A/N: Thank you again to everyone who has reviewed or added OUaS to their story alerts or favorite lists. It makes me really happy to know that other people are loving this story as much as I am. I do need to apologize to some who mentioned that repeated conversations in the change of POV's are annoying. I'm working on reducing them, but sometimes it's a means to an end and makes it easier to bring up certain things, like Alcide for instance.

Anyway... On with the show... As usual, Don't own diddly.

Chapter 7 – SPOV

The rest of the week went so quickly that before I knew it, I was sitting in the kitchen with a cup of hot chocolate enjoying the cookies that Eric had sent. Yum. They had arrived just in time for the weekend and came in handy to fill spaces in the conversation as I told Gran all about Eric.

"I can see by your eyes you're in love with this boy Sookie." she said with a smile "You just stay safe though and take someone with you when you go to meet him"

"I will Gran, I promise" I replied "If I took anything away from being with Alcide it was to be careful"

"I still wish you'd let me kick that sumbitch in the family jewels" she said angrily.

"Gran!" I gasped, scandalized, Gran never swore.

"I wouldn't worry about his family jewels!" Amelia squeaked from the living room. "Look at this!"

We crowded around her laptop and started laughing with glee… Amelia had been reading the local news. Apparently Alcide had finally angered the wrong person. He had been photographed attending some of the seedier areas of town in the company of prostitutes and his family had cast him out in shame.

I felt sad and joyous at the same time. I couldn't explain how happy it made me to see some kind of justice, but I was sad that his family could be so cold to their own flesh and blood. Amelia at least had us, but I knew Alcide had no-one.

I spoke to Eric that night and could barely contain my glee that Alcide had finally seen some justice.

"I don't know how it happened, but I'm thankful to whoever organized that private investigator" I said happily

"I'll pass your appreciation on to Pam" he said with a smirk

"Pam?" I was confused, how did Pam know…

"I was pretty upset after we finished our call that night, and Pam was worried" he confessed "I didn't tell her any thing specific… that's not my place, but Pam was so angry with the little information I did give her that she started calling people and it snowballed from there."

"Why would she do that for me?" I asked touched, but even more confused than before

"Well… because I love you" he said simply "She knows me, she knows I wouldn't have had the reaction I did unless I truly cared about you… She figured if I can love you so much she was sure to and so she went on the warpath."

"Wow" I whispered "remind me not to piss her off. I'm a little annoyed that you didn't let on how upset you were by my confession though." I scolded "I'm studying to be a psychologist; remember! I'm pretty good at handling emotions now."

"Love" he soothed "you'd been through enough pain for that animal. I wasn't going to add to it."

"Oh Eric" I said softly.

"I'm not going to lie" he snarled "I wanted to hurt him, I wanted to annihilate him. I knew that you would never forgive me if I did that though… So when Pam started making her calls I realized, the better punishment would be to hit him where it hurt and permanently ruin his public image."

"I'm not sure if I'm flattered or worried right now" I admitted "but thank you. And Pam. I knew you loved me, but the fact that you would, you both would, take it so personally never even crossed my mind. It's in the past for me; the only thing that affects me now is making sure that he doesn't hurt anyone else."

"I know Sookie, that's the best part." He said "you won't have to worry about that anymore either. The domestic violence support group in his area has had an influx of his girlfriends lately and the support counselors are helping some of them to file a lawsuit. He's going to be serving jail time because there are so many."

I hadn't realized how much Alcide had still been affecting my life until that second. Even though I wasn't involved with him anymore, the fact that I was spending time warning his girlfriends and worrying about them had been weighing on me, had kept me tied to him in a way. Now that some women had been strong enough to stand up for themselves and he was going to pay for what he'd done I was in shock. That final tie to such a dark part of my life had finally been cut. I was free and I owed it all to Eric and Pam.

"I…you…" I stuttered, I was in shock at the feeling of freedom "AHHHHH!" I squealed in delight. "Eric…Honey! Thank you! You and Pam are just…. Wow… thank you so much, I'm speechless!" I giggled happily, until it sunk in a little more and I started crying… I was free…finally.

