brett's reaction to jamie was slower than eddy's was because of how long it took his eyes to reach jamie's face. as his eyes fell upon the familiar features, his own cheeks contorted into a smile and he jumped up into the tall man's arms. jamie let out a loud, deep laugh as he picked brett up by his waist, the smaller man's arms slinging around his neck.
to say that eddy felt awkward would be a massive understatement. he stood stiffly by brett's side and tried to avoid eye contact with either of them. jamie was the tallest man eddy had ever seen, which only added to how intimidating he found him. whenever he finally put brett down, jamie looked eddy up and down before sticking out his arms and giving him a hug as well.
"so you're the one my bretty won't stop talking about," he grinned, pulling away from the hug. eddy smiled awkwardly and brett smacked jamie's muscular arm.
"what are you doing here!?" brett shouted, the loudness of his voice startling eddy so much that he flinched. jamie's lips curled into a smile, exposing his perfect teeth. eddy scratched the back of his neck. he'd never been nervous around people, but jamie was different for reasons he couldn't put his finger on.
"i missed you," jamie put his long arm around brett's shoulders and flashed his smile again. "and i had to meet this one," he pointed at eddy, whose cheeks reddened for the millionth time since jamie had entered the room.
"stop," brett said under his breath, jabbing his elbow into his friend's ribs. jamie released brett from his grip and the smaller man put his arms around eddy, sensing his nerves.
"is that really it? you just bought a plane ticket to see me? where are you even staying?" brett quizzed, resting his head on eddy's shoulder and scratching his back gently.
"you act surprised, babydoll. we both know i'm a man of impulse. i'm staying somewhere and that's all you need to know," he teased. eddy's ears perked up at the nickname. he silently wished he had the guts to call brett something like that.
"how long are you gonna be here?" brett asked. his fingers slid up under eddy's shirt and traced the notches in his spine. the taller boy was fixated on the sound of brett's voice, watching his lips move as he spoke. his stomach flipped as words came out of his lover's mouth, captivatingly smooth and soft.
"probably about a week. i was going to wait until time for your first concert, but i just couldn't. i missed you," jamie answered, tucking a piece of brett's hair behind his ear.
eddy clenched his teeth every time the other man's skin came in contact with brett's. he knew he had no right to be jealous, but he just couldn't help it. he wanted brett to be his, to touch and to... what? to love? eddy cringed at the word. obviously, after a few days, it was never going to leave his lips in conversation with the boy in his arms. but wouldn't that be the end goal? there was no way they could just carry on like that without reaching towards some end goal: love. eddy's head was spinning as he thought about it. brett noticed his discomfort again and planted a soft kiss on the side of his neck before replying to his best friend.
"are you sure you have somewhere to stay? i don't want you to be somewhere that's uncomfortable. you know you're welcome here," he offered.
"baby, there's no way i'm about to come intrude on your little honeymoon phase here. i know my boundaries, whether it looks like it or not. i think eddy might spontaneously combust if i stay too long," jamie teased. eddy cleared his throat.
"no," was all he could manage. jamie put his hand on the other man's shoulder.
"i know, i know. but you're nervous, right? you're confused enough about all of this already and now there's a very tall black man in your little boyfriend's living room calling him baby. i can't say id like it either."
eddy shrugged, focusing on the use of the word 'boyfriend.' was that what they were? or what they would be? brett had gotten stuck on that word, too, his mind racing. was he eddy's boyfriend? he knew he wanted to be, but that wasn't the same as actually being.
