San Fran, part 4

                                    

                                          
Rehearsal day had actually gone pretty well. Eddy had managed on his own, and Brett had turned up later to run through the programme. 
Now, a day later, Brett was pretty much back to normal, other than the occasional cough and sniffle. The rest he'd had had done him the world of good. 
                          
¨Ibo, could you just join us a sec?¨ Eddy called. It was just them and Sophie on stage, everyone else was busy elsewhere. 
Ibo looked up from his mixing panel, and jogged over. 
¨What's up?¨ he said. 

¨So¨, Eddy began, giving Brett, who was looking as happy today as he'd ever seen him, a quick wink. 
¨Right. We know you guys can keep a secret, but it goes without saying this falls into that category, okay?¨
Both nodded, curiosity in their eyes. 
Eddy took a deep breath. 
¨So, we want to drive off to Vegas early tomorrow, and we were wondering if you guys would come and... and be our witnesses.¨

The silence was deafening for a moment, and Eddy had to smile as Ibo looked exactly like a cartoon character getting big news. His mouth fell open, his eyes were wide as saucers and he was clearly lost for words. 
¨Wha... wha... you for real?¨ he managed, in the end. 
¨Very much for real¨, Brett said, stepping forward a little bit. 
Eddy added: ¨Ibo, you're our oldest friend, and Sophie, without you I don't know if I would have had the courage to face up to how I felt and what it meant. So we felt you should be part of it.¨
He looked at Sophie, who actually looked quite emotional. She'd become a good friend. 
¨Of course¨, she said in her soft voice. ¨It would be my honour.¨
¨Mates!¨ Ibo piped up. ¨I can't believe it! Brett and Eddy are getting married. But yeah, duh, of course I'll be there.¨
                          
Eddy beamed at Brett. 
¨Thank you, you guys¨, he said. ¨It means the world to us.¨
¨Oh my God¨, said Brett, ¨Now we've got even more shit to arrange today!¨ and everyone laughed. 
                          
The day flew by, but there were moments everywhere where the boys looked at each other, and shared sweet smiles, knowing winks, little touches. 
Eddy felt like he had to pinch himself. He was getting married tomorrow. It really was a very good job he'd brought that suit, after all! 


                          
It wasn't the best concert they'd ever played, he had to admit as he walked off the stage into the wings, a few hours later. There were definitely moments where even concert mode couldn't rescue him from daydreaming about what was coming, and this had resulted in more than one out of tune note, and more than one joke not timed quite right.
Still, as Eddy stood on the stage, next to his fiancé, who very soon would become his husband, he couldn't help but feel that it was one of the most special concerts they'd given anyway. 

When they sat through the meet and greet, being happy, upbeat, pleasant and funny, he kept looking at Brett and smiling. There was this big, giant thing in their lives that only they knew about, and it was just all kinds of awesome to be sitting there, knowing what was coming, when nobody else there did.  
                          
They walked back to the hotel very late, that night. The streets were fairly quiet by now, so Eddy happily took Brett's hand as they walked through the cool San Francisco winter darkness. 
It was going to be a short night, because they'd have to leave pretty early tomorrow morning to make it there and then carry on to LA in a day. So they went to bed straight away, Eddy putting his head on Brett's chest and snuggling into him. 
¨Good night, fiancé¨, he whispered. 
¨Good night, husband-to-be¨, Brett replied, so sweetly it made Eddy smile. 
It took Eddy a long time to fall asleep, the butterflies in his belly so loud he could almost hear them flutter. Brett was still awake, too, he knew.
                          
It didn't matter though. He didn't mind being awake, this last night as a single man. Tomorrow was going to be the best day, and everything would be the same, and yet different, for ever.