A/N: Thank you to outinritefield1, ashmo2000, ciasteczko, Tynee23, LostInSpace33, scorpiolady68, MsNorthman, Perfecta999, ericplenty, doutlessshiper, jilllapet, 34ken, Nicolle1977 and the guest who reviewed.

Thanks to outinritefield1 for editing this chapter for me. You're the best!

This is Eric's POV.

Enjoy!

Following the success of our first show the band became everyone's first priority. We played every bar, pub and club that would have us and was within a two hour drive from Bon Temps; we couldn't go too far considering we had school everyday. After Alcide and I graduated in June, Sookie and Tara began studying for their GED and by the end of July we were all free.

By that time the band was such a local success we didn't have to whore ourselves around, begging venue owners to let us play; they were chasing after us. This was thanks to Bill who was a very good business man as it turned out, he just needed a little confidence. He knew how to negotiate, how to make someone believe they wanted us even if they didn't and he made sure we were paid after every gig.

This allowed us to save up enough money to buy a van big enough to fit all our gear and travel together. Up till that point we had been getting to gigs in two or three separate cars. Bill always insisted on driving until he was too tired and then Alcide usually took over. Tara was in the passenger seat, asleep, never a fan of traveling and Sookie and I found our place in the back. That summer we slept in the van more then we did in our own beds, me propped up against the metal side and Sookie leaning against me since there were no seats.

This was when Sookie, Bill and I all took up smoking. We all obtained fake ID's and began going to parties nearly after every show. When you were drinking, smoking just found it's way into the mix naturally, they were like peanut butter and jelly. The truth was I liked smoking, I liked how it made me feel, how it made me look, I liked it because it was something else I shared with Sookie. I didn't care if it was bad for me, I was eighteen and invincible, I was never going to die.

This was how the whole summer passed, playing, smoking, partying and sleeping in the van as we tried to make Tara and the Giants or Suicidal Canyon and the Thirteen or Hearts on Fire or whatever stupid name we decided to call ourselves that week a household name.

We had three days off before we played three massive shows in Jackson, Mississippi; Memphis, Tennessee and finally, Dallas, Texas. These shows were a big deal. These venues held upwards of five thousand people, the most we had ever played to at one time. These were the types of venues scouts hung around and famous musicians just casually popped up at. Our lives could be completely different by the end of these three days.

August 15, 2003 - 6:52pm - Bon Temps

I planned on spending our time off doing nothing. I was going to sleep, eat three proper meals a day and sneak cigarettes when I could but Sookie had other plans.

I hadn't been home more than fifteen minutes when the phone rang. "I've got it!" I shouted to make sure my mother did not pick up the phone. "Hello, you've reached the winter of our discontent." I answered knowing full well Sookie was on the other end.

She chuckled. "What are you up to tonight?"

"I was going to catch up on some much needed sleep. That van has fucked up my back." I wasn't lying, I was exhausted and my back was killing me.

"Okay, you could do that or we could go to the video store, rent movies and stuff our faces with junk food. You have a sweet basement which I fully intend to exploit." She sounded excited.

I should have said no. I needed rest, I needed to put space between me and my bandmates, I needed a hot shower and time to myself but Sookie was someone I just couldn't say no to. "I think I can do that." I smiled into the phone.

"I'll pick you up in twenty." She said before I was met with a dial tone.

Ten minutes later I was in Sookie's car racing towards the only video store in Bon Temps, cigarettes hanging out of both of our mouths.

The second we entered the small building Sookie was piling bags of chips and chocolate into a shopping basket. "What are you in the mood for?" She asked as she walked over to the unorganized assortment of films.

How did I tell her she was what I was in the mood for? My crush on Sookie wasn't going away. I didn't know what I expected, spending all my time with her was not a good way to make feelings dissipate. Everyday she proved herself to be funnier, more talented and more lovely than the day before.

