Kevin had come home late that night, still smelling of oil and paint. He worked in an automotive repair shop, as an automotive body repairer, go figure that one, and on any normal day he wouldn't mind the sweat or even the smell (in fact, his nose had most likely retained permanent damage from the constant, sweet fragrance of paint); that day, however, he had felt like doing nothing but taking a crowbar to the car he had been working on.

Kevin wasn't entirely certain himself why he was feeling in such a malicious mood, but all the same he didn't really care. All he had wanted do that night was go home, grab a soda, maybe a few sweets, and sit in his recliner in front of the T.V. for the rest of the night before inevitably passing out in front of some infomercial that would eventually find itself on his screen. How he ever thought he would accomplish that, however, he would never know.

Nat made a grand entrance into their shared flat, arms spread wide in typical Nat style, and Kevin couldn't help but cringe at the thump the door made when it hit the wall. A glare was all Nat could see, but it only made him grin wider.

"Honey, I'm home!" he yelled for effect, making Kevin glare all the more. Nat caught the door with his foot, closing it with another wham. He practically skipped inside the place, throwing his coat near the closet door and plopping himself down into the seat nearest to Kevin, making it a point to prop his feet up on the table in front of him.

"Guess what I did today?" he asked the boy anxiously. At this point Kevin's face lost the glare, though distaste for his flat mate was still laid on plenty.

"Robbed a bank," Kevin deadpanned. Nat shook his head, ignoring the boy's subtle attempts of shooing the conversation away.

"Maybe you need some help-guess who I met today!"

"Nat, just tell me-"

"Do you remember the dorks?" Kevin gave him a look, interest increasing gradually.

"Which dorks? I know a lot of dorks." Granted, he did indeed know a lot of dorks, but any new-old dork was worth a distraction. Nat made a look that suggested Kevin was nothing short of moronic.

"The dorks, Kevin. The ones you always talk about!"

"The Eds?" he asked, realization dawning on him. It wasn't really news, seeing as he saw Eddy every-other day and Ed occasionally tagging along. "How is that news?"

Nat threw up his hands in exasperation. "Seriously, Kevin? I met a new Ed; who out of the Eds have I not met prior to today?" Kevin's eyebrows shot up.

"Double D?"

"Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner!" Kevin glared at him.

"How the hell did you meet Double D? He moved away-"

"Four years ago, I know Kevin. Does it take special thinking to know that he's back?"

Kevin snorted, entirely ignoring the jibe.

That night Edd made his way home in his fuel efficient Prius, happy to find his way home without incident. There were far too many statistics that jolted his memory every time he stepped foot in his car, but he also tended to remind himself that those statistics were generally among big places, and along interstates and the like. How he survived Boston even he did not know.

He pulled up in his drive to a small home-a quaint little thing, just big enough for himself and one other person; but Edd didn't want to purchase a home big enough for a family until he actually had one. Saving space and what-not. So in the meantime it only had two rooms, and a study. Edd felt he couldn't even refer to the study as a "room" (even though he tended to fall asleep in here, head resting on a book, more often than his own bed); the space was more like the most important part of the house, guaranteed to be there no matter where he lived. Double D without his study, a place for science-worship? Preposterous.

Unlocking the several locks on his door, he opened up to possibly the most sterile house a person could ever lay eyes on. It would be obvious to anyone that Double D had chosen his profession because of the cleanliness of hospitals and the idea of "fixing people right up" so that they may be "clean" once more.

In his meek little house, there wasn't much in the way of furniture just yet. The living room contained a single sitting chair and one small loveseat, a coffee table, and a reading lamp. Any teenager who dared to enter his house (preferably after wiping his or her feet on the welcome mat outside, and then taking their shoes off by the door, and then hanging their coats and hats on the rack, only then could they sit down on his clean, white furniture, where they must promise to pick up any lint they leave behind) would be utterly perplexed at the lack of technology in his living room-really, in his entire house. Sure, he had an old phonograph sitting in his study, but there were no televisions, no modern radios, no *gasp* game consoles to be found anywhere in the house. Most people would believe it ironic that Double D wouldn't own those things, being as interested in electronics as he was, but he believed himself to be a man of simple interests.

