Chapter 13

Kevin woke first the next morning. His arms were still wrapped around Double D, who had several hickeys lining his shoulders and neck. Wilhelmina was going to kill him for leaving more visible marks, he thought with a wry smile. He didn't care. The night before was completely worth any reprimand she could dole out. He pressed a kiss into Edd's shoulder, over a particularly dark mark, and gently eased himself out of bed. The room looked like a tornado had hit a costume shop and it reeked of sex. While Edd still slept, he picked up the costuming, folding each carefully to return to Wilhelmina. He found the lube still sitting on his desk and returned it to the drawer. Finally he opened the window hoping to air the room out a bit. Cool air blew in, causing goose bumps to spread across his exposed skin. He retrieved his phone from the discarded utility belt and saw a message from Jason. All it said was "Dude, where were you last night?"

Kevin wasn't sure what to say at first but decided to be semi-honest. He responded that he'd been at a party with his roommate and his roommate's hot friend.

Jason responded with, "Chris was pissed you weren't there."

Kevin wanted to tell him that Chris could go fuck himself, but instead just sent back, "didn't know it was mandatory."

Edd was stirring behind him. He put his phone away and climbed back into bed, pulling his boyfriend close against him again and pressing his lips into the marks on his neck. Edd wiggled a little, bare skin against his. Kevin leaned forward and kissed his shoulders. "Good morning," he said in a husky whisper.

Edd gave a jaw popping yawn and turned toward Kevin. "Morning." Edd seemed to be admiring his own handiwork on Kevin's neck and chest. He reached out gently and brushed a finger across a mark on his clavicle. "You'll have some explaining to do in the locker room I'm afraid."

Kevin shook his head. "I can come up with something."

"I never thought you wouldn't. Just that someone is bound to bring it up. Your captain if no one else."

Kevin rolled his eyes at the thought of Chris noticing the marks. "Might keep me out of trouble then."

Edd pulled back. "Trouble?"

He shrugged. "Apparently he was upset I didn't go to the party at the soccer house last night."

"And your hickeys will keep you out of trouble? You could have gone, you know."

He shook his head. "I didn't want to go. Every time I go over there they try to get me to take some girl home. If I had gone last night it would have been no different and it probably would have resulted in a rumor of some horrible STD or something, because I'm sure they're all starting to wonder at this point. But, if they think that I missed the party because I was getting laid..." he trailed off, the implication obvious.

"So I was just some art house floozy?" he asked with a smirk.

With an overdramatic sigh he rolled on his back, pulled his hands behind his head and with a grin said, "Afraid so."

It earned him an elbow to the ribs before he rolled back over to nuzzle Edd's neck. "Fine. You were much much more than an art house floozy. And you were fan-fucking-tastic. Better?"

Edd kissed him lightly. "Except for the profanity, yes. Much."

"Good."

Edd squirmed a little.

"What's wrong?"

His face went pink and he mumbled something incoherent.

"What?"

He sighed. "It just occurred to me that we're both um—still disrobed."

Kevin knew they were and he loved the feel of Edd's skin against his, but he suspected it was a bit too much for Edd. He had never seemed the type to be comfortable to just hang out naked. "Would you like to change that?"

Edd chewed his lip in indecision. He finally conceded, "I don't know."

Kevin smiled. "Come on, let's get dressed and get some breakfast. If you want to take my clothes off later, you can."

Edd rolled his eyes but climbed out of bed.

They dressed and as they were walking out the door of the building Kevin stopped. "What do you say to skipping the caf and hitting the diner downtown? I don't think I can handle another day of frozen scrambled eggs and questionable sausage. I'll treat."

Edd smiled, "You're taking me on a breakfast date?"

Kevin rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah. I guess I am." It seemed fitting after the night before.

Edd nodded happily. "Alright. But what if people see us?"

Kevin shrugged. "I doubt many people are going to be up at this hour on a weekend. And even less will be at the diner. And if they do, whatever. We'll go from there." He was getting sick of worrying what everyone else would think if they found out. It was only fear of losing his scholarships and being forced to drop out of school that had him keeping up the lie. "So, yes? Breakfast at the diner?"

Edd nodded. "That sounds wonderful."

They decided to walk the six blocks to the diner since the weather was nice, if a bit crisp. Kevin was right: very few people on campus were up and moving around. Security and grounds keepers moved quietly about the campus but there were few students. The diner, however, was bustling. Waitresses zipped from table to table and almost every table had occupants. As they walked in an older lady in a waitresses' apron mentioned there was a small table in the back, if they weren't expecting any other company. Edd and Kevin found the table quickly and the waitress brought them a couple menus. She took their drink orders before heading back to the kitchens.

"Coffee for me, please," Kevin said immediately.

