Sookie's POV:

"So, Sookeh, how have you been handlin' the limelight?" Bill Compton asks me with his overexaggerated Southern accent. He claimed to be from Louisiana and had ancestors from my area. The more bullshit he talked, the less I believed from him. I had the displeasure of sitting next to him at the dinner table. I wasn't sure how I ended up here, Alcide knew how I felt about Compton, but from the looks of it, it didn't seem to bother him as he continued to talk to Chow, a Hollywood film producer. This dinner only had members of Alcide's team as well as Bill Compton, Chow, an assistant named Lochlan Maddix, and Debbie Pelt. I was glad that Jason and Tara were here as well. I wasn't sure where Pam and Amelia were this evening. I assumed they made their own dinner plans.

"Just fine thanks," I reply, giving him my fake smile.

I look down the other side of the table at Debbie Pelt, who kept on giving looks at Alcide while trying to look like she was paying attention to what her dinner companion, Lachlan, was saying to her. This was the first time I had met her, granted I saw pictures of her in the past. She was pretty, but seemed uptight and snobby. She had black hair that was styled in a weird asymmetrical way that I'm sure was expensive but looked stupid to me. She also wore an asymmetrical black satin dress that matched her dark eyes.

She catches me looking at her and gives me a glare. In turn I give her a smile. Like my Gran always said, it's better to kill them with kindness.

"Do you think Alcide will come away with the big win?" Bill asks me, trying to continue to carry a conversation with me. I would have rather carried on a conversation with a plant than conversing with Bill Compton furthermore.

"He was brilliant in the movie," I comment. "I'm sure he will get lots of votes from the Academy."

"Oh, so that's your stance?" he says with a curious eyebrow. "You think someone else has a better chance at winning?"

The whole dinner table is silent. I look around to see the rest of the people at the table waiting for my answer, including Alcide.

"I didn't say that," I answer as I grab my glass and take a sip of my water. "I'm just saying that I'm sure he will receive a lot of votes."

"You think Eric can beat Alcide?" Debbie says in a snarky tone.

I bite my tongue. "I don't know, honestly. I'm not quite familiar with the industry or who they will vote for. Nobody knows."

"Oh, well that's not a positive answer, you sure aren't acting like the supportive fiancé," she snips as she takes a sip of her wine.

"Now, you just wait a minute, Sookie has been nothing but supportive," Jason chimes in.

"Sookie is on Alcide's side," Tara adds. "Just who the hell do you think you are?"

I give Tara a knowing look. Tara had always been very outspoken. But sometimes, in rare cases, it caused conflict and did more harm than good. I was beginning to think this would be one of those times.

"Who the fuck are you?!" Debbie yells out angrily.

They begin raising their voices at each other, before Russell steps in. "Ladies! Please! Remember to act with decorum in this fine establishment. Now I know that you are merely defending your friend, Miss Thornton. And Ms. Pelt, remember that you are an invited guest here. It is not polite to create conflict."

"Tell that to those bitches," she huffs as she rises from her seat and walks out of the dining room.

"Pardon me, ladies, I hope you will accept my apology on behalf of Ms. Pelt," Bill says to me and Tara.

I look over at Tara who was still spewing, and I give her a comforting look. I then look over at Alcide, who seemed mighty fascinated with his bowl of soup. He didn't look up at me once, nor had any emotion on his face.

We get through the rest of the dinner in an uncomfortable mood.

Afterwards, the dinner group heads to the lounge to enjoy refreshments and music. A small band begins to entertain us with music, even though there was only a few of us here. Soon after, Pam, Amelia, Freyda and a few other people join us.

"Hello Sookie," Amelia says as she and Pam come to see me. I greet her back with a hug.

"Sookie, you are looking quite delectable this evening," Pam says as she takes in my dress.

"Thanks Pam," I smile back.

"So, I heard that the bitch is here. What are the chances that she would end up on this island in the middle of nowhere with us?" Pam says in a low tone.

I pretty much knew who she was referring to. I reply with a small nod and take a sip of my champagne.

