AN: The response this story gets makes me sooo happy. People have very different views on the decisions the characters made in the last chapter. I love it.
Things are looking up again in this chapter. Enjoy.

SPOV

Here I was, standing on the porch of my childhood home, feeling anxious to see my Gran again. The woman who had raised me and my brother Jason. Who was proud of me for being so responsible and making the right decisions. Now I was supposed to walk inside, greet her and tell her 'your sweet little Sookie is all over the internet in her underwear while dry-humping her ex's best friend'. I sighed, gathered all the courage I had and opened the door.

"Gran. I'm home!" I yelled, and within seconds my Gran walked into the room. Her smile was as bright as it ever was, and with the energy of a 20-year old she pulled me in for a big hug. Naturally, my arms wrapped themselves around her.

"I've missed you so much." I sighed out. I didn't even know I had missed this little town and it's inhabitants so much while being in LA, but on the plane I became more and more anxious to see everyone again. Being in my Gran's arms again, surrounded by the cozy atmosphere of the outdated house let that realization wash over me in one big tidal wave.

"I've missed you too," her wrinkled hands patted my back, "now let's get you all settled in and we can talk about your celebrity life at dinner."

After a shower, change of clothes and unpacking Gran and I sat around our kitchentable. There was enough food to feed an entire army and everything looked delicious. Leave it up to Gran for letting my curves remain present. We scooped our plates full, and dug in. My Gran's cooking was something I definitely had missed, and even though she gave me her recipes, my copies missed her magic touch. The conversation flowed easily, and at the end of dinner Gran updated me on the town gossip. Apperantly, Arlene –a former colleague- was now engaged to who was soon to be husband number four.

I groaned and sunk in my chair.

"I feel like I'm going to explode. Thanks for cooking, it was delicious!"

My Gran smiled and poured me another glass of iced tea, eyeing me with a glint in her eyes. I shifted in my seat, knowing that she would bring up a subject I would gladly avoid.

"That Eric is a handsome young man."

A spray of iced tea escaped my mouth. My Gran laughed and continued her story.

"And his body is amazing."

"Gran!" I shreeked, hoping it would silence her.

"If I were any younger..."

"Gran. Please don't ," I begged, "it was so stupid. Please stop."

She took pity in me, and stopped with the teasing. My Gran had kept her sassy personality, and it hadn't faded one bit over the years. We often fawned over attractive characters on shows, sometimes she even more than me. Next to being the one who raised me, she was also one of my best friends. However, this was a different situation; Eric being the guy I was caught red handed with. In my underwear. While eating eachother's faces and dry humping in a way only teenagers could.

"Are you mad at me?" I asked her, feeling unsure of myself. Dissappointing Gran had never been on the top of my list, and I did everything in my power to avoid it. Her hand covered mine, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"Ofcourse not. You're young, you're supposed to have fun and let go. You just have the whole world watching while you're doing it. There was no way you could foresee all this. It just makes me happy that you broke up with that Bill." The last part was added with a disgusted face and a wave of her hand. Gran never warmed up to Bill, which had to be my first clue. Gran had a sick way of knowing people's personality after a single look. She had seen right through Bill's fake charms, but I fell for them like a 4 year-old fell for a magic trick that involved a rabbit and a top hat. Stupid.

Her little speech made me feel better, Gran being the only one whose judgement really mattered to me. She had raised me after all, on her own, and I didn't want to let her have the feeling she had failed.

"You haven't failed me Sookie. Actually, I'm jealous you get to have that piece of hunk all for yourself."

One, could she read my freaking mind? And second, too much information. I took this opportunity –how embarassing it was- to clear the air around the subject.

"I don't really have him. We're not together..."

Gran raised her eyebrows, but didn't respond to my statement. We started cleaning up the kitchen, washing the dishes. The whole time she asked me about Eric, and I answered her with the knowledge I had. Talking about him was harder than expected, and it brought back the memories of his smell, touch and even the feel of his presence in the room. I kept my sad thoughts away from gran, and tried to remain happy Sookie for the rest of the evening. We watched an old movie together, both wrapped in ugly afghans we both hated but never got rid off and as the end credits appeared on the screen Gran and I both went to our beds.

Even though I was exhausted, sleep didn't come easily. It has been two days since Eric wished me the best, and walked out of my apartment, but he stayed put in my thoughts. It was torture.

If Amelia only slept in a little later, Eric and I would've been fine. I was assured of that. But she did have a point, was Eric someone I could trust? I knew he had nothing to do with those pictures, because no one could fake a reaction like that. Why didn't I say that to Amelia? The past two days had consisted of mental facepalms and thinking 'what if..'. I had listened to Amelia because she was my friend, and friend listen to their friends when they try to help you. Amelia did want what was best for me, and I knew this would be best for me too. I could have a challenge, but this was more than I could handle, and Eric hadn't proved himself the most reliable person considering his past. On paper, this was the right decision, going to Bon Temps and have some time to relax. So why did I feel that Eric took my heart with him when he left my home that day and the feeling from making the right decision was non-existant?

