In Another Life... by PersianFreak
Disclaimer: Everything belongs to Charlaine Harris. Please don't sue.
Rating: M
Spoilers: None
A/N: So this has taken... months. I have no excuse, other than diplomas and university applications and homework... Okay, so maybe that's an okay excuse. Regardless, let me know what you think.
It couldn't be, Sookie decided. It just couldn't be.
There are hundreds of thousands of blonde guys in California, she told herself, tens of thousands of them are tall and muscular, and- sweet Jesus, it's absolutely Eric. He looked up and met her gaze, a small smile tugging at his lips. Jesus, he looked good.
"Honey, congratulations!"
"Thanks, mom!" Sookie grinned as her mother pulled her into a rib-cracking hug.
"We're proud of you, sweetheart," her dad smiled, taking his turn at squeezing the air out of her.
"Thank you, daddy," she smiled, turning at the sound of her voice being called to see Claudine making her way towards her.
"Oooh, okay," Sookie's mother smiled, "Go see your friends and we'll meet you in the parking lot when you're done, okay?"
"Sounds good," she grinned and walked over to Claudine.
"Congrats, girl!" Claudine beamed at her and pulled her into yet another hug, though thankfully this one was rather gentle.
"You too!" Sookie bit her lip in excitement.
"Excuse me," there was a tap on her shoulder and Sookie turned to find ocean-blue eyes.
Sookie returned to her friend, "Look, I have to go, but I'll see you tonight, right?"
"Yeah, 'course! I'm not gonna miss your party!"
"Great, so I'll see you then?"
"For sure," Claudine nodded happily, "See ya." Sookie hugged Claudine one last time and waited a moment before returning to the man standing behind her.
Eric looked different, Sookie thought to herself. The four years that he had spent away from her had somehow transformed his entire face, though not unpleasantly. His skin was darker, his nose was slightly sunburnt, and his hair was growing out. His eyes were as blue as she had remembered them to be, which was a comfort considering even his stance and the way he carried himself were both different. There was a quiet, effortless grace to his movements now, something that was in paradox with his considerable height and muscular form. He was dressed in khakis and a brand-new, black Stanford t-shirt that stretched across his chest, but Sookie was too shocked by his presence to ask about the shirt, for the moment.
"What are you doing here?" Sookie fought to maintain a neutral level of interest in her voice, but failed. "And why are you wearing a Stanford shirt?" slipped out before she could stop herself.
Eric smirked and looked down at his shirt, "Very sharp, isn't it? I like it."
Sookie absently noticed that he did look very sharp wearing it, "Eric, why are you here?"
The amusement faded from his eyes, "I heard you were graduating today."
"You heard?"
"From your mom."
"You keep in touch with my mother?" She asked incredulously, mentally adding "And not with me?"
"No," Eric almost looked guilty. Almost. "I looked it up. Hacked in a couple of places to make sure you were graduating this year."
"Why would you care..." Sookie's sentence hung incomplete in the air, and she frowned. Eric watched her quietly, his eyes casually observing her, and she was once again struck by the feeling that something was different about him. This time, however, she voiced the thought.
"Oh?" He quirked one brow, glancing away at the sound of a high voice calling Sookie's name. Sookie's eyes followed the sound and found Amelia hurriedly making her way towards them, a grin stretched across her face.
"Look, I have to go, but we're sorta having a party, Amelia and I, and you should come if you want to." Eric looked surprised that she would invite him, but he smiled. "Do you know where I live?" She asked, and he shook his head. "That should give you something to do then. Since you're so good at finding things out." Sookie smirked at him and walked away, fading into the crowd and into the arms of her best friend, who was squealing, "We did it! We did it!"
Eric watched from a distance, smiling at the two friends before he himself disappeared into the throngs of people heading to the parking lot.
***
"How 'bout this one?"
"No."
"You didn't even look up!"
"I don't need to." Amelia responded, still absorbed in her newspaper, "I know you're wearing that damn blue sundress that you think brings out your eyes." She glanced up, "See, I was right."
Sookie turned back to her mirror, "It does bring out my eyes." She grumbled and, when Amelia didn't respond, turned back to her friend. "What do you think I should wear?"
"The black, strapless one," Tatiana, who had just walked in, responded in tandem with Amelia before throwing herself unto the bed with the latter and resting her head in her lap.