Edd glanced at the options on the menu and asked for a glass of orange juice and a water. They perused their options for a few minutes, both settling rather quickly on what they planned to order. Neither was in a hurry to call the busy waitress back over though, knowing she'd make it in time. Edd smirked across the table at Kevin.

"What?"

"You look like you were mauled by some kind of wild animal," he said with a crooked smile.

Kevin grinned. "Well if I remember correctly, I think I was. Not that you're looking much better."

Edd shrugged. "I like to label what's mine."

The waitress came by and took their orders, making an offhand comment about working up an appetite. Kevin just grinned at a slightly uncomfortable Edd. When he saw Edd's unsure, questioning look, he shrugged. "It's kind of obvious today what happened. We'll have to see if we can do something about all this," he motioned vaguely to their marks, "before class tomorrow."

Edd shrugged a little. "Perhaps Wilhelmina will have an idea on how to take care of them?"

Kevin nodded. "It's possible."

Edd's phone buzzed on the table. He picked it up seeing a message from Wilhelmina across the screen. "Speak of the devil and she will appear," he murmured quietly.

Kevin glanced at the screen. "What's up?"

"She just wanted to make sure we made it back to our room last night. And she made a comment about possibly bailing us out of jail for public indecency. I guess we made quite the scene at the party last night."

Kevin shrugged. "I guess. I didn't really notice."

"Nor did I."

"You want to ask her to join us? I'm sure she's got a story, and maybe we can ask about our uh—spots?"

Edd agreed and within a few minutes she appeared through the door of the diner and found her way back to their table.

"Jesus fucking Christ on a cross, you two."

Edd blushed scarlet. Kevin ignored her remark and pulled a chair over from a table that had just vacated.

She sat heavily on the chair, still staring at the various hickeys visible on the two boys.

"So uh—how was your night, Willy?" Kevin asked, hoping to break her gaze.

"Apparently not as good as yours."

"Things didn't work out with the cellist?" Edd asked.

She shook her head. "No, they did. I mean, he was in my bed until about an hour ago. But it looks like you two still managed to have more fun than I did."

Kevin shrugged. "Any idea on, you know, covering them?"

"Best I can come up with is turtlenecks and scarves. Maybe make up, but neither of you are really make up guys. And I don't know what you'll do for your swim lesson or the locker room for soccer..."

"You don't know any way to make them fade faster?" Edd asked.

She shook her head. "One of my friends swears by breaking up the bruise with a tube of Chap Stick or a cold spoon, but I don't know that it actually works. I suppose it could be worth a try."

Edd nodded and slipped a spoon into his pocket. When Kevin and Wilhelmina gave him incredulous looks he shrugged. "We don't have any. I'll bring it back."

The waitress returned moments later with Kevin and Edd's meals and took Wilhelmina's, pouring a mug of coffee for her and topping off Kevin's. She seemed unhappy about the new addition to the table but didn't say anything.

"So the cellist was no good then?" Kevin asked as he popped a hash brown in his mouth.

She shrugged. "He was alright but not, you know, mind blowing. I don't know. He said he'd call me later in the week for coffee or something. I'm not holding my breath."

"Why not?" Edd inquired.

"Eh he did his best last night but I got the feeling this morning he wasn't really interested in seeing me again. I mean I could be wrong, but I'd be surprised if he called."

"Do you really want him to?" Kevin watched her closely while she explained and got the feeling that even if the guy were head over heels in love with her she wouldn't be too interested.

"I don't know. Maybe. It doesn't really matter."

"Ah, so you like this guy a lot," he joked.

The waitress brought Wilhelmina's food, asked if they needed anything else, and left again.

"I haven't really liked anyone in a while. At least not like that."

"Hey," Edd said, stung.

She reached for his hand gently. "Sorry sweetie, you were just going to be an easy lay. Maybe more would have come but, I mean, I wasn't looking for anything else. We're both just lucky that you weren't interested."

"I'm going to count myself in on that lucky thing," Kevin said with a shy smile.

Edd smiled too.

"Okay. Enough with the cute. Save it for later."

Kevin's phone buzzed again and another message from Jason popped up on the screen asking where he was at. Without really thinking he responded and hit send. Wilhelmina began to fill in details on the rest of the party and the more PG aspects of her night, Kevin offering what he could in way of guidance on the male psyche, Edd offering a little less. The diner was emptying out quickly, customers on their way to church or other Sunday morning activities. They had a clear view of the door when Jason walked in.

"Shit," Kevin said as he watched Jason approach.

Edd glanced quickly. "Oh my. This presents a problem."

Jason found them quickly and sat at the table without being invited. His first look was toward Kevin, with a lopsided grin. "Man—I was going to tell you you missed a hell of a party but I apparently I missed a better one." He stole a look around the table and his mouth opened in surprise. "Oh. I—alright then."

Kevin chewed his lip silently.

"Well damn. You—you're?"

Kevin nodded slowly.

