Told you I would constantly upload this story! I actually have time, now off to the next chapter and this one might just be a lil sad idk just yet.

Beards and the process of growing up

Ed had never really understood the process of growing up. Never in his time in high school had he looked at himself and thought that he was actually maturing physically. Yes he was taller, bigger, heck even leaner from football, but he never really saw anything blatantly different about himself.

Well at least until now.

"Whoa, cool…" Ed breathed, looking at himself in the mirror, where there had been prickly stubble had now been replaced with a legitimate full beard.

He ran his fingers through the hair and smiled. He looked so…awesome!

With as much gusto as he could muster he burst through the door, strolling throughout the house with a large toothy smile on his face. This hadn't just happened overnight, over the last couple months after the summer it had slowly gotten larger and larger, but now it was apparent. So noticeable that even someone like him, who was not observant at all could catch it.

His mom was the first to catch a glimpse of their child shimming throughout the house.

"Son, what is that on your face?" She gave him a weighted question that he of course didn't pick up on.

"It's a beard mom!" He proudly exclaimed, jumping slightly in a form of giddiness his mother was used to seeing from him.

She looked from his beard to him with mild astonishment. There was something wrong with this picture, was it that he was growing up? Or that he had somehow grown a beard before he was even allowed to get a tattoo. It just seemed so off to see the same Ed, look so different.

"Oh…" Was all she could say and kept walking with the laundry in her hand. Taking another look behind her as he walked towards the kitchen.

He was eating cereal on the counter when his sister walked in, her hair was frizzy and her eyes were saggy. Obvious signs that she had just woken up and Ed had sustained enough bruises to know not to mess with her when she was like that.

She swayed side to side as she poured her orange juice, turning and giving Ed the smallest of glances before sitting down right in-front of him. They didn't say anything, the only audible noises were Ed's loud chewing and Sarah's soft sips.

It wasn't until he had just finished his last bite that he heard Sarah take a spit take to the right of her. "E-Ed, is that you?!" She was fully focused now, her ginger locks bobbing as she slammed her hands on the table for leverage and leaned in to look at him.

He chuckled and held his chin up so she could get a better view. "What'cha think?"

She blinked a couple of times before answering, taking it in. "I think my big brother's growing up finally."

His shocked expression mirrored her own. "You really think so?!"

"Pfft that aint nothing compared to my goatee!" Eddy challenged, looking from Ed's newfound beard and rubbing the hair that was only located on his chin.

They were in the lunchroom now, Eddy of course trying to prove he had the superior facial hair growth than Ed. Which wasn't true at all and Edd made it his goal to say that.

"Eddy…Ed has a full grown beard, you on the other hand only have hair stubble located on your chin, Ed wins this time." He smirked as Eddy turned to fume at him.

"No one asked you Mr. Hair judge!"

"I just call it like I see it, Eddy."

"Well you better call a doctor once I'm done with'ya!"

Eddy put Edd in a mock headlock, pretending to give him a noogie as he laughed, holding Eddy's arms to try and squirm out.

Before Ed could join in as well the bell rang and everyone begrudgingly got up from their seats. Well, except Edd. He was actually pretty excited for the science test he had, he wanted to see if he was able to retain the knowledge his teacher had given them.

"The average speed of an object is defined as the distance traveled divided by the time elapsed." He murmured to himself as he sat at his desk with a cleanly sharpened number two pencil on his desk.

If he passed this physics test with an A he would definitely be a shoe in for the dean's list, again. While the papers were being distributed the teacher walked over to his desk while smiling at him. Even with the friendly gesture he was flustered when she stopped in-front of him.

"Edd, once you finish your test. Could you wait to speak to me after class?" Her voice was calm but he couldn't read what she was getting at.

"H-have I done something wrong?" He didn't want to sound so guilty, but he was honestly scared.

Quickly, she lifted her hands in a sign of peace. "Of course not Edd, there's just something that I wanted to speak with you about."

He nodded, but continued to watch her as she went back to her desk and didn't look away until his test paper was handed to him by a classmate.

He look down at it and tried to focus.

"The first answer is A for sure…Velocity is definitely a vector quantity…Oh, now the test wants me to write out the average velocity for a straight line, I can do that as well."

