Denial - a Breddy fanfic

88.

"Wanna take a walk with me?" Brett asked Eddy the next day, feeling his palms sweat from nervousness. He tried not to let it show, not to let Eddy know that he had something special planned. Eddy looked up from his phone and smiled the tiniest smile at him as if he wasn't sure how else to react.
"Uh, sure", he said, looking like he was trying to figure out what Brett was up to. "Just gotta get dressed properly first", he said, gesturing to the sweatpants he was currently wearing before grabbing some clothes and disappearing into the bathroom.

Brett sat down on their bed, fumbling nervously with the sleeve of his jacket. He was really going to ask Eddy to marry him, it was really happening. He took a deep breath and tried to calm his heartrate to a semi normal level. The silky box rested heavily in his pocket, making him nervous simply by being there. Would Eddy even like it? He supposed they could change it for something else if he didn't, as he hadn't had any engraving done on it, but he had been so sure when he picked it. How could Eddy possibly refuse it?

Eddy finally came out of the bathroom, and the two boys went out for their walk. It took them past Bryggen, the old buildings creaking in the light wind. They stopped for ice cream at a kiosk, Brett treating the two of them to one each and enjoying it while the light breeze from the sea ruffled their hair. They went into an old castle garden, and Brett couldn't help but feel excited when he saw the beautiful grass lawns with flowers and old trees. It was the perfect place.

They sat down on a bench under a large, old oak, overseeing some ruins of something they didn't know what was. Brett felt in his pocket just to double check that the box was still there. It was, and it was making him nervous again. He looked over at Eddy's calm, beautiful face, thinking about lucky he was. He spotted the fading hickey on his neck and smiled a bit to himself. The mark that had crushed him and made him brave enough to do this. The sun peeked through the clouds, ans he took it as a sign. Now. He'd do it now.

"Brett, I want to talk about something", Eddy said quietly before Brett could even collect his thoughts enough to formulate the kind of little speech he had been preparing in his head since he bought the ring.
"Okay?" Brett asked, feeling his nerves tighten at the tone of Eddy's voice. He wasn't prepared for Eddy to say anything, and it pushed his bravery back a few notches.
"I think we should take a break from being boyfriends and go back to just being best friends."

And with that, Brett's heart shattered into a million pieces. He felt dizzy and nauseous, and he struggled to find his voice.
"Wh... What?" he stuttered, clenching his fist around the silky box in his pocket, now feeling like it mocked him. Like it was the physical form of the voice in his head.
"I'm sorry, but I think it'll be better for us that way. I worry we're actually drifting apart like this, and I don't want that." The sadness in Eddy's voice was almost as crushing as the words. Brett couldn't make himself cry or anything. He felt like he was being suffocated, like someone had placed a large boulder on his chest.
"If you really think so, then what can I say", Brett half whispered, his voice refusing to work for him. He pulled his hand out of his pocket, leaving the silky box behind.