*TRIGGER WARNING* This story contains CUTTING and MENTIONS OF SUICIDE. Please keep your mental health safe my loves!
That being said this story will be happier than the previous one. Just has some serious topics.
The song for the last chapter was Say Something by Great Big World. Did you get it right?
Disclaimer: I don't own any of this except the plots I attempt to write.
The door to Eddward Marion Vincent's home burst open and a small, dark figure quickly dashed out. A shrill voice followed out into the stormy night, echoing down the street. The freezing rain came down nearly horizontal, quickly soaking the figure as it made an escape from the cul-de-sac heading towards the local playground. Heavy footfalls were lost in the howling of the wind, the only proof of the figure in the storm were the fast puffs of air visibly escaping out from the hood covered face.
Reaching the swings, the young man collapsed into one and silently cursed his lack of physical stamina. It just had to be the night of this horrible storm that his mother returned from her business trip. His parents had always been away with work for one reason or another. The strain it put on the relationship with their son, was soon matched with the strain it put between the two of them. The divorce had been quick and to the point. Edd's mother kept custody of their boy and the house to keep him in, his father would pay 75% of the cost to send Edd off to college in the next two years, and everything else was divided down the middle.
That was when the real troubles began. Despite their constant absence in his life, both of his parents loved him dearly and only wanted the best from him. When they were together, his mother's overly ambitious standards of his grades and school standing were balanced with his father's understanding that there was more to life than academics. Get good grades, but don't work yourself to death in the process, have a little fun sometimes.
Now that they were separated, Edd's mother insisted on a heavy schedule of studying, extra classes, and other such scholarship opportunities to ensure that Edd would be valedictorian and get a full ride to any college in the country. Like that would prove to her ex husband that she was worthy of being taken back or some nonsense.
The rain pelted against Edd's back as he slumped on the swing. The chains were like ice in his hands, but his grip was tight and he refused to budge when the sky cracked with lightning and the rain fell harder. Despite the frigid weather, his insides were boiling hot. His oh-so loving mother had found his progress report from his English class. His grade had dropped by a percentage because of a lower score he had received on one of his assignments. Nevermind the fact that it was still an A, or that it was the highest grade in the class as his teacher informed him when she had passed back the assignments, lower was lower and that was unacceptable.
The former Mrs. Vincent had screamed herself hoarse at him. Ignoring his arguments about how this would have very little impact on his GPA or his chances at college. What university looked at the individual scores for the classes anyway? His sassy remarks got him a firm slap across the face and that was when fled. Chased out by the words of his mother: No son of mine is going to be such a failure!
So, Edd sat on the swing and shivered in the storm wondering if he should try to go back home or just wait for the elements to take him to some place where mothers loved their sons no matter what, and fathers didn't just disappear.
A loud rumbling noise over the storm shook Edd from his thoughts. A single headlight was moving quickly through the streets of the neighborhood, heading towards the cul-de-sac. The neighborhood bad boy was on his way home from somewhere, probably out at a party with the other popular kids from the high school.
Kevin's bullying ways hadn't really stopped over the years, he'd just moved on to different targets. Ever since the Ed's and the rest of the kids had battled it out with Eddy's impressively obnoxious big brother, Kevin decided to be the protector of all of them. There was no need to worry about standing up to a big bully if you were the biggest bully of them all. So Kevin bulked up, stood up to every tormentor any of the kids encountered, and put them down. Yet, he still found the time to be the local basketball champ and held a decent standing in the school. Nothing compared to Edd, but when one doesn't have an obsessive mother breathing down your neck, it's okay to get a B every once in awhile.
The bright beam of the headlight illuminated the park, shining off of the metal equipment and throwing Edd's shadow down the field. The rumbling grew louder as the bike neared, but instead of retreating again as Kevin drove home, the noise continued to increase until it suddenly stopped. Edd sighed and just waited for the redhead to arrive. Cul-de-sac hero incoming, prepare for awkward confrontation in three… two… one…
"Double D?"
