They pulled up to the bookstore too quickly as Kevin slowed the bike into a parking spot. He took his time turning off the ignition and he noticed that Edd held on to him until the very last minute before slowly letting go. He removed his helmet and with Kevin's help, climbed off the bike.

The smaller boy smiled at Kevin with excitement. "Oh! The bookstore! I do not get tired of coming here!"

This was the perfect place to come to on a day when Edd just needed to be cheered up and they walked up the store. Kevin opened the door for Edd first and Edd thanked him as he walked inside.

"Give me a second real quick," Kevin said, motioning to the customer service counter.

"Oh, of course. Please, take your time. I will be over here in the science section," Double D beamed as he excitedly made his way to the shelving.

Kevin smiled as he watched him walk away. Even in his nerdy excitement, Double D moved with an authoritative aura among the books. While Kevin felt like a lumbering oaf trying to string words together semi-coherently, Double D commanded the language and the space and walked with more dignity than he saw anybody else possess.

He waited at the customer service counter, was helped by the girl that was trying to flirt with him, and left as quickly as possible. She was nice, and cute, but Kevin was in a rush to get to a certain little dork that was waiting for him in the science section of the store.

Kevin couldn't help himself and he slowly walked up to the aisle and peeked over the edge of the bookshelf to spot Double D pensively standing and reading an excerpt out of a reference book Kevin knew he could barely read, let alone understand. Double D stood with the air of a scholar and the way he held the book, it looked like something out of a photoshoot for the sexy and nerdy.

His hand rested on his chin in a pensive state and he very seriously read the text. His eyebrows were relaxed and focused, his stance casual but firm. He wore his beanie, a dark green long sleeve shirt, and dark wash jeans with tan converse. There was something almost magical in that image and Kevin tried to sneakily snap a picture on his phone but realized people were beginning to stare and he quickly scurried into the aisle. Kevin was almost on top of Edd when he noticed and smiled.

"Oh, Kevin. I'm sorry. I was too absorbed in my reading. Did you get what you were looking for?" Edd smiled at Kevin.

"Uhm, yeah. I - uh - actually, got this for you . . ." Kevin trailed off and lamely gave Edd the book, not sure how to present it as a gift without feeling embarrassed.

Double D gasped. "Kevin! This is the book I've been searching for!"

Kevin tried not to blush and nodded. "Uhm, yeah. I had them order it the other day."

"You called them to place the order?" Edd was as shocked as if Kevin had said he rode on a magic carpet there too.

"Well, I came in to make sure they remembered me so I could order the right book. I didn't want them ordering the wrong one in case I didn't remember the title correctly," Kevin mumbled to the floor.

"You didn't have to do this," Double D said with soft joy.

"Yeah, I know. But I wanted to . . ." Kevin kicked at the floor, his hands shoved deep into his pockets.

Kevin was silent for a few more seconds when he felt two arms close around him. "Thank you so much, Kevin. This is the nicest thing anybody has ever done for me."

He was stunned and didn't know how to react. The hug didn't last long before Double D released him and looked bashfully down at the floor.

"I apologize for hugging you all of a sudden, but," he looked up at Kevin with moist eyes. "You really made me feel so much better." Edd sighed and sniffled. "I was having a bit of a difficult day, you see, and this just made it so much better. Thank you so much Kevin."

If they hadn't been in public, Kevin would have probably fainted from the absolute joy he was feeling at that very moment. But instead, Kevin smiled, gave Double D a gentle squeeze of his arm and pet his head again.

"No, worries, Double D. Like I said, I'm here for you."

Double D nodded and they stood in silence for a few awkward more seconds.

"Uh, I'll go get you some tea, and you can continue looking, sound good?" Kevin said, clearing his throat.

Double D blushed and nodded, hugging the book tightly to his chest. "Why, yes. That would be wonderful. Uhm -"

"White Jasmine, no sugar?" Kevin smiled at him.

Double felt his heart flutter and he nodded. "Yes, thank you. I'm surprised you remembered," Double D chuckled shyly.

"I remembered the title of that book. Remembering your favorite tea, piece of cake," he beamed and left for the coffee shop.

"Large White Jasmine, please," Kevin said to the cashier looking over the menu.

Her eyebrows immediately shot up. "For you?" she laughed.

Kevin didn't look like the type for that sort of tea. A muscular athletic guy ordering such a flowery tea - something wasn't right and she smiled.

"Uh, no for someone else," he vaguely clarified. "I'll have a large coffee, cream, sugar, and whip cream, please."

"That's better," the girl nodded keying in the order.

Kevin chuckled, trying not to be annoyed at her conversational attitude - she was just being friendly.

"She still looking?" the girl asked, preparing Edd's tea.

"Uhm, yeah," Kevin said, not clarifying, trying not to appear too impatient.

"You must be so bored being dragged here on a Saturday. Good looking guy like you - bet you'd rather be out playing football or something," she said, now working on Kevin's drink.

"Uh, nah. Not really. I don't mind," he chuckled awkwardly, wanting to get back to Edd already.

She returned with the two drinks. "I hope she knows how lucky she is that she has a guy like you that doesn't mind hanging out in a bookstore on a Sa-"

"Kevin!" Double D smiled, coming up behind him.

