SPOV

I close my eyes and angle my head up to the sun, with the way my life has been lately I haven't had much time to really enjoy some good old-fashioned sunshine. I'm sitting at an outside restaurant in Shreveport, waiting for Alcide and, I look down and check my paper for the hundredth time for the information I wrote down, I don't want to get this wrong, and ahh, that's right, Resmend Uberlley. He's the Were's representative on the supernatural council. Now that it's all out in the open and a date for the council meeting and the vote has been set, I'm finally able to plead my case to the guy and hope to lock down yet another vote for our side.

I don't have much information on the guy, none of my vampires really know him personally and Niall apparently is 'above' fraternizing with the commoners. 'Just because he's on the council Sookie doesn't mean he is of royal blood, he was just voted most liked by those beasts'. I mentally roll my eyes at his words and the chuckle that came from Eric when Niall said it.

So all I know about him is the fact that he likes to play by the rules, even to the detriment of his own species. He only cares about what is right, the problem is, apparently, both sides of the other argument can seem right in this situation. So that's where I come in, I have to tell him my case, my point of view, hope that Eric's forced slavery isn't something that can be considered right in his eyes, and hope for the best.

I feel a little relief knowing that we're not relying on this vote to win, that as long as everyone keeps to their word we'll be able to win without it. Still, though, I don't know most of the people that said they'd vote for us so I'd feel much better to have another one. You never know when someone could be bribed or simply could have a change of heart, even if they've given their word. So I'm here, feeling awkward and uneasy, I'm not fond of the fact that Alcide worked it so that he'd be here too, I wish I could focus completely on Resmend and not have to block out all Alcide's thoughts about how he thinks we'd be best if we were together.

I also have to worry about the real possibility that Alcide will spend the whole ride here trying to talk Resmend into voting against whatever would make it easier for Eric and me to be together. Though I haven't told him what the vote was about or why I need this meeting, he quickly guessed that it had something to do with Eric, and he is not happy about that revelation. I take a sip of my sweet tea and look at my wristwatch, I know I came here a little early so I could get a good seat and scope out the place but I feel like I've been sitting here forever.

I close my eyes again and feel deep inside me, no, that's not right, to the place that used to be deep inside me. I'm still getting used to it, the fact that a little part of me will always be inside Eric, that part of me is some of what makes me who I am, it's part of the fairy inside me. Right now it's content, relaxed, and happy with its new home. I love being able to feel myself inside Eric, being able to feel Eric. I can't help but wonder if this is what he felt like when he gave me his blood for the first time, or maybe when we finished our bond completely, either way, I love it and wish Eric was ready to do it again because I couldn't imagine having this feeling, knowing how great it is, then losing it. I hate Lucky Sookie a little more at that realization, and yes, I still know that's probably fucked up and means I'm in need of therapy because she is me, or some version of me anyway.

I'm brought out of my thoughts when I feel the snarls that signal Were's are close about thirty seconds before I hear Alcide's gruff voice, "Sookie!"

I stand up and look for them, and they're not too difficult to spot, they're two tall, buff, hairy, brawny, and handsome men walking straight toward me. Though he's not my favorite person in the world right now I still open my arms wide to him and smile brightly. "Alcide, long time no see," I joke, it's only been a little longer than a week since I have seen him last and asked him if he had the ability to set this meeting up, much shorter than the six months before that last meeting.

He wraps me in his signature bear hug while lifting me up and even spinning me around once or twice. "How are you? You look well, it's nice to see you out in the sun, is it just me or are you not as tan as you usually are."

I don't bother to hide the roll of my eyes, Eric's only been away from Freyda for a little less than a week now, and even if I didn't see the sun once since then, which I have, I wouldn't have lost my tan already. "Real funny, Alcide. You know damn well my tan is as perfect as ever."

"Yeah, well, whatever you say." He scoffed under his breath. Oh, so it was going to be that kind of lunch. He turns to Resmend Uberlley and moves his hand between us, "Sookie, this is Resmend Uberlley, Resmend, this is Sookie Stackhouse."

'Ahh, now I see what all the fuss is about, why everyone in the supernatural world wants a piece of her. A piece of her ass is more like it, and I wouldn't mind having a bite or two myself, fuck she's hot.'

I hold my hand out to him with my signature Crazy Sookie smile, "Nice to meet you."

"Right back at ya, little lady." He says as he shakes my hand. Once he lets go he beats Alcide. To the act of pulling out my chair for me.

"Thank you," I say only because manners dictate it.

