Sitting on the sofa, Annie leant forwards and clasped her hands together. She tapped her heel against the floor as her hair hung in front of her face and she kept her gaze on the ground. She hated to admit that she had been on edge ever since Eric had left her alone. Every moment that passed had been agonisingly slow. Every sound that she heard was enough to make her jump and move to peer outside of the curtains. She was paranoid. The worst part was that she knew she was being paranoid.

Eric had left her over two and a half hour's ago and Annie had not felt safe ever since. She detested how she relied on Eric to keep her safe. She detested how reliant she was on him. A part of her didn't wish for that. She used to be strong enough on her own before. She had two jobs; granted, they were not brilliant, but she was still able to cope alone. She could think on her feet and she had enough wit to keep people from bothering her. But a part of her enjoyed being protected. She enjoyed having someone besides her who vowed to keep her safe. She liked that Eric would do anything for her, and she knew she would do anything for him.

She was in over her head.

A sudden loud banging noise snapped her out of her daydream. She screamed shrilly and placed a hand over her mouth to keep her from yelling further. Standing up, Annie kept the hand over her mouth as she wandered towards the window once more. Peeling the curtain back, she looked down into the alleyway which contained a few small parking spaces.

Squinting, Annie's eyes widened as she recognised a certain blonde haired woman moving from a battered yellow vehicle.

"Sookie?" Annie whispered.

Sookie was moving to the other side of her car, opening the door and helping someone out. It didn't take Annie to realise that someone was Eric. Sighing with relief, Annie rushed to the apartment door and stood by it, rocking back and forth on her heels as she waited for Sookie to knock. No doubt Eric would have yelled at her had she rushed out to meet them.

Pulling the door open on the first knock, Annie saw how Sookie had an arm around Eric's waist, almost as if she was helping him to walk. Frowning, she moved aside to let them in.

"What is wrong?" Annie asked. "Are you injured, Eric?"

Annie met Eric's gaze, but there was something odd. He looked at her with arched brows and his face had specks of dirt covering it. His hair was mussed and his jacket askew on his shoulders. Yet it wasn't Eric's appearance which concerned her, but his stare. He looked vacant. He looked empty.

"Who is she?"

The question took Annie off guard as Eric's voice was slow and soft. Sookie closed the door and Annie stepped back as Eric leant down toward her, his nose by her hair and her neck. He picked a string of the hair, twirling it over his finger as Sookie looked to Annie. The young woman looked traumatised as she tried to pull herself from his intense scrutiny.

"She smells familiar."

"Eric, take a seat on the sofa," Sookie demanded and he did as she had asked in an instant.

Annie was shocked as Eric moved away with haste, sitting on the edge of the sofa and looking around the apartment with wonder.

"What the fuck?" Annie demanded from Sookie.

"I don't know," the blonde muttered and took hold of Annie by the arm to steer her towards the kitchen. "I was driving home and I came across him on the side of the road. He had no idea who I was or who you were. He knows no one. I took him into my car and called Pam to ask her where you were and she gave me the address. I'm shocked she isn't here yet."

As soon as Sookie had spoken the door flung open, hitting the wall behind it with haste. Jumping up from the sofa, Eric turned his gaze to the door and startled. Pam stood in the doorway, her hand still outstretched from where she had pushed the door wide open. Moving with haste, Eric rushed to Pam and took hold of her by the throat.

"Who is she?" Eric demanded.

"Put her down," Annie spoke to Eric. "Eric, she is your progeny. Her name is Pam. She won't hurt you."

Eric seemed to believe Annie as she moved to take hold of his arm. Pam was lowered back to the floor, clutching her throat as Eric glowered at her, but turned his stare back to Annie, obviously entranced by her compared for some unknown reason. He moved his hand out towards her, his knuckles stroking her cheek as his other hand moved to her neck, sweeping the hair away from it sat.

"What the hell?" Pam demanded from both her and Sookie. "What has happened to him? You two better have an explanation because I do not appreciate being strangled around the throat by my own maker."

Eric snarled and bared his fangs as Annie quickly moved to stand in front of him before he could move to Pam. Her hands wrapped around his upper arms and she tried to push him back, shocked she managed to move him by one foot. Pam merely looked insulted as Eric glowered at her. It was evident that she was just as concerned about Eric and his current situation.

"He's lost his memory," Sookie spoke. "I found him like this. I have no idea what caused it. Where did he go?"

Annie tried to rack her brain as Eric ran a hand down her hair and she tried to ignore the gesture, swatting his hand away and wondering what had made him act in such a manner. She stood in front of him, ignoring the way his arms wrapped around her waist and his chin rested on her shoulder. Annie couldn't help but lean against him for a brief moment before snapping out of it and willing for Sookie and Pam to stop looking at her with such an accusing stare.

"He went to see Bill," Annie suddenly recalled. "He left me to go to see Bill. I was worried about what he would do."

"Bill Compton," Pam spat him name out. "I'll go and see what the fuck he knows."

