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Kevin isn't sure how he feels about it at first.
Edd has been asking him about his tattoo almost weekly; if it was painful, yes; if he regrets it, no; and if he’d recommend others getting them, depends. He tells Edd as much.
Kevin isn’t, ok, he’s a little surprised when Edd comes home on a random Tuesday with a tattoo of a beaker, no bigger than two inches, on the outside of his right ankle.
“Do you like it, Kevin?”
Edd’s question seems genuine enough, but something else lies beneath the question and Kevin wishes that he knew what it was.
“Yeah, babe, it totally suits you. But, it’s your body, you’re the one who has to like it.” He hopes it’s the right thing to say.
Edd simply smiles with his tongue between his front teeth and pulls Kevin in for a tight hug. Kevin guesses it has something to do with Edd’s parents. He doesn’t press.
-
It’s a random summer-sex day when Kevin notices something new, another tattoo. This one is a bit bigger and on the outside of Edd’s thigh. It looks newish but healed. Kevin wonders how he missed it.
“When did you get this, Edd?” He runs his fingers gently over the lines and colors and feels the skin prickle under the touch.
“This?” Edd questions, looking where Kevin's fingers are still tracing. But it sounds coy, in a way, a bit worried.
“About a month ago, do you like it?”
“Of course, Edd. I’ll like anything that you think is important enough to put on your body.”
Edd seems pleased by that answer, pushing Kevin down to the bed by his shoulders and kissing the breath from his lungs.
-
Kevin is beginning to see a pattern.
Edd gets a tattoo and doesn’t tell Kevin. Kevin stumbles upon it in some random way. Edd asks Kevin if he likes it. Kevin says yes. Edd jumps him.
What Kevin didn’t expect though is that the tattoos keep getting bigger and more elaborate. What started as simple linework and no bigger than a few inches, has developed into full sleeves and large, multicolor pieces that spread across his chest and back.
The other thing that Kevin didn’t expect is that he really likes Edd with tattoos.
Yes, Kevin would like anything that makes Edd happy whether it was his personal taste or not. But Edd’s choices of tattoos are breathtaking, and each one is different in style. Beautiful colors and lines that curve around all of the delicate parts of Edd that Kevin loves. But it’s not just the aesthetically pleasing part of seeing bold lines against pale skin, it’s what they do to Edd.
Edd’s personality changes with each new addition. More confident, more sly and sexy, more like the Edd that Edd wants to be. And Kevin is living for it.
Kevin thought the only way he’d ever see this Edd is on his knees in the bedroom, but with each new addition, Edd pushes their boundaries a little harder. Pushing himself out of his comfort zone and dragging Kevin along for the ride.
When they started this relationship almost twenty years ago, Kevin thought Edd would always be a shy, quiet, nerdy person who lacked confidence and hated socializing. And while some things stayed the same, so many things have changed in the best, weirdest ways.
-
The first time Kevin saw Edd’s newfound confidence falter was when they were having dinner with Edd’s parents. Which came as no surprise to Kevin at all.
Kevin dealt with Edd’s parents because they were exactly that, his parents. Edd loved his family to a fault, and many times, that love came at a high emotional price.
“What’s this Eddward?” Edd’s mom says from across the long kitchen table, gesturing to Edd’s sleeve cuff.
Kevin’s eyes are on the spot immediately, trying his best to be discrete, and he realizes that the cuff isn’t covering Edd’s ink on the left arm, and Edd is frozen in panic. Kevin wants to speak up, wants to defend Edd or take the blame or do anything that will diffuse the situation. But he can’t. Nothing he can say will make it better, Edd is on his own.
Edd dabs at his mouth with his napkin to buy time, eyes meeting Kevin’s own, before he's smiling and answering brightly.
“It’s one of my tattoos, mother. I’ve accumulated quite a few over the years that you and father have been away with work.”
Edd’s mother and father look to one another and then back to Edd.
“You know that your mother and I don’t approve of any sort of body modification, Eddward. What gave you the impression that this was something that would be accepted once you finish medical school and get into a prestigious medical facility?” Not for the first time, Kevin wants to punch Edd’s father in the teeth.
“I already told you, father, I have a wonderful, well-paying job as a chemist. I have no plans on returning to school, as I have already obtained my doctorate in pharmaceutical chemistry. We’re currently working on a cure for-”
“I thought we were past this nonsense, Eddward.” Edd’s mother cuts him off, placing her silverware down on the table too gently and folding her hands in her lap.
Edd sits back in his seat like he’s been punched, and his eyes track to Kevin for support. Kevin hooks a leg around Edd’s under the table, giving him what he hopes is an encouraging expression, and Edd sighs and tries again. But his tone changed this time, even the way he sits in the seat. He’s more relaxed, sitting as he does at home with Kevin.
“I’m not sure how having a well-respected career is nonsense but I assure you, as the breadwinner in our home, there are no complaints from Kevin or the many friends and colleagues we have that visit us at our home. If you’d visit once and a while I’m sure you'd have a better understanding of our lifestyle.”
Kevin wants to cheer Edd on like Edd always did before big games in college, but all he can do is shake Edd’s leg and chime in politely.
“Edd’s right. Even as an auto mechanic, a highly needed job pretty much everywhere in the country, Edd’s work and contributions to this country and the medical field are, like, so important. All the medicines you use in your hospitals daily are made by people like Edd. Not all important work is done in the O.R.”
