"How did we end up here?!," Kevin thought to him self as he cuddled Edd close.
They were lying in Kevin's bed in their shared apartment, trying to get their breathing under control. Looking down to the man in his arms, he saw he had the same question in his eyes.
"Edd?"
"Hmm?"
"I can't do this anymore. I gotta tell her."
Edd sat up in a panic, grimacing as he did so. Kevin wanted to smile, but he couldn't. This was serious.
"Are you serious, Kevin?!"
"Yep."
Edd looked him in the eye, his panic growing as he did so. He'd been living with Kevin for 4 years now. He knew when he was being serious. And Kevin was as serious as a heart attack at the moment, which was starting to trigger one for Edd.
"But, Kevin! You can't!"
"And why not!?"
Edd seriously tried to think of all the reasons Kevin couldn't tell Nazz that he and Edd had been carrying on an affair behind her and Marie's backs for the better part of their entire relationship with their girlfriends, but was coming up empty. It was time for the truth to be known.
"See, you know I'm right."
"Be that as it may, Kevin, how are you going to go about doing this?"
Kevin sighed and Edd shot him a knowing look. Kevin just rolled his eyes in response.
"I still gotta do it, man."
Edd sighed.
"I know."
Kevin pulled him close again.
"I'll figure it out, Edd."
Edd ran his hand along Kevin's chest. Kevin grasped his hand and Edd brought Kevin's hand to his lips in a gentle kiss.
"We'll figure it out, Kevin."
And Edd knew then that this was a good thing.
It started freshman year of high school. Kevin was headed to his locker after football practice. He noticed Frankie Bell talking to Double D in the hall. He looked to be looming over the poor guy and blocking his way. Kevin sped walked to Edd's side and tossed his arm over his shoulder. The look of relief in Edd's eyes was enough.
Kevin to the rescue!
"'Sup, guys?"
"Nothing, man. Just having a chat with this dweeby underclassman," Frankie shrugged.
Kevin could tell by the way that Edd was shirking under his arm that this was way more than a chat.
"You cool, Double D?," Kevin asked.
His eyes told the ravenette to tell the truth.
"Fr-Franklin here w-was just...(deep breath)...just inquiring my help with his homework," Double D replied, trying to steady his nerves.
"Uh, huh. Dude, Frank, D's a freshman like me," Kevin said as he eyeballed the junior in front of them.
"An Honor's Tract freshman," said junior evily smirked.
Somehow growing bold, Edd stood up straight and looked Frankie in the eye himself.
"I can't help you, Mr Bell. I have my own school work and sports to attend to."
"SPORTS?!," Kevin and Franklin choursed together.
Edd sighed.
"I tried out for the swim team and made the freshman squad."
"Choice!," Kevin said and offered Edd a fist bump with his other hand that he returned with a slight bush and grin.
That grin, tho.
Frankie rolled his eyes.
"Uh huh. You're just on the freshman squad. You can still help me."
"He said he couldn't, Frankie. Let's go, D," Kevin said as he drug Double D back to his locker.
Edd was still shaking when they made it to the other end of the hall.
"Chill, D. I got you," Kevin said as he yanked open his locker and started stuffing his backpack with his homework.
Edd made a face at the mess in Kevin's locker and Kevin grinned.
Edd sighed.
"Kevin, how do you have me, exactly?"
"Frank's on the varsity squad. If I tell coach he's bothering a freshman, he's toast."
"But you're on the freshman squad yourself!"
"Exactly."
Edd thought on this for a moment. If Kevin, as a freshman, is seen standing up for another freshman and another athlete no less, Frankie was in a world of trouble.
"I suppose you're right, Kevin."
Kevin grinned again and Edd blushed and couldn't bring himself to think about why.
"You know I am. Let's go. I'm 500% done with this place today and about 600% done with it tomorrow."
"Kevin, that makes no sense!"
"It makes perfect sense!"
They playfully argued over Kevin's over usage of percentages the whole way home. Upon reaching the cul-de-sac, they both sighed. Their girlfriends were waiting for them on their respective porches.
"Later, Double Dude!," Kevin said cheerfully, but his eyes looked kinda sad.
"Good evening, Kevin," Edd politely replied, trying will his hormones to calm themselves.