Amelia grinned and stroked her hair, "Hi, babe." At some point during their first year at Stanford, Amelia had gone through what Sookie had, in bafflement, dubbed her "bi-curious stage". The bi-curious stage, as it turned out, was Amelia's way of deciding that she was, in fact, interested in both men and women, even though it had taken her "some time to figure it out", as she herself put it. Tatiana had been the last in a long line of women that Amelia had gone through, and when Sookie and Amelia rented the old colonial and were looking for roommates, she had moved in, promising the other two that should she and Amelia break up things would not get weird.
That had been two years ago, and things were still going strong between the two.
Sookie critically surveyed Tatiana, "You're biased."
"Towards being fashionable; yes." Tat smiled sweetly. Sookie sighed and surrendered, quickly changing into the black dress and staring at herself in the mirror.
"Much better," Amelia nodded approvingly.
"So, why exactly are you so nervous about this?" Tat asked as Sookie checked her makeup for the thousandth time.
"Eric might be dropping by," Amelia replied sadly, and Tat looked up questioningly at her girlfriend's face.
"Who's Eric?"
Sookie winced, not sure she wanted to go through all the gory details of her relationship with Eric, but Amelia saved her the trouble by explaining exactly who Eric was.
"You think he's hot?" Tatiana asked quietly once she had finished, and Sookie almost rolled her eyes. She liked Tatiana well enough to live with and to spend time with as her best friend's significant other, but sometimes she seemed to focus on the wrong things; more specifically, the things that involved her.
"Only in a stupid, muscle-head sort of way," Amelia amended quickly, "He's not at all my type."
"Thanks," Sookie called, walking back into the room after having checked to make sure everything was ready for the party. "And I'm not dressing up for him, just so you know. I'm dressing up because we are finally free of exams and finals and 100-page papers!"
"Amen, sister," Amelia grinned, standing up to straighten her cocktail dress, giving Tatiana's outfit an appreciative look.
"Also, Andrew is coming."
"Ooh, fun. The new boyfriend."
"Almost-boyfriend," Sookie corrected, entirely ignoring the feigned enthusiasm on the other two's faces. The doorbell rang and Tatiana was on her feet within seconds, screaming that she was going to get it. Amelia grabbed Sookie's hand and ran down the stairs, Sookie laughing as they heard the door open and the partygoers make their way inside.
***
Sookie stepped outside, shutting the door behind her and crossing her arms over her chest. She took in a deep breath and let it out wistfully.
"Bad party?" Sookie almost fell over as the dark figure stepped into the bright circle created by the porch light.
"Jesus Christ, Eric, what the hell?"
"Sorry," he grinned.
"I guess you found where I live, then." She sighed and sat down on the porch steps.
"Of course," his gaze flicked to the open windows from which party sounds were pouring out, "It doesn't sound like a bad party."
"It's not," Sookie carefully rubbed her eyes without smearing her makeup, "I'm just having a bad time. Well, I wasn't until just now."
Eric joined her on the steps, "How come?"
Sookie chuckled at her hands, "It's nothing."
"Liar. You might as well tell me."
Sookie looked up at him, "Um, the guy I've been sort of dating is inside and drunkenly making out with some random woman I've never seen before in my life. I don't even know why she's here."
"Idiot doesn't deserve you anyways," he commented sincerely, and Sookie looked up again at him, surprised.
"How could you know that?"
"He's stupid enough to pick someone else over you, how smart can he be?" Eric pointed out like it was obvious to anyone with half a brain.
"He's not a bad person," Sookie defended meekly and Eric snorted.
"You deserve someone better. Someone like..."
"You?" Sookie guessed.
"No," he shook his head.
"So why did you leave?"
"Sookie..."
"What, I'm not bitter. I'm just curious." She smiled charmingly, "I can be curious about why my high school sweetheart walked out on me, can't I?"
Eric watched her, the single light bulb casting shadows on his face, "Remember that party we went to?"
"Right before you left?"
He nodded, "Yeah. Remember the guys that hit on you?"
Sookie frowned. Of course she did. She had been so upset, so raw from the pain of losing him that she had returned to the party and brought back one of the guys to her dorm room for the night. That was one of the memories she suppressed because of how much respect she had lost for herself in having sex with a stranger the moment she was single, but Eric didn't know and she wasn't about to tell him, so she opted for a lie. "Sort of? Not really. It was four years ago, Eric."
