A/N: This chapter might seem a little scattered. I want to give you the basics of what happened to them without getting into to much detail unless it has to do with Sookie and Eric's relationship.

Also I can't say this enough, I have zero clue how the music industry actually works so all of what happens in this chapter is probably wrong.

I also edited this myself which is why most of it doesn't make sense.

I've also linked Just and Ship of Fools on my profile. They don't sing them in this chapter but they are talked about a lot.

Thank you so much to B-rock525, Suzymeinen, MagpieTales, ashmo2000, MelodyAnderson, LostInSpace33, ljhjelm49, covenmama, ciasteczko, Nicolle1977, suzyq59, scorpiolady68, Queen Diamond, MsNorthman, lajayden1973 and the guest who reviewed the last chapter.

I hope you enjoy!

August 21, 2003 - December 4, 2004

Bill couldn't stress to Sookie and Tara enough that when they got home the most important thing they had to do was convince their parents and guardians that they had to accompany them to New York. Bill made it very clear that if neither of them could come then they would be replaced. This prompted Sookie to laugh hysterically telling Bill there was no way he could find anyone as half as good as her and Tara and to shut his mouth.

As it turned out Tara's mother agreed instantly for a free trip to New York and Adele agreed as long as Russell could send her something that outlined his intent.

A week later we were staying in a plush, impeccably designed penthouse sweet of some swanky hotel I had never heard of. New York was like being in another world and I felt like I was dreaming most of the time I was there. There was no way this was my life now, there was no way I was a step away from having a career in music.

We had been there for a week before we performed for the executives who would decide if we were marketable enough. Russell had spent a lot of time moulding us, changing our clothes, hair and making sure Tara's and Sookie's make-up made them look older than they were.

The performances went well even though we were all more nervous because of the intimateness of the space and what was at stake if we failed.

Two days later a basic contract was drawn up and reviewed at length. Adele even used some of her savings to hire the best contract lawyer she could find. She explained to us that we could pay her back later after our first paycheques came in.

We were told the contract was pretty solid and entirely contingent on how well we did. We would sign on for two albums and two tours. During the first tour we would be an opening act for a bigger band with a possibility to co-headline if we did well enough and while we would be paid for recording the album most of our money would come out of the tour. We would get more from the second album and second tour depending if our first tour and album was successful.

"So basically, if we want to get paid we have to make sure people like us?" Bill asked looking at the slender, well-dressed lawyer.

"Basically," he looked around at all of us, "but you're a good looking group of kids, that's all it really takes nowadays." He handed the contract back to us and stood. "Good luck, I'll keep an ear out for you on the radio, what is your band name?"

We muttered a bunch of different names still not sure what we were calling ourselves.

He nodded slowly not sure how to proceed. "Well, I'll keep a look out, good afternoon." He left hastily and we all reviewed the contract one more time.

Three days later we signed the contract and were officially the newest artists of the Sonnet Indie family.

The label moved us into a large three bedroom apartment until we could find housing of our own. Sookie and Tara shared a room together and after drawing the long straw, Bill got his own room leaving me to bunk with Alcide.

A week later we were in the studio and a two and a half months after that the album was almost complete.

"The higher-ups think there needs to be the golden single. The break-out. The song that will grab the attention of everyone who hears it enough so they'll give your second single a try." Russell said sitting on the couch in our apartment. "Does anything have anything?"

"What kind of sound are they looking for?" Bill asked balancing a can of coke on his stomach.

"Punch you in the gut rock." Russell said with a shrug.

"What does that even mean?" I asked. "Like heavy metal?"

"I don't know, I don't think they know what they want. I'm sure you could go with anything, they'd re-organize the album and make something you've already recorded the single." Russell picked a piece of lint from his suit.

"We don't want to 'just go with anything', this is our first album. I don't know about you guys but I just don't want to put anything on there." Alcide stated.

"I have something." Sookie said quietly. "It might not be what you're looking for but I guess if no one has anything else." She stood and moved across the room to her bag, pulling out her notebook. She ripped out a page and put it on the coffee table.

We all moved towards it and began scanning the lyrics and discussing the music she had written to go with it. My heart dropped when I read over it getting the feeling that the song could, in part, be about me.

"Play it." Bill said leaning back in the couch.

Sookie grabbed an electric guitar and plugged it in, beginning to play her way through the song, explaining how she heard the other parts in her head, singing how she thought the words should be sung.