"anyways," brett sighed, "are you guys hungry?"
eddy nodded silently and so did jamie, who was watching the other two men closely. he was wary of eddy as he would be of anyone who had the power to hurt brett, but he'd decided he liked the shorter boy's demeanor and the way his hand absentmindedly rubbed brett's arms as they embraced. jamie knew everything about brett: his struggles, his idiosyncrasies, his likes, his dislikes, and most importantly how hard it was for him to care for anyone like this, especially after such a short time period. it was strange and almost impossible the way he and eddy's bodies fit together like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle as they stood there in the small apartment. jamie could already tell that this wasn't some one (or two) night stand or a weird fling that brett would get over in a week. this was something else, something way more powerful than anyone in that room would ever imagine.
the three of them agreed on where to eat and made their way outside. jamie offered to drive himself and let the other two boys ride together to avoid leaving eddy alone in someone's backseat. eddy offered to drive brett and the shorter boy didn't protest, climbing into the passenger seat of his car. there was an unsettling quietness to eddy that brett had been dying to ask about. he opened his mouth to question it as soon as they got in the car, but no sooner than he could utter the first syllable did eddy grab his face and press their lips together. brett practically melted into the leather seat and grabbed eddy's shirt collar with his fists, their lips moving against each other slowly. kissing brett sent eddy to heaven and he relaxed as he ran his fingers through the smaller boy's soft hair. they pulled away finally and looked into each other's eyes.
"are you okay?" brett asked, the usual softness of his voice returning. eddy shivered at the sound of it despite how hot it was outside. he hoped that brett would only ever talk to him that way: tender and gentle, full of compassion and concern. the taller boy nodded.
"yeah. jamie's just, uh, kinda scary. and very tall," he chuckled awkwardly, shaking his head. brett smiled.
"now you know how i felt when i met you," he teased. eddy turned the air con on in the car and scoffed.
"no way."
"yes," brett argued, "way. you're tall, and, um... really handsome, almost too handsome. i was star struck."
eddy's cheeks reddened and he rested his large hand on brett's contrastingly small thigh, squeezing it gently. his fingers could nearly wrap all the way around it. brett put his own hand on top of eddy's and ran his fingertips over his protruding knuckles, looking over at him and smiling. god, eddy loved that smile. the whole room seemed to light up whenever brett flashed his teeth and squinted his eyes. breathing was easiest for eddy whenever brett wore his strikingly beautiful smile on his perfect face. the taller boy leaned over to give brett a kiss on his forehead.
the sound of jamie's car horn startled both of them right after eddy had pulled away. he was gesturing teasingly and brett raised his middle finger, sticking it out the window and waving it around.
"ugh, what an ass," brett joked, rolling his eyes.
eddy blinked as brett grabbed him and kissed him hard, tongue sliding into his mouth. jamie honked again and brett put the same finger up without pulling away, pressing his hand to the windshield. they pulled apart after the honking silenced. eddy couldn't take his eyes off of brett's swollen lips and the small amount of saliva on his chin. he and jamie were gesturing at each other again and a small smile formed on eddy's face as he watched. it was nice to see brett interacting with his best friend.
"i guess we should go," eddy chuckled, squeezing brett's thigh. the smaller man shrugged and leaned towards the air vent, closing his eyes as the air hit his face. eddy smiled as he pulled out of brett's driveway. jamie followed behind them.
the drive wasn't too long, but to brett it felt like eternity. eddy's hand was warm on his leg and the distance from his fingertips to brett's crotch was extremely small. he could barely breathe as eddy absentmindedly used his thumb to stroke the smaller man's inner thigh, not even taking his eyes off the road. he clearly had no idea what he was doing to brett. it was all he could do not to tell eddy to pull over somewhere and just touch him. the closeness and lack of contact was driving him crazy and he let out a small whimper, but eddy was too focused to notice. he was usually a pretty unfocused driver, actually, but having brett in the car fixed that right up. the last thing he wanted was to put brett's life in any sort of danger.
brett's cock was uncomfortably hard by the time they made it to the restaurant. his pants were baggy enough to where it wasn't too noticeable, but his flustered face and anxious demeanor wasn't. eddy noticed it immediately when he stopped the car and looked over at him.
"hey, what's wrong?" the taller man asked softly, pushing brett's hair out of his face. brett shied away from his touch. any touch from eddy was absolute torture at that moment because he couldn't have the kind of touch he wanted. not to mention, he was extremely embarrassed and it made his anxiety level even higher than usual.
