A/N: Just want to say another thank you for reading this. I love you all! Six chapters left.
Nat belongs to Acid. :)
Two weeks had passed since the little outing. Two weeks since Edd and Nat's friendship went askew. Edd had wanted to speak to the freckled teen, perhaps straightforwardly ask him if he had feelings for Kevin, but every time he saw the opportunity, a nagging feeling inside him told him not to. He could only imagine how awkward the conversation would be. He couldn't just walk up to Nat and ask if he liked his... almost boyfriend. Almost. Because although it had been almost three weeks, Edd and Kevin still weren't quite official. Kevin was afraid of having the relationship become serious. He adored the sockhead, but he wanted to take things slow from fear that he would fuck up. He always felt like he fucked up when it came to someone he cared a lot about.
Double D understood that and it didn't bother him as much as his situation with Nat did. It was bothering Nat just as much. He felt as if he was handling everything in such a immature manner. He knew better than that. On Thursday as the bell for lunch to be over rang and he saw Kevin kissing Double D goodbye, Nat made his way over to the sockhead.
"Hey, man," Nat said, showing off his friendly grin.
Edd's eyes widened, surprised to see his friend in a good mood around him, but he stood still, not knowing how to respond. "H-hello... Nathan."
The green-haired teen sighed, hearing the uneasiness in Double D's voice. "I'm sorry for being such a shit with you."
"It's fine."
"It's not." Nat licked his lips and smiled. "Maybe you can go over to my house after I'm done with practice?"
Edd's eyebrows twitched together a little as he thought about it. One moment, Nathan wanted nothing to do with him, and now he was asking to hang out. Double D definitely didn't want to pass up the chance. He smiled and nodded.
"That sounds fine," he said.
Nat's eyes brightened. "Alright, Double Dude, see ya later then."
Edd smiled and nodded. He watched as the freckled teen walked off and disappeared into the crowd before going over to his locker.
"Hey Sockhead," Eddy greeted as he made his over.
Double D smiled at his best friend. "Salutations, Eddy. Where is Ed?"
"Eh, he went to class already. He didn't wanna risk getting another tardy."
"Oh." Double D sighed loudly and opened his locker.
Eddy raised an questioningly eyebrow at him. "What's with you?"
"Nathan." Edd pouted a little as he reached for his Pre-Calculus textbook.
The shorter teen shook his head. "What happened now?"
"I am going over to his house after he is finished with football practice and I'm not sure how to feel about this. I am a bit happy, considering this means we are still friends, but I have been thinking about what you said."
Eddy leaned his back against the lockers and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "About him liking you?"
Edd furrowed his eyes. "Y-yes. It made sense to me-"
"Finally," Eddy mumbled.
Double D sighed. "Yes, well... it made sense to me, because his stranger behavior began around the same time my courtship with Kevin started-"
"I'm glad you finally believe me."
"No, no." Double D shook his head. "Not precisely. You see, it may not be me. What if it's Kevin?"
Eddy pursed his lips, trying to hold in his laughter.
"Why is that so funny?" Edd asked him.
"Come on, Double D! Open your eyes."
The sockhead scowled at his best friend. "I intend on finding out this evening." He turned on his heel and started heading towards his class and Eddy followed.
"You can't just ask someone if they like you," the pudgier teen said. "Besides, I already asked him."
Edd gasped. He spun back around and stared wide-eyed at Eddy. "Oh, please tell me that's not true."
"It's true." Eddy shrugged. "I asked him a few weeks ago. He denied it. No surprise there. So, he'll just deny it again."
"Perhaps he denied it, because it is to be denied!"
Eddy blinked. "What?"
"It isn't true!" Edd huffed.
"You have no idea how much I'm going to laugh at you when you find out that it is."
"That will never happen." Double D smiled and quickly walked off.
Eddy rolled his eyes. "We'll see."
Nathan wondered if Edd had mentioned where he was going to Kevin, but Kevin didn't ask Nat anything during practice or afterwards in the locker room. All he said to his best friend was that he couldn't wait for the game. Nat hoped the redhead wouldn't find out. Edd was just his friend, but Kevin could take it the wrong way. The freckled teen quickly snuck away from his teammates and headed home. The car in the driveway caught him by surprise. His father was home. He quickly got out of his car and ran inside.
Mr. Goldberg was in the kitchen, talking on his cell phone, but he turned around and smiled slightly at his son. Nat stood in the doorway in awe. They lived together and all, but Nat barely saw his father. He grinned and took out his phone.
Nathan: Get yourself over here now, sweet cheeks.
Edd was with his friends when he received the text message. He looked over at Eddy with pleading eyes and Eddy already knew what the sockhead wanted.
"Yeah, whatever, I'll take you," Eddy told him.
Double D smiled as he stood up from the couch.
"Where are you going, Double D?" Ed asked.
"To Nathan's house," Double D told him.
Ed smiled wide. "What are you guys gonna do?"
"I suppose talk-"
"About what?!" Ed leaned forward in his seat to rest his chin on Double D's shoulder.
Edd sighed. "Please, Ed. Sit back in your seat and put on your seatbelt."
Eddy snickered and shook his head. "So, tell me when to turn. I don't even know where this guy lives."
Double D smiled at Ed who's chin was still on his shoulder. "Take a right turn, Eddy." He glanced over at his friend driving.
