It was 8 pm, right after dinner...

IX

Brett Yang was by far not of faint-hearted nature. There was hardly anything, that could scare him to the core of his being, the occasional important competition or recital aside or when Eddy had entered his wheelchair period back in uni.
But there he was, laying in the dark of his bedroom after something that he'd definitely put down as "scary af" in his memoirs if he'd ever write some. He tried to make sense of what had happened this evening. Not an easy task, considering his still pounding head and the nausea from before not being far away. At least, his breathing had normalized itself again, so that was something.

The Ibuprofen Eddy had brought him took it's effect and his mind finally cleared off a bit, which sent his brain into (over-)thinking and analyzing mode.

He really just should have cancelled their dinner meeting, Brett thought bitterly. How could something so embarrassing happen to him? Outside in public, in front of their team no less! Sleep deprivation had never been a problem before for him and just because of one super early phone call he went down like one of those stupid airdancers without, well, air? That was not like him at all!
Brett really didn't want to go there, but he had to face it. The symptoms were so similar to the ones he had after Eddy's fried rice. So maybe he caught something and it hadn't worn off yet? Or maybe he was suddenly allergic to all asian food? That would suck big time, with him BEING a freaking Asian, currently living in an Asian country and all! Considering him almost throwing up his whole dinner, maybe it really was something digestion related though? But then again, every second illness could cause nausea, so it was not a clear sign for anything.
Brett sighed and stared at the dark celing.
At least the team hadn't really caught on what had happened, thanks to Eddy's fast reaction. Poor Eddy! Brett really didn't want to burden him with this shit. That's why he had tried to hide it until it was almost too late. Brett should had just left when he still could, but at some point he'd had such a strong headache and nasty stomach cramps, that even standing up from the table had seemed impossible.

Eddy had acted so wonderfully though, Brett marveled. How had he known that Brett didn't want to cause a scene? He could have just asked their team for help too, that'd be like the first thing Brett would probably do. But Eddy didn't and instead, had brought Brett outside, away from everyone they knew. Being embarrassingly weak in front of Eddy was bad, but being that in front of everyone would have been hell.
And Eddy was so understandable and nice to him, outside and when they had been back in the apartment. How could he not be angry with Brett ruining their evening?
But then again, that's just how Eddy's always been: caring for everyone and not at all focused on what he'd miss out on or what disadvantage he'd be in.

Brett quickly came to the conclusion, that there was no way he was going to figure out the cause of those shitty events. He'd just have to wait until his appointment with that specialist and till then make sure something like this wouldn't happen again. But how, he contemplated. Those symptoms seemed to appear randomly without him doing anything stressful or eating anything bad. The first time, everything had happened within seconds without him experiencing any signs beforehand. The second time, well, that might have been on him for just leaving the house with those warhammers pounding down on his head.

Brett turned around and curled himself into a fetus position. He felt angry tears pressing against his eyelids, but there was no way he was going to bawl like a two year old because of something so stupid. So he kept his eyes firmly shut, until he finally drifted off.

When Brett woke up the next morning, he was feeling much better. He heard the coffee maker doing his duty in the kitchen and glanced at his phone. 7:30 am, normally way too early for Eddy to be awake already. Brett swung his legs over the bedside, stretched and stepped out of his room.

"Morning", he greeted a busy Eddy at their kitchen counter. His flatmate turned around and smiled. "Hey. You feeling better?" he put some bread into the toaster and placed two cups on the table.
"Yeah, much better! Thanks", Brett answered and helped Eddy setting the table. "How come you're awake already?"
"Couldn't sleep", Eddy said and just now, Brett noticed dark circles under Eddy's eyes.
"Oh, why?" Sleeping problems were not uncommon with Eddy, but it'd normally result in him sleeping till noon if no one were to wake him up.
"Don't know", he replied briefly. Brett knew better than to push his luck and press further, so he let it go and they finished preparing breakfast in silence.

Both were eating quietly, when Eddy suddenly asked: "Why didn't you say anything yesterday? We could have postponed the meeting, you know."
Brett sighed. "I know. I didn't want to be a bother and seriously, I thought I was fine."
"Well, you very obviously weren't", Eddy said. Was Brett imagining it, or was there a hint of annoyance in his voice? There had been no negative comment coming from Eddy yesterday whatsover, so what was going on now? Brett frowned, not knowing what to say to that.

Eddy continued: "And why didn't you say anything in the restaurant? We could have gone home earlier you know, no biggie."
"I thought I had it under control", Brett answered, his voice very small. He put his fork down and started to knead his own fingers. "It was just a headache in the beginning and then I started to feel sick around dessert." He looked at Eddy, who stared back with almost wild eyes.
"Eddy I... I'm very sorry you had to get me out there. I know, I should be able to look after myself."

If there really had been any irritation before, it was gone as fast as it had appeared. Eddy's face softened instantly. "Brett, I'm not angry at you... Or maybe I was a bit annoyed just before" Brett nodded. "It's just... I wasn't able to tell that something was wrong until we had ice cream and you were in such a bad state. I guess... I'm sorry too, I didn't notice earlier."
Brett shook his head furiously. "No, no. This one's not on you at all. Quite the contrary! Without you, I don't know what I would have done, man!"
They looked at each other, neither of them knowing what to say.
"I... Brett, I was obviously not fast enough with judging the situation. So you need to tell me, if something's wrong with you", Eddy said eventually. Brett nodded, his gaze down on his half eaten toast. "I won't go down again", Brett said, sounding very unsure. Eddy smiled a bit. "Just, if you are, tell me beforehand, ok?"
Brett nodded again, firmly making a promise to himself to not let Eddy see him in a state similar to yesterday ever again.