Co-Dependent Vince/Eric Fic 5/?
Rating: Swearing and mention of homosexual content
Pairing: Eric/Vince
Summery: E is not doing well and Vince is the reason why.
Author Notes: I am posting at last, thank you for your patience.
E wakes up in the dark, which isn’t that unusual, lately he’s been sleeping less and getting up earlier. Mostly, in those pre-dawn hours, he swims, holding his breath until his lungs feel tense and hot and his head whirls, and stroking until his right arm trembles so much that he can’t hold his fingers together to cup the water, until it doesn’t even hurt, he doesn’t even hurt, because he’s so tired and numb.
At this point, E flips up onto his back and floats, his exhaustion compounded by lack of sleep and exercise generally lulls his body into a trance that is more relaxing then the couple hours of sleep he averages a night. It’s there in the water, numb and clean, skin scorched by chlorine, that he finds the peace that has eluded him for the last six weeks. It’s as good as being on the drugs, even though the twitching of his arm makes splashing noises like a beached fish and eventually the ache of his knee, shoulder, and elbow reassert themselves and then he has to paddle his way to an edge, because for those few minutes of floating, it’s finally quiet.
So today, when E wakes up he isn’t surprised to be in the dark, but he is surprised to be in a bed, moreover, a bed that is not his. Being in a bed isn’t something E enjoys anymore, after all too much of anything tends to spoil that thing, so E yanks himself up ignoring the protests of ribs which are still a little tender because he doesn’t really want to wait until the thrumming of his heart morphs in the that tight feeling in his lungs and then suddenly he’s that bitch having the fucking panic attack.
Desperately E flops towards the edge of the bed but he hits something hard with his knees and somehow the covers have snaked around him and hecan’tgetouttrappedpain , is too farmilar and the tight feeling is creeping over his chest and fuck, but why was he in a fucking bed again?
“E?” comes Vince’s confused voice, “E? What the fuck are you doing? Where you going? E?”
Oh right. E remember now, half truths and lies to Vince, for Vince, and bed and Vince promising him not to leave him alone and now he knows that he jarred his knee on Vince’s foot and that he isn’t back in that hospital bed with fresh injuries and he can get up, it’s a lot fucking easier to stave off the terror.
“I’m good, man,” E offers once he is pretty sure his voice won’t shake too much, and it did but enough that Vince can ignore, and he does, thank God and he also ignores the way the E hurries out from under the covers and swings his legs down to the floor, sitting up on the bed.
“Well then, I don’t know about you but I’m fucking starving, let’s go see if Johnny’s still here.” Vince suggests his tone light and casual, and knowing Vince he probably does feel that cool, because nothing really phases the cocksucker, that’s what he pays E for.
Speaking of his job, “Johnny’s still here? Where else would he be, what time is it?” and that last is offered a little more loudly because he knows that Vince’s room has some pretty expensive and fucking effective blinds to prevent Vince and whatever piece of tail he has, from being roused too early after a night of partying.
Vince pauses and his tone is reluctant when he answers “A little after two, but E-”
E just cuts him off, “A little after two!? What the fuck, bitch? Why didn’t you bother to fucking wake me up-”
And he would have continued but Vince just placed a on his chest and said, “Be cool, E, it’s alright, I hacked you blackberry and rescheduled stuff for you, seriously dude, do you think you have one of those time things like that girl in Harry Potter? Cause no man can do that much shit in a day, E, fucking nobody.”
E wants to be angry cause working does help, but honestly now no one can be pissed at him because Vincent fucking Chase spoke to them and so E gets a “Get Out of Jail Free Card” and best nights sleep he’s had in months because the dreams weren’t too bad and honestly, he’s too grateful to be angry so instead he says.
“Hermione”
And Vince just grins at him, big and goofy and E loves that face because it’s one of Vince’s real smile, not one of movie star smiles, but he hates it little too, he is such a fucking pansy for that smile and his life would be a lot easier if he could say no to Vince, hell if he wanted to say no to Vince, and that smile is one of the reasons he doesn’t. Turtle is right, he is a total chick, fuck.
********************************
Vince is relaxed and almost happy, as he follows E downstairs, breakfast sounds and smells fucking delicious and he and E are working on this shit, whatever it really was that got his boy into the fucking hospital and he needs to have a fucking talk with his doctors cause he can tell now, E is limping and he thinks, maybe E tried to hide it and that bothers him because not limping when you have to is really fucking painful and why the fuck would it matter so much to E that Vince not know?
E seems relieved to slide onto a bar stool, and reaches across his body for a the glass of orange juice Johnny fires at him and Vince tries to ignore the shocked relief in Drama’s eyes when E drinks it without hesitation and instead focuses on the slight awkwardness of the movement and something about that is really bothering him and suddenly he wishes his room hadn’t been that dark, with shutters reflecting the moon’s and later the sun’s rays away, because he would like a good hard look at exactly what happened to his best friends body.
