the silence

twenty.

eddy had been distracting himself from the brett-shaped hole in his chest by cleaning. mae had been asleep on the couch whenever he got home and he'd been desperately trying not to wake her. they'd have to talk sometime,(she was supposed to move out and was still there, so he had some words to say about that) but he didn't feel like dealing with it at that moment. so he just cleaned his house in the dark, trying to keep brett off of his mind.

brett was laying on the couch, his entire body covered by blankets that smelled faintly of eddy after his long visit. his cologne was strong and traces of it lingered around the apartment, which both delighted brett and drove him crazy because he just wanted more.

   after a long while of laying there, brett stood up and made his way to the bathroom. he wasn't sure what exactly he was doing in there, but he needed to move around and it was the first place he thought of. he eyed the medicine cabinet and took a deep breath. the cabinet was just begging to be opened.

   "no," he said quietly. the room seemed to shrink in response to his voice and he bit down on his cheek as the walls moved impossibly closer.

   brett walked back to his room and got out a piece of paper and his favorite pen. he sat down at his desk and pushed the piles of papers aside, slamming the one piece down in the center. he hunched over it and began writing, things he'd never even knew he wanted to say flowing out of him into the paper. he folded it neatly and grabbed an envelope from his cabinet.

   after printing eddy's name on the envelope, brett placed the paper inside and returned to the bathroom. he tucked the new envelope under the other ones and slammed the medicine cabinet shut.

   before brett could do anything else, he heard a loud banging on his front door. he frowned. he hoped it was eddy, but he seriously doubted it. hands shaking, he walked to the door.

   the person on his doorstep was the last one he ever expected to see standing there. and she looked furious.

   "mae?" he asked through the partially open door, terrified to open it all the way. the girl in front of him rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

"open the fucking door, brett. we need to talk," she spat. brett shook his head and tried to push it shut, but mae put her foot into the gap.

"g-go away," he stammered, kicking at her foot with his own.

mae shoved the door open and pushed brett backwards, her hands on his shoulders. she was taller than him. his entire body was shaking and blood dripped from his palm as he dug his nails deeper into the skin.

"you want to explain to me why you thought it was okay to steal my boyfriend from me?" she shouted, her face inches from brett's. her breath smelled like alcohol.

there was nothing he could say. what is one meant to do in such a situation? answering her would definitely make things worse, but he didn't know if silence would be better. so he just stood there, mouth half open, not a word escaping his lips. mae laughed.

"you're just as bad as eddy, you know that? you don't have a fucking thing to say to me. you can't even give me an explanation," she scoffed, shaking her head. tears burned brett's eyes and he blinked hard.

"fucking say something, you asshole!" she yelled, putting her hands on brett's shoulders and shaking them forcefully. her fingers were like fire on his skin and he jerked away. mae slammed his front door shut and pushed him backwards.

"leave me alone," brett whimpered, his voice breaking. dealing with her was not something he was mentally prepared for, especially at that moment. his ribcage seemed to be shrinking and pushing on his heart, bones snaking around his organs like overgrown vines and squeezing them until it was impossible to breathe.