A/N: Thanks to everyone that is reading an reviewing! I am loving all your feedback! I was updating a lot over the holidays, but RL has pretty much been a nightmare since which may cause updates to come a little more slowly...but hopefully not because I get kind of antsy if I can't get my fix of 1930s Hollywood.
Thanks to my beta chiisai-kitty and to seastarr08 for pimping this story on twitter!
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters or any of the other things mentioned in this chapter.
A week later and Sookie was on the set of Eric Northman's Dracula movie. She spent the first several days angry with Eric for his actions at the Cocoanut Grove. But, as the filming progressed, her anger faded. Sookie found this movie even more fascinating than the one she'd done with Bill. The plot was subtler, striving to tell the untold story of the man left inside the monster. And while in her last movie Sookie had played a fairly straightforward character, in this film her character was conflicted and challenged. Sookie felt a certain kinship to Mina in a way, a woman who had been happy in her life and relationship until she was shown something new. Not something better, because in many ways you could argue that the life she was to have with Harker was better, but different, real and ironically alive. Sookie felt this way about her life in Hollywood. It wasn't better than her life in Bon Temps, necessarily, although no longer having crushing poverty at the door had definite advantages, but even more importantly she was certainly a more active participant in her fate. Mina fascinated her as a character because she saw the same sort of awakening happening within herself. And even more than Mina, she was fascinated by Eric's interpretation of Dracula. He brought dimension to the character in a way that no one ever had before.
When Pam had called Eric a perfectionist, she was understating it. Significantly understating it. But it meant that the people surrounding the movie were the best that money could buy and Sookie learned a lot about movie making from watching them work. And she learned a lot about acting from Eric.
He was relentless – asking questions, barking orders, demanding everything run smoothly. He was a tyrant on the set, there was no other word for it, but oddly the people working with him seemed to take it in stride. She questioned it at first and then realized it was because his hardest criticism was reserved for himself. It may also have been because he paid well and was known for looking out for people once they became "his."
Whatever the reason, the set flowed in an orderly manner with Eric demanding perfection of himself and everyone else there and for the most part, he got it. Sookie strived to rise to the level of the others and felt she must have succeeded because after a few days of wariness toward her – the girl that Northman had hired without consulting anyone – she felt a thaw after the fourth day. Probably, it wasn't surprising that people started warming to her on that day, since that was the day that Eric made her shoot an argument with "her betrothed" over and over again until he finally smiled and said, "Nice."
She felt oddly proud of that small compliment and hoped she wouldn't spend the rest of the picture scrambling for others. She knew others found it annoying but she admired Eric's drive for perfection even when he took it over the top, which he did, often.
Today, Sookie had brought her lunch, as she often did – no sense paying a fifteen cents a day for a sandwich when she could buy the same ingredients at home for a quarter and have them last all week – and therefore was back from the break long before the rest of the cast and crew. She would have assumed that she would be alone on the soundstage, but instead she saw the stunt coordinator, Tom Longshadow, leaving the set with a pained look on his face. He cast an angry look over his shoulder and glared at Sookie, practically growling when she asked him if he was all right.
She entered the soundstage to find Eric pacing along the top their current set. They were about to film the main fight scene, in which the Count ultimately sacrifices himself to save Mina (Sookie had pointed out that this was not what happened in the book and Eric had reminded her that it was a re-imagining). It involved several tricky stunts that made Sookie nervous since she was the only one that had never done stunt work. Stand-ins were being used more and more nowadays, but she'd noticed that everyone else seemed to be doing their own stunts and didn't want to have them think less of her. When Eric had offered to find her a stand-in she had refused, acting offended; now she was wishing she hadn't taken such a strong stand against the idea.
Eric was pacing the "bridge" over the "moat" and looking at the drop. It was hardly the fall that the movie made it seem to be, but Sookie still felt like she might get hurt if she slipped during the complicated hand-hold that they were asking her to do – their co-star Franklin Mott would essentially drop her in order to kill Dracula and Eric would catch her thereby allowing himself to be killed. If Eric's timing was off, she'd be dropping a good eight feet from the scaffolding they were using as the bridge. There were mats below, but she didn't like it. Apparently, Eric didn't either from the way he was peering over the bridge.
She looked up at him from below, "I'm not going to feel much better if you tell me you're nervous."
He grinned, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I'm not nervous. It's just an unnecessary risk. I told Tom there had to be a better way to set it up. He ignored me."