Edd answered without turning, "Good evening, Kevin. Is it not a little late and a little wet outside for you to be riding that deathtrap?"
Kevin scoffed, "Yeah, probably. I just needed to get some air." He flopped down onto the remaining swing, "What are you doing out here?"
"This is hardly the time to be trying to get some air, unless you have recently grown gills. I find it difficult to believe that is your actual reason." Edd's usually sassy comeback sounded hollow and lifeless. He still refused to make eye contact with the jock next to him.
Kevin's eyebrows drew together in concern. He knew enough about the small nerd before him to know something was up. "Come on Double D, don't just avoid my question."
"I could say the same to you, Kevin."
Thunder continued to rumble overhead and wind thrashed against the teens as they sat in stubborn silence. Edd started shivering, the chains rattling slightly in his hands, but he wouldn't let go. Kevin sighed, and moved to place one hand over Edd's smaller one. Despite the rain, Kevin's hand was warm around the dorks. Edd gasped at the sudden change of temperature, but still refused to move.
"How come you are being so stubborn, Double D?"
"Allow me to reply in kind, Kevin."
"I am not being stubborn, I just asked you first."
"How childish of you to demand my response before supplying your own."
"Says the guy sitting on a playground swingset in the rain in the middle of the night."
"Et tu, Kevin?"
Kevin grumbled. He knew he wasn't going to win against the dork, he was on the debate team after all. Sighing in defeat he answered, "Fine, I got in a fight with my dad. Happy?"
"No." Edd's small voice replied, just loud enough to be heard over the storm.
"What more do you want me to say Double D? I answered your question."
Edd finally turned to look at Kevin, he face was pale from the cold, but the areas around his eyes were red and swollen. The faint outline of his mother's hand still burned on his cheek. "You asked if I was happy, I said no."
"...Who hit you, Edd? I thought I taught them all not to screw with us." Kevin's grip on Edd's hand tightened slightly as his anger grew at the sight before him. Double D was just a kid in Kevin's eyes, despite them being the same age. He was ready to beat the shit out of anyone in the school if they dared to hurt one of his childhood friends.
"I assure you Kevin, no one from our school would dare strike me. Not with knowing that you would retaliate against it."
The silence returned between the two as Kevin allowed Edd's words to sink in. Realization dawned in his mind, "Your parents hit you? How long has that been going on? Why didn't you come ask me for help? You know I would have."
"What could you have possibly done against her?" Edd spat bitterly. He pulled his hand from Kevin's grasp and moved away from the swing, standing before the jock. "Do not pretend to comprehend what is going on in my house! I assure you that it is not your concern!"
"Of course it's my concern! We grew up together man, why wouldn't I care?" Kevin stood from his swing as well, stepping before the teen in front of him. The two were almost equal in height, but all their other physical traits countered the other, dark hair to light, tan skin to pale, toned muscle to slight. Edd's small frame was shivering with cold before the wall of muscle that was Kevin.
"I feel that you would not understand," Edd dropped his head, staring at his shoes. "Mother's expectations of me are quite lofty."
Kevin sighed again, bringing his hands up to place on Edd's arms, "I understand Double D. My old man is the same way."
"Your father deems it necessary to strike you when your grades fall?"
"Nah, but he beat my ass when I told him I was gay and wouldn't take a basketball scholarship because I want be an architect."
Edd's eyes grew wide and he looked back up at the jock before him. "I did not know you were a homosexual, Kevin."
"Yeah…I'm not really hiding it, but there aren't a lot of people who know. I figured that the ones that were important enough to know would find out when they needed to and everyone else can just deal. I guess this is when you needed to know, huh dork." Kevin smiled at the teen before him.
"S-so it would seem…"
"Come on Edd, let's get out of the rain. I'm freezing." Kevin pulled Edd towards his bike.
