The first thing he became aware of is warmth. It was all around him, smothering but not suffocating, straddling the line between comfortable and unbearable. Slowly, lethargically, he realized that the warmth was shifting ever so slightly beneath him, expanding and lowering. Breathing.

His eyes finally managed to open and his first thought was 'What's Matt doing in my room?'

Except he hadn't gone to bed last night, or at least not to his bed. No, he'd been held comfortably hostage in the arms of a man who had just decided on his lot in life.

Edd shifted his head upwards to look at the man in question whose chest he was currently using as a pillow. Matthew's face was relaxed in his slumber, with none of the stress and anxiety that usually plagued him during the day. Like this, it was hard to notice his age, his handsome features shining through even with the metal deformities he seemed to resent so much.

Edd's gaze traveled along the line of his metal jaw, took a detour around the shiny artificial eye, and he found it didn't take away from the whole so much as altered it. It was different, and definitely not the epitome of beauty, but if there was anyone who could somehow pull off cyborg it'd be Matt, Edd thought to himself with a faint chuckle.

A tug at his hand made him look forward, across the short, unoccupied expanse of Matthew's sweater-clad chest, to a still sleeping Matt who held Edd's hand in his own loose grip. If Matthew was relaxed Matt was a borderline puddle of a person at the moment, with a hand on each of the them and a knee hooked around one of Edd's legs on top of Matthew's. A borderline puddle of a clingy koala, he mentally corrected himself.

His amusement was really the only thing keeping his embarrassment at bay, his head on top of Matthew, his face so close to Matt's. It was quite the position he found himself in. For a moment he debated just giving in and staying in this position. But no, this really wasn't- he couldn't-

Not yet.

Edd slowly and carefully extricated himself from both their grips, almost falling off the bed in the process. Finally, though, he managed to disentangle himself and stand up beside the bed. Looking down at the two redheads sleeping at the end of the bed, with their legs awkwardly hanging over the edge, he felt something warm and soft swell up inside him, a surprising surge of affection that hadn't been there a week ago.

It was... unexpected-

(Edd's gaze roamed over them, their long lashes and mussed hair and sleeping faces and tangled limbs.)

-but not unwelcome.

For just a moment, he let himself indulge in that feeling, taking the blanket and draping it over the two of them even as he still observed their features. The line of Matthew's throat, the curve of Matt's jaw, the rise of their cheekbones.

(In a second of temporary insanity, Edd understood Matt's narcissism just a little better.)

Then the world went back to normal and he headed out the door of the room, careful not to trip on any of the junk lying around. Warmth lingered in his chest.

Closing the door softly, Edd headed down the hall, through the empty living room (Paul must've gone out for a smoke) and into the kitchen to grab some quick breakfast. As he ate his hastily poured cereal, however, he gaze traveled to the window, or more specifically through he window, to the neighbouring house. His brow furrowed in mild concern, remembering Edward's dangerously furious outburst and consequent exit yesterday. Tom had said that the man had shacked up with Eduardo and his housemates instead, but still...

He couldn't help but worry.

Edward was obviously not in a good place after seeing Tord and, ugh, of course he wasn't. Edd felt like hitting himself, he was so stupid. There were so many issues between Edward and Red Leader, so many underlying problems, but he hadn't given any of that any thought yesterday. No, his mind had been too occupied with Tord to really notice Edward's increasingly withdrawn behaviour.

And yeah, he was worried about Tord – extremely so – and he definitely wanted answers, but that was no excuse to ignore a friend in clear distress, nor to push another into clamming up from accusations. And speaking of friends in distress...

He left his empty bowl in the sink and, with one last look out the window and a reassuring nod to himself, marched purposefully through the house, coming to a stop in front of one particular door.

He knocked, "Tom? You awake?"

Several moments passed until he finally heard and unintelligible groan from the other side, which he took as permission to push the door open, immediately closing it behind himself. Tom was lying in a miserable heap on his bed, partly curled around Susan.

"...what'cha wan'?" Tom managed to articulate, his voice sound muffled through the pillow pressed to half his face.

Edd frowned slightly and went to sit at the edge of the bed, with Tom's back to him, "Are you alright?"

A prolonged pause, then a grumble, "...course I am... same as always."

"...I'm not buying that."

" 'm fine."

"Look Tom, about yesterday-"

"I'm fine."

"-I didn't consider how anyone would feel-"

"Edd-!"

"-and Thomas really shouldn't have-"

"I SAID I'M FINE!" Tom shot up from his position on the bed to shoot him a baleful glare, but he immediately hunched over, cradling his pounding head in his hands, "Shit..."

