I found an interesting article at Ericnorthman.net that may answer your questions Melissa:

(edited and not in full) “…..Sookie frequently misinterprets Eric’s words, actions, and motives. One good example is from book eight:

“There is much you don’t know about Sookie,” Bill said. It was the first time he’d spoken since Madden had entered. “Know this: I will die for her. If you harm her, I’ll kill you.” Bill turned his dark eyes on Eric. “Can you say the same?”
Eric plainly wouldn’t, which put him behind in the “Who Loves Sookie More?” stakes. At the moment, that wasn’t so relevant. “You must also know this,” Eric said to Victor. “Even more pertinently, if anything happens to her, forces you can’t imagine will be set into motion.”

Eric knows full well what kind of danger Sookie would be in if he told Victor Madden that he – Sheriff of Area 5 – would die for this human woman. Sookie could be kidnapped or even killed if the Nevada vampires knew that she had this power over Eric. It’s also worth noting that Eric doesn’t say “no” to Bill’s question. He ignores it and speaks to Madden in terms of Sookie’s political importance – thereby protecting her. In fact, Bill actually endangers Sookie (and himself) in this scene by threatening Victor Madden.

Eric has already proved more than once that he will guard Sookie with his life. And even though he says one thing in book seven (“No,” Eric said simply. “Because it might have hit me in the heart, and I would die. But I would have dived in and tackled you to take you out of the arrow’s path if there had been time.”), his actions speak louder than his words. When no thought is involved, when he is going on instinct, he consistently, in every situation, protects Sookie with his own body.

Apart from Sam Merlotte, Eric is the only character in the series who is there whenever Sookie needs him. He protects her from a distance, he helps her, and he takes care of her. Even Bill, who genuinely seems to love Sookie, has a tendency to leave her when she needs him. One example is in book two, after the Fellowship attack. Bill runs off to kill some of them, while Eric stays with Sookie – after covering her body with his own.

Eric seems to have a sensitivity that Sookie either doesn’t notice or tends to ignore. When he is cursed in book four, Sookie thinks that this kinder, more gentle personality is something Eric doesn’t have when he’s his usual self. Yet he shows hints of it all through the books, from making her bed to his reassuring whisper, “Sookie, relax. I have you.” Sookie is probably the only human he has taken the time to care about in centuries, if ever, and she probably makes him feel some measure of human emotion again.

It is unclear if Charlaine Harris intends for Eric to be Sookie’s partner in the end. Strong cases can be made for that person being either Bill or Sam – especially the latter. But she has certainly made the Eric/Sookie relationship the one that evolves and gets deeper with each book…”

I’ve been a big fan of the books, althoug it’s been quite frustrating seeing how Bill started fading away in each book after the end of book 4, not that he was ever out completely, it’s a fact that he plays a major role in Sookie’s life and we always have the feeling that for some reason or another he’s never really gone, no matter how small the part is, that one little scene always makes a difference and that’s why I’ve kept on reading, but in book 8 I satrted feeling a strong come back of a much bigger Bill, then book 9 was all about Bill’s redemption, I really though he was goint to die but she kept him around, if they’re not getting back together at some point she should have killed him right there, that would have been a fair clousure… and then that Niall’s “The vampire is a good man and he really loves you” comment, he was certainly NOT talking about Eric, that comment was sort of a “hey I know your going in this direction right now but don’t discard this possibility, this is the man” I was so happy at that moment… But then I read the hideous “Book 10, Chapter 1″ infamy. I was so upset after reading that first chapter of Dead in the Family. I had so much hope after that cliffhanger of Dead and Gone, he almost died for her godammit, Eric has never put himself over Sookie, EVER, it was Bill the one who went in and out the fairy world to save her, it was Bill the one who said he’d be honored to die for her, but she barely names him in a whole chapter, in 13 pages she couldn’t find the time to think about him, and the one time she does is just to make a simple recap of all the casualties of the war, just another name… that was so frustrating!!!!

However my dear Samantha, your viewpoint makes a some sense (if I’d only make sense right now, I could see it) … we can only hope CH thinks the way you do, or we might have to ask you to rewrite the story -please?-

Now, would you share some of your theories about the so call “love” of Sookie for Eric and viceversa… I do have a few of my own that I would love to share with you.

Melissa

P.D.: you speak portughese?!!!! Awesome… I live right next to Brazil and don’t understand one word!!!

