A/N: Thank you again for all the kind reviews. ashmo2000, anonymouscsifan, ap630, maria1981, Rikku Ree, suzyq59, ericplenty, outinritefield1, BlueMonday2387, MelodyAnderson and the guest that reviewed thank you so so much. I'm at 83 reviews and I couldn't be happier how this story has been embraced,

Ashler55 I hope this is everything you want it to be.

Again I edited this so it might be riddled with mistakes.

I hope you all enjoy.


SOOKIE

"This is a bad idea." I said to Bill as I finished setting the dining room table. The kitchen was a large space that encompassed the dining room area as well.

"Everything will be fine." Bill assured me as he tasted whatever sauce he was making. He was cooking mushroom chicken with risotto and vegetables and the smell was intoxicating. It was nice to be with a man who could cook.

I nodded and smiled, letting out a large sigh. "Yeah, everything will be fine, what's the worst that could happen?" I said smoothing out my pale pink chiffon dress with a silk slip underneath. It was comfiest formal dress I had and I wanted to be comfortable tonight.

Jason poked his head around the corner and walked into the kitchen. "Smells great in here boss." He said slapping Bill on the back before looking at me. "You look real nice Sook."

He was wearing dark wash jeans and a white dress shirt, he smelled clean for once. "You too Jason."

He nodded and took a huge breath in. "So I invited Jessica and Hoyt, I hope that's okay."

My face fell. "What?" I said through gritted teeth.

"What? I thought you liked Hoyt." Jason said innocently while eating some cherry tomatoes from the platter I had put out.

"I like Hoyt fine but Jessica is the fucking worst and I don't want her in my house." I swatted him away from the food and handed him a beer to keep him occupied.

"Hey!" Bill exclaimed. "That's my sister you're talking about."

I cocked an eyebrow and placed my hands on my hips. "Give me one example of a time she wasn't the worst?" I looked at him expectantly knowing he wouldn't be able to.

He sighed as his body deflated. "Fine, she's the worst."

"Thank you." I looked over at Jason. "Now you, uninvite her."

He took a sip of his beer. "How about she comes and if she does something you don't like you can ask her to leave?"

"That sounds fair." Bill chimed in.

"Fine but I will ask her to leave at the smallest indiscretion." I pointed at Jason with authority.

"Totally fair." He held his hands up as if I was pointing a gun at him.

Jessica would be fine and if she wasn't it would feel good to kick her out of my house.

Then the doorbell rang.

I took a deep breath.

"It'll be fine." Bill said again coming up to me and kissing my temple.

I nodded and went to answer the door. It was LaFayette, Tara and Pam. "Hey baby girl." LaFayette cooed, "you look good enough to eat, are you what were having for dinner?" He pointed at me as he cocked his head to one side.

I kissed him on the cheek, "It's nice to see you too LaFayette." He was wearing black pants, red running shoes, a black tank top, a red shawl over his shoulders and a red bandana on his head. His makeup was perfect as usual. I took the bottle of tequila from him as he handed it to me and he went inside.

Pam was wearing a tight black dress with long sleeves and Tara was wearing a loose white maxi dress. "You guys look amazing." I said hugging Tara while Pam avoided touching me by handed me the wine.

"It was expensive, this dinner better be worth it." She walked into the house.

"Nice to see you too Pam." I said wrapping my arm around Tara's waist and she did like wise.

"So you convinced Eric to come this?" Tara questioned.

I nodded. "It didn't take much convincing." I laughed.

"And it was Bill's idea?" She sounded baffled. I nodded with a huge smile on my face. "I guess hell has frozen over." Her eyes widened and she laughed.

"Can I get you something to drink?" I asked her.

"Bourbon, if you have it."

"For sure." I said as I went to make her a drink just after I placed the tequila and wine on the counter. She was hugging and laughing with Jason when I returned.

I handed her the drink as Jason looked at me. "Tara is in to ladies now Sook, did you know that?" He was so happy. I wasn't sure if Jason had met a lesbian before.

"Yeah, that's her girlfriend over there." I pointed to Pam who was refilling her wine glass.

"That's your girlfriend? You get hotter chicks than I do Tara!" He exclaimed.

"That's because I am hotter than you Jason Stackhouse." She winked before taking a sip of her bourbon.

The two of them giggled as the doorbell rang again and I excused myself to go and answer the door.

Jessica and Hoyt were standing behind it. Hoyt was wearing his standard plaid shirt, jeans and work boots. Jessica was wearing a tight emerald green cocktail dress and it looked stunning against her pale skin and red hair. "Hi Sookie, you look amazing." She hugged me tightly as I felt the bottle of wine in her hand hit me in the back.

