Oh my God, I wrote this chapter in like a day. I am so excited for your reactions! I am just so happy that you guys get to read it and love it! I know for a fact you are going to squeal and cry because I did. If you don't you are probably a machine. Please have the most wonderful time reading this 4,000+ word installment.
It was a brisk Spring morning that Kevin woke up to. Birds were chirping outside of his open window as he lie there, wrapped in blankets. He'd read a ton of books that described mornings this way yet he had never experienced one. Now he finally understood the text as he moved from his bed to set the sash to the sill. Tip for the future: Don't leave your window open even if it is hot as balls in your room.
Kevin looked at his alarm clock, which was flashing a whole lot of too-freakin'-early. But since he was awake, he might as well have a decent breakfast. Decent being some pancakes-something he couldn't make unless he got up at the "ass crack of dawn" (that's how Edd always regarded it, anyway). He was embellishing though, so there was that.
Kevin moved from his room to the bathroom. Then, he finally shambled to the kitchen with his cold toes. Slippers sounded like a decent investment at this point. Ignoring the ache in his piggies, his manly piggies, Kevin grabbed the pancake mix on the top of the fridge.
Whipping up some breakfast was easy enough. Pancakes always set his day right. Before Kevin sunk his teeth into some syrup-covered cakes, he went to his room and grabbed his phone. One the way back to the table he sent a quick good morning text to Edd. And by "quick good morning text" he meant at minimum sixteen words and four emojis. Kevin smiled at his effort to convey his love.
Usually Edd was the one to say good morning first, but not today. If Kevin were honest, he reveled in having the chance to text Edd first. Whenever he explained that to Nazz though she was completely blown away. She felt atrocious when she texted Marie first. There was the ever apparent anxiety that she faced over being annoying or needy. Which she was, but not in the negative sense. Marie always assured her that it was fine though, which Nazz appreciated more than a text-back.
Kevin heard his phone vibrate against the table as he stuffed his face. He picked it up while chewing. Edd had responded with some pouty message like, "I was about to hit send when I received your message."
In other words, Kevin was boss as shit when it came to timing. Then another text came through that was as sweet as the one Kevin sent earlier. After Kevin ceased looking at Edd's text with a grin on his face, he continued to eat.
After cleaning up breakfast Kevin walked into his room to get dressed. It was warmer in there since he closed the window. Kevin checked his phone for the weather forecast. It wasn't the time for sweater weather anymore, so Kevin didn't take too much time looking through his long sleeved shirts. He went straight for a red T-shirt and some khaki shorts. It was the debut of this outfit. His father had recently gone shopping for new undershirts and surprised him. Now that he was happily clothed, Kevin sat on his bed. He was contemplating riding his bike into school or getting a ride from Edd. Why not compromise? Kevin texted Edd quickly.
Hey, why don't we walk to school together? –Kevin
A text came back after a few minutes.
Yes, let's. –Edd
Kevin made a surprised face. He wasn't expecting it to be that easy. But then again, Edd wasn't one to complain anyway. As long as they saw each other it was fine. Kevin smiled as he got up from his bed. He grabbed his back pack and put on his sneakers. After leaving the house, Kevin brought his bike out of the garage and pedaled down the street.
When Kevin arrived at Edd's house, Edd was just walking out the front door. Kevin stopped along the sidewalk and pressed his feet to the black top below him.
"You're up early. And active too," Edd said as he trotted over to Kevin. He put his hands over Kevin's on the handlebars.
"What can I say; I was super excited to see you." Kevin said like some Casanova.
Kevin leaned forward for a quick kiss. When he pulled away, Kevin got off his bike and brought it onto the sidewalk. Then he and Edd started walking off towards school.
Kevin pulled his bike on his right while Edd walked on his left.
"So I was thinking about having you over for dinner with my dad soon. This Saturday maybe? He's off from work and I thought it would be fun."
Edd brought his arm around Kevin and pressed him into him. "That sounds perfect," he purred.
"I've really talked you up by the way. He thinks you're on the fast track to becoming president."
"You're kidding right? I may have taken Honors American Government but that does not mean I want to pursue it as a career."
Kevin laughed. "Okay, so maybe I didn't tell him that part. But I did tell him a lot about you. He's super excited."
