Chapter 66

In the midst of the exciting and fun-filled moments they were sharing, the teenagers had neglected the fact that father time's perpetual clock never ceased, even for something as powerful as love. After a long exciting night of dancing, shared secrets, and blossoming romances, Eddy's big party was finally over.

By 11:00, all of the students from Peach Creek Junior High had already left, and the only guests remaining were the Ed's and their three girlfriends. Kevin and Nazz were on their way out the front door and Double Dee was sure to see them off.

"Sweet party dude!" said Nazz as she walked out the door, "We had a blast, thanks Double Dee!"

"See ya later Double Dee," said Kevin as he patted Double Dee on his back and followed Nazz out the door

"Thank you two for coming, and I am glad that you had a spectacular evening," said Double Dee as he watched Kevin and Nazz make their way down his gravel path. The couple shared a kiss in front of Double Dees house, after which they made their way to their separate homes to escape the cold, nippy winter air.

Double Dee closed the door behind him and turned around to face his friends. At that moment he was greeted by a sight that he would never thought to have seen in his life. Ed sat on Double Dees tan living room armchair in an ordinary position, as May sat on his lap with her legs draped over one of the armrests. Her head was resting on Ed's chest, while Ed had his left arm wrapped around her shoulder. Eddy sat on Double Dees couch with a grin on his face next to Lee. Lee was sitting on the sides of her legs, which were bent and curled up on the couch. Her position caused her to lean into Eddy, who had his right arm draped around her shoulder. Double Dee couldn't help but smile upon seeing everyone sharing a beautiful and affectionate moment together.

Although the sight of his friends enjoying their time with their girlfriends brought a smile to his face, it was the sight of his own beautiful girlfriend sitting on his loveseat that truly made him feel blessed for this moment. He stood near his front door, captivated by his black haired girlfriend's beauty as she smiled while twirling her hair.

Marie glanced over at her two sisters sitting happily in their new boyfriends arms and decided that it was time to joke with her mesmerized boyfriend.

"Double Dee," said Marie as she displayed a "puppy dog frown" and patted the couch next to her, "I'm getting jealous, come over here and snuggle with me."

Double Dee smiled at his girlfriend, at which point he began making his way towards the loveseat.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world Marie." said Double Dee as he sat down on the couch next to Marie.

Marie wasted no time and moved closer to Double Dee at the precise moment that he had placed all of his weight onto the cushion. Marie assumed a position similar to Lee's, and leaned her head on Double Dee's shoulder, but not before giving him a kiss on the cheek.

The three couples sat in silence, enjoying each other's company. The loud music that played from Double' Dee's speakers continuously for hours was replaced by near complete silence, as only the sounds of slight movements from the teenagers, and the airflow from a floor mounted heating vent near the sofa filled the air. Even though none of the youngsters could have been any happier than they were at this very moment, there was still a slight feeling of awkwardness between them.

After around five minutes of silence, it was of course Lee who decided to break it. She snickered gently.

"Crazy night huh?" asked Lee in a rather gentle voice.

Every single one of the teenagers in the room nodded their head and affirmed Lee's statement. Lee looked around the room, making eye contact with everyone as she began speaking with a lady-like voice that made her sound rather enchanting.

"You know it's funny, I had never even thought that I would see the day that you boys weren't running away from us screaming for your lives." said Lee, "And now look at us, laying up with each other on couches, it's almost like a dream.."

Lee smiled as she looked into Eddy's brown eyes.

"And I'm just so glad that my little handsome man is finally returning my advances!" said Lee as she giggled.

Eddy gave Lee a smile of his own, blushing as he did so. Lee was absolutely right about Eddy, he was no Casanova. In fact, one could tell if Eddy was attracted to a female just by observing Eddy's behavior around her. When Eddy was truly attracted to a girl, he had a terrible habit of not being able to form words, which was exactly what was happening at this very moment. Before Eddy had even had a chance to retort Marie quickly chimed in with a joke towards her sister.

"So now you finally believe in relationships all of the sudden?" asked Marie jokingly.

"Marie you are lucky I am in too good a mood to give ya the back of my hand!" yelled Lee playfully after which she chuckled, "And besides, what about all of that bull you tried to feed us about your taste in men since we moved here?"

