Last Chapter: "Sookie, I find myself really at a loss for the first time in so many years. I'm always confident, sometimes to a fault. But since I've been here I really haven't been myself. I'm trying to start over. You have been so helpful with that. You're the first friend I've made and I really appreciate that more than you know."

"Why don't you just show me?"

That was the best invitation I had gotten in a long time. I mean a really long time, even back when I was in NY. I reached my arms out to her and slowly pulled her into my lap. She wrapped her arms around my neck and looked into my eyes with her own big beautiful blue ones.

"What if this doesn't work out? I don't want to mess things up." I had to ask.

"Eric, for once don't think. Just do."

Chapter 6 – Pleasant Dreams and the Morning After

As much as I wanted to claim her lips with my own I didn't know if I should do it. What would happen if she were to find out that I wasn't who I said I was? I suspect she'd be pissed. I wouldn't want to lose her. She has become a familiar constant for me here. I had been thinking about Sookie a lot lately and I missed her company when she wasn't around. Could I do this as Eric Brigant? How long will I be him? Eric Northman wouldn't give it a second thought. But then again I would have had Sookie already and then would have been done with her after one date. But was I really Eric Northman anymore?

Despite my internal struggle, my hands rose to her face to caress her cheeks. I looked at the way the moonlight shone through her hair and framed her face. I took in the few freckles that had sprinkled her nose because of the sun. She really was beautiful. Slowly she closed her eyes again and waited for me.

I brought her lips to mine and kissed her. My God, why did I wait? Her legs wrapped around me and she pulled herself closer to me. Her hands made their way to the back of my head and tugged on my hair. Her lips parted and our tongues met twisting with one another, exploring one another as our hands roamed. Mine went around her waist and ran up and down her back. Her hands went from my hair to my shoulders to my arms and one slid over my chest with her thumb brushing over my nipple. It sent a shiver through my body.

She pulled away from me and I actually wanted to pout. I wanted more. She got off of my lap and pushed me back on the blanket, crawling back on top of me and crashing her lips into mine. We each fought for dominance and enjoyed the battle. I had thought about what it would be like to kiss her before, but never really let myself dwell on it for long. This was much better than I ever imagined. My hands slid beneath her shirt and caressed her soft skin.

We must have rolled around on that blanket for an hour when Sookie broke away from our embrace. She sat up and pulled a bottle of water from her basket. After opening the bottle and promptly drinking half of it, she offered it to me. The water was still cool and felt good going down my throat.

"Good thinking Stackhouse. Thanks." I handed her the bottle back. She finished the rest of the water and tossed the bottle back into the basket.

"I think you finally let yourself go a little bit there Eric. I like it when you let yourself go." She reached towards my face and pushed some hair behind my ear. Her soft fingers brushed against my cheek.

"You certainly made a compelling case for it."

She leaned forward and gave me a quick kiss before she said we probably should pack up and go. I helped her pack up the odds and ends into the basket and took it from her as we walked back to the car. As we walked she reached out for my hand and laced her fingers through mine. I noticed as we walked that I did feel a little bit lighter, a little less tense. I had not spent any length of time just kissing someone since I was in high school, but yet it seemed perfect with Sookie tonight.

She looked up at me and smiled as I held her door open for her. Her cheeks were still flushed and her lips were slightly swollen from all of our kisses. I fought the urge to press her against the car and kiss her again.

Once I got in the car she shifted in her seat to face me.

"I forgot to thank you for the wonderful dinner Sookie. If I keep eating all of these delicious home cooked meals I'm going to have to run a lot more or I'll need a new wardrobe since I won't fit into the one I have now."

She blushed just a little.

"Thanks. I like to cook. I got that from my Gran. It's something I always enjoyed doing with her. She always said that making a good meal was one sure way to take care of the people you care about."

I let that soak in for the rest of the ride as Sookie fiddled with the radio.

