KISS One-Shots

Tommy and Bruce

I walked down the aisle, looking at the list. "Okay, so Eric likes chocolate pie, which means I need vanilla extract, which I don't have, hence why I'm at the store," I said under my breath, swinging the shopping basket in my hand. I had gotten everything else I needed for Eric's birthday dessert, except for the vanilla extract. Humming softly to myself, I scanned the shelves before finally spotting the last bottle of extract. "Ah, yes!" I said, running forward and grabbing it. 

To my surprise, a hand went around mine and I looked up to find a man giving me a smile. "Oops, looks like we both wanted the same thing," he said cheerfully. I bit back a gasp, feeling my heart kick up to an eleven. He was hot. Like, really hot. His warm brown eyes were shining with laughter, peaking out from under his dark curly bangs. I traced his face, scanning every feature from his crooked grin to the cute little dimple on his strong chin. "Hah, yeah, looks like it," I said. "Well, how do you propose we settle this?" he asked, not taking his hand off of mine. And I for sure didn't want him to.

"Why do you need the vanilla?" I asked. He shrugged. "I was gonna bake some scones for a party my friends and I are having." "Wow, pretentious," I said, and he laughed. "Yeah, kinda. How about you, what do you need it for?" "It's my friend's birthday and I need to make him a pie," I said, still staring at him. I wasn't trying to make it obvious, but he was starting to look really, really familiar. I just couldn't place it. "Damn, well, I'll let you have it then. Tell your friend I say happy birthday!" "Yeah, will do! Hey, why don't you give me your number? I don't need the whole bottle, I'll just use what I need and give the rest to you. That way, we both win," I said. 

"Hey, yeah, that works perfectly!" he said, pulling out his phone and handing it to me. I quickly put in my number, sending myself a text. "Got it, thanks! Oh, I'm Tommy, by the way," I said with a grin. He returned the smile. "Nice to meet you, I'm Bruce." My eyes widened and I stared at him, taking a step back as everything finally fell into place. The curly hair, the nice eyes, the stupid fucking chin dimple. Bruce fucking Kulick.

"You!" I shouted, ripping the vanilla away from him. He gave me a baffled look. "Me? I'm so confused, have we met before?" "Leave me alone!" I cried, pushing him away and running down the aisle. I ignored his confused call after me and darted down a random row of shelves, heart pounding. "Shit," I whispered, checking to make sure that the coast was clear before making my way to the checkout line, buying all the ingredients I needed and getting the hell out of the store. I felt like kicking myself as I drove home. "Stupid, stupid, stupid! Dammit Tommy you idiot! Of course it was him! Why didn't you recognize him?! Why didn't you recognize him?!" I shouted, slapping myself in the side of the head. 

I kept berating myself as I made the pie, more embarrassed than upset. "You dumbass. You clown. You absolute fool," I muttered, grabbing Eric's present and the pie and driving to his house. "Stupid. You stupid, stupid dumbass," I said, ringing the doorbell. "Idiot!" "Ouch man, what'd I do? Open the door wrong or something?" Eric teased. My face went bright red and I rolled my eyes. "Talking to myself, not to you. Happy birthday! I made you a pie," I said, handing it to him. His face absolutely lit up, blue eyes shining. "Aw Tommy! You're so sweet! You didn't have to do this!" "Nah, you're my best friend, I kinda did have to," I said, tugging his bandanna over his eyes fondly.

"Oh, shut up. Come in though, come share this with me! There's no way I can eat a whole pie," he said, pushing his bandanna up back onto his forehead while sticking his tongue out at me. Smiling, I followed him into his house, closing the door behind me. 

We sat at his table eating a slice of pie each after he had opened his present, which he of course loved. "So anyway! Why're you standing on my doorstep calling yourself an idiot, hm?" he asked, giving me a look. I bit back a sigh. "I...was at the store getting ingredients for your pie, and...I ran into Bruce Kulick from high school and I...dammit man I still have a huge crush on him!" I said miserably.