Hey guys,
Happy Holidays! Welcome to my one shot, I hope you enjoy. The southern vampire mysteries is owned by Charlaine Harris. Also, a really big thank-you to my betas campyrs and trajedy99, they do wonderful work :) on with the chapter.
"Go on Sookie, it's my shift now." Sam gave me a kiss on my cheek as he pulled the cloth out of my hand so that I couldn't really continue what I'd been doing even if I wanted to. I hugged him back, letting my arms squeeze him tightly and then walked away with a bounce in my step. I quickly threw my apron down on a shelf underneath the bar for later and joined my friend Amelia who was spending Christmas with me in Bon Temps. This was the first time I'd actually seen her sitting down during the party. She was stunning with her hair falling down past her shoulders, perfectly straight for once, and she'd found a perfectly fitting little black dress.
"Sookie!" She squealed when I drew close enough in the crowded bar for her to actually see me. The high pitched tone and relaxed smile told me that she was becoming at the very least tipsy, possibly beginning to near the border with outright drunk. "I've missed you!" I couldn't tell whether she meant in the past hour during which I'd been working or the few months that had passed since we'd seen each other.
"Missed you too." I decided to take her statement to mean since the last time I'd been down to visit her in New Orleans. We wrapped our arms around each other, swaying as we did so with the beat of the music that filled the air.
I hadn't seen Merlotte's this packed before in all the years that I'd worked there. It appeared that every member of Bon Temps over the age of twenty one had crowded into the bar. Sam had even been forced to remove the pool tables for the evening about two hours ago to make room for more people and so that we could still have a dance floor. Most of the tables had been moved in preparation for the night; there were only a few left around the edges and along one corner where we'd also put some buffet food. The music was loud and pumping, but it was being kept to a reasonable level so that the older patrons could still enjoy the night as well and the selection was a rather eclectic mix of old and new.
"You got another shift later?" Sam had arranged that two waitresses would run the bar at any time; working in one hour shifts each so that everyone had the opportunity to enjoy the party themselves. It was a fantastic idea.
"Yep, 10:30 to 11:30."
"Oh well, enjoy this while you can." She thrust a glass into my hand. I had no idea what was actually in the glass since all I could make out was mint leaves and ice and I definitely hadn't created the concoction for her. "Mixed berry mojito." I smiled at her and took sip of the drink, letting the cool fresh liquid alight my taste buds. I'd developed a rather expensive and more elaborate taste in drinks since I'd been hanging out at Fangtasia; I'd even managed to make my way through their entire cocktail and wine list twice now. I officially had favourites and a berry mojito was definitely on the list.
"Thanks. So, have you seen anyone?" I plopped down into the booth that eight of us, too many to actually fit, had secured when we'd first arrived so that I could rest my feet. With this not being a normal working night we didn't have to wear our uniforms and I'd made the decision to wear some heels for a change so that I felt more like I was attending a party. I needn't have bothered; the party spirit was vibrant and I still had to stand up a lot which made my feet ache with the heels. At least I'd talked myself out of the four inch monstrosities that I secretly loved wearing. However, when my Viking vampire wasn't around to enjoy them with me they seemed almost pointless.
"Oh yes, the shifter over there talking with your brother." I followed her finger to find my brother talking in a corner, a woman already hanging off his arm, with Tray Dawson. Amelia had had a brief fling with him over the summer, the last time that she'd visited Bon Temps. I knew for a fact, without having to read his mind that he was equally as interested in my best friend and the only thing stopping their budding relationship was the distance.
"Go for it." I gave her a slight shove in the general direction of Tray and my brother, a motion which earned me a mock glare which quickly turned into a grin as she danced her way across the room.
I took a few moments, sipping on my cocktail, to look around the room properly for first time since I'd arrived. Arlene was here with her latest boyfriend, dancing away without a care in the world with her fire red hair wafting around her shoulders. Tara was having a blast in another booth she'd joined with some people that I half recognised from school and even Hoyt was trying to dance on the makeshift dance floor where the pool tables usually were. This was a major change of pace for Merlotte's but I definitely loved it, the happy atmosphere was very contagious.
