This chapter is surrounded around love from the different couples and the guys actually collaborate together. When they're all together try to think of a popular television show. I'll explain at the end. However things may not go so well in the end for them.
Chapter 23: And A Side of Love…
It was a Saturday afternoon and Brittney was doing laundry in the dorm basement. She hummed a Phantom tune to herself as she folded hers and some of Erik's dry blacks into her hamper. Normally she was alone, but just as she placed a shirt in the hamper someone knocked at the door, causing Brittney to gasp and jump.
"I forgot my key," a girl's voice said from the other side. "Can you let me in?"
Brittney crept over to the door and opened it. What she saw on the other side made her cry out in terror as she struggled to close the door, but Christine caught it and pushed it open.
"How rude closing the door in my face," Christine said with a snarl.
Brittney edged back towards the stack of dryers hoping to grab the clothes and make a run for it. However before she could grab the hamper Christine grabbed her collar and began shaking her.
"I knew you were still going out with Erik behind my back. I knew it. Thought you could trick me into thinking you really broke up? Now you'll get what's coming to you."
Christine let go of her with a forceful shove. Brittney watched herself fall, but she never hit the floor...
Brittney let out a timid cry as she hit the carpet on Erik's floor. The comforter was still wrapped around her and the room was still dark. She sat up, her head swimming. She felt tears fall down her cheeks as she looked around for Erik.
She was surprised to not see him on the bottom bunk where they had fallen asleep together. A low groan came from the top bunk as Erik shifted. It had probably gotten warm from the combination of their body heat, the comforter, and the extra heat from the heaters causing him to move up to the other bunk.
"Erik…" she said waiting for some kind of answer. When nothing came she stood on still rather weak legs and reached out towards him. "Erik?"
Erik snorted and rolled over towards her his eyes flying open. He sat up covering his face with his hand. "Brittney don't scare me like that," he said lowering his hand once he noticed it was her, but then he noticed the look of pain on her face in the dim light of the rising sun. "What is it?"
She looked up at him afraid of what to say. Quietly she told him about the dream trying her best not to break into tears. For awhile he remained on the bunk when Brittney quickly wrapped the blanket around her and sank to her knees on the floor.
He climbed down the side of the bunk and went to her. She looked over at him then reached up with her fingers, brushing them gently against his deformed cheek. "I know you hate her Erik as well as I do, but promise me that you won't let a small dream ruin everything. We have something that so many people wish they had."
He could only look at her as he fell victim to her caress. She was right, they did have the best thing in the world and Christine was not going to ruin it for them. Yet, the feeling of her fingers made him incapable to speak. Closing his eyes he rested against those beautiful fingers.
Then he felt his lips be parted as her tongue gained entry to his mouth. He did what she always did sucking on her tongue gently with his lips as he felt tears fall down her cheeks. His hands moved up around her waist as hers rested against the back of his neck.
A knock came at the door moments later as shouts came from the hallway. Erik stood and put the mask back on. Opening the door he saw Gwen standing there and allowed her in before Carlotta stormed down the hall with a towel and her shower stuff in hand.
"I hope I didn't wake you," Gwen said quietly as Erik closed the door and warned Brittney before turning the light on.
"No, we've been awake for awhile now," Brittney explained as she stood up and put the comforter back on the lower bunk.
"I wanted to make sure you were okay. I was so worried about you yesterday. Those dizzy spells of yours was something you forgot to tell me about."
"Yeah, I know. The thing is I don't talk about it openly with anyone outside the group. I…"
"Am I not apart of the group?" Gwen interrupted.
"It's not that at all. I wanted to wait and tell you later on. I wasn't counting on having one at all yesterday. I'm really sorry I scared you like that."
"Well can you explain to me what happens when you have dizzy spells and why?"
"I guess I owe you an explanation. After the accident I began to experience more and more dizzy spells for some reason and they ended up getting worse with each one. I went back to the hospital doctor and he said it had to do with the head damage I endured. When I have one it sucks some of my energy and I should tell Erik about it, because he knows what to do. I'm to lay down and have a nap or a break until I'm better again."
"So when did you have your dizzy spell the other day?"
"Right before I helped you move in."
"Oh my god I'm so sorry. You should have said something."
