In Another Life... by PersianFreak
Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Charlaine Harris. Please don't sue.
Rating: M
Spoilers: None
A/N: 8 pages. I swear to god, I am so impressed with myself. Except now I'm never gonna be able to beat this record; ever. Anyways, let me know what you think :)
***************************************
Sookie doesn't quite remember when she decided she liked Will Compton. She just knows that one day she realized that she was the only girl he smiled a genuine smile at, instead of the usual pursing of his lips that he directed at the people he felt obligated to acknowledge. Nobody knew him very well; he had only recently moved to Shreveport and other than his parents and one younger sister, he had no family in Louisiana. He was a straight-A student, which was what made Sookie notice him initially; he was the only other person in her American History class who regularly received A's, and the only other person who was on the "Available for Tutoring" lists pinned in her Biology, Chemistry and Calculus classrooms. She had assumed that he was shy, but after the first conversation she had with him, she decided that mostly he just didn't feel the need to contribute to every conversation. If, however, the topic in question managed to pique his interest, he wasn't afraid of putting in his two cents. His complete and utter calm was such a refreshing attribute (especially in a teenager) that Sookie found herself being drawn to him, wanting to hear his cool voice wash over her and gaze into the never-ending pools that were his dark eyes. When he asked her to the Winter Formal of their junior year, it came as a surprise to nobody. He was the first boy that Sookie ever loved, and yet she understood when it ended that it was only to make way for better things to come.
***
"Do you want me to call John for you?" Eric asked in the elevator up to room 1034 of Shreveport General Hospital. Sookie shook her head "no" and kept staring at the little screen above the door lazily counting the floors.
"You don't want your boyfriend here?" he sounded confused.
"He's in Las Vegas for his sister's wedding." She responded, sighing in relief when the doors slid open.
"You've been dating for what, 4 months?" Sookie turned and shot him a look that made Eric's ears turn red. "Last time we talked was in December, and he had just asked you out, so..." Eric explained inadequately, shrugging to show how much he was not keeping track of her relationship.
"Dad!" Sookie called as they rounded a corner in the long hallway, their conversation entirely forgotten. She hurried towards the man standing by a window, his thoughts clearly miles away.
"Sookie," Mr. Stackhouse smiled, looking relieved. "Eric." He raised his eyebrows at the younger man.
"Hello, sir." Eric smiled politely.
"He drove me here," Sookie explained in response to her father's questioning look, and he nodded.
"Oh, thank you."
"It was no problem," Eric glanced at Sookie who gave him a brief smile.
"Where is she?" She asked, turning back to her father.
"They're just running some tests. It was apparently minor, so it took a while for them to get her into the room for the EKG and chest x-ray."
"But she's okay now?" Sookie pressed.
"Yeah, better than when she first got here. I was actually waiting for you to get here so that I could go looking for her." Eric could practically see some of the tension leave Sookie's body as she nodded her head.
"Go ahead, I'll just wait here." She gestured at the door of her mother's hospital room and her father nodded, turning to hurry down the hallway. Left alone, Eric and Sookie stared at each other for a second.
"You don't have to stay," Sookie smiled gently as he made to follow her into the empty hospital room.
"It's okay," Eric shrugged, walking in and sitting beside her on the long bench set into the wall by the floor-length window.
"Are you sure?" She asked uncertainly, "I mean, as the quarterback, aren't there certain social functions you need to attend on school nights?" Here, her lips started to turn up in a smirk, "Bar-hopping with fake IDs, egging the nerds' houses, going drunk driving?"
Eric rolled his eyes, "I think I'm good." He leaned against the glass and closed his eyes.
"How's your girlfriend?" Her smile faded and he opened one eye to look at her.
"She's fine."
"When did you guys get back together?" Sookie prodded in an attempt at getting her mind off of her ailing mother.
"Winter break," he responded curtly, his eyes watching her smallest movements. Of course, that is exactly when tears started streaming down her face.
"Are you crying?" He looked shocked, and Sookie shook her head and tried to hide behind the curtain of her hair. "Sook, what...?" Sookie stubbornly wiped away the tears, but more were already gathering at the corners of her eyes.
