AN: Thanks you guys. Truly your love and support inspires me to write. I'm so happy you're liking this story and Euro!Eric. He is turly a delight to write and I never know what the hell he is going to say next. He shocks me every chapter.
"If people were rain, I was drizzle and she was a hurricane."
- John Green, Looking for Alaska
Chapter 11: Barcelona, Part 2
Damn, Amelia, shut the fuck up.
She loved this kind of drama. She was giddy over the situation that was being played out in front of her. Eric, taller than anyone here, was looming over with his sexy confidence, that beautiful smirk and that challengingly look in his eye, as he dared Bill to respond unfavourably. Bill was catching flies. Eric's large hand, so dissimilar to Bill's, was flat against my stomach, his warmth radiating through my dress. My face was flushed red. This was not how I ever wanted this situation to go.
"Bill," I breathed, clueless as to what I could say. Nothing smart. "This is Eric," I gave a weak smile, really having no idea how I could cushion this for him. But then I thought, what did that matter? I walked in on him fucking another woman.
Bill looked between the two of us, his head craning to take in Eric's massiveness. "Sookie...what..."
Eric looked more than happy to intercede. "I am her lover."
Bill's eyes flashed in fury. "You said that," he said through his teeth. "Sookie?"
I had never been in a love triangle. I'm sure this is what the stories meant, two competitors facing off for the prize. I wasn't to be won. I had a choice. I was going to choose.
"Bill, I met Eric after I left you in Paris," I said firmly. I heard Amelia make a noise of excitement. I flashed her a look, and Felipe took the hint, pulling his girlfriend away.
Bill looked as if he was swallowing a computer. "How long after?"
"A few hours," Eric said. Most guys in this situation would be hesitant to mention that the girl they were competing over essentially used them as a one-night-stand-revenge on their cheating ex-boyfriends. Eric wasn't most guys, and he knew this wasn't just a one-time thing.
Bill looked as if he was about to pass out. I felt pretty sick myself. I don't know what kind of right Bill thought he had to look so betrayed right now. I held my tongue, letting the moment sink in.
"I'm not the father?" Bill was just not grasping this fast enough for my liking.
"Well," Eric answered for me. "You may be. Either way, I don't care."
Bill and I gaped at him. It took a moment for me to process his declaration. "You don't care?" I choked out, feeling myself on the verge of crying for the umpteenth time.
Eric grinned at me easily, brushing a lock of my hair behind my ear, tenderly. He was all man, his shoulders, his arms, his stance – protective, a warning to Bill, and yet he gave me the most gentle look that took my breath away.
"No. Yesterday was the worst day ever. I would have come sooner, but the trains were weird," he kissed my head, his hand on my stomach, drifting to my hips, angling me closer to him. He was horny. Bill was watching.
I pushed at his chest, reminding him of our company. He didn't take it any other way than to hold me closer.
"Sookie – what does this mean?" Bill finally asked. I looked at him, feeling more at ease now that Eric was here.
"I don't know, Bill," I said, realizing I hadn't any real plan.
"She's moving to Stockholm with me," Eric announced. Alright, despite the fact that I was absurdly happy he was with me, he really did put his foot in his mouth.
Bill looked pale, his cool steadily heating up to a rage that I didn't think I'd seen before and ever would again. "Before you jump to any conclusions...This baby is probably mine and –"
My Eric cut him off. "I don't know, we've had a lot of sex." I balked, feeling incredibly embarrassed by that announcement. I inspected my ex-boyfriends reaction and I felt guilty that Bill was going to have a stroke.
"Alright, no more cock fights," I interrupted before things got heated.
Bill stepped forward, finally finding his voice. "Sookie is mine." He glared at Eric, looking as if he was ready to fight for me if he had to.
I wasn't sure who was more stunned me or Eric. "I am nobodies," I said just as Eric responded with, "Uh no. She's mine." I turned to the Swede, pushing his arm from around my waist. "I'm nobodies," I repeated, firmly. "Bill, stop being ridiculous."
"Sookie, you would never have met this guy if things had gone differently."
That got to me more than the 'mine'. "Excuse me? Differently? Like if you hadn't fucked that random woman? Don't patronize me Bill!"
"This is not like you, Sookie. You don't know this guy! Would you rather have him as the father of your child than me?" His voice raised, and he was shouting at me. I recoiled from his volume.
