazine …"

Amelia then abruptly cut her off, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, we get it. You're pretty. Big fucking deal," and she shot her whiskey back fast. After slamming her shot glass down on the table, Amelia turned her sights on Eric. "Hello Mr. Northman. Amelia Broadway. I'm Sookie's best friend. She's told me so much about you," Amelia had a wicked grin as she shook his hand.

I went to kick Amelia to remind her to hold her tongue. All I needed was for her, in her drunken state, to spill the beans about me and Eric, but I must have missed.

"Ow Sookie, did you just kick me?" Alcide asked, rubbing his shin.

"What? Uh, no… well, maybe… sorry," I finally confessed. Despite my poor aim, Amelia seemed to take the hint.

"Well, it's been… real… Eric, Dawn. Alcide, what did you say about a club near here? I think Sookie and I would love to go with you and Tray and dance the night away, and then see where else the night takes us," Amelia said with a smile at Tray, who I thought couldn't jump up from his seat fast enough.

"Mr. Northman, I am sure we can talk about … our case … tomorrow during normal business hours. Even though I'm off, I will give you a call then. Goodnight." I said fighting the strain in my voice.

As everyone had started to gather their coats and purses, and since Dawn was tugging on Eric's arm whining to leave, Eric reluctantly let the matter go. And when he left, he left with my heart. All I had left was my self-respect and dignity, and by god, we were going dancing. They could mourn the loss of my heart when I got home tonight.

Amelia, Tray, Alcide and I stayed out dancing until about 2am and then we went to get pancakes at Waffle House. Despite all of Amelia's heavy flirting, I knew she wouldn't leave to spend the night with Tray, although they both clearly wanted that. She knew my heart had just been trampled on and being the good friend she was, she wasn't going to let me go home alone tonight. So, we said goodnight to Alcide and Tray at the main door to my apartment building. Of course, Tray and Amelia were already making plans to get together Saturday too. I had a feeling they would try to rope in me and Alcide as well, but as good of a time as I had tonight with Alcide, I'm not on the market. Sure, that didn't mean I was off the market necessarily. Quite frankly, I didn't know what my relationship status was anymore. But even if Eric and I were over… or whatever we were to each other… I wasn't about to jump into something with Alcide just because he is nice and convenient. I may not have a lot of relationship experience, but I knew that I was unavailable emotionally, and Alcide is too nice of a guy to make him think otherwise. When we parted, Alcide gave, me a tight hug and kissed my forehead and then Amelia and I headed off to my apartment.

Once we passed the guys, she gave me a firm hug and whispered, "I'm sorry."

"I know. You're a good friend Amelia."

"I love you Sook. Let's get some sleep and you can deal with the asshole tomorrow."

But it turned out I wouldn't have to wait even that long. As soon as we stepped off the elevator and turned towards my door, there was Eric, sitting on the floor in front of my apartment door, with a worn expression and a big bouquet of yellow tulips in his hand.