“Morning everyone.” Eric said has he walked downstairs. He slid onto a chair next to his father, and helped himself to some of the food before him. The kitchen island was covered in everything from eggs to fruit, to piles of bacon and pancakes. One thing Eric enjoyed about living with weres, you never went hungry.
“Did everyone else already leave?” he asked, noting the absence of the Twists and Lawsons.
“Francis and Samantha went to see if Ben and Alex are up. Ben’s got football practice this afternoon. Evan and Maggie went back to their place to check on Spencer.” William said. Actually Evan Lawson’s exact words were, “…going home to make sure all the locks still work…”.
“Are they coming back?”
“Maybe. Someone’s in a good mood. I take it you enjoyed your little excursion last night.” William said, raising a surprised brow.
“Yep.” Eric said, going back for another piece of bacon. Behind his back, William and Martha exchanged a bewildered look. There were two things they were almost certain of. One, Eric wasn’t a morning person. Two, he’d finally worked things out with Julie.
“Where did you go last night?” Martha asked, putting a full plate of food in front of Eric.
“I walked around for a while.” Eric said. He was so caught up daydreaming he’d forgotten the unfortunate business with Julie momentarily. He wasn’t sure if he should tell his parents just yet, since things could still work themselves out. Of course Eric had no way of knowing that last night Julie spent the bulk of the evening wrapped in bed with Brian Walker.
“That’s it? When did you get back?” Martha presses. Eric slowly swallows the mouthful of food so he can think about his answer.
“Um…. I don’t really know. Later than I should have. I didn’t want to bother you guys so I just crept in through the, uh, back door.” Eric lied.
“It wasn’t locked?” William asked.
“Uh, well no I guess not.” Eric said, trying to remain calm. He scarfs down the rest of his meal and says something about needing to call someone.
“I wonder what really happened last night.” Martha said as Eric half ran up the stairs and back to his room.
“Do you think we were right to assume he went to Julie’s house?”
“Hard to say. I know the kitchen smells like food now, but did you smell anything odd when Eric was here.”
“I assumed it was us. Wearing the same clothes from last night, and all.” William said. The first chance he got, he was jumping into a shower to rid himself of all the extra scents. Since, while he enjoys them, it would be a bit inappropriate to walk around town with them. Even if weres are generally understanding about these kinds of things. It’s just better not to run around smelling like a frat house.
“No, there was definitely something off about Eric’s scent. I can’t really place it though. It was familiar somehow…” Martha trailed off as she once again tried to place the smell.
“Don’t worry too much about it. Eric will tell us about last night when he’s ready. And on that note, would you care to join me in the shower?” William shifted in his seat so that he was facing Martha across the kitchen island.
“Down boy, I’ve got some school work to do before we can have anymore fun. Work before play,” she says. William looks a bit dejected, but doesn’t argue. He has papers of his own to grade and others to go over.
William goes upstairs to his and Martha’s bedroom. He pauses in the hallway when he hears Eric’s voice. It’s not strained exactly, more annoyed. William assumes he’s talking to Nate (who else can irritate Eric that much?). Then he hears Eric say something along the lines of “I can’t believe you cheat on me with an otter.” Now he has to listen in.
“…later today? Or are you and that horny otter hooking up again?” Eric said, in a very condescending voice. More condescending than usual, and this is Eric we’re talking about.
“Shouldn’t you and Spencer be cuddling on another pile of fertilizer?” Julie Stovall’s voice rang clear in William’s ear. The sentence is what he didn’t think he heard right.
“No, I told you we didn’t do anything. She’s just a friend.” Eric said. Part of his brain thought, “for now” but he held his tongue.
“I get why you wanted to wait, why can’t you get why I couldn’t?” Julie asked.
“You didn’t have to see the people behind my back!”
“It was just Brian! And unlike you, he understands my problems.”
“Regarding the sex or Julie Stovall in general?” Eric asked sarcastically.
“More the first option, but a little of the second.”
“Wonderful, so why don’t you start dating him?”
“Because it’s not like that! We’re just… friends?” Julie said unsure how to characterize hers and Brian’s relationship. It was more than “friends with benefits”. They talked about stuff, about personal stuff. But aside from that, had little to no contact with each other.
“Ya well, that’s a little hard to believe given the fact you two have been sleeping together for two months.”
“Ugh, I don’t know why I bothered to pick up the phone if you’re going to act all high and mighty on me. You think you’re so much better than everyone else just because you have a few extra IQ points.”
“I do not! And you think just because you’ve got some family issues, and your teenage hormones are clouding your judgement it’s okay to see someone else.”
“Oh please. I know your mom sees other people, other women, all the time.”
“That’s different! She and my dad have an understanding regarding that.”
“Well if I had asked you if I could outsource my needs would you have said yes?”
“No!”
“I rest my case. You’re not going to make me feel guilty about what I did. I’m sorry you caught us, and I’m sorry if you don’t understand why I did what I did. My feelings for you haven’t changed in the least.”
“Good to know.” Eric sighed. Their voices lower, and William finds himself pressing his ear up against the wall to listen.
“…need some space for a while. Take a break?” Eric said.
“Whatever it takes for you to get over this.” Julie sighed.
“Again, you’re acting like you misspelled a name on a paper. I walked in on you and Brian having sex in your pool after you left my house! Not to mention you yanked my pants down and… hang on a second.” Eric said.
If William was drinking something, he would have done a spit-take at the mention of Julie pulling Eric’s pants down. Instead he coughed and gave himself away. Rather than run and hide, he lets Eric open his door and find his dad leaning against the wall, looking quite guilty.
“I’m going to have to cut this conversation short Julie.” Eric said, now annoyed for a different reason.
“Alright. Guess I’ll see you around. When you’re ready to start seeing me again, you’ve got my number.”
“Ya, bye.” Eric hangs up, and William starts to apologize.
“I’m sorry Eric I shouldn’t have been listening.” he said.
“It’s fine, I’m used to people doing things behind my back. Julie, you, I bet Mom’s gossiping about me right now to all her girlfriends.” Eric said. If Eric wasn’t so justified to be cynical and a little snarky, William would have berated him.
“Do you want to talk at all?” he asks instead.
“About what?”
“Uh, Julie?”
“Oh, no I’m fine. I already got all that out of my system.” Eric said.
“You did?”
“Yes.”
“Does this have anything to do with the weird scents i’m picking up on you?” William asked. When Eric came out of his room, William could now smell what Martha had been talking about before. Eric did smell a little weird. Not wolf like Nate, but close.
“Maybe…”Eric said, shuffling his feet awkwardly.
“I won’t press you on the matter, Lord knows I’ve already overstepped a few boundaries. But I hope you know what you’re doing.” William sighed.
“I do.” Eric replied, nodding his head.
“I believe you. Just make sure you’re not doing something because someone else wants you to. Oh, and you wouldn’t be too mad if I told your mother what I overheard would you? Edited for her ears of course…” William said when he thought back to the “yanking down my pants” bit of the conversation. Eric again nods his head.
“I’d rather you tell her than me. You know what Mom’s like. She’ll start fussing all over me.” Eric said.
The two share a brief smile before William leaves to take his shower. Along the way he vaguely hears Eric humming to himself. Though he can’t hear, William joined in. He strips off his clothing and steps into the shower humming along to “…the trouble we could get into, when you got nothing else to do and I’ve got nothing left to lose…”**
** Song lyric is taken from “Nothing Left to Lose” by Transit. Taken from their album “Joyride”. I recommend the album if you're into alt. rock, pop punk, indie kinda stuff - bj88