"n-nothing, it's fine," brett said quickly, shaking his head. eddy frowned and watched as brett got out of the car, headed towards jamie's vehicle. he followed the smaller man slowly, keeping his distance. brett and jamie were talking when he approached, but he only got the last piece of the conversation.
"no, i'm not! shut up!" brett whispered harshly. he'd just finished slapping jamie's arm when eddy approached.
"hey, sorry," he said nervously. brett put his current problem aside and latched onto eddy's arm, giving jamie a look that eddy didn't know the meaning of.
the three of them walked inside and got seated, ordering their drinks. eddy and jamie decided against having alcohol, but brett said he needed a drink. eddy was worried but didn't protest. he thought drunk brett might be even cuter than normal brett.
it did not take long for the alcohol to alter brett's mood. he leaned on eddy's shoulder and stared up at him as he ate, both arms wrapped around one of eddy's.
"you okay?" eddy asked after he'd finished a sentence. he and jamie had been talking for awhile as brett had been drinking quietly. he'd had more than a few drinks.
"yeeeaah," brett giggled, planting a wet kiss on eddy's cheek. jamie laughed.
"bretty gets really weird when he's drunk. quite touchy. i'd watch out if i were you, i'd say he's likely to try and get into your pants," he teased, looking at brett's face. brett gasped with feigned shock and slammed his hand down on the table.
"i will not! this is a public restaurant!" he shouted, pouting. both eddy and jamie shushed him and he threw his hands up.
"soooorryyyy," he scoffed, leaning back on eddy's shoulder. he grabbed the taller boy's hand and stuck his thumb in his mouth before eddy could say anything. jamie choked on his drink.
"brett, what are you doing?" he asked. eddy hadn't tried to take his hand away and hadn't said anything, staring down at the boy next to him.
"suckin'," brett replied simply. jamie snorted and reached over, wrapping his long fingers around brett's wrist. he pulled on it to try and get him to take eddy's hand out of his mouth, but the drunken boy jerked his arm away.
"hey! that's miiiiine," he giggled, "right, eddy?"
eddy looked down at brett and couldn't help but smile. he was just so irresistibly cute that the taller boy couldn't contain himself and kissed his forehead gently.
"yes, all yours," he said softly. brett grinned and turned to jamie, who sat across from them in the booth.
"see. you can't have it, silly. it's not yours," he snickered before sticking eddy's thumb back in his mouth, sucking on it gently.
"well, eddy, i tried," jamie shrugged, taking a bite of his food.
"it's okay. i think it makes him happy," eddy chuckled, using his free hand to sip his drink. brett picked up his own drink and downed the rest of it.
"hey!" he shouted, smacking the table, "im all out!"
"that's probably a good thing, my dear," jamie raised his eyebrows. brett scoffed and laid his head back on eddy's shoulder.
"i want moooooore," he whined. he took eddy's thumb out of his mouth and replaced it with his middle finger.
"no, baby," jamie shook his head. "not tonight."
brett groaned so loudly that people turned their heads. eddy winced at the sound of it and jamie sighed, raising an eyebrow.
"i guess we should get him home before he tears the place down. are you ready to go?" he asked, standing up and looking down at eddy.
"yeah, sure," he nodded and stood up as well, taking his hand out of brett's mouth.
"hey! that's not nice!" he shouted, laying down in the booth and curling up into a ball.
"brett, get up," jamie said lowly. his tone was patient but stern, sending chills down eddy's spine.
"you're not supposed to call me brett. i'm baby," he replied, not moving from the spot he was in. jamie suppressed a chuckle.
"okay, baby, get up. eddy's gonna take you home."
"oh, eddy!" brett shouted, rolling over and sitting up. "where's eddy? i wanna see him."
eddy laughed and moved to where brett could see him, scooping him up into his arms. brett hugged the taller boy's neck and closed his eyes.
"heeeeeyy eddy," he giggled.
"hey, brett," eddy replied, his cheeks red. drunk brett was too cute for him to handle.
"you're hooooooot," he snickered as the taller boy followed jamie out the door of the restaurant. it was dark, meaning they'd been out for a lot longer than eddy thought.
