Broken String

XL

A chance opens up unexpectedly to Todd when he comes out of the toilet in the restaurant, between pizza and tiramisu. He's been wanting said chance all day, never getting one, but now he sees Brett get up from the table in the corner by the window and in a split second he decides to hang back. Will Eddy notice if he's gone longer? He's really not sure, but he also knows they'll all be too drunk to have any sane conversations after they leave the restaurant. There's a little alcove to the side by the toilet that has a large plant in it. He steps back into it and waits to ambush his great friend from between the leaves.

"Hey."
"Oh, hey. Is it free?"
"Yeah. Can you hold up a sec though?"
He sees Brett's face change as understanding dawns. He steps towards him.
"Yeah, of course. You good?"
Todd nods and ducks a bit deeper into the alcove so Eddy doesn't see them. 
"I'm fine. Very worried about him though."
Brett's lips tense and untense and suddenly he nods with the weight of worlds. 
"Yeah."
"What are we going to do?"
Brett shrugs as his shell breaks in a thousand pieces in front of Todd's very eyes, revealing the emotion underneath he's clearly carefully kept in check all day. There are tears not far down, Todd can see them shimmering just below the surface. 
"Mate..." he says. He doesn't put a hand on him, though. Brett wouldn't want him to, and he certainly wouldn't want to lose it here. Or anywhere else. 
But how can that be healthy for a guy? 
"He won't. Ask. For. Help." Brett hisses. "Did you see how he tried to cut his fucking pizza?"
Todd nods. Yeah. He did see. He also saw how Brett cut it for him without words. Respectfully. 
"I'm guessing he's struggling harder than we know, Brett. I think you're handling it great, if it's any help?"
A look flits over Brett's face, and Todd realises straight away he knows more about Eddy's struggles than he's willing to share. 
"Bretty... you know I'm here, yeah?" he says softly. "To talk? Or anything?"
"Yeah. Thanks. I don't know, Todd. I just... I wish I knew where this was going."
"Yeah, me too."
On a whim he steps forward and hugs him for just a second. A bro hug, sure, but he swears he can feel Brett relaxing under his arms. 
"You're doing great, bro." he repeats gently as he lets go.
Brett says nothing, though, he just smiles a wry smile and ducks into the toilet. His shell will be back up by the time he comes to the table again, Todd has no doubt. He nods to himself and with a big sigh he starts walking to the others. He's really not sure if there's enough wine in the world to fix this. 

"So, what'd I miss?" he says lightly as he sits down, taking Ian's hand under the table and intertwining their fingers automatically. 
"Ah nothing much." Ian says in his I'm kidding tone. "Just the hula dancers and their ninety second performance."
Todd grins and takes a large sip of wine. He loves Ian's I'm kidding tone. He knows it means he's doing well. 
"Yeah, yeah. They better hurry up with this tiramisu though, hula girls or no."
Eddy is sitting quietly opposite him, staring out of the window with a slight smile on his face, but it's plastered on, it only runs skin-deep, Todd can see that clearly. And fuck it all sideways, but for once in his life he has no idea what to say to him to make any of it better. The best idea he had was going out for pizza, but clearly that hasn't solved jack shit. For any of them. 
Look, if he's completely honest with himself he knows that there's only one person in the world right now that's making anything any better for Eddy at all, and he is ducked into a toilet trying to get himself back together again. 

He sighs and smiles at the waiter who appears with their desserts precariously balanced on his left arm, just as Brett walks up to their table again, by now looking completely fine.
Is it just him or do Eddy's eyes lift, just a little, when Brett sits back down next to him?