A/N: Happy Holidays everyone! I hope you had a wonderful holiday and a very Happy New Year.

Thank you to Tynee23, outinritefield1, ciasteczko, Perfecta999, ljhjelm49. Suzymeinen, ashmo2000, LostInSpace33, Nicolle1977, MsNorthman, coven mama, suzyq59, Guest and Shantigal for your wonderful reviews.

Thank you for putting up with the backstory. I am happy to say there are only 5 more. There are a few I would like to write about to make the characters a little more full. I'm guessing this story is going to be between 30-35 chapters.

Also I passed 200 reviews and I can't thank you all enough for your support and putting up with my incredibly sporadic posting.

I edited this myself so I'm sorry if it's shit.

I hope this was worth the wait.

Not even the pain travelling down my arm after punching Bill could distract me from the rage that ran through me. "You stupid motherfucker!" I shouted at him as Alcide wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me away from Bill. Alcide's grip was like a vice as I kicked my legs in Bill's direction, shouting abuse at him. "You're such a selfish bastard!"

Bill didn't expect me to hit him and when I busted his nose he fell to the ground. He was propped up on one elbow looking at his bloodied fingers as he pulled them from his nose.

"Are you all right?" Eric asked walking towards Bill extending his arm to help him up.

Bill took his hand and stood. "Yeah, I'm fine." He confirmed, still wiping his face.

"Good," Eric snarled, punching Bill himself. "How dare you show up here like this as if nothing happened!" Eric shook out his hand and did his best to hide the pain that flitted across his face.

Bill stumbled backwards but didn't fall over, it was almost as if he expected Eric to hit him and then Bill lunged at him.

"Shit!" Alcide muttered as he released me. "Eggs!" He shouted and Eggs came running from where he was standing.

Before I could advance Tara's hand grasped my wrist. "Nope, you are staying right here." She yanked me down onto the couch.

Alcide put himself in between the two fighting men and Eggs pulled Eric away. Eric stopped struggling instantly and stepped away from Eggs, raising his hands in the air like he was surrendering.

Bill, on the other hand, kept fighting against Alcide.

"Bill!" Alcide shouted.

Bill's attention fell on Alcide for the first time and he swung at him connecting with his jaw. I saw a flash of anger pass over Alcide's face and his arm pulled back, the next thing I knew Bill was on the ground holding his face, blood all over his teeth.

A beautiful face that had never been broken.

"You do that again, I'll make sure you don't get up." Alcide threatened walking towards the kitchen mumbling. "Just wanted to make breakfast for my wife and friends but nope..."

I looked over at Bill who pulled himself up and went to sit down on the couch farthest from me and Eric, who had taken a seat beside me.

"Hey Luna, Deb, Eggs and Jesus, I'm sorry but do you think you guys could head out to the pool or go upstairs while we have a band meeting?" Sam asked with a smile.

They all nodded and headed outdoors. I figured they did this so they could still see what was going on.

"Shouldn't that one leave too?" Bill gestured to LaFayette. "He isn't in the band."

"Well, thanks to you, now he is so shut up." Sam barked at him.

All the anger that everyone had been expertly hiding over the past few weeks was bubbling to the surface and it wasn't going to be pretty.

Alcide joined us handing a damp cloth and bandages to Tara and a dish cloth filled with ice to Eric, he kept one for himself and chucked one at Bill. "That's for your face we fucked up."

Bill glared at him venomously and then looked back at me.

I winced when Tara started to clean blood off of my hand. "How did I cut my hand?" I asked almost dazed as she put bandaids over my two split knuckles.

"I don't think you realize how hard you hit him, Sook." Tara said with a smirk as she tossed the bloodied cloth onto the table.

I looked back up at Bill and we sat in silence until Sam had the sense to speak. "So Bill, where've you been?" He asked.

Bill wiped the dry end of the cloth against his nose clearing some of the blood off of his face. "I needed time to re-evaluate things. Some alone time."

"Oh and you couldn't fucking tell us where you were going? We were fucking worried about you! You just disappeared without a trace! We are your business partners, your band members and up until recently your friends!" Eric shouted, his accent coming out. All of ours were in our anger.

"Your partner, your lover." I added with a whisper.

Bill opened and closed his mouth a few times. "I don't know. I don't know what to say. It is what it is." He shrugged.

"Do you even want back in the band?" Tara asked.

Bill shook his head. "I'm going to go solo. It's time."

