A/N: I'm writing a story for True Blood. It is AU and AH and I am in love with it.

I am rating it T. It has swearing and some sexuality. I may have to make it M later on.

Anyway I want to thank Asher55 for editing and encouraging me to write.

I hope you all like it.

SOOKIE

I hadn't been back to Bon Temps in nearly 13 years but it was almost exactly as I remembered it.

The population was still 2,744, there was only one bar, one beauty parlour, two grocery stores, three restaurants, two clothing stores, one pharmacy, one doctors office, police staff of 15, five trailer parks, one elementary and one high school. All the residents were the same, give or take a death or birth or two, church going, god fearing, ignorant, sexually promiscuous or bored, sometimes all of the above.

The Stackhouse home was more or less the same, there had been a few upgrades made to our large plantation style summer home. A pool was put in back, dark hardwood floors, new cream coloured curtains, state of the art kitchen, entertainment system, every movie imaginable and my mother's office was converted into a library for me. The plot of land we lived on was encircled by a forest with two other properties in the same enclosure. The one that faced the front of our house used to be the Compton house, if it still was, I wasn't sure. The house that was to the back was empty when I left but I wasn't sure who lived there now.

Other than the few things that had changed everything else was the exact same as when I left, except now, I was old enough to know how boring it was.

My father and mother insisted that we spend one last summer together in Bon Temps before my father, Corbett Stackhouse, retired from the country music record label he had created in Nashville in 1973. Some of the biggest names in country music, past and present, were signed with Sonnet Records and my father was a country music icon. Now it was either my older brother Jason's or my turn.

My father wanted to get to know us a little better before he turned the company over to one of us. Considering Jason was male and the first born I thought he would be a shoe in but my brother was a distracted soul and my father wasn't sure that's who he wanted taking over not only his company but his legacy.

So here I was, supposed to be spending time with my parents but instead I was reading a trashy romance novel to pass time. My father was called back to work after nine hours of being in Bon Temps and my mother couldn't handle being alone with her children. She left shortly after my father to go on a 'meditation retreat', which actually meant drinking bottles of wine with her gossipy socialite friends in Los Angeles.

I didn't belong here, Jason on the other hand did. I looked up from my book as he ran past me, missing the last three steps, just catching his footing before jumping into his friend Hoyt Fortenberry's car. The sweat on his bare chest reflected the afternoon sun, his shirt was hanging out of the back pocket of his jeans, his hair blonde, like mine, was shimmering and a six pack of beer was in his hand. I watched as Jason hung out the car window, pouring a beer into his mouth as they did donuts on our driveway. I breathed a sigh of relief when they finally drove in the direction of the main road.

I was officially alone. I had gotten used to being alone but deep down I hated it. Even when I was surrounded by others I felt alone. Unfortunately, the only two people I felt truly myself with were my brother and father and they were rarely around, regardless of all our problems. My mother was a write off, she had children to secure her fortune and all the 'friends' I had in Nashville just wanted me to give my father their demo. Country music was not my thing and hanging out with the future Taylor Underwood was not my idea of a good time. Nashville was never my idea of a good time but it was better than Bon Temps.

I went back to my book resting up against one of the pillars on our front porch slipping my feet out of my white Keds before I heard my name. "Sookie Stackhouse?" A man asked me, he was obscured by the sun and it was hard to make out any of his features.

I put my book down and looked in his direction with annoyance. "Yeah?" I said not wanting to make small talk with this person who probably had endless memories of me that I couldn't remember.

"It's me Sook, Bill Compton." He took a step towards me so he was finally out of the sun.

My eyes widened and I felt myself instantly stand. He did not look like the scrawny, short, pale 15 year old I left behind. The boy that I was forced to play with when our parents would get together for brunch every Sunday. He had grown to be 5'11, which towered over my 5'4. His dark brown hair was slicked with sweat from his afternoon jog and his tan skin seemed to glow in the sunlight. He was muscular but not overly so, his Yale alumni shirt did a very good job of showing off his tone, lean body. His brown eyes were warm and his smile was charming, overall he was very inviting and very good-looking.

Maybe Bon Temps wouldn't be so bad after all.

I looked him up and down a final time wiping my hands on my jeans shorts and straightening my white tank top. "Shit, Bill Compton. You are not the boy I forced to eat mud anymore, are you?"

He laughed and wiped his forehead with the back of his forearm. "No, no I am not and you certainly aren't twelve anymore."

He gave me the subtle look up and down taking in how I looked now. I laughed, "Aging is a crazy thing isn't it?" I widened my eyes.

He nodded, "Yeah, yeah." He looked back to the Compton home across the way, it was nice to know it was still the Compton property, then back to me. "Are you doing anything today?"

"I was thinking of taking a swim. We just had the pool put in and I would love some company." I lied. I wasn't sure if I would have the energy to put on 'fake smile Sookie' for an afternoon but if inviting him over meant I could see him in nothing but swim trunks that was a sacrifice I was willing to make.

