TwoSetViolin Stories: By Request

Interlude

A sneeze escaped Brett's shivering body, and it would've gone unnoticed if they hadn't been sitting in silence for a while. Even with Eddy wearing headphones and double-checking an edited video, the sneeze was impossible to miss.

"What was that?" Eddy asked, removing his headphones and setting it on the table.

Brett put on his hood, "Nothing." He stood up, taking his laptop with him, "I'll make tea. You want some?"

A brief moment of hesitation passed before Eddy said, "Brett, are you okay?"

Brett was already at the door, his hand on the knob, "I'm fine. I just – " Another sneeze slipped out.

Eddy stood up then, quickly moving toward Brett. But before he could be close enough, Brett exited their office, "It's nothing, Eddy."

The silence was heavy as Brett rushed to the kitchen, eager to make tea and bring some heat into his body. Eddy followed closely, careful not to say anything as he waited for something else to happen; maybe another sneeze, or something else entirely.

Brett kept his back to Eddy, not wanting his boyfriend to see how red his face was from the fever. He put the kettle on the stove and lit it up, after which he had to sit down because he was starting to feel lightheaded.

Eddy sat next to Brett, still choosing not to break the silence. He could feel Brett move away, the chair scraping the tiles as it moved. That was all it took to convince Eddy that something was definitely wrong.

Brett opened his laptop and tried to resume what he was doing. He and Eddy had promised another world tour this year, and he was making sure every little thing was meticulously taken care of. He weakly started typing out a response to an important e-mail when another sneeze escaped him.

"Hey..." Eddy said softly as he moved his chair closer to Brett's, "What's wrong, love?"

Brett kept moving away, taking his laptop with him, ignoring the sound of his chair scraping against the tiled floor, "Nothing. Just... leave me alone."

"Love..." Eddy shut Brett's laptop and reached for Brett's hands.

Brett hastily stood up, not wanting Eddy to feel his abnormal body temperature. He moved toward the stove, wishing the kettle would screech to distract them both. Unfortunately, his body was feeling much too weak. So he fell to his knees, just before he could make it to where he was escaping to.

"Brett!" Eddy cried out as he went to where Brett had fallen, instantly feeling the fever when he was close enough. He gathered Brett in his arms, "Oh, love." He muttered under his breath as he picked up Brett, he made his way to his bedroom, turning off the stove before leaving the kitchen.

As much as he would have wanted to keep pretending he was okay, Brett was now unable to. He quietly let Eddy lay him on the bed and fuss over him like a panicked mother.

Eddy took off Brett's glasses and put them on his nightstand, "I need to remove your clothes, Brett. You're sweating so much." Eddy said quietly, his hands moving to remove Brett's hoodie.

"No, don't. I feel cold." Brett said breathlessly, his body had gone extremely weak.

Eddy pulled off the hoodie and quickly moved past the fact that this was the first time he'd seen Brett's bare torso - first time as boyfriends, at least. 

To distract himself, he ran out of the room and grabbed a towel from the bathroom. When he returned, Brett was in the middle of putting the hoodie back on.

"Brett..." Eddy said, gently pulling off the hoodie, "Let me just wipe you down, and then you can wear something warm again. Alright?"

Brett groaned, "I feel cold, Eddy. Please, I need it." He basically begged, tugging on the hoodie to take it back.