I DIDN'T DIE. I swear.

I apologize for taking soooo long to complete this chapter. I'm looking for a job, trying to determine why I'm experiencing constant fatigue, and taking full-time classes, so I've got a pretty full plate. I'm still going to try to update more frequently, although figuring out what happens after this chapter is going to be a little challenging.

theMidgey, canamochi, and sexxibug: thank you guys for the encouragement and feedback on the last chapter. I'm so happy every time one of you lets me know you're pleased with the story so far. And wiseyetharmless - let it be known from this day on that you wrote the best review ever. I laughed so hard.

Okay, okay. Here we go.

Enjoy, and thank you all so much!

Chapter 13

"Shit."

There was a moment of hesitation, the pair staring with saucerlike eyes at the place where the branch had struck. A lawn chair tumbled across the grass below, and a slew of wrappers and papers ripped across the sky.

Kevin began to fumble for the tissues on the nightstand. "Here."

Startled out of his hesitation, Double Dee fumbled with the shirt Kevin had thrown him, yanking it over his head as the athlete cleaned himself hurriedly. Tossing the condom in and the tissues in the trash, he leapt to his feet and tugged his boxers on. A crash made the pair jump, but the sheets of rain made it impossible to see what has caused it. The house groaned around them.

"Hurry, Edd!" The redhead grabbed his lover's narrow wrists, dragging him toward the edge of the bed.

"I can't walk," the genius rasped, "I don't think I can walk."

"We gotta go, now."

Grabbing another handful of Kleenex, Kevin reached beneath the hem of the shirt hanging off of Edd's shoulders and cleaned him in several hasty strokes. The genius pulled himself upward using the athlete's shoulders, whimpering at the strain on his back and the friction of tissues on his raw flesh. In one graceful movement Kevin pulled the smaller male off the bed, hooking an arm around Double Dee's waist and pulling him into the hallway. "How do we get to-"

"The basement is accessible through the kitchen - Kevin, my cactus! My planaria!"

"No time," the redhead interrupted, racing down the stairs as the ravenette clung to him. There was a deafening crash and Edd screamed, feet scrambling for purchase as Kevin dragged him through the living room and around the kitchen table. The west wall of the house gave a sickening groan.

"Hold onto the railing," Edd scolded hysterically as the athlete carried him deftly into the chill of the basement.

"Where should we go?" Kevin's rasping voice had risen to all but a shout over the roar of the howling wind. Double Dee wriggled from his grip to pull him into the corner, fingers grasping at his shoulders frantically as he sank to his knees in the darkness.

"Piping is statistically proven to withstand high winds," he cried, staring up into the darkness where he knew Kevin's face was. "C-cover your head with your hands! Make-"

An immense crash rocked the house down to the foundation and the younger dove forward into the redhead's chest. Kevin wrapped his arms around the brilliant boy and covered the thick mop of dark hair with his head, heartbeat racing above the overpowering roar of metal and wood groaning and buckling overhead. The concrete shook and the figure huddled beneath him gripped his waist, squeezing desperately, ten small pinpricks digging into his spine as the force of the wind rattled the roof and the walls and the earth below.

As quickly as it hit, it was over.

Kevin cracked his eyes open in the darkness, his ears ringing as he sucked in a breath. "Are you okay?"

There was no answer.

Drawing back, the redhead clutched the genius's face in his hands. "Ed."

The ravenette swallowed. "I'm all right, yes."

"Okay." The jock's fingertips skirted over his parted lips, his neck, his slim shoulders. "Okay."

They stared at each other in the deafening silence.

"W-we need to determine the level of damage."

"Yeah." Double Dee's fingers were interlaced with Kevin's now, and the jock stood, pulling him to his feet. "Okay."

They climbed the stairs, the elder first, hand squeezed tightly as Eddward gripped the railing and willed his legs not to give out. "Thank heavens," the genius uttered upon entering the kitchen. He took a step forward and let out a sharp breath when pain exploded up his spine. Kevin looped an arm around him, pulling him close.

"Hang onto me, babe."

