AN: another chapter. Be prepared, there will be happening a lot in this one.
It's not all bad, there are also some good changes :D
Enjoy

Chapter 10

I jumped up immidiately, but made sure my naked body was still covered by the sheet. Eric was still sleeping like the dead and the fact that he looked to peaceful made me feel even worse, because I was the one that had to tell him things would get shit from now on.

"I'm going to make sure Sam is ready," Amelia sighed,"we are going to wait somewhere safe so the driver can pick us up. Eric can go back to his home right?"

I nodded slowly. And with that, Amelia was gone. This wasn't how it should've gone, we were supposed to spend at least another day together and have fun, but my parents were ruining my life once again. I shook Eric's body, repeating his name and telling him to wake up. Why did he have to be a deep sleeper?

Finally he opened his eyes, still drowsy and mumbled a good morning. He must've seen the panic written on my face because within seconds he sat up and looked at me with confusion. His hair fluffy and hanging in his face, but he brushed it away with his hand.

"What's wrong?" his voice was barely a whisper.

"Grab your stuff and get dressed."

He did as he was told with great speed without questioning me. He snatched his clothes from the ground and stuffed them in his bag, leaving the toiletries in the bathroom. When he was finished he stared at me with puppy dog eyes, an abused puppy, that is.

"My parents are here." I whispered and the expression on his face went blank. This was what Eric did, shutting himself off completely when things would go bad. It happened at our first fight and when we would talk about school. There was no movement in his body, he just stood there, staring at the floor. I threw on some clothes that were lying on the floor, not even bothering with the fact that they were dirty. Now wasn't the time.

"You need to get out."

Eric walked to the door of my bedroom, grabbing the handle and opened it a notch to peer out in the hallway. He nodded at me, telling me that the coast was clear and reached out to grab my hand. Together we snuck out off my bedroom, our bedroom. The bedroom we had shared. It broke my heart to leave it. This was our haven, and we were forced out of it because of the ignorance of my parents. We were powerless and couldn't do much except for running and hiding.

There were several places he could sneak out of the house, but none situated close to my bedroom. Eric could climb out off the windows in the guestroom Sam was using, since there was an extension, and that made it the good height to jump down from. My window was too high and the landing wouldn't be soft, considering the fact the ground was covered with gravel. Nobody would walk from that fall without an injury. Not even a ninja or something. Even though it sounded like a solid plan, the guestrooms weren't close and we needed to pass the stairwell. My parents would probably have ordered their chaffeur to drag their suitcases to their room. So their were 3 people we had to avoid. The chaffeur was a talker and I didn't trust him at all.

One of the other options was the front door, but that obviously wouldn't work. The last resort would be through the study of my father and then climb over the roof. At the end of that roof was a tree, which was perfect for climbing down and escape my parent's wrath. Again, the way over there would be tricky and dangerous. Christ on a cracker, this was not what I had hoped for. Eric noticed my turmoil, since I was panicking and jumpy.

"What's the plan?"

His voice was calm, as was the expression on his face. The calmness from Eric was comforting. Why he was so calm I couldn't understand. If we were caught, he was in deep trouble. I would be too, but my parents weren't going to kick me out. I hope. They weren't that heartless.

Just as I was about to answer him, there were voices coming from the stairs. The voices belonged to my parents. My mother's high pitched voice echoed trough the hall we were standing in. Without really thinking, I pulled Eric with me and ran back to my room. The door was closed with a slam. Ok, maybe that wasn't exactly 'stealth', but unfortunately I wasn't as calm as Eric.

"Hide in the bathroom. Quick!"

I ushered him into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. Just in time, because my parents walked into my room only seconds after. I forced my crazy smile on my face.

My mother greeted me with an awkward hug. The scent of her perfume was suffocating and I held back a cough. It was obvious my mother had treated herself on some new clothes, a white pantsuit with red stilletto heels. She slowly turned around, showing of her outfit.

"What do you think?"

"It's nice." I smiled again and tried to sound nonchalant while asking how the trip was. My mother rolled her eyes and left the room, leaving my father to deal with that question.

"I had to return to do some bussiness." He waved his hand and it was clear no further information would be shared.

"Everything went well here I suppose?" he scanned the room slowly, as if he knew something wasn't right. My heart began to beat faster and my mouth went dry.

My father was a true bussinessman, and knew when someone would be lying. So I had to be very convincing and to not show any of the feelings that flew around in my body.

"Everything was fine." I stated with a smile. Not another word was spoken by either of us. I let out the breath I was holding when my father spun around and made an exit.

Suddenly, there was noise coming from the bathroom, it sounded like Eric had knocked something over and you could hear the glass shatter loudly. My father stilled, and turned around when he heard a muttered "fuck" on the other side of my bathroom door. It felt like everything went in slowmotion from that moment.