"Why are you even here then?" LaFayette found the courage to ask.

"How did you even know we were here?" Alcide furthered.

"Russell told me."

"A fucking walking void, he is." I spat through gritted teeth.

"I bet you he told the tabloids we'd be here too." Eric said in frustration. "He told you what club we were going to tonight didn't he?" Eric asked.

Bill nodded.

"You weren't supposed to come here were you? You were supposed to meet us at the club and cause a scene."

Bill nodded.

"But you didn't listen."

"I never do." Bill mumbled looking at his hands. His hair was flopping in front of his face and he looked so young in that moment, like the boy I fell in love with, not the arrogant rock god he had become.

"Russell is fucking out. Sam, please arrange that." Tara said and he gave her a curt nod.

"So that's all you have to say for yourself? It is what it is?" I questioned him, trying to keep my voice steady. "Did you even stop to think about any of us?"

"I never do." He said again with a raise or an eyebrow.

"You're such an asshole! I can't believe it took me this long to figure it out." My hands were trembling. "Why even come here if you had nothing to say for yourself?"

"He wanted to cause trouble, it's been months since something was about him. He craves this drama and we gave it to him." Eric shook his head.

Bill looked at Eric and cocked his head. "You look mighty relaxed Eric, more relaxed than I've seen you in years. I would go even as far as to say you're actually happy. Any reason for that?" Bill gave Eric a nasty smile and narrowed his eyes slightly.

Eric said nothing as he stared daggers at his former best friend.

"Why the fuck are you two leering at each other?" I asked in frustration.

"Remember all those years ago, at Sookie's audition in fact, I said if we let her in the band one day I would get to say I told you so? Do you remember that?" Bill was talking to Eric as if they were the only ones in the room. "Well, I told you so."

"What are you two talking about?" I angled my body towards Eric.

His fists were clenched and his breathing was shallow. "All this drama is something you created, not me, not Sookie, not anyone else, you! You did this!" Eric was standing now and I watched both Alcide and Sam tense.

"It didn't take you very long. What five months? Six? I thought you'd last a little longer than that. I mean what's a few more weeks in comparison to thirteen years?" Bill grinned at Eric and I tried to make sense of what he was saying.

I looked over Eric whose body was rigid, fist clenched and his gaze unwavering. "You gonna stay here?" Was all he said.

Bill nodded. "I feel like I deserve a vacation."

"I'm leaving then." Eric turned lightening quick and disappeared upstairs.

"I don't want to be stuck here with you either." I looked over at Sam. "The number Russell left, where is it?" I asked.

"The fridge," he replied.

"Any of you staying here with him?" I vaguely motioned in Bill's direction.

"No, we might as well leave." Alcide shook his head and shot Bill a disappointed look. "You had to stay away man, that's all."

Bill rolled his eyes.

"I'll arrange our way off the island." Sam got up and walked to the fridge to retrieve the number.

"Seriously, you are all just going to leave?" Bill sounded astonished that none of us were pleased by his return.

"You wanted alone time, you got it." Tara spat as I passed her heading to my room.

It didn't seem fair Bill caused all this uproar and all he would have to endure it a tropical vacation. I wanted to hurt him so he could feel, if only for second, some of the pain he had caused us; the pain he had caused me. "Bill?" I turned back to face him.

He turned to look at me. His face was gorgeous, even through all the blood. He smiled assuming I'd be the one who would comfort him. "Yeah, babe?" He drawled with a wink.

"You were only ever a front man. You don't have the ear and you can't write for shit, I think our time away from you made us realize we were all sick of carrying you." His smugness faded and I knew these words hurt him more than any punch ever could. "I hope you have a good writing team supporting you cause you're gonna need it." I gave him a weak smile. "Good luck with your solo career." I stepped into my room and closed the door on him.

I moved forward into the room forgetting what I needed to do to get out of this house, on a boat and on a plane back home. The term 'home' made me cringe. The place where I kept all my things was no longer my home, it was a shell that housed my failed relationship. I was going to have to sell our condo and then find a new place to live. I was going to live alone for the first time in my whole life. Considering I had such a rough go of it for the first sixteen years of my life, I was annoyed the idea of being independent was such a difficult concept for me.

I found my suitcase and started packing. I did a final sweep to make sure I had everything and went to leave my room. Eric was standing on the other side of my door with his arm in the air like he was about to knock. "Hey, you have everything?" He asked me lowering his arm. His jaw kept clenching and I knew he was still bothered by what Bill had said.