Well, the honest truth was that he hadn't gotten his first paycheck yet. He still had no intentions of purchasing a game console, but he did plan on getting a T.V.-how else would he watch the Discovery Channel? And he had an iPod, bought for him by his parents as a Harvard-graduating book, but he didn't think he would have much time to listen to it as it was. He had finally become a career man, and there was no chance that he would risk this title by not putting in enough effort. He had even purchased a laptop, only the best in quality, so that he may work from home.

So the Ed made his way through his house, placing his keys perfectly, hanging his coat neatly, removing his shoes and placing them as straight as a ruler (this was a fact, as he had used a ruler to make sure). He followed his ritual perfectly, not missing a beat, and reached his sitting chair in all manners of joy.

Double D could officially say he had been back in Peach Creek for one month, today. Yet despite all this time, it had been taken up by his unpacking, job searching, job preparation and getting settled, and had left little time for him to traverse his little cul-de-sac, let alone take a trip down memory-lane. He had only seen the other Eds four times, three being rather brief. The first time had been when the two had helped Double D unpack his things, but this was a quiet task, occasionally broken by a question from Eddy, or an off-the-wall comment from Ed.

"Double D, how come we have to check all your boxes before we throw them out? Do you think aliens could be hiding in them!?"

Double D smiled to himself at his friend's antics. It was nice to know that things hadn't changed while he was away. Picking up his cell-phone, Double D began to text out a message to Eddy, asking him to come over. When he had first gotten the phone, he remembered refusing to text, thinking it impersonal, despite Eddy's coercions that "all the cool kids do it". The boy relented when he went off to college and no longer had any time to call his family and friends. Since then he had believed it to be an ingenious way of conversation.

If you are not busy, I should like to inquire if you would like to come over? he sent. After a moment the phone vibrated.

Be right over, was all it said.

Really, Eddy, Double D thought. You could at least add a punctuation mark. But the boy waited in silence, knowing that his friend would be along any moment, with Ed in tow. But knowing this didn't mean he didn't cringe when a pounding came on his door. Quickly rushing to get his door and save it from any more damage, he opened it wide to allow his two best friends into his home. And then it took only ten seconds for his pristine home to be destroyed.

Eddy had immediately allowed himself in and plopped down on Double D's white couch, soaking it with the rain water Eddy had picked up, and Ed picked Double D up, spun him around in excitement, and placed him down as he soiled Double D's beautiful floors with mud-caked shoes. But despite these new acquirements (and a twitch in his brain) Double D smiled at his friends.

"It's about time you called, Sockhead," Eddy greeted. The smaller boy had a grin on his face, which was Double D's only hint that Eddy had really missed him.

"My apologies, Eddy," he smiled. "But I had my first day at work today!"

"Ah, our little Double D is all grown up, Eddy!" Ed said. "Such sweet sorrows!"

"So how'd it go Sockhead?" Eddy asked, ignoring Ed. Double D was delighted at his interest, as it didn't happen very often.

"Wonderful!" he proclaimed. Then, after a moment's hesitation, he added, "I also met Kevin's roommate today. He was one of my patients."

At this Eddy jumped out his seat, allowing Double D to get a better look at him. He certainly had grown up, and Double D always felt relieved to know that Eddy's hair had grown in during their high school years.

"Shovel chin!?" Double D sighed at his overreaction.

"No, Eddy. I met Kevin's roommate today. Not Kevin himself."

"Same thing," Eddy grumbled. The shorted boy looked him in the eyes. "Listen, Double D; that guys weird. And I mean weird. I'd just ignore him, all right?"

"I can't just ignore him, Eddy! He's my patient!"

"Tell him he needs to go somewhere else." Double D was exasperated.

"Eddy, I refuse to lie to someone."

Eddy shook his head, but let it go at that. He sat back down on the couch, then looked at Double D. "Whatever, Sockhead."

Double D knew from the irritated look on his friend's face he wouldn't forget this argument, but was happy that he dropped it in the mean time. Really, there was no point in arguing with Eddy.

Ed looked between his two best friends and grinned, happy that their fighting was over. Rushing to them, he squeezed them tight into a hug, oblivious to their protests.

"Let's celebrate the return of our friendship!" he shouted. Once he put them down, Eddy and Double D looked at each other, then smiled.

I want to thank everyone for their kind words and reviews! I'm not sure if I tricked you all into thinking this is good or what.

I'm not really happy with this chapter myself, but I'm hoping everyone will like it! Hopefully once my school life slows down, like it should in a month or so, that I'll actually be able to focus on this story. ^^" I hope.