Straight

XII

"Hey, guys."
Jack, their cellist friend, is standing in the rehearsal space next to Cho, the violist. He's already grinning at him in that way he has, and Eddy almost rolls his eyes. Oh God. Here we go. 
"So, where did you sleep last night, Eddy-boy? At Vanessa's, by any chance?"
Fuck, he can feel it, he can feel his cheeks colouring, and he wants to scream at Jack to keep his fucking mouth shut. He doesn't, of course. 
"I mean, she was all over your business on the dance floor last night."
"Fuck off, Jack." he mutters and puts his case down. "We just danced."
He can't help it, he glances at Brett out of the corner of his eye. He's there, unpacking his violin, and he's not looking at them at all. 
"I think some more than dancing went on there." Jack grins. "She's pretty, right?"
He sighs and stands up straight. 
"Yeah, she's hot, right?"
"Good tits, too."
Eddy knows the right thing to say here, but somehow he doesn't want to say it. He does anyway.
"Yeah, they feel pretty good too, mate."
Jack laughs loudly and sits down on the fourth chair. 
Eddy sits down too, but for some reason he feels dirty. And Brett is still not making eye contact. 

He plays alright. Better than that morning at least, even though there's still a few fuck ups. Even though his mind keeps wandering. He doesn't think anyone notices, though. 
"Alright, guys, this is good enough for the thing on tuesday, right?"
"Yeah, I think so."
Jack packs his cello away and grins at the group.
"You guys wanna go grab some Chinese food?"
To be honest, Eddy doesn't. He wants to go home and get his head back on straight. But Brett's already smiling and nodding. 
"I'm game, you, Eddy?"
"Yeah, sure."

They've been to this restaurant before, and it's like he can feel two versions of himself. Normal Eddy, who has been here, who knows what to say and how to behave, even if he's shy. And new Eddy, who has no fucking idea where he stands right now. He sits down at the table they're shown, and crosses his arms in front of him. Brett comes and sit next to him, of course, like he always has, although he seems to hesitate for just a second before taking the chair. 
Does he feel it too? 
Brett's so close now, and he hates himself for it, but his dick is growing fast under the table. God, what is this? And is he flushed now? He's not sure. He breathes deeply and tries to be normal, act normal. 
"Can we both have hotpot, please?" Brett flashes a smile at the waiter and orders for him. He almost grins. 
Well. It's what they always order, right?
It seems to take only seconds for the food to arrive and he tucks in. The guys are bantering around him, but they're used to him being the quiet one. And for once he is happy about that. 
He has enough on his mind without also needing to figure out the right things to say. 

They have paid and are walking home as a group. It's getting dark fast, and suddenly their steps seem loud on the pavement. 
"Right, Imma take the bus the last bit." Jack says, turning right. "You comin', Cho?"
"Yeah, mate. See you guys on Monday!"

Okay, so this is the moment to tell Brett. Usually he would just go with him, watch a film, play some games, but hasn't he decided earlier in the day that he should go home? So he should tell Brett that, right? They walk on through the dark streets, and get to the point where Eddy needs to go right if he's going to go home. Brett hasn't actually said very much the whole walk, maybe he's done all of his chatting in the restaurant? But now he catches his sideways glance. 
"Are you going to head home tonight?" he says in his new beige tone. "Or are you gonna come with me?"
Eddy blinks into the night. He knows what he should say. 
But he also knows what he wants to say.
"Er, if you want. Or I can stay?"
"Sure, stay."