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CLIII

It was getting increasingly difficult to concentrate on the music they were playing or on Mr. Thames’ conducting when all he wanted was to put down his violin and close the half meter gap between him and his love. There was like a current between them, electrifying the molecules in the air, creating goosebumps and making Brett’s hair stand up, paired with a magnetic pull Eddy had on Brett and no amount of deep sighs or attempts to follow his section during the Mozart they were currently working on was able to ease this intense tension Brett felt.
Did Eddy feel it too? Was he the same? He stole a glance, the sight of him making Brett inhale sharply. Oh, he was so beautiful, stunning, competent in the way he led the orchestra as if he’d done this his whole life. He was clearly focused on everything that was going on, the notes in front of him, much in contrast to Brett’s scrambled brain. Thank god for muscle memory, otherwise he’d be called out again by their conductors and he didn’t need another addition of that in his records, no thank you. 
Nothing on the outside revealed anything about Eddy potentially feeling the same. So, it was just him being crazy and utterly bewitched by his deskie? Brett sighed again, shook his head lightly in order to gain at least some clarity and hold on for dear life till break time. 

“Brett, are you okay?”, Eddy whispered while Mr. Thames explained something to the winds, “You’re quite red and you were like breathing heavily the whole time. Are you coming down with something?”
“Haha, yeah… no… all good”, Brett cleared his throat, deliberately avoiding Eddy’s concerned glare. One look into his eyes and the whole orchestra would know they were a thing for sure.
“You sure? Shall we tell Mr. Thames?”
“Nah, nah. Really, all good!”, he hissed, still not looking at Eddy.

It was a miracle that Mr. Thames didn’t seem to have noticed his not-so-violin-playing-friendly state until everyone left for a short break.
“Coffee?”, Eddy asked and stretched his back so his shirt got pulled up a bit, revealing a tiny bit of skin just underneath his bellybutton. Brett whipped his head around and met Cole’s inquiring eyes. 
“Uh, yeah. Sure.”

“Dude! What the hell? You just looked like you’ve been stung by a bee!”
Cole was in line in front of them for his flat white and since Eddy was knee deep in a conversation with Nathan behind them about the parts they’d just played, Brett dared to mumble back, “I’m too fucking distracted by him!”
“Who? Your boyfriend?”, Cole frowned. 
“Who else?”
Cole looked Brett up and down and suddenly, a long “Ohhhh” escaped him.
Brett’s lips were pressed to a thin line. “Yeah…”
“Oh damn! Poor you.”
“I know I’m in trouble, thanks a lot! Who told him to be so fucking hot all the time?”
“He looks pretty normal to me”, Cole shrugged before ordering for all of them. 
“I sure damn well hope so!”
Cole laughed and handed everyone their cups. 

Brett’s self-control was being tested again not long after. 
“Hi”, Eddy smiled his dreamy slash confident slash handsome smirk at Brett when they sat down next to each other on a bench, outside this time.
Brett wasn’t sure if it was the sun blinding him or this being in immediate proximity. 
“Hi”, he said back, kinda stupidly.
“Are you better? You’re still a bit red.”
“Yeah, yeah. Good.”
The taller didn’t look convinced. “You tell me immediately if something’s off.”
“I will.”
“I care about you, you know”, he stated and although all he did was take Brett’s hand, it made Brett jump. 
“Oh, uhm”, he stuttered and tried to cover up his more than awkward reaction by taking a big sip of coffee, burning his tongue in the process, “So… sorry! Still not used to this.”
A stupid excuse, he knew. It wasn’t like they’d held hands a couple dozen times in- and outside the con. 
Eddy, being the angel he was, smiled gracefully and placed a kiss on Brett’s hair. “Of course. All good.”

“That was painful to watch.”
“It was. Poor Eddy”, Nathan sent his brown locks flying left and right. Brett had exactly two minutes to get his shit together for another Korngold rehearsal. They were only going to work on the first and second movement for the rest of the morning, which meant more concentrated, precise playing. 
A difficult task when his two pals decided to comment on his love life on the way back, undamped this time since Eddy had made a run for the men’s room. 
“Fuck you both!”, he muttered. There was only one option how to survive today without spontaneously combusting on the spot or jumping on a certain someone and pin him to the ground: He had to summon his most powerful deadpan and pray he would still be able to give a decent, emotional performance. 

So deadpan it was, which included either using a cold, lifeless stare whenever he had to make eye contact with Eddy or avoiding his gaze altogether. Needless to say, Eddy’s suspicion grew with every passing note they played. 
At least, Brett managed to deliver a solid Korngold and adjust his playing further to the orchestra with the conductor’s advice. 

Still didn’t save his ass from Eddy though, whose patience maxed out at lunch time. 
“You come with me!” 
“Wha-”
Their violins had barely touched their open cases and Eddy was dragging Brett along, out the hall and into the broom closet thing they knew quite well by now. There, he pressed him against a part of a wall which wasn’t cluttered with cleaning stuff or old, hazardous music stands, his eyes glinting almost dangerously in the dark. 
“Brett! Love! I’m worried about you! You’ve been weird all morning. Is it something I’ve done? Or are you feeling off and just don’t want to tell me?”
Brett blinked and gulped. Eddy’s closeness and scent made him dizzy and it wasn’t exactly helping him with forming a consistent answer.
His boyfriend shook his head, strands of hair tickling Brett’s nose. 
“Look! I’m sorry. I don’t want to pressure you if you don’t want to share stuff. It’s just…”
Now, there was clear desperation in his tone. Brett’s hand placed itself on Eddy’s cheek, lifted Eddy’s head and then, he placed a much needed, much longed for kiss on those heavenly lips, feeling the boy relax against him. 
“I’m sorry I’ve been weird”, Brett whispered through the haziness their touch caused. God, it was like Eddy was a drug Brett had been searching for half his life, effects of withdrawal included. “I’m… unable to focus at the moment with you around, it seems.”
Eddy’s “Huh?” sounded so confused it made Brett chuckle. 
“Ah, damn! Why am I the only one affected?”
“What are you…”
“You’re too goddamn hot is the problem I’m dealing with, get it?”
A few seconds of loaded silence. And then, “Ohhh, oh, Brett!”
“Yeah. Fucking embarrassing, I know. And I know we’ve kind of agreed to wait around for a bit-”
“We didn’t really talk about it though, did we?” Eddy’s smirk was clearly audible now and what was with his hands on Brett’s hips suddenly?
“Uhm”, Brett cleared his throat for the tenth time or so today, “uh, I guess we didn’t? But we also didn’t go beyond…”
“And it was still the freaking most awesome night I ever had”, Eddy breathed very, very close to Brett’s lips. Oh, he had no idea how maddening this was for Brett, or maybe he did?
“How about that? We’ll spend the rest of the evening after rehearsals in my room and you tell me what has been distracting you?”
“Uhm…” All the words were gone, unavailable for Brett to use at the moment.
“And then, you tell me exactly what you want, deal?”