A song fic, using the Sum 41 song, "In Too Deep."  Takes place towards the end of the third season. Erica's getting on Gary's nerves and he wonders if he's in over his head in this relationship. About a week before they break up, and Gary's thinking it's
over.

Spoilers: None, really.

Rating: G

Disclaimers: The song belongs to Sum 41, Brownsound, Bizzy D, Cone, and Steveo 32. Early Edition and all it's characters belong to CBS and Sony TriStar.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
In Too Deep
by Ally McKnight

"Morning, Gary," Erica greeted him, not looking up from her work.

"Good morning, Erica," Gary mumbled, grabbing a blueberry muffin from the basket on the bar.

"Going somewhere?" Erica asked, failing miserably to keep her annoyance in check.

"Yeah. Uh-huh." Gary took a quick nibble of his muffin and grabbed the keys to the McGinty's van.

"Something in the paper?" Erica's tone was thick with contempt.

Gary froze, and clenched his fists. He took a deep breath, and bit his lip. Erica had been like that all week. Resentful of the fact that he was trying to save lives, instead of taking her out on a date. He tried, he really did, and he was actually managing to take
her out occasionally, free from any distractions. So why was she still acting like this?

"Uh, yeah," he called over his shoulder, as he headed out the door.

'Maybe it's time to call it quits,' was his last thought before he sped away to his first save of the morning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The faster we're falling
We're stopping and stalling
We're running in circles again
Just as things were looking up
You said it wasn't good enough
But still we're trying one more time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"When are you going to get rid of that rag?" Erica asked, gesturing to the paper.

Gary was taken aback by her offhand comment. He had thought it was shaping up to be a pretty nice evening, but he guessed he was wrong. When was Erica going to realize that some things are more important than dinner and dancing?

She said it innocently enough, but Gary got the message. She wanted him to choose. Girlfriend or saving the world.

He swallowed a gulp of water, and tried to find the right words to say.

"Eri-Erica..." he put down the glass of water. "Y-Y-You know, you know that uh, that uh, th-this," Gary held up the paper, "is a par- it's a part of my, a part of my life. I-I just can't get, um, get rid of it." Gary ran a hand down the back of his neck and sighed.

Erica leaned in close and smiled sweetly. "Why can't I just have you....no strings attatched. I mean, this, isn't this," she waved her hands around the resteraunt, "what you want? A nice date, a pretty girl..." she leaned in closer and kissed him gently.
"And no distractions?"

'If she really loved me she'd know why I have to do this,' Gary realized.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Maybe we're just trying too hard
When really it's closer than it is too far
Cause I'm in too deep and I'm trying to keep
Up above in my head, instead of going under
Cause I'm in too deep and I'm trying to keep
Up above in my head, instead of going under
Instead of going under
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gary burst through the door of McGinty's, whistling softly. Finally a slow day. Maybe he could just settle down with some leftover pizza and a few beers. He checked his watch. Yeah, there was a Cubs game on right then. He was supposed to watch it with....

"You're late," Erica informed him, not even bothering to look at him.

"Howzat?"

"What are you, deaf? You're late."

"Late for what?" Gary was baffled. What was she talking about? Their next date wasn't for a few days.

"We were going to watch the Cubs game together," Erica reminded him coldly, finally meeting his gaze.

"Hey, it's only the third inning," Gary said, gesturing to the TV. "You know I like the White Sox better anyway," he joked. Erica was silent. "Besides I had to save a," Gary lowered his voice, "save a kid from killing himself on his scooter."

"Yeah, and I guess some things are more important than spending time with your girlfriend," Erica replied curtly. She walked away, sneering.

Gary sighed. He was in over his head. He wanted to end things, but he knew he couldn't. He'd never been good with ending relationships, and this one was a doozy. There was Henry to take into consideration. He didn't really want to hurt the kid, but he had had his fill of Erica Padget. Oh, yes, in way over his head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Seems like each time
I'm with you I lose my mind
Cause I'm bending over backwards to relate
It's one thing to complain
But when you're driving me insane
Well then I think it's time that we took a break.
Maybe we're just trying too hard
When really it's closer than it is too far
Cause I'm in too deep and I'm trying to keep
Up above in my head, instead of going under
Cause I'm in too deep and I'm trying to keep
Up above in my head, instead of going under,
Instead of going under.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gary climbed the stairs to his loft, yawning. He needed a nap. He pushed open the door to his loft, frowning. He could have sworn he's locked it before heading out that morning.

"You tired?"

Gary jumped. Erica was at his kitchen counter, drinking coffee and reading a newspaper.

"Today's," she told him, traces of bitterness evident in her voice.

Gary nodded slowly. "Oh." He regretted ever giving her a spare key to the loft, but she had insisted, and he was never good at refusing people. Even as a kid, he had been a privacy freak. He was always afraid that somebody was going to come into his room at touch things.

"Sit down," Erica ordered him gently. She patted his chair.

Gary sat down, reluctantly, and Erica began to massage his shoulders. Gary had to admit it felt pretty good. He closed his eyes and let himself relax as her fingers did all the work.

"I was thinking about our date tonight," Erica told him. "I found this cute little French resteraunt. What do you think?" Erica asked hopefully.

"Sounds nice," Gary replied quietly. "I might be running a little late tonight though."

Erica's fingers froze. She frowned. "What now Gary? Timmy fall down a well? Does a little old lady need your help crossing the street?" Erica demanded sarcastically.

"Now, now, you know that's not very, very, f-f-fair," Gary protested. "I'll only be a few minutes late, maybe not even."

"Dammit, Gary, sometime you're going to have to choose between that paper of yours and me." Erica stormed out of the loft.

'Right now, the cat's way ahead of you,' Gary thought sighing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I can't sit back and wonder why
It took so long for this to die.
And I hate it when you fake it
You can't hide it you might as well embrace it
So believe me it's not easy
It seems that something's telling me
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gary sat down at the chair at the French resteraunt Erica had chosen. He flashed Erica a grin. He was on time, and even in a tie.

That didn't seem to matter to Erica. She was disgusted by just the thought that Gary would rather play Superman than have a good time with her. The whole night she was cold a distant.

'It's over,' they both thought at the same thought.

'I wonder if Nick's still single,' Erica wondered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cause I'm in too deep and I'm trying to keep
Up above in my head, instead of going under
Cause I'm in too deep and I'm trying to keep
Up above, in my head instead of going under
Instead of going under
Instead of going under.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Gary read the letter, he wasn't very surprised. He was more surprised at the fact that he had even tried to salvage their relationship, when he too, in fact, had clearly had enough.

'Life goes in,' he thought as he chatted with Marissa.

"You know, Gary, if she really loved you, she'd accept you for who you are and what you do, and if you really loved her, you'd be a lot more broken up over this." She smiled, and Gary chuckled. She was always right.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Instead of going under again
Instead of going under
Instead of going under again
Instead of going under again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Email the author: coventrys@yahoo.com
 

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