City on the Edge of Forever

All Those Eyes

We knew we'd eventually have to tell our parents about us, but sitting around with my best friends and boyfriend for a while was nice.

"We should have our parents get together for like a dinner and tell them then." I suggest to Eric and he nods thoughtfully.

"My mom won't care either way, so whatever you wanna do, babe." He says with a self deprecating smile and I sigh. "You know it has nothing to do with whether she cares now or not. Because if she finds out from someone or somewhere else then she will care and you know it." I tell him softly.

"Yeah. Yeah I know." He looks down at the floor and takes a deep breath. I rub my hand in circles on his back as I think.

"Are we okay with next week sometime?" I ask cautiously. "Or if you want to just get it over with we can even do tonight." I offer as well.

"Yeah let's do tonight. Can we do it at your house?" Eric asks and I nod. "I'll call my mom and tell her." I say walking a few steps away with my phone.

"Hey, ma. Is it alright if we have the Cartman's over for dinner tonight?" I ask through the phone. "You mean your little friend Eric and his mother?" She clarifies.

"Yes, ma." I sigh. "Well, I'm already at the store so I don't see why not." She tells me and I grin. "Cool. Thanks. See you in a bit, bye." I say and hang up.

"We're good to go for tonight." I look at Eric and he nods. "I gotta go home and tell my mom and get ready." Eric says as he stands up. I kiss him on the cheek and open the front door for him.

"I'll see you in a few hours, okay?" He says with a smile and I nod as he walks away. Time for me to get ready, too.

I take a shower and stand in front of my closet, trying to figure out what to wear. "Would a suit be too much?" I wonder aloud. I then nod my head furiously, "Yeah definitely too much."

"Okay, this isn't that hard. Just breathe." I tell myself and take a deep breath. I pull out a green dress shirt and gray dress pants and place them on the bed.

"Not bad so far...but it's missing something." I mumble. I grab a brown vest and my black wristwatch and set them on the bed with a nod. I get dressed and slip black socks on along with my black dress shoes.

"Dinner is almost ready. Are the Cartman's on their way?" My mom asks through my bedroom door. "They should be. I'll check." I say, unlocking my phone.

I text Eric 'You on the way?' And slip my phone into my pocket. I marvel at myself in the mirror for a moment. "I did a decent job with this outfit." I mumble to myself.

I hear the doorbell ring and I take a deep breath. Here goes nothing. I open my bedroom door and walk down the stairs to see Eric and his mom walking inside.

"Hey." I breath out when I get in front of Eric. He decided to go with a simple black shirt, pants, and shoes, with a red tie. Simple, and yet he looks incredible to me.

"Come on in." I usher them through the living room to the kitchen. We all sit down and look at each other.

"My little Eric here said it was very important that I be here tonight." Liane Cartman says with a pointed look at Eric. He stares down at the table in front of him for a moment before meeting my eyes.

"Yes, well..." I say as I stand back up and look at everyone. "We should go ahead and get this over with, I guess." I wring my hands together and shift from one foot to the other and back.

"Mom, dad, Ike, Ms. Cartman....Eric and I are dating" I say, releasing the breath I was holding with an audible 'woosh'. I squeeze my eyes shut for a moment before unclenching my fists.

"Is...is this true, Eric?" Liane says after a moment, looking at Eric. He nods with wide eyes and watches as she pushes her chair out and steps out the back door with a cigarette.

I take a few cautious steps toward Eric, but he bolts upstairs to my bedroom.

"Oh god." I mumble and look at my family, who are sitting like statues. "Well....What do you guys think?" I ask almost harshly, staring at the table.

"Bubbe....We love you no matter what, okay? We don't care if you're gay, we more care about who you decide to spend your time with. I just don't want you to end up regretting your decision." My mother says earnestly, with her hands clasped in front of her.

"Mom...." I start, clenching my jaw, "you don't even know anything about our relationship." I don't notice the back door silently sliding open to reveal Liane.

"What you guys don't see is when we're in a group of people, Eric is the only one listening to what I have to say. He may seem abrasive on the outside but with every snide remark, he looks at me with the softest eyes. He looks at me with encouragement even when he's disagreeing with me on something." I also don't notice Eric peeking around the staircase, listening in.

"I can count on him more than anyone else I know! He's always there for me, even when I don't need him to be...but especially when I do need him to be....He makes me feel like I can do anything...I..I think I love him." I say staring at my palms, watching as liquid splashes onto my skin.

I look up with wide eyes to see everyone staring at me. I blink a few times and swipe at my eyes with my sleeve. With a sniffle I take a few steps backwards toward the stairs. I turn, seeing Eric staring with his mouth stuck open.

"I...I.." I stutter before turning and stalking out the front door, slamming it behind me. I shuffle onto the sidewalk slowly, blinking absently. I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know where I'm going. I just know that I need to get away from all those eyes on me.