You do it to yourself, you do/And that's what really hurts/Is you do it to yourself, just you/You and no-one else/You do it to yourself

It was scattered and aggressive and sad. A bizarre heartbreak song that only Sookie could write.

Thirty minutes later we were at the studio and three hours later it was recorded.

"Does it always happen that fast" I asked Russell once we were done.

"That's what she said!" Alcide snapped in delight, pointing at me as he giggled.

I focused my attention back on Russell with an eye roll as he began to speak. "I've seen albums recorded in three days and others in three years. It depends on the person or band and it gives no indication of performance either. You either have or you don't, time has nothing to do with it."

Russell left and we all headed back home waiting to hear what the next steps were. I was dying to get Sookie alone to ask her about the song we had titled 'Just'. I found my moment a couple nights later when she was smoking on our balcony.

She didn't turn to see who was approaching her, she just continued to smoke and only when I leaned over the railing beside her did she look over at me. We were silent for some time, both smoking cigarettes looking out over the foreign city. "It's so loud here." She broke the silence.

"Do you not like it?" I asked her.

"I like the city fine it's just hard to be inside your own head when there is so much going on everywhere." She put the cigarette out in the ashtray beside her.

"Sook, who is 'Just' about?" I asked, too impatient to wait any longer.

"My brother," She answered quickly not looking at me. "He had this whole future ahead of him, he could have gone to college on scholarship but instead he decided that drinking beer and a shitty construction job was the way to go."

"Maybe that's the life he wants." I suggested feeling my cheeks flame in embarrassment, I was so sure it was about me and I was thankful for the darkness to hide my red face.

She shook her head. "He talks about how he could have been a great football star all the time but he decided to throw it away, hence the lyric, you do it to yourself." She paused for a moment to take a sip of the beer I didn't realize she had. "I didn't finish it, it sat with all the other unfinished songs I have until I caught you with Jessica."

"So it is about me?"

"In part." She sighed deeply and turned to face me. "Eric, you hurt me and I needed to get it out."

I nodded and rubbed my face. "I'm still so sorry about that, it was so stupid. I wasn't thinking."

"No, you weren't." She rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands, the beer bottle bumping up against her arm. "But I can't be mad at you anymore. I'm exhausted and I hate hating you so this is me telling you I don't anymore." She moved towards me wrapping her arms around my neck and hugging me tightly.

I hugged her back, breathing her in and relaxing around her for the first time in a long time. We separated slightly and I went in to kiss her but before our lips touched she stopped me. "Eric, I think you misunderstood what I'm saying, I forgive you but I can't forget. I don't trust you and there is no way we can be together without that. I'm have so many trust issues, the people I love most always disappoint me and it is going to take me awhile to build that kind of trust back up again."

I took a step away from her and nodded.

"Ask me out in a year, maybe I'll fine by then." She smiled with a joking kind of laugh as she tried desperately to easy the tension. We stood in silence again trying to find a way to make something feel normal or at least our new normal. "So, how you been?" She sat down on one of the chairs that littered our balcony.

I couldn't help but laugh. "I've been okay, I'm going to be a rockstar apparently." I took a seat.

"Really?" She scrunched up her nose and shook her head. "I can't really see it."

"Fuck off." I teased bumming a smoke off of her. Then we talked about everything that I wanted to say to her since we stopped speaking. It reminded me that even though I blew my chance to be with her, I missed her company as a friend even more. I was so happy to be able to talk to her and I had no problem waiting the year and earning her trust again.

Three weeks later we told we would be going on tour with The White Stripes and Interpol once the album had dropped. It was slatted to be released on March 9, 2004 with 'Just' being our first single.

"Now all you need is a name!" Russell exclaimed as we sat in of the boardrooms at Sonnet Indie headquarters. "Well, you need to name your album and choose artwork and we need to find you a manager." He rambled.

"So there are lots of things we have left to do?" Bill cocked an eyebrow.

"Does anyone have any ideas?" Russell asked ignoring Bill.

"I'm going with Tara and the Giants." Tara said crossing her arms firmly over her chest like she already knew what the answer would be.

"No." Russell shut her down. "Next!"

"International Sex Station," Sookie suggested.

"Nope."

"Have you guys heard of Wikipedia?" Alcide asked.

"That's a strange name for a band." Russell made a face like he smelled something rotten.