"Yeah, everything except my guitars." I let him take my suitcase and move it towards the back door.

"Sam is going to make sure they are sent back to us. It'll take a day or two but we don't have to worry about them." He was ignoring Bill who was sitting on the couch watching X-Men dubbed in Portuguese with English subtitles. "The boat's here, we need to stay in a hotel tonight but we are all booked on a flight tomorrow."

Bill wasn't looking at us but he was listening. I could tell he was still mad about what I had said. He sat rigidly and there was a tension in his neck. It felt strange but familiar at the same time. Bill had always been there but the feeling in the air was different and I felt a stress in my body from his presence.

Two boats came to accommodate all the stuff we had and we were in Rio and checked in to our hotel in under two hours.

"Do you need anything?" Eric asked me as he dropped off my suitcase at my room.

I shook my head.

"Do you want me to stay?" He asked.

"No, I need to be alone if that's okay." I wandered further into the room that was far too big for the amount of time I would be spending in it. "I'm just going call it an early night so I'm not more of a bitch than I usual am when I travel." I smiled weakly at him and suddenly felt awkward he as there. "You should do the same."

He nodded. "So we are going to spend the night apart?"

"I think that's best." I followed him towards the door and leaned up against the frame.

"Cool," he was still nodding his head, shoving his hands in his pockets. "I'll see you tomorrow, Legs." He smiled but it didn't reach his eyes and I closed the door when he disappeared around the corner.

The whole interaction left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Since the moment Bill had arrived Eric and I went from the best we had ever gotten along to the most awkward. Maybe Eric was right. Maybe we should have discussed what would happen after the island and maybe we should have thought more deeply about what effects it would have on all aspects of our relationship.

I watched TV for most of the day, scribbled lyrics when they popped into my head and wrote riffs when they came to me. I ordered room service and was asleep by 9.

I was awoken around 2 in the morning by pounding at my door. I was naked other than some panties so I grabbed a robe. "Who is it?" I asked cautiously. We all had late night visitors before, stalkers mainly, and we were told explicitly not to open any door for someone we didn't know.

"It's me, Sook." Eric slurred on the other side of the door.

I sighed and opened the door. Eric was sweaty, heavy lidded, reeked of alcohol and was covered in glitter. "What happened to you?" I asked moving out of the way to let him in.

"We went to the club." He moved sloppily towards the bathroom. "They had tequila in little test tubes and I drank a lotta of them." He started stripping and running the shower.

"Oh Eric," I shook my head. "Did everyone else go?"

"Just Alcide, Debbie and I." He was naked now and stepped into the shower.

"You meet any pretty girls there?" I asked, mild jealously at the thought of him with someone else.

He stuck his head out of the shower. "I only have interest in one pretty girl and I'm looking right at her." He winked and I rolled my eyes going back to bed. I drifted in and out of sleep till I felt weight on the bed and then Eric's shower heated skin wrapping around me, pulling me towards him.

We slept. For the first time since we started sleeping together, we actually just slept.

Eric was still asleep when I woke up the next morning. He had shifted during the middle of the night and was on his back, no covers were on him leaving him stark naked. His hair was a mess, his arms were splayed and his mouth was wide open while he snored.

I got up, giggling at how he looked as I quietly moved throughout the room and got dressed. I headed into the sitting room to order room service and all the other things that would be needed to curb Eric's hangover.

He woke up when everything was being delivered and I was relieved he had put his boxers on so he wasn't completely naked.

I tipped the waiter and wheeled the cart over to where Eric was sitting. His hands were over his face and he was making whimpering noises. "I'm the biggest idiot of all the idiots. When do we have to board?" His words were muffled.

"We have to leave in an hour and a half." I took two aspirin and opened a bottle of water. "Take these and drink all of that."

He did as he was told.

"Now drink this Gatorade." I handed him the bottle and then a peeled banana. "These will help your hangover."

He didn't argue with me.

"Are you packed?" I asked lifting the lids of all the food.

He nodded, his head resting on the back of the couch.

"Why did you get so drunk?" I questioned. "Do you want the burger or grilled cheese?"

"Both." He replied sitting up as I put the burger on the table and the grilled cheese in his hand. "And because I was still annoyed at Bill and I thought getting hammered was the easiest was to forget." He paused to eat. "It was also weird between us and I'm worried you'll drift away from me again. I get it if the sex is going to stop but I can't lose you as a friend. I can't."