"Not a problem. Now, what will we have to drink? I'm thinking about something a little stronger."

I look at the clock and see it's only 2:30 pm. Really? This is the man that literally everyone I spoke to told me about his integrity? The one that only ever votes according to the rules and laws? I don't see it.

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Alcide says giving Resemend a dirty look, but quickly making a smile when the waitress comes over because she sees the rest of my party arrived. "Hey there, can we have whatever's on tap for me and…" he trails off looking to Resmend.

"I'll take a scotch on the rocks and the little lady will have…."

I answer quickly, sure that he's planning to order for me if I don't stop him. Me being in a rush is the only excuse I have for ordering alcohol, I usually like to keep a clear head, especially in matters like this, "I'll have a gin and tonic please."

"No problem I'll be back with your drinks and to take your order soon."

Alcide turns to me, "So Sookie, what have you been up to since I last saw you? I stopped by your house to check up on you and you weren't there. Going by your scent you haven't been there in a few days, maybe a week or more."

"Actually, you've been there about as recently as me."

"What? Why? Where have you been staying? Are you okay? You know you can come to me when you're in trouble, you know you have the pack behind you always."

"I appreciate that Alcide but it's not necessary, actually, you've already helped me with everything I needed by helping me set up this lunch, it's Mr. Uberlley I have to speak to and need help from."

"Please, call me Resmend. What is it I can do ya for Ms. Stackhouse?"

"Well I'm sure being a part of the supernatural council and all you've had a recent date for a vote come across your desk, right?"

His eyes sharpen but he still has a friendly smile on his face. Huh, maybe Alcide didn't tell him anything yet. "Hmm, yes, I can remember something passing my desk, not sure what that vampire business has to do with someone as sweet and as tan as you though." He says, giving me the feeling he's of the same mind as Alcide in the matter of me mixing with vampires. Though at least Alcide knows me enough to have an opinion, this guy either just wants in my pants or isn't fond of crossing species like that. Though if that were the case I'm not sure why he'd be coming onto me.

I decide to dig right in after taking a long sip of my G&T after thanking and smiling at the waitress who gave it to me, "A lot actually. I'm not sure how much information they give you before the actual meeting but the vote is about Eric Northman and his two wives, one he chose, and one he was sold off to by his vile maker."

"Well from what I know about vampires, makers can pretty much do whatever they want with their children."

"While that's mostly true, some things such as marriage are sacred. Plus, his maker has since met the true death and therefore is no longer a factor"

"Okay, but from what I read, his first marriage ended in divorce, both mutually agreeing on it. And I'm still not sure what all of this has to do with you." Resemend says.

"Well, it has a lot to do with me considering I'm his first wife, and divorce is a stretch considering we were forced to do it under threat of death of all my loved ones, and myself. If you knew Eric, you'd know that he'd do anything before letting me get hurt."

Mr. Resmend Uberlley opens his mouth to respond but Alcide lets out a disgusted scoff at my words. I look over at him with my eyebrow quirked in a way reminiscent of Eric himself. "You're lying Sookie, what's worse, I think you're lying to yourself. He put you in danger plenty of times."

"That's just a plain lie Alcide Herveaux, may I remind you that the only reason you and I met was because I was in danger and he bought you to take care of me when he couldn't? Mind you, none of that trouble was because of him and we weren't even together at that point."

"Doesn't matter, you've gotten hurt plenty of times dealing with all that vampire bullshit."

"While that might be true, none of that was Eric's fault, it was my cousin's because she sold me out to the queen and brought me onto the vampire's radar, and from then on Eric did everything he could to keep me safe, including selling himself into slavery for two centuries so that vampires weren't legally able to contact me for the rest of my human life and forcing his progeny to give years of their life so that they could watch over me and keep me safe when he couldn't."

"Alright, alright, I see this here is a touchy subject for you, Alcide, and believe me, I understand. I get why you'd wanna keep someone as bright and full of life as Ms. Stackhouse here away from the vamps but that's not really your choice." I smile at Resmend because of his words and he ignores it, continuing instead. "That being said, it seems to me that you just admitted he chose to go into this new marriage, even if it was just because he wanted to keep you safe."

"No, that was only after we realized there was no way around it, his contract was only supposed to be 100 years but he had another century added, plus a lot of his freedoms and autonomy taken away to make sure I was as safe as possible." I pause and wave my hand in negation, "None of that really even matters, that's not what we're fighting for. We know that our vampire pledging was ended, that we're no longer married in the vampire way."

