Something new

Heady

"Bye bye! Take care! Get home safe, guys!"

Brett was seeing the last of their guests out. They had worked very hard this year, they had gone through a lot together and came out on top, they had reached their 3mil milestone only a few days ago! How awesome was that?! And so, they thought they deserved a party.

It wasn't anything too ambitious, really. Sure, it was still labelled as a "New Year's Eve party", but Brett could hardly call it that. It was a simple, small gathering of some friends, some wine, some snacks, some chatter and some friendly banter. With everything that's been going on—especially with Brett still recovering, they had decided to host a small party and only invite a handful of friends just so they wouldn't be going anywhere too far from home, or doing anything that was too physically taxing.

It had gone well—for the most part—aside from Ray spilling his entire glass of wine on Brett's merch Christmas sweater and cry-laughing at Brett's reaction, while simultaneously apologizing profusely for it. Maybe there was a little more than some wine involved, but it's not like anyone was complaining.

The countdown had ended, the clock had struck midnight, they had cheered, it was much like any New Year's party, except for all of the drunken rowdiness that the parties were famous for. An outfit change—thanks to Ray, a half-drunken 'never have I ever' game, and an impromptu holidays themed private piano concert later, their numbers had slimmed down.

Eddy was still sitting at the piano stool as Brett guided a less than sober Ray through putting on his jacket, making sure to remind Jordon to get him to his hotel room in one piece. After Jordon had collected the wobbly, giggly Ray, and made his way to the car, Brett was finally satisfied with the safety of their friends. He was glad Jordon had refused any alcohol served to him, since the younger can now drive safely.

He made his way back, stopping at the kitchen to grab himself and Eddy a glass of water. When he walked back to the living room, Eddy was leaning forward on the stool with forearms resting on his knees. "Hey," he nudged Eddy's leg slightly with his foot. Eddy lifted his head and straightened his back when he saw Brett. He accepted the glass of water that was offered to him, chugging it all in one go. "Thanks, Bretty."

"Mhmm," he only hummed in reply as he flopped down on the chair opposite from Eddy. Now that the house was quiet again, Brett's focus was all on Eddy. He had been pretending not to see the way Eddy had been looking at him all night—almost expectantly. Brett didn't know what to do with himself, so he had busied himself intently with their guests. But now... Oh, ho. Now, there was no one there to save him from the way Eddy was staring at him.

Brett averted his eyes to avoid Eddy's unforgiving gaze, fishing out his phone from his pocket to look at nothing in particular. After a short-lived moment of silence, Eddy spoke up.

"Did you enjoy the party?" Brett lifted his head to look at Eddy, "Yeah, it was nice to see everyone again. Did you?" "Mhmm, I did. I'm glad Ray could make it."

Brett watched as Eddy rolled up his sleeves and unbuttoned the second button at the top of his shirt. He felt his face warming up at the sight and he had to bury his face into his phone to hide it. He didn't trust himself to reply to Eddy's statement without stuttering, so he settled on a small nod.

"I didn't kiss anyone at midnight this time." Oh. So Eddy had decided to torture him? Good to know. "No one did, Eddy. It wasn't that type of party. Besides, there was no one there to kiss." And then he made the poor decision of looking at Eddy again. Who gave this man the right to roll up his sleeves?

"I can think of one." Eddy replied in a low, deep whisper. Isn't there a law somewhere outlawing people from speaking in a voice like that? Well, if there isn't, then there should be one. No one should be allowed to sound like that.