AN: Hello again. More explicitness follows. Read at your own risk.

Charlaine Harris owns these characters and has parceled them out to Alan Ball and HBO. Again, OOC and off cannon. The world is tinted yellow; soon you'll be wearing yellow as well.

Fourth of July c. 1973 Part I

Sookie got her wish as Eric did not come back in the cove that weekend and she did not go down to the dock, but remained by the back of the house with her parent's friends. She did not put on her bathing suit for the rest of the weekend and later found ways to stay in town with her girlfriends or her brother, avoiding going to the Lake house any more that summer. Her parents never mentioned Eric to her again and she guessed he did not come by looking for her.

She graduated early as planned and January found her in the dorm at MU. She had made some changes in her appearance, allowing her hair to grow several more inches and wearing more make-up and tighter clothing. She was eighteen but had not found any guy she wanted to see more than once or twice. She rarely thought of Eric, and avoided the Joy of Sex book and discussions about it whenever possible. She had always excelled in science and math, and was moving toward maybe becoming a veterinarian although she knew almost no women worked in the field. She liked all sorts of animals, especially wild animals, and in her romantic fantasies she was living in the wilds of Alaska tending to wolves and other wild creatures in sanctuaries. Since wolves were being hunted to extinction, she knew it was just a pipedream, but it afforded her a goal. She had not told her parents because she knew they would not approve. Her dad had once expressed disbelief she would even need a college degree, seeming to expect her to marry after she graduated high school. Sort of as a reaction to that antiquated thinking, she and her advisor had loaded her schedule with biology, science, and math courses for the next two years. She was content.

That semester went quickly and Sookie took a waitressing job for the summer at a restaurant in Camden. She and her mom decided to spend most of the season living at the Lake House. She told herself she had forgotten about Eric, and since she often worked double shifts at the Potted Steer, where her tips amazingly averaged more than five dollars a table, she was usually too tired to do more than sleep when she returned home.

Fourth of July weekend was forecast to be cold and rainy. She was disappointed as it meant that few people would be on the water in their boats. She got a call that Friday from her boss Sam that since she was summer help, unless the weather changed she would not need to come in to work until Tuesday. Her mom overheard and suggested she spend the weekend taking the boat around the lake and visiting old haunts as they were probably going to sell the property in the fall and buy a condo in Tampa.

Without thinking too much about it, she took the boat out that afternoon and cruised slowly around the point to the cove where she knew she could see Eric's grandparent's house from the water. There appeared to be lights on and the corvette was once again in the driveway. Perhaps she had liked him more than she had realized when she felt a small tug that he had not wanted to see her again. Well, he probably had come down with a girlfriend this time, so that was that. She gunned the motor and headed out to the main water, the sound of the engine amplified in the stillness of the empty cove. She missed the tall figure now standing on the front porch, his long blonde hair falling over his shoulders, watching her leave.

Later that night, around 6:00, there was a knock on the back porch door of the house. A masculine voice called out "hello?" Her mother went to the kitchen at the back of the house to let Eric in, bringing him out to the front porch to see Sookie. Her mother was smiling and so was Eric.

"I stopped by to see if I could take you both to dinner tonight. I remember you once invited me to dinner here and I could return the favor." He looked directly at Sookie as he was speaking. She was stunned, having forgotten how fantastic he looked in person. He must be twenty-two now and was looking more mature as men often did when they left their boyhoods behind. It was a definite improvement, although she would not have thought he could improve at all.

Speechless, Sookie heard her mother accept, although she insisted they be allowed to treat him as they were just about to leave for dinner themselves.

After a dinner of fried chicken, mashed potatoes with gravy and corn-on-the-job, and a lot of wine for Eric and her mom at the roadhouse in Sunrise Beach, they three were quiet as he drove her mother's navy mustang convertible slowly back to their house. Sookie had been quiet for most of the dinner. Now she was wondering what the remainder of the evening would bring. Eric exited the car and walked them both back down the hill to the house in the dark. Her mother looked at her and said she was going to bed early and would watch Johnny Carson before sleeping. Eric was welcome to stay as long as he liked.

