MT: Chapter 14

"Thank you for the candy!" The six teens thanked the owner of the candy shop.

"It's not a problem!" stated the candy shop owner with a smile, "I remember hearing about you all on the news a few days ago, so consider this a small gift for being little heroes. Of course, the next purchase won't be free."

The six teens then left the candy shop, each of them with what they picked out at the store. The Eds and Marie each got a jawbreaker, with Eddy getting two, while Zoey got a big Hershey chocolate bar and Jennifer got a big bar of cherry taffy. Everyone stayed quiet for most of the trip back to the Cul-De-Sac.

"You know, it was very nice of the owner to give us some candy for free," Jennifer finally stated, "I know why they did, but it felt a little awkward…"

"Eh, I'll take it at this point," Eddy laughed a little, "Think of it as a small reward for all the bad stuff we had to go through!"

Double D could only sigh at him, "Of course you would say that, Eddy."

"What, it's true!"

Ed perked up his head a little, hearing a familiar sound from up above them, "Oh! There's the UFO again!" Ed smiled as he pointed up ahead towards the sky.

The teens looked to where Ed was pointing. They saw the drone flying around the Cul-De-Sac at a good distance above them.

"As I thought," Double D started to say, "I'm certain that's a drone of some kind. Though it's interesting to see anyone flying or playing with one around here."

"Aww, so it's not an alien?" Ed asked with a disappointed tone.

"I'm afraid not, sorry Ed," Double D replied with a small chuckle.

"… I have a bad feeling about it for some reason," Marie stated with a small frown.

"Yeah, same," Zoey nodded her head in agreement, "I can't put my finger on why though…"

Soon the teens came back to the entrance of the Cul-De-Sac, walking up to the playground to sit around to eat the candy they got. A few minutes passed by before Zoey finished the chocolate bar while everyone else was still eating what they had.

"… Hey, Jennifer," Zoey started to ask, "Can you check what time it is right now on your phone?"

"Sure," Jennifer replied as she pulled out her cellphone from her pocket, "It says it's 12:35pm now."

"… I see."

Eddy glanced at Zoey with sadness, he had a feeling on why she asked for the time. Zoey got up from where she sat and stood up in front of the others, "I have some news to share with everyone."

Ed, Jennifer, and Marie looked at her in confusion while Double D and Eddy stayed silent, "What is it?" Marie asked.

Zoey took a deep breath before saying, "I gotta move back to Sunflower Shoal, back in with my parents… Later today."

The others looked at her in shock at the news, "Wait, really?! That feels like it's way too soon!" Jennifer stated in surprise.

"Yeah, I know…" Zoey sighed in defeat, "But I can't help that, it's what they want."

"Will we ever see you again?!" Ed asked in a sad tone of voice.

"Yeah, I'm not gone forever or anything!" Zoey explained, "I can always come visit as often as I can."

Eddy looked down at the ground before getting up on his feet to walk to Zoey. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out the extra jawbreaker he received from the candy store, handing it out to her, "Here. Take it."

Ed, Double D, and Marie all widened their eyes at Eddy's actions while Jennifer looked on with confusion, "Eddy, you're really giving your other jawbreaker to Zoey?!" Ed asked.

"Yeah, I am," Eddy replied before he placed the jawbreaker in Zoey's right hand. He turned away from Zoey, trying to avoid looking at her, "Don't forget about any of us, you got that?!"

Before Zoey could respond to him, Eddy dashed off towards his house, surprising everyone again, "Oh dear…" Double D muttered.

'Eddy…' Zoey thought to herself sadly, glancing down at the jawbreaker she now held, 'I'm so sorry.'

"Umm, Eddward?" Jennifer started to ask as she turned to Double D, "I'm not sure what's going on. Is everything alright?"

"Eddy just gave Zoey a jawbreaker! One of HIS!" Ed stated, still in shock.

Double D sighed sadly, "Eddy… He usually never shares the candy he buys, especially jawbreakers," Double D explained, "So him giving Zoey his extra jawbreaker is…"

"I'm pretty sure that's the same thing as if Eddy was giving her a wedding ring, if I'm being frank with y'all," Marie stated with a chuckle, "Next thing you know they'll be sleeping in the same bed."

Everyone widened their eyes at what Marie said, with Zoey blushing a deep red. Only Double D knew about what happened between her and Eddy last night… At least, she really hoped that was the case!

"N-Now, now! Let's not go that far with that analogy!" Double D said with a hint of nervousness in his voice, trying to get the topic away from that. He then turned to Zoey to see her still standing there in disbelief, "Ed and I will go talk to Eddy and try to cheer him up, Zoey. You should go on and meet up with your parents… I'm sure they don't want you to be late."

"… Y-You're right," Zoey replied with a sad sigh, putting Eddy's jawbreaker in her pocket, "I'll see you guys some other time, alright? Hopefully sooner rather than later."

What that said, Zoey ran off towards her aunt and uncle's house, leaving behind her friends sitting there in the playground. As Zoey started to run back, she could feel herself getting more and more upset before starting to cry. She had to stop running for a moment to try and calm herself down. She did not want to leave, she wanted to stay.

