Andante

LX

Eddy breathed a sigh of relief as he closed the front door behind him and set off at a brisk pace, just about keeping himself from running towards Brett's house. 
His mum had been pretty difficult about this, not happy that he was already going to Brett again after just having spent two weeks at AYO with him. He had needed to show her all his work and vow that he'd do more work tonight before she finally gave in. 
And he'd really, really tried to focus as well.... but he was sure he'd be able to focus better tonight, after he'd seen Brett. 
He was breathless by the time he came to Brett's street, all but skidded to a halt in front of his door and rang the bell. 

It took Brett only two seconds to open the door, and as soon as he did Eddy saw all of his own emotions reflected in Brett's eyes. Shit. It was crystal clear now that Brett had suffered, too.
Shit. 
They stood frozen to the spot, just for a moment, looking at each other, until Eddy shook himself.
¨Hey, bro.¨
It felt weird to call him 'bro' again, even though he'd called him that plenty at AYO.
AYO... where he'd called him many other things too. But he knew that just 'bro' was what it would need to be now. And hey. There was only one person in the world he called that, in the end, so that wasn't too bad, was it?

¨Hey. Wanna come in? Or get some bubble tea?¨
He could see what Brett wanted written all over his face. 
¨Bubble tea sounds great!¨
They'd have more space to talk, that way. No one to overhear them. 
Brett put his shoes on and called to his mum, who had appeared in the door opening to the kitchen:
¨Mum, we're just going to get some bubble tea, okay? I won't be long.¨
She nodded her consent and turned around as Brett closed the door behind him. 

They walked along in silence for a little bit, side by side. And even though none of this was ideal, Eddy felt himself relax. The half of him that Brett had taken with him yesterday, as he walked off to his car with his mum, was here again. Now that Brett was here, everything felt better. 
¨So.¨ Brett cleared his throat. ¨Did you sleep?¨
Eddy snorted softly. Was honesty the best policy here? He guessed yes.
¨Not particularly. You?¨
Brett stopped suddenly and turned to him, eying him with those deep eyes of his.
¨It was rough. I'd hoped it would be less rough for you, but now I've seen you I know it wasn't.¨
It took Eddy some effort to stop himself from throwing his arms around Brett, from pulling him close, making it all better. 
¨I'd hoped the same, Brett. But... but we'll get there. We're still here, we're still together.¨
Brett nodded. ¨Yeah. Thank God. Right. Let's get that bubble tea, hey?¨
¨Yeah.¨

They walked in silence again, for what was there to say? But Brett's presence was so soothing, it was like a cup of green tea with honey and lemon juice for a sore throat. 
So just before they turned into the bubble tea shop Eddy looked at Brett and told him:
¨It's better now you're here, though.¨
Suddenly Brett smiled, and it was like the parting of the clouds on a gloomy day.
¨It's better now you're here, too.¨

They walked off to their table with their bubble teas and sat down. 
¨So, you want to go busking again on Saturday?¨ Eddy asked, not that he didn't know the answer already.
¨Yeah, absolutely! Maybe one day I can save up enough money to buy a decent violin!¨
¨Oh...¨ Eddy's mind pictured it straight away. ¨A decent violin would be so awesome.¨
¨Yeah, since we're 'promising young violinists', and all.¨
Eddy grinned. ¨Yeah, there is that.¨

As Eddy walked back to his house, a couple of hours later, he did feel lighter. It was a relief to know that they were still the same. They were still them. 
It'll be alright. He told himself. It'll all be alright.
That should be his mantra, over the coming days, he quietly decided. 
¨Hey mum!¨ he said as he walked in his house. ¨I'm going to do some more homework until dinner's ready, okay?¨
She looked at him with a little surprise, but she her face seemed happy enough. 
¨Okay, Eddy. About half an hour.¨
His phone bleeped as he walked up the stairs and he fished it out of his back pocket.
What? Todd was texting him? He opened the message straight away. 

      'Hey mate, just wanting to ask you, you online later? I think it may be D-day.'

Oh wow. Shit! Oh man! Todd was going to come out to his parents tonight? He typed quickly.

     'Absolutely, man. Good luck, hey?. I'll be waiting.'