Forget-Me-Not 9
The moment Kevin and Edd got out of Rolf's backyard, all eyes were on them. Nat gave them a wolf-whistle and Nazz giggled. Rolf clapped for them and the others cheered them on playfully. Both Kevin and Edd were embarrassed, but neither of them wanted to let go of the other's hand.
"Finally made your move, huh?" Nat leaned in to them and wiggled his eyebrows. Kevin pushed his face away.
"We didn't do anything," he said, embarrassed. Edd couldn't even face anyone without feeling feint. Okay, this is happening! I can't believe this is really happening! He could feel his hand burn in Kevin's grip.
"Okay everyone, enough playing around. Save your energies for the beach," Nazz waved everyone into the van before climbing into the passenger seat with Jimmy and Sarah. Edd felt stiff and nervous. Even more so when Kevin shifted their hands so that their fingers were intertwined and locked together. He pulled the stiff Edd towards the van as everyone got on.
"Are you two gonna be lovey-dovey the whole ride there?" Eddy said, his nose scrunched up in disgust.
"We'll see," Kevin smirked and looked over at a nervous Edd. Edd started freaking out inside. Lovey-dovey? We're going to be lovey-dovey? Dear God, help me! He could feel his face burn at the thought of them snuggling, shoulders touching, arms linking together and maybe even k-k-kis-
"Everyone set?" Nazz asked after Eddy got on before Kevin, interrupting Edd's thoughts just in time, otherwise they'd have had to deal with a fainted dork. Edd gulped, eyes trying hard not to look down on their intertwined fingers. It'll be fine. Fine fine fine. Kevin wouldn't just suddenly ki-ki- Nope, I'll be fine. Edd took in a shaky breath, and with a small, reassuring smile from Kevin, they got on the van. Edd settled next to the door behind the passenger's seat, with Kevin sitting in between him and Eddy. After a few tries at turning the ignition and feeling the van shiver and shake, they were off.
"Hey, move it Kevin! You're crushin' me!" Eddy complained as he squirmed in his seat between Kevin and the window. Kevin shifted and closed his legs uncomfortably. He bumped his knee with Edd's, who had fallen asleep within the first ten minutes of their journey.
"I can't move anymore Eddy!" he grunted as the impatient Ed pushed against him further.
"Yes you can!" Eddy looked around the redhead to the sleeping genius. "Go squish Sockhead instead!"
"No way!" Kevin gave him a stern look, then turned to look softly at Edd, "I don't wanna wake him up. He's too cute when he sleeps." Eddy huffed, then a thought crossed his mind and he smirked.
"That's okay, pal. You don't have to wake him up. Just pick him up," he snickered, pointing to the peacefully slumbering genius. Kevin gave him a look of disbelief.
"What?" he asked in a harsh whisper. "Why?!"
Eddy rolled his eyes, "For more room, duh," he nudged Kevin and gestured to Edd once more. "Just pick him up and put him in your lap!" Kevin could feel his cheeks warming up. Is this guy serious?!
"But he'll wake up!" he looked at the lightly snoring Ed, the thought of having this cute angel in his lap sleeping soundly, and waking him up with soft kisses on his angelic face made his fingers twitch. Eddy noticed this, and his smirk grew.
"You want to, don't you?" he laughed at Kevin's light glare. "Trust me, he won't wake up!" Kevin was about to protest some more, but Nazz interrupted him.
"It's true, Kev," she turned towards the two arguing boys, then to Edd, "Double D's a really, really heavy sleeper. Probably won't wake up till we get there," she giggled, followed by Nat's snickering. Eddy nudged him once more.
"Yeah, so hurry up! I'm suffocatin' here!" he tried sounding desperate, which only annoyed Kevin. the redhead stared at his angel for a moment, considering the possible consequences. What if he wakes up? And thinks I'm a pervert? He poked Edd's cheek softly once, twice, just to test his limits. Then, with slightly shaking hands and a warm face, he lifted Edd up bridal style, careful not to bump his head against the door. He scooted sideways, then placed Edd gently on his lap, who snored peacefully against the redhead's neck and his legs stretched against the seat. Eddy sighed and stretched his arms, a fist barely touching Edd's face.
"Careful Eddy!" Kevin warned. Eddy snickered.
"Now that wasn't so hard, was it? Now we've both got what we wanted."
"Shut up Ed-"
"Oh my God, what is that?!" Jimmy interrupted with a shriek. Sarah picked up a blackened, moldy thing that might have once been some sort of fruit. Her face read horror. Rolf laughed.