"Well, I do," Eric smirked, "One was a pre-law student and they were all college kids. Ambitious, the leaders of tomorrow and all that."
"Oh, God, is that why you left?"
A shrug, "They were all like you. Smart, successful... perfect."
"So you decided that I needed to be with someone just like me?"
"Yeah, something like that."
"Do you realize how boring it is to be with someone jus t like me?" Sookie asked, amused.
"Boring?"
"Yeah, boring. You were fun."
Eric contemplated that, "Huh." They sat in silence for a while, both submerged in their memories of the past. Eric played with the ring on his index finger, spinning it around and around while she watched.
"So how have you been?" Sookie finally asked.
"I just got back from Iraq." His tone was casual like he had spent time in Vegas instead of a war-torn Middle Eastern country.
Sookie gaped, "Really? How was it?"
"Fucked up," he laughed. "But that's how the military works."
Sookie gave that some thought: it was just like Eric to fight for something he wanted to do and then decide it was fucked up without even considering a change. "So are you leaving again?"
"Not for a while," he shook his head and they fell silent again. "Hey, I'm proud of you, Sook."
"Proud of me?"
"Yeah, for surviving in Stanford. Not that I didn't think you could do it; you were cut out for this."
"Jesus Christ, Eric," Sookie scoffed. "Why are you even here?" Eric met her gaze evenly, wordlessly. "Why show up to my graduation? We haven't even spoken in four years, why-"
"I don't know." He interrupted.
"Tell me it wasn't for me."
"What?" He looked up in surprise.
"Tell me you didn't come back because you thought you'd try and win me back." She insisted. Please say it.
"I can't tell you that," he shook his head.
"Dammit Eric!"
"We used to be best friends, Sook." He defended calmly.
"Yeah, used to be. We also used to be in love, Eric, but things change. People change."
Eric's hands went back to twisting his ring, "Do they? So you're a different Sookie now?" A pause, "I bet you even take your coffee differently. No more two-creams-and-two-sugars." He added casually.
Sookie scoffed, "You remember how I take my coffee?"
He shrugged, "I have a good memory. And I've known you since you were a kid and decided that you were a real lady who couldn't be bothered to hang out with boys."
Sookie laughed, shocked, "You remember that?"
Nodding, Eric continued, "Yeah. You didn't talk to me for a whole week until I got my mom to buy a Barbie I could give you so you would forgive me for being a guy."
"I loved that Barbie," Sookie mused to herself, smiling fondly.
He chuckled, "Yeah, but at the time you told me you weren't to be bought with shiny 'trinkets' and that the only reason you were talking to me again was because you had decided I needed your guidance if I was ever going to get a girl. I don't even know where you learned 'trinkets'." The last part he added with a shake of the head.
"I think I flipped through my mom's Jane Austen collection," she grinned and found Eric watching her, a smile on his lips. "But that's the past, Eric. You can't keep walking out of my life for years at a time and expect to be able to walk back in just because we were best friends once."
"Maybe," Eric got to his feet once more, "I guess we'll just have to see, then."
"Eric," Sookie began but he interrupted.
"Yeah yeah, I know, I shouldn't count on it." He stuck his hands into his pockets, "See you later, Sook." He was nearly at the sidewalk when he turned back, "You look beautiful, by the way." He called and kept on walking until he was out of Sookie's sight.
***
Cleaning up took nearly all day the next day. There seemed to be garbage everywhere, though thankfully not as much vomit smeared on the floor as Sookie had feared; her classmates had evidently finally grown up.
"What the hell happened with you and Andrew?" Amelia asked, picking up the beer bottle knocked sideways and hidden behind a throw pillow, slowly dripping liquid. Sookie thanked God that the couch was leather and could easily be wiped off.
"He was making out with some blonde chick in a slutty dress," she sighed, "I don't even know who she was."
Amelia frowned, "Oh, God, did she have a pierced nose?"
"Um, I don't know, maybe. I was too concerned with the fact that she was sucking his face to notice her nose."
Amelia squeezed her eyes shut, "That would be Tat's sister, Natasha."
"What is with this family and strange names?" Sookie scoffed and Amelia shrugged, clearly uncomfortable. "And I thought she lived in Utah?"
"She came to California for graduation." Her friend explained.
"Lucky me," Sookie sneered. Amelia bit her lip, caught between comforting her best friend and defending her girlfriend's sister, and for the thousandth time Sookie wished for the time when Amelia would viciously defend Sookie against asshole boyfriends and cheating sluts. "So where is she? Tat, I mean."
