Broken String

CLXIX

Eddy is quiet and pensive as Brett pushes him to the bedroom. There's nothing he wants in the world right now but to relax, sit on the balcony, to be with his love, bask there in the afterglow and the sun, just be there for a little while so he can process all that's happened in the last days. Hell, in the last hour. 
And now they're having a party? Really? Another? And Todd, saying that about why he threw the last one? He'd kind of suspected that that was why, to be honest. It has Todd written all over it. And look...
Didn't that party bring some good, in the end? You know, when he wasn't busy hurting his friend? In a way it was the start of everything.
"You sure you good with that?" Brett asks as he closes the bedroom door behind them both. Eddy shrugs.
"Kind of. I mean... I dunno. I find it's best to just run with it when he gets like this. And last time..."
"I hated last time." Brett says quietly. "God. Actually, you're right. It was a good thing in the end, I guess. You and Anna, remember?"
"Of course I remember." Eddy says, swallowing the duh that's lying on the tip of his tongue. "I hurt some people. I wish I hadn't."
"I think that's when I knew." Brett whispers. "I watched from the shadows, you know. I saw you leave with her and I was..."
"Jealous?"
Brett nods.
"Green. Took all my willpower not to stop you. I felt so stupid."
"If you ever feel like stopping me from doing something monumentally stupid in the future, go right ahead."
Brett chuckles lightly.
"If I'd've known then what I know now I would have stopped you."
"Yeah." Eddy nods. "You and me both."

He gets up from the wheelchair, marvelling at how much easier it is getting, and sits down on the bed. Brett puts it in the corner with practised gestures. Eddy eyes the chair with distaste. How long before he's out of it completely? He'll have to be in it at least one more time for Todd's party, that's for sure.
Hopefully it will be the last time he ever is. 
"Anna is fine though, you know that, yeah? I heard her talking about a new boyfriend just yesterday at the con."
Eddy ignores him and gets up with a shock. Ow. The daggers come up, but they start fading as he takes the first step towards the balcony. He doesn't want to think about Anna right now and he definitely doesn't want to think about what they did. 
"Do you think she'll come?"
He steps out into the sun at last and holds on to the rail. The pins and needles feeling is still there but even that is fading now. He finds he can stand here quite easily. 
"I'm sure she will. She's not mad, Eddy. Hey." A hand makes its way onto his shoulder and squeezes gently. "Maybe you need to let go of that one. You were single, so was she. You did nothing wrong, really."
Where does the sob come from? What a stupid time to start crying but here he is, tears welling as he looks out over the park and all the images crash over him. The chair. Anna. The pain, oh, all the pain. Todd. The park. The bench, God, the bench. The lift, and how beautiful it all is. His love, beside him. It's pain, and sadness, and the deepest joy and relief all combined into a rivulet of tears that starts and doesn't seems to want to stop anymore. 
"Oh, Eddy..." Brett enfolds him in his arms and holds him tight as he sobs.