Andante con Brio

CXXXVIII

"Eddy, it's for you!" 
Todd's voice floated through the door of the studio, but before he even had a chance to answer someone was already knocking. He lowered his violin automatically.
"Come in?"
The door opened and Lily burst through it. He just about had a chance to put his violin down and catch her before she fell. 
"Jesus, Lils, what's up?"
Her cheeks were bright red and streaked with tears. Her hair was in disarray, which was something he had never seen before. And she was sobbing, sobbing hard, her whole body shaking as he held her. 
"Eddy." she whispered. "Eddy."
He felt it in time, felt her starting to slide out from under him, and before he knew it picked her up, carried her to the spare bed, put her down gently. She curled up in fetal position, holding onto her knees for dear life. Eddy looked up to Brett, but he looked just as helpless. He sat down next to Lily and put his hand on her shoulder, rubbing gently.  
"Lily. Tell me, please. What's going on?"
"I'll get her some water." Brett whispered, and he nodded at him. 
Water was a good idea. If he could get her to drink any. Jesus, he had known this girl for years, but he had never seen her cry like this. A few tears, sure. But full blown sobbing, like this? He was so out of his depth here. 
"Lily?"
She grabbed his free hand with both of hers and squeezed it so tight he had to stop himself from saying ow. 
"I... I... he... Oh God." she sobbed. 
"He? what... Matt? What did he do?"
He could hear his tone change. From concerned, to something more. What the hell had that fucker done to his friend this time? Brett rushed back through the door with a glass of water in his hand and sat down on the other side of the bed. Eddy took the glass and offered it to Lily. She lifted herself up and took a sip, then let herself fall back down and hugged her knees again. 
"He's left me, Eddy." she said in a sudden, low monotone. The tears halted for a moment as she spoke. Eddy tried his hardest not to fall off the bed in shock. Lily seemed to be frozen altogether, staring into a distance he couldn't see. She took a deep breath. 
"He left me, Eddy. Apparently, all this time I've been thinking we were good together, and for most of it he's been seeing other girls behind my back. He left his phone open tonight. I read all the messages."
It took Eddy a good three seconds to find his voice, another two before he trusted it to work without screaming. Brett's eyes, across from him, had flattened, gone ice cold. 
"Jesus Christ. How... Jesus, Lils."
She nodded as the tears started up again. 
"I hate him." she spat suddenly. "I hate him! I've been feeling sick ever since I read..."
She swallowed convulsively and grabbed Eddy's hand tighter. 
"Where am I gonna go, huh? Back to my parents? He's destroyed everything for me."
Eddy didn't even have to look at Brett to know he would be okay with what he was about to say. 
"You can stay here as long as you need to, Lils. I'm sure everyone will be fine with that."
She looked up at him from red eyes, swollen to slits. Sobbed bitterly. 
"Why can't guys be more like you, huh?"
"Oh, Lils." 
He pulled her head up so it was on his lap and stroked her cheek, sat there with her until at last she calmed a little. Then he looked at Brett and nodded. 
"Come on. I think we still have some soup in the fridge. You should try and eat something."
To be honest, he had expected her to say no, no way. But instead she nodded and sat up. 
"Yeah. Alright."