“Oh yeah, and some motherfucker came by earlier said you knew him and he’d like to see you but I sent that crazy shit away, fucking fans can’t live with them, can’t live without them, eh?” Johnny chatters happily to E and Vince likes the atmosphere so he responds.
“Really, a dude? Who was the guy?”
“No fucking idea, man, some short little crazy and totally gay for you.” Johnny replies blithely and seems to miss the sudden tightening around E’s eyes as he interjects.
“Oh yeah, did he…did he have red hair, kinda lean muscles?” His voice sounds normal but it’s a little too normal, too casual and Vince’s eyes flick up to meet Johnny’s who eyes are equally worried because E isn’t the actor and he can lie to everyone outside this house but not really to anyone it.
“Yeah, man, why do you know him? Was he one of the guys who…who…” Drama trials off with a pained wince at the way E’s face goes totally blanks, just because E can’t lie doesn’t mean he can’t totally shut down communications and Vince feels an odd irrational anger towards Johnny for his bluntness.
E shakes his head, “Nah, man, not at all just, umm…if he calls or comes by again give him my number, okay? Cause, you know, gotta figure out how he managed to get past the fucking gate, right?”
Johnny nods and Vince takes a second to try and figure it out, short, red-haired, lean and male, he paged back through his brain trying to remember if he knew the guy or if it was just E, and it was frustrating cause most of the time in cases like this he would just ask E but, well, that didn’t seem like it was an option.
Johnny’s question breaks his train of thought because there is something familiar about that description but he doesn’t know what and before the metaphorical caboose comes along Johnny asks, “Why? Who is he, dude?”
E’s voice is a little hollow when he replies, “No one, bro, he’s no one.”
And something about the change in the timber of E’s voice that jogs Vince’s memory, because it had been the sound of Bob’s voice that had irked him, after all Bob was so much like E except the little extra tension whining through his vowels and constants so unlike the stress or emotion that thrummed in E’s words most of the time. So, yeah, Vince knew exactly who the mysterious visitor was. In fact, he knew him a little too well for his career’s wellbeing; he knew what he smelled like; the he preferred swim trucks to Speedos and what he looked like naked.
Vince knew he was a little drunker then he usually got at parties like these, but E wasn’t here to lecture him. Of course, E not being here to lecture him was the reason he had taken that extra shot---those extra shots really-- because Vince had asked E to come out to LA in words three times since he left and he asked in every other way every time he called E at ridiculous hours, and E never complained about the fact that Vince didn’t adjust for time zones even though his voice always sounded low and exhausted into the receiver Vince would cradle to his ear with his shoulder and Vince wanted him out so badly because it wasn’t success without E and he could hear in E voice in the cadence of his words that he was slowly being crushed in Queens and damn it Vince wasn’t the only person who was better than Queens and fuck but E deserved it all too and Vince wanted to give it to him, wasn’t even sure it was worth it without him.
He was actually getting scared that E wasn’t coming that E was gonna leave Vince here alone and he knew that no matter what E would still be his best friend because they were still best friends now with a country between and living different days waking up and sleeping and eating out of sync but that wasn’t the point, he wanted E to come to California, to come and be with him in California because Queens stifled E as much as it had crushed Vince but E had been better at hiding it, better a tolerating it, and a little more willing believe that he wasn’t going as far as Vince. Vince had decided though, that E was going as far as he was, they were gonna climb to the top together and enjoy the view, he knew it, but he wasn’t sure how to make it happen, because that wasn’t his job, E made things happen, Vince drank and acted and calmed him down.
And apparently stared because some assistant to some studio executive sidled up to him and whispered, “His name is Robert Paulson.” Vince just stared at the man blearily, “He’s one of us, don’t worry and discreet, you could do worse.” Assistant man then winked and moved away in towards the bar.
Vince blinked then directed his attention back to the short man at the bar, who looked so much like E that it hurt his chest a little and he smiled in that same shy, confused way when someone laughed at his jokes, and yeah E was a lot more self confident now compared to how he was when he was young but it was hard to feel like a star when you knew your best friend was gonna be one and no one else understood. Vince loved E for that knowledge.
That understanding was why he had pushed E until he said he’d come out eventually but apparently it wasn’t eventually yet and Vince worried that pizza had somehow finally taught E how to say no to him.
This fear pushed him forward though the crowd and next to Robert, or as he learn Bob. Bob, it seemed, was hiding from to blonde male models in Speedos because he found that much information off-putting. The dry humor was all E too, just like the smile and the looks and the smarts so Vince stayed and talked and didn’t really hesitate when Bob led him outside or when he kissed him by the fountain or when he took Vince to his flat.
