Next please! Haha done with this chapter too ok these last two have been low key but the next one will be a little more action packed.

Home's where the hearts engraved

The thing that Edd hated the most when his parents were gone was the silence. The void of noise that picked him apart little by little, reminding him that he was alone, always there to stop any positive motion he seemed to build. Eddy and Ed had been an escape from it, they saved him from the bitter loneliness and long nights of tossing and turning. It had gotten to the point that the silence was something of a nuisance to him, or maybe a fear. He feared being alone again, feared being the outcast and left to fend for himself in a house that was never meant for one person. After sometime he found himself indulged in the different activities that the outside world provided but once he entered that house, once he crossed the threshold of his door he was reminded of the loneliness. He wanted his parents to be there, to break whatever curse had been cast on the house but they never came, he had decided to one day bring them there, to force them to return so there would be no more relenting silence.

But here it was all over again, after his outburst the car was silent and he couldn't help but shake from both the rage and silence that threatened to devour him. He wanted them to say something, to do something that would break the silence but they didn't, they just stared wordlessly at him, the car was on the side of the road.

He needed them.

Needed.

Past tense because he had found solace in his friends but he was starting to feel like that wasn't enough. He waited for what seemed like hours before his dad cleared his throat, basically bursting the quiet car and making Edd's ears ring. His head hurt more than he could ever have imagined, still words from a broken childhood spun like angry wasps in his mind, stinging and poisoning whatever memory he had of being alone and turning it just that much worse.

"Eddward, I didn't know that our absence affected you that much." He was staring at him now, the angry shaking boy that he was.

Edd shook his head and rubbed his temple, even the slightest movements made the car spin. "No, but I didn't expect you to." His whole life he had hid that secret from them, he had wanted them home for so long but he didn't want to get in their way, like he was now. "I'm sorry for yelling, I-I didn't mean for it to come out like that." The car was still spinning and he didn't know why, was he sick?

His mom unfastened her seatbelt and reached out to him, she looked worried, almost frantic. "You look pale, are you ok?"

He took deep breaths tried to get better, when his mother's hand made contact with his head he could feel her cool touch sooth his heated mind. Too much was going through, too much was coming out all at once and it hurt him. It was as if he was fighting against himself, an angrier part of him that he'd repressed for all these years. It wanted out, it wanted to scream and yell and kick but he didn't allow it, not now. "I'm fine, sorry for worrying you both." He was telling the truth his mother's touch helped him, the car wasn't spinning as fast and he could start breathing again. "Please continue driving, we have to eat and I don't want to eat too quickly to see the compound." He didn't want to brush it aside, but this wasn't the place or time for the discussion.

He wanted to say more, but it would have to wait just a little longer.

He needed them.

The car started back up and his mother looked at him like he was an animal ready to bite. He felt like one, caged in the house for years and years, finally free to bite the hand that was never there to feed it.

Eddy spit out what he assumed was a mouthful of motor oil at this point, they had been working on the truck nonstop. Eddy had learned two things about it by now, one that it was even more broken than he had initially thought, and two that Lee was very car savvy. She would yell directions to them that they had no idea about, she would use car part words that neither of them had ever heard in their entire life and Eddy had worked with cars before, even if it were a little. He wanted to do more but when push came to shove Lee did most the work, Eddy and Ed just helped her with things, especially after Eddy spilled the oil out from under the car.

"You're lucky this part needs to go or you would have had to find yourself a better one." Lee called from under the car, her legs comically under it like it had landed on her. Ed had already made that joke but it still made him laugh.

Even though he didn't look it he was actually relieved, he didn't want to feel guilty for ruining Lee's work. "I just wanted to make more work for'ya." He smiled, they had been talking more and he found Lee to be quite funny. She understood him in a different way than Ed and Double-D. She lead her sisters and kept them in line just like he did with his brothers and that in itself was hard enough work let alone having a bad home life as well.

They worked until the sun was setting and Eddy had to force her to leave. "Ok, we can work on it tomorrow but we should go before it gets dark. Last I checked you aren't a cat working in the dark can be pretty dangerous." He didn't want to be the bearer of bad news, and Lee looked at him like that but he was getting tired, and desperately needed a shower.

His house, he would need to take a shower over there and his dad would definitely be up. He cursed himself for being too focused on the car and sighed.

