Denial - a Breddy fanfic

108.

Brett went completely quiet after hanging up. It felt like all his energy were drained from him, and like it was hard to breathe.
"Brett? What's happening?" Eddy asked carefully, stroking his thumb over the top of Brett's hand. "It was your brother? What did he want?"
Brett placed his phone gently onto the table, not really moving his eyes from it. He swallowed hard.
"Uh, dad's dead", he said, sounding almost like it was the normal thing in the world to say. He forced his eyes away from the phone to look up at Eddy. "And uh, mom didn't pick up her phone because she was in the hospital with him."
Eddy placed his other hand also around Brett's in an attempt to comfort him.
"I'm sorry to hear that", he said, feeling a bit silly for not knowing what else to say. "How are you feeling?"
Brett shrugged.
"Uh, alright, I guess? At least I'm not disowned, I suppose." He used his available hand to grab a fork and stab the last piece of his pizza. "I should probably feel worse than this, I suppose." He stuck the last bit of pizza in his mouth and chewed slowly.
"There's no way you're supposed to feel", Eddy assured, letting Brett's hand go to get another bite of his pizza. Brett sighed.
"Yeah, maybe it'll hit me eventually."

It did hit him eventually. They in the hotel room and were watching the same stupid wedding dress program as they had the day after Brett punched Chris when the tears overwhelmed him. Luckily, Eddy noticed and quickly wrapped his arms tightly around the shaking boy.
"Did it hit you?" he asked quietly, feeling Brett squeeze his face against his chest, nodding carefully.
"He's not gonna be there for the wedding", he whispered in between sobs, feeling stupid for crying again. He shrugged the feeling off, reminding himself that losing his dad was a valid reason to cry.
Eddy leaned down to kiss the top of Brett's head, holding him tight.
"No, he won't", he sighed sadly.

Brett kept sobbing into Eddy's chest for a while, the wedding dress program still running in the background. Eddy just held him, not sure what else to do. It had hit him too, of course. Brett's dad was practically like a second dad to him too with the amount of time he had spent at their house, but just to be there and comfort Brett was enough for Eddy. It was his way of dealing with it.

The wedding dress program was long finished, but the two boys still hadn't moved from their position on the bed. Brett had eventually stopped crying, but was still holding on to Eddy for dear life.
"You know, one of the many things that's admirable with you is that you always put others first", Eddy said, running a hand through Brett's hair.
"What do you mean?" Brett asked into Eddy's chest. "I'm the biggest attention hog of all."
Eddy smiled a bit.
"You recieve the news of your dad's passing, and your first reaction is to ask if the one giving you the news are okay? And then if your mom is okay? I don't know anyone else who'd do that as their first instinct."
Brett felt a tiny blush creep over his cheeks, but tried to hide it in Eddy's hoodie.
"Of course I had to ask if they were okay", he mumbled. "Mom's probably crushed, and I'm not there to help her."
Eddy carefully caressed Brett's cheek. "And that's one of the many things I love about you", he said with a tiny smile before kissing the top of his head again.
"One thing I love about you is that you let me use you as a giant teddy bear for hours on end without complaining", Brett tried to joke, but it sounded half-assed. Eddy still laughed, to make him feel better.
"I love you, Brett", he said, tilting Brett's head up to kiss him quickly on the lips. 
"I love you too", Brett replied with a smile when they pulled away. "I really do."