Tuesday night and most of Wednesday was laid-back at the Barr residence. However, on Wednesday evening many extended family members started arriving. Kevin and Edd found themselves in sleeping bag in Mr. Barr's office, after older relatives claimed Kevin's room and the younger cousins were being rowdy in the living room.
Edd was expecting a laid-back holiday with just Kevin and his parents, so he wasn't prepared for the onslaught of relatives and the struggle of trying to integrate himself into all the family traditions and festivities. However, he seemed to manage quite nicely, watching the parade with the cousins in the morning, partaking in the Thanksgiving lunch, napping off the meal that afternoon, all before playing ball in the back yard with the men of the family. It was then that Edd remembered hearing this sort of commotion at Kevin's house several Thanksgivings ago while he sat alone at home wishing the other two Eds weren't out of town visiting their own relatives. Now that he was having so much fun with the Barrs, he was wishing he had come over that day instead, maybe have gotten to know Kevin better a lot sooner than now.
Early the next morning, many family members left to go black Friday shopping. Some stayed and slept in, opting to watch the game they recorded once everyone was up. Edd tried to sleep in as much as possible, a bit exhausted from yesterday, but soon found himself wedged into the couch next to Kevin, sharing one seat, while Kevin's dad and uncle took up the rest of the couch.
Edd didn't want to press his luck with his contact to Kevin, not with family sitting on the other side of Kevin. Kevin, however, didn't seem to have an issue with this as made evident by his constant touching. A hand on his knee during a tense play. A side hug whenever their team made a touchdown. Nudging him when they spotted a fan in the background doing something ridiculous.
After half-time, Edd started to reciprocate from time to time, which only increased Kevin's touchiness. When Kevin threw an arm around Edd while cheering for a rather impressive touchdown, Edd started to do the same, looking back behind Kevin. He pulled his arm back and kept his hands to himself after he noticed Mr. Barr giving him the side-eye.
After the game, Kevin was tasked with taking the littler cousins to the playground to keep them out of the way while everyone cooked and cleaned for the day. As the boys leaned on the fence, watching the children play on the swings and slide, Edd turned his head to Kevin and asked, "So… are you bi, or…?"
"Gay. You?"
"Not sure. Somewhere between bisexual and pansexual, thought I think that's more semantics."
Kevin nods, "I feel that. But, why do you ask?"
"Well, during the game, your father, well, I'm not sure, but he may have-"
Kevin cuts him off with a laugh. "Yeah, he might be a little suspicious… kinda got… carried away with the physical contact. Sorry if that-"
"No, no, no. That's fine. I just didn't want to… out you…"
Kevin scooted closer towards Edd, sliding his hand towards him until he could slide his arm around Edd without being seen by the kids. "Nah. They know. Since freshman year, actually. And they're cool with it," Kevin said softly, eyes on the playground the whole time. "What about you? Your parents know?"
"Technically, but they think it's just a phase based on curiosity, merely a distraction from my studies."
Kevin let out a low whistle. "Damn. Rough."
Edd nodded, not caring if Kevin saw. "Wait… you said your father might have been suspicious, but if you're already out to them, then-"
"Yeah, suspicious of my feelings for you, not of my sexuality. I may have… talked about you a lot more recently… then I kinda got carried away at the game 'cause I was excited."
"That was a rather exciting game," Edd assumed, simply basing it off the handful of games he's watched in his life.
Kevin shook his head. "Nah. Excited cause you were here."
Edd didn't know how to respond, beside his initially inappropriate urge to turn and kiss Kevin, children's playground be damned. So, he leaned into him instead, enough for Kevin to feel but not enough for the little cousins to tell that they were cuddling.
Edd did act on that urge later in Mr. Barr's office. He whispered to Kevin twice, asking if he was awake, and both times Kevin didn't respond. Edd took this opportunity to partially wriggle out of his sleeping bag, army crawl the short distance to Kevin, and briefly kiss him.
Edd pulled back immediately when he felt Kevin kiss back. Edd hovered over him in shock.
"You always sneak kisses when you think I'm asleep?" Kevin teased him.
Edd didn't reply. Not after he crawled back into his sleeping bag, not after Kevin's pleading, not even the next morning. It was only when Mrs. Barr pointed out the fact that she noticed Edd ignoring Kevin, that Edd decided to finally speak to him.
"That was the first time… and the last…" Edd said sternly, whispering it in the hopes that no other family members heard.
It took a minute for Kevin to register what that meant but when he did, the wounded puppy look was immediate. Edd knew as soon as he saw Kevin slouch and whine that it was definitely not going to be the last, albeit not anytime soon.
After Kevin dropped Edd off at his college, and briefly and subtly kissed him on the cheek outside his dorm, Edd went upstairs and decided to reorganize his desk back to the way it was before Kevin's visit. That's when Edd found them, sticky notes with messages from Kevin hidden all over his desk and room. There was one in the closet, calling him cute. There was one on top of his agenda, thanking him for allowing Kevin to crash there. There was even one on top of Edd's spare hats he keeps in the top drawer, saying that Kevin's gonna make it his missing to figure out what's under Edd's hat. Edd soon found several in his history textbook, all acting as tabs for each chapter.
This must have been why he was so adamant about not taking the book with him.
All of the history textbook sticky notes contained sweet musings and compliments. But Edd's favorite, the one he kept in his agenda for the days he feels low, was the one that read, "You're always missed, too."
