Please Come Home

“Foster, I’m glad you’re here. I’m hungry.” Eric smirked as I stepped out of my car.

“So fix yourself something to eat.” I snapped.

“How about you fix me something to eat?”

“How about no? I have to move all my things in.” I sighed as I looked up at the third floor apartment I’d be sharing with Halvo and John.

“Do you not remember our agreement? It’s the first day and you’re breaking it already.”

I gave Eric a dirty look but gave in. “Fine, I’ll fix you some food.”

I grabbed a few of my things and stomped my way up the stairs. I honestly had no idea how I was going to survive this year. Living with John wouldn’t be too bad. Sure, he liked to party but he was pretty nice. Eric, on the other hand, enjoyed getting under people’s skin and manipulating them. He’d do anything to get what he wanted. This year couldn’t get any worse.

I was about to walk through the door of the apartment when I heard someone speak behind me.

“Why hello Foster Hamilton. It looks like we’ll be neighbors this year. Lucky you.”

I turned around and nearly groaned when I saw who was standing there. “You know Grant lucky isn’t exactly the word I’d use to describe my current situation.”

“Foster, stop socializing and make me some lunch.” Eric called out to me as he walked up the steps and into the apartment.

“Wait, you’re living with Havlorsen and O’Callaghan?” Grant asked.

“Yeah, I am.” I said.

“Foster come on!” Eric yelled from inside.

I rolled my eyes and made my way into my new home for the year.

“You totally owe me.” Eric smirked at me.

“Why do I owe you?”

“I just saved you from Grant. He’s seriously such a skeeze.”

“Are you seriously calling someone else a skeeze?” I asked incredulously.

“Yeah, I am. I’m a douche, I know I am. I’m not a skeeze though. Grant’s a douche and a skeeze.”

“I guess you’re right.” I shrugged.

“Of course I am. Oh, while I have you here I want to go over a few rules with you.”

“Be my guest.” I sarcastically muttered.

“The apartment needs to be cleaned once a week, laundry needs to be done once a week too, and you have to help John and me with our homework whenever we need it. The biggest rule though is that you’re not allowed to go into my room.”

“What are you hiding in there, Eric?”

Eric shot me a dirty look. “I’m serious Foster, don’t go in there. Ever.”

“Well how am I supposed to clean in there then?”

“That’s the one room you don’t have to clean. Don’t break the rules or there’ll be consequences such as me telling my father that your brother was at that party. Now that we have to rules out of the way go fix my lunch.”

---

“Foster!”

I rolled my eyes as I heard Eric yell at me from where he was watching TV in the living room.

“What do you need, Eric?” I yelled back.

“I left my homework out in my car. Go get it for me.”

My body suddenly tensed up as I looked out the window at the storm that was currently going on outside. I was deathly afraid of storms and refused to go outside when they were taking place.

“I can’t do that.” I said.

“Why the fuck not?” Eric asked as he suddenly appeared in the doorway to my room.

“Eric, I’m terrified of thunderstorms. Can’t you just go get it or have John get it?”

“No, we don’t feel like it.”

“Eric, please.” I begged.

Eric stared at me for a few seconds. “Go out and get my homework or else I’ll tell my father what happened at that party over the summer.”

I slowly stood up with shaking legs and made my way out the door. I stood there frozen for a few seconds when I saw how bad it really was outside.

I turned around and tried to turn the doorknob to let myself back in but it was locked.

“Eric, let me back in!” I said as I began to cry out of fear.

“Not until you get my homework from my car.”

I knew I had to get what Eric wanted so I counted to three and convinced myself to run down to his car. I quickly grabbed what he needed and ran back up to the apartment where I burst through the door.

“Here’s your fucking homework.” I said with tears still running down my face as I threw Eric’s book bag at him.

“Thanks Foster. You’re the best” Eric smirked but I simply ignored him as I stomped back to my room and slammed the door.

I crawled under my covers and laid there until my tears finally subsided.

A knock sounded on my door and I heard someone say, “Foster? It’s John. Do you mind if I come in?”

“Umm, yeah, that’s fine.” I sat up and quickly tried to dry my tear stained cheeks.

John walked in the room and looked around nervously. “I just wanted…uh…to come in here and say that I’m sorry about what Eric did. I know that it doesn’t seem like it but Eric’s a really good guy deep down.”

“It must be really deep down.” I scoffed.

John sighed. “I know you’ve only seen the bad side of him, Foster, but I’m being honest. Eric’s had some things happen and he pushes people away so that’s why he comes off as an asshole. He’s a good guy though. He just needs someone to believe in him.”

I didn’t say anything, I was nearly speechless. John had to be lying. There was no decent bone in Eric Halvorsen’s body.

“Just think about what I said.” John said before turning around and leaving my room.

