NYC wanted me to remind you that most of my MA work is up over on the new blog. Including "The Arrangement", which NYC is co-authoring with me. All the oneshots aren't up, but NYC and SouthernLady are working to get everything up.

I obviously have no idea what kind of technology they are going to have 200 years in the future. So instead of trying to come up with future technology lingo I'm just going to refer to things the way we know them, and hope you visualize futuristic stuff. Ok?

One guess reviewer brought up a good question, and I'm going to try and explain it here. This reviewer asked:

:I like this. I guess I just have residual gruff with Sookie but I find it

curious she a supposed super Supe but in all her 225 years she still never

grasped or educated herself about the fact Eric NEVER had a choice in the

Freyda **. Shifter Sam, Royal daemon hubby Marcus, super Sookie yet still

grudging Eric for spending 200 years as a salve? But thats the same old Sookie

with harsher judgments for Eric. Makes you wonder why he still wants her. Must

b the masochist in him. Lol

This is a good question, and the answer is that Sookie has learned this over the last 200 years. She knows now that Eric had no choice but to marry Freyda. What she is upset about is the fact that Eric didn't tell her a thing. He just left her in the dark telling her he was handling it until all of a sudden it wasn't handled. In my mind Sookie feels like Eric didn't fight for her, for them, because he didn't give HER a chance to fight for them. Think about it, in the story line Harris had Eric inform Sookie about Freyda, then gave her months and months of silence. Then suddenly he divorces her, leaves for OK, has Sookie banned from Fangtasia and from seeing Pam, and has negotiated for her future once again without talking to her at all. He discussed nothing with her, included her in none of his attempts to thwart the marriage, and didn't let her know at any point how close they were to being over despite his attempts to make it otherwise. He just blindsided her with the divorce and left for OK. To her it must have seemed like he just gave up, and didn't care enough about them to let her try and help save them. So to me, THAT is what Sookie can't get over.

No beta or proofing. As is.

Chapter 3

"Who was that on the phone?"

"You know who it was, Sookie."

Letting out a tired sigh Sookie set her book down and focused on her husband. "Marcus, I'm sorry. Just ignore it. Sooner or later he'll give up."

"Really? From what I've heard of the legendary Northman he's not one to give up lightly. Just look at what he's doing to Felipe and his ex-wife. They thought he'd give up too. Look how well that has worked out for them."

Sookie couldn't help but wince at her husband's words. She may not be involved in the politics of the supernatural world, but that did not mean she wasn't privy to its goings on. Just as she knew of Eric's takeover long before he'd approached her, she knew now what he was subjecting Felipe and Freyda to in his court on a nightly basis. Eric was pissed, and he was letting everyone know by taking it out on Felipe and Freyda every night in front of his entire court. From what Sookie understood he hurt them so terribly it was often hard for them to heal the next evening even with donor blood. That didn't keep Eric from starting all over again, however.

Shaking her head to rid itself of the images Marcus's words had caused in her mind, Sookie insisted, "You have nothing to worry about, honey. I'm done with Eric, and he won't do anything to hurt my family."

Moving to sit on the couch next to his wife, Marcus countered, "Sookie, I know you would not cheat on me. That is not my problem with all of this."

"Marcus, I don't want to get into this again. We've talked about it and I've said all I have to say."

It had been six months since Eric had approached her at the mall, and just as he'd promised, he'd began a relentless pursuit of her. It didn't seem to matter to him that she was married. It didn't seem to matter to him that she refused to take any of his calls, returned all of his letters and emails unopened, and never answered any of his invites to dinner at his new home or to any of the other activities he proposed. Day after day, week after week, month after month he hounded her. She'd tried blocking his number, but he had a new one within moments to call and bother her some more. He even popped up any time she ventured out of Bon Temps at night.

One night a few weeks after Eric had first come to her, Marcus and she had gone into the city for a date. They were supposed to go to a lovely restaurant and then watch a new singer at one of the vintage blues clubs Shreveport was still famous for. It was supposed to be a romantic evening spent with her husband, but Eric made sure that didn't happen. As soon as she and Marcus walked into the restaurant they'd noticed there was no one else there. There was one table sitting in the empty restaurant, and it had three chairs. One of them filled with a very smug looking Viking. Sookie had been mortified, and everything that happened after still amazed her.

