XLVIII

                                    

                                          
"You...", Eddy whispered, looking at Brett with what must have been the softest gaze in the history of mankind. Brett stood there, frozen in Eddy's arms and couldn't believe that there really was a big hand resting on his cheek. That there was another one, slowly wandering to the small of his back...
"You are..." Sniff! 
What? Why on earth would someone be sniffing in this situation? Under these circumstances with all the tension between the atoms in the air?
Sniff!
Brett frowned.
Eddy scrunched his nose and eyes, tilted his head back and...
"Aaachooo!!!!"
"Broooo!", Brett yelled, stumbled back, out of Eddy's arms and wiped his face, which had taken on the full blow of Eddy's vicious attack. 
"Sorry!", Eddy sniffed and drew a sleeve over his nose.
Brett's heart was pounding fast. What the hell just happenend? He took in big gulpes of air and tried to get his emotions of longing, being overwhelmed, disappointed, but also relieved under control.
They looked at each other for a solid fifteen seconds before both of them broke out in pearls of laughter.
"Brooo! What was that?", Brett roared.
"A sneeze! Haven't you seen one before?"
"All the time from you, sniffy guy! But not in my face I haven't!"
Eddy held his belly and tried to control his laughter. 
"Oh my God, this is hilarious!"
Brett wouldn't really have went that far and describe what just happened as hilarious, but he had to smile nonetheless. The spell was broken, the moment gone and he wasn't sure, if he was mostly glad or disappointed. 
Eddy still chuckled, reached out and ruffled Brett's hair. "Sorry 'bout that!"
"Yeah, you fucking well be! I don't need another virus in my system, thank you very much!"
"Just allergies."
"Don't have use for that either!"
Eddy laughed again.
Brett hesitated, but his curiosity got the better of him.
"What were you about to say before you spread your aerosols around?"
The other looked at him. Was Brett imagining it or was there really a hint of panic in Eddy's dark eyes?
"Uhmm... Nah! Not gonna tell!", Eddy declared after a short while. 
"What? Why?"
"It's irrelevant now."
It sure as hell wasn't irrelevant for Brett!
"You're so dodgy! Why would it be irrelevant? I wanna know!", he pressed, closing the distance between them a bit.
"Since when have you been so nosy? Nah! Maybe another time!", Eddy said calmly and picked up the cabbage, "Shall we start shooting?"
"Eddy! Tell me!", Brett almost shouted and brought his face even closer to make himself intimidating (as if that would work). 
Again, Eddy looked at him. Calmer now, but Brett could tell he was thinking hard about what to do next. 
"I give you something else", he said in the end. 
And Brett's eyes widened, as Eddy closed the rest of that little gap between them and placed a soft kiss on Brett's cheek. 
It burnt.
"Wha...", Brett managed and pressed his hand on where Eddy's lips had been just a second ago. Eddy grinned. "Good enough for now? Can we start?"
"What the hell was that for?"
"Nothing. You looked like you could need one." Eddy went around Brett and into the studio to get the camera and tripod.
Brett stared after him. Dumbfounded and confused to the max because what had just happenend made no sense in this or any parallel universe ever! And there was only one question swirling in his head: Why the fuck did Eddy Chen just kiss him on the cheek?

Friendly gesture! Brett concluded, as they prepared the "set", which was their kitchen, for filming. It had to be nothing more than a friendly gesture between bros and it was just his stupid hormonal heart, brain, soul and really his whole being that hoped it meant more. Because for Brett, it was kind of one of the most awesome things that had ever happened in his life.
And now, he had to push everything to the farthest corner of his head and get his game face on! His professional not-too-deadpan-face for the music video of "Cabbage", a joyful little tune Jordon had composed. It was also why they had decided for this video to be among the ones they had to film before the break, because it was their friend's work. 
They both put on the four seasons cardigan, took a cabbage each and started doing dances and movements in front of the camera they came up with on the spot. It was so much fun and actually helped keeping Brett's mind clear from any unwelcomed thoughts.
And when they started chopping up the vegetable  and throwing it into the wok for some filmed stir fry action, Brett knew he had to do everything in his power to keep their relationship safe and clear. He simply loved doing this, doing Twoset with Eddy, way too much to ever jeopardize it!