Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Working at a coffee shop called the Peach Tree just outside of a town called Peach Creek wasn’t Edd’s idea and it certainly hadn’t been in his ten year plan.

Survive High School, get into a respectable University, use slightly underhanded but effective techniques to maintain a clean and very roommate-free dorm room, acquire position of interest in the research department, graduate, promotion, promotion, smooth sailing. That had been the plan.

He was certain he’d anticipated all the factors. Surely there was something he’d missed? His two best friends seemed to think he was doing all right, but Ed was an unemployed dropout still living at home and Eddy was convinced he could find the perfect way to scam a credit card company without being caught. Their opinions on high living didn’t quite fit in with Edd’s future view.

Somehow, maybe he’d always known there would be snags. The research department had no new openings and, with the apparent loss in funding, there would be even fewer openings in the future. If Edd wanted to get a shoe-in at the University research facility, he’d have to come up with something the board couldn’t deny they needed.

Until then, he was stuck working at the Peach Tree coffee shop in the unseemly hours of the morning to make ends meet.

It wasn’t all horrible. Often-times, he was given free reign of the equipment, and did his best to come up with new signature creations. The menu was so droll when it came to the choices. Why were there only two options for a mocha: white chocolate or regular? What if he added a splash of raspberry, or mixed in juice with the tea instead of adding water?

Some creations were noticeably better, and some failed to make the cut. Not every experiment was a guaranteed success. Edd knew that. He’d dealt with failure most of his childhood.

Mornings came and mornings went. There were some new faces and some regulars. Edd memorized each and every person’s drink order after their second visit. He didn’t mean to, it just sort of happened. Most of the customers found it endearing.

Most of them.

Edd learned early on not to ‘assume’ Kevin’s order.

“Ah, Kevin,” Edd chirped just as the campus basketball star sauntered into the coffee shop. He pulled off his old, faded red hat and rang it out in front of him. Aside from a few droplets of water, the hat was essentially dry, but Edd couldn’t help watching the rainwater drop onto his freshly swept floors. The sky outside threatened to really open up with rain as opposed to the light sprinkle they’d had all morning. Edd had to mentally prepare himself for the onslaught of muddy shoes later. “The usual this morning? Iced caramel macchiato?”

At the mention of his drink, Kevin immediately began to search the café with his eyes, as if maybe the other customers had heard Edd shout out his order. “It’s raining, doofus,” he grumbled. “Who drinks iced coffee in the rain? You want me to die?”

Edd reeled backward, but caught himself. Kevin had been poking fun at him for years, now. He really should have assumed the worst, if anything. Kevin wasn’t exactly Edd’s favorite customer, especially since he always had something to complain about. “My apologies. Could I offer you a latte, today? Caramel topping is on the house.”

Satisfied that no one was going to reprimand him for his coffee choices, Kevin shrugged and made his way to the counter, casually leaning over the edge as if he weren’t just any patron. Edd quickly rang up his order and stammered out the price, but before he could even mention the change, Kevin was sliding a five across the counter.

“Not too much foam, okay? I’m buying coffee, not air.”

“Coming right up!” Edd said, probably a bit too cheerful for his own good.

Over the months, Edd had found the perfect foam-to-milk ratio while steaming. He had to have absolute concentration as he angled the milk steamer toward him. It was important to him that each of his customers really enjoyed their drink. He felt as though each cup of coffee was a reflection of himself right down to the way he pumped syrup into the cups.

Which was probably why when he announced to Kevin that his order was ready and Kevin took one sip and scrunched up his face, Edd’s pride sank to the floor.

“Is… something wrong?” Edd inquired.

Kevin glared at his cup as though it personally wronged him. “This is really good.”

Edd’s eyes widened.

“You may be a dork, but you make a mean cup of coffee.”

Edd couldn’t believe his ears. Kevin never complimented him. Kevin never really complimented anyone now that he thought about it. Edd barely had the composure to mutter a thank you before Kevin turned around.

It was hard not to keep an eye on Kevin as he made his way to a table, pulled out a notebook and went over some notes for his classes. Edd had to tend to other customers and after a while, he became so consumed by his job that he didn’t even notice Kevin had left.

Aside from the compliment, nothing else about the visit struck him as unusual. That was, until he began wiping down tables near the end of his shift and came across the dirtied table where Kevin had been sitting. He hadn’t even bothered to throw his cup away, the brute. Edd rolled his eyes and reached for the cup, but then stopped when he noticed something had been written on the side.

Not bad, double dork.

A snide comment like that shouldn’t have made Edd smile at all. He should have crumpled up the cup and tossed it away with the rest of the trash right then and there. Instead he smiled to himself and held onto it for just a little while longer. Compliments like that were so few and far between.

Maybe Kevin wasn’t all that bad.

Chapter Text

“Kevin? Nice? Yeah, right,” Eddy crooned. He casually bit the tip of his tongue as he made several attempts to get a pencil to stick to the ceiling. Each time he tossed a perfectly sharpened pencil into the air, Edd cringed involuntarily. He’d long since learned not to reprimand Eddy on his fidgets, but it was not without difficulty.

“I’m serious, Eddy!” Edd tried again. “He bestowed compliments upon me. I fear something may be wrong.”

“Yeah, with your head,” Eddy scoffed and tossed his pencil into the air once again. This time, it actually stuck to the ceiling, much to his surprise. He stared at it for a while, a bit lost, and then shook his head. “Kevin is a jerk, Double D. He’ll always be a jerk. Why is this bothering you so much?”

“I didn’t say it was bothering me, per say…” Edd fidgeted with his fingers a bit—a nervous habit he never could seem to be rid of. “I only found it odd.”

“What’s so odd about it?” shrugged Eddy. “He liked your coffee. So sue him.”

“That’s only because I found a way to maximize the flavor of his latte,” Edd protested.

Eddy gave Edd a look that Edd didn’t quite catch. His cheeks puffed up and suddenly he burst into laughter. “That sounded so wrong, Double D. You should hear yourself!”

Even more confused, Edd raised an eyebrow, “I do hear myself. My hearing is without flaw according to my last—“

Without warning, the door to Eddy’s bedroom burst open with enough force to knock the pencil from the ceiling and land somewhere in Edd’s black hat. Both boys didn’t even need to turn toward the doorway to know what happened.

“Double D! My mom said you were home from school!”

Ed’s behemoth frame bounded into the room and he wasted no time in wrapping his enormous arms around Edd in a bear hug. Edd should have been used to the feeling of having all the air leave his lungs at once, but he’d grown accustomed to breathing while he was away at college and Ed’s hug took him by surprise.

“Ed, you’re much stronger than you think!” Edd croaked.

Ed immediately set Edd down and gave him a swift pat on the back. “Sorry, Double D. I missed you.”

“I missed you, too, Ed,” Edd smiled up at his large friend. He was lucky to have kept such great friends over the years. He’d known many people whose friendships had dissipated once everyone went away to college, but Edd made sure to visit from the State University as often as possible.

They’d changed a lot since they were kids, playing carefree in the cul-de-sac. Ed never seemed to stop growing. If he’d kept his grades up, he could have landed a football scholarship somewhere, but instead he opted to stay home and help out around the house. Ed was happier with a simple life, and Edd gave him credit for that.

Eddy, on the other hand, must have given all of his growth spurts to Ed. He remained the shortest of the three and usually made up for it with his explosive devil-may-care personality. His money-making schemes never stopped and with each year, they grew into something a little more grand until suddenly he was waist deep in credit card fraud. Edd should have seen it coming, but their friendship may have caused him to turn a blind eye.

Edd didn’t want to say that his friends were lost without him, but with the constantly changing world of higher learning, it was nice to come home every so often to something familiar.

“Cut with the sap,” Eddy said as he reached a hand up to snatch the fallen pencil from Edd’s hat. “You missed all the fun, Ed. Double D has a crush on Kevin.”

“Oooooh, Kevin?” Ed laughed and clapped his hands excitedly. “Do I know him?”

“I do not have a crush!” Edd could feel his face growing red. “I was merely inquiring in a change of character.”

“If you are in love, Double D. Don’t let us stand in your way,” Ed said majestically with a sweep of his hand. “You must go to him!” Before Edd could protest further, Ed picked him up easily and hoisted him fireman style over his shoulder.

Eddy cackled maniacally the entire way down the stairs despite all of Edd’s protests. Once they reached the bottom, Ed finally put Edd down on the couch and joined in the laughter. Edd pulled his hat over his eyes quickly and tried as much as possible to pretend this wasn’t happening.

“Relax, Double D,” Eddy said casually. “I’m only teasing. But,” he leaned in. “I do have an idea.”

Edd wanted nothing more than to pull his hat further over his head.

“Maybe we can get something out of this newly charitable Kevin,” Eddy wrung his hands together in the way that implied he was cooking up another scheme.

“Please, no,” Edd whined. Really, had Eddy ever learned a lesson in his life? This would only end in unwarranted perspiration and tears.

“What can we get out of Kevin?” Eddy began pacing the couch in front of Edd. Edd could only watch him helplessly. “Isn’t his dad rich or something? He hit something big at the jawbreaker factory, I think.”

“This isn’t a good idea, Eddy.”

“Maybe you should charge him extra for your super awesome coffee. Keep the profits. We could start our own coffee shop and you can make all the drinks!” said Eddy.

“Coffee, coffee, coffee!” Ed repeated. “I like that idea. I like coffee. It is the only drink you can have hot or cold.”

Edd was about to protest, but he couldn’t help giving Ed a tiny grin. For all of Ed’s outward mental incapabilities, he was really observant where it counted and so much smarter than most people gave him credit for. “I am not going to hound Kevin for money, Eddy.”

“It’s your loss,” Eddy frowned. “His dad’s on the school board isn’t he? If you two were friends, you could get a shoe-in at the research center. Maybe promise to develop some super awesome jawbreaker in the lab.”

Something twisted in Edd’s gut and he found himself surprised at Eddy’s revelation. “You want me to become friends with Kevin for personal gain?”

“Isn’t that why I do anything?”

“Touche,” said Ed.

Edd shook his head and stood up from the couch. “That is preposterous! How could you think I would do such a thing. Befriending Kevin just to get a job. That’s… I can’t do that!”

“Come on, Double D,” said Eddy. His face changed to that of something akin to a snake and Edd knew exactly where this was heading. “It’s not much different from when we were kids. Only, you know, you’ll be making the big bucks after.”

Edd slowly narrowed his eyes, knowing full well there had to be some other reason Eddy was suggesting a plan that gave him zero gain. “What’s the catch?”

“As your, ah, agent, I receive thirty percent from your paychecks.”

“I’m not paying you to help me fabricate the truth.”

“Don’t be such a sourpuss,” Eddy groaned. “Come on, Ed, help me out, here!”

Ed glanced from one friend to the other and then shook his head. “I am not standing in the way of true love.”

Edd could feel his blood beginning to boil. Anger was not something that came easily to him. “I’m not in love with Kevin!”

“Sure you’re not,” Eddy laughed and wrapped an arm around Edd’s shoulder, dragging him down to his level. “I’m just saying. If you wanna get what you want, you have to play the game a little.”

Edd groaned and let himself slump in Eddy’s grip. “Fine, if I agree, will you just drop it?”
“Totally.”

“Don’t, Double D!” Ed preened from behind them, like he was having trouble peering over them despite his height. “This will only end in tears!”

Eddy pushed Ed away from the two of them. “Don’t listen to him, Double D. Trust me. It’s a sure thing.”

Well, if it was a sure thing…

*

Edd had no intention of dragging himself down to Eddy’s level. When he made his way back to the University campus Sunday afternoon, he’d already decided there was no possible way he would communicate with Kevin unless it was under a strict barista-customer relationship. The long drive home gave Edd plenty of time to think and plenty of time to realize that maybe it was a bad idea to tell Ed and Eddy about Kevin’s behavior.

Either way, the deed was done and all Edd could do from there on out was to survive his first year at college. It was already a few weeks into the second semester and spring was peeking around the corner. He had been quietly serving Kevin coffee for a little over a semester now. It wasn’t like it was very strange for him to suddenly be so nice. Edd had ample time to create a masterpiece with his coffee and Kevin had more than enough time to enjoy it. They were adults, now, sort of, and way past their youthful differences.

It was time to be mature about the situation and not look into it further.

On Mondays Edd had classes early in the morning and didn’t have to work until later in the day. It was a nice respite from the usual morning customers. Afternoons had a tendency to be busy, but the patrons were a little more creative with their drink orders. It gave Edd a chance to experiment.

After his Microphysics lecture, Edd packed up his textbook and notes into his backpack and slung it casually over his shoulder. The walk to the campus coffee shop wasn’t far, and Edd still had time. He could go over a few of his notes and enjoy a frappucino while he waited until it was time to clock in.

The initial after-class rush hadn’t started, yet, so there was still an open table. Edd quickly took his seat and began to unzip his backpack when he heard his name from across the room.

“Double dweeb, where were you this morning?”

Edd’s breath caught in his throat as he looked up to see Kevin leaning against a table, arms folded. His hands were completely devoid of any caffeinated beverages.

“I have lectures to attend Monday mornings,” Edd explained. He forced himself to continue placing out his notes in their precise numerical order. Kevin was just being friendly. It shouldn’t be weird. People were friendly all the time. Then again, he did still call Edd a name—there couldn’t have been that much of a change.

“I had some pimply dude make my coffee. It tasted like mud.”

“I… am sorry to hear that,” Edd said cautiously. Was Kevin trying to tell him he preferred his coffee to others? That would explain the change in behavior. Edd had something Kevin wanted. He relaxed a little in his seat. That wasn’t so hard to read.

Instead of going away, Kevin took a seat opposite of Edd and spun it around so that he could straddle it and place his arms over the back of the chair. He still wore his hat backwards even though that hadn’t been the style for years, and Edd suddenly found he couldn’t imagine a world where Kevin didn’t wear his sentimental hat.

“Can I help you?” Edd inquired.

Kevin looked on over Edd’s notes and scrunched up his nose. “So you’re not working? You come to work to do your homework? You really are a dweeb.”

Edd was confused. How many times had he seen Kevin in here, pouring over a notebook? “Isn’t that what you do? During several of your visits, you lingered in order to study.”

“I’m not studying, I’m—“ Kevin cut off abruptly and sat up straight in his chair. “I’m working on something else.”

“I see,” Edd said. He tried to lean over his notes to double check for accuracy but he couldn’t concentrate with Kevin sitting across from him. In High School, Edd had mastered the ability to get his homework finished despite numerous distractions but this was so out of the ordinary that it threw his normal abilities off kilter. “Is there something you require of me, Kevin?”

Kevin only shrugged. “I’ll be up late tonight working on some stuff. I just need a little pick me up.”

“A Doppio, maybe?”

“A what?” Kevin shot Edd a look that was borderline threatening.

“A Doppio,” Edd said, unfazed by any of Kevin’s scare tactics. He’d been using them on Edd for years and so far Edd was still alive and relatively stable. “Is a double shot of espresso. Just espresso.”

“Killer.”

“It is a bit much, yes, but if you need to stay awake…”

“Sounds awesome, I’ll take it,” Kevin grinned and then paused. “Are you working today at all?”

“I start my shift in three quarters of an hour,” Edd replied, briefly checking the clock on the wall. It was one minute and sixteen seconds off, but it was in his favor. He turned back to Kevin, eyebrows raised. “Have you been waiting for me?”

“No!” Kevin said, far too quickly. Edd didn’t want to read too far into this. Surely Kevin was just that obsessed with coffee. And he did say that he needed to work late that night. On what? Classwork, perchance? Midterms were closing in on them; it was a possibility. “Just… when you clock in, make me a dopey-o… Dope.” He smiled a little bit, amused at his own joke.

“Affirmative,” Edd replied and then bit his bottom lip out of habit. Kevin wasn’t moving from his position. Did he really have nowhere to go? “If you don’t mind, Kevin, I … I have a bit of studying to do before my shift begins.”

“Oh. Right, yeah, I won’t bother you. Have fun studying, dork,” Kevin chuckled a little and finally stood up from his strange position on the coffee shop seat. He didn’t move far. It appeared as though he had a few belongings waiting for him at another table. Just how long had he been sitting at the shop waiting for Edd to come in to work? It couldn’t have been long.

With Kevin giving him enough distance, Edd was able to concentrate properly and completely emerge himself into the wonderful world of Microphysics. After a while, a timer on his phone chimed, giving him a heads up that he needed to get ready for work. Carefully, Edd gathered up his notes and placed them back into his bookbag and calmly made his way to the door marked Employees Only.

On his way, he couldn’t help but glance sideways to see Kevin still sitting at his spot, poking away at his cell phone. Edd sighed. Such a time waster.

Once Edd was properly in his barista apron and had relieved his fellow co-worker, he began the tedious exercise of re-arranging the napkins and syrup bottles into their proper order. It was annoying at how often his co-workers mixed everything up. Did they really have so little respect for the ways of the barista? Surely they’ve realized by now that a tidy workspace makes for a more efficient employee.

Then again, it did explain why Edd was the single winner of the Employee of the Month award since he’d been hired.

As Edd stocked the napkins and straws, he heard the tell-tale chime of the bell from the counter by the register signifying that a customer was ready. Instead of ringing once, however, the customer felt the need to ring no less than a dozen times or so. Each chime caused Edd’s right eye to twitch.

To make matters worse, he should have known it was Kevin slamming his hand on the bell. Even as Edd made his way toward the front counter, Kevin continued to ring the bell.

“Wow, Double Dork, how’s your hearing?” Kevin grinned.

Edd placed a quick hand over the bell to get Kevin to stop pressing it and in return received an unanticipated hand shuffled from Kevin. He recoiled at the touch as if Edd were made up of germs (which he wasn’t, he’d made sure to disinfect himself thoroughly before the start of his shift and even wore gloves when any foodstuffs were being handled) and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

“Listen, man, I’m here for the Domino… thing.”

“The Doppio?” Edd asked, his mock enthusiasm showing. Edd was no stranger to sarcasm.

“Yeah, that.”

Edd rang in the order and quickly shoved a cup under the espresso machine and pressed the button for a double shot. With calculated movements, he placed a lid and a smaller cup for water to use as a chaser on the counter in front of him. The action took no less than a minute. Kevin barely had enough time to fold his wallet and stuff it back into his back pocket.

“That was fast,” he commented.

“Efficiency in the workplace is key,” Edd quoted directly from the workplace handbook, page thirty two paragraph three.

“Whatever,” Kevin popped the lid off his coffee cup and set it back on the counter, causing Edd’s eyes to follow it closely. “Down the hatch.” Kevin downed the entire doppio in one gulp.

Edd stared. It was all he could do. He couldn’t keep his eyes off the expression on Kevin’s face.

His mouth twisted into a look Edd knew all too well. He was trying hard to keep the bitter tasting liquid down. He pounded a few times on his chest and coughed a bit before quickly taking the courtesy cup of water Edd had placed out for him and downed it all just as quickly.

“What the hell was that!?” he gasped. Edd didn’t know whether or not he should point out that Kevin should watch his language or that Kevin should surely know what it was that he’d ordered. Instead he just stared with his mouth hanging open and his finger in the air, poised and ready to point out an obvious detail. “Ugh, nevermind. Don’t answer that,” Kevin said at last.

“You asked for caffeine,” Edd explained. “Not a delicacy. You were not supposed to drink it all at once.”

“Now you tell me,” Kevin groaned. “Make me my usual. I gotta get this taste out of my mouth. I can’t believe I paid for that.”

As Edd quickly started on Kevin’s most ordered drink, he took the time to steal a few glances at the sputtering jock before him.

Kevin was on the Basketball team for the University and he’d actually gotten a scholarship for it. Edd wasn’t an expert on sports, but he assumed that caffeine was not a drug a jock regularly put in their bodies. The sugar content in coffee shop drinks alone was enough to put a man off his game. Clearly Kevin wasn’t health conscious.

“So, Kevin,” Edd began while he decorated the top of Kevin’s iced drink with caramel. “Why do you need to stay up so late?”

“None of your business, twerp,” Kevin said automatically, but when Edd looked up at him from his work Kevin immediately retracted his comment. “Midterms, duh.”

“You are pulling an all-nighter?”

“I have a big project tomorrow,” Kevin shrugged. “ No biggie.”

“Kevin…” Edd trailed off. It wasn’t his place to reprimand the actions of his peers. If Kevin felt that procrastination was key then Edd shouldn’t judge him for it. It really was none of his business.

Except… Eddy’s words echoed loudly in Edd’s head. It’s a sure thing.

Without even thinking about it any further, Edd shut his eyes tightly, thrust the iced coffee toward Kevin and blurted out, “If you wanted, I could help you study!”

He winced in anticipation of a verbal attack that was sure to come, but when he peeked out of one eye, he hadn’t expected to see Kevin calmly taking his iced drink and having a sip.

“What’s in it for you?” he asked calmly. Edd opened the other eye in astonishment. The look on Kevin’s face… it was like he was hoping Edd would volunteer and Edd had saved him all the trouble. Being Eddy’s friend gave Edd a master’s degree in facial deception.

“N-nothing,” Edd stammered. “Just thought I’d volunteer my services.”

“Yeah,” Kevin nodded. “I bet. Listen, double dork, I have a class I’ve got to get to. When are you off?”

“Eight?”

Kevin pointed his drink at Edd and waved it around for emphasis. “Meet me at the quad after work. Don’t be late. I don’t have all night, you know.”

“O…okay?”

Edd watched Kevin turn tail and head for the exit. The space he’d been sitting at all afternoon was cleared off already and Edd had the feeling he’d just agreed to something he might regret.

“Thanks for the coffee, twerp,” Kevin called on his way out, his hand flipping into a slight wave. Edd watched him saunter down the walkway until he rounded a corner and disappeared from sight. It wasn’t until a customer rang the alert bell that he was finally pulled back to his senses.

They were just studying.

People studied all the time.

“It’s no big deal!” Edd found himself nearly shouting to the ceiling.

The poor young lady who stood at the counter gave him a cautious look. “I was just asking the difference between a tall and a grande.”

Edd turned a bright shade of red and forced himself to get back to work. Tonight was going to be a long night. Maybe he needed a bit of Doppio for himself.

Chapter Text

When Edd clocked out, his phone told him it was already a quarter past eight. A tiny nagging feeling hounded him from the back of his mind. He hated looking at his time-card and seeing irregular time punches. When it came to his checks, the dollars and cents came to such obscure amounts and it was nearly impossible to estimate his weekly wages. Oh, how he wished he could find a salary job and soon! Working by the hour sent up so many asymmetrical flags in his internal system that it almost wasn’t worth it.

Almost.

Edd slipped his jacket on the moment he stepped out into the cool early evening air. The days were slowly growing longer and the sun had just finished setting. The odd hour between daylight and nighttime was at hand. It made Edd a little nervous so he twisted the strap of his backpack around his shoulder to give his mind an extra piece of information to work around instead of wandering off into the bushes where some ruffian was sure to jump out at him.

Kevin hadn’t really specified exactly where Edd was to meet him in the quad, but Edd had assumed that the jock would at least be waiting for him. The quad was empty save for an older woman talking to someone on her cell phone at the far end of the lot. Edd made sure to choose a bench with the least amount of dead leaves and wet spots and took a seat to start waiting.

Maybe he was so late that Kevin had decided to leave without him? He nervously checked his cell phone and the bright 8:21 greeted him. It was a definite possibility. He hadn’t seen Kevin on his way here, either, so there wasn’t a chance that he’d have gone to find him at the Peach Tree.

As the seconds ticked by, Edd’s paranoia grew stronger. Maybe this was all an elaborate prank and Kevin would burst from the shrubbery at any moment. Or maybe Kevin wasn’t going to come at all and he was snickering somewhere at having duped Edd into doing something silly. Kevin really hadn’t changed. His tactics were becoming sneakier with age.

Edd tapped his foot against the concrete with more frustration than nervousness as his mood moved from apprehension to annoyance. He’d been so worked up for nothing! His entire shift had been compromised because he couldn’t get the thought that he would be having a friendly study session with Kevin out of his mind.

When his cell phone read 8:25, Edd took a deep breath and decided he was going to head home. He stuffed his phone into the pocket of his jacket and prepped himself to stand when the words, “Hey, Double Dweeb!” stopped him.

Kevin casually made his way across the darkened quad toward Edd’s bench by breaking into a light jog. By the time he reached Edd, he wasn’t even flushed or out of breath at all. Jealousy pricked at the edges of Edd’s consciousness. He knew he’d be winded after even a short jog like that.

“You’re tardy,” Edd announced, not bothering to hide his annoyance. “I was just about to vacate the premises.”

“Sorry, had to hang back and ask the Professor for something,” Kevin said quickly. Edd had the feeling he wasn’t getting the entire truth.

Rather than quiz Kevin on the notion further, Edd decided it would be best to drop it just in case Kevin’s bad side came back. He nodded and habitually held the strap of his backpack to his chest. “Will I require any additional study materials for the evening?”

Kevin gave Edd a strange look and shook his head as if Edd had said something dimwitted. “Are you serious? You volunteered for this. Don’t you have everything you need in that brain of yours?”

“You flatter me, Kevin, but tonight’s material was not made clear.”

Kevin rolled his eyes. “It’s just Bio, dude.”

Kevin said the phrase with such nonchalance that at first Edd didn’t even catch the lack of insult until he was already standing and adjusting his jacket. He paused mid-zip, with his hand in the middle of his chest, fingers still grasping the zipper tongue. Kevin must be really desperate for help if he’d stopped calling him names. “You know,” he said slowly, testing the waters. “Biology is really a simple subject--”

“I get it; you’re smart. Did you volunteer for this just so you can rub it in my face?’”

Kevin had a look on his face that Edd rarely ever saw. Had Edd hurt Kevin’s feelings? Was that even possible? Most of his memories involving Kevin revolved around sadistic laughter as he tormented Edd and his friends. It brought to mind articles Edd read on the internet describing various situations in which college brought out the true nature of an individual. Those who flourished in high school did not necessarily flourish in college and vice versa.

It felt weird to have the tables turned. A newly instilled sense of confidence and pride filled Edd form his core. Kevin actually needed him for something so badly that he forced compliance in order to get it. However out of the ordinary it was, it certainly beat having to avoid the jock on campus.

Confidence boosted, Edd pushed forward in the direction of the dorms. “You reside here in the campus dormitories, yes?”

“Duh,” Kevin said intelligently. He pointed a thumb over his shoulder in the opposite direction. “I’m going that way, though.”

Confused, Edd paused. “The dormitories are to the East of campus.”

“Yeah, and the parking lot isn’t.”

“We aren’t walking?”

Kevin let out a guffaw that felt more like he was mocking Edd than being genuinely amused. “I ride my bike to my night classes. I don’t deal with walking across campus at night.”

Edd looked to the walkway that wound it’s way through campus and led to the dormitories. Trees lined the edge of the path and may have been nicely spaced at one point, but the unkind passage of time caused the foliage to take over the path. It looked very ominous, indeed. Whenever Edd walked home in the twilight, he made sure to carry a flashlight and a whistle with him, just in case.

“Good point,” Edd murmured.

Kevin looked in the direction Edd had been staring and raised his eyebrows. “Oh, what, you think I’m scared to walk the campus at night?” he snorted. “I’m just tired at the end of the day. I can’t be bothered. Come on, dweeb. I’ll give you a lift.”

The two of them made their way across the pavement in relative silence. Kevin had his hands stuffed precariously in his pockets while Edd over-analyzed every action. He couldn’t help himself. On a night like today, he would already be in his dorm room, probably checking the school website for any class updates and spending the rest of the evening refining blueprints for a few ideas he’d had swimming around in his mind.

He didn’t even know where Kevin’s dorm room was located. Did they even live in the same building? Edd so often walked with his nose in lecture notes or a textbook that he didn’t pay much mind to the other students around, much less Kevin.

The parking lot itself looked relatively deserted, with only a few cars dotting the spaces. Kevin didn’t even falter as he sauntered over to the front of the lot, where his red motorcycle sat, waiting for him.

Seeing the bike caused a flare of anxiety to press itself like a wave across Edd’s gut. He’d never ridden anything more than a normal bicycle, and at one point, a segway, and he’d had a helmet. He subconsciously reached up and tugged on his sock hat. “I do not have protective headgear,” he said. “I cannot possibly ride such a thing!”

“Relax, dork,” Kevin grinned and produced a set of keys from his pocket. He jingled them in front of Edd’s face for a second before unlocking his helmet from the back of the bike. “You can just wear mine.”

“You need to wear a helmet, too!” Edd squeaked. Kevin ignored him and tossed him his helmet, which Edd caught with little difficulty. He hugged the offending headgear to his chest and gave Kevin a shocked look. “It’s illegal to drive a bike without a helmet.”

“Oh come off it, scaredy cat,” Kevin rolled his eyes. “We’re going like twelve feet.”

“Well, actually...”

“You know what I mean!” Kevin interrupted. He snatched the helmet from Edd’s grasp and angrily shoved it onto Edd’s head, directly over his hat. “You can wear the helmet or walk. Your choice.”

Edd scowled back at Kevin, but he adjusted the helmet strap around his chin. Kevin straddled the bike and gave a pat to the small patch of leather behind him on the seat. “It’s not normally a two seater, but you’re a twig, so...” he trailed off and then shrugged as if finishing his sentence wasn’t worth the breath.

Carefully, Edd tiptoed to the edge of the bike and tried to swing his leg over the seat without touching Kevin but it proved impossible. He had to grab both Kevin’s shoulders to properly hoist himself into the seat and even then there was no way he could sit and not touch Kevin’s back.

In the end, he had to settle for leaning backward a bit, his hands holding onto the seat. Kevin chanced a glance behind him after he’d finished revving the engine and shouted out, “You might want to hold onto me.”

“I’m fine.”

“And I’m serious.”

To prove his point, Kevin adjusted the handle for the gas and the bike lurched forward. Edd’s equilibrium jolted away and in order to keep his balance, he ended up throwing his arms around Kevin’s waist for support. Kevin laughed in front of him, throaty and mocking.

The second time Kevin gave the bike a bit of gas, Edd was prepared and didn’t flail in one direction or another, but he did hold tighter to Kevin’s waist out of instinct.

What surprised him the most about the position was that Kevin wasn’t all that uncomfortable to sit behind. He’d hit a growth spurt at some point in high school and caught up to Edd’s height. Because Edd was so used to seeing Kevin as the short jock in the cul-de-sac, it came as a surprise to him that there wasn’t much of a difference in their stature anymore.

They fit together. Edd could feel Kevin’s muscles from under his jacket. He’d really toned out over the years, but his baggy clothing did little to accentuate that fact. Edd had a sudden urge to move his hands just to see how much muscle mass Kevin had a acquired, purely for scientific research, but a shyness held him back. It was not the social norm to touch another’s body in that way without permission. That much he knew.

At first Edd tried to keep his head back, but the force of the motorcycle made it difficult to keep himself still enough for it to work. In the end, it was easier to duck his head behind Kevin’s and turn sideways so that he could rest the side of his helmet on Kevin’s shoulder.

Once he’d acquired the proper position, the ride itself became almost enjoyable. He even shifted his arms a little for the sake of comfort.

Kevin tensed under his grip and their speed increased by at least another mile per hour. Edd could tell by the measured wind speed and the rate at which scenery passed before him. It was easier to think about things like that, rather than how they must have looked to anyone who saw them.

The ride really wasn’t long at all--Kevin had been correct. He didn’t live in the same set of dormitories as Edd did, though. While Edd took up residence in the dorms adjacent to the Honors College, Kevin lived in the newly built Oak Hall. As the student population increased, the demand for more dormitories increased as well. Oak Hall looked magnificent on paper, but when Edd had taken a tour of the building during Freshmen Orientation he found it to be droll and uninspired. He much preferred the lived-in feel of the older dorms above the Honors College. That, and the Honors College dorm rooms were all singles. Due to the slightly larger rooms, Oak Hall residents were required to have roommates.

Kevin brought his motorbike to a stop just outside Oak Hall and popped his knuckles a bit. Edd winced with each pop but took his cue to remove himself from the bike seat. His toes were still vibrating from the engine, and vertigo overtook him for a second. His arm shot forward to grasp the back of the bike to keep his balance while Kevin quickly dismounted.

“I take it that was your first time,” Kevin said. Edd could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

“It was a bit disorienting, but not unenjoyable,” Edd breathed. When the world moved back into the proper angle, he removed Kevin’s helmet and handed it over to the redhead. “Your helmet.”

“You get used to it,” Kevin said. No less than a second later, his eyes widened and he quickly took his property and locked the helmet with his bike. He took an extra few seconds to make sure every lock was secure which Edd found delightful. He’d have to make a note that he wasn’t the only person to double check locks.

Kevin’s brisk actions sparked a note of curiosity in Edd as they made their way to the front doors. “You are implying there will be more rides?”

“I have to drive you back to your dorm, don’t I?”

“The distance can easily be traversed by walking.”

“Not in the middle of the night, dork.”

Well, now Kevin was just adding the name out of habit, surely. Edd shifted his backpack straps on his shoulders. “That requires you to head back to your room alone.”

“My roomie will come with us. No big deal. Strength in numbers and all that crap, right?” Kevin shoved his way through the double doors and passed the front desk with a small wave to the RA.

“Yes, of course,” Edd agreed. Even with Oak Hall populated by students, it still gave off an office feel. “Will your roommate be joining us this evening?”

“Nah,” Kevin shrugged. They were standing in front of the elevators, now. Instead of pressing the button for the upper floors, Kevin leaned against it, causing it to light up with the weight of his shoulder. “He’ll be back late. He’s cool.”

So they would be alone, at least for a few hours. Edd had no idea how long he was going to stay. Surely not until midnight? His goal had been to get Kevin to an arguably stable position in his Biology class without either of them losing any sleep. At least the feat would be attainable without a roommate to distract them.

Oddly enough, Edd wasn’t so nervous anymore. Kevin’s calm demeanor and utter nonchalance had wiped any inkling of anxiety off the books. Kevin turned out to be easy to talk to, which Edd counted as an excellent discovery.

Hope filled his chest. Maybe they could be friends after this. Edd had spent the better part of his freshman year at college completely friendless. He’d made a few acquaintances and study partners, but no one even came close to filling the void that Ed and Eddy left, which was why Edd spent so much time driving back and forth. Kevin wouldn’t replace his best friends, but he would certainly help with the sting.

With that thought in mind, Edd happily followed Kevin into the elevator. His newly established goal to befriend Kevin without an ulterior motive gave him the courage to start more small talk--even if that small talk consisted of what material they would be going over that night.

It wasn’t until they were safely inside Kevin’s dorm room that his entire demeanor changed. He tossed his backpack to the bed, sat down at his desk and propped up his feet.

“Here’s the deal, Double Dork. These midterms coming up? Yeah, the only way I’ll pass is if a miracle happens. No all-night studying is going to help,” Kevin droned as he leaned back in his desk chair so far, it began to teeter on the back legs.

Edd had been just about to take off his backpack and make himself comfortable, but Kevin’s words caused him to stop in the middle of the room and stare at the jock in disbelief. “Then why would you lead me to believe I could help you?” His hopes for friendship were slowly wilting.

Kevin’s grin was shark-like as he pointed a smug finger at Edd. “Because you are going to help me cheat.”

“I--what?!”

“Hey, you volunteered.”

Edd felt his face go red with anger. “To help you study, not help you become a hooligan!”

Kevin let out a soft chuckle. “Hooligan? Really?” He kicked his feet off his desk, causing his chair to slam back down on all four legs and leaned forward so that his elbows came to rest on his knees. “I think you’re going to help me,” he purred.

Edd didn’t like the tone of Kevin’s voice. It felt predatory. For a moment, he almost preferred to walk home in the dark by himself than to stay in that room any longer. “Why is that?” he asked cautiously.

“Because I have something you want.”

All the blood drained from Edd’s face. Kevin couldn’t know about Eddy’s plan. There was no way he could know. A network of connections fired off in Edd’s brain in the span of a millisecond. Ed could have said something to Sarah and Sarah could have mouthed off to Nazz. Nazz and Kevin had been inseparable in high school so surely they still talked? Could it have gotten to Kevin so quickly? Word did travel fast in the cul-de-sac. It seemed as though even moving away couldn’t stop it.

