Love Looks Not with the Eyes Chapter 11 – White Flag Part 2

A/N – Part one is in Loves Fool Chapter 82. As stated in the other chapter this chapter will be the other half of the night but showing Kevin Richard and Edd Sr. side of the story, so there will be some repeats. Loves Fool Kevin and Edd will be addressed as Anthony and Double D to alleviate confusion. White Flag is sung by Dido.

Kevin's heart skipped a beat as his eye met those gorgeous blue that he hasn't seen in over two decades, "Damnit Alice, you could have warned me," he thought to himself. Rave circles around his two long lost friends as Edd turns his head away from him, was he really that uncomfortable seeing him that he would make that face. His attention was taken away from the cute dorky man before him as Rave wraps his arms around him turning him to the side, whispering in the ear that was turned away from them, "Thanks for coming."

"No problem," he whispered back, smiling as he could tell how nervous his friend was, "Take a breath, you'll be fine." A pit of anxiety hits him as he realized something, pulling back from the hug he asks, "So, which one of them is she hooking you up with?"

"Nat," Rave says a nervous smile upon his face.

"He's a good guy," he looks over at his exfriend who was now walking toward them, "You'll like him." The man walks past them and Kevin turns his head in the direction he was headed in, seeing Alice some twenty feet away coming toward them.

He was only able to hear Nat say, "We need to talk," before the conversation becomes inaudible to him.

"I'll be right back," Rave states motioning with his hand to give him a minute, then makes his way towards Alice and Nat at a quick pace.

Turning back around his heart began to beat rapidly, his palms were sweating and his throat felt dry, god damn he couldn't recall the last time he was this nervous. There he was, five feet from him, with his son and Little Anthony standing beside him, wiping the palm of his hand against his pants in one fluid motion he extends his hand, "You must be Junior."

Double D takes the hand offered to him and gives it a firm shake, "Edd, or preferably Double D."

"Yeah, don't call him Junior, he hates that," Edd Sr. adds to the conversation.

"I'm Kevin," he glances at his cousin quickly as he retracts his hand then turns his gaze back to Double D, "Or Richard, whichever you prefer."

"Or Dick," Edd included and Double D gives him a disapproving glance as the younger Kevin chuckled quietly beside him. "What," he responds to the look his son gave him, "Dick is a socially approved nickname for Richard."

"Like I said, whichever you prefer," Kevin still looked a little hurt at the quip about his name, not that he didn't deserve it though, "I was friends with your old man back in the day."

Edd stifled a laugh with his hand, "I'm sorry, that was rude of me," Edd waved off the tension and put on a straight face, "Your looking good Kevin."

"Thanks," he gives him an unsure smile, "You too, you're looking great Edd."

Edd dismissed the compliment by turning to his son and asking, "Are you ready to go in?"

It was clear that reconciling with Edd wasn't going to be easy, but damn it he wasn't going to give up at the first sign of trouble, "So, um, how have you…"

"I've got an idea," Edd turned back to face him, the same expression on his face he used to get when they were younger, his eyes brightening up whenever he worked out a solution to a difficult problem, "Why don't we sponsor the two of them in." he pats the boys on the back and Kevin cocks a brow at him, Edd explains further, "This way Nat and Rave aren't tide down to them and they can leave to talk later if they want."

"Uh, yeah," he rubs the back of his neck, "Sure, that sounds cool."

"Cool," Edd takes Anthony by the shoulders and directs him towards Kevin, "You sponsor your cousin, and I'll sponsor my son," he puts his arm around Double D. Cupping his hand over his mouth he yells, "NAT," and waits for the man to turn around and look at him. Waving his arm in the air as he continued to speak loudly, "We're going to head inside," he points toward the doors. Nat waves and Edd took it that he understood what he was saying, "Come on boy's," he shepherd's them into the building, holding the door open for them, "Let's go get a table." As Kevin passed he adds, "Do feel free to join us Kevin, and maybe we can rekindle our 'friendship'."

"Sure," he said in a downtrodden tone, "I'd love to." It was the way that Edd had said the word "friendship" that let him know that all he could expect right now was a very mild acknowledgement of his existence. Edd's expectations for this "reunion" was simple, he would forgive him if he asked for it, some polite conversation and maybe add him on Facebook, then he'd go back to Evansville and be done with it.

Walking in the door behind him, Edd shuffled to the front of the group and took his sons arm, more for support then a show of affection. Anthony who was at the opposite side of the group from Edd leans in and whispers to Kevin, "Why did you have to go and do that man."

Kevin cocks a brow and side eyes his cousin, "Do what?"

He huffs at what the older man had said, "Down play your relationship and shit, telling us you were just friends."

"Well," Kevin was searching for a way to justify his words, "It didn't last long enough to be considered a real relationship."

"One of you asked the other out right?"

Kevin recalled the night he had begged for Edd's forgiveness under his bedroom window, the following week that ended with a passionate kiss in a theater bathroom stale. His declaration to Marie, Ed and May about their relationship statues at Denny's then answered, "Yes."

