a/n: I hope everyone's holiday shopping is going well. I really miss being a kid and having the holidays be zero stress and 100% fun and full of vacation time! Another chapter, and thankfully I got this one done much quicker than the last! I'm very tired from way too much drinking for my friend's birthday so I'm going to post this without rereading for errors. I think you guys would rather me post now, than wait two days for me to spell check right?

CHAPTER 11

Sookie's POV

Flashback

"Eric?" I was beyond creeped out. We had snuck into the old barn behind his house out of curiosity and now I couldn't find him. I was pretty sure he was hiding just to be a jerk. But then in the back of my poor 16 year old mind I was wondering if there was the ghost of a lunatic farmer holding him hostage in one of the musty stalls. Yes I had an imagination and ready far too many paranormal books.

"I'm going to kick your ass for this…" I had a chance too since he was skinny as a string bean. My feet moved slowly over the cracked cement floor that had layers of dust and some rusty old tools laying on it. The barn was completely silent and I kept straining my ears in hopes of hearing some kind of movement. I hated surprises like this, when I knew someone was going to jump out at me. I even tried to breathe quiet but somehow the more I tried the louder I sounded.

"Grrrr!" Eric came jumping down from a god damn rafter above me with some crazy war cry. That was the last thing I was expecting and I screamed. He landed on his feet right in front of me and I was still in shock and freaking out, so I punched him right in the stomach. Woops.

Eric's war cry fizzled out into a groan and he bent over holding his stomach. I definitely hit him as hard as I could. But I was scared as hell and simply reacting! "Sorry?"

"Christ…" Eric caught his breath. "How do you hit so hard if you're a girl?" He was still holding his stomach.

"Never underestimate a woman defending herself. Well, thinking she's defending herself." I tried not to laugh but he did this to himself on some level.

"But you're a girl, not a woman." He smirked and I shoved him hard. But he grabbed my arms before I could back away and pulled me close.

"I think I'm more woman than you are man. You don't even have a beard." I grinned.

"That sounds like a challenge to me" His hands slid into the back pockets of my jeans. I knew exactly what he had in mind to prove how manly he was.

"Eric we're still in your creepy ass barn" I said quietly and looked around quickly to make sure there were no rats.

"I'll distract you" Then his lips were on mine and I'll admit I was easily distracted with Eric. He could do just about anything and I'd lose focus on other things. When he first moved to town I remember spending entire classes daydreaming about him and wishing he would like me in the same way. I had plenty of chats with my best friend Tara about what signs might mean he was interested.

Lucky me, he definitely was. I was quite sure his tongue in my mouth right now proved that. My fingers went straight to his hair as usual. He had the best hair. It was blonde, soft, and just long enough to really dig your fingers into. We were just getting to the good stuff when I felt movement at my feet. I looked down to see a rat scamper right my heels. I shrieked and went running out of the barn. Eric didn't scream but he was right behind me and slammed the barn door shut the second we were outside.

"Lets not make out in the barn anymore?"

"Agreed" Eric nodded and we both took a few steps away just to be safe.

We ended up sitting at the edge of the pool in his backyard. It had a small deck around one half of the oval so we were able to slip our shoes off and let our feet dip into the water. My hand was on his between us, tracing invisible patterns over his skin.

"Do you ever think you'll go back to the city?" I asked randomly.

"Probably not. I've only been here a little over a year but I'm so used to it now. I like the quiet and having more space. In the city everyone is on top of each other." That made me smile. I never wanted to live in the city either. "Why? You don't want to move there once you're out of school do you?"

"Hell no, just visiting with you the last time had me stressed out all day. It's so weird that you have to pay for parking everywhere and then walk to places even when it's pouring out because it's faster than driving." I was so not a city person.

"Yeah on nice days it's convenient. But when it's snowing or rainy it sucks. Have you thought about after high school at all?" Eric seemed curious but not like he was trying to plan our future either. We were both only sophomores so there was plenty of time for that.

"A little. I definitely want to go to college. Maybe for zoology or something with the environment. What about you?" I knew Eric's interests and hobbies but thinking about a career was different.

