I'm still standing

 It was not the best New Year's, especially when Eric invited his Ex over. Of course, Sal had Karl with him. 

Derrick tried his best not to let it get to him. Eric could be so casual around Sal, like they'd never been lovers. 

"Oh, I don't ever want to go through that again," Derrick was thankful he had Delia to confide in. At least, she was there for the party along with Tristan. She gave him a hug and told him not to worry so much. She thought Eric was genuinely fond of him.

Dora and Holden came along too. It was like they were party hopping. Part of the night they were at Derrick and Eric's and then they all headed down to Tristan's. 

But Sal and Karl lagged behind with some of Eric's friends he'd made at the local modeling agency. It was then while Sal was off talking to Eric that Derrick got up the nerve to ask Karl if he knew Sal's ex.

"Aw, it's cool," Karl didn't have a second thought about it. 

"Well, you can say whatever you want, but I don't find anything cool about it," Derrick said his peace. Was he wrong to think this way?

Karl only smiled. 

"I think you and Eric are good for each other," Karl told him as he sipped a non-alcoholic beer. "He talks about you all the time, you know."

"What?" Derrick squinted hard. He really did feel like opening a bottle of wine. He was certain he could finish it off, but all they had was bubbly grape juice.

"Oh, Sal knows Eric loves you," Karl said. "It made him rethink his own relationships. We've been friends since our moms had us. We go way back. I just never thought we'd get together. He was always finding the herd, but I saw him a while ago when I was visiting my mom, and you know, we're pretty tight now."

It made Derrick a little dizzy just listening to Karl. Derrick scratched the back of his head. He guessed he wasn't always right about everything.