"Ok ok, but you better promise to come back tomorrow to help me." She had a black stain on her cheek and her clothes were filthy but she looked…natural. Like she was supposed to always look like that.

Eddy rubbed the back of his head, trying not to sound mean from his bad mood. "We'll be back tomorrow, we didn't do much though…" He ducked his head and mumbled a thanks.

She put her hand to her ear with a sly smile. "Sorry what was that buttercup?"

He groaned, knowing this was going to come. "I said thank you!" He snapped tersely. If there was one thing he hated more than birds it was thanks.

She clapped him on the shoulder hard enough for him to lose his breath. "Ya, I got you short stuff, I'll see you tomorrow." She waved with her fingers in a flirtatious way that made Eddy shiver.

"Women, I'll never understand them…" He whispered more to himself but Ed heard it.

He nodded. "Yup, they don't even like buttered toast with gravy on it."

For the first time in a while Eddy understood what Ed meant by that. "Come on, we should get back." He put his hands in his pockets, dreading every step and he knew Ed did as well. When they got to his steps Eddy turned around to his bigger brother. "Hey, if things get rough call me, we can go hang out in the clubhouse if'ya want." As much as he didn't want him to call a large part of Eddy wished Ed just asked for them to go now.

"Ok, I will." Ed smiled back at the smaller boy and he nodded.

Dang it.

Eddy watched until Ed was in his house and unlocked the door with his keys. Every little sound was multiplied tenfold, the creaking porch when he stepped on it sounded like thunder, the door opening and squeaking was like cannons being shot right next to his ears. His dad wasn't on the couch, which worried him more than anything, if he wasn't sitting then he was mobile, stalking around the house for his next prey. It might be Eddy today. He closed the door and tip toed up the stairs, listening for anything that might be his father's footsteps.

When he finally got to the bathroom he cupped his hand and planted it against the door, putting his ear in the hole in his hand. He listened for a little while and when he didn't hear anything he opened the door again, more cannon noises shot throughout the house. He exhaled a breath of relief when there actually wasn't anyone in the bathroom and closed the door, locking it and standing still for a little bit while his heart slowed down.

Just staring at the lock, could it hold his dad out?

He didn't wait to find out and undressed, getting in the shower and turning it on. The warm water was more soothing than he had anticipated and he leaned his head down, letting the warm spray hit the back of his neck and travel down his face. He watched the streams of water fall from his hair and onto the floor with soft thuds. Some of them were black, probably from the greese of the car and he waited until they disappeared, putting on shampoo and washing himself with a bar of soap. Just as he walked out of the shower feeling more refreshed he heard the door open, more like felt it, the earthquake of his dad entering. He took his clothes and a towel and dashed into his room, not caring how much noise he made, he chose to go into his brother's room this time.

Luckily he wasn't there and Eddy locked the door with all of the locks his brother had put on there from previous times his dad tried to come int. He wouldn't be able to break these ones. He opened his brother's closet and put on the stray clothes he found on the ground, which were a black long sleeve, some black sweat pants with white lines running across the side and grey shoes. He was still a little wet and the clothes clung to his skin, but he just wanted to make sure if his dad decided to come up stairs that he was ready. He looked over at his discarded closes and saw the small lump in his back pocket, he pulled out the pocket knife and transferred it to his new pants.

He didn't want to use it.

Or maybe…

He waited for what seemed like days as he continued to cup his hand and listen to the outside world, still not able to hear anything he planted his ear on the door.

Nothing.

The club house, he needed to get to the clubhouse.

He opened the door.

Nothing in the hallway, the lights were off and he mentally patted himself on the back. His dad would have known he was here if he had the lights on. It made it harder to see but at least he didn't know just yet.

He crept along the wall, waiting for his dad to pop out of any of the doors and for him to scurry away. Just as he was getting to the stairs he heard a creak behind him and instantly turned around, his heart gripped in fear and adrenaline pumping through his system. He saw a body but it was too small and frail to be his dads.

"Eddy, what are you doing here?" It was his mom, moving closer to him and checking over him to make sure he was ok. She looked so thin, so old as her worried face scanned him.

"Needed to take a shower." Was his only answer, he still wasn't used to his mom like this. He looked at her wrist and saw the giant bruise on it, it was the shape of a hand and he clenched his fist.