Double Dee was still for a moment, his shaky breathing easing into a quieter pattern. There was an unspoken question on his face and Kevin read it. Wordlessly he helped the ravenette up the stairs.

"Oh," the genius breathed, stepping through the door to his room. "Oh, Kevin, thank goodness."

As the smaller boy inspected his plants and pets, the athlete looked out the window and turned pale. "Holy shit."

Edd was hunched over his cactus uttering reassurances, blinking up at the redhead with big eyes. "Edd, oh my God."

When he got to his feet, Double Dee's jaw dropped. "Oh my Lord."

The cul-de-sac was littered with debris. Jimmy's flower pots were nothing but a streak of black dirt and clay pieces scattered across the asphalt, and the lawn chairs from Nazz's backyard were everywhere, one twisted into a bizarre piece of modern art around a bent lamppost. Shingles, siding, brick and insulation were strewn everywhere, haphazardly piled in tree branches and spread across the grass like confetti. Rolf's barn was tilting precariously to the left, its boards splintered and tossed into the garden, and the pair could see glinting, jagged shards on the second floor of the foreigner's house where the windows had been blown out. The radishes thrown everywhere would've made Kevin laugh, but his stare was fixed on the lot past Rolf's.

Jonny's house was gone.

"Kevin, I…"

The genius leaned heavily on the jock, beginning to shake once more. "What - what time is it? Has school let out yet? We have to…"

The redhead moved to wrap his arms around the petite boy but he staggered away, looking at the pile of clothes on the floor as though he knew he needed them but hadn't the slightest idea how to put them to use. He found his briefs under the bed and sat down on the mattress to pull his pants on over them.

"Double Dee, wait."

Hesitating for a moment, the younger blinked up at him. A moment later, Kevin's pants hit him in the face.

By the time he had tugged them on, Edd was gone from the room. The jock was halfway out the door when what he'd seen on the bed dawned on him. He turned around to grab the genius's beanie and hurried after him. The petite boy was hobbling toward the front door when the redhead caught him by the arms. The ravenette's head whipped around, eyes huge as he tensed. "Kevin, don't-"

Kevin shoved the hat down over his skull, giving him an annoyed look. "Oh…" Edd's hands rose, fingers skirting over the fabric. "Thank you."

Wordlessly, the jock tucked a few tufts of black hair under his beanie and followed him out the door.

A chiming voice greeted the pair as their footsteps echoed across a section of bizarrely clean pavement. "Yes, Mom."

Edd stopped, reaching out to find Kevin's hand as he stared speechlessly at the mountain of debris. Warmth found his fingers but the redhead pulled away suddenly when the voice rang out once more. Double Dee turned to see what was wrong, and followed his gaze to Nazz's front porch.

"Yes. I promise. Everything's okay. There are - a few trees are down and there's no power."

The blonde was leaning against the doorframe, a phone clutched to her ear. She was in a lime green bathrobe. Kevin called to her and she turned, waving and giving a small smile. In the dim light her tear-stained face glistened. "Yeah. Are you sure? Um, yeah … okay. Okay. Tell him I'm fine. I love you too, Mom … yeah, Kev's right here. I'll tell him."

The redhead and the ravenette exchanged glances.

Nazz disappeared inside for a moment. When she emerged, she'd stepped into a pair of flip-flops. It took her a moment to navigate the piles of dirt and siding covering her porch steps before she broke into a run. Kevin caught her in a hug, his shoulder muffling her sobs. "Hey. You're okay."

The girl pulled away, kissing the redhead on the cheek. "Double Dee," she uttered, rubbing the back of one hand over her face. Edd's eyes went wide when she moved to wrap her arms around him. "Jesus. Are you okay?"

"I am," the genius murmured, prickling with worry when the blonde's chin rested on his Kevin-scented shirt. "M-my Lord, what time is it? Is everyone else-"

"They're still in school," she explained, frame still pressed to Edd's. "They said on the radio that they kept everyone back because of the tornado warnings." She released a shaky sigh, shuddering as she held back a sob. The genius patted her shoulder awkwardly. Double Dee stared at Kevin and Kevin stared at the avalanche of rubble. "Oh my God, Jonny, his family … it's gone. It's just gone."

