I'm Sure Edd Loved It
Practice was rough. Coach worked them hard as the team showed a lot of potential to do well for the season. They won the first couple of games against some of the tougher schools in their division, so there was a general feeling of hope that they could go to championships. All of the team was tired, hungry, sore, and sweaty at the end of the practice and they all wearily made their way to the locker rooms for showers.
Sometimes Kevin showered at school, sometimes at home or Edd's. He decided to shower at the school this afternoon because he wanted to get his hands on Edd the minute he got to his boyfriend's house and he knew that Edd was overly sensitive to dirt, sweat, and smell, so he wanted to arrive clean and fresh.
Most of the team showered as well, and the stalls rang with their laughter and insults toward each other. Kevin was used to this, though he cringed when gay insults echoed in the tiled and steam-filled room. He tried to ignore the stabs of anger when he heard one, telling himself that they didn't know he was gay and that they meant nothing serious by it.
At least he hoped.
The hot water felt good, and despite wanting to get to Edd's to love on him, he was one of the last out, tying a towel around his waist and grabbing a spare to dry off his upper body and hair as he walked over to his locker. Jake sat on the bench in front of the lockers, pulling socks on over his feet.
"Hey Jake, great work at bat today."
"Thanks, dude. Your pitching was on point. I hope your ass didn't use it all up in practice. We got a game you need that for this weekend."
Kevin laughed, lifting a hand to wave at a couple of teammates who passed by their locker row on their way out. "Naw, I got plenty more where that came from."
Jake shoved his feet into his sneakers and sat on the bench watching as Kevin yanked on his clothes. "Checking out the merchandise?" Kevin asked over his shoulder.
"Just noticing how scrawny you are compared to me," Jake retorted.
Kevin laughed, not offended. He quickly dressed, brushed his hair, and threw his hat on haphazardly, knowing that by the time he got to Edd's it would be dry, but a complete tangled mess that Edd loved. He had grown his hair out a little shaggy and knew Edd was pleased with it, as he said cheekily to Kevin that it was more to grab onto in the midst of passion. That thought brought a slight blush to Kevin's face.
Jake watched Kevin thoughtfully as his captain dressed. The insinuation, or rather, outright claim by his girlfriend, Carla, back in January was foremost in his mind. They had spent the day with Kevin and his friends, including the Eds now, at the Winter Festival in Peach Creek. Carla said to him on the drive home that she suspected Kevin and Double D were more than friends. It was a surprise to him, who never suspected Kevin might be into guys.
The insinuation did, however, cause him to watch Kevin a little closer, which became easier once the Eds started sitting with them at lunch. It was true that Kevin never talked about going on dates anymore. Before Christmas (and when Jake wracked his brain about it, he thought it was before Thanksgiving), Kevin would occasionally go out with a girl once or twice. Never anything serious, and never anything that went beyond a date or two.
Since Kevin hadn't mentioned dating, he was relentlessly teased by his teammates about the loss of his reputation as a ladies man and about not being able to score. Kevin laughed it off. Jake knew the laugh was genuine – Kevin didn't care that he didn't have a dating life.
Jake did remember a dip in Kevin's usual happy mood in November. He seemed morose and withdrawn. Jake at first thought Kevin might be crushing on someone, and he thought it might be Kevin's best friend, Nazz. Jake wouldn't have been surprised if Kevin were, and it would explain Kevin's attitude, but all of a sudden, Kevin was in a much better mood and Nazz was dating Eddy.
A much better mood was an understatement. Kevin looked over the moon. Jake had never seen Kevin as happy as he had been these past five months. The only thing that Jake could attribute that to was getting some. And not just getting laid. Kevin had become involved with someone who made him happy. This did explain Carla's suspicions, but Jake was curious as to why Kevin wouldn't just say he was dating Edd. Was he that worried about coming out at school?
Watching Kevin and Edd interact over the past few months convinced Jake that Carla was right. The eye contact and secret smiles alone spoke volumes at the lunch table. Edd never said much at the table. Jake could probably count the number of times Edd had participated in a conversation on the fingers of both hands. He quietly sat, directly across from Jake, and ate his packed lunch. Certainly, he listened to everyone, but Jake pegged him as shy and introverted, which was an interesting contrast to Kevin.
As he normally sat across from Edd, Jake caught most of the little looks and smiles he gave Kevin, as well as sometimes catching the ones Kevin gave back. It happened too often to be coincidental, especially as one or the other would develop a slight pink tinge on his cheeks.
