You guys have me so pumped about this story and about myself. So thanks! Here is another chapter for tonight.

Chapter 13: May Angels Lead You In –Jimmy Eat World

Sookie

Sookie woke up and she looked over at the picture of Tara, herself, and her Gran. She missed the two women terribly. She woke up and snuck down the stairs. Lafayette would definitely still be sleeping. He had worked the late shift and then gone out afterwards with some of their coworkers.

Sookie went into her clean kitchen and began cooking a breakfast for the both of them. It had been a week since she had severed the spell. Eric had sent her some flowers, white dendrobrium orchids, with a card that was sign –E.

She knew he was attempting to apologize, but it didn't cut it with her. She sat down and as she was midway through her breakfast when Lafayette walked in a woman's silk nightgown and a matching robe, rubbing his eyes.

She got up and fixed him plate of her Gran's biscuits and gravy. He smelled it in and began eating. "6 months," he said simply. She nodded in understanding, scraping the last bit of her food off her plate. She leaned back in her chair and looked at him. "You want to go there with me today?" she asked.

He nodded slowly and said, "I'll go jump in the shower and we go, ok baby girl?"

She nodded and grabbed his plate as he made his way to get ready. She cleaned the dishes and wiped down the table and counters. By the time she was done she walked out to her garden to her shed. She grabbed a pair of pruning shears and made for her Gran's rose bushes.

As Sookie finished up, she heard a car pull up behind her and she turned to see Jason pulling up. He was dressed in uniform and waved as he walked to her. She had called him the night before and he said he was happy she had called to invite him.

She nodded and they walked in the house. He made his way for the kitchen and ate the remnants of the biscuits and gravy. She cut the thorns from the roses and separated them into two separate bushels and asked him how everything was going.

He shrugged and told her about work and how he was trying to get things in a better place between Hoyt and him. She shrugged, wondering what her Gran would say.

"Gran always said 'It's easier to eat crow while it's warm'. Apologize as many times as it takes for as long as it takes. And really mean it Jason."

He nodded and tapped his hands on the table. Lafayette walked in and greeted Jason. "Ready?" he asked.

Jason and Sookie nodded and they three of them walked out of the house towards the cemetery. They quickly found Tara's grave as it was one of the newer plots on the outskirts of the cemetery. Sookie handed one of the rose bushels to Lafayette and he tenderly laid them on the ground.

He knelt in front of the grave and began talking to her, "Tara, I miss you hookuh."

Sookie's eyes water, "Me too. I hope you are happy and that my Gran is takin' good care of you."

Jason remained silent, but Sookie could tell by the look on his face that he was talking to her too. She grabbed his hand and they left Lafayette, who wasn't ready to leave her grave yet, making their way to their Gran's grave. They split the bunch they had brought for her, and placed half on their parents' graves and the other half on Gran's.

Sookie sat on the ground and she stared at the headstone. "I miss you Gran," she whispered. Jason stood behind her, with his hand on her should in support. "Me too," he said softly. They listened to the birds chirp and the bugs buzz around. "Me too," said Lafayette, walking up behind them.

They sat in silence when Sookie heard a thought. That's her. What is she doing here? There is the roommate, but who is that other guy? The king better now find out his human is cheating on him with another human. She is beautiful. Lovely curves. What I wouldn't do to-

Sookie quickly pulled her shields in place, not wanting to hear the end of that thought and immediately began scanning the area. She stood slowly and quietly said, "Someone is here watchin' us. They know me and Lafayette, but the thought signature isn't familiar to me. He has business with King Bill."

Sookie looked around the graveyard and followed where she felt the person. She then began moving in their direction and she opened her shields. Shit, she is getting close. Did she see me? Shit, what do I do? Fuck!

Sookie suddenly called out, "It's alrigh', come on out. I know you are there. It's rude to gander on people, ya know?"

Suddenly one of the largest men she had ever seen ambled out of the brush and she gaped at him. He was beautiful. He was shaved bald, and he had muscles on top of muscles that seemed to tremble before her. The most startling feature though was his violet eyes. She gasped at their depths and beauty.

"Uh…ummm…who are you and what are you doin' spyin' on me and mine?" she asked awkwardly. He smiled at her and she blushed. She quickly straightened her spine and felt Lafayette and Jason coming closer.