"Jesus." Kevin's gaze was still lost in the mass of splintered boards and plaster. When he spoke again, his tone made both Double Dee and Nazz look up at him. "Rolf."

The cheerleader slowly released Edd, her mouth falling open as her gaze shifted to the property next to the ravenette's house. Over the almost completely-intact fence, the slope of the roof was stripped to its framing. The place where the tool shed should've been was empty air.

"Rolf! Hey, Rolf!" The redhead rounded the immense pile of debris, swearing and swatting away a chunk of insulation that fell on his shoulder. The gate took him several tugs to drag open, and when he succeeded, a mountain of shingles and broken branches spilled out toward him. "Rolf! Are you home?"

Nazz trotted up behind him, tightening her sash and attempting to peer over the redhead's shoulder. "Kevin, don't scratch yourself," Double Dee fretted before he could stop himself. "You're not wearing a shirt…"

"Shhh." The jock held an index finger up to his lips, giving the genius a reproachful look over his shoulder. There was an endlessly stretching moment, the immense silence of destruction thick above their heads.

Kevin leapt nimbly over the pile of branches and trotted into the yard. By the time Nazz and Edd had clambered over the avalanche blocking the gate (Double Dee covering his eyes in horror when he offered a hand to Nazz and he caught a glimpse of her short shorts,) he had reached Rolf's barn. Boards were stripped erratically from the side nearest to the path of destruction like they'd been coated with invisible paint. Though the fence was inexplicably undamaged, the rubble that was Jonny's house spilled over it, adding streaks of metal and wood to the uprooted vegetables and obliterated bales of hay that had overtaken the yard. When Kevin began talking, his voice too quiet for either to hear, Nazz took a cautious step forward.

When Rolf's voice bubbled out in reply, she and Double Dee ran to the barn's entrance.

If the scene hadn't been so pitiful, the genius might've chuckled. The pig and the cow the neighborhood had listened to the foreigner scold for years were on either side of him, Wilfred oinking urgently and softly. The small flock of chickens was huddled between them, all but a single hen scooped into his arms and twitching violently to escape.

"Hey, man, are you okay?"

The blue-haired male blinked up at Kevin, considering his answer. "Rolf is uninjured, yes."

"Good God. Why didn't you go in the basement or something if you knew it was stormin' so hard?" The redhead knelt to pat Rolf's cow between her ears.

"And leave the son of a shepherd's animals to be blown into next January? Nonsense!"

He rose slowly, the armful of chickens squawking indignantly when he released them to scuttle around the damaged building. Kevin waited as the foreign boy pointed a finger at each of the birds, muttering names as he accounted for each. "At least you're not hurt or anything."

"Is everyone here, Rolf?" Double Dee clasped his hands, shadowing the doorway beside Nazz.

"Gretchen, Hilda, Ingrid, Henrietta … Gretchen, Hilda, Ingrid, Henrietta…"

When Rolf met their gazes, his face was pale and his voice was barely audible. "Gertrude." His mouth hung open for a second, staring straight through the redhead. Suddenly he was present again. "Are there any unaccompanied fowl in the yard?"

"Uhhh, no," Kevin uttered, shaking his head. "No, man, I didn't see anything."

"Gertrude … Gertrude." Rolf pushed past the redhead, bumping Edd and Nazz carelessly as he left the barn. "Gertrude! There is … this is no time for shenanigans!"

His voice echoed oddly off of the pavement and houses, as if the thick, empty air had encased the cul-de-sac in its own bubble.

"Rolf." Double Dee clasped his hands over his ribcage. "I-it's highly improbable that, in this amount of rubble-"

"Silence."

The foreigner spun to face the genius, fists clenched, tears filling his eyes.

"If you will not assist Rolf, you will leave."

Double Dee stared at the other male in silence. After a long moment the taller boy stepped away, cupping his dirt-caked hands to his mouth. "Gertrude! This is no time for frivolity … Gertrude!"