Amelia was adamant, and booked my ticket immediately after Eric had left. Before I knew it, I found myself on the plane, and after that, driving in the direction of Bon Temps.

I was woken by the sun shooting ray through the opening of the curtains, and I wasn't happy about that at all. I had tossed and turned all night, waking up and having dreams about Eric. How his hands set my skin on fire, his skilled mouth leaving kisses on my neck, our naked bodies touching and moving as one. I groaned at the replay of the dream in my head, and jumped in the shower.

When I walked into the kitchen it was empty, except for a note that Gran left. She was at a churchmeeting, and would eat out. Which meant it would be a quiet day for me, but that was just fine. I ate some toast for breakfast and drank a cup off coffee while scanning through a magazine. The solitude I had now was a blessing.

The morning passed in a relaxing pace, just like the afternoon. I had cleaned the house, exterminating every little piece of dust I could find and get everything squeeky clean. Then I started preparing dinner, a simple dish with the leftovers from last evening. There was a rerun of some old Buffy episodes on tv, so I perched myself on the couch, setting a glass of iced tea on the small table and the plate on my lap.

The empty plate was washed clean and the glass got a refill. There was an old romance novel that I had wanted to read for a while, and now was the perfect time. Gran called, telling me she wouldn't be home for 2 hours, which gave me some more time to myself. I walked over to my room to fetch the novel, but a knock at the door stopped me dead in my tracks. It couldn't be Gran, because she had called not 10 minutes ago she would be home late.

There was another knock, a louder one. I took that as my que to walk over and open the door. I was a little irritated at the lack of patience the person that showed up at my door was showing, since there were more knocks that followed the last two ones.

"Don't get your pant.." my jaw dropped when I took in the person that was standing on my porch. His black wife beater clung to his muscled chest, his jeans fitted and a worn leather jacket was slung over his arm. He took my breath away, by just standing there.

"Hey Sookie."

His voice was like velvet, and my voice sounded ten times more sophisticated rolling of his tongue. I stood there speechless, still taking him in. There were bags under his eyes, and there was a scruff covering his jaw. The self assured air that bordered on arrogance was gone and it showed me a different Eric. Even when nervous, he would remain to keep himself together, showing no weakness. Now, Eric looked lost.

"You're here." I stammered, the surprise hadn't left me yet.

"Yes. I am."

I gave him a soft smile, which he returned. The sparkle made it's way back for a moment, but didn't manage to light the fire in his eyes.

"Come in, please." I pulled him in the house by his arm. Wrong decision, touching him made me realize how badly I craved feeling his skin on mine. I pulled away, and offered him something to drink and asked him where his suitcases were and then how long he would be staying, or if he even would stay. Together with some other stuff I couldn't remember. I was rambling big time, not being able to shut up.

"Calm down Sookie. I'm staying, but I don't know for how long... I'm staying at a hotel in Shreveport." He said while following my movements and sitting down at the kitchen table, staring at his glass.

"Why are you here?" the tone in my voice was not kind, and Eric looked shocked at my harshness. To be honest, I was too. There was a pregnant silence, filled with the sounds the outdoors. The sounds of a storm coming up, just like Gran had predicted.

"You promised me a date," there he flashed me his perfect teeth and made me melt right on the spot. Weren't we fighting the last time we saw eachother?

"You flew all the way here, drive to this podunk town and knock on my door to tell me I promised you a date? That's hard to believe."

Eric shrugged nonchalantly and took a large gulp of his iced tea.

"I'm here now," he finished his drink and stood up, "I should probably start driving now, or I won't be able to check in."

My Southern charms were back in the game, and this time I was grateful, because I didn't want him to leave yet.

"You can stay here. We have a guest room. This way you won't have to drive through the storm and everything."

Eric smiled his award winning smile, and accepted, he did seem a little antsy but went to retrieve his suitcase anyway. I showed him his bedroom and where the bathroom was.

Eric enjoyed the feeling of the house, telling me he loved how cozy and warm it was. It surprised me he liked it so much, since this was such a strong contrast to his LA home, but it made me feel good anyway. We talked, but avoided the subjects we both dreaded to discuss.

Eric wished me sweet dreams and went to bed, looking even more tired than he did when he knocked on my door. I decided to wait up for Gran, updating her on the new arrival.

I was watching tv when I heard the sound of tires on the gravel, which meant Gran was home. She walked in the direction of the house, stopping on the porch to wave at her ride and continued her way into the house.

"So, who is the special guest that owns that beautiful car." I turned off the tv and walked over to Gran and hugged her.

"Eric's here, I offered him the guest room. That's not a problem is it?"

Gran gave me a funny look.

"He can stay as long as he wants. I need someone to do some chores around the house anyway. Well, I'm off to bed." She gave me a kiss on the cheeck and disappeared in her room.

My eyes felt heavy, and I fell asleep as soon as my head touched the pillow, having the best night's rest I had in a while.