Notes: Double D's passion for knowledge makes me the happiest person alive.

Nathan Kedd Goldberg belongs to c2ndy2c1d on tumblr.

Also: In this 'universe,' Nat and Kevin didn't go to High School together. They actually met for the first time in college as roommates. This is why Edd hadn't heard of him.

Thank so much for reading! Stay awesome!


Helping Kevin make a note card for his Biology midterm, under normal circumstances, wouldn't have been so bad. After all, Edd created several note cards over the years. It also helped that the Biology course Kevin took happened to be the same AP Advanced Biology course Edd took his Junior year for college credit. In all actuality, Edd could have given Kevin his old notes to study but they were still back in his room at home and Kevin didn't want to study. He wanted the easy way out.

That fact didn't come as a surprise to Edd at all. He was used to his friends relying on him for an easy fix. It wasn't that he felt used, because nine times out of ten he received something in return.

It's just that it was different, now. Edd didn't have his two best friends to back him up day in and day out. Sure, the amount of bullying that happened at College was greatly exaggerated by the movies so Edd had no need to worry on that front. Facing classes and work just so happened to be a bit more enjoyable if someone shared the experiences with him, that was all.

And Kevin, he'd never had any problems making friends. People flocked to him. Even as Edd hunched over the computer, typing out key notes, he could hear the vibration of Kevin's phone as he received text after text. In fact, Kevin spent so much time texting, Edd might as well have not been in the room.

If that was how this arrangement was going to go, then Edd would just have to deal with it, right? He'd help Kevin get a good grade on his Midterm through completely legitimate means and Kevin would, in return, put in a good word for Edd with the University Board and get him out of the coffee shop. It was a win-win situation. No one was going to get hurt.

Unless… Kevin didn't do so well on the test and took it out on Edd. Oh, why had he agreed to this? If things proceeded smoothly, Edd's present and future would improve, but if they went sour… he shuddered to think.

Well, Edd grumbled to himself, at least he wouldn't be risking a friendship over a failed study session, considering Kevin didn't even want to be friends in the first place. It seemed he had no shortage of them. Edd chanced a look behind him where Kevin sat on the bed, one leg dangling off the edge, his head bent over his phone, texting.

Kevin coughed out a short, throaty laugh and jabbed away at his phone with the speed and precision of a surgeon. When he'd finished sending the text, he jabbed his phone into his pocket and glanced upward. Edd hadn't anticipated Kevin catching his eye and quickly turned back to the keyboard.

"How's it coming?"

Edd could feel Kevin's eyes on his back. He hated people watching him type like this. It made him feel self conscious. "I'm just gathering as much vital information as possible, and then I will condense it into a cleaner format and lower the font size," Edd scrambled out, letting his fingers pause over the keys. When Kevin didn't say anything, Edd shut his eyes tight, took a deep breath and whirled around. "Kevin," he began, "I—"

Kevin's phone buzzed, interrupting him. The jock didn't even blink an eye as he began to pull the offending device from his pocket. Edd paused mid-question with one thought, Rude. Once more, Kevin texted with lightning speed and looked back up at Edd when he finished. "Sorry, what'd you say?"

Edd took another deep breath, but this time it was to calm his anger rather than his nerves, "I was just going to say," he said slowly, deliberately. "That you should be looking over the source material as I type this up. Who knows, you might not even need the note card in the end."

Kevin's eyes darted from his textbook, to the computer and finally back on Edd and he scrunched up his face, "Can't you just type it up and I'll read it later?"

"Kevin…"

"This stuff is so boring! I'll fall asleep!"

"It's not boring, it's fascinating!" Edd chirped. He sat on the edge of the desk chair and began talking in a rushed tone, using his hands for emphasis. "You get the chance to study life at a pure cellular level! Just think about it, you're made up of hundreds of millions of cells and each individual cell has its own sub-life! Each portion of the cell works hard to function at peak capacity all because of a protein molecule sequence in your DNA! We're made up of letters, Kevin. Tiny letters in different combinations that when working together drive you to wake up each morning, they heal you when you're wounded, produce waste and energy and all right under your nose. You can't even see them and for centuries we as a species had no idea they existed! You're studying yourself, Kevin. This is how you work. This is how every piece of you fits together. How is that not amazing?"

