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Eddie woke up to the lack of a specific presence in his bed.
He always knew when one of his partners got up before him. He’d been a light sleeper for as long as he could remember, and the presence of both of them always seemed to make his sleep easier. But once one of them left the bed, he’d wake up instantly. It was just how it’d always been. He slowly blinked away the sleep in his eyes, taking stock of the current state of the shared bed.
He turned his head to the right, noticing Volt was missing from where he’d been sleeping last night. Of course it was him who’d woken up first, he was likely already down in the kitchen making breakfast and coffee for them all. Which meant that he’d eventually be back up to wake them both if they weren’t by the time he was finished. At least he knew why he’d woken up. The lack of Volt’s warmth was always noticeable to him, even in sleep.
He turned to the left to see his other partner, Quinn, still fast asleep next to him. He knew it’d only be a matter of time before she joined him in the waking world, wondering where Volt had gone, but for now he could just enjoy her peaceful face.
He’d always enjoyed watching her sleep like this, calm and at ease and smiling. He still remembered the first time he ever saw it, the moment that had unknowingly changed his life for the better…
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Eddison Watts had thought he would always be alone. At the age of four, most kids were scared by him, something to do with his face or whatever. He didn’t care, why should he? If all these kids were gonna be idiots, they weren’t worth his time anyway, that’s what he thought. And he thought things would stay that way until Quinn started talking to him.
She was kinda weird, he thought, and apparently so did other kids. But she liked being around him, and while he wouldn’t admit it out loud he liked being around her. So the two of them became friends. Every day, they’d spend as much time together as possible, doing whatever they could until their parents picked them up from school. They were inseparable. And it stayed that way even when they entered kindergarten together.
At five years old, Eddie hated having to take naps. They always happened when he wasn’t even sleepy, and he wasn’t even allowed to do anything else. He was just forced to lie on the mat by the teachers. So without much else for him to do, he tended to stare off into space while he waited. Sometimes he stared at the ceiling, sometimes he looked out the window, if he was lucky he would actually doze off for a bit until naptime was over.
Today, he found himself staring at Quinn.
He’d never bothered looking at her while she napped, but for some reason his eyes had been drawn to her that day. Unlike him, she was fast asleep, smiling in her sleep. She wasn’t doing anything else, she was just sleeping, and yet he couldn’t look away.
His thoughts began to wander towards her; how she was always nice to him, how she shared her snacks with him (or just outright let him have hers if she didn’t like them), how she laughed at jokes only they seemed to find funny…the list went on. But he also thought about how other kids treated her. She was different, both of them were really, but the other kids always picked on her for it. They’d quickly learned that they couldn’t get to him, he could handle whatever they threw at him, but Quinn was a bit of a crybaby. She always asked why they were so mean to her when she hadn’t even done anything wrong, and he never had an answer. And then she’d start crying.
Eddie quickly learned he didn’t enjoy seeing her cry. He didn’t know how to make her stop, but he still tried.
He never wanted to make her cry for as long as he lived.
Neither of them were likely to have other friends, he’d realized. They needed each other, and he was going to stick by her side forever. He’d do whatever he could to make her happy, he’d beat up all the bullies if he had to, he’d hold her hand forever if it’d just make her smile. She was his best friend, and he was his. And as he watched her sleep, a peaceful smile on her face, he made a promise to himself that he’d be by her side for the rest of his life.
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He brushed a loose strand of hair out of Quinn's face, allowing his fingers to brush against her soft skin. The contact caused her to let out a soft whimper, and soon her eyes fluttered open. She smiled at him as she wrapped her arms around him and pulled each other closer together. “Morning, Eddie.” she muttered, her voice low with lingering sleep.
“Morning, babe,” he responded, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Did I wake you up?”
Quinn shook her head slightly, nuzzling into his neck. “Nah, I’ve been up for a couple minutes. Just didn’t wanna get up,” She peered over his side, noticing the empty space on the bed. “Where’s Volt?”
“Knowing him, making us breakfast. Which means we should probably start getting up.”
Quinn pouted dramatically. “Do we have to?”
“Not unless you want him to force us out of bed. You know he will.”
