In elementary school there was a game the students would play in gym. The mats would be laid on the floor and the scooters of the damned would be rolled onto the floor. The strong were picked to be sharks, and the remaining classmates were the minnows. The goal was simple, be the last minnow standing, don't get caught. You could only stay on the mats for a little while, and no mat could have more than three people at a time. The sharks would wheel about while the minnows ran, if you were tagged you were out of the game, sidelined. Sharks could not be eliminated… but it felt as though it was simply that. Kevin was the last minnow, Edd was the last shark. If one touched the other they'd be tainted by the nature of the other part, their friendship was very rocky.

As days passed, Kevin found himself over at Edd's house more and more, dinner and weekends, it wasn't until his mother returned home did he have less time to. The woman monopolised his time, burning his arms with cigarettes and striking his face for nothing at all. The woman liked torture, the slower and more painful the better. She'd always do it where no one could see, besides striking his face, the marks were hidden beneath his clothing. Once he was home from school he either had to run upstairs or face her wrath. It seemed to him that no matter what he did, he would forever be hurt.

He tried being quiet, sneaking in the front door, at first the coast was clear but then… He choked, a harsh tug on his shirt enough to leave his neck red had him reeling back.

"Where do you think you're going?" She huffed, tapping a heeled foot at him.

"Upstairs… I have homework." He muttered.

"You're probably going upstairs to look at obscene things on that laptop of yours! I don't believe your little homework excuse for a second!"

"Mom, please, this is crazy, why would I lie to you?"

"You're an ungrateful little brat, I work so hard for you, slave in front of a computer all day long just to have my son, my ungrateful little boy, to go up to his room and look at naked women all night! I didn't raise you this way! I'm taking that laptop away and you are in for a serious punishment."

~.~.~

Edd yawned, laying back on his bed and staring up at the ceiling, lately he hadn't seen much of Kevin, but he figured with the term ending that he was swamped with homework. Still… everyone needed a break right? With that thought as his excuse to go visit the other male, he got up off his bed, grabbed his jacket, and headed out the front door. It was odd, it seemed that there was something huge going on in the other house, yelling and shouting… ever curious, Edd pushed on anyways, knocking on the door only to have it fly open and a shirtless Kevin practically diving into his arms.

"She's crazy! Get me out of here!" He screamed, not even taking notice that it was Edd who had him.

"What's going on-?"

"You there! Let go of my boy! I'm glad you've caught him, but he's being discaplined and I'd appreciate it if you'd return him to me." The redheaded woman folded her arms over her chest.

Edd blinked. This was confusing him just as much as it seemed bad in his eyes. He kept his hands on Kevin's upper arms and pushed him out just a few feet, enough to see each bruise and scratch and burn. He couldn't explain why it made him so furious, but it did.

"Did she…" Edd stopped, watching Kevin nod and look off to the side.

Kevin's mother spoke up. "Young man, I believe I said-"

"I don't care what you said, I am not your child, I do not believe I have to answer to you." Edd quipped, irritation and anger showing in his voice. "You are an unfit mother. I cannot, in good conscience, leave Kevin in your care." He turned, ushering him along, placing the black jacket over Kevin's shoulders.

Long, manacured, red nails gripped Edd's shirt and pulled him back, sending the taller boy reeling, his palm connecting with her cheek.

"Do not touch me." He hissed.

"You just hit me! Help! Assault!" She shrieked.

This woman really was crazy… Eddward gripped her shirt. "Do you know what happened to the boy who cried wolf? He got eaten. I suggest you get your shit together, madam, and stop being such a moron. I'm going to let go now, and you are going to return to your home. Do I make myself abundently clear?"

She swallowed, nodding. Slowly, Eddward put her back on the ground and she rushed back to her house with one final call of "You crazy son of a bitch! I'm calling the cops! You've kidnapped my baby!"

"Oh wah." He rolled his eyes, continuing to walk Kevin over to his house.

Kevin was very quiet, still stunned as well as emotional over the whole ordeal, so his voice came out a light whisper of "Thank you…"

"Don't worry about it, Pumkin, I'd rather die than let you get hurt like that. She's not right in the head anyway. If she does call the cops we can tell her what really happened and you'll be safe to go home."

Though Kevin wasn't sure he wanted to go home.

~.~.~

The game of sharks and minnows was played masterfully by the shark, he'd won. The minnow was now his, though Kevin would be damned before he let him know it. After all the abuse there was no way Kevin could be falling for his tormentor… right? Whether some strange case of stockholm syndrome or merely the gratitude of being saved a horrible fate by his mother's hand… perhaps he wasn't in love, just crazy. With his mother being so fucked up, it could be genetic. Crazy or not, he couldn't deny that their relationship had changed significantly. They weren't the same as hunter and prey anymore. Once tagged, you lose the game, and Kevin was struggling to keep himself from being touched by the hand that would either heal him or damn him. Still, in the night he found a longing to be closer, to be more warm with the other. Though of course he wouldn't speak up, and Eddward's feelings were always shrouded by insomnia and past experiences. People were not Eddward's forte, they probably never would be.

Though for as absent minded and completely unaware of his feelings as Eddward was, they sure did seem to have quite a few… coincidences.

It was embarrassing, being caught relieving one's self, luckily the bathroom door was locked and the shower was on. Kevin stopped abruptly, assured Eddward he wasn't hurt, and quickly shifted the shower temperature to illness-inducing cold.

Another time, Kevin was walking through the room and Edd was in a towel. In itself it was harmless, until he started changing in front of the TV. However once Kevin's presence had been made known by stuttering apologies, Eddward stopped short and secured the towel once more, the normally hard countenance was now sporting a splash of red.

It wasn't just in odd happenstance that events occurred, sometimes conversations would get off track or they'd cause the incidents. Once they were discussing school work and ended up with an innuendo filled conversation on their own sex lives. Nothing explicit, mind you, just talk of partners and 'suggested' habits in bed. Kevin made up all of his partners, but by the look on Edd's face, he knew.

Most recently, they had been watching a movie and the two had fallen asleep together, Kevin on top of Edd. By morning they were a tangle of limbs with Edd's hand up Kevin's shirt and Kevin's hand on Edd's thigh. Innocent enough but when the two woke up they freaked out and backed away from each other for the rest of the morning.

Kevin supposed he was looking into things too much, that stuff like this happened when people lived together, but he just couldn't shake the feeling that he was overly pleased with all of it. Once more the feelings of love bubbled up and Kevin had to head to the room he'd been staying in to calm his mad blushing.

Finally, they'd both gotten to the point where neither could stay in the room very long with each other without saying something dumb or one of their clumsy accidents happening. Kevin wasn't sure if it'd be best to just… speak up or not… but he wasn't too keen on the idea. It was embarrassing, and he hated himself for loving someone who hurt him continuously through the end of middle school and most of high school. What would Nazz say?! She'd be so mad… Nat wouldn't be an issue, obviously.

"I suppose I will have to tell Eddward…" Kevin sighed, laying back on the couch.

"Tell Eddward what?"

Kevin's heart stopped.