"Hey!" Eric snapped, lifting an arm as a warning for Bill to back off.
"Sookie, I love you! Who is this guy? He's just some stupid fling! This is getting insane!" Bill ran a hand through his hair, his voice alarmingly out of control.
"Bill, stop it," I said, my voice wasn't as strong as I would have liked it to be. "You're embarrassing me and yourself."
"Me? Embarrassing? Sookie! You hooked up with him a few hours after me? I never thought you were that kind of woman!"
I felt a shift in Eric. I was furious with Bill, but I realized it was nothing compared to Eric's rage. I couldn't stop the large man. He let go of me and seized Bill's shirt, lifting him off his feet, staring my ex-boyfriend straight in the eye, his face contorted into a desperate thirst for blood to be spilled.
"Eric!" I cried. "You guys are being...tools!" I shrieked. I stared at Bill's dangling feet. Oh dear lord, I was in love with a barbarian. "Eric put him down!" I backed away, my arms flailing helplessly in front of me, as I circled their embrace of hate. Fuck. I was jumping on my feet like a child on the verge of a temper tantrum.
"You apologize," Eric growled in the most frightening, bone-chilling tone I had ever heard. Eric shook Bill when he didn't respond immediately. "Now!"
I had tears streaming down my face. This was awful. "Eric," I sobbed. He glanced at me, his intense stare softening and he lowered Bill to the ground. I couldn't even look Bill in the face, mortified by what had just happened.
"I'm sorry, Sookie," Bill uttered, shakily. What a useless phrase coming from him. I wiped away the tears, nodding absently. Eric brushed past Bill and pulled me into his chest. I didn't respond. I limply let my arms by my side, wanting to cause a scene with Eric for his actions, but respecting him enough not to do it in front of Bill.
"Bill, this is not how I wanted it to go," I said muffled by Eric's arm, as he rubbed circles into my back, trying to calm me after the scene he just pulled. "I don't know who the father is," I said, ashamed.
Bill shuffled. I was staring at his feet, remembering they were dangling only moments ago. "It could be mine...then what?"
I didn't want to think of that. Eric froze, waiting for my reaction. I wanted him to continue his gentle caress. "I don't know, Bill. I don't even know what I'll be doing about it in general."
"I'll provide for it," Bill said. "I'll help pay the medical bills. When we get back to Bon Temps..." Eric did not like this conversation. I could feel it in the way his muscles stiffened, threatened.
Could I leave Eric and return to Bon Temps? Eric and Bill waited for me to respond. I didn't know how Eric felt about the baby exactly, just because he showed up, didn't mean I could read his mind. Would it be smarter to return to Gran until this baby-daddy issue was settled? If it was Bill's I'd probably have to live in Louisiana, for convenience sake. Eric would be here in Europe and how sexy could I be to him with a new baby that wasn't his?
Eric's resumed his strokes, his mouth at my hair, he kissed down to my ear, his face hidden behind my head from Bill's view. His tongue flicked my earlobe. I shivered, closing my eyes. Eric whispered in my ear, "I love you." Only I heard. Eric pulled back and kissed my head again, his words, his consolation, spoke volumes.
Bill was uncomfortable. He was hurt. "Sookie. This baby, it could be mine," he reminded me again.
"I know, Bill," I said snippily, my frustration breaking through my sadness.
Eric breathed in sharply, gearing up to speak. I was curious as to how he would put his foot in his mouth this time. "I want Sookie, you, my lover, to live with me," he stated. He angled our upper bodies away, urging me to look him in the eye. His deep blue eyes shone with sincerity, with love. Way to make this so much harder on me, Eric. "I will take care of you and the baby whether it's mine or not."
Bill and I were speechless.
That was quite...gallant.
How do you respond to a proposition like that?
I knew Bill wasn't so chivalrous to propose that to me. If it wasn't his, he had no reason to stick around. He knew I was in love with Eric – there was nothing anchoring me back to him.
Eric gave me a meaningful look, pinching my ass pointedly, I jerked in his hold, just as he looked away to Bill. "Can I, uh, adopt your baby if it happens to be that way?"
Bill's eyes widened in a 'is this guy for real?' kind of way. I often felt the same. "What?" Bill flummoxed.
