KISS One-Shots

Bruce and Eric C

This is a continuation of the last one!

I walked into the practice room the next day with a sigh. I was in no mood to practice, and I was in absolutely no mood at all to see Eric, not after yesterday. But to my surprise, the only other one in the room was Gene, who was sitting on top of one of the amps, arms folded across his chest and a scowl on his face. "Do we not have practice today?" I asked after a pause, and he shook his head.

"No. We don't have practice today. We won't have practice for awhile, since our drummer quit last night." My mouth dropped open and I stared at him in shock. "W-what?! Eric quit?! Why?!" I cried. He raised an eyebrow, mouth pressing into a thin line. "Well it might have something to do with the way you broke up with him yesterday." I rolled my eyes. "Well this is exactly what I'm talking about! This is exactly why I broke up with him! He's always so fucking dramatic!" I snapped, lie slipping out way too easily.

Gene rose to his feet, putting a hand on my shoulder. "Yeah. He can be dramatic. That's just how he is. And you'd think, after knowing him for seven years and dating him for six, you'd know that. And yet you still decided to be a colossal bitch about breaking up with him. I mean really? You're just gonna look him in the eye and say 'it's you, you're the problem' and not expect him to be upset?"

"Well I just--" I started, but he shook his head. "Bruce, look. I get that Eric can be a lot sometimes! He's a cheerful guy, he's got a lot of energy and he really loves the people he cares about and he likes to show that he cares about them. I'm not saying you necessarily shouldn't have broken up with him, but I am saying you shouldn't have been such an asshole about it," he said, patting me on the shoulder before starting to walk off. "Wait where is he then?" "Eric? At his apartment, I'm assuming. If you're going to talk to him, just don't be as much of an ass as you were yesterday," he said, walking out of the room.

The door swung shut behind him and I let out a sigh, taking Gene's place on the amp and running my hands through my hair. "I probably should talk to him. Apologize for ki--for being such a jerk when I broke up with him." There was no one else in the room and yet I couldn't stop lying, mainly because I didn't want to acknowledge what I had done. If I kept lying, even to myself, then I could pretend it never happened.

Before I could rise to my feet and head off to Eric's apartment, there was the sound of footsteps in the hall and the door opened. There was a long silence as Eric and I stared at each other before he dropped his gaze, walking over to his drumkit and grabbing his pair of gloves and a set of sticks, stuffing them in his pocket before heading for the exit. "Eric. Wait," I said softly. He drew to a halt, looking at me over his shoulder, eyes unbearably sad. "I'm sorry I hurt you," he murmured, pressing my t-shirt that he had been wearing yesterday into my hands before stepping out of the room.

Heart breaking, I ran after him, catching his wrist and stopping him. "Eric, please, wait, I--" He held up a hand, pulling his arm free. "It's okay. I'm sorry that we ended on a bad foot, but it's okay. We can still be friends, I'll rejoin the band. I was just mad when I called Gene last night and said that I quit. You're a good friend, I'm happy to have you as a friend so long as you want to be friends. If not, we can just be work colleagues," he said with a shrug.

"I didn't break up with you because you were too much to handle," I blurted out. He gave me a baffled look. "Oh-kay? Then why did you?" he said slowly. Face a deep crimson, I stared intently at the ground. "B-because...I'm really sorry b-but I...I kissed another guy," I whispered, wishing the ground would just swallow me up. "Oh, like you got drunk and kissed someone?" Eric asked hopefully, and I bit down on my lip before shaking my head. "N-no. I was sober."

Eric took a step back, face starting to grow red. "So you...you not only cheated on me, you made me think it was my fault?" he asked slowly, an unbelievable amount of anger bristling in his voice. "I wasn't trying to make you think that!" I protested. "What?! Yeah you fucking were! You literally said 'it's not the shirt, it's you,' how else is that supposed to be interpreted?!" he shouted.

"I'm sorry! I'm really sorry, I just didn't know what else to do!" "How about, oh I don't know, not cheat on me?!" "I wasn't trying to! It was an accident!" "How the fuck do you accidentally kiss someone while sober?! What, you trip and fall into his lips or something?!" "I don't know! I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking straight! I just...I'm sorry!"

Shaking his head, Eric took a step back. "I don't care how sorry you are. We're done," he said, so angry his voice was quivering. "But—" "No. You don't get to stand there, look me in eye, all while knowing full well that you were the one who did something wrong, and tell me that you're ending the relationship because of me! If you had just owned up to it, if you had just apologized, maybe I'd reconsider, but not now! Not after what you did," he snarled, turning and walking away.

"Eric, please! I'm really sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you!" I called desperately after him. He whirled around, absolutely furious. "Well you did! You did hurt me! And now it hurts worse, so I hope you're happy!" he screamed, running down the hall. I could hear the door slam shut behind him and felt sick.

There was no way I was ever going to make things better between us.