"thank you," eddy said softly. they walked to his car first and he sighed.
"the keys are in my pocket," he said flatly. jamie laughed.
"you okay with me reaching in there to get them?" he asked. eddy nodded. jamie went to reach for them and brett smacked his hand away, grunting loudly.
"what, bretty?" jamie asked, squinting as he looked into brett's eyes.
"noooooo, i don't want you toooooo," he whined. eddy and jamie frowned.
"why?" they asked in unison. brett snickered.
"you can't touch his butt," he replied. he was a giggling mess as he held onto eddy, his eyes half closed. jamie rolled his eyes.
"baby, i'm not touching his butt. i have to get the keys so we can put your drunk ass in the car before you pass out," jamie scoffed, quickly grabbing the keys out of eddy's pocket while brett was distracted by his own laugh.
"we're going to my houuuuuuuuuse," brett giggled as jamie unlocked eddy's car and opened the passenger door.
"yes, we are," eddy nodded, buckling brett's seatbelt for him.
"you got him?" jamie asked. eddy nodded.
"yes, thank you. are you coming back with us?"
"yeah, yeah. i'll keep you company in case he passes out or throws up all over one or both of you. he's a lightweight and he drank way too much," jamie said, directing the last sentence at brett, who stuck his tongue out in response.
"alright, i'll see you there," eddy nodded. jamie flashed his smile and waved before turning to go to his own car.
"psst, eddy," brett whispered after jamie was gone.
"yes?" he asked, hand on the car door. brett lifted his arms for a hug and eddy leaned in, kissing his cheek gently.
"jamie likes you," brett mumbled, patting eddy's back. he raised his eyebrows and went to pull away from brett, but he hugged him tighter.
"you think so?"
"yes," brett nodded, "i do. he's neeeeeever that nice. unless he likes you."
"okay. that's good. let's get you home, okay?" eddy patted brett's back and they pulled apart. the taller boy went around to the driver's side and got in, closing the door.
"eeeeeeddy," brett was giggling again, leaning the seat back.
"yes, love?" he replied as he started the car.
brett grabbed eddy's hand and placed it on his thigh, even higher up than before. it was so high up, in fact, that eddy's palm brushed against the tip of brett's cock under his pants. both of them blushed and brett burst into laughter, pushing eddy's hand down an inch or two.
"oops," he laughed uncontrollably, pushing his hair out of his face.
"you're so cute," eddy said softly. brett intertwined their fingers and stared out the back window as eddy drove.
"i'm glad you think so," he grinned, his cheeks flushed red. eddy stroked his inner thigh and brett held back a moan.
another thing about drunk brett? he got really aroused, really fast.
he hid his face in the seat and tried not to think about eddy's hand on his thigh or the way it would feel if he wrapped those same fingers around his throat and fucked him until he couldn't remember his own name, only eddy's. there was something about eddy that was so enticing, so... intoxicating. even more so than the alcohol. brett knew he'd never be able to have sex with anyone else without memories of eddy's touch, of his softness and of the exact opposite.
they finally made it back to brett's apartment. jamie was already inside, which meant that they'd either left the door unlocked or he'd found the spare key that brett kept hidden under the mat. he knew it was a stupid place for it, but it was so convenient that he didn't care. if he had a dollar for every time he forgot his keys, he would have enough money to buy another house.
nausea was beginning to hit brett as eddy carried him into the house. jamie was right about him having too much to drink, whether he'd admit it or not. he groaned loudly as jamie greeted them, seated on the couch.
"you okay?" eddy asked, gently laying brett down next to his friend. he could feel the vomit in the back of his throat and shook his head.
"bathroom," he mumbled, scrambling to his feet. he could barely walk and eddy picked him up, carrying him as fast as he could.
the combination of the alcohol in his stomach and the quick motion was just too much for brett to handle. he puked all over himself and eddy's top half, tears welling in his eyes. eddy continued to carry him until they reached the toilet and sat him down in front of it. he hadn't even reacted to what had happened.
