Hi! First of all, I want to thank Charhamblin for her help and suggestions. Now, here you have chapter 20! It starts immediately after the end of chapter 18, when Eric leaves her house on Monday night and it includes the first Sookie-David phone call. I hope you'll like this chapter. Take care! Célia (PS: to answer some reviews - no, Sookie is not pregnant nor gravely sick)

Sookie "I Want You"

"I have absolutely no interest in hearing anything that you have to say about the two of us," he paused looking at me, "I must go now," he said. And then, he just... left.

Like on that fateful night, at Fangtasia, when I had asked him to let me go, suddenly I found myself looking at an empty sofa. That time, he had heard me and then left me there. Just as I had asked. But this time I had tried to talk to him, to explain, to ask for forgiveness. But he hadn't let me.

And then I realized that I couldn't blame him a bit. I had been so selfish when it came to Eric that I had never given him a fair chance. No matter what Bill did to me when we were dating, I had always believed him, and I had always forgiven him. And even David. God knew how much crap from him I had swallowed because I didn't want to upset him and because I was trying to keep our marriage intact because of Liz. But not Eric. I hadn't ever given him a chance. And now he was stomping on my heart like I had stomped on his.

I had left Eric almost a decade before because I didn't want to suffer like this. I didn't want to fall in love with someone who'd break my heart. But my brilliant theory had had a major flaw. I had already been in love with Eric way before that night. And I still was.

But if Eric didn't want to talk to me about us, what was the reason behind his visit? I grabbed my cell and called Pam but she didn't answer her phone. I wondered if it was on purpose... Or was she just busy? I suddenly felt immensely alone. I had no one to talk to. I felt sad, weak and without any strength in me. And then an awful thing happened because I heard most of my neighbors' thoughts. Normally we didn't hear their voices at our home unless they were screaming. And they sure weren't yelling now. And that left just one option: I was indeed hearing their thoughts. And that was only happening because my shields were completely down. To hear people that far away… Yes, I was really weak and without any strength in me.

I knew that I'd never be able to work the next day without my shields, and so I called David and told him about a possible stomach bug. In the middle of all the lies, half-truths and hidden truths I'd told him over the years, this small lie almost didn't count.

I got up, closed the door with the key and then shut down the kitchen's lights and went to bed. I didn't even brush my teeth. I just took off my shoes, covered myself inside my bed sheets and blankets and a couple of hours later I felt asleep.

The next morning my shields were as bad as the night before and taking Liz to her pre-school was a hardship. I spent the rest of the day at home, in my bed, thinking about Eric. But eventually, during the day, I got some of my strength back and I was able to shield a little again, even if it was just slightly better than on the night before. And later that day, when I picked Liz up at the swimming pool, it was even easier to shield. Dinner was an easy Macaroni and Cheese and by 8.30pm Liz was already sleeping.

An hour later, I felt a vampire's void mind and I heard my door bell. I ran to my door and for the second consecutive night I opened the door without checking the peep-hole only to find Eric on the other side. This time he was wearing even darker jeans, the same black leather coat and a black t-shirt. I hoped that his dark cloths didn't mean anything. And I wished that I had thought about dressing better because I was still with yesterday's yoga pants and another big, old sweater.

"I… I…" he said. Or rather, he mumbled because he didn't know what to say.

Thankfully, I did: "Please come in."

We walked to my living room and I sat on the big couch whereas he sat on the small one in the other side of the room. Okay. So he still didn't want to be close to me. It hurt me a little. But I could deal with it. He had come back. And that had tp be a good thing. Right? Now I just had to figure out why and try to get him to listen to my sincere and heart-felt apologies.

We stared at each other for a couple of minutes and then we both said at the same time: "Yesterday I…" And then we both shut up.

"Go ahead Eric. You first." I told him.

"No. You can go first Sookie."

I took a deep breath and then I asked: "Will you leave again if I start to talk about us?"

"I'll try not to. I'm sorry I left that way yesterday. I remembered I had… ahhh…"

I knew why he had left. And it wasn't because he "had" anything to do or anywhere to go. It was because of me. Because I had hurt him. Because I was this bad person and I hadn't realized Eric had really loved me when I was thinking that I was only his "flavor of the week". Okay, maybe his "flavor of the semester". I had been a silly, selfish girl. I had caused both of us pain. And if there was someone who didn't deserve it because he had always been there for me, it was Eric.

I just… I had to grovel for his forgiveness. I just had to.

And then, I freaked out. Yeah, something inside of me just clicked or tilted or something and I turned into a crying maniac because I started to behave in a completely irrational and uncontrollable way. And then tears started rolling down my face, and I just kept hyperventilating while at the same time I started to say that I was sorry for my past behavior. But I could only cough. Yes, apparently crying, hyperventilating and talking at the same time is not possible. At all. And the only thing that came out from my attempt to do it was just a wild cough.

So, for some minutes, I just tried to speak but I coughed instead and I saw him just standing there, looking at me while I felt I was the most unfortunate person in the world. I had been self-centered and juvenile about Eric. I had never given him an opportunity because I had been too afraid that he'd hurt me. And I had run away from him, just to find myself with David, who did cheat on me. And now Eric didn't even want me to talk to him.

