Holy cow! Another chapter already knocked out!? How the heck did I do that?! Seriously though, I think that last chapter just really messed with me for some reason. Not only did it kinda start out chunky, but it was kinda of a weird moment in the relationship for Kevin and Edd for me. They were in a situation where things could have gone really crazy and frisky, or stayed on the same path they've been going and I wasn't sure which way to take it. Now that that chapter is out of the way, this chapter came to me much much much more smoothly. I'm glad to see some people are still reading this. Thanks to koolone33 and Krysterr for sticking with my crappy ability to update and puretsubasa, welcome to the fandom, enjoy your stay!
Now, the moment you've all been waiting for! The super speedy Chapter 7: Seeing Ed to Ed!
Chapter 7: Seeing Ed to Ed
Light, probably the second most annoying thing to wake up to besides a blaring alarm clock, though just as annoying. Bright orange hair shifted against a cream colored pillow, bathed in equally orange light. Kevin growled lightly, hoping that it was enough to scare the sun back under the horizon. His half hearted defiance of the light seemed to do very little in terms of darkening the niggling brightness. Frustrated with the glaring brightness attempting to bypass his eyelids, he rolled onto his back roughly, shaking the bed with the rushed movement.
In that brief moment though, several things came to Kevin's half-asleep mind's attention. His arm collided with something unusually hard which lay under his covers, an arm was around his waist, and whatever it was under his covers make a soft if sleepy sounding 'eep' noise.
Oh damn. He groaned internally before gripping the edge of the covers lying across his bare chest. He jumped in slight shock as the now painfully obvious figure sat up under the covers. He slowly lifted the cover just enough to glance under it. His eyes connected with one of the last person he wanted in his bed. A sleepy blue eye looked down at his, the other being rubbed by a few fingers, the rest of the hand obscured by a brown sweater sleeve. There, in a sleepy stupor, sat Edd on his knees, his hair even more tussled than normal. Yeah… Damn… Kevin sighed, releasing the blanket, letting it fall again, obscuring his view of the androgynous teen sharing the bed with him.
Nearly a full minute passed with complete silence. Kevin simply stared at the ceiling while Edd got his bearings, he assumed. "Kevin?"
"Mm?" The quarterback grunted as he watched the tall lump in the bed shrink, feeling the smaller body slide up the sheets until his head poked out of the comforter.
"Why am I in your bed?" Edd mumbled sleepily as he rubbed his eyes with a yawn, one of the long sleeved arms reaching for a pair of glasses resting on a small nightstand beside the bed.
"Really wish I knew." Kevin sighed. "You were downstairs last night when I came up here."
Blushing softly, the black haired teen slid the covers off of himself and hopped out of bed. "I-I apologize Kevin. I believe I became disoriented at some point last night when trying to use the restroom. I assume I ended up coming here thinking it was my room." He laughed nervously as he pushed the black locks from his face as the shirtless young man watched him blankly. "I-I will make some breakfast as apology. Excuse me!" He mumbled quickly before all but bolting out of the room.
Kevin continued to stare where the teen once stood, a murky mind rolling a thought around. I think I figured out what to call that crazy thing he's got going on with that hair… Thought the teen as he himself rolled out of bed. Permanent sex-hair. He chuckled to himself, feeling quite clever.
After a quick stop by the bathroom, Kevin made his way downstairs, attempting to figure out his reason for not being quite as disturbed about waking up with a guy in his bed as he figured he should. As he reached the bottom step near the kitchen though, enchanting smells of sweet, syrupy pancakes drowned all thoughts, dead and forgotten.
"That would be a little weird." Chuckled Nazz as she sat on the counter, a pair of extra syrup-soaked waffles on a plate in hand. She placed another bite of the fluffy confections into her mouth and grinned. "So when are you coming over to my house to make breakfast huh?"
