Peach Creek High School

May, 1989

"Bunsen burners, tubes, flask stands, clamps. Bunsen burners, tubes, flask stands, clamps."

Kevin kept repeating the list to himself, as to not forget any supplies. He is tasked to go retrieve some science equipment from the large storage room, the one by the gym at the far end of the school. Because of thefts over the years, they started storing equipment not used regularly in the large storage room. Which Kevin understands, but there's one thing he doesn't like about this room: The lock.

He enters the pass code on the new electronic lock, breathing out a sigh of relief when it works.

He's a fan of electronics and robotics, but only when he can understand it. This lock on the door? That's foreign territory and he won't trust it until he can take it apart. Or maybe at least read more about it in a book, enough to build one himself.

He stands there, hesitantly holding the door open. He's afraid to let it shut, because he's not sure he can trust that lock to let him back outside once he's collected the materials he needs.

He looks around and spots a possible prop. He carefully holds the door open with one foot and does a lunge for a large mop bucket. He drags it over, turns it over on its side, and wedges the edge of it just under the door, into the little dip in the concrete floor.

When he's satisfied with his work, he goes to the far shelf of science equipment. He begins stacking the flask stands and clamps onto a nearby cart.

Soon, he hears a sound, and turns to see that Edd had not only entered the room without being noticed, but he made it to the far corner, opposite of Kevin.

He feels tense, worried if the rumors are true.

Edd just seems like a typical moody teenage to Kevin, at least from their minimal interactions in class and in the cul-de-sac. But recent whispers in the hall says otherwise. Kevin wonders if Edd is really as evil and tough as he appears, and as their classmates claims he is.

No. Those rumors can't be true, can they? I refuse to believe someone so smart is also a bully.

He watches as Edd selects two mops. Edd sighs in disgust at one of them, tossing it roughly back into the corner. Kevin can hear the wood crack in the handle of the mop.

Okay. Probably should just play it safe regardless.

There are those rumors, but ultimately, Kevin's worried if he'll make a fool of himself in front of his neighbor and friend (according to Kevin, but only in secret,) whom he respects from afar in a totally professional manner.

(Read: He's had a massive crush since the day Edd moved across the street three years ago).

Edd is looking around all confused, then shrugs, making his way towards the door. He nods at Kevin as he passes, not saying a word, then freezes, looking at the door.

"I'm taking this."

Before Kevin could ask him what he meant, Edd yanks the bucket upright, allowing the door to swing shut.

Kevin starts to freak out, prompting Edd to look at him with great concern.

"Sorry… it's just that… that… those new experimental locks? Well, I just don't know how experimental they really are."

Edd rolls his eyes. He jiggles the door handle. They hear the beep and the door unlocks. Edd opens the door and looks pointedly at Kevin. "Keeping thieves out is the experimental part, not the technology of the locking mechanism."

He allows the door to shut again, pointing at the cord trailing from the door to the outlet. "As long as there's power, there's a functioning door."

Before Kevin could come up with a retort, the room goes dark.

"Um, Edd?" Kevin hates the way his voice shakes. "Could you, please, possibly, if you don't mind, turn the lights back on?"

"I would if I could… but it appears the powers gone out."

Kevin starts to panic. "Edd… what about the door? Can you open the door?"

He hears rattling, then grunting followed by a loud slam, as if Edd had hit the door. Then he hears a heavy sigh.

"Remember what I said about as long as there's power?"

"Oh no…"

"Yup."

Kevin can hear Edd mumbling to himself. Something about how foolish it was that there's no generator, or that the outlet for the lock wasn't a grounded one.

"Oh Christ, I just needed some supplies for Chemistry class. That teacher is a pain in itself. I don't need this nonsense too."

"Oh yeah? What are you guys doing today?"

"I have no idea," Kevin said rapidly, anxiety taking over his ability to speak properly. "I was just sent here for Bunsen burners and stuff. I don't know why. Maybe he knew. Knew that this would happen. Maybe he wanted me to die. That damn, stupid, Mr.-"

Kevin stops his rambling when they hear the air kick off. He hadn't even noticed the soft hum of the air vent until it was gone.

