the silence

four.

    "thank you," brett mumbled, his voice barely audible. jamie smiled and rested his hands on brett's arms.

    "it's no problem."

-

    after a long time of making phone calls and having meetings with people, brett finally secured himself an apartment in sydney. it was a little larger than where he was living in brisbane and he was so excited to move to such a beautiful area. he'd been there a few times and had always loved it.

    brett spent a lot of hours packing and driving and unloading and doing all of the necessary stuff for moving. he found himself exhausted all the time, with almost no time to do anything between having to work and shove his belongings into boxes. jamie helped him a lot and he finally got moved into his apartment two days before his first rehearsal.

    he and his best friend stood in the doorway of the apartment as jamie was about to head back home, looking at all of the boxes in the rooms. he'd mostly unpacked his bedroom and the kitchen stuff, but the rest was still packed up.

    "you live in sydney now," jamie said, his voice quiet. brett nodded. they'd been avoiding the conversation of what was about to happen to their friendship. it wasn't a conversation either of them was ready to have, but it had to come sometime.

    "yeah. and.. a-and you, uh, live in brisbane," brett replied. his throat was dry and his stomach hurt. he hated talking even more when he was sad. it made it feel like he was being punched and he stuttered much worse when he was upset.

    jamie leaned down and picked brett up, wrapping his muscular arms around the smaller man's waist. their sizes made them look funny when they hugged or even stood next to each other, but they didn't care. brett hugged jamie's neck and closed his eyes.

    "i'm gonna miss you, yang. you're my best friend," jamie sniffled, tightening his grip so much that brett could hardly breathe.

"i'll miss you too. i'm gonna have to deal with some jerk who doesn't understand why i keep my mouth shut," he sighed. jamie put him down and put his hands on his cheeks.

"listen to me, okay?" he said, so close to brett's face that the shorter man could feel his hot breath on his face, "you are a fucking angel. don't let anyone fuck with you, ever. if people have a problem with you being quiet then that's their fault. i love you and they suck."

brett shifted on his feet, slightly uncomfortable with the intensity of their conversation. he was sweating from the warmth of jamie's huge hands on his face.

"hey, you're acting like i'm about to die. quit it," he said, frowning. jamie sighed and nodded, pulling away.

"okay. i'm sorry. but, seriously, just be yourself. and i'll drive here and kill anyone who says anything about it. i can still protect you from that far away. all you have to do is talk to me," he said before hugging brett again. if only it was that simple.

"okay, i promise. you should get going before it gets too late. drive safe, okay?"

"alright, brett. i love you."

"i love you, too."

and with that, brett's best friend walked out the door, leaving him alone in his apartment for the first time. brett sighed and crawled into bed, falling asleep as soon as he was comfortable.

(e)

eddy absolutely couldn't shake the thought of what had happened between him and mae. it ate at him constantly and he felt physically sick every time he looked at her face. he started waking up earlier in the mornings just so he could shower longer, scrubbing his skin to try and rid himself of her.

completely oblivious to what she'd done, mae hadn't even mentioned it since it happened and eddy knew better than to bring it up. he'd just started distancing from himself even more than he already did. it didn't take very long for her to notice that.

    "eddy," she said annoyedly one day as they sat on the couch together. he'd inched himself farther away from her to the point where they were on opposite sides of the furniture. the sound of her voice made him jump and he raised his head, fear in his eyes.

"yeah?" he said quietly, his voice shaky. mae scooted closer to him and put her hand on his thigh.

"what's wrong? you've been acting really weird," she asked, squeezing his leg. he jerked it away instinctively and she glared at him.

    "nothing. i'm just really tired. the move has drained me and—"

    "bullshit, eddy. you were fine before. it's only been the last few days. did i do something wrong?" she interrupted. eddy choked on his own saliva when she asked him that question.

    "i mean... no. you didn't," he lied, avoiding eye contact. mae grabbed his face with one hand and turned it towards her. eddy could see the anger in her eyes.

    "stop lying to me."

her voice was dripping with venom and eddy moved away from her grip, pushing her hand off of his face.

"i'm not," he shook his head, "so fuck off."

he regretted those words as soon as they came out of his mouth. apologies started spewing out of him at a rapid rate and he tried to stop her screaming before it started, but it was useless.

shouts of anger filled the house as she went off on him. he sat on the couch and listened to her call him every insult she could think of, each word like a stab in his stomach.

he only stood up whenever she headed towards the door, car keys in her hand.

"where are you going?" he asked, putting his hand on the door. and holding it shut.

"out," she spat, pushing his hand away, "i'll be back later."

eddy stood there as she walked out the door, his mouth half open in what would've been a reply if he could find the words.