A/N: I wrote this because in the fandom a lot of times people focus on them already being boyfriends or there is the plot that Edd helps Kevin study and that's how they get together. I wanted to try something different. I wanted to show bonding over something together. This is inspired by the episode From Here to Ed. Well. I hope this is believable but most of all I hope you, reader have a good time. Pick up a chair, take off your coat and stay awhile.

X

"Oh dear."

All of the Eds blanched as they watched Kevin's motorcycle combust: the final, if unintentional product of their latest scheme.

The trio had stood back at the explosion but Kevin stayed in place, shocked, his hair singed by the pyre.

"Eddy, I fear we may- we did- go too far. Kevin's bike is beyond disrepair, it's-"

But all Eddy was concerned about this moment was running away, bolting before Kevin could turn around and sock him good.

"Shh, Double D. Or you will awaken the beast!" Ed commented. The only calm one out of the three.

"I'm afraid we may be too late for that." Edd sighed. If he had predicted that Eddy's scheme would pan out like this, he would have declined. It was a vicious pattern. He told himself this each time a scheme turned dry, but come the next day Eddy would jerk him right back to his side with a new scheme.

Would it always be this way? He wondered. Kevin turned around and Edd beamed reassuringly. Of course, the first step was to apologize. He approached the redhead, prepared to express remorse, but found himself for the first time at a loss for words. The rage in Kevin's eyes scared him and he swallowed, feeling small under his gaze.

"Outta my way!"

That's all he said. He swung high at Double D's eye and walked past. There was an emptiness in his step amid the blind rage. Even his punch felt passionless, as if everything he cared about was gone and nothing else mattered. Edd's eye burned with the contact.

X

The next morning, Edd rose before his alarm clock. Although it was the middle of summer break he habitually set his alarm, paranoid he would accidentally sleep in, unlike his friends. Eddy and Ed wouldn't be up until maybe noon. Normally, Edd spent his Saturday mornings counting the ants in his ant farm and reading a nice thick book, but the image of Kevin and his beyond-repair bike burned in his mind. His hand went over his right eye, swollen and he imagined, black and blue.

After his shower (and grabbing an icepack from the fridge for his eye), Edd was certain what he had to do. He rolled out a blank blue piece of drafting paper and smoothed it out on his drafting table. He worked tirelessly until eleven thirty, the perfect time if Kevin was like most of the kids in the cul de sac and liked to sleep in. Double D couldn't understand the concept of sleeping past the recommended eight hours. It only made him more tired and wasted hours in an otherwise new, thrilling day.

X

Edd hesitated to knock on the door. He had worked earnestly on the blueprints since seven this morning and managed the courage to walk across the street to his neighbor's house.

But he hesitated.

His black eye throbbed fiercely, reminding him of his fear that Kevin would decide to add another. Despite this, he had decided to help Kevin. He had to. He had to set things right. Even if it was more Eddy's fault, he had decided to go along with the scam, just like he always did.

Edd wondered how Eddy could sleep in with Kevin's bike on his conscience and made a mental note to stop by his friend's house afterwards to talk sense into him.

Right now, he had yet to knock on the door in front of him. He raised his hand,but the door opened before he could have a chance to knock. The redhead stopped mid-step, nearly running him over.

"What do you want, Dork?" Kevin raised a brow and crossed his arms. Green eyes wandered over Edd's face, recognizing his punch had left a mark, but said nothing.

"Good morning, Kevin. Pardon my intrusion, I came over to-"

Rolling his eyes, uninterested, Kevin shoved past Edd. He should have known better than to ask.

Determined, Double D chased after him, talking as the boy picked up the newspaper and checked the mail.

"As I was saying. I felt terrible about-"

"I really don't want to hear it right now." He slammed the mailbox closed, the handful of letters crunched in a vice grip. Seeing Edd still there, he rolled up his sleeve as a hint towards his next action.

The threat, strangely, didn't scare Edd as much as he thought it would. Rather, it made him snap. He had taken the time to make amends and Kevin wasn't giving him the time to do so. He was making that clear.

"No. You listen here, Mister." He wagged his finger, to which Kevin cheekily grinned, still not taking him seriously.

