That's What Friends Are For

*Author's note: This is my first time writing in this genre, so try not to be too critical. ;)

*

Eric "hearted" her latest Instagram post before it had even been live for a whole minute. She was even more surprised when she received a message from him shortly after.

"Keep the pictures coming. I miss seeing the trees change in fall...Or any trees over 30ft tall, for that matter. And aren't all gnarly and twisted. Lol"

"I can't imagine living somewhere without many trees. Even if there weren't many deciduous ones, I would still settle for some conifers. Tbh, I'd be hard-pressed to live anywhere without mountains or rolling hills, at the very least, now too. I've gotten spoiled out here. Haha" Carissa replied.

Eric and Carissa had what some might consider a weird relationship. They had met through an online game several years before. He was about a decade older than her, but it had never bothered her. She actually liked him more for that reason. She had always gotten along better with people older than her.

Neither of them played the game anymore, but had kept in touch through Facebook and Instagram. They messaged each other fairly regularly at first, but like all things in life, died off over time. Life always seems to have a knack of getting in the way of things, doesn't it?

Carissa had been a newlywed with her husband, Beau, when she and Eric met. It wasn't long before she and Beau started trying to have a baby. Aside from that being ever-present in the back of their minds, they had moved across the country a year or so later from Illinois to Idaho.

She and Beau had always hated Illinois, always planning on getting as far away from it as possible. After much research and deliberation, they took a leap of faith and moved to the Caribou-Targhee National Forest in eastern Idaho. They loved the Sawtooth Mountain region (who wouldn't?), but there wasn't much in the way of jobs there. Which was kind of important for Beau, at least.

They ended up purchasing 20 acres of land near Rexburg, a fairly well-to-do town with decent job growth potential. While they realized he would still have to work, at least for a while, the plan had always been that they would have a little homestead of their own. Grow their own food, raise their own meat, the whole shebang. Carissa would do the regular chores of weeding, milking, feeding, etc throughout the week and Beau would help out with the big projects on the weekends.

Eric and his long-time girlfriend, Marley, were a different story. They had moved from upstate New York to Oklahoma for a job transfer. Eric ended up quitting a couple of years later, becoming a manager at a large supply chain store while Marley stayed behind at the factory they had both worked for.

Although it was none of her business, Carissa never could figure out why on earth he would want to leave the beautiful area he lived in New York to live in Oklahoma. She hoped he was at least making good money there.

"I guess so. Lol Definitely not the same, but you would have loved New York too."

It made Carissa uncomfortable when she thought about that. Eric had offered to let them move in with him and Marley in New York before any of them had moved. The "what could have been's" still made her squirmy and a bit sad, if she was being honest, even though she loved Idaho now. It was America's best-kept secret in the way of natural beauty as far as she was concerned.

"I'm sure I would have. So what have you been up to anyway, stranger? Haven't heard from you in a while," Carissa expertly changed the subject.

"Well...Shit's not great, tbh."

"Oh no. What's up?" she messaged back instantly before Eric even had a chance to continue.

"I got laid off at work a few weeks ago. Marley hasn't exactly been happy with her job either."

"I'm so sorry." Carissa didn't know what else to say. It wasn't that she didn't care, but she felt a certain emotional detachment from him since their correspondences had become fewer and fewer over the years.

"Me too. Hopefully, it will be for the better, though. I've been showing Marley some of your pictures. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous. Lol I've been trying to talk her into moving again for months, before all this shit with my work even happened."

"Where would you want to move to? Back to New York or somewhere else?" Carissa asked.

"I don't even know. Somewhere with woods, that's for sure. Lol New York is out of the question, though. The cost of living there is insane!"

"I bet."

"Plus, I've been tossing around the idea of going to school. I just need a change, ya know?"

"I can understand that. Look at the one we made! Haha"

She and Beau had gone from living in a duplex in nowhere Illinois to having their own custom-built log cabin on a sizeable piece of land in the mountains of Idaho.

"See? I need something like that. But I don't want to be tied down here any longer as far as the schooling thing goes. I feel like there's nothing left for us here."

