When morning came, Edd rushed over to Kevin's house in hopes that he finished the homework. If he could get the papers before school started, he would have just enough time to correct any and all mistakes before Matt and his friends were any wiser. He knocked on the door lightly, bouncing a little from foot to foot impatiently.
The door opened to reveal a middle-aged woman, that looked a lot like Kevin. "Oh hello, can I help you?"
"Good morning, I hate to bother you this early but is still Kevin home?" he asks hopefully.
"Yes, he should be getting ready for school. You're the boy from across the street, rjght? Eddward?" she asked ushering him in.
"Yes ma'am, I just wanted to check his homework since I am is tutor" he lies easily.
"Oh! You're the tutor! Thank goodness! He is upstairs, second door on the right" she gestures up.
He smiles gratefully to her "Thank you, ma'am!" He walked up the stairs and knocked on the door, biting his lip nervously. When he didn't hear anything on the other side, he enters with a hand over his eyes. "Kevin?" he calls out. When he gets no response, he uncovers his eyes and gasps at the messy room. His fingers twitching with the need to clean it but he ignores that for now. When he sees Kevin's back pack, he rushes forward and was just opening it when the door opened again.
Kevin and Edd both froze as the redhead tightened his grip on the towel around his waist. "Uh, whatcha doin' in my room?"
"L-l-looking for the homework. They pick it up from m-me on m-m-my way to school" the smaller boy replies, looking everywhere but at the ginger blushing hotly.
"Don't worry about it. I took care of it."
"O-oh that's a relief, if you'll just give it to me so I can check it over and give it to th-" he rambles before getting cut off.
"I got it. You don't have to worry about it, seriously. Are you okay today?" Kevin asks, cocking a brow at the nervous teen.
"I-I didn't sleep much last night but that doesn't matter. Please, Kevin, just give me the papers."
"Why can you just let me take care of this? Just relax, Double D! Jesus!"
"What do you mean 'take care' of it?" Edd asks looking him in the eyes, clearly beginning to panic.
"I'll take care of it! Don't worry about how, just know that it's taken care-" Kevin fumbles his towel while trying to get dressed and it fluttered to the floor, completely exposed himself to Edd. Edd stiffens and sits there staring in shock for a moment before his nose begins bleeding, He presses his sleeve to it and runs out of his room and the house without a word and his face bright red.
"Well, damn..." Kevin groans and continues to get dressed. By the time he got to school, he didn't see the genius anywhere and he wasn't in their shared classes. Edd ended up not showing up to school that day. He told his Mother that he was feeling sick to his stomach, which was true to an extent.
Right before practice that day, Kevin went to the Head Coach and told him what was going on, about how Matt and everyone that had been forcing Edd to do their homework. "It's bullshit, Coach! I'm trying real hard to do MY work by MY self yet my tutor is so tired that he can hardly do his own homework!"
"I hear ya, Kevin. This kind of behavior won't be tolerated. I'll take care of it" the Coach agreed. Kevin thanked him and went about practice. He walked onto the field and smirked when Matt and his three friends got called into the Coach's office. He distracted the rest of the team by having them run drills and play for the entirety of practice.
Sometime after five, Edd dragged himself out of bed and trudged down stairs opening the door to a very smug looking ginger. He blushes hotly as the mornings events replayed in his mind but moved aside. "Shoes off please" he says softly, tugging at his sleeves again as the fabric was brushing against the new bandages he had on.
Kevin dropped his bag by the couch and sat down with a sigh. "I was able to fix things. You should be able to get some more sleep now."
Edd nods silently as he pulls out the text book. "Here's to hoping then" he murmurs, not really holding out too much hope that things would change for the better for him.
Two hours pass before Kevin leans back and groans "I'm really not stupid! Why is this so hard for me?!"
"Because you aren't applying yourself" Edd says instantly. "No offense, of course" he says quickly when the ginger gave him a dirty look. "Look, I'm sure there is something we can figure out to help you. What motivates you?"
"Currently? Staying on the team. But that doesn't seem to be helping!"
"You can't be thinking about that, it's just going to stress you out and make things worse" Edd says, rubbing his temples. "You can do this, Kevin. I know you can, you were doing marvelous yesterday. What changed?" he asks.
"I don't know... Can we just start this chapter over? I need to pass."
"If we really must, although I don't think we need to. Is something wrong?" Edd asks looking over at him for the first time that night.
"I'm sorry about this morning " he said with a slight blush.
Edd's whole face bursts into flames and he looks away. "Is that why you are so distracted?" he asks with a sigh. "You're upset because I saw you naked?"
"And you missed school..."
"Yes, well that doesn't matter, does it?" Edd asks quietly. "I'm still tutoring you, aren't I?" he stands and walks to the kitchen, trying to gain some sort of composure. "I wasn't feeling well this morning" he lies, reaching into the fridge to get a water. As he does, his sleeve rides up revealing some new gauze "Would you like a water?" he asks quickly hiding it again but not before Kevin saw it.
