Touch

52.

Waking up with his head on Brett's chest, feeling his gentle hands run through his hair and the gentle light peeking through the curtains was the best. To just lie there, eyes closed, feeling Brett's breathing as his chest rose and fell. He couldn't help but smile a bit.

"You're awake?" Brett mumbled, a smile audible in his words. Eddy exhaled contently.
"Yeah", he replied, not indicating he wanted to move anytime soon. Brett moved some hair from his forehead, his fingertips gently stroking his face in the process.
"You look so beautiful when you're sleeping", Brett said, gently caressing Eddy's light pink cheek. "And you look younger when you're sleeping."
Eddy couldn't help but scoff at that.
"I see how it is, old man, you're into younger guys", Eddy mumbled followed by a short laugh before moving slightly so he could see Brett's face. Brett rolled his eyes demonstratively.
"Yeah that's why I fell for you", he said, kissing his forehead. Eddy laughed.
"And you're turning even older soon, right? It's your birthday next week."
"Is it? Damn, I can feel myself turning into an old man more and more for every day", he sighed, running a hand through his own hair. "See any grays yet?"
"Good for you it turns out I'm into older guys then", Eddy said, leaning over to kiss him gently.
"Yeah? Lucky me", Brett snorted, touching their lips together again.

"What do you want for your birthday then, Brett?", Eddy asked, looking up at him. "Let me guess, old man, some peace and quiet?"
Brett laughed, stalling for time while thinking of a comeback.
"Nah, well, that doesn't actually sound so bad, but I'm not sure really. We don't have to do much."
Eddy frowned at that.
"Come on dude, it's the birthday of the best guy in the world", he exclaimed, sitting up more in bed. "Of course we're gonna do something. What do you wanna do?"

Brett sat up a bit more too, scooting back to lean his back against the wall. It felt a bit weird in his behind to sit up like that, but he guessed he had to get used to it eventually.
"Dunno. Surprise me. Have a party, take me on a date, watch a movie. I don't care, it's not that big a deal", Brett said, shrugging. "I'm happy with anything, including spending the day in bed with you."
Eddy laughed a bit at that, kissing his cheek quickly.
"I'm very much into that last suggestion there, but we'll see what I can think of then."

Brett shrugged.
"I swear, I'd be happy with anything. Actually, please don't do a surprise party. I hate pretending to look surprised. We both know you suck at keeping secrets."
Eddy laughed and playfully slapped Brett's arm.
"You know damn well I thought your mom already knew about your girlfriend, okay? You were like sixteen and you had been dating for like half a year!"
"Dude, what the hell did you think 'don't tell my parents' meant?" Brett shot back, leaning his head back in a laugh. "It was so bad, bro, she went ballistic."

Eddy laid down with his head in Brett's lap, and Brett immediately responded by combing his fingers through Brett's hair. Eddy loved the touch.
"I'm sorry, okay? I was fifteen and stupid. And also jealous because you were always with her, man", Eddy said, looking up at Brett.
"Jealous, huh?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "I broke up with her for you, though, so you had no reason to be."
"For me? Why?" Eddy asked, confused. "I was just a clingy friend after all."
Brett snorted at that.
"Just a clingy friend? Nah, you were my best friend, you know. What is that saying? Bros before hoes? And anyway, you seemed so out of it because of it."
Eddy felt his cheeks reddening as he realized how far Brett was willing to go for him, even to the point of breaking up with someone.
"I guess that was around the time I started questioning if what I was feeling for you was a crush, which was why I was so miserable", Eddy said, feeling Brett shift slightly, making him nervous.
"What? That's when you...? How long have I been blind? No wait, that can't be right, you were with that flute girl in between that, right?" Brett laughed nervously. "You can't have had a crush on me for that long, right?"

Eddy was certain his cheeks were burning up at this point, and he felt like sinking into the earth. It was embarrassing, really, how long he had a crush on Brett.
"I guess I kinda pushed it aside after a while, because you seemed straighter than a ruler at that point", he mumbled, biting his lip. "And I didn't wanna risk our friendship by telling you, so..."
"But you were with that flute girl", Brett stated again, furrowing his brows. "How old were you then? Eighteen?"
"Seventeen", Eddy corrected, turning his head away from Brett for a moment. "And it was a way to try and forget about you, I guess. And she was nice enough, so when she asked me out I thought why not?"
Brett didn't really know what to say at this point. It was insane how long he had been literally blind.
"That's like ten years ago", he muttered, a wave of guilt washing over him.
"I know, kinda pathetic, right?" Eddy mumbled, attempted as a joke, forcing a laugh.

"Dude, I'm so sorry", Brett said, running a hand through his hair. "I've been an idiot if you've been hiding this for TEN years. Why didn't you tell me?"
Eddy shrugged.
"I guess I didn't think you were even into guys at all and thought you'd be weirded out by it. Didn't want to risk the friendship and all that."
Brett nodded amd ran his hand through his hair again.
"What changed? Why did you decide to let me know?" he asked, seeing Eddy close his eyes for a moment, taking notice of how the shadow from his eyelashes fell in his cheeks. How could he have not seen this opportunity for ten years?
"I guess when we started touching more", Eddy admitted, a smile playing on his lips at the memory. "It just became too difficult to hide it after that."
Brett leaned down to kiss him, tracing his cheekbone with his thumb as he did.
"I'm so glad it worked out like this", he said after they broke away. "I'm sorry about my ten years of being blind, though."
Eddy laughed at that and caught Brett's hand between his, looking up at him.
"I'm just glad it worked out and that you didn't freak out when I kissed you the first time."

"I'll be honest, it didn't click for me until that moment", Brett admitted after a few moments of silence, unsure about how Eddy would react to what he was going to say. "Like, I guess looking back I was really enjoying cuddling with you and the hugs and I was getting really jealous when I thought it was Jordon and all that, but I don't think I realized it was a crush until you kissed me."
Eddy looked up at him, trying to think about what to say. It didn't really matter to him if Brett had liked him for years or for six seconds before that kiss. He was just over the moon about it working out.
"I guess I'm just such a good kisser...", Eddy joked, grinning up at him. "You just HAD to fall for me after that."
Brett snorted, leaning down to kiss him again.
"You are a great kisser, I'll admit that."