Andante con Brio

CXLVI

"Lils! Hey! Howsit?"
Okay, so maybe this had been a super long day, maybe Brett and he had been exchanging glances the whole time, and every time they had it had made him glow more inside. And maybe he was in a rush now, just wanting to get home, get practising, get dinner, and then finally turn in, close the door to the bedroom where they both wanted to be more than anything else in the world, he knew. But none of that was about to make him forget about his friend, who was sick, and worried, he was sure. So he had taken out his phone the second they were leaving the con and walking home. 
"Hey, Eddy. Wow... yeah, what can I say."
Her tone of voice made him scrunch his eyebrows together, and from the corner of his eye he saw Brett's sober eyes on him, waiting, wondering. 
"Er, well, start at the beginning? Are you still sick?"
Lily laughed curtly. 
"You have no idea. It's just not funny, Eddy. I think I've thrown up six times today and I can hardly keep anything down. You know, I'd like to meet the guy, because I'm a thousand percent positive it was a guy, who came up with the turn 'morning sickness'. You know, just because I'd like to shake his hand, and maybe take his dick off with my knee in the process."
Eddy grinned once.
"If you do, invite me over, that'd be something to watch. But I'm real sorry, Lils. I wish I could do something to make you feel better."
"Thanks." she said. "It's okay. Apparently it's worst at first. I'll live."
"Er... and your folks?"
He could almost hear the shrug down the phone line. He had seen her shrug many times, over the years. In a way Lily was just as deadpan as Brett was, really. She would shrug, and that would be it.
"They're okay, I guess. Shocked. But to be honest I think my mum's mostly happy to have me back home."
He let out a breath he hadn't realised he had been holding. 
"Wow. So... no big crises?"
"Not at the moment. I have a bit of time to regroup and think about what I'm going to do."
Eddy nodded at nothing in particular. 
"Okay, well, we're just heading home and into practise. Just... call me if you need anything, yeah?"
"I will. I'll need your advise at some point about what to do with Matt. Once I figure that out a bit."
"Yeah, of course. Any time. I'll call you tomorrow, alright?"
"Yeah. Bye."
Before he could answer she was already gone. 

"She okay?" 
Brett's voice was calm, but he could feel the undertone in it, and he knew straight away that Brett was just as worried about Lily as he was. Which was the loveliest thing, and he smiled gratefully. 
"Pretty much the same, I think. She sounds pretty calm, but she's pretty sick still. But her parents seem quite happy to have her there. 
Brett nodded thoughtfully. 
"Good."

Now, it would have been really easy to obsess over this, if he had still been living with his mum. He could easily picture himself, in his old bedroom, staring at himself in the mirror with the crack, no diversions, just the silence to draw him into worry. And he had never been more grateful that he got to smile at Brett now, in the same bashful way he had seen him do earlier. That his night was going to be great, he was sure. He walked closer to Brett, so he could rub the back of his hand against his boyfriend's. How could he ever tell him how much he meant to him? 
"You're a life saver, you know." he said quietly.
Brett turned to him at once, his eyes large. 
"W-wow. Well... that's what you are to me too."