My father walked passed me, air swooping through my hair, and opened the bathroom door. Eric just stood there, smiling uncomfortable with ruffled clothes and bedhair. There was broken glass on the ground next to him.

"Goodmorning mr. Stackhouse." At least he tried to stay polite.

My father was furious. It would be possible to bake an egg on his head, it was that bad. The blood rushing to his head was making him almost purple.

"I'll be leaving now then." Eric muttered and tried to walk passed my father, but was stopped by my father's hand. Another silence.

"Sookie. My study. Now" he said in a threatening voice but still looking up at Eric, who gazed at me, his eyes in a dark shade. Before I knew it, I was pulled away roughly by my father, who had grabbed my upper arm. Once we were in the hallway my father called for the chaffeur and told him to drag Eric out of this house. At that moment I managed to escape my father's deathgrip on my arm, and ran back to my bedroom to find Eric sitting on the edge of my bed. Immidiately, I threw my arms around his neck and held him close.

"I'm so sorry," he sighed deeply,"I love you. Don't forget." And I could feel his arms pulling me even closer. Tears sprung in my eyes.

"I love you too." I whispered, because that's all I could do at that time. Eric whiped my tears away with his thumbs and kept telling me things would be fine. Even if we both knew damn well that wouldn't be the case. There were footsteps coming from the hallway again but now neither of us was going to run and hide, and soon I was pulled away again. What happened to Eric I didn't know. It was made sure by my father that I wouldn't flee again by walking fast and holder me even closer to him. Soon we had entered my father's study. It was a big room. Bookcases from floor to the cassette ceiling were lined against the wall facing his desk. Behind his desk were more books, interrupted by small statues and photos. I wasn't in any of them as far as I could see. My father placed himself on his leather armchair, behind his desk. His hands folded together, his ice cold gaze peeking over them directly into my eyes.

"Sit." He said coldly. Reluctant I sat down in the chair facing his desk. Somehow, I felt like I was interviewed by Lord Sugar. Too bad there wouldn't be a "you're fired" followed by a pointed finger. The red-purpelish glow was still colouring his face, his breathing was ragged. The annoying sound of an antique clock ticking away was making me anxious and I contemplated running. That wouldn't get me anywhere though. At least now I could defend Eric and hopefully make the timebomb that was my father understand how much the gardener's son meant to me.

"You're making a bad name for our family. Did you think you could just run around with a common gardener with no consequences at all? We would look like fools. I won't let you ruin this family." He shouted at me without a pause, seething with rage. But the last comment made me trade my tears for rage.

"Ruin this family?" I hissed through clenched teeth. "This isn't even a family and there's nothing to ruin. And for the record, don't talk about Eric that way."

My father's fist met the mahogany of the desk, causing me to jump up. I've never seen my father this aggressive and it scared the shit out of me.

"I can talk about that boy any way I want. He owes me everything, and now he will lose everything. Including you. There is no future for you two, and I will never allow to let there be one. You must understand it is your destiny to be married to someone of high standard, it was like that with me and your mother, and the same will go for you. Our fortune must be kept within the family. This is not negotiable."

My father had finished his speech, he was just red now but still shouted at me like I was deaf. After staring at me with cold eyes for a while, he walked over to one of the big windows and gazed outside. Probably admiring the things he had worked so hard for.

"If he goes. I'll go with him."

My father laughed, it was cruel and it made me question the fact that I was his biological daughter. How had I turned out normal? Well, more normal than him?

"No, you won't." He simply stated.

"I love him," I stood up slowly not wanting to be pulled by my arm again,"and he loves me. You can't keep us apart."

My voice was filled with determination. My father had no idea about how deep our feelings were, and I think he never even felt them. Not for my mother, not for me.

I left the room. At the door I gave a quick glance back, my father was still staring out the window, his fingers on his chin. He was thinking, about what I didn't know. And that scared me.

The hallway was quiet, nobody was upstairs anymore except for my father. Not wanting to share even a floor with him I went downstairs, also because Eric would be there if he was still in the house. My search didn't take long. Eric was standing in the hall at the bottom of the stairs. When our eyes met he grimaced. The sparkle and emotion in his eyes weren't there anymore, and his expression was blank. We wrapped our arms around eachother as soon as we were in eachothers reach. Eric planted his chin on my head, like he always did. My tears were once again flowing. The way Eric acted was enough information, he had to leave. Between sobs I asked him not to leave me here.

"Then come with me." He whispered in my ear. "I can't be without you."

There was a warmth that flew through my body, igniting every single fiber in my being. This was the right thing to do. I couldn't care less about what my parents would say or think about me, right now the only person who mattered was Eric. He was my family. Call me naïve and young, but I knew Eric and I were destined to be together. No other man could make me feel the way Eric made me feel; alive.

