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CXVIII

The concert hall of the Sydney Opera House was packed to the brim.
“Good thing I like to be close to you”, Eddy meant, his side pressed against Brett as they made their way to the main floor with hundreds of others. Brett felt his face heat up when the taller put an arm around him in a protective manner, shielding him from bumps left and right, mostly from other students.
“Same”, Brett mumbled, relishing the closeness to the taller. The current which had set off during dinner and had intensified when they’d kissed while doing the dishes was still very much present, very much palpable and very much affecting Brett’s state. Maybe they should have skipped bubble tea and made out in Eddy’s room instead or something because how in sweet Jesus’ name was he going to sit through a whole damn symphonic concert without exploding right on the spot was beyond him. He stole a glance at that wonderful, stunning being next to him who’d added the same dark blue jacket he’d worn the night of the competition and a pair of black jeans to his outfit. Brett and his mates hadn’t made it back to the hotel so they were still wearing the same casual clothes they had all day. It made Brett feel underdressed next to Eddy to say the least, which was funny for he usually didn’t care one bit about clothing etiquette when he sat in the audience. 

Eddy looked at him as if he’d read his mind. “You look great by the way.”
Brett scoffed. “Sweet talker! Didn’t even have the chance to shower!”
“No need. You smell great all the time!”, Eddy sighed, almost sending Brett tripping over his own feet.

They eventually found their seats. Brett was flanked by Nathan on one side and Eddy on the other who immediately took Brett’s hand underneath the armrest and brushed his thumb over the back of it in a very distracting way. 
“Psst”, Nathan made. Brett turned to him. “You alright? You look kinda constipated.”
“Thanks for the image”, Brett deadpanned, “Yeah. All good.”
“Okay. Don’t faint again like last time we’ve been here!”
Brett pushed his chuckling friend’s shoulder for good measure just seconds before the lights dimmed down.

The first piece was one of the 109 Haydn Symphonies Brett had never heard live and the Sydney Symphony dived into Beethoven’s Pastoral right after. It was beautiful, marvelous music played by the country’s finest and yet, he’d never been more off in a concert than in this, including the infamous one Nathan had just mentioned. His whole being was focusing on the subtle, calming breathing next to him, on the broad hand holding his, on fingertips traveling over his way too warm skin. He swallowed hard, forced his ears open to catch every sweet, tasteful phrase so he had something else to concentrate on other than his increasing need to pull Eddy’s face to his right then and there. The images of their last kiss popping up in his brain didn’t exactly help his mission to stay sane and when the scene of them being caught by Nathan and Cole followed, he barely suppressed a snicker.

Eddy seemed to have picked up on Brett’s restless behaviour and leaned over to him, enveloping Brett with his dizzying scent.
“Are you alright?”
“Yup, fine”, Brett breathed back but oh, Eddy was so goddamn close and it was so fucking tempting to just close the tiny gap Eddy had left. He was surprised there was that much judiciousness in him left that he didn’t though.
Did Eddy notice him blushing (there was no way he wasn’t)? Or was it his hands getting sweaty and his breathing accelerating slightly, because he got even closer and whispered into Brett’s ear, “Intermission’s up soon, you know.”
Brett’s big eyes caught Eddy’s mischievous glint as the taller leaned away with a soundless snigger.

They entered breaktime and as the lights went on and people around them rose from their seats, Brett wasted no second to drag Eddy up his feet and out the hall.
“Brett! Where…”
“Somewhere more private!”
“Wait!”, Eddy called, “I know a place!”
He let Eddy take over the lead without further ado and together, they flew up some giant stairs to the upper floors and down a corridor all the while giggling like little schoolgirls. Brett had no idea where they were heading to. He’d never been in this part of the iconic building and passing by closed doors and running through another unlit hallway, he guessed most people hadn’t.
“Fingers crossed I still find the right door- oh! Here it is!”
He pressed down a handle of an ominous glass door and they found themselves on what appeared to be fire escape stairs. 
“Whoa… that’s quite…”
“Awesome view! No?”, Eddy panted, hands on his hips and carrying a big smile.
“It’s… Eddy, how high is this?”
High. Too high to stand on metal grids with more holes than material able to support their weight!
“Look at the stars!” Eddy pointed upwards and as much as Brett would have liked to follow his index, looking up was NOT gonna end well. Instead, his shaking hands clawed Eddy’s forearm like a kitten a tree trunk.
“Brett?”, the other asked, confusion audible in his voice and Brett couldn’t blame him. One second he was desperate to throw his arms around Eddy and now, all he did was stand there, frozen on the spot with all colour gone from his face. 
“Brett, are you okay?”
“Uh…”
“Wait… you’re not… afraid of heights, are you?”
“Bingo!”, Brett managed to press through gritted teeth. 
“Oh!” Eddy’s eyes widened. “Shit! Wait! I’ll get us inside! Take my hand, Brett! I’m with you!”
Brett did as said and Eddy led him to the door again, grabbed the handle and-
Nothing!
Eddy tried again. 
“No!”, he breathed as his eyes got even bigger in shock. 
“What?”, Brett asked despite knowing the cruel answer.
“It doesn’t open! It did last time!”
“Guess fire escapes normally aren’t unlocked…”
“Shit! Brett! I’m so sorry! I swear it worked when I was here!”
“Please don’t tell me we have to climb down… here?”, Brett whined, a shaky finger pointing at the sus staircase leading down, step after step alongside the stupidly tall building. 
Eddy gave Brett’s hand a squeeze. “We might have to. I’m so sorry I messed up!”
Brett swallowed. And swallowed again without avail. The fear in his stomach grew bigger and bigger like a tumor wanting to break out of him.
“Alright! Nah, we got this! It’s gonna be fine!”, Eddy pep talked more himself than Brett. “Okay, alright! Brett, look at me!”
Brett did and met Eddy’s determined eyes. 
“If anyone can climb down these stairs, it’s you! You’re the most courageous person I’ve met and I’m not just saying this because I was dumb enough to bring us into this shitty situation. You’ll be okay and I’m right here with you every step of the way, okay?”
Courage? If there ever had been courage living in Brett Yang it must have jumped down the minute they’d stepped out here, hauling his sense of balance with it and both splattering to million pieces on solid concrete after what must have been a very, long, fall. 
“Brett, love!”
Brett’s favourite word, somewhat waking him up from his stupor. 
“We’re climbing down now, okay?”
“O… okay…”