the silence

eighteen.

   his nerves must've been obvious to the cashier, who asked him if he was okay immediately after their initial greetings. he'd nodded and managed a half smile.

it seemed to take hours for eddy to get back to brett's apartment, but he finally made it there, roses in hand. girls had always seemed to love flowers and he hoped that brett wouldn't be any different. he chewed on his lip as he knocked on the smaller man's door.

eddy was not prepared for how beautiful brett looked when he opened the door. long sleeves hugged his small arms and his muscular chest was visible under the button-up. his hair laid perfectly atop his head, framing his gorgeous face. his smile lit up the room when he saw eddy and the flowers.

"hey!" brett giggled excitedly, wrapping his arms around the taller boy's midsection and planting a soft kiss on his neck.

it was in that moment that eddy realized he had an answer to mae's question. yes, he was gay. he was so gay. there was absolutely no way he wasn't, not with the way brett's legs in those jeans made him feel. he almost laughed as he relaxed into brett's hug, long arms resting on small shoulders.

"hi, love," eddy said lowly. brett pulled away, still wearing his angelic smile.

"you brought me flowers!" he grinned as he took them, gently touching a few of the petals. eddy nodded.

"yeah, i was hoping you'd like them," he laughed. brett nodded, nearly jumping up and down with excitement.

"i love them! come on, let's find somewhere to put them before we go."

the two boys spent a couple of minutes roaming around brett's small kitchen looking for a glass big enough to hold the flowers. they finally found one and eddy helped the smaller man put them into it before sitting them on the table.

"thank you," brett blushed, wrapping his arms around eddy as they stood and looked at the flowers.

"it's no problem. let's go."

fingers intertwined, the two violinists walked to eddy's car and got in.

    "so, where are we going?" brett asked as they pulled back onto the road. the mere sound of his voice made eddy smile.

    "we're going to dinner, and that's all you get to know," he teased. brett rolled his eyes playfully and bumped eddy's shoulder with his own.

    "alright, fine," he scoffed, still grinning. his smile hadn't faded since the moment eddy opened his front door.

brett stared out the window as the ride went on, trying to figure out where they were going. but he truly had no idea. eddy had stumped him and was proud of himself for it, wearing a cheeky grin as he watched the other boy's confusion increase. brett only knew that they'd reached their location when eddy pulled into the parking lot.

"eddy, i've never been here. what is this?" he frowned, looking around. eddy laughed.

"it's a restaurant, silly. you'll like it."

the taller boy grabbed brett's hand as they walked inside, not hesitating to make their relationship obvious. even though it remained nameless, they had something special and both of them were eager to show it to the world.

the inside of the restaurant was absolutely beautiful. lights hung from the ceiling and the artwork on the walls took brett's breath away. the windows were huge and glass and showcased a view of the ocean, which brett hadn't seen in too long. there were leather sofas for people to sit on while they waited for a seat, but eddy had arranged for that to be avoided.