Play!

LI

"And where? Your room's not exactly spacious", Brett asked while still struggling to get enough air into his lungs for his freaking brain to work properly.
"On my bed of course, where else?"
"But, where are you gonna..."
"On my bed of course, where else?", Eddy repeated as Brett's heart plummeted out of his body, through the four floors of the student dorm and the earth's crust until it reached their planet's core where it got burnt to a useless, pitiful little crisp.
"We've already established you're not against too much closeness when it comes to me, right?", the little fucker meant, making Brett question immediately how he'd never noticed this very daring side of Eddy Chen.
"But... sleeping in the same bed? Are you sure?"
Eddy frowned. "Are YOU sure?"
"Nah! Not at all! Obviously!"
"I'm not gonna bite."
"That's not what I'm worried about."
That devilish smile, another trait Brett wasn't sure he'd ever witnessed. "Then what is it that you're worried about?"

What the hell was happening? Wasn't Eddy supposed to be the shy, insecure one? And now he was offering Brett his bed without batting an eye and on top of that, making weird remarks that were probably, or definitely, Brett didn't know anymore, pointing in a certain direction?

"Look! We don't really have a choice here", Eddy dragged him out of his spinning, confused head space, "My family's not in a position to pay my tuition when I lose my scholarship and you would very likely be expelled from orchestra camp if anyone finds out you're sneaking around at a Sydney uni student dorm at night. My room's tiny and as long as you don't want to sleep on sheet music, which sounds and seems very poetic, but won't give you a wink of sleep, I'm certain, we'll have to put up with whatever space my bed's offering. And if you're really that uncomfortable, I can build us a pillow wall or something."

That monologue just now didn't help Brett make sense of Eddy, really, but it did put things into perspective. They had no choice. For Brett to sneak out was too risky for both of them and they needed rest asap. This was the easiest, fastest way.
So he finally agreed, "You're right."

It was fine. It had to be fine. For one, they were more or less responsible adults now (well, Brett was. Eddy technically wasn't, since he hadn't reached eighteen yet). And second of all, they were both dudes. It was basically like a sleep-over.
Brett didn't know why that second argument didn't help calm his anxious soul at all.

"Okay then", Eddy clapped into his hands once, "I think I have a spare toothbrush somewhere. The bathroom's down the corridor to the right and if you wanna take a shower, I can lend you a towel."
He started to rummage around his closet, threw a white shirt, similar to the one he was wearing, and a pair of black gym shorts on his bed.
"Found it!", he declared triumphantly and held up a still packaged toothbrush like it was a treasure he'd just dug out, but stopped in his tracks when he noticed Brett frozen on the spot in the middle of his room.
"What the... Brett! Get moving! Come on!"
"Oh! Yeah! Of course!"

It's fine, Brett, it's all good, he tried to calm his fluttering nerves when he walked down the hallway, Eddy's towel, Eddy's clothes and Eddy's toothbrush in his arms.
Yeah, he was going to sleep in Eddy's room. In Eddy's bed. Next to Eddy Chen.
Yeah, nah. It was all good. Eddy was all normal and unfazed about it too and wasn't it because it WAS fucking normal und casual? Two bros sleeping in one bed. The one Brett had nursed his fever in too, so this was familiar territory even, wasn't it?

So why on earth was Brett freaking out to the point he was considering hurling in the shower a good idea? He just so managed to not do that and wasted an awful amount of hot water instead to keep his cool (how ironic). Eddy's shampoo however didn't help the weird, fuzzy feeling in his stomach and by the time Brett had himself and his teeth clean, he'd become such an emotional, exhausted wrack he almost didn't find back to Eddy's room.

Eddy was already lying on his bed against the wall when Brett entered the room, half a cushion wall built and himself huddled up in a towel, looking so adorable Brett wanted to throw the sad number of pillows for a cushion wall out the window.
"You take the blanket at least."
"It's too hot anyways. I'm good. You take it."
Brett walked over to his violin case leaning against the wall at the same spot like last time to place his clothes next to it.
"I'm sorry for all the trouble."
"Don't worry! I rarely had a sleepover in my life, so it's kinda fun."
"Really?"
"Busy practicing, remember?"
"Ah, yeah, right."

Now, this was it! Brett had to position himself next to Eddy, but as far away from him as possible. He sat down on the edge of the bed, took about the thousandth deep breath of the last hour alone and lay down.
"Comfortable?", it sounded from the other side of the cushion wall.
"Very", Brett lied, "Thanks again for providing shelter."
"Again, no worries."

Silence, in which Brett didn't dare to breathe (good thing he got some extra oxygen in before), the wooden frame of Eddy's bed pressing into Brett's back as he tried to stay on the mattress.
"You have enough space?", Eddy asked as if he could read Brett's mind, or maybe he was just observative.
"Yeah, don't worry", Brett lied again.
"If not we can get rid of the wall. It's dumb anyway."
"Nah! Please don't! The wall's great!"
"I don't think I've ever heard anyone praise a wall."
"Great Wall of China, no?"
Eddy's guffaw made the bed shake. "Oh my gosh I'm too tired for this!"
"Let's sleep then", Brett suggested the one thing he probably wasn't gonna do tonight.
"Yup, let's! Good night, Brett."
His name was spoken so, so softly it made Brett's insides melt for some reason. He sighed quietly and settled a bit into the mattress, a centimeter closer to the pillow barrier.
"Good night, Eddy."

In the little eternity it took for Brett's eyes to finally fall shut, he listened to Eddy's breathing getting slower, more steady and heavier. It was like a lullaby to Brett's ears, delivering his oh so tired soul after the hell of a day he had to a fuzzy dreamland...