"Okay, I'm not really sure what you're getting at then. Did you travel out of state and get married in the eyes of the humans? I'm not sure that would outweigh a pledging between a queen and her consort."

"Possibly, although it would hold weight that both of our marriages were done first, and chosen freely. But no, that's not what I'm saying, we're not married in the human way either, we're married in the way of my people."

"Sookie…" Alcide tries to warn me, he knows I worked hard to keep my fairyness quiet and I get why he's confused that I'm just talking about it openly now.

"What do you mean in the ways of your kind?" Resmend inhales, "You smell mostly human, yes, there's something other in you but it's not very noticeable, though that might be because you smell greatly of the vampire." He ends in a growl. God, the Were/ vampire grudge will never not be annoying and seem useless and silly to me.

"I am mostly human, but there's a part of me that's fairy."

"So what? You've given him your light? That doesn't make sense, how'd you even learn how to do such a thing? Not many beings with less than half their blood of the fae even have the ability to do that. Something is not adding up."

"It doesn't matter what percentage of your blood is fae, all that matters is if you're born with the spark or not," I correct him, "My brother and I have both of the same parents and I was the only one born with a spark, the only one born with… abilities, the only one that was wanted and pulled into supernatural bull shit."

"So you were married to him first, in multiple ways but because of a contract his maker signed he was forced to marry someone else. Do you know if the contracts were signed before or after you two were wed?" At least from his thoughts, I know he's moved on from trying to take me for himself and is now onto the logistics and details of the case.

"Appius med with Freyda when he was on his way to Louisiana to come fuck with Eric," At their confused faces I explain without giving too much detail or too much of Eric's private information out, "Yeah, not a great guy, even worse maker. Anyway, that was only a few months before Freyda came for Eric, and we'd already been pledged for a long time before that, years. So yes, we were married before the contracts."

"Okay, well that's in your favor, fortunately. Though I do not think you understand the weight royalty holds in the supernatural world."

"Yeah, that's been made super clear to me recently. Which is why, even though I've distanced myself because I want no part of it I've decided to take my rightful place in my fairy family."

"And that is?" He asks, sounding like he's not a fan of dramatics.

"Well you know my great grandfather, he's on the council with you, Niall Bridgant."

His look changes, I'm not quite sure how, maybe even a little hostility in it, I listen into his brain and it's certainly more snarly than normal, harder to hear and understand. The gist of what I'm getting is more emotions than anything, and from what I can gather, he's not a fan of Gramps.

"Hmm." He eventually says and his upset emotions calm down, "Well that does change things, she no longer has royalty to set her above you, and you were married first in multiple ways, though one was terminated. On the other hand, she had written contracts promising him to her that he eventually signed himself. Although, his signatures were made under duress." He sits forward while thinking the points through, he almost seems excited, and his next words confirm that. "This is one of the most structurally sound cases from both sides I've seen since I've joined. Are there any more details you can give me? Because right now I'm not sure which way I'm leaning."

"Uh, no, not really." I say, that's really all the details there are, oh wait, "Well except for the fact that he wants to be with me. He only went with her because he's an honorable man so he followed the laws and rules of vampires but it wasn't what he wanted, he hated every minute of it. Oh, and she tried to force him to permanently blood bond with him when he was at her compound, I guess he gave so much up in the contracts to make sure I'm safe that it left a lot vague for him, his safety, and autonomy. It's terrible, if he was forced to go back there, he'd survive, he'd hate it, and he never deserves to be someone's sex slave and meat shield, but he'd survive. The problem is, if the council votes for him to go back, she'd force him into a blood bond right away and I'm not sure he'd survive that, a future of being forcibly connected to someone you loathe, someone who owns you, feeling their every emotion just as well as they could feel you, forever. It sounds like torture. What it comes down to is I love Eric and he loves me, we chose each other, and we always will, that's a marriage, whatever business agreement Freyda and Appius made is null and void, he's dead and Eric was left to pick up the pieces, as always. They don't have love, they don't have a marriage, they have a contract. One that our marriage supersedes."

"I see your point Sookie, I can also see how important this is to you, how important this Eric is to you. I'll tell you what, I like you, so if everything you say is the truth, if there are no other factors that you've hidden from me, or that you just plain don't know, I'll side with you. Both sides could be considered correct and true and I have always prided myself on doing what was right, what was the correct and legal way to do things, some grey areas in this specific case could have me seeing both sides of the situation but as I said, if you're being truthful, it'd come down to a judgment call, and I'd be willing to use my judgment to side with you."

