Okay so, I love the feedback I'm getting about the mess that I have made of these characters, and I understand that some of you guys will not approve of this chapter, but please understand that it's never black and white…and that it'S a process…

A big thank you to everyone for reading, alerting and reviewing this, especially reviewing (wink wink)

Disclaimer:notmine.

She remembered. She was back. Sookie was back. My Sookie was back.

She had always been my Sookie whether she remembered anything or not, but the Sookie that had been around for the last year or so, was like a dented or scraped version of the person I had come to know for so long.

It wasn't just the fact that she had no recall of the past few years. It wasn't that she couldn't remember all the chaos and disorder that had led her here, it was the slight shift in her character and mood that always took me off guard and left me upset and shaken up, It was a daily reminder that things were not as fine as I liked to convince myself.

But I didn't want to dwell on that now, because she was here, standing in my arms fully aware of the impact her words had on me.

Long gone was the unsure, insecure Sookie.

I would no longer need to suffer under her gaze of curiosity, I would not have to see her cringe as a result of lack of memory or lack of knowledge, and I would certainly not need to keep any profound facts from her, or bend what little truth I could offer her.

And at that moment not only did I feel that a massive load was lifted off of my chest but I understood why I went about matters the way I did, why it didn't trouble me as much as it should have to lie to Sookie. It was because this whole time I was biding my time till she came back, I was keeping myself patient waiting for her to come back by tending to her damaged form.

After settling in I was glad to see that Sookie had made some changes around the house here and there; she had moved around the furniture, put up some framed photos, I thought I could even see some new bits and pieces lying around. I liked what she had done to the place and I understood that she made all the changes to mark the start of a new era of her life, and to help her let things in the past just be. Sookie had always been a strong advocate in the 'let lying dogs lie' concept and had mastered it in almost every aspect of her life, I think that's why I liked her so much; she didn't have the usual flare for drama most women had.

We headed to sit at the kitchen table where I could pick up the distinct aroma of baking. She sat across from me with her eyebrows arched stating with no words that I would initiate this conversation if it were the last thing I did. Not such an avid believer in 'let lying dogs lie' after all. Crap she didn't even offer me pie first.

"Well what did you expect me to say? 'Sookie I know you are all traumatized , amnesiac and shit but I just wanted to tell you that all the mess going through your life was the result of a failed relationship with my ass of a brother'?"

Her shoulder suddenly fell, in what I would like to say surrender but was anything but.

"No, I get it, I really do, more than you think Felix, but during that whole year didn't you ever think once that I deserved to know everything? Didn't you ever notice that I was dying to catch on any piece of information that you might let slip?"

I already knew what she was saying, but it reminded me of the times I lied directly to her face without faltering or hesitating almost at all. Almost.

"Honestly, I don't know what to say, I could tell you that it was my way of protecting you and taking care of you, but I know you would say that it was extremely high handed of me. I could say that I was chicken shit and preferred to avoid loaded confrontations with you, but I'm sure you will be less than thrilled with that excuse, I…Sookie, what do you want me to say?"

She had a look on her face that bordered between frustration and confusion, I knew that this was my chance to go for the kill, although I was well aware that it was Sookie's way to give me an out without looking weak or lame. That was how well we knew each other.

"Sookie, you know me, you know that I would never ever think of doing something to harm you, and there is nothing you can say that I don't already know and grasp, but please just…I want us to let this go, I want to move forward with everything, I missed you and I'm clueless as to what the right thing to do or say is, so, yeah, I'm sorry, but I'm not so sure if I would do things differently, you came first, that was my way of showing it."

She sighed and looked away, I was very unsure what her next words would be.

"Want some pie?"

I should feel relieved, but knowing Sookie, I knew that she was just letting it go…for now, and even if this topic never came up again, she would take her own time to solve her feelings towards me and our friendship.

I disliked being left helpless with nothing to do but wait and hope, well ain't karma a bitch?

Thinking back to Sookie's offer I nodded my head in enthusiasm, her pies were like little slices of bliss melting on my tongue. Just thinking about it made my mouth water. Sookie made ridiculous pie.

"What flavor?"

"Cherry"

"Mmm, great"

We sat there eating away at the pie, and making small talk, catching up on everything that we had missed, In the last couple of months, I could tell that our conversation was not flowing as easily as I would have liked at this point, and I could also tell that she was keeping some bits and pieces here and there from me, at first I couldn't tell if this was her way of declaring independency and taking a strong hold on her new life, or if this was her not trusting me any more, but as the conversation continued I could tell it was the latter.

In the midst of our conversation, I wanted to ask about where she and Eric had left things off since I was last here, but I didn't know how to make it fit in without making her uncomfortable, but Sookie clearly could see right through me…

"Felix, what is it?"

"Well, for lack of better words…Eric"

I did not expect her answer that was for sure.

"Well, that's between me and Eric, isn't it?

That hurt, more than I would ever care to admit, but she knew that, she knew that nothing would insult me more than those words, and I could already see her cringing at her own choice of words, but I knew that she was too proud and too stubborn to take them back. She wanted to get her point across to me and she had. Now it was my turn to show her that she will always be my priority.

ÖÖÖÖÖÖÖÖÖÖÖÖÖÖÖÖÖÖÖÖÖÖÖ

It had been 6 months since I let Felix back into my life and we had come a long way since then, we had found our way back to our comfortable friendship without any strange or eccentric feelings between us, it was perfect.

We were back to our old routine; whenever he had time on his hands he would come down to see me and spend a few days with me.

As for Eric, he gave me the time and space I had demanded of him and didn't intrude on my newfound stability. Until that day…

It was a lovely Saturday and I was sitting out in the garden trying to get as much sun as I could without looking like an oumpa loumpa, I heard the phone ringing from the kitchen, so I quickly ran to answer it already disgruntled about my tanning time being interrupted.

"Hello"

"Hi Sookie, it's Eric"

He didn't need to tell me who it was I could tell that voice miles away, and hearing it did things to me I did notlike. I was over Eric that was for sure I was just not over our messy history.

"Hello Eric, how are you?"

Smooth I know.

"I wanted to come down to Shreveport and maybe have a cup of coffee or something together, just catch up, if that's okay, no pressure though, I just, is that okay?"

I was still stunned by hearing his voice on the phone to find his rambling amusing, and I still hadn't really taken in what he was saying, so I just remained silent.

"Aaa, Sookie, are you still there? Listen if it's too soon, I understand, I just thought we could get together and chat or something, but…."

I took in a deep breath, hoping I would not regret this.

"Listen Eric, you can come down here, we can have a cup of coffee and maybe even catch up a little, but that's it, I can't give you more than that, and frankly I don't really even want to"

"That's fine Sookie, really, that's more than fine, thank you, I'll call you when I'm there, do you want anything from New York?"

"No thank you Eric, see you soon"

"See you"

That was how I ended up meeting Eric a week later.

Go ahead and tell me what you think….please? :D