Hey! Chapter 1! I wanted to give this story a shot and ended up putting in a lot more effort than I had planned.
So, I am very sure that these ideas have all been written in this fandom before. So, apologies and kudos to those who wrote them first. You are obviously cooler than me. (Also, if any specific fics come to mind, pm me a link so I can check them out. :D )
Review if you wish. But keep in mind that (even a couple words or an emoji) will literally make my day. XD
Anyway, enough of me. Enjoy. And let me know what you think. Good or bad.
Kevin's attention was drawn from the conversation by light laughter a ways to his left. Tilting his head slightly, he caught a glimpse of the three boys a few tables over. His gaze focused on one in particular. Kevin watched as the boy's eyes lit up as he spoke, obviously a topic endeared to him. Suddenly, the light faded as he listened to a comment from the shorter boy to his right. Eddy and Double D always seemed to be fighting. After what seemed like a few scolding words, Edd turned to eat the lunch in front of him, dropping the previous conversation.
"Hey. Kev!"
He snapped his head around to the blonde next to him, "What's up, Nazz?"
Her face fell, and her eyes slipped to a glare, "What's the deal with you lately? It's like you can never listen to anyone for more than two seconds."
"It's nothing. I think I'm just tired." He glanced back towards his left to see the three boys moving to leave the lunchroom. Nazz's gaze followed his for a second before she figured it out.
"You could just, you know, talk to him?"
"Wh-What?" Kevin whipped his head back around and glared at the table. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"C'mon, Kev. You've been acting like this for months. Nothing is going to happen unless you talk to him."
He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, noting the concern in her eyes. She was his best friend, so she was only looking out for him. But there was no way he could just go up and talk to the dork.
"He wouldn't want to talk to me. I'm sure I would just bother him." Kevin stated with a sigh.
"More than Eddy annoys him? It seems to me like he can handle some pretty annoying people." She gave him a smirk, attempting to poke the encouraging words into his arm.
"Yeah, but that's different. He's been friends with Eddy for, like, ever. And Eddy didn't pick on him like I did."
She laughed slightly, "No. Eddy picks on him way more than you ever did."
His thoughts trailed back to the moment Edd's face faded to a scowl and the way he seemed to scold his friend for the words. What could that jerk have said to make that light dim from those blue eyes? Kevin couldn't imagine ever being the cause for those eyes to be so dark.
"Dude, just start with saying 'hi' and go from there. There's no way you would annoy him with a simple 'hey'." She grinned at him, poking his arm once again.
He gave yet another sigh. "All right, I guess I can do that."
Kevin slammed his locker closed and shoved a notebook into his bag. Zipping it up, he headed down the hall. He had spent the last half of the day figuring out just what sort of "hi" he should give. As he noticed the black beanie heading towards him, he began to lose his nerve. However, it was now or never, and he really did not want to face the wrath of Nazz if he failed. At least the other two Eds were nowhere to be seen.
As he was passing the shorter boy, Kevin raised his arm in a wave. "Hey, Double D."
He turned quickly to the sound of his name, confused at first by the voice. Kevin could see the recognition wash over him as he broke into a grin. "Why, greetings, Kevin."
That gap-toothed smile brought slight warmth to his cheeks and butterflies to his stomach. It also instilled a little more courage, "Hey, I-I was just wondering if you… if you wanted to hang out sometime. " Kevin flashed him the most confident grin he could muster after stuttering through such a simple question.
He braced himself for rejection before noticing the boy widening his simile.
"Why, of course, Kevin. I would be more than happy to spend some time with you- er, ah…. 'hang out' with you." He grinned proudly at the correction and use of the term.
Kevin tried to keep himself under control. He could feel his cheeks burning slightly hotter and tried his best to contain his smile. He didn't want to seem too eager, "Cool, uh… so, tomorrow, maybe?" He was starting to push his luck, and Kevin could feel it.
The boy thought for a second, surely going through his whole schedule and every assignment due for the next month, but eventually answered, "Yes, I am available tomorrow."