His thoughts were laser focused as he wrote frantically on his test.

"I wonder what she wants to talk about."

His pencil lead broke and his thoughts careened in a direction he didn't want them to go. The whole test, his mind went back and forth from physics to all the different things the teacher would want to speak with him about. Everything he thought of was not good.

He was so distracted he didn't even notice the girl next to him peeking over at his answers from time to time.

When he had finished the test and they had been collected he quickly packed his bag and walked over to her desk in shaken terror. "Y-yes?" He wished that he would have learned to stop stuttering after all these years, but it never left him.

She looked up at him through her glasses and turned through the tests, speaking as she did. "Edd, do you realize that you are passing this class with a one hundred and fifteen percent."

He did. Of course he did. He checked his grades online every Friday at eight PM exactly. "Yes I did, Mrs. Renners." His voice was soft, he still didn't know where this conversation was going.

She found the paper she was looking for and pulled on it, wiping it out in-front of her in one smooth motion. It was his.

He gulped and felt the sweat start to collect on his brow.

She read over his answers, quickly skimming through until she put it on her desk and looked up at him. "Even now, you passed a test which was very much more difficult than the others in this class."

He blinked in surprise, his test was different than the others? "I-I don't understand what you mean."

Mrs. Renners tapped his paper with perfectly filed nails. "This test was an entry level college quiz that you took." She switched her finger from the paper and pointed at him. "You just passed it with a Ninety two percent from my quick examination of the paper." She looked through the pile and pulled out another one. "Which is quite sad because Maggie seemed to have copied your test and now has a seventy."

Not only was Double-D shocked that he had done so well on a college level test, but Maggie had looked at his test and he hadn't even known!

"If you don't mind me asking, why did you give me a different test?" He questioned, still trying to find the reason behind all of this.

She looked up at him again with a smile. "Edd, I have had you in my class for three months now and I can already tell that your knowledge on a multitude of subjects is more advanced than a lot of other children at this school." She reached over to her computer and turned the monitor on, his grades in other classes lit up on the screen. "You have a ninety three in Language arts, a one hundred and five in Calculus one, a one hundred in metalsmithing, and a ninety seven in advanced honors history." She looked at something on the record with an impressed reaction. "With no doubt, I heard he was a difficult man to impress."

Edd wrung his hands with one another, blushing considerably by the compliments being pushed his way. "T-thank you, I just try v-very hard in my classes…"

She shook her head and took off her glasses, pointing them at him. "You're being modest, these classes are too easy for someone like you, so I'm thinking about asking the principle if you can skip senior year of high school and move on to college."

He froze, not sure how to take the news, a flood of emotions pushed against the inside of his chest. "W…what?" He barely got the words out.

He must have said it too quietly because she kept speaking like he hadn't said anything. "You would obviously have to take multiple tests to prove you were bright enough to skip a grade. But after seeing you take this test, I have no doubt that you'll succeed."

He put his hand on her desk to stop himself from swaying, was it getting hot in this class or was it just him?

She stood up and looked him over. "Of course, you can consider this, maybe talk with your parents. I didn't mean to just spring this on you."

"No it's ok…I just do need some time to think about all of this." Edd had never thought that he would ever be in this position. This was a left hook out of nowhere from the teacher.

When school had ended, there was nothing else on his mind but that conversation.

"What do'ya mean you can just skip a grade?!" Eddy exploded, after hearing the news from Edd he had gone into a fit of rage. "They're just trying to split us up, I knew those teachers had it out for us!" He was already walking circles around the room with his hands in the air. "Let's see how much they like you after I replace the coffee with mud in the teachers' lounge!"

"Mud tastes a lot better than coffee though." Ed stuck his tongue out at the thought of the bitter beverage.

"Usually bur-head, I'd be surprised if anyone else said that but you."

Edd cleared his throat to catch their attention, he was sitting on the couch with his hands clenching one another. "As much as I would like to hear about Ed drinking mud…" The sarcasm was lacing each word. "I think my predicament requires a little bit more attention."

