-Eric-

Shawn was irrefutably a piece of shit, right?

So, I had every right to lie to him.

"He's been nothing but rude to me," I called out into the empty room, making a point of mustering up as much assertiveness as I could. Without that single fact, there was nothing holding me back from sinking into a pit of guilt. Lying wasn't ideal. But in this case... if he was like this... then...

Besides, it wasn't like I could change it now. What the hell could I possibly do? It wasn't like I could call him back and confess that it'd all been a lie to spare myself from his fury.

Hell, that would only take us back to square one.

Or worse.

He might actually kill me.

The truth was bubbling under the surface like an active volcano, torn between imploding and cooling down. At this point, it was dangerously close to melting me alive from the inside out.

My phone felt heavy in my hand, every conscious part of me trying to pressure my body into calling and clearing the misunderstanding up. I still had time. Lying about being gay had already been a step too far, but throwing the man's own kid under the bus felt downright conniving.

This was going to affect him and his daughter, and perhaps even cause a rapture. I was going to be responsible if they got into a fight. And here I was, safe and sound at home.

I fell back on the bed, closing my eyes tightly.

Why hadn't I just stayed in today?

I plopped down on the bed face first, letting my body melt against the cool comforter. After such a long day, I couldn't even remember why the hell I'd gone out in the first place. And where the hell was Mason, anyways?

-Shawn-

The drive back was a burden, short as it was.

All I could do was sit there in uncomfortable silence, stuck stewing in my own turmoil of conflicting emotions, unsure of how to process everything that had transpired. In spite of Eric's apologetic expression, or perhaps because of it, I couldn't help the surge of impatience crawling over my skin; I had to do something to resolve this.

I couldn't just... let this fester.

I felt restless while waiting at yet another stop light, harshly tapping my fingertips against the wheel, eager to get home and inquire about this, time be damned. Sleep would likely be impossible otherwise.

"Please don't be mad at her," the kid had pleaded before hesitantly closing the car door, clearly terrified of the pandora's box he'd cracked open all on his own. "Alright?"

At the time, all I could conjured up was a dumbfounded nod, unsure of why Eric had even bothered sticking his neck out for my daughter when she'd thrown him under the bus so effortlessly. It just... didn't make sense.

Was he lying, or was she?

But why would the brat lie to my face when I could verify it with my own flesh and blood? Did he not expect me to believe her? Did he not expect me to know better? Or was this just another bout of self-destructiveness at play?

After all, he had showed up at my place of work the day after being punched in the face; he had a track record for making unwise decisions.

"Maybe he's just a fucking idiot," I grumbled, though that didn't quite make sense either.

But even then, even if he'd been completely honest. What did he expect from Meghan? Would she even tell me what had really happened, even if confronted with the truth?

I almost didn't want to find out.

---

"Fine."

I frowned, leaning against Meghan's doorway. For as long as I'd thought about what I'd say once I finally questioned her, all I'd managed was a few words out before she was confessing all on her own, seemingly unbothered by the implications.

"About that party," I tried again. "What happened?"

Meghan's eyes darted around before warily locking onto mine, her jaw clenched. "What have you decided happened now?" she muttered sarcastically.

I scowled.

"Alright, cut the attitude. I'm asking for your side, right? So, just... humor me."

Meghan, though, wasn't convinced. "You woke me up at," she hastily checked her phone, "four in the morning to talk about this?"

I shrugged in what I was hoping came across as nonchalance. "Yeah."

"All of a sudden?"

"Why not?"

"You talked to someone," she pieced together before narrowing her eyes suspiciously. "Who? Cate?"

"Meg—"

"Jacqueline? She wasn't even there!"

"Eric, actually," I forced out before she could derail the conversation any more. "Now, talk."

She frowned at that, shrugging in response. Though, there was a glint of annoyance blatantly present in her eyes. "And?"

I just had to rip the band-aid off. Just once, and I'd know. "Eric told me what really happened," I explained, inspecting her face for any obvious reactions. Any sign of concern... or hesitation.

"Did he now?" she retorted, schooling her expression rather well. Being my daughter, I wouldn't have expected anything less.

"He said you were with someone else that night. An older man," I forced out through gritted teeth, hoping desperately to see some kind of disbelief in her eyes. "Do you recall any of this?"

She sighed. Adeep and drawn-out breath that ended with her rubbing at her temple in annoyance. "He said that?"

I narrowed my eyes. "I'm the one asking the questions."

"Okay. So, he did."

I grumbled in annoyance, aware that any wrong moves and she'd close up. Still, it wasn't exactly a walk in the park to remain composed. If the mere thought of my daughter being around someone like Eric had me on edge, this newest development had the potency to fling me off a very high precipice.

I set my pride aside, awkwardly sitting down at the edge of her bed and peering at her tired face with the full intention of taking anything she said at face value. Maybe I should've waited until the morning rather than waking her up in the middle of the night, but my mind wouldn't rest.

"Is he lying?" I asked carefully once more; even now, I was well aware that I was borderline pleading. "If you tell me he's full of it, I'll believe you, okay? Just... say the word, Meg."

My daughter did not seem amused.

"Did he tell you what happened?" she asked, quirking an eyebrow. "What... actually happened?"

I nodded my head, letting out a tired huff. "What the hell were you thinking, trying to go off with some man my age? What if Eric hadn't been there to stop you?"

Meghan paused before gritting her teeth, seemingly mulling over her words before replying, "I—I wasn't thinking, alright? I'm sorry."

And somehow, the revelation that it was true was a harder pill to swallow than the assumption that I'd been wrong. I frowned, trying to wrap my head around this even being a possibility. I'd warned her countless times about being careful and never interacting with strangers, so why? Why would she do this of all things?

"Meghan... what the hell?"