Edd's hands hovered worriedly, wanting to physically comfort the man but sure it would probably only make it worse, "Fuck, Tom, I'm sorry-"

"Don't."

Edd's mouth clicked shut and his hands lowered. He took a quick glance around the room before focusing the nightstand. Right, he could be of some help. He stretched his arm out and he reached the drawer to open it and pull something out, "...have you had a painkiller yet?"

"...no."

Edd considered the pack in his hand, "Have you eaten?"

"..."

Edd sighed, "I'll get you some cereal." a grumble of malcontent sounded behind him as he walked towards the door, "Oh shut it, you know I can't cook. It's either cereal or you suffer." Another grumble, this time of seemingly reluctant assent, and Edd had to restrain a chuckle. He made a quick trip to the kitchen, filling up a bowl with dry cereal (Tom never had much of an appetite for milk on mornings like this). Before he could hurry back, however, the backdoor opened, letting in a scruffy looking Paul. Edd raised an eyebrow, "Good smoke?"

Paul's shoulders hitched a bit but when he turned to look at him he was calm as ever, "Yeah, pretty much." he looked awkwardly to the side, like he wanted to say something but didn't know how.

Edd tilted his head, "Something the matter?"

Paul's shoulders tensed even more before h consciously lowered them, "...look, I don't know what's going on between you all. From what I've seen, it's some... pretty heavy shit." He scratched his chin nervously, "But uh, don't judge your friend too harshly. He's, heh, a bit of an asshole, but he has good intentions and his plans aren't half bad either."

Edd mulled over his words before giving him a nod of acknowledgment and a wry smile, "Alright. Thanks, Paul."

Said man seemed relieved, apparently having expected this conversation to go differently, "Oh, uh, yeah sure, I'll just-" he made an aborted motion towards the living room and Edd nodded again, leaving first to head back to Tom's room, bowl of cereal in one hand, glass of water in the other. He wondered if Paul would be staying for a while. Somehow it didn't occur to him at all to just kick him out.

Back in Tom's room, Edd handed him the bowl and set the glass on the nightstand, next to the pack of painkillers. He sat back down on the edge at the foot of the bed as Tom unenthusiastically shoved the dry, bland cereal into his mouth. Edd fiddled with the sleeves of his hoodie, trying to get his thoughts in order. A few minutes passed like this until the strong CLACK of a glass being set down on hard wood broke him out of his reverie. The bowl now sat next to the glass on the nightstand, both empty; the pills had been shoved back into the drawer, presumably sans one. He gaze traveled to Tom, who was staring at his hands with a frown that was only in part physical discomfort.

Edd cleared his throat, "...uh, I-"

"Thanks." Tom droned without looking up. Edd blinked, eyes momentarily flitting to the emptied bowl before they softened the slightest bit.

"Yeah, no problem."

And awkward silence settled between them. Edd knew he wasn't likely to get much out of his friend, but he refused to just leave without at least trying. Now, if only the silence would stop suffocating his words before they could leave his throat...

Surprisingly, it was Tom who spoke up first. Though then again, maybe it shouldn't be so surprising, they had been good friends for years now, secrets and worries were things they'd used tot ell each other all the time, back when their group had been whole.

"It shouldn't feel like betrayal." Tom murmured, Edd's concerned frown deepening. He hesitated for a moment before taking the leap.

"Is this about Thomas?"

The furrows on Tom's forehead deepened at the name, "It shouldn't, I legit hated him a few days ago. But it does." His hands form fists, "He's... been through so fucking much, Edd, and he trusted me with that for some reason. I-" his fists clenched, jaw tensing, "I let him play on Susan. And then he just... went after fucking Tord at the first sign of him and turned on me like so much trash!"

His hands were trembling now, although Edd couldn't quite tell whether it was in rage or sorrow. Maybe an unbalanced mix of both. He didn't even think about it before laying a hand on Tom's shoulder, which stilled an tensed up under his touch.

"I'm sorry. It was awful, and I should've stopped the whole thing from escalating."

Tom released a mirthless laugh, "Guess throwing the first punch didn't really help." he muttered bitterly.

Edd unsuccessfully tried to suppress a snort, "No, not really. But I think we're all at fault, one way or another."

Tom slowly let his shoulders sag, "...I guess you're right... still sucks though."

This time he didn't even try to suppress his dry chuckle, "Sure does."

AN:

i got some really nice tags on a chapter reblog recently and it really gave me the spark i needed for this chapter so, uh, thank kofi-na i guess

hey if you wanna talk to me or anything, hit me up on tumblr, I'm always happy to talk or answer questions
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