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Where the Heart Is	By : TammyDevil666 Category: S through Z > Southern Vampire Views: 2748 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the Southern Vampire Mysteries or any referenced characters and no money is made from this story. It is purely for fun.

Chapter List
- 5
- 6
- 7
Chapter 6
“Why won’t you go out with me? I’m only asking for one date. If you don’t have a good time, I’ll never bother you again.”
Sookie rolled her eyes. “I’m finding that a little hard to believe. It’s not that I don’t like you, but we’ve already been over this. You’re just not ready.”
Eric threw his hands up in frustration. “You keep saying that, but it’s just one date. What could be the harm? I’m not asking for your hand in marriage. You need to have some fun, Sookie, all you do is work. Take a chance for once, it won’t kill you.”
“If I do agree to this, and I’m not saying I will, what about Jessica?”
He shrugged. “I have a friend who can watch her; it’s only for a few hours. She’ll be fine.”
Sookie thought it over, giving him her full attention. “Okay, I’ll go out with you, but I have one condition.”
Eric nodded; glad they were finally getting somewhere. “Name it.”
“There will be no sex involved. I know you’re used to getting what you want on a first date, but that’s not the case with me. You either take it or leave it,” Sookie finished.
He agreed. “You drive a hard bargain, but I think that can be arranged. How about we do something tomorrow night?”
She nodded as well. “That’s fine; I’ll see you at six. I have to get up early the next day.”
Eric smiled and headed over to her front door, turning to her one last time before making his leave. “I’m not him, you know.” Before she could ask what he meant, he continued. “The guy who screwed you over, he was an idiot. I’ve made a lot of mistakes in the past, but I would never do anything to hurt you.”
Sookie let out the breath she’d been holding when he walked away, knowing she was in serious trouble because she actually believed him.

