Miss you, not.

VI

Brett looked at Eddy, ominously, "You. You made me like this." Before Eddy could say anything in his defence, Brett continued, "No, this is all my fault. I was the one who let this get to me. I made a big deal out of this." Brett started to pace around the area between them, as if he was talking to himself. Eddy could tell that Brett was spiralling and he was spiralling hard. He was starting to monologue by himself for god's sake.

"Brett, calm down. You're making a fuss out of nothing." Eddy sighed. He was glad there were no one at the bus stop. Then again, who in their right mind would wait at the bus stop during a thunderstorm?

Brett looked at him as if he just said the most preposterous thing.

'Oh. Maybe that wasn't the best thing to say.' Eddy thought.

"It might mean nothing to you, but all these little things meant the world to me. Why do I care so much to the point I started hurting? Are any of these feelings even real? Can someone please tell me.. This is so stupid. Have I gone mad?" And the monologue continued.

"Are you done?" Eddy stared at Brett blankly, impatiently, crossing his arms.

"Look, I'm sorry if you've been feeling this way all this time." He walked closer to Brett. "If you would just speak up, none of this would've happened."

He stood in silence. Even in his delirious state of mind, Brett can tell that Eddy was right. He was so sad and confused. Left to deal with these emotions alone for so long with no one to confide in. For most of his life, Eddy was his best friend. They pretty much shared everything about each other. From when they were kids till adulthood. But when it involved Eddy, Brett knew he couldn't mention these kind of things to him. He didn't want to burden him. And he didn't want anything to change between them. Eddy meant the world to him. He couldn't imagine what he'd do if he were to lose Eddy. The thought of that brought tears to his eyes. 'What am I supposed to do now? At this rate he'll..'

Eddy stepped closer to Brett who's hanging his head down, unwilling to face the taller man. In all honesty, Eddy was really confused as to how things escalate to this point but he felt guilty nonetheless. They were both a mess. And he intended to fix this. Whatever it took.

"I can't tell what you're thinking or what you're feeling." Eddy reached his arms out and embraced Brett, in hopes that he would calm down a little, much to the other's surprise.

"If you could just tell me, I'm willing to listen. Whatever you're feeling, it's valid. You're not crazy." Eddy's voice was calm. Like the low hums of a burbling river. A stark contrast to the raging storm that was Brett's mind. And it hit him like a splash of water. He felt like that was the only thing in the world that he wanted— no, he needed to hear from Eddy.

"I'm not?" Came out Brett's muffled voice against Eddy's chest. It sounded childish and quite frankly, kinda cute, Eddy thought.

"No." Eddy's gentle, reassuring voice soothed him, holding his sanity from floating away into the oblivion. He melted into the warm embrace so naturally as if it was where he belonged. To add to Eddy's already substantial guilt, he noticed how cold Brett felt in his arms.

'He must've been waiting outside for a long time.' He tightened the hug in hopes of warming him and to also hopefully get his feelings through.

They stood in silence for a bit and Brett seemed to have calmed down.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you."

"It's okay. You have every right to."

"Are you mad?" Brett said, his voice uncharacteristically small. 'Shy perhaps?' Eddy chuckled by himself, unseen by the shorter man.

"Mad? At you? I could never. Simply unimaginable. I'm the one who's supposed to apologise. I was late after all."

Brett hummed, "Mhm. Very late."

"Okay, okay. I was very late and I'm sorry." Eddy ruffled Brett's hair playfully.

Brett was only a man. When being hugged by his best friend and bantering sweetly together, he would cave in. He hugged Eddy back, wrapping his arms around the other's much warmer body. "Mkay. Apology accepted."

It felt really nice, Brett almost didn't want to break apart. But all things must come to an end. He broke the hug and cleared his throat, for some reason he couldn't quite look at Eddy directly. Every time he did so, his heart did a little dance and his stomach churned that he thought he was sick.

Brett's face was red. Eddy was unsure if that was from crying or from being embarrassed but there was an unusual urge in him to reach out and touch those adorably squish-able flushing cheeks. Alas, he refrained himself.

Brett wiped the tiniest bit of tears in the corner of his eyes, collecting himself. "Sorry bout that. I was being a little dramatic huh?"

"Well, you always were a bit of a drama queen." Eddy joked. Brett let out a small laugh, to Eddy's relief seeing that he has returned to being himself again.

They were standing very close to each other. Eddy could see the droplets of rain on Brett's skin, his reddened nose and the water dripping from his hair. "Oh, you have uh- here." Eddy reaches out, almost instinctively— he cupped Brett's face and wiped away the rain and maybe tears on his cheeks with his thumbs. His hands were warm and gentle against the other's skin.

They gazed at each other in that short moment. Neither can tell what the other was thinking. Looking up at the taller man, a certain feeling sizzled up within him. Feelings that have been tormenting him for quite some time.

"Um, can we continue our conversation somewhere else?" Brett said, suddenly very aware by the fact that they were in public.

"Oh. Right. How about we go to my room? It's closer from here." Eddy casually grabbed Brett's hand and lead the way.

Neither noticed it, but the rain had stopped and the sky was painted with beautiful red and orange hues of sunset.