I pulled into the Fangtasia parking lot just before nine. I had changed my mind half a dozen times since sunset. Twice I almost turned the car around.

I felt something in me uncoil as soon as I arrived. I took that as a sign I'd made the right decision. We Stackhouses didn't run from our problems, we faced them head-on. I would rather know what Andre knew, know the risks, than hide out and wonder.

I was dressed casually in denim shorts, a pale blue t-shirt, and my nikes. So I was glad to see it wasn't too busy. It was a Tuesday after all. Pam was standing just inside the front door, her face expressionless.

"Sookie, you're late." She was wearing a short black latex dress, instead of the usual Elvira-style dress worn by the servers at Fangtasia.

"Hi Pam, you're looking well. Yes, I'm fine thank you for asking." Pam simply raised an eyebrow at that. My nerves and lack of sleep were making me tetchier than usual.

"Yes, my burns are all healed." She ignored the second part of my greeting.

I looked around Fangtasia. I couldn't see anyone from the Queen's retinue, that was a good sign right? In fact, the whole venue looked almost empty. There was Clancy along with a handful of vampires I didn't recognise and three waitresses.

"Eric is in his office." She started toward the back of the building.

"Wait, Pam." She turned toward me. "What exactly am I walking into?"

"Eric's office."

"No, I mean, am I in trouble?"

Pam gave me a wide smile, "Oh Sookie, have you been getting into trouble again? You do keep things interesting." Her English accent was more pronounced today, or maybe it was just that I hadn't seen her for a few weeks. "Whatever it is save it for another day. Eric is in a particularly bad mood."

"So why did he ask to see me?"

"He didn't."

"Pam," I groaned. She just looked at me blankly. "So, why am I here if Eric doesn't want to see me?"

"As I said, Eric's been in a bad mood. And it's starting to affect business," Pam said, eyeing the empty bar meaningfully. "I want you to fix it."

"Fix what?"

"His mood." She said, as though it was obvious. Pam started walking again and I hurried to catch up.

"Wait, so Eric didn't ask me here? You did?"

"Correct."

"Pam," I snapped, grabbing her by the arm. She held up a finger signaling me to be quiet. "What do you mean? What am I meant to do?" I whispered.

Pam rolled her eyes. "I'm sure I don't need to spell that out for you."

"Pam! I'm not having sex with Eric," I whispered furiously.

Pam smirked, "A pity, that would certainly improve his mood. You'll just have to use your imagination."

And then we were at the door to Eric's office. Pam knocked twice then ushered me in first.

Eric was on the phone, a small crease between his eyebrows. He glanced up as we entered and gestured toward the chair across from his desk.

I felt a rush of pleasure looking at him. I supposed that was due to the bond. Although, probably any heterosexual woman felt a rush of pleasure when looking at Eric. He was wearing a maroon t-shirt that hugged his arms nicely and a pair of faded black jeans.

"Certainly, your majesty." He paused, presumably listening to her speak, "I will see to it at once." After a few moments, he set the handset down on the receiver.

He settled back in his chair and looked up at me. "Sookie, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

My mouth went dry. I noticed he was barefoot, which seemed strangely out of character for Eric. A little smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. Oh, brother. I really shouldn't have come.

"Well, Pam called," I glanced over at her. Her face was expressionless. "And it made me wonder how y'all were doing after the convention." It was a lame excuse, and I was sure he saw right through it. I was struck by a moment of inspiration, "Plus, I wanted to check in about my money from Sophie-Anne, I still haven't been paid." The last part was true and I had been wondering about it.

His face remained neutral as he looked at me.

"Pam, leave us," Eric said simply and she disappeared from the room, closing the door behind her. And then it was just Eric and me, staring at one another. Eric rose (and rose, and rose) and stepped around from his desk, before putting out his hand to me. I put my hand in his and he pulled me easily to my feet.

I became very aware of my breathing all of a sudden. The only other sound was the faint bass from the dance floor. Eric leant his face down toward mine and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"I'm glad to see your burns have all healed," I said politely, if a little breathily.

He took a deep breath in, and I realised he was smelling me. He straightened, still holding my hand. "I can still feel the sun burning under my skin sometimes, but that will fade."

I didn't know what to say to that. I gently pulled my hand from his and sat back in my chair.

Eric's presence had ignited a warmth in me. A safety and happiness I hadn't felt since before Rhodes. It was the bond, a fact I was sure would irritate me later. But for now I tried to just enjoy the sensation, it was a reprieve after the last few weeks.

Eric seemed to take my cue and stepped away. To my dismay, he didn't return to his seat. Instead, he leaned against his desk, his legs stretched out so that they almost touched mine. I stared down at the floor, trying to think of what to say. I noticed that Eric had a little scar on his foot, a relic from his days as a human.

"Whatever your reasons, I am glad you are here."

"How's the Queen?" I asked, changing the subject.

"She is not herself," he said steadily. "She was severely injured in the explosion. She lost both her legs and suffered burns. It will take her many months to heal."

"So how's that work, for the kingdom and all?" Knowing vampires I had a feeling she wasn't going to get sick leave.

"That is still being determined. Although, I expect Andre will be more involved in the running of the kingdom while she recovers." A chill went down my spine.

"Andre will be King?"

"Not King. A regent of sorts." Eric watched me thoughtfully. "If you are lucky, he will be too occupied with his new role to pursue you."

"And if I'm not?"

"He will pursue you to bolster the Queen's position," he said softly.

I could always trust Eric to be blunt. I swallowed.

