the silence

twenty-one.

   the morning came much faster than either of them had expected. eddy was up earlier than brett for once, but it was only because he hadn't been able to sleep for more than half an hour straight all night.

the tears had came after brett fell asleep, his breaths evening out and loud heartbeat quietening. eddy simply couldn't handle the idea of brett getting hurt because of him. he held the smaller man tightly in his arms and stroked his hair, crying silently.

    "eddy?" a small voice came after awhile, breaking the near silence in the room. eddy pulled away to look at brett's face.

    "what?"

brett kissed eddy's lips softly and wiped his tears with his thumbs.

"it's okay," brett mumbled, "i promise."

eddy shook his head and hugged brett tightly, pressing his face against his neck. they'd fallen asleep quickly, but eddy had been up again in less than an hour.

    needless to say, the taller boy was not very rested when 7:30 rolled around. he groaned loudly as soon as the alarm went off and pulled the pillow over his head. brett giggled quietly and kissed the side of eddy's head.

"can't we just skip rehearsal?" he mumbled. brett shook his head.

"nope. we gotta go and you know it," he teased, wrapping his small arms around eddy's waist and leaning his head on his shoulder.

"but baby..." eddy groaned. redness spread across brett's cheeks and he shook his head once again.

"come on. you'll feel better once you get up, i promise. it won't be that bad."

the two of them rolled out of bed and got dressed in silence. tiredness repeatedly attempted to take over both of them as they pulled on their clothes, eyelids heavy and bodies weak from exhaustion. the sun crept slowly over the horizon while they got ready for work and brett stopped at the window to watch it. eddy stood and stared at brett rather than the sunrise, finding him much more beautiful in the golden light.

"brett?" eddy said softly, latching onto brett's waist as he hugged him from behind.

"what?"

"will you be my boyfriend?"

brett's breath caught in his throat and a smile spread across his face. it was a matter of seconds before he'd turned around and kissed eddy's lips gently, arms around his neck.

"yes," he nodded, cheeks still a faded pink. eddy grinned and picked him up to twirl him around and hear his gorgeous laugh.

"alright then, my love. let's go."

    the two violinists held hands as they walked to eddy's car, beaming smiles on both of their faces. the air was warm and their palms were inevitably sweaty, but neither of them really cared. they got into the vehicle and shut their doors.

    as eddy drove down the road, his eyes were repeatedly drawn to brett even more so than usual. the fact that they were now official was distracting him. he rested his hand on brett's thigh and squeezed it lightly, a cheerful giggle coming from the smaller boy's mouth.

   "you're so beautiful," eddy mumbled. that same pink tint returned to brett's cheeks and he shook his head fervently.

    "you're too good to me."

    eddy waved his hand dismissively before sliding his long fingers into brett's palm and latching their hands together. they held hands in silence until they got to rehearsal.