Carissa felt a pang of sadness for her friend. It was an awful, but liberating, feeling to have about your situation in life.

"What about online school?" she offered. "Then you could go anywhere you want and not have to worry about it."

"I guess. I don't know. I'm still not even sure what I would want to go to school for. Or where we would even move to. I need to get my shit together, huh? Lol"

"Why don't you guys move out here? We have plenty of room. You could stay with us until you figure things out. We'd be happy to have you," the words flew from her fingertips before Carissa really had a chance to think about them. Eric didn't answer back right away.

"What about the cost of living? Would Marley be able to support my sorry ass by herself while I go to school? Lol"

Him and his "lols", she thought. Always trying to lighten the mood.

"Eric, almost anywhere is going to be higher than Oklahoma. :P But, it's not nearly as bad as New York. More like Illinois. Plus, may I remind you that Beau supports my 'sorry ass'?"

"Lol Fair enough. What about the snow?"

Carissa couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"What about it? Yes, we have it. :P"

"Isn't it like insane, though?"

"Probably not much worse than you got in New York. Besides, it makes for nice, cozy winters indoors, if you know what I mean. ;) Not that you wanted to think about that."

"Lol You should know by now I'm not easily phased," he retorted.

"Haha True. Well, it's quite a big house, so no worries. I'll try to be quiet. ;)"

The conversation devolved from there. To Carissa, it felt like old times. They had never been explicitly explicit with each other, but their old conversations on the game did seem to usually wander to sex-related topics.

"I kind of like when women are loud in the sack," Eric admitted. "But Marley has never been that way."

"Why the hell not? Are you that bad of a lay?" she teased. "I don't know how you can't be loud during sex. 1) It feels good. 2) I'm not embarrassed to cum like a geyser. If my man is making me feel good, I'm going to let him know so he keeps up the good work! Lmao!"

"You better stop talking like that or Marley is going to think I've been watching porn when I come to bed. Lol"

"And what's wrong with that?" she couldn't help but smile to herself.

"I never realized what a nympho you are. :P"

"You have NO idea!...And don't give me that crap! Don't you remember any of our old conversations?"

"How could I forget? ;) Listen, I'll talk about your offer with Marley soon. I better get off here."

"Ok. I'll run it by Beau too. I'll remind him that you guys should get along great since you both hate people. :P"

"What about making a baby?" Beau slid his hands on her hips, pulling her closer. He had surprised Carissa by his lack of surprise when she tossed the idea out of Eric and Marley coming to live with them.

"What about it? It's not like they're going to be sharing a bedroom with us. It's a big house, babe," she craned her head up at him. Beau was almost a foot taller than her. It wasn't that she was short. She was average height for a woman at 5'6". He was just a big guy.

He lowered his eyes at her.

"You and I both know how loud you are," he gave her a sideways smile.

"Yah," Carissa drew out. "I may have already mentioned that to Eric," she had the decency to look a little embarrassed.

"How on earth did that get brought up?" Beau chuckled good-naturedly.

She briefly explained that part of her conversation with Eric the night before. He shook his head, grinning.

"What? You know how I am!" She had never been very modest when it came to talking about sex. She didn't see why everyone treated it as such a taboo subject. Everyone did it at some point. What was the big deal?

"Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to take a break from the baby-making for a while anyway," Carissa almost hated to say the words aloud. She knew it was something Beau wanted just as badly as she did. She didn't want him to take her words the wrong way.

"Don't get me wrong. I still want to have sex. I just think it might do us some good to take the pressure out of it for a while, you know what I mean?" she looked up at him hopefully. He was nodding his head slowly, not looking at her, his "deep in thought" look.

"Ok," he finally answered, looking her in the eyes again.

"Plus, who knows. Maybe that'll do the trick," she smiled up at him.

"That reminds me, doesn't Eric hate kids?" Beau furrowed his brow.

"It's not like they're going to be living with us forever. Plus, we'd still have an extra room. I highly doubt they would still be here by then, though, don't you? I don't even think I would want them here that long," Carissa laughed. "Awkward," she joked, rolling her eyes to the side.

