(love)birds of a feather

chapter five

"That's a dangerous mix, friendship and romance, y'know?" Jordon remarks. "So how do you feel?"

Eddy ignores his remark and chooses to answer the question. "It feels like—right, Sappy Hopeless Romantic Eddy alert—" Jordon laughs, "—it feels like... sunshine. Like, when it's sunny and it warms your skin but not to the point where you're all sweaty. Flowers everywhere in a somewhat damp grass field, a soft breeze, butterflies... a feeling of belonging, a feeling of familiarity, and suspense, cause does he feel the same? But overall, it's all a beautiful feeling."

He takes a sip of his coffee, looking up after a few moments of unusual silence. And there it is; Jordon's cheekily grinning at him.

"That sounds like you're talking about you and Brett's ideal outdoor wedding."

"Jordon!" Eddy sighs exasperatedly, hiding his flushed face in his hands as Jordon laughs hysterically.

"Alright, fine, sorry." Jordon says, although he's still grinning. "Back on track." He's seemingly lost in thought, typing away at his laptop. "That was a great description, not gonna lie. So it's like an indirect serenade? Or confession, rather?"

Eddy shrugs. "I guess."

"Why can't you tell him yourself?" Jordon peers over his laptop screen at him inquiringly.

"That's the equivalent of two violists jumping off a roof." Eddy laughs softly as he remembers the joke Brett always used to tell.

"So you think." Jordon says. "Are you going to tell him about the composition, at least?"

"Yeah. Not about the whole thing behind it though, I'm so not ready for that," Eddy replies, taking another sip of his coffee.

Jordon grins. "Fair enough. What about instrumentation?"

Eddy thinks for a bit. "Maybe four parts? Violin? And then we could play the four parts and overlap them? Or get two other violinists to help out?"

More typing. "Sounds good. Any title ideas so far?"

Eddy muses for a few silent moments. Back in uni when they occasionally did compositions, Eddy was great at it, but he could almost never find proper titles for his compositions.

But this one time, his mind lets him cross that bridge, and a title makes its way to the front of his head. He smiles.

"Prelude."

Jordon nods, the sounds of his keyboard filling the air. "Alrighty. I'll work on it and send you the MIDI version when I'm done. So you guys can look it over."

"Cool, thanks, Jordon." Eddy stands, picking up Brett's coffee. Thankfully, it's still warm.

"And Eddy?"

Eddy turns around. "Yeah?"

Jordon grins unrepentantly. "Just saying, if you and Brett ever end up kissing one day, I'm telling him the real meaning behind Prelude."

Jordon He, you little—"Is that you saying you'll never tell him anything, then?"

Jordon wiggles his eyebrows, still grinning. "Nah. I think the chances are fairly high."

"Oh, shut up." Eddy rolls his eyes, but ruins the effect by joining his laughter. He waves. "Alright, later!"

♡ ♡ ♡

The final notes ring out from the four violins, beautiful and resonant. The atmosphere is now adorned with bright flowers blooming out into the silence, lightening the air.

Jordon turns off the camera as Brett sighs with relief, following a recording well done. "That was so beautiful." He smiles. "Thanks, Jordon. And thanks, Eddy, for having him compose it."

"All praise to Jordon," Eddy waves it off and laughs.

"Nah. I think you'll be thanking Eddy more soon enough." Jordon winks at him. "Trust me."

Brett looks over at Eddy, who's sheepishly shuffling the music on his stand.

"Glad you liked it, Brett." Eddy says after a few moments of silence, avoiding his gaze.

Brett smiles, hoping he'll glance up, smile back. No such luck. As much as he refuses to admit it, he misses that smile. In a platonic friendship way, of course.
He turns to the other two violinists. "And thanks, Jonathan. Thanks, Anne. For helping out."

"You're welcome," they both respond in unison, smiling. They wave farewell before leaving the studio.

"We should probably head back." Eddy says. "Thanks a ton, Jordon. The fans are going to love it."

Jordon says something under his breath, and Eddy goes suddenly shy. Brett chooses not to let on.

Jordon laughs, waving. "Alright, see you both soon!"

Brett can't help but feel unsettled. Was Eddy okay? Where was the Eddy Chen he knew, the one whose laughter brightened Brett's own darkest days?