CtD: Chapter 3

The sun was starting to set now in Peach Creek as we zoomed in on the Cul-De-Sac once again, this time with a few police cars and an ambulance around Double D's house. The police came to arrest Sophie's mother and stepfather for paternal abuse, assault with a deadly weapon, and attempted murder, as well as being under the influence and possession of illegal drugs; both cocaine and meth, to be exact. Naturally, this got the attention of everyone in the neighborhood, as well as the two gunshots they heard earlier. The paramedics there came to examine the injury Eddy received, only to see that it was not as serious as it could have been. They said it would only leave a barely visible scar on his right cheek and, if Double D had not reacted fast enough to pull him away in time, Eddy would have been shot in the head. He was very lucky that he was not killed. He currently had a bandage on the right side of his face until the wound could fully heal.

We could see Double D and Eddy sitting down on Eddy's couch with Sophie sitting next to Double D, latching onto his arm to make her feel safe. She had not let go of him since she arrived here, trembling a little from everything that happened. There was also a police officer there to get the full story of what happened from them, as well as Eddy's mother, who was sitting close to her son. Kevin was also standing close by, seeing that he helped knock the mother out to stop her from firing the gun again. Eddy's dad was not home yet from his trip to town, and neither was Ed; he had not come home from his job.

"Now then, Ms. Sophie," the officer started to say as they took out a notepad and pen, "Please tell us what happened."

Sophie made a sad face, glancing a little away from everyone to look down at the floor, "My mom and stepdad are always moving around from place to place, and they always take me with them. Our new home is around the corner from the grocery store; we moved to it back in December, but there's nothing there at all. No lights, no clean water, no bed, or chairs, barely any food, and everything was so hot during the day and cold during the night. It's nothing like the house I used to live in when my real dad was alive," she closed her eyes, "I couldn't stand being there anymore; I had to get away, so I finally ran. They saw that I started to run and went after me…" She gripped Double D's arm a little, "I was trying to hide behind some cars when Mr. Eddward came up to me. I asked him to help me get away and he said he would help. I-I was so happy…"

The officer there was writing down what she wrote before looking back up from their notes, "Judging by what she mentioned and what they had on them, as well as their driver's license and ID, I'm certain her parents are the drug dealers that a few neighboring police departments have been looking for about two years. They've all been having trouble finding these two because they kept moving around the state to a lot of shady places to hide and do their business in, even to abandoned buildings like Sophie just described."

"Oh, my word…" Eddy's mother gasped in disbelief, "That's so dreadful!"

Eddy stayed silent for a moment at what the officer said. When Sophie said she moved to Peach Creek back in December, it immediately made him think of his older brother. Evan had come to stay and visit with his family for the holidays at the time but never said exactly WHY he was visiting; not even after he was arrested. He had never visited them for other holidays and events before then.

'Oh man, is it possible he was visiting here because her parents ALSO moved here to do their business?' Eddy thought before shaking his head a little, 'Probably not. I'd never really seen him do anything like that, he was more of an alcoholic than a drug user. But I don't know…'

As the officer continued to ask Sophie and the others a few more questions about what happened, Double D thought back to what her mother said a moment ago during the tense situation, saying that Sophie was broken and that she deserved to be punished. She was drugged out of her mind when she said that, but he could tell they had been abusing her even without the influence of drugs, judging by the tone of voice they used when talking about her.

'What did her mother even mean by her being broken?' Double D thought to himself as he glanced back at the young girl beside him. She still had not let go of his arm this whole time.

That's when Double D noticed Sophie's eyes darting around the room when she was talking to the officer, not looking directly at their face despite paying attention to the conversation she was having. She did the same thing to him and Eddy when she introduced herself to them.

Double D's eyes widened a little; now realizing what her mother meant, 'I see now, Sophie must be autistic,' he thought before making a sad face, 'Her mother must not be fond of taking care of her for that reason… How awful.'

The officer wrote down some more notes before looking back to everyone else in the room, "Thank you so much for helping the girl in this situation. You are all wonderful and caring people, and now those two drug dealers are off the streets; hopefully for good."

They stood up from where they were sitting, "With these statements, we can charge her parents with a lot of things to keep them behind bars. But for now, we should try to find her other relatives to take her in."

"N-No!"

Everyone turned to Sophie in surprise, she was trembling once again, "I-I don't wanna go to my grandma's house; it smells bad there. She always yells at me for no reason! She scares me just like my parents!"

She gripped Double D's arm tightly again, "Umm… C-C-Can I stay here instead? Please?"

Double D and Eddy looked at the young girl in shock while the officer thought it over for a second, "Well, as long as you folks are okay with that, it might be beneficial for her to stay here until we find out what to do for her in the future."