"Action, I guess." I responded, not really caring what we chose. "How about Gangs of New York? I haven't seen it yet."

"No." She said moving on to the next shelf. "You know I hate Leonardo DiCaprio."

"I will never understand why you hate him." I said looking at the back of the bulky VHS box.

"He has douche face. He looks like a douche." She turned away from me and picked up My Best Friends Wedding.

"Nope, I can't watch that again." I said without even looking at her.

"Why?" She whined. "It's so good."

"Nope." I bent over and picked up a movie with Drew Barrymore on the cover. "How about Never Been Kissed?" I suggested.

"I don't really want to watch a movie about my life, thank you." She muttered before picking up 40 Days and 40 Nights to read the back.

"You've never kissed anyone?" I questioned, moving towards her slowly with a grin on my face.

She huffed putting the video back on the shelf. "I thought we've been over this Eric. You've seen the way guys treat me at school, they aren't interested so no, I've never kissed anyone."

"Not even a drunken kiss?" I pushed further.

She made a noise of disgust. "Drunken hook ups are so..." She paused to think of the right word. "Pedestrian." She finally concluded.

"Don't knock it till you try it." I laughed and turned when I heard the bell that indicated someone was entering the store. My heart dropped when Jessica, Violet and Sarah walked in. I hadn't seen Jessica in nearly two months, since school had ended but she had called me multiple times. I didn't want to end it in person because I knew she would make it impossible to do so. She was probably also pissed because there was no way she didn't know I hooked up with Sarah at the homecoming game.

Was I a man whore?

I dropped down to take cover between the shelves hoping they wouldn't see me and come over.

Sookie was looking down at me inquisitively. "What are you doing?"

"I think the movies at the bottom of the shelves don't get enough love. We are so tall we never look at them. How about this? Let's watch this?" I picked up the first movie I laid my hands on and showed it to her.

"Schindler's List?" She questioned with a cocked eyebrow.

I shrugged. "Yeah, it's Spielberg's finest." I held onto the shelf to keep from falling over and listened for their voices to see if they were getting closer to us.

"Jurassic Park is Spielberg's finest." She argued continuing to look at whatever she was looking at.

"Eric?" I hear Jessica's nasally voice say.

I flinched knowing there was no way I could get out of this. So I put the movie back on the shelf and stood quickly turning to see three overly made up faces. "Hey Jess!" I said way to enthusiastically not even bothering to look over at Sookie who was no doubt confused and irritated by the girls presence. "Sarah, Violet." I nodded curtly before looking at each of them.

"Where have you been Eric?" Jessica asked tight lipped, she was trying to seem pleasant but she was pissed.

"I have been playing gigs with the band." I scratched my head awkwardly. "You know the band?"

"Tara and the Giants?" Jessica guessed.

"Suicidal Canyon and the Thirteen?" Sarah rolled her eyes.

"Hearts on Fire?" Violet said before she rifled through her bag to pick up her cell phone which was ringing. She pulled up the antenna and stepped away from our discussion.

I felt Sookie put her hand on my back and lean over into our conversation. "We are actually going by International Sex Station as of late." She gave a catty smile and went back to looking at movies but not before pinching the skin on my lower back.

"Ow!" I exclaimed rubbing my irritated flesh. I looked over at her to see her picking up Death Becomes Her. Sookie's jaw was clenched and her brows furrowed.

Fuck.

I looked over at the two inappropriately dressed girls. "Yeah, that band. What have you two been up to since graduation?" I said wanting this interaction to end more than anything.

"I am going to the Shreveport community college in September and until then I'm working at the new Piggly Wiggly." Jessica gloated.

He comment caused Sookie to snicker.

Jessica's focus drifted to Sookie and then back to me. "It seems like you've gone down hill since high school, hanging out with riff raff and what not."

I heard a slam and then Sookie appeared holding two cases in front of me."Gangs of New York and Can't Hardly Wait, lets go." She threw the movies into the basket and ripped it from my hand before heading towards the register.

