A/N: It's been a few *cough cough* months since I've posted so here is a quick run down of what has happened in this story so far.

During Sookie's birthday party, police officer Eric was called to Sookie's house because of a noise complaint filed by her next-door neighbor and ex-boyfriend, Bill. Eric and his partner, Alcide, arrive at the party only to be mistaken for strippers. Sookie ends up sleeping with Eric and Amelia ends up taking Alcide home. Bill knocks on the door with the real strippers and Sookie finds out Eric lied to her. Feeling betrayed, and after getting out of a bad relationship with Bill, Sookie is weary about entering into any kind of relationship with Eric. After watching Eric leave Sookie's house the next day, Bill become enraged and scares Sookie enough to file a retraining order. Eric is the officer called to Sookie's house when she files the complaint. After hearing about Sookie's issues with Bill, Eric offers to stay with Sookie during his week of vacation. Sookie reluctantly agrees because she doesn't want anyone to get hurt and thinks Eric would be the best choice to stay with her since he is a police officer. Bill continues to threaten and harass Sookie anyway he can while Eric and Sookie try to find a way to prove he is the one harassing her. In the last chapter Sookie and Eric went on a date to the zoo while Alcide watched the house, now here we are at the next morning.

As always, I don't own these characters, CH does, I just like to play with them. And any mistakes are my own.

I started to wake up when I heard the echoing boom of thunder. I jumped up in bed before I realized what it was. After getting over the general shock, I laid back in bed for a minute to get my bearings. Memories of the day before filtered through my mind and I felt my face split into a smile. It'd been such a long time since I had been to the zoo and felt so carefree. It seemed like Eric knew how to help me unwind.

Speaking of Eric… I looked at the clock and it was almost 10 a.m. It was darker than normal, because of the storm, so it seemed earlier than what it really was. Ever since Bill started stalking me, I was nervous to sleep for too long, and I was surprised Eric hadn't come to wake me up. I decided to get up and see what he was up to.

As I rolled out of bed I noticed that I was wearing Eric's t-shirt, and I remembered how he wanted me to wear it last night. The shirt wasn't quite long enough to be decent so I slipped on a pair of sleep shorts underneath it.

I decided to check Eric's room first since it was the closest place to start. I knocked lightly on his door but he didn't answer so I opened the door to check inside. To my surprise, Eric was still in bed, asleep. The bed looked too small for him, and I felt bad because his feet were hanging over the bottom of the mattress. That could not have been comfortable.

I was torn about whether I should wake him up or let him sleep. I decided to let him sleep while I made breakfast for us. As I headed downstairs I was well aware of the fact that Bill had been quiet since I left to the zoo. I was surprised that he hadn't tried to make contact with me yet since I was sure he was pissed that I left the house, especially with Eric.

Thinking of Bill instantly creeped me out. I wished I had woken Eric up instead of going downstairs alone but I didn't want to need Eric to protect me. I had lived on my own since Gran died and I resented the fact that I felt like I needed a man to protect me. With that in mind, I headed into the kitchen and prepared to make breakfast. I decided to settle for something quick and easy so I made pancakes, sausage links, and coffee.

While I was in the kitchen I remembered that I needed to check the cabinet for my missing underwear. I had been preoccupied at the zoo the day before so I didn't have a chance to check. But once I opened the cabinet, my suspicions were confirmed. My underwear bag was missing. Dammit! Now I just had to think of a way to get it back.

I thought Eric would be awake by the time I was finished making breakfast, but when he still hadn't come downstairs, I decided to take breakfast to him. It was the least I could do after everything he'd done for me.

I didn't want Eric's food to get cold, so before I made my own breakfast, I loaded Eric's breakfast onto a tray and carried it up the steps. I knocked on Eric's door, but when I was met with silence I decided to just go in. Eric was still asleep but this time he was curled into a ball on his side.

I wanted to take a quick peek around Eric's room before I woke him before I woke him. I set the tray on top of the dresser in the room and checked in all the cliché spots first. I looked under the bed, snuck my hand under the mattress and even tried to check under his pillow. I was glad I didn't find the bag under his pillow because that would have been creepy. Finally I decided I was going to look in the dresser drawers. I felt like I was invaded Eric's privacy but I was only looking for something he had taken from me first.

