So BIG NEWS: I will more than likely be sent back to america in a week or so. So that's ok because when I do, I will be getting a PROMISE RING from my amazing and wonderful boyfriend! I will add a link when it is recieved. 3 ENJOY

19

Kevin's POV

The next day Kevin was in a daze, he basically floated through the entire day of school. When he arrived at his locker where Nazz and Nat were waiting for him. Before Kevin even reached his locker, they both knew exactly what he was thinking, and Kevin couldn't hide it. They didn't say anything for a long time as Kevin opened his locker, they both watched him carefully until they both came to a conclusion of what he was thinking.

Nat grinned, "You got laid, up top!" He raised his hand expecting and high five, but Nazz and Nat only glared at him. He lowered his hand and gave them both a confused expression. Nazz looked away disgusted before looking back at Kevin, "OBVIOUSLY, something REALLY big happened last night with Edd." She smirked at him and leaned in closer to him, but Kevin had his head in the clouds. He couldn't stop thinking about the disaster date and the kiss they had in the car. He turned to look at Nazz then at Nat who both looked just as curious as the next.

He sighed and looked around for Edd, once he was sure the coast was clear he brought his hat over his face and blushed. "Edd and I are dating." He braced himself for the obnoxious squeal that rang from Nat and Nazz's throat. He was sure the whole school had heard them, but he couldn't help laughing as they embraced him. Nazz jumped up and down furiously and bounced around Nat who was staring at him with a grin. Kevin had brought his hat back on his head as he began to leave his two friends fan-girling at his locker. He didn't get very far however, Nat and pulled him back.

"WHOA, you can't expect to tell us something like that then NOT tell us what happened!" Nazz and Nat had him surrounded and Kevin knew he wasn't going to get very far. Smiling he sighed and placed his book bag next to his feet and relaxed against the lockers as he told his two friends about last night.

"Wait, so last night at the restaurant was like...your OFFICIAL date? And I got to witness it? I feel so special!" Nat squealed. He had witnessed almost the whole date last night but he was just now realizing the true meaning behind it. Nazz however, looked extremely jealous. Kevin couldn't help but laugh at them. Of course he had left out the part in Edd's car, he blushed blissfully as he thought about it. Nazz snapped him out of it and looked at her. He didn't have enough time to change his expression before she realized that he had kept part of the story out.

"You little sneak! What else happened! TELL US!" She demanded as she hit him across the back of his head.

"OW! Ok! Alright!" He paused and tried to make this as easy as possible, "We…kissed before the night ended, happy?" She hit him across the head again, "NO! Details!" She furrowed he eyebrows as the first bell rang, and Kevin sighed happily, "Tell you at lunch!" He waved to them as he left for his first class.

Kevin sat in his seat happily as waited for the next bell to ring. Kids filed in one by one while Kevin sat his desk cheerfully. The day went by quickly as each of his classes sped by. The lunch bell rang a few hours later and he found his seat next to Nazz and Nat who were anxiously waiting in their seat. He sighed as he sat down, got himself comfortable before speaking, "It was just a kiss, no big deal." Nazz shook her head, "Kevin the expression on your face tells me otherwise, something happened."

Kevin felt his anger rising, why were they pestering him about this? "Alright, if that is the case, what makes you think I want to talk about it?" Kevin blinked and immediately regretted what he had said, both Nat and Nazz looked caught off guard, and…if anything, completely shocked. Kevin didn't usually get mad, it wasn't rare, but when he did get angry, he never turned it towards Nat and Nazz.

"I-I'm sorry…." Kevin diverted his eyes and they said nothing. He grimaced, he had no idea what had happened, he just remembered his nerves rising. He peaked back up at his friends, Nazz was looking away while Nat was staring at him curiously. Kevin looked away again, he knew Nazz would be upset and Nat would only push it off as humorous. Kevin looked down at his meal and nibbled at it quietly. He couldn't help but feel like something was off, like there was something wrong. The feeling was only getting worse.