"I just can't believe that he already knew about me. Makes me want to teach Nazz a thing or two about volume control."
"True. That whole ordeal was really spooky. And the way he said it so matter-of-factly. It gives me goosebumps just thinking about it."
"So yeah, I'll be okay with coming over on Saturday. Oh, and guess what?"
Kevin looked up at Edd. "What?"
"So, I called my parents yesterday and I told them about you."
Kevin stopped dead. "What? Over the phone? Oh gosh, how did they react? Was it bad?"
"Well…" Edd trailed off. He then made a worried face.
"Oh god, they hate me. I knew this would happen," Kevin mumbled with a frown.
Edd knocked into him. "Hey, I was kidding! Don't you go looking so distraught now."
Kevin elbowed Edd in the ribcage. "I was really scared you idiot. How did they react?"
After laughing for a bit, Edd rubbed his side and sighed. "Well, they were kind of surprised. I could tell they were a tiny bit uncomfortable but that was probably because they were in a cab on speaker phone. It's not really a conversation to have when the driver is yelling about a turn-signal."
"Okay, so they didn't say they were opposed? Were they happy for you? Did they ask about me?"
"Actually, no. They were too busy for me to go into details. But they know that you exist."
"Should I be worried? You don't talk about your family much, so I'm not sure what to do…"
"Well, I'll have plenty of time to talk about my family tonight. Then and/or whenever else you want to talk about them. I also want to hear about your dad, so we'll trade."
Kevin smiled as he knocked into Edd playfully. "Okay."
Although the plan was to have a romantic tell-me-everything session with Kevin, Edd realized that it wasn't going to happen when he got a text for Marie. He was in the middle of third period when his phone vibrated. Thinking it was Kevin, Edd immediately ripped it out of his pocket.
Edd can I come over to ur house tonight –Marie
I wanna hang for a bit bc its been so long –Marie
Edd looked at the two messages and considered it for a moment. He and Marie hadn't hung out since the New Year's Party and even then they were hanging with other people.
Okay, sounds good. I'll be home at four so be there any time after that. –Edd
Then after a few seconds Marie replied with a "Kewl".
With that done, Edd thought of texting Kevin but decided against it since he was doing a test right now. He'd just hit him up during lunch. Hopefully in person so he could apologize and maybe give an I'll-make-up-for-it kiss.
Lunch rolled around in no time and Edd scanned the hallway he was in for Kevin. He then checked by Nazz's locker, where they usually were. After that, he moved to their secret lunch spot. When he got to the courtyard he saw Nazz trying to force feed Kevin a Lays chip.
"No, garlic bread does not sound like something that should be put into a chip. I refuse."
"Edd, please tell him that he has to eat it."
"I'm not touching this debate with a ten foot pole. Nazz, can I steal him for a minute?"
"Yeah sure, since he's useless to me anyway." Nazz said as she ate the chip.
Kevin got up from the ground. "What's up?"
Edd led Kevin into the school and a little bit away from the door. "So I have to cancel our plans tonight."
"That's new," Kevin commented on. "So what happened?"
"Marie wants to have a bro-night and since it's been a minute I thought it would be okay."
"Yeah, definitely. God, I guess I have been monopolizing you for a bit now. She's coming over tonight then?"
"Yeah, I thought I would bust out some soda and chips. We'll probably talk for a while."
"Make sure they aren't Garlic Bread chips and I'll allow it."
Edd made a face. "Yeah, I think I agree with you there."
"Right? I mean garlic bread is perfect, but in chip form?"
"It's like playing God."
Kevin nodded and Edd crossed his arms.
"Well okay, I guess I should go now. Have a nice night. Say hi to Marie for me." Kevin stood up on his tip toes to give Edd a kiss on the cheek.
And that was that.
When Edd got home that night, he made sure to pull out some soda and snackage. As soon as he started walking to the closet to put away his backpack, he heard a knock on the door. He threw his back pack on the floor inside the door and walked towards the soft rapping. He opened the door to reveal a very smiley Marie.
"Hey you," Marie said as she hugged Edd.
Edd chuckled. "What's up? You been good?"
Marie took off her jacket and threw it onto the side of the couch. She then plopped herself down.
"I have been so good recently."
Edd sat down and Marie brought her legs up onto him. "And why is that?" Edd asked.
