One more chapter for the day, seeing as I broke it out. Again, still needs to be edited, but that'll get done later at some point. Eventually. Probably. It's fairly dense, and not really any dialog quite yet, as I am trying to just set them up. This chapter is very Edd centric, and the next one will be more with Kevin. I'm trying to show their worlds and lives slowly colliding, which I hope shows through at some point. Either way, enjoy this chapter, and enjoy this very rough first draft.
R!AU belongs to Asphy.
Summary: Worlds can collide at any given moment, and things can change in an instant, for better or for worse. Emotions can run high, and two people who never thought they needed one another, can come together to fit the pieces to complete their story.
And another one bites the dust
Oh why can I not conquer love?
And I might have thought that we were one
Wanted to fight this war without weapons
The surface seemed so far away, yet so close. He could feel the freedom with the tips of his fingers, slowly gracing the edge. Try as he might, though, there was no breaking free. Whenever he tried to let his fingers slip through to find an edge, he was pulled back down. Blackness, a darkness which he could not name, wrapped itself around his arms and legs, covering his whole body.
He tried to scream, tried to thrash against the tendrils that kept him under. Even so, no sound came out, and his body soon gave out. There was no fighting back, try as he might, and he knew it was pointless to attempt to. Still, whatever part of him that still wanted to fight, to finally be granted one final breath. To fill his lungs with air and make him feel alive once again. To reguvinate his tired body.
He was reaching for someone, anything, to reach down for him. It was the same every time, though. He was alone, in the darkness.
The alarm went off at six am. Not that it mattered, the swimmer was already awake. It had been yet another sleepless night, and it was getting old. He did sleep, and he preferred to have at least a solid eight hours of sleep. There were times, though, that concept was just foreign to his mind. When his mind couldn't rest, then neither could he. Honestly, that becoming the norm as of late.
He starred into the darkness that surrounded him, which he felt as some sick metaphor. Swirling around him, threatening to drown him. Something he was unable to swim away from. There was a sense of control that he loved when he was in the water. That, while there was a chance he would perish, the likely hood was slim to none. Not with his stamina and his abilities. For a small time, he could out run the darkness.
Even so, it always seemed to catch up to him. No matter how far he ran, or how far he swam. It always threatened to tear down everything he'd try to build. He was tired. It didn't help that his mind was not focusing. It was torn between a million different things at once, one of them being that damn redhead.
I am not afraid of you.
That statement rang and rang in his mind. The nerd, the one who he picked on for years, wasn't afraid. Why? Why wasn't he? Why would someone wish to continue to speak to their tormentor, besides idol curiosity.
Now, it wasn't a crush or anything of the sort. It was more just he couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that the nerd just wanted to speak to him. Granted, he did deserve an explanation of sorts, but even Eddward wasn't sure why he chose to pick on the smaller male. Part of him found it entertaining to watch him fight back, and part of him just wanted to see how far he could push the nerd, and maybe a small bit of jealousy. Neither were satisfying reasons, and he knew that. It was petty.
From experience, if anyone had crossed the swimmer, they were put to the curb. He didn't wish to waste his precious time on those who would abuse it. Not any longer, anyway. That mind set went away, when his time was stolen from him years ago. When he decided he wished to get stronger, and never let anyone use him again. When he created this sheild.
It made no logical sense. Even still, he did humour the boy every now and again. Mostly because, he couldn't just let bad planning continue. The nerd had decent ideas when it came to robotics, but some of it just made no sense and had no practical barring. Even then, it was still coming form a place of teasing. Nothing more than that. Even the swimmer could be civil when he wanted to be.
He ran his hands down his face and groaned. He forced his body out of bed, and went to get ready for the day. It was to early to think about these things. He needed to get ready for the day, and put on his mask. He was grateful there was no one around him to share this moment of weakness. He didn't need to see the looks of pity or disgust.
Not like there was anyone here to see it anyway. Left alone once again. There was a time he lothed the silence of his home, but now he welcomed it. He did not need to see the disapproval on his family's face. Not again.
The jock showered, letting the water wash away his anxiety once again. Once he felt sufficiently clean, which was near impossible to get himself fully clean in his mind, he moved to finish. The swimmer wiped down the mirror to see himself. He hardly ever looked at his face, as that showed to much. Not that he was ashamed, not really. He knew he was above average in looks as well.
His body was well defined, not too muscular, but lean and defined from years of swimming. It was his eyes that really showed any wear. His cyan eyes were cold, and the dark circles were starting to show more than usual. His normally covered head, showed his scar going from his forehead to the middle of his hairline. The only spot where his raven hair didn't grow. It was something he wished to keep covered, as those memories were the most painful.
He hardly ever looked at himself without his hat, and he almost didn't recognize himself without it. There was one more thing missing from him as well. His dog tags. His signature, besides the black sock hat. Those were something he could honestly say were the most precious things to him. Marie was the only one allowed to touch them besides him, and even that was only when he had a meet.
More or less satisfied with his state of look, he put on his clothing, red shirt, black skinny jeans, converse, and black hooded jacket. The male got into his car, and made his way to the one place where he could get some peace of mind. Unlike his home, school and the pool were safe havens, and there, he could be above the water.
Unlike Eddward, Kevin had a different story. While he didn't hate going to his classes, he did find some apprehension. Seeing as he had to prepare himself for some sort of attention from the shark of peach creek and his crew. He couldn't wrap his mind around the fact that he, of all people, got picked on and screwed with by them. The only thing he could think of was just the social ladder.
He didn't really think of himself as anything incredibly special, that made him stand out. He was of above average intelligence, average looks, and a good circle of friends. Not that any of that bothered him. He prefered to just have a quiet life, along with his family and peers. Nat, who was his best friend for ever, and Nazz who he was sure saw as his mom. Which, he knew he wouldn't get until he either graduated, or until after he got to the bottom of the reason behind this.
Which he almost did, until Eddy had come back. He really didn't know the guy. Just knew of him, and of them when they had been friends. Nothing more than that. Which everyone seemed to keep hush hush. Since then, the swimmer went back and forth between being relentless, and just avoiding him all together. He wasn't sure what annoyed him more.
He wasn't really afraid of the guy, he was just another student. He wasn't physically violent, thank god, but his words did cut. He just wanted to know why. Why is the thing that went through his mind. Which his friends, especially Nazz couldn't figure out. He had this need to fix things and figure them out. Regardless of how broken they may be.
Hell, they'd even had some good conversations, but nothing from there. He, like Edd, wasn't really interested in a friendship, just something to put his mind at ease. He sighed. That was going to be a very long process.
Even so, he felt somewhat compelled to do so, and was annoyed that his previous attempt was shattered so quickly. Granted, he'd have to catch Eddward in a better mood, which was every blue moon. He wasn't even sure if he could try and catch him after another meet, but he was already invited back by Marie.
He shook his head. He was getting too worked up about things that probably wouldn't even come to light. Things would probably go back to normal, which was the most annoying thing.
He ate and had breakfast with his mother and father, and spoke to them for a short while, before getting on his bike and driving off. He had more resolve than he probably should, but he wasn't going to let his fire go out just yet. He just had to have some kind of plan before figuring out how to get to the bottom of his torment.