Closer 2

91.

Brett felt his hands go all clammy as Eddy stopped the car outside another of the houses they had found to look at. Ray was babysitting Elise, ecstatic about the fact they had introduced her to violin, and now it was up to them to decide if this was their dream house or not. If it was fine with the loft as their filming space, if the four bedrooms would be of okay sizes, if the window in the living room gave a good amount of light.

But all Brett could think of was the fact that they might meet another homophobe, that they might not get the house anyway because he wasn't a girl, or Eddy wasn't a girl. How much easier wouldn't their lives have been if they were Brettany and Eddy or Brett and Edwina?

"You feeling okay?" Eddy asked as they pulled into the driveway of a house that happened to be of equal distance from Eddy's parents' house and Brett's parents' house.

"Yeah, just nervous," Brett mumbled quietly, shaking his head. "I just don't want to... to be rejected again..."

"We'll be fine, yeah? We have much more in writing this time anyway. It'll be fine," Eddy assured, placing a habd gently om Brett's cheek and kissing him quickly. "We got this, come on."

He turned and got out if the car with Brett following quickly behind. The real estate agent was already on the way out to meet them on the little porch. When Brett saw him, he felt about a million times safer about everything. This wasn't because he was such a calming presence it anything, not at all really. It was more about the fact that if this man wasn't gay, then the Earth wasn't round either.

"G'day gentlemen, how are you two fairing?" the real estate guy asked, extending a hand towards Eddy for a handshake. "You're mr Chen, yes?"

"That's me, and this is my..."

"Husband?" the real estate agent asked with another blinding smile, shifting to shake Brett's hand.

"Boyfriend," Brett corrected softly, giving him a small smile. "Brett Yang."

"Perfect, very pleasant to meet you. Let me show you around, yeah?"

Most of the house was on the ground floor with the exception of a pretty big loft on top that was accessible from a relatively steep wooden staircase on one end of the living room. There were two modern tiled bathrooms, one in the master bedroom and one connected to the living room with the entrance under the stairs. The kitchen had a pretty big dining area, which they would definitely need when the twins arrived. The end of the bedroom corridor had a little sitting area with one window that was stained glass with a geometrical flower pattern. Otherwise there were large clear windows and a door out to a small-ish fenced in garden with healthy looking grass.

"And as I mentioned when we got in, most of the house except the loft was renovated and upgraded last year, so it's basically just to bring the furniture and move right in," the real estate agent ended his tour with a grin. "Any questions?"

"What's the necessary renovations for the loft?" Brett asked, looking up the stairs as they had finished the tour off in the living room.

"Purely cosmetical. As you saw, the wallpaper needs changing, the floors need some care and the previous owner actually purchased a stained glass window to change the street facing window with, which comes with the house as well," the real estate agent informed him. "The other window was changed along with the rest of the house last year, but theey waited with this to get the stained glass."

"The stained glass by the garden door is really beautiful," Eddy commented, looking at Brett, who nodded in agreement.

"It is, yeah. Kind of old, but with a modern design. I like that. Is the one for the loft a similar design?"

"Yes, the design is based on the one downstairs. I can email you the pictures of that when I get to my office," the real estate agent offered with a gentle smile.

"I'd like that, thank you," Eddy smiled, sneaking one arm around Brett's waist as he talked. "Thank you for the tour as well. It's really beautiful."