Straight

XXIII

Has he ever felt safer than he does right now, with Eddy's arm around him, with his hand lying on his own? He can feel that Eddy is asleep already, the exhaustion of weeks clearly catching up with him. He smiles again, because wasn't this exactly what he set out to do, why he came here?
He basks in the glow they make together and stays awake as long as he can.

He wakes up just as Eddy is leaving very quietly, closing the door behind gently him. He wants to laugh, and tell him there's no need, he's awake now, but Eddy's already gone. He turns on his back and stretches out. Runs his right hand over the warm spot next to him, where Eddy was just lying, and closes his eyes as he feels the remnants of the glow. All the fear, the angst, the crap is still there, of course, somewhere just underneath the surface, but he pushes it down and leaves it there.
No more of any that shit. He's just going to be normal, enjoy being with his best friend, who by some miracle doesn't seem to have kicked him out of his life, and that's that. He looks up at the ceiling and waits for his love to come back.
Actually, Eddy is taking a while. Is he showering? Should he get up and get dressed? They'll need to be out of here soon enough. He sits up in bed, stretches and yawns.

He almost startles when the door opens and Eddy comes in, looking weirdly guilty. He watches him with sober eyes as it hits him instantly. His slightly flushed cheeks, his eyes glittery, his movements graceful and almost languid.
He's wanked, hasn't he? Did he have another dream about one of the girls? A good one, this time?
"Hey, how are you?" he says as he pushes the knowledge out of his brain. Look, it's none of his business. Eddy can wank whenever he wants, what is it to him anyway?
"Much better, thanks, Brett." Eddy says quickly. "That chicken soup and fried rice was genius."
Brett grins lightly.
"Yeah, genius, that's me. So, breakfast and off to the con?"
"Yeah, absolutely. I need to catch up on almost a whole day of practice."
He gets up quickly and manages to avoid Eddy seeing his erection, shoots into his jeans and follows him downstairs to have some cereal.

They are walking to the con like normal, just like they've always done, and it's another relief. He's not lost him, he's still his friend, and that is plenty to bask in, really. But then Eddy breathes in sharply, and seems to hesitate for just a moment.
"So, I was thinking about Jill, right?" he says quietly. "Maybe I could invite her to the bar, tonight. And I wanted... I wanted to know what you thought?"
The sun is shining already, and it's going to be hot later, he knows. He stares at the house to his right as he tries to understand why Eddy has said this, why he is asking him. He doesn't owe him that, does he? Or maybe... he just really wants his opinion?
Oh, Eddy. You can have an opinion.
He turns to Eddy as soon as he knows his eyes won't betray how he feels.
"Awesome idea, go for it! I'm sure she'll say yes."
I mean, of course she will. He knows she likes him already. And he expects Eddy's eyes to light up now, he expects that glow that he saw this morning, when he came back from the bathroom, to appear again. But for some reason there's no glow, there's just him, his eyes dark, brooding almost. He smiles at him encouragingly as they walking into entrance to the con.