"More?" Kevin nods at Edd's arms.
"More what?" he asks, purposely avoiding the topic and hands a water to the ginger.
"Edd, I know I haven't been the nicest to you growing up but I'm really trying here" Kevin tried, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Yes, because you need something from me. Let us skip the niceties and get back to work, please" he says softly, avoiding eye contact.
"Alright, then" Kevin hide the minor hurt in his voice, he downed the water and walked back into the living room, picking up his book again. "You lost me about here..." Edd nods and they get back to work. Awhile later, the Raven closes the book "That is two chapters in one night, you did very well. I will see you at school tomorrow."
As Kevin packs up for the night and heads home, there is a pregnant silence between them and was making studying tense. Once he was inside his door, he looked back and saw Edd turning off lights and heading upstairs. He sighed and went to bed, thinking of different ways to get Edd to realize that he wanted to help him, that he felt bad for bullying him for all those years. He knew he had to choose his words and communicate better but Edd had to open up a little and let him in too.
He went to bed with a slight headache.
Edd sighs softly and cleans up before going to bed. The next morning, he wakes up and gets ready but doesn't bother to eat before heading out the door. Unfortunately, the second he got into school Matt and his cronies grab him. "Gentlemen please! What is this about?!"
"You went to the Coach and snitched!" Matt sneered in his face.
"No! I didn't I swear!" Edd exclaims trying to get out of their grasp.
"Then how did Coach find out, huh, you little asshole?!"
"I-I don-" and then it hit him. It was Kevin… Kevin much have turned them in and his stomach dropped. He opened his mouth to tell them it was their Captain… but he made a promise and he was a man of his word. He sighed and tried to distance himself from the situation. He knew that even if he did call for help, it would only make things worse on him once they returned. So he stayed quiet and hoped to black out before the pain got to be too much for his already frail body to take.
As Kevin got to school, He saw Matt and his friends walking down the hallway, laughing. He cocked a brow as they passed him with greetings. Once they were out of the hallway, Kevin knew something was up. At the very end of the hall, he saw a crumpled form against the wall and his stomach dropped. Kevin approached the prone form cautiously, instantly recognizing him. "Edd?"
A small groan comes out of the Raven as he tries to stay conscious. His whole body hurt. They had done a number on him and he was fairly certain at least one of his ribs was bruised, if not broken.
"Edd...?" Kevin kneels down and tries to get him to sit up a bit. "Edd, c'mon... let's get you to the nurse."
He hisses in pain and almost blacks out when his body is jostled by the ginger. "No... Home..." he whimpers.
"The nurse can patch you up and then you can go home. Okay?"
Edd shakes his head and tries to pull away. "Please no..." he says trying to stand and push Kevin away. He had to get home, he couldn't go to the nurse as it would just cause more problems and he was so tired of being a burden to everyone.
"You're really hurt, Edd! Stop being so stubborn!" Kevin was honestly afraid to touch him, he didn't want to hurt him more.
"Kevin please get me home... they can't find out" he whimpers, clinging to the redhead weakly.
"Who can't find out about what? You're really hurt and you need a doctor!"
"You're smarter than that" Edd says looking at his bandaged wrists.
Kevin sighed. He knew that if it got discovered that Edd harmed himself, he would be taken away to a hospital for God knows how long. He knew that his grades would tank without the genius around. Kevin simply refused to believe the smaller voice in his head saying that he would actually miss him because he cared more than he should. "What do you want me to do?"
"Home... take me home" he murmurs blacking out for the time being, letting his body try to heal itself.
"Edd? ...Edd!" Kevin tries to roust him up but to no avail. Sighing, he pulled Edd up to his side and walked him very slowly back to their cul-de-sac. Eventually, he got to his home and kicked on the door. His mother answered the door. "Can I hel- Kevin? Eddward?!"
"He's hurt, Mom."
"Bring him in and set him down on the couch" she guided Kevin to place the smaller boy on the couch gently.
"What happened?" she asks beginning to push up his shirt but a hand stops her.
"Madam, I would greatly appreciate you not touching me" Edd says weakly, standing up with a groan.
"Eddward, I'm a nurse. Let me help you, please?" Kathryn tried to get him to sit back down.
"I think not, madam. I am very capable of taking care of myself" he says softly. "I do apologize for any distress I caused you."
"Edd, why don't you want help?!" Kevin asks from behind him.
"I don't see why you care... I will see you after five as usual" he says, casually exiting the house.
"Kevin, my decree makes me have to report him. He could die..."
"I know, but please don't. At least not right now. Can you hold off and see if I can talk to him?"
Kathryn sighs "I suppose but if anything else happens you have to let me intervene."
Edd spends the rest of the day resting and treating his wounds. Come five, Kevin is ringing his door bell again. "It's unlocked!" Edd calls from upstairs.
Kevin quietly opens the door and slips in. Not seeing the dork around he calls out "Edd?"
"Up here, I'm afraid we will have to do this in my room" Edd calls from his room.
