Disclaimer: I own nothing related to True Blood.

Paige traced her fingertips along the chest underneath her cheek, a smile coming to her face as the light dusting of hair covering the firm and icy cold skin tickled her. She sighed contentedly to herself before pressing a kiss right over the place that held his motionless heart before looking up to meet his gaze, pressing even closer to him and thoroughly enjoying the way his body felt against hers.

Eric smiled down at her and moved his fingers to caress her cheek. He looked devastatingly handsome with his tousled hair and loving gaze. "I have missed this more than you know." He said quietly, tiling his head to study her face. "I missed your eyes, your hair," his fingers slid through her curls, making her sigh and close her eyes, "your warmth," he continued, pulling her as close as he could. Then he leaned forward until his lips were hovering just over hers. "Your lips…" He said before locking his lips on hers.

Paige couldn't contain the moan in her throat and turned to putty in his hands as his fingers threaded through her hair again and his tongue explored her mouth freely. He finally moved his hands from her hair to slide down the length of her back until they were on her hips, pulling her hips tighter against his and drawing sounds of pleasure from them both. She finally pulled her lips from his, in desperate need of air by this point, but gasped softly when his lips instead trailed a heated path down the side of her neck.

"I missed you, too" She managed out, amazed she still had the capacity for coherent thought. "Every day I wanted to talk to you and tell you the truth, tell you how much I loved you." She said in his ear, taking the lobe between her teeth. He made a low growling sound in his throat and buried his face in her hair, breathing in her scent. "But after what happened, I didn't think you'd ever wanna see me again – didn't think you'd wanna hear anything I had to say."

Eric slowly lifted his head so that he could look into her eyes, his hands moving to frame her face and push her curls back so he could see her eyes better. "I did not think I would want to see you, either." Eric admitted, his fingers trailing down her neck as he watched their path in fascination. "But as soon as I saw you again – even though I was angry and confused – it was like everything was right in the world again." Eric said, making her heart flutter. "You have always had a power over me that no other has – you are my match, Paige, in every single way."

"Oh yeah?" She asked him with a small smile, warm happiness coursing through every inch of her body.

He pulled her head down until her forehead rested against his, his gaze burning intensely into hers. "You could burn down Fangtasia, kill all those closest to me, and wrap me up in silver and I would still love you with every fiber of my being." He said in a steady, serious voice, his gaze never faltering for even a moment.

A slow smile spread across her lips as she wrapped her arms around his neck, her fingers twirling his hair lazily as she breathed a kiss onto his lips. "Well, good. Now I can finally find something to do with all the gasoline, wooden stakes, and chains that I keep locked up in my trunk." She teased, wagging her eyebrows at him.

She started laughing when Eric suddenly flipped them over, covering her with the entire length of his body as he began mercilessly tickling her. He laughed with her as he dug his fingers into her sides, making her squirm and struggle to escape his attack – it was no use, he was too strong and there was no way to break free. Finally, after begging and pleading with him and claiming she'd suffocate if he didn't stop, he ceased his relentless tickling to let her catch her breath. Once she'd finally recovered, he leaned down to give her a long, leisurely kiss.

"Stay with me, Paige. Forever" He said against her lips, making her suck in a deep, steadying breath as she held his intense gaze. "I am nothing without you. You are the only one I want, now and always." Eric said, nothing but truth in his eyes. "Say you will stay with me."

Paige stared up at the face of the vampire she loved so much, her heart pounding against her chest so hard she was sure he could feel it. Then she smiled up at him and nodded slowly, caressing his cheek with her hand. "I'll stay with you, Eric. I'm yours – forever."

"Promise me." Eric whispered as his hands then trailed down the length of her body. His touch left a trail of fire in its wake, making it hard for her to breathe or even think coherently. Finally, as she started trembling underneath him, she rested her hands on either side of his neck and gazed deeply into his eyes, nodding her head in agreement.

"I promise." Paige whispered back before he kissed her again, this time with so much passion she thought she might faint from the intensity of it…

Paige's eyes popped open in shock. It took a moment or two, but she finally realized that she was not in bed with Eric after all. In fact, as she turned her head and took a look around the dimly lit room, she wasn't sure where she was – it looked familiar, though, she just couldn't quite place how.

