"Where are we going?" Kevin grumbled at his best friend. She had insisted that they go out to tonight, that he needed to get out of the house. He had fought every bit of the way on it but the blonde was persistent so he had finally agreed. The girl currently drove them to their destination bouncing up and down in her seat the entire way. She wore a denim skirt, a black crop top and a simple choker necklace. He stared her for a moment admiring her beauty. They had tried in the past to make things were but ultimately agreed they were better off friends. Nazz pulled into a lot across from Broken String a popular club for bands to play at. "Why are we here?" Kevin turned to face his best friend. "I heard a good band was playing tonight and all you've done since the break up is wallow in self pity," the blonde replied smacking her lips to freshen her lipstick. Kevin rolled his eyes he had just needed time to accept the ravenettes decision. He didn't want to be the on still trying to make it work when Edd was the one who had broken it off. Deep down Kevin knew the blonde was right though. He had been so distracted that he of all people had actually cost the football team their last two games.
Both teens climbed from her car and she pushed the button on her fob to lock it. "Ready?" Nazz asked turning to look at him. She had picked out his outfit. His blue button up and a pair of dark denim jeans with his black converse to make the shirt pop. Kevin nodded so they made their way inside. He could see a set of drums and mic on the stage but the band had yet to make their entrance. "I'll grab us some sodas if you'll find a spot to sit," Nazz said as she wandered over to the vendor. Kevin sighed, he really didn't want to be out but found them a seat close to the stage so they would have a clear view. His best friend found him with ease and attempted to make small chat while they waited for the show to start. "So who's the band?" Kevin asked placing his drink down on the nearby table. Right after asking the question he heard the strum of a guitar and turned his head to see, his locked immediately onto Edd. Kevin felt his chest tighten at the sight. The raven was illuminated by a bright spotlight that made the scars on his arms from the attack stand out. "Sorry Kevin. I knew if I told you, you wouldn't come," Nazz whispered. At her words his head snapped over and he gave her an incredulous look. How could she do this to him? Didn't she know how much he was hurting? He turned his attention back to the band after the third song and his stare met cobalt eyes that he missed more than he would ever admit aloud. His heart rate accelerated to such a point that all he could hear was his own blood pumping in his ears. Edd was talking but the only part Kevin actually heard was something about the next song being for a person in the crowd. Nausea swelled in his gut. This was proving to be too much to handle yet he couldn't bring himself to move.
Edd began to sing again and Kevin sat entranced by every word which cut him to the core. This was Edds way of apologizing and saying he still loved him but the words merely choked Kevin. He knew the end was coming close so he turned to face his best friend. "We need to leave," he rasped, his throat suddenly dry. Nazz arched an eyebrow at him. "Now dammit," he snapped getting up from his seat. The blonde silently followed her friend out of the club. When they approached the car she could tell he was barely keeping himself together. "Kevin..." she tried but the look he gave told her now was not the time. With a sigh she unlocked the car and they both climbed inside. She drove him home in utter silence. When they reached his house he scrambled out and slammed her door making the blonde jump. Nazz knew he was upset right now but she hoped that maybe after tonight one of the teens would budge and talk to the other.
Kevin had raced up to his room, doing his best to keep the tears from falling. He sat on his bed and pulled in ragged breaths in an attempt to calm his still erratic heartbeat. The ginger stared at his posters of females he had once fantasized about. His rage at Nazz trapping him in that situation, his hurt from Edd ending their relationship, everything he had felt in the past month came rushing forth. The ginger leapt up and went around his room ripping the damnable things down. His attention turned upon the rest of his room and he lashed out further his anger getting the better of him at the moment. Trophies were thrown busting the gold figures from them. Still feeling no peace he over turned his desk then turned and punched his wall full force. The teen was amazed his fist hadn't gone through the drywall but chalked it up to having hit a stud that withstood the force. Now physically exhausted the tears finally spilled forth. Kevin collapsed to his hands and knees and let himself sob as his heart throbbed with an ache from the loss he felt. He heard his door open but didn't bother to turn around. Warm strong arms enveloped him and he knew his father had walked in on the distraught mess that was his son. "Son are you okay?" James asked. "Why does it half to hurt so much? Is this what you feel when you look at me and see mom?" Kevin's voice was hoarse from crying. "Kevin Barr, I don't feel sad when I look at you. I just wish your mother were here to see what a strong young man you became," "I wish she was too," James pulled his son into the tightest hug he could. "Kevin are you upset over Edd?" James finally asked. "I love him dad. But he broke up with me and then Nazz tricked me into seeing his band tonight. It just hurts so much," "Why don't you talk to him?" Kevin shook his head no. He didn't feel he could handle it. "Kevin you have never been one to back down from anything. Don't let your fear get in the way of what you want," James voice taking on an authoritative tone. "You just said you love this boy. So go after him. You won't be able to move on otherwise. Regret is the worst thing in this life," Kevin nodded even though he had no intention of listening.
