by David Horne
“I won’t tell, but I don’t think you should let your parents decide whether the job is good for you. You’ve gone through college, haven’t you? It’s time you’re allowed to make your own decisions,” Damien crossed his arms and leaned against the counter.
“They would not be happy if I went against their wishes, it’s why I had to get another job,” Eric mumbled, pulling on his sleeve as he dropped his gaze to the tiled kitchen floor. Another moment of silence stood between them, which made him shuffle in discomfort.
“Maybe it’s not my place but if you keep letting them control your life it’s going to hurt you more in the future. That’s all the advice I’m going to give,” Damien shook his head and walked out. The thud on the stairs made it obvious he was going up to the second floor and after quiet footsteps, there was a door shutting.
Since he felt too awkward to follow after him, Eric headed down to the basement. Using the flashlight on his phone, he rushed to turn on the light, breathing in relief when there was no shadowy figure standing among the tools and random objects. First, he swept everywhere he could reach gathering it all into a giant pile near the middle of the room. When he got under the stairs, he noticed an old photo among the garbage and paused to pick it up to inspect it. On the front was an older couple with some young children smiling around them, on the back was a few names he didn’t recognize. For the time being, he pockets the picture next to his phone to show to Damien later.
Time passed by much faster once he got to cleaning, a pair of feet on the stairs alerted him that Damien was coming down. Standing up he fixed his hat and dusted off his shirt from some of the grime that had stuck to him. “Eric, I’m going to be off tomorrow so I’ll probably be calling you later than I did today. You can stay for a little while longer, but please leave before eight. Good night,” he said simply, looking him dead in the eyes as he spoke.
“I’ll leave before eight then, thank you for informing me. Good night Damien,” Eric smiled at him and with an approving nod Damien ascended the stairs, leaving him in the basement alone again. “Well, he didn’t seem to be angry.” Scratching his arm, he glanced around to plan out what to do that will take the shortest amount of time and decided to pick up dangerous objects lying around. By the time it was seven forty-five he had cleared the floor of the most dangerous tools and objects. Giving one more look around he nodded his own approval for the time being and ran up after shutting off the light.
“The dark won’t eat you,” Damien commented as he passed by him to the living room. Taking a second to catch his breath, he leaned against the closed door. Choosing to ignore what he said, he walked to the entry hall to put on his shoes after returning the cleaning supplies to its closet. “See you tomorrow,” he called then stepped out of view.
“Good night,” Eric said and laid back when he got in his car. “That was surprisingly nice despite the parent thing. Hopefully, I can improve his living conditions since he works so often.” Driving back home he was pleased with his work for the day, he got out skipping into his house. In the shower, he sang his favorite songs and was even humming softly while he put on his clothes to go to bed.
Once he was cuddled up under the covers, he checked his phone again seeing a few messages from his parents and quickly responded to his mother. He told her the usual, he ate well and didn't have any stomach problems throughout the day. His father on the other hand simply informed him to do his job well or he would be fired. In that comment, he gets slightly frustrated but doesn't say anything to show it. He simply texts him back with an "I will" along with a good night just to try and end that conversation there.
Falling asleep was easy but by morning he found a whole wall of text from his father about the do's and don’ts of working. He frowned and got up to shower, choosing to ignore it for the time being. When he looked at the time he started to wonder when Damien might ask him over to help, or if he would even though it was his day off.
A knock on his door broke his pondering, so he got up to check and see who it was at the door, he opened to see Emma standing there sniffing. Her eyes were red from crying and her nose looked raw as she blew her nose into a tissue she was holding. “Eric, he said I’m annoying and-and he said he didn’t want such an ugly girlfriend!”
“Oh Emma, come on in,” Eric wrapped an arm around her, sitting her down on the couch next to him. He got soft lotion tissues so it would hurt her nose less, turning to look at her wearing a sweatshirt and loose-fitting jeans instead of her usual cute clothes. “Who said that about such a pretty girl? I’ll shove a broomstick up his ass for hurting you.”
“You’re not allowed to do that to anyone, I need you not to get arrested,” Emma sniffed though she smiled a little. “It’s my boyfriend or I guess now he’s my ex-boyfriend, I said I wanted to get more serious and he started throwing insults at me. Did I do something wrong?” She teared up again and covered her face.
“That man was not appreciative if he couldn’t see how great you are. I’m gay but I would still marry you because you’re so amazing and beautiful,” he says, giving her a tight hug and letting her cry into his shoulder. “I can call my workplace or text them to say that I need the day off. They might want the alone time anyway.”
“No, no, I don’t want you taking time off of work for me, but is it okay if I stay over here tonight? I won’t disturb you or anything, my apartment just reminds me a lot of him right now,” Emma mumbled and hugged him back when he nodded.
“Of course, you can stay. I will have to go when he calls me, but until then we can chill out. Have you eaten today? I’m going to get you a glass of water.” Eric goes to the kitchen and gets her a glass of water, hearing a soft ‘yes’ to answer if she ate. “If you ate then make sure to eat again today. I’ve got ice cream in the freezer; only after you eat real food though,” he said sternly and gave her a glass of water.