"i'm... so... sorry," brett apologized in between gasps as he threw up again, his head resting on the toilet seat. eddy shook his head.
"it's okay," he shrugged, removing his shirt carefully. brett's vision was blurred, but even a blurry view of eddy's slightly muscular torso made his cheeks turn pink.
"come here, let me take that off of you," eddy said softly, putting his hands on brett's shoulders. he reached down and removed the shorter boy's shirt right before he threw up again, groaning loudly.
"let's get your pants, too," he said, bending down further. brett extended his legs and blushed as eddy pulled his pants off, exposing his boxer shorts.
"where do you want me to put these, love?" he asked quietly, pushing brett's hair off of his face. brett swallowed hard before replying.
"the laundry room, is, um.. right next to the bathroom. should be unlocked," he said hoarsely. eddy nodded and stood up, carrying their clothes out of the bathroom.
jamie was standing next to the couch, his arms crossed. he perked up whenever the door opened and walked over to eddy.
"is he okay? are you okay?" he asked, looking down at the clothes in eddy's hands.
"yeah, he's just sick. like you said, drank too much. i'll take care of him, though. don't worry," eddy chuckled. jamie nodded.
"he cares about you a lot, eddy. you have no idea. he's never gotten even remotely this close to anyone this fast. he didn't talk to me for a very long time and it took me years to get him to open up completely. what you've done is really special and you're doing a great job," he said, putting his hand on eddy's shoulder. eddy nodded.
"i know. i care about him a lot, too—almost too much. there's just something about him, you know? i feel like i need to protect him from the world."
"that's because you do. bretty's been through a lot and he's really, really sensitive. people have a bad habit of taking advantage of him and he pushes everyone away. he tried to cut ties with everyone just a few months ago, including me. he wouldn't answer me for days and i got worried, so i went to his house. i found him in the bathroom crying so hard he was throwing up. he'd collected all the pills in his house into a pile and was going to take them. if i'd been any later, we wouldn't be standing here. i held him for hours until he fell asleep. he's doing better now, don't worry, but it was really bad."
eddy had no words. he just stood there with his mouth half open, tears stinging his eyes. jamie nodded at his silence.
"i know. he's got really bad anxiety, you see. if he gets too overwhelmed or upset then he twitches and he can't breathe and he has to go somewhere else right that second or he's going to start crying. you probably haven't seen it because he's so happy when he's with you, but it's bad. i want you to be prepared for it."
"what should i do? how can i help him through something like that?" eddy asked. jamie stared at him for almost too long, chewing on his thumbnail.
"you're planning on sticking around, aren't you?" he asked. eddy frowned.
"yeah, of course. i'm not going anywhere."
jamie didn't reply, but he wrapped his long arms around eddy's waist and hugged him tightly. eddy was very confused but hugged back, raising his eyebrows.
"thank you. you have no idea how much i worry about him, eddy. whenever your best friend with a severe anxiety disorder moves to a big city by himself for a job in an orchestra with people he's never met, it takes a toll on you. i've stayed up all night a couple of times after he's had a bad day just in case he calls."
they pulled away and eddy smiled comfortingly at jamie.
"i'm going to take care of him, i promise. just tell me what to do."
just as jamie had finished explaining what brett needed when he freaked out, the small man called out loudly from the bathroom.
"eddy!" he shouted. eddy winced and apologized to jamie before throwing the clothes into the laundry basket and returning to the bathroom.
brett was sitting in the bathtub, naked except for his socks, which he'd forgotten to take off. the bathtub was filled with water to the brim. brett had shampoo all in his hair and also all over his face, his eyes squeezed shut.
"eddy!" he yelled again, smacking his hand against the water. the floor was covered in water and soap.
"uh, i'm here," eddy said, slightly alarmed at the state of the bathroom.
"there's stuff in my eye," brett whined, leaning his head against the wall. eddy couldn't help but laugh.
"yeah, i see that," he said softly, grabbing a towel from the shelf and putting it on the floor to soak up some of the water. he knelt down next to the tub and put his hands on brett's face, wiping his eyes gently.