"Nothing," she insisted, standing up to get away from him, but he only followed her.
"Is it your mom?" He put his arms around her waist and drew her close, using a hand to tilt her face up when she refused to look at him. She nodded and he relented, letting her hide her face in his shirt. She wasn't lying; her mom's sudden illness on top of what she knew to be her stupid teenage problems was just proving to be too much. "It'll be okay," Eric cooed, kissing the side of her head, "Trust me on this one."
"How do you know?" She asked miserably before she remembered, "Oh, sorry." She mumbled and then sniffled.
"It's okay." Eric smiled his genuine smile at her; the one that had become so rare in the past years.
"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when your mom..."
"Died?" He supplied helpfully and she nodded. "It's okay; I didn't expect you to be. We were nine years old, for crying out loud."
"I know, but still." She shrugged inadequately, "Shit. I'm sorry I dragged you back into this hospital."
"I don't mind," he assured her with another smile. "I like being here with you."
Sookie let out a laugh, "Even though I'm sobbing into your shirt?"
"Even though you're sobbing into my shirt," Eric smirked, but his eyes remained kind. He gave her another squeeze before releasing her. Sookie quickly began wiping away the last remnants of her tears. "Better?"
"Yeah," She nodded, "Thank you."
"Anytime." He sat back down on the bench and watched her pull herself together.
***
Sookie's mother returned not long after that, her smile and bright eyes assuring them that she was okay. After all, she pointed out, she was young and healthy, and it was only what the doctors called her "genetic predisposition" and high stress levels that had caused what she herself considered "a minor cardiac episode". Having thanked Eric for driving her daughter to the hospital, she insisted that they return home and go about their lives as if she was totally fine (because, as she continuously reminded them, she was). Sookie's dad refused to listen to her, insisting that he would be quite comfortable on the visitor's cot. And so, nearly 4 hours after they arrived, Sookie and Eric finally gave in and agreed to go home, Sookie promising that she would be back tomorrow and wishing them good night.
"You okay?" Eric asked as he drove them home through the darkened streets.
"Yeah," She responded as she stared out the window, her breath fogging up the window thanks to the unusually cool March night. "I was pretty freaked earlier, but now I'm better. Sorry about your shirt, by the way." She shot a sheepish glance his way.
"Don't worry about it," He smiled, quickly glancing at her before returning his gaze to the road. Sookie watched him quietly; the way his hair fell into his eyes, the way he unconsciously pouted and chewed on his lips as he watched the other cars at the intersection, the faint glow of the red light cast on his tanned skin.
"What?" The corner of his mouth turned upwards in a smirk.
Sookie snapped her head back towards the front, "Nothing." They didn't speak for the rest of the ride, both content without words. At last, Eric pulled into his driveway and there was an awkward silence before they both got out of the Camaro.
"Um, thank you for driving me to the hospital, Eric." Sookie walked towards his side of the car on the way to her house, "And for staying with me. You have no idea how much it meant."
"It was no problem," Eric eyed the illuminated window of his dad's bedroom before looking back down at Sookie and smiling faintly. "See you tomorrow?" he asked, making sure the car door was locked and looking at her expectantly.
"Yeah," Sookie nodded, and Eric made to walk past her. "Actually, Eric?"
Eric stopped and turned to her, and Sookie continued awkwardly. "Do you think, maybe you could... I mean, do you think it'd be okay if you slept over at my house?" She finished breathlessly and bit her lip, already regretting it.
He looked at her curiously, "How come?"
She shrugged, chuckling self-consciously, "It's just... I kinda don't want to be home alone tonight, and if it's okay with your dad, I was just thinking..." She shrugged again.
He studied her for a while before nodding, "Yeah. Just let me grab some stuff from my house and I'll be right over?"
"Thank you." Sookie smiled and he mirrored her, turning to hurry into his house.
