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

Ch 17: Choices (Bruce)

Scowling, I picked up my phone, calling Eric's room. "Hello this is Eric Carr!" he said cheerfully. "Hey it's Bruce. You want to go do something? It could even just be like taking a walk or something. I just...don't really want to be in my room right now," I said slowly. "Oh! Yeah sure I always love hanging out with you!" I felt the same weird feeling spread through me and took a deep breath before responding. "Y-yeah, me too. Well uhh...just stop by my room when you're ready!" I said, hanging up and sitting in the chair. 

Letting out a deep sigh, I ran my hands through my hair, massaging my temples. "Oh man, come on Bruce. You need to figure out how you feel. It's not fair to Paul, even if he...well, who knows what he did. But it's not fair to him if you don't love him to still be dating him. So I mean come on man, figure it out. Do you love him? Or do you love Eric?" I whispered aloud before rising to my feet. 

"Ohh come on man, figure it out!" I cried. There was a sudden knock at my door and I nearly jumped out of my skin. Taking a deep breath, I walked over to the door, pulling it open and giving Eric a smile. "Hey man," I said. He grinned back, eyes twinkling. "Hey! Did you have anywhere particular you wanted to go or did you just want to see what's around?" he asked. "Let's just see what's around. I've never been to Berlin before," I said with a shrug. 

Nodding, he started to walk down the hall and I followed after him, closing the door to my hotel room behind me and trying really hard not to stare at his ass. Shaking my head, I fell into step beside him. "So uh...how's your day been?" I asked after a pause, trying desperately to just make casual conversation and try not to think too hard about what I was feeling. He shrugged. "Oh, it's been fine. Haven't really done anything, to be honest, just sort of made sure all my stuff is set since we're leaving tomorrow." "Oh, are you actually packed this time?" I teased, and he rolled his eyes. "Shut up. But yeah, apart from my stage costume and stuff I'm gonna wear on the plane, I'm set. I'm assuming you are too?"

My face went red and I shrugged. "Well...actually no. I've been sort of caught up in everything with Paul the last few days I've been kind of scatterbrained about everything else." "Oh, well I guess I'll just have to stop by and help you pack," he teased, nudging me in the ribs. I shrugged, hoping desperately I wasn't blushing as much as it felt like I was. "Well hey, if you want to stop by I'm always happy to hang out with you," I said casually. "I figured, since we're hanging out right now." 

Rolling my eyes, I ruffled his hair affectionately. "Oh, shut up," I said. Once we reached the street, he turned to me, giving me a look. "So? What's the plan?" "Uh...I dunno. You wanna just walk and see what we find?" I asked. He shrugged, setting off without another word. I took a deep breath, steeling my nerves before I followed him. 

I couldn't shake the feeling despite how desperately I was trying to. Every time I looked at him my heart started to skip, exactly the same way it had when I first got a crush on Paul. But there was no way I could have a crush on Eric, he was my best friend and I already had a boyfriend. At the same time though, I hadn't ever really paid attention to Eric in that sense before. He was really sweet and funny and he was also really cute, with his always present smile that made his eyes sparkle and the curly hair that framed his face so adorably and his--

"Bruce! Hey Kulick you're spacing out on me!" he said with a laugh, punching me in the arm. "Oh! Oh sorry I zoned out for a bit. What were you saying?" I asked, knowing damn well my face was absolutely on fire. "Well I was just asking if you wanted to grab lunch or something. I'm starving and I want to have enough energy for the show tonight!" "Oh, yeah, sure that sounds good," I said. "Good idea, let's get lunch." 

I was distracted the whole meal, unable to stop staring at him, tracing every detail of his face and wondering how I didn't see it sooner. In addition to everything, he was a really good friend who would never do anything to hurt me or to make anything go wrong in my life, and having that in a boyfriend was always amazing. Very reluctantly I walked with him back to the hotel, saying goodbye and heading into my room, already looking forward to seeing him again at the show. 

A few hours later I walked into the dressing room, looking at Paul in surprise. I had kind of forgotten about him and our fight over the tabloid earlier. "Oh! Yeah, we--" I started, but he held up his hand. "N-no, not yet. I don't want to discuss anything before the show otherwise that'll throw me off and that's not fair to the audience. After though, we do need to talk." "Right, right, yeah. Good idea. After the show we'll talk," I said, looking over at Eric as he chatted with Gene, and felt my heart melt. 

Later that night, after the show had ended and we were all back in our rooms, there was a knock on my door and I opened it to find a very red-faced Paul standing there. He took a deep breath, walking inside without being invited in, and shut the door behind him. "Hey. We need to talk. About us," he said quietly, putting a hand on my arm. I nodded, already knowing what I was going to say. "Yeah. We do."