Alcide sighed and closed his eyes for a second to gather himself. "No, the website Wikipedia. I was talking to a few other bands when we were on tour last summer and they said they went to Wikipedia and clicked the random article button and then whatever came up is what they named their band."

We all looked at each other already knowing we were going to try it.

"What do we have left to lose?" Bill said looking at Russell who left and returned with a laptop.

Once everything was set up Bill typed in the website and we waited for the page to load with bated breath. "It's weird that we about to choose the name that is going to stick, we've had so many." I said through my giddiness.

"We can always change it later if want. Pull a Prince." Sookie grinned at me.

"I would strongly advise against that." Russell warned. "So many legal fees."

"And Prince did that as a huge fuck you to his record label." Tara piped up.

"Okay, so I just hit the random page button and the first page that comes up is our band name?" Bill asked scanning the screen.

"Yeah, it's right," Alcide moved his finger over the screen till he landed on it, "there."

Bill clicked and we waited to see what would appear.

"Tannois." Bill said. I could tell by his tone that he hated it.

"It's a commune in North-Eastern France." Tara read. "Hmmm, the more you know."

"Let's just go again." Bill clicked the button again. "Josip Broz Tito High School, no," he clicked again. "Mode Field Diameter, Eyeish, Breakfast with Les and Bess, Runway Overrun Prevention System." He rambled off the names of the articles as they came up.

"Oooohhhh, I like that last one." Sookie sounded hopeful.

"No," Bill turned to look at Alcide. "This is stupid."

"Try it one more time and if we don't like it we'll just put two words together." Alcide encouraged.

"Fine." Bill said in a huff hitting the button for the final time.

We all stared at the word trying to figure out how to pronounce it. "Pear-e-hell-ion" Tara said cautiously.

"I think it's 'Pear-a-heal-ion'" said Sookie skimming through the article. "The point in orbit of a celestial body where it is nearest to its orbital focus, generally a star." She stood back up. "I like the idea of a band name that suggests we are flying too close to the sun."

"I don't hate it." Bill said staring at the computer. "Aphelion is its opposite, when it's farthest from the sun. That could be the album title. Aphelion."

"Holy shit, are we all agreeing on this?" Tara asked incredulously.

"I think we are." I confirmed.

"Perihelion," Sookie said it again.

"Welcome to the stage, Perihelion!" Alcide boomed in his best announcer voice.

"We're a band, not strippers." Bill rolled his eyes as he went to retrieve a pen.

Alcide shrugged. "Same diff and I've preformed without a shirt before so..."

I laughed and let a relieved breath. We had a name, now all we needed was a manager.

Two weeks later we got one. "This is Sam Merlotte." Russell said pointing at the shaggy haired man at the end of the table.

"Yeah, you were twenty minutes late, we've already made introductions." Sookie glared at Russell.

"So what were you saying about Jack White?" Bill encouraged.

"He loves the album, I love the album, pretty much every person who's heard it loves it." Sam grinned.

We all smiled at each other, squirming with pride.

"So, what's next?" I asked.

"Music videos." Sam pulled out a piece of paper and went over how we would start next week and shoot something for 'Just'. "We want it out a few weeks before the album release. We'll release the 'Ship of Fools' video with the actual album release and 'Instant Pleasure' will come out a month after. We want to saturate the radio and MTV with you guys and we want your faces everywhere."

"Sounds awesome." Alcide beamed grabbing a water which were sitting on a tray in the middle of the table.

"So, those are the singles?" Bill asked tapping his index finger on the table.

"For now, more may be added if you do well." Sam flipped through his papers. "We've also set up numbers of interviews for you to do with local radio stations, papers and magazines as well as some national ones while you are on tour." Sam took a deep breath in. "Do you guys think you can handle that?"

We nodded and got to it. A week later we were shooting our first music video trying to figure out how to "look good" as the director put it, while we played our instruments and acted along with the Twilight Zone plot of the video. Two weeks after that we shot the second video which was far more complicated to shoot than the first as it dealt with many ship props, water and choreography which some of us were better at than others. A week before the 'Just' video was set premiere we shot our third video.

Seeing myself on TV was strange and disconnecting. I could understand immediately why some stars changed so much when they became famous. I was the person on the screen but I wasn't, there was a grunge polish on me and I looked like the fantasy of what every pop rock teenage girl would want me to look like. I wanted to be that guy, not the dude in the worn out Pink Floyd t-shirt and 15 dollar jeans which I had on when I watched the video.

