Unspoken Feelings

A/N: Well, we're on the final chapters! Only two more and an epilogue left! Fortunately, I already have the next story brewing in my brain. Hopefully, it won't be too long of a wait for the next adventure. Our next story will be returning us to the land of vampires, telepaths, and all that other supernatural goodness that you guys know I like to play around with!

Enjoy, guys!

-Andi

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Officially a Brigant

December 1998

Eric Northman had been told many times that he didn't deserve his wife even before they had been married. Once the newlyweds had returned from England, though, Eric began to hear the accusation less and less.

At first, Eric was concerned that returning to Louisiana would hinder Sookie's strides in recovering and maintaining her voice. Instead, it appeared that the return to familiarity, but continued avoidance of Bon Temps had spurred her into even more impressive progression. She quickly made her first appointment with Dr. Octavia Fant upon their return to the States and proceeded to impress her husband with all her other efforts.

Sookie did volunteer work at the local library, reading to children on Wednesdays, attended church every Sunday, and been accepted to the local culinary school. Thanks to Fintan, Sookie had several enrollment applications mailed to her while she and Eric spent their time abroad.

After her enrollment, Sookie continued to keep their home neat and brought food home from school to test on her husband.

It was only Sookie's second month in school, but Eric watched as his wife became more self-assured. He admired her at the parties they were invited to, and couldn't fathom how this was the same girl he had met two years ago. What he could understand was how he still loved her so much.

That was why Eric did everything he could to make sure she knew he appreciated all her efforts. He cleaned the dishes every night, volunteered what time he could to church events alongside Sookie, and brought her a single flower home after classes every day. When her eyes would light up at the new flash of color and wafting aroma, Eric would feel his heart speed up.

The truth was, by bettering herself, Sookie made her husband be the best that he could be. He knew she often felt that people saw them as a mismatched couple, but he knew she thought he had married down instead of the other way around.

Whatever toxicity in Bon Temps that had tried to poison Sookie had no power in New Orleans. She was free, confident and strong away from her childhood home.

"Good afternoon, Love, " Eric greeted Sookie as she exited her school building. "How was class today?" His arms opened to wrap around his wife's shoulder.

Sookie pouted as she held up her hand, "I got another burn."

Taking her hand in his, Eric planted a healing kiss on her bandage. "You will get used to the industrial size equipment soon, and then you won't get so many burns."

Opening the passenger door of their car for her, Eric jogged around to his side before continuing the conversation. "Did you eat a lot in class?"

"No, Chef Chow says I have a terrific pallet and is impressed by how little I have to sample to experience all the flavors."

"Does he now?" Eric kissed his wife's hand playfully. Eric had met all of Sookie's instructors already while picking his wife up at school. It had been a happy side effect of their commuting arrangement but had simultaneously put Eric's heart at ease. The last thing he wanted was for Sookie to put up with unwanted attention. He knew if a teacher tried to abuse their position and proposition her, Sookie would refuse and continue with her classes. She had a high tolerance for bullshit.

"Are you jealous?" Sookie teased as she took her handy nail clippers from her pocket and began picking debris from beneath her nails with the file.

"Of Chow?" Eric laughed at the idea. True, the chef was young, tattooed and definitely had an appeal for the right woman, but Eric didn't feel threatened. "Only if you said you had a thing for Asians. If it were the tattoos I'd walk right into that parlor there," he gestured up the street, "and get 'Property of Sookie Northman,' tattooed all over my body."

Sookie laughed, "Are you trying to make me sound like the possessive one in our marriage?"

"Possessive?" Eric feigned being wounded. "Is worrying about my wife's health, happiness, and attraction to her husband being possessive?"

"When you give your wife monthly breast exams? It's a little creepy," Sookie teased.

"You check my balls," Eric pointed out.

"Only because I'm already down there," Sookie stuck her tongue out playfully.

"And I'm usually holding these," Eric reached over with one hand and squeezed his wife's breast. "Two birds. One stone."

Sookie laughed harder as she placed her hand over his and held it there for a moment. Finally, she glanced behind her and frowned. "Are we going straight to the airport?"

"Unless you want to eat first?" Eric glanced at Sookie curiously.

"I can make it back to Bon Temps and eat at Rosenfont," Sookie assured.

