The End

The leaves of the old oak rustle as the cool night air breezes past. Shivering at its coolness, Sookie’s eyes crack open sleepily. Sitting up carefully, she slips her feet into the worn pink slippers and shuffles towards the bedroom window. Her hands touching the top of the window pane as she mentally chides herself for leaving the window open in the beginning of March. That was the thing about nature’s cruel joke, otherwise known as Louisiana’s weather. Only in Louisiana could the temperatures range from nearly ninety to as low as the mid-twenties in just a few short hours.

Her brain registered the other sleeping brains within the house. Glad for the peace in which the nights yet again brought. It had been nearly twenty years since she had known true peace. Looking over her shoulder past her graying hair, she smiled softly at Randy. He was a good man, loving father and devoted husband. She had come to adore him over the years. Their eighteenth wedding anniversary was just a month away and she still was unable to understand how she had become so lucky.

Randy was a dependable man, good job, hard-working, loving, never one for a harsh word and always quick with a ounce of praise. She loved him and after all these years, she considered herself fortunate to have found someone to love her in return.

Eyes returning to gaze out into the night sky, her thoughts begin tumbling back through time. To an age when she had believed it was only with the onset of night, that her future began. Years had passed and yet his name resonated throughout her mind constantly still… Eric.

Sighing, she is overcome with guilt. Here she was, luckier than most and yet she still ached for him. As it had always been, it wasn’t the sexual relationship that she had longed for. Though enjoyable as it had been, she missed the intimacy. The companionship that had come from their relationship. He had been more than a lover to her, he had been her best friend. It was that which she missed most.

How many countless late nights or early mornings had they spent talking. Sometimes about nothing important at all. It was those times she missed most and her heart ached to once again experience one of those chats, even just once.

A tear rolling down her cheek, her now aging face showed the extent of the pain the years of longing had left on her. She loved her life, her husband and their three children. She had always prided herself in being a Christian, but it was that time in which her life was involved with the living undead, that allowed her to come to see more of the gray areas in life.

Her heart ached as she recalled the way they had parted. He had informed her of the Vampire Summit in Europe just a week after her family home had been set on fire. He’d promised to return by Christmas. But soon weeks passed and she began to worry. Confused as to what was keeping him, she made her way to Fangtasia and to the one connection she had access to… Pam.

She hadn’t meant to surprise Pam, in fact, she wasn’t sure it was possible. Normally poised, Sookie was surprised to see Pam’s face fall into a pained grimace at the sight of her. It was there, after ushering Sookie into her office in the back, that Pam informed her that all was loss. Ordered to cut all ties with her, Eric would never return. Not to Sookie,..

Angered and confused, she lashed out at Pam. Accusing her of lying, proclaiming he would never listen to the collective and abandon her.  Yet, as the realization of the truth in Pam’s words, Sookie collapsed to her knees, weeping. Weeping for the ache she felt at being betrayed and abandoned, without a word. As they parted ways hours later, the two “almost” friends hugged tightly, both knowing they would never again see each other.

Life had been a blur for Sookie, in the weeks following the news of Eric. Days turned into weeks and soon months had passed into years. Hunter was grown and engaged to a lovely woman from New Orleans. Sookie had been told that after spending several years as Sheriff of Area Five, Pam moved to the west coast. From time to time, Bill and Judith would stop for a visit if they were in the area. Though it was becoming clearer and clearer with each visit, the prospect of seeing Sookie age was making both Vampires uncomfortable.
Closing the window, her eyes scanned the surrounding wooden area, memories of Vampires and Weres fading from her mind as she silently whispered his name… Eric. Determined to no longer allow her past linger, she returns to her spot on the bed. A soft smile on her lips as Randy’s arm wraps around her and closing her eyes. Allowing herself one more night of dreams of the cool blue eyes that once made her heart race…

The wind rustled through his long golden locks as he watched her bedroom window from afar. Even now, after all this time, he was still mesmerized by everything that was Sookie Stackhouse. Time had only enhanced her beauty. Inhaling deeply, he could catch a faint whiff of her scent and it was by his on steel resolve, that he made no attempt closer to the house. Time had passed, she had moved on, but his unbeating heart belonged to Sookie and would forever more be hers alone.

What It's All About

Her eyes drifted down to gaze at the shimmering diamond ring on her finger again. Just the sight of the ring, left her entire face into a glowing smile. She had known Eric was up to something, but she never would have expected him to propose. She had expected to find her home still covered in dust from the contractors and only half finished. Somehow, he had managed to convince them to finish the job in half the time.

She was still uncomfortable with him assisting in helping pay for her repairs. In her eyes, that was her responsibility, but his reasoning did ring true. It was going to be their home and that being said, he had a say in what could be done to it, didn’t he? He only chose the things she had originally wanted when she had hoped the insurance would cover more of the cost. Sighing she knew it was pointless to argue with it. The house was finished and she loved everything about it.

Slamming the trunk door on her car before making her way back into his house to see if she had missed anything. It had been nearly three months since the fire and she finally felt as if she was heading home for good. She always felt selfish and ungrateful at the thought of only “staying” with Eric. But she could never truly feel at home in his house. It was foreign to her. Though it was perfectly suited to Eric’s needs, it didn’t have that familiar homey feeling she always had when she walked through the front door of her family’s old farmhouse.

Placing Midnight in the pet carrier, she whistled for Sky to follow her as she heads back outside. Placing the carrier in the backseat and allowing Sky to occupy the passenger seat.

“Ready to go home, guys?”

Realizing she’s talking to the animals, she laughs as her fingers move to grasp the seat belt. Pulling it tightly across her chest, her eye gaze back to the house she had spent the past several months in. Her heart aching at the fact Eric was still inside, dead to the world until nightfall. It was the one aspect of their relationship that she both loved and hated in equal measure. She enjoyed her time away from him and would never be the type who only spent time with their significant other. Sometimes one just has to get away, even for a few hours. That being said, she hated the idea that she would never see him during the day. It was truly impossible. As much as she loved waking up in his arms, sometimes she wished he could awake at the same time. Their work schedules seemed to always leave much to be desired as well. Sometimes they would go weeks without having a real conversation, just for the simple fact of the conflicts of schedules. She had begun to request Monday evenings off so they could spend one night a week together.

Sighing, she put the key in the ignition, shaking away all the negative feelings as her eyes catch the glint of the sunlight off the ring once more. She loved Eric and while things would never be simple or convenient for them, nothing would change that. He was as much hers and she was his…