"Okay." I said pushing her away while taking the wine and going to hug Hoyt.

"I didn't bring anything, I'm sorry." He sounded embarrassed.

"It's okay, there's plenty of everything inside." I said pushing him into the house so I could close the door.

"Stackhouse." Eric called to me before I shut the door all the way.

I opened the door and met him on the porch with a huge smile on my face. "Look at you Northman." I said wrapping my arms around him. He smelled clean and fresh, like the sea. He was wearing grey dress pants, a grey blazer, a white dress shirt and black dress shoes. "You dressed up."

"I feel stupid." He said as he parted from me.

"You look amazing."

"Really?" He said with the oozing cockiness. "You in a cheatin' mood Stackhouse?"

I slapped him on the stomach with the back of my hand. "Fuck off." I laughed as we walked into the house.

"I kid, I kid." He handed me the bottle of wine in. "It's white, a Chardonnay and wine or so they told me at the wine store."

"If they cork it, I will drink." I nudged him in the side. "I'm sure it'll be wonderful."

Bill greeted Eric first. "Northman, I'm glad you could make it." Bill shook his hand.

Eric looked at Bill like he had three heads and he looked over at me and I nodded in encouragement. "Thanks for having me." He said cautiously. "Smells good."

"Thanks, I hope you'll enjoy it." Bill dropped his hand.

"I'm sure I will." Eric smiled and walked over to the fridge. "You mind if I grab a beer?"

I shook my head and he took one from the fridge, walking back over to me.

"I made something for you." I said pointing at the island. There was a chocolate fudge cake sitting on a pedestal.

He looked at it and laughed. "You keep baking for me Stackhouse, you must really care about me or something." He smiled radiantly.

I shrugged. "You're alright." I smiled back.

He chuckled a little bit as he looked around before his eyes grew large. "What's the she-devil doing here?" He asked pointing at Jessica with his beer.

I rolled my eyes and sighed in irritation. "Jason's dick likes what Jason's dick likes."

"Gross." His nose was scrunched up.

"Dinner's ready." Bill announced. He had timed it perfectly.

I went over to the island where he had prepared all the plates. "Looks good." I said smiling as I leaned in to kiss him grabbing two plates and heading towards the table. Once everyone had food and drink I took my place at the head of the table as Eric sat on my left and Bill on my right.

We all ate in a peaceful silence and someone would comment every once in awhile about how good the food was.

We cut up the cake and started talking a little more, Eric complementing my baking skills and LaFayette mentioning how it would be better if there was weed in it. Eric, Tara and Hoyt offered to clear the table as I refilled everyone's drinks and I settled in for some conversation.

"Eric what are you doing these days?" Bill asked drinking his beer.

Eric's eyes darted to mine before answering him. "I work at Merlotte's as a bartender." He handed a plate to Tara who told him to go sit down. They were almost already done loading the dishwasher anyway.

"No interest in taking over the family business." Bill asked as Eric sat down.

Eric grabbed his beer and drank before answering. "As of right now, nope not really."

"Any leading ladies in your life?" Bill smiled warmly and grabbed my hand that was resting on the table.

Eric's eyes moved towards the embrace then to my face then back to Bill. The way he looked at me made me shift uncomfortably. "No, just bit players." Eric sighed. "What do you do for fun Bill?"

"I run, go to the movies, vacation. Things like that and yourself?"

"Nothing really, TV and movies usually."

"Eric is a musician." I interrupted, beaming.

"Really?" Jason said perking up. "What do you play?"

Eric shot me an annoyed look. "Guitar." He said bluntly.

"Cool, we should jam one day."

"Maybe." Eric said unsure as the conversation trailed off and we sat in silence for a few uncomfortable moments.

"Sookie, I never realized how much you're family spruced up this place." Jessica said looking around. "It's nice, I guess, for your family." Her tone implied that there was something wrong with my family.

"Thanks Jess." I said tight lipped taking a sip of the bourbon I got for myself.

"I'm really happy you came back to Bon Temps it's really nice to see my brother so happy. It's so hard for a good man to find a faithful woman these days, you know?" Her eyes shifted to Eric for just a moment.

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Right."

"And that dress looks nice on you. You must be so relieved you finally found something that doesn't make you look so chunky." Jessica finished her wine in one gulp.

"What the fuck is your problem?" Pam spat at her.

"Excuse me?" Jessica asked defensively. I felt a shift at the table as Tara and Hoyt sat down.

