Sookie awoke and huffed as she stared at the ceiling. Half of her mind hoped that she would find an empty couch when she ventured to go and find some blood. But, when she saw Eric sprawled out, sound asleep, she shook her head and considered her circumstance.

He obviously sought her forgiveness. But for the life of her, she couldn't bring herself to do it. She poured herself a glass of blood and thought of what had happened when she had tried to progress without Eric. She had almost been killed on the first try. She let out a low sarcastic chuckle when she spotted the yellow maserati in front of her porch. She guessed it fell back into her possession again. She wasn't sure she wanted it, but it seemed she couldn't shake it, a little like Eric.

He began to stir when he smelt freshly poured blood. The floorboards still stank of the stench of dead vamp. He wasn't sure how long it would take for the smell to go. He searched for Sookie and found her sat on the edge of her bed, sipping on a glass of blood.
"I'll get a guy in to change the floorboards." He told her, nodding over to the living room.
"Thanks." She stared into her glass, stained a morbid tint of red.

Eric could feel the walls up around herself.
"Do you want me to leave?" He asked and she sighed, placing her glass down a little too hard on her nightstand.
"What does it matter? You'll do what you want anyway." She told him and he huffed, watching her waltz past him, into the bathroom.

He let his head fall into his hands. He wondered if Nora was happy with herself. But he knew he couldn't blame her entirely. He had just as much to do with the infidelity, if not more than her. He hadn't imagined that it would cause such a drastic shift in his life. But, he found himself reconsidering everything as he sat on the edge of the old wooden bed, with the god awful floral sheets.

He had been alive for thousands of years, and all that time, he had wanted money and sex and luxury. But he had never met anyone that made him stop in his tracks and consider why he wanted these things. He had more money than anyone could ever fathom. If he recorded all of his wealth he would easily be one of the richest creatures on the planet. Why did he need to work so hard, hustle so hard to make even more money?

Sookie had caused a cerebral shift in his mentality. She had brought him back into the light and with that came a whole host of new emotions. He felt guilt trickle back into his soul, something that had been absent since he was turned. He partially hated himself for being so easily changed. But also, he knew that this hatred would be shadowed by a future disdain for himself if he didn't change his ways. He knew he would lose Sookie for good, if he hadn't already.

Eric had left his mind wide open and Sookie felt dizzy, experiencing the shit show of emotions that was playing out in there. It was pretty clear that he was being tormented. She smiled a little at the knowledge of this, knowing that he deserved more than a little torment for what he had done to her, but also for the centuries of debauchery.

She stayed in the shower for almost an hour, scrubbing herself and listening into Eric's mind. She decided that for now, she was going to sit back and watch what kind of attempt of redemption that was going to follow. She resigned herself to the fact that her life and Eric's were always going to be intertwined in one way or another. So she might as well enjoy the show.

By the time that Sookie emerged, Eric was determined to change. He had never felt this motivation to be a better person before and it was an emotion he was completely uncomfortable with. But, he knew that it was the only way that his soul would be able to live in peace and the only sliver of hope that he had for a life with Sookie.

They sat down to breakfast, Sookie, Jessica and Eric. Jessica could feel the awkward tension in the room and decided to break it with a simple question:
"Are we going to talk about last night or what?" Sookie shook her head and allowed herself to smile ever so slightly. Jessica was still a seventeen year old girl who wanted to avoid awkwardness.
"I was almost taken to a creepy lab in England, killed a potentially very powerful vamp with a candlestick and now have remnants of vampire goop in our floorboards. What is there to talk about?" She asked and Jessica let out a chuckle, wondering how Sookie could be so humourous and guessing it was her way of dealing with the trauma.
"I think this is just evidence of why Sookie shouldn't do business on her own." Eric stated, half joking and half serious.

Sookie didn't respond to his comment. Although he was correct that she had failed her first business venture, she didn't appreciate that he was insinuating that she was inferior to him.
"You know, Jessica, some people are good at business and others have different talents, like being kind and not fucking their sister." Eric choked on his blood and Jessica let her mouth fall open. At first it felt like her mom and dad fighting. But now the fight was over, Sookie had won.

Eric excused himself after breakfast, taking the keys to the maserati on the way out. Sookie was glad when she heard the wheels screech down the dirt road. She found herself in a state of boredom once again.
"Well, what should we do with our time?" She asked Jessica and she shrugged.
"We are ladies at leisure, we can live our lives as we wish." She told her and Sookie thought for a moment.
"But we're not really. I don't even know how much money I have to my name. And our little money scheme didn't exactly work out well, did it?" She nodded down to the stained floorboards.
"I highly doubt you have anything to worry about, but if you have any worries then we could definitely take a trip to the bank today." Jessica suggested and Sookie thought it was the most perfectly mundane activity to do to make them feel more human than ever.