So yeah, I was feeling really bad about myself. But somehow I still understood the reason why I had left Louisiana… Well, why I had left Eric. And it had been (and it still was) a valid reason because Eric had remembered everything about us, but then he had vanished. Just like that. And he hadn't talked to me for months after the takeover. Months. And the first time he had called me back after all that time, he then tricked me into marriage. And I still felt I had had the right to be upset with him. The only problem in all that reasoning was the fact that I was still as madly in love with him as I had ever been. And that little detail was preventing me from breathing then and there.

But Eric, God bless him, soon moved close to me again and grabbed my hands. "Stop. Just stop Sookie. Calm down." But I didn't. I kept having my panic attack for a few minutes. Well, for close to half an hour actually. Until I looked at his face and I saw his eyes. I saw the mix of pale blue and white rays in the iris that I knew so well. And I calmed down. Almost immediately.

We stayed in silence for a while, sitting next to each other and holding hands, like a couple of twelve years old. And as I had done every single time in our past, I broke the silence between us: "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I was just scared of that cough. You almost looked like you could not breathe."

"Yeah, that too. But that's not what I meant. I meant that I'm sorry for leaving Louisiana. And you. I… I should have stayed and talked to you."

"Yes, you should have."

"I behaved like a scared child."

"You did."

"I know. And I am sorry. And I should have said that I was sorry before. You didn't deserve the way I treated you."

"I thought I was also your friend back then."

"You were. You've always been. And I am so sorry Eric. Will you forgive me?" I asked. But he didn't answer. He just stayed there, still looking at me. And then, his hands moved away from mine and I felt I still had to try to plead with him. "Please Eric, please forgive me. You were my friend. Please say you'll still be. You were always good to me, and you cared for me and you even…" And then I thought about all the times he saved my life, comforted me and made me feel good about myself. And I shut up. And then my panic attack started to come back again, because I started to breathe excessively hard and fast again.

But this time Eric was next to me already and he just hugged me and "schh-ed" me. My face was now in his leather coat, and I could smell his manly, dry scent. I moved my head so I could see Eric's eyes again, but instead I saw his smile. And I just smiled back at him while one of his hands tried to dry the tears from my cheeks. I was completely calm again in Eric's arms when I saw him putting his wet finger in his mouth so he could taste my tears like he had done in what seemed like a life time away.

I didn't stop to think if I was forgiven, or if tasting my tears had some deep meeting about sharing my grief or something. Actually, I didn't think at all. I just moved. Towards Eric's face. With my face. And I kissed him again. And, like before, he didn't respond to my kiss. But he hadn't moved to the other sofa either. So I kept kissing him and I whispered "please" before I moved my tongue inside his mouth.

Two seconds later both of his hands were on my face and he was responding to my kiss. And you know what? Muscle memory is a something else all right, because my arms immediately hugged his neck and my legs straddled his. His hands moved to my back and he rolled his pelvis into me. He hugged me closer and started kissing my neck. Oh. My. God! Eric was hugging me and kissing my neck!

My heart was beating frantically and my breathing was completely irregular again. But this time, it wasn't a panic attack. It was a lust and love attack. I was just feeling too much because I was in Eric's lap and his arms were around my back. And in that second, I forgot that I looked older, I forgot Eric's vampire politics and his high-handedness and I forgot that even though I was already separated from my husband, I was still married. Hell, I even forgot my daughter upstairs. There was just Eric in my world.

Five or six minutes later, my mind started working again and I welcomed (for the first time ever) my Fae heritage because it was probably the reason why I still looked 29 or 30 years old. Well, maybe 31. But just one second later, I forgot all my thoughts again because Eric was still stroking my back with his hands while he kept kissing my mouth, my jaw line and my neck. And when he licked it, I just couldn't hold back a moan and that made him grab me even stronger. And it was then that I felt his fangs graze my earlobe and I heard him whisper in my ear "I missed you." I grabbed his hair and kissed his lips with all my strength. "I've missed you too." I replied.

There was a rumble in his chest and he deepened the kiss with a little too much strength because his fangs pricked my bottom lip. I was still straddling him and knew immediately that my blood still turned him on. I could definitely feel him even harder bellow me. His hands left my back and fell to my hips while our lips and tongues were in a frenzy. I moaned again and he thrust his hips towards me again, while I bucked my own against him. I was feeling so hot that I thought I might burn of desire. And I really wanted to feel Eric inside me. And the way he was hugging me and how he was moving towards me, I knew that he wanted me too. We had, we really had, to move to the next phase.

I pulled back my head so I could tell him how happy I was that he was there with me. But I couldn't. Because that was the moment when I saw his eyes. And they were almost black with lust. "I want you," he said, still whispering. Well, thank God he did, because I sure wanted him too. Very much so. I answered him in the same low tone: "okay". One second later, I was laying across the couch and Eric was above me. He continued kissing my neck and I lost all coherent thoughts. His hands were already beneath my shirt, moving towards my breasts.

"Can I take your sweater off?" He asked, almost breathless. And I laughed. Not really loud, but loud enough.