"I have no idea. I'll go to college somewhere but I have no idea what I want to be. It's kind of crazy to think in the next two years we have to decide what we want the rest of our future to be like." He leaned back on the deck and shut his eyes. I just stared at him for a bit. I'm telling you he was perfect. The sun was beating down on us and Eric already had a tan from being outside in the spring. His hair even looked a shade lighter. Other girls at school wanted guys like my brother Jason who were jocks and already looked like they were 20 years old. I didn't care about any of that though. I was completely okay with being in love with the boy next to me. I hadn't told him yet, but I definitely knew that I had fallen for him.

I leaned back on the deck next to him and he laced our fingers together between us.

"I hope you'll be in that future somehow."

Eric never opened his eyes but he smiled slightly. "Oh, I'll make sure of it."

End Flashback

It had been two weeks since I went to the bar with Eric and Quinn. It had been the best two weeks I had in a long time. At first I thought about Sam when I was alone but now he barely crossed my mind. I saw Eric almost everyday and since I went to feed Maggie at night, I also ate dinner at his house quite a few times. The more time we spent together made me sure that I definitely wanted more with him. However I had always been the shy one out of the two of us so making the first move was not my strong suit. I'd thought about it a couple times the last few days but then chickened out.

We were having so much fun together that I didn't want to ruin it. What if he wasn't interested? I thought he was but that was something you could never be sure about. I told myself I'd know the right moment when I was living it. I'm pretty sure Pam thought we were together though. I saw her out getting her mail one afternoon and she gave me an odd expression. It was one of those weird smiles people give you when they think they're in on your secret.

For now there really was no secret. Eric and I had quickly become best friends again. We would eat dinner together, watch movies, and I'd try to convince him to ride Maggie. That had yet to happen. We did do some research on dog adoption though. Eric finally decided he was going to go for it. Our internet search was useless since he could not decide on a breed or type of dog at all. He just wanted it to be fairly young and not tiny like a Yorkie.

That's why today he was finally just going to the local shelter to check out the animals. He invited me along and of course I agreed. We chose to meet at his house just in case he brought anyone new home. I doubted it would happen though. He was being so indecisive about it.

"So what's the level of grumpy this morning?" I asked as Eric came outside and we switched to his truck for the drive.

"Low, since it's already ten." At least he didn't try to argue that he was a bucket of sunshine in the morning.

"Good. You know where the shelter is?" Eric shook his head and I gave him directions towards it. It was hidden away in a quiet corner of town. Then again everything was around here.

We chatted about different things on the way there. I told Eric about work and my family. He would tell me about how pissed off he got sometimes working for the Sullivans. But overall he seemed to like it and they paid him well so it was worth it. It was nice knowing the details of his life again. Unlike Sam I didn't have to pry the information out of him. Eric just offered it up in conversation.

"So you know we might not find anything today right?" I could tell Eric was getting excited like a 5 year old on Christmas.

"Yes Mom, I know." He rolled his eyes at me as we pulled into the gravel parking lot. The building was small and only one story. They had left the front door open since it was a cool day for late summer and there was a nice breeze. Once we were out of the truck I could hear barking echoing from inside the building.

We got inside and the place looked like it definitely needed some TLC. However that meant taxing people in town more and no one was going to vote for that. Therefore the shelter had to deal with the little funding and few donations they got. I tossed the few dollars I had on me into the donation jar. These poor animals needed it more than me.

"Hello kids" An old woman came hobbling up to us from behind a small desk. It had been a long time since someone greeted me as a 'kid'. I bet I was with Eric when it had last happened.

"Can I help you?" Her voice was scratchy and I noticed the pack of cigarettes tucked into her shirt pocket. Oh well, didn't matter to me.

"I'm looking to adopt a dog and we figured I could start here." Eric offered and the woman seemed more than happy to help. She informed Eric of the adoption and vet fees to make sure any pet he might take was up to date on everything. Once he made it clear he was fine with paying for that she lead us down a hall to the left. The sounds of barking got louder and I was able to decipher the different tones in them. I could tell there were a few bigger dogs but a lot more of those tiny yappy ones.

"These are all of the dogs we have right now. Their information is on the clipboard hanging to the right of each kennel door. Of course some are just guesses for age and breed." The woman explained then wandered out the side door to smoke one of her cigarettes.

"Alright, guess we start at the beginning right?" I looked over at Eric and we both checked out the first two kennels. One had a Jack Russell Terrier that was yapping up a storm. Eric shook his head. The other had a chubby black pug.