"Not your Gran's?" Eric was surprised. Sookie shook her head. "I thought everything was okay between you two?" Eric's voice became sympathetic.

"It is," Sookie frowned.

"Then what's the problem?" Eric asked as they grew closer to the airport.

"I still don't want to go back into the house," Sookie admitted. Ever since she'd returned from England, being inside the old farmhouse had felt wrong. She wished she could blame it on the recovery of her memories involving Bartlett, but Sookie knew better, and so did Eric.

"I suppose it's still glaringly obvious that Bon Temps is your kryptonite and the farmhouse isn't your safe haven anymore," Eric considered.

"I wish Gran and Fintan would just get married. Maybe she'd move in with him, and I'd never have to go back?" Sookie wondered.

Eric smiled at his wife's wish, "You're actually starting to like Fintan quite a bit, aren't you?"

Sookie smiled, "It was really sweet of him to write while we were in England, and to get all those applications together for me so I could enroll in time for the semester."

"That was pretty amazing of him," Eric agreed. He had a feeling Fintan had also made generous donations to all the New Orleans cooking academies so that they would accept her late application. He never brought this up, however, because he didn't want Sookie to think she'd only been taken thanks to her grandfather's money.

When they finally arrived at the airport, Sookie was happy to see Alcide and Claudine in the same security line as them. When they were nearing the waiting area for boarding, Sookie approached the couple and smiled.

"Hey, guys," Sookie waved at the pair happily, belying the earlier conversation.

"Hey, Sookie," Alcide grinned down at the short blond. As Eric approached, Sookie was soon encircled by tall, striking figures.

"I hate when you guys all stand around me," Sookie groaned. "I feel like a valley among mountains."

Claudine snorted as she stooped down to hug her cousin. "How's school going?"

"Really well, thank you. How was your first semester with no math classes?" Sookie teased.

"Divine," Claudine sighed happily. "Guess what I heard from my brother?"

"Claude?" Sookie frowned. "What did he have to say?"

"Well," Claudine's grin widened, "it seems my dad went ring shopping with your grandpa."

"Not my grandpa," Sookie sighed. She hated that everyone was trying to give that title to him. She likedFintan, but Earl Stackhouse had been Sookie's grandpa. "Wait. Ring shopping?"

"I think he's going to pop the question for Christmas!" Claudine clapped excitedly.

"Whoa," Sookie blinked, having been impatient for the occasion. After all, she and Eric hadn't dated much longer than them, and they hadn't already conceived two children together!

"Aren't you happy?" Claudine frowned.

"Yes!" Sookie replied quickly. "Just surprised."

"Well, you shouldn't be. They're old. They deserve every minute together they can get," Claudine said pointedly.

"Yes, they do," Sookie agreed. "I was just surprised because I was telling Eric on the drive here how I wished he would hurry up and propose already!"

As the women talked about their family finally joining through marriage, Alcide was off to the side talking to Eric about something that had been bothering him for months.

"I take it you finally talked to Quinn about the Frat party attendees?" Eric laughed at the look on Alcide's face.

"Yeah," the brunette laughed. "I know it sounds stupid."

"No it doesn't," Eric assured. After Alcide had attended one of Quinn's parties and seen his ex there with her new 'friends,' Eric knew it was only a matter of time before the man snapped and went digging. "What did Quinn have to say?"

"He only knew one of the guys from the three of them that were there with her. His name is Malcolm, and I guess he graduated from UNO a couple years ago. He's actually from Quinn's fraternity."

"That makes sense why he and his friends could just show up, but no one knew the other three," Eric nodded.

"Yeah," Alcide agreed. "Every party Malcolm went to, he was there with that bald, tattooed guy, a black girl with an afro, but the second girl always changed. Now Debbie looks to be the permanent second girl. He talked to a few people and told me that they're a bunch of swingers and that quite a few STDs had been flying around since they started showing up at parties. Quinn says he hasn't seen them at a party since the one I saw them at."

"Do you know where Debbie went over the summer?" Eric asked in surprise.

Alcide rubbed his head in embarrassment, "I talked to her ma when I was up for Thanksgiving. We were together a long time. I guess I wanted to make sure she was okay."

"Alcide?"

