It was 8 pm, right after dinner...

CVI

Calling Eddy's mum had been a walk in the park really, compared to what Brett was going through now.

Right now, he had a hard time with trying NOT to hyperventilate.

"Bretty, it's okay", Eddy soothed, his worried eyes on Brett, "Your parents are more open than my mum. If she's sorta okay with us, yours will be too."
Brett nodded despite the doubt towards Eddy's words. But this was so stupid! He was an adult, his own person and he was merely going to inform his parents. It wasn't like they could actually keep him from being with Eddy.
"Argh! Fuck it!" He took Eddy's phone Eddy held out for Brett, quickly typed in the phone number of Yang's house he knew by heart and put the call on speaker like Eddy had before.

Again, the countdown of potential doom, screeching shrill in Brett's ears.

"Yes, hello?", the voice of Brett's mum said.
Brett decided to choose the same tactic as Eddy and replied in his mediocre Mandarin.
"媽, 新年快樂! (Mum, happy new year!)"
"啊堯, 是你嗎? (Brett, is that you?)"
"嗯, 是我. Eddy 也在. (Yeah, Eddy's here too)."
"Oh, Eddy, hi!"
"Hi, Mrs. Yang", Eddy said, him crying earlier still audible in his voice.
"How have you two been? How are you feeling, Brett?"
"Better, much better. The new meds are working, I think. And I've been eating more. I was allowed to change my diet too."
He figured leading with some good news might help with the more critical one's later.
"Good, good!", his mother thused, "Make sure you have enough vitamines and nutritions, okay?"
"I will, mum. Uhm..."
"Yes? What is it?"

There it was! The moment of truth. Brett breathed in deeply and locked eyes with Eddy, before he declared: "I have some news. Eddy is my boyfriend now, since Christmas Eve. We..." He continued quickly before his voice died down, "we're together now."

Silence. And then: "What did you just say?"
Oh... Oh no... She sounded upset! Very upset.
But there was no backing down now, so he just put a repeat sign after his last sentence.
"We're together now."
"楊博堯, 你別跟我開玩笑! (Brett Yang! You're better not playing pranks on me!)"
"I'm not, ma..." Brett started to sound hysterical. "Eddy and I, we love each other!"
"No! No! That can't be! You're not gay, Brett!"
"Well... I didn't used to be, yes. But that changed.... I've changed."
The tears from earlier made a quick comeback and were running down Brett's cheeks fast. Eddy didn't waste any time. He took Brett in his arms, his wide eyes showing how much it affected him too.
Of course it did. Brett's mother had always been very fond of Eddy, having nothing but good thoughts and words about him, sometimes even comparing his high grades to Brett's lower ones in subjects like math and science.

It was quiet for a while, the storm of hurtful words ceased for a few, agonizing seconds, before Mrs. Yang said: "I... Brett I can't talk right now. I need to... think about this! I'm sorry!"
And with that, she hung up, the beeps from the dead line like a funeral march.

Brett was mute, the tears streaming down his face staining Eddy's shirt, as quiet sobs shook Brett's body.
"I'm so sorry, Brett...", Eddy whispered.
Brett moved his head left and right wildly. "This is so fucked up!", he cried.

And like before, just with them having swapped places, Brett was tightly held by Eddy while he bawled his eyes and soul out.
He couldn't believe how his mother had reacted. Couldn't believe the outrage her voice had carried and how she'd just cut the line like this. After how well it had went with Eddy's mum, how come Brett's mum was the one being dramatic, to put it mildly. Brett also couldn't believe how much this affected him. He'd always thought of himself as someone who was quite independent, not really caring about what others thought of him...
Apparently, it was different when it came to his parents.

It took Brett almost as long as Eddy before to calm down slowly.
"I'm sorry I lost it like this."
"Brett..." Eddy's hand stroked Brett's back gently the entire time he was holding him. "You did see how I bawled my eyes out? And my mum was much nicer than yours! Please don't apologize."
"Yeah... but still..."
"It's fine... we're allowed to cry."

They decided to put in another practice session after those nail-biting calls, trying to concentrate on something else, divert their attention. It worked to some degree, Brett working on the Paganiniana led him to block out the last few words he'd heard from his mother.

Brett was an hour into his pracitice, when there was a knock on the door. He lowered his violin and noticed Eddy's playing from his room had stopped.
"Eddy?"
Eddy opened the door. Brett looked at him, noticing his almost shy demeanor.
"You all right? You seem off...", Brett tried, put his instrument down and walked over to his love.
"Yeah, I'm fine", Eddy said, but his gaze was still cast down. "Just wanted to know if... you're okay, you know."
There was more behind Eddy asking Brett after how he was doing. Brett could hear it in the way his voice trailed off at the end, could see it in his tensed up stance.
After all, he did know his best friend well.

"Eddy, talk to me. There is clearly something upsetting you. What is it?"
Eddy seemed reluctant, but luckily didn't need much more convincing.
"I'm just... Brett I'm sorry you have to go through this shit because of me."
Brett's eyes opened wide as he realized what this was really about.
"Eddy!!! No! This has nothing to do with you!!!"
"Really?? It's because of me..."
"Eddy! Stop!" Brett grabbed Eddy by his shoulders and forced the other to look into his eyes.
"It was me who fell in love with you and it's pure blessing that you love me back! That my mum's not okay with this is neither your nor my fault."
His firm voice led the storm in Eddy's eyes to calm down, Brett could see it. Had he been turning these thoughts in his head the last hour?
"Eddy, please. Think about it! You know I'm right, right?" Brett knew the instant he'd said it outloud that he was.
Eddy shook his head slightly. "Yeah, yeah of course. I'm sorry... It's just", he sighed deeply, "you wouldn't have these problems if you'd be with a girl."
"Maybe, but I wouldn't be half as happy, believe me. I wouldn't nearly feel as whole."
"Really?", Eddy bit his lower lip, looking like a sad puppy. Brett tiptoed so he could kiss him.
"Really!"
"Okay." Eddy smiled, the insecurity gone. Brett smiled back.
"More practice?"
"Sure! Together?"
"Sure!"