Lay Low

20: Goodbye Rose Colored Glasses

ERIC

Oh shit. Oh shit, I broke her.

"No, no, no don't cry," I said, trying to pull Sookie into a hug.

"I can't stop," she sobbed. At least that was what it sounded like she said.

I wasn't sure what happened to make her so upset. Sookie was usually on a pretty even keel but she was definitely losing her shit right then. So I wrapped her in a tight hug, which at first only made her cry harder. I was afraid she was going to make herself sick because of it. I didn't know what to say to calm her down and I was afraid I'd make it worse so I just stayed quiet.

Eventually she calmed down on her own. Her small hands wrapped around me the best they could. Sookie held on as tight as possible as she gasped for air.

"Sorry," she sniffled after several more minutes passed and she could breathe again.

"You wanna talk about it?" If she didn't I'd let it go.

"I hate crying," she muttered. "I don't know what happened."

"Estrogen?"

She didn't laugh, just sniffled again.

I didn't know what to say that wouldn't set her off again. It wasn't like I could just tell her to move into my house. I loved her and I loved being with her but we weren't ready to live together yet. There were too many variables I didn't have any clue how she'd react to. Deep down my gut told me she was the one I'd be buying a ring for but we weren't there yet.

"I'm going to go freshen up," she whispered, trying to extract herself from my grasp.

"Are we okay?" I asked. I wasn't letting her go until I knew we were.

"We're fine," she answered.

I nodded and let Sookie go. Finn followed her back to the bedroom. I sat there unsure of what to do. I decided to just give Sookie some space and follow her cues. With my appetite shot for the moment, I got up to take our plates to the kitchen. I started cleaning up the mess I made and called Sawyer in to give him my leftover bacon. Of course he was all too willing to take the offered treat.

"You're lucky you don't have to worry about girlfriend trouble," I said as I pet his head.

"I didn't mean to ruin breakfast," Sookie said from behind me a moment later.

"Don't worry about it. Although if my cooking is so bad it makes you cry I should just let you do it," I joked.

"Your cooking was delicious," she said. She wasn't in a joking mood yet.

"Are you going to be a dark cloud all day?" I asked as nicely as I could. I was pissed about the stunt Andre pulled, but I wasn't going to let it ruin my day.

She walked over to me, wrapping her arms around my middle. Sookie's head landed on my chest as she hugged me tightly.

"I don't want to be," she said. "This morning started so good and then... It all went to shit." She wasn't crying, that was a good sign.

"Because of me?"

"No," she shook her head. "I just don't want to sign another lease and then we'll be ready to move in together in three months, you know? I'm not mad you're not ready. It's not my place to tell you how you should feel."

"If we're ready in three months we'll be ready in six," I pointed out. "Moving in together to avoid paperwork is a bad idea."

"I wouldn't be doing it to avoid paperwork," she said softly. "I'd be doing it because I'm ready. We aren't on the same page, that's fine."