"I don't know you all that well but every time I've met you spew this passive aggressive bullshit and then smile like that'll make it okay but I see you for exactly what you are sugar. A spoiled rich bitch with a sickly sweet coating." Pam took a sip of her wine reclining in her seat. I couldn't help but smile, Pam had such style when it came to tearing someone down.

"And I see you for exactly what you are, a dyke in cheap drug store makeup." Jessica's venom flowed with such ease my anger took over before I realized that I was doing.

"Get out! Get the fuck out of my house." I shouted pointing towards the door.

"What?" Jessica asked with a shocked tone in her voice.

"You are being incredible rude to me and my guest and I want you gone. I also don't appreciate that you're a racist and a homophobe either so get the fuck out you fire crotch bitch from Hell." I shouted at her. It felt so good.

She stood with a shocked look on her face. "Bill, are you gonna let her speak to me this way?"

He shrugged. "I agree with Sookie, you were being rude."

"You are such a fake lying asshole." She was furious showing that everything she had said earlier was just an act. "Jason?" She looked at him expectantly.

Jason shrugged. "Sook asked you to leave, not me. I'm having a good time."

"Fuck you all." Jessica gave us all the finger and left with a slam of the door.

"That felt good." I smiled and took a sip of my bourbon.

"Well done." Eric said raising his beer.

"Thank you." I sighed. "Who should get the last piece?" There was one last piece of cake sitting on the pedestal that no one decided to clear.

Hoyt spoke up. "In my family we tell embarrassing stories about ourselves and the most embarrassing one gets the last of whatever is last."

"I like that," said Tara, "but you can't tell it yourself, some else at the table needs to tell one about you."

"That sounds fair," said Jason, "who wants to go first?"

"I've got one about Jason." said Hoyt smiling like a dope. "He met this girl at this bar and she took him home and while they were doin' it her little chihuahua bit his balls."

"When was this?" Tara asked laughing.

"Like two weeks ago."

"Is that why I had to pick you up from the hospital?" I asked him with a furrowed brow and he nodded with the famous Jason Stackhouse grin. "Gross." I said with a disgusted look on my face.

"Tara got drunk at a Christmas party and tried to make out with her bosses wife when she worked at the Target in Shreveport a couple of years ago." LaFayette said with a smug smile.

"Needless to say I was fired after that." Tara said shaking her head as Pam giggled like a schoolgirl, the wine apparently making her loose.

"Hoyt's mama caught him masturbating to the Animal Planet channel." said Jason as Hoyt's face crinkled in embarrassment.

"Eric was insanely drunk and got into a fight with an inflatable Santa on the front lawn of the mayors house and spent the night in jail." Pam said still giggling as she wiped a tear away for her eye. I pointed at Eric and laughed at him.

Eric retorted quickly. "Pam was so nervous the first time she kissed me she passed out." Tara laughed deeply at that story. "And LaFayette doesn't feel embarrassment." Eric said pointing at LaFayette.

"It's true, I is flawless." He took a sip of his tequila.

"So that just leave Bill and Stackhouse." Eric said grinning at me.

And then Jason decided to speak.

ERIC

"I've got a good one about Sook." Jason smirked while Sookie's body tensed beside me.

"I swear to god Jason if you tell this story I will stab you in the hand with my knife." She spat through gritted teeth.

"So there is this fair that sets up just outside Nashville every year and Sookie and I always go."

"Christ." Sookie drawled burying her face in her hands.

"So this one particular year Sookie and her friend Adilyn decided to eat a bunch of Mexican food and funnel cakes and deep fried butter balls and go on a bunch of rides." Jason's smile became wider. "And this one particular ride, The Zipper-"

"What's a Zipper?" Bill questioned cutting him off.

Sookie answered. "It's this big carnival ride that goes around in a circle vertically and you're in these cages that also spin."

Bill made a gesture that signalled that he understood and Jason continued even though I knew where the story was going. "So Sook and Adilyn got on this ride and inevitably Sookie got sick all over the place." Jason started laughing. His laughter triggered a few snickers around the table before Sookie groaned in embarrassment and Jason continued. "Not only had Sookie covered herself and Adilyn in vomit but Sookie with her never ending irritable bowel had also shit herself." Jason stopped just for a moment to choke down laughter before he continued. "And because she was in a short skirt and Sookie's shit was of the runny variety she and Adilyn was covered in that as well."

Sookie now had her head on the table resting in between her arms making fake crying noises. I looked up to everyone doing what I was doing. We were biting our lips because it was so embarrassing that we didn't want to laugh at her but it was too funny not to.