Eric had broken the speed limit, all the way to Fangtasia. Pam was shocked when he came stomping into the bar.
"What's got you tied in such a knot?" She asked and he huffed, looking around at the bar.
"I fucking hate this place." He told her and she furrowed her brows and scrunched her nose in disdain.
"What do you mean? This is your bar, Eric." She told him and he shook his head.
"Correction, this is your bar now." He told her and she followed him in a frenzy as he burst into his office.
"I don't care what you do with it. Sell it, keep it, I don't care." He told her and she grabbed his arm as he began looking through paperwork.
"You don't know what you're saying Eric." She told him and he sat her down.
"Pam, we aren't the same as we were before. We are not night creatures, forced into the shadows anymore. Why should I sit here, watching vampire strippers, when I could be making up for lost time out in the sun?" He asked her and she sighed, shaking her head.
"You seem to forget that I was always in the business of running nighttime establishments." She reminded him and he looked up at her for the first time that day.
"As I said, if you want to keep it, then I am sure that you will find it a profitable business. But I just can't be this creature anymore." He told her and she nodded, knowing that there was no way that she was going to convince him any other way.

He had dedicated years to running Fangtasia, and handing it over to Pam felt like a burden had been lifted from his shoulders. He had not felt so carefree in centuries. He reminisced back to the time when his only worries were hunting food for his family and looking after his wife, his human life. He feared longing for something so long lost. He had never allowed himself to want to feel that way again, to feel even remotely human. But living in the sun, being able to potentially live with Sookie, it made him feel, for the first time since being turned, that he could get back to that way of life.

Sookie and Jessica watched as the balding fat man tapped away at his keyboard.
"This is the current balance in your account, Miss Stackhourse." He turned the clunky monitor around to her and she felt the blood drain from her face.
"Are you sure?" She asked and wiped the sweat from his brow.
"I can assure you this is correct." He told her and she stared at the number, all seven figures of it. Jessica held in her excitement until they left the bank.
"It must be for the folks in the hotel!" She told her and Sookie suddenly remembered that they had all paid their fair share to bask in the sun.

She drove in the yellow masserati, with the knowledge of her new found wealth and felt any existential crisis leave her.
"Jessica, do you know what this means?" She asked and Jessica bubbled at the kinds of opportunities they now had. They could go to Italy, they could buy designer clothes, they could live a life that just one week ago they couldn't have imagined.
"We don't have to worry." Sookie told her and Jessica nodded, knowing that the adventures would come about with time. But the luxury of never having to worry financially again was one that made her feel weightless.

They sat on the porch with two large glasses of blood, enjoying the sun under the shade.
"This is the kind of life we deserve." Sookie told her and Jessica chuckled.
"Who would have thought we would be here." She wondered aloud.
"Well, aren't you a couple of ladies at leisure?" Eric chuckled, climbing out of his car.
"Do we not deserve it?" Jessica challenged him and he nodded.
"You most certainly do. Can we take a walk?" He asked Sookie and she reluctantly nodded.

They walked slowly around her yard.
"Sookie, I need to apologize to you." He began and she nodded.
"Yes, you do." She told him and he sighed, knowing this was going to be an uphill battle.
"I'm mourning the person I was." He shocked her by admitting. She looked across to him with confusion in her eyes.
"I have been a filthy blood lusting creature for over a thousand years." He began and she listened in silence.
"You came along and booted me into the sun, you've reminded me what it is like to be human." He told her and she looked down at the ground.
"But, when you saw me, before, I hadn't fully let go who I was." He admitted and she waited.
"I signed Fangtasia over to Pam." He told her and she stopped in her tracks.
"Why?" She asked and he stuck his hands deep into his pockets.
"I don't want it anymore. It is everything I used to be. I want to try to connect to my human essence again. I want to remember what it is like to live solely for myself, not for money or greed." He explained.
"I don't believe you." She told him and he nodded.
"I guessed you wouldn't. But I'll prove it to you, I'll prove these things don't matter to me anymore. I'll show you what I value." He made the oath.
"And what is that?" She asked.
"You, our life together." He told her in such earnest, she couldn't deny its authenticity.
"Just give me time. I'll prove myself to you." He assured her and a small part of her was willing to give him just a little of her attention.

Author's Note: I have no excuse as to why I have been gone. I have been in quarantine for 7 weeks on my own in China, with plenty of time to write, but found no inspiration. I hope you are all safe and isolating as much as possible. And I hope my fiction can bring you a little joy in this time.