Miss you, not.

XV

Eddy would like to think that his relationship with Brett was like a game of charades.

Eddy could read Brett pretty well, if he would say so himself. That said, Brett wasn't actually easy to read. Note: his deadpan face. His "messages" tend to be rather cryptic.

Perhaps it was the years of experience with his habits and quirks that has made Eddy quite knowledgable of his best friend.

During their teenage years, where time was in an overabundance, Eddy would hangout at Brett's house, and they would spend the time playing video games. Occasionally, when they've gotten bored, they would come up with their own games. Most of it required the creative use of their violins. Their favourite game was called "Violin Charades".

The topic was wide. It could range from Super Smash Bros to Classical Music Composers. And literally anything in between that was in their area of interest.

Eddy was good at expressing himself. He purposely made it easy for Brett to guess. He loved the beaming smile on Brett's face as he jumped up and down excitedly whenever he guessed the correct answer. His win was a small price to pay in exchange for something so priceless.

Brett on the other hand was a puzzle to solve. He laughed when he remembered how Brett sucked so badly at expressing himself. Sometimes, the clues would have a really advanced logic behind it to the point of obscurity. It was near impossible for Eddy to guess. However, he managed to pull through sometimes and guessed correctly thanks to his understanding on how Brett's unique mind worked. That was something he secretly prided in.

Remembering back to those good ol' days brought a smile to Eddy's face. Things were much simpler then.

Eddy wasn't sure if Brett has gotten even worse at charades because he couldn't quite read him recently.

—

Bret was in his music history class, staring at the word on the projector screen in a daze. His professor's words seemed to float and echo meaninglessly in his head. He wondered whose idea it was to place a history class at 8 in the morning. It wasn't the most effective time to absorb boring historical facts. The vibration of his phone from his pocket brought him out of his thoughts.

Eddy: Morning 💕

He smiled at the text. 'He used an emoji.'

Brett: Morning. Just woken up?

Eddy: Yep. What are you doing later?

Brett: Gonna get a light breakfast before the next class. What's up?

Eddy: Coffee at 10? Usual place?

Brett: Sounds great.

Eddy: Alright see you soon.

—

Their relationship has been going quite well, Eddy thought. He has been making effort to meet up often and spend time together with Brett whenever he can.

They met up at the bus stop. Eddy found it amusing whenever they were here, he would blush remembering that one fateful night that brought them together. They took the short walk to the cafe together, enjoying the morning sun.

After they have made their order, Brett chose the seats on the balcony, far from the bustling of people.

As they were enjoying their daily dose of caffeine, they talked about everything and anything. Their problems and plans for the semester break. Well, at least Eddy was trying to.

He noticed that Brett seemed a bit distracted sometimes as he was talking. But decided not to dwell on it.

Brett bit into his éclair, smudging a little bit of chocolate on the corner of his mouth.

Eddy laughed at Brett's clumsiness. "Here, you got some-" He reached out to wipe it off with his thumb.

Before he could reach him, Brett recoiled from his touch. Almost too quickly.

Eddy was stunned at his reaction. He slowly retracted his hand.

"I- It's okay. I got this." He wiped his mouth with a napkin nervously.

There was an uncomfortable silence that ensued. Time felt like it stretched forever. Eddy was perplexed. His thoughts were racing at every possible reasons as to why things went wrong. He was starting to think if it was his fault.

"Sorry.. I'm.. I'm not used to.. this outside." Brett stuttered.

"It's okay, Brett. You can tell me if you're not comfortable with anything." Eddy tried to convince Brett even though his own heart was wavering.

Brett could see the hurt that peeked through in Eddy's face. It brought out some terrible emotions in him. Most prominently, guilt. He didn't mean to hurt Eddy. In the first place, he didn't even know why he was behaving this way. Eddy had been such a sweetheart. He hated this feeling. He wished he could be better for him.

"Thank you for being understanding." That was all Brett could say. His face was sombre but he still tried his very best to smile.

Brett has always been somewhat of an enigma. But Eddy thought that he has never felt distant anymore than this very moment. He was left with even more questions as they parted their ways for the day and went on with their daily lives.