the silence

ten.

warning: domestic violence

    the drive back to the concert hall was way too quiet for either of their comfort. eddy's hands wouldn't stop shaking and he could barely hold onto the steering wheel, which frightened brett more than he'd ever admit. it took a lot of strength for him to get into the car with another person, and eddy was making him slightly regret that decision. of course, it wasn't eddy's fault, and brett knew that. but that didn't make him any less afraid of dying in a fiery car crash.

"i'm sorry you had to see that," eddy said after they pulled into the parking lot and he turned off the car. brett shook his head.

"no, im sorry," he replied. eddy frowned.

    "why? you didn't do anything," he opened his door, getting out of the car. he wouldn't have gotten out yet if he was alone, but he knew brett liked to be inside early. it seemed that brett liked to do everything early.

    "it's not fair," brett crossed his arms as they walked inside. eddy squinted at him.

    "what do you mean?" he questioned. brett groaned and gestured dramatically, unable to find the words.

    "you deserve better," he finally spat out, clenching his teeth. talking to eddy seemed to get harder the more he tried to do it. eddy's cheeks reddened as the words came out of brett's mouth.

    no one had ever really said anything to eddy about his relationship. it had been wonderful at the beginning and had slowly gotten worse and worse to the point it was at now, so he assumed people just didn't know or didn't want to say anything. the fact that he'd moved hours away from most of his close friends didn't help much. brett was the only friend he had who'd seen the extent of the abuse he was going through, and he was the only one who chose to speak up on the manner (ironically enough.) eddy had no idea what to say. they'd made their way to their seats by this point and he fiddled with his pencil to try and help himself gather his thoughts.

    "it's really complicated, brett. i... i don't know. i think i used to love her, i really do. but she's not the same person anymore. i don't know that person. i feel like i've never met her in my life. it's like... like someone else just took over her completely, you know?" he explained carefully.

    brett looked at eddy's bruised nose and sighed. talking about things this personal with someone he barely knew was way out of his comfort zone, but it was clear that eddy trusted brett very much (for whatever reason) and needed his help. the smaller boy nodded and opened his mouth to reply, but had to shut it when the conductor approached the podium. it was time to go to work.

    the two boys didn't talk much the rest of rehearsal. the music was especially difficult and the tedious process of perfecting it exhausted them enough to prevent any chatting going on. they said their goodbyes to each other after the long day and headed their separate ways, simple as that.

    brett absolutely could not get eddy off of his mind as he drove home. scenarios that would (probably) never happen kept replaying over and over in his head and he cursed himself for being so stupid. it had been a long time since he'd had a crush on a boy, but it seemed that that was about to change. he dialed jamie's number as he pulled into his driveway, yawning loudly. he'll know what to do, brett told himself. he always does.

    "hello?" jamie answered as brett was walking through his front door. the smaller boy frowned. jamie never answered the phone with anything less than an excited greeting accompanied by a strange or extremely affectionate nickname.

    "hey, is now a bad time?" he bit his lip, sitting down on the couch. he really hoped it wasn't.

    "no, no, i was just asleep. sorry, doll. i had a long day," jamie explained. guilt bubbled in brett's stomach and he winced.