"Oh, ya." Like a light switch going on in Eddy's head, he went back to pacing the living room in a fuss. "Are they even allowed to ask students that, this has to be against the law or something!"

"Eddy, I doubt a teacher can go to jail for making a proposal to a student like this one…"

"She proposed to you, what'cha say Double-D?" Ed leaned in on the coffee table now, wanting to hear the gossip.

Edd blinked a couple of times, not really understanding what Ed meant until he pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's not that kind of proposal Ed."

"Aint no way she can take Edd away!"

"Eddy!" Edd snapped, stopping him in his tracks. There was a silence in the room after his outburst that made him feel uncomfortable enough to calm down. "I'm…actually thinking about accepting."

Another silence that he wouldn't be able to break this time, he looked from one brother to the other. Eddy's face was slowly contorting into an angry scowl, while it was blatantly obvious that the wheels were turning in Ed's head.

"D-did I do something wrong Double-D?" Ed asked after some times, pouting and looking at the floor.

"No, of course not Ed." Edd reached over and pat his head soothingly while he spoke. "This is just a once in a life time opportunity, and one I don't think I can just let slip through my fingers."

"B-but if you graduate now, how will we see you?" His voice sounded miserable and Edd knew he was the reason for it.

"I don't know just yet Ed, I haven't thought this through completely, but I'm positive we'll find a way to keep in touch."

"So that's it, you're just gonna leave us like that?" Eddy was still staring at him, the scowl hadn't faded.

"No, I'm not leaving anyone, but think of what I can do if I skip a grade, Eddy. That's a whole extra year I'll be out of college and…"

"And a whole year away from us, heck probably even longer…" It was Eddy's turn to snap now, this was boiling down into something bigger than them. "Both you and Ed made sure I didn't leave with my brother, now you wanna go off and leave us next year to skip off to college."

Edd shook his head. "Eddy, this is completely different than what you were trying to do. If you left with your brother that would be extremely detrimental to your future." He deadpanned, how was he missing this? "If I left now I'd actually be helping myself get out of school earlier instead of staying longer than I have to."

"But you love going to school, it's like your vacation!" Eddy's hands were in the air in a form of protest.

"As much as I enjoy school, the more time I have to think about my future. The more I can actually chose what I want to do!" He was standing now, Ed in his peripherals was staring over at him. "I'll have an extra year outside of school to just think about that."

"That's why'ya stay in school, to find out what you want to do!" Eddy wasn't backing down like he usually would, and in the pit of Edd's stomach he knew this wasn't good. "That's what everyone's doing, heck even I'm doing it!"

"But I can actually skip a grade, Eddy!" He screamed, his words held more weight in them than he had intended and he felt guilt stabbing at him as the words slipped past his lips.

Eddy was taken aback by his harsh words, looking at him in what Edd could only assume was a hurt expression. "Yes you can, but I never thought you had it in'ya to just up and leave like that." He pulled a piece of paper out of his backpack and slammed it next to Ed's feet on his coffee table, in different circumstances Edd would yell at him for it. Eddy didn't even look at him as he left the house.

After the door closed Edd tentatively reached out for the paper. It was an essay Eddy had written for their language arts class. There was a large grade on top of it, circled.

And with a smiley face.

He had gotten an A minus.

Edd had helped him with this essay, they had worked on it together to find the right content for him to use. Those memories seemed so fond to him at a time like this. He looked over at Ed who was giving him a tentative look.

"Ed, don't worry…" He wanted to continue his statement but he didn't want to make false promises.

He gave a fond smile to the paper. They needed him, but would he prolong his future for them?

He honestly couldn't answer that question at that time.

Nazz sat down with him, texting someone on her phone as they waited for their order at the pizza place. He had just worked a very awkward shift with Eddy and Ed and wanted to speak with someone.

When she was done she looked back up at him. "So, what's wrong?" She could read him like a book in that regard and he smiled. At least she hadn't lost that skill.

They had both been pretty busy lately, her with her friends and social life and Edd with, well just getting used to junior year. This was the year that most people's grades suffered, he had made sure not to let that happen to him and his friends.

Edd took a long breath and explained the current situation, giving her a play by play on what had happened with Eddy.