Later that night, as Edd tried to sleep he wondered about his afternoon with Kevin. Their exchange was only about 20 minutes, including the walk home. And as soon as Kevin's arm wrapped around his shoulder, he started to feel feelings that he'd never felt before. Kevin's arm felt like it belonged there. It felt good.
When Marie hugged him when he got home, he liked it, but her touch didn't compare to Kevin's. It wasn't about strength, or their familiarity with one another. Edd coudn't explain it. But he knew he prefered Kevin's touch to Marie's. And he also knew that that wasn't a good thing.
But Frankie left Double D alone for the rest of his high school career.
Sophomore year brought Edd's involvement with the swim and track teams. The Eds would work out together as Eddy was on the wrestling team and Big Ed played football with Kevin. But they all had jobs at this point so their schedules would occasionally not sync and Edd would end up working out with Kevin.
Edd would spend most of these workouts in a deeper sweat than he ever intended. Kevin had gotten taller, but bulked up, too. Edd wanted to kick himself for swooning like some of the cheerleaders and half the dance squad.
And the young Adonis had the nerve to start actually being okay with people knowing how smart he was. He could give Edd a run for his money in a good chunk of their classes. Edd still had him in Science and Math, but thanks to Edd's help, Kevin was getting better.
Good looking and smart? Edd's screwed.
Junior year, the two student athletes were damn near inseparable. And the hottest guys in school. Edd had the punk goth sexpot and Kevin had the All American Sweetheart. Things should of been perfect. But they weren't. Edd's growning feelings for Kevin were starting to surface and taking all of the genius' will to keep in check.
One night, their girls ditched them for a Girl's Night In with Sarah and Marie's sisters. Ed and Eddy both were working. Rolf had a late evening basketball practice and had crashed out shortly afterwards. Jimmy was at Nazz's with the rest of the girls and Jonny had a date.
Edd thought he'd catch up on some extra credit til Kevin texted him to come over for Guyflix and Chill. And Edd didn't even text him back. He cleaned up his study materials in 30 seconds, ran downstairs, grabbed his shoes and was at Kevin's door a good 30 seconds later.
The grin on Kevin's face when he answered the door nearly made Edd throw himself in his arms.
"Just let me in!," Edd said as he nervously bounced on Kevin's front porch.
"Mi casa es su casa," Kevin said as he opened the door wide and bowed as Edd passed through.
"Good Kevin," Edd giggled as he patted the redhead on the head.
He drew his hand back in slight shock and found himself going nearly as red as Kevin was at the moment. What seemed like the longest awkward silence ever passed between them.
"G-Guyflix and Chill?," Edd asked.
"Y-Yeah."
They settled in Kevin's basement bedroom on the couch and Edd begged his eyes not to look over at Kevin's bed in the far left corner of the room. A few action flicks, sophomoric comedies and a couple of video games later, Edd found himself in Kevin's arms.
Bolting up right and wriggling away, he gasped, "I'm sorry, Kevin! I didn't meant to..."
Kevin laughed.
"You didn't mean to nearly fall off the couch and give me a heart attack? Apology accepted."
"Whaaaaaat?"
"You must of fell asleep at our last check point. Some healer you are," Kevin teased.
Edd stuck his tongue out at him.
"Don't do that," Kevin said warningly.
Edd quickly put his tongue back in his mouth and Kevin sighed.
"I should go, Kevin."
"Then go."
Edd had pretty much rooted himself to the spot and made no attempt to move.
Firey blue met smoldering emerald.
"K-Kevin, I..."
"I know. Me, too."
"What? How?"
"Think, Dork."
Edd lolled his head to the back of the couch and thought. Since freshman year, they'd gotten closer. Nazz and Marie would tease them about their bromance. And anytime Edd felt himself getting to close, he'd yank himself away and Kevin would get the saddest look in his green eyes and it'd kill Edd to his core.
"Oh, Kevin."
Kevin's pupils went wide at this and his iris' sparked a hazel fire. Edd melted at the sight.
"We can't tell anyone," Kevin whispered as he edged closer to Double D.
"Not a soul," Edd whispered back as he edged closer to Kevin.
"Not a word to the girls."