Edd and the rest of the band had retreated to Marie's to celebrate their first ever gig. The others had cracked open beers and were making toasts. Edd however didn't feel much like celebrating at the moment. "Marie I think I'm gonna just head home," Edd muttered as he turned to leave. The bluenette caught his arm. "Edd you can't be serious. We just had our first gig and you're being depressed," "You know why Marie. Don't push this. I am elated over having played that show. I just don't feel like celebrating," Edds words dropped with venom. The drummer took the hint and let him leave even though she knew it was a bad idea.
Edd returned to his sterile empty home and retreated to his room. His entire body felt numb at the moment. He hadn't thought seeing the ginger would evoke such a powerful response from him. He turned to look out his window at the moon remembering the stories his father used to tell him about how the wolf loved the moon but because he couldn't reach her he would howl each night to show his love. Right now Edward felt much like the wolf from the story, pining for someone he would never be able to reach. Once again tears trickled down his face as his emotions took over. His phone buzzed in his back pocket. He pulled the device from its spot and looked at the text message that now glared on his phone.
Blue: Edd I'm sorry I pushed you. I know you're probably mad at me but I just wanted to share the good news we got. We've been booked for five more gigs all at Broken String.
DD: that's excellent Marie and I'm not mad. I'm just trying to deal in my own way.
Blue: I get it dude. The guy that scheduled the gigs said that at the last one there's going to be some bigwig producer there and to bring our a game.
Edd sat up straight at the news. He had always wanted to go to MIT but if this music thing took off he'd be ecstatic just the same. Gears in his head began to turn so the teen grabbed pencil and paper and spent the remainder of the night into the wee hours of the morning writing lyrics. As the sun rose, his room was illuminated with pinks and oranges. The ravenette felt his eyelids droop protesting the lack of sleep but he forced them open and made his way downstairs for coffee.
Kevin was up making breakfast for his dad like normal. His eyes were still red rimmed from the previous night. A vicious headache thrummed in his skull making the ginger wish he had slept more. He could hear rustling upstairs signaling his father was moving around. The teen had decided he would need to ask why his father was home so early given he worked nights and normally didn't get home until right about now. James' heavy footfalls could be heard on the stairs as he made his way to the kitchen. "You feeling any better today?" James asked. Kevin shrugged his shoulders as he turned the bacon over. "Kiddo, you need to talk to that young man," "Dad I can't. I just I don't think I could handle him telling me no," James huffed making his mustache swish. He knew his boy was stubborn but this was becoming excessive. "Kevin Anthony Barr. I am NOT going to watch you wallow in this house any longer. You march your ass over to that house and give it one more damn chance," he bellowed. Kevin sighed in defeat and made his way upstairs to change into a pair of jeans and a tshirt. After he was dressed he went to the bathroom to brush his teeth. When he saw his reflection he sighed again. Kevin had heavy bags and dark circles that were practically black. He looked like hell and felt even worse. When the ginger felt like he could finally face the raven haired teen he did exactly as his father instructed and marched over to the others house.
Kevin approached Edds front door and knocked. His palms sweating worse than the day he had come to confront the raven after the library kiss. He waited a few minutes but no answer came. He tapped on the door once more a little harder hoping that Edd would open the door. After a few more minutes and still no sign of movement in the house the ginger stuffed his hands in his pockets and headed back home. Evidently Edd had felt everything had been said last night. James heard the door open and saw his son enter their home. "Well that wasn't a very long trip" "He wouldn't answer dad," "You sure he was home? He could have been out," James tried to offer his son hope. "Dad please. It's done," Kevin huffed blinking back tears. "I'm going to my room" the teen made his way upstairs officially ending the conversation. He had his answer from Edd, the teen loved him but evidently not enough to try it all again. Kevin collapsed on his bed wanting nothing more than to sleep.
