Don't Say Yes

AU/ AH/ OOC

Chapter 3

SPOV

Amelia and I left Gran's early Sunday morning to head back to Baton Rouge. I had quite a few things to take care of and time was of the essence. Eric and Sophie Anne were getting married in June, which meant I had a little over a month to come up with a solid plan and get the ball rolling.

After my declaration last night, Gran, Amelia and I all agreed that step one was to break up with Bill. This wasn't fair to him; he was a good man, a boring man, but a good man and he didn't deserve this. He deserved someone who would love him completely and I wasn't that person. Even if things didn't work out with Eric, I couldn't still be with Bill. I knew this was going to be completely unexpected, but the sooner the better; I needed to rip off the proverbial band-aid.

I called Bill as soon as we got on the highway and asked him to meet me at the Starbucks on campus around 4 pm. This would give me enough time to get to our apartment and get my head on straight. I could tell he was a little concerned, but I wasn't giving anything away over the phone. I was determined to do the mature thing and end this in person; it was the least I could do.

As soon as Amelia and I got unpacked and comfortable, we each grabbed a can of our favorite flavor of Pringles and sat together on the futon to plan out phase one.

"So Sookie, what's the plan?" Amelia asked as she put the first chip in her mouth. We were known to finish one can of Pringles a piece during stressful conversations. This might end up being a two can per girl kind of afternoon.

"Umm…honesty?"

"Honesty is best, but does Bill even know about Eric?"

"Other than the fact that he holds the record for the most wins by a quarterback in SEC history? Nope."

"Okay. Wow. Well, you've got a lot of ground to cover, girl."

"Yeah thanks, I know. So, do I start this little conversation with 'I can't marry you because I'm in love with someone else' or do I opt for the old "this isn't working for me" excuse?"

"Shit Sookie. What are you going to say to him?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out Ames, and we better do it fast. I'm meeting him in an hour."

"Okay, well… he does know that you have an ex right? I mean he knows that there was someone before him?"

"Yes, he knows that. He knows that I've only slept with him and one other person." I was already halfway through my can. I could feel my thighs expanding with each additional chip. If I was going to barge in on Eric's wedding this chip thing was going to have to stop. I set my can down and decided that I'd held my last Pringle until June.

"Well then, that's where you start. He needs to know the history or he's never going to accept that you could possibly be in love with someone else, Sookie. I say you start there and then just go with what feels right. Lay it all out there."

"This is going to be so hard. I never meant to hurt him. I don't want to do this to him. This sucks." Amelia reached over and gave my hand a squeeze.

"And you'll tell him that too. It's not that you don't love him or never did, but he deserves your entire heart, not just a portion of it."

"When did you get so smart?"

"I'm not sure, but you better go get ready. I know you don't want to break-up with Bill in ratty sweats and a day old ponytail."

I gave Amelia a huge hug and ran off to shower. I was about to feel like a giant piece of shit and looking like one wasn't going to make this any better. I wore my hair down and decided this was a lip-gloss only kind of day; I knew I was about to do a lot of crying and I didn't want to walk across campus with mascara streaks running down my face. I threw on my favorite LSU t-shirt, a pair of denim shorts and flip flops. I put Bill's engagement ring back on and instantly started feeling nauseous. I gave myself a long, hard look in the mirror, took a deep breath and headed out of our apartment.

As soon as I saw Bill sitting outside of Starbucks with my favorite vanilla bean frappuccino my heart starting racing. I had to fight the overwhelming urge to run back to the apartment and hide. I focused on Eric and decided that no matter what the outcome was, I had to know if he still loved me, and in order to know, I had to end this with Bill.

He stood up to greet me with our usual chaste peck, but I turned my face and he caught my cheek instead. He immediately sat back down and motioned for me to sit across from him. The gig was up, and it was now or never.

"Bill, we need to talk." His face fell as soon as I uttered those four little words. God, I was a piece of shit.

"Sookie, please…"

"No, I need to tell you something and I need to get it out now, or I'm afraid I never will." Now he just looked pissed.

"Did you cheat on me? Please tell me you didn't cheat on me."

"Hell no, nothing like that." He gave me a half smile and nodded for me to continue.

"Do you remember me telling you about my ex-boyfriend from high school?" He just nodded and furrowed his brow.

"Well, he's getting married." Brow furrowing tighter.

"Sookie, would you please hurry this along."