I bit into the grilled cheese I had ordered myself. "I think we should have talked about what happens after we leave the island. I was stupid to think that it wouldn't be different."

"Is it though?" He asked me. "I mean everything feels normal right now."

"Other than the fact that we slept naked together." I joked.

"It's the new normal." He coughed drinking more Gatorade. "Do you want to stop? The sex, I mean, when we get back."

No.

"I don't know." I said instead. "I have a few things I need to do when we get back. After I do that can we can talk about what we're doing."

He nodded again. "Whatever you want." He muttered through the half chewed food in his mouth. "Just don't shut me out again."

I shook my head. "This won't be like last time, I have a lot of ducks and they are not even close to being in a row. I have to sell my fucking condo." I rubbed my face and groaned. "Fuck."

"Do you think he's going to be a dick about it?" Eric asked.

"I honestly don't know. His moods are all over the place. I wasn't very nice to him yesterday so he might make this difficult for me." I stood. "I have to take a shower and repack before we go." I turned my back to him.

"Sook?" He barely whispered.

"Yeah?" I turned back to face him.

"Do you think I can get a kiss?" He asked, his hair drooped over his eyes, his lips red, his muscles lightly flexing under his taut, inked skin.

I rolled my eyes and smirked, walked behind the couch to bend over and place the lightest of kisses on his mouth. "Your breath is terrible." I whispered when we parted before heading towards the bathroom. He was still chuckling when I closed the door.

The trip back to New York was uneventful. We posed for a few photos with fans, Eric slept the entire way back and I watched a few movies dozing in and out myself.

JFK wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. There were many more fans to stop and take photos with than in Rio but there wasn't as many paparazzi as there could have been. We still needed to be escorted out by security though.

Bill had been to the condo since I had left it nearly a month and a half ago. He left a coffee cup on the counter, his coffee cup, it was an Elvis head mug I had bought him in Vegas when we stopped there years ago. He left it there so I would know without a doubt he had been there.

I called Nora and asked her to arrange an appointment with Claude. My roots were coming in and the once edgy haircut was now scruffy and unkempt. I also asked her to get me lists of real estate agents including the one that sold us the place we were already in.

Two days later Claude was dying my hair back to its warm blonde with lighter highlights and we cut it down to an even pixie cut. Claude told me if I wanted to grow my hair back, which I did, then this cut was the best way to start.

Packing up the condo wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. I thought I would struggle over every memory and not be able to give most things up. In the end my clothes, jewelry with the exception of the engagement ring and important mementos from my past nestled easily into boxes. I realized I could part with all the furniture except for the royal purple chaise lounge that had been gifted to me by Prince.

I met with real estate agents to ask how we would go about selling the condo and lawyers to see what my legal options were if Bill wanted to be difficult about the sale. I saw two places during the two weeks I was in New York while I organized and put my life back together, one in Chelsea and one on the Upper West Side.

Eric didn't contact me. I don't know if he was just waiting for me to make the first move or if he was giving me space to get my life together but I was starting to feel the itch. I needed to be with him again and it had only taken two weeks.

On the final day in the condo I awoke to a strange feeling. I knew immediately that I was alone in the room but not in the apartment. I turned over to see that Bill's side of the bed was crumbled and had been slept in.

I bolted upright and slowly made my way out to the main living area where I heard the clanking of plates and cutlery. "Nora!" I shouted knowing already that it wasn't her.

"Please don't be a murderer." I whispered to myself knowing the likelihood of actually having a murderous stalker in my place was slim.

"Eric!" I yelled as I rounded to corner seeing the back of the person I wanted to see the least.

"I'm making french toast, do you want some?" Bill asked as he took some eggs out of our fridge.

His face had almost fully healed. He had some slight bruising under his left eye and the cut where Alcide has split his lip was barely a scab.

"What are you doing here?" I asked cursing that I didn't put on my robe, I felt exposed in my tank top and bikini style panties.

"I live here, silly." He chuckled and shook his head. "I'm also making coffee, would you like some?" He asked me as he began cracking eggs into a bowl.

I walked over to our island which was lined with stools. It was where we usually ate breakfast together and the reminder of out past domestication made me feel uncomfortable. "Bill, I thought I made it pretty clear that I didn't want to see you again." I sat down in the seat I usually took as he had added milk and cinnamon to the egg mixture.