Quinn untangled herself from Eddie, sitting up and stretching her arms. “Yeah, I know. Gotta use the bathroom anyway,” She leaned back down and kissed him on the cheek. “Don’t take too long getting up, okay?”
“I make no promises,” Eddie teased, eliciting a giggle from his lover as she made her way to the bathroom. As the door closed behind her, he was left to his own devices. He knew he should get up, but the bed was comfortable. It’s not like he was gonna fall back asleep without his partners with him though, so he figured he could stay there for just a minute.
A minute was all that passed before the bedroom door slowly opened, Volt’s head peaking inside. Clearly he was trying to be quiet in case his partners were still sleeping, but it was clear he didn’t need to worry about that as he walked in. He sat down where he usually slept, beaming down at Eddie. “Good morning, darling.”
“Hey,” Eddie said.
The two leaned in to each other for a kiss, Volt’s eyes noticing the empty space on the other side. “Our live wire’s awake, I see.”
“She’s in the bathroom.”
“I figured. You need help getting out of bed, there?”
“A little.” Eddie chuckled.
Volt stood back up, stretching out his hand for Eddie to take. Eddie could only stare at his ethereal lover, being reminded of yet another time his life had changed drastically without him knowing. It seemed this morning was a nostalgic one.
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Eddie curled himself up underneath the slide at the playground, hugging his knees to his chest as he tried not to cry. Not because he’d care if anyone saw him doing so, but because he didn’t want to be found at all. He hadn’t even gone home yet, too mad about everything and not wanting to talk about any of it with his mom.
It was hardly the first time he’d done something like this before. Whenever he was too upset and didn’t want to go home, he’d stay out and sulk until he could stop feeling so upset. He didn’t know why he couldn’t just stop feeling like this when he wanted to, but he found it was better to do this than possibly throw a tantrum at someone who didn’t deserve it. He’d go home eventually.
There was one difference though between this time and the others. He was at a different playground than usual.
Whenever he got like this, he tended to sit at the park near his house, because it was close by and all. But he knew he’d be found there if he went there. Quinn learned about this trick of his a long time ago, and knew that if he wasn’t at home he could be found there. Normally, he wouldn’t mind her being there; she always listened to him rant about things or was willing to sit next to him in silence while he calmed down, then she’d walk home with him and tell him she’d see him tomorrow. But for once, he didn’t want Quinn around. She was part of the reason he felt so upset.
So he hid himself at the school’s playground, staying out of sight in case a teacher might’ve been wandering around, and tried to wait for his mood to get better. But it wasn’t getting better at all, he was still so upset and the sun was starting to set.
“Eddie! There you are!”
A voice snapped him out of his thoughts, and he turned his head to see the other person that was making him upset.
Volt was the new kid in their class. He’d transferred in a month ago. Normally, Eddie wouldn’t care about some random new kid, but he’d sat at their table on the first day and wouldn’t go away. He didn’t know why, no one ever sat with them. But he did, and Quinn wouldn’t stop talking to him.
“Everyone’s looking for you, what’re you doing here?”
Eddie narrowed his eyes at the unwanted intruder. “None of your business. Go away.”
Volt didn’t listen. “Your mum’s worried sick about you, and she’s not the only one. I don’t know what’s wrong, but-”
“I said: go away!” he yelled, getting angrier and angrier. Why couldn’t this kid take a hint?
“I’m sorry, but I can’t just leave you here. It’s almost dark out! Let me take you home and-”
“Why won’t you leave me alone?!” Eddie snapped, startling the other boy in the process. Good, let him be scared. “I don’t like you! When is that gonna get through to you?!”
Volt blinked back at him, confused by his words. “But why? I haven’t done anything to you.”
“Don’t play dumb with me! I know what you’re trying to do! You’re trying to steal Quinn away from me!” He could feel tears spilling out along with his words, but he was too mad to care. “From day one you’ve been trying to take my only friend ever away from me, but I can see right through you! You think you can just win her over by being sooooo cool or whatever, but then you’re just gonna hurt her like everyone else! But she’s too nice and trusting to get it! She just keeps talking about just how great you are! But I know what’s gonna happen, because it happens every time! You’re gonna hurt her, then she’s gonna cry because you lied about caring about her! So why don’t you just back off and leave us alone because it’s not gonna work, you fake, lying, jerk!!!”
