Eric was surrounded by his family as they sat down to have Skye's birthday lunch. He knew they all had questions and it was time to clean up the damage Claire had done. She had made it seem like things were a lot more serious than they were and he had to downplay that. He hadn't seen Florence since they'd kissed and before he could enjoy having her here he needed to clear things up – make sure they were on the same side of what happened. Their undeniable attraction was obvious and post kiss; Eric knew it had been inevitable, but he still had feelings for Jennifer and they didn't just go away after a few months of being single. Needless to say the confusion about his feelings was in full bloom and having his family stare him down at lunch certainly didn't help.
"So son," his father Burt started, "who is this Florence that Claire has been talking about?"
"She's just a friend I've been speaking to lately, nothing more." He looked right at Claire when he spoke.
"Is that why you're texting her every single day, smile when you talk about her and—uh—"Claire got cut off by Eric's foot connecting with her leg.
"She's just a good friend that has been helping me through my break up and now she's helping Anna by letting her do the score for her documentary."
"I think she sounds like a lovely young lady, sweetheart, and we all can't wait to meet her." His mother Debra announced.
After Skye's birthday lunch the rest brought out tons of board games, Skye's favorite activity, while Claire and Eric was stuck cleaning up. Eric washed and Claire dried and no words were spoken between them but he knew that his big sister rarely kept her mouth shut – why would this time be any different?
"Just spit it out Claire," Eric said tiredly after a few minutes.
Claire scoffed but eventually she glanced at Eric and opened her mouth to speak.
"What's the point when you're still lying to us and yourself," Claire started, "you tell us you and Florence are just friends but it's not true is it?"
Eric opened his mouth but then closed it again. He wasn't sure what the correct answer to that question was and since the kiss he'd been more perplexed than ever. Claire had always been able to call out Eric's lies and she had done it once more. If Eric didn't answer her now Claire would talk to Florence and that would be disastrous. So he decided to come, partially, clean.
"It's complicated Claire, okay? Florence and I are friends, I'm still very much in love with Jennifer but—"
"—you're still in love with Jennifer? The woman who barely came to any family functions the three years you were together? I haven't seen you smile this wide since...never actually."
"I'm not expecting you to understand it but it's the truth. I'd appreciate if you didn't talk to Florence about this, it wouldn't be fair to her."
"And what is fair to her? Stringing her along while you're pining for a woman that dumped you via text?" Claire exclaimed and wiped her hands on the kitchen towel while staring at him with judgmental eyes.
As they prepared to join the rest of the family Eric closed his eyes and shook his head,
"I'm not stringing her along Claire; she doesn't like me like that. Now can we please go celebrate your daughter, instead?"
*
"There's a car in the driveway; and it's a Mercedes!" Anna yelled from the living room.
Debra, Burt and Eric were in the kitchen preparing dinner but Eric quickly excused himself to get Anna away from the window and greet his friend in private. He wanted to prepare her for his family, not because they were bad people but because they were overwhelmingly nice– and too nosey.
"Anna get away from the window and let me say hi to her first," he ordered her and then turned to the rest of the room, "can all of you please act like normal and sane people? No snooping or interrogations tonight?"
"We'd never do such a thing!" Debra exclaimed before Claire and Burt rushed her into the kitchen.
Eric mentally muted the noise from his family and headed outside to say hello to Florence, who shocked him by looking more beautiful than ever. They had tried to downplay every meeting by dressing casually, but it just dawned on him that this was the first time he'd ever seen her in a dress – in this dress. The off the shoulder pink dress she was wearing made her legs go on for miles and showed off her beautiful soft shoulders; completely distraction Eric from speaking.
"Wow," was all he could say before she reached him and pulled him into a brief hug.
"What's up stupid?" She said.
"I'm glad you could make it; and so is the rest of my family." He blushed.
"Oh I know," Florence said to which Eric frowned, "they're standing in the window, watching us."
"Come on let's go, you and I can talk later. I think it's time for you to meet my family." Eric said and escorted her up the stairs and into the room filled with curious people ready pounce on her like baby sharks.
"Welcome to our home Florence, I'm Debra and this is my husband Burt!"
"—the only one more handsome than Burt Reynolds." Eric's father joked.
Florence nervously waved to all of them and flashed a smile, "Hi everyone, I'm Florence. Thank you so much for inviting me here and happy birthday Skye!"
"It's our pleasure," Claire said and pulled her into a hug, "why don't you come with me and Anna and we'll show you the house? Eric has to help our mom in the kitchen."
"Wait a minute I was just about to give her a tour myself." Eric tried but lost. Claire and Anna quickly whisked her away into the next room.
"Uncle Eric, is that your girlfriend?" Skye asked him and took his hand.
Eric was too focused on Florence to listen to his niece, "Yeah," but as soon as he looked down at Skye he realized what she'd said, "Wait what? No..."
*
The Richman's house was cozy, medium sized and filled with pictures of all the kids. Florence absolutely loved Eric's family home and she also loved his family. Since finishing the tour Claire and Anna had brought her out on the patio for a little girl talk. She wasn't stupid, she knew what they wanted to ask her and she couldn't blame them for wondering about her. It was tough to explain her friendship with Eric since she wasn't sure where they stood anymore. The way he had kissed her told her it wasn't all about friendship between them – maybe he shared her feelings after all?
Claire and Anne poured Florence a glass of white wine and sat across from her in two lounge chairs, she was clearly about to be interrogated.
"You have a lovely family home." Florence broke the silence and took a sip of her wine.
"Thank you, now let's cut the pleasantry," Claire said and put her wine on the coffee table, "what's the deal between you and Eric?"
"W-We're friends?"
"You're both sticking to that story I see..." Claire mumbled, "I promised Eric not to ask you this but after being stuck with his last girlfriend and seeing how it changed our brother—we need to know your intentions with him."
Florence felt heat rise to her cheeks and assumed the red color had come along with it. Since the kiss she had become more secure in her feelings about him but Chloe and Grace were the only ones who truly knew her heart. Confessing to Eric's siblings could complicate things far more so she decided to keep it vague.
"I can assure you I'm not here to change him or hurt him; Eric and I have fun together and we have a lot in common, that's all."
"So you've never kissed him?" Anna blurted out and leaned back in her chair as if she'd dropped a bomb.
Florence wiped her palm sweat discreetly on her seat cushion and smiled nervously, "I'm not sure I'm comfortable talking about this anymore, maybe Eric should—"
"I knew you guys had kissed! You guys are so in love with each other it's stupid!" Anna squealed and both Claire and Florence couldn't help but to giggle.
"What are you ladies talking about?" Eric suddenly popped his head out and the smell of chicken parmesan poured out from inside.
"Oh nothing," both Claire and Anna said and rushed inside.
"They interrogated you, didn't they?" Eric pinched the bridge of his nose and took a seat next to Florence.
All she could do was stifle a laugh and nod her head, refusing to say anything about what they had asked her – she figured he was next anyway. Silence filled the space around them and the pressing matter they needed to discuss rested on both their lips, but no one wanted to be the first to bring it up. Florence was worried that the kiss had become their fork in the road and how it would create a strain in their friendship.
"Florence—listen I think we should talk about—"
"Dinner is ready, you two! Get your butts in here and close the door behind you." Debra annouonced in a sing-song-y voice.
Florence got up; a little relieved they hadn't gotten any further, brushed off her dress and smiled at Debra before stepping in to the warmth of the house. When Eric passed her by he whispered softly:
"We'll talk about this later."