A/N: Wow, what a negative response to the end of chapter 6! So many of you were angry at Sookie for her reaction to the Eric/Quinn altercation. Seriously, something had to go wrong. I couldn't let everything be sunshine and rainbows on the first date. A little angst never hurt anyone. I hope this chapter gets a more positive response. I wouldn't want to turn anyone off to the story, and I hope most of the disappointment was directed at Sookie and not me.

I'd also like to share my excitement and utter shock when I realized this story hit 100 reviews in 6 chapters! Very, very exciting for me. Thanks to everyone who takes the time to send a little love, or a little criticism my way. Since I started writing, I've been leaving more reviews to my favorite authors. They really are important in the writing process. I take every suggestion into consideration while developing the plot line.

Many thanks to chisaii-kitty, my beta machine who has been getting these chapters back to me within the hour. I love reading all the comments she leaves me, they just crack me up!

Disclaimer: It's not mine, but I wouldn't kick a Viking out of bed ;)

Sookie stormed into her apartment, throwing her coat at the closet, not even bothering to hang it up properly. She knew Amelia would be in right behind her and would fix her anger-driven mess. She was not speaking to Amelia at the moment, however. The entire cab ride back had been spent with Amelia pointing out all of Eric's positive attributes. Sookie didn't want to hear any of it; she wanted to stew in her rage directed at her one-time favorite author. She shot Bob an angry look that had the small dog running in no time. She was snapped out of her haze when Amelia finally entered their home and locked up for the night.

"Sure Sookie, I'll pay for the cab fare and clean up your mess. Hm, clean up your mess, that sums up what I'll have to do with Eric tomorrow, too."

"I never asked you to hold his hand and teach him how to be a boyfriend. I never asked you to push us together. I never asked you to meddle in my life! In fact, I never asked you to move here from Louisiana either!"

"Sookie, you don't mean that. Stop being a bitch because you're angry at me. Just go to bed and talk to me when you can act like a rational person. Just don't be mad at Eric. He only did what he did because Jason and I told him to make it clear to Quinn who you were with."

"See! You were meddling in my life, in what had potential to be an amazing relationship, and messed everything up! You and Jason always have to be there to clean up my life and tell me what to do. Don't you notice that when you interfere, you only mess everything up? So if you're so into Eric, why don't you ask him out because I'm done with him?"

"You don't mean that either. Just go to bed and we'll talk in the morning."

With that both girls stormed off into their respective bedrooms for the night. Sookie tossed and turned for hours, not able to fall asleep feeling as angry as she did. It felt as if she had only been asleep for minutes when there was a knock on her bedroom door. It was morning already and Amelia's voice said through the door, "Sookie, someone's here to speak to you."

Had Eric found their address and come to talk to her? Maybe Amelia had given it to him since they were so close. They really should be together, get married, and have a bunch of kids. Sookie had to take a deep breath and calm herself down before she worked up another fit. She wanted to calmly tell Eric to leave her alone permanently. She slipped a bra on under her pajamas and opened the door. She was shocked to see two blonds next to her roommate, and that one of them was sniffing Bob's butt.

"Pam, what are you doing here? How did you get my address?"

"Amelia gave it to me this morning when I called her. This is Clancy, Eric's dog. You're going to bring him back to Eric's apartment later today. I took him home last night after it looked like Eric was going back inside himself. I didn't want the little guy to suffer because Eric's head was too far up his ass to realize fighting is just part of being a couple."

"Sorry to be the one to tell you this, but I'm done with him. Maybe Amelia can bring Clancy over when she meets Eric for their first date. Didn't you know they're the ones that are supposed to be together?"

"I hate to be the one to tell you this, but Amelia would rather get in my pants than Eric's. When you're done being stubborn, go to him. The address is on the dog tag. The two of you need to talk this mess out. You mean too much to each other to quit so easily. Give it a chance before you let your pride cause you to miss out on something special. I have to get to work, I can't play miracle worker all day."

She passed Clancy's leash to Sookie's hand on her way out the door. Sookie just looked down at the floor for a few minutes, allowing Pam's words to sink in. She admitted to being too prideful at times. She was raised to be independent, but she took hard headedness to a new level. Maybe she was acting like a stubborn child by not allowing Eric a chance to explain.

"You said last night you and Jason forced Eric to act the way he did."

"Yeah, we saw it as a shot of getting Quinn out of the picture and getting you with a guy that would treat you properly. He didn't know how to handle the situation so we pushed him into trying to claim you. It wasn't the right thing to do Sook, I'm sorry."

"It's alright. I know you guys don't like Quinn; I just didn't realize how far you would go to get him away from me. You could have really hurt Eric with all this nonsense; you know he's having a hard time moving forward. It was wrong to use him like you did."

