For Edd, I Will (KevEdd)

You Just Need to Tell Him

"Nazz?! Well, this is a surprise!" Kevin said, opening his front door wider to let in his best friend.

"I hope I'm not catching you at a bad time?" she asked as she whisked past him into the living room breezily. She turned, taking off her coat, and looked him up and down. He was in sweat pants and a sweatshirt and held a bowl of half-eaten cereal in his hand.

"No, no, no, it's not. I just got out of the shower and am scarfing down some breakfast," Kevin said, gesturing with his bowl. "Have a seat."

"Where's Mom and Dad?" she asked, tossing her coat on the back of a chair before sitting demurely in it. Since they were practically babies, she and Kevin had been best friends and referred to each other's parents as 'mom' and 'dad.'

"Shopping, I think. Dad wants to put new flooring in the upstairs bathroom," he said, grinning. He settled back on his spot on the couch, reached for the remote, and switched off the TV. "Everything okay?" he asked.

"Oh, everything is just fine with me, Kevin."

Kevin didn't like either her tone or the smug cast. "Then to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit, malady?" he asked, trying to make his tone teasing.

"I just wanted to chat."

He tilted his head, lifting one eyebrow as he looked at her. "You," he said, pointing his spoon at her, "have evil intentions. I can tell."

"They are not evil!" she protested.

Kevin chuckled, shoveling a spoonful of cereal into his mouth. He chewed a moment and said through his mouthful, "But, you have intentions."

That got a frown from her. The problem with a close friendship was that, yes, you could read your friend like a book and know when something was up, but then they could also do that to you.

"Kev," she began, and Kevin felt his heart clench a little at how serious her tone became. "Kev, I want you to tell me what's going on."

He lowered the bowl into his lap. "Going on?"

She nodded.

"What do you mean?"

"I saw something last night."

Kevin frowned, "What do you think you saw?"

Nazz tilted her head to the side, pursing her lips as she watched her best friend. He had become nervous. "Do you like Double D?"

She saw his face pale, the freckles standing out prominently, but that lasted only a minute before his cheeks began to redden. She saw the flash of anger in his green eyes. She saw his brows draw together. Mostly she saw that she was right.

"Of course, I like him," he responded harshly. "He's a cool kid, and I think he could be a good friend."

"I don't mean like him as a friend."

Kevin groaned inwardly. He should have known he couldn't keep anything from Nazz. She knew him too well. He should never have hung out with Edd in her presence until he was sure he wanted to talk about it. Wait, he did know how Nazz was, and he did want to speak to her about it but couldn't figure out how to bring it up to her. He had done this to himself.

Kevin looked down at his now-soggy cereal and sighed. Without responding, he pushed himself off the couch and went into the kitchen to put the bowl in the sink. He could hear her soft footsteps behind him as she followed.

"Kevin..." she said, lightly touching him on the arm as he stared into the sink.

He brought up his right hand and palmed his forehead. "You're right, Nazz. You're always right."