I smile brightly, it's not as if he's given me a yes but from what I understand about this guy, I've gotten as close as I'm going to get. I stand up hop over to his side of the table and wrap my arms around him, "Oh, thank you Mr. Uberlley. I really appreciate it, I know Eric will too." I pull back once I realize that hug was probably a little too much, especially with a Were that I just met with their sense of smell. Oh well, at least it will be fun when Eric works hard to get the scent off me. Well, at least after all the possessive growling, oh, unless it's the sexy growls. I sit down back on my chair and clear my throat, "Um yeah, so thanks."

It surprises me when Resmend smiles, he hasn't done anything other than have a completely blank face since he arrived, well other than that leer at the beginning when he was hitting on me. "No problem, Ms. Stackhouse, you seem like a good kind lady who's just fighting for the man she loves. I might not have the same, uh, familial obligations that you do but I understand well enough the burden that comes with taking a more active role in your family and their business, I hope he realizes how lucky he is to have got such a good one."

"Oh, he knows, believe me," I say almost saying more, about how hard he fought for us how much I pushed back, and how he still never gave up but at the last moment, I decide to keep my mouth shut. It probably wouldn't be too smart of me to tell him about how much Lucky Sookie fought the relationship when he's literally judging if our relationship is real and holds more merit than Freyda's does.

We make small talk for the rest of the meal and just as I have the thought that I actually made it through a whole meal with Alcide without him trying to convince me to give him a chance or convince me to stay away from vampires I hear his thoughts start to change gears.

'I gotta talk to her, it's now or never. Apparently, she gave him her light, whatever the fuck that means. If I have a chance to stop her, to save her, to get her away from all those vampires and all that danger I gotta try now.'

I open my mouth to tell him not to bother but don't have the chance because he's speaking before me. "Sookie, I need a minute with you alone, now. It's important. Excuse us Mr. Uberlley, we'll be right back." Resemend holds his hand up signaling he doesn't mind.

Again I start to speak, "Alcide, that isn't—" I don't have the chance to continue because he wraps his hand around my wrist and pulls me up from my chair, if I hadn't just last night had some of Eric's blood I'm positive I'd have made a sound of pain and there'd have been a bruise.

"Alcide, what are you doing? Let go of me, you're hurting me!" I say as he pulls me away from the crowd, I plant my feet and pull my arm away from him. He stops with me and I get my hand back though I know I wouldn't have been able to take it if he didn't let go.

"Sookie, we need to talk."

"No, we really don't. I hear your thoughts, remember? I hear what you're planning on sayin' and trust me when I tell you it's not necessary."

"Sookie, you can't really think Eric is someone that can make you happy, can you? What about kids? You always wanted kids. And what about a life outside of the dark, you're a fucking sun fairy or some shit, aren't you? Don't you need it to keep healthy? It can't be good for you to spend all your time in the dark."

"I thank you for your concern," I start sarcastically, "but it's unnecessary. I have fairies as family members, they know how to help me, and what's best for the fairy in me much more than you do, don't you think? I'm fine, Alcide, I know what I want, and I know what I'm willing to give up for it. So I'd appreciate it if you'd mind your own business." I say with my back straight and take a step back from him and closer to the crowds of the restaurant, "Now, I want to thank you kindly for setting up this meeting for me, it's put my mind at ease but I think I'm about done here so I'm going to head home. It was good seeing you."

I turn and quickly make my way back to the table, I offer Resmend as earnest a smile as I can right now even though I'm working hard not to pitch a fit. "Again, thanks so much, Mr. Uberlley, you don't know how much I appreciate you and your support. I think it's about time I head home now, lunch was delicious, how much do I owe?"

"The pleasure was all mine, here, take my card, call me if you ever need to. And don't worry about lunch it's on Alcide and I."

I smile as I take the card, normally I'd be more willing to fight so that I can pay my share but truthfully I just wanna get away from Alcide, he's lucky Eric's not here, and he's very lucky Eric's blood is quickly healing my hurt wrist or he'd be in a world of trouble right now. "Thanks again," I say as I walk away and make sure to give Alcide a 'stay away from me' look when it seems like he's thinking about following me.