"I know, it was pretty shitty of us. Do you want me to go over to his apartment with you?"

"No, we can work this out on our own. His dog's pretty cute. A blond dog for a blond guy huh?"

"Don't forget about the blonde girl!"

"Speaking of blonde girls, I guess you're going through a girl phase again. How are you going to tell Tray you don't want to see him anymore?"

"I won't. I have no problem seeing them both. Hopefully neither of them will mind sharing."

The friends broke out into laughter and all traces of tension left the apartment. There had been many nights Sookie came home from a late night of studying during college to find Amelia in bed with partners of both genders. Amelia finished getting ready and headed out to the gym to teach her morning class. Sookie took her time getting washed for the day, trying to figure out the right thing to say to Eric. She slowly ate her oatmeal, still stalling, afraid of Eric's reaction when he would see her at his door. She finally got dressed and headed out the door, prepared for whatever fate brought her way in regards to Eric.


He awoke the next morning feeling more like the shell of a human he had grown accustomed to being. He dragged himself out of bed and after a stop in the bathroom, shuffled through the living room calling for Clancy to come for their morning walk. When nothing happened in response, he spotted the note left on the back of his front door.

Eric,

I took Clancy back to my apartment as I couldn't predict how you would be acting today. I'll bring him back in the morning before I head into the office. I found your outline in the trash and salvaged it. It was your first date, give her another chance. Don't give up on yourself just because you think this girl isn't the one. We'll talk more tomorrow.

~Pam

It was noon. Pam had to be in the office by now. He was wondering why she hadn't brought back Clancy, as promised. Eric could really use the company right about now. He was pulled out of his thoughts with a knock at the door. He opened the door and was prepared to explain his haggard appearance to a snippy Pam, but was instead surprised at the sight of Sookie holding on to Clancy.

"Hi," he greeted her with his shock reflecting in his voice.

"Hey there. Can we come in?"

"Of course, but how did you get Clancy? Pam didn't dump him on you did she? If so, I'm sorry on her behalf."

"It's not a problem. She stopped by this morning to knock some sense into me. She asked me to bring him back so she could get to work."

"Knocked sense into you? She didn't hit you, did she? It wouldn't be the first time she's taken out a fan."

"No, but her words certainly pack a punch. I acted like an idiot last night, Eric. I was just so angry, and I never gave you a chance to give your side of the story. Amelia told me that she and Jason were pushing you into acting like you did. We never talked about Quinn before, there was no way you could have handled the situation any better. I should have told you ahead of time my ex would be joining us. I'm sorry for everything."

Eric took a moment to absorb everything Sookie told him. He prepared Clancy's breakfast, which the dog ate in a matter of minutes. Pam didn't have the foresight to bring a can of food with her, and poor Clancy was eating far later than he was used to. Sookie wanted to break the tension that was growing between her and Eric.

"He's a great dog. Where did you find him?"

"Pam adopted him for me shortly after Felicia passed away. He's a guide dog reject, so he was completely trained when he came here. Supposedly, it takes years of waiting to adopt rejected or retired guide dogs but a massive donation goes a long way to getting your name to the top of the list."

"That explains a lot. But why was he rejected?

"He's afraid of cats and other small animals. He'd flip out whenever a squirrel walked past him while he was leading. After months of training they still weren't able to break him of the habit so they failed him out of the program."

"That's why he was giving Bob a sideways glance."

"He and Bob are friends; they met at the dog park. It's funny, I've had him for three years, and I've been walking him through the park the entire time. I've never come across that dog park before I met you. Then the day I first saw you, we find it and I find Amelia. Then I found that the two of you were friends and everything came together. Just as easily, it all fell apart. I'm sorry I acted like an asshole, Sookie. Thanks for bringing him over, but if you want to leave you can. I'll be fine."

She sensed he was withdrawing so she walked across the room to stand closer to him, taking both his hands into hers and squeezing gently. She noticed the wedding band on his ring finger, but couldn't remember seeing it there last night.

"I want to talk about this Eric. Please don't shut me out."

"Like you shut me out last night?"

Ouch. "I deserved that. But I'm here today to ask for your forgiveness. Please, talk to me; let me in so we can fix this."

"Fix this? Sookie, you haven't even known me a week. There is no this, there is no us, so just leave. This is the real me, Sookie. Is this the kind of person you want to be with? Amelia is right, you deserve someone amazing in your life and that's not me. I don't know how to be a boyfriend; I don't know the right thing to do in awkward situations. I thought you were the one who was going to pull me out of this but I was wrong. You only sent me farther back in. So thank you for bringing Clancy over, but you can just leave. Here, have something to remember me by. I'll even autograph it for my favorite fan."

