His Last Chance

twelve • one in a million

Flashback
"So, you and Anthony, huh? You guys don't happen to be dating, right?" His manager asked.

"Um, I-I don't know what are you talking about." Eric trailed off, scratching the back of his neck, trying to change the subject.

His manager raised his eyebrows at him. "Really, Eric? You're telling me that you didn't have your tongue down his throat a minute ago?"

Eric looked a little flustered. His manager started to laugh as he saw Eric's face turn red from embarrassment.

"You're not mad at us, are you?"

"Why would I be mad?"

"I'm sorry, we were-"

"Relax, Eric. It's not that a big of a deal. But next time, don't make it obvious."

They both started to laugh. "Jokes aside, I'm happy for you. You guys make a cute couple." his manager said honestly.

"Honey, where's your car keys?" Anthony said, as he's looking into Eric's bag walking over to Eric and their manager.

"You're not planning to steal my car now, are you?" Eric asked him jokingly, while he's giving him a playful smirk.

Anthony rolled his eyes, as he glared at him.

"Gosh, it's so fun teasing you." He takes them out of a small hidden pocket within his bag, handing it over to him.

"You're lucky you're cute." Anthony said to him. Eric smiled as he gives his boyfriend a kiss on the lips. "I'll be waiting for you outside." His manager smiled at the interaction between the two. As Eric grabs his jacket getting ready to head out, his manager calls out to him.

"Hey, Eric?"
"Yeah?"
"Take care of Anthony, will you?" His manager says, as he winked at him. Eric smiled.

"What happened?" Anthony asked his boyfriend.

Eric just stares at him. "Oh no, how did he-"

"Babe, he practically figured it out.

"Wait, what are you talking about?"

"Dude, he saw me making out with you after rehearsal." Anthony was stunned.

"Oh my god." he said.

"Babe, relax. It's not that big of a deal. I know this isn't the way we wanted to tell him, but I'm just glad that he supports us. That's all that matters."

"No, it's not that. He saw us making out. Why couldn't he just catch us holding hands or something?" he asked.

Eric started to laugh hysterically. Anthony's mouth hung open, as he hit Eric in the arm trying not to laugh, "This isn't funny! Stop laughing!"

"Gosh, you're so freakin cute sometimes." Eric started to giggle.

***
"His parents are getting a divorce?" Joey said.

Thomas nodded his head.

"Shit," Joey was very surprised, "I had no idea."

"Me neither." Thomas said.

"Why didn't he say anything?" Colton asked.

"We really can't blame him, you know." Thomas said.

"But we're his friends, man." Colton said.

"Yeah, but, that doesn't mean anything." Joey said.

"Anthony told me that he didn't want him and Eric to drift apart and to end up like his parents...which explains why they've been arguing so much, and why he's been so insecure about his relationship with Eric, the reason why he freaked out-"

"You don't think he's been projecting his insecurities onto Eric, do you?" Thomas said.

"Maybe." Colton said.

"But?" Joey asked.

"You don't think he knew about his parents before we left, do you?"

"Well, Anthony told me that his dad called him when we were on tour."

"Are we gonna talk to Anthony?"

"No, we're not doing that." Thomas said sternly.

"Why not?" Colton asked his bandmate. "We don't have a choice anymore."

****
Flashback
"You're not trying to cheat on me with Joey, are you?" Eric asked his boyfriend jokingly.

Anthony sighed, "Very funny, babe."

Eric laughed, "You love me too much, right?"

Anthony rolled his eyes, "Yeah, sure."

Eric pulls him into a kiss which Anthony seems to enjoy a lot.

The guys started cooing in the background, as Anthony pulled away and stared at them.

"You never told me that they were dating." A girl said.

"You didn't hear them last night?" Joey said jokingly.

Anthony's face started to turn red, "Dude!"

Everyone started to laugh, including Eric, as he tried very hard not to, but he couldn't help it. Their bandmates couldn't stop teasing them about their relationship since they found they were going out. Anthony glared at Joey, and turns to glare at his boyfriend.

"Babe," Eric kisses Anthony's cheek as he tries to reassure him, "relax. He's joking. Come on, let's go."

As Joey walks by Eric, "Anthony's gonna kill me later, isn't he?"

"Yep."

***
"We," Colton started, "thought it'd best if you hear this news from all of us. It's only fair."
The guys pull up some chairs sitting right in front of their manager's desk. "We know what's going on with Anthony, but," Colton stops and trails off.

"What?"

"He has no idea that we know about this." Joey said.

"Please don't say anything." Thomas said.

"I don't think we should be doing this, I really don't want to-"

Colton said suddenly, "We'll tell you, but you have to promise us something."

"What?"

"You have to talk to Eric."