Hinting at it in conversation with Kevin yielded nothing. Jake felt uncomfortable saying anything to his friend. If Kevin were gay and hiding a relationship with Edd, there was a reason and probably a good one. Jake respected that and respected Kevin too much to force the issue. If Kevin trusted him, he would tell him, simple as that.
A good clue, to Jake, was seeing Kevin and Edd out by themselves once at the movies. It was common to run into someone you knew in Peach Creek; it wasn't a very large town to begin with. He had often run into Kevin when out and Kevin was usually with Edd and their friends. This day at the movies was the first time he had seen Kevin and Edd alone. Neither Kevin nor Edd saw Jake, but Jake saw them – saw Kevin buy the tickets, saw Edd buy the popcorn and pop, and saw them walk into the theater together as Kevin put his hand on the small of Edd's back as he followed the smaller teen through the door.
This went on all through the end of winter and into spring. Jake thought that Kevin was getting a little careless at trying to hide his relationship with Edd. The looks exchanged were more obvious on Kevin's side, the sly smiles were evident, the small touches on the arm or shoulder in the hallways that Jake saw, the passing of a note at Edd's locker. Jake kept expecting other members of their team, especially the ones that sat with them at lunch, to say something, but to his surprise no one did.
Still, through all this, Jake's suspicions were just that – suspicions. He had no proof. It wasn't like he had caught Kevin and Edd making out somewhere. Still, Carla was never wrong about these things, and he had a feeling she was right about this. He waited for some sort of definitive proof before asking Kevin about it.
He got his proof at the talent show. Jake was as surprised as everyone else that Kevin could sing and play guitar. When Kevin came out on stage, Jake was the one who yelled "Freeeeebiiiiiiird" though he knew no one probably understood the reference. Jake was sitting to the left side of the auditorium, but he had seen Edd sitting with his closest friends a few rows back in the middle. He turned to look at Edd and saw the flushed cheeks, starry eyes, and open mouth as Kevin stood on the stage.
Jake knew that when Kevin said that he was dedicating the song to 'someone special, you know who you are', that Kevin meant Edd. He had to have meant that and Jake's second glance at Edd proved it. Edd was positively glowing. How could anyone miss that?
Kevin's eyes stayed on Edd the entire time he sang. That song? Too obvious to Jake to miss. Kevin even pointed right at Edd during the final verse. He couldn't believe Kevin's balls. Kevin may as well have said Edd's name, and Edd wasn't helping the matter as he looked so moved.
All of this went through Jake's mind as he watched Kevin change. He roused a bit when Kevin spoke and had to ask Kevin to repeat himself.
"I said, are you waiting for me?"
"Oh," said Jake. "Yeah sorry. Just in deep thought."
"Don't strain yourself."
"Haha."
"What's on your mind that's got you thinking such deep thoughts?" Kevin asked, slamming his locker shut and zipping up his sports duffel. He shuffled his guitar case onto his back.
"Oh, things," Jake said vaguely as he stood and shouldered his own sports bag.
The early evening sun warmed their faces as they left the building and walked together across the stretch of cracked pavement to Kevin's bike. Two helmets, Jake noticed, though one was attached to the back seat. "Dude, I have to say," Jake began, "I had no idea you could sing like that. It was amazing."
Kevin blushed and Jake could see the praise pleased him. "Thanks, man!" he said. "I guess I'm not bad. Not perfect, but I like to sing."
"I had no idea," Jake repeated.
"I just mess around. But I wanted to do this, so I figured what the hell, and just went for it," Kevin said, swinging his leg over the bike and turning to secure his duffel in the side storage.
Seeing he was slightly distracted by trying to do this while being unbalanced by the guitar case on his back, Jake said, "Yeah dude. That song was so romantic. I'm sure Edd loved it."
Kevin chuckled absently. "Yeah, he did," he answered, his vocal tone betraying how happy that made him. "The look on his face was…" and Kevin stopped abruptly and whipped his head around to stare at a grinning Jake.
"I knew it!" Jake exclaimed.
"Fuck, oh fuck, fuck fuck fuck fuck!" Kevin hissed, covering his face with his hands. "Oh shit!" he groaned as Jake just laughed. Kevin was mortified, more because he knew how upset Edd would be.
"Bro, it's ok!" Jake said, still laughing. "I'm just glad I was right all along!"
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Kevin said grumpily, dropping his hands listlessly to his thighs and looking at Jake with a sour expression. "Edd is going to fucking kill me."
"Just cause I know, man? Just cause I confirmed something I've known for months?"
"You've known?"
"You guys aren't very secret about it if someone looks close enough. Carla actually pointed it out at the Winter Festival."
"Shit."
