Okay, so this came from the word generator game on the Sookieverse forum. I got the word 'dream' first and this idea popped into my head. It's AH, and the M rating is for later chapters. Enjoy!

*****

What Dreams May Come

Chapter 1

I had just dropped something for the fifth time today. I really needed to get more rest. I just can't stop thinking about these dreams I've been having. They were simply miraculous. Every night for a month I had been dreaming about the most gorgeous man I had ever seen. And I had only seen him in my dreams. If I had seen a guy that perfect in real life I might have had a heart attack. They just came out of nowhere.

I remember exactly how the first dream started. I was taking a walk in the field of the home where I grew up, and out of the morning mist came the most perfect man I have ever laid eyes on. He was tall, very tall, and he had the most perfectly toned body, to my eyes anyway. He had beautiful, free flowing blonde hair that stopped just below his shoulders. But the best part about him was his amazingly clear, expressive, blue eyes. In that first dream he just walked up to me and smiled. Then I woke up, thinking, Yup, just met the man of my dreams, and now I'm ruined for anyone else.

I never expected to see him in my dreams again. But the next night I was walking in the field again and when I came to the small pond there he was. Standing there staring out over the small expanse of water like it was the most peaceful thing he'd ever seen. It was the same way I looked at it. Then he turned and looked at me. It was almost like he was waiting and hoping I'd be there. He said, "Hello, my name is Eric." He gave me the best smile I have ever seen and held out his hand for me to take. Just as I grasped it…I woke up.

It continued like that every night for a month. Each dream we got to know each other a little better. He was amazing. It was like I was dating a guy in my sleep. And we were always in the field; sometimes by the pond, other times we were by the spring or the barn.

I began to feel like I was falling for him. He laughed at all my stupid jokes, and cared about what I had to say. In turn, everything he said was just as interesting. Even in my waking life I was falling for the guy. He was just so perfect. I was really beginning to like my dream world way better than the real world.

But on about the 20th dream or so, it ended when he kissed me. Then the next night we acted like love-struck awkward teenagers. Then for a few nights we made out under the stars. Conveniently, there was always a blanket when we would be sitting. (Gotta love the magic of dreams) It had steadily progressed until last night. I woke up just as we were about to seal the deal. If women got blue balls, then I definitely had them. Blue ovaries, maybe?

What scared me, though, was that I thoroughly looked forward to going to sleep each night. And tonight was no different. I'm a photographer, so I get to work from home a lot and I was going crazy seeing my bed every time I walked past my bedroom. I flew through my work and suddenly, I was stir crazy. Why the hell was I getting so worked up over a freaking dream? Because he's amazingly perfect and you'll never find a guy like him. I wonder if you can murder that little voice in your head…

I began to scrub every surface in my apartment. I couldn't stop thinking about him. About everything he'd told me about himself. He told me that he was from Sweden. He said he'd fallen in love back home, but the girl broke his heart. At the time he had an opportunity to come to America to work and took it. He's a writer, and started out working for a men's magazine in New York. He said he'd been writing a novel for quite some time and took it to a publisher. It was published and became a bestseller with lots of critical acclaim. He has since published two more novels. Oh man there I go…thinking about him like he's real…I really need to get a grip. I once caught myself glancing over the bestseller lists for his name before I realized how stupid that was.

As soon as the sun went down I allowed myself to go through my evening routine. When I decided it was late enough to go to bed, I practically ran there. I drifted off to sleep quickly, despite my nervous excitement. And when I got to my dream world, he wasn't there. At all. I didn't even dream I was in my field. What. The. Fuck. Needless to say when I woke up I definitely had the blue ovaries again.

That continued for another month. No field. No Eric. No amazing dream sex. Nothing but blue fucking ovaries.

It was an afternoon in the early spring when my boss called me.

"You need a vacation." She barked at me.