By the time Edd had finished speaking, he was breathing hard from trying to get out as many words as possible in one breath. He had a bad habit of forgetting to breathe mid-rant, and it appeared as though that hadn't gotten any better with age. Kevin stared at him, his jaw open. A vibrating noise from his phone cut through the silence, but Kevin made no move to answer it.

"You really like this stuff, don't you?" he said at last.

Edd nodded and swallowed hard, trying to get his mouth to stop feeling so dry. He really needed a drink and regretted not bringing anything from work with him. "I admit I feel a little uneasy that you can dismiss such an interesting subject so quickly."

Kevin scratched his head. "I just don't see it the way you do. I have no idea why I need any of this once I get out of school."

"You would be surprised at how often you utilize gathered knowledge throughout your life," Edd said softly. "You never know when it will become useful."

"Yeah, but that cell division crap, why is that useful?"

"We need it to grow," Edd explained. "As we age, our bodies change and replenish themselves so often that every six months we are literally a different person. You are not the same Kevin you were when you first started college. At least on a cellular level."

"Damn," Kevin breathed. His phone buzzed again and he ignored it for a second time. "When you explain it like that it sounds so much more interesting than memorizing definitions from a book."

Edd smiled, an actual, genuine smile. He was getting somewhere! "So you'll study properly, then?"

"I guess," Kevin shrugged. "Think you'll have me ready by next Monday?"

"I believe I can teach you within the required timeframe."

"Cool. But I still get to have a note card. Just in case."

Edd nodded with a little more enthusiasm than was socially acceptable. "Of course!"

"Good," said Kevin. His phone buzzed again and he rolled his eyes before swiping his thumb across the screen. "Hold on, let me get this."

Edd stole a glance at the clock at the bottom of Kevin's monitor. It read 10:30. He'd been helping Kevin for about two hours by that time. "Who would be texting you at this late hour?"

"Nazz, mostly," Kevin grunted as he typed. "She's watching Inception with her roommate and texting me her reactions."

It was so strange to hear about what Kevin did outside of throttling Eddy. The two of them were so often butting heads that Edd almost acquired the misconception that Kevin didn't do much else with his time. It was stupid to think that Kevin didn't do normal things like text about movies with his friends.

"She will miss key plot elements if she's texting that often," Edd commented.

"It's not just her. Nat's texting, too. He's on his way here."

"Nat?"

"Nathan? My roommate?"

"You never gave me his name," Edd reminded him.

"Oops," Kevin said half-heartedly as he jabbed away at his phone. Edd resisted the urge to clear his throat just to get the Basketball player to talk to him. Honestly, Edd was doing him a favor. Shouldn't he be receiving a little more respect? Edd was just about to comment on the matter when Kevin finished his text and tossed his phone behind him so that it bounced on his un-made bed. "Okay, Nat's bringing back some food from the burger joint up the road. I told him just to bring by a bunch of normal cheeseburgers and fries. You cool with that?"

"That's hardly a healthy meal. In order for one's brain to function at peak capacity, one must—"

"—Or I could just eat yours," Kevin cut him off.

In response to that, Edd's stomach rumbled, the gurgling noise loud in his ears. Embarrassed he wrapped his arms around his abdomen and turned away from Kevin in a hurry. "Well, maybe it won't hurt this one time…"

Kevin actually laughed and kicked playfully at the desk chair, "That's what I thought. Now teach me more about this cell stuff and make it interesting or I'm giving up and just using the note card."

Edd's eyes lit up. Kevin really was serious about studying properly! Edd wasn't going to waste any time in making sure Kevin would stay interesting. He was used to describing material in layman's terms. After all, he'd done it numerous times for Ed and Eddy.

In the end, Edd saved the note card document onto Kevin's desktop and turned his attention to Kevin's notes and Biology textbook. This particular textbook had an affinity for brightly colored but distracting diagrams, but they were useful in re-iterating all of his key points. He even took the time to draw out the various parts of a cell and describe them one by one as he drew them.

For Edd, the time went by quickly. It seemed as though he'd only been tutoring Kevin for ten minutes when a sudden loud pounding on the door broke him out of his concentration.

"Ugh, finally," Kevin groaned and rubbed his eyes. He launched himself off his bed and trudged the few steps to the door to open it. "Took you long enough."

Edd watched as Kevin stepped aside to let in his roommate: a tall, green-haired teen with several piercings. In both his hands, he held grocery and fast food bags and another bag in between his teeth. With his hands clearly full, he couldn't let himself in the room and had resorted to kicking at the door with his foot.

