Play!

CXX

Brett woke up before the alarm or Cole having to shake him awake for once, which was funny considering the fact that they had no rehearsals today since it was Sunday. It also wasn’t surprising, really, since they were going to do exactly what Cole had told them to. He felt a slight blush warming his cheeks when he thought back of last night, their kiss on the fire escape, their hands not letting go of each other afterwards during the second half of the concert they’d barely made it on time to and Eddy’s thumb drawing soothing circles on the back of his hand. Eddy had accompanied him back to the hotel and during their slow stroll through the cooling breeze of the night, Brett had suggested they’d go on a date out of a whim and completely unplanned. Eddy’s face beaming at him while he’d stated this was the best idea in the world and he was going to plan the whole thing since he was the one studying here was a sight Brett was positive he’d never get tired of. When they had reached the hotel, Eddy had sent the armada of butterflies in Brett’s belly fluttering again by pulling Brett in for a long, deep kiss before letting him go inside with a whispered, “Good night, my love.”

Needless to say, it had taken Brett forever to fall asleep and when he finally did, he’d carried a giddy grin on his face. The same grin breaking out now as he pressed his face into the cushion to not wake up his roommate with stupid giggles. 

Self evidently, Brett’s curious soul wanted to know where Eddy was going to take him and self evidently, Eddy kept it a secret. 
“You’ll see”, he’d just meant mysteriously and now, Brett was left to wonder for the next, he threw a glance at the time on his phone, two freaking hours what was going to happen today. He wasn’t gonna to fall asleep again, he knew, so he swung his legs over the side of the bed, got up and tiptoed over to the bathroom to get ready. He showered longer than usual, spent an awful amount of time choosing an outfit which, in the end, consisted of a simple black shirt and beige shorts (not like he had a lot of choice to begin with) and wasted even more time in front of the mirror to bring his hair in order somehow. He glanced at his own reflection showing a small, pale boy despite the season with glasses framing big eyes, one of them showing a distinct speck seemingly floating next to his iris. At least his skin was okay but other than that, there was nothing to him, Brett found. No muscular tall surfer or rugby body to show, his jet black hair rather thin and lacking volume. It wasn’t like he ever cared too much about how he looked but of course, there had been many moments of doubt and lack of self-worth concerning his appearance, especially during his early teenage years when he’d still been carrying those fucking braces.

Eddy made him feel different. The way he looked at him with shining eyes, how he stole glances at Brett when he wasn’t looking, or when he was for that matter, the way he held his hands like it was the most normal, natural thing in the world when walking through the con, the way he beamed at him whenever he nailed a hard passage on the violin, the way he kissed him, touched him…

Eddy made him feel loved. It was as simple as that and Brett couldn’t believe how incredibly wonderful it was. 

He sighed at the reddening cheeks in the mirror, turned his head left and right and exited the bathroom to grab his case, wallet and phone, scribbling a quick note for a still soundly sleeping Cole on a hotel room notepad lying on a tiny table and left as quiet as possible. Down in the hotel dining room, Brett grabbed four of the freshest looking croissants and two apples (might as well try to bring some healthy snacks) and put them into a spare plastic bag he'd brought, the baked goods carefully wrapped in napkins. There was a good coffee shop close to Eddy’s dorm he’d just googled which was his next destination. The sun wasn’t too brutal early in the day as he walked down the street with wide, fast strides because his excited self couldn’t help it. Not that it brought him any quicker to Eddy for Brett actually had to wait another fifteen minutes till the coffee place opened, prompting him to practice his weird tap dance again. At least he was the first in line and ordered two flat whites to go, which the young, female barista handed to him with a wink and an overtly friendly “Have a nice day!”. Brett creased his brows and threw a look at his blurry reflection in the neighboring store window, not understanding what this had been about.

He made it to the student dorms with more than half an hour to spare, sat down under the shadow of a giant tree close to the entrance, gently set down the two cups and pulled out his phone. There was one unread message, already doubling Brett’s heartbeat and causing him to nearly drop his device while he tried to unlock the screen.

    “Good morning, love.😊 Hope you slept well? Definitely need your energy for today I tell ya.”

Love. This word again. Seeing it in written form was definitely something else and Brett was sure to take a screenshot before quickly typing in an answer.

   “Morning, Eddy mine.”

Yup, he was really going there, though he couldn’t believe he was writing this. If Eddy was showing affection, Brett had to make sure he kept up. 

   “Slept great. Hope your insomnia wasn’t too cruel either? I’m actually in front of your building already. Might see me if you open your window…”

It took a moment and then, Brett heard something clank down further away before his favourite person stuck his head out the window on the fourth floor.
“Brett?”
“Down here!”, Brett called, got up and waved at the figure up high with a way too big smile probably. Luckyly for him, Eddy’s grin matched his in split seconds.
“Give me a minute? I’m still half naked!”
Brett guffawed. “You know the whole building can hear you, right?”
“Nah! Sunday and summer holidays. The dorms are almost empty.”
“Pretty sure the security guy’s still around!”
“Shit!”, Eddy cursed and scrammed inside, accompanied by more noise and Brett’s laughter. 

This sure was a great start in what promised to be an even more awesome day.