Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Kevin wasn’t sure when his imaginary friend simply ‘poofed’ into his life, it was most likely a good seven years ago. His most prominent memory was him and how much he absolutely despised, and Kevin means it when he says loathed, his friend at the time. He had changed, of course, even though it took a while. By now, they’re practically inseperable! Two peas in a pod, Eddy would taunt, and Kevin would punch him like always.

In two weeks, Kevin would hit his ‘Twelve-and-a-half’ mark, just half way to his teenage years! He couldn’t be happier! Teenagers were the absolute coolest; they weren’t adults yet so they didn’t have to do boring stuff like taxes and long, long jobs. But they also weren’t little kids either, so they never had to play with silly toys anymore, and they get to go to high school!

Kevin would day dream about his teenage years, how many football games he’d play, how many girls he could get to surround him (if he were that lucky…) and hey, maybe even actually own a real motorcycle! That would be absolutely wicked!

Of course, like most things, his good thoughts never lasted. Kevin had heard his mother talk about this before, about his imaginary friend, Edd, or Double D as per his own request.

Kevin was unlike most children of his age, where when most kids hit the age of ten on average, their imaginary friends are sent away. They weren’t needed anymore, they were too ‘childish’ as some would put it. Kevin, however, was almost a teenager and still had his. Sure, Jimmy still had Sarah and Jonny wouldn’t give up Plank until his death, but since Nazz and Rolf are just about the same age and grade as Kevin, it wouldn’t be too far off to say that they’d be saying ‘Goodbye’ to Eddy and Ed pretty soon.

This frightened Kevin, of course he wanted to live in the luxury of teenage life, experiencing and living it all to the fullest, but he wanted Edd to be with him there more than anything, though it all. They were best friends, as Kevin had stated before. Heck, Kevin might just go out of the way and say he’d consider Edd his best friend rather than Rolf. But, Kevin is loyal and would never say that. To his face at least.

Bringing himself back to reality, Kevin found himself leaning back in his office chair before his wooden desk within his bedroom. There were papers scattered all over the top, all were written about the next school year. Eighth grade, to be exact. Just a step closer to high school…

Turning his head just a smidge, Kevin caught sight of Double D folding articles of clothing, both beloning to Kevin and himself. Though, most belonged to Kevin as imaginary friends lacked the need for clothing most of the time. Kevin watched for a moment, realizing that he might’ve taken all his time with Edd for granted. If he were really that close to high school, then that would be one step closer to losing his best friend.

Kevin felt his breath get caught in his throat, snagging one last glance at Double D to check if he was still there, which he was, thankfully. Turning back to his desk without a sound to be made, Kevin began to reminice on his large collection of memories he had made with the imaginary friend.

Maybe that would cheer him up.

...

[Eight years ago]

Kevin was unfamiliar with the concept of the creation of an imaginary friend. That was, until about five days ago when Rolf appeared in his backyard and was followed with a Godzilla-like creature, except with tenacles and horns and just overall looked like something straight of a comic book (And Rolf never read comic books!). Rolf then explained, in what little ways he could considering the vocabulary for a four-year-old is very limited, facts and such about Ed, his imaginary friend. Why Rolf named the friend that would be an enigma to Kevin.

Either way, Kevin wanted to try it for himself. He loved his friends, sure, he had Nazz and Rolf but that was about it. And he’d by lying if he said that he might want to create a friend to go against Rolf and Ed in their ‘Battle of Wits’ that Kevin is constantly forced into.

With that fact in mind, Kevin was sitting on the rough carpet of his living room while his parents were kept in the kitchen to cook up supper. Kevin thought about anything and everything he wanted his friend to be…

’Smart, buff, handsome like me! Um… Stronger than Ed, that’s for sure. Oh, maybe if it was sports themed, like a football or something…’ Kevin thought as his eyes scrunched up in deep thought. However, he was cut off by the sudden clashing of pots from the kitchen, breaking his train of thought.

Grunting in annoyance, Kevin rose from his seated position and waddled towards the source of the noise, where he found his father beginning to prepare pasta while his mother set the table. Making his presence known, he threw himself onto the cushioned chair and made sure it rattled the vase on top of the table itself. Luckily, it caught his mother’s attention, who looked down at the sour boy with a warm smile.

”What’s the matter, son?” She kept her eyes on Kevin while she absently kept setting plates and utensils down.

Kevin did his best to seem angry but poking out his bottom lip and furrowing his brows, “You interrupted my creation.” Kevin’s mother tilted her head in slight confusion, so Kevin restated, “My imaginary friend! I was gonna make it right until you broke my thinking.”

Kevin’s mother stared at the child for a moment longer, before she found herself in a fit of small bits of laughter, “Ah, so that was what it was about? Well, I’m sorry I stopped you from that, Kevin.” She placed down the last fork and made direct eye contact with Kevin, “But you know… creating an imaginary friend isn’t that easy, Kev. Or rather, it isn’t that hard.”

The boy was confused now, losing his once angry mask in replace of a wide-eyed one of curiosity, “What do you mean?”

“I mean, that sometimes creating a friend doesn’t have to be that hard, Kevin. You don’t have to think super duper hard about it, it’s no prayer every night, it’s not a simple wish upon a star, it just comes to you when the time is right.”

”Well… when is the right time?”

”Probably not at the dinner table, that’s for sure.”

”But… how will the universe know what kind of imaginary friend I want? Like a big, football friend with lots and lots of muscles!”

Kevin’s mother laughed again, ruffling the boy’s red hair, “Kevin, silly, you can’t exactly choose your imaginary friend. It’s more like a mix of what you want and what is inside.” She poked a soft finger at Kevin’s chest where his heart would be. Kevin, still confused, looked up at his mom with just slight understanding.

”Supper’s ready!” His father interrupted with a pot of steaming hot spaghetti ready to be eaten, with some of the extra additions off to the side. Kevin decided to wait to create a friend later, can’t think on an empty stomach, of course.

…

Later that night, Kevin found himself snuggled between two distracted parents while he sat and watched cartoons on their large TV. The screen displayed spots of color and shapes bouncing around the space, but Kevin’s mind drifted elsewhere. He kept thinking about his imaginary friend, rather when it would appear and mostly about what his mother meant earlier.

‘Imaginary Friends are a mixture of what you want… and what’s inside. Simple enough.’ Kevin thought, ‘Maybe that means I’ll actually get a strong one! Maybe with cool abilities!’

The boy continued to think in silence. What abilities did he have? Which would follow into the Imaginary Friend? Were there some traits he didn’t even know about himself?

Geez, these thoughts are way too much for someone as young as himself. But the more he thought about it, Kevin boiled his answer down to one simple decision in what he wanted his Imaginary Friend to be; a friend.

Kevin loved his friends, of course he did, Nazz was pretty and cool and just an overall nice person to be around. Their parents would both joke about them getting together when they’ve grown up, married and all that. Both Kevin and Nazz would pretend to make disgusted sounds whenever they’d do that, but Kevin would rather just keep Nazz as a close friend. He isn’t ready for love!

Rolf is also a great friend. Sure he’s… out there and loud and often times very eccentric but that’s what Kevin liked about the boy. Rolf moved to the Cul-De-Sac when Kevin was around three, and even then it gave the two enough time to bond and become best friends. Rolf has customs of which Kevin has never ever heard of, but it was nice to see what he’d bring up next in their conversations.

But as much as Kevin hated to admit it, he didn’t feel that close to them, despite his internal rant on how close they were. Their group dynamic was simple; He was the jock (sometimes), Nazz has the looks, and Rolf is the wild card. Yet even then, they were distant quite often, either separated by awkward interactions with parents or simple customs that Kevin still had to adjust to.

Kevin wanted a friend that would  make him laugh, be there to comfort him, have similar interests, and in some of the most rarest cases, protect him.

As soon as that thought just entered his brain, there was a bright flash of light just before Kevin, promting the child to look away and sheild his eyes. His parents, awoken from the sudden light in their living room, shot up and looked mildly concerned, holding Kevin protectively.

The light soon faded, and what was left was a small figure, roughly Kevin’s size if not smaller. They stood up slowly, dusting off the small specks of dirt and grime that might’ve landed on them during their creation just now. Even after five seconds of being born, it already has a personality. They gazed around the room before landing on the family sitting before them on the couch, staring back at each other with wide eyes.

The imaginary friend looked and resembled that of a flower, starting from the head was something that looked like the bud of a flower, like the middle of one of Mother’s plants from her garden. It sat atop the friend’s head like a hat, though Kevin doubted it could be taken off. Beneath it were about three strands of stems, that acted at hair. It had some sort of light orange fuzz around it’s neck that reminded Kevin of a bee, fuzzy and probably soft to touch. The torso of the friend was made of orange petals, resembling a large t-shirt almost with its shorter petals on their shoulders. They wore a purple flower for the pants, like a tulip of sorts, that mostly just looked like a skirt if Kevin were being honest. They had slim, long limbs of varying color that were most likely stems, which were used to immitate their arms and legs, and even hair! Their legs were a vibrant color of red before fading into a blueish-purple while the rest of their skin was a light shade of green.

