Club - a Breddy Fanfic.

70)

Eddy sits down on the soft seat. The area is still brightly lit, but he knows the lights will soon be dimmed when the orchestra take their seats. Oh, how he loves this environment. It has been a while since he was in the Opera House. It's even more special to be here now and to see Brett perform for the first time on such a bit stage. Of course Eddy has heard him practice, has even heard him play the piece they are going to listen to right now, but never with the whole orchestra. He will ace it for sure, that's a given fact.

"Hey, there you are. This place looks sooo nice." Timo sighs as he plops down besides Eddy on the red velvet, startling Eddy out of his thoughts. "I will play here, you know. Some day. I just have to."

"I know how you feel. I would love to as well. But... well... yeah. You know?"
Timo understands what he means of course. Him, playing on that stage? Not going to happen without barfing before, during and after the concert. He's just not good enough. He can barely keep his nerves in check to perform at Weddings and the like, where the stakes are less high.

"You would be great, Eddy. I don't understand why you won't see it yourself." Timo bumps his shoulder. He knows where Eddy's thoughts just went. "You could do so much more if you would get that thick head of yours in check so that it's won't bring you down all the time."
Eddy makes a face. Timo grabs his shoulder and turns it so he has to look at him.
"No, don't do that. You know I'm right, Eddy." It's not often Timo is this serious.

"I wish I had your conviction." He says as the orchestra walks in and takes their places. Eddy sees Brett clearly between all the others. His pace so sure, his posture straight as he walks to his desk, his violin in one hand. He doesn't look nervous at all.
Eddy scoffs. "Yeah. No way I'm like them."

"You know what?" Timo says enthusiastically "Next try-out we're going to sign up and we will rock the place! You'll see for yourself then! We have to get us accepted."
Eddy shakes his head firmly.
"Come on, Eddy! I can see it so easily: you, sitting beside Brett there on that stage, me on the other side. We'll be awesome!"

Besides Brett... That would be wonderful indeed. Eddy looks at the stage longingly.
But he isn't as good as them, sitting there all the way up there, now is he?
He bites his tongue. Saying that out loud will only make Timo try to convince him differently. But he's clearly biased, being his friend and all. He won't fall for that.
His chance to reply is taken from him, because now the orchestra is tuning.
Eddy smiles ruefully. Yes, it would be awesome to belong to such an orchestra. But his panic attack from last week made it quite clear that he isn't ready yet.
Maybe he should go into therapy once more to get rid of that stage fright?
Before he can think any more about that, the orchestra starts playing, replacing any thoughts with the music he loves.

"I'm so glad you came!" Brett beams when he comes towards his, his violin case on his back.
He gives Eddy a quick hug.

"I wouldn't have missed it for the world. You were great!" Eddy beams back.
"It's a shame I'll miss your performance in Newcastle this Saturday."

"Yeah. It's nothing special." Brett says with a shrug. "It wouldn't be worth the trip anyway. And we'll see each other the next day."

"I've been alone most Saturday nights in my life, so I will manage another." Eddy winks.

"Yeah, of course you will. But even then." Brett doesn't look pleased. "Okay. Let's get something to drink with the others?" Brett gestures to follow him to the theatre cafe. Most of the orchestra is there and Brett is pulled into the crowd and dragged away in a second.
Timo mingles instantly as well, happily chatting with all the members, joking playfully and being just... well, being just Timo and with that thus very likable. Eddy however, lingers at the side and stays quiet. Because what should he say to anyone? They have been working, so they wouldn't want to talk about that, would they, and it's not like he himself has something interesting to mention. But he's not bored: It's nice to see Brett interact with everybody. He could watch that for ages.

"Hey, Eddy!" Brett walks up to him with a woman at his side. She's quite pretty, in her forties and has definitely Indian roots.

"Um, hi." Eddy greets shyly.

"Indira, meet Eddy. He's a friend of mine and also a violinist. Just like us!" Brett chats happily. "Indira is my desky. And she pretends to be my mother on regular basis."

All of a sudden Eddy doesn't know where to look. 'A friend of mine'? What happened to the statement that he wants to show him off as his boyfriend when possible? So is that excluding his work and colleagues? Even though this is a more how he usually would have been introduced to other people by a boyfriend, it still stings. And it's harder than he wants to admit. He swallows. Brett will have his reasons for this, won't he? Or did he change his mind about being open to their relationship? Oh no. Was his previous reaction wrong? He swallows again to get his voice in check.
Look, he simply needs to man up now, and talk to the lady like a normal person. He'll have to ask Brett later.