*cackles to self*

Like srsly. Why didn't I think of this before!?

Author's Note: This story is inspired by I Love Your Smile by Shanice, Edd's adorable grin, and my being a child of the 90s. This is a Reg!KevEdd tale.

Edd looked up from the notes he was taking and rolled his neck as his Honor's World History Teacher pressed his remote to get the projector to move to the next slide in his lecture, if you can even call it a lecture.

He slightly lamented the fact that he couldn't take the AP World History class without taking the Honor's class first. From what he was told by some of the upper classmen on the debate team, the AP teacher actually challenged her students by making them question nearly everything they had been taught about world history in the lives.

With more and more information being added to the internet by various academics around the world and regular citizens who were there, the simple facts that his Honor's teacher wanted regurgitated back to him on a worksheet were damn near obsolete. So much more information was available now that told the story not only better, but helped everything that was happening now make sense.

So he takes his notes and doodles in the margins because there's not much else he can do with information he's been getting since third grade.


A loud laugh echos lightly through the open windows and he turns his head to look down on the football field and track that encircled it.

A boys gym class was in session and he could see what looked like Kevin and Ed dragging bags filled with footballs behind them, Nat walking backwards and gesturing lewdly as he told some story that had Kevin in stitches and Ed a bit bemused as he looked between his friends and the buzzing phone in his hand.

"Edd. Eddward. Mr Vincent."

His head pops back to the front of the classroom to see Mr Slusher eyeballing him, a fill in the blank statement on the slide being projected on the whiteboard in front of the class.

"The Nazi's Final Solution was enacted in 1942 with the meeting of their -"

"All I needed was the date, Edd, thank you," Mr Slusher sighed and a few of his classmates giggled as the teacher cut him off from expounding on his answers again.

He sighed and restrained himself from rolling his eyes at the man as his eyes wandered back to the field just outside the window and he saw the flash of a smile he was finding himself growing way too fond of.

"Psst. Edd."

He turned himself just slightly towards the hissed out whisper on his right to see Max flashing him his usual flirty grin as he asked, "Hey, you free Saturday? A few of us are getting together to go see the horror fest at the cheap theater and..."

Edd gave him an apologetic grin that caused Max's latest attempt at a date to die in his throat as he started to jot down a few notes.

"Can't. Gotta work."

"Dang."

He just shrugged his shoulders as his pen wandered to the margin to finish his doodle of a football and the number of a jersey that he and Peach Creek High herself considered the luckiest number ever.


Kevin rolled his shoulders and looked at the clock on the wall just above the bike helmets and sighed.

3PM

"Four more hours," he thought wistfully before another voice tore through his eardrums, still a bit sensitive from all the noise they endured during the game the night before.

"Yo, Barr! Need ya to get that pink Schwinn off the wall!," his boss, Josie, called to him from where she was standing in the middle of the store.

He gave her a quick head nod and the light skinned black woman standing with her gave him a relieved smile and wave as he walked over to the wall where all the most popular bikes were hanging, climbed the ladder,grabbed the middle bar of the bike and carefully hoisted it off the wall and over his still screaming forearm as he gingerly climbed down the ladder, placed it on the floor, and then rode it to Josie and a woman he assumed to be Ang's mom.

"Bday or Christmas?," he grinned as he screeched the bike to a stop in front of the two women and honked the horn on the handlebars.

"Christmas," the woman smiled as she looked the bike over. "I can pay for it now, but can I hide it here til then?"

"Oh, yeah! Sure thing!," Josie said as she waved her hand. "We'll just put a Christmas label on it and you have til Christmas Eve at six to pick it up."

"Got ya!," the woman said as she took out her wallet and phone.

"Kev, you check Ms Jackson out and I'll put this in the back," Josie said as she started to wheel the bike away.

"I can check her out," Kevin said lowly, "but I don't need Ang on me so I'll just sell her the bike," he finished with a wink and Ang's mom laughed just like Ang would at his sad attempt at flirting.

"Boy, I am old enough to be your mother!," she fussed as they walked to the counter so she could pay and Kevin shrugged.

"What if I like them older?," he grinned as he rang up the bike and she shot him a look.

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

"Boy, bye! I ain't trying to get arrested and put you in foster care," the social worker sighed as she handed him her credit card.

"Wait! Why would I have to go to foster care!?," Kevin asked as he swiped her card and waited for it to go through.

"Because it would be child abuse for us to have a relationship in this state and they would take you to make sure you weren't being neglected at home because why else would you be involved with a woman who's dang near 50?"

"WHAT?!"

"Black don't crack, Son," she grinned as he shakily handed her her credit card back.

"No wonder Ang looks 12," he huffed and she laughed again.

"Try telling her that!"

"I ain't telling her nothing!"

