Their third tryst was the one with the most surprises.
Sookie decided to make chicken Parmigiano and she was in the middle of rolling the chicken breast in bread crumbs when Pam, Sam and Marco crept up stealthily from behind and barged in on them in their private nook.
Eric and Sookie exchanged a look of shocked discomfort before Eric addressed the newcomers. "The fuck are you all doing here?"
"I told you he's not a morning a person," Pam said in a casual tone.
"You didn't really think you could sneak around behind our backs, did you?" Marco said with prim arrogance. Sookie silently backed away from the group as she made her way toward the pantry when Pam hooked her arm with Sookie stopping the Southerner from escaping.
"When are you going to tell us about this?" Pam waved an elegant finger between Eric and Sookie.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize I need permission from mom and pop to date somebody," Eric replied with enough sarcasm for both Marco and Pam. "And I assume you're the one with the big mouth who tattled on me?" he asked the quiet Hawk behind Pam.
"Date?" Pam, Marco and Sam asked in unison.
A flicker of surprise with a hint of regret flashed in Eric's face, but it was too fleeting to catch.
"Pay up, Ravenscroft. It's over a week already. You and Zimojic lost." Sam tapped Pam at the shoulder before he extended his palm out.
Eric's eyes widened as he snapped his head toward Sookie, who looked like she had been hit by a sack of bricks. His expression darkened as he glowered at the three intruders. He knew about the bets. He wasn't oblivious to the foolishness of his friends.
He wasn't really bothered by it. But not if it would ruin his chances with Sookie. And it looked like Sam's gaffe did just that.
Sookie, aghast from the revelation, looked from Pam to Marco before she sprinted out of their alcove and into the walk-in pantry. Eric threw a death glare at Sam before he ran after the Southern Belle.
"Sookie?" Eric called out.
It was a massive pantry with floor to ceiling shelves that made it look like a small grocery.
He was peeking into the aisle with cans of beans and all sorts of flour when a small hand grabbed his shoulder from behind. He whirled around ready to face a sobbing Sookie.
She was teary-eyed, alright – but not from crying but from laughing. He found himself staring at a woman who was covering her mouth as she tried to muffle her giggles. 'Damn fuck it, she lost it.'
"What… the hell?" he asked in bewilderment. Sookie finally managed to calm herself as she brought a finger to her lips, telling him to be quiet.
"I'm expecting you to be less cheery than this."
Sookie rolled her eyes as she continued to grin. "What am I fourteen?" she asked in a hushed tone. "Please. I've had worse. Days before prom, I found out the guys in the football team were placing a wager on when I would lose my virginity. And even then I didn't sweat it. Although when I told Jason about it, he did teach them a lesson not to make bets on his little sister that rendered their dicks useless for the night of the dance."
Eric was stunned. He had expected her to implode. But he should have known by now that Sookie wasn't like everyone else. She would always find a way to take him by surprise.
He chuckled before he cleared his throat. "Did you get to find out who won?"
"Nobody did. The bet's still on." She arranged her face to project a look of frosty indifference as she revealed to him one of her secrets.
The look of astonishment on Eric was priceless. "You're still a virgin?" he blurted before he could catch himself.
"Wow! Can you at least pretend not to be so shocked?" she snapped.
Eric gathered his jaw from the floor as he composed his features. That question did not come out right.
"But… but… you're 23," he added weakly. 'Come on! Grab a shovel and let's dig me a bigger hole.'
"I didn't realize there's an age limit." She trained her face to look unaffected. But every word that was coming out of Eric's mouth was like a slap in the face. She should have known Eric would make fun of her once he found out she was still sporting the V-card. It wasn't like she was a prude. Well, maybe a little. But it wasn't the main reason she hadn't given it up yet.
It was because she didn't have the time. As simple and as pathetic as that. She didn't have time to get herself a crush much less a boyfriend. She had scared off every boy who showed the faintest interest in her with her snarky and abrasive personality.
And when her gran died she had realized the bitter truth. That everyone would leave her someday. Her parents did and then her gran. Even Jason was bound to go. He would find himself a sweet, caring woman who would straighten him up and she would be left alone. Again.
So, why bother, she had thought. Why get into so much trouble letting anyone in if they were going to leave her eventually. That was when she started putting up her walls that could rival the fortification of Jericho.