"I will come with you," Sookie nodded. "Bill is more inclined to speak to me than he is to you, Pam."

"Whatever," Pam said before pointing a perfectly manicured finger at Annie. "Keep him in here. That shouldn't be difficult to do."

Annie tried to pull Eric's hands from where they rested on her stomach. She wormed around in his grip as Sookie moved to stand outside the apartment and Pam continued to glower at Annie.

"And how do I do that?" Annie hissed.

"Spread your legs," Pam sneered. "It seems that will work."

Groaning, Annie said nothing as the door slammed shut and she turned around in Eric's grip, placing her hands on his chest and trying to stop him from sniffing her hair more. She ducked around and Eric moved to whisper in her ear.

"Why do you smell so sweet?" he wondered from her. "I don't even know you."

"That would be where you're wrong," Annie said. "So, if you just want to take a seat then I will tell you exactly how I know you and exactly who you are."

Annie moved away from him and held her hand out to him, offering him some support. He looked to her open hand with caution and Annie wondered if he would take hold of her skin. Would he believe anything that she was about to tell him? They had been through so much together that it would be difficult to relive all of it and make him believe her. She only hoped that she could do just that.

Eric slowly moved his palm towards her and Annie enveloped his fingers inside of hers, hoping that he would believe her.

...

Annie was curled up on the sofa, her legs underneath her as her head rested against the back of the sofa. Eric was lounged out, his hands on his thighs and his head tilted back against the sofa. He was trying to digest everything which Annie had just told him. He could scarcely believe it, but he knew that it rang true. He believed her. He looked into her eyes and all he saw was honesty.

A small smile slowly tugged at his lips and Annie watched him as she placed her hand against her head to hold it upright. She shrugged at him, wondering what it was he was thinking. She couldn't help but think that he seemed gentler. He was always tender with Annie, but this time his motions seemed shy. Eric Northman had never been described as shy before.

"So I am with you?" he asked of her.

Annie's mouth fell open. "So I tell you that we've fought crazy vampires, werewolves and my psychotic parents, and all you can ask is if we are together?"

Eric shrugged at her. "But the bad things are gone, right?"

"Well, I guess, apart from my parents," Annie spoke.

"So are we together?"

Annie shifted uncomfortably. "We've never actually put a definition on it. I mean...I don't know..."

"Have we slept together?" Eric dared to ask.

Annie laughed then and moved to stand up, searching for her cell phone in her satchel as she tossed her hair over her shoulder and Eric moved to sit forwards, his hands laced together as he did so. Annie watched him with wonder as he waited for an answer from her.

"Yeah," she said with a nonchalant nod. "I mean, only once because we've been-"

"-So you're mine?" he asked her before she could expand any further on what she was about to say.

"And you're mine," Annie repeated what she had said before he had lost his memories. She closed her eyes, wondering if this was all just a ridiculous nightmare she was having. Eric Northman did not speak in soft tones. He did not care for emotions or kind words. Yet here he was.

He moved with haste then, kneeling in front of her as she startled at the sight of him. She remained on the floor, checking that the time was nearing sunrise. Eric looked to her with intrigue, his gaze not once easing up on her. She almost felt herself tear up. He was stood in front of her. He was alive and safe. But he was not himself.

"What was I like?" Eric suddenly asked. "The girl...Sookie...she said I was an asshole."

Annie laughed softly and nodded her agreement. "You were," she confirmed to him. "On numerous occasions. You have done things which I have disliked, but you have also done things which have been good too. I guess we can all be assholes."

"So I'm a bad person?"

The uncertainty in his voice almost killed Annie. She saw the hurt in his face and she moved quickly, tossing her satchel aside and placing her hands on his cheeks. She pressed her forehead against his, somehow feeling the need to comfort him as a parent would do their child. She had never seen him look so worried or downtrodden before.

"You are not a bad person," Annie declared. "You have done...well...bad things...but we all have. You've also done good things. You've saved me more than once. You've helped Pam many times before. Trust me; you're not a bad person."

Moving slowly, Annie pressed her lips to his cheek and Eric closed his eyes at the feeling. She stood with haste then and offered him her hand. Moving slowly, Eric took hold of it and Annie motioned to the bedroom.

"There's a blackout blind in there which should protect you from the sun now that it is rising," Annie declared. "I assume that is why you had it installed in there. I'll leave you to sleep for the night. I should go out and try to find out what has happened to you."

"And if I ask you not to go?"

Annie felt Eric's hand tighten around hers then as she pushed the door open to the bedroom and waited for him to go into it. His hand moved to cup her waist gently, his head tilted down as he watched her. Annie bit the inside of her cheek and looked around uncomfortably.

"I'll be fine," she promised Eric. "I should try to help you."

"You can help me by staying here," Eric urged her.

Sighing, Annie reluctantly nodded. She would wait until Eric fell asleep before sneaking out and by the looks on his face it wouldn't be long before that happened. She nodded to Eric and he refused to let her hand go, even as he slept soundly beside her.