"You were angry and said somethings you didn't mean but we can work past that." He turned and grabbed the pot full of coffee which had just finished brewing. "Would you like some coffee?" He put a mug in front of me.

"Bill, I meant what I said." I made eye contact with him for the first time and it was like a punch to the chest. All the hurt and pain he had caused me came flooding back and I wanted to hit him again. At the same time I was looking into the eyes of the man I, at one time, wanted to spend my life with and I was reminded of all the romantic gestures, the passionate caresses and the quiet 'I love you's' which made up our ten year relationship.

"Would you like some coffee?" He asked again ignoring what I had just said.

"Yes," I finally said knowing he wouldn't stop asking until I answered.

He filled the mug and I reached for the sugar and creme he had already put out. He turned himself back to the stove and started dipping bread into the egg mixture, placing the soaked bread in an already preheated skillet.

"Bill, do you want this place or can I sell it?" I asked breaking the silence after a few minutes.

"I already have a new place on the Upper West Side, so you can sell it." He placed a plate with slices of french toast in front of me and the syrup followed right after.

"Do you have any concerns about selling it? Is there a certain amount you want it to go for? Do you want half of it?" I asked putting the first piece of the bread in my mouth. It was okay, Bill was never much of a cook even though he thought of himself as one.

"I'm going to assume that this place has too many memories for you, so you won't stay here and I trust that you'll hire the best real estate agent when you sell it. If you sell you can keep all of the money for yourself or…" He grinned. "You can give half to me."

"Ummm, I think I'll keep your half. I'll consider it an asshole tax." I gave him a bitch smile and put my fork down.

He laughed as he sat down adjacent next to me. "Sook, when I saw that picture of you, with your new hair and you looked real thin. I was worried about you, like maybe you might have lost your sense of humour."

"You never cared." I snorted. "If you cared you never would have left."

"I never should have left." Bill shook his head.

"The band or me?"

"No, leaving the band was the right thing to do, our styles aren't the same. I wasn't happy," He stood and moved around the island. "But with us, I should have worked harder instead of bailing and pulling away. Our relationship deserved more than that, you deserved more than that." He was now standing in front of me and his hands were on my upper thighs. He was slowly spreading my legs and took one final step towards me so our bodies were nearly flush.

"What about Willa?" I asked breathlessly, his lips so close to mine.

"What about her? She was a flash in the pan? A mistake, you don't need to worry about her." His warm breath fanned across my face and for a moment it felt like old times, like nothing had gone wrong.

"Were you with her when we were together?" I was gripping the side of the stool.

"There was a flirtation but no, I wasn't with her till I left you. I promise." He paused. "What are we going to do about Eric?" He inquired.

Bill saying Eric's name brought me back to reality and when Bill pushed his lips against mine I felt my body revolt. The sensation of him kissing me was so familiar, so normal like the thousands of kisses that had come before it but for the first time since we got together, I felt nothing. There was no electricity, no butterflies in my stomach, nothing. I pushed him away. "Stop."

He looked at me with a mix of confusion, rejection and disgust. "What?" His tone had an aura of disbelief.

I looked away from him, my brow knitting together and I grabbed his hands and removed them from my thighs. "I don't want this, I don't want you." I got up and stepped around him. "I don't want you anymore." I let out a small content sigh that turned into a laugh.

"You can't be fucking serious?" Bill shook his head and put his hands on his hips lifting his shirt to expose a portion of his toned, tanned, partially tattooed stomach. It had zero effect on me. "Is this because of Eric?" He spat out his name.

I shook my head. "No, yes, maybe, I don't know. I just know that my decision to not be with you has nothing to do with you or Eric. I want to be alone." I turned and made my way into the bedroom.

"Wait, no, you don't walk away from me. No one walks away from me." He was almost shouting as he followed.

"I need you to leave me alone." I told him with a whisper of a threat in my tone. I found a duffle bag and threw it on the bed.

"Eric-" Bill began.

I cut him off. "Bill, this has nothing to do with Eric, this is all me and my realization that I don't need or want you anymore." I said as I grabbed what I thought would be appropriate for Bon Temps in early March and picked up whatever I could. I knew I could buy whatever I forgot or have Nora ship it to me.

"Where are you going?" He asked me again.

"To Eric's." I lied and I threw a book into my bag.