She sighed and reached up to rub the sleep from her eyes before stretching her body – it was when she did that that she remembered what exactly had happened. She remembered being at Godric's, remember the man named Luke McDonald walking in with a suicide vest on, remembered jumping in front of Eric to protect him. Paige also remembered how bad of shape she had been in and was suddenly amazed that she could even move. Shouldn't there be more pain? Shouldn't she not even be able to move at all? There was none of that though, just a strange sensation coursing through her very veins, an almost heightened sense of everything going on around her. That's when she remembered drinking Eric's blood, and suddenly the lack of pain made a lot a more sense.

The smell of delicious food suddenly registered with her distracted mind, drifting towards her from somewhere on her right. Paige, strongly suspecting that's what had woken her up in the first place, made a sound of approval as the mouthwatering scent wafted over her, her stomach grumbling hungrily – she sat up a bit and started to search for it, but paused and frowned as the sound of steady breathing reached her ears. It was so loud and distinct that she could almost swear the person breathing was right behind her, but when she turned toward the sound, she spotted the source of the noise sitting in a chair across the room.

And he'd never looked so beautiful.

Paige herself had never done vampire blood before but had heard of the effects of drinking it – apparently all of your senses went into hyperdrive and made everything around you seem one hundred times more magnificent. Having already thought Eric Northman to be the most beautiful creature she'd ever laid eyes on, Paige hadn't thought it possible for him to be any more attractive – but right now, as his blood empowered her body and she stared at Eric with something akin to amazement, it was as though she'd never even seen him before. Her eyes widened as she took in his appearance, the way the light hit his blonde hair, the firm muscles moving underneath his black t-shirt, the way his eyes seemed to practically glitter. She'd never seen him look so gorgeous and the sight of him was so enrapturing that she could only stare at him with a slacken jaw.

Eric smirked at her slowly, clearly enjoying her reaction to him. Paige shook her head and blinked her eyes a few times to try to get her thoughts back on track, which was rather difficult seeing as his scent was filling her nose and invading her senses, making her heart thud against her ribs and her mind race with all kinds of inappropriate thoughts.

"Where are we?" Paige finally managed to ask him, sitting up slowly so she could face him fully. She noticed she was wearing a black button up shirt that positively swamped her and strongly suspected it to belong to the blonde vampire sitting before her – she almost blushed when she realized that she only had a pair of underwear on underneath and that he'd most likely seen her almost completely naked, but quickly reminded herself that it was nothing he hadn't seen before. This was Eric, for Pete's sake – he'd seen her in all her naked glory more times than she could even count.

"You are in my room back at the hotel." Eric answered, casually relaxing in his chair and stretching out his long legs. No wonder it felt like she was being engulfed by his scent – she was in his bed. Paige nodded her understanding, pulling the sheets up higher on her chest. She wasn't sure why, but suddenly she was overcome with the urge to run across the room and throw herself at him, simply because his lips looked entirely too tempting not to. She shook her head to clear her thoughts again and focus. "I brought you here until you were finished healing." He continued, nodding his head towards the nightstand on the right side of his bed.

Paige followed his gaze and spied a bowl filled with red water and bloody shards of silver, remnants from the bomb that had gone off at Godric's. She slowly looked back towards Eric and gulped. "You saved my life." She whispered, watching as his gaze softened some. Eric simply nodded his head in confirmation. "You made me drink your blood." Paige said, remembering the trail of bloody tears on his cheeks and him pleading with her to drink his blood before it was too late.

"That I did, but it was only to ensure your survival." Eric explained slowly, knowing very well that she had not been keen on the idea of drinking each other's blood in the past. "I do wonder though, will I have to make a habit out of rescuing you? Because it seems as though you have become fond of trying to sacrifice yourself for me recently." He said slowly, his eyes watching her unblinkingly. Paige merely offered a wry smile and shrugged – Eric's frown of disapproval was immediate. "Paige…" He sighed.

"I told you, Eric," she said quickly, "I would do anything for you." She looked pointedly to the bowl on the nightstand, toward the silver pieces that had been in her back. "That right there is the proof that I meant it when I said it." Paige said firmly. "I would do whatever it takes to protect you. Always."

