Allegro con fuoco

XLIV

He sat down with his sister in a corner by the railing, he chatted and he listened to everything she told him about her retreat, her friends, and the guy she'd gone on a couple of dates with. He laughed too, freely, and when Brett sat down next to him and handed him a bottle of beer he glugged it happily, then he took Brett's hand and rubbed his thumb over it. 
"Wait, what?" 
He looked up to see the incredulous face of one of Todd's cello friends whose name he had forgotten. He was staring at their hands together. 
"Has this just happened or have I missed something?" he asked, and for second Eddy froze solid. But the little squeeze of Brett's hand in his instantly calmed him down some. 
"You've missed something, Alex." Brett laughed beside him. 
Alex shrugged and raised his beer to them. 
"Okay. Cool."
He turned back to the guy he was talking to with a grin and took a long draught from his beer while Eddy tried to catch his breath.
That was it? That was all? He exhaled slowly as his pounding heart calmed.

It was one A.M. by the time everyone had gone home and the worst of the mess had been taken in. The rest they could sort out the next day, right? Eddy was just taking some half empty glasses into the kitchen when he bumped into Todd. 
"So, that was quite the party in the end?" he quipped. 
Todd had had a fair amount of beer, he knew that, but he wasn't drunk. In fact, he hadn't been drunk since that fateful night in Taiwan. Todd's eyes lit up and he nodded. 
"It was cool, right? You had fun?"
Eddy nodded too. 
"Yeah, it was good. Um. Yeah."
How was he supposed to tell him what he actually felt? But he could have known Todd would look right through him, even somewhat tipsy. 
"So. Out to some friends. How does that feel?"
Eddy snickered softly. 
"You have good eyes, Toddy boy. Yeah. It's good. I mean... yeah. No one was very surprised."
Suddenly Todd laughed out loud. 
"Of course they weren't surprised. Your face is an open book, Eddy. And now you know... nobody around us cares either way."
He was still smiling as he left the living room and walked into the bathroom. 

"So, apparently my face is an open book." he said to Brett as he closed their bedroom door behind him. 
Brett shrugged. 
"Not really. Todd just knows you well and he's good at reading people."
Eddy sat down next to him on the bed and put his arm around him. 
"I loved how you handled that, Bretty. No fuss, just like it was the most natural thing in the world."
Brett shrugged again. 
"It is the most natural thing in the world. I knew our friends would see it that way too. I figured I'd keep it light."
Eddy leaned over and kissed his cheek gently. 
"Thanks for not letting me overthink it first."
Brett chuckled lightly as he turned to him and returned the kiss, but this time on the lips. 
"Are you tired?" he asked, his tone suddenly soft and gentle. 
"A little. I'm okay."
"Come on then."

Oh, there really wasn't any time when Eddy felt more loved, more cherished than when Brett did this. When he took his hand, moved the quilt so he could lie down, then pulled the quilt over him and slipped into bed beside him. Brett took his hand and kissed him gently on the cheek. 
"It was awesome." Brett said softly, as he stroked his hair back from his forehead. "I... I guess I hadn't known how proud I would feel to have the world see you're my guy."
"I am your guy." Eddy whispered back. "Always."
He could feel Brett's smile against his cheek, he could feel him relaxing beside him, sinking deeper into the mattress. 
"Good."