"So, whaddya say? Come on, buddy. It'll be fun," she patted her husband's broad chest.

"How was your day, Mar?" Eric asked as they sat down to dinner the next night.

"Ugh," she replied simply before cutting into her Salisbury steak.

"That good, huh?" he chuckled. He didn't prod further as they continued eating their dinner in silence for a few minutes.

"How would you feel about moving again?" he asked suddenly. Marley choked on her food.

"Where the hell did that come from?" she looked up at him.

"Sorry. Didn't mean to get you all choked up," Eric laughed nervously. "I don't know," he shrugged casually. "It's been weighing on me for a while."

"Hell of a time to bring it up now," she gave a small laugh, composing herself.

"I know. But listen. You and I both know you haven't been happy with your job for a while. Neither of us really likes it here. Don't you think it's time for a change?" he asked her earnestly.

She didn't speak for a minute, pondering the notion.

"I know," she looked back down at her food. "It's not something I like to think about, though. I just feel...stuck here."

"Why?" Eric grabbed one of her hands from across the small dining table. "You don't feel stuck with...me, do you?"

"No! No, not at all. I want to be stuck with you," Marley smiled at him.

"Then why don't we get unstuck from here? Neither of us is happy here. I don't have a job tying me down anymore. And you have plenty of options. Why don't we move somewhere new? Wherever we want. Not wherever our jobs want us to move."

Marley smirked. "Why do I have the feeling you already have something in mind?" she met his eyes, her own twinkling knowingly.

"Well, I was talking to Carissa the other night online," Eric began.

"And?" she waited for him to finish his thought, wanting to know where this turn in the conversation was going.

"And I mentioned some of the things I just told you and how I was jealous of her pictures she posts, the life her and Beau are living out there," he paused. "She said we could stay with them for a while. Until we got on our feet. Marley, why can't we go live our own dream?" he finally got to the point.

"Eric, just because their dream is in, where is it again? Idaho? Doesn't mean ours is. Besides, we've never even met them in person!"

He had a feeling that would be Marley's biggest hang-up. It was understandable. He had gotten to know Carissa pretty well over the years online. Marley had only "met" her a few times. Even still, it made him nervous too. Talking online and living with someone were two completely different things, especially if you had never spent any actual time with that person in real life.

He would have to work on Marley, though. Do more research about the area. Something. He knew she needed the push more than he did. But, he also knew they would both be happier in the long run.

"Do you have somewhere better in mind? The cost of living out there is surprisingly low for being close to the west coast. And I've shown you the pictures from out there. You can't tell me they don't make you miss the mountains, Mar," he lowered his eyes at her some. "And I get the impression that you feel about New York the same way I do. It was beautiful, but too expensive."

He watched as she fidgeted in her seat. It wasn't terribly noticeable, but he knew her and her body language. She was seriously considering it, but the whole idea still made her uncomfortable.

"Don't you think it would be weird living with people we barely know?" she asked quietly, looking deep into his eyes. They had both forgotten about their dinner sitting in front of them.

"No weirder than it is to up and move halfway across the country for a job," he smiled sincerely, squeezing her hand. "It won't be forever. It can't be any worse than here. In theory...Will you just think about it? For me?" Eric pleaded with his eyes.

Marley rolled her eyes up, but smiled.

"For you," she agreed, and leaned across the table and kissed him.

A month and a million text messages and emails later, Eric and Marley were settling into their temporary home with Beau and Carissa nicely. They had found her pictures hadn't done Idaho any justice. It certainly was more than just prairies and potatoes. The newcomers were repeatedly amazed every day by the beauty of the land their friends lived on.

Beau and Carissa gave them the grand tour of their homestead after they had a few days to unpack and get their affairs in order. There were 20 acres in all. Most of the land near the house was used for gardens and livestock. Marley loved the playful goats the most. The rest wasn't good for anything productive, but the rolling terrain provided plenty of space for going on ATV rides, walks in the woods, and target practice. Eric knew that would be his favorite part. He loved shooting his guns and was looking forward to not having to drive to the gun range. At least for a little while.