Marie smirked. "As if you don't know. I know for a fact you and Kevin gossip like old women."
Edd scoffed. "I'm not saying that we don't I am just appalled that you think you're any better."
"Anyway, Nazz and I have hit it off really well. She's taking me to a book store she likes down in this area."
"A book store, you?"
"So I may not look like the type to frequent book shops, but that doesn't mean I've never been in one."
"You've been in one?"
"Of course. Albeit, they were for presents and stuff, but I do actually like them. And Nazz loves them so I'm tagging along."
Edd laughed. "Well, the things you do for your 'friends'."
And then Marie sighed. "Yeah," she said sort of disheartened.
"Woah, did I just strike a nerve?" Edd said with worry.
Marie then sighed again, louder.
"You wanna talk about it?"
"Of course I wanna talk about it," Marie sat up. She pulled her knees to her chest.
"So?" Edd asked, adopting the same position as Marie.
"Well, we've done stuff together and talked a lot. Like. I've had to delete our messages because my phone ran out of space, a lot."
"But?"
"We aren't dating. We've done romantic things sure, but we haven't actually talked about being a couple."
"Ah," Edd said as he looked towards the coffee table. "Let me get you some soda." Edd then got up from the couch and strolled into the kitchen.
"Crush please!" Marie shouted after him.
"Believe me, I know," Edd shouted back.
With two Crush sodas on the coffee table, Edd continued the conversation.
"So you haven't been dating this entire time? Really?"
"I know. How do you just start dating? Was it like this for you and Kevin?" Marie said with her arm holding up her head.
"Well Kevin and I were dating a long time before we were actually dating, so don't worry about that part. Why don't you try not to define your relationship like that for a while."
"But like, I really want to associate her as my girlfriend to everyone. I want to be like, that's her, my precious girlfriend."
"I get it. So like, I guess you should talk to her about it. Like, 'hey, I really like you and I want to make this official.' Something like that would work."
Marie considered it for a second. She sipped her can of Crush. "Yeah, I guess that could work."
"Besides, Nazz is probably thinking the same thing. She's a nervous wreck when it comes to you."
"Really?" Marie's smile returned in a flash.
"No not really, but she talks about you constantly. Don't worry."
Marie punched Edd in the chest and called him an ass.
"That is the second time I got hit today, geez." Edd said rubbing where Marie hit him.
"Who else did you upset today?"
"Chill with your sass but I was hit by Kevin."
"Kevin? Hitting people? How rare. What did you do?"
"Well I told my parents about him and I said that the conversation didn't go too well."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Back right up there boy," Nazz said putting her hands up in front of her. "You talked to your parents."
"Yeah, it happens occasionally. I mean they do check in every once in a while." Edd said. "But yeah, I called them at the worstpossible time because I really needed to talk to them about Kevin."
"Where were they this time?"
"I don't know, New York? Somewhere loud and annoying. Seriously, the white noise was enough to make me deaf. They had to chat with me on speaker phone as they were headed to their next lecture. Like a real conversation was such an inconvenience."
"Geez, what asses."
"Yeah, it was pretty shitty, but I did call at a really bad time so I guess I can't really blame them. At least they answered the call."
"True, so then what happened?"
"Well I was like, 'hey I have to talk to you right now immediately' and they were like, 'but we're busy' and I was like, 'tragic'. But yeah, so I told them that I have a super cute boyfriend and that whenever they come home next they have to meet him." Edd said.
"And their response?"
"They sort of got quiet, as quiet as they could with a cab driver screaming and a blaze of car horns in the background. Then there was like a shuffle and they were all weird. Mom was mustering up some encouragement and dad was stammering."
"So like…they were supportive but like? Not at the same time?"
"Yeah, it was weird. I only told Kevin the basic plot points so he wouldn't worry but I'm kind of expecting some negative feedback. Not that their opinion about our relationship matters to me, but Kevin wants them to like him. They'll probably call me in the next week or something once they've coped."
"Let's hope they have some good things to say."
"Yeah."
"What even is your sexuality?"
"Correction, what even is sexuality?"
"Touche, douche-gay."
Edd scoffed at Marie. "Look who's talkin' Smurf-haired lesbian."
"Wow!" Marie exclaimed.
