AN: There's a little treat for you in this chapter.
Enjoy. :]

Chapter 10

I walked into the kitchen, noticing the two plates and cups sitting in the sink. Eric and Gran were already up, and had breakfast before me. There was a plate with eggs and bacon waiting for me in the oven, keeping it warm. I put some bread in the toaster and poured myself a cup of coffee. Gran had run off again, shopping with Maxine in Shreveport, leaving me and Eric to ourselves to catch up. On the note she had written, she had drawn a winking smiley. Gran was sneaky, but it made me smile nonetheless. At least she tried to keep up with the youngsters. The gesture made it clear she and Eric were getting along without any troubles. When I was dating Bill she never made those small gestures, not once. Bill was always a perfect gentleman, but his good manners possessed a studied air, that they were forced on him when he was a child. Bill's actions lacked sincerity. Eric –when he wasn't being a dick- could surprise you, because he did have manners, and they weren't acted out.

I grabbed my laptop and checked my emails. There was an email from Sophie-Anne, the producer, that we couldn't stay away too long. The media was getting restless, and Eric and I both hadn't commented on the stories made up by the media, and now they were making up their own crazy stories. I stopped reading it after that, there was no need to ruin my good mood. If it were up to me, we would cross that bridge when we got there. That didn't eliminate the fact Eric and I had to talk all this out, since we needed to explain our absence, and the talk we had to have gave me another thing to worry about. Other than that, there was no big news, just an email from my boss. She wanted a column for the next issue. Immediately, my mind went to the southern soul food. After all, I was in the area. I would ask Gran to prepare some of her specialty dishes, seafood gumbo. It would be something different from the low-fat, healthy dishes I normally wrote about, since the restaurants in LA had an unhealthy obsession with those, but it's best to write about what you know, right?

The sun was shining bright, and was calling me. I grabbed the novel, changed into my bikini, grabbed another glass of iced tea and walked out onto the grass field in front of my house. When I adjusted the recliner to the perfect position, I lied down and started reading. My mind drifted off, making me forget time. The sound of someone chopping wood pulled me from my musings about the leading man in the book, who was now busy pursuing the lady with passion you could only read about in the trashy romance novels I loved to indulge myself in. After trying to zone out the background noises, my curiosity got the better off me, and before I knew it, I was walking around the house following the sounds.

I was rewarded with a sight that made me gasp out loud. Eric was swinging an axe, splitting logs with no effort. The shirt he should be wearing was thrown over a branch, and his chest was fully exposed. A layer of sweat was coating his perfect muscles, that flexed with every movement he made. That his jeans were hanging dangerously low on his hips, showing of the v-shape of his abdomen, weakened my legs even more. God had obviously spend a little more time to create a man like Eric, because never in my whole life had I stumbled on a being more beautiful than him. Or a more beautiful butt. Oh yes, I went there.

"Hasn't your Gran taught you that it's not polite to stare?"

Eric had stopped chopping wood and had turned to me. The huge smirk he was wearing made it clear he noticed that my jaw was hanging open, with emphasis on was, since I snapped it shut and I scowled at him. Eric looked very amused, and not at all affected by my childish reaction.

"I was.." I should've thought about a cover story first. My mind raked over excuses, but each one of them was even more farfetched than the other. Lying never was my strongest quality, and I didn't approve of it except for the little white lies that wouldn't hurt anyone.

"Admiring the view?" he purred, finishing my sentence for me.

Yes. Yes I was. Please continue and let me watch.

"You wish." I spat back. Eric didn't buy it –who would- and his smirk now turned into a grin.

"I am. Both wishing and admiring the view right now myself."

His blue eyes travelled down my body and up again, his tongue darted out to lick his lips. I had totally forgotten I was wearing my bikini. My discomfort level rose again, remembering the bodies his 'girlfriends' had. The thought he was playing with me jumped back in my head, even though it shouldn't, but I couldn't help it. We hadn't even talked things out, and yet here he was, flirting like he hadn't walked out on me, like I hadn't walked out on him numerous times. The old Eric made an unwanted reappearance. The Eric who could only communicate with women by flirting and talking in that ridiciously smooth sex voice. I stared at the ground while my head was working overtime. There was nothing I'd rather do than leave, to not feel his eyes on me. Eric took a step in my direction. It was clear he was hesitating, the small step being executed in a slow pace. Before he could come closer, I turned around and fastwalked back to the house.

The warm gravel that surrounded the house burned under my bare feet, but it didn't stop my escape. I braced myself with my back on the door, taking deep breaths to calm myself. There was a part of me that was so mad at Eric for being able to act like nothing had happened, that he didn't show up at my doorstep last night looking tired, lost and miserable. Eric was all over the place and I had no idea how to handle it, I could barely figure my own thoughts out, let alone his.

