Christmas Came Early
an Ed, Edd, 'n Eddy one-shot by Steven Benson

Disclaimer: Yeah, not taking any chances. Don't want AKA or Cartoon Network to sue me or anything. First of all, I do not own Ed, Edd, 'n Eddy or any of its characters. Furthermore, this one-shot contains mild yaoi supporting the EdEdd pairing. By reading this you forfeit any right to complain about my support of said pairing.

God, I hate yaoi flamers. Anyways, let's get right to it.

Ah, the mail. A daily reminder of one's own importance to another, Edd thought to himself as he removed the mail. While it was indeed a reminder, not all of them were friendly reminders. Most of the time one would find bills, deadline notices, and the like. Or perhaps it was fairly neutral news such as simple offers from some corporation promising you a free gift if you subscribe to something of theirs. On occasion, you would get a friendly letter from someone wishing you good tidings, especially around this time of year, December, when everyone gets in that Christmas-y spirit. Eerily enough, that was the sort of letter in Edd's mailbox today. He read the reply address, which simply said "Ed".

"Hm? A letter from Ed? I wonder what it is…" Edd opened the letter and immediately noticed the Christmas stationery. It appeared to be an invitation to a Christmas party hosted by his friend. "Oh, how nice… a Christmas party… Ed must have worked very hard to set this up. I'll have to mark my calendar."

Edd walked back to his house, humming happily. Of course, since he and Ed had fairly recently embraced their love for one another, Edd would never want to miss a party thrown by his dearest friend. He entered his room, and, as always, felt strangely comforted by his meticulously labeled things. He picked up his labeled pen and marked the date on his labeled calendar, which hung on his labeled wall.

The following week leading up to Ed's party was filled with Edd noticing many instances where Ed would be staring at him. Whenever Ed noticed Edd looking at him, he would turn his head and stifle a giggle. Perhaps Ed was fantasizing about something relating to Edd (A/N: Get your minds out of the gutter.) Perhaps he was simply planning something and was bad at keeping it top secret.

"Eddy? Have you noticed Ed's peculiar behavior lately around me?" Edd asked his other friend.

"Duh. You two are lovebirds, remember? Of course he's acting funny around you. It's called 'boremoans,' Einstein," replied Eddy.

"… 'Hormones,' Eddy. The word you want is 'hormones.'"

"Whatever."

Edd considered the possibility that his friend's hormones may simply be in overdrive, but then he observed some physical counterevidence: One, Ed was not perspiring in any way; two, he seemed comfortable and happy around Edd; three, he seemed happy; and four, he seemed very unlike a person hyped up on hormones. Thus, his original hypothesis was incorrect. Edd loved using the scientific method to his everyday problems.

Today was the day. The day Edd had been looking forward to all week. The Christmas party at Ed's house. Edd strolled over to his friend's house carrying a present for Ed: pudding skin he'd dyed red and green. Ed absolutely loved pudding skin.

Edd knocked on Ed's door. Sarah, Ed's little but commanding sister, answered.

"Hm? Oh, hi, Double D. How are you?" Sarah answered sweetly, a residual effect of the crush she once harbored on Edd, before he came out of the closet.

"I'm well. How are you today, Sarah?"

"I'm fine. If you're here to see Ed, he's been in his room all morning. He hasn't even been watching TV like he normally does."

This did not surprise Edd. "Well… ah, Ed invited me to a party today, and—"

Sarah just looked at Edd with a puzzled look on her face. "A party? … Nah, Ed couldn't concentrate long enough for—"

"It is a Christmas party…" noted Edd.

"… true… he does love Christmas… Okay! Have fun, Double D!" Sarah giggled, once again an effect of her old crush.

Edd walked down the stairs to Ed's room and knocked.

"Who is it?" came Ed's voice from within.

"It's me, Ed."

Edd heard a stifled squeal of delight as Ed instructed him to wait a minute. Edd obeyed and waited patiently, fiddling with the sock he wore on his head. Ed said to come in, and Edd opened the door.

Ed was nowhere to be seen.

"Ed? Where are you? Ed??" Edd looked around the room, first to Ed's chair (which defied the laws of physics by always seeming to have a cooked chicken buried in the pillow), then to his bed (which had a gaping hole and a baby chick catalogue titled Chicks Galore underneath the pillow), then to his closet, and at the window. Still no Ed.

Edd walked further into the room, and once inside, he heard Ed giggle from above him. Edd turned to the voice and saw Ed standing on a stepladder, curled over the door. More importantly, he noticed the mistletoe, which dangled from a fishing rod. The mistletoe was precisely between the two lovers' foreheads.

Edd was stunned. Before, he would have dismissed this as simple Ed behavior. But now, it meant something more. Edd now noticed a few details: One, him and Ed were the only guests present. This raised the possibility that perhaps this party was only for the two of them, or perhaps Eddy too. The second thing he noticed was that Sarah was conspicuously unaware of the party. This seemed to reinforce the hypothesis that this was an exclusive party. He then noticed that the mistletoe explained Ed's peculiar behavior: he'd been fantasizing about this very moment.

Finally, Edd realized something he should have noticed a long time ago. One detail he had overlooked: it was still a full week until Christmas. Perhaps thinking about Ed and this "party" caused him to lose track of reality, something that so far only the thought of Ed has been able to accomplish.

The fact that this was scheduled a full week before Christmas also implied that, to Ed, Santa came early, and the present he brought to Ed was Edd himself.

Ah, well… Ed's been imagining this moment all week. I'd better not disappoint him, Edd thought happily. He opened his arms and Ed accepted his invitation by tackling Edd in a loving hug. For a moment, they simply stared at each other, smiling. Then one thing led to another, and simultaneously, they pressed their lips together for a deep, passionate kiss, deepened by the pair pulling one another closer to each other. Christmas did indeed come early this year. For both of them.