Hey guys, sorry about the two day delay. I've been directing a show that will be performing this weekend and I've been bogged down with this and that. SO ready for summer.

So here is the next chapter. I'm excited to get this one posted. Thank you all for your wonderful reviews. Seriously you have no idea how much those help a writer, even if it's just a short note. Every one of them counts!

So I'm not going to bore you with words this time. Maybe next time. Let's get right to it.

Enjoy!


Indeed, when had the wrong become so right?

His moral compass out of alignment. He began to wonder if he was out of alignment. What did I do to make this all happen? Am I not a good person? Are the lines of my morals and ethics that scrambled, that I can no longer tell good from proverbial evil?

With all these flittering thoughts in his head he couldn't concentrate. He hated not being able to think properly and with Kevin so far from him, hating him, doing even the simplest function of thinking was becoming a near impossible task.

He missed Ed and Eddy so much right now. He never needed a friend more than he did at that moment. Well, he could think of one incident but he rather not think about the dastardly deeds of Eddy's older brother. His two best friends had always been there for him, protecting him; even when he drove them up the wall about following rules and staying clean and other 'sensible non-sense'. Ed was a cuddle bug and while his hugs were infamous in crushing lungs and bone Eddward wanted one badly. He wanted to be swept up in Ed's arms and held so tight that all the pain and frustration building in him was squeezed out like a lemon. Eddy wasn't much of a touchy feely person but just hearing his voice, ranting and raving about getting retribution and concocting some jackass plan to get Kevin back sounded so good right about now.

He nearly laughed aloud. The leftover of his thoughts made him feel hilariously bitter. He doubted they would even understand what was going on, and if they did would their presence make any kind of difference? He didn't think so.

He stood from the bed, wanting to do away with the empty space surrounding him. There were just too many memories, naked and raw flashing before his eyes, for him to ignore. The scent of sex had some time to filter but it lingered like the second hand of a lit cigarette. He hadn't bothered to clean the room since then. For whatever reason it stayed that way; dark and slightly nauseating to look at- at least for him. The door couldn't have been any further from him. Every time he approached it he felt as though it stretched just out of his grasp, mocking his incompetence. He wasn't even sure why he closed the door. With speed he wasn't aware he had he did manage to open the door but only to stare across the hall. Silent for the most part, and empty. He could barely hear the tune of a song on the other side of the hall thought the volume had gone down drastically.

Kevin's door was still locked. The motorcyclist hadn't dared step a toe outside of his room since yesterday.

The sockhead huffed, shoulders slumped. He could try banging on the door again but he knew it wouldn't be any use. Kevin would come out in his own good time and he would just have to, as crudely as some would say, wait this shit storm out. Shame was his middle name it seemed as he turned to go back inside his room, this time leaving the door ajar. He felt suffocated enough by the tension without having to feel so completely enclosed. Unbeknownst to him Kevin had been watching.

He wasn't sure just how long he sat there and watched, but Kevin's treacherous body relaxed as the reflection on the flat of his army knife showed Edd as he turned and collapsed onto his bed. Edd had his face buried in his hands, his knees tucked to his chest and a look of utter defeat etched across his face.

He snapped the blade of his knife back and pocketed it. The bedroom filled with silence as the song on the radio came to an end. The disk was over and no longer able to contribute sound to ease the young man's racing mind.

The rim around his eyes was colored crimson. Yeah, he had been crying. Silently, but the tears had come regardless of his claimed bravado. They wouldn't be held behind straining eye lids so he let them fall free. He felt the occasional quiver of his heart in his chest and rode it out like a champ, breathing through the sudden bursts of energy that threatened to put his fist through another wall. He wanted to call his mom and bitch. He wanted to call Nat and get really, really drunk. Very drunk. Most of all he needed his dad. He needed his old man's wisdom to get through this because he felt that without it he never would.

Instead of calling, Kevin texted his dad hoping his old man would answer. He got a text almost immediately back.

[Pops 7:15PM] Whats goingon buddy? Want to catch a bit at that pizza place you lick?

