Erik Sanders

“Exactly.” Ariel breathed, hearing his words. It was such an incredible feeling that Erik left inside her after each of their conversations. Someone who always understood what she meant and never thought she was just being “childish” or “naive”. Someone who did believe in things such as “happily ever after” and “true love”. Hearing his next words, she could feel her cheeks reddening, blushing like an idiot however she didn’t care. It was probably the most sweetest yet most considerate and sincere compliment Ari had ever received in her whole life. It didn’t take long for suddenly Ariel found herself slowly leaning in for a second, kissing Erik on the lips. It only took the next second for Ariel to realize what she was doing and pull away and stood up straight, worry and fear overtook her as she didn’t mean to go that far. “Shit, I mean… I’m sorry. Sorry for kissing you and sorry for swearing.”

Not getting lost in Ariel’s eyes was always impossible as they shined bright back into Erik’s - a bright greenish blue that reminded him always of the ocean - the only place where he felt truly at home. And that’s exactly how Erik also felt around Ariel. From the first time they met with her first checkup, whenever he was around her, everything was better. The world itself was better. Before he could say anything else to Ariel though... suddenly her lips were on his! Erik was taken back by this and pulled away as well, however not out of disgust as he quickly rejected her apologizes that weren’t needed at all. “No, please, it’s not that, it’s just... I’m surprised... and a little embarrassed that I didn’t do it myself. Guess now, I gotta make up for it double time, right?” He softly chuckled as he kissed her again gently on the lips, long held back feelings finally able to start to come out.

“Oh yes, but not because i’m you know, a crazy lady or anything who can’t hold down a relationship, I swear.” Ariel insisted, as she really didn’t want him to mistake her bad luck for anything else. “I guess I just… I don’t know, I expect too much, you know? After all, whenever you do get with someone, you always hope you’ll be together forever. Like it’s meant to be.” God, could she be more of a hopeless romantic when it came down to it? She felt her cheeks redden to the color of her hair though as she heard his last words. She looked him in the eyes as he finished stitching the wound that she had nearly forgotten about during this whole talk. “You really think so?” She asked, biting the bottom of her lip.

Erik chuckled at Ariel’s small defense towards her multiple relationships however it then softened into a smile as he couldn’t help but just realize how much he truly did have in common with the red head’s philosophy. After all, he too was a hopeless romantic. “Yeah, because whenever you do end up with that certain someone... it’s not just right, it’s perfect.”  He looked up at her, and even though he had finished patching her up, he didn’t move away. He couldn’t help but literally get... well, lost in her bright blue eyes. With each tender blink, they took him to a whole another world of happiness and comforting excitement. A world where he could just be... well, with her. “Yeah... You are indescribable, Ariel.”

Erik had once been engaged? That was something Ariel had not seen coming, in fact she had worried at first that meant there was no chance… But then she remembered he said was engaged, as in not anymore. Still, although this did lead some hope in her, Ariel remained calm as she still cared about Erik, including his past that remained a mystery to her. “I’m so sorry to hear that, Erik. I’ve had my share of unlucky relationships too. I’m kind of like an expert in it.” She softly joked, trying to lighten the mood a bit. She shook her head, answering his question, with a playful smile. “Maybe… But, I don’t know, he can be a bit… oblivious. I may never be noticed by him.”

It felt so long ago, his devastating sudden breakup with his once soon to be fiance even though it had only been a couple months. He had been so lost, confused, heartbroken... Yet now, he didn’t feel that way anymore. It was crazy to think this but Erik knew that ever since he had met Ariel... He had nearly forgotten all about the breakup. Instead, she filled that pain with happiness and joy and laughter... And they had only been able to talk whenever she was sick or injured! “You have?” He asked, his eyes widening a bit as he listened to her. That itself was nearly preposterous to think about. Who couldn’t love Ariel? “Oblivious?” He softly chuckled to her comment. “It probably won’t be for long, Ari... After all, it’s impossible not to notice you.”

Ariel couldn’t help but blush more than just giggle when she heard Erik’s tiny joke. His overall humorous and carefree happy persona was just one of the many things Ari had come to admire over the months of them knowing each other. More so… She treasured it. It was why even though she was about to ask him such deep questions, she didn’t feel as pressured or uncomfortable. She knew she could trust Erik. Still it was hard nonetheless as she did not want to lose him as even a friend. “Are you certainly… in… a relationship? I mean, I noticed you don’t have a ring on… Sorry, I hope that wasn’t too personal!” She quickly apologized, wanting herself to shut up quickly as she so did not want it all to come out so… so blunt. But… Maybe that was a good thing?

Hearing Ariel’s words, caught Erik off guard as he paused just upon finishing cleaning up the wound. He was surprised by her words but not in bad way. Never in a bad way when it came to Ariel. “No, no, you’re good, Ariel.” He assured, stopping her from continuing to apologize for her words. Erik always had a philosophy that if someone was big enough to ask the question, well they were big enough to receive the answer. He also didn’t want to lie to her. “No, I was engaged but it... it didn’t work out so well.” He cleared his throat, trying to clear any unwanted tension he may have just added in. “What about you? Anyone catch your eye..?” He asked, actually worried what her answer would be and prayed he was just being negative.

