New chapters will be posted at the last day of every month. Enjoy!


Chapter 6

Boy in the Bubble

Mel is holding Edd's arm tightly. She's not sure if she's hurting him. She very well could be, but that will have to wait for a little later. He whimpers. It hurts incredibly to hear, but she still refuses to let go. She can't… she just can't!

Three weeks… it has now been three weeks of avoidance. Three weeks of Mel avoiding Edd in fear that he hates her, three weeks of Edd avoiding Mel in the hopes of escaping her wrath. Three weeks of Mel wondering why her brother is using her foundation, but never working up the courage to confront him about it. As she never uses it, it didn't take very long for her to notice the tube getting smaller and smaller over time, nor did it take long for her to figure out who was using it. Believing it was Edd attempting to calm himself down – as she's learned from her psychology class; that children who are emotionally stressed might attempt to dress or act like the opposite gender just to feel better about themselves… or something like that – she didn't want to step on his toes and demand an explanation as to why he wanted to use her makeup. She didn't want to hurt his feelings… she didn't know he was already broken.

Her grip on his arm remains as strong as it was when she first grabbed him. Never has the accidental walking in on someone in the bathroom been anywhere near positive before – it literally helped her realize something horrible has happened to her brother. However, with the way he shies away from her and avoids her questions as to who it was that did this to him and why, it makes her fear that it might actually be something that is still currently happening to him.

He cries bitterly in her grip, his own free hand resting desperately on hers as he's tried over and over again to break free from her. His tears fall heavily, dragging her heart and soul down with them to be shattered on the tiled floor. It does little to comfort her as the clinical light of the bathroom lamp allows her to see every bruise, every scar that's been left on his poor little shape, his poor little trembling body. But that's not the worst thing… the worst thing is seeing the old bruises mixed with new ones. God, it really is something that's still happening!

Feeling her heart tear in a thousand pieces at the mere acknowledgement that this has been going on for who-knows-how-long without her knowing it, Mel can't fight the tears that are beginning to form in her own eyes. If Edd notice them or not is hard to tell, though the lack of any reaction from him, other than the constant sobbing, tells her that he might be too busy panicking to notice her distress over this. She can't blame him. She doesn't blame him. He's just a small kid after all. A small kid that has been broken repeatedly over a period of time that still goes on, and no one knows how long it's been like this! No one knows! If someone did know then surely something would've been done to prevent it from continuing, right? Right?! Someone would've told her about it – RIGHT?!

A shaky breath escapes her as she lets her head fall forward; losing her grip on his arm a little to relieve it of some of the pain she may or may not be causing it. As she suspected, he tries to escape her again as soon as her grip softens, but she's still too strong for him to escape her that easily. Swallowing down the rage, the lament and the horrific acid burning feeling in her guts, she raises her head slowly to look him in the eyes again. She can see the fear that grows in them as he locks his eyes with hers. God, he thinks she's angry at him! Taking a deep breath, she holds it if for a few seconds before letting it out again.

"Who?" She asks; her voice darker than it's ever been. It does little to calm Edd down. If anything, it makes him fight her even more than before, but she refuses to falter. "Who did this?" When he doesn't listen to her, only attempting to escape her more, she tightens her grip once more. "Edd!" She growls, forcing him to look back at her dark eyes. "Who. Did. This. To. You?" She tries to remain calm… really, she does… but the mere fact that Edd refuses to answer her is beginning to tear at her, watching him shake his head in defiance repeatedly as he mumbles "sorry" over and over again while tears run down his cheeks. She's not sure even he knows who he's apologizing to or why.

Defeated for the moment Mel releases his arm, only to watch him draw away from her as far as he possibly can in the bathroom. He eyes the door behind her and she knows what he's thinking. It would take a fool to not understand that he is weighing his options, calculating the odds that are against him versus the ones that are with him.