Despite the evidence, Edd came to the conclusion that feigning ignorance was key. He hated outright lies. He could already feel the perspiration forming on his forehead. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Instead of pulling out a blackmail card, Kevin’s face changed into something softer. Edd had no idea how to interpret it until the redhead let out a soft sigh and sat back in his chair. “You’re wasting your time working at that stupid coffee shop,” he said quietly. Edd hadn’t realized he’d been clenching his hands into fists until he felt himself relaxing. Just what was Kevin pulling? “You’re a genius, but you’re also really stupid. I can get you a letter of recommendation from my dad to start work-study in the science department, okay?”

Now Edd was even more confused than before. One minute Kevin is making fun of him, then he’s friendly, and then he’s blackmailing him... but he was being nice about it? Edd needed a nap.

Instead of agreeing, Edd considered the possibilities and hit a few snags. Something didn’t add up. “Aren’t you on the losing end of this deal? I thought you enjoyed my coffee.”

“Only because yours tastes slightly less like crap,” Kevin muttered. “Look, are you helping me or not?”

The urge to steeple his fingers together slowly grew in intensity. “I won’t help you be dishonest, Kevin.”

“Oh, but you’ll help Dork and Dorky cheat?”

“This is an accredited institution with my career hanging in the balance. The stakes are too high. Eddy never went this far...” Edd’s fingers gave in to their urge and clasped themselves together in a nervous fit. Yeah, he may have given out some answers to homework over the years, but it paled in comparison to outright cheating on a college midterm. “Besides, I have complete faith in you. I promise, I’ll help you study. You’ll see, Kevin, It really isn’t as bad as you think.”

Kevin glared at him for what felt like ages. Edd even had to shift a little from his stance before his knees started to lock. He could practically see the wheels in Kevin’s head turning as his face crumpled in concentration. After a while, he rubbed a hand over his face, drawing out his features as he did so. “Okay, fine. We are allowed to have one note card. How much information can you fit on that?”

Edd’s face cracked into a smile. “That’s the spirit! Have you a magnifying glass?” The look on Kevin’s face was all Edd needed before he quickly answered his own question. “I’ll let you borrow one of mine.”

This certainly changed things. If only Kevin had mentioned the note card, before! Edd had taken classes in high school where the teacher allowed them to have a mini cheat sheet. Edd never used his, but he’d made some for Ed and Eddy. So long as Kevin had tape, scissors and a decent printer, Edd could fit multitudes of information.

The problem still stood, however, of ulterior motives. Before, Edd would have been happy to help Kevin study if it meant he would gain some semblance of a friendship, but with Kevin returning the favor so quickly, there would be nothing to keep them together. All of this would be nothing more than a business arrangement.

Edd had no idea his hopes had gotten so high until they crashed violently to the ground with the realization.

Even as he poured over Kevin’s textbook and helped him identify key concepts, Edd knew, in the back of his mind, that all of this was temporary. He had no idea if he was supposed to cherish the moment or not.

And it hurt.

Chapter Text

Helping Kevin make a note card for his Biology midterm, under normal circumstances, wouldn’t have been so bad. After all, Edd created several note cards over the years. It also helped that the Biology course Kevin took happened to be the same AP Advanced Biology course Edd took his Junior year for college credit. In all actuality, Edd could have given Kevin his old notes to study but they were still back in his room at home and Kevin didn’t want to study. He wanted the easy way out.

That fact didn’t come as a surprise to Edd at all. He was used to his friends relying on him for an easy fix. It wasn’t that he felt used, because nine times out of ten he received something in return.

It’s just that it was different, now. Edd didn’t have his two best friends to back him up day in and day out. Sure, the amount of bullying that happened at College was greatly exaggerated by the movies so Edd had no need to worry on that front. Facing classes and work just so happened to be a bit more enjoyable if someone shared the experiences with him, that was all.

And Kevin, he’d never had any problems making friends. People flocked to him. Even as Edd hunched over the computer, typing out key notes, he could hear the vibration of Kevin’s phone as he received text after text. In fact, Kevin spent so much time texting, Edd might as well have not been in the room.

If that was how this arrangement was going to go, then Edd would just have to deal with it, right? He’d help Kevin get a good grade on his Midterm through completely legitimate means and Kevin would, in return, put in a good word for Edd with the University Board and get him out of the coffee shop. It was a win-win situation. No one was going to get hurt.

Unless… Kevin didn’t do so well on the test and took it out on Edd. Oh, why had he agreed to this? If things proceeded smoothly, Edd’s present and future would improve, but if they went sour… he shuddered to think.

Well, Edd grumbled to himself, at least he wouldn’t be risking a friendship over a failed study session, considering Kevin didn’t even want to be friends in the first place. It seemed he had no shortage of them. Edd chanced a look behind him where Kevin sat on the bed, one leg dangling off the edge, his head bent over his phone, texting.

Kevin coughed out a short, throaty laugh and jabbed away at his phone with the speed and precision of a surgeon. When he’d finished sending the text, he jabbed his phone into his pocket and glanced upward. Edd hadn’t anticipated Kevin catching his eye and quickly turned back to the keyboard.

“How’s it coming?”

Edd could feel Kevin’s eyes on his back. He hated people watching him type like this. It made him feel self conscious. “I’m just gathering as much vital information as possible, and then I will condense it into a cleaner format and lower the font size,” Edd scrambled out, letting his fingers pause over the keys. When Kevin didn’t say anything, Edd shut his eyes tight, took a deep breath and whirled around. “Kevin,” he began, “I—“

Kevin’s phone buzzed, interrupting him. The jock didn’t even blink an eye as he began to pull the offending device from his pocket. Edd paused mid-question with one thought, Rude. Once more, Kevin texted with lightning speed and looked back up at Edd when he finished. “Sorry, what’d you say?”

Edd took another deep breath, but this time it was to calm his anger rather than his nerves, “I was just going to say,” he said slowly, deliberately. “That you should be looking over the source material as I type this up. Who knows, you might not even need the note card in the end.”

Kevin’s eyes darted from his textbook, to the computer and finally back on Edd and he scrunched up his face, “Can’t you just type it up and I’ll read it later?”

“Kevin…”

“This stuff is so boring! I’ll fall asleep!”

“It’s not boring, it’s fascinating!” Edd chirped. He sat on the edge of the desk chair and began talking in a rushed tone, using his hands for emphasis. “You get the chance to study life at a pure cellular level! Just think about it, you’re made up of hundreds of millions of cells and each individual cell has its own sub-life! Each portion of the cell works hard to function at peak capacity all because of a protein molecule sequence in your DNA! We’re made up of letters, Kevin. Tiny letters in different combinations that when working together drive you to wake up each morning, they heal you when you’re wounded, produce waste and energy and all right under your nose. You can’t even see them and for centuries we as a species had no idea they existed! You’re studying yourself, Kevin. This is how you work. This is how every piece of you fits together. How is that not amazing?”

By the time Edd had finished speaking, he was breathing hard from trying to get out as many words as possible in one breath. He had a bad habit of forgetting to breathe mid-rant, and it appeared as though that hadn’t gotten any better with age. Kevin stared at him, his jaw open. A vibrating noise from his phone cut through the silence, but Kevin made no move to answer it.

“You really like this stuff, don’t you?” he said at last.

Edd nodded and swallowed hard, trying to get his mouth to stop feeling so dry. He really needed a drink and regretted not bringing anything from work with him. “I admit I feel a little uneasy that you can dismiss such an interesting subject so quickly.”

Kevin scratched his head. “I just don’t see it the way you do. I have no idea why I need any of this once I get out of school.”

“You would be surprised at how often you utilize gathered knowledge throughout your life,” Edd said softly. “You never know when it will become useful.”

“Yeah, but that cell division crap, why is that useful?”

“We need it to grow,” Edd explained. “As we age, our bodies change and replenish themselves so often that every six months we are literally a different person. You are not the same Kevin you were when you first started college. At least on a cellular level.”

“Damn,” Kevin breathed. His phone buzzed again and he ignored it for a second time. “When you explain it like that it sounds so much more interesting than memorizing definitions from a book.”

Edd smiled, an actual, genuine smile. He was getting somewhere! “So you’ll study properly, then?”

“I guess,” Kevin shrugged. “Think you’ll have me ready by next Monday?”

“I believe I can teach you within the required timeframe.”

“Cool. But I still get to have a note card. Just in case.”

Edd nodded with a little more enthusiasm than was socially acceptable. “Of course!”

“Good,” said Kevin. His phone buzzed again and he rolled his eyes before swiping his thumb across the screen. “Hold on, let me get this.”

Edd stole a glance at the clock at the bottom of Kevin’s monitor. It read 10:30. He’d been helping Kevin for about two hours by that time. “Who would be texting you at this late hour?”

“Nazz, mostly,” Kevin grunted as he typed. “She’s watching Inception with her roommate and texting me her reactions.”

It was so strange to hear about what Kevin did outside of throttling Eddy. The two of them were so often butting heads that Edd almost acquired the misconception that Kevin didn’t do much else with his time. It was stupid to think that Kevin didn’t do normal things like text about movies with his friends.

“She will miss key plot elements if she’s texting that often,” Edd commented.

“It’s not just her. Nat’s texting, too. He’s on his way here.”

“Nat?”

“Nathan? My roommate?”

“You never gave me his name,” Edd reminded him.

“Oops,” Kevin said half-heartedly as he jabbed away at his phone. Edd resisted the urge to clear his throat just to get the Basketball player to talk to him. Honestly, Edd was doing him a favor. Shouldn’t he be receiving a little more respect? Edd was just about to comment on the matter when Kevin finished his text and tossed his phone behind him so that it bounced on his un-made bed. “Okay, Nat’s bringing back some food from the burger joint up the road. I told him just to bring by a bunch of normal cheeseburgers and fries. You cool with that?”

“That’s hardly a healthy meal. In order for one’s brain to function at peak capacity, one must—“

“—Or I could just eat yours,” Kevin cut him off.

In response to that, Edd’s stomach rumbled, the gurgling noise loud in his ears. Embarrassed he wrapped his arms around his abdomen and turned away from Kevin in a hurry. “Well, maybe it won’t hurt this one time…”

Kevin actually laughed and kicked playfully at the desk chair, “That’s what I thought. Now teach me more about this cell stuff and make it interesting or I’m giving up and just using the note card.”

Edd’s eyes lit up. Kevin really was serious about studying properly! Edd wasn’t going to waste any time in making sure Kevin would stay interesting. He was used to describing material in layman’s terms. After all, he’d done it numerous times for Ed and Eddy.

In the end, Edd saved the note card document onto Kevin’s desktop and turned his attention to Kevin’s notes and Biology textbook. This particular textbook had an affinity for brightly colored but distracting diagrams, but they were useful in re-iterating all of his key points. He even took the time to draw out the various parts of a cell and describe them one by one as he drew them.

For Edd, the time went by quickly. It seemed as though he’d only been tutoring Kevin for ten minutes when a sudden loud pounding on the door broke him out of his concentration.

“Ugh, finally,” Kevin groaned and rubbed his eyes. He launched himself off his bed and trudged the few steps to the door to open it. “Took you long enough.”

Edd watched as Kevin stepped aside to let in his roommate: a tall, green-haired teen with several piercings. In both his hands, he held grocery and fast food bags and another bag in between his teeth. With his hands clearly full, he couldn’t let himself in the room and had resorted to kicking at the door with his foot.

Nat, Edd remembered the name from earlier, gave a quick nod to Edd as he walked by, “Ee o ish o ee oo.”

“Pardon?”

Nat quickly dumped the bags he was carrying onto his side of the room and removed the last bag from between his teeth. Edd hoped his particular burger wasn’t in that bag. “I said, dude, it’s good to finally meet you?”

“Oh!” Edd flushed, “Yes, nice to meet you, too.” Finally?

Kevin must have caught on to that word as well because he shut the door to his dorm room and gave his roommate a little shove, “Cut the pleasantries. This ain’t a tea party.”

“Shut up,” Nat teased his roommate and began emptying the contents of his bags. He directed his attention back to Edd and spoke to him from over his shoulder. “Kevin talks about you all the time. Why Double D? Are those initials?”

All the time? Edd instinctively turned to Kevin as if looking at him would answer his unasked question. Kevin refused to look anywhere near Edd’s direction and instead busied himself with simultaneously getting a cheeseburger and stepping on Nat’s foot. “Shut up, man. You said you’d be cool,” Kevin hissed under his breath.

Edd was certain he wasn’t supposed to hear that comment, so he pretended to ignore it in favor of answering Nat’s initial question. “My name is Eddward, but rather than the traditional spelling, I use two D’s. I picked up the nickname as a child to differentiate between myself and my two best friends, both of which share my first name.”

“Cool,” Nat mused. He exchanged a look with Kevin that mostly consisted of him wagging his eyebrows. Kevin responded in turn with a glare that could curdle cheese. Nat seemed unaffected and casually dug into a bag to produce a cheeseburger and tossed it in Edd’s direction. “Too bad my nickname isn’t that cool. Everyone just calls me Nat, or ‘Jerk’, or ‘Hey you’, or ‘that-one-kid-with-the-green-hair.’”

Edd found himself giggling before he could stop himself. Nat had an energy to him that made Edd feel comfortable. He couldn’t understand why Kevin looked like he wanted nothing more than to rip off his roommate’s head. Hadn’t Kevin told him Nat was ‘cool’? That, and Nat tossed cheeseburgers with a perfect underhand arc that made it nearly impossible to drop, so Edd wasn’t all surprised when he’d easily caught the sandwich. “I’ll just call you Nat, if that’s all right with you.”

Nat winked at him. “You can call me whatever you like, Double Dynamite.”

“Nat!” Kevin warned again.

Nat just rolled his eyes and threw a French fry at Kevin’s face, but he didn’t look like he was trying to start a fight. Maybe this was how the two of them always acted. Edd found it amusing to watch. “By the way,” Nat continued, nodding toward Edd. “You owe me five bucks for the food.”

“Right!” Edd agreed. He had a feeling he would have to pay the second Kevin mentioned food. He made a movement to stand up and reach for his backpack when Kevin stood lurched forward, one arm extended to stop Edd by the wrist.

“It’s cool, I got it,” he said. “As thanks for helping me out.”

Edd’s eyes flicked to Kevin’s hand on his wrist. Kevin must have noticed the movement because he quickly pulled his hand back as if burned. Edd’s own wrist felt a little residual heat from Kevin’s hand—mostly because it had been a little sweaty. Was Kevin nervous? He showed no signs of anxiety the entire night, so why now?

Kevin dug into his back pocket to pull out a small leather billfold and he promptly paid his roommate back for his and Edd’s share of burgers and fries. Nat made a big deal out of checking the bills for counterfeit marks which sent Edd into another fit of giggles.

“So,” Nat said, having finally calmed down enough to lounge in his own desk chair. Edd still sat on Kevin’s chair and Kevin sat cross-legged on his bed, his shoes having been discarded somewhere on the floor. “Studying, huh? Kevin learn anything?”

“Hey, I’m lazy when it comes to schoolwork, not dumb!” Kevin interjected.

Edd smiled softly, thinking of how he’d managed to take Kevin from the cheating route and place him on the path of honesty. “He’s doing rather well, actually. There has been some improvement tonight, although I admit I do not have a basis for comparison.”

Nat grinned at him through his cheeseburger. Bits of bread poked out of the side of his mouth. “Oh my God, Kevin, does he always talk like this?”

“Yeah,” Kevin shrugged. He stared hard at his cheeseburger, still avoiding looking anywhere near Edd’s general vicinity. “You get used to it.”

Edd frowned. “What fault do you find with my speech?”

“No fault,” Nat said defensively. “It’s absolutely adorable.”

Edd paused, French fry halfway to his mouth. No one had ever called him adorable before. He’d been described with a surprisingly large number of adjectives but he never would have paired that particular word with his personality. ‘Adorable’ was a word reserved for children and newborn animals—not him. He couldn’t even stop the flush rising to his cheeks if he tried.

“Aw!” Nat squeaked—actually squeaked. “Look, I broke him!”

In truth, Nat was probably correct. Edd had no idea how to proceed. His hands refused to move and if it weren’t for the fact that he was very aware of his surroundings, he could have sword his heart had stopped beating, or at least forgotten to beat properly for a moment.

“Stop teasing him,” Kevin grumbled.

Hearing Kevin’s voice brought Edd back to the real world, although he wasn’t sure if he’d come back to the same universe. This, apparently, was a universe where Kevin defended him in front of others and paid for his dinner. “It’s quite alright, Kevin,” he said at length. “I was merely taken aback by the unusual compliment. Thank you, Nat.”

“Oh God,” Kevin smashed a hand to his own face and let it drag his features down slowly. At that moment, Nat burst out into laughter again, except this time he was laughing so hard tears pricked the corners of his eyes. Edd, unsure of what to do, chuckled awkwardly with him. “You’re not supposed to thank someone for calling you adorable, Double D,” Kevin groaned on, “You’re a man, aren’t you? You’re allowed to sock him in the face.”

Edd raised a confused eyebrow at the jock, “I am unaware of this social norm. I’m supposed to hit him for being polite?” Etiquette books clearly cut out that chapter.

“Just let him take the compliment, already,” Nat gasped through his laughter. “You don’t think he deserves it?”

It was Kevin’s turn to freeze, which, ironically, gave Edd a boost of confidence. He deliberately turned toward Kevin with the desk chair and said slowly, “You don’t think I’m adorable?”

For all the years Kevin had been his tormentor purely by association, Edd had never seen the guy look so mortified—and he’d seen firsthand Kevin’s fear of needles. Edd wondered briefly if he’d taken the teasing too far when the redhead stood up so quickly, a few of his fries scattered to the floor. “I think it’s time I took you back to your room, dork.”

“Way to change the subject,” Nat muttered under his breath.

“Shut it,” Kevin snapped at his roommate. He was obviously distressed about something—probably the fact that Nat was trying to be so friendly with Edd. Kevin had already shown his true colors earlier when he’d made it clear he only wanted to use Edd’s brain for his own personal gain. Any positive reinforcement or kind behavior could be easily attributed to his desire to achieve his goal. For all Edd knew, Kevin still saw him as a loser form his neighborhood back home and didn’t want his friends to fraternize with Edd’s level of the social hierarchy. “Come on, Double D. I’ll take you back to your dorm.”

Despite the fact that Edd really would have preferred to stay, the midnight hour was close at hand and the later it got, the harder it was to convince the Residential Assistant guarding the door that they weren’t trying to get into mischief. With this thought in mind, Edd began to gather his food wrappers to throw them away before shouldering his school bag once again.

“Shouldn’t Nat come with us?” he said, suddenly.

Kevin turned toward him. “What?”

The logic problem with the fox, the chicken and the feed came to mind as Edd pointed a lecturing finger into the air. “You told me yourself it wasn’t safe to traverse the campus alone at night, and therefore volunteered your services in escorting me home. However, this leaves you to make the journey back here unaccompanied, thus granting you the title of hypocrite. Safety in numbers!”

Nat stuffed another fry in his mouth and chewed loudly. “Dude has a point,” he slurred.

Kevin deflated a little. When he went to put his shoes back on, he did so with sharp, angry movements. Edd still couldn’t understand why Kevin seemed so angry. Surely he should be happy he wouldn’t have to study all night like he’d planned? “Come on, then. Finish your food and we’ll go.”

Soon the three boys found themselves traipsing across the campus grass toward Edd’s dorms over the Honors College. They’d made it past the Residential Security easily enough when Edd presented his Student ID and room key and both Kevin and Nat had to sign out, indicating they’d left the building. The process felt a bit tedious, but Edd understood the campus’ need for such measures. One could never be too careful.

As they walked, Kevin took up the middle position, his hands stuffed deep into his pockets and his shoulders hunched. Edd and Nat strolled along on either side of him, and Nat kept talking around Kevin’s head as if he weren’t a barrier at all.

“So does this mean you’ll be coming over a lot more, now?” Nat asked, “Like… will I see you tomorrow?”

Edd shrugged, the movement causing him to re-adjust the straps of his backpack. “I don’t know. I guess so? It’s up to Kevin.”

“He’s helping me study, Nat,” Kevin reminded his roommate. “He’s not coming over to hang out.”

“We never have friends over!” Nat whined, pawing at the sleeve of Kevin’s jacket a little bit. Nat was so animated walking next to the stoic Kevin. It was like watching night and day converse simultaneously.

“If he is, we’re kicking you out,” Kevin answered.

“Oh, I don’t mind,” Edd spoke up, “I’ve worked under more distracting circumstances, before.”

Kevin shot Edd a glance from the corner of his eye. Edd found it particularly unsettling that Kevin could even look at him in such a way without even turning his head. “Trust me. If he stays, we will get nothing done. Why do you think I’m failing Biology in the first place?”

“Ouch,” Nat pressed a hand to his chest. “You wound me.”

Edd’s eyes widened. This was new information. Kevin never told him he was failing Biology—just that he needed help with the Midterm. “You’re failing?” he asked, his voice high with the shock. “But in order for you to stay on the Basketball team, you need a C average! Even one failing grade will lower your GPA catastrophically!”

“Don’t you think I know that?” Kevin spat.

“You’ll lose your scholarship if you fail,” Edd added softly.

“I know, and if that happens, it’s back home for me and a future working at the Jawbreaker factory with my dad. Anything else you want to point out?” Kevin snapped. They’d reached the entrance to the Honors College, now. Once Edd was inside, he wouldn’t need the escort services of Kevin and Nat anymore. Kevin shifted uncomfortable on the pavement. It was hard to tell if he was flushed with anger or not under the harsh glare of the streetlight.

“No,” Edd piped out, feeling rather humbled. He hadn’t meant to embarrass Kevin in front of his friend. He’d only just realized the gravity of the situation. Kevin’s entire college career rested on his ability to bring his Biology grade up to avoid Academic Probation. The situation did help him steel his resolve, though. Even though the deal had been mutually beneficial from the start, Edd had a personal reason to assist Kevin and it was nothing more than the fact that he just wanted to.

He wanted Kevin to be happy. He wanted Kevin to have a positive future and a good relationship with his father. Most of all, he wanted Kevin to stay at college—even if it meant only seeing him in the coffee shop every so often.

“You two going to kiss and make up or just look sad at each other all night?” Nat crooned from his position a few steps away. Edd let out a tiny squeak and Kevin’s eye shot daggers at his roommate. Nat continued unabashedly. “Nothing’s gonna happen to you, Kev. Double D’s gonna leak his brains all over you and you’re going to ace your midterm and everything will go back to normal, okay? Stop moping and let’s go home.” He waved a bit to Edd just as he started backing up toward Oak Hall. “It was good meeting you, Double D! I’ll see you tomorrow!”

Edd, still recovering from Nat’s lack of brain-to-mouth filter, only managed a slight wave in return before forcing himself to focus on Kevin. “You are going to pass your midterm,” he said seriously. “You have my word.”

“Yeah,” Kevin said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. “Thanks for doing this for me.”

“It’s my pleasure, Kevin,” Edd said, breaking out into a big grin.

A strange sound gurgled in Kevin’s throat and he stared hard at Edd, his face turning a bright red. Edd’s smile wavered a little, mostly out of confusion for Kevin’s strange reaction. All he did was smile. Was that so terrible?

“Whatever, dork,” Kevin spat out quickly. He looked like he’d rather be anywhere else in the universe than talking to Edd. “See ya tomorrow.”

With that neutral goodbye, Kevin quickly turned tail and dashed to catch up with Nat who wrapped an arm around Kevin’s shoulders and shook him a little bit. Edd couldn’t hear what they were saying, but he knew Nat was laughing and Kevin wasn’t enjoying it.

As Edd made his way inside and started the walk up the stairs to his dorm room, he couldn’t help smiling to himself, allowing a giddy feeling to overtake him and cause him to take the stairs two at a time. Kevin and Nat were no replacement for Ed and Eddy but tonight was the first night Edd had ever had fun hanging out with anyone at college. It was nice to know that Edd had a place waiting for him back home, but he’d also begun building a place for himself elsewhere.

All he had to do was find a way to make the arrangement last well beyond Kevin’s Biology midterm.

Chapter Text

Edd knew that when he woke up the next morning, he was going to hate himself. He had surpassed his usual bedtime by nearly three hours but he couldn’t help it. It had been a little past midnight by the time he’d gotten back to his room and even then it wasn’t like he could go directly to sleep. He still had some of his own homework to finish. The worst part was that he couldn’t stop his brain from running the events of that day over and over in a loop.

If his brain would just shut up, he could sleep, but it didn’t stop. Even when he did managed to finally fall sleep, Biology textbooks and red hats and cheeseburgers bombarded his dreams. When six in the morning rolled around, Edd wondered if he really even slept at all.

Slowly, he began his morning ritual. It was Tuesday, so he had work in the morning and classes in the afternoon. He liked having a set schedule: afternoon shifts Mondays and Wednesdays and early morning shifts Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Most of the campus closed for the weekend, so it wasn’t plausible for the Peach Tree to be opened during those times considering it really only served students and campus traffic. The scheduling worked perfectly for Edd’s classes and he usually took the time on the weekends to either work on schoolwork or head back home and visit Ed and Eddy.

Edd felt as though he were in a daze. He brushed his teeth with about as much enthusiasm as a dead plant. His mind wasn’t in the right place and it certainly wasn’t just from the lack of a good night’s sleep.

His internal and emotional schedules had been thrown out of whack by the previous night’s events. Had it been a normal week, Edd wouldn’t even falter from his routine, but suddenly he found it crucial that his hat was placed just so. Even the bags under his eyes were suddenly a little too visible. Sure, Edd cared about his appearance, but only enough to keep himself well-groomed and clean at per socially acceptable standards and for sanitation purposes but now he was more self-conscious about it than ever.

It made no sense because today was going to be absolutely normal, right?

Even as Edd made his way to his morning shift at the Peach Tree, he knew he was kidding himself. He’d promised Nat and Kevin that he would visit them again, but it had been so late and no one had confirmed a time or place for any such plans. It grated on him all morning that he had no idea what to expect during the day. Even just a tiny blip in his agenda threw him off for a few hours. This was a large blip.

To make matters worse, he didn’t even have phone numbers for Kevin or Nat. The only number he had for Kevin was his home phone which did him no good at all. In retrospect, he should have asked for them. That would make things easier, right? He could just text Kevin about the meetup. The very thought of texting Kevin sent a wave of flutters to Edd’s stomach. Would they end up texting all day like he did with his other friends? Or would Kevin ignore his texts and Edd would have to deal with feeling stupid for bombarding his inbox?

Why should any of his worries even matter? It wasn’t like this was supposed to be a big deal. This was just a study arrangement. He’d tutored plenty of people, and Kevin had proven to be an excellent pupil when he really put his mind to it. There should have been no reason why Edd was overthinking things.

Kevin didn’t even come into the shop that morning, either. He usually came in during all of Edd’s morning shifts. His absence did little to squash Edd’s fears. The effect was opposite and immediate and transformed Edd’s relatively pleasant albeit distracted mood into a downward spiral of anxiety.

What if something bad happened? What if Kevin decided Edd wasn’t worth the study trouble and arranged for another way to cheat? What if he slept in? What if Edd embarrassed him somehow? That seemed the more likely choice. Kevin had been acting strange last night and especially when Nat showed up.

In fact, things had been fine until Nat showed up. The green-haired teen added a level of incongruity that Kevin avoided. Edd genuinely enjoyed Nat’s company, but he didn’t want to risk making Kevin uncomfortable. There certainly appeared to be a correlation, but one instance did not describe a pattern. For now, it was safe to say that Kevin was not comfortable being friendly with Edd around other people. The only plausible reason was the mixture in their levels of social hierarchy. Until another theory could be attained, Edd adopted that as his running hypothesis.

As the day progressed, Edd came to the conclusion that he probably wasn’t going to be studying with Kevin. After his last class, which happened to be at the Honors College, he didn’t even have to walk across campus—he simply moved to the residential area of the building and took the stairs to the third level where his room was located.

He had a paper due in three classes and one of them was considered his midterm. He hadn’t had too much time to work on them the night before, so the moment he entered his room, he sidled into his desk chair, pulled out his laptop, cracked his knuckles and set to work.

Edd wasn’t sure how much time had passed. He’d been so preoccupied with one of his papers that he hadn’t bothered to pay attention to the clock until a loud knock on the door pulled him abruptly from his work and caused him to jump nearly three inches off his seat.

“Good heavens!” he cried, clutching a hand to his chest. He could feel his heart beating rapidly through the fabric. Who needed caffeine when clearly a good rush of adrenaline could do the trick?

“I can hear you in there, Double Doofus!”

“Doofus? Out of all the D-related nouns you choose doofus?”

“Shut up, Nat.”

“You know I can’t do that.”

Edd turned toward the door so fast, he swore he heard his neck pop. A rush of happiness surged through him. They were here! Both of them! Maybe he really was needed!

Elated, Edd scrambled to the door and threw it open. He hoped his smile didn’t look too ridiculous as he practically glowed at the two boys at his door. “Salutations!” he greeted. Did he sound too eager? Oh well. “How did you know which room was mine?”

Kevin pointed to the label in the middle of Edd’s door—the one he placed there the day he moved in.

“Ah. I should have expected that,” Edd deadpanned.

“Double Deeeee!” Nat called out, drawing out the end of Edd’s nickname. He shoved past Kevin and pushed his way into Edd’s dorm room. “Damn, this place is tiny. It’s worse than a closet. It’s a fucking cardboard box.”

“The walls are almost as thin,” Edd commented. His eyes followed Nat across the room.

“Wow, so can you hear your neighbors having sex?” Nat jumped onto Edd’s bed and pressed his ear against the wall, scrunching up his face in concentration. He tapped twice in a random location, then moved two feet to tap elsewhere.

“What are you doing?” Kevin hissed.

“Communicating,” Nat grinned. A second later, an answering knock echoed through the wall and Nat shrieked with glee before starting an all-out tap war with Edd’s neighbor.

Edd turned to Kevin for a bit of help with his insane roommate, but Kevin just looked bored. He was probably used to this kind of behavior, Edd figured. No doubt he just let it happen until Nat grew tired. With that thought in mind, Edd decided that maybe while Nat tapped out a popular song on the wall and sang the words ‘Super Bass’ into the plaster, he could have a semi-private conversation with his impromptu pupil.

“I was unaware of our meeting time and place,” Edd started, well aware that he should probably just jump into the conversation and skip the pleasantries. “I assumed you would be in for coffee this morning.”

“Huh,” Kevin shrugged a little and scratched the back of his neck; a habit, Edd noticed, that seemed to be happening quite often. “I sorta slept in.”

“Kevin!”

“Oh yeah, garbage bags? Like you can talk,” Kevin smirked. Edd’s eyes widened and he went to check himself in the small mirror over his dresser.

Kevin was right: the black circles under his eyes had gotten worse as the day progressed. He was going to have to get some better sleep tonight, no doubt. He didn’t want to call attention to the discoloration, though, because despite how he looked, he felt wide awake. “Just the evidence of a night spent behind the books!” he chirped. “Are you here for round two?”

“Something like that,” Kevin said. He still had an air about him that showed he didn’t care where he was or what he was doing. He’d barely even set foot into Edd’s room. His eyes did scour the place, that much Edd notice. When Kevin’s eyes landed on the laptop, he nodded toward it. “Were you working on homework?”

“Yes, but that is quite alright. I’ve finished most of it.”

“We interrupted you,” Kevin stated. He shoved his hands in his pockets and the action made him look smaller for some reason; like he was shrinking into himself. “Should we go?”

“No, it’s fine!” Edd said quickly. He’d been waiting all day long to hear from Kevin or Nat or both. He wasn’t about to let them slip through his fingers. “I’ll bring my laptop with me this time if that’s alright with you? Perhaps I could have you work on a few problems while I type up my paper. Multi-tasking is essential to success, I’ve found.”

“Yeah?” Kevin looked a bit hopeful. “Pack your shit, then. Let’s go.” Edd never thought he would ever find the phrase ‘pack your shit’ endearing, but it took all types of people to make a world, so he laughed it off and went to gather his things.

It took some time to get Nat away from the wall, but when they finally extricated him from his morse-code partner, he was more than happy to bounce along in front of them, talking about what he’d learned from his communication session. “Did you know your neighbor has a foul mouth?”

“He does?” Edd questioned. He’d packed his laptop in his messenger bag and it was heavy on his shoulder, so he found he needed to shift the weight constantly. “I never really see him. He keeps to himself.”

Kevin gave Nat an astonished look. “You got all of that from wall tapping?”

“You can learn a lot about a person from wall tapping,” Nat bragged.

“So what’s his name?” Kevin asked, his voice a bit sly.

Nat turned a little red and shot further ahead of them. “I don’t know. I didn’t ask, okay?”

“Wow, Nat. You tap a guy and don’t even get his name? I didn’t know you were the type,” Kevin teased.

Nat chose that moment to whirl around and Edd nearly walked right into him. “I am a lot of types,” he said matter-of-factly. “And tapping mysterious wall strangers just happens to be one of them.”

Edd looked back and forth from Kevin to Nat who were having some kind of suave conversation with their smirks. “I feel like I’ve witnessed something I shouldn’t have,” he said quietly.

“Don’t worry,” Nat said, throwing one arm around Edd’s shoulders, “You didn’t see a thing.” He casually draped his other arm around Kevin’s shoulders and sashayed between the two of them for a little while. Edd stumbled next to him awkwardly wondering if maybe he should put his arm around Nat’s waist for support but the action somehow felt too intimate.

“Nat,” Kevin sounded irritated. “You’re doing it, again.”

Nat immediately dropped his arms from around both their shoulders, but he didn’t look scolded, he just pouted a little and said in a mocking voice, “You’re no fun. Oh. Hey. Speaking of no fun. Double D: You’re awesome at teaching Kevin shit. Can you go over some psychology notes with me sometime?”

“Oh!” Edd chimed in, happy for the change of subject. This was a topic he could deal with readily. “Are you a psychology major?”

“No, I’m undecided. I’m just getting my ‘ologies’ out of the way until I figure out what I’m doing,” he shrugged.

“Ologies?” Edd had a feeling he knew what Nat meant but he couldn’t be sure.

“Yeah. Biology, like Kev, Psychology and Sociology... I need to get that shit out of the way anyway, right?” Nat tapped his temple smugly. “Smart, eh?”

As they walked, Nat talked the entire way. Edd agreed to help him with his psychology notes despite a loud groan from Kevin. In fact, Kevin was so quiet during the short walk that Edd had to look around Nat a few times to make sure he was still there. He only grunted a few short responses to anything Nat said and walked with his hands wrist deep in his pockets.

Edd never saw Kevin this quiet. He was so used to hearing Kevin’s loud laughter and exaggerated laughter that he thought maybe he this was a different Kevin altogether—or perhaps he was ill? Sleep deprivation lowered the immune system. It was entirely possible that Kevin caught something. Edd would have to be extra careful, just in case.

Once back in Kevin and Nat’s dorm room, all pleasantries came to a halt as true studying time sank in. Nat actually plugged himself into the computer with his headphones and set to work on his own material which left Edd to tutor Kevin in relative peace. He was able to change the document for the notecard around a bit to better suit the weaker areas of Kevin’s knowledge.

The night continued smoothly. Edd felt more like he was a part of a trio, again. He’d missed the dynamics of a three person team. He felt more like himself than he had all year. Kevin was humorous and accommodating which Edd must have always known deep down. Most of the fighting that went on between him and Kevin as adolescents had been directed at Eddy, really. When prompted to actually pull any pranks on Kevin, Edd couldn’t go through with them, himself. Once, he’d even dumped a year-old lunch of Ed’s on his own head because he couldn’t bring himself to do the same to Kevin. It was a bit disheartening, because the two of them might have been friends for far longer than two days if only Edd had taken the initiative!

Those kinds of thoughts circled his head as Nat and Kevin walked him back to his room later that night. Even though it was only his second night of ‘hanging out’ as it were, Edd felt as though this could be the start of something. He hoped he wasn’t wrong.

