Hello! So, I PM'ed some of you saying that this would be a Pam's chapter with the "old character from the past" at the end of it. But turns out, it isn't! Sorry! The thing is: it was way too hard to have Pam explaining David's reaction – it had to be Sookie to do it. So, here you have a new Sookie's chapter! And the next one is almost done, I'll update soon. Anyway, thank you for reading and please review if you can (I really want to improve my writing skills and your feedback is needed). Oh, and I need to thank Charhamblin for her help! Love to you all from Portugal, Célia

Sookie "It's My Life"

From one second to another I moved from thinking that I was dead for sure to being extremely hopeful. And all because of Eric. Just like in a big-budget Hollywood action movie, the tall, strong and blond hero stormed in, right at the last second, and saved the day. Well, at least he tried to save the day. Which was way more than I could say about my husband. What the hell was wrong with David? Those damn fairies were there talking about killing Liz and he just froze?

Anyway, as soon as Eric came in, the fairies ran to him and attacked him. Or he attacked them, I don't really know. I could only hear those dreadful screams and grunts… So I did the only thing I could do: I ran to Liz and took her upstairs.

Leaving my daughter hidden in her bedroom was one of the hardest things I ever did in my life. Lizzie was extremely afraid. Hell, she was terrified. And her look when I told her I was leaving her alone once more just broke my heart. Liz screamed and tried to hold on to my legs begging me to stay there with her. And I wanted nothing more than to hug my baby and leave to the other side of the world with her in my arms. But I couldn't. I just couldn't. We weren't safe yet and Eric was still downstairs with five (five!) fairies all by himself. So I made myself leave Lizzie's embrace and almost screamed at her to stay there and not move, before I left my crying 5-year-old daughter all by herself. And let me tell you: Lizzie's panicked eyes will forever be engraved in my memory – the sight of her face when I moved to the door and left her there will forever be my own personal worst nightmare.

But I had to do it and so I went back downstairs again and immediately saw three fairy corpses scattered through my living room. And, oh my God! Eric was soaked in blood. Soaked! And by his extremely white face (even more white than normal) I was sure that most of it was his blood. I immediately grabbed two of the lemon-water guns that David (still frozen) had next to his feet and started shooting at the fairies. And suddenly everything happened way too fast for me… I blinked and just like that, in a split of a second, the last two still-living fairies weren't living anymore and Eric was grabbing me.

I felt my back hit a wall and Eric's tongue entering my mouth. Jesus! What was that? I knew all about bloodlust and the vampires' association between blood and sex, but Jeez Louise! That was so not needed then. There were decaying fairy corpses all over my house and I had let my scared daughter alone in her bedroom. And no matter how heavenly Eric's kisses always were, then was definitively not the right time. And then, luckily, by some God's miracle, Eric snapped out of his lust and told me to go upstairs, which I quickly did.

I ran to my room, changed my dirtied with blood t-shirt and washed my face swiftly. I then ran back to Liz's room and I heard her scream again when I entered. But as soon as she realized it was me she stopped yelling and just kept crying. I tried to comfort and calm her by talking to her and repeating over and over again that everything was fine, but she wasn't even listening to me, let alone speaking back to me. She just cried nonstop and grabbed me for almost an hour without showing any signs of ever stopping her cries or letting my arms go until Eric entered her room too.

And then Liz talked again for the first time after our ordeal when she hugged and then thanked Eric for saving both of us. Seeing how she trusted him and feeling myself extremely thankful to him too, I let go of my last defenses and I let my eyes fill themselves with the water I knew my tears held. Eric picked up Elizabeth, brought her back to her bed and then he proceeded to glamour her into forgetting everything. And I felt even more grateful to him for preventing my daughter from becoming a traumatized child.

I asked him about the two weres who had become somewhat our friends during the last month and then I cried for them and for their families when Eric told me that Brad and John had died. I was feeling so helpless then that crying in Eric's chest seemed like the only thing I could do. There was only his chest in the whole world.

Soon though, he had to leave and I just laid next to my sleeping daughter. I tried to sleep too but I kept seeing Lizzie's panic face and hearing the tall fairy's voice telling the others to kill us. So instead, I just stayed there, hugging Liz while I heard people downstairs – both their voices and their voids of a brain. Once in the while I could hear Eric's voice too telling them what to do and that was the only thing that kept me intact.

A few hours later, when the sun rose, I was awed that I kept hearing people working, talking and moving downstairs so I left my child's bedroom. The vampires that had worked there had been substituted by some sort of weres during the night and they were still cleaning my living room – there were already new rugs and they were moving in a couple of new furniture pieces. I went to the kitchen, made some coffee and then offered it to them. Their job was almost done and after a couple more hours I was left alone in my clean living room. Four huge guys that I hadn't even met rang the bell and told me they'd be close by keeping us safe.

