World Tour

New York: coming out

But now it was, sort of, morning, and they were awake. 
And Eddy knew what this meant. 
It was evening in Australia. The call had to be made. 
He looked at Brett, to see the panic in his own eyes reflected back at him through Brett's. 

There were no words, now. He just picked up the phone, sat as close as possible to Brett, and dialed. 

As his mum picked up, he couldn't breathe and his heart was hammering out of his chest. 
¨Hey, mum, how are you?¨ he managed. 
¨Eddy! It's so good to hear your voice! How are you? You in America?¨
¨Yes, we arrived last night and we just got up. Are you okay, mum?¨
¨Fine, fine! You tell me about you!¨
¨Well, mum¨ he said, his voice wavering, steeling himself. 
¨I have something very important to tell you. Erm.... Mum, Brett and I... we're a couple now. He's my boyfriend.¨
It became very quiet on the other end of the line. Eddy waited, breathless. 
¨Mum? You still there?¨
Then he heard it. Muffled sobbing. Shit. His mum was crying. No. 
He looked at Brett in a panic and Brett put his arm around his shoulder. 
A tear welled up in Eddy's eyes. 
¨Mum, are you okay?¨ He half started to cry.
¨I'm so sorry I'm never what you expect me to be...¨
He heard his mum sighing deeply. And then her voice came. 
¨You are gay?¨
He didn't really have an answer for that so he went for honesty.
¨I don't know, mum. I just know I love Brett and I want to be with him more than anything else in the world.¨
¨I'm sorry, Eddy. I need some time to think about this. I will call you tomorrow, okay?¨
The line went dead. 

Eddy lost it. He really tried not to, but he loved his mum so much. Why couldn't she ever just accept him as he was? He broke down into sobs, tears streaming over his cheeks, as he turned to Brett and buried his face in his lap. 
Brett bent over him so Eddy was protected by his strong arms, and rubbed his back. 
¨It'll be okay, Eddy. She'll be okay. She'll come around. Come on, let's call your sister, okay? She'll help.¨
Brett dialed the number himself, while Eddy tried to compose himself. He knew Brett was right: Belle was in Australia, and she would help. She'd always supported Eddy in everything he decided to do. 
¨Belle? Hi, It's Brett. Sorry to call you like this, but Eddy needs to speak to you.¨
He didn't hear what Belle said, but Brett eyed him meaningfully and gave him the phone. 
He tried to choke back the sobs. 
¨Belle... I'm so sorry. I just spoke to mum, I told her that... that Brett and I are a couple. He's my boyfriend.¨ He started crying again. 
¨She... she was upset. She cried, Belle. Then she said she needed time to think and hung up. Please, don't hate me, Belle...¨

Then he heard his sister's voice, clear as a bell, on the other side of the line. 
¨Hey, brother¨, she said in a soothing tone. ¨Don't worry. I'm so happy for you! I've known for a while how you felt, I just never said, I didn't want to disrespect. How long have you been together?¨
Eddy was so surprised, the tears stopped. She knew? She was okay?
¨What?" he managed. ¨You knew?¨
¨You can't hide stuff from your baby sister, you know that¨, Belle laughed. 
¨Don't worry, Eddy, I will talk to mum. I will go to her now. Okay? I'm sure she'll be fine, once she has a moment to think about it all. I will call you later, okay?¨
When she had hung up, Eddy turned to bury himself in Brett's lap again, so upset he had no words.