Et Nos Cedamus Amori

XII.

"Alitur vitium, vivitque tegendo." -Virgil

Vice thrives and lives by concealment.

"You don't have time? For what exactly?" Eddy asked.

"All that dating thingy. I already suck at time management as a student alone, the person I would date would just feel awful." Brett said, laughing a little.

Eddy laughed with Brett as they walked down the corridor.

"You have time, man?" Eddy asked as they were about to exit the gates.

"Nah man, Jordon said he wanted to hang out." Brett said, smiling at Eddy.

"You're replacing me with Jordon now, huh?" Eddy asked jokingly, ruffling with Brett's hair.

Brett looked up at him with a soft, soft look on his face. It was bright today and the sun was hitting Eddy's cheek, it makes him look like he's glowing. All those years, Brett had learned how to not blush around Eddy anymore. There's just days where it seemed that his entirety wanted to give in to Eddy.

"It's not like that, bro. I like hanging out with Jordon and Dan. Especially when they're both composing." Brett said, eyes drifting away from Eddy's eyesight.

"They're childhood best friends, right? They met when we were the same age, right? Like us before..." Eddy said, smiling at Brett again.

"Yeah, but I was older than you by a year, dumbass." Brett joked, looking at the pavement in front of them.

"I was better at maths, though." Eddy said proudly, still laughing.

There was a comfortable silence after the laughing as died out. These are all the moments that Brett live for. Hearing his heartbeat slow when the quiet enters, seeing everything about him become less tense. This reminds him of how dangerous it really is around Eddy.

Eddy is so unaware of what he felt and somehow, Brett's longing grows. It expands in size, stretching and blooming. It feels like a tacenda of chaos, a quiet storm, a silent river. They are all unspoken but you know.

Even if the pain is gone at these types of moments where it's only the two of them, he has to feel the pain a little. A pinch on the heart just to remind himself of the reality of all this. Sometimes, affliction is the greatest memorabilia of an unrequited love.

To ground himself back in on the reality of his lovelorn state, he had to ask.

"How're things with you Toni?" Brett asked.

He had to ask before he forgets about her name and her place in Eddy's life. A place he could never take. A place that he could never cross on his life-

"It's going great... Man, I am so happy with her." Eddy said, a smile creeping up his face. This was a different type of smile than he gave Brett.

This one is special, reserved for his lover. The golden look, with his eyes crinkled on the edges and his lips stretched at it's maximum. Goddamn, Brett Yang would be lying if he said he didn't want that smile to be just for him.

That's the shock of pain Brett was waiting for. The one to bring him back up and remind him of his place. Remind him of the place that he should be taking.

"Well, I'm glad... I'm so fucking happy for you, Eddy. You wouldn't even know." Brett said genuinely, no jokes nor hesitation in his voice.

It almost made him believe the lie, too. Only, it was more of a half-truth.

"Thanks, Brett. Thank you for everything."

"Of course..."

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