I’d think about what John said but I wouldn’t believe Eric was a decent human being until I witnessed it myself.

---

I groaned to myself as I looked around the apartment. It was our first day back after Christmas break and John and Eric had decided to throw a party the night before. The entire apartment was a disaster zone and it was of course my job to clean it.

I’d finally gotten the entire apartment cleaned except for one room…Eric’s. I knew he’d said to never go into it but I was pretty sure he hadn’t cleaned it all year. I decided to ignore Eric’s threats and go clean his room especially since he wasn’t even at the apartment at the moment. His dirty room was beginning to make the entire apartment smell like sweaty guy and I was tired of it.

I slowly opened the door and looked around. His room looked normal so I had no idea why he didn’t want me in it. I rolled my eyes at Eric’s high maintenance act and began cleaning.
I was hanging up his clean clothes when I saw a bass in the corner of the closet. I knew Eric was interested in music but I hadn’t realized he’d had such a nice bass just lying around. I ran my fingers over the smoothness of it and wondered why I’d never seen him play it.

“Don’t touch that.”

I whipped around and saw an irate looking Eric standing in the doorway of his room, blocking my exit.

“What the fuck are you doing in here?”

“I…umm…I was just cleaning.” I meekly said.

Eric marched over to where I was and leaned forward until his face was mere inches from mine. “I thought I made it very clear that you were never to come in here.”

“I was just trying to be helpful. Plus it smelled in here.”

“Just get out.”

I started towards the door but the curiosity of the mysterious bass was killing me. “Is that bass yours? It’s nice. Why don’t you ever play it?”

Eric quickly turned around with anger in his eyes. “I told you to get out! What’s in here is none of your business.”

“I’m just trying to be nice, Eric. Maybe I’m trying to be your friend!”

“I don’t need any more friends! Now get out!”

Eric grabbed my arm and roughly pushed me out of his room. He pushed me a bit too hard though and I wasn’t able to stop myself. I fell back into the hallway wall across from his door and hit my head on it. Tears instantly sprang to my eyes from the pain throbbing through my head and I began to feel nauseous.

“Foster, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to…” Eric started to say as he walked towards me but I stopped him.

“Don’t. I’m sick and tired of you and your anger. I’ve tried being nice but you obviously can’t be nice back. I’ll live here until the end of the school year because that was our deal but as soon as this semester’s over I’m getting the fuck out of here. I’m done trying to care.”

I turned around and made it back to my room where I collapsed on my bed. My room was spinning and I prayed the pain would soon subside. All I felt like doing was falling asleep but I knew I couldn’t do that in case I had a concussion.

I had been lying in bed for about an hour when I heard someone come into my room. My back was facing the door so I didn’t know who it was.

Whoever it was started to shake me. “Foster? Wake up. You can’t go to sleep in case you have a concussion.”

I rolled over and glared at Eric. “I know that, dumbass. That’s why I’m not asleep.”

“Oh, well I just wanted to make sure. So…umm…do you mind if I talk to you?”

“Be my guest.”

Eric slid nervously into my bed next to me and took a deep breath. “Foster, I am honestly so sorry about pushing you. I was so angry I wasn’t thinking but that’s no excuse. I’m really going to work on being nicer to you. I know that’s not much but it’s a start.”

“I don’t understand you Eric. I mean you’re funny and fiercely loyal to your friends. The way you saved Ferris from getting in trouble over the summer proves that. I know I’m currently repaying you for helping him but you didn’t have to help him in the first place and you did. Plus you can be nice. I haven’t seen you be nice very often but I have seen it so I know you can be. Instead of being nice though you push people away.”

Eric kept looking up at the ceiling and avoided my eyes as he answered. “I push people away before they can leave me.”

“What do you mean?” I softly asked.

Eric finally turned to look at me and I could see the tears pooling in the corner of his eyes. “Everyone I care about could care less about me. The majority of them just leave me. Even if they don’t leave me it’s not as if they care. My parents only care about their public image. My father wants it to seem as if he has the perfect family since he’s the sheriff. I barely had any friends in high school, just party buddies and I haven’t heard from any of them since graduating. John’s been the only one to stick by me this whole time; him and my grandpa.

My grandpa died two years ago though. That bass was his. He’s the one who introduced me to music. I want to quit college and try to make it big with my band. My grandpa believed I could so I want to do it for him. He cared about me and since he died the only person left who cares about me is John.”

“So you build your walls up so high and won’t let your guard down because you’re scared that everyone will just leave you?”

“Everyone does in the end, even the ones you care for.”

I lightly touched Eric’s cheek and looked directly into his eyes. “Let me care for you.”

Eric stared at me for a couple seconds before nodding and then leaning in to kiss me.