A/N Thanks to everyone who is reading and being so supportive. This is my first fanfic and I'm not sure where it will go exactly, but I hope you enjoy it. Thanks again!

Chapter 4

Eric's eyes shot open and his body went rigid. It was Sookie. It was her voice.

'Thank you for your concern, ma'm. Please pass on my thanks to... that lady. Goodbye.'

Her tone was timid and shaky. She was safe. She was safe. But what had happened to her? Eric resolved to catch her later, before she left for work. She was safe. She was safe. His eyes closed.

The trauma of recent months notwithstanding, Sookie had rarely been as pleased as she was at that moment to lock the door and shut out the world. She'd spent almost the entire day sleeping at Bill's, dead to the world, yet she still felt deeply drained and heavy-headed and what was worse she had no clear recollection of what had really happened to her the night before. The last thing she remembered before waking up at Bill's was sensing the wolves around her and the feel of her wheels spinning uselessly in the mud. Turned out some vampire named Pam had found her slumped over her steering wheel unconscious, but otherwise unscathed. She'd driven Sookie back to Bill's, but why? Why not take her to the hospital? Vampires as a rule shunned contact with the human authorities, but denying a human medical treatment was a serious matter. Had Pam wanted to feed on her? And yet she was entirely unharmed, apart from this thudding headache. So, it seemed that a pack of hungry werewolves with every reason to be furious at her had pranced out of the trees to her stranded car, given her a sniff, and decided they just didn't fancy a bite after all. An employee of Bill's had just happened to be passing through the area during a violent storm. No, there was something wrong here, something that made her reach back to the door behind her just to steady herself. This whole thing... reminded her...of another night after work when she'd been attacked and Bill had miraculously intervened to save her. The weres in the bar, Bill so easily provoked...at little too easily? Jesus, no.

Sookie pushed herself forward and marched to the bathroom. She was not going down this road, no way. Bill Compton had no power over her now. He could not scare her or manipulate her, no matter what stunts he tried to pull. Sookie had to believe this, and she would believe it, and it would be true. She ripped off her stinking uniform and flung it the floor, stepped into the shower and set it to max. The sting of hot water cleansed her body and numbed her mind.

It was dusk now and she was due in work in an hour. Damnit, she had to give herself a break. But she could hardly explain the situation to Sam without him freaking out on her so she invented a stomach bug and tried not to feel too guilty about it. She'd crack open a bag of chips, a bottle of chardonnay and watch her favourite old movie: Casablanca. As she pulled the cork and flicked on the DVD, there was a tentative knock at the door. Shit. Sam? Just like him to rush over with a bag of meds for the invalid, bless him. She'd better hide the wine and the chips, this was not a good impersonation of a person suffering from stomach 'flu. On the way to the door she messed up her hair a bit and tried to look sick.

'Eric?'

Sookie was taken aback to find her downstairs neighbour stood in the hallway wearing a nervous smile.

'Sookie! I just wanted to check you're OK. The storm last night, they were advising people not to drive. You didn't get back, I thought maybe you'd had an accident.'

Sookie smiled broadly. She hadn't expected this. To think someone had been worried about her, had even noticed she hadn't returned last night – it warmed her. God knows she needed a friend right now. But could she call this, well, this peculiar vampire a friend? They'd had maybe five or six conversations since she'd moved in, usually conducted in the parking lot or the stair well. Eric always seemed fascinated by the minor details of her life: where had she eaten lunch, what had she eaten, had it been a good night for tips, who was her boss, was he treating well? It could almost have been creepy, but there was nothing creepy about Eric. He was intense, certainly, even for a vampire; a little scary, yes. And there was a fierce arrogance to him, she could sense that; he seemed to expect her to be entirely in awe of him. But there was a depth of loneliness to him that resonated with Sookie and he was always so courteous, kind of old-fashioned, in a way not unlike B...

'Eric, thank you. That's so sweet. Please come in. As you can see, I'm in one piece.'

She stood back as Eric dipped through the door and already her apartment seemed a good deal smaller with him in it.

'Mmm, would you like a Tru blood? I think I have some...I can check?'

'God no, I hate that stuff.'

Sookie eyed Eric sharply and took a step back.

'Oh no, I didn't mean... I don't feed on humans. I drink Tru Blood, but it's a necessity to me. I do not enjoy it. And I'm not thirsty. Sorry.'

Sookie sighed. What was she thinking? Here was her neighbour come to enquire after her welfare and she'd virtually accused him of wanting to drain her. 'No, I'm sorry. Just touchy that's all, it's been a rough twenty four hours. Look, I could really use some company. I was gonna watch an old movie, Casablanca. Do you know it? Do you want to stay?'

Eric smiled slowly – and there it was, she thought, that arrogant, predatory glint in the eye; she held his gaze firmly and answered his unspoken challenge.

'Do you want to stay to watch the film.'

Eric's smile vanished. He looked appalled. 'Yes, love to. Absolutely. Bogart. Love him.'

As the closing shot faded on Bogart walking away from the plane that would take the love of his life away from him forever, Sookie was dabbing her eyes.

'Damnit, I've seen it a hundred times and it still does this to me. I think I only watch it to make myself cry. It's soooo therapeutic.'

Eric pursed his lips, trying not to smile. A thousand years on this earth and human women were still a glorious fucking mystery. He wanted to crush this sweet girl in his arms.

'But why do you need to cry, Sookie? A rough twenty four hours? You want to talk?'

His voice was deep, gentle, reassuring. Sookie pulled her knees to her chest and sighed.

'My ex turned up at the bar last night. He caused a scene, it was awful. I was so upset, not fit to drive at all really let alone in that weather. I pulled up off the road to sit it out, fell asleep. When I woke up, I could sense werewolves. I have a kind of ... intuition, it's a long story. I tried to drive away, but my car stuck in the mud.'

Sookie started to shake and sob, it was as if a dam had finally burst. Eric put his arm around her softly, barely touching her shoulder.

'They were all around me, Eric. Then – I don't know – I passed out? Next thing I knew I was waking up in Bill Compton's house.'

Eric tensed and Sookie felt it. 'Yeah, I know! The vampire king, big deal, uh? Apparently, a vampire called Pam got me out of the woods, employee of Bill's...'

Eric drew back his arm, went rigid. Sookie turned to look at him and was shocked by what she saw. His expression was wild, desperate.

'Eric? What...'

'I know Pam. She works for the king, yes. She... she is my child. We are estranged, you might say.'

'You're her maker? She saved my life, Eric. This is just... but your bond with her? God, this is awful. Did Bill Compton have something to do with this?'

'Yes. No. It's a long story, Sookie. I can't talk about it. But sometimes we...even vampires... we're not the masters of our own fate.'

Sookie placed her hand over his. 'No, Eric. No we are not.' She turned away and buried her head in her knees, bringing them tighter to her chest. Then she whispered so softly that even with his vampire hearing Eric would never have heard it if his senses had not been on full alert:

'Bill Compton's my ex.'