It was 8 pm, right after dinner...

XXIX

Brett had one thought playing on loop in his head for the last hour or so:

Eddy might not be straight.

Eddy might not be straight. he told himself again, as he picked up the shampoo from the shelf, squirted some on his palm and started foaming up his hair with it.
All his actions at the moment were running on autopilot, for his brain was too busy processing the newest piece of information he got about his best friend.

Brett turned on the water again and let it cascade onto him, while he just blankly stared at the white tiles.

Eddy might not be straight... Had that been a joke? It could have been, for all he knew! Eddy sometimes just said stuff like that by the way and maybe it had been some gender equality thing everyone was doing nowadays. It was a shame, that Belle, Eddy's sister, had called Eddy during their ride home, so Brett couldn't press any further. Now it would be too awkward to bring that up again out of the blue.

Maybe it would be easier to just put it down as a joke, Brett thought, turned off the water and stepped out of the shower. Then he wouldn't have to think about what that would or would not change and what it meant for himself...
But why would it matter to him anyway? It was not like Eddy's preferences would in any way affect their relationship or Twoset or whatever. Just because Ray had some wild suggestions and Eddy had said some things on top of it didn't mean, he had to ponder over it.

He rubbed his hair with a towel a bit rougher out of frustration and tried to bring order into his confused brain in the process.

Yes, what would it change? Nothing! So there was no point in wasting time on this matter. He'd simply have to concentrate on more important things, like their work, his health... or his new violin, which finally should arrive soon! Oh yeah, that was something he had been looking forward to for around half a year now and according to the luthiers schedule, his new bae should be finished by now.

Brett smiled. At least, music always gave him something to hold on to, when everything else was complicated and annoying. Playing violin was, well, not easy, but the concept of it all was simple: practice! Practice if you want to get better. No shortcuts, no complex theories, just practice!

He took a deep breath, wrapped the towel around his waist and opened the bathroom door.

"Are you done?", Eddy asked. He was sitting on the couch, laptop opened and his fingers dancing across the keyboard like a bunch of ballet dancers performing Swan Lake. Without interrupting his typing, he looked up at Brett and, was it Brett's imagination, or was Eddy's gaze lingering a bit too long for it to be... casual? Brett suddenly felt uncomfortably self conscious and cursed his heart for beating faster.

"Yup, don't slip!", Brett remarked quickly and ducked away into his room, while he considered to actually get a psychiatrist helping him sort out his emotional state. He didn't allow his head to create an image of Eddy with just a towel around his waist! No sire!!!

Brett's violin did actually arrive two days later and boy, was he ever glad it did! It had been two really shitty days, with his stomach playing a ping pong tournament with his guts and his head pounding like he was standing next to some hightech subwoofer during an EDM party.

"Brett! There is a package for you", Eddy yelled from the door, while the lucky receiver was laying on his bed like a half dead cockroach.
"Can't you sign for me?", Brett tried to scream back, but it came out as a sad croak.
"No, mate. Has to be you! We're not married, you know!"
Brett half snorted half groaned, got up and went to the door half the speed he normally would. Eddy watched him, slightly worried, as Brett signed the parcel.

"Hey, are you okay?", Eddy asked softly, after they'd closed the door.
"Of course! This has to be my new bae. I'm over the moon", Brett replied sarcastically, but was genuinely excited about the arrival of the instrument. So he sat down on the couch and started to open the package labelled "fragile".
"You look bad, mate. Is your head still hurting?", Eddy took a seat next to him.
Brett just shrugged. "Don't rain on my new violin's parade. I can manage." He ripped the sticky tape away and opened the cardbaord and the black violin case.

His new violin was a beauty and for probably the first time today, a smile appeared on Brett's face.
"Woow", Eddy made, his eyes shiny.
"Right?" Brett took it out and held it under the light to have a closer look. 'Belmont anno 2020, Kurt Michael Widenhouse, AR160' was written on the etiquette inside.
"Like the vanish, bro. Very nice!"
"Yeah!", Brett nodded, "It's so shiny and new!"
"It is a new violin, what did you expect?", Eddy chuckled.
"I'm not used to it! My violin was quite old already, when it came to me", Brett retorted, while he admired his new instrument.
"Not as old as mine", Eddy said, "I'll get your bow. Is it in your room?"
"Yes! Thanks!"

Brett grabbed his bow out of Eddy's hands and started tuning. The tone was sweet, full and Brett found, he quite liked it. It was probably a bit darker and not as refined as Eddy's new one yet, but he knew, a new instrument needed months to be played in. He couldn't wait for it to fully develop it's potential.

"I like it, the tone is beautiful!", Eddy mirrored Brett's thought.
"Mhm, me too!"
"Will be a good companion to mine", Eddy mused and leaned back into the couch.
"I hope so! Otherwise we can forget future tours and stuff", Brett said and played a few scales up and down the fingerboard.
Eddy smiled. "Sounds great already. They'll get along."

But Brett didn't really listen anymore. He was too immersed in the tones of Tchaik's 1st movement his new violin produced.
With his eyes closed, he jumped to the cadenza and tried to listen closely, how the violin performed in the higher and lower register, how the chords rang and if there were any irregularities he might have to tell the luthier about.
He played through the whole 1st movement and when the last note rang through their living room, Brett opened his eyes and looked at Eddy with a happy grin.

Eddy was staring back at him, his mouth slightly open.
Brett frowned. "Eddy?" He snapped his fingers in front of his friend's face. Eddy shook his head.
"Did I sound so bad?", Brett asked.
"Bro! No!", Eddy exclaimed and put his hand on Brett's shoulder, "You sound amazing!..." It felt like he wanted to say more, but didn't really know, what.
"Can't wait to introduce them to the world", Brett said then and got up...

...Which turned out to be a mistake! Brett's head immediately started to spin, his vision blacked out and all he heard, before he fell into a deep darkness, was Eddy's voice from afar, calling his name...