Added Amanda from Dream Daddy to be Mel's online gamer pal, because why not? I friggin' love that girl!


Chapter 2

Blue Jeans

"So they really left, huh?" Eddy's voice is loud in the background.

They're currently in Ed's basement room, watching some random horror movie that Ed found in some store, with a monster of questionable origin that's currently feasting on a crewmember of a spaceship. Ed is sitting on the floor, merely 2 inches away from the screen, whereas Edd and Eddy are sitting on Ed's bed. Or, Eddy is sitting on the edge of the bed while Double-D refuses to make any sort of contact with it. It didn't take him very long to sit down on the floor on a blanket he managed to find – and wash before using it – while still being on his guard, just in case something turns out to be living. It wouldn't be the first time.

At Eddy's question though, he lets his guard down to look back up at his friend, who seems to be rather worried and concerned about him, and why wouldn't he be? When their parents told them about the contract they had signed for the company – the very contract that "allowed" them to travel outside the country for months at a time for business – Mel had blown up with rage, shouting and yelling horrible things at them. Edd's father, who is a rather calm and collected man, normally, had even snapped at her behavior, but that's not what made Edd worried or scared, no. The scariest thing of them all was the fact that Mel hadn't reacted at all. She was completely unfazed by the fact that a man was shouting and yelling back at her, like it was something she was used to. But why would she be used by something like that? His father never shouted at people! It was literally the first time Edd had heard him raise his voice! And the thing she had said when he did… "Should've thought of that before you married her…" What did that mean?

"Double-D?"

Snapping out of his thoughts, Edd shook his head and looked back at his friend.

"Are you okay?" Eddy asks. "You know… being alone at home with… with her?"

He opened his mouth to reply his usual phrase that he would be just fine, but stopped himself when he felt himself hesitate. Would he be?

"Double-D?" Eddy asks again, this time catching Ed's attention as he looks away from the screen.

Feeling a weight begin to build up, Edd lets out a heavy sigh before he looks at both of his friends. "I don't know." He says with a saddened voice. "I-I… I really don't know…"

They remain silent for a moment, the only sound being the television still playing the movie though it's running towards its end and soon the credits are playing along with some music. The three friends doesn't say anything for a long while, even after the credits ends and the VHS player spits out the tape it just played, like it had tasted just as bad as the movie itself was. It takes another silent moment before Edd lets out a sigh.

"I… I really don't know what to do… or say when it comes to Mel." He begins. "There's so much I don't know about her, other than how she's angry all the time. And now I have to live with her, alone, with no one to supervise!" Wrapping his arms around his knees, he folds in on himself. "I'm… I'm scared."

Eddy, being the genuine friend that he truly is, sits down from the bed to sit next to his friend and pulls him into a hug. It doesn't take very long before Ed joins them and pulls them both into his arms, as if he's trying to keep them both safe from the horror of the world, the horror that's also currently living under the same roof as sweet little Double-D.

Ever since the rumor spread throughout the cul-de-sac that there's a teenager living with Double-D, everyone had been very scared, but also very supportive of him – even Kevin! They ask him how things are going whenever they get the chance to, and he keeps telling them not to worry, that things are going to be just fine… but that was before their parents signed the contract, before he knew how things would turn out. Now… now he's so scared he doesn't know what to do! Whenever that happened, he would go find solace from one of his parents, his mother often, but that's no longer an option for him, and that makes him feel more lost than ever before. He shudders and pushes further into the hug, despite the way Ed smells. He needs this. He needs safety from wherever he can get it as it no longer exists where it's supposed to. At home.

"The papers from school are finally completed. Tomorrow will be her first day in High School." He whispers silently, lamenting the fact that he will see her not only at home, but at the one place he really enjoys to.

"Oh yeah…" Eddy answers. "I forgot she's not started yet."

"Oh dear, oh dear… what am I to do?"

"What do you mean?" Eddy asks, pulling slightly away from the hug so that Ed lets them go enough for them to sit next to each other. They look at Double-D for a moment as he only stares down at his feet before answering Eddy's question.

