Kevin Barr had been acting weird all day, and everybody knew it.

Nazz and Rolf knew because of course they did. They were his best friends. If they hadn't figured it out, he would have been offended. He never told either of them exactly what this was about, but he was pretty sure Nazz had it figured out, and Rolf…well, he could never quite tell exactly what the fuck Rolf was thinking. But the strong teen with the farmer's tan, even in winter, had been exchanging looks across the room with Nazz all day, so Kevin figured it was safe to assume he knew.

The football team knew because he was their captain. They paid attention to him. The cheerleading squad knew for more or less the same reason. The rest of the school knew because he was the popular kid, and news about Kevin Barr traveled fast in a place as small as Peach Creek High. Even the Eds seemed to know, if Eddy's sniggers whenever the redhead passed by were anything to go on, and that was unnerving.

Because today Kevin was going to ask Double D to the winter formal.

"If you ever work up the courage to," Nazz said, jabbing her finger in between his eyes as she leaned across the table. "Lunch is almost over, you've had two classes with him already, and you haven't even said hi to him yet!"

"Casanova-Kevin must be strong like mama's ox! Here, eat this." Rolf lifted a massive forkful of whatever monstrosity was festering away on his plate and held it in Kevin's direction. Nazz gagged and brought a hand to her nose, but Rolf didn't even blink. "Nana's old recipe, yes? The juice of the radish will butter the biscuit of your cowardice!"

"Dude, you've been spending too much time with Ed. You're making less sense than usual." Kevin leaned back to escape the food, if it could even be called that. "I'm not a coward, I'm just…"

"A chicken?" Nazz offered.

"A sissy?" Rolf supplied.

"A scaredy-cat?"

"A small female human?"

"Oh, oh! One of those small, shaky dogs that pees when you scare it?"

"Alright, I get it!" Kevin interjected. He blew out a sigh and looked across the cafeteria to that familiar black beanie. "I'll do it during gym class."

"No, you won't. Today's dodgeball day. You know he'll worm his way out of that somehow."

"Aw, damn. You're right. After school, then. I'll find him before he leaves." He glanced again toward Double D's table and wrinkled his nose. "Think you can get dumb and dumber out of the way?"

"Leave it to Rolf!" the shepherd's son shouted, slamming his hand down on the table. "I will not let you down!" Rolf stood, placing one foot on the bench and the other up on the table, a fist over his chest to proclaim his loyalty.

"Yeah, yeah, thanks, but get down before you get us in trouble!"

Thanks to eagle-eyed Mrs. Foster, they did end up having to clean trays for half an hour as punishment for Rolf's antics, and by the time Kevin got to class he was too late to hear the teacher tell Double D that he had to participate or risk a failing grade. It wasn't until he'd joined a team and ended up face-to-face with the dork that he realized Double D was even in the room, and the unexpected encounter brought a heavy blush to his cheeks.

"Greetings, Kevin," Double D offered nervously, wringing his hands.

"Double Dork," Kevin responded, and the game began.

Dodgeball wasn't something Kevin had to put a lot of thought into. Years of sports had trained him to be aware of the players, the field, and the ball, or in this case, balls. It was simple enough to catch one and throw it back; he didn't even have to look at this point, and he rarely missed his target. Only once had he been struck out. That was something that wasn't talked about. It didn't take long, therefore, for his mind to wander to thoughts of how to ask the skinny teen shaking in the back of the gym out. Did he just…do it? Was he supposed to say something sweet or give him something? Shit, he should have planned something cool. Maybe Nazz could-a shout was all the warning he got before a ball caught him squarely across the face. Hard.

"Oh, my heavens! Kevin, are you alright?"

As his vision swam back into focus, Kevin found himself staring up at the ceiling, the faces of the coach and the smartest of the Eds hovering in his peripherals. The teacher he could understand, but…

"Double D?"

The pale teen looked paler than usual, and his hands flitted from running gently over the stinging half of Kevin's face to wringing themselves and back again, and his face screwed up in remorse. "I'm terribly sorry. Mr. Morgan said I had to participate and defined participation as 'actually throwing a ball for once in your life', so I chose you as my target, assuming that you would catch it as you always do, but you must have been distracted because you did not."

"You threw that? Seriously?" Kevin moved to sit up, holding his head to keep it from spinning until it occurred to him that it was the room that was spinning.

Mr. Morgan rolled his eyes. "Take him to the nurse's office, Eddward. The rest of you, get on with the game!"

"You don't need to take me to the nurse, dude. I can find it."

"No, no! It is my fault you've been injured. I must see that you are tended to."

"You just don't want to play, right?"

"…Come along."

Laughing, Kevin waved off Double D's attempts to help him up, but he couldn't convince the smaller teen against wrapping a supporting arm around the redhead's waist, mostly because he wanted it there and partly because the room still hadn't stopped spinning. He waited until they were out in the hall before allowing himself to lean on the dork, just a little bit. They walked in silence, but silence wasn't something Kevin was really comfortable with.

"So…thanks for walking me. I guess I was pretty dizzy."

"Don't mention it."

"Sorry you're missing class."

Double D snorted. "I'm not. But I appreciate your concern."

The nurse was out, and to no one's surprise Double D immediately took over. He donned the nurse's gear, gloves and mask included, and when he came around the corner with an ice pack Kevin couldn't stop laughing. Double D frowned and lightly slapped the athlete's arm.

"You hush!"

"Sorry, you just look like such a dork!" Kevin took the ice pack and pressed it to his cheek, grinning. For some reason, the hilarity of the situation broke the ice for him and he felt a surge of confidence. "Hey, I was wondering if you had a date to the winter formal."

Looking up sharply, Double D searched Kevin's face with eyes full of suspicion. "No, I don't. Why?"

"Wanna go with me?"

"Yes."

Kevin nearly fell off the table. "What?"

"I said yes. If your offer is genuine, I would love to accompany you to the dance."

"…Are you serious?"

"Are you?"

"Yes, of course I am!" Kevin scooted forward on the table until he could catch hold of Double D's shirt, pulling him closer. He had a million things to say, but… "Dude, I can't take you seriously dressed like that."

Double D bristled. "Excuse me for following health safety protocol."

"Hey, it's cool. No judgment here. Just…" He hooked a finger around the fabric of the mask, pulled it down, and leaned in to peck Double D's lips. "Thanks for the ice pack. I'll text you."

With a wink and a nod, Kevin left a reddening Double D standing with his fingers over his mouth in the nurse's office, throwing a little victory dance into his step until the dizziness in his head had him walking into a locker. He cleared his throat, brushed himself off, and continued down the hall, pulling his phone from his pocket to text Nazz the great news.