KISS Me I'm Irish

World Poetry Day

I pulled up to Eric's house, letting out a sigh. It had been three days but I didn't seem to be making any progress. He still seemed just as angry and bitter and resentful toward me now as he had the day after St. Patrick's Day, or even the minute after I had kissed another woman. I wasn't going to give up though. I couldn't, not when I loved him as much as I did, not when I couldn't bear to even imagine life with anyone other than him.

"Well you've got a pretty weird way of showing you love him more than anything," I muttered to myself, stepping out of my car and walking up to his door. I took a deep breath before ringing the doorbell, hoping he'd answer. It took me ringing it three times before he begrudgingly pulled open the door. "Oh. It's you. Again," he said with a sigh. "What is it today?" 

"I-I know that you're still mad--" "Yes that is correct. I'm trying to show that quite clearly," he snapped, and I flinched. "I know. And I understand why you are. But it's World Poetry Day today so I was wondering if you wanted to go downtown to this little coffee shop? They're doing like a poetry reading today so I thought maybe it would be nice to go to that." There was a pause before he let out a sigh. "Fine. Let's go," he muttered, pushing past me and walking to my car. It was a silent ride and he didn't really say anything as we walked into the café. I ordered his latte and mine along with a plate of scones, sitting with him at a table and listening to the poet over the hum of chatter in the building. 

"Oh look, Ace and Peter are here!" Eric said suddenly, perking up noticeably. He gave them an actual smile and waved them over. Ace waved back with his usual wide grin, walking over hand in hand with Peter. "Hi Tom, hi Eric!" he said. "You guys should sit with us, it can be like a double date!" Eric said cheerfully. Of course I didn't protest as Ace and Peter agreed, getting themselves some coffee and pulling up two chairs. Whatever made Eric happier wasn't anything I was going to try and interfere with.

We sat crowded around a table that was really only meant for two, chatting casually as we sipped on our coffees and half listened to the poetry. Eric of course talked more with Peter and Ace than he did with me, which wasn't surprising but did still sting. I just sat in silence, sipping on my latte and halfheartedly participating in conversation whenever I got roped in.

"Hey Ace, everyone says that Tommy's your replacement, want to replace him as my fiancé too?" Eric spat suddenly. Ace let out a nervous laugh, looking between me and Eric with wide eyes. "H-hah, that's um...that's a good one, curly. But come on, we all know Tommy isn't my replacement. You guys just use the makeup for the recognizability! B-but even then you guys both change it and make it unique, you know? Right babe?" Ace asked, nudging Peter, who nodded. "Yeah exactly! Like there's differences, and it's not like you guys wear the same costumes we did," he said. 

"Tommy did. He wore a copy of your Creatures of the Night costume," Eric said. It took everything in me to bite back a sharp comment reminding him he wore a copy of Carr's Creatures of the Night costume on the same tour, but I knew he was just trying to bait me into saying that so he could accuse me of calling him a replacement of the other Eric. "W-well that's because that's what the theme was for that tour. It was a throwback. I didn't mind, I told him it was okay," Ace said nervously. "Eric come on. Don't ruin their date," I said under my breath. He shot me a dirty look before taking a sip of his coffee and looking at his watch.

"Damn it's late, Tom we should go," he said. I just sighed into my coffee, knowing protesting would only make it worse, and rose to my feet. "Alright. Let me just pay the bill first," I mumbled. I went ahead and paid for Ace and Peter too, feeling guilty for making their date awkward. Finally, I returned to the table, saying goodbye to Ace and Peter before walking with Eric out the door. "You shouldn't have ruined their afternoon," I said. "You shouldn't have ruined our engagement," he snapped back, and I winced. "I...I know. I'm really--" "I told you, I don't want to hear an apology," he said, slamming the car door shut. 

It was a silent drive back to his house, and I pulled up against the curb. "Well I'll see you--" "I'm sorry. You're not Ace's replacement. You earned your spot in the band. That was uncalled for, I shouldn't have said that," he said abruptly. "Oh. No, it's okay. You're upset with me, and for good reason and I can't blame you for lashing out." "Yeah. Still though. Doesn't mean I should try and hurt you back. That's petty and childish," he said, not looking at me. There was a pause before he let out a sigh. "Well. I'll see you for whatever holiday you've discovered is tomorrow," he said, walking inside with a parting wave. 

I looked at his closed front door for a minute before letting out a long sigh, dropping my head to the steering wheel with a groan. "Dammit! Dammit Thomas. If he's willing to go that low with jabs at you he has to be seriously angry with you. And how can you blame him? You better pull this off, you better make him happy to be with you again," I said to myself. Shaking my head, I drove off. I was running out of time, every day that passed he just seemed to be more upset with me. 

If I didn't fix things fast, I might never fix them at all.