In fact, the next day, Edd found himself clock-watching during his afternoon shift at the Peach Tree. He knew it didn’t matter if got sent home early, but he couldn’t help hoping for it—especially since the shop was rather slow for a Wednesday.

Kevin mentioned the night before that he had basketball practice and would be late getting back, so he didn’t know if they could get anything done. Nat mentioned his Psychology notes again, probably thinking the two of them could work on those while they waited for Kevin.

So when Nat strolled into the Peach Tree with a half an hour left to Edd’s shift, Edd wasn’t at all surprised. The after-dinner rush had just finished and Edd was making the rounds bussing tables and clearing up any spilled drinks. How hard was it for someone to take a napkin and wipe down the condensation rings from a table? The generic every day entropy of the universe astounded Edd most days.

“Yo,” Nat called, giving Edd a slight wave. “So instead of waiting for you like a normal person, I came here to bother you. I hear you make heaven in a cup, yeah?”

Edd picked up his bucket of sanitation water hastily. The large rubber gloves he wore as he wiped down tables made the handle difficult to grip, but Edd was used to the nuances of rubber gloves at this point. “I may create a signature drink that tastes a little better than the original, but one can only do so much with pre-prepared ingredients.”

“Sheesh, just take the compliment,” Nat teased. “Make me your best drink.”

“Well… that depends,” Edd trailed off. “Do you prefer cold or hot drinks? Do you like chocolate? Based on your preference for certain toppings, one drink would taste significantly better over another.”

“Shit, I dunno,” Nat shrugged and glanced at the menu. “I have no idea what half this shit is. Make me a uh…. tall double mocha hazelnut macchiato frappe with a shot of espresso.”

Edd stared at him. “I don’t think drink exists, and if it did, it wouldn’t taste very pleasant. Not to mention, it’s a bit redundant seeing as a macchiato already has--”

Nat closed the distance between the two of them in one step and took the bucket of sanitation water from Edd’s hands only to set it back on the table. “Just go make me a damn good cup of coffee, okay, sweetcheeks? I’ll watch your precious bucket.”

Nat stood taller than Edd, but not by much. It was just enough for Edd to have to look up slightly. They were awfully close and Nat stared at him hard, like he was trying to look right through him. It set Edd’s teeth on edge and he quickly retreated to his spot behind the counter to begin creating a drink. Edd normally had no problem with touching and personal space. He was often very physical with Ed and Eddy, but he knew the two of them. Nat was still, for all intents and purposes, a total stranger. He’d known the guy for only three days, counting today.

In the end, Edd made Nat a hazelnut macchiato with whole milk instead of two percent so that the flavor of the syrup came out a little bit more. Instead of the cross-stitch signature pattern of hazelnut topping he was required to create on top of the foam, he made a mass of delicate swirls. The picture didn’t change much to the taste, but Edd liked to admire the faces of his customers as he worked. He handed the cup and sleeve off to Nat when he was finished and slid a lid over separately so that Nat could either sip from the top and get some topping with his foam, or put a lid on and drink directly from the mid-section of his coffee.

As Nat took his cup, he’d placed his money on the counter so that Edd could quickly ring him out in the meantime. Just as Edd gathered Nat’s change, the green-haired teen let out a surprised gasp from the other side of the counter.

“This really is good!”

Edd beamed with pride. “Why, thank you!”

“No, I’m serious,” Nat explained. “I came here once and it tasted like piss so if I really need a coffee fix I’ll go to the shop off campus but your shit is tight!”

Edd was about to thank him yet again, but suddenly a loud chime of “AVENGERS! ASSEMBLE!” sounded throughout the shop. The source: Nat’s pants. Nat haphazardly set down his drink to dig around in his pants pockets before they shouted out for the Avengers to assemble a few more times.

Before Edd could really even ask, Nat was already rolling his eyes and explaining as he tried moved. “That’s my text alert for Kevin. He’s probably near the end of his Basketball practice.” By the time he found his phone, the texts stopped and a different ringtone sounded, probably indicating a phone call. Edd didn’t recognize the tune but it had a heavy beat. Most ring-tones, to him, sounded like they shouldn’t be coming out of a phone at all. It was just white noise to him.

“’Yello,” Nat said, stuffing the phone between his ear and shoulder as he grabbed his coffee, again. Edd could hear Kevin from the receiver and Nat didn’t even have his phone on speaker.

“Where the hell are you, man? Where’s Double D?”

“Dude,” Nat casually took another sip of his coffee, screwed his face up into a look of bliss and gave Edd a thumbs up. Edd beamed again. “I’m at the Peach Tree with the barista extraordinaire. Don’t get your panties in a bunch.”

Kevin’s voice must have quieted down because Edd could no longer make out the words. He resisted the urge to lean over the counter to hear better. Not to mention, Nat had to step to the side to let another student step up and order a drink. Edd only half-paid attention as he rang up her order. He was far more interested in Nat’s conversation.

Nat made stupid faces at his phone as he listened to Kevin. Each time Edd looked up from his work, Nat made another mocking face and it took everything Edd had not to start giggling while he steamed the milk.

Just as Edd handed the drink off to the student, Nat pulled the phone away from his ear. “Dude,” he said, “You’re helping study today, right? Inquiring minds want to know.”

“Well, yeah,” Edd said as if it were the most logical answer in the entire world—which it was. How could Kevin not know that?

Nat turned back to the phone. “Yeah, he’s coming.” At that he broke out into a grin over the phone and raised his eyebrows up at down at Edd. “So, apparently we’re supposed to stay here for a little bit because practice is running late and Kevin wants to take the time to soap up his hot bod after.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Edd could hear a loud “NAT!” coming from the receiver. Nat quickly hung up and burst into loud guffaws.

Edd frowned as he absent-mindedly began wiping down his drink station, just to keep his hands busy. “Why do you tease him like that?”

“Ah, he can take it.”

“I don’t know,” Edd said slowly; his earlier insecurities about Kevin came bubbling to the surface. “He seems like he gets really upset.”

“Well, normally, he’s not this uptight about shit,” Nat frowned into his cup of coffee. “Maybe it’s the full moon or something because he’s really fucking protective about his image around you. What kind of past did you two have, anyway?”

Edd raised an eyebrow. “He didn’t tell you?”

Nat scoffed. “Kevin? Sharing his mind secrets? Are you kidding me?”

“I just assumed, seeing as you’re such good friends and roommates and all…” Edd quickly tried to remedy the situation.

“Here’s the deal,” Nat waggled a finger in Edd’s direction, “All I got from him was that some kids from his neighborhood went here. I met Nazz already; she’s awesome. But I ever met you. He was always quiet when I’d pry but holy crap did he mention you a lot without realizing it.” Nat slouched his back a little in a way reminiscent of Kevin and put on his best imitation of the Basketball player’s voice. “’Double D would know this.’ ‘Look at that tooth gap. Reminds me of a kid back home. He goes here, you know?’ ‘Ugh my hair isn’t sitting right in my hat. Do you think I should get a beanie? This guy I know wears them. Looks good. He works at the coffee shop, you want some coffee?’” He stood up straight again and took a deep drink of his coffee, coughing a little, as if imitating Kevin’s voice scratched his throat. “Drove me nuts. I thought he hero worshipped you.”

“Hero worshipped?” Edd nearly shouted. He didn’t know if he wanted to yell or burst into laughter. He ended up just making strange faces and wringing his hands because his mind and body had no idea how to process the information. “Me?”

Nat took a step back which made Edd wonder if he looked a little crazed. That had a tendency to happen from time to time but only when he got mad at Eddy. Edd couldn’t stop himself at this point. “He was a bully I mean, even though I wasn’t usually the target of his mockery, he often quarreled with my best friend and I happened to be caught in the cross-fire on more than one occasion. Kevin is not someone I ever considered a friend---more of an acquaintance. Not that I didn’t want to be his friend, of course, but he was the enemy, you see, and any form of friendship was particularly frowned upon.”

“Huh,” Nat commented, intelligently, his mouth open a little. “Well that explains all the dork and dweeb nicknames. I didn’t know people still used those insults.”

“Force of habit, I presume,” Edd offered, a little shakily.

“Well,” Nat slurred as he looked down at his coffee, sloshing the remaining contents around. “Whatever was holding you two back seems to be gone, now. You got Kevin to actually do his homework. So… kudos to that.” He even held his cup up in a mock toast.

“Yeah…” Edd’s voice wandered off. Nat’s information placed a whole new perspective on things. Edd only had a little bit left to his shift, and then he’d have to wait around until Kevin was decent enough to accept company. He hoped that gave him enough time to get his thoughts in order. He knew it was a bad habit to get his friendship hopes up again but Nat seemed so genuine, and he was fun to be around. Kevin, it seemed, couldn’t decide if he wanted Edd around or not.

At least he had one shoe in, Edd thought to himself.

“Well, regardless of whatever fucked up past you two have, you still got me.” Nat pounded his chest like a proud warrior.

Edd broke out into a fit of giggles without really meaning to. “Kevin is very lucky to have a friend like you.”

“No doubt,” Nat shrugged, taking the compliment like it was his natural food source, “But he’s even luckier to have you. You’re saving his ass from academic probation and I think he’s actually enjoying himself.”

Kevin? Enjoying Edd’s company? His action often contradicted that statement, but perhaps Edd was looking at all the wrong instances. It was definitely food for thought.

Edd decided, just as he took off his apron and hung it up for the night, that he was going to stop focusing on all the negative aspects of Kevin and start focusing on all that was good. Their past was just that: a past. College was a time for new beginnings, wasn’t it? They could start fresh.

Tonight, things were going to change. No more Mister Nice Edd. He wouldn’t stand for passively allowing Kevin to toy with his hopes for friendship and simply use him to get good grades. He was going to take their relationship into his own hands and Kevin could just get over the fact that Edd was still considered a science geek.

Because Edd was brilliant. And Kevin was going to see that for what it was.

Chapter Text

Once Edd and Nat arrived back at Oak Hall, Edd wasn’t at all surprised to find that Kevin wasn’t there. He’d just called to say he would be busy, after all. Edd appreciated the fact that Kevin wanted to shower after Basketball practice. It was a nice gesture.

Nat didn’t even blink at his roommate’s absence. He immediately flopped onto his bed and pulled out his Psychology textbook and waved it around in there air. “While we wait, can we do those psyche notes?”

Edd wanted to laugh. He really must have been having trouble with the class if he was constantly asking Edd to help him out. In the end, Edd just shrugged. “All right, Nathan. I don’t mind taking a look while we wait. What are you studying?”

“Oh the generic stuff right now. Biographies of the old dudes. Freud and whatnot,” Nat said as he pulled out some folded pieces of notebook paper from in between the pages of his book. “Did you know that ‘Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure’ is not a reputable source for Freud research?”

Edd couldn’t stop his grin. “I never would have guessed,” he giggled.

Nat held several pages of his notes in the air and scowled at them. “I hate this book studying crap. It’s all squiggly lines and words. That’s probably why Kevin’s finding it so easy to study with you. You make it sound enjoyable.” Slowly, Nat lowered his notes and gave Edd an intense stare. “Double D. Make Pavlov enjoyable. Make me fall in love with his mesmerizing theories and old man face,” he deadpanned.

Edd felt a little hot under Nat’s stare. He wanted to shrink in on himself. It was nice to have someone have such confidence in his tutoring skills, but flattery didn’t always produce results. “Uh… I don’t… I don’t think I could do that.”

“Nonsense,” Nat tugged Edd down to the bed and stuffed a bunch of crumpled up pieces of paper into his lap. They weren’t even numbered or anything. How was Edd supposed to decipher these? “I already love your squishy face,” Nat continued. Once his hands were free of his notes, he reached up and tousled Edd’s black beanie.

Years of instinct caused Edd’s hands to fly up and take hold of his hat so that it would stay in place on his head. He could barely squeak out Nat’s name as he held tightly to his black beanie.

Nat gave him a quizzical look, “You have really bad hat hair or something?”

Edd still didn’t let go of his hat, even though Nat had pulled away. “It’s a, uh… bit of a comfort thing, really. Maybe you’ll find the diagnosis in one of your psychology chapters,” Edd nodded to the textbook beside them on Nat’s bed.

Nat stared unblinking for a bit, the wheels turning in his head until Edd could almost see the light bulb go off in his head. “Oh! This is a test! Okay, yeah, I got this. Gimme a sec,” he exclaimed, grabbed his textbook, and flipped through some pages. As he worked, Edd calmed down enough to let go of his hat and watch Nat murmur to himself while he poured over the text. “Aha!” Nat shouted randomly. He shut his textbook with a loud thunk and looked upward with a doofy smile. “Yeah I have no fucking clue, man.”

Edd sighed. He didn’t know what he expected. “It’s a conditioned comfort response. Do you know what psychological conditioning is?”

Nat slowly shook his head.

“You mentioned Pavlov. I thought you knew?”

“Double Dude, I only know that name because it has two V’s and that’s nuts. Having one V in a name is cool enough, but two? Bitchin’.” Nat clicked his tongue against his teeth which made him sound sleazy.

“Well,” Edd adopted his lecturing voice. “Pavlov theorized that he could condition a subject to respond automatically to a stimulus. That is, he could force a response from a subject’s subconscious. His famous experiment involved ringing a bell and spraying food into a dog’s mouth. Every time he rang a bell the dog would be fed and he would record the amount of saliva produced. Eventually, he took away the food, but the moment the dog heard the bell, it would salivate automatically. Through this experiment, he showed that he could condition, or teach, the dogs to salivate when hearing a bell. Understand?”

Nat was nodding slowly as he stroked his chin in thought. “So what you’re saying is…,” his eyes narrowed, “Whenever you hear a bell, you start slobbering?”

“No, just the dogs!” Edd corrected. Did Nat get any of what he said?

“Oh, so when you hear a bell, you take your hat off!” Nat clapped his hands together once.

Where was Nat getting all of this? “No, nothing happens when you ring a bell!”

“But then why won’t you take your hat off?”

“Because I’m hideous!” Edd shouted before he could stop himself.

Nat fell silent, and then “…what?”

Edd couldn’t take his comment back now if he tried. There was no other direction to go than forward. He sighed loudly and began to stack up Nat’s Psychology notes in his lap to give himself something to do. “If my hat is removed, mortification will ensue. My conditioned response is to keep the hat on. I’m naked without it.”

Nat shook his head, “That can’t be the only reason. You sure you’re not hiding a conjoined twin up there or something?”

Conjoined twin? That was new. “I’m sure,” he replied softly. Never mind that the truth was more or less just embarrassing, now, and he really hoped Nat would drop the subject.

Except Nat didn’t. The green haired student reached a hand forward and Edd thought he was going to take his hat off, so his conditioned hands shot up to protect his head as he leaned back instinctively. Nat lost his balance when his hand didn’t come into contact with anything and he fell forward, directly on top of Edd. The weight from Nat pushed the two of them downward onto the bed and with Edd’s hands firmly stuck to his beanie, he couldn’t push Nat away properly. In order for Nat to catch himself, he had to place his hands on either side of Edd’s head on the mattress below him.

They froze like that, with Edd grasping his hat so hard his knuckles turned white. Nat was studying his face. Edd could see his pupils dilate as they darted around Edd’s face and inevitably to his hairline. Edd gulped.

A slamming door caused both Edd and Nat to whip their heads to the side but no one was there. It wasn’t hard to figure out what had happened through context clues. Edd felt his stomach drop.

Nat picked himself up off of Edd and barely let out a, “Sorry about that, man, you didn’t have to freak out on me,” but Edd barely paid the words any attention. He was still staring at the closed door.

“Was that Kevin just now?”

“When?”

“At the door. Just now.”

Nat rubbed at the back of his neck, clearly avoiding the situation. “Was it? I… didn’t hear anything at all.”

Edd scrambled up from the bed and rushed to the door. He checked both ways down the hall and happened to just barely catch the back of Kevin’s head as it rounded the corner. Without even stopping to think about it, Edd scurried down the hallway, thankful no one was around to see him because he still never learned to run properly. His elbows had a tendency to flare out but he couldn’t help it by this point in his life—just like he couldn’t help pulling his hat down even long after his embarrassing childhood problems subsided.

When he rounded the corner, Kevin was just in sight and Edd could only react, not think. “Kevin!”

As hoped, Kevin stopped. He wore sandals with a pair of shorts and a tank top; his towel draped around his shoulders. He held a plastic bag that probably contained his shampoo and soap. Such a commodity was required in communal showers. His hair still shone with water droplets and despite having dried off enough to dress, his skin held the occasional slide of water.

Everything about him looked fresh and clean, except for his expression. “You didn’t have to stop on my account,” Kevin spat.

“It was a compromising position,” Edd explained, knowing exactly what it had looked like. “I realize that and I apologize. Nathan requested I help him with his Psychology.”

Kevin scoffed. “That’s some help.”

Edd was at a loss for how to remedy the situation. “Please accompany me back to the room?”

Kevin glanced downward at his lightly clothed attire and mumbled, “I don’t have much of a choice, do I?”

This wasn’t good. Edd made a promise to himself earlier that he was going to do whatever it took to get Kevin to stay his friend—not push him away. Being discovered in a compromising positions with his roommate did little to help Edd achieve his goal. He needed to find a way to fix things before they became stagnant and Edd had a feeling that just studying wouldn’t do the trick, anymore. It was a long shot, but took a deep breath as they walked and said, “We are not required to study tonight if you don’t wish to. We can engage in another activity.”

“Oh yeah?” Kevin sounded bored. “Like what?”

Edd scrambled for an idea. “A movie perchance?”

“I don’t know, maybe,” Kevin shrugged.

When they reached Kevin’s dorm and opened the door, Nat was already there waiting for them. The three of them exchanged a few disgruntled looks for a second before Nat swallowed hard and gave them both a double thumbs up. His smile looked forced. “I’m just… I’ll just leave you two alone tonight. See you later!” and he shot out from the room and down the hall without waiting for a response.

Edd watched him and couldn’t help feeling a little responsible. He actually enjoyed spending time with both Kevin and Nat. He wanted to have more time with the three of them together. He was used to threes.

But Kevin, on the other hand, visibly relaxed when Nat left—like he was happier with it just being him and Edd for the moment. That was fine by Edd, anyway. It was easier for him to go through with Operation Befriend Kevin when it was just the two of them, right?

“What shall it be, then?” Edd broke the awkward silence by keeping his mind set on his goal. “Movie or Biology?”

“Movie,” Kevin said immediately. “We can watch one on my computer.”

Edd normally did not condone procrastination, but in this case he was willing to make an exception. Kevin had until Monday to prepare for his midterm and he was already doing so well. He’d learned much of the information throughout the year, Edd only had to build and solidify the information that was already there. Kevin could make the connections and Edd could have the satisfaction of a job well done.

“Is there a movie you had in mind?” Edd asked, looking around to see if maybe Kevin had a stack of DVDs to choose from.

Kevin tossed his towel and shower bag into a corner, much to Edd’s chagrin, and sat down at his computer desk. In a few moments, he pulled up a streaming program on his computer and started up a movie seemingly at random. “You like slasher movies?”

Edd shook his head, even if Kevin couldn’t see him do it. “Not… really.”

“Great. Then you’ll love this one.”

Edd couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Did Kevin even listen to him?

Then again, he didn’t want to point out the obvious incongruence. He just wanted to make it through the night unscathed. Kevin turned the desktop monitor to face his bed and hopped from the desk chair to his mattress, lay down on his stomach and stuffed his comforter under his chin. Edd watched from his spot in the middle of the room, uncertain if he should pull a desk chair around to sit or not.

Kevin looked up at him and then down at the clearly empty space on his bed and finally gave a pat to the mattress next to him. “Hop on, double dork. You’ll be more comfortable this way.”

The movie was already rolling the opening credits as Edd inched his way to the bed. Should he remove his shoes? After all, Kevin had kicked off his sandals the moment he set foot into the room and Edd felt it would be filthy and rude of him to wear shoes in Kevin’s bed. He gingerly sat down on the edge of the bed and began the process of removing his shoes when he felt a rush of air beside him. Kevin had reached around to grab his pillow and place it at the foot of his bed so that Edd would have something with which to prop his chin. He smiled to himself. Kevin really was hospitable when he chose to be.

Once his shoes were off, Edd stretched out on the bed until he lay shoulder to shoulder with Kevin. This was nice: just a Wednesday evening, the two of them, watching a lovely movie together…

Until Edd looked up at the screen and saw a shaking black and white camera and some psychopath’s face covered in blood as the words ‘Tucker and Dale vs Evil’ flashed across the screen.

“What… what is this?” he asked, horrified.

“Only the best movie, ever,” Kevin grinned. “The beginning’s kinda slow but it’s totally great. It’s about these college kids that confuse these two hillbillies of being creepy serial killers and the college kids end up killing themselves all over the hillbilly’s property by accident.”

Edd flinched. “That doesn’t sound very pleasant.”

Kevin nudged his shoulder with Edd’s. “It’s fucking hilarious. You’ll like it. There’s random… philosophical shit all thrown in there. In fact, the hillbillies are smarter than the college students.”

“Ah, social commentary,” Edd nodded slowly. That didn’t seem so bad. “In other words, a brilliant film disguised as a slasher comedy to entice a younger audience but still teach an important moral?”

“Yeah…,” Kevin said slowly, eyeing Edd. “Don’t ruin it for me.”

“Fascinating.”

It didn’t take long for Edd to actually become interested in the film. He normally did not enjoy this particular genre of movie, but Kevin had been right about the social commentary. From what Edd gathered, the entire movie’s theme was that appearances were deceiving and it was wrong to jump to conclusions based on first impressions and assumed past experiences.

Edd really thought it was saying something for his empathy levels that after the third death, he started laughing along with Kevin. Before long, they were making comments on the makeup and movie magic and appreciating the actors’ ability to pull off sudden death so well. He’d watched all manner of monster films with Ed and Eddy, but outright human killing took some getting used to. As a kid, Edd’s stomach would not have been able to handle the copious amounts of fake pain, but the mixture of comedy and Kevin somehow lessened the impact. Edd became more interested in the dialogue of the movie and the questions it raised rather than the conclusion.

In fact, he was so entranced by the movie that he hadn’t even realized the position he found himself in until the final scene was over and he averted his eyes from the love scene. He found it odd that he could handle seeing a guy jump into a wood chipper, but he felt uncomfortable watching an on-screen kiss. It was probably the same reason he couldn’t handle love scenes during movies while his parents were in the room. It felt personal.

The tug back into his own reality caused him to realize there was a soft weight on his back. Somehow, he wasn’t just shoulder to shoulder with Kevin anymore. Kevin had his arm draped around Edd’s back and when Edd tried to move, he realized that his own foot had betrayed him and tangled itself at the ankle with Kevin’s.

They were cuddling, and Edd hadn’t even realized it.

Edd froze in place. If he moved, Kevin might find it rude, but that was the only solution, wasn’t it? If he stayed put then Kevin would take it the wrong way—but which way was the wrong way? Edd wasn’t exactly uncomfortable being so close to Kevin. It was kind of nice, and obviously he hadn’t had a problem when it was happening or he would have stopped himself for sure. He’d just been so caught up in discussing the finer points of the movie that he hadn’t quite realized how close he and Kevin had become on a physical level.

Then again, this might have been completely normal for Kevin. It wasn’t like Edd really knew much about the guy growing up. For all Edd knew, Kevin treated all his friends like this. Maybe he and Nat watched movies all the time while sharing a bed.

The thought didn’t exactly calm Edd down any.

”So, what’d you think?” Kevin said so suddenly that Edd jumped a little. The action caused their ankles to separate and Edd was thankful for the simple solution to his dilemma.

“About what?” Edd stammered.

“Uh… the movie?” Kevin rolled to his side and propped his head up on his elbow. In the process, his hand swiped across Edd’s lower back as it moved and now that Edd was hyper aware of every part of his body, he could feel each tiny movement of Kevin’s fingers.

“I found it surprisingly enjoyable,” Edd said. He had no idea if he actually meant the movie or something else.

Kevin smiled at him, “I thought you’d like it.”

Kevin kept his eyes on Edd, half-lidded and smile never faltering. Edd could feel the perspiration start all over his body. With Kevin barely clothed lying next to him in bed, Edd felt like he’d fallen into something a little more private than he’d originally intended. Kevin seemed so relaxed and at ease and Edd wondered if he’d said or did anything to get Kevin to change from his state of usual aloofness. Here Edd felt the need to force a friendship out of Kevin and one was already happening whether Edd tried or not.

“This was nice,” Edd said eventually, indicating the entire evening—aside from the fiasco with Nat, of course.

“Yeah,” Kevin agreed, still looking at Edd. “It was.”

“We should probably go back to studying tomorrow, though,” Edd pointed out, swallowing hard.

It was a simple observation. They had to juggle friendship and studying—that much was a given. They could ease up on the studying after the midterm, but until then, Edd would have to push it. The reminder didn’t appear to go over well with Kevin. The smile faded from his face and he sat up. He rubbed his hands over his face and eyes and when he pulled them away, his facial features had gone back to the annoyed Kevin Edd recognized nearly his entire life.

“Right yeah,” Kevin frowned. “I guess I just needed to give my brain a break. We should probably finish the notecard and print it up tomorrow just in case the weekend gets busy.” His voice didn’t have the excited tone it had during the movie. It was back to his bored drone.

Edd sat up as well and stretched a little. His back still burned with the memory of Kevin’s arm. “What time should I be over tomorrow? It’s Thursday so I work in the morning and have afternoon classes.”

“I have another Basketball practice so… be here at eight thirty?”

“Eight thirty,” Edd agreed, nodding. “I’ll be here.”

“Cool,” Kevin crawled off his bed and began sifting through his clothing. “I’ll walk you home.” He sounded just like his old self. Like the Kevin that watched movies with Edd and the Kevin that studied were two completely different people.

“You don’t have to, you know. I’m perfectly capable of walking home by myself,” Edd tried. Kevin was such an enigma. Edd had no idea which way to go with the two of them.

“I know,” Kevin said, pausing before he found a hoodie and slipped it on over his tank top. “But I want to.”

There it was. Edd didn’t miss it. The bridge between Movie Kevin and Biology Kevin. Even though he sounded like his old self, enough of his new, softer side came through and Edd knew he’d made an impact somewhere—at least a small one.

Edd wasn’t going to say no to more time with Kevin. It certainly beat walking home in the dark. As Kevin dressed, Edd pulled on his shoes, again. As he did, he noticed one of his socks had been pulled down a bit. He could see the depressions in his ankle. The sight caused his stomach to flutter to his throat. It was the foot that had been wrapped around Kevin’s. Had it been moving? Had Kevin’s foot been moving? Had they been playing—what was the term? Footsie?

Edd found himself blushing so hard that when he stood up, he needed to hold onto his hat with both hands, just in case he needed to pull it down over his face and hide himself forever. He’d overstepped all kinds of boundaries tonight and he hadn’t even realized it.

“You okay?” Kevin asked. The guy must have had nerves of steel. How could he not be affected by any of this? He just stood there in his jeans and hoodie and red cap, staring at Edd like he was the insane one for freaking out. His hands were stuffed in his pockets like nothing had ever transpired between the two of them. It was infuriating. Edd couldn’t help but think the smugness indicated Kevin hadn’t been sincere in his actions and that they were all to be taken at face value which meant that they really meant nothing at all.

“I’m fine,” Edd reassured him and indicated the door. “Shall we?”

“Yeah, come on,” Kevin opened his door and proceeded down the hallway. “So, which death was your favorite?”

Thankful for the change of subject, Edd dove right in to the conversation, “The fire scene. By then, I was already desensitized.”

Kevin laughed loudly and from there on out, they stuck with conversations about the movie. Edd didn’t have to think about the accidental cuddling or footsies, but he was definitely aware of every inch of his body, now. He wouldn’t let his subconscious betray him again. Just to be on the safe side, he kept a safe one foot distance from Kevin the entire walk home.

Kevin didn’t even try to touch him again until they were at the doors to the Honor College and he gave Edd a little nudge to the shoulder with his fist. “Hey, man, I’ll see you tomorrow morning, okay?”

“Morning?” Edd rubbed the spot on his shoulder where Kevin hit him but not because it hurt.

“Yeah, for coffee, right?”

“Right,” Edd repeated, “coffee.” Not because Kevin genuinely wanted to see him in the morning or anything… right?

It was that moment that Edd realized how much he’d just described himself. He didn’t care if it was for coffee or studying or movies; he just wanted to see Kevin. He wanted to exist next to him. He wanted their nights to last so much longer than the few hours they had to see each other. It had only been their third day in a row of whatever relationship this was and Edd already couldn’t get enough of it. He wanted to say something, anything, to let Kevin know that he was appreciative of the company—that he enjoyed eating cheeseburgers and watching silly movies and discussing mitosis. But nothing came out except, “See you tomorrow.”

Kevin stuffed his hands back into the pockets of his hoodie and flashed Edd a grin before turning on his heel and starting down the path back to Oak Hall.

Edd watched him until his brain brought back the promise he’d made to himself once again. No more Mister Nice Edd. No more pushover. He was going to take the initiative, wasn’t he? New beginnings. Fresh start.

“Kevin!” Edd called out.

The jock turned around immediately almost like he’d been waiting for it, eyes wide. “Yeah?”

It was now or never. “Next time, we’re watching a movie of my choosing.”

Kevin’s facial features softened. “I’m down with that.”

It was like something inside of Edd exploded with a happiness he had no idea he could contain. He grinned so hard his face hurt. This was a good step—a positive step in the proper direction.

Not to mention, he could determine whether or not the unusual events of tonight were a fluke or intentional. Edd still had trouble admitting to himself that he hoped for the latter because that was just silly, right? To want Kevin of all people to hold him like that.

His goal had been to become Kevin’s friend—not something more. Edd hating setting such highly unrealistic standards for himself. No, Edd was going to be content with friendship. Baby steps. He wouldn’t allow his brain to continue down the path it was going or else everything was going to get messy, fast.

And Edd hated messy.

Chapter Text

Something changed.

Edd had no idea how it happened. It had always been his observation that changes were subtle but this was not the case. Edd swore he woke up Thursday morning a different person.

He’d gone to bed feeling relatively normal, save for the elated feeling that seemed to accompany being with Kevin. It was so strange for him to feel out of touch with his own personality. Edd had always been hyper-aware of his own body. He’d documented his entire journey through puberty with charts, after all. Somehow, he’d managed to hide the evidence from Eddy, but Edd knew that was a blackmail waiting to happen and yet he still hadn’t the heart to destroy his work. Who knew when that information would come in handy.

He went through his morning routine in a daze. The reflection that stared back at him in the mirror didn’t even feel like Edd or Double D or even Eddward.

He felt as though he were floating; like he’d detached himself from the Edd he used to be and became someone else—someone who tripped down the stairs and missed thirty strokes while brushing their teeth. This new Edd daydreamed on his way to work and clocked in three minutes late because his feet couldn’t cover the ground fast enough. He was tired, yet wide awake, like all the motivation he’d ever had somehow flew out the window that morning.

He couldn’t concentrate on any of the morning drink orders. He mixed up white chocolate mochas with their regular counterparts. He used the wrong type of milk three times which caused his line to back up. It wasn’t like him and Edd grew more frustrated by the minute.

The bell above the door to the Peach Tree chimed just as Edd de-sanitized the milk steamer. Determined to get this next order one hundred percent correct, Edd closed his eyes and breathed a tiny mantra into his lungs. “Focus, focus, focus.”

“Heeeey, Double D,” came Kevin’s throaty morning voice.

Focus? What focus? Any inkling of the word dissolved when Kevin greeted him. Edd felt his stomach drop to the floor. That couldn’t have been healthy at all. Was that a normal reaction? Kevin never instilled a fight or flight response in him before and clearly Edd was experiencing some kind of rush of chemicals and endorphins. He was both happy and terrified at the same time, like a living oxymoron.

“Kevin!” Really, Edd had just seen him the night before and everything had been fine. Why was he freaking out, now?

“In the flesh,” Kevin said, his face contorting into a look on confusion as he gave Edd a once-over. “You okay?”

“I’m fine! I’m excellent! All systems are functioning normally,” Edd blurted out. He wanted to keep talking. Suddenly it became imperative that he never stop talking, actually. Any second of silence meant something horrible. “The usual today? Or something new? The forecast predicts a lovely morning. Could I interest you in an iced tuxedo? It’s a nice change to your normal routine.”

Kevin shook his head. “No, uh… my usual is fine,” and then, “What the hell is a tuxedo?” Edd opened his mouth to explain, but he must have taken a large breath beforehand because Kevin’s arm shot across the counter to quickly cover Edd’s mouth. “Never mind. I don’t need a ten minute explanation. Just… the usual, okay?”

Edd shut his mouth just as Kevin pulled his hand away to stuff back into his pocket. He quickly paid for his drink and stepped away from the counter. Edd could feel the imprint of Kevin’s hand on his cheeks and chin. Even though Kevin’s hand was a bit chilled, the echo burned.

The constant fear of a heart attack started to overwhelm him. Edd just wanted to go about his job and his school and his life without feeling the need to rip his heart from his chest just so that it would shut up. The beat felt off, too, like his heart forgot how to pump blood properly. Surely the valves felt overworked? Something was seriously wrong.

He used to feel like this around Nazz growing up in the cul-de-sac. It had been easy to diagnose the problem, then. Poets sang about that particular problem for centuries. No one sang about the same thing happening to an old enemy-turned-friend and definitely not one of the same gender.

The worst part was that Edd felt slightly masochistic about the ordeal. He actually enjoyed the feeling, even if he didn’t want to admit it to himself. After Kevin took his coffee and left, Edd found himself watching the windows just to see if Kevin would return again. It was unlikely, seeing as the jock had to go to classes, himself, but Edd wanted to feel that natural high again. The pounding of the blood in his ears. He felt alive for the first time since starting college and not just because he might land his dream job in the work-study program at the end of all this studying.

Just before the end of Edd’s shift, Nat burst in, effectively breaking Edd from his reverie, and waved a library-rented DVD around in the air.

“You. Me. My room. This afternoon. You brings the frappes; I’ve got the Pavlov.”

Edd sighed, but agreed. He still very much enjoyed Nat’s company, but he also needed to catch up on his own work. Surely, at some point, he would have to remind both Nat and Kevin that he had classes he needed to pass as well.

And yet, as Nat grinned wide and gave Edd a thumbs up, Edd knew he’d have to find another alternative to his own homework. He couldn’t say no to either boy if he tried.

~*~

That was how, even though Edd had a completely different night planned, he found himself knocking on the door to Kevin and Nat’s room a full three hours ahead of schedule. He’d opted to bring his laptop and a textbook or two with him in the unlikely event that he would get some homework in, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Nat opened the door with such gusto that Edd could feel the whoosh of air draw past him.

“Double Domino,” Nat gave Edd the cheesiest of grins as he leaned against the open door. He looked like he simultaneously tried too hard and not hard enough to get ready. His khaki pants had obviously never been worn. They still had creases at the thighs from where they’d been folded and there was lint evidence of a size sticker recently removed. He had on a black imprinted T-shit that declared his love for waffles, but part of it was tucked in and the other flapped loosely at his side like he had no idea how he’d wanted to wear it. It made him look absolutely ridiculous but Edd smiled in spite of himself. It wasn’t just him feeling the strange closeness. He was having an impact on those around him, too. It made him feel special, in a way, like he wasn’t just another unnamed student on campus.

“Mocha frappucino, or caramel?” Edd asked, holding up the drinks he brought. Nat grabbed one at random and motioned for Edd to come inside.

“Thanks for doing this, man. You’re a lifesaver.”

“For the coffee?” Edd clarified. “Or the tutoring?”

“Both.” Nat shut the door, but in doing so, it caused the pressure in the room to suddenly intensify. Edd had been quietly putting his things onto Kevin’s side of the room seeing as he felt more comfortable on that end, but the unmistakable feeling of being watched overtook him and he stole a glance at Nat. Nat watched Edd with a growing curiosity—the kind of curiosity most people had when they couldn’t stop staring at Edd’s tooth gap. “I’ve been doing a bit of reading up on some of this Psychology crap. Turns out, if you have someone in mind while you’re reading, it’s suddenly infinitely easier to understand.”

