Author's Note: I was going through my photos looking for the screenshot I had saved of my cousin's Disney+ sign in and saw the cover photo and forgot I had meant to make it a thing. So here's The Thing.™

Enjoy!

Edd stood in front of the chocolatier's display case and scrutinized every sweet treat on display. He figured if he was rejected, he'd at least have the chocolate to drown his broken heart in.

"What are you thinking of getting, Eddward?"

He turned to see his mother behind him, a bottle of chocolate wine carefully tucked under her arm because her hands were full of small boxes of assorted chocolates she liked to stock up on as Thank You gifts for her clients. The wine was a treat to herself that he always thought was a silly indulgence for someone so pulled together, classy, and sophisticated.

But everyone has their vices.

His was still jawbreakers, but chocolate was starting to become a thing.

When the bakery opened a couple years ago, everyone came to see what they had to offer and it soon became a hit because they offered everything.

Rich Swiss cocoa all year.

French dark chocolate that moms all over town called orgasmic.

German chocolate so rich it made your teeth ache.

And spicy Chilean chocolate espresso beans that got Edd through finals week. His father is always worried he'd get an ulcer, so he only indulges during the school year.

He knows his mother is thinking he's going to start up stocking up on the espresso beans again, but his heart put the thought out of his mind.

"The cherry cordials look good, don't you think?" He asked as he pointed to the box of a dozen cherries covered in rich Swiss dark chocolate.

"Ooooh," she breathed as she came to his side to see what he was gesturing at. "Those do look good. I'll take a box myself," she said as she went to get a clerk to help them box up the chocolate in the case and bag everything else up so they could go about the rest of their Mommy and Son Day.

But the warm fall weather made the motorcycles on the road hard to ignore.

Mary Vincent was very careful to give the bikes a wide berth, but they worried her.

"Not enough doors," she'd say as one would whiz by.

"Kevin has one," Edd would always reply and she'd look sad as she made the sign of the cross and he'd laugh because she wasn't a very religious woman.

Just a worried mother.

Who got everyone in the cul-de-sac a motorcycle helmet when Kevin's dad gave him his old Harley for his 16th birthday.

She knew they'd all want a ride so better safe than sorry.

They mozied about town in their safe Subaru, to the bookstore, the grocery store, the dry cleaners, then a movie and dinner at their favorite sushi spot before heading home.

Kevin's garage door closed as they pulled up and Edd was grateful that all their houses had garages.

Not everyone needs to see what you're bringing home.

It took him three days before he put the cordials in his backpack.

On Friday, he summoned the courage to give them away. Or take them home and stuff his face while he cried and watched Trigun again.

"Um, Kevin?"

"Yo?" The redhead answered as he turned around and Edd's heart sank into the center of the Earth's core.

He hadn't noticed that his neighbor was standing with the other defensive lineman on the football team.

"Damn my ardent focus," he thought to himself, but at least it was Friday. If anything happened, he could go home and nurse his wounds and no one would be the wiser.

"I was…," he began and his whole body dried up so he coughed a bit and shook his head as the others asked him if he was ok. "I'm fine, gentlemen," he said as he swallowed and then pulled the chocolates out of his messenger bag. "I was just going to give these to you, Kevin, because I thought of you and thought you'd like them."

And he stood there shaking like a leaf in a hurricane as the other teens erupted in laughter while Kevin turned and banged his head on his locker.

"You stupid, stupid dork!" He hissed out, as he tried to contain his smile, yanked his locker open, and pulled out the same box of chocolates with a tag that had his name on them.

Well, Kevin's nickname for him.

Double Dork

"Oh, my God," Edd breathed as his grin grew wider by the millisecond.

"Yeah, he was gonna give them to you on your lil study date tomorrow," one of the guys laughed.

"But it looks like you beat him to it, Stud," another snorted and Kevin groaned, "Guys!"

"Yah, yeah," they all murmured as they walked away, some still laughing, others making kissy faces, but Edd was too dumbfounded to care.

About them anyways.

"You like me, too?"

Confused, suspecting blue eyes looked into happy emerald and Kevin just shook his head.

"You need a ride?"

Edd nodded, glad his mother insisted on him bringing his helmet with him everyday, just in case.

And she keeps cherry cordials on hand for when ever Kevin is over for a cordial visit.

Edd's father has taken to the Chilean espresso beans on Saturday nights, though.

Curfews and finals can really wear you out.