Meanwhile, Nat put his things away in his bedroom. He was about to head back down into the kitchen when he heard his father say he 'would be there soon'. Be where? Work? Nat frowned and slowly went down the black spiral staircase. Mr. Goldberg finally hung up on whoever he was talking to and turned around.
"I'll be back later tonight, Nathan," he said as he grabbed his briefcase and suit jacket.
Nat nodded. "Cool. Later." He didn't bother making any eye contact with him as he walked over to the refrigerator to grab a soda.
The front door opened and closed and he sighed in defeat. At least he had Edd coming. That was something to look forward to. He slurped some of his drink and walked into the spacious living room. He picked up one of the balls from the pool table and examined it. He hardly ever played anymore. Nat shrugged and let go of the ball, letting it roll across the table. He smirked in amusement when it fell into one of the holes.
Ding dong! His smirk quickly turned into a grin. He set his soda can down on one of the coasters on the glass coffee table before sauntering over to the front door. Edd waved goodbye to his friends as they drove off. The sound of the door opening made him flinch a little. He turned around and greeted Nat with a smile. Nat couldn't resist smiling back. He moved aside, allowing Double D to step in. Edd had been to Nat's house plenty of times, but the sight always amazed him. For starters, there was a lot of white and glass furniture. And the white was very bright. The floors were made of Brazilian oak. It looked so glossy that Edd asked if he should take his shoes off.
"I'm not like you," Nat told him. "Keep them on."
"But does your father mind?"
"No. And he's not even here, anyways."
"He isn't?"
Nat shook his head. "He went to work."
"He works quite a lot, doesn't he?"
"Yep."
Double D nodded and sighed. "That sounds awfully familiar to my parents."
"Yeah..." Nat grinned. "Guess we got something in common... we pretty much raise ourselves."
"I suppose so." Edd looked down sadly. It hurt that his parents were hardly ever around. He just wanted their company more than anything, but they were too busy for him, just like Mr. Goldberg was too busy for Nat.
Nat noticed Double D's expression and raised an eyebrow. "Uh, but hey! Look at us now, man. We turned out awesome!" He popped his collar up higher.
Double D giggled and Nat grinned even more.
"Come on, Double Dude," he said to the sockhead. "Let's go watch TV or something."
Edd followed the green-haired teen to the wide white couch. They sat down, leaving a reasonable amount of space between them. Nat turned on the sixty inch flat screen and began flipping through channels as he thought about what to say. Edd bit down on his lower lip. Suddenly asking Nat the question seemed difficult. He fiddled with his fingers. It had to be now or never.
"Nathan..." he said softly.
Nat turned his head to face him. "Yeah?"
Edd looked down. "It's been on my mind and I just need to ask..." He took a deep breath. "Do you... have feelings..."
Nat's eyes widened and Edd continued, "For Kevin?" The freckled teen sighed in relief and relaxed. Good. A question he could answer without lying.
"You're asking me if I have a crush on my best friend?" Nathan grinned. "No. He's yours. Don't worry. I ain't gonna take him away from you." And I won't take you away from him either.
Double D furrowed his eyebrows. "Then why have you been acting so strange?"
"I don't know." Nat shrugged. "I guess because I'm feeling a little lonely." He sat back and put his hands behind his head. "It's like everyone's got somebody and I'm just here, single as fuck." He scrunched up his nose. "And that sounded lame."
The corners of Edd's lips twitched up in a soft smile as he sat himself back as well. "Nathan, even if you don't have a particular somebody, you aren't lonely." Edd gently patted Nat's thigh. "I'm here."
The green-haired teen looked down at Double D's hand on his thigh before shifting his eyes up to stare into big blue eyes and his breathing felt as if it had stopped. It took him a few seconds to realize his mouth was open. He quickly closed it and swallowed hard. Edd moved his hand away and Nat felt his heart beat calm down.
"Thanks," he said in a soft tone and Double D smiled.
The sockhead moved closer to him and Nat felt the need to scoot away.
"I do have feelings for someone, though," he told Edd.
Edd's eyes brightened. "Who may that be?"
"Someone unavailable... but they're..." Nat looked away. He couldn't be facing Double D. "They're kind of perfect. Yeah, you can tell me there's no such thing as perfection, but this person... they're pretty damn close to it. Everything about them. I mean, this person is like a genius and they're passionate and they see the good in everyone. I don't think I've ever heard them judge anyone without getting to know them first." A smirk crept up on his face. "They can also be a real smart ass, but I guess their nice ass makes up for that." Nat peeked over at Edd who was staring at him, trying to figure him out.
After thinking over everything Nat had just said, Edd giggled, having no clue. "Well, they certainly do sound lovely."
The freckled teen made full eye contact now and smiled. "Yeah, they are. I didn't think I'd ever be into someone like that." He furrowed his eyebrows. "Actually, I think they're the only exception."
Edd blinked. "And why is that?"
"Because they're like one of a kind and... jeez, Edd! Stop making me jump into my soft side."
Double D brought his hand up to cover his mouth as he giggled some more. Nat laughed a little too. The confession felt good. Sure Edd had no idea it was him who Nat was talking about, but at least he got it out. They turned their attention to the long forgotten TV and Nat picked up the remote again. He flipped through the channels again before settling on some cartoons. Edd sighed.
"I know you said they were unavailable," he began and Nat looked at him, "But I do hope you can still somehow get your chance with them."
The green-haired teen wanted to laugh. Oh, if Edd knew. Nat grinned instead. "Nah." He shook his head. "I wouldn't wanna ruin what they have with the person they're with. I care about them too much to do that."