FLASHBACK:

"Eric! What the hell?!"

Eric was seated at the only table left in the restaurant and smiled at his ex-wife and her husband. When his spies had alerted him to the fact Sookie and Marcus had reservations at this place, he'd ordered it rented out. Sookie rarely left Bon Temps at night, so he hadn't had a chance to speak with her again, and he thought tonight was the perfect opportunity. Not only would he get to see Sookie again, but he'd also get to make sure Marcus understood exactly what his intentions for Sookie were.

"Good evening, Sookie. Mr. Radke." Eric's voice was cool and aloof, and while the look he sent Sookie was filled with warmth and affection, the one he sent Marcus was clearly the look of a rival male.

Grasping Marcus's arm, Sookie said, "Let's go. He's obviously intent on ruining our evening."

Marcus refused to be moved, and instead kept his wife in place as he declared, "I'd actually like to hear what he has to say. He's gone to a great deal of trouble to talk to us, and we might as well hear him out."

"Marcus, I don't think that's a good idea," Sookie said, trying to tug her husband out of the restaurant.

"I think it is a marvelous idea," Eric insisted as he waved the server over. "Let's get some drinks, you two can order your food, and the three of us can discuss what needs to be done about our situation."

Sookie's eyes narrowed as she hissed, "We don't have a situation, Eric."

Marcus knew his wife wanted to leave, and truthfully a part of him wanted to as well, but he felt this conversation needed to take place. When he'd first learned about Eric ten years into his relationship with Sookie, he'd known that the vampire would be a problem sooner or later. With Sookie's new lifespan and Eric so well versed in weathering the ages, Marcus had suspected Eric might come for Sookie when his 200 year marriage was done. Especially if he and Sookie had truly been in love as she described.

While Sookie had assured him that he had nothing to fear from Northman, Marcus wanted to see that for himself. He needed to see the two of them together to gauge just how much Sookie still thought about and cared for her former husband. Eric Northman had only come up that one time right before they got married, and Sookie had never mentioned him again until he suddenly reappeared a few weeks ago.

Marcus was no fool. He knew that the marriage he shared with Sookie was one more based on comfort and friendship than love and passion. He loved Sookie deeply, but he was no more in love with her than she was him. He knew she loved him, but it was in the same comfortable and friendly way he loved her. So he wanted to see if Sookie and Eric still had the same intense passion and love between them that they'd had before, and if they did he would have some hard choices ahead of him.

Needing to see where this conversation would take them, even if it would take him down a path that lost him his wife, Marcus insisted, "Sookie, I want to stay. He's going to talk to us sooner or later. We might as well get it done."

Looking up at her husband, Sookie asked, "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Excellent!" Eric stood and moved to pull out Sookie's chair and continued, "I was hoping neither of you would insist on making this more difficult than it needed to be."

Sookie eyed the chair Eric held out for her with disdain, and briefly thought about telling him she'd rather stand, but when Marcus simply patted her arm before gently pushing her towards the chair she decided to take the high road. She lifted her chin, kept her calm, and took her seat like a lady. She felt Eric's fingers brush against her shoulder as he pushed her seat in, but refused to respond.

A few moments later everyone's drinks had arrived and Sookie and Marcus had placed their orders. When the server left with the menus Eric got right down to business. Looking right at Marcus, he declared, "I want my wife back. You're going to walk away, demon."

"Eric!" Sookie's expression was pure shock. She'd expected him to make this night uncomfortable, but just diving into the problem like this was uncalled for.

Marcus ignored his wife and looked solely at the vampire before him. "First, Mr. Northman, I don't care who you are, or how old you are. When you speak to me you will do it with a certain amount of respect or fear. Either will work for me. I may not be a thousand, but I am certainly dangerous. Not to mention I have just as many powerful allies as you. If you expect to continue this conversation you will address me appropriately. Just as I will you."

There was a tense moment of silence as Sookie's eyes darted back and forth between her former husband and her current one. She was torn between wanting to get in the middle of their staring contest, and wanting to stay out of the line of fire. Thankfully, the little standoff did not last long.

