Sookie had a hard time finding sleep that night. She struggled with whether she'd done the right thing with Bill or not. She believed she had, but it still felt cruel to just abandon him when he was going to die any time now. But again she thought of what he said about him clouding her judgement and wondered how much of that was her own common sense and how much of it was his effect on her.

She also pondered Eric's offer, and the wide open future that lay before her once Bill was gone. What would she do now? Alcide had left everything to her, not a fortune but enough to get by on for a while. She wouldn't have to go back to work at Bellefleur's. A fact that once might have made her sad, but now only made her relieved. Too much had happened there, bad and good. It was where she met Bill. It was where she'd spent the last several years of her life, off and on. And it was never the same once Sam sold it to Arlene. Sure, Arlene was doing a great job running it despite the circumstances, but it wasn't the same and Sookie had only stayed on as a favor to Arlene. She hadn't needed the money once she and Alcide moved in together. Alcide - another pang in her heart. She wished she had loved him more. It was hard to just wish he hadn't died, which she did, but even if he'd lived she knew they wouldn't have lasted. Her heart was never really available to give away. Well, this was just a night for sad thoughts across the board.

Eric's agreement offered her a sense of independence and freedom she'd never had in her life. Freedom to choose what she wanted to do. Should she stay in Bon Temps? This was her home, but it didn't feel like home anymore. And she certainly didn't want to continue waitressing if she had the opportunity to do more. Around dawn, sleep finally came for her and she welcomed it thoroughly.

She awoke not very long after, having had a restless sleep full of nightmares of Faery, Bill dying in her arms, and Alcide accusing her of unfaithfulness from the grave. Those morbid thoughts were enough to drive her out of bed, into the shower then off to Jason's house for a talk. She stopped to check her mailbox along the way and found two envelopes, one addressed to herself and one to Jessica. Figuring they were from Eric, she put them in her purse and decided to deal with them later.

After getting to know Jason's "friend" Brigitte, she woke her brother up with a nice hot cup of coffee, which always did the trick. She filled him in on what Bill had asked of her, how she responded, and a vague recounting of her conversation with Eric.

"Wow, Sook. That's a lot to take in before I've even gotten outta bed. I hope you're not askin' me for advice because I ain't got any," Jason said, rubbing his eyes.

"Not advice. Just your opinion," she clarified.

"My opinion? I think Bill means well. I think he wants what's best for you and you know he's from a different time where men did shit like that."

"I know, but it's not like he time-traveled from there to here. He's lived in this world the whole time and hasn't figured out that things change."

"Yeah, that's true. But he's dyin', Sook. Give him a break."

"So you're saying I should do what he's asking me to do?"

"Hell no. Not if you don't wanna. If you don't wanna give up your powers, that's your decision to make. But I don't think you should avoid him just because he wants what he thinks is best for you, even if he's doin' the wrong thing. He loves you. You love him."

"I'll think about that. But Jase, it's hard because he's going to let himself die because of me. How fucked up is that?"

"I don't think it's all about you, no offense. I think Vampire Bill's got a lot of shit in his head that ain't sittin' right with him now he's sick."

Sookie paused at that, and suddenly she remembered her conversation with Bill the previous night, when he'd mentioned his family and wanting to be with them and how everyone is supposed to live their time, then die. Bill never wanted to be turned, never wanted to leave his family. He'd had over a hundred years to suffer that pain. Maybe he was being truthful about only doing this for Sookie's own good, or maybe he was using her as an excuse for a choice that wouldn't make a whole lot of sense otherwise. More likely it was both. She had another flashback to Godric's eyes on the roof of that building in Dallas. How comforted he was in the end to have her there with him. Maybe Bill really was just ready to go.

While she was thinking about this, she and Jason got calls from Hoyt and Jessica, which she found to be a bit tacky since they knew Brigitte was staying with Jason, but she wasn't going to comment on that. She just took Jessica's call.

"Sookie, Bill told me not to bother you but I really don't have anyone else to go to. I was wondering if you have a white dress I could borrow?"

Two hours later, she and Jason were at Bill's mansion, helping Jessica and Hoyt prepare for their wedding. Sookie was quietly fuming. On one hand, her revelation at Jason's house was still heavy on her heart. But on the other, how dare he? He said he was choosing to die because they could never be together as human and vampire. And the very next day he's almost forcing his vampire daughter to marry a human.

"Jessica, be honest. Do you really want this? Or are you only doing it to make Bill happy?"

"I do want this. Maybe I didn't want it now, but if it means so much to Bill and it's the last thing I can give him, then I'm okay with that."

"Hoyt feel the same way?"

"Yeah, he does."

Sookie nodded, "By the way, I need to talk to you about something. You remember what we saw when we went to the basement of Fangtasia the other night?" she asked, as loaded with intention as possible.