Kevin snorted. Pop's your texting is as horrible as ever.

He responded slowly, stating it was nothing urgent but that he needed an open ear to listen.

[Pops 7:24PM] Sure thing kiddo. See you at the shop tomorrow.

He pocketed his phone and sighed, staring up at the ceiling form his position on the floor. The weight of disappointment sat in his stomach like a ten ton anvil. After everything he had done for Edd, feeding him and clothing him, showering the young man in so much attention it was damn near sickening. He hadn't seen his best friend in weeks and it seemed like he was now on Cassandra's permanent shit list. Nat was going to kill him. To top it all off the boy he couldn't stop lusting after had blindsided him with this.

It wasn't fair.

Edd had been… And now he was…

Never mind Edd. Kevin was the one who was confused. He deserved better than this but the question remained: what the hell does better even mean? He never appreciated the idea of self-analysis in any form but it seemed in this case that having to do so was inevitable. He had to take inventory before his walls crumbled and everything came crashing down around him.

He asked himself who Edd was and he faced a problem answering that. He wasn't sure if Edd was supposed to mean something to him or if it was just a fluke feeling. He couldn't deny that the boy had wormed his way into the red-head's heart. He loved Edd in a special way. The boy no longer seemed like a project but rather an essence of life that needed to be nurtured and Kevin saw no other better able to do that than him. It transcended the notion of friendship, touching ground on a new and unestablished playing field.

It terrified and excited him to realize that he could easily make the sockhead the center of his world. He always thought that place was best reserved for 'the boyfriend' or 'the girlfriend'. Never in a million years did he think a connection so alike and yet so different from the traditional structure of a relationship would ever manifest itself in him. It was an alien ideal for sure. He recognized it for what it was but to say outright that he could ever be in love with the dork just sounded preposterous. Yes, preposterous, and crazy, and lacking even the most common of common sense.

Yet, why is it so easy to believe?

Maybe his dad would know.

Curled in his bed Eddward draped the comforter over his head, salty tears now soaking it through the thin material of his beanie. Dragging the black and white cloth over his eyes used to bring him a sort of comfort when he was a child and though he hardly thought it necessary; he was willing to try anything to make the throbbing in his chest go away. Guilt never felt heavier; like lead weights tied to his ankles and dragging him further into the swallowing depths of regret and shame. He was nothing but a quivering mass.

Where was this bravado he felt when he was lying open like a whore for Todd? Was it all a lie? Had he actually lied to himself about feeling the sting of regret in order to justify his actions? He wondered if Kevin was just striking out in anger.

Of course he is you idiot! You broke his trust, the voice inside his head lashed out. Or he could have been merely letting his thoughts get carried away.

His eyes snapped open in realization. That's just it. He was getting carried away.

Past his quiet sobbing, his frantic breathing started to level out; his lungs sucking up the stale air of the room and releasing it slowly from his nostrils. Our combined excitement is driving us both to the emotional extreme, he reasoned, wiping away the fresh set of tears on his face as he slowly lifted himself. He rose until he was sitting in bed, legs crossed and eyes staring blankly at the wrinkled sheet under him. His heart still ached. He couldn't describe in words the pain he felt seeing the betrayal scrawled over Kevin's face.

He hadn't meant for him to find out. They were doing so well, apologizing and mending their broken bond but now it seemed that all that work had flown out the window. Every inch of feeling that had been taken to that place of calm had been stripped from him, leaving him naked and vulnerable. He very well couldn't explain this all away. No amount of rational thinking could fix this, he knew; and yet his brain wouldn't stop trying to conjure up some kind of compromise. The truth was out there and though Edd knew he did no wrong, by some imaginary standard he felt that he had. He tried his best to comprehend it and yet he couldn't.

What he would have given to be able to crawl under a rock this very moment.

He felt humiliated and now Kevin was hurting because of him and his reckless actions. He never wanted to hurt Kevin but the man was treating him as if the sockhead had gone out and stabbed him right in the chest.

You might as well have, the voice in his head cackled. You get a taste for the flesh and suddenly your moral standing has lost a leg to stand on. Bravo idiot. Bravo.