I thanked them and closed the door before I sat on my old couch (that somehow had stayed blood-free). I was still sitting there, thinking about Brad and John and how sorry I was that they had lost their lives, when Liz appeared with a sleepy face asking who had rung our bell. I dismissed her questions, made her breakfast and told her there would be no school that day.

And obviously, true to her form, Liz complained about it – except that day instead of complaining about Ms Sarah, she complained that she wanted to go to school. The previous night and my lack of sleep had taken away all my patience and I just told her to go to her room and just play there. And then I stayed the whole day thinking about my life and the people in it. Liz would come to me once in a while but I guess she knew that her mom was not in a good mood so she gave me my space.

Later that night, Eric showed up again and he actually managed to talk to Niall on the phone. I had tried to do the same thing dozens of times without avail, but he succeeded at the first try. A couple of hours later, my great grandfather appeared in my house and we talked for a while before he left with the promise to close the portals in less than two weeks.

And then, just like on the previous night, I felt again that Eric's chest and his arms around me were my whole world and I told him that I'd be going back to Louisiana. I wanted nothing else than to think about our future back in my state.

But Eric though had other conversational plans when he saw my bruised arms: "Was it the bear Sookie? Did he hurt you?" he asked eventually.

I looked at him. Eric truly had this really angry air about him but he was trying hard to keep his anger at bay. And I loved him a little bit more for trying to stay calm. And it didn't matter that we had stayed almost ten years apart, I knew Eric. And I knew about his instincts and how his mind worked. I knew about the possessiveness, and I was absolutely sure that Eric was already plotting ways of hurting David because of my black and blue marks. And the fact that he was trying to not over-react about it because he knew I wouldn't want it, spoke volumes. But those were just a couple of light bruises (okay, maybe not so light) and they didn't matter anymore.

Don't get me wrong: I wasn't condoning David's attitude and it would take me a while to forgive him. But he had been a good friend for almost a decade and we had been married for over seven years. And during all that time, David had never even raised a hand to me or our daughter. I wouldn't allow him, obviously, but it was more than that. I knew that David wasn't that way. He wasn't. He was just going through a really stressful moment and I'm sure the alcohol he had drunk hadn't helped at all.

And it really didn't matter anymore. Actually, it was almost a good thing that David had acted that way because now I wouldn't have any scruples for leaving to Louisiana with Liz. Yes, I wouldn't over-think it nor would I worry about separating my daughter from her father. They could talk on the phone, David could visit her in Louisiana and Liz could come back for a weekend once in a while or even for two weeks during the holidays. We'd talk and figure something out. But for that to happen, I had to stay in good terms with David. And Eric sure needed to calm himself and not act upon those little bruises.

"Eric, listen to me: it doesn't matter. I'm leaving with you and I don't care about him anymore. I know he's Lizzie's dad and I'll allow him to be with her whenever they want. But that's it. I have to think about me too and about what I want. And I want to be with you. I've always wanted to be with you. I love you."

Okay. So I had said it. It was out there again. The "L-word". But even when he didn't tell me that he loved me back, I didn't regret my words. I loved him. And God be damned if I'd prevent myself from saying it. In that same second, I vowed to myself that from then on, I'd always say what I was thinking. I didn't want any more misunderstandings between Eric and I. Hell, you never knew when some other fantastic and probably real but bad and dangerous fairytale creature would come back to hunt and hurt you (dragons, evil spirits and ogres came to mind – I didn't think they were real, but then again, they could). Right?

That night, after we decided that we'd live at his place in Shreveport, I felt asleep in Eric's arms.

The next day I let Liz go to school (and I had three of the four bodyguards following her) and I called David and asked him to meet me at home. He sounded a little off-key but it was expected considering the fact that Eric had glamoured him to stay at home and hadn't given him any other command.

Less than fifteen minutes later, an almost breathless David was arguing with my bodyguard next to my front door. I opened it and explained to the guard that he was my ex-husband and that he was allowed inside.

The door wasn't closed yet when David turned to me and asked, "What happened? What happened? Are you okay? Where's Liz?"

"Are you okay?" I asked instead of answering him.

He sat on the couch and turned to me with a lost expression on his face: "I… I… I guess I am. I don't really… I don't really know. I was here and those tall guys somehow materialized out of thin air and…" He wasn't sure about it and was waiting for my confirmation. When I nodded at him, he repeated his previous questions: "What happened? Are you okay? Where's Lizzie? Where is she?"

"She's at school. She's alright. And so am I."

"What happened?" he insisted.

"What do you remember?"

"We were arguing in the kitchen," he said, and I saw him moving his eyes away from me in shame – David could well remember what as asshole he had been with me. He swallowed and looked back at me, "And I'm sorry for that Sook. I guess I wasn't…"

I interrupted him. I didn't care about what had happened in the kitchen. "What else?"

