Eddy broke the silence to mention a grand scheme, a complete setup of past scams and games to jog Edd's memory, he figured it would work. Eddward was at a loss for words for once, he knew he should say something, anything about his memory of them.
But no, he didn't. He wouldn't. He would refuse to let this moment ruin the opportunity in front of him. He could have a childhood again. Fun and games galore, all for him to enjoy with friends. Eddward had always wanted friends, he didn't know what joy it would bring him.
When it started getting a bit too late they all returned to their homes, promising much fun for the day to follow. Eddward of course inquired about school and received many sullen faces. They wouldn't be sharing the school hours with him due to his loss of memory and healing. So when he woke up the next day he found quite the boring and tedious morning routine set for him by his parents.
Everyone was at school, Double D wasn't confused as to why he couldn't go too. He knew he would need to catch up and he didn't remember the material he was learning. So throughout the day, he was reading the material in his room, remembering things because of his exploration.
Edd still told no one about his memory returning. He wanted to experience the surprise left for him by his friends once they got out of class. All throughout his morning, he went through journals and books, the history of his life which he found hard to read. He would save his journals for a later time.
Once he was bored enough to put down the books and venture to the living room it was just hitting a quarter past seven. Time flew by with fun, and with boredom came the stretch of eternity it seemed. Eddward decided to look outside and found his view puzzling.
Kevin's dad was home and trying his best to sweet-talk his wife who refused to let him in the house. Double D wondered why he was not being let in, but figured it had to do with the number of casts he was wearing. He decided to quickly abandon that curiosity.
Welp, might as well go around the house and see what else he can discover. His mother was at work and his father was avoiding him at the store, they really didn't need soup and more vegetables that bad. His father was taking his sweet time too, it had been an hour or so.
He decided to look through everything he could, it was his home after all. But he never imagined that he'd find hidden passageways and nifty little hide-away stairs leading all throughout the house. He figured that these were all inventions he had come up with at some point in adolescence, however, the memories of them didn't return. It was rather fun discovering them all, he liked that he could have this sort of fun surprise and discover different hidey holes where he'd spend time later.
Edd's father didn't return for another two hours, which was fine with Eddward since he was exploring, making the time seem minimal. His father didn't explain why he took so long or why he only had a small load of groceries from such a long trip, Eddward didn't ask. He simply put them away and found another useless thing to do to avoid his son.
After looking at the time, Eddward decided that reading in one of his hidey holes would be a good idea until the other kids got home from school. He just needed the right book. He looked around the bookshelves and grabbed a few interesting novels. He snagged a blanket from the hall cabinet and made his way to his secret hideaway to read for the next couple of hours.
Amongst the stack of books, he found a psychology textbook he had not meant to grab, he opened the book carelessly and found a small spinning hypnotism pinwheel among the pages. And with a curious spin, a flood of memories of a hot summer day filled with mischief and fun ran across his mind.
"I remember….Eddy made Kevin act like a monkey. Ed's dream to be a dancer, Rolf being thrown into so many different characters by Ed, Eddy making Sarah eat a bug." He giggled and spun it again. "There's something else though….I can't quite remember….a barking dog?"
He shook his head and set the pinwheel aside, he had enough of it for the moment. He picked up one of the novels he had meant to bring and read silently to himself. As he lost himself in the fantastical fiction, the hours ticked by, book after book he explored his imagination.
Edd stretched with a yawn when he heard the roar of a motorcycle coming from outside, and with that noise bringing him out of his daze he got up and left his hiding place. With just a few steps he could see the flash of ginger hair. He opened the front door with excitement and saw an expectant smile coming from the driver.
"Hey, Double D." Came the voice that seemed so familiar but so distant. Edd grinned from ear to ear, bringing a matching grin to Kevin's face.
"Salutations, Kevin. I hope you had a wonderful day at school. I imagine the curriculum is rather stimulating to have you in such a joyous mood."
Kevin pushed his motorcycle into the garage hastily before jogging up close to Edd, he gave a lopsided smile as his hand rubbed at the back of his neck. "Nah, I'm just glad to come back and see you so happy."
Edd felt his chest flutter and face redden with heat. Oh dear, it appears I have a crush on Kevin. This cannot be good, for he is surely heterosexual and would rather just be friends.
Kevin smirked, noticing the poor dork was blushing, he didn't mean to embarrass him but he sure loved to see his dork looking so bashful over a simple statement.
"So, did you have a good day?" He asked, sure that Eddward must have had a good day with how wide he had smiled. But his response was just a shrug and a tired frown being thrown over his shoulder to his house. Kevin knew then, right then, that Edd had smiled because of him and his heart nearly burst with joy.
Edd wanted to groan at just the memory of such time wasted and missed opportunities. The time he could've spent with his friends was all wasted because of his damn tumor. If he could have gone to school, perhaps memories would've been easier to access. However, Eddward was determined to be content in this life without all his memories no matter how hard it might make things for his studies.
