Sookie and Jason had been brought up in a small house just outside of Shreveport. Their father, Corbett Stackhouse, was a crew leader at Norcross, the local lumber plant. Their mother, Linda, was a nurse, and worked at an area hospital. During the summer, on his way to work, their father would drop Sookie, Jason, and their younger brother Tray off at their Grandmother's, and she would keep them until their mother picked them up. During the school year, they would take the school bus to Gran's house, and their father would pick them up on his way home.
Gran's home was a wonderful old farmhouse that had been in the family for generations. It was situated in the middle of a clearing surrounded by dense forest. On the other side of that forest, was the Compton Estate. The Compton's were a family that was more or less swimming in money. While playing in the woods one day, Sookie and Jason had met Bill, who was two years their senior. He was a bit snobbish and egotistical, but, he was also the only child within their own age range within a 15 mile radius.
Growing up, they'd spent many days playing with Bill. He never missed an opportunity to remind them of all the luxuries he possessed that they didn't. He didn't seem to hold their "lower class" status against them, though. It was simply a part of who they were. Sookie had laughed out loud at him when at Bill's 13th birthday party he told Sookie that she would be lucky if he married her one day. She thought his family's view on their own wealth was hilarious.
But, everything changed the year that Jason and Sookie turned 12. Their younger brother's health had been declining for quite some time, and their parents eventually pulled him out of school. When Jason and Sookie asked their parents what was wrong with him, they simply said that he had an illness that made him very weak, and he needed a lot of rest. They didn't hear the word leukemia until two weeks before their brother passed away.
Seeing how hard Tray's death was on his wife, Corbett moved them from Louisiana to be closer to her family in Chicago. She tried to be a good, attentive mother, but, the loss of her youngest child was just too much for her, and Jason and Sookie took care of her as much as she did them. They didn't blame her, though. They missed him, too.
After graduating high school, but were both accepted at LSU Shreveport, and their Grandmother, bless her heart, offered to have them move in with her to save money on housing. So, at the age of 18, Jason and Sookie moved back to Louisiana. They'd both taken piano lessons growing up, and each had a passion for music; so, it came as a surprise to no one when they both chose music as their major.
They were surprised to bump into Bill one day on campus. They all went for coffee to catch up, and fluidly moved into their familiar, comfortable friendship. Bill told them that he was majoring in music, as well. It wasn't long until he introduced them to a friend and fellow music major, Sam Merlotte. Within 3 months of moving to Louisiana, Sookie, Jason, Bill and Sam were playing together on a regular basis.
After Bill graduated, he wanted to begin the process of finding a manager, and taking their band to the next level. Sam and Jason were all for it, but, Sookie wanted to keep things low key a while longer until she and Jason had the chance to graduate as well. Unfortunately, that never happened.
Jason and Sookie's grandmother suffered a stroke, and needed full-time care. However, they were unable to afford a private nurse, so, Sookie cut back on classes, and stayed home with Gran more often than not. This went on for a little over a year until Gran passed away. Corbett and Linda came down for the funeral, of course. They were informed by Gran's attorney that the house had been left to Corbett, which everyone expected, since he was her only child.
What was decidedly unexpected, however, was when Corbett made known his intentions to sign the house over to Sookie and Jason right away, while covering the next five years worth of property taxes for them. They took the opportunity to throw themselves into their music, and things began to look up.
They were fortunate enough to be asked to perform at a local music festival one summer night, and played one of the greatest sets they'd ever done. However, as they were loading all of their gear into the back of Jason's truck, it began pouring rain, and they all got soaking wet. They drove back to Sookie and Jason's home, where they stored all of their equipment, and unloaded everything. Jason left to give Sam a ride home, while Sookie and Bill pulled out several towels and wiped everything down to prevent water damage.
They were still riding the post-gig high, and one thing led to another, and they ended up in bed together. They weren't sure if throwing a relationship into the mix would make things awkward for Jason or Sam, so, they tried to keep their mutual affection a secret. It wasn't long, however, until Sam told them to "just stop pretending you aren't fucking each other so we can stop pretending we don't know you're fucking each other."
Sookie's friendship with Bill slid easily into a romantic relationship. They spent countless hours lying in each others arms, writing songs together, and dreaming of the future. Sookie couldn't possibly imagine herself being any happier. And that, was when it all came crashing down.
At rehearsal one day, Bill told the others that he had a friend from college who worked as a talent scout for Sony, and was interested in hearing them. They all agreed they were ready for the next big thing, so, told Bill to set it up. Five days later, he walked into rehearsal with a petite woman who he introduced as Lorena. Sookie disliked her right from the start, but couldn't quite tell why. Maybe it was the slightly off-color extensions in her hair, or the poorly done boob job. Or, it could've been that she was looking at Sookie's boyfriend like a dog eyes a t-bone.
Whatever it was, it made Sookie uncomfortable, and nervous. Lorena was there to listen to them play, and judge their talent, and it couldn't have gone worse. Sookie's timing was off, and she was playing wrong notes. She was just completely flustered. She couldn't remember the last time she played this poorly. Once Bill left to drive Lorena back to, wherever, Sookie apologized profusely to Sam and Jason. She didn't want her jealous feelings to ruin their chance. They told her they completely understood though, and that they couldn't blame her if nothing came of their meeting with Lorena.
Bill, however, did not feel the same. When he returned to Sookie's home that evening, he chewed her out for a good 90 minutes. He told her that he'd never heard her play so sloppily. He said that he was disappointed in her, and, if they didn't get signed, it would be all her fault. And then, just like that, he left. He said he was too upset to be around her just then, and that they'd talk again tomorrow or the next day.