"Shopping with Tasha."
"Right, of course."
"Sookie, look, I'll get her to talk to Tasha and-"
"Mel, it's fine. I don't care that she- whatever."
Amelia cocked her head, "Are you sure?"
"Yes. Whatever."
"That's a lot of 'whatever's for someone who doesn't care."
"Shuddup. There's a cookie under the TV." She pointed out to her friend and Amelia grabbed the chocolate chip cookie, tossing it into the garbage bag.
"So are you going to talk to him?"
"Who, Eric or Andrew?"
"What happened with Eric?" Amelia frowned.
Sookie sent a cursory glance over the living room and sighed, tying off her garbage bag and leaving the room only to return with the vacuum. "I'm not sure." Sookie explained what had happened over the sound of the vacuum, skimming over Eric's memories because she felt they were somehow too intimate.
"What am I supposed to do Mel?" She asked several hours later once the house was immaculate once again.
Amelia paused, "What kind of thing are we talking about? I mean, you broke up four years ago; I thought you were over him."
"But it's Eric," Sookie plopped down on the couch, "He's... He was my best friend. And... I loved him, Mel. I loved him so much."
"He broke your heart," Amelia sat down beside her friend.
"Think about it, Mel. Have you ever seen me as happy as I was with Eric?"
"Yeah, you were happy." Amelia admitted angrily, "You were on cloud fucking nine, Sook. But then he broke up with you and left. And then four years went by. Are you really going to tell me that you're going to take him back?"
"No, I'm not saying that!" Sookie yanked her hair out of its ponytail. "He's not easy to be with, okay? I know that. I know that better than anybody. He's stubborn and high-handed and he had to be constantly reminded to depend on me, and yeah, he broke up with me. But what if he's the one?"
"Sookie, you don't believe in that stuff!"
"That's exactly my point! Eric is the only one that has made me believe in that bullshit!" Amelia said nothing for a long time, simply staring wordlessly at her best friend until the other spoke again. "Look, for four years I tried to move on. For four years I pretended I wasn't comparing every guy I met with him. I've filled my quota of the time I can spend lying to myself and... and I'm not saying it's logical. I'm not even saying that it's healthy, but..." She shook her head and Amelia spoke, her tone gentle.
"Are you sure you're not doing this just because of what Andrew did?"
Sookie looked down at her hands, chuckling, "Yeah. I'm pissed at him, but surprisingly I'm not hurt. I guess I wasn't as emotionally invested in the relationship as I thought I was."
"So what, are you gonna go after Eric?"
"I don't think so." She shook her head, "I mean, I don't know. I don't see him asking me out so if anything's going to happen with us, we need to have a long talk."
"Or a lot of good sex," Amelia offered mischievously.
"Or a lot of good sex," Sookie laughed, feeling tension leave her body.
***
"Um, Sookie?" Tat's voice reached her from the front door.
"Yeah?" Sookie turned off the water and dried her hands on a dish towel.
"There's a drunk, pretty boy at the door for you."
Sookie frowned and headed to the door, finding Eric leaning heavily against the door jamb.
"I'll leave you to it," Tat muttered, hiding a smirk. Sookie watched her head upstairs, hearing her speaking to Amelia a moment later.
"Hey, Sook," he mumbled, smiling innocently and reeking of alcohol.
"Eric, what the hell?" Sookie sighed, crossing her arms across her chest.
"My dad's dead," Eric muttered, glancing over his shoulder for no reason that Sookie could detect.
"What?"
His eyes met hers, surprisingly sober for a second, "They found him this afternoon... They just..." He chuckled, mumbling something about "alcohol poisoning."
"Oh my god," Sookie whispered, wanting to pull him into her arms but he chuckled again, wavering unsteadily on his feet.
"I'm gonna puke," he announced suddenly and Sookie stepped aside, pushing open the guest bathroom door. He collapsed in front of the toilet, retching violently as Sookie flinched and turned away, fighting her own wave of nausea.
"There's toothpaste and toothbrush in the drawer," she turned when he was done retching. "Come out whenever you're done." Sookie closed the door behind her and waited, fetching a glass of water while he was in there. Mr Northman is dead, she thought to herself, he's really dead. When Eric emerged a few minutes later and stood in the doorway shyly, she held out the cup. Eric eyed the liquid.
