A/N: I support EddxMarie. Let me get that out right now. I mean, every pairing from the show I support. There is not one that I dislike. I just prefer EddxMarie over them all. I think the Eds and the Kankers would get along very well if the Eds weren't so scared of girls, especially EdxMay, and if the Kankers weren't so stalker-ish.

And before you ask, yes, I also support EddyxEdd. Well, it's kinda hard to miss, seeing as how every time they fight, they tend to sound like an old married couple.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. All the credit goes to Mr. Danny Antonucci and AKA Cartoons.

~EEnE~EEnE~EEnE~EEnE~

Masks

Chapter 1: Scratching the Surface

Eddward Brooks runs through the forest, frightened out of his own mind. This can't be. Not now!

His parents have been non-existent, only communicating with him through sticky notes they kept in certain areas around the house.

But now they decide to step into his life and toss those sticky notes aside, possibly in the garbage? Out of all times, they choose now to actually be parents to him?

Who do they think they are, making him choose like this?

Eddward knows that his parents are calling out for him to come back home immediately, and he knows that Ed and Eddy are searching for him as well right now. They were just waking up when he had finished getting dressed not even fifteen minutes ago.

'Ed and I will be over in about ten minutes, 'kay?'

Eddy had said that.

Fifteen minutes had passed since then, and now they were out looking for him.

But he cannot face any one of those four people right now.

Edd climbs up onto a tree limb, quite sturdy, so no rope was needed. The branch is quite low, but high enough to be hidden from people that might decide to walk by.

He needs to think. He needs to decide between his friends and his parents without any distractions to make him lean towards one side.

'Those friends of yours is trouble, Eddward. All they do is cause trouble and get you into trouble, with or without them. You're just their fail-safe card, son.'

'Eddward, dear, we're giving you a choice. Either dump your friends within this week or we move from Peach Creek. Permanently.'

Edd feels a tear fall down his face.

He knows that his parents are right. Ed and Eddy do cause trouble and often tend to drag him down with them, but...

He knows that Ed and Eddy are his best friends. They do everything together. Not every moment between them is a bad one.

He can't...

~E~D~E~D~D~N~E~D~D~Y~~A~N~D~~M~A~Y~M~A~R~I~E~N~L~E~E~

Marie Kanker runs from the trailer she and her sisters are housed in through the forest at top speed. Anger runs through her entire body, from her spine, originating in her heart.

Rage, anger...

Who do May and Lee think they are, messing with her emotions like that?

She had woken up today slightly warm, like she had a fever or something. She had tried telling Lee about it, but to no avail. Who did she turn to?

May.

What was wrong with May?

Nothing.

May was just being her normal, bubbly self, both sisters completely ignoring and neglecting the third occupant of the trailer.

Unable to take anymore of Lee's favoritism towards May, and the same of May's towards Lee, Marie high-tails it from the trailer park and into the woods, where she climbs a tree.

The branch she sits on is quite sturdy, quite low to the ground, so safety is no issue, not that she ever cared, but the branch is high enough so that no one passing by the base of the tree can bother her.

Marie hears a rustle of leafs, and she glances down.

No one is there.

She hears a sniffle beside her, and she glances to her right, causing some more leaves to rustle as she does.

There is someone's face and blue eyes staring right back at her. Judging by his expression, he is just as shocked to find her here and she is for him.

They both scream at the top of their lungs, causing them to lose their balance and fall out of the tree.

~E~D~E~D~D~N~E~D~D~Y~~A~N~D~~M~A~Y~M~A~R~I~E~N~L~E~E~

Edd rubs the top of his head, where he hit it, glancing over at who he saw in the very same tree he was in.

A girl with blue hair...

"M-Marie!"

Marie rubs her shoulder, and cricks her neck, and looks over at the boy she saw, one with a black ski hat on his head.

"Double D?"

"Oh, umm..."

But she seems really surprised. This appears to be stopping her from latching on to him, as per usual, like she always does.

But he gets really worried when she sits at the base of the tree, just sitting there, with a sad look in her eyes, seemingly staring off into space.

Quite reluctantly, confident that she could snap at any minute and return to her normal self, Edd sits next to her, asking, "Marie...is there something wrong?"

He shivers and his heart quakes when she coldly replies, "Like you'd understand..."

No.

He won't abandon someone who is hurt or injured and in desperate need of assistance. Whether she likes it or not, he will help her.

So he puts on a little smile. "Maybe so. Maybe not. I am a good listener, you know. I'll try my best."

That's why she fell for him.

Double D is kind, sincere, sympathetic, willing to listen to worries anyone may have, willing to help anyone in need, responsible, mature, not to mention he's really cute too...

