Le Problème Avec Kevin Chapter 5 – Love Grows and Struggles Like… an Angry Child
A/N- The title for this chapter comes from the scene where Cyrano, who is speaking through Christian, describes his love for Roxane as baby Hercules, unable to be killed by Hade's twin snakes Doubt and Pride.
The first day of school
Edd struggles to wake up the following morning, the blaring alarm coming from his phone was like a mortal enemy calling him out to duel, unasked for but ultimately unavoidable. Tapping the screen of his phone to dismiss the troublesome alarm he became aware of the absence of warmth behind him where Kevin once lay, the thrown back blanket the only proof that he had really been there. Groaning against the grogginess in his head as he sits up to place his feet upon the floor, he curses his inability to say no to Kevin last night, though he knew he should have to avoid his current fate. For he had only succeeded in keeping Edd up for at least another hour with his frantic kisses, sensual touches and dry humping. If Edd hadn't finally insisted that they needed to get some sleep around three, he was certain things would have escalated well passed the second base threshold he was currently comfortable with.
As he got ready for school he did his best to keep his mind from fretting over Kevin's reaction to his desire to maintain his purity and his wishes to take things slow. For even though Kevin had reassured him that he understood and was cool with it, there was a slight hint of frustration in his expression. And if the rumors about Kevin were to be believed then that is probably why he was no longer in bed this morning, as his words and thoughts were not the same. As Edd was getting into the shower, the worry that he has probably already given up on trying to be with him hits his stomach, "Well, if that's all it takes for Kevin to no longer be interested in me, then I am probably better off."
But the fire of desire, once kindled, is not so easily extinguished, a lesson our naive brainiac would quickly learn as he entered the school building and received a text from Brainy Smurf. The nickname and picture had been assigned to Kev's contact information by Nat, since Edd had come to him for his phone number the day after the party, "Good morning, I hope you have a good day."
Nat had to wonder how two exceptionally intelligent individuals, like these two, could be so forgetful about simple yet important things like exchanging numbers and social media information. But he wasn't complaining, for they had both caught on to their mistake rather quickly and had asked him for help in correcting the situation. The added bonus of getting into Edd's phone and jokingly changing Eddy's name and picture to Greedy Smurf brought a playful smile to his face. He had so many other playful plans for the people in Edd's contact list, for example he was about to change Kevin's name to Hefty Smurf. But was unfortunately stopped as his dorky friend had caught on to the fact that it was taking him far too long to put in one number and had asked for his phone back before he could do too much damage.
With a few thoughtful words, Edd responds to his friend's well-wishes before putting his phone back into his pocket. Looking up just in time to spot Kevin Barr coming out of the restroom ahead of them, followed quickly by Plank, the two boys turning to walk in the same direction that he and his friends were going in. The red headed jock was blissfully unaware of Edd's intense examining gaze as he walked and talked with his friend and teammate. Leaving the young dork free to ponder and even envy the existence of Kevin's form fitting blue jeans. Wondering why that fabric had to sculpt and accentuate his gluteus maximus so perfectly, envying its proximity to the set of well-defined muscles. "Earth to Sockhead," Eddy snaps his fingers in front of his friend's nose a few times to further help get his attention.
Being suddenly brought out of his thoughts, he turns his attention to his right with a confused expression upon his face as he asks, "My apologies Eddy, but what were we talking about?"
"Where the fuck's your mind at," he pulls Edd's class schedule out of his hands, "You're about to walk past your class," displaying the piece of paper as proof.
Ed chuckles softly as he speaks, "He's been hanging around Nat to long Eddy," his voice begins to carry garnering the attention of those around them, "All hail the prince of butts," most notably Kevin's. He continues to laugh to himself as he waves goodbye to his embarrassed friend and walks further down the hall with Eddy in tow. Turning his attention to the red head as he passed him, he waves with a broad sweeping motion over his head, "Hiya Kevin," Kevin returns his greeting with a calm, but friendly wave. Smiling contently Ed turns his attention back to where he was going, his soft chuckling could still be heard over the small crowd in the hall. He begins to shake his derrière in time with his chants of, "Bouncy, bouncy, bouncy," then he looks over his shoulder at Edd with a playful toothy grin.