The room stayed eerily quiet for far too long.

Kevin's panic has now reached the point of shouting for aid. He kept screaming for help, for someone, anyone, to come open this door. If he wasn't afraid of moving and running the risk of tripping over everything in front of Edd, he'd be banging his fists against the door.

"Kevin… desist… Kevin, please… STOP! THEY CAN'T HEAR YOU! NO ONE CAN!"

Kevin looks dejectedly in the direction of Edd's voice, straining his eyes in the dark.

"It's no use. The only thing nearby is the gym, and I know for a fact that they're all on the tennis courts outside since that's where I just came from."

Kevin carefully steps backwards until his back is touching the shelving with the science equipment. He then carefully slides down onto the floor, sitting cross-legged on the hard concrete. He's trying not to panic again, at least not in a way that Edd would notice.

Locked in a room with no way out.

Locked in a room with the most attractive guy at the school, though others may beg to differ.

But worse, locked in a pitch-black room with someone who has a ruthless reputation.

I'm slowly dying in three different ways.

He hears some sounds but ignores them. He can't focus on them over the echo of his blood pumping, that awful turbulent sound in his ears, muffling all other sounds.

He startles when he feels something touch him.

"Sorry." Edd's voice is much softer than usual. "Are you afraid of the dark? Or perhaps small places?"

Kevin doesn't want to admit anything, doesn't want to let him know his genuine concerns. Which is easy to do, when he feels Edd sit closer to him, slowly pressing up against his side. His concerns seem a bit smaller compared to this new threat. Even in the midst of panicking, he feels himself blushing.

Hormones are the worst!

He hears some rattling, then feels something hard bump into his head. He reaches up to rub his head when he feels the item fall to the side with a clatter.

"Sorry," Edd mumbles out. "Mind scooting up, just a little?"

"Why?"

"Just do it."

Kevin scoots up, barely.

"More."

Kevin tries to scoot again, but his fear makes it more of a flinch forward.

"More, unless you want another Bunsen burner to fall on you."

Kevin complies, and then immediately feels Edd wrap an arm around his shoulders.

"What are you doing?"

"Hush."

"But why are you-"

"I believe I said to 'hush.'"

Kevin sits there for a moment, before he feels Edd squeeze his shoulder slightly, then rub his thumb back and forth. He feels a sense of solidarity but wants to confirm it. "Are you… are you afraid-"

"Psh. As much time as I spend in my tiny room in the dark, this does not phase me at all."

"Then why are you-"

"The more you ask, the more my 'why' fades away."

"What do you mean-"

"Kevin. I implore you. Please cease with the questions."

A few minutes later, Kevin asks, panicking, "How long do you think it will take?"

Edd sighs heavily. "Have you even been in a power outage?"

"N-no… just the occasional flickering during storms. But never an outage… and never locked in a room dependent on power to unlock."

"Ah… fair…"

"How are you so calm?"

"I find ways to distract myself, though I do tend to let my mind wander to far and too often at times…" He trails off.

"Is that what you do when you… sorry… but sometimes you… nevermind."

He hears a slight chuckle before Edd tugs him lightly towards himself. "When I glare or ignore people?"

"Ah… yeah…"

"Yeah. I guess I just have that kind of face, plus I get lost in thoughts a lot."

"You know… people kinda see that as-"

"I know the rumors about me, and I'm okay with that. I'm even okay with the more exorbitant ones that have recently been developed. It keeps are the nosy people away, giving me the peaceful solitude that I want. Besides, people who believe such dribble are not the kind of people I want around me."

Kevin was shocked to hear that this vicious guy wasn't always trying to pick fights, but was just perpetually distracted. He was more shocked to realize that Edd was aware of the rumors and was completely okay with the repercussions of them.

