. . .
Henry had fallen asleep hours ago, and according to texts on Henry's phone, their dad was doing overnight at the medical plant. I was left in the Lowe household alone with my thoughts. It was now almost 2 a.m, and I still haven't heard anything back from Eric regarding the Logan situation. I had decided not to call L.J or Avery and get them all rattled for no reason, but the suspense was killing me.
Looking through the pet clinic's brochure pamphlet Eric was going to start working at, I sighed. Our last few months before college was going to have to be split with this job. We already spent half the year at odds. I thought things were going to be smooth sailing from here. It seems like every time I blink, something in our lives is going wrong.
Spotting a picture of Emily with her family on the back, I got the brightest idea. Why don't I work with him? I'm sure they could use more help. Eric wouldn't mind either. I'm sure he wants to see more of me too. It's a win, win situation if you were to ask me.
Grabbing my phone, I shot Emily a text about it, not even realizing she might not even be awake at this hour. That thought was quickly forgotten as my phone buzzed in my hands moments later. Emily responded that she could, for sure, get me a spot, no worries about it.
I do need to hang out with her more.
Making myself comfortable on the living room couch to put something on T.V my heart stopped when I heard keys jiggling in the lock. I hadn't heard any cars pull into the lot, so of course, my mind's first thought was, this is how you die, Darren. Hopefully, they leave Henry alone. He doesn't deserve it.
Ducking behind the couch, so I was out of view of the killer's sight, I looked around for anything I could use as a weapon: a pillow, a book bag, and a phone charger. Maybe I could get closer enough to strangle them with the cord. They never said don't bring a cord to a gunfight... I might win.
I'm not going to say I peed a bit when the door flung open, but I am glad I changed into a pair of Eric's pajamas.
"Shit," I heard Eric grumble, which made me stick my head up a bit higher. Wait, duh, Darren, you heard keys. Why would an intruder have keys? We all have dull moments.
As my heart rate began to reset to normal, I realized Eric had a very drunk Logan attached to his side, which prompted me to get up and help. We both carried him to the couch and put him down safely.
"Why were you hiding?" Eric asked, taking off his best friend's shoes. Eric's eyes were red and his cheeks a bit puffy. I could tell he had been crying. The conversation between Logan and him must've been extremely heavy.
"Hiding?" I laugh jokingly. "I had dropped my phone. I wasn't hiding,"
Plopping down on the chair next to the couch, Eric exhaled loudly. "Henry asleep?"
I nodded my head before going over to him and bending down so I could engulf him in a hug. It seemed as though he needed one. I didn't know if he was going to talk to me about what happened between them, but I knew if I had just talked Avery off a cliff, I'd need several hugs.
He didn't hesitate to hug me back and place a sweet kiss on my cheek. We stayed embraced in each other's arms for a solid 5 minutes before I pulled away and saw that a few more stray tears had found their way down his face.
"Do you want to talk about it?" I ask, taking a seat on the floor next to his feet. I watched as he looked over Logan, probably still scared. I know Eric gives off this tough persona, and it takes a lot to break him, but this was more than enough. I couldn't possibly imagine having to spout out reasons as to why someone should want to live because saying the wrong thing could be the last straw. That's enough pressure to break anyone, especially if you've known the guy your whole life.
"I don't know where to start," He gulped, bringing his hand up to his mouth to cover any sobs that might've escaped. "He was standing there a mess, and I didn't know the words. I didn't know what to say to him, and at that moment, I realized we weren't as close as we used to be. There was a point in time when I knew him like the back of my hand, but now, with him depending on me to save his life, I didn't know the words,"
"You were just in shock,' I tried calming him down as I rubbed his leg in a comforting manner. "Obviously, something worked since he's here with us,"
Eric shook his head, disappointingly. "Shawn saved him. He called me, and I couldn't even do anything, so I had to call Shawn. He showed up and said everything Logan was hoping to hear, and I stood there like some fucking background extra,"
Laying my head on his lap, I sighed. "That doesn't matter. You've never done anything like that before. I'm sure you were lost and confused,"
"He's only here because Shawn didn't want their parents seeing him drunk like this," Eric continued as he placed a hand on my back. I loved how he could be upset and not take that anger out on me. It just goes to show how much our relationship has progressed.
