a/n: wow, you guys really surprised me with the quick response to the first chapter! I couldn't believe how many reviews and alerts this story already has! so as a present, and since I still have power hehe, ya'll get another chapter! Also to answer some questions from you guys: Yes this story will become M rated for later chapters, and yes there will most likely be some flashbacks to them in high school. Enjoy!

Chapter 2

It was finally the night of the high school reunion. I felt like a loser for being so damn excited over a reunion. It made me look like one of those lame jocks who went nowhere after high school and had to relive the glory days. I was definitely not a dumb jock and I had a good career going. However I could admit that when it came to my love life, high school was definitely my glory days. Well, Sookie was. That might be extremely lame but I just did not care. Since I got the reunion invite in the mail she was all I could think about. My mind was set on winning her back even though I had not seen her in about seven years.

Oddly enough my hair was almost the same cut as when I was 15. The big difference was I parted it and slicked it back some now. I did not just let it hang into my eyes and look like I just rolled out of bed. I stared at myself in the mirror and debated on shaving. Yes I even had facial hair now. It only took until I was 23 to be able to grow a beard. It was ridiculous. I only had a slight stubble on my face now and opted to leave it there. From the few women I dated recently I heard it suited me. I checked my watch and realized I was running late. I rushed to my room and grabbed the black button-down I had just ironed and threw it on, quickly buttoning it. I had to make sure I looked presentable to win my woman back.

A half hour later I parked my car outside the local bar this shin-dig was at. It was the only bar in town and usually it was full of old townie men who just got drunk alone. Tonight the place had a totally different vibe though. I stepped inside and noticed the green and gold theme immediately. Okay that part was a tad lame, I did not need to feel like I was at a school dance. I glanced around the room in search of a certain blonde but I did not see her anywhere. Damn it.

"Look who grew up finally" I turned my head and spotted Pam by the bar with Amelia. I smiled and walked over.

"Please Pam, you saw me last week." Pam was actually my neighbor now so we ran into each other all the time. Back in school she had continued to drift from Nan's crowd and became a part of Sookie's group of friends. Then senior year Pam and Amelia admitted they were dating which we had all known for at least a year prior.

"You know Northman if I wasn't with Pammy over here I'd be having you in a dark corner tonight. Getting older definitely suits you." Amelia's eyes were raking over me and I surprised Pam was not pissed at her. At the moment Amelia worked in Connecticut so she did not live with Pam since it was too far of a drive. She was trying desperately to get a job in Massachusetts though so they could live together.

"I'm glad it suits me since it took so damn long." I smiled and ordered a beer. Thankfully Amelia stopped checking me out. It was starting to make me uncomfortable.

Then I heard a voice I never wanted to hear again. Nan Flanagan...well Compton now. Why was she talking to me? "Eric Northman! So good to see you, Bill and I were delighted you could make it tonight."

I turned to face her, leaning back against the bar. Bill was standing next to her holding her hand just like he was supposed to. He dressed better than high school and had improved his haircut. I assumed Nan must be in control of all that. She always was about appearances. I had to hold back my grin as I literally looked down at Bill. He had not grown since he was 16 I bet.

"Happy to be here." I kept it simple, I didn't want her to stick around.

"You're here alone?" Bill asked and as usual he did not even have a sneer on his face. The guy just literally asked socially awkward questions.

"Yep" I was in no mood to discuss my personal life with these two idiots.

I turned away from them and scanned the room again. Where was she? Was she not coming? I knew she lived in up state New York now but I kind of figured she might visit for this. Don't ask me how I thought I was going to date a woman 3 hours away, I'd do it. We let go of each other years ago due to distance and I would never make that mistake again.

"I think who you're looking for is on the dance floor." Nan finally piped up in a rather snide tone. Was I that obvious? I looked out to the small dance floor and there she was. Sookie Stackhouse, the woman I was here to recapture, was moving around the dance floor like a goddess. I left the group at the bar and made my way towards the dance floor. I swear she looked the same as the last time I saw her 7 years ago, at a summer party Eggs randomly had. Sookie had always looked young for her age like I used to. But unlike me she seemed to have retained that and did not look a day over 21 when I knew she was 28.

I walked up behind on her on the dance floor and leaned down to her ear. "Boo!"

She was so lost in her own world she jumped and yelped. When she spun around it took her a few seconds to finally look up at me. Then a huge smile spread across her face. "Eric!" She immediately wrapped me up in a hug. Had this girl gotten smaller? Her arms felt so small around my torso but still familiar. I returned the gesture and picked her up and spun her around before placing her on her feet again. I didn't want to let her go but she stepped back and dropped her hands to her sides. She was smiling though so I took that as a good sign.

We moved to the side of the dance floor so we could hear each other better. "How have you been? Still in New York?" I asked.

Sookie shook her head. "I'm great and I actually just moved back to town last month."

My heart leapt at her words. This was really my second chance. "And you didn't come visit? Tisk tisk..."

Sookie slapped my arm. "Hey, I was busy moving in and it's not like I've heard from you lately either."

I frowned slightly because I did regret not keeping in touch more even if we weren't dating. "Yeah... you know I'm not really mad right? Life gets busy, we both went our own ways for awhile." I wondered if she could tell how much I had been thinking about her, or how much I wanted to kiss her right now.

