Club - a Breddy Fanfic.

81) Meeting

Mason heaves a huge sigh when they arrive at Eddy's door. Brett turns around to his friend and puts a hand on his shoulder.

"It'll work out, Mason. I'm sure of it. You'll see." he says with confidence.
Mason eyes him warily. He clearly doesn't believe a word he says.

Brett sees Eddy through the glass of the kitchen window, busy with something. Be decides to knock on the glass, instead to ring the bell.
"Hey, glad you're here." Eddy says as he opens the door and hugs Brett. He smiles sympathetically at Mason over Brett's shoulder. "You too, Mason. Welcome."

"Hey Eddy. Thanks for having me." Mason answers meekly, eyes cast down.

Eddy shoots a worried glance at Brett when he looks Mason up and down. "Jeesh Mason. Sorry to say, but you look like shit, mate."

"Yeah, well I feel like shit." Mason shrugs.

"Let's go inside." Brett urges and pushes Mason in. Better to have him inside as quickly as possible. If Mason finds out Timo is at Eddy's as well, he might not want to go in anymore.
They get out of their shoes and hang their coats up in silence, while Eddy walks towards the kitchen.
"Coffee or tea?" Eddy asks over his shoulder while Mason walks inside, closely followed by Brett.
Mason stops in his tracks so suddenly when he sees the figure of Timo on Eddy's couch, that Brett almost crashes into him. His gaze snaps at Brett immediately, then back to Timo and back to him again.

"Brett?! What's going on?"

Timo turns around as if he's stung by a bee and his mouth falls open. He has dark rings around dull eyes, his skin splotchy red and white. It's obvious he has been crying.
A hush falls over them as the reality of them both being in the same room sinks in.

"You have to talk, mate." Brett explains to Mason. He then turns to Timo. "Mates. Both of you. And now."
Timo averts his eyes to the ground, clearly struggling to hold back his tears and nods infinitesimally.
Mason, who had been glued to the ground until now, springs into action and walks towards the couch. After just a little hesitation he sits himself besides Timo and grabs his hand carefully.
Brett holds his breath. Because now they are together, they should do the talking. But what if they don't?
He feels Eddy's presence already before he feels his arm sliding around his waist. How can someone give so much comfort with just a touch? He relaxes a bit when he feels Eddy relax some as well. Yes. They are together. Together they can move worlds. He looks up and Eddy makes a tiny, nervous nod. They have to get them talking. Brett cups the back of Eddy's head and pulls him in for a short kiss. He then lets go and walks to his friends, followed by Eddy in his wake.

When they pass Timo, Eddy puts a hand on Timo's shoulder and squeezes it.
"You can do it." He whispers encouragingly.
Timo glances at their direction through his eyelashes, when they sit down close to them on the ground, and scrapes his throat.

"Mason..." Timo swallows with difficulty. "I'm so, so terribly sorry. I shouldn't have done that to you."

Brett beams. Perfect! That's the opening they need! Now Mason only has to say 'oh, but you really should have!' or something. Splendid!
It takes a few seconds before he realises there are no comforting words coming, because Mason stays silent. Brett glances nervously at him, eyeing at him to get him to speak, willing the words out of his mouth. Mason clearly tries, taking the breaths you take before you start talking, but exhales every time as well without uttering the words he desperately wants to say. After a few agonizing seconds, Brett decides to help. He has to.

"Mason? Tell him what you told me this morning? You can do it, mate." he says kindly. "If you don't, you might lose him."

"I, eh..., I..." Mason tries and then sighs deeply.

"I'm sorry I have you shaken up so badly." Timo whispers. "Can't we just forget it and go back to how we were?" Timo looks up at Mason, tears in his eyes. "I'll behave. Please?"

Mason shakes his head. "No..."

Timo buries his head in his hands and starts sobbing loudly.
Brett looks at Mason, flabbergasted, then looks at Eddy who's eyes are big with disbelief as well. How can someone as sensitive as Mason be so gawkingly stupid?! Shaking your head 'no' at this point in the conversation is definitely not the way to smooth things over. He blinks a few times rapidly to get his head around it. God. He'll have to rescue them.
"Timo? Listen." he puts a hand on Timo's leg to get his attention. Timo jerks up at the touch and looks up at him through fingers and wet eyelashes. "Listen," Brett repeats, "Mason doesn't mean it like that. It's not that he doesn't want to see you anymore! He means that he doesn't want to go back as to how it was before."

Timo squinches his eyes with confusion. "Huh?"