With a moan, Edd gently was roused from sleep by the sound of voices. For some reason his neck felt quite stiff, as though he had spent the night sleeping on the coach. Slowly blinking, he groggily realized he was on the coach, still wearing his clothes from yesterday. In front of him, the TV was showcasing some cheap monster movie.

Curious….why am I…? Edd attempted to get up, but found that there was some sort of weight pressed up against him, holding him down. Blinking the last remnants of sleep away he finally focused and realized what, or rather who, was snuggled up on top of him, still sleeping soundly.

OH MY GOOD LORD! With a shock, the events of the previous day came rushing back to him, including: the pizza, the horrid jump scares, and falling asleep watching terrible monster movies.

With an equally surprising jolt, Edd also became aware that he had one arm around Marie, holding her.

Hugging her.

Closer to him.

His face took on a shade of red not usually seen outside of Saturday morning cartoons. Completely flustered, he tried in vain to get up, yet Marie's sleeping figure had him completely pinned. "Marie" he whispered a bit desperately. "Marie, um, please wake up."

"Ah, shut it Lee" Marie dreamily replied. After a second, she was snoring, a minuscule amount of droll spilling onto Double D's shirt as she did so.

Normally, he would have been freaking out greatly, yet thankfully he was too busy panicing about the sleeping girl on his chest to notice. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder and tried to softly rouse her. "Marie, please!"

She stirred, "Five more minutes Dreamboat" she replied sleepily. A moment past before she realized what she had just said.

Dreamboat?

She opened one eye, blinking as she tried to get her bearings. Slowly, it dawned on her where she was. Sitting up, she looked down at a still flustered Double D, a slight blush of her own spreading across her face.

Shit. Marie became slightly self-conscious, both at her disheveled hair and her wrinkled clothes. On his part Edd could still smell her perfume on his shirt, making him blush an even deeper shade of red. Both of them realized that the last time she had been sitting on top of him had been at the junkyard, where she had nearly kissed him.

It seemed like an eternity ago, in more ways than one.

Gently clearing her throat, Marie scratched the back of her neck. "Umm….morning?" She ventured, unsure what else to say.

Edd gave her a weak smile, "Good, morning Marie. Umm…..sleep well?" It was such a stupid question that it took alleffort not to slap his forehead as the words left his lips. Yet Marie gave a gentle laugh, lacking any of her usual snark.

"Pretty swell. You're way better company than my sisters." She smirked before looking away ruefully. With a slight hesitation, she added "Your…um, pretty comfortable, Double Dreamy". She told him in a honest, if slightly bashful way.

Edd averted his eyes, remembering that he had been holding Marie when he woke up. Was I doing that all night? Looking at her, he meekly asked, "Umm, Marie?"

"Yeah?"

"Errmmm, can you please get off? My leg is falling asleep."

With a slight reluctance, Marie complied. Sliding to the cushion next to him, she pushed her hair out of her eyes in an attempt to fix it. Geeze, it's a freakin mess she thought irritably, a bit unsure why she was so bothered. Glancing to her right, she saw Edd starring at her, slightly transfixed.

"What?" she asked.

Sitting up, Edd cleared his throat, searching for the words. "Well, it's just….um your hair."

"What about it?" She asked a tad defensively, honestly unsure where he was going with this.

"It's, just, umm…." He took a breath and closed his eyes: Too late to back down now Eddward. With a furious blush, he forced his embarrassed words out into the open. "Your hair usually covers one side. So….it's, um, nice to see your eyes without obstruction."

"Oh. Umm, thanks Double D." Marie turned away, a wildfire spreading across her checks. She felt as though she should have said something nice back to Double D, but she didn't know quite what to say.

Her heart was racing too fast for coherent thought.

Although pretty well rested, her muscles had all sorts of kinks and knots that came from sleeping on the coach. Standing up, she stretched her back and pulled up her jeans slightly, prompting Edd to quickly advert his eyes. He's adorable she thought to herself with subdued impishness.

Looking out the window, Marie frowned as she noticed the sunlight for the first time. "Hey Oven Mitt, what time is it?"

Blessed with a decent internal clock, Edd glanced outside. "Hmm, I would say sometime after 8:30, yet a bit before nine."

"WHAT?! SHIT!"

Her sudden outburst hit him like a wind gust, making him jump. Furiously, Marie made for the door, making sure to pick up her hoodie. A long string of expletives streamed from her mouth, far worse than the one she had just used.

"Marie?! What's wrong?" He asked her, nervous and concerned.

"If Lee's awake, I'm gonna get the freakin riot act read to me. If Ma's home, my ass is gonna get nailed to the wall." She responded curtly as she opened the door.

Following her outside, Edd tried to ascertain what she meant. Suddenly, it hit him: Marie had been out all night, and had not informed anyone at all.