Nat, Edd remembered the name from earlier, gave a quick nod to Edd as he walked by, "Ee o ish o ee oo."

"Pardon?"

Nat quickly dumped the bags he was carrying onto his side of the room and removed the last bag from between his teeth. Edd hoped his particular burger wasn't in that bag. "I said, dude, it's good to finally meet you?"

"Oh!" Edd flushed, "Yes, nice to meet you, too." Finally?

Kevin must have caught on to that word as well because he shut the door to his dorm room and gave his roommate a little shove, "Cut the pleasantries. This ain't a tea party."

"Shut up," Nat teased his roommate and began emptying the contents of his bags. He directed his attention back to Edd and spoke to him from over his shoulder. "Kevin talks about you all the time. Why Double D? Are those initials?"

All the time? Edd instinctively turned to Kevin as if looking at him would answer his unasked question. Kevin refused to look anywhere near Edd's direction and instead busied himself with simultaneously getting a cheeseburger and stepping on Nat's foot. "Shut up, man. You said you'd be cool," Kevin hissed under his breath.

Edd was certain he wasn't supposed to hear that comment, so he pretended to ignore it in favor of answering Nat's initial question. "My name is Eddward, but rather than the traditional spelling, I use two D's. I picked up the nickname as a child to differentiate between myself and my two best friends, both of which share my first name."

"Cool," Nat mused. He exchanged a look with Kevin that mostly consisted of him wagging his eyebrows. Kevin responded in turn with a glare that could curdle cheese. Nat seemed unaffected and casually dug into a bag to produce a cheeseburger and tossed it in Edd's direction. "Too bad my nickname isn't that cool. Everyone just calls me Nat, or 'Jerk', or 'Hey you', or 'that-one-kid-with-the-green-hair.'"

Edd found himself giggling before he could stop himself. Nat had an energy to him that made Edd feel comfortable. He couldn't understand why Kevin looked like he wanted nothing more than to rip off his roommate's head. Hadn't Kevin told him Nat was 'cool'? That, and Nat tossed cheeseburgers with a perfect underhand arc that made it nearly impossible to drop, so Edd wasn't all surprised when he'd easily caught the sandwich. "I'll just call you Nat, if that's all right with you."

Nat winked at him. "You can call me whatever you like, Double Dynamite."

"Nat!" Kevin warned again.

Nat just rolled his eyes and threw a French fry at Kevin's face, but he didn't look like he was trying to start a fight. Maybe this was how the two of them always acted. Edd found it amusing to watch. "By the way," Nat continued, nodding toward Edd. "You owe me five bucks for the food."

"Right!" Edd agreed. He had a feeling he would have to pay the second Kevin mentioned food. He made a movement to stand up and reach for his backpack when Kevin stood lurched forward, one arm extended to stop Edd by the wrist.

"It's cool, I got it," he said. "As thanks for helping me out."

Edd's eyes flicked to Kevin's hand on his wrist. Kevin must have noticed the movement because he quickly pulled his hand back as if burned. Edd's own wrist felt a little residual heat from Kevin's hand—mostly because it had been a little sweaty. Was Kevin nervous? He showed no signs of anxiety the entire night, so why now?

Kevin dug into his back pocket to pull out a small leather billfold and he promptly paid his roommate back for his and Edd's share of burgers and fries. Nat made a big deal out of checking the bills for counterfeit marks which sent Edd into another fit of giggles.

"So," Nat said, having finally calmed down enough to lounge in his own desk chair. Edd still sat on Kevin's chair and Kevin sat cross-legged on his bed, his shoes having been discarded somewhere on the floor. "Studying, huh? Kevin learn anything?"

"Hey, I'm lazy when it comes to schoolwork, not dumb!" Kevin interjected.

Edd smiled softly, thinking of how he'd managed to take Kevin from the cheating route and place him on the path of honesty. "He's doing rather well, actually. There has been some improvement tonight, although I admit I do not have a basis for comparison."

Nat grinned at him through his cheeseburger. Bits of bread poked out of the side of his mouth. "Oh my God, Kevin, does he always talk like this?"

"Yeah," Kevin shrugged. He stared hard at his cheeseburger, still avoiding looking anywhere near Edd's general vicinity. "You get used to it."

