World Tour

NY: Belle

When the phone rang them cruelly out of their post-coïtal bliss, they both jumped in shock.
Eddy crashed around the bed to find the phone, which had wedged itself between the mattress and the headboard, hiding itself annoyingly well. 
Once he finally had it in his hand he saw it was his sister.
¨Belle!¨ he answered the phone, breathlessly, putting it on speaker. ¨Tell me, how did it go?¨

Belle giggled. 
¨That's a nice hoarse voice¨, she said sweetly. ¨Took you a while to answer too. Hope I wasn't interrupting anything!¨
Eddy rolled his eyes so hard they almost hit the back of his skull. This was so his baby sister. 
So he reacted the way he only would to her. 
¨No, we were just done, actually.¨
Brett's eyes widened and he snorted, while Belle just erupted in peals of laughter. 
Eddy couldn't help himself and a smile spread over his face. 
¨But on to the very important thing you're calling about, please?¨

Belle sighed. 
¨Yes. Well, I've just come back home. Look, she's being quite dramatic at the moment, lamenting the loss of status and grandchildren. She's worried about how she'll be seen, family honour, that kind of shit. But she'll get there, I think. She was a lot calmer when I left and promised to call you at some point.¨
Eddy shook his head. 
¨I hope you're right... I feel like I'm always the black sheep, letting everybody down. And now this one thing that I was doing the acceptable way, I've taken away.¨
Belle laughed again. 
¨Well, big brother, who's being dramatic now? Mum's very proud of what you're doing with Twoset, you know that. And you have just as much right as anyone else to be who and what you are, you know that too.¨
Eddy was quiet for a while, and when he looked at Brett he saw him looking back, nodding in agreement. 
Belle's voice came again.
¨Anyway!! You're holding out on me! Tell me everything! Who gave in and finally said how he felt?¨
There was no way she was going to let this go, so he had to give her a chastised version of how he and Brett had gotten together. 
It was warming his heart though, how happy she was for him. No matter what happened, there would always be his sister in his corner, and he was grateful for her. 

He just wished the rest of his family would be there as well. 

¨Thank you, Belle¨, he said, earnestly.
¨You've been an absolute lifesaver. I love you, baby sis.¨
¨Awww, so sweet¨, came her ironic voice. But then she added, seriously this time:
¨Any time, big brother. I love you too.¨

When they'd finally hung up, he decided there had been enough tears over this.
Come on mate, he thought to himself, put your big boy shorts on and get on with things. He couldn't destroy the happiness of being in New York for Brett, just because he was dealing with family shit. So he got up and started putting his clothes back on.
Brett eyed him wearily, not sure where his head was.
Eddy smiled at him, and said: 
¨We're in New York! Wanna go find a good coffeeshop and something full of sugar and grease to eat for breakfast?¨

Brett smiled back at him, with that knowing look in his eyes, and Eddy realised that Brett saw right through him, as usual. 
¨Okay, I'd love to.¨ Brett said. 
He got up and walked over to Eddy, wrapping his arms around him. 
¨Keep talking to me though, okay? You don't have to be fine all the time.¨
Eddy nodded. 
¨I'll try.¨