Eric gave Marcus a genuine smile as he complimented, "You have courage. I admire that. I'm glad Sookie has had a strong man to stand beside her while I was away … but I'm back now."

"So you are."

"I want her back."

"So you've said."

Sitting back in his chair, Eric took a sip of his blood, and asked, "What will it take for you to walk away?"

Sookie was tired of being ignored and began, "Now wait just a damn minute! You can't just—"

"Sookie," Marcus interrupted, "please let Eric and I get this over with. It obviously needs to happen. You'll definitely have your say when we're done."

"She always does," Eric added.

Crossing her arms over her chest with an indignant huff much like the one her daughter had treated her to in the mall the other day, Sookie grumbled, "Fine. You two men just let me know when it is ok for me to talk again."

Neither male responded to her barb, and instead, Eric pressed, "What will it take?"

"What did it take to get you to give her up?"

Eric's gaze turned harsh and threatening as he growled, "It is not the same. We were in love."

"I love her."

"Not enough."

Sookie just couldn't keep quiet. "Eric, you don't know shit about my relationship with Marcus!"

Setting a hand on his wife's arm again, Marcus implored, "Sookie, please. This conversation needs to happen between Eric and I. We can take it outside if it will make it easier for you, but I need to speak to him without interruption."

Looking into her husband's eyes and seeing the plea there for her to not interfere, she relented, "Fine. You two stay here and I'm going to go watch the chef make our food. Maybe I can pick up a few pointers."

After Sookie stood from the table and made her way into the back of the restaurant, Marcus focused on the vampire in front of him and asked, "Why are you here?"

"I'm here to get my wife back."

"She's not your wife. She's mine."

"She has always been, and will always be, mine."

Leaning forward with his forearms on the table, Eric said, "Bottom line, Marcus, I'm going to do whatever I have to in order to get her back. She still loves me. I saw it in her eyes. We are meant to be."

"She doesn't seem to think so. In fact she has been quite adamant about never seeing you again."

"It's her anger. I fucked up our relationship last time, and she's angry with me. I'm going to make it up to her."

Marcus took a sip of his wine, before trying, "If you are meant to be why not wait for her to come to you?"

Eric laughed. "I would if I didn't know her so well. I may not have been her husband for 200 years, but I doubt Sookie's stubborn streak has disappeared in two centuries."

"So you think that the reason she is not with you now is because she is being stubborn, and not simply because she no longer wishes to be yours?"

"I think her stubbornness is part of it, but I think more so is her sense of duty to you and the life you two have built. She doesn't want to hurt you. I can understand and respect that, but it doesn't change the fact you need to let her go. She will never be as happy with you as she could be with me."

Marcus countered, "From what Sookie told me the years she spent as 'yours' were not exactly fun and games for her."

Inclining his head, Eric agreed, "I concede the point. Our relationship was filled with more downs than ups, but it only speaks to our love and bond that we still wanted to be together. As I said, I fucked up before. Sookie did make some mistakes in our relationship, but the vast majority of them were because I kept her at such a distance. It kept me from truly understanding what was going on in her life, and it kept her from understanding mine. If anything killed our relationship more than that fucking marriage contract with Oklahoma, it was the fact we didn't talk."

Eyes darkening with his pain, Eric finished, "I have made many mistakes in my long life, Marcus, but none so costly as thinking I could treat Sookie and my relationship with her like I had everything else in my life. Something to be managed and controlled. I thought I could handle everything. I thought I knew what was best for her, for me, and for us both, but I was wrong. I'd never been in love before, never been in a relationship, and I should have realized that by being in completely new territory I needed help to make things work. I've learned from my mistakes, and I'm ready to make things right with my wife."

"I would appreciate it if you stop referring to Sookie as your wife. She is my wife, not yours."

"She was, and she will be again very soon."

"You seem so sure."

"I am."

"Why?"

Eric's expression was dead serious as he stated, "Because you love her."

Eyes widening, Marcus asked, "Meaning?"

"You love her," Eric repeated. "You love her because she is your best friend, and she is the mother of your children. I understand that, but your love can never compare to mine. You might know Sookie better than I do after living with her so long. You two might be comfortable and happy together, but there is no passion between you. Sookie and I may have had much strife and misery in our time together, but we also had fire and passion. We hurt so much because we loved so much."

