Knock On Wood (BoyxBoy)

chapter thirty-five.

It is the day after Edd's parents were called to leave, and Edd decided that today was a good day.  Edd was sitting opposite of Kevin with his legs crossed.  They were in Kevin's bedroom, both occupied with their own work.

The couple had been studying for about twenty minutes before Kevin released a monstrous groan (that startled Edd so much that he jumped, causing the book resting in his lap to close) that disrupted the silence.

"God, I'm so bored," Kevin sighs, looking at Edd (whose hand was on his heart).  "I think I'm done studying."

"But, Kevin," Edd protests, looking at his watch.  "We've only been studying for not even half an hour!"

"But I miss talking to you," Kevin says, smirking as he rests his chin on his fist and stares into Edd's eyes.

Edd feels his face heat up.  He frowns and tosses a pillow at Kevin's face.  "You're too embarrassing!"

Kevin laughs and holds the pillow in his lap.  Edd watches as Kevin's smile fades.

"Kevin?" He asks.  "Is something wrong?"

"I know this is out of the blue," Kevin begins saying.  "But I have something to ask you about."  He pauses.  "Something serious."

Edd holds his breath and nods.  He's nervous, but doesn't really understand why.

"Um, I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry."

Edd furrows his eyebrows and stares at Kevin, his heart aching.  "About what?"

"Well, I've been thinking about stuff ever since the Halloween party, and I was wondering if you're... y'know, okay."

"You're wondering if I'm okay?" Edd repeats. 

Kevin nods, embarrassed, and Edd laughs.  It isn't an amused laugh, despite how it may have sounded to Kevin.  It was more of a half-relieved sigh, half-happy laugh.  Edd was relieved that what Kevin had to say wasn't something along the lines of, "We need to break up," or something similar.

"Yes, I'm fine," Edd says, offering Kevin a reassuring smile.  His smile fades quickly, though.  "But why did you mention the party?"

"About that night... Did Jared say anything weird to you?" Kevin asks, hesitant.  His words seem forced and painful.

Edd hesitates and holds air in his lungs, thinking over his options: he could say that everything was fine and Jared said nothing out of the ordinary to him, but was the pain worth it?  Could Edd possibly keep dealing with the voice of Jared in his head, making him anxious?  Probably.  But can he also deal with the fact that Kevin is suffering too?

Absolutely not.

"He said that you didn't like me," Edd says after a minute.  "That you were with me out of pity."

Kevin doesn't say anything, so Edd continues. 

"He also said that I was...  I was unneeded," Edd takes his book and sets it on his bedside table.  "Unnecessary."

"He said that?" Kevin asked, as if he thought he was hearing things.

"Yes," Edd nods.  "That's all he said."

Kevin's quiet, staring at his fists and thinking.  He moves after a minute, tossing his book on top of his backpack, and crawling from the foot of the bed to the head and sitting next to Edd.

"None of that's true, you know," Kevin says quietly.

"I know," Edd says.

"I like you for who you are," Kevin continues.  "I like when you help me study and I find you utterly and completely necessary."

Edd smiles at this, and rests his head on Kevin's shoulder.  "Thank you, Kevin.

"Did he say anything to you?"

Kevin is quiet for a minute before he shakes his head.  "Nothing worth mentioning."

Kevin thinks that he didn't say enough to assuage Edd.

Edd concludes that Kevin said just what he had to, because sometimes, you don't have to lecture someone in order to get your point across.