Disclaimer: I don't own Ed, Edd, n' Eddy, or any other character from that show, blah blah blah.... I also don't have anything to do with any band or song mentioned, yadda yadda yadda... The character Christian's mine, though!

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Chapter 7: Another Day

"C'mon, c'mon…" Eddy mumbled impatiently.

The drummer impatiently glanced at his watch again.

"He's never this late, where the hell is he?" Eddy complained.

"Aw c'mon, Eddy. He's only what, fifteen minutes late?" Christian said.

"Yeah, but you got here before him, and you've had to drive like, two hours to get here! He lives right across the street and he ain't here yet!" Eddy replied.

"Maybe the teen-pop divas abducted Double D from his house to take him to their headquarters, make him listen to top-ten pop anthems until he is sedated and brainwashed, then they will give him an acoustic guitar and cut his hair like Ryan Cabrera's!" Ed blurted.

"The hell did that outburst come from?" Christian asked Eddy, scratching his head.

Before Eddy could respond, Ed spoke again.

"It happened to me in a dream, Christian!" Ed answered with a serious tone in his voice, "Come, my friends, we must save our comrade, before he becomes pop-ifide!"

Ed clutched his guitar like a bayoneted rifle and bellowed a battle cry as he charged up the stairs.

"ED!! KEEP IT DOWN OR I'LL TELL MOM!" Sarah screeched from upstairs.

Eddy slapped his forehead with his hand and groaned. He could have sworn Ed was over doing stuff like that…

"Well, he's fired up. Let's follow ol' Mullet before he hurts somebody…" Eddy groaned, motioning for Christian to follow him.

"Hurts somebody?" Christian questioned as he followed Eddy up the stairs.

"Yep. Any innocent bystander dumb enough to get in his way'll become a 'demon teen-pop diva' ready to get whacked by his guitar." Eddy explained, "But hey, he's on his way to Double D's house, so at least we can get to rehearsing when this is over with."

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Edd fell back on his bed and let out a satisfied sigh. He had just finished writing a song, which had taken him all morning to complete. It was a three-part song, that he called "Denial, Anger, Acceptance…" which he was inspired to write only a few hours after his fateful phone conversation had ended.

"Hard to believe that I'm the first one in the band to write a song," Edd muttered to himself, "Even if part of it was written in a drunken rage…"

That brought a thought to his head. Should he present his creation to his band mates?

Ed surely wouldn't understand the emotion the song brought to the table, but he may think that the rhythm part in the "Anger" section that he had written for him would be cool. Christian would probably like it, but it wouldn't mean anything if his new friend sang the lyrics that he put together. Then there was Eddy… Depending on what mood his ornery friend was in would determine what he thought of it, but there was no doubt in Edd's mind that Eddy would dub at least the first and third portions of his masterpiece "un-metal" or "reeking of suckitude"…

"It's probably best that I keep my song a secret for the time being…" Edd said to himself.

With that decided, he rolled over and glanced at his clock. The red digital numbers read 12:30. 12:30?!

"Curse my creative ways!" Edd yelled as he grabbed his guitar and frantically made his way towards the door.

As he opened the door, he heard pounding footsteps and loud, incoherent yelling from outside. Edd opened his door just in time to see Ed charging his house.

"I'll save you Double D! YAAAAA!!!" His friend bellowed.

"Ed, what are you talking about?" Edd asked as he stopped his friend's charge.

Ed gasped and gave Edd a bear hug "Double D! Thank Danzig you're all right! I thought for sure that the evil teen-pop divas had already gotten you!"

"Uh… yes it's all right Ed, I'm ok…" Edd answered his friend.

"He's ok, guys!" Ed called back to Eddy and Christian, who looked tremendously confused.

"Whoopdeedoo, Ed…" Eddy muttered sarcastically, "Now can we get to rehearsal already?"

"I'd be happy to, Eddy." Edd answered.

"So… that happens a lot, eh?" Christian asked again as they walked down the stairs to Ed's basement.

"More times than I'd care to tell about…" Edd answered, "I thought that he had his overactive imagination under control in eight grade…"

"What kept ya, anyway?" Eddy asked him as he took his place behind his drums.

"I was… cleaning!" Edd quickly fibbed.

"Well clean on your own time, we've got a gig to prepare for, remember?" Eddy replied.

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"Ok… so we're starting off with 'Battery', then going into 'Godzilla', then we launch into two The Misfits songs, then 'Tom Sawyer'?" Eddy asked.

"Hey, the gig's in Canada, we'll get run out of the country if we don't play some Rush stuff…" Christian replied.

"Ok, ok, then we play 'Wasting my Hate' and slow things down with 'Hero of the Day' and finally, if we have time, we play 'Helpless'."

"That's the plan," Christian replied, "You guys have any objections with the play list for Saturday?"

" I don't see any problems." Eddy replied.

"As long as we play 'Godzilla' I'm happy!" Ed proclaimed.

"I don't have any objections, either." Edd answered.

"Ok, that should do it then, guys, we'll get together again tomorrow." Eddy concluded.

Sighs of relief went through the musty basement as the band put away their equipment.

Christian patted Edd on the back. "Nice job today, man." The Canadian complimented his friend.

"Yeah, somebody sure was oddly focused this afternoon!" Ed proclaimed.

"Thanks guys." Edd answered.

"Well, see ya tomorrow, boys!" Christian called to his band mates.

As Christian loaded his bass in the truck, Edd approached him.

"Hey there, Double D, what can I do for ya?" Christian enquired.

" Um… if it's not too much to ask, could you pick up these things for me and bring them to my house?" Edd asked as he handed Christian a piece of paper.

"Large bottle of imported scotch, six pack of Heineken, and a twelve pack of raspberry wine coolers? Dude, what're ya doin', hosting a small yuppie frat party?" Christian asked his friend.

"Well, actually, those are all the things I've drank over the past few days…" Edd replied

"You drank that much? I always thought you were pretty uptight for a metal guitar player of your magnitude, but man, was I wrong! That's enough liquor to choke a whale!" Christian exclaimed.

"No, that's not the case at all…" Edd answered.

"Then how come you need all the booze, man?" Christian asked.

Christian then heard the story of the guitar player's independence rave where he downed the scotch and half a six-pack of beer and the break-up story where Edd downed the rest of the beer and wine coolers.

" So I have to replace all of the alcoholic beverages before my mom and dad get home. I just figured that you'd be able to get them because you're old enough to drink since you're in Canada…" Edd concluded.

"Yeah sure, I can pick these up. Good thing my cousin Bernie's a border patrol officer, I could probably persuade him to let me across with the drinks." Christian answered, "I'll bring 'em to your place tomorrow before rehearsal, ok?"

"Ok, thanks." Edd answered as he left for his house.

As Christian drove, he thought about the task he had to complete. It should be easy enough, Bernie owed him a favor, anyway. Then it came to him.

"So that's why he was late today, he must've been cleaning himself up…" The Canadian said to himself, " And that's why he wore those sunglasses, too! His eyes must've been way bloodshot after his little raves!"

"Ok, Ok, I'll get him the drinks, hopefully he won't drink 'em himself this time…" Christian decided.

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A/N: Well, there you go. Christian's becoming an unknowing enabler and Edd's beginning to have a long involved fight with the bottle, ain't that a kick in the teeth? Sorry if this chapter was a little boring, but it had to be done, I couldn't really just magically zoom straight to the gig, but that will come very soon, I promise.

'til next time, read and review!