Chapter 16 – Truth Will Out

When she had cried herself out, Sookie picked up her phone and called the first person she could think of.

"Sookie? It's really late, are you okay?" Amelia answered.

"I know. I'm sorry, I just really need a friend right now," Sookie said, and the tears started again.

"I'll be there in ten," Amelia said, and hung up.

When Sookie opened the door to Amelia ten minutes later, she was on the verge of another crying fit. Amelia gave her a hug, and guided her to the living room to sit down.

"What happened?"

"I broke up with him," Sookie cried, grabbing more tissues from the box on the coffee table. "I actually told him to pretend we never met."

"What brought this on? Just yesterday you were saying how good things were."

"He wouldn't tell me why he couldn't stay the night."

"Has he ever stayed before? I thought he didn't allow himself to be seen during the day."

"That's a cop-out reason, and he knows it. He could stay here until dark, he just wouldn't do it," Sookie said, and then she let out another harsh sob as she realized what she had to say next. "We had sex tonight, for the first time."

"Oh sweetie," Amelia said, wrapping her arms around Sookie's frame as she let her cry it out.

"Was it wrong of me to ask? We've only been together for eight months, and I practically demanded he tell me his secrets. I'm such an idiot."

"Look at me," Amelia demanded gently, and Sookie did as she said. "Eight months is a long time. If I had just lost my virginity to a guy after eight months, and he refused to tell me why he wouldn't stay the night, I would be in this same position. You are not an idiot. You would have been an idiot if you had let him go on his merry way without questioning it."

Sookie nodded, but it was obvious to Amelia that she didn't truly believe it. After an hour of crying, Amelia finally got Sookie to get in bed and go to sleep. She called Tray and let him know that she would stay the night, and then she found Sookie's phone and looked for Eric's number. There was no listing for 'Eric,' but there was one that said 'Viking' that she seemed to call often. She took a moment to ask herself if she should really do this, but then she remembered the look of heartbreak on Sookie's face and called the number.

"Sookie, I'm glad you called," Eric answered.

"This isn't Sookie. It's Amelia," she said.

"Why are you calling me from Sookie's phone? Is she okay?"

"Would you like to explain why I had to come to her house at one in the morning and sit with her while until she cried herself to sleep?"

"This is none of your concern," Eric said.

"It is when my friend is heartbroken for no good reason. You do realize that she didn't want you to spill all of your past to her, right? The girl simply wanted to know why the man she just had sex with refused to stay the night. It'll be a wonder if she can ever be intimate with someone again."

Eric remained silent, so Amelia continued.

"It's not my place to tell you how she feels about you, so I won't, but if you really care for her you'll fix this. I just want her to be happy, and it seemed like she was with you."

"I do care for her, and I will figure this out, but I don't think Sookie would be very happy knowing that you called me."

"Probably not, but I don't care. I'm looking out for my friend, and that's all that matters to me. Fix it, Eric," she said, and then hung up.

Sookie woke up the next morning feeling like she'd been run over by a truck. Her head hurt, her eyes were puffy, but worst of all she was slightly sore, reminding her just what had happened the night before. She felt a fresh batch of tears spring to her eyes, and let them out. Amelia walked in with a glass of water and some aspirin.

"Here sweetie," she said. "Take these, then go take a hot shower. We'll get you feeling better in no time."

"Did he call?"

Amelia shook her head, and more tears fell down Sookie's cheeks.

"Probably a good thing. I don't want to talk to him anyway," she said.

She had to repeat that mantra in her head for the next week. There had been no contact between them at all. Sookie was too proud and hurt to reach out to him, and Eric was still trying to figure out if she would even listen to him. Then the night came when Sookie was just about to go to bed, and heard a knock on her door.

"Hello, Sookie," Eric said when she opened the door.

She couldn't help it, her heart started beating a little faster, her body ached to touch his, she wanted to kiss him, but she didn't.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"I want to tell you about my past, about why I can't stay the night."

"Why now?"

"Because I should have told you then. Because you deserve an explanation."

Good answer, she thought, and stepped aside to let him in. She offered him something to drink, which he declined, and then they sat in the living room – Eric in the easy chair, Sookie on the couch.

"It's a long story," Eric said.

"I've got time," Sookie said, crossing her arms over her chest.

Eric smiled at her, and then cleared his throat.