Sookie turned her head toward the door, although Longshadow was gone. "That's why he looked so angry, you scolded him."
Eric raised an eyebrow at her and gave her a look that made her breath catch, "I don't scold. I fired him. I gave him instructions, which he chose not to follow. You won't do me any good with a broken arm or leg."
Sookie looked up at him for a moment in silence. At first her silence was because she was stunned that the man would be fired for endangering her and then it was amused that Eric was only interested in her safety as it affected him. "Thank you, I guess. Is that the right response? Firing him might have been over the top."
He grunted at her, still staring at the bridge. It crossed his mind to tell her that the firing didn't have anything to do with her, but he wasn't totally certain that it didn't. He had to acknowledge he had been irrationally angry at Longshadow's refusal to listen and had fired him in the heat of the moment despite having worked together for years. Not that he planned on sharing any of this with Sookie. She turned away from him and started to walk toward costuming, assuming that the discussion was over. She had noticed that Eric, although sometimes chatty when she would visit Pam, was never especially friendly when working.
"Sookie," he called out after her. She looked over her shoulder and he was grinning at her. "I can't take you dancing again if you've got a bunch of broken bones."
She felt a blush spread across her cheeks. She still didn't like to think about those photos from the newspaper. The way she had been looking at him in those pictures – she couldn't get it out of her mind. Did she look at Sam like that? She could understand why those pictures had sparked rumors. And if she was being really honest with herself, she might even admit that she admired Eric and found him attractive in a way that might not have been entirely platonic. Not that she would ever say that out loud to anyone – all she ever said out loud was that these were nothing but rumors, after all, she had a boyfriend. And it wasn't like the rumors were going away now that they were filming. She tried to think of a witty sarcastic response that would hide any hint of excitement she might have felt that he wanted to dance with her again, and failed. Instead she just stood there feeling more embarrassed every moment that he watched her.
"There's my favorite expression," he teased. He really could behave like a teenage boy at times.
Sookie ground her teeth together, "Are you asking me dancing?" If Eric was shocked that she would challenge him on his teasing, he was no more surprised than Sookie who was wishing the ground could swallow her up.
Eric's smiling expression disappeared and his face became a blank, unreadable mask. "Would you go?"
Sookie regretted going down this road because she really didn't know the answer. Dancing with Eric – if she could separate it out from the cameras and the commotion it caused – had been wonderful. But nothing was ever separate from the commotion it caused. Uncertain as to what to say next, she simply snorted with irritation and headed for costuming. It didn't help her frustration that she could hear him laughing behind her.
Filming went smoothly that day and the next. The stunt hadn't been a problem despite the fact that Tray made them shoot it several times over for close ups and overheads. No matter how many times Franklin dropped her, Eric caught her every time. Still, by the end of that day, her wrist ached and she could only imagine what Eric's shoulders had to feel like.
The following day they had a love scene to shoot. It was the scene where the Count convinces Mina to runaway with him. Sookie had read Dracula several times and had to admit she had never thought of the main character as sexual until she watched Eric play it. Before, he had always seemed like a monster, now the sexuality of the story became clear to her and she wasn't very certain she was comfortable with it at all. In the beginning of the scene, when he came toward her, she thought her heart would stop. He was stalking her and she couldn't seem to look away. Mesmerized by his eyes, Sookie said her lines in a fog. She had never noticed how very blue Eric's eyes were until this moment. She had always thought him to be attractive, but as he played his part, she noticed other things, little things. The shape of his mouth. The small scar across his eyebrow. The fine stubble along his chin. The strength of his jaw. She wondered what it would be like to kiss him, not just acting, but for real.
She moved toward him, even though the script didn't call for it, and they were pressed together long before the kiss ever came. She assumed it must have worked because no one yelled cut. She moved to him because she felt she could not stop herself. She wanted to be close, closer than dancing. Even though there must have been twenty-five other people in the room, when his arm went around her waist and drew her into him, she felt as though they were the only ones there. His fingers traced her cheekbone and slid down to the pulse point on her neck. Sookie could no longer remember where they were in the script and then she realized – the kiss. She felt a strong desire to bolt, terrified of the reaction she was having to him before his lips had even touched hers. And then it happened; he kissed her.
The kiss was exactly what she had imagined kisses should be all those times when she sat in darkened theaters watching the hero kiss his leading lady. It was exactly what she thought might have been missing from her kisses with Sam. It made her forget where she was and what was important to her. It made her forget everything except that moment. She never wanted him to let go and that scared her more than anything ever had.
