At Odd's Ends (Bruce Kulick x Eric Carr)

Ch 3: Time Management

Frowning, I sat at the desk across from the phone, staring at it. "Alright, let's see. What's a good reason to invite Bruce over?" I murmured, running a hand through my hair. "Hm...eh, screw it," I said, pressing the buttons and dialing his number. It rang for a few seconds before he picked it up. "Hello?" "Hey Bruce! Hey you know it's been awhile since we've hung out, you want to like come over and mess around for a few hours?" I asked, crossing my fingers.

"Hm...I've got a date at seven," he said slowly. I rolled my eyes, twisting my fingers through the phone cord. "Oh that's okay! I've got clocks in my house, I'll make sure that you keep track of time!" I said cheerfully. "Well..." Come on, come on, just say yes and come over. "Well it has been awhile since we've hung out and you are my best friend, so yeah sure! I'll come over!" he said. My heart leapt, a huge smile splitting my face. "Aw nice! Want to come over at like 5 or something?" I asked. "That'll give you two hours before your date starts." "Yeah, 5 sounds good, I'll see you around then!" "Alright bye!" I said, dropping the phone back to the receiver and pumping my fist in the air. "Aw hell yeah!" I cried. 

I wandered through my apartment, finding every single clock I had and setting it back an hour. "Ahh, perfect," I said, changing the last clock on my oven. "All that needs to happen now is that Bruce comes over and doesn't notice the sudden time jump!" I sat waiting around my place until there was a knock at the door and I pulled it open to find Bruce standing on my doorstep, giving me a grin. "Hey Eric!" he said cheerfully. I returned his smile, feeling my heart settle as I realized that he wasn't wearing a watch and that wasn't going to be an issue for me to deal with. 

"Come in, come in, it's been so long man I've missed hanging out with you!" I cried, grabbing his hand and practically dragging him inside. He laughed, rolling his eyes. "We see each other practically every day for the band, you're acting like it's been ages since you've seen me," he said, sitting on the couch. "Well to be fair you're pretty often wrapped around your boyfriend," I teased, trying to keep the slight twinge of jealousy out of my voice. 

A blush spread across his face and he shrugged. "Well, we're dating, why wouldn't we spend time together, you know?" he said defensively. "I'm kidding, you know I am! Can I get you something to drink?" I asked. "Sure, I'll have like a Coke or something." Nodding, I walked to the kitchen, pulling open the fridge with a frown. "Hey Pepsi okay?" I called over my shoulder. "Couldn't care less!" he replied. I grabbed two cans and walked to the living room, tossing one to him and sitting in a chair across from him, folding my legs beneath me.

Cracking open my can, I took a sip before giving him a smile. "Speaking of your boyfriend though, how's dating Paul?" I asked. He blushed again, but it was a happy one this time. "It's real nice. I love him, that's why we've been together for like what, two years? Mm no, two years in three months." "Aw nice. That's sweet," I said, wishing desperately that he could be saying that it had been almost two years since he had started dating me. "Yeah. Paul's sweet too. It's really nice dating him, he's a lot of fun to hang out with and stuff and he's really nice and funny and talented and hell he's hot too."

"Nice, nice. Must be nice, having a relationship that's all perfect!" I said, hoping he'd take the bait. And to my immense relief, his smile faded a bit, frown creasing his brow. "Yeah...I mean, it's not all perfect. We've had a fair share of disagreements and such." "Oh no! What about?" I asked innocently. His frown got deeper and he ran a hand through his hair, staring blankly at the floor. "Well, I always get a bit worried that he'll...sort of cheat on me, you know? He's had his fair share of groupies before we got together and that fear is always in the back of my mind no matter how many times I tell myself he won't do that." I nodded sympathetically, taking another sip as he continued. "Then he gets annoyed with me for doubting his loyalty and stuff. But we always make it up in the end." 

"Well that's good," I said, making a mental note reminding myself to call Gene once Bruce had left. We hung out for awhile and talked before he looked at the clock. "Well, it's 6:25, I'm gonna head out. It was nice to come over and talk with you, I'll have to do it again sometime!" he said, giving me a hug. I hugged him back, wishing we could stay in each other's arms forever, but of course he let me go, walking out the door with a parting wave. 

I let out a happy sigh, flopping back onto the couch and staring up at the ceiling. "Mm Bruce Kulick I cannot wait until you and I end up together," I murmured to myself before rising to my feet and calling Gene. "Hello this is Gene," he said. "It's me, you idiot! Damn, why so formal when you're answering the phone?" I teased. "Shut up. I'm expecting a call later. Anyway what's up?" 

"So Bruce just left for his date at 7 but it's already 7:30 so he's gonna be late. Also, he was talking about how he's always worried Paul will cheat on him and then Paul gets mad for him not fully trusting him so I dunno, feels like we could work with that, you know?" I said. "Hm yeah we'll keep that in mind. Nice job stalling him!" "Yeah hey I'm not complaining, I got to hang out with him for once. I guess we'll see if they seem off tomorrow at practice." "Yeah, see you then!" he said, hanging up. 

Humming to myself, I walked through my apartment, resetting all the clocks to the correct time. "Just you wait Bruce. It's gonna work out so so perfectly in the end and we're gonna be so damn happy together!"