Pairing: Eric/Vince
Summery: E is not doing well and Vince is the reason why.
Author Notes: I am posting at last, thank you for your patience.
E wakes up in the dark, which isn’t that unusual, lately he’s been sleeping less and getting up earlier. Mostly, in those pre-dawn hours, he swims, holding his breath until his lungs feel tense and hot and his head whirls, and stroking until his right arm trembles so much that he can’t hold his fingers together to cup the water, until it doesn’t even hurt, he doesn’t even hurt, because he’s so tired and numb.
At this point, E flips up onto his back and floats, his exhaustion compounded by lack of sleep and exercise generally lulls his body into a trance that is more relaxing then the couple hours of sleep he averages a night. It’s there in the water, numb and clean, skin scorched by chlorine, that he finds the peace that has eluded him for the last six weeks. It’s as good as being on the drugs, even though the twitching of his arm makes splashing noises like a beached fish and eventually the ache of his knee, shoulder, and elbow reassert themselves and then he has to paddle his way to an edge, because for those few minutes of floating, it’s finally quiet.
So today, when E wakes up he isn’t surprised to be in the dark, but he is surprised to be in a bed, moreover, a bed that is not his. Being in a bed isn’t something E enjoys anymore, after all too much of anything tends to spoil that thing, so E yanks himself up ignoring the protests of ribs which are still a little tender because he doesn’t really want to wait until the thrumming of his heart morphs in the that tight feeling in his lungs and then suddenly he’s that bitch having the fucking panic attack.
Desperately E flops towards the edge of the bed but he hits something hard with his knees and somehow the covers have snaked around him and hecan’tgetouttrappedpain , is too farmilar and the tight feeling is creeping over his chest and fuck, but why was he in a fucking bed again?
“E?” comes Vince’s confused voice, “E? What the fuck are you doing? Where you going? E?”
Oh right. E remember now, half truths and lies to Vince, for Vince, and bed and Vince promising him not to leave him alone and now he knows that he jarred his knee on Vince’s foot and that he isn’t back in that hospital bed with fresh injuries and he can get up, it’s a lot fucking easier to stave off the terror.
“I’m good, man,” E offers once he is pretty sure his voice won’t shake too much, and it did but enough that Vince can ignore, and he does, thank God and he also ignores the way the E hurries out from under the covers and swings his legs down to the floor, sitting up on the bed.
“Well then, I don’t know about you but I’m fucking starving, let’s go see if Johnny’s still here.” Vince suggests his tone light and casual, and knowing Vince he probably does feel that cool, because nothing really phases the cocksucker, that’s what he pays E for.
Speaking of his job, “Johnny’s still here? Where else would he be, what time is it?” and that last is offered a little more loudly because he knows that Vince’s room has some pretty expensive and fucking effective blinds to prevent Vince and whatever piece of tail he has, from being roused too early after a night of partying.
Vince pauses and his tone is reluctant when he answers “A little after two, but E-”
E just cuts him off, “A little after two!? What the fuck, bitch? Why didn’t you bother to fucking wake me up-”
And he would have continued but Vince just placed a on his chest and said, “Be cool, E, it’s alright, I hacked you blackberry and rescheduled stuff for you, seriously dude, do you think you have one of those time things like that girl in Harry Potter? Cause no man can do that much shit in a day, E, fucking nobody.”
E wants to be angry cause working does help, but honestly now no one can be pissed at him because Vincent fucking Chase spoke to them and so E gets a “Get Out of Jail Free Card” and best nights sleep he’s had in months because the dreams weren’t too bad and honestly, he’s too grateful to be angry so instead he says.
“Hermione”
And Vince just grins at him, big and goofy and E loves that face because it’s one of Vince’s real smile, not one of movie star smiles, but he hates it little too, he is such a fucking pansy for that smile and his life would be a lot easier if he could say no to Vince, hell if he wanted to say no to Vince, and that smile is one of the reasons he doesn’t. Turtle is right, he is a total chick, fuck.
********************************
Vince is relaxed and almost happy, as he follows E downstairs, breakfast sounds and smells fucking delicious and he and E are working on this shit, whatever it really was that got his boy into the fucking hospital and he needs to have a fucking talk with his doctors cause he can tell now, E is limping and he thinks, maybe E tried to hide it and that bothers him because not limping when you have to is really fucking painful and why the fuck would it matter so much to E that Vince not know?
E seems relieved to slide onto a bar stool, and reaches across his body for a the glass of orange juice Johnny fires at him and Vince tries to ignore the shocked relief in Drama’s eyes when E drinks it without hesitation and instead focuses on the slight awkwardness of the movement and something about that is really bothering him and suddenly he wishes his room hadn’t been that dark, with shutters reflecting the moon’s and later the sun’s rays away, because he would like a good hard look at exactly what happened to his best friends body.