“Nathan, if you no longer require my assistance with your notes, why invite me with the pretext of studying?” It wasn’t like Edd had a paper due or anything.

“Oh, trust me, you’re helping me study,” Nat set his drink down on his desk, grabbed his psychology textbook and sat down in his desk chair so that he swirled around a bit. He opened his text to a bookmarked page and turned the book around so that Edd could see it. “Hierarchy of Needs. Multiple Intelligences. Pyramid of Trust. This shit is super interesting once you’ve realized it’s actually called ‘all the ways your parents fucked up.’”

Edd raised his eyebrows. Just where was Nat going with this? “Your point?”

“I used to just get to know people the old fashioned way. But now I get to pick your brain. Isn’t that fun?”

“Not particularly—at least not when you say it with that look on your face.”

“What look?”

“You look like you’re going to devour my brain.”

Nat did indeed have a shark-like grin on his face. “I might,” he said, lowering his voice. Then he burst out laughing. “No man, I actually mean that you’re totally smart and yet you hang around with us losers. Don’t you have anything better to do?”

“My own homework, for one.”

“Yeah, but aside from that. Any hobbies? Anything?”

“I have a multitude of hobbies. I enjoy categorizing insects and studying microscopic lifeforms. I enjoy reading up on current events in the scientific field and—“

“And you work in a coffee shop,” Nat deadpanned. “Why aren’t you like, I don’t know, going to MIT or something?”

“To gain entrance in a University of that league, my parents would have to have good standing with someone holding a position of authority. In fact, the political implications of most colleges is staggeringly heartbreaking. To gain power, one must first have power,” Edd explained, sadly. He’d scored so high on both the ACT and SAT that he naturally assumed the Ivy League colleges would be begging for his application. As it turned out, climbing the ladder of life proved to be more difficult than the world let on.

“That explains why you’re slumming it here, but not why you’re slumming it with us,” Nat said, pointing to his psychology textbook. “This thing says you’re hiding something.”

“Did Kevin not explain why he asked me in particular for assistance with Biology?” Edd questioned.

Nat shook his head. “You kidding me? He just texted me one day saying you were coming over and that I needed to make myself scarcez. I thought he was getting laid.”

Edd had never experienced a full body flush until that very moment. It felt like his chest became electrocuted and the residual sparks jumped throughout his limbs. How could someone be so forward like that? “No, he… I… this was… is… an arrangement of mutual gain.”

“So…” Nat floundered his hands around, like a lawyer trying to get Edd to elaborate. “What’s in it for you? He gets a good grade, he’ll suck your dick?”

“Nathan!”

“It’s a legitimate question!” Nat held a hand up in the air defensively. “According to Freud everything we do is either because our penis is telling us or our mom is.”

Edd wanted to teleport out of the room and fast. He hadn’t signed up for a conversation like this. He should have known that Psychology and Nat would be a recipe for disaster. “He’s going to talk to his father about letting me in on a prestigious work-study program with the school’s chemistry lab, okay? Freud’s theories cannot be applied to everything.”

“Ah, personal gain,” Nat said smoothly with a nod of his head. “Makes sense.” He shut his textbook with a loud snap and tossed it unceremoniously to his bed where it bounced open again. Edd shuddered at such mistreatment of a book. “So why, then, are you helping me with my homework?” he tilted his head to the side. “What’s in it for you?”

Edd couldn’t help feeling a little offended. Just because he’d had an agreement with Kevin didn’t mean he had to have an agreement with everyone. “Do I require a reason?”

“So this is a favor to me, out of the goodness of your heart?” Nat deadpanned. He scooted his desk chair across the floor to get closer to Edd as opposed to walking like a normal person.

“Stranger things have happened.”

Nat leaned forward in his desk chair so that his elbows rested on his knees and he gave Edd a long, hard stare. Finally, he took a deep breath and sat back. “Okay. I believe you. Just making sure I won’t have to suck a dick after all this.”

“Nathan!”

“Although, I wouldn’t be opposed to it, you know, if it were yours.” Nat’s eyes flicked downwards and Edd instinctively pulled his bag over the front of his pants as if Nat somehow acquired X-ray vision.

“As flattering as that sounds, I will have to respectfully decline,” Edd managed to choke out without even a stutter. It wasn’t every day that someone came on to him and he had no idea how to handle the situation with any kind of finesse.

“Dude, it’s your loss,” Nat teased, but still kept his distance. As uncomfortable as Edd felt, he no longer felt like he wanted to flee. Nat could be crude and extremely vulgar, but it didn’t even feel like harassment. It just felt like Nat being as brutally honest as possible. Nat just flashed him a stupid grin and made a big deal out of getting the Pavlov DVD into his laptop. “I’m just saying, the offer still stands.”

How strange was it, to know a guy for just a few days and already peg him as the type of person to make a pass at him without a second thought? It had to have been the college atmosphere, or the urge to stray from his twelve-year-old mentality. Edd wasn’t just a kid in the cul-de-sac anymore. He was nineteen and about to bridge that gap between adolescence and adulthood. He could handle a little flirting, right?

Of course he could.

“Perchance you should be letting the dogs in the video do all the drooling, Nathan. It does not become you,” Edd taunted. Two could definitely play at that game. Growing up with Eddy certainly gave Edd a bit of practice in the comeback department.

Nat burst out with a loud guffaw and keyed in a few buttons on his laptop and the movie started playing. “I knew I liked you for a reason. Come over here and watch this stupid video with me.”

“It’s not stupid. It’s educational.”

“Fine, then don’t watch it with me,” Nat rolled his eyes and pressed another button so that the beginning credits skipped. “You’re missing out, though. There’s some hot MILF doing the narrating.”

Edd couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m good. You seem like you’re getting on with the material well enough. If it’s alright with you, though, maybe I could start on my own homework?”

Nat pried his eyes from the screen. “You have homework? I thought all smart kids just did their homework like… automatically.”

Edd laughed, “Believe it or not, I work just as hard as the next person, although I admit I am a bit behind.”

“Don’t fail on my account, then, man, I’ll just watch this MILF and think about you.”

“… thank you?” Edd raised the end of the phrase in a sort of questioning tone. It must be so relieving to be so honest all the time. Edd had no idea if he was supposed to feel flattered or not. For all he knew, Nat said these things in front of Kevin constantly and worrying about it would waste precious energy.

Edd really was thankful for the reprieve, though. If Nat could be honest about his forwardness, then Edd could be honest about his need to study. Seeing as he was already situated on Kevin’s bed, he propped up a few pillows against the wall and made himself comfortable. He took out his laptop and opened it on his lap so that he could begin his work. He could have easily sat at Kevin’s desk to work, but Kevin owned a desktop computer instead of a laptop and the monitor took up much of the table space. Edd didn’t mind too much, though.

What he didn’t want to admit was that he felt a certain connection with Kevin’s bed. Even though all they ever did was sit on it to study or watched the one movie, Edd had already associated the space for being productive. He felt as though Kevin’s desk was reserved for the Edd the Tutor and the bed beheld Edd the Friend.

Edd quickly fell into his research mode and typed away happily at his paper. Occasionally Nat broke his concentration to add a lewd comment about the video but Edd easily zoned back in on his work.

At some point, Edd realized the room felt a little too quiet for comfort and he lowered his laptop to catch a glimpse at Nat. The green-haired teen had fallen asleep sprawled across his bed with his laptop on his stomach. Knowing full-well how hot a laptop could get when in contact with a human body, Edd set his computer aside and made his way across the room to Nat’s bed.

Carefully, Edd removed Nat’s laptop, but when he went to shut it, the sleep-mode turned off and Edd could see the computer screen clearly. The movie about Pavlov had run its course and was minimized at the bottom of the screen, but in its place a very graphic pornographic site took up much of the screen.

Edd hadn’t been expecting to see naked humans in compromising positions so he couldn’t stop the little squeak he’d emitted as he shut the laptop quickly. It was Nat’s own business what websites he visited. After all, Edd had been privy to Eddy’s magazine collected for years; he wasn’t prude. It had caught him by surprise.

When he looked down again, Nat was wide awake and grinning lazily up at Edd. “You change your mind, yet?”

“Nathan!” Edd reprimanded and purposely dropped his laptop back on Nat’s stomach and he let out a soft oomph. “Just go back to sleep.”

“Can’t,” Nat replied as he sat up. He nodded toward the alarm clock on his nightstand. “It’s almost eight. Kevin should be back from Basketball practice any minute. I gotta get going.”

“Leave?” Edd inquired. He took a step back so that Nat could get out of bed and stretch. He didn’t want to admit out loud to a sudden nervous jolt that ran through him the minute Nat said Kevin’s name. “Where are you going?”

“Just out,” Nat shrugged. He lost most of his snarky charm, though. Edd couldn’t help but notice he looked a little sad. “Gotta be the good roomie and let you two study, yeah?”

“We can study with you here,” Edd protested. Hadn’t he just proven that? He was nearly finished with his paper, after all. Why couldn’t Kevin study when Nat was around? As completely bonkers as Nat was, Edd appreciated the random outbursts. It reminded him a little of Ed and Eddy combined and maybe gave him a bit of a homesick feeling, but in a good way.

“Yeah…” Nat began, sounding completely insecure. Edd got the distinct feeling that he wasn’t the only one hiding things. Nat certainly reeked of mystery at the moment. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. I’ll just… see you tomorrow? When do you work?”

“In the morning,” Edd answered automatically. He wanted to pry further but it appeared to be Nat’s turn to feel uncomfortable. Did he have a problem with Kevin and Edd working together? If it hadn’t been for Kevin, Edd never would have met Nat, so he couldn’t imagine why that would have been a problem. Maybe Kevin said something to Nat to make him want to steer clear. Either way, Edd wanted to ask Kevin about it. It was better to get any information straight from the horse’s mouth rather than to make assumptions.

“Cool,” Nat said quickly, then checked the time again. He gathered up a few of his things and began to head toward the door when he paused mid-step.

Edd thought Nat had forgotten something and he turned around to see if maybe it was something he could help find—like perhaps a dropped cell phone. When he didn’t see anything around his immediate vicinity, he began to turn back toward the door, but two strong arms stopped him.

The arms weren’t necessarily trying to harm him. They held him gently, if a little forced. Edd’s own arms were trapped at his sides but he found himself far too surprised to notice.

He could feel Nat’s warm breath just beside his right ear, but the other teen didn’t say anything. He just held Edd for a moment and pulled away quickly. By the time Edd turned around again, Nat had already disappeared out the door.

Edd stared hard at the now closed door as the silence closed in around him. Was that supposed to be a hug? If so, why couldn’t Nat have said something? He didn’t even say goodbye, either. He just left. Edd hugged Ed and Eddy all the time. He wouldn’t have been opposed to a quick hug goodbye from Nat. Maybe most people didn’t do that anymore. Maybe they were still strangers.

The fact that Edd had only met Nat a few days before made everything that much stranger. Nat was probably a hugger and had no other way of letting Edd know than to sneak one up on him. It seemed like a logical conclusion and, really, Edd didn’t have that much time to dwell on it before Kevin burst into the room, shirtless and sweating from Basketball practice.

“You’ve got ten minutes to get your ass out of here, Nat,” Kevin called from the doorway. “I’ve got a date with some mighty mitochondria tonight!”

Any and all thoughts about Nat marched themselves straight out the open door. The familiar electrical jolt from this morning came back and pooled itself deep into Edd’s gut like it never wanted to leave, again. There was something about the way Kevin said ‘mighty mitochondria’ that caused Edd’s insides to twist. He’d taught him that. Underneath the mix of conflicting emotions, Edd was able to identify pride. He was proud of Kevin for using his study material outside of their lessons.

“Kevin!” Edd exclaimed. “My, you’re back early!”

Kevin paused in the doorframe. All the color drained from his face. “How the hell did you get in here?”

Edd didn’t let the words hurt him. Kevin was just astonished at his materialization; that was all. He wasn’t expecting Edd for another half an hour or so. It made sense to be surprised. “Nat let me in?”

Kevin took a step into the room and made a quick survey of its contents. Edd saw Kevin’s eyes linger on the pile of books and laptop on his own bed and he suddenly felt self-conscious. Maybe it was too forward of him to use Kevin’s bed like that. He should have used the desk. Stupid, Edd! Stupid, stupid!

“Woah, slow down. No one’s stupid,” Kevin said quickly. Edd flushed as he realized he’d been saying the last part of his thoughts out loud. He wanted to hide somewhere cold and dark. “I was just wondering. Did Nat leave already?”

“He just left,” Edd explained. He made a mad dash for Kevin’s bed to start gathering up his things. “I’m surprised you didn’t see him on your way in.”

“Dude’s like a ninja,” Kevin shrugged. “Hey, listen. Sit tight, okay? I’m going to shower and be right back. We’re finishing this notecard up tonight. No movie breaks.”

Edd paused in his haste and nodded. “Affirmative.”

Kevin quickly grabbed his shower supplies from the day before and a change of clothes before disappearing again.

Everything happened so quickly that Edd could only take a seat at Kevin’s desk in exasperation once the door closed.

This had certainly been an interesting week, and he knew it was only going to get stranger. How could he be so calm and collected around Nat who felt the need to openly flirt with him, but turned into a mass of anxiety and perspiration around Kevin—someone he’d known nearly his entire life? By all practical standards it should have been the other way around. Nat should be making him feel like he wanted to have a heart attack just to get it over with and Kevin should be the one that made him homesick.

The mind truly was a master puzzle. Edd envied the psychologist who had tried to map the brain out over the years. No wonder Nat suddenly found the subject so interesting. There was a gold mine of troubles circulating around Edd’s brain.

In the end, just to keep his mind from wandering over to what was no doubt happening in the communal showers, Edd turned on Kevin’s desktop to finish his work on the notecard.

There wasn’t much left to add. Kevin picked up on a lot of the material and that gave Edd more space to reiterate some of the harder to memorize facts. By the time Kevin returned from his shower, Edd had already printed out the paper and was cutting it to fit the dimensions of the notecard.

“Well jeez, Double Dweeb, impatient much?” Kevin teased from behind him, radiating heat from his recent shower.

“Just thought I would be productive,” Edd held up the finished product over his shoulder and flipped it over a few times so that Kevin could see both sides. He refused to turn around mostly because he clearly still wasn’t over whatever strange effect Kevin had on him. If he faced Kevin, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to speak properly. It was such an annoying conundrum. “Everything you need to pass should be here.”

“Really? Sweet! Double D, you’re a lifesaver!” Kevin grabbed the notecard and Edd could hear him murmur a few of the words as he read them to himself. From his peripherals, Edd watched Kevin sit down on the edge of his bed as he continued to skim the card. It took everything Edd had to turn the other way. Kevin wasn’t even wearing a tank top this time. He only had on his shorts and a towel draped over his head.

Seeing Kevin’s bare back stirred up so many thoughts from his conversations with Nat earlier that day. Nat honestly thought Kevin was kicking him out so that he could sleep with Edd? And on top of it, he also assumed Edd would be receiving payment for his services in sexual favors. What would even prompt Nat to assume something so obviously out of the ballpark? It certainly didn’t help matters that now that Edd had the image in his head he couldn’t get it out.

And, really, it wasn’t a bad image after all. For all Edd knew, Kevin may have some talent in that department, it wasn’t his place to judge. He wondered what it would be like, briefly, to have Kevin’s lips on his and no sooner did the thought cross his mind, did he want to stand up and run out the door and never look back.

Kevin was his friend. Maybe. If even that. It was wrong for him to have thoughts of that nature!

Surely there was something else he could think about to shove the images from his mind. Nat’s depiction of Freud from earlier came back to haunt him immediately, though. Maybe humans really were a sexual creatures. Edd hated being governed by a part of him that had very little to do with personal success.

So, for whatever reason, he was attracted to Kevin. Admitting it to himself somehow made the concept easier to deal with. Humans were attracted to humans all the time. It might have even been a fleeting feeling brought on by the familiarity of the subject and the sudden but much appreciated closeness. In other words, he told himself, he was being fickle.

Kevin must have finished reading the notecard because he cleared his throat. Edd didn’t plan on looking anywhere near Kevin’s direction until he sorted his thoughts out a bit more, but Kevin’s soft comment changed all of that.

“You don’t have to do this anymore. I think I’m OK and I can use this card to fall back on. I promise I’ll ask my dad to get you that internship.”

Edd still didn’t want to turn around. He could feel Kevin’s gaze on him. He just swallowed and nodded. “Oh, okay.”

An awkward silence settled over the two of them. Kevin eventually filled it by getting up. Edd could hear the shuffling of clothing behind him and took that as his cue to finally turn around. He could handle a clothed Kevin.

When he turned around, Kevin had discarded the notecard carelessly on his mattress and was in the process of tugging a t-shirt over his head. Edd managed to find the courage to blurt out, “You sure you don’t need help with anything else?”

Kevin finished pulling his shirt down and frowned. “Nah, I’m good.”

“Should I go then?”

“If you want. It’s still early. Do you want me to walk you back?”

Edd didn’t want to go back. He wanted to stay. What in sam-hell happened? One minute he was fairly certain that Kevin enjoyed his company, maybe almost as much as Edd enjoyed his and now he was getting the boot? This week had been the best week of his so far college experience. Besides, he’d planned on spending the entire evening with Kevin—not Nat. He felt cheated somehow. Maybe he should have taken that notecard and ripped it in half.

In the end, he hesitated for so long, it felt as though too much time had already passed so he reluctantly agreed.

The walk down to the exit doors of Oak Hall felt like a walk of shame. Kevin hadn’t said a word the entire way which also meant that he hadn’t invited Edd back. Was this it? He had his card so… maybe this was the end. There wasn’t a friendship after all. Eddy had been right. It was a sure thing, but not in the way Edd wanted.

As the weather warmed, the days slower grew longer. The sun was barely setting by now. There was honestly no reason why Kevin should have to walk Edd the rest of the way, but he’d volunteered and Edd had accepted and he was going to take that for what little it was worth.

Something happened when Kevin went to grab the door. He hesitated for just a second and in that second Edd suddenly saw that Kevin looked just as upset as Edd felt.

Here was his opening. This was his entire opportunity. Edd wanted to be more aggressive and Kevin was practically handing it over to him.

“Kevin,” Edd began. His voice sounded a little high so he cleared his throat and tried again. “Kevin: what are your plans for tomorrow evening?”

Kevin straightened his stance a little. “I have a game,” he said. “That’s why there were so many practices this week and why we needed to finish that notecard tonight.”

“Ah,” Edd murmured. Well, there went that plan. Would it be too prudent of him to ask what Kevin was doing afterward?

Kevin pushed his way through the doors and started down the path to Edd’s dormitory. Edd rushed a little to catch up, running in his usual pointed elbow way. Kevin happened to look behind him just before Edd could right himself and the jock suddenly burst into laughter.

Edd stopped mid-run, elbows still sticking outward. “May I ask what you find to be so humorous?”

“Your face,” Kevin said automatically. Whatever he happened to find hilarious must have broken the ice between the two of them and for that Edd was thankful. “Listen, Double Dweeb, that game I have tomorrow… you want to come?”

Edd finally put his elbows down. “I can?”

“Well, yeah. You can cheer for me or something. It’ll be great.”

Kevin started walking again before he received an answer, so Edd quickly caught up to his side and adjusted his messenger bag. “It would be my pleasure, Kevin.”

“A simple ‘yes’ would have been fine,” Kevin snorted, but he didn’t seem at all upset. He even nudged Edd a little with his shoulder as they walked. Edd, caught off guard, stumbled a little, but laughed and looked at Kevin with fondness.

In the fading sunlight, Kevin’s features had changed. He looked older and a bit more stoic, but remained Kevin nonetheless. He’d grown out his red hair a little so that it didn’t have that shaved quality like when they were in middle school. He’d always worn that red cap, so Edd never really noticed just how red Kevin’s hair really was until the fiery bits of sunlight accentuated it.

Edd had no idea how long he was staring until Kevin caught him in the act. “You okay there, dork?”

Edd shut his eyes and shook his head to bring himself to a state of mind that felt a little more normal and a little less like he’d just been ogling Kevin in the sunset. “I’m fine,” he said. “Perfectly fine.”

Probably more than fine.

Once they reached the drop-off point, Kevin gave Edd a quick wave. “I’ll see you tomorrow? Maybe we can go out for a bite to eat after. It’ll be great.”

“Sure!” Edd piped out, hardly able to contain his smile. “It’s a date!”

All at once, a double silence fell on the two of them—as if the wind decided to take Edd’s words and amplify them. Why did he say that? Who said he could say that? Clearly Edd did not have a grasp of the vernacular of the time and the proper ways in which his current generation used it. Edd had no idea he could simultaneously feel all the blood either rush or leave his face at the same time. He made a mental note to probably get that checked out.

“I was being facetious!” Edd remedied quickly. “I meant—“

Kevin let out a puff of nervous laughter. “I know what you meant. Hasta luego, dork.”

Edd could barely hold up a hand in his mortification. Kevin didn’t even have a chance to turn back toward Oak Hall before Edd opened the door to the Honors College and disappeared inside. He couldn’t watch Kevin go. It was easier to hide his shame when Kevin could no longer see him.

Edd’s heart pumped so loudly in his chest, he swore it echoed off the walls. Never mind the total humiliation he’d just put himself through, Kevin had actually invited him out to a Basketball game followed by dinner. No studying. No impromptu movies. Kevin, for all intents and purposes, actually wanted to spend time with Edd.

In spite of the overwhelming good news, something still ate at the back of Edd’s mind. He knew what it was, but he didn’t want to address it. It made him feel selfish. He should be grateful for what the week had given him so far, but the memory of Kevin’s red hair in the sunlight, and the echo of Kevin’s hand on his mouth from that morning wouldn’t leave him alone.

Edd wanted more.

Chapter Text

Heart palpitations.

Increased respiratory function.

Clammy hands and full body perspiration.

Edd felt like he’d given himself a permanent shot of espresso—and it wouldn’t go away.

All morning long he spilled drinks or added too much milk or pressed the wrong button for the number of shots of espresso.

At least he only had one class on Fridays and it was a microphysics lab. Normally he enjoyed his lab hours and often spent extra time with the professor afterward. On that particular Friday, however, he couldn’t keep his hands still and left shortly after the lab ended.

What made it worse was the fact that he couldn’t even vent. Several times the night before, Edd picked up his cell phone with the intent of texting Ed or Eddy about his predicament but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Eddy wouldn’t approve at all—not because Kevin was a guy but mostly because Kevin was Kevin. Ed wouldn’t be able to keep the information to himself and Edd wanted to keep Kevin in the dark about his embarrassing situation.

Why couldn’t he be normal? Why couldn’t he just accept Kevin and Nat for what they were and kept his life at a relatively peaceful pace? Why did his heart and his brain have to completely contradict each other?

Because Edd knew. He knew something happened at some point during the week in which his attention-starved mind latched itself onto Kevin like a leech. It wasn’t fair to Kevin for Edd to become so needy. Kevin had things to do. Edd had things to do. Everyone was too busy to stop their lives just because Edd felt like he wanted to hold onto Kevin and never let go.

It was so sudden, too. Edd didn’t want to call it a crush because it made him feel like he was a twelve year old girl in middle school, but by all accounts of his short-lived internet research (before the websites became too graphic) that’s exactly what it was. Identifying the problem made it easier to handle, however. Edd just assumed the feelings would pass once he grew tired of them. It was certainly possible. Nazz once elicited feelings of this nature from Edd and now he could probably walk right up to her and hold a conversation no problem.

Time. Time was what he needed, but time was not what he had.

Before Edd could relieve himself of his heartfelt malady, he’d have to make it through a Basketball game and a dinner afterward and somehow manage to keep himself in check.

That, at least, was possible. He’d proven all week that he could platonically spend time with Kevin without issue or complaint. After all, they’d inadvertently cuddled during a movie and Kevin didn’t even bat an eye. If Edd accidentally did anything out of the ordinary, he could always find some kind of excuse.

Besides, if Nat was there, well, Kevin acted differently with Nat in the room. For all Edd knew, that might make the night easier.

It wasn’t long before Edd found himself standing awkwardly in front of the doors to the Gymnasium, giving himself a pep talk. Kevin hadn’t said where to go or what time to arrive but Edd make quick use of the school’s website to find the proper information. He didn’t even need a ticket, either, seeing as he was a student. Groups of fans shuffled past him dressed in the bright Peach and Green school colors and Edd had to admit, the atmosphere around the gymnasium felt lively in contrast with the solitude he’d forced upon himself that afternoon. He had his own midterms and papers to worry about, after all.

Edd followed the crowd, feeling naked without his usual school bag with him. He’d opted to leave his laptop in his dorm room and he had no need for textbooks and papers at a Basketball game. Kevin made it clear that this was a night of frivolity—not study. Edd was so used to the weight on his shoulder whenever he was on campus that now he felt almost too light—as if any of the fans could knock him off his feet.

He scanned the stands, hoping to see a familiar face. He assumed it would be easy to spot Nat’s green hair in the crowd, but he’d failed to remember the school colors would have a say in that respect. It was like finding a peach and green Waldo amongst a sea of peach and green Waldos. Edd never loathed those books as much as he did at that point.

The difference between a High School and a College Basketball game was phenomenal. Edd didn’t just walk into a gymnasium—he stepped into a small stadium. Cameras were stationed in prime locations throughout the court so that spectators could watch the players on a large screen located at one end of the gym. The game probably aired during a public college broadcast that Edd never bothered to watch.

Just when Edd started to think that maybe he should just sit by himself, an unexpected voice called out his name and Edd turned immediately to find Nazz smiling and waving at him from a little ways across the gym.

He hadn’t thought to look for Nazz. He knew she went to the same University, but he rarely ever saw her on campus. If what he’d heard from Sarah was correct, she was a Fashion Major and spent most of her time on the artistic side of campus, whereas Edd confined himself to the maths and sciences.

Of course she would be at the Basketball game! She was Kevin’s best friend, after all, and despite never getting a complete confirmation on the subject, Edd just kind of assumed she and Kevin dated at some point over the years. At the time, he’d felt a little jealous of the idea, and a familiar tingle of jealousy came back but for a completely different reason.

In spite of his Nazz-has-texting-privileges envy, Edd made his way through the growing crowd to where Nazz sat only instead of taking a seat next to her, she immediately stood up and threw her arms around his neck.

“Double D!” she exclaimed, practically jumping up and down as she hugged him. While she still donned the school colors, her outfit looked tasteful as opposed to the war-painted fraternity boys a few rows up. A bit shell shocked, Edd hesitated in wrapping his arms around her waist, but once his brain caught up with his body, he hugged her back easily. All thoughts of jealousy pushed toward the back of his mind. “You came! And here Kevin was worried you’d bail on him!”

Edd blinked at the news and stepped out of the hug so that he could check Nazz’s face—mostly to search for any signs that she fabricated the truth. “I promised I would be here.”

“You always keep your promises, huh?” Nazz grinned. She wore a bit more makeup now that she was older, but it was in good taste. Edd often cringed at the overdone fashionistas that came through his line at the Peach Tree. She’d kept her hair in her trademark short bob, too. It framed her face well.

“I put forth great effort in keeping them, yes,” Edd agreed. “I know too well what it is like to be on the other end of a broken promise.”

Nazz continued to beam at him. “I’m so glad you’re here, Double D. I missed you.”

Missed him? If she missed him, why didn’t she ever come to see him at the Peach Tree? Yes, they had conflicting schedules, but Edd had made time for Kevin. Surely he would have made time for Nazz. Instead of sounding rude, however, he tactfully pointed out, “You could always stop by my place of employment for a caffeinated beverage.”

“That’s the thing!” Nazz piped up, slapping Edd in the arm in the process. Edd didn’t wince, but only because he caught himself just in time. The girl packed a bigger punch than she realized. “I go there all the time, and I just see this pimply dude. You’re never there!”

“Keep going at the same time every morning. By law of probability, our paths will eventually cross,” Edd said sagely. Nazz just giggled and motioned for Edd to take his seat.

“It’s good to see college hasn’t changed you.”

As Edd sat down, he gave Nazz a quizzical look. “Has University changed you much?”

“Oh tons,” Nazz laughed and kicked her feet up on top of the empty seats in front of her. Edd hoped no one would sit there in the future. “College is the time to experiment, right? It’s awesome.”

“With what have you been experimenting?” Edd asked. He hoped he wouldn’t regret receiving an answer.

Nazz giggled again and leaned toward Edd. The gym was already incredibly loud, so Edd had no idea why she felt the need to keep herself from being overheard. “Not what. Who.”

Edd felt his stomach drop and his eyes found their way toward the empty basketball court without him realizing it. Nazz batted playfully at Edd’s arms to get him to look back to her. “It’s not Kevin, silly. It’s Marie.”

If Edd thought his stomach could sink any lower, it would be falling through the bleachers. “Marie? As in… Kanker?”

Nazz answered with another chuckle and pulled out her cell phone. She’d replaced her phone’s wallpaper with a custom photo of herself and Marie Kanker pouting their lips at the screen. Edd hadn’t seen Marie for a long while. In fact, he had no idea she even went to Peach Creek University. To see her so happy and not chasing him around the neighborhood was a bit of a shock and he had to look away from Nazz’s phone.

“Is she here? Now?”

“Nah,” Nazz said as she tucked her phone into her shirt. “She’s not really into sports.”

“But,” Ed squeaked. “The wrestling? The… everything?” How many times did he run from the wrath of Marie Kanker as a kid growing up? How many times had she slammed him around, demonstrating her strength? And yet Nazz was completely fine with making kissy faces at her cell phone! There must be something in the water.

Then again, Ed and Eddy would never believe that Edd was at a Basketball game to see Kevin solely because he’d been invited. Edd would have to give Nazz the benefit of the doubt.

“She’s an art major,” Nazz shrugged. “She’s really good. She’s here completely by scholarship. Don’t you remember the stuff she used to draw when we were kids?”

Edd shook his head no. It was hard to remember Marie drawing when he was running from her.

“You should see her art sometimes. She actually convinced me to model for her Human Anatomy class,” Nazz said in an off-hand manner as she wiggled her feet on the seat in front of her. She looked so comfortable sitting like that, and so relaxed. Edd had to force himself to slump his shoulders and sink into the stadium seating just to keep himself from wanting to run far away from the fact that Marie Kanker probably wasn’t going to show up and slam him into a wall.

“I must admit, I know very little about the art world. This Human Anatomy class: is it the one where students will draw a subject in their natural state?” Edd inquired.

“You mean naked?” Nazz batted her eyelashes at him.

“Yes,” Edd deadpanned. She didn’t have to say it so blatantly.

Nazz broke into another big grin and Edd had his answer.

The buzzer that signified the start of the game relieved Edd from having to further the conversation because the Basketball players began filing into the gym. It was easy to spot Kevin’s orange hair amongst his teammates. The fact that his head lacked a certain red hat caused Edd’s breath to catch a little. Even though it was perfectly normal, he couldn’t help but think he was witnessing Kevin in a vulnerable state.

A bit of coordinated shouting from one end of the gym caught Edd’s attention at one point and he realized that the college had assigned a small group of cheerleaders to get the crowds excited. Seeing the troupe perform their routines sparked an interesting question.

“Nazz,” Edd said suddenly, nudging her with his elbow. “You are no longer a cheerleader?”

Nazz sighed a little and smooshed her shoulder up against his own so that she was leaning against him in the seat. It felt friendly. Sisterly. Edd wanted to throw something across the room because five years ago he would have given up his best microscope for this kind of contact and now that he was getting it, he wanted it from someone completely different. “Just because I was a cheerleader in high school doesn’t mean it has to carry over to college. I’m pretty happy cheerleading from right here.”

“Valid point,” Edd agreed and turned his attention back to the game.

Kevin really was very good at the game. He made several baskets and seemed to be very good at stealing the ball from other players. Edd knew a bit of the generic mechanics of the game and it was enough to help keep him from asking embarrassing questions.

Sometime near the end of the first quarter, the Peach Creek University basketball team became so far in the lead that Kevin slowed down a little to scan the crowd. Edd wanted to wave at him, but knew it would be of no use. Nearly everyone in the stadium was waving around like an idiot.

Which, of course, meant Nazz would notice Kevin looking and she stood up suddenly, pulling Edd with her. In one swift movement, she climbed onto her chair and began frantically waving both her arms, shouting, “Kevin! Over here!”

“Nazz, he can’t see you!” Edd tried to point out by tugging at her arm to get her to sit back down.

Nazz wouldn’t hear it, though. She grabbed a hold of Edd’s hand to make him stand on his chair as well. He really wished he had a napkin or a wipe-cloth with him because he had no intention of sitting back down in his chair after his shoes sullied it.

Nazz’s frantic waving actually worked because Kevin’s eyes stopped searching and came to rest on the two of them. Nazz jumped up and down excitedly on her seat while pointing dramatically at Edd’s head and Edd tried his hardest not to sink to the floor. He forced himself to wave a little, even though it felt like Kevin’s gaze had a damaging effect on his heartbeat. The mechanics of physical attraction were certainly worth investigating.

Instead of waving back, though, Kevin gave a little smirk and a small salute. Nazz shrieked from beside him and the game resumed as normal. Edd, however, immediately took his seat, feeling too mortified to care about dusting it off.

“You see that?” Nazz chirped excitedly. “He knows you’re here! He’ll be on his A-game, now!”

“He wasn’t before?” Edd’s eyes kept themselves glued to the basketball court. “He is very nearly the best player on the team. I understand now why he received his scholarships and why it is imperative that he keep them.”

“When Kevin’s really concentrating he can make a three pointer look as easy as a somersault. Watch, he’ll probably do one in a minute just to show off,” Nazz reiterated, complete with pointing out the correct gaming positions.

It was a testament to how close Nazz and Kevin had been over the years that no sooner had Nazz made her prediction, Kevin was fulfilling it. At the first opportunity, he sank a three point shot like it was nothing. Edd couldn’t help but whistle a little in admiration.

When the shot made it in, Kevin’s gaze caught Edd’s for a brief moment. All it took was a split second, but Edd knew Nazz had been right. Kevin did that for Edd, even if it was showing off a little. Feeling a little on the spot, Edd gave Kevin a double thumbs up to show his support. People still did that, right? The smile Kevin gave him in response was so big, Edd couldn’t even classify it as a smile.

Kevin was beaming.

Edd couldn’t help but beam back, but it was short-lived. Kevin had to keep his attention focused on his game. In spite of Kevin clearly having his gaze elsewhere, Edd couldn’t help but feel like he was being watched and he looked around him to find the source.

Nazz happened to be the culprit, staring at him with an intensity that felt a bit intimidating. “I’ve been to all of his games and he never pays attention to the crowd. What did you do to him?”

“I’m not sure what you mean?”

“Yes you do,” Nazz declared.

“I just… we just study.” Edd had no idea how to answer her. He didn’t really do anything. Nothing at all, actually. Kevin instigated all of this.

“No way. He texts me every night saying he can’t come over because he’s with you. I know Kevin--he won’t study unless there something in it for him.”
“Keeping his scholarship isn’t enough?”

“Maybe…” Nazz trailed off. She released Edd from her intense stare and assumed her normal position in her seat and mumbled to herself. “But he doesn’t have to be so happy about it.”

Edd turned his attention back to the game. They were at a brief pause between quarters and Kevin was downing some Gatorade with his teammates. He looked so positive and at ease and Edd wished he could leap the distance and share the bench with him—sweaty odor and all. Before he could even stop himself, he found himself saying, “Why shouldn’t he be happy? I like it when he’s happy.”

Nazz gave a little gasp from beside him. “Oh my God.” When Edd turned to her, she had her mouth covered by both her hands. “You like him.”

“What?” Edd’s world stopped. This wasn’t the plan. How did she--? Edd hated how well women picked up on certain things. Sarah had that way about her, too, which Edd knew bothered Ed to no end. His guts churned in an uncomfortable way and he felt the need to crawl into a very tiny space and never come out. “No! I mean, yes, but not in the way you are implying! I am uncertain we are even qualified as proper friends!”

