the silence

nine.

    "prioritize yourself," he said simply, taking a sip of his drink. eddy blinked and looked at him intently.

    "what?" he asked, as if brett had spoken another language. the smaller boy sat his cup down.

    "prioritize yourself. not her. you," brett repeated firmly. eddy frowned.

    "but, she—"

    "no," brett interrupted, shaking his head. "you come first."

    the seriousness in brett's voice sent shivers down eddy's spine as their eyes locked and they stared at each other for a moment. eddy looked away first, his eyes darting back down to his plate. he took another bite and thought for a moment.

    "i guess you're right, but... i just don't know how to do that. i've spent years putting someone else first. she's always come first, no matter what. everything has always had to go her way," eddy frowned, only realizing the trueness of his statements as they came out of his mouth.

    "unhealthy," brett stated. eddy just looked at him. he'd never thought of it that way. he knew that the relationship was unhealthy now, but he didn't think it had been.

    "you think so?" he wondered. brett took a long sip of his drink and nodded.

"hm," eddy said, sucking on his teeth.

   their quiet, peaceful lunch was interrupted when the door to the restaurant opened loudly. a girl that brett did not recognize but eddy knew all too well stomped inside, drawing everyone's attention to her. the two of boys watched her approach them, eddy feeling completely horrified and brett feeling terribly confused. neither of them said a word when she reached the edge of their table. she just stood there for a moment, arms crossed and face scrunched up in anger.

"edward chen," mae said lowly. the sound of her voice and her entire demeanor made brett extremely nervous. eddy was frozen in his spot, his mouth half open.

"what?" he finally managed to say. his mouth was dry and his tongue felt like sandpaper. the last thing he wanted was for her to be in the same room as brett, but here they were. he knew she was about to embarrass the hell out of him and there was nothing he could do.

"is your fucking phone broken?" she spat, tapping her foot impatiently. eddy glanced over at brett and could see the nervousness on his face. he swallowed hard.

"no," he mumbled, looking down. everyone around them was visibly uncomfortable and made no effort to seem like they weren't listening. mae laughed bitterly.

"no? no, it's not broken? then why didn't you answer my calls last night, hmm? do you know how many times i called you, eddy?" she hissed.

brett clenched his fists. sitting there having to listen to her talk to eddy like that when he'd been nothing but a sweetheart to him was making him angry. he dug his fingernails into his palms as he often did when angry and took a deep breath. eddy shook his head and shrugged helplessly.

"i was asleep, mae. i—"

"asleep? you were sleeping? i was up trying to call and apologize to you and you were sleeping? great job, eddy. that really makes me feel appreciated," she rolled her eyes, smiling sarcastically. eddy threw his hands up.

"did you expect me not to—"

the sequence of events that began in the middle of eddy's sentence happened way too fast for anyone to comprehend. mae's outstretched hand was headed toward's eddy's cheek before he could even defend himself. however, brett, who'd been on edge throughout the entirety of their conversation, saw what was coming. without even thinking, he reached his hand up and grabbed ahold of mae's arm right before her hand smacked into eddy's already bruised face. he held onto her wrist just tight enough to restrict her movement, his eyes locked on hers. eddy just sat there, completely baffled. everyone was silent as brett and mae stared at each other, his small fingers wrapped around her. she finally yanked her arm away and put her hands on her hips.

"what the fuck was that?" mae snarled, her voice increasing in volume with each word. brett put his hand back down on the table. his entire body trembled with both nerves and anger. he took a deep breath before he spoke.

"we're leaving," he said simply and stood up, slapping a $5 bill on the table for gratuity and motioning for eddy to follow him.

mae was speechless for once in her godforsaken life. eddy got up silently and followed brett to the counter where the smaller man paid for both of their lunches while everyone in the restaurant stared at them. mae followed them the entire way, shouting various insults and cursing them every way she could. brett didn't acknowledge her in any way as they walked to the car and eddy took that as a signal that he shouldn't, either, despite how angry his silence was making her. when they reached the vehicle, mae grabbed eddy by the shoulders and forced him to turn and face her. brett stood without saying a word, watching carefully.

"you really need someone to protect you, huh? you're too much of a baby to deal with me yourself? you're pathetic, eddy. really. i can't believe you. just wait until you get home tonight and he's not there," she smiled maliciously, rubbing her hands together. eddy was speechless. mae grabbed his face and kissed him forcefully. he didn't kiss back and she pulled away, that same stupid smile on her face.

"see you later, edward," she said before walking the other direction.

brett and eddy stood in silence for a long time, neither of them having any idea what to say. after a few minutes of that strange silence, brett was the first to speak.

    "you can stay with me again, if you want," he mumbled, barely audible. eddy turned to look at him, chewing on his lower lip.

    "i really wish i could, but... i think i'd better deal with this. and you need your bed back," he smiled sadly, bumping brett's shoulder with his own. brett's cheeks reddened ever so slightly and he shrugged, a smile tugging at his lips.

    "we should probably get back. definitely don't want to be late, right?" eddy asked as he opened the car door, cringing at the heat inside of the vehicle. brett nodded and climbed inside, wiping the sweat off of his forehead that had accumulated from standing outside.

    "oh. and, uh, brett?" he said as he started the car, looking over at the other man. brett raised an eyebrow at him in response.

    "thank you. thank you so much," he said gratefully, his hand on brett's shoulder. brett cleared his throat and smiled.

    "no problem."