They made it back to the condo with enough time to freshen up, change and head to the resturant. Edd couldn't stop playing with Kevin's green tie. Edd was glad he managed to get the chocolate syrup off of it, but there'd be a blueberry stain on the tag on the back of it forever. It was a simple reindeer game involving a few sweets and a whole lot of Kevin kisses. The end result was a stickier mess than Edd ever had to deal with, but it was worth it. Kevin then had an idea what it was like for Edd to be tied down. Lose one sense and the rest kick in to make up for it. He couldn't see for most of it, but the sensory overload was fantastic. But blueberry stains like the dickens!
But that tie did more than blind Kevin for 20 minutes. It brought their bond together and made it stronger than before. Basking in the sticky sweet afterglow, Kevin asked Edd why he liked things just a little bit kinkier than most people either of them knew. Edd's exploration and research into his sexuality led him to a place where he just wanted to feel something different. He had spent most of his life feeling different, why not with sex? The end result was the same; an orgasm. Why not explore as many different ways to get there as possible? He was always safe and they always protected themselves, so why not explore? Kevin thought on that a bit and while he was thinking, Edd sealed the deal for them: I always come back around to simply just wanting to be with you.
And there it was, Edd just wanted the one thing in life that everyone else did; to love and be loved. No matter how he got there, as long as he got there, that's all he wanted. And Kevin was more than happy to oblige him. It was always fun and fresh and interesting. Kevin had no problems playing along and even iniatiing a thing or two. And he always took such great care of Edd in the end. He just wanted him to feel safe and loved. And Edd did. So as they ride in the back of a limo to a Japanese hibachi resturant, Edd twirls a tie between slim, pale fingers and Kevin watches his future dance in Edd's hands. At 16 he knows that they'll never stop dancing as long as they have each other and they always would.
Dinner was a hit. Kevin was again showered in kisses for being an adorable mess as he tried to use his chopsticks. But that dinner changed Nat's life. A diva slipped his hand in Nat's for the first time. Sure it was under the table and no one noticed, but for Nat it was confirmation. The peacock would have his diva, he just had to follow his lead.
Even though it was Edd's birthday celebration, he couldn't resist playing for Princess when they got back to the condo from dinner. He'd been itching to play the baby grand since they got there and he wasn't going to pass it up when the heiress asked him to sing with her. He perched her on top of the closed piano and they sang Pink's Glitter in the Air. Her soulful rendition of the piece sent chills down his spine. He knew why she requested that song in particular. It was about him and Kevin and her and Rolf. But it was also about them. They'd been through so much together. For awhile it seemed like they would end up together. But it was just too awkward. He'd asked her once during one of their walks around Peach Creek's downtown square why it ended up being he and Kevin and not them. "We couldn't do that Edd. We love each other too much," she had said. And it was true. He loved Kevin and never wanted him to leave. He loved Princess enough to let her go her own way, without expecting her to come back. They could and would share many things, but never in the way he and Kevin did and he was ok with that.
Catching Kevin's eye, he slipped off his hat. Rolf, Jonny, Jimmy, Sarah and Rave gaped at him. It took him a moment to realize that they'd never seen him without his hat. Sarah was near furious that Ed knew and she didn't. Ed usually wasn't one to keep secrets, but this one he kept. As far as he was concerned, if no one knew, Double D was safe and wouldn't make strange noises. She stormed over to him to find out what Ed meant by strange noises, but Kevin stopped her.
"Sorry, Sarah, there's just some things you're not meant to know because it's none of your business," he told her.
"The fact that he took off his hat means he's comfortable, Sarah. It's his birthday. Don't make him uncomfortable," Princess said.
Edd sighed. He knew Sarah. She'd push no matter what Princess, Kevin or even Ed, especially Ed said or did.
"Let her see, Kevin. She won't stop otherwise and you know it," he told his shocked boyfriend as he bekoned the red headed Hill towards him.
Kevin stood back and rolled his eyes at Sarah who was wearing a triumphant grin on her face. Running her hands through his hair was one thing. Who doesn't like people to play in their hair? When she got to his birthmark patch and he outright purred under her touch was another. Edd had been a long time crush. But she wasn't ready for that kind of reaction out of him at her touching him ever. She screamed, jumped back and ran and hid behind Jimmy with Ed telling her a litany of I told you so's and Eddy rolling in the floor with laughter over the situation again. Like brother, like sister.
"And now you know why I wear my hat," he said staring the girl down with seriousness in his baby blue eyes.
She always bought him a new hat for his birthday after that.
Rave commented that the birthmark looked like a halo and Princess got an idea. Hopping off the piano, she skipped to Edd's side at the piano bench.
"How about a little Beyonce?"
"Which one? I think I only know her ballads," he told her as he racked his brain for which Beyonce songs he knew at least by ear.
"Halo."
They had done an interpretive dance to the song a few years ago at her cousin's wedding. The couple loved the song and it was incorporated into every aspect of the event they could get it in. The dance was Princess' wedding gift to them. So Edd did know it by ear and even explored the sheet music a bit online once or twice. But Kevin told him that his birthmark looked like a halo, too. And Kevin called him his angel.
Turning to his friend, he knew what he had to do.
"Sing with me."
And she did. It was a duet unlike any of the teens in the room had ever heard. Two friends who had been through so much were finally stepping into their own, halos and wings intact.
