Enjoy, reviews are nice, and I own nothing.

Hours later Eric is still in the bedroom, lying on the bed facing the window. It was getting dark now and his tears have dried. He's concentrating on his breathing and thinking of nothing else when there's a gentle tap on the door.

"Eric, I ordered pizza and I'm leaving some outside the door, okay?" Butters tells him through the door.

Eric doesn't move. He's not hungry and he continues concentrating on his breathing.

. . . . .

Butters fixes up the couch so he can sleep there tonight. They have a guestroom, but it didn't seem appropriate for him to take it. He heads upstairs and sighs when he sees the plate he left for Eric in the same place he left it earlier that day, pizza and all. He picks up the plate and puts his ear to the door, but he doesn't hear anything. He goes downstairs to put the pizza away in the fridge and lies down on the couch.

He's never felt so much self-loathing before. Butters would give anything for Eric to lash out, for him to be angry. Instead, he can't get the image of Eric's hurt expression out of his mind. He can't even remember why they had been fighting, what started this animosity. All Butters wants is to apologize, to run his hands through Eric's hair and hold him close, like he use to do.

. . . . .

When Eric wakes up, he's in the same position he fell asleep in. He rubs his eyes and looks at his alarm clock, it's early afternoon and Butters must be at work by now.

Eric stands up and heads downstairs. He goes in the kitchen and sees the left over pizza in the fridge. He pushes it out of the way and reaches for the eggs just behind it. He makes himself some scrambled eggs and toast, but he doesn't taste any of it. When he's done with his meal he washes the dishes, not entirely conscious of what he's doing. He grabs his phone that he left in the kitchen yesterday and heads back to the bedroom. He locks the door again and lies down.

Phone in hand, Eric dials his mom.

"Hi, sweetheart!" Liane answers cheerfully after a few rings. "I'm so glad you called, I was actually just thinking about you last night, how are you?"

Her cheery voice makes Eric's breath catch. Of course the world was still spinning, it was just his that collapsed yesterday.

"Honey? Are you there?" Liane is growing anxious.

"Yeah, I'm here Mom," Eric manages to say.

"Pumpkin, what is it? What's wrong? Is Butters okay?"

"He's fine, Mom. We're all physically fine," he assures her.

"What is it, darling?" Liane asks, not liking Eric's answers.

"It's just that…" A sob escapes his lips.

"Eric?" Liane is becoming increasingly distressed.

"Butters cheated on me," Eric says in a rush, another sob escaping him.

"Oh…Oh sweetheart… Oh angel…" Liane doesn't know what else to say. "When did you find out?"

"Yesterday. We got into a fight Saturday night and he didn't come home until yesterday morning, and he told me."

"Oh baby. So… it only happened once?"

"That I'm aware of, yeah. It was with some woman he knew from South Park. Small world," Eric laughs humorlessly.

"A woman?" Liane is a bit surprised.

"Butters isn't gay, he likes women too," Eric explains to her for the millionth time.

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know, what do you think?"

Liane thinks. Her son rarely asks her advice, but she knows he's not going to like what she has to say about this. "Honey, do you want me to go to LA? I can, it's no problem, that way we can talk in person."

Eric nods. "That would be great, Mom."

. . . . .

Butters walks through the front door and leaves his car keys on the console table. He's taking off his coat when he sees Eric at the top of that stairs.

"Hey Eric," he says, a bit startled.

"My mom's spending a few days with us. I'm going to pick her up from the airport later tonight," Eric tells him, leaving no room for argument.

"Oh-okay." Butters nods. He wants to say more, but thinks better of it.

Eric turns around and heads back into the bedroom.

. . . . .

"Sweetheart!" Liane throws her arms around her son when she sees him in the airport.

"Hey mom," he kisses her cheek and grabs her suitcase.

"Where's Butters?" She asks, looking around.

"Home," Eric answers dismissively.

"Are you two talking?"

"No, I don't feel like talking to him right now. I just told him you were coming, that's the most I've spoken with him."

Liane nods. They make it to Eric's car before she speaks up. "Honey, obviously I'm on your side, so what do you want me to do? Do you want me to act as I usually do with him or…?"

