And All Things Will End

"What did you do?" Ericka asked as she walked into the kitchen and saw Leana putting an ice pack on Brian's hand.

"Nothing. Just delivered a clear message." Brian winced as Leana wrapped a towel around his hand.

"Brian..."

"Ericka, he had it fucking coming. He's lucky all he got was my fist." Brian cut in before she could speak.

"But you shouldn't have. This is my battle." Ericka said, taking a seat at the bar beside him.

Brian looked at Leana. Sensing he wanted her to leave the room, she nodded and went out to the living room.

Turning to face Ericka, Brian lightly stroked her bruised cheek. "He needs to realize he can't do things like this Ericka. I had to do something. I watched my mom's ex-husband beat the shit out of her more than once and couldn't do anything. He nearly ruined her. I won't let that happen to you."

"This is different Brian. He's your best friend, and let's not forget the band. You shouldn't have taken the risk. What if you two had hurt each other? What if you'd broken your hand or hurt him so bad he could no longer sing? What then?" Ericka asked.

"Doesn't matter. All that matters is your safety." he answered.

"Why do you care so much huh?"

"Because..."

"Hey you two! What's going on in here?" Jimmy's loud voice filled the air, cutting Brian off.

"I was just telling Brian that he shouldn't have risked injury to protect my honor." Ericka answered, looking at the guitarist.

"Well according to Zack, you gave him a real pretty face." Jimmy snickered.

"Yeah. Got the fucked up knuckles to prove it too." Brian laughed as he unwrapped his hand for Jimmy to inspect it.

"God Brian! As I already said, you're lucky you didn't break it!" Ericka exclaimed. "And you didn't answer my question!"

"What question?" Jimmy asked, leaning across the counter.

"I asked Brian why he cares so much."

"And I'll answer it after I take a piss." Brian said, getting up from his seat and heading out of the kitchen.

"Ha, he's not gonna answer in front of me." Jimmy smiled, rubbing his chin.

"Why not?"

"Because I know what he's going to say and he'll be paying me $500 if he does." he chuckled as he skipped out of the room and up the stairs.

"Jimmy! You have to tell me!" Ericka called after him, only to be ignored.

Too sore to chase after the drummer, Ericka grabbed a glass of juice and sat down at the table, wondering just what it was Jimmy and Brian had bet on. After a couple of minutes, Leana came back into the kitchen shaking her head.

"What?"

"Brian said he'll check on you later. Supposedly he had forgotten he has an appointment." she said as they heard Brian's car tear out of the driveway.

"Yeah ok. I'm sure that's exactly why he left." Ericka said, rolling her eyes as she placed her glass in the dishwasher.

"Yeah." Leana chuckled.

"You know something don't you?"

"Not really. Why are you so upset that he left anyway?" Leana asked.

"Because he didn't answer my question."

"What question?" she asked.

"I asked him why he cares so much. Jimmy came in before he answered me and he decides he has to pee. Jimmy said he wouldn't answer in front of him because of some bet. Now he took off." Ericka blurted out while throwing her hands in the air.

"He likes you." Leana said without hesitation.

"What do you mean he likes me?"

"He has a crush on you Ericka. He has from day one." Leana whispered.

"Oh bullshit!" Ericka laughed. "He's like a brother to me!"

"I'm serious. If he tells you then he has to pay Jimmy $500. They made that bet a long time ago when the two of them were completely wasted." Leana continued.

"That's crazy. I'm with, was with Matt. Why would he even?" Ericka asked, shaking her head.

"You need to ask him that." Jimmy said from the doorway.

"Eavesdropping again James?" Leana giggled.

"Ericka, you'll have to get the whole story from Brian. All I can tell you is that he feels responsible for what Matt did to you." Jimmy answered.

"But he isn't. What Matt did was all him. He made the decision to hit me. Brian had nothing in it." Ericka sighed.

"He doesn't see it that way chipmunk." Jimmy said, laying his arm across Ericka's shoulders. "He went home. How about I take you over there and you can talk to him?"

Ericka looked at Jimmy, still confused about what had been said. After pondering it all for a couple of minutes, she went upstairs, took a shower, and got dressed before going back downstairs and agreeing to let Jimmy take her to Brian's house.

Once they arrived at Brian's, Jimmy waited in the car while Ericka made her way up the sidewalk and rang the bell. She stood there nervously waiting as the door opened.

