A/N: Ok, I'm not gonna lie, this chapter is kinda filler. It does, however, answer the question of what happened between Eric's storm out and him asking Sookie to join the band. I also wanted to mention that I originally wanted to call this chapter 'Beautiful Disaster,' but I didn't think it fit, so I just went with the song I drew the quote from, which is dedicated to Pam, of course.

Enjoy!

Chapter Four- The Fixer

When something's lost, I wanna fight to get it back again.

-Pearl Jam, "The Fixer"

EPOV

I heard the entirety of Pam's loud, curse-filled rampage as she followed me up and out of the basement. We really needed to soundproof that thing. I'm surprised one of Bill's geriatric neighbors hasn't called and complained yet. I turned around in time to see her little blonde frame burst like a bat outta hell into Bill's living room.

"What the fuck, Eric?" she screeched. "She's leaving, you know. This was your last chance."

"Then let her leave. I don't give a fuck."

"Yes you do." She sighed heavily. "You're such a fucking baby, Eric." Never had I ever wished Pam was a man more than in that moment. My hand was itching to hit something.

"Fuck you, Pam. Fuck all of this." I grabbed my leather jacket from where it was draped over the couch and headed for the door.

"You know, Andre betrayed you just as much as Sophie did. They screwed all of us, Eric, not just you. Don't brush off one great bassist just because she's a girl. It was Soph and Andre that did this. Not Sookie, and not her instrument. Don't throw all of this away." I flexed my hands again. Pam was on my last nerve, but she was…right? Yeah, she was.

I jammed my hands in my pocket and walked outside, where I found Sookie loading her stuff into her tiny car.

"I mean it Bill, drop it," she huffed as she put the case in the trunk and closed it. I took a couple steps closer to her. "Bill…"

She turned around. I could tell that she was honestly shocked that I wasn't Bill.

"Join the band?"

"Excuse me?"

I just stared at her. I knew she heard me, there was no point in repeating myself. Sookie stepped toward me and poked her finger into my chest.

"You think you can just run me through the ringer, and then randomly pop out and ask me to join?" I shrugged. Nothing I would have said would have made a bit of difference anyway. Sookie continued to poke me in the chest about five more times before she hauled off and slapped me.

"Fuck you, Eric Northman," she reeled, walking over to the driver's side of her car. "I'll see you next practice. And I'm not doing this for you." She peeled out of Bill's driveway, flipping me the bird out her window. I shook my head before I walked back to the basement. I think I might have been smiling a bit, too.

The nanosecond I stepped in the room, Pam descended on me once again.

"She's in the band now, right? Right? Tell me you didn't fuck it up. Again."

"Nope, I didn't." I shrugged and flung myself on the couch the bassist auditioners had previously been occupying. "She's in. She slapped me, but she's in."

"Oh? Well, I can't say you didn't deserve it," commented Bill, right before slamming out some chords that sounded suspiciously like Radiohead. Pam snorted out a laugh and handed me a beer.

"Here's to you not being a complete fuck up," she toasted, smiling at Bill and sticking her tongue out at me.

"I'll drink to that." I looked up to see Tray coming back downstairs. Pam tossed him a beer, and I shot him a dirty look.

"So what's the plan, captain?" Pam asked, balancing her empty beer can on her knee.

"Practice tomorrow. We'll start on some fresh material. I trust one of the two of you can inform Sookie, since you seem two be so good at that." I glared at Pam and Bill. I wasn't completely out of the loop.

SPOV

I woke up the following morning with a smile on my face. There was something extremely satisfying about finally being a member of Area Five.

There was something even more satisfying about slapping Eric Northman.

After a few lazy minutes, I pulled myself out of bed and padded off to the bathroom. Half of my morning routine taken care of, I continued down the hall, stopping only to bang loudly on Jason's door. I really had no clue if he was in there or not; I couldn't recall him coming home last night, but he still had plenty of time to do so after I went to bed. It wasn't really my problem anyway. As long as he still came up with his half of the bills, he could sleep wherever he damn well pleased.

Jason and I lived in our Gran's condo, which overlooked the World's Most Famous Beach. She bought the condo a good ten years ago, after she and Grandpa Stackhouse were sick of renting and decided to stay for good. Jason and I came to visit every summer since they made the move, since I was eleven and Jason was fourteen. Jason came to live with Gran four years later, when he decided to go to Embry Riddle Aeronautical University. I came with Jason, to keep Gran company, since Grandpa Stackhouse had passed peacefully that same year. I finished high school in Daytona, where I met Tara and Bill. We were all currently doing the junior college thing at Daytona State, biding our time until we hit it big.

Gran wasn't around much anymore. She'd met a man, Fintan, and the two of them were constantly taking cruises all over the world. They popped by every now and then, bringing by gifts and making sure we weren't getting into too much trouble. Last time they popped by, six months ago, they brought black pearl jewelry for Tara and I, and Tehani Tiki pendants for Jason and Bill. I hadn't seen Bill without his since.

