Kevin Anderson stands in the middle of the quad and shudders against the cold. He's hoping to catch a glimpse of Double D before he has to go to the robotics lab. Checking his watch, he sees he has ten minutes before he'll be on time for the meeting he set up with his classmates to test their end of the semester project. But he knows that around this time, Edd and Annalise take a break from whatever it is they're working on in the bio lab for dinner. With it being Wednesday night, Annalise has a night class, so Edd will be heading home. He knew his ex could spare sometime for a bit of conversation, right?

Right?!

Seeing him wave goodbye to Annalise and make his way down the hill that led to the center of the quad, Kevin lets out a sigh of relief. Instead of the football hoodies he usually wears when the temperature drops, Edd's bundled up in a long, black peacoat, blue scarf wrapped around his neck which just set off the blue in his aviators. If he wasn't so short, he'd be a dead ringer for Eddward. And even though he's wearing the sunglasses his more popular ex gave him in high school, the view still stirs a fire in Kevin. When Edd catches sight of him standing underneath the clock tower in the center of the quad, he takes the path that goes around the tower and continues along his way.

Fuck being on time.

"Goddamnit, Edd! Stop!," Kevin yells as he jogs to catch up with Edd who hasn't slowed nor sped up his long graceful stride. "Please, Edd. Just talk to me," Kevin goes on once he catches up with him.

Edd doesn't say a word. And Kevin snaps.

Grabbing him by the arm, he swings Edd around to face him. But Edd rips his arm away and walks on. Kevin runs ahead and blocks his path.

"Look, Kevin's gone now and from what I heard, you broke up with him. Obviously it wasn't working, so why can't we!?," he asked breathlessly.

Edd stood up straight and Kevin knows that despite his aviators taking up a good chunk of his small, adorably cute face, that his blue eyes are staring daggers into his soul.

"You lied to me. That's why," Edd replied.

"So did you!"

"For which I apologized for. But I did not keep someone in back pocket for our entire relationship. Leaning on the one person who has done nothing but prove to you how untrustworthy they are like your love is going to make them treat you right is insane, Kevin," Edd said cooly.

But his words were like ice water in Kevin's veins. He unwillingly shuddered as Edd went on.

"And you must of hit your head harder than I thought if you think that just because you apologized, and Kevin and I aren't seeing each other anymore, that we are getting back together. I know better than to never say never, but I know when to say no in the moment. Consider us, this moment, and any other moment a big, fat no."

And he walked away. But the breeze his movements gave off as he walked past Kevin were colder than Siberia in January.

Kevin didn't know how long he stood there after Edd walked away. Distantly, he heard the clock in the clock tower chime a few times. It was his phone buzzing in his bag that brought him back to reality. Screaming into the dusk falling over the campus he quickly answered the phone, muttered his apologies and ran to the robotics lab, leaving the spot where his ex shattered his hopes again behind him.


Kevin Barr was leaning back in the lounge chair in a quiet corner of the library's coffee shop, feet on the table in front of him, earbuds in his ears blasting Godsmack and the thoughts of Edd that tend to cloud his mind away, hat over his face as he dozed and waited on his tutor. When word reached his coach that her boyfriend was sitting in on their tutoring sessions, somehow Kevin didn't see the guy anymore outside of crossing paths with him on campus and even then the guy was trying to size him up and failing miserably. Even Jonny told him to shove it.

When he feels a tap on his foot, he pulls his hat away and sees someone he'd like to actually shove.

Eddward Rockwell.

But he looks...pensive. Apologetic, even.

"A word?," the swimmer asks quietly.

Kevin levels a look at him, leans back and places his hat back over his face again.

Eddward sighs and taps his foot again.

Why must redheads be so stubborn!?

Kevin pulls his hat slowly down his face, until heated green meet pensive blue.

"Please, Kevin?"

Kevin rolls his eyes and sighs. He knows that tone. Eddward really did want to talk. Might as well hear what he had to say before he turned into his usual moody self again.

Kevin places his hat on his head, takes his ear buds out of his ears, shooting a glance at Eddward to kill the grimace the swimmer was wearing because he didn't approve of how loud Kevin had his music, pulls his phone out and says, "Speak," as he pauses the song.

"I just wanted to say sorry again."

"For?"

"For over reacting when you were spending time with Vincent. But even you have to admit that it's kind of awkward to see the person you're sleeping with treating their former ex like a partner, while they're still sleeping with you."

Kevin snickered as he smirked and it turned Edd on to see the badass look on his face. But it also hurt. That look to get him to do all kinds of things. Like lose control over his heart and mind and fall for someone he had no business falling for. And then getting rejected.

"You always knew what we were, Edd," Kevin said flatly.

Eddward bristled at his words. But then Kevin lowered the boom.

"And according to what I've heard about you and me, what we were doing was apart of your little plan all along. But when it didn't work, you started acting like a drama king."

Eddward froze.

"I don't take too kindly to people trying to fuck me over because they're, 'bored and he's kinda cute,'" Kevin said as he mocked Eddward's tone when he was being flippant.

Eddward turned on him with wide eyes and quickly ducked his head as shame washed over his face at seeing the deadly serious and pissed the entire fuck off look in Kevin's green eyes.

Stubborn ain't the word. Big Red is Everest and Eddward is just another climber knocked off the mountain.

"Who told you that?!," Eddward asked quietly.

"Don't you worry your pretty little head about that. Just know that the next time you want to play games with people, don't pick someone who's literally been playing games his entire life," Kevin said as he stood and walked away, greeting his tutor with a grin and a wave as he went.

When Kevin was gone, Eddward put his hands in his head and let out a loud, frustrated sigh. Looking up, he sees his ex staring at him from the coffee shop's door.

"What are we...?," Kevin started to ask as Eddward walked towards him.

His eyes flew open in shock as Eddward walked past him, and not because he was walking away, but because of what he said, his tears giving away his feelings over it all.

"Let him go."

But Kevin Anderson is a redhead. He may not be Everest, but he'd make sure Eddward Vincent was making his home in his Swiss Alps chalet soon.