Not giving Marcus time to reply, Eric explained, "She settled with you. She has a good life. There is no denying that, but I can give her so much more than comfortable companionship. Don't you want that for her?"

"So if I love her I should let her go?"

"As cliché as it sounds, yes."

Marcus studied the man in front of him before asking, "What makes you think we don't have fire and passion between us? You don't know us, and truthfully you don't really know Sookie all that well. Not only have you not been a part of her life in 200 years, but even when you two were technically together you spent very little time with one another. From what Sookie told me the most time you spent with her was when the witches took your memory, and after that she was lucky to get a few hours with you a few times a month. So really, the two of you were never really together. Even if you did trick her into being your wife."

"A mistake I will not make again. As I said, I fucked up last time. I've learned from those mistakes, and I'm going to do it right this time."

"Not if she's mine."

"Which brings us back to you needing to let her go."

"What if I don't want to let her go?"

Eric gave a shrug as he replied, "Then things are going to get very interesting between you and me."

Marcus thought about asking Eric in what way things would get interesting, but he didn't want this conversation to degenerate into a pissing contest. That would accomplish nothing. Instead, he said, "You know I'm not going to leave if Sookie doesn't want me to."

"Sookie isn't in the right mind to know what she wants. She's too angry and bitter over the way I broke her heart to think clearly."

"So you admit you broke her heart?"

"I am prideful, Marcus, but I can admit to my mistakes. You don't get to be my age by refusing to recognize your shortcomings."

Refusing to look away from the demon's accusing glare, Eric admitted, "I made poor choices 200 years ago. Choices that left Sookie blindsided, hurt, angry, and with no way to resolve what had gone wrong between us. I accept that I owe her more than I can repay, but that doesn't mean I'm going to give up on us."

"Sookie is adamant that there is nothing left to be salvaged between you two."

"And I think if you believed that any more than I do you wouldn't be sitting here talking to me."

Marcus hesitated a moment. Eric was right. He didn't believe Sookie when she said everything between her and Eric was dead and buried. It's why he'd wanted to stay tonight. He wanted to see if Sookie truly was over Eric, and whether or not Eric's feelings for her were actually love, or just some misbegotten sense of ownership that vamps tended to get.

And in these brief few moments he'd spent with Sookie and Eric he'd learned all he needed to. The love between his wife and this vampire was most certainly not dead and buried. Marcus didn't know what to do with that information, and instead asked, "And you think just because your marriage is over, just because you realize now that what you put Sookie through was wrong, you have the right to show up here and disrupt our lives? Our marriage?"

"Whether or not I have the right to is irrelevant. I'm not here because of rights or entitlements. I'm here because in the past 1200 years I've only been happy, truly happy, a handful of times. Most of my immortal life has been spent in servitude, pain, imprisonment, war, and endless amounts of bored contentedness. I existed before I met Sookie. The highlights of my life were finding someone whose blood didn't taste like chemicals and who was adequate in bed. I knew nothing of being truly happy … until I met Sookie. She made me happy, and when I wasn't being an idiot or being kept at bay by our enemies, I like to think I made her pretty happy too. Everything fell apart when we weren't together, but the times we were? We had it all."

Holding Marcus's gaze, Eric insisted, "Our time together was brief and sporadic, but it was still stolen from us. I mean to get it back."

Marcus could honestly say he was surprised by Eric Northman, but at the moment he didn't know how to speak to the man. More importantly, he didn't know how to respond to the information he'd gained tonight, or the situation he suddenly found himself in with his wife and her former husband. Needing time to think about what all this meant for him, Sookie, and their life together, he said, "I'm going to go get our car. It should only take me a few minutes since we didn't par far. You have that long to speak to Sookie."

Eric didn't argue as Marcus stood from the table and headed out of the restaurant. As soon as the man was gone he put on a burst of speed to join Sookie in the kitchen. She was standing next to the chef watching the rotund man season the lamb she'd ordered. Clearing his throat to get their attention, he said, "Your husband has gone to get the car. He has given me that long to speak to you."

Looking at the chef, he ordered, "Finish their meals quickly and get them in to-go boxes."