Eric stared at her in silence for a long while after she said that, staring at her in a way that made her feel both nervous and a little heated. Finally he shook his head before leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees, clasping his hands together in front of him. "Paige…" He said slowly, thoughtfully. "Why didn't you just tell me?"

Paige could have pretended like she didn't know what he meant by the question, but she saw no point seeing as she knew exactly what Eric was referring to. She sighed and shrugged her shoulders, picking at the blankets and sheets resting on her lap. "I was afraid." She admitted. "Afraid you'd be disappointed in me for my problem, afraid that if I told you someone was threatening us both that you'd lose your mind and go kill those lowlifes…they had a lot of people on their side that hated vampires – I knew if you killed them it would start a war and I couldn't risk something like that happening. And as for coming to you for money well…I was way too proud."

"Yes, you always have been a stubborn woman." Eric mused aloud with a small smile. "I admit that it would have angered me to know that someone – anyone – was threatening you, but if you had asked me not to kill them, I would have resisted." He explained. "And I would have done anything to help you, too. Anything at all."

"Yes, well…" Paige said, clearing her throat as embarrassment flooded through her. "I guess I should have had more faith in your self-control. That was another one of my many mistakes." She said before laughing dully.

Eric shifted in his seat a bit and she could have sworn that she saw sparkling, glittering dust float up into the air around him with his movement. It was very distracting and she watched it float back down around him with wide, wonder-filled eyes – she only snapped back to the present when she realized that Eric was asking her another question. "What happened with them?" He asked curiously. "What happened to the loan sharks?"

"I paid them back. It wasn't easy, but I managed it." She said with a nod. "Then when I joined the C.A.V.D. a few months later I reported their vampire hate-crimes to the higher ups – I'll be honest," Paige said with a slight cringe, "part of my motivation for turning them in was out of selfishness – I hated them for what they'd forced me to do to you and wanted revenge." She admitted. "Anyway, to make a long story short the C.A.V.D. busted them and, uh, 'took them out of business', I guess you could say. They won't be wrecking anyone else's life ever again."

Erin nodded in understanding – as he did this, and as Paige really paid attention to the way he looked without letting her mind fill with inappropriate thoughts, she realized his coloring wasn't quite right. Paige frowned at him in concern. "Have you been sleeping?" She asked worriedly. "You look like you could use a week's worth of sleep."

Eric smiled wryly before shaking his head. "I haven't been sleeping very well, no. Sleep has been rather evasive since you and your comrades put your rescue mission into effect." Eric admitted, making Paige blush a bit under his gaze. Did that mean he had been too worried about her to sleep? Had he been just as troubled as she had been, trying desperately to figure out what to do now that they were in each other's presence again?

"I'm sorry." She said, unable to think of anything else to say. Eric just inclined his head to her in response. "You didn't have to threaten Jason." Paige said to change the subject, recalling the threats that Jason had relayed to her once she was finished talking to Godric. At once Eric looked amused and rather proud of himself, offering up a nonchalant shrug. "He and I are just friends. That's all." She added to make sure her point got across. She also hope that if she kept talking that it would distract her from the fact that her fingers itched to dig into his hair, that her lips burned to kiss his, how badly she wanted to feel his cool skin against hers again as he wrapped her up in his strong, protective arms…

"I know that very well." Eric said with a confident looking smirk on his face, pulling her back to the conversation at hand. "I simply was making sure that he knew there is a line drawn when it comes to you and that should he ever decide he wanted to cross it, he will be facing very serious consequences."

Paige almost rolled her eyes at him and his over-protectiveness but decided against it. Truth be told, she was too overjoyed about the fact that he was still so possessive of her to scoff it off. It fueled the flame of hope when it came to their possible future together. "Was everyone at Godric's alright?" Paige asked, keeping the conversation rolling.

Eric nodded. "There were a few causalities, but no one of importance." He informed her. "Sookie and her brother were able to duck for cover before the blast went off – the couch shielded Godric from any harm."

