Andante

IV

After a few minutes Eddy was glowing. Brett was just as good as he was, if not better! 
They sounded like they'd been playing together for years, and Eddy felt himself sink into the music.
He couldn't remember the last time he'd had this much fun, and he knew he had a stupid smile plastered on his face.
He didn't care though, because when he looked left Brett was smiling just as much. 
When the last note of the duet had sounded they just stared at each other for a second, and then they giggled. Seriously, now he was giggling?
Eddy was so not a giggler, but Brett was doing it too, so he guessed it was okay. 

¨Bro!¨ he said automatically. ¨You're really good!¨
 Brett beamed even more now. ¨You too!¨
What? He'd never called someone 'bro' before. Why did he do it now? But somehow with Brett it felt safe. It was like he brought the sun in with him or something. Somehow it felt okay to call him bro. 
¨Do you want to play the next one too?¨ Brett asked. 
¨Sure! I'll play second now?¨ 

They played through about ten of the duets before they breathlessly put their bows down. 
¨We should busk together on Saturday!¨ Eddy blurted out, without thinking. 
He instantly tried to back-pedal. Brett probably had no interest in doing something like that with him anyway.
¨Err...¨ he stuttered, ¨If you'd like, I mean... maybe... at some point...¨
Brett just smiled though, his eyes shining. ¨Yeah! That sounds cool!¨
Then he added: ¨We should practice some more then though.¨
He seemed to hesitate, and when he spoke again he spoke very softly.¨Maybe tomorrow?¨
¨Yeah!¨ Eddy said instantly. ¨I'm sure my mum will be okay with it if we're playing the violin. So, do you still want to play Mario Kart?¨
Brett nodded. ¨Absolutely.¨

Eddy fired up the PlayStation, put the DVD in and flicked through the menus until the TV screen lit up with his favourite game. 
¨Here¨, he said, offering the second controller to Brett. 
Brett sat down next to him on his bed, clearly knowing exactly how to play. Awesome. 
They played Mario Kart for an hour, happily sitting side by side.  
Eddy won a few, but he knew he lost way more than he should have. Somehow he was very aware that Brett was sitting right next to him, their upper legs almost touching. It was distracting him and throwing him off his game. 
He didn't move further away though. It felt nice, sitting this close. And it was probably nicer if they both won an equal amount anyway. Or if Brett won more. He wanted Brett to go home happy. 

He couldn't believe it when he looked at the clock and it was 5:20 already. Fuck, where had the afternoon gone?
¨I guess I'd better head home¨, Brett said in his soft voice. 
¨Yeah, I guess so...¨
 Eddy got up and reluctantly put the controllers back in the little drawer they lived in. 
¨So, tomorrow?¨ he asked, turning to Brett, who was gathering his violin and his music. 
¨Yeah! Tomorrow!¨
He walked Brett to the door and watched as he put on his shoes. 
Just as Brett was walking out the door he turned around, that shy smile of his on his face. 
¨Eddy?¨ he said softly. ¨I had fun today.¨
Eddy could feel the Cheshire cat smile spreading on his face before he could stop it. 
¨Me too, bro.¨ he said. 

When he walked back in the house he went straight into the living room. 
¨Did you hear us, mum?¨ he asked, unable to stop the flow of words coming out of his mouth. ¨He's amazing, isn't he? Didn't we sound great together? He's also got his LMus already! We're practicing again tomorrow after school, because we want to go busking in the weekend in the shopping centre! Please say yes, it would be awesome! I'll make sure all my homework is done every day!¨
His mum looked slightly taken aback, which he could understand, because these were more words in one go than he'd spoken to her in total in the last month. But then she smiled. 
¨As long as your homework is perfect each day!¨ she said, enunciating carefully. 
¨Yes mum, it will be, I promise!¨ he promised. ¨I'll start French now until dinner's ready.¨
And with that he ran up the stairs and got his books out. 
He was going to make damn sure his homework was done. No way he was missing out on spending more time with Brett.