KISS: Road Trip

Ch 3: Wait I Have a Plan (Eric C)

"Hey wake up we're running late," Bruce said, grabbing my shoulder and shaking me aggressively. 

I pushed myself upright on the couch, squinting up at him. "Wh-what? Is it morning already?" I mumbled with a yawn. "No, it's the afternoon and Ace is here." Sure enough, Ace popped up behind him, giving me a huge smile. "Hiya curly!"

"Ace! It's good to see you!" I said with a laugh, jumping to my feet and giving him a hug. "Yeah! Took you long enough to wake up! But Bruce told me that you were up until like two in the morning talking so it makes sense."

Shrugging, I ran a hand through my hair. "Yeah, it was fun. Nice to catch up some more and all that. Anyway, are we getting Peter now?" "Yep! Then we're taking him to Paulie's place." "Alright cool, Ace you wanna just drive us?" Bruce asked.

"Uh, we can't use my car, it's kinda trashed. I took a cab over here," Ace replied sheepishly. "Dude, again?!" Bruce cried. "What happened now?"

Face red, Ace shrugged. "Might've maybe been street racing again or something and might've gone too fast and messed up my engine or something like that maybe," he mumbled. "Look man, I told you, you gotta be actually able to race if you're gonna do that stuff. When are you gonna get it fixed?"

Ace grinned, shrugging, face going pink. "Whenever me and Peter get back together. It's fun, I take my car over to his house and he works on it while I make us cocktails and by the end of the night my car's fixed and we're both drunk and then we...well, it's good times. We'll probably get back together again pretty soon to be honest, we've been texting a lot about it," he said, smiling faintly. "Cool well I'm assuming you know where he lives and you can give me the directions to get there?" Bruce asked, raising an eyebrow. Ace nodded and we headed to the parking lot, him sliding into the backseat as I got in the front. "Yep! Take a left on 12th, that's the first step."

Eventually, we pulled up in front of an apartment complex which was definitely nicer than the one Peter lived in during high school. And that one wasn't bad. "Mm okay let me see. It's been a month, hold on," Ace said, frowning. "He was...45C. Yeah! 45C, that's the one!" "Alright I'll go with him and get Peter and we'll bring him back to the car," I said, stepping out of the car with a grin. "Sounds like a plan," Bruce mumbled, leaning back in his seat and turning up the radio.

"It'll be nice to see Peter again, I haven't actually seen him face-to-face in ages," I said, yawning as I walking up six flights of stairs. Ace nodded, eyes shining. "Yeah! Same here, I've missed him." "I'm sure you've missed him more than I have," I teased, making Ace's face turn red. "Shh, shut up. I told you, we're not dating right now. Maybe."

We drew to a halt outside the door to apartment 45C before Ace raised a hand and knocked. There was a long pause until the door opened and Peter stood in the doorway, giving me and Ace a smile. "Eric! Ace! It's good to see you guys, it's been awhile!" he said happily. I nodded, opening my mouth to respond, but Ace got there first, slapping Peter across the cheek before grabbing the sides of his face and pulling him into a kiss.

I stood there, stunned, as the two of them went at it, slowly smiling as I realized Bruce owed me $20. Finally, they broke apart, both of their faces equally red. "Oh...wow," Peter whispered, gasping slightly, giving Ace a huge smile. "Mm-hm. Don't take my money for cocaine ever again, got it?" he snapped, but he was smiling just as much.

"Well okay then. Now that that's done, are we able to go? Bruce is probably getting impatient," I teased. Peter nodded, still staring at Ace for a moment before grabbing his hand. "Yeah. Yeah, we can go!" Rolling my eyes, I walked down the stairs, sliding into the passenger seat and holding out my hand. As Ace and Peter got in the backseat and immediately wrapped themselves around each other, Bruce sighed and handed me a $20 bill. "Gotcha there," I said with a grin. He just shook his head, driving off to Paul's parents' house, which was gonna be empty except for us just like almost all of high school.

Ace and Peter spent a good 99% of the twenty minute drive making out. "So I guess that settles that question," Bruce mutters.

Paul opened the door as soon as we rang the doorbell, giving us all a smile. "Damn, about time!" "Yep, that would be Eric's fault, since he decided to sleep in until one. But hey, we're here now and that's what matters," Bruce said, nudging me with a grin. "Exactly. So yeah, let's catch up with each other and get drunk!"

It was past midnight and we were all either buzzed or wasted at this point, except Bruce who chose to be sober tonight. An idea hit me and I set down my beer and looked at the rest of them with a smile. "Okay, okay, okay. Peter an' Ashe, stop makin'...stop making out an' listen! I have--mkay I got an idea, yeah? W-what if we all--no no no hold on, hold on, what if we all took a road trip, right? A r-road trip 'cross the whole ass country an' found Gene?"

There was silence before Ace slapped a hand down on the table. "Yes! Yes! We drive all to Cali an' we find Genie an' we see 'im again!" he said excitedly. "Yesh!" Peter cried, kissing Ace again. "Road trip would be fun," Bruce said with a hiccup, giving me a smile. Paul gave me a smile too, sniffing and blinking back tears. "I wanna...I wanna see 'im. I miss 'im. Loved 'im, an' I don't...don't understand w-why 'e won' see me. I'll make 'im see me. Gonna take a whole ass road trip to find that bish," he mumbled.

"Road trip! Road trip! Road trip!" Ace chanted, before taking one shot too many and tumbling off his chair. "Hell yeah," Bruce said, yawning, finishing off what had only been his second glass of wine and rising to his feet. "Alright, I'm going to bed. Y'all are too much when you're this drunk. But a road trip is a good idea, I like that. That would be fun. We'll talk about it in the morning when you're all sober, okay? Goodnight."

I gave him a smile and a wave. "Night, Bruce!" I called, taking a long sip and wondering if I'd get drunk enough tonight to forget I was straight and try and kiss him again.