Aside from being therapeutic in a weird sort of way, Eric enjoyed target practice to stay frosty. Maybe his years in the Army had ingrained it into him, but he didn't shoot his guns regularly to kill any game. (Though some venison every now and then was delicious.) In fact, he loved nature so much, especially the area he and Marley currently found themselves living in, that he decided to get his degree in conservation.

Things were a little awkward between the two couples at first, but not nearly as much as any of them expected. They warmed up fairly quickly and it wasn't long before they felt like old friends catching up. It had been so long since Beau and Carissa had been near friends or family that it was actually nice having people close to their age to hang out with. Well, close-ish to their age.

Carissa was 26, Beau 28. They had been college sweethearts. Eric was 32, Marley 35. She had met him at work in New York when she was about the same age Carissa was now. They had been together ever since. No one seemed to mind the age differences. Not that it was much anyway.

They didn't seem to dislike each other, but Eric still hoped Marley and Carissa, or Mar and Car as he thought he was so clever to nickname them, would warm up to each other more over time. Carissa had a personality similar to his own: Outgoing, a good sense of humor, open. Marley, on the other hand, was quiet, shy, reserved. While "opposites attract" seemed to apply to him and Mar, it was evidently different for girls. He secretly held out hope the two would bond over the goats, or something. Though that presented another interesting situation.

Since Eric had decided to go to school after all, he would be spending most of his days at "home" with Carissa. He didn't like the idea of going to school in person. He felt too old. He knew he would stick out like a sore thumb. Although he had no intentions of leaving, he felt the best option to avoid the awkwardness was online school. He would eventually have to leave the house for fieldwork, but that was a ways off.

Carissa also stayed home to tend to the farm. As he found out after his first week home alone with her, it had been a much-debated topic before she and Beau had made their move. Her husband was all for her staying home, if she wanted to, but also for her working, if that was her choice. It had been up to her.

Evidently, their future children had come into play a lot in that decision. Carissa didn't want to feel like a freeloader, but neither of them liked the idea of sending their children off to daycare as soon as they were born if they didn't have to either. They ended up deciding the transition would be easier if Carissa just stayed home to begin with once they moved.

She didn't seem to mind. Most mornings she seemed to enjoy her chores of milking the goats, checking for eggs, and weeding the gardens. She and Eric spent most of their afternoons together, him done with schoolwork and her done with chores for the day, just waiting until Beau and Marley came home. They would talk for hours, play a game of cards, or go for a walk, depending on the weather. Sometimes he and Carissa would make dinner together.

She would be lying if she said it had started when they first started making dinner together. That certainly didn't help things, being in close physical proximity to Eric. Before long, Carissa looked forward to the times he offered to help her.

At first, she tried to chalk it up to the fact that it was nice to have any other human being home with her during the day, finally relieving the loneliness and boredom of the past few years. She and Beau had expected to have a baby by now to keep her occupied, but that was a whole other can of worms.

Really, though, she had been drawn to him right from the get-go. Further more, she didn't think it was one-sided. Carissa wanted to believe it wasn't, anyway. She hadn't gotten that out of touch with society, had she?

She loved Beau more than anyone in the world, but something about Eric excited her. He made her feel confused and alive at the same time, like falling in love with someone when you weren't sure that person shared the same feelings. Carissa certainly didn't think she was falling in love with him, but definitely wanted to explore her feelings more. She hated feeling so mixed up about people.

A few weeks had passed, and they all sat around the living room bored that Friday night. They had miraculously all agreed on a movie to watch together, but it was nearly over and no one had seemed intent on watching it for quite a while.

"Why don't we play a game?" Carissa suggested. They had all been drinking and she got a wild hair up her ass, as she was inclined to do while under the influence of hard liquor. The rest of the group agreed without contest or question, not being into the movie, but not wanting to go to bed yet either. It wasn't even 11pm yet. They all still held on valiantly to their youth when it came to weekends.

The three of them shuffled into the kitchen somewhat like zombies. This thought made Carissa laugh under her breath as someone asked what game they were going to play as they sat down at the dining room table.