Here is the next chapter! Thanks for all the awesome reviews and thank you for remaining patient with me while Fanfic fixed the issue. I will definitely have another chapter out by the end of the night. So keep an eye out and thanks for reading!

Chapter 64: The Middle

Eric

Eric sent for a car immediately. Once he had settled them on a bench where the car would come for them, Jason and Lafayette said that they would go and search for some clothes for Eric and Pam.

Eric nodded and wrapped his arms around Sookie and Pam. He had come so close to losing them. To meeting the true death himself. It was now that he understood that Sookie had been right all along about Jake and Abby. She had said from the beginning of the summit that the couple rubbed her the wrong way and while he said he would check in on it, he should have been more proactive in finding out why.

Sookie was fast asleep against him and he hugged her to him close, kissing her forehead. She mumbled something incoherently in sleep and he smiled down at her.

Pam was sitting there stewing and Eric looked to her and raised an eyebrow in question.

"I am indebted to her now," Pam grumbled. Eric chuckled and said, "I suppose you are. I have been since I met her. I promise you it gets better."

She nodded and smiled up at him. "She's too likeable anyway. I admit that I like the little fairy princess. Even though I hate her for it."

Eric chuckled and kissed Pam's forehead. "You are stubborn brat, Pamela. But I love you for it."

She looked up at him and smiled. "I am sorry I gave you such a hard time about her."

He nodded and they both looked down at Sookie, who was now snoring lightly. "She can be a pain in the ass, but she is worth it. She loves you, you know?" Eric asked.

Pam shrugged and pretended to examine her ruined nails. "She is a fool if she doesn't."

He chuckled and said, "I wonder if Nora made it out. Or Bill."

Lafayette and Jason returned with a Wal-Mart bag full of clothes. They were hideous and Pam actually began crying. He shrugged, and pulled on some too short track pants and a plain white t-shirt.

Pam's quickly slipped a sundress that looked like one of Sookie's over her pink nightie.

"Now I really wish a vampire didn't show a reflection" she wailed as the car rolled up and showed her figure in the dress.

Eric guided her to the car and made sure she was in before grabbing Sookie and sitting with her curled against him on his lap.

Jason and Lafayette climbed in last and Eric instructed the driver towards the airport. He had already reserved a private plane for him and Sookie for the return flight, but he moved it up. When he had called he had been assured that his plane would be ready for him.

They pulled up to the airport and Eric looked to Pam who said in a tone, "Please, I am already embarrassed enough by my new lobster-like tan and this dress. I don't need to be carried through an airport. I t would draw even more attention."

He nodded and turned to grab Sookie up in his arms.

She began to stir as he carried her through the airport but he shushed her and sent her calm. "We are going home Sookie," he said in a soothing and lulling voice.

She cracked an eye open against the florescent light and said, "Thank God."

He chuckled and rubbed his cheek against her forehead as she drifted off to sleep again. Touching her like this reassured him of her safety and wellbeing.

Sookie sighed in relief and succumbed to her exhaustion once more.

Eric carried her through the terminal and when they passed security, they didn't even stop them. They looked like a motley crew and all the TVs were programmed to footage of the hotel. Eric didn't even pause to look at the screens.

He loaded Sookie and the rest of them in the plane and then motioned for the crew to close the doors and depart. He settled himself next to Sookie and waved over the flight attendant for pillow and blankets once again.

He bundled her up and wrapped his arms around her and prayed they could get home before something else happened.

Sookie

Sookie woke up as she felt a BIG bump. Thinking it was another bomb going off, she shrieked and jumped, but found that she was secure in Eric's arms. She looked up into his calm eyes and felt the calm pouring through the bond.

"We are fine Sookie. We just landed. We are back in Louisiana," he said in a gentle voice.

Sookie sighed in relief and sat up. She looked over her shoulder and once she saw Jason, Lafayette and Pam she closed her eyes and the relief washed over her. She couldn't be more grateful in this moment. This rough bunch was her family. And they had made it out alive.

She turned back to Eric and he asked, "Sookie? Will you stay with me at my house? I would go to your home, but I fear it isn't as secure as I would like."

She looked back to Jason and Lafayette and began to speak but he said, "They are welcome. I have already mentioned it to them and they said they would be fine with it if you are."

Sookie nodded and he sighed in relief and nodded, pulling her to him and kissing her forehead.

Sookie grabbed his hand and said, "What will I do for clothes?"

"Oh I have that covered."

She looked at him and he shrugged. She noticed in the bond that he was actually really excited. "You excited for me to see your house, baby?"

He smiled down at her and said, "I am excited to fuck you on every surface of my house is more like it."

She playfully smacked him on the arm. "Well you can have sex with my unconscious body because I plan to shower and go to sleep for a few days."

He smirked and looked out the window as the plane stopped. He stood and said, "Let's go. Cars are waiting."

Sookie stood, and began walking but Eric swept her up into his arms. "I can feel how tired you are, my love."

She began to protest, but Eric shushed her and maneuvered them both in the car, holding her to his chest. She was barely awake, but she was able to stay awake for most of the car ride. Lafayette and Jason had passed out on the plane and managed to pass out for the twenty minute drive to wherever Eric's home was.

"Where do you live?" she asked as she looked at the signs passing Shreveport towards Bon Temps.

He smiled said, "I bought property between Shreveport and Bon Temps."

She smiled up at him, "When did you do that?"

He said, "When I first realized I loved you."

She nodded and looked out the window. Suddenly they pulled onto a gravel road that was so well hidden that Sookie wouldn't have been able to see it if they hadn't pulled onto it. They drove through a wooded area so thick that Sookie was tempted to put on the light on the roof of the car. It was so dark.