Blushing lightly, Edd laughed before carefully placing another pancake onto a small stack of them on a plate already. He opened his mouth to apologize, only to notice the house's normal resident nearly stumble into the kitchen, a t-shirt now covering his naked torso. The petite teen's face reddened worse, causing him to silently turn back to his cooking.
"Good morning Kev," Greeted the blond girl from the countertop. "Sleep well?" Nazz asked with a grin.
"Peachy," He mumbled before grabbing a couple of pancakes for himself. He patted the head of the cook as he passed by to grab the nearby bottle of maple deliciousness. "Thanks dork."
"O-Of course Kevin." Edd squeaked out, doing his best to try and curl around the stove he cooked over, his face still quite red. His eyes slowly moved to Nazz who was pulling a few more pancakes onto her plate.
The muscular young man blankly worked at his pancakes, his attention going to the emptied living room. "Everybody went home already?"
"Yup, most of them were gone by the time I woke up." Wiping her mouth with a napkin, Nazz chuckled lightly. "Well, most of them woke up to Rolf freaking out quite nicely when he found Jimmy nearly lying on top of him. The little guy has always kinda looked up to the big guy." Recalled the girl in sweats as she tapped her fork against her lips lightly.
"Not to mention that he's always been a little…" Kevin ended his sentence with a flip of his limp wrist. "Y'know?"
At the stove, Edd blushed lightly, his stomach twisting at the less-than-kind sounding words. He placed a few more pancakes on a plate for himself and shuffled over to the table. Silently he ate his breakfast, the two slightly older teens enjoying their own food. I believe I might have upset Kevin more than I thought I did. Surely he isn't the kind of person to normally say something like that. Edd's blue eyes peeked up at the groggy redhead. Not after the kindness he has shown me, a young man who… Dresses in… women's clothing.
From her perch on the counter, Nazz looked to the dazed face of her best friend and back to the boy-shorts and sweater clad teen. She could nearly feel the strangeness in the air. "I don't think it's that bad. He's just an affectionate little thing." Hopping down, she placed her dishes in the sink. "Besides, from what I heard, he wasn't the only one with an unexpected visitor."
The coquettish voice from the tom-boy made Kevin look up with a slight warning in his glare. "What of it?" He huffed. "The dork just got a little lost last night." Beside him, Double D sipped a small glass of orange juice, attempting to cool his warming features. "Who knows what Jimmy's intentions were?"
"I don't think that's the real issue here." Nazz sighed in a serious tone. She leaned forward, placing her hands at the table, leveling her gaze with a now noticeably nervous black haired protégé.
"M-May I help you Nazz?" Edd gulped.
"Yeah, ya can," She began "why the hell didn't you come sleep with me? I would have kept you warm just as well!" The two men looked at her for a few moments, one in shock, the other blankly.
"I… I-I-" Mumbled the glasses wearing male.
"You nearly molested him yesterday. I don't think that's all too safe." Kevin interjected, sipping his orange juice. "Other than that though," He looked to Edd, leveling his fork at him. "You need to try and talk to Dorky today, try and get him to stop being such an ass to you." It was a sore subject, but he was desperate to leave the topic of 'who-slept-with-who' behind.
Edd sighed softly, leaning back in his chair. He looked down to his smooth, pale legs for a few moments, spinning his fork around on the plate. "It would certainly be better than waiting and letting it get worse I suppose." He mumbled, pushing a few errant locks of black hair behind as ear. His eyes flicked to Kevin who seemed to be deep in thought, his eyes focusing on the citrus beverage before him. "Would you have any suggestions on how to deal with it?"
Taking a spot at the table, Nazz nodded. "I think I have a few. The guy has always had something for me right?" The surprise on Edd's face made her smirk. "What? I'mblond, not blind dude; I know he always gets all stupid around me. Anyway, I'll go over and talk to him and stuff, get him warmed up to talking to you."
"Would you really Nazz?" Edd gasped, playing a hand on one of the girls.