I stared at Jessica and Sarah and sighed deeply. "So, I should probably go."

"When will I see you again?" Jessica asked.

"I could ask you the same thing." Sarah crossed her arms as her nostrils flared.

"Northman!" Sookie screamed at me as she paid for our Friday night.

I was thankful for her angry call. "Good to see you. Bye." I sped away from them towards the door.

We sat in silence on the ride to my house. I was waiting for her to say something, anything because I knew she would.

She finally spoke when we pulled into my driveway. "So what was that?" She questioned.

"What was what?" I said innocently, playing dumb, getting out of the car.

"Hamby certainly seemed to know you." She was pulling the bags out of the back seat of the car.

"Of course she knows me, she knows you too."

"No like she really knows you, like you hang out." We walked up the steps to my house. "Are you dating her or something?"

I looked down at her while she waited for my answer. I should've been honest and told her, yes, we were seeing each other and it was over now but that's not what I did. Technically, I never dated Jessica, we were just sleeping with each other so I told Sookie a twisted truth. "No, I'm not dating her."

She visibly relaxed. "Good cause she's the worst." She entered my home before me.

"She probably has a crush on me or something. Girls have a tendency to look at me with gaga eyes." I rolled my eyes.

"I don't look at you like that." She said as she made her way downstairs, taking them two at a time.

"That's probably why I like spending time with you." I grabbed one of the bags and flung myself down onto the couch. "You don't look at me like you are trying to figure out what I look like with my shirt off."

"I know what you look like with your shirt off." She dug through the bag looking for the Red Vines.

"Did you like what you saw?" I teased with a cocked eyebrow as I got up to put in Can't Hardly Wait knowing she was going to want to watch that one first.

She shrugged indifferently. "Not really. I'm not into muscly guys." She looked away from me and bit into the candy. I could have sworn I saw her cheeks flush red but it was too dark to be sure.

"Hmmm-hmmm, of course you aren't." I laughed skeptically before I reached into the bag on her lap and pulled out a vine for myself.

We watched the movie while joking around, talking about the upcoming gigs and fantasizing about what we'd do when we were finally famous. This talk ended when we put on Gangs of New York. It turns out turn of the century blood feuds were something that interested me; Sookie didn't share this interest.

"This is so boring." She whined halfway through the movie. "What else do you have here?"

"Sook, I want to watch the movie." I stated firmly.

"Why?" She complained as she got up off the couch and began looking at all the other videos my family owned.

"Because it got good reviews and I need to watch something that's going to make me think, some stimulus after being in the van for so long."

"I don't want something that's going to make me think right now, I just want something mindless and fun." She continued to look through all my movies. "Why do you have two copies of Ben-hur?" She asked.

"One was a gift, the other we bought. Sookie please sit down." I stood with every intention of making her sit down if I needed to. "You need to relax."

"I am relaxed. Oooohhhh, The Witches of Eastwick!" She exclaimed as she pulled it off the shelf. "Let's watch this!" She said turning around to face me.

I sighed. "Sookie, we have an hour left in this one, please let me see how it ends and then you can do whatever you want." I approached her and pulled the movie from her hands and placed it on the shelf beside her. She nodded slowly and I led her back to the couch. Once seated I pulled her close to me so she was leaning up against my side, one of the ways we typically slept in the van.

She was quiet for about ten minutes and then the questions started. "Who is that?" "Why is he doing that?" "Is he going to marry her?" "Daniel Day Lewis is too old for Cameron Diaz."

Finally, not knowing what to do I tickled her side. "Stop talking." I chided.

She stiffened immediately. "Don't tickle me. I really hate it." She was talking through gritted teeth.

"Really?" I taunted with a grin. "You're ticklish?"

"No." She said firmly, her hands balling into fists. "I just hate being tickled, there's a difference."

