Disclaimer: I still don't own any of the characters from Ed Edd n' Eddy or any songs and stuff like that, yada yada yada.

This chapter is my first real stab at writing angst stuff, so I don't really know what I'm doing. I've read most of Ghost Helwig's stories, (y'know, the ones where the slash isn't quite as thick) and almost every Ed, Edd, and Eddy story in the angst and tragedy categories, so hopefully I can do it at least half as good as Helwig and everybody else.

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Chapter 5: Alone

"See ya, Double D!" Eddy called to Edd as he left Ed's basement.

Edd grinned, "Goodbye!" he called back to his band mates.

Edd casually walked back to his house, worn out from playing brain-busting solos all day in rehearsal. As he walked up the porch, his grin faded and the content feeling he had just a few seconds earlier seeped out of him as if his soul was being sucked from his body. He stood in front of the door, dreading what would be waiting for him when he entered. Would it be stressed-out parents, or would his dear old mom and dad be leaving on yet another business trip to some city thousands of miles away, leaving their son all alone…

He didn't want to find out what fate the door held for him, but he turned his house key slowly in the lock and opened the door. As he stepped in, he nearly tripped over suitcases and handbags set by the door.

"Ah, so it's the latter, is it?" Edd mouthed at the floor.

"Mom? Dad?" Edd called. Only his echoes replied, leaving Edd confused.

"Surely they're here, I can hardly see the floor on account of their excessive amounts of luggage…" Double D muttered.

"Oh, Eddward, there you are." A deep, drone-like voice proclaimed next to him.

Eddward turned to see his father standing in the next room. His dad was dressed in semi-casual attire, meaning a collared shirt tucked in to some blue jeans that were as out of date as say, Ed's mullet.

"Eddward, dear, you're home." His mother droned from the top of the stairs.

"We're off to the airport now, son." His father said in a now rushed voice, "We have a business trip in Phoenix and we'll be gone a week, maybe more."

"We left money for groceries and the keys to the Jetta on the counter." His mother added, hurriedly grabbing her luggage, "Bye sweetie, kisses…"

Edd sighed as his mother blew him a kiss while they rushed out to his father's Lexus. They closed the door sharply, leaving their boy, once again, all alone…

Another depressed sigh escaped his throat as he walked up the stairs to his room. His room looked the same as it did when he left. Bed tightly made, CDs alphabetized by band name and album title, his model skull freshly dusted, sitting adjacent to the Iron Maiden mascot head that Eddy had given him for his 15th birthday.

"Perhaps some music would lift my spirits…" he sulked while putting in a CD.

While Iron Maiden's "The Number of the Beast" played, Edd gingerly placed his Telecaster in its stand. He sprawled out onto his bed and heaved yet another sigh. The cold feeling of loneliness crept thorough him. Why did his parents have to be so important? The very question had plagued him since he was four, when his parents left him alone for the first time with a nanny…

"Why are Mommy and Daddy leaving?" he asked the nanny, "Was I a bad boy?"

"Oh, goodness no!" the nanny would always answer, "your mommy and daddy are just going on an important grown-up trip, they'll be back before you know it."

Little Eddward felt better after the nanny gave him this answer, and he was content with it. He didn't give his question another thought until gradually, his parents would keep leaving on "important grown-up trips" almost every month. He would still ask the same question, and the nanny would assure him that his parents weren't leaving because of something he did or said. Eddward wasn't so sure, his mommy and daddy left a lot, and when they did, they were gone for a long time…

"Maybe mommy and daddy will come back if I pick up my toys…" the child said one afternoon.

And pick up his toys he did, but he did not stop there.

"An- and maybe if I make my bed, too…"

Thus began Edd's obsession with cleanliness. All day he would tidy his room to the best of his ability muttering "messy, messy, messy…" under his breath while he did so. He toiled, hoping that maybe, just maybe, his Mommy and Daddy wouldn't leave him if he did.

He would also say his pleases and thank-yous, too in case they were mad at him because he said a "no-no word." Thus creating his mannerly ways.

Years past, the nanny left, and Edd would be alone for days every month. He then knew that his parents left because they were important members of their business, causing them to be workaholics, and he accepted that, but when they left, he would still clean his room, muttering "messy, messy, messy…"

Tears welled up in Edd's eyes as he recalled his basically parentless childhood. He looked around his spotless room again.

"This is what I've done my whole life?" he sobbed angrily, "Scrubbing, dusting alphabetizing… Eddy's been right this whole time, I am a freak!"

"BUT NO MORE!" he yelled.

He unmade his bed and ripped off the labels on his possessions. He then frantically mismatched every one of his CDs, so they were eclectic and unorganized.

Hot tears continued to stream down his face as he stormed down the stairs, slanting pictures on the wall and making everything well… Messy, messy, messy…

His rave of independence stopped in the kitchen. His eyes were red and puffy, and he was breathing heavily like an angered beast. His eyes then spied something odd. The liquor cabinet that was usually shut and locked tight was standing open. Edd walked towards it and grabbed a bottle of his father's favorite scotch. He smugly grinned as he unscrewed the cap. He knew he shouldn't, he was underage, and surely his father would notice… but he didn't care, he could always get Christian to bring another bottle across the boarder.

He drank deep until the bottle was empty, wanting to make every memory of his childhood disappear…

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A/N: Well, there you have it, my stab at angst. Well, 'til next time, read and review.