If he wasn't so afraid of girls, most specifically her, if she had more respect of his personal space, maybe their relationship could actually work out.

Quietly and hesitantly, Marie faces back in front of her, and replies, "Well...Lee and Marie are completely ignoring my presence in our house." If you could call a trailer a house. "Mom's always out drinkin' and partyin' and stuff, so we just take care of ourselves, you know?" Of course, he does. He has to fend for himself every single day, whether his parents are around or not, because they don't stay for long. "Though, at times, Lee and May just like to pretend I don't exist. Same thing happened this mornin', so I got fed up with it and ran out."

He's quiet for a minute, absorbing everything she just said. Her pain saddens him, but he must make her feel better. "You know, I think you're fortunate to have Lee and May as your sisters. Ed and Eddy are just my friends. Sometimes, I wish they were blood related, so all three of us could live under the same roof together." Like the Kanker sisters. "But we're not. My parents have been non-existent in my life up until this very morning. They informed me that I had a decision to make, that either Ed, Eddy, and I stop being friends, or we would move from Peach Creek one week from now." It's Sunday today. This Saturday could mean the difference between losing his parents' trust and losing his two friendships he held most dear.

Marie has sincere sympathy for him, and she can't help but reply with, "Who are they to tell you what to do? They should have been there for you since you were born, and they choose now to become part of your life! They don't deserve your respect, Double D, no matter how much you give them or if it's in your nature or not."

Edd refuses to meet her eyes. He appreciates the fact that she's being so protective of him, and it feels good...maybe a little too good, which confuses him...but they are his parents. They brought him into this world, to this town of Peach Creek, and they can take him right back out again.

He doesn't know how to reply to her feisty, protective attitude and words, so he does not say anything at all.

When Marie is convinced that he will not reply, she continues on, "You know, sometimes I wonder if I'm good enough, if I'm beautiful enough. Mom's out with a different guy every other night. She meets each guy during the first day, and the second day, at night, they break up. Don't know why she does that, but...she does. May's the youngest. She's the baby and everyone spoils her. Lee's the oldest, Mom's pride and joy. Everyone looks up to her for advice and guidance. Me? I'm the middle child. I'm the nobody, and they all boss me around because of it. I don't matter as much."

Tears came to his eyes as he listened to her words. "No, don't say that." No one has the right to treat somebody this way, not their siblings and especially not their parents. He knows what it's like to feel neglected. He knows what it's like to spend most of the day all alone. He knows what it's like to take orders from someone who doesn't even acknowledge your existence.

And he does not want anyone to go through the same thing as he does every day.

"Why not?" She shoots back, almost rudely. "It's true. Mom, May, and Lee are one thing, but then whenever I even come ten feet near you, your friends and you run away, as if scared of being near girls or something. I can take a hint, Double D. You hate me, don't you?"

He's too surprised at her answer and her words to correct her grammar error. She thinks he hates her?

Well...actually, at this point, he's not quite sure...

Violence is never the answer. Love, don't hate.

He is not a fighter. Eddward Brooks is a lover.

"I do not hate you, Marie," he replies slowly and quietly. "I am aware that my previous actions may have convinced you otherwise, but...I do not hate you. Perhaps if you had a little more respect of my personal space, then...I might reconsider..."

Marie pauses and turns to her crush, her eyes filling with emotion, something she prefers not to feel. She's a tough girl.

But only on the outside. On the inside, behind that mask she always wears...

She's a lover too.

Double D clears his throat and politely asks, "Marie, do have a mirror on you anywhere?" She nods and digs into her back pocket, pulling out a circular pocket mirror. She opens it and hands it to him. He takes it, but he sets it in front of her face, not his. "Observe the beautiful girl in the mirror, but don't look at her outward appearance. Think about her personality, who she really is on the inside." Marie does as he suggests, and eventually cracks a smile. It's small, but it's real. "There we go. The smile just made her more beautiful." Marie feels her face getting a bit red. Is Double D really flirting with her? "This girl is you, Marie. You are beautiful. Do not focus on the outside. The inside is what really matters. That is all I am concerned with, regarding, as you call it, a 'girlfriend'."

He eventually closes the mirror and gently hands it back to her.

Their eyes connect, brown with blue.

And Edd can't help but observe one thing.

Why is he feeling this way about her now?

Ed and Eddy will be so upset if they find out he's befriended a Kanker, but at this point, he does not care whether they find out or not.

Marie's head spins and Double D's worried face is the last thing she sees before she blacks out.

~EEnE~EEnE~EEnE~EEnE~

A/N: There we go. Chapter One is up. Two more chapters await updating, dedicated to EdxMay and EddyxLee, respectively. Review, please!