He grabbed the stack of papers Pam had taken out of the trash, threw a quick signature on it and shoved it at her. The entire time he never met her gaze. If he had, he would have seen the tears that were threatening to spill down her cheeks.

"No."

"No? You're refusing to leave my apartment? That's known as trespassing in this city."

"I'm not letting you give up on this."

"You don't have that option, Sookie, I've already tapped out. See this?" He waved his ring finger in her face. "I took this off for the first time last night to show you how ready I was. I was kind to you at dinner, I worked hard to overcome my social anxiety to make nice with your friends, I did everything I could to impress you last night. So what do you do? You scream at me for being a fuck up, telling me to leave you alone. So I left you alone. I came home, and…"

"And gave up, Eric." Sookie could feel the anger bubbling back up inside of her. "You gave up. You went back to what's easy and familiar. You went back to being the mourning recluse after one bump in the road. I'd hate to break it to you, but life isn't easy. It's hard and you have to fight for what you want sometimes. What I want is you."

With that, she reached up to his face and pulled it down to hers for a kiss. He fought her at first, resisting her advances, but soon caved to her desire when he realized how right it felt to have her lips on his. She put all her passion and anger into that kiss, determined to show him how badly she wanted him. He finally responded by lacing the fingers of one hand through her hair, while the other hand sought the soft curve of her back, pulling her closer to him. His warm tongue traced the seam of her lips, begging entrance which she granted with relish. Soon, her tongue was dueling with his in a battle of dominance. They stood there for minutes that felt like hours, exploring each other's mouths.

He could feel his resolve melting away with every second that passed with Sookie's lips on his. After Felicia, he had never imagined kissing another woman, let along enjoying as much as he was. A conflict was battling its way through his mind, but his heart knew exactly what it wanted. He needed to learn to ignore the voice of dissent in his mind, and listen to the voice of desire in his heart. He needed to learn to live in the moment as opposed to the past and he knew Sookie would be the one to teach him how.

Neither wanted to pull away, but the need for oxygen was slowly beating out their passion. She took a hesitant step back, eyes still closed, chest heaving from the exertion of the kiss. Her eyes fluttered open and sought his. When their gaze locked, she could see the intensity in his eyes and that his chest was raising and falling just as heavily as hers. She traced her fingers down the side of his face, and across his lips, still wet, still wanting. She could feel his rough thumb taking a similar path down her cheek.

He was the first to find his voice. "Wow," was all he was able to say, his mastery of the English language failing him.

"Yeah," she was equally as tongue tied.

"You're one crazy dame, you know that."

"Yeah."

They shared a laugh, finally breaking apart. He quickly knelt down to the floor to pick up the forgotten papers she threw down in her moment of passion. "What are those?"

"It's a story board for the fourth book. Once again, you inspire me."

He grabbed the pen from the table and wrote across the top of the first page, Danger is a Dame.

"What's that?" Sookie's mind still had not caught up on processing what was going on around her.

"It's the title. I guess I have no choice in this matter. I can't throw my muse away so easily. No one has inspired this much creativity out of me this quickly ever. As much as I want to, I can't throw this away," he reflected on his words, and couldn't decipher if he meant Sookie or the story. He came to the conclusion he wanted both.

"I hope I can be more than just a muse. I'd sort of prefer the title of girlfriend."

He paused for a moment, studying the band on his finger which suddenly felt a few sizes too small. "We've got to go slow on this, Sookie. I'm trying hard to find myself again. I need to know who I am before I can figure out who you want me to be. I want you in my life, but we have to go one step at a time. And we have to communicate."

"Agreed. No more shutting each other out. We'll take it nice and slow, as slow as we both want, whatever feels right to us."

"Good. Now come back here so I can kiss you like that again."

"That doesn't sound very slow to me."

"So you don't want me to kiss you?" he asked with a wicked smile finding its way to his lips.

"I want it more than anything. Just double checking that we're on the same page. But I need an equalizer, you've got at least a foot on me and my neck is starting to cramp."

He lead her to the couch where he took a seat on the arm, effectively lowering his face to her level. She wrapped her arms around his neck and his hands found their way to her hips. They kissed, alternating between unbridled passion and small innocent kisses as they found the perfect rhythm. The sound of his phone buzzing from his pocket snapped them both back to reality.

"Is that your phone in your pocket, or are you just really happy to see me?"

He laughed at her sudden boldness and checked the caller ID. He sighed at Pam's intrusion.

"You have the worst timing," he answered breathless from the kiss.

"What are you talking about? Why are you out of breath?"

"Sookie came over with Clancy and we were having a moment. A moment that you ruined." Sookie silently shook her head denying that their make out session had come to an end.

"A sexual moment? You cock block me last night and now you're getting some?"

