Here I am staring at your perfection

In my arms, so beautiful

The sky is getting bright, the stars are burning out

Somebody slow it down

This is way too hard, cause I know

When the sun comes up, I will leave

This is my last glance that will soon be memory

And when the daylight comes I'll have to go

But tonight I'm gonna hold you so close

Cause in the daylight we'll be on our own

But tonight I need to hold you so close – Maroon 5

The car ride back to Eric's house is silent. There had been a lot of those lately. But this one is the opposite of tense and awkward. The silence is comfortable, comforting after what had happened tonight. It gets even more so as Eric reaches over to grasp my hand as he drives. Luckily the car he is currently driving is an automatic. He had wanted to take one of the flashier cars but they are all standard. I am not sure he could drive one of those yet. He watched my legs as I drove with him and had paid attention on the car ride over. He wanted to try. I trust him enough to let him.

As he gives my hand a squeeze, I lean over and adjust myself on the seat so that I can lay my head on Eric's shoulder. When I do so, he turns his head to gently lay a kiss to the top of mine. I nestle into his neck a little further, simply enjoying him and the peace of the ride home.

As Eric makes an incorrect turn, I give him a minute or two to see if he realizes his mistake. Hopefully by tomorrow night, or maybe even tonight, he will have all his memories back. On the chance that he doesn't, I want to make sure his instincts prevail and he can work out a mistake has been made.

He doesn't disappoint me as he soon says, "I made a wrong turn." I nod, knowing he can feel me, as I am still pressed tight to his neck. "I will go back." I am about to tell him that if he makes the next right, he can get back to the main road but instead I let him work it out. I turn my head so that I can see his face. He backtracks and a smile brightens his face as he sees landmarks he has mentally marked on the drive over.

It's about another 10 minutes to get back to Eric's house. He lets go of my hand for just long enough for him to get out of the car, come over to my side, and open the door. With his vampire speed just as I realize he has let go of my hand, he has it in his grasp again and is gently pulling me from the car. He leads me up to the door and uses his lock system like Pam showed him too. As he is doing so, he mentions the other blond vampire will not be joining us until just before dawn.

"She wants to be here when I rise tomorrow, but also wants every last second she has with the witch for avenge her torture," he explains. I have a feeling Pam wants to spend some time with Hallow for more than just her torture. I'm sure what happened to Eric has an impact on her as well.

We get inside and for the first time tonight, I realize that we are covered in blood. Eric more so than me but neither of us escaped it tonight. "We need to shower," I tell him. He gets his familiar smirk on his face and before he can even say something I say, "Separately."

I do not get the reaction I expect from him though when the smirk turns into a full out smile. "Then you will sleep with me," he says confidently.

I can't even imagine the look that is on my face. Whatever it is, it causes the smile to disappear from his face and one of worry replace it. He gently grabs onto my arms and apologizes before asking, "You do not want to sleep with me?" I can hear the vulnerability in his voice.

I don't even know how to respond to that question at the moment. It's not so much that I don't want to. I just never imagined it to be put so bluntly like that. He continues to say, "Pam said that you could not sleep downstairs with me because of air ventilation. I arranged to make my room suitable for you to sleep down there. Pam said the project is complete."

I take that in. "So when you said I will sleep with you, you meant," I start.

"You would sleep in my bed with me." He pauses and the smirk reappears on his face. "What did you think I meant?" I start to stutter when I try and answer him he adds, "I think I want to try what you were thinking instead."

"Maybe if you play your cards right," I tell him and immediately I can feel my face feel warm with blush.

"I finally make you blush but it is about cards," he says with a sigh he doesn't need to release. "But at least it is promising. What are these cards and where can I find them."

I laugh as I stand on my tiptoes and lay a kiss to his lips. "It's an expression."

"Meaning?"

Not being able to stand on my toes too much longer, I start to slowly slide down, pressing kisses to the side of his neck as I tell him, "If you're a good boy, then good things might happen to you."

"And if I am a naughty boy, do naughty things happen," he asks with a look on his face that I haven't seen in the last few weeks since all of this started. I hadn't really liked it before although, if I am completely honest with myself, I am not sure if that is exactly true. What I do know is that it is certainly doing something for me now.

I cuddle into his chest for a few seconds before pushing myself away. "I'm going to go and shower."

"And then you'll come down to my room," he asks his voice lacking its usual confidence. I reach up to pull his face down to me and tell him, "And then I'll come down to your room." I give him a last kiss before heading up to the bathroom I have been using since I have been here.

I take as quick as a shower as I can. I feel myself relax, which is odd, as I didn't even realize I was tense, when the water at the bottom of the tub is no longer red. I wash up one more time to help myself feel clean before stepping out of the shower. I finish up in the bathroom and head into the closet to find some pajamas. I am about to pick my go to simple shorts and t-shirt but decide against it. I put on a short nightgown instead.