Oh dear! Hurrying to catch up, Edd called, "Marie, wait! Let me accompany you, so at least I may explain the situation!"

Marie stopped in front of his garage, turning to meet him. "Explain? How the hell you gonna do that, sweetie? Just gonna walk up to my Mom and say, 'Sorry Mrs.K. Me and Marie were just sleeping together and lost track of the time?' She cocked an eyebrow at him. "Yeah, that'll work realwell".

Blushing at her colorful description of events, Edd shook his head. "While I would not put it that way, I will explain to your mother that whilst we were watching a movie marathon, we fell asleep on the couch."

Marie gave him a patronizing look. "Oven Mitt, I'm wearing the same clothes as yesterday, and my makeup is a mess. No one would believe that story."

On face value it did sound a bit flimsy, he had to admit. But still, Edd kept trying. "I would!" Seeing her smirk, he was forced to add, "Well…most of it."

She giggled, "Exactly. So best let me face the fire myself Sock Head. No use in both of us getting chewed out. Besides, it'd hardly be the first time it's happened."

"Will you be in trouble?"

"Well if Ma's not home, then naa. Lee won't tell, cause then she'll get in the shits for not 'looking out' for me or whatever. If Ma IS home, well that's another story. Probably be grounded for a decade. Or freaking century"

She expected him to drop it right there, yet Edd was nothing if not a man of surprises. "Marie, I must insist. It is my fault you fell asleep: the least I could do is take my share of the blame."

"Your fault? Get real, Jack, you didn't do anything."

Edd remained firm, "I was the first one to fall asleep. As a host, it is most unbecoming to show such manners, especially in front of guests."

Marie laughed, finding his gentlemanly like demeanor cute. "Ahh, just stow it. We Kankers are used to trouble, it follows us everywhere."

Double D simply shook his head. "Please Marie, far be it from me to run off scotch free while my friend takes the fall. Besides we are, as you like to point out, partners in crime. I would hate to give your Mother the wrong impression and forbid you ever from coming over again." He paused, his ears turning a slight red. "If that were to occur, I would be quite saddened."

Marie starred at him, unsure if she heard him right. "You serious?" she asked, slightly dumbfounded. Edd of all people knew better to risk Kanker wrath, yet here he was offering to share it with her.

He was offering to stand by her. No one but family had ever done that before.

Edd offered her a warm smile. "Certainly!"

That was it. Seeing how caring he was, how honest he was, how kind he was…..it was too much. In a sudden movement, Marie grabbed his shirt and brought his face within inches of hers. Caught off guard, Edd immediately stiffened up, unsure what was happening.

"M-Marie! What are you?-" he began, yet his voice died as he looked into her eyes. She was fluttering her eyelashes, without a single trace of mischief or humor. There was no smirk, no smug retort, no witty comment. All he saw in her eyes was a soft, gentle desire alongside a mild, yet fierce, determination.

"Edd" she said softly, gently placing her hands on either side of his face. He could practically feel her heart racing, dancing to the same rhythm as his own. "For once… just shut up." With that, she closed the gap between them and kissed him.

As a reflex, Edd stiffened as their lips met and a fire seemingly swept through his entire being. Yet he instantly relaxed, feeling as though his whole body shutting down. The kiss was unlike any Marie had ever given him before. This time around, it was soft and gentle, almost overflowing with emotion.

In short, it was a real kiss. Edd couldn't think, couldn't even react. He simply stood there with his eyes closed, melting into her lips.

After a minute, Marie pulled back slightly, her lips almost touching his. She noticed that his eyes were still closed; not as a grimace, but as though he enjoyed the kiss. "So…what do ya think?" She asked him softly, her voice barely above a whisper.

Still tingling from the experience, it took Edd a second to answer. Barely finding his voice, he replied, "Honestly…..I'm not sure."

She smiled then said, "It's just like science Double D. If you ain't got the answer, try again." Marie pressed her lips against his again, more firmly time and with more passion than before.

Edd felt lightheaded. His stomach dropped as though on a rollercoaster, a warm sensation flooding through him. He felt his own emotions start to churn and swell, splashing and rattling uncontrollably. For that single minute, Edd made no attempt to hide from his feelings for Marie.

His mind fuzzy, he gingerly placed his hands on Marie's hips, only dimly aware of what he was doing. Without thinking, he pressed his lips softly against hers, responding to her passion with an equal amount of tenderness.

Marie felt ready to faint: A small part of her sang like a songbird, Holy crap, he's kissing me! Double D is freaking kissing me! She didn't care if she sounded girly: it was her turn to melt into his touch. She wrapped her arms around his head and pulled him in closer.

In that instant, nothing else existed in the world but each other. Totally in the moment, both of them failed to notice the slight skating of Double D's hedges, followed by muffled whispers of shock, pride, and utter joy.