"You ran off and didn't answer my question." she snapped, foot tapping the concrete as Brian shook his head and showed her in.

"You coming in asshole?!" Brian yelled to Jimmy, only to receive a middle finger before the drummer drove away.

"Why did you leave like that?" Ericka asked as the two of them went into the living room.

"Well get to the point already." Brian chuckled as he sat in the chair opposite of Ericka.

"You know me, I don't mince words." she replied. "Now tell me."

"I didn't know what to say." Brian answered, looking at the floor.

"It was a simple question Brian."

"But the answer isn't." he sighed.

"Try me."

"I care about you. More than I probably should." he sighed again, hoping that would be enough to satisfy her.

"More than you probably should? What the fuck is that supposed to mean? How about you tell me the rest?"

"The rest?" he asked in an attempt to act as though that was all it was.

"Don't play games with me Brian. How about for once, you just spill it and stop the stalling." Ericka spat, clearly aggravated.

"I don't know where to start." he said, standing, then pacing the room.

"How about starting with this bet business between you and Jimmy."

Brian stopped and looked at Ericka, clearly dumbfounded.

"He told you?" he asked, eyes wide.

"Yeah. He said something about you liking me and you paying him $500. I'd really like an explanation." Ericka pressed.

Running his hand down his face, Brian returned to his the chair he had abandoned. Leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, he studied her battered face and frowned.

"This is all my fault." he finally said after a few moments of silence.

"No it isn't. Matt did this." Ericka said, shaking her head.

"But it is. If things had been different when we all met..." Brian trailed off as his phone started to ring. Looking at the screen he shook his head. "It's Matt."

"Answer it." Ericka said, getting up. "I'll just go get something to drink."

Brian watched as Ericka walked into the kitchen before hitting the ignore button on his phone, then turned it off. When Ericka came back, she was carrying two bottles of beer, handing one to Brian before sitting back down.

"What he want?" she asked, sipping her beer.

"Don't know. Didn't answer." Brian shrugged before taking a long drink of his liquid courage.

"Why not?"

"Because I've had enough of him for one day, plus I have company."

"Whatever." Ericka rolled her eyes. "So where were we?"

"I was about to make an ass of myself."

"For fuck's sake Brian! It's me! You can tell me anything!" Ericka exclaimed.

"Ok fine." he took a deep breath. "So when we all met you, Matt was newly single. If I had known then what was going to happen, I'd never pushed him to talk to you. The truth is Ericka, the minute I laid eyes on you I knew you had to be in my life. Even if that mean you were with my best friend." he babbled, barely taking a breath before starting again.

"Being with Michelle, I knew I couldn't have you. I thought I loved her, but meeting you caused me to second guess everything over time. By the time I realized what I wanted, it was too late. Matt had won your heart, so I learned to just accept it and be thankful you were in my life, even though it is just as my friend. That's one reason Michelle and I split up. She knew something was off with me. One night, we go into this hellacious fight and she straight up asked me what was going on. I told her how I felt. That's when she confessed that she'd been cheating on me for a long time. That was the end of it. She packed up her shit and left that night." he continued.

Ericka remained quiet, waiting for Brian to go on. Draining his beer, he sat the bottle down on the end table and continued, not entirely sure what to make of her silence.

"So the bet. One night me and Jimmy were fucking around in his studio, drunk off our asses. I told him my dilemma. I mean fuck, Matt is my best friend and you're his girl. I couldn't do that! So Jimmy looks at me and bets me $500 that I'll eventually give in and tell you how I feel. Thinking I'd never get the opportunity, I accepted the wager. Now though, it looks like I'm going to have to pay up." he said, sitting back in the chair and folding his arms over his chest.

"So let me get this straight. You're sitting here telling me that you have had a thing for me from the beginning, but because you were with Michelle at the time, you set me up with Matt? Now you regret it and wish you'd told me to begin with?" Brian nodded. "Well, you know that's pretty fucking selfish in my opinion. You couldn't have me for whatever reason, but you found a way to keep me around? Sounds like you had me the whole time. What I don't get is why would you even bother with telling me now?" Ericka exclaimed, standing and heading for the door, only to feel an arm wrap itself gently around her waist, stopping her.

Spinning her around to face him, Brian blurted out the answer. "Because I'm in fucking love with you and I need you to know that! I know the timing is fucked up, but it is what it is!"