"So one track minded, Pam. No, everyone has their clothes on. But does it still count as a cock block when there's no cock involved? Anyway, what did you want?"

"Just wanted to see if you were still on board for book four and the movie sequel. The contracts for both are on my desk, hot off the press. I was a little worried for the future of the book after I had to pull it out of the trash last night."

"Yeah, I snapped out of it with a little prodding from a certain blonde muse that would much rather that I be kissing her as opposed to talking to you. I'll sign on for both. I've got a title for the book by the way, Danger is a Dame. What do you think, oh editor goddess?"

"Oh, it's perfect! Keep it, I love it. But if she's the one prodding you, I think you might have forgotten more of the mechanics of heterosexual sex than I originally thought. You see, when a man wants to bone a woman..."

"Good bye, Pam."

"Bye, Eric. Welcome back, again. Don't make me say that anymore. Stay in the land of the living. We like you there."

He hung up the phone, throwing it on the coffee table that sat beside the couch. He returned his attention to Sookie, ghosting his fingers down the sides of her face. He wanted to hold on to her, to believe this feeling could be real. He was shocked back to his senses when he realized how foolish his hand looked with a wedding band on it while touching another woman. For the first time, he wanted to take off the ring, not ignore what he was feeling.

He pressed a small kiss to the tip of her nose and wandered away to his bedroom to put the ring back where it belonged. It couldn't act like a security blanket anymore. Once again, he placed it beside Felicia's ring in her jewelry box. He stared at the two bands sitting side by side for a moment before Sookie's voice broke the silence.

"She would want you to be happy. She wouldn't want you to be this miserable."

"I think I've known that all along. It was just too hard to accept." He ran his fingers reverently across the top of the box. "I want to be happy; I can't live my life like this anymore. There's too much out there that I'm missing."

"When was the last time you had a proper Thanksgiving dinner? I kicked you out before the gang made plans for next week."

"Honestly, never. Being from Sweden, we don't celebrate the American holiday. Felicia couldn't cook to save her life, so she never attempted the whole ordeal of the turkey dinner. Our typical Thanksgiving was having Pam and some other friends over for turkey sandwiches from the deli and watching American football on TV. Everyone would come over early since the parade passes right by the windows. One of the many perks of living on Central Park West."

"Oh my god, you're kidding right? You can watch the parade from your window? That is so cool! Here I was wanting to invite you to dinner at our apartment, but now I kinda want to come here! Oh jeez, did I really just invite myself over?"

"No, why don't you come over? Were you planning on cooking for everyone?"

"Yup, I make a mean turkey, but we've got all the sides too. It was going to be me, Amelia, Jason, Sam, Tray, Hoyt, and Jess, maybe a few others if Jason and Sam bring dates. I think they can manage for a bit while I sneak down here to watch the parade. I've always wanted to see it live, I wanted to go last year but everyone vetoed my idea saying it was too crowded."

"Why don't you move dinner here? That way everyone can watch the parade."

"That would be amazing! Your apartment is way larger than mine or Jason's. You really don't mind everyone coming over? To be fair, they all liked you last night. They all took your side and were mad at me when I kicked you out."

"Come by whenever you like, the parade usually hits my block around 9:15. I would love to have everyone over. It's the start of a new life, so it deserves a new tradition. This is one year I suddenly have a lot to be thankful for. You don't mind if Pam joins us, she'd be heartbroken if we didn't include her."

"Considering she's the reason I'm here right now, I don't think we could have dinner without her. Oh this is going to be so cool! I can't wait to tell everybody! They're going to be so excited."

"As excited as you are?"

"Not about coming here for dinner. About me finding someone who can pull my head out of my ass when I'm being stubborn."

They laughed, and he pulled her back into his embrace, kissing the top of her head as she nuzzled her face into his chest. They stood there for a while just holding each other, comfortable just being with the other. Eric could not believe how right it felt to have Sookie in his arms but knew he'd give anything to keep her there.

A glance at the clock told Sookie it was time for her to head out; she had to get ready for work. As much as she didn't want to, she tore herself away from his arms and exited the bedroom. He followed closely behind her, pulling her into one last breathtaking kiss before she could leave. He stared at the door for a while after she left, in a state of shock at the events of the day. Clancy pulled him out of his thoughts by running laps around the apartment. Eric took the hint and grabbed his hyper companion's leash ready to find out what else life had in store for him.

A/N 2: I had to throw a little sprinkle of zest on things to keep my readers!! I couldn't leave you disappointed for long. I intended the angst to go on a little longer, but so many of you vetoed that idea. Someone has to get Sookie's head on straight! Stay tuned for the next installment, where we find the now happy couple celebrating Thanksgiving! I have the feeling that someone's bringing lemon squares for dessert ;)