Uhhh… Happy New Years?! Happy birthday to my sweet mom. Uhh. Yeah. I cranked out three of these in just under a week and, on top of that, logged 33 hours on minecraft somehow (Don't ask, I don't know. It was a productive week). To the of reviewer that I confused (you know who you are) and anyone else for that matter, I apologize for that last chapter. I honestly was writing that on on nothing but pizza, sparkling cider, pie, and couple glasses of wine. Because I am supposed to be a "responsible adult" now and my mom doesn't feed me (aside from family meals) when I come home. Really I'm just a loser who spends his time writing, gaming, and making frozen pizzas. Just like in eighth grade. Before I start whining like the loser I am: Here's the next chapter, that I hope is significantly better, to end the year.

Uhhh… me

~SevenSneakyFoxes~

Kevin watched the group of three exit the Vincent house. They looked upset. No, they looked pissed. Well, Nazz and Nat did. Rolf's face was doing a thing. A thing very hard to describe, but perhaps he was pissed. Kevin had no clue.

The three made their way directly across the street, cutting across the road instead of using the crosswalk. Nazz power walked the entire way. Before they reached the door, Kevin had it open and was waiting for them.

"You were right, Kev," She seethed, "''He has changed. It isn't just his looks."

"Told you something was up. He has this air about him. Like he's always mad. At everything and everyone, every second of the day." Kevin explained.

"Sure, but I'd hoped that he was just adjusting to being back in Peach Creek. He really is different though. At first he was all polite like usual, but then it's like the mask fell and he was downright rude. I mean, he told Nat to 'Kindly shut up.' Like what even?" She huffed and threw herself down on to Kevin's couch. "What is wrong with him?"

"That's the thing, Nazz. I'm pretty sure nothing's wrong with him per se. I just think that something happened, and now he's back. Since we don't know what happened while he was gone, he doesn't feel the need to hide who he is now. He doesn't feel like he has to be the same person he used to be."

"Whoa. Slow down there, Kev. When did you get all wise? I mean, how much thought have you really put into this? Because on the diamond you said you were done…" Kevin hadn't been paying attention to most of the words spoken, though, because when Nat talked, so did his hands and eyebrows. There was no point in talking to Nat if you couldn't see him because the hand motions meant double the words that came out of his mouth.

What else did Double D say? What happened when he was gone? Why did his parents make him leave? Were they still alive? Had Double D's parents even been real? No one had ever seen them, but then there were the notes, and Double D used to go on about them being home every night. How was he supposed to figure out what had happened from such a distance (not just across the street, but from a standpoint nowhere near emotionally close). He had a feeling that he would not be accepted with open arms; not with everything he'd done to the Eds when they were young.

He only rejoined the conversation when video games were brought up. They relocated to the basement to play and Nat cornered him on the couch.

"You didn't hear a thing we said upstairs, did you?" He waved a controller around, dangerously close to Kevin's face. The redhead shook his head, smirking at the other boy before turning to face the screen. "What is it? Do you not love me anymore? Nazz! I'm finally free. Kev doesn't love me so I guess you can have me." Kevin just shoved Nat off the couch.

"Never loved you, nerd." He chuckled. Nazz scooted over to take his spot, and Nat remained tucked between the backs of Nazz's legs and the couch.

By the end of the night, when everyone had left, Kevin silently thanked whomever for giving him good friends. Even Rolf, though he didn't say things that made sense very often, was good support. They had a neat little circle going on, and it worked well. Hell, they'd even managed to distract him from the never-ending questions his mind provided him about Edd, and that was a feat that deserved praise.

Now, though. He couldn't stop thinking about it. The boy who'd been thrown back into their lives not as easily as he'd been ripped from them. Why had he changed so much? Kevin was determined to find out. Most importantly, why did he care so much? It's not like they were close before Double D had left. If he had to admit, which he wouldn't, Edd was the only Ed that he even came close to liking. Not that he hated the others. They were just… less likable. No one was as endearing, in a dorky way, as Edd had been. He was caring no matter what, he just got dragged into a ton of Eddy's crap. Which, of course, had put him on Kevin's list of people he disliked. Well, maybe a little off to the side, like in the small category of people Kevin would never directly tease when not around other people. What was this terrible existence of his?