"She ran off to Jackson, Mississippi," Alcide frowned. "Last her ma heard, Debbie was shacked up with some friends sharing an apartment. I guess that means I've seen her more recently than Mrs. Pelt. She's worried about her."

Eric crossed his arms over his chest, "And so are you?"

"Yeah," Alcide confessed. "How stupid am I? Look at the woman I'm dating!" He loosely gestured toward Claudine. "She's smart, funny, gorgeous-"

"STD free," Eric added.

"Yeah," Alcide hung his head. "I don't know what I'm doing."

"You're homesick," Eric offered. "Debbie was your home for a long time. It's okay to be nostalgic, but the things we missed are rarely as good as we remember. Every time you think of her, start chanting syphilis. It will stop hurting soon."

"It's been over half a year," Alcide groaned.

"And you were together since you were kids," Eric reminded. "Stop beating yourself up over it, but don't ruin your current relationship over it either."

"You're right, you're right," Alcide grumbled.

Before the conversation could continue, the four friends were called to board, and any further discussion about Debbie was halted.

The flight to Shreveport was brief, and Eric was happy to see Sookie handling the journey comfortably. Thankfully her lousy experience flying to England had just been the stress of the day and length of the trip. The return flight had been far less eventful, although she had definitely gripped his hand anxiously through take-off, turbulence, and landing. Now she handled short plane rides like a seasoned pro.

When they arrived in Shreveport, family was there to greet them. As it turned out, Claude was instructed to bring the couples to a Shreveport hotel, and Sookie was excitedly preparing herself for a proposal.

As they arrived in a conference room off the lobby of Shreveport's most elegant hotel, Sookie became far more excited. The room was decorated with flowers, and Fintan was waiting there nervously.

"Good evening, everyone," Fintan greeted warmly, and Sookie could see that his hands were shaking. A brief tug called to her heart, and she found herself taking Fintan's hand. Hadley was standing off to the side talking to her mother and Sophie-Anne. André was speaking with a woman Sookie had never seen before.

Fintan squeezed Sookie's hand, accepting her comfort, "I suppose you can all guess why I wanted you to meet me here?"

"You're gonna propose to Gran," Sookie whispered with a giant grin.

"That's right. With your blessing of course?" Fintan added hurriedly.

Sookie gave him an energetic nod. "Of course you have it!"

"Thank you," Fintan sighed with relief. "Your brother already told me she was all mine as long as you said it was okay." Fintan laughed nervously, "Now all I have to do is see if she says yes."

Sookie knew her gran would say yes, and judging by the scenery and guests; the granddaughter wouldn't be surprised if the wedding would quickly follow. Fidgeting slightly, Sookie couldn't help but wish she had dressed up.

Soon her grandmother arrived with Jason and froze in surprise as she came through the doorway. "What is all of this?" Adele wondered. She was wearing her Sunday best, and Jason had at least bothered to wear a shirt with a collar. Sookie was really regretting her black slacks and white undershirt, but it's what everyone wore to class! At least she had taken off her chef's coat and left it in the car!

"This," Fintan smiled as he approached Adele, "is an old man finally asking the love of his life something he should have asked fifty years ago."

Adele gasped as Fintan grabbed a chair and used it to help himself take a knee slowly to the ground. "Adele," Fintan reached in his pocket. "I've waited longer than any man should have to wait but would do so a hundred times for the chance. Will you marry an old idiot?"

"Yes!" Adele cried happily as she held out her hand in acceptance.

"I don't want us to waste another minute," Fintan told her as he slipped the impressive stone onto her finger. "So, if our families would kindly help me back to my feet. What do you say we get married right now?"

Claude and Jason quickly jumped to action, and each placed a hand under either of Fintan's arms to raise him from the floor.

"That'swhy you wouldn't let me out of the house without putting on a dress?" Adele asked of her grandson.

"You got it," Jason grinned. "And for once, I look more put together than Sookie!"

Sookie groaned as she imagined her appearance. However, there was little time to fret over the situation. The strange woman who had been talking to André when they'd arrived had turned out to be the Justice of the Peace, as Sookie had predicted. The ceremony was short, the marriage certificate was signed, and soon everyone was eating cake and congratulating the newlyweds.

"I'd wanted to ask her sooner," Fintan began, "but I didn't want to steal your thunder, Sookie."