Sookie watched her mother's back as she retreated to her bedroom, then turned to face Eric.

"So, how old are you now?" he teased.

Well, that wasn't much of an opening. She looked at him silently for a minute, then moved forward and reached up to kiss him very thoroughly on the lips, no longer a novice in that department. She noted he definitely leaned down to help her reach his mouth. Her arms pulled him in closer against her breasts. He shifted appreciatively to push his hips into hers. She had learned a few things about kissing from her frequent dates and knew she could excite him with a little tongue action. He proved more than willing to open for her. She liked the feeling of being in charge and they kissed for several minutes. When she moved back, she noticed his eyes had a dreamy, dark quality about them and his voice was a little rougher as he suggested they walk down to the Lake in the dark.

As they picked their way along the shore through the rocks and followed the retaining wall, the moonlight very faint, he took her hand.

After some rough going and a near spill by Sookie, they reached the end of the point and he sat down on the grassy surface, pulling her with him.

"Want to spend the weekend with me?" He asked, his face nearly touching hers. She felt his breath on her cheek and sighed.

"Sure, but didn't you bring any friends down with you?"

He ignored her question. "How about a moonlit ride on the lake tonight? The clouds have cleared-up and you can watch the water for logs for me."

They finished the walk by going back to his car and he drove to the dock, parked and they got in the boat she remembered from last summer. He handed her a joint before starting the engine and she wondered if they hit a log what they would do at eleven at night if the boat started to sink. Swim for shore and wait for help? The air was very moist from the rain, and it was cool enough that she moved away from the front of the boat to walk back to stand next to him. As they passed the joint back-and-forth, Sookie moved closer and wrapped her arms around him, laying her head against his chest.

Eric headed out to deeper water and then killed the engine. They were several miles from either shoreline and Sookie knew he wanted to avoid thinking about the boat for awhile. He pulled a blanket from under the storage area beneath the bow of the boat and not looking at her, laid it out to cover the flooring, kneeling to do so. He remained kneeling and looked up at her in silent invitation.

"Would you like some wine?" He opened one of the seats to reveal a hidden cooler and pulled out a chilled bottle with two plastic glasses. She offered to pour, sitting down on the blanket and he rose to put in a tape. This time it was Roberta Flack's Killing Me Softly album. Mood music. He returned to sit cross-legged on the floor.

He then surprised her by saying "I have thought about you many times this last year."

"Me, too."

"I thought about calling you. I haven't forgotten what we did that morning at my house."

"Nor have I." she replied.

"Guess you didn't get pregnant."

"No, guess not."' She laughed.

"Want to tempt fate again?" He smiled softly at her.

"Eric, I don't really know you very well…." Her voice trailed off.

"Did you kiss me like that because you don't like me?" He asked rather abruptly.

"Eric, I am on the pill, but I haven't had sex with anyone yet."

He looked very surprised and waited for a bit before asking: "Then, why are you taking the pill? Do you have a steady boyfriend?"

"Nope, just in case, I guess."'

"I had a girlfriend at school, but we broke up a few months ago. Selah wants to marry and have children. Too soon for me. Her family lives in San Francisco and is very wealthy, something in real estate."

"What about your plans to go to graduate school? Wouldn't a wealthy wife who was working, making a wage while you were studying be a good thing for you?"

He grimaced at her. "I'm not going down that path. I'm starting mid-year at NAU. I will be taking a lot of field trips as soon as I can begin working towards my Ph.D. Have any desire to go to Iceland? I want to study some glaciers next summer and it is supposed to be a fantastic place. The absence of sound there, the total quiet, is just amazing, or so my advisors have told me.'

Without thinking, she asked "What do you know about the local wolf population count in Iceland?"

AN: Did you know why I included Iceland? (tee-hee) Were you glad to see Eric again?