"Absolutely not," Edd whispered as he wrapped a hand around Kevin's neck and drew their mouths together.
And a fire exploded between them.
For the next year, they'd hook up whenever they got the chance. They thought they were found out at Prom. As a joke, the girls ran off to dance together and shoved the boys into each other. Without missing a beat, Kevin took the lead and Edd got a slow dance in public. But the shared look in their eyes was like fire. They got a few odd glances but then the girls came back and were none the wiser. They had the girls back home by midnight and Kevin was in Edd's bed by 1215.
But this night, their fire hit 5 Alarm status. Edd was ready. He wanted Kevin to take him like he would take Marie. He wanted to be dominated and taken care of.
Kevin frowned at the hickeys Marie had left behind and Edd shot him a side eye as he ran a hand down Kevin's back.
"I'm sorry, D," Kevin said as he pressed his forehead to Edd's and drew him into a tight hug.
"I'm not."
"Why not?"
Kevin thought Edd would be as upset about Nazz's markings as he was about Marie's.
"Because these things happen. I can't get mad."
And as Kevin came to an understanding, his heart broke. Edd saw it in his eyes.
"Don't be like that, Kev," Edd whispered as he nuzzled the crook of Kevin's neck.
"What do you want me to do, Edd?"
He called him, 'Edd.'
"You know what to do."
Kevin took a breath, reached between them and undid Edd's belt buckle. The look of sheer relief on his face was all it took. In less than a minute, they were both naked and Kevin was kissing a trail of love bites down Edd's torso.
When he reached the sensitve spot underneath Edd's belly button, Edd was a gasping, moaning mess. Kevin just grinned, dove for his prize and Edd screamed, the sound sending shockwaves down Kevin's spine.
Kevin was way better at this than Marie. Where Marie would just suck lazily as if she was going to hurt him, Kevin took his cock in like it was the best thing he'd ever had in his mouth. Kevin's mouth was hot, but firm, teeth trailed the top and bottom of his shaft, his tongue swirling to soothe him. When he flatten his tongue against the head, then flicked it, Edd nearly came.
"K-Kevin...I-I'm..."
Kevin hummed around him and sucked down hard. Edd grabbed his hair and held on tight, crying out as he came down Kevin's throat. When the last aftershock died away, Edd pulled Kevin up by his hair and into a tight hug.
"I'm not done, yet, Edd," Kevin growled into his ear.
Edd just hugged him tighter.
Making love to Double D was like nothing Kevin had ever done or felt before or since. His ass was tight and hot and gawd it felt good. But the way Edd had wrapped himself around Kevin felt like Heaven. The way he bucked back into his thrusts was driving Kevin crazy. And every sound he made was like a song to his soul.
Kevin wrapped a strong hand around the back of Edd's head and brought Edd's lips to his as he wrapped his other hand around Edd's cock. Edd couldn't figure out if he wanted to buck up into the hand on his cock or back into the cock in his ass. But three thrusts later and he was screaming into Kevin's mouth as he came. This triggered Kevin's orgasm and Edd felt everything and did it ever feel good.
As they tried to calm down and stop shaking, Kevin held Edd tight, whispering sweet adorations in his ear. Once Edd calmed down, he said something to Kevin that triggered the crazy mess they'd find themselves in some 10 years later.
"Kev, Baby, can you turn off the light?"
The only light on was the lamp on the nightstand. Kevin was closest so it made sense that he'd turn it off.
He called him, 'Baby.'
"Sure thing."
As Kevin snapped the light off, Edd snuggled closer. And Kevin knew they were screwed.
They ended up going to different schools. Edd thought it was a godsend. But their girlfriends ended up at different schools as well. They couldn't bear to break up, even though the boys knew they should. They'd meet with the girls on long weekends, but because their universities were only an hour apart, they got to see each other much more often.
Four years later, Kevin's in town for at least the next two years for graduate school. Edd was staying on himself, but not in the dorm. Nazz suggested they live together. It'd make it easy for the two couples to hang more often as the girls themselves were moving to town, too, to be closer to their men. But since their parents weren't keen on them all living together before they got married, they got separate places.