"I mean… I will not only see her at home anymore, but at school as well." He says with a shake, as if he suddenly got very cold. It only causes Ed to pull him back into a warm and comforting hug. "I will see her at home in the morning, on the bus on the way to school and at lunch-"

"Yeah, so?" Eddy asks, trying to sound as positive about it as he can. "You'll see her at home, on the bus and at lunch, which isn't even a stated fact, since she might not even have the same lunch period as us. That's two times, three if she really does have the same lunch period as us."

"Three times outside the fact that she might end up roaming the hallways of the Junior High!" Edd squeaks from Ed's grasp, clutching tightly to his arm. "And who's to say she might not be looking for me during lunch? What do I do then?!"

"Hang on, hang on." Eddy says, trying to approach this from a logical direction, knowing that the brainiac can't defy logic. "You said that she might end up roaming the halls of the Junior High, where our classes are. Why in the world would she do that? All of her classes are being held in the High School. Why would she even attempt to get to the Junior High?"

Edd's hectic breathing calms down a little from that statement. "I suppose…"

"And so what if she tries to look for you at lunch? You've got us! And the other cul-de-sac kids! We're right by your side if she tries something!"

Looking up at Eddy, taking in the confident smile that's plastered onto his friend's face, he can't help but let a smile of relief form on his. "Thank you." He whispers, hugging tightly back at Ed's arm, who only hugs him back.

"Hey! Don't leave me out of it!" Eddy says as he forces his way back into Ed's arms to hug his friends again.

"Group hug!" Ed calls out and tightens his grip, choking the life out of his friends before letting them both go again. "Don't be sad Double-D! I'll save you some gravy for lunch if you want! Gravy makes everything better!"

"O-Oh Ed… erm… that sounds… delicious..?"

The day runs to its end and Double-D is on his way home. Though his friends have given him strength and courage to face tomorrow, there's still today to face before that. His feet feel like lead as he slowly makes his way to his front door and his heart is starting to slightly ring in his ears as he reaches for the doorknob. The door opens without a problem and the house almost appear empty as he steps in, where it not for the odd sounds coming from Mel's bedroom, he actually would've thought she wasn't home. Well… as long as she's in her bedroom, I guess the coast is clear.

Though his legs are shaky, he manages to take off his shoes and place them carefully at the door before locking it and start the tread to his bedroom – across the living room, up the stairs and then head down to the left till he reaches the door. He opens his door with a sigh of relief and steps inside before closing the door behind him. With a glance at the clock and given how tired he feels, he decides there's little reason for him to remain awake, and thus he tucks himself in. He vaguely remember about the whole brushing your teeth thing, but thinking at how he'll run a risk of running into her if he attempts to do so now, he decides to just brush them a bit more thoroughly tomorrow. Closing his eyes, he's out like a light.

"Alright, I have to go." Mel says as she dislocates her server from the current game. "I have school tomorrow and I really need to make sure everything is ready."

"Okay, well it was fun to hear from you again." Amanda says, sounding a little disappointed that her friend is leaving already. "When will you be home tomorrow?"

"Probably at four or something like that." Mel says, packing her gaming things together on her desk. "And I'll probably have a bunch of homework. I'll send you a text when I'm free and then we can see about playing some more?"

"Sounds like a plan."

"Sweet! Talk to you later then."

"Bye!"

Turning her laptop off, Mel places her headphones on the desk before getting up from the chair, stretching her body to ease the slight soreness in her muscles. She knows that it's bad to be sitting in a chair all day long, but when your gamer pal wants to do a live stream and play Bloody Trapland, then what are you gonna do? She doesn't have a stand-up-desk.

She steps out from her bedroom to go and wash her makeup off so that she can go to bed finally. On her way she notices that the lights are on in Edd's room, the light shining weakly from underneath his closed door. Strange, I didn't hear him come in. Oh well. She continues on her track and as she reaches the bedroom door the lights in Edd's room turn off, indicating that he's getting ready for bed as well. She makes haste when it comes to washing her makeup off – she only paints her eyes after all – and brushes her teeth so-so thoroughly. She knows that if Edd had seen her he would've told her that she is doing it incorrectly, though not to her face, but when he thinks she can't hear him. Not that she would've minded him telling her that to her face. Lord knows that it would be wonderful to hear her brother say something to her, anything at all really. It's getting just the slightest annoying with how he's still afraid of her and thus doesn't dare interact with her whatsoever. She shakes her head at the thought that her own sibling is terrified of her, remembering what Amanda had asked her when she told her about him: "Well… have you given him a reason to be afraid of you?" A 'No' had been her first reaction, but Amanda is no fool, so she had continued: "Are you sure? I know you can have quite the temper if pushed around enough, and everyone knows that you've been pushed around during your parents' divorce. All in the wrong ways."

