Authors Notes: Are primarily at the end of the story so as not to ruin anything. However I will say this. In this story I make mention of events happening in the fanfic, Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy: Blood Of Obsession. I will go ahead and make it a pre-requisite to reading my story. Seriously, if you don't read it first, then you won't understand my story much at all Mine is not a continuation per se but it does exist in the same time/space continuum. Also the story fades from present time to flashback pretty easily so I apologize for any confusion

ON TO THE STORY!

Peach Creek High

Edd closed the door behind him as he left for school, early Friday morning. He walked along the path that connected the driveway to the front door of his parent's house. As he walked, lugging his backpack by one of the two straps he admired the lawn that he'd mown the previous day. He had done quite a good job, as always, and now simply looked down at his feet to check the edging job. He had always hated… no, hate wasn't a strong enough word, he DETESTED mowing the lawn, however it was one of the myriad of chores that had been expected of him since before his adolescence. Though he abhorred the task, he knew not to cross his parents, and once he had done the job he'd always marvel at his handiwork for reasons even he did not understand.

He smoothed out his shirt and fished around in the pocket of his blue jeans for his car keys. He wore a red shirt with a blue and white short sleeve button up shirt over it, unbuttoned. The cuffs of his pant legs draped over his Vans, covering the shoes all but completely. And of course the hat, which had become somewhat of a trademark for him, sat neatly on his head, covering all but a few strands of his hair, which stuck out randomly from the rear.

He finished his trek to the street, where his car sat waiting for him. His Crimson, 95' Lincoln Town car was far from new, but he liked it anyway. He liked the professional look of it and the fact that it had plenty of room for its passengers. This suited him fine since he'd grown tall for his age and also since his friends always seemed to bring any manner of materials with them on their many adventures. He unlocked the door and got inside the leather lined interior throwing his backpack in the back seat. He stuck the key into the ignition and turned, bringing the engine to life. As the engine began to settle into its normal rhythm, the new CD player, quite possibly the most out of place looking thing in the vehicle, began to play the organ and horn melody of "Let's Push Things Forward" by The Streets. He checked behind him and pulled onto the Rathink Avenue heading toward the Cul-de-sac to turn around and get on the main road to get to school. As he pulled up to the stop sign, he began to sing along to the song and then turned left instead of right toward Peach Creek High.

"I excel in both content and deliverance, so lets put on our classics and we'll have a little dance, shall we?" He went along with the song as he drove toward the Park n' Flush. He still had another half an hour till his calculus early bird class started and it would take him no more than five minutes to get to school, even from the Park n' Flush. He had often wondered about that name, how anyone could hope to attract tenants to a place with such a moniker? However upon observation of the many dilapidated trailers and their inhabitants proved that there was obviously some people out there who either didn't care, or were illiterate.

Regardless, he drove into the trailer park looking for the one flower which grew in this vast field of manure. After a few turns on the dirty surface of the immense lot, he finally saw in the dim light that the sun donated to the early morning, a young girl standing outside one of the slightly less rundown trailers. She was of average height and wore dark jeans and a white t-shirt with a light jacket on over it. Her hair practically glowed with blue radiance and curved from the top of her head to slightly below her chin, with a stray tuft covering her right eye. As he pulled up and stopped next to her, he turned down the stereo, rolled down the passenger side window and began to smile widely. The girl dropped her backpack and leaned on the car door with her head inside the open window.

"Bum a ride off ya stranger?" She asked.

"Eh, I guess so, where ya headed?" he said with mock indifference and the same smile. The whole reason he was there was for her and they both knew it, they simply enjoyed the fallacy. She then picked her bag up off the ground and opened the door. She sat in the passenger side and tossed her sack right next to Edd's in the back. Then she leaned toward the driver's seat and gave Edd a quick peck on the cheek, widening his smile. No sooner had the door closed then Edd put on the gas in order to get out of the trailer park more quickly. He disliked the area and those who inhabited it, save for Marie of course. Once they had left the Park n' Flush and were on their way, Edd remembered to change to track 12, "Weak Become Heroes". He liked this one alright, but Marie loved it, so he went ahead and changed it. She sat back into her seat and smiled as the familiar song began, then she asked, "So ya ready for tonight?"

He looked at her with minor surprise, which faded quickly. "Of course," he replied, "but first we have to get today's test over with." He added a small chuckle afterwards. He became aware of Marie's sudden uneasiness, as many couples become aware of each other's feelings easily. "What's wrong?" he asked knowing full well the answer.

