AN: Happy Reading! Enjoy! :)
Chapter 10
SPOV
I make my way through town, daisies in hand and a contented smile on my face as thoughts of our upcoming sleepover raise to the forefront of my mind once more. Eric, Godric and I have been spending a lot of time together this summer, but with fall drawing steadily closer, I'll take advantage of spending just as much time with my best friends as humanly possible.
Fall. Just that one word manages to ruin my exalted mood. Shit. I honestly can't imagine my life without both Eric and Godric in it and now, given the more intimate parameters of our relationship, I find myself all the more anxious about being separated by state lines from the two people that mean the entire world to me.
I let out a small sigh, dropping down to the public bench alongside the serene pond, setting my knapsack and daisies to the ground before drawing out my worn sketchpad. I flip open the book and am soon working out my frustrations upon the smooth expanse of clean parchment as my mind is still whirling.
How am I supposed to say goodbye? I may as well leave behind my own limbs as closely bound as the three of us are at this point. God, what the hell were we thinking, pushing the boundaries of our relationship just before we were made to split up for months on end?
It was bad enough knowing I'd be leaving my friends, but now, as I'm beginning to think my feelings for the both of them have deepened, becoming much more profound, leaving either of them will be nearly impossible. I just don't know if my heart could take it, surely if anything could manage to break me, this would most assuredly be it.
"Oh, hey, Sookie," sounds a familiar voice beside me, surprising me from my inner musings as I snap my head up to see John Quinn headed my way, his classically handsome smile stretched over his face.
"Oh! Hey, Quinn, how's it going?" I ask, mostly out of politeness' sake as I watch him step closer and see his smile faltering around the edges.
"I feel like I should be asking you that," he answers, dropping down to the bench beside me. "You look like your dog just died or something," he says in concern as my frown deepens. "Shit, it didn't really, did it? God I'm such an ass," he mutters, dropping his head into his hands as I find myself giggling at him, despite myself.
"No, Quinn, my dog didn't really die," I assure him, earning a sigh of relief from him before he leans back against the bench, casting me an inquisitive gaze.
"Good, good, cuz I'd feel like a real piece of shit if it did," he returns, bringing a snort of amusement from me. "So why were you looking so glum then? Anything you wanna talk about?" he questions, his lilac eyes shining in apparent concern.
"Oh, you don't wanna listen to my problems," I sigh out. "Besides, I don't think your girlfriend would be too happy knowing you were actually talking to me," I remark somewhat shortly, recalling the way said girlfriend sent me a death glare for even attempting to converse with him at the senior party.
"Girlfriend? Ah, you mean Sophie Anne, yeah, she can be a real bitch," he answers as my jaw drops open in shock, surprised to hear him say such a thing. "And she's not my girlfriend, though she'd apparently like to be," he reveals, a sly grin crossing his face as I let this bit of news sink in.
"I see," I answer, shrugging lightly. "So why is it you're so concerned with me and my problems?" I question, bringing my knees to my chest as I tilt my head at him in question, knowing the two of us have hardly exchanged more than two words with each other throughout our high school career.
"Curiosity, I guess," he answers easily, shrugging his massive shoulders. "A pretty girl sitting all alone in the park on such a beautiful day shouldn't be allowed to look so sad," he insists, bringing a small smirk to my face.
"That sounds like a pick up line, Quinn. You wouldn't be trying to flirt with me now, would you?" I tease, watching a brilliant smile stretch over his face. That smile of his would have made me melt mere weeks earlier, but now, it's just a nice smile gracing an admittedly appealing face. Curious. Maybe I've gotten over my crush.
"Depends," he answers, his lilac eyes sparkling in amusement.
"Yeah? Depends on what exactly?" I question, finding myself smiling in amusement.
"Depends on whether you're willing to show me your drawings you've got there," he answers matter of factly, as I raise a brow at him.
"You wanna look at my drawings now? I thought you wanted to know what was bugging me," I throw back, raising a brow at him.
"I can't have both?" he questions, finally winning me over with his endearing argument.
"Fine, you really wanna know?" I question, earning an unsurprising nod in return. "I'm worried about the upcoming fall semester, about moving away from all my friends," I reveal, seeing him shrug his broad shoulders dismissively.
"So don't go," he answers, making my eyes widen as my jaw falls open in shock. "What? If it's really making you that upset, can you tell me it's really worth it?" he questions as I shake my head vehemently.
"But this is college we're talking about. I can't just give up my dreams because I'm having second thoughts about leaving my friends," I argue, earning another shrug from him.
"Then go," he answers, bringing a scowl to my face before he's chuckling lowly. "Hey, I'm just trying to help here," he insists, raising his hands in surrender.
"A lot of help you are," I mutter, rolling my eyes as I lower my knees once more, beginning to doodle absently upon my lap once more. Quinn slides closer and I have to fight the urge to give him an elbow to his ribs as I see him studying my drawing from my peripheral.
"Hey, you're pretty good at that," he remarks, his eyes following the strokes of my pencil as I continue my mindless doodles.
"Thanks," I answer, shrugging my shoulders absently. "It's actually what I'm going to school for, art that is," I tell him, earning a thoughtful nod from him.
"Well, you should definitely go to school then," he insists as I glance over to see him granting me a small smile. "You've got some real talent; it'd be a shame to see it go to waste," he explains, leaving me nodding lightly in agreement.
