Chapter 1: Totally trippin'

Leaving Turtle and Drama in the pool, Vince strolls inside. He has just taken a dip himself, but it is just too damn hot to sit outside. At least inside it is cool. He flops on the couch next to Eric, who immediately throws up his hands in protest.

'Watch it, you're getting the couch all wet.'

'My couch, E,' Vince says and grins.

'Fair enough. So, hot outside, huh?' Eric asks, looking at him.

'Fucking hot.'

'Yeah,' Eric responds in this unfamiliar, hoarse voice, but when Vince looks at him he is already watching television again. Nothing much is on, but they watch infomercials side by side for a while. Vince glances at Eric a few times and every time Eric is staring rigidly at the screen. Something weird is going on, because Eric hasn't moving an inch in at least 30 minutes and Vince can practically see the wires standing out in his neck. Dude is fucking tense and it is making him nervous.

'What is wrong, E?' he finally asks.

'Nothing is wrong,' Eric answers, but he does this thing where he is all wide eyed at the suggestion, but avoids his best friend's gaze. Vince is not fooled.

'Really? Because you seem to be shrinking before my eyes,' Vince counters and this time Eric does look at him. However, he breaks eye contact almost immediately and jokingly replies.

'Well, fuck you very much, Vince.'

'No, dude. I mean, are you worried about something? Because you seem like a bundle of nerves,' Vince asks again and cocks his eyebrow at Eric. His entire body language is geared towards reassuring Eric enough to get him to confide in Vince, but the effort is unsuccessful.

'I'm not tense,' he states and turns to the television again, apparently thinking the conversation is finished now. But Vince is bringing out The Voice. The Voice he always uses to tease Eric. It's light and loving, like a caress. It's all 'Hello, Vinnie Chase; male specimen extraordinaire here.' Come to think of it, The Voice is like a super-enhanced version of the voice Vince uses to sweet-talk girls. Damn, that is fucked up and now he is going to think about that and The Voice will be conspicuous as hell.

'Are you sure? Cause I could give you a backrub,' The Voice drawls and it's supposed to be fun. Like dangling a big, red, juice steak in front of Eric. In this scenario Eric would be a dog, because what else would Eric be? He's Vince's best friend and fiercely loyal. But this dog is all principled and vegetarian. So, Eric would laugh and roll his eyes. Except he doesn't.

'No. Fuck,' Eric yells and all but leaps of the couch, away from Vince's hands. Vince looks up at him, with this frown on his face, thinking that something must be seriously wrong for Eric to be so on edge.

'Relax, E, I was kidding. Did something happen? Did Ari call? Is the project...' Vince begins anxiously, but Eric cuts him off.

'Not everything is about you, Vince!'

Vince just sits there, stunned into silence. Eric takes a look at his face and immediately apologises and voices an intention to go outside and lie in the pool. Vince gets up and makes as if to follow him, but stops when he hears the strangled sigh of annoyance coming from Eric.

'On second thought I'll just go and lie down. I'm not feeling...' Eric says and he makes a vague gesture, which could mean there is something wrong with his head, arm, foot or, hell, even his dick, for all that Vince knows, 'Sorry about snapping at you.' Eric is still not meeting Vince's eyes.

'Doesn't matter, E. You just go and rest,' Vince replies good-naturedly, but he is not entirely convinced. Sure, Eric's behaviour is off and if he had not just nearly eviscerated Vince for simply asking a question Vince would have believed he might be coming down with something. Now; not so much. However, chicken broth has never hurt anyone, so he watched Eric retreat down the hall, and then went outside to ask Drama to prepare some of his famous get-well-soon soup.

(***)

Vince knocks twice before opening the door, bowl of steaming soup in his hand. What he is greeted with is the spectacle of Eric trying to switch of the television, but instead fumbling the remote, like it's an extra special episode of Football Follies. The remote ends up on the floor and Eric grins at him sheepishly.

'Real inconspicuous, E,' Vince deadpans. He closes the door behind him and puts the bowl on the nightstand. Ignoring Eric's skittish behaviour he sits down on the bed next to Eric.

'Just tell me what's wrong. You are really starting to freak me out,' he pleads and they stare into each other's eyes. With any other guy this would feel totally awkward, but as Eric eventually looks away all Vince feels is that Eric is going to tell him whatever it is that has been bothering him.

'Well, the thing is, for a while now, I've kind of, sort of, been thinking that I might be a bit, you know. Ah, fuck it. I am in love with you.'

And Eric looks relieved, but also scared, like this is going to change anything. Like they are suddenly not best friends anymore. Like Vince will stop loving him or some shit. So, Vince just calmly lets the information sink in before responding in his typical laidback fashion.

'Wow. So, how long's a while?' he asks and Eric stares at him. Perhaps it is not the reaction he expected. It takes him a while to compose himself.

'Well, let's just say that I don't know why I'm representing you, because I am a better actor than you are. I've been hiding this for forever,' Eric admits honestly. A joke, that's good, Vince thinks, but he senses that Eric is still a bit apprehensive.

'Forever?' Vince whispers and Eric nods.

'It was before we came to Hollywood. We were sitting on the couch with Drama and Turtle and I looked at you and thought, 'Man, I fucking love this guy.' Which was a stupid thing to think, because of course I love you. Like I love Drama and Turtle; pathetic losers they may be. But I realised then that it was different with you somehow. I loved you like more than a friend,' Eric explains and he is studying the floor meticulously.

'So, what changed? I mean, you've been pretending for so long: what tripped you up today?'

Eric has this little smile tugging at his lips, but it never really materialises and he stares into his lap, suddenly embarrassed.

'You being a sexy fucker,' he mumbles and Vince smiles. Once he sees Vince smiling Eric allows himself to smile too.

'That I am,' Vince agrees, all mock-smug. Eric laughs and then shakes his head. Vince watches while Eric thoroughly musses his hair by raking his hand through it. Eric still has an incredulous expression plastered on his face.

'I cannot believe we are having this conversation,' Eric says and Vince has to agree with him there. They share a brief laugh and then Vince leans towards Eric.

'I'm kind of ashamed that you felt you needed to keep this from me for so long. What did you think I would do? Hate you?' Vince asks and Eric swats that thought away as he gets up from the bed.

'Not that. I mean, we all like Lloyd and he's gay, so I figured you'd be ok with me being bisexual. It's just that I'm not just bisexual; I'm in love with you. Being the object of my affection, I thought that might be a little too much to take,' Eric explains and Vince nods, seeing the logic in this.

'Well, I can't say I feel the same way about you, sorry E, but it's certainly not a problem for me. It's rather flattering, in fact. Is it going to be a problem for you? I promise I'll try to be less sexy. It will be hard, but I'll try. Keeping my shirt on at all times and stuff like that.'

Eric bursts out laughing and Vince gets off from the bed and hugs him. The hug lingers on a bit too long for Vince's comfort and he pulls away, hiding his awkwardness by smiling. However, Eric immediately picks up on Vince's discomfort and bumps his fist into Vince's shoulder.

'Dude relax, just a friendly hug. I know you're not interested,' Eric says and he smiles genuinely at Vince. Vince's fist-bumps his shoulder in return, appreciating the effort. Telling Vince to go ahead and head to the pool while he eats the soup, Eric stays behind and sits on the bed. Vince starts to leave the room, but in the doorway he pauses to turn around and sees the sadness in his friend's eyes.