"Kevin, I must decline! I have no interest in going back to my house presently and given what information you just told me I am not willing to risk going to your house either!" Edd was fighting uselessly against Kevin's hold on his arm.
The two teens came to a stop next to Kevin's cherry red motorcycle. Kevin reached around into one of the saddlebags and pulled out a helmet. Before he could protest Kevin shoved it onto Edd's head, squishing his soaked hat against his scalp, then he swung a leg over the bike and started the motor. "Don't worry, we're not going to either of our houses. I think our parents can go fuck themselves for the evening. I know somewhere else we can go."
"Language, Kevin!" Edd shouted through the helmet. He dithered on the sidewalk for a moment, before begrudgingly swinging his leg over the bike as well. He really didn't have any other options at this point, he'd have to trust Kevin to get them somewhere safe from the storm. He expected some sort of restaurant or maybe even a hotel, but when they pulled off the street onto a dirt path into the forest, he had no idea what to think.
A few bumpy, mud splashing minutes later they pulled in front of a large tree. Kevin shut off the bike and jumped off, pulling Edd's helmet from his beanie clad head and storing it back in the bag. He sauntered casually over to the tree.
"Kevin, we are in the middle of nowhere. What are we doing here?" Edd didn't move from the back of the bike.
"This is my old treehouse. We're going to crash here for the night. I've got food, blankets, and a change of clothes for ya. No worries."
Taking the hint that he should just follow the redhead, Edd slide awkwardly off the bike and jogged after him. The two climbed a makeshift ladder of boards that had been nailed into the tree trunk. Once inside, Kevin grabbed two flashlights and a lantern and lit the area around them.
The treehouse was fairly small, just enough room for the two teens to sit comfortably and move around one at a time. There was a sleeping bag in one corner with a few blankets and pillows. The opposite corner held snacks and cans of food. There was a single self along the wall that had a few stacks of books and a box of something, and the last wall had a few piles of clothes.
"Well...uhhh...welcome to my treehouse?" Kevin chuckled to himself as he moved around Edd to get to the clothes behind him. He grabbed a shirt and pair of pants for each of them and then a sweatshirt. "Here, change into these, so you don't get hypothermia or some shit."
"Very well...You have to turn around though." Edd was blushing from his nose to his ears. Edd had come out to the cul-de-sac kids a couple years ago and the redhead before him had always been a crush of his. The last thing he wanted was for the object of his affections to see him in such a state of undress. Not when there were still so many secrets the genius was hiding.
"Whatever you say dork." Kevin turned his back to him. The two changed clothes in silence. Kevin finished first as the clothes actually fit him correctly and he didn't need to spend extra time adjusting everything. As he turned around to ask Edd about food, he caught a glimpse of faint red lines patterned along Edd's arms as he was attempting to adjust the ends of the sleeves to reveal his hands.
"Edd…"
The smaller teen froze at the sound of Kevin's voice. It was quiet and filled with so much concern. Edd followed Kevin's gaze to his arm and quickly tugged the shirt down covering the skin beneath. He wrapped his arms around himself and shuffled away from the jock, "Kevin...please-"
But Kevin had already moved to grip the teen by his wrists. He pushed Edd to the floor and maneuvered both his hands into one of his own, using the other to slide both sleeves up Edd's arms and reveal the scarred skin. The lines were everywhere, spread out across Edd's arms from wrist to shoulder. Some seemed more recent than others, some were longer and appeared deeper, but all of them made Kevin's mind fill with a rage he didn't know he had.
"Edd." Kevin's voice was tight, "What did you do?"
Silent tears were rolling out of the corners of Edd's eyes. He stared at Kevin, pushing his emotions back in check, he blinked the remaining wetness away, "You know exactly what I did. Now let me go."
Kevin released his wrists and moved away, never breaking eye contact with Edd. The rain was still pouring outside the walls of their small refuge, occasional flashes of lightning could be seen through the boards. The wind howled and shook the structure around them, but the two boys just stared at each other in another stubborn silence. Kevin was the one to break.