Nazz cleared her throat, "Kevin, do you know where Edd is?" Her voice was soft and gentle, but Kevin was still apprehensive about her mood. He slowly looked up at her curiously, "isn't he at school?"

Kevin knit his eyebrows together as she shook her head no, "Marie hasn't seen his car and he wasn't in her class today." Kevin thought about that before lowered his eyes again. It was unlike Double D to skip school days. Granted he had done so in the past, that was due to different circumstances. Had Double D gotten into another fight? Kevin looked back up at Nat as he shook his head clueless. Kevin grimaced again before taking his phone out and sending a quick message to Edd.

You ok? Where are you? He placed his phone on the table and waited for a reply from him. However, after 20 minutes or so, he got no reply and Kevin's feeling of doom only worsened. He thought back to last night as he watched Edd enter his house. Kevin frowned again, he remembered a light being on in Double D's house, and that never happened. What if something bad happened to him. Kevin sighed heavily again and banged his head against the table, since the beginning of the school year, there always seemed to be trouble with Edd.

The lunch bell rang and Kevin took his phone back to his class with Nazz. She patted him on the back as they talked. "He'll be ok Kev, who knows you could just be over thinking this. You do that sometimes you know." Kevin nodded solemnly, he did have a bad habit of over thinking things sometimes however, his bad feeling wasn't going away. As they entered class Nazz's phone buzzed and she handed it to Kevin after reading the message. Kevin looked at her curiously before taking the phone from her. It was a message from Marie: Edd just now showed up to school, he looks like hell.

Edd's POV

He couldn't sleep that night, which usually angered him. He knew adolescents needed a certain amount of sleep to function, but tonight just wasn't his kind of night. Around midnight he changed and headed downstairs to his punching bag. His anger had really risen since his father left, and he had to get it out somehow. As he punched his bag furiously he decided to count his punches. After an hour or so he felt his anger lowering and his head became clearer. He stopped and paused, placing his head against the punching bag and breathing heavily.

"…nice place you got down here." Hus eyes popped open as he turned to see his mother sitting on the stairs by the door with a cup in her hand. She looked different, he had always seen her clean and professional, but now she was wearing a house coat, no makeup and her hair was knotted. She looked around the room as she sipped at her drink before looking back at Double D. He could only stare at her, she looked very different. She smiled weakly at him as she patted the seat next to her. Edd raised an eye brow as he hesitantly took his place next to her side.

"Are you not somnolent?" He wasn't as concerned as he should have been, he just didn't like the awkward silence. Without looking at him she chuckled and sipped at her drink again, "No, I see your vocabulary is up to par as always." Edd wiped at the sweat on his neck with a towel and sat there as the silence continued.

She finally drank her cup full and placed it next to her. "Are you mad at me?" Edd's eyebrows knit together as he looked at her. Not only did her voice and tone sound different, but her expression was soft and altered. Every time she talked or moved or when Edd looked at her, she kept looking more and more changed, not herself. It wasn't exactly uncomfortable for him, but he did feel a bit unsettled. He shook his head no and saw her relax.

"Good, I was hoping you wouldn't be." Her voice was shaking and she crossed her arms looking away from him. He couldn't stop looking at her, it was as if the women in front of him wasn't his mother at all.

"He sighed and shifted his weight, "You are atypical tonight." He saw no change in her this time, she didn't stiffen or anything, she only sighed. "Yes, I am." Her voice was low and depressed. She looked almost defeated in a way. Edd couldn't help but feel skeptical. Though his parents were his parents, he didn't know them as well as he should have. Because of that, he had a hard time trusting them. This was the most they had talked in years and now that his mother was going to be home for a while, he was sure it would happen more often.

"Eddward, I…" She looked at him for a while before she looked away once again. Double D raised an eyebrow again, usually she would criticize him or tell him go to work or be a good son, but now that she was acting strange, he wasn't sure what she would say. She paused as she pushed her two index fingers together. She was acting childish, which only caught Edd by surprise.