She followed a long with mild surprise. "Wow, I mean this is a great chance for you to go to college early."

He put his head in his hands and groaned. "I know, that's why this is such a difficult choice."

"But, do you even know what college you want to go to, or even what major you want to take?"

"And that…was Eddy's point." He lamented, picking at his pizza with dismissed interest when it had arrived.

She thought the problem through and reached out to grab his hand. That got his attention, he blushed and looked at her. "We'll, I know you don't want to hear this, but I think this is something that only you can answer." She noticed him beginning to pout. "I would miss you though." She leaned in and kissed his cheek to illicit a more positive facial feature from him.

"Y-you can't bribe me with k-kisses."

"Too bad, I have a lot to bribe you with."

Eddy and Kenzie sat down at the schools field, waiting for football practice to end so that they could walk home together. As they spoke Eddy held back something that he had wanted to say for three months.

Allen's heart was getting worse, but he was sworn to secrecy now. Allen had forced him to promise that he wouldn't tell anyone, especially Kenzie. While he looked at her the conversation ran through his head over and over again.

"Why can't I tell anyone about your…condition?" He wished he had a better word for it, and if he were Edd he knew he could have tiptoed around the subject more affectively.

Allen had pondered the question for some time, almost like he was devising an answer, or just pulling one from thin air. "Because, it's not time to tell them yet. Once I tell them it means it's really happening…I just want to wait it out for a little longer." Truer words had not been spoken between them yet.

Eddy realized how selfish his question was, this might have been hard on him but there was no way he could possibly imagine how it was affecting Allen. In a moment of guilty compassion Eddy wrapped his arm around Allen and pulled him close for a friendly embrace.

"That's fine then, as long as you're more positive, we'll get through this easy."

Allen's soft smile was the only indication of his changing mood. "Why do you always make everything sound so simple?"

"Because when it has to do with me, it is pal."

To distract himself mentally he looked away towards Ed as he sprinted past a tackle and jumped into the end zone.

"Ya'know, I taught him how to do that when Rolf and Jonny were chasing us once." He bragged, pointing out Ed as he got another pat on the back. "I should be his manager!"

"Oh, so I should be talking to you then." A deep voiced man spoke from behind him.

Eddy turned around, surprised that someone was listening in on him.

The man who had spoken was very much older than them, about in his mid-fifty's. Eddy could tell by the grey streaks of hair on both sides of his head. He wasn't a heavy built man but he did have some fat on him. What caught his attention the most though was the shirt he was wearing.

That was one of the universities that was down in the city. One of the really big ones actually. The crest of the Melon Stream Marauders, the most well-known university in their parts actually.

Even with an ego like his, Eddy felt a little smaller in-front of the man.

"I was told to look at your player there." He pointed a finger at Ed as he threw a pass to the tight end. "He's got an arm on him, and can take a hit better than anyone I've seen."

"I've been training him to take a lot of those." Eddy smiled, a fond memory of all the times he had gotten a good smack on Ed flashed through his head.

The man lifted an eyebrow, not seeming to get the inside joke. "You think I could talk with him for a little bit after practice on the phone?"

Eddy blinked, confused by the man asking permission. "That depends, who are you?"

"Of course!" He seemed to come to a realization and smacked himself on the head. "I'm a Marauders scout for the football team."

Eddy couldn't even speak first because Kenzie blurted out with her own comment.

"WHAt?!"

Ed weaved his way through a tackle, ducking just in time as a very muscular arm sailed over his helmet. The motion was familiar to him because Sarah used to spring at him like that all the time. Another player was running at him but one of his offensive linemen blocked him and Ed jumped backwards, avoiding a hand grasping for his jersey. Looking over his players he saw him, the receiver sprinting through his rout and he cocked back his arm, his eyes following his teammate the whole way while he threw the ball, just in front of the run. He reached out with his arms and let the ball hit his chest, pulling his arms into himself, catching it like coach had told him to a million times by now.

He was tackled before he could get any farther but they gained a good seven yards.

"Ok, wrap it up and get to the showers. Ed, actually take a shower this time!" The coach warned, pointing the smiling boy out as he took his helmet off.

"Got'cha coach!"

