KISS: In The Band

Ch 13: Oh Yikes (Peter)

I leaned back in my chair, tapping my drumsticks against my thighs before heaving a sigh. "Oh my gosh where the hell is he?!" I groaned. Ace frowned, looking up from tuning his guitar. "Yeah curly, it's not like Genie to be late. You heard from him lately?" Paul scowled, shaking his head. "No. Can't really say that I'm too upset by that," he muttered.

I rolled my eyes, sitting up and running a hand through my hair. "Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm pissed at him too. We all are. That tabloid article was bullshit and he never should've done that. But we still gotta practice! We have a new album to release, we need to keep working on songs!" I said. "Damn alright fine I'll call him," Paul said, still scowling. 

Ace and I watched curiously as he waited for Gene to pick up. "Hey! Where the hell are you?! Practice was supposed to start thirty minutes ago!" he snapped, before his eyes widened. "Oh. Oh shit really? Damn. Well...I mean...I kinda told you so, man." There was a long pause as we could here Gene yelling at Paul from the other end of the phone, while Paul just started to smirk smugly. "Yeah, yeah, shut up you fucking bitch. You did this to yourself. Anyway, when you've gotten your life back together try and show up for practice. Bye Gene," he said simply, before hanging up.

"So what's the deal?" I asked. He turned toward us, raising an eyebrow. "Gene got caught." My eyes widened as Ace covered his mouth with his hand. "He didn't," I whispered. Paul nodded. "He did." "Oh shit," Ace said softly. "What happened to him?" 

"Shannon rightfully kicked him out of the house but Eric and Bruce are letting him crash for a few days." "Oh my gosh Eric and Bruce! I haven't heard from them in ages!" Ace said, and I grinned in spite of having just heard Gene got kicked out of his house. Paul's face fell and he got really quiet for a minute. "Y-yeah. We really...haven't talked to them in ages," he mumbled. 

"Well I mean we've been busy so like it makes sense, you know?" I said, but Paul just shook his head. "No! Dude no, we've fucked up! It's been three years and we've barely talked to them! They were super good friends to us and we just...we just haven't talked to them in years! I-I mean...did you know Eric was getting married?" he cried.

Ace and I stared at him in shock. "Wait really? Eric's getting married? Like...little Eric Carr?" Ace said after a pause. Paul nodded miserably. "Yeah. To Carrie, I think. Eric was telling me about it. Eric Singer, I mean." "Aw that's so sweet, good for them! I wish he had told us though," I said, but Paul just shook his head, scowling. "That's the fucking thing! He did tell us! He sent us invitations! And none of us responded to them!" he shouted.

I shrugged, frowning. "Well to be fair, I haven't checked my mail in like...two years." "Yeah. I just feel really bad. Eric was really pissed at me. My Eric, I mean. Well...no not anymore. He still doesn't want to get back together. B-but yeah. Eric Singer was telling me how we've kinda...hurt Eric and Bruce and stuff by not...well, by not talking to them. And I feel bad." 

"We can reach out to them, don't worry. We can just stop by some day or something, don't worry about it!" I said, trying desperately to lighten the mood. Paul heaved a sigh, setting his guitar in his case and slinging it over his shoulder. "Yeah. I guess. I just feel bad because we messed up." "And because Singer is mad at you, huh?" I asked gently. 

I wasn't trying to be mean or anything, but looking back I probably shouldn't have said it like that. His face went white and he shot me a furious glare. "Yeah you got me! I fucking miss him! We talked a few days ago and it turns out I was the reason he wanted to take a break, because of what I had done to him! So now I feel like shit and all I want to do is tell him I'm sorry but he doesn't want to talk to me! So yeah, I do feel bad because he's mad at me, thanks for rubbing salt in the wound!" he shouted, storming out of the room.

Biting back a sigh, I ran a hand through my hair as Ace gave me a look. "Come on babe. Why would you say that?" he asked. I winced before shrugging helplessly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to! I was just trying to be nice but like...yeah it came out wrong." "It did. Because you always forget to think before you speak," he muttered, packing up his guitar and giving me a look. "Let's just go though. I guess we're done for today." 

"To be fair, we never really started today," I said, tucking my drumsticks into my pocket and following him out the door, switching the lights off behind me. I jogged a few steps to catch up with him, snagging his hand and swinging it as we walked. "So what's the move for the afternoon now?" I asked. He sighed, shaking his head. "I just wanna go home, to be honest. I'm not really in the mood to do anything," he said quietly. 

I frowned, looking at him in surprise. "Hey, you alright?" I asked. There was a long pause before Ace shook his head, sliding into the passenger seat. "No. He's right. Paul, I mean. We did mess up. I mean I love Eric and Bruce and yet...I haven't talked to them in years. And I didn't even know Eric was getting married." 

Nodding, I drove off, feeling my own heart sinking a bit. "Yeah. I know. We really should reach out to them. And apologize and stuff. Get them a wedding gift if it's not too late." Ace just sighed, looking out the window. "It's probably too late to go to the wedding. Like even if we did RSVP, they've probably got all the seats saved and stuff," he mumbled. I reached over and took his hand, giving it a squeeze. 

"Hey, listen to me. We fucked up babe and I'm not going to pretend we didn't. And you're right, it might be too late to go to his wedding. But it's not too late to try and make things right. We'll still reach out to them, we'll still try and be their friends again! We'll make it work, I promise," I said softly.

He gave me a sad smile. "I hope so."