***
16-year-old Sookie Stackhouse spent months being along. Being a freshman in high school was hard enough; having Eric join the Dark Side was just the cherry on top. Not that she didn't have friends: she had friends, but none that she had known as long as she had known Eric. By December, however, Sookie and Amelia were inseparable, though neither was sure if it was because they had hit it off or because they were too afraid of being lonely. Either way, Sookie tried to forget about Eric and the hole in her heart that should never have been there, even though it wasn't easy. Eric seemed to be everywhere: ahead of her in the cafeteria lunch line, throwing a football around with that asshole Nate Fick or Chow (or some other equally inter-changeable, equally douchey entity) on her way home, in her classes. But Eric's sudden absence as a friend also made room for the on-and-off friendship Sookie and Tara had maintained since elementary school to further develop, which also meant that Arlene gravitated towards her childhood friends. By January, Sookie had accepted an Eric-free future and moved on, casually observing Eric climb the social ladder as he became the football team's rising star and dated cheerleader after cheerleader, sleeping with a lot more girls than he dated, and become the most feared and admired boy in school, all the while slowly diminishing the respect Sookie had for him. Seeing him bully Hoyt Fortenberry (before the latter had a growth spurt and hit 6 feet and 4 inches) destroyed any lingering remnants of the beloved Eric in Sookie's mind.
And yet, the small glances that Eric occasionally shot her way when he knew he was doing something wrong continued to make Sookie believe that maybe the real Eric was still in there. Somewhere.
It just took three years for him to emerge.
***
"There you are," Eric commented as he trudged down the basement stairs.
Sookie looked up from the TV, remote in hand. "Yeah, sorry, I was looking for something to watch, but there's nothing on." Eric dumped an overnight bag by the wall. "Do you want to put in a movie? I was gonna heat up some lasagne." She gestured at the wall of DVDs and he glanced over, his jaw dropping.
"This wasn't there before!" He hurried over to the shelf, having not been downstairs since junior high. Sookie laughed and watched him try to take in the hundreds of DVDs her family had accumulated over the past two years. "You changed everything!" He called over his shoulder, clearly referring to the home theatre system, the wet bar and the pool table.
"Yes, we did," Sookie sat back down on the couch and watched him, smiling fondly.
"Let's watch Aladdin!"
"You want to watch Aladdin?"
"I've always like Aladdin!" He defended quickly, "Just don't tell the guys."
"I don't think there's any chance of that," Sookie muttered darkly.
Eric popped the DVD in and sank down beside her, "Don't be bitter."
"I can't help it," Sookie tried to smile, "Tonight is not a night for optimism."
His face sobered and he leaned in to look into her eyes, "Hey, it'll be okay." She nodded and tried to hold back the tears, but her eyes filled with them anyways. "Oh no, don't cry! Please don't cry!" Sookie had to smile at the hint of desperation in his voice, but tears began escaping anyways. Eric pulled her into him and pressed his lips against her temple, his hand rubbing her back as she tried and failed to avoid letting more tears fall. The next moment, he kissed her cheekbone, and then her jaw, and before she knew it, his lips were pressed against hers and she was responding. The kiss deepened and Eric pulled her into his lap, his hands tight on her hips.
"Hey," Eric mumbled between kisses, "If I asked you to, would you dump your boyfriend for me?"
Sookie pulled away and stared at him, "Why, so you won't have to be jealous of me sleeping with another guy?"
Eric's fingers dug more harshly into her hips in response, "No, so I can ask you out."
"What about Pam?" Sookie asked, eyebrow cocked.
He shrugged, "You dump him, I'll dump her."
"What happened to 'I can't give you what you want, Sookie'??" She prodded suspiciously.
"I'm tired of running from you," He admitted awkwardly and then turned angry, "And I'm fucking sick of seeing him with his hands all over you."
"It's none of your business, what I do with my boyfriend," She reminded him gently, "I don't say anything when there's hordes of women throwing themselves at you, because it's not my place to care."
"Break up with him," He pressed.
Sookie stared at him, "If I break up with him, and you don't break up with Pam, Eric, I'm not going to-"
"Say 'yes' and I will break up with her." The intense look in his eyes made her still.
"Okay."
"Okay?" His face broke into the widest grin.