Everything went quiet, the only sound they could hear being Eddie’s heavy breathing. He didn’t even care that he exploded at Volt, he’d been wanting to do it for days now. It’s what he deserved for what he was trying to pull. He didn’t know how the other boy was going to react, maybe he’d cry or try to fight or something.
He didn’t expect a sigh.
“Is that really what you think this is about?” Volt asked, a slight hurt tone to his voice as he frowned. “That I’m trying to steal Quinn away so I can hurt her?”
“What else could it be?!”
Volt sat on the ground, making him eye-level. “Eddie, I’m not trying to do anything like that.”
“Then why else do you keep butting in between us?!”
“Because I want to be both of your friends. Yours and Quinn’s.”
Eddie’s eyes widened. Volt…wanted to be friends with him? “You’re lying! No one ever wants to be friends with me!”
Volt just frowned. “But I do! If anything, I wanna be your friend more than I do Quinn.”
“So you are lying to her!”
“No! I like her too!” Volt sighed again, trying to keep himself from yelling. “I just…felt drawn to both of you. But you keep treating me like I’m a bad guy when all I’ve wanted to do is be friends.”
“But you and Quinn keep doing all these things without me!”
“She keeps asking you to join us and you always say no!”
Eddie freezes, thinking back to all the times Quinn had gone off to do things with Volt. Had she been inviting him the whole time and he didn’t even know?
“Whatever! She still likes you better than me!” he shouted, still upset and believing the worst.
Volt took a deep breath before speaking again. “Eddie, I went out looking for you because Quinn called me saying you were missing,” he explained. “She was in tears, saying how you weren’t at the usual park, whatever that means, how your mum couldn’t find you, and that she was worried you’d run away from home or been kidnapped and she’d never see you again. She didn’t know what she’d do without you.”
Eddie froze, realization dawning on him. Quinn had been in tears over him. He did the one thing he’d promised never to do to her. Make her cry.
He was the worst, wasn’t he?
His hands balled into fists at his side as he began to cry. How could he be so terrible to his best friend? He was a jerk, and Quinn was right to hate him because of this, even though he didn’t want her to. He’d probably been making her cry before this too with how he’d kept blowing her off.
“It’s not too late to fix things.”
Volt’s voice broke through his self-hatred. He looked over at the other boy, who was giving him a smile. “Let’s get you back home, then you can say you’re sorry to Quinn and we can all be friends. I’m sure she’ll forgive you! We can even stop by her house first, you live close by to her, right?”
Eddie didn’t answer the question, too confused by Volt’s actions. He actually cared about them both, didn’t he? He wasn’t going to pull the rug out from underneath them. Maybe…maybe they could all be friends.
“...If you ever hurt Quinn, I’ll beat you up, got it?” he asked with a sniffle.
Volt just chuckled. “If somehow I ever do that, you have every right to beat me up.” He stood back up, the setting sun framing him in light as he held his hand out towards him. “But I promise you, I won’t let anything happen to her or you. I’ll keep you both safe.”
Eddie wiped away his tears, grabbing Volt’s hand and letting him pull him back up. Without meaning to, he squeezed the other boy’s hand. It felt warm in his own, reminding him of how it felt when he held Quinn’s hand. He wasn’t about to admit any of it out loud, but maybe he was wrong about Volt. If he really wanted to be their friend, then who was he to turn him away? Especially since he actually wanted Volt to stay by their side.
He glanced over at the other boy, who hadn’t let go of his hand. He was smiling as they walked, and Eddie found that he didn’t want to let go of Volt’s hand. He hadn’t felt this way about anyone but Quinn before, and he didn’t even know he could feel like that about anyone but Quinn. But if everything Volt said was true, then he wanted Volt to be by his side forever. Because if he had both him and Quinn, then he’d be happy.
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Eddie grabbed Volt’s hand, finally letting himself get out of bed as he was pulled up. He stretched his arms and back, watching as Volt went over to the bathroom door. “Guessing breakfast’s done?” he asked.