"Did that actually happen?" I asked placing my hand on her back.

She looked up at me with a pained look on her face and nodded.

That was when I started laughing and everyone followed.

"The carnies took them and hosed them off where they hose off the farm animals." Jason said contributing to the laughter.

"Oh God," Sookie moaned.

"You definitely get the last piece. That's embarrassing as fuck." I said taking the pedestal and putting it in front as everyone nodded in agreement.

"Adilyn doesn't speak to me anymore because of that." She said as she took the first bite of the cake.

"No Adilyn doesn't speak to you anymore because that night I fucked her and I may have been a little rude to her the next morning." Jason said reclining in his seat, finishing his beer.

"What?" Sookie looked at him in shook. "She was the only real friend I had and you had to fuck her. Fuck you Jason." She ate the cake aggressively.

"Don't pretend you're so innocent, you fucked Alcide." Jason got up to get another beer.

"Jason, I didn't fuck Alcide, I dated Alcide for two years and you're still friends with him. That is not a fair comparison." She finished the cake quickly.

"Who's Alcide?" Bill questioned.

Bill didn't know about the ex yet, but I did. Interesting.

"My ex." She looked up at Bill, her face still red. "Wait, no one told any about you. Doesn't Bill have one?" She looked at everyone at the table.

"I have one." I said smirking at him.

Sookie shot me and warning looking. "What? I do. At least think it's embarrassing."

"Let's hear it." He said placing his elbows on the table and resting his chin on his hands.

I felt everyone shift uncomfortably. "In our finally year of high school we had to put on a musical production of Peter Pan and because none of the girls could sing-"

Pam cut me off. "I could sing fine, Mr. Cohen is a fucking homophobe."

"Like I was saying because we had a homophobic teacher and the only girl who could sing was gay, Mr. Cohen made Bill do it cause he had the highest voice and looked good in a dress." I smiled at Bill.

"How is that embarrassing?" Sookie asked confused with a furrowed brow.

"I just think it's funny." I said trying to stifle a laugh.

Bill nodded. "I'm not ashamed of that. I was a great Wendy."

"You were okay." Pam drawled. Tara rubbed her arms supportingly.

Bill pointed at me and a pensive look flashed upon his face. "I can't remember you having anything to do with that play. Weren't you in that class? Where were you? I could have sworn you were a stage hand." His questions sounded harmless, they had the right influx to to make him sound unsure but I could hear the venom in his voice, the slight cock of his brow, just the minor raising of the corner of his mouth.

Bill Compton knew exactly where I was.

I clenched my fists so hard under the table I thought I was going to draw blood. I had to decide what to do. There was many things that could happen. I could cause a scene in front of everyone, say nothing or leave. So I did the only thing I could do because if I didn't I fight him. I placed my hand on Sookies leg forcing her to look at me. "Stackhouse, I've gotta go." I said through gritted teeth as I stood up and walked towards her door, her following behind me.

"What, why?" She followed me out to her porch. "What happened?"

"I tried but I can't handle that fucking prick." I was trying to control my anger but it came out as a shout. Bill had joined us leaning against the door frame.

"What did he do?" She seemed genuinely confused.

"He knew exactly were I was when that play was being rehearsed day after day. Everyone knew where I was." I wanted to punch something. I wanted to punch him.

"Where were you?" Then her eyes got wide. "Oh."

"Yeah, oh, he knew I was excused from the play to go to the hospital every afternoon." I put my hands into my hair. "He asked me so it would piss me off and I would freak out and I would do exactly what I'm doing right now." I trailed off. I sighed in frustration, annoyance and defeat. Fuck.

"I have no idea what you're talking about Eric. I'm sorry if you thought that information was common knowledge but I had no idea. I didn't really run in your circle of friends. I'm still trying to get to know you all." He sounded sincere but that was because Sookie could only hear him. She couldn't see him as she walked up to me and placed her hands on my chest in an attempt to try to calm me. Bill was looking at me and slowly a smile stretched across his lips. It was the smile of a snake, the smile of a satisfied asshole who had played me and won. I ruined the party, not him.

Music started pumping out of the house that caused Sookie to look behind her and made Bill's smile disappear like his muscles didn't know how to make a smirk so sinister.

"Eric, I think you are letting your hatred for him get the best of you. You are hearing and seeing what you want to make your feelings true." She reasoned.

"Sookie you are too good for this, you're too good for him." I pointed in his direction.