Kevin and his parents kept their gaze locked on the new comer for a while longer, before a thought crossed Kevin’s mind.

’It’s… that’s a flower. Flowers aren’t strong? Flowers break easily and probably can’t hold up a football! How am I supposed to seem cool with that?!’

As Kevin’s expression soured at the thought, the imaginary friend let out a nervous chuckle, faintly waving it’s ‘hand’ while doing so. They smiled widely, showing off a small gap between their teeth. Their eyes were also nearly all black, except for the large, white pupils which contrasted their void-like eyes. Yup, that surely wouldn’t haunt Kevin in his sleep.

Kevin’s mother let out a small sound of delight as she comprehended the situation. Reaching for Kevin and shaking him slightly in excitement, “Kevin! You did it! You’ve created your imaginary friend!”

Kevin attempted to sound pleased, “Yay…!”

His dad softly pat his back, a proud smile grew on his face, “That’s amazing, son!”

Turning back to the friend itself, who slightly shook under all the eyes, Kevin’s mother spoke in a warm tone, “Welcome to the family, hon, what might be your name?”

The plant opened it’s mouth to answer, before abruptly closing it to gaze elsewhere as it thought. They turned back to the woman and shook their head, “My apologies, but I do not believe I have one, ma’am.”

Kevin’s mother made a small comment on their manners, but Kevin ignored it. Wasn’t it his job to give them a name, anyways? Kevin looked at the imaginary friend and thought about a name, based off their appearance alone. Though, it probably wouldn’t be as cool as his previous name ideas, given the design…

”If it’s not too much trouble, I have a name idea myself if that is alright.” The imaginary friend politely smiled with their stems tangled together in front of their chest as if to mimic a person interlocking their hands. Kevin was about to object, stating it was his job as their creator to name them, but was interrupted by his mom.

”Why, of course! What would you like us to call you?”

They stood silent for a moment, and Kevin thought that they didn’t actually have a name idea in mind, that was until they spoke once again,

”Eddward, with two Ds, please. Or maybe just Edd for short.”

Kevin’s parents smiled in acceptance, immediently bringing the friend into small conversation while Kevin sat back in silent anger.

This imaginary friend… was a nerd! Kevin wouldn’t be able to show his face ever! That is, if he were caught with ‘Edd’ at any point. Kevin thought he was getting something cooler, something stronger, something better than this! Kevin bared his teeth at the thought, sulking just a bit until he too was roped into the introduction of ‘Eddward, the newest addition to Kevin’s life.’

Glaring at the friend as he was suddenly brought closer, Kevin knew it was going to be difficult to get along with him.

It was the day of Kevin's 6th birthday party, emphasis on 'party' because his family would be going on a separate vacation for his actual birthday, and nearly everyone from the cul-de-sac would be coming!

And what Kevin means by everyone, he means the only kids on the street and his parent's friends from work would be the only ones there. But he wasn't complaining! What he was most upset about was trying to keep Edd secure in Kevin's bedroom, as so that nobody would see that Kevin has such a lame imaginary friend.

"Kevin, I am unsure as to why this is wise? It's your birthday party, and I am required to help serve the guests." Edd ranted as Kevin continued to push the flower-boy into the confinement of the bedroom.

"Well... my mom said there would be.. um, very big and loud people there! Like Nazz's friend, he's a riot, you wouldn't wanna meet him." Kevin lied, grunting as he was having trouble with the final shove to push Edd through the door.

"While that may be true, it is common knowledge and courtesy to greet those who you have never met before! Maybe you can introduce me to your friends and I'll than go back-"

"No!" Kevin shot out, Edd was not going to show his face at this party, "I-I mean.. they're busy, is all. Partying an' stuff.. they'd be so unfocused to even pay attention to you, and since I don't want'cha to go through that, it's best you stay in.. here!"

With a final shove, Kevin threw Edd onto the bed his parents had bought for him in the opposite side of Kevin's room, taking up his free space which he used for absolutely nothing. Edd rolled over onto his back and looked at Kevin with an uncertain expression, which Kevin fired back with a wide, unsettling almost grin.

Edd sighed, "Well, it is your party after all... Come get me if you need anything, I guess.."

Kevin almost burst out in laughter, when would he need him? But either way, Kevin straightened himself up and made sure he looked his best before turning to Edd one last time, "Sure thing, Edd. Have fun up here."

As he left, Kevin thought he heard Edd answer with a muffled response from behind the door, but he could care less, really. With a smirk worn on his face, Kevin made his way to the party.

…

The first person to arrive was Nazz, accompanied by her new imaginary friend that appeared just about a week ago. Eddy was what he called himself, but Nazz had other names in mind yet complied. To put it short, Eddy was a douchebag. To Kevin mostly. His body was mostly made of shiny material, similar to that of gold, while the rest of his outfit and hair included was shimmering and pristine, like he would shatter if he were hit too hard. Kevin would be the first to figure that out for sure.

The two would bicker any chance they could, leaving Nazz to always be the middle man and settle their arguements before they turned into fist-fights which turned into each child invloved getting punished. Kevin made sure to let out an audible groan at the sight of Eddy, smirking when the imaginary friend’s face darkened.

Nazz waved excitedly to Kevin, handing the birthday boy a large gift box that was wrapped in a basketball-patterned paper. Kevin gently set it down on the presents table beside the area where the food would be set up. Nazz and Eddy made them selves comfortable beside the pool, Nazz already halfway into the water while Eddy sat on the side since he most likely cannot swim. Kevin would be sure to taunt him for that.

Rolf was next to arrive, hauling large bags of vegetables and meat for the party-goers to eat while Ed held the smaller gift bag belonging to Kevin. The imaginary friend seemed distracted as it took in the sights of Kevin’s decorated backyard. Kevin had seen Ed before, but it was still a sight to behold considering it was Rolf who imagined him. Ed’s limbs were mostly tentacles, not like Edd’s however, similar to that of an octopus. He had four on his upper torso while the area where his legs should be were simply a mass of even more tentacles. One of his arms were colored with red and white stripes with a claw on the end, which helped the friend when grabbing items that were mostly comic books and chickens. The torso of the imaginary friend was a dark, pale green with white on the stomach.

Kevin watched Rolf as he ranted quickly about the process of harvesting the food and bringing it all the way across the street, gesturing wildly all the while Ed sat silently beside Rolf with a content and franky stupid looking smile on his face.

The two followed to where Nazz and Eddy were, leading to Rolf and Nazz being in the pool while Ed and Eddy conversed. However from the looks of it, it seemed that Ed was mostly just talking about his personal interests while Eddy sat only mild intrigued.

The other two to arrive was Jimmy, who’s house was closer to Nazz’s, and Jonny, who already had an imaginary friend that Kevin would rather not think about how it came to life. Plank was with Jonny through and through, and had probably been there since the boy’s birth but that was yet to be confirmed. Kevin believes that Plank was simply a piece of wood that Jonny pretended to be an imaginary friend, but once again, was unconfirmed. It was best to not think about it too hard.

Jimmy on the other hand, was still far too young to even imagine a friend. The boy was about two years old, and was only brought to the party because his mother works with Kevin’s mother at the local diner in the city. Jimmy couldn’t swim yet, so he stayed in the hot tub with floaties wrapped around his torso and upper arms. Jonny held Plank in one of his hands and kicked his bare feet at Kevin’s pool on the opposite side of where Rolf and Nazz were.

And of course, they brought gifts because what kind of guest were you without bringing a present? (Kevin would get a stern lecture about that in his later years.)

It was about an hour or so into the party when Nazz swam over to Kevin in the pool, they had just finished a game of tag in the pool. Nazz kept herself a float as she spoke to the birthday boy, “Hey, Kev?”

Turning his head to meet the girl’s, Kevin answered, “Yeah, Nazz?”

”Me and Rolf were wondering.. do you have an imaginary friend?”

Kevin almost flinched, yet only his eyes slightly twitched at that mention, “Uhm,, why do you ask?”

”Well it’s just because we’ve already got our imaginary friends, so I mean isn’t it a bit odd that you still don’t have yours yet?”

Kevin had to think of a lie, and fast, “Oh, well that because.. um..-“

Rolf shoved past the two swimmers, pointing off towards the house where Nazz and Kevin were facing away from, “There! Rolf spots the unknown presence of the Weed Person!”

Shaking her head, Nazz turned to where Rolf was pointing, “‘Weed Person’? Rolf, was Ed showing you his comics too much?”

Kevin, on the other hand, figured out what the farmer was talking about almost right away. He whipped his head around so fast it made him slightly dizzy, but that faded rather quickly as he caught the main suspect of the situation.

Walking beside his mother and holding a tray of fruits, Edd wore a bright smile on his green-ish face and greeted every guest he came across as he followed Kevin’s mom to the food table. The imaginary friend set the tray onto the plastic table and was quickly roped into conversation with Jimmy and Kevin’s mother.

