Mouse opens the door to find Eep standing there, "Um. Hi. Remember me? I'm the giant fucking douchnozzle you're dating. God. I am SO sorry for last night. I owe you about a million more apologies and an epic fuckton of explanations."
"Hi there. You don't owe me anything... How are you holding up? You seemed pretty shaken." Eep steps inside & kisses the top of Mouse's head. "Yeah. Heh. Fuck. That's an understatement, right? I know Asher from school. I was actually afraid I was going to bash his head in at the bar. I'm, uh not real fond of him."
"Yeah, I could see that. I'm sorry for my contribution to the night going sideways. I behaved like an idiot, " Mouse sits on her couch, "Look, I'm sorry, I'm having trouble speaking to you... I feel incredibly embarrassed about last night. I want to be able to console you, but I'm nervous that I'm going to say the wrong thing again. I keep typing, erasing, retyping.What can I do to help you? … I don't mean to add to your nerves, but Vincent is meeting Asher for a coffee date shortly. Do I need to stop it? Is he a creep or something? I just don't want anything to happen to Vincent... you know how he is."
Eep says visibly upset, "Oh fuck YES! He's a manipulative asshole! I was, uh, I was going to tell you this in person and AFTER I said some other stuff first, but you need to know now... DO NOT let Vincent go! Um... Remember when I told you about that 6 or 7 month "relationship" I had with The Creep? I was, um, not in the best head space and I was drunk all the time back then. We were both in Eddie's goddamn film together..."
"That's him!?! Shit."
"Fuck. I'm... I don't know what else to say. Just don't let Vincent go."
Mouse grabs her phone and hurriedly sends a text: "Hey little brother, have you gone for your coffee date yet? Uh, Asher is "The Creep" that Eep lived with..."
"ORly? Tell me more abt Eep & Asher. I'm in shock. Wait. WHAT? I though he said he had a relationship w/ The Creep."
"It sounds pretty complicated... Eep just suggested that you not go. I don't know if I should say anything else."
"And all this time he's been telling me he doesn't like guys. Apparently I shld have been propositioning him as a blond. OMG. Of COURSE I'm going 2 go. I'm BURNING w/ curiosity now."
"He's one of the straightest men I know. I think there's more to it than you being his type."
"Ur
rite abt that. He wld have 2 B uber straight 2 keep turning me down.
2nite is going 2 B an evening 2 remember, I can already tell."
"Dear god, little brother, be careful & don't do anything stupid."
"Stupid? MOI? Besides, U'll B there to rescue me if anything goes awry, won't U?"
"I was thinking about it... I kinda want to talk to this
guy & see just what kind of creep he is. But on the other hand I may
simply punch him."
"There's that 2. I promise that if he's as big a creep as we
suspect, I will punch him soundly. I kno U don't want 2 kno this, but
it wasn't ur threats that made Jerome stop beating me up...It was the broken nose I gave him. Tnkflly, he was 2
mortified that a kid half his size kicked his ass 2 tell the teachers.
;}"
"Please, do not use anything you learn to torment Eep."
"I would never. I saw him last nite. That wasn't funny. That
was heartbreaking. Rlly. U shld kno me better than that."
"I know, but this is a weird situation. I'm just feeling protective."
"U shld kno by now U can't offend me. I'm off. Reports as I
get them. Tell Sasha I shall strive 2 B on time. No promises tho. U want
2 go comfort ur shattered man. Go. I'll feel out the creep & report
back 2 U. And I'll B careful."
"Well, I told him not to go. He's going anyway, but at least, now he's been warned. So, Asher's the creep, huh?"
"I don't want to talk about it. At all. It's not the most proud moment of my life. But I'll tell you about it if you wanna know. I trust you. And, you, uh, you deserve to know. Partially, cause you should know what you're getting into with me."
"I'm not going to push... if you want to tell me, I'll listen, but you don't have to. look after the little bit you've told me, I can hazard a guess. But, we all do stupid, embarrassing things when we're hurting and I'm not going to love you any less for things you did when you were a kid."
"Oh God... You don't know how good that is to know. I mean, I was gonna tell you, but... Um, I wanted to say something first, and I'm sorry in advance for how this is gonna sound.But, um, I think I may be in love with you too. I know "think" and "may" aren't the words every lady wants to hear... But, I'm scared shitless. I've never wanted to fuck something up less in my life. And given my track record... I just need a little time, and a fuckton of patience, I guess."
Mouse smiles, "For you, I've got plenty of both."
"Thank you. God. I think I need a cigarette. Or a pack of them."
"And, please don't think for a minute that I'm not scared shitless, too... This is just the first time I ever felt like it was worth the risk."
Later at Dracula's Daughter:
After having checked in with the other staff members, Eep heads over to Mouse, "Hey where the Hell is Vincent? This blond woman WILL NOT stop asking me where he is."
"I'm not sure... I texted him a couple times."
"Shit. You did warn him about Asher, right?"
"Yes... I'm beginning to worry myself."
"Fuck. OK. No need to panic just yet. Do you know what time and where they were supposed to meet?"
