To help or not?

I guess I can sort of understand why people, guys specifically, would want relationship advice from me. I’m the guy with six girlfriends, after all. Six incredibly hot girlfriends who are incredibly happy to be my harem. To most guys it might seem like I’ve cracked the code, when in reality I’m playing the game with cheat codes.

I can’t give relationship advice! Or sex advice! Everything about my own relationships is enhanced and held together by magic glue! Sexual prowess, mind reading, emotional connections… Magic is half the reason this shit works and I’m not ever going to pretend otherwise. Okay, maybe I can believe the girls and admit that the other half of the reason the relationship works is because I’m me, and the girls like ME, but even so…

…

Ugh.

“You think she’s cheating on you?” I asked Eric. “You have suspicions?”

Eric swallowed. “Nothing concrete, but… She’s really cute, really outgoing and has her own group of friends she hangs out with. We see each other like once or twice a week, so…”

So he’s just insecure. Understandable, and even relatable. I still haven’t forgotten what led me to ask out Mila, Grace and Sarah. It was the fear that they’d find someone else, someone better than me. But our connection always reassured me that the girls were loyal, that I could trust them. If that wasn’t enough, I could literally read minds now.

…

But if I couldn’t, I’d probably be in the same boat as Eric. Or… maybe not?

“Do you really need to ask ME this? Isn’t there anyone else more suited? At least someone who knows your girlfriend?”

“...No. There’s no one. I don’t talk to Julian anymore, and I doubt he’d have anything good to say. And my internet friends are not… very worldly.” Eric sighed. “I know it’s weird that I’m coming to you, Oliver, but… I’m ****, man! This shit is eating me up every night!”

“I’m really not the person to ask this, Eric,” I fully admitted. “All I can do is tell you how I see things for myself.”

Eric nodded. “That’s fine. I’ll take anything at this point.”

“Look, I trust my girls unconditionally. Hell, I’m moving in with them in just a few months.” Eric’s jaw dropped, so I continued before he could start asking other questions. “But even so… I guess the possibility of them cheating on me is always there. Who knows? Maybe they’ll meet someone new in university and get tired of me? We haven’t even been dating a full year yet. If it happened, I’d be devastated, but…” Man, it stung to even consider the possibility, and the only reason I did was to try to get in Eric’s shoes and understand what he was feeling.

“Maybe… Maybe I should follow her? See where it is she goes when she hangs out with her friends?” Eric said.

Alarms rang inside my head. “Eric, please, for the love of God or anything you find important, don’t fucking follow her.”

“B-But…”

“But nothing. Best case scenario you follow her and confirm she’s cheating. If she wasn’t cheating, you’ll keep wondering if she won’t do it next time, so you’ll do it again. Worst case she hasn’t done anything wrong and finds you stalking her. You don’t win in any scenario, Eric. Not to mention it’s just plain wrong!”

Eric quickly went red in the face. “R-Right! Right!”

“Look… I really can’t give you an answer that will ease your doubts. All you can really do is trust her and do well by her. What she does with your trust is up to her, and I realize how fucking scary that thought is.”

“Yeah… I know you’re right, but I keep fearing I mean nothing to her.”

The fear Eric was feeling likely came from believing he wasn’t good enough. He believed that ‘someone better’ would show up one day and steal his girl. Yeah, can’t say I haven’t been there.

“You can always try talking to her,” I told him. “Yeah, if she IS cheating it’s really unlikely she’ll flat out say it, but if she isn’t she’ll want to know how you feel about your relationship. Just… tell her how you feel. And try not to put the blame on her.”

“W-What if she gets mad?”

“If you’re being clear and respectful, she shouldn’t get mad. If she does, then…”

“Red flag?”

I grimaced. “Maybe.”

Eric chuckled humorlessly. “She’s the first girlfriend I’ve ever had. I don’t want to screw it up.”

“Believe me, I know how it is, but if it’s eating you up then your best bet is talking about it with her. That is, unless you happen to find some actual evidence, but until then…”

“Yeah…” Eric nodded but he didn’t look any happier. “Okay, I’ll… I’ll talk to her.

“...”

Honestly, I didn’t feel like any of my advice was worth shit. It pretty much boiled down to ‘just hope for the best’ and I certainly wouldn’t feel any better being on the receiving end of it. But I REALLY didn’t know what to say to him.

…

But… But I did have other talents. They were magical in nature, but I had skills that would let me give Eric a more concrete answer. The big question was… Did I want to do it? I just said I didn’t want anything to do with Eric, but…

…

Maybe it’s Frey’s influence on me, but even if I don’t exactly like Eric, I still believe everyone should be allowed a fulfilling relationship. Companionship and sex… I wanted others to feel the joy of it, too.

“Hey, Eric… This will sound strange, but I feel like I’m really good at understanding people, women in particular. If I could see this girl in person, I know I’d be able to tell if she’s cheating on you or not. Hell, I’d be able to tell how she feels about you.”

“W-What are you… No. No, that… That makes sense. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have…” Eric grimaced. He glanced at me and turned away.

“If you’re uncomfortable, though, then I won’t get involved any further,” I told him.

Eric swallowed again. “And… You just want to talk to her?”

“Yeah. It doesn’t have to be alone, or for too long.”

“...” Eric remained quiet for a moment before answering. “I’ll call you later, okay?”

“Sure.”

Eric walked away and I was left scratching my head.

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