"Sookie," called Quinn, following me into the living room. I plopped on the couch with a complete lack of grace and looked up at him, resigned. If he wanted to talk I might as well get comfortable. There was no way this would be a short conversation.

"You've had a long day. I can tell I'm-" he started.

"Try week" I grumbled interrupting whatever conversation he was trying to start.

He took a deep breath and decided to try a different tactic. "Would you like to talk about it?" he said sitting beside me expectantly.

"Which part?" I asked sarcastically. "The part where Eric tried to trick me into some kind of vampire pledge thing? Or the prospect of becoming personal telepath to de Castro? Crystal's crucifixion in Merlotte's parking lot? While I was left running the bar, no less. The FBI recruitment team that has come to town for me?" A thought occurred to me then, interrupting my pity party. "I guess I could tell them the truth about me and become the FBI's play toy instead of de Castro's…" but then I realized that wouldn't solve my problems at all. "But even the FBI couldn't protect me from the fairies bent on killing me" I reasoned out loud, resting my head in my hands. "The only reason Murray couldn't come right into my bedroom to attack me in my sleep was the wards Amelia put on the house."

"Murray?" he asked. He was much more interested in hearing about the vampire marriage that Eric tried to trick me into, but could sense that the fairies were what I was most concerned about, so he chose to ask about that first.

"The fairy I killed this afternoon."

"Killed?" he repeated.

"Yes."

"You mean in your yard?"

"Yes. Murray. Who snuck up on me while I was weeding my flower bed, told me he would enjoy killing then, and was then promptly stabbed in the stomach with my garden trowel."

"You're not hurt." He meant it as a question, but it came out as a statement.

"No" I said. He nodded. I was finally getting tired of talking about this, especially when I kept getting the shocked and awed looks. Luckily Quinn was good at picking up hints and decided to change the subject.

"Why was the FBI trying to recruit you?"

"Rhodes" I said simply.

"They found you?" he blanched, knowing that I had used my telepathy to find people buried in the rubble.

"Yeah, Mr. Catalades warned me it was a bad idea; that they would find me if I showed my face at the hospital…" I sighed.

"But you only came to the hospital to see me, right? You weren't hurt?" he asked alarmed.

"No, I wasn't" I admitted.

"So you risked the world finding out about you, possibly costing you your freedom, just so you could check on me?" he asked, though at this point he knew the answer. I just looked him in the eye and nodded, my eyes beginning to water. I really didn't want to be outed as a telepath to the public at large. It had long been one of my greatest fears.

He looked down at his hands, not sure what to say. He felt guilty that he ever questioned whether I cared for him, or that he had assumed I would dump him for Eric when I visited him after he took the arrow for me. He knew people finding out about my telepathy was a fear of mine, so I could only guess he was now realizing how much I cared for him if I knowingly risked that to see him. I could also sense regret flooding his thoughts. Then he silently wondered if I also checked on Eric before leaving Rhodes.

"No, I didn't" I said, answering the question he couldn't work up the courage to ask. He looked up questioningly, wondering how I heard his thoughts when he wasn't trying to direct them to me. He knew I couldn't easily read shifters and I had mentioned to him before that his thoughts tended to be even less discernible than your average were. I pointed to his arm which was barely touching mine. When I was so tired, I tended to forget to use my shields. Thoughts slipped through. I took a couple breaths, closing my eyes to force my self to stay calm.

He thought for a couple more minutes.

"So Eric tried to trick you into pledging to him?" he asked, looking at me once again. "How?"

"He sent his day guy, Bobbie, to deliver a package to me and asked that I go to Fangtasia that night and give it to him in front of Victor." I paused trying to recall exactly what happened. "I was so busy taking care of the bar without Sam; and I really thought the idea of driving all the way to Shreveport to give him something back that he just had delivered to me was ridiculous. So I opened it to see what it was. It was the knife used for the marriage in Rhodes." He looked furious at the idea that Eric had tried to trick me with his knife. "Well I decided to go to Fangtasia to confront him about it. When I asked him what the meaning of it was he asked me to 'give it here for me to see.' Finally, Victor asked me to show him what was in the package, and then told me that you wanted to see me, which must be what Eric was trying to stop."