His smile got wider as he nodded. "That sounds great. I'm just gonna go change and I'll be right back." He turned and started running in the direction of his house as I turned around and went into mine.

I walked up the stairs letting my hand graze the dark mahogany banister on our imperial style staircase. I passed a bathroom then Jason's room before entering my own. It was large space, a large king sized bed in the middle with grey sheets and a white rug covering most of the dark hardwood floor. A large TV was mounted to the wall facing the foot of my bed. To the he right of my bed was an en-suite bathroom and to the left a fireplace in-between two bay doors that led out onto a balcony. In front of the fireplace were two blood red chairs with a dark round wood table in the middle. Fresh roses were placed there everyday for me. One perk of being wealthy I enjoyed. The walls were a muted grey, white curtains hung in front the bay doors and a large crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling.

I walked into my large closet and pulled out a red and white striped bikini and changed quickly. I grabbed my sunglasses, my iPod, two fluffy towels and two beers and headed out the back door.

I had always wanted a pool when I had lived here as a child and I was so happy to have one now. It glimmered a brilliant blue reflecting shards of light onto my body and I could feel my skin absorbing the Vitamin D. I hooked up my iPod and started playing The Beatles. I looked up to scan my view and I could see my neighbours pool about fifty yards away.

Standing around his pool I could see a man, tall, tan, muscular, blonde and very, very naked. He was straddling a deck chair looking down at it. I took a step forward to get a better look and my suspicions were confirmed when two female legs wrapped around his abdomen pulling him down towards her. He hovered above her enough so I could still see him.

I took another step forward quickly looking around for another sign of life but it was just me, mystery legs and the bronzed god above her. I giggled. No Bon Temps wasn't going to be that bad at all.

I took another step forward, my inner voyeur dying to see more before I let out a blood-curdling scream as I fell into the pool.

I surfaced gasping for air pushing my hair out of my eyes before I dove down again to recover my sunglasses. I swam to the edge of the pool only to be eclipsed by a shadow, his shadow. "You alright?" He asked me. "I heard you scream."

I started to pull myself out of the pool before he kneeled down grabbed my arm and pulled me out like I weighed nothing. He placed me down in front of him and if Bill towered over me this man eclipsed me. He was 6'5 easy. He had a defined body, someone who spent time trying to get it in peak physical condition and he liked to show it off, he would have put a shirt on if he didn't. My eyes drifted down to take in the outline of every ab and the indentation of the V at his hips that trailed down and disappeared into the swim suit he had put on, feeling modest apparently. He had a crooked, mischievous smile and his blue, tired eyes looked down at me like he knew something I didn't.

"I'm fine." I said once I finally regained my composure.

"You know you really shouldn't be around a pool if you don't know how to swim." He smiled at me trying to appease my embarrassment but only making me feel more so.

"I can swim fine, I just-" I looked passed to him to his pool where the girl was standing topless yelling for him. I could just barely hear her. He made no motion to look at her if he heard her too. Fuck it, I might as well tell him. "I was distracted watching you and your lady friend have sex and I didn't realize how close I was to the pool and I fell in." I cocked an eyebrow. "You know you really shouldn't be having sex by your pool if people can see you."

He laughed, looking away from me to his house, running his thumb along his lower lip. "I haven't had neighbours in quite some time." He grinned at me. "Old habits die hard, you understand."

"Oh yeah, that's what it'll say on my tombstone, 'Sookie Stackhouse: Understanding'." I rolled my eyes and put my sunglasses back on.

He jerked his head back and looked me up and down as his grin grew to a full-blown smile. "You're Sookie Stackhouse, of course you are." He ran his hand through his hair. "This is the Stackhouse property, of course you're Sookie Stackhouse." He looked me up and down one more time. "You certainly aren't twelve anymore." His voice was deep and husky, there was a Southern twang but not like everyone else. Whoever this person was hadn't lived here his whole life.

"Apparently people in this town are fascinated with me aging." I brought my hands up to my head and ran them through my hair, wringing out the water. "And who are you my mystery sex crazed neighbour?"

He shifted his weight quickly and opened his mouth to answer me but it was Bill's voice I heard. "Ah, I see you've met your neighbour, Eric Northman."

My focus rested on Bill only for a second before turning back to Eric. I pointed at him. "You're Eric Northman?" I was borderline stunned.

He spread out his arms as if he was presenting himself to me. "As I live and breathe."

I looked away from him and then to Bill who wore his lean body as well as I imagined and shook my head. "Jesus, is there something in the fucking water?" I muttered.

"What was that?" Eric asked leaning towards me.

"Nothing," I waved my hand to dismiss him. "It's just the last time I saw you, you were about as tall as you are now and a hundred pounds."

"Well, there's this magical place called the gym and if you go inside it and use the machines, your muscles will grow." He spoke to me like I was a child.

"Do they also serve up a big plate of douche bag when you go to the gym?" I snapped back, already annoyed with him.

His brow cocked in amusement. "Well that was saucy." His grin was back on.

