Andante

CXXII

They lingered over their milk teas, sucking the sweet tapioca balls up through the wide straws only a few at a time, their feet still together underneath the table. 
"We should leave." Brett said, at last, when it was already late enough that they would literally have to run to make dinner on time. 
Eddy nodded morosely. He didn't want to leave; he wanted to stay, sit here with Brett all night, foregoing food if he had to. And then he wanted to take him to his room and snuggle up next to him in his single bed. He didn't mind the bed being narrow; he'd lie as close as possible to his boyfriend anyway.  
He shook his head  resolutely at himself. No use crying over things that can't happen, mate. 
Then he got up abruptly, took his cup to the bin and walked through the door, with Brett right behind him. 

Wow, this was winding up to be quite a sporty day, with all this jogging, hey?
Eddy grinned as they ran, side by side, and Brett slowed down a bit.  
"What's up?"
Eddy grinned some more. "Just that you keep making me run, today. I'll have a six pack in no time flat at this rate." 
They skidded to a stop as they came close to Eddy's door. 
"How did I make you run earlier?"
Eddy shrugged. "I wanted to see you. I rushed. I know it makes no sense."
Brett suddenly smiled a very whistful smile. "It makes perfect sense to me. And by the way, you don't need a six pack, you look plenty great as you are." 
Eddy closed his eyes for a moment, imagining a world where he could simply throw his arms around his boyfriend and hug him tight, maybe kiss him a little on his doorstep. 
They shouldn't have lingered over the tea, maybe they could have found a spot. 
"Tomorrow we should go for a walk in the park with our teas." he said softly. 
Brett nodded, and then he waved. 
"Later." 

And just like that, he was gone, and Eddy sighed deeply to stop the tears that were threatening just below his eyelids. 
Wow. This had been quite an afternoon. 
He sighed one more time and then he walked into the house briskly and made his way straight to the table. His mum was not a fan of tardiness. 

His mum put the plate of szechuan chicken in front him not two minutes later.
"Thanks, mum." he said, and shit, did his voice sound flat. He started eating in silence, letting his sister do the talking as usual. He knew very well that he should talk to his mum, he knew he should be upbeat, like he had been yesterday evening, but he just couldn't, not tonight, because he felt so lonely he could feel it burning a hole in his chest. It didn't matter how many times he told himself this was ridiculous, he was fine, he would see him again tomorrow; it didn't make any difference. Tomorrow seemed like light years away. 
It also wasn't like he didn't catch his mum's looks as she eyed him wonderingly, so he mustered a smile as he swallowed the last bites of his food. 
"Right, I'm going to do more homework, mum." he said, and he moved his chair back quickly and made his way up the stairs, ignoring how heavy his feet felt. 
He sat down at his desk and made a concerted effort to understand the formulas on that piece of paper he'd stared through earlier. 

How would Brett be, now? Was he okay? Did he feel better? 
Eddy just hoped that he wasn't crying again, that he wasn't all alone in his room feeling miserable. His heart swelled with the love he felt for his Bretty, whom he'd been allowed to hold so tenderly this afternoon. He really, really hoped he'd made him feel better. At least good enough to get through these lonely nights. 
He made his homework as quickly as he could and then he brushed his teeth, yelled good night to his mum and set the alarm for super early again. 
His phone was in his hands as he slid under the covers, and he smiled with the anticipation of the first message coming in.