"Mmm-hmm." I moved towards her, completely ignoring what she was saying and began trying to tickle her.

"Stop!" She said firmly as my hands roamed over her midsection. "Please stop, Eric!" She finally said with a punch to my chest.

"Ow!" I said rubbing the spot she had hit.

"I told you I don't like it." She smoothed out her hair. "It's not a cutesy thing, I really don't like it."

"Why?" I asked.

"My mom used to do it as an endearment. I guess it reminds me of her and I don't want to think about her ever." She gnawed on her lip.

I felt bad. I really thought she was just ticklish. "Sorry." I said timidly as I rubbed the back of my neck.

"It's fine." She huffed looking down at me. I was leaning across the couch, my elbow propping me up looking up at her.

"I really am sorry. I can be a jerk sometimes." I lamented.

She laughed. "You're not a jerk, you're just an idiot who doesn't listen very well." She poked me in the chest where she had punched me. I winced in pain, she was a lot stronger than she looked. Her brow furrowed at my flinch and she leaned over to rub my chest, this put her face right over mine and without even thinking I kissed her, a sweet chaste kiss. Her first.

She sat up quickly as a quiet gasp escaped her lips and she brought her fingers up to touch her mouth. She looked away from me to the floor.

"Fuck, I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have done that." I shifted, trying to meet her eye line. I had wanted to kiss her since I knew I wanted to kiss women. Sookie had always been there, her dark eyes, blonde hair, crooked smile, the girl with the gap between her teeth; she had always been in the back of my mind or in the corner of my eye. Now she was sitting in front of me deciding what to do. "Sook?"

She looked up at me and dropped her hand. "Um," she managed to get out before she crawled across the couch and kissed me far deeper than I had kissed her.

I froze for just a moment as I adjusted to what was happening. I didn't expect this to happen tonight, possibly ever and here she was, maneuvering herself to straddle me as her tongue pushed past my lips to dance with my own. "I don't know what I'm doing." She whispered out of breath, her hands tangling in my hair.

She was grinding against me which caused me to let out a moan. "You're fine." I managed to choke out as my eyes fluttered shut and my head fell back against the couch. "You're fine." I whimpered as my hands ran under her shirt. She shuddered from the skin to skin contact and found my lips again.

We made out for awhile. I knew that was all we were going to do and that was all I wanted to do. I didn't want her to do anything she might regret. No matter which way you looked at it, I was in business with Sookie, a business that was going really well and I wasn't going to fuck that up just because I mostly made decisions with my dick.

"Eric!?" My mother shouted and I could tell she was standing at the top of the stairs. Her sudden materialization scared me to death causing me to thrust upward and knock Sookie off me onto the floor but not before my cock hit her leg and more or less bent in half.

"Eric?!" she hollered again walking down two or three stairs as I rolled around on my couch in pain. Sookie was lying on her back on the floor, laughing.

"Sorry, Mrs. Northman, he just stubbed his toe and he's in a lot of pain." Sookie yelled as she sat up to look at me. I was now on my side, holding my myself, looking over at her as she giggled.

"It's kinda late, don't you think it's time you go home?" My mother suggested. "You two aren't touching each other inappropriately are you?!" She descended two more stairs.

"Not anymore." Sookie mumbled as she stood gathering her things. "Are you alright?" She asked me, holding her hand out to help me up.

"I will be." I told her as I got up slowly.

"Your mom is right, I probably should go." She said slinging her purse over her shoulder.

"Eric!" My mother yelled for a final time.

"WHAT!?" I shouted at her frustrated because she would not leave us alone.

"I just wanted to make sure Sookie wasn't staying the night." She said quietly. I could see her slippered feet on the stairs.

"No, she is leaving now." I said back to her and she headed back upstairs. "I wish you weren't." I said quietly moving towards her.

She looked away from me and bit her lip, a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. "I, I-" she stammered as I stood in front of her, reaching out for her hips, pulling her flush against me. "I'll be back here tomorrow, I have a lesson with Clara in the afternoon."