"And they said yes?" Kevin nods to the question, "Then you dated, so do yourself a favor and learn to call it like it is man," Anthony shook his head, "It will save you a whole lot of trouble in the end." They all made it through the ID check, Anthony praising god that Double D's fake ID was still fooling them, but come next month and he wouldn't need it anymore. They walked through the sparsely populated dance area of the bar towards the drag bar following closely behind Edd and Double D. Anthony did not prod into the matter anymore, even though he was curious about what had happened between them, but when he thought about it he had his answer already, family.

Double D on the other hand felt like probing, if for nothing more than to have his father hear the man's side of things. He started with something simple and would work his way to the hard stuff, "So Kevin," Double D says as he sat down at the table, both men looking at him but it was clear who he was addressing as he was looking at the older Barr man. "What did you do after you graduated high school?"

Edd chimes in, "Yeah, Dick what did you do?" Alice who was take her seat across from him gives Edd a disapproving look.

Kevin wasn't sure how far he should go into detail, but he did answer the question as he slid out of his jacket, "I joined the army after I graduated, got married. Served an extended tour of duty in Afghanistan, got a divorce when I came back then went to college and got my degree to become a social worker."

"That had to be scary being in a war," Anthony remarked as he personally wasn't sure if he could handle being shot at by someone who intended to kill him.

Double D notices the bottom half of a tattoo protruding out from under his short sleeve shirt on his right arm and thought it looked familiar, "May I see your tattoo," he motions toward the arm.

"Sure," Kevin pulls up the sleeve and Double D was right this was the man he had seen at Alice's thanksgiving weekend, the initials of EMV etched on the heart. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who's those initials those were, and Kevin became self-conscious of them when Edd looked over to catch a glimpse of the tattoo, pulling the sleeve down again. He had gotten the initials added to the tattoo after he had gotten his divorce and during one of his drunken benders.

Double D smirks as he was well aware that the man sitting in front of him still held a candle for his father, "Did it hurt? Because I've been thinking about getting one." Anthony made a mental note, adding it to his list of birthday present ideas.

"A little," Kevin lied, for him it was painful but that's because of his fear of needles.

Double D leans in and whispers, "You shouldn't hide it, he might actually be flattered."

"Yeah, easy for you to say," he looks down the table at Edd who was looking coldly at him as he talked to his son, "He doesn't hate you." Needing a moment to clear his mind Kevin stands and address everyone at the table, "I'm going to the bar, does anyone need anything?" Alice cocks a brow at him and folds her arms, "I'm just getting a coke mom."

"That's all it better be," she replied, and he turns his gaze towards Edd who was still staring daggers at him. His expression was cold, but other than call him Dick he was being polite and holding his tongue. Since no one was answering his question he assumed that they didn't need anything and turns to head towards the bar, breathing out a sigh to relieve his anxiety once he was away from them. Leaning against the bar with his arms folded, he motions for the bartender who comes over to take his order, "Coke please," the man picks up a glass and fills it with ice then heads towards the soda gun.

"What are you doing here man," Nat asks as he leans against the bar next to him.

Kevin turns his head slightly to his right, "I'm here for Rave if that wasn't obvious enough for you."

"Why? Alice and everyone else can just as easily do whatever it is your doing for him," his tone was a little cold but not harsh, "So again what are you still doing here?"

"Because I'm his friend and he asked me to come, do I need any other reason to stay?" Kevin was keeping his cool, he didn't have a grudge with Nat, he only wished the feeling was mutual. The bartender walks up to them and sets the small glass of soda in front of him, telling him that it would be three-dollars.

Nat pulls up the sleeve on his right arm and looks at the tattoo, breathing out disapprovingly, "You can file thirteen that pipedream," he lets go of his sleeve letting the fabric fall back into place.

"I knew you wouldn't understand," he said roughly as he put his wallet back in his pocket.

"Try me," Nat's tone had changed, softening.

Kevin's jaw muscles tighten as he mulled over his thoughts on whether Nat was truly interested in his feelings for Edd or if he was just trying to gather more ammo to use against him. He decided to use this conversation as a trial run for his confession to Edd. "I still love him," he paused trying to find the right words, "After all these years my heart just won't let go of him, and I know you think I shouldn't, but I can't help that I do. You know what's tragic about all this, is the fact that even if he tells me to fuck off tonight, or screams and hits me, I will still go on loving him until the day my heart stops beating."

Nat groans, "Ugh, why does one side of me still want to believe you?" He ran his hand down his face in irritation, he knew that Edd still had a few embers in his heart that smoldered for the man beside him. And if what Kevin had said was true, who was he to stand in their way, it was Edd's decision after all, "So Tina told us what your parents did to you, a priest huh?"

"Yeah," Kevin replied softly, "You have no idea how much that fucked with my head."

"Alright I get it,' with his hands on the bar he leans forward and exclaims, "Shit," before bouncing back up into a standing position. He was still torn between telling the man to go fuck himself with a chainsaw or doing what he decided to do. He turns and faces him, "Look man," jabbing him in the chest with his finger, "I'm not saying that you're going to get anywhere with him. But if this turns out to be nothing more than a simple fling for you, I swear to god that I know two people that will be happy to help me hide your body and someone who will give me a solid alibi."

