Rubbernecking
Chapter 10
Just A Little Bit
**
“Hey Eric, I know I’m taking the Chicken-Shit Highway on this, but um… I think it’s probably better that we just keep our distance from one another. I had a lot of fun with you and all, but I can’t help but think that other version of things was just having fun too. I guess everything snowballed and it’s pretty fucking scary that somehow I managed to hurt my family without realizing it. So yeah… It was great to meet you, but I’m sure you can understand why my family comes first. Take care.”
The voicemail message I rose to the night after Pam and Jason’s leap was disappointing to say the least. Yes, my extracurricular activities during my visit had been canceled, but that wasn’t it. Sookie sounded shaken, clearly more upset by what she learned than anyone else involved in the fiasco. I did, from time to time during the rest of my visit, wonder if it was just the idea of causing a rift in her family or if she’d been frightened away by the idea of being brought over.
Not that it mattered. We had our fun… I would have enjoyed more, but it wasn’t as though I would search her out to make an appeal and she didn’t return to the hotel for the rest of my visit.
Given that Pam and Jason accepted my invitation to visit The Netherlands, I only stayed long enough to place my surplus of houses on the market… but I was in Louisiana to see the reports of Steven Newlin and Gabe Henry, ‘two deacons from Dallas’s New Life Fellowship’, accidentally detonating a bomb meant for a medical research facility. Most of the Stackhouses and several members of Jack and Alcide’s pack watched the network coverage in the bar downstairs. They made jokes condemning the rainy weather because they were suddenly in the mood for a barbeque.
**
Klaasje positioned herself as a blockade between me and as much of the business of the pending Revelation as she possibly could… She gladly made the sacrifice for the two weeks Pam and Jason stayed with me in Eijsden. She stayed at the house, putting herself in a position to establish a friendly relationship with Pam, but spent most of her time sequestered in my office while she tended to the business of scheduling the first month of donors and the pending annual fair she organized.
It was a good visit… Other than a ‘field trip’ to Antwerp for diamond shopping (where Jason spoiled Pam just as much as I did), we stayed in Eijsden. Hearing she was visiting drew out several old friends and I was just as surprised as Gawain was when Pam wasn’t girlishly excited when he arrived.
Other than enjoying some much needed time with Pam, I had the opportunity to get to know Jason. It quickly realized the thickness of his drawl undermined his actual intelligence. Once I stopped thinking of Hee Haw, I realized he was quite sharp even though he made no secret of not having a lot of ‘book sense’. His sense of humor made him pleasant company. Not only was it fun to have someone to tease Pam with, but he wasn’t the type to be insulted once the tables were turned.
In the hours Jason spent waiting for Pam to rise, he easily made friends with my house-staff, my Witch and every fucking guard on the property. He occupied himself by going shopping, buying more for Pam than the family he was supposedly buying souvenirs for… Most impressively he didn’t need to be asked to give Pam and me some time alone. He went out to a local pub with at least one of his many new friends for a while every night but one.
Jason Stackhouse would socialize until just before sunset, then he would go to the room he shared with Pam to shower and be waiting when she rose. Every fucking night. I listened. I could hear the jeering he tolerated when he left a football game with the guards. I could hear the way he would end his business and personal calls. He’d unapologetically explain that he had ‘somewhere better to be’ whenever anyone tried to delay him.
He was completely in love with Pam and he knew her almost as well as I did, perhaps in spite of that fact.
And instead of basking in the fact she was adored, she loved him back…
She loved him so much I couldn’t bring myself to tease her for it. I was too preoccupied by how happy I was for her.
**
Their visit was almost over… He’d sped to the house as though he was being chased and stomped through the house cursing to himself about being turned around on unfamiliar roads and went directly to shower. His aggravated mood even reached me… But when I was finished with my own shower, I noticed the void. Not only was Jason and his harried mood gone, but my sense of Pam had disappeared with him. The guards didn’t see anyone enter or exit the house. Jason had been in bed with Pam long enough to leave his warmth behind on the bedding… Klaasje and I paced for half an hour, completely confused as to where they were and how they left because she’d been working in her room and hadn’t heard them leave… Just as the sun set, as Klaasje and I left my room to search the car he’d been driving, we heard Pam ask if he was ‘alright seeing her like that’… he breathed that ‘she’s fuckin’ beautiful’ and explained that he felt like it had been months since he’d seen his sister.
