Sookie's POV:

"Come on.." I say in frustration as I try to undo the buttons in the back of my dress. When did I become so helpless that I wasn't able to undo a couple buttons?

"Argh!" I yell out. I walk to my bed and lay on my back and stare at the ceiling.

Marten had taken me back to the penthouse. He did not say anything nor looked at me before taking off and leaving me standing in the elevator alone.

I try to sense his feelings, but there was nothing. Eric's on the other hand, was soooo consuming. There were hundreds of different emotions emulating from him. Right now, the strongest emotion he was feeling was anger, followed by lust. He was extremely horny. Where ever he had been, he obviously did not get any, which was a bit of a relief. At least he hadn't moved on with another, not like me. I let out a huge sigh. I was a hypocrite.

Here I was, wondering if he had cheated on me, when I was laying on a bed in my new fiancé's apartment, wearing his engagement ring and having his blood inside me.

Though I could sense Eric and our bond, it had somewhat weakened. Perhaps, due to the fact, we had not exchanged blood in a long time.

I had to close off both of my connections with him and Marten in order to comprehend my own.

I continue to lay on the bed staring at the ceiling when suddenly I hear a knock on the door.

"Sookie? Could I come in?" Amelia calls out.

"Sure," I say blandly.

"So, this was an interesting night," Amelia says casually.

"Tell me about it," I reply.

Amelia was a loud broadcaster and what she was thinking about was extremely loud right now. She wanted all the juicy details and she wanted to know what I was going to do next.

"Could you help me with my dress? It weighs a ton right now," I ask her.

She helps me take it off and I go to the closet to put on a tank top and sweatpants. I go to the bathroom to wash off the makeup.

When I was done, Amelia was still sitting on the bed waiting for me. Suddenly, Claude pops in the room.

"Oh my god! I heard what happened! I can't believe it Sook! You have two extremely hot men, well hot vampires, chasing you! Which one are you going to go for?!" Claude exclaims loudly.

"Shhhhh can you quiet down please?" I hush to him. "What are you doing here Claude? You know there's like a hundred vampires just right inside this building."

He goes to sit beside Amelia on the bed. I look at my phone to find dozens of messages from a ton of different people. I only respond to Tara and Jason to let them know I was okay and that I would talk to them later.

"I don't know what I am going to do," I sigh as I join them on the bed. "Marten won't talk to me. I have no idea where Eric is and what he is doing right now. Because I went against what I told myself not to do, which is to not get involved with vampire politics, now I find myself knee-deep in that shit. I can't go and see Eric without the authority of the council or Marten. If I do go against them, they could punish Eric."

"God Sookie, you always make a mess out of your life," Claude replies.

"Thanks Claude. You're so helpful," I reply.

"But anyways, I sense the vamps nearby. Toodles, keep me up-to-date on what happens next," Claude says to us, as though my life was some sort of juicy soap opera. He pops away.

"If you want to be with Eric, you need to tell Marten that. He seems like a reasonable guy," Amelia says.

I sigh again. Amelia was right. I needed to talk to him.

I leave my room to go search for him. There were some floors that I had been previously restricted from entering, but a few weeks ago Marten had allowed me access to all floors. I close my eyes and focus on where he could be. I press the number for the floor that I knew he was on. At least he wasn't that mad and didn't leave the building.

The door pings open and I walk down the bare hallways. I could hear someone in one of the rooms. I knock on a door, knowing that he was behind it.

He doesn't respond, so I knock again.

"Marten, we need to talk," I say. "Please let me in."

I continue to hear grunts behind the door and wonder what he was doing.

"It's open," he says.

I peek my head in first as I open it slowly.

He was barefoot and bare-chested, wearing gym pants. He was hitting a punching bag. I look on the floor and see that he had demolished at least twenty bags.

Marten continues to punch the bag as I walk up to him slowly.

"Marten? Please look at me," I plead.

He stops hitting it and pauses before he turns around to look at me.

His dark blonde wavy hair was tousled and the look in his blue-green eyes was a mixture of anger and sadness. I open our bond a bit to see that his feelings were hurt.

"What Sookie?" he says in a frustrated tone.

"I…. We have to talk about what happened," I say. "Eric is alive."

"I am aware of that," he says as he turns around to punch the bag again.

"Marten, please," I say again.

I go in almost vampire like speed to stand in front of him and the punching bag.

"Are you insane? I could've hit you!" he exclaims.

I place my hands on his chest. "Marten."

I look deep into his eyes and could feel a pull. I wasn't sure if it was my sexual frustrations or his or Eric's or of all of us combined, but all that raw sexual tension runs me over like a sudden tidal wave. Marten leans down and kisses me ferociously. I don't stop him as I let my body respond to him. His hands cup my breasts underneath my top.

After a delirious few minutes of losing control, I break away. "Marten, we can't do this."

Oh god, I was like a teenager who couldn't control their overactive libido.

"You know what? You are the most complicated woman I have ever met. This is why I have never wanted to pursue relationships," Marten huffs out in anger.

"I'm sorry Marten but….." I say but he cuts me off.

"What is it that you want Sookie?" he says. "Because your emotions are all over the place. One minute you don't want anything to do with me, then the next I could feel and see your desire for me."