"Cut," Tray yelled.
Eric released her so abruptly that Sookie thought she might fall over. He was staring at her as though she had just revealed herself to be some sort of horned monster.
"Eric," she said tentatively.
He turned and walked away to discuss the next day's scenes with Tray.
Sookie had changed from her costume and was coming back onto the set to find Tray Dawson to discuss the script changes she had just received. She found Tray and Eric deep in conversation.
"Eric, have you looked at the rushes…you need to look at them before you tell me it's fine. I think we're going to have a problem with the censor."
Eric growled at him, "There's nothing in there that should give us any trouble. I know the Hays Office has gone completely over the top, but there's no problem, we don't even imply there is anything going on between Mina and the Count…beyond some kisses."
Tray shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, visibly uncomfortable with his topic. "You just haven't looked carefully. Show it to Sookie and see how she thinks it will go over in the South. The way she looks at you in that love scene…the way you move together…it's way too…I think we're going to have a problem. The kiss itself implies something."
Eric snorted, but didn't actually say anything. Sookie couldn't see his face to tell what he might be snorting at…was it her?
Sookie felt a blush rising in her cheeks. Was Mr. Dawson saying she looked fast?
"I think she looks incredible," she heard Eric respond. He sounded irritated. They hadn't seen her yet and Sookie wondered if she could back out of the room quietly.
Tray snorted, "Yeah, I bet you do. I bet every guy on the set goes home and –" He stopped short peering over Eric's shoulder, "Sookie, I didn't see you. Been there long?"
Sookie cleared her throat and tried to be professional about this. She could fix whatever it was they didn't like. "Long enough to hear that there's something wrong with the rushes." Her eyes darted back and forth between them, uncertain of whom to address. "I can fix whatever the problem is. I know re-takes are expensive but…"
"There's nothing wrong," Eric stated firmly. "Mr. Dawson was just expressing his concern that you look too good. As if that were possible." The three of them stood in awkward silence until a pair of heels clicked across the floor. It was Felecia, Pam's assistant.
"Mr. Northman, there's a call for Miss Stanton on the main line. They say it's urgent."
Eric glared at Felecia, "We're in a meeting."
Felecia looked uncomfortable, "Yes, but it's about her brother."
"Is Jason hurt?" Sookie asked alarmed.
Felecia studied a spot on the floor and continued to address Eric, "It's an associate of Mr. Norris calling. He…Mr. Stackhouse…is in some trouble."
Sookie clasped and unclasped her hands several times and alternated between looking out the window and staring down at her feet. She didn't know what the heck she was going to say when she saw Jason. Would she shake him, slap him, hug him because she was so glad he was alive? Probably she would do all three. She sighed and looked out the window at the arid landscape so lost in her own thoughts that when a large hand covered her own, she jumped. For all that he was driving and that she usually found his presence so overwhelming and yet bizarrely soothing, she'd actually forgotten Eric was in the car.
"It will be fine," Eric stated always self-assured.
She shook her head at him, "You don't know that. These aren't Hollywood types. These are gangsters!"
She stared at Eric forlorn and he felt something he could hardly even recognize – tenderness. He violently hated Jason Stackhouse at that moment. It was gone almost before he could register the emotion only leaving him feeling disquieted.
"I'm telling you," he repeated. "It will be fine. I made some calls before we even left."
She shook her head sadly at him and looked out the window again. Clearly exasperated that he didn't understand the depth of the problem. He wanted to laugh, and not in a happy, carefree way; she had no idea how well he understood.
Eric almost began talking about his life so that she could understand that he wasn't making her idle promises. He would never do that. Most people he didn't care enough what they thought to be bothered with reassuring them just for the sake of it, but as he had told Pam the first night he had met her, there was just something about Sookie. He wanted her to trust him. And even though he knew that he could tell her things that would reassure her, he didn't think that would help her trust him. In fact, he thought it might scare the hell out of her. He wished Pam were here so he could ask her for the best course of action. He was stumped.
"I guess it's good you knew how to get here," she commented.
He smiled to himself. "Yeah. I guess so." There were several beats of silence, "So your brother and Crystal Norris huh?"
Sookie glared at him, "I don't know what my Gran would say if she were alive. I get the idea that Crystal is…" She didn't know what to term Crystal. She was unlike anything that Sookie had encountered. It seemed, according to Pam, that Crystal Norris, daughter of Cal Norris, was not a reputable young woman.