I opened the top drawer and came face to face with Eric's underwear. Feeling embarrassed, I almost slammed the drawer shut before I realized that's exactly what Eric would have wanted. He knew I would be embarrassed to go through his underwear. With a quick peek at Eric to make sure he was still asleep, I stuck my hand in his underwear drawer to do a quick check.

I was ecstatic when my hand encountered the little black bag from the shop I had visited earlier in the week. I didn't want Eric to know I had found my underwear, so I grabbed the underwear out of the bag and quickly ran and stashed it in my room before Eric woke up. Then I came back into Eric's room and straightened up his drawer, including putting the empty bag back in the bottom of his drawer. That way he would still assume he still had my underwear unless he actually looked inside the bag again.

Feeling satisfied by my snooping and clean up job, I shut Eric's underwear drawer and picked up his tray of breakfast from the top of the dresser.

I approached the bed and sat the tray on the bedside table. The tray knocked into a picture frame that I knew wasn't one of mine. My curiosity got the better of me so I decided to look and see what was in the frame. I was surprised to find that Eric had put the same picture on his nightstand as he did on mine, our zoo picture. I have to say, it melted my heart a little bit. Even though it had been great with Eric recently, our relationship, or whatever it was, had started completely ass backwards and I didn't know where we stood.

Pushing those confusing thoughts aside, I woke up Eric before his food got cold.

"Eric? Are you awake?" I asked as I nudged him gently.

"Mmmm," he groaned back, as he tried to turn away from me, which was not easy being such a big man in a small bed.

"Eric, get up."

"Just five more minutes."

"Do you even know how late it is? It's almost noon." It was really only about 10:30 a.m. but when someone was being a stubborn sleeper, if you lied to them about the time, they were more likely to get up. That was something I learned from trying to wake Jason up for school when we were little.

"Are you kidding me?" Eric asked as he jumped up in the bed.

"Yes actually. But it's still getting late. I softened the blow with breakfast," I told him as I motioned toward the tray.

"It still looks pretty early to me." Eric looked skeptically at the window as he picked up his tray.

"It was storming just a little bit ago. That's what woke me up actually. I never sleep this late."

"Here, have a seat," Eric said, scooting over on the bed after he noticed I was still standing.

"Oh no. That's okay, I was just bringing up your breakfast."

"Sookie, please sit and have breakfast with me. You've brought me more than enough."

"Okay, but I only brought one fork," I said as I slid onto the bed.

"We can share. I promise, I don't have cooties."

"If you did I probably would have caught them by now any way."

"You're right, even more reason not to be scared of sharing," Eric said as he passed me the fork.

I took a big bite of pancakes and passed the fork back.

"Since it's not almost noon, what time is it really?"

"It probably a little after 10:30 a.m."

"While it's not exactly late, it is later than I normally wake up. Must have been from being in the sun and heat all day yesterday."

"Probably, but it was totally worth it. I had so much fun yesterday."

"I'm glad," Eric said as he smirked at me. "It seemed like you had a lot of fun toward the end."

"Ha ha. I'm just going to go ahead and warn you now that I'm a lightweight. Normally I don't drink that much that fast."

"Ah, you weren't so bad. At least you're a silly drunk instead of a crying drunk."

"I was not drunk," I said as I rubbed the sticky fork on Eric's cheek. "I was just a little tipsy."

"You better watch it," Eric said as he grabbed the fork from me, dipped it in syrup and rubbed it across my chin.

"Hey! You watch it!" I tried to grab the fork back but Eric raised his arm way higher in the air than I could ever hope to get mine.

"Ah, ah, ah. You're making a mess."

"Yeah, I'm making you a mess."

"I would be careful if I were you. There's no way you would be able to take this fork from me."

"Wanna bet?"

"I would make a bet with you, but because I know I'll win, that would be taking advantage of you."

"You're just afraid you'll lose."

"Am not. If you're really dead set on making a bet with me, then I'll make one. Just remember, I warned you."

