1 year later

Melanie:

“Hey, uh Mel. It’s Jason – you might want to come on home.”

“Can’t this wait? We’re already understaffed.” I shook my head as I placed a box of true blood on the bar. Ripping open the top, I placed them one by one inside the refrigerator underneath while trying to keep my phone balanced between my ear and my shoulder.

“No.” He answered. “No it can not.”

Noticing the shakiness of his tone, I became more alert. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, just please come home. You’ll want to see this.”

“Alright, darlin’. Hang tight.” I hung up and walked to the back to find Sam in his office. “Hey, Jason called. Some sort of emergency at the house. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

He sighed, placing his hands on his hips. “You know I work that bar more than you do?”

“Yeah, you also drink more of it than anyone else does too.” I smirked as he cracked a smile.

“Fine. Just be careful out there.” He waved me off before as I rushed out the door.

It didn’t take long to make it home. Everything looked seemingly fine. Nothing out of place except that Jason’s squad car was pulled in front but the painters van was no longer there.

“Jason?” I dropped my keys and purse on the mudroom table before walking into the kitchen.

Familiar blonde hair caught my eyes as I entered the kitchen. Jason was at the table looking like he’d just seen a ghost. The woman turned and all breath escaped my body as Sookie stood before me. It’d been 12 months since she’d disappeared.

12 months of rigorous searching and trying to keep up hope that she was still alive. I threw my arms around her, hugging her as tight as I could in case this was all some fucked up dream.

“Where have you been?!” I pulled away, wiping the never ending stream of tears that ran down my cheeks.

“I don’t know.” She answered truthfully. “I followed my fairy godmother into this other world. I swear I’d only been gone for 10 maybe 15 minutes but Jason told me it’s been over a year.”

“Twelve and a half months.” I shook my head thinking back to the last year.

“You sold the house? How could you have sold the house?” She asked with annoyance in her tone.

“We still live here, Sook. You room hasn’t been touched, but I had no choice. I couldn’t afford the mortgage or the bills on my own.”

“We thought you were dead.” Jason stepped forward. “It wasn’t like you to just disappear without telling no body.”

“What time is it?” She asked, out of nowhere.

Peeking over at the clock on the oven, I shrugged my shoulders. “6:35?”

“That means-” Without another word she ran out to the front steps and there was Bill Compton, whooshing over just as the sun had set.

I bit my tongue, leaning against the doorframe watching him intently. Fighting with her was the last thing I wanted to do, but Bill knew he wasn’t allowed near this home. Ignoring me, he stepped up to the front steps, reaching for her but she took a step back,

“Forgive me. I know I am not welcome.” He sighed. “It has been over a year since I’d felt your presence. I thought you were – dead.”

“Well I’m fine.” She said matter of factly.

As glad as I was that she was still pissed at him, I couldn’t help but get irritated at how she had yet to comprehend that even though it had been minutes for her, a whole year in real time had passed for us. There had been a lot of grieving and crying and searching. And a lot had changed in a year.

Bill looked at her for a moment, as if coming to a realization. “Were you with Claudine?”

“It is none of your business where I was or who I was with.” She replied, crossing her arms.

“Whose Claudine?” I asked, the name sounding oddly familiar.

Another whooshing sound could be heard as Eric showed up to the reunion. I bit my lip, giving him a look of annoyance over the fact that Bill was already on our steps, trying to weasel his way into her life again.

Eric smirked, reading me like a book. “Well well well, look who’s home. Glad to see Bill is rolling out the welcome committee for you.”

“Not now, Eric.” He seethed. “Don’t you have an obligation at Fangtasia?”

“Pam’s got it covered. Besides, I don’t want to miss the party.” He winked at me, knowing how much joy I got in watching Bill get his panties in a twist.

“They specifically want you.”

“I can appreciate your concern but -”

“Eric, go!”

Eric looked between him and I. Anger clearly written in his eyes but he complied, flying off.

Sookie shot me a confused look. The Eric Northman she remembered would’ve never taken orders from Bill, but little did she know.

Another police car pulled in front. The siren sounded momentarily before Andy stumbled out.

“You have got to be shitting me!” He came over to the steps.

Sookie walked down a few to meet him. “ Happy to see you, too, Andy.”

