I lost her once, I'm not going to lose her again.

TW: Illness, death

“Florian! That’s my guy!” Eric said with a hearty laugh. “I love hanging with that guy. It takes a while to get him out of his shell but he’s so fun once you get him to that point. I think he’s super down to earth. He’s a great friend, always there when someone needs him. I hope he knows I appreciate him as a friend even though we don’t hang out too often. We definitely need to get back to going out for drinks on the weekend. I love when the guy let’s loose and has a few too many. He’s hysterically funny! I do think he needs to get laid though. Just dont’ tell him I said that.”

@flcrianknight

Tonight was the night. Eric went on a caffeine binge, was having a major caffeine high, and felt a fair amount of manic energy. He wasn’t good at confrontation, but he did know where his heart lied and that was with Ariel. Did he love her? Who knows, but he did care for her a lot. A lot a lot. Like, so much he didn’t even know how to put it into words. And whenever he was around her his heart fluttered and his cheeks felt warm. So, with roses in one hand and chocolates in the other he made his way to the pawn shop. He knew they were going to close any minute and as he stepped in at the exact time they were supposed to close he took a deep breath. “Before you tell me you’re closed and kick me out just let me say something. I want to be with you. Like, all the time. And I want to take you on dates and spoil you and tell you how beautiful you look in the moonlight when I take you for walks by the beach at night. Because I know how much you love the ocean! And, I think we would be really good together. As a couple. I want you to be my girlfriend and I know it’s taken me a long time to finally say those words because truth be told...I am a bit of a coward when it comes to the love department. And like, speaking of....the more I say these words out loud the more I’m realizing I think I might actually be falling in love with you. And I’m sorry if this is all fast or sudden but I haven’t slept and I drank a lot of caffeine and...yeah. That’s about it.” He was out of breath by the time he was finished, his chest going up and down a bit. He remembers the flowers and chocolates and holds both hands out to her. “These are for you.” He felt a bit of a fool for just spilling his heart out to her and he would only feel more foolish if she declined his advances, but at least he could die saying he tried.

After weeks— no months of Ariel going on and on about how dreamy Eric was and how he makes her feel some type of way, Finn had been so positive that the two would’ve gotten together by now. Sure, he knew his best friend had reasonable concerns about whether her big ‘ol crush likes her for her or for her voice, but how would she know if she never asks? Finn has more than once told her to be upfront with Eric and see how he feels for her because what’s the worst he can do? Tell her no?…. Okay, yeah, he gets that it would break her heart if Eric didn’t actually like her and he wouldn’t want that to happen, but anyone with vision can see how heart eyes he was for her! So much so, that Finn had even tried to convince Ariel to ask Eric to the bash with her, suggesting that they could couple costume and all instead of the two of them, but she had immediately shut that down and now it was Finn who was dressed as Ariel’s Cylde to her Bonnie. He didn’t mind it of course, but it was still a stunt in progress if she kept avoiding her crush like this! That’s why Finn concluded that if Ariel wasn’t going to ask Eric about how he feels, than Finn might as well try and find out for her. 

Spotting the sea loving older male by the bar, the peachy haired boy made his way straight to him. “Hey, Eric!” Finn called out right when he was standing behind him. He smiled. “Long time n-no talk, how are you? Nice costume. Came here w-with anyone?” [ @princeofthcsea ]

Eric was having a fine time at the bash. He’d had a few drinks and was mingling a bit, even trying to flirt here and there. The flirting went no where though because his heart wasn’t in it. Truth be told the only person he would want to flirt with that night was Ariel but she seemed busy and he didn’t want to bother her. Besides she matched her costume with Finn. He knew they were the best of friends but he still couldn’t help but he a tiny bit jealous about how close they were. He wanted nothing more than to be close with Ariel like that. 

Hearing Finn’s voice and his own name, Eric turned around. He smiled at the boy who seemed to always have different colored hair. “Hey!” he greeted. “New hair color? Looks good on you. It definitely has been quite some time though, I agree.” The wind blows and he pulls up the hoodie on his onesie to cover his ears. “Thanks. I chose comfort and warmth because I knew it was going to be a chilly night. Your costume looks good though. You’re matching with Ariel, right? I came alone though and figured I’d meet up with some friends here.”

“Still…” If he had more money, he’d offer to replace them, but he didn’t have enough money for his own lunch today, so he let himself trail off. At least he hadn’t run into anyone awful. Either way, he saw the guy’s expression at ‘no Ariel’, and he couldn’t help but grin. “Don’t worry, she’s on shift. Her lunch break just doesn’t involve running.” Now fiddling with the paper his sandwich had been wrapped in, Aladdin tried to remember anything about the RC boat. “It should, if we paid as much as we did for it. Controller might need batteries or something, though. I can double check it for you, if you want.”

