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

Ch 6: This Guy (Paul)

"I mean what the hell, man?!" I snapped, storming through the backstage. "It's so stupid!" "Mhm," Gene said, looking at the clipboard in his hand. "Hey Ronnie! You got the full set of amps and speakers for the stage?" he called. "Yeah we've got the truck coming in in about an hour, we'll get them then!" Ronnie shouted back. I scowled, crossing my arms as Gene ran his pencil along the clipboard before frowning and circling something. "Hm, need to make a note to double check that," he muttered to himself. 

"Are you even listening to me?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah, yeah, you said that you're stupid or something?" he said, not bothering to look up from the page. I rolled my eyes. "No! I said Bruce was being stupid! But damn fine if you don't want to listen to me then I won't talk!" I spat. "Aw come on Paul you know that's not true. Give me five minutes to deal with this then we can talk. Look, we can head up to my room and order some room service or takeout and talk." "Bet Bruce will think I'm cheating if we do that," I muttered under my breath. Gene walked over to me, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Look, I wanna talk with you, I really do! But I want to be able to give you my full attention and be able to actually listen well. I can't do that right now, so please just hang out for five minutes and then we'll head out, I promise." 

I heaved a sigh, shaking my head. "Fine yeah whatever," I said, scowling. He gave me a smile, patting me on the shoulder and going back to running over his clipboard. I stood with my arms crossed, waiting, and getting more and more angry by the second. "Uh...Paul?" "What?!" I shouted angrily, whirling to scowl at my sound tech. He winced, holding up his hands as if to ward me off. "Whoa, sorry. I was just telling you that you're gonna be all set for the show tomorrow," he said. 

Closing my eyes, I let out a slow breath, running a hand through my hair. "Right, right, sorry. Thanks for doing that," I said in a flat voice. Francis nodded, giving me a thin smile. "Of course," he said, walking off. Gene walked back over toward me, raising an eyebrow. "Alright I'm finished, let's head up to my room before you murder your sound tech," he teased, slipping an arm around my shoulders and steering me toward the door.

I was still really pissed by the time we made it up to his room. "Have a seat anywhere you'd like, I'll order us dinner," he said, throwing himself onto his bed and picking up the phone, dialing the number for room service and fidgeting with the cord as it rang. I sat on the edge of his bed, running a hand along the blankets and smoothing away the wrinkles as he ordered us some food. Finally, he hung up, letting out a sigh and leaning more against the pillows. "So what's up?" he asked. 

My scowl returned with force. "Bruce is being such an ass man, it's so annoying! Like he's getting all up on me about just casually flirting with the fans! Like I mean obviously I'm not doing anything serious, it's literally just joking and me having fun with the fans and stuff but he's really telling me I need to knock it off so he doesn't have to constantly be wondering if I'm cheating on him!" He nodded, giving me a sympathetic look, and motioned for me to keep ranting. "I mean it's ridiculous! He's literally never said anything about him not liking what I do with them until he went off on me! I mean fuck man, I don't even like make out with them or French kiss them or anything! It's like a second-long kiss because it's not anything serious because I don't love anyone besides him but he just won't listen to me!" 

"Mm yeah I see. Sorry to hear that man," he said, and I scowled, running a hand through my hair. "And I mean it's not like he's a perfect boyfriend! He 'lost track of time' and missed our date," I sneered, making air quotes with my fingers. "Well I mean hey, if that's the only thing he's done that's not terrible," Gene said mildly. "Ohh believe me! Believe me, that's not the only thing he's done!" I snapped. "Oh? You wanna talk about it then?" he asked. I opened my mouth to launch into another tirade before there was a knock at the door. 

"Oh there's the food," he said, jumping off his bed. I watched as he pulled open the door, accepting the tray from the young woman with a smile. "Mm, looks almost as delicious as you," he purred. She giggled, face going pink, and Gene's smirk got bigger. "Hey tell you what, feel free to stop by any time tonight and we can see if we can have a bit of fun." "We'll have to see if I'm free," she murmured, walking off. I rolled my eyes as he walked back over with the food, handing me my plate. "You're always looking for more, aren't you?" I asked with a grin.

He shrugged, still smiling. "Look, I like sex, alright? Guys, girls, I'm not picky, I'll take either one. Or both!" "Whatever," I said, smiling in spite of myself, taking a bite of dinner. Gene patted me on the knee, sitting next to me on the bed and folding his legs under him. "Look, Paul, here's my advice. Talk with Bruce about things! Let him know the stuff you don't like about him. You guys should both just like lay out the issues that you guys have with each other so that you can work it out in the end."

Sighing, I took another bite, pushing the food around with my fork. "Oh, I don't know. I don't want to get too confrontational," I said. "Well there needs to be a little confrontation so that you guys aren't keeping all your issues secret. That's even worse. Just trust me man, talking to him will help!" Nodding, I gave him a smile. "You're my best friend and I know you're just looking out for me and want the best for me. I trust you." 

He returned the smile, eyes twinkling.