"Oh. Rolf must have dropped one of his mangoes. Come, give it to Rolf!" Rolf held out a hand beside them. Sarah tossed the moldy mango to Rolf, her face full of disgust and horror. Jimmy frantically looked through his bag and pulled out a large bottle of gel, "Quick Sarah! Hand sanitiser!"
Nazz gagged and covered her mouth. "Rolf! That's disgusting!" Nat leaned to Kevin's shoulder, speaking so he could be heard all the way from the front.
"You know Nazz, if we'd taken my uncle's van, we would-"
"Get hijacked and possibly stabbed and left in the streets to die," Nazz interrupted.
"But-"
"It has golden rims, Nat!"
"Yeah, but-"
"And a golden wheel!" Nazz gave him no room to protest. Nat narrowed his eyes and pouted.
"Fine," he harrumphed and folded his arms. "Just don't regret it when rats start popping out the dashboard." Jonny raised Plank in his hand.
"Plank says they're hiding in the back," he said with ease. "He says they're sleeping." Silence. Nat spoke up shakily.
"Man, you're joking, right?" he asked hopefully. Jonny shook his head, opened his mouth to say something, but Nat screamed at the sight of a long, pink tail next to Ed, leading behind the seat. Everyone followed his gaze.
"Rat! It's a rat!" Nat yelled and pressed his back against the window away from Ed and Jonny. Ed squinted his eyes at the tail, as though he couldn't see the problem, then pulled the rat right out.
"That's not Rolf's rat," Rolf said in a hushed tone as he looked through the rear view mirror. It was then that they all silently agreed on the same thing; getting hijacked and stabbed would have been better. Several things happened at once. First, the rat Ed pulled out got angry and struggled out of his grip. Then it scurried on the floor towards the front of the van. Jonny and Nat screamed and almost climbed the seats, Eddy screamed bloody murder and almost burst through the ceiling, Kevin cursed and almost hurled Edd to the back, and Nazz, Jimmy and Sarah all screamed and pushed against the door when the rat jumped onto the dashboard. Luckily Rolf caught the rat before it could disappear and threw it out of his window. Another silence.
"Is-Is it gone?" Nat asked breathlessly. Rolf looked through the rear-view mirror, but before he could say they were in the clear, half a dozen rats started scurrying out of the back. The screaming started again, and Rolf quickly pulled over on the side of the road. Everyone burst out of the van and steadied their breathing, except for Ed, who was oblivious to it all, Rolf, who's probably dealt with that sort of thing a lot, and Edd, who was still sleeping soundly in Kevin's arms. One by one the rats fled.
"Is everyone okay?" Nazz asked as she looked around. The others nodded and gave their 'ok's. "Oh, thank God!" she sighed in relief.
"That was traumatic," Nat said, shivering at the memory.
"Yes it was. Next time, we go by two cars," Nazz laughed nervously. Everyone agreed.
"So what now?" Sarah asked, her arms around Jimmy to keep him from fainting. "Do we walk?"
"Um, no. That'll take more than two hours," Nazz sighed, then turned to Rolf. "Rolf, can you check to see if there are any more rats?"
"Of course! Rolf will call when van has been cleared of pests," he grinned and went dived right into the van. Nazz sighed again, then spotted Kevin and the Eds sitting on the edge of the road. She smiled at the sight of them getting along, and couldn't suppress a giggle at how protectively Kevin was holding Edd. She approached them.
"How the hell does he wake up so early every morning?" Eddy asked no one in particular.
"School," Ed said matter-of-factly. Edd stared at him for a moment, then nodded.
"What a nerd," Kevin chuckled. Nazz sat down next to Eddy. "Hey, Nazz."
"Hey guys. So, I guess we'll be stuck here for a little while. Got any ideas to pass the time?" she leaned back on her arms and looked up to the sky. "God, it's so beautiful today."
"Yeah," Kevin agreed as he looked up. The other two Eds did so too.
"Man, I can't wait to get to the beach," Eddy said as he laid on the grass. "All those bikini babes just sitting in the sun and playing in the water with their friends..." he sighed. Nazz laughed as she laid on the grass next to him.
"I can't wait to be one of those bikini babes," Nazz said sarcastically, then giggled when Eddy blushed. She looked over to Kevin, who had laid Edd down on the grass, the redhead's jacket folded under his head as a pillow. "What about you, Kev? Bet you've got plans with Double D, don't ya?" she asked, winking suggestively. Kevin blushed, rubbing the back of his neck and laughing nervously.