”Oh my gosh, Kevin! Is that your imaginary friend?-“ Nazz excitedly went to ask the boy, but was cut off when Kevin quickly rose from the water, not even caring to dry off as he stepped out of the pool, and stomped towards Edd. One of his hand grabbed onto Edd’s without warning and dragged him off to the side, despite the protests.

On the side of the house, Kevin began his interrogation, “What are you doing out here?” He hissed in between his teeth, “You were supposed to stay inside.” Edd gave a face of regret almost, softening his once bright smile, “Oh, well my apologies for going against your wishes, Kevin, but your mother and father requested help with the food and I was eager to assist! It is my duty, after all!”

”No, your duty was to stay inside my room. Like. I. Said.” Kevin poked a harsh finger at Edd’s petal chest for emphasis, and he was about to continue again until the sound of multiple footsteps began to approach.

Nazz and Rolf, accompanied by their own imaginary friends, stared curiously at the duo.

Kevin panicked, they caught him, like actually found him with his imaginary friend. They’ll think he’s such a loser for thinking of something so childish! Kevin would have no friends, he’d have no popularity, everything would be gone! Kevin prepared himself for the worst as Nazz walked closer towards the two.

Instead of pointing and laughing like Kevin thought she would, Nazz extended a friendly hand towards Edd, “Hey, you’re Kevin’s imaginary friend, right? I’m Nazz, and this is my imaginary friend, Eddy.” She pointed her thumb towards the shining boy behind her.

Kevin’s eyes widened as Nazz introduced herself to Edd, which the flower-boy did in return. Rolf soon interjected, along with Ed and Eddy of course, each sparking little conversation with the imaginary friend. They were taking this surprisingly well…

Nazz turned to Kevin, “Why didn’t you tell us you had such a cool friend, Kev?”

The boy in question turned his head in slight embarrassment, “I just.. thought you guys would be… weirded out by him.”

”Weirded out?” Nazz repeated, “Kevin, have you even met Plank? Edd is such a nice guy, why wouldn’t we want to meet him sooner?”

“I just.. thought you guys might think I’m… childish.” Kevin shrugged.

”We are children, Kevin.” Nazz giggled, “But hey, if you want him to be kept a secret, then that’s okay as long as Edd’s alright with it.”

Kevin rose his head just a little to meet Edd’s eyes. He was surely hurt by the sudden reveal of Kevin’s harsh feelings towards him, but he respected his creator’s decision, “I am alright with that, Kevin.” His voice just barely cracking. Kevin responded with a simple “Okay.”

…

Edd was soon forced, mostly by Nazz, to join the kids at the pool. But of course, since most imaginary friends like himself lacked the ability to swim, Edd was only able to sit on the concrete borders beside Ed and Eddy. The trio of imaginary friends sat quietly, Eddy kicking the water, Ed smiling to himself as he probably zoned out in his own mind, and Edd with his slim hands folded in his lap.

”I just realized,” Ed began, startling both Edd and Eddy, “We have almost the same names! Like brothers from another mother and separated at birth like in Issue #71 of ‘John Noodles and the Zombie Aliens’.” The monster smile widely at the two on separate sides.

Eddy grinned, turning away, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

 Edd smiled warmly up at Ed, “That is quite an observation there, Ed. And a coincidence nonetheless.”

”We should form an alliance!” Ed gasped, “In case the aliens are ever to invade Earth, we must form a strong team to fight against them!” His face morphed into a serious tone, which caused Eddy to stifle a laugh.

”I-I’m sure that won’t be necessary, Ed, but a friendship of sorts sounds like a wonderful idea.” Edd pat one of Ed’s grey arms.

”Yeah! We already got the dynamic,” Eddy stood up with a big, almost concerning smile, “I’m the leader, Ed’s the dumb one with muscles, and you’re the nerd!” The gem pointed at Edd, who frowned at his description.

”Nerd? Excuse me, but the term ‘nerd’ can be considered quite offensive, I mean-“ Edd went to object Eddy’s statement, but was interrupted.

”See? You fit the role perfectly.” He smirked with his hands on his hips.

Deepening his frown, Edd concluded he cannot not use his smarts against this boy, “Really now? Because I think instead of you being the leader, you’d fit more of the ‘egotistical, bossy and loud one who doesn’t deserve the title of a leader yet insists he does because he likes the attention’.”

“Ego-what-now?” Eddy tilted his head in mere confusion, before shaking it to clear his thoughts and turning back to Edd with an angry scowl, “What’s that supposed to mean?! I’m not loud!”

”Are you sure? Because you seem to have attracted a lot of unwanted attention from simply your voice.” Edd smiled deviously, and he wasn’t wrong, most eyes of the party guests were now on the Eds (When did they come up with that name?). Some of which, included Kevin.

”Oh yeah, wise guy?” Eddy stepped closer to Edd, not even considering the blockade between the two known as Ed as he stepped onto the monster's lap. In response to the upcoming attack that Edd was sure to come, he shrank in on himself, now realizing his mistake. He watched as Eddy began to loom over him, despite his small stature. Eddy cracked his knuckles with an audible sound and was about to throw the first punch when the surface below him shook.

”Gravy!” Ed shouted in delight, his gaze locked on a bowl of brown gravy that sat on the table where the food was. He quickly shot up, and dashed for the mixture, knocking Eddy off his lap. The imaginary friend in question fumbled in the air before crashing into the water with a shout. Edd shrieked in shock, quickly moving to help the gem out of the water.

His thoughts were paused for a moment, as he looked up to see Kevin, Rolf and Nazz watching the whole ordeal with bright and genuine smiles on their faces, enjoying the moment. Of course, Nazz went to help her friend as Edd did the same, pulling a now soaking wet Eddy onto the concrete, his arms stiffly folded and scowl on his face. Edd couldn’t help but giggle.

Eddy glared at Edd, but softened his face as he spoke, “Alright, I admit it, you aren’t that much of a nerd.” Eddy elbowed the imaginary friend’s arm, “You’re pretty cool.”

”Why, thank you, Eddy.” Edd smiled, “I am touched you learned from your mistakes and changed your outlook on-“

”’Still a nerd, though.” The gem smirked, turning away from Edd.

Edd deadpanned, and with what little strength he possessed, shoved Eddy back into the pool. Sure, he’d probably get a punch for that, but it was worth it to see his creator’s face light up in delight once again.

Kevin had officially reached third grade, it wasn't a great achievement but it was one to be talked about at least. He was about a month into school, and he was enjoying what he could about it. Kevin liked most of the classes, science being his worst and gym class being his all time favorite, no surprise there. Kevin got the routine down easily, his schedule was forcibly memorized into his head by Edd's request, and he had football practice every other day after school! No longer were the days where he had to play football with himself because literally nobody in the cul-de-sac can play it, now he can compete against actual players!

Aside from that load of pure joy, Kevin found himself seated in history class, learning something or other about North American History, but Kevin couldn't bring himself to pay attention. It wasn't really that interesting, plus, the teacher gives out the most useless homework so Kevin rarely had to listen in on the lecture. That and Edd would help him either way, the imaginary friend was eager to assist the boy with any school work possible. Kevin didn't understand, who would actually want to do homework? Edd, probably. It's most likely since imaginary friends are prohibited from the school environment, as to no disrupt classes and such, leaving Edd to the minimal books brought from the library and whatever Kevin was learning in class.

School sped by faster than Kevin anticipated, probably since it was early release Wednesday, but Kevin was quick to the bus to get home. Along the way, Kevin was planning out how to savor his free time before he'd have to return to school tomorrow. He could do his homework, maybe give some to Edd to solve, eat a light snack, play some football or another game in the yard. Maybe he could try out basketball again, and be forced into chores by his mom. Leaning back in the dirty bus seat, Kevin relaxed knowing he had everything all figured out for now.

...

Kevin, in fact, did not have everything figured out.

As he mentally scolded himself for constantly zoning out during class, Kevin found himself stuck on a certain question regarding a topic covered in class, one of which Kevin was not paying attention to. He supposed the teacher finally put a unit they were actually learning into the homework finally.

Even so, it confused Kevin more than he’d like to admit. I mean, what the heck is the ‘Revolu-what-now War’? Did they even cover that during class?

Kevin eventually found himself in his bedroom, leaning onto his desk with the dim light of his lamp shining on the blank paper. It had been a solid thirty minutes since he got home, any longer and he’d be missing out on all the free time he wanted. With a long groan, Kevin let his head fall harshly onto the desk, causing the cup of pens to rattle and some papers to shy away form the wind caused from his sudden fall.

This action attracted that of Edd, or Double D now ever since two months ago when Ed and Eddy finally created their alliance. However, due to there already being an Ed on the team, Edd found his name would get confusing and therefore thought of the nickname ‘Double D’ which really began to grow on everyone of the cul-de-sac, even Kevin’s own parents.

