Edd walked to his garage with sweaty palms and a dry mouth. He could feel the bags under his eyes from the lack of sleep he'd gotten the night before. Everything that Nazz and Marie had told him just kept running through his mind. The amusement park, their plan, the role he had to play in it. He didn't understand why they couldn't just call the cops. It didn't make sense to him, but he knew that Marie and Nazz would have his back no matter what. Of course things never went as planned. The bike in his garage was proof of that.
When he opened the door to step into the garage he stopped for a minute. Things didn't always go as planned. What if this didn't either? Edd rubbed his hands across his face and groaned loudly. He needed to make sure that whatever happened he had a clear path to get out, and he realized that the best way to do that was to open up the big door of the garage.
"Perfect," he whispered before he started to work on the bike again.
He finally had the last parts that he needed and he wasn't going to let anything get in his way, he just needed to finish it, he also knew that focusing on finishing the bike would keep him from feeling so anxious while he waited for Nazz and Marie's plan to get underway. He had the simplest part to play in it all, just distract Terrence and let them do their thing. Edd had to make a show of it though, he needed to act like he was struggling with the bike. According to Nazz and Marie, Terrence wanted Edd to go to him, so he needed a reason.
Edd didn't want to wait too long though because he wasn't sure how long Ed could keep Eddy busy. He knew that opening the garage would probably catch the other guy's attention and as Edd sat there staring at the part in his hand he felt it. It was just like the day he grabbed the bike and brought it home, he could feel someone watching him. He gently set the part down on the floor of the garage and got up. He paced back and forth for a few minutes until he didn't have that feeling of being watched anymore.
The brunette picked a wrench up off the work bench beside him and threw it. He didn't watch as it flew across the garage but he heard when it smacked the concrete in the driveway. He turned to face the back of his garage and smiled to himself. He wanted it to seem like he really needed help and after the confrontation in the garage there was no way Terrence would believe that Double D would come to him unless he really needed help.
To make his frustration even more believable he reached up and rearranged his beanie to make himself look a bit disheveled. Edd took a deep breath, texted Nazz, and then walked across the street in huff. When he reached Eddy's house he stopped at the front door and took another breath before knocking. Like he had expected Terrence answered the door, but unlike he'd expected the older man seemed to be holding back. His usual smug smile was gone and he was feigning disinterest, but Edd could see through it.
Terrence crossed his arms and leaned against the doorway before speaking. "Eddy isn't here, sorry."
Edd looked down at his feet and then glanced up at Terrence through his eye lashes. "Um, actually I came to talk to you, Terrence."
Terrence straightened up and dropped his arms to his side. "Oh, uh, is everything okay?"
The brunette could hear the confusion in the other man's voice. "I need your help, you said you know bikes, and I'm just struggling with this last bit of it. Can you help me?" He asked before adding a soft, "please" at the end.
The "please" was what got him. It was exactly what Terrence had been wanting but he hadn't expected it so soon. It caught him off guard but clearly the little guy needed help, and if that had brought Beanie Boy to him then he'd take it. Terrence stepped out of the house and shut the door behind him.
"Lead the way, Beanie Boy." He said gesturing down the steps.
Edd wanted to roll his eyes but instead forced himself to smile. "I thought I said no nicknames."
They walked back towards Edd's garage and Terrence caught the smile that crossed the brunette's face. "Yeah, but I think I found the right one."
Edd kept the smile on his face but felt his skin crawl. He suddenly realized that this entire time Terrence had been flirting with him, or at least some creepy version of flirting. That's what he'd been trying to manipulate him into. Edd hoped that Terrence would take his silence as a confirmation instead of an insult, if he was as narcissistic as he seemed then that's probably what he would think.
When they reached the garage Terrence took a look at the bike and the remaining parts. To him it seemed like an easy fix, but to someone who'd probably never fixed a bike before he could see why Beanie Boy had been struggling. He looked around for the wrench he needed and spotted it laying in the middle of the driveway
"I can understand why you needed me now. This last part is always a bit tricky, I've got you Beanie Boy." He said walking to pick up the wrench.
Edd nodded. "Thank you. If you've got this I'm going to grab us a couple of drinks, I'll be right back."
Terrence grinned, "If you really want to thank me you should come to dinner with me."
"I'll think about it." Edd said, forcing the smile back to his face before walking to the kitchen.
Edd could hear the clanging of metal on metal in the garage while he went through the fridge to get their drinks. He took a moment to call Nazz's phone and without saying a word put his phone in his pocket and walked with the drinks back to the garage. He handed Terrence a drink and put his drink and phone down on the workbench.
"So how long are you planning on staying?" Edd asked walking back to sit on the floor across from Terrence.
Terrence chuckled. "Why? Are you trying to get rid of me?"
Edd laughed back. "No, actually. I'm not ready for anything yet, but if you're going to be around for a while, and you can actually help me get this thing running, I might be okay with maybe hanging out with you a little more."
Terrence stopped tinkering and just looked at Edd. He was trying to figure out what had happened. It had only been a couple of days since they had talked in the garage and it hadn't gone well. Terrence had been a bit surprised at how easily Edd had figured him out. Yes, he'd been trying to work the situation to his advantage, but he didn't want feelings, he just wanted to fuck around. Knowing how messed up Beanie Boy was he figured that he could have a bit of fun with the spiral that was clearly happening.
Now though, something was off. "You're gonna give me whiplash, Beanie Boy."
Edd sighed. "I know. I've been dealing with a lot recently. I figured if my friends could give me a second chance after everything I've done, then I can give you one."
"Okay," Terrence said nodding his head, "But you should know I don't want just dinner."
Edd knew what he wanted, and he hoped that Nazz and Marie would get their plan rolling before Terrence decided he wanted it now. "Well, I'm not ready for that."
Terrence nodded again, "I know Beanie Boy, but you will be."
On the other end of the phone Nazz and Marie exchanged a look. Their plan wasn't going the way they'd wanted it to go. They knew Edd better than Terrence so they could pick up on the underlying tone of fear in his voice. They could also pick up the vague threat of Terrence's words. This guy was more twisted than they'd realized.
"We've gotta call the cops now." Marie whispered angrily.
"I think you're right, I don't think Double D is going to be able to bait a confession out of him."
Marie grabbed her own phone and the print out of the article they'd found. "I'm gonna call the tip line but you should stay on the phone just in case things go south, we need to be able to hear if Double D needs help."
Nazz felt a pang of guilt wash through her, why hadn't she just called the tip line in the first place?