Kevin knows he said the right thing because Edd is looking at him with metaphorical hearts in his eyes and both of Edd’s parents are glaring at him under thinly veiled expressions.
“I don’t believe that your opinions on work are valued at this take, Mr. Barr. Seeing as you are only a simple mechanic.” Edd’s father is icy with anger, and before Kevin can defend himself, Edd puts a hand on Kevin’s. Edd’s expression is tight but confident.
“Remember, father, Kevin’s last name is no longer Barr, it’s Vincent. He took my last name when we got married almost ten years ago. You’d probably remember if you actually took time to be a part of our wedding like Kevin’s father.”
Kevin wonders if this dinner may end in a fistfight, but he thinks it may just be a fight of will and wits. He knows Edd will win that, Edd’s wit sharp and honed from years of Eddy’s grief and his constant exposure to Kevin’s sarcasm.
“I was called to emergency surgery, Eddward.”
“My mistake to think you would prioritize family over work.”
“That’s enough, Eddward! You know your father was occupied out of state. He would have been there if he could.” Edd’s mother seems to realize how far from normal this conversation was going, but her diffusion method only added fuel to Edd’s fire.
“That is why we gave you both a ton of extra notice though, Mrs. Vincent,” Kevin says smoothly, pausing until eyes are on him.
“Edd insisted on it. He wanted to give you both every opportunity to plan ahead, find replacements, whatever you needed to do to be there. Instead, my father was the one walking both Edd and me down the aisle. We’re all adults here, let’s take some accountability for past mistakes.”
Edd laughs, not just a chuckle, but belly laughs that cause the need to wipe away fat tears. Edd is flushed by the time the laughing dies down and he pulls off his crisp, white button-up revealing a green and purple band tee underneath. It’s the first time Kevin has ever seen Edd show anything other than his pristine, perfect child act that he’s perfected for years.
On display now is Edd. Not Eddward, not Double Dee from childhood. Just Edd. His husband, partner in crime, chemist, metalhead, nerd, Dominant, friend, child, and so many more things. He’s no longer just his parent’s perfect son, he’s his own man now. And Edd finally found the confidence to show them.
“Kevin is so right,” Edd snickers, sitting back down and pulling his hat off and ruffling his long, dark hair.
“Eddward put your hat back on, you know how it makes us feel…” Edd’s mother trails off, looking to her husband for support but gets none. He’s busy looking at Kevin and then to Edd’s two sleeves of colorful ink.
“It’s Edd.”
“Pardon?” His father says like he’s unsure if Edd is joking or serious.
“It’s Edd.” That is all the clarification Edd gives.
Edd’s father looks to Kevin again, this time there is emotion in his expression, unfortunately, it’s anger.
“What have you done to our son? Eddward was never like this before you came into his life. He had such a bright future ahead of him and now he looks like some hooligan like you and your father!”
Edd stands. Hands slapping down on the table and voice raising for the first time in the years Kevin has known him.
“You will not bring Kevin or his father into this! Kevin’s father has been more a father to me than you have, I will not stand by and let you slander all of the good things in my life because you are my biological parents! If you’re unwilling to see me then that is your loss.”
Edd is grabbing Kevin and pulling him from the chair and towards the door, hat and shirt still left behind. Edd doesn't stop until they are on Kevin’s motorcycle and miles past the cul de sac on the way home.
Kevin pulls over to the side of the road and pulls off his helmet, fully prepared to face Edd and see tear-stained cheeks and a deep need for reassurance.
“It’s fucking cold,” Edd says, pulling off his own helmet and trying to fluff up his hair that’s matted down with sweat and pressure.
“Jesus, Edd.” Kevin pulls Edd into a hug, cradling Edd’s head to his cheek and listening to the warbling laugh Edd gives him.
“Yes, Kevin?” Edd sounds…happy, playful.
“This is not how I thought this all would go. Between the dinner and the argument and the storming out,” Kevin admits, pulling back to look Edd in the eyes, blue and clear and bright.
“I think-” Edd starts carefully, “I think that it’s time I wear my heart on my skin in this life.”
Kevin chuckles ruefully, “Who wrote it?”
“Sylvia Plath.” Kevin shakes his head fondly.
“I read it before I started getting tattoos and I just…thought it would be the best way to live out my adult life. And I was right.”
“You sure? Because that was something I never expected to see in my lifetime. I mean, your parents are…your parents.”
“I thought it was time they actually meet their son. Not the son they pretend to have once a year on Christmas.”
Kevin nods and shifts the weight of the bike to the other leg, still facing Edd.
“So, what now?”
“Now?” Edd clarifies, “Now, we go home. Me and my husband, Mr. Vincent-Barr.” Edd puts a hand on Kevin’s cheek and gives it an encouraging pinch, and then a push to turn back around. Kevin goes, and they don’t stop going until they are home and tangled together in bed, clothing spread around every room, dirt from their shoes in the kitchen, and their helmets on various pieces of furniture.
“Messy, messy messy. You’re going to clean this all up, right, Kevin?”
Kevin chuckles, flipping them over so Edd is perched in the vee of Kevin’s hips.
“Maybe later, right now I’m enjoying the view.”
The blush that seeps under Edd’s tattoos is both old and new. And Kevin thinks, no matter how much they both change, some things will always stay the same.