After calming herself down for a minute, she then proceeded to walk back to her aunt and uncle's house with a look of sadness. Zoey could see her parents' car up ahead, parked in the driveway of her aunt and uncle's house. She made a sigh as she came up to the house and entered through the front door.

"Oh, welcome home Zoey!" greeted her aunt. She could see both her aunt and uncle sitting around their living room with her mom and dad.

Zoey did smile when she saw her mom and dad; even if she was away for a short while from them, Zoey did miss her parents, "Hey mom, hey dad," she greeted.

"I'm so happy you're okay now, Zoey!" Zoey's mom stated as she started to tear up.

"Yeah, Viper's been arrested now, hopefully staying in prison or juvie for good," Zoey explained.

"And good riddance to them!" Zoey's dad sighed.

Zoey's parents stood up from where they sat, "We should get going now," Zoey mom started to say, "We need your help with something at the house."

Zoey looked at them in confusion, "Like what exactly?"

"Oh, you'll see," Zoey's dad stated with a smile.

The three of them waved goodbye to Zoey's aunt and uncle as they entered the car, driving off back towards Sunflower Shoal. It took a minute to notice that they were coming up to the Cul-De-Sac, Zoey had to look away as they passed it. It was then she noticed that the car was slowing down and turning into Jennifer's neighborhood, which was right beside the Cul-De-Sac.

"… What are you doing?" Zoey asked in confusion to her parents.

She then noticed them starting to park in the driveway of the house that was beside Jennifer's house; the house that was built at the same time as Jennifer's.

"And we're here," Zoey's dad started to say as he turned to his daughter in the back seat, "We're back home now."

Zoey sat there for a moment, trying to process what was going on, "W-Wait, what do you mean we're home?!"

Her parents were silent for a moment before speaking up, "After you moved in with your aunt and uncle, we decided to buy this house that was just built and sell the old one," Zoey's mom said with a smile, "Everything's already moved in, but we still need some help with your room."

"We've been meaning to do something like this for a while, honestly," Zoey dad commented, "Sunflower Shoal's crime rate had risen a lot over the past year. It's no longer safe there."

Zoey's parents opened their car doors and exited the car, "After you help us with your room, you can go visit your friends, okay?"

Her mom's statement was when Zoey finally broke down into tears of happiness and disbelief. She could not believe what was happening right now. She could stay here with her friends after all…

Meanwhile, back with Eddy at his house, he had crawled up into his bed once again like he did yesterday, feeling defeated. His parents were still on vacation in who-knows-where, his brother was arrested, and now Zoey had left him behind… His heart had been completely shattered.

Eddy could hear his back door open as he saw Ed and Double D enter his room, both with concerning looks on their faces.

"… Go away," Eddy said to them, turning his back away from the two Eds, "I wanna be alone for the rest of the day, got it?"

"Eddy, please…" Double D stated to him before Ed came up to Eddy and lifted him out of his bed.

"H-Hey! Put me down!" Eddy yelped to him. Ed did as he was told, sitting him back down on his bed. Eddy growled a little in annoyance.

"This isn't like you at all!" Ed stated in a sad tone, "It's very scary to see."

Eddy stayed silent to them, lowering his head as he did.

"… Eddy, please listen," Double D started to say, "I know this is tough for you, but sometimes things like this happen. That's life."

"… Do you actually think that?" Eddy replied to Double D in anger, "You really think my parent's choice of leaving my brother here to go on vacation is a part of life too?! What about when Evan cut my arm and tried to hurt Zoey in the worst way possible, with him forcing me to watch! He even escaped jail to hurt everyone! AGAIN!"

The two Eds were stunned at Eddy's words.

"At this point, I'm pretty sure 'life' is against me. I felt this way when I heard Zoey break the news about her moving away," Eddy continued to say, lowering his head again, "I'm not sure if I can take much more of it."

Eddy could feel himself being crushed by Ed in one of his Ed Hugs, "B-But you still have us, Eddy!" he stated in sadness, "We're all still friends!"

"Ed is right," Double D stated with a nod of his head as Ed lets Eddy out of his hug, "You need to realize that you're not alone; we are your friends that will support you, even when you scammed the neighborhood for quarters every day."

Eddy was silent to them before he made a sigh, smiling a little to his friends.

"Besides, it's not like Zoey is gone forever," Double D continued to say, "She can always come visit us again when she has time… And I'm sure she would not want you to feel like this."

"… Yeah, I know," Eddy replied. He soon hopped forward out of his bed, "Come on, let's go and hang out with the others."

"Roger that, Eddy!" Ed cheered with happiness as the three Eds left Eddy's room.

The Eds then walked back to the playground, where we could see Jennifer and Marie still there, talking to each other. The five of them soon decided to go to Jennifer's house to pass the time.

It was while they were walking towards Jennifer's front door that she looked at the house next to hers. Noticing the car that was parked in the driveway, "Huh… I guess those folks finally moved in."

"New neighbors?" Ed questioned.

"Yeah, it's a wife and husband, as far as I can tell," Jennifer stated, "I didn't see a kid or teen with them anywhere when they were moving their stuff in."

