Work Text:
[ Edd 2:08A.M
hey im super fuckin bored wanna call ]
When a Skype notification popped up in the bottom right corner of Tom’s computer, he instinctively abandoned whatever he was doing to check it. His heart skipped a beat when he saw it was a text from Edd requesting him to call. With a small grin, he quickly typed out his reply.
[ Tom 2:08A.M
hell yeah!! :DDD ]
Before he could even grab his headphones, he heard the catchy tune of the Skype ringtone play. Though, as tuneful as it was, it was still annoying as hell to have it blast in your room at two in the morning. He rushed to unplug his headphones from his phone and plug them into his computer before his mother woke up and crucified him for being up so late on a school night. After putting on the headphones, he cringed at how deafening the ringtone was now that it was blaring in his ears. His cursor quickly moved to answer the call, and then moved to turn the volume down. He loved hearing Edd’s voice, but he didn’t love hearing it that loud. “Geez, coulda waited for like, two seconds,” he muttered once he was connected and his volume was adjusted. He could hear Edd softly chuckle on the other end.
“Hey! I’m impatient!” He replied. “You were taking too long!”
“I took like, three seconds.”
“Yeah! Three seconds too long!”
“Whatever.” Tom chuckled. “So, whatcha doin’ up so late? Isn’t it a school night?” He asked in a teasing tone, very well aware that the question could be turned back on him.
“I could ask the same to you. School is for faggots, anyway.”
“Pft, so, I assume you can’t sleep, then,” Tom stated with a scoff.
“Yeah. But, that’s fine. Sleep is for the weak. Well, then again…” Edd hummed. “If that was true, you’d be a lot stronger.”
“Hey! I’m not weak!” Tom huffed.
“Yeah, ya are. You can barely pick Tord up. Kid weighs like, two pounds.”
“Well, I can still pick him up!”
“Congratulations, you can pick up two pounds.” Edd slowly clapped his hands in a sarcastic manner for a few seconds.
“Oh, shut up. Two is better than none.” Tom crossed his arms, even though Edd couldn’t see that.
“Yeah, sure. You’re still weak, though.”
“Says the guy who’s stupidly strong,” Tom replied. “You can pick up everyone! Even Matt, and he’s like, a foot taller than you!”
“Well, you’re all dumb and gay, so I can pick you guys up.”
“Are you imply ing that being dumb and gay makes you easier to pick up?”
Edd laughed before replying with, “Yeah. Exactly.”
“But...Matt can pick you up.”
“W-Well-” Edd stammered, his cheeks flushing red. Fuck. Shit. He didn’t think that through. “Well, I ain’t gay.”
“Suuuure you aren’t, Edd.” Tom chuckled.
“I’m not! You guys are the gay ones!”
“Suuuure we are, Edd,” Tom responded in that same sarcastic tone, making Edd grumble. After their little “debate” on who was gay and who wasn’t(they ended up calling a truce), the two continued to chat until Tom lost track of time. They talked about a myriad of things, from how awful school was, to videogames, to arguing about dumb things that wouldn’t matter to anyone else, like who the best Pokémon was. Before Tom knew it, it was five in the morning. The time he had to wake up at for school was rapidly approaching, but he didn’t care. He didn’t mind not sleeping if he got to talk to Edd. That may have been a little unhealthy, but it was true.
Tom had continued to ramble on about nonsense, not even noticing that Edd had stopped talking. At one point, he had asked the other a question, but received no reply. “Edd?” He said after a few seconds. “You alive there?” For a few moments, there was complete silence. Tom started to grow nervous, fearing that, somehow, something bad had happened to Edd.
However, his worries were cut short when he heard soft snoring from his friend. Tom couldn’t help but chuckle, half from relief, and half from how Edd had actually fallen asleep while he was talking.
“I can’t believe it,” he muttered. “You actually fell asleep during a call.” As he expected, the only reply he received was a snore. Tom chuckled again, finding Edd’s snores to be cute.
God, everything about Edd was so...cute. His shortness, combined with his quick temper, was pretty cute in an ironic sort of way. The way he got happy when he won a game against Tom was cute, even if Tom did get annoyed from the gloating. Whenever Edd got flustered and blushed a lot, Tom found himself thinking that he was adorable. His rare acts of kindness were also very cute to Tom. He always found himself staring at Edd when he wasn’t looking, thinking that his friend was incredibly cute.
There was no denying it: Tom was head over heels in love with Edd. Which...sucked, in all honesty. Being in love with your best friend was such a bittersweet feeling: On one hand, you’ve probably known each other for years; you know that you love so much about them in a romantic way you could probably write an essay, and you’d be happy with them if you two were to date. On the other hand, though, they’re still your best friend. If Tom confessed, he was sure that Edd would cut off their friendship. After all, Edd was never the romantic type. Hell, he didn’t even usually let people hold his hand without getting visibly uncomfortable. But, that was fine. Tom didn’t expect everyone to be as affectionate as he was. Yet, it still hurt to know that there was a very low probability that Edd would actually return his feelings, and want to date him. Because of that low probability, he decided to keep his mouth shut. He didn’t want to lose Edd, after all. God, he didn’t know what he’d do without him. Honestly...he’d rather not think about that too much.
Tom ended up zoning out, getting lost in his own thoughts to the tune of Edd’s snoring. After a while, he was sure that he had disconnected himself from reality. He felt like it was just him and Edd, floating around in empty space. Tom didn’t really like being alone, but he didn’t mind if he was alone with Edd. He let out a loud sigh, staring at his computer screen. He didn’t know what to do with his feelings. On nights like this, it got harder and harder to bury them deep within himself. When he did do that, it always rose up and clogged his chest and throat, making him unable to breathe. That’s what it felt like, now. He felt like he was being slowly suffocated by his own thoughts and feelings. Every day, the grip around his throat got a little tighter.
Tom swallowed down a lump in his throat that he didn’t even know was there. He raised a hand up and wiped his eye, the back of his hand now covered in tears he didn’t know he had been crying. Why couldn’t he just accept that Edd wouldn’t love him back? Why did he have to cry over everything? Why did he have to be so fucking pathetic —
Edd’s soft snoring made him snap back to the real world. The clouds in his mind cleared up a bit as he slowly came back down from...whatever trance he had been in. Right. He was here, in his room, in a call with his sleeping friend who was also his crush. That wasn’t weird, right? He glanced over at the time on bottom right corner of his computer, realizing that it was almost time for him to get ready for school.
“Shit...I should probably get off the call,” Tom muttered, mostly to himself, since Edd was asleep. He looked back up at the screen, an idea suddenly popping into his mind. With a small, mischievous grin, he said, “But, before I do...hey, Edd. Snore if you’re gay.” He leaned forward, listening to Edd. When he heard him let out a loud snore, he couldn’t stop himself from giggling.
“I knew it. Anyway, I’ll see you later, gay boy.” Tom let out a small sigh, a smile still on his face. Though, even the small bits of entertainment didn’t fully offset the aching pain he now felt in his chest. His smile fell as he clicked on the “end call” button, hearing the Skype hang-up sound play.