"I believe you are Sookie Stackhouse. I am John Quinn, but you can call me Quinn. Everybody does. I run E(E)E, Extremely Elegant Events."

"Somethin' tell me you aren' here runnin' any elegant event. So why are you here and how do you know me? More importantly, how do you know the vampire king of Louisiana? And why do you believe me to be his human when I am most certainly not, and haven' been for some time?" Sookie fired out.

She was instantly on the attack, but in her defense, too much bad shit had happened to her over the past few years to be coy and shy now. She wanted answers and she was going to get them.

He looked stunned at her blunt tone and no nonsense questions. Then he burst out laughing, which Sookie didn't appreciate at all. She was losing her patience and fast. "Best answer her sir, or you won' be likin' the consequences," Jason spoke up.

Lafayette and Jason were standing behind her and Sookie heard Lafayette think at her. This mothafucka came to the house when we were doin' the spell and almost pushed me aside to get in, but left when I shut da door in his face. I was so worried about you at the time, I forgot to tell ya. Sorry, Sook.

She shook her head to show him she didn't mind. What she did mind was being laughed at. "Speak or you will regret it Mr. Quinn."

He straightened up and wiped at tears from his purple eyes. Sookie remembered a jarring picture of Elizabeth Taylor's eyes she had seen in one of her Gran's celebrity magazine, and thinking she was the most beautiful women in the world, just because of those eyes.

"It's Quinn and I am sorry. I promise I am not laughing at you. I guess my cover is blown one way or the other. I was hired by the king to guard his human, which he led me to believe was you. During the day, I was to protect you at all costs, but not reveal myself to you. I didn't think you saw me, but you seemed to stumble upon me. I am not sure why he told me you were his human, but I am sure glad you aren't."

Lafayette chuckled and put his fist to her mouth to stifle his laughter. Jason looked uncomfortable and Sookie blushed again.

"I will have a word with Bill about this tonight when it's dark out. You don' need to worry about watchin' over me anymore," she said.

"Oh what a pity, for me."

Sookie's mind flashed to when Eric had said that to her in Fangtasia and she felt a flash of hurt over the reminder of the Viking. She quickly pushed the thoughts away and leveled Quinn with a genuine stare.

"Well, good luck with your elegant affairs…Quinn," she said and turned on her heel.

"Wait, Sookie?"

She turned and he walked up to her. "Since you are not Bill's human, would you be willing to go out with me sometime?"

Sookie couldn't believe she was being asked out in a cemetery in front of her brother and Lafayette. Or with a man she hadn't known ten minutes ago. Or with a man who had been hired to watch her.

"Really?" she asked in surprise. A date with a hum..wait, he wasn't human. He was some kind of shifter. But still, he wasn't a vampire, and so he was a welcome change.

"Yes, I have been watching over you for months wishing you were available. I intend to jump at the chance now that I know that you are."

Sookie couldn't stop blushing apparently. This heat. In March. Sookie nodded slowly and said, "Sure, you know where to find me."

She turned and walked away. Lafayette and Jason stood there in shock and she had to say, "Let's go," to get them moving. As she passed her Gran's grave she patted it lovingly, and then repeated the process with her parents'.

She stopped at Tara's grave, saying softly, "I wish you were here to gossip about this with." She then finished her trek through the cemetery, Jason and Lafayette following her from a safe distance. They were more school girls than Tara and Sookie had been sometimes.

Eric

Eric had finished his travel arrangements for the Summit. They would be leaving in two weeks. Pam had decided to stay with him. And she had made the decision about Sookie, and stuck to it when Sookie came up, which wasn't often. But when they did, she had become surprisingly more sympathetic to Eric when he confronted times when he was missing Sookie the most.

She never insulted Sookie and if she felt the urge to bitch about Sookie or threaten her, she didn't voice it. It was a relief to Eric, because while he didn't need Pam to survive, he felt better with her by his side. Especially now that Godric was gone.

Eric was actually looking forward to the Summit. It was effective in keeping his mind of Sookie. It was also something that he could look forward to. He would also be seeing some vampires that he hadn't seen in a while. It would be a good for him to get a census of the political shifts happening throughout the country.

