Matt was tall and blonde and incredibly Australian looking despite his dancer's easy grace. God, Eddy figured he might be more Aussie than Todd, even, and that was seriously saying something. He walked in the door with the widest smile, and chastely kissed Lily hello as if he'd been doing so for years. Then he walked over to him with his hand outstretched.
"Eddy, I guess?"
Eddy was somewhat intimidated by how easy this guy seemed to move, how natural it seemed to be for him to walk into a room with two complete strangers and feel right at ease. Still, Todd seemed like that too, and by now Eddy knew full well there was a lot more to him than that. Plus, Matt had kind eyes.
"Yeah, I am. Nice to meet you, Matt. And this is my boyfriend, Brett."
Now. Eddy knew that Matt already knew this. Lily had told him they were a couple and he was even sworn to secrecy already. So it was safe, really. But still, to introduce Brett like that... it was the most exhilarating thing he'd done in a while.
Well, except maybe kissing Brett in the park. Or kissing Brett just now.
He felt the back of Brett's hand against his own, the touch subtle but undeniably there. He hadn't miss Brett's slight intake of breath beside him, of course, he hadn't missed the way he froze on the spot at Eddy's words.
Yeah, Matt, this may be a slightly bigger deal to us than you realise.
Matt didn't seem to notice a thing, though.
"Hi, Brett. Nice to meetcha." he said, shaking his hand too.
As if it were nothing, nothing at all. Suddenly Eddy could have cried with this moment, this simple moment that meant the world to him.
This is my boyfriend, Brett.
He caught Lily's eyes from the corner of his own. She was smiling and he gave her a quick thumbs up behind Matt's back, the tears safely stowed for now.
"So, I'll get us all something to drink and then we probably should get some studying done, so this isn't the last time we're ever allowed to do this? Also, I want to hear one of these famous duets Eddy's always on about."
Lily was already walking to the kitchen.
They had brought their violins, they were waiting in their bedroom upstairs. Of course they were. When had he last gone anywhere but school or for bubble tea without his violin?
The little group of friends studied for most of the afternoon at the kitchen table, until all of them had their work for the weekend completely done. Eddy looked up from his books several times, smiling at the the way Matt and Lily looked at each other, the little glances they shared. He figured they may be playing footsie underneath the table, too. Just like Brett and he were.
Weirdly, Eddy found it quite easy to focus like this, sat right next to Brett, his foot touching Brett's, Lily sitting across the table. Much easier than at home, at his lonely desk. He felt calm, bound, whole, somehow, when he was surrounded by people he loved. So he got through his work quickly and then he helped Lily with her science.
"Wow, guys, we should do this more often, and I don't even just mean for the company." he said dryly as they all closed their books and started packing up the school stuff. Lily nodded enthusiastically.
"Yeah, it's like having a free tutor!"
They all grinned.
"Anyway." she said then. "I have to cook, I promised my mum that I would. You guys can practise a bit if you want, or just play games. Or help me, I dunno."
Her sideways glance at Matt was so pronounced than all the guys smiled widely.
"Okay, how about I'll help you, the violinists practise their craft." Matt said in a tone that was perfectly pleasant, yet clearly not to be argued with.
Not that Eddy would have wanted to argue. If the choice was between cooking and being the third wheel in someone's date, or going to practise with Brett?
Was grass green? Was the sun hot? Could you spell 'duh'?