"Why?"
"Please Kevin, I do not wish to explain this to you."
"We've all been there for you. From when you came out at school and through the divorce, that fight with Eddy, why do this?"
Edd sighed, "It is not simply a matter of support from my peers."
"What else could I have done to prevent this?"
Edd's eyes widened at his response. "This is not your fault. Why would you even think such a thing?"
"Because I was supposed to protect everyone! After everything with Eddy's douchebag brother we were supposed to be safe. We were supposed to be happy! I thought I kept everything the way it was supposed to be. No one would fuck with us, I made sure of it! No one else was supposed to feel this way!" Tears were forming in Kevin's eyes as he ranted to the smartest Ed.
"No one else?"
Kevin fell silent. A brief look of fear crossed his face before he replaced it with his usual bad boy scowl, "Don't worry about it dork." He turned away and started shuffling through the food store in the corner, muttering to himself about vegetables for the skinny boy behind him. Edd moved quietly behind Kevin, reaching out and placing his hand on the jock, causing him to stop moving. Edd could feel the muscles in his shoulder tense under his grip, he carefully slid his hand down Kevin's arm. Moving slowly, but deliberately to the edge of his sleeve. Kevin's hand shot out and stopped him as he reached the end. "Don't."
"Kevin. You know I am incapable of restraining you physically the way that you did to me. My skills are more of the intellectual type, as you are well aware. That being said, I already know what I will find beneath your shirt. I am now asking that you share with me, as you so often demand of everyone else to share with you." Edd's voice was soft and gentle, full of just as much concern as Kevin was showing him earlier.
Kevin's mouth was drawn into a hard line. He pulled away from Edd and squeezed his eyes shut. Reaching to the neckline of his shirt he pulled the whole thing over his head and dropped it in a wad at his knees. Kevin's arms mirrored Edd's, lines covered his skin in a jagged pattern. Edd brought his hand to the redhead's arm once again, tracing a few scars with his fingers until he came a upon a particularly fresh one. He glanced at Kevin's face to see that the jock was following the path his fingers were tracing over the tanned skin.
"My dad found a magazine of mine. I guess...he thinks he can make me straight by yelling." His voice was weak and vulnerable as he sat exposed to the resident genius.
Edd scowled at the idea. Drawing from his anger at the ginger's father he mimicked Kevin's movements and pulled the borrowed shirt over his head. His pale skin shone in the dim light from the lantern. Kevin stared at the sight before him. Edd's torso and stomach were also covered in lines, all of the wounds were significantly more recent than the ones on his arms. A few were still bright red and slightly scabbed.
"I did not do as well on my midterms as Mother had hoped."
Kevin reached out and slid his hand across Edd's stomach feeling the rise and fall of the newly laid scars under his fingers. Edd shivered slightly at the touch. He closed his eyes, revelling in the warm skin that passed softly over his own. It had been a long time since he had known such a caring feeling.
"Come on," Kevin muttered. He gripped Edd's side lightly and guided him to the sleeping bag and blankets. He quickly organized a bed for the two of them and wrapped them both in a blanket. Edd watched Kevin's face with interest as he was gently coaxed to laying down in the bundle of fabric. Kevin laid on his side, facing Edd. He moved his arm into view and pointed at a few of the scars near his wrist. "Those are from when the football team put Plank through the wood chipper. Johnny still can't go past shop class without cringing."
Edd pulled his arm into view as well, "These are from the divorce."
"After I told Dad I was gay."
"I did not get chosen as captain of the debate team."
Scars for being bullied.
For disappointing friends.
For grades.
For feeling so completely alone.
For feeling trapped.
Scars just so they could feel something.
They continued like that for a while. Pointing at their cuts and sharing stories of their lives that no one else knew. They remembered everything that brought them to the knife. Delving deep into the emotional hurt they both felt for their parent's behavior. Until Edd paused while pointing out a particularly long line on his arm.
