Hello peeps! New short story. I know, I should be updating the other stories that have been sitting there for months, but I wanted to get this first chapter out of the way.

Enjoy and Review!

Chapter 1

This Sunday was her half-brother's birthday and Jade was planning a BBQ for him. Plus, they were celebrating the new opening of his bar, Good Times; the grand opening was two days before the barbeque. She was on the phone with her best friend Sookie Stackhouse, who called initially to vent about her husband, Bill Compton…again. But not in the mood to hear her whine, Jade cut her off mid-sentence.

"You still coming to the barbeque? Or do you need permission from your loving husband to leave the house?" Jade asked with a sneer.

"Don't you give me that tone, Jade Valentine!" Sookie snapped, pausing. "Bill just…he just worries for my safety is all." She says in a small voice. Jade scoffs.

"Pfft…yeah, of course he does." She retorts with sarcasm. "He's very concerned for your well-being." Jade chuckled bitterly. "He's soo concerned that he tracks your every movement, all your calls and activity. He even needs you to call him every couple hours to check on you. All for the sake of your well-being." Jade shook her head at her best friend; her clinginess and naiveté is the reason she's married to that monster. Jade knew this was all about his fragile over-inflated ego, his over-flow of testosterone and incessant need to control everything.

She had been married to Bill Compton since high school.

My friend is oh so hopelessly naive.

Everything was all wine and roses until she told him she loved him and he was the first man she ever slept with. Right after that, their relationship went downhill. Bill started being verbally abusive, constantly making snide comments about her choices and talking down on her like she was mentally challenged. Then it escalated gradually, to physical abuse; Sookie would show up at Jade's house with all kinds of injuries on her body; bruises on her legs, and a black eye she tried hiding with huge sun glasses. She even ended up in the emergency room with a couple of fractured ribs. Jade didn't even want to know how that came to be. She feared he would ultimately end up either putting her into a coma…or much worse.

If she asked, she would be tempted to hunt the fucker down and kill him herself. Sookie's list of random injuries kept growing…and excuses, getting less and less believable.

And what would happen after Bill was finished beating her?

Sookie would come crawling to Jade's in tears, battered, bruised, and desperately seeking advice. And Jade would tell her the same thing every time: Go to the police, get help, call your brother; take charge of your life and blah, blah, blah. To be honest, Jade was growing tired of this routine. Sookie is her best friend and all, but there's no way her situation is going to change if she keeps enabling him and taking him back.

But in a way, it's not her fault. She has this crippling fear of being alone. Jade's guess was due to her grandmother sheltering her during childhood after the death of her parents. Then her grandmother died, worsening her fears. She feels she's somehow responsible for her parents dying; which is impossible since they were in a car accident when she was six years old. Her grandmother had a stroke during her second year of college, then died a year and a half later.

She feels her leaving made her grandmother sick; even though Gran had encouraged her to get out there and be somebody. Gran's death hit everyone hard, but it hit Sookie the hardest. She just wasn't the same anymore.

Ever since she's been with Compton, she has become dependent upon him, shier, meek and much less talkative than she used to be. He nearly managed to squash the woman Gran raised Sookie to be. But there was still some fight in her left. There had to be. She wants out. Or why else would she come over to Jade's house? She desperately wants out of this marriage with him, but doesn't know how to achieve that. Bill makes all the money and refuses to let Sookie work, making her financially dependent on him. He has done everything he could to isolate her from everyone.

Wait…not exactly true…she still has me. Just because I grow tired of all this, doesn't mean I'm going to stop trying to help her! I'm her best friend, if I have to I'd give her my life savings just to help out of that farce of a marriage, then so be it.

How to do that, though? She sat on the front porch of her house, nursing her cup of coffee. Her fingers tapped against the porcelain making a ringing sound. That's when a light bulb went off over her head. She grinned to herself madly. What better way to help Sookie than to show her what a real man looks like? She had the perfect person too.

Her half-brother, Eric Northman. She knew he had a huge crush on Sookie. There was a time where Bill and Sookie had a falling out and Sookie ran off to be with her best friend…instead she ended up in the arms of her brother Eric. If she planned this correctly, maybe she could save her best friend from dying young.

Jade sighs. "You still coming to my BBQ or not? Everyone is going to be there and misses seeing you." She said softly. It was true, everyone missed her. Sookie was like the heart and soul of Bon Temps…everyone knew her, everyone loved her.

"I don't know, Jay. You know how Bill is when I leave the house…" Jade stopped her.

"I don't give a shit how Beehl is! For all I care he can get himself ass raped by the devil himself! I am begging you to come to the BBQ…take a load off from your marriage (and I use the term loosely) and have some fun. Pretty please?" She had to get her out that house. Being cooped up there and doing nothing has to be making her crazy.

Sookie sighs. "Alright fine. I'll come. Is your dad making his famous ribs?" Jade chuckled.

"Umm, duh! This wouldn't be a BBQ without dad's ribs! I actually have Lafayette making your Gran's pecan pie." Sookie giggled, a sound that made Jade smile. The only person Sookie trusted with her Gran's recipes was Lafayette. "And Mrs. Fortenberry's chocolate cake! It is gonna be one slammin' par-tay!" Sookie laughed, for once appreciating her enthusiasm. She then stopped, and thought about something.

"Is your brother going to be there?" She asked softly. Jade held in a laugh, knowing the purpose of that question.

"Why do you think I'm throwing this BBQ? It's his birthday and Saturday is the grand-opening of his new bar, Good Times. And by the way, you're coming with me to that! No ifs, ands or buts!"

She couldn't live with this anymore. The pain, the humiliation, the guilt…it was eating her up inside. How could she have been dumb to fall for the first man she ever slept with? Better question, how could she have ignored all the warning signs? Gosh, she was stupid! She lay under the covers, tears pooling in her eyes again. How much more tears could she shed? Sookie sobs, hugging herself tightly. Thankfully, her husband had left for work early in the morning. She had almost all day to think, and plan.

How do I get myself out of this?

Most of Sookie's days are filled with self-pity and tears. It's almost like she has no energy to fight anymore, no energy to even get out of bed. How pathetic was that? That thought caused another round of tears and sobbing. All her family and friends tried to warn her about Bill, but she refused to listen.

She could tell her best friend was growing tiresome of her bullshit. How long before Jade is done with her? How long before Jade turns her back on her because she couldn't deal with Sookie's drama anymore? How long before she is truly alone?

She didn't want to find out.

What do you think?