Surprise by PersianFreak
Companion to Life Goes On
Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Charlaine Harris; I'm just having a little fun with her belongings.
Rating: T
A/N: Heh. Heh. Sorry about that sadistic tendencies of the last chapter, you guys. On the bright side, some of your reviews made me laugh, so here is the next chapter. Let me know what you think.
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The moment the thought occurred to me, I chided myself for not having it occur earlier.
'Eric?' I sent out, focusing all my power towards the bond. He was blocking me, but I hoped that he would hear me regardless if I could just be strong enough. 'Baby, please...' I steadied myself. I wasn't going to break down, not again. I looked at myself in the bathroom mirror, my pale face streaked with red. 'You fell in love with an idiot, Eric,' I wasn't sure if that last thought was for me or if Eric got it, too. It didn't matter. I sighed. I had been lucky enough to have driven to Fangtasia tonight, so I had had the car keys in my purse and could drive home. Eric, I assumed, had flown and had now been gone for three hours. Dawn is in two hours, I realized. Eric would either have to return or go to ground. Judging by how he had left, I would say he would much rather go to ground. Or perhaps he had somewhere else he could go to, somewhere I was not aware of. I hurt him, I shook my head. I had truly hurt him. During the course of the past several weeks, he had always been the rock. Every argument had inevitably been solved because of his refusal to run away or give up. You finally did it, Stackhouse, I thought to myself bitterly, you finally pushed it until it broke, just like he said you would. I spent the following two hours lying about, biting my lip and replaying that scene over and over in my head; how I had gone from being in his arms one second to left alone in his office the next. I stared at my ring, wondering if he would want it back, wondering if there was anything I could do to let him know how sorry I was, how much I already missed him, how much I loved him. A bolt of electricity shot down my back and I looked up at the clock, finding dawn near. I slowly washed my face and changed, sliding into bed alone for the first time in three weeks. Before I surrendered to sleep, I closed my eyes and gathered every ounce of feeling I had for Eric.
'I'm sorry, baby,' I sent with the wave of emotions, 'I love you.'
***
"You're back!" I gasped awake, having been dreaming of feeling Eric's mind near me for a while before I realized that it was not a dream. Eric was silently leaning against the far wall, arms crossed, eyes trained on me expressionlessly. He nodded but didn't say anything. I got out of bed, suddenly nervous and self-conscious standing there in my tank top and shorts, even though he had seen all of me more times than I could count. "I'm sorry!" I blurted out because of all of the things I needed to say to him, it was the most important one. He looked away, an incomprehensible expression on his face and I bit my lip in order to avoid the seemingly inevitable tears. "I don't doubt you, Eric," I began quietly and he scoffed, turning back to face me.
"Oh, really?"
"I don't, I really don't." I insisted. "I know you love me, and I love you, too, so much more than I can ever express, but..." It was my turn to look away.
"But?" he prompted quietly, his voice still retaining that hardness. I opened my mouth to speak, but closed it again: my pride was getting in the way. I sat down on the edge of the bed facing him and stared at my hands. "Sookie." He was suddenly in front of me, kneeling so we were at the same eye level.
"I'm scared, okay!" I snapped defiantly, then, deflating somewhat, "Terrified, really."
"Of what?!" his tone was incredulous, no longer holding patience and understanding.
"Of... everything!" Pride be damned, I was gonna tell him everything; pour my unbeating heart out. "I'm scared of losing you!" His features visibly softened, but the edge somehow remained.
"Why would you fear losing me?"
"Because you're the only thing that is possible for me to keep." I explained, albeit convolutedly.
"So you don't want to marry me because I'm immortal, just like you are?" he asked slowly, the incredulous expression still clear. I chuckled.
"I'm afraid that I will come to depend on you when everyone else that I know and love has already died, and I'm afraid that this," I gestured at the two of us, "Isn't as permanent as I want it to be." He chewed on that for a while, his eyes clouded with thought.
