AN: Bit of a time jump this chapter...
Enjoy! Happy Reading! :)
Chapter 7
Five years later…
SPOV
"I'm so glad you guys talked me into doing this," I admit to Amelia and Pam as they lead me into Merlotte's, Bon Temps best local watering hole. "We haven't had a girl's night in forever."
"I know, we've really missed letting loose with our bestie," Amelia tells me, wrapping her arm around my shoulders tightly, shooting me a wide grin as she leads me through the packed bar. Damn, this place sure is busy tonight.
"I can't promise just how 'loose' I'll be getting, but it is nice to be getting out of the house for a bit," I retort with an eye roll at my ever rambunctious girlfriends.
"Oh, don't be like that, sweetness, you deserve to have a bit of fun," Pam purrs as I raise a challenging brow at her. I've heard that one before. Why does this suddenly seem just too hauntingly familiar?
"Whatever," I say, shaking off the odd sense of déjà vu with a shrug as we take our seats at one of the booths. "I'm just happy to be spending some time with you both, though I was a bit surprised you wanted to come here of all places," I muse, before glancing over the drink menu thoughtfully.
"Yeah…about that," Amelia starts as I look up to see her devious grin. Ugh, just what the hell are these two up to now? Pam and Amelia both turn their heads then and I follow their gaze to see a stage set up at the back of the bar.
"That's weird," I muse absently. "Sam usually hates bands playing in his bar."
"But not when they're somewhat of a local sensation," Pam throws out as realization finally clicks in place.
"No. No fucking way, I'm out," I grit out, standing from my seat only to have my two friends take firm hold of my hands to keep me in place as I look down to hit them with a hard glare. Just what the hell are they playing at? Eric is the very last person I want to see, even after all this time.
"It's been five years, Sook," Amelia says with a small frown. "You know you need to talk to him," she insists as I let out an aggravated sigh, shaking my head. Shit. She has a point, even if I am having a hard time admitting as much to myself.
"She's right, cupcake, and you know it," Pam chimes in before I plop back down to the booth once more, knowing I can't rightly argue with the two of them.
"Dammit, I know you're right, but I really don't want to do this," I groan out miserably as waves of bittersweet memories are suddenly washing over me whilst simultaneously turning my gut. God, has it really been five years already? That hardly seems possible.
"We'll both be right here, offering you our support, Sook," Amelia assures me as I nod lightly, finding it impossible to wipe the frown from my face.
"Yeah, okay," I reply, suddenly not feeling at all in the partying mood as the bar patrons begin clapping and cheering excitedly. I raise my eyes to the raised dais at the back of the bar to see the hauntingly familiar faces of none other than Crimson Bayou as they take the stage and my heart pinches in pain as my gaze settles upon the ever strikingly handsome, blonde bass player.
Soon enough, the band begins their first set and it's as though I am transported to my eighteen year old self once more as I find myself swept up by the soundtrack of my past. A fond smile pulls at my lips recalling the very first night me and my friends snuck out of the house to see the band I loved so much. That was also the night I first met Eric, the man who would unknowingly change my life forever.
Two weeks. It took only that rather insignificant amount of time for me to fall head over heels in love with a beautiful, blue eyed boy before he crushed my heart and ran off into the sunset, never to be seen or heard from again. Never once did he ever call, never once in five whole years did he ever reach out to me in any way whatsoever and I still have no idea what made him run from me the way he did.
"Sweetness," Pam says softly then, running her perfectly manicured thumb over my cheek. She holds her wetted digit before my eye with a small frown and my brows rise in shock as I had not even realized I'd been crying.
"You doin' okay, Sook?" Amelia asks then as I nod, brushing away my tears harshly as I try to push away the painful thoughts of my past.
"Yeah, sure, I'm fine," I outright lie, even knowing I'm not fooling my two, close friends for a second. "Just a bit of a shock, seeing him again after all this time." God, I always knew this day would come, though, I never thought it might take five years, but nonetheless, this is something I really can't keep putting off, no matter how much I might want to.
The three of us sit together, listening to the rest of the band's set and I once more find myself caught up in waves of bittersweet nostalgia, remembering every single vivid the detail of that fateful, summertime romance. My first taste of love, inevitably followed by my first taste of heartache, but isn't that just the way of live? Having to take the good with the bad whilst hoping the moments of unparalleled pleasure make the impending pain somehow worth it?
Soon enough, the band is wrapping up and I'm left taking deep, calming breaths as I try to prepare myself for this upcoming confrontation. God, I don't want to do this. Ugh, I don't think I'm ready to face all this yet. Maybe I should just wait another five years, when he inevitably comes strolling through my hometown once more…
EPOV
"You were off again, Eric," Sophie Anne growls out irritably as we exit the small stage. I just roll my eyes at her, throwing back a bottle of whisky whilst flipping her the bird.
"Fuck off, Soph," I retort, tired of hearing her shit.
"She's right, you know," Quinn says, looking to me with a small frown. "You've been gettin' worse, man."
"God, not you, too," I groan out with an annoyed sigh. "It's just a Podunk bar in the middle of nowhere, who the fuck cares?"
"Maybe, but this isn't the first time you've fucked up, Eric," Rasul chimes in with a deep frown. "Do I have to remind you what happened in San Diego?" he challenges as I roll my eyes, taking another deep swig of the burning whiskey.