"Okay," Sookie nodded, her smile much less certain before he claimed her mouth again. They continued kissing until she pulled away.
"Eric, no." She put a gentle hand on his mouth, tracing his lips – far too beautiful to be on someone so masculine – with her fingers.
"What," He mumbled against her finger, then smiled at the effect.
Sookie smiled, too, but found she couldn't quite take her hands off of him. "Not until we break up with them, okay?"
"Tomorrow?" He took her hand from his face and clutched it in his own. Sookie nodded after a moment. "You want me."
"Oh, yeah?" she asked and he nodded again, "And how do you know that?"
"Because you can't take your eyes off of me," Eric told her solemnly, "And because you're still sitting in my lap, and because you wanted me five months ago."
"So just because I wanted you five months ago means that I want you now?" Sookie grinned, amused.
"I wanted you five months ago and I want you now." The casual tone of his words coupled with the faint hardness pressing against her core sent a bolt of electricity down her spine and she had to fight back the urge to jump his bones right then and there.
"One step at a time, alright?" Sookie congratulated herself on her steadiness. He took his time before nodding and suggesting that they warm up some food to eat as they watched the DVD that had been stuck on the main menu for a full 15 minutes now. They hurried to the kitchen, Eric making sure to brush against Sookie while grabbing a plate, filling a glass with water and turning on the microwave, just to name a few examples. They returned to the basement and started the movie, sitting as close to each other as possibly on the couch. By the time Aladdin and princess Jasmine kissed, Sookie was lying in Eric's arms on the couch, Eric occasionally bending down to kiss her neck and nip at her ear. The first time he did, Sookie made a pleased noise and pressed herself more firmly against him, allowing him to tighten his arms around her. It was surprisingly comfortable, lying beside Eric on the couch. Even the thoughts of John were getting more and more vague the drowsier she got. When the movie ended, Eric rolled until he was on top of Sookie, flashing her a grin when she groaned. He grabbed the remote and turned everything off before rolling back into his original spot.
"Hey, Eric?"
"Yes?"
"Do you think my mom will be okay?"
He kissed her neck, letting his lips wander to her shoulder, "Yes, I do."
"Okay." She closed her eyes.
"G'night, Sookie-kins," He murmured and she laughed at his nickname for when he wanted to annoy her as children.
"Good night, Erica." He groaned and buried his face into her hair, and they both fell asleep with smiles on their faces.
***
Sookie's ringtone was something by the Backstreet Boys. Eric discovered this when her cellphone rang at seven the next morning.
"You must be joking," Sookie groaned and grabbed the phone. "He-" She cleared her throat and tried again, "Hello?"
"Hey, Sook, my mom is giving me the car for the day, do you want a ride?" Arlene rambled without waiting for Sookie to respond.
"Um, thanks, Arlene, but I'm good." Sookie sat up and smiled when Eric hooked an arm around her waist and didn't let her get up.
"What? You always want a ride to school!"
"Well, not today!" She leaned back against Eric and he chuckled.
There was a pause, "You weren't even up, were you? You always get up at fucking six to go run or some shit, don't you?'
"Not. Today."
"Jeez, fine! See you at school." Sookie put the phone back on the coffee table and lay down next to Eric, tucking her face against his neck.
"We need to get ready for school," she mumbled, "And I need to go to the hospital after school."
"I'll drive you."
"You don't have to."
"I'll drive you." Sookie lifted her head and Eric squeezed his eyes shut before opening them again and smiling sleepily at her. She rewarded him by giving him a kiss on the cheek before leaving him to get ready for school. When he finally found the energy to stumble upstairs, Sookie was already showered and dressed, and making breakfast.
"Hey," she grinned at him, "I don't know if you brought clothes, but you can use my shower and there's cereal for breakfast." He nodded sleepily and returned to the basement to grab his bag before going upstairs to take a shower.
"So, are we gonna do it today?" he asked from behind his mug of coffee a while later.
Sookie's mind went blank, "Beg your pardon?"
"Are we going to break up with them?" Eric smirked like he knew what she was thinking.
"Oh," she sat down beside him at the kitchen island. "Yes, I think so."
