Andante

IX

He wasn't an early riser at all. In fact, usually even on weekends he'd have to drag himself out of bed in order to be up at a reasonable hour.
But today, today of all days, he was wide awake at 6:00 a.m.. He rolled his eyes in the dark. 6 a.m., and hours to go before anything would be happening. Just bloody awesome. 
At least he'd had no more weird dreams, so that was something, he guessed. 
He scrunched his eyes shut, willing himself to go back to sleep, thinking about anything other than busking with Brett, but his body wasn't having it at all. He'd never been more awake in his life. 
So in the end he sighed, got up and started on his homework. His mum would be impressed at least.  
He looked at the clock on his wall way to often, only to see that its hands were moving excruciatingly slowly today. Come on mate, focus! he scolded himself. 
As soon as 9 a.m. rolled around and he was allowed to make music, he took his violin out of its case. He wanted to make extra sure that he was sounding good today. His sister was probably still asleep, but hey. Was that his problem? 
He started off with the etude and then he moved onto the duets, practicing his shifts and making sure his vibrato was even everywhere. 
As he was checking the fingering on a passage he wondered idly what Brett was doing now. Would he still be sleeping, like a sane person? Or was he playing as well? Maybe he wanted to sound good together too? 

At ten he gave up and went downstairs to grab some breakfast. He wasn't much of a breakfast person, but he'd have to eat before going busking. 
His heart did a little flip when he thought about the busking, and he could feel the stupid smile on his face. 

¨Good morning Eddy! Did you sleep well?¨ His mum was already busy in the kitchen. 
¨Yes mum.¨ he said. ¨I got up early though and got all my homework done already.¨
He saw her face change in surprise, and he had to bite his cheek to stop himself from laughing. 
¨Oh! Good!¨ she said, before turning around again and busying herself with the kettle. 
Eddy wolfed some toast down before he rushed back upstairs and fired up Mario Kart to kill the time until Brett would turn up. 
He didn't have to wait long though. At five past eleven, almost half an hour early, the bell rang and his heart stuttered.
¨I'll get it!!¨ he yelled, and instantly shook his head at himself. 
Way to sound over-enthusiastic, mate. 
He ran down the stairs and opened the door to reveal a beaming Brett. 
¨Good morning, bro!¨ Brett said. 
¨Hi! Good morning! Come in!¨
Eddy's heart beat erratically as Brett stepped past him into the hall and bent over to take his shoes off. 
He waited politely, though, and walked upstairs calmly enough, with Brett following him silently. 

His room seemed smaller somehow with Brett in it.
Brett put his violin case down on Eddy's bed and leaned forward to open it, and Eddy walked to the desk to pick his violin up again as well. His hands were trembling slightly as he unfastened the clasps and he breathed deeply to settle himself down. 
When he turned around again and moved to the music stand Brett was there already, putting the book on it with his free hand. He took his place on his right, and suddenly it was like there was an electric current running between them, shaking him to the core. He had to stop himself from putting his hand on Brett's shoulder.
Whoa.
He moved slightly closer to Brett, wanting nothing more than to be next to him, but then he shook his head firmly. Come on mate!! Get a fucking grip!
Brett sighed slightly. ¨Are you okay?¨ he asked. 
Fuck, and now Brett had noticed something was off. What was wrong with him!
¨Yeah, I'm fine mate, you too?¨
Brett nodded, but he was biting his lip. Was he actually fine?
Eddy didn't quite seem to be able to breathe right anymore, and thinking seemed to be a lot harder than normal. 
He shook his head again, desperately trying to clear it.
¨Right, shall we play through this stuff?¨
Brett blinked. ¨Yeah.¨

The first duet was a mess. The stuff that he'd practiced so securely earlier was all off and he shook his head in disgust at himself. Luckily Brett kept messing up too, so he didn't have to feel too bad. 
He looked left at his duet partner after the last notes, shaking his head slightly. Brett licked his lips and said: 
¨Hm, I guess it's still early or something.¨
¨Yeah, don't worry though, we'll get there¨, he replied. But his eyes were still on Brett's lips, those soft, pink lips that he...
Oh fuck. All the feelings he'd been pushing away for days came rushing in at him now like an unstoppable force. The dream he'd had, that feeling when Brett's lips met his. Brett being so close now in real life, licking his lips... 
He knew at that moment that he couldn't push this away anymore. 

Fuck. He was in so much trouble.