Regardless, Double D looked over from his side of the room towards Kevin, lowering his book of amphibians slightly, “Is everything alright, Kevin?”

Kevin, the overdramatic eight-year-old he is, loudly groaned once again in response, lifting his head just a bit before giving Edd a proper answer, “No! I don’t remember any of this from class! The teacher probably did this on purpose!” He even threw his arms in the air for emphasis, “Stupid paper…”

“Language, Kevin.” Edd chastized from his seated position, but set his large book down to the side and rose to approach Kevin, “But I’m sure that your teacher would do nothing of those sorts. What do you need help with?”

Instead of answering the imaginary friend, Kevin slid the piece of blank paper across the desk for Edd to view, which he took into his hands and analyzed before his eyes shined in excitement, “Oh my, Kevin! You’re learning about the Revolutionary War! How marvelous!”

Kevin scoffed at the unknown word that Double D had used, but let him do his thing, “You seem to enjoy history…”

”Pardon?” Edd raised his head slightly to meet Kevin with a confused smile.

”I mean, it just seems like you really like history and all that. You basically start glowing whenever I mention my homework.”

”Well, that’s partially because I enjoy the material you happen to be learning in your classes. With me being stuck in your room while you are off at school, I have to gain my education either via books or your homework and notes.” Double D happily explained, before a sheepish smile grew on his face, exposing the gap in his teeth, “And… I may or may not be ever so slightly jealous of you.”

That threw Kevin off guard.

“You? Jealous of me? …Why?” Kevin asked the imaginary.

”Well, you and I both know that I am prohibited from school property, which leaves me unable to experience the environment that is public schooling. You, however, do get to experience it! I can only imagine how wonderful it must be.. all those people, the lockers, the classrooms, and oh, the lessons you may learn in your classes.” Edd’s eyes practically sparkled at the thought.

“I really don’t think I’ve met anyone besides you who would actually like school.” Kevin smirked.

”It’s quite interesting if you think about it… and to answer your first statement, I don’t actually enjoy history that much.”

Kevin threw his head around so fast, it might’ve slid off, “What do you mean? You seem so excited everytime I ask you to do my history homework?”

”That is simple because I would like to learn more about American History, it’s not often I get a book about the US from the library in here,” Edd looked up at Kevin with a lop-sided grin that made Kevin feel a twinge of guilt that was quickly shoved away, “I mostly enjoy subjects like biology and math!”

”Bio… what?”

”Biology. It is the study of scientific life! Meaning it may cover units about the human body, plant life, animals, evolution, why I could go on forever!”

”Yeah… maybe don’t do that.”

Edd lightly chuckled, “What I mean to say is, history is.. interesting for sure, but I find my interests in other subjects. I may even consider sports to be one of them.”

”Sports?… As in… like football?” Kevin’s eyes grew wider. While Double D was ranting about biology and what not, Kevin thought that would just increase the amount of differences between the two, drifting apart the creator from his imaginary friend. Instead, Kevin was once again thrown off by Edd’s answer for the second, maybe third, time today.

”Well.. probably not football, I cannot hold a ball for the life of me, but I’d say more like… track and field, perhaps?”

”You mean running?”

”Technically it is called ‘Track and Field’ but yes, running.”

”I’ve never seen you run before.”

”I never had a reason to.”

…

”Do you wanna run with me?”

”I’m sorry?”

”I mean.. we have to run a lot in football practice, so I think, to kill two birds with one rock or something, we can run together, I guess.” Kevin awkwardly rubbed his arm, avoiding the others gaze.

Edd was silent for a moment, before answering the boys proposal, “Why, I’d love to, Kevin. It’s quite rare for you to offer such a thing, might I add. This sounds like the perfect opportunity to get to know each other more!”

Kevin refused the urge to roll his eyes at that, “Whatever, it’s not a big deal, let’s just finish my homework now.”

“Say sorry right now!”

”What did I even do?!”

”You hit Jimmy!”

“He was in the way! Plus, I didn’t mean to hit ‘im!”

”Just say you’re sorry, shovel-chin!”

”Shovelchin?! What is wrong with you?!”

”You heard me!”

Jimmy watched from behind Sarah as Kevin’s face grew in anger, rivaling Sarah’s already upset face.

Sarah was Jimmy’s imaginary friend, arriving to the cul-de-sac nearly a month or two ago when Jimmy turned eight. Sarah looked and resembled that of an angel mixed with a princess. Down to the pink gown and crown on top, she even had a small pair of white wings that floated behind her, though she never used them as everywhere she went she was floating.

Sarah had proven herself to be Jimmy’s protector, the one to stand up for him and yell at anyone who might even think otherwise with her loud voice. She had long, flowing orange-red hair that seemed to be carried by an invisible breeze, her outfit littered with pink hearts about the fabric. Though, that was just the outside of the girl.

Often times, whenever Sarah were to reach a certain point of anger, her appearance would change drastically. Kevin was there to experience it the first time, when Eddy had tried to steal one of Jimmy’s newest jawbreakers. Though, Kevin never knew why either of them wanted to have it, considering Jimmy’s retainer and Eddy’s inability to eat such solid foods. Anyways, after being caught by Sarah in the act, a yelling contest broke out between the two, each spouting new insults to the other until Sarah snapped.

Her once soft, pastel pink dress and top switched to a bright shade of red, the heart patterns on it changing into broken ones for extra effect. Her hair became unmanaged, it was messy and all over the place which made it seem like fire. Kevin thought that if he were to look close enough, Sarah’s eyes were actual flames.

Anyways, the battle ended with Eddy returning to Nazz’s place, bruised and beaten yet surprisingly not shattered, although there were a few cracks here and there. Sarah, on the other hand, comforted Jimmy until he felt better.

That Sarah was definitely not what Kevin was going against now.

Roughly ten minutes ago, Kevin was outside in the road of the cul-de-sac with Nazz, Rolf, and Jonny to play a game of ‘Keep Away’ since nobody here knew how to play football, much to Kevin’s desatisfaction. Jimmy and Sarah sat nearby on the lawn of Jimmy’s house, playing with dolls, toys, and what-not as a makeshift picnic. At least Jimmy seemed happy.

Kevin was about to toss the dodgeball to Rolf, but had aimed incorrectly and accidentially hit Jimmy in the back of his head, knocking the boy into a bowl of their homemade ‘soup’ (it was dirt, leaves, and water) with a cry. Sarah was immediently filled with rage to see her best friend-slash-creator treated horribly and began to stomp towards Kevin, which led them to now.

”Okay, seriously, I didn’t mean to hit Jimmy!”

”Likely story, you just think you can do anything ‘cause you’re older!”

”Just because I’m ten years old?! How in the world does that make sense?”

“Shut up and say sorry to Jimmy!” Sarah shrieked finally, raising her voice to the highest octive she could. Jimmy shook slightly behind the girl, tugging on her dress, “Sarah… maybe we should go…”

Kevin opened his mouth to shoot back with all he could, his anger getting the best of him, but that quickly faded away when a familiar voice cut in.

”Kevin Barr, get inside now!”

Kevin turned to find his father in the doorway of his house. Kevin bent down to grab his dodgeball and slowly made his way towards the house. He could almost hear Sarah cackle mockingly behind him, but he couldn’t bring himself to acknowledge it. He only slightly listened as the other kids filtered away. Kevin kept his eyes on the open doorway the whole time.

The boy shuffled inside, keeping a deathgrip on the rubber ball as he stood before his father. He looked up to meet his fathers gaze, knowing he hated it when Kevin never looked at him during their stern talkings. Kevin hated the fact he could practically hear the disappointed breath exiting through his fathers nose.

”Care to explain yourself, Kevin?” His dad crossed his arms stiffly, glaring daggers at the boy.

Kevin shuffled his feet, “I was just… playing..”

”Playing, huh? Well, that, did not look like playing to me. Try again.”

The boy inhaled sharply through his nose, “It was just an accident…” Kevin mumbled into the ball.

”Speak up when you’re talking to me, Kevin.”

”I didn’t mean to hit Jimmy, dad! I promise!”

”Did you apologize to him?”

”I- Sarah wouldn’t let me-“

”Did you apologize, Kevin Barr?” His dad raised his voice just a bit more, increasing Kevin’s every growing fear. One wrong move could get him grounded until next semester.

“I… no..” Kevin let his eyes drift down to the wooden flooring, but he wanted his dad to know what was wrong, “But dad, I never wanted to hurt Jimmy, I was just trying to throw the ball to Rolf and-“

”Go to your room, Kevin.”

”..what? Bu-But dad, I-“

”Now, Kevin!”

The boy physically flinched back at his fathers booming voice. His dad would never yell at him like that, save for about once or twice in his younger years, and it was enough to shake Kevin to his core. Blinking back tears that began to well up, Kevin sniffled and ran past his father and up to his bedroom as fast as his ten year old legs could carry him.