Eric's mocking voice broke her trance.
"Let me guess, you're saving up for marriage?" he asked, snickering.
Sookie's lips pulled into a taut line before it curled into a smirk.
"Oh, please. I'm not that kind of hick. I'm just saving up for Ryan Gosling or Alexander Skarsgard. Whoever comes first, I'm not really that picky. And it's not my fault those bastards are taking too damn long to get to me!"
Eric let out a sound that was a cross between a snort and a chuckle. "That Swedish fuck and that Canadian pussy?"
Sookie slapped him hard on the chest. "Hey, watch your tongue! Those are my future husbands you're talking about!"
He grabbed both her hands and pulled her against his chest. "They have nothing against me."
He never let her utter another word as he fastened his lips on her. She struggled a little bit to keep up her indignant act before she surrendered to his demanding mouth. He was right. They had nothing against the unassailable Viking and his fervent tongue.
They were in the middle of a searing liplock when they heard someone wheeze beside them.
"Well, well, well. Sookie Stackhouse, I never thought you had it in you to dupe someone other than Eric," Pam drawled.
Eric gave Pam a murderous look while Sookie couldn't help but grin as she buried her head in his chest to cover her ruddy cheeks.
"I think it's time we have a discussion about your poorly timed interruptions, Pamela," Eric hissed.
Sookie tsked him as she clutched her arm. "C'mon, let's go. I think Sam has suffered enough."
Sam was indeed suffering as he gnawed at his fingernails nervously when Eric, Sookie and Pam came out of the pantry.
The Hawk whipped his head toward the trio. "Sookie! Sookie, I'm so sor -"
Sookie raised a finger at the fidgety Hawk as she faced him. Sam, face as white as sheet, stared warily at Sookie before stealing a glance at the Viking.
"So, how much did you win?" she asked coolly and the Hawk gaped at her in astonishment.
"You're not…" Sam asked cautiously as he dodged Eric's sharp daggers.
Sookie's bored façade crumbled into conviviality as she shook her head. "Now why would I be mad? This is Vegas, baby. The only place in the world where there's a slot machine in the women's toilet."
Pam broke into a fit of laughter. "Are you sure it's a slot machine and not a tampon vendo, Sookie?"
Marco guffawed while Sam laughed nervously. "You sure, you're not…?"
"Sam, if I get mad at you then who will be the Mulder to my Scully?" Sam beamed at Sookie, finally appeased with her response.
Eric, who didn't like the knowing looks Sookie and Sam were exchanging, whisked the Southerner around to meet her gaze, his face devoid of gaiety. "You're seriously okay with them betting on us?"
Sookie snorted. "I'm not a hypocrite, Eric. And for the last time, this is Vegas. The place where everything's a gamble."
Her unusual bounciness was so magnetic that found his arms snaking around her waist as he tugged her closer before he captured her lips. Sookie was dazed but conscious of their unwelcome spectators. She writhed under him as she tried to draw back. But Eric was adamant, uncompromising and he simply didn't give a damn.
"Oh, for fuck's sake! If I wanted to watch soft porn at five in the morning I would have just tuned in to HBO," Pam retorted with badly disguised amusement.
Sookie smiled against his lips and Eric could not help but chuckle himself.
What happened after that was almost surreal.
Pam had managed to book the kitchen at one of the restaurants at the North that wasn't supposed to open until lunch. Eric berated himself for not thinking of that in the first place instead of sharing Sookie with the rest of morning crew at the hotel galley.
Marco offered to prepare breakfast but Eric requested that Sookie would still make his 'usual' order. Sookie blushed furiously as she tried to evade the amused and excited looks she was sure Eric's posse were giving her.
Their small gathering was shockingly enjoyable and enlightening for Sookie. Pam and Marco would take turns bashing Eric by telling Sookie some of his unrefined moments through the years and Sookie would throw her head back as she laughed unabashedly at his historical antics.
Eric's inflated ego was taking a heavy beating but he didn't mind it one bit. Because with every embarrassing anecdote his friends - if he could still call them as such with the amount of pleasure they were getting from humiliating him – were divulging he was always rewarded with a gusty laugh or a badly suppressed giggle from Sookie.
