p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"So it began. He was hoping to avoid doing anything that might hurt her feelings, but retreating into familiar patterns was a solid coping mechanism for him. She hadn't shown any sort of interest in even speaking to him, so he did what he did best: regress. Heidi definitely deserved better than being some back up for when the one he wanted wasn't available, but she gave him the attention he sought, so he went back to her./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""You said her name again…" Heidi had whispered in a hushed tone, not knowing if Eric's signature outburst of rage were still present in him after all these years. She was slightly relieved when her words were met with a soft sigh./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Standing up from the bed, the moonlight had shone through into her bedroom, and if it was any other moment, he might've actually been happy. But here he was, miserable and angry at himself and the world./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""You deserve better than this, Heidi. I'm sorry."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Bewilderment might have been the only word to describe what she was feeling right now. Did strongTHE /strongEric Cartman just apologize? She had heard that he was different than he was when they were kids, but he seemed so… evil, that it didn't even occur to her that it might have actually happened. Even though she was in awe and overwhelmed by confusion, she wasn't going to let this moment go to waste./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Before she could open her mouth to speak, Eric had sat down on the edge of the bed and rested his head in his hands. "Why can't things just be simple?" The question was more so posed to himself, and he had just so happened to say it aloud, but that didn't stop her from replying./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""When have our lives ever been simple, Eric? We just got older, and things became more real." She knew that nothing would come of this fling of theirs, she was too smart for that, but she was still going to enjoy whatever time she had with a new and totally different Eric Cartman./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""So come back to me, and we can forget all about life, at least for a moment."/p
hr style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"It had been a few weeks since she had seen them together out in the school's parking lot, and although she tried her best not to think about it, it was the only thing she could seem to ever think about. Sure, they had barely spoken but a few words to each other in passing through school, but she hoped that they could skip all the painful parts of their reunion and just get to the point they needed to talk about./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"And despite everything she was hoping for, Eric and Heidi seemed to have been going relatively steady these past few weeks, despite protestations from Heidi that it was anything more than just a fling. Wendy was too smart for that; she could see it in their eyes that it was more than that, and that look was killing her. They seemed… happy./p
hr style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Eric was listening to music while he was working out in the backyard of Kyle's house. He had found himself here more and more these past few weeks, feeling as if the redheaded boy he tormented for so long, was the only person he could truly open up to about his feelings./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"It was a mild 64 degrees outside, and the slight breeze in the air really helped open up Eric's lungs as he lowered himself down into his fifty third push-up. With a body drenched in sweat, he could definitely feel the aching in his muscles that he was oh so familiar with ever since he whipped himself into shape./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"That drive to never be made fun of again for his weight, to never be mocked and singled out, pushed him farther than even he had expected, but in the end, it had worked out for him exceptionally well; he was now fit and had a muscular tone to his body that was befitting of his position as a linebacker./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Without a second thought, he just let himself collapse onto the cool grass, and took in a deep breath. He had so many things that he wanted to forget about, but try as he might, he just couldn't bring himself to forget about her. The thoughts of their passion filled night flooded his mind whenever he tried his best to move on from what he tried to justify as a childish crush on a person that didn't give a shit about him, but then he remembered the pain in her eyes when he drunkenly made out with Bebe./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"A look that caused him more pain than anything else he had ever experienced./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"emWhat the hell am I going to do? /em/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"But before he could get too wrapped up into his own thoughts, he felt a finger tap on his shoulder./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""What the hell is it, moron? Can't you see I'm trying to—" He immediately stopped speaking when he stood up and saw who had just arrived at Kyle's house./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"emOh no. No no no no no. /em/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Hello, Eric. We have some things we need to talk about."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"This day was gonna come sooner or later, and no amount of stalling on either of their ends was going to stop this chance encounter from happening. And no, here they were, finally face to face after avoiding each other for so long./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""What's there to talk about, Wendy?" Eric scoffed at the thought that there was anything meaningful that would come of this conversation./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Wendy sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to find a way to word the thoughts she had been faced with recently. "Us. The night of the party last year."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"As the images of that night they spent together whirled through his mind, he held the smallest of smiles on his lips at how simpler things seemed back then, but then his mouth fell back into a flat line. "Again, what is there to talk about? You knew how I felt, and yet, it didn't seem to matter much to you. You knew that I lo—" he had to stop himself before you said anything stupid "But now that I'm with Heidi again, you want me to come crawling back?