Quinn thought for a minute. "Babe, why didn't you just give it to him?"

"I don't want to be married to Eric! Even if it were a marriage only recognized by vampires. And for him to not even ask me before trying to pull this" I huffed.

"But you two have a blood bond" he stated as if that made it all okay. "You're together" he said, but then noticed the confusion on my face. "Aren't you?" I shook my head.

"What makes you think that?" I asked looking for the answer in his features.

"You thought that was why I broke up with you" I realized after several seconds.

He nodded sadly.

"It's not" I assured him. "I told you I don't date two men at once. I told you I was with you until you told me otherwise" I said knowing he would remember that conversation. "I meant what I said. I told him no when he asked for my blood after taking a bullet for me, because I was with you. I turned him down before that too because I still hoped you would come back and explain why you hadn't called me." I let that sink in for a minute.

"And since the takeover?" he asked.

"Not that that's any of your business… but no." A beautiful, dimpled smile broke across this face. He had said earlier that he only wanted me to forgive him. He had carefully subdued any hopes he had of us resuming a relationship until he knew I was not dating Eric.

"Obviously, I still want you, or I wouldn't be here" he said. "It makes me happier than you could know that you wanted me too." I stopped him before he could get his hopes up too high.

"Quinn, I did wait for you. But you didn't come. I told you, I understand why you couldn't contact me. And I believe you and Frannie when you say you tried. I still can't do this again unless I know you can give me more than a date a couple times a month. When I said I want to be first, I didn't just mean your mom and sister. Your job ranked ahead of me too. I can't be with someone who can't make time for me." I looked at him resolutely, but then another thought came to mind.

"Plus, your biggest problem with me was the blood bond. That hasn't gone away."

"No, it hasn't" he smiled. "But clearly it doesn't make him irresistible to you, so I can live with that. I thought you wouldn't be able to say no to him. But you have." I nodded. Even when my body screamed for him, I could tell it wasn't just me, but also the bond. I couldn't let myself give in to something I wasn't sure was completely real.

"I haven't been able to work like I was before Rhodes since" he continued. "I've made adjustments so I can do more work remotely. I rarely attend events anymore. Frannie has been a big help with the events on the weekends. She really is growing up. And when she graduates high school this year, she is planning on doing college online so she can work full time. She likes being around Supes and she loves the money."

"So you aren't traveling for work anymore?"

"Not often. Maybe a few days a month." Maybe it would be possible to work things out after all. I took a deep breath, trying to absorb that for a moment. I gave him a little smile and turned to find the remote.

I cut on the TV and put my feet up on the coffee table. It was actually a great relief to finally talk out our problems. So many things had been left unresolved between us for so long.

"You know, I hate the blood bond just as much now as I did that day I was forced into it. I wish it could be broken." I had gotten used to the hum of Eric's emotions in me and had learned to separate his from mine, but I still didn't like it. Eric was passionate. His emotions were too. Everything he felt was so strong. Even if I knew it wasn't me, it was still distracting.

"Have you asked Amelia if she can break it?" Quinn asked settling back into the couch.

"I hadn't thought of that" I exclaimed wide-eyed. I hugged him. I couldn't help it. The prospect was so exciting I couldn't contain it. He was just happy I was touching him.

I sat back again, watching the news on the TV. Quinn left his arm around me, laying it over the back of the couch when I sat back, and I didn't have the heart to tell him not to. That is until a more unpleasant thought occurred to me.

"Quinn," I sighed, "I am not willing to do anything that would make it easier for de Castro to stake claim on me. Even if that means I can't re-start a relationship with you."

"You know I don't want that for you anymore that I want it for myself, right?" he asked, looking at me intently. I nodded. "How about we work on you and me now and worry about him later." I knew I looked skeptical. "Don't worry about him tonight, Sookie. We will figure something out, you and me together, to keep us both out of his grasp."

I liked that he was including me. It gave me hope that he and I were finally beginning a real relationship. We settled into a comfortable silence, watching the evening news.

"By the way, I'm real sorry about Crystal" he said after a few minutes, never looking away from the TV.

"Thank you."