“What if I’m not hungry?” She drank the water a bit and put it back down when she didn’t want anymore.
“Then eat half a meal, as long as you eat something healthy before putting a lot of unhealthy food in you,” he mumbled patting her head in an affectionate way before pulling up all his music and tv watching apps. “What do you want to watch?”
“Anything happy or maybe something horror with no romance,” she leaned her head into him as he turned on a good horror with no romantic scenes. When the movie was near over his phone buzzed with some messages and Eric quickly picked it up to see a message from Damien.
“I’ve got to get going okay? Make sure to eat and drink plenty of water, text me if you want me to pick up anything from the store for when I’m on my way back. Love you, Emma. Don’t let that man call or text you. He’s an asshole and has proved he doesn’t deserve you,” he kisses her on the head in an almost brotherly way. Despite their differences and small spats, the two of them have stuck together through high school as well as college.
“All right, but I’m going to be sleeping over for a few days then. Would you be willing to pick me up a few pairs of clothes from my apartment?” Emma asked giving him her best puppy dog eyes. He groaned and held out his hand for her to give him the key so he could get in.
“Some might say I baby you too much when we’re alone,” he waved to her after getting his clothes in a bag and taking the key.
Chapter Five
Damien was shirtless when Eric walked in, putting together what looked like a dining room table and other boxes around him for building the chairs. He was so focused he didn’t look up when Eric walked in to help him, just knowing he was there and gave a small wave. “You’re hard at work pretty early in the day, do you want me to help you while you’re putting it together?”
“If you want to, it’s a lot of just reading these damned over-complicated directions,” Damien grumbled and held them out for Eric to see a wall of text and no pictures. “That’s not even all of it either,” he ran a hand through his hair. It seemed he had been doing that a lot from the way it was starti
ng to mess up from his usual look of loose but presentable hair.
“Ahh, I see what you mean, but if you want I can read these out for you so you don’t have to stare at the page for so long while trying to put it together,” he offered while picking up some small pieces. Placing the parts back in a pile, he sat down to read it to him after getting a shrug from the older male.
Throughout the process of putting together the table, Eric got multiple texts from Emma about things and when they took a break, he read over them all. In his reminder app, he made a list of what she requested, getting sent money as well to pay for part of it.
“Damien, is it all right if I leave before dinner time? I’ll come back if you need me to, I just have to do some quick shopping, which I can get done while you’re eating,” he rubbed the back of his neck as Damien handed him a small plate of snacks.
“Sure, I’m not a stickler for time on this cleaning thing. You’re already doing better than I thought you would, I’ll tell you before I’m making dinner and you can go for a few hours. If I don’t text you again, then you don’t have to come back tonight.” Eating his food, he sat next to the nearly finished table, the chips and carrots making satisfying crunching noise in the quiet of the house.
“Someday I hope to live in a place like this with a nice partner. Hopefully, my parents will approve of the relationship and all, making them happy makes my mood better. I’m not simply trying to follow their demands and stuff, I just have to get approval sometimes,” he defended himself after seeing Damien’s expression.
“You know, love and soul mates don’t happen with the approval of your parents. Maybe you should at least let your relationships be of your own choosing if nothing else," Damien sighed softly and placed down his plate of food. "I'm not trying to be cruel or mean but for your own sake I think it's something to consider for yourself."
"I'll think about it thank you, Damien," Eric was actually looking thoughtful. Snacks finished; they went back to work until Damien motioned for Eric to head out.
"You've helped quite a lot, that Spanish came in handy on the chairs," Damien stretched up, his muscles tensing visibly without his shirt on. Making casual side glances at him, Eric started putting on his shoes to leave. "If you want tomorrow you can come over for breakfast with me," he turned his gaze toward Eric who was bent over to tie his shoes.
"Oh, that would be great! My friend isn't much of a morning person, so they won't mind if I'm out extra early instead of waking them up," Eric didn't say it was Emma just in case Damien read the situation with her wrong. Standing back up he noticed Damien quickly averted his gaze and silently wondered what that was about.
"That's good, I'll text or call you when I wake up so you can come over by the time, I'm making breakfast," Damien rubbed a hand against his own cheek, looking still somewhat bashful. "See you tomorrow then Eric," he smiled at him for what seemed like the first time.
"Y-Yeah, see you tomorrow!" Eric smiled back feeling his heart race in his chest. Making a small wave with his hand, he exited the house before the heat rose into his face. "How can he look all cute when he smiles like that? This man is going to break me in pieces." He lamented once he was alone in his car.
The apartment smelled like ice cream and popcorn when Eric walked in with groceries and a rented movie. "Emma, are you awake?" He called in a quiet voice so as not to disturb her in case she had in fact fallen asleep.
"I'm awake! Come here, I need you to pop my back," Emma groaned in discomfort as she stood up. She raised her arms in the air and Eric picked her up bending himself back to help her crack her back. "That felt so nice, and you got me the ice cream! Aren't you just the sweetest friend!" She patted his head to give him praise, which he appreciated the gesture so he handed over the ice cream.