"It's just water," she promised and he nodded, leaning against the wall as he took a sip. "Come on, you can sleep it off upstairs." He hesitated and she sighed, "It's okay. I'm not going to let you go anywhere like this anyways, so you might as well just listen to me." She took his hand and slowly led him upstairs, thanking God that he kept his balance because she wasn't sure she would be able to stop him from falling. Eric stood uncertainly at the foot of her bed once they were in her room, and Sookie sighed again before pushing the covers aside.
"Come on, it's okay." He crawled under her covers hesitantly, curling up his large frame. She made to leave but stopped at the sound of him.
"Sookie?" His voice was low and slurred, and Sookie felt her heart give a squeeze at the way he said her name.
"Yes?"
"Will... will you stay here for a while?"
Sookie considered that for a mere second, "Of course." She crawled on top of her covers, and he rolled so that he faced her, a smile lingering on his lips. Sookie stroked his hair, placing a soft kiss on his forehead.
"Sookie, I'm sorry," he whispered, his breath tickling her skin.
"It's okay. Everything will be okay. I promise."
"I believe you."
Sookie smiled, "Good boy."
"I love you." He looked up, his eyes drowsy, "I always will." His eyes shone with his sincerity and she noted the way his faint blonde lashes almost disappeared against his tanned skin, the lines that spread out from the corners of his eyes, and the barely-visible scar on his cheek from the time she'd pushed him and he had cut himself on the concrete sidewalk. She also noted the way her lungs had frozen.
"... I know." She kissed him again, carefully avoiding his lips, "Sleep now."
"Okay." He closed his eyes and was snoring softly within minutes. Sookie watched him and wondered if he was a good Marine, if he was respected by the other Marines, if he at all regretted the decisions he had made. Eric mumbled and moved his head closer to hers and she fought the urge to kiss his lips. Eric's father had been a drunk for such a long time that in Sookie's mind, his condition could not have possibly ever changed. Now that she actually thought about, she saw how imminent his death should have felt, but it had still hit her harder than she would have anticipated; it had hit Eric harder than she had anticipated. Knowing Eric, he had most likely not even seen his father since they had moved to the west coast and that was probably the reason why he had fallen apart like he never had before. Sookie curled up next to him, considering how Eric's grief had affected her nearly as strongly as the death itself until her eyes fluttering shut and she fell asleep.
***
Sookie rolled over, expecting to bump into Eric but instead found cold sheets beside her. She sighed, sitting upright in bed and glancing at the alarm clock. The sunlight streaming in from under the blinds confirmed the fact that she had slept through the night. Disappointed at Eric's disappearance, she rolled over and winced at the thing that dug into her hip: Eric's phone. Sighing again, she dropped back onto her pillows and squeezed her eyes shut.
"Fuck you, Eric Northman." She groaned, rolling into her pillow, "Why can't you just stay out of my life?"
"You okay there?" Amelia asked from the doorway, holding two cups of coffee.
"He left." Sookie complained, "He shows up on my doorstep, tells me he loves me, and then disappears. Left his phone behind, though." Amelia shook her head and put the mug down on Sookie's bedside table. "His dad is dead," Sookie continued.
"Oh my god, are you serious?"
"Yeah."
"Poor guy," Amelia commented. "He's an orphan now, huh?" Sookie opened her mouth to respond but the cellphone chose that exact moment to start vibrating, a number flashing on the screen.
Sookie shot Amelia an alarmed look, "Hello?"
"Uh, hi."
"Hey Eric," she smiled, "Need your phone back?" Amelia rolled her eyes and disappeared, closing the door behind her.
He chuckled, "Kind of. Can I come pick it up sometime?"
Sookie reached into her bedside table for paper and a pen, "Give me your address; I'll come by and drop it off right now. I have some errands to run anyways."
"Oh, you don't have to do-"
"I'm not letting you disappear again, Eric." She interrupted smoothly and Eric paused a moment before giving her his address. Sookie showered after hanging up and dressed herself in sweatpants and a t-shirt before heading out. First stop was definitely Starbucks, very conveniently located next to Sookie's favourite dry cleaner. Her dry cleaning reclaimed, Sookie stood by her car and contemplated her next destination: Eric's or grocery store? With a sigh, she decided to not keep Eric waiting for longer than she had to and threw herself into her seat, programming her GPS to lead her to the address he had given her. Twenty minutes later, she pulled in front of Eric's apartment complex. She smiled at the light-coloured bricks and the glass railings on the balconies, nicely set off by the palm trees in front. It looked like a nice place, Sookie thought as she parked her car and jogged up the stairs to the second floor and hesitated for only a moment before knocking.