They’d leapt.
It wasn’t as though I’d forgotten, but in my experience leaping meant having extra Pams and Jasons to contend with. It hadn’t occurred to me what happened when they visited another version.
They leapt, visiting the version I’d been ‘fortunate’ enough to meet, discovering that their theory about Sookie’s estrangement had been spot on… Sookie and Eric had been enjoying her working vacations, but in the process had discovered one of my Lords had another agenda. Eric ended Bethany, but an unforeseen loose end had waited very patiently to act… Shortly before Sookie was to leave Eijsden, she left the house with Bastiaan to buy some last minute souvenirs for her family and was attacked. She’d been followed. Bastiaan was killed protecting her but she was on life-support when Eric rose that night and his excuse to bring her over hinged on the fact that she’d made the enemy by helping him.
When she rose, her telepathy pained her to the point that the thoughts of the Eijsden staff drove her mad until Eric made arrangements to take her into seclusion. To make matters worse, she couldn’t stand to feed from donors because touching them intensified her already maddening ability. She asked Eric not to say anything to her family because she didn’t want them to worry and sent a vague email about enjoying herself too much to return. It was only a matter of nights before she was accosted by emails from her loved ones about her ‘selfish’ behavior. It was all very misunderstood. Sookie thought she was sparing her family from worrying, but after a month of seclusion she returned to an email account full of angry rants. Her Maker closed her email account when she became suicidal.
During the leap, Jason called his mother to explain, pretending to be his counterpart… and then he called Evil Jason, promising to shoot him in his face eventually if he caused any further upset for the family.
When Pam and Jason returned to their own reality, Vampire Sookie was on her way to reconnecting with her family… Mystery solved. Crisis managed.
That was the only night Jason didn’t ‘stretch his legs’. He took a bottle of absinthe he’d bought for Jude to the den and called Sookie. He spent the evening drinking alone while Pam and I discussed how to deal with Bethany and Francois… Jason wasn’t politely avoiding my political dealings. Jason wasn’t in shock after seeing his sister as a Vampire. He put himself at the far corner of the castle in an effort to not affect anyone else. The poor bastard was still reeling from the other Sookie’s pain.
**
Other than how odd it felt to expose my fangs and bite into my wrist to heal the fresh incision from a liver transplant in the company of a completely Human news crew, the Revelation was completely painless. Of course, practically everyone in Europe locked themselves in their homes for the first week unless they needed to go to a hospital, but the ones who needed medical attention quickly began spreading word about blood therapy.
Worrying about the reaction in the States needled me to no end. Pam promised to call me hourly with updates even if there was nothing to report. I needed the peace of mind, since the time difference meant the States would be informed while I was dead for the day.
When Pam died in her time zone, Jason took over the task… Hourly calls from one or the other for a week, reporting little more than a few protesters at the hotel and the reunion Patsy enjoyed with her children and grandchildren, encouraging Bubba to consider his own. The reaction in the States wasn’t quiet because Americans decided to be surprisingly open-minded. After multiple attempts to contact the Sheriff for a quote, one reporter’s call was intercepted by Brandon, who offered an anonymous tip. The next night when Sophie-Anne rose, the majority of protestors and reporters in her Queendom were on her steps instead, and they were demanding to know why American Vampires weren’t participating in Europe’s blood therapy treatment. For the next month, Klaasje was in the States with the Surgeon General explaining the minutia and America quickly adopted the initiative.
**
My nights quickly went back to normal in the following months. Boredom set in again in what seemed like a blink…
And worse… After such a pleasant visit with Pam, I only missed her more.
Since I’d already sold all of my houses in Louisiana, I was struggling to think of a reason to return for a visit. I spent a few nights teetering between the least pathetic of my options.
Purchasing my own Viper and having it shipped to Europe. Because I needed another car.
Or…
Touring Six Flags because after another year of arguing with carnival workers during the Children’s Village Fair, Klaasje suggested it might be easier to open a permanent theme park and donate its profits. Because Europe needed another amusement park.
Fucking tragic.
I finally decided to visit without a reason (Pam would see through one like she always had) and began making the usual arrangements, but the excuse I needed landed in my lap…
Jason called.