“Geez. Are you alright?”

“Yeah. I’m safe and sound.”

“We all thought he -” He motioned his hand towards Bill.

“They all thought that I had killed you.” Bill finished his sentence.

“Maybe not literally but you killed her from the inside.” I muttered under my breath.

He shot me a warning look but I rolled my eyes. Since coming into his new role, Bill Compton thought he could run everything and everyone and I was already on his shit list. Jason stepped outside, coming to stand next to me as Andy continued.

“Well when you’re up for it, come on down to the station. We’ll get your statement, track down whoever it was that took ya.”

“Nobody took me.” She answered as if he was crazy for assuming. “I wasn’t kidnapped.”

“What?” He asked dumbfounded. “Don’t you tell me you skipped town without tellin’ no one. You know how many man hours I put into lookin’ for you?”

“Hey, now.” Jason stepped in. “Take it easy, Andy.”

“We dragged the fucking lake for you!” He yelled. “Where the hell’d you go?!”

We all stepped forward at his aggressive display until Bill spoke.

“She was working for me. Vampire business.”

“What? Are you kidding me? What kind of vampire business? For a whole year, you swore up and down you had no idea where she was!”

“Hey! You either calm down or you can get your ass off my property, And Bellefleur .” I stepped in.

Bill stepped off the porch, meeting him eye to eye. “Look, I apologize for misleading you, Sheriff.Too many human lives would be at risk if I did not keep it a secret. Now as you can see, Miss Stackhouse is unharmed. I will come down to the office tomorrow, and I will explain it all. And I will repay the costs of the search efforts as soon as you issue a statement clearing my name. Obviously I did not kill her. “

Despite a little rant about not having a Safe Streets plaque on his wall, he left quietly. Bill looked up at her, pleased with how he’d been able to show off his new found money and power. Sookie would find out eventually but his display made me sick.

OOO

Jason brought over some hot coco, sitting on the couch with Sookie in between us as we watched some cartoons. The two of us had been lost in just staring at her. After so long of thinking she was dead, all of this was so surreal.

“Look, I know you must’ve been worried for me, but you can’t stare at me like this forever. It’s creepy.”

“I know.” I gave a half-hearted smile. “But you’ll have to deal with it for now.”

“It’s just, having you back – it’s about the happiest I’ve been in my entire life. And I don’t want it to end.” Jason smiled, looking at her.

“It was strange when you were missing. Jason and I didn’t speak for a while. We didn’t know how to cope. It had always been the three of us, and all of a sudden it wasn’t any more.”

“I love you guys, too.” She smiled, throwing her arm around the two of us.

 

---

 

Eric:

“It’s a post Russell Edgington world, everyone, and we win back the human public one smile at a time.” Nan’s voice echoed through Fangtasia as I entered the front door. “Now, can anyone here play this game?”

I laughed, knowing Pam wouldn’t put up with the uppity bullshit the AVL was trying to have us spew, but I found it quite amusing. After quickly glancing at the script. I walked over to Pam, grabbing the mic off of her jacket and clipping it on mine before taking a seat in front of the camera. Once they started rolling, I put on my friendliest smile.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Eric Northman. I’m a tax-paying american and small business owner in the great state of Louisiana. I also happen to be a vampire. Now this past year, there’s been, a lot of inflammatory talk from politicians warning their constituents not to trust vampires. But think about it for a second. Who would you rather trust? A vampire or a politician? The truth is, vampires are as different from each other as humans are, because we were humans and we ask only to be treated as such. And we welcome you into our world as well. We’re always more than happy to serve humans here at Fangtasia, and I don’t mean for dinner.”

I smirked at the camera before Nan called cut.

Clapping could be heard from behind me and I looked over my shoulder to see Mel. Her beauty catching me off guard with every glance.

“Whoo! Now that’s how it’s done!” She cheered.

My face broke out into a smile, something I could no longer control since she came into my life. I took off the mic, handing it to one of the crew before standing to pull her into my arms..  “Hello beautiful.”

“Hey handsome.” She smirked, her lips meeting mine. “Thought I’d stop by and say hi.”

“Well I’m glad you did.” I kissed her back, letting my lips linger on hers.

“Mr. Northman, that was great. You might have a future in this business.  We’ll continue with the rest tomorrow.” Nan nodded, “You two enjoy sucking each other’s faces off.”