Nazz bit her lip in a failed attempt to keep herself from either laughing or bursting forth with a large amount of contained energy. She looked so excited she vibrated with the feeling. “You should see your face—I’ve never seen it so red! Oh, this is adorable! Does he know?”

Edd hid his face in his hands. “No, and he won’t. After our agreement is settled, life will resume as normal.”

Nazz placed a protective hand on his shoulder. Her gentle touch caused him to peer through his fingers to see a reassuring smile. “He invited you to his game,” she said softly, leaning in a little so that he could hear over the crowd. “He told me you were coming. Why else would I save a seat, right?”

Edd shrugged. “Nathan, perhaps?”

Nazz paused briefly and for a while, Edd thought that maybe she didn’t know whom Edd was talking about until finally understanding flashed over her face. “Nat!” she said, her eyes widening with realization. “Yeah, he was supposed to be here, too. Wonder where he is?”

For the first time in a long while, Edd’s memories took him back to the last time he saw Nat and the awkward one-sided hug he’d received. Nat didn’t even come to get coffee that morning. Was he okay? Suddenly Edd felt like a terrible friend for placing his own needs above that of others. Oh, everything would be so much easier if he could just text everyone! Then he could figure out if he’d offended Nat in some way and maybe get a chance to talk to Kevin outside of their early evening rendezvous.

An idea struck him and he knew exactly how he could procure those numbers.

“I would text him to find out,” Edd began, “If I had his number.”

Nazz burst into controlled laughter. “You’ve been taking my boys from me or a week and you don’t even have a phone number?”

“The thought hadn’t occurred to me,” Edd lied. Although he preferred the term, slightly fabricating a fact on a need-to-know basis.

Nazz rolled her eyes and held out her hand. “Give me your phone, Double D.”

Usually Edd’s cell phone was his own business, but he trusted Nazz and was willing to allow her an exception. He handed his phone over to her and after a few seconds of furious typing, she handed the phone back to him.

He stared at the new entries for a while, hardly believing that he, too, would have texting privileges. Nazz put Kevin’s name in normally, but she’d added Nat as ‘The Green Loon’ and Edd didn’t have the heart to change it.

Deciding it would be pointless to text Kevin seeing as he was obviously preoccupied, Edd set to work in composing something to Nat. After a few deletions, he finally settled on a simple opening text.

FROM EDD: Greetings.

That should be okay, right? Rather than think too hard on it, Edd set his phone aside so that he could enjoy the game, and more importantly, make sure Nazz didn’t mention their previous conversations to anyone else. At all. Ever. Nazz reluctantly, but eventually, agreed.

Even so, she obviously wanted to dive into the matter further based on the way she squirmed in a similar fashion to Edd when he knew the answer to a question and the teacher refused to call on him. As much as he wanted to vent about Kevin to someone, he found that once it happened, he didn’t want to talk about it at all. Talking brought life into the subject. It made the feelings worse. It took a harmless notion and turned it into an ugly beast that Edd hoped to keep under control.

Edd’s pocket vibrated with an incoming message. He grabbed his phone quickly, suddenly excited to have someone else to talk to via texting. He hoped he wasn’t going to get as bad as Kevin and start to ignore the world around him in favor of looking at a tiny screen.

FROM THE GREEN LOON: ….this is Double Dude, isn’t it.

Edd had to check the number a few times to make sure he’d gotten the right one. How did he know? Edd was pretty Nazz input the correct number. No one else called him ‘Double Dude.’

FROM EDD: Did you have my number already?

FROM THE GREEN LOON: You’re the only person in the world that would text out ‘greetings’ to someone.
FROM THE GREEN LOON: unless they were an alien.
FROM THE GREEN LOON: are you an alien?
FROM THE GREEN LOON: you can probe me, I wouldn’t mind.

Edd rolled his eyes and chuckled a little. Nat was Nat, even while texting.

FROM EDD: Ha, ha, Nathan. Where are you?

FROM THE GREEN LOON: In the room all by my lonesome.

Edd frowned down at his phone and turned to Nazz. “Nat is in his dorm room.”

“Are you serious?” Nazz sounded irritated. “Tell that jerk to get his butt over here and cheer with us.” Rather than quote her word for word, Edd decided to paraphrase.

FROM EDD: Why aren’t you at the game?

FROM THE GREEN LOON: Just taking a page from your book and writing my midterm paper before the Sunday night procrastination.
FROM THE GREEN LOON: wait. You’re actually at the basketball game?
FROM THE GREEN LOON: please tell me you’re wearing a peach and green fro. I demand pics.

Nat apparently had the tendency to send multiple texts in quick secession. Edd didn’t mind. It meant he at least had Nat’s attention. He showed the texts to Nazz and she scoffed. “Studying my ass. Give me the phone, again.”

For the second time that evening, Edd relinquished his phone. He thought for a moment she was going to text something to Nat, but instead she pulled up the camera and threw her arm around Edd. “Smile, Double D!” After a quick picture, she deemed it appropriate enough to hand the phone back to its rightful owner. “Send him that and tell him to hurry it up.”

FROM EDD: I applaud you on your vigilance, but I’m sure Kevin would also appreciate your support.

Edd quickly added the picture at the end of his text and waited. Nat’s other texts came very quickly, so Edd didn’t want to put his phone down just for the fact that he knew it would buzz soon enough. However, it was a good few minutes and nothing had transpired. Edd even grew distracted with watching Kevin steal the ball a few times before he realized that his phone still hadn’t buzzed.

Maybe the text didn’t send? To be sure, Edd typed out another message.

FROM EDD: Are you okay, Nathan? Were you able to see my picture text? I should have checked if you could receive images.

Edd didn’t have to wait long this time around before his phone vibrated.

FROM THE GREEN LOON: Can we meet after the game?

FROM EDD: Kevin mentioned getting something to eat. Care to accompany us?

Once again, the pause felt too drawn out. Edd tried not to worry about it. If what Nat texted was the truth, then he really was working on a paper and Edd shouldn’t bother him. However, they did have the entire weekend and it wasn’t every day they could all go to one of Kevin’s basketball games together, so Edd shot him another quick text.

FROM EDD: Please? Nazz is coming too if that’s okay.

FROM THE GREEN LOON: Yeah. Sounds awesome. Let’s do this.

Edd continued to hold his phone in his hand for a minute or so after Nat’s text. He hoped there would be more tacked on to it, but he was wrong. Even though logic said Nat was most likely busy with his homework, something about his text inconsistencies seemed off. Edd couldn’t shake the feeling that something felt wrong.

He was probably just making it up, though.

At least Nat was coming out to eat after the game. With both Nat and Nazz there, Edd would have an easy time keeping himself cordial around Kevin. No one would have to learn about his developing problem, and best of all, he could hang out with a group of friends and finally get the college experience the movies talked about.

Chapter Text

Nat had a type and that was everything.

Well, not everything, everything. Just pretty damn close to everything.

And apparently wormy genius types with hat complexes and an advanced vocabulary happened to fit neatly into that ‘everything’ category.

When Kevin first texted Nat to tell him he had company, Nat wanted to come in and crash the party so badly. Nat had a few friends over on occasion and Kevin was usually pretty chill with them. It seemed a little strange that once the tables were turned, suddenly Kevin didn’t want Nat around. It could really only mean one thing: sex.

It was a logical conclusion! Kevin had seduced some pretty young thing and he needed Nat to steer clear. That was cool with Nat. He could go with the flow. It just sucked that obviously Kevin had to make up some sob story about inviting his old pal “Double D” over to study instead of saying, “Hey man, I got a chick with a rockin’ rack over to bump some uglies. Go buy me a condom.”

But then Kevin texted for him to get some food and that struck a strange chord. Yeah, post-coital snacks were the best things under the sun next to Cinnabon cinnamon rolls but actual burgers and fries? Maybe Kevin had a grease kink. That was cool. Lucky him: getting to live out his kinks.

Nat was surprised to see that when he finally came back to the room with food that Kevin hadn’t been lying. There was no chick and definitely no sex. Studying was actually happening with a guy whose name was actually Double D.

From the very first time Double D opened his mouth to speak, Nat was done for.

Never mind that Kevin had spent the better part of the school year talking about this dude. Nat already had him on a mini pedestal in his mind—but seeing him in person?

Saying that he was adorable was an understatement.

It took everything Nat had that night not to call out “DIBS” and run off with Double D into the night. The fact that he was really Kevin’s friend helped and Nat had to naturally assume Double D was also straight until proven gay.

It sucked but that was his life.

Besides, Kevin hadn’t actually specifically said, “Nathan Kedd Goldberg, do you swear on everything that is good and right, not touch Double D’s butt?” so really, Nat had free reign.

Which was why he tried at every opportunity to get close to Edd just to see what made him tick—even making up fake Psychology work. Maybe while they worked, Double D would throw out a sign somewhere—something that said, “Yes, Nathan, I do so enjoy your company. Would you care for a makeout session under the stars?” because Nat would be so in.

The problem was that Double D had a tendency to reflect all of Nat’s advances like some kind of flirt-shield professional. He would laugh and accept all of Nat’s compliments with grace and move on with the subject like he had no care in the world. It made Nat want to become more obvious and a bit more crude with his comments just to finally get a rise out of the guy.

As the week wore on, Double D showed a tolerance for most, if not all, of Nat’s homosexual agenda. On top of it, he even made a comment or two that clearly showed he was at least okay with the fact that Nat very much wanted to kiss him until the sun came up. Or, rather, that’s what Nat got out of it at least. The thought was both exciting and sobering, because Nat knew that if something happened between him and Double D, that Kevin would get caught up in the middle of it all and Kevin, for whatever reason, was very protective of his Biology tutor.

That was why when Friday rolled around and Kevin told Nat that he’d invited Double D to the Basketball game and “don’t scare him away,” Nat took it as a way of saying, “don’t come.”

To say it didn’t hurt would be a giant lie. Kevin and Nat did everything together since they’d been assigned roommates. Nat played for the football team, but that was a fall and winter sport. Kevin played as well, but he wasn’t going to Peach Creek for football—just Basketball, so he wasn’t considered first line. Either way, they were inseparable even after Nat accidentally placed some unwanted advances toward Kevin. If their friendship could survive that; it could survive anything. For someone to suddenly come between them was like a punch in the gut.

Nat didn’t want his life to turn into a giant bowl of drama soup. He preferred hanging around and turning everything into a sexual innuendo. It made life easier. So he didn’t bother coming to the game. He figured, hey, he could get some of his work done for his actual classes because Midterms weren’t coming just for Kevin.

He was even starting to become okay with how the night had turned out when suddenly his phone buzzed with an unknown number.

FROM UNKNOWN: Greetings.

There was no doubt in Nat’s mind where that text came from. His stomach twisted and he angrily pressed his hands against his abs to get it to stop. He was too old for butterflies. He quickly texted Double D back and waited eagerly for the response.

Nat spoke too much normally, so when he texted, it wasn’t any different. He’d give Double D a solid chance to answer a very forward come-on and hope against hope that Double D would understand and reciprocate the notion. A joke about anal probing should just about do it.

Except Double D didn’t take the bite. That was okay. Nat could handle that. He’d just have to be a little more direct. Perhaps a joke about being all by himself in his room…

So when Double D texted back asking why he wasn’t at the game, Nat nearly jumped for joy. Double clearly missed him. His quick response time coupled with the fact that he’d actually hunted somewhere for Nat’s number had to mean something, right? It had to. This was a sign from the gods. Nat leaned back in his desk chair and silently thanked the ceiling for his good fortune.

Maybe he could rub it in by telling Double D that he was studying. He’d like that. Maybe he’d like that so much he’d come over and help Nat study. And by that Nat obviously meant more than study, but he would take what he could get.

This prompted a burst of confidence to ask Double D to send him a picture.

The text that followed further solidified Nat’s claim that Double D would get a mental boner for him studying, but then a picture text followed and Nat had to stop and stare.

It was a simple impromptu picture but it already showed so much. For one, he was at the game with Nazz. For another, it was obvious that Nazz had taken the picture due to the downward camera angle that could only be achieved by a practiced camwhore. Nat had seen her thousands of pictures she put on the college social networking site all of her in the same exact outfit doing slightly different facial expressions.

But Double D… he didn’t know how to take a picture like that. He was smiling, the gap in his teeth poking out through his lips. Nazz had her arm around him but he didn’t seem at all perturbed by it. His face looked a little flushed, like maybe it was hot in the gymnasium or he was embarrassed by something. Suddenly Nat wanted to be there so badly. He wanted to sit next to Double D and cheer with him in the stands. He wanted that to be his arm around Double D’s shoulders.

His insides continued to churn as he looked at the image until he suddenly realized that Double D was smiling for him.

When the two of them took that picture, Double D could have looked bored, but the picture was clearly going to be sent to Nat and so Double D had smiled. Nat gripped his phone tight. That was his smile.

His phone buzzed in his hands with a new message from Double D and Nat realized that he probably should have answered him back. The other boy sounded so concerned that it really only added fuel to the fire. There was no going back, now. Nat was stuck in Double D land. But most of all, he had to see Double D again and it had to be tonight. Even if he couldn’t make it to the game, they could at least hang out after, right?

He texted Double D back with his query, excited for the response.

But then:

FROM DOUBLE D: Kevin mentioned getting something to eat. Care to accompany us?

Nat’s heart fell. Of course they would be going out together. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Nat adored Kevin. He was just in a selfish mood and wanted to have a little bit of Double D to himself for the night. Just a simple picture text wasn’t enough.

He knew he took too long to respond when Double D sent another worried text, so Nat quickly responded, set his phone down and hid his face in his hands.

FROM NAT: Yeah. Sounds awesome. Let’s do this.

It was going to be a long night.

Chapter Text

If Edd thought getting to the game had been a mess, trying to leave after a particularly brutal win proved to be even worse. Fans and spectators shoved each other in glee as they shouted out chants to further rub it in the other team’s face that they weren’t being very good sports about the win. Edd kept as much of a distance as possible and clung to Nazz mostly out of familiarity.

Nazz led him through the crowds with such grace, that there was no doubt in Edd’s mind that she’d done this numerous times before. With a practiced routine, Nazz practically dragged Edd by the hand to a side door and immediately shoved the two of them to the side so that they were out of the way of the fan stampede.

“This is where I meet Kevin after the games,” Nazz explained now that they were away from most of the noise of the gym. It was quieter outside, mostly because the sound wasn’t amplified and echoing off the gym walls. Edd took a deep breath of fresh air to clear his lungs and leaned against the wall with relief. “It’ll be a little bit, though, especially since he won. Did you text Nat to make sure he’s on his way?”

Edd nodded, and looked down at the phone in his hand. He’d opted to leave Nat alone for a little bit so that he could get ready and come down to meet them, but he was definitely coming. Nazz took out her phone as well and started texting so fast, Edd couldn’t keep up.

“Do you mind if Marie comes?” she asked.

“Marie?” Edd asked, not even bothering to hide the fear in his voice. It was hard to just up and forgive someone like Marie. Kevin hadn’t exactly been terrible to him over the years. Kevin and Marie were two completely different ends of the bully spectrum.

Nazz giggled and leaned against Edd’s shoulder. “She’s cool, I promise. I’ll vouch for her.”

Edd swallowed, hard. “Okay.”

“Thank god,” Nazz breathed a sigh of relief. “I love you guys, I do, but being the only girl can suck sometimes.” With that, she finished her text and shoved her phone back in her pocket.

If Edd wasn’t nervous before, he sure was, now. He could feel the perspiration in his palms and resorted to wringing his hands together to get the feeling to go away. He’d spent his entire life known as just the smart friend of Ed and Eddy. Sure, after Eddy’s brother utterly humiliated them, everyone treated the three Eds like equals, but it was just as easy to fall back into old routines. It seemed that now that much of the cul-de-sac kids were away at University, the entire world ran by different rules. Suddenly, Edd found himself in the company of a rebellious artist, a basketball star, an ex-cheerleader turned fashion major and a… whatever-Nat-was.

Everything seemed too good to be true.

It wasn’t long before the crowd cleared out enough and the others began to arrive at the gym. Marie and Nat arrived together and could be heard before they were seen. They were loudly arguing about something and didn’t stop, even when they came into view.

When Edd saw Marie, he hardly recognized her. She had on skin-tight leather pants and a blank tank top. At some point, she’d gotten a barbed wire tattoo on her upper arm and her wrists were covered in bracelets. She still had her trademark blue hair and a light dusting of freckles that gave her identity away so that when Edd finally recognized her, he had to fight the urge to duck like he’d just seen a wasp. Nat on the other hand clashed with his green spiked hair, and Captain America T-shirt. He looked like he’d been rolling around in bed for the better part of the evening.

Edd didn’t even have to strain to hear what they were arguing about, either. “You can talk butts all you like, but you don’t know them I like do. And I’m telling you: that is not an ass,” Nat barked.

Marie’s shrill voice cut through the night air like a knife. “It’s a perfectly perfect ass, dick-chaser! And it looks great in leather which is something I can’t say for you.”

“How would you know? Have you seen my ass in leather?”

“Don’t need to. I can tell already. You don’t have the cushion.”

“No cushion? I’ll show you no cushion,” Nat retaliated and began to scoot backwards toward Marie, bumping his posterior against her side.

Marie let out a disgusted grunt and shoved Nat away from her. “Lay off, penis breath.”

“Carpet muncher.”

“Asshole plunger.”

“Vagitarian.”

“Pillow biter.”

“ENOUGH!” Edd yelled when he couldn’t take it anymore. Both Marie and Nat stopped their bickering and the moment they caught sight of Edd, he regretted his decision. Maybe he shouldn’t have gotten their attention. He had no idea if it would be a good idea to run or not considering the almost wolfish looks they were giving him. Their natural instinct would be to chase, right? And Edd hadn’t brought anything with him to retaliate.

“Double D!” Marie drawled, her blue-lidded eyes took on a familiar look. Edd could feel the fear prickling at the back of his neck. This would normally be about the time Marie would either grab him and kiss him all over or practically knock him unconscious to drag him back to her metaphorical cave. “Come here!”

As she advanced toward him, Edd backed up automatically. For every step forward Marie took, he took two steps back. His body broke out into a cold sweat—the fight or flight response stirring up in his chest. Marie had her arms outstretched, ready to embrace him in what Edd knew would be an Ed-level crushing hug.

Suddenly Edd bumped into something soft and giggling. A whiff of gentle perfume filled his nostrils and he knew then that Nazz was behind him, blocking his escape. She pushed him forward into Marie and he squeaked before he could even stop himself.

Marie didn’t crush him. She didn’t kiss on him or hit him upside the head or slap his backside or anything.

She just hugged him, and even then she used the correct amount of pressure. It was nice. Full. Her entire arms wrapped around his neck as she buried her face into his hat.

“It’s good to see you again, Double D,” she purred into his ear and then pulled back, grinning.

Shocked, Edd had no idea how to reciprocate so his mouth bobbed open and shut for a few torturous seconds before Marie finally reared her arm back and punched him in the arm. Hard. Edd doubled over to the side and held onto his arm, wincing with pain. That was the Marie he remembered. “It’s good to see you, too, Marie.” He lied. Possibly.

Marie let out a little “Hee…” but after their initial greeting, Edd became invisible to her. Marie’s attention was clearly focused elsewhere. “Naaazz!” she shouted, right in front of Edd, causing him to wince until she bounced away to throw her arms around her… girlfriend? Was that what they were? Nazz had used the word ‘experiment’ but the way they held onto each other, with Nazz’s hands at Marie’s hips, indicated a much more complicated relationship than that.

The throbbing in his arm pulled his attention from the two girls. He wanted to inspect his arm for bruising, but once Marie disappeared, Nat took her place. He gingerly picked up Edd’s arm and pushed up the sleeve of Edd’s shirt, inspecting the affected spot for him. “You want me to kick her in her squishy ass?” Nat offered, his voice low.

“It’s okay,” Edd shook his head. “This was relatively light compared to what I’d grown accustomed to growing up.”

“What, you got beat up by girls on a daily basis?”

“No!” Edd retorted, but then changed his mind a bit sheepishly. “Or rather, just that one. She could have been a wrestling champion. I never stood a chance.” Slowly Edd’s heart rate returned to normal. The initial scare Marie gave him had worn off. So long as Nazz kept the obnoxious girl distracted, Edd would be okay.

Nat’s hands were still on Edd’s arm as he turned it this way and that, checking for marks. Edd felt as though his arm had been thoroughly examined but Nat still wouldn’t let go. Edd swore, if Nat frowned any harder, his face would elongate. “She makes me so angry, strutting around like she owns the place. I don’t know what Nazz sees in her.”

Nat’s anger seemed a little out of place, so Edd couldn’t help but giggle at the response. “You strut around like you own the place,” he pointed out.

“That’s because I do, sweetcheeks,” Nat grinned, finally relinquishing his grip on Edd’s arm. Edd rubbed the sore spot habitually, but the pain mostly subsided. Nat pointed to the girls who still had their arms around each other, their voices low. “You sure you don’t wanna ditch these two and just go out—the two of us?”

“We’re waiting for Kevin,” Edd pointed out. He even felt guilty just by saying his name. This crush thing had to stop. Now. “He’s the one who issued the initial invitation. It would be rude for us to abandon him.”

“Alright,” Nat agreed. It looked like he took great care in ducking his head just to make sure he kept eye contact with Edd. “But you owe me, okay? You and me. Dinner.”

“Okay?” Edd agreed, a little concerned as to why it was so important for them to have dinner without Kevin. The last thing he wanted to do was to come between Nat’s friendship with his roommate. It felt like something he needed to bring up with Nat before things got out of hand. “But why just us? Kevin should be just as welcome. He’s your roommate.”

Nat furrowed his brow. “Why are you so concerned about Kevin? Why can’t we just hang out—the two of us?”

Edd blushed hard without being able to stop himself. Even his ears felt hot. How could he say it was because he wanted Kevin to be around as much as possible without hurting Nat’s feelings? Nat was awesome but Kevin was just… he was Kevin. He made Edd’s insides squirm in a delightful way that was borderline unhealthy. “Because you’re both my friends, that’s why. I don’t want to come between you two.”

“You won’t come between us, trust me, as much as I’d like that,” Nat grinned a little as if he’d said a joke that only he understood. It took Edd a few seconds to realize what kind of innuendo Nat implied, but when he did, he wanted to hide under his hat even further. Edd had no idea what kind of facial expression he’d made at the comment because Nat stopped chuckling and became entirely serious, so it had to have been critical. “Oh, Double D, no…”

“No, what?” Nat couldn’t say Edd was thinking of the wrong thing, because Nat very much kept his mind in the gutter. Edd didn’t even need to know him very long to figure that out.

“Kevin’s not gay.”

“What? I know that! I didn’t… who said he was?” Edd stammered. The comment seemed to come out of nowhere. Did Nat think Edd assumed that because of his reaction to Nat’s sexual comment?

“That ass of his is tempting, you don’t have to tell me twice,” Nat admitted, “but I made the mistake of asking him first semester. I’ll admit, he’s good at rejecting without making you feel like a twat, though. Been besties ever since.”

“I wasn’t planning on asking him out,” Edd said, his anger rising up. “Why does everyone think that?” Was he that obvious? Never mind that he’d just received the information that Nat asked Kevin out at some point. Edd had no trouble believing that. He did take into account that Kevin still became friends with Nat in spite of it. That definitely bode well for Edd.

“Good,” Nat folded his arms. “It’s bad enough seeing that Marie chick physically hurt you. I don’t want to see Kevin emotionally hurt you.”

“Why does everything think I’m so fragile?!” Edd nearly shouted out of frustration. “I can handle myself—probably better than all of you combined. So what if I’m not as particularly gifted in social graces as others and so what if maybe I was a little happy about making friends here. It doesn’t mean I have to be in love with them!”

“Woah, woah,” Nat put up his hands in defense. “No one said anything about you being in love with him.”

“Who’s in love with who?” came Kevin’s familiar voice from the gymnasium doorway.

Edd turned around so fast, he thought he could hear his neck pop. “It’s ‘whom,’ Kevin. And no one. No one at all.” His heart rate picked up again and this time he was certain everyone else could hear it. Maybe if they looked at his chest hard enough, they could see his heart physically beating.

Could someone go into cardiac arrest just for being around someone? It was getting a bit out of hand. Edd wondered briefly if he should take something for his condition.

Nat wrapped an arm around Edd’s waist this time, instead of just his shoulder. The lower location felt a bit too intimate for Edd to write off as friendly. His spine tingled. “About time you showed up, bro! Let’s get this party started!”

Kevin stared daggers at the tiny gap between Nat and Edd that seemed to be getting even smaller. Edd really wished he could find a way to quickly change the subject before Kevin, who had changed out of his Basketball jersey into some jeans and a tank top, felt the need to act on his anger. The only reason Edd even assumed Kevin’s emotions was because he had a vein throbbing in his forehead that looked a bit worrying.

Before Kevin could do anything, he was knocked to the side by an eager Nazz. She wrapped her arms around his neck and bounced a bit. “Kevin!” she shrieked, giggling all the way. Kevin’s apparent anger subsided for the moment as he hugged Nazz back. “That was an awesome game! You could go pro!”

“Well, I don’t know about pro…” Kevin said with forced humility. Under normal circumstances, Edd would have called Kevin out for being the cocky jock, but in this case, he actually deserved the praise.

“Nazz has a point,” Edd spoke up. “With the way you play, I wouldn’t be surprised that you could make a career out of this. I was very impressed with your three-pointer.”

“Hah, you saw that, eh?” Kevin’s lip turned upward at the corner in a smirk. Edd wanted to point out that of course he saw it. Kevin had made sure he did, but he kept quiet. He didn’t want to make that moment in time out to be anything bigger than what it was. It could filed away in a mental folder labeled ‘things to think about at three in morning instead of sleeping.’

“Come on,” Nat whined. “Let’s go get some gruuub!” He shuffled Edd around a little bit. The jostling was enough to give Edd the fodder he needed to sneak away from Nat’s grip in a polite way. He didn’t mind the touching so much considering how fond he was for the other student, it was the fact that it was in front of Kevin. Nat said Kevin wasn’t in to guys, but he obviously had no problem with Nat. Maybe he had a problem with Nat acting like that around Edd… like maybe he thought Edd had a problem with it?

Oh, why did everything have to be so confusing! It was hard to predict the moves of everyone all the time. Humans didn’t always adhere to a pattern. Their social tendencies changed depending on the people around them. Kevin, for example, was a lot more accommodating when it was just the two of them. Now that Edd had Nat, Nazz, and Marie around, it was like Kevin wanted very little to do with Edd at all other than glare at Nat.

It was a bit disheartening.

But then again, they were all here for Kevin. He had to divide his attention equally amongst them. Except possibly Marie. She mostly glared at Kevin whenever Nazz got too close. She might have made a passing comment or two of the congratulatory sort, but she mostly kept her distance. Edd got the feeling that this group hung out a lot based on their interactions. He suddenly felt like an intruder rather than an outsider.

So when they began to make the trek to a restaurant off campus nearby, Edd found himself falling back a little just to watch the exchange between the four friends. Nazz and Marie were holding hands and Nat’s own hands were behind his head, stretching as he walked.

As for Kevin, he had his hands in the pockets of his jeans as he walked, a duffle bag slung over his shoulder. He smelled strongly of cologne—probably to mask the natural scent he’d acquired during the game. Edd was positive there were showers in the locker rooms, but Kevin might have been in a hurry to get to the group, so Edd understood. His walk was so casual: his shoulders a bit slumped and his stride slightly bowlegged. He’d opted to have his backwards red cap again and it gave him a bit of a boyish look despite the toned muscles clearly defined by his tank top. It was absolutely unfair for the rest of the world to miss out on the sight. In fact, Edd knew his body took over his brain the moment his eyes fell on the seat of Kevin’s jeans.

He averted his gaze quickly. It was so unlike him to admire anatomy like that but Kevin’s backside was just so…

No, Edd told himself. Don’t go down that path.

He distracted himself by honing in on the conversation. The four of them were discussing the proper way to pronounce ‘pecan,’ a rather dull topic. In reality, it was mostly Marie and Nat arguing over it with Kevin and Nazz laughing at the proceedings.

Suddenly Marie turned around and began walking backwards as she pointed at Edd. “You’re a genius, Double D. Which is it? PEE-can or Pe-KAHN?”

“It’s Pe-KAHN,” Nat answered for Edd before he could even open his mouth. “Tell her it’s Pe-KAHN, Double D. Bitch has no idea what she’s talking about.”

“I know a lot more than you, Mr. I-think-its-a-good-idea-to-go-skinny-dipping-in-zero-degree-weather,” Marie snapped.

“It was one time! Will you let it go?”

“Tell me, Goldberg. How many times did you have to whack off before your balls unfroze?”

“You know me. I never stop whacking off.”

“Ah, so it’s permanent blue balls, then,” Marie said smugly. This prompted another shouting match between the two of them and Double D became forgotten in the crossfire. He exchanged a helpless look with Nazz who gave him a bit of a shrug indicating that this was completely normal.

Edd expected to walk the rest of the way to the restaurant in wallflower mode, but a light brushing of his shoulder and a whiff of too-strong cologne sent his heart reeling again.

Kevin had fallen back away from the other three and adjusted his duffle bag so that it no longer separated the two of them. “Sorry about them,” he apologized. “It didn’t used to be like this. Only when Marie started showing up.”

“I can imagine,” Edd said, his throat suddenly dry. Why didn’t he bring a water bottle? “Marie was always an instigator.”

“Well, so is Nat for that matter. It’s like putting two bulls in a pen together,” Kevin chuckled.

“Yes!” Edd smiled in spite of himself. “Or beta fish!”

Kevin smiled back at him, and it made Edd feel warm all over. “Thanks for coming out, man,” Kevin said in a hushed voice. Edd could only just hear it over the argument in front of them. “It means a lot to me.”

“I wouldn’t miss it,” Edd replied truthfully. “Thank you for inviting me. I had fun.”

Kevin opened his mouth to say something, but quickly closed it. Edd really hoped they didn’t run out of conversation topics. He should have come a bit more prepared. Where had he misplaced his topic starter note cards? He couldn’t even think of any offhand, either. Kevin’s presence scrambled his brain.

Finally Edd blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. “What are you doing this weekend?”

Kevin made a strangled noise and Edd swore he saw at least the tiniest hint of red in his face, but it could have been flushed from the game, still. “Nothing, I guess. Studying. Why?”

“Just… curious,” Edd responded quickly. How could he say ‘Because I want to spend all of my time with you despite the fact that you’re making me question my cardiac health’ without sounding too desperate?

“Why, what are you doing?” Kevin prompted.

“I usually return home for the weekend. Someone has to keep Ed and Eddy on the right track.”

“Wow, I haven’t been back home since Christmas,” Kevin whistled a little and adjusted the strap of his duffle bag. “How are those losers?”

“As good as can be expected, I suppose,” Edd answered with a shrug. “I wish they were here sometimes. I miss them.”

“I know what you mean,” Kevin nodded. “I miss the others, too. Mostly Rolf. I was super bummed when he told me he wasn’t going here.”

Thinking about Ed and Eddy reminded Edd of Eddy’s initial plan: to con Kevin into getting him that internship. Oh, how the tables turned! Edd hadn’t planned on digging himself into a hole. At least he wouldn’t have to tell Eddy that part. All Eddy needed to know was that, yes, Kevin was getting him a letter of recommendation and no, it wasn’t hard at all.

“I’m glad you’re going here, though,” Kevin said suddenly. Edd almost stopped in his tracks. “Not just for helping me out. I mean. Um.”

As it turned out, Edd really did stop in his tracks. He scrambled to catch up, but Kevin already noticed. Edd had to quickly say whatever was on his mind in hopes of distracting Kevin of the mishap.

“I’m glad I’m here, too. Er, that you’re here. Going here, I mean. Not that you’re here, here, although in retrospect I’m glad you’re here, here, too because otherwise who would I be talking to?” Nailed it.

Kevin laughed, but it doesn’t sound mean at all. He sounded relieved, and it gave Edd cause for laughter as well. “You’re so weird, Double Dweeb.”

“Shall I retaliate with ‘It takes one to know one?’”

“Hah!” Kevin released a hand from his pocket and held his fist up for Edd. “I’ll let you have that one. Props.”

Edd stared at the fist for a second and remembered vaguely seeing this action somewhere before. The second he fist-bumped Kevin, it was like a door opened up. That was his defining moment. He knew then and there that he and Kevin had reached that bridge and crossed it. There was no doubt in his mind, now. He’d made it to the official friendship stage.

With Kevin beaming at him like he did at the game, and Edd reciprocating, nothing else in the world mattered. Edd really didn’t mind staying like that all evening if he could, but a harsh, “Hey!” ripped both him and Kevin from their miniature staring contest.

“C’mon, lovebirds. Hurry it up, will you? God, you walk like a half a mile an hour!” Marie’s shrill voice shouted over the distance. Edd hadn’t realized they’d fallen that far behind. He hadn’t been paying attention but now that he thought about it, he hadn’t heard Nat and Marie’s quarreling for a while.

“Hold your horses, will ya?” Kevin shouted back, but he didn’t make an effort to catch up. Instead he grinned and muttered toward Edd out of the side of his mouth. “Walk slower. It’ll piss her off more.”

Edd frantically looked from Marie to Kevin in a bit of a light panic. “Why would I wish to make her angry? I spent most of my childhood doing the exact opposite!”

“It’s cool,” Kevin cooed. “She’s all bark with Nazz around. Come on. Walk in slow-mo’ with me.”

Kevin’s confidence that Marie wasn’t going to come and pound their faces into the asphalt was reassuring to the point that Edd actually joined Kevin in a bout of immature slow motion running.

“That’s it,” Marie threw her hands in the air and began to storm off ahead of them. “I’m going ahead to the stupid restaurant and telling them not to seat you fuckers.”

“Come on and stop hogging Kevin, Double D,” Nazz sad tactfully. “He’s the man of the hour. You can’t get him all the time.”

“Yeah,” Nat added. “You can always come here and hog me. I won’t mind.”

Edd couldn’t contain his laughter any longer. It bubbled up from somewhere deep inside. How could he ever think he’d been an intruder? A fifth wheel? Why couldn’t he see his good fortune for what it was: four people who genuinely enjoyed his company?

With that in mind, Edd and Kevin joined the others the rest of the way to the restaurant: a 24-hour pancake house located just off campus. Some other groups of students also had the idea of eating out after the Basketball game and Kevin was called off several times to greet different groups of people and received congratulations.

In the mean time, Edd made sure to secure a booth for them. Nazz and Marie immediately sat down on one side, which left Nat and Edd to take the other. It wasn’t until after they’d put in their drink orders that Kevin reappeared.

Edd was sitting on the outside of the booth, fully prepared to grab an extra seat so that Kevin could sit at the head of the table, but Kevin surprised him by motioning for Edd to scoot over in the booth to make room for him. The next second, Edd found himself sandwiched between Nat and Kevin with zero space in between them.

As the night progressed, Edd began to lose sight of just how close the three of them had become. Kevin constantly bumped Edd’s foot by accident with his own and after the fifth time, he just left his ankle curled around Edd’s. Nat, on the other hand, blatantly threw his entire left leg over Edd’s right, crossing them at the knee instead of the ankle.

Edd felt like by the end of the night he was going to end up in a mass of tangled limbs, especially after Nat, at once point, made a spectacle out of offering Edd the first bite out of his brownie sundae. Kevin tried to get back at Nat by kicking him in the leg, only to kick Edd instead due to the complete mix-up of extremities. This caused Kevin to actually look under the table to see Edd’s poor abused legs and stand up quickly, face red as a tomato.

“What the hell are you doing?” Kevin blurted out, arms flailing at the site in front of him. With Kevin gone, Nat had taken to draping a protective arm around Edd’s shoulders as well. Edd wanted to crawl into a hole somewhere and never some out again.

“I thought we were being cozy,” Nat drawled, opting for a scoop of his brownie sundae. Even though Edd had just taken a bite from that exact spoon, Nat licked the ice cream off it in long, languid strokes. Edd looked away while Marie made very audible noises of disgust.