Eric chuckled softly and relayed my reaction to Pam.

"Sookie?" Pam was on the line now.

"Oh, Pam" I sobbed "Thank you so much. Thank you for being there for Eric, I didn't know it would affect him so much, but I'm glad he had you there. And thank you for everything with Alcide. If you ever need anything?… I just… there are no words to tell you how much this means to me"

"Sookie" she laughed "My brother loves you. He has excellent taste, but don't tell him I said that. If he loves you I know you are special and I'd do anything to make him happy. This was something I could do so I did it. I might be a bitch sometimes but I am a fiercely loyal one. You're one of us and we look after our own." She said with glee. "I'll give you back to Eric now… try not to make him moan too loudly when you have phone sex, the walls here are really thin."

I laughed in shock and thanked her again… That Pam.

"So what are you wearing?" I said playfully when Eric got back on the line

He laughed loudly and changed the subject, knowing I wasn't serious…well… I was only partially joking.

We talked for a while longer, he told me about his day out with Pam and what was planned for tomorrow. Pam was leaving on Sunday night so he was a little sad, but he cheered up at the thought of only being a week away from meeting me.

We said goodnight and hung up. I went to sleep with a smile on my face. Eric loved me and everything was right with the world.

The next morning I bounced out into the kitchen with a grin on my face a mile wide "Want to take a guess as to who is behind the Alcide scandal? Who hired the private investigator?" I chirped as I sat down with my morning coffee.

Gran and Amelia hugged me so tight I think they nearly broke something. They were so happy that he was finally being punished and I realized how much the past was haunting them almost as much as it was haunting me.

Our weekend was over and we were heading back to LSU…

"Love you Gran" I said as I hugged her tight

"Love you too sugar" she said kissing my cheek "You pass along my thanks to Eric, ask him if there's anything special I can do for him when he comes to visit, oh why don't you invite Pam too. I need to thank them both properly."

"I will Gran" I said with a smile. "See you soon. I'll call when we get back."

I went to finish packing things in while Amelia said her goodbyes.

I called Eric when we got on the road to let him know he now had the gratitude of my whole family. When Jason had heard about the justice being doled out for Alcide he had picked me up and spun us around in glee until we both fell over, too dizzy to stand.

"Gran wants you and Pam to come out and say hi" I said. "I'd really like it if she came too"

"Well, let me see if she has any plans and maybe she can come down with me for New Years?" he suggested.

"That'd be great." I said with a smile "Listen, I'd better go, I'm being a bad road trip buddy, I'll speak to you tonight."

"No problem Sookie" he chuckled "drive safely... I love you"

"Love you too Eric. Bye" I said softly. It always hurt a little to say goodbye. I was turning into a complete emo loser over this man, but I didn't care one bit.

The next week flew past and before I knew it we were back at home baking up a storm with Gran for our Thanksgiving meal. Amelia and I had arrived early on the twenty third and ended up helping out until late that night. Due to the fabulous smells in the house that day we ended up having to make 5 pumpkin pies, one was eaten by Jason, one was eaten by Gran, Amelia and myself, one was given away to one of Gran's friends that stopped by and Gran decided we should give Eric a pie so he could contribute something to Thanksgiving at Trey's house.

So the next day, nice and early with Amelia cursing at me because it was the first weekend in ages that she didn't have work to do either for money or classes. I made it up to her by buying her a massive coffee and some doughnuts on the way. We set out for Shreveport, pie in hand and butterflies running rampant in my stomach.

I didn't know why I was so nervous. I was finally going to meet Eric… hold him in my arms and look him in the eye when I said I love you… sigh… I wish I would be able to see him more than a few hours though.

My hands were shaking when I stepped out of the car. I sat on a nearby bench and pulled my friend down with me.

"Amelia? Help!" I whimpered

"Sookie Stackhouse. You should be doing a Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks at the end of You've Got Mail right now." Amelia squeaked at me… she was so past frustrated that she couldn't get the words out.

"What if something goes wrong Amelia? I love this guy. I don't think I could take it if he..." I whispered… I couldn't even say the words… if he didn't show up.