Sookie cried herself to sleep that night. She felt horrible that she'd performed so badly, but, she felt even worse that she had let Bill down. She knew she had to find some way to make it up to him. She remembered that he'd once written a song for her, and how wonderful it made her feel. So, she sat down at her piano, and worked for hours on crafting a piece of music that showed how deeply she cared for him.
The moment it was finished, she jumped into her car and drove straight to Bill's house. All she could think of was playing the song for him, and making it all up to him. She saw his car in the drive, and let herself into his house. She was so excited that she didn't stop running until she'd bounded up the stairs, down the hallway, and threw his bedroom door open.
If she thought her heart hurt after the way he'd treated her the previous night, there was nothing to compare to the pain she was feeling just then. Bill was on his back on the bed, naked, his eyes screwed shut in pleasure, and Lorena was busily bouncing up and down on top of him. Bill must not have heard Sookie enter the room, because he didn't even open his eyes until he heard Lorena laugh, and he wanted to see what was so funny.
Sookie could've never prepared herself for the look of anger his eyes held at that moment. She had just caught her boyfriend having sex with someone else, and he was actually looking at her like she'd done something wrong. She stepped into the hallway and softly closed the door behind her, and began to walk back out of the house. She was just stepping off the porch when the door to the house flung open, and Bill stepped out with a sheet wrapped around his waist.
"Sookie, what the hell did you expect?" He roared at her. "I had to do something to make up for how poorly you played yesterday. If you hadn't sucked so damn bad, we wouldn't be in this situation."
She couldn't believe her ears. So, in Bill's mind, he was justified in cheating on her, because he had to make up for the fact that she played poorly, because this horrible woman had been making goo-goo eyes at Bill during said performance. She didn't know what to say or how to react, so, so simply climbed into her car and drove away.
Jason found her crying in her bed several hours later, and after much begging, finally got her to admit what had happened to upset her so badly. He held her, and let her cry on his shoulder until she fell asleep.
When Sookie woke the next day, she noted that her cell phone said she had a new voice message. She held the phone in her hand and stared at it for a few minutes, trying to get up the courage to see who had called. When she finally did, she was relieved to see that the missed call was from Jason.
"Hey Sook, listen, I just talked to Sam, and more or less filled him in on what happened with you and Bill. Sam offered to kick his ass for ya, but, I told him that if you decided you wanted someone to do that, I'd get to be the lucky one. Anyway, the two of us decided that we really want nothing more to do with him. We're already booked to play at a bar on Saturday night, so, that'll just have to be our final performance together. Don't stay in bed all day, okay. He's not worth anymore tears. I love ya, sis."
She looked down at her watch. 3pm. Well, so much for not staying in bed all day. She went to the kitchen and had some toast and a much needed cup of coffee. She knew that Jason was right, and that she couldn't allow herself to be all mopey. But, her eyes were red and swollen from all the crying she'd done, so she also didn't want to go out.
She eventually opted for relaxation therapy. She quickly threw a load of clothes into the washer, then ran herself a gloriously hot bubble bath, and lit candles in the bathroom. She grabbed her stereo, and turned on a beautiful Celtic CD that Jason had given her last Christmas.
When she got out of the tub, she was thrilled to find Jason and Sam waiting in the living room for her. They'd gotten take-out from her favorite Chinese place, and had rented sappy chick flicks to watch with her. She mused allowed at how special she must be to them, for them to voluntarily cut their own balls off to make her feel better. They all laughed together, and by morning, she'd already started to feel better.
Unfortunately, that "better" feeling started to wear off Saturday afternoon while she was getting ready for their gig. To say she was having mixed feelings would be a gross understatement. The four of them had been playing music together for almost five years, now. They'd worked hard to perfect their sound, and she was sad to see that come to an end. But, it would also be the first time she'd seen Bill since she left him on the porch that day.
She'd been standing in front of her open closet in her pajamas for about 45 minutes when Sam walked in. He looked at her for a moment, looked in the closet, then back at her. He stood in front of her and put his hands on her shoulders, and moved her until she was sitting on the bed. Then, he walked into her closet, and a few minutes later, walked out, holding her black cargo pants, favorite red tank top, and black vans. He put them down on the bed next to her, and turned to walk out. He paused in the doorway, and without turning to look at her, said, "Tonight, you're gonna be the sexiest woman in that bar. And when you're on stage, you're gonna shake your ass, play your heart out, and have the best performance of your life. And then Bill will spend the rest of his life regretting what he did."
And that's exactly what she did. She didn't hold anything back. She'd never had more fun performing, and judging by the cheers of the audience, it showed. A few times, she'd noticed a small group of people at the bar watching her intently. Normally, she wouldn't have picked out small groups in such a crowded bar. But, these four stood out because they were all so attractive!
One tall, muscular man with dark, curly hair, a black man who appeared to be wearing make-up, a blonde woman who looked like she'd just stepped out of a Norman Rockwell painting, and a tall blonde man whose eyes followed her every move. The blonde man looked familiar, but Sookie couldn't quite place how she knew him.
After their performance had ended, Sam, Jason, and Sookie stood outside, loading their gear into Jason's truck, and just enjoying the night air. They heard a female voice say, "Pardon me, but I was hoping to have a word with Miss Stackhouse."
Sookie turned to face the speaker, and found that she was face to face with the four people she'd caught watching her on stage. Jason made his way over so that he was standing next to her, and rested his arm on her shoulder, in a casual yet protective sort of stance. "How can we help you, M'am?" He asked.
"Well, Mr. Stackhouse, I was hoping to have a moment to speak with your sister in private," came her snarky reply.
Jason chuckled. "Anything you want to say to Sookie, you can say to me. So, you best get started talking."
However, before the woman got the chance to speak again, Sookie realized who the blonde man was. She gasped, putting her hand over her mouth. They all focused their attention on her, as she looked at him and said, "Holy shit! You're Clancy's cousin!"