"You think so?" he half-frowned, "Sookie, you don't have to break up with your boyfriend if you don't want to."
"Do you not want me to?"
Eric sighed, "I asked you to, didn't I? But I don't want you to be unhappy if John is the one you want to be with." Sookie thought for a minute, biting her lip as she made a decision.
"Alright," she smacked her hand down on the counter and turned her body to face him, ignoring his surprised expression, "I know you. No girl has been able to hold your attention for longer than a day since you hit puberty. You have never been faithful to any of your girlfriends, and you're good-looking enough that most girls can be happy with just a single night with you." Eric opened his mouth but she held up her hand and carried on. "If I do this, if I dump this guy who actually cares about me for you and I turn out to be just another girl who fell for you like a complete idiot, then I won't ever forgive you, Eric. I won't ever look at you and think of you as the guy who made me so fucking happy for all these years, and I won't ever give you another chance. Not to tutor you, or invite you over for dinner, or fucking pick up your keys if you drop them. If you let me down this time, then I won't ever make the mistake of letting you mean something to me again."
Eric didn't respond for the longest time, carefully putting down his mug before looking up at Sookie again. "You fell for me?"
Sookie rolled her eyes and hopped off the chair, "Forget it."
"Nononono," Eric grabbed her arm and made her face him, his body suddenly tense, "I'm sorry, okay? I... I won't l- let you down." His ears turned red.
Sookie's face softened, "You promise?"
"You're the one person that I can't do without, okay?" his eyes were trained on her shoulder and there was a hint of something defensive in his tone. Sookie's heart ached and she put her arms around him and pulled him close.
"You did without me for two years."
He scoffed, "Yeah, and we both know how well that turned out."
Sookie stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. "School?" He sighed and held her hand, pulling her out of the house.
***
"Hey, babe," John grinned, leaning against the wall of lockers beside Sookie's. He was tall and built, his eyes a strange shade that sometimes appeared purple, but were mostly dark blue.
"Hi," Sookie forced herself to smile, but pretended not to notice when he leaned in to kiss her. "How was Vegas?"
"Oh," he straightened his tall frame, "It was okay. I couldn't do anything fun 'cause I'm underage, but there was an open bar at the wedding, so it was alright."
"That's good, then," she nodded and closed her locker. "Look, John, we need to talk."
"Uh oh," his handsome face sobered, "That doesn't sound good."
Sookie had nothing to say, so she pursed her lips, "I'll see you at lunch? In the courtyard?"
"Sure," he nodded and watched her walk away, his brows furrowing as she disappeared amidst the Monday-morning crowd.
***
Eric was sprawled gracefully in his seat by the time Sookie reached French later that morning, which was a first. He didn't smile, having returned to his quarterback persona since the car ride that morning, but his eyes followed her to her seat and he nodded when she smiled at him. Sookie wanted to sit beside him, but Tara chose that moment to barge in, hot on the heels of Madam Lowes.
"I fucking hate Mondays," Tara huffed and threw herself into her second-row seat.
"Language!" Madam Lowes sang from her desk, busying herself with some papers.
"What's wrong with you?" asked Sookie as the rest of the class began trickling in.
Tara shot a sour look at Eric, "Nothing. It's Monday. What's wrong with you? Heard you snapped at Arlene today."
"My mom had a heart attack," Sookie mumbled.
"What! Is she okay?"
"Yeah, it was minor, apparently, but I was sorta terrified."
"Alright, class, settle down!" Madam Lowes announced.
"We'll talk later!" Tara hissed and the class began.
***
Eric briefly grasped Sookie's hand in his as he walked past her and out of the classroom, but Tara caught up with her before Sookie could respond in any way (or slam him against the wall and kiss him until he was breathless).
"Is she okay?" Tara asked, not having noticed Eric, who had already disappeared into the crowd.
"Yeah, she's okay." Sookie watched the blonde head bob away, "It happened while I was at school, so by the time I got there, they had run some tests and knew what had happened."
