It was 8 pm, right after dinner...

LXXIV

Brett didn't even make it to his bed. He closed the door with a louder pang than intended and sank down to the ground. There was no stopping the tears now and he was barely able to hold back the sobs, which bubbled up from deep within.

Eddy mustn't hear him being upset. Not now! This was for him alone to deal with.

But of course, Eddy didn't let him. He hardly heard the mumbled "Argh! Fuck it!" behind his closed door, before fast loud knocks caused it to vibrate against Brett's back.

"Brett! Are you okay?", Eddy yelled.
Brett just shook his head wildly to himself.

"Brett! Open the door, please! I think you're misunderstanding something."
"What is there to misunderstand?", Brett sobbed quietly, so that Eddy's ears wouldn't pick up any of this.
"Brett! Please!"
"Fuck off, Eddy!", he said a bit louder.
"No! Please open the door or step aside so I can come in! I'm not gonna leave you just like that! I said I want to do right by you, didn't I?"
"What the fuck does that even mean? You're so fucking cryptic sometimes it drives me crazy, Eddy! Just leave me alone!" Brett's voice was sad and the tears were streaming down in great numbers, but at least the anger audible in what he'd just said gave him a tiny sense of satisfaction.

"Brett, open the door, I beg you! You won't regret it... at least I hope you won't. Please!!!"

"Fuck!", Brett mumbled under his breath and scooted aside. There was no winning against Eddy at this point. That guy would just beg until his voice would get hoarse and Brett had no patience for that whatsover.
As soon as he freed the door, Eddy stormed in, quickly scanned the room and saw a crying Brett sitting next to his bed, crouched down and what came next was something Brett wasn't prepared for for the life of his.

Eddy clasped Brett's tearstained face between his hands, inhaled deeply, closed his eyes and pressed his hot lips against Brett's with such force it knocked Brett over.
"Hhmmmpf!", Brett made, as he fell flat on his back, arms uselessly swinging up and Eddy's lips still very much on Brett's.

It was painful, it was hot, it was wet and salty from all the tears. And Brett was stunned, shocked! What the hell was happening? After what Eddy had said, after he'd so clearly shown him that kissing him was out of question, even under the most intimate circumstances?

"Eddy!", he mouthed loudly, trying to press against his best friend's chest.
Eddy didn't fight back. He let himself being pushed away a few centimeters by Brett's trembling hands, his lips leaving Brett's quivering ones. Brett tasted blood inside his mouth, courtesy of Eddy's viscious attack.

Eddy's eyes, with which he looked down at Brett, were calm and steadfast, but Brett could see the slow fire burning deep inside of them.

"There you go!", Eddy said matter-of-factly, "Now you don't need to worry or be sad. And you don't need to say anything yet, because when I said, I want to do right by you, I meant that I have a plan. But until I can really show you, really tell you, I don't want you to be anxious. I want you to have a fun time during Christmas and I want you to get better. So I kinda had to do this just now..." The next words sounded a bit unsure, "...although you deserve so much more than just a sloppy kiss out of a whim, a reckless action because I panicked when I saw you running to your room... That's why I wanted to go through with my plan in the first place. But this is about you, always has been. And if it makes you miserable, what's the point of sticking to my dumb plan, right? So now you know at least part of it."

Eddy was panting after delivering his monologue. Brett was speechless, still lying on the ground with Eddy towering over him. Even if Eddy had wanted him to say something, he couldn't. His whole being was in a state of disbelieve and shock.

What, the fuck, just happened?

"Okay...", Eddy said after a while of silence, "I'm going to leave you alone now. If I have overstepped any boundaries or have misinterpreted something, please feel free to come and punch me or whatever. I... I don't know... I just really wanted you to not misunderstand...but maybe I did..."
Eddy slowly got up and moved towards the door. Brett was yet stiff like a board, but he did notice the change in Eddy's demeanor, his confidence from just moments ago was replaced by an uncertainty and, was it fear even, which was visible in his insecure steps, his slightly bent posture and those wild, dark eyes?
"I... Brett, I hope I haven't done something unforgivable... just... I hope you're alright. That's all that's important."
And with those stuttered words, Eddy carefully closed the door.

Like on instinct, Brett brought his hand to his pulsing, still hurting lips.

Did that really just happen? The thing, that Brett had envisioned thousands of times in different scenarios? That press of his best friend's perfect, plump lips on his?

Brett felt tears rising up again, but this time for an entirely different reason.

He couldn't believe it! Had all his worries and anxiety about being the only one in love with his best friend and thus ruining their friendship really been unnecessary? Had all those little signs from the other really been a display of Eddy's feelings towards him? And did Eddy really just show him that he deemed Brett kissable too? Did he really just lift Brett from his burden to somehow someday awkwardly confess his feelings to Eddy?

And then it hit Brett.

That yes! Eddy had just kissed him, in a kind of brutal way and not at all how Brett had imagined, but YES, GOD DAMN YES, Eddy had brought his own lips to meet Brett's just to show him that YES, Eddy in whatever way liked him back.

Now the tears started to stream down, an incredulous smile broke out on Brett's face and the hand previously touching his lips minutely in disbelieve was clasped over his mouth, a fruitless attempt to silence the happy sobs making their way up his throat.

So this was all it took for Brett to turn from a crying mess into, well, still a crying mess, but now because he was the happiest person on earth. All the surpressed butterflies took off at once and made his insides hover, his whole being fly.

Eddy Chen had kissed him! What a fucking lucky bastard Brett Yang was!

It took Brett an eternity to calm himself down from his gleeful bawling and he was still lying on the floor, when the image of an insecure Eddy, slowly closing the door behind him to give Brett some space resurfaced in his mind. Words like "misunderstand" and "unforgivable", spoken by the most beloved, but almost pained voice popped up and it slowly dawned on Brett, how this whole situation must have appeared to Eddy.

Brett being shocked, frozen after being kissed. Brett pushing Eddy away. Brett not saying a word and just staring at Eddy with nonunderstanding, blank, wide eyes...

He sat up with a shock. This had to be fixed! As much as Eddy had wanted Brett to not feel insecure, Brett had to make sure Eddy didn't get the wrong picture in return.
He pulled himself up, quickly dried his face haphazardly with the sleeve of his hoodie and quietly opened the door.