"Is that wrong of me?" Eric's brows furrowed in the most adorable way. I bit my tongue to keep from laughing, crying or gushing – I couldn't tell what I would do when my mouth opened.
Bill fumbled over his words. "It's a tad unorthodox," he managed.
Eric couldn't translate that word. "Yeah," he said slowly, his one brow arching. "I don't think Sookie wants to get back with you –"
"– I can speak for myself –"
"And I don't care if you love her or not. I love her more, I am sure. She is mine, even though she seems to not like me for saying that, it is true. I want her to live with me. I want this baby. Can you say the same as me?"
This was a Springer episode. Or Maury. Or something really trash-like. Maybe I should have asked Amelia to stick around and mediate. I certainly could have used those big security guards during that, thankfully brief, tussle.
Bill looked misplaced, big time. He didn't know which direction to go. He finally said, "You don't know her." He didn't say it as angry and patronizing as he had earlier, it was more like a gentle fact he had to put out there.
Eric shrugged indifferently. I didn't like that response, until he said, "I know enough."
Bill shook his head in disbelief, pinching the bridge of his nose, looking stressed, which, the situation was.
Did he know enough?
I think he did.
"I don't like mushrooms," I found myself saying.
"That's alright, min Älskling," he sniffed my hair, letting out a groan and to my surprise, he pressed his hard member into my stomach. I hadn't even realized. I glanced up at him and he winked, subtlety. What a freak. I couldn't hide the smile from my lips though.
"This is unbelievable," Bill muttered more to himself than anything. His eyes met mine, and I tried not to look away. "Is this what you want Sookie?" his voice was hoarse.
Eric's gentle caress on my back dipped to my bottom, where he patted it affectionately. "Yes," I said, indisputably. "I want Eric." Eric was buzzing to reciprocate. I had to rein my man in.
There was an awkward silence – for Bill and I, Eric was distracted with thoughts of sex, I assumed – when we really had nothing more to say. It was quite a bit for someone to take in. This whole morning had rejection, pregnancy, marriage proposals, adoption proposals, reunions, fighting, declarations of love...
"Bill," I started. He shook his head.
"I'll talk to you after we...settle down. I'm going to go back home," he said. His voice was low, he didn't meet my eye again. I nodded, unable to find any words. He held up a hand as a goodbye, and then turned into the house, leaving out the front door.
Eric and I let the moment sink in. "That's Bill?" Or at least I did.
I found myself wrapping my arms around his waist and hiding my face in his chest, hugging him tightly. He held me back.
I wasn't sure if I was normally this snivelly or if it was the baby, but I was ruining Eric's shirt with my tears.
"You really meant it?" I sniffed, my mouth buzzing against his body.
"Yes, Sookie," he brushed my hair back, his lips planted on my head.
"The baby might not be yours," I cried harder at the thought. He waited for me to calm down before he answered me.
"I want you. I need you. I love you, my Sookie," he pulled my face away and angled his neck to catch my lips with his. The kiss was wet because of my tears. He brushed them away and looked at me, with his wide, blue eyes, his mouth downturned and serious. I blinked away the moisture on my eyelashes. "I think the baby is mine."
I let out a choked noise. "What?"
Eric nodded. "I think it is."
I locked my hands together behind his back. "Well...what makes you think so?" my voice was small, self-conscious. His intense gaze made me want to look away, but I couldn't – not from Eric.
A small smile reached his mouth, and it sent my heart fluttering. "Mmm," despite the reveal, he ground into my stomach, I smiled back at him. "I had a dream."
I scrunched up my nose. "You had a dream?"
"Yes. It'll be a girl too," he said.
"Oh," I murmured. "Alright." I figured, why start questioning what goes on in that brain, now?
"In my dream, I was talking to my cousin," he said, moving in close his rumbling voice near my ear. No one else could turn me on just by voice. Mind you, everything about Eric screamed sex to me. "And she talked about finding my daughter a boyfriend. That will not happen. Pam is...friendly, I should say and my daughter will never be accepting a boy from her."
He seemed pretty damn convinced, and that made me feel lighter. "Tell me about Pam. She's running the club for you back home?"
"Yes. She would like you. She might try to kiss you, too," he laughed. I froze, and turned my head to give him a strange look. "Pam likes all people. Men, women. She is fun." Well, if that's the definition of a 'fun person' than I hadn't met any in my life.