I could hear footsteps on the porch. I closed my eyes and prayed that person –my money was on Eric- to go away. No such luck. There was a soft tap on the door.

"Sookie?" another tap. I clenched my eyes shut, thinking I was invisable and he would walk away after realizing I wasn't home. He couldn't see me, there was a door between us.

"Sookie, I can see you through the glass."

Fudge. My master plan had failed. I opened my eyes and let out another sigh, but kept my back to the door. A minute or so had past, the longest one in my entire life, and Eric also hadn't budged, showing he was as stubborn –or desperate?- as I was.

"You're hiding from me." Eric asked more than simply stating it, which would normally be the other way around, stating instead of asking, being confident over doubtful.

I turned around to face him, well, looking at him through the glass of the white wooden door. Eric's hands were placed on both sides of the doorframe, his face directed at the planks on the porch. The tshirt that was swung on a branch was now covering his upper body and he was still sweaty from working in the scorching sun. When he noticed I had moved his head snapped back up again, and immediately his eyes had found mine. I slowly nodded my head, conforming that I had in fact been hiding from him. How mature.

There was no trace of a smirk, no sign showing he was enjoying this. I was now facing the guy who stood on exact the same spot last night, except now he looked hurt. The way he looked when I told him I was leaving LA for a while. I realized I had left him, before he walked out on me, and now I was running again. I was tired of running and tired of being the reason why Eric felt bad. I wanted to be the reason he was happy, and him to be my reason for being happy. I opened the door, which surprised Eric. The frazzled look he gave me made me smile a little, it made him look so much younger.

My fingers brushed a stray strand of blond hair from his face and tucked it behind his ear. We both leaned in eachothers body instictively, both craving the need to touch eachother.

"I'm so.."

But before I could even apologize for my actions, Eric had silenced me by pressing his lips on mine. His tongue traced my bottom lip, and without hesitation I opened my mouth. My hands were grasping his hair, the slight tugging spurred him on. I would be in need for a shower when this kiss would end to cool down. Eric was a very good kisser, and his hands that were roaming my body, were capable of making me kick all rational thoughts from my mind. We stumbled backwards when Eric pressed me against the wooden planks next to the door, our kisses frantic and needy. I let my hands wander under his shirt. Eric growled when my nails raked over his abs, his stomach tensing from the contact of my cool hands on his warm skin. Suddenly, Eric pulled away, leaving me breathless in the best way possible. We were both panting, struggling to catch our breath.

"Sookie.." Eric's voice was husky and his lips red and swollen, "we should stop."

He wasn't even bringing it convincingly, how could you when your hands were still firmly planted on my ass. He did have a point. I knew it, he knew it. We both failed to come to terms with it. After all, kissing and touching his amazing body was so much better than having a talk that would probably end up in us fighting. The choice wasn't hard; we both prefered kissing. So that's what we did.

Eric lifted me up, my legs wrapped around his waist, and made his way into the house. We ended up on the couch, with me covered by his body. My legs around his waist provided us with the friction we both wanted, and before long we were moaning from it. Eric's lips traced my jaw, and moved on to my neck, biting and sucking. I wouldn't care if he left a mark, as long as he wouldn't stop everything was fine with me.

Eric looked a little confused when I pushed him back, but that expression changed quickly when I pulled off his shirt and flung it away. Our moans became louder and louder, and our kisses more aggressive. I wanted him. Badly. And from the situation in his pants I could say the same for Eric.

"Sooks! What the hell?"

Eric jumped of me so fast he lost his balance and landed next to the couch. I sat up straight and fixed my dishevelled clothing, both embarrassed and angry. Of course Jason would show up at the worst time, probably to eat out of our fridge and drink the few beers in it.

"Who the fuck are you? And what are you doing with my little sister?" Jason shouted at Eric, who was busy trying to find his shirt, that was draped over on a lamp in a corner. I pointed it out for him, ignoring Jason's rather red head. Eric grinned at me and put his shirt back on.

"Jason," I chided, "watch your tone."

Eric sat down next to me on the couch and grabbed my hand, a gesture I hadn't expected from him in this situation. The butterflies were all over the place again.

"I'm Eric. Nice to meet you."

I'm sure Eric wasn't thrilled to meet Jason, especially in this moment.

"Whatever. I gotta go work again. I'll talk to you later Sook. Don't get too comfy there, Eric, we're not done."

As he left he gave Eric one last cold glare, Eric glared right back. No, they didn't like eachother at all. When the sound of Jason's truck had faded away I hid my face in Eric's chest. My brother had walked in on me dry humping a very sexy Swede on the couch. Eric and I could never catch a break. I wonder how many people would know about my situation tommorow. Jason could never keep his mouth shut.

"I'm so sorry." I groaned out. Eric just laughed, and after a couple of seconds I was laughing with him.

"We can never catch a break, can we?" he said between laughs, like he had read my mind seconds ago.