"You have nothing to worry about," Pam says. "You're hundred times better than she is. I have no idea what Alcide saw in her and why he stayed with her for so many years. Maybe she had a magical pussy or something. I'm convinced she had him under some spell."

I smile back and giggle a little. "I'm not worried. I mean, Alcide has told me a lot about her over the past several months, and none of it was good."

We continue to chit-chat before I go to join Alcide by the balcony. He was talking to Bill Compton now.

"So, I think we have a deal," Bill says to Alcide before reading out his hand to Alcide to shake it.

Alcide shakes his hand right away and smiles at him.

"What's going on?" I ask with an uncertain smile as I look between Alcide and Bill.

"Oh, just giving Alcide some reassurance about our next film," Bill says as he leers at me. I suddenly feel uncomfortable.

"Your next film?" I ask feeling perplexed.

"Alcide and I are going to be working on another project together. We will be going back to Bon Temps to film another movie," he says. "Alcide said that would make you happy."

I plaster on my crazy Sookie smile. I was happy alright, but I was not happy about having to be near Bill Compton again.

"Oh, uhhh, Alcide can I talk to you privately?" I say, gritting through my teeth.

I head out of the room and towards the foyer, followed by Alcide.

"When were you going to tell me this?" I ask as I turn to face him.

He gives me a frustrated expression before sighing. "Look, I was going to tell you later on tonight at the villa. I know that you wanted to stay close to home and my agent said Bill wanted to make another movie in Bon Temps and that he wanted me to star in it. Instead of going to Japan, I will be working close to where you want to be."

I sigh too, "I….. I'm glad that you're thinking about me, but you know how I feel about Compton! He's gross and I hate the dirty looks that he gives me. I feel like I need to take a shower every time he looks and talks to me.

"Come on, Sookie, you're over exaggerating," he says becoming increasingly frustrated.

"I thought you understood that Alcide, I explained this all to you before and you let me know that you understood," I say to him.

"What do you expect me to do about it?! This is how the business is! I don't have a say in who the studios hire to direct movies. Yes, Bill Compton might be a piece of shit, but he's a damn good director and he knows what he's doing," Alcide responds with a bit of irritation in his tone.

I stare at him, confused. Was this the same man who pledged to make me happy and to make me feel safe and comfortable for the rest of my life?

"I…. I don't know what to say Alcide," I tell him. I really didn't know what to say. I was dumbfounded, yet again. Not only had we not resolved our other conflict, but now new things were being added on that pile that was creating tension between us. And I still hadn't addressed this whole Debbie thing with him. I wasn't sure if it was a good idea now to bring her up.

"I'm going to bed," I say to him suddenly feeling tired.

"Yeah, I think you should just sleep on it for now," he responds quickly. "I'll join you later. I need to talk to my management team and to the producer still."

He gives me a quick peck on my forehead, before heading back to the lounge.

I watch him, feeling dumbfounded still. After he is gone from my vision, I head back to the villa. I take my dress off and wash my face and brush my teeth. I put on my shorts and tank top and head to the bedroom. I stare at the king size bed. It was at that moment, that I realized how lonely and huge king size beds were, especially when you were heading to the bed all alone. I pull the covers off and climb into it. I pull the comforter over me and turn off the bedside lamp. I stare at the ceiling for several minutes, still pondering this whole evening. I couldn't believe that Alcide had basically just brushed me off.

I continue to toss and turn, before yelping out in frustration. I wasn't tired anymore and I knew I wasn't going to fall asleep anytime soon. I get out of the bed, turn the lamp on, and rummage through my suitcase for a pair of sweatpants. I find my sneakers and zip up sweater and put those on too. I may as well try and blow off some steam by going for a walk.

I head out into the cool breezy night, towards the beach. I look up at the sky and could see the moon shining from behind the clouds. I vaguely remember reading somewhere that the forecast tonight was possibly a thunderstorm, but I didn't care. It didn't look like it would start anytime soon and I had more than enough time for a brisk walk.

