Layla walked over to Fangtasia just as the last rays of April sunlight left the sky. She was wearing a cropped white tank top that showed off her stomach which wasn't as tan as it had been but still held some color. She had paired it with a long, dark green maxi skirt. Her hair was down and in waves. It was getting longer and reached the middle of her back.
She didn't want to walk inside Fangtasia with so much skin exposed and so waited outside for Eric. When he stepped outside his face looked blank but when his eyes settled on her the tension left his features and he smiled a little. He bent down and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek.
"You look like a hippie." he said. "But beautiful all the same."
"Well, you look like yourself. Handsome as ever." Layla said. Eric offered his arm and Layla took it with a smile as he escorted her to his car. Surprisingly enough, getting over Alcide hadn't been as hard as she thought it would be. Not when she had someone in her corner rooting for her. She was just shocked that person was Eric Northman.
XXxxXXxxXXxxXXxxXXxx
They were seated at a table on the patio overlooking some body of water that Layla hadn't paid any attention to. There was a screen around the deck to keep bugs out and a small candle burned at the table. Eric was drinking a true blood cocktail while Layla was having white wine.
"Why do you always insist in going to dinner when you can't eat anything?" Layla asked, ripping a roll in half. Eric shrugged.
"Because you sound so sexual when you eat." Eric said quietly as he sipped his drink. Layla's jaw dropped and Eric couldn't help but smile.
"I do not." she said, shocked. Eric started to mimic the little moans she would make when something tasted good, exaggerating them in her opinion.
"I will throw this roll at you. I will throw food in the fancy restaurant." she threatened while barely containing her own laughter. Her hand was half raised with the dinner roll. Eric smiled and lowered her hand, his own resting on hers for a moment.
"I actually have a surprise for you." he said. Layla sipped at her wine and raised an eyebrow as a silent sign for him to continue. "You've mentioned how much you like Sookie's house, and how much you love the graveyard. Well it just so happens the house is for sale. So I bought it." Eric told her. Layla's jaw hung open.
"More wine, miss?" a waiter asked. Layla couldn't acknowledge him. Eric accepted the wine for her and sent the waiter away.
"You did not buy that house." Layla said, looking crushed. Eric pulled a piece of paper out of his back pocket and smoothed it on the table. It was a property deed. Layla slumped in her seat.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"You knew how badly I wanted it." she said quietly. Eric leaned forward.
"Exactly." Eric said. "Don't you want to live there?" he asked, confused.
"Wait, what?" she asked. Eric rolled his eyes.
"I bought it so you could live in it, but now you can't keep me out of it." he said with a smug smile. "If i wanted to keep it from you I would have just set it on fire."
"I can live there?" Layla asked, stunned. "Oh! Eric! You are so awesome!"
"I'm aware." he said quietly, still annoyed that she thought badly of him for a moment. Layla jumped up from her chair and went to his side of the table wrapping her arms around his shoulders and squeezing.
"I have to put the old house on the market. Do I have to pay you rent? When can I move in? Can we get the house painted? It needs some work. I don't want to redo the inside too much though, I like it's old school style." Layla babbled happily as she resumed her seat.
"We can discuss all of that later." Eric said, raising his tumbler of true blood. "To real estate." he said. Layla smiled wide and raised her wine glass.
"To real estate." she echoed.
XXxxXXxxXXxxXXxx
"ERIC!" Layla screamed from the living room, where men were working on a cubby hole beneath the house. It was dark and Eric had been helping Layla move in her boxes to the upstairs bedroom. They had both decided that it was too strange use Sookie's room. She may have abandoned the house but neither of them believed she was dead, nor that she was in mortal danger. It was still plausible that she might come back.
Eric loped back down the stairs with his hands tucked into the pockets of his jeans.
"You bellowed?" he asked. Layla glared at him.
"Kitchen. Now." she said, storming the few feet into the kitchen, away from the workers. Eric followed her, leaning against the sinks. "Did we or did we not discuss pretty much all possible scenarios before I agreed to live here?" Layla asked.
"We did, and you were fine with the fact that I can come and go as I please, since it is my house after all." Eric reminded her.
"Yeah, come and go. Go being the operative word here, Eric. You didn't mention you were building your own freaking daylight room. What else are you changing in the house? I thought we agreed not to change it and just update it a little." Layla complained. Eric smiled.
"You're more upset about the idea that I'm re-designing the house than you are about my plans to live here." he realized. Layla shrugged.
