"So I told him."

Dr. Jameson looked over the rims of his thick glasses with raised eyebrows and nodded thoughtfully at Vince. Even though it had been a week since Eric's visit and this was the first time Vince had mentioned it, he didn't look at all surprised but instead rather pleased that Vince had taken his advice seriously and talked to E when he came to the rehab center. "And how did that go?"

Vince raked his fingers through his dark curls nervously. He had done nothing but think about E's visit since he had driven off a week ago. They had a good day together, the best one that Vince could remember in awhile. Eric was quiet at first, clearly still caught up in Vince's confession, but he had eventually loosened up (as much as E ever relaxed) enough to enjoy himself. They had walked around a lot, talking about the guys and prospects for some projects when Vince got out. They talked about old times back in Queens and Vince's mom and Eric's parents. And when they had run out of things to talk about, they had been content to be quiet, sitting side by side on a bench in a remote corner of the gardens. With E's knee pressed against his, Vince knew that everything was going to find a way to work out.

"It went surprisingly well," Vince answered. "I mean, of course E freaked out a little bit at first, but I told him that I just needed him to know for now. I want to give him time to think about it, and if he decides that maybe this is something he wants, then we can talk about it when he's ready."

"And do you think that rushing into relationship is a good idea?"

"Look, Dr. Jameson, I get that I have to work the steps and commit myself to the program in order for this to work. I am willing to give up my old habits and go to meetings and make amends. I will do pretty much anything it takes to make sure that I have my sobriety. The one thing that I don't buy into is that I have to give up E in the process. I can have him in my life, we can be together, without it messing up everything else. It might not work for everyone, but I know myself and I know E and I know how we are together."

His counselor furrowed his brow a little and cleared his throat. "Vincent, there is a reason that they encourage people to wait so long to get into a relationship. It is so that you don't automatically go into this place where your partner is the reason you are staying sober. That's a dangerous burden and quite a heavy one for someone to carry. Because if something goes wrong, well, your chances of failing are quite daunting. That's why the program urges you to wait at least a year so that you know you can stand on your own. It's like coming back from physical therapy. You have to build up your strength."

"With all due respect, sir, I've been in this thing with Eric for a hell of a lot longer than I did drugs. E is a huge part of why I'm getting sober, and from where I stand, that's not such a bad thing. It shouldn't really matter why I am committed to living clean, just that I am doing it," Vince pointed out. "And if anything, E has just proven that he is willing to carry that burden. It's something we've both been doing our entire lives. People think that he's the only caretaker, but I think – no, I know – that he would tell you that I take care of him, too. It might not work for everyone else. It might not even work for you all, but this is the one time I will tell you that I don't give a damn. This is how it's going to be."

"Alright," Dr. Jameson smiled widely, "that gives us a great place to start." So they spent the next half hour going over some things that Vince needed to work on when it came to his relationship with Eric. They talked about alternative coping mechanisms, techniques for fostering open communications and helpful ways for Vince to engage Eric in his recovery process. Dr. Jameson also promised to get some information to E on different support groups he could check out and some literature to read. "The last thing I want to ask of you for today is pretty simple. Your assignment this week is to ask Eric to come to a family session next Sunday. The two of you will meet with me on on one so that we can have an open discussion about expectations going forward."

Later that evening, after Lena had retrieved Vince for his appointed phone time, he sat alone in the small sitting room, waiting to hear some connection to the outside world. When he heard Turtle's voice on the other end, Vince nearly started bawling. He was really starting to miss all of his friends. "Turtle, man, how are you?"

"Vin!" Turtle chuckled. "Managing, how are you? E says you're doing real good."

"I'm making progress," he agreed. "You been going out?"

"Nah, we've just been hanging around the house actually," Turtle told him. "Drama is on a health kick right now, so he's been going to bed really early and cooking all this weird shit. E works all day, but he hasn't been doing very long hours. I guess with his star client out of commission, he's not quite as busy. I'm back in school, taking a few more classes and stuff. It's pretty boring without you, Vin. You gotta hurry up and come home soon."

"Working on it, man," Vince laughed. "Hey, is my brother around?"

"Sure thing," Turtle said before covering the receiver. "Yo, Drama! Vince is on the phone!"

Vince could hear both E and Drama holler something back to Turtle before Johnny picked up the line. "Baby Bro!"

"Hey, Johnny," Vince smiled. Out of all his biological family, Johnny had always been the one person other than his ma that Vince needed. He had always protected the youngest Chase brother, fighting his fights so that no one got to him. "Turtle said you're on another health kick."

"Gotta get into top physical form," Johnny retorted with his usual false bravado. "I've got an audition for a M.O.W. with Maureen McCormick. Fuckin' Marcia Brady, can you believe it? She's still pretty hot." The two brothers talked for a minute more before Johnny muffled the phone. "Geez, E, calm the fuck down. Here, you can talk to him."

Vince smiled privately to himself when he heard E's quiet, "Hi." He could tell by the sounds in the background that he was walking down the hallway toward his bedroom for some privacy. "How's it going? Good week?"

"Two down, two to go," Vince answered truthfully. "It was nice to talk to the guys, but I'm glad to hear your voice."

"Yeah," Eric chuckled nervously. Vince could almost see the way he was probably rubbing the back of his neck in his head. It was his tell, the same one that he had since they were kids. "I've been kind of out of it all week, just waiting for you to call."

Another involuntary smile crossed his face. "Good. I mean, I'm glad you still wanted to talk to me after what I said the other day. I know it was kind of out of left field and a lot to take in, so it's good that this isn't weird."

"It wasn't as out of left field as you maybe though, Vin," E retorted. "At least that's what Sloan said when I talked to her."

"You talked to Sloan?" Vince asked, hoping that his jealousy didn't come through. "When? Why?"

"She brought the ring back. She asked about you, and I guess that kind of set me off. After I calmed down enough to talk to her, we had a pretty good conversation. She told me that the only person I had ever fully committed myself to was you and that maybe it was time we made something of that rather than torturing women by letting them think that a relationship with you or me is going to go anywhere. She also told me that she was sorry for some of the things she said. I don't know. It felt nice, final. We got peace."

Vince was quiet for a moment. "Well, that's good then."

"And I also took the ring back and got quite a nice little deposit for that trip we talked about," E said. "I'm thinking that we make this one a solo vacation, a private celebration for just us. I'll fly the guys out later, but we have some stuff to work out."

"I like the sound of that," Vince confessed, his voice happier than it had been since the day he had seen Eric at rehab. "Speaking of working out stuff, I know we still have a lot to figure out and talk about. Dr. Jameson, my counselor, would like you to come down for a joint session next Sunday. It's family day or whatever. Can you make it out?"

"I'll be there."

"And don't tell the guys that it's family day or Drama might be offended that I didn't invite him."

"Got it," E laughed. "So I'll see you then?"

"Yeah, I'll see you," Vince said. "I should probably go before Lena comes in. Tell the guys I said bye. I can't wait to see you, E."

"Me neither," Eric said. "Hey, Vin?"

"Yeah?"

"You know that I..."

"I know, E," Vince whispered onto the phone line. "I know."