"Maybe we can finish the movie tomorrow then?" I suggested as she grabbed onto my biceps and looked up at me. She nodded and I lowered my head slightly to place a final kiss on her lips.

"I really need to go." She said shakily.

I let her go and she turned, quickly ascending the stairs as I followed behind her.

I think she was trying to avoid seeing my mother. She stopped quickly, her hand on the doorknob and turned to face me. "Bye." She cooed before kissing me on the cheek and went out the door leaving me in the hallway with a goofy grin on my face.

I turned to see my mother resting against the banister. "From now on, if you two are in this house, I want you in a place where I can see you." She smiled and walked into the kitchen to make her nightly sleepy time tea.

I rolled my eyes and ran upstairs to take a cold shower.

August 16, 2003 - 3:15pm - Bon Temps

My mother sent me to grab groceries fifteen minutes before Sookie was set to show up. She had given Clara three lessons and I had joined in on the last one. As it turned out Clara was a quick learner and Sookie was a great teacher; I wanted to continue to be a part of that.

I went to the new Piggly Wiggly, picked up everything on my mom's list and headed out to the car. I was eager to get back to my house knowing that Sookie would be in it when I arrived.

Jessica was leaning against the trunk of my family'sSUV when I reached the vehicle. "Hey stranger." She breathed out in a sultry manner.

"What do you want?" I moved her out of the way so I could load the bags into the trunk.

She shrugged. "I just finished my shift and saw your car and thought I'd come over and say hello. You weren't very nice to me last night, is the subpar trailer trash you're hanging out with affecting your judgment?"

"Jessica, I was hoping you'd take the hint by me not calling you all summer but clearly you haven't, I don't want to see you anymore. We're done." I closed the trunk and walked up to the driver's door. I could hear her clunky heeled shoes following behind me.

"Excuse me? No one ends it with me. I use you until I've had enough. I cut you loose and you get the privilege of telling people you got to fuck the hottest girl in school." She had a vein protruding from her forehead and her whole face was red. I was clearly the first person that had ever done this to her.

"School's over, Jess. Sorry." I opened my car door and she slammed it shut.

"You are going to take me some place quiet and you are going to fuck me until I am satisfied."

"Don't you have Hoyt to do that?" I looked at her with a cocked eyebrow and crossed my arms.

"Hoyt is an incapable idiot with a small dick." She tossed her hair and looked away from me. "Plus we broke up."

"Jessica, there are plenty of desperate men in this city that are willing to try to satisfy you, I am no longer one of them." I tried to open my car door and she slammed it for a final time.

"Fine, fine, I get it but how about one more for the road?" I eyed her suspiciously. "We go somewhere, you knock it out of the park one last time and I leave you alone forever. Everybody wins." She suggested with a smile on her face.

I knew my answer should have been no. I should've gotten in the car and driven away but her offer was tempting. She was a horrible person but she knew how to fuck. I could get rid of my Jessica problem, I get laid and can move onto Sookie. Sookie and I weren't together, no commitments had been made, it wasn't like I was cheating on Sookie, plus she would never know. The answer should have been no but that's not what my answer was. "Sure." I finally said to a very pleased Jessica.

She walked around the front of the car and got into the passenger side. "Where are you taking me?" She asked checking her makeup in the visor mirror.

"We can do it in the back seat." I suggested as I backed up and tried to exit the parking lot.

She made a noise of distaste. "We aren't in high school anymore Eric, take me somewhere real."

"The school is closed, the woods?" I recommended.

She looked at me like I was crazy. "No."

All of our old haunts were out, we couldn't go to my house or hers and then I thought of the perfect location. "I know a place."

"Great." She smiled and nestled into the seat as we drove the familiar route to Sookie's house.

When I pulled into her driveway I was relieved to see her car was gone. I got out quickly and motioned for Jessica to do the same. "Hurry, lets get this over with."