After a few soothing words from Amelia, lots of calming breaths and a whole lot of swearing I finally stood up and started walking to the diner we had organized to meet at.

He was facing away from me as I walked over to the diner…he was even more beautiful in person and I could barely breathe. Then he turned around… and my mind went completely blank. He was here… I was here… it was… perfect.

"Hi" he said, his voice thick with emotion.

"Hi" I answered softly with happy tears in my eyes and then threw myself into his arms. He hugged me tightly and lifted me up with him as he straightened, my legs automatically wrapping around his waist so I could hold him closer.

I could feel his face nuzzle into my hair as I breathed in his scent. He smelt like sandalwood and vanilla and totally edible. He held me so close I felt like I was wrapped in him, our bodies seemed to mold into each other and I had never felt so happy, so complete in my entire life so far.

"I can't believe you're really here" I said crying tears of happiness "I'm finally seeing you in person and all I want to do is close my eyes and hold you forever"

"Sookie, you're stealing my lines." he laughed huskily. Oh my Lord, it was even better in person. He held me tighter for a few seconds and then let me back down to earth. He stared into my eyes and I could see the love behind them. He was just as happy as I was.

My stomach growled breaking the tension and causing us both to laugh. I waved to Amelia and she waved back, finally picking up her menu to order something. I'd rushed her out of the house so fast she hadn't had time to eat except the bribery doughnuts.

"Is that Amelia?" Eric asked "Why don't you ask her to come over? My friend Trey is here too. For some reason he thought I'd run away with you if he wasn't here to drag me back. He would have been right, but don't tell him I said that." he finished with a crooked smirk that made my heart skip a beat.

"If you're sure you don't mind her joining us on our… I guess technically this is a first date huh?" I chuckled "I'll call her."

I rang Amelia and after defending my reasons for calling her she crossed the road with a smile almost as big as mine.

"Nice to meet you Eric" she said, shaking his hand.

"You too Amelia" he said smiling. "I'd like to introduce you to my friend Trey" he added, gesturing to the man who'd just walked up beside him.

"Sookie" he said with a gentle smile "nice to meet you. Eric never shuts up about you so I feel like I almost know you already" he laughed shaking my hand.

"Nice to meet you Trey" I said with a blush "this is Amelia, she'll probably be able to sympathize with you because I'm sure I've talked her ears off about Eric"

"You can say that again." Amelia muttered loudly enough for everyone to hear and we all laughed again. Amelia and Trey smiled at each other and shook hands before walking off to find a table for us all.

We sat and chatted and got to know each other. Eric and I were holding hands the entire time and giving each other goofy looks, despite the ridicule of Amelia and Trey, who seemed to have hit it off, we were happy. When our meals came and I had to use my hand to eat, his dropped to my thigh and after a questioning glance to make sure it was ok stayed there for the rest of the meal.

The day passed too quickly and before I could grasp the fact I would be leaving soon it was time to go.

I remembered that the pie was still in the car so Eric walked me back so I could hand it over. Amelia had stayed over at the diner to give us a little privacy to say goodbye.

"I don't want to leave" I admitted sadly "now I'm with you, I don't want to be apart again."

"I know exactly what you mean" he whispered, wrapping me in another hug and resting his head on mine.

I looked up into his eyes and lost myself for a while. His eyes were so soulful and deep, I could quite happily drown in them. He was beautiful inside and out and he was mine.

"I love you Eric" I said, staring into his eyes and letting all my emotion show on my face. It was all for him. He was my every thought, and he deserved to know how deep my feelings ran.

"I love you Sookie" he said right back, lowering his face to mine and gently claiming my lips, wrapping the fingers of one hand in my hair and holding me close with the other.

I tingled all over as the electricity of his touch sparked and flowed through me. If my emotions had shown on my face, Eric's were in his kiss. I was flying.

We stayed locked together until Amelia and Trey made their noisy way over the road, letting us know the time had come. We only pulled away from each other because they had started our respective cars and were ready to make tracks.

I quickly passed the pie over and with one last kiss and a tight one armed hug from Eric I slid into my seat and we were on the way back to Bon Temps, my heart was staying in Shreveport, with Eric.

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