"I'll come with you." I whispered back. "But what about my stuff?"

Eric chuckled softly.

"I already packed some clothes for you, and the things I knew meant most to you. I know it sounds dumb, but I just wanted to be sure in case you said yes."

I smiled at him, he smiled back. I would've been offended if it had been anyone else, but he thought forward, and right now it had saved our asses. Because if I still had to pack, we couldn't run like we were going to.

"I still have some cash from my father," I whispered,"and we can work. We'll live life the way we want to live it."

Eric nodded and kissed me softly.

"Your dad will kick me out soon I think. Are you ready?" he held out his hand for me to take, I didn't hesitate for a second to grab it and together we ran away from the house, I didn't even want to call it my house anymore. My home was were Eric would be. I silently cursed Eric's long legs, one step for him were two and a half for me, and it was hard to keep up with him. Eric told me we could go a long way on his motorcycle, and after that he could sell it so we had more money once we had settled. It was our adventure, and I've never been more excited about anything. School wouldn't be a problem, I could figure a way out to finish it and Eric would just work.

Within 10 minutes –a record time- we had reached his home, his old home. Eric went inside to grab the money he had saved up together with some other crucial things and I made us some sandwiches so we had something to eat.

"Does your father know about your master plan?"

Eric stuffed a sweater in his backpack, closed it, and smirked at me.

"He does actually. So does Becky." My jaw dropped at that statement. I probably looked like a fish when I tried to speak, closing my mouth and then letting it fall open again. Eric grinned at me, but continued his talk, since I wouldn't respond.

"I called them when you were with your father, he's really loud by the way. Becky was enthusiastic about it and asked if she could look us up sometime. My father wasn't thrilled, but isn't planning on stopping us. As long as we're happy and I don't screw anything up again. But now I'm with you, and we're going on an adventure." The last word was said with a child-like enthusiasm and was teamed up with a beaming smile. "We can stay with my grandparents for a while, Becky will bring over your passport and all that, and then maybe we can go to Shreveport?"

His radiant smile and excitement was answered with my own, and I kissed him softly on the lips again. This was the beginning of our life together. Our life, it even sounded amazing thinking about that. It felt liberating that I could make my own decisions now, and not feel suffocated by the rules of my parents. I was old enough and now I also knew what made me happy. I knew this wouldn't always be this easy, and there would be rough patches –I'm not stupid- but that somehow felt exciting. Discovering the unknown. Falling down and standing up again. Bring it on, Sookie Susannah Stackhouse is ready.

We had been driving for a while, 3 hours or maybe more. Well, technically Eric was the one who did the driving. We had left the landscape of the countryside behind, and every 30 minutes there would be more and more civilisation. The forests had made themselves scarce, and instead of big open fields of grass there would be farmlands. The sandwiches I had prepared were already gone, what a surprise with someone who had Eric's appetite. He ate twice the amount in half of the time I ate, but at least he looked like he enjoyed them. That short break was also used to discuss some of our plans, well the ideas we had in mind. The only solid plan was staying with his grandparents.
Even though Eric didn't think it would be necessary, I did want to call my parents. Just to let them know I was ok, even more so than I had ever been. I was expecting to doubt myself and question my decision, but I hadn't and I don't think I would in the future. Even though I had lived my life in luxury, it hadn't defined it. My mind was already accepting the fact that money would be short, and we both had to work hard to earn a living. At least we had some money, at least enough to let us live for 2 months. What can I say? My parents always gave me way too much money when I would be home alone or needed something. Team that up with the fact they would be gone for a week and you got a nice sum of money. Eric had also made some money while working as a gardener, so we were off to a good start. My parents just deserved to know, they were my parents. They had raised me –with a lot of help- and worked to support me and they had made me. Even though they were somewhat screwed up, I couldn't act like they meant nothing to me. Family is what you make of it, but they were my blood. My phonecall would be made when we would stop for gas and dinner. Because my phonecall probably wouldn't take long, I also would call Becky. Eric would be calling his father and then his grandparents. We had travelled a long time, and faster than expected, so we would arrive there just before midnight. Eric and I made an agreement that we would wait with calling friends for a while.

All in all, life felt pretty good right now. Even though my parents found out about me and Eric, they had pushed us in the right direction. Without Eric I also would've never left home, even though I always wanted to. Without Eric I was forced to marry some boring Bill-like person, and spend the rest of my life unhappy. Without Eric I wouldn't know what being truly happy felt like and how it felt to be in love.

I wrapped my arms closer around him, snuggling up against his back. His hand patted mine for a moment, and then returned to help steering the motor.

Even though it was a small gesture, it meant everything to me and I giggled softly in my helmet. Let real life begin.