"Why not right? If that always fails, I'll drag him back kicking and screaming." The boyish girl gave a thumbs-up and winked.
Nodding, the feminine boy looked to Kevin who had begun to collect the dishes. "Would you mind accompanying me Kevin?"
"What for?" Asked the taller teen as he placed the dishes in the sink, turning to look at the pleading genius. "I m-mean sure I'll do it, but won't that make Eddy not wanna talk?"
Shaking his head, Double D stood. "This argument… From Eddy's point of view that is, is about you and myself spending a lot of time together. I believe Eddy is becoming jealous. You need to be there in case you need to defend yourself." He watched as Kevin began to frown, obviously about to say something cutting, causing him to hold up a finger. "That is if you are well behaved." Edd scolded lightly, stepping closer to the host of the house. His hip cocked slightly to the side, a hand on it while the other was still held up to silence Kevin's harsh comment about the scam artist. "You will only make things worse if you resort to uncivilized methods of communication."
Kevin paused for a few minutes, nearly dumbstruck as he looked at the androgynous teen before him in such a girly pose, blushing while trying to be firm. Was he serious? Did he really expect to be taken seriously? It's… Kinda… Really cute, Kevin admitted to himself while keeping a straight face. The thought caused him to turn back towards the sink, a hand rubbing his right temple. "Sure sure." Anything else said was lost on the football player as he stared down at the dishes in the sink, pools of left over syrup dripping from plate to plate. Did he really just admit to himself that a guy was cute? Well… I mean he doesn't really look like a guy too much. I guess it's okay right? Not… pla… play… plo… Whatever, not gay, right?
"I believe you're right Nazz… I will have to go back home and get a different set of clothes; all I have with me right now was the skirt I was going to wear today." Edd hummed in thought out loud. Kevin watched Nazz nod a head towards the living room.
"I'll give you a call Kev when I'm about to head back over, be sure you're here to Double D."
"Of course," Edd coughed lightly, the two young men seeing the girl to the door. Once she was gone, Edd began to collect his few things in the living room, his movements a little slower than normal. Kevin had gone back and was cleaning up the kitchen from breakfast silently. The long haired teen sighed to himself, looking at Kevin's t-shirt covered back. I feel terrible for what happened this morning… Standing up, Edd steeled himself, moving towards his target. "Kevin I…" He began, the taller of the two turning around to look slightly down at him. With the blue eyes once again on him, he seemed to shrink slightly, his cheeks blooming in red slightly. "I want to apologize for… For doing what I did… I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable… I-I hope you d-" The words halted as Kevin held up a hand, his face still quite serious. "Kevin…"
Sighing, the jock wiped his hands off on a towel draped over his left shoulder. "It really is cool Double D… It just surprised me is all." Stepping closer, he grinned, messing up the long hair. "Just warn me next time you're going to, cool?"
Edd smiled and latched onto the young man in a tight hug, his head nearly nuzzling the sturdy teen's shoulder. "Thank you Kevin! You are a truly wonderful friend!"
The two stood in their embrace, Edd slowly relaxing and leaning into the stronger body. He blushed at the sound at the faster heartbeat he heard thumping softly in the muscled chest. Kevin smirked and allowed one of his arms to go around the teen. No one's around… It's fine I guess. He reasoned. "Dork…" He mumbled in a near-affectionate voice, blushing faintly at the light giggle that emitted from the teen against him. You're way too dangerous Double Dork, concluded the quarterback as he looked above the long haired head, to the window outside, fresh snow beginning to fall.
Kevin looked back down to the calmed Edd, still quite content on not moving. "So what was it you and Nazz talked about doing with your clothes?" He asked.
Edd blushed as the hum of Kevin's voice roused him from his serene state. "Well…" He began as he released his hold on the teen, the feeling of the redhead's hand sliding against his lower back making him faintly blush worse. He moved over and opened up his bag, producing a rather short, pleated, red and green plaid skirt. "I-I had planned on wearing this with some stockings… B-But Nazz recommended I wear something a little less… 'Showy' as she put it while talking with Eddy who already seems to have problems with my way of dressing."