Lee leaned forward slightly. She brushed a portion of her red curly hair over her right eye, and raised the pitch of her voice slightly. She added a cackle-like overtone to it as if to make fun of her sister Marie.

"I like cheaters!" said Lee as she grinned at Marie, "I like bad boys and slobs! But for some reason I'm crushing hard on one of the most clean, thoughtful, respectful guys on the planet!"

All three Ed's, including Double Dee, as well as May began laughing hysterically at Lee's joke. Marie simply blushed while staring down at her feet slightly annoyed.

"Come on Marie," said Lee, still snickering from her joke, "You think I'm stupid or something? I knew all of that was just a load of crap, just like that whole punk thing with the blue hair you pulled for the last few years."

The teenagers shared a laugh once again. Marie could no longer control herself and began laughing along with her boyfriend, as well as her sisters. Lee's statement could not be further from the truth. Marie had always longed for a sweet, kind hearted man that would treat her right deep down inside. Luckily she has found her special man in her amazing boyfriend Double Dee.

Marie decided to retaliate to Lee's statement with an explanation.

"Well what was I supposed to do?" asked Marie, "You fed us all of that crap about how (Marie deepened her voice to make fun of Lee's domineering voice) 'men don't amount to anything but a pile of dirt' and stuff like that. I had no choice to play along to please you!"

Lee snickered.

"I'm glad to know to know that you respected my authority enough to want to please me!" yelled Lee jokingly, after which she stuck her tongue out towards Marie playfully. Marie returned a tongue lashing of her own.

The two girls found themselves in a playful argument. As they traded insults about the reasons for them finally displaying their true colors, May did what she usually did in a crisis such as this and intervened.

"GUYS!" yelled May as she sat on Ed's lap in her adenoidal voice. "Who cares how it happened, or why it happened. The important thing is that we are all here together in each other's arms right now!"

May's words, although simple, struck a powerful chord with her older siblings. She was absolutely right. No one in the room could explain exactly how or why things have turned out the way they have. Nevertheless, what really did matter was that everyone was finally together in peace.

There was a moment of silence as the teenagers reflected on May's simple yet powerful words, after which Double Dee decided to chime in with a statement of his own.

"I suppose it is a question of faith." said Double Dee as he folded his hands on his lap, "I strongly believe that every event that occurs in this universe is somehow coordinated for a specific reason. For whatever reason it may be, fate has brought us all together on this very night. There is simply no denying the fact that over the course of the past three weeks, each and every one of us has reflected upon ourselves. Due to the various circumstances we were faced with over that period, we have bonded emotionally and managed to learn many things about each other. I am sure that if there is one thing that I have learned from all of this, it is to never judge someone merely by their outward actions."

Double Dee turned towards Marie and placed his hand on her smiling face.

"If I would have continued to judge Marie by the way she initially treated me, I would have missed out on the most spectacular young woman on planet Earth."

Double Dee kissed Marie on the forehead, after which he turned toward his friends who were still sitting next to their girlfriends.

"And I do believe that Ed and Eddy have learned this lesson as well." said Double Dee as he smiled at his friends.

There was a moment of silence after Double Dee's words as the rest of the teenagers attempted to absorb them.

"Double Dee," said Eddy, "For once I actually understood every single word that you said, and I couldn't agree more."

Eddy winked towards his best friend, after which he leaned in and pecked Lee on her cheek. She involuntarily twirled her red curls after Eddy's kiss and blushed as she looked towards the floor. Marie couldn't help but smile seeing her sister demonstrate the same feelings for Eddy that she had for Double Dee.

"We are all united as one!" yelled Ed in his dopey voice, after which he embraced May rather tightly, causing her to smile. She leaned into Ed's face and touched her lips to his, forgetting that she was in front of her sisters and the other two Ed's. Neither May nor Ed seemed to mind that they were sharing affections in front of others as they were completely lost in each other's sensual gaze.

By the time the Kankers and Ed's had finished conversing about their wild night, the elegant grandfather clock situated in Double Dee's living room was displaying a time of 11:30.

"Whoah!" said Lee, "That late already!"

Marie glanced up at the clock herself.