“Oh yeah, and some motherfucker came by earlier said you knew him and he’d like to see you but I sent that crazy shit away, fucking fans can’t live with them, can’t live without them, eh?” Johnny chatters happily to E and Vince likes the atmosphere so he responds.
“Really, a dude? Who was the guy?”
“No fucking idea, man, some short little crazy and totally gay for you.” Johnny replies blithely and seems to miss the sudden tightening around E’s eyes as he interjects.
“Oh yeah, did he…did he have red hair, kinda lean muscles?” His voice sounds normal but it’s a little too normal, too casual and Vince’s eyes flick up to meet Johnny’s who eyes are equally worried because E isn’t the actor and he can lie to everyone outside this house but not really to anyone it.
“Yeah, man, why do you know him? Was he one of the guys who…who…” Drama trials off with a pained wince at the way E’s face goes totally blanks, just because E can’t lie doesn’t mean he can’t totally shut down communications and Vince feels an odd irrational anger towards Johnny for his bluntness.
E shakes his head, “Nah, man, not at all just, umm…if he calls or comes by again give him my number, okay? Cause, you know, gotta figure out how he managed to get past the fucking gate, right?”
Johnny nods and Vince takes a second to try and figure it out, short, red-haired, lean and male, he paged back through his brain trying to remember if he knew the guy or if it was just E, and it was frustrating cause most of the time in cases like this he would just ask E but, well, that didn’t seem like it was an option.
Johnny’s question breaks his train of thought because there is something familiar about that description but he doesn’t know what and before the metaphorical caboose comes along Johnny asks, “Why? Who is he, dude?”
E’s voice is a little hollow when he replies, “No one, bro, he’s no one.”
And something about the change in the timber of E’s voice that jogs Vince’s memory, because it had been the sound of Bob’s voice that had irked him, after all Bob was so much like E except the little extra tension whining through his vowels and constants so unlike the stress or emotion that thrummed in E’s words most of the time. So, yeah, Vince knew exactly who the mysterious visitor was. In fact, he knew him a little too well for his career’s wellbeing; he knew what he smelled like; the he preferred swim trucks to Speedos and what he looked like naked.
Vince knew he was a little drunker then he usually got at parties like these, but E wasn’t here to lecture him. Of course, E not being here to lecture him was the reason he had taken that extra shot---those extra shots really-- because Vince had asked E to come out to LA in words three times since he left and he asked in every other way every time he called E at ridiculous hours, and E never complained about the fact that Vince didn’t adjust for time zones even though his voice always sounded low and exhausted into the receiver Vince would cradle to his ear with his shoulder and Vince wanted him out so badly because it wasn’t success without E and he could hear in E voice in the cadence of his words that he was slowly being crushed in Queens and damn it Vince wasn’t the only person who was better than Queens and fuck but E deserved it all too and Vince wanted to give it to him, wasn’t even sure it was worth it without him.
He was actually getting scared that E wasn’t coming that E was gonna leave Vince here alone and he knew that no matter what E would still be his best friend because they were still best friends now with a country between and living different days waking up and sleeping and eating out of sync but that wasn’t the point, he wanted E to come to California, to come and be with him in California because Queens stifled E as much as it had crushed Vince but E had been better at hiding it, better a tolerating it, and a little more willing believe that he wasn’t going as far as Vince. Vince had decided though, that E was going as far as he was, they were gonna climb to the top together and enjoy the view, he knew it, but he wasn’t sure how to make it happen, because that wasn’t his job, E made things happen, Vince drank and acted and calmed him down.
And apparently stared because some assistant to some studio executive sidled up to him and whispered, “His name is Robert Paulson.” Vince just stared at the man blearily, “He’s one of us, don’t worry and discreet, you could do worse.” Assistant man then winked and moved away in towards the bar.
Vince blinked then directed his attention back to the short man at the bar, who looked so much like E that it hurt his chest a little and he smiled in that same shy, confused way when someone laughed at his jokes, and yeah E was a lot more self confident now compared to how he was when he was young but it was hard to feel like a star when you knew your best friend was gonna be one and no one else understood. Vince loved E for that knowledge.
That understanding was why he had pushed E until he said he’d come out eventually but apparently it wasn’t eventually yet and Vince worried that pizza had somehow finally taught E how to say no to him.
This fear pushed him forward though the crowd and next to Robert, or as he learn Bob. Bob, it seemed, was hiding from to blonde male models in Speedos because he found that much information off-putting. The dry humor was all E too, just like the smile and the looks and the smarts so Vince stayed and talked and didn’t really hesitate when Bob led him outside or when he kissed him by the fountain or when he took Vince to his flat.