deux

with two left

eddy tried not to let his disappointment show through his playing, and tried not to think about why brett was acting so weird.

he made it to the third movement successfully, although quite uncomfortably. he couldn't keep his mind off brett, and not in a good way.

that's when it all went wrong.

completely unexpectedly, eddy's e-string snapped, flinging back to hit him in the face.

shit shit shit. eddy was panicking.

he tried to play it off by shifting up and down the fingerboard, but he knew he would have to switch violins, and soon.

it was customary for the concertmaster to exchange violins with the soloist whenever a string broke, but when eddy looked at brett in panic, still struggling to play through the concerto, brett didn't even acknowledge him. he kept his focus on his music stand as if eddy didn't even exist.

brett did notice, but he was too angry at eddy to care.

noticing eddy's struggle, and how brett seemed to perpetually ignore him, lia lept into action, eagerly offering her violin to eddy.

eddy took it with a grateful smile, seamlessly switching violins.

he played through the rest of the third movement, much more emotionally than he had ever done before. this part of the piece wasn't meant to be somber, but he couldn't help but play it that way when his heart ached so deeply.

-

after the concert ended, eddy went searching for lia so they could trade back violins. he found her backstage soon enough and greeted her with a kind smile.

"thank you so much, lia, i don't know what i would have done without you, honestly." he said, giving her a small hug.

"i'm glad i could help!" she replied, handing him his violin. "i honestly don't think anyone even noticed that you had to switch."

she hesitated before continuing.

"are you and brett okay? he seemed off tonight" she asked carefully.

"i don't know. i don't even know why he'd be mad at me." eddy responded with a sigh, running his hand down his face.

"i should probably talk to him, do you know where he is?" eddy asked, hopeful that he could sort things out with brett so that he could finally ask him to be his boyfriend.

"he left already, said something about needing to catch up on sleep?" lia responded with a sad smile. "i hope things work out between you too."

"yeah, me too. thanks again."

eddy soon left the opera house, taking out his phone to text brett.

       hey where'd you run off to? i wanted to
       talk to you tonight :(

there was no response.

after five minutes, eddy checked his messages again, which now said

       (read, 9:45 pm)

so brett was ignoring him, he wasn't just "catching up on sleep." eddy continued his walk back to his hotel room, heart heavy.

-

(b.y.)
still blinded by anger, brett left the opera house as quickly as possible, wanting to get back to his apartment and as far away from eddy as he could.

while he was on the bus ride home, his phone rang, showing a very angry text message from lia.

      what the fuck was that tonight, brett? not
      cool. i know you saw what happened to
      eddy, don't even try to deny it.

and another, less aggressive message.

      eddy seemed really upset tonight. he's
      confused and i think he misses you a lot.

brett didn't care that eddy was upset, and he certainly didn't care that eddy missed him. they were just friends, so why did it matter.

another message came in from lia.

      you should at least call him.

still overwhelmed with anger, brett texted lia back.

     stop trying to play matchmaker, lia.
this is none of your business,
and its over between eddy and i anyways.

unfazed by brett's aggressiveness, lia responded.

      you're just scared, brett. don't lose eddy
      while you still have him.

brett didn't think he was scared. was he? no, he could lose eddy and be just fine on his own.

deep down, though, he was terrified. but he didn't want to think about that now.

as he walked into his apartment, he got another text, from eddy. speak of the devil.

       hey where'd you run off to? i wanted to
       talk to you tonight :(

still mad, brett didn't respond. eddy had played with his heart once, and he wasn't going to let him do it again.

they were just friends. just like eddy said.

friends.

not boyfriends, not lovers. their shared kisses, the way they cuddled up together in eddy's hotel room, the countless times they held hands, and their date clearly meant nothing to eddy, so they were just friends.

-

a/n: sorry for the angst oops ;)