"Yeah, wow."
Marie threw herself down on the couch again. She let her legs rest on Edd's. "I feel a lot better. Thanks, dude."
"Anytime. So how about you get your gross feet off me and we go grab something incredibly unhealthy for us to eat?"
"What do you have in mind?"
"Well, I have a car and there has got to be some fast food joint within the next two or three miles."
"I love that idea. Let's go. Your treat."
Edd groaned. "Yeah, my treat."
While Edd and Marie were off hanging out, Kevin was sitting at his desk scrolling through some sample resumes on the internet. He was assigned by his English teacher to do a resume that would be used to acquire a job. Kevin looked over at the lined paper he had out that had his accomplishments listed down on it. Let's just say that a 93.7 GPA was probably the most interesting thing on it. Or maybe that he was awarded Student of the Month in his freshman year? Other than that? Nothing. No work experience or important skills.
His teacher was dead set on getting everyone to have a clear job in mind when coming up with their individual resume. And of course, Kevin felt a little left out as he watched everyone already starting their resumes. Naturally he just sat there with a blank Word document. Well, it wasn't blank, actually. He did have his address block all typed out. He knew he was but he sure as hell didn't know who he wanted to be. Kevin let out an uncomfortable sigh as he leaned back in his chair. Good thing this assignment wasn't due for a minute. If it was due like the next day or something, Kevin would have a problem. Kevin looked back at the screen of the laptop. He scrolled through what seemed like a dozen other resumes. All looked boring, full, and reminded him of just what he wasn't doing to prepare for his future.
Kevin glanced at the time at the corner of the screen and sighed. It was already 8:45. Kevin shut down the laptop and stood up from his chair. It seemed like a good place to stop for the night, you know, considering the fact that he didn't even start. Aside from the address block. He had to give credit where credit was due. And that address block was impeccable. In addition to being a hopeless loser, he was also a cynic as this situation continued. With that he shut the laptop and sat on his bed. His phone gave a little chime notifying that a text came through. Kevin opened up the messages icon and was happy when Edd's name was bolded and at the top of the list.
Hey, you. Come outside for a bit. –Edd
Kevin practically ran out of the house, not even bothering to put shoes on. He leaned into the window of the driver's side and smiled at Edd.
"I've missed you so much," Kevin said. He then looked past Edd's head. No one was sitting next to him or behind him. "Did Marie go home or something?"
"Yeah, she just needed to talk to me for a bit. After I fed her she was perfectly fine."
"How nice of you," Kevin smiled again. He leaned into the window farther for a kiss.
"So you wanna go for a drive quickly?"
Kevin looked at his house. "As long as all we do is drive. I'm not putting shoes on."
"We're not gonna leave the car. Get in."
Kevin then got into Edd's car, as he usually would. He took a moment to enjoy the familiarity of the seat underneath him. Then Kevin strapped himself in with the seat belt. He looked over at Edd when he was done and Edd put the car in drive.
"So, did you have fun without me?"
"Absolutely not. I mean I got a lot of work done, but it was awful."
"What was awful about it?" Edd asked.
"We're doing resumes right? Well mine is blank, so blank in fact, Taylor Swift made a song about it."
"Damn, that sucks," Edd said giving Kevin a comforting pat on his thigh.
Kevin offered up his hand instead and Edd interlocked their fingers.
"Yeah, I don't know what I'm going to do for a job. Literally nothing comes to mind and I don't want to do nothing after I graduate. I want to do…"
"Want to do what?"
"Exactly." Kevin sighed. "I'm monopolizing the conversation, though." Kevin cleared his throat. "So what did Marie want to talk about?"
"Relationship stuff, but we figured it out."
"That's good." Kevin said.
"Now, back to what you were saying. I know, for a fact, that you are going to figure out what you want to do."
Kevin looked over at Edd.
"I'm serious. Take me for example. My parents, want me to be a doctor, and I? Not a freakin' clue. Being a doctor would be really nice. I love biology but hey, I also really like not having to deal with eight years of schooling."
Kevin chuckled. "Yeah, that would be a long time."
"And Pumpkin, on that resume bullshit, just write something down. You've got time. An entire year before you need to start putting pen to paper and decide what you need to do. Or, you could be like me and graduate before you know what to do with your life. It's your choice and you can do whatever you want."