We got to her house and I pulled the car around the back as I now knew she preferred to enter her house through the back door. I got out of the car to help her bring the basket in. It might have also been because I wasn't ready to say good night to her.

"Come on in Eric. Can you set the basket on the counter in the kitchen?"

"Sure." She walked past me into the foyer and put her keys in a little bowl.

"I'll be right back." She walked into what I assumed was her bedroom and closed the door.

I started to unpack the basket. I washed out the empty containers and put them into the drying rack, put some of the containers with leftover sandwiches into the refrigerator; but left the dessert container out and searched for a couple of forks.

"What do you have there?"

I looked over my shoulder to find Sookie standing up against the entry of her kitchen. Once I saw her, I turned around. She had changed into a tank top with thin straps with some light blue yoga type pants and she had pulled her hair back. She looked relaxed and beautiful.

"I decided I wanted more dessert. Care to join me?"

She smiled and made her way over to the counter. She came up and opened the container of strawberry shortcake and dug in with one of the forks I had found. I was surprised when instead of eating it she brought the fork to my mouth to feed me. I happily accepted her offering.

She put the fork down on the counter and got even closer to me. Her hand reached out for mine as she stood on her tiptoes and with her other hand pulled me in for a kiss. She smelled faintly of jasmine and something sweet. It was unusual for me to sit back and let someone else take charge. With Sookie however, I was finding it easier and easier to do just that.

I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her as close as I could before lifting her up to sit on the counter. She was almost my height then. She nibbled on her bottom lip as she put her hands to my face to pull it closer to her own. I wanted to run my hands through her hair, but since it was pulled back I rubbed her arms as we kissed. I could feel her shudder as if she was chilled.

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, more than okay. It's just… the countertop is cold."

She hopped down off of the counter and took the dessert and walked out to sit on her porch swing. We sat down together and dug into the remaining dessert with gusto.

"Eric, I like you. But I worry about you because you walk as if the weight of the world is on your shoulders sometimes. What are you doing tomorrow? I think you need to get out and have a little more fun."

"Well, I was going to head with Jason and Hoyt into Shreveport to go to that gym equipment store. They've been talking about all of the stuff that I should get, although I'm pretty sure I know what I want already. They also said there's a Shreveport Captains game tomorrow afternoon. I think the guys said they're playing the El Paso Diablos and they wanted to catch the game while we were there. Do you want to join us?"

"Nah. You boys should have fun. But I do want to see you tomorrow for a run. What time are you heading out?"

"Jason said that he didn't move before 10am on a Sunday."

"Try 11."

"Well, the game's at 1 and we need to hit the store first. I think the goal was for me to pick the guys up at Jason's at around 10:30 so we can get coffee and hit the road."

"Well then it sounds like you've got time to meet me at 9 for a run. What do ya say?"

"I can do that."

"Well Eric, I've had a great time with you tonight but think it's about time I turned in." She reached over and kissed me. "Pleasant dreams Eric."

"Thank you for a really great night Sookie. Pleasant Dreams." I stood up and kissed her before making it back to my car.

I had a peaceful sleep that night.

My phone was ringing early the next morning. I was still groggy and reached over and fumbled on the nightstand for the phone.

"Yeah."

"Eric?"

"Yeah."

"It's Dawson."

"Uh-huh. What time is it?"

"Eight o'clock man. Were you still sleeping?"

I started to shift in my bed and sit myself up. I rubbed my eyes and tried to get a little more lucid.

"Yeah, I was. What's up? Is everything okay?"

"Well I told you that I would check in and see if there was a way we can get you to talk to your friend Octavia."

"And what did you find out?" This conversation was tough. I wasn't fully awake yet and he was dragging everything out.

"Well man, I wish I had better news. The brass say there's no way I can get you to talk to her. First they're concerned about it being traced back to you and second, she's really in no condition to talk right now."

"But I thought you said that she was recovering. What's wrong?" Damn it!

"I don't know the whole story man, but I was told that there was some setback and they had to transfer her to another hospital. You can relay a message to me and I can pass it along and someone can tell her when she's able to talk."