Volt turned to him with a smile. “Just about,” he said. “Just waiting on the last of it to finish, and I thought I’d wake you up.”
He knocked on the door, not waiting for a response before calling out to the occupant. “Quinn, darling, breakfast is almost ready!”
“Okay! I’ll be there in a sec!” she called out.
Volt just smiled at Eddie, taking his leave and returning to the kitchen. They didn’t even need to say anything to know what they were thinking.
Eddie grabbed a random t-shirt out of the drawer, not feeling awake enough to get fully dressed yet but needing something over his chest, before making his way downstairs. Sure enough, a full breakfast spread was waiting on the table for them. As he sat down, he heard Quinn rush down to join them, finally realizing that she was wearing one of Volt’s shirts over her pajama pants. A warmth spread through him at the sight, something deep within him always enjoyed seeing her wearing their clothes like this no matter how many times he saw it. He snapped himself out of his thoughts as both her and Volt sat down with him.
The three of them started talking about whatever came to mind, mostly things related to their jobs or whatever stuff they’d heard from friends or coworkers. Now that it was the weekend, the three of them would have plenty of time to relax and spend time with each other. As Eddie looked at his two loves as they talked and ate, one more memory flooded back to his mind.
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If you had tried to convince Eddie that he’d have more friends than he ever imagined once he hit middle school, he simply wouldn’t have believed it. He’d been happy with his two best friends, and never thought anyone else would come into his life. And yet here he was, sitting at a lunch table with a whole group of friends that he actually cared about.
Not having consistent classes with each other had led the three of them to slowly bring in more people, all of them some form of “weird kid” like their initial trio was. The first one to join in was Rainey, a sweet girl with a love for the 1920’s who even talked like she was from it despite being eighty years too late. But she was fun, and got along well with them all that he didn’t mind the oddities.
The second to join was Chance, a nerdy guy who really liked playing GnG. Eddie didn’t get the big deal with it, but he knew the guy wouldn’t have meshed well with anyone else. And he wasn’t a bad guy, he wasn’t even annoying to him, so he was fine with him being around.
The third, and currently final one to join, was Beverly, a girl that Eddie had a few classes with and had noticed was typically avoided by most others. He didn’t get why though. Sure, she was a bit awkward and a little clumsy at times, but she was nice and he figured she’d fit in perfectly with the motley crew they’d gathered so far. And she did. Everyone liked her and she liked everyone else.
But of course, even after all this time, the two most important people were still by his side. Him, Volt, and Quinn had obtained a reputation of sorts, being an inseparable trio whenever they weren’t in classes. While their friend group had grown much larger, the three of them had remained as close as ever.
He looked across the table at his two best friends, the two of them attentively listening to a story Rainey was telling about something that happened in her science class. He just couldn’t help but stare at them, though he didn’t know why. Maybe it was just normal to like looking at your best friends? He certainly didn’t get like this about the others, but he also hadn’t known them for as long as these two.
“-and the guy wasn’t even phased! He just kept laughing like a mad scientist!” Rainey’s story ended, causing everyone at the table to laugh. Eddie joined in, not wanting to admit he’d spaced out and missed a good chunk of it. If everyone else was laughing, it had to have been funny, right?
Volt stood up, holding his lunch tray as he did. “I’ll be right back, try not to tell any amusing anecdotes without me.” Eddie had to hold himself back from watching the other boy walk away, suddenly feeling self-conscious about someone noticing if he did that.
The conversation slipped into the usual topics, whatever held everyone’s interests at the moment. Eddie kept quiet for the most part, content to just listen in and chime in when he had a thought. It wasn’t until Chance looked away that things changed.
“Ah, another challenger approaches, it seems.”
Everyone’s attentions turned to where he was looking, though everyone already knew what he was talking about. Volt had been approached by a girl again.
It was an occurrence that happened just about every other week. Some girl, or a guy on rare occasions, would come up to Volt and confess their feelings for him. Even though he hung out with the weird kids, Volt’s natural charisma and good looks got him attention, and that meant people just couldn’t stop asking if he’d go out with them.