"Hey," Eric opened the door, "come on in."
Sookie held out the phone, "Oh no, thanks, I have to go grocery shopping but here's your phone."
He took it, smiling in amusement, "You got my address out of me but you're not even coming in?"
"I just thought it was unfair that you knew where I lived but I have no idea where you're staying." Sookie grinned, "Which, by the way, seems like a pretty nice place."
"Well, why don't you come on in and take a closer look?" He challenged.
Sookie cocked her head to the side and shook her head, unimpressed. "Alright, alright. You better have snacks to offer."
"I have beer?"
"Grocery shopping is your friend, Eric!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Eric grumbled, leading Sookie into the small, clean apartment. "I furnished this entire place and keep it clean, don't expect me to keep the fridge stocked, too."
Sookie looked around, taking in the Ikea furniture and the takeout menus by the phone. "I like it. Did you... buy this?" She asked and Eric glanced over his shoulders, smiling in appreciation at her comment but shook his head. "Sub-letting. I'm only going to be here for a couple of months."
"So, how're you doing?" Sookie asked carefully once Eric had found some M&Ms and had suggested she take a seat on the couch.
"Fine," he responded neutrally.
"Eric," she chastised lightly. "You showed up at my house drunk out of your mind."
"I'm a big fan of vodka," Eric shrugged, sitting down beside her.
"Eric."
He finally met her gaze, "I'm sorry about that. It wasn't your job to take care of me."
Sookie shrugged awkwardly, "It's okay. I didn't mind until I woke up and you were gone."
"I figured you wouldn't want to see me in the morning," Eric smirked.
"Oh, do you get that from a lot of girls?" Sookie asked, deadpan.
He shook his head, "Not at all."
"You're an idiot," she told him with sudden irritation.
"Oh you did want to see me?" The smirk was still there and Sookie groaned, grabbing a hold of his collar and smashing his lips against her own. At least the smirk is gone, Sookie noted in faint shock when she pulled away. And it was; Eric was now gaping at her and Sookie bit her lip, watching his eyes flick down to them before he leaned forward and kissed her again. This kiss quickly degenerated into a filthy mess, Eric suddenly intent on sucking her tongue down his throat with his hands clutching at her hips. Sookie made a noise and pulled away again, her breathing ragged as she put both hands on his chest.
"Eric," her voice shook and he took her hand, kissing it before cupping her face and kissing her cheeks.
"Yes?" She was pleased to see that he was as shaken as her and even though she had been planning on stopping him – really, she had – his tone made the decision for her.
"Take off your pants."
Eric chuckled, "Come here." His fingers expertly unhooked her bra and slid it off along with her shirt, freeing her hands to fumble with the button of his jeans. His own shirt was abandoned in the next moment and he was standing up to fully undress before returning back to her as she lay back on his couch. She lifted her hips obediently and he disposed of her sweatpants and panties, making a small noise as he began kissing his way up her stomach. She murmured his name, loving the way it felt to utter it after so long even as his fingers dipped down to her wetness. Mouth claiming hers, Eric pushed into her carefully and Sookie tilted her hips up. She held back a groan at the sheer size of him inside of her, her body remembering the stretch it took to handle him.
"Okay?" He asked, barely holding back with his mouth pressed against her cheek, eyes squeezed shut. A high noise escaped her and she nodded, biting into her lip but Eric remained still, waiting for her to gather herself enough for a vocal confirmation.
"Yeah, yes." She dug her fingers into his back when he began moving, eliciting a hiss from him. "More," she ordered, wrapping her legs around his waist and pushing him in deeper as he established a faster rhythm. This wasn't about prolonged pleasure; this wasn't Eric making love to her. This was about passion and desperation and being in love with someone and not being able to hold them for four years. When her orgasm hit, Sookie bit into his shoulder and felt him shudder inside of her, their bodies relaxing still entangled in each other. Head falling back against the armrest, she closed her eyes and rode the aftershocks as Eric rested his head on her still-heaving chest.