"You are so romantic Eric. Have I ever told you that?" She called after me making no effort to catch up.

I opened up the garage door and ushered her inside immediately taking off my clothes. "Come on, Hamby, lets do this."

She was moving slowly to annoy me. "Aren't you going to seduce me?" She was playing coy.

I walked over to her and took off her shirt, kissing her neck hungrily, taking one of her breasts in my hand while the other tried to get her out of her jean skirt. She moaned as I kissed my way down her chest trying to shimmy her out of her panties. She started kissing any place she could reach so I began looking for places to fuck her, the best place to get the job done, get her clothes back on and get her out of here. If I was smart and as skilled as I thought I was this would be over in seven minutes.

I took off her bra and picked her up, moving her over to the tool bench. I placed her down on the edge and began fingering her, using my other hand to get my wallet out of my jeans and then get my pants undone.

"Eric!" She cried as my pants fell down around my ankles and I fished a condom out of my wallet.

"Put this on me." I instructed her as she leaned forward and rolled the rubber over my hardened length. She rested her head on my shoulder while I continued to work my fingers in and out of her.

Once the condom was on I removed my fingers and entered her in one fluid motion. She wrapped her arms around my neck asmy arms found their way around her waist, holding her close to me angling her in a way I knew would give her an orgasm. I knew what she liked. It was easy. I got her off twice before I came, losing my senses for a few blissful moments before I heard the garage door open.

I turned to see Sookie walk in.

The look on her face was a mix of anger, hurt and shock as she took in what was happening in front of her. I watched as her breaths became shallow, her chest rising and falling rapidly. "Are you fucking kidding me!" She shouted shaking her head and closing the door. "Oh my God!" I could her hear her continue to yell.

"Fuck," I said as I pulled up my pants and ran after her.

"Hey!" Jessica shouted after me as I ignored her, my only focus being Sookie.

"Sook!" I was sprinting towards her trying to catch up. "Sookie!" I said sternly grabbing her arm when I finally reached her.

"What?!" She yelled back at me pulling her arm out of my grasp.

"That," I pointed to the garage trying to think of the best way to phrase what needed to be said. "That wasn't what it looked like." I said lamely as I huffed rubbing my face in defeat.

"Oh it wasn't!" She tilted her head to the side and looked at me quizzically. "I guess its just the classic case of you tripped and she fell, huh?" She put her hands on her hips.

"Sookie, I just-" I shook my head. Out of all the people that could have caught me she was the worst one. Any possible chance that I had with her was now gone. I fucked up any chance of us being together because I couldn't control myself. What a stereotypical man I was. "I fucked up." I exhaled, there as no point in making excuses, what she saw was what she saw. "Why aren't you at my place?" I asked her.

"My shift ran late at Bellefleur'sand I had to come back here to get my guitar." She crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes. "Are you seriously questioning why I'm at my own fucking house and why I'm fucking angry that you are fucking one of the worst people I have ever met, in MYfucking garage when you had your tongue in my mouth last fucking night?!" She was nearly panting she was so angry. I couldn't blame her.

"I'm sorry, I'm an idiot." I didn't know what to say. I was quickly realizing there was nothing I could say.

"Why did you bring her here of all places? This is our place." I looked up to see the hurt expression on her face under all her fury. "This is the one place that was free of all that bullshit and you brought her here."

"It was the only private place I could think of to take her, I'd thought you'd never know."

"How long has this been going on?" She asked.

"Eight months, give or take."

"I asked you, flat out if you were dating her and you lied. I would have thought less of you but if this was going to happen," she motioned at the space in between us, "at least I would have known what type of guy I was doing it with."

"No, no, I technically didn't lie. I'm not dating her, this is strictly a casual sex situation." I said knowing it was the stupidest thing I possibly could have said and I wanted to strangle myself for saying it.