"So? I don't mind living with you. You'll probably spend most of your time out doing Sheriff stuff anyway." Layla told him. Eric rolled his eyes.
"The room will be under the house, and the ladder to it will be hidden in a closet. Anyone walking in wouldn't know it was there. The house will look the same." Eric assured her. Layla let out a little sigh of relief.
"Okay, then." she said. Eric walked over and kissed the top of her head.
"You worry too much." he said.
"I worry just enough, my friend." she said, brushing past him to start unpacking her boxes.
XXxxXXxxXXxxXX
It was late June before Eric's little cubby hole was finished and all repairs to the walls and foundation had been made. After talking it over with Eric they had decided to hold off on further renovations for a little while, just because Layla was sick and tired of all the noise, which echoed into her beloved graveyard.
Layla was driving to Shreveport to visit the Moon Goddess Emporium. She'd gotten to become quite friendly with Marnie and also Holly and Jesus who stopped by the shop. They had invited her to join their circle last month and she'd been going ever since. When she pulled up to the storefront she saw Jesus on his cell phone out front. She waved and he waved back as he hung up.
"Hey." she said. "Was that your boyfriend?"
"That was my Lafayette." Jesus said with a smile.
"You guys are so cute it makes me want to vomit." Layla remarked.
"What about your boyfriend?" Jesus asked.
"Don't have one." Layla said as they walked inside.
"I thought you were dating someone?" Jesus asked.
"I have dinner with this guy I used to have a thing with once a week." Layla said with a shrug. Neither her nor Eric wanted people to know where he lived. It was dangerous. Their house was as much an escape for him as it was for her.
"Oh...dinner." Jesus said knowingly. Layla shoved him playfully.
"Just dinner. He wishes it was... dinner." Layla said, thrusting her hips to make her point. Jesus laughed.
"You should come by Merlotte's after the circle and have a drink with me and Lafayette." Jesus offered. Layla smiled brightly.
"Sounds like fun." she said with a bright smile as she settled down in the circle.
XXxxXXxxXXxxXXxxXX
Layla, Jesus, and Lafayette sat at the bar laughing hard at something Layla couldn't quite remember. Lafayette had concocted whatever they were drinking and it was delicious. They had been at the bar for over two hours and Layla was extremely drunk.
It reminded her of when she had gotten drunk alone at the Hotel Camilla when she had visited Dallas. The all too vivid dream she'd had of sleeping with Eric. Just thinking about it made her face heat up. Lafayette giggled.
"Girl, you thinking something bad. I can see it all over that pretty face." he said. Layla blushed harder.
"Thinking that ex-boyfriend may not be an ex for long." Jesus teased. Layla rolled her eyes.
"He was never my boyfriend." Layla said. "Just my..." she trailed off and then shrugged unsure of how to finish the sentence. Layla stretched. "Alright, I am drunk and sleepy. I will see you all later."
"She's right. It's time for me to drag my tired ass up on outta here." Lafayette said.
Layla left while Lafayette locked up. As she got into her car she started fanning herself with her hands. It was freaking hot out. She put the air conditioner on full blast and started to drive home. She found as she drove that was sweating like crazy. Putting her hand against the air vents she realized something very bad. The AC in her car was broken. Layla cursed and turned it off and rolled down all the windows. Fucking Louisiana summers.
She drove with her knees for a minute as she pulled off the t-shirt she'd worn all day. It got stuck on her head a moment and she pulled harshly. When she looked at the road four deer sprinted across the road. Layla screamed and turned to avoid them and drove the car right into a ditch by the side of the road, smacking her head good on the steering wheel.
She opened her eyes groggily and cursed again. The car had been repaired after the last tree she'd hit, courtesy of Eric Northman. Now it was banged up again. If it took much more abuse she would need a whole new car.
She turned and kicked the door open and climbed out onto the road, coughing from the dust that had been kicked up. There was a rush of wind and before she knew it she was looking up at Eric.
"How did you know?" she asked, as he helped her to her feet.
"I felt your fear." he said succinctly. "Are you hurt?" he asked, quickly examining her for cuts or bruises.
"I don't think so." she said. "But I have a killer headache."
"I'll bet it's going to be worse tomorrow." Eric said. "You were stupid to drive while intoxicated."
"I didn't crash my car because I was intoxicated. I crashed my car because there were fucking deer in the road." she snapped.
"Where's your shirt?" Eric asked.
"I took it off. My air conditioning is broken. The car was a sweatbox." Layla said. Eric sighed.
"Let's go home." he said, scooping her up in his arms