Disclaimer: Don't own. At all. Bummer. I do not own All Time Low, pity really; all lyrics used in this story are theirs, unless otherwise stated.

Inspired by the album Nothing Personal by All Time Low.

Wide awake, my mistake, so predictable
You were great, I was fake, nothing personal
I'm walking, who's laughing now?
(Who's laughing now, who's laughing now?)

EPOV

I was working on a song for our newest album, trying to come up with the chorus, and becoming increasingly frustrated when it wasn't working out, when the phone rang.

That was just the last straw, I was already annoyed and fed up with the world, so when I picked up, I snapped out, "What?"

As if the devil himself were sending me messengers, the voice of one the two people in the world who could make me lose my cool floated into my ear, sounding amused. "Well, since you're already so chipper, I'll just give you the bad news now."

I sighed, looking at the strewn sheet music and notebook paper that littered my bed, and removed my guitar, placing it gently in its stand. Maybe this was fate's way of telling me it was time to take a break.

I couldn't agree more.

"What do you want Pam, this isn't a good time to tell something bad." I padded into the kitchen hoping to find something to eat, though I was fairly certain it had been a long time since I had eaten.

"When is it ever a good time to hear bad news?" For God's sake, she actually sounded sincere in her curiosity.

"Pamela" I growled out.

"Fine, asshole, since you are being so charming, I'll tell you. Go to eBay and type in the key phrases 'Rolling Stone', 'Eric Northman', 'original photo'."

I shifted the phone, to prop against my ear so I could type with both hands. "What is this about Pam? Rolling Stone is auctioning off one of my shirts or something?"

It was not unheard of, about once a month, Rolling Stone magazine pulled a couple of items out of their warehouse of rock n' roll goodies they had collected over the years, and auctioned them off, with half of the proceeds going to charity.

"You wish." And we were back to amused, which made me doubly curious as to the item up for auction, and wondering why Pam would care so much. When the page finally uploaded, I had my answer.

Oh hell no.

For there, the number one item on the page, currently going for well over 8000 dollars, was the original copy of a photo that had been declared by many as 'one of the most iconic rock n' roll images of all time'.

I was familiar with that photo.

Once upon a time I was familiar with the photographer as well.

My heart broke all over again as well blocked memories came rushing back to the forefront of my mind, and it was all I could do to keep from breaking down.

"Why do you want to sit in the audience, Sookie? You could see such much better from backstage."

"That's no fun Eric! I want to be in the audience, and really feel the music! Plus," She added, waving a camera around, "I want to get a photo of you in all of your rock god sexiness."

I chuckled and pulled her in closer to me, not kissing her, just staring deeply in my eyes, and thinking that it just wasn't possible to love anyone this much.

"Eric?" I heard Pam intone softly. "Eric, are you alright?"

"Why now, after all these years? Why that photo out of all the other ones?" I croaked out, still staring disbelievingly at the computer screen, even though I had clicked on the photo to see it enlarged.

"I don't want to say it but…." She hedged, "But…."

I sighed again, for what felt like the millionth time today. "Spit it out Pamela."

She let out a sigh of her own before continuing. "It was probably the one that would fetch the most money."

Logically, that made the most sense, but Sookie didn't do things logically. She did things with her heart, spur of the moment, wonderful, crazy things, following her heart, and I loved her for it.

"Eric?" She called my name out once more.

"Thanks for telling me Pam, I'll call you later." I hung up, and just buried my face into my hands, this was driving me crazy.

The burning questions, I had to know why she would put that photo up for auction, five years after we'd broken up, and I'd had no contact with her since.

What Pamela had said probably had some kernel of truth to it; she probably did the money, as much as it pained me to think about that, while I sat in my penthouse apartment.

I seethed; it probably had something to do with her jackass of a brother; the fucker was always mooching off his generous and loving sister and grandmother.

I lifted my head from my hands and ran them over my face tiredly. I rolled my shoulders, sighing, trying to relax, and get her off my mind, out of my head.

I straightened up determinedly; I knew what I had to do. I quickly set up an eBay account, went back to the photo, and clicked on the button that said, 'Place bid.'

When I was satisfied with my bid of 20000 dollars, I clicked out of the window and powered down my computer, and went back to my room and flopped face down onto my bed, trying not to feel guilty about what I'd just done. She'd never know it was me, and after all, it was the least I could do.

I rolled over and looked longingly at my guitar, but resisted the urge to pick it up and compose a new song. Right now, she was all I could think about, and I just couldn't write another song about her, the other guys in the band, as much as they loved and missed Sookie, would kill me. Fuck, the whole last album was about her, with the exception of one song.

My eyes strayed back to my guitar, the one she always teased me about, saying it was the only thing in the world that I might possibly love more than her, with the exception of my sister.

I groaned. Maybe one song wouldn't hurt… it didn't have to go on the album….

I rolled off the bed and made a beeline for it.

A/N: So here we go again, this is WAY different from my last story, Redemption, I'm well aware, but I hope you guys liked it. I tried; I really did, to make this long! But it had a mind of its own, and it was begging me to stop there. So, you know, I did. The next chapter will be from Sookie's point of view, and I'm expecting that to be a little longer, but the one after that, I plan to be much longer than this or the next. At least 5000 words, which means it will take a little longer to churn out, but if you like it, please be patient. Thanks for reading!

A/N: I had definitely planned for this to come AFTER the last chapter of Redemption, but it's being stubborn, so this story is coming first. I'll put the last chapter of Redemption up sometime this weekend if all goes according to plan.

Music Used in Story (Henceforth known as The Playlist)

Break Your Little Heart-All Time Low