Back in the old days his mom used to fight for them, back in those days he beat her down until she was only a shell of herself and now that that shell was being replaced with remnants of his old mom he was doing it again.

"Why did you let him do that?" He growled, nodding towards her wrist and she instinctively pulled it away.

She didn't look at him but answered. "He was upset, I couldn't get away fast enough." She made it sound like it was her fault!

His anger boiled his blood, he remembered the past when his dad would hit her and leave her on the rug. The time's his brother and him would hide out in his room and hear the thumps and thuds around the house. His hand snaked into his pocket and held the pocket knife so tightly his knuckles were white.

"You know that Erik's planning to take me away right?" An idea occurred to him and his grip loosened on his weapon. Her look of surprise told him that she didn't know. "Go with him, let him take you away and then…" But she shook her head and his idea halted in place. "Why?!" He hissed, looking behind him to make sure his dad didn't hear.

"I can't leave you hear Eddy…not with him." She sounded so tired, she motioned in his dad's direction with a limp arm. "Anyways, your dad…he can't lose any more than he has, he'd look for us."

Can't lose any more than he has.

What did that mean? Why was that so important to all of this, in the past he was never like what he was now, he never attacked them. Then it just changed one day and he turned into the monster he was now. Eddy didn't get it, what was the story that had been withheld from him so long?

"What?" He asked, his gaze shifting back to his moms soft eyes.

She shook her head, looking away again. "Not now Eddy…I can't tell you until you're ready."

His gaze became a glare, what was she doing to him? "When will I be ready, before or after that guy kills me?"

He realized he had crossed a line when she stared at him like he had just slapped her, her eyes watered and she rubbed them. She could only say I'm sorry and try not to sob so loudly. He didn't understand where this was all coming from.

"Why did you start helping me again?" He tried to distract her, the pang of guilt still in his chest but he needed to know.

She looked at him, a shaking hand reaching for him and darting back down when he flinched away. "I just…lost myself, I went to a bad place. When your brother and you used to hear me being beaten and didn't do anything I don't know. I just snapped and thought I'd do it to you as well." She shook her head and more tears flowed from her cheeks. "I know it's wrong, but I was scared, so scared."

Her answer wasn't all that bad, Eddy understood it actually. In a weird kind of was he understood it.

"T-then I saw that you were becoming the same person I was, and it hurt me so much." She gulped, looking behind him for a moment before she continued. "You looked at me with the same eyes he did, and I couldn't handle it anymore."

The same eyes as him. That's what really hit him hard, he always wished that him and his dad weren't so alike but deep down he knew they were. Just, something went wrong and his dad snapped, something that Eddy needed to find out.

Erik would probably know.

He heard his dad's voice from bellow. "Hello?" He wasn't slurring his words and he didn't sound all that drunk.

His mom shushed him, "Sneak past him and go to your old room." She whispered and wiped at her eyes before she came down the stairs. "Sorry that was just me."

Eddy pinned himself against the wall again, ready to spring into action if anything happened. He heard his dad grunt like he barely acknowledged her. He was ok with that, he'd rather him ignore her than give her his usual brand of attention.

"What do you want to eat today, spaghetti or…" He heard her drop something and he shot out down the stairs like a bullet out of a gun. Making sure that he ran on the balls of his feet so that he didn't make too much noise. He saw his dad on the couch but he was looking over at his mother with his hand on the couch arm to start getting up. Eddy got to where his room door was and pressed his back against the wall again. He reached back in his pocket and waited.

If his dad moved, if he heard anything he didn't like he wasn't afraid to use it.

"Damn it…" He heard his father groan, but he went back to sit down and Eddy exhaled.

He snuck out his old room and back to the outside world. Someone texted him and he checked it, it was Allen.

He smiled, he needed to talk to someone like Allen.

Ed sat down away from his family, they were in the living room and he was sitting on the kitchen table. Eating the leftovers from yesterday, he guessed that's what everyone had he just got home late.

He was always too late to eat with his family. Always the outcast, always the one who would be subjected to being alone. It felt like he was always grounded in his house, he might as well just be in his room. He took another bite of his hotdog and stared at it in his hand, watched the mustard fall from it and onto the plate, he heard Sarah laugh about something and he clenched his jaw. He shook his head and sniffed. He didn't want to, he really didn't want to but he was beginning to dislike this place, this hostile environment. He wanted to go home but didn't know where to call home. He finished his hot dog and went to the living room.

