Play!

LXXI

“Thought you have a competition to play tomorrow.”

Brett kicked off his shoes, one hitting the wall of their hotel room with a dull thump and threw a slight frown at his friend.
“Relax! Still got seven hours.” 
He put down his violin case and slumped down on the mattress, the cushion by the headboard jumping impressively high.
“And?”, Cole said, curiosity dripping from his voice, “How did it go?”
“I talked to her”, Brett shrugged, eyes closed and already almost drifting away. A shower would certainly be a good idea after their race in the salty sea, but he doubted his ass would be able to move even a centimeter tonight. 
“Didn’t mean that”, Brett heard Cole shake his head, sniggering, “She came back afterwards and told Angelica the news.”
“And Angelica told you?”, Brett opened one eye, brows raised.
“Yeah. Reported right after.”
Brett tsked. “What are you guys? Bantering old women, drinking tea and talking behind other people’s backs?”
“She knows we’re good friends. Katie looked gloomy by the way, absentminded and I do think that last drink was a bit too much. But hey!” He gave Brett’s shoulder a good slap. “Well done! I’m proud of you!”
“Yeah, glad this is out of the way!” Brett’s sigh was accompanied with a stretch of his back. 
“And now, will you spill the beans? No spending the night at Eddy’s?”

Images of them walking back to Eddy’s dorm, violin cases loosely hanging off their shoulders and more often than not, the backs of their hands brushing against each other were flickering through Brett’s mind. The few words softly exchanged along with their gazes had created an atmosphere of peace and relaxation. Brett had caught himself grinning like a loon more than he was proud to admit and when they’d reached the student dorm, Eddy had enveloped Brett into a firm hug, whispering “Thank you for this evening” next to his left ear, initiating the rise of uncountable goosebumps all over Brett’s body. His smug grin and the “Get a good night's sleep, will ya? Don’t want to win too easily tomorrow!” had taken some of the romantic vibe away and Brett was actually thankful for that. Fueling any flames of hope was the last thing he needed.

“Nah! Forbidden, remember? And tonight, there was actually a security guard when we came back.”
“I see… you came home late nonetheless”, Cole remarked with a certain suggestive tone.
Brett rolled his eyes. “Nothing happened. Nothing will, Cole. We just got bubble tea, went for a swim, talked a bit and that’s it. Eddy sees me as a friend.”

A friend Eddy trusted and was finally able to open up to and do crazy, half illegal things with. But still, nothing more than a friend, Brett was almost a hundred percent certain (and the tiny fraction of what-if’s and maybe-not-onlys should be left untouched, hidden away to not mislead his wavering mind).

“Not convinced”, Cole stated, “And are we really just gonna brush over the swimming thing? What? Where? How?”
Brett was sure as hell gonna leave out the not wearing swimming trunks part. “You are aware Sydney is basically surrounded by water, right? I dared Eddy to go for a swim with me, that’s all.”
“What… in the ocean you mean?” Cole looked at Brett like the smaller was turning into a viola.
“Where else, dumbass? Is a thing we have going on, I challenge him to dares so he can gain new experiences.”
“‘A thing we have going on’... You do know how that sounds, right?”
Brett grabbed the nearest pillow, which, to his satisfaction, hit the side of Cole’s face a fraction of a second later.
“You know what I mean! And I told you it’s nothing! Can you please stop your stupid teenage behavior?”
“Alright, alright”, Cole raised both hands defensively, but Brett’s fine-tuned hearing still caught him mumbling “Still gonna root the rival-pair”, as he shuffled to the bathroom. 

Brett was somehow capable of taking a shower, despite nearly falling asleep under the warm, cascading water, washing away some of the haze of tonight’s events and finally giving way to a lurking nervousness slowly crawling to the forefront of his consciousness. 

Tomorrow was the day, huh.

He was going to play in front of the orchestra, his classmates and the judges. And Eddy.

What if the strange thing with him not getting the fast parts right was gonna hit him again during the performance? 

What if Eddy was going to win and despite Brett feeling okay about it now, wouldn’t be tomorrow?

No! Eddy was a very talented violinist and Brett knew his chances were slim to begin with. It wasn’t the first time he would be losing either. Somehow, in front of Eddy however, he wanted to show his best and demonstrate what he was capable of. And if that wasn’t enough, so be it!

And what if he was going to be the one getting the soloist spot? Eddy had said he didn’t care too much about tomorrow’s outcome either, but what if the not so old ghosts were coming to haunt him again? Would he resent Brett? Would it destroy their new friendship?

Brett shook his head violently, splashing water and shampoo around in the shower cubicle.

Nah! It was going to be fine! He just had to make sure not to completely fuck up his performance and simply trust. In his fingers, his bow arm, the orchestra, in Eddy and their bond, however strong it was!