Kevin pouted for a second, sure he was going to start crying. But nothing came out of him. The only reaction he had to Edd's words was an increasing temperature in his chest and a throbbing in his throat.
"Thank you, Edd," Kevin mustered with a lump in his throat.
"Are you going to start crying," Edd looked over quickly. "I don't know what to do when you cry."
"I'm not going to start crying," Kevin said as he brought Edd's hand to his lips for him to kiss.
"I feel like I need to get you like a cake or something. Some ice cream? I feel so bad that you almost cried."
"I didn't almost cry!" Kevin lied, loudly. With a laugh he looked at Edd.
"On the subject of you not crying, promise me that you won't let the future get to you. It's not like it's going to beat down your door tomorrow. Relax."
"Yeah, I will." Kevin leaned back into the seat. "So your parents want you to be a doctor?"
"Yeah, I mean, I haven't seriously thought about it yet, but they say I have all of this summer to 'seriously consider it'."
"Tell me more about them, your mom and dad. Are they nice?"
Edd thought for a second. "Well, they aren't bad. We haven't seen each other in a while so there's that. They've been on this whacky tour talking about their work on a new vaccine or something. I don't pride myself in remembering the details."
Kevin laughed. "But what do they look like, who do you get your pretty eyes from?"
Edd glanced over at Kevin with a wide smirk on his face. "My dad," Edd said. "We've got the same eyes but I have my mom's nose. Or someone from my mom's side's nose. I've never really analyzed my nose."
"I've got my mom's eyes. And her red hair. My dad always wondered if all of her genes got passed to me."
"This is the first time I'm hearing about your mom," Edd said surprised.
"There is no way I haven't mentioned my mother before."
"You haven't."
"What the heck? Well anyway, my mom and dad are divorced so I haven't seen her in a while but she's super cool. She likes art and stuff like that. Dad always talks about how much she liked filling our house with 'useless items'."
"She sounds like quite a character," Edd said as he turned a corner to follow a back road.
"She is. During holidays and stuff she gives me a call and she always sounds cheerful. Oh yeah, what do your parents do on the holidays since they are so far away?"
"Well their tour only started in February of last year, so I haven't lived without them for a freakishly long time. They did come home for a weekend when they were near town though. It was around…way before we ever became…close."
"Close being starting to fall for each other or close as in our little 'bullying foreplay'?"
"'Bullying foreplay'?"
"I don't know; I tried to phrase it…less awful."
"Well, I mean…it worked, but like. Now I feel like a porn actor."
Kevin laughed.
"Hey loser, why don't you give this bad bully your lunch money?" Edd raised his eye brows rapidly as he looked at Kevin.
"Jesus Christ, please stop. Oh my, God," Kevin said horrified.
Edd laughed and squeezed Kevin's hand as they rested their arms on the center console.
"So when did you start to fall for me?" Edd asked.
"Oh man, I don't know. Plank's bonfire? It wasn't really me falling for you though. My 'I fell for you moment' was probably our second kiss. And then again when we danced in the bathroom when I told you I loved you for the first time."
Edd smiled as Kevin spoke. But like, he didn't just smile. It was a goofy grin, like there was nothing he'd ever heard that was more perfect.
"What was your 'I fell for you moment'?" Kevin asked putting his head on Edd's shoulder.
Edd thought for a second but he'd already had the answer in his head the entire time. "I had an inkling that I liked you when I had to come to my swim meet and then again at Plank's bonfire. But nothing could have prepared me for our first kiss. I told Nazz how you didn't want me to miss school; she must have thought I was the biggest idiot ever."
"There's no argument there, then." Kevin said slyly.
"And then, you sassy piece of garbage, you said you loved me in the bathroom after we danced. And then I spit all over your face."
"Literally all over my face," Kevin said, reliving the moment.
"And again, just now."
Kevin looked up at Edd. The heat in their gazes made it hard for Edd to look away but he did. Kevin then snuggled up against him in and watched the road go by in front of them.
"I guess I should turn back. We've been going towards nothing for a while now," Edd said.
"No, five more minutes before we turn back."
Edd laughed. "Alright."
Thank you so much for reading, I seriously love you guys. Please review, I love hearing what you have to say!