"What should the terms be?"

"Um, I don't know. What do you think?"

"Let's just make it a favor to be collected at a later date."

"No rules?"

"No rules."

"Are you sure that's wise?"

"I'm not afraid of doing anything you ask of me. Besides, I know you wouldn't take it somewhere totally inappropriate like asking for sex."

"You trust me that much?"

"I trust you that much," I mimicked. "Besides, if you asked for sex I would just kick your ass."

"Okay then," Eric said, grinning at me. "If you can get this fork from me in the next three minutes, you win."

"Why do I have to do it in three minutes?"

"Because if I didn't give you a time limit you would never stop struggling until you got it. And three minutes because I don't want my coffee to get cold."

"Okay, I accept your bet. I bet I can get that fork in three minutes. Who is going to keep count?"

"Let me grab my phone and I'll put it on a timer."

"This is getting serious."

"Please, I'm not about to miss the chance to make you grant me any favor."

Eric reached over the side of the bed to find his phone, which had made its way onto the floor. Once he set the timer, and I set the tray a safe distance away, he looked back to me.

"The timer's set. Once I start the timer you have three minutes to try to get this fork out of my hand. If you can do it in less than three minutes, I'll grant you a favor to be redeemed at any time. However, if you can't, then you'll owe me a favor. Sound like a deal?" Eric asked as he stuck his hand out at me.

"Deal," I said as I shook his hand.

"Okay. On your marks, get set… GO!"

As soon as he yelled go I dove at him. He fell back onto the bed with the fork still above his head. I tried to climb him like a tree but he had a hand on my shoulder trying to keep me down.

I rolled to the side so his hand slipped off my shoulder and continued my ascent, being sure to use elbows as much as possible.

Eric didn't have much room at the head of the bed to squirm before he hit the wall and before he knew it, I was closing in on the fork.

"Shit Sookie, watch your knees."

"Give me that fork!"

"NEVER!"

I made it as far as Eric's face before he trapped me against his body by wrapping his arm around my waist. I struggled but I couldn't get free.

"Let go."

"I'm not letting you win this."

I glanced at Eric's phone and saw I had less than a minute left. There was no way I would be able to muscle my way out of Eric's arm so I did the only thing I could think of. I kissed him.

At first I thought it was a horrible idea because Eric's arm actually tightened around me instead of letting go. But the more I put into it, the more relaxed he became. It started as just a gentle brushing of my lips against his, but the kiss deepened as I stroked my tongue against the seam of his lips. I felt Eric's hand tangle in my hair, but when I still felt the one arm locked around my waist, I knew I had him. I struggled to make myself focus on the fork. I eased my eyes open and was glad to find Eric's eyes shut tight. The fork lay on the pillow beside Eric's head and I picked it up without Eric noticing. Once the fork was safely in my hand, I focused on the kiss.

I skimmed my unoccupied hand down Eric's face and grabbed the hair at the base of his neck to force his head back. He groaned and pushed our hips closer together. An instant shot of lust hit me just as Eric's phone started going off.

I slowly lifted my head and looked Eric in the eye.

"Holy shit."

"Yeah."

"Where is the fork?" Eric asked.

"I believe that I have it," I said, smiling as I held up the fork.

Eric narrowed his eyes. "You cheated."

"Did not."

"You kissed me just to get the fork away from me."

"Are you complaining?"

"I know I should but I can't. Any favor you ask of me would be worth that."

"Good. Because you lost fair and square."

"Yeah, yeah. Now let me up unless you plan on doing something about the situation you just created," Eric said, laughing as he tried to get up.

I could feel Eric's situation pressing against my upper thighs, and although I was tempted, I knew I wasn't ready to take this any farther. We had really started to get along and I didn't want anything to jeopardize that.

"Sorry," I said, blushing.

"Never apologize for kissing me," he said as he rubbed his hand over my blush. "Even if you are doing it to cheat."

I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Again with the tongue. I swear I'm going to have to teach you how to use it."

I just snorted.

"So, what favor are you going to ask of me?" Eric asked as he stood up and collected his breakfast tray. "You need me to clean up the kitchen or the breakfast dishes?"

