Four thirty-three

Chapter 24

The moment he handed in his last exam, Brett felt a heavy weight leave his shoulders. Another semester finished, and now he had a full month vacation before he had to go back to studying. He closed his eyes and drew in a deep, full breath. He'd always hated exam season, the constant stress, the neverending flow of work. He'd been so happy when he'd left High School behind with no intention of going to University, considering the whole taking exams thing well over and done with for the rest of his life. Going back to study at 25, after years of not opening a book to do other than read, had been considerably harder than he'd expected, and the only thing making it bearable was the fact that it was music he was learning. Music was the only thing he would have ever considered going to Uni for, and, as it was, he found that, as long as he could attend violin lessons, he didn't mind his other classes all that much. Still, the holiday reprieve was a welcomed one, and he found his spirits lifting after weeks of roaming the halls like a tangible ghost, eyebags deep under his eyes.

He headed back to the dormitories to drop his things, and found them empty. All his friends were in the cafeteria, celebrating the end of their examinations. He briefly contemplated joining them, but then a sudden urge seized him, an urge to see Eddy after nearly three weeks of no contact, not even in violin lessons, which were cancelled during exam season. So instead of heading up, he went down, straight to Eddy's room. He knocked softly. There was no answer. He pulled at the handle, expecting the door to be locked, but to his surprise, it wasn't.

He peeked inside the room and found it dark and empty. He then glanced around the hall, saw no one, and quietly slipped in.

♪ ♪ ♪

Eddy came back several hours later to the sight of Brett flopped face down onto his bed, wrapped in his blanket, snoring softly. He approached the bed quietly, so as to not wake him up, turned on the little lamp in his nightstand, and sat beside him. He watched him sleep intently for a while, his breathing unconsciously slowing down to match that of the boy in his bed. He raised his hand to slowly glide his finger along Brett's cheek, the skin smooth and cold beneath his touch. Brett stirred slightly, but didn't wake up.

"Yang!!!"

Brett inhaled sharply and jerked his head up from Eddy's pillow, that he'd been holding on for dear life until that point. He blinked owlishly at the other man, trying hard to focus his vision without his glasses on.

"Geez, Eddy," he mumbled.

The man smirked.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty."

"Go fuck yourself," Brett answered, and plopped back into the pillow.

Eddy snickered. "I would, but you're right in the middle of my bed, and the bathroom's just not that comfortable for that kind of activity."

Brett groaned.

"Come on, roll over, you greedy little thing."

Brett did as told, as Eddy removed his shoes and pants to get into bed. Brett felt himself blush, and buried his face up to his eyes into the covers so his teacher wouldn't see. Eddy sagged against the bed with a long, weary sigh, worming his way up and under the covers until he was at eye level with Brett.

"Are you all done with your exams?" Eddy asked, his voice soft.

( It always was when they were in bed together , Brett had noticed).

He opened his arms, an inviting gesture, and Brett scooted closer, resting his head in the other's chest. "Yeah."

Eddy hummed quietly, and Brett could sense the smile on the man's face. "And you now have a full month without lessons, huh?"