If Bill was here, he would have promised to die before letting Andre hurt me. If I was with amnesiac Eric, he would have vowed to kill Andre. At that thought I felt an unexpected lurch of loss, followed swiftly by regret. Quinn had tried to do just that, and I'd stopped him.

Eric's eyes were wide and blue. "What are you thinking about Sookie? Thoughts are rippling across your face too fast to follow."

I was filled with a sudden anger. "Rippling across the bond you mean," I said bitterly. "Don't think I've forgotten you basically know all my feelings now Eric. You need to know my thoughts too?"

The line of Eric's mouth hardened.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I shouldn't have said that. I'm tired. I didn't mean to take it out on you."

"You should get more sleep."

"Well thank you for pointing that out to me, Eric. And here I thought I should be going to more raves in the woods," I snapped before I could stop myself. Damn me and my Stackhouse temper. The corner of Eric's mouth curved upwards in amusement.

I smiled despite myself. "I shouldn't have come," I said apologetically. "I'm too tired to be good company tonight."

"I will drive you home."

"Eric–" I started.

Eric leaned down and plucked my purse from my hand, he fished out my car keys and tossed the purse back into my lap. "You said so yourself, you are too tired."

There really was no reasoning with him sometimes. Eric helped me to my feet again and opened the door for me, gesturing for me to leave by the employee entrance.

"What about Pam?" I asked. It would be rude not to say goodbye.

"I will tell her you said goodbye when I return, she will understand."

I nodded, suddenly feeling very tired. Eric took my hand as we walked out of the club and toward the car. He ran his thumb absently across my palm. When we got to the car I plodded into the passenger seat, pathetically grateful I didn't have to drive home.

Eric pulled out of the car park without a word.

We drove for a time in silence, through the industrial area of Shreveport, past the suburban houses and onto the highway. I felt too tired to even tell Eric to stick to the speed limit.

"Thank yo–" I started, right at the same time that Eric started to speak. I chuckled and Eric grinned. He gestured for me to go ahead, looking over at me.

"Thank you for driving me home. I appreciate it."

"It is fine," Eric said. We drove in comfortable silence for a few minutes before I remembered he had been about to speak.

"What were you going to say?"

"What I was beginning to say…" He trailed off. That wasn't like Eric.

"What?"

"You saved my life," he said. I turned to look at him, but he was looking straight ahead at the road. "You saved my life and Pam's too."

I shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah, well." Miss Articulate. The silence lengthened until I felt I had to say something else. "We do have the blood tie thing going."

Eric didn't respond for a stretch of time. "That's not why you came to wake me, first of all, the day the hotel blew up," he said. "But we won't talk further about this now. You are tired."

Yes, boss, I said snippily, but this time I only said it to myself. See? I could keep my temper under control…sometimes.

We sat in silence for the rest of the drive. I was enjoying the pleasant sense of peace I felt with Eric. The void of his mind felt like a cool balm to my shields, it was only intermittently interrupted by the drivers of passing cars. The bond felt like a warm glow in my chest. I knew it wasn't real, but for now I was just glad to be feeling better.

Finally, we passed through the streets of Bon Temps and turned onto Hummingbird Road. He parked in the spot I normally parked, out by the back porch. My shields were down and I could tell no one was home.

Eric leaned over to unbuckle my seatbelt (to my astonishment), and as he straightened he kissed me again, this time on the mouth. His bright blue eyes blazed out of his white face. "Eric," I said warningly. He looked as if a whole story was on the tip of his tongue. But then he swallowed it back and unfolded himself from the car to walk around to my side to open the door for me. Maybe I wasn't the only one this blood bond worked on, huh?

I took a moment to collect myself. It was a chaste kiss, as far as Eric's go, but I'd still felt it in my toes, as well as a few other places. It had been too long since I'd seen Quinn. Still, I couldn't go kissing random men every time I hadn't seen my boyfriend in a few weeks.

I rose from the car and Eric walked me to my back porch. I noticed he was still barefoot.

"Eric! Where are your shoes?" I laughed. "You look like a country bumpkin, barefoot in the dirt like that."

His eyebrows rose. "A what?"

"You know, a yokel, a hillbilly." I grinned.

"Ahh, a hick from bumfuck nowhere? As Pam would say."

"Pretty much."

Eric grinned and wiggled his toes for my benefit. I laughed. A few strands of hair had fallen in front of his face and he smiled at me, seemingly delighted with my amusement. He looked handsome and almost boyish. It reminded of another night, with another barefoot, messy Eric. I felt a pang of loss. That was not Eric, I reminded myself. Not really.

"I'm still dating Quinn," I blurted out.

The real Eric looked at me curiously. "And how long has it been since you've seen him?" His tone was matter-of-fact, but not unkind.

"Since Rhodes, but he's coming to visit at the end of the week."

"I see." Eric looked past me to the house, with an unreadable expression.

"Thank you for driving me home."

Eric's eyes flicked to me. "If you like, I have a few ideas for how you could thank me properly," he grinned and waggled his eyebrows. "You could start by inviting me in."

I rolled my eyes, relieved to have the mood shift into more familiar territory. "Wouldn't you just lurve that," I teased.

"I would."

"Goodnight Eric."

"Goodnight Sookie." I was closing the screen door behind me when he spoke again.

"We will need to talk about it at some point." His tone left me in no doubt about what 'it' was. The bond. I closed the door behind me.

Author's note: Some of the above dialogue and interactions are taken directly from Dead to Worse. Credit to CH.