"LISTEN TO ME!" Edd shouted.

The smile dropped. Kevin was listening. He recognized the tone, having seen it used many a time on Eddy. He never dreamed it would ever be used on him, but he never expected Edd to stop by either, not after he gave him a black eye. Whatever reason Edd had caoe over for, it had to be important, he realized.

"I'm listening," he said, trying to sound casual, to hide his slight discomfort. The way Edd was talking to him reminded him of his mom.

Edd took slow, deep breaths, regaining his composure before he unfurled the blueprint and held it in front of Kevin. "Perhaps it cannot replace your bike, but it could right the wrongs I inadvertently caused you."

Without asking, Kevin snatched the blueprints from Double D's hands, his face literally pressed against the paper. "Nice. . ."

Edd smiled at the praise, hopeful.

Peering over the paper, Kevin asked, eyes glancing wildly at the trees and bushes, "Where's the other dorks?"

"They are absent. It's just me, Kevin."

"So this isn't a scam?"

"Rest assured, it is not." The end of his sentence ended in a biting tone. Edd could use a hiatus from Eddy and his preposterous schemes and pipe dreams. "If you need assistance, I would be delighted to help."

"Great. Then you'll be covering the costs too."

"W-"

Kevin handed back the blueprints, but not before giving it one last look. "Meet back at my place at three. That will give you enough time to grab everything, yeah?"

Edd's raised a finger, "I never agreed to pay-"

"You said it yourself: you owe me."

Edd's retort caught in his throat, ". . .three o'clock will be a satisfactory time to reconvene."

Kevin slapped Edd hard on the back as he walked past him, nearly knocking him off balance. "See ya." He closed the door behind him, leaving Edd with the first steps to their project.

X

At exactly three, not a minute or second sooner or later, Edd knocked on Kevin's door.

"Come in, Dork," Kevin greeted on the third knock. Edd followed after him, hands full with two brown paper bags brimming with bike parts.

"You can leave those in the hall for now. Did you eat lunch yet?"

Setting the bags down, Edd answered, "I have, but a refreshing beverage would be nice. Thank you."

"Okay. Dad made sweet tea. Is that cool? Er. You don't have to take your shoes off. We're going to work on the bike outside."

Edd paused, one of his shoes in his hands, wearing a deer-in-headlights expression. "But I would be tracking in dirt-"

"Yeah yeah. Don't remind me, Mom."

Edd narrowed his eyes at his teasing but let it pass, preferring to pick his battles. He took off the other shoe and followed Kevin, shoes in hand, smiling weakly when he regarded the shoes again with a raised brow.

"How long do you think it will take to finish it?"

"I estimate three weeks."

Kevin stopped at the fridge to prepare Edd's drink. Knowing that Edd was still behind him, waiting, he pointed past the fridge toward the door. "Backyard is that way. I'll be there with the drinks and one of the bags."

"Would you like me to go back for one of the two bags, then?"

"Don't sweat it. You're already carrying your shoes." He snickered.

Edd breathed in, reminding himself that Kevin's mother would secretly thank him for not dirtying her floors.

Once outside, he sat down on the porch to briefly put his shoes back on. He looked at his surroundings as he tied the laces. The backyard was expansive, as was the porch he was sitting on. A patio table was on his left, glass top glinting in the summer sun. The umbrella for the table was cast to the side, the stem snapped in half; most likely damaged in the strong thunderstorm last week. A few inches away from the broken umbrella was a barbeque grill, remnants of disintegrated charcoal peeking from the corner. To his right was a minibar neighboring a hot tub, the tarp tightly affixed to it. Edd wondered why Kevin's parents invested in a hot tub and not a swimming pool, given the infamously hot summers the cul de Sac faced.

"It came with the house," Kevin said from behind him. Edd jerked out of his thoughts, then yelped, feeling something cold press against the back of his neck.

"Here's your tea." Kevin laughed at his reaction while handing the glass to him. Beads of perspiration were already rolling off the glass.

Momentarily the redhead disappeared again, to return with both the bags Edd had brought with him. Unlike Edd, Kevin carried them with ease, artfully darting down the steps without spilling any contents.