Still standing near the sink, Kevin chuckled before nodding. "Yeah, whether or not he was the one who wanted you to do this whole thing, he probably would be a little speechless with you in a little thing like that." He laughed louder at the indignant huff he received from the slim teen.
"After all that work of convincing myself that I could wear such a skirt outdoors…" Ruefully, Edd carefully placed the garment back into his bag before standing up and looking to Kevin. "I'll be back soon." He informed before quickly moving out the door, doing his best to jog across the cul-de-sac.
Kevin glanced out the window of his living room, watching the large puffs of air escaping the painfully unathletic boy. While he did seem like the slim, fit figure, it was not secret that Edd was the one out of all of the kids of the neighborhood with the least amount of physical prowess. Well dork, you've changed one thing in your life, what's one more? Grinning to himself, he turned around and went back to his morning chores.
It was near noon when Nazz and Kevin met back up. They were waiting at Double D's door, having ringed the bell some time ago. "Maybe he's showering." Kevin suggested, turning to the slightly shorter girl. He was about to reach for the doorbell once more when the door slowly swung open, a young looking woman yawning lightly, a fuzzy, warm looking terrycloth robe barely hanging on to her healthy form. Both teens were dumbfounded.
"Oh my, hello." Hazel, Edd's mom greeted, blushing softly as she adjusted the soft brown garment. "Eddward did mention that he had friends coming to meet him." Pushing a bouncy, curly lock of platinum blond hair back, she motioned for both of them to enter. "Would either of you like some soothing, hot green tea?"
"N-No thank you ma'am." Kevin gulped. He had only ever seen glimpses of Edd's mom entering the house, but never talked to her, and when he did catch sight of her, she wasn't nearly spilling out of a robe.
Nazz said very little as the woman shuffled off into the kitchen, a pair of frog slippers squeaking light with her movements. As she entered, a crisp, clean looking man emerged, a cup of what was most likely some of the tea mentioned before. He resembled their cross dressing friend only in terms of the messy black hair and collected appearance while his looks were apparently received from his mother.
The tall man glanced over to them, slowly approaching as he sipped his steaming beverage, a newspaper under his other arm. "I assume you're here to see Eddward?" He asked as if evaluating them for some kind of job.
"U-Umm… Y-Yessir." Kevin nodded. He'd never felt such as sense of dread as he did under the cool, calm eye of the short haired man. Nazz could only nod.
Daniel watched them silently, standing before them like some warden as he sipped his tea. "I assume you're aware of his recent… Changes?" He questioned evenly, receiving a pair of quick nods. "And you're aware of the implications this presents to others? The negative light many will put him in?"
"We do sir, in fact, Kevin here has been sure to keep an eye on him during school. He's a popular guy so nobody really messes with him or people he likes." Nazz quickly explained, throwing an arm around the taller teen.
After another, calm sip from his tea, Daniel turned his attention to Kevin. "Kevin, is it? Yes yes, I remember you and your family. Mike and Abby Davids' boy, right?"
"Yessir." Kevin croaked, nearly crumbling under the steely gaze. He could feel the sweat beginning to glide down the back of his neck as the cool blue eyes focused on him.
"My wife and I thank you for watching out for Eddward. He's not the most assertive young man there is." And, for the first time since they saw the man, he gave them a small, very small hint of a smile. "I will be sure to write a sticky note to remind myself to allow you both in our home or often." With that said, he handed Kevin the warm cup and saucer, producing a small pad of yellow post-it notes from one pocket, a pen from the other, quickly jotting a note down and haphazardly sticking it to the nearby closet. Taking his drink back, he nodded to them. "Good day."
Once Daniel had gone back to the kitchen, the two released a breath neither of them noticed they were holding. "That was…" Nazz began.