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"She had caught what he was about to say before he cut himself off, but maybe it wasn't the best idea to bring it up when she was here to try and get through to him./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Eric. Yes, we were both drunk that night, but if it was anything to you like it was for me, it was the best night of my life! And ever since, you've been the only thing I could think about!" Her voice had raised, but not in a tone that could be considered yelling, which was what she was known for. Instead, she seemed desperate. Exasperated. "I just wanted to talk because there's something between us, and I don't think either one of us will be able to be happy until it's finally resolved."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Eric was a smart man. Sure, he could be crude and downright evil at times, but he was supremely intelligent. However, He was beginning to get angry. He had waited for so long for her to notice him. All he ever wanted was to be the one she chose, yet time and again, it was Stan that she chose. Always Stan. And for that, Eric was always jealous of the raven haired captain of the football team./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Ever since we were kids, I have had this… crush on you. You were unlike anyone I had ever known, yet, you never chose me. To you, all I ever would be was the fat ass who was too crass for his own good. I changed for you, Wendy. I changed so that I could become the man you would finally choose. And what happens when I come back? You don't speak a fucking word!"/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"She physically recoiled at the anger that laced his words, but she couldn't argue against him. She always saw him as nothing more than a rival, even back when they were kids and they had to work together. She always overlooked him. Wendy was a stupid kid just like everyone else was at the time, but she was different now too. Eric wasn't the only one that grew up./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Communication goes both ways, you know. I don't remember seeing you ever come up to talk to me either." With both fists clenched, her knuckles turned white while she spoke. And almost as if done without her knowledge, she stepped closer to him. Sure, their conversation had gotten heated, but she still felt drawn to him and needed to be closer./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Taking this as his cue to leave, Kyle wordlessly ran back into his house to let Eric and Wendy hash out their issues./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Eric too stepped closer until there was barely an inch or two of space between them./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""I can't believe I ever loved you."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Yet here we are, Eric."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Before anything else could have been said, Eric grabbed Wendy by the waist and pulled her body against his. He took a moment to stare into her eyes before he crashed his lips against hers./p
hr style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"This was certainly not how he was expecting his day to end, but complaining about it was going to be the last thing that he would do. He was laying in bed, Wendy cuddled up against him, and he couldn't have been happier. But that happiness came with the caveat that he was overcome with a strong sense of guilt over what he had just done. Sure, he and Heidi weren't going steady as an actual couple, but even though for them it was only for sex, it still tore him up./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"And as if the universe was listening to his inner turmoil, Eric heard a knock at the door. He had pushed himself up off the bed and covered Wendy up in case it was his mother that was at the door. But when he had finally pulled the door open, he wished it was only his mother that had answered./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Heidi. What're you doing here?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""You said her name again…" Heidi had whispered in a hushed tone, not knowing if Eric's signature outburst of rage were still present in him after all these years. She was slightly relieved when her words were met with a soft sigh./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Standing up from the bed, the moonlight had shone through into her bedroom, and if it was any other moment, he might've actually been happy. But here he was, miserable and angry at himself and the world./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""You deserve better than this, Heidi. I'm sorry."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Bewilderment might have been the only word to describe what she was feeling right now. Did strongTHE /strongEric Cartman just apologize? She had heard that he was different than he was when they were kids, but he seemed so… evil, that it didn't even occur to her that it might have actually happened. Even though she was in awe and overwhelmed by confusion, she wasn't going to let this moment go to waste./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Before she could open her mouth to speak, Eric had sat down on the edge of the bed and rested his head in his hands. "Why can't things just be simple?" The question was more so posed to himself, and he had just so happened to say it aloud, but that didn't stop her from replying./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""When have our lives ever been simple, Eric? We just got older, and things became more real." She knew that nothing would come of this fling of theirs, she was too smart for that, but she was still going to enjoy whatever time she had with a new and totally different Eric Cartman./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""So come back to me, and we can forget all about life, at least for a moment."/p
hr style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"It had been a few weeks since she had seen them together out in the school's parking lot, and although she tried her best not to think about it, it was the only thing she could seem to ever think about. Sure, they had barely spoken but a few words to each other in passing through school, but she hoped that they could skip all the painful parts of their reunion and just get to the point they needed to talk about./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"And despite everything she was hoping for, Eric and Heidi seemed to have been going relatively steady these past few weeks, despite protestations from Heidi that it was anything more than just a fling. Wendy was too smart for that; she could see it in their eyes that it was more than that, and that look was killing her. They seemed… happy./p