Edd frowned. "What fault do you find with my speech?"

"No fault," Nat said defensively. "It's absolutely adorable."

Edd paused, French fry halfway to his mouth. No one had ever called him adorable before. He'd been described with a surprisingly large number of adjectives but he never would have paired that particular word with his personality. 'Adorable' was a word reserved for children and newborn animals—not him. He couldn't even stop the flush rising to his cheeks if he tried.

"Aw!" Nat squeaked—actually squeaked. "Look, I broke him!"

In truth, Nat was probably correct. Edd had no idea how to proceed. His hands refused to move and if it weren't for the fact that he was very aware of his surroundings, he could have sword his heart had stopped beating, or at least forgotten to beat properly for a moment.

"Stop teasing him," Kevin grumbled.

Hearing Kevin's voice brought Edd back to the real world, although he wasn't sure if he'd come back to the same universe. This, apparently, was a universe where Kevin defended him in front of others and paid for his dinner. "It's quite alright, Kevin," he said at length. "I was merely taken aback by the unusual compliment. Thank you, Nat."

"Oh God," Kevin smashed a hand to his own face and let it drag his features down slowly. At that moment, Nat burst out into laughter again, except this time he was laughing so hard tears pricked the corners of his eyes. Edd, unsure of what to do, chuckled awkwardly with him. "You're not supposed to thank someone for calling you adorable, Double D," Kevin groaned on, "You're a man, aren't you? You're allowed to sock him in the face."

Edd raised a confused eyebrow at the jock, "I am unaware of this social norm. I'm supposed to hit him for being polite?" Etiquette books clearly cut out that chapter.

"Just let him take the compliment, already," Nat gasped through his laughter. "You don't think he deserves it?"

It was Kevin's turn to freeze, which, ironically, gave Edd a boost of confidence. He deliberately turned toward Kevin with the desk chair and said slowly, "You don't think I'm adorable?"

For all the years Kevin had been his tormentor purely by association, Edd had never seen the guy look so mortified—and he'd seen firsthand Kevin's fear of needles. Edd wondered briefly if he'd taken the teasing too far when the redhead stood up so quickly, a few of his fries scattered to the floor. "I think it's time I took you back to your room, dork."

"Way to change the subject," Nat muttered under his breath.

"Shut it," Kevin snapped at his roommate. He was obviously distressed about something—probably the fact that Nat was trying to be so friendly with Edd. Kevin had already shown his true colors earlier when he'd made it clear he only wanted to use Edd's brain for his own personal gain. Any positive reinforcement or kind behavior could be easily attributed to his desire to achieve his goal. For all Edd knew, Kevin still saw him as a loser form his neighborhood back home and didn't want his friends to fraternize with Edd's level of the social hierarchy. "Come on, Double D. I'll take you back to your dorm."

Despite the fact that Edd really would have preferred to stay, the midnight hour was close at hand and the later it got, the harder it was to convince the Residential Assistant guarding the door that they weren't trying to get into mischief. With this thought in mind, Edd began to gather his food wrappers to throw them away before shouldering his school bag once again.

"Shouldn't Nat come with us?" he said, suddenly.

Kevin turned toward him. "What?"

The logic problem with the fox, the chicken and the feed came to mind as Edd pointed a lecturing finger into the air. "You told me yourself it wasn't safe to traverse the campus alone at night, and therefore volunteered your services in escorting me home. However, this leaves you to make the journey back here unaccompanied, thus granting you the title of hypocrite. Safety in numbers!"

Nat stuffed another fry in his mouth and chewed loudly. "Dude has a point," he slurred.

Kevin deflated a little. When he went to put his shoes back on, he did so with sharp, angry movements. Edd still couldn't understand why Kevin seemed so angry. Surely he should be happy he wouldn't have to study all night like he'd planned? "Come on, then. Finish your food and we'll go."

Soon the three boys found themselves traipsing across the campus grass toward Edd's dorms over the Honors College. They'd made it past the Residential Security easily enough when Edd presented his Student ID and room key and both Kevin and Nat had to sign out, indicating they'd left the building. The process felt a bit tedious, but Edd understood the campus' need for such measures. One could never be too careful.

As they walked, Kevin took up the middle position, his hands stuffed deep into his pockets and his shoulders hunched. Edd and Nat strolled along on either side of him, and Nat kept talking around Kevin's head as if he weren't a barrier at all.