Because why not right, it's not like he felt bad enough.

His parents really didn't look at him all that much when he walked in, they were sitting on either side of Sarah.

He sat by himself and mindlessly watched the T.V. he now understood what it was like for Eddy and Double-D when they watched his shows. To look at the T.V. but not comprehend anything that was coming from it, to not be entertained and only really see colorful items and characters move throughout the screen. His hands clenched the arm of the chair and he stole another glance at Sarah and her parents.

He felt like the odd man out, the one that shouldn't be there, but he hoped, he had always hoped that one day he would do something amazing and his parents would be back on his side and they would be a family again.

But that all stopped when Sarah came along.

He gulped that idea down, that thought was bad, that one was really bad. He couldn't let that happen again. He was beginning to detest his sister, but it wasn't her fault, he was supposed to protect her and care for her but it was like she was stealing what he had always wanted. How was he supposed to protect something that hurt him so?

He got up and went to his room, sighing and sitting on his bed. Flipping through one of his comics and smiling to himself, this was more him. These were the moments in his life where he could find himself and block everything else out. In his comics he wasn't Ed the son that wasn't wanted, he was Floyed the barbarian that fought aliens. In this world he was accepted.

In the cage of his house he was an outcast.

He kept reading and didn't stop until he heard Sarah laugh again and crawled through his small window, shimming himself through it like a cat trying to get through a door. He started walking towards the clubhouse, he knew Eddy would be over there and he wanted to talk to him. He wanted to talk to Emma too.

He'd invite her over later though, when he and Eddy were ok with it and settled down a little. He wondered if his parents would notice he was gone. Probably not but he always hoped he'd get back and they'd be awake, worried about him. Sitting on the couch in their pajamas like in the cartoons, but this wasn't a cartoon he couldn't expect that.

He tucked himself in his coat, fog was rolling in when he got half way to the clubhouse. He swiped his hands through the cloudy mist that surrounded him. Dancing through it, taking steps through his cul-de-sac. This felt more home than his actual house and he laughed heartily while he moved through the clouds. When he finally got to the clubhouse he opened the door and looked around he saw Eddy and Allen sitting on the couch, they each waved at him when he walked in.

And he was home.

"Ed long time no see bud!" Allen got up and was already ready for the hug that Ed gave him. "Looks like that strength didn't disappear." He wheezed.

Eddy laughed and pat Ed on the shoulder. "You actually came, good."

Ed smiled at them while he continued to hug Allen. He was tapping his shoulder but Ed didn't understand why.

"Looks like he's tapping out Ed." Eddy laughed, leaning more on the couch now that Allen was off of it. Eddy looked comfortable, like he was in his element and even Ed noticed it.

He let Allen go and he looked up at Ed. "You smell…clean Ed."

Eddy looked baffled but still nodded." Ya…I heard he's been taking more showers lately, I just didn't think it would last." He pretended to wipe a tear out of his eye. "It's beautiful, lumpy I'm proud of'ya."

Ed liked being complimented like that. He didn't know why but he felt important all of a sudden.

"I try my best Eddy." Smiling at both of them.

Allen sat back on the couch, pushing Eddy with his shoulder. "You ready for soccer again Eddy?" he sounded excited about the topic.

Eddy shrugged. "I don't know, I made JV last time I aint gonna have that happen again." He clenched his fists, that was another cheap shot Kyle and them would use against him.

"You know it's because they can't have that many freshman on the team you're a good striker Eddy." He complimented, honestly as well. Allen had watched Eddy and would talk to the coach about it as well. "You scored like eleven goals last year!"

Another Shrug. "I mean I'm the best of the best just gotta prove it to the coach." And there was that confident smile that Allen wanted to see.

Eddy pat the seat next to him and Ed sat down on it, laughing at something that Allen said. He loved it here, not at his house but her he was a person, he was acknowledged.

He was loved.

Edd checked his hotel room. His was away from his parents of course. The compound had been amazing, he had seen scientists working, microscopes and tests being run. He was in his element, it lightened the somber mood that still haunted him and his parents but it didn't completely disappear. Now that they were alone it was different, his parents were already talking amongst themselves to see how to handle the situation the logical way.