"Intense…" Kevin mumbled, running a hand through his hair. "It's nice that Double D never inherited that… Power."
The sound of feet descending the stairs caused the two to look up and breathe a sigh of relief at their effeminate friend. He adjusted his glasses as he hopped down the last stair, his hands dusting the tight, slightly flared and faded jeans hugging his slim legs. He glanced up to his friends, noting their ragged expressions. "W-What?"
"I-It's nothing dork, let's get going." Kevin mumbled as he watched the teen placed his feet in a pair of ankle boots.
Once they were outside, Nazz whistled softly as Edd pulled a thick orange hoddie over his slim t-shirt covered frame, a hint of flat belly being flashed. "Lookin' good dude. I especially like the hair pins." She commented, motioning into the multi-colored pins holding back the hair near his left temple, the rest pulled back into a neat bun.
"Th-Thank you Nazz." Mumbled Edd as he produced a small vial of clear lip gloss, carefully applying it to his lips, protecting them from the cold as well as giving them an enticing sheen. "How did Eddy react when you told him about the talk?"
"Well, the little shrimp was about to put up a fight until I explained how I saw it. That is, it being mostly his fault anyway for being a jerk. I also reminded him that he either meets us at the park or we just meet him in his room at our time of choosing." The short haired blond chuckled.
Edd shook his head slightly and sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "I guess it's now or never."
"You'll do fine dork. You had to have learned something from your dad." Kevin assured the feminine protégé. He looked to Edd with a smirk before noting the curious look.
"My father? What about him?" He asked curiously.
"Uhh… I-It's nothing, don't worry about it."
They reached the small park near the cul-de-sac, once where they had played many times as children, now, especially during winter, it was deserted. Already on one of the swings sat a rather perturbed looking Eddy, his feet kicking ditches into the snow. He looked up as Nazz, Edd and Kevin approached, his eyes glaring at the jock for a moment before looking to Edd's slightly less-than-average outfit. At least it wasn't a skirt. Then he looked to the blond who had stopped some distance away, watching the shortest teen there carefully.
"Hello Eddy." Edd mumbled as he carefully dusted off the swing next to Eddy's. He sat down, now between Eddy and Kevin. "Thank you for showing up."
"Yeah yeah." Eddy grumbled, looking down at the floor. "Here to also tell me that I'm a jerk?" He asked, glancing to Nazz briefly.
Tapping his black boots together, the genius sighed. "Well, yes, unfortunately. You were a jerk yesterday Eddy. You said hurtful things about me and made incorrect judgments on my ability to choose friends." He began. "Kevin has been very kind to me ever since the beginning of this whole ordeal…" He glanced over to the redhead who looked ahead blankly, doing his best to keep his mouth shut.
"Oh and me and Ed haven't? Oh wait, you wouldn't know 'cause you weren't around at all!" Yelled the short teen accusingly.
Noticing the strong teen beginning to tense up, Edd smiled lightly at him before turning back to Eddy. "You are correct Eddy; I have been neglecting you and Ed which I apologize for. I don't want our friendship to end over some silly game, but I do have the right to have other friends, as do you. I will be sure to accompany you on your scams and eat lunch with you, but remember this; I will be spending time with Kevin, Nazz and anyone else of my choosing." Edd said calmly, looking to the slowly calming scam artist.
"Some best friend you are." Eddy grumbled, looking away.
Edd bristled at the accusing sneer. "Friend, yes, slave, no. You are neither my keeper nor my master. I don't point fingers or yell if you decide to go about your own business Eddy." He sighed before continuing. "While we can still be friends, you are not in control of who else I am friends with."
Eddy grumbled before turning his head back to look at the holes he had dug in the snow with his shoes. "Fine… So what about this-" He motioned to the female clothing on the teen. "whole thing?"