"Why, that's a fantastic idea!" Eddy's mom said with a big smile, "Sophie can stay here as long as she wants! I never did think I would get a grandchild this soon, but here we are!"

"WHAT?!" both Double D and Eddy yelped at the same time, both blushing in embarrassment, as Kevin struggled to not burst out laughing at the statement, much to the confusion of Sophie.

Eddy's mom laughed at their reactions, "I'm only joking, dearies! I know you two are not thinking about those kinds of things yet."

The officer looked to the two Eds, "Ah, so you two are a couple?"

"Umm, y-yes," Double D replied with a nervous nod, "We don't live together, b-but we are partners."

"I see!" the officer stated as they scratched underneath their chin before saying, "That's so nice to see nowadays. I'm sure Sophie will be fine with all of you here," they looked back at the young girl, "It seems like she's quite attached to one of you already, so it would be wrong to take her anywhere else."

The officer looked towards the others in the room, "I think with that, I should go report to my boss. I'll tell them that Sophie decided to stay with you all, but we should try to keep in contact, just in case any of her relatives want to meet with her or take her to their homes, okay?"

"Thank you, officer," Eddy's mom replied as the officer left her house, leaving behind everyone in the living room.

A few seconds of silence passed before anyone spoke, "Umm… Where do I go now?" Sophie quietly asked the others in the room.

"Oh, don't you worry about that! We have a guest room here that you can stay in," Eddy's mom said to her with a big smile before gesturing to come with her, "Come on, let's get you out of that hoodie so I can wash it for you. I'll also prepare the shower so you can take one, okay?"

Sophie seemed a bit hesitant for a second before finally letting go of Double D's arm, getting up to follow Eddy's mother to the guest room. It was when the two left that the two Eds heard Kevin make a loud chuckle, "What're you laughing at?" Eddy asked with a small glare.

"Sorry dude, I couldn't hold back that laugh," Kevin stated before regaining his composure, "It was really funny when your mom said she finally had a grandkid."

Double D blushed a very deep red at what Kevin said while Eddy only looked at him with annoyance, also getting red in embarrassment, "It's NOT like that!"

"Haha, I know your mom was joking, but it WAS funny," Kevin replied before getting up from leaning his back against the wall, "Anyway, I better get going. I gotta get some more stuff done before I move to Athens to play football there for this season."

"Oh, right! You got drafted to play for the University of Georgia," Double D stated with a smile, "Congratulations on that, by the way."

"Thanks, dude," Kevin stated before he started to walk towards Eddy's front door, "I'll see you dorks later before then!"

"Goodbye Kevin," Double D waved a little as he left Eddy's house.

Eddy made a little groan after Kevin left, "I still hate that he still calls us dorks."

Double D looked to his partner, "I wouldn't worry about it, Eddy. I think it's just a bad habit that he can't stop after saying it for so long. Besides, I sense no ill will anytime he says it. He supports us, as does everyone else in the neighborhood."

"I know, but geez…"

A few seconds passed by again before they spoke, "We should tell Ed what happened as soon as he gets home," Double D said to Eddy, "I'm sure he would be thrilled to help out with watching over Sophie when he can."

"Yeah, but now I'm wondering what my dad's gonna say about this when he gets home," Eddy replied, "Even if she said it as a joke, it did sound like my mom was super happy to say Sophie was her grandkid now…"

Double D stared at Eddy before the blush from before came back onto his cheeks. While they did say they would wait until they were a little older to do any sort of intercourse (despite Eddy asking his thoughts about it on New Year's Day and for them to do it then, which Double D declined his offer), it never did cross his mind that Eddy's mother would have any desire for them to have a kid; you know, despite the fact they physically could not do that with them both being male. The closest thing they could do would be to adopt a child; this situation was very close to that outcome.

It also did not help that Sophie seemed very attached to him. He knew it was because she was scared of everything that happened, but it did not make him feel that uncomfortable when she kept holding onto his arm. She needed support from anyone; the support that her parents would not give her, even saying to him this was the first time anyone was nice to her in a very long time. It honestly broke his heart when she said that.

Eddy made an exasperated sigh, not noticing the blush Double D had on his face, "Oh well, let's not worry about that kind of junk right now," he said as he turned to Double D, "You should probably get home soon. It's dark out now."

"You're right," Double D replied with a small smile as he and Eddy got up from where they sat on the couch, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, same to you!"

They both leaned in to give each other a quick kiss before separating, "Night, Sockhead."

Double D smiled at him again before starting to walk off to leave Eddy's house, "Goodnight, Eddy."


Author's Note (December 18th, 2023): The end of 2023 is fast approaching! Next year is gonna be insane for the games I want to play. FF7 Rebith, Persona 3 Reload, Lika a Dragon 8, TTYD Remake, Unicorn Overlord… WAY too many things to even think of right now are next year.