I also call Alcide quickly to make sure they got home okay. He tells me there have been no issues and that Jason fell asleep quickly after they got back to the house. Talking to him it sounds like he has been drinking a bit already. Not surprising as that is the one thing Jason keeps his house fully stocked with. Not sure what to say to the grieving Were, I simply thank him for staying with Jason tonight and start to make my way back downstairs.

Back to Eric.

He's waiting for me at the door. He has showered and has put on a pair of black pants. He takes my hand and shows me the code that would allow me to come up to the house if I want to during the day. I know the trust Eric placed in me in just allowing me to come to his house all those weeks ago. This just shows how deep that trust runs.

He leads me downstairs and I am surprised at how big it is. There is a main room, that's set up like a living room. Off that there are three doors. Eric explains that one is his room, one is Pam's and one is a bathroom. Before leading me into his room, he shows me a little refrigerator that he has put some snacks in. "In case you get hungry," he explains. A warmth runs through my body at the thought of him caring enough to see that I have snacks down here.

And that's the last I see of the main area before he is pulling me into his room. I don't get much of a chance to look around before I find myself lying in his bed with my back to his front and his arms around me. One of his hands is stroking my arm so lightly it feels like a whispering against my skin.

We just lay there for a few minutes. I am breathing in Eric's scent from his pillow. I am just realizing now how comforting his smell has been to me. He smells of the sea and a cold winter day. He breaks the silence by saying, "I worried about you being there tonight. I do not like how fragile you are."

I shrug while pressing my back further into him. "Side effect of being human."

"I could change that for you."

I am silent at that. I know what he is offering me. Turning me into a vampire would in theory take away my fragility he is finding so pesky. Not something I had really thought about before. Not something I would like to think about now either. Tonight has already been difficult without this life changing choice.

I turn in his arms and look up at him as I say, "You may want to take some more time to get to know me before you make that decision. You may tire of me," I try and joke.

"I doubt that will ever happen." He puts his head on mine, pushing me down into his chest. I move my head so that I can breath. I know he can see through my joking tone though when he says, "Promise me this is a conversation we will have." His reply is a nod into his chest.

We fall back into silence but it's only a few seconds before one of Eric's hands moves down to my legs. I push a kiss into his naked chest as his hand begins its journey back up one of my legs. As it reaches the bottom of my nightgown, he starts pulling it up as his hand continues its travels up my body. I push back a bit so I can look up at him without straining my neck. "What do you think your doing," I ask keeping my tone light.

"Trying to play my cards right," he says as he leans down to me and starts to move the straps off my shoulder. He manages to just as his hand travels up under my nightgown once and starts to stroke my breast that is currently not receiving any attention from his mouth. His attentions bring out a moan in my and a tightness fills my abdomen.

His actions as he kisses across my chest bringing me half under him that almost have me forgetting what I am thinking. I am debating on whether or not to stop this before it goes any further. I don't want to and I can tell as he is pressed into me that he doesn't want to either. My worries from the previous conversation with Pam come rushing back into me.

Before I can word anything though he is flipping us so I am on top. Both his hands go to the bottom of my nightgown but before lifting it up he stops and looks into my eyes. It's his words, "Is this ok," that help me make my decision.

Eric used those same words before his memories were gone to make sure I was ok with what we were doing. Before and after the loss of his memories, Eric's actions towards me haven't changed. He'd been caring. He wanted to keep me safe. He wanted to make sure I was comfortable. This was the Eric that I had fallen for with or without his memories. That hadn't changed him. Not towards me. Not at all.

I nod and he pulls the nightgown over my head, kissing me as soon as my mouth is free. I return the kiss enthusiastically. It's then that I realize that I had more than fallen for the man currently below me. A lot more than just fallen for him. He had awoken feelings in me I wasn't sure I would fill me again after everything that had happened with…no I refuse to think his name. Not now.

I pull away and can't help but laugh a little as he frowns from the loss. "You sure you remember how to do this," I tease him as he lies beneath me with a tone that should tell him I am joking.

"I am sure I can figure it out," he tells me as his hand trails up my leg. His hand cups me before he slides a finger in. I gasp at the sudden yet welcome intrusion. "I think it goes something like this," he says, his voice now light with teasing. He kisses me before adding, "Do not be a tease if you cannot handle it back," as he adds a second finger and slides them out and back in a few times.

My hand runs down his chest and slips into his pants before wrapping around him. I give him a squeeze and a couple strokes, which earns me a moan. "You shouldn't either," I tell him."

I find myself quickly on my back with Eric on top of me. I can feel the pants are gone. Not sure when that exactly happened. "Then enough with the teasing," he says as his fingers are replaced with another part of his anatomy. He slowly pushes in, his eyes never leaving mine. It's him making me moan now.

