Authors Note;; So I'm just a big ol' procrastinator, and I've had this idea brewing for a month or two and I'm trying to find excuses not to write the next installment to Perfectly Flawed, so here goes it! This is my first all human fic, so be nice!

Disclaimer;; I don't own anything you recognize. 'Beautiful' belongs to Aztec Trip.

Please, excuse me while I dream of you
With your thought in my mind, I feel alive
Pick me up, throw me down
You've got my head feeling dizzy
I wonder what is next
If only my heart spoke out loud, I'd play it over and over for you
So alive, I'm feeling fine
Your eyes stand out in my mind

"Sookie fucking Stackhouse, if you don't wake up this instant I'm going to kick you so hard in the ass that my foot is going to come out your mouth."

What a great way to be woken up.

Peeking one eye open, I winced as the harsh light flooded my vision. A groan escaped, and I pulled the covers up over my head to shield my poor eyes. "Fuck off, Eric."

"Don't make me drag your ass into a cold shower, 'cause you know I'll do it!" Eric threatened, plopping his massive body next to me on the bed. I couldn't see it of course, due to my wondrous down comforter working hand in hand with my closed eyes, but the great shift of the mattress informed me. I wasn't in the mood to deal with his shit, as I'd been up all damn day working. Since it was summer time, the teenagers just flocked to Merlotte's since there was no where else in town to go but a coffee shop that you could buy chicken fingers with your cappuccino.

I mean, really?

But hey, it put money in my wallet.

Having thought enough about my stressful day, I sighed, snuggling back down into the pillow and preparing to fall right back into my glorious slumber. Eric could wait. The edges of my world were just beginning to grow fuzzy when something soft, yet solid, collided with my backside. Since I was either a side or stomach sleeper, this wasn't particularly difficult to do.

"Mmph!" I mumbled angrily, turning my face completely into the pillow and refusing to acknowledge the constant pain in my ass that was currently trying to cruelly bring me to consciousness.

It was silent for an entire minute, and I sighed in relief once more, relaxing and drifting yet again.

Only to be rudely pulled back by a horrid, screeching noise directly to the left of my ear.

I shot up, covers tangling around my waist, and swung blindly with the hand closest to the disturbance. "Eric, you're an asshole!"

A deep chuckle was my only response, as my open palm struck his broad chest. In good sport, he 'fell' onto his side, leaning up on one arm while the other ran through his hair after dropping the whistle back onto my nightstand. Why the hell I had a dog whistle on my nightstand was beyond me, but I vaguely recalled dropping it there after helping out in the local shelter weeks back.

Unwillingly, I stared. He truly was a beautiful, beautiful creature, and what I wouldn't give to just be able to lean forward and suck that luscious lower lip into my...

And then Eric smirked, that deliciously wicked, cocky smirk and I scowled.

"I worked two to closing today, you douche bag, why are you waking me up at-" I paused, glancing over at the alarm clock that rested on my nightstand. An eye roll accompanied my falling back onto the bed, slapping a hand over my forehead. "Midnight. I didn't get home till eleven! What on earth is a good enough reason to wake me up at this moment in time? Please. Fucking. Share."

"We're going to Michigan, Sook! We've had this planned for weeks. My sister's husbands' family is having this whole reunion thing, and Emmelie wants us to come."

Of course she wanted us to come. For the past three years, Eric and I had been practically attached at the hip. Ever since the first day of fresh man year; both of us had been new to the area, and immediately latched onto each other. I had just moved in with Gran, after having spent my sixth through eighth grade year with my aunt Linda and her daughter Hadley since Hadley had somehow convinced me living in Florida was just so awesome. My mother and father, rest their souls, had moved away from Bon Temps when I'd been born, and joined my aunt in Florida so at that point it had been all I'd known, and I'd been more than happy to stay there. That is, of course, until Hadley got too involved in drugs and I just had no desire to be around it anymore.

Sure, I'd smoke a little weed here and there, and I'll drink my face off if the time is right, but when I accidentally walked in on Hadley snorting lines I'd drawn the line.

Gran had once told me the offer stood indefinitely, and she'd been delighted when I told her of my plans to move in with her. In the past three years that I've lived with her, she's been more of a mother to me than my own ever was.

Eric and Emmelie had just lost their father, Jakob. Eric had never known his mother, Erica, because she had died during his birth, and Jakob had named Eric in honor of her. Jakob had passed from cancer, having battled lung cancer for the last two years of his life.

You'd think that would be enough to deter Eric from smoking nearly a pack a day.

But of course, it didn't.

Emmelie was eight years older than Eric, and had been twenty two when Jakob had died. Eric had taken it extremely hard, having been very close to his father, and she'd thought it best to just get out of Sweden all together and start fresh. And where better to start over than America? Why she chose this Podunk town I'll never know, but Lord knows I'll never, ever question it too thoroughly. I don't know what I would do in life without Eric.