"you've made a bit of a mess in here, my love," the taller boy said. brett opened his eyes and looked around.
"psh, it's okay," he scoffed, playing with his soapy hair. water sloshed out of the tub every time he moved.
"you need to let some of that water out. it's getting all over your floor," eddy said softly, biting his lip. brett giggled.
"my floor is wet," he snickered, flipping the switch to open the drain.
"yes, it's very wet," eddy nodded. brett laughed again before turning to look at the other boy.
"i gotta rinse my hair off. but i really don't know how," he whispered, grinning. eddy chuckled and stood up, turning the tap on. warm water poured out onto brett's bare legs and he closed his eyes.
"here, lean forward. and don't open your eyes until i say," eddy said, pushing brett's back gently towards the faucet. he nodded and put his head under the water.
eddy ran his hands through brett's hair over and over until no soap remained. he carefully helped brett sit back up and sighed, biting his lip.
"you ready to get out?" he asked. brett nodded and eddy helped him rinse the soap off of the rest of his body before picking him up and sitting him down on the toilet lid.
brett was still and quiet as eddy dried off his hair, leaning into the taller boy's gentle touch. it felt like he was in heaven every time eddy's rough hands came in contact with his soft skin. he stayed the same way as eddy dried off most of his body before standing him up and wrapping a towel around his waist. he removed brett's wet socks and sat them in the floor, shaking his head.
"you need to brush your teeth, love. especially after all that puking," eddy said softly. brett groaned and leaned against the back of the toilet. there was no way he could do that.
eddy picked up brett's toothbrush(which was green) and wet the bristles before putting toothpaste on it and turning back around to face brett.
"open," he mumbled, and brett did. eddy carefully brushed brett's teeth and handed him a cup to spit in before brushing his tongue and the insides of his cheeks gently. he knew how badly vomit tasted and wanted to make sure he got every trace of it out of brett's mouth.
it took all of brett's energy to rinse his mouth out with water and spit in the sink. eddy picked him up and carried his limp body to the bedroom, carefully laying him down on the soft mattress. he went to leave the room and brett whined loudly, grabbing onto his hand.
"i'll be right back, i promise," eddy whispered, kissing brett's forehead. he nodded and pulled the covers to his chin.
walking into the living room, eddy realized that his top half was soaking wet. he shook his head and sat down next to jamie on the couch.
"he tried to take a bath and forgot to take his socks off and got water all over the floor," eddy chuckled. jamie laughed.
"sounds like him. you sure you've got this?" he asked. eddy nodded.
"alright. i'm going to head out then. do you have rehearsal tomorrow?"
"no," eddy shook his head, "not tomorrow. but we do the next day."
"okay, sounds good. i'll see you later tomorrow then, yeah?"
"okay. bye, jamie."
"bye, eddy."
jamie walked out the door and eddy returned to brett's bedroom. brett had taken the towel off his waist and thrown it aside, laying completely naked on his bed. eddy tried not to think too hard about it as he climbed in next to him and was greeted by arms around his neck and a sloppy, drunken kiss.
"hey," eddy said softly, a smile tugging at his lips as brett rested on his shoulder.
"hey," the smaller man replied, planting a wet kiss on eddy's neck. eddy blushed and bit his lip.
"you can go to sleep," eddy offered, but brett shook his head. he kissed eddy's neck again and didn't take his lips off this time, sucking on the skin gently. eddy held back a moan and shook his head.
"brett, you're drunk," he breathed. brett raised his head up and frowned.
"so?"
"i don't want to take advantage of you. you're not in the mindset to consent to anything and i—"
"eddy," brett interrupted.
"what?"
"i want to do this with you," he said, carefully climbing on top of the other boy. eddy sighed and rubbed his back.
"i'm sorry, bretty, it's going to have to wait. i want it, too, but we can't right now. it's late, anyways, my love. you should sleep."
brett nodded and kissed eddy's cheek, laying his head on his shoulder.
"okay," he nodded. "next time."