Erik let out a sigh, putting a hand to his mouth, worry in him as he watched the vet look at the large sheep dog he’s known his whole life life. Max, who had not been acting the same since the barbeque. Erik feared he might have gotten into something bad. When the nurse stopped examining Max, Erik cleared his throat. “So, is he... going to be... you know... okay?” Endless panic started to fill in him just by waiting to hear the other’s response.

“Um, excuse me.” Erik cleared his throat and softly spoke to the person, polite despite the awkward circumstances. After all, he didn’t know this girl, however seeing the teens go through her purse behind her back, he knew something had been up. And he had been right. Amongst all these crowds of townspeople, some of the local pranksters had believed it would be good idea to take the lady’s wallet. He luckily had found them and managed to convince them to stop. Now returning the wallet, he looked at the girl who it had orignally belonged to. “I think you dropped this, ma’am.” He really didn’t want to bring up the kids as there was no need for it. They were just kids, they can make plenty of mistakes still.

“Hey, watch out!” Erik tried to warn the lady however it was too late. He could only watch in shock and in embarrassment as his big sheep dog, Max, raced towards the brunette, with a whole pack of hot dogs in his mouth. Seriously, even though he loved Max with all his heart, the dog had no sense anymore when food was involved. He rushed over to the lady just after Max had knocked her completely over. He offered his hand to her though, despite quite the scene this had left at the barbeque. “I’m really sorry about that. When it comes to hot dogs, Max might as well be a cannibal.” He softly joked, trying to ease the tension.

Although Erik had always a passion for helping and taking of people at the hospital, he never seemed to get a break from it. Mostly because he just enjoyed taking the extra hours in a means to pay for his legal guardian’s retirement home. But on such a week, with the town’s barbeque going on, Erik strangely found himself with a couple days off rather than pulling even more hours. So, the young workholic decided to help volunteer as one of the people grilling some burgers. It wasn’t until he noticed a familiar blonde did his attention come off guard and he accidentally burned a bit of his hand. Thankfully, he removed it quick enough and looked at the friend who had now approached, Aria Syrene, with a smile as he wrapped the hand up with a rag. “Aria, it’s great to see you again! I hope you’ve been taking good care of yourself.”

“Oh, usual. I was paying too much attention to my balance and less attention to what I was holding was doing apparently. It’s fine though, part of the job I guess.”

“Still man, sadly I’m going to have to pull it out first before I can get it all cleaned and stitched up. So be prepared: it isn’t going to be pretty or painless.” Erik explained as he examined the nail that completely had been nailed into the guy’s hand. “I take it by the new hardware accessory that you are a builder of some sort? Handyman?”

“Huh? Oh it’s nothing, just lost in thought you could say. Thinking about various things… Girly things.” Ari quickly regained a smile, not wanting to give away anything. “And of course, I don’t have to worry. I know you wouldn’t hurt me, Erik.” She assured, speaking the dead truth as she trusted the man enough to take care of her this long. She bit the bottom of her lip though. “Um, Erik… can I ask you a question?”

“Girly things, huh? Like sugar and spice and everything nice?” He joked, trying to lighten the mood. Erik could tell something was eating at Ariel, even if she just blew it off by saying it was girly things. He had always been able to pick up on other people’s certain emotions, and with Ariel it was quite clear as she wasn’t her usual happy self. At least not as much as she normally was. He smiled though as he started to gently clean the cut first before applying the stitches to it. “Of course, Ariel.” He assured, looking her in the eyes. “You can ask me anything.”

“I mean I get myself into a little trouble here and there, but that doesn’t necessarily make me a bad person now does it?” Tucker chuckled. “I mean I guess that makes sense,” he added with a brief shrug, trying not to think about how gross an infected wound was. “Four. Well, at least I’ll have a story to tell when I come into work today,” he added with a playful grin.

“Nah, of course not.” Erik assured the other. “Everyone’s got their trouble to sort out in their own way. All I can say as the guy bandaging the damage afterwards is to be careful. I think you and I would both hate to see something worse than this cut, right?” It was pretty normal for Erik to want to care for others, even those he just met. He didn’t like seeing people in danger. It didn’t suit him, however of course, he couldn’t just tell someone how to live their life. Erik knew it wasn’t always that simple and just a friendly warning could any distance. “You got that right, man.” He chuckled as he finished already stitching the cut up. “Heck of a story with that battle scar.”

“That definitely sounds like her,” Aria nodded with a laugh. She always admired her sister’s young spirit. Out of all of the other sisters, Aria was probably the most like Ariel in that respect. She was more likely to off on a silly adventure with the redhead than any of the others. “Well I’m glad she’s got you to patch her up,” she smiled, nudging him slightly. She wondered if this was the guy Ariel had been telling her about. It had to be. “You know my name, what’s yours?”

“Thank you.” Erik smiled right back at Aria’s compliment. “I am glad too...” It was crazy to think how over these past couple months, he and the redhead had gotten so close just by her check ups. Humorous, some would say but Erik couldn’t help but wonder if perhaps... It was fate. After all, he had gotten so used to seeing Ariel and her bright happy self, he surely couldn’t see a world without her in it. “Oh, sorry, where are my manners?” He softly chuckled. “My name is Erik Sanders. It’s awesome to have met one of the famous Syrene sisters that Ariel told me about.”