"I know, it's been a few years but I can still read you like a book. You were just being a sarcastic idiot." She shrugged and then someone interrupted our conversation. Some guy with ruffled brown hair walked up and proceeded to put his arm around Sookie and kiss her. He kissed her! I had to remind myself she was not my girlfriend anymore so I couldn't just punch him in the face.

"Oh Sam, this is Eric! I've told you about him before. Eric, this is my boyfriend Sam." Sam smiled politely and extended his hand to me. I wanted to ignore it but I had manners and shook his hand. "Hey, I'm Eric."

"Nice to meet you man, Sookie always had good things to say about you." I wondered how much she had told him. Did he know we were much more than your typical high school relationship? By the way he was acting it seemed like he had no clue and probably figured Sookie and I just dated for the sake of having a significant other when we were teens.

"So what do you do for a living?" I leered at him.

"I own a restaurant a couple towns over. It's just a small place but we keep busy." Sam was being polite and unfortunately he was not a bum like I was hoping. Nope of course Sookie picked a successful person. I needed to find a chink in this guy's armor so I could win her back. God what was wrong with me? I was damn sure I was getting obsessive over here. I had never been like this before. Then again I never had to fight for Sookie before. In the past things had just fallen into place for us.

"Are you still an engineer?" Sookie asked and I was glad she remembered what I went to school for.

"Yeah, I work over at Sullivan & Sons next to the old country store. I'm the only engineer there." The company was small but I was definitely well compensated for my work. I really wanted Sam to leave so I could talk to her. "What about you? Still marketing stuff?"

She nodded and took the drink Sam had bought her. It was some girly mixed drink. I knew nothing about what she liked to drink since both of us were freakishly well behaved and did not drink in high school, except maybe once after prom. "I was working in New York at a place I had an internship in college. But I was waiting for something to open up around here, I've missed home."

Sam finally left to go get himself a drink and I had Sookie to myself for a few minutes. "How long have you been with that guy?"

"Um, just about a year now." She swirled her straw in her drink and didn't seem too interested in consuming it.

"Wow long time, good for you." I sort of meant that. I wanted her to be happy… but I wanted her to be happy with me. Not Sam.

She smiled softly and looked up at me. For a few seconds she just watched me and I wondered what was going through her mind. "What about you? Girlfriend? Wife?"

I chuckled and shook my head. "Nah, I'm a single man."

"Really? I figured someone would have snatched you up by now. Well I know you'll find someone. Maybe tonight too…." She started giggling and pointed behind me. I turned my head just enough to see Isabelle eyeing me like prey.

"Oh hell no! I'd never stoop to that level." Isabelle hated me in school and a few times even made fun of me for being little and scrawny. I wasn't about to forget that even if she was drooling over me now.

"So besides moving you up to anything fun?" She might be in a relationship but she wasn't married. I could still try.

"Now that I'm settled in I want to get a horse again. It used to be so much fun having Jupiter. But I don't have anywhere to keep a horse." Sookie's parents had knocked down the barn a few years ago since they no longer had animals on their farm. I ran into her father at the local diner sometimes and he told me.

"He was a good horse, once he stopped being scary." I smiled and Sookie started laughing.

"I remember how hard it was to get you to try riding him. You were so petrified, it was cute." She was smiling away and I just wished Sam would never come back. I missed this.

"Can we please remember that I used to be a city boy? That was a drastic thing for me to do." We were by the corner of the bar now and I set my empty beer bottle down. I debated a few seconds before offering. "You could keep the horse at my place if you want."

Sookie looked at me with disbelief. "You have a barn?"

I nodded and was way too happy about how this was working out. "I do. Right now it's basically storage but I could take the crap out of one of the stalls so you can use it."

"Why did you buy a house with a barn anyway?" I couldn't believe she did not remember.

"Because it was my house. Remember the old shitty barn covered in vines behind my place?" I waited for the light bulb to go off in her head.

"Oh my god the creepy one I told you was definitely haunted?! You bought your Mom's house?"

"Yeah she's engaged and lives closer to the city again with her fiancé. When she decided to sell the place I bought it since I already had a job in town." That had worked out well for me since I got a damn good deal on the house. "I've fixed up the barn a lot to use it for storage. A bit of work would need to be done for a horse to be in there but not too much."

Next thing I knew Sookie had jumped me and was hugging me again. I was more than okay with that. "Thank you Eric! Thank you so much! I'll pay for any repairs that have to be done and I'll be there to clean up after the horse. You won't even know it's there I swear." Okay maybe she was a little tipsy to be agreeing with such joy. But I doubted she'd back out now. This would be my excuse to see her throughout the week.

When Sookie released me Sam was coming back over. I reluctantly let them be but made sure to give Sookie my cell in case she found a horse soon. I really hoped it was very soon.

"Geez Eric wipe the drool off your face" Pam muttered as I wandered back to her and Amelia. I just rolled my eyes at her. I didn't have a comeback because I knew it was true.

a/n: there we go, so now we know a bit more about Sookie. Hopefully she gets that horse soon... please, pretty please review! You know it makes me update faster. =)