Feeling an intense gaze upon him, Edd turns his head to lock eyes with Kevin and notices the confused look he was giving him before turning to hide his flushed face and open his classroom door. After his first class was over, Edd did his best to avoid Kevin in the halls by taking the long way around to his next class from his locker. He just couldn't face him with the embarrassment of Ed's shenanigans, not to mention his own self-doubts about Kevin's intentions and what he might be to him. This avoidance spurred on a barrage of texts that he did his best to ignore during his science class, reading the ten messages he had gotten when the teacher wasn't looking. The first one asked, "What was all that about with Ed," and the last one asking, "Are you mad at me?"
Mad would be a bit harsh, upset with him, most definitely, but who wouldn't be after being ditched in the middle of the night without any kind of explanation. The act of waking up alone this morning had made Edd feel cheap and used and he wasn't going to stand for such behavior. If Kevin really wanted to be with him there had to be clear communication between them, even with his decision to not come out just yet. He could understand his choice, hell, he had just gone through the uncertainty and doubt that Kevin was currently going through and had told himself that he could be patient with him about it. That he didn't mind being kept a secret for his boyfriend's sake, if it meant that they could be together. But were they really boyfriends, because Kevin hasn't officially asked him out yet. So could this mean that Edd is assuming way to much just because they had been constantly talking since the party, not to mention their heavy make out sessions?
Edd pondered these things as he walked the crowded halls towards the lunch room, distracting himself from those around him until he ran face first into the object of his mental deliberations. His stammering apologies were silenced when the red head began to speak, "It's alright dude no harm done." He hesitantly leans in closer so that Edd could her what he was whispering, "We need to talk."
Edd forces himself to speak calmly as his earlier thoughts had been erased from his mind and replaced with a haze of euphoric bliss as he looked into those green eyes, "Sure Kevin, what would you like to talk about?" This is exactly why he has been avoiding Kevin all day, so he could have space he needed to think things through and not have his mind go all Neanderthal on him because of his feelings for the man.
"Not here, not now" his eyes dart to a couple of their classmates as they passed them by, "How about you call me later tonight." He spots his teammates walking towards them, "I'll text you when I'm done with practice."
Even though Edd wanted to get this over with now and ease his own worries, he knew that Kevin wouldn't be comfortable talking about this where anyone could possible overhear them. So, it was with a sense of reluctance that he agrees, "I understand, we'll talk then."
"Cool," Kevin pats him on the shoulder with friendly familiarity as he walks around him to make his way over to join his group of friends and leave the dork behind to continue his worried ponderings. Was Kevin mad at him for needing time to himself? Was he going tell him they were through because of his reluctance to go all the way last night? Even though he had told himself earlier that he would be better off if Kevin was just looking for a good time, the thought still sent a wave of pain through him. Was he the only one who had thought that they were dating? Had he jumped the gun emotionally with such an assumption? He had been fretting over these thoughts as he had mindlessly wondered into the cafeteria and sat down at the table he and his friends usually would sit at.
Eddy barked with a full mouth as he sat his food on the table, "Are you going to answer that?"
Edd had apparently been so preoccupied with his thoughts that he had completely tuned out the world and hadn't noticed his phone ringing in his pocket, "Hello." He had gone through the muscle memory of answering his phone, swiping his thumb to the right and bringing it up to his ear without looking at who had been calling. His nerves were now getting the better of him, as his mind raced with thoughts that Kevin had grown more impatient and was now calling to tell him that they were done.
"Hey, are you at lunch," the voice of his dorky red headed friend pensively asked.
Edd breathes out a small sigh of relief, releasing his anxiety into the world, "I am."
"What's wrong?" Kev's voice was filled with a worried tone but was more relaxed now that he knew that he hadn't heard wrong when Edd had told him when his lunch was.
"Nothing's wrong, why?" He replied trying to conceal his emotions but knew that he had failed miserably in the attempt, for both Ed and Eddy and cocked a brow at his lie.
"Is that Edd?" A familiar female voice could be heard on the other side of the phone keeping Kev from replying to Edd inquiry.
"Yes Ang, it's Edd," Kev replied, but his voice had been quickly muffled by a noise coming through the phone, "No Ang, wait, give me back my phone."
The noise subsides, and the girls voice comes in loud and clear, "Hey Edd, I was just wondering if Nat has talked to you yet?"
"No, I haven't seen him yet," Edd goes through his memories to see if he recalled seeing the teal haired boy today but realized that his avoidance of Kevin meant that he had also avoid Nat.
Kev's protests persisted in the background as her tone suggested that she was keeping him from reaching his phone, "OK, so what are you doing this weekend?"