"This one is from the fight with Eddy."
Kevin's mouth twitched in irritation. The fight between Edd and Eddy was a taboo subject among the kids of the neighborhood. No one was quite sure what had happened between the two former friends, but Edd had come out on the raw end of the deal. Eddy pulled Ed away from him, leaving Edd all alone to face whatever tormentors would come at him on any given day.
Edd sighed as he sensed that Kevin was looking for an explanation. "Eddy expressed an interest in dating me after I came out." Kevin raised an eyebrow. That was news. As far as anyone knew Eddy was straight and a total womanizer. "When I told him that I saw him merely as a brother and not romantically he...did not take it well. He refused my company after that."
"Yeah. I've got one of those too." Kevin pointed at a long scar near the joint of his elbow. "I broke up with Nazz when I realized that I was gay. It didn't seem right to keep dating her when I could only ever love her as a sister and nothing else. I don't believe she has forgiven me for that."
"It would seem that we are both more alone than the other realized."
"I guess you're right."
Edd paused again at the last scar he had to define. This one was especially difficult to discuss given the current situation, but he also felt that it would be going against their silent agreement to be 100% open if he did not share it. He sighed heavily and pointed it out to the boy before him. "This one is unrequited love."
Kevin stared at the scar for quite some time. He met Edd's eyes for a minute, before turning his head and showing a small scar on the side of his neck, midway between his jaw and collarbone. It was fairly old and difficult to see in the slight wrinkles that were forming along the skin. Kevin turned to look at Edd again, he gave a small, sad smile. "Unrequited love."
Once again that evening Edd's eyes were wide with shock. The placement of that scar was dangerously close to the jugular vein, stopping just before it could have done any serious damage. Edd lept at Kevin with surprising speed, pinning the jock to the floor by his shoulders. Edd was crying again, shaking uncontrollably as he shouted, "Kevin! What on earth were you thinking?! You could have died!"
Kevin lay stunned, looking at the sobbing teen above him. Tears were falling onto him, but he made no move to wipe them away. He just lay still and allowed Edd to cry and pound his fist weakly onto his chest. "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid, Kevin!"
As Edd moved to hit Kevin again, the redhead reacted. He drew his arms around Edd's shoulders and forced him down against his chest, holding him in a tight embrace. Edd continued to cry, the thought of losing Kevin was just too painful to deal with. Kevin was his secret crush and the guy who could stand up to anyone and anything. The thought of losing him, of having to live in a world without him, was nearly unbearable.
Kevin held the small teen as he sobbed. He knew it was a stupid decision at the time. He hadn't gone through with it because it was a stupid decision. He'd just felt so alone at the time, and his dad was refusing to accept him for who he was. He still thought that Kevin was just a kid who didn't know anything about what he wanted. That he'd never change. That his crush on the brilliant boy across the street was just a phase.
"Come on, Double D. I'm still here. I won't try anything like that again." Kevin gently maneuvered Edd off of him so that they were lying side by side again. The wind was still howling against the walls of the treehouse, but the inside was calm. Blue eyes shone with tears, staring intently at regretful green.
"You better not. Everything that you do for us, all of us, it numbs the pain I feel. You are the brightest part of my life… I need you."
Kevin smiled. Someone needed him, someone wanted him to stick around. One silent, glistening tear escaped him. He drew Edd back into his arms, holding him close.
"I can't change the past Edd, but if you will stay with me I will never leave you. I promise."
Together, locked in a tight embrace, the two boys road out the storm of the night and their lives.
Alright, that was the next one. I hope you all enjoyed it. I have a couple songs that I am debating between for the next chapter. Would you guys like a happy story, like chapter one, or another serious story like chapters 2 and 3. Let me know!
Leave your guesses for this chapter's song in the comments and let me know what you think. Thanks for reading!
Cthepolkadots