Or A Hug, And Other Short Stories || Erikleen

Or A Hug | An Erikleen One-Shot

Colleen Ballinger woke up one Saturday morning, her hair in a messy bun, and her cats at her feet. It took her a minute to adjust her eyes to her room, and when she did, she saw that her boyfriend, Erik Stocklin, was nowhere to be found.

"Erik?" She shouted, her voice echoing through the emptiness. The only response that she got was her cat Daisy screaming as she always did. Her other cat, Gus, crawled onto her lap, but she groaned and pushed him off.

Tired and confused, Colleen rolled out of bed and slumped to her bathroom, to see a pink shirt and pair of blue jeans hanging on the door.

She didn't remember hanging them there, so she shrugged and took them off, to reveal what seemed to be a piece of folded red paper taped to the door.

"What?" Colleen said out loud, pulling the piece of paper off.

She opened it to reveal a heart drawn with a pen. Inside of the circle, lyrics that she recognized were written.

Heart
Give 'em a heart
Draw them a heart, with a pen
Keep it in a hiding spot

Colleen laughed, seeing what was written in parentheses under the lyrics.

(Get dressed, sleepyhead!)

She got dressed into the outfit that she eventually realized was what she wore when she and Erik recorded "The Hug Song."

After getting dressed, she walked out of her bedroom to be greeted by a huge teddy bear, holding a piece of paper that said:

Or a hug, people want hugs
People need hugs
Something to hold on to
A hug can really help a lot

(Give this bear a hug, Colleen!)

She laughed and gave the plushie a giant bear hug.

When she walked into the kitchen, she saw a toy computer. She scurried over to it and opened it to reveal the message:

Love, give them your love
Tell them they're loved
...from your toy computer

(Look up)

When Colleen looked up, she saw a huge poster taped to the ceiling that said:

I love you
I love you
I love you
I love you
I love you
I love you
...SO MUCH!

She began to tear up, starting to think that she might know what was happening.

She looked up at a clock to see the verses about time passing. As she followed the words saying I love you to the front door, a familiar ukulele strum became louder until she could tell it was Erik's ukulele and voice when she saw the words never stop on the door.

Taking a deep breath, Colleen opened the door to Erik's smiling face singing their song. When he finished, he put the ukulele on a small table, bent down on one knee, and pulled a ring from his pocket.

"Colleen Ballinger..." He mumbled, with a nervous gulp, "Will you marry me?"

Colleen nodded at a loss for words as Erik put the ring on her finger. They hugged one another for a long while. Colleen knew that she would have multiple soulmates in her life, and that Erik was one of them.

When the hugging stopped, they just stood there looking at one another.

"I love you," declared Colleen.

Erik smiled. "Never stop."

Colleen threw her arms around Erik, and when they kissed, Colleen could hear the cats meowing in approval inside.