[For Serena] The pragmatist.

[up_off_thefloor]

Chuck was gone. Roxas was gone. And Eric...Eric was in the kitchen with Cooking Basics for Dummies open at his side, trying to focus on the recipe for scrambled eggs, the first recipe in the book. He'd been trying to read it from the beginning ever since it appeared two days before, as well as Gourmet Cooking for Dummies and his entire mini-fridge

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[turnthebadinme]

"Hey, hey, easy," Serena said, soothing as she swept in to rest a hand on his wrist. "Remember what Chuck showed us last semester." She'd only been looking for something to snack on, a notebook and some magazines tucked under her other arm so she could jot down plans for Nate's birthday as a distraction. Something was clearly terribly wrong here, though.

Setting her things down away from the egg, she laid her hand on his shoulder, ducking her head down to look at him. "Eric, what's going on?"

[up_off_thefloor]

Eric took a deep breath, shaking his head. "Sorry. I know," he murmurs, staring down into the bowl of eggs. He almost didn't want to say the words, because saying them would make them so much more painfully true, but that was silly and childish. "Roxas is gone," he admitted in a low voice, giving a half-shrug and then looking up to add quickly, "I'm okay."

[turnthebadinme]

"He's -" Serena glanced away, hand staying on his shoulder. Her breath caught in her throat a moment and then she sighed. It wasn't supposed to work like this. Bad enough that the island should take Beat from her, bad enough that Chuck was gone - Eric deserved better, he always had. Stepping forward, she slipped her arms around him. "Oh god, Eric, I'm so sorry, that's awful... I'm so, so sorry."

[up_off_thefloor]

Eric leaned into the embrace, even as he shook his head. "It's okay. I mean...it's not, it sucks, but--that's how this place is. I'll be fine," he promised in a low voice.