"When I was seven years old, my parents and baby brother were killed. They were on a train that derailed."

"Eric…" Sookie said, and started to get up, but then caught herself. "I … I'm so sorry."

"I hardly remember them," he said. "I don't have any pictures, and I can't even remember their voices. Don't pity me."

"I don't pity you, I feel bad that you lost your family."

"It's okay," he said, and gave her a reassuring smile, which quickly faded into a more serious look. "I only had one living relative, my uncle. He lived in Shreveport. I knew him well enough that the social worker only saw us once, and she didn't think she would have to come back. No one knew he was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder from the Vietnam War."

"He didn't … he didn't abuse you, did he?"

"Not physically, no. Things were actually okay for a while. I quickly learned things like, not to wake him if he'd fallen asleep, not to play imaginary war games, no loud noises. It took a while, but we actually got along just fine. Then the rashes started."

"Rashes?"

"It happened the summer I turned nine. On the days I spent a lot of time outside, I began to get rashes on my skin. They got so bad that one day I started having trouble breathing. My uncle took me to the hospital, but even they weren't sure what exactly was wrong. I was allergy tested, but it wasn't until about a month later that they pinpointed it as Solar Urticaria. A very rare, and severe case of it."

"Is that like, like an allergy to the sun?" Sookie asked, stunned.

"That's exactly what it is. The doctors told my uncle about treatments, but he refused all of them. I didn't know any better at the time, but I thought he was trying to protect me from something painful. Instead, I just had to stay out of the sun. For the first two years it wasn't that bad. He pulled me out of school and started home schooling me. He was a very smart man. We just kept the drapes closed and I stayed home all the time. But I began to miss my friends. I couldn't go see them often, and of course it had to be at night."

Sookie sat wide-eyed as she took all of the information in, afraid to say anything. He couldn't even be in the sun. That was one hell of a reason not to spend the night.

"Eventually, I discovered on the Internet that there were painless treatments for my disease. I confronted my uncle about it, and his response was to lock me in the basement."

A gasp escaped Sookie's throat, and she covered her mouth with her hand.

"I lived in that basement until I was twenty-two years old. I'm sure you're picturing some dank place with wet cement. It wasn't like that. The basement was finished, carpet and paneled walls, and my uncle felt badly for keeping me down there so he overcompensated by giving me everything he thought I would want or need. I had books, movies, a television, radio, computer, video games. When I got old enough he added a home gym, so I could stay active.

"My uncle loved me, Sookie. He thought he was protecting me by doing what he did. It took me a long time to realize it, but I know that now, and I don't hold it against him."

"He locked you in a basement?" Sookie asked, still feeling shocked from Eric's admission.

"Yes. As the years went by, I found out just how unstable he was. He believed the government wanted to control everyone. He didn't trust doctors. And he felt that by keeping me locked inside he was protecting me from the evil of the world. Potential war, mostly. He was paranoid."

"So this is why you just kind of blurt things out, isn't it? You never had proper social interactions."

"Exactly. The only people I talked to were on various Internet forums, and even most of them thought I was strange."

"How did you get out?"

"My uncle died. It was a heart attack, and when he hadn't come down to see me that day, I waited until nightfall and went to find him. He'd stopped locking the door when I was around fifteen and too scared to try and break out. The man had me fearing the outside world. I found him in his recliner, still alive. I called 911 and an ambulance came and took us both to the hospital. He died shortly after we got there."

"I'm sorry."

"I managed to arrange for his body to be cremated, and the following week was spent just generally freaking out. I didn't know what to do. I was totally alone. I had no ID, no GED, no license, though I did know how to drive. My uncle took me out after dark when I turned seventeen and made sure I knew how.

"After that week, I managed to pull it together enough to look through his things. I found my social security card and birth certificate, so I arranged to get an ID after dark. I told them I had lost my last one. They were awfully curious about my disease though, and I didn't like it. I ended up staying inside for a whole month after that, only going out to get groceries. Eventually I got up the nerve to get my license, and as soon as I had it I went into town, to a bar. It was sort of a test for myself. To prove that I wasn't, and wouldn't be a paranoid hermit like him.

"I got in, tried a sip of beer, and spit it all over a woman next to me. Luckily she thought I was attractive and decided to dance with me. That was how I met Pam."

"You spit beer on Pam?"