"But still… do you think… do you think they'll come looking for us eventually?"

"Sounds like you could use a distraction yourself."

"But I'm not like you. I can't just let my mind wander and-"

Kevin stopped talking when he felt Edd's arm move and a pressure against his knee. Before he could ask what Edd was doing, he felt a hand on his face, feeling around gently. Kevin considered pulling away but is glad he was too frozen to do so, when he feels Edd nuzzle against his neck. However, Edd quickly stops and pulls his face away.

Perhaps Edd was trying to feel his way to the supplies, maybe to look for a flashlight. Yes. That's got to be it!

But as Edd continues to press against Edd, pulling him closer and wrapping his arms around him, Kevin has to admit to himself that this is real, that this is truly happening to him right now.

Kevin was thankful for the dark for once, since Edd couldn't see his reddening face, possibly matching Edd's shirt at the moment.

"Tell me…" Kevin shivers at Edd's low voice so close to his ear. "Have you ever kissed someone before?"

"K-k-kissed? Someone? I-I-"

"No?" Edd whispered with a soft laugh, pressing his face against Kevin once more.

Kevin tries to shake his head but can't with his face stuck between Edd's hand and cheek.

"No worries. I'm not judging."

"You're not!? Cause it kinda sounds like you… you are…" Kevin barely gets the word out, with Edd caressing his face.

"I'm not. I can't. Not when I haven't kissed someone before."

"You haven't!?" Kevin says a bit too loudly, cursing himself for not at least attempting to hide his shock.

"No. Not yet. But soon."

Kevin didn't have time to process the words, to understand the meaning, for Edd had punctuated his statement with a chaste kiss.

And another.

And by the time the third came around, Kevin gained enough of his senses to close his eyes and kiss back.

When Edd leaned in for the fourth kiss, it wasn't as chaste as Kevin had expected, and he found himself gasping against Edd's lips as Edd crawls over his lap, hunching over to get closer to Kevin. They kiss for a bit longer before Edd pulls back.

Kevin slowly opens his eyes and sees Edd grinning at him.

He starts to grin back when Edd darts forward, kissing harder than before. Kevin closed his eyes and allows Edd to deepen the kiss. He barely registers Edd knocking his hat off, not until he feels fingers raking through his hair. He grips onto Edd's upper arms, wishing he had the nerves to lets his hands wander on Edd like Edd is doing to him right now.

Kevin feels himself relaxing, his legs becoming uncrossed and slowly stretching out. One leg bumps into Edd, and he can barely breath out an apology with the way Edd is kissing him.

Edd mumbles, "Mm. 's fine," before climbing onto Kevin's lap.

Edd then trails his hand lower, feeling up Kevin's side. In doing so, he accidently knocks Kevin's arm upward, and Kevin finds his hand landing on Edd's shoulder, awfully close to Edd's neck.

Edd then wraps his arms around Kevin, pulling him closer, as flushed together as he could get them in their current position.

Kevin decides to just go for it, letting his hand trail up Edd's neck, until his fingertips graze the bottom of Edd's hat. He freezes, unsure of what to do next, until he hears a small chuckle from Edd, and feels his lips from that signature wicked grin against his own mouth, before resuming the kiss.

Kevin allows his hand to push up against the hat, until he was able to run his fingers through the lower portion of Edd's hair. Edd started kissing him harder. Kevin took this as a good sign and let go of Edd's arm with his other hand. Soon, he had all his fingers raking through the end of Edd's hair, wishing he could just pull off that hat completely, and run his hands down the entire length.

When Kevin's teasing of Edd's hair resulted in him dragging his nails across his scalp and the nape of his neck, Edd moaned into Kevin's mouth. Kevin felt his blood surge and was torn between seeing if he can make Edd moan again and pulling back before this goes further than he can handle.

He peeks an eye open as he gently runs his fingertips against Edd's scalp again. Edd pulls back slightly, panting hard.

Kevin felt dizzy at the way Edd was looking at him. Lustful, needy, and all because of Kevin.

