Chapter Four - Friends

It only took three more weeks for my relationship with Bill to completely fall apart. We really just weren't spending enough time together to suit either of us. If I wasn't working at the bar, I was studying, and in the mornings I had class or a meeting with Eric, so I didn't really like Bill staying overnight anymore. It was a lot of little things, and it became too much, with not enough to really fight for. We weren't in love, so there was really no point in staying together.

And that was really that. I took a ziploc bag of his things to the bar, and he came and picked them up. It was amicable, and we decided to remain friends. Pam was pleased as punch, of course, and immediately started trying to hook me up with random hot guys at the bar. Sadly, I just didn't have the time for guys, not even random hookups.

My lessons with Eric were going great, and he and I had actually become friends. We started meeting for coffee before heading to the library. I learned a lot about him there. His dad bailed when he was just a toddler, and his mom raised him until he was seven, when she died of a stroke. His aunt, Thalia, raised him after that. He said that she learned ASL for him, and loved him like he was her own. He had only just moved out of her house and into his own apartment a year ago. I also found out that we were indeed the same age, born just a few months apart. He'd had his birthday just before we met, and mine was coming up.

When Eric gave me his phone number, we clicked even more. It was like lifting the floodgates on the lines of communication with that, and instant messaging. We started texting all the time, and when that happened it was so easy to forget that he was different in any way. He would ask how my classes were going, and double check what time we were supposed to meet at the library, or for coffee.

So when the odd night came up when Pam and I both didn't have to work and wanted to go out, I texted Eric and invited him to come along. He was always telling me via text that he was just hanging out at home by himself, and I really wanted him to have some more fun.

~o0o~

I was thrilled when Sookie invited me to go out with her and her roommate. Not only because I was lonely and didn't do things like that much, but because I really loved spending time with her. I almost wanted to tell her she was awful at signing just so we could have more sessions a week. It was kind of funny, considering how our first time meeting went. I'll never forget the look on her face when she tapped on my shoulder and started yelling at me. Of course, I couldn't hear that she was yelling, but you spend enough time in silence, observing others, and you know when a person is pissed off and yelling.

She had been talking so fast that it was hard to read her lips, but when she finally slowed down enough for me to understand her, I got what had happened. It wasn't the first time a customer had thought I was ignoring them, but it was the first time one had completely told me off for it. So yeah, it was a little satisfying to see the look on her face after I explained that I was deaf, but mostly it was amusing.

Sookie is... well, she's a beautiful woman. She has big, blue eyes, long blonde hair, and a body to die for. It's safe to say that I was physically attracted to her instantly, but until she came into the book store that second time, I wasn't sure I'd ever get to meet her again, so it wasn't really significant. But she did come in again, and that was ultimately why I agreed to teach her ASL. I was a man with a crush.

Spending those couple of hours with her every few days just wasn't enough for me, so I ended up giving her my phone number and we started texting and meeting for coffee. I knew she had a boyfriend, but after only a couple of weeks she told me that they had broken up. If I wasn't one hundred percent positive that Sookie only saw me as I friend, I might have asked her out. Well, that's a lie. I wouldn't have, because I wouldn't know the first thing about asking a girl out.

It's not that I'm some twenty-four year old virgin that still wears footie pajamas to bed. I'd had sex … once. It was in high school, and I found out after that the girl didn't like me at all, and just wanted to do it for some kind of fucked up bragging rights. Needless to say, it kind of put me off sex. I thought I might try to find a girlfriend or start dating after I got my own apartment, but I came to find out that not many girls were keen on dating a guy who couldn't communicate with them easily. I just gave up before I really tried.

That was another thing I liked about Sookie. She fell so effortlessly into communicating with me and adapting to it, which was really a first for me. I didn't really want to lose her friendship, so I didn't rock the boat. She was a friend, and I would settle for that for now. Hopefully, when the timing was right, something more could or would happen. Until then, I would wait.

I was supposed to meet Sookie at her apartment, then leave with them to go to dinner, then a bar. She texted me her address, and I left a bit early just in case I couldn't find it. Luckily I was able to, but that meant I was still a bit early, and I was meeting two women, and women are hardly on time, so that meant I had to wait on them.

Sookie answered the door with her hair in a towel. She was fully dressed, and looked otherwise ready to go, but her hair wasn't done yet.

"Hi," she said, and signed, causing me to smile. I'd told her to try using signs more in her daily speech. I signed back, and she invited me in. She gestured for me to sit on the couch and asked if I wanted anything to drink. I shook my head, and she said she'd be right back. That was when I met Pam.

~o0o~

After I left Eric sitting on the couch, I headed back to the bathroom to finish up my hair. Before I could do anything with it I heard Pam walk out of her room and up the hall. I didn't want her to meet Eric without me, so I went after her and found her and Eric standing in front of each other. He looked nervous and intimidated.

"Sorry, Eric," I said to him. "This is Pam, my friend and roommate. Pam, this is Eric."

Eric gave her a little wave, but Pam just stared him down until I nudged her in the side.

"You can read lips, right?" she asked him, and he nodded. "Does my outfit look too slutty to you?"

"Pam!"

"What? I just want to know."

We both watched as Eric pulled out his little pad of paper and wrote on it before handing it over.

Isn't that what you're going for?

I busted up laughing, and passed him the paper back while Pam just smirked.

"I like you," she said. "Please excuse us while we finish getting ready."

I offered Eric a reassuring smile as Pam dragged me back to the bathroom again.

"Why didn't you tell me deaf boy is a fucking hottie?"

"What?"

"Don't act like you don't see it. He's hot, Sookie. Are you not interested? Cause you technically have dibs, but if you're passing..."

"Oh get real, you're probably not even his type. He practically just called you a slut!"

She raised one perfectly plucked eyebrow at me.

"Do I detect jealousy? You like him, don't you?"

"No, Pam, I really don't. I mean, not in that way. I don't know ... I mean, I see what you mean about his looks, he is ... hot. We just click as friends, that's all."

"Which means you'd probably click well naked too..."

"No. Just ... no."

"Can I take that to mean you're officially passing?"

"Yes, I'm officially passing."

"Okay then, deaf boy is getting some tonight."

"Don't call him that," I said, suddenly annoyed with her.

"Okay, okay... I'm going to go entertain our guest while you finish your hair."

I suddenly had the childish urge to stick my tongue out at her retreating form, so I did, then finished fixing my hair like the adult that I was. Only I did it quickly...

Pam drove us to the bar, and I was practically turned around in the front seat the whole way just so I could talk to Eric. When we got there, Pam put her arm through Eric's and walked with him, effectively making me feel like a third wheel. But that was the great thing about Eric, he was one of the most considerate people I knew.

We weren't halfway through the parking lot when Eric stopped and put his free arm around my shoulders and gave me a squeeze. No matter what happened between him and Pam, we'd still be friends, and I was fine with that.

A/N:

I know this one was on the short side, but I wanted to get something out to you and it felt like a complete chapter to me. Had a very busy weekend, hence the lack of review replies, and the site is being a d-bag right now. Anyway, hope you all enjoyed, and you can thank ChanelAddict85 for the Eric POV being written :)