"Excuse me? Why on earth would you think that?" I knew I had been on edge lately, but I didn't think it was that bad. I just needed to relieve my…stress. Get a massage or something.

"Your work is starting to suffer. Your pictures don't have the same spark that they used to. I can tell that you have been stressed lately, and I don't want to know why. I'm not a counselor. But you need a vacation. You've been doing a massive amount of work lately and it's enough for you to take a paid vacation for a couple weeks. No arguing. You're doing it. And when you get back you're going to be right as rain. Got me?" It was less of a question and more of a demand.

"Yes," I grumbled. There really wasn't a point in arguing with her. She was a good boss, but a complete hard-ass.

"Good, now, I suggest you go somewhere that will get you back in touch with your roots. Got anywhere in mind?"

I pondered that for a moment. My field was the only thing I could think about. Should I really go there? What exactly was I expecting? That was where I first started taking pictures and I haven't been home in a few years. Why not?

"Yes, yes I do," I said and she replied with a quick, "good" and hung up.

I could have just stayed home and tried to get my mind back together, but she was right. My pictures had been lacking something lately. I sat down and booked my flight for the next day and then began packing. I made arrangements for my brother, Jason, to pick up my mail and told him to help himself to the food in my fridge. Jason had followed me to the city after he visited once and saw all the "trim" at the nightclubs. He got a job in construction and rented an apartment in the same building.

I called my mother and asked about the house. My parents were now retired and traveled all over the place in an RV and had bought a duplex and rented out one half for traveling money, but they kept up our old house and rented it out from time to time. She said they were renting it to a lovely young man at the moment, but she was sure he wouldn't have a problem with me coming out to the field to look around and take pictures. They were in northern California at the moment and weren't going to be back home for another month or so, so she offered their duplex for me to stay in.

As soon as I finished packing I became nervous. I knew I shouldn't be. I was just going home to rest and take some pictures. I knew he wouldn't be there. He wasn't real. I'd been telling myself that a lot lately. I finally calmed down enough to sleep and that night when I dreamed, I was in the field again and I was searching for Eric. I couldn't find him anywhere. It scared the crap out of me.

I felt disoriented the whole flight home. That last dream really threw me for a loop. I found as I got nearer to my destination, the more excited I became. I really needed to come home more often. The plane landed and I set about getting my rental car. Once I started driving, I started getting nervous again. My emotion changes were getting tiring.

I arrived at the duplex at about 3 in the afternoon. I lugged all my bags in and made up the hide-a-bed. There was no way I was sleeping in my parents' bed. They were still very frisky for their age. Yuck.

I was a little anxious to go and see the field. I was hoping it would look so different that it would push my dreams out of my mind. Or that seeing it would somehow solve all my problems. I flip-flopped with the decision until I finally made up my mind. Rip the band-aid off. I grabbed my camera and the rental car keys and drove 'home'.

When I got there it looked even better than I remembered. There was a car in the drive, an old muscle car. If I had my year right it was a '72 Nova. It was black and sleek as hell. I just might like this guy. I decided it would be best to introduce myself to him in case he called the cops or something because someone was snooping on the property. Believe me, you don't want to get caught up in the idiocy that is the law enforcement in this town.

I knocked on the door a few times and waited. About 20 seconds later it opened and my heart stopped and my jaw dropped. Standing in front of me was the most perfect man I had ever seen. We both spoke at the same time.

"Eric?!"

"Sookie?!"

What. The. Fuck.

*********

So quick shout-out to my buddies in Northman's Steam Room. You guys are all so amazing! I hope to see some DD, Professor, Playa, and all those other Eric's published soon.

Big thanks to Zigster for the title! You are a big source of inspiration and always make me strive to be better! Thank you so much for starting this whole SVM AH trend!

So anyway, I hope you enjoyed that. The next few chapters should come out pretty soon since I have some written already. Please review and let me know what you think!

P.S. This story has no connections at all to the book and movie of the same name.