Before he's able to finish with that Mel reaches behind her, without breaking the eye contact she has on his broken little form, and locks the door with a soft cli-click. Once the sound reaches Edd he freezes. Not a single breath, not a single movement. He stands still like a statue, his eyes locked on the door as if he's trying to convince it to unlock without touching it. It doesn't work. After nearly a minute he finally blinks, and soon after that he begins breathing again – only slightly easing Mel's growing worry – but he still remains where he is, still with his eyes on the door… still with the shirt laying on the floor and all of his bruises on display for Mel to see. As Edd's breathing is light and not entirely there, Mel's breathing is heavy, nearly causing her to grow dizzy with how little oxygen she receives despite the big mouths she's gulping in. Another minute of silence and Edd's eyes slowly make their way from the door and up to Mel's face, only growing in worry and fear the closer he gets to the final destination. She tries to not be affected, to not be broken by the fact that he fears her like this, to this extent. She tries. It's hard, but she tries.

She fails.

"Edd…" She exhales – a shaky breath that escapes her. It draws his attention some. "Please…"

His eyes grow some, most likely in surprise by her broken tone. He looks her in the eyes; as if he's looking for something… something… she's not sure what. Given the way he still refuses to speak to her, how he yet again turns his head away from her in defiance, she can only assume that he didn't find it, whatever it was. It hurts. It hurts so incredibly much to see him like this. Why? Just why won't he talk to her? He's being bullied – she can help him with that! She's going to help him with that! Whether he likes it or not – she's going to find out who did this to him, and she's going to make them pay. Severely.

Silence fills the bathroom and she knows there's nothing more she can do at the moment. Not here at least. With that in mind, she lets out a broken sigh, turns around to unlock the door and then walks out without a word. If Edd tried to say something to her then she didn't hear him, or maybe he didn't dare speak aloud. Either way, she's focused elsewhere at the moment. If Edd doesn't wish to say anything to her… maybe she will be able to talk to his friends? She doubts that Eddy or Ed knows anything about this, but maybe they will be able to give her some kind of hints in the right direction? Who knows? Besides – their friend is hurting; they deserve to know that.

It's a very short walk she finds, as she finds herself standing right in front of the Sampson's front door in less than 30 seconds. A knot begins to form in her guts, but she fights the urge to vomit that it gives her and raises her hand to knock on the door, forgetting about the doorbell. Soft sounds can be heard from inside. She closes her eyes as she takes yet another deep breath and holds it in until the door is opening, revealing the shortest of the three friends – the one and only Eddy, the one that she was looking for. He seems rather confused to find her on the other side of the door, and she guesses that she can't really blame him for this. She's never come knocking on others doors in the cul-de-sac before – which seems to be a sign enough for the kid to understand that whatever it is she wants it's important. He steps aside, still looking confused, allowing her to enter his home. She appreciates it. She appreciates it greatly.

"Sorry about the mess…" Eddy says as she follows him to his bedroom. "…I-uh… I wasn't really expecting company."

"Not to worry." She tells him, ignoring the mess that is his bedroom.

"So-uh… what can I do for you?"

A heavy sigh escapes her – she didn't mean to let it – and it causes Eddy to tremble and turn slightly paler than before. Does he fear her to? Eyes shut, jaw clenched, hands in fists. She slowly takes a breath and opens her eyes to look at him, trembling still.

"Edd is hurt." She says through her teeth. Chock begins to grow in his face. "He's been hurt by someone... for a while now, and I wanted to know if you, by any chance, could give me a clue as to who it could be?" Taking a deep breath, she closes her eyes again as she feels the flaming wetness edging its way to the light of day. "Please."

Silence greets her. It's to be expected. So is the expression on the kid's face when she decides to open her eyes, to look at him, just to make sure he heard her. His eyes are big, filled with worry, pain and a burning fire she can't name but still recognizes from within herself – is it rage? No. Concern? They're already worried, so no. Nevertheless, they're sharing it, and from what she can tell, he can see the flame in her eyes just as clearly as she can see the one in his. Whatever it is, they're sharing it. They're connected. For this small moment, they're equal.

However, burning flames or not, his blank eyes tell her that he doesn't know about who could've done this to Edd. That he didn't even know about the smartest Ed being hurt, let alone frequently and by someone else. Someone who wants him to be in pain.

Hatred. Is it the same flame or a brand new one? She doesn't know, but she feels hatred towards the person, or persons, who decided to cause her brother pain. No matter what reason they may have for it, it's not acceptable. No matter what reason they may have, she will make them pay. She will make them regret the day their parents met. The day they were born. But she can't do that without knowing who they are, and for that she needs to learn more, follow hints and gather clues before making her move, delivering her message.