"Oh," I repeated.
"You are very beautiful. Pam will go crazy," I could hear the smirk in his tone and knew he was teasing me now. He pulled back from my ear, and stared at me, earnestly. "What should we name our daughter?"
"Whoa, hold on there, buddy," I said, putting a hand to his chest. He gave me a look of confusion. "I want to take it all one step at a time. I'm not far along at all. I need vitamins, I need to see a doctor."
"Okay, we will do all that when we get to Stockholm. Do you want to go there now?" He moved too fast sometimes. He wanted me to leave Barcelona and start my life in a foreign town already?
"Well, actually, I want to continue our travelling," I said slowly, pushing meaningfully into his strained pants.
"Oh," he growled sexily, kissing me hard. We lost our heads a bit there, absorbed in the other when we were interrupted by a throat being cleared. I broke away from Eric, who was willing to ignore the other presence.
"Sorry Amelia," I said, staring at my friend who had a big goofy grin on her face as she leant against the doorframe.
"Felipe had to go to work," she said. "I didn't get to meet Eric. He rather rudely barged in."
Eric disentangled himself from me, leaning forward and shaking Amelia's hand. "Nice to meet you. Sookie has told me things."
"I can only imagine," Amelia winked. I noted he hadn't apologized for forcing his entry. "Are you two willing to let me entertain? Or should I leave you to your own entertainment."
While, I scolded her with an: "Amelia!" Eric said, "Our own, for now, thank you." I glared at him, and he snaked his arm around my waist, eager to get me alone.
"I think I do like him, Sookie," Amelia said, chuckling at Eric's response. She would.
"Yeah well," I sighed. "I haven't seen Barcelona. We should check the city out," I looked up at Eric hopefully. "I need a distraction."
"It looks like you have a pretty big distraction already, girl."
"Thank you," Eric bowed his head slightly, his eyes twinkling.
I decided to ignore them both. "Will you show us around?" I asked her. Eric kissed my head, his hand comfortingly on my waist.
Amelia looked doubtful that I wasn't going to jump into bed with Eric. "Alright, sure. Do you mind waiting a few minutes for me to get my things?"
"Yeah, no problem," I said smiling. Eric held my hand as we entered the house, waiting for Amelia in the masterful foyer. He yanked me into his arms to kiss while we waited.
"I didn't feel right without you," he muttered against my lips. I giggled and he bit my lower lip, playfully.
"If you're going to be pawing at each other all afternoon, why don't you just have a quickie beforehand?" Amelia entered the room, frank as ever.
I put space between Eric and I. "No, its fine. I'm excited to see the city!" I smiled, feeling myself ease up. I still had a slight case of heavy-heart and a knotted tummy, but it was getting better. Holding hands, we followed Amelia outside toward her red convertible. I saw Eric eye it appreciatively. I pointed to the backseat, and he did not look pleased with being put there while I got shotgun. I glanced over my shoulder and flashed him my teeth. He leaned forward and rested his chin beside the head rest, grabbing my hand and kissing it.
Amelia started the car, rolling her eyes at us, as if she hadn't made out with her boyfriend at the breakfast table.
I actually checked out my surroundings this drive. Eric held my hand and kissed each finger over and over while I lay back and stared at the beautiful sea, the wind whipping my hair about and into Eric's face. I laughed at him, but he didn't seem to mind.
Amelia took us to Park Güell, in the city. I had remembered to bring one of my disposable cameras. I snapped away, while Amelia wandered off bored of my tourist-ness and Eric stood by, waiting for me to take enough. Every city was different, and had originality unlike the others; here, all the architectural elements were built on a hill
There were beautiful mosaics of dragons and benches all near the entrance. These toss-away camera's couldn't hold much and before I knew it I was frowning that I had no more pictures to take.
"I ran out," I pouted, turning to Eric, who stood by with his hands deep in his pockets.
"It's okay. I have my phone," he said, handing it to me. I looked at it confused. I never mastered cells.
"It's a phone," I said disgruntled. "It's not the same."
"It's better than that," Eric pointed at the used up disposable. He showed me how to use the camera on his phone. I should have asked Bill for my digital camera before he left. Hey! He still had my stuff. I voiced this to Eric.