"So does this mean you'll be coming over a lot more, now?" Nat asked, "Like… will I see you tomorrow?"

Edd shrugged, the movement causing him to re-adjust the straps of his backpack. "I don't know. I guess so? It's up to Kevin."

"He's helping me study, Nat," Kevin reminded his roommate. "He's not coming over to hang out."

"We never have friends over!" Nat whined, pawing at the sleeve of Kevin's jacket a little bit. Nat was so animated walking next to the stoic Kevin. It was like watching night and day converse simultaneously.

"If he is, we're kicking you out," Kevin answered.

"Oh, I don't mind," Edd spoke up, "I've worked under more distracting circumstances, before."

Kevin shot Edd a glance from the corner of his eye. Edd found it particularly unsettling that Kevin could even look at him in such a way without even turning his head. "Trust me. If he stays, we will get nothing done. Why do you think I'm failing Biology in the first place?"

"Ouch," Nat pressed a hand to his chest. "You wound me."

Edd's eyes widened. This was new information. Kevin never told him he was failing Biology—just that he needed help with the Midterm. "You're failing?" he asked, his voice high with the shock. "But in order for you to stay on the Basketball team, you need a C average! Even one failing grade will lower your GPA catastrophically!"

"Don't you think I know that?" Kevin spat.

"You'll lose your scholarship if you fail," Edd added softly.

"I know, and if that happens, it's back home for me and a future working at the Jawbreaker factory with my dad. Anything else you want to point out?" Kevin snapped. They'd reached the entrance to the Honors College, now. Once Edd was inside, he wouldn't need the escort services of Kevin and Nat anymore. Kevin shifted uncomfortable on the pavement. It was hard to tell if he was flushed with anger or not under the harsh glare of the streetlight.

"No," Edd piped out, feeling rather humbled. He hadn't meant to embarrass Kevin in front of his friend. He'd only just realized the gravity of the situation. Kevin's entire college career rested on his ability to bring his Biology grade up to avoid Academic Probation. The situation did help him steel his resolve, though. Even though the deal had been mutually beneficial from the start, Edd had a personal reason to assist Kevin and it was nothing more than the fact that he just wanted to.

He wanted Kevin to be happy. He wanted Kevin to have a positive future and a good relationship with his father. Most of all, he wanted Kevin to stay at college—even if it meant only seeing him in the coffee shop every so often.

"You two going to kiss and make up or just look sad at each other all night?" Nat crooned from his position a few steps away. Edd let out a tiny squeak and Kevin's eye shot daggers at his roommate. Nat continued unabashedly. "Nothing's gonna happen to you, Kev. Double D's gonna leak his brains all over you and you're going to ace your midterm and everything will go back to normal, okay? Stop moping and let's go home." He waved a bit to Edd just as he started backing up toward Oak Hall. "It was good meeting you, Double D! I'll see you tomorrow!"

Edd, still recovering from Nat's lack of brain-to-mouth filter, only managed a slight wave in return before forcing himself to focus on Kevin. "You are going to pass your midterm," he said seriously. "You have my word."

"Yeah," Kevin said awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Thanks for doing this for me."

"It's my pleasure, Kevin," Edd said, breaking out into a big grin.

A strange sound gurgled in Kevin's throat and he stared hard at Edd, his face turning a bright red. Edd's smile wavered a little, mostly out of confusion for Kevin's strange reaction. All he did was smile. Was that so terrible?

"Whatever, dork," Kevin spat out quickly. He looked like he'd rather be anywhere else in the universe than talking to Edd. "See ya tomorrow."

With that neutral goodbye, Kevin quickly turned tail and dashed to catch up with Nat who wrapped an arm around Kevin's shoulders and shook him a little bit. Edd couldn't hear what they were saying, but he knew Nat was laughing and Kevin wasn't enjoying it.

As Edd made his way inside and started the walk up the stairs to his dorm room, he couldn't help smiling to himself, allowing a giddy feeling to overtake him and cause him to take the stairs two at a time. Kevin and Nat were no replacement for Ed and Eddy but tonight was the first night Edd had ever had fun hanging out with anyone at college. It was nice to know that Edd had a place waiting for him back home, but he'd also begun building a place for himself elsewhere.

All he had to do was find a way to make the arrangement last well beyond Kevin's Biology midterm.