Brittney felt awful for not saying something. She looked over to the sink where Erik was busy with his morning routine. He was in the process of pulling his hair into a small ponytail and saying it was about time for a trim. "Gwen I wasn't thinking straight. I know I should have said something, but I just don't know."
Gwen leaned over and hugged her. "It's okay. Also I noticed your lips were really swollen," she said in a low whisper. "Were you two kissing this morning?"
Brittney's face turned a bright scarlet as she gulped. "Well…um…"
Gwen giggled. "It's okay. I completely understand that you and Erik love each other. I'm very happy for the both of you, but sometimes I wish I could have the same thing."
"Well if I remember," Erik said turning to look at them with the mask secured on his face. "You were getting rather close to Raoul the other night."
Gwen's face went deep scarlet and she in turn pulled the blanket over her head. "Well I…don't know I kind of like him. But who am I kidding? He probably loves someone else or something. I shouldn't really push it."
Brittney looked up to see Erik flinch. "Gwen, come with me while I get ready for class and I'll explain everything to you."
She stood and let Gwen out of the room. Quickly she grabbed her blanket and gave Erik another kiss before heading into her empty dorm room. "I guess my roommate worked this morning."
Gwen sat down on the bed as Brittney pulled out some black clothing and proceeded to get dressed. "So, Brittney, tell me about Raoul please. I need to know."
"Raoul is a nice guy. He's considerate and in your case a proper gentlemen. He's going into business and has a minor in money financing. He used to be Christine's high school boyfriend, but because of the whole thing with Erik and me, she left him. Raoul wanted revenge after that, but never got his chance. And my guess is something happened over Christmas break to break every bond the two of them ever had."
"That's awful. I feel bad taken place of the girl he truly loved."
"Gwen he doesn't care for Christine anymore. Trust me I know. The way he looked at you I realized he was done with her and wanted to try again. He's a good guy. He likes classical music and even enjoys the occasional chick flick," Brittney said doing up her hair in a black scrunchie.
"You're joking?"
"Nope, he rented Ever After last time I saw him."
Gwen rolled her eyes as Brittney loaded up her backpack. A knock came at the door and they could hear Erik become impatient. "You girls take forever. Come on I'm hungry."
Brittney opened the door to Erik pretending to faint into her arms. "I'm weak from hunger. You guys took to long to feed me," he complained.
"I keep saying you should try out for the plays. You have enough drama for the whole cast," Brittney said pushing him back up.
Gwen and Erik both let out waves of laughter as Brittney locked the door behind her and led the way down to the cafeteria for breakfast before class. Erik caught up and entwined his fingers with hers.
xxxxx
After breakfast everyone headed their separate ways to class. Brittney headed towards Anderson Hall for English and both Erik and Gwen headed for the Performing Arts building.
"I'll see you guys at lunch around one. I have Math at 11:00 and then French. So Gwen if you need any help Erik can be of service to you. Have fun," she said heading towards the campus square where Anderson was located.
"So what classes do you have?" Erik asked as he headed towards the PA with Gwen in tow.
She handed him a slip of paper with her schedule on it and he looked it over. "Well you luck out. A good number of your classes are located in the PA and one of them is over in Anderson, where Brittney was headed. Though the one you have right now looks like dance class. I have History of Theatre, but I can show you were the dance room is," he said handing her the paper.
"Thanks. I appreciate the help from someone who knows their way around campus."
"No problem."
xxxxx
First day of classes is boring to any student as the group figured out as everyone headed back to the dorms after a day of classes and work. Having just ate dinner Brittney went into her room eager to change out of her theatre clothes and do some much needed cuddling with Erik when Gwen bounded into the room.
"Hey Brittney come on. Meg, Andrea, and Vera want all of us to go over to Wal-Mart and do some shopping; want to come?"
Brittney thought it over a second and realized she did need a few things. "All right I'll go." She grabbed her purse and closed the door behind her seeing as RaeAnna was home to keep an eye on things.
Erik was a little disappointed when he heard about it, but figured it best she go hang out with the girls for awhile. Nadir had just invited him to spend some time with the other guys while the girls went out anyway, so at least he would have something to do.
Seated in a circle inside Raoul and Nadir's dorm room were Erik, Nadir, Raoul, and Piangi, who Nadir had made friends with in his Foreign Relations class.