"In the short amount of time this bet has been going on, I have grown to enjoy dressing like this. I feel that it is a better representation of me as a person." Edd mumbled, looking down to his gently swinging legs. "If you don't agree with it, I am sorry, but I will not change."
Sighing heavily, Eddy looked up to the overcast sky as large, chunky flakes began to drift down. "You're not goin' all weird on me though, are ya?"
Blushing, the inky haired teen shook his head. "No Eddy, I'm still the same old Double D."
"That's all I need I guess. We can't do scams without ya buddy." Eddy sighed once more. "But I'm not saying you were right or I was wrong or anything." He leaned back in his swing, looking to the silent quarterback. "And I still don't like you."
"Feeling's mutual Dorky." Growled Kevin.
Hopping down from the swing, Eddy thrust his hands into his pockets. "Great, now we need you to draw up some plans for an igloo maker Sockhead. Kids'll pay big bucks for a chance to camp out like real Eskimos." One could practically hear the bells of cash registers going off in his head.
"Of course Eddy." Edd laughed softly before sliding off the swing. "I'll meet you and Ed at his place soon enough." Seeing the short youth glance over his shoulder at Kevin, he shrugged.
"Whatever, just get over there in an hour."
Once he was gone, Edd laughed lightly. "That went much better than expected."
"You did great dude! I was expecting some fists to fly from someone, but that was great!" Nazz cheered as if congratulating the slim teen on winning a soccer match, clapping him on the back happily.
Wincing, he thanked the blond before glancing to Kevin who grinned down at him, capturing him around the shoulders with one arm, his other going to give him a light noogy. "Ah! K-Kevin! My hair!"
Kevin laughed loudly. "You're such a girl dork!" He released the teen who carefully fixed the errant strands of hair before turning back to the perpetrator. He huffed, putting his hands on his slim, jean covered hips.
"I'll have you know, it took me approximately fifteen minutes to get my hair like this." Edd huffed again. "Some of us care about our appearance." He gave a small smirk to the redhead who raised an eyebrow.
"You got somethin' to say Double Dork?" He taunted, crossing his arms. "You think just 'cause you stood up to little Eddy means you can take me?"
Blushing, the shorter youth charged forward. "I'll show you!"
Nazz watched in rapt pleasure as Edd collided into Kevin, sending them both into the nearly seven inches of snow. She was quite aware the jock was allowing the bookworm to roll him around, grinning when Edd covered the redhead's face in snow.
"That's it dork!" With a simple push, Edd felt himself easily pinned by the large, stronger teen. "Can't move can ya?" Edd frowned as Kevin loomed over him, pinning his arms above his head and legs with his over. "How 'bout this?" Kevin began. "You let me work you out some at the school gym and you tutor me in some math. The teach has really been ridin' me about it and I need some help."
"Me? Try and work out with you? Preposterous."
"C'mon dork, it'll be fun. Plus I'll be getting some extra credit for helping out a… Well a less-than-fit student."
Sighing, Edd looked up at the handsome, grinning young man. "…Fine…" He mumbled, looking off to the side.
"Great! Tomorrow's day one of training. Be prepared." He grinned, lifting the young man out of the snow easily.
"Wonderful… I need to go home and change now though… My jeans are absolutely soaked." Edd groaned lightly before heading back towards the cul-de-sac, followed by Kevin.
Nazz saddled up beside Edd and placed an arm around his waist. "Just to let you in on a little secret…" She mumbled, pulling the teen closer. "Kev's a slave driver."
"Am not!"
"Sooo are!"
For those wondering, if you read it, what Kevin was going to ask in my last note in the last chapter, the whole working out proposal was it... It basically came down to me wanting an excuse to... Well, you'll read it when I get it written.
Stay tuned kiddies for the next exciting chapter of Excuse Me While I Kiss This Ed! Chapter 8: Work That Ed! Rumors fly, food is eaten, a possible shower scene unfolds and Double D's secret love is what?!
Final Note: Wow... I think I wrote this thing nearly in one whole sitting