"Wow," said Marie, "As much as I don't want to, we better get going."

"Yeah," said May, "We told Mom we'd be home at 10:30."

All three girls stood up from their comfortable positions onto Double Dee's hardwood floor. Each girl performed a stretch, after which they picked up their purses, waiting for their boyfriends to walk them to the front door. As the boys and girls shared light conversations and laughs, Double Dee opened the large brown door, welcoming a blast of bone chilling winter air into the house.

The girls walked out onto Double Dee's front stoop, turning around upon crossing the threshold. Marie and Lee decided to wait on the large stoop for their boyfriends, while May opted to seek more room on Double Dee's gravel path. In the seconds that followed, all three Eds had joined their respective girlfriends to exchange "goodnights" and "goodbyes".

Double Dee stared down into Maries's green eyes as he smiled joyously. Marie smiled back into Double Dees eyes as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the lips.

"I don't care what it was that brought us together," said Marie with a heartfelt smile, "I'm just so glad that it did."

"Me too," said Double Dee as he ran his fingers through Marie's black hair.

"Goodnight Annemarie," said Double Dee.

"Goodnight Edward," said Marie as she leaned into Double Dees face, kissing him once again. The couple held each other in a firm embrace as they shared their goodnight kiss under the moonlit sky.

May and Ed were currently sharing their own separate goodbye down on Double Dee's gravel path.

"I really liked hanging out with you Ed," said May as she blushed.

"Me too May," said Ed, "You are the greatest!"

"Aww," said May, "You're so sweet! I think you're the best boyfriend in this whole wide world."

Ed and May stared at each other for a few seconds, both blushing as they contemplated whether or not they should kiss. May eventually decided that it was the right thing to do. She tip toed to touch her lips to Ed's as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Ed closed his eyes, enjoying his kiss, while he placed his hands on May's hips, pulling her body closer to his.

Eddy and Lee were currently standing a few feet away from Double Dee and Marie's position, sharing heartfelt goodbyes just as their peers were.

"Listen Eddy," said Lee as she leaned down into Eddy's face, "I have to really thank you for being there for me. It really meant a lot to me that you cared enough to comfort me and to not judge me for all of those things I told you."

Eddy looked up into Lee's eyes, a pair of sparkling blue jewels that Eddy had not been able to see clearly until tonight. Lee was absolutely beautiful. Her long red curls were flowing in the brisk wind as she cocked her hip to the side and smiled down at her short stubby boyfriend. Eddy couldn't help but once again check her entire body out from head to toe.

Although Eddy was captivated by Lee's beauty and tended to mix words up around girls that he thought were cute, one thing was certain. Eddy really liked Lee, and it was time for him to break his hidden fear of girls. He decided to use words to express his true feelings for his girlfriend.

"Sure," said Eddy, "Thank you for being there for me and letting me get all of that stuff off of my chest. I am so glad I walked into that den earlier tonight, cause if I didn't I would have missed out on real hot babe, inside and out."

Lee smiled and blushed at her boyfriends words. Even though Eddy had used his usual foolish speech patterns to compliment Lee, his words were truly heartfelt. After a few seconds, Eddy glanced back up into Lee's eyes, at which point he involuntarily uttered a few more words

"You are so beautiful Annalee," said Eddy in a dreamy voice.

It took a few seconds for Eddy to comprehend what he had just done. He could not believe that he had spoken his mind and promptly began sweating upon realizing he had let out words that were meant to be kept hidden.

Eddy looked up into Lee eyes, which were glistening as if she was about to tear up. Eddy had no idea how much it had meant to Lee to be called beautiful by a boy and it meant even more to Lee that it was Eddy who complemented her appearance.

"Thanks Eddy," said Lee, "I have to say that you are lookin' pretty handsome yourself tonight."

Eddy smiled as Lee began leaning down towards his face. In an almost comical fashion, Eddy found himself in the reverse situation of Ed and May. While May's short stature had forced her to tip toe, Eddy was forced to do the same in order to kiss his girlfriend goodnight. Regardless of the circumstances, Lee and Eddy's kiss was filled with just as much passion as the other two couples kisses were. Lee and Eddy had never imagined the day that they would be standing out in the open air sharing a kiss; although they both enjoyed every minute of it.