I continued into the kitchen, hoping I'd find some food there. The fridge was half-full when I last saw it, but that could mean anything when Jason was around. I had just pulled the last of the eggs out when I felt my cell phone buzz in my pocket.

Practice 2:00pm.

It was from Pam. I smiled to myself as I scrambled the eggs. This day was already looking good.

Jason stumbled out of his room about ten minutes later, looking fairly hungover. How he managed to finish college was beyond me.

"Food?" I offered, tipping the skillet so he could see its contents. He nodded and plopped down at the island. After I plated him some food, I slid a mug of coffee in front of him. He offered me a big smile in return. Personally, I couldn't stand the stuff (being a tea girl myself), but Jason rarely could function properly without his morning cup of java.

"Man, you're a good cook, sis," Jason commented after he'd taken a few sips from his mug. Jason was also more agreeable with food in him.

"Thanks, but you're just gonna have to fend for yourself for lunch, I have practice."

"That douchebag finally let you in the band?"

"Sure did. Pam just texted me about practice at Bill's at two." I pulled up the stool across from Jason's.

"Cool. I gotta go check out some stuff at the hangar, but I'm hoping to catch up with Dahlia at Crave tonight." I worked hard at suppressing the eye roll that was threatening to break through. Jason was never gonna get it. Whatever.

"'Kay. We'll probably see you there later then." Jason hopped up to clear the dishes, popping them into the washer before heading back to his room to get dressed. I went to the living room to watch some TV for awhile. A couple hours later, I pulled on a pair of dark wash skinny jeans and a lime green v-neck, and headed off to my first official band practice.

When I got to Bill's house, only his and Pam's cars were in the driveway. I shrugged and pulled in behind Bill's '70 Chevy Chevelle. He kept it in great shape, despite its age. Bill's house was pretty old too, old enough to require having a back house. It was also one of the small population of houses in Florida that had a basement.

After extracting my case and weaving around Pam's modest Elantra, I made my way around to the front door. I've had my own key for almost as long as I've known Bill, and I used it to let myself in. Bill was sitting Indian style on the dining room table, and Pam was sitting in one of the high-back chairs. They were munching on popcorn. I put my bass on the couch, along with my jacket, and joined them.

"No Eric?" I asked.

"He said he was getting some information on something, but that he'd be here shortly," Pam responded, patting the chair next to hers. I nodded, and the three of us sat around, talking and snacking until Eric strolled up from the basement about twenty minutes later. He was waving a piece of paper around like a moron.

"So nice of you to join us," Pam laughed. "Where's the fire?"

"No fire…contest," Eric breathed. He'd ran through the basement and upstairs looking for us.

"A contest?" I asked. "What kind of contest?" Eric put the paper between the three of us before hopping up onto the counter across from the table.

"Nickelback 'Rockstar' contest," Bill read aloud. "First prize is an opening slot on the Dark Horse tour's Orlando show," he continued. "No shit?" Bill looked over at Eric.

"No shit."

Pam took the paper and looked it over. "It says that we need to submit two videos: one of a Nickelback cover, the other of an original song. We also need a three song demo CD."

"We better get to work then," Eric smiled.

By 9:00pm that night, we were walking into Crave. We'd successfully written one new song and selected our Nickelback song to cover. Surprisingly enough, the whole practice went off without a single argument. We even planned on meeting again tomorrow.

As soon as we stepped foot inside Crave, Hadley bounced over to me. She was wearing black skinny jeans and a dark red, zebra print tank top. Her hair was down and kinda wavy. "You guys are looking awfully chummy," she commented once were out of earshot of the rest of my band.

"Bill's my best friend and I've been friends with Pam for like a year now, of course we look 'chummy,'" I air quoted at her.

Hadley pushed at my arm. "I know that, dumbass. I meant you and Eric."

I looked back at the tall blonde in question. "It's just a residual high from a great practice," I explained, turning back to my cousin.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Hadley laughed. "We're going on it a bit, so I'll catch up with you after." We hugged, and then she headed backstage. I met back up with my band. I really liked the sound of that.

I spotted Bill and Pam at the bar, but Eric was holding us a table near the stage. He was peeling the label off of his bottle of beer. I slid into the seat across from him.

"You know, they say that doing that means you're sexually frustrated," I informed him, gesturing to the bottle peeling. He looked up at me and saw my smirk.

"I'm far from sexually frustrated, if you must know."

"Really? You'd think you wouldn't be so angry all the time if that were true," I challenged sarcastically. I knew I was ruining the perfect mood bubble we had built up all day, but damn it if it wasn't kinda fun.

