A/N: Here's your first look inside Eric's head. In case I haven't been clear, this chapter plus the next few are taking place the same night as the majority of the episode, and before the scene at the hospital. This should be the last 'introspective-only' chapter (at least for a while), and everybody will start coming together after we see Eric mess up just this little bit more...
~H50~
Chapter 3
It was Friday night, and Eric had returned with Danny to the house around 9pm. After they left Bullwinkle and Toast's place, Danny had needed to do a few things in his office for the case they had just wrapped up. They didn't even do anything special for dinner since Danny was still working, just a few burritos from a Mexican food truck that had been parked a block away from the Palace.
Once they returned to Danny's, Eric headed straight to the room he was staying in to check his emails and do some web surfing. As the night went on, all of Danny's words from earlier in the day started repeating in his head. Uncle D said his mother wasn't proud of him. Uncle D said he made bad life-decisions and thought Eric was acting like an idiot. Did that mean Uncle Danny thought he was stupid? Was he really going to waste away his life? Uncle D made sure to point out that he hasn't accomplished anything worthwhile and has zero value to society. His uncle didn't even want to leave him on his own in Bullwinkle's kitchen, making him stay right by the desk while Bullwinkle worked on the computer.
The whole reason he even got to visit Uncle D in Hawaii this week was because his Ma had been more frustrated with him than usual. She always looked worried lately, and Eric realized that was at least partially due to him. The tension between them had been getting worse for a few months—ever since his Ma picked him up from the police station after getting arrested for stealing that car. Sitting alone in Danny's guest room, Eric was starting to think he was such a disappointing son that maybe his own mother didn't even want to be around him. What could he do now, if Uncle D didn't want him around either?
Finally, just after 11:30, Eric couldn't take his racing thoughts any more. He listened carefully at the door, and couldn't hear any sounds to indicate that his uncle was anywhere other than his own bedroom. As quietly as he could, Eric snuck down the hall and out the kitchen door, snagging the Camaro keys on his way out. Right now he just needed a change of scenery, to drive around a bit and see where he ended up.
After about twenty minutes of winding through the residential neighborhoods, Eric finally hit the main strip that boasted all of the major resorts near the beach. Just near the end of the line of huge hotels, he decided to swing into the parking lot for a 24-hour convenience store. Getting some alcohol wasn't his original intention when he had left Danny's house, but now that it was right in front of him…now all Eric could think about was how nice the buzz and haze of some beer would be.
Eric entered the store and went straight for the beer cooler in the back. He had faith in his fake ID, for it had served him well back home. The late-night clerk barely looked twice when he handed over his license and cash, and soon enough Eric is back in the Camaro with a six-pack of Longboards.
Before breaking into the beer, Eric kept going down the road in the same direction he had been heading to start with. Just a little ways down from the last respectable hotel, he decided to pull into the parking lot of what looked like a rundown and shady bar called the Thirsty Boar. It was just far enough away from the main strip that any regular tourists probably stayed away from it and the local patrons would be left to themselves.
After turning off the engine, Eric cracked open one of the bottles of beer and downed half of it in one go. It was his first taste of the local brand of beer, and it was definitely a new flavoring to get used to. Eric quickly finished off the rest of the beer, and just sat in his uncle's car for another full minute of simply staring out the windshield. Danny's words started running on repeat again, and the disappointment that he had felt from Danny was starting to weigh heavy on his mind. Hoping to break his cycle of thought, Eric finally made his way into the bar. The place wasn't too crowded, as it was close to midnight (and not exactly the best bar option in town), and he got the attention of the bartender right away. Eric handed over his ID and some cash for a Longboard and a Jack Daniels to start, then took his drinks to a dark corner booth to wallow in the self-pity that had been brought on by Danny's continued lecturing throughout the day.
The bartender had only agreed to serve Eric his third beverage in exchange for handing over his car keys for safe keeping. Many drinks later, and what seemed like no time at all, the bartender cut him off from any more alcohol. As Eric pulled out his phone to try and look for a cab company to call, he realized that he only had 8 dollars left on him—which was not nearly enough to get back to Danny's. His mother had given him a credit card for his trip to Hawaii for emergencies, but Eric remembered he had left it packed with his clothes because he had plenty of cash in his wallet…or so he had thought.
Tonight Eric had driven far enough that there was no way he could walk back. He was going to have to call his uncle, and Danny was going to be SO pissed. If Eric knew the city any better, he might have just taken his chances on walking after all. Even though it was more than a few miles, it might have been worth it to avoid calling Uncle Danny.
Eric left the bar as quickly as he could in his impaired state, so that he could have his small panic attack over calling his uncle in the privacy of the shadows of Danny's car. Almost hyperventilating, he looked at his contact list and saw a beacon of hope shining back at him. Three names above 'Uncle D' was Steve McGarrett's number, from when Danny insisted that he add it to his phone "in case of emergencies."
Well, this certainly could be considered an emergency—he was alone in the early hours of the morning, very drunk in the parking lot of a bar, in a city he was unfamiliar with, and oh yeah- his uncle would not react well if Eric called him to take his under-aged ass home. Would Steve be better than Uncle D? Okay, maybe not…he was all military, and a cop, and his uncle's best friend. But maybe he could delay facing Danny for a little longer, at least to sober up a little or figure out how to explain why he had snuck out of the house for some illegal drinking. And McGarrett was Uncle D's partner, so maybe he would at least stay out of jail as a courtesy to Danny…or something… … maybe. With the option to at least delay a confrontation with Danny for a little longer, Eric made up his mind to try his luck with the Commander and hit 'call'.
~H50~
To be continued...
A/N: As far as I know, the Thirsty Boar is not the name of a real bar in Honolulu.