"I guess..." he replied quietly. He stared at Edd, then brushed a finger against his cheek. "I just wanna spend time with him, ya know?" he smiled genuinely. Nazz 'aww'ed and Eddy gagged.
"You at least brought condoms right?" Eddy asked jokingly. Nazz elbowed his ribs. "Ow, what? Safety first, right?"
"You're unbelievable!" Nazz laughed as she sat back up. Nat jogged up to them.
"So... Rolf says that we're 'good to go'," he said with air quotes. "But if you ask me, I think he really means 'go before anything else pops up'," he huffed. Kevin and Nazz glanced at each other nervously.
"Tell him we'll go after he double-checks," Nazz held out her hand and Nat pulled her to her feet. "," she gave the guys a side smile and walked beside Nat to the van. Eddy sat up and patted Ed on the head, after he'd rolled around and gotten grass stains all over his clothes and face.
"Alright Lumpy, let's go back to the van," he said while using Ed's head to boost himself up. He looked over to Kevin, who seemed to be having a debate in his head. "You gonna wake him up or what?" he asked the redhead. Kevin looked up, then back down to his sleeping angel. But he looks so peaceful and cute, and angelic...
"Okay," he sighed. He leaned down, his face close to the sleeping genius'. "Hey angel, time to wake up," he whispered. Eddy rolled his eyes.
"Are you tryin'a wake him up or put him into a coma?" he asked sarcastically. "Just shake him up already!" Eddy said loudly. Kevin gave him a light glare. He turned back to Edd and shook him slightly.
"Wake up angel," he shook him a little harder. "Hey, come on. We gotta go," he said a little louder. Man, this guy can sleep. Kevin sighed, then straightened his back. Can I...? He leaned back down to Edd's face, and for a short moment of bravery, he kissed his cheek. He straightened back up to see any reaction. Eddy stared at him with a look of revolt.
"God, Shovelchin. You've become so pathetic," he said as he shook his head. He knelled down next to Kevin and shoved him away lightly. "Alright, move. I've got a trick to wake him up," he said, then pinched Edd's nose.
"C'mon Eddy, not cool!" Kevin protested. He tried to grab Eddy's arm, but Edd's hand shot up and grabbed it first. Kevin flinched at the sudden rapid-fire lecture.
"Eddy you insufferable egoistic scammer! I've told you time and time again that it's dangerous to pinch someone's nose while they are asleep. Do you have any idea what that could do to y-" Edd stopped, finally realizing that Kevin was staring at him in awe. "K-Kevin... You...saw-" he swallowed the lump in his throat. Kevin gave him a lopsided smile, obviously amused at his reaction. Edd felt so embarrassed he'd wish Kevin would put him in a coma. He let go of Eddy's arm and pulled his hat over his eyes, refusing to look at Kevin. "This is so embarrassing," he whispered. Kevin chuckled.
"It's fi-" Kevin started to say, but Eddy interrupted him.
"Would it be less embarrassing if I told you Kevin kissed your cheek like a wimp while you were asleep?" he said plainly, hands in his pockets. Kevin stared at him wide-eyed and red-faced, eyebrows furrowed in a silent 'Why did you have to tell him that?!' Eddy shrugged. "Just tryin'a help," he grinned lazily. Edd stared at him in shock, face just as red as Kevin's and hands shaking slightly. It didn't help. It didn't help at all! Kevin calmed his nerves and took a deep breath. He cleared his throat as he got to his feet.
"We should, uh- They're probably, um-" he tried to say, but failed, so he just held out his hand to Edd. The genius stared at the offered hand, another lump forming in his throat. He hesitated, but let Kevin take his hand and pull him up.
"Thank you, Kevin," he smiled nervously. Dear God I will never get used to this. Eddy nudged him on the arm.
"You're welcome, by the way, Sleeping Beauty," he said as he and Ed walked ahead of the them. Edd glared at him.
"You're lucky we are on this trip to have fun, but you will get an earful when we get back!" he scolded just as Eddy passed him. Eddy scoffed and went ahead to join the others. Kevin laced his fingers with Edd's, startling him.
"Let's go," he smiled shyly, their hands clasped tightly together. Edd smiled back, then let Kevin tug him towards the van.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
They're not even at the beach yet, God I'm so slow. Anyway... Did anyone miss me? Just kidding, ha ha ha. I'm sorry for being away for so long, but I haven't been able to escape schoolwork and deadlines. College is not as easy and fun as I'd hoped it would be, and it will be a while before I can get more free time. Thank you all for being so patient with me. Your reviews are what keep me from forgetting this story. Hopefully I can post the next chapter soon.