“I told you to be cool,” Kevin said through gritted teeth. Edd had heard him say that once before—when he first met Nat. What did that even mean? “I knew you’d do this.”

“Do what?” Nat asked. His tone wasn’t even mocking anymore. He’d stopped licking his spoon to give Kevin a serious look. “I’m not doing anything.”

“You’re all over him like an octopus,” Kevin pointed out. People were starting to stare. Edd tried to sink lower into the booth and just hide under the table. That was a nice, safe place to be. It was a good thing Marie and Nazz weren’t wearing skirts. But then Kevin addressed him directly. “Double D, are you okay with this?”

Edd could feel Nat tense around him just as he shrugged a bit. He’d had both Ed and Eddy practically lay on him, before, and Nat reminded him of both his friends combined. It really wasn’t so bad… and with Nat adjusting himself around Edd, it was actually much easier to sit in the booth than before when his shoulders were pressed up so far against his torso that he couldn’t hold a knife and fork. So, logically speaking, he was okay with the setup even though he much preferred Kevin to be his personal octopus instead of Nat. “I see no reason to be upset,” he said eventually.

“No reason?” Kevin questioned, his voice still rising.

“Kevin, sit back down. People are staring,” Nazz tried in a calming voice.

Kevin’s face was still red, but it seemed like it was more from anger than embarrassment. “I’m not sitting back down when that is happening next to me,” he motioned toward both Edd and Nat.

“Woah there,” Marie cautioned. “Nat pisses me off as much as the next guy, but don’t lump Double D in with that.”

“Thanks for your vote of support, Marie,” Nat deadpanned. Marie raised her middle finger at him.

Clearly confused, Edd thought he should probably explain something, but he had no idea how to begin. He should have moved out of the way. When Kevin wanted to sit down, Edd should have gotten up and sat in an extra chair, himself. He never should have just allowed Nat to drape himself over him, even if it proved to be a more efficient use of their booth space.

Desperate, Edd looked to Nazz for help but all she did was mouth the words ‘Tell him’ and nodded her head toward Kevin.

Edd had no idea what he wanted her to tell him. It couldn’t have been the obvious ‘but I like you’ secret. Now wasn’t the time. There probably wouldn’t ever be a correct time. This also made the second catastrophic situation Kevin had found Edd and Nat in, and that did not bode well for him. Kevin probably wouldn’t believe him a second time around.

“Kevin, I…” Edd began, trying to stall for some time. Then he made the mistake of turning to Nat for help.

Nat’s face was close—too close. Edd pulled back immediately out of reflex but it was too late. He knew all too well what it looked like. Anyone who could see the two of them would think they were cuddling—their faces inches away from each other. Edd’s eyes automatically moved across the light dusting of freckles on Nat’s nose and cheeks and then inevitably to his lips. He hadn’t meant to—they were just right there in front of him and impossible to ignore.

Edd swallowed, hard, the noise loud in his ears. The entire world was amplified in those moments as another surge of adrenaline coursed through him.

Everything happened at once.

The clanking of silverware. The slamming of a hand on the table. A tiny gasp from Nazz. A swift kick under the table from Marie.

And the brush of Nat’s lips on his own.

It was only a second, but a second proved more than enough. When Edd could finally take inventory of his surroundings, Kevin had already cleared the restaurant door having abandoned his food. Nazz and Marie were staring at him in what Edd could only assume was shock and not horror. And Nat…

Nat looked just as conflicted at Edd felt. “I didn’t mean to do that,” he said in a rushed, panicked voice. “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

All at once, Edd’s shell-shocked state disappeared. He de-tangled himself from Nat and pulled away quickly. “A good idea at the time?!” he shouted. People really were staring at that point.

“Don’t be mad?” Nat looked so tiny. It wasn’t even like him at all. His smarmy grin and once-permanent smirk were gone. “He’ll get over it. It was the shock.”

“Shock?” Edd repeated. “How’s this for shock?” And he stood up, mimicking what Kevin most likely did, and stormed out of the restaurant. He didn’t look back. Not once. He’d leave it up to the three of them to settle the bill. Although, he did make a mental note to pay Marie and Nazz back should they request it. It wasn’t their fault he’d gotten himself into this predicament.

It was his own fault. He knew it. If he’d only been more assertive. If he’d only been more confident that he wasn’t going to lose his new friends, maybe he wouldn’t be in this mess. He’d assumed that he had to make everyone happy, but he knew that couldn’t always be the case. In trying so hard to please both Kevin and Nat, his impassive behavior lost him both of them in one night.

As Edd ran back to the Honors College that night, all he could think about was that he’d set a whole new record for himself.

He’d managed to make two new friends, fall for one of them, and then lose both of them all in the span of one week.

He should get a gold star.

Chapter Text

Edd rarely went home on a Friday night, mostly because he hated driving tired.

Most weekends, Edd would get the appropriate amount of sleep Friday night before heading home to the cul-de-sac Saturday morning. The drive was easier in the morning, anyway. Night drivers had a tendency to scare Edd out of his wits—especially during such a late hour on a weekend night. He knew the drunk driving statistics and they never bode well for him.

But that night, Edd couldn’t stop himself. He didn’t even want to try. He made the entire walk back to his dorm room in the dark, packed, and left as quickly as possible. He didn’t want to chance running into Nat or Kevin again that night, or even in the morning. He needed to leave. Two hours of alone time in the car sounded like the perfect remedy.

That was until he reached the highway, and he immediately regretted his decision. At that point it was too late to turn around and Edd continued to press onward. He used the cruise control function on his Prius for the first time because he didn’t trust his own foot to keep the correct speed.

Edd had no idea if he should try to sort out the events of that night or not. After all, it had started out so perfectly! He thought he’d had enough glimpses of Kevin’s nicer side to last him a good long while, even if he and Kevin never spoke again after midterms.

All of the memories, even the ones that carried the tiny amount of hope Edd felt whenever Kevin smiled at him—each and every memory physically hurt him. He’d misread too many social queues. In his defense, however, how could he not? No amount of schooling prepared him for the dos and don’ts of the human courtship rituals. How was he to know which touches were allowed and which weren’t? Ed and Eddy licked him all the time, for heaven’s sake. At least Nat hadn’t licked him. Kevin might have blown a blood vessel.

Apparently what was acceptable at twelve was no longer acceptable at nineteen.

He knew he should have fought the feelings a little longer. It was so primitive how fast his body’s natural chemistry reacted to Kevin’s close proximity. For a few short days, Edd lost control of himself. He needed to take a mini vacation to get his mind sorted back into the proper place.

At least the initial deal with Kevin was sealed, right? Kevin got his notecard and his tutoring and Edd hopefully received a letter of recommendation from Kevin’s father, granted Kevin already relayed the news. What’s done was done. Edd couldn’t have his cake and eat it, too—wasn’t that how the saying worked?

After some time, his train of thought settled down and he felt well enough to turn on his radio, but every last song about heartbreak and unrequited or lost love hit a little too close to home and Edd had to change the station to something that didn’t play lyrical music. He settled on a classic station and tried to count the time signature changes and guess the key to keep his mind off the night’s earlier events.

Without realizing it, Edd began to grip the steering wheel so hard, his knuckles turned white and he was shouting over the timpani and strings.

“He can’t be homophobic! He accepted Nathan of all people! Nathan, who probably throws flirtations toward arthropods! So why can’t he show affection toward me? Am I too close of a friend? Am I, Kevin? If I was such a close friend why wait until Midterms to come to me for assistance? Huh? Why leave me in solitude for an entire semester and a half so that when you finally manifest yourself into my life I have no choice but to fall head over heels for your stupid, filthy, glorious face?!”

His chest tightened and he couldn’t even shout at the windshield anymore. It must have been raining because his vision became obscured, but the windshield wipers did nothing to help. It wasn’t until Edd blinked that he realized it wasn’t the windshield that was wet.

Embarrassed for no one but himself, Edd sniffed loudly and turned the radio up to either drown out his thoughts or amplify them. He didn’t care which.

-*-

Edd no longer wanted to be alone. By the time he reached the cul-de-sac, he completely avoided his own home and drove straight to Eddy’s house. It was nearing midnight at that point, and he didn’t want to risk waking up Sarah if he went to Ed’s. She was a Junior in High School at that point, two years below her brother and probably had her own fair share of worries. The last thing she needed was to be woken up by her brother’s sniveling friend.

Besides, Eddy’s room had a door that opened directly to his backyard. His room had always been ideal for late night excursions.

As Edd rounded the corner to Eddy’s backyard, he contemplated going to rap on the window as per usual, but he couldn’t even bring himself to do that. Instead, he opted to hit his forehead against Eddy’s door once and just let it hang.

A light shone through the blinds. It seemed Eddy was still awake. That didn’t surprise Edd at all. Midnight didn’t seem like such a late hour anymore.

Edd felt the door slide open underneath his forehead and he stumbled inside before Eddy could even invite him in properly.

“Double D!” Eddy exclaimed, immediately making an attempt to hold up his travel-worn friend. “I wasn’t expecting you until like noon tomorrow. Or two. Whenever I felt like getting up. You look like shit, though. You okay?”

“Not really, no,” Edd mumbled. With Eddy’s help he made it to the bed and sprawled across it. Eddy clearly hadn’t changed his sheets in a long time, but at that point Edd was too emotionally drained to worry about the millions of dead skins cells that were probably surrounding him.

“You wanna talk about it?” Eddy deadpanned. When Edd opened an eye to look at him, he looked strained like he wanted to help but had no idea how.

“Not really,” Edd opted to say. “I just need to sleep and I have no desire to be alone right now.”

“So….” Eddy said coolly, turning his hands in circles to coax more information out of Edd. “You’re just here to steal my bed? Because I’m not sleeping on the floor. You can move the fuck over.”

Edd rolled unceremoniously to the side and Eddy climbed into the bed next to him. Both of them were still fully clothed. Edd got the feeling Eddy slept like that, now, and normally Edd would feel extremely uncomfortable lying fully clothed under the covers but he had no energy left to even want to take off his shoes. If his insides felt uncomfortable, then his outside could, too. He’d just take the entire package.

“Your eyes are bloodshot,” Eddy commented as he tried to adjust the blankets and turned out the light, leaving only the dim glow of his lava lamp to illuminate the room. “You don’t have the plague, do you?”

Edd just shook his head and before he knew it, he curled himself around his best friend. Eddy reached an awkward hand up to give Edd a pat on his beanie like a dog and sighed. “Alright, whatever’s going on with you, you owe me an explanation in the morning, okay? And you’re making me breakfast for my trouble.”

While he didn’t answer outwardly, Edd made a telepathic promise that he was fairly certain Eddy received.

Why couldn’t all friendships be like this? Even though Eddy said one thing, his actions did another, but he was so easy to read. It may have come from over a decade of friendship but Edd knew he could always count on Eddy. He didn’t have to worry about Eddy getting the wrong idea or even second guessing Edd’s desire to just be with someone familiar. It was a nice change of pace.

The idea relaxed Edd enough to let him drift off into sleep.

-*-

When Edd woke up the next morning, it felt like he’d been hit over the head with a baseball bat. His eyes felt puffier than usual and his throat hurt like he needed to drink an entire lake.

Eddy was still asleep next to him so Edd peeled himself from the filthy bed and stumbled his way through Eddy’s room in the morning light.

Whoever came up with the phrase ‘things will look brighter in the morning’ clearly had their head on straight. Although, while things didn’t exactly feel one hundred percent better, Edd no longer felt like he wanted to listen to Adele and eat ice cream. In the metaphorical sense, of course. Instead, he felt energized—like he wanted to put together an entire ship in a bottle or re-alphabetize his bug collection by their Latin names.

Rather than act on impulse again, Edd forced himself to find a scrap of notebook paper in Eddy’s room and leave him a note.

‘Showering at home. Breakfast will be served at eleven. Thank you. –Edd’,

It was much easier to face his empty house in the morning. The familiarity and cleanliness helped remove all thoughts of alternating green and red hair. A quick shower would help relieve his mind even more….

Except it didn’t.

At some point during the repeat step of the lather, rinse, repeat process, Edd found himself squeezing the life out of his loofa and shouting at the tiled walls, but this time about Nat’s inability to keep his lips to himself and why he would think kissing Edd would be a good idea.

How had his life turned into a shouting match with inanimate objects? When had his emotions given him such turmoil that he couldn’t stop himself from wanting to stab at his chest with his fingers until his heart gave way? Why did everything have to hurt so bad and all at once? It had only been a week, but it was very nearly one of the happiest weeks of his life.

As Edd changed into some fresh clothing, he caught sight of his cell phone poking out of his school bag. He’d haphazardly thrown the offending piece of technology in the front pouch so that he wouldn’t have to look at it and be tempted to text anyone during his heightened emotional state.

Curiosity got the better of him and he made a swipe for his phone and swallowed hard at the number of mixed texts. Nazz sent him a few asking if he was okay and that if he wanted, she was there to talk if he needed it. He smiled a little at her thoughtful words, but then he saw Nat’s Contact Name underneath hers and the smile faded quickly.

It wasn’t that he was mad that Nat texted him. He was afraid. He had no idea what he would find when he opened the message, but he knew he couldn’t just ignore the problem until it went away. It was impossible.

FROM THE GREEN LOON: I’m sorry.
FROM THE GREEN LOON: Like. Totally sorry.
FROM THE GREEN LOON: Come on, you won’t talk to me. Kevin won’t talk to me. I have no one to talk to but Nazz and Marie gets pissed if I talk to her too much
FROM THE GREEN LOON: …granted Marie gets pissed all the time anyway.
FROM THE GREEN LOON: Come on, man. I miss you. I went to your dorm. Your cranky neighbor said you left.
FROM THE GREEN LOON: You know what? Fine. At least I apologized. I was man enough to do that. You can at least text me back with a letter or something to let me know you got my texts.

Nat’s train of thought was easy to follow, and the timestamps indicated he’d been worrying about Edd’s status all night. The last text indicated it was sent at three in the morning.

Edd couldn’t help but feel a little guilty about how he handled the situation. Now that he looked back on it, storming out probably wasn’t the best thing he could have done—coupled with the fact that he’d been a little dramatic on the car ride home didn’t help squash his embarrassment. At least he’d kept the theatrics to a minimum around Eddy. He hoped that he could use being travel-worn as an excuse for his nighttime intrusion.

He couldn’t even stay mad at Nat. After all, what was life without a little forgiveness? The fiasco at the pancake house wasn’t completely irreparable. Once everyone calmed down and spoke cordially, Edd was certain they could get past it—as soon as Edd cleared up the initial issue with Nat. Nat did, after all, take his pretend flirting too far and Edd needed to find a way to let Nat know that without throwing the entire blame on him.

Edd took a deep breath and began what he thought would be a simple text, but he ended up reading it over three or four times before hitting send.

FROM EDD: I accept your apology, but we need to discuss appropriate public behavior and what should be tolerated.

Slowly, Edd let out the breath he’d been holding and placed the phone in his pocket. He didn’t know how long it would take Nat to respond but considering he didn’t go to bed until at least three in the morning, Edd naturally assumed he would still be asleep.

It was nearing ten in the morning at that point and Edd needed to get started on breakfast for Eddy. He had a feeling Eddy would be a little late, and there was a good chance he’d bring Ed with him, so Edd made his way to the kitchen, donned his cooking apron, and set to work.

The buzzing from his pocket startled him just as he began to pull ingredients from the refrigerator. Edd quickly set down the milk and eggs and pulled his phone from his pocket as if it were on fire.

FROM THE GREEN LOON: YOU’RE ALIVE.
FROM THE GREEN LOON: Okay. Cool. No kissing in public gotcha.

Edd thought some people had selective hearing. Maybe they had selective reading comprehension as well.

FROM EDD: No kissing period. Or unwarranted touching.

FROM THE GREEN LOON: If you didn’t want me touching you, you could have said from the start.

Edd felt bad. He shuffled his phone back and forth between his fingers as he tried to think of the best way to tell Nat that touching was okay, but there was a time and a place for everything? It was the same way Edd could go home and curl up next to Eddy for a night and not worry about Eddy trying to kiss him the next day.

FROM EDD: There is fine line between friendly touching and inappropriate touching.

FROM THE GREEN LOON: Ah. So this is where the rejection actually happens, right?

So maybe Edd wasn’t particularly good at explaining.

FROM EDD: I’m afraid I don’t understand?

He forced himself to put the phone down so that he could start mixing the eggs and milk together to form a base for French toast, because if he thought too hard about this, he’d accidentally drop something. When his phone vibrated, though, he nearly dropped an egg, anway.

FROM THE GREEN LOON: Wow, a guy can throw himself at you and even kiss you and you’re still unclear of his motives?

Edd stared hard at the text on his phone. He read it over a few times just to make sure he understood properly. Was Nat saying…?

So all of those times he’d been pretending—all the times he’d made backhanded comments—they were real. Edd had actively allowed Nat to flirt with him, and probably flirted back, all without his knowledge. The realization hit him so hard he had to smack his own forehead just to keep himself from blacking out with embarrassment. This was a harsh lesson in thinking that everyone in the world acting as he did with Ed and Eddy.

FROM EDD: Perhaps I have made a few false assumptions of your character. Are you saying you find me attractive?

FROM THE GREEN LOON: Yes.
FROM THE GREEN LOON: Well. I also happen to find Robert Downey Jr. attractive but you don’t see me trying to kiss him do you?
FROM THE GREEN LOON: Although, I admit I probably would if given the chance…
FROM THE GREEN LOON: Whatever. Anyway. I like you, Double D. you’re a squeaky genius and have the best smile and I feel like we really hit it off, okay?

The texts came one after another in Nat’s usual fashion and with each text, Edd’s stomach twisted a little more.

No one had ever liked him before. Not like this. Not a genuine attraction.

Sure, he’d always hoped Nazz liked him like that, but after she never acted on his hopes, he let the idea fall by the wayside. Then there was Marie, but Edd didn’t exactly count her. Her attraction wasn’t exactly flattering as much as it was frightening.

And Kevin, well, Edd didn’t want to go there at the moment.

FROM EDD: … I don’t know what to say.

FROM THE GREEN LOON: I think this is a conversation that needs to happen in person. Can you come back to campus, please?

Edd wasn’t ready to go back. He knew he needed to talk with Nat but he still felt a little too emotionally compromised. He needed another night to think and to clear his head—especially with the new information. No, he’d have to make something up quick as an excuse to stay one more night.

FROM EDD: I promised my friends I would have dinner with them tonight. I’m coming back tomorrow.

FROM THE GREEN LOON: Tomorrow’s too far away! I have to deal with Kevin for another night and he won’t even look at me.

Edd’s heart caught again and he became so angry at the familiar reaction that he pounded himself hard in the chest to tell his heart who was the real boss. He had to admit, he was curious about Kevin’s state of mind. Seeing as Nat had to deal with him either way, Nat might have some answers Edd wanted.

FROM EDD: Do you have any idea why he’s still upset?

FROM THE GREEN LOON: Isn’t it obvious? He doesn’t want us together.

FROM EDD: Yes but why? He was fine with your sexuality. Could it be he doesn’t want you showing affection to me in particular?

FROM THE GREEN LOON: I told you. The guy has a hero complex with you. If he hadn’t told me he was straight when we first met, I’d be convinced he was in love with you.

Edd nearly dropped his phone. Oh, how he wished! But all the evidence pointed to the contrary!

FROM EDD: That’s absurd. Who in their right mind would be in love with me?

FROM THE GREEN LOON: Don’t make me answer that question.

Edd’s breath caught in his throat. There were so many questions and words and syllables going through his mind at that moment that he didn’t know how to respond. He could read the context clues well enough. How sad it was to be able to infer a more accurate reading from a text than from human speech.

His phone buzzed again as he was gawking awkwardly at it.

FROM THE GREEN LOON: Listen. Go do your thing with your pals. I’ll worry about Kevin. We’ll talk tomorrow.

FROM EDD: Understood. Until tomorrow, then.

FROM THE GREEN LOON: Until tomorrow, Double Dreamboat.

When Edd set the phone down for the last time, he felt like he was in a daze. Had that really just happened to him? Had Nat just confessed something so private that Edd felt even he had eavesdropped on his own conversation?

Suddenly making breakfast felt like an automatic response and Edd was thankful for the distraction. In just a few short minutes, Ed and Eddy would be over and Edd had to present himself as a perfectly capable and competent friend.

He didn’t know how much of this school drama he could relate to the two of them, but he hoped they could help by at least distracting him with their laughter and affinity for zombie movies.

-*-

Spending quality time with Ed and Eddy turned out to be the exact remedy Edd needed. Because the physical change between Edd from the night prior to the morning after had been so extravagant, Eddy didn’t need a better explanation than the fact that Edd was travel-worn and weary from a long day at college.

Edd graciously accepted the hug Ed offered him and even did his best to hug back even if he felt as though his elbows would snap at any second.

It was actually Ed’s idea to watch a movie—some B-movie he found at a thrift store. It had aliens in poorly sewn costumes, but Edd absolutely adored it. The generic plotline and questions some B-rated movies raised tended to help Edd overlook budget cuts and production value.

He made sure to sit in between his friends and allowed Ed to eat most of the movie popcorn. It was like a healing process Edd had no idea could be so effective. In fact, it was several hours later before Edd even realized he’d even been sad in the first place.

Eddy suggested they break out a bottle of Edd’s father’s tequila. Edd offered his usual objections, but he knew that no matter what argument Eddy gave him, he would become persuaded anyway.

As it turned out, all Eddy needed to say was, “Come on, Double D! Aren’t you supposed to be living the college life? You gotta get drunk man! Really live it up! Drink with us!”

Ed laughed right along with Eddy and began chanting, “Drinking! Drinking!”

Edd though that, for good measure, he should object a little more, but he decided against it. He hoped something hilarious would come out of the night—like perhaps Ed running around the cul-de-sac in the nude again and scaring Rolf’s chickens.

However, half a bottle of tequila later, Edd discovered just how wrong he’d been. Sure, Ed and Eddy were having a blast. Eddy found Edd’s mother’s stash of romance novels and began reading out loud from some of the steamy bits while Ed tried to re-enact them with himself, which mostly ended with him shirtless on the floor and rubbing his nipples.

The concept of romance, however, only brought Edd’s mind back to the problem he’d been shutting out all day. He found himself sitting in the center of his couch, staring off into space and slowly taking drinks from one of Sarah’s extremely old toy tea cups they were using as shot glasses. What they were actually having was a super pathetic version of an adult tea party.

He should be studying, he thought to himself. His original plans for this weekend were to prepare himself for the coming week. Why did all this mess have to happen right before midterms? Now he wouldn’t be able to concentrate on his tests. And really, drinking was something he shouldn’t have been engaging in, anyway, considering he was probably losing some much needed brain cells.

Ed was the first to pass out, probably because by the time he reached the floor during one of his re-enactments, he couldn’t be bothered to get back up and said, “Night night,” before erupting into snores.

“Hahaha!” Eddy laughed hysterically and pointed out Ed’s state, even though Edd could clearly see it for himself. “Look at lumpy! Hey, Double D. Watch this!” Eddy disappeared for a moment and reappeared with a permanent marker. In a matter of seconds, Eddy managed to cheer Edd up again by drawing all over the sleeping Ed’s face. Edd couldn’t contain a soft giggle.

The sound Edd made stopped Eddy from drawing a face on the penis he’d just drawn on Ed’s forehead. Eddy looked upward, swayed a little in his inebriated state and slowly put the cap back on the marker.

“Okay. Ed’s fast asleep. Talk to me, sockhead. You’re not yourself. You haven’t been yourself since you came home. I wasn’t going to say anything around lumpy, but now you’re pissing me off.”

Of course, Edd could read Eddy like a book, even while bogged down by alcohol. When Eddy said Edd was pissing him off, it really mean he was worried. Edd smiled in spite of himself, but stuck but his initial statement of pretending to be fine. “It’s nothing, Eddy.”

“Double D, we’ve been friends for years. Probably our entire lives,” Eddy drawled. He left Ed snoring on the floor and sat next to Edd on the couch. Although rather than sitting, Eddy looked more like he was lounging like a Roman Emperor. “Dude, I’ve seen you naked. More than once. That’s gotta mean something, pal.”

Oh, the follies of youth. “It’s just… drama with some friends at school,” Edd said eventually. It was the truth, at least. So long as he didn’t have to elaborate.

Eddy glared at him “Wait. What. Friends? Are you ditching us Double D?”

Ditching? Edd couldn’t help but feel a little angry and took it out on his cup by setting it forcefully down on its coaster—which also happened to be a plastic tea party saucer. “You can’t expect me to sit around on my thumbs all year long.” What, did Eddy just assume Edd wouldn’t be able to make any new friends, ever?

Eddy narrowed his eyes and pointed an accusing finger at Edd. “Yes, I totally can. Screw these new people, they ain’t worth your time.” Ah, well, that answered that question.

“They’re not exactly new,” Edd admitted. “It seems I’ve reconnected with not only Kevin, but Nazz and Marie.”

Eddy rolled his eyes and leaned back into the couch cushions further, like he’d forgotten why he was mad in the first place. “Well that’s your problem right there. Other than Nazz, that’s bad company.”

Edd shook his head. “Except it’s not, really. It’s… actually kind of nice company.”

“Okay, so what’s the big deal? You’re friends with a couple of suckers. So what?”

Edd turned to face Eddy dead on but didn’t say anything. He had no idea where to even begin. Should he spill his guts to Eddy, his best friend? His longest friend? Shouldn’t he be able to confess everything to him with confidence? What was holding him back?

Eddy stared back at him, his eyes unfocused from the alcohol. “I can’t read minds Double D.”

With a loud sigh, Edd pulled his hat over his face, so his words became muffled in the fabric of his beanie. “I think something is wrong with me.”

“Uhhhh,” Eddy sounded lost, like maybe he hadn’t expected Edd to actually come out and say what was bothering him. Edd figured he’d have to explain a little bit more to get his point across without revealing to Eddy the true nature of the problem—out of embarrassment on his part, he decided.

Oh well, there was no time like the present, right? He could at least get half the truth off his back. “It appears as though one of Kevin’s friends, his roommate, if you will, seems to have made me the object of his affections,” Edd said sheepishly. Perhaps the tequila helped a little with the honesty, or perhaps the comfort of hiding under his hat also helped.

Eddy made a choking noise and Edd had to peek out from under his beanie to make sure he was okay. Eddy was biting his bottom lip hard to keep from laughing, but in the end, the laughter won and he guffawed loudly, waking Ed up in the process.

“DON’T TAKE MY FACE, BRAIN SNATCHERS!”

“Eddy!” Edd chastised. “You’ve woken up Ed!”

“Ah who cares, this is comedy gold,” Eddy waved off Ed’s frantic waving around as simply background noise. “So some guy’s got the hots for you, eh? You should get him to buy you things. Is he rich? See if he’ll get you some sneakers. Size 10.”

Edd wasn’t sure what he expected out of Eddy, but he was suddenly glad Eddy turned the problem into something to joke about rather than make it seem worse than it probably was. But still, Edd had some dignity… and Nat was still considered his friend.

“I’m not using him to buy you things, Eddy.”

“Such a waste.”

“Double D has a sugar daddy?” Ed asked, rubbing the drunken sleep from his eyes. He still hadn’t moved from his spot on the floor. He chose to spin himself around in circles with his feet, instead.

“No, Ed,” Edd corrected his friend, probably a little too cordially for the amount of tequila he’d had that night. “We’re just friends.”

“Then just relax,” Eddy reassured him by nudging his side with his foot. “If you don’t like him back, then don’t worry about it. Let him pine for you. I’m just saying, you should get as much out of this as possible.”

“Is that why you look so sad, Double D?” Ed inquired of the ceiling. It seemed even his eyes didn’t want to move.

Edd’s mouth dropped open. He needed to learn to stop wearing his heart on his sleeve. Eddy just laughed beside him, reached forward, and took a hold of Edd’s teacup of tequila. He waved it around in Edd’s face and taunted a bit. “Drink up and cheer up, buddy boy. Things could be worse. I can always make you drunk dial him.”

Edd took a hold of his drink cup but before he bought the amber liquid to his lips, he paused. “While we’re in honesty mode,” he began. “This situation does not bother you guys? That someone of the male persuasion has taken a shining to me?”

“Why should it?” Eddy slurred. “It’s not like you’re gay for him, right?” He reached for the bottle of tequila on the coffee table.

“Hypothetically speaking… if I were?”

Eddy didn’t even think about it. He just shrugged and took a big swig of the tequila, straight form the bottle. “Whatever. If he breaks your heart I’m kicking his ass either way.”

“Martians do not have a gender,” Ed added. “They choose their mate by the prettiest antenna.”

Edd had to laugh at Ed’s comment. The words may have been nonsense, but the message was clear: his friends were still his friends to the end. The warmth spreading throughout his body could have been the love for his friends or the alcohol, or possibly both. Edd didn’t care which. All he wanted to center on was the fact that his friends had his back. He could drink to that. So he did, by downing his entire teacup.

“On that thought,” Edd sputtered, once the burning cleared his throat. “I may have found a Martian with the prettiest antenna around.”

“Oh yeah?” asked Eddy. “Who’s that? Kevin’s roommate?”

“Negative,” Edd said, setting his teacup down as gracefully as possible. He still missed the saucer entirely. “It’s Kevin.”

Eddy choked as he tried to take a drink from the bottle again and had to dribble alcohol all down his chin. “What?”

“Ah,” Ed nodded sagely from the floor. “Kevin does have a pretty antenna. Good choice, Double D.”

Chapter Text

“Kevin?!” Eddy repeated. His voice took on an extra octave in his shock.

Edd’s smile faltered slowly as the realization that maybe they’d hit a snag in their friendship dawned on him. “Eddy, you said you were okay with—“

“Yeah, but KEVIN!?” Eddy interrupted him. “He’s a world class jerk! He’s…” Eddy stopped as a realization of his own swept across his features. “This isn’t about that roommate. This is about you and him, isn’t it. What’d he do to you?”

“Nothing! Nothing at all!” Edd answered immediately, but the look Eddy gave him cut daggers through his mental resolve and he deflated. He sank low into his couch cushions, envious of Ed who still remained on the floor, as cool and collected as ever. “Kevin may have witnessed his roommate placing some unwanted flirtations on me and I don’t think he took it very well.”

Eddy leaned so far over Edd it was like he’d turned into a hound dog and needed to sniff Edd just to see if he smelled like a liar. He reeked of tequila, but then again, so did the entire room. “You looked like someone punched you in the soul last night, Double D. You can’t just recover from something like that.” Eddy jabbed him hard in the chest, causing Edd to wince. “What. Did. He. Do?”

“Nothing!” Edd shouted toward the ceiling. He could see Ed jump from his spot on the floor through his peripherals. “It’s unrequited!”

Eddy leaned back, satisfied with his answer. He took hold of the tequila bottle once more and filled Edd’s teacup to the brim. “You show up on my door step at ass o’clock at night just because Kevin doesn’t want to play kissy face with you?”

“It sounds so childish when you put it like that,” Edd murmured.

“Kissy face!” Ed exclaimed from the floor. He sounded like he was half asleep again.

“Just pass out already,” Eddy shouted at their floor-bound friend. “Drunkard.”

“I don’t want to go to sleep, Eddy,” Ed whined and began to roll back and forth a little. “I want to stay up and love you guys, too.”

“If he won’t pass out, I will,” Edd mumbled. It was his impression that the alcohol mainly amplified current feelings rather than let him forget his troubles. The happiness he’d been using as a mask quickly dissolved under the influence of the tequila so that the overwhelming sense of loneliness came to hit him full force. Never mind that he had a handful of friends who looked out for him. In his inebriated state, the only person’s opinion that mattered was Kevin’s and Kevin didn’t want him. He just wanted to wallow in his misery and selfishness or possibly eat an entire bag of Oreos—whichever came first.

“Nuh-uh,” Eddy said quickly rejecting Edd’s completely rational offer of wanting to go to sleep before he depressed himself even further. He held up the teacup shot glass of tequila. “You’re finishing this shot and we’re coming up with a game plan.”

“Game plan!” Ed yelled. “I will get the chalk!” He started to move his feet, but it only resulted in him pushing himself around in a circle.

“I don’t feel like making a game plan, Eddy,” Edd said, refusing the teacup had Eddy tried to offer him.

“You need this, Double D.”

“Our plans never work.”

Eddy slung a comforting arm around Edd’s shoulder. “You’re a genius, Double D. I know you’ll make it work.”

“Fine.” Edd let out a sigh and took the shot Eddy offered him. It was a little larger than he’d anticipated and had to give himself an extra second to keep it down. When he’d recovered, he winced at Eddy, “What did you have in mind?”

“It depends,” Eddy said sagely. “Which would you prefer: to forget Kevin ever existed to put you through this misery or… Revenge.” He hesitated before finally adding, “Or option C, which I don’t recommend, considering.”

“Dare I ask the nature of Option C?”

Eddy lowered his voice to a mutter, like he couldn’t believe he’d been forced to say the words. “Operation: Get Kevin to Like You.”

Edd’s eyes lit up a little. It was slow going, thanks to the sluggishness of the tequila, but they lit up nonetheless. “I like that option.”

“I thought you might,” Eddy sighed.

Edd couldn’t stop himself. He launched himself at Eddy in a kind of horrible hug that ended up with him half laying on top of the shorter teen. He rubbed his face deep into Eddy’s shirt as a sign of gratitude because in his current state, it seemed like the perfect thing to do at the time. He could feel his eyes stinging. “Thank you, Eddy!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Eddy tried to brush him off. “But if he so much as looks at you wrong and I hear about it, so help me I will gank my dad’s car and run him the fuck over.”

“Duly noted,” Edd sniffed.

“Chalk, chalk, chalk,” Ed chanted. He’d been saying the word like a mantra the entire time Ed and Eddy went over the game plan and continued to push himself in a circle. “If you be X’s Double D, I will be the O’s.”

-*-

As Edd made his way back to campus, he could feel his insides slowly liquefying. He didn’t want to think back on the last conversation with his friends, but mostly out of embarrassment. Ed and Eddy had given him quite a wonderful farewell, but they left a lot of ideas in his mind that Edd didn’t particularly wish to use.

He shuddered as he couldn’t help remembering the slew of schemes Eddy cooked up.

At first Eddy brought up the idea that Edd needed to redo his image, because when Ed did it years ago, Kevin seemed to like it. Edd rejected the idea outright saying that would place too much pressure on him and even then, Kevin wouldn’t even like the real Edd and where was the point in that?

Eddy had a few more ideas and Edd turned down all of them for completely valid reasons—until Ed shouted out from between the two of them: “When the Galactic Empire needed to sway the rebellious floppy-eared aliens into submission, they took all their crops away.”

Eddy had been confused, but Edd knew right away what Ed meant, and he really couldn’t be bothered to explain it to Eddy, mostly because he refused to take that option as well. Eddy refused to back down with his begging, so Edd finally complied.

“He means jealousy, Eddy.”

“What?”

“Ed means jealousy: meaning I take away Nat from him. There are too many variables, however! What if it’s not me he sees, but Nathan! And I cannot possibly lead Nathan on like that! It may be in your nature, but not in mine.”

“Just do it, scaredy cat. You have no ambition.”

“This is going to go so wrong.”

“Why?”

“The last scheme you had me do, I ended up falling for Kevin in the middle of it and that’s the whole reason why we’re here in the first place!”

“Yeah, but you got that internship, right?”

“I suppose…”

“So it was a success! Listen, Double D: you can either do this or be a sad sap forever, what’s it gonna be?”

Eddy’s last words echoed back and forth in Edd’s mind until the formed a word soup of just the phrase, “sad sap,” over and over. It had been so easy to become enthusiastic about the plan’s success around Eddy, but now that he was alone on campus, things looked bleak. How could he even begin? Should he go straight to Kevin’s room? Should he text him?

