When Kevin turned eight, his Nana gave him a stuffed animal. A little white bunny he named Hops. (Hey, he was eight, that's the best he could come up with at the time.) He was super attached to the toy rabbit until around the age of 12, when he realized that cool kids don't sleep with stuff animals. So, Hops stayed in the back of his top dresser drawer for a few years.

When Kevin was 15, he contracted bronchitis, and Hops found himself tucked under Kevin's arm for a few days. Even when Kevin had gotten better, he still kept Hops on his bed or his nightstand, and only hid Hops when friends came over. Sometimes he'd bring Hops back out immediately, sometimes it would take a few days or weeks. He wasn't completely attached like when he was eight, when he would be tempted to bring it to sleepovers, but Kevin still finds comfort in the stuffed animal.

However, he's 17 now, a junior in high school, will be the captain for the football team next year, and has a reputation to uphold. This is why Kevin wants to keep Hops a secret; he doesn't want anyone to know he still holds him as he sleeps whenever he's having a rough night or feels sick.

And he's doing that right now. Spring semester just started and he's feeling just awful. There's a cold going around at school because people don't know how to keep their germs to themselves. He's currently curled up in bed, cuddling it, and wishing that he wasn't missing baseball conditioning for the third day in a row.

He snuggled into the bunny, nuzzling it, before he plants a quick kiss to Hops' nose. He does this sometimes, and he is never sure why. Maybe because he's just really soft?

As soon as pressed the bunny back to his chest, he hears a sound and bolts up. Edd is there holding a tray with a folder under his arm. You can barely see his face because of the black hat and the medical face mask, but he can still see Edd's eyes, and the look of terror they hold. The kind that says they know they've seen something they shouldn't have and that there will be consequences. Severe ones.

Kevin tries to subtly tuck the bunny under the comforter, but he knows the damage is done. Maybe if I don't address the problem, Edd will realize that not opening his mouth is the best option right now. Kevin pushes the bunny further under the covers as he pushes himself upright, trying his best to make it look like a natural motion.

"The hell you're doing here dork?"

"I, um, I was just dropping off your missed classwork and homework," Edd gestured awkwardly with the arm that had a folder pinned under it. "And your mother sent me up her with this," Edd placed the tray on Kevin's night stand, "so you can get some food into your system before your next dose of medicine."

Kevin glanced at the tray, and the tiny hint of appetite he might have had disappeared as soon as he smelled the soup. It wasn't that it smelled bad, but he's still in the nausea portion of the cold, so everything edible is unappealing at the moment. So, Kevin makes the terrible decision to bypass the food and just reaches for the medicine instead.

"Kevin, I think you really ought to-"

Kevin waves him off as he dry-swallows the pills, chokes a little while regretting his last action, and then drinks half the glass of water as best as he can.

"So, am I going to flunk the 11th grade?" Kevin jokes, as he halfhearted points at the folder.

Edd rolls his eyes. "I don't think missing two and a half class days will set you back that much. As far as I can tell, this will be your biggest problem in terms of catching up."

Edd starts to pull out a paper, but with where he's standing, Kevin can't really see, and it hurts to strain his neck. As Kevin scoots up to rest against the headboard, he gestures for Edd to sit on the edge of the bed.

Edd hesitantly sits, but once he does, he bolts up immediately. Before Kevin can register what is going on, Edd had reached under the covers, pulled out Hops whom he had apparently sat on, and then reaches over Kevin to tuck Hops into bed against the other pillow Kevin wasn't currently using. As Edd finished up by straightening out Hops' floppy ears behind him and patting him three times on the head, Kevin felt a whirlwind of emotions.

Edd had not only seen the rabbit but immediately knew it was important to Kevin, tucking it in like that. He was so embarrassed, but also a little touched. He was a little upset that Edd had touched Hops. No one else has touched Hops since Kevin was around nine or ten. Hops was sacred like that, and Edd had touched him. But in doing so, Edd was leaning over Kevin, far too close, and Kevin couldn't help but feel a tightness in his chest, just like he felt every time Edd would interact with him back during their freshman year, when Kevin's crush on him was at its peak.

While try to sort and suppress these emotions, Edd had apparently started talking about each of Kevin's missed assignments one by one, and Kevin hadn't noticed until Edd had to stop talking suddenly in order to read the next missed assignment, since it was from a class they didn't share.

