Hello lovely people! Here's the next addition to my music driven fanfics. A few things to cover before we get into it:

First, the song for the first fic was Can't Fight This Feeling by REO Speedwagon. The biggest hints in that one was the candle that Kevin and Edd had in the window, a few lines of dialog, and the way that Kevin raced to Edd to tell him his feelings. That one is a bit older of a song, so no worries if you didn't know it.

Second, *TRIGGER WARNING* This story contains VIOLENCE, HOMOPHOBIC SLURS, and DEATH. Please keep your mental health safe my loves!

As such, this chapter is RATED M. For all of the aforementioned reasons.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this except the plots I attempt to write.

Kevin left his last class of the day spaced out, thinking about a certain raven haired dork. He and Edd had been dating? Heavy flirting? Having long makeout sessions while half naked. And sex. They had sex, too. Great sex if he was being completely honest. So...dating? He sighed and slumped against the lockers. I can't really say that we aren't dating with how much time we spend together, or all the things that we have done. It's not that he didn't really like Edd, he really, really liked Edd actually.

He liked spending his afternoons doing homework with the neighborhood genius, evenings watching movies or playing a video game, and weekends getting out of town so they could have some freedom, but Edd liked labels. It shouldn't have been such a shock when Edd asked what they were. Kevin knew from the evidence all over Edd's house how much the kid liked to label things. Why wouldn't he want to label the two of them with a definitive "dating or not dating"?

The issue was that Kevin knew that if they defined what they were doing, it would lead to other things that needed to be defined. Not dating meant that Kevin was just screwing around, experimenting with his sexuality, bi-curious at the very least, and he would lose Edd for that. The genius was not one to be an "experiment" and told Kevin so from the beginning. Dating meant that Kevin was bisexual or gay and would then need to decide if he wanted everyone to know about it. How would his family take it? His friends? His team? This could seriously mess things up for the jock. His pride wouldn't let him lose face to his peers. His fear wouldn't let him come out to his parents.

Yet Edd had laid out the ultimatum: one month to decide. At the end of the month Edd was coming out as gay. He was done hiding. He knew who he was and how he wanted to live his life. Kevin could either join him and they could officially date, or he could keep quiet and lose Edd forever. Today was the last day; Edd came out to his friends at lunch and word spread around the school on the gossip train before Kevin had even had a chance to talk to the dork about the final plan. So now Kevin was on the clock. He had until midnight to decide if he wanted Edd more than he wanted to keep his "ladies man" reputation.

And Kevin was not ready to make that decision.

Not that his ladies man reputation was based on any actual fact. Kevin had dated one girl his Sophomore year and it ended terribly. She insisted that they have sex after only a few days of dating. As it was Kevin's first relationship, he wasn't 100% sure that it would be a good idea to just straight into the bedroom after a lot of flirting and two dates. There was just something about the situation that rubbed him the wrong way, so he declined and the girl blew a gasket on him.

Turns out she had wanted to bed the up and coming football star so that she could brag to her friends. His reluctance to get it on with her put a serious damper on her plans and it was a serious turn off so not even two weeks into the relationship Kevin broke it off. The girl claimed that they slept together anyway and despite the hard breakup, gave Kevin a glowing review of his skills. The jock didn't really mind at the time, it just meant that his team thought highly of him in the relationship department. It only came to matter when the situation with Edd started.

Mutual friend hangouts, turned into individual hangouts, which turned into mutual feelings and long makeout sessions. Edd assumed that Kevin knew what to do next in their rapidly evolving physical relationship. When Kevin confessed that not only did he have no idea what to do when it came to sex with a man, he had no idea what sex was like at all, Edd had to take the reins and show Kevin a whole new world.

It was done mostly through educational videos and research online, but it was still a new world.

Now that world was potentially coming to an end.