Eric waved his hand to dismiss the topic. There was no harm done in his eyes. Eric’s disappointed expression changed to a small, crooked smile. “Well, looks like I’ll have to stick around until her break is over then. I wouldn’t want to waste up her break having her talk to me.” He nods, wanting to see the boat even more now. A few missing batteries weren’t anything he couldn’t replace. “Yeah, for sure. Thanks a ton.”

Perhaps Violet was right in saying Eric should ask Ariel out on a date. He just felt they weren’t at that point yet. Maybe they were though and he just hadn’t realized it. He knew he liked her. A lot. So, what was stopping him? Fear of rejection maybe? Eric had never really had issues with the ladies before, but he didn’t let that get to his head either. He liked to stay mostly humble, never wanting to look like he had a big ego. As he sat besides Ariel at the docks, each with a Slurpee in hand, he looked out at the water. His expression was enough to say he was deep in thought. Lost, maybe. He was only snapped from his thoughts when he heard her voice and he looked over. Smiling, he set his frozen drink down beside him and said, “I’m sorry. I have no idea what you just said.”

Aladdin scratched the back of his neck, feeling supremely awkward. He didn’t really keep up with other people’s business, but he felt bad that he’d apparently cost a coworker a free coffee. “I ran into you, didn’t I? Sorry,” he apologized, ducking his head and checking the register. He wasn’t supposed to have left it, but… “And uh, no, she’s not here right now, but she’ll probably be back soon. There’s a bunch of ocean-y stuff over there.” He gestured with his sandwich half, towards a mirror set into a ship’s wheel. “I think we’ve still got an RC boat, if you like those.”

Eric smiled at the other man. “It’s alright. No harm done. No use crying over spilt milk, or well, coffee in this case.” He lets out a soft but awkward laugh. “Oh,” he said a bit disappointed. He should have texted her beforehand to see if she was working. He wasn’t going to let his excursion that day be a waste though! “I do like ocean-y stuff. I’ll definitely look around.” He glances in the direction that the sandwich seemed to be pointing to. “Oh, yeah? Does it still work and have all the parts?”

continued from HERE ( @princeofthcsea )

A soft smile appeared on her face as she listened to Eric speak about Ariel. Violet’s never met Ariel before, the most she knows of her is from whatever Eric has said about her plus seeing the girl DJing at the rave. But from the little of the girl she’s seen and from what it sounds like, Ariel was a pretty cool person. “….You must be planning on asking her out sometime soon then, right?” Violet asked with a tilt of her head. “If she’s making you feel like that, than you can’t let someone like her escape you fingers.”

Eric rubbed the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly. “Well, I haven’t really thought that far ahead actually. I mean, I don’t even know if she’s interested.” Then there was the girl with the voice, but he couldn’t tell anyone about that. Surely they would think he was crazy. “I suppose you’re right.” Besides, he may never even find that other girl again. Plus, Ariel made him feels all different sorts of warm and fuzzy. Why shouldn’t he take a chance on that?

Aladdin had taken the path back to work at a bit of a run, but as soon as he was back behind the pawn shop counter, he let himself relax, pulling his stolen lunch from the inside pocket of his jacket. It wasn’t much, just a wrapped deli sandwich and some chips, but it was lunch. And he just started eating it when someone came into the store pretty shortly after him. Someone who he may or may not have smacked into on the street. Oops. “Uh, hi. Can I help you?” he asked, after a sort of painful swallow.

Eric had been on his way to the pawn shop purely to see Ariel. He wasn’t positive she was working, but showed up with two coffees nonetheless. Well, at least that was his plan. Someone had been running down the street and knocked into him which caused Eric to drop both drinks onto the ground. He felt a little defeated after that, thinking maybe he should just turn around and go home, but just tossed the now empty cups in a nearby bin. Entering the pawn shop he was greeted by none other than the man that had run into him. Eric wasn’t going to make a big deal out of it though. “Is Ariel here?” he asked in response. “If not, I’ll just browse around and see if you have any cool ships in bottles or something.”

Send ✿ for a happy memory.

“She really does.” A goofy smiles comes across Eric’s face. “I just can’t stop thinking about her lately. I managed to steal her for a little while at the rave and get a few minutes of alone time. Oh, man, I was really getting butterflies then!”

“Well, sometimes. I think everyone does though. But, when I’m with her sometimes I think about the girl with the voice. It’s almost like I’m back at the docks that same night. There’s no way the two are the same person though. Besides, I don’t even think she can sing!” Eric laughs a bit. “It’s silly, isn’t it? I’m chasing after someone I’m not even sure exists when there’s someone else right in front of me.”

When Ariel had a chance to step away from the DJ station Eric was quick to notice and steal some of her free time. He knew it was probably a bit selfish of him as he was sure there were plenty of other people that wanted to see her while she had a moment of time, but he was pushing those thoughts in the back of his mind. “The set list is pretty great,” he told her with a smile even though he didn’t know all of the songs. “You looked like you were having a lot of fun. I hope your partner doesn’t mind me stealing you away for a while.”