KISS: Road Trip

Ch 16: California (Eric)

"Eric. Wake up."

I blinked, sitting up and looking at Bruce in confusion. "Y-yeah? What?" I mumbled, yawning. "We're here." I sat upright, looking out the window. "Oh! Shit we really made it to California?" I cried. He nodded, stretching with a yawn. "Somehow, yes. I don't know how we all made it in one piece, but we did. Now come on, get up!"

I looked at the empty car in confusion. "Where's everyone else?" "Inside. We splurged for a hotel so Peter and Ace and in their room and Paul's in our room because we didn't feel like spending that much money. We left you sleeping in the car because you just looked so damn peaceful," he said, ruffling my hair. I swatted his hand away with a grin. "Aw, shut up. It was a nice nap." "Uh huh. Now come on, let's go! This place has like an indoor pool and I very much want to take advantage of it."

I looked at my phone, frowning. "Dude it's 1 in the morning. Why would you go to the pool at one in the morning?" "Grind never stops," he said absentmindedly, locking the car behind me. "Bruce."

He heaved a sigh, shaking his head. "Working out helps me relieve stress and I'm really stressed out right now. So I want to work out to distract myself from that," he muttered. I fell into step beside him, squinting at him as we walked into the elevator. "Do you...need to talk?" I asked hesitantly. "Nah I'll be okay. Paul's asleep so be quiet when you walk in. I'll see you in an hour or so," he said, tossing me a room key before trying to walk off. I grabbed his arm, pulling him to a halt. "At least take your inhaler."

He rolled his eyes but nonetheless showed me it was already in his pocket before heading for the stairs.

I watched him go, eyes narrowing. Stressed out. Sure.

Paul was definitely not asleep, because he was pacing around the room restlessly by the time I finally managed to get the door unlocked. "Hey Eric. You have the bed on the left. Bruce took the couch and I got the second bed," he said, before going immediately back to walking in circles. "You good?" I asked after a pause.

He let out a huge sigh, running a hand through his hair. "I'm freaking out. Like what if...what if Gene stopped talking to me because he hates me?" I put a hand on his shoulder, giving him a smile. "Paul. Deep breath. I don't know what his reason for not talking to us is, but I know it wasn't because of something you did. We're in the last city we knew he was in, we'll find him and he'll explain and hopefully it'll go back to normal! Just try and go to sleep and get some rest. I promise it'll all be okay."

He gave me a smile, nodding. "Yeah. Thanks Eric, I appreciate it. But yeah, I'm gonna go to bed, that's a good idea. Goodnight."

I got ready for bed while he fell asleep and waited for Bruce to come back, which he did an hour later than he said he would. I raised an eyebrow as he walked into the room, face turning red as he saw me. "You must be real stressed," I said a little colder than I meant to. He sighed, shrugging, and set his inhaler down. "Eric I'm sorry but I really am stressed. Got an email from my boss about starting in the fall and they're not going to be paying me as much as my old job so either I stick with that and keep doing something I don't love or I switch and lose like a quarter of my pay or I find a new job doing what I like that pays better and so...so yeah."

I nodded, patting him on the shoulder. "I'm sorry man, that sucks, but hey, listen, it's gonna be fine. We're gonna be roommates which means you'll cut costs with rent and food and all that. You'll get the right job, I promise! I'll help you make the decision if you need help. But also you need to take care of yourself. Stop working out so much and just try to relax. Start by going to sleep, first of all."

Nodding, he stripped off his shirt and fell on the couch, closing his eyes. "Sounds like a plan. Thanks Eric."

Paul had ignored everything I said and was right back to freaking out by the time the five of us met up downstairs for breakfast. Peter and Ace both looked exhausted but happy, still taking turns feeding each other breakfast, which was both adorable and annoying. "So today's the day, huh?" Peter asked after a pause.

Paul nodded miserably, picking at his breakfast without actually eating it. "Yeah. Today's the day we find Gene."

I grabbed another plate from the breakfast buffet as they started to discuss the logistics, trying to get rid of the knot in my stomach. "Maybe if I eat more I'll feel better," I mumbled to myself, piling my plate high with various breakfast foods. I kept going, ignoring all of their conversation and eating plate after plate of food, trying desperately to feel better. But it didn't work.

Still completely ignoring everything everyone else was saying, I set my plate aside and closed my eyes, trying desperately to get my stomach to stop churning before I realized it wasn't hunger that was making me sick, it was nerves. Because I was terrified of meeting Gene. "Hey I'm gonna...go up to the room and pack my stuff," I mumbled, pushing my chair back and walking for the stairs.

By the time I made it to the room, I just sat on my bed and stared at the wall, still feeling like I was two seconds from throwing up. Or crying. Or both.

The door opened and Bruce sat next to me without a word, patting me on the knee. "You okay?" he asked softly. I bit down on my lip, pretty sure I was unable to respond without bursting into tears, before shaking my head. He let out a soft sigh, slipping an arm around my shoulders. "Come on man, what's wrong? Just talk to me."

I let out a sigh, dropping my head to my knees. "I just--I'm scared to see Gene again. This is how I felt on my first day of high school at Casablanca man, I'm freaking the fuck out," I choked, blinking back tears aggressively. Bruce's face grew sad and he gave me a hug. "It'll be fine. Gene loves you man, he'll be thrilled to see you again!" I took a deep breath, nodding. "Y-yeah. You're right, it'll be fine," I mumbled, trying my best to believe what he was saying.

If Gene wasn't happy to see us I'd be devastated.