Dynamics (Twoset Violin Fanfic)

Chapter Five

Eddy had wanted to say sorry. After walking away from Brett, who was probably bruised pretty badly, and telling Coach Henry everything was fine, he got this sinking feeling in his stomach. And it hurt. It hurt when Brett winced during simple exercises. It hurt when they took water breaks. It hurt when the other trainees avoided him like the plague. The only time it didn't hurt was when he focused all his energy on whatever part of training they were doing.

So that's what he did. He had wanted to be the best in the room anyway, and the easiest measure of that was Brett. He hadn't meant to start competing with him, but as the hours ticked by, he tried to be just a little bit better than the boy next to him. And soon enough, Brett seemed to be doing the same.

Eddy still wanted to apologize, of course. He had it all planned out. He would wait by the elevator, explain to Brett that he had just burned his arm earlier that day, and hadn't dropped him on purpose, and say 'sorry' about a million times. Then, he would ask if he could forgive a horrible first impression and maybe even help each other out in this crazy circus school.

Simple, right?

But then he saw Brett walk out of the studio, looking like his cat had died.

And it's all my fault.

And suddenly he couldn't do it. His throat closed up, and before he knew it, he was taking the stairs instead.

This is ridiculous, Eddy thought to himself as he took the train home.

He stormed inside the apartment, slamming the door behind him. The first thing that he noticed was that half the lights were off. That was weird. Belle had terrible eyesight and kept the lights on as much as possible, even when she was wearing her glasses. But if she hadn't been messing with the lights, then who was?

"Um... hello?" he said.

The chair near the door creaked. Eddy slid his keys between his fingers and twisted the door behind him back open, just in case. The chair slowly spun around, and a shadowy figure became visible.

"Hello, brother," Belle said calmly.

Eddy jumped about a foot in the air. Then he started laughing.

Belle attempted to keep a straight face, but ended up cackling right along with him.

Their neighbor knocked on the shared wall, which he always did when they were being too loud. The siblings switched to quiet snickering.

"Why..." Eddy said, still gasping for air, "why are you in full goth makeup with your work laptop? And..." he had to pause again, "what's with the lights?"

Belle took a deep breath. Then she locked eyes with Eddy and started laughing again.

"Ok, ok," she said, clutching her side. "Going out with friends, boss is emailing me, and the electricity bill," she said all in one breath.

Eddy stopped laughing.

"Wait, we don't have lights?" he asked. "I thought I sent you the deposit from my cashier job."

"Nonono, nothing like that," she assured him. "But even with your paycheck, things are getting tight, and the more money we can save the better. So please, lower lights if you're on a screen," she said, lifting her laptop for emphasis.

"Besides," she added, "I'm being observed in a few weeks at the pediatrician's office, and if I do well, there's a good chance I'll get promoted."

She glanced at the clock. "Speaking of work, don't you have your first grocery shift right about now?"

Eddy shook his head. "I moved today's shifts to Sunday. I wanted a day off because it's the first day of circus and all."

"Oh my gosh, that's right!" Belle said, clapping her hands together excitedly. Then she saw Eddy's irritated expression.