It was also exhilarating to hear ourselves on the radio which started to happen more and more frequently. The single did well, better than expected. Russell chalked up it up to the video and the fact that either people wanted to fuck us or be us.

"So it has nothing to do with the music then?" Sookie asked annoyed.

"It doesn't matter why people are listening to the music, if your looks get them there and the albums are bought you get to keep making the music." Russell dismissed her.

We were given lessons on how to give a good interview, how to handle a stupid or offensive question, how to handle fans, how to pose for fan photos and how to handle the paparazzi.

We took one final trip back home to Bon Temps just after the album was released and just before we went on tour in April. The album was incredibly well reviewed and would eventually go on to be number one on many top albums of the year lists.

The second single 'Ship of Fools' was an even bigger hit than 'Just' and to correlate with the release of 'Instant Pleasure' we played Saturday Night Live.

A month later we were pulled off the tour with The White Stripes and given our own, Franz Ferdinand would open, and a week after that our album hit number one. We weren't big enough to play arena's but we were playing 2,000 to 3,000 seat venues two to three nights in a row depending on demand. If we were lucky we would have a night off in between cities but there were times we were playing a show every night of the week.

Fame come like a sack full of bricks and hit us all differently. Bill loved it and all the attention he received. Alcide thought it was fun but equally annoying, he hated losing privacy. Tara and Sookie found it difficult being women and torn apart about everything they did, wore and said and I found it jarring. It made me feel strange that people I had never met knew so much about me. Women threw themselves at me all the time and none of them respected personal boundaries. I liked signing autographs and taking photos with the civil fans but for the most part people were not civil and treated you like things rather than people.

The money was nice and the better we did the more money came in. Ironically the more money we made the more things we got for free. New clothes, electronics, alcohol, expensive jewelry and watches, food and bizarre odds and ends. Sookie and Tara were sent gold plated vibrators.

One day in late November while we were touring around the Northern States I sat down with Sookie on our tour bus to ask her a question I had been waiting to ask her for a year.

"Man, I am so exhausted but like in a good way. I can't wait for Christmas, I need time off." Sookie said thumbing through a copy of Rolling Stone magazine. Like all of us she looked polished all the time. Her hair was always shiny and her skin was smooth and silky looking. We were always receiving beauty treatments routinely to make sure we looked our best.

"I'm with you on that one." I said scratching my head. "Are you going back to Bon Temps for Christmas?" I asked her.

She nodded. "Yeah, Gran is really excited to make dinner for her rockstar." She looked up at me. "She keeps magazine clippings of everything we do and every time we are on TV, she tapes it. She keeps a copy of the album in her purse and literally shows it to anyone who will listen."

I laughed. "My mom is doing the same thing she's just a little more low key about it."

"You're going to Bon Temps for Christmas too?" She asked.

"Yeah and if I'm going to be there and you are going to be there then maybe we can go to dinner or something." My cheeks flushed.

She stared at me blankly until a look of understanding passed over her face and her cheeks flushed just as red as mine. "Oh," she closed the magazine and started playing with her hair, "you mean like a date?"

I nodded. "Yeah, like a date."

"Uh, I'm sort of seeing someone." She looked up at me through her lashes.

Her statement hit me like a baseball bat to the chest. I hadn't seen her with anyone and up until that moment I thought she still had feelings for me. I thought that after I had built up her trust she would agree to go out with me. I never saw it coming. "With who?" Was all I could think of to say.

"Um, Alex actually." She raised an eyebrow waiting for me to react. "The lead singer from Franz-"

"Yeah, I know who you're talking about." I cut her off. "Isn't he like 15 years older than you?" I was trying to keep my cool but it wasn't working.

"We don't want to bring too much attention to it and we don't want too many people to know until we decide if we want to stay together or if we want this to be just a fling." She was tearing the cover of the magazine as she spoke. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I just, you are one of my best friends, maybe the best one I have and I love you but all the romantic feelings I had for you are gone."

I nodded swallowing hard. "No, it's okay." I smiled. "I just wish you could have told me. He's like your first boyfriend, right?" And that was the first sentence in a long line of sentences that expressed support and understanding as I suffered silently, wishing it was me she was talking about so warmly; she was practically glowing.

"Yeah and he's amazing. I never thought he would be but when you get him alone he's so caring and thoughtful and sensitive. I feel so wanted and beautiful when I'm with him." She rubbed her face bashfully.