Holding his hand out to Sookie, Eric asked, "May I speak with you before your husband comes to get you?"

Eyeing Eric's hand, Sookie finally decided it was best to let him do his talking, and hopefully he'd realize that she was serious about being done with him. She let him lead her out of the kitchen back to the deserted dining room. He didn't lead her to the table, merely to the middle of the floor, and as soon as he brought them to a stop she asked, "What did you and Marcus talk about?"

"Ask him when you two leave. I only have a few minutes and I will not waste them."

"Fine. What do you want to say to me?"

"I love you."

Letting out a tired sigh Sookie pinched the bridge of her nose and lamented, "Eric, don't do this. I don't want to get into dead issues with you. What happened between us was intense, but it's over. I've moved on, and you need to move on to."

"I refuse for this to be the end of us."

"Eric, we ended 200 years ago."

"No, we were postponed. Cruelly and against our will I might add."

Stepping closer to her, Eric implored, "Sookie, I know what it means to exist. I did it for centuries before you came into my life. I was forced to simply exist again when I had to go to Oklahoma. I don't want to live like that any longer. I want to be free to make my own choices and love the woman that holds my heart freely. I want to make up for everything I did wrong, and I want us to have a chance at the future that should have been ours."

Setting her hands on her hips, Sookie scoffed, "Eric, you have no idea what future we might have had! Nothing with us ever went right, and even if that marriage with Freyda hadn't been forced we still probably would have ended up separated. We're too different, and want vastly different things in life."

"That's not true. We had obstacles to face in our marriage, but they were not insurmountable. We would have figured it out and been happy, Sookie, I know it. And deep down you know it too."

"I know no such thing!"

"Stop lying!"

He was tired of being calm and rational. Taking hold of her arms he gave her a gentle shake and hissed, "Stop denying what was between us. You're mad about how I handled things? Mad at the way I treated you and left you in the dark? Mad about having no say in how things ended? Fine! Be mad! Yell and scream at me! But stop fucking denying what we had!"

"What we had were lies, Eric! All lies! I thought we had love and trust, but then you just divorced me out of nowhere, in front of everyone I couldn't bare to see me weak, and then you married Freyda! And to top it all off you actually asked me to be your other woman! So obviously what was between us wasn't what I thought it was, so I'll deny it all I want!"

"I was not asking you to be the other woman! I was asking you to be my woman! I was contractually obligated to have sex with Freyda once a year, and I promise you I never enjoyed it, but she was my wife in name only! I was forced to take the title of her husband, but in my heart there was only you!"

"Fuck you, Eric! You wanted me to be a whore for you!"

"No! I just didn't want to lose you!"

Eric's eyes were raw with his pain, desperate with his need for her to understand! His voice hoarse and strained, filled with so much emotion it chocked out of him.

"Damnit, Sookie! Don't you understand? I hated asking you to be less than you were! I hated having to take the position of wife away from you and offer you mistress instead, but it was the only way to have you! You know enough about supe politics now to understand I couldn't refuse to marry Freyda. I had to be her husband, but you were all I wanted! You! It has always been you!"

As tears filled Sookie's eyes, Eric tried again, "Sookie, you have to know that I never thought of you as anything less than my wife. From the moment you handed me that knife you were mine and I was yours. Before then even. We were halves of the same whole, and having to put you aside for another was the hardest thing I ever had to do."

Reaching up to cup her cheek as he stepped so close their clothes were touching, Eric whispered roughly, "I know wanting you to follow me to Oklahoma was wrong. I know the mere idea of it was an insult to you and everything you deserve, but I couldn't bear the thought of not being with you. At the time I thought you were human. I thought you would only have a few decades of life to live. I did not want to spend them away from you."

As more tears fell down her cheeks, Eric begged, "Don't you see, Sookie? Don't you understand? I wanted you for my wife. I wanted you for my lover and companion … but I couldn't have you as those things. At least not in the eyes of my world. The only way I could have you was as my mistress, and yes it was wrong and selfish of me, but I couldn't help but want you to be with me despite that."

Pulling back from Eric, Sookie asked, "So I was supposed to do it? I was just supposed to accept the fact you were married to another woman? I was supposed to live in her house, sleep under her roof, and ignore all the times you would leave me to be with her? I was supposed to live like that?"