"I did," Eric smiled at the memory. "She started feeding me harder liquor, and the next thing I knew we were at her place, and I was no longer a virgin. Thankfully she was too drunk to truly care. Then the next morning the sun came up. I woke up because it was hard to breathe and freaked out. It took a few minutes but Pam finally understood that I needed her to close her drapes. Once I'm out of direct sunlight the symptoms wear off, but it takes a few hours."

"So that's how Pam knows."

Eric nodded. "Yes, and it was completely by accident. I explained everything to her, and forced myself to trust her. She sort of took me under her wing and guided me out of my paranoia."

"Then the bar?"

"The whole vampire pop culture thing really started showing signs of booming, and I had a lot of money, enough to open a bar. Pam helped me with the idea, and I made her a partner. She's the one that came up with me being the main attraction, and I didn't really like the idea at first, but it worked. You pretty much know the rest. The bar's been successful, but I've been unhappy… until you."

"I'm sorry," Sookie said.

"Don't be, please. You had every right to ask why I couldn't stay. I should have told you," he said, and got up to sit next to her. "Can we hug?"

Sookie smiled at him. He knew what he was doing. He knew that she saw hugging as forgiving and forgetting, the end of an argument. She opened her arms to him, and he embraced her with a relieved sigh.

"I'm sorry, Sookie. So sorry. I've been so happy with you, the kind of happy I've never experienced. I don't want to lose you," he whispered the last bit in her ear, and she shivered.

"Come on," she said, standing up and taking his hand, but he stayed sitting.

"Are you sure?" he asked, and she nodded. "Okay."

Sookie led him back to her room and pulled him down onto the bed. They kissed reverently, neither of them in a hurry. Slowly, their clothing ended up littering the floor by the bed, and Eric's hand made its way into Sookie's nightstand to retrieve a condom. Before he entered her, he whispered three words that Sookie reciprocated, much to Eric's happiness.

They made love, taking their time to get to know one another's bodies in this new, intimate way. There was so much still to learn about what each liked and what worked. Eric discovered new spots on Sookie's body that made her shudder in pleasure when he touched and kissed them, and he put his newfound knowledge to good use.

After, they laid on their sides facing each other, their hands clasped between them. Eric smiled as Sookie kissed each of his fingers, then the back of his hand before she sighed and settled into her pillow.

"Are you happy?" he asked her.

"Yes. Are you?"

"I'm happier than I ever remember being."

"I meant what I said. I do love you," she said, bringing one of her hands up to cup his face.

"I love you too," Eric told her with conviction, kissing her hard to make his point. When the kissing didn't end right away, Sookie pushed him away lightly with a giggle.

"Slow down, lover. I'm still getting used to this, and I don't think I can go again tonight."

"I'm sorry," he said. "I can control myself."

"I know you can," she smiled. "You did for almost a year."

"It's not like I was celibate. You took care of that for quite a while," he said, wiggling his eyebrows at her, making her laugh.

"You have no idea how hard it was for me to wait as long as I did. But I'm happy it was you. I'm happy it is you."

"I am too," he said. "Is it wrong to like being your only one?"

"No, as long as you wouldn't think less of me if you hadn't been."

"I wouldn't, just like I know you don't think less of me."

"I really don't. It doesn't mean I want to hear about them though," she warned, making him laugh.

"I learned my lesson there last time."

"Good."

They talked for a bit longer, then they both drifted off to sleep. When Sookie woke up later, Eric was gone, and there was a note on her bed.

Sookie,

I had to leave so I could get back before the sun rose. If you can see me tomorrow, please call and I'll come over again. I love you.

Eric

Her smile at his last words slowly faded into a frown. She didn't like him being gone when she woke up. It felt odd, and wrong. She decided to send him a message that she would go to him, and then she went shopping for new drapes before work.

It would all work out, or so she thought.

A/N:

Okay, yes, I did lie to those of you that guessed correctly *ducks* I'm sorry for that, but I didn't want to own up to it before it was time. It had to unfold like it was supposed to. As you can see, it was a lot more than just Eric being allergic to the sun. I know there are still a few things that need answering, such as why his mind is blocked to her, and that will be answered later.

I can't promise an on-time chapter next week because I haven't even started the next one, but I'll do my best.

Thank you to FDM for betaing this. *hugs* You're the eraser to my pencil :)