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

Ch 19: Would You Just-- (Gene)

We took our bows, finally done with the last show of the European leg of our tour, which also just happened to be the last leg of our tour in general. The four of us stood lined up on the edge of the stage, grabbing hands before taking one last final bow before the curtain dropped. The instant the heavy velvet fabric touched the stage Bruce dropped Eric's hand as if it had burned him, starting to walk off. "Bruce can we please just talk?" Eric pleaded, but Bruce didn't even acknowledge him, just walked off to the dressing room. 

Eric watched him go before bowing his head, shoulders starting to shake, and I felt my heart sink. I exchanged a glance with Paul who just shrugged helplessly. "I don't know man, I really don't," he murmured. Frowning, I walked over to Eric, gently lifting his face toward mine. "Come on man, don't cry," I said gently, wiping away his tears with my thumb. He bit down on his quivering lip, shaking his head. "H-how can I not cry? He hates me," he whispered. "He doesn't hate you, he's just upset and still trying to process things." "For two months?! He's not trying to process shit! He's made up his mind, and he's decided he hates me! And you know what, I don't really blame him at all!" he shouted, pushing me away and storming off. 

Paul walked over to me, slipping his arms around my neck and resting his chin on my shoulder. "All you two had to do was just talk about it with us like normal people," he said, raising an eyebrow. "Okay, you know what? I really doubt if I was dating Eric you'd walk up to me, look me in the eyes, and tell me you loved me and completely risk destroying our friendship," I snapped. He smiled, kissing me on the cheek. "Oh, shut up. We do need to do something about it though. About the two of them, I mean. It's getting out of hand." 

"Right, right, I know. I'll talk to Bruce," I said, kissing him before walking off to the dressing room. Bruce was folding up his tour outfit, putting it back on the rack as I walked in. "Hey Gene. Nice show tonight, per usual. Damn though, I'm glad it's over, I've been missing home," he said with a smile. I nodded, giving him a thin smile. "Yeah, me too. I'm really looking forward to sleeping in my own bed." "Oh man you're telling me," Bruce said with a laugh, lacing up his shoes. "Yeah. But look man we gotta talk about you and Eric," I said. His smile disappeared in a second and he rose to his feet, walking out of the room without a word. 

The door to the dressing room shut with a click and I let out a sigh, setting about getting out of my own costume. Eric walked in a few minutes later, giving me a hopeful look. "Paul said you were gonna talk to Bruce about everything, did you?" he asked. I shook my head and his face fell. "Oh. Did he just..." I nodded. "Yep. As soon as I said your name he rose to his feet and walked out of your room without a word. I'm sorry man." "If he'd just talk to me it would all be fine!" he cried. "I know! Believe me, I know! We've tried, man! Paul's tried to talk to him, I've tried to talk to him, he just won't listen!" I snapped. 

Eric sat down abruptly at the counter, burying his face in his hands with a long sigh. "Damn, it's all my fault too," he whispered. I winced, patting him on the shoulder. "Hey, it was my idea too. I'm really sorry man, if I had known it would result in this I never would've planned this with you." "Well, hindsight is 20/20 I suppose," he said with a sigh, rising to his feet. "I'll see you tomorrow. Nice job tonight like always." "Yeah you too," I said, watching as he walked out of the room. 

I walked up to my room, opening the door to find Paul already there, sitting on the bed. "Oh. Didn't expect to see you here, thought you still had to return your costume," I said, sitting next to him. "I did already. No dice?" he asked, and I sighed. "No dice." "Damn. Well, we'll make it work out." Smiling faintly, I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him back to the bed. "Yeah, I've got an idea about that," I murmured. "Absolutely not. No more of your ideas," Paul snapped. "No babe listen! We'll talk to him on the plane when Eric's asleep, he can't walk out of the room then!" I protested. Paul let out a sigh, snuggling closer against me. "Fine. I guess that idea isn't that stupid." "I've learned from my mistakes," I teased, kissing him.

The next day, the four of us boarded our jet, with Bruce sitting as physically far from Eric as he possibly could. It didn't take long for Eric to drop off to sleep, since that was all he usually ended up doing on flights now since Bruce wouldn't talk to him. Paul nudged me, giving me a pointed look. "Kiss for good luck?" I asked. Rolling his eyes, he kissed me on the cheek. "Now go!" he hissed. I rose to my feet, walking over and standing in front of Bruce. "What do you want?" he asked, not bothering to look up from his book. "You need to talk to him," I said. "No." "Why not?!" I asked. "Why are you dragging this out for so much longer than necessary?! This whole thing could've been laid to rest months ago but you just won't talk to him!" 

He looked up, raising an eyebrow. "I don't want to talk to him," he said simply, going right back to his book. "Bruce, please. Just let him apologize, just work things out with him!" I begged. "No. I'd rather not. He's apologized, and I have not forgiven him. It's as simple as that." "Why don't you forgive him?" I asked, sitting across from him. "Why would I? He literally made my life miserable by constantly sparking fights between me and my then boyfriend." "I know but Bruce he didn't do it with the end goal of hurting you. He really does love you, and I know that you love him back. Please man, you're making it worse for yourself by holding onto all this anger." 

"If I decide I want to talk to him, I will reach out to him. And that's final," he said in a cold voice. "Bruce, come on," I said, but he just ignored me. Heaving a sigh, I rose to my feet, sitting next to Paul. I could see tears rolling down Eric's cheeks and felt my heart ache as I realized he had overheard everything.