Denial - a Breddy fanfic

97.

The concert went great. Eddy's concentration was completely on Brett, making sure to match every little tempo change, every dynamic, every hint of rubato while Brett poured his love for Eddy into every note. The orchestra seemed to sense their passion and matched them, and everything combined made this the best concert they had played.

Backstage with the orchestra was fantastic with champagne and hugs and celebration. Brett kept his arm firmly around Eddy's waist, which Eddy thought was nice, but felt as a very public move. He didn't say anything. If Brett wanted it, then that's all that mattered.
"Congratulations, you two! I must say, you made those planks sound great!", the large tuba man joked, patting Eddy on the shoulder.
"Thank you! Your solo in there sounded amazing as well!" Brett replied with a large smile.
"Cheers, boys!" he said, holding up his glass and clinking it against theirs before leaving them to talk to someone else, not wanting to hog their attention.

"Bretty?" Eddy mumbled into Brett's ear after a few hours of first hanging out with the audience and then with the orchestra. Brett nodded, knowing what Eddy was going to ask. He was ready to go back to the hotel soon too, feeling tired from all the socialising. He hadn't had much time to think about Eddy's weird behavior before they went on stage, but he hadn't really noticed anything when they got off stage. Maybe he was just nervous? It was a big concert after all. Probably nothing to worry about.

They had said goodbye to the orchestra, promising to come to one of their concerts the following week and the two were finally on their way to the hotel.
"You played so well today", Eddy said to his boyfriend, placing a kiss on the side of his head as they walked, ignoring any people who could possibly care what they did. Brett smiled up at him as they passed the statue of Edvard Grieg outside Grieghallen.
"You too, I don't think we've ever sounded so good together, honestly." Eddy let out a mental sigh of relief, happy that Brett was satisfied with his playing.
"That's all because you're so amazing, you know", Eddy said in a flirty tone, moving the two of them into an embrace and kissing Brett tenderly. Brett giggled a bit into the kiss, feeling his cheeks heat up as people passed them on the sidewalk.

"Hei homser!" (Hey gays!), they heard from across the street, from a group of teenagers who certainly didn't sound friendly. Brett flinched and pulled away from Eddy.
"What?" Brett asked, trying to sound like he wasn't affected by their threatening appearance. The boys laughed at them.
"Fucking faggots, do you understand me now, huh?" he yelled over the road with the same kind of nasty grin as Chris had just before Brett had punched him. Brett did not feel like testing his luck again.
"Leave us alone, look away if you don't like it", Eddy shot back at them, ignoring Brett's tugging of his sleeve and soft pleas of just leaving.
"What did you say?!" the guy who seemed to be the leader of this nasty hyena gang said and signalled to the rest of the group to cross the street. Brett made a last attempt at pulling Eddy's sleeve, his voice failing him. Eddy had realized his mistake by now too, and was frozen like a deer caught in the headlights. Shit.

"Kom igjen, beveg dere videre gutta. Dere er bedre enn dette" (Come on, move along boys. You are better than this), a familiar voice said from a bit down the street, and the boys turned to the massive man who came walking down the street with a proportionally tiny tuba strapped to his back.
"Fuck off gammer'n!" (Fuck off old man!) one of the other boys yelled at the tubaist, but he just laughed at them.
"Kom dere av gårde" (Move along), he said a bit more sternly as he approached Brett and Eddy, standing with their backs almost pressed to a shop window of what seemed like a closed flower shop. Incredibly, the hyena gang did what he said, and the tuba man stood with them until they had disappeared from sight.
"Are you two alright?" he asked in his Norwegian accent, eyeing them up. "Those boys were drunk and stupid, don't let it affect you."
"Th.. Thank you", Eddy stuttered out when he finally regained control over himself. Brett still hadn't found his voice back.
"Don't worry about it boys, be safe. We need good plank players like you."