No amount of thinking, worrying, and talking the situation over with Edd was helping him make up his mind. The what-ifs kept piling up on him. What if everyone hated him? What if lost his spot on the football team and then couldn't go to college on scholarship? What if he did all this for Edd and the two of them don't work out? What if he didn't come out and regretted losing the best love he had known so far in his life? It was maddening to consider all of the options and have to make this choice by the end of the day.

He sighed again, placing his head against the lockers and looking out the window. He saw some of his teammates running around out on the field. They looked like they were having fun with some game. Five or six of them were chasing one, running across the grass as fast as they could. That looks like way more fun than trying to decide which path will destroy my life less. The boys tackled the front runner to the ground and Kevin chuckled at their antics, but his smile started to droop as he saw the football players form a circle around the fallen boy.

He could almost hear their laughter as they started kicking the figure on the ground.

He could almost hear them taunting their victim.

He could hear Edd scream.

Shit!

Kevin dropped his backpack to the ground and bolted out the door. Running down the hall as fast as he possibly could, he headed for the closest exit he knew of to get the field.

Hold on, Edd.

In the few short minutes it had taken Kevin to get to the field his team had dragged Edd to his feet. They were pushing him around the circle, each taking a turn punching him as the poor nerd stumbled around between them.

"Hey!" Kevin shouted as he approached the team. His fellow jocks turned to face him and Edd slumped to the ground now that the bullies were no longer holding him up. "What's going on here?!"

"Hey Kev, we're just making sure that this fag knows his place." Paul replied. He was the same age as Kevin and Edd. He'd been vying for Kevin's captain position for the last year. The air of confidence around him as he answered made Kevin believe that he was expecting Kevin to approve of their behavior. The other four guys in the circle seemed more on the fence. Just a bunch of sheep letting the dog push them around.

"What the hell does him being gay have to do with you?" Kevin snarled back.

Realizing where this was going Paul's confidence started to fade. His grin turned into a scowl and he glared at Kevin. "Why does it matter to you?"

"He's my...friend… We grew up together. Come on, man. Let him go."

Edd had made his way back to his feet as the two alpha's talked it out. The other four were not paying much attention to their prey. Sensing that this might be his only opportunity to escape he slowly started to back away from the group. If he could make it even a small distance away, he'd have enough of a head start to get back to the school and make it somewhere safe. Edd wasn't very athletic, but he could run when he needed to. Years of being chased by his now pseudo-boyfriend had given him stamina.

Taking cautious steps back, Edd slowly inched his way from them. Doing some quick math in his head he determined he'd probably need to be at least ten to fifteen feet from the jocks before he could turn and run. That would give him enough time to put even more distance between, account for the slower reaction time to his escape as they most likely would expect him to still be cowering in fear at their feet, and their slower start as they would not be prepared to run the way he was.

Edd was almost at his ideal distance when Kevin and Paul's argument reached shouting levels. Paul was insisting that Edd just needed to remember his place and it wasn't Kevin's concern. Kevin was adamant that as Edd's friend he had every right to put a stop to this stupid beating.

"Am I not your friend, too, Cap?!"

"You were until you turned out to be a fucking homophobe and a world class dickwad!"

At that comment, Paul launched his fist at Kevin's face, catching him off guard. Kevin's head swung to the side as he fell, landing awkwardly on the grass.

"Kevin!" Edd sprinted from where he was escaping back to Kevin's side. No one moved as Edd slid to a stop in the grass. He pulled Kevin into his lap and examined him. The jock had some blood running out of his nose and the side of his face was already turning a shocking purple color, but he was conscious. He stared up at Edd, dazed from the blow. "Oh, Kevin! Babe, are you alright?"

"...Babe?"

Shit.

The two on the grass slowly turned their eyes to where Paul was grinning above them. A sick twisted smile forming on his lips as he leered at the couple.

"Babe… I see what's going on here. The nerd has a thing for the captain. I guess there's nothing that can be said for his taste in men. Now what about you, Cap? Do you take it up the ass from this pipsqueak?" Paul threw his head back and laughed hysterically at the scene before him.