Her friend frowned, "How did you get across town? You should have called me and I could have driven you! I don't know why you don't have your license yet, I mean, for crying out loud, you crazy-"
"Eric drove me," Sookie interrupted casually and watched Tara's eyes widen before the disapproving expression took over.
"He was at your house?"
"No, I went and asked him." She bit her lip, "And... stuff happened."
"Stuff happened??" Tara half-shrieked and Sookie looked around the hallway leading to the courtyard in horror.
"Keep your voice down!"
"'Stuff happened' like stuff happened at Amelia's??" Tara hissed and Sookie's face darkened.
"No!" She paused, "Sorta. We just made out and I told him I'd dump John for him." Sookie shut her eyes and waited. When she heard nothing for several seconds, she opened her eyes and found Tara gaping at her.
"You did what?"
"Calm down!"
"'Calm down'? You're telling me to calm down? You're going to dump your boyfriend for that asshole?"
"He's not an asshole!" Sookie snapped irritably.
"He humiliated you, he ignored you, he took advantage of you, then he fucked you and went back to ignoring you." Tara counted off, dumping her lunch on the table.
"He didn't ignore me; we talked." Sookie defended, "And then I moved on. Or I thought I did. Now, if you will excuse me, I was supposed to meet John for lunch."
"I'm telling Mel and Arlene!" Tara called after her.
"Oh, go ahead!" Sookie stormed off, deciding to wait outside the courtyards doors for John.
***
"You broke up with him?" Amelia asked Sookie in European History later.
"Yeah," Sookie nodded, eyeing her friend carefully.
"Well, good for you."
"What?" Her head snapped to her friend's face. "You don't think I'm an idiot?"
Amelia shrugged, "I think John cares about you, but there's no point to being with him when you're never gonna be happy with him."
"Oh." Sookie bit her lip absently as they took their seats. "I think he loves me back." Amelia shot her a look to encourage her to go on. "He's breaking up with Pam. He's supposed to do it today, if he hasn't already."
"You don't sound too sure about that," her friend commented.
Sookie shrugged, "I hope he will. I told him I would never forgive him if he didn't, especially now that I've broken up with John."
"Then I'm sure he will. You're the only one he's ever nice to, as far as I can tell." Amelia smiled, "What did John say when you told him you wanted to break up with him?"
"He asked me if there was anyone else," Sookie chuckled awkwardly, "And I said 'sorta', and he'd kinda heard about the Eric thing."
"Oh, so he knew?"
Sookie nodded, "Yeah. I kinda feel terrible about that bit of it."
"But you had to make a choice, right? Lying to him about how you feel about him or being honest." Their conversation was cut short at that point due to the class starting, but Sookie spent the rest of class wondering if she had made the right choice.
***
Sookie could pick out the blonde head from across the parking lot. A few car rows away, she could see Eric leaning against his car, his back to her. Without saying a word, she walked up to him and leaned against the car hood beside him.
"Hi, beautiful." He murmured absently and Sookie turned her head, surprised at the pet name.
"Did you do it?" she asked quietly.
"No," he tapped his fingers against his chin and Sookie's heart dropped to somewhere around her knees. "No," he repeated, "She broke up with me."
"What? How come?" Sookie frowned but Eric didn't seem upset, just amused.
"She told me that her friend, Lena? Leila?"
"Lauren."
"Seriously? The brunette?"
"Lauren," Sookie confirmed with a faint smile.
"Oh, well then. Lauren saw you in my car." He shrugged and shot her a brief smile, "So Pam told me she knew I'm in l- She knows I don't want her." Sookie hid her disappointment at how close he had come to telling her he loved her, but she nodded.
"I broke up with him," she offered when he didn't say anymore, and Eric smiled a wide grin.
"Really?"
"Really really." Eric bent down quickly and kissed her, gently pressing her against his car. He smiled against her lips when he felt her relax into his kiss, locking her hands behind his neck.
"You called me 'beautiful'." She pulled back to smile at him.
"I'd been trying to not let it slip," he admitted evenly.
"I liked it." Sookie confessed sheepishly, glancing up to find his lips turning up in another smile just before he bent down to kiss her again.