"I don't know, what do you think? I seriously don't know what to do, it's not like I've ever imagined he would do this to me."

"I'm here to support you and whatever you want to do, honey. But I don't want to get involved and attack him, it's not my place," Liane says cautiously, not sure what her son will think of this. She has a soft spot for Butters, ever since they were children, and she knows she needs to be prudent in how she acts towards him in case they resolve their issues.

"Okay, if you think that's for the best. It's not like I wanted you to come so we could put him in a corner or anything, I just need someone to talk to."

Liane pats his shoulder and looks out the window.

. . . . .

"Hi, Liane," Butters half smiles when they arrive. He's sitting on the couch watching tv and stands to greet them.

"Hi, sweetie," Liane walks over to him and hugs him.

Butters hesitates, but he sees Eric take her suitcase upstairs to the guest room and figures it's okay to hug her back. She pulls away and squeezes his arms.

"I'm glad you're here," he tells her, knowing he has to say something.

"Me too."

Eric is walking back downstairs.

"Do you want something to eat before going to sleep, Mom?" He asks her, walking to the kitchen and not even looking at Butters.

"I went out and bought some tea and biscuits for you," Butters quietly tells her.

"Thank you," she says before following her son.

. . . . .

The next morning Liane wakes up and heads down to the kitchen to get some coffee. Butters is sitting at the table, a mug of coffee in his hand as he nibbles on some biscuits from last night.

"Good morning," she tells him and helps herself to the coffee he has already made.

"Morning," he says, not looking up from his breakfast.

She sits down with him and grabs a biscuit herself. "Eric isn't up yet?"

Butters shakes his head. "He's avoiding me."

"So what happened exactly?"

"Didn't he already tell you?"

"Yes, but I want to hear it from you as well."

"I don't even remember, I was so drunk. But when I woke up it was obvious what had happened. I told Eric right away and now he hates me."

Liane has her mouth pressed against the palm of her hand as she stirs her coffee with the biscuit.

"Eric doesn't hate you, he's just hurt. When he talked to me over the phone he didn't even speak harshly about you, he just told me what happened."

"Thank you for being so nice to me, even though I'm sure that's not the case."

Liane shakes her head. "It doesn't seem to me like he wants to attack you for this."

"I wish he would," Butters says. "It would be easier for me."

"I think the fact that you're so torn up about this mistake is enough. Most men pass the blame onto their partners, as if it was their fault they cheated."

"I'll easily blame Eric for a lot of things, but definitely not this. This was all me."

"How did it even happen? Why did you walk out of your home?"

"We were fighting, I don't even remember what about, but I couldn't take it anymore. It seems like that's all we've been doing the last couple of months—fighting. And things were just getting worst and worst, and they just came to a head with this. But it's not like I went out with the intention to do this, all I wanted was to get drunk, I was planning on calling Eric to pick me up."

"This is why you don't drink when you're angry," Liane says matter-of-factly. "So it was just the one time?"

"Yes," he turns to look at her. "Liane, I really love your son. I don't want to be with anyone else, this was a one time mistake, but I don't think Eric will ever forgive me."

"I know, sweetie, I know you love him. And he knows you love him too. I do believe he wants to forgive you, but you know how Eric is. He thinks when he's hurt he needs to get even, but I don't think he wants to get even with you."

Butters looks down and glances at his watch. "I have to head out."

"How's work?" She asks him.

"Fine. I started working with a little girl yesterday who recently became a ward of the state because her mother abused her. The fun never stops for me."

He heads out and Liane is left alone in the kitchen.

. . . . .

"Sweetie, do you want me to make you some breakfast?" Liane asks when Eric finally comes down. She's sitting on the couch reading a book she had brought.

Eric waves his hand. "Don't worry, I got it."

Liane goes to the kitchen and sits with Eric as he's eating some microwaved oatmeal.

"How'd you sleep?" She asks him. Eric shrugs. "Butters started working with a new girl yesterday. Apparently her mother would abuse her."

"How do you know?"

"I spoke with him this morning."