And for the next two years, they lived their lives as normally as possible. The girls had keys to their place and they had keys to the girls place, but because of the stress of graduate school and work, visits were sporadic. Which was just fine by them. Every few nights and the occasional weekend afternoon, they'd end up in each other's beds and a few times they took the risk and did it on the couch.
But Kevin had had it. He was tired of lying. He was tired of hiding. He was tired of the secrecy. He was just tired.
So instead of cuddling up with Edd and taking a post coital nap, they made a plan to break their girlfriends hearts, come clean to their friends and family and hope to God that they woudn't get disowned or lose their friends completely. Kevin had planned to meet up with Nazz for dinner anyways. Now was as good a time as any.
Edd called Marie over for a home cooked meal. Kevin met Nazz at her favorite Thai place. They usually had a No Cell Phone Policy at dinner. But Kevin kept his out. Said he was expecting an important message sometime during dinner. She let his slide. With work and school, these things were expected. Halfway through dinner, he got it.
DD: It's done.
Taking a breath, Kevin put down his fork and looked Nazz in the eye. Seeing how serious and sad he looked, she asked, "Kevin, what's wrong?"
"I'm in love with Edd, Nazz."
"WHAT?!"
Kevin put his face in his palms and took a breath.
"Kevin, what the fuck are you talking about?"
"Nazz, Edd and I have been...well, we've been cheating on you and Marie since Prom."
"Prom?! Kevin?! But, why?"
"I dunno! I just know I've loved him since freshman year. And...I can't see you anymore."
And his heart ached to see her teal eyes fill with tears, but he had to let her go.
"You're breaking up with me?"
Her voice sounded so sad and so small.
"Yes."
Her eyes went wide at his one word answer and not because of the simplicity of the answer, but because of his tone. He was seriously breaking up with her and his answer was final. There was no changing his mind.
"I gotta go," she said as she gathered her things and left.
Giving her a couple of minutes to get out the door, Kevin threw a $50 on the table and headed out himself.
Marie met him in the parking lot. She looked terrible. Her typical indigo blue eyeshadow and liner was smudged, her eyes and nose were red. And when she spoke, her voice was hoarse. Probably from spending the last couple of hours screaming at Edd.
"You're a real dirt bag, Barr," she said.
"You can call me any name you want, Marie, but this doesn't change how I feel or what's been done."
"HE WAS MY BOYFRIEND FIRST!"
"Really, Marie?! That's the hill you're gonna die on?! You sexually harassed him for the better part of our entire childhood."
"Like you treated him any better!"
"I DID! I never responded in anger til your whacked out brother in law pissed me off. Yeah, I called him names, but I never set out to hurt him. I love him, Marie. Can you honestly say the same thing?"
Marie froze. She had been after Edd for most of her life and now that she had him, she kept trying to get him to live up to her expectations of what their relationship should be, not what it actually was.
"That's what I thought," Kevin said as he walked away to his Harley.
Edd had never been more glad to hear the loud roar of Kevin's motorcycle in his life. Giving the apartment a good once over, he paced from the kitchen to the living room as he waited for Kevin to come through the door. The redhead was home 30 seconds later. It took three more seconds for Edd to be in his arms.
"I gave Marie our keys and she took Nazz's stuff with her," he whispered into Kevin's shoulder.
"I'm staying in your bed tonight," Kevin whispered back.
That night, they turned their phones off. They'd deal with the onslaught of questions and accusations in the morning.
When Edd woke up, he looked down at the strong arms holding him. Auburn hair covered those arms and reminded Edd of fire. Being wrapped up in Kevin was like being wrapped up in a flame. He had extinguished all others except for the one he held for the man laying next to him. The fire did not consume him. It only made him braver, stronger and confident to live in the light. Because of Kevin he could and he would. So he did.
They faced the firestorm their heartbreak caused together and started to live life anew. From their initial sparks to the smoldering flame that was their relationship now, they held on to each other and persevered. It took some time, but they managed to get back into the good graces of their friends and family. Their fire was too great to deny. It was easier to accept and be warmed by, than to disregard and stay out in the cold.
While they were sincere in their apologies to their ex's, they never regretted what they did. To deny it would be to deny themselves and what they had for each other. They would never deny their fire. For them, love like their's, no matter how it came to be, needs the fires to always flame on.