The only downside was that my vampire couldn't be here to join me, not that we really would have been kicking back and dancing like the rest of the couples even if he had been here. Eric didn't really dance. I could remember every time we'd danced together before very clearly and all but two of the times it had very quickly turned virtually obscene and with both of us rushing out of the room for privacy. The other two, well one had been at a vampire wedding Eric had been officiating so we'd simply waltzed around the room, it had been a startling discovery for me to learn the Viking knew how to ball room dance. The other time had been on Dracula's birthday where Eric had simply been too distracted to get wandering hand syndrome. I hadn't minded the last time at all because it had been so amusing to see him transfixed with what I had always believed was a mythical vampire.
Anyway, it would still have been brilliant to have shared a part of the evening with my special someone even if we'd been resigned to the booth for it. We could have laughed and talked, I may have danced with Sam when he asked and definitely with my girlfriends, the latter of which Eric would definitely have liked because he was certainly all man. However, I was alone yet not quite lonely as such since the room was filled with my friends.
"How come you're not up and dancing girl?" My Gran took the booth seat opposite me. Her hair was swept back in a customary plait that trailed down her back and the few wisps around her face were plastered down with sweat from the heat in the room and all of her dancing.
"I just finished my shift."
"But you've got enough time to get a drink." She smiled at me, letting me know that she wasn't really mad about my drinking habits. "When're you going to Fangtasia?" I'd been toying with the idea of going across to Fangtasia when the party here wrapped up. The only problem was that the party didn't seem like it was going to finish until the early hours and I had to be back in time for Christmas breakfast with my Gran in the morning.
"I'm not going anymore." I was going to have to wait until tomorrow evening to see him when I was going over to his house for the night.
"Oh. So, why aren't you up and dancing?"
"I'll be up as soon as I've finished my drink." She nodded, appeased for the time being, before getting up having had enough of a break. She gave me a kiss on the cheek as well and then an old glam rock Christmas song came on over the sound system.
"You know Sookie, the old ones really are the best." Then she was off, walking to join her friends, other members of the Descendants of the Glorious Dead who were all dancing together in a rather large circle. I couldn't help but laugh at her antics. I hadn't seen her like this in a long time.
I downed the rest of my drink and stood up, pleased to find that I wasn't even the slightest bit wobbly on my feet, and made my way over to where Amelia was dancing with Tray. Jason was standing beside them; the girl that had been draped around him had disappeared.
"Sookie! Want to dance?" I hadn't even had a chance to agree and he was tugging on my hands, already moving to the beat of the music. I didn't care what I looked like, no one else seemed to either, so I just let myself move naturally which meant I was bobbing up and down, twisting as Jason spun me. The only real way to describe it was fun.
Just over an hour later I unfastened my apron from around my waist and finally dumped it into the linen basket behind the bar; I'd just finished my last shift which meant I was free to enjoy myself. During my shift my mind had often wandered to what the party at Fangtasia would be like and I just hoped that theirs was going as well as ours. It would essentially have been the same except with a different choice of music and a larger crowd that moved without a heartbeat. At Merlotte's we only had one such guest and that was Bill who I'd only briefly seen earlier.
I was standing watching Amelia and Trey dancing together, they were essentially plastered against each other by this point, when a pair of hands clamped down on my waist, eliciting a high pitched shriek from my mouth. I knew who it was as soon as their hands touched me, the shriek was more of a gut reaction that I couldn't control, and it wasn't telepathy that told me. Something deep inside me that barely operated on a conscious level told me that it was my vampire surprising me.
"You look stunning lover," he whispered into my ear. His arms slunk further around my waist until I was pulled tightly into chest where I let myself melt against him.