Thankfully, Resmend calls to Alcide getting his attention, though I still make sure to keep my shields down all the way to my car so that I'm sure no one is sneaking up on me. It's a good thing too because I hear some Were's, not the two I've been with all afternoon, and not the two I know Eric hired to watch over me while I was out during the day. No, there are three, sitting in a car far enough away that if I hadn't gotten my most recent burst of fairy power from drinking the fairy Kool-Aid I wouldn't have heard them. They're here for me, looking for an opportunity to snatch me and bring me to Las Vegas. Fucking DeCastro. They've also caught wind of my two bodyguards so they're not going to attempt anything right now, no, they're going to wait for a better opportunity and if that doesn't work they're going to come back with more people so they're sure they won't fail to capture me.

Great, just what I need right now, another fucking thing to worry about. I quickly turn on my car and start driving, it isn't until I'm on the highway and sure that I'm safe that I breathe a sigh of relief, I also take time to give myself a reality check. Things aren't bad right now, it isn't as if I didn't already know that DeCastro was after me and that he wouldn't think twice about snatching me if I gave him the opportunity. So that isn't a new problem, and after the meal I had today, I can finally relax about this stupid vote to keep my husband with me. We already had the majority vote before I came here but now we have a solid 5 out of 7 on the council that said we have their vote. So even if someone changes their mind, we still win.

The more I think about it the more I know we won't really be free until DeCastro is dead and Eric holds the crown. It's just, I know he doesn't want that. I know we can run but what does that really fix? We'll either be stuck living somewhere so remote that there aren't enough vampires to hold their hierarchy, or we'll be somewhere else under another king or queen that could pull the same shit. Then again, Eric seems sure enough that he knows a few places that we can go where he has friends in power, friends that would leave us alone and allow us to do what we want, ugh, I don't know. I shake my head as I take the exit off the highway to the hotel, this same problem and the potential solutions have been going through my head almost nonstop for days now. There's no point in worrying about it right now, I meant what I said to Eric, I'll leave if that's what he wants to do. So really, all there's left for me to do is to wait until he makes his choice on what he wants, and hopefully, maybe he'll even want to talk it through with me. Though I won't get mad if he doesn't, I told him I'll support whatever decision he makes and that's the truth.

I pull into the hotel and listen to Eric's instructions to use the valet, I've had my fair share of bad experiences in parking garages, there's no need to put myself in one alone when people are after me for no reason. I nod at the two Weres that pull up behind me and they nod back, they're the two guards Eric hired. They keep their distance from me but make sure I get to the hotel suite safely so I smile at them before closing and locking every lock on the door. I look at the clock and smile, Eric is going to be up soon.

I go into our bathroom, close the drain on the tub, and start filling it up with hot water, along with some nice scented bubbles. I'm just stepping out of my dress and dipping my toes in the water when Eric vamps up behind me, his nose in my neck, a possessive growl coming from deep in his throat, one hand wrapped around my waist pulling me flush against him, the other cupping my breast using his thumb to flick my nipple, I don't bother to try to stop the breathy moan from leaving me.

The growl continues as he speaks, his voice even deeper than normal "Evening, lover. I don't like my woman spelling of mutt, especially because I can tell they've have their paws on you today." He says as he starts kissing, nibbling, and rubbing himself against me, covering their scent with him.

"Hmm, maybe you should do something about that." I goad. He isn't one to let a challenge go so before I can blink he's all over me, everywhere at once.

I'm not sure how much later it is when I finally catch my breath and come down from yet another orgasm, I do know that water is quickly cooling and soon it'll be uncomfortable. Eric is behind me, his back against the tub, his arms around me and my back leaning on his chest. I'm idly running my finger up and down his arm, I can tell he's content, and not even because of my light inside of him now that lets me feel him, though the feeling is different than when we were blood bonded to each other. No, I know he's content because of the sound he's letting out right now, it's something I can only term a purr, though I'd never tell him that or he'd stop immediately and never do it again. It's cute though, and funny, it isn't easy to stop the giggle that wants to come out of me.

"And what, pray tell, do you find so amusing, Lover?"

"Nothing, I'm just happy."

"Hmm," He says in a tone that makes it clear he knows I'm not telling the whole truth. "So I take it that the meeting went well today?"

"Yeah. Well, I think so anyways. He says as long as everything I told him was the truth and there isn't any other information that maybe hasn't come to light yet, then we have his vote."

"I'll never understand how you so easily wrap these dogs around your fingers. Then again, perhaps I have no room to speak."

"It's called being nice, Eric," I say, brushing over the fact that he's implying some part of my fairyness makes supernaturals drawn to me.

"That is true, though we both know it takes much more than kindness to get wolves on your side."

"What is on the agenda tonight?" I ask changing the subject.