"It sounds like it's a little more than a fling for you." I was trying to keep my breathing steady.

"Yeah, well, I mean it's still pretty new, only 3 months and I don't want to scare him off."

We sat in silence for a moment while I took everything in and tried to think of something to say.

Alcide saved me, throwing down a deck of cards and a crib board. "You guys wanna play?"

"Yeah," I muttered.

Sookie nodded.

Alcide looked between us with a cocked eyebrow. "What's up with you two? Did someone die?"

"Just deal the cards, man." I barked, thankful he was there and I no longer had to hear about Sookie's new boyfriend.

Later than night after playing a show in Minneapolis, I watched Sookie as she talked to Alex and the rest of his band. She laughed at everything he said casually and playfully smacked his arm. "Stupid, Scottish bastard," I grumbled to myself drinking half of my beer at once.

"You look glum." Bill said sitting down beside me smacking me on the chest.

I shook my head. "Naw, just tired." We sat together and watched everyone around as we drank in the hotel bar. "What do you think of Alex?" I asked Bill who was looking at his phone. We all had one now but Bill was the only one glued to his.

Bill looked over to Sookie and Alex who had been joined by Alcide and Tara. "He's fine."

"Do you think him and Sookie are together?" I inquired.

Bill chuckled. "No, he is not her type."

"You know what her type is?" I angled myself towards him.

He stared at me for a few moments as he decided what he wanted to say. "Not really but she needs someone more caring, that guy only cares about himself. If they are together, it won't last."

"How do you know?"

"You aren't the only person that knows anything about her." He winked at me and ran over to her and Alex. She looked up and smiled at him, she had a look in her eyes that I hadn't seen since the night she left my place after we kissed for the first time.

I started to try to get over Sookie but it wasn't successful, I felt my stomach turn when I saw her or Alex, or even Bill for that matter, something just felt off about him.

On December 4th, 2004 that feeling finally made sense. I was awoken early morning to banging on my hotel door and yelling. I stumbled to my door and the second it was opened I had arms and legs wrapped around me and I was pushed back into the wall behind me.

"Eight! Eight! We got eight!" Sookie screamed in my ear. She was in a long t-shirt and panties and I relished in the feeling of her skin on my shirtless torso.

"What are you saying?" I asked looking up at her. She had tears in her eyes and the largest smile on her face.

"Eight Grammy's, nominations," she stuttered and she put her feet on the ground and she started screaming and jumping up and down.

"Wait, what? We got eight Grammy nominations?" I asked putting my hands on her shoulders trying to steady her.

She nodded furiously and started jumping and screaming again heading out to the hallway where Alcide, Tara and Bill already were yelling and dancing with the people we had woken up on our floor. I hugged both Tara and Alcide as we jumped and danced and chanted 'eight' together over and over again.

I looked up to go embrace Bill, the only one of my bandmates I hadn't celebrated with but he was already celebrating with Sookie. His arms were around her waist and his lips were firmly against hers, her fingers threaded through his hair.

I felt the blood drain out of my face, I felt like I couldn't hear properly and I had tunnel vision. This should be the best day of my life but instead I felt like being sick.

The first thing I felt was confusion because I believed she was with Alex and here she was with Bill and then it hit me, she lied. Of course she wouldn't tell me about Bill, this could ruin our band and while she and Bill sorted everything out, if they were something that was going to last longer than a month, they wanted to keep it quiet. The lie about Alex allowed her to talk about it but keep it a secret at the same time.

The second emotion was anger that she had lied, that Bill had lied. They might have known how I felt but even if they didn't they were my friends and I wasn't trusted. I felt so rejected I wanted to punch him and scream at her.

Finally, I was sad. Alex was one thing, he was an outsider. When our tour ended he would be gone and it would be easier for their relationship to fall apart but Bill was different, he was a staple, an anchor, a constant in all our lives. I knew how much this band meant to him and if he was willing to put it all on the line to date Sookie then he cared about her, a lot, and I knew that this was something serious.

I turned back to Alcide and Tara who were both looking past me to Bill and Sookie. "Well, that's new." Alcide commented with a surprised look on his face.

"Yeah, yeah it is." I forced a smile and pulled them in for a hug trying to enjoy the feeling of being a Grammy nominee as much as I could.

So that's it, I'm sorry if their past is boring for you guys but I like the back and forth.

Please review if you can and thank you for reading.