KISS One-Shots

Eric S and Bruce

Hands shaking, I clutched the tupperware of food to my chest, walking up the steps to Bruce's house and ringing the doorbell. "Please be home and please still be here," I whispered. I hadn't heard from him since Sunday, which wasn't exactly a surprise but was still worrying nonetheless. There was no response so I rang the bell again. "Come on Bruce, please," I murmured. Finally, the door swung open and Bruce stared down at me. I felt my heart sink. He looked like an absolute mess, like he hadn't showered or shaved or really even slept for the past four days.

"What do you want?" he asked in a sad voice. "Oh um I just...I wanted to bring you some leftovers from um...Thanksgiving," I mumbled. The change in his expression was instant. A deep scowl spread across his face, eyes furious as he took a step toward me, and I backed away on instinct. "Thanksgiving? What the fuck do I have to be thankful for?" he snarled, hands balling into fists. Flinching, I took another step back, holding the container of food between us like a shield. "I-I didn't mean it like that, I j-just was worried that maybe you weren't eating," I squeaked. "In case you haven't noticed, Singer, my best friend fucking died four days ago! So sorry if I'm not feeling particularly thankful today!" he shouted, tears welling up in his eyes.

"I-I know I just wanted to give you some food b-because I'm worried about you and this was all I had," I protested weakly, but he shook his head, taking another step toward me. "Don't you dare fucking show up here and tell me to be thankful!" he spat, ignoring my desperate attempts to tell him that wasn't what I was trying to do at all as he knocked the container out of my hands, storming back into his house and slamming the door shut behind him. "He was my friend too," I whispered, blinking back tears as I tried to clean up the mess of leftovers that was now scattered across his doorstep.

After cleaning up the mess as best I could, I headed back to my car, driving home with my heart aching. I missed Eric immensely. It wasn't fair he had died, he was so young and he had beaten cancer, it wasn't fair he still ended up dying. In addition to all the pain from that, I was worried sick about Bruce. Eric had been his best friend for years, he was devastated he was gone, but he wasn't taking care of himself either, since I was almost positive he hadn't eaten in four days. By the time I made it home, I unlocked my front door, dumping the container of now-ruined food into the trash and lying on the couch, curling up into a ball and crying for a multitude of reasons.

I ended up crying myself to sleep and would've probably just stayed on the couch all night had my doorbell not rang. Blinking in confusion, I sat up, rubbing my eyes. "What?" I mumbled as my doorbell rang again. Stifling a yawn, I stumbled to the door, pulling it open and looking up at Bruce in surprise, feeling my heart ache again. "Oh. Um, h-hey Bruce," I mumbled. "I'm sorry," he said, and I looked at him in confusion. "What? For-for what?" "For how I treated you. I'm sorry, that wasn't fair to you at all. You were just trying to be nice and make sure that I was okay," he said in a soft voice.

I took his hand, giving it a squeeze. "I'm...I know that you...I'm just worried about you," I said. "I know that-that...but you still n-need to at least eat," I said. He nodded, eyes growing sad. "I know. I'm sorry for lashing out at you. I know that you just...you're just trying to help me." Nodding, I let go of his hand, but to my surprise he picked up my hand again, holding it tightly. "Yeah. I just want you to be as okay as you possibly can be right now. Do you want to...to come in and have something to eat? I still have some...some other leftovers."

He nodded, giving me a small smile. "If it's okay with you," he said, and I nodded, returning his smile. "It's very okay with me," I said, pulling him inside. He sat on the couch as I threw together a plate of leftovers, warming it up before grabbing it and a glass of water and handing it to him. "Thanks," he said, before giving me a look. "Oh, do you want to get yourself some dinner?" he asked. "Oh! Um sure yeah, give me a second," I said, throwing together another plate before joining him on the couch. We ate in silence for awhile but I was mainly just relieved to see that he was eating at all.

After awhile, he set aside his now-empty plate before leaning over and wrapping his arms around me, pulling me into a tight hug. "Thank you. Thank you for being here for me," he murmured. Nodding, I hugged him back. "I'm always gonna be here for you," I whispered back.

Exactly a year later, my doorbell rang as I was just pulling a pumpkin pie out of the oven. "One sec!" I called over my shoulder, setting the pie on the counter and making sure it was done enough. My doorbell rang again and I rolled my eyes, walking to the foyer and pulling it open, smiling up at Bruce. "I said one second," I snapped. He grinned, ruffling my hair. "Couldn't hear you through the door. Anyway, where do I put this?" he asked, looking at the pie in his hands. "Well I guess on the counter next to the pie I just made since I thought you said you'd cover the potatoes."

With a laugh, he walked into the kitchen, setting down the pie before grabbing my hands and, to my surprise, yanking me into a kiss. I froze for a moment before returning the kiss, wrapping my arms around his neck and stretching up into the kiss. We went at it for awhile before breaking apart. He smiled down at me, running a hand through my hair. "I love you," he murmured. "You've done so so much for me in the past year, and damn I just really love you." I smiled, standing on my toes and kissing him again. "I love you too. I told you, I'm always gonna be here for you, that's not ever gonna change."