They went over the blueprints before picking up any tools. The whole time, Edd noticed something different about Kevin, or rather, something that had been there all along that he hadn't noticed until now. His eyes were bright and wide, imagination kindling from his irises. Normally Kevin passed himself off as smooth. Working on the bike, his facade faded. His characteristic smirk was overtaken by a wide, childish smile that reached his ears.

It was the look of someone following their passion.

Edd's cheeks pinked and he hoped Kevin would mistake it for sunburn. While they spoke of mechanisms and springs and wrenches, his thoughts drifted to how Kevin carried the bags for him, and offered him something to drink. He was careful not to think too deeply on it, focusing only on his surprise that the jock didn't treat him like his genius servant, but a guest. He was too cautious to use the word friend. Kevin could be friendly to anyone, Edd was sure, and Edd was expendable, providing a service as an apology.

In three weeks, Kevin would have a new bike and Edd would be with his friends again, just like it had always been and would be.

The sun began to set when Kevin's dad came home from work and his mom called him in for dinner.

"Day went by quickly," Kevin commented. Edd nodded in response, attention turned to smell of the Mexican casserole calling from the kitchen.

"Shall I see you tomorrow?" Edd asked.

"Come by anytime."

Edd assumed Kevin couldn't wait to finish his bike. He left through the back gate and went towards his house, his stomach growling sharply at him. Up ahead, he saw his house. His spirits sank seeing all the lights were off. Usually, loneliness didn't strike him. As an only child, he learned to preoccupy himself with books and inventions and most especially the company of his friends Ed and Eddy. But seeing Kevin depart into the kitchen, the shadows of the boy's parents greeting him as they laughed and plated dinner, and the savory smell that had wafted from the oven. . .

In comparison, the meal, awaiting him in the fridge, leftovers, was unsatisfactory. Though the meals his mom left were homemade, they were missing two important things: her and his father. Sharing a meal was an intimate act, and Edd envied his neighbor for it.

X

"Hey, sockhead!" Eddy barged in with Ed lumbering behind.

"Good evening, Ed. Eddy." He was elbows deep in sink water, rinsing dishes, and grateful for the impromptu visit. It would take his mind off his family- and he had something important to speak to Eddy about. He unplugged the drain and dried his hands with a nearby towel.

"Where were ya all day?" Surprise washed over Eddy's face, "And what happened to your eye?"

"I was helping Kevin with his new bicycle. Where were you? I had hoped you would apologize to him."

Hands in pockets and shoulders hunched, Eddy replied, "Apologize for what?" His tone was jagged, annoyed, more concerned with why Edd had spent time with the jock.

"For obliterating his bike. I can't imagine you have forgotten already?" Double D's arms were crossed and he raised a knowing eyebrow to his friend.

"Whatever. He deserved it. You've seen all those times he screwed me over. Besides, he'll get a new bike anyway. His dad works for a jawbreaker factory, so he's got to be loaded."

"I believe the roles were switched those other times," Double D retorted, unamused by Eddy's selective memory. "And you should know- I am helping him make a new bike. His parents didn't buy him one."

Eddy's jaw dropped. "Why are you doing that?!" he shouted in surprise. Both Ed and Double D covered their ears.

"It is my way of apologizing. However, you have yet to make amends for your actions. Just a simple apology would suffice."

Eddy quickly changed the subject. "You didn't tell us what happened to your eye."

"The beast got him, Eddy!" Ed answered.

Edd poked his fingers together uneasily. "Yesterday evening when you left, I attempted to talk to Kevin. However, I only tested his nerves."

". . .And you're helping him make a bike after all that?"

Double D nodded humbly.

"I don't get you."

"Double D. . ." Ed rested his head on his shoulder, eyes locked on the black eye. "Can I poke it?"

Edd frowned. "Please don't." He almost felt bad watching Ed's expression sink, but as soon as his spirits fell they lifted again, spotting the chickens in Rolf's backyard, visible through the kitchen window.

At eight, Edd excused himself, leading his friends to the door to say goodbye. Eddy didn't ask why he was going to bed earlier than usual, sure that his suspicions were correct. Ed didn't care either way and hugged Double D. Closing the door behind them, Edd smiled, looking forward to tomorrow.