I listen to the waves crash against the shoreline as I continued to walk along the beach. Why was Alcide being this way? Or was it that he was always this way and I didn't notice? Would we be able to overcome our differences? I had thought we were on the same page with what we wanted for our life together, but as time went on, that didn't seem to be the case for a lot of things. Maybe it was me as well. Maybe I wasn't being the most supportive fiancé like what Debbie Pelt had said. Alcide's career was much more important than mine. I had no problem admitting that. But I wanted him to put me first. Perhaps that was asking too much?

I continue to walk at a fast pace. It isn't long before I realize that I had been walking for more than 40 minutes and that I was now on the other side of the island. I look towards the trees and ahead of me. I knew that there had to be trails that led to where the guest villas were located. I continue walking in the same direction that I was going and soon come across streetlights and a lone villa in the distance. I also see a figure walking towards me.

I stop dead in my tracks, suddenly feeling scared. I was on a small island in the middle of the sea across the world from where I came from. I had no clue who this person was that was approaching quickly. I spin around and begin walking briskly away before the stranger calls out to me.

"Sookie?" the male voice calls out to me.

I breathe a sigh of relief. It was Eric's voice.

I turn around. "Oh Eric, I'm glad that it's you."

He gives me a dazzling smile that warms me up inside and also gives me butterflies. I could never get enough of his gorgeous smile as well as his handsome features. He looked a little disheveled, but he also looked well-rested.

He walks up closer to me and looks behind me. "You're out here alone?"

I nod my head. "I needed to take a walk and to get away from the others."

"Huh….," he says as he gives me a silent nod. "I think a storm is brewing."

"Yeah, sure looks that way," I respond.

We stand there silently for several seconds.

"Eric," I say as he says "Sookie,"

We both laugh nervously for speaking at the same.

"You go ahead," he says to me before giving me another one of his swoon worthy smiles.

"Umm…." I stammer almost losing my train of thought. "What I was going to say was.. I wanted to apologize. For my behavior on the boat, I mean yacht. I shouldn't have gotten angry and said those things to you. I was out of line."

He rubs the stubble on his chin with his fingers and gazes out towards the shoreline with a smoldering look on his face. Oh my god, why did he have to be so darn sexy?

"There's no need for an apology, Sookie. What you said, wasn't out of line," he responds.

"So why haven't you been around?" I ask him. Maybe I was being out of line now, it wasn't any of my business but I wanted to know.

"I…., I'm trying to figure things out. Trying to figure out what direction I want to go in," he answers. "I mean I know there's a lot of things and people that are depending on me, but at the same time, I'm trying to figure out what will make me happy."

"Oh," I say. I wasn't sure how else to respond to that. I didn't want to give him my opinions on how he should live his life. Noone should tell another person how to live their life. "Whatever options you choose Eric, I'm sure will be the right ones."

"Thanks," he says to me.

I start shivering a little. It was cool out here despite a storm brewing.

"Oh, excuse me," he says. "A few days of isolation almost made me forget my manners. Did you want to come to my villa for a drink and to warm up?"

"Ahhhh….," I stammer. The answer was obviously no. There was no way that Alcide would approve of me going to Eric's villa, in the middle of the night, with just the two of us in there. If it were the other way around, I would be pissed. "I should get back, but thank you for the invitation."

"Okay, but did you want to sit by the firepit? I made some hot cocoa," Eric says with his eyes twinkling in the night.

I look over to his villa and could see a small fire going near the beach. Maybe a small cup of hot cocoa wouldn't hurt, and besides it could be just the thing I needed to help me get some sleep.

"Sure," I say.

We walk towards the fire pit silently. There were a couple lawn chairs there as well as some smores and a kettle, along with a couple cups on the table.

"Were you expecting company," I giggle a little as I look at the setup.

He laughs. "No actually, I wasn't. I just had this thought earlier, that it would be a waste of a night to be heading to bed early again for the second straight time. I remember as a kid, my mother would make me hot cocoa and smores on some weekends. It was a great time and it was usually just the two of us. My dad was always busy with work or his friends. We would make a fire outside our house in Stockholm and we would just eat and drink cocoa by the fire. We would sit and laugh for hours. I guess I brought all of this out in her memory."

"Oh, that's so sweet. Your mother must have been a lovely woman," I answer sincerely.

"Yes, she was. You remind me of her," Eric says.