Eddie hated it.
None of these people knew Volt, they just had shallow crushes on him and he knew it. Who did they think they were, waiting until Volt had stepped away from the friend group thinking they could win his heart with their pathetic confessions?
“Oof, this one’s a yapper, ain’t she?” Rainey asked.
“Do you…think he’s gonna say yes?” Quinn asked, worry in her tone.
“Nah, I doubt it,” Beverly said. “He’s probably just gonna turn her down like all the others.”
That was the one saving grace of it all. Volt never accepted any of their feelings, letting them down gently and leaving another broken heart in his wake. The ones he rejected never asked him out again after that, unless they were especially persistent. Which had only happened a couple of times, but the fact it happened at all still pissed him off.
They all watched as Volt smiled, then placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder. They couldn’t hear him from where they were sitting, but the way the girl’s shoulders drooped and her head hung low told them everything they needed to know. Another rejection.
“See, what’d I tell ya?” Beverly patted Quinn’s shoulder and gave Eddie a look he couldn’t quite place. “Volt stays single yet again.”
Eddie breathed a sigh of relief he didn’t realize he’d been holding in. Good riddance.
“Eddie, are you okay?” Quinn asked. “You had this weird look on your face.”
He turned his attention towards her, seeing the worried frown on her face. What’d she mean by a weird look? “I, um-”
“He always gets like that when someone asks Volt out,” Chance chimed in with a chuckle, saving Eddie from making an idiot of himself. “If looks could kill, then the glare Eddie gives would be lethal to every suitor that arrives!”
This happened every time? The way he worded it, Chance was used to this glare he gave. He hadn’t realized it was that obvious he was upset by it. If the others could tell, then he really must’ve hated it.
…But why was that?
Quinn’s worry was replaced by a soft smile, Chance’s words placating her. “I mean, it is pretty annoying how often it happens,” she joked lightheartedly. She reached over the table and gave his shoulder a playful shove.
“Yeah, tell me about it.” Eddie laughed, trying not to think too hard about how tight his chest felt.
“At least none of them notice him giving that death glare of his,” Beverly added. “Otherwise, they wouldn’t even try to ask Volt out.”
He tried to ignore the satisfaction he felt over his look alone getting people to possibly stop bothering Volt like that. Did this really bother him so much? He’d never thought of it too much once the moment had passed, but now he was being forced to think about it in depth.
“It’s a good thing no one tries to ask out Quinn then. Who knows just how much he and Volt would lose it if a guy wanted to go on a date with her!” Chance joked, causing Quinn to get all huffy.
“Hey! Shut up!” she yelled, shoving Chance to the point of nearly knocking him over.
“He’s got a point though,” Rainey said. “With how glued at the hip you three are, I doubt any boy would even risk it knowing how they are.”
Quinn crossed her arms and looked away from them all. “He’d do the same if any of you got asked out!” she pouted. “Eddie’s just protective like that!”
…Would he though?
He wouldn’t lie, the mere idea of someone asking out Quinn did make him feel pissed off again for a moment. But would he do the same for the others? Sure, Quinn and Volt were still his best friends, but he’d definitely gotten pretty close to Rainey and he couldn’t see himself getting just as mad about someone wanting to go out with her. If anything, he’d be happy for her. She was pretty, and anyone that’d want to go out with her would be lucky. So he should be happy about Volt or Quinn getting a date, right? I mean, it wasn’t like he wanted to be their boyfriend or anything!
…Wait.
Eddie stood up from the lunch table. “Gotta use the bathroom, be right back!” he said, scrambling away from the table as fast as he could. He just hoped no one saw his face flushing as he got up. There was too much on his mind as is. He ran into the nearest bathroom, which was thankfully empty, and hid himself inside an empty stall. He didn’t want anyone seeing him right now. Not when he had to think.
He thought about asking out Rainey first, since he’d gotten so close to her. The idea wasn’t one he disliked or anything, but it didn’t make his heart race or anything like that, no matter how hard he imagined it. He thought about asking out Quinn though, and he felt heat pooling in his cheeks and his heart start pounding. Going out with her felt normal, natural even, but it still made him nervous. Okay, so that cleared up one thing, but he still had one person left to think about.