Kevin glared at the teen above him, before jumping to his feet and tackling Paul to the ground. The bully landed on the ground with a small oof before Kevin reared back and returned the punch to his face. As their leader hit the grass, the other four jumped into action. Before Kevin could land another punch, two of group grabbed him around the armpits and hauled him back. He thrashed against them, as the other two pulled Paul back on his feet.

"Well now Cap, that was very nice was it?" Paul sneered at the redhead as he continued to struggle. "I don't believe that a beating will really teach you a lesson. You're far too stubborn for something like physical pain to affect you. I bet you're more of the type that would hate to see someone he cares for hurt. Am I right?"

Kevin froze at his question. Eyes wide with shock, he took a quick glance at Double D where he was still crouched on the ground. Fear filled his mind as he realized that this situation just got a hundred times worse than it had been.

"Let's get the fag on his feet, shall we?" Paul chuckled darkly as the remaining two goons dragged Edd to his feet, back towards their leader. Edd was rigid with fear as he came face to face with his main tormentor. Paul placed his hands on Edd's shoulders gently, almost as if he cared. Edd trembled under his touch, too afraid to look away. With one last sickening grin, Paul patted Edd's shoulder with one hand while the other pulled back and rammed into his stomach.

Edd gasped in pain, trying to hunch over and hide his stomach from the bully, but the two that had his arms kept him upright. Paul pulled back again, landing a second punch on Edd's now seriously bruised stomach.

Kevin watched in horror as Paul continued his assault on Edd. He pulled against his captors, crying out desperately for Paul to stop. Edd was dangling limply in the bully's arms now. He seemed unconscious except for his repeated cries of pain. Paul motioned for the two to drop him and Edd fell unceremoniously to the ground, landing hard and unmoving. Kevin stared in disbelief at the fallen boy, as Paul sauntered over to him.

Paul leaned in close to Kevin's ear, whispering harshly, "What do you think Captain? Do you think he's had enough?"

Kevin thrashed one more time, managing to slam his head into Paul's. Both boys reeled from the collision, but recovered quickly to return to glaring at each other.

"So defiant," Paul laughed rubbing his temple. "I guess you still haven't learned your lesson." He tapped his palm against Kevin's cheek, before turning and pulling a pocket knife out of his jeans. "Let's give the little fag something to remember."

Paul returned to Edd and kneeled over him. Kevin started pulling again, feet sliding against the ground in an attempt to get to his boyfriend. From where he was restrained, Paul was obstructing his view, but he knew something terrible was happening when Edd started to scream. He tugged harder against the two boys holding him, finally getting one arm free and launched his fist into the face of the one still gripping him. The other jumped in surprise and hastily backed away from the seething redhead.

Kevin paid him no attention as he turned and jumped at Paul's back, pulling the bully away from Edd. The knife fell to the ground beside them as the two wrestled each other. Seeing the situation devolve, the four helpers ran off leaving the two alpha males to battle it out. Edd still lay motionless on the ground, he was breathing heavily with tears streaming down his cheeks to the grass below.

Paul and Kevin were currently locked together, arms pushing against arms in an attempt to force the other into a more submissive position. Taking advantage of the blow to the face earlier, Paul brought his elbow up just enough to jab Kevin in the tender bruise around his cheek and eye. The knee-jerk reaction to cover his eye and protect it had Kevin releasing Paul. The bully seized the opportunity to grab for the knife where it had fallen.

Freshly armed and grinning like a madman, Paul resumed the wrestling match with Kevin, with much higher stakes at hand. The two locked arms again, Kevin keeping a constant side glance on the blade that was glinting in the afternoon sun. There was just enough of a coppery-red stain on it to remind him just how dangerous this situation could turn. Kevin kicked hard off the ground and managed to roll Paul under him, keeping his hands firmly on the bully's forearms to prevent him from being able to swing the knife.