"You've never asked before," I said a moment later. But he stood there, lying on top of me, looking at my face. This was so unlike Eric. Normally he was so sure of himself. But tonight he looked like amnesiac Eric all over again. He was so hesitant and insecure and I just smiled.

But my smile wasn't what he wanted. So he asked again: "Well… Can I?"

I smiled again and I nodded. "But we have to be quiet. Lizzie's upstairs." He got up a little and took my shirt off, unclasped my bra and immediately started fondling my breasts. His mouth on my skin was amazing and I clawed his coat off his back. I suddenly noted that I really needed to feel his skin. "Take these off, take these off", I whispered in this extremely quiet voice, while I tried to move his coat. But he heard my plea, and he took off his jacket and t-shirt and soon I was feeling his strong arms and defined upper body.

His lips and his hands were everywhere: in my face, my hair, my neck, my breasts. And my breathing was even more off-beat than before. But I just didn't cared. What I did care was feeling Eric. I really needed more and so I lowered my hand and started stroking him through his jeans. He groaned and I felt his fangs search my neckline. "I want you," he said for the second time. I nodded and replied the same as before "okay". Speaking was something beyond my abilities then. I could only manage sounds and small words. Slowly, he got off of the couch and took off his jeans and boxers. His hands grabbed my pants and panties and he slided them both down my legs. "I really want you," Eric repeated for the third time looking into my eyes. And you know what they say, right? Third time is the charm. Because then I realized that "okay" wasn't the answer he was expecting from me. "I want you too. Badly." I managed to say as an answer this time.

Still slowly, he lay on top of me again. He kept kissing me, and touching me and I just tried to grab him with all my strength. But when I felt his finger sliding into me, I lost all strength and could only moan in his mouth. No one had ever made me feel as electric as Eric. Even with his cold hands, his touch burned me.

And he was touching me all over. There wasn't a single part of my body unattended. I was on fire and couldn't wait anymore. I spread my legs and moved down in the couch so his erection nudged at my entrance. He thrusted and buried himself in me. He was just as I remembered.

"Eric!" I almost screamed.

"Schh," he reminded me. But he was still inside me and starting to move and I wasn't conscious enough to keep quiet so I moaned loudly again. "I'll keep you quiet," he said smiling before closing his mouth in mine. His kisses were otherworldly and the feeling of him inside me was incredible.

Moments later, he started pounding me faster and his hands cupped my ass as he thrusted into me. I could tell my orgasm was building already. This was way too quickly when compared to our other times during "no-memory week". But I didn't care. I was on the path towards orgasm and I could only claw my nails in his shoulders. And soon, I was asking him (well, actually, I was begging him) to bite me. Eric stopped kissing my lips and his mouth moved to my neck. And as with his touch, his breath also burned me and I was completely lost in that moment. And when he bit me, I exploded screaming. I hadn't come that hard since… well, probably since the last time I was with Eric.

"Schhh," he said again but I was beyond caring then and could only feel him as he released inside me a couple of thrusts later. And then he kissed me again.

We stayed like that for a few minutes, holding into each other until he spoke again: "We should dress. I don't want you to be cold." He was right, of course, and I was starting to shiver. But Eric telling me to dress? Eric asking me if he could take my shirt off? For a second I thought that this wasn't Eric at all. Rather some doppelganger as in a Twilight Zone episode. But as soon as I was dressed and tried to sit on the couch, he grabbed me and sat me in his lap and held me in place, sniffing me. Yes, this was Eric.

We stayed like that, hugging in silence for 20 or 30 minutes. He then touched my face, made me look at him and broke the silence: "I will not let you be taken away from me again".

He was extremely serious and I wondered why that was. He hugged me again and said that we needed to talk. Uh-oh. Why? Was he having second thoughts about me so soon? Or was this the real subject that brought him here? I still didn't believe in the "I was in the neighborhood and I wanted to visit" excuse.

And so, I got up, I drank water in the kitchen and after I went upstairs to check on Lizzie (she hadn't even moved since she had fell asleep at 8.30, thank God), Eric made me sit on his lap again and he started talking to me. He told me about Niall's sickness and the fact that his enemies wanted to close the portals.

And up until then, I couldn't care less. Since he had insisted to test my daughter when she was born and I hadn't allowed it, Niall and I weren't necessarily in our best terms with each other. But then Eric told me about Niall's daughter, Lincel, and the fact that she might see me as an obstacle to her objective. Would they never leave me alone? I just wanted to live my life with my daughter and… Oh my God! My daughter!

"And Lizzie? Is she safe?"

"I don't know. I haven't heard her name in all his mess. But I worry about you Sookie. I think that you should come back to Shreveport with me. Tonight."

So? What did you think about their reunion? And what about the lemons? This was the first time I wrote anything like that… Oh my! :-) Please review and let me know, okay? Anyway, next chapter will be an Eric's POV of all this (since he first visited Sookie). It's time we see what's going on in his head, right? Célia

"I Want You" is the tenth song from Bon Jovi's "Keep The Faith" album (1992). "I never wanted the stars / I never shot for the moon / I like them right where they are / All I wanted was you"