"Well seeing as the girls are out for the night or at least for a few hours we're all left to join together and use this time to let our frustrations out," Nadir said bluntly.
"What? I don't have any frustrations with my girlfriend," Erik snorted.
"All guys have something about their girlfriend they don't like. It's our god given right to complain about them," Nadir explained.
"Well I don't like how Carlotta sings sometimes, but I still love her," Piangi said.
"There you go. A classic example," Nadir pointed out.
"I don't see why I'm here if I don't even have a girlfriend anymore," Raoul sighed.
"You have a love interest Raoul," Nadir said.
"I don't even know if Gwen likes me okay. I only just met her. Why push something if I don't even know her feelings?"
"He has a point," Erik brought up.
"Well in Italy it's not that hard to tell when someone likes you. You can openly tell someone your feelings for them and a lot of times the feeling is mutual," Piangi smiled.
"Well I sometimes can't stand Meg's movie choices, but I can overlook that, because I love her. It's hard not too," Nadir said. "All I have to do is pretend I'm interested in the movie and she's all over me."
"Erik is there anything you would like to say?" Raoul asked.
Erik shifted in his chair and looked around at everyone. Sure there were small things about Brittney he didn't like, but they weren't doing any harm. He cared about her enough to not let those things bother him. It was himself he had problems with. When they would kiss she would run her hands over his chest and he liked that, but because of Christine's attack he was afraid to give Brittney the same physical attention.
"Hello, Erik snap out of it," Nadir said waving a hand in Erik's face.
Erik looked up and sighed. "I have nothing wrong with my girlfriend. The only problem I have is I'm too afraid to give her physical attention. She is capable of rubbing her hands on my chest, but I can't even get up the guts to do it back. Are you happy now?" Erik snapped his temper building.
The other three guys looked at one another. "Well that's not exactly what we were looking for, but I guess it works. If a guy can't pleasure a girl then there is something wrong in the relationship," Nadir said as if he was a dating expert.
"Nadir what the hell is wrong with you? There is nothing wrong with Brittney and me. Did you completely forget what happened to me? Do you possibly think that after I was sexually harassed that I would be able to share feelings with my own girlfriend without feeling just a bit out of place?" Erik shouted.
"No need to get upset," Raoul said from his spot on the bed.
"No need to get upset my foot. It's your ex-girlfriends fault I'm like this."
"Leave, Christine out of this. She's gone from the campus now so you should be grateful. At least you still have your girlfriend."
"All right the both of you knock it off. You're fighting like two children," Nadir said standing up.
"Yeah I'm lucky to have her after you hit her, which again was Christine's fault, because Brittney wouldn't have run away if Christine wasn't in my room kissing me."
"I said I was sorry. How was I supposed to know Christine was pulling a stunt like that? She wasn't my problem anymore seeing as she had to try her luck with you. It's her fault you're even here in the first place. I overheard her talking to you about college."
"Well for your information I didn't come here, because of her. I came here for the education. At first I was excited to see her, but I found someone better seeing as Christine wanted to stay with you. I was done with getting in the middle."
"Guys that's enough," Nadir shouted at both of them. We are all aware that things between the two of you aren't going well, but that doesn't mean you can have a shouting match over it."
"Well I guess I can't yell at you anyway seeing as Brittney's best friend may be going out with you someday for all we know. And if I'm fighting with you neither of them will forgive us for it," Erik brought up.
"Yeah, you're right. But it felt good to get all that off my chest," Raoul said.
"Yeah, me too," Erik agreed.
"At least they're both on the same page," Piangi said to Nadir.
"Question is how long will it last before they start pointing fingers again?" Nadir asked.
"Well Nadir it was a nice get together," Erik said standing and heading for the door. "Let's not have another one any time soon." With that said he left the room and headed down the hall to his room where he began playing at the piano.
This was how Brittney found him when she came back. After putting her things away in her room she came into his room and began kissing his neck. "Miss me?" she whispered into his ear.
"You have no idea."
I finished another chapter hurray. I figured both Erik and Raoul needed a chance to let off some steam, but with how they were seated around the room did the scene from That 70's show come to mind? Erik is like Eric, Nadir is like Hyde, Raoul when he's being dumb is like Kelso, and Piangi is like Fez. I don't know why, but I came up with that and thought it was funny. If you don't know what I'm getting at I'm sorry.