For Edd, I Will (KevEdd)

Would You Like to Stay for Dinner?

"Come in, Kevin. Please do not forget your shoes," Edd reminded him the following day when Kevin returned to work on his Geometry.

"I won't," Kevin promised, kicking off his shoes again. Something smelled good this time in the house. Yesterday the place had smelled clean and fresh, but today there was a delicious food smell hovering in the air. "Mmm, what's your mom cooking for dinner? It smells so good."

Edd gave him a strange look. "Um, I have something in the crockpot for dinner, but my mother did not make it. My parents are out of the country. I made it."

"Are they on vacation?" Kevin asked.

"No, they are not on vacation. My parents work with Doctors Without Borders. They have been gone for about a year and a half. Mother is currently in Serbia, and father is in Croatia."

"Oh!" Kevin responded stupidly. He knew he rarely saw Edd's parents around the house, but he didn't realize that they were gone. "I didn't...."

"It is all right, Kevin. "

"I had no idea," Kevin murmured, following Edd into the kitchen once again. "That's awesome of them, but don't you miss them?"

"Of course, I do," Edd replied. "However, we are usually able to FaceTime or talk every week."

"You've been all alone since then?"

"I know they are doing important work, so I do not mind," Edd said. "Besides, I am not alone all of the time. I have the Eds."

"Why aren't they together? Your parents. They're in different countries?"

"Doctors Without Borders does not often place couples together. However, they are in areas that are relatively close to each other, and I know they see each other often."

A glass of ice water was already at Kevin's spot waiting for him, and he smiled at the thoughtful gesture. He shrugged out of his jacket, hanging it on the chair just like the day before, and sat down.

"Is water still all right, Kevin? I can get you something else," Edd offered.

"No, that's okay. Water's fine," Kevin said. "Thanks! Though whatever you're making smells so good, I don't think I'll be able to concentrate."

Edd's face scrunched up a little guiltily. "I am so sorry, Kevin. I often make shredded chicken on Tuesdays so that I can use the leftovers the rest of the week."

Kevin laughed. "I'm only kidding. Don't worry about it. Well, I wasn't kidding about how good it smells, but it's okay."

Seeming relieved, Edd asked how Kevin's geometry class had gone. Kevin was pleased to tell Edd that, for the most part, it went well, though he was confused at some of the things Mrs. Travers had gone over and that there was homework that he didn't fully understand.

Edd looked over the homework assignment and the pages in the book that covered the day's lesson. While he waited, Kevin gulped his glass and looked around the kitchen. That smell was delicious, and he had trouble believing that Edd was the reason behind it. So, the kid could cook, but Kevin supposed it made sense if Edd technically lived alone. How sad that was, he thought to himself. While Kevin viewed his parents as a teenager typically does, pains in the neck, he knew he wouldn't know what to do without them. He loved his parents, and besides, Kevin barely knew how to boil water, let alone know where to start if he wanted to cook a chicken.

His eyes finally rested back on Edd, who was turning the pages in the geometry book, avidly reading them. Kevin shook his head and wondered how anyone could find the dry subject exciting. He could understand being enthusiastic about science – there was a lot of cool stuff to discover there – but numbers and formulas? Too boring.