"Sweetheart? Sookie? My darling?"

"Try the salts, that should wake her," I heard someone far off say.

"Ugh! Bill, where are we?" I asked as I was coming back to myself. I looked up at Bill and at the others assembled around us.

"Sweetheart, how do you feel?" Bill asked.

"I'm fine Bill…" He just stared into my eyes as if he was looking for something in them.

"More importantly, what was her answer?" someone asked.

"I'm fine Bill. What happened?" Then I remembered but had I answered? I looked at Bill and I could see the concern on his face.

"So young lady what is your answer?" the maitre d' asked.

My eyes grew wide and I answered, "Ye...yes. Yes!" I smiled and tried to pull myself up to Bill as his arms wrapped around me. He picked me up and spun me around kissing me all over my face, hair and neck as someone shouted to those inside "She said yes!!!" Those that had assembled around us cheered.

"Put… the ring… on her finger," a female vampire advised Bill through closed lips.

"Yes, I should," Bill gently set me down, got back down on a knee, placed the ring on my finger and said, "I believe this is yours now. You have made me the happiest vampire in the world." I was grinning like a fool, kissing him all over his face as I kept saying "yes, yes…, yes."

The little group that had assembled around us slowly started to dissipate (new word of the day) while congratulating us, leaving Bill and me alone in the garden.

"Bill, I'm going to be Mrs. William Thomas Compton!" I was grinning like a fool as I hugged him.

"Yes you are. But how do you feel sweetheart? You gave me a scare."

"I'm fine and SOOOO happy. Did you think I would say no?"

"Well, fainting isn't an answer one would expect Sookie." He had the biggest grin on his face too.

"I love you so very much, Ms. Stackhouse."

"Hey, that's 'I love you so very much (future) Mrs. Compton' to you sir." I deadpanned while poking him in his chest. I Ouched and he laughed.

"I really love the sound of that and when we get home, I am going to show you just how much I love it." Bill said as he kissed me again. We both thought we needed to get out of there immediately or we'd be giving everyone a show and possibly never be allowed to come back.

As we made our way through the restaurant, congratulations from other vampires kept interrupting our way out the door. For once, I didn't mind being the center of attention; Bill had wrapped his arms around my waist in that vampire possessive way and I loved it. When we finally made it out the door I remembered Bill hadn't paid the check. "Bill you forgot to pay the check."

"Sweetheart, it's been taken care of, they have my information on file and they will bill me accordingly. By the way, this is for you."

"Flowers? When did you get them?" I asked surprised as I hadn't noticed he was holding a long box.

"Actually, if you hadn't fainted they'd been given to you inside. And these, are from the restaurant, mine should be in the car along with another gift from the restaurant."

"More surprises? I'm being spoiled; I take it they knew what you were up to? When did you plan all this?"

"Of course they knew. I set it up a couple of weeks ago. And, yes you are being spoiled, from today until the end of time." He kissed my forehead.

"Bill, for tonight yes but..,"

"Sookie, no arguing. I love you and I will spoil you forever because of it. OK?" He leaned in, eyebrow arched, daring me to complain or argue and kissed my forehead.

"OK Bill, I love you too, so no arguing…, tonight." I said as I wrapped myself around him and breathed in his scent. The car was brought around and after more congratulations from those outside we got in and drove off back to Bon Temps. I'd found another huge bouquet of roses on my seat, a bottle of champagne, a bottle of Royalty Blend and a small box containing a white and gold frosted chocolate cake decorated with a (frosting) engagement ring.

"Thank you Bill. Thank you for wanting me and for loving me so much, I really, really do love you. You've made me the happiest woman in the world, I will never ever forget tonight. And, baby, I promise to make you just as happy and love you just as much."

"You already have, the moment you said yes." He said taking my hand in his and kissing it.

We'd made it to Parish Road when I told Bill I wanted to stop by gran's house before we went to the Compton house. He smiled and agreed. He knew I was barely containing myself and wanted to tell someone what had happened and Amelia was just the person I wanted to share my news with. A few years back, Arlene would have been first on my list – how things had changed, how my life had changed, how it was still going to keep changing.

I was itching with impatience as we neared the house; I almost bolted out of the car before it had completely stopped. I shocked Bill by beating him out of the car before he opened the door for me. He just smiled, bowed his head and motioned for me to continue into the house. I ran in and called out to Amelia; shouting was more like it.

"Amelia! You home?" She was sitting in the living room with Tray and jumped up startled as she saw me run to her.

"Sookie what's going on? Are you ok?" The look on her and Tray's face was priceless, I'd scared them half to death. I jumped into Amelia's arms as Bill calmly walked in behind me.

