Andante con Brio

LXX

The evening had been lovely and he had gone to bed quite normally, had brushed his teeth just like he did any other time, but the second he pulled the light sheet over him he knew he was in trouble. 
All of the endorfines from his rendez vous with Brett in the park had run away to hide somewhere in a corner, and he wished he could join them as all the emotions came crashing back in and swirled around him like a bunch of dementors. 
The look of relief on his mum's face when she heard the house had fallen through. The violin lesson. Never seeing his teacher again. The house. Oh God, the house. Deceiving his mum, all the time. The words he had heard in the Opera House came back to haunt him now too, hovering around, joining the dementors, becoming dementors of their own. 
He threw himself onto his other side and burrowed into the mattress. 
Oh God, what he wouldn't give to have Brett here, to have his warm, comfortable, soothing presence here. He could kiss him, he could put his head on his chest, and Brett's arms around him would keep him safe, would chase all the bad away. 
But he wouldn't get that, not until they had the house. 
Oh God, the house. His mum. 
It was like the anxiety was screeching now, screeching around him in a high pitched wail. He scrunched his eyes shut and willed himself to sleep. 
See, Todd? See why I can't get out of bed on time? Wanna have a trade, for just a little while? 
But then he just felt bad about that thought too. It's not like Todd could help it, right? 
He threw himself on his other side again. Maybe he should just get up, go for a jog, get rid of all this funk. But his mum would surely hear if he left the house. See, if he lived with his friends he could. And he would have Brett. 
Oh God, the house. His mum. 

The door creaked very softly, but still he startled so much he almost screamed. 
"Sssh. It's just me."
"Sis!"
She closed the door behind her, padded over to the bed and sat down. She put her hand on his leg. 
"I could hear you tossing and turning all the way from the hallway."
The dementors moved slightly further away and hovered in the corner of his room. 
"Sorry." he said. He swallowed away the lump in his throat. "I... I couldn't sleep."
"I know. Don't worry about it." Her hand was squeezed his leg softly. He stared for a moment at her silhouette, in the little bit of light that fell into the window from the streetlamp outside, like always. Then he cleared his throat and moved his head up to lie it in her lap. She chuckled softly and stroked his hair. 
He wanted to tell her everything now, wanted to let it pour out of him so she could tell him what to do, but the words all seemed to have been sucked out of him and now he just felt numb. 
"It's okay, Eddy." she said gently. "Just close your eyes. Things will look better in the morning, I promise."
Now, Eddy was pretty sure they wouldn't, really, but he wasn't about to argue with her, not now. Having his sister there, having her stroke his hair, it was soothing. Almost as soothing as having Brett there would have been. So before he could start worrying about whether his sister would be okay he closed his eyes and finally drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep. 

A/N. Hi guys, just letting you know I've posted the first chapter of a two- or maybe even threeshot over on the oneshots! I think unfortunately a lot of you musicians may be able to relate to this one ;-)