Letting out a very heavy sigh, she looks at herself in the mirror, inspecting the outline of her very own face. I did yell at his dad the other week, when they told us about that stupid contract. Guess that wasn't the brightest thing to do…

Shaking her head at her stupidity, she stands up and leaves the bathroom to head back into her bedroom. Before entering though, she casts a final glance back at Edd's door, thinking about how she could fix this strained bond between them. Will she be able to? She's always wanted to have siblings, and now that she has been fortune enough to have one, she's not certain of what to do. How does one apologize to their younger brother? Is there even an option to do that, or is the deed done and dealt with? She sighs, way too tired to think about that sort of stuff right now. Tomorrow maybe, in-between being brand new at school, she will have some time to figure it out. Right now though – bed.

The sun rises much too soon in everyone's opinion, but there's very little you can do about that. School is starting at 8:15, and the bus will arrive in the cul-de-sac at roughly 7:45. That being said: TIME TO GET UP!

Her phone's alarm rings loudly in her room, at 6:30 am, from where it's resting and charging – right by the window, across the room, strategically placed so that she has to get up from the very warm and comfy bed in order to turn it off. Rubbing the remaining sleep from her eyes, she grabs the clothes she's decided on for the day and leaves her bedroom to get changed in the bathroom. To her very great surprise she can hear Edd preparing breakfast in the kitchen already. When does that kid get up to be at that stage already? Shaking her head, she heads into the bathroom to get ready, getting dressed and putting on the bare minimum of makeup. If she didn't need to put makeup on then she wouldn't. Once she's done she grabs her PJ and heads back into her bedroom to make her bed with the PJ tucked in, safely within the blanket. She then takes a deep breath, collecting her thoughts and double checking her schoolbag before picking it up and bringing it downstairs to the kitchen where she finds Edd.

The poor kid is standing with his back towards her as he washes the dishes he's used to make breakfast, and thus he hasn't noticed her yet. Observing him for a small moment, Mel puts her bag down on a chair and walks towards the fridge to see what's to eat.

"G-good morning…" A weak voice says over the fridge's slight 'hum' sound as she opens the door.

Leaning back some to have a small peak at his small frame, she gives him a small smile. "Morning." She says before returning towards the task of finding something to eat. Her eyes eventually land on a plate with fried bacon stripes and two fried eggs and she feels her stomach turn inside out. She hates fried eggs… hates it!

"I-I took the l-liber-ty t-to prepare your br-breakfast…" Edd's small voice dies down as she grabs the plate and puts it on the kitchen table. Though he may not have said much, it's the most he's said in a while to her and she's not gonna let this moment get away from her… even if she has to eat fried eggs!

"Thanks." She says while getting a fork to eat with. She can feel his eyes burn in her neck, and she wrecks her brain for something to say while sitting down at the table. "So… when did you get up exactly?"

She watches as he timidly sits down across the table from her, noting how he appears to be having an internal battle with himself. "W-well… at five am?" He carefully shrugs.

"Five am?!" She gasps nearly dropping the fork on the plate. "Why do you get up at five am?"

"W-well… um…"He mumbles slightly after jumping at her "outburst" – she can hear Amanda's voice in her head, reminding her not to give him a reason to be scared of her, and she scolds herself silently – and tries to come up with an explanation. "I-I guess… um…"

Noting how he's not finding an answer for her right now, she drops the matter and instead decides to take care of a bigger issue. "No need to tell me." She says. "Sorry for shouting like that. You just caught be off guard. I didn't mean to scare you."