Paige nodded, sad to hear that lives had been lost but thankful that Godric and her friends were alright. She then crossed her arms as she leaned back against the headboard of the bed, remembering he'd wanted to talk to her about something back at Godric's before they'd been unceremoniously interrupted…twice. "What did you wanna talk about at Godric's?" She asked curiously.

Instead of answering, Eric slowly stood and started making his way over to the bed. She found herself unconsciously pulling the blankets of the bed around her a bit tighter, watching him warily as he approached – it wasn't that she was afraid of him by any means, nor was she afraid of the things he was making her feel because those feelings were nothing new to her. Paige was afraid of herself, afraid she wouldn't be able to control herself if he came any closer. Eric paused once he reached the bed and stared down at her for a moment, but when he merely turned towards the opposite nightstand and picked up a plate of food, she let out a sigh of relief.

The smell of the breakfast made her stomach grumble hungrily again. She'd completely forgotten about it during their conversation, but now that he was offering it to her she could practically think of nothing else. Paige was honestly surprised there was a line of drool sliding down her chin yet.

"We should save that conversation for later." He suggested, holding the plate out to her. "It is daylight and I need to rest, not to mention that we have a meeting tonight and that you probably have not eaten a decent meal in days and must be starving. We will speak more tonight when we have both recuperated." Eric said with a note of finality, leaving Paige with no option but to nod in agreement.

She took the plate from his hands and then the fork he offered to her next. "Meeting? What meeting?"

Eric pulled a face. "Nan Flanagan will be arriving tonight." He revealed, making her stomach clench uncomfortably – she'd seen Nan Flanagan on TV several times. The female vampire was terribly intimidating. "She wished to speak with everyone about what happened at the Fellowship, you and your partner included."

"Looking forward to it." She mumbled sarcastically before finally digging into her breakfast.

While Paige slowly began to eat, her taste bugs practically bursting into song as soon as she took the first bite of her syrup covered pancakes, Eric turned and strode over to the wardrobe on the other side of the room – Paige couldn't help but admire the way his pants accentuated his rear and defined his long, muscular legs. When he began to change out of his clothes, however, she suddenly blushed and looked down at her food, concentrating on it very hard and refraining from watching him undress.

"What time is it?" Paige asked him around a bite of food once he had pulled on a pair of silk pajama pants and begun to walk back over to her. She snuck a glance at him as he approached, admiring the familiar sight of his toned torso for the first time in nearly a year and half – nothing had changed. He was still as sexy as he had been when they were dating – if not sexier – and the picture he presented made a knot form in the pit of her stomach.

"Around one in the afternoon." Eric answered, standing right next to the bed now. When he leaned over and tugged at the sheets she had pooled around her waist, lifting them so he could slide into bed next to her, she damn near dropped her plate from shock. It was impossible for him not to notice that she was staring at him as though he had lobsters crawling out of his ears but he said nothing about, ignoring the fact that she seemed completely taken aback by his decision to sleep in the same bed as she. "Finish eating." He instructed. "We will talk later, I promise." Then he was settling deeper into the sheets and getting comfortable before his eyes slid shut.

Paige knew by the steady rise and fall of his chest that he was asleep within a few minutes, but that didn't stop her from staring at him in stunned silence. Considering the way he had treated her when they were first reunited, his behavior now was rather mind-boggling – first there was the hand-holding at Godric's, then he'd given her his own blood to make sure she would survive her wounds from the blast. And now he'd not only given up his own bed so he could watch over her while she healed as well as ordered food for her to eat upon waking up. The way he was behaving now reminded her very much of how he had been when they were still dating, which was a very pleasant but unexpected surprise – it had been so long since she'd seen his nurturing side that she'd almost forgotten that he even had one. He'd even gone out of his way to clean her up, as she was certain she would otherwise be covered in blood right now from her extensive wounds.

Paige took her time eating, watching Eric's peaceful face the entire time as he slept. Then, once she was finished with her breakfast, she leaned over to set the plate off to the side, lifting up the bowl of silver to stack it on top of the plate. She paused and frowned when she looked at the bloody silver, however – she didn't seen any tweezers or anything of that sort, which meant Eric must have pulled it from her body with his own fingers whenever her wounds were healing and pushing the silver out. Paige immediately wanted to grab his hands and kiss his fingertips, sure he had hurt himself a little while tending to her, but managed to hold off.