She laughed in disbelief. "Oh I'm sorry, this is my fault, I should have been clearer. Next time I will think out my questions so we don't get hung up on the fucking semantics." She shook her head for the final time and walked up the steps to her front door. "It doesn't matter, you saved me a lot of heartache so I thank you for showing me who you are now instead of being hurt by you later." Her voice quivered and she pulled open her screen door.

"Sook-" I pleaded, reaching out for her, ascending the first two stairs.

She swallowed hard and stepped into her house. "It's fine. We made out, it's not a big deal, we'll just forget about it and move on."

"I don't want to move on." I whispered feeling an ache in my chest, the ache of losing something you almost had and the anger of knowing you only have yourself to blame for losing it.

Her lips pursed together as she stared at me, pants still undone, shirtless, my hair a mess - I was vulnerable. "Tell Clara I'm sorry I couldn't make it today." She turned and closed the door behind her leaving me on her porch.

I stood there for a few moments letting the rejection sink in before turning to walk back towards the garage. "Fuck!" I shouted knotting my hands in my hair.

"Eric Northman!" I heard Adele Stackhouse reprimand me. "You watch your mouth or I'll have to clean it out with soap."

I turned to see her head sticking out her top floor bedroom window. "I'm sorry Mrs. Stackhouse."

"You owe the swear jar a dollar next time you're here."

"Yes Mrs. Stackhouse." I nodded in agreement.

"And do up your pants for gods sake, did your parents raise you in a barn?" She asked as she pulled her head back in the window.

I reached down to do them up. "Sorry again, Adele!" I yelled in the direction of the open window before walking back to the barn.

Jessica was fully clothed by the time I re-entered our rehearsal space and began speaking immediately. "I did you a favour Eric." She said sitting on a couch looking at her nails. "Actually I did her a favour." Her face scrunched up. "Gross, I just did a favour for Sookie Stackhouse."

"What are you talking about?" I asked as I disposed of the condom.

"You're an asshole, I'm an asshole, we belong together but Sookie is not an asshole. Under her Courtney Love grunge exterior she is a doe eyed Disney Princess. Super naive, completely inexperienced and she lets things cut her too deep. She couldn't handle you and you would grow bored of her. I saved you both time and hurt feelings." She stood and smiled. "I'm kind of like a saint, you are so lucky you have me." She bent over and handed me my shirt. "Take me home please."

I put on my shirt and turned from her without so much as a word. She followed me all the way to the car and waited to be let in. I rolled down the window and looked at her. "I held up my part of the deal so we are done now, find your own way home."

I backed up and left her there. I sped the entire way home beyond angry with myself. Jessica was right, I was an asshole. I was the worst kind of asshole, I was an asshole that thought he was a good guy. A good guy wouldn't have gone near Jessica or Sarah or any of the other vapid girls I had been with in the first place. At the very least a good guy would have said no to Jessica in the parking lot.

I managed to ruin a relationship with Sookie one day in. I was a clusterfuck in human form.

I threw all the groceries on the counter when I got home and walked up to my room. I passed Clara's to find her with a small pink guitar that Sookie had bought her reading sheet music. "Fuck." I groaned for what felt like the hundredth time that day and went into my room to grab my guitar.

"Hey Clara." I said slowly opening her door. "Sookie can't make it today because she's sick but I told her I was going to give you a lesson instead." I sat down on her bed and tuned my guitar. "Is that okay?" I asked my sister.

She frowned, she was clearly upset that Sookie wasn't coming. I had fucked that up too. "I guess." She shrugged, picking up her guitar and coming to sit near me.

I asked her what she had been doing since her last lesson and I taught her how to play "Smoke on the Water" by Deep Purple. It was an easy beginner song and she was growing bored with nursery rhymes.

