"My head is still reeling from being locked in that room all right. Double D. Lucas is such a creep. I never thought I would get out of there. Though it was probably also strange for you sharing a room with my brother though, am I right? What kind of crack was Lucas smoking when he came up with that sleeping arrangement?"
"Oh, now you're concerned!" Edd replied back, sarcastically, "if you must know, I slept the whole time until an hour before you and Lucas unlocked the door."
"Don't have a bird, Sockhead," Eddy argued, "my head was still reeling from being locked in that one room all night and hearing Lucas stepmom fall down the stairs and screaming `stop' as she fell down the steps." Then Eddy added without skipping a beat, "don't tell me that you ended up having to sleep in the same bed as Matthew."
"Unfortunately, there was nowhere else to sleep," Edd stated, "Eddy, if you heard Lucas' stepmom scream `stop,' that is a clear indication that her fall was not accidental. Somebody purposely pushed her down the steps, possibly either trying to murder her, or more likely, pushed her down the stairs to force her to miscarry her unborn child. You should contact the police about it."
"And tell them what? I think that her fall was on purpose, because of something she yelled? Get real, Sockhead! The Peach Creek police department is not going to start asking the great and powerful Holmes family questions without a warrant. Especially since Lucas' stepmom claims that it was an accident," Eddy argued.
"Fine, Eddy," Edd threw up his hands in surrender, "we won't go to the police regarding what you had heard that night."
"Good. Let's just deal with a couple of weird situations at a time." Eddy stated, "Speaking of which, where the hell is Ed?"
"I have no idea," Edd looked around. A couple of seconds later, Ed came back into the room after getting himself a soda. Eddy was used to it. After knowing the guy for several years, Ed pretty much regarded Eddy's home as his second home, considering that Edd's house was now boarded up to prevent anyone from entering the empty residence. That also included Ed helping himself to Eddy's fridge, both awake and asleep.
"So Ed, what did this tape say that we would have to do?" Eddy asked.
Ed flashes another goofy grin at the two, "we need to play truth-or-dare?"
"What are we, twelve?" Eddy retorted, "Your idea bites, monobrow!"
"Oh c'mon, Eddy!" Ed begged, "The guy in the video said it would work!"
"Alright, Ed!" Eddy sighed, "Keep your eyebrow on!"
Eddy and Ed sat next to each other on the floor. Edd sat on the other side of Eddy. He was surprised that he was in less pain than he was the night before. However, he supposed that taking a nice, relaxing soak in the tub and a good rest relieved most of his soreness. It was another way that his compulsive cleanliness came in handy.
"Okay, Eddy. The guy in the video said that it would be just a game of dares. I go first!" Ed announced happily. "Double D, I dare you to hug me!"
"Well, that was predictable!" Eddy said, "Ed, you wasted your turn! The point of the game is to have friends do embarrassing shit."
"Ah Eddy, I wanted a hug though," Ed whined after Edd hugged the tallest teen.
Eddy groaned, "Let me show you how it's done. Ed, I dare you to give me ten bucks."
"Eddy, using this game to swindle your friends into giving you money is not how the game of truth or dare is played either," Edd scolded.
Eddy snorted, "Whatever, Sockhead. For that, you miss your turn!"
Edd folded his arms and made a `hmph' noise. Eddy rolled his eyes at Edd's behavior as Ed handed him ten dollars. Ed spoke up, getting both of their attention. "I dare Eddy to kiss Double D!"
"Alright Ed, but I've got a dare for you after this one." Eddy replied. Ed always had a vague understanding of what was appropriate behavior for close friendships and what was appropriate for relationships. Ed tried to kiss Edd and him under the mistletoe quite a few times during the years and even showed affection towards his two friends similar to how a mother would show affection towards a child by kissing them on top of their heads, hugging them, and carrying them around. In Ed's mind, a kiss between friends was just a friendly gesture.
Eddy leaned close to Edd and caught Edd's lips with his own. Edd tried his hardest not to blush at the kiss. Edd's heart was fluttering at the contact. This would be Eddy's first time kissing him sober since they were twelve. The kiss they shared in that moment was as tender as the ones they shared when Eddy was under the influence of alcohol. Eddy pulled away from Edd a few seconds later and turned towards Ed. "I dare you to streak throughout the house."
"Eddy!" Edd shrieked, "That's indecent! Ed doesn't have to run around the house in the nude!" His pleas fell on deaf ears. Ed was already stripping out of his pants as Edd tried to reason with Eddy. Once Edd was done talking and noticed Ed stripping out of his clothes, he pulled his beanie over his eyes. "Ed, make yourself decent, please!"
Eddy cackled at the sight. Edd couldn't see what Eddy was doing, but he imagined that Eddy was probably lying on the floor, busting a gut at the result of his dare. Edd could hear Ed giggling as well. The next thing Edd heard was Ed yelled his victory cry, "freedom," and the door quickly shut ten seconds later.
"Ed, you get back here and dress yourself immediately!" Edd shouted, not daring to uncover his eyes.
Ed's shouts and boisterous laughter can still be heard faintly from the bedroom, "Take me to your leader, clothes mutant from the washer underworld! The sock army is ready for your command!"
A minute later, Edd heard Matthew yell out, "why the hell is Cheesehead running around our house naked?"
