I love you (no homo)

Part Four

For some time, everything was as before between Brett and Eddy. Until Eddy found himself yet another boyfriend.

His name was Daniel, he was slightly shorter than Eddy and not much taller than Brett, he was worse built than Brett, not classically handsome, but still somehow prettier than Brett, probably smarter than Brett, which, after Brett gave it some thought, wasn't that hard to achieve, and generally overall more interesting than Brett, and Brett didn't know why he felt the need to compare himself.

This time he actually tried to keep his promise and accept the new boyfriend. He first met him on a night out with friends, for which Eddy was traditionally late. Daniel had arrived early, and Brett thought he seemed nice, even a little shy (although he couldn't blame him, he didn't know all the people in the group, he had every right to feel intimidated). In addition, he played the cello, and Brett has always unconsciously associated the fact of being a musician with the feeling of being "among his own". Besides, he liked the cello. And it was quite nice talking to him. Maybe there was hope that this time...

And then Daniel got a text. He looked at the phone screen and smiled.

"It's Eddy," he explained. "He said he'd be late."

"He's always late," they said simultaneously. Daniel laughed. Brett echoed politely.

If he could hit him with that cello of his...

But Brett was reasonable. He had no reason not to like him. He just didn't like Mark, he had a bad feeling that turned out to be true. But Daniel was really nice, and while Brett might have been wrong, Eddy's boyfriend didn't strike him as the kind of man who would cheat on someone just because he felt like it.

And then came Eddy. He called out "Hello" and they answered back simultaneously. Eddy walked over to them and kissed Daniel on the cheek.

Brett hated Daniel.

***

To be honest, Brett didn't consider himself the type of person who sees a beautiful performance and starts crying with emotion. Of course, he appreciated music and skills, but he usually didn't let himself get too caught up in it. And it was the same this time, but something was different. Brett couldn't explain it. But he had never felt so light as when he listened to Eddy play Prokofiev on stage. Maybe it was because he knew him, that he had heard him practice it day and night, that he was the first person Eddy had called when he had won the competition and would be allowed to play with an orchestra.

The concert ended. People were clapping, but Brett was just waiting until he could talk to Eddy, ask him about his impressions, tell him his thoughts.

And it was close. Eddy was talking to some people when Brett came into his view. They smiled at each other. He just wanted everyone to go and leave them alone, which didn't happen to him often because he usually liked to be surrounded by people. But he was patient. He was going to wait. It's just a shame he couldn't say the same about someone else.

"Eddy!" a voice called from behind him, and Daniel intentionally or unintentionally bumped into Brett, shoving him aside. He ran to his boyfriend and hugged him.

And the worst of it all was that Eddy looked pleased.

"What are you doing here? I thought you weren't coming!" he called, and Daniel replied something Brett couldn't hear because of the crowd. All he could see were the two of them grinning at each other, and he felt as if something inside him was about to die.

Of course Daniel was better than Mark. He was willing to cancel something important just to be here. Why couldn't Brett just tolerate him a little more? Eddy seemed happy, and that should be the most important thing, not how he feels right now.

Daniel and Eddy were talking about something else, but Brett couldn't hear them. And then they came up to him, and before he could say anything, his friend spoke up.

"Hey, thanks for coming! I'm going with Daniel to grab something to eat now, do you want to join?"

And what was Brett supposed to do with himself and with all the negative emotions that were overwhelming him?

"No." Brett realized that didn't sound too nice, so he tried to smile. "No, I had other plans actually. I just came to congratulate you."

"Oh, okay." Eddy looked disappointed, but Brett wasn't going to be a third wheel. "Thanks. We'll see each other later!"

And so, they just left. Brett hated Daniel so much, hated this relationship, and hated himself even more for even feeling like this.

"Wow, they totally ignored us," Jordon said and Brett almost jumped because he had completely forgotten about his presence. "What do you want to do?"

Brett had only one bad idea.

"Let's go have a drink."