Now, Eric lived with Emmelie and her husband in the small town of Bon Temps, about a ten minute drive from where me and my grandmother resided. Jason had gone off to school in Seattle. Why Seattle? Your guess is as good as mine. It was mighty convenient living so close to your best friend.

It also proved to be very problematic when said best friend was waking you up at midnight after only an hour of sleep after working an eight hour shift two days in a row.

"Why me?" I groaned, pulling the pillow across my face to block out the fluorescents from my light bulb. Teasingly, Eric tugged it away and lightly slapped me on the stomach with it.

"Did you forget? We have to start driving at one, to make it there by tomorrow night!"

My face contorted to an expression of horror, I'm sure, as my insides writhed in protest. "Why on earth would we do that?"

"I just told you, because of the family reunion shit! Amelia and Nolan are coming too!"

Well, that explained how Emmelie had convinced Eric to make a nineteen hour drive from friggin' Bon Temps to where ever the hell in Michigan we were headed. Amelia Broadway was my closest friend next to Eric. We'd met in the second semester of freshman year, in gym class. She was thin, blunt and in your face, but she sure as hell was entertaining. She also had more money than I dared to imagine, having her rich daddy and all. But hey, who was I to complain when she paid whenever we went out?

Nolan Brynn was essentially Eric's Amelia. Being a female, I could not fulfill all Eric's needs of a best friend, so I did the best I could and what I lacked in, Nolan made up for. Nolan was tall, not quite Eric's 6'4 but he breached the six foot line, with curly black hair that hung just beneath his ears, falling across his forehead in such a way that you just wanted to reach out and brush it away. He had liquid steel gray eyes, sharp cheekbones and full lips; he was broad shouldered and toned enough that his pale skin stretched just so over his sinewy muscles. Where Eric was massive and sculpted like the Viking's he descended from(not that I noticed, of course), Nolan was more of a medium build, just muscled enough to make you want to reach out and see if his body really was as soft as it looked, but pleasantly surprised when it was hard as a rock. And he kissed like a cool summer night, making you want to just rip your clothes off because it would feel that much nicer.

How did I know this?

A handle of vodka and a game of truth or dare between four friends can make very interesting events come to pass.

Emmelie was slick, I'd give her that. She obviously knew there was no way she could convince Eric to drive all the way up to Michigan, at one in the morning no less!, unless he could at least bring one of us to suffer along with him. So of course, she'd offered for him to bring all three of us and had most likely even arranged for us to share a hotel room so we could have some fun (Emmelie didn't mind buying us alcohol if she knew we were in, and safe for the night).

That sly, sly dog.

Grumbling up a storm, I kicked the covers off and away and reluctantly rose from my big, comfortable bed. How in the hell was I going to pack for...

How long did I have to pack for anyway?

"How long are we going again?"

"Four days. Sookie, did you get hit on the head or something? I told you about this weeks ago." Eric said, scooting to the bottom of my bed and perching there, completely at ease.

"Oh, hey, Sookie, sorry I'm a jack ass and didn't remind you a few days before hand. I know you've been working a lot lately and stressing with your college applications. It didn't occur to me that you might forget something I told you about three fucking months ago." I groused, my voice dripping sarcasm as I made my way to my dresser. I grabbed six pairs of underwear (shit happens sometimes, you never know when you'll need an extra), a few bras. Included in these were the matching bra and panty set I bought at Kohl's a few weeks back. I'd splurged, since me and Gran had gone away on a shopping day and Lord knew when I'd get the chance to be in stores like that again. I really liked that store, it wasn't too expensive and flashy but still classy and casual. I wasn't exactly sure why I'd bought this particular set, but something inside me had a compulsion. It was royal blue, slightly push up style with a little black bow on the material between my breasts and black corset style lacing up the middle of each cup, but over the blue bra base. The panties were the same, royal blue cheekies with the black corseting up each hip.

I'd put the set to good use, some day.

I sighed a bit wistfully. The last time I'd even had an excuse to wear something remotely sexy was back in sophomore year when I'd dated Bill Compton. I could kick myself for that one, especially considering I'd given my virginity to the emo fucktard. And boy, was he emo. He took emo to new levels. Of course, he hadn't been that way back then, but now. Now he pranced around in black skinny jeans that I wouldn't even dare touch for fear my ass would hang out of the top, his hair straightened and hanging in his dark rimmed eyes and shirts that had little dinosaurs and robots all over them.

I had nothing against people like that, and I wasn't one to stereotype.

But there was just no getting around it. Bill was emo. And that was that.

And since my standards were too high to lower myself to one night stands, poor Sookie hadn't gotten laid in almost two years.

If it reached the three year mark, I was truly going to kill myself.

Of course, my morals weren't the only reason every guy that showed interest in me never seemed good enough in my eyes. That reason was sitting a few feet behind me, but that was a completely different story.