"Eric," she couldn't help cooing, "My Eric." Her lips pressed soft kisses into his hair, suppressing a noise of discontent when he sat back on the couch but then pulled her into his lap. Sookie tilted her head down to his and she kissed him again, this time slowly.
"Christ, how do you do that?" He murmured absently.
She smiled against the corner of his mouth, "Do what?"
"Make me fall for you like it's nothing, like it's your job."
"Maybe it is," she smiled.
"Cute."
"I thought so," she smiled briefly and smoothed back his hair. "Your couch is monumentally uncomfortable," she informed him seriously.
"Move in with me and we can buy another one," he offered.
"That's not funny." Eric shrugged. "I probably should have asked before we had sex, but why are you back?"
"For you," he told her simply.
"You're not allowed to say that."
"It's the truth."
"You moved here because of me?"
"Yes."
"Why would you do that?"
He tilted his head to the side, "You already know the answer." Removing herself from his arms, Sookie quickly put on her clothes before turning back to face him. She felt settled with her clothes on; being naked made her feel too vulnerable for her liking.
"Never again decide what's best for me without asking me first, Eric." He pulled on his jeans and straightened up to meet her gaze. He didn't even have to ask what she was referring to. "You have no right to be so fucking high-handed. You had no right to leave... me. I was... Fuck, Eric, I didn't deserve that." She shook her head.
"I did the right thing," he insisted.
"You did the easy thing," she countered and he chuckled.
"We wouldn't be together if we hadn't broken up then. We would have drifted apart and you would have found someone."
"Why is it always me who finds someone else in hypothetical situations?" Sookie seethed and Eric's grin widened.
"Because I'm a persistent fuck who wouldn't have given up on you no matter what." There were little wrinkles on the corners of his eyes that only appeared when he smiled. "Also, because there were no women in my platoon." Eric added and pulled her gently into his arms, Sookie stiffening at the feel of his half-naked body. "I thought about you all the fucking time, Sook. You know what that's like?" She turned her head into his neck and put her arms around his waist.
"I think I have a vague idea," she mumbled into him.
"I wondered if you were okay," he continued, "if you thought about me at all, if you had found someone that made you happier than I did."
"You could have picked up a phone," she sniffled and then chuckled, feeling Eric hide his face in her hair. "You're wearing the necklace."
"You gave it to me."
"I didn't think you'd kept it. I didn't think you would wear it." Her fingers gently traced the silver anchor and she looked up at him, "Especially not four years later."
"It was my birthday present," he defended meekly, his eyes smiling. Sookie bit back her grin and returned to his arms, taking in and releasing a shaky breath.
"You never told me the significance of the anchor, though," he observed casually and Sookie groaned.
"Let's not talk about that," she suggested.
"Sookie," he said in that tone that always worked in convincing her.
"It's just, I mean, I always thought..." She sighed and hid her blush against his neck. "I thought of you as my anchor. Like the one thing that kept me grounded." Eric pulled back so she would be forced to look him in the eyes. Keeping his eyes open, he leaned down to press his lips to hers.
"See, that's the sort of thing you say that makes me feel like a dick for leaving."
"You should feel like a dick for leaving."
"Thanks for that."
"It's what I'm here for," she smiled. "I have to go." She sighed a moment later and removed herself from his arms.
Eric retrieved his shirt, "Where to?"
"Grocery store," she offered as means for an explanation. "My roommates are waiting on me."
He raised his eyebrows at the plural, "Roommates?"
"Amelia and her girlfriend, Tatiana."
Eric's jaw dropped, "Really?"
"Yeah, it came as a shock to me too," Sookie smiled.
"Have you two...?"
"Eric!"
He bit his lip, laughing silently, "Had to ask." Sookie shook her head and grabbed her purse from where she had abandoned it by the couch.
"So I'll see you later?" Eric asked, opening the door for her.
Sookie grinned, "Well, I don't know. Are you going to ask me out?" He paused, seeming confused. "I know I already fucked you, Eric, but you're going to have to take me out for dinner before that happens again." Eric laughed, more at her choice of words than at her.
"So I'll call you sometime, then?"
"Sounds good," she nodded with a smile and turned to leave but Eric's arm hooked around her waist and his mouth pressed against hers. Making a noise of contentment, Sookie returned his kisses and put her arms around him.
"Grocery shopping in an hour?"
"Grocery shopping in an hour." Sookie agreed easily and followed Eric's lips to his bedroom.
She was still smiling when she pulled into her driveway.