"Those guys showed up and I… I just remember that I was afraid for you and Liz and myself. And then I don't remember anything else. What happened? Why the new furniture? You sure both you and Liz are okay?"

"We are." He seemed to relax at my answer and then we just kept staring at each other for a minute or two. And I wondered all over again what I had seen in him before. But either way, David deserved to know everything and I started to tell him. "They were fairies David. And they attacked us. They wanted to kill me and Liz because we're Niall's kin," I saw his pupils grow with my words and his hands close in a fist but I kept talking, "and they had already killed John and Brad. We tried to fight them, but then you somehow froze. I think you were in shock or something."

"I…" he had this elbows on his knees now and his head was supported with his hands. He kept moving his head from right to left in a "no" gesture.

"But thank God Eric then showed up and he managed to keep us safe."

He raised his head to look at me and said: "That guy? The vampire friend?"

He said "friend" with the same disdain that he had used on Wednesday and I snapped. And you might not know me, but believe me when I say that I was never one to use curse words. But I sure knew them. And I wasn't shy to use them when I needed to either.

"Oh no, David, no, no, no. Don't you dare use that fucking tone when you're talking about Eric. Don't you even fucking dare. He risked his life for me and for your daughter while you stayed shaking in fucking fear. And I won't allow you the same shitty comments about how vampires aren't capable of having human friends because Eric sure proved himself all over again," I took a deep breath and I continued, "He was my friend a decade ago when I left him without an explanation. A few years later he saved me, he fucking saved me during the Fae War. He went through shit back then for me and he even made his vampires fight for me too," David was still looking at me in silence when I finally added, "but then he let me be, so I'd say with you. And you cheated on me. You fucking cheated on me. And now, Eric's back here saving my sorry ass again and saving your daughter too while you fucking freeze in fear. So don't you fucking dare to even insinuate that Eric is not my friend."

"I… I… I don't know what to say," he whispered.

Oh. Good. At least my full-of-profanities little speech did its job. "But I do. And here's what I want to say: I'm leaving David. I'm leaving you."

"I know that. I've already moved back to the apartment."

"That's not what I meant. I'm leaving to Louisiana."

"And Liz?"

"She's coming with me."

"But I'm… I'm her father. You can't just leave like that."

"I can and I will," I said extremely full of myself. Jesus, if I could bottle this assurance and use it when I needed, I'd be a happy woman.

"But…"

"It's my life."

"But I'm her father."

"Of course you are. And you can talk to her on the phone every day and you can visit her whenever you want. And Liz can come here once in a while for a long weekend and sometimes during the holidays. But I've already decided David. I'm leaving to Louisiana with my daughter."

"And the restaurant?"

"We still have to wait a couple more months before we our divorce is official. We'll decide then."

He thought for a minute or two while we stayed in silence. "Maybe we can put it in Lizzie's name and I'll just keep managing it until she's an adult or even after that if she doesn't want to work there. But it will be hers," he suggested.

Oh. That sounded good. I liked the idea of Liz having something of her own. But David had another son. And it didn't matter how much I hated his mother and how I almost hated his father, the baby boy shouldn't be deprived from his rights. "But what about your son?"

"Brown's Rest and Grill is yours and mine. You worked there as much as I did, and Lizzie's our daughter. Besides, Dave already has a college fund that the pack created for him and I pay his mother child support every month."

"Oh. Okay then. We can still talk about it later. And you can obviously move here again if you want once I leave."

"I don't. Let's sell the place, pay what's owed to the bank and divide the rest of the money between us."

Wow. I was impressed. David was behaving like… an adult. Which was what he was, but still… It was so strange to have a mature conversation with David about our divorce and about me moving away after last Wednesday.

"Okay. We can do that. And I'll start packing today because I want to move as soon as possible David."

"I understand. And…" he thought about what he wanted to say for a minute and then he added, "I'm sorry Sook. For how I behaved and for not keeping my family safe. I should never have taken the guards away and I should have been able to fight for you and Liz… I… I'm sorry for all of it Sook."

"It's okay David."

"I hope we'll somehow stay friends."

"With time, I'm sure we will." And I really believed and hoped that. David and I would always be connected because of Liz. We'd have to talk and be together many times because of her. He was her father and he was a good father.

"I'll want to see her as often as possible. I'll visit you guys frequently and I want Liz to come here too."

"Of course."

"And I'll call every night right before bed time."

"Okay."

"Okay. I… I'll just go now. Bye Sook. Oh, and can I keep Liz this weekend? I know it's your weekend but I want to spend some time with her before you leave," I nodded and he almost smiled at me, "'I'll come and pick her tomorrow morning then. And Sook… good luck in Louisiana."

We awkwardly kissed each other briefly and he left.