Once he reached his door, he quickly threw it open and let is slam shut, knowing he’d probably get once again another lecture about his attitude for that. Kevin let the ball he had in his hands fall onto the floor, where is bounced away into an unknown corner of his bedroom. Kevin’s mind was racing, so much so that he couldn’t register the figure sitting on the second mattress in his room. Instead, Kevin launched himself onto his bed, grabbing the closest pillow to curl into.

Kevin wanted to cry, but he couldn’t bring himself to do so. Kevin crying was just as rare as his father shouting at him, which he frankly did not enjoy the connection between the two at the moment. Crying made Kevin feel vulnerable, like a child.

So Kevin would let out small hiccups of sobs, which he did so quietly into the pillow. Tears cascaded down his cheeks which then were absorbed into the fabric. His breaths were shaky, and Kevin shook as he folded in on himself tighter.

Amidst the boys sobbing, Kevin could feel the bed dip down close to the end. It took Kevin a moment to remember that this wasn’t just his room anymore. Shooting up from his position, fresh tears still clinging to his face, Kevin met eyes with Edd, who sat silently on the end of the bed. Double D had a sympathetic frown on his face, staring back at Kevin with his arms folded into his lap. The two said nothing for what seemed like hours until Edd broke the air.

”Would you like to talk about it?”

Kevin rapidly shook his head, no, no no no, no. Anything but that, not right now, at least. He squeezed his eyes shut as he did so, allowing few tears to escape. Edd was silent again.

”Then… would you like a hug?”

Kevin’s head slowly rose to look back at Double D, who had his arms open and inviting for Kevin to accept. Normally, Kevin would refuse such an offer. He only gets hugs from his parents and on some cases, Nazz and Rolf. Ed did not count since his bear-like hugs were unwarrented. This time, however, Kevin considered it. Edd was creating an atmosphere for Kevin to feel comfortable in, one where Kevin could speak freely about his feelings, one that provided safety.

The redhead boy practically launched himself into Double Ds arms, shocking the imaginary friend. Kevin wrapped his arms around his neck and sniffled into Double Ds shoulder. He could feel the imaginary freeze up, his stem-like hands hovering over Kevin’s back before Edd let his head fall into the crook of Kevin’s shoulder and neck, wrapping the vines around Kevin to return the hug.

Double D said nothing but comforting words to Kevin until he had calmed down. Kevin’s breath was still ragged, and his eyes were surely puffy red by now, but he appreciated the offer. He peeled himself off of Edd, sitting in front of Double D but not meeting his eyes.

”It wasn’t your fault, you know.” Edd suddenly said to Kevin.

He sniffed, wiping his eyes once again, “You don- you don’t know that.”

”Of course I know that.” The imaginary flower stated, “I watched the whole thing happen.”

Double D turned to face Kevin, taking the boys hands into his vine-hands, wrapping them around the cold skin, “Nobody is at fault here, not you, not Jimmy, not even Sarah. Yes, she was wrong to yell and antagonize you like that, but even she is not the problem here. It was simple a misunderstanding between both parties.”

Kevin blinked back more tears, trying to meet Double Ds eyes through the blurry gaze, “I just.. I feel like I’m doing everything wrong, Double D.”

”Kevin, you did nothing wrong. You had no ill intentions to harm Jimmy, I know that because you’re not that kind of person.”

”Then… then what am I?”

Smiling, Edd huffed out a breath as his eyes drifted elsewhere, “Well… you’re certainly.. you. You’re smarter than you think you are, you’re loud, in a good way, strong, compassionate, and very caring of others. Kevin, a person like you is a wonderful person. Give yourself more credit.”

Kevin let a couple more stray tears fall as his vision finally cleared, allowing him to look Double D in his eyes, “Thanks, Edd.” The boy wrapped his arms around the imaginary friend, with less tears this time, and Edd was quick to return the favor.

”This might be a.. a weird question, but, can you sleep with me for a bit? Just until dinnertime?” Kevin looked to Edd for an answer.

”Of course, Kevin. Whatever would make you feel better.” He smiled warmly at the boy.

…

”Kevin? Your mother and I had a talk, and I wanted to say that I am…-“

As Robert Barr opened the door to his sons bedroom, he found himself unable to continue his sentence. Finding Kevin and his imaginary friend tangled in a hug while they slept, he smiled fondly as he stepped back out of the room as to let them rest. This could wait until dinner time.

Kevin screwed his eyes shut in anger, his face morphing into a grimacing frown at the climax of their argument.

“Why can’t you just leave me alone?!”

At Kevin’s outburst, Edd found himself speechless. He stared at the enraged boy, who heaved out breaths while glaring at the imaginary friend.

”You always do this! You keep thinking I’m a child but I’m not! I’m twelve years old, Double D! I don’t need your help, I don’t need you!” Kevin yelled, “Just go away already!”

Kevin awaited a response, a yell back, an insult, maybe even a punch if Edd was holding out on him. But instead, he nodded.

”As you wish, Kevin.” Double D answered in a small voice, it sounded like it were about to crack, like as if he were holding back tears.

Kevin watched as Edd turned on his heel, beginning to walk in the opposite direction of the red head, all the while keeping his hands securely wrapped below his chest, a really bad habit of his.

He scoffed, turning to walk the other way, which to be honest, Kevin didn’t know where that went. It was cloudy today, and with no sun out Kevin had little knowledge of where he was going, but it didn’t matter. As long as he was away from Edd.

Kevin didn’t remember how their argument began, he just remembers the last bit. He must’ve been super angry then… He’s never yelled at Double D like that before. Kevin felt guilt begin to spark in his chest, but he shook his head, letting his anger drive him until he was far away from the cul-de-sac.

Kevin didn’t know how long he was walking, it could’ve been minutes or even hours, but when he was in his head the whole time it was hard to tell. He was only brought back to reality when he was just about to walk right into a metal pole of a sign. Kevin looked up to the letters, glaring through the fog.

’Peach Creek Junkyard’ it read.

The boy paid no mind to it, proceeding to walk past the wooden fences which had a large gap between them, prompting an entrance for Kevin and whoever else happened to come here. Kevin kept his hands in his pockets the whole time, not exactly watching his surroundings or steps. If he fell, he fell. No big deal, Edd would patch him up-

No! Double D is out of your life, Kevin Barr! You are twelve years old, everyone else at school left their imaginary friends years ago!

He desperately tried to keep his thoughts from even mentioning Double D, changing them each time that dreaded boy would even enter his mind. Edd this, Double D that, Kevin wanted it to stop!

He stopped dead in his tracks, breathing heavily in the thick fog. Kevin balled his fists over and over, he closed his eyes and attempted to relax himself. Why. Why is he still thinking about Double D?

Kevin’s mind went back, to all the time he and Edd would be together. It would be larger adventures, like using Nazz’s slip-n-slide off of the hill outside the cul-de-sac, or simple and smaller events like when the two would sit on the couch in comfortable silence as they marathoned through their favorite TV series all while eating a whole bag of chips.

That one time they pranked Eddy into thinking he was invisible?

Or that other time when Rolf hosted a cow race which Kevin participated in, and still lost to Ed in.

Or when Jonny hosted a hide’n’seek game to find Plank only to figure out that Plank was in Jonny’s house the whole time?-

What about that time when Double D and Kevin went to the candy store by themselves to buy-

And when Kevin draw a picture of Edd back in fourth grade for national-

There was even a time when Double D showed off how to-

And the other time when Kevin and Edd-

When Double D showed Kevin-

Kevin and Edd-

Double D-

Eddward-

Edd-

Edd, Edd, Edd, it was all Edd! That’s all there was! Kevin grit his teeth, why is he stuck in his brain!?

Was it his punishment for wanting to end their friendship?

Was this all because of Double Ds alliance with the other Eds? Like a curse?

What was the matter with him?-

“Awh, look girls, we seem to have a guest here.”

Kevin whipped his head around every direction he could, but with the fog allowing him to see only about ten feet in front of him, he couldn’t find the source of the voice.

”He seems scared! I do enjoy it when they’re frightened.”

Were they talking about him? Of course they were, idiot, he’s the only one here-

“Perfect! I’ve been needing myself a strong man like him.”

Kevin prepared himself for the worst, stiffening his body as his eyes analyzed the surrounding piles or garbage. The sudden rattling of a glass bottle caught his attention, and Kevin was struck silent at the sight before him.

At first, it was just one girl, wearing a simple grey shirt and maroon red shorts with knee high socks and black shoes. She had blonde hair that parted in the middle and obnoxiously large buck teeth with freckles about her face. Kevin’s immedient thought was ‘I could take this girl’, but was replaced when he saw what appeared behind her.

There were two more girls, but instead of being individuals, their lower bodies were that of a snake that conjoined the two girls by the end of where a tail would be. One girl, the one on the right, was mostly orange and seemed to be made of an orange slime. Her almost-transparent hair resembled curls that covered her eyes but not her mouth. As for clothing, she had a relatively normal shirt that was just a tank top with red circles about the whole fabric.