He looked up at the stands and noticed the familiar faces of Eddy and Kenzie, both of who were speaking to another man. One Ed had never seen before, the man gave him a short wave with a wide smile and he returned the gesture.

"So, my name is Danny Moore, if you're his manager than you can contact us on the phone. This isn't clear cut, but it would be nice if we could speak with both of you." His smile never wavered and he looked genuinely sincere. "We would love to show you around our campus and meet the coach."

Eddy's smile couldn't get any bigger. "We'll schedule something, have your people call my people and we can meet up…ow!" He received a sharp elbow in his sternum from Kenzie.

"When are the days he can visit?" Kenzie asked, while Eddy coughed.

The conversation went well after that from Kenzie's standpoint. She was even actually able to see Eddy from a professional standpoint. One that she assumed was how he conducted himself when he was working at the pizza place. Eddy took the scouts business card and they all said their goodbyes.

When Ed was walking with them Eddy jumped around him, hitting him on the shoulder. He retold the story of their meeting with great gusto and even added some parts Kenzie hadn't remembered.

"The Melon Stream Marauders Ed, that's a division one school monobrow and they're actually interested in you!" Eddy exclaimed, His arms in the air.

Ed blinked, stretching his sore arm and taking a deep breath. He was happy that a college was looking at him but he wanted to know why. "Was it because of my beard?"

Eddy nearly lost it at that, laughing all the way to the cul-de-sac.

Edd was sitting down while his parents looked at him from their upright positions, already quickly typing through their computers to see which college would best suit someone of his, talents.

"Eddward, I've always felt as if Harvard was the appropriate school for you, law was something you were very much interested in when you were younger." His mother turned her computer around so that Edd could get a better look at the credentials he would need to get into the school. He had basically met all of them but a couple.

As he was eyeing her laptop his father put his own computer down to his left in the most excited fashion he had ever seen him. "I was actually thinking you should consider MIT, their technological advances have been extremely beneficial to society."

He blinked at the sudden schools offered in-front of him. Honestly he had never thought of either one before.

"Are there any colleges in state that I could maybe visi…"

"Or maybe even Oxford if you get your language art grade up you could potentially apply for them!"

He smiled to himself at how happy his parents were for him, but he still had things to say. "I don't even know if I'm going to apply to skip a grade yet."

His mother, who was currently scrolling though Harvard looked over at him. "Why wouldn't you?"

He opened his mouth like he already had an answer but nothing came out. He blinked, a finger in the air in a matter-of-fact way.

"Well…I really don't have any semblance of an idea of what I want to do in college, or even as a career path." Why were Eddy's words actually making sense to him now as he looked at the packets and websites?

He honestly had no idea what he wanted to do.

And if he went to a school like Harvard, or MIT he would be choosing a major over the other most definitely.

His dad was the next to speak up. "Eddward, you will have time to pick your major in the summer, or while you are taking the tests."

To Edd that wasn't enough time at all. "But father, I really don't know if that's the best course of action to take…"

"Now that I weigh the decisions more, I think Oxford is starting to look like the suitable choice." His mom was already looking at his father's computer, scrolling through the classes he might take first there.

"But mother?" He tried again but she held her finger up, looking at something she thought was important.

He sighed, getting up and leaving while they began to look over the acceptance rates of the universities.

He walked by the watering hole, deep in thought. His quiet footsteps took him from one tree to the next until he would turn around and repeat the motion again. He had long since carved out a small trail that kept his mindless pacing on course. It had been ages since the last time he visited the watering hole, his favorite spot to stop and think about things.

What was it that he wanted?

Leaving school early sounded appealing to him in some regards because he would be able to leave earlier than he had initially intended, thus being able to shed a year off of whatever goal it was that he wanted to achieve.

Though, he had no goal in mind.

"That's where my problem lies."

He continued to think about what it was that he wanted to do.

Something in science, he loved everything that had to do with science, engineering was fun and new as well. Then again math was always a soft love of his that would never die. Apart of him understood that all of those things awaited him at his family's business, as a child he had known he was going to take over the company once his parents retired.