"I am not wasting my favor on dishes."

The pout on Eric's face made me laugh.

"I'll take the tray downstairs while you shower. Amelia and Alcide should be over later to pick up her car."

"Ah yes, the two lovebirds."

"I'm actually surprised they've managed to last more than one night."

"Me too," Eric said as he started to gather his clothes for his shower. "Amelia seems like she's good for him though. Much better than his ex, Debbie."

"What's the story with them?"

"Alcide and Debbie met in High School. They've had an on again off again relationship ever since. Neither one of them are able to be in a committed relationship yet Debbie just won't let Alcide go. She apparently has really terrible anger issues because no matter who breaks up with whom, Debbie goes completely crazy the minute Alcide shows interest in another girl."

"You think she could be the next Bill?"

"Nah, Debbie's a little crazy and might threaten Alcide's life but I doubt she could actually hurt him, even if she wanted to."

"I remember you mentioning her trying to burn his home down the morning after we met."

"You mean when we had sex? Could you possibly try any harder to forget it?" Eric asked as we walked downstairs.

"I wouldn't say I'm trying to forget it, more like I don't want to be tacky and bring it up every singe day."

"Are you calling me tacky?"

"I would never do that police officer Eric, stripper extraordinaire."

"Don't act like you didn't enjoy it."

"I never said that."

"You think like you could have done better?"

"I never said that either."

"I'd like to see you try to be a better stripper than me," Eric said as he stepped into the bathroom.

"Not going to happen," I replied as I shut the bathroom door in his face.

"Sookie," he groaned.

I giggled as I made my way into the kitchen. I heard the shower water kick on so I hurried to wash the breakfast dishes before the sink could change the temperature of the water in the shower.

I had just finished washing the plate Eric and I had shared when movement out of the kitchen window caught my attention. I looked out the window only to come face to face with Bill.

"AHHHH!" I screamed as I stumbled back and dropped the plate.

"Sookie?!" Eric yelled from the bathroom.

"Don't think you're safe just because your little boyfriend is here, you cheating bitch," Bill said from the window, before walking back toward the woods separating our houses.

Bill disappeared into the line of trees just as Eric emerged from the bathroom, dripping wet with a towel hanging from his waist.

"What happened? Sookie, what happened?" Eric asked as he grabbed ahold of my shoulders. I was so scared my entire body was trembling. I looked up into Eric's eyes and tears started to fall as my body shook uncontrollably with sobs. "Sookie, please talk to me. Tell me what happened," Eric begged as he dragged me closer to his body. His eyes darted to the window but I knew Bill was long gone by now. "You're scaring me." He pulled me back and his eyes sought my own, pleading with me to talk to him. I tried to take a deep breath to calm myself before I could talk.

"Bill w-was in the window."

"Come here," Eric said as he led me away from the window and the broken plate on the floor. "I'm so fucking sorry. I never should have left you."

"That's ridiculous, Eric. I should b-be able to go into my own kitchen and wash the dishes without being harassed."

"I know honey, but unfortunately Bill won't let that happen right now. Did he say anything to you?"

"He told me not to t-think I was safe and he called me a cheating bitch." I shuttered as I remembered the look of evil on Bill's face.

Eric sat in a kitchen chair and pulled me into his lap. I cuddled as close to his body as I could. It seemed as though the only place I truly felt safe was in Eric's arms.

After about 10 minutes my heart rate began to calm and I finally noticed the position I was in with Eric. He was completely naked, except for the towel around his waist, his skin was starting to dry from the shower, and I was sitting fully on his lap with my arms wrapped around his neck and his arms wrapped around my waist. After feeling the change in my demeanor, Eric pulled back.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," I nodded as I took another calming breath.

I got off of Eric's lap and stood on shaky legs.

"What do we do now?" I asked as Eric steadied me with his hands.

"Well, we can check the cameras to make sure we have Bill on video. That would be proof of him violating his restraining order. Then we'll have to call the police."

"You should finish your shower first while I clean up this plate."

"Oh no, I'm not leaving you alone again."

"Eric, I'll be okay."