As his luck was officially pushed off a cliff, Kevin decided to get the hell out of there before anything went downhill. He turned towards the exit, throwing a wave and a smile over his shoulder, "Awesome! See you tomorrow, then!"
He hardly caught the slight tilt of Edd's hand as he waved back before he was out the door.
School normally dragged on forever, but the next day was so much worse. After talking to Double D, Kevin had rushed over to Nazz's to regale her of his tale of heroics and bravery. During which, he quickly realized that he had no idea what the hell he was doing.
He had been pacing around her room for a full ten minutes. "What will we do? Where will we even go? I mean, I can't ask him to come over and play video games or something like that?"
Nazz, laying on her bed with her head hanging, upside-down, over the edge, gave him a confused look, "And why not?"
"Because! Because! This is Edd we're talking about. I can't just ask him to play videogames. I don't even know if he even cares about videogames. I guess we could watch a movie, but what kinds of movies does he even like? Hell, does he even like movies? Fuck, what am I gonna do?"
"First, dude, you're gonna chill. You're freaking out way too much over this. Just take a breath for a second. No matter what you pick, I'm sure that he will be cool with it. You keep on forgetting who he spends most of his time around. There is no way in hell you could be as obnoxious as Eddy or pick something as weird as Ed. Whatever you do will better than those two. So, just chill." Nazz always seemed to know exactly what to say to get through his thick skull.
"Yeah, I guess so," was the only (and lamest) thing Kevin could say.
After brainstorming for what seemed like hours, he decided to simply ask Edd what he wanted to do. That way, there could be no way the nerd would be bored.
Having come to that conclusion, Kevin was left with nothing to think about all school day except for Edd and exactly how nervous he was. He did realize that this was a big improvement over the day before but was still freaking. The red head did absolutely no homework the night before and took absolutely no notes in any class. There was no way he could focus on some old teacher guy when he had a date with such a cutie that afternoon. Well, not a date per se….
The final bell could not come fast enough as Kevin bolted out of his seat and to his locker. He stared at the contents for a second realizing that he had no idea what homework was assigned that day. He decided to just grab all his notebooks and text around for the assignments later that night. (Although a part of him wondered if he would manage to do any homework at all.)
After slamming his locker closed, he made his way towards Edd's locker, hoping that the other two would once again be far away. Turning the corner, he realized that his luck had, in fact, fallen over the cliff the day before. (He began to hope that it wasn't too much of a drop.) Eddy and Ed were standing with Double D at his locker, seemingly irritated.
As he got closer, Kevin could hear the conversation, "What do you mean you can't walk with us? We were gonna hang today. I got a new idea last block and I need your big brain!" Eddy poked Double D's forehead with the last statement.
"As I told you before, Eddy, I have made plans. Your idea will just have to wait until tomorrow." Double D turned back to his locker, grabbing out a notebook and a text and placing them carefully into his bag.
"It can't wait till tomorrow, Sockhead! It need to be toda—"
Ed cut off Eddy with tears in his eyes, "Double D! We were going to watch the new Ninja Alien Invasion movie today!"
Double D placed a comforting hand on Ed's shoulder, "It is fine, Ed. We can watch it together this weekend." He gave his taller friend a smile.
Before Eddy could butt in once again, Kevin cleared his throat and gave the three a grin.
"Oh, greetings, Kevin! Give me one moment to gather the rest of my required items."
The red head gave him a slight nod, "'Course."
"This is who you're blowing us off for? Shovelchin? Are you shittin' me?" Eddy's voice rang loud in the emptying hall.
Edd turned to him, clearly irritated, "Yes, Eddy. I have made plans with Kevin. And, no, I am not shit-ting you."
Kevin tried his best not to laugh at the adorable attempt at cussing. He could feel the dagger-sharp glare sent his way by Eddy.
"You can't be serious. There's no fucking way you would ditch us for this assho—"
The look in Edd's eyes was enough to shut Eddy up, but the slam of the locker door solidified the situation, "Yes, Eddy, I am serious. And I would appreciate it if you would watch your language." He gave a slight huff before turning on his heel, "Please, Kevin, let us depart."