"So, what you're saying is that we probably shouldn't bother them," Marie commented.

"I mean, would it be rude to go introduce ourselves to them?" Double D asked, "Even if we only see them once, it's a good thing to do to say hello."

Eddy only stared at the house next to Jennifer's place without saying anything, clutching his chest a little with his right hand. He had no idea why, but his heart started to beat faster and faster.

"… Eddy?" Double D questioned to him, noticing that he was acting strange, "Are you alright?"

Without saying anything, Eddy started to run over to the new house, surprising his friends. He then slowed down as he approached the front door of the house, ringing the doorbell as he did.

It only took a few seconds for someone to answer the door. It was a man and a woman, "Hello?" the man greeted to Eddy, "Is there something we can help you with?" the woman asked.

Eddy made a small, disappointed face at them, "Oh, umm…"

He could hear his friends running up from behind him, "Eddy, please don't run ahead like that!" Double D stated with a sigh before looking back at the married couple at the door, "I'm sorry if we interrupted anything. We came by to say hello, since we saw that you just moved in."

The married couple stood there for a few moments before making a wide smile to each other, "I see," the woman stated before walking up towards the stairs nearby, which confused the teens.

"Why don't you all come in?" asked the man as he gestured the teens to the living room, "It would be nice to get to know each other, right?"

The five teens looked at each other in uncertainty before walking inside the house. The house itself was structured in a similar way to Jennifer's house, seeing that they were built around the same time and next to each other.

The woman then came back down the stairs, along with someone else behind her. The teens widened their eyes at who it was, "ZOEY?!"

Zoey gasped at the sight of her friends, "Y-You guys!" she smiled as she came up to them.

Eddy stood there in stunned silence before he could feel Zoey give him a tight hug, "I'm so sorry about this! I was going to come by later to explain, but it looks like you all found me instead."

Zoey's parents could only smile at the touching scene before turning to the other teens, "We can explain what's going on now."

They explained to the teens that they bought this house a week ago and sold their old place, not even telling Zoey about it until today.

"… Wow, that's kind of jerk thing to do; not even telling Zoey about the move," Marie stated.

"We wanted it to be a surprise," Zoey's dad replied, "But you're right, it was bad of us to not mention it to her beforehand."

Zoey's parents then got up from where they sat, "We should leave you all alone for now. We have more chores to do around the house anyway," Zoey mom stated before they walked off upstairs, leaving the six teens before, "It was nice to meet you all!"

An awkward silence filled the room for a moment before Double D broke the silence, "I also think the four of us should step out for a moment," he stated as he, Ed, Jennifer, and Marie started to leave the room, going towards the kitchen. Ed gave them a wink and a thumbs up before leaving.

"H-Hey, wait!" Zoey called out to them but was ignored. It was now just Eddy and Zoey left in the living room. Zoey made a sigh as she turned to Eddy, "Eddy, I—"

She was instantly cut off by Eddy's kiss on her lips, she could see that he was starting to cry tears of joy. Zoey kissed him back, putting her arms around his shoulders as she did, which Eddy did the same. They then separated from each other, but still held onto each other's shoulder before embracing each other in a hug.

"Zoey," Eddy started to say to her, "Please don't leave again, okay?"

"Don't worry, I won't," Zoey replied, "I have you here, as well as our friends."

Meanwhile, in Zoey's kitchen, we could see the four teens peeking at Eddy and Zoey from behind a wall, hiding themselves from their views.

"Awww," Ed cooed with happiness in his voice.

"This is a nice reunion for them," Marie chuckled.

"Yes, I'm really happy for them, especially for Eddy," Double D stated with a smile.

He then turned to Jennifer beside him before reaching out to hold her hand. As he touched her hand, something strange began to happen. Jennifer widened her eyes for a moment and gasped before retracting her hand from him.

"Jennifer?" Double D questioned in confusion, "Is something wrong?"

"Eddward, y-your hand…" Jennifer started to say with worry, "Why was your hand so cold? It almost felt like ice…"

"Huh? It did?"

"Yes," Jennifer replied with a nod, "It scared me for a moment."

"That's… really odd," Double D stated as he looked down at his hand, not seeing anything different about it, "I feel just fine. Same body temperature as always."

Jennifer glanced down towards Double D's hand as well. She thought she saw his hand growing paler when he touched her, but now his hand seemed to be normal again, 'Maybe it was a trick of the lighting?' she thought to herself before looking down at her own hand, 'But that doesn't explain how cold his hand was… It really did feel as cold as ice.'

Little did they know that something was happening to Double D. Something that would lead to a very big police case for not only Peach Creek, but for Sunflower Shoal and the rest of the area.

The End

Author's Note (June 25th, 2023): YES! I AM FINALLY DONE FOR NOW! Now I can fully concentrate on playing Final Fantasy XVI until I beat it! The sequel to this story is already being planned out, but I haven't started typing out any chapters to it yet. It will be a crossover story, but I don't want to say what it will be crossing over with just yet. I can say this though, there's hints of what it is in the last chapter. That's the clues you get until I post the first chapter sometime later. I don't know when it will be, but I hope it's soon... At least soon after I beat Final Fantasy XVI.