Eric had sent Sookie flowers to say he was sorry for his behavior that night, but had not done anything else. He knew he needed to do something else, but he didn't know what. He had never admitted being wrong, and to a human nonetheless. He was tempted to go to Pam, because she read human advice columns constantly to "know her prey".

But he resisted the urge, knowing there were some limits to Pam's patience. He also felt like she should come to him for advice, not the other way around. Eric rubbed his temples, going over residency requests and infractions done in his area. He called his people and sent out his head hunters to collect the vampires he needed to deal with.

He would send Pam out personally to deal with the cadre of humans who were under investigation as drainers and sellers of V. Eric made notes and made copies of them to send to his regent and to the AVL.

As he pushed through the paperwork, his mind rested as it always did. With Sookie. He had decided to stay away until he knew what he was going to do. He didn't want to go in without a plan, and risk hurting her more. He had hurt her enough.

Sometimes he wanted to just get it all over with. To either be with her or not be. To shake her into her senses. He had faith that she had to be missing him, even just a little bit. He knew he was missing her more, but he knew he would find a way to her again. He had to.

Bill

Bill was reading over Eric's notes on his area report when he heard his guards confronting someone on the lawn and then his door slam open. He smiled, knowing it was his Sookie.

His heart ballooned at the idea that maybe she was coming for him. Without the bond he couldn't be sure. That was something he would be rectifying quite soon.

She stormed in, without knocking, into his study. She looked beautiful. She had been laying out in the sun and her eyes held a clarity and certainty he hadn't seen in quite some time. They also held anger and fire, that part of him certainly responded to and turned him on.

Sookie flexed her fists and inhaled deeply. "Why do you have guards stationed outside of my home and without my knowledge for God knows how long? And why do they think that I am yours? I am not yours, in any capacity."

Bill clenched his jaw to stop from barking back at her that she wasn't now, but she would be. He needed to be patient. And more importantly, he needed to get his blood into her, which wouldn't happen if he yelled at her or scared her.

"Sookie, I was trying to ensure your safety by placing guards that wouldn't interfere in your life. I didn't think it was necessary to tell you-," but Sookie stopped him. When she did that, it took every muscle in his body and every ounce of concentration not to snap her hand off.

"If it concerns me, then it is necessary to tell me. Why can't you seem to understand this? Bill, I need to know that you understand that there is no hope for anythin' between us anymore. That I am not yours and never will be again. Do you understand? Tell me."

Bill pursed his lips. She was stubborn and ignorant. But he was also stubborn and fortunately not ignorant. He would prevail. But for now he simply gave a curt nod of his head.

"No. Not good enough. Say it. Say what I said."

"You are not mine and will never be mine again. There is no hope for this," Bill repeated, internally scoffing at the words as he said them.

Sookie stayed still as she listened to him say what she needed to hear and then relaxed. "Good. Now, please explain why you have people stationed outside of my home."

"I did it for your protection. I thought it was necessary. I am sorry for causing you anger or distress. The guard will be warned not to approach you again."

"That won't be necessary Bill, for two reasons. One, I don't need guards and two I am going out with Mr. Quinn on a date so he will be approaching me."

With that, she turned on her heel and strode into the foyer.

Bill was frozen in his office, seeing red. The tiger? She could not be serious. The fucking tiger? He strode after her and grabbed her elbow, roughly. "You can't be fucking serious, Sookie. You don't even know the man."

"Let. Go. Of. Me," she seethed out. He released her arm and his eyes slit at her, waiting for her explanation. "Here is what I know. He is attractive. He is kind. He is funny. He isn't a vampire. And most importantly, I know he isn't a danger to me, because otherwise, you wouldn't have appointed him as my guard."

His jaw dropped, and he had no words as she gave him a satisfied smile. "I expect the guards to be let go and off my property by tomorrow mornin'. I already told Mr. Quinn that."

With that she walked out the front door and Bill stood in the foyer, in complete shock. The tiger?

So? I know it's a new direction, but I heard that AB is also going to be taking a turn next season when it comes to Sookie's love life, so I wanted to give a plausible storyline. Plus it's extra drama, which you have to admit that you love.

So? Talk to me people.