Chapter Four: Slow and Steady, Dork.

Double D was finishing up going over Kevin's answers. They had been working non stop for a while now. Admittedly they hadn't discussed when the dweeb would be going home but the red head didn't really find it that important seeing as he only lived right across the cul-de-sac. Kevin looked at the clock. 8:26pm. The jock's jaw dropped, he knew they had been studying for a long time but three hours? In the past Kevin hadn't ever studied for more than half an hour, so this was pretty shocking for him. What was even more shocking was that he was actually starting to understand this stuff.

The red head looked over at Double Dork, he was actually a really good teacher. Kevin knew the dweeb was smart but he didn't know that he was this capable. Not only did he retain the material and then teach it to another student, but the dork was actually able to relay it to him in a way that was easiest for Kevin to understand. When Double D explained the material, it all made sense. This was something completely new to Kevin, he felt like he could even pass with a good grade, not just a decent one.

"So Double Dork," Kevin began, "How did I do?" The jock smirked, he knew he got the answers right. (Even if it did take him quite a while to do so.) The nerd looked back over at him and he graced the jock with that cute little smile that Kevin adored. 'Oh man, what exactly is he trying to do to me here?' A slight blush crept up on the football players cheeks. He readjusted his hat nervously.

"Well Kevin, as it turns out, you have done splendidly! If you continue to study like this I would say that your grade will be a desirable one." The dork beamed. "Though, if you don't mind me saying so, you are quite smart Kevin. If you applied yourself to your studies just a bit more I'm sure you could do this well all the time, if not better." The jock's slight blush transformed into a raging, ear to ear burning. The jock turned away from the object of his affections for a brief moment.

No one had ever called him smart before, he was extremely unprepared for that compliment. Don't get him wrong, the jock was very familiar with compliments about his athletic skills, and about his looks as well as popularity. But this was the first time anyone ever complimented him from an academic stand point and it was a completely new feeling for Kevin after all this time. But then again the red head couldn't be sure if he was more affected by the compliment or the person who gave it to him. Either way, he could barely contain how happy he was in this moment.

'Keep it together, Kev.' "Ahem," The red head coughed. "T-thanks Double Dweeb." Kevin refrained from making any kind of eye contact out of fear of another deep red spreading across his face yet again. Eddward's eyes sparkled, Kevin just thanked him…it was unexpected. The beanie wearing boy expected something along the lines of, "Shut up, dork." or "Who asked you, loser?" But instead he was actually pleased. At least it seemed that way to Double D. The nerd smiled to himself, the thought of making his long time crush happy filled him with an extremely pleasant feeling.

"If I may, studying is very important, this is true. But, overloading your brain by studying too much too quickly, could be more harmful than helpful. A break, a good meal and an even better rest is key to retaining what you have learned so that you may apply it when needed." Double Dork seemed much more open and relaxed now. When he first showed up at Kevin's door, he was awkward and nervous, now he was less tense and even laughing. Before the nerd couldn't even speak to him without a stutter, and now it was almost non existent. Kevin smiled as he rested his head in his hand and watched the Double Dork collect all of his things and place them into his bag in an orderly fashion. The red head chuckled.

The air was much lighter and they both could tell. Eddward hated to leave when things finally began to seem at least somewhat natural between himself and Kevin but it was getting late and he had to go before his parents got home. Double D stood up and slung his back pack carefully over his shoulder. "Well, I must be on my way. It was a pleasure, Kevin." The red head froze in place as the nerd turned and headed for the door.

'Wait, he's leaving? Right now? But we just finished studying, the atmosphere just got good and now he is going to leave? Just like that? No. Come on, man. Think of something, quick." Kevin's mind was going at a hundred miles a minute, trying to figure out a way to get the dork to stay for a bit longer. "Um, hey...dork! Wait up!" The jock rushed up behind the dark haired teen, grabbing him by the shoulder and spinning him around to face him. "Uh, just hold on for a minute..." The nerd's eyes were wide with confusion and surprise. "Um…do you...uh, do you wanna...grab something to eat before you go?" The red head's face erupted into a deep crimson. 'Oh, brother, here we go.' The dork tilted his head at him. Kevin tried to recover.

"Yeah, I mean, you came over here to tutor me and we didn't let up for hours. Besides you did say that a good meal was necessary for my...brain to uh...absorb the material...right?" Kevin spat out the words awkwardly, his hand releasing Eddward's shoulder to rub the back of his neck nervously. 'Oh man, how lame can I get.' The red head let out an exhausted breath as he tried desperately to get a hold of himself.

The nerd looked up into the jock's sea green eyes and Kevin could have sworn he saw a tint of pink develop on his cheeks but his observation was cut short by the dork's words. "T-thank you for the offer Kevin, but I really must be getting home. But do eat that meal, it is very important." The jock flinched. 'Damn, rejected.' The blow hit Kevin right in the gut, he thought things were going pretty well between them. It was hard, but he told himself to trust the dork's excuse that he couldn't be too late. Besides, he wasn't going to push it too hard, tonight was ending on a pretty good note and he definitely wasn't going to ruin that.

"Well then, come back over tomorrow, same time. Got it, dork?" Eddward was taken aback just a bit. They hadn't discussed meeting again tomorrow and Kevin hadn't even asked if he was free. But then again, he did make a promise to tutor him for his upcoming test this Monday. So, maybe from the red head's standpoint they already had plans to meet tomorrow from the beginning. Double D nodded, turned around and continued on his way out the door. "See ya later, Double Dork." Eddward had just gotten out the door when he heard it slam behind him. 'Oh dear, that was quite odd.' Double D shrugged it off and began to make his way home.

In the end, it wasn't nearly as awkward as Eddward thought it was going to be. Kevin wasn't excessively rude to him at all, in fact he was actually very compliant. Eddward chalked it all up to Kevin being really serious about passing his test. 'Why wouldn't he be?', thought the nerd. If he didn't pass, he would be kicked off the football team and even Double D knew how important football was to the red headed teen. He let out a sigh. The nerd wished that they could get along like this even after the exam was over. His gaze drifted to his feet, Double D knew the chances of that were very slim, but still, he couldn't help but hope for it.

Kevin fell back against the door and slid all the way to the ground. Taking everything in, his face started to heat up. "That dork, if he could have just stayed for a little bit longer...damn." The red head brought his hands up to his face. 'Either way, today was really rad. I got to see that cute ass dork right across from me. He laughed and we talked, sure it was weird at first but eventually... Oh man, I need to calm down…..He's just so fucking cute and he has no idea and I just….ugh...what do I do?'

The red head took a few deep breaths and stood himself up. He thought about what Double Dork had told him earlier and then proceeded to head into the kitchen to whip something up before going up stairs to call Nat and Nazz and let them know how the night went. It might not be much, but to him it was a big step, a really big step and he was too excited not to tell his two best friends. 'Oh jeez, am I some kind of girl or something?' The jock shook his head. 'Whatever.' He couldn't help how the little nerd made him feel and he was more than okay with those feelings.

Hi there guys. I just wanted to apologize for this chapter a bit. I'll try to get the next one out really soon and have it make up for this one. Thanks again! -HearMeAllTooWell