"You want me to help you pack?" Eric offered, though his reclining back on my bed and crossing his arms beneath his head, the picture of ease, completely contradicted his words.

Smug bastard.

"No. I'll be done in a minute. Anything else you'd like to inform me of, while we're on the subject?" I asked, throwing a few pairs of jeans into the pile that was steadily building at the corner of my bed. Where was my suitcase again? "Actually, on second thought, can you dig through my closet and find my suitcase? The Black Hole ate it."

The Black Hole, a.k.a. the Closet of Doom. I was the epitome of organization, but my closet was the one spot that did not reflect my tidiness. Poor Gran would have a heart attack if she ever decided to take a peek in there. Books, binders, clothes, shoes, cds, movies, bandanas, make up, you name it and it was strewn across my closet floor.

"Cover me, I'm going in." Eric joked, holding his arms out wide as if bracing himself before literally diving into my closet. Even though I rolled my eyes, a small laugh bubbled free and he smiled contentedly before dutifully sifting through the mess.

By the time he located it, I had seven shirts (I didn't know what kind of weather to expect), four pairs of jeans, a skirt and two pairs of shorts, a pair of moccasins and two pairs of flip flops along with my bras and panties all in a neatly folded pile and ready to go. I snatched a hoodie, hunter green with little silver studs lining the front pockets and the hood, and slung it across the pile. "Ready!" I said, before realizing I wore fuzzy lavender Eeyore pajama pants and a holey black tee shirt. That wouldn't do.

Turning back to my dresser, I pulled out an outfit and took advantage of Eric being immersed in the Black Hole to quickly change. Not like he hadn't seen me naked before (accidents every time), and besides, it was only my bra and underwear. More of me could be seen in a bikini.

Ripped, comfortable jeans with a bit of flare at the ankle and a black Beatles shirt with the Abbey Road promo across the front, and my hair hastily thrown up into a messy bun and I was ready to go. I turned back to the closet, snatching a black bandana off my dresser and rolling it to a thin strip in my hands, and announced, "Ready!"

Eric's head popped up, an old softball uniform shirt half hanging off his shoulder and he grinned triumphantly. "Found the fucker!"

Rising to his feet, he plucked the shirt from his shoulder and tossed it back into the heap, carefully stepping out of the Black Hole with my cranberry red suitcase in hand (courtesy of Eric himself last year when Emmelie had taken us to New York for New Years Eve and I didn't own any travel gear), he tossed it to me before gingerly pushing the closet door closed and successfully resealing the Black Hole.

"I survived another trip."

"Hardy har." I quipped, catching the suitcase with ease and shoving the neat pile into it, with the exception of my moccasins, which I slipped on. I picked up my bandana, which I had previously rolled into a strip, and wrapped it around my head like a head band, tying it at the top left of my head to add a little flare.

In typical Eric fashion, he grabbed the handle of my suitcase, carrying it easily to the door and leaning casually against the frame whilst waiting for me. I grabbed my hobo bag and slung it over my shoulder, following him out the door. I truly loved that bag. It was all fabric, with a long strap that hung comfortably on my shoulder and allowed the bag itself to rest at my hip. It was a muted shade of green mixed with a similarly muted blue, and a large peace sign on the front of it with different colors shading in each area of the peace sign; dark blue, orange, yellow, and dark green, respectively. It was casual enough to be worn with anything, and practical enough to carry whatever I needed to have on me at all times. Which, namely, was my iPod, my phone, some extra tampons in case of emergency, some chap stick and mascara, and other odds and ends things that somehow found their way in there. With said bag bouncing against my hip, I made my way out into the hallway, tip toeing as quietly as possible down the hall and to the living room, silently thankful that Gran's room was farther into the house than mine and so I wouldn't have to creep past hers.

When we got to the kitchen, I paused, taking out my cell phone and flipping it open to use the light as an aid. Locating my needed supplies, I scribbled a quick note to Gran explaining what was going on.

Gran,

Sorry to leave in the middle of the night like this, but I completely forgot about this whole Michigan thing. I know I mentioned it to you before. I have my phone, call me whenever you please and I promise I'll answer. I'm with Eric, and we're going to be staying with his sister so don't worry. Talk to you soon.

Love,

Sookie

Oh, she'd be worried for about point five seconds until she realized I was with Eric. Gran just loooooved Eric. If I left the house with a bottle of Jose Cuervo in one hand and a pound of pot in the other, all would be fine and dandy as long as I was with Eric.

Okay, maybe that was pushing it. Base of point, Gran adored Eric and trusted me completely with him.

Which was surprising, because Gran was one of the few people that knew of my closely guarded secret.