"I know Sookie, just please, sit in the bathroom with me while I finish my shower."

I was going to argue until I noticed he was visibly shaking. I nodded and reached out my hand to him and led him into the bathroom.

Eric stepped into the shower and closed the curtain before he took off his towel and draped it over the shower rod. I sat on the closed toilet and tried not to think about a naked Eric two feet away from me.

"Sookie?"

"I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"I said as soon as I finish this shower I'm going to call Alcide. I'm technically on vacation so I can't talk to Bill in a professional capacity but Alcide can. I trust him to handle this the right way."

"Is he on duty now?"

"I'm not sure who they have him partnered with while I'm on vacation but if he's not on right now, he should be later."

Eric shut off the water and his towel disappeared from the shower rod. He opened the shower curtain and I felt like I couldn't breath. A violent ex-boyfriend had just harassed me but Eric's wet body still had the ability to set my body on fire.

Eric grabbed my hand and began to lead me upstairs before he stopped.

"Er, you better go first."

"Are you afraid Bill somehow got into the house?" I asked worried.

"No, nothing like that. It's just that you might be able to see up my towel if you walk behind me."

"Then why didn't you get dressed in the bathroom?"

"You were in the bathroom with me so I didn't think you would have appreciated if I had gotten naked in front of you and you can take a shower while I get dressed and check the cameras."

Eric motioned me ahead of him and I started up the stairs first. I looked back before we made it to the top of the steps and I saw Eric staring at my ass. At least having to deal with my crazy ex hadn't sent him running for the hills.

Eric stopped in his room to get dressed while I went to my bathroom to take a shower. When I removed Eric's shirt, I hung it up on a hook in the bathroom rather than give it back to Eric. His shirt was extremely comfortable, and if I was being honest, I wanted to keep that little piece of Eric. I tried to get in and out of the shower as fast as possible because I couldn't hear a thing happening in the house while the water was running. When I emerged from the shower and had gotten dressed, Eric wasn't anywhere in sight. Worried something had happened while I was in there, I called out for him.

"I'm just down in the living room looking at the security footage."

I followed his voice downstairs and saw Eric sitting on the couch looking at the video. I noticed the broken plate had been cleaned up and all of the dishes were washed and put away.

"I looked at the footage and you can clearly see Bill coming onto your property. This is exactly what we needed to get him in trouble."

"Are you going to call Alcide?"

"Yeah, I'll put it on speaker so you can hear too."

Eric grabbed my house phone from the receiver and dialed Alcide's number. He picked up on the third ring.

"Hello?"

"Hey, are you busy? I need to talk to you for a second."

"Nah, me and Amelia were just on our way over to pick up her car."

"That's perfect. We can talk more when you get here but we have an issue."

"What kind of issue?" Alcide asked, reacting to Eric's tone of voice.

"Bill paid Sookie a visit today to try and scare her. That's violating the restraining order and we got it on tape."

"Mother fucker," Alcide growled.

"What? What is it?" we heard Amelia ask in the background.

"Nothing baby."

"Don't you nothing me! Something's happening with Sookie and I want to know what!"

"Alcide, tell her I'll talk to her when she gets her and not to worry," I piped up.

Alcide relayed the message and Amelia stopped screaming in the background. Eric hung up the phone and we waited for them to show up. Eric made a copy of the clip of Bill popping up on my property for Alcide to take back with him.

Fifteen minutes after we hung up, Alcide's truck pulled up outside of my house. Alcide barely stopped the car before Amelia hopped out and run up to my house. When I opened the door she threw her arms around me.

"Oh my God sweetie, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Ames."

"Tell me what happened."

I told Amelia the basics of the story, which mainly included me washing dishes and Bill popping up in the window. I didn't want to tell her about my morning with Eric, especially not while everyone was around. Amelia was not known for being subtle and I didn't want Eric to know I was talking about him.

When Alcide got in the house, Eric led him to the living room and showed him the video footage. Seeing Bill on the screen made me shudder. He blatantly looked into the camera as he walked across my property. It was clear he was not worried about the restraining order.