"You'd think." He focused back on the bottle. "But you know what else they say?" I gestured for him to continue. "A good fuck makes you less of a bitch." I narrowed my eyes at him. "But that's just what I've heard," he finished with a smirk.

I opened my mouth to spit back a reply, but Pam and Bill chose that moment to reappear. Bill slid a gin and tonic in front of me before putting his own beer down.

The lights dimmed and Hadley's Comet took the stage. Dahlia stepped up to the microphone. She was wearing a fitted black dress, and her hair was swept to one side in a ponytail with a large, glittery black flower pinned in it. "Before we get started tonight, we just wanted to extend congratulations to our friend, Sookie, on becoming the newest member of Area Five." All the girls onstage clapped, and some people in the club offered hoots and hollers. Eric, on the other hand, was trying to divide a glare between me and Dahlia. She shot a look of her own at Eric before continuing, "Our first song tonight is our version of 'Beautiful Disaster' by 311."

As Arlene began her guitar intro, Tara made her way over to the side of the stage nearest our table and sat on the edge of the stage before she began playing, offering me a little wave. I waved back before I got up and headed over to the bar. While I was waiting for my drink, I saw my brother and some of his work friends sitting at the other table near the stage. Jason looked completely enthralled watching Dahlia move around on stage. A brunette girl even approached their table, sliding up between Jason and his best friend, Hoyt, but Jase just brushed her off, gesturing to Dahlia and then making a comment to Hoyt. I felt a presence beside me.

"Did you say something to Eric? He seems to be extra douchey since we got here," inquired Bill after he ordered three beers from the bartender.

"You know me," I shrugged. "I'm really good a pissing him off."

"He'll come around, just give him time," Pam added, coming up on my other side. She took her beer from Bill and took a sip. "He's still processing what Andre and Soph did. He'll be happier once we start for real on this Nickelback contest. It's something concrete."

"I know what the band means to all of you. It means that for me too. I just want to help."

"You already helped by joining, instead of kicking Eric in the nuts like he rightfully deserved," Pam replied. Bill and I both started laughing.

"I slapped him, if that helps," I offered. They both grinned at me. "What? I had my heart set on being in this band with you guys. Nothing Eric did would have changed my mind. The opening to slap him was just a bonus." I smiled.

Bill picked up the other two beers and we all made our way back to our table. Hadley and the girls began a second song, "Ex-girlfriend," and Eric was chatting up a bottle blonde who was very giggly, it seemed.

Well, okay then.

With Dye Job Barbie at the table, we were short one seat. Far be it from me to interrupt Eric's game, so I Bill's lap, with Pam sitting next to us. Damn, Barbie was giggly. I had to give her points for actually acknowledging the rest of us, and introducing herself as Ginger, but then she went right back to giggling at every fourth word Eric uttered. I sat back in my seat, exchanging a look with Pam.

At the end of the song, Ginger excused herself from our table, sliding Eric her number before wiggling her way out of the club.

"Wasn't she just swell?" Pam deadpanned. I watched Eric crumple up the number, jam it into his empty beer bottle, and give Pam the finger. Pam moved back to her seat¾I slid back into mine¾and promptly popped Eric on the back of the head. I stifled a laugh before looking back towards the stage; the girls were getting off the stage. I watched as Dahlia walked passed Jason's table. He pulled her over and said something, she nodded and blushed, and then the two of them made their way over to our table.

"Hey sis." I nodded at him. "Dahlia and I are gonna catch the late movie, catch y'all later. Good show too, Had." Hadley had come directly to our table. She smiled and then Jason and Dahlia were out the door.

"The five hundred and eighty-fourth time must be the charm," Hadley observed, laughing. "Now you certainly have something to look forward to going home to." She smirked at me. I rolled my eyes.

"I'm not worried, they'll¾"

"They'll go to her place," Eric finished for me. My eyes darted over to him and he shrugged. I could feel the awkward silence descending.

"Well, it's been real fun and all, but we've got practice tomorrow. Sookie? Drive me back to Bill's?" Saved by the Pam. I nodded and we grabbed our jackets and bags. A couple minutes worth of goodbyes later, and we were out the door.

Rock-tionary:

-Radiohead song reference: The song I'm referencing is "Creep," which I like mostly for that harsh chord I mentioned Bill playing.

-"Beautiful Disaster" is my favorite 311 song, and "Ex-Girlfriend" is by No Doubt. If you haven't noticed yet, I like No Doubt a lot, lol.

Other notes:

-Bill house is a real place and is based off one of my friend's houses. It's a really cool old house. It creaks and everything.

-The venue Crave is also a real place, except it's at a Christian school, and it's part of a youth group thing. It does, however (or at least it used to), host local bands, and it's a pretty cool place. My Crave, while also cool, is vastly different. I mostly just liked the name.

All songs mentioned in this chapter are being added to the playlist, and the link to that is on my profile.

-Sydney