The tents were lying on the ground, collapsed the second the pegs were pulled from the ground, just pieces of coloured fabric now instead of the home they had been for a week. A home that held so many memories now, both good and bad.
God, it was sad to leave.
Eddy looked around at the campsite he now knew so well. The gravel paths, that led towards the building they had snuck behind, where they had kissed so passionately. The fire pit, where they had sat, at times with the whole campsite. And further to the right, of course, the beach. He wasn't sure how he felt about that beach. He had had some of the best times, and some of the worst times of his life there.
Maybe he should try to hang on to the good?
"Earth calling Eddy!"
The bag hit his shoulder and fell on the floor with a thud. He smiled as he picked it up.
"Subtle, Todd, thanks. Next time, take my eye out, why don't you?"
"I might if you don't hurry up and get that tent in there." Todd's eyebrows where wiggling up and down like a madhouse. "Wheels up in thirty or we're missing dinner at home."
"Yeah, yeah. I'm rolling, see?"
He sat on his knees and started stuffing the rolled tent into its unfeasibly small canvas bag.
Home. He also wasn't sure how he felt about that, to be honest. But before he knew it they were all loaded up and he turned around one more time to take it all in. Lush forest. Beach. Empty spaces where tents had been.
He wished they could have stayed longer.
"Go on then, Todd." he called as he opened the door to the back seat of the little Toyota. "I'm here and ready, where are you? Want to miss your dinner?"
Todd grinned as he walked up to the car, lugging one more bag.
"Yeah, yeah. Keep your shorts on for once."
He winked with great aplomb and Eddy couldn't help himself, he burst out laughing.
The Aussie countryside was pulling by the window fast, way too fast, every minute taking him further away from the holiday, taking him closer to home.
Home, where his mum would be, full of questions that he had no idea how to answer.
'Did you have fun? What did you do, Eddy?'
'Well, I went to the opera house and got told I'm very unlikely to have any sort of career. So it looks like you may have been right about med school and I may have been an idiot, but I'm still gonna try and be a musician anyway.'
'Ah, and what else?'
'Well, I almost drowned myself and then cried on Brett's shoulder half the night. Fun times. Of course, this was when I wasn't being intimate with him.'
Yeah, he could see that conversation playing out real well.
Suddenly Brett hand squeezed his, pulling him out of his worries and back to the now.
"Hey. You a million miles away?"
He smiled. "Sorry. Yeah, a little. Just wondering what to tell my mum."
He saw the flash of understanding cross Brett's face, even before the answering smile appeared.
"It'll be fine, Eddy." he said quietly. "Just tell her about the blue mountains, about the beach, about the concert."
He nodded and lowered his voice even more.
"I'll try that. Thanks. God, I'm going to miss waking up next to you."
"I know, me too. But maybe it won't be long."
Maybe not. Maybe soon they would all be living together in a house of their own. He hadn't said much to Brett about how much he was dreading that conversation, how conflicted he was about leaving his mum behind. Because what good would that do? It would just worry Brett for no reason. It wasn't like he wasn't going to go through with it anyway, was it?
He scrunched his eyes closed and held Brett's hand tight for one more second when the sign for Brisbane came up on the left. And then, almost as if they had agreed it before, they let each other go.
God. This sucked.
When he closed his eyes he could still smell the beach, he could still hear the waves crashing onto white sand. But when he opened them his street was already coming up.
"Right! First in, first out." Todd drawled as he braked and turned off the engine.
Eddy nodded to himself as he reached for the door handle.
"Yeah. Alright, guys, thanks for everything, hey? See you soon."
Before he knew it his bag was at his feet and the car was speeding away in the direction of Brett's house. He breathed deeply, dug out his key and opened the door.