The young woman was grateful, not because she would have minded sharing her wedding anniversary with her Gran, but since back in June, Sookie was still getting used to Fintan being around. Now, the old man seemed to fit among her family just as well as any of them. Seeing how he interacted with her and Jason only made more family traits glaringly obvious. Sookie had always wondered where Jason and her daddy had gotten their smartass smirks. Now she knew they came from Fintan and his side of the family.

"How is school going, Sookie?" Fintan asked kindly as he and Adele stood side by side. Sookie melted a bit at how her gran's head rested against Fintan's shoulder.

"Really well!" Sookie assured them. "I can't thank you enough for getting me those applications so I could enroll for the fall semester!"

"It was nothing," Fintan waved off the thanks. "I was happy to hear you were interested in continuing your education. You like your instructors?"

"They're all wonderful," Sookie told him. "I've been learning a ton already, and Eric's told me he can't believe my cooking could get even better than it already was. It's a good thing I'm learning to balance dishes, though or we'd both be getting fat!"

Adele and Fintan both chuckled, but Sookie could see they were glowing too much to really care what she had to say. She couldn't blame them though, she'd felt very much the same on her wedding day.

An hour later, the party was wrapping up, and everyone went their separate ways as Fintan and Adele headed up to their suite. Fintan had told Eric before they left that he was taking his wife to Jamaica for their honeymoon later that week. Eric had to applaud Fintan on his having a shorter flight than Eric's own honeymoon. The young man was still kicking himself for putting Sookie through that.

Catching a ride to Rosenfont Hall with Jason, Eric and Sookie were relieved to arrive at the house and ready to go to sleep as soon as they slouched into Eric's old bedroom.

Climbing the stairs, Eric saw his sister's light still on and went to tell her goodnight. "Meet you in bed," Eric kissed Sookie's cheek as he handed her the duffle bag and went further down the hall. "Pam, you awa-" Eric pushed his sister's door open and immediately slapped his hand over his eyes. "Sorry, stupid move. Sorry," Eric repeated as he turned out of the doorway and back down the hall.

As comfortable as Eric was with his sister's sexual orientation, he had never prepared himself for… That.

More than anything, Eric had not expected his sister to enter a romantic relationship with Tara Thornton! Pam had never given the slightest indication that she had feelings for Tara, but after seeing the pair… Uh, entangled? Eric mentally censored himself. It was apparent he had been wrong.

"Sookie," Eric whispered as he arrived in his old room, "did you know that Pam and Tara-"

"Are dating?" Sookie finished.

"More like fucking," Eric grumbled.

Sookie's eyes widened as she stared at her husband, "Did you just walk in on your sister having sex?"

"Yes, and it was horrible," Eric moaned.

His wife snorted on a laugh, "They've been dating since August."

"Are you serious? Why didn't I know this?" Eric demanded sullenly. He was happy for his sister but disappointed that she hadn't told him.

Sookie shrugged, "It's her first relationship, and Tara's not out yet because she doesn't want the town to know she's a lesbian. She saw how everyone treated her cousin, and she doesn't want the same to happen to her."

Eric felt a pang for the couple, "That sucks."

"It does," Sookie agreed. "How did Pam react when she saw you?"

"I have no idea," Eric confessed. "I slapped my hand over my eyes and ran away."

Sookie used all her willpower not to full out laugh at her husband.

"It's not funny," He could see the restraint on his wife's face.

"You're right. It's hilarious," Sookie erupted into a fit of giggles.

Eric let out a sigh and shook his head, "I'm happy for her. I wish them the best. I just wish I didn't have to see what I saw."

Sookie smiled, "They've been talking about getting a place together when Pam goes off to college."

"Tara's not planning on going to college?" Eric frowned, feeling a bit disapproving, but quickly stamping it out. He'd never disapproved of Sookie's former reluctance to continue her education. Although, he had been concerned by it at first.

"She doesn't know what she wants to do yet, and Tara isn't really… Academically motivated," Sookie tried to phrase delicately. "Pam mentioned that Tara was considering going to a community college to at least work on pre-requisites, though."

"Not academically motivated?" Eric raised his eyebrows.

Sookie shrugged, "She doesn't see the point in paying someone to tell her to read books when she can just bypass the teacher and buy the books herself."