I start blushing.

"No, I mean you both have the same temperament," Eric adds. "She was kind, honest, thoughtful, generous, and just had a great zest for life. She had a few friends that she was very close with and protective of. She was fiercely loyal, which probably explains why she stayed with my dad, even though he made her unhappy most days."

"I'm sorry Eric," I say.

"No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't be bringing that up right now," he says as he pulls the hood of his gray sweater over his head. He was wearing navy shorts and sandals.

We sit down and talk for a bit. It didn't take us long to become comfortable with each other again as we continue to talk and share jokes.

After awhile, the wind begins picking up and the sounds of thunder start rumbling around us.

"Uh oh, the storm," I say. "I should get going before it gets worse."

Eric nods his head. "I'll walk you back."

Again, I knew Alcide wouldn't be too happy if I came back to our villa, soaking wet, with Eric beside me. "No, that's okay, Eric. I will be fine."

"No Sookie, it's pretty dark and I want to make sure you get back safely," he says.

I didn't want to bother wasting time arguing with him so I agree. "Okay, you can walk me up lodge. I should be fine to get back to my villa, it's only a few minutes from it."

We start walking on the path that led to the main area of the island where the villas and the lodge were. The thunder becomes louder and a few drops of rain begin to trickle down. We start walking more quickly and even begin jogging.

Soon, the rain becomes heavier as we sprint the rest of the way to the lodge. All the lights in the windows were dark. I was guessing they shut down for the rest of the night. The wind continued to howl as the rain fell much more heavily.

"I guess this is it!" I say a little loud.

Eric stands close in front of me. "Are you sure you will be ok?"

I breathe a little bit more deeper. I nod my head. "Will you be okay? The storm is wicked."

"I'll be fine, Sookie," he says in a reassuring voice.

"Okay, I guess this is goodnight," I say as I wipe the wetness from my eyes and face.

He reaches out and pulls a strand of wet hair from my face and tucks it behind my ear.

"Goodnight Sookie," he says.

I take a large gulp as I watch him run off into the night. I was sure his long legs would get him back to his villa safely.

I take one last breath before making my way back to the villa. I was sure Alcide would be worried about me. I begin feeling guilty already.

I continue to walk before I hear the sounds of two people, a man and a woman arguing. The voices get clearer as I continue to walk. Instead of going in the direction of my villa, I head towards the sounds of the voices because one of them was familiar to me. I walk to the beach and follow the voices. I stop dead in my tracks as I find the source. It was Alcide and Debbie. They were standing in front of the covered balcony of one of the villas. This wasn't ours, but I can only assume it was Debbie's.

They continue arguing loudly at each other, basically they were at each other's throats. She was flailing her arms as she continued to scream at him, while he had his arms at his sides. I could tell how agitated he was due to the muscles in his arms flexing. He yells at her as loudly as she was at him. I had never seen Alcide like this before. When we fought, he never had shown this height of emotion. It almost looked quite passionate. It isn't long before my assumptions become to fruition.

After a bout of yelling and screaming at each other, they are silent. The look on Alcide's face turns from rage to something else… like yearning. He closes his eyes as she moves closer to him. She puts her hands on his chest and he bends down to put his forehead against hers. They stay in that position for what seemed like forever.

I could not tell you how that made me feel. I try to find the emotions within me, but all I felt was nothing, I was numb as I continued to watch them from my position on the beach. I blink my eyes, trying to will myself to cry or to go confront them. I wanted me to do something, other than just standing there and staring at them.

I didn't feel hurt or betrayed. I didn't feel the same emotions as I did when Eric had betrayed me all those years ago.

I finally find my feet and run towards my villa. I make it in and shut the door behind me. I stand there, waiting for myself to react to what I had just seen, which was my fiancé and his ex-girlfriend together, in her villa.

Still nothing. I take off my wet sneakers and head into the bathroom. I take off my wet clothes and dry my hair with a towel. I think change my tank top to a dry one and put on my shorts again. I head into the bedroom and get back into bed for the second time this night.

I stare at the ceiling, listening to myself breathing evenly.

Oh well, I guess I will deal with this in the mornin'…..