Miss you, not.

XI

It was a beautiful sunny day. Birds were chirping. The sky was a clear azure blue. The spring wind blew a faint scent of flowers. But Eddy just couldn't feel it. It was 8 in the morning. He would rather be in bed, sleeping till noon but here he was, waiting for his ride to the beach in front of the gate of his dormitories. In his hand was a plastic bag full of snacks he half assedly picked from the grocery store.

It was originally Brett's group of friends' idea of a weekend getaway to go swimming at the beach. But he wanted Eddy to come along. Brett said, and Eddy quote, "You drown yourself in so much work, you'll forget what the sun looks like."

He was in doubt at the idea at first. He wouldn't know what to talk about with them anyways since he didn't know anything about their inside jokes. But when Brett made a downhearted face, he couldn't say no. He would do anything for him, even if it meant sacrificing his extra sleep on the weekend. In conclusion, Brett will surely be the death of Eddy one day. Then again, there was really nothing to lose if he got to spend time with his boyfriend.

He knew Jade and Ryan. They played together in their high school orchestra but they weren't that close. Brett were much closer to them since they were in the same class as his. He has never met Sara before but from some of Brett's stories he has heard, she looked up to him as a violinist.

The sound of a horn brought him out of his thoughts. It came from a strikingly red Toyota SUV heading his way. What caught his attention was the driver. It was Brett. He was practically beaming at him. And Eddy couldn't help but to be influenced by the energy he radiated. He smiled back and waved his hand.

The car stopped right in front of him and Brett pulled down the window.

"Hey."

"Hey back." 'Smooth, Eddy.'

By habit, he almost wanted to lean over and kiss him like they usually did when they saw each other, until he noticed three pairs of eyes from inside the car looking at him curiously.

Brett cleared his throat, and Eddy backed away subtly as to not raise suspicions.

"I'll.. go and put my luggage in the back."

He then settled in the empty passenger seat next to Brett. 'How nice of them to let me have this seat. Maybe they were being considerate.'

"Eddy. Meet Ryan, you already knew him." Brett craned his neck to the backseat to show his friends. Eddy smiled meekly at him. "Hey."

"Hey, man." Ryan greeted casually.

Sara perked up. "Hi! I've heard so much about you. You've won some major competitions in the past. You're like a role model." Sara's eyes has twinkles in them as she talked. He could see that she was definitely eager to get to know him.

"Say hello, Jade. Don't be a stranger."

"Hello." Eddy smiled mannerly.

Jade shot Eddy a borderline disinterested look before replying, "Hey."

Sara's eyes widened at Jade's behaviour. He turned to look at Eddy, quick as lightning, "I- I'm so sorry! She's usually not like this." Sara was frantic as she whispered loudly at Jade about mannerism.

At a loss of words, Eddy smiled apologetically at them.

'This is gonna be a long ride.'
—
The beach was an hour drive away.

The whole ride wasn't as bad as Eddy thought. Brett, being the sweetheart that he was, tried to include Eddy in almost all of their conversation. He noticed that and appreciated that he was being so thoughtful. After all, Brett only wanted the best for Eddy.

And Brett's friends were a really nice and chill bunch, Eddy thought. Jade, however wasn't really trying to participate. So they let her be.

Brett smiled softly at Eddy who was now talking with Sara and Ryan. He looked like he was enjoying himself.

He was delighted that some of his closest friends were bonding to someone very special to him. For a moment, he felt bad for keeping away the fact that they were dating. But he was figuring out the right moment to reveal it. Surely, it would be soon.

They were sharing snacks now.

"Hey, I want some of those." Brett whined realising he was a little hungry from not getting breakfast before the journey.

"Nah, you just keep your eyes on the road." Eddy reached for a stick of Pocky from the box and brought it close to Brett, brushing against his lips.

"Oh, thank you." He leaned forward only to bite air. "What.."

Eddy giggled playfully as he munched on the Pocky that was supposed to be fed to Brett.

"Haha, very funny. Now feed me properly or I'm resigning as the driver."

"Okay okay, here you go." He gave in and took out another out to feed him.

Three pairs of keen eyes watched them in fascination, unnoticed by them.

"It's good to see you guys getting along again." Sara said, as she looked at Brett and Eddy.

"Yeah, I thought you guys had a little argument some time ago." Ryan said, questioning.

Brett and Eddy looked at each other in amusement and smiled knowingly.

"Yeah, but we're good now."

"Better than ever."

They were getting along so well.

'Too well.' Jade thought.