After her lesson I took a shower to wash Jessica off me. I needed to change who I was, I needed to learn to control myself, show and have more respect for women and pick better ones. I had to lose this part of myself if I was ever going to get Sookie to forgive and to see me in a better light. I made a vow to myself to become the man she used to think I was so I could win back her trust and win her heart. I needed to be with her and I wouldn't stop till I was.

August 18, 2003 - 1:48pm - Bon Temps - Sookie Stackhouse's Driveway

I didn't see Sookie again until the afternoon we were leaving for Jackson. She was picked up last, waiting on her driveway with three guitars beside her and her arms crossed over her chest. The second we had pulled up beside her Tara and Alcide jumped out to greet her.

She gave a huge hug to Tara and Alcide when they jumped out of the van to help her, she even went as far as to complement Alcide on his shirt. It was the same plaid shirt he always wore.

Her eyes went dark when she focused on me. "Can you load these for me?" She asked practically throwing her guitar at me. I looked up at Alcide who was giving me a wide eyed questioning look as I pushed her electric into the back of the van.

Bill came around the car and hung up his phone. He was always on it, clarifying deals, getting us gigs, without him we wouldn't have been as successful as we were so fast. He hugged Sookie tightly before pulling out piece of paper and running down it with her. If Bill was the head honcho then Sookie was his right hand man. When it came to the songs he wrote, where we were playing, what we were playing and how we were going to play it; he wanted her opinion first. The change that he made in that summer was astonishing. He was a completely different person and it was for the better no matter how much I disliked his closeness with Sookie.

"Alright, lets leave. It'll take about three and a half hours to get there, we stop at Alcide's grandparents house, drop of our clothes, get some food and then head to the venue. We have sound check at seven and we are on at ten thirty. Everyone got it?" Bill asked as his phone rang and he walked back to the front of the van to answer it before we got a chance to answer him.

I turned my attention to Sookie who was placing her acoustic in the van. "Hey."

She gave me a side glance as she arranged the equipment. "What?"

"How are you?" I inquired as I took a step towards her.

"Fuck you."

"Okay, still mad." I sighed. "Can I help you into the van?" I offered trying to do anything I could for her.

Anger swept her face as she took a step towards me. She was so close I could smell the citrus body wash she always used. "You have to be crazy if you think I'm going to be any closer to you than I have to. I'm sitting up front with Bill." She turned her back to me and disappeared from my view.

Alcide approached me with a nudge. "So she seems a little frosty. Whatcha do?"

I huffed and rubbed my face. I hadn't been sleeping much the past two days. "She caught me with Jessica."

"Hamby?"

"Yeah."

"God, she has the best tits." He grinned.

"You've slept with her?" I asked.

"Who hasn't?" He shrugged. "I don't understand why that would make Sookie so mad though."

"I kinda, sorta made out with her the night before." My nose scrunched up and I made a noise of exhaustion and disappointment.

Alcide started to laugh. "Oh, you are so pretty but so, so stupid. She is never going to forgive you, you fucking idiot." He continued to laugh as he got into the van.

"Thanks for the support Herveaux." I mumbled as I followed him.

"Not only did you fuck around with someone else but Hamby has always been an asshole to Sookie." His laughter was dying down and his voice became a whisper.

"I know."

"Man, if this fucks up the band we are kicking you out. She's too good of a guitar player."

"Yeah, I know."

"Just give her time. She'll be fine." He placed his hand on my shoulder in a supportive gesture.

"You think she'll give me another shot?" I asked hopefully.

He laughed again. "I didn't say that, I'm just saying that maybe one day she won't hate you. Virgins never forget."

I sighed and banged my head against the side of the van. This was going to be a long three days.

So Eric was kind of douche in this. Eric was a douche in high school. Now you know why they didn't get together.

I also see Bill differently in my head in this story. To me he looks more like Sebastian Stan than Stephen Moyer.

Anyway I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the next one is from Sookie's POV, the morning after the drunken hookup.

Please review if you have a moment, I really appreciate it.

Thanks for reading!