Nazz was the first to follow, scampering carefully out into the cul-de-sac and beginning to move from yard to yard, lifting up chunks of plywood and tangled piles of branches. Kevin looked at Edd, and Edd wrapped his arms around himself, letting out a shaky breath. "Come on," the redhead finally uttered, shutting the barn door to keep the rest of the livestock from escaping. He brushed a hand over the genius's arm for a moment before following his friends. "Gertrude? Uh - hey Gertrude! Come home already."

As he cautiously combed through debris and struggled to calculate where a hen might've blown in such a volatile wind, Double Dee felt himself slipping in and out of reality. Seeing the spoils of a violently deconstructed house was tolerable, even fascinating. What sent a pang of horror through him was the belongings tossed amongst the material. A comb with teeth missing, still wrapped with almost peach-blonde hair, sticking out from under a flat piece of varnished wood. A baseball that had someone's signature scrawled across it in sloppy cursive. The genius extracted the ball from the mess, setting it aside on a clean patch of sidewalk and deciding to ask Kevin if he knew whose it was. There was a shredded piece of fabric that was so wet with mud that he couldn't decipher the design. Beneath a precariously-balanced piece of metal Double Dee found a picture frame that had been snapped in two. The photo inside had absorbed water, and the ink had bled into a blackish mess. He wondered if it was a recent picture. He then wondered if it was the only portrait of someone long-dead, and his heart twisted painfully in his chest. Rising from his knees, he shifted back into a careful checklist of places he hadn't looked, holding all urges toward sentiment at arm's length. He barely registered Jonny jogging down the sidewalk and stopping, stone-still, his mouth agape as he stared at the space where his house should've been. He heard stunned, hushed voices, and as Rolf and Kevin continued to call out, he distantly listened to Nazz as she murmured reassurances and ushered the bald kid over to sit down on her porch.

"Gertrude! Gertrude … where are you? Gertrude, stop this nonsense … where are you?" The foreigner had reached the end of the cul-de-sac. Dropping the piece of plywood he'd lifted, Rolf scrubbed his grimy and bloodied hands on his jeans, his head sagging.

"Rolf."

Kevin took a tentative step toward his friend, kicking aside a box that had spewed envelopes across the ground. He reached out to touch the boy's shoulder with tentative fingers.

The taller male jerked away, turning his head to meet the jock's green eyes. "Don't touch me."

Kevin's arm dropped to his side and he stared at his friend, the boy's face smeared with dirt and tears.

"Rolf? Kevin?"

"Hey." The redhead tried to compose his face, meeting Jimmy's stare. Sarah was standing beside him, her blinding pink bag slung over her shoulder. The effeminate boy hurried toward the pair, clasping his hands to his chest as he looked up at the jock with huge eyes.

"Good heavens … they were saying on the radio that no tornadoes touched down anywhere. Rolf, are you okay? Is that big mess Jonny's house?"

"Nazz is sittin' with him." The redhead stuffed his hands in his pockets, his pale green eyes tired and downcast. "Rolf was in his barn when it got bad. We can't find … we don't know where one of his chickens is."

"Gertrude," Rolf corrected. He had stopped sobbing and his voice was hoarse. "Gertrude is missing … Rolf is truly a pitiful excuse for a son of a shepherd."

Jimmy looked at Rolf and then at Kevin before setting his spotless corduroy book bag on the ground and rolling up his sweater sleeves. "Sarah, come here."

In a matter of minutes, Sarah and Jimmy were up to their knees in the mess that was Jonny's house, calling for the chicken as Nazz sat with the bald kid on her porch. She'd draped a blanket over his shoulders, and he'd called his parents on her house phone before falling silent, clutching Plank to his chest as the cheerleader tried to coax him to drink a glass of water. Kevin sat down awkwardly on the curb next to his friend but was too wary of another outburst to say anything. Double Dee lingered a few feet away, gazing at the sky with wide eyes as he searched for any sign that more bad weather might develop.

"Jeez, what the hell are you guys - why's Rolf cryin'? What's - holy fuck."

Everyone save for Jonny looked up to see Eddy gaping at the remains of the bald kid's house. "Eddy," Double Dee exclaimed, hurrying to the short male and hugging him. "Are you all right, Eddy?"

