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LIII

It wasn't the sound of the aircond or birds singing outside the window which woke up Brett the next day. It was Eddy's regular, slow breathing so close to his face he could make out almost every pore even without his glasses when his eyelids fluttered open. And the first word that popped into his mind while his eyes went from sleepy slits to impossibly wide was a simple "Shit!"

Shit was Eddy beautiful! And shitty shit, was Brett screwed, because now all he could do was stare at this stunning being in front of him, lit by the soft light of the early morning sun. These lashes so long they threw shadows onto his slightly rosy cheeks, the dark fringes falling into his forehead, maybe a bit too long, but for this reason giving him a whimsical, weirdly charming aura. And Eddy's lips... faintly open and so incredibly pink Brett couldn't believe there wasn't any make-up involved. All his past (almost/non) girlfriends had never managed a colour so enticing... and why the hell did Brett's thoughts wander there now, exactly? He shook his head as quietly as he could, pressed his eyes shut for a second just for his exploring sight to come back stronger, wandering down to Eddy's collarbones where his shirt had slid down to the side he was lying on. Was he eating enough? Eddy had said he wasn't much of a cook and the cafeteria's food's ghastliness was a proven fact. And while these worries flooded the probably only functioning part of Brett's brain that was left, a bigger section had to suppress the urge to run a finger along Eddy's clavicle at the same time.

Brett's left arm was still around Eddy and he was just about to let it tighten its hold, when his phone, still in the pocket of his shorts next to his violin case, went off.

"Fuck!", he hissed, ripped himself out of the warmth in Eddy's bed and scrambled to get to his device without waking up Eddy. It didn't work.
"Hello?", Brett picked up, half panicked eyes on the taller grunting very cutely and stretching his back.
"Brett! The fuck are you?", Cole's voice exclaimed so loudly Brett had to hold his phone away from his ear.
"Dude, chill!"
"How can I chill when I wake up and you're still gone? Gonna get degraded as the worst roommate in the history of the Queensland con if it turns out you've died in a ditch after leaving the club last night! Where are you?"
Eddy's head stuck out of the mess of blankets and towels on the bed, blinking at Brett with a small, confused frown. Brett gave him an unsure, stupid wave.
"I was stuck at Eddy's yesterday", he found himself whispering, "Still there. Gonna head straight to the con, I think. What time is it?"
"At Eddy's?", Cole ignored Brett's question, "Wha... why? How?"
"Gonna explain later. See you at the con? I'm good, don't worry." Brett actually did appreciate Cole being concerned about him to a point he gave him a call early in the morning, despite him having dragged Brett away from Eddy's side with that.
"Oh you better! Gave me a heart attack, seriously!"
Brett could still hear Cole cursing even after he hung up.

"Brett?", Eddy croaked, "All good?"
"Yeah, yeah", Brett sighed and put his almost dying phone away, its battery life clearly not going to last till the end of the day, "Just Cole. He was worried because I wasn't at the hotel."
"I'd be too", Eddy yawned and fell flat on the mattress again.
Brett glanced at the other, a fight inside him over whether or not he should return to Eddy's bed keeping him frozen on the spot.
That would be weird though, wouldn't it? The night was over, they had to get up anyway and there was no good reason to go back to the warmth and comfort from before.

So he got up swiftly, grabbed his glasses from the nightstand and left the room with a "Gonna use the restroom real quick."

They got dressed side by side quietly, eyes averted and it wasn't exactly an uncomfortable, heavy silence, and yet, not the kind one would just brush over either.
"Uhm", Eddy cleared his throat after buttoning up a fresh, dark blue shirt, "You slept well? Sorry my bed's so small."
"Nah! Mate, sorry I took space away!"
"You're actually not using much space, you know...", Eddy said.
Brett looked at him incredulously with a raised eyebrow. "Dude, seriously? A height joke?"
"Sorry!", Eddy cracked and laughed so freely Brett felt the corners of his mouth lifting too on their own accord, "Kinda had to. But it's convenient, you know? Otherwise I wouldn't have slept as well as I did."
"Glad I could help", Brett retorted sharply and whirled away in a pretended sulk.
"I actually haven't slept this well in a long time", Eddy spoke from behind Brett's back and it sounded so genuine Brett turned around again.
"Really?"
Eddy wasn't looking at him when he confirmed, "Yup. You really did help, you know."
"Oh..."

All the way to the bakery where they got themselves two bread rolls each for breakfast, Brett almost couldn't contain that stupid grin that wanted to break out on his face.

Thankfully, no one asked any questions when Brett and Eddy entered the big hall together with a few minutes to spare this time. Also, no one seemed to notice Brett wearing the same clothes he did yesterday. Cole's eyes were already on him though and Brett did feel like he owed his friend that much, so he gave him a sign and they stepped out into the hallway.

"How the hell did you end up at Eddy's?", Cole began without throwing in any polite niceties.
"I went to apologize for... stuff. And I kinda got stuck there."
"How on earth did you manage that?"
"Security's pretty strict, apparently. They're not allowed to bring visitors after ten."
"But you left the club way after ten!"
"I got in. Couldn't leave though", Brett shrugged apologetically.
"Oh", Cole made, "I see."
"Yeah. Sorry I scared you, man."

Cole looked at him in a way Brett knew he wasn't left off the hook yet. He gulped.
"Brett, you're acting weird."
"What? How?", he played dumb because that was the only option right this moment, you see.
"Just... you seem different. The way you ran off yesterday like life depended on it. And this morning, you sounded so nervous on the phone I thought you were caught by the police because of disturbance of the peace or something. And then the way your whole face was glowing when you entered the big hall with Eddy..."
"Speaking of which, we need to get going, right?", Brett hastily interrupted the other and rushed past Cole, praying desperately that he would let this one go.
He had no such luck though.

"Brett!", Cole yelled, cursing Brett's legs, making them useless. He didn't need to turn around to know that his friend wasn't joking when he said, "There's more to all of this, isn't there?"