"Fuck, get off that already," I sigh out. "I apologized, didn't I?" I throw back, recalling the show I single handedly managed to ruin when I imbibed maybe a smidge too much at a preshow party. Who hasn't done that? I mean, really.
"I'm just saying, maybe it's time you lighten up on this stuff a bit. We're not teenagers anymore, Eric, it's time to start taking things a bit more seriously," Quinn says, shooting me a concerned look as he tries to pull the bottle from my hand. I grip the bottle tighter, shaking my head at him.
"Don't, just don't," I retort harshly, hitting the lot of them with a hard glare. This isn't the first time we've had this very argument and right now, I'm just in no fucking mood to deal. "We got through the show just fine, now I'm gonna go out there and celebrate, with our without any of you," I inform them, gulping back the rest of my bottle before tossing it away carelessly, making Rasul have to rush forward to catch the glass bottle in the air as he hits me with a stern glare. Whatever, fuck them.
I stroll away from them, feeling their judgmental glares burning at the back of my neck and quickly shake off their previous comments as I begin scanning the bar crowd thoughtfully. Just where the hell are we again? Somehow I feel like I should know as this place seems familiar somehow. Whatever, like it really fucking matters, these places are all the same, the people never changing, but so long as I can manage to find some decent company to ensure a good time tonight, none of that matters, not one bit.
Waving hands catch my attention across the crowd and I'm left squinting through my already blurring vision, taking in a group of faces that seem somehow familiar. I begin making my way through the crowd, receiving praise and congratulations that I casually nod off along the way before I'm standing before my destination.
The two woman giving me dual, harsh glares make me pause a moment, wondering if one or both could have been a victim of one of my many, many one night stands before I turn to take in a face that makes my heart stop in my chest and my breath catch in my throat. No fucking way, it's her. She's really here. Sookie Stackhouse.
"Um, hi, Eric," she says somewhat hesitantly, looking up to me with a hauntingly familiar coy smile as I have to shake off my reverie, realizing I'm just standing stupidly with my jaw hanging to the floor.
"Sookie," I gasp out as my fuzzy mind is suddenly flooded with poignant memories of a whirlwind romance that ended in horrendous tragedy. Fucking hell. I drop down to the bench beside Sookie, careful to avoid the judgmental glares of her two friends as my gaze rakes over the ever gorgeous blonde who has unknowingly haunted my dreams for…fuck, how long has it been since I stared into those sparkling blue orbs of hers? Too long, much too long.
"Um, hey, you guys sounded really great," she says, shifting beside me a bit awkwardly as a familiar blush stains her golden cheeks. A smug grin comes to my face then, recalling just how easily I could always make the shy, southern belle blush for me all those years ago.
"You're even more beautiful than I remember, Sookie," I admit, raking my gaze over her once more, still finding it difficult to believe she's really here in the flesh. Sookie clears her throat loudly then, sitting up a bit straighter in the booth as she looks over me curiously.
"Um, thanks, I guess," she says nervously as her hands begin fidgeting in her lap and she starts biting at that plush, bottom lip of hers. "I was actually hoping we could, um, that we could maybe talk? You know, privately," she says, glancing over to her two friends who are still giving me twin, condescending glares.
"Oh, I think I like the sound of this, Lover," I purr, anticipation building steadily, as I lean a bit closer to Sookie. She tenses up then, scooting away quickly as she shakes her head vehemently, her eyes widening in surprise.
"Watch it, asshole," her blonde friend growls out at me as her and her dark haired counterpart are shooting me mirroring death glares. I just roll my eyes at the two of them before turning back to Sookie only to have my brows rise in surprise to see her hitting me with a glare of her own. Fuck, seems I'm just managing to piss everyone off tonight.
"That's not what I meant, Eric," Sookie spits out irritably, leaving me looking to her questioningly. After all, they're the ones who called me over, and she's the one who said she's interested in 'talking privately'.
"I had just assumed you'd be wanting to, I don't know, rekindle the old flame, perhaps? I'm staying at that same motel, you know the one," I inform her, leaning a bit closer as Sookie's face flashes deep red, although this time it's not a shy blush coloring her face, no, this appears to be heated rage. Oh, shit.
"I'm engaged, Eric!" she cries out, holding up her left hand to display a shiny, diamond ring. And maybe it's just the copious amounts of booze and other illicit substances coursing through my system at the current moment, but I'm not detoured in the slightest by this bit of information as my mind is replaying the most physically satisfying two weeks of my entire life spent with the feisty little blonde.
"So?" I retort with a shrug. "Wouldn't be the first time for me, it can be our little secret, Lover," I throw out dismissively as a deep scowl forms on Sookie's angelically beautiful face. Okay, guess I've been reading this wrong, she's clearly not on the same wavelength here.
"Why, you…you asshole!" she cries out, picking up her beer to splash the sudsy liquid in my face.
"What the fuck!?" I cry out in surprise, jumping from the booth as the girls stand together, crossing their arms and glaring at me in unison. Fuck, this is just not my night.
"God! What did I ever see in you?" Sookie throws out angrily. "I suggest you take a very cold, very lonely shower and try sobering up a bit before you even think about trying to talk to me again, you jerk," she spits out before the three of them march out of the bar together, leaving me staring after them in a mix of shock and confusion.
Wait, did she just say she wants to talk again? Maybe all hope isn't lost just yet.