"'Course I'm all right." he muttered, shooing the scholar off. "My stupid mom made the school keep me back until the tornado watches expired. Has Jonny seen this mess?"

"Nazz is sitting with him." The ravenette turned to look at the blonde, who was still poking at the strange kid with her glass's straw. "I think his parents are picking him up to stay at a relative's house … Eddy, where's Ed?"

"Huh?" The stocky male blinked. "Ed's not here?"

"No," Double Dee replied, the note of hysteria in his voice making Kevin glance up at him. "No, I thought he was at school with you."

"What?"

Sarah straightened, her eyes immense.

"Ed wasn't with me," Eddy said, throwing his hands out to mask his concern with annoyance. "I haven't seen him since lunch."

"I didn't see him when we were leaving," Jimmy volunteered, pushing his sweater sleeves up further. "Sarah?"

The redheaded girl's voice had fallen to a waver, a piece of hair falling between her eyes. "Why … why weren't you with him?"

"I'm not his God-damn babysitter," Eddy shouted.

There was a moment of dead silence, the group of teenagers watching the short male and the redhead. Sarah made a small noise, her permanent scowl fading into an expression that made her almost unrecognizable. "Ed … Ed. Ed, where are you? Ed."

Double Dee turned, his mind stuttering over what had to be error. "Jimmy, are you sure you haven't seen Ed?"

The effeminate boy ignored him, hurrying to his friend and taking her hands. "Sarah, please. Think logically. Don't cry - we need to figure out…"

"I don't know," Eddy was muttering, staring at the pair from across the cul-de-sac with pleading eyes. "Why would I see him when - I was in the office for half an hour." He flashed a look at the genius and there was an almost-hidden gleam of panic in his eyes. "Double Dee, think. You can figure out where he is. He's okay, right? He's gotta be. Right?"

"I don't know, Eddy," he murmured softly. Sarah let loose a frantic cry and jerked herself from Jimmy's grip.

"ED, WHERE ARE YOU?"

"We have to be rational." Eddward met Kevin's eyes, the horror pulling his lungs tight overriding any caution he should've felt. "Sarah, please, we … I'll compose a list of areas to search … please don't cry, it's just a matter of…"

Upon seeing the moisture filling the scholar's eyes, Kevin took a step toward him. "Edd-"

"Just a minute, please." Before the jock could reach him, Double Dee started across the cul-de-sac and walked to Sarah and Ed's house, feet thoughtlessly knocking garbage out of the way. He tried the door and found it unlocked.

When the genius disappeared inside, Sarah fell silent, brushing past Jimmy to follow him. Nazz mumbled a comforting remark to Jonny before setting her glass down and hurrying after Sarah.

Double Dee paced through the house, zombielike, opening the door to the basement and descending the stairs. Sarah and Nazz cautiously followed, Jimmy catching up to them as Eddy and Kevin reached the doorstep. Rolf trailed in behind them, the dirt and snot smeared on his face forgotten. The only sound ringing out was the thump of seven pairs of shoes on creaky wooden stairs.

"Ed?"

The genius stepped cautiously into the cluttered room, the dust in the air winking in the stream of dim light coming in the windows. The smallest whimper was his reply, and the relief that spilled into him felt oddly distant.

"Ed. It's all right, Ed. We're all here, Eddy and Sarah are here."

He was huddled in his closet, stuffed in amongst the stacks of comic books and action figures. Ed blinked up at him, sniffling. "She was so scared, Double Dee."

The ravenette opened his mouth, but Ed answered his question when he shifted a little, turning to face the room. The chicken in his arms warbled quietly and turned her head to look up at the group. Rolf let out a cry of relief. "The wind was getting louder and louder and her feathers were all muddy. Poor little dickens."

"Oh, Ed," Sarah wailed, shoving past the genius to throw her arms around her brother. Gertrude squawked and flapped out of the boy's grasp, scuttling around on the carpet before finding Rolf and pecking at his pant leg. Kevin cringed and waved away a stray feather.

Ed patted his sibling on the head, blinking up at the group. "Is Sarah sick, guys?"

"Thank Jesus," Jimmy breathed.

Nazz smiled tiredly beside him.