"No, you're not. If you were going to Eric's you wouldn't be packing." He inched closer to me. "Where are you going?"

"I don't have to tell you shit anymore." I slid into my favorite jeans and grabbed my bag. "I'll be back in two weeks to wrap everything up and put this place on the market. You can have everything other than my clothes, jewelry, my personal belongings and the purple chaise. If you make a stink about it or try to take any of those things I'll take you to court." I threw open our door and realized it would be the last time Bill and I would be in it together. We had spent six years here together.

"Prince gave that couch to both of us." He spat thought gritted teeth.

"No, it's mine. He sent it to me after the weekend I spent at his home in Minnesota or do you just have a hard time remembering stories that aren't explicitly about you?" He stared at me but didn't say anything. "You can have everything else, goodbye Bill." I shut the door behind me and headed towards the elevator yanking my phone out of my pocket.

I hit Nora's name and it rang three times before she picked up. "Hello?" She croaked and I knew I had woken her up. I forgot I gave her the day off.

"I'm sorry to bother you on your day off but I need you to arrange two things and then I'll be out of your hair for the next two weeks." I looked back at the door surprised that Bill hadn't followed me.

"What do you need?" Nora asked sounding more alert.

"I need you to book me on the first flight to Shreveport and arrange for a car to pick me up at the airport." I stepped into the elevator and felt relieved when the door closed officially separating me from him. "But before the car picks me up I need it to stop at the closest Toys R Us and pick up three packages of toys that you'll arrange to be put together; one for a 3 year old girl, one for a 6 year old girl and one for an 8 year old girl. I need those to be in the car when I'm picked up. Can you do that?" I asked exciting the elevator and stepping out onto the street hailing a cab as I ignored the few paparazzi that were hanging out in front of my building.

"Yeah, I can do that." Nora confirmed.

"Thank you." I said as I hung up the phone and got into a cab.

On my way to the airport I texted my brother.

I'm on my way to Bon Temps. No need to get my room ready, I'll do it myself. - 02/28/15 - 11:15am

He didn't respond and I knew that was because he was convincing Bridgette, his wife, it would be okay if I stayed there. Bridgette and I didn't dislike each other exactly but she was a Southern debutante. She believed a woman should act like a lady and I was the farthest thing from ladylike.

I hadn't been home in three years and I had only met my youngest niece once. I knew things had become considerable harder with the third baby. I kept trying to let Jason let me help them but he refused every time. He told me that I had already done enough and he and Bridgette could handle their family. Considering I hadn't been back in so long I wanted to make things right with Bridgette.

After confirming my flight, going through security, having three drinks at the bar and a three hour flight, I was in a town car racing towards my hometown.

Pulling up to my grandmothers house was familiar but foreign. Many extensions and upgrades had been added in ten years and while the base was the same, my Gran would have not recognized the house she raise her babies and grand babies in. There were outdoor toys all over the lawn and my youngest niece, Charlotte, came running out the front door stark naked screaming at the top of her lungs as my car pulled up.

I caught her before she could go any further than my car as my driver retrieved my things from the back. "We gotta get some pants on you, Charlie!" I exclaimed as I tickled her bare belly.

"Aunt Sookie!" Two high pitched voices squealed.

I looked up to see my other nieces, Georgia and Josephine, running towards me. Their bewildered mother stood in the doorway.

"Hey girls!" I laughed, crouching to accept their hug as they tackled me, knocking me over, landing flat on my butt. "What are you guys up to? Why is your sister naked?" I asked.

"Sookie, you're here." Bridgette now stood above me and blocked out the sun.

"Yeah, did Jason let you know I was coming?" I asked sitting up as the girls got off of me and ran over to the driver who was carrying the Toys R Us bags into the house.

"He did." She trailed off and looked at the house. "You really shouldn't have gotten the kids anything, they have enough." She rubbed her forehead with her hand and sighed.

I stood. "Are you all right, Bridgette?" I asked her before quickly thanking my driver and tipping him.

She put on a fake smile and shook her head. "Yeah, I'm fine. The girls are acting up today and Jason had to stay late at work. Do you want some iced tea?" She asked always the perfect hostess.

I nodded. "Yeah that would be really nice." I smiled trying to be as civil as possible as we headed to the house.