He took a deep breath, trying to will himself back into a less-flustered state of some kind. Once he figured he’d be the best he could be, he thought about asking Volt out on a date. Once again, his face heated up and his heart raced faster, just like it had with Quinn. He wasn’t sure which of the two was more shocking, the fact that he was getting flustered about another boy, or that he was equally flustered over two people at the same time.
Was this really happening? He quickly pinched his arm, the pain a sign he wasn’t having some weird dream or anything. He wanted to deny this, push it all away and never deal with it again, but even he couldn’t deny the way he felt.
Eddie was in love with his best friends.
He had so many questions. When did this happen? How did he not notice it until now? Did Volt even like boys? Could he even date both of them or would he have to choose between them at some point? Would they both be okay with dating him at the same time? Was he going insane? But he didn’t even bother answering any of them. Lunch was going to end soon, and he needed to get back to everyone before then. Which meant he needed to act like he hadn’t just realized he was in love with his two best friends so he could get through the rest of the day.
He left the stall, going over to a sink and splashing cold water on his face. This was gonna be difficult, but he’d bottled things up before and he could do it again now. At least until he got home, then he could panic about it all he wanted to. He just had to act like everything was okay, and he couldn’t let this slip to anyone. Not until he was ready, at least. “At least I don’t have any classes with them for the rest of the day,” he told himself.
With that, he left the bathroom and went back into the cafeteria. Volt had sat back down at their table, and as Eddie sat back down he gave a beaming smile. “There you are, Eddie! I was starting to worry you wouldn’t come back in time.”
Eddie shrugged as he sat back down. “I’m here though, aren’t I?” he said, able to mask the way that smile made his chest feel lighter. Volt really was beautiful, he realized.
“I told him you’d be back, he was just worried.” Quinn laughed, and that laughter felt like music to him now.
“And you had nothing to worry about, now shut up and let me finish my damn lunch, would ya?”
Everyone laughed at that, the table quickly returning to conversation as he finished eating. He looked at Volt and Quinn, the two of them engrossed talking about some musical or something like that. He still felt that warmth run through him, but at least he didn’t feel like his face was about to give away anything. He didn’t know if he was worthy of either of them, and he sure as hell didn’t want to think about that now, but maybe just being part of their lives was enough for now. He could figure everything else out some other time. At least that’s what he kept telling himself.
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“Eddie, you’re staring.”
Eddie blinked away the vision of days gone by, finding himself back in the kitchen with the two people he loved. Shit, he must’ve spaced out thinking about his frantic teenage self. Now Volt and Quinn were staring at him knowingly.
“I was just thinking about when I realized I loved both of you, and how much of a panicked idiot I was at the time,” he joked.
“To be fair, we were all kinda panicked idiots back then,” Quinn laughed as she pointed her fork at Volt. “And don’t go saying you weren’t, I’ll never forget that confession of yours no matter how much you want me to.”
Volt sighed, knowing exactly what incident she was talking about. “I still believe that doesn’t count as an actual confession. I wasn’t thinking straight at the time, live wire,” He turned back towards Eddie, nothing but utter affection in his eyes. “But look at us all now, together even after all this time.”
True, it’d been about fifteen years now since they’d finally all started dating. Eddie never thought he’d be this lucky after all this time. But here he was, still with his best friends, his fiances, and he didn’t love them any less than he did when they were kids. “It’s pretty insane when you think about it.”
Quinn reached over and grabbed his hand in hers, their engagement rings brushing against each other. “I wouldn’t have it any other way though.”
Volt took his other hand, placing a kiss on it as he tended to do with them both. “I’ve always felt like it was meant to be, no matter how insane the situation might be.”
Perhaps he was right. He wouldn’t have realized it at five, or seven, or even thirteen, but Eddie knew now that he was always going to love these two. They were always close, even when other friends came long, it seems unthinkable now that he could ever be in love with anyone else but them. He wasn’t exactly someone who believed in fate or destiny, but perhaps this could be his one exception. As long as he got to be by Volt and Quinn’s side, he’d be happy.