A/N I don't own any of the characters, unless they are OC. Nat who belongs to c2ndy2c1d.
Nothing seems to change in this small town, I had been away for years working on my degree in Astrophysics. I had decided that I would take a semester off before I started working on my doctorate in my chosen field. I was well ahead of schedule in my studies and being me, I would lose no study time while I was taking a bit of time off. One of my professors had advised me to slow down a little and to take some time off.
So I had decided to come home to Peach Creek and the cul-de-sac for a time to see what was going on with old friends. The Eds and I have kept in touch on Facebook and thru texting and a few phone calls. Funny to say I missed the gang from the cul-de-sac. We had all gotten a bit closer after the unfortunate incident with Eddy's brother.
I walked down the street looking around at some changes and some things still the same. I passed the street leading into the construction site, it was still uncompleted. I knew that a small recession had hit our area and slowed things down, but I hadn't realized it was this bad.
I paused as I walked past the play ground in my minds eye I could see us as children playing there. Ed and Eddy were sitting under a tree staring at the two boys sitting on the swing having a conversation. Kevin and I were actually having a intelligent discussion of something that we had seen on the field trip to the planetarium. I remembered how surprised I was that boy was actually showing signs of intelligence. He stopped in mid sentence and asked "What?"
"Excuse me for staring Kevin, but I would never thought that you would be having this kind of discussion with me, of all people" I told him.
"Oh, that. I put on the show of being the dumb jock, is what you mean." He smirked at me with a gleam is those beautiful emerald eyes with the golden lights that I loved so much, even then.
"I do that to fit in with the rest of the guys on the teams I play on. Plus, I have a really smart friend who taught me how to study and enjoy it."
I blushed at the thought of him telling me that. Kevin could be so sweet and nice when he wanted to be. If he thought you were a friend he would go to any length to help you out. It was then I wondered why he had just disappeared from my life. No one mentioned him at all. I could understand Eddy not mentioning him, he and Kevin had never gotten along. Ed had gotten busy working on the huge farm Rolf had bought outside of Peach Creek and most of his conversations were of the chickens that he was raising and dating May.
Rolf had grown busy with the farm, and sometimes he was hard to understand anyway. He too had a good heart. He had purchased Ed's childhood home after Ed's family had decided to move to another state and pretty much given it to Ed.
Nazz had married a rich guy and was living in the Ritzy part of town. Sarah and Jimmy were away at college. And Johnny was locked up in a mental institution.
As he neared the cul-de-sac, he looked into Kevin's yard it was over grown and looked unlived in. The pool was empty and looked as if it hadn't been used in years. He then looked at the house, most of all the curtains were closed. An old broken down sports car in was in the driveway up on jack stands. He walked on across the street to his home. It too had a look of being vacant. But to his surprise the yard was well kept, the grass cut and hedges trimmed. He had kept all the utilities on while he was away at college. He unlocked the door and went in expecting dust and dirt everywhere, but to his surprise the house was spotless and neat as a pin. It looked as if he had just walked out the door yesterday.
He had hired a cleaning company to come in once in awhile to clean and do maintenance on his house, but he had never expected them to keep it up this way. He walked around his living room looking at different places and remembering things about the people who had been in this room during his growing up years. Eddy used to love to sit in the arm chair and plan schemes which usually got them in trouble with the other kids in the cul-de-sac.
He thought of Ed laying on the floor staring at the television, watching some low budget horror film. He glanced at the DVD player and notice that there was a plastic case still on top of it. He picked up the case to put it on the shelf with the others and noticed that the disc wasn't inside. He glanced at the player and saw that there was still a disc loaded in there. He hit reject and then remembered that last time he had watched that movie. A memory had sliced thru his heart causing old wounds to open again. He felt the pain as if it were just happening.
It was a horrible fight that night. He and Kevin were discussing college and Edd had said that he was going to not go away to Harvard, but would stay in Peach Creek and go to the local university and probably become a teacher at Peach Creek High.