"No, he left it with me a couple weeks ago," Amelia sidled up to us, realizing we were ready to venture deeper into the beautiful park.
"Good," I breathed in relief. I didn't want to ask Bill for anything anytime soon.
We went up high, leaning over the low stone wall overlooking the park and beyond. I struggled with Eric's phone at first, but eventually figured it out. I wasn't sure how the pictures turned out, because the sun was too bright and hindered my view of the scenery on the small screen. It was better than nothing. Gran would love seeing this.
We walked through this tiled ceiling open room, with pillars variously placed. I admired all the mosaics above us and clicked away on the phone. Eric was amused with my reaction to everything as usual and Amelia would make jokes that would start off on topic to our surroundings and turn crudely random. Eric thought she was funny. I was used to her.
We wandered the streets for a while, finding a nice restaurant to have a late lunch before we headed back to Amelia and Felipe's. Eric and I sat on Amelia's lovely terrace where she told us many stories about her transition into Spanish culture and lifestyle and how she emphasized just how dumb of hick she was. I felt a bit worried about my own integration into Stockholm. Eric had his arm around my shoulders the entire time, gently tracing circles on my arm.
My stomach was growling uncontrollably by the time we had dinner at well past nine when Felipe got home. I wasn't used to eating so late. I knew Eric was suffering from lack of food as well, and judging by the amount he ate, which startled both Felipe and Amelia, he treated the meal like it was his last.
I was feeling so emotionally drained that I excused myself, with Eric following at just after ten. We said goodnight to our hosts and I showed Eric to the room we were staying in. As soon as the door closed he pulled my dress over my head.
I moaned. "Eric," I said. It wasn't sexy. "I'm tired. Can we just..."
"Of course, my lover," he put his hand on my bare stomach as he unsnapped my bra. I smiled at where his hand was and he smiled back, his skin glowing in the soft light that was emanating from the bedside lamp. He got naked and we crawled into bed. I curled up, resting my head on his chest, letting out a sigh of contentment. This was right.
I settled comfortably and he calmly stroked my skin. I didn't want to, but I found myself dwelling over what had happened this morning with Bill.
When Eric felt my tears on his chest he asked me what was wrong.
"Can I tell you some things?" I squeaked, wiping the wet tears from his chest. He waited silently, patiently. I inhaled shakily. "When I was four, my brother Jason stole my favourite doll. She was beautiful with long black hair and a pale face, she looked like a vampire I guess," I laughed, sniffling. "I named her Kevin."
"Kevin?" he interrupted. I could hear the amusement in his voice.
"I named all my dolls boys names," I shrugged against his warm frame. "Anyway, Jason ran with her into the wood around our house, and I fell and got a real bad cut on my arm." I showed him the scar and he traced it gently. I waited a moment. "I really hate bugs, which is not good when you live in the South, they're everywhere. Once when I was fifteen and Amelia stayed over for a sleepover, there was a moth in my room and she got so panicked because I was and we spent a good hour trying to kill it and not wake my Gran and Jason. When we finally got it, I turned around to find a centipede on my wall. We raced out of the room and slept on the couch, until we heard mice scurrying and stayed up all night, too spooked to sleep."
I glanced up at Eric who was smiling warmly, looking amused by my stories. "Tell me more."
I felt better that he was listening and he was learning about me. "The elementary school had a karate program for one season. And my brother, Jason and I went to a competition in Shreveport with my Gran, where we were both competing to get our yellow belt. And this boy told me that the girl I would be fighting was ruthless and I should be real scared of her. I was so upset and was near tears, worrying to Jason and Gran. I couldn't back down so I went to face her and I won. I felt so strong and I was so proud and my brother and Gran were cheering me on. When I met them afterward to celebrate, my brother started laughing and I looked behind me and saw the girl removing her prosthetic arm and putting it in a bag to hand over to her parents. Jason still doesn't let me live it down and that was like twelve years ago."
Eric shook with laughter, my body rumbled with him as I let him catch his breath. I told him a few more stories and eventually I started to doze off. I must have caught sleep halfway through a sentence because the last thing I could remember was feeling completely safe, warm and loved with Eric holding me tight.
If you REVIEW, you'll get your due, a chapter for you, diddly-poo....I am no poet. But, I think I got my point across.