"Of course. When Amelia and I went home to see Gran, I found out he was getting married and I realized that…that I still love him and probably always will. I can't do this to you. You deserve better. You deserve someone who will love you with their entire heart and that person is not me. I'm sorry Bill… I'm so, so sorry, but I can't marry you."

I took his ring off and slid it across the table to him. He took it from me and roughly grabbed my left hand to shove the ring back on.

"I won't accept this Sookie. I can't accept this. I love you. I want to marry you. We can work through this."

I jerked my hand out of his and took the ring off again. It felt like we were playing a game of tug-of-war with my hand.

"You still want to marry me knowing that I'm in love with someone else?"

"Does he love you, Sookie? He's getting married. He's obviously moved on and I think you should too."

"That's what I'm going to find out, but I… I needed to break-up with you first. It was the right thing to do."

He yelled, "The right!" and then quickly lowered his voice. I'd never heard Bill raise his voice, ever. This wasn't going well. "The right thing to do? Sookie, you're ending our three year relationship because the ex-boyfriend you haven't seen in years is getting married? Do you have any idea how ridiculous this all is?"

"I know it may seem ridiculous to you, Bill. I don't expect you to understand, but I have to do this. I have to do this for me. I'm sorry."

"You're right, I don't understand and I think you're making the biggest mistake of your life. If that son of a bitch turns you down, you know where to find me."

With that, Bill got up, slid the ring back across the table to me and left Starbucks. I let out a breath I didn't realized I'd been holding and carefully put the ring in one of the inner pockets of my purse. That actually went better than I'd expected. He still wanted me even though I was in love with another man, which was odd, but flattering at the same time. I don't know how I thought he'd react, but that was not it.

I decided to hang out at Starbucks, enjoy my vanilla bean frap and ponder phase two. All I knew was that Eric was getting married in June and that the wedding would be held at his parent's estate. I needed the exact date or this was never going to work. Maybe I could use Mr. Carmichael's senator status to get some information? Or, I could just call Mr. Northman; he might actually help me with this little plan. Stellan Northman always genuinely cared for me; he encouraged our relationship and I think he would have been perfectly happy if we'd gotten married right out of high school.

Now Mrs. Northman, she was a different story. Eric always tried to tell me that she was fond of me, but I knew better. Gran and I both saw through her unnaturally perky façade. She wanted her son to be with some rich snotty bitch like Miss Leclerq. Come to think of it, I bet Mrs. Northman, or Elle, as she liked to be called, was tickled pink right now. Maybe Eric hadn't just let me go… maybe his evil mother had something to do with it. This new outlook made be insanely giddy for someone who'd just broken up with her boyfriend of three years to chase after an ex she hadn't spoken to in four, but whatever. Call me crazy, but this batshit idea might actually work.

With a new spring in my step, I high-tailed it off to my apartment to get my partner in crime's opinion on phase two. As soon as I burst through the door and yelled out "Amelia," I instantly regretted not knocking. My roommate was currently butt ass naked in the reverse cowgirl position on our futon. Gag. I'd burn the slipcover later.

"Amelia, I thought we'd talked about this… behind closed doors, remember? Hi Tray. I'll be in my room and we need to talk after… after you're… done."

I went in my room and slammed the door closed behind me, collapsing on my full-sized bed my thoughts immediately went to Eric. My lips immediately curled up into a smile; only he could make me feel this sublimely happy and I didn't even have him back yet, but I would soon enough (I hoped). My entire outlook on life had changed in two days. Odd.

After Amelia and Tray completed their Sunday afternoon romp, she came bounding into my room and jumped on the bed beside me, tucking her legs underneath her.

"Sorry about that, but we didn't get to see each other last night and well…"

"I don't need the gory details, Amelia, but thanks."

"Of course, of course, now how did things go with Bill?"

"Better than expected. He told me to keep the ring. He still wants me if things don't work out with Eric. Do you find that a little strange?"

"Yeah, just a little, but Bill's always been a little on the weird side you know. Bland and weird. Sad that he'd take you back though. I'll ask Tray about that. It doesn't seem to be normal male behavior. Men tend to be all Neanderthal and "mine." Wonder what gives with him?"

"Don't know, Ames. That's the big mystery, isn't it? So anyway, I think I have step two figured out and I want your opinion."

Amelia scooted up with her back against the headboard and I shifted so I was facing her; this was about to get serious.

"I'm all ears, girl."

"I have two ideas. I need to know when this wedding is, so… I was wondering if you could call Cope or…?"

"Ummm… nope, sorry. No big favors for the non-daddy, Sook, sorry. If I ask him for a favor, I'll owe him later and owing that man is never good."