Deciding she needed to get out of there before she did something she knew would get her into trouble, Paige slid out of from underneath the sheets, moving slow so as not to wake Eric. Godric had told her to wait for Eric to come to her, not to jump on Eric like a cat in heat because she couldn't control her hormones – it definitely seemed as though the time had come for her to return to her room before said hormones finally got the better of her and she wasn't able to keep her hands to herself anymore. She stood from the bed, watching as Eric turned towards the spot she'd just been in and flung his hand out to rest on the mattress, then turned and searched the room quickly for something to put on her legs so she wouldn't be walking the halls of the hotel in just one of Eric's shirts.

Finally, after locating a pair of boxers that she had to roll up several times at the waist to make them stay put, she padded quietly toward the door. Eric was shifting around in bed, his hand grazing along the side of the mattress she had been on as though searching for her – it was everything in her not to get back and bed and let him wrap those strong arms around her as he had done so many times in the past.

Paige finally opened the door and slipped out, casting one last glance in Eric's direction as she went – luckily, he didn't wake up. Paige made sure to shut the door quietly, not wanting to make too much noise, and was very proud of herself when the door closed without making a sound.

"There you are!"

Paige jumped and let out a squeak of surprise, whirling around to face the person that had just spoken to her. It was Jason Stackhouse himself, and currently he was standing just outside the hotel room Sookie and Bill were staying in while Sookie herself loitered in the open doorway. Both looked relieved to see Paige awake and on her feet again.

"Oh, hey guys." Paige said, crossing her arms over her chest and suddenly feeling very self-conscious about her attire. It didn't help when both Sookie and Jason looked her up and down before sharing a meaningful look with each other. "I'm glad to see you're both okay." She said, hoping conversation would distract them from the fact that she was wearing Eric's clothes.

"We're glad to see that you're okay." Sookie said in return, finally moving forward so she could wrap Paige up in a hug – Paige returned the gesture, patting the blonde on the back until she released her. "Everyone was really worried about you, honey. If you hadn't drank some'a Eric's blood, well…I don't know that we'd be standin' here havin' this conversation." She went on to say with a cringe. "Eric was so beside himself he wouldn't even let anyone near you. After he gave you his blood he just snatched you right up an' brought you back here. Even Godric couldn't talk any sense into him."

Paige couldn't help it – her heart soared at hearing how worried for her Eric had been. She tried to fight back a smile but found that she couldn't. As pessimistic as she had been about the possibility of her and Eric rekindling their romance, she had to admit that things were definitely starting to look up.

"So what's goin' on with you two, huh?" Sookie asked with a knowing smile, eyebrows wagging a bit. "Are you workin' it out?"

"I don't know yet." Paige answered honestly.

"Well, ya'll were in his room – alone – for a really long time…" Sookie trailed off suggestively.

Paige just shot her a flat look. "Sookie, I was not only unconscious, but I was also cut and bleeding all night long – not exactly the most romantic circumstances."

"Depends on who ya talk to." Jason piped up. "Vampires do kinda have a hard-on for blood." He then reminded them. Both Paige and Sookie just looked at him flatly, unimpressed with his choice of wording. Jason frowned and glanced back and forth between them. "What?" He asked with a clueless expression. The girls decided to ignore him, which only made him more confused.

"Anyway, all Eric did was take care of me and then order me breakfast, nothing more." She stressed. Sookie didn't look entirely convinced and smirked at her, but didn't pry any further. "I was just headed back to my room to take a proper shower," Paige continued, changing the subjet, "Do you know if Gary is there?"

"Gary?" Jason asked in confusion.

Again, they ignored his interjection. "Yeah, he's there alright." Sookie said with raised eyebrows. "It was all I could do to keep him from tearing Eric's door down to come check on you – when we finally got back to the hotel we found him yellin' at Eric through the door demandin' to see you. Apparently he'd seen Eric carrying you into his room all bloodied up an' damn near had a heart attack."

Paige cringed, feeling horrible for making Gary worry so much. "I should probably go find him then, ease his worries." She mused aloud, gazing in the general direction of her room for a second. "Ya'll goin' to that meeting tonight with Nan Flanagan?"