At Eric's urging, I snatched my phone charger from where it had been plugged in next to the kitchen table (I'd gone right for the food when I'd gotten home from work and it had been the closest outlet), shoved it in my bag and carefully closed the door behind me. The second we were outside Eric's foot falls turned from quiet as a mouse to loud and clunking, and he bounded down the steps to his car.

His precious, beloved car.

I don't really think there was a man on this earth that was more in love with his car than Eric was in love with his 1959 DeSoto Fireflite. Completely black, with the exception of the slight white stripe across the side, it didn't have a single scratch.

You want to scare the living shit out of Eric Northman? Threaten to spill a freshly poured fountain Coke on the hood of his DeSoto.

Really.

He flips ape shit. It's hysterical.

Even though he would never, ever admit to it, I had a suspicion that he'd gotten this particular car because of his secret idolization of Spike from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

I mean, think about it. Blonde hair, bad ass attitude, swagger in the step? On top of the cocky smirk and leather jacket (granted, he only wore the jacket sometimes and more often than not preferred a hoodie, but he still wore it sometimes, dammit!), and the car to boot?

Oh yeah. Eric had a hard on for Spike, and he had it bad.

After tossing my suitcase into the back seat, I climbed into the front and curled my knees up, rummaging through my purse until my fingers made contact with my goal. Curling my fingers around my iPod, I plugged it into Eric's car (everything on the inside of the car was up to date, aside from the seats which were the original) and searched through my list of artists for something suitable. What do you really listen to when you're preparing for a nineteen hour drive at twelve thirty in the morning? I settled on Pink Floyd, figuring that was music fitting for pretty much any mood (except extremely happy, then Pink Floyd is a no no), and I snuggled comfortably back into the seat, tugging my seat belt on and clicking it into place.

Eric slid smoothly into the drivers seat, gliding the key into the ignition and revving the engine, He pulled out of my gravel driveway as quietly as possible so as not to wake up Gran, I'm sure, and when he'd focused enough to notice the music he nodded his approval and flashed me a smile.

Eric and I were practically musical soul mates. We had the same basic interests, with a few straying likes and dislikes, and almost always agreed on what to listen to. Pink Floyd happened to be one of my all time favorite bands, as they were one of Eric's as well.

"So, so you think you can tell, heaven from hell," Eric sang under his breath, and the sound of it was enough to melt my insides the mush. I simply couldn't help it. Hearing his deep, whiskey-and-butterscotch voice sing out the beautiful lyrics so effortlessly... It was incredibly sexy, and somehow very soothing at the same time. I yawned, curling further into myself, and resting my temple against the flawless leather before realizing this position was very uncomfortable and shifting so my head rested against the cool window instead.

Rolling his window down, Eric popped a cigarette into his mouth and lit it. He offered me the pack of Marlboro Reds, but I shook my head in declination. I'd smoke a cigarette from time to time, but I was mostly a social smoker. I smoked when I drank, mostly. Tossing the pack beneath the stereo, he took a long drag before clasping the cancer stick between his index and middle finger and resting his wrist on the window sill, glancing over at me.

"Going back to sleep?" He questioned, his voice gentle but rough with the smoke drifting out of his lungs.

I nodded, wrapping my arms around myself and closing my eyes. "How are Amelia and Nolan getting there?"

"Nolan's picking her up as we speak and they're going to meet us at McDonald's in Memphis. We should get there around six, if traffic isn't too bad." Eric answered, and I felt something soft and warm drape across my torso and knees. I smiled, turning my face down into the material and inhaling. Smoke, Ulysses and some unidentifiable musk that all worked together to create the essence of Eric. It was wonderful. He always did this, covered me with his hoodie when he thought I was cold. I wasn't particularly cold at that moment, but I wasn't complaining.

When, after covering me with the hoodie, Eric's hand brushed the errant strands of hair that had somehow escaped my bun out of my face, my heart fluttered in my chest and a tingling sensation scattered across my skin. Oh, what that boy did to me. If only he knew.

"Are you alright to drive that whole time?" I asked, my words half slurred. I was so very content in this moment, and drifting closer and closer to oblivion. When Eric murmured a sound of confirmation, and his large hand fell to rest comfortably on my knee, spreading his warmth through my entire body, I left the darkness completely overwhelm me, drifting towards what was undoubtedly dreams of the huge blonde boy beside me.

The stars they fall around me
When I think of you
The seasons change just like I would for you
Open up my heart you've landed with me so close to
Everything that I have always needed
Tonight I'll dream of you

Author's Note;; So? What'd'ya think? There's going to be much more to this story, and it's especially going to kick off once school starts. But first, a little vacation fun so y'all ca get the grip on Eric and Sook's relationship at this point, which is very close friends. Anyone sensing a little more to it than that? =] If you're feeling generous, leave some review crack because I'm fiending for a hit! I hope you enjoyed this, it was my first attempt at an AH fic as I said previously.

More soon, hopefully!

-Lolli