"I want you to let me go," I said. "Yes, I would have married you under different circumstances. In fact, we would be right now if Eric didn't come back. I care about you. I care about you a lot. You are one of the best men I have ever known."

"We are bonded, well almost bonded," Marten says sadly.

"I know," I sigh. "We can break the bond. I have done it before. When I wanted to be with Marius, we went to Brazil to get it severed….."

"Wait, what?" he says in confusion.

Oh shit, I say to myself. I put my hand over my mouth. Just when things were already complicated, I had to make it worse.

"When were you with my Fadir?" he says in a severe tone.

"I wasn't. I was never with your father," I respond quickly. It was technically the truth. In this life we had no prior relationship.

"Your feelings are that you are telling me the truth," Marten says. "But your eyes are telling me different."

"I knew that you were keeping something from me," he seethes. "I want you to tell me the truth."

I had never seen Marten this angry before. He had always been calm, cool and collective, even during battles.

"I met you before," I say to him. "I met you in Stockholm many years ago."

His eyes widen. "You are the woman from that time?"

I sigh. "Yes and no. When I left Stockholm to come home, I don't know why I didn't end up back in my own time. Maybe there was some sort of glitch, I have absolutely no idea. But when I regained my memories after the Hallow incident, my subconscious was transferred to this time, this version of me. I'm still the same girl, but yet I am not. It's like I am a hybrid or something. Memories of my past life and my current life intertwine."

"How did you know my Fadir?" he asks.

I clasp my hands together and begin backing away a bit. I had to tell him the truth.

"Marius was my husband," I tell him. "We were married for almost ten years."

His eyes widen in shock and bewilderment.

"It all makes sense," he says in shock. "Why you woke up near my Fadir's home. Why you seem to be familiar with him, but yet trying to maintain your distance. Why you didn't want me around in Stockholm."

"He doesn't know," I say. "I never told him anything."

"He is not oblivious," Marten snaps back. "He knows."

I run my hand through my hair. Of course, I knew that. I knew Marius very well and how intelligent he was. I was guessing that was the reason he kept his distance from me as well.

We stand still for a few minutes in silence. What was next?

"You said you were married for only ten years, why did it end?" he finally asks.

I give him a brief recap as to what occurred in my time period. I tell him the story as to why I time travelled to Stockholm. He seemed to take it well.

"I will protect my Fadir, he will not die from this disease," he says.

"Yes, I'm sure Alexander will be distributing the vaccine to vampires in the coming years," I comment.

"What happens to me?" he asks.

"Ohhhh…." I say in a somber tone. "What happened to you in my timeline doesn't happen here."

"Now you're causing me alarm," he says.

"Well, if you must know, a few years back you sacrificed yourself for Marius," I respond.

"You mean I die?" he says in shock.

"No, I mean you died," I say exasperatingly. "You died a few years back from now, from this year. Ahhhh it's all so complicated. I hate time travel. I'm never going back in time again."

I take a seat on one of the benches. He comes to sit beside me.

"So, you are my stepmother?" Marten asks.

I look at him and burst out laughing. He starts laughing as well. I laugh so hard at this absurd day. Claude was right, my life was like a soap opera.

"Do you still love my Fadir?" he asks.

I finally start getting myself together and wipe the tears of laughter from my eyes.

"Oh…" I answer and sigh. "I did, I mean I do. I was completely heartbroken after he died. I would've given anything to see him again. And guess what? My dream came true. He's here, alive and well. I hope that's how it will remain for a long time. But, like I said, my life that I have lived with this body is what drives me everyday. It's so hard to explain, but it's like my previous life are like old memories. They will always be a part of me, but it's not who I am anymore."

Marten closes his eyes and goes into what I had referred to as a 'vampire's downtime'.

"You want me to let you go," he finally says.

"Marten, I appreciate everything that you have done for me, I really do," I say. "You helped save my life and I would've spent the rest of my life trying to make you happy. But I love Eric. I have loved him my whole life. I can't change that, nor do I want to."

He continues to look at me before closing his eyes again.

"I have only wanted you to be happy Sookie," he says.

He stands up and hold his hand out to me. "I will let you go."

I let out a huge sigh of relief and take his hand. We continue to hold hands as we walk to the elevator.

"Will it hurt when we break the bond?" he asks.

I laugh lightly. "I don't think so."

We continue to banter as I head back to my room to collect a few things.

I smile happily as I begin to gather my belongings into a bag. I was going to find Eric. I couldn't wait to be with him again. I hold back the tears of joy as I gather all my important information into my purse. When I am done, Marten escorts me down to the street.

"Are you sure you don't want me to give you a ride?" he asks.

"No, I will catch a taxi," I say. "Thank you Marten. I will never forget the kindness you have given me and everything that you have done to bring me joy these past few months."

I kiss him on the cheek and give him one last hug before I reach my hand out to hail a cab. I jump into the cab, not knowing where to go. I knew Eric wasn't in Manhattan, so I ask the driver to take me across the river to New Jersey.

I open up the bond with Eric and send him love, hope, and happiness.

"I'm coming Eric," I whisper as I look out the window.