Kevin nodded, jogging a couple steps to catch up with him. As they exited the building and turned toward the cul-de-sac, Kevin glanced in Edd's direction. He was still fuming but seemed to be calming down considerably. He had a remarkable ability to keep his cool.
"Hey. I-uh… I didn't mean to cause problems with your friends." Kevin rubbed the back of his neck as he spoke, feeling awkward.
Edd gave a slight sigh. "No, Kevin. It is not your fault in the slightest. Sometimes, Eddy seems to believe that I belong to him. He doesn't always understand when I desire to take part in activities that do not include him. He has acted this way since we were children."
"Yeah… but he doesn't own you."
Kevin heard him laugh lightly, turning his head quickly in hopes to catch his smile. His hopes died slightly as he saw Edd's hand covering his mouth, covering that adorable gap in his adorable smile. But at least Kevin knew he was smiling.
"Yes, Kevin. I do, in fact, know that." He stated with slight sass.
"Then why doesn't Eddy?"
"Well, Eddy knows. He just does not always act in a way that is representative of that knowledge. He has a tendency to speak before analyzing his words."
"So… You're saying that he doesn't always mean what he says?"
"Precisely, Eddy hardly ever applies thought to his words."
"Okay. I guess I get it… a little…"
Edd let out a small chuckle, "I am certain that you grasp more than you may note at this time."
"Maybe." Kevin took the opportunity to change the subject. He didn't want to spend all his time with Double D talking about Eddy. "So, uh, what exactly do you want to do today?"
"Oh, I hadn't thought about it. I suppose I had assumed you would have an activity planned."
"Nah, wasn't thinkin' much about it, really." Kevin silently prayed that Edd wouldn't catch onto his lie.
Edd shifted his gaze to the ground, pulling his beanie down a little further. After a moment, he spoke in a soft voice, "I guess I could provide some options, although I do fear that none of them will be to your liking."
Kevin glanced at him, noticing the change in his voice. Was he… self-conscious? The red head gave him a confident smile, hoping it would rub off, "Nah, lay 'em on me. I'm sure I'll be cool with 'em." In reality, it didn't matter one bit what they did. Kevin just wanted to spend the afternoon with the boy.
Double D sighed a little before speaking again, "Well, I would suggest we attend to our homework assignments, but I am sure that would not be enjoyable for you."
Kevin silently cursed himself for not paying attention in class. He could have gotten help from the little dork. And he could have totally sat close to him and played it up. Dammit! Kevin rifled through his obviously empty skull for an excuse. (He couldn't tell Edd that he hadn't paid attention to a single word in school the entire day.) He could tell the silence was growing a little too long. "I, uh… I would, but uh… I sort of promised Nazz that we would work on it together later."
Edd nodded slightly, "Oh, yes. Nazz. Of course. A gentleman should keep his promises."
Kevin noticed the way that Edd had said her name was a little off. It took him a moment to realize that he (like the rest of the school) probably thought they were dating. "Well, uh… yeah. We're in all the same classes this year, you see, and… and she's my best friend, so I can't bail, you know?" Kevin scrambled, hoping the small hint would be picked up by the other boy.
"Yes, I see." His smile seemed to return slightly, but Kevin simply shoved that idea aside, deeming it to be his own imagination.
"So, uh… we could do something else, though." The red head began to feel frantic as they neared home.
"Yes… What variety of activities do you enjoy, Kevin?" Edd shifted his gaze to look up at the other boy.
Kevin tried his best to remain calm as he realized that they were back to where they started. He decided to roll with it and hope that Edd chose something that he honestly wanted to do. "Well, I like video games, and movies, and riding my bike. I don't know… Um… Cooking can be fun sometimes. Like, I'll help my mom with dinner and stuff. And, uh… I like… uh… football?" It was very clear that he had reached the end of his list.
"I suppose we can occupy ourselves with video games. I must admit that I am not very well versed in such things, but I have played some with Ed in the past."
"Awesome. That works. Just promise me that you'll tell me if you get bored." Kevin turned down his driveway, pulling his keys out of his backpack.
"Of course, Kevin." He gave a smile as the door was unlocked and they stepped inside.