Paul twisted the knife in his hand and managed to drag the tip along Kevin's arm, just above his wrist. Kevin hissed in pain, but refused to let go. Sensing the need to change tactics, Paul thrust his hips up against Kevin's torso, forcing just enough of a gap between them to quickly raise his knee and catch the redhead in the stomach. Winded, Kevin loosened his grip and Paul moved to roll them so Kevin would be underneath him.

That was where it all went wrong.

Since Paul had maneuvered the knife to be more pointed in his hand to cut Kevin, when he rolled the blade was still pointed out and down in his fist.

During the struggle to roll Kevin under him, he'd lost his balance just enough to need to catch himself from falling over completely.

And Edd hadn't moved.

The knife came down straight into Edd's stomach, imbedding itself all the way to the hilt. The nerd gasped in pain, eyes widening with shock. The two jocks froze at the scene before them, Kevin scrambling out from under Paul and moved to Edd's side.

"Edd! Babe! Oh my God! Shit! SHIT! No, no, no, no, no, no!"

Paul hadn't moved, hand still gripping the knife that was now buried deep in the nerd's stomach.

"Paul! Fucking hell, man! What the fuck were you thinking?!" Kevin turned, yelling at dumbfounded teen, "Call 911! Now!"

Paul blinked slowly, Kevin's words sinking into his head. He pulled back his hand to grab his phone-

"NO! DON'T PULL THE KNIFE OUT!"

But it was too late. The knife slid out with a sickening noise, followed by blood. Lots of blood.

Paul took one look at the oozing wound and bolted, taking off across the grass back to the school. Kevin yelled after him, but didn't give chase, there were more important things. He ripped his shirt off, bunching it up over Edd's stomach to stop the bleeding. Edd cried out in pain as Kevin pushed down.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry, but we have to stop the bleeding. Where's your phone?"

"I-in m-my bag…"

Kevin looked around desperately. Not seeing anything bag shaped on the ground, he was filled with dread.

"...Where's your bag?"

"Th-they threw i-it away."

"Shit…" Kevin looked around again. There wasn't anyone else in sight on the field. School had let out long ago, and Kevin had left his bag in the hallway in his rush to get to Edd. Kevin pulled on his resolve and turned to look at his boyfriend.

"Edd. I need to go get a phone. We have to get help. You need to put your hands here and hold this down while I get help. Understand?" Kevin spoke gently, but urgently. He reached for his boyfriend's hands one by one, never breaking contact or pressure with the bloodied shirt. He put both of Edd's hands under his own and pushed down again to show Edd what he needed to do.

"Kevin…" Edd's voice was shaking, barely a whisper, "D-don't leave m-me…"

Kevin's stomach twisted and his eyes started to sting. He put on what he hoped was a brave face, "Don't worry, Edd. I'm going to be right back with help. You're going to be just fine."

With that last thought. He gave Edd's hands one final push down onto the wound and a squeeze and took off across the lawn back to the school. Adrenaline coursed through him as he reached the building and yanked open the door. He took off down the hallway in search of where he'd dropped him bag earlier, calling out for anyone as he went. The halls echoed back at him without any replies. Everyone must be gone.

He slid to a halt where his backpack lay on the ground and dumped the contents unceremoniously on the ground. Finding his phone among the papers and books he quickly dialed 911 and explained the situation while taking off back down the hall to return to Edd.

Help was on that way.

Racing back across the grass, he listened intently as the dispatcher explained first aid to him. The lady on the other end promised an ambulance would be arriving soon and that he should stay on the line, but when he reached Edd he threw his phone to the side so that he could use both hands to apply pressure.

"It's okay, Edd. Someone's coming to help you, you're going to be just fine."

Edd was covered in a light layer of sweat, so pale he was practically translucent. "K-Kevin…"

"Shhh…Don't talk right now. Just keep pushing down. Just like I am. I'm here. I won't leave you." Kevin's shirt was soaked through. The once light green material taking on a horrible dark red color. Kevin's heart raced in his chest as he stared down at the boy he loved. Edd's breathing was shallow and his eyes were darting around the sky as if seeking out some object to focus on.

