tr_fic | My Own Mistakes 3/4 (Reply)

Title: My Own Mistakes, Part 3 of 4
Fandom: True Blood
Characters: Alcide Herveaux, Sookie Stackhouse, Eric Northman, Bill Compton ; implied Eric/Sookie, Bill/Sookie, mentions of Russell Edgington, Pam
Rating: PG-13
Words: 1,369
Summary: Alcide stops by and Sookie and he have a chat.
A/N: Spoilers through all of Season 4 and Season 5. This is where things start to go slightly-AU-ish. If you’ve seen Season 5, you’ll recognize the differences. If you haven’t, then you won’t. So...just so you’re warned if you start going “wait, a second…”
Previous Parts: One | Two

Sookie scrubbed at the bits of left-over food that stuck to the plate that was submerged in warm, soapy water. She had asked Jason to come over for dinner, which he had. To her surprise, though, he had brought Jessica with him. She was still not used to Jason having a vampire girlfriend, let alone Jessica being said girlfriend. Fuck buddies, she corrected herself. Jessica hadn’t wanted them to be dating.

She focused intently on her plate and didn’t look up. It wasn’t until she heard the floorboard creak on the porch outside did she return to the present surroundings. Sookie swallowed hard and reached for the sharp knife that was on the drying rack.

Gripping the handle tightly, she moved towards the back door where the footsteps seemed to be moving to. She watched the door carefully as a shadow moved to the open door. The would-be-intruder surprised her though. They knocked on the back door. Still not trusting anyone, she tried to sound strong.

“Come in?”

The door was pushed open and Sookie relaxed when she saw who it was.

“What’s that for?” he asked with a raised eyebrow and shut the door behind himself.

“Protection. I wasn’t expecting you, Alcide.”

“I see that,” he moved in closer.

“What are you doing here?” Sookie asked and turned back to the dishes to finish them. She was in more of a hurry now; she had company that needed her attention.

“I just thought I would come to check on you. It’s been a while since I had heard anything from you.” He sat down at the table. “I’d kill for a shot of whiskey, do you have anything?”

Sookie thought about it for a moment before drying her hands on the kitchen towel. “Just a second.”

She walked to the pantry and pulled out a few of the many bottles that were up there. Wine, tequila, rum, and whiskey were plentiful. She carried the ones she had chosen back out to the table and grabbed a shot glass before handing them to Alcide.

“Find something you like. I’ll just be one more minute.”

Alcide chose a bottle of Jack Daniels and didn’t speak again until he had tasted his first shot.

“You haven’t answered my question.”

Sookie drained the sink after putting the last plate in the holder so it could drip-dry. She turned and joined him at the table, but not before grabbing her own glass so that she could have some. Instead of whiskey, she opted out for rum instead.

“I’m okay. Nothing newsworthy,” she replied and poured a drink.

Alcide just watched her for a few minutes in silence. Sookie let the alcohol take effect, but since it was moving too slowly for her liking, she drank some more. A lot more.

“How about the truth now, hmm?” he drawled and Sookie felt warmth spread in her body. He had such a lovely accent, it wasn’t fair that his accent matched perfectly with the way he looked. Lovely, warm, protective, and fucking sexy.

“I just…haven’t heard from Eric or Bill for a few days. Have you?” She looked up and watched him for his reaction. He didn’t give her the satisfaction of having one.

“Sort of. They went to New Orleans for a couple days.”

“Together?” Sookie asked, frowning. Jessica had said that Bill had gone out of town, fine, but with Eric? Since when did they get along?

“They were arrested by the Vampire Authority. They had to go together.” Alcide said and poured another drink.

“Arrested?” Sookie asked in shock. “What for?”

“I don’t know. Don’t know when they’ll be back either.” Alcide shrugged and downed his drink. “I just wanted to see how you were doing because I’m worried about you.”

Sookie knew that wasn’t all there was to that story, but she didn’t push it further. In truth, she felt a little better. At least maybe Eric hadn’t been ignoring her, perhaps he just couldn’t come to see her. Resigned to the fact she might not see him for an incredibly long time, she looked at Alcide.

“Maybe we should take this drinking party to the living room? It would be more comfortable, I think.” She said and Alcide mulled it over for a minute. He smiled and Sookie felt a stirring in her stomach.

“I’d like that,” he said and then stood up. “Lead the way, Miss Stackhouse.”

---

Eric was going to kill his travelling companion; he was sure of it. If it hadn’t been for him, they wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place. Killing Nan, offering to find Russell, admitting that they hadn’t killed him in the first place… Eric sighed. He was never going to get to go home to stay any time soon.

Besides, now he was so close to what he wanted, Sookie, that it was too great a temptation to risk. He wouldn’t involve her in this, and he couldn’t go to see her because it might be a danger to her. As much as it hurt him to say it, it was probably safer for her to be left in the dark about what was going on rather than have her know. For all he could guess, she might want to tag along with them and that he would not allow.

Instead of going to her like he really wanted to, he made himself go to Fangtasia and stay there with Pam for a while. It would be enough time for Bill to make arrangements with Jessica for looking after Louisiana for a while. He gave Bill a reasonable amount of time and then said his goodbyes to Pam before heading for Bon Temps.

He stood in the graveyard and looked at Sookie’s house—his house—and felt the strong desire to go over there. He wanted to see her, and to do so many other things than just look at her. Eric swallowed hard and then saw that Bill was already over there.

Eric’s eyes narrowed and he now had a reason. He moved closer to where Bill stood and he came to a stop next to him. Following his gaze, he saw what Bill was looking at. He stared for a moment before forcing his tone to be cold and detached.

“It doesn’t seem like an appropriate time for a reunion, Bill.”

Bill nodded slightly. “Jessica said that Sookie was having a hard time.”

Eric looked away from the scene in the window and went for a quip instead. “She seems to have recovered.” He paused. “Can we go back to looking for Russell now?”

“We are.” Bill replied seriously. “But to no avail. Perhaps Sookie can help with that.”

The proverbial red flag was raised, and every protective instinct inside of his body shouted at Eric to stop that from happening.

“I don’t think she wants anything to do with us anymore.” Let it go, Bill, Eric told him in his mind. He didn’t add that Sookie had asked for him. Now wasn’t the time for that.

“I don’t think we should give her that option.” Bill replied seriously and Eric looked back to the window.

This was a bad idea. It would put Sookie at risk for danger, and he wouldn’t have it, even if she was hurting him badly now.

Eric watched as Alcide ran his hands along her back and held Sookie closer. She was kissing him for all she was worth; Eric remembered what such a kiss as that could feel like and was jealous, jealous that Alcide now knew it too. He turned his head away when he saw her take his hand and pull him from the sofa.

“Let’s go Bill.” Eric said and turned to leave, but Bill didn’t. How could he watch them?

“Not without Sookie,” he said and Eric sighed. Inside he was preparing for a fight, but he knew it would be useless. Bill was still the king of Louisiana. He couldn’t ignore a direct order, and Sookie would be useful.

“You can wait while I collect her.” Bill said and started for the porch.

“No chance.” Eric returned and followed him up and into the house.