But that was the problem, he didn't just want to get the position because he was their child, he wanted to earn the right to taking the reins from them instead of it all just being handed over to him because he was lucky enough to be born with them as parents.

Then again he wouldn't really say he was lucky.

Now that their business was being moved here though it made things a lot easier, he just wanted to make sure he had a job in between those times to make sure he had the proper understanding of what he was getting into and the right experience to get him through to them.

He wanted to make sure that he wanted to take over.

He sighed, still not coming up with a proper answer. This wasn't like Eddy's ordeal, he couldn't just sweep it under the rug and wait. He had to come up with a decision pretty quickly if he wanted to start taking the tests and getting ready to leave.

"Knew you'd still be here." Eddy's familiar voice also wracked him with guilt. His adopted brother pushed through the bushes, rubbing his hair and looking from the water to Edd's stunned expression.

"Eddy…" He whispered, hand moving from his chin to his side. He honestly hadn't expected to see Eddy today, if anything he was already trying to think of a way to say he was sorry for what he had said. "Hello, I just want to say that….I mean what I said earlier was…I shouldn't have…" He was babbling and stuttering to try to find the right words.

Eddy held his hand up and took a few steps past him until he stood in-front of the glimmering stream, the way the moon hit against it painted its silvery light across the top of the rippling water. In a sense it was beautiful, but that wasn't why Eddy was here.

"It's all good Double-D, I actually came here to see if you had made up your mind or not." His voice held no trace of anger, he was turned to Edd now, looking at him expressionlessly.

Edd didn't like that look from Eddy and averted his eyes, shaking his head solemnly. "I honestly don't know, I can't seem to figure out what I want from this."

"That's not an answer Einstein, what's your choice?" Eddy's tone and facial expressions didn't change at all and he held himself where he was.

"Eddy, I really don't know, it's all very confusing right…"

"Still not an answer…" Eddy interrupted him, this time a coy smile spreading across his face.

Edd frowned slightly, not enjoying whatever it was Eddy was doing. "Look, if you're getting back at me for earlier today I understand but…"

"What's your answer Double-D?"

"I don't know, my parents…"

"Come on, this isn't rocket science, what do you want?"

For a split second becoming a rocket scientist flashed across his mind, but that wasn't helping the situation. "But I don't, Eddy!" He was starting to get annoyed with the accusation.

"You know it Edd, I know you, you know."

"No, I really don't!"

"You know!"

"Why cant you tell me!"

"Because this is for you, Double-D!"

"I don't want to leave!" Edd screamed, eyes closed and fists clenched. All the held back emotion was making him shake some reason shaking.

Eddy looked over at him with a small smile and shrugged. "Then that's it, you aint leavin' then."

Edd finally opened his eyes, coming to a stark realization that he had just made the decision to not skip a grade, to stay with his friends and get to know himself even more.

He didn't care if it took an extra ten years, this was his decision and his alone.

Eddy smiled, even if he couldn't be there for Allen because of his health, he could help Edd.

"But…"

Eddy's smile faded and he stared at him.

"I still want to have the college experience, just in the states, somewhere close by." He looked at the ground and kicked at the ground. "I would still like to go to college…"

Even though those words hit him like a ton of bricks Eddy hit him in the shoulder and gave him a small smile. "You'll go then too, just make sure you're close by."

Edd smiled, finally being heard. "Of course, Eddy."

This isn't over actually, the decision isn't really done yet and that's what I like about this problem. Is that it's going to be weird for everyone because this is such a weird thing for them to deal with! I like this chapter because it's a good leading chapter in my opinion and I think that I did this one a lot better than the others I did before.

Go ahead and review for me the ones you've done so far have been amazing for me!

Andeldealer: Thanks? Haha

FutureShock: I actually listen to a lot of music while writing my chapters, for some odd reason a lot of 21 pilots for chapter 25 haha

Eddy: As of right now Double-D is 5'10, Eddy is 5'11 and Ed is 6'1 none of them are done growing though

commandravage: I know that chapter actually hurt me to write but it gets better!

Writer-person2: I appreciate you coming back and reading the chapters, I know it's been a long time since I updated it and it was just because I was so busy, hopefully you stay with the story

ainmals1: Thank you!