Jason shook his head. "Never would have guessed it." He turned his attention to Wilhelmina. "Hi, I'm Jason," he said extending his hand.

She introduced herself with a glowing smile.

Kevin rolled his eyes. Jason was going to be eaten alive. But the poor guy would probably enjoy it for a while.

"So this is why you've been skipping out on the parties lately then?"

"Would've skipped more if I could have. Chris has a nasty tendency of trying to hook me up with girls he can't get so that their friends will sleep with him. And we both know how well that works for him."

"But you two are...?"

"Yeah."

He nodded. "Okay. So the championships: Coach wants to increase practices. Since the games are coming up fast. Just as a heads up. You'll probably get that email in the next hour or two."

"You already talked to Coach today?"

Jason shrugged. "He likes to keep me up to date. Doesn't think Chris does a real good job on getting word to the rest of the team."

Kevin nodded at that much.

"Speaking of Chris, he's not going to like this," he said with a sip of coffee.

"That's why I haven't said anything about it. I know how most the team will feel."

"And you're okay with that?" He turned to Edd.

Edd shrugged noncommittally. "I understand why. It's generally not an issue. As long as he's not bringing girls back to our room as your captain so often guns for, I don't have a lot of room to complain."

"Fair enough."

"You're taking this a lot better than any of us expected," Wilhelmina noted.

Jason shrugged. "My brother's gay. It doesn't really matter to me one way or another who you sleep with. Kev's got the best foot on the team; if he wants to sleep with a guy, it doesn't bother me as long as he can keep playing at his best."

"That's a good motto."

"Anyway, I should get going. I have a ten page paper due tomorrow and I've barely started. I just wanted to give you the heads up on Coach. There's something else I need to talk to you about but it can wait til later on. Anyway, I'll catch you later."

"Oh you know what, I'll walk with you," Wilhelmina said, getting up from the table. She threw a ten down and slung her bag over her shoulder. "I have to get in the studio and finish up my project."

They left together, chatting quietly.

"Jason's not going to know what hit him," Edd commented.

Kevin laughed. "No, he won't. Who knows, though? They actually might do well together." He threw some money on the table. "You ready to go?"

Edd stood and walked out on to the street. They started to walk back to campus slowly. Edd wanted to reach for his hand but held back. "That was unexpected," he remarked quietly.

Kevin nodded. "It was."

"Do you think your team is going to find out?"

He mused over the idea. "No. I think Jason meant it when he said he didn't care. And he knows how a lot of the guys will respond when it does come out. So I think he'll keep quiet until you and I are ready."

Edd nodded.

"Are you okay?"

He shrugged.

Kevin pulled him down an empty side street. "What's going on?"

Edd shrugged again. "It's nothing. I just—I don't—I don't like hiding it. I don't like being your dirty little secret. And I know you don't like it either. It's just exceedingly complex and trying."

Kevin put a finger under his chin and made him look at him. It amazed him how small Edd looked, despite being a good three inches taller than him. "I don't just not like it. I hate it. I do. And I know you hate it." He pressed a kiss to his lips. "Please just hold out a little longer. I know it's awful but it's about keeping my scholarships and staying in school. At the end of the year, I'll come out to everyone. I'll get loans if I have to quit the teams."

"I wasn't saying that I can't hold out. It's just difficult to take sometimes."

Kevin kissed him again, pressed against the brick wall of a knick knack shop. "I know it is. Soon. I promise."

"No, don't promise me that. I don't want you to quit the teams, drop out of school, or take out loans you can't afford to pay back. I should never have brought it up."

He shook his head. "It'll be alright. I don't want to hide it anymore either. I want to be able to hold your hand in public, or kiss you after a game. I want you to be comfortable joining me at a game. I just want to give the baseball team a shot, then we're done hiding. I just want to prove myself to the teams. Once that's done, maybe it won't matter as much."

Edd shook his head. "I think you're giving them too much credit. You know that some of them, no matter how good of a player you are, won't accept it."

He shrugged. "If it's that way then it's that way."

"You don't have to come out. I can wait. This is why I didn't want to mention it."

"Let's talk about it later. I don't think either of us are going to change our minds any time soon." He saw that Edd only wanted him to be happy, but Edd didn't seem to realize that hiding it didn't make him any happier. It was nothing compared to the misery of hiding it and not being with him, but even that change didn't make up for the fact that he knew he was hurting Edd.

Edd nodded. "Alright. Come on, let's get back. I have a report to be working on. And we have to study for that chemistry exam."

Kevin groaned. "I forgot about that. God I don't want to study." His voice reached a whine.

Edd smiled at him and pressed a kiss to his lips. "Come on. If you study like a good boy, I'll make it worth your while."

Kevin asked him how he meant, but Edd only said "I'm sure I can think of something" before he turned and walked back out onto the street, toward campus. Kevin followed, mind racing.