He loved the sound of her laughter. Because he knew they were rare. Not given in generous amounts. Just like everything about her, Eric had to work hard on his knees to get what he wanted from her. So every time he could make her laugh or even snigger, he would feel a sense of accomplishment no successful business venture could ever give him.
Unlike the other women that had went in and gone out of his life, whose laughter seemed bought, superficial and mostly for his benefit, Sookie's were genuine, comforting and the scarcity of them only made him crave for more.
"What?" Sookie asked in a disconcerted tone, breaking his train of thought. She had caught him staring again. And he pulled himself out his daze. 'Sonofa! What the hell is wrong with you, Northman! Quit being a fucking pussy!'
He straightened his back as he returned her gaze with a look of utter boredom. "What?" he asked as he feigned confusion.
"Why are you looking at me like I'm going to poof out of here any second?" she whispered as she leaned in to him.
Eric forced his trademark leer. "Aren't you?"
Sookie wrinkled her nose at him before she returned to her tête-à-tête with Sam.
Sam, who was still trying to make up for his blunder earlier, was eager to engage Sookie in a conversation as they talked about the things they shared common desire for such as Lord of the Rings or X-Files or even Harry Potter. Sookie would give Sam a high-five every now and then while nodding her appreciation with the fellow fantasy and sci-fi fanatic.
Eric couldn't help but envy Sam and how easily he could form a rapport with her. How the Hawk would blurt out something senseless to Eric and Sookie would agree with him with so much fervor. Sookie was in her zone. They were in their own world. Pam had lost a little bit of her dignity when she had the misfortune of interrupting the two class nerds by asking what the fuck they were so enthralled about. Sam replied some kind of gibberish and Pam gave him another bemused glare.
Sookie and Sam exchanged a look of mock derision before the Hawk gave Pam a condescending pat. "This is out of your league, Ravenscroft. Just go and join your other Muggle friends."
Even their horribly laughable hand gesture where they formed a 'V' by joining two fingers together, which Eric heard was called the Vulcan salute, looked attractive on her. It was childish and simple and ridiculous. It was everything Sookie.
He made a mental note to ask Sam to give him a crash course of the nerd vernacular later so he could impress Sookie the next time he saw her. Next time? When would he run out of 'next time'? When would he get tired of her? When was the expiration date of Sookie Stackhouse? He didn't want to know.
Eric's conversation with Pam and Marco turned sour as they talked about the upcoming boxing match at the MGM Grand while Sam and Sookie continued their seemingly engaging babble.
Then, ever so often Sookie would catch Eric's eyes flitting at her direction but he would turn away as soon as he was caught.
E/S
"So, were dating, huh?" Sookie asked coolly with a hint of levity as she stared outside through the car window. They had just pulled over in front of her building and it was almost nine in the morning. She barely had time to get a shower before she would have to go to the restaurant. She was really lacking in sleep and she was starting to feel the toll of her all-nighters weighing down on her.
But she wasn't about to cancel her very very early breakfast on Eric. If she needed to put a toothpick between her lids to keep her eyes open then god damn it she would.
Eric tensed at her query as he ducked behind his mask of ennui. He had realized that he made a slip the second it came out of his mouth. He had been crossing his fingers all morning that Sookie was too preoccupied with Sam's faux pas that she somehow missed it.
He wasn't supposed to say that and she wasn't supposed to hear it. In his entire adult life he never admitted doing something as woefully pedestrian as dating. It was always fuck, screw, lay, bed, score, whatever synonyms there were for sex but never date. Never. Dates were for wusses. No one was worth the trouble.
Or so he used to think.
"Why? What do you think we're doing? Exchanging recipes for omelettes?" he retorted. 'Do you really need to sound like a fucking prick every single time? Ignore it. Ignore it, please.'
She sighed dramatically while keeping her eyes out the window. "I always thought dating a millionaire has its perks..."
Eric was taken aback. He never even thought she would want something grand, extravagant, epic. He grabbed her shoulder and propelled her to look at him only to see mischief dancing in her eyes.
"Honestly, I expected more from you," she started. Eric was about to say something to defend himself but Sookie placed a delicate finger on his lips. "In four days you made me cook scrambled eggs without fail. We almost start a fire because you were hoping to get me drunk. (Eric had the modesty to look contrite at that statement.) And we almost made Sam pee in his pants. I haven't had a decent sleep for days and the bags under my eyes have grown as bigger than Texas and Alaska."
