the silence

six.

the next morning, brett woke up early as usual and fixed himself a cup of coffee. he sat down on the couch and turned on the tv, rubbing his eyes. he'd stayed up late on the phone with jamie to tell him all about his first day of orchestra. the conversation was never boring between the two of them and they'd stayed up well past 3 a.m. despite the fact that brett had to be at rehearsal at 8. as he sipped his coffee, brett remembered their conversation.

"so, what about your stand partner? is he as amazing and wonderful as me?" jamie had asked teasingly. heat spread over brett's cheeks as he thought about eddy; his large hands, his muscular arms, his breathtaking smile. his appearance was dreamy, but brett didn't know too much about his personality. just a little.

"he's from brisbane. tall. very talented," brett noted, shrugging. jamie clicked his tongue and scoffed.

"is he hot? you need a boyfriend, bretty. your loneliness is bumming me out," he snickered. brett nearly choked.

"hey! i haven't said anything about being lonely," he pouted, rolling over in his bed. jamie scoffed again.

"you don't have to say anything, brett yang. i can feel it through the phone. you need some action in your little world," he explained. brett frowned. maybe he was right.

"i don't even think he likes me. and i'm probably not his type. and that's if he's even gay! you can't just assume everyone is gay," brett commented. jamie rolled his eyes even though brett couldn't see it.

"it's 2019. i can assume a lot of people are gay, and there's a chance he's on the list. what's his name?"

"eddy," brett said softly, a small smile on his lips as he remembered their introductions.

"bretty, darling, i can hear you smiling through the phone. hold yourself together. now, you never answered my question: is. he. hot?" jamie teased. brett rolled his eyes.

"all you care about is people's appearances," he scoffed. jamie groaned.

"yes, baby, which is why i'm friends with your cute ass. now answer the question!" he persisted. brett sighed.

"yes."

shaking his head as he remembered their talk, he finished his coffee and got dressed. he wished he had the guts to talk to eddy more, but he just couldn't. he knew that if he opened his mouth and tried to form a sentence or start a conversation, it would just come out as stuttered nonsense. he stuttered a lot when he was nervous, and eddy definitely made him nervous.

the taller boy was the only thing on his mind as he drove to the concert hall.

—

a pleasant morning was not something eddy was lucky enough to have. he was exhausted from waking up countless times throughout the night and he couldn't stop thinking about his argument with mae. it seemed that arguing with her was all he ever did and he was getting quite sick of it, but what was he supposed to do? breaking up with her wasn't exactly an option seeing as they lived together and she didn't know anyone else in sydney. it wasn't practical and he wasn't even sure if he had the power to leave her.

once again, eddy was almost late to rehearsal. he jogged inside with his violin case and looked around, seeing if brett was there. he was, of course, sitting in his seat by himself. eddy opened his violin case and went to grab his bow when he noticed something that made his blood boil.