"Yeah…?" Jessica answered, apprehensively.

"Well, if you pretend you don't remember it and never say another word about it, there's a 5% share of Eric's new corporation in it for you. He asked me to let you know that he'll be drafting a contract for us soon. And he left these for us in my mailbox this morning," she said, pulling out the envelopes from her purse, "I expect this is them, though it seems a bit light."

They each opened their envelopes and pulled out the letter. Jessica gasped first. "Holy shit!"

"What's it say?"

"Dear Miss Hamby,

We hope that Miss Stackhouse has explained the situation to you. In return for keeping our secret, we will be sending you monthly dividends from a 5% investment in our corporation once it begins to make a profit which we don't expect to take too much longer, perhaps a year. In the meantime, please accept this advance and our sincerest gratitude. Call us should you require assistance with anything.

Sincerely,

Eric Northman and Pamela Swynford de Beaufort"

"And a fucking check for a million dollars! Sookie what the fuck are they going to be selling?"

"I can't say, if Eric wants you to know, he'll tell you. If not, just take the money and keep quiet. I know that's what I'll be doin'," said Sookie, returning her gaze to her letter.

"What's yours say?" asked Jessica.

"Check's the same. Good lord I'll never be used to seein' that many zeroes on a check," she hedged, hoping that Jess would pick up on the fact that her letter was more personal and she didn't want to share.

Jessica laughed nervously, "I know what you mean. Oh! That sounds like Arlene and Holly!"

Sure enough it was, and the two women came in, fussing over Jess and giving Sookie a moment to slip away into the dressing room to read her letter from Eric.

"Dearest Sookie,

Please don't argue with me about me advancing you money or complain that you haven't done anything. You are, even now, keeping our secret. And if our corporation were up and running you would be receiving just about this much after taxes per year. But it will not be for about a year. So this is your share for this year. And before you complain (as I know you will) about taxes, you will get the proper paperwork at the end of the year which will inform you that I withheld the appropriate amounts and you will owe nothing, same with Miss Hamby.

Now that we've got the impersonal taken care of, on to other things. I know that things are rough for you right now, but I would like to see you before Pam and I leave. I don't know how long we will be gone but we have things to arrange out of country. For your own sake it's best you don't know where. We will be leaving in one week's time. Please call me before then to arrange a time to meet. The purpose being both business and personal.

Eric"

Well, that explained nothing. But she figured she'd deal with Eric later as it was time for the wedding to start. She let Jason sit next to Bill, having only greeted him cordially when she arrived. She didn't yet know what she wanted to do about that yet. But she did watch his face throughout the ceremony. On it, she could see his pride and happiness, but also his pain and sorrow. And weariness, so much weariness.

Afterwards, while everyone was congregating, she finally found the nerve to approach Bill. "Bill, I wanna ask you somethin'. If you're so convinced vampires only bring bad things to humans, how come you talked Jessica into marryin' Hoyt?" He didn't answer, only looked away. "Or is there more to your decision than just what you think is best for me?"

He laughed, mirthlessly. "You always were more perceptive than you get credit for, even when you can't read minds." He finally met her eyes again. "Sookie, I'm tired. I have been in this world longer than I was meant to. And I've seen and done things I never wanted to. I was a good man when I was human, but I haven't been a good man in a long time. And then I met you, and I was good when I was with you, but we know how that ended. I don't want to do that to you again. And I don't want to do any of the other awful things I've done ever again. I am ready to go," he admitted quietly.

Sookie nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I stand by my decision about not using my light, because I may need that for protection some day. And I won't be the one to do it. But if you'd like to meet the sun, I would be there with you until the end."

Bill nodded this time, then pulled her close for a hug. "Sookie, I think I can accept those terms. Let me have a minute with Jessica, then we will go."

"Now? You're sure?" she asked, eyes wide.

"Yes, I am sure. Please don't alert the others. Let them think I've gone to rest, and when the time comes Jessica can tell them I passed in my rest."

"Alright Bill."

She waited for him at the door to the back yard. She stood, gazing out the window, trying to grasp what was about to happen. When she felt Bill's cool hand in hers, she knew she had to pull it together for his sake. He pulled her to him for a kiss, but a short one.

"Let us go, the longer we wait the more pain I will cause you," he said, quietly.

They walked out the door, Sookie's heart beating a mile a minute, Bill completely calm.

When it was done, Sookie wept for him on his lawn. When the sun set, Jessica joined her, Hoyt's arms around her. Sookie got up then, wiped her eyes, then walked slowly towards her house, pulling her newly re-acquired phone from her bag.

"Eric, it's me. Bill's dead. Can we meet tonight?"