"So you're saying I should leave my friends, that it'll be worth it," I surmise, seeing him arch a brow at me.
"Why does it have to be one or the other? Why do you have to choose?" he questions as I raise my face to meet his inquiring gaze.
"My friends got accepted into different colleges," I reveal, seeing him remain unfazed.
"You make this all sound like it's the end of the world, Sookie," he says softly, shaking his head. "There are plenty of options available to you, you just have to decide to make one, one that hopefully makes you happy," he suggests, giving me pause. Is he right about that?
"What do you mean?" I question curiously.
"You haven't paid your tuition yet, have you?" he asks, granting him a slow headshake from me. "There you go, you've still got options. Take a year off to be with your friends or if you really want to start school this fall, why not sign up for classes at the community college? This isn't a death sentence, you know," he reasons, bringing a small smile to my face.
"Quinn, you're a genius," I compliment, reaching up to give him a hug. His barreled chest rumbles against me as I pull away to see his face alight with humor.
"I've been called a lot of things, but this is a first," he remarks, bringing laughter from me as well as I return to my spot on the bench, shaking my head at him.
"I can't believe I didn't come up with any other options, I mean, it all seems so simple now," I muse aloud, going back to my sketch with renewed vigor.
"These must be some friends if you were this worried about being separated from them," he remarks, studying my drawing over my shoulder as a fond smile comes over my face.
"The best, better even," I assure him, my hands flying over the paper with enthusiasm, thoughts of new possibilities for the coming fall flooding my thoughts. We might not have to separate after all, so long as they're willing to amend their plans as well, which of course is entirely up to them, but at least the impending fall doesn't seem quite so daunting at the current moment.
"Nice," Quinn states as I raise the sketch to study my work thoughtfully. "Good lookin' guys too," he remarks, a light smirk playing at his lips. "These wouldn't happen to be those friends you were talking about now, would they?" he teases, earning an amused chuckle from me.
"Yeah, that'd be them," I concede, trailing my finger over their penciled outlines, my heart beating wildly in my chest at the mere thought of seeing them tonight.
"Can I?" he questions, bringing me from my thoughts as I obligingly hand over the worn pad, watching him flip through the countless pages of doodles and sketches thoughtfully. "These really are amazing, Sookie, it's clear to see just how much love you hold for the both of them," he notes, studying a sketch I recently did of Eric and Godric curled together upon Godric's couch.
"Yeah," I whisper, his words bringing a thoughtful frown to my face. "Yeah, you're right," I continue, earning his attention once more. "I love them," I state firmly, earning an arched brow in return.
"Yeah, that's what I said," he returns curiously as my smile stretches impossibly wide.
"No, I mean I really love them," I insist as he looks at me like I've just grown a second head. I can only laugh, shaking my head at my own stupidity, hardly able to believe it took me so long to figure this out. "I love Eric and Godric. I love my two best friends," I repeat, realizing I'm starting to sound like a broken record and couldn't care less.
"Mind sharing with the rest of the class?" he teases, earning another bout of laughter from me as he casts me an amused smirk.
"I'm just so glad I ran into you," I tell him, earning a bright smile from him. "I've been so blind for so long," I realize, shaking my head once more.
"Well, I'm glad I could help," he chuckles out, shaking his shining, bald head in amusement.
"You really have, I don't know how I could ever thank you enough, Quinn," I inform him, taking back my offered sketchpad for him, my heart positively racing with the day's revelations.
"You could let me take you out sometime," he says then, halting my motions as my eyes widen in surprise.
"What?" I question incredulously, my jaw dropping in shock. "Me? You wanna take me out?" I question, knowing I must have heard him wrong as he chuckles lowly, nodding to me.
"I was actually really glad I found you here today," he informs me. "I've actually been hoping to run into ever since the senior party," he explains. "Sophie was so rude and I never did get a chance to talk to you."
"Oh, wow," I whisper, shaking my head, my earlier insights confirmed as I realize I no longer hold any sort of feelings for the man sitting beside me. "God, Quinn, if only you'd asked me that same thing two weeks ago, I'd be falling all over you right now," I reveal, seeing his smile falter around the edges.
"Ah, your friends," he surmises, a bit slow on the draw as I nod in confirmation. "I see," he adds, shrugging his bulging shoulders lightly. "Well, if things don't work out, look me up, alright?"
"Yeah, yeah, sure thing, Quinn, and thanks again for stopping. You really did help me work some things out," I tell him, granting him a friendly hug before he pulls away with a wide grin.
"No problem," he answers, reaching down to scoop up my daisies for me before we're standing from the bench together. "I really hope everything works out," he tells me, handing the flowers to me as his lilac eyes sparkle in the afternoon sun.
"Yeah, me too," I return, another fond smile coming to my face as thoughts of Eric and Godric are rising in my mind yet again. "See ya around," I throw out, starting to back away, even more excited about tonight's sleepover as Quinn sends me a wave.
"See ya," he calls, chuckling once more as I begin sprinting from the park, a goofy grin spread over my face as one words plays through my mind on repeat. Love, love, love. I love my best friends, no, scratch that, I'm in love with my two best friends and the future suddenly looks promising, with endless opportunities open to the three of us. I still can't believe it took me so long to figure out what has been in front of my face this whole time, but I can hardly wait to tell them both how I truly feel.