With Pam’s birthday only a couple of weeks away, he wanted to know if I’d be interested in helping him plan a surprise for her.
The only difficulty I had was not sounding too eager.
EricIzMine FanFiction 
Oh, what a tease! I got all excited to see a new chapter listed, but it’s not here until later. Guess that gives me something to look forward to though! Happy Sunday!
BIG TEASE but I am still excited! Is it rude to leave your dinner guest to check for updates???
Loved it as always! I’m a romantic so I’m hoping that Sookie will have a change of heart.
Finally! I’ve been refreshing this page all morning!
Typical Sookie, guess I can’t complain too much about her attitude. She hasn’t had a visit from another Sookie to knock some sense into her…yet…
Just don’t know what to think right now — even if not seeing Eric is her idea I just felt that he really did not care anyway and maybe was relieved. He did not try to talk to her even after they found out about the skip. So huh will wait to see what unfolds in the next chapters when he comes to visit Pam.
I feel the same. I love the multi-verse but this one…guess I’m too EricSookiecentric and don’t get any chemistry from these two past a typical one nighter. Not my favorite Sookie either. This one’s just too agressive, too know it all, too ‘everyone wants me’. Maybe its supposed to be just a Pam/Jason verse and Sookie/Eric are the secondary players this time round. I’ll also check out the next few chapters to see what happens cuz right now I’m thinking on top everything else – this Sookie is all big talk but when the shit gets real…she’s a coward – no wonder she has such a loser streak – seems like she burns rubber when there’s a possibility for more.
I loved it. can’t wait for the next update.
wow Sookie just left a note huh? Poor jason.
For a short chapter that was very filling! Your brilliant storytelling skills were shining extra bright in this chapter. I love the way you handled the Reveal. That was the way it should have been… a little quid pro quo goes a long way with humans. Thank you!
i hope Sookie and Eric get it together soon or better yet maybe Jason and Pam have something up with the new visit to get them together for good now that they know what got her so upset in the first place
Eric and Sookie did not have time to get all enthralled with each other. Maybe now that he will be helping with Pam’s birthday surprise they will be able to recconect. I like how well you handeled the skip and letting us know what happened to Sookie without going all into a vamp Sookie verse. I prefer for Sookie to stay a fae/human hybred and not be all vampy. Although I have read some that are well done it is just not my favorite. You got me all into this verse again. I don’t know how you do it but you do.
Ditto. Great tease.
A bored Eric will always get up to no good. lol At least I hope so!
Awww. Poor Eric getting dumped and then being bored. Glad the other version got all straightened out properly. Now hopefully Sookie will feel better about things and be open to some sexin’ with Eric again!
that was a great chapter, it wrapped a few things up and now we can get to the meat and potatoes of the story….. Eric and Sookie……unitl the next post Kristie
Sounds like we need a Sookie “leap” to interfere this time and knock some sense into that girl! Bored Eric means trouble of course!
I am so happy that the evil duo’s issues were figured out. A little crazy that skip was.
It’s so weird to have a convo, Sookie free chapter. But if you’d done it any other way it may have taken 3 or 4 chapters to cover the same ground so I’m definitely not complaining. Great chapter as always!!
Good to see that Jason and Pam’s skip was fixed. Funny to notice in just a few chapters how many levels of miscommunication/lack of communication they have and how many problems can arise from it. Hopefully, when Eric goes back, Sookie will be in a better place, mentally.
This might be the first verse I don’t like. I was liking it, but now it is all turned on it’s axis with Eric/Sookie not together. It feels uneven and I guess maybe because there aren’t a lot of Eric/Sookie’s together before the revelation, but apparently there are a bunch of Jason/Pams together at that timeline? I think my problem with it right now is two-fold. First, all the verses are told from Eric’s POV. It is odd to seemingly have the couple that are the cornerstone of the story be Jason & Pam and then have the story told from EPOV. My second issue is that you have Jason & Pam soooooo in love and Jason doesn’t seem like himself. I am not a Jason hater like so many people are, but Jason and Pam in this verse just feel vastly different from any other verse (number 1) and if Jason and Pam are so totally happy than why wouldn’t they be trying to get Eric and Sookie together? Wouldn’t they want them to be happy? They saw them hit it off and they have seen them in other verses together and in love … right? It just doesn’t feel right to me, Pam is still on the Alcide track because of one verse where Sookie and Alcide are happy, but there are unlimited amounts of verses where Sookie and Eric are happier than anyone. I suppose they may have only seen the one where Sookie needed to be turned, but it all just seems off here. Plus, what I liked about this verse was when they were all together and Sookie was acting bad ass and Eric seemed totally enraptured with her. Then it all just went away … it feels off, IMO. This is the first time ever that I’m feeling weird after reading a verse. After chapter 9 I was confused, but now after chapter 10 I feel like the characters are all wrong.