After Edd had his cup of coffee he had called Marie to let her know he was coming over. When he got there Bo, Jack, and Lacey were waiting in the garage already. "Hey guys. So uh Marie told me we have more gigs lined up. I was up all night writing new lyrics. Lacey will you look over them and make changes for me," he stated as he handed her the word filled papers. "Of course Edd," the girl set to work erasing here and there only to refill with different words. Eddward turned his attention back to Bo and Jack so they could start putting together the rest of the music. "Marie, how long till the show with the producer?" He asked. Her head snapped up at her name. "Oh uh it's on the 25th so we have like two weeks," she said, a half smile on her face. Edd grimaced feeling the pressure already descending as he attempted to work out a plan on how they could get the most practice in.
Throughout the next two weeks Edd spent every waking moment either at Marie's or school. Autumn was making quick work of his surroundings turning everything a reddish gold or brown as Halloween approached. Every way he looked he was reminded of the ginger which made his mood be one of constant irritation. Edds nerves frayed further as Jack hit a wrong note for the fifth time. The raven did well to keep his temper controlled as he corrected the mistake yet again. "I'm sorry Jack, but is that note just not working?" "I'll get it Edd I promise. I just have to practice because it's such a quick change," Eddward nodded and they started from the top. This song was going to be their ticket to getting signed with that producer. They just knew it. Their last gig had a bigger turn out than the headliner got. Word was spreading fast about the band and apparently there was supposed to be a good turn out on the 25th. When practice was over Edd followed Marie into her house. "Do you think we'll be ready?" He asked gulping down water to quench his too dry throat. "Dee with your vocals they would be crazy to not be impressed. And with Lacey's lyrics. My god Dee I think we could honestly make it big," Marie breathed. The nerd decided to crash over at her house so the bluenette could plan both their outfits. She wouldn't tell Edd but she was going to make sure Kevin was there again. She just needed to get them alone together so they could talk, this whole breakup had been stupid. Everyone could see it except them and obviously neither was going to budge on their own. They sat up that night making their plans with Marie trying out new looks for Edd but she ended up circling back to the one he had when they debuted. Edd passed out sometime around two in the morning but the drummer was wide awake.
Kevin's phone buzzed obnoxiously on his nightstand, he had no idea who could be calling him this late. The ginger sat up and snatched the phone answering with a gruff "Hello," "Hey there Kev," came Marie's voice. "How the hell did you get my number Kanker?" "Oh I got it out of Edd's phone," Kevin's stomach dropped at the mention of the ravenette. "Get to the point or I'm hanging up," Kevin snapped. "Oh feisty as ever. Look dude. You and Dee need to talk. You guys clearly need each other. We're have a gig on the 25th and it could mean big news for us dude. You need to be there," "Marie, seriously? EDD dumped ME. I tried to talk to him today and I got ignored. He won't want me there," The bluenette huffed and he could practically hear her eyes roll. "Kevin you really are dense," Her remark lit the ginger's anger. "Oh really Kanker, then fucking enlighten me," he yelled. "First off he's at my house so he didn't ignore you. Dee loves you, he tried to tell you that at our first show. When we walked off stage he ran off trying to find you. I've never seen the kid so broken hearted. He wants to fix things. He did what he had thought was best. The dude blames himself for putting you in the situation with Max. He thinks he makes you weak. Don't you get it? Even though it's killing him he gave you up because he didn't want you to wind up hurt somehow. Look just fucking be there on the 25th and hear him out. You both each other at least that much," with that the bluenette disconnected the call. Kevin lay on his bed staring at his phone screen that flashed call ended. Was Marie telling him the truth? Did Edd really want to try and make things work? Was the raven really at her house? The ginger teen sat up acknowledging that he wouldn't be getting any sleep now thanks to the Kanker's words.
Edd woke up the next morning when sunlight peeked through Marie's shades. The smell of coffee wafted to his nose so he stretched his arms above his head and stood up. He made his way to the living room where he found the drummer holding two mugs. "Just the way you like, black with three scoops of sugar," she grinned as the boy happily took the drink. "So you feel ready for the 25th or do you think we still need more work?" the bluenette asked as she curled up on her couch to finish waking up. Eddward sipped his coffee and hummed in delight. "I would say we should be ready and that we need to practice everything the way we have it now. If we keep changing everything we'll eat too much into the rehearsal time," Marie nodded. They only had a couple days left before the big show. She silently prayed that she had challenged a certain jock enough last night that he would make an appearance.