A/N: Ok, so I said that I had the lemony parts of this chapter written. I was wrong. Things kind of went in another direction.

Chapter 19

After he told her that he loved her, she looked at him wide-eyed. He sighed. There was just no point in denying it any longer. To her or himself. He certainly hadn't felt this way about Karin, or even Pam. Hell, he'd never felt this way about anyone. And one thousand years was a very long time.

He'd been very fond of Aude. He'd even loved her. She'd been a good mother and wife and companion. He'd enjoyed sleeping with her very much. But he hadn't been in love with her. Not like this.

"This is new for me as well. You're my child, so of course I care for you deeply. But this is something different."

Presumably she had gotten stronger after turning vampire. So why was she so scared and insecure now? At least some of the time. She'd been so much stronger and friendlier and more self-confident before she'd been turned. More open and carefree. A risk-taker. She wanted to be Confident Sookie again. She wanted to be Sunshine.

She took a deep breath, and her voice wavered a little, but she made herself say it and not look away. "I love you."

He kissed her, and they just made out for a long time. He was such a good kisser that she would have been happy to just kiss him for hours. And they didn't even have to breathe. Eventually, they made love again, and he pushed love at her through the bond when they both came. He made her feel beautiful.

After, when she was lying in his arms, he sighed again. "I have work that I absolutely must attend to. I'll be busy most of the night."

She sighed, too. "Ok."

Eric was in the office working, and Sookie was brushing her hair in the bathroom when her cell phone rang. She picked it up and answered.

"Hello, gorgeous. Guess who's in Shreveport for the night!"

She squealed in his ear and he laughed. "Alcide! Oh my God, I've missed you so much! Is everybody with you?"

"Nope. Just me. It's a flying trip for some pack business. I'm headed back to New Orleans tomorrow night. I'd have blown Dad off, but I wanted to spend some time with my girl."

"Alcide, you're the sweetest."

He chuckled. "I know. So, can little Sookie come out to play? I promise I'll get you home before curfew."

Spending the night hanging out with Alcide beat the hell out of hanging around the house alone all evening with nothing to do. She was smiling so hard her face almost hurt. "You dork. Of course I can! Eric is busy doing work anyhow. I was going to be bored stiff."

Alcide laughed. "Speaking of stiff, I've missed you so much it hurts. Literally. I can't wait to get you naked and in my arms."

Her stomach clenched, but she tried to ignore it. After all, she and Eric had an understanding. She'd even made a point to make sure before they'd slept together for the first time just a few nights back. He'd basically said that vampires just didn't do monogamy. They all slept with the humans they fed from. It was expected. Hell, he'd even tried to push her to have sex with other guys at the palace less than a week before. But the idea of fucking random strangers after drinking their blood was just too close to her old life in Bon Temps for comfort. She'd exchanged sex for food more than a few times before, and it had been awful. Necessary, but that hadn't really made it any easier. She wouldn't have to hear their thoughts any longer, but still. Vampire or not, anonymous sex still really kind of grossed her out.

And, if fucking and feeding was just a fact of death, then her wolves were fair game. She wasn't a bigot. Besides, Eric had known exactly who she'd been planning to sleep with when he'd agreed, anyhow.

Of course, if this was just the way things were, then Eric would be fucking and feeding, too. She tried not to think about that. Or how much she hated the idea.

Alcide pulled her out of her thoughts. "Hey, do you want to just hang out over there?"

Sookie hesitated. She really was not comfortable to fuck Alcide there. Not even a little bit. Especially with the spare bedroom just across the hall from the office. "Um. Can you pick me up?"

Alcide paused, too. "Are you ok, Sunshine? Is everything alright? You're already a friend of the pack. If you need us to…"

Sookie cut him off. "What? No! He's been so great, Alcide. Really. I promise. I just kind of wanted a little more privacy."

She told Alcide to hold on for a minute, and she ran to the office. Eric looked up, and she didn't notice his shoulders sag just a little when he saw her in the doorway with a huge smile on her face and the cell phone in her hand.

"Alcide is in town! What's the address here? He's going to pick me up."

"I don't know that it's such a good idea for him to know where we're staying."

Sookie frowned. "But, it's Alcide."

"And?"

"And he's family."

Eric hated everything about this, but he'd promised her that she'd be able to keep in touch and see them sometimes. He sighed. "Fine." He gave her the address.

She smiled at him. "Thanks! Did you hear that Alcide?"

She walked out of the office and down the hall. He looked at the paperwork he'd been working on - Sookie's registration - and he pushed it away. He would work on something else instead. And close the fucking bond. He had no desire at all to feel her fucking the big stupid mutt. If she needed him, she could call him. He knew that she would be safe with a Were, at least.

When Alcide pulled up and got out of the van, Sookie ran outside. He caught her and spun her around and then wrapped her up in a bear hug.

"Damn, Sunshine! You're fast now."