hr style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Eric was listening to music while he was working out in the backyard of Kyle's house. He had found himself here more and more these past few weeks, feeling as if the redheaded boy he tormented for so long, was the only person he could truly open up to about his feelings./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"It was a mild 64 degrees outside, and the slight breeze in the air really helped open up Eric's lungs as he lowered himself down into his fifty third push-up. With a body drenched in sweat, he could definitely feel the aching in his muscles that he was oh so familiar with ever since he whipped himself into shape./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"That drive to never be made fun of again for his weight, to never be mocked and singled out, pushed him farther than even he had expected, but in the end, it had worked out for him exceptionally well; he was now fit and had a muscular tone to his body that was befitting of his position as a linebacker./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Without a second thought, he just let himself collapse onto the cool grass, and took in a deep breath. He had so many things that he wanted to forget about, but try as he might, he just couldn't bring himself to forget about her. The thoughts of their passion filled night flooded his mind whenever he tried his best to move on from what he tried to justify as a childish crush on a person that didn't give a shit about him, but then he remembered the pain in her eyes when he drunkenly made out with Bebe./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"A look that caused him more pain than anything else he had ever experienced./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"emWhat the hell am I going to do? /em/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"But before he could get too wrapped up into his own thoughts, he felt a finger tap on his shoulder./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""What the hell is it, moron? Can't you see I'm trying to—" He immediately stopped speaking when he stood up and saw who had just arrived at Kyle's house./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"emOh no. No no no no no. /em/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Hello, Eric. We have some things we need to talk about."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"This day was gonna come sooner or later, and no amount of stalling on either of their ends was going to stop this chance encounter from happening. And no, here they were, finally face to face after avoiding each other for so long./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""What's there to talk about, Wendy?" Eric scoffed at the thought that there was anything meaningful that would come of this conversation./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Wendy sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to find a way to word the thoughts she had been faced with recently. "Us. The night of the party last year."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"As the images of that night they spent together whirled through his mind, he held the smallest of smiles on his lips at how simpler things seemed back then, but then his mouth fell back into a flat line. "Again, what is there to talk about? You knew how I felt, and yet, it didn't seem to matter much to you. You knew that I lo—" he had to stop himself before you said anything stupid "But now that I'm with Heidi again, you want me to come crawling back?"/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"She had caught what he was about to say before he cut himself off, but maybe it wasn't the best idea to bring it up when she was here to try and get through to him./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Eric. Yes, we were both drunk that night, but if it was anything to you like it was for me, it was the best night of my life! And ever since, you've been the only thing I could think about!" Her voice had raised, but not in a tone that could be considered yelling, which was what she was known for. Instead, she seemed desperate. Exasperated. "I just wanted to talk because there's something between us, and I don't think either one of us will be able to be happy until it's finally resolved."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Eric was a smart man. Sure, he could be crude and downright evil at times, but he was supremely intelligent. However, He was beginning to get angry. He had waited for so long for her to notice him. All he ever wanted was to be the one she chose, yet time and again, it was Stan that she chose. Always Stan. And for that, Eric was always jealous of the raven haired captain of the football team./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Ever since we were kids, I have had this… crush on you. You were unlike anyone I had ever known, yet, you never chose me. To you, all I ever would be was the fat ass who was too crass for his own good. I changed for you, Wendy. I changed so that I could become the man you would finally choose. And what happens when I come back? You don't speak a fucking word!"/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"She physically recoiled at the anger that laced his words, but she couldn't argue against him. She always saw him as nothing more than a rival, even back when they were kids and they had to work together. She always overlooked him. Wendy was a stupid kid just like everyone else was at the time, but she was different now too. Eric wasn't the only one that grew up./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Communication goes both ways, you know. I don't remember seeing you ever come up to talk to me either." With both fists clenched, her knuckles turned white while she spoke. And almost as if done without her knowledge, she stepped closer to him. Sure, their conversation had gotten heated, but she still felt drawn to him and needed to be closer./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Taking this as his cue to leave, Kyle wordlessly ran back into his house to let Eric and Wendy hash out their issues./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Eric too stepped closer until there was barely an inch or two of space between them./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""I can't believe I ever loved you."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Yet here we are, Eric."/p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"Before anything else could have been said, Eric grabbed Wendy by the waist and pulled her body against his. He took a moment to stare into her eyes before he crashed his lips against hers./p
hr style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"This was certainly not how he was expecting his day to end, but complaining about it was going to be the last thing that he would do. He was laying in bed, Wendy cuddled up against him, and he couldn't have been happier. But that happiness came with the caveat that he was overcome with a strong sense of guilt over what he had just done. Sure, he and Heidi weren't going steady as an actual couple, but even though for them it was only for sex, it still tore him up./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"And as if the universe was listening to his inner turmoil, Eric heard a knock at the door. He had pushed himself up off the bed and covered Wendy up in case it was his mother that was at the door. But when he had finally pulled the door open, he wished it was only his mother that had answered./p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /p
p style="font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;""Heidi. What're you doing here?"/p