"Good idea!," Ms Jackson said as she put her wallet away and made a note of when to pick up Ang's gift in her phone. "And you better not tell her about this."

"Yes, ma'am!," he nodded and she smiled again as she tossed her goodbye's over her shoulder and he saw for a flash of a moment exactly why Rolf wore such a dopey grin on his face these days.

Woman had a hell of a grin.

Bright, cheerful. At the ready for just about anyone. And so sincere in its own joy.

It was...adorkable.

The gap between the top front teeth was endearing even on Ang's mom and it quickly took his mind to one like it that he couldn't stop looking at over lunch. Thankfully, the lunchroom was huge, his buddies oblivious, and the owner of the pearly whites he was enraptured by barely registered his existence most days.

He looked at the clock again.

310PM.

"Three hours and fifty minutes," he sighed in thought before his resolve kicked in as he saw a black beanie with two white stripes going down the side zip past the store on his Huffy, the grin on the rider's face brightening up another otherwise dull day.


Kevin knew the book didn't cost that much, nor was it really that hard to find. But with his low pay and mounting repair and maintenance costs on his car and motorcycle, his credit card was just teetering on the edge of maxed out.

As he slid the overused Visa to Marie, he held his breath as she swiped it and started to bag up the short book by Sigmund Freud as they waited for it to go through.

He let loose a loud sigh as the receipt started to print and she scoffed out a laugh.

"Yeah, you just spent a mint in here, Dude!"

"Shut up, Kanker."

"Whatever, Carrot Top," she smirked and he rolled his eyes. "You going to his party?"

"Yeah," he said slowly as he pointed to the bag in her hand.

"This is for him?!"

"Shut up, Marie!," he hissed as he snatched out the bag and walked out the store, the shocked smile on her face shaking him way too much and he hoped to God that she wouldn't do or say anything to blow this for him.


Edd bounded to the door as the door bell rang and the grin that greeted Kevin was as bright as the setting sun, but Kevin knew it was just his general welcoming grin.

"Hi, Kevin!," he said cheerfully as he ushered Kevin inside. "Please leave your shoes at the door and grab a pair of slippers," he went on as he pointed to the basket full of prepackaged fluffy spa slippers on the end table next to the door. "Food and drinks are in the kitchen, ok?"

"Sure, but where do I put this?," Kevin asked as he pulled the book he had wrapped in blue and white stripped wrapping paper and topped with a silver bow out of the pocket of his leather jacket.

"OH!," Edd exclaimed as his eyes went wide and a genuine smile crossed his face. "Over in that chair," he answered as he pointed to a chair in the corner that had a few gifts in it no doubt from the rest of their neighbors in the cul-de-sac and the few close acquaintances Edd had invited from the debate and swim teams.

Kevin nodded as Edd was called away into the kitchen by his mother, house phone in her hand, a grin that was the exact replica of Edd's own on her face. She ushered everyone out as Edd took the call in private, his grin growing wider by the second as perfect French poured out of his even more perfect lips.

Kevin greeted her cordially and thanked her for inviting him and her grin grew even wider.

"I'm just glad my Eddward has such nice friends," she said as she patted his shoulder and then hurried off to see what Nat was doing by the punch bowl.

He made his way around the tight living room, making small talk with everyone there, but he kept his eye on the birthday boy who's smile never left his face, even as he opened his gifts and dealt with the onslaught of funny, thoughtful, and gag worthy presents.

Kevin was sure that Edd's father would have tossed Nat out of the house for his gag gift if it hadn't be clearly explained that these sort of things were just Nat's thing. The gift card to the comic book store smoothed things over a bit, though.

When he opened Kevin's gift, his smile made Kevin's heart hurt so good as he outright squealed over it.

"Thank you so much, Kevin!," he grinned once he calmed down. "I'm reading this tonight!"

"It's like a pamphlet!," Eddy snorted as he looked the book's size over. "You could read it now and be done with it!"

"Oh no, Eddy!," Double Dee retorted. "I need to take some notes on this one. Might even do my book report on it."

"You're not done, yet!?," Ang asked in shock as the entire room looked at him in confusion.

"Not really," he sighed. "I haven't really found anything I wanted to do it on yet."

"Well, open this," his father said as he hanged him a small box. "I think it'll help."

Inside the box in question was a whole new set of folders, notebooks, pens, pencils, and whatever else the smart Ed would need to piece together any written projects over the second half of the semester.

As his like named friends oohed over the supplies, he brought them and the book Kevin gave him close to his chest as he eyeballed them and said, "Mine," in a tone that made them shirk back apologetically and Edd's parent's laughed.

"Who wants cake!?," Mrs Vincent said as she made her way to the kitchen, Big Ed right on her heels.


The party died down a couple of hours later and somehow, Kevin and Rolf were the last to leave as Ang helped Edd and his mother with clean up.

