Andante

CXXXI

It wasn't long before Eddy was very happy indeed they'd made it down the stairs. How Lily had managed to make hotpot, of all things, he would never know, but Eddy loved her even more than he already did for it anyway. He knew full well that she was aware it was both Brett and his favourite.
Of all the lovely things.
The table had been laid as nicely as only a girl would care to do and when he took the first bite of his food he groaned in appreciation. 
"Damn, woman, you're a good cook!"
Lily smiled coyly, steeling a sideways glance at Matt. 
"Thanks, Eddy. It's my grandmother's recipe, my mum's been making it for me ever since I started eating solids."

They ate, they chatted, and Eddy couldn't remember a time when he'd ever been more comfortable in the presence of people other than Brett, ever. 
Matt was across the table from him, the blonde beach boy hair flopping around on his forehead as he gestured his hands while he chatted. Eddy watched him appraisingly from the corner of his eyes. Matt's slightly ginger brow was furrowed in concentration, clearly somewhat unfamiliar with the two chopsticks he was trying his hardest to hold as if he'd done so forever. Of course Lily had thought to give him a fork as well, but he was apparently above resorting to that. It made Eddy smile. It only added to the charm, really. And if Matt stuck around here he'd be familiar with those chopsticks in no time flat, Eddy was sure. Matt was nice, he was funny and he seemed to genuinely like Lily. Thus far, he had no complaints about him at all. 
"So, which movie are we watching first?" he asked, as he swallowed the last morsel of hotpot. He was low-key expecting Lily to want to watch some sort of RomCom, but it turned out he needen't have worried, because Lily got up and picked up a DVD labled 'The code' from the side table. 
Oh! Awesome! 

"I'll help you take this stuff to the kitchen." he said, stacking up some plates and a dish and walking off to the kitchen with them, where he started scraping off the leftover food into the bin with the dishbrush and putting the slightly cleaner dishes into the dishwasher. Lily wordlessly started rinsing out some pans next to him. The other boys were still in the living room. 
"So, what do you think of Matt?" she asked him suddenly, her voice more coy than he could ever have imagined it sounding. 
He touched her arm with his elbow in what he hoped was an encouraging gesture.
"He seems nice!"
"Yeah, you really think so?" Lily's eyes were big, wondering, and he couldn't help but smile at her. 
Wow. So, no pressure, then. I mean, sure, he liked Matt well enough, but was he sure about him? What if he told her he liked him but he was wrong, and Matt would wind up breaking Lily's heart? Would that be his fault, then?
"Erm, like, I've not known him very long, but from what I've seen so far I like him. He certainly seems very into you, Lily."
Lily smiled and kissed him softly on the cheek. Eddy really liked it when she did that. 
"Thanks, Eddy. He's sleeping on the couch, you know. Just in case you were worried."

Well. Shit. He hadn't been worried, because to be honest he'd been so preoccupied where Brett and he were sleeping he'd had little time to think about where Matt was. Well. Fucking awesome friend he had been, no? And he'd been asked to look out for her, too. He shook his head miserably, and she eyed him with question marks floating above her black hair.  
"Is that not good?"
Eddy nodded straight away. "Yes, of course that's good. That's great."
He thought for a second. "Where have your parents actually gone? I never asked."
Yeah. That was yet another thing he'd never asked, even though they'd spent every interval at school together at their bench. Too busy talking about the plans for this weekend, about Brett, about school, about progress with Matt... he was getting quite seriously pissed off with himself, here. Being in love was all good and fine, but he shouldn't forget about the other people he cared about. He was going to make very sure he was going to do better from now on. 
"Erm, my grandmother has been sick, and my grandfather can do with a break sometimes. So for the next while my parents are going there every other weekend. And the other weekend my aunt is going."
"Oh Lily." His voice was soft as he walked to the sink to rinse his hands off. "Are you okay? Will she be okay?"
He dried his hands and turned around to hug his great friend. He could feel her relax into his arms. 
"She should be. Thanks, Eddy."
"I'm sorry I didn't ask earlier."