Eddy had his timer set on his smartwatch and its vibrations told him that the tutorial session was over. He rubbed his eyes as he reluctantly raised his face. His eyes immediately met Brett's and he realised Brett must have been watching him, possibly over an extended period of time. He quickly tapped his headphones to mute his music, then removed them from his head as he sat up.
"So.. Brett.. do you want to go to this coffee? To.. y'know, meet up with Duncan?"
Brett bit his lower lip, struggling to reply. Eddy whispered;
"Brett, look, it is okay, y'know. You should go. I think it's important for you to go."
Brett stammered;
"I.. I feel guilty to say that I've thought of going..."
Eddy felt his heart squeeze with pain but chose to ignore it.
"You shouldn't feel guilty. Your history is an important part of you. It's okay."
Brett bit his lower lip as he looked up towards Eddy.
"Eddy, did you want to come with me?"
"What? Um.. I dunno.. did you want me to be there?"
"I.. I dunno..."
"Well, what if I suggest you go meet him by yourself then?"
Brett looked up sharply.
"N, no.. Eddy.. I.. I don't think I can. Please come to this coffee thing with me.."
"..Okay."
Eddy wondered how he would've felt if Brett had told him that he was gonna go see Duncan by himself. Just the mere thought of it and there was that heartache again.
Duncan noticed Brett approaching him in the uni cafeteria and quickly got up from his seat.
"Brett... Oh.. my.. god, Brett.. look at you..."
Brett let out a shy smile.
"Hi, Duncan.."
Duncan quickly took a few steps towards Brett.
"Brett.. can I.. give you a hug ?
Brett shook his head as he stepped back, bumping into Eddy. Eddy held him steady by his shoulders. Duncan stammered;
"Brett..? Why? What's the matter..?"
"I.. I don't feel comfortable.. being.. touched by people.
"What..? Even by ..me? Brett.. we used to..."
Brett looked away and stammered;
"I.. I'm sorry Duncan.. I can't."
"But Brett...Eddy.. he just touched you.. He held you by your shoulders.."
"I know. Eddy and I.. We.. we're working on.. stuff together..."
Eddy closed his eyes to savour that comment by Brett, then quickly blinked back his tears. Duncan said;
"Brett.. can I.. then shake hands with you?"
Duncan held out his right hand. After much hesitation, Brett reached his hand out towards it and took it with his own hand. His hand was gloved and Duncan noticed.
"Brett..? Why are you wearing gloves?"
Brett bit his lower lip.
"I.. developed a condition where I feel like I have to wear them all the time.."
"Oh. I.. I'm sorry to hear that, Brett.. that sound like a lot of hassle."
"Y..yeah, it is."
Duncan sandwiched Brett's hand with both his hands.
"Your hand feels exactly how they used to, Brett.."
Duncan gave Brett's hand a squeeze.
"Duncan.. I.. I don't feel comfortable with you doing that.."
"What..? Why, Brett, I'm just holding your hand.."
Eddy spoke up.
"He said he doesn't feel comfortable, Duncan."
Duncan looked away from Brett's hand and looked up. He gazed at Brett's face, which was tense all along his jawline. He then looked up at Eddy's face, then back to Brett's. He stammered;
"I.. I'm sorry, Brett, I'm.. just in awe of how you look.. you.. you haven't changed at all.. you look exactly how I've imagined you'd look. You look amazing."
He removed his hand that was on top of Brett's so that Brett could remove his hand at will. Brett, however, seemed to have chosen not to remove his hand as he remained standing with his hand being held by Duncan.
"We.. we should sit down, Duncan."
"Yeah. Sure. Of course."
They sat down at a large table, Brett and Duncan side by side and Eddy sat across Brett. Brett looked up towards Duncan.
"Um..Duncan..?"
"Yeah, Brett?"
"I.. I've been wanting to.. apologise for what's happened.. I'm...I'm sorry, Duncan. I'm so sorry that you had to leave Brisbane.."
"Hey.. I know what you're trying to say. I.. get it. But get this Eddy.. it's not your fault, okay? I don't want you to ever think that it was somehow your fault because it's not."
"That whole situation.. what happened.. to the both of us.. I think, was.. absolutely brutal Duncan. It.. still crushes me when I think about it."
Duncan bit his lower lip.
"I.. I know. I get it, Brett. What happened between us.. it really sucked. I.. I so regret it became that way, I really do. But it wasn't your fault.
Brett struggled to blink back his tears.
"O.. okay.."
"So.. Brett, do you still remember our friends' names from back then?"
"Um.. yeah, I.. I remember some names.. like Kyle.. and Mark"
"Yeah..! I remember Kyle. And I remember Mark, too! He was a really cheeky character..!!"
Brett let out a little smile.
"Yeah.. he was. Um.. I.. I actually don't remember that many names from my school years anymore though.. because I ended up becoming a bit of a loner after you.. left."
"Oh. ..I'm sorry to hear that."
"It's okay."
"So Brett.."
"Y, yeah..?"
Duncan looked up and looked straight at Eddy before turning to Brett and spoke;
"So.. can we just.. um.. y'know... just hang out and chat for a while..? Just the two of us.. I just wanna reminisce about the old times.. please?"
YOU ARE READING
Twoset Gloved
Fanfiction"Brett Yang." "Who?" "Oh don't play dumb with me Eddy, I've seen the way you've been looking at him." Sh*t "So.. what if I do, Ray?" "Just don't get your hopes up. You've seen the gloves? He's a neat-freak-germaphobe." Will Eddy ever get to know mo...
