Beginning to End

Chapter 6: Dance (childhood)

*NOTE: all before flash backs happen before Edds accident*

He's so warm… So gentle even after all these years. Edd smiled to himself, hiding his face in Kevin's shirt. The latter picked the genius up just barely off the ground and slid his feet under the smaller males. The movement caused Edd's smile to grow into a grin. This is just like the first time we danced together…

-x-x-

Dancing was not Eddward St Vincent's strong suit, especially so when it included another person dancing with him. He had read every book on the subject of dance, He understood moving in time with a rhythm, the proper attire for each type of dance; he even knew the history of dancing and its origin. Yet still he had two left feet and no hands on dancing experience.

He had joined in on a number of impromptu dance parties that were held at many of the houses along the Cul De Sac, though even in those instances he would simply sway from foot to foot, arms pinned at his sides. But this was the "big" one. The last dance of the 7th grade. The last chance for anyone to dance with the cute blonde a cross the street.

Edd had stop to think about this several times before, he was not nervous at the thought of a chanced dance with Nazz.

No his nervousness simply stemmed from the thoughts of others watching him make a fool. bad things always seemed to happen to Edd when all eyes were on him. Tongue tired, flabbergasted, and sweating like a pig Edd would stutter over the simplest of words; trip over air, or even his own feet.

He had expressed his concern about the upcoming dance to both the other Eds; Ed was convinced an alien was controlling Edd's coordination. While it was all eddy could do not poke fun at his friend.

"So what if you don't know how to dance. All the girls will be after me anyway." When his words of reassurance had the opposite effect eddy made plans to teach the sockhead a thing or two about dancing. Eddy went as far as dressing Ed up as a girl and having the genius practice on him. The results were catastrophic. Ed would quickly forget what was going on and begin talking about a particular comic book he was in the midst of obsessing over.

Edd would in return give up and plead to be left out of the dance. "Absolutely not double d. Who else is gonna be my wing man!?"

"But Eddy be reasonable. There isn't enough time to keep teaching me like this." Edd hung his head and sat in Eddy's bed. He was hopeless. Of all the subjects he had studied, dancing eluded him.

"Okay... I got it! Let's ask Nazz if she'll teach you." Eddy quickly dismissed his idea, meeting to himself about dancing with Nazz first.

A thought can't to Edd as he listened to his friend go through each person they could ask for help. One name did not come up in the conversations.

"Perhaps i could simply ask Kevin if he knows how to dance. Surely he would be willing to assist me if he does." Edd made his way to eddy's back door.

"What!? Shovel chin?! No no no." Eddy had begun waving his arms around dramatically. "We will take care of you. You're our friend." Eddy had wedged himself between the sockhead and the door. "Don't worry about it anyway Double Dee. Think about it, who will be there anyway? Nazz is the only important girl and she'll be too busy with moi." Eddy grinned slicking his hair back.

Edd rolled his eyes. "Yes of course how silly of me to forget. Well I suppose I'll just return home and pick my outfit for the activities."

With his mind still debating how to get out of attending the dance, Edd starting making his way back toward his home. As he went, the instructions Eddy had given him played through his mind. "One, two, three... one, two, three, tur-"

He went tumbling to the ground. His left foot had caught the back of his right shoe. Carefully sitting up, Edd looked around making sure that no one had seen his tumble. When he felt confident enough that embarrassment was not impending, the genius stumbled to his feet. Brushing any dirt off his shirt, the raventte gripped his hat and ran off toward his home keeping close attention to his surroundings so he didn't trip again. Instead of double checking his surroundings, as he normally would, Edd unlocked his front door and slipped inside; and because of this he did not see the redhead across the lane watching him from his living room window. Nor did he get to see the small blush that swept across the redhead's cheeks.

-x-x-x-

The dance was decorated exactly as Edd imagined it would be. Nazz had gone all out, as she always did whether for one of her infamous parties or the school scheduled dances. The old middle school gym had suddenly become a space adventure centered on the solar system. Edd had more than willingly helped with the preparations in any way he could the moment he learned of the space theme. Though the music was not something that he would have chosen, as it lacked the intergalactic feel he would have liked to pair it with, he was still thrilled.

Nazz had made her way over to the ravenette and the other Ed's the moment that entered the gym. She greeted each of them, before turning her full attention to Edd, thanking him graciously for all the help he had provided. "Save me a dance Double D!" She called to him as she made her way off to greet other children from school. Eddy instantly turned on Edd claiming he had done it all on purpose to keep Nazz from him.

Rolling his eyes, Edd took his spot on the wall. He was comfortable there, out of the way, shielded from the bright lights that danced along to the music, in a place where no one could clearly see him swaying to the rhythmic sounds. He felt save with his back to the wall, no one could creep up behind him. The wall however, did not save him from people closing in on him from the sides. Nazz, Sarah and Jimmy cornered him this way, quickly informing him that at the last song he would be paired up so they could get pictures of everyone dancing with a partner. Hesitantly, Edd agreed to be paired off, thinking that Sarah, Nazz, or perhaps even Ed had already asked to be his partner.

He was thoroughly surprised however when he was thrusted into Kevin as the last song was announced. He stared at the redhead, who did his best not to look back at Edd. An arm was wrapped around Edd's waist, and a strong hand took hold of his.

"C'mon Double Dork, I don't wanna do all the work here."

Edd blushed slightly, lowering his head. "M-my apologies Kevin. It's just that I do not know how to go about dancing." With a click from the redheads tongue, Edd was quickly lifted off the ground for the briefest of moments before he was settled onto Kevin's feet. He froze for the first ten seconds, before he regained himself and allowed Kevin to sway the two of them back and forth. The Song ended far too soon for the ravenette's liking. However, he did manage to peel himself away from the redhead and dart out of the gym before anyone could catch him.

Kevin was left watching the genius run from his arms.

-x-x-

Edd pulled back just enough to look up at his husbands face. Tears had formed in Kevins eyes, but a smile graced his lips. The arm that had wrapped itself around Edd's waist tightened slightly.

"You aren't going to run from me again are you?"

Edd smiled realizing they had both been thinking of the middle school dance.

"Well, you know that dancing isn't my strongest of points."