Eric snorted, "Unfortunately, reading the books doesn't get you the degree."

"That's what Pam told her, which is what got Tara to agree to go to a community college," Sookie nodded. "I think Pam is good for Tara. She's the only person I know stubborn enough to call Tara out for her crap."

Eric smiled, "And is Tara good for Pam?"

Sookie's smile softened, "Tara's got a lot to overcome, but I think with the right person, she will definitely become someone Pam will want by her side. Tara's instinctively more cautious than anyone else I know."

"That's what I'm worried about," Eric whispered. "She protects herself so fiercely, she doesn't care what happens to anyone else."

"I don't think that's true," Sookie patted his hand reassuringly as she began to finally strip out of her clothes and prepare for bed.

"She abandoned you when you were at your weakest to protect herself," Eric reminded his wife.

Sookie cocked her head over her shoulder to raise her eyebrows at Eric, "We were eight, Eric. Give a girl a break."

"And she's still hiding her orientation," Eric added.

"Which is no one's business but her own," Sookie planted her hands on her hips defensively.

"I'm not going to win this, am I?" Eric yanked his shirt off in frustration.

"No, but you'll get a mulligan because you're a worried older brother dealing with his sister's first relationship," Sookie told him. "Now get naked, so I can stop being annoyed with you."

Eric couldn't contain his laughter at Sookie's command and quickly stripped out of the rest of his clothes. "Am I forgiven?"

Pulling her bottom lip between her teeth, Sookie nodded.

{†}

"Well," Alcide laughed as he walked through the airport with his girlfriend, "that was an eventful Christmas vacation!"

Claudine also chuckled as she squeezed Alcide's hand, but the sound was strained. Several times over break, Claudine had felt that her boyfriend was distracted. He'd stop suddenly and stare off at a passerby, or squint at people on the street. One time she'd noticed him looking out the window at the neighbor across the street's old, blue Chevy like it was about to come to life.

When Claudine spotted Sookie behind them, she let out a relieved sigh. Hopefully, she would get Sookie alone in the girl's bathroom before take-off, and she'd be able to unload her frustrations.

"Hey, guys," Eric greeted his friends. "How do you always get here before us?"

"I live in Shreveport?" Alcide hinted, making Eric roll his eyes.

"How was your first Christmas without Adele?" Claudine asked her cousin with a snicker.

"We had a little Christmas celebration before they left," Sookie shrugged. "It was alright, but I hope we can have some real fun next year!"

"Maybe we can have a big Christmas party next year with the whole family," Claudine suggestion. "Come with me to the bathroom!"

Sookie didn't have a chance to protest as Claudine yanked her arm toward the restroom.

"Claudine looked like she wanted an excuse to get away," Eric commented as he watched the two women leave.

Alcide flinched at Eric's observation. "I'm losing it, Man."

"What do you mean?"

"All through vacation I thought I saw Debbie everywhere," Alcide explained. "At one point, I thought she was camped out in front of my house overnight."

Eric's brow furrowed, "What are you talking about?"

"Either I'm going crazy, or I think Debbie's stalking me," Alcide whispered. "And I'm worried that she might do something to Claudine."

Eric crossed his arms over his chest as he leaned in to talk to Alcide more privately, "You should talk to Claudine's dad and see if he can hire a private security measure."

Alcide blinked in surprise, "Wait, what?"

"Have someone tail Claudine and keep an eye out for Debbie," Eric whispered. "Debbie dropped out of school after developing a bad drug habit, and then starts stalking you after you begin dating a girl worth a pretty hefty ransom? If she is stalking you, who knows what a junkie and her new friends will do?"

Alcide could feel the blood draining from his face. "Oh my, God. Should I tell Claudine?"

"Of course you should tell Claudine," Eric snapped.

Alcide nodded at Eric's reasoning. "Yeah, you're right," Alcide laughed nervously. "I was just scared that I might be overreacting."

"Better to overreact than put Claudine in harm's way," Eric pointed out.

The two men stood silently, waiting for the women to return. A sense of relief came to Eric as he considered the fact that no one had any clue that he or Sookie had their own inheritances.

TBC

A/N: PLEASE REMEMBER TO REVIEW!

-ANDI