* * * * *

“You’re taking me to the carnival?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Is that bad? I don’t normally do this on a first date. I just thought it was something you would like, but we could go somewhere else.”
Sookie shook her head. “No, this is perfect. I used to love going to the local carnival they have in Bon Temps every year, it was the only fun thing to do in town. You should have told me this was your plan; we could have brought Jessica with us. She would love it here.”
“Maybe another time, I wanted this night to just be about us.” Eric paid for their tickets and followed her into the fair, the smell of all kinds of junk food assaulting his senses. They rode several rides before finally stopping at the Ferris wheel; it was always his favorite. The seat was big enough to hold three people, but with Eric’s build, it was still a pretty tight squeeze. Sookie was practically sitting on top of him, and he couldn’t resist putting an arm around her.
“I love this,” she said, not at all uncomfortable with being so close to him. “You can see everything when you get to the top, it really makes you realize how truly beautiful this place is.”
Eric saw the joy on her face once she took in the scenery, as if she was seeing it for the first time, but all he noticed was her. “Very beautiful,” he muttered, snapping himself out of it a second later. As luck would have it, they found themselves stuck at the top for a while as more riders were being let on. “What happened in your last relationship?” Eric started to make conversation. “I know you don’t like to talk about it, but I’m really interested to know more about you.”
Sookie glanced back at him. “And you couldn’t find a better topic? It’s not a big deal; we just wanted too many different things. I wanted to have a family, but all he wanted was to sleep around. We broke up when I found him doing just that in our bed.”
“He used to live with you?”
She nodded. “This was obviously before you moved in. We lived together through college, right out of high school and I thought everything was going great. We were really young, but I just didn’t care. I guess you could say I was pretty naïve back then. That’s not even the worst part, the reason why I came home early that night was because I just found out that I was pregnant. I was so excited to tell him.”
Eric didn’t know what to think at that point, but this was definitely not what he expected. “Since you don’t have a baby, I’m guessing that didn’t go well.” He silently cursed himself, way to state the obvious.
“No, it really didn’t. I never told him; instead I just threw him out and told him to never come back. I fell into a depression after that, wasn’t taking care of myself as well as I should have. I thought Bill was my world, that I couldn’t function without him. I was so stupid, but the lack of care for my health caused me to have a miscarriage. It’s like I just shut down and forgot the fact I was carrying a child, there was this helpless being inside of me and I couldn’t even protect her. I got my act together; it was like a wake up call for me. I focused more on work and told myself I would never let another man into my life like that again. You can guess the rest.”
It all suddenly became very clear to him. “That’s why you didn’t want anything to do with me. I reminded you of what you were trying to forget.”
Sookie wiped her eyes of the tears she didn’t even know were there. “I saw how you like to play the field, and knowing how much you really didn’t want children, there was no point going down that road. Even with everything that happened, I still hope to be a mother one day. You may have Jessica now, but it’s only temporary. You still don’t want her. If she was mine, I would do everything in my power to keep her.”
“I do want her, she would just be better off with someone else. I’m sorry for what you went through, but I am nothing like your bastard of an ex. I’m not the same man I was a few weeks ago.”
“I know you believe that, but people don’t change in just a few weeks. If I got involved with you, how do I know you won’t find someone better down the line? I will never be put in another position to be cheated on. As soon as Jessica’s out of your life, you’ll go right back to meaningless one night stands. You’re capable of being a good man, I meant what I said before, but it takes time. Trust has to be built on both sides, and I don’t think I could ever trust you.”
Eric was taken aback, relieved when the ride ended. How long were they up there? He followed her to a nearby bench, sitting down beside her as she watched the children playing in the distance. “I want to be a father,” Eric whispered after what felt like forever. “Jessica made me feel how wonderful that could be, but more than anything, I want you to be her mother. I want us to be a family.”
Sookie shook her head, more tears forming before she could stop them. “Don’t say something you’ll only regret later, it’s too painful. You’re just saying what you think I want to hear. You said so yourself, Eric, she would be better off with someone else. Your heart is just not in it, at least not right now. I’m already too attached to both of you and I should have never let that happen. All the fears you had about Jessica getting too attached, it’s the same thing I’ve been going through. I tried to stay strong, but I just don’t know how to anymore. I never should have even agreed to this date. When you showed me that picture she drew of us, my heart just about broke. I wanted it to be real so much.”
“It can be real,” Eric pleaded. “Please, love, don’t do this. Don’t walk away from something that could be amazing just because you’re scared, I am not him. We could be so good together. I’ve had the same thoughts as you, whenever I would hit on you in the past; it was never like it was with those other women. You were the one I always wanted, but thought I could never have. I won’t give her up, Sookie. I’ll call the social worker and tell her that I’ve changed my mind.”
“You have to do that for yourself, not for me. I don’t think you’re ready for the responsibility. Being a parent is a full time job, you can’t just give her away whenever it gets to be too much for you. What we both need right now is some space, more than just a couple of days. You have some thinking to do, but you can’t do that with me around.”
Eric shook his head. “I don’t need space. I just need you.” He kissed her then, putting all of his feelings behind the gesture, but more importantly, she was kissing him back. He knew this woman was the one he wanted, she was the only one who mattered. He just had to make her see that. Eric could taste the salt of her tears, but it was over sooner than he would have liked. The look on her face was absolutely heartbreaking, this would not end well.
“I have to go.”
He stopped her from leaving, not about to give up. “We need to talk about this; you can’t just deny what happened. You want me, Sookie, I know you do.”
“It’s so much more than that, but I can’t do this. Please, Eric, just let me go.”
It was the hardest thing he ever had to do, but he released her hand, watching with a heavy heart as she moved out of sight. This was far from over.

* * * * *

Eric gave her two days of space, but it was slowly driving him out of his mind. He had to see her before he went insane. This woman had come to mean so much to him in only a short amount of time. If this wasn’t love yet, it was pretty damn close. He thought about her every second of the day, and missed her like crazy when she wasn’t around.
After getting Jessica situated in bed, he knocked on Sookie’s door, but after a few tries, there was still no answer. If she was trying to avoid him, she was doing a pretty good job of it. He reached for the doorknob, surprised to find it unlocked. Once inside the apartment, Eric realized two things. One being that Sookie was obviously not home, another being that most of her stuff was gone when he reached her bedroom. It didn’t look like she would be coming back any time soon, and that’s when he finally realized it was love. Your heart couldn’t break otherwise.
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- 7
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Where the Heart Is