"Oh hell naw! Dee you are going to live your dream, and become the Astrophysicist you've always wanted to be." Kevin had yelled at him.
"I don't want to leave you Kevin, I want us to be together." Dee said, looking at the angry boy..
"We can always be together after you get your degree Dee, I will not hold you back. I want you to live your dream. You being happy makes me happy. I want what is best for you. If that means I get left in the dust then so be it."
They had argued for hours. By the wee hours of the morning they were both hoarse from all the yelling. Dee still saying that he would not go away to college.
Kevin had grown red in the face, Double Dee hadn't seem that look on his face since they were in middle school. Dee became scared and had backed up against the wall shaking. Kevin glared at him and stood there with both fist clenched.
"So help me Dee, if you don't get on that damn plane in the morning, I will beat the shit out of you everyday until you do." Kevin screamed through clenched teeth. He was shaking with rage at the one person he loved the most in life.
"No I will..."
Suddenly Kevin swung. Double Dee could see the fist coming straight at him. A sight he had never expected to see again since he and Kevin had become lovers. Just at the moment he flinched expecting impact the fist swerved and crashed into the wall. Kevin looked at him as if he wanted to murder the dork.
"That's it Dee, I can't take this anymore. I'm out of here. Never speak or come near me again. You hear. If you aren't on that plane in the morning I will kill you." Kevin turned on his heel and walked out the door, slamming it on his way out. He heard Kevin yell out side a great roar filled with rage. A few moments he heard Kevin's motorcycle go screaming down the road.
Edd stood there shaking, he was terrified, what had he done. What will he do, he couldn't go away and leave it like this, but if he stayed it would be even worse.
The door to his house swung open and Eddy looked in, with fear in his eyes.
"Double Dee, are you ok?" Eddy asked with a shaken look on his face.
"N, N, no, I am not alright."
Eddy spied the hole in the wall next to Edd's head and looked at Double Dee. "What did he do to you Dee. Did he hurt you. I warned you that you couldn't trust shovel chin."
Edd turned and looked at the hole in the wall next to where he was standing. There was a great gaping hole in the wallboard and blood on the wall from Kevin's fist. Eddy grabbed Dee in a tight embrace and held the raven haired boy for a few moments.
"Tell me what it was all about Dee, even though the whole neighborhood could hear what was going on over here."
When Double Dee told Eddy it was about him going away to college, the boy said, "See Dee he was trying to hold you back and keep you in this small town, when you have such big dreams."
"No Eddy, I was wanting to stay here and go to Peach Creek University, but he wanted me to go on to Harvard and live my dream."
"Damn you mean box head was thinking about someone other than himself. I can't believe it."
Just then Double Dee's phone chimed to let him know he had a text.
Kevin: You better be gone when I get home tomorrow
"Oh Lordy, Eddy what am I to do, I can't live without Kevin. But now I seem to have lost him"
"You will get on that plane, maybe if you go, he will get over it and you guys can work this out, but Go!"
He had tried to call Kevin, but the red head would not answer, he tried to text him but all he got back was "F... Off!"
The memory overwhelmed him and tears sprang to his eyes. He wanted nothing more than to go back and make all the angry words go away. To hold his jock in his arms and kiss him and hear him whisper "You're my Dork!" again.
He walked around the house trying to remember all the good times that he and Kevin had had there. In the kitchen he could see Kevin cooking shirtless and dancing to some music that was playing. He remembered how when they would walk up the stairs the red head would be so close behind him that he could feel him against his back side. Their senior year in high school Kevin had all but moved into the house, going home occasionally to get something or other.
He looked at all the sticky notes plastered through out the house and thought "I'll have to take all those down." He walked into his bed room and looked around, It seemed as if he could still smell Kevin in the room. That couldn't be it had been so long since he had been there. Next to the bed lay Kevin's red hat that he had worn so much growing up. Dee remembered the night when it had fallen where it had lain. Afterwards the big fight and the red head had stormed out of the house with out it. Afterward Eddy had taken him to his home for the rest of the night and then next morning Dee had only gone home long enough to pack a suitcase so nothing in the room had really been touched in all those years.
