Andante

CXLVII

Brett was grinning so broadly at his reaction that Eddy figured the corners of his mouth might actually hit his ears, if he carried on. He'd stopped jumping up and down now, but he was still just about bursting with the excitement of the whole thing. 
"This is, beyond a doubt, your best idea ever!" he managed, still with a little bit of the squeal in his voice, as he lunged forward and threw his arms around his boyfriend. 
Brett laughed softly. "Well, it really wasn't my idea, but I can tell my teacher how you jumped up and down?"
Eddy pulled back and raised his eyebrows at him. 
"Uhuh. You try that and see if you ever get hugs again."
Now Brett was laughing for real. 
"Nah, don't worry. I'm just as excited, anyway. Maybe we can record at some point next week? So we have a few more days to practise? It has to be in by the end of the week."
Eddy thought for a second.
"Does it need to be accompanied? Because I don't know if we can get a pianist at such short notice?"
Brett shrugged. "I wouldn't have thought so. It doesn't have to be a long clip, I don't think."

"So, what's all the jumping and shouting about?"
Lily had appeared in the door opening, and her tone was dripping with amusement already. Eddy was way too excited to care, though. 
"Just... this little piece of news Brett brought, that we may be going to a masterclass in Perth soon."
He told her quickly what Brett had said, and within a minute her face opened up in a wide smile as well.
"Wow, that would be awesome! I can ask if we can record in the dance studio, if you want? There's a piano, if Eddy wants to accompany Brett?"
Brett looked sideways at her, with a sudden look in his eye Eddy didn't quite understand.
"Well, Brett wouldn't mind that of course, but unfortunately he's nowhere good enough on the piano to return the favour." Brett said.
Eddy took his hand instantly. The last thing he wanted was for Brett to feel bad about not being able to accompany him.
"Hey, don't worry about that, Brett, I'd be happy to play for you if it's not too hard and I don't mind playing a capella at all. Lily, the studio would be all kinds of awesome, if they'll let us?"
Lily shrugged. "Won't hurt to ask, right?"
"Thanks, Lily, it's a brilliant idea."

They all walked down the stairs, the excitement still billowing in Eddy's chest as he sat down and pulled his books out of his bag, but he was also a bit concerned about Brett. He wasn't going to go all insecure again, wasn't he? And what could he do if he did? He stared at the paper in front of him without seeing any of the numbers. 
Well, for now he guessed the best thing was to simply make his homework on the double, then he was going to help Lily with her science again, and then he was going to run up those stairs and get some proper practise in, with Brett listening on the bed, just like the last time they were here. Maybe Brett could even give him some input on what repertoire to choose? 
He gave himself a swift mental kick up the backside. 
Work. Come on mate, stop day dreaming, right this second. Just focus on your work. 
Eddy nodded quietly. Yeah. That's exactly what he was going to do. So he grabbed his pencil with resolve, but just as he finally bent down towards the paper for real, pencil in hand, Brett got up suddenly and walked off, his telephone in his right hand.
"Back in a sec!" he said off-handedly. 
Eddy watched his retreating back with a bit of surprise. They'd just sat down to work, hadn't they? Did he have to go toilet already? He shrugged and once again tried to focus on his math. 
Brett came back in after just a minute, but weirdly he was wearing a huge smile. 
"Fixed!" he said excitedly. 
"Fixed what?" Three pairs of eyes were on Brett as he sat down. His foot was instantly against Eddy's, naturally, exactly where it belonged. 
"I called in a favour from this guy from my school, who's auditioning for piano this year. He's really good, and if we tell him what we're playing today he'll accompany us when we record."
Eddy turned to him, his mouth falling open. 
"What? You didn't have to do that, you know." he said softly. "It was okay."
Brett put his hand on Eddy's thigh under the table and squeezed it gently. 
"I know, but I wanted to."
Suddenly Eddy didn't care that they weren't alone yet, he leaned over slightly and kissed Brett, softly on the lips. 
"Thank you, Brett, this is awesome."
He just about caught Matt's broad smile, as they all went back to their homework and silence descended at last over the big kitchen table.