She groaned out in annoyance. "I apologized already, didn't I?"

I shook my head. "You're grounded."

"I'm already grounded!" she retorted. "Are you really angry with me for telling you the truth?"

"N-no, I'm—" I scoffed. "Don't twist this around, Meg! You know why I'm disappointed!"

She opened her mouth to complain, but then she just... didn't, probably aware that I had no intention of changing my mind. "Okay, fine. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that..."

I huffed in annoyance, though that didn't stop me from pulling her into a hug. What else was I supposed to do?

-Eric-

I frowned at the approaching building, wondering if I was being ridiculous or not. Just a few hours ago, it had seemed like a good idea, but now it just felt like I was admitting to feeling guilty.

That morning, while in class, I thought back to a documentary I'd seen last year while high out of my mind. Initially, I'd set out to watch Parks & Rec, but I genuinely forgot how the controller worked and just had to let the tv play. In any case, in the nature doc, an adventurer had become helplessly trapped atop the outhouse he'd desperately climbed when he saw an enormous, grizzly bear approaching.

The animal was the size of a truck, snarling up at the man while drool slobbered down its snout. Frankly, I thought the man was going to die.

Instead, the bear foraged through the man's backpack, ate all the food it could find, and then went on his merry way. The man bitched about it for a good thirty minutes after, but at least he was alive, right? At least... he wasn't mauled to death.

Anyways, that got me thinking about Shawn, which led me to irresponsibly ducking out of class early and heading to our campus' coffee shop before taking the usual bus to work.

All that led to me walking into work carrying the damn paper bag, though it felt more like I was carrying a ticking bomb more than anything else. I was clenching onto it rather tightly, a bit more worried than I'd expected.

I could still throw it away.

But, ugh. No, I couldn't. The guilt was devouring me alive. And so, this was my solution. Or, well, a delusional attempt at a hail Mary. I was already regretting even showing up for work today, but that hadn't stopped me from dutifully making my way over.

"Is he angry?" I asked upon locking eyes with Paul at the front desk.

Paul quirked an eyebrow. "Like... more than usual?"

I nodded my head rapidly.

He thought about it before shrugging disinterestedly. "How should I know?" he asked in a way that could only be described as casually defensive. "I haven't heard any yelling, if that helps. I did hear some terrible music blasting earlier, though. And he kept bothering me about some tech nonsense."

"Oh. I—I'll go help him with that," I replied. I didn't think much on it, too busy being relieved to know that he hadn't showed up enraged.

Perhaps I should've been worried, though.

The music started blasting the moment I headed down the hallway towards his office. Clear as day, the male artist's voice rung through the building like a siren:

I WANNA TAKE YOU TO A GAY BAR!

My eyes widened.

I WANNA TAKE YOU TO A GAY BAR!

No fucking way.

I WANNA TAKE YOU TO A GAY BAR! GAY BAR! GAY BAR!

I stumbled while running down the hall, bursting through the door to Shawn's office just as the instrumental break started. "Shawn," I gritted out under my breath. "Turn it off."

Shawn, despite my clear outrage, was calmly sitting there, bopping his head along to the song, his fingers tapping against his desk to the beat. I could also hear Jacqueline cackling somewhere in the distance, probably in on it as well.

"Can you turn that off?" I yelled just as the singer mentioned something about... having something to put in me? Fucking hell. I walked around the desk, staring at his screen in disbelief. "Is that... a half-naked Abraham Lincoln?"

What the fuck was he watching?

"I was just listening to some music," he explained, feigning ignorance with a small frown. "You don't like it?"

I reached down to exit out of the browser, glaring down at him with the confidence of a much taller man. "Any reason why it's being blasted across the whole goddamn building?"

"Just this floor," he countered, though there was the ghost of a smirk on his lips. "It's good, no?"

"Not appropriate," I grumbled through a pout, only relaxing once he'd turned it off.

"You'd know about that, huh?"

I groaned. Yeah, I should've known he was not planning to let last night go.

"Is this your idea of a prank, old man?" I asked, in disbelief that I'd even been worried about him being upset.

-Shawn-

"You're so weird," Eric added before heading back around to the other side of my desk.

He was busy being pouty, but he didn't seem all that bothered. If anything, he seemed a lot more relaxed than he had last night, so perhaps I'd been right to try and break the ice like this.

I raised an eyebrow, staring back at the frozen screen. It was a bit odd, but I felt tempted to continue watching the video for some reason. The song was catchy. And Eric still looked all flustered and jittery, pacing around like he didn't know where to look.

"Sit, kid," I offered.

Thankfully, he sat before he could burn a hole into my carpet.

"Shawn?" he asked soon after, nudging a paper bag forward across the desk. "I, uh, brought you something."

I darted my eyes between him and the bag, furrowing my eyebrows in confusion. "Why?"

"Just because," he murmured.

I snorted. "Is it a bomb?"

Eric grumbled. "Not funny. J-just... consider it a thank you for last night, okay?"

Ah.

I pulled it towards me and peeked inside, not sure what to expect.

It was a bagel sandwich. He'd brought me a bagel sandwich. "Breakfast," I whispered, clearing my throat to hide the excitement in my voice. "I like these."

He forced a small smile, shrugging awkwardly. "Yeah, I sort of got the impression that you did."

I did. I really liked these. It'd been quite a few weeks since I'd bothered to pick one up on my way to work, but they were my go-to. Fulfilling and delicious? What could be better?

"It's bacon, egg, and cheese," he added.

"Yeah?" I asked while staring down at it, rubbing my nose with the back of my hand to hide a small smile.

Maybe he wasn't all that bad.

---

A/N: I debated whether to include Electric Six's Gay Bar or not in this version, but I couldn't dare to part with this scene, haha. Shawn, per usual, is a dork.