Parallel Lines

Point A

There was something Eddy wasn't telling him.

Of course, they were two separate entities, no matter how much they were intertwined in almost every aspect of their lives, no matter how much people knew them as Brett-and-Eddy, no spaces in between. Both of them still valued privacy; both of them were still completely unknowable to each other. The fact remained-there was something Eddy wasn't telling him, and it was altogether unsettling.

"You okay?" Eddy's question pulled Brett out of his thoughts, and he promptly shook his head, smiled as convincingly as he could. The shorter man burrowed his nose deeper into the scarf wrapped around his throat and tried his best not to shiver under the cold autumn spell.
Brett felt antsy whenever he couldn't tell what Eddy's immediate thoughts were. It was like a ghost at the back of his mind, haunting him with the thought of that which he could never reach. He didn't like secrets between them, even if they were normal and sometimes necessary; he wanted to know Eddy down to his very bones. Was that too much to ask for?

"You're feeling cold, aren't you," said the other man, shaking his head. "Here, hold on." As casual as ever, Eddy slipped off his jacket from his broad shoulders, wrapped it around Brett's form as if the gesture cost him nothing. Fighting back a blush, the shorter man did not argue against the act of chivalry. Instead, he buried himself under the weight of his friend's coat and smiled wide.

(Delighted and distracted as he was, Brett did not recognize the faint perfume clinging to the fabric: distinctly not Eddy's, distinctly feminine.)

• • •

Brett couldn't remember when he fell in love with the man he called his best friend, his other half in Twoset. It wasn't something he could pinpoint at a specific moment in time; there was no fateful second when his heart proclaimed yes, yes, that man, that's him.

It just was that: a fact of life. The sun rose in the east and set in the west. The sky was blue. Water was wet. Brett Yang was in love with Eddy Chen.

It wasn't that hard to understand.

• • •

They were both lovers of that majestic beverage known as bubble tea, but Brett hadn't known Eddy memorized exactly how he liked his drink made.

"At half sweetness with a little bit of mousse and extra tapioca pearls." Eddy rattled off Brett's order as if he had taken the whole thing to heart, and good lord, that shouldn't be so affecting, but it was.

His friend always did things like these, the smallest details about him taken into safekeeping for whenever the knowledge was needed. Did those mean anything? Should he read deeper into those clues and come to a conclusion?

Before he could make up his mind, Eddy playfully swatted him to get out of the queue and find them a table. Brett obeyed, as always.

• • •

This love could destroy him one day, he thought. Well, he didn't just think it; he knew it.

• • •

Brett surfed the web aimlessly on Eddy's laptop, clicking at tabs with a listless gaze, utterly bored as he waited for the other man to come back from getting groceries. By chance, he clicked on an open tab in the internet browser, and lo and behold: tickets for two to Germany.

What the hell? Brett peered closer to the screen, confusion in his gut. He wasn't aware of any planned trips in Eddy's schedule. Surely-Eddy must be getting ready to tell him something? He definitely wasn't imagining these plane tickets, so what else were they possibly for?
Oh, god. Did he know?
Brett's phone vibrated. He looked over and checked the incoming message.

[6:23] eddy: wanna go out tonight?

Was this the way to whatever Eddy wanted to tell him? Was this the secret his friend had been keeping from him? Brett didn't need to think about it; he readily sent a yeah, let's and prepared for whatever was to come.
He hoped to high heaven it would be good news.