"Oh yeah." Sookie said with a nod and wide eyes. "Don't think there's any gettin' outta that one."

Paige sighed and rubbed her forehead, just imaging what kind of a tongue lashing they were in store for. "Well, I'm gonna get going. That shower's calling my name." She announced, ready to have her first shower in three days. "I'll see you later, alright?"

Sookie said her goodbye and then disappeared into her room, but Jason quickly moved to walk with Paige. "Here, I'll walk with you." He offered with a wide grin, throwing an arm around her shoulders. "It's dangerous for a scantily clad fox to be just walkin' around – that's bound'a stir up some problems around here." He added with a wink.

Paige rolled her eyes but couldn't help cracking a smile regardless. Leave it to Jason to still flirt with her after Eric had practically threatened to rip off all of his limbs if he so much as dared to touch her. "It's just around the corner." Paige pointed out to him.

"Don't matter." Jason said, "Still better to be safe than sorry, right?"

Paige laughed then reached up to pat the hand he had on her shoulder. "I really am glad to see that you and Sookie are fine." Paige said as they turned the corner and headed in the direction of her room. "We're lucky there weren't more casualties – as soon as I saw that guy I knew we were in trouble."

"Yeah, me too." Jason admitted with a nod. "Luke was…well, he was a little out there." He went on to say. "I was really worried about you, ya know." Jason then told her, pulling a smile from her. "You were lookin' pretty bad back at Godric's. I'd ask just what the hell was goin' through your mind when you decided to jump in front of that vamp, but I think I already know the answer to that one." He said as an afterthought, shooting her a pointed look.

Paige blushed then shrugged at him. "Love makes you do crazy things, right?"

"You can say that again." Jason agreed with a dramatic nod. They reached her door a few second later and came to a halt. Jason removed his arm from around her shoulder before running a hand through his blonde hair. "So I was thinkin' – you should come an' visit sometime." He suggested with a friendly smile. "I figure you'll be comin' around anyway 'ta see Eric and Bon Temps ain't really that far from Shreveport. I know Sookie would love to have you there, too. She like ya a lot."

Paige smiled and nodded, keen on the idea already. "Yeah, sure – that sounds nice." Jason immediately look pleased. "So, you plannin' to leave already? Ready to get as far away from Dallas as you can?" She asked with a knowing smirk. After his stint with the crazies at the Fellowship, she could imagine he was ready to get back to his normal life.

"Oh yeah, more than ready." Jason agreed with a snort. "If that meetin' wasn't happenin' tonight we'd be leavin' now. We'll be leavin' in the mornin' instead." Paige nodded her understanding. "Well, I'll leave ya to it." Jason said while reaching into his pocket to produce a cell phone. "Lemme get your number though so we can start plannin' your visit."

Paige gave him her number, watching as he typed it in, then told him to shoot her a text so she could get his. "Thanks for the escort." She said, knocking on the door to get Gary's attention since she didn't have her room key with her.

"No problem." Jason said. "And hey, one more thing?" When Paige looked to him expectantly, he pulled a face and rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "Think you can talk'ta your boyfriend an' make 'im hate me a little less? That guy scares the shit outta me."

Paige just laughed, listening as footsteps approached the door from the other side. "I'll see what I can do." She reassured him just as Gary jerked open the door.

Her partner heaved a massive sigh of relief the second he saw her. "Oh, thank God you're alright." Gary said, immediately wrapping his arms around her and hugging her so tightly that she thought might pass out from lack of air.

"Gary…" She wheezed. "Must…have air! You're killing me, here!" She managed to gasp out jokingly until he released her.

Jason made up an excuse to leave and give them some privacy, so after saying their goodbyes he wandered back the way they'd come and Paige walked into the hotel room. Though Gary had yet to give her an earful about her going into the church solo, he didn't come out with it yet and he didn't seem as angry with her now – he only looked relieved that she was alive, in one piece, and functioning again. "God, P-Col, I've been going out of my mind." He said, watching as she went to grab a change of clothes and her bag of toiletries. "When I saw Eric carrying you into his room…" He trailed of and shook his head, the look on his face letting her know exactly how distraught he'd been. "You might have to apologize to him for me – I said some pretty rude stuff when he wouldn't let me see you."

