deux

bonus: surprises

(b.y.)
the next week was hell for brett. him and eddy hadn't facetimed again because between orchestra, the coffeeshop, rehearsals, and practice, there just didn't seem to be any time. on top of that, the time difference between the two countries did absolutely nothing in their favor. the only time they had called was 3 days ago, a five minute phone call where eddy regrettably informed him that he would have to stay in germany for an additional week, so he would miss their one month anniversary.

so naturally, brett's mental health had taken a turn for the worse. he couldn't remember the last time he showered and the pile of laundry in his room was growing exponentially as each day passed. working two jobs was more physically taxing than it had ever been before, especially when he was only running on three or four hours of sleep every night. truthfully, he had plenty of time to sleep, but he didn't want to when every dream would remind him of eddy. on days when he didn't work, he tried to distract himself from the pain of missing his boyfriend by practicing until his wrist ached and he was forced to stop at the risk of injury. things were getting pretty bad, but brett couldn't bring himself to care.

he didn't even care when lia confronted him about it in rehearsal. she caught him dozing off during a tacet and poked him aggressively on the arm.

"brett!" she whispered angrily "wake up buddy! hello? we're in the middle of rehearsal!"

brett quickly shook off the sleep, trying to act like he wasn't tired even though his eyes were heavier than bricks as he looked at the music.

later, during a break, lia pulled brett aside, dragging him as far away from the coffee machine as possible.

"how many cups is that so far today? two? three?" she asked with concern.

"three," brett answered with a deadpan face, downing the last of his lukewarm coffee. at this point, it didn't even have a taste, but he needed every drop of it if he was going to stay awake for the rest of the rehearsal.

lia sighed in disappointment.

"brett, what's wrong with you? are you sick? did you get enough sleep?" she placed the back of her hand on brett's forehead like a worried mother.

"it's whatever, i'm fine," brett responded lowly, pushing her hand away.

lia wasn't convinced, not in the slightest.

"it's because eddy's gone, isn't it?" lia interrogated.

brett winced interally at the sound of his name. he missed him so much.

"no, it's just—i need to catch up on sleep, that's all," brett grumbled, clearly wanting to change the subject. lia gave his a hesitant nod and walked away, but not before giving him a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

brett managed to keep himself awake for the rest of the rehearsal, but his temper was running thin, especially when the back desk first violins kept asking him to repeat the bowing patterns. how hard is it to remember to start on an upbow?

he wanted nothing more to sit in the comfort of his own apartment in the drowning silence.

so that's what he did. he left rehearsal quickly, politely rejecting lia's offer to go get lunch together and took an uber home, too impatient to wait for the bus.

when he finally got home he hastily changed out of his uncomfortable jeans and into a pair of sweatpants, crawling into the familiar blankets on his bed. they didn't smell like eddy anymore, in fact nothing in his apartment did. not even the jumper brett was wearing, which he had stolen from eddy. the clean peppermint scent had long faded, not a trace of it left in the soft fibers.