the rhythm our heart plays {breddy; twosetviolin fanfiction}

5

"This is the worst - the absolute worst."

At 8:12AM in the morning with messy bed hair and a look of impeccable defeat, those are the first words that Eddy murmurs grudgingly around a mouthful of cereal. He barely had any sleep last night because Brett decided to stay over after a late-night recording session. Under any other circumstances, Eddy wouldn't have minded; however, he's not sure how Brett managed to convince him to share his bed but lo and behold, Brett somehow pulls it off with his persuasive prowess and consequently proceeds to put Eddy's heart under a radical amount of stress. "Eddy, don't be dumb," he says, "I'm going to get back pain sleeping on the couch," he says, "it's cold, hurry up and get in already," he says. Even Eddy's carefully constructed pillow fort that he had placed between them somehow ends up being haphazardly strewn across the headboard while the rest tossed to the floor; their limbs and body heat inevitably getting tangled up with each other.

Eddy waking up to Brett's sleeping face is not something he could ever be prepared for.

Godammit, Brett.

Eddy directs a bitter glare to his other companion sitting on the stool across from him for good measure, as if to say that Brett is the one responsible for Eddy's current disastrous state of mind and inexplicable emotional woes. Though it is, in every sense of regard, definitely Brett's fault. Who told him to be so weirdly charming? The dick.

Brett pauses mid-chew on his avocado toast, a brow raised at Eddy's pointedly displaced glare. "...What's with that look. You wanna bite?" Brett holds out his toast in front of Eddy's face and Eddy visibly frowns.

This guy's seriously...

"If you don't want it, then -"

Eddy grabs Brett's retreating wrist and takes a bite.

At precisely 8:25AM with a mouth full of crumbs and an out-of-place George Michel's Careless Whisper playing wildly at the forefront of his mind, a certain Eddy Chen realizes he's absolutely, undeniably in love with his enigmatic, koala-eyed best friend and every single explicit fibre of his being wants to jump out the window.

*

It was just - so stupid. He'd been so careful: just focus on the violin and make ling ling proud, Eddy, don't get a crush on your best friend, Eddy, seriously it's a bad idea. And now look at him. A few instances of Brett coming within a metre of personal space and he lost that battle with hardly a fight.

He tries to pretend it's fine, though. He's sure he can ride these hormones out and hopefully at some point they'll just dull and go away on its own. That's the plan, at least. Fake it 'till you make it, as they say. Except if you're in an orchestra. Don't fake it in an orchestra (-unless you're really good at getting away with it. Not to say that he is, or anything). But yeah, not recommended. You'll get fired. That wouldn't be cool. And, like Eddy proclaimed many times before: he's a pretty cool guy. Chillest of the chill. He can handle this, not a problem.

In fact, he's starting to really ride with this whole crush-on-your-best-friend kind of situation. He's gone through all the stages; he had his internal angsting, the bouts of intense denial. He's acknowledged the feelings, knows it's never going to go anywhere, ever, and he'll make peace with that. If there's one thing Eddy is self-aware of, it's that he can't lie to himself. It'll be okay, though, because he's sure he can keep it together.

"You're John Wick, nothing can phase you," Eddy chants to his reflection in the mirror. "You're John Wick, nothing can -"

"Eddy?"

"PhASE-AHH??" Eddy squawks, body jerking straight into the wall beside him. Brett's standing by the bathroom door looking at him like he's grown two heads, but Eddy's too busy dying from embarrassment to do anything about it. Eddy coughs, loudly. "Err, I can explain," he says, even though he totally can't.

"I think it's better if I don't know," Brett says, but Eddy catches the hint of amusement dancing in his tone. Oh god, he's not going to let him live this one down, is he? "I just wanted to let you know our flight leaves at ten, but I want to get there earlier in case shit happens."

"Right," Eddy agrees, voice still slightly strained from earlier. "Sounds good. Ugh, with my luck, I'm definitely going to get pulled aside for a double security check again."

The corner of Brett's mouth quirks up and Eddy instantly feels mortified. "I'm sure you'll get through it just fine, John Wick."

Aaaaand there it is.

"Okay, no more bullying. Shoo! Shoo! Let me just brush my teeth and I'll be out soon."

Before Brett has a chance to run with another smart-ass reply, Eddy's hurriedly pushes him out of the bathroom and into the hallway, promptly closing the door shut. Eddy keeps his hands pressed against the door, cheeks flushed as he hears Brett's retreating laughter from behind. Eddy feels the butterflies in his gut flutter again and he groans in annoyance.

That guy is seriously going to be the death of him.

*

The two had planned to visit Taiwan again for a private performance that was booked for a family friend's wedding on Eddy's side. It was strewn together last minute, but family obligations isn't something they can easily dodge considering: 1) they're traditional Asians with tight family bonds, and 2) Eddy's mother, the sweet kind soul that she is, was someone Eddy can never really turn down when she's asking for a favor. It's fine though, because they can also meet up with some old friends and shoot some stuff there too, so it's not like it's a complete waste of time. Besides, Eddy loves travelling around the world and exploring everything a place has the offer; it's an adventure that's never really ever the same, with different experiences and shared moments that keeps adding itself into Eddy's private collection of memories.

Needless to say, there is indeed a file in his brain reserved specially for Brett Yang: stuffed with all the memories spent together learning complicated math formulas in their elementary tutoring class, hours of rehearsals in sad-looking practice rooms from their university days, and those weeks spent filming silly videos that were recorded on a bored whim - a whim that became a passion project that kept snowballing into something eventually bigger than themselves.

From the beginning and right to this day, Brett has been a constant factor in Eddy's life. He doesn't want to imagine what life would be like without him; he doesn't want to do anything that would ever risk losing him.

Eddy fidgets with his headphones and leans back in his airline seat, sighing. He glances over to his right where Brett sat, gaze focusing on whatever view was outside the window, distracted and not paying attention to anything else around him. Eddy lets himself look at Brett, just for a few seconds, quiet and unnoticed. He gets himself surprised, however, when Brett suddenly turns his head towards him. Their eyes meet. Brett smiles at him. Eddy smiles back.

Yeah. He won't risk losing him.

He absolutely can't.