Nazz strung her chords, peacefully as I watched from the theatre seats; her closed eyes only showed us true concentration and inner peace with her guitar. The only other connection as strong as love is music , or you can say music is the language for love. Nothing else can incite such feelings and passion within someone. It's a force that can resonate within any stubborn being, within any evil person. I've always wondered why. Why do these frequencies create such complex feelings and thoughts for us? What is the purpose of music in our lives? I couldn't focus on one question, Nazz made it really hard to focus when she plays so nicely. Maybe that's the reason for music, is to stop thinking and enjoy the moment and feelings it brings to you. The beautiful melody filled the empty room with warmth and hope, she was playing as if it was the last song on Earth; the final minute in her life. As she continued to play I saw subtle smoke come from behind her, then became black as it grew around Nazz and the stage. A big fire erupted in the theatre that surrounded me and Nazz, but she continued to play.

"NAZZ MOVE!" I yelled. She seemed to not hear me and just continued to play her beautiful, chaotic melody. I could see her tears glisten down her cheek, glittered by the fire. I tried to move through the sea of seats but the smoke made it hard to maneuverer through. My heart pounded faster every second, watching the flames slowly engulf me and Nazz.

"PLEASE NAZZ!" I cried out. As I reached near the stage, she locked eyes with me as she continued to play and stopped dead in my tracks. Her eyes, full of tears but her pupils empty. The flames then swallowed her, and felt that I was next. I closed my eyes and accepted my fate, maybe this was for the best. As I felt the heat I swore I could hear someone call out my name. Sounded like Ed…

"DOUBLE D!" the voice echoed. I didn't seem to care and let my arms out for me to be taken by the fire. This time the voice seemed to scream right in my ear

"SOCKHEAD!" It yelled.

"AHH!" I screamed. I sat right up in my bed, panting hard and felt sweat on my forehead. I panted as I scanned my room, looking normal. Eddy sat in my desk chair, leaning to the side and Ed patiently sitting on the edge of my bed. It was just a dream. I sighed and looked at the clock: 12:13 PM. I really slept in this morning.

"Geez sockhead, what were you dreaming about? You look like you've stared death right in the face."

"You're not that far off, Eddy." I replied. I got out of bed and went to my closet to get warm clothes.

"So you're not just gonna say anything about how you slept in for like, the first time in forever? You always get up so early." Eddy said. I gave him a questioned 'uh' as I continued to look for that one sweater I wanted to wear.

"I'm not sure, didn't really have a clock set, and I just felt pretty sleepy last night." I replied. Honestly, I just felt like not stepping out today, nor having any contact with anyone. I've been feeling this way for maybe a week now, after facing Kevin at the restaurant. I've been so tired by just overthinking everything, and felt so done with everything. Has Nazz told him yet? Is Kevin gonna say or do something to me? When? Did I ruin their relationship? I hated it. Not even 5 minutes of waking up and all these thoughts already flow through my head.

"I guess not, I just slept in that's all Eddy." Eddy gave me a weird look then shrugged it off.

"All right then come on, Ed has to take his driving test today." I froze as I remembered that Ed is the first one out of all of us to start driving. A bit scary. I thought Nazz would jump the gun and go for the license but she stated she was too scared, and now we have Ed next in line. Crazy I thought.

"Yeah, and I'll finally take us everywhere guys!" Ed exclaimed. He seemed more excited than nervous, which is good I guess. He used to be a bit dumb back when we were kids, and don't get me wrong he still is but this time he has definitely matured. But his sense of childhood hasn't faded away, and that's one thing I worry the most about him.

"All right then lets go." I said, as I put on the sweater and jacket over me.

"Good luck monobrow!" Eddy yelled as Ed pulled away from the curb with the instructor in the passenger seat. After pulling away there was a moment of silence between us, the only thing audible was the crunching of snow of people entering the DMV, and the intercom stating people's ticket numbers. Eddy locked his eyes on Ed's car as it drove away, asking me a startling question.

"Double D, you ever think Ed would leave us?" I looked at him for a while, watching the snow settle on his beanie and shoulders. His question kept me thinking for a minute, and I couldn't see him leaving any of us for even a day.

"I don't think so, come on he's literally by our side every day, ever since we were like 7." My answer didn't resonate within him at all, nor did it bring comfort.

"Come on sockhead think, you're smart. You know Ed's parents are a bit…different. Even Sarah tries to get out of the house as much as possible. I just think I find it kind of funny how he wanted to get his license immediately after turning 16. And how conveniently that his dad gave him his hand-me-down car. I know Ed seems like he don't know how to do much except sit there and act dumb, but the guy really has a brain at some moments. Maybe he pretends to be dumb so no one really knows what he's thinking." Eddy's thought made me think as well. He was right, all these events did line up too conveniently. And I do know Ed isn't that dumb as people think, but for him to plan out an escape from his family, from the cul-de-sac… I don't know. Even Ed says it himself that he would never leave our sides.

"I see what you mean Eddy. You're right but I don't know if he will actually leave still. I mean Sarah is younger than him still and I doubt he would leave her side. But maybe he just an "in case" route, if things go worse with his family. Maybe he would drive Sarah away from their family, and crash somewhere else. He wouldn't leave without telling us though. Besides, anywhere else than his home is a hundred times better.

"…Yeah you're right. I think he is just doing this for the best for himself and Sarah." Eddy's seemed to have a sorrow comfort from my answer. It's sad to think Ed could leave us at any moment now, but we know its for the best for them.

"Anyways, it's getting cold sockhead lets wait inside the DMV."

"Sure, no problem." I said.

We waited for at least 15 more minutes before Ed walked back inside from the DMV, and gave us a huge smile and thumbs up. We both gave him the same reaction, before the instructor showed him the way to get his temporary ID.

I looked at him walk away from us, as Eddy's thought played in my head even harder than before. As December started to end, I felt nothing but changes for all of us in this new year that was creeping behind us.