Home.
"When things get too serious, they send in the clown."
Vince looked up from the book in his lap and stared blankly at his old friend. Turtle had often been the comic relief in their group, but he could do little to cheer Vince on this particular day. "What are you doing here?" He knew the question was cold but that was his intention. He didn't want to talk to anyone, especially Turtle. His friend knew him way too well.
Turtle took off his hat and rubbed his head anxiously. The last thing he wanted to do was play peace keeper, but someone had to do something. It was obvious whose side Ari was taking, and Johnny was Vince's older brother. Turtle cared about both of them too much to take a side, which meant that Eric was on his own. Vince probably thought he still had Sloan keeping his bed warm back in sunny Los Angeles. He had no idea what had happened since they left.
"He wants to talk to you," Turtle attempted. That was really the only reason he was here. Eric hadn't been able to reach him for days, and his only comfort had been found in the bottom of a bottle of Johnnie Walker Blue. Turtle had found him in Vince's room, clutching his Oscar from the movie where he'd played Enzo Ferrari and wearing Vince's favorite Ramones shirt. "Vin, E's not doing good. Just call him. Talk to him. I know that you are missing him just as much as he misses you."
He doesn't need to tell his friend about the nights where he'd cried himself to sleep because he missed Eric that fucking much. Turtle doesn't need to know about the long talks he'd had with his ma about his best friend or the evenings he'd spent in a dark room just remembering. He left all that behind in California. That was why he took the first flight he could find back to Queens when Eric told him that he just can't do this anymore.
"I do miss him." Turtle hadn't really been expecting the confession so easily but Vince never really lied. He was always upfront with his feelings, which were usually limited to the pursuit of life, lust and happiness. It was only with Eric that he had wanted to fall in love, and now that had crashed and burned, there was a hard shell around his heart. Turtle was all too aware how hard that would be to break down. It had taken thirty years for Eric to even manage the feat, and there was no one in the world that mattered to Vince more than that kid.
Turtle had never really been comfortable with their changed relationship but he managed to be okay with it for their sake. Vince and Eric were two of his best friends, and he recognized that what the two of them shared didn't come along every day. "Listen, Vin, I've never told you what to do before. I've always supported all your choices, even when I didn't agree with them. I mean, other than that one fight we had before Saigon's showcase, we've barely been mad at each other for more than a couple hours," he reminded his friend. "But I feel like I have to say something now or you're going to lose E. Look, I know he fucked up. He knows he fucked up. Just talk to him, let him tell you that. He's fucked up without you, and if this little scene is any indication, I'm pretty sure you're fucked up, too."
Vince wants to shout and curse at Turtle, but he's really just angry with himself and with Eric. "Who would have thought you'd be the voice of reason?" he deadpanned as he closed his book. Turtle smirked and shrugged. "Do you know why he said that?"
Knowing something and wanting to tell someone that you knew were not exactly the same thing at the moment, but Turtle couldn't lie to Vince. "You guys have only been together, what, three months?" Vince nodded, knowing that they'd officially gotten together two weeks after the Oscars when Vince had kissed Eric impulsively after the party at Jake's new house in Malibu. "And before that, you know E was with Sloan. I mean, like after they broke off the engagement, they hooked up that one last time." Vince nodded again, remembering the drunken one-night stand that Eric had regretted immediately. It was like six weeks before they'd gotten together. "Well, I guess the condom broke near the end or something. I don't know what happened, I just know that Sloan showed up and told him that she was pregnant the same night that Eric broke up with you."
A stunned silence filled the room. "Sloan's pregnant?"
"She is," Turtle confirmed. "But the thing is, it's not Eric's kid. Sloan got scared, I guess. She lied to E and said it was his. When they went to get the ultrasound, she found out that she was only two months along. Eric knew that it couldn't be his kid because he hasn't been with anyone but you since."
"Oh, God," Vince exhaled heavily. Even if he was still aching over his own breakup, he knew what something like that would do to E. That was exactly what Eric had always wanted – a family. Knowing that, he couldn't believe that Sloan would lie to Eric. "How is he? Where is he?"
"He's not good, Vin," Turtle answered honestly. Vince was on his feet, throwing things into a backpack feverishly while he half-listened to Turtle outline the past two weeks without him. "Drama is with him, making sure that he eats and doesn't drink. E needs you, Vin, we can't make this better for him."
It took him twelve hours to get a flight booked and get back to California. Turtle was by his side, running interference between any fans or paparazzi that decided to take interest in Vince. He was silent the entire time, saving all his words for Eric. He just needed to get home to him.
Drama was on the couch when Vince came into the house, a Yankees game blaring while his brother dozed lightly. "Johnny, wake up," Vince hollered, shaking his brother desperately. "Where's E?"
"In your room," Johnny replied. He reached up and patted Vince's shoulder. "Glad you're home, Baby Bro. I think E needs you."
Eric was curled up in a ball on top of the comforter, a sterling silver frame clutched in his arms. Vince smiled affectionately at him before sitting down on the edge of the mattress. He reached out and ruffled Eric's hair with surprising tenderness, stirring him slightly. "Good morning."
"Vince," Eric sighed with relief. Tears were in his eyes instantly as Vince laid down next to him, staring intently at him. Vince wrapped his arms around him and drew him to his chest, cradling him like a mother would her child. "The baby's not mine. I'm sorry. I made a mistake. The baby, it's not mine."
"I know, E, I know," he soothed, kissing the top of his head as he rocked a sobbing Eric back and forth. "It's okay, you don't need to be sorry. I forgive you. I forgive you for everything, you just need to forgive yourself. It's not your fault. You were just doing what you thought was right. Everything is going to be okay now, I promise."
"Vin, the baby isn't mine."
"Someday it will be, E," Vince promised. "Someday it will be ours."
