Andante

CLXXI

Brett was next to the pool, chatting to a bunch of his school friends Eddy didn't know. He was watching him from his plastic lawn chair - that smile firmly on his face - when Ian plopped down on the chair next to him. He had a bottle of beer in his hand as well. 
"Hey mate." he said. "You having fun?"
"Sure! Hi!"  Eddy said straight away, and with impressive certainty. "You?"
"Yeah man, thanks for the invite."
"Hey. Mind if I join you guys?"
Lily had quietly appeared to his left. She pulled up another plastic chair and sat down right next to Eddy. He smiled warmly at his friend.  
"Of course, Lily! How are you?"
Instantly he wanted to hit himself in the face. That standard greeting was ubiquitous, and the words had slipped out before he could stop them. But they meant more, between them, of course they did, and of course she wouldn't talk now, not in front of Ian, who she didn't know that well. He was an idiot. 
"Fine!" she replied, her face as upbeat as any he had ever seen. "How have you been, Ian?"

It was so weird, wasn't it? Here he was, in this strange triangle, with him knowing that she wasn't really okay, and him knowing that he wasn't really okay, and yet to each other they were talking happily, smiling freely, as if nothing at all were wrong in their lives, ever. 
Did he do this too? Eddy found himself wondering. Did other people also look at him and see only the smile, only the chat? And if they did... did anyone then actually ever see anyone else for real? He stared into the pool, as if the calm, smooth surface, reflecting the pastel colours of the now-lit lanterns, could tell him. 
It didn't, of course. 
"Eddy, you with us?" Lily said suddenly, an edge to her tone that wasn't reflected in that beaming smile of hers. She had put her hand on his thigh. 
"Yeah, of course!" he hastened to say. There was no need to get all philosophical on their arses, was there now? 
"Eddy's going to the Petti masterclass, did he tell you?" she asked Ian, and suddenly that seemed to have broken some sort of dam, because Ian's eyes lit up and they were off, all the awkwardness gone as they talked about music, about school, about dancing and travelling. 
And before he knew it the smile was real, and he was having fun. Maybe he was having it right on the periphery of the party, but still, he was loving sitting here with his friends and chatting to them about nothing in particular. And when he looked up and saw Brett's beaming smile, which kept finding him over the crowd, his heart glowed like the lantern lights on the water. 

Brett was drinking, though. He was drinking a lot. Was this beer number four? Or was it maybe five, already? He was getting louder, too. Raucous, almost. Eddy had never really seen him like that. Brett never usually drank at all. He wasn't about to go up there and tell him to stop, though, was he? 
Or maybe... maybe he should? 
He watched for a while in silence as Lily and Ian talked about math, until someone put yet another beer in Brett's hand. Then he got up with a shock.
"Just gonna say hello to Brett, okay?" he mumbled. "I'll be back in a second."
He made his way quickly through the dancing crowd, not even really noticing the girl that got pushed into the pool and squealed in delight as she splashed around. 

"Hey." he said simply, when he had made his way in front of his boyfriend. That girl that had been all over him like a rash was next to him again, of course. She gave him a weird look and took her hand off Brett's shoulder as he stepped up. 
"Eddy!" Brett yelled, way too loud, his eyes shiny and even bigger than usual, his gaze somewhat unfocused. "You're here! Good! Come on mate, let's dance." 
Eddy blinked as Brett grabbed him and started swinging him from side to side, barely on the beat of the pulsating rhythm. 
"Eddy!" Brett yelled again. "I'm having so much fun! This is the best party ever! And after we're gonna... I'm gonna..." 
Eddy's eyebrows shot up in a warning, and Brett stopped talking and giggled. 
Shit! Okay, maybe Brett had closed his mouth again for now, but Eddy had a very strong inkling what he had been about to say. 
"Sst." he warned softly, looking around him to see who was there to overhear. That blonde chick was talking to some other guy, not very far away at all. And these were not people they were out with. He knew very well how devastated Brett would be tomorrow, if he did anything to change that now. "Erm, Brett, look, I don't want to meddle, but maybe this should be your last beer?" he said softly. 
Suddenly Brett threw back his head and laughed out loud. 
"Oh come on, spoil sport." he called and he shoved Eddy in the shoulder. It would have been hard, the shove, but Brett half missed and lost his balance for just a second. "The beer's great! I'm fine."
He tightened his hold on Eddy again and pulled him back into the dance.