NoV: So sorry about the long wait! Love ya, guys!

(BMW)

Alan had been planning (originally) to open the store himself so Eric could sleep in and come in to work around noon. However, at the last minute, Morgan had called from her friend's house, saying that she was sick and needed to come home. And, with Amy taking Cory to baseball practice, Alan had no choice but wake up Eric and get him to open the store. (NoV: Sorry if that was the most confusing and illogical paragraph of your life! )

Alan quickly ascended the stairs and opened the door to Cory and Eric's bedroom. There was a surprisingly wide lump in Eric's bed with a mass of blond hair reaching out from the abyss on one side. Alan maneuvered around the batches of junk on the boys' floor and arrived at the side of Eric's blanket with the hair. He shook the lump attached to the hair, which groaned in response.

"Eric, come on!" Alan said, exasperated. "The store's gotta be open in fifteen minutes!"

The lump mumbled something unintelligible and shifted slightly.

Alan sighed and grabbed the edge of the blanket, and then swiftly tore it away from the bed.

Instead of just one blond teen Eric, there also lay a blond teen Erica, her legs bent and nuzzled against Eric's thigh. Her hand lay gently across his stomach.

Alan's temper hit the ceiling almost instantly. He all but jumped across the bed, grabbing Eric by the arm and dragging him up out of bed. "What is the matter with you?" Alan demanded.

Eric, thoroughly frightened by his rude awakening, brightly said, "Huh?"

"I can't believe that you would sneak a girl into this house and sleep with her!" Alan exclaimed, infuriated. He pulled Eric out into the hallway, leaving an overwhelmed Erica alone in the bedroom.

"Eric, I have to ask you honestly," Alan said, coercing Eric to back up against the wall. "Did you really think that you were going to get away with having a girl sleeping with you in a room that you share with your little brother?"

"What are you talking about?" Eric wondered, rubbing the side of his face that he had slept on.

"It's a little late to be playing dumb with me, Eric!" Alan shouted. "Now you have a lot of explaining to do, and I'd better not hear any ridiculous explanations this time!"

"Mr. Matthews, wait!" Erica exclaimed, exiting the bedroom at last. "Don't blame Eric for this….." she pleaded. "He had nothing to do with it."

"I'm listening," Alan said, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Well, last night…." she began, "….my roommate went out of town, and I was scared to be alone in our apartment…..so I sneaked in and spent the night with Eric." She looked Alan in the eyes, and realizing that he wanted something more, quickly added, "If I had known that you wouldn't be okay with it, Mr. Matthews, I would have slept on the couch, I promise!"

Alan stared the "twins" down for a few more minutes before saying, "Eric, you need to open the store in ten minutes." He then turned and walked back downstairs to pick up Morgan.

Erica looked to Eric for some sense that he wasn't mad at her.

Eric pulled her into a hug and held onto her while assuring her: "I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you. You should've woken me up."

Erica pulled back slightly. "Well, I tried, but you just looked so peaceful…"

"So, are you okay now?" Eric wondered.

She looked down at the floor, weighing the pros and cons of the situation. Finally, Erica decided not to make Eric worry over nothing. She said, "Yeah, I'm fine as long as I'm with you…."

Eric smiled and led her downstairs.

(BMW)

All throughout the day Erica couldn't shake her feeling that something horrible was going to happen. She also felt guilty for lying to Eric, but she did it for his sake, not hers…..right?