After a few seconds, the Ed's were finally finished saying their goodbyes to their girlfriends. Ed and Eddy joined Double Dee, standing in his doorway as the girls turned around to begin making their way back to the trailer park.

"See ya boys!" yelled all three girls simultaneously, after which they giggled.

The Ed's were so captivated by their girlfriends beauty, that all's they could do was wave and say a long drawn out "Bye!"

The three girls walked side by side across Rathink Avenue. Lee walked in the middle, carrying her black purse in her left hand, as her sisters Marie and May joined her on the left and right sides respectively. All three Ed's admired the girls swaying hips as they made their way towards the corner. From the moment the girls turned around to begin their trek home, to the moment they passed around the corner, the Ed's eyes did not miss a thing.

The girls reached the corner and proceeded down the cross street, but not before each of them stopped and exchanged a final smile with their boyfriends.

Once the girls were out of sight, Ed, Edd and Eddy reentered Double Dees house in silence. Double Dee slowly but surely shut the large door behind him, sealing his living room from the bone chilling air.

"Well I suppose Lee was correct when she said that this party would be a 'night to remember'." said Double Dee as he began gathering empty soda cans off of his coffee table.

"I'll say," said Eddy in dream like voice as he helped his friend.

"I'm glad to see that you are contributing to my effort to rid my residence of the remnants from the party." said Double Dee

"Hey, I promised ya didn't I?" said Eddy, grinning as he walked he trash he was holding to the kitchen receptacle.

"And besides," yelled Eddy from the kitchen, "Now that we all got girls, we gotta keep this place clean so they can come hang with us next weekend."

There was a momentary silence, after which Eddy yelled from the kitchen once again.

"Yo Double Dee, where are your trash bags?" asked Eddy, "It'll probably be easier just to bring a bag out there instead of constantly walking out into the kitchen."

Double Dee paused momentarily before answering Eddy's question.

"Oh, there is a whole box of contractor bags in the garage!" yelled Double Dee, "They should be located on the shelf next to my chemicals!"

"Alright, be right back, thanks!" yelled Eddy.

Double Dee was absolutely speechless at this very moment. It seemed as though he had just spoken to an entire different teenager, rather than the Eddy McGee he had come to know during all of the years he had lived in Peach Creek. Eddy had just demonstrated helpfulness, politeness and courtesy, not to mention commons sense; traits which were completely uncharacteristic of him. Eddy seemed to have suddenly matured mentally over the course of the last few hours, and although Double Dee was proud of him for doing so, he soon realized that Eddy was simply high on the same drug that Double Dee was on when he first met Marie; love.

Double Dee's thoughts were broken by a tap on his shoulder. He turned and looked upward to see Ed standing next to him, holding a large bag of potato chips that he had just closed up.

"Um Double Dee," asked Ed, "Where do these go?"

Ed held up the bag of chips, all the while displaying his usual happy-go-lucky expression.

Double Dee smiled at his other best friend's display of helpfulness.

"Allow me Ed," said Double Dee as he took the chips off of his friend and began walking them out into the kitchen.

The Ed's spent the next half hour restoring Double Dees' house to pristine condition, all the while sharing laughs and jokes as they always had. By the time they were finished, Double Dee's grandfather clock indicted that it was in fact midnight. Eddy had called his and Ed's parents to tell them that they were sleeping over Double Dees house. The boys decided to spend their time in Double Dee's den, watching movies and conversing about the wild night they had just shared with their new girlfriends, who had happened to be their previous tormentors.

Double Dee had thought that it would have taken Ed a couple more years before he finally had the courage to enter a romantic relationship with a girl, but was nevertheless proud of his always bubbly friend's accomplishment. Eddy, who had lived by the belief that women are to be treated like objects and claimed to never want to settle down, had broken the promises he had made to himself tonight. Eddy truly admired Lee, and even though he was extremely turned on by her "true" appearance, it was her extremely lady-like and honest personality that won his heart.

The boys spent the rest of their night sharing laughs, eating snacks, drinking sodas and joking with each other about their sudden change of heart towards the Kanker sisters. All jokes aside, the three boys were truly ecstatic about their romantic involvement with the trio of sisters.