"Huh? Oh nothing" she replied, adding a fake smile in a vain attempt to seem sincere. Marie hated math. She always had, but had been able to pick it up with a little effort. They had both taken the same early bird class in order to be together. Edd liked the class, and sharing it with Marie made it even better, but he knew that it was not nearly as enjoyable for Marie. He helped her when he could and took pleasure in doing so, but at the same time he knew that she simply had no interest in the subject. She tried to keep it a secret, but it was no use. She had only taken the class in order for them to be together, and more importantly together long before her sisters and his friends would be on campus. They had done their best to stay together for the past five years, since the incident when Marie almost killed herself.

That was a hard time for the both of them. But at least some good came out of it, they'd finally, truly met each other. Well, actually, Marie sort of knew more about Edd than he did of her back then. That day… as was said by F.D.R. of that notorious December day, was "a day that will live in infamy" in both of their memories. It was still an experience that haunted each of them and one which they tried to forget. She had almost died in the woods, under a tree, a tree that grew with a small, yet conspicuous red vein on one side as it sucked up nutrients from the blood soaked earth below it.

After finally stabilizing Marie and getting her cleaned up, he went back to her tree with the intention of recovering anything of hers that she might have left. What he did find was a testament that she'd scrawled on the tree. He stood there, reading it over and over again until he needed not look at the cuts in the old gnarled bark to recite the short paragraph. He immediately ran back to his house and snuck into his room, where the bruised, battered, and formally bleeding Marie was deep asleep in his bed. He slunk over to his desk and once there, he couldn't help but look at her as he reached in his drawer to retrieve his digital camera. He crept back over to the door not taking his eyes off the sleeping, sapphire haired girl. As he softly shut the door behind him, he stopped, and then open the door again to get a shot of her as she slept. A few seconds later he was in the garage perusing the hook lined walls, in search of a file.

A few minutes later he stood in front of Marie's tree adjusting the settings on his camera and directing the lens at the carvings on the tree. After a few shots, he turned the camera off and inserted it into the left pocket of his blue shorts, simultaneously removing the file from the right. He stepped forward, avoiding what little blood remained on the ground that had not yet soaked into the dirt. The same blood that ran down his arms from her open wrists as he ran with Marie's limp body back to the Cul-de-sac earlier that day. He stood before her tree for a second, and then began to grind the tree bark away with the file, exposing the light colored meat of the tree, until there was nothing left of the message.

That day, was so long ago and yet so vivid in his mind. He was thinking about it when Marie interrupted his thoughts. "I don't know about this test." She said worriedly.

"Don't worry Marie, I think you'll do alright, the big question here is what time am I picking you up?" He thought it best to change the subject and as he glanced to his right he saw that she became more at ease, if only minutely, at his efforts.

"Y'know, I think that this dance would be so much better if you could get the guys to take May and Lee."

Edd laughed out loud at the joke and said "Ok sure, no problem." They both sat there laughing their heads off as Edd pulled into the student parking lot of Peach Creek High School. After shutting off the engine and looking at his watch he looked at Marie, into the eyes of his girlfriend and leaned in to kiss her. Yet another benefit to being at school so early was the fact that no one they knew would be around to mock them. Finally their lips separated and Edd said, "Ok Marie, let's go kick the crap out of this test huh?" She smiled at this and then they both exited the car.

Cont'd authors notes:

You like? Please Review. This is my debut in the Fan Fiction department, and I'd really appreciate a good, or heck even a bad, review.

Also, this is an idea that worked through my brain and I decided to put pen to paper… or well… finger to key I guess. Let me know how you liked it. Like I said at the beginning, the part where I mention about Marie almost killing herself was from a story written by Rune TheElf called Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy: Blood Of Obsession

It's a great story and if you haven't read it yet than A) Smacks you upside the head I told you to read it first! B) Go read it right now, damnit!

Ok sorry, lost the happy, but the happys BACK!

Ok well now for the

Disclaimers (I don't know the deal here so I'll go with the "better safe than sorry" approach y'know?)

I, obviously, don't own Ed, Edd, and Eddy, I just really like the show.

It is owned by the fine folks of A.K.A. Cartoon and the show's creator, THE MAN, DANNY ANTONUCCI

Also I Do not own any rights or whatnot to the following

The Streets/ Mike Skinner and any of his awesome music. But check him out he's great.

Lincoln or any of it's Parent companies or subsidiaries. Nice cars though.

Vans, Vans Off the Wall, or any other associated companies. I just like their shoes.