Blood in the Water

Chapter Twelve

It had been over a month since Edd last spoke to Kevin. Their talk had been less than pleasant, and the swimmer had to walk away from a very hurt red-head. But it was for the best, Eddward had convinced himself of this. There was a long running list of reasons that they should and could not seek anything more than a purely carnal relationship.

He admitted, however, that Kevin's selfless act had surprised him. Removing himself as an obstacle towards Edd's future had removed a great weight from his shoulders and in that moment he had wanted to give in to desire - he might have if he had not still been sore from their last encounter.

But now Kevin was insulted, his ego heavily bruised by Edd's rejection. He avoided the swimmer actively, came home late and always made sure that he was gone from the locker rooms before Edd got out of practice. It was alright though, he had insulted Kevin. He understood his anger and confusion, Edd refused to rattle off the reasons why he had rejected the other.

Life was slowly returning to 'normal.' Once the bruises and cuts left behind by Kevin faded away it was as if their tryst had never happened, he returned to studying every day after practice, and returned to his quiet life of solitude.

Save, of course, for one Marie Kanker.

Without her he might have risked a brain aneurysm from sheer boredom. Their weekly ritual of Game of Thrones marathons (he could recite most episodes by heart now) with the new addition of Supernatural kept him sane and relatively grounded within his life. He even mused quietly to himself as he watched reruns of Will & Grace on his laptop his his relationship with the woman was synonymous to that of Will and Grace in the show.

This, however, made him feel very alone.

That was however, until one Sunday evening. The sun had set, the house was quiet, he was quite comfortable in his sweats and oversized Harvard t-shirt from his father's closet. His teeth were brushed and he was brewing a pot of fine pomegranate tea to help him find a peaceful night's sleep when there was a knock at the door.

He frowned and looked at the clock. Who would bother him so late? The only one he knew who was so utterly brash was Kevin. Admittedly this made his feel curiously...elated.

He went to the door and jumped at another loud bang. He grumbled and pulled his beanie on before opening the door only to stand there dumbfounded.

"DOUBLE-D!" Suddenly the man was tackled and grabbed up in a massive hug that threatened to separate his vertebrate. He immediately recognized the sickeningly familiar smell of gravy and body-odor that was Ed.

"What's up Sockhead." The second greeting came from behind the larger teen, Edd looked down to spot Eddy standing on his porch. He had a little more hair and had put on several pounds, but it was still very much Eddy.

Edd squirmed, fighting every urge to kick them both. "I beseech you Ed, release me!" He huffed, taking a breath when he was dropped onto his feet and stepped back. He looked between the two boys standing in his doorway, wanting to say a thousand things at once, "What are you two doing here?"

"What, we can't visit our favorite Sockhead?" Eddy piped, folding his arms and trying to look nonchalant. There was uncertainty in his eyes however as he was unsure how the other was going to react.

"Kevin came to see us Double-D!" Ed's honesty burst out of him in a glorious display of simplicity, "I have been staying at Rolf's, he has chickens Double-D!"

The swimmer winced, "Please stop calling me that."

"But that's your name." Ed cocked his head to the side and stared at his old friend with wide, unblinking eyes.