"Pam and Karin are handling their duties tonight, and we already have all of the votes we are able to gather other than the demon on the council but I've reached out and haven't yet heard back. So there is not much else we can do in the way of planning, tomorrow we will move forward with plans on what to do after we win the vote with Freyda."

"Oh, someone is Mr. Confident." I tease.

I feel him smile as he kisses the back of my head, "Mhmm, with you by my side, how could I not? Now since there's not much else to do concerning our current enemies, I suggest tonight we stay in just us and enjoy ourselves." Going by his tone there's no doubt in my mind about what he's planning to do to enjoy our night. Not that I have a problem at all with that.

"I think I could get on board with that," I say while trying to sound flirtatious, hoping I don't sound like an idiot.

"Sookie, there's one task I do wish to complete before the sun rises and takes me to rest."

"And what's that?"

"A second blood exchange."

As soon as I comprehend his words I sit forward and turn to face him. It's so fast the water around us splashes around, some making it out of the tub and onto the tile. Ugh, that's going to bother me until I clean that. I quickly turn my mind back to what's important. "What? I thought you said you didn't want that!"

"I did."

"And you just changed your mind? You were pretty clear about taking it slow, not wanting to tie yourself to me more than necessary. You told me you never wanted to be in that situation again unless it was someone you loved and just two days ago you clearly said you're not sure if you'd ever be able to feel that way about me." I say in one long breath. I feel a tear fall down my cheek, I've been trying to stay strong, to be fair to Eric because I know this is a lot for him but hearing him say that to me, seeing him emotionally keep his distance has been more than hard for me. It's been damn near unbearable and I've been working so hard to hide those feelings from him but I see the moment they all come crashing down on him through his blood in me. He's not one to make facial expressions he doesn't intend to but his eyes open wide and his jaw drops the slightest bit, I see pain, sadness, and maybe even regret in his eyes.

He leans forward closing the distance between us while moving his hands to cup my cheeks and uses his thumb to wipe away my tears. He leans in the final distance and kisses me, not a normal Eric kiss, it isn't passionate, it's slow, affectionate, meant to soothe and I'm not quite sure how to take this change. I mean, I love it, and it makes me happy to feel like he's letting me in but what has changed?

"Sookie, min kära, I'm s-sorry," He doesn't stutter but he does trip over the word as if he's so unused to saying it, as if he's not quite sure if he's pronouncing it correctly. "I did not wish to bring you pain."

"It's okay, I know that wasn't your intention and it might have taken some time for me to realize but I know we look at things with the different dimensions differently than each other. So I get you wanting to take it slow, or not move at all, stay right where we are, maybe forever, I get it. What I don't get is this sudden change of heart. Does the second exchange mean you want to be permanently bonded to me?"

He smirks a smirk that's almost close to a smile, "Dear one, we already are permanently tied together, your light inside me that will always be there seen to that."

"Oh," I'm not sure what else to say. Is he saying he doesn't care enough anymore since we're already stuck together?

"I don't know exactly where that mind of yours is taking you but I can tell by the emotions you're having that you're drawing the wrong conclusions."

"Then tell me already! Because I don't get it, this is completely different than how you were talking just yesterday." An uncomfortable wiggle at the back of my mind is trying to tell me something but I can't think long enough to realize it because Eric starts to speak again.

"You could say I've had some… clarity on the matter. I was being childish," it surprises me when he looks away from me almost embarrassed, "…scared to let you in again. It hur— it wasn't easy to deal with the pain and emotions when the other Sookie didn't fight for us. So I had decided to not put myself into that situation again and the only way I could do that was to keep my distance from you." He resumes his thumb stroking my cheek and turns to look me in the eyes again. "You know what you do to me Sookie, how I…feel about you." His voice stronger now, and his back straight, he continues, "I'm no coward though, so I've decided to stop running from it. I want to be with you, in every way, I want to do our second exchange and soon after our third. You've finally decided to let me in, to be with me as my wife, I will not be the one to run away from that title now."

I'm sure I either look like an idiot or a love-sick dope after he's done talking, I'm sure my eyes are as wide as they possibly can be, I feel the heat on my cheeks so I know I'm blushing something fierce and his jaw drop from earlier is nothing compared to mine now. Once I give myself a second to let all his words sink in I surge forward and kiss him with everything I have in me. I feel the sincerity in his words, and see the love in his eyes, even if he's not quite ready to say it out loud. This is what I've been hoping for since I landed in this dimension that's so much like my own yet so different so I'm not going to let it pass me by.