"You know, I get not wanting to get involved, but you don't have to be all chummy with him either. He did single-handedly ruin our marriage, after all."

"No he didn't," Liane says gently.

"What? Do you think I ruined our marriage? What the hell did he tell you?"

"Nothing! I just don't think your marriage is ruined, I think this is just a hiccup you two have to ride out."

"How do you ride out infidelity?" Eric finishes his oatmeal and pushes the bowl away. He stares at his mother expectantly.

She takes a deep breath, ready to tell him what she couldn't over the phone. "Eric, you want to know my opinion about all of this? Well, here it is—I think you're overreacting."

"WHAT?!" Eric shouts, slamming his hands onto the table and standing up, completely beside himself that his mother would say that to him. "You really fucking think I'm overreacting to the fact that my husband fucking cheated on me? If anything, I'm under reacting! I'm still letting him live here!"

Liane isn't fazed by her son's outburst. "It only happened once. Not to mention, he was so drunk he doesn't even remember, meaning it was a stupid mistake and not a malicious action done against you. Quite frankly, if this is the thing that destroys your marriage, I will be very disappointed in both of you."

Eric's mouth hangs open, unable to articulate how ridiculous he thinks his mom is being. "You have got to be shitting me, right now."

"Sit down, Eric," she says firmly, growing annoyed at her son toppling over her. He does sit back down. "Neither of you are telling me the whole truth. I understand he cheated, but what was the lead up to this? He mentioned that you two have been fighting a lot recently, why is that? I thought everything was fine between you two?"

Eric rubs his face and takes a deep breath. "We've been fighting over dumb things. Like, he's been coming late from work and too tired to do anything with me, so I get upset. And when he tries to take me out, I have a commission I need to work on and he gets mad at me for not telling him before. It's a lot of stupid shit like that."

"That doesn't sound too awful. It just seems like you two need to work your schedules out," Liane notes.

"Yeah, but, I don't know. We've been living under a lot of tension and neither of us knows why or how to stop it. Like, any little thing he does sets me off, and vice versa. Everything has become such a struggle, it's gotten to the point where I'm relieved when he's out and I'm home alone."

"I didn't know that," Liane says softly.

"Yeah, and I hate feeling that way, but now everything's come to a head and apparently I'm overreacting," he says the last part with a mocking tone.

"Did you ever consider getting a divorce?" She asks nonchalantly.

"No," Eric answers quickly.

"What about now?"

He thinks for a moment, but shakes his head. "No."

"Divorce never crossed your mind?"

"I love him. I don't want to divorce him, what would my life be without him, honestly?" He wipes his eyes before tears could fall.

"If divorce has never crossed your mind then that means you've forgiven him already, doesn't it?"

Eric's brows furrow and he traces shapes on the table. His lower lip starts to quiver. "I don't want to forgiven him, that's the thing. I feel like an idiot if I do. But, how can I not? It's Butters, I'll forgive him anything, I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't."

"I don't think you're an idiot for forgiving him. I know it's still recent, the wound is new, but let him know you forgive him if you have no intention of leaving him. You're both suffering, and it's not fair to either one of you."

"Just because I forgive him doesn't mean I'm ready to move on and forget," Eric tells her.

"If it helps, your father's wife knew about me and she forgave him," Liane says, looking down at the table.

"What?" Eric shakes his head, caught off guard by that comment.

"She knew about me, and later about you, but as far as I knew, she forgave him," she looks at him and bites her thumbnail.

Eric closes his eyes. His mother has never spoken to him about his father, and this was not exactly the context he wanted to play catch up in.

"So did everyone know he was my dad except for me?" He asks, old childhood resentments surfacing.

"And Scott," Liane adds, nodding her head.

"Fuck," he sighs.

"Actually, when you were just a toddler, she and Scott came over to settle some issues. That's when we agreed that you shouldn't know who your father was."

"They came over?"

"Yes. While we spoke you and Scott played in your bedroom."

He's shaking his head, his eyes closed. "What's the point of this story, again?"

"To show you that it's not dumb to forgive Butters."

Eric buries his head in his hands and mutters, "Jesus Christ." His mother gave him more to think about than he wanted.