"Dude, you fucking pointed to him when you sang that song! The look on his face was all I needed to know I was right!"
"Shit shit shit," Kevin repeated. "Jake, dude, you can't fucking tell anyone. Please!"
"Come on, Kev, you know me better than that. You're my friend, you ass."
"Seriously, Edd's gonna kill me when I tell him you know. I can't imagine what he'd do if everyone else knew."
Jake was concerned at how upset Kevin looked. "I'm serious, Kev, I won't say anything. You can trust me. But, just out of curiosity, why are you keeping in the closet."
Kevin grimaced at the term, then sighed as he reached up a hand to wipe at his face. "I…I…it's Edd. He's not ready. Personally? I don't care if anyone knows, but Edd's really worried about it. I'm not sure why; he doesn't give me a full answer when I ask. I think he's scared he'll get picked on or bullied about it."
"I can see that," Jake murmured. "There's some assholes in this school, but I don't think he'd have that hard of a time. It's not like you're the first gay guys here. Those guys don't really get picked on."
Kevin nodded. "I know, but Edd's been picked on his whole life and I guess he just doesn't want to give them another reason."
"Huh," Jake grunted. "Poor kid."
"Yeah. I'd do anything to make sure he doesn't get hurt, ya know?"
"Well, again dude, you have nothing to worry about from me. I ain't gonna say anything."
"I appreciate that," Kevin said, looking away.
"Edd seems like a nice guy," Jake mentioned. "I mean, I don't know him well. He never says anything when we're all at lunch together, but he seems nice."
Jake was surprised at the way Kevin's features softened and at the small and secretive smile that appeared on his friend's face. "He is. He's the nicest, kindest guy I've ever known."
"Ugh," Jake teased, making a face, "Don't get all lovey-dovey on me."
Kevin laughed, turning amused eyes on Jake, "Sorry man, can't help it."
"I am happy for you, bro. 'Bout time you got some action."
Kevin rolled his eyes, "Tell me about it." He lifted his helmet to his head and strapped it on. "Thanks again for not saying anything to anyone. I need to get home to Edd, he should have dinner waiting for me."
"Aw, fuck man, I can't even get Carla to make me a frigging sandwich," Jake complained of his girlfriend. The complaint, Kevin knew, was said in a teasing manner as Jake was quite head-over-heels in love with his girlfriend.
Kevin chuckled as he started his bike. "Carla mind gay guys? We double date with Nazz and Eddy a lot. We can make it a triple."
"Nah. Carla's always dragging me to pride parades. Her sis is a lezzie," then said, hoping he hadn't offended Kevin, "her words, not mine."
"Cool, let me know."
Jake stepped back, lifting his hand in a wave. "Hey, is the sex at least good?"
Kevin raised his eyebrows at the personal question, then realized this was Jake after all and let his features fall into a smug smirk. "Mind-blowing!" he called as he backed his bike up.
"Yes!" Jake yelled, laughing as he walked away to his car.
Kevin had only just shut the door at Edd's and set his duffel and guitar case on the floor when he felt as if he were tackled by a small force. It was Edd, jumping up at him, wrapping his arms tightly around Kevin's neck as Kevin's arms automatically curled in to hold Edd up. Edd's legs came up to wrap around Kevin's hips and Kevin felt Edd's face press into his neck.
Kevin chuckled, cuddling Edd to him. "Hey, what's this for, Dee?"
"Kevin," Edd choked out, "that was the most beautiful thing today. Thank you for singing that for me."
"I'm glad you liked it, my Dee. It said what I wanted to say to you."
"It was perfect."
"I know after that crap with my grandparents you've been worried," Kevin said. Then over Edd's attempted protest, he said, "No, I know you have, you can't fool me. You don't think I can read you after all these months?"
Edd pulled back and looked into Kevin's eyes. His own were damp with unshed tears, but he smiled that gap-toothed grin that drove Kevin crazy. "I know, Kevin."
"I don't ever want you to think I'd give up on what we have. I'm not going anywhere, ever. You're all mine," he assured Edd, pressing his forehead against Edd's. "Forever," he whispered.
Edd sighed happily. "And you are mine, Kevin."
"There is something I want to tell you," Kevin began, but Edd's mind was focused on something else.
"Can it wait? Can you take me upstairs, now?" he asked a little shyly. "I do not think I can wait any longer. You were at practice for a long time."
Kevin was delighted, as he always was when Edd was the one who wanted sex. He made sure to kick his shoes off and proceeded to carry his adorable boyfriend up the stairs so Edd could show Kevin just how much he appreciated the song Kevin sang for him at the talent show.