Kevin cautiously made his way upstairs, a feeling of guilt creeping up into his gut. "Hey..." Kevin was stunned at how roughed up Edd looked.
Edd looks up from his bed where he had managed to sit up with a text book. Bandages covered his chest and arms but the blood was washed off of his face and he looked a bit better, if not worse for wear. "Hello, my apologies for not putting a shirt on it but hurts to lift my arms past a certain point. Shall we get started?" he asks opening the book wincing when it hit where one of them had kicked his leg.
"You need to get checked out. My Mom can help and she will be quiet about it as long as you go to her."
"No, my mother is a doctor. She will look me over when she gets home and I've dealt with this enough to know how to treat myself" Edd refuses, shaking his head.
"Your parents are hardly here though, please let me help you? I feel really bad ab-" Kevin was cut off.
"None of that has anything to do with you" Edd says softly.
"That's why you got beat up, isn't it?" Kevin asked slowly.
"I got beat up because you turned them in, yes" he admits wringing at his hands again. "But don't worry. When they asked who did it, I took responsibility solely. However, none of that really matters now, does it? Shall we get started on this?"
"It does matter when someone gets beat up because of me. I feel responsible, which sucks because you won't let me do anything to help you" Kevin crosses his arms defensively.
"Why does it matter?" Edd asks looking up from the text book. "You don't really care, no one does! So just stop acting like it!" Edd snaps, showing a side of himself that no one has really seen before. Not even Ed or Eddy…
"I brought you to my Mother to help heal you. Clearly, I value your existence! You claim we're friends and I care about my friends!"
"Oh yes, of course, 'friends'… Funny how when you asked for my help, you asked me to keep the fact we are in contact a secret" Edd says quietly looking away. "I didn't ask you to take me to your mother, I asked to be taken home."
"Dude, I didn't want you to be a target because you were tutoring me! I didn't want other people to be hounding you to tutor them or doing what Matt and his idiot friends do!"
"Oh yes, I am sure that's what it was" Edd nods. "I'm sure it has absolutely nothing to do with me being an outcast, just like I'm sure the only reason you turned them in was because you were upset that they were picking on me. It had nothing to do with you being upset because you had to work for your grade or that you were worried about me and my workload " Edd says bitterly, glaring at the redhead.
"What do you want me to say, D?! I'm trying to be nice here!"
"Yes, for the simple fact that you need something from me."
"No, it's just basic human decency! I see you're hurt and I wanna help! Why can't you understand that?" Kevin sassed back.
"Because no one cares!" he snaps "What makes you so different?"
"Because I'm trying! Who else do you have that is trying this hard just to get you to listen?!" Kevin inwardly smirked, knowing that was a good argument. He wasn't trying to break Edd, just get him to listen to reason and let someone help. If he would let Kevin in, than maybe he would be able to let others in too.
"N-no one..." he says softly tearing up, feeling utterly alone and scared.
"You think I would be this worried about you if it was just for my homework? You told me many times that you are 'fine' and 'you can do it' but everyone needs help sometime. Let me help you."
Edd thinks about it for a moment before biting his lip. His grip on his wrist tightening until his knuckles turned white. "H-how would you be able to help me?" he asks softly as a single tear slides down his cheek.
"I can help you heal, I can teach you self-defense and I can be there for you when you need someone to be."
He hesitantly nods "A-alright..."
"Will you let my Mother take a look at you?"
"No" he says, staying firm.
"So, when you pass out again, I have your permission to do what I deem fit to make sure that you wake up. Right?"
"Meaning what, Kevin?"
"Meaning I will do what I feel I have to, to make sure that you don't die. Point blank, simple" Kevin sat back and crossed his arms.
"As long as it doesn't involve anyone but us then I will accept your terms and conditions. I refuse to be a burden to anyone else, especially your Mother."
"It's her job! She is really worried about you, Edd... and no more of that!" Kevin sat forward again and pointed to his wrists.
"I-I can't promise that, I'm sorry..."
"Every time you feel like doing it, text or call me, ok? It hits deeper than you think. My favorite cousin did it, after I lost her I don't want to lose anyone else that way. Be it family or friend, it bothers me."
He nods "A-alright, I'll agree to that but I'll need your number."
Kevin happily agreed and they exchanged numbers, afterwards they got to work studying. After their little heart to heart, their study sessions went easier as Kevin was able to understand the material better and better. He was able to recall the facts and data with relative ease and while he was not up to Eddward's caliber, he was certainly better than he was when they first started. Their study sessions started to morph into more hangouts: they would work on their school work but they would just talk about anything. Kevin happily agreed and they exchanged numbers, afterwards they got to work studying. Both were still pretty selective but Edd was much more open about the things that happened to him at school and Kevin made a much larger effort to be more of a friend to him in and out of school. Nearing the end of the quarter, Kevin actually liked going to school. His parents were pleased with him grades and Kevin was allowed some more freedoms, however most of the time he would rather just stay in the cul-de-sac and study with his tutor… Edd made learning a bit more fun.