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Chapter 20: I'm Sorry –The Platters

Eric

It sounded ridiculous to admit it, but Eric had never been on a date before. This was his very first date. And it was awkward, which was why he twiddled on his phone for the majority of the dinner, responding to sheriff business and telling Pam 'date progress reports'. He lied and said it was wonderful.

Sookie would try to lure him off the phone by asking him leading questions or tell him some story about this or that. He responded, but he couldn't really interact with her about these things yet, because he didn't know all the bumpkins in her town or the places in it either.

Eric and Sookie had always had something big going, not really leaving room for them to sit and talk about each other's things. The Eric that Sookie had fallen in love with, Amnesia Eric, had no problem talking about things because he knew nothing about anything.

He sat across from Sookie at the restaurant he had picked and watched her eat. This girl was even gorgeous even as she ate, which was typically something that vampires found at the very least unattractive. But Eric watched her chew on her food, and it was sexy as hell.

The fact was that the food nourished her and if the food was to her liking, she made these little noises that were similar to those that she made as he thrust inside of her.

Eric sipped his True Blood as she occasionally asked him questions about himself. Eric could tell he should be giving detailed answers, but he had never shared so much information about himself, especially with a human. It wasn't that he didn't trust her, it was just that it was strange and uncomfortable for him.

He loved her, but Godric had instilled in him to never reveal too much about himself to anyone. He had also advised him early on that loving someone was a mistake. Both these things opened him up for hurt and gave him a weakness.

With Sookie, he had disobeyed his maker's wishes and disregarded his warnings. But as he looked at her glow in the restaurant candle light, he knew he had made the right decision and he would do it again.

"So what did you do last night after I fell asleep?" she asked, clearly frustrated by the lack of conversation on his side of the table.

"Talked to Pam. Then I heard someone outside of your home and went to investigate. It was Bill, saying he was coming to check on you. He wasn't expecting me there."

Her eyes got wide and even fearful, so he grabbed her hand and rubbed it soothingly. "It's alright. He won't be trying it again, unless he wants to meet the true death."

She gave a small nod and focused on her food. He wondered what she was thinking as she removed her hand from his and began moving the food on her plate around. This would be a good time to mention their bond.

"Sookie, I have to confess something else about last night. Bill was surprised when I claimed you as mine. He was even more surprised when I told him we were a bonded pair."

Sookie's face crinkled in confusion and he was nervous about the next phase of this conversation.

"Well I know what it means to be 'yours', what does it mean to be a bonded pair and why would you say that without talkin' to me about it?" she asked, genuinely curious.

"To be a vampire's human means that the vampire essentially owns you. Like property. When you were Bill's, I always outranked him as his sheriff and therefore could 'take' or 'borrow' you from him whether he wanted me to or not. However, I never really pushed him to make this decision. In fact, I typically went to you for your decision. But last night Bill challenged me as he now outranks me. He said if you were simply mine, then he could 'borrow' or 'take' you from me and there would be nothing I could do about it."

Sookie looked furious and even worse, hurt and afraid. "You have got to be fuckin' kiddin' me," she seethed out in a whisper. She was trying not to draw attention to her and Eric's table, but people could tell they were having a serious confrontation.

"Sookie, listen," he stated, angrily. She needed to learn not to fly off the handle so quickly. "This would be a problem, however there is a way around it. When a vampire and human are bonded, it means that you are not my property, but more like my equal. For vampires, it theoretically means that you…would be my wife."

Sookie's reaction was like someone had smacked her in the face. She visibly blanched and her eyes were wide and surprisingly free of any emotion.

"You want this?" she finally asked, "To be a bonded pair?"

He nodded slowly, holding her gaze, responding," Only if you do."

Sookie looked down and he saw she was fidgeting with her napkin under the table. "So what would be entailed in this bonding business? Like when a vampire just claims one human as theirs? One vampire just claims the human as being bonded?"

He shook his head fractionally and she leaned back and crossed her arms. "What? What do I need to do?"

"You could start by not acting like such a brat about it," he muttered to her. Her eyebrows shot up and she squared her shoulders and rested her elbows on the table.

"Um, excuse me?" she asked incredulously.

"I basically asked you to be my wife so I could protect you from being used by Bill for his 'own reasons' as he stated. You are acting like this is me attempting to trick you into something."

"That's not why I am upset and you know it. It's just that, once again, I am in the middle of all of these vampire politics and I can barely keep up," she huffed out.

"On top of that, you are proposin' to me for all the wrong reasons. A person asks another to marry or bond with them because they want to and love the other. Not for protection. At least that's how I see it from my perspective. What I remember from the last time you talked to me about marriage, it was a big waste of time because the human in the relationship 'was the only one doin' the dyin'. You honestly expect me to swoon or something'?" she hissed out.

Eric stared her in complete shock. Everything she was saying was hitting right on the head. He sat there silent. As if what she was saying wasn't enough to completely guilt him, she added, "Not only every other thing I just mentioned, you have been completely closed lipped and rude playin' with your phone all night. If I wanted to pull teeth to get you to talk then I woulda become a fuckin' dentist."

To his horror she stood, grabbed her purse and walked out on him. He fucking deserved it though. She had hit the entire situation right on the head. He felt terrible as he watched her storm out of the restaurant.

Eric motioned to the waiter to bring him the check and he could see the curious and even sympathetic glances his way. His waiter brought the check and Eric gave him his credit card. The boy scurried away to run it through. When he brought it back, Eric placed it back in his wallet and went after her.

He expected her to be waiting in the front of the restaurant where the valet was, but she wasn't. He strode up the booth and asked where she had gone. The man looked confused as he answered that he had signaled a taxi for her.

A fucking taxi 30 miles away from Bon Temps? She had to be kidding. He loved her, but she was so damn stubborn and reactive.

He told the valet to get his car and he sped down the road to Bon Temps. She didn't have a good lead on him and he knew he could catch up with her. But as he neared the town limits he wondered if she had stopped along the way somewhere. He decided to meet her at her house and wait.

He needed to apologize. She had been right about a lot of things. But she was wrong about a couple of them. Even though the primary reason for the bond was to protect her, he did want to bond with her because he loved her.

He wanted to bond with her because he couldn't imagine his own existence without her. When he had said those things about marriage, it was out of jealousy and anger because she was engaged to Bill. He needed to ask her to be patient as she got used to vampire customs, just like he had to get used to human customs.

He needed to tell her that he would open up to her more and more, but that he needed time. He would tell her about Godric and his warnings. Only then could she really understand who he was and why he operated the way that he did.

And he was going to ask her to marry him with a human wedding and a vampire pledge. And one thing she had been right about was his proposal. It needed work and this time he was going to do it right. He was going to do all of this and he was going to do it right.

Because he loved her. God damn, he really loved her.

Okay, I love me some drama. So sue me. But can't you see this actually happening on the show? Maybe it's just me….