"Aww, he's cute in a creepy way." I leaned over to the little dog who was staring up at me with bulging eyes and a squashed nosed. I reached my hand towards the door and then he started spazzing out and snapping at me. I jumped back. "Nevermind"

"Thing looks like an alien anyways. I'd be freaked if I woke up and that guy was staring me down." Eric continued on and I followed a few steps behind him.

We made it halfway down the aisle when I spotted a cute golden retriever. It said his name was Skippy. I thought it suited him since he seemed like a cheerful kind of dog. When I reached out towards him he wagged his tail and started licking my fingers.

"Eric what about him? He's friendly and not small enough to fit in your pocket." I smiled over my shoulder and Eric walked up. He stared at Skippy for awhile but for some reason I could tell he wasn't quite feeling it.

"Maybe, lets look at the rest though." Eric wandered all the way down the aisle. He went from kennel to kennel and seemed to find something wrong with every dog. One had fur too long, some were too happy, others were too loud… it was a never ending list. Then he came to a stop at the last kennel. He stuck his fingers through the kennel door but I couldn't see a dog approaching him. I walked closer and finally noticed a hulking Great Dane sitting in the corner. He looked like he was trying to hide but it wasn't working considering how big he was.

"This one, definitely this one." Eric seemed fascinated with the dog huddled up and not paying any attention to him. I grabbed the clipboard and was surprised to see it was actually a female dog and her name was Maisie. They suspected she was just about a year old. That meant the already huge dog still had some growing to do. Damn.

"Says her name is Maisie. She is cute…. Are you sure though? That's a big dog to have around." I knew Eric was an old softie and would let her in the house.

"Definitely sure. I know she's the right one. Just like I knew you were back in drawing class." He smirked and then waved the old lady down. He was such a cornball.

We ended up there for a few hours filling out paperwork then we ran to the pet store really quick to get supplies for Maisie. So by the time we went to pick her up that evening Eric had everything the dog could possibly need. He had purchased a plain brown leather collar, because according to Eric, Maisie was not a flashy type of woman. Once she was led out of her kennel I could see how big she really was.

Maisie was tall and slender. Her coat was fawn colored and faded to a black mask around her muzzle and eyes. Unlike a lot of Great Danes her ears were not cropped. Instead they flopped around at either side of her head. Now that she was moving I could tell she was a bit lanky and looked slightly out of proportion because she was going to grow more. She also seemed a tad underweight but that wasn't surprising coming from a shelter. All of her movements were cautious and timid. She seemed friendly but I hoped Eric could get her to come out of her shell some.

Eric put her new collar on and led her out to his truck. We got her into the backseat but almost had to pick her up. She seemed scared to even jump in the truck. On the ride home she was silent. In fact I hadn't heard her bark yet. Once we got back to his house and had Maisie inside she seemed very unsure of what to do. She wandered around the kitchen some then found the bowls of food and water Eric had put out for her. She didn't eat anything and continued to just stand there on the other side of the room.

"She seems really timid…you might want to be careful around her. She doesn't seem mean but if you startle her she might bite because she's afraid." I warned Eric. You had to be careful with an adopted animal. We had no idea what her history was or why she was so shy. It could just be her personality or more likely her former owners abused her.

"Yeah, I'll just let her be for now. She probably needs to settle in." Eric shrugged and it was probably for the best. No use in trying to pet her or play with her now.

"You going to that cookout Tara is having?" Eric asked as he put away some of Maisie's things in the cabinet.

"Yep, I found out she told Sam he wasn't welcome too. So that'll make it a lot more fun." I was going to go whether Sam was there or not. I wouldn't let him dictate what events I went to. However I knew I'd have a lot more fun not having to watch him and Daphne all afternoon.

"Good. You want to ride together? Seems pointless to take two cars when we're going to the same place." Tara had invited Eric now that she knew we were hanging out again.

"Sure, we can take my car. Your truck is unnecessarily loud and not a comfortable ride." It was bumpy and made me slightly car sick to be in it for too long.

"Hey it's a work vehicle. My truck can do a lot more than your wimpy Toyota." He smirked and I smacked him. I'm pretty sure I hit Eric more than the punching bag I had in my basement.

a/n: next chapter we get to have fun at Tara's cookout! I debated so much over naming the damn dog then I watched the Maisie trailer for the millionth time and was like OH YES. PERFECT. Also Review review review! =)