"I get it," Kevin said wide eyed.

"You have no idea what I had to go through the last time you broke his heart," he rubs the bridge of his nose, "And I don't want to have to go through it again. I had to break his damn Bodyguard soundtrack to make him stop listening to that fucking song." I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston is still number one on Nat's do not ever listen to list to this very day, along with several other sad songs that came out that year.

"I understand," Kevin simply replied and sees Edd walking towards the exit in a rush some twenty feet behind Nat.

"God I need a drink," Nat groans out and signals for the bartender to come over.

"Get Rave a Fuzzy Navel," he pats him on the shoulder as he starts to walk towards the exit, "He likes those."

"Where are you going?"

He turns around and walks backwards as he says, "To the bathroom," then turns back around and quickens his pace to catch up to the fast walking man. He follows him through the dance bar which was starting to liven up, into the piano lounge then up a flight of stairs to the second floor and out into the balcony smoking area. Stepping through the door the cold February air hits him and he sees Edd leaning against the iron railing of the balcony taking a deep drag off of a cigarette then blowing a large plume of smoke back out through his nose, "Those things will kill ya, you know."

Edd turns his head towards him and looks at him, his eyes were now absent the cold stand-offish glare they have had previously, "I just needed a moment to think," he turns his head back around to face the street.

Kevin takes a few steps forward, "Do you mind if I join you?"

"It's a free country," he takes another drag.

Kevin comes to stand next to him, keeping a respectable distance, he leans against the iron railing, "When did you start smoking?"

"When my dad was in the hospital," he flicks the ashes off the tip and looks at the cigarette, "I know it's a bad habit, but it helped to calm my nerves."

"How's your dad doing?"

"He's alright, but they've already found another aneurism on his femoral artery," he takes another drag.

"I'm sorry to hear that," he takes a deep breath, releasing it slowly as he motions for a cigarette, "Are they going to operate?"

Edd opens his pack and offers him one, "No, he barely survived the last one, so my parents have decided that if he is going to die, its best if he does it at home, with family, and not on some operating table."

"Oh man that sucks," his voice was full of sorrow, for all though he has never met the man he felt sorry that Edd and his family had to go through with such hardship. "Edd," he wasn't sure how to bring up the topic now, but he still needed to take the opportunity to tell him that he was sorry for what happened between them.

"I forgave you a long time ago," he flicks the cigarette into the street, "So you don't have to worry about it." He pulls out another cigarette and lights it, knowing he would need it now for this conversation, "I won't lie to you and say it didn't hurt like hell, and occasionally still does, but I do know what your parents put you through, so I forgave you."

"It's still no excuse for my actions," he couldn't look at Edd, he felt so ashamed of his younger self, "I should have come to you, I should have told you what was going on."

"It's alright Kevin, what's done is done and can't be undone," he takes a long drag of his smoke as Kevin recalled hearing that phrase in his dream about Plank all those years ago. "But while we're on the subject of apologies, I would like to say that I'm sorry for being a jerk earlier," he drops his head, feeling ashamed for how he has been acting. "You know, I told myself I wasn't going to show my ass if we ever met again, but what's the first thing I do the first time I see you, I show my ass."

"But it's such a nice ass," Kevin said jokingly trying to lighten the mood.

Edd shakes his head and tries not to laugh, he was being serious after all, "Quiet you. But seriously, I am sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry for," his tone was quiet, "I was a jerk and I deserved it, hell I would have done worse if I was in your shoes."

"I'm sure you would have Kevin," he smiles a little, glad in the knowledge that Kevin would have held a grudge just as long if their roles had been reversed. "So, what do you think? Should we try and be friends again?"

A smile danced across Kevin's lips, it was the way that Edd had said friends this time, there was none of the bitterness from earlier in his tone. "Edd, I," he wanted to tell him how he truly felt about him but he didn't want to jeopardize this first step, it was a small step, but it was a step in the right direction, "I would love to be your friend."

"Cool," Edd pulled out his phone and unlocked it, tapping the screen once and Kevin's phone chimes a moment later, alerting him of a notification. Pulling it out of his pocket he presses the button on the side to bring up his screen and sees that he has a friends request on Facebook.

He smirks at the dorky man in front of him as he unlocks his phone and accepts the request, Edd had unintentionally, or perhaps intentionally, admitted to Kevin that he had been looking at his Facebook page at some point in the evening. "Cool," he did a quick search and posted a picture on Edd's time line. Opening his phone when he got the notification he sees a picture of William Shakespeare's profile with a quote to the side. "I desire you in friendship, and I will one way or other make you amends."

Edd smiled and shook his head, "You and your Shakespeare."

"What?" he gestured with his hands as he said the word, "He's classic." They sat up there on that balcony for a good moment making a fresh start with a new friendship. Both men ignoring the string of chimes from their phones as Facebook notifications from their friends and those who knew about their past came swarming in.