"Right, so that's why I have a second option. I could just call Eric's Dad?" That was when Amelia lost her shit. She was laughing so hard I thought she was going to pee her pants. She was gone, completely gone.

"AMELIA!"

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I thought you said you'd call Mr. Northman. Are you NUTS?"

"No, he loves me. Oh and I had an epiphany at Starbucks. What if Elle kept me from Eric? What if she kept us apart? I'm sure Stellan would know that."

"You know, you're right. I never met the bitch, but if she's your typical socialite mommy dearest type, she'd totally pull some shit like that. God Sookie, you're good. Call him."

"What if Elle answers?"

"Hang up. Here, use my cell phone. Cope pays for it, so it's in his name."

I got off the bed and started pacing around my room. I couldn't believe I was about to do this. I was about to call my ex-boyfriend's father and coax him into helping me break up his son's pending nuptials. Holy shitcakes, Batman!

EPOV

The wedding was a little over a month away and I was already sick to death of this crazy wedding shit. If I had to look at one more china pattern or flatware sample, I was going to scream. Men should not have to pick out this meaningless crap. Sophie Anne didn't even cook, why would she even need a five hundred dollar place setting?

This was all wrong; everything about it was wrong. I was marrying the wrong girl and I knew it deep down in my bones. Everyone was just so happy, except for me and well, my father. He couldn't stand Sophie Anne or her pretentious family. And, all of this talk of money and the Northman/ Leclerq family merger were only making this entire situation worse; it was a goddamn wedding, not a business venture. My mother loved every single fucking second of this nonsense; Elle was eating it up and I was dying a little inside every single day.

The pure unadulterated insanity of this entire wedding made me think of Sookie, oddly enough. Our wedding would have been a private family affair, not a resplendent popularity contest involving 750 of our "closest" friends. Absurd. What the hell was I thinking? I should have told Sophie that the ring wasn't for her, but she distracted me with my favorite lingerie. Lame excuse, I know. But, I loved her, I guess. I guess? Should I be so lackadaisical about someone I was going to spend the rest of my life with? Nightmare, I was in a fucking horror movie. Kill. Me. Now.

When I arrived at my parent's house on Sunday afternoon, my mother had the Bon Temps paper laid out on the dining room table for me. She'd already take the liberty of neatly cutting out and framing the engagement announcement for me. As I read the carefully worded, boastful piece of shit my stomach lurched. I was disgusted with myself and my mother. This was not my life anymore. My mother and the Leclerq's had taken over; the ball was no longer in my court. I was in way over my head with this one.

I went up to my childhood room and removed the hidden compartment in my desk drawer. This compartment held a few pieces of my past with Sookie. When I went off to college, I hid as much as I could in this drawer; I knew better than to leave any of it out for my mother to destroy.

The first few pictures were of us at the local carnival in one of those picture booths. The first two were the typical goofy pictures you always take with your friends, but the next two were downright dirty. We were making out like the horny teenagers we were; tongues, teeth, and all. God, I loved that girl. No one could affect me the way she could and no one ever would. Her breath on my face and on my neck, her gentle touches; there was nothing, nor would there ever be anything like Sookie Stackhouse.

The phone ringing brought me out of my walk down memory lane. I looked at the caller ID and saw the name 'Copley Carmichael.' I had no idea why the Louisiana State Senator was phoning our house, but I assumed it was about the wedding, so I ignored it. Suddenly, I overheard my father in his study speaking in a rather odd, yet familiar tone of voice; it was one I hadn't heard from him in quite some time. I grew very curious as to whom he was talking to; I was pretty sure that a state senator wouldn't evoke those kinds of emotions out of him. He sounded almost giddy; very strange indeed.

I decided to pick up the phone and eavesdrop. As soon as I heard the voice on the other end of the phone, my heart stopped beating in my chest. If I hadn't muted the phone, both parties would have heard me suck all of the air out of the room. It was Sookie and she was talking to my father. What. The. Fuck?

I heard her asking about the wedding. She wanted to know the date, the time, the details; she wanted it all. Was she planning on attending? Did she want to watch me marry someone else? None of this made any sense. Why would she care about my wedding to Sophie Anne Leclerq? Then I got my answer. She was covering the wedding for the newspaper she worked for. She was a photojournalist. All of my hope faded and I carefully hung up the phone. This wedding was going to happen and my first love, the one true love of my life, was going to be there to witness it all. Damn.