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

Ch 33: I Got This

I looked over the checklist I had written, feeling my heart start to race. 

1. Discuss budget with ❤Bruce❤

2. Find wedding venue

3. Get together guest list

4. Pick wedding party (what is a wedding party????)

5. Hire caterer 

6. Hire photographer

The list stretched on and on, over 60 things I had to do, and I barely knew what half of them even meant, let alone how to do them. Shaking my head, I flipped through the list, chewing on the end of my pencil. I could do this, I told Bruce I could, which meant I had to get it done myself. I was too stubborn to hire a wedding planner now, not after I had sworn up and down that I'd be able to manage it on my own.

"Oh man I don't even know what colors we're doing for the wedding!" I moaned, running my hands through my hair. "I don't even remember what the cake we ordered looks like! This is gonna be a total disaster, he's the damn man of my dreams and I'm about to cobble together the shittiest wedding in history!" 

The door to my apartment swung open and I jumped to my feet, stuffing the clipboard into a drawer and trying to act natural as Bruce walked into the kitchen. "Hey Bru, what's up?" I asked, leaning on the wall and giving him a smile. He smiled back, lifting my face toward his and kissing me. "Not much! Just wanted to stop by and say hello to my fiancé. How's the wedding planning going? You sure you don't need any help with it?" 

I nodded, feeling my stomach turn. "It's completely under control! It'll be just fine and I've got it all taken care of. Well at least I will have it all taken care of. Still working on that and stuff. It'll be fine! Oh I meant to ask you, did we uh...what colors did we want to do for our wedding?" He frowned, kissing me on the forehead. "No idea. It's up to you! Just go with whatever you think will work best with the venue," he said. I bit back a sigh. That was completely useless to me, since I hadn't actually gotten a venue picked out yet. 

"Alright then, that works," I said, giving him a thin smile. He gave me a worried look, smoothing a lock of hair out of my eyes. "Hey, you okay?" he asked. "Huh? What do you mean?" I asked, trying to play dumb and knowing I looked like an absolute mess. "I mean...okay well I mean this in the nicest way possible but you kinda don't...look too hot," he said slowly. "Oh, I just have a headache is all. I haven't had enough water today," I lied. "You sure that's it?" I nodded, giving him a much more convincing fake smile. "Yep! I'll be fine, don't worry about me!" 

I was definitely not fine. I could barely sleep, barely eat, and I was constantly struggling with headaches and feeling sick to my stomach, all because I was more stressed than I had ever been since I decided I was able to plan an entire wedding all by myself and was too stubborn to admit I was wrong. "You're positive?" he asked, giving me a look, and I nodded, taking his hand and giving it a squeeze. "100% positive. Oh, that reminds me, what is your ring size? I want to get you a wedding band that actually fits on your ring finger," I said. He laughed, looking at the engagement ring I had gotten him. "Yeah, that would be nice. I'm an 11." 

We hung out for a bit longer, with me trying desperately to act like I had everything under control. Eventually he rose to his feet, giving me a kiss. "Mkay I'm gonna head out, dinner tomorrow?" "Yeah I'll make us a nice dinner!" I said, jumping to my feet and leading him to the door. "Oh no Eric you don't have to go to all that trouble! We can just go out!" he protested, but I shook my head. "No no! No, I insist! I wanna make us a nice romantic dinner!" I said. 

He shrugged, giving me another kiss. "If you're certain. But hey, don't do too much, okay?" "Bruce I would never bite off more than I can chew! Don't be ridiculous. I'll see you tomorrow night!" I said, practically pushing him out the door, shutting it behind him and immediately sinking to the floor, drawing my knees to my chest and screwing my eyes shut. "Ohh man. Damn, Eric, just keep digging your hole deeper why don't you," I muttered to myself, before rising to my feet, walking into my room and lying down on my bed, going to sleep even though it was barely nine. 

The next day, I set to work on making Bruce and I a romantic dinner that was also easy enough that I could make it while in my current mental state, which ended up being nothing more than breakfast for dinner. After frying some bacon and setting that to the side, I set to work on the eggs. Humming to myself, I cut a heart shape out of a slice of bread, dropping the cutout part into the skillet, waiting for it to toast a bit before cracking an egg into the hole part. I toasted the other part, spreading some jam on it before turning to the egg toast in the pan, flipping it over to fry the other side. As I watched, a puddle of yellow started to spread across the bottom of the skillet, meaning I had split the yolk.

Lip quivering, I stared at the contents of the pan as the egg yolk soaked through the bread, turning the entire thing into a mushy yellow failure, before bursting into tears, sitting on the ground in front of the stove and sobbing. A pair of arms wrapped around me and I lifted my head to find Bruce sitting next to me on the ground. "Oh s-sorry, I didn't hear you come in! I'm a little behind on d-dinner, that's my bad!" I said with a wild laugh, on the verge of a complete breakdown. 

Shaking his head, he reached up and shut off the stove before going back to holding me. "Eric, it's okay. You've got too much on your plate. I'm gonna step in, I'm not gonna let you plan this whole wedding yourself. It's way too much for one person." "No! N-no I can do it, I promise! I wanna make it perfect, I don't wanna make you have to worry!" I wailed. "Eric, look at yourself. You're completely overwhelmed. Let me help, okay? It's my wedding too." "B-but--" I started, but he shook his head, giving me a squeeze and pulling me against his chest. "No buts," he murmured.

I let out a content sigh in spite of myself, immediately soothed by the steady rise and fall of his chest and the steady beating of his heart. He stroked my hair gently, giving me a soft smile. "We'll plan it together, alright? And we'll make dinner together too. Here, I'll finish the eggs and toast and you run go grab your checklist of stuff that I know you've been trying to hide from me," he said with a grin, kissing me before pulling me to my feet. "I dunno what you're talking about," I grumbled, and he laughed. "Don't lie, I know you've got one. Go grab it! We can work it out over dinner," he said, sending me off with a kiss before turning to the stove. 

Heart melting, I grabbed the clipboard off of the table in the living room. I really didn't deserve a fiancé like him.