MAPS: a KevEdd Fic
Chapter One
It was another rainy Wednesday night. Edd sat alone in his bedroom, finished with his homework and stricken with a feeling of monotony in its most tangible form. This was the norm. It was what he had grown used to at night, every night, for a handful of years. On the weekends, Ed would drop by and keep him company. Sometimes Edd's parents would return home for a brief "hello" and a stereotypical family meal—but, for the most part, it was just Edd, all by himself, all alone.
Things had changed quite a bit over the years. The Ed trio crumbled during the transition from middle school into high school. Double D himself hadn't transformed too drastically, but he had grown a little taller, a little leaner, and a little more reserved. He constantly thought back onto the happier days in his life, when he and Ed and Eddy would run merrily around the cul-de-sac and scream at the top of their lungs and throw all of their troubles away. Those days faded quickly into a bleak existence after Edd and Eddy got into a fight.
Double D leaned backward in his rolling office chair as he thought of the day.
He and Eddy were waiting for Ed, who had spent the summer before high school training for the Peach Creek High football team, to be finished with practice. As a freshman, Ed making it onto the Junior Varsity team was something to behold. Double D knew that this was no challenge for Ed, though, as his great height and muscly build served well to his advantage. While Double D was extremely proud of Ed, Eddy seemed to be infuriated by the prospect of Ed finding something new and interesting to spend his days on.
"It's all going to go to his big, lumpy head, Double D! And I won't be taking him back into our group when it does…"
"Eddy, this is honestly quite selfish of you," scolded Edd as he folded his arm across his chest and tapped his foot. "This is about what Ed wants, not what you want, and if you ask me, this is a wonderful decision for him to make!"
"It should be about what I want," Eddy growled as he moved his eyes away from Double D's icy gaze.
"No, it shouldn't, Eddy. I swear, sometimes you treat Ed and I as if we are animals!"
Eddy heard this and paused. His heart thumped, his temper grew, and words spewed out of his mouth faster than he could process them.
"Ed is an animal! He's my animal, my pet, and I need him around to do my bidding and keep me company! Don't you get it, sockhead?!"
This was the final straw. Edd had it with Eddy's bullshit; the compulsive abuse that he and Ed suffered at the hands of this greedy little creep standing before him would no longer be tolerated. For god's sake, Edd was a fifteen year old boy. He didn't need to deal with the anxiety and pain that Eddy caused him to feel with all of his loaded words and all of his convoluted schemes; Edd had to worry about facing the rest of his life! So, without putting much more thought into the situation, the "sockhead" socked Eddy across the cheek with his right fist. Eddy stumbled and fell to the ground, holding his cheek. He spat out a miniscule amount of blood and then tried to lunge for Double D's scrawny legs, but was abruptly stopped by the brick wall which he recognized as Ed.
"What is being fought about, Eddy!?" Ed seemed somewhat distraught by the newly forming bruise on Eddy's cheek, as well as the furious look upon Double D's face.
"It's nothing, Ed. I believe I'm going to go home now; please call me later to inform about me how practice went, today." And, with those words, Double D walked out of Eddy's life, leaving the short, temperamental boy in the arms of a confused Ed.
Rumors flew between everyone in the cul-de-sac. The Kanker Sisters told some that Eddy had thrown the first hit and that Edd was hiding because he didn't want anyone to see the black eye. Sarah told all of her friends that Double D did it because Eddy stole her ice cream money. Eddy himself even told the kids of the street that he scared Double D off with his monster-like muscle power, and that the bruise was just the result of an epic struggle. On top of this, Double D was essentially isolated. Ed would come over for movies and pizza on the weekends, and Nazz would sometimes stop by for homework help, but for a full three years of high school, Edd was essentially by himself.
Eddy and Ed remained good friends, even to this day. Hell, Double D himself and Ed were still incredibly close, but Edd still missed the old days. He never stressed over homework, grades, tests, or even girls, but the idea of being alone always threw him into a panic. The slender boy reached his hand into his desk drawer and pulled out a pack of Marlboro Black Menthols. He popped out one cylindrical tube of tobacco and vile filters and placed it between his lips.
"What a filthy habit, Eddward," he muttered as he lit the cigarette. Edd took a long drag, and then released a storm of smoke from his open mouth. Just as he repeated this mantra, he heard a loud knocking on the front door of his house.