It looked like a bomb went off inside the house. Toys, clothes, juice containers, cheerios and dishes were everywhere. I looked over at the girls who were peaking in the bags I had brought for them. "Hey!" I shouted and they all jumped away from the toys. "You girls have made quiet the mess in here and I think it's time you helped me clean it up. If you help clean up and are extra good then you can have your toys after dinner, okay?" I asked looking down at their nodding heads. "First order of business, Joe and George, I need you to get some pants on Charlie. Go, go go!" I shouted as they went running upstairs to their rooms.

"For someone as girly as you, it's funny you gave your daughters names that could be shortened to boys names." I laughed.

Bridgette did not as she handed me my iced tea.

"Bridgette, why don't you go up stairs and take a nap or run a bath with a glass of wine and I'll take care of the kids and clean the house." I started ushering her towards the stairs.

"I can't ask you to do that, you must be tired or have so much to do." She walked up the first three steps and turned to look at me.

"I just spent two months vacationing on a tropical island and I get paid millions of dollars for playing guitar good." I shrugged. "If it was a problem for me to do it, I wouldn't have offered."

She smiled warmly. "Thanks Sook, I really appreciate it."

"Don't worry about it and I'll babysit them sometime while I'm here and you and Jason can go to dinner." I grinned hoping she would see this as a auntly duty and not pity.

"Sook," she looked like she was on the verge of tears. "We haven't had a date night in so long." She came down the stairs and hugged me. "Thank you."

I hugged her back. "You're welcome." Apparently things really had gotten harder and she was willing to take any help she could get.

The kids came running down the stairs passing the both of us as we parted. "All right you guys, mommy is going to relax upstairs and you are going to put all your toys in the proper bins. Go!" The girls went scurrying off.

Bridgette took her alone time and I got started on all the things I know the girls couldn't do like load the dishwasher, vacuum, wipe down all surfaces and get started on dinner. I made the only thing I knew how, my grandmother's meatloaf.

Jason came home just as dinner was ready to be served. After a long hug and a delightful dinner, I retired to my room with the intention of going to my old place of employment, Bellefleur's. I knew I needed to have a conversation with Jason but that could wait for another day.

I put on some black ripped jeans, a cropped burgundy tank top, some biker boots with a slight heel and my old worn in leather jacket from when I was a teenager. I smudged some eyeliner around my eyes, applied some mascara and dark red lipstick on my lips and called a cab.

I told my brother not to wait up as I left and gave clipped answers to all the questions the cabby, who would not stop talking, asked me.

Bellefleur's looked the same on the outside more or less. It had been five years since I had been there and only the sign had been updated. The inside was the same as well except for the stage area. It had been revamped so more than two people could stand on it. Lighting could be pre-programmed and there was a soundboard off to the right. It looked more like a concert venue now than a watering hole for Bon Temps' drunkards.

The place was packed and I could see a bunch of kids on stage getting ready to preform.

I shoved my way through the crowd to the bar so I could capture the attention of the bartender. "What do you want?" He spat at me.

"A beer and is Andy in tonight?" I asked throwing down ten bucks.

"Who wants to know?" The kid couldn't have been more than eighteen and not happy to be working a Saturday night.

"Sookie Stackhouse." I said as quietly as possible, hoping he was the only one who heard me. With my new hairstyle I wasn't as recognizable and I wanted to keep it that way.

He looked up at me with wide eyes as he put my beer down. "He's in the back office." He smiled in awe. "You are way hotter in person."

I winked. "Thanks." I took the beer and headed to Andy's office.

I pushed open the already ajar door and saw him sitting in his normal spot behind his desk. Like his bar, Andy Bellefleur hadn't changed much. He has lost a little more hair and he had a few more winkles but he was still tall, round and surly.

"Do you ever take a day off?" I asked taking a step into his office.

He turned quickly and I could tell he was annoyed that someone had interrupted him, I had seen him make the same movement a thousand times when I worked here. "What did I say-" He started and his face softened the moment he saw me. "Sookie, is that you?" He asked with a small chuckle of disbelief.

"In the flesh," I put out my arms to showcase myself. "The hair is a little different but it's still me." I laughed when he scooped me up into a hug.

"What are you doing here? Eric didn't say you were coming." He let go of me and I took a step back.

"Why would you have been talking to Eric?" I asked Andy feeling my brows knit together.

Before Andy could answer a very recognizable voice from behind me spoke. "In all the gin joints, in all the towns." I turned to see Eric leaning against the door frame with his classic grin on his face.

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