Eric settled down onto the couch and rifled through the morning paper. He neatly stacked the remainder of the paper at his side. Jack stumbled into the living room. He fell back into the sofa opposite of Eric and looked at him.

"Mornin' Jack, I saved you your section of the paper."

Jack chuckled, "My section? You mean the entire paper minus the comics?" Eric nodded excitedly and grinned at Jack for a few more moments before returning to where he left off. Jack smirked and pulled the paper towards him and pulled out the front page. Other than the occasional snicker from Eric, both of them read quietly. Eric finished his 'section' and folded it, setting it neatly on the stack that Jack had yet to read.

"So, you hungry for breakfast?" Eric asked as he headed into the kitchen.

"Hmmm?... uh, sure," Jack mumbled from behind the paper. Eric whipped up a couple of bowls of cereal and returned to his spot on the couch, handing Jack his bowl. He put down the paper and took the bowl from him, pausing for a moment to watch Eric eat. Eric flipped on the television and dove into the cereal. He stopped when he realized that Jack was staring at him.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Something on your mind?" Eric turned the television off and looked back at Jack.

"Nah, man. Thanks for breakfast."

Eric smiled and turned the television back on again, "Sure, buddy."

******

"Angela, what would you say if I asked you and Shawn to go out with me and Eric tonight?" Rachel held her breath in anticipation of the answer.

"Sure. Do you guys wanna go see a movie or something?"

"Yeah, anything, but I need you to call Eric and invite him to go with us..."

Angela pinched the receiver between her head and shoulder as she folded laundry, "You mean, he didn't ask you out yet?"

Rachel sighed, "No, and that's why I need you to do it for me. Then I don't seem so..."

"Forward?" Angela interjected.

"Right. I know Eric likes me and I really like him too, but Jack and I broke up almost three weeks ago and I think there's some kind of best friend rule that keeps him from asking me out."

"Yeah, I think you're right. Lemme see what I can do. I'll probably just make Shawn do it." They laughed for a moment and talked for a few more minutes before hanging up.

******

Jack walked into the apartment, drenched in sweat. He pulled his shirt off as he headed into the bedroom. Eric had just hung up the phone a few seconds after Jack had come in.

"Who was that?" Jack asked while grabbing a clean shirt, fresh pair of boxers and a towel.

Eric watched Jack uncomfortably, "Your brother... uhhh how was your jog?"

"Invigorating... What did Shawn want?" Jack dropped his shorts and kicked them into a pile along with his damp shirt. He walked around in his boxer-briefs, getting ready to jump into the shower.

"Just to see what I was doing tonight... so how far did you jog?"

Jack stopped at the bathroom doorway and slowly turned around, "Eric, that's the worst attempt to change the subject that I've ever seen. What did he say?"

"You aren't gonna like this, Jack."

"What happened?"

"Nothing happened... he just wanted me to go out with him and Angela tonight to see a movie..." Eric dropped his eyes to the floor. Jack took a step closer to him.

"And...?"

Eric looked back up at Jack, "And... Rachel."

"Figures." Jack turned around and shut the bathroom door behind him. Eric could hear the sound of rushing water from the bathroom. He waited until he heard the shower curtain open, then close before opening the bathroom door.

"Jack, if you don't want me to go..."

Jack poked his head out from behind the shower curtain, his hair was full of suds, "Do you want to go out with her?"

"Of course I do, I like Rachel a lot. She's my friend..."

"And my ex-girlfriend..." Jack added from behind the shower curtain.

Eric looked down at the hand towel next to the sink and began to fidget with it, "I know... but if it bothers you, I won't go."

Jack peeked out from behind the shower curtain again, this time his face and neck were covered in soap, "Really?" Eric nodded unenthusiastically. Jack closed the shower curtain and rinsed his face and neck.

"You can go if you give me head first." Eric looked up in shock and disgust.

"No way, man! You're sick!"

Jack laughed and peered from behind the shower curtain for a third time, "A handjob then. I think she's worth a handjob at least, don't you?"

"You're messed up, brutha." Eric turned to leave.

"Alright, I'm just kidding. I don't care if you go out with her."

Eric stopped and looked at Jack.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously." Jack closed the shower curtain again. Eric shut the bathroom door behind him and skipped into the living room to phone Rachel.

******

Eric pulled up to the apartment and turned off the ignition. He looked over at Rachel and smiled. She grinned back and sat there, staring into his deep brown eyes.

"So you wanna come up and hang out for awhile?"

Rachel's grin faded quickly, "And have Jack see us together? He'd kill you... he'd kill us both."

Eric laughed, "He's not even home, he's covering for someone at work, he won't be home til later... c'mon, he wouldn't mind anyway..." Eric grinned and leaned over to kiss her. Rachel leaned over and kissed him back, thinking how wonderful the last two weeks had been with him.

"Yeah, I'll come up for a little bit, but you have to promise to behave yourself..." she scolded jokingly.

Eric feigned surprise, "Who ME??? I'm a perfect gentleman!"

"Yeah, right," Rachel laughed.

They both got out of the car and headed up to the apartment. Once inside, Eric helped Rachel with her coat.

"Wanna see my new bedspread my mom bought me? They're DUCKIES!" Eric yelled excitedly. Rachel laughed and followed him to the bedroom.

Eric stood at the foot of his bed proudly pointing out the little yellow ducks that covered his bed.

"I've never seen anyone get that excited over a bird before in my life, Eric." Rachel smirked.

Eric started tickling her, "Maybe I'll cover YOU in duckies, how about that!"

Rachel screamed and dove for Jack's bed to try and get away from him. She landed square on the mattress, though the mattress caught her momentum and slid onto the floor.

"Wow! That's a slippery bed!" Rachel chuckled as she stood up. She looked over at Eric and saw him staring at the box spring of Jack's bed.

"What is it?"

Rachel walked to the other side of the bed where Eric was pulling out a small stack of pornographic magazines.

"Rach, these can't be Jack's..." Eric sifted through the stack, one by one, tossing them onto the floor. Rachel grabbed one of them and opened it. As she flipped through the pages, she blushed.

"I don't suppose he's reading the articles, ya think?" Rachel and Eric both looked at each other in amazement.

"No, actually I don't. But it explains a lot. Rach, did he talk to you about any of this, does this make any sense to you?"

Rachel looked back at the magazine, "Not at all... has he been gay this whole time I wonder? Hmmm... not baaad..." Eric snatched the magazine from Rachel's hands and gathered the rest of them up. He hastily shoved them back into the box spring, replaced the mattress and remade the bed. On the other side of the bed there were small papers scattered on the floor. While he collected them into a pile, he found a plastic bag full of, what Eric thought to be, pencil shavings.

"Did you find something else?"

Eric casually stuffed the bag into his pocket, "Nothing... just some trash." He picked up the papers and stuffed them into Jack's nightstand drawer.

Perplexed, Rachel sat down on Eric's bed,"I don't know what to say, I had no idea..."

Eric walked over to Rachel and put his arm around her. "I don't know what to think either, but I know he and I are gonna have a very long talk when he gets home tonight."

Rachel nodded and led Eric to the front door. Eric helped her put her coat on and walked her outside.

When Eric got back, Jack still wasn't home. He watched TV for a bit, until he was too tired to stay up any longer. He got into bed and lay there thinking of what he'd say to Jack when he saw him. He fell asleep, and didn't wake until the next morning. Jack was sleeping peacefully in his bed, so Eric quietly rose and sat on the living room couch, thinking.

Waiting.