Surprise is literally written all over his face after her saying that. The way he looks up at her, the way he keeps looking at her with big eyes and a slightly opened mouth in an "o" shape is enough to tell her that yes – he is surprised. Hopefully it's positive surprise.

As she begins eating her breakfast, Edd decides that his luck has given him more than he's asked for and will not test it any longer. He carefully gets up from the chair and excuses himself before heading up the stairs to the bathroom to brush his teeth. Whilst doing that he thinks at the slight conversation he just had with her – it's the first real conversation they've ever had since they met! No hate, no harsh words, no… well, a little bit of fright, but she apologized for it! If it wasn't for the fact that he's still pretty terrified of her he would've been giddy about it! Giddy! Edd! He simply has to tell Eddy and Ed about this morning! Maybe things won't be so bad after all?

He finishes up in the bathroom and exits just as Mel is about to enter, to get her teeth brushed and stuff. Pushing himself to give her a timid smile, he's happy to report that she, in return, gives him a smile of her own. It's a small one, like the one in the kitchen before, but it's a smile nonetheless! He also takes the moment to realize that her outfit for the day… isn't nearly as "threatening" as her usual outfits have been.

Blue jeans – a little whitened at the knees from being used – and instead of one of her many plaid shirts, she's currently wearing a black and white patterned shirt with a black tank top underneath. Her wavy copper hair, which is so usually hanging over her shoulders, has been put up in a ponytail with a black scrunchie. The outfit almost makes her look professional in a way, and it actually takes Edd by surprise. He manages to snap out of it though and goes to collect his things. It's currently 7:22, meaning there's still some time before the school bus will arrive, but one can never be prepared to early! As Mel finishes off the final touches in the bathroom, she heads back down into the kitchen to go through her stuff in her bag one more time. It's not like it's crammed with things, but she's still got some things in there that could prove to be very useful; like tampons and pads (depending on which you'd prefer), band aids – just in case – a couple of pens and erasers, a ruler (calculator is in the phone), notepads and notebooks of different sizes and even a few folders for homework or just important papers over all.

As soon as the clock strikes 7:30 Edd is basically crawling on the walls, so Mel decides that it might in fact be about time to head on out and get to the bus stop already. It's a short walk, just down the street as the bus stop is literally right outside the cul-de-sac, but she's not about to complain. Her brother is actually allowing her to be near him, and he seems to be excited! What more can a sister ask for? Of course, when the other kids show up at the bus stop and spot her, their faces drain of whatever color it was before and reluctantly approaches the bus stop.

It doesn't take very long for Edd to notice Eddy and Ed heading towards them. Noticing Eddy's concerned expression beneath the confident one he's wearing, Edd can't help but smile widely at his friend. Within moments Eddy's concerned expression turn into a surprised one, slightly chocked actually. Oh, he's just got to tell them about this morning! It went so much better than he thought it would!

"Good morning gentlemen!" He says excitedly once they're close enough to hear. "Are you ready for another glorious day of learning?"

"Uhmm… yeah, sure sockhead." Eddy says, being very mindful to keep an eye on Edd's sister – who appears to give him some sort of glance at the name 'sockhead'.

"Mornings are bad for Ed!" Ed sulks and leans over his two friends, causing Edd to chuckle at his friend.

"Oh, don't worry Ed." He says while patting his friends arm. "I assure you that you will be wide awake at the end of the day!"

A soft chuckle can be heard over the conversation between the friends, if you listen close enough to hear it, as Mel does her best not to eavesdrop to them being friends.

"I'm always wide awake when I need to go to bed." Ed says matter of factly. "And then, when I need to be awake, I'm always sleepy." He ends his statement by resting his head on top of Double-D's

"Amen to that." Mel chuckles. Looking down at the three friends, who have turned their attention towards her, she can't help but snort amused at the sight. "What?" She asks. "I can relate."

The smile on Edd's face grows wider and he looks back at Eddy, seeing the surprised expression on his face from how humanly she's behaving. When Eddy looks back at Edd it's very clear to the beanie wearing kid that his friend has some questions about what's going on. Questions he's more than happy to answer, go through and just simply talk about.


I listened to La llorona from Coco while writing this chapter. It was a blast.