"I'm sure he knows you were just worried." She said with a gentle smile. "You hear about Nan Flanagan comin' in tonight?"

"Oh yeah." Gary confirmed with a meaningful look. "She made sure everyone knows she's comin' and that she is not a happy camper – meeting's set to start around five in the morning."

"Five in the morning?" She repeated with a heavy sigh. Gary just shrugged at her silently as though saying, 'that's vampires for ya'. "Great." Paige said sarcastically. The more she heard about this upcoming meeting, the less thrilled she was to attend it.

"You smell like blood, by the way." He told her, pulling a face. "And you're wearing mean's clothes, just in case you didn't know."

"Am I?" Paige asked sardonically.

Gary just smirked. "So what's goin' on there?" He asked outright, looking genuinely curious. "Last I heard you and Eric couldn't be in the same room, now it seems like you guys are attached at the hip."

Paige's thoughts immediately turned back to Eric and their last few interactions. Though a small smile formed on her lips, she just shrugged in response. "That's still yet to be seen." She told him truthfully. "He finally let me explain myself and tell him why I did the things I did, though." She added with a nod. "So I guess that's a step in the right direction."

"And?" Gary prompted.

Paige pursed her toyed with the clothes in her hands. "He was…surprised, to say the least. He definitely wasn't expecting to hear what I had to say." Paige shrugged again. "I'm just giving it time and letting him come to me when he's ready, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much, you know?"

Gary nodded in understanding. "I get it." He said, ruffling her hair. Then he pulled a face and wiped his hand on the leg of his pants. "Seriously, though…you need a shower something fierce." He just laughed when Paige swatted at him and then stalked past, heading for the bathroom. "You know," Gary piped up, making her pause and turn to face him again. There was a surprisingly stern look in his eyes now. "I should probably be really mad at you after that fiasco with the Fellowship and then you going and trying to get yourself killed in the name of love or whatever…but honestly, I'm just glad to see my friend alive." He said with a gentle smile. "I kinda need ya, Collins. You're my partner in crime, remember?"

"I remember." Paige said with a nod a smile, touched by his words.

Gary paused and then smiled. "Love ya like a sister, P-Col." He told her sincerely.

She actually felt a little choked up and cleared her throat in an attempt to mask her shift in emotion. "Geez, Gare – no need to get emotional on me." She joked before heading into the bathroom – Paige hesitated before shutting the door though and offered a warm smile. "Love you like a brother, though, ya big lug." She said last-minute, wanting him to know that the feeling was returned. The last thing she saw was Gary grinning widely before she shut the door.

After taking off Eric's clothes and folding them with care, Paige turned on the shower to scalding hot and then stepped under the stream. She sighed contentedly as the water hit her skin, washing away all the blood, grime, and chaos of the past few days, making her feel like her normal self again.

As to be expected, as she started shampooing her hair her thoughts eventually drifted back to Eric, as had been the case more often than not over the past few days. It was strange to think that things could be taking a turn for the better now when only a few days ago she had been sure that he would hate her for as long as he lived – had anyone told her a few months ago that Eric Northman would be back in her life, taking care of her again, and even possibly be open to the idea of fixing their problems, she surely would have laughed and called said person a complete idiot. But, she remembered with a smile, it was no laughing matter now. She and Eric had finally cleared the air a bit and she was starting to see the old him, the one that she had fallen madly in love with and whom she wanted to spend the rest of her life with.

Paige sighed, feeling a sense of impatience. She wanted it to be night time so she could see Eric again and finally hear whatever it was that he'd been trying to tell her since last night, hoping the conversation would be a turning point in their relationship. But unfortunately she still had a while to wait and a meeting with one of the bitchiest vampires around to get through before that could happen. You can make it a little longer, Paige chided herself internally. After all, she'd waited nearly a year and half to finally tell her side of the story, what was another couple of hours?

She just had to hope now that Nan Flanagan didn't end up killing them all at that meeting tonight. If there was anything that could put a damper on things and effectively ruin any chances of she and Eric getting back together, being murdered by a majorly pissed off vampire with serious power and resources was definitely it.

A/N: Review!