We dont want to label it (Label it)

XX

Jesus, how did this night get so turned around? Why is he now apologising, for the third time, and why is it now him who has done it all wrong? He brushes his teeth mechanically. Fuck, how could all this have become so fucked up so quickly? He should be having round two, right now. 
But not even that thought appeals. 
He takes out his phone and types a message quickly. 

     Bro. You good? I dunno. I think I may be sick, or something. I'm a bit weird.

He stands and waits. He can't wait long. Tory will be wondering where he is, and he doesn't think it's a good idea for her to know it's Brett that's keeping him in the bathroom. In fact, he should head out, but just as he's about to his phone buzzes. 

     Hope not. You've got too much shit to do ;-)

He almost laughs, but he stops it just in time. He doesn't need more comments on how going to the toilet is funny. He types quickly.

     I know. That's just it. I have no time to get sick. 

Look. He should head out right now. Tory is obviously waiting and he's in enough trouble as it is. But his phone buzzes before he has a chance to put it away.

     You good, though? Nice time with Tory?

Eddy peers at the message that Brett has just sent him and shakes his head. Look, what is he going to say? No, I'm not good, because for the first time in my life I've stayed soft at the wrong time? Brett knows him more for the opposite problem, to be honest, and he'll be fucked if he ever admits what's just happened to anyone. The shame is still there, too, he can feel it billowing underneath the rice that's sitting in his stomach like a stone. So he evades. 

     Fine. I should get going.

He presses send. Look, he knows full well Brett reads him like a book, in life as well as in print. He'll know very well that things are not fine. 
He won't say a word, though, Eddy is sure of that. Not tonight. 
Eddy turns off the bathroom light and opens the door just as his phone buzzes once more. 

     Take it easy, yeah? Get some sleep. And some sex. Not necessarily in that order. 

Eddy nods into nothing. Yeah. Normally he'd laugh at Brett's subtlety. 
Tonight he's not laughing. Tonight he dreads going into the bedroom and seeing her disappointed face again. She's been cold and distant since it happened, but at least she's still there, waiting for him in the bedroom. Will she try something again? And if she does, will he...
Will he be able to perform?
It doesn't feel likely.

The bed seems large and as cold as she has been. Even the pools of light on the ceiling from the lamp do nothing to break the dusk tonight. He slips into bed beside Tory and manages a smile. 
"Good night, Eddy." she says in the same slightly sad, slightly clipped tone she's had for the last hour and turns on her right side, away from him.
To be honest he'd half and half expected her to leave, but she hasn't. She's here, in his bed. 
His dark bed. 
Why didn't she leave?
"Good night, Tory." he says and closes his eyes, hoping with all his might that tomorrow will look better. 

It takes him forever to get to sleep, of course, long after her breath comes soft and deep. Long after she grunts a little bit, like she often does in her sleep, he's still awake. And when sleep does come it's shallow with shards of broken, weird, mangled up dreams. It's not until it's already getting light that he's finally really out. 

The alarm clock rings and he shoots up in shock as slivers of a dream evaporate. A hand, around him. A strong hand, kneading him through denim until he shouts out in pleasure. Oh, God. His face is all sweaty and he is painfully hard, but Tory is just waking up beside him and there is no way this is the time for this. So he jumps out of bed before she can see his state and keeps his back averted as he shoots into some jeans. No way he can tell her. No way he can show her.
"So you're not sick." she remarks behind him then and he stills, then turns around with a t shirt in his hands, conveniently covering certain parts that don't need to be seen right now.
"Um." he says, like he's checking himself but really he's stalling. "I'm not... I don't know. I'm not a hundred percent, I think. I slept badly. I'll still go to rehearsal though. You okay?"
"Of course." she says in that same slightly sad tone that he hates by now, because it makes him feel worse about himself. "We should get a move on."
"Yeah." Eddy says quickly as he walks towards the door, t shirt still strategically in hand. "I should try not to be late for once."