the silence

four.

(b)
    brett woke up in jamie's bed the morning after his night at the club, his head pounding. he was relieved to find that he was still fully clothed. he groaned when he opened his eyes and saw the sunlight peeking through the curtains. there was no way it was before noon.

sitting up slowly, brett spotted jamie sitting at his desk on the computer. he turned around in his chair when he heard the rustling blankets. he clasped his hands together and flashed brett a cheesy smile, leaning forward.

"good afternoon, sleeping beauty. it's 4 pm," he said happily. brett blinked hard but didn't respond. he didn't talk to anyone, not even jamie, for at least a few hours after he woke up. it took him that long to gather the energy.

"your mom called earlier; she said to tell you to call her when you hear about the audition. i didn't tell her because i figured that's not my place. you have a few texts from the guy who was all over you until 3 last night, but i wouldn't answer them if i were you. he seemed like kind of a fuckboy," the man in the chair shrugged, delivering the sentence so casually despite its contents. brett cleared his throat loudly.

    "oh. yeah. his name's brandon. you didn't kiss him and you definitely didn't fuck him. don't worry," jamie shrugged. brett scoffed and stood up, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

    "there's coffee for you in the kitchen. but there's also water and aspirin; you need those, too," jamie said as brett walked in that direction. he waved his hand in what was an understood "thank you" and grabbed his phone before exiting the room.

    after reading the texts from brandon, brett had to agree with jamie. he definitely sounded bad and brett wasn't into the idea of any sort of relationship at that moment. it was hard for him to have a relationship anyways because of his quiet and solitary nature. people got sick of trying to get him to even utter a word to them or acknowledge that he knew their name. after mandatory introductions, brett liked to keep his mouth shut. you can tell a lot about someone by the way they react when you just refuse to talk to them.

    jamie's reaction had been to tell brett a bunch of really interesting stories about his life. after the realization that "why won't you talk to me" was among the many questions brett would not answer, jamie just took advantage of having someone who'd listen to him. they were stand partners, so they had to deal with each other a lot. they developed a routine after awhile: whenever he got the chance during rehearsal, jamie would tell brett a long winded story. the smaller man would listen and nod along, genuinely interested. each story became more and more personal until jamie was telling everything to this practical stranger.

    the first time brett ever said more to jamie than necessary was at the latter's house. he'd invited brett over to spend the night with him and see where he lived. he'd just got done with an especially personal story and brett decided to finally open his mouth.

    "hey," he'd said hoarsely, putting his hand on jamie's shoulder. the tall man in front of him had raised his head, eyes wide. he'd known brett for awhile now and had never heard him speak unless spoken to.

    "yeah?" jamie had said, a little shocked.

    "i think you're really brave."

    and then they'd hugged for a long time, not saying anything. it was kind of a cheesy moment but it was what pushed them towards their close friendship.

    brett went back into the room where jamie sat at his desk, typing away on his computer. he'd always been a really hard worker and brett admired him for it. the smaller man wrapped his arms around the other's broad shoulders and hugged him tight, closing his eyes.