1- Morning

5:15 am

It was early morning in Peach Creek and a cold breeze blew gently through the trees. The sky was grey and a light rain began to fall, forming a fine mist over the streets. Lightning streaked across the sky, momentarily illuminating the windows of the houses in the small Cul-De-Sac just outside of town. Thunder cracked off in the distance, causing Edd to stir slightly in his bed. He opened his eyes slightly and looked out the window. After a few seconds, he propped himself up on his arm, his dark hair falling in front of his face as he did so. He glanced at his clock. Five o' Clock, he thought to himself. Much too early for him to be up, but he decided to get ready for school anyways.

He placed his feet on the carpet and stood up. He crossed to the window, shivering slightly as he walked. His shorts and thin undershirt did little to warm him. He leaned on the ledge of the window, peering out at the sky.

After a minute or so, he turned and faced the mirror. He was thin but his arms and legs had developed some definition. He was about 5'11" and he had medium length black hair. He smiled at his reflection and walked to the dresser, pulling out jeans, a thin T-shirt, socks, and a black wool cap.

As Edd dressed, he heard his parents in the other room, getting ready for work. They usually left before he was awake so he didn't expect them to come in to say goodbye. They both worked long hours at a very successful law firm in the nearby city. Edd didn't mind, he knew how much they loved him and how hard they worked to ensure he was taken care of.

A few minutes later, he heard both of their cars pull out of the garage and drive down the street. He finished getting dressed and was tying his sneakers when he heard a knock at his bedroom door.

"Hey, Edd, you up yet?" The voice on the other side called out.

"I'm already dressed, Uncle Leon!" Edd shouted, standing up from his bed and crossing to the door. He opened it to a man his late thirties, though he seemed to be in his early twenties. He was dressed in a tight brown shirt that showed off his well-defined chest and was putting on a navy blue jacket that read R.P.D.

"I won't be able to take you to school today, Edd. I have to be in the office early" he said as he zipped up the jacket.

"That's ok; I can just ride the bus" Said Edd as he gave his uncle a tight hug.

Leon then turned and made his way down the stairs towards the kitchen, "I'll be able to pick you up after school!" he shouted as he left.

"Ok, bye!" Edd replied as he heard the front door close. He grabbed his backpack and shut his door before he headed down the stairs and towards the kitchen. He grabbed an apple out of the fruit bowl on the counter and began to eat it as he grabbed a few papers from the table and read a few of the new sticky notes left from his parents. Ed glanced out the window above the sink just in time to see his uncle's patrol car speed down the street.

Leon was his father's brother. They were both police officers at one time but once Edd was born, his father decided he needed a better job to help provide for his family. Leon had since then done a lot with the police department and has been promoted quite a few times. He was transferred a lot so he stayed where he could. He had recently relocated to nearby Raccoon City and had been staying with his family for the past two months.

Edd liked having his uncle around. They had a lot of bonding time and Leon even taught him a lot of skills in his free time. Edd basically got a lot of police training while Leon was around; it had been like that since he was little. They had always gotten along more like good friends than uncle and nephew.

It was raining harder now and Edd decided to take an umbrella in addition to his heavy jacket. He took another bite of the apple as he walked out of the kitchen and to the front hall. He shrugged on his jacket, slung his backpack over his shoulders, and picked an umbrella out of the stand by the door.

A moment later, Edd stepped outside into the rain. He took in a deep breath and smelled the damp earth. The rain seemed to wash everything clean and gave the air a nice, natural pure smell. He felt invigorated! With the umbrella resting on his shoulder, he walked down the driveway towards the street. He pulled up his hood and tugged the jacket tighter around his throat. It was chilly out today and the last thing he needed was to catch a cold.

After only a few minutes of walking, Edd heard footsteps running up behind him. He turned to see a tall boy with a freckled face and thick, cropped brown hair. He was wearing a large green jacket and ran with a little clumsiness that suggested he would fall any second.

"Hi, Ed" said Edd cheerily, smiling as Ed caught up to him. Then, it occurred to him that his friend was dripping wet. "Ed," he continued, chuckling lightly, "where's your umbrella?"

Ed only smiled as he replied, "I didn't bring one, Double-D. The rain just feels great!" As he said this he spread his arms out wide and looked upwards, mouth wide open to catch the rain drops that seemed to be coming harder and harder every minute.