Suddenly her eyes found light in the dark. It was a sprawling mansion in an old southern style. It was huge. She gasped as she tried to calculate the square footage on the property. Sookie looked around the property which was excellently manicured until the forest line. She saw what looked like a large pool and guest cottage.

Sookie looked to Eric. "This is it?" she asked, shocked. As they got closer, it got more beautiful. It was white with black shutters. All over the porch and planted on the outside of the house were gorgeous flowers. Eric just shrugged and nodded.

The car stopped and Eric helped her out. The scent of the flowers hung in the moist air and perfumed them as they walked to the porch steps.

Sookie began walking up them, but Eric grabbed her back to him and swung her bridal style in his arms.

"I believe it is custom for the groom to carry the bride over the threshold. Actually, I know it is custom. Way back when, people thought it was bad luck for the married couple if the bride tripped over their threshold on their wedding night, so the groom began to carry her across it to prevent the bad luck. We don't need any more bad luck, Sookie."

She smiled and chuckled. Her eyes were fixed on Eric as he unlocked the door. Lafayette and Jason were mumbling about the house as Eric went through quite a process just to get the door opened.

Finally, after numerous locks, key pads, and a fingerprint scanner, he swung the door open, but didn't move to enter.

"Sookie, it is deeded in your name. It is ours, but for your protection and for mine, I put it in your name to keep out unwanted vampires. Will you invite Pam and me in please?" he asked.

She nodded and said, "Come on in y'all. My grooms arms are about to collapse from holding me so much."

They entered the house, which was lit up all the way as Eric carried her around the ground floor. The ceilings were vaulted and the floor plan was so spread out and spacious. She loved it. It was beautifully decorated. The walls were in jewel tones. Surprisingly, certain items stuck out that really appealed to Sookie. It was as if whoever decorated had her in mind.

"You did all this for me? For us?" she asked. "How long did this take you?"

"I bought this property a few weeks after you were attacked by Longshadow. I realized I loved you because I knew that if Bill hadn't of killed him, I would have for trying to hurt you. I knew it, but I was not able to admit it. Even to myself. Since I bought the land, I began building and planning as I continued to develop our budding relationship."

Sookie was shocked. She inhaled and everything had the 'new' smell. There were no families that had been grown and raised her. The house held no memories. The floorboards under her feet creaked, but not from needing replacing like her old home, but from newness. The house had yet to 'settle in'.

Sookie ran her hand along the fireplace which was lit. She pointed to it in amazement. "Can this lovely house anticipate our arrival and light itself?" she asked with sarcasm.

"No, the house maids have been busy making the house human friendly since I called them when we were on the plane." Lafayette suddenly yawned loudly and said, "Sook, I am gonna go shower and take my ass to bed. I done been through too much to sit and gush over your new place."

Sookie didn't know if Eric wanted to live together yet. Had he ever lived with a human?

Feeling her uncertainty, Eric smirked and said, "You think I want to pledge and marry you and not live with you? Build and design a house for you and not have you live in it? I know you are attached to your grandmother's home, so I didn't want to pressure you. "

She nodded, knowing they had things they needed to talk about. She looked around the house and Pam said, "I am going to burn this dress and get ready for day rest."

Eric nodded and said, "First show Jason and Lafayette where they are staying. If they need clothing they can use some of mine."

Pam rolled her eyes and Jason and Lafayette trailed after her in the direction of the stairs. Eric grabbed Sookie's hand and led her to the kitchen. Sookie gasped again at the beauty of the kitchen, but Eric just chuckled and went to the fridge. "I can sense you need to eat something."

She nodded, her stomach rumbling. He stepped aside and she peered in pointing to some cheese. "Do you have any crackers?" she asked. He nodded and went to the pantry and brought out five choices.

She grabbed the first box and opened it as Eric sliced her up some cheese. She watched in amazement. "How can you do that without gettin' grossed out?"

He shrugged, "I find I don't mind it much anymore. This gives you nourishment, so I don't find it as repulsive as I would have before."

"Bill's dead." She said it out of nowhere, and Eric almost chopped his own finger off.

"You know this?" he asked, handing her the cheese slices.

She nodded and after munching on a cracker, she said, "I found him in the wreckage."

"Sookie, he would have looked like a pile of bloody remnants, not Bill."

"No I spoke with him before he met the true death," she assured him.

"You didn't save him?" he asked in shock.

"I couldn't. I wanted to kill him Eric."

"Sookie did you kill him?" he asked calmly. She sensed in the bond that he would be glad for it, but there was also worry there also.

"No. I didn't. I wanted to. So bad. I almost did, but I couldn't make myself do it. I knew that if I took a life not in self-defense or in defense of those that I love that I would never be able to live with myself," she admitted.

He was staring at her in stony silence. "I walked away, deciding not to kill him but to not help him live either. If the fireman found him, so be it. But then John Quinn approached him as I walked away and killed him."

Eric raised his eyebrows in surprise and handed her a bowl of newly washed grapes. She popped some in her mouth, but she was getting tired as they talked. "It's been a long day I am so tired. Can we go to bed now Cowboy?"

He nodded and she began to gather the dishes and food up but he waved her off. "We have a maid to take care of that."

Sookie felt guilty but decided she didn't care right now. She needed to get this outfit that smelled like fire and destruction. She let Eric lead her, but when she reached the stairs going up, she dug in her heels. "I am not sleepin' upstairs without you."

"I find it amusing that you think I would let you sleep without me."

"Well then why are we goin' upstairs. Where is your cubby?" she asked.

He smiled and said, "I'll show you. But let's get you cleaned up shall we?"

Okay, I have some ties to wrap up, but at the end of this chapter I felt the story coming to a close. So I am working on the ending now (unless there is a sequel) Yikes. I can't believe it!