Eric

**Eric** is a character of ***A Million Little Things***.

## Biography

### **Early life**

Eric used to go to a coffee shop, around the corner of Beacon Hill, Boston. There, he kept seeing Chloe Myers all the time, and eventually fell in love with her. As he did not have the courage to go up to her, Eric decided to figure out where she was working and discovered that Chloe was the owner of the music store, *A Guitar is Born*. Then, Eric decided to take a monthly rental on a clarinet at Chloe's shop. As it came with lessons, Eric was hoping that Chloe would give him them, but it was her colleague, Max, who ended up being his teacher. Per Eric, the lessons were "very awkward". Eventually, Eric found the courage to ask her out, and Chloe agreed. ("The Perfect Storm", "Austin")

However, as they started dating, Chloe was in need of a heart transplant. One day, at Chloe's hospital, Eric saw a crying woman learning about her son's death from a doctor. Once he returned to Chloe's room with an orange soda, they were notified from a beeping pager that Chloe would finally receive a heart, much to their joy. The surgery was successful and Chloe lived. ("Guilty")

Six years later, Eric proposed to Chloe, and she agreed to marry him. To celebrate, Eric took her on a trip to Martha's Vineyard for a weekend, after renting a motorcycle. As Eric was driving, they got in an accident which resulted in Chloe's death. Since that day, Eric keeps feeling guilty of what happened. He also took ownership of Chloe's music shop. ("The Perfect Storm", "Austin", "Guilty")

After Chloe's death, Eric received a letter from Patricia Bloom, the mother of Chloe's heart donor. Patricia throughly described her grief after Chad's death and explained in her letter that her daughter, Maggie, had cancer and that she was terrified of losing her too, which is why she decided to contact Eric. The latter was unable to tell Patricia the truth about her son's heart, so he started to pretend that he was the one who received Chad's heart, not Chloe. He kept exchanging letters and e-mails with Patricia, and they bonded together. Eric used this as a way to grieve and talk with someone who was feeling the same pain as him. ("The Perfect Storm", "Guilty")

When Maggie's cancer came back, Patricia decided to meet physically Eric for the first time, before joining her daughter at the hospital for her surgery. ("The Perfect Storm")

In the following weeks, Patricia's husband, Eugene, discovered her e-mails to Eric. Unbeknownst to Eric, Eugene gave his wife an ultimatum, so Patricia decided to leave her husband and move to Boston. After her arrival, Patricia contacted Eric to meet with him at a restaurant. ("The Perfect Storm")

### **Season 2**

Eric was sitting at a bar when Maggie Bloom came and sat by him. After some light flirting he's offered to buy her a drink if she took on mint from the host. She agreed but before she could return his date, Patricia Bloom arrived. Only from Maggie to storm off. ("Grand Canyon")

Eric was on the phone with Patricia when they were in an intense conversation before she said she had to go and immediately hung up. The next day he accompanied Patricia to her daughter's house, who was very upset when she found out he was there as Patricia had neglected to inform her he was coming. ("Mixed Signals")

Patricia finally confesses that he is the heart recipient of her son. This very much upsets Maggie who thought her brother died instantly in the car crash. She leaves the apartment and doesn't come back. Eric also learns about Patricia's ultimatum with her husband before leaving. Later he sees her walking in the rain and offers to pick her up. They go to a bar and he brings up how his fiancée died. He gets a text from Patricia and insists Maggie says goodbye to her mom at the airport. Things don't go well and she ends up crying in his arms, before her boyfriend Gary shows up. ("The Perfect Storm")

Eric is at his store when Maggie comes through the door upset. She soon bursts into tears crying over her dead brother. Once she has calmed down she finds herself playing music, on the keyboards. He admits he doesn't know any instruments, and she tells him to stoped playing when she got cancer. He encourages her to pick it up again. Later that night, he accompanies her to an open mic and sits in the front row. ("Austin")

Maggie takes a phone call from Eric. Eric casually mentions he saw Gary at the open mic the night before. Realizing Gary now knows she lied, Maggie hangs up. Later, Eric stops by, but the mood changes when Gary walks in. Eric excuses himself before Maggie and Gary get into a fight. He later calls Maggie to tell her he wants to get out of her life before he creates any more problems. ("Unleashed")

## Trivia

* Casting describes him as "upon his arrival in Maggie's life, this stranger will 'upend everything'".
* Eric's phone number is 617-555-0173. ("The Perfect Storm")

## References

1. ↑ Million Little Things: Jason Ritter Joins Season 2 — What's His Tie to [Spoiler?], by Matt Mitovich, *TV Line* (August 13, 2019)
2. ↑ File:2x04 Eric's Phone Number.png