*some people should mind their own fucking business*

For Anybodihearme….

Edd's nimble fingers paused in between the pages of the files he was digging through as an alert sounded through his earbuds.

Quickly glancing around and seeing no one, he dug his phone out of his "borrowed" hoodie to see who had texted him.

Kevin: Hey handsome have a good day

A quick blush settles into his cheeks as he racks his brain over what he should send back.

BabyBoy: You too pumpkin! Be careful today!

He then locked the device and slipped it back into the hoodie's pocket as soon as he hit the Send button as a muffled noise of what sounded like people coming into the file room he was in resounded over The Beastie Boys' No Sleep Till Brooklyn.

He turned back to his work only to be interrupted again by a know it all huff that annoyed him to no end.

"Can I help you, Tia?" He asked as he pulled out another file to add to the growing stack on the cart he was working over, not sparing the woman a glance as he worked at the task at hand.

"Just came to tell you that your auntie is coming down," the older woman said smugly before she was called away by one of their work leaders.

Edd huffed out a sigh laced with anxiousness before getting back to work.

Growing up in Peach Creek and then moving to the north side of the city after so many failed stops and starts after college graduation, he knew that living and working where he did was bound to have him run into a few dozen familiar faces. The publishing house he worked for in the city employed a good third of the workforce in the Clementine City metro area. And he had about six relatives from both sides of his family working in some position within the publishing giant.

He only came on so he could get a good start on his dream accounting career. Starting as a file clerk in the number loving department was perfect after years in and out of retail, temporary jobs with tax preparation companies, and a small stint as a middle and high school substitute math teacher when he was living out of state with his ex husband.

He and Ramon should have never gotten married, but there it was.

And Ramon's family still counted him as their own, thus Tia's overwhelming busybodiness as she was distant friends with a few of his ex's second cousins.

The aunt in question was his mother's older sister and while she always spoke well of him and spoiled him with meals and treats during many a long work day, she was a consummate professional about it all.

With work getting busier as the publishing house bought out smaller publishing houses and brought on more freelance editors full time, clerks like himself were all over the place in different areas trying to help out to keep workloads running smoothly.

The uncanny resemblance between himself and his family wasn't lost on anyone in the building and Tia had made it her personal mission to see who his family was as she was convinced that he was only there because of who he knew and not a stellar resume. So when she was given the chance to go work elsewhere in the department, let alone the building, she jumped at the chance to do so.

So far, she had met his aunt and two younger cousins, and wasn't as impressed as she thought she should have been.

Didn't stop her from being nosey.

And he just happened to start dating again.

The date in question was a construction worker he met on Tinder of all places. But Grindr was grinding his gears and a few new friends never hurt.

A tea date, tons of texts, three movie dates, and one museum date later, he now gets why Game of Thrones is a thing.

When he's paying attention that is.

The button up shirts and high collar shirts of winter had given way to polo shirts and the occasional hoodie as the weather warmed up.

And Edd's lack of attention to one of HBO's most popular shows to date is all over his neck.

Tia wouldn't shut up about it, either.

Edd, a work leader, and three other coworkers told her to chill as he was just fine, thanks.

But armed with the information that Edd had a more matronly overseer in the building had turned the woman into a ready tattletale.

His cousin, one of his aunt's former managers, and their fellow clerk, Ang, told her to not go around trying to tell on him as it wouldn't look good for her future with the company and she swore she never would, even going as far as saying she was only merely teasing but Edd could never quite believe her.

As his aunt walked into the file room, a plate loaded with cookies in her hand, he held his breath as the hickey on the side of his neck throbbed.

"Hey, Aunt Monie," he grinned as she approached him and her wide smile and happy gasp threw him for a loop.

"Your new glasses are so cute!" She giggled and he ducked his head on a bit of a blush. "Ah, ah, ah," she tutted with a wag of her finger as she placed the plate of cookies on the next level of the cart and raised his head so she could see his face full on.

He stood tall, shoulders square, and grinned wide, which sent her into another fit of giggles.

"You look just like your father," she said admiringly and Edd rolled his eyes.

"Please don't tell him that," he pleaded, his father's conceit over the compliment already annoying him.

"Never," she snickered. "Don't forget to share, though," she said as she turned to walk away, tossing a point of her thumb at the plate by his knees.

"Uh, excuse me, Ms Monica," Tia huffed as she hurried out of the stack of files behind Edd and yanked down the collar to the hoodie. "You don't see this!?" She hissed, her accusation laced with teasing spite.

"Get your hand off of me," Edd growled as he shoved her hand away, Aunt Monica gasped, and the door to the file room opened again to reveal their head work leader, manager, and the director of the accounting department, who also happened to be Edd's high school mentor. "Do you think she's going to chastise me like some child and ground me from seeing my boyfriend like I'm some schoolgirl who missed curfew!?" He hissed lowly, eyes dark as he stared Tia down, doing his level headed best to keep the higher ups out of the unprofessional situation and his personal business.

"So he's your boyfriend now?" Tia snarked and Edd's glare had her backtracking HARD.

Waving her off, he rolled his eyes and said, "I'm a grown ass man, woman, and I came here to work, just like everyone else here should be doing," he carefully finished, as the group of higher management approached them.

"I know you know Eddward Vincent," their manager said brightly as she gestured to him and the director nodded.

"Monica, did you make cookies!?" The man asked as he eyed the plate on the cart.

"Sure did, Marty!" Monica snickered. "C'mon upstairs when you get a min and I'll hook you up."

"Absolutely," Martin said before turning his attention to Edd again. "I want you to stop by my office on your lunch break, Eddward, ok?"

"Yes, sir, Mr Martin," Edd said quickly, before ducking his head and getting back to work.

When the bosses turned to Tia, she stuttered a bit of an excuse of just coming back from her morning break and their work leader sighed as she told her to meet her at her desk as there was plenty of work to do.

Kevin's phone buzzed about 15 minutes into his lunch break and what he read made his heart soar but stomach sink.

BabyBoy: Are you free this weekend?

Kevin: I am but I'm broke babe

BabyBoy: Can you come see me? I'll buy you dinner

Kevin: Yeah Saturday night good? I gotta work Friday night and I'm helping a buddy move Saturday morning

BabyBoy: Wow you're busy! Yes Saturday is fine. Just text me before you come so I can order us pizza

Kevin: Pepperoni right

BabyBoy: My man!

Kevin: All yours

They celebrated Edd's lateral transition into the accounting clerk's trainee program with Aunt Monica's cookies, Domino's, sweet red wine, and Game of Thrones.

Tia won't shut up about Edd's occasional pimp walk to her new gossip crew of file clerks when she spots him in the building, but Edd doesn't even hear about it as it's below his pay grade to worry about such things now.