Closer

126.

He must have cried himself to sleep, because he was woken up by a soft kiss on his cheek. He opened his eyes to the sight of Brett's soft smile and a careful hand running through his hair. It made him want to puke.

"Hey sleeping beauty," Brett said softly, caressing his cheek gently. "I made us some dinner."

"I... I'm not hungry..." Eddy squeaked, pulling the covers over his head to hide the tears that spilled over again from Brett. "I'm not feeling well... You should just eat without me. I'm sorry."

He could feel Brett's mood change and he couldn't hold back his sobs anymore. He curled up to hold himself despite aching for Brett to hold him. Why would he continue guilt tripping Brett into thinking he loved him?

"Eddy mine, what's wrong?" Brett asked, sounding worried now. He tried to pull the covers aside, but Eddy held it firmly in place. "Please talk to me. Is it something that happened while Leonora was here?"

"You should go eat," Eddy repeated quietly, sniffling to himself. He didn't know how to fix this, how to make sure Brett and Elise could be happy. He had ruined it for them already. "I'm not... I'm not hungry."

"Please, Eddy," Brett said quietly, stroking his arm over the duvet. "Please talk to me, don't shut me out like this. What's happening?"

Eddy peeked out of the duvet with teary eyes, shaking Brett off when he tried reach out to wipe his tears. He sat up a bit more an took a few shaky, deep breaths to try and calm himself.

"I'm sorry I... I ruined everything for you," Eddy sniffled, trying to wipe his own tears. Brett opened his mouth to protest, but Eddy was faster. "I'm sorry I ruined things between you and Leonora, I'm sorry I'm taking having a mom from Elise. I'm sorry I'm so selfish."

"Don't be silly, Eddy, you didn't ruin anything," Brett said softly, taking Eddy's hand firmly despite him trying to pull it away. "You made everything better by a landslide."

Eddy shook his head, looking down at their hands. It made him feel sick.
"You fought with Leonora because of me, you broke up with her because of me," he sniffled, wiping his own tears that kept flowing. "If you'd been together she'd... She'd wanted to keep Elise with you..."

His voice trailed off into sobs as Brett pulled him into a hug. It felt wrong to let Brett comfort him.

"You're missing a few big points there," Brett mumbled, holding Eddy tightly. "You're missing the fact that Leonora slapped me and lied to me, tried to keep me from the two most important things in my life, my best friend and my job."

"She wouldn't have slapped you if you hadn't been fighting because of me," Eddy mumbled followed by a sob. "I'm so sorry, Brett, I don't know how to fix this."

Brett rubbed his back carefully, feeling him shake in his arms.
"I don't want you to fix anything, I want to be a happy family with you."

"I'm sorry I'm guilt tripping you into thinking you do," Eddy sniffled, closing his eyes. Maybe everything would be easier if he could get Brett to realize that he didn't actually love him?