She has no idea when or how it happened, but they're on their way to pick up Ed. Then they head back to their house, to talk to Edd, to try and get some sort of information out of him. They enter and soon find the Ed they're searching for in the living room. The big lug cries loudly and bitterly at the sight of the smarter Ed, the bruises he's suffered and the way he yelps in pain when he attempts to give him a hug to make him feel better. It's heartbreaking. The wetness tries to escape her, but she needs to be strong, focused right now. What good will being over emotional do? What good will spreading panic do?

Eddy, the loudest Ed, is silent as he looks at his friend. Despite the fact that Mel was away for a while it would seem that Edd didn't want to put his shirt back on. Whether that's for comfort or for him wishing to put more makeup on, she doesn't know. She doesn't push.

Ed cries still and Eddy remains silent. Though Edd isn't saying anything about who did this to him he is trying to comfort his friends, telling them that everything will be fine, that there's nothing for them to be worried about. Perhaps their reactions will make him realize how wrong he is about this? She can only hope it does something to help him. Opening his eyes is a very important thing to do… but so is getting her hands on the ones that did this to him…

"Edd…" Eddy speaks up, with the softest voice Mel's ever heard coming from him. Given the way Edd is looking at him, it would seem he's never heard it before either. "This is not fine." Edd's light blue eyes widen at those words, but Eddy seems to be far from done. "What is going on Sockhead? You've been acting strange lately, hiding away from everyone but insisting that everything is fine, and then your sister appear at my front door telling me you're being hurt by someone. She even asked me if I knew who it could be! Just what is going on Edd?!"

Edd's eyes flicker to Mel for half a second before they return to Eddy, a certain wetness can be seen at the edge of his eyes, the same one Mel was fighting not too long ago herself. However, unlike her, Edd is unable to fight the tears. Eddy and Ed watch in fear as their friend burst into tears before them. He still refuses to tell them what's going on, but they can all clearly see how badly it's affecting him, how badly it needs to end. Ed hugs him, being gentle and mindful of his broken body. Eddy turns around, looking at Mel, understanding dawning on him as he sees her broken soul in her eyes. She's desperate for help. Though she might be standing still, not a single tear escaping her eyes or even an uneven breath catching itself in her throat, he can see her desperation. Knocking on his door was her last straw, her last hope.

Edd sobs in Ed's arms. He's ashamed that he was unable to keep his secret from Mel, but also very angry and disappointed in her for going to his friends and tattling on him like this. Though it feels good for him to cry in his friend's arms, he knows that it would've been better for them to not know about this at all. It would've been easier if they didn't know. Why did she tell them? Does she enjoy watching him suffer?

Carefully he opens his eyes to look at his sister in the background. She's looking at Eddy who seems to be have some kind of a telepathically conversation with her. Her entire being is… grey… emotionless, colorless… numb. Numb. That's the only way to describe her. She's numb. Not a shred of enjoyment can be found, not a speck of amusement or… or… A horrific feeling grabs him from the inside as he realizes that his sister is actually looking concerned. She's not happy about his misery. She doesn't find his pain amusing. His eyes tear up even more when he sees that wetness in her eyes. Eddy has yet to say a word to her, and she has still not said anything to him. They don't need to. Even Edd is able to understand what they're telling each other from where he is, in Ed's arms. It makes him feel warm to know they care about him, that his friends are there for him… that Mel actually worries about him. She doesn't hate him, wants him gone or sent anyone after him to harm him for her amusement. But still… even if he knows that… why did she have to tell them?

Mel looks up from Eddy and looks over to Edd. She could feel his eyes burning in her skin, cursing her for telling his friends about the matter. As much as it hurt she knows she cannot allow herself to be affected by it. If she does, she might find herself dropping the whole thing, just to make him happy with her. But then, in the end, the whole thing will just continue on till the end of days. She can't let that happen. No matter how much he might hate her for it, she won't let his anger in her stop her from ending this nightmare of his.

Watching Mel break their eye contact to look back in Edd's direction, Eddy finds himself following her gaze back to the other Eds. The big lug is still clutching onto the thinner Ed, but that's not why Mel looked away. It can't be… or was it?