He thought about it for a second and knew that other then getting a head start in his studying and hanging out with his friend like he normally does, he was relatively free, "I currently do not have any plans, why?"
"Well the three of us," her voice fades, "Hey, I was talking."
"Sorry about that," Kev was obviously in possession of his phone again, the strain in his phone told him that he was now keeping her at bay. "As she was saying," he sounded nervous, "The three of us are going to the movies this weekend and I was wondering if you wanted to come with."
"I don't know," Edd was a little apprehensive as he knew Nat and Ang had almost caught him making out with Kevin. Nat didn't seem to have come to the same conclusion that Ang had at the time and showed no signs of judging him for it. He also he didn't know Ang that well, and even with her earlier invitation, he could not be sure what she thought of him.
"Please," Kev pleaded, "You'll be sparing me from a boring night of watching them make out."
Ang's voice was distant but could still be heard clearly, "Don't be telling lies about us, Kevin Anderson, we do more than that."
"Yeah, only when your driving to and from your make out spots," he teased her, "Your scarring me for life you know." He turns his attention back to his conversation with Edd, "So what do you say, will you come with me, please? You'll be keeping me company, and sparing me from a fate worse than death," Kev dramatically and playfully pleads then winces from the notebook that Ang slaps against his head as a few foul words left her lips.
"Well it does seem to be for a good cause, soooo" he drawls then pauses to tease the boy, "Just let me know when and where."
Kev's voice was noticeably excited now that he has agreed, "I'll let you know once the lovebirds figure if out."
"Ok, then just text me when you know," it was strange how this simple invitation from a friend had lifted his spirits, helping him to forget his worries over a certain red head.
"Will do," he laughs uneasily, "Got to go, can't talk and run for my life, Ang is about to kill me, and I would like to spare myself the humiliation of having you listen to that."
"Don't worry Edd," Ang said loud enough for him to hear, "I'm only going to maim him, I won't kill him."
"I'll be praying for your survival," he laughed softly, "It would be a shame to miss this weekend because you're in the hospital or six feet under."
"Oh, don't worry, I have nine lives," he pauses for a brief moment, buying himself a few more moments of life, "Ok, well, I'll talk to you later."
The phone hangs up before Edd could respond, probably due to Ang's impending strike, and Edd smiles as he puts his phone away "Was that your boyfriend," Eddy teased, wagging his eyebrows at the end of his words.
"No Eddy," he said with disdain towards Eddy's immaturity, "He is just a friend."
"Tell little red that I approve," Ed chimed in giving his friend two thumbs up.
"Yet again, he is just a friend," he opens his lunch bag and begins to lay out his nutritionally balanced meal.
"Mmmhmmm," Ed hummed, "Right."
Edd didn't feel like arguing the point to his friends, they obviously were not going to listen to reason on this subject. He knew that they meant well, for they were only hoping that he would find himself someone to fall in love with, it was just that the person his heart skipped a beat for wasn't the person they thought it was. The rest of their lunch period was spent in an animated conversation about comics, video games, and the cheesy direct to video horror movies that they were looking forward to, leaving the conversation about his phone call on the sidelines.
Before the school day was over Edd had received a text from Nat informing him that he would be picking him up on Saturday to drive him to their "Date". He stopped what he was doing to wonder why Nat would use that word to describe this weekend, for he knew that they were only friends after all, deciding to ultimately chalk it up to his brand of teasing. With the excitement of the upcoming get together this weekend, as well as needing more time to think about his and Kevin's "relationship", he decides he would send a text instead of calling him. "I don't know what is going on right now," he was trying to keep the suggestive language down, in case someone else was to read the text. "I don't know what to think or what to do with the current situation I find myself in. If you have any suggestions about it, I would like to hear them," he could only hope that Kevin would understand that he needed him to tell him what he meant to him. "So, I do apologize that I am currently a little busy right now and am unable to talk. I hope you have a good night, and I'll see you in school tomorrow."
Kevin did not reply to his text, Edd could only assume that he was either upset that he had giving him a cryptic text instead of calling him like he said he would, or that he was trying to figure out how to respond. But unfortunately for our raven-haired dork, neither was the case, as Kevin had completely forgotten that Edd was supposed to call him. And hadn't even noticed his phone notifying him of the text message as he was preoccupied with school work, as he tutored someone in biology, specifically, human anatomy.