Eric went silent for a moment before adding on. "It is bad that this made me dislike Shawn even more? Because he always knows what to say. To Logan, to you. You know he even talked to Henry and got through to him? The guy doesn't even like me, but he's willing to help my brother,"
"I think the reason Shawn's so good with words is that growing up, all he knew were words of comfort," I said, bracing myself to reveal Shawn's secret so that Eric could feel better about himself. He wasn't going to tell anyone, so what was the harm in it? "His dad left him and his mom because he couldn't accept having a gay son. His dad got a whole new family and refused to include Shawn. He even named his new son Shawn. He grew up with pity words slung at him and was always told things would get better. He's good because he's had years of practice,"
"Dang it," Eric groaned. "Now I feel bad for not liking him,"
"By all means, don't change your attitude toward him. That's pitying him," I inform Eric as I got up from the floor. My butt bones were starting to hurt.
"I'm just mad at myself," He confessed again, looking over at Logan, who was passed out he had a bit of drool dribbling down his chin. "Logan deserves better than that with everything's he's going through. He said he's going to talk to Avery tomorrow, so I hope that goes good,"
Going to the front closet, I pulled a spare comforter from the bin so that I could cover Logan up for the rest of the night. I even went the extra step in pouring him a glass of water to sit next to him. Lord knows he was going to need it when he wakes up.
"Are you tired?" Eric asked, following me into the kitchen.
"Not at all," I pout, looking at the time, which now read 4:10 a.m. I didn't plan on this being an all-nighter, but hey, circumstances change all the time.
Eric then pulled the little black box from his pocket and placed it on the kitchen counter in front of both of us. I'm opposed to getting married right now, but this was surely not the way to ask me. What happened to getting down on one knee? Where's the romance? Why aren't there doves flying around right now? Granted, I watch too many romantic comedies but still.
"Eric," I say calmly, placing my hand over the box to scoot it back over to him. "We should not get engaged, specifically right now. I love you, I do, but we're still kids, no matter how grown we think we are. I hope you don't take this as me rejecting you because that's not what I'm doing at all. Is this not bizarre to you? I- I don't-"
My ramblings were cut short by Eric bursting out in laughter. My face changed from worry to confusion in less than 5 seconds. What was so funny? Was my pure state of panic a joke to him?
"Look," He managed to choke out through his laughter. "Darren, I love you too. I am going to marry you one day, that's for sure, trust me, but that day is not today, babe,"
"Huh?" I say, furrowing my eyebrows slightly embarrassed.
"Open the box," He chuckled, nodding his head toward it.
Picking up the box from the counter, I quickly tore it open to reveal bracelets. If you were to look up the word stupid in the dictionary right now, my picture would be smack dab in the middle. All this worry, and for what? Why did I think Eric was going to propose to me in the first place? Am I that self-absorbed to think everyone is in love with me at any given point in time? Hey, that's something for a therapist to figure out, not me.
I began to laugh, too, as I pulled the bracelets from the box. They were silver with a single heart dangled on the end. I felt so dumb, oh my god.
"They're from pandora, nothing too special" Eric laughed too as he accepted the bracelet. I reached out toward him. "The lady asked me if I wanted them in a box, and I said yes, that's it,"
"I'm so sorry," I croaked out in between my fits of laughter. "They are special. Thank you, baby, I love it,"
Helping me put mine on, Eric had the biggest smile on his face. I knew he was going to throw this incident back in my face countless times. I didn't blame him either.
"I swear I could be having the worst day, and you'd still manage to make me laugh," He admitted clicking the bracelet together and admiring it on my wrist. "And that is why one day you will get a ring from me, and it's going to be magical,"
Just like that, my laughter turned into cries of joy. He meant so much to me, and hearing those words come from his mouth was tear-inducing.
"Do you really see us together in the future?" I ask, calming myself down. "I've never had anyone say that to me before. For God Sake, I don't even think L.J wants me in her future," I laughed nervously.
Looking me directly in the eyes, Eric's smile faded into seriousness as he took my hands in his. "I've never been so sure about something in my life. I want you with me always, Darren. You truly make me better,"
Playing with the bracelet briefly, I looked back up at him. "I love you, Eric Lowe, and I'm glad everything worked out tonight,"
Bringing my knuckles up to his face his kissed them softly one by one, sending butterflies down my spine. It was crazy how he could still make me feel like we just met.
"Let's go watch The Vampire Diaries until the sun rises," He said, making his way out of the kitchen.
"Now, that's music to my ears. Are you sure you don't want to get married?" I joked, following along behind him. And he said he never knew the right things to say, what a liar!
I was happy despite everything else going on. When I was with Eric, everything made sense no wonder I was so screwed when we weren't on good terms. Being in love is so fun when you find your person.
I wouldn't want it any other way. Tonight was great, so I had to brace myself for tomorrow being the worst day ever with my luck.
But, for now, I was going to enjoy this.
. . .