She pointed at her eyes and Eric couldn't see what she was talking about. She was still agonizingly enchanting.
"But in those four days you have given me a sense of normalcy I haven't felt in years. You made me feel like I'm doing something relevant. I was needed," she dropped her gaze to her lap as her fingers found his. "You made me realize that in this fucked up city, there's a place where we can still revel in the unfussiness of the little things. And it was more than I expected from you. So, thank you, Eric. It's everything I wanted and more."
Eric wished he had an eidetic memory so he could play her soliloquy in his head word for word later. He wished his fucking heart wasn't pounding so loud in his ears that he might have missed an important adnoun she just uttered. He wished he could tell her how badly he wanted her right now without sounding like a creep. He wished he could tell her he liked her. Liked her to a frightening degree. Liked her like no other.
But all that came out of him was a huff. A small gust of wind that could be easily mistaken to a derisive snort. 'What. The. Fuck. Was. That!'
Then, as fast as the puff of air he just let out blew away, the softness in her face vanished. Disappointment flickered in her eyes before the look of prudish ennui materialized. He saw her shoulders droop before she leaned toward him. "Same time tomorrow?" she forced herself to chirp. Without waiting for his response she planted a small peck at the side of his mouth before she exited his black Corvette.
"Sonofa!" Eric exclaimed under his breath. He couldn't let her leave like that. He had to amend his misstep quickly.
He bolted out of the car as he scurried after her. Sookie's legs were shorter but were astoundingly faster than he thought. He barely made it to the elevator before she boarded it.
"What?" Sookie asked gruffly and more harshly than she had intended.
"I hate eggs!" he blurted between shallow pants. He ran his hand through his hair as he tried to muster the will to summon the words in his head and make them form one coherent sentence. Just one fucking sentence that would not make him sound like the total asshole that he was.
Sookie furrowed her brows as she stared at him expectantly. "I'm sorry if you hated them. You should have said something be -"
"Shut up and let me finish," he snapped.
Sookie's defensive shields went back up as she crossed her arms against her chest before she knotted her brows into a frown.
Eric took a deep breath before he continued. "I hate eggs. It has this funky taste that makes me want to reach for a bottle of scotch. It has a texture that disturbingly crumbles in my mouth. I hate that I don't need to chew it as much as I'd like to chew my food. I hate it," he spat before he took another audible breath.
"But I like you," he hushed as his shoulders sagged in defeat. As though he was revealing something he didn't want to admit even to himself. "I like how intense your face gets when you beat those yolks into submission. I like how you bite your lower lip when you're chopping the ham or grating the cheese. I like how your breath hitches when you toss the pan in the air, hoping against hope it won't drop on the stove or, heaven forbid, the top of my head." Eric snickered a little as though remembering that exact moment in his head.
"I like the flavor it leaves in your mouth when I kiss you. I'm sure there are more appetizing dishes that taste better with you. But those eggs…" he sighed in spite of himself. "Those damn funky eggs, they remind me that this -" he waved his hand back and forth to him and Sookie, "- is real. This is happening."
Sookie was rendered speechless. What could she possibly say to top that? No freaking thing. She was frozen in her feet. Even the crease in her forehead was stuck as she felt the walls breaking, shattering inside her. She wondered how many trumpeters were needed to blow down the walls of Sookie. The answer would be none. It only took one Viking and his dopey horn.
The silence that dragged on between them was thick. Choking them. After what seemed like forever, Sookie finally broke the impasse.
"Are you done?" she asked, her brows still drawn together.
"Isn't it obvious?" Eric replied bitingly. He was also wearing a scowl - frustrated that he couldn't read her perfectly schooled expression.
"Good," was all she said before she pulled him down for a fierce kiss.
A/N: I don't own the characters.
As promised, here's the second part. The third part was a bit tricky and I found myself jumping through hoops with it. It might take a tad longer. But I would still try to finish it before we carve the bird. Thanks so so much to everyone who read this and sent me their thoughts. The amount of love I received from the last chapter just blew me away! You're all rock stars! Love, lots and lots of it!