Tiny little Edd appear into his line of sight and Eddy can see how disturbed he really is about the whole thing being exposed. He tries to act normal, even picking his shirt up and putting it back on to hide his wounds from the tallest Ed. Acting like it's raining outside and that everything will return to normal once the rainclouds go away. Eddy can see straight through that mask of his. It must be what Mel is doing right now as well; watching the real expression on Edd's face as he tries to comfort his friend when he needs to be comforted himself, but keeps on denying it. It's almost as ironic as it is painful. But the worst part of it all is how Edd still refuses to say anything to them. Even as Ed is calmed down after a small moment, Edd still tells them that everything will be fine, that there's nothing for them to be worried about – that he will take care of it if it gets out of hand.

"It already is." Mel says, her voice low, nearly a whisper. They heard her nonetheless.

"Exactly." Eddy agrees. "Things are already out of hand Double-D. Why are you so stubborn on convincing us that everything is fine when it's the exact opposite of that?"

"I assure you, nothing is wrong!" Edd says, raising his hands in defense. "Now, I will admit that things may not have gone entirely according to plan, but-"

"What plan?" Mel interrupts, growing more and more tired of hearing the same thing over and over again. "Edd, you can't use an 'escape plan' to get out of something like this! It has to be dealt with firsthand – otherwise you're just teasing the wolves!" She lets out a sigh, rubbing her forehead to ease the slight headache that's making its arrival slowly but surely.

Edd grows quiet. Letting his head lean forward so that his gaze is fixated on the floor, he breaks the eye contact he had with them. Ed looks on with worry written all over him, shaking in his boots at seeing his friend this broken and unlike himself. Eddy does the same, still trying to get his friend to snap out of this mental state he's in, but it's proven to be harder than he first thought it would be. He looks up to Mel, finding her looking at Edd with determination in her eyes, combined with frustration and sick worry. She wants this to end. She wants it to end so badly. He can tell by the fire burning in her eyes, and for that he respects her. He respects her greatly for caring for Double-D like this, for just letting them know their friend is being hurt. He respects her for that.

A small movement from Edd draws their attention back towards him. Slowly he raises his head towards them, to look at them all at the same time. There's a fire burning in his eyes that Mel doesn't recognize. She wonders briefly if any of his friends do. Her eyes widen as soon as she hears her brother's broken voice speak to them, ending all of their arguments for the moment.

"I fail to see how any of you would be able to do something about this."

At first Mel trembles at the tone he's using, then at what he said… but then the trembling vanishes, to be replaced with something else – something even greater.

The two friends and one sister watches as Edd turns on his heels and walks up the stairs, leaving them downstairs to merely watch. It would seem that manners mean nothing to him in this moment. That's fine. Eddy and Ed turn towards her, telling her that they're sorry they couldn't help and that they need to go home. That's fine. They walk out the front door, closing it carefully as to not disturb the little peace that's still remnant in the house. That's fine.

Silence. Sweet, innocent, calming silence. The only thing that's breaking it is the sound of her rigid breathing, the breaths catching themselves in her throat. Her hands tied into tight fists, her stiff body shaking with every single breath that manages to escape her. Jaw clenched tight, she raises her head in the direction of where her brother's bedroom is, where he is right this moment. He doesn't wish to help her… he doesn't wish to help her help him. To help her end this torture he's going through, for whatever reason there might be that he's managed to come up with. That's fine. No matter what happens, no matter who helps her or tries to stop her, she will find a way to get to the bottom of this. She will find the person who did this to her brother. Whether or not he wants help, that's what he's going to get. That's what he's going to get, and that's what he's going to deal with. If he wishes to fight her about it then he's going to have to, because there's no way she's going to let this continue on like this any longer. As soon as she can, she will end it for him.

And he's just going to have to suck it up.


Helping someone who's stubborn is tough, but if you truly love them, then that's what they're going to have to deal with.

Also, side note: I will begin to update my stories at the last day of every month. This is just to make things a little easier – for you and me both. For you to know when the next chapter is supposed to be uploaded and for me to actually have some kind of "structure" for when I'm working on the chapters.

All in all, it's a pretty well-balanced plan. I just hope I manage to keep it.

I've also been told by people in my private life that I should get an account on (is that the right one?) to make money on my stories, because they think they're that good(?) So… I guess I'm getting …? Naturally I won't be able to earn money on these stories… but maybe if I edit them…? Hmmmmmmm….