"Hey, Edd! Wait up!"

Edd stood patiently by his locker while Kevin weaved his way through the crowd. His heart skipped a beat (or two) when the redhead finally broke through, reaching out for Edd's arm to steady himself. Edd smiled and nodded in greeting, not quite trusting himself to speak. The last time he tried, he'd squeaked. He was in no hurry to repeat the embarrassing incident.

"Come on, dork. Let's get to class," Kevin said, slinging an arm around Edd's shoulder. "I actually did my homework for once. Would you mind looking over it before she takes it up?"

"Of course not," Edd replied. His voice behaved, thank goodness. He held out his hand for the paper. "Ah…Kevin, I have good news and I have bad news."

"What's the good news?"

"Just at a glance, this looks like a fantastic lab. You really put a good deal of effort into this. I am proud."

"Thanks! What's the bad news?"

"You completed the work for the wrong unit, I'm afraid."

"Fuck!"

The whole school was buzzing with gossip. Senior prom was quickly approaching, and as far as anybody knew, the school's hottest guy had yet to choose a date. Girls openly swooned as Kevin passed, hoping to catch his eye. Everyone had assumed that he would go with Nazz. They were, after all, the perfect couple, even if they weren't technically a couple. When Nazz came out as a lesbian with Marie Kanker, the student body had nearly imploded. Suddenly girls were clamoring for his attention, turning down other boys in the hopes that Kevin would take an interest. Watching him walk so casually through the halls with the class dork drove the girls crazy, but Kevin seemed to enjoy the attention. Edd just rolled his eyes. He had no plans to attend the dance, especially considering that his only choice of date was most certainly not going to be interested. He cast a wistful glance at Kevin only to be surprised to find him staring back. He blushed and muttered something about not wanting to be late, picking up speed to walk ahead of Kevin.

Class ended early, giving the students nearly fifteen minutes of free time before the final bell would ring. Edd placed his school supplies lovingly into his bag and stretched, lifting his arms high above his head. Kevin slumped in his seat next to Edd, pulling out his cell phone and shooting off a text. Edd watched his thumbs fly across the keyboard.

"I will never understand how you are able to do that," he said.

Kevin glanced up and then back down. "Do what?"

"Text that quickly. You are not even looking at the screen half of the time. I'm fairly certain that you can text faster than I can type, and that is saying something." Edd rested his chin on his hand, observing closely.

"You get used to it," Kevin said absently. He completed his text and sent it. "Hey, so who are you taking to prom?"

"Me? Go to prom?" Edd shook his head. "I must be hearing things if Kevin Barr thinks that I will be attending prom."

"Oh, come on! It's not that bad. Why won't you come?"

"I do not feel that a loud, sweaty conglomeration of sexually frustrated teenagers dancing badly to low-quality music warrants my attention or the ten dollar entrance fee." He looked away. "Besides, Ed and Eddy already acquired dates, and I do not wish to attend alone."

"Well, why don't you ask someone? Surely you've got someone you like." Kevin leaned forward to tug on the end of Edd's hat. "Come on, spill. Who is it?"

Edd blushed and shook his head, holding his hat down securely. "I will not share such private information with you. It doesn't matter anyway. This…individual wouldn't be interested."

"Are you sure?"

"I am quite positive, Kevin."

"How do you know if you won't ask?"

"I just know. Please, can we drop it?"

"Okay, okay." Kevin held up his hands defensively. "So what are you going to do while everyone is at the dance?"

Edd shrugged, picking at a spot on the table. "I don't know. I suppose I'll watch movies or something. I have recently taken a liking to the Mission Impossible films. Perhaps I can borrow them from Eddy while he is off enjoying himself."

"Maybe…"

Kevin looked as if he wanted to say more, but the bell changed his mind. They said their goodbyes and parted ways. Edd watched him walk away, allowing himself a small moment to admire Kevin's build before shaking it off and walking purposefully to his locker and then to the front steps to meet his friends.

Halfway through the first movie, a knock at the door had Edd scrambling for the box of tissues on the coffee table. He dried his eyes quickly, blowing his nose and depositing the crumpled tissue in the trash can before scurrying to the door. He pulled it open and was incredibly surprised to find Kevin standing on his porch.

"Kevin, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at prom?" Edd asked.

Brushing past, Kevin moved into the house and kicked off his shoes. "Nah. I brought movies, though." He held up the three movies that Edd had been unable to borrow from Eddy. "I got Nazz to borrow them from Eddy for me. I figured we could watch them together or something."

"Kevin…" Edd felt uneasy, a familiar dread creeping up his spine. "You don't have to pity me. I am quite used to being alone, especially on occasions such as this."

"I'm not pitying you, dude. I just didn't want to go to the dance."

Edd followed Kevin into the living room. "May I ask why?"

"My date fell through. Said he'd rather be watching movies or some shit. What a dork, right?" Kevin smiled crookedly at Edd.

Edd's face grew very red and very hot. "Kevin?"

"Come on, man! This movie isn't going to play itself." Kevin leaned back into the couch and patted the space next to him. "Come on, Double Dork. I won't bite."

Edd located the remote and played the movie. He sat next to Kevin on the couch, still struggling to believe what Kevin had said. Very quickly, he ran through a list of pros and cons. When he discovered that he couldn't think of any cons, he allowed himself to relax slightly. He settled back into the couch. Kevin's arm hung casually along the back of the couch, not making any moves toward contact. By the end of the first movie, Edd was talking and laughing again, completely at ease. He was surprised at how calm he felt around Kevin now that he thought he might have a chance. He could get used to this.

"Hey, Edd," Kevin said. He placed his hand on Edd's shoulder. "If you were a pirate, would you carry your parrot on this shoulder…" His hand jumped to the far shoulder, arm settling around him comfortably and pulling him closer. "…or this shoulder?" Kevin cracked up at his joke, drawing Edd up against his side.

Oh, yes. He could definitely get used to this.