He abandoned the sour thoughts to look back at the cause of his excitement and joy. Kevin was waiting for some sort of answer but seemed to be rather happy with watching Edd's demeanor whilst in deep thought. This made him smile sheepishly as he stuttered a half-hearted reply.
"I suppose my day could have been far more productive than just reading. An afternoon wasted you could say."
Kevin nodded and his smile shifted into a slight frown "I guess we should do something important then. How about we have absolutely chaotic fun until Eddy's done with your surprise?"
Edd's grin returned as he began to bounce in place. "Oh, that would be delightful. Certainly, an hour of uninhibited delight would be permittable! What shall we do first?"
Kevin felt his heart start to quicken in pace, the excitement that he had missed and never even realized. He could lean down and capture those grinning lips, but he had to remind himself that Edd was a child mentally. And Kevin wasn't a pedo, so he kept to himself and just blurted out the first activity that came to mind.
"Let's go play at the creek! We can jump off the big rock now that you're older."
Edd rushed back inside for sunscreen and his swim trunks, he didn't care if he wore his t-shirt to swim, it's how he had always dressed for swimming. He came racing out and grinned so wide it almost hurt. "Come along, Kevin, we must get your swim attire!"
Kevin laughed and let Edd drag him to the house across the street, not even realizing what implications that had on the boy's memory. After an awkward realization that Edd didn't even know how to navigate Kevin's house, they moved a bit slower, having Kevin lead the way through the familiar setting.
Edd couldn't help but ogle slightly at the broken pictures that were haphazardly put back up after what he could only assume was a fight. The reasoning for Mr. Barr being locked out became a bit more clear to Eddward, however, he would stay silent about it. His mover would be disappointed if she knew he'd openly talk about any form of gossip or slander. Especially in another person's home.
Kevin avoided the sight of the photos and trekked upstairs, showing Double D his room and expecting a disgusted chatter about cleanliness. Edd did not chatter, he simply stood straight and kept his eyes glued to a particular photograph of a young Kevin and Nathan in little league baseball uniforms with a trophy in their hands.
Kevin tracked the line of sight and smiled fondly at the photo "That's when me and Nat became friends."
Edd couldn't help himself, and Kevin knew it was coming. "Nat and I."
Kevin snickered "I know, I know. That will never get old. It almost feels like it would be wrong if you didn't impulsively correct my grammar….. glad you still do that."
Kevin wouldn't admit it, but it would've devastated him if Eddward hadn't corrected grammar as he had always done. It was something he had grown fond of for no reason whatsoever. He had no reason to like it, in fact, he had more reason to hate it, but every time he heard a whine of refrain followed by the grunt of giving in and then the bout of correction he couldn't help but smile. How did it take so long for him to realize he was in love? It seemed quite obvious now that he thought about it.
Edd smiled at the strange look on Kevin's face, surely he was reminiscing about their friendship? That must be it. He was sure of it. Kevin didn't realize he had been staring so dazily at the dork standing at his door.
Double d felt a haze wash over his brain, he started to stumble and all too suddenly forgot where he was, Kevin had him in his arms, worried he was falling, but when their eyes connected he didn't see the recognition he had seen before. Those blue eyes were filled with worry, fear, confusion, and panic.
Kevin let go slowly and said calmly, "Eddward…..are you alright?"
Edd looked around and started backing up in small steps. "Who-?...Where am I? I don't….I don't know this place."
Kevin's heart sank again, and his stomach hurt with how he was sure he just lost the progress he fought so hard for. "Eddward, I'm your neighbor and friend, Kevin Barr. You came over here so I can grab my swimsuit. We were going to go swimming at the creek. If you want to go home, I can walk you there."
Edd looked a bit less panicked but still on guard, he was so confused. But soon he regained what train of thought he had before. "N-No….We were going to the creek while Eddy set up….um…..set up a….?"
Kevin smiled sadly "He's setting up a surprise for you. We don't have to go to the creek if you would rather stay in the cul-de-sac?"
Edd shook his head and Kevin grabbed his swim shorts. The walk to the creek was rather quiet but Kevin knew he may lose whatever memories he had in the moment, so he took the time to make Edd feel more at ease.
Eddward didn't understand what had happened, one moment he knew Kevin, and the next he couldn't even remember where he was. Something was definitely wrong, he didn't know why he was having a hard time with his memory.
Once at the creek Eddward got his towel settled and started applying sunscreen while Kevin got changed behind the large bolder. Eddward remembered the time he and the other eds got seriously burned but that was only a flash, he didn't remember how he ended up getting so burned or why he neglected sunscreen.
Kevin came around the corner and dumped his shirt and shorts by the towels and stretched out, with a soft sigh he pulled his hat off and tossed it on the towel beside Edd, deciding to sit directly in front of his favorite dork. Edd let a blush mushroom across his cheeks as he took in the sight before him.
Kevin furrowed his brow in worry "You really do burn easy, quick, get some of that on your cheeks before you get seriously burned."
