Neighbour

43.

It was really nice to sit across the table from Brett at breakfast, watching him carefully dip his spoon in his oats and scoop out just a teeny tiny bit before closing his lips around the spoon. His hair was messy from sleep still, his eyes squinty, and the worn t-shirt he had slept in still rested loosely over his shoulders.

It was really nice to steal glances at him as they sat together, though on each end of the couch, scrolling on their phones. Together, yet separately. Every once in a while one of them would giggle, and the other would request to see what they were giggling about. It felt good to laugh together.

It was also nice to peek at him over the sheet music while they listened to a new piece together, seeing the concentration in his eyebrows and the focus as he turned the page with gentle hands. Most of the bruises had faded by now, only leaving the emotional scars. They were especially visible when they needed to get something from Brett’s apartment, and they were visible at night. The nights were especially rough.

"Eddy?" Brett asked gently, the uncertainty in his voice hardly perceivable now. Eddy snapped out of his thoughts and looked up from the sheet music.

"Yeah?" he asked, realizing Brett had probably said something to him right before that he had missed. "Oh uh, say again? I was lost in thought."

"Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to… uh… I mean…" Brett began, but seemed to catch himself apologizing and shook his head a bit to start over. "I just asked if you'd mind if I just tried playing a tiny bit of the violin part..? I'll use a practice mute if you'd prefer that, I just wanted to see…"

"Of course, Bretty, I don’t mind at all. Mind if I stay and listen?" Eddy asked with a gentle smile, happy to see he was feeling more comfortable asking to do things he wanted. He wanted Brett to feel free with him. "No practice mute needed."

"Oh uh, sure, if you'd want that," Brett said softly, a warm pink spreading over his cheeks. He stood up and carefully picked up the violin case with Eddy's old violin and placed it on the couch, opening it.

Eddy reached over to the side of the couch to grab the music stand for him, putting the music up on it.

"You didn't have to do that, you know. I could have done it myself," Brett said softly once he noticed what Eddy was doing, a small smile playing on his lips. "Thank you."

"What can I say? I like spoiling you," Eddy chuckled jokingly as he adjusted the stand to Brett’s height. "This good?"

"Perfect, thank you," Brett said softly, smiling a bit shyly as he got his phone out to open the tuning app.

"You're welcome, Bretty. Anytime," Eddy said softly, sitting back down on the couch. He pulled his legs up and leaned back, admiring his roommate as he stumbled through a piece neither of them had played before. This was perfect.