Shit. This must be really bad if she wasn't able to talk or have someone talk to her. God I wish I could be there for her right now. If she had the mayor looking after her I knew she'd be getting the best care possible but he couldn't be looking after her all the time. He had a city to run. She needed me there to be her advocate.

"Hey Eric, you still there?"

"Yeah, I'm still here. Can I talk to her doctors? I can pretend I'm her son or something. I've got to know what's going on with her Tray. I've got to know that she'll be okay."

"Man, I don't think that's gonna happen. I'll put in a call or two and see what I can do. I'll call you back okay?"

"I'll be waiting to hear from you."

And I would. I got up out of bed and started pacing. I knew that the Mayor had physicians at a few hospitals around town. He had docs at NYU and at Columbia-Presbyterian. I would think that the cardiac specialists were best at Columbia. If I could just call and find out which hospital she was at. I couldn't dial any NYC numbers from here or my cell phone though.

I got in the shower quickly, making sure to bring the house phone and cell phone with me into the bathroom in case Dawson called back. I don't really remember if I shampooed or not. I was on a bit of autopilot, consumed with worry about Octavia.

No call from Dawson before I was out of the shower and dressed. I wish that I had my equipment here already. Working out would help me burn off some of the stress I was feeling right now. I would still go to run with Sookie; that might help.

After practically wearing out a hole in one of the area rugs from pacing I decided to head over to Sookie's a little early. I was hoping she'd be ready to go already. I felt like a tightly wound coil that was ready to snap, so getting out to run sooner than later would be good. I grabbed my cell phone with me and ran next door.

I heard some music going and Sookie singing. I knocked on her door, but she couldn't hear me over the music and her own voice.

"Hey Sookie!" The music turned down after the second time I called her name.

"Hey Eric, come on in. You're early."

"Yeah, I figured I'd come by and see if you were ready."

"Almost. I'm gonna go change. I'll be right back."

I started pacing around her kitchen. There was still no word from Tray. I couldn't sit back and wait for the Marshalls to get their heads out of their asses and let me find out what was going on with Octavia. I had to do something. I was still pacing her kitchen and noticed the phone hanging on the wall across the room.

"Hey Sookie, can I borrow your phone?"

"Sure!" She hollered from behind her bedroom door.

I picked up her phone and called information and got the number for both NYU and Columbia-Presbyterian. I called Columbia first as I thought it was more likely that's where she'd be.

"Good Morning Columbia-Presbyterian, how may I direct your call?"

"Patient information please."

"One moment please."

"Patient information, how may I help you?"

"I'd like to be connected to Octavia Fant's room please"

"I'm sorry sir, but they do not have phones in the rooms in CICU."

"Can you please tell me how she's doing?"

"I'm sorry sir, we cannot release any information on her condition."

"Thanks anyway."

Fuck. At least I knew where she was, and I knew that she was in the cardiac intensive care unit. I really wanted to let her know that I was there for her, even if I couldn't physically be there. I wanted her to know that I knew.

I sat at Sookie's kitchen table waiting for her. I knew I must not look good and I knew that she'd pick up on it. I had to shake this for a little bit.

"Okay, I'm ready." She came out smiling and ready to go. It was hard not to smile at her when Sookie smiled. I think I managed a small one.

"What's eating you this morning Eric? You look like you could spit nails."

"Uh, I just got a call from Dawson. He just told me some stuff that really got me mad."

"Oh?"

"Don't worry about it. A run will do me good right now Sookie. Let's head out."

She came over to me at the table before I was able to get up and rubbed my arms gently. I was surprised by how that simple gesture calmed me a little bit.

"Let's get this show on the road shall we?" She grabbed her iPod off of the counter and started heading for the door.

I followed her and we both took off running from her porch.

A/N - Thanks for reading! I don't own any of the characters, everyone belongs to Charlaine Harris. Big thanks to nmarie3 for prereading for me. I really appreciate it!