"Bill, what's going on?" Tray asked.

"I think she has something she wants to tell Amelia." Bill said smiling.

On cue, I held out my hand and showed off my ring to Amelia who immediately started jumping up and down with me. Tray was at a loss for words as he had no idea what was going on. Amelia turned to Tray and shouted, "They got engaged!" Tray's eyes widened as he took in the ring. He congratulated Bill and stood next to him as Amelia and I kept jumping up and down staring at the ring. I finally noticed how big it was. My eyes widened as Amelia said, "Oh my God Bill that's a huge ring, that's platinum and it must be over six karats."

"Bill, is she right? Oh my God how much did it cost?" I said totally shocked. It was a beautiful emerald cut diamond on a platinum setting, accentuated by four smaller diamonds, two on each side.

"Not enough for what you are worth. So let's leave it at that." Bill said raising his eyebrows.

As we were enjoying our little celebration no one noticed Jason walk in. He immediately noticed the ring and walked over to us pulling my hand to him.

"I guess I should say congratulations then, even though no one asked me for my permission."

"Give it a rest Jason, Bill didn't need your permission to ask me and I didn't need it to accept either." I said pulling my hand from his, annoyed that he'd even suggest he had the right to consent.

"Sookie, I am your older brother and the man of the house." I stopped him before he could continue. "Jason, you may be my older brother but you are not the man of this house, so get over yourself."

Bill stepped forward, wrapped his arms around me and said, "Jason you are right, I should have gone to you first and I did consider it as you are her brother but the moment you put her in danger I knew you no longer had her best interest at heart and your consent was forfeit."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jason asked, gearing himself up for a fight he definitely would not win. Tray held him back and told him to relax.

"Jason, if you want to be the man of a house, I advice you to first take yourself back to HotShot and deal with the mess you have there like a real man would," I said holding my anger in with all my might.

"Jason, you have placed everyone in this house in danger, Amelia included. Everyone knows of your problems and as much as I hate to admit it because he's a vampire, Bill is right; you forfeit your right the moment you placed your well being above your sister's. I advice you to take yourself back to HotShot before they come here and start a war that would hurt Sookie on all sides as both vampires, weres and shifters will come to protect her."

"They wouldn't dare come here." Jason said sure of himself.

Bill turned to Jason, "They went to Fangtasia looking for your sister and the only reason they have not come here is because of Tray and me. Calvin has been trying to hold them back but they will come and others will get hurt. I will defend you if I have to but do not misunderstand, my first concern will always be the women as they should be protected at all cost."

I could see panic covering Jason's face as he asked me, "Sookie, what should I do?" I walked over to him and said, "Jason, Calvin will take care of you afterwards, but you know that the longer you stay here the worse it's going to be. You should have thought with the head on your shoulders not the one between your legs. I can tell you that whatever you decide, you can not stay here any longer until this is settled. I'm sorry."

"Jason, I'll drive over there and stay with you until this is settled if you want?" Tray said.

"Nah, Tray. I have to do this by myself. Might as well get it done with." Jason said heading out the door.

We watched as he got in his car. Bill and Tray both shared a glance. Tray kissed Amelia good night saying, "I'll follow him to make sure he gets there and then I'll come back." We were all thinking the same thing; we didn't trust Jason to keep his word and go to HotShot without an escort.

We sat around waiting for Tray to return none of us speaking. Bill sat next to me trying to calm me and Amelia handed me some organic tea. Finally Amelia broke the silence. "So, how did he do it Sookie? Was it romantic?"

"Yes it was but I fainted." I grinned embarrassed.

"You fainted? Bill, please tell me she at least said yes first."

"No, she didn't. I thought she was trying to avoid telling me no." Bill said pulling me to him.

"You know..., your brother was right. Consent should be given before an engagement is offered. I know nowadays no one thinks of asking the family for a woman's hand in marriage but that is how it should be done nonetheless," Bill smiled at me.

"What? You are kidding me right? Consent from Jason?" I asked totally shocked and a little annoyed.

"No, but I had consent." Bill stated.

"From who?" Both Amelia and I asked.

"From Nial." Bill said. Amelia and I stared at each other and then at Bill.

"Wait, you spoke to Nial? Bill, you didn't need his consent, we aren't even that close. What would you have done if he said no? And, how did you know how to reach him anyway?"

"I did need to ask him as he is your family and he would never say no. But if he had, we would have to elope." He pulled me into him and kissed my forehead.

"As for finding him, Eric is not the only one that knows how to reach fairies." I thought about that for a second before fear set in.

"Oh no Bill, I forgot about Eric." I regretted saying it as soon as the words left my mouth.