When he's completely sheathed, he pauses his movements and his eyes leave mine, as his gaze travels down my body. Mine follows his, all the way down to the point where we are connected. He brings his head to rest on mine as he says, "This feels right," before he starts to move.

Eric POV

I stare down at Sookie as she lies sleeping in my arms. She has been asleep for only a few minutes and I can feel that I only have a few myself before the sun calls me to my rest. I am not sure if I have ever done so before but I find myself cursing the sun and its impending arrival. I do not want to leave her, even if it is just for the day.

She has been my anchor since I showed up at my house with no memories. She has been the one I turn too. She has been the one I have felt drawn to. She has been the one to make me feel…things.

I look down to my fang marks still in her wrist. As we were connected, I wanted to feel even closer to her. I wanted to exchange blood. She had reminded me about exchanging the blood and taking a closer step to making it permanent. That thought didn't bother me at all. Sookie wanted to take my blood first, hoping that if she did, my blood wouldn't fully heal my marks. The thought that she wanted to keep them gave me great happiness. The marks were still there and I hope they stayed.

I find myself smiling as I remember that we had started something before I lost my memories. This should just be the beginning for us. Tomorrow night, I should wake with my memories according to the text Pam sent. As I press a kiss to her head, I cannot help but think how good this should be. I am sure I go to my rest with a smile on my face.

Sookie POV

I wake up with a smile on my face. Eric and I had only really had one day before he lost his memories. We were pretty strong when all the shit hit the fan and now I am eager to see how we do when things are relatively calm. I reach behind me when I don't feel him right up against me and the smile comes off my face when I realize he's not on the bed. I sit up wondering if he's in the room and frown when I see that he is not. I am surprised that it seems that I have slept the day away.

Remembering what happened the previous night and that I was kept up pretty close to dawn makes it a bit more understandable. I stand up and start to make my way to the door, slipping on my nightgown as I do so. The yelling starts as I am pulling it over my head

"Damn it. How the hell could you let this happen Pam," I hear Eric say and the first feeling of cold rushes over my body. What's happening now?

"I let nothing happen Eric. Fuck, I probably couldn't have stopped you if I actually tried."

I make it over to the door and am just about to pull it open, but Eric's next words stop me. "You should not have allowed me to be alone with her. I could have hurt her."

"You would never," Pam started but Eric cut her off. "A second exchange, Pam," he growls out. "We fucked and we exchanged blood again. Does that make you happy? Do I look happy now Pam? Do I look fucking happy?"

"You wanted her, Eric."

"Not now, Pam. Not now," he says, his voice going low. I lean my back against the door and realize that tears are starting to silently make their way down my face at Eric's words. I must have misjudged how Eric felt. After all, we really hadn't had much time before he lost his memories.

But I really don't think I did. He wanted it last night. He wanted me. What the hell happened?

"Take her home, Pam," I hear him say through the door. He sounds tired though I know vampires don't really get tired. "See her home safely then return to Fangtasia."

"No, Eric."

"Pam."

"Eric, no," she tells him in a voice I have never heard Pam use towards her maker. "I will take her home safely but I am staying with her. I am not going to dump her home and leave her. Not tonight."

After a few seconds I here him say, "Fine. You will be at Fangtasia tomorrow night then," and I hear a door slam what I assume is behind him.

He's not even going to come and talk to me. He's just leaving. I slide to the floor no longer able to contain the sobs that escape me. The door I'm leaning against suddenly opens but strong arms wrap around me before I can fall to the floor. I start to rock back and forth with my sobs and Pam rocks with me, never letting me go.

I cannot put into words how much I appreciate all those who have taken the time to read my little story. All the alerts, comments, feedback, and support have been amazing. Thank you to all.

Now for the ending – which will be slightly spoilerish for the next part of this tale so if you would rather know nothing then stop reading.

Yes I really did just leave it like that. This was the original starting point for the original plot of the story I came out with listening the most recent Maroon 5 (who I am excited to be seeing tomorrow) album last summer. But starting to map out the outline for the original story made me realize that we needed the back-story and Sookie needed to face some things before she could move on. This kicks off what will be a big thing for Eric. He's got many things he needs to face and the repercussions of what happened in this story will be the instigator for him to start facing them. I wanted these two to deal with their past so they could have a future. As for what's going on in Eric's head, we won't know for sure until some chapters into the next part however, there will be clues in the first few chapters of the second story as well as this one. It's not going to be all rainbows and butterflies but it won't be all stormy skies and mosquitoes either. Next story we won't only be hearing from Sookie either which will give you a little more insight to what's going on in their minds.

Thank-you again for all the amazing support and I hope to see you all during the second leg of their journey. I am hoping to have it posted early next week for you guys – if you would like it to be of course.

I apologize if you had read this or got notification it was up then taken down – not sure how that works. I realized I uploaded it without a key paragraph under EPOV. All fixed now.