On the other side, which was the left side, was another girl who actually had eyes. Or rather, one eye, to be specific. Her hair looked like it was made of flames, blue colored flames. One of her eyes were covered by the ‘hair’ and the only other visible one reminded Kevin of a cat eye. Her skin was also a similar shade of blue like her hair, and she wore a long, black tank top.

The three girls giggled and grinned at the sight of Kevin, further scaring the boy. He couldn’t even bring himself to move.

”Aw, look Lee, I think your big head scared him.” The blue haired girl laughed, which was cut off when she was suddenly punched in the cheek by the other, Lee, presumably.

”Or maybe it was your freakish teeth that ya never brush!” Lee shot back, “No wonder you always have trouble finding a boyfriend, Marie!”

”Guys! If you two keep fighting, we’ll loose our treasure!” The blonde haired girl wailed, pointing at Kevin. Unfortunately for Kevin, it seemed to work as the conjoined snake twins smirked as their eyes landed back on Kevin.

Kevin took several steps back, not deciding to make a run for it until he knew they were distracted again, “Look, I really don’t want any trouble here, you guys. I was just trying to-“

”Well if you didn’t want trouble, maybe you should’a stayed out of our area, cupcake.” Marie taunted.

Kevin wanted to retort at Marie’s statement, something about how the junkyard belongs to the city rather than themselves, but he was quickly reminded about how that was something Double D would say, causing him to freeze for a second.

”Thinking about your little friend again, hm?” Lee inquired, confusing Kevin even further.

”How… How would you even know about that?!” Kevin shouted.

”You guys argue really loud, and don’t you worry, that loser had it coming!” The blonde haired girl laughed.

”…What do you mean..?” Kevin interrogated, why was he entertaining this anyways?!

”Don’t lie to yourself, hon, that friend of yours was so lame, it was about time ya got rid of ‘im!” Lee spoke up.

”He was really cute though, maybe I have a chance now that you’ve dumped him!” Marie giggled with an unsettling grin.

”After all, who in their right mind would want someone so nerdy, so childish, and so nice to be their best friend?” Blondie said.

Kevin was silent for a minute, when he came to a realization he should’ve long ago, about five paragraphs or so.

He did. He wanted a friend that was smart, he wanted someone he could be immature around, he wanted someone who would treat him like a friend throughout. He wanted Edd to be his best friend, and by god was he stupid for ever wanting to end that friendship.

”I do.” Kevin stated, “I have to make this right.” He turned on his heels, ready to find Double D and apologize like he’s never apologized before. Until a large scaled barrier blocked his path.

”You’re not goin’ anywhere just yet, love.” Lee grinned, showing off a miscolored tooth in her teeth that Kevin was sad to be reminded of Double D at the sight of. Kevin took several steps back from the girl, only to see her other half trapping Kevin in a circle while the blonde haired girl stood before the only exit he had. Kevin was trapped.

”May, the lipstick.” Marie held out an awaiting hand towards the blonde, May, appearantly. The girl in question took out three tubes of bright red lipstick, which every girl took in their hands and quickly applied to their lips. Kevin shook as he saw where this was going.

”Pucker up, sweet cheeks!” Lee cackled as she leaned closer to Kevin, who eventually found himself trapped in between the three girls that grew ever-so closer to him, their red lips getting far too close than Kevin would allow.

Just then, the ground below each of them began to shake, prompting the sisters to lean away from Kevin, and sustain their balance.

”Lee!” Marie whined, “What’s going on!”

”I dunno, Marie. May! What did you do?!” The slime-snake monster yelled at May, who shot an offended look at Lee.

”Me?! I’m not doing this!”

“Well then who is?!”

Before an answer could be said, large vines sprouted from the ground, curling and twisting in the air before aiming themselves down at the sisters. Kevin took note of how some vines had small orange and red flowers on them…

Kevin’s eyes widened at a certain memory that he had nearly forgotten about…

...

[One Year Ago]

”I wasn’t lying when I said that I enjoyed gardening.”

”Well, you’re a literal plant so really I’ve never doubted that.”

”Ha-ha so funny, Kevin.” Edd deadpanned as he leaned over a flower bed, patting down the soil around the newest flower he had just planted. With a couple more droplets of water, Double D would be finished for the day! He turned to his right to grab a watering can which he held over the flower, letting little amounts of water shower the plant as the sunlight shined on it at just the right angle.

Double D set the can down in its previous spot, sitting straight to admire his work, “There we go! A Dianthus caryophyllus!”

Kevin squatted down next to his imaginary friend, staring at him with a confused look, “Dian…thu- what are these words that you keep saying?”

”It’s a Carnation, Kevin. A lovely flower if I do say so myself! Your mother has a beatiful garden, might I add.”

”Yeah, its.. its pretty great out here.” Kevin smiled as he leaned back to see the large amounts of trees and vines that grew on the side of the house. Ever since Double D had arrived, he had transformed what was once a barren land of weeds and junk into a lively garden, filled mostly with flowers as vegetables were left to be grown by Rolf, something the boy prided in.

Kevin caught sight of a certain area of the garden, one with unattended weeds and trash that Kevin and Edd had yet to address, “Awh man, we missed a spot.”

Edd hummed, looking to where Kevin was referencing, “Ah, not to worry, I will take care of that!”

”But Double D, we ran out of trash bags, where would we put…”

Double D stood up and walked over to the patches of weeds and piles of garbage. With the simple wave of his vine-hands, Edd moved his arms in a supernatural way that reminded Kevin of the shows he would watch on TV. At first, nothing happened. Edd just stood there making odd movements with his hands and Kevin was about to interject when he heard the faint sound of the ground moving beneath him. Stray pebbles in the green blades of grass jumped at the rumbling, and the trees let more leaves fall than necessary.

Kevin watched in amazement as four slim, dark green vines slowly grew from the ground, twirling and twisting with Double Ds movements. He watched as Edd moved them towards the weeds, where the vines dug into the ground, sifting through the trash first before a small portion of the dirt had been removed with all the trash wrapped in one other vine. The dirt was brought over the fence and dumped off to the side where it could not disturb the environment of their garden. In order to refill the obnoxious hole in the ground, Double D moved his hands in a way that brought dirt from below the Earth further up to fill in the hole.

Once he had finished, Double D let out a content sigh before he turned back to Kevin with a confident smile, “See? All taken care of!”

Edd’s face changed into a concerned expression as he saw Kevin’s face of shock had not changed at all, his mouth hung wide open and his eyes just as big, “Kevin? Is there a problem?”

Kevin shook his head, “Problem? No, no absolutely not, of course. Just saw my friend control the Earth to clean up a couple of weeds, nothing big, y’know?” He said, sarcasm oozing from each word which prompted Edd to double over in laughter.

”It’s just a practice, I suppose, I’ve been trying to perfect the act of using my vines to my advantage for a while now.”

”Like super powers?”

”Must everything be a reference to television to you?”

”You know it, D!”

…

Kevin gasped at the memory, he knew he had seen those vines somewhere before. Kevin watched as the girls around him grew more and more fearful of the still-growing plants that surrounded them, looking like they were ready to strike.

Lee growled, turning to face Kevin, “It’s probably all his fault!”

”My fault? What did I do?!” Kevin defended.

”Yeah, he probably snitched on us to his lame-o friend of his!” May shouted in anger.

Kevin was once again about to shoot back, but then caught sight of Marie about to ambush him from the side. He knew he’d be too slow to block it, and prepared for the punch to land. But it never did.

Looking back up at the blue imaginary friend, Kevin saw Marie’s arms resisted in a mass of green vines, not allowing her to move. Then, Kevin noticed the color orange. A lot of it. He gasped,

”Edd?”

Double D grunted as he tried to hold Marie in her plant-restraints, all while the other vines began to wrap around the remaining sisters. He knew, however, that it would not hold them for long. Edd turned to Kevin, “Get out of here, Kevin! Run far and don’t come back!”

”But, Double D-“

”Go, Kevin!”

”I-“

”Please!”

Kevin gave a shaky exhale, meeting Edd’s eyes one last time. What he saw was remorse, both in his own relfection and Double D’s own expression. It was sad how Kevin was unable to give a proper apology at this time. He eyed a gap between May and Lee, making a mad dash for it. Kevin didn’t look back, not now, not even when he heard Edd yell at the sound of vines snapping.

Kevin ran until his legs gave out.

…

Kevin awoke to blazing heat, he must’ve passed out on the dirt while running away. What was he running away from? Kevin looked around his surroundings, finding that he was nearby the local water hole, meaning he must be close to the cul-de-sac. With a relieved sigh, Kevin stood up, wincing at his sprained leg which was most likely due to him falling on the way here.

He couldn’t wait to get home, to grab a cold soda, crash on the couch, hang out with Double D-

Double D.

Oh my god, he left Edd.

As soon as that thought crossed his mind, Kevin made a quick 180 on his heels as he began to run towards the junkyard, praying that the sisters had left by now, and hopefully left Edd behind.