He opened his closet and saw the clothes he had left behind still hanging there on the left hand of the closet, looking to the right he saw that iconic green sweater that Kevin always wore and some of the redhead's clothes hanging there as well. He looked over towards the dresser and there was Kevin's hairbrush in front of the mirror. Why are his things still here, did he forget he has a key, or was it that he just didn't want to be reminded of us. Or what if he crashed his bike that night and no one told me.
Dee walked down the stairs to the first floor looking around for signs of all things Kevin. Everywhere he looked he would see something of the redhead's. On the coat rack by the entry way, under a rain jacket he found Kevin's letter man jacket. "What is this doing here? Dee thought to himself taking the jacket down from the peg. He put the jacket on and felt warm for the first time in a long time. It was as if the Jock had hugged him. At that moment Dee decided that he had had enough of the house and memories and felt he needed to go for a drive. He took off the jacket and hung it back on the hook, but felt cold so he put the jacket back on and opened the door that led to the garage. He saw his car sitting there covered with a tarp. He removed the tarp and the car was spotless underneath. He hit the button to open the garage door and started the car up. As he was backing out of the garage he looked over to the right side of the door and saw Kevin's motorcycle parked there covered in dust.
"Oh my what is that doing there? I'll have to ask Eddy about it. I distinctly remember Kevin leaving on it that last night we were together." He backed out into the street and watched as the door automatically closed itself.
As he stopped at the corner stop sign and decide which way to go, a curtains moved in the house across from Double Dee's house. Cold green eyes peered thru a slit in the curtain. A moan escaped through clenched teeth. I never thought it would hurt so bad just to see him again. I can't let him know where I am tho. He has to finish his degree. I just hope he thinks fondly of me on occasion. I wish we could have been together, but I could not hold him back. I had to sacrifice our love but it was for his own good. I still love you Dee, and always will. The curtain flicked shut again.
Dee drove downtown to go to his favorite coffee shop, luckily it was still there. He walked into the door and William the owner greeted him, and said that it was good to see him after all the years. He and Dee talked for awhile about the changes to the area. Dee walked to the window sipping his coffee to look out to see that the building across the street had become a gay strip club named 'Dorkies', "Well that's new."
"Been there about three years, it and the mechanic shop next door opened at the same time." said William as he pointed to the building next to the strip club. Dee had to laugh when he saw the name of the shop was 'Jocko's'
"Well I hope they don't clash too much over there. You know how much Jocks and Dorks hate each other."
"No worries Dude, they're owned by the same guy. Both businesses are booming, their hours don't clash. The mechanics are good, most are from Peach Creek High and all are made to take more education if they want to keep working there. The strip club does well also. The have this really hot guy that works there on the weekends, he had a beautiful body, but no one has seen his face. He wears a mask that covers every thing but his chin. We don't even know what color hair he has. Just comes in does his routine and leaves alone every night. Many have tried to hook up with him, but none have been successful. Here's a poster check him out Dee. And that name Al Louttaluv, what kind of name is that."
Dee laughed "It's from an Air Supply song, William. All Out of Love. Maybe that's why none can hook up with him, he is out of love."
"Speaking of out of love, what ever happened to that red headed hottie you use to date, Edd?"
"I don't know William, he seems to have disappeared. No one seems to know anything about him. He left the night before I left town to go to Harvard and no one seems to have seen much of him since."
"Shame, since he ain't yours any longer, I'd love to tap dat."
A pang of jealousy passed thru Double Dee, he wondered who Kevin was with these days. Did he have a boyfriend or girlfriend. Well no use going down that road.
"Hey Dee, you seeing anyone?"
"No, I tried once, but it didn't even get past the first date. After that fiasco I haven't even tried to meet anyone." a tear fell on the sock head's shoe. "I, I, still love Kevin after all this time, I still love him William. He always told me I was his Dork, and I guess my body took that to heart and doesn't want to be with anyone else."