Eric shook his head, "She's not exactly looking to settle down and raise a bunch of kids."
Sookie's eyes cut to him and Eric mentally smacked himself. He hadn't wanted to seem well acquainted with the family.
"You know her?" Sookie asked. She didn't really sound judgmental, more curious.
Eric looked out at the road, "I've known the family for awhile." He paused debating on the amount of information to give away, "My step-father did business with them."
There was more charged silence while Sookie processed the information and decided how to proceed with the conversation. 'Mr. Threadgill?" she asked tentatively.
A muscle tightened in Eric's jaw, "No. Mr. Ocella."
Again, the silence stretched. Eric wondered what Sookie must have been thinking. He would have been surprised to learn that she was not thinking anything other than that she hadn't realized that "Ocella" was Eric's step-father's last name. She'd always just heard him called, Ocella. It sounded odd the other way.
"And he did business with Mr. Norris?" Eric turned to her and grinned.
"You make it sound like a garden party, Sookie." The idea of Ocella at a garden party almost struck Eric as amusing and he had a light chuckle in his voice. He pictured his step-father chatting while talking to women in picture hats. He wondered if Ocella had ever spoken to a woman wearing a picture hat – Sophie Anne excepted of course.
Sookie was flustered by his laughter for many reasons. She didn't think that any of these men seemed very funny. She thought that Eric's step-father must have been social with Mr. Norris, otherwise, how would Eric have met him? And finally, she loved the sound of Eric's laugh and she found her reaction to it disconcerting given the situation.
"Well, you met him somehow," she muttered. "Maybe not a garden party…"
Eric snorted, "I worked for Ocella through my teens."
Sookie looked at him confused, "You were at boarding school back east."
Eric's expression changed to one of wry amusement, "Okay Miss Stanton, who grew up on a plantation outside of New Orleans…if you believe everything you read in fan magazines…"
Sookie opened her mouth and closed it again. And then clarified, "So you weren't back east for school?"
Eric looked back out at the night, "I was back east, just not for school and not all the time. Ocella would bring me back for work sometimes and so we could check on Sophie and Pam."
It was the first time that Sookie had ever heard Eric talk about his mother. She was surprised he called her Sophie. "He never really gave up on Sophie," Eric said to the road more than to Sookie. "At least not until the very end."
Sookie looked at him surprised. She hadn't heard much about Ocella, but what she had heard had been ugly whispers, "You loved him?" She hadn't believed that Eric had had much contact with Sophie Anne and her many husbands. To find out that he had worked for one of them and had a relationship with him and to have it have been that one; stunned her.
Eric glanced at her gauging her response, "Love isn't really the right word. Maybe I respected him in a way. He taught me a lot. Not all of it good."
"What…um…what did you do for him? For work?" Sookie wondered if she should be asking, but thought that he'd already told her the biggest secret. The rest was just the details.
Eric did not look at her, but continued to stare at the pavement ahead of him despite the fact that they were alone on a relatively straight road. "Whatever he needed me to do."
They drove on in silence each reflecting on their own childhood and its wounds. Eric turned onto a dirt road, "We're almost there."
He parked at a rather run down looking house and began to exit the car. Sookie grabbed his hand, "Eric, thanks for doing this. It isn't really the kind of thing you need to do for someone you work with."
He looked at her hand clutching his and then reached out and touched her hair gently, very gently as though she would break. "I know it can be hard to trust people in this town, but you can trust me. I like you, Sookie. I don't want anything bad to happen to you." He looked at the ramshackle casino, "This isn't always a very nice town. Maybe it's good that you know someone that isn't very nice either."
Sookie just looked at him. She felt like she should deny the idea that he wasn't nice, but she couldn't. He wasn't nice even if he might be nice to her that didn't make him a nice man. She found though that she didn't care. Since the Depression and traveling out here, she felt like nice was an over-rated quality in a person. Nice to her was good enough, hell, maybe it was better. "You're nice to me."
He exited the car and crossed around to open the door for her. He took her hand and helped her out of the car. Sookie felt her heart beating like it was going to hammer out of her chest. She didn't know if it was because of him or her brother's situation. She was worried, more than worried, that it was him. Eric Northman did something to her. Something she wasn't certain she liked. When he held her hand she felt like she was on fire.
He must have known something because he tightened his grip, "I won't let anything happen to you." And he led her inside.
