It was 8 pm, right after dinner...

LXXIII

They had nearly forgotten that stupid Christmas tree stand yet again!

Being so distracted with buying (not so important) ornaments, they'd checked out without having the main item, for which they'd come to the giant Swedish furniture store in the first place. They had already entered the metro station, when Eddy suddenly yelled "Fuck!!!"
"What is it?", Brett asked, oblivious of their error.
"We forgot!"
Eddy didn't specify, but Brett knew immediately what he was talking about. So the taller rushed back, not before getting Brett to give up from coming with him and making sure he had a place to rest. After fifteen minutes of mindlessly scrolling on his phone, a panting Eddy stood in front of him, holding the tree stand in one hand like a medal.

For decorating the tree, Eddy put on Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker and brewed a cinnamon apple tea for both of them, despite it being like 32 degrees Celsius outside. They put the tree into the tree stand (finally), moved it in between the window and the tv and started hanging up those glittery ornaments. Soon, the tree resembled more a modern art sculpture than an actual Christmas tree. The Christmas balls they'd chosen were such a mix up of different colours and styles that they didn't match at all.

But that wasn't of importance. They had tons of fun and had to laugh whenever a particular awful thing got hung up. At the end, Eddy put his glitter bomb of a unicorn up on the highest branch.

"Done!", he exclaimed happily and came down from the chair.
"I actually have another one. But it's for you, so you decide, where you wanna put it", Brett said and went to get his bag.
"What is it?", Eddy asked, eyeing him with surprise.
Brett pulled out a little satchel and handed it to Eddy, who carefully opened it.
"Woah, Brett... this is..."
He took the little violin ornament out of the bag and held it by it's hook to examine it.
"I didn't even see those. Where did you find it?"
"In that huge basket with the scattered ones from last year. Figured you might like it", Brett answered and stepped a bit closer to have a better look at it.
"It's so cute! Thank you!"

Brett hadn't noticed, how small the distance had gotten between them when he'd come closer, but Eddy's breathing was suddenly crystal clear next to Brett's ears, his scent so strong it enveloped Brett entirely, his body heat almost burning Brett's side. Brett turned his head slightly and locked eyes with the one, who's presence made him equally calm like the sea and nervous like a herd of rabbits running away from a predator.
Eddy looked back at him with half lidded eyes, the tiny violin in his hand seemingly forgotten. Brett saw, how Eddy licked his lips, before he whispered Brett's name like it was the most precious, delicate thing in the world.
"Eddy...", Brett whispered back, not as a question, nor a statement, but like worship.

He felt the back of Eddy's fingers against his cheek. His vision blurred, as waves of slight shivers overtook Brett's body from head to toe. He closed his eyes, his mouth parted and he felt his heart pick up the pace. His brain blanked except for one name being voiced over and over again in the hollow whiteness of his mind: Eddy.

Brett didn't know, what he was waiting for, but the tension was almost unbearable. Unbearably sweet and scary at the same time. Eddy's fingers were still there, slightly stroking the side of Brett's face and he could hear, how Eddy held his breath, like he was about to jump head first into the cold sea. And everything inside Brett screamed and longed for one single thing, that Eddy Chen's lips would finally, finally meet Brett's.

Was it possible? Was it possible that Eddy felt just a teensy bit like how Brett felt for him? That all the touching, the teasing, the sharing the same bed, the care, the sweet words, the wearing the rose necklace, the "You're mine" and "It's the truth" and "You're cute" actually meant, that Eddy did like Brett at least a little bit?

If it was, Brett wouldn't have known, at least not now. Because suddenly, the scent and warmth were gone, the fingers tracing lines along Brett's jawline were withdrawn and when Brett's eyes fluttered open to see, where the source of his joy and light had vanished to, he saw Eddy looking at him with a secretive smile, but two meters away, the silly gift Brett had gotten him still dangling from one hand.

Brett didn't dare to open his mouth. Eddy did though.
"I want to do right by you, Brett. Trust me!"

The fuck?

"I get it", Brett simply said, though his heart begged for an explanation, for a sign that what happened just now wasn't Brett interpreting too much into a maybe intimate, but totally bro-like situation.

He turned on his heels and basically ran into his room, all the while feeling hot tears threatening to show what Brett wanted to hide from the love of his life all along.