Discliamer – I own nothing... except my new bright pink coat -worships-

A/N – I know... My updating has become nothing short of appalling as of late... But I'm depressed, and stressed out and hate my new college with a vengance -kicks college- so... hey... But thank you as always for the wonderful reviews, they never fail to brighten my days! Anyway, on with chapter 15! Enjoy!


Closeted Secrets

There had been a time when Eddy had dreamed of power. He had wanted nothing more than popularity and acceptance – now all he wanted was for all of this to be over.

He could do nothing but stare at the ground as he waited for his friend to respond. He couldn't remember another time when both of his best friends had complete power over him, another time when it was their decisions that mattered the most. Usually he was the one to lead them, it was he that they had devoted their childhoods to pleasing. But now he could see just how much he relied on his friends, for without them he was nothing, just a marionette, void of emotion, of free will, left to dangle from Kevin's puppet strings.

Ed's eyes narrowed, desperate for something, anything to make sense. All he knew was that Double D was in pain, and that Eddy held the most intensely incriminating evidence toward the cause of that pain. But no, that had to be wrong. This was Eddy and Double D! Eddy and Double D had always been best friends, they never hurt each other and they could always trust each other. Sure, Eddy could be a bit bossy, and sometimes he would hurt his friend's feelings with his short temper, but in the end, both Ed and Double D knew that, beneath the cold outer layers, Eddy always held his friends close at heart, and would never do anything to truly wound them. Ever. Ed trusted Eddy, why would he ever have any reason not to?

Eddy slowly turned his gaze up to face his friend, sapphire eyes glazed with fear, with guilt. He was so afraid of what his friend would say.

"Eddy?" Ed questioned again, Eddy could barely distinguish the tone and the emotion that laced his voice. Anger? Confusion? Hope? His mind raced, trying to think of ways to explain to the boy standing over him, to plead his case, anything that could return that loved feeling he had been given by his friend only seconds ago. Instead, he numbly nodded, his shoulders falling, defeated, and closed his eyes, preparing himself for the next wave of tears.

"You found Double D's hat Eddy!"

"What?" Eddy looked back to his friend sharply, caught off guard by the sudden exclamation, and was surprised to see Ed beaming brightly at him, before reaching out to take the black material from Eddy's pocket, hugging it tightly, so glad of it's sudden return.

"Double D will be so pleased you found it for him! Now we can go give it back to him and our friend will be happy once more!" Ed continued, ranting happily about this latest discovery, grinning widely and feeling endlessly proud of himself for having worked out exactly what was going on. He knew there was no reason to mistrust his friend, and he almost felt as though he had betrayed Eddy for doubting him, no matter how briefly.

Eddy tried desperately to block out his friend's words. The guilt was just too much to bear. How could Ed trust him? How could he think that he was the cure to Double D's pain, when in reality, he was the cause of it? Eddy's shoulders shook with deep sobs as torrents of tears ran over his burning cheeks. He cried out, trying to release some of the tension that encompassed him, pulled at his soul. The sound interrupted Ed from his joyous ramblings and his smile immediately fell as he dropped to his to his knees before his wailing best friend, wrapping his arms around the small boy and holding him gently. Eddy hung his own arms around Ed's neck and buried his head into his shoulder, soaking Ed's jacket with tears.

"Shhh, Shhh... It is ok" Ed mused, trying to reconcile his friend as best he could. He rubbed a large hand up and down the length of Eddy's back in an attempt to sooth his pain. How he hated to see his friends upset, and he guessed that Eddy must hate it too. Why else would he be crying so hard if he had not been so deeply affected by Double D's distress at having lost his hat? It had surprised Ed somewhat, to see his usually composed leader express such emotion, but Ed knew how much Eddy loved Double D, so he supposed that it made sense. He griped his friend's shoulders and pushed the still sobbing boy away from him.

"We can go now and give him his hat back now! Maybe once Double D is happy again then you will feel much better!" Eddy nodded numbly, gazing into Ed's large chestnut eyes, trying to deny the trust, the love that lay there. He did not deserve such gestures, but right now, just when he needed Ed the most, he would do all he could to keep from pushing him away. Even if that meant lying to him. He would understand, eventually... right?

Ed beamed once more and, letting go of eddy, grabbed the black hat that he had placed on the bed, and ushered his friend out of the room. Eddy wiped away stray tears with the back of his hand, and allowed himself to be lead up the basement stairs toward Ed's front door. He didn't want to face Double D. Maybe this was too soon. Maybe if he left everything to cool down then he would eventually just forget anything had ever happened. They could carry on as normal, and never mention it again.

No. That would never happen. He had come here to make everything right, and he would not turn back until Double D had forgiven him.

He halted as he heard Ed's laughter, distracted by a stray bubble that had floated into the hallway from the living room where Jimmy and Sarah were amusing themselves with a tub of bubble mixture. Eddy had to suppress a smile; sometimes it was so gratifying to know that somewhere, underneath all of the problems and stresses that came along with the life he had chosen to lead, he could count on his friends to give him that one last memory, a faint yet heartfelt reminder of his innocence, his childhood. Another stream of bubbles floated into the room, and Eddy watched as Ed, momentarily sidetracked from his mission of returning Double D's hat, bounded around, pawing playfully at the small spheres, the commotion knocking the bubbles off course, making them collide into each other and sending them flying in all directions. A single bubble floated in front of Eddy. A beautiful, delicate orb of colour that brightly danced and allowed itself to be gracefully carried by the breeze. Eddy reached out with his hand to catch the bubble, but it burst upon impact – seemingly just like everything else he touched – it's beauty and grace now fallen, just a distant memory.

Ed's laughter ceased as he remembered what he was supposed to be doing and he grabbed his friend by the hand, rushing out of the front door and out onto the street, heading toward Double D's house.

If anyone could make Double D feel better, Eddy could.


Yay! Chapter 15! So what'd you think? I must admit, most of my chapters I am anxious about, but this one I love for some reason – probably coz of the bubbles bit... I had to go out and buy myself a tub of bubble mixture the other day to give me inspiration for that part... don't you just love symbolism? Anyhow, I hope you enjoyed – and I promise I'll try harder to update more regularly. Promise!