"No. You weren't, and it is why your decision to stay hurt me, but did not make me mad. Not with you at least."

Looking into Sookie's eyes, filled with the same pain he knew his eyes held, Eric said, "You did what was right for you, Sookie, and I respect you for that, but just because we were forced apart before doesn't mean we can't be together now."

"We're not together now because I'm married."

"To Sam the sequel."

There was a stunned silence between them before Sookie hissed, "Fuck you!"

Eric watched her stomp past him and decided to let her go. Marcus should be just pulling up outside, and really, Eric knew he wasn't going to accomplish much more tonight. So instead he called after her, "I'm not going to stop, Sookie! I'm not going to give up on us again! I'm not going to let anyone or anything get in the way of us being together! You love me, Sookie Stackhouse, and you're going to be my wife again!"

Sookie didn't respond. She couldn't. She was angry and crying all at once, and she just wanted to go home. She pushed her way past the restaurant front doors and felt relief sweep through her as Marcus pulled up to the curb right then. Talk about perfect timing. She practically dove into the car and ordered, "Drive. I want to go home."

When she was gone Eric raked his hands through his hair and muttered, "Fuck. Why can't I ever have a rational conversation with that infuriating woman!"

END FLASHBACK:

That night when she and Marcus had returned home they'd had a brief conversation about Eric where she'd assured her husband she had no desire to be with her ex. She'd refused to speak to Marcus about the situation since then, but it wasn't easy to avoid the topic. Eric just wouldn't leave her alone. He called, and called, and called. He sent flowers, and candy, and little knickknacks he thought she might like. He was insinuating himself into every aspect of her life that he could, and basically making himself a giant pain in the ass! Just as she'd known he would.

The worst part is that after the night at the restaurant a certain distance had seemed to develop between her and her husband, and it grew by the night. It grew with every ignored phone call from her vampire ex. It grew with every flower arrangement delivered. Every new book that came in the mail with a little note from Eric saying he thought she might enjoy it since he had. The distance grew between them every time Marcus said he wanted to talk about Eric and Sookie refused.

Now, sitting on the couch next to her husband, Sookie could tell he wasn't going to let it drop this time. She expressed as much when she asked, "So what is your problem with all of this?"

"My problem with all of this is you are lying to me, yourself, and Eric."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean, Marcus?"

"Sookie, I asked you point blank if you still loved Eric, and you told me you didn't. I think it's the only time you've ever lied to me."

Shaking her head, Sookie insisted, "Marcus, I don't—"

"Think carefully before you lie to me again, Sookie. I forgave you for it last time because I truly believe you believed you were over him. He'd just come back, and it had been so long since you saw or spoke to him. So I accepted it when you told me there was nothing between you two, but I've come to realize you were lying to yourself and me."

Sookie felt a tight ball of fear fill her gut as she asked, "Are you leaving me?"

"No. If this marriage ends it will be because you want it to."

"Then I don't understand this."

"Do you still love Eric?"

Sookie hesitated a moment before replying, "I don't think I could ever stop loving him. It was only when he was gone that I realized how much he did for me. If it weren't for him I would have been a slave or dead. He might not have always treated me as an equal, but he never treated me as a slave … and he never lied to me. I will always love him for going against a thousand years of survival and vampire instinct to help a girl that spent more time yelling at him than anyone else."

When his expression turned sad, Sookie hurried, "But even though a part of my heart will always be his, Marcus, I have moved on. A part of my heart will always be yours as well. Just as a part belongs to Sam. I have a big heart, honey, and you know I love freely."

"And differently."

"What?"

Refusing to shy away from the problems that had arisen in his marriage, Marcus clarified, "You love me differently than you love Eric. You love me as you loved Sam. The love you have for Eric is different."

"Maybe, but that doesn't make it more important, and I don't love you the same way I loved Sam. Sam was Sam, and you are you."

"And Eric will always be Eric."

Silence.

Sookie didn't know what to say. For long moments she and Marcus stared at one another before she asked, "So where does that leave us? What is it you want?"

"The question is what you want."

"I want you."