"You're here," was my eloquent reply. My hands rested on his forearms which were covered by his customary leather jacket as I snuggled back into him as much as I was able. "How come you're here?" I spun around in his arms so that I could look up at him. His gorgeous long blond hair was loose, framing his handsome face in the way that I loved which accompanied the panty dropping grin that was lighting up his face.
"Pam told me to come here. She said I was a pain in the ass and to just get out." I giggled at the imagery I had running through my head of Pam telling her boss to essentially fuck off. "Apparently I was hell to work for tonight. I needed to see you." We'd gotten to the stage where he, almost, freely admitted his feelings to me as long as it was only me hearing him. "It has been too long." I knew exactly what he meant; I hadn't seen him in three days which didn't actually seem like a lot but for the past few months we'd gotten used to seeing each other very regularly, on a nearly consistent daily basis.
He didn't say anything else; instead he just lowered his head to place his lips against mine in a sweet kiss. My arms snuck around his neck, leverage which I used to pull myself up onto tiptoes to reach him better. His tongue teased along my lips until I opened to him, meeting him with my own tongue until we moved together in a fighting dance for dominance. I pulled away, slowly, and lingering for one final open mouthed kiss when I felt everyone's eyes on us.
"Eric! You're here." My Gran greeted him. She quickly crossed the couple of paces that separated us from her so that she could pull him down into a hug with her frail arms. I stifled my laughter at his wide eyed expression when she planted a kiss on his cheek for good measure and in response, with added brownie points, he actually hugged her back, albeit a little hesitantly. My Gran loved Eric; she thought we were perfect for each other and that he was excellent company for her too. I had a feeling that Eric secretly liked her too; it had been on more than one occasion that I'd come home from work to find my Gran and Eric talking in the kitchen over drinks.
"Hello Adele." He replied back and finally retracted from her grasp, using his now free arms to pull me once more into his side. One of his arms was slung over my shoulders, his hand resting along my upper arm so there was no escaping from him even if I wanted to move. "I take it you are good this evening." My Gran nodded happily, patted us both on the arm and then disappeared back toward the booth for a rest. "Ah, now where were we?" He knew exactly what we'd been doing when we'd been interrupted and he wasted no time in spinning me around so that our chests were pressed up against each other. "I love that dress." His hands wandered down to rest on my waist, his fingertips trailing over the beaded pattern on my dress. I was wearing my own version of the little black dress; a strapless corset bodice that was plain which met a pleated, flowing A-line skirt at the waist which was where the beading was. I'd teamed the dress with the heels that I'd been complaining about earlier which were actually Victorian style ankle boots with false button details.
"So what does this mean about tomorrow?" I asked. At this point we were swaying slowly from side to side as a rather sad Christmas song came on and everyone seemed to pair up for the slow dance.
"This means that I am staying over." He emphasised his statement with a peck to my nose and another one to my lips, pulling back before I had a chance to respond. "You do not get rid of me that easily." He was in a deliciously fun mood, the way that I really loved him because it meant that we could just be us, without any ulterior motive. "Christmas is important to you; I am going to be here for it, with you." This would be our first Christmas together properly; last year I hadn't seen him from predawn Christmas Eve until Boxing Day and the year before that I'd seen him once during the entire holiday period.
"So you don't mind staying at the party with me?" I'd got my Christmas wish of having him here to share the party with me and it had actually gone better than expected since we were dancing.
"Not for you." He kissed me again, his lips lingering against mine so that I could respond. His lips were soft, moulding to mine as he applied gentle pressure to get me going. It was my tongue that poked out to deepen our kiss, no matter the audience, and to run along his fangs so that it was teasing to both of us, the promise of blood so close.
"You know, I can hear what everyone thinks about us and I can literally see them watching us." My shields had dropped slightly during our kiss since my mind had been on other things which meant I was getting full colour images from some of the broadcasters, a problem that had only been heightened by the alcohol consumed by me and the other people.