As the piles of trash came into view, Kevin could only hear silence, there were no sounds of struggle. How long was he out?

He slowed his pace, heaving loud breaths as his heart shook his entire body from the run. Kevin crept around each tower of garbage, slowly making his way to the center of the junkyard where he was sure he last saw Edd.

Yet once he got there, there was nothing left. Only the sight of what could only be described as a major battle. Kevin could only wonder how the imaginary friends were able to slice an entire tower or trash into two clean pieces.

At the sudden sound of glass clinking together mixed with crinckling paper, Kevin was expecting the sisters to be behind him, ready for another ambush.

Instead, right beside a run down, purple van, sat Edd. Beaten and battered, the imaginary friend looked to be in pain as he grabbed his middle while trying to sit up correctly. Kevin took immedient note of the scattered cuts and bruises on his body. One of his eyes were closed, most likely a black eye by now. There was a deep gash around the boy's torso, not one that required immedient medical attention but it drew Kevin's concern further. Taking a quick glance at Double Ds legs, Kevin saw how the sisters had tied his vine-like legs into a knot, immobilizing the friend which left him defenseless and hurt.

"Edd!" Kevin cried, running to his friend's side. He didn't have a medkit on him, he never did, it was always Double D who did. So to improvise, Kevin made a quick decision to tear off his green hoodie and wrap it around Edd's middle, at least to stop the multi-colored blood that oozed out.

Edd breathed in staggered patterns, his eyes trained on Kevin before they'd drift to the side until Double D corrected it. Kevin hated how serious this seemed.

"Don't worry, Double D, we- I'll get you back home. It'll be quick, I can, uhm.. I could carry you- maybe that would work?" The red head ranted, already sweating into his white tank-top that he wore underneath his hoodie.

Edd moved one hand, attempting to place it on Kevin's, but it was fruitless as his movements were weak and slow, leading Double D to let his arm to fall limp on his lap until he regained energy again.

Through one of his good eyes, Edd tried to calm his creator, who was frantically ranting through new ideas on how to help Double D.

"Kevin..-"

"Shush, if you talk, it'll drain more of your energy."

"B-but, Kev-"

"Maybe I can call someone! Nazz has a phone!"

"Kevin, pleas-"

"I would try to go run for someone, but I'm not going to leave you again, so-"

"Kevin!"

The boy's head shot towards the imaginary friend, face written with apologetic sorrow, which let him silence himself. Edd sighed before he spoke again, "Please, Kevin, slow down a bit."

Kevin complied, albeit slowly, as he sat himself next to his messed up friend. The two sat in silence as the shade shielded them from direct sunlight. The only sounds that could be heard were the nearby birds that nested in the surrounding trees, the light breeze that blew past the piles of trash, and Double Ds soft yet broken breaths.

They chose the wrong time to speak up, both interrupting each other when they, in sync, inhaled and faced each other to say something to the other, "Edd, I have to tell yo-" "Kevin, I am so sorr-"

"Oh, sorry man, you go ahead."

"No worries, Kevin, please continue."

"N-No thanks, you go."

"Kevin, I insist."

The red head inhaled sharply, searching for his words, "I'm... I'm really sorry, Double- Edd. It's all my fault that you're.. hurt." Kevin rubbed his arm and sighed,

"I never.. I don't know why I said those things to you. I just... I'm so sorry, Edd, I can't explain it."

Double D sighed, "I forgive you, Kevin."

Kevin turned away slightly from Edd, "I appreciate it but... I don't deserve it."

"What do you mean?"

"I... Double D, I hurt you. I said things I shouldn't have and I messed up, which led to you getting hurt, all for me. I don't know why you did, you could've just left and found a better life, but you stayed and let yourself get beat for me. Why?"

At first, Edd said nothing, a small frown kept on his face, "...It is my duty to protect you, Kevin."

Kevin only hummed, knowing that reason was unfair on all counts, Edd was not bound to be around Kevin at all times, it sounds... wrong.

Edd, however, continued, "Do you remember the party you held for your 6th birthday party?"

"...Kind of? I don't remember much, though..." Kevin brought his head up a bit, just to face Double D correctly.

"That was the day you stated you wanted to keep me a secret from the world."

Kevin was struck silent at that, he had forgotten how utterly rude he had been to his imaginary friend in the past. He still wouldn't consider him and Edd the bestest of friends, but that certainly hurt to remember.

"I was... hurt, of course, but I couldn't be mad. In a way, I understood that. You wanted a strong, bulky, imaginary friend that could do anything for you. Instead, you got... me." Double D paused, "I spent every day for the last six years wanting to show myself as a... decent imaginary friend, at the very least."

Edd gave a wet laugh, one that was too sincere and cheerful for the situation,

"Maybe I just didn't try well enough?" Double D shrugged, "I just assumed that if we were to never see each other again, I had one last chance to prove myself."

Edd winced as his injury on his side sparked up again, causing him to try and grab at it, but was eventually trapped by a hug, from Kevin.

The red head wrapped around the imaginary friend with all he could, "Edd, I am so, so sorry I made you feel that way. You've done so much more than prove yourself to me, you've been a real friend to me and I was just... too resistant to accept that."

Kevin squeezed tighter, "I held a grudge against you since I imagined you, I did want a friend that was strong and all that, but I got you, and you're so much better than what I imagined.

"You're smart, like insanely smart, super caring for me and everyone else, you like to do fun things with me, and I've had the most fun ever whenever I'm around you. I'm sorry that I've never said this sooner, but you don't have to prove yourself to be a good friend to me, because you're a great friend."

Kevin smiled up at Double D, his face softening, "I- I'm really sorry, Double D. It's still my fault I made you do all this, I... if there's anyone who deserves an apology, it's you. And.. I'm sorry I can't give you a proper one. I was never good at this stuff..."

One of Edd's vine-hands wrapped around Kevin's own, "Kevin..."

"Here, I'll take you back home and then... maybe you can find someone better than me! Like another kid who'll treat you better!-"

"Kevin. I don't want another kid."

"But-"

"You've shown yourself to be a wonderful friend, Kevin. Just in the wrong mindset, perhaps." Double D smiled warmly at Kevin, "I do have a proposal, however."

"What is it?"

"Can we just.. stay here for a bit? I know it's unsanitary and unhealthy to leave an injury unchecked, but I enjoy your company and I'd like to stay with you a while longer."

Kevin let out a amused puff of breath, an breath of fresh air after the sad atmosphere from before, "You're such a dork, D. Yeah, I'll stay."

The two friends sat in silence as their gaze found itself locked on the baby blue sky, the occasional bird would cross their vision or a cloud slowly drifting its way into it. Kevin smiled contently, "Hey Edd?"

"Yes Kevin?"

"I'm... we're not gonna leave each other, right?"

"We will stay together as long as we can, Kevin."

"I'll hold you to it, then."

"Should we get to your home now? My side is starting to hurt again."

"Oh- Shit, my bad!"

"Language!"

[Present Day]

"Kevin!"

The pre-teen fumbled in his chair at the sudden voice that interrupted his thoughts. With wide, fairly upset eyes, Kevin turned around, "Jesus, warn a guy next time, Double D!"

Edd had finished cleaning the room by now, all the clothes had been folded, the bedsheets were swapped and every surface had been wiped throroughly, "My apologies, Kevin, but you've been sitting in that chair for the past fourty-five minutes without uttering a single word! I began to get worried!"

Kevin lowered his head, muttering, "Sorry, I was just... thinking."

"Oh dear, ladies and gentlemen! The end of the world is amongst us! Kevin Barr has 'thought'!" Double D sassed the boy, calling out to an invisible audience.

"Shut up, man! Geez, you're such a dork sometimes."

Edd laughed, "Yes well... your mother had called us for supper. How about we go eat before you return to your school papers?"

"Man, I forgot about those... Why can't I do them later?"

"Because, this is the last week to complete those! You've spent all your time playing outside with the neighbors rather than filling out the paperwork!"

"You can't deny you had fun at Nazz's house that time!"

"Just because you saw Ed and Eddy in a comical fight doesn't make it a reason to procrastinate!"

"Whatever, I'll deal with it after eating." Kevin shot up from his chair, almost wincing at the sudden dizziness that caused him to sway for a moment.

"That's the answer I was looking for!" Double D placed his hands on his hips as he, too, stood up with a bright grin.

Kevin playfully shoved Edd in the arm, resulting in the imaginary friend to flick the bill of Kevin's backwards hat, nearly knocking it off his head. The duo chuckled in sync, walking out of the bedroom.

Good times like these, Kevin would never get tired of.

Chapter Text

Kevin let out a long and exhausted sigh as he leaned back in his office chair, which creaked in protest since the seat was roughly over ten years old. The teen didn’t care about that, however, he was planning out his events for tomorrow.

Tomorrow, to most people, would be a normal Wednesday. It would go by without any problems or thoughts to most.

