Since some of you are asking about the timeline here, I thought I would clarify. This story is not canon and I had no particular time frame in mind, other than this story occurring sometime after Longshadow's staking.
Thanks to everyone who is reading and reviewing. You are all very kind towards this story and I appreciate the feedback.
As always, I do not own these characters.
"I want to know what makes you so different."
It was 4:38 on a Saturday morning and Sookie resisted the urge to yawn. It had been a week since her phone had rung in the middle of the night. She should have been grateful for his consideration, but the truth was she spent the last week in a state of fitful alertness, waking several times each night to check the phone for missed calls. The vampire would never know it, but disappointment flowed every time the display on her brand new phone confirmed she had zero missed calls.
"You know what's different about me. It's the telepathy." If he was going to pretend the intervening week hadn't happened, she could play that game, too.
"No," he told her, his voice deep and insistent. "That's just part of the equation. I want to know the other part. I want to know everything about you."
The week had been a tough one for the Viking. Every thought led back to the charming southern belle, despite his resolve to put her from his mind. His mood, not to mention his temper, had been foul for the last six nights and even Pamela was beginning to question what his problem was. He had no secrets from his child, but somehow could not confess his issues with the telepath. For the first time in many long years, Eric Northman had a problem he could not solve.
"Gran always told me a woman should keep some of her mysteries to herself," Sookie responded. If she was prevaricating, could she be blamed? His blanket declaration of 'everything' still didn't truly explain what he really wanted from her.
"Then tell me something about you which is not a mystery," he shot back. "If you can find something, that is."
"What do you mean by that?" Curiosity and sleepiness didn't mix and Sookie let go of the suppressed yawn. "Other than my telepathy, there's no mystery about me. I'm an open book."
Eric laughed; a deep, rumbling sound that did queer things to the girl's tummy. She could almost picture how his beautiful blue eyes would twinkle with amusement. His lighthearted nature was the thing she liked most about him. The world weary vampire and the backwater waitress didn't have much in common, but they did share an unmistakable zest for life; the joie de vivre Bill had suggested.
"I call complete bullshit on that one, lover," he said, still laughing quietly. "You are a complete mystery or enigma, if you prefer. I'm starting to settle on conundrum myself."
"A problem, a question, a riddle, perhaps?" It was her turn to laugh, even if hers was more wry than amused. "I can do synonyms, too, and all of those sum you up completely. And I'm not your lover."
"The problem isn't me; the problem is your boyfriend. The question is why are you still with him? The question doubles as the riddle, my future lover, because I can't figure out why the hell you're still with him."
"The problem isn't my boyfriend; the problem is you won't tell me what you want from me. The question is what do you want from me and they both come down to the root of the riddle: Why would you want anything from me?"
"I've told you many times. I want you to break up with him. Tell him that it's over," he said, still avoiding a proper answer. "He's not right for you and you know it."
"What makes you an expert on what's right for me? You can't even tell me why you keep waking me up in the middle of the night."
"I told you why. You are different, sweet Sookie and I need to know why." The need to understand her had become an obsession with the vampire. His desire to bed the luscious telepath hadn't lessened any, but his need to actually know her was surpassing it.
"I'm really not, you know. I'm really quite ordinary, if you don't count the telepathy." She wasn't ready to delve into the analysis this was going to require, but she couldn't stand the idea that he would somehow be disappointed when he finally realized she was as ordinary as she said. Her inexperience and sheltered upbringing prevented her from understanding she was everything he claimed and more.
"The fact you don't see it makes you even more special," he declared. "Most women - most people - see themselves as superior to their natural state."
"I'm flattered you think I'm special, but you don't know me well enough to know that. The only thing unique about me is the telepathy, the very thing that also proves how wrong you are."
"How so?"
"I've been hearing what folks think of me my whole life, Eric. Friends, family, neighbors and strangers; I've heard it all and trust me when I tell you that other than my Gran, you're the only one who thinks there's anything special about me."
Not once had the vampire considered her telepathy to be anything other than a spectacular gift, but her quietly spoken words gave him pause. He never gave a fuck what anyone thought of him, but he'd never been forced to listen to those thoughts. For the first time, he saw why she might consider it a curse.
"People are naturally repelled by what they don't understand and I doubt the fine folks of Bon Temps have ever seen anything like you before. What they can't explain, they try to dismiss. This has made it difficult for you to see how special you are, but that doesn't mean you are not special. It means they are not special."
He was right, of course. There was hardly a soul in Bonus Temps who hadn't thought of her as different in some way. She'd heard herself described as a witch, a mind reader, crazy, psychic...you name it, they'd thought it. But it was more than difficult to see past it when it had infiltrated her very psyche. It was impossible.
"We'll just have to agree to disagree on that one. I know what I have always heard and most of it has nothing to do with whether or not I'm different," she dismissed. "I think the reason you believe I'm mysterious or unique because I don't give you what you want."
"Mysterious and unique, and I have faith we will come to an agreement about what we both want soon enough. Just as soon as you break up with him."
"Do you ever give up?"
"Never," he declared proudly. "It's one of my better traits."
"I don't get you, Eric. You are so persistent, but I wonder if you even know what you want. What do you think is going to happen when I break up with Bill?"
"When you break up with Bill?" He chuckled softly. "Freudian slip, lover?"
"Slip of the tongue is more like it. I meant to say if," she covered her mistake easily.
"Sure," he teased gently. "When you break up with him, I hope you'd be more amenable to spending time with me."
"As what? Your date or your dinner?"
"Surely that was uncalled for." She'd regretted her approach as soon as the words had left her mouth and apologized willingly.
"I'm sorry. Forgive my sarcasm, but it's like pullin' frickin' teeth with you. You're full of mixed signals and I don't know what to make of you. I'm not saying I'm breaking up with him, but are what? You want to date me if I were single? Because I already told you, I don't do casual."
"You'll leave him eventually and I remember what you said. I don't think of you like them, Sookie. You're not a fangbanger and I would never treat you like that. I want to understand you better and to do that we must spend time together."
"I think we're crossing all kinds of lines here. Whether I stay with him or not, right now he's still my boyfriend and I shouldn't be having this conversation with you." Her need to know what he wanted from her outstripped her common sense and she struggled to toe the right line.
"I don't understand the hold he has on you," he replied with some frustration. "His blood can only account for so much."
"What does his blood have to do with it?"
Yes, this conversation is a two parter. It would have been monstrous as a single chapter and out of step with the rest of the story.
Hope you like it so far! Please let me know what you think!