"Hey...Edd. Look at me. I'm right here." Edd's eyes drifted over to the redhead above him. His eyelids were drooped, as if he was about to fall asleep. "D-do you remember that time we went down to the park in the city?"

Not getting a reply, Kevin continued, "You wanted to go see this historical statue of the founder of Peach City, something about needing to see it for a history paper or whatever. A-and we walked through the park for hours searching for the damn thing. You were so insistent that it would always be around the next turn." Kevin chuckled weakly, "You looked so sad every time we would come around the corner and there would just be trees or some drinking fountain. When we found the swingset and decided to just sit and take a break from searching, I thought for sure that you were going to start crying, but you just kept talking about how wonderful the day was or how happy you were I was there, and how much you were looking forward to finding the stupid statue so that you could show it to me.

"I-I fell in love with you that day Edd. I couldn't believe how you just kept going even though you were so tired and frustrated. All because that statue meant so much to your history paper. It was so amazing...you just wouldn't give up and you wanted to share that with me of all people. I felt like I would follow you anywhere."

Edd's eyes shone with tears, his hand twitched lightly under Kevin's, moving his finger just enough to entwine it with one of the redhead's.

"Y-you're so much...stronger than people give you credit for. You have so much resolve for what you believe in. I've always been so concerned with what other people thought of me…"

"K-Kevin...y-you're my everything. I l-love you…" Edd's voice was so quiet Kevin had to strain to hear it. His lips had taken on a blueish hue, eyes dulling, but his gapped toothed smile reflected in the sun, brightening the green eyes that looked down on him. So warm and full of love for the jock above him. "I-I…"

Edd's voice faded out and his eyes slipped closed as he lost consciousness.

"Edd."

"Edd!"

"Wake up! Edd!"

"Please! Don't give up! You're supposed to be the strong one, didn't I say that?! Edd! Say something, anything!"

Kevin's hands shook violently against Edd's stomach. Tears streaming down his face as he continued to shout, "Edd! Come on, wake up!"

"I-I pick you, Edd! I don't care if people know that I'm gay! I don't care what anyone else thinks! I want to be with you, Edd. Just you! You have to wake up, so you can be with me! You can't give up! I love you so much Edd!"

Sirens sounded loudly from the front of the school as the ambulance arrived and pulled onto the field.

"Edd?!"

"Eddward!"

"Please Edd…"

Strong hands gently pulled Kevin away from the small teen. Flashing lights lit the grass around them as paramedics descended on the unconscious boy. The world swirled around Kevin in a blur as Edd was quickly loaded into the ambulance. Someone was kneeling in front of Kevin, but there was no sound in his mind. Just the ground tilting sideways beneath him as he passed out.

Kevin stood alone in the park in Peach City. A large statue of a man cast a shadow over him while a light breeze ruffled his hair. He brought his eyes to the monument in front of him, reading over the words at the base: 'Founder of Peach City circa 1841'.

Kevin's lips were pressed into a hard line as he stepped forward with the small jar he had in his hands. Popping the lid, he crouched down and shook the contents into the flower bed at the base of the statue. Edd's funeral had been a few days earlier. His parents had him cremated and jars of his cremains were distributed to Ed, Eddy, and Kevin to do with as they wished. Trust the dork to have a will when he's only in high school.

The wind picked up speed as Kevin stood up, taking a few steps back to look at the figure before him. Tears formed in his eyes as he stared.

"I'm sorry, Edd. I'm so sorry."

This story was a little easier to get through than the first one. I had a really good idea of where I wanted to take it before I even started writing. It was still really difficult to write, just given the overall theme of the story and the horrible things that happen in it. Paul is actually named after a few horrible people that I have met in my life (nothing against Paul's, but every one that I have ever met is a royal douchebag).

Anyway, please take some time to eat some chocolate, snuggle to a loved one, and move on from this sad tale.

Leave you guesses in the comments, reviews are always welcome. Thanks for reading!

Cthepolkadots