"There is no way for me to prove that I will love you forever, that I will want you as long as you will have me," he told me reasonably, "Sook, when I told you vampire relationships don't last, I also told you it was because vampires do not enjoy having somebody else have that much power over them, but I'm guessing you repressed the memory." His keen blue eyes drilled into mine and he smiled, finding proof in my guilty eyes. "It's too late for that; you already have tremendous power over me, you just don't seem to realize it. By God, woman, why are you so oblivious to how I feel about you? Use those powers of yours!" I smiled through teary eyes and he leaned forward, trapping a tear about to slide down my face with his lips, tasting my blood. "Don't apologize," he said quickly when he saw my mouth about to open, "I'm sorry I left."
"Don't be," I smiled at him, "I was just worried that you weren't going to come back."
"What, and leave my car?" he grinned and I tried to smack him, but he ducked. "But you're getting good at the telepathy there, Sook."
"I am?" He nodded.
"That little message you sent me near dawn?" I nodded, "that nearly knocked me over."
"I knocked you over?" I grinned, enjoying the image of Eric falling over because of my mental power.
"I said 'nearly'!" he protested, but I didn't hear him.
"I knocked over the big strong Viking with sheer mental force!" I laughed, in near hysterics. He swung at me lightly, but I was off the bed and running. I could hear him chasing me and snuck a quick glance to see where he was: big mistake. My vampire dove, throwing me onto the couch and landing on top of me. I squirmed, trying to get away, but he locked my legs together with his knees and pressed my wrists into the couch cushions.
"That information doesn't leave the house," he hissed in my ear, though his smile took away from the desired effect. I giggled: his breath tickled me.
"Hey, don't make me hurt you with my mind!" I was laughing again, my body shaking under his.
"You're going to regret this, lover," he threatened, his sapphire eyes sparkling mischievously.
"Oh?" I was about to tease him when he nipped lightly at my ear, licking a little, "Oh..."
"What was that?" he murmured.
"I want you, Eric," I moaned, my eyes boring into his. I even let some lust trickle into the bond. He half-sat back on his haunches to unbutton his jeans, and I took that opportunity to push into the armrest with my legs and slide out from underneath him, quickly swinging my legs around to get off the couch and booking it up the stairs with a delighted shriek. I heard his groan and then the slapping of his bare feet against the hardwood as he followed me. I made it up to the living room and then to the main staircase, where I climbed the first few stairs and waited for him to walk out of the door right below me. He emerged a second later, his hair messy and his eyes searching the living room. With something similar to a war cry I jumped on him, my legs locking around his waist while my arms did the same around his neck.
"I win!" I hissed into his ear and he exhaled.
"You little cocktease," he shook his head.
"Mm-hmm," I placed a kiss on his neck, gently sucking on the soft skin, "but you love me because of it."
"I love you in spite of it." he corrected softly and I giggled, sliding off of him. Eric turned around, bending down to kiss me. My arms slid around his neck as his hand traveled down to my butt, lifting me up so my legs were wrapped his waist once more, this time from the front.
"Well, I love you in spite of your ego."
"My ego? What about your pride?!"
"Well, you're a little misogynistic, you know that?"
"And you're overly defensive!" We both stopped and then burst out laughing, our lips meeting once again.
"Am I really misogynistic?" he asked suddenly, and I laughed, shocked.
"Are you seriously asking?" His eyes let me know he was, "Um, well, maybe a little?" I bit my lip uncertainly and his expression fell; I would have laughed if he didn't look so serious, "but that's okay! I mean, you're a thousand years old, and there's 30-year-old men who are way more misogynistic than you are!" I hastily added, hoping to erase that look from his eyes. It helped, but some of the look remained. "Well, I'm overly defensive!" His expression brightened.
"That is true." he mused.
"Hey!"
"What, you said it yourself!"
"Yeah, but you're supposed to tell me I'm not!" I complained.
"But..." he looked desperate that I laughed, finding it hard to remain indignant.
"God, I missed you," I hugged him close.
"I was only away for a few hours, love," he pointed out gently.
"I don't care," I insisted stubbornly, "I missed you."
"Well, I missed you, too."
"Can we have sex now?"
"Oh, romance!" he sighed dramatically but carried me downstairs, not letting me emerge until we were both horribly late for work.
