Blood in the Water

Chapter Fifteen

The weeks passed easily for Kevin. Life was good. Though baseball ended, football started up. Kevin didn't make captain, but that just gave him more time with his new boyfriend so he couldn't bring himself to complain. Edd seemed to get better as well, though it was a slow process. Kevin was learning that the swimmer often needed his space and that he was on medication for his manic depression (though Edd would never admit this, Kevin had found the pill bottle in his room and looked it up later).

It was a gentle Thursday afternoon that Kevin arrived at the school in the early morning and settled himself down on the stage in the school's quad. He and Edd had been 'hiding' their relationship since they had gotten together, if only to allow it room to grow. It had been a silent agreement that neither of them were jumping to change.

He sat back on his hands as he waited for his boyfriend to pass by on his way to class. He was soon joined by Marty who took the spot at his right. "What's up man?" he asked.

Kevin smirked, "Not much, what's up with you man?"

"Chemistry's kicking my ass." He grumbled as he pulled out his textbook, "I gotta find a tutor. Is Edd still tutoring you?"

"Yeah... He's kinda hard to work with sometimes though." He suppressed a grin as he remembered just how hard Edd was to work with, "He has a bad attitude about everything."

Marty gave his friend a light punch on the shoulder, "I don't care, I need a tutor. How's your grade since he started helping you?"

Kevin shrugged, "He doesn't tutor me in Chem, mostly Math. But my grade's pulled up to a B since we started. Pretty good, it's keeping me on the team. I'll ask him if he'll tutor you too."

"Tell him I'll pay him."

Kevin nodded, "Sure thing."

"But at least you two are getting along a little better now. Neither of you have been suspended for fighting since you started. You even seem to tolerate each other at school." Marty piped up after a moment of quiet as he flipped through his textbook.

The ginger smirked at this, "Yeah well, I showed him who's boss."

"No shit? He didn't beat your ass?"

Kevin scoffed, "Hardly! Though I might have gotten a few bruises." And a few scars down my back. He thought with a broad grin. He wore those marks with pride though, and couldn't wait for the swimmer to give him fresh ones. Since they had gotten together the two hadn't screwed since, mostly because neither of them was entirely sure how to go about being tender.

It was then that Kevin became aware of a familiar head of blue hair running up to him. Marie stopped, looked to Marty, then looked to Kevin, "Hey, I need your help. Come with me?"

Kevin quirked a brow and looked around. He didn't see Edd anywhere, which concerned him. "Alright," he gathered his bag and hopped to his feet, "Check you later Marty." He turned and the two bumped fists before Kevin allowed Marie to drag him through the halls at a near jog. "Hey! What's this about?"

"It's about a very stubborn somebody." She huffed.

Kevin sighed, "What's he doing this time?"

"He's sick, but he won't stay home! And I don't mean a cold or even a flu, I don't even want to think about how he made it to school in the first place." They were making their way to the gym. Edd wasn't in the water was he? Kevin groaned. "He hid out in the guys locker room to get away from me."

"Well he can't be too sick if he figured that out." Kevin countered.

He was wrong. Very, very wrong. He realized this as he made his way into the men's locker room, it was empty and void, quiet save for the sound of a wet cough. It wasn't hard to find the swimmer sitting on the bench, hunched over with his elbows on his knees and his head on the cool locker door. He was pale and Kevin didn't even need to touch him to see the trembling in his body.