Rolf and Ang met Kevin at the door as he was tugging on his shoes. A few quick plans were made to get together to help plan Rolf's Halloween barn party and they were out the door, Kevin following close behind.

"Kevin!"

Hearing his name echo across the cul-de-sac into the quietness of the early night made him jump and Ang yelped and jumped on Rolf's back before laughing at herself as she saw Edd waving at the redhead from his front door.

"Dude! You scared me!," she called out to him and his blush under the front porch's light was glaring.

"Sorry!," he called back as Kevin walked back up the drive.

"Yeah, yeah! See ya Monday!"

"See ya!," he said again before clearing his throat and not quite meeting Kevin's gaze even though the jock could see that he had something to say.

It was in his eyes.

Whenever he smiled, they'd twinkle a bit and it just set his whole face alight.

And now, they were glowing.

"What's up, Double Dork?"

He rolled his eyes at the old, but near always affectionate nickname and said, "Marie told me you got me a book, but didn't say which one. Just that I'd like it. How did you know?"

Kevin's face, neck, and ears burned at his question because he wasn't in Edd's psychology class and wouldn't have known that they were studying Freud during that quarter.

Except he did.

But only because Edd and Nazz were talking about it during study hall and he mentioned being interested in the world renowned psychologist and maybe even doing his book report for his Honor's English class on one of the man's books if he could find one that he could quickly and thoroughly do because he still had a ton of other school work to do, responsibilities at home and work, and obligations with the debate and swim teams.

Kevin had done some quick research on Freud's work and found that the small book was for sale at the second hand bookstore in Lemon Brook. He had only forgotten that Marie had worked there.

Considering that she hadn't completely sold him out, he just shrugged and said, "Call it a hunch."

Edd gave him a narrowed eyed smirk as he said, "Uh huh."

Kevin just snickered nervously as he said, "Let me know how you like it. Later, Edd!"

"L-Later," Edd said softly as a silly grin crossed his face that turned into a loud squeal once he closed his door.


Two weeks later, a folder with a cover titled, My Id and Me, by Eddward Vincent was slipped into Kevin's arm fort on the lunch table.

"I liked it," Edd grinned at him as Kevin looked up at Edd and then down to his book report.

An A+ with a gold star was on the front of it and Kevin gasped.

Ms Burt was a tough as nails teacher and a stickler for the many rules of good spelling and grammar in all of her classes.

Kevin was a year ahead of Edd and in her AP class where the curve sat on a high B- for the top grade in the class. A grade Kevin was very proud of. For Edd to get an A+ from her was tantamount to a damn miracle.

"Whoa," Kevin breathed as he stared at the folder and as his buddies looked over to what and who he was looking at, they all but cheered for the dorky geek for accomplishing the impossible.

"Just thought you should know," he smiled as he took his folder back and tucked it away in his messenger bag.

"And I love your smile."

Edd snapped his head around and stared at him and even Kevin was a bit shocked at himself but the bright glow that started to come into Edd's baby blues was enough for Kevin.

"Th-Thank you," Edd stuttered shyly. "I get it from my mother."

"I get it," Rolf sighed and Ang laughed.

Edd gave his own snicker snort and started to walk away when Kevin called out, "Wait!"

"Y-yeah?," Edd said hopefully as he turned back around.

"What are you doing Saturday?"

Edd looked at the table full of jocks, cheerleaders, dancers, and Kevin.

Kevin, who was standing and now walking towards him in front of God and everyone.

Kevin, who was now standing over him.

And Kevin's smile matched his own.

"Nothing really. Why?"

"Well, my bike is acting up, so I was thinking about hitting up the new bike trails over in Cherry Hill if you're game?"

"You still have your bicycle?!"

Kevin frowned as he remembered that Nazz destroyed his first love about four years ago and sighed.

"Nah. But I did get Nazz to buy me a new one!," he called back over his shoulder to his best friend and she made a few mocking faces at him while Marie patted her hand sympathetically.

Edd just giggled as he said, "I'm game then."

"What?! Really?!"

"Mhm," Edd nodded. "I can make us some snacks and we'll make a day of it."

"A date?," Kevin dared to pry and Max stormed out of the cafeteria, Nat on his heels pleading with him to calm down because he knew of at least a million ways to make the phoenix smile.

Max just told him that his trust fund would never be enough, though.

Edd smiled as he looked at the phoenix and the peacock hurry out of the room before saying, "It's a date."


And despite the storm clouds that rolled in and sent them home far too quickly for Kevin's taste, it was the best first date ever.

Especially since Edd said he loved his smile, too.

Kevin would have smiled right then, but it's hard to kiss and smile at the same time.

But kisses can make your heart smile, and their hearts never stopped smiling.