"You ate dinner, right? Or at least lunch?" Eric asked a little sternly as she dug her spoon into the carton, watching a murder mystery television show. He sank down next to her, leaning his head back trying to wash images of Damien shirtless out of his head.
"Kind of, I ate lunch meat and cheese then had a cookie with milk," Emma shrugged and Eric ran a hand down his face.
"If you don't eat better tomorrow ice cream is being confiscated," he wagged his finger at her then laid back into the couch, humming softly. "You know, if you knew that what you did would make someone angry, would you still do it?"
"Depends on what that might be! If it was beating someone up, no. But say it's taking care of a sick friend instead of going to a basketball game, then yes," Emma pondered and paused the show to look at Eric. "Why the sudden hypothetical?"
"Because I have quite the dilemma on my hands. One hand I could be happy and follow my dreams, on the other hand, I could continue to live with my parents’ approval and not have to feel completely torn," he slid further down into the couch cushions and felt a hand patting the top of his head.
"Eric, I think what matters the most is that you make yourself happy, not anyone else. Not even me if it stands in the way of finding true happiness. Feelings can be hurt but time can never be taken back," Emma smiled at him and then stood up raising her fist in the air. "I'm going to go to work tomorrow! And throw away all that jerkwad’s stuff!" She exclaimed it with determination making Eric smile and give her a hug.
"You can still stay over here though until you feel like sleeping there," he heard her giggle and then had her gentle grasp. "See, human affection is nice sometimes."
"Indeed," she agreed quietly, sitting back down once they pulled apart from each other. "Back to my show? Or do you need to eat?"
"Well, if we're going off taking our own advice then I definitely have to eat," Eric mumbled with a small pout. "Will you dine with me this evening Miss Emma?" He asked as he stood again, offering her his hand in a joking but sort of serious manner.
"Indeed, I shall," she giggled and took his hand, the two of them goofing around as they made the food. "If only I found a tall version of you with more muscle or less gay, I would be set," she elbowed him and watched him blush.
"Oh, come on, there are plenty of good guys out there! Not all of them are gay, some of them are bisexual," Eric joked and rolled his eyes though he was flattered. Emma meant a lot to him as a friend, so it makes her words have more impact on him. "So, what do you think of your boss, the one with the police badge?"
"Damien? Well, he might be a little brash and pushy sometimes but he's a decent guy. Not my type though, I like someone who has a softer side that's more visible," Emma explained, which Eric understood well from working with him. Only a few days in and he had experienced the brash and kind of the pushy side, both though were showing as what he uses to show his care. "Why do you ask?" The one question he didn't want to have, lucky for him the timer goes off on the small meatloaf and the fried vegetables were also coming to a finish.
Chapter Six
Dinner went through without the question being brought up again, then they watched movies until it was time for Eric to go to bed. As he was getting ready and washing his face Emma appeared with a big grin on her face, standing behind him. "Oh, shit fuck! Emma, don't sneak up on people like that and what's with that look?"
"Hmm, I was just thinking a little about your interest in my boss. You see I know a certain man with a fine taste for a big man. Do you perhaps know who I'm referring to, Eric?" She looked at him pointedly and he squirmed as he tried to think of a way to avoid it.
"Well, I thought you might be interested since you were um really close at the shop and he asked if I was your boyfriend," Eric said trying not to panic or let his face flush with color though he failed dearly. Rinsing off his face he hoped Emma would drop the subject but she was still standing there when he raises his head. "What?"
"You think he is hot, don't you?" She scooted up next to him when he was starting to brush his teeth. "I know you do, but is he also that boss you're working for now? See, that's going to be just fine if you like him. He's not against that kind of relationship, from what he's told me h
e had a boyfriend back in his college years but it didn't work out. Maybe you could give him a hint or ask him out!"
"There is no way in hell I'm asking someone out when my parents don't want me to date!" Eric said after spitting the toothpaste out, wiping his mouth off.
"Your parents started saying that right after you came out to them, don't you see what they're trying to do? They kept insisting I take you out on a date but I know you're gay," Emma sighed and crossed her arms over her chest.
"They just want me to be with someone decent and trustworthy," Eric mumbled and did mouthwash before he walked out of the bathroom.
"It sounds more like they want you to be with someone they think is good enough and not male. The last time they set you up on a date it was with a girl Eric! I'm telling you this as your friend if you keep letting your parents do this, you're going to have a hard time being happy." Emma watched him lay down in bed and leave room for her so she doesn't have to sleep on the couch. Without getting a reply from him she laid down as well, using a separate blanket. "Sometimes you're too stubborn for your own good. Come talk to me about it when you’ve thought it over more, maybe you’ll listen to me about this one."
By morning Eric had gotten restless sleep, everything making him want to go curl up somewhere to think by himself. Never had he questioned his parents so much in his head, only a few times did he have the inkling of a doubt. Now, his mind was filled with it and he only had the time of his own to make up for what he wants at twenty-two years. As that determination was settling in, he got a phone call from his dad, his voice sounding frantic. "Your mother collapsed. You need to come home now!" There wasn't even a second to answer before the phone clicked and beeping filled his ears.
