KISS: Road Trip

Ch 62: That's Nice (Gene)

Peter leaned back on the couch, pointing at Paul. "So! I hear you're dating Eric!" he said with a triumphant grin. "Yep. I told Paul I've secretly always loved him," Eric said mildly, not even looking up from his phone. Bruce heaved a dramatic sigh. "Come on man, you were supposed to be my wife!"

"Hah hah. Obviously I'm not dating Eric Carr, I'm dating Eric Singer. And yeah, we're dating," Paul said, cheeks turning pink. I smiled, nudging him. "Nice. Glad it worked out for you," I said softly, and he gave me a warm smile. Nick squirmed out of my arms, crawling a foot away and pulling himself upright on the couch, beaming. "Pwal!"

With a laugh, Paul scooped him up, sitting him on his lap. "Yep! Good job! But who's that?" Nick gave me another wide smile, reaching out toward me with his chubby little hands, drooling. "Dada!" "Good job, cutie. You're such a smart kid, you know that? Who's that though?" I asked, pointing at Eric. "Wewic!"

"Aww that's the cutest thing ever," Eric said, giving Nick a wave, which Nick adorably returned. "Yeah, you're his favorite uncle," I said with a grin. Ace gave me an offended look. "What?! After everything I've done for him?!" he cried. I shrugged. "Sorry man! He says Eric's name the most. But hey Nick, how about Peter? Can you say his name?" Nick looked at Peter before giving me another smile. "Ber!" "Well shit, guess that's my name now," Peter said with a sigh. "Ber. Suits you," Ace said, kissing him.

"Peter for the last time, stop cussing around the baby! Shannon's going to kill me if Nick-" "Shit!" I stared at Nick before letting out a groan, burying my face in my hands. "Oh man I'm dead." "Shit!" he said again. "Nick, no! That's a bad word, okay cutie? Don't use that one, otherwise Momma will get real mad at you, okay? And at your dad," I said, taking Nick from Paul and glaring at Peter.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I forgot! It's a habit!" "Well it's a bad habit that's going to get me in some seriously hot water with my wife," I grumbled, kissing Nick on the forehead and letting him crawl over to Eric, who happily scooped him up. "See I love Nick, I'd never do anything horrible like teach him how to cuss. Can you say your uncle Ace's name though?"

We all watched as Nick paused for a moment, babbling to himself before shaking his head. The rest of us burst into laughter as Eric patted Nick on the head. "Yeah, it's not worth saying anyway! The only really important one is me!" Nick grabbed a handful of Eric's hair, tugging on it. "Wewic!" "Whatever curly. I'll remember this," Ace muttered.

Later that night, after Nick had gone to bed and Eric and Bruce had gone home, the four of us walked into the driveway. "Oh hey Paulie I left something in your car, can I borrow your keys?" Ace asked. "Huh? Yeah sure," Paul said, tossing him his keys before turning back to me. "So anyway, you're always my protective older brother, what do you think of Eric?" he teased. I grinned, shaking my head. "Look, if you're happy, I'm happy! Eric was fine in high school, I've got no problem with him. As long as you're smart and safe and happy, I'm totally fine."

He gave me a warm smile, eyes soft. "Thanks man. I really appreciate it. And you in general." The nice moment was ruined by Ace slamming the door to Paul's car and immediately going "Oh shit the keys."

"Dammit you locked my keys in my car!" Paul cried. "Hey if you've got a wire coat hanger I got you!" Peter said with a grin. We all looked at him before I shrugged, heading back inside. "Yeah alright."

Peter set to work once I handed him the coat hanger, quickly untwisting it and sliding it through the very small gap between the window and the car. "Okay do I even want to know how you know how to do this?" I asked after a pause. Peter gave us a nervous grin, jimming the coat hanger. "Okay look I did...a lot of bad things in my childhood, okay? Might've stolen some stuff from some cars in my youth. In my youth though!"

"Geez. Of course you have," Paul said, shaking his head. Peter's face flushed pink. "Yeah, yeah it was messed up. Probably shouldn't say this but I've broken into your car before. W-when we were kids," he mumbled. My eyes widened as I looked at them, Paul's face going white. "I remember that! I helped you with that and my mom found out and beat my ass," Ace said with a sigh.

Before either Paul or I could respond Peter got the car unlocked, pulling the door open and tossing Paul his keys. "There you go! Anyway we gotta head out, see y'all tomorrow!" He and Ace left us standing in the driveway, Paul's fist slowly tightening around his keys. "Hey are you...are you okay?" I asked after a pause.

He shook his head, scowling. Heart sinking, I put a hand on his shoulder. "Seriously, what's wrong?" He shook his head, chewing on his lip as tears welled up in his eyes. "They stole from me. You stole from me. I'm sure everyone has. So what, do all you guys just keep me around for the money, huh? Do you guys even like me for any other reason than my credit card?" he choked.

I shook my head, giving him a hug. "Paul, no. Listen to me. Peter and Ace? They did a lot of bad things, especially when they were young and they were together. And I messed up when I stole from you, I was desperate and it was my last resort. I should've come clean, or asked you, but I was too embarrassed and I can never apologize enough for that, I'm sorry. But I can tell you we're all your friends because we care about you and we love who you are."

Paul shook his head, sniffling, blinking back tears. "Everyone says that. Everyone always says that. But then everyone always turns around and uses me and stabs me in the back." I held him closer, giving him a tighter hug. "That's not true and you know it. That's just your anxieties getting to you. We all love you. You have been my best friend since before I even knew what money really even was, before I knew you were rich and I was poor."

"Y-yeah. I guess." I kept my arm around his shoulders. "We all care about you. I promise," I said gently. Paul heaved a sigh, closing his eyes.

"I've tried my whole life to be popular. My parents have always been busy with work, and I get that. I never doubted they loved me, but as I got older I started to wish they'd pay more attention to me. So I threw myself into my social life, doing everything I could to be popular so even if my parents didn't have time for me, I'd still feel like people cared. But I made a lot of fake friends doing that, and I've always been scared that all my friends were fake. So...so when I hear you guys would just steal my money sometimes, that hurts. Makes me feel real shitty about myself."

I hugged him, trying not to cry myself. "Paul I know that we've fought a lot and I'm sorry if I ever made you doubt our friendship, and even though I haven't always shown it you are family to me, you really are, I swear." "Yeah, I know. I know you care about me. Just didn't realize Peter used to break into my car. Does explain some things."

"To be fair, Peter did do a lot of messed up things. He didn't really have like...any role models when we were in middle school and all that. At least not any good ones," I said slowly. "What's Ace's excuse though?" "Ace's problem was becoming best friends with Peter just as Peter started his downward spiral." Paul grinned, shaking his head. "It's sweet to see how they've gone from plunging headfirst into a downward spiral together to keeping each other in a healthy marriage."

"It is nice to see. Surprising, but it's sweet."