That didn't make it the right way though.

He wanted them to be there but even when they were it just felt like there was a distance between them. He knew it was partially his fault for blowing up but he couldn't contain it anymore if he continued that façade, then he would risk losing himself. He loved his parents and all we wanted from them was to love him just as much but after learning that they were thinking about setting up a business somewhere else he started to doubt it.

No they wanted to bring him with them but why must he change his life just because they don't want to take a chance. He hoped he could change their mind, then he would have the best of both worlds.

"Eddward, can you come here for a moment?" His mother called, he knew this was coming and he calmly walked into the room. "We need to talk about what happened in the car." She didn't sound angry, actually her tone was more worried.

He sat down, it was moments like this where he missed his hat, in the old days he could have hidden under it, but he was exposed in this state especially with his hair shorter as well. He wasn't used to this kind of confrontation from his parents.

"I feel awful for what I did, I can't apologize enough." He wanted to start with that he really needed to do that. "I just, needed to express my discomfort with you leaving again." His hands were spread on the table and he watched them, trying to calculate what he would say next. "I just want to be a family again, and I need you both with me at Peach Creek for that to happen."

His dad, who had stayed quiet for a while, just watching him with those black eyes. Not judging, not soft either. He decided to speak. "You have to understand that this is a business, we have to set our company in the best environment." His eyes lingered on Edd and it made him feel vulnerable, here he was, the armor he had put on shed and left in the car where it should be. Now who they saw was Edd the man that had been built in Peach Creek.

In this state his parents could destroy him they could hurt him even more than there absence depending on what they said in this moment.

His hat, where was his hat?

"I wasn't joking when I said I had done the math, with the new amount of people that are supposed to come into the city the profit could be even larger then here." He was panicking, his voice showing that Double-D emotion.

His mom looked at him for a little longer than needed and he clenched his hands.

"Eddward, I just don't understand why you're fighting us on this so fiercely, you're idea is based on variables that we aren't certain on." She shook her head, her voice a little more tense than before. "I just think you should give it a chance so that you can be with us."

Eddward, that's the name only his parents called him. That's how they knew him but that wasn't him, he was Edd, Double-D, brother, all the other nicknames that the cul-de-sac kids called him. The people of his home.

He shook his head. "You took your chance when you started your business. Take another one by coming home and maybe you'll see how chances can become a good thing. It's not like you'll lose your business even if it doesn't go well in Peach Creek, you could always relocate but I don't think you'll have to." His tone was lower, neither in a good or bad way he was just getting more serious.

This was the first discussion they had ever had about a subject.

He made sure to put his hands on his lap so no one could see how tight they were, he wished he had cut his nails before but the pain in his palms was distracting.

His mother looked from him to his father like she was trying to pick a side. Logic, or feelings, a question he had asked himself since the first time his parents left. He thought he could emulate both but now that he looked at the differences between him and his parents he understood which side he was on, not theirs and that's all that mattered.

His father was quiet but continued to look at Edd, not like he was judging him but like he was trying to analyze him. He didn't know how he felt about being treated like some experiment but he had done the same with them so he couldn't be too mad.

Finally he smiled. "I think we can try to rearrange some things around, I'm not so certain but I can see if I could pull some strings. Maybe in a year or two."

Edd couldn't have been happier. "Father, I swear you won't regret this, I'll make sure to work with you as well so we can spend even more time together."

His mom put her hands up. "Not as long as you have school, you need to focus on that young man."

He laughed. "Of course mother, how could I have forgotten that?"

And it felt good in that moment. Like they were on the same team again, all they needed now was to fill the house with his laughter. To be together in a house that was so used to silence and drown the silence out with noise. To make the house that Edd would stare at from time to time and finally turn it into the building that it was supposed to be.

To turn it into a home.

I wanted to show how their home lives are now and how they've evolved for either the bad or good. Also a little back story on Eddy's family seeing as it's so vague.

Next chapter will be the conclusion to winter break for the Edd's and when Eddy finally meets his brother for the reunion. It'll be good, heartbreaking? Action packed? Depressing? I don't know I haven't written it yet haha

Review for me it would really help me work even faster than I am now which has been the fastest so far.