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

Ch 15: Fallout

There was a knock on my door and I stretched with a yawn, shuffling over to the door and pulling it open. Gene gave me a baffled look. "Why the hell are you still wearing that?" he asked. I looked down at my multicolor bodysuit in mild surprise. "Huh? Oh uh...I was sleepy after the show and I didn't bother to do anything except take off my shoes before I went to sleep. Anyway, what's up?" Eyes sparkling, he handed me the magazine he was clutching. "We got 'em." 

Eyes wide, a gleeful smile spread across my face as I looked at the cover. "No way! They actually ran it?!" I cried. "It's Star, man, they'll run anything. I haven't read it though, I wanted to do that with you," he said, stepping into my room and closing the door behind him. Grinning like an idiot, I sat next to him on the couch in my room. "I mean first of all, fantastic cover," I said, looking at the silhouette that had 'Mystery Kiss Guitarist Tells All!' written on it in all caps. "I know, I know, it really catches the attention. Now come on, let's see what they actually ended up saying about us." 

I flipped to the article, starting to read. "I was lucky enough to arrange an interview with a guitarist of the rock band Kiss, who has requested to remain anonymous. Whether they are a current or former member is not known, but what is known is that the hottest band in the world is a lot different than anyone could have expected. To start, beloved drummer Eric Carr is well known for his positivity and infectiously cheerful disposition. But who could have known that his energy comes from a long history of drug use and that beneath his smile is a man willing to blackmail the former drummer Peter Criss?" 

We both burst into laughter and I gave up, handing him the article, laughing so hard tears were streaming down my face. "I can't, I can't, oh it's too good! Ohh man it's fantastic!" I shrieked, sides aching from laughter. Gene and I stumbled through the article in absolute hysterics before finally reaching the end. "Oh man, oh man it's perfect! Ohhh it's perfect!" he cried, wiping away tears before taking a deep breath. "Okay, okay, here's the plan. We've got practice today so I'm gonna drop this in the practice room now and hopefully they'll read it and believe it," he said, rising to his feet. "I mean I don't know how they could but hey man if they fight over bullshit like that that's gonna be a sign something's wrong between them," I said with a shrug. 

Nodding, he ruffled my hair. "Exactly. I'll see you in a few hours. Try not to give it away," he said, walking out of my room with a parting wave. Still chuckling, I finally changed out of my show outfit, getting showered and dressed. I waited impatiently for practice to roll around, checking the clock every few minute until it was finally 8. Grinning, I ran for the elevator, taking a deep breath and trying to wipe the obvious smile off my face. It was remarkably hard not to smile as I walked into the room where we were practicing to a scene of total chaos. 

"Oh, so it was all fucking projection was it?! You kept accusing me of cheating because you felt guilty about cheating on me?!" Paul roared. "For the last fucking time I didn't cheat on you! You probably just set up that interview so you could get pressure off of yourself because you've been cheating on me!" Bruce shouted back, giving Paul a shove. "I didn't do the fucking interview! Why the hell would I say that I can't sing?! That's my job!" "You're a guitarist in the band, aren't you?! That sure fits the title!" "You're literally the lead guitarist!" 

I sidled over to Gene, who was standing back and just watching. "So who read it first?" I asked in a low voice. "Paul picked it up. He's not happy." "Mhm yeah I can see that," I said mildly. "Well why would I say that I can't play guitar?! That's been my career for years!" Bruce cried. "To deflect blame! Why the hell else?!" "Well then wouldn't that be exactly why you said that you can't sing?!" "How long has this been going on?" I asked Gene. Frowning, he looked at his watch. "Mm, ten minutes? It's been awhile," he said. 

"Just tell it to me straight, Paul! Have you cheated on me?!" Bruce shouted. Paul froze, giving Gene a panicked glance, and Bruce's eyes narrowed. "You're cheating on me with Gene?" he hissed. "No!" Gene and Paul cried together. "Then why are you looking at him?! Dammit Paul tell me what you did!" he snapped, giving him a shove. "Paul you--" Gene started, but Paul shook his head. "There's nothing to tell! There's nothing to tell!" he shrieked desperately, eyes filling with tears. "What the hell did you do?!" Bruce shouted.

I looked at Paul, taken aback by everything unfolding in front of us. "Paul, you should just--" Gene started. "No!" Paul cried, cutting him off. "No! No there's nothing to tell! I didn't do anything! I didn't do anything!" "Just tell me what you did!" Tears rolling down his cheeks, Paul grabbed his temples, shaking his head. "There's nothing to tell!" he wailed, turning and running out of the room. 

There was a ringing silence before Bruce whirled on Gene, grabbing him by the collar. "What the fuck did he do?!" he snarled. "It's-it's not what you think. And it's not up to me to say," he said quietly. "Did he cheat on me?" "No. Try and talk to--" "No! I don't want to fucking talk to him! I want him to own up for whatever the hell he did and if he cheated on me then I can dump him!" he shouted, letting go of Gene and storming out of the room. 

There was an even longer silence as we exchanged stunned glances. "So that...was worse than I thought it would be," he said quietly after a pause. I nodded, stomach bunching into knots. "Y-yeah. That did. What uh...what did Paul do?" "It's not my place to say, it's really not. But he didn't cheat on Bruce." "Well...in the end it'll all work out and we'll all be happy!" I said and he gave me a smile, ruffling my hair. "That's the spirit."