I sat again and I just thought about our conversation. About our adult conversation. And then I smiled because I was moving to Louisiana. With Eric. I spent the rest of the day packing books and some summer clothes in the boxes I had found out in our garage.

Later that day, I picked Liz at her swimming class and I let her choose our dinner. After we ate the (obviously) pizza, I sat with her and explained that we'd be moving to the place where mommy had grown up when I was her age.

"And is it far?" she asked.

"Yes, it is baby."

"And school?"

"You'll have a new school full of new friends there."

She didn't sound convinced. Not at all. Her face told me that she thought this was a bad idea. "And will daddy be there with us?"

"No sweetheart. Daddy will stay here, because of the restaurant. But you'll speak to him every day on the phone and he'll be visiting us often."

"I don't want to go mom. I wanna stay here with daddy."

Oh damn. I didn't want to force her. But hell would freeze before I'd leave without my daughter. "You'll like it there baby. You'll have your own room just like here. And you know what? Eric has a big garden and we can buy one of those small swimming pools and set it there. So you'd have a pool just for you and you'd be able to swim everyday and just play there whenever you'd want to."

Her eyes opened a bit more. She always did that when she was impressed with something. Yes, the little pre-fabricated pool in the garden would be a very good way to convince her. "A pool?"

I nodded and smiled at her: "Just for you."

"In Eric's garden? Will he be there?" she asked opening her eyes a little bit more. Yes, Eric would be another first-class persuasion element.

"You know that he's mommy's friend, don't you? And you know that mommy and Eric were friends way before you were born, right?" she nodded, and I added, "Well, that's because Eric used to live right next to the place where mommy grew up." Not that Shreveport was that close to Bon Temps. And I was definitively all grown-up when I met Eric. But I was meaning that both places were in Louisiana. And Liz sure looked like a little more convinced about this "moving to Louisiana" idea. I added a new important point: "You know something else? It's also close to where Uncle Jason and Tom and Alex still live." Tom and Alex were Jason's sons (from two different mothers) and they too would be a good reason for moving to Louisiana.

"Will they swim in my pool?"

Okay. So the still non-existent pool was hers already. "Only if you want them to. It's your pool."

She smiled in a very sweet way and whispered: "Cool." And just like that she accepted everything. And I couldn't help myself from hugging her very close to me. "Mom! You're crushing me!" Elizabeth, always exaggerating.

"Sorry. It's just that I love you very much. You know that, right?"

"Yeah mom, you're always saying that," she said with an exasperated sight, "and I love you too mommy," she added with a boring-air about that whole conversation, "Now, can I please go upstairs and play? Just for a little while?"

I would be her bed time soon but I told her that she could and she left talking to herself about the pool. Well, not really to herself… She left talking to Frank about the pool and telling him that she'd only allow him there if he behaved himself. And who was Frank? He was a dark-haired boy who was Lizzie's most recent imaginary friend.

I was still thinking about my silly and adorable daughter when Eric arrived. I told him about my talk to David that morning and my conversation with Liz that evening too. He was slightly angry that I had talked to David alone, but he was much happier than angry because everything had gone well and I had already started packing everything.

"What about kitchen's appliances? Do you have any?"

"I don't, but we can buy everything there."

"Maybe I can take with me some of the things I have here and…"

"No," he interrupted me, "we'll buy everything new there."

And suddenly, I remembered, "Oh, and Eric, would you mind if we bought one of those above-ground pre-fabricated little swimming pools for your garden?"

"Why would we?"

"Liz has wanted one for ages and I thought that it would be easier to convince her about Louisiana with it."

"So you were buying your daughter's acceptance with a pool?"

Yes, I was. "No... I'm just… willing to give her an extra incentive," I answered smiling.

He smiled back at me and after his smiling "okay", I asked again if he minded that we bought the pool.

"No need my lover. I already have an outdoor pool. And it's not above-ground. It's a real pool. Elizabeth will love it."

"You have?"

"Yes, and the little dear one will only have to dress into her swimming clothes before immerging herself in the swimming pool, as soon as we arrive at our home."

Little dear one. Our home. Awww.

I silently thanked God for bringing Eric to my life again and then I silently prayed that no one else would come into the middle of the two of us. But somehow, and don't ask me why, I felt that we'd still have to face some problems. And turns out, it was an accurate feeling.

So? What did you think about it? I hope you enjoyed this chapter! And the next one will be a Pam's POV for sure! Thank you again, Célia

"It's My Life" (album Crush) is definitively one of my favorite Bon Jovi songs. It has the distinction of being the only song from a band once classified as 1980s hair metal to reach the top 40 in the 21st century, a testament to how the song managed to introduce the band to a new, younger fan base. "It's my life / It's now or never / I ain't gonna live forever / I just want to live while I'm alive / (It's my life) / My heart is like an open highway /Like Frankie said / I did it my way / I just wanna live while I'm alive / It's my life"