Kevin tried his hardest to listen and pay attention to what he missed, especially since Edd was giving pseudo-answers at times, but it was harder than paying attention in school. For one, Kevin was sick and on meds. The room would occasional spin, or dim, or just get hazy. For another thing, none of Kevin's teachers were adorable.

Adorable? Fuck. Am I into him again? I mean, I haven't seen him this upclose for a long while. I guess he's still adorable, but kinda grown into himself? Still a dork though. And judging by the way he interacts with Nazz he's either straight and clueless, or asexual and not sure how to tell her to back off. But still… adorkable. Heh.

Soon, Edd starts to snag a few saltines from Kevin's food tray, but each time he does, he grabs two, handing one to Kevin. Kevin smiled at the way Edd would have to pull down his mask to eat, but promptly pull it back up after he swallows.

As soon as Edd was finished explaining all the missed lessons and assignments Kevin needed to make up, he picks up the bowl of soup, hands it to Kevin, and then places the folder of classwork on the tray where the bowl once was. They started talking about what social occurrences Kevin had missed while sick, and started joking around, like they did before they drifted apart in 10th grade, when extracurriculars consumed most of their time.

At one point, Kevin realized that he wanted to dunk a cracker into his soup, but instead of grabbing it himself, he was waiting for Edd to grab another pair and hand him one.

"Dude. Did you just trick me into eating?"

Edd shrugged and said, "Perhaps," but even with the face mask, Kevin could tell there was a gap-toothed grin underneath.

Kevin just glared at him as Edd took another two crackers off the tray, handing one to Kevin. When Edd pulled down his face mask to eat his saltine, Kevin saw the grin get bigger, as if suppressing a giggle, and he couldn't help himself. He laughed at the situation, and just continued to eat.

They continued to talk more after Kevin ate as much as he could stomach, but Kevin had a hard time keeping up with the conversation, and keeping his eyes opened the whole time. He could feel the sandman coming for him once again.

Edd coerced him to lay down flat instead of leaning against the headboard, and that was a huge mistake. Kevin wanted to keep up this pleasant talk with Edd, still as adorable and caring as ever, but he can't fight for much longer. He just laid down right into the grasp of sleep itself, and now he must submit. Kevin lets out a deep, content sigh, and rolls on his side, closer to Edd. He snuggles down into his bed, holding onto his pillow.

Edd slowly starts to stand. "I'm just going to clean up a little and then see myself out. I hope you get enough rest and feel better soon."

There was a bit of delay between Kevin's slow nodding and his mumbled, "Me too, dork."

Kevin lets his eyes fall shut, but they shoot back open when he feels Edd leaning over him. Edd grabs Hops and then gently lifts one of Kevin's arm, placing Hops underneath. Kevin pulled Hops closer to himself, while trying to roll over more in the hopes of hiding his growing blush.

"I hope you're not judging me for this," Kevin whispers, knowing that Edd had an understanding look on his face, but still nervous about the situation.

He believes he sees Edd shaking his head "no" just before he closes his eyes again, ready for sleep.

But sleep doesn't come immediately. The medicine only made his body ready for sleep, but his mind was still trying to be active. Kevin can hear Edd still in his room for a while. His tired and sick brain trying to figure out what was going on since Kevin was too weak to open his eyes again.

Maybe he's tidying. I think he did say something like that.

Sounds like he stacking the tray back up… and now he's moving papers around. Did I have papers? Wait… the folder… maybe that?

And… the door… the door… Guess he's gone now...

Well, no point in staying if I'm asleep… Or I will be… hopefully…

Fuck I hate being sick… This is almost as bad as-

Fuck, what just happened… the bed just dipped and-

FUCK that's cold!... Fuck! Wait… feels good… guess Edd got a cold towel for by forehead… choice…

Wait… that's Edd's voice…

Kevin strained to listen, but he was steadily losing the fight against sleep.

"You really need to take better care of yourself…"

Oh great… now he's judging me…

But he's running his hands through my hair… no… just pushing it back from my forehead… still feels good…

Wait… is he touching Hops again?

"And don't worry about me judging you for your little friend here. I'm not judging you, certainly not… I guess I'm just a little jealous… of the bunny… that's all."

The fuck does that mean?

THE FUCK DOES THAT MEAN?

Kevin suddenly had all the energy in the world and a million questions, but this was all internal. He wanted to ask, wanted to know, but sleep picked an awful time to finally take over.