Andante

XXII

When he opened his eyes he knew it straight away. It was Saturday morning! Oh, God, finally. Friday had crawled so slowly he thought he'd lose his mind. Even though Brett had responded to the couple of texts Eddy had sent, he had once again not been online. And to top it all off he'd dreamed about Brett again on Thursday night. God, yesterday had been torture. But, today was Saturday and in a few hours Brett would be there to rehearse. He felt his stomach do a little flip at the thought and for the first time since Thursday afternoon he smiled. 
He jumped out of bed, quickly straightened it and got dressed. Then he stood in front of the mirror and took longer than strictly necessary to fix his hair. He was doing that because of the dance tonight, of course. Of course. 

He skipped down the stairs and instantly stood face to face with his mum, who eyed him curiously. 
¨You seem in a good mood today.¨
¨Sure, I guess.¨ he mumbled non-committally. But he did give her a big smile. 
It was because of the dance, tonight, his mood. It was, honest. 

To kill the time until Brett would turn up he did some more homework, whilst simultaneously willing the clock to speed up. It didn't, though. 
So when at last the bell rang he ran downstairs so fast he missed a step in the bend in the stairs and fell. He felt his legs sliding out from under him and he grunted in surprise and shock. He instinctively grabbed for the railing and managed to catch himself before he could wind up splayed on the floor like some sort of broken bird or something. Whoof!
Almost falling didn't stop him running though, he carried right on down the stairs and opened the door, clutching his right arm. Ow!
Brett stood on the stoop, and Eddy had to stop himself from throwing his arms around him and pulling him close. 
¨Hey!¨ he said, and he could feel the goofy grin spreading on his face. 
¨Hey yourself¨, Brett smiled, and came in. 
¨I almost fell down the stairs just now.¨ Eddy said, pointing at the bend by way of explanation. 
¨Oh man! Did you hurt yourself?¨
¨Nah. My arm's a tiny bit sore but it'll be fine.¨
He walked up the stairs, beaming. Brett was there!

Brett came into his room behind him and closed the door, putting his violin case down on the floor. Eddy smiled broadly at him, and the words came out before he could stop them.
¨I'm so glad you're here!¨
Brett smiled back. ¨Yeah. Me too, dude. So, you excited about tonight?¨
Eddy stared at him for a moment. Tonight? Oh, that's right. The dance. 
¨Eh, yeah, sure, I guess.¨ he said, trying to sound as enthusiastic as he should. As he was. 
Brett said nothing, but he looked at him with the strangest look in his eyes. 
¨I hope it goes well for you, mate.¨ he said, and he sounded like he meant it. 
¨Thanks. Anyway, first things first, let's get to the duets, huh?¨ Eddy said, eager to get going. 

They practiced quickly and then they packed up to walk to the shopping centre again. 
The awkwardness between them had faded, thank God, and they were chatting the way they always did. 
¨So, did you get your grade back for French?¨ Brett asked. 
Eddy beamed. ¨Uhuh. You're looking at the proud owner of an A- here. Even my mum didn't whine about the minus.¨
¨Dude, that's awesome!! Good on ya!¨
Eddy grinned at the Australianism. ¨Yea maet!¨ he quipped. 

It would never stop being uncomfortable to start busking, he reckoned. Unpacking your case, tuning your instrument while people were staring, wondering what was going to happen... making music in a place where no one had asked you to... it was just always a bit awkward. 
But once they'd launched into their first duet all of that had been forgotten. Eddy loved it. It really was like they were made to make music together. They got money, as well. And compliments. 
¨You should study music when you grow up!¨ an old lady said, pushing a stroller with what he guessed must be her grandchild. He smiled at her. yeah, no duh, lady.
At one point he wondered if he saw a familiar face out of the corner of his eye. He whipped his head in that direction, but no, there was no one there. 
They played for an hour again and then they headed off to their bubble tea shop. 

¨That was awesome, Eddy!¨ Brett gushed, as soon as they sat down with their teas. 
¨It really was.¨ Eddy replied, and he knew he had a stupid grin on his face. It didn't matter though. Brett had one too. ¨Maybe we can give real concerts together one day.¨
He knew Brett liked that idea straight away, because his eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. 
¨Yeah...¨ he said softly. ¨Sounds good.¨