Kevin turned to him and gave him his tea. "It's hot," he said cautiously. Double D nodded happily, as Kevin took the books from him and gave him the tea cup. Double D inhaled the floral scent and sighed, his face flushing with joy. Kevin smiled down at him.

"Thank you, so much Kevin. This was such a wonderful idea. You really didn't have to get me tea," Double D said, beaming at the lightly darkening water. Seeing his smiling face, though, Kevin knew he wanted to get him tea every single time.

Behind him, Kevin could almost feel the cashier's jaw drop as Double D mused, blowing softly on the tea.

"Anytime," Kevin said too smuggly. He was a little too proud for her to know that Double D was with him and as they turned to leave, he couldn't help turning back to her and winking as he followed Double D to a table.

A smile stretched across her face as they sat together. Kevin leaned back a little too proudly and Double D excitedly chattered on about the book he just found.

They went for a late lunch and on the way back, Kevin swore Double D was holding onto him a little tighter than usual. They'd had a wonderful day and Double D had asked Kevin so many things about himself, as if they hadn't known each other for over 10 years.

"Dude, we've known each other since we were like nine. There isn't much left to tell," Kevin chuckled as he ate one of the fries to his burger.

Double D took a small bite of his quartered turkey burger and shook his head. "Oh, no. I feel like I know nothing about you! What is your favorite music?"

After listing off bands Double D didn't quite know, and Double D in return listing documentaries Kevin had never watched - they both laughed at how little they actually had in common but how much they were enjoying each other's company.

They pulled up to Edd's house as the sun slowly began to descend in the sky. Double D was hugging Kevin tightly and didn't see what Kevin was groaning about until he saw that on his front lawn, Eddy and Ed were sprawled out looking up at the sky.

As the bike roared closer, Eddy sat up and scowled at Kevin. Kevin ignored him and stopped in front of the other house and helped Double D off.

"I'm sorry that Eddy is -"

"Nah, it's alright. I guess he wants to see you," Kevin sighed, taking Double D's helmet.

"Yes, well, I too must talk to him."

Kevin waited.

"We had a bit of an argument earlier today," Double D confessed.

"Ah," Kevin nodded in understanding. "That's why you were feeling so bummed, huh?"

Double D nodded. "It was simply ridiculous what he was going on about," he said defensively.

Kevin smirked. "Let me guess, he told you not to see me anymore?"

Double D didn't look at him and Kevin nodded.

He looked around and blocking Double D with his body from Eddy's curious glances, he lightly touched the top of Double D's hand. "I like hanging out with you," he said softly. "If you don't wanna, we don't have to. But if you wanna hang out some more, just tell me and I'm there."

Double D tried not shake as Kevin's large, tan fingers grazed the top of his soft, white hands. A blush crept up his face and Kevin took a deep breath, trying to embolden himself for what he was about to say next. He looked around a little and leaned closer to Edd, so he could whisper against Double D's reddening temple.

"I had a lot of fun today. I'll take you somewhere cooler next time, okay?" He didn't wait for the response before he touched his lips against Double D's beanie and quickly put his helmet back on and left. Double D was stunned and blushing. He felt like he was on fire and as he hobbled towards Eddy, he felt like he was about to faint.

Eddy rolled his eyes as he saw his friend uneasily walking towards him. He ran up and caught Edd right before he could fall and he groaned. "Alright, princess. Let's get you inside the house. That was too much excitement for you."

Ed picked up Double D and Eddy led the way into the house.

Once inside, Ed lay Double D down on the living room sofa and Eddy got him a cup of room temperature water. Edd didn't like drinking cold water. Double D took a sip and sighed. What just happened!

"Eddy?"

"Wait, let me talk first, Double D." Edd nodded for him to continue. "I'm sorry I was being a bit of an asshole earlier today. I just don't trust him and it just freaked me out that you were hanging out with him. You two were never really close so I just got pissed that you were being so reckless by your standards."

Edd nodded at his friend's explanation.

"I know it's none of my business who your friends are, but I just got kinda confused, so I got mad," Eddy reasoned looking down at the floor. Edd nodded. He did get angry when he felt lost or confused.

"I, too, apologize for being so rude earlier today. I don't know what came over me," Double D sighed, trying to temporarily forget what just happened with Kevin.

"You just got annoyed by me," Eddy laughed. "Happens once every ten years or so. It was about time."

They both smiled at each other. "We good?"

"Yes, we are fine. Thank you, Eddy."

Eddy shrugged. "Whatever, I still don't like that asshole. And what the hell were you guys doing today?"

Double D cleared his throat and told them about his day out with Kevin.

"Oh! My books! I left them in his backpack. I must go get them!" he gasped.

Eddy looked at him in confusion but didn't say anything. "Alright, Sockhead, we'll leave so you can go get your books back," Eddy said, as he pulled Ed off the floor. "We'll see ya later. So take your time," he called out, shoving the larger Ed out the front door before slamming it behind him.

Double D sat momentarily confused. That was unusually understanding of Eddy. Normally he would push and shove to hurry up and get it over with so they could hang out. Double D smiled and wondered if maybe his friend might have matured a little that day.

Edd stood and looked at himself in the mirror one more time before heading out to Kevin's house.

Chapter 3 - Please let me know what everyone thinks! I love feedback! I am trying to upload on the 1st and 15th of each month so hopefully we can see this story through to the end! :D