I choose you.
Author: Santos J. Black
Disclaimer: I only own 3 things, my laptop, my SUV and Severus (my black cat…. Who if you ask him he would say he owns me)… so no, the characters are property of Charlaine Harris, and True Blood belongs to HBO and Alan Ball.
Timeline: After Sookie breaks up with both Eric and Bill at the end of season 4…. Nothing after that!
Summary: Can anyone actually believe that it was the first time either Bill or Eric actually listened to her? S/E One-shot
Thanks to my fellow Brat and Beta Liz for making this more readable….
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They didn't understand how could they? For them it had been over a year since that terrible night where Eric had outed Bill. When she discovered that the one that was supposed to be the love of her life had been lying to her all along, had started their relationship based on lies and deception. She sank to the ground just outside Bill's mansion sobbing her heart out, she couldn't take it. It just broke her heart to say goodbye to them, most of all to Eric… but she had to be strong, as her Gran had said there is no need to be afraid of being alone.
She stood up, her legs shaking slightly as she started to make her way through the cemetery to her house, she looked one last time back and her heart clenched at the thought of leaving them behind. She was just so confused; she had practically jumped from Bill to Eric in a matter of days, for her at least. Her feelings for Bill where still there, but what she felt every time Eric was near her was just so overwhelming.
She sniffed and used her hands to wipe away some of the tears that where blurring her vision. Her chest hurt from all the heaving she was doing trying to breathe through her tears. Her heart felt as if it was shattering and all she wanted to do was cry and cry. She looked at the path that lead to her home and then to the cemetery. With a sad smile she started making her way to her Gran's tomb, falling on her knees when she reached it.
Even more tears started to run down her cheeks, her hand traced her name as she laid her head against her headstone. "I miss you so much Gran," she sniffed, her tears falling and wetting the grass. "I don't know what I'm feeling."
"I love Bill Gran, but I can't be with him." She was practically hugging the headstone now; she needed someone to comfort her, just someone to hug her. "He did so many things wrong, and I was so mad at him just a few days back."
She chuckled sadly "And now, now I can't get him out of my chest, out of my dreams…" she whipped her cheeks again. "And Eric," a small smile appeared on her face, "Eric is just so much." She giggled slightly at that thought, he was literally too much with his 6 foot 4 self. "He makes me feel so much, and I can't wrap my head around it, it's just too much."
"I think you would actually like Eric more than Bill though," she moved to sit Indian style in front of the headstone, her tears starting to stop. "He's funny and so devilish, but at the same time he always says what he thinks and he tries so hard to hide the fact that underneath everything he's one of the good guys."
"Bill has just done so much to me and for me, I can't think about him without thinking about all we've been through." She looked towards where Bill's house was; she chuckled and shook her head. "First time ever that both of those men actually listen to me," fresh tears made their way down her cheeks, "and it was the first time I actually wanted them not to…"
The moment a new wave of sobs started she felt as someone sat behind her, his arms went around her middle and pulled her to his chest. She didn't need to look back to know who it was, she just slightly turned and put her forehead on his neck as her arms clutched at his in her middle. She cried and cried, her sobs becoming louder and louder as she started to unwind. She cried for everything that had happened so far, she cried cradled in the arms of someone that loved her for the first time since her Gran had passed away.
It was a good ten minutes before her sobs started to die down; the arms around her middle just hugged her more to him as she hiccupped. She took a deep breath, his scent filling her completely… he smell of salt water, and of winter.
His big hands rubbed circles in her abdomen as he whispered in his old language in her ear. His presence being exactly what she needed right then… and probably always will. She still had a lot to go through, she knew that she would never be truly free of the world she was now a part of… "I'm sorry," she whispered as she continued to cling to him.
"It's alright lover," he whispered back. "I just can't, right now," her broken words made his heart clench, "it's just too much." Her tears started to make their presence known once again, he just brought her closer. "I'll wait," he never raised his voice, "I've waited a thousand years to feel this way," he softly pulled her back so he could gaze down into her tearful eyes, "what is a couple of more…"
"Gran is right, in a way," she sniffed as she started to pull away from him, "I am afraid of being alone," she gave him a sad smile while she rubbed the heels of her hands in her eyes. "I think I always have been."
He just gave her a sad smile, his blue eyes tinted with red. She couldn't believe that this man actually felt something for her. He was larger than life, and there he was opening himself for her… only for her.
"You don't have to," he touched her cheek, his fingers barely touching her cheek, "If there is something I can promise you Sookie," she couldn't help but sigh at feeling him so close, "is that you will never have to be afraid again, not about being alone and not about anything else."
"I want to choose you," he was almost sure his ears where playing tricks on him in his old age, "I want to so much that it hurts…" her eyes where filling again with tears and he couldn't take it anymore, and pulled her back into his arms. "But I feel like my heart is tearing into two."
"It's alright lover," one of his big hands cradled her head under his chin as the other moved up and down her back, comforting her. "When you are ready, I'll be waiting for you."
They stayed in that position for what seemed like hours; at least for Sookie it felt that way. When the sky started to lighten up, Eric simply stood up with her still in his arms and made his way to their house. Once they were inside, he silently put her down and with a last longing look each one of them moved to their own bedrooms.
"I choose you my Eric," was the last thing Eric heard before dawn took him, and he fell into his death like state with a smile on his face.