“Always a pleasure, Nan.” Melanie nodded watching them clean things up and be out of the door in a flash.

“So it didn’t take long for Compton to show up did it?” I asked, sitting back down.

Melanie let out an exaggerated sigh, standing before me. “No, and it didn’t take long for her to run out there to wait for him either. The moment the sun set, she was outside. Some things never change.”

“That’s what worries me.” I shook my head, my tone becoming serious again. “We’ve done a good job staying away from danger. Your sister always finds a way to get into trouble.”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. Right now, I’m just happy she’s home. How’s work going? The AVL still breathing down your necks?”

I let out deep breath. Fangtasia never used to be work. Now with the AVL doing intensive damage repair, they had been in and out of here trying to make it more human friendly. This commercial was just another step.

“Yeah, I know Bill is doing some sort of press conference tonight. Nan is going state to state to make sure everyone is keeping up appearances. Edgington destroyed years of progress. Now we have to pay for it.”

Melanie sat on on my lap, her legs against either side of me as her arms wrapped around my neck.  I’d never been attracted to anyone for as long as I had with her. Something as simple as her moving wisps of hair behind her ear could get me started and I couldn’t be more proud to call her mine.

“How’s Pam handling all the press?”

“In her usual way. Lots of sighs and sarcasm. She’s a real peach.” I shrugged but lifted my hips so they pressed against her center. “But that does leave more work for me to do.”

“Hmm.” She bit her lip coyly, tracing her fingertips down the front of my shirt to my belt. “Anything I can do to help?”

My eyes wandered down to her cleavage and I licked my lips. “Oh there’s a lot you can do.”

My lips pressed against hers. Her mouth instantly parting to accept my tongue. I lifted her effortlessly, her legs wrapping around my hips as I walked us to the office. There was plenty of work left to do but for now, all that I could think of was the sound of her sweet moans.

OOO

I walked up the stairs to the bedroom, slipping off my jacket and hanging it behind the door before taking off my shirt. Taking a hot shower with Mel would be an ideal way to end the night, but now that her sister was back, I wasn’t too sure on how much time we’d have. As much as I disliked Sookie, seeing her sister as happy as she was today made it all worthwhile.

“Mel?” I called out as I exited out into the hallway.

“She’s in the shower.” Sookie said, coming out of her bedroom. “What in the hell are you doing here? I rescinded your invitation.”

This would be fun. Melanie hadn’t told her the news.

“A lot has changed in a year. You don’t own the house anymore.” My lips curved into a smirk as I fished into my pocket to pull out the house key. “I do.”

Her eyes widened in disbelief. “Why would you do that? Why would you buy my house?”

“Because while you were off in Fairyland, your sister was struggling to keep it. I offered to help. ”

“Well thanks for the help, but I’m back now and I want you out of my house.” She demanded.

“Oh, come on. That’s no way to treat your new landlord.”

“Melanie!” She screamed, stomping down the stairs to the bathroom.

I followed her down, thoroughly amused by her temper tantrum.

“I don’t know what she sees in you, but you’re nothing by bad news.” She continued, stopping in front of the bathroom door.

“As opposed to Bill Compton?” I laughed, knowing how current their last interaction was in her mind. “Listen, I bought this house because I care about Melanie. If I just wanted her for her blood, I would’ve just taken it. Instead, I bought the house. Paid for all the renovations from your fuck ups and made sure she was safe at all times. This is the thanks I get?”

“You will never get a thank you from me. Not after all you’ve put us through..” She crossed her arms in a huff.

“What the fuck is going on now?” Melanie stepped out the door, a towel wrapped over her chest leaving little to the imagination.

“You sold him the house?!” Sookie pointed at me. “Him out of all people?”

“I trust him more than I trust anyone else at this point, Sook.” she crossed her arms over her chest. “I’d rather have him own it than some stranger or worse, Bill Compton. He’d even put in an offer.”

“Why didn’t you let Bill?”

“Because I would rather not sell our home to the vampire that had plans to sell us out to the fucking queen Sookie.” Melanie raised her voice at the audacity of her sister’s statement.

“Why would you think for one second you could trust Eric Northman?”

“Because she’s my wife.”