Uncertain Times

Chapter 6: Debussy et al.

The morning after was absolutely horrifying. Eddy woke up first, not only discovering that it was already 11 in the morning, but also found himself under the covers with Brett. He must have crept under the duvet in his sleep. With absolute caution, Eddy tried to disentangle himself from Brett, which still woke Brett up. "Damn, last night was rough," wiggling out of Eddy's embrace, Brett stretched and broke the silence first.

"...just like our college days, hey," Eddy said, guiltily.

"Oh yeah. Someone once took a picture of us sprawling on the floor unconsciously after a college party, you were holding a girl in your arms just like that." Brett turned over, facing the curtains on the other side.

A feeling of horror flared across Eddy - he's now wide awake. Does Brett...know? Already? All along? Does he remember the touch, the leaning, or the unusually sensual Brahms?

Eddy couldn't tell.

"Haha. That was embarrassing." Eddy mumbled, pretending to be sleepy while starring at the ceiling.

Maybe that wasn't a good idea after all. Maybe they shouldn't have moved in together, however inconvenient that might be. Perhaps I'm ALREADY overstepping boundaries. If things become awkward between them, they'd simultaneously lost their best friend.

Pressing a pause on TwoSet Violin wouldn't even bother Eddy that much; in fact, as astute as they are, the channel itself would still keep going - memes and professional music knowledge wouldn't betray them. Their hardcore fans might notice that there is a bit of unspeakable distance between them from a certain episode onward, but that's about it.

However, if he and Brett never go back to being natural and candid towards each other, it would feel like their entire personal history turning its back on them. The idea of it alone makes Eddy freeze. It is something too scary to imagine.

Just as Eddy was lying there pondering, Brett stretched again and got up, reaching for his glasses on the bedside table, "I'm gonna take a shower. We are technically taking a break today, though I think we can still process some videos." He got out from the duvet in the most usual, naturalistic manner as if nothing had happened.

"Sure. After you." For a second, Eddy really felt stupid for his tale-tell heart. He turned over under the duvet, reached for his phone and began to look at memes. When Brett returned from the bathroom, Eddy was still curled in the same position with his phone in hand.

Seeing Brett in a towel with damp hair and exposed skin clearly didn't help. Strange, after going on tour with this person countless times and witnessing him coming out from the shower for at least a hundred times, Eddy felt the alleged butterflies in his stomach *almost* for the first time. While Brett was drying his hair using the towel, Eddy cautiously dashed to the bathroom, just in case Brett asks him if anything was wrong. Eddy knew that Brett would detect the unusualness just by glancing at his facial expressions.

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Several thousands of pounding heartbeats later, Eddy and Brett had some brunch and finished scheduling their videos for the next several days. Yet, when Brett asked Eddy if he wanted to watch a film or play some video games for the night, Eddy proposed to practise by himself instead.

Eddy needed space to process his actions and feelings. He needed a distraction, a retreat. Plus, truth to be told, he hadn't been very diligent in finessing his craft for the past few days.

At the end of the day, it's just a musician and his instruments.

After Eddy stepped into his room and took out his violin, he heard that Brett in the other bedroom also started to tune. He turned to face the wall, trying to block out Brett's existence. Eddy took out his iPad, found that folder called Debussy and began to play. He should have started with the scales first, but a desperate overload of feelings called for desperate measures.