Edd did such and was happy to know the white goop covered his darkening blush. "Thank you, Kevin. I was unaware of my predicament."
Kevin smiled and held out a hand for the sunscreen "I can get your back for you if you plan on taking the shirt off."
Edd shook his head but handed the bottle over "I will not be removing my shirt, however, you are certainly in need of the sunscreen, feel free to use as much as you like, but please leave some for a second application for later?"
Kevin chuckled at the polite young man. "Sure thing, Dee."
Eddward was certain his heart may very well jump out of his chest. For what reason was beyond him, but he knew this teen in front of him meant a great deal to him. After a short moment he looked at the water and felt his childish glee bubble up and he ran for the water, ready to jump in and enjoy the cool waters.
Kevin almost lost his breath when he saw the unadulterated joy of a crazed Edd jumping into the water as if on fire. Edd was splashing around and having a wonderful time. Once Kevin was caught in the gaze of the sapphire blue eyes he felt warm, far too warm to be comfortable standing, and understood just why Edd ran into the water as he did.
Eddward didn't dwell and just held out a hand and cheered "Come on, Kevin! Get in!"
Kevin was all too happy to slap on the sunscreen haphazardly and dash toward his favorite dork, laughing and yelling "MAKE ROOM DORK! I'M JUMPING IN!" And with that, he cannonballed as far into the creek as possible.
When Kevin popped up out of the water he had effectively lost a majority of his sunscreen and had drenched Edd who was laughing like nothing evil in this world could touch him. Kevin felt like kissing him but didn't, he had to remind himself that Edd had the mentality of someone under the age of 10, even if he seemed to be getting more mature he was still far from the teen he once was.
Edd nearly fell back into the water as he laughed, oh what joy he felt just having a friend to play with, he couldn't wait to remember his friends. But then again having Kevin all to himself was quite nice. He gasped for breath and tried to stop laughing, it was all too much for his recovering body to handle.
He looked up at Kevin with a chaotic grin before plunging back into the water and feeling the weight lift from him as he was engulfed. It was s serine under the water until he remembered what he had gone under to do. He turned and swam lower, looking up he saw Kevin looking around for him. With a maniacal grin, he dragged Kevin under the water by the ankle.
Kevin looked around for his now missing dork, he squinted to see under the water, and all too quickly he felt a hand on his ankle pulling him under. Kev gave an undignified yelp before crashing into the water. But once under he saw the most beautiful sight.
Edd grinned, his hair slipping past his beanie and fanning out beautifully around his face, his eyes glowed with mischief and his shirt rode up and flowed in teasing ways with the water current. Kevin smiled softly, what a gorgeous moment.
The moment soon ended with Kevin's soft smile turning devious as he raced after Edd to tackle him. Perhaps this may teach the dork not to be so devious himself.
They went on like that for an hour before Edd got too tired and wrinkly and decided to get out. His cheeks were pink from the sun and Kevin was definitely going to feel that sunburn in the morning if he wasn't already. Edd pulled his shirt off to ring it out before drying off, he did the same with his hat before drying the inky waves of hair fixed on his head.
He knew there was no point in the safety blanket anymore but would dread if he had to wear a wet hat or even go without it. Edd was comfortable enough with Kevin that he felt no need to worry until he turned and looked at Kevin's bare chest dripping with water, which turned a lovely shade of red almost like a blush due to the sunburn. Edd's face lit up and Kevin got worried.
Kevin strode towards Edd "Your face is more burned than I thought, I have some aloe vera at home if you want to go take care of that now. Or we could get changed first into some dry clothes."
Edd felt chills crawl up his spine "I'm perfectly content with acquiring the Aloe first, seeing as you will be needing a good majority of it."
Kevin looked at himself and hissed a wince "Yeah, I'm gonna be peeling for a week….maybe more."
Edd hid his face in the towel as he dried his hair gently. "We'll head back right away then."
Once redressed, Edd helped gather their things and Kevin led them back to his house. Kevin's mother was a mess of yells when they went inside, this and that about sunscreen and taking better care of one's self, and also something about football. Edd didn't exactly understand what sports had to do with anything. She cut off two leaves from her plant and sliced them open, taking the gel out of the leaf she put it in a blender with some fresh black tea she brewed for what was supposed to be sweet tea, she just didn't add the sugar yet.
She explained all of the reasoning for the mix to Edd but unluckily for them it was while she was blending and no one heard a thing she actually said about it. Once the mix was ready she spooned some out and gave it to Edd to rub on his face and dragged her son to the backyard. Without much more warning she started scooping the mix out and splashing her son with it who began to rub it in with the most fed-up look on his face.
'What a peculiar family. Perhaps this happens more often than I would think.'
Edd was amused by the situation, it was almost comical. He felt a pain in his chest, realizing he would probably never experience this sort of connection with his own parents. Tears stung his eyes and he had to look away to keep from crying. What an emotional rollercoaster this was for him. What would he feel with the surprise? Oh dear, I do hope I don't get overwhelmed emotionally. That would be rather embarrassing.