Until Edd figured out what to do, he wanted to simultaneously ignore and search out Kevin. It was like Kevin existed both in a state of being wanted and unwanted and both options had to remain true until such time as Kevin actually appeared and Edd could figure out for himself which outcome prevailed. It was like some horrible rendition of Schroedinger’s Cat.

In the end, the decision happened to be made for him. The moment he pulled up to a parking space, he could see Kevin, not too far away, working on his bike. He wasn’t so much repairing it as he was cleaning the surfaces, but Edd found himself holding still with the car on idle as he watched safely from behind his windshield.

Kevin had on a sleeveless shirt and old, dirty jeans. A spare blue wipe cloth used specifically for grease and wax hung out of his back pocket which really did nothing more than draw Edd’s eyes toward the subject. Was it possible to feel self-conscious about staring when no one would know but him? The way Kevin moved, as he wiped down his bike in slow, fluid strokes, made his muscles contract and relax in such delicate ways. His lean form made him a perfect subject to locate the origin and insertions of each muscle group. He was beautiful.

Edd rested his forehead against his steering wheel to calm down. Beautiful? When had he sank so low that he’d resorted to such adjectives to describe Kevin? Kevin—the cul-de-sac jock with the anger management issues? Beautiful?

Without even needing to look up again, Edd knew it was true. He could sit in the safety of his car and watch Kevin all day, but he knew, at some point, he’d have to explain himself. Maybe his situation would parallel Nat’s? Kevin would just reject his feelings and they could get on with their friendship like nothing ever happened? It seemed to work very well for Kevin and Nat, at least until recently, Edd assumed.

Finally, Edd grabbed his school bag, took a deep breath, counted to three, and forced himself out of his car. He gave a great effort in attempting to close the door to his car without making a sound, but he’d failed to put in to account his alarm system. As soon as the door was closed and locked, his car let out a loud double-beep to indicate his alarm was in place.

Edd cringed. He knew then he’d been spotted.

When he didn’t hear his named called out, he opened one eye and peered around. Kevin was still working on his bike like he hadn’t heard a thing. Maybe he ignored the alarm?

Or maybe he was still ignoring Edd.

The thought made Edd feel a little childish. For Kevin to blatantly ignore him felt a little underhanded and petty—like they were teenagers instead of on their way to adulthood. Edd decided it was up to him to become the better man and marched right over to Kevin and his precious bike.

“Waxing in a circular motion will cut down on the streaks leftover by residue,” Edd offered.

The muscles in Kevin’s shoulders tensed and he paused in his ministrations. “Double D,” he greeted slowly before going back to work—deliberately running his wipe cloth from side to side.

“Kevin, your blatant disregard for advice clearly shows you have some—“

“Just can it, Double D. Don’t you have shit to do?”

Edd breathed in slowly and evenly, and by the time he exhaled, he’d managed to sit down on the ground next to Kevin. He crossed his legs and set his bag down beside him. It was much easier to speak to Kevin when they were relatively on the same level. “I have quite a few things to do, thank you very much. Speaking with you is one of them.”

Kevin didn’t stop working. “Oh yeah? What if I don’t want to talk to you?”

“I don’t believe that,” Edd said quietly. Really, the moment he came over to Kevin, it was like his anxieties flew off with the wind. He knew what he wanted to do and that was to make amends with Kevin in any way possible. No amount of social anxiety could stop him from accomplishing that goal. Eddy had been wrong, Edd had plenty of ambition once he got started. “If you didn’t wish to speak with me, you would be trying much harder to be rid of me.”

“Good point,” Kevin scoffed. He stopped waxing long enough to turn toward Edd and say, in what Edd thought was a very convincing voice, “Go. Away.”

Edd swallowed hard. Kevin made eye contact. They hadn’t made eye contact since Friday night when the two of them walked together to the pancake house. The effect it had on Edd was astonishing, if a little physical. They were so close—close enough that Edd had to make a conscious effort in keeping his eyes connected with Kevin’s as opposed to flicking downward toward his lips. The point of this exercise wasn’t to woo Kevin, but to regain their friendship. “I cannot do that, Kevin,” Edd said at last.

“And why’s that?” Kevin spat.

“Because I would very much like to fix this. I would like to repair our earlier altercation so that we could remain friends.”

For a moment, a brief moment, Kevin’s eyes softened, but he quickly steeled his expression back to one of anger. “I talked to my dad, yesterday. You have an interview with him Tuesday to get your stupid letter. We don’t need to be friends.”

“You are correct,” Edd murmured slowly, hoping that Kevin would listen to him. “I do not need to be your friend—“

“Then get out of my face!” Kevin’s voice rose.

To keep up with Kevin’s volume, Edd had to shout loud enough to cut off the redhead. “I want to be your friend!”

Kevin seethed, his motorcycle completely forgotten. “Aren’t you all buddy-buddy with Nat?”

“I’m not allowed to have both of you as friends? Or have you forgotten I’ve spent most of my life as part of a trio? These things come naturally to me.”

Edd words must have finally had an impact on Kevin because his face lost the red tint and his shoulders relaxed a bit. “You think of us like that? Like those dorks—those guys back home?”

Edd nodded. “I am not lying when I say I enjoy your company and the company of your roommate. I have been very grateful for the past week and I admit I have thought of both of you as more than just a study group.”

“So let me get this straight,” Kevin said as he adjusted himself on the ground directly in front of Edd. “You and Nat are just friends?”

Edd nodded once more in quick succession. It was nice having Kevin ask all the questions. It made his own job much easier.

Kevin leaned in a little and continued in a hushed tone, “You’re not…” He then proceeded to make a very obscene gesture that involved his index finger and fist.

The blood couldn’t rush to Edd’s face fast enough as he shook his head furiously. “No, No! Not at all!”

The laughter that erupted from Kevin’s mouth couldn’t have been more sudden. He leaned back on his hands and just let his laughter roll upward into the sky. Edd watched him in awe, his eyes glued to the bouncing of Kevin’s chest and shoulders. “You should probably tell Nat that, because, man. Wow. Let me tell you a thing or two about Nathan Kedd Goldberg.”

“You don’t have to explain,” Edd told him. “I already know.”

“What, about me and him?” Kevin pointed to himself.

“Er,” Edd stopped. The way Kevin put it sounded like there may have been something Nat left out. “Perhaps not… he only told me you rejected him.”

“Well, yeah,” Kevin shrugged. “We tried a thing, it wasn’t my thing, so we ended the thing.”

As vague as Kevin’s explanation had been, it was more than enough for Edd to get the general feeling. For clarification purposes, however, he felt the need to ask dozens of questions. Was that allowed? If Kevin wanted to explain, he would have, right?

In the end, Edd settled on, “Nathan said you were heterosexual.”

“Nathan,” Kevin teased, using his roommate’s full-name in the way Edd did. “Tried to get in my pants last semester and I told him to fuck off.”

Edd’s mind was reeling with Kevin’s version of the information. Edd had been under the impression that Nat had asked Kevin out and was rejected based on Kevin’s sexuality. Had that not been the case? “Just to clarify,” Edd spoke up, wanting to get every fact as accurate as possible. “Can you explain a bit… please?”

“Well, that was a bit rough, but what else is there to explain? Nat’s a cool guy, don’t get me wrong. He’s just not my type. We’re better off friends,” Kevin grinned a little, his mood obviously taking a much better turn. “Speaking of, I owe him an apology.”

“So then are you…” Edd’s next question caught in his throat. He wanted to ask Kevin so badly, but it still wasn’t really any of his business. He just wanted it to be. Badly.

Kevin sat up again and brushed his palms off on his jeans. “Am I what? Straight?” his mouth quirked upward at the corner as Edd nodded. “To be honest, I don’t even know what I am. I just know who I like.”

“Ah,” Edd understood—a little. His questions were really only being half-answered, but he at least had a better understand of the situation than before and that was all he could ask for. He could always try to ask Kevin who it was that he liked, but again, if the answer was anyone other than himself, he’d be heartbroken and Edd wasn’t about to put that feeling on himself again. Instead, he wanted to be sure about one more piece of information. “This means we’re friends again, correct?”

“Yeah,” Kevin’s grin lit up his face and he held out his hand. “Friends.” Edd reached his own hand out to shake Kevin’s, but Kevin gripped his wrist and tugged him forward in an awkwardly uncomfortable shoulder hug that mostly consisted of Kevin patting Edd hard on the back twice. “And next time Nat tries to make out with you, you can punch him in the face. He’ll bounce back.”

Edd cringed. “Is that what you did? Punched him in the face?”

“Nah, we actually kissed for a while, but it didn’t do anything for me, so I told him and we went to the arcade instead to let out our frustrations on Marvel vs. Capcom III.”

Edd covered his mouth quickly as an unwarranted giggle tried to escape. “That is the exact opposite of what I thought took place.”

Kevin raised his eyebrows. “Yeah? Not everything’s a soap opera. That’s too much effort.”

“Yes,” Edd agreed. If that weekend had been any indication on how much effort was involved in starting unwanted drama, then Edd never wanted to live a soap opera life. Ever. He really should have just stayed and waited out the weekend—especially if it was going to be this easy to make amends. On the bright side, however, he’d let the cat out of the bag to Ed and Eddy and they’d been supportive of him. Now, at least, he was allowed to text them about any goings on and not feel bad about it. It was like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

Having reached some sort of conclusion, Kevin turned his attention back to his motorcycle. This time, Edd noticed, he moved his hands in a circular fashion. Edd watched him for a little while, wondering if maybe he should get up and leave, but the weather was so nice and he’d finally reached some kind of understanding with Kevin and he really didn’t want to go anywhere. He wanted to stay and enjoy the company while he could.

“You know,” Kevin said so suddenly, Edd jumped a little. “Nat did almost the exact same thing to both of us.”

“I did notice the parallel, yes.” Where was Kevin going with this?

“Not that it’s any of my business, but you did let him down gently, right?”

A pang of realization hit Edd like a ton of bricks. It was a feeling akin to realizing he’d left the oven on. “Er…”

Kevin’s attention focused directly at Edd. “He knows you’re not interested?”

“Well…” Had he even told Nat no? He never flat-out said to Nat that he wasn’t interested. In fact, he never even told Nat he was interested in Kevin. He’d accidentally left everything up in the air and Nat could very easily interpret things the way he wanted. In the end, Edd had to settle for admitting it out loud. “I don’t know.”

“Double Dork!” Kevin groaned. “This is Nat we’re talking about here! If he thinks he has a chance with you, he’ll—“

Kevin was cut off by the chime of Edd’s cell phone. Edd felt all the blood drain from his face when he recognized the notification sound to be the one he’d assigned to Nat.

Edd pulled out his phone and felt a pool of dread forming in his stomach. He hadn’t meant to lead Nat on—not at all. He wasn’t used to this much less painful approach to courting. It had been easy to refuse Marie because she’d been so forceful. Nat’s feeling snuck up on him.

FROM THE GREEN LOON: Today is tomorrow, hot stuff. I’m at the Peach Tree. I have something for you.

The message could be completely innocent, but Edd had been treating all of Nat’s messages as completely innocent and it had gotten him into a much larger mess than he’d anticipated. He had to assume, now, that anything Nat said had to have a deeper story behind it, and as he read and re-read the text, he tried to find it.

“Did Nat text you?” Kevin asked.

Edd slowly nodded.

Kevin sounded a little irritated. “You have Nat’s number? Actually, you know what, I don’t even know why I was surprised. What’d he say?”

“He wants to meet me at the Peach Tree,” Edd said quietly.

Kevin’s bottom jaw jut out a little, like maybe he was grinding his teeth, but in the end, he sighed and stood up before holding out a hand for Edd to help him up. “You should go, but you need to tell him.”

When Edd took Kevin’s hand, the other boy didn’t let go, even after Edd stood up. Kevin gripped Edd’s hand firmly, even as Edd hastily agreed. “I’ll tell him, I promise.”

“Good,” Kevin said, his voice wavering only a tiny bit. Edd wouldn’t have noticed if he hadn’t been so fine-tuned into Kevin’s every movement for the past fifteen minutes. “I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“It’s funny,” Edd said suddenly, remembering. “Nat said the same thing to me, but about you.”

Kevin let go of Edd’s hand abruptly. “Me?”

Edd could feel himself blushing and he wished he would voluntarily stop it. He’d accidentally given out too much information. Hopefully Kevin wouldn’t connect the dots. “Probably in reference to our turbulent past, yes?” Edd remedied, quickly. “I mean to say, we haven’t always been friends.”

“Yeah,” Kevin said, but his heart didn’t seem in it. He was giving Edd such a strange stare that Edd felt increasingly uncomfortable. Suddenly he was very glad for the excuse Nat had given him to leave.

“So, I suppose… I shall see you later, Kevin?” Edd asked politely as he backed way. Kevin continued to look at him in a new kind of wonder. Edd could practically see the gears turning in his head.

“Yeah, dude,” Kevin gave him a tiny wave. “Hasta luego.”

Edd hurried down the path toward the Peach Tree without stopping. He didn’t even need to turn around to know that Kevin watched him until he was out of sight. He could feel the stare burning on his shoulder blades. Just what was going on in that mind of his?

If the phrase ‘caught between a rock and a hard place’ needed to be used, it would have been at that moment. Edd felt like he was running from one uncomfortable situation to the next. To make matters worse, Edd’s phone chimed again, but this time it was Eddy.

FROM EDDY: How’s that plan coming along, loverboy?

Edd groaned loudly. Eddy’s plan may have been a good idea for all of two minutes, but now the tables had been turned. He’d gotten Kevin back on his side so there was no need to make him jealous, right? Besides, he’d already told Kevin he wasn’t interested in Nat, so any and all scheming on Eddy’s part had been for naught. He hastily punched in a text to Eddy as he walked to the Peach Tree.

FROM EDD: Mission aborted.

FROM EDDY: LAME! You’re such a baby. Let me handle this.

FROM EDD: Eddy, don’t you dare! That is not necessary!

FROM EDDY: Too late. You can thank me, later.

Edd wanted to stop and scream at the walls and rip out his hair. If one thing went wrong, it all went wrong. So much for him feeling better about anything because everything decided it was going to fall apart on him at the same time. What in sam-hell did Eddy do?

Seriously, he thought, how was this his life?

Chapter Text

It was a beautiful spring day on campus at Peach Creek University. Birds choked on leftover potato chips and the odd squirrel hoarded half-eaten hot dog buns in its home. Students bustled this way and that as they visited friends in the dormitories or tossed a Frisbee around on the campus grounds. Spring days that weren’t filled with too much wind or rain were hard to come by, and everyone seemed to be taking advantage of the nice weather by trying to set up the perfect pose for a college brochure.

That was, of course, except for Edd. The world apparently made it its personal goal to hound Edd with as many problems as possible and all within the span of just a few short minutes. So while the rest of the universe merrily ran its course in wonderment and tranquility, a stormed raged inside of Edd’s mind.

There really was no other way to go than forward. He’d have to face every obstacle the cosmos threw at him. It might not even be that bad, he told himself. Maybe Eddy did something actually helpful for once.

Maybe.

As Edd rounded the corner, the Peach Tree came into view. It was a late Sunday afternoon, so the coffee shop was closed, but that didn’t stop students from utilizing the outdoor tables. Nat was impossible to miss—mostly due to the fact that he was the only person in the area. He had a package on the table in front of him. A couple of red vines hung from his mouth like tentacles as he typed away on his cell phone.

Seeing Nat caused Edd’s insides to twist a little. He shouldn’t be nervous about this! He and Nat had become fast friends. Surely their newfound friendship could survive a little budding attraction. He just had to let Nat down slowly and gently and try not to make anyone mad at anyone. Piece of cake.

Edd only had a few steps to go when Nat must have caught sight of his movement and looked up. His face immediately went from nonchalant concentration to genuine happiness as he stood up, tossed his half-eaten red vines to the side, and threw his arms out wide—and froze.

“Oh yeah,” Nat said as he began to wiggle his arms around like an octopus, probably to distract from the fact that they’d been poised and ready to give Edd a hug. “I forgot. The touching thing. I can hug you, right?”

Edd let out a puff of air he had no idea he’d been holding. Seeing Nat act like an idiot actually did wonders for his nerves. Before he knew it, he was laughing because the idea of Nat acting like an octopus just to get a hug from him suddenly seemed like the most hilarious thing on the planet, even if it was actually quite mundane. “Yes, hugging is acceptable, Nathan.”

“Oh, thank God. My arms were getting tired,” Nat sighed and made the final plunge into hug mode. Edd prepared himself for a usual greeting hug which normally consisted of an awkward shoulder touch and a gentle lean in, but Nat went way beyond the standard social graces. Both of Nat’s arms wrapped themselves completely around Edd’s neck and shoulders so that the front of their bodies were entirely flush. There was no room for even air between the two of them. Edd found he rather liked it. He could feel Nat’s feelings seep through the hug and while those feelings may not have been reciprocated, Edd appreciated them. He couldn’t help feeling a little out of place with having unrequited feelings for Kevin. At least Nat’s unrequited feelings could get him a good hug or two. All Edd got from Kevin was a hand-touch.

Why couldn’t humans pick and choose the people their heart desired? Attraction was such a funny concept. Studies tried to limit the formula to specific scents and physical chemistry. Just what was it about Kevin that made Edd want to be close to him—to hold him and find all the places on his body that would drive his endorphins wild? Just what was so different about Nat that made Edd want to keep their relationship at a clearly platonic level?

Even as they hugged, Edd pulled back a little to indicate that the appropriate amount of embracing time had passed, but Nat wouldn’t have it. He pulled Edd toward him again just for one more squeeze before finally letting go. “Thanks, man. I needed that.”

Edd only nodded. He could feel the guilt starting to eat at him. Nat seemed so happy after something as simple as an embrace. Oh, why did mutual attraction have to be such an unattainable concept! He sighed loudly and let his shoulders drop. “What a week.”

“Yeah, I’ll say,” Nat grinned and clapped Edd on the shoulder. Edd got the feeling they felt completely different about the past week. “Sit down, Sit down! You look stressed.”

“That may be an understatement,” Edd admitted, but he took his seat nonetheless.

Nat wasted no time in sitting in the chair beside Edd and began to scoot his seat as close to Edd as possible. The awful metal-on-concrete sound grated on Edd’s eardrums, causing him to wince. Before he could even say anything about it, Nat had finished moving and his knees were all but touching Edd’s. “You can talk to me about anything, man. Like anything at all. You got the Hershey squirts? Tell me. Not that I get off on that kinda thing, but I’m not a judge of anything. No siree.”

Edd stared at him, trying not to let the disgust show on his face. So unsanitary, and yet, he couldn’t help feeling envious yet again of Nat’s blatant honesty.

Nat laughed and held his hands up in defense. “You get the gist, right?”

Edd slowly smiled a little and nodded. It was like an instant reaction: the moment Nat saw Edd’s smile, his own face lit up—like the two were directly correlated. Nat wasn’t going to make this easy after all. Sure, Nat had gotten over his feelings for Kevin, but neither Kevin nor Nat actually said how long that took. Nat was obviously okay with the situation but probably only because he now had his sights set on someone else. Edd didn’t want to have to find someone else to distract Nat. That wasn’t the way the world worked and it seemed awfully petty of him.

As Edd tried to think of all the ways to reject Nat without the world ending, he didn’t even realize that time continued to flow around him. It wasn’t until Nat began to wave a hand in front of his face that he realized he’d been staring off into space like he was alone in the universe.

“You okay there?” Nat asked. “You look lost.”

Edd shook his head to bring himself back to the present. “Nathan,” he began. It was now or never. Maybe he could find a way to segue himself into the topic. “What would you call us, exactly?”

“That’s an awfully broad question, smarty-pants. Humans? Males? Students? Very, very good looking?”

With a chuckle, Edd shook his head. “I meant to say, in a way that describes our relationship.”

“Well, friends, officially,” Nat shrugged and tapped the table a bit. He absent-mindedly poked at the package in front of him. “Although like I said in those texts yesterday. I’m up for making it more than that, you know, if, you’re down with that kind of thing…” he trailed off and then jumped so suddenly, Edd jumped as well, almost hitting his knees on the underside of the table. Nat let out a loud gasp and slapped himself across the forehead. “God I’m so stupid. I never even asked you if you felt the same way, or, hell if you were even in to guys. …. You, are into guys right?”

Edd gave Nat a sheepish smile and shrugged awkwardly. The moment of truth was indeed upon him.

“But you’re into me?” Nat tried to clarify.

“You say that like everyone is in to you.”

“I like to assume they are until they state otherwise. It’s an awesome way to look at life. I would totally recommend it.”

Edd knew he had to say it. There was no backing out, now. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes tightly just so he wouldn’t have to see the look on Nat’s face as he confessed. “You know, we’ve only just met a week ago—that’s not long enough for—“

“—say no more.” When Edd opened one eye to sneak a peek, Nat was holding up a hand, motioning for Edd to stop talking. “I get it. No hard feelings. I got time.”

This wasn’t working! Edd nervously tugged at the hem of his shirt just to give his hands something to do. He knew it would just wrinkle the fabric but if he didn’t do something, his mind would implode on itself out of pure stress. “It’s not just that. There’s, um…” Without even thinking about it, Edd turned around to glance in the direction from which he came: the direction where Kevin was, probably still cleaning his motorcycle.

“Ah,” Nat said and deflated a little bit. He sat back in his chair so that he was no longer practically leaning on top of Edd. He crossed his arms, but he didn’t do it angrily. He looked, more than anything, like he was giving himself a hug. His eyes appeared sad, but still understanding and Edd was thankful for that, at least. “It is Kevin after all.”

Edd didn’t even bother to deny it or make up another excuse. There was no point, now. He could only hope Nat would keep it a secret. “How did you—“

“I think I always knew,” Nat say quietly. Like he’d lost all the pompous energy he always seemed to have. Edd had no idea he would ever see the bottom of the energy barrel. “I see the way you look at him.”

“You do?”

“Duh, I can’t keep my eyes off of you. Kind of like how you can’t keep your eyes off of him. I was just hoping it was all in my head.”

“I suppose I am that obvious, after all,” Edd mused, but then his shoulders sagged now that he realized the weight of his confession. Nat probably felt something similar to what Edd felt Friday night. “Nathan I am so… so sorry.”

Nat waved a hand in front of him like he was batting away any harsh feelings. “It’s okay, man. It really is. I told ya, I’ve faced rejection before. It’s nothing I can’t handle.”

Edd admired the brave face Nat had on. How could someone brush off a rejection with such grace? “Nathan… how could I possibly deserve someone like you? You are so eager to accept news that would probably crush me if I heard it.”

Nat grinned at him. “I’m tougher than I look, baby.”

Edd smiled, albeit morosely. “I suppose I know the feeling.”

Nat sat up a little straighter, as if he wanted to bring more life into the conversation. “Hey besides, that potty mouth that lives next door to you is kind of hot in a dark and brooding I’m-not-sure-if-I-want-to-punch-him-or-kiss-him kind of way.”

Edd’s eyes widened. Did Nat ever allow himself to feel sad for even a second? It was like Edd had dropped a bomb on the conversation and Nat pulled out an umbrella and went about his merry way. “You move on quickly.”

“Do I?” Nat shot Edd a grin, but for a split second, his eyes became unguarded. If Edd hadn’t been looking, he would have missed it, but he could see the sadness hiding behind the mask and it broke his heart a little. Did Kevin ever feel this bad about rejecting Nat?

Not knowing what to do, Edd returned Nat’s grin with a small smile. If Nat could put on a brave face, then so could he. “So what do we do, then? It’s not like either of us will get a happy ending out of his. Kevin’s not even interested in me.”

Nat rolled his eyes and seemed to slowly morph back into the Nathan Kedd Goldberg: Kevin’s Roommate that Edd met on Monday. “Okay. Let me tell something to you, sweetums. I have got the biggest fucking gaydar on the planet and when Kevin told me he wasn’t in to dudes, I respected that. I did. But that little fuck is so far in the closet he needs a flashlight to get around.”

Edd giggled, because it really seemed to confirm Kevin’s own confession. If Kevin didn’t want to talk about it in public that was fine. Not everyone was comfortable with how their body responded to certain stimuli—but then something clicked in Edd’s brain and he gasped. Loudly. “Wait, do you suppose he…?”

Nat was smiling wide, now, and nodding his head dramatically. “Why else would he get that mad about us being together? He talks about you the way he talks about his bike and I know he jerks off to that thing.”

The realization that he might have a chance with Kevin after all was such an overwhelming feeling that Edd couldn’t restrain his arms anymore. He didn’t even realize he’d been smiling until his cheeks began to hurt and he had to hold onto his face just to check to see if something was wrong.

Suddenly his entire world went black and it took Edd a second to figure out just what it was that had happened and that he hadn’t spontaneously lost his sight.

When he reached up to touch his eyes, his fingers came into contact with fabric. His eyes had been covered by his hat. In his giddiness, he hadn’t noticed Nat reach forward and pull the beanie down over his face. Slowly, he tugged the edge of his hat up just so that he could peek out from underneath it. “What was that for?”

“I can’t handle it when you smile like that,” Nat almost whispered.

“I apologize,” Edd said just as quietly. He couldn’t help feeling a little guilty and he quickly tried mending the situation, but he had so many questions about the subject and he had no idea if it would be prudent to speak to Nat about them at all. Who could he even talk to about this kind of thing? In the end, he couldn’t help himself and finally blurted out, “I just spoke with him. The only information he required of me was to confirm that you and I were not, in fact, an item.”

Nat raised an eyebrow. “Did he? Oh my god, now that I see it, you guys are so obvious. This fucking sucks because I can’t help but to feel happy for you even though I’m jealous as hell.”

“How can you say that so casually?”

Nat gave him his signature smarmy smile. It looked like he learned it straight from Eddy. “Like I said: practice.”

Edd sighed loudly, feeling the need to further explain himself more for his own sake than for Nat’s. “Nathan, if it helps at all, I think you’re brilliant. I am saddened that our paths did not cross earlier because you are a terrific friend. You have helped me in so many ways—probably more than you realize. I had no friends here two weeks ago, and now I have you.”

“I just have really crappy timing, huh,” Nat groaned.

Edd didn’t want to answer because he knew it was true. If he’d met Nat earlier, instead of reconnecting with Kevin—would they have had a chance?

Before Edd could muse on the subject further, Nat’s phone demanded for the Avengers to Assemble several times in a row.

“Ugh, speaking of timing,” Nat pulled out his phone and frowned down at it like he was telepathically chastising it for interrupting their conversation. “Kevin is freaking the fuck out at me, hold on.” He paused to read a few of the texts and then slowly brought his gaze upward to peer at Edd. “…just what did you tell Kev?”

Confused, Edd told Nat the truth. “I explained to him that we weren’t together.”

Nat held up his phone and wiggled it around a bit. “That’s not what these texts say.”

Something snapped inside of Edd and he began to panic. “What? Let me see.” Edd reached forward for Nat’s phone, and Nat relinquished the device with little resistance. At least he had the type of phone tha showed all the texts at once so that Edd only had to scroll down and see several speech bubbles filled with angry texts from Kevin.

FROM KEV: YOU ASSWIPE
FROM KEV: Okay no, hold up. Let me get this from you.
FROM KEV: Did you sleep with Double D?
FROM KEV: Did you kiss him? Did you force yourself on him in any way?
FROM KEV: He’s not interested okay? Just leave him alone.
FROM KEV: I love you man, but leave Double D out of this. I don’t want him being another one of your conquests.
FROM KEV: Crap. I didn’t mean it like that. I mean… he’s not gay. Don’t freak him out.

Edd’s panic grew with each and every text Kevin sent. He thought he’d cleared up the mess between the three of the, but perhaps Kevin didn’t get the message after all? Or perhaps he though Edd was feeding him lies?

But then another text came as he read.

FROM KEV: Or… spoonfeed him gravy?

Edd rubbed his fingers over the bridge of his nose and just sighed. The tension didn’t fall away like he’d hoped, but he had a feeling he knew exactly what had happened. Nat, however, was clueless and continued to make grabby hands for his phone until Edd gave it back to him.

“See what I mean? What the hell is going on? Just what did you tell him?” Nat’s fingers flitted over his phone screen like he didn’t know what to tell Kevin.

“Don’t text him back, yet,” Edd said quickly. He pulled out his own phone quickly and held it up for Nat to see. “I think I know what happened. Give me a second.” It wasn’t long before he finished punching in a message and hit ‘send.’

FROM EDD: Eddy, did you text Kevin?

FROM EDDY: Did it work? I bet he’s at your feet begging to ask you out. You can thank me later.

FROM EDD: I aborted the mission because everything was under control. You made it worse.

FROM EDDY: Pish posh. Everything will fall into place. Trust me.

Edd didn’t even want to dignify that with an answer. He could feel a stress headache forming behind his eyes. Midterms started tomorrow. No one needed this at the moment.

Nat sat at the edge of his seat as he tossed his phone back and forth in his hands. It continued to shout out for the avengers to assemble as Kevin no doubt hounded him for more information. Edd finally took Nat’s phone from his hands and silenced it.

“A friend of mine back home tried to remedy the situation,” Edd explained. “It didn’t work.” Although, Edd did wonder how Eddy got Kevin’s phone number. It probably wasn’t too hard. He probably conned it out of Rolf or Jimmy. Most likely Jimmy.

“I’ll say. You know I’m supposed to sleep in that room with him tonight? I’d ask to stay in your room but now I obviously can’t.” Nat rolled his eyes.

“Kevin’s just on the other side of campus with his bike,” Edd motioned behind him. “We’ll go together and explain everything. He will listen.”

“Yeah?” Nat ran both his hands through his hair a few times, thoroughly tousling it. “I just don’t want him mad at me, man. We’re like brothers from another mother and all that.”

Edd stood up calmly and brushed out the wrinkles in his pants. “It will be okay. No more secrets. I just want all of this to be over.”

Nat finally stood up as well and began to gather his things when he stopped at the package he seemed to have forgotten. He hesitated for a moment before grabbing it and shoving it unceremoniously at Edd’s chest. “I got you something, by the way. I wasn’t expecting today to turn out like this, so… don’t laugh, okay?”

Edd looked down at his gift. Nat had wrapped it in the campus newspaper and he didn’t do a very good job. The corners were uneven and the tape was used sparingly—like either he didn’t have enough left, or wanted to use as little as possible to make it last longer. Either way, it didn’t bother Edd at all because Nat had actually gone through the trouble of buying and wrapping something for him. Edd didn’t want to accept it at first—how could he? But then a nagging voice in the back of his head told him that he owed it to Nat to accept his gift, at least.

“Would you like me to open it now?” Edd prompted.

“Don’t know when you’ll get another time, right?” Nat shrugged.

With Nat’s permission, Edd peeled off the newspaper to reveal a forest green scarf. It wasn’t heavy—like a winter scarf. It had the feel of an ascot, or a decorative scarf. Edd didn’t normally wear accessories like this, so he didn’t know what to do. Did he put it on?

“Thank you,” Edd said at last. He figured that was a safe enough response? “It’s lovely.”

“I figured since you worked at a coffee shop and all, you had to look the part,” Nat grinned. “May I?” He held out his hands and Edd realized he was supposed to hand over the gift. Nat took the scarf and folded it in half before draping it around Edd’s neck and filing the ends through the loop he’d formed. “This is how all the cool kids wear these things. Now you can take pictures of all your signature creations and put them on the internet while wearing this scarf. You know, because I didn’t think you looked stereotypical enough.”

Nat was grinning so broadly that suddenly Edd realized that this was actually a gag gift. Nat didn’t think Edd actually wanted the scarf—he was mocking his coffee shop job in the most endearing way possible.

Suddenly Edd found himself laughing as he ran his fingertips over the soft fabric. “I kind of like it, you know,” he informed Nat. “Maybe I’ll wear it all the time. Shall I exchange my hat for a fedora?”

Nat began choking on air. Worried, Edd reached around to pat his friend on the back a few times. When Nat could breathe normally again, he wiped a tear from his eye. “Oh man, don’t you dare. I would have so much fapping material it isn’t funny. Come on, lover boy. Let’s go stop your future boyfriend from sawing off my head.”

Without further hesitation, Nat began to shove Edd back the direction from which he came.

Edd quickly took Nat through campus back to the place where Kevin had been working on his motorcycle, but stopped dead in his tracks when he saw that neither Kevin or his red bike were anywhere in sight.

“Oh shit,” Nat grumbled.

“Should we look for him?” Edd asked, worried. Kevin could be driving angry. He could be anywhere. He could be seriously hurt.

“I wouldn’t even know where to start,” Nat rubbed his face in frustration. “Do you?”

Edd shook his head quickly. Now that he had the green scarf around his neck, he was able to find a new fidget for himself as he twisted the ends of the scarf in his fingertips. “Another possibility is for us to await his return back in the dorm room?”

“And have him come home to us being in the same room again? Are you kidding me?” Nat pointed out. “Besides, we have no idea how long he’ll be out.”

“Then what do we do?” Edd didn’t bother hiding the panic in his voice.

“We wait him out. When he calms down, he’ll come home. He’s done this before,” Nat said calmly. “Go home, Double D. Get some rest or some studying in, yeah? Midterms.”

Midterms. Such horrible timing, those.

In the end, Edd exhausted all of his other options and reluctantly agreed to go back to his dorm room. He tried studying but couldn’t get his mind into it. He tried proof-reading some of his papers put all the words smashed together. He even tried sleeping in case he’d have to pull an all-nighter later, but sleep would not come easily, either.

After hours of hearing absolutely nothing from Nat or Ed or Eddy or even Nazz, Edd finally opted to put in a DVD and hope the mindless staring at his computer screen would help distract him.

Two more hours passed. Around nine at night, a rapping at his door broke him from his much sought-after concentration. He practically tripped over his desk chair as he tried to make it to the door at an acceptable time.

When he opened the door, it wasn’t Kevin, or Nat, or ever Nazz or Marie.

It was his grumpy neighbor with the droopy eyes and the long hair. “Here,” he said lazily, holding out a note for Edd. “You and your stupid friends have got to get your high school shit together. It’s too late for this.”

Without another word, he disappeared into his dorm room.

Confused, Edd wondered where his neighbor even got the note. He hadn’t heard any footsteps outside. Maybe his neighbor was on his way up and ran into someone? Edd couldn’t be sure. All he knew was that he needed to find out the contents. Quickly.

Edd didn’t bother going back into his room. He unfolded the note and had to lean hard on his door frame in relief.

In Kevin’s scratchy handwriting were four words that only half-explained the entire night.

Your friends are dorks.

Chapter Text

Waiting was one of the worst decisions Edd had ever made.

It wasn’t that waiting was particularly bad, it was more the fact that the hours seemed to drag when Edd had no idea what Nat or Kevin were up to.

Edd spent his entire night wondering if he should go see Kevin or not. Considering the Basketball star just left a note with Edd’s mysterious neighbor, maybe he wasn’t ready to see Edd at all.

Besides, tomorrow started midterms. Edd had extremely important life-altering matters to attend to. Both Kevin and Nat did as well. Edd really hoped the two of them weren’t biting each other’s heads off. Nat seemed like he was really dreading going back to his room. Edd felt guilty enough for squeezing between the two of them—he didn’t want to place a bigger strain on their friendship.

Everything could wait until tomorrow night, right?

It would have to.

Even though his mind wanted to keep occupied, nothing felt right. Edd had all of this energy and no way to release it and so he ended up pacing his room most of the night.

Then, when Eddy texted him during the wee hours of the morning, it only sealed Edd’s decision not to see Kevin. His text was a simple one:

FROM EDDY: Kevin is a jerk. Don’t date him.

Edd didn’t expect any less, and he forced himself to answer.

FROM EDD: I believe you don’t have to worry in that regard.

Edd didn’t want to add on that it was Eddy’s fault anyway that he and Kevin would probably never get together. Did any of Eddy’s schemes ever work? There always seemed to be some unforeseen circumstance that caused each plot to fail. In this particular case it was just really, really bad timing. Maybe the texting plan would have worked if Edd hadn’t already patched things over with Kevin.

In spite of Edd’s horrible decision to lie low, he couldn’t sleep properly. It was nearing seven in the morning when he decided he couldn’t look at his walls any longer and figured a walk would do him some good.