He started to shake.

"I didn't mean to hurt him." He whispered, squeezing his eyes shut against the torrent of tears threatening to fall once more. "I didn't mean to. I didn't mean to."

What was he to do now?

There was a pounding at the door. No not Edd's door and certainly not Kevin's. Surprisingly it was the front door, the sound echoing down the empty hall. The pounding persisted, shaking the sockhead right out of his self-loathing.

"Who on earth…?"

He crawled off the bed to the door, peeking out just in time to see Kevin's bedroom door open with a sudden and violent swing. The door knob slammed into the wall with unforgiving force and bounced, making Edd flinch. The red-head with new found rage bolted from the room, his hands curled into white knuckled fists and a fire blazing in his eyes hot enough to burn something just by staring at it. The man was gritting his teeth, inhaling air as if preparing for fight; his shoulders raised and tense.

Eddward threw open his door in time to see Kevin round the corner. He ran after him.

"Kevin?"

"Not a word from you." The red-head hissed, glaring at the boy over his shoulder.

Edd froze on the spot, fear etched in his wide blue eyes.

That son of a bitch had the audacity to come back. That date stealing, sleaze balling, lover screwing, fat headed prick had the fucking nerve to show his face here again. Kevin was absolutely seething. If that idiot had any brains he would never have come back. Well, now was a good a time as any to make that a sure thing. Kevin made a grab for the knob but Edd's hand halted him, tiny pale fingers gripping his larger ones so tightly he could feel the flow of blood stop at his knuckles.

"Kevin wait-"

"Out of my way."

Kevin steered Edd aside, his grip less than gentle as shoved the dork back behind him. Edd stumbled but he persisted and the pounding on the door grew louder.

"No stop!"

Edd grabbed the back of Kevin's shirt, trying in vain to pull the enraged red-head from the door.

"Stop this! Stop this! My goodness man, get a hold of yourself!" Edd screeched.

Every fiber in his body was screaming at Kevin to follow through with a punch. He wanted nothing more than to cold cock that pretty boy out, laying a good size fist right at the center of Todd's stupid face. He would prefer the nose just to feel the satisfying crunch of cartilage as it broke beneath the weight of his fist. He wanted to see that bastard writhing on the floor like a bitch, cupping his bleeding nose and screaming obscenities as the pain radiated through his face the same way it had radiated through Kevin's heart. The pain would never amount but it would do. For now.

Kevin shook the dork off easily, pushing Edd into the wall a bit too hard and sending the sockhead reeling back head first into the hanging mirror. The glass didn't break but the frame did fall, landing hard on its corner and falling facedown. He slid down with a pained gasp that went unheard. Kevin gripped the handle of his door and inhaled sharply. He tore open the door, rearing back his arm in the process and-

A fist flew at his face, clipping Kevin right below the cheek.

His head jerked to the side so quickly Edd barely had time to process it before Kevin stumbled back in shock. He inevitable fell to the ground.

The motorcyclist cupped his cheek, biting back a howl as the beginnings of a bruise blossomed right where four bony knuckles had landed. His teeth had cut the inside of his mouth and that now stung; the taste of warm copper coating the top of his tongue.

With both hands on his head Edd looked up from his position on the floor to the open door way. His eyes went wide with shock, blinking in utter disbelief.

It couldn't be. No. No it can't be. I ran away. How did he…how could he have…

The brightest blues Eddward had ever laid eyes on were staring right back at him, strands of inky colored tresses poking out beneath a black and white stripped beanie with an uncanny resemblance to his own. Eddward swore he felt his heart flop before falling still, refusing to beat. He couldn't breathe beneath that icy stare. He was glued to the spot, unable to run, unable to deny the truth staring back at him with the cool and calculating eyes that served as open windows to his haunted past.

"Edwin."


So what did you think?

I'd like to know! No really I would. Been wanting to post this chapter for a while and now that I have I can't wait to see what you guys might have to say. Can you believe a new arch is coming into play soon? Till next time~

Ciao!