"What are they thinking?" He'd leaned down to whisper in my ear. His nose brushed my hair, sniffing deeply to take in my scent, that he always told me was divine even when I knew it simply couldn't be. It made me a very hygienic person which couldn't be a bad thing and I also had a feeling my scent and taste was at least partly due to the bit of fairy blood running through my veins.
"The women, and some men actually, think you're drop dead gorgeous." I chuckled lightly at my small pun and also because a few of them still hadn't caught onto the fact that Eric was a vampire. That train of thought was mainly coming from the non-regulars who hadn't seen him before because my vampire was easily recognisable as a member of the undead. "Which you are." I couldn't help but stroke his ego when the statement was completely true.
"You are beautiful." He pulled me in fractionally closer so I could feel his reaction to having me pressed up so close to him. "What do they think of the two of us together?" He surprised me then by tugging on one of my hands, sending me into a slow spin that I hadn't been expecting. The move only remained graceful due to his immense control.
"They think we look very, ah, complimentary." I only spoke when I was once again flush against him. 'Complimentary' was a very nice term for what most of them were thinking although I had to admit that most brains were positive to our partnership. "Although a lot of people are jealous."
"You do not have to be telepathic to know that."He chuckled this time, a deep laugh that wasn't audible over the music since it blended so well with the base tones.
"What are you thinking right now?" Vampires were blissfully silent to me still. My head was resting against his upper chest, my ear close to where his heart was even though I wouldn't hear it beating; he wasn't one for impersonating humans as he was so proud of his vampiric nature.
"That I want to go and celebrate somewhere in private since we only have two weeks left." I'd formally accepted to become betrothed to him, in a vampire not human ceremony, several weeks ago it was all he'd been thinking about, not that I minded since the 'celebrating' was much fun for both of us. The date was set for the beginning of January and would just take place at one of his houses in Shreveport. It would just be a simple exchanging of a ceremonial dagger that would be officiated by another vampire who would back our claim of belonging to each other and then we would follow up the evening with a renewal of our bond. At the minute the bond was overflowing with happiness teamed with lust and I'm sure it would be the same from Eric's perspective of my emotions.
"But we aren't leaving the party."
"At least not for another hour." He pecked my lips again.
"This is what I wanted." I whispered so that only he could hear me above the music.
"What do you mean?" His chin rested on top of my head, one of his arms around my shoulders and another around my waist; we weren't even swaying to the beat of the music anymore just standing inside our little cocoon.
"For Christmas. This is perfect; I'm surrounded by friends and the family I have, everyone is happy and I have you by my side. Well, actually it's better since I'm in your arms."
"I can make it better." Inquisitively I looked up to try and find out what he meant because I was pretty sure I was already in some form of heaven, definitely a heaven compared to the chaos that was normally my life. "Merry Christmas." His eyes wandered over to the side of the room to the large clock on the wall that declared it was indeed after midnight, making it officially Christmas day. It was only when I returned my gaze to staring up at him that I realised we were standing underneath a sprig of mistletoe and that if the smirking grin was any indication Eric had worked us to stand underneath it.
As soon as I returned to staring up at him he closed his eyes and leaned down to kiss me. His tongue darted into my mouth, exploring and teasing in one motion. I fought to regain some control but quickly gave up, letting myself be thoroughly dominated until my knees became weak and I was literally clinging on around his neck to keep myself upright. My breathing was heavy and my heart was beating wildly as we kissed. We weren't even underneath any mistletoe.
You know what? He did make the night better with that kiss because it was a sign of his love for me and a promise of better things to come. I just couldn't wait to find out what those better things were.
So what did you think? You know I love feedback almost as much as I love a certain Viking vampire.
The title is a line from the good ol' slade song Merry Xmas Everybody which is one of my favourite christmas songs.
In case you were wondering this Eric and Sookie isn't meant to be a couple from any of my longer stories, it's a true stand alone piece. On a similar note, Guardians of the Day will be updated tomorrow evening as usual.
Thanks for reading and once again, Happy Holidays