As he gathered his materials for the day, Edd paused when his hand reached the ridiculous scarf Nat had given him. Should he wear it around campus? What kind of signal would that give out? Maybe he shouldn’t wear it—but then again what kind of signal would that give out? Edd was both mentally and physically exhausted. He voted that he could just sleep for a week after Midterms were over. It was entirely possible for a human to catch up on lost sleep. That wasn’t a myth at all.

Thinking about sleep wasn’t exactly helping Edd’s mood any, so in a fit of frustration, he opted to grab the scarf and sling it around his neck. Perhaps it would be a good luck charm.

Once he was actually on campus, he stopped by his work to get a simple coffee to help him wake up. He didn’t have to work until later that afternoon after his only midterm for that day, but that didn’t stop him from wanting a little pick-me-up before he needed to regurgitate all of his learned information like a machine.

He wasn’t expecting to see anyone he knew at the Peach Tree and even if he did, he fully intended to go in, get his coffee, and leave.

So when a certain blonde fashion student began calling out his name loudly and waving, Edd actually groaned and contemplated leaving without his coffee.

He adored Nazz, he really did. He just didn’t want to have to talk to her about the falling out which was no doubt on her mind. Edd wasn’t even sure if there was a falling out or not. Kevin had seemed okay when Edd spoke to him by his motorcycle, but then he’d turned around and acted like a completely different person the second Edd left his sight. Edd was just a tad annoyed by the inconsistency. He couldn’t figure out Kevin for the life of him.

“Double D, I know you can hear me,” Nazz called again and Edd knew he had to acknowledge her.

Edd made his way through the morning caffeine addicts to where Nazz stood. On the bright side, she was already in line and Edd could therefore take the dishonest route and cut in front of a few people. On a normal day, this would bother him, but today he allowed it to happen for the sake of his own energy. “Salutations, Nazz.”

“You haven’t texted me back since Friday,” she said, concern lining her voice. “Are you okay? You look terrible!”

“I am alright, I assure you,” Edd said, stifling a yawn. “Only tired.”

“Sarah said you went home this weekend. She said her brother came home drunk Sunday morning and missed family time. Were you drinking?” Nazz sounded like a mother hen.

“Maybe.” Edd was so tired he couldn’t even focus his eyes on Nazz properly. He tried to look around him at the familiar sight of the Peach Tree but even the menu behind the counter looked blurry. If he was in this bad of shape, how was he supposed to make it through his midterm. Worse than that, how would Kevin? At this rate, Kevin was going to fail everything and all of the studying Edd put him through would have been for nothing.

Really, whose bright idea had it been to not go see Kevin? Edd felt like he had unfinished business. There was no possible way he could take his Microphysics midterm with loose ends everywhere.

Edd was vaguely aware of Nazz explaining to him the dangers of drinking while depressed when he suddenly interrupted her. “Where is Kevin?”

“Double D, you’re tired. If things are strained between you two, maybe now isn’t a good idea to track him down…” Nazz said cautiously.

“You are not shedding light on my inquiry,” Edd deadpanned. He wondered if his eyes were bloodshot by the way Nazz was looking at him.

“His first class isn’t until eleven today. Leave it to him to sleep in every day. I figure that’s the class with the midterm today,” Nazz said with a sigh. “You’re not going to run across campus in a grand gesture of love or something are you? You’ll probably trip.”

“Your vote of confidence is reassuring,” Edd muttered. He eyed the doorway anyway. His Microphysics midterm wasn’t going to start for another few hours. He’d left way too early to do much of anything, but he couldn’t stand waiting around.

Edd so badly wanted to leave the Peach Tree and make a mad dash for the dorms just like Nazz had said, but a voice inside his head held him back as it shouted: Learning is the backbone of society! It sounded eerily like Ed. Edd know that he needed to take his own midterms very seriously. Skipping out on such an important test would not only ruin his chances at taking on a work-study but he might lose his place on the Dean’s List as well. How hypocritical of him would it be if he lectured Kevin on the merits of attendance and test-taking skills and then never showed up to his own exam?

But surely he would have enough time to speak to Kevin. Edd checked the clock on his phone. It was half past seven. His own midterm started at ten thirty. It was entirely possible for him to see Kevin, patch things up and be out in time to keep his perfect attendance record.

A gentle push on his back from Nazz brought him back from staring longingly at the exit. “It’s our turn, Double D. Go ahead and order.”

Edd turned toward the barista in front of him: one of the lesser talented employees who still needed a cheat sheet to remember the number of shots of espresso for each drink.

Clearly Edd had two choices in front of him: Bad coffee, or Kevin?

It was like the universe finally allowed Edd to have a bit of a break. If the heavens opened up at that moment with a choir of angels to guide him on his way, Edd wouldn’t have even blinked. He knew exactly what he needed to do. No contest.

“I apologize, Nazz,” Edd said quickly. “But I need to go.”

It was a testament to how well Nazz could read Edd that she only smiled and beamed before practically ushering Edd away from her. “Go do what you have to. I’m rooting for you.”

“Thank you, Nazz.”

Edd gave Nazz a short wave and left her alone to deal with the confused barista but the second he reached the door, a stray thought hit him from the cosmos and he turned back to the counter.

Nazz opened her mouth to protest Edd’s return but shut it quickly when she saw the bill he brandished before her. “For Friday night,” Edd explained. “It’s my part of the bill.”

“Oh!” Nazz exclaimed, cautiously taking the money. “You didn’t have to! Nat actually--”

Edd didn’t allow her time to explain. He wanted to get out of there while he still had his decision firmly in place. Kevin. He repeated the name over and over in his head like a mantra. Kevin, Kevin, Kevin.

Never in his life had Edd run so fast. He found that in his haste, his reflexes were a little quicker than usual. He assumed he would have trouble running, due to his lack of sleep, but the adrenaline coursing through his veins must have counteracted his fatigue. He wove in and out of students and even stopped mid-step to spin completely around a slow walking individual and nearly elbowed him in the face in the process.

When Edd made it to Oak Hall, he didn’t even bother pressing the button for the elevator. Waiting for it to reach his floor would take too long. Instead, he opted for the stairwell and took to the steps two at a time.

Edd came to what he felt was a screeching halt at Kevin’s door, but in reality it was more of a gentle stop. Before he even attempted knocking, he placed one hand on his knee and the other to rest against the wall beside the door just to catch his breath. He wanted to be able to say everything to Kevin, and Nat if he was in the room, all at once and his need for oxygen put a damper on the explanation process.

He expected both Kevin and Nat to still be sleeping. Although Edd wasn’t entirely certain of Nat’s class schedule, it would make sense for him to sign up for later classes as well. It just seemed like something Nat would do. What he hadn’t expected was for both roommates to be up already.

And arguing. Loudly.

“Just shut up about him and let me sleep, okay?” Kevin’s voice sounded scratchy, like he’d just woken up.

Nat, however, sounded perfectly clear as if it were commonplace for him to have a shouting match at eight in the morning. “No! You came didn’t come home until what, one in the morning? I was up worried sick about you, ass hole. And you weren’t even answering your phone.”

“I was busy.”

“Yeah, doing what, throwing a hissy fit about Double D? Don’t you have a little more faith in me than that?”

“You didn’t see the texts. They were convincing…. At first.”

“And why were you so upset then, huh? Why can’t you just say it?”

“Say what?”

“Holy crap, Kev. If I have to sit idly by and watch you break his heart so help me I will get a room transfer. Best bros or not.”

“Where are you getting that I’m breaking his heart! I’m not doing anything!”

“Exactly! You’re doing nothing! You need to stop all of this denial shit right now.”

“What denial? It’s the asscrack of dawn, Nat! Go back to bed!”

Edd had to cover his mouth to keep both Kevin and Nat from hearing him breathe. Then again, they were shouting so loudly that Edd was pretty sure they couldn’t even hear someone talking in the hallway. It was better to be safe than sorry, though, and Edd steeled himself to listen closer. Eavesdropping was wrong, but it wasn’t at all hard to hear what they were talking about and seeing as Edd’s entire life revolved around curiosity and discovering the unknown, this was far too tempting.

“Kev, you drove all the way home to give his friends wedgies because they wouldn’t step texting you shit about me and him. That’s the worst fucking case of denial I’ve ever seen.”

Edd clamped his hand further over his mouth and nose. No wonder Eddy texted him earlier with such a distaste for Kevin. Somehow, Edd wasn’t at all surprised. It made perfect sense considering how long Kevin had been gone. He probably left the second he figured out who it was that was texting him. But to travel four hours round trip on motorbike? The night before midterms? Kevin had to be worse off than Edd was.

“I gave them wedgies because they’re fucking dorks,” Kevin scoffed.

Nat’s voice lowered a little, but he was still heated up. “If you don’t step up to the plate, someone else is going to come in and take him.”

“Oh, like you?”

“I can’t.”

“Why not? You seemed perfectly happy to be all over him Friday night!”

“Because I’m not the one he wants!”

A brief pause. “How do you even know that?”

“He told me, dipshit. Its you. Probably always has been.”

Edd’s gut twisted. There went his entire heartfelt plan. There went everything. How could Nat betray him like that? Why would Nat tell him? Edd wanted to both storm into the room and join the shouting match and also run down to the main campus and take his midterm like a good student.

Kevin’s weak laughter broke the silence. He no longer sounded tired. “Impossible. You’re making shit up.”

“You want me to show you? Fuck, I’ll call him right now.”

Edd nearly let out a string of curses because he knew Nat would call him no questions asked. He didn’t remember silencing his phone yet that morning and so he scrambled through his pockets to locate it to turn the sound down. Kevin protested the phone call in the other room, but it was too late for both of them.

The ringtone Edd set for Nat went off the second Edd pulled his phone from his pocket. He didn’t even have time to run. He froze, eyes wide.

Just about every curse word Edd could think of flashed across his mind in less than a second.

Paralyzed, he listened as footsteps made their way across the room and the door opened to reveal a fully dressed Nat grinning stupidly at him for eavesdropping. Kevin sat in his unmade bed in a tank top and boxers, his hair a mess and his face redder than Edd had ever seen it.

“Well, speak of the devil,” Nat slurred.

Edd couldn’t reply. His feet were glued to the floor and his mouth cemented shut out of shock.

Nat laughed at the stunned look on Edd’s face and tossed his hands in the air. “Well, this is perfect. Now I don’t have to explain anything. I’ve got shit to do,” he practically sang. With one swift movement, he grabbed his backpack and threw an arm around Kevin’s neck to give him a sloppy kiss on his temple. He ducked immediately after when Kevin swung his arm around, and Edd got the feeling this happened often.

“Are you leaving?” Kevin asked, still angry. “Just like that?”

“Just like that,” Nat replied. “You two have way too much to talk about and having me here isn’t going to fix anything.”

“But-“

Nat pointed an accusing finger at Kevin’s face and just said, “Don’t fuck up.”

Kevin responded by flipping him off.

Nat made his way toward the door and Edd. Edd tried to move to the side to let Nat through, but Nat stopped him by placing both his hands on his shoulders. Nat made sure to look Edd directly in the eye, shot him the tiniest smile and a wink before releasing Edd with a soft clap to the shoulder and a tug to the green scarf Edd had around his neck.

Then he was gone, jogging down the hallway and calling out behind him, “Don’t make me regret this!”

Edd watched Nat go mostly because he had no idea what to do with Kevin anymore. He’d only wanted to talk—to figure things out. Now Nat had to go and blow every secret in existence. Kevin knew Edd liked him and he didn’t exactly look happy about it. In fact, he didn’t really look happy about anything. How was Edd supposed to say something to Kevin when all the guy wanted to do was to sit half-naked on his bed and scowl?

He knew it was up to him, though. He knew he had to be the one to break the ice. He was the one caught eavesdropping after all.

Edd closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was now or never. No thinking, just talking. “Nathan is correct. We need to talk.”

Kevin let out a puff of annoyed laughter and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “That’s an understatement.”

It was best to reiterate their previous issues and they those out of the way, first. “Nathan and I are just friends.”

Kevin rolled his eyes. “I know.”

“Those texts were fake.”

“I know.”

“Did you really ride your motorcycle all the way back home to take out your frustrations on my friends?”

“What’s it to you?”

“Eddy told me to stay away from you because of that.”

Kevin stood up and stretched, probably realizing that he wasn’t going to get back to sleep any time soon. He trudged his way to his dresser to pull out some proper clothing. Edd thought he was avoiding the conversation but Kevin finally added, “Are you going to listen to him?”

Edd seriously considered the choices he’d made in life to get him to this point. “Probably not.”

Kevin snorted but he still sounded mad, even as he slipped on jeans and a t-shirt over his underclothes. His lack of enthusiasm on the subject actually started to grate on Edd’s nerves. He didn’t know what he was expecting when he’d ran the entire way to Kevin’s room but it certainly wasn’t this. It wasn’t Kevin acting like a royal douchebag—like they’d never achieved friendship and they certainly hadn’t achieved some kind of mutual I-kind-of-want-to-hug-your-face-with-my-face attraction.

Finally, Edd couldn’t take it anymore. He couldn’t take Kevin being indecisive. He couldn’t take feeling hopeful toward the two of them one moment and confused about it the next. He hated going back and forth between Kevin’s anger for Nat and his anger toward the rest of the world. Did he honestly think he could solve everything with a couple of insults and some laughter and everyone would just love him for it anyway?

No, the world didn’t work like that and Edd certainly did not, either. He knew he’d fallen for the Kevin that was an easy person to talk to—not the Kevin with a roller coaster of emotions.

Edd decided he wasn’t going to go anywhere for a while until they figured this out. He slammed the door, hard and tossed his backpack onto Nat’s deskchair with more ease than he should have for only been invited to the room for a week.

Kevin cringed at the loud noises and slowly turned toward a seething Edd.

“What is your problem?” Edd demanded, hands balling into fists just to give them something to do.

Kevin gave Edd a dumbfounded expression. “What?”

“You!” Edd waved a hand around frantically, gesturing to Kevin’s entire existence. “You’re impossible to read! One minute you display something akin to affection for me, which I appreciate, but the next your demeanor changes to that of a nonchalant… miscreant!”

Kevin slowly raised an eyebrow, but he didn’t say anything which was just as well because Edd wasn’t finished.

“And another thing,” Edd knew he was getting riled up, but he couldn’t stop himself. “I would also appreciate being treated with a little more decency. How can you expect me to maintain some level of friendship with you if you feel the need to mistreat my friends at every turn? Wedgies, Kevin? Really? Aren’t you a little old for that? And fighting with your own best friend? I thought you were better than that. I thought you were the kind of friend I could count on when I had no one else. How could you prove me wrong?”

“Double D,” Kevin said quickly, like he was trying to get his voice heard in between Edd’s ranting. Edd stopped just long enough to allow him to speak. It was a good thing, too, because Edd could tell that if he said another word, he’d probably choke. “Why do you have to make everything so complicated?”

“Me!? Complicated?” Edd voice was borderline hysterical. “I’m not the one who is complicated. You’re the one who cannot make your mind up about whether or not you’d like to be with me!”

Kevin was sweating. Edd could see the beads of perspiration on his forehead. He was nervous. Good. It made Edd feel as though he had the upper hand. Eventually Kevin let out a shaky sigh and grabbed his old red hat. He twisted it around in his hands for a bit before finally putting it on. “That’s why you’re complicated, dork. Do we have to take it that far? What if it ruins what we were building, huh? Did you ever think about that before you jumped headfirst into this?”

Edd’s breath caught in his throat. He felt like Kevin was finally being one hundred percent genuine with him. Suddenly all the pushing and pulling made sense. Edd replayed as many points in his mind as he could: all the small touches, the insecurity, the dashing away, the laughter, the stares and the smiles, they all added up to a Kevin who wanted exactly what Edd did but also didn’t want to lose what they already had.

Whatever had been making Edd so angry before seemed to dissipate in a matter of seconds. Why was he even mad again? Was there a reason? Something about wedgies? It wasn’t like Kevin did things like that to his friends before—and it was usually on those rare times when they deserved it. Double D was a firm believer in discipline after all and did his fair share of teaching the other Eds a lesson—he was just a little more mature about it.

It wasn’t until Edd’s lungs burned that he realized he’d been holding his breath for far too long and he let it out slowly. He knew Kevin was expecting something of him so he said the only thing he could think of, “I would have been okay with retaining our relationship as it stood. It was you who became upset about Nathan’s interference.”

Edd knew he’d said the wrong thing when Kevin’s brow furrowed at Nat’s name. “I know Nat. He’s a clingy bastard. If you two got together, I would never have a minute with you alone. Ever.”

“So you would rather place a strain on the relationship between all three of us simply because you’re selfish.”

“So?” Kevin spouted out defensively. “I liked you first!”

Edd gave a small gasp just as Kevin realized what he’d said, but before he could react properly, Kevin was already trying to cover his tracks.

“Whatever,” Kevin muttered. “It’s not like you didn’t already know, anyway.”

The palms of Edd’s hands hurt from how tightly he’d been squeezing his fists, so he grabbed a forgotten pillow from the floor to relieve some of the pressure. He squished it around in his grip as Kevin’s confession finally sank in. No matter how hard he tried, Edd couldn’t stop the grin forming on his face and he used the pillow to actually hide it for a second. He hated how in spite of all their bickering and unresolved problems, the second Kevin admitted he liked him, Edd couldn’t help but melt. Was he that far gone? Did he have no backbone at all?

Hell, he had a backbone all right. He had enough of a backbone that he raised the pillow up and marched the few steps over to Kevin. “That’s some way of showing it,” he said, still grinning without even wanting to and swinging the pillow playfully at Kevin’s shoulder.

Kevin took the brunt of the force, but maneuvered around so that he grabbed the pillow before Edd even had the chance to let go. Using the momentum and Edd’s lack of balance, Kevin whipped Edd around so that he fell onto Kevin’s mattress. Edd bounced once before Kevin bopped him lightly with the pillow.

“It’s hard not to like you, dork,” Kevin admitted, but he was grinning, too. Who knew a simple pillow would give them enough distraction to finally say what was on their minds? “You’re way too fucking nice.” Whack. “And smart.” Whack. “And your face pisses me off.”

Rather than doing any real damage to Edd with the pillow, Edd had his forearms in the air to take most of the pillow’s hits. Kevin wasn’t even using any force, either. He was just lazily whacking away at Edd’s arms. Eventually Edd stole the pillow away from Kevin and tossed it far away to the other side of the room so that Kevin had to talk to him properly. “Why does my face bring you contempt?”

“I don’t know, man,” Kevin rubbed the back of his neck and sat down on the edge of the bed. Edd picked himself up to sit down beside Kevin. He made sure to give the two of them a little space, just in case Kevin was still on the rocks about their entire situation. Edd was willing to bet that he was, especially since Kevin was staring at his open palms. “Every time I look at it I just…” he trailed off because he’d stopped looking at his hands and accidentally caught Edd’s eye. “Stop looking at me like that.”

“Like what?” Edd inquired. As far as he knew, he was simply watching Kevin’s facial expressions as he tried to pick up on any missed cues.

“This is embarrassing enough already, okay?” Kevin swallowed hard. “You try confessing this shit.”

Edd smiled slowly. It was easier to hide behind the pillow to boost their confidence. Once Edd took the pillow away, both his and Kevin’s walls came back up. Edd would just have to break them down again but with a metaphorical pillow of his own. “It’s all about being honest, right?” Edd began, but then stopped. Kevin was right. It was very hard to say everything he’d been feeling—everything he was currently feeling. In his mind, he could come up with pages of words to describe the heart palpitations and his struggles with breathing, but when it came to actually saying the words, he came up short.

Finally, Edd figured that if he couldn’t say the words, he could show Kevin just what it was that happened to him every time they were together. He took one of Kevin’s hands in his own and placed the palm directly on his chest.

At first Kevin tried to pull back, but Edd kept his hands steady and eventually Kevin relaxed. “You feel that?” Edd found his voice again. “I cannot fake an increased heart rate. Remember what you’ve studied. Every cell in the body has various functions. Blood cells, brain cells, skin cells, nerve cells. Hundreds of millions of cells all working together all have one thing in common. Do you know what that is?”

Kevin scrunched his face up, a bit unsure, as if Edd were asking him a trick question. “… a nucleus?” he answered slowly.

Edd couldn’t help but let the laughter bubble up and out of him. He squeezed his hands around Kevin’s and instead of keeping his hand pressed flat to his chest, he was just holding it close to him. “Technically yes, but not the answer I was looking for.”

Kevin narrowed his eyes. “It’s a cheesy answer, isn’t it.”

Another puff of laughter escaped Edd’s lips and he shrugged a little because, yes, Kevin was right about that. “It’s you,” he said anyway. “All my brain cells can think about is you. My blood cells are being pumped out into overdrive because my endocrine gland is producing chemicals and hormones that speed up every function of my body. Increased breathing, heart rate, reflexes, even perspiration. You’ve started a chain reaction that’s affecting me on a completely cellular level.”

“Huh,” Kevin exhaled, jaw a little slack. “You don’t hold back on the compliments, do you.”

“Not when they are scientific fact,” Edd’s voice fell a little quieter. He’d been so caught up in describing human attraction that he hadn’t stopped to think how ridiculous he must have sounded. And yet Kevin didn’t seem to mind at all.

Kevin leaned in a little bit, eyes never breaking contact with Edd. “So how many of your cells want me to kiss you?”

Edd swallowed, hard. Seeing as he was on a roll with being honest, he couldn’t possibly break his streak. “All of them,” he murmured.

Even though Kevin gave him plenty of warning, Edd still wasn’t prepared for the feeling of their lips meeting. Kevin’s hand returned the fierce grip that both of Edd’s hands had on his as he leaned forward to seal their mouths together. Edd couldn’t think, and yet his brain ran at a mile a minute. He thought he saw fireworks going off or flowers blooming in rapid photo procession. Clouds moved across the sky at a million miles an hour and the heavens opened up to show supernovas and the births of stars simultaneously.

And all Kevin did was brush their lips together once.

Edd must have forgotten to close his eyes because he watched as Kevin pulled away to smirk at him. Before he even knew what he was doing, Edd heard his voice say the words, “That’s all? I only get one?”

Kevin laughed and removed his hand from Edd’s grip. Edd could feel his spirits fall for just a second. Maybe it hadn’t been as good for Kevin as it was for Edd. Maybe this was just like Nat all over again. They kissed, Kevin felt nothing, and now Edd had to take the long path of getting over Kevin just like Nat did.

When Kevin’s laughter died down, it was only because he was rolling his eyes instead. “Are you seriously pouting at me? You look like I kicked a puppy.”

Edd’s honesty wouldn’t stop. “I am anxious to know if history is repeating itself and you are not as satisfied with the kiss as you thought you would be.”

“You are such a dweeb,” Kevin said seriously. “If you want another kiss, you have to take it from me. Ever think that maybe all of my cellular shit is doing the same thing?”

Relief flooded over Edd’s features so quickly, he didn’t know if he wanted to laugh or cry, but he managed to close the distance between the two of them easily enough.

If Edd thought their first kiss had been great, their second and third and fourth were absolutely fantastic. Even though they hadn’t exactly established the parameters of their relationship and they were still testing the waters on just what it was that they were going to do, at least Edd could revel in the fact that kissing Kevin was on the top of his list of awesome things to do in his spare time, right next to examining various objects with an electron microscope.

At some point, they had to stop for air and to adjust themselves on the bed because Edd’s torso felt as though it were angled in a precarious position. Kevin cleared his throat and tugged down his t-shirt a bit. “As awesome as all of this is, I do happen to have a midterm in like an hour or something and it would be really awesome if I could still pass it.”

“How admirable of you,” Edd teased.

“Admirable my ass. You’re not out of the water, yet. The deal was to get me to ace my test, not play tonsil hockey.”

“I have complete faith that you will pass with flying colors, Kevin.”

“Yeah, but I don’t.” Kevin muttered. “Even with the notecard. It was bad before when I was stressed the fuck out about you, but now I’ll be too horny to remember anything.”

“Kevin!”

“It’s true, okay? Help me study and lose this boner.” Kevin shifted around on the bed awkwardly before grabbing his backpack to pull out his textbook and place it in his lap. Edd had to admire the fact that Kevin was placing so much emphasis on learning that he was forcing down a completely natural biological urge, even if he had to be very crude about it. Edd couldn’t help but think that maybe Kevin picked that up from Nat as well, but he didn’t bring it up.

In the end, Edd managed to get Kevin to a place where they were comfortable again, both physically and mentally. Kevin actually retained more information than he thought and Edd found that he actually enjoyed the little break. Going back to studying for Kevin’s biology midterm made Edd feel like they’d found their common ground again, like maybe they were going to be okay.

There were subtle changes, though. They sat closer together, now, and every time Kevin remembered a fact without a prompt from Edd, he did a mini fist pump. After several victories, Edd rewarded him with a swift kiss to the jaw which only temporarily paralyzed Kevin.

A tiny alarm on Edd’s phone broke their reverie to signify that it was time for his midterm and Edd jumped when he realized it was already a quarter past ten. Had they really been at this for two hours? None of their other study sessions had gone by this quickly. If he hadn’t set the alarm, he very well might have missed the midterm all together.

As Edd scrambled to help Kevin get his notes cleaned up, Kevin stopped Edd’s frantic behavior by holding his own hand out. When Edd gave it an odd look, Kevin simply jutted his hand out further and prompted, “Just give me your hand.”

Edd held his hand out and Kevin turned it over, face up, and began writing on Edd’s palm with an ink pen.

There was really only one reason why Kevin would be writing on his hand. It didn’t take Edd long to realize what was happening.

Kevin had no idea Edd had his number, already. Edd felt his stomach do flips all over again when Kevin finally released Edd’s hand and Edd could see the digits that he’d already memorized inked on his skin. How many times had he stared at that number on his phone and contemplated calling it or texting? And now he could. Now there wouldn’t be any hesitation seeing as he has official texting privileges.

“Don’t know why I didn’t give you that earlier,” Kevin put the cap back on his pen and shoved it behind his ear. “Would have probably saved us a shit ton of trouble.”

“I’ll say,” Edd murmured. He closed his hand slowly, savoring the numbers. “I’ll text you when my midterm is over,” he said, happy to finally be saying the words. “Maybe we can meet up to celebrate? Perhaps before I begin my shift at the Peach Tree.”

“It’s a date,” Kevin winked.

Edd didn’t miss the tiny smirk that accompanied the wink and he knew what it was for. Part of Edd wanted to call Kevin out for being cheesy just for using the line he himself had screwed up only a few days ago. The other part of him wanted to melt in the fact that it wasn’t an accident, now. It was, for all intents and purposes, a legitimate date.

With another loud beep, Edd’s cell phone alarm reminded him that he couldn’t stay and gawk at Kevin all day. He had an exam to get to that he absolutely could not miss, and his started a half an hour before Kevin’s. Edd expected to say a hasty goodbye, but Kevin shook his head, grabbed his own bag and walked with Edd right out the door.

“I’ll give you a ride on my bike. You’ll get across campus faster that way.”

Edd hadn’t been on Kevin’s bike since the first day they’d studied together. He hoped he remembered how to sit properly. Rather than argue, he knew the motorcycle would be his best bet and, after all, he would get to spend a little bit more time with Kevin which he couldn’t pass up.

This time, mounting the bike wasn’t difficult at all. Edd didn’t have to worry about not touching Kevin or wondering where to put his hands. As soon as he strapped on his helmet, he leaned forward to wrap both his arms tightly around Kevin’s waist. Oh, how much difference one week made! Just the Monday before, Edd had felt so awkward holding on to Kevin and accidentally feeling his muscles. Now all he wanted to do was run his hands across Kevin’s abs and not even for scientific reasons anymore but for reasons that he might actually be allowed to divulge in.

Even Kevin seemed more relaxed during the ride. Edd remembered how tense Kevin felt under his grip the first time around. Had he liked Edd even then? There were so many questions Edd wanted to have answered, but he knew that, given time, Kevin would most likely answer all of them and then some.

Kevin dropped Edd off as close to the front of his building as possible and allowed his bike to idle for a second while they exchanged the helmet Edd had been using.

“Good luck,” Kevin called over the motor. It wasn’t so loud now that they weren’t moving.

“You too,” Edd beamed. The two of them stood there for a second, just staring at each other. Edd had no idea what was going through Kevin’s mind but he himself couldn’t get over the fact that this was actually happening, and how natural everything felt.

After a second, Kevin shook his head and laughed, “Go! Before you’re late!”

“Right!” Edd agreed hastily and began his stumbling toward the building. He had a feeling this exam wouldn’t be over fast enough.

-0-0-0-

Two hours later Edd found himself sitting at the Peach Tree, calmly sipping a latte and tapping away at his phone.

He’d received a few texts from Nat asking him for updates on the Kevin situation. Still unsure on how to define their relationship, Edd opted for simply telling Nat that everything was fine.

FROM EDD: More than fine, actually.

FROM THE GREEN LOON: Oh, you Double Dawg. He’s a good kisser isn’t he?

FROM EDD: Should I be discussing these kinds of things with you?

FROM THE GREEN LOON: What? It’s a simple shared opinion. You should nibble on his bottom lip. He likes that.

FROM EDD: You got that all from one makeout session?

FROM THE GREEN LOON: Dude, he’s my roommate. It’s literally a slumber party every night. It’s just usually me giving out all the secrets.

FROM EDD: I will keep this information in mind.

FROM THE GREEN LOON: Other than that, how’d the midterm go?

And so it went. It was nice to talk about something other than relationship drama with Nat. As it turned out, Nat must have gotten the overzealous professors because he had two midterms that day as opposed to just the one for Kevin and Edd.

Edd had never been so nervous to find out about someone else’s grade before. Sure he’d always been mindful of Ed and Eddy’s grades and sometimes went so far as to make sure their report cards made it to his friends’ parent’s hands. This was different. So much more rode on these midterms than just a simple grounding. Kevin’s future was on the line.

Despite the few texts Edd had already sent Kevin, his phone was eerily silent. Edd was one hundred percent positive he’d sent them to the right number and that his phone was working properly. Clearly, it had to be if he was texting Nat. Edd figured that Kevin had turned his cell off during the test and hadn’t turned it back on, yet.

Edd was just about to attempt an actual phone call when the bell above the doorway to the Peach Tree chimed to signify a customer. Instinctively Edd looked up, even if he wasn’t working.

Kevin stood at the doorway of the Peach Tree, positively beaming. Edd knew it could only mean one thing, but he needed to hear it out right.

“Well?” Edd asked eagerly. He was already standing up and heading for Kevin.

“We won’t get the official results until the end of the week,” Kevin said, but he was still smiling. That had to have been good, right?

“Do you feel you did well…?” Edd prompted.

“Hold on, let me finish,” Kevin said quickly and he held up a hand just as Edd reached him. Edd stopped dead in his tracks, his half-finished latte forgotten on his table. “Most of the test was Scantron save for a few essay questions at the end. I asked my professor if it was okay to run my test through really quick. I gave him some bullshit story about coach needing it to calculate my grade.”

Edd’s eyes widened and he raised his eyebrows, silently begging Kevin to continue.

Kevin tried to pause for dramatic effect, but gave up in the end and just blurted out, “Out of one hundred multiple choice, I only got three wrong!”

“Oh, Kevin!” Edd exclaimed. “I’m so proud of you!” Edd was practically vibrating with happiness. He didn’t want to admit that he figured Kevin would pass, but when a B at most—not a full A! Although, the essay questions did have the chance to lower his grade, but depending on how much emphasis the professor placed on them, Kevin could fail the essay portion and still pass. This was wonderful news!

“So it looks like you pass, then Double D. You’re an okay tutor,” Kevin teased.

“Okay?” Edd scoffed. “I’m amazing!”

It was hard to be so close to Kevin and still not touch. Just the feeling that there was something mutual between them was so new that Edd didn’t know how to handle it. He didn’t think he would ever get over Kevin wanting to touch him—or the fact that he wanted to touch Kevin. He had no idea what to do. Was it okay to kiss him? Should they hold hands? Everything was so new to Edd that he didn’t even know where to begin.

Kevin, at least, seemed to have some kind of idea because he just smirked at Edd. “Yeah,” he said, his voice low as he snaked an arm around Edd’s waist to pull him close. “You are.”

“About time you noticed,” Edd’s voice dripped with sarcasm, but he was smiling anyway. He inched himself forward a little so that Kevin wouldn’t be doing all the work. They were so close, lips a mere millimeter away from touching. Edd could feel the heat from Kevin’s face and it lit up all the nerves down his spine.

A sudden knock on the coffee shop window startled both Kevin and Edd into separating. A certain green haired best friend was smiling widely at them, waving, and fogging up the glass.

“Hey!” Nat shouted, his voice muffled a bit from the outside. “No PDA at the workplace!”

For the second time that day, Kevin raised his middle finger to Nat and all Edd could do was cover up a giggle.

Nat responded by bending over and wiggling his ass at them directly from the window. A few of the coffee shop patrons were pointing and staring. One girl pulled out her cell phone and started to video tape it. Edd had half a mind to go out there and drag Nat away before he really embarrassed himself, but he got the feeling that Nat probably lacked the ability to be embarrassed in public.

“Hey,” Kevin said suddenly, gesturing right behind their twerking friend. “Isn’t that your cranky neighbor?”

Edd looked to see a dark figure sitting on a park bench. Despite the heat he still had on a black turtle neck as he casually sipped his coffee. “Ah, so it is,” Edd replied. “I’ve never actually seen him around on campus, before.”

Once Nat noticed that Kevin and Edd were no longer paying any attention to his antics, he turned around to see where they were looking, shot both Kevin and Edd a double thumbs up and then proceeded to half dance his way over to Edd’s neighbor and scare him away.

Edd couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled out of him. He’d been so worried about Nat’s reaction to his and Kevin’s closeness, but like Nat said before, he was tougher than he looked. Edd knew that it probably wasn’t easy for him, but he made a silent vow to himself that he would do everything he could to essentially not rub his relationship with Kevin in Nat’s face.

“Hey,” Kevin’s low voice called Edd’s attention back to him. “Let Nat go be Nat. He’ll be fine.”

“I hope so,” Edd commented, his voice trailing off a bit. Without Nat to distract them any further, it was Edd who closed the distance between their mouths. He could kiss Kevin in his workplace if he wanted to. In fact, just the idea that he could kiss Kevin whenever he wanted to was such an overwhelming feeling that he started to smile mid-kiss, effectively ruining their rhythm.

Kevin didn’t even call him out on it. He just laughed against Edd’s lips and pulled him closer.

“You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do this,” Kevin breathed.

“And you have all the time in the world to tell me,” Edd said, “But right now, I need to get to work.”

“Ugh, can’t you call in sick?”

“I’m right here, Kevin. They know I’m not sick.”

“You want me to wait here with you?”

“And distract me all night from my work? Go home Kevin.”

“But—“

Edd laughed and forced himself to break contact with Kevin, even though every bit of him told him to stay. “Go home.”

Kevin reluctantly began to back up toward the exit. “Fine. But you and me, later. Chinese or something, okay?”

“How romantic.” Edd smiled.

Kevin returned the smile as he still walked backward, “You don’t know the half of it.” He made an attempt at doing a double point with his hands as if he were the smoothest guy on the planet, but his gesture was interrupted by him crashing into the trashcan by the door and stumbling around it.

Edd snickered. “Very promising.”

“Hasta luego, Double D,” Kevin laughed nervously as he finished straightening the trash can and finally left the Peach Tree.

Work felt empty without Kevin there, and Edd had the strangest feeling that a couple of the coffee patrons were still watching. He didn’t want to look and sincerely hoped the girl who had been taping Nat had put her cell phone away.

As Edd prepared himself for his afternoon shift, he couldn’t stop himself from sighing nearly every two minutes. As happy as he was, he wondered if every week was going to be as dramatic as this week. He’d honestly experienced more emotions in the past week than he had his entire semester and a half at Peach Creek University.

And yet, at the end of all of the drama, it was more than Edd could ever ask for. Sure, things were new, and he’d have to give them time, but the world would eventually smooth out; Edd could feel it.

It was a sure thing.