My mouth fell open in disbelief as Eric collapsed to the floor in front of me, blood and pieces of flesh started to pool around him, and I screamed for Pam. All thoughts fled from my mind as the attacker lifted his gun back to me to finish the job. I didn't understand what I was doing as I threw my hands up, and suddenly my light emerged, blasting the man through the half closed door, and out into the hallway. I dropped down to the floor next to Eric, and as gently as I could I turned him over.

I stared at the damage to his stomach, and turned my attention to his face. Taking his head in my hands, I looked down to into his open eyes, and he appeared frozen. "Eric?" I asked, and after a moment his eyes flicked toward me. I leaned him up as best as I could, and pushed his face into my neck with one hand, while using my other hand to open his mouth. "Come on Eric, you need to feed."

At first he didn't do anything, and in those seconds I felt as though I was the one dying. Tears poured down my face, and a sob racked me body as I tried to hold myself steady for his sake. I thought over the last couple of weeks, and realized just how lonely and lost I had been without him.

"Please," I whispered, "I can't live without you." I heard his fangs drop down, and I gasped when he sank them deep into my neck. His hands found their way to my back, and he maneuvered me to sit in his lap as he sat up. In the time it took him to do so, he never broke contact with my neck. After several long pulls, he started to move away, but I put my hand in his hair to urge him to keep going. "You need to feed." I insisted, and he obliged me by latching back on with a growl.

Pam arrived then, with already healing cuts on her face. I gave her a smile, and she nodded before turning to the gunman on the floor of the hallway. She picked him up and carried him off, I assumed to the basement, and a chill ran through me. The shotgun still lay on the floor, and I wasn't surprised when one of the vampire employees grabbed it and broke it in half.

A wave of fatigue washed over me, and black spots started to appear in my vision. I closed my eyes, and let myself drift off into blissful unawareness.

When I finally came back, I was lying on something soft, and I recognized the feel of the black leather couch next to his desk. Refusing to open my eyes, I didn't give any sign of being awake, and just listened to the sounds around me.

I could feel the mental void of Eric at his desk, and heard as he shuffled through different papers and occasionally typed things into his computer. A clicking of heels could be heard coming down the hallway, and I recognized the sound of Pam's voice a moment later. "Eric, the bar is cleared out of patrons, and the mess around the bar and the front door is cleaned up. Do you want to reopen, or stay closed for the rest of the night?" She sounded bored, if not a little aggravated.

"We'll stay closed. As soon as Sookie wakes up I'm taking her home, and I don't know if I'll be back or not. Also, get me a new door from the supply closet, and put it in place."

She muttered something about going through doors like donors as she walked away.

I rolled over on the couch, grumbling like I'd just woken up, and I was pulled into his lap as he sat next to me. "What happened?" I asked, and he started to stroke my hair.

"I'm honestly not sure. The gunman went straight for you, and I didn't have time to do anything but jump in his way. Then you blasted him away, and fed me your blood. I am sorry if I took too much." He sounded concerned for me, and it made my heart flutter. I could almost feel the intensity of his gaze on the side of my face. "I'll take you home when you're ready, or you could stay here." He stated, and I shook my head.

"I don't really care where we go, as long as you're still with me." I said in a low voice, uncertain of how he would react to my sudden need of his company. But he didn't say anything in return, and continued to stroke me hair. I leaned back against him as we fell into a comfortable silence.

We sat that way for a long time, simply enjoying each other's presence. When I first met Eric, I had seen him as nothing but deceptive and controlling, but now I was seeing a different side of him. When he had lost his memory he had been more loving and caring than anyone I knew, and I loved him for it. But it wasn't just his soft side; it was the hard side as well. Everything he did, he did to protect himself and the few people he cared about and I loved everything about him.

My stomach grumbled, and he stopped his hand from moving. "Are you hungry?"

At his question, I realized just how ravenous I was, and remembered that I hadn't eaten anything since that morning. "Yeah, but it can wait."

"Pam, bring me us the take-out menus." He said at a volume slightly higher than room level, and she walked in to give them to us a few moments later.

After I made my choice, he sent her off to get it, and half an hour later I was setting at the bar eating a calzone from a pizzeria up the street. He insisted on setting with me while I ate, and we talked about every unimportant thing that popped into our heads. It was nice to set with him, talking about anything that came up. I hadn't had a good conversation with anyone for a long time, and it felt good to speak my mind and have someone listen in earnest. All of my doubts about him started to fade away, and I could that he wasn't just doing this to humor me. He really cared, and that thought left delightful butterflies in my stomach.

I was just finishing my meal when we fell into a comfortable silence. Looking around the room, I realized just how large it was when it wasn't full of people. I'd rarely seen it quiet, so when I did it was eerie, and I almost longed for a crowd to be at my back rather than the empty space. As soon as I was finished, Ginger took the trash away, and Eric scooped me up in his arms. "Are you ready to go home?" I nodded.

He walked us straight out the back door, and immediately took off into the sky. I snuggled into his chest, and we landed on my front porch steps a short time later. "Eric, please come in." I said, and he followed me inside. "Wait here." I told him, and jogged up the stairs to my room to change into a tank top and shorts. It saddened me to see that my dress had gotten ruined, since I would never get the blood splatters out. I threw it into the garbage, and promised myself that I would spend the money to get my hands on another one.

When I came back down, he appreciated the small amount of clothing I had on, and it was evident by the slight bulge in his jeans. "Do you want to stick around, and maybe watch a movie?" I asked, and he smiled. Taking my hand, he led me to the living room and picked out a movie from my limited collection. As soon as it started, I leaned against him on the couch, and could feel my drowsiness setting in. But I fought against it, for as long as I could, until I suddenly woke up in bed.

Looking at the window, I could see that it was already daylight, and looking at the clock I could see that it was just after sunrise. For a moment I thought for sure that Eric must have left, until I remembered the cubby downstairs, and rushed to get to it. I couldn't help the smile that spread over my face when I saw him lying shirtless on one side of the bed.

I couldn't help myself as I closed the door behind me, and tiptoed over to the bed. After a moment hesitation, I crawled into the bed next to him, and curled up against his side.

It only took me a second to fall asleep.

(^.^)

I'm getting back into the swing of things, and have been writing almost constantly to put this story out there on a consistent basis. I hope you enjoy it!

P.S. Thanks for all of the great reviews everyone. I'm always smiling when I read them.