I sighed. "Thank you for making sure I was okay but I am and you can go back to your girlfriend thing now." I pointed in the direction of his house. I turned and started to walk towards where I had left the beers.

I felt my bikini top become loose and I brought my hands up to my breasts to keep them from being exposed. I spun around quickly to see a giggling Eric Northman. "What. The. Actual. Fuck. Eric! Did you seriously just untie my bikini top?!"

"This is going to be a fun summer, I can tell." He took some sunglasses out of his pocket and put them on. "I'll see you around Stackhouse."

"I won't hold my breath." I spat out as I retied my bathing suit top.

"Always a pleasure Compton."

"I can't say the same." Bill's tone indicated that he already hated Eric and it wasn't hard to see why.

"There he is, the cheerful Bill Compton I love!" He sang out as he ran back towards his house.

Once Eric had disappeared into his home I turned towards Bill. "What's his problem?" I asked opening one of the beers handing it to Bill.

"He basks in the misery of others. Believe me, it's better if you steer clear of him." He took a sip of his beer and reached for the sunscreen.

"Why?" I questioned. "Other than the obvious."

"He's a womanizer, lazy, rude, vain. He's just an overall bad character and he loves making me miserable." Bill started rubbing sunscreen all over my arms.

"Why you?" I asked confused.

"I don't know. Who knows why people do what they do?" He shrugged and put the sunscreen down before taking off his sunglasses and diving into the pool, disturbing its calmness.

I casted one more glance to Eric's house before jumping in the water.

Bill and I spent an easy afternoon together; we spoke of nothing too serious, I made him dinner, we drank some beers and he left but not before asking me out.

"I had fun today Sookie." He smiled down at me warmly.

"So did I." I could feel a blush creep into my cheeks.

"Would you like to go out with me sometime? Soon?" He sounded unsure of himself and it made him more endearing, more adorable.

I nodded. "I would like that a lot." I smiled widely to reassure him.

He leaned in and then stopped still so unsure until I moved in and closed the space between us pressing my lips to his. It was a chaste kiss and I knew this was the summer romance I wanted, something simple, something sweet, someone like Bill Compton.

I pulled away from him and he grinned like an idiot. "Okay," he let out a laugh. "I'll call you."

He ran down the steps and across the lawn towards his place.

I breathed in the night air before going in. I locked the door knowing Jason wouldn't be coming home and I went up to my room. I slipped into an oversized t-shirt and got into bed.

I closed my eyes over and over but sleep would not come, like usual. I stood up and walked out onto my balcony, leaning over the railing looking out into the woods. My gaze stopped on the lone light in Eric's house. I could see his silhouette and he was angled in my direction. He was still, almost like he was looking out towards me.

I straightened quickly, I knew he couldn't see me, we were too far apart and it was too dark but it felt like his eyes were on me.

I turned quickly and got back into bed. I rolled over on my side and closed my eyes, trying my hardest not to think of the tall, blonde man living a hundred yards away.

ERIC

I hated nights the most. The best I could hope for was passing out on the couch around four and getting a couple hours sleep before whatever girl I bedded early got up and tried to make herself at home.

Tonight her name was Beverly.

I tried to curb some of my assholery with remembering their names. It was the least I could do before I sent them on their way, never to be seen again. Unless I was really desperate.

Beverly was asleep upstairs as I looked out the floor to ceiling windows that lined my living room. My view was of the land and woods surrounding my property and the Stackhouse home up on the hill.

I could see a figure up on the balcony of the home. The person was tiny and it was hard to make out any discernible characteristics but I knew it had to be her.

She couldn't sleep like me.

Two isolated insomniacs.

I remembered Sookie Stackhouse vividly but I remembered her for the chubby tomboy she was, not the headstrong, blonde goddess she had turned into. Tan skin, a slim, tone figure, large brown eyes, sweet smile and pouting lips. I tried not to think about what those lips were capable of.

And she ran into Bill Compton first. He always got to everything before I did but whatever his heart desired always desired me in the end. I had no doubt Sookie would be any different. Eventually she would see my appeal even if it was only for one night.

They all did but she would be a challenge.

She had fight, spunk and would resist me at all costs. My first impression was not the best and it would take a lot of work for her to be drawn to me. It would take my mind off the fact that it was summer, a time I hated even more than nights. I would put all my energy into bedding Sookie Stackhouse and I had no doubt in my mind that I would be successful.

I turned away from the window after the figure disappeared suddenly, like she knew I was watching her and I went to my bookshelf and grabbed whatever random book I happened to land on. Anna Karenina. That would take me some time to read, probably the longest commitment I had ever made.

I poured myself a glass of scotch and laid down on my couch, reading about the life and times of a 19th century Russian socialite, praying for sleep, distracted by the girl next door.

Please let me know if you're liking it. Reviews are loved and help encourage me to write more.

I'm not getting the Sookie/Eric storyline I want on the actual show so I'm making a storyline of my own.

Hope you all enjoyed!