"Look at the arrogant asshole stroll onto your property like that. He can't just do that! What are you going to do about this, Alcide?" Amelia asked with her hands planted on her hips.

"Well, once I start my shift tonight, I can go over and talk to him. We can place him under arrest tonight but to be honest, he won't be held for long. Has he ever been in trouble with the police before?"

"Not that I know of."

"If this is a first time offense, it's unlikely he'll face any real punishment. In a professional sense, there isn't much I can do."

"And in an unprofessional sense?" I asked.

"I can break his fucking neck."

"As much as I love you for saying that, something tells me that's not a great idea."

"I would still do it. I know we don't know each other very well but you're Amelia's best friend and she's been worried sick about you. The only peace of mind she has is that Eric's staying with you. And once this week is over, you'll be here all alone with a psycho living next door."

"Don't scare her you fucking idiot," Amelia said as she smacked him in the back of the head.

"No, no, it's okay. He's only telling the truth. Once Eric leaves, I'll be trapped here with Bill. A restraining order and security cameras sound great, but they're only good after the fact. If Bill decided to attack me, all the security cameras will be able to do is prove he did it, they won't protect me."

"Once Eric leaves I'll stay over here with you, Sook," Amelia said as she smiled at me, but I could still read the fear in her eyes.

"I couldn't ask you to do that. Just because I'm too stubborn to leave this house doesn't mean I have to drag other people down with me."

"I know you don't want to leave this house because of the history and the memories, but your life is worth more than that. What would I do if something happened to you? I can't live without my best friend."

"We're not going to let anything happen to her," Eric interrupted. "This has to end before this week is up because I cannot leave Sookie alone in this house with that maniac next door and I don't want other people to get involved in this. Sookie would never forgive herself if someone she loved got hurt because Bill was trying to get to her."

"You're right, Eric. But what can we do?" I asked.

"We're going to have to take this one step at a time. The first thing we need to do is have Alcide talk to Bill as soon as his shift starts. We need to see how that goes before we make our next move."

Alcide and Amelia stayed and talked a little bit longer before they left. To be honest, I was getting tired of talking about Bill. It just frayed my nerves even more and I found myself physically exhausted.

"Are you okay?" Eric asked me after we walked Alcide and Amelia to the door.

"Yeah, I just feel so tired."

"Why don't you take a nap?"

"I don't think I could settle my nerves enough to sleep."

Eric looked at me with concern before he grabbed my hand and led me upstairs. "The point of me being here is so I can watch out for you. You have nothing to worry about as long as I'm here. I want you to relax and take a nap. Let me worry about Bill for a while."

"It's not your responsibility, Eric. I hate that I had to drag you into this in the first place."

When we made it to my bedroom, I begrudgingly obeyed Eric and climbed into bed, although I doubted I would be able to fall asleep. To my surprise, Eric joined me on the bed.

"First of all, you didn't drag me into this, I jumped. And secondly, don't you dare feel guilty for any of this. Whether you wanted my help or not, I wouldn't have left you out here with Bill. You're just making my job easier by letting me stay in the house with you rather than camping out in my car."

"You'd do that for me?" I asked Eric as I scooted closer to his body.

"One day you'll know me well enough to where you won't even have to ask me that question."

I looked up at Eric and smiled before I buried my face into the space between his neck and shoulder. I breathed in his scent and instantly relaxed. Eric kissed me on the top of my head and began stroking my hair.

"Are you going to take a nap too?"

"No, I'm just going to make sure nothing happens while you rest peacefully. I'm no where near tired."

"Thank you for everything, Eric. I don't know how I'll ever be able to repay you."

"Being able to spend time with you is payment enough. Now just relax and fall asleep," Eric said as he continued to rub my hair. Even though I felt completely high strung, my body began to relax as I molded my body into Eric's

My final thoughts before I fell asleep were how happy I was that I had met Eric. And what was I going to do once it came time for him to leave?

A/N: I hope you've enjoyed the chapter. Next up will be an update for BOE that I'm still working on. I've gotten a lot of reviews and PMs that I'll be working on responding to as well since a lot of you have had some question regarding both stories.

Thanks for reading!