Edd quickly starts kissing him again. Kevin happily obliges, pulling Edd closer to him. This elicits a happy sigh from Edd.

He then feels Edd swipe his tongue against Kevin's bottom lip.

And again.

Kevin realizes what Edd was trying to do. He gasps and pulls back, feeling this is too much for him to handle, especially so quickly.

He tries to casually brings his knees up, towards his chest, to hide just how much he enjoyed kissing Edd.

Edd chuckles quietly. "That's fine. Maybe later."

Kevin didn't know what to say, but he hoped it was true. That there will be a later, with a bit more of what just happened, provided his heart doesn't explode from the thrill.

Edd stands and adjust his hat, hiding all his hair again. Kevin grins to himself as he replaces his own hat on his head.

I just might be the only one in the whole school who really knows what's under that beanie. Not just amazing hair… but also a weak spot…

God, I wish I get the chance to exploit it later…

Edd smirks at him and Kevin feels himself blushing furiously, suddenly irrationally worried that Edd might know what he was just thinking.

"Seems like the distraction worked."

"W-what?" Kevin asks as Edd helps him up off the ground. He starts dusting himself off.

"The power came back on just after the third kiss, and you didn't notice."

Kevin snaps his head up and looks around in shock.

"It did!?"

The room was well-lit, and he suddenly recalls glancing at Edd between all the kissing and being able to actually see his face.

Edd grins at him teasingly as he starts stacking tubing on the cart for Kevin.

Then something Edd had said finally hit Kevin.

After the third kiss.

The third kiss.

I have no clue how many times we kissed, but it sure as heck was way over three times… so he… he kept going? After the power came back on? But…

"But if you were just distracting me, then why did you-"

"So how many of these do you need?" Edd asked, holding up a discolored tube meant for the Bunsen burner.

"Um… oh… 5… or 6… I honestly don't remember how many groups there were today." Kevin feels a bit embarrassed that his mind was completely wiped of school just from kissing.

Edd shrugs as he haphazardly drops the entire box of tubing on top of the cart. "Might want to take them all then, just in case," he mutters.

Kevin starts putting Bunsen burners on the cart, and watches Edd pick one up off the floor. He suddenly remembers the one that fell on him, a bit curious as to how he managed to forget that his head hurt. He quickly realizes why and tries to force the thought out of his head as they continue to load the cart up with the needed supplies.

Kevin then remembers the door, that awful electronic lock, the cause for the rollercoaster of emotions, and rushes to check it. With a jiggle of the door handle, they hear the familiar beep and click of the door unlocking.

Kevin swings the door opened. He slumps and sighs out heavily. "Thank goodness!"

"Oh, like being locked in here with me was really that terrible," Edd teases.

Kevin turns his head away, pretending to adjust his hat again, to hide his blush.

Edd then walks past him, into the hall, pushing the cart.

"I can get this," Kevin says, reaching for the cart.

Edd quickly steers it away from Kevin's reach, walking on the opposite side of the hall now. "It's on my way anyways, so I don't mind."

When they reach the classroom, Edd stops pushing the cart and steps back, jerking his head towards the front of the hall.

"I should probably head back to the class before they give me another detention."

That's when Kevin realizes Edd's little fib.

Kevin's class is at the very end of the science wing. It's not on the way to anything, especially not the gym that was Right. Beside. The storage room.

Did he really just walk all the way here, away from his class? But why? Was he just trying to-

"Hey, weren't you in GYM before the power outage? So why… did you…"

Edd smirked before turning away from him. Kevin trailed off his question, realizing that he would never get an answer.

He watches as Edd waves over his shoulder while he saunters off.

Kevin turns to push the cart into the room, but only manages one step.

He flinches when the lights in the hall flicker.

"Hey!"

Kevin looks back at Edd, who's peeking back at him, just past the last row of lockers.

"Don't worry. I'll be sure to come find you during the next black-out."

-the end-