"I'm sorry," She paused again, "I…haven't even been a mother to you, I don't deserve such a title. I thought following your father's ideas of having enough money to take care of you was the best decision. Now I see, that…I have made a huge mistake." She pulled her knees close to her chest and tucked her head under child-like. Double D couldn't help but stare at her, she had sounded more like a mother to him no then she ever had in his entire life. She was being 100% sincere, however Edd wasn't still confused.

"Are you informing me of this now due to your new status of unemployment?" She shot up, "Heavens no Eddward! I am so sorry if I came off that way, that wasn't my intention at all!" She shifted in her seat so she could look at him better. Double D watched her carefully.

"Eddward…getting fired has nothing to do with my feelings. I realized this quite a while back, however…" she paused again and flushed, "I told your father I wanted to quit, when he asked me why I told him I wanted to spend time with you, we got into a fight. Either way, I decided to try and come home more often, however, every time I did you seemed to be out." Double D looked away, he hardly ever stayed home and when he was he was either in his room or here in the basement. He had noticed for a while in the morning his parent's car in the driveway, however he thought nothing of it. Now he realized it was his mother coming home to see him.

He frowned, "You understand I have no faith in your story." She looked downcast then, but she did not look away from him. Though she looked solemn, she also had an expression of determination. He sighed, "Are you implying you wish to full fill a mother-son relationship here and now?" His expression remained non-chalant as he spoke, which he assumed caught his mother off guard as she relaxed once again.

She hugged her knees, "Yes, however, I understand the circumstances of that happening are very slim. I realize that not only are you grown up and my time has faded, but your desire to even speak to me may also be very low." Edd thought about it before silently agreeing with her, now she wanted to be his mother when she hadn't been one for 16 years? He sighed and opened his mouth as his mother suddenly became full of energy.

"So, I thought that maybe if I can't be a mother we would just…talk occasionally. You are my son and I want to talk to you, though you probably don't, all I ask is that you talk to me. I don't care for how long or what about, so long as we have a conversation…please." She looked up at Edd, her eyes were pleading like her apology wasn't strong enough. Edd blinked, it was the first time she looked so weak and fragile. He always knew his mother to be tough, and now that this was happening, she looking incredibly small.

Double D sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. He didn't want a relationship with her and he didn't want to talk to her, however he didn't have many people to talk to. He didn't exactly know what to do, he needed someone to talk to about Kevin, because he was just as clueless on having an actual relationship as Kevin was. Though he wasn't sure he could trust his mother, he didn't exactly have a choice.

He looked over at her and she gave him a weak smile, "don't give me an answer tonight, just think about and tell me when you're ready." She patted his shoulder and began to stand. Edd stood with her and they both paused. He could tell she was shocked at his actions, but he was caught off guard the most. He had no intentions of talking to her, yet his body acted on his own. He sighed again out of frustration before opening the door for her.

"I don't want to talk to you…however, my body seems to make a point of saying, 'I have no choice'". She smiled and patted his cheek softly. "Eddward, you always have a choice. Your mind may think that you don't want anything to do with me," she pulled her hand away and pointed to his heart, "but this won't lie to you. If you need someone or something, your heart will let you know." She smiled again at him as he thought about her words.

This was the first time she actually felt like a mother to him, and he understood what she meant. He had no idea what to do with Kevin, and though his mother may not be the best person, he really didn't have anyone. He shook his head and walked into the kitchen as he sat on the island. She sat next to him and waited patiently. Her grin was broad and full of life when it looked as if she hadn't slept for days.

Well Edd, he thought to himself, it's now or never.

Kevin fell back in his seat…that's it? That's all he got? Kevin furrowed his eyebrows and typed furiously on his phone: what happened? Kevin got a message immediately afterward. Edd: I'll explain after school. Kevin slapped his phone in his pocket and crossed his arms. Edd was getting on his nerves now, he had been worried sick all day and this was all Double D was telling him? The hour passed by slowly as Kevin fumed. He looked over at Nazz who couldn't help but stare at him. Once their teacher had turned their back she whisper, "Dude are you ok? You look like you could stab someone in the face repeatedly." Kevin chuckled, "you're not that far off."