She grinned and picked him up and spun him around, too. "Strong, too." They were both laughing when she put him down, but she didn't let him go.

"I could probably kick your butt now." Sookie reached down and gave him a spank.

"Ow! I think you broke my ass."

Sookie giggled. "I barely tapped it!"

Suddenly serious, Alcide kissed the top of her head and held her tight. "Somehow, it's so fucking different and yet exactly the same. God, I miss you, Sunshine. It just isn't the same without you."

She smiled up at him and her eyes were rimmed in blood. "I miss you, too. And Jake and Maria-Star. So much it hurts. But I really am happy here. I promise."

"He treats you right? He's good to you?"

She nodded. "I don't know if Maria-Star told you, but I love him, Alcide. I'm in love with him. And he loves me, too."

He smiled down at her and held her face in his hands. He wiped the bloody tears from her cheeks with his thumbs. "Sunshine, if you're happy, I'm happy."

"I'm really really happy."

Alcide gasped theatrically. "This means that I'm not getting laid tonight, doesn't it!"

She giggled. "I'm afraid so, Herveaux. But how about one more kiss?"

"I would never forgive myself if I passed that up."

He leaned down and kissed her, and he made it count. When he pulled away, he said, "I love you, Sunshine. Never forget it."

"I won't. I love you, too, you great big puppy dog. I always will. And it's not like we aren't going to see each other sometimes."

He kissed her nose. "We'd better."

He took her hand and they walked to the van. He opened the door and goosed her when she climbed in. She was still giggling when he got in the driver's side, but they both had tears in their eyes. Even though it was just the two of them, this felt like the real ending. And it was sad, but it also wasn't. It felt right.

As they drove away, they didn't see Pam's curtain twitch.

After Alcide dropped her off, Sookie went to the office to say hi to Eric. He was sitting in his chair waiting for her with his arms crossed and his jaw clenched. Her smile faded away, replaced with confusion.

"Did you have a good time?" His voice was dripping with sarcasm.

She frowned at him. "Yes. Of course I did."

He snorted. "I'll bet."

Her eyebrows drew together. "Eric, what's the matter?"

"The matter is that you reek of dog. Go take a shower."

Since leaving Bon Temps, she'd been notoriously easy going. She was good to do pretty much whatever, whenever, as long as it didn't involve anyone getting hurt. She got along with pretty much everyone. But, every once in a long while, when someone did something that really pissed her off, the old Stackhouse temper reared its head and she completely lost her shit. The wolves found it hilarious, especially since it had never been directed at them. It was just so out of character. Eric had had a small taste of it at the palace, but he hadn't seen anything yet.

"What the fuck did you say to me?"

"I said you stink. You know what they say, Sookie. You lie down with dogs, you get fleas."

Sookie's fangs ran down. "Oh, excuse the fuck out of me. What in the hell happened to no monogamy, Eric? I made sure the terms were very clear before we started sleeping together."

"The terms have changed."

Sookie's eyes glowed red. "Bullshit. Who in the fuck do you think you are? You can play by the fucking rules we set or I'm not going to play at all."

"This isn't a game to me, Sookie. And who I am is your maker. I'm the one who gets to make the rules."

She was shaking, she was so angry. Part of her wanted to completely lose herself in it. To let go of her control and rip and bite and tear him apart. Knowing that he could kill her easily didn't even matter. But that wasn't who she was.

"You don't get to make a goddamn thing except an ass of yourself, you sanctimonious shit. Not only did you go back on your word, you just assumed that I fucked Alcide without even asking first. Yes, I smell like wolf. Alcide is family to me, goddammit. I was a fifteen year old country hick with an eighth grade education and a six inch long gash on my arm from where my mother'd tried to carve up my face with a butcher knife when they picked me up. They took me in and kept me safe and loved me and treated me like I mattered. For the first time in my miserable fucking life. If it wasn't for them, I'd have ended up dead or in jail or on a street corner, which probably would have made me go insane, thanks to the telepathy. So yes I hugged him. I cuddled with him. Hell, I even kissed him. Once. But I knew before I even left the house that I wasn't going to fuck him. Oh, I could have. That was the deal that we made, you and me. But I didn't want to. Because of you. Too bad, too. If I'd known you were such a piece of shit, I would have fucked him twice just to piss you off."

It was like a bucket of cold water had been thrown in his face. He took the time to really scent the air and, while she smelled strongly of Were, the only sex she'd had had been with him.

"Sookie…"

"Don't Sookie me, asshole. I'm going to go and wash the stink of dog off of me. I hope that coffin across the hall is comfortable, because you're going to be sleeping in it for a long fucking while."

"Sookie, please."

"That's ok. Probably for the best. You don't want to get fleas."

The office door had been open since they'd moved in, but she made a point to slam it anyway. Hard enough that the door jamb splintered. He heard the bedroom door slam, too, and then the bathroom. A couple of minutes later, the shower started. And then the sobbing.