Closer

53.

Brett knew he had fucked up when Eddy straight up refused to share the bed with him. He knew he had fucked up when Eddy insisted he take the bed, and that he'd be fine with the couch.

He knew he'd fucked up harder when he heard Eddy's quiet sobs from the living room. Shit.

"Eddy?" Brett asked softly after having shuffled into the living room, finding him curled up on the couch with a blanket pulled over his head. His arms were tightly holding on to one of the decorative pillows from the couch, hugging it tightly to his chest.

"Leave me alone," Eddy sniffled, not turning to look at him. Brett sighed and went to sit in the comfy chair next to the couch, pulling his feet into it.

"Let me fix this, Eddy. Please," Brett pleaded, but Eddy didn't respond. Only another set of quiet sniffles.

"I'm sorry I just kissed you, okay? I know I shouldn't have," Brett said, almost as a whimper. He wished he hadn't. Not because he didn't want to kiss him, but because he wanted their first kiss to be something good. He didn't want it to be the reason for Eddy's breaking.

Technically, though, it wasn't their first kiss.

...

"Come on, Brett, are you a coward or what?" Sarah, a girl they had befriended during summer camp, teased. He had spun the bottle, some brass player's leaky waterbottle. It had landed on Eddy.

He met Eddy's eyes through his longer bangs and put on one of his brave grins to make it seem like he wasn't as nervous as he actually was. Eddy licked his lips nervously.

"I just don't want to do it if Eddy's not okay with it," Brett stated matter-of-factly, pushing his bangs away from his eyes. Eddy's cheeks turned bright red and he looked shyly away.

"It's okay if you want to," he squeaked, still not having settled into the lower octave of his voice. Brett could feel his hands trembling from the nerves.

"Come on then!" Sarah encouraged Brett, giving him a gentle push towards Eddy. The rest of the group just stared, not really having expected two boys to accept a dare like that. But again, their friendship was a weird one. This wouldn't be the strangest thing they had seen the duo do.

Brett shuffled himself over to where Eddy was sitting, raising an eyebrow to ask Eddy if he was actually okay with this. The nod was tiny, probably not visible to anyone but the two of them.

And then it happened. The vague taste of the bubble tea they had earlier had lingered on Eddy's lips, and Brett could feel his stomach do a small flip but he pushed it aside as nervousness from all the people watching.

The kiss was clumsy, neither of them having much experience, but still nice.

A cheer erupted when they finally pulled away, some playfully punching their shoulders and telling them how brave they were. Brett tried to laugh with them, tried to be part of the group.

He didn't notice Eddy had slipped away before he was already gone.

...

"You're right, you shouldn't have," Eddy sighed, hugging the pillow tighter.