Beakers and Beanies

Chapter 5

Once he's dropped off at the front of the school, Edd rushes to the club room. The campus was nearly empty, so he had to show his ID and equiptment room keys to the security guard closing up to be let back in. He briskly walks past a couple of students, mostly football players who didn't even notice his presence. He briefly wonders if they won. No matter, he had to find his keys and get into his clean, soft bed. Once inside the club room, he looks inside of the cardigan's pockets but finds they're empty. He was sure he had put them in the inside pocket. 

Ah! Perhaps they fell in between that altercation? Off to a place of great memories I go then. He sighs as he locks the door behind him and rushes in the new direction.

He hopes noone will be in there so that he can get his keys and leave as quick as possible. He is pleasantly surprised when the locker room is in fact mostly dark. He slips inside and makes his way to the back of the locker room, all the while looking at the floors to see if there's any trace of his keys. Once he's about to make the turn he hears a rustle and a quick sniff. He stiffens up and tries to walk backwards but crashes into a bench and nearly falls before putting his arms up against a locker. This results in a BAM. The source of the first noise is heard again. "Who's there? Jay, man you back?!" The voice calls out. 

It's Kevin. Oh no it's Kevin!

Before Edd can so much as take in a shaky breath, Kevin turns the corner and they meet face to face. Edd jumps back as Kevin looks to the side, running a hand under his nose to conceal his face. Edd then notices that Kevin's hair isn't the only thing red about him as his eyes are also irritated and swollen. 

"I-" Edd begins, "Your keys. Um I noticed them on the ground after you left I thought they'd be yours with the whole 'I Love My Planet' keychain on them and all." Kevin gives a weak smile but fails to meet Edd's eyes.

"Ah, you would be right in assuming that, Kevin." Edd says softly, feeling strange about how vulnerable Kevin seems. 

"A-Are you alright?" He didn't have to ask, but he felt like small actions like these would help thank Kevin for ending the fight earlier. He pieces things together quickly and comes to the educated guess that they probably didn't win the game. "Did the game not end as expected?"

Kevin looks up, eyes glistening over then proceeds to sit down, letting his weight come down all at once. 

"Yeah, double-dor- double-d," He corrects himself, "We uh lost but it's fine you know after a couple speeches and 'you'll get em next year's', things just settle down." 

Edd finds himself sitting next to him, well on the other side of the bench, but still next to him. 

"I am sorry to hear that Kevin." He knots his hands on his knees. 

"Why do you say my name so much? That a habit or something?" Kevin's voice caries a bit of agitation with it and Edd tenses up, looking over at Kevin. "I suppose so but I believe it's a way of being polite too-" "No. You're right. I'm sorry, it's stupid, I'm just not really all here right now."

A silence creeps over the space and Edd itches to ask for his keys and leave but the silence isn't so bad after 10 seconds or so. 

Kevin breaks it. "I'm sorry about today. I didn't mean to snap like that this morning. I'm not that same brat I used to be. I'm really not like Mike or anything... And thank you for standing up for me I guess concerning that whole gay thing. I wish I had said something sooner." Edd suddenly feels his face redden and he looks up at Kevin, not expecting him to already be looking his way. 

"O-O-Oh yes I just- homophobia is bad." He reddens at his lack of a wider vocabulary, "As in it's rude and unjust and an old mentality anyway. More and more studies show that sexuality is a spectrum so as a scientist I try to spread knowledge myself," Edd speaks much too quickly but concludes with, "just as a scientist. That is, merely as a scientist do I advocate for these things I myself am not...," Kevin's face twists in light confusion.

"But... you... are?" Edd freezes. "But... I'm sure we both have our share of homosexual interactions." Kevin keeps his gaze on Edd as he watches the raven-haired boy bite his lip.

Kevin laughs lightly, and Edd's face only burns brighter. 

Cute.

The word appears in Kevin's head, nearly escaping from his lips as well and another pair of cheeks in the room reddens.

Edd sits up a bit straighter and sheeply looks up to the taller redhead. 

"You remember that, Kevin?" 

Their eyes meet and a shared memory is seen vividly in both of their minds.

.

The summer before their first year of highschool the kids at the cul-de-sac found themselves in Nazz's home throwing a party of some sort. Beer was present-- only about two boxes had been bought but kids like to act more drunk than they actually are so a lot of alcohol wasn't a necessity. The clock had struck 1 in the morning and some kids could be found sleeping in couches but most had already gone home. Edd and Kevin found themselves in a closet, sharing memories since the last times they had spoken-- elementary school. Edd never had too big of a problem with Kevin since it was mostly Eddy's beef and if they ever had a moment alone together they would speak calmly. They always seemed to fall into talking about their aspirations. Kevin wanted to be football captain and Edd wanted to film a science documentary. They had dreams they thought the other could find curiosity in and conversation simply flowed. This had not stopped Kevin from lightly bullying Edd when he picked on the other two friends though and Edd strangely understood that. 

Edd confided in Kevin the one secret he had never told anyone. Maybe it was the 2 sips of beer Eddy forced him to drink; maybe it was the drowsiness; maybe it was the ache for confiance, but he told Kevin that he was gay. Kevin had replied with a slow nod.

Sweaty fingertips touched sweaty necks and jaws and lips until Kevin pressed his lips to those of Edds. Hands wandered, explored and both were left breathless. Neither pulled back right after.

Kevin kept the secret. Edd kept the kiss. They both got in their beds at 2 in the morning but found it hard to go to sleep. The next morning they both pushed the memory to the back of their minds and started highschool with firm dreams and a bittersweet taste on the inside of their cheeks.