I updated "Trust Me" this week by uploading Chapter 8 to
Fanfiction.Net and
EricNorthman.net. You will learn just how duplicitous Bill Compton can be and that perhaps there is more to Eric Northman than meets the eye.
Please, no pro-Bill daggers at the turn I have taken. It had to be done, and the TB writers were not getting there fast enough. They have shown that Bill has over and over again lied or kept things from Sookie, and she seems to forgive him every time. Eric is not a saint himself, but he has some growing to do.
In "Keep This Party Going," Eric respectfully asked Bill if he could borrow Sookie to help him in Dallas. Eric explained that he and Sookie had made an arrangement that if he didn't kill anyone, she would work for him when he needed her. When Bill refused to cooperate, Eric mentioned that, "if [he] wanted her, [he] could simply take her" and that he was showing respect for Bill by asking his permission for her assistance in the first place. When Bill flat out refused, Eric asked him if that was his final answer. Bill responded that it was, and Eric said, "Poorly played, Bill. Poorly played."
When Bill grabbed his arm and demanded Eric stay away from Sookie in "Timebomb," he pretty much challenged Eric's authority. Eric squared off in front of Bill, faced him fully, and smiled playfully, "Are you picking a fight?" That was one of my favorite scenes. Here is jackass Bill standing up to his sheriff and ordering him about like he had a right to. Eric towered over Bill to the point that it looked like a black ant trying to kick sand in the face of a lion and thinking he could get away with it. The fact that Eric likes a good fight gave him a prime opportunity to show Bill that Bill had no power over him whatsoever.
When Eric was left alone with Sookie, in the aftermath of the bombing, it was the perfect time for him to prove his own point to Bill that if he wanted Sookie that he'd simply take her. He did just that by tricking Sookie into sucking out the silver from his neck and chest.
Did Bill punch out Eric immediately after he found Eric thoroughly enjoying watching Sookie suck on his chest? No. He waited until the following night ("I Will Rise Up") when Eric had just been informed that the maker he had idolized for a millennium was going to meet the sun. Eric was clearly in shock. Yes, that was the moment Bill chose to punch Eric in the mouth, during a moment of weakness on Eric's part. It was poor timing and a bitch-ass thing to do. I can't believe Sookie didn't call him out on it. I know she was mad at Eric for tricking her, but Sookie knew at the Fellowship of the Sun that Eric had a lot of love for Godric. She knew Eric was hurting before she went up on the roof of the hotel.
I want to thank my friend Beth for a discussion we had about the dual meaning in Eric's words to Bill after Bill sucker-punched him in "I Will Rise Up." Eric said, "I'm part of her now. Get out of the way." Not only was he saying, 'Get out of the way, I want to leave the room,' but he was insinuating that she was now his and that Bill should step aside so that he could have her. Did you see the look on Bill's face at Eric's words? Watch it again sometime.
Since we (book fans) did not get the pink and aqua lycra, the 'yield to me' on the hood of Eric's Corvette, Eric staking Longshadow instead of Bill, or Eric paying for her driveway from the books as part of season two of True Blood, I wanted Eric to redeem himself a little bit, because even Eric could see that Sookie wasn't being looked after as a valuable member of his area and to him personally. I also wanted to have Eric start to see the value of humans similar to the way his maker had and to advance his interest in Sookie while Bill was absent. By having Eric do something, like getting someone to come and clean her home for her, was something that Bill should have thought of himself if he hadn't been so busy scheming to get her away from Eric by asking her to marry him. Eric may not apply what he has learned to all humans, but perhaps he'll start to see the value of Isabel's words to him.
I do think that Bill does care for Sookie beyond his orders. It was obvious by the look he gave the queen in "Frenzy" when she mentioned that she wanted to meet Sookie. He definitely wants to keep her to himself now. He is such a selfish individual though, that I just can't see them together for much longer. She will see through his bull shit. If that doesn't happen on the HBO series, then please drop by and read my fan fiction.
I really enjoy all your comments on Fanfiction.net even though I am not able to get back to all of you about them. Best wishes.