Eddy's laughing fits became even louder when he heard his brother. Edd hated to admit it, but he kind of found the situation kind of amusing as well. He did not know if the moment was genuinely funny or if some of Eddy's deviousness was rubbing off on him. However, Edd laughed as well. After several minutes, Ed returned back to the room, still laughing the boisterous laugh.
"You're a riot, Ed!" Eddy proclaimed, wiping the tears of laughter from his eyes. After Ed got dressed, Eddy announced, "you can uncover your eyes now, Double D. Ed's dressed."
Edd uncovered his eyes and let out a sigh of relief. Ed looked a bit confused. Edd wondered what was troubling the teen until Ed asked, "Uh, guys, do friends actually show each other their naughty parts?"
"No Ed, what the hell? Why would you ask something like that?" Eddy yelled.
"The guy in the video said that's what friends do!" Ed replied.
Edd found that a bit strange. What kind of video did Ed watch? "Ed, do you have the video tape with you?" He asked, putting out his hand.
Ed fished around for the tape in his vest pocket and handed him the tape. Edd looked the tape over. "Guide to Special Friendships'? That explains everything. Lovable oaf! He thought it was a self-help video on friendships." Edd read the description on the back of the videotape, "Want your special friends to become even closer to you? With our glistening, tan professional lover as your guide; this video provides you with a simple step-by-step on how to have the perfect ménage a trois."
"It's a good thing that things stopped before they got any weirder," Eddy responded. He could easily see how Ed could be confused by the video content. For that, he could not stay too freaked out over Ed's strange question.
With Matthew passed out on the couch and cradling a closed bottle of alcohol, Edd and Eddy concluded that it was safe for them to pay Kevin a visit. The sound of the motor to Kevin's lawn mower had ceased its running. Kevin had ceased mowing the lawn and pushed the mower into his shed and shut the shed door, wiping the sweat from his brow. Kevin had barely noticed Ed, Edd and Eddy in his yard until he turned around.
"What do you dorks want?" Kevin asked. Eddy tried to engage the redhead into a bit of small talk about the weather while Edd stood there listening and Ed was trying to lick his own elbow. Kevin grew suspicious of Edd and repeated his question, "what do you want?"
"Listen, Kevin," Edd spoke up, hesitantly, "we need to ask your cousin Sasha a few questions."
"What for?" Kevin asked, suspiciously. "If that psycho put you two up to this, I won't hesitant to hurt all three of you!"
"There's no need for barbarity," Edd shook, yet tried to keep himself calm and collected, "we are unable to turn to Matthew to answer the questions that we are seeking the answers to, so we need a way to contact your cousin."
"And what does that have to do with me or my cousin?" The ice cold expression never left Kevin's face.
"Just give us some way to contact your fucking cousin, Kevin!" Eddy shouted, quickly losing his temper.
Kevin yelled back at Eddy, "why should I, Dorky? Why should I put Sasha or myself in danger just for you dorks to play detectives? I know what that fucker would do! He would not only come after me and my cousin, but everyone I care about, including Rolf and Nazz. I'll be damned if I let that fucker come after my best friend and the girl I like." All three of the Eds stood there stunned as Kevin continued his angry rant, "Yes, I like Nazz! I have even when we were kids. I could care less what size she is or how old she gets; I'm in love with her and probably always will."
Neither Ed really had anything to say regarding Kevin's fear-laced confession, except for Ed's fearful pleas to Kevin to spare them from his wrath. Kevin was scared and was angry at the perceived threat the three posed to Kevin's safety. It reminded Edd of all of the years Kevin mistrusted them due to the numerous scams they have pulled. Thankfully, someone else had broken the silence for them, "Kev, calm down, dude! Please Kev, whatever the Eds are looking into must be important for them to want to contact your cousin."
"Nazz, you've been here the whole time?" Kevin asked as he felt Nazz's hand massage his shoulder, coaxing him to calm down.
"I've heard most of it," Nazz replied, "we'll talk about it later when the Eds are away!" There was a tint of seduction to Nazz's voice in that moment. It seemed that Kevin's feelings were reciprocated, but Edd was sure he would probably find out later if Kevin got a fairy tale ending to his confession.
"A-Alright," Kevin nodded and turned back to the Eds, "what the hell are you three dorks looking into?"
"You see, Kevin; Eddy and I watched a strange video at the house of Matthew's childhood friend. The tape contained footage of Matthew torturing one of his classmates and Sasha is probably the only person we could ask to see if the classmate is alright."
After hearing Edd's explanation, Kevin and Nazz both had twin expressions of shock written across their faces. The stony glare Kevin had moments ago disappeared. It looked as though Kevin was mentally debating himself. The atmosphere became so quiet that Edd could easily hear crickets performing their evening orchestra.
After a while, Kevin gives in, "Alright, fine, but if that fucker goes after anyone due to you three-" Kevin made a throat cutting gesture to emphasize his point. He then whispered to Eddy and Edd, "you can find Sasha at the Fuzzy Peach. It's a bar on the outskirts of town near the highway."
Kevin quickly gave them directions to the place. The place was not too far away from the cul-de-sac. It was a five minute drive and was near the police station. Eddy and Edd thanked Kevin for the information and knew what they had to do next. They had to drive to where Sasha might be while Matthew was still dead to the world.