1. incredibly gorgeous.
2. caring and protective.
3. has a sense of humor but is serious at all the right times
4. would do anything to keep you safe.
5. gives you his most valuable keep sakes.
5. makes sure you know that you are all he thinks about

Muito obrigada por sua atenção!
Eu sou brasileira e desde que li “Dead Until Dark” naveguei no romance de Bill e Sookie.
Foi muito reconfortante ler suas palavras,pois desde a confirmação da suposta morte de Bill,havia perdido toda emoção e vontade de continuar nessa viagem criada por CH.
Você me reanimou e eu continuarei a dá crédito ao que meu coração me diz.
Eu sempre acreditei que Sookie reconhecerá que não pode e que não quer ser feliz com nenhum outro,a não ser com Bill.
Ela tentou avançar em todos os livros depois do rompimento com Bill e não conseguiu.
Ela não se entregou ou amou nem Eric,nem Quinn e nem mais ninguém…não vejo Sookie sendo tão feliz e completa com nenhum desses pretendentes,como foi com o vampiro Bill.
Muitos falam que devemos nos ligar que os livros são “as aventuras” de Sookie…até concordo,só não concordo que ela possa terminar sozinha.
Acredito que esse não é o caminho que CH quer seguir…não há aventuras sem romance,romance sem amor.
Quando li os 2 primeiros livros,me apaixonei pela história e confio que no fim,a escritora CH nos dará o final de um amor que superou e sobreviveu a tudo, como sendo é claro,o amor de Sookie e Bill.
Eu pelo menos,quero ver esse final,pois foi a essencência dos dois primeiros livros que me levaram a admirar o talento de CH e o que me motivou a continuar nessa leitura de uma série de 9 livros até agora…foi o fascinio e o encanto por um dos personagens mais cativantes e eterno que já li,o senhor Bill Compton junto com sua amada Sookie.
Depois de tudo isso,espero que minha leitura não continue sendo tão frustada como tem sido,com toda a exclusão que Bill tem tido nos livros.
Ele é um personagem fabuloso e merece voltar ao lugar que lhe pertence.

P.S.não creio que o metaformo Sam é o ideal para Sookie,meu copração me diz que Bill sempre será o amor verdadeiro e o certo para ela(espero que seja para CH também).

Um grande abraço,foi maravilhoso lê seus pensamentos.
Obrigada Samantha.

Also keep in mind the world that CH has created. There are supernatural characters with various magical powers that inhabit that world. Just because a character “dies” in one book doesn’t mean that they couldn’t be brought back through magical means later on. Let’s say that Bill had died in Book 9. Perhaps Sookie would have been so upset and realized that he was the one she truly loved. Niall, seeing how upset she was over losing her true love, could have used his fairy magic to bring Bill back to life for her.

Nor does it mean that the character actually “died”. They may just have appeared to be dead but a later book could bring them back fully healed. For example, let’s say that in Book 9, Sookie would not have seen Bill’s hand move to know he was still alive after the attack on the hospital. She would have thought he was dead and as readers we would have thought he was dead too. But in another book he could come back alive and explain that when the bodies were being removed from the hospital, someone noticed that he was still alive. So for the parts of the next book or books that he wasn’t actively in the story, he had been off somewhere healing from his injuries.

“…I’ve considered killing every character at one time or another, and some of them I follow though with. But some I decide I need to be alive.”

So that seems to me that at one point in the past she may have thought about killing Eric, but she decided that Eric needed to remain in the story. Sookie obviously will not be killed because she is the one telling the story. No Sookie=no story. Eric will probably survive because he is 1000 years old and has an incredible sense of self-preservation that has has honed over those 1000 years. He isn’t going to do anything stupid to get himself killed. Since he has survived this long, why wouldn’t he survive another 1000+ years?

But once again, just because CH said last year that they may be the only two characters that she won’t kill, that doesn’t mean that they will end up together or that she won’t change her mind and kill Eric down the line. CH has also said that Eric was just supposed to be a minor character. However, the more she wrote his character, she realized that he was so fun to write that she changed her mind and expanded his role in the story. She’s already changed her mind once about Eric. You never know she could do it again. The only thing she said she has never changed her mind on is who Sookie ends up with. She said she knew who that would be when she started writing Book 2 and that has never changed.

If she chooses Bill, they could have somewhat of a “normal” life but there would be some complications. On the plus side, they could live in Bon Temps. They could either live in her house or go back and forth between their houses. She could still keep her job. Since vamp/human marriage was made legal back in Book 8, they could get married. With Bill being an independent contractor in the vamp world due to his database, he probably has some political clout of his own now to help protect Sookie. He’s a big money maker so the higher ups will want to keep him happy. Sookie staked Lorena so he will not have a maker coming back to make a claim on him. On the complicated side, she could only be with him at night. She would still have to deal with Eric on occasion if she is still involved in vamp business. They wouldn’t be able to have children of their own. But on this point I have a feeling that Hadley’s son Hunter, who is telepathic, would fill in that gap for them. I can see Bill and Sookie helping Hunter hone his telepathic abilities, especially since Bill is the one who helped Sookie with hers. She will grow old and die while he won’t.

Sorry, Eric lovers but I just don’t see her ending up with him. She doesn’t want to leave Bon Temps, her house or her job. I don’t see Eric moving to Bon Temps with her. He would want her in Shreveport with him. He cannot put her first, which is a big sticking point with her. Area 5 will always come before her. If he gave that up to be with her, how could he protect her then? He would be a low man on the totem pole again, just like Bill was at the beginning of the books. No matter how much he cares for Sookie, he will not give up his area for a human that will die in 60-70 years. He also has a maker, Appius, who could come calling for him at any time, just like Lorena did with Bill. Plus I just don’t think that Sookie is in love with him. I think Eric has been trying to get her to love him but she just can’t do it. I have a whole theory on that issue but it would take me too long to type right now.