Edd Laughed and looked up too, mouth open wide. He could only share moments like these with Ed who was so light hearted and carefree that he often made Edd slow down and enjoy the smaller things in life.

Ed laughed, "c'mon, Double -D, let's get to the bus stop" he said as he tugged Edd's sleeve lightly. They walked towards the booth together, talking and laughing the whole way.

As they approached the glass covered booth, they could hear Kevin and Eddy arguing already, something about who got the front seat of the bus, as far as Edd could make out. He sighed and sat on the edge of the cold metal bench next to Rolf. They exchanged polite greetings but nothing much more than that. He glanced at the others; Nazz looked a bit uncomfortable as he watched the heated argument between Eddy and Kevin. Sara and Jimmy were completely oblivious, caught up in some book and Johnny observed the spectacle with something that looked like amusement.

Edd soon decided to simply drown out the noise. He placed his ear buds in his ears and switched to the loudest song he could find on his IPod. He leaned back and listened for a minute or so, only opening his eyes a few times to check on the increasingly heated argument. He closed his eyes again and laid his head on the glass backing of the booth.

A minute later he felt a body fall full force into his own, knocking his ear buts out. He was shocked and looked down to see Eddy as he hit the ground with an audible thud.

Kevin laughed, "Take that ya stupid dork!" He jeered as he looked down at the reddening face of Eddy who was being helped up by Ed. "What are you gonna do, huh, dork?" He mocked, bringing Eddy to his breaking point.

Edd stood up, standing between Kevin and Eddy. This had gone much farther than any of their past fights. "Now, Kevin, don't you think this is a bit childish?" He said, trying his best to diffuse the situation. He smiled and held out his hand in truce.

Kevin simply looked at him for a few seconds, and then burst out into his usual mocking laughter. "Damn, Double-Dweeb, for someone who has parents that pretty much ignore them, you sure have good manners" he jeered. He had decided to turn on Edd, someone he considered an easy target.

"What did you say?" Edd muttered, glaring at Kevin as he dropped his hand slowly to his side. It took a moment to process the words Kevin had said.

"Did I stutter or something?" Kevin started, smirking with malice, "I said your parents don't want you. They probably just shipped your uncle out here to deal with you so they wouldn't have C.P.S on their asses!"

Everyone fell silent, too shocked to say anything. Kevin glared at Edd, smirking with triumph. Edd clenched his fists so hard that he felt like his nails were going to break his skin.

"Shut up, Kevin" he said quietly, hot angry tears welled up in his eyes.

Kevin's mocking grin grew wider, "Aw, the nerd's gonna cry" he laughed.

Nazz spoke up tentatively, reaching out to Kevin as she did so, "Kevin, Maybe you should sto…" but was cut off as Edd rushed towards Kevin and punched him full force in the jaw.

He fell quickly to the ground and Edd was on top of him in an instant, grabbing tightly onto his throat, "I'm tired of your insults, your bullying, everything!" he shouted as he tightened his grip, "I'm done with you! This ends now, you will not bully us anymore!"

Edd continued to grip Kevin's throat as both Ed and Eddy tried to pull him off. They were both shouting at him but he was too blinded with fury to comprehend what they were saying. He watched as Kevin's face lost its color from lack of air.

Suddenly the voice of Nazz cut through Edd's infuriated thoughts, "Stop, Double-D, you're going to kill him!"

Edd slowly released his hold on Kevin's throat and he gasped for air, drawing raspy breaths as he pawed at the ground. Edd stood above him and looked down on Kevin. "He's not worth killing," he said in a low voice, "he's nothing."

He turned and picked up his bag as the bus pulled to a stop in front of the booth. He climbed on board and the others followed silently after him.

Everyone was too shocked to say anything. None of them had ever seen that side to their beloved Double-D before, he just never seemed capable of doing something like that to anyone.

Edd sat near the back of the bus. Ed followed him and sat down beside him. He looked at Edd's slightly bowed head, "are you alright?" he asked tentatively.

Edd looked up at his friend and smiled lightly, "I think you should be asking Kevin that" obviously proud that he had finally stood up for himself.

Ed Glanced over at Kevin. His face was pale and he had clear hand prints across his neck which he attempted to hide with his jacket. He didn't want anyone at school to notice and possibly find out he had gotten beat by Edd.

Ed looked back at Edd who was laughing a little. "What is it, Double-D?" he asked.

Edd shook his head a little then said, "You didn't think I was really gonna kill him, did you?"