I have a lot of the same feelings. And I don’t want to because the multi verse along with literally everything Angela writes is pretty much all I enjoy reading anymore. But something does feel ‘off’ and I can’t actually put my finger on it. It’s weird, this Sookie bugs me – she’s just so SuperWoman powerhouse she comes across to me as overbearing. Which is crazy because in all the other verse’s I love how strong and quick witted those Sookie’s are! It’s like the same traits I love in every other story bug me this time around and I can’t put my finger on why except it seems exaggerated this go round & Eric just feels like a prop. I’m glad it’s not just me scratching my head wondering why I’m not gaga as usual.
Thank you so much for letting me know that I’m not the only one! And… I’m still scratching my head too. I’ll, of course, continue to read it because I’m totally and completely addicted to the MV to the point where I don’t think a day goes by where I don’t check and see if there has been an update with any of the stories (even if there was already four new chapters in a week I’ll still look the next day and the next …). Like you said, it is pretty much the most enjoyable reading material around right now. I just wish I could figure out what it is that has me feeling off with this one …. I feel like Erik in Alpha when he was trying to figure out what Sookie is. I completely agree with what you said about Sookie’s character here and Eric as well.
Jeeeeeeesus…. So he’s headed back to the States for another fuckathon… Poor Sookie must have been freaked. Great job on this chap!
Fantastic! I love the way Jason handled his other self. Lol!
At one point while waiting for this update I was thinking maybe appius was holding them. Thankfully that wasn’t the case.
Glad they jumped again and got all the misunderstanding straight. Cant wait to see how Pam’s birthday goes. Wonderful chapter, thanks for posting – you are spoiling us again and I am so enjoying it.
As I normally leave my feedback whilst Betaing or on the BratPack Facebook group it feels weird to post here but I was away for the weekend..
This chapter was indeed a strange one. Lots of time covered in a very short chapter, all the excitement of the evil Ravenshouse skip boiling down to a simple misunderstanding which was covered in a few brief lines and of course, no Eric Sookie HEA.
I must admit I initially felt a bit disappointed and, well, cheated by the chapter. Then I left it for a bit, reread it and compared it to some of the other verses (like a proper brat I’m always rereading at least one other verse at the same time) and it got me realising how refreshing it is that there is more focus on Pam and Jason and Sookie choosing her family over a fling with her boss’ albeit awesome Maker.
All through this braid it’s clear how strong the Stackhouse family ties are. Sookie is understandably distraught meeting another version where there is so much anger and resentment between her and Jason and the other family members. I can definitely understand her stepping away for a bit. We know how awesome the Eric Sookie combo is but they have no idea.
I care about the other characters in the Stackhouse circle and wish them well but as the story is from Eric’s perspective the short overview of him being amazed by the bond and strength of feelings between his Child and Jason and wishing thm well and brief touching on the Revelation was the perfect amount of words.
Next Eric’s return visit, I wonder if Sookie’s started dating Alcide yet..
Drat, now Angela will expect an essay with every chapter I return to her… 🙂
Kajsa aka PotsieDaisy
eric had a nice visit and he more or less witnessed a skip, well kind of. the other sookie and her families problems were solved as it was only a misunderstanding. good to know, so all sookie’s will experience sensitivity?
So Eric is looking for any excuse to visit now that he is once again ‘bored to death’. Pam’s birthday should be fun. : )
This so awesome Eric thinking he misses Pam but he really wants is sookie’s nookie…..lol
Wow! This chapter explains a lot that had been missing for me. I think I ‘skipped’ this chapter when it was originally posted –I’m re-reading Rubbernecking and now things make sense –heh! It doesn’t pay to NOT read a chapter.
Pat