Andante

XXXVIII

The applause died down slowly and they got up stiffly and wiggled their way out of the row of red seats. Todd was already waving at them from the aisle to join him and Lizzy. 
¨Hey! Wanna hang in the common area for a while?¨
Brett shot Eddy a questioning glance and then replied:
¨Sure!¨
As they walked back to the common area as a group, Eddy's head was still all over the place with what had just happened. He glanced at Brett furtively, but he was busy talking to Todd. Was he trying to get back to normal too?
Whoa. He shook his head lightly, trying to get it back into its regular space. There was absolutely no need at all for the others to read his open-book face and guess that something was going on, now was there? Plus, he should enjoy hanging out with his new friends, not brood about things he shouldn't be thinking about anyway. 

The common area was basically a smaller version of the cafeteria: it was stark and school-like with scattered tables with chairs around them, but there were a few couches by the far wall that you could sit on and chat. The four of them sat down on one of them and made themselves comfortable. 
¨So, what did you guys think?¨ Todd asked. 
¨I thought it was awesome.¨ Brett said, in his soft tone. Brett never seemed to raise his voice; he was always calm. Composed. Quiet. Eddy wished he could be more like that. 
¨Me too!¨ Lizzy enthused. ¨They were so in tune, so together, it's just not funny!¨
¨True!¨ Todd said, his voice raised a bit with his enthusiasm. ¨And did you see the cellist? His tone... it was just something else.¨ His eyes glazed over as he remembered it. Todd was a cellist, so Eddy understood that that was where he would have been most focused. He himself had focused most on the first violinist as well. Well... until the other thing had happened. He shook his head again, but he couldn't stop the smile that spread on his face.  
¨What did you think, Eddy?¨  Lizzy said then, in her melodious voice. 
Fuck. He scrambled around for something normal to say, but his brain seemed to have taken some time off. 
¨I loved it.¨ was all he managed in the end. Shit, how obvious could he be? Be cool, mate!
Todd eyed him curiously. ¨So, tell me a bit more about you guys. How long have you been friends?¨
Eddy shot a quick glance at Brett, who thank God started talking normally straight away. 
¨A few months now, right?¨ He looked at Eddy, who nodded quickly. ¨We met at tutoring, and we realised that we had a few things in common.¨
Todd laughed out loud. ¨You can say that again. I mean, come on, you're almost indistinguishable from each other!¨
Eddy looked up in surprise. What? Indistinguishable? I mean, yeah, there were both Asian and they both played the violin, but outside of that there were nothing alike. 
He was taller, Brett had glasses. His eyes were almond shaped, Brett's were bigger and more open. Even the shapes of their faces was completely different. Their characters too. 
Oh well, what was he going to say? He just shrugged. 
¨So, any girlfriends?¨ Todd asked with a smirk, looking straight at Eddy. Shit! What was it with these questions from other guys? Lizzy instantly rolled her eyes and shook her head.
¨Todd! Seriously!¨ she said.
Eddy smiled, buying himself some time. Did Todd suspect anything? Suddenly inspiration hit him.
¨Nah, not really.¨ he said, non-committally, knowing full well more questions would follow.
¨What does that mean?¨ Todd retorted as expected, straight away. ¨What are you not telling me?¨
Unexpectedly Brett piped up.
¨He took a girl to the dance at school a while back!¨ Brett was smiling broadly now and Eddy looked at him in amazement.
Wait, what? Did Brett just get what he was doing without words? This was just the forward pass he needed.
¨Lily's just a friend.¨ he said, looking deliberately coy.
Todd roared with laughter. ¨Uhuh, I'll bet she is!¨
¨Well, I'm not saying another word on this!¨ Eddy kicked the ball in the net and Todd was smiling widely. Score!  
He hadn't lied. He knew Lily wouldn't mind. Even here, his friend was keeping them safe; Todd wouldn't question anything again, and his gratitude to Lily was infinite. He shot a quick smile to Brett and Brett waggled his eyebrows back at him. Ha! See? He knew exactly what he was doing. Awesome. 

They moved onto safer topics then, music, mostly. They talked about their favourite musicians and composers, and by the time they all went back to their rooms it was way too late already. 
¨We should get to sleep a.s.a.p.¨ he groaned to Brett as they walked into their door, barely able to keep his eyes open anymore. 
¨Yeah.¨ Brett said, and he walked into their bathroom, closing the door behind him. 
Eddy quickly undressed and put on some pj's. He didn't usually wear any, but it had seemed like a good idea to pack some for this trip. He was very glad now that he had. 

A few minutes later they were both safely under the sheets and Eddy could feel himself drifting already. Wow, nothing like a full day of music to help his sleeping, hey? 
His mind was full of the million things that he had to say to Brett. But none of them seemed like a good idea to say right now. 
¨Good night, Eddy.¨ Brett mumbled then. 
¨Good night, Brett.¨

A/N Hi everybody, I hope you're all keeping well in these crazy times! I'm trying to keep up my normal posting schedule, but I'm suddenly home schooling my daughter, so I'm doing my best, hehehe.
Hang in there, everyone, we're stronger together <3