Marcus gave Sookie a watery smile and leaned forward to kiss her cheek. When he pulled back he looked her right in the eye and said, "I want you to think about this, Sookie. I mean really think about it. Our wedding anniversary is in five months, and we're supposed to go to the Moon for vacation. The night before we leave I'm going to ask you again what you want. If you say me I will never bring up Eric again. I will let you handle the situation as you see fit."

"Marcus, I don't need to wait five months. I'm telling you now that I—"

"Please let me finish, Sookie." When she fell silent he continued, "And over the next five months I want you to spend time with Eric."

"What!"

"Hear me out."

Sookie didn't look pleased, but she did motion for him to continue. "I have been offered the chance to work on the Mars space station. You know they are prepping for the second phase of settlement on the planet, and I could really be of use. If I go I won't be back until the week before our trip. I want to take this job, and while I'm gone I want you to meet with Eric at least a few nights each week."

"You want me to cheat on you?"

"Absolutely not. As long as we are married I expect you to be faithful to me, as I have always been to you."

"Then what are you asking?"

"I don't want you to sleep with him, but I would like you to date him. I want you to spend time with Eric to determine if the love and passion you two shared, the heat he claims is still so strong between you, is still there. If it's there, if you can be really and truly happy with him in a way you can't with me, if he can give you things I can't, then you have a choice to make. This obviously isn't easy for me, but I don't want to look back a hundred years from now and have either of us think you made a mistake. I don't want you choosing our life together because it is the safe and easy choice. I don't want you to stay my wife because you're mad at Eric, and I don't want you to be with me just because you're afraid of trying again with your ex. I deserve more than that. We both deserve more than that."

"Marcus …"

Refusing to let his fears or emotions get the best of him, Marcus explained, "Sookie, you came into my life at my lowest point. You are the only thing that saved me from committing suicide when the last of my human family died. My demon family could not understand my heartbreak, and you were there for me when no one else was. I love you. I will always love you, but we both know that neither of us is in love with the other."

A tear slipped down Marcus's cheek as he finished, "But maybe you can have that with Eric. Maybe you two can get past everything that went wrong between you. I don't know, and that's why I need to take this job and give you two a chance to find out. You are my best friend, Sookie, but you are not the love of my life. I think maybe Eric is yours, and I would never forgive myself if I keep you two apart. I love you too much to do that."

"Marcus, I would never leave you."

"I know, but I have the strength to let you go now. If I get back and you wish to be with Eric I will let you go, and I will wish you well."

"And what about our family? Our home here? Our lives?"

"It will always be here. We will still have 22 wonderful children together, I will still be the step-father of your 11 other children, and we will still be good friends. Sookie, it is because I care about you so much that I'm doing this. Above all else I consider us friends and partners. As such, I can't let my desire not to be alone be the reason you aren't with Eric."

"I'm not with Eric because life took us in different directions, Marcus."

"And now life has brought you back together. This is your chance to have resolution between you and Eric, Sookie. This is your chance to find out if you two really can have it all, or if it is time to truly move on."

Sookie fell silent for a moment, thinking over her husband's words. On one hand she couldn't see herself "dating" Eric while married to Marcus, but on the other hand … now that he'd proposed what he'd proposed she'd be lying if she said she wasn't interested. Despite her objections, despite her denials, Eric had been on her mind since he'd first come back. That had to mean something.

She didn't want to hurt Marcus, but he was right, she was no more in love with him than he was her. He had been a great friend that turned friend with benefits that turned boyfriend that turned husband. As he'd said, it had been about comfort and friendship, and she'd been fine with what they were for 130 years. But of course Eric had to come back and screw everything up like he always did!

Letting out a tired sigh, Sookie looked at Marcus and asked, "Can I think about this?"

"I need to let my employers know by the end of the week if I'm going to take the Mars job. You have until then."

"You'll have my answer first thing Friday."

Standing from the couch Marcus held his hand out to her and said, "How about we turn in early?"

"Sounds good."

Sookie left her book on the couch and let her husband lead her upstairs. She knew he felt just as powerful a need to feel connected to her as she did to him in this instant. They might not have a great and passionate love for one another, but they'd spent over a century taking comfort in one another's arms, and tonight would be no different. Tomorrow she would begin deciding whether or not she could date Eric Northman at her husband's urging.