She signed and shook her head. "Eric I don't want to talk about this right now. Maybe it's best if you stayed out here for a couple of minutes and cooled off. Do you need to leave?" I looked down at her as she looked up at me. She was sad. She wanted this to work and it didn't, she was sad because I had been triggered in one way or another and she was sad because I was bad mouthing Bill again.

She was falling in love with him. I was sure of it.

She stood on her tippy toes and wrapped her arms around my neck hugging me. I wrapped my arms around her waist and hugged her back. Instead of looking at Bill to make him jealous, I put my face in the crook of her neck and breathed her in. Grapefruit and lavender.

"I'm sorry I made you do this." She whispered.

"It's okay." I said breaking apart from her.

"Do you need a couple of minutes?" She asked me again.

I nodded heading towards one of her deck chairs. "Take all the time you need." Bill said wrapping his arm around Sookie's shoulders. This wasn't a romantic gesture, it was possessive.

I shook my head in frustration. This was a whole other level for Bill, he used me mother against me. This was just plain evil.

How could she not see it? I thought maybe he had changed, I hadn't spoken to Bill really since we left high school but he hadn't. He had just perfected the art of deceit, he still took joy in the suffering of others, being better than everyone else, wanting to have more than everyone else only he had become better at it. It was never this hard to make him squirm before, to fuck him over, to take what he wanted away from him.

I didn't want Sookie with him. I knew it wasn't my choice but I couldn't stand the idea of her getting hurt and he would hurt her. It couldn't be me either because I would hurt as well. I did not do relationships but the thought of her with someone else made my chest tighten and my fists clench. I was jealous and the feeling was so foreign it scared me.

LaFayette came strutting out of the house and sat down beside me. "We's inside drinking premium Stackhouse liquor and we need you to join us."

"I need a minute."

"You're Eric Northman, fuck Bill Compton and come and drink with your friends. Sookie has made her choice and she gots to live with it." He took a drink of tequila right out of the bottle and handed it to me.

"He doesn't deserve her." I mumbled.

LaFayette said nothing for some time and finally made a noise of shock and laughed. "I never thought I'd see the day."

"What?" I asked.

"You got a mother fuckin' crush in Sookie Stackhouse."

My whole body stiffened. "What? No I don't."

"I've seen plenty of crushes in my day, had a few of them too and what you're doing right now is what people who are crushing do." He made a sweeping with his hand at me.

"I don't crush." I brushed off his comment taking a sip of the tequila.

"Mmm-hmm." He said not convinced, always not convinced. "You can live in this cloud of self denial but at least do it inside. We're having a dance party." He raised an eyebrow.

I looked at him for a few seconds before nodded. "I need a minute more." I said grabbing his shoulder. "Thanks LaFayette."

"You're a God amongst men Eric, don't let the ants bother your fine ass." He reached down to grab the tequila.

"Leave it." I said grabbing the bottle before he could reach it.

He stood with a less than amused look on his face. "Fine but you owe me a dance when you get inside."

"Always." I grinned at him taking a sip of the tequila.

My chest was tightening again, my hands were shaking and I wanted to punch Bill in his stupid face. My best bet was to put myself back in the game, to not back down, to show him that I wasn't going anywhere.

I took one last swig of the tequila and went inside the house. LaFayette had turned the dinner party into an actual party, LaFayette had that power and everyone was dancing in the living room. Sookie was at the far end trying to pull Bill off the couch, trying to convince him to dance with her. When she realized he wasn't getting up she abandoned him and headed for everyone else.

She spotted me and headed straight towards me with a huge smile. She took the bottle from my hand and pulled me to where everyone else was dancing. "I'm sorry if you took what he said the wrong way," she said moving my hands back and forth causing my body to sway. "I understand it's not easy for you, its not easy for him either." I highly doubted that.

"It's fine," I lied, "I'm sorry I ruined your dinner party." I pulled her closer to me so that our bodies were flush.

She smiled warmly as she looked up at me, her hands gripping my arms. "You didn't ruin anything." She looked at me for a few more moments before the song changed and Sookie bounced away from me to go dance with Tara.

I stood there awkwardly as I looked up at Bill who was watching me with that fucking grin on his face. I realized that I hated him so much now because the tightening in my chest every time Sookie brushed past me or laughed or looked at me was exactly what LaFayette said it was.

I had a crush on Sookie Stackhouse and it scared me to death.


What did you all think?

I think this is an important chapter. Eric has realized how he feels and Bill has shown some of his true colours.

I'm so excited for the next chapter. I've almost finished writing it and I love it.

I'm 17 reviews away from 100. I wonder if I can make it there with this chapter. Reviews are appreciated and I love knowing what you think good or bad.

Thanks for reading!