"Eric? What about Eric? I don't need his approval and neither do you." Bill's eyes glowed black for a moment and Amelia and I both swallowed hard. Amelia tried to change the subject as Bill glided to the window. He'd heard a car approaching. It was Tray. He informed us that he'd followed Jason to HotShot and had spoken to Calvin letting him now that Jason was there on his own accord.

We said our goodnights and headed to the Compton house. I felt a wave of tranquility hit me at the thought of not having Jason in the house putting Amelia and everyone in danger. To his credit all Bill said was "sweetheart, all will be fine, Calvin will not let much harm come to Jason; especially now that they didn't have to come and get him."

We made it home and finally were able to start celebrating our engagement. I regretted that our happy moment had to be interrupted by Jason and his mess but Bill soon had me forgetting all about that.

This time we made it all the way into the house, took the time to put our gifts in the refrigerator and the flowers in vases; we even got to set our clothes on hangers before settling into each other's arms on the bed. I think that Bill was as nervous as I was. I kept mulling over the events of our night, the engagement part that is; my joy must have affected Bill because his eyes started to glow and the look of a predator stalking his prey took over his face. He stopped himself long enough to kiss my ring and tell he me loved me before his lips met mine.

Bill raised me off the bed and sat me on his lap as his mouth found its way to my neck, his tongue darting out to lick as he took in my scent. He moved to my ear and took my lobe into his mouth sucking at it before darting his tongue in my ear. I let out a moan and he pulled me into him wrapping his arms tighter around me as he continued sucking down my neck, careful not scratch me with his fully descended fangs.

His hands traveled up and down my arms before settling on my breasts. He brought his mouth down from my neck to my collar before moving down to my breasts. I was on fire for him; I could feel my wetness spilling onto his thighs as he moaned from the feel of it. He cupped my left breast, his tongue flicking my right my nipple as his other hand found its way to my nub. The feel of his hand rubbing me only intensified the pleasure that was running through me and as his fingers entered me, we both let out a moan. I threw my head back as I moaned out his name and he responded enunciating mine threw clenched teeth. It was taking all of him not to enter me and I could feel his hardness pressing itself on me.

I slid my hand down our body and took him in my hands and Bill let out a growl and said. "I love your heat," as I started to drive my hand up and down his shaft. The more I slid my hands over him the more he plunged his fingers into me almost making me lose my mind from the sensation of it. "Oh yes Bill, oh yes."

I couldn't take it any longer and pulled his hand out from me while I continued sliding my hand up and down his shaft paying close attention to the tip. He brought his fingers to his mouth and tasted me on them, his nose flaring a growl building in his chest, but I wouldn't let him replace them back inside me. I pushed him back onto the bed and slid my body down his taking him in my mouth. Bill "oohed and aahed" as he felt himself dipping in and out of my mouth. "Oh, Sookie…Oh," he kept repeating as he pulled my hair back to get a better view. I felt him almost reach his peak when I removed myself from him and made my way back up his body and found his mouth.

"Woman are you trying to kill me?" he said before I grabbed his mouth with mine. He grabbed my hips and lifted me onto his extremely hard shaft. I felt myself immediately tighten around him as his thrust began to pick up speed never removing his eyes from mine. We kept this rhythm until Bill felt my climax building and rolled us over on the bed, my head almost dangling off it; never ceasing his powerful thrusts. I met each bringing myself up to meet each one he gave me. The noises coming out of our mouths only helped intensify the pleasure we were experiencing.

I felt myself tighten further around Bill as my climax was taken me over; Bill brought his mouth down to my neck and bit just as I was exploding all over him. His thrust and grunts intensified as he met his own release. We were panting and kissing until I couldn't breathe any longer. Bill rolled us onto our side and removed himself from within me; I immediately cringed at the loss of him.

He kissed my forehead, my lips, my eyes, he took my hand in his, kissing each finger and kissing my ring while holding me close to him. I wanted forever to be like this, I never wanted anything more; finally Bill broke my reverie as he spoke. "I want to stay like this forever. I love you so much. I want to marry as soon as we can. I can't wait to call you my wife."

"Do you think you would want a big wedding or can we elope tonight?" He teased.

"Oh Bill," I leaned in to kiss him. I think we can wait a little while longer and we are not eloping either. I want the church, the dress, the tux, the cake and all the fuss a wedding takes. Wait, can we get married by church? I mean, do you want to? Do you mind?" I wasn't sure what church would marry us but I knew that's what I'd always hoped for – a big church wedding; though thinking about it, the wedding would have to be scaled down as I didn't have many friends left and I surely couldn't invite all the supes' we knew. Would they even come?

Eric and Pam might; Eirc to stop it and Pam to enjoy the show.