To Kevin, however, it was dreadful. Kevin anxiously awaited the morning sun to rise the next day, and realize that it would officially be Double D’s last day in the Cul-De-Sac.

When he thinks about it, it sounds like Edd is going to die or something. Kevin shook his head, no, Double D was being sent away to some other organization to care for him considering the Barr’s were unable to anymore.

They had this talk last night, a very long one at that. It was mostly revolved around how Edd had needed to pack his items, like he had been doing this whole week, and have a fairly exciting last day of Peach Creek. Kevin heard little of it, he was stuck in his mind the whole time, trapped between what he wanted to do with Double D the next day and absolute and utter grief.

Could you blame him, though? Kevin was losing his all-time best friend! For a stupid rule he had ‘broken’!

The rule in question wasn’t even an established one, Kevin had simply kept his imaginary friend longer than the average child would. For a mind refresher since most people, those being mostly Ed, children around the age of eight to ten -if not older- would give away their imaginary friends. They could be adopted into new households or organizations that offered to host imaginary friends for the time being.

Kevin was now 15 years old, which was completely over the average age of which someone is supposed to keep their imaginary friend. Which, in Kevin’s mind, was utterly stupid! What, are there imaginary cops that would burst through his door and take Edd away because he’s been with him for over ten years? Stupid, not even Rolf and Nazz had given up their friends yet-

Scratch that, they have actually. Not yet, that is. In fact, tomorrow would also be the day Ed and Eddy were departing, leaving Sarah (and maybe Plank if Kevin really considered that) as the only imaginary friend(s) in the Cul-De-Sac. Jeez, not a very light-hearted day tomorrow, huh?

Anyways, back to what Kevin was originally going to be going over within his head, he had to think of stuff to do with Double D tomorrow, he wanted Edd’s last day in Peach Creek to be exciting and memorable, so he doesn’t leave with a bad taste of what used to be his home.

Kevin stared at the ceiling, muted sounds of Double D darting around his room to gather more of his items to bring were heard in the background. The red-head zoned out as he thought, what would be interesting enough for Double D to remember but also enjoyable to the two boys?

“Kevin!” Edd called out from behind, causing the teen to swivel his chair around in mild urgency, “Could you help me out here? I feel that I have made.. a slight error.”

The sight before him caused Kevin to have to block his laughter out of his mouth, a much more difficult task when he saw Double D crushed by the overwhelming amount of items he had packed in his grey suitcase. Edd was giving Kevin pleading eyes, in need of immedient assistance, but only watched as Kevin still struggled to keep his amused laughter at bay.

Eventually, Kevin rose from the chair and lifted most of what was on top of the imaginary friend off, that being cleaning supplies, cloths of all kinds, and essentials that Edd refused to NOT bring with him for his departure.

”While I thank you for your much needed help, Kevin,” Double D began, dusting off any potential germs what laid on his petal-clothes, “I couldn’t happen but notice you were quite absorbed in your own mind for a while. Is there something on your mind?”

Kevin rubbed his neck, shrugging, “Oh.. Nah, just thinking, I guess. And before you start to sass me, I specifically was thinking about what we should do tomorrow. Y’know, since it’s your last day here, I wanted it to be… fun.”

Double D’s eyes lit up as he clasped his hands together, “Oh, how wonderful! Thank you, Kevin- But, uh.. well, I’m perfectly fine with whatever you think would be enjoyable for my final day in the Cul-De-Sac!”

”No, nope, none of that.” Kevin tutted as he rose a hand to Edd’s face, “I’m not going to choose what to do tomorrow, you are. It’s your last day, dude, have a little fun with it! We could throw water balloons at those Kanker’s? Oh, what about we head into the town and buy some stuff, like uh.. whatever you’d need for your new home? Like jawbreakers, you like those, right?”

”Kevin. You don’t need to go all out for me. If anything, I’m perfectly fine staying inside all day with you.” Double D smiled warmly at the boy, which slowly faltered as Edd continued, “Though… there are some things I’d like to try before I leave…”

Kevin’s head rose slightly in curiosity, “Yeah? What is it?”

“Ok, look, I don’t mean to judge at all, and I think this could be very fun in some way,” Kevin started, raising his hands for extra effect, “But did we have to wake up at SIX IN THE MORNING to harvest VEGETABLES with Rolf and Ed?!”

”We have up until 6 PM to which I have to leave, which gives us roughly 12 hours to do whatever I want!” Double D placed his hands onto his hips, smirking at Kevin, “Which, by the way, is what you stated yesterday.”

Kevin groaned, “I know, I know, I just… nevermind, let’s see what Rolf and Lumpy are up to.”

The duo approached the backyard of Rolf’s home, where they found the farmer boy and his imaginary friend already beginning to pick out the ripe foods and toss out the spoiled ones. Well, Rolf was doing most of the work, as Ed was close to the chicken coop to play with them. At least he seemed to be having fun on his last day.

”Good morning, Rolf!” Edd cheerfully grinned at the other teen, while Kevin simply waved his hand with a casual, “Sup, Rolf?”

The boy in question turned his head in confusion at the new arrivals, but quickly shifted into a face of joy as he met Kevin and Edd's eyes, "Ah, Greetings Kevin-boy and He-Who-Wears-A-Sock-On-Head-Friend!" Rolf greeted, waving at the duo.

Double D muttered something about his head not being a sock, but it went unheard of as Kevin stepped forward, "We came to help you out with... whatever you're doin', I guess." He shrugged, "Anything we can do to help?"

Rolf nodded, "Yes, in fact, you may. Here, Rolf is in need of assistance harvesting the vegetable of squash!" He pointed to a handful of dirt mounts in the ground, presumably the squash he was talking about,

"Usually Rolf would tell Half-Baked-Ed-Boy to pick out the squash, but he has not moved from Rolf's chickens since this morning!" A hand pointed to where Ed sat, surrounded by chickens near the end of the property, happily laughing to himself.

Edd hummed, "He seems to be having fun... well, we'd be happy to help Rolf! I've been meaning to for a while now, your garden is so large and beautiful!"

"Yes, thank you, yes. The son of the Shepard accepts your compliments." Rolf happily waved, "However I do expect you to get moving. The squash is unforgiving and does not wait!"

Kevin grabbed Edd's vine-wrists, dragging him away in a hurry to where the vegetable was. Once he had set the imaginary friend down, Kevin heaved, "Sorry, dude.. Just, Rolf gets pretty heated when it comes to.. this."

Double D wiped off small beads of sweat, "I could tell. Now, how about these squashes we're supposed to pick out?"

The red-head teen shrugged slightly, "I've only done this a couple of times.. but I'll try and remember. I think you're supposed to...-"

"Bundt-Cake-For-Brain-Ed-Boy! Drop Rolf's cow at once!" Rolf yelled from the other side of the garden. When Edd and Kevin had looked up, they watched as Ed had latched his one large claw-hand onto one of Rolf's cows, raising it into the air like it was lightweight.

Rolf demanded for the animal to be let down, but all his words came into one ear and went out the other for Ed, who smiled contently at his new 'friend'. The cow, on the other hand, simply kept chewing on the remaining greens in its mouth with minimal worry.

"Okay-a-Dokey, Rolf!" Ed grinned widely at his creator, dropping the cow-

Above Rolf.

Double D shrieked in horror as the animal came falling down, still as oblivious as ever, while Kevin watched with wide eyes, despite knowing nothing could really kill Rolf. That guy's a machine.

Instead of crushing Rolf, Ed leaned to the side to wrap his other few tentacle arms around the cow, holding it up directly above Rolf's head.

The imaginary friend laughed, "You almost became a pancake."

"Yes, yes, just place Rolf's cow onto the ground now, Ed-boy." The Shepard groaned in mild annoyance, he should be used to this by now.

Double D shivered in shock at what he had just witnessed, before Kevin threw his head back in laughter, "That Ed's an animal! In- In a good way, though. He held up that cow like it was nothing!"

"Yes, well, Ed's strength is a much needed ability that can be beneficial to a setting such as this. He is used to carrying such weights." Edd explained, straightening himself out, "And about the squash?"

Kevin (fake) groaned, "It's always the chores for you."

Double D pouted at Kevin's comment, softly poking his hat in annoyance, which got a laugh out of the teen.

Kevin sighed slightly as he gazed at his phone, "Well. That just took out three hours of our day. What now?"

Double D huffed in amusement, "It did take a while, I will admit, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. As for your question, perhaps we can visit Nazz and Eddy so see what they are up to?"

"Hang out with Eddy?!" Kevin groaned, "Do we have to?"

Edd rolled his eyes, wrapping a vine around Kevin's wrist, "Yes, he is my friend and you two will get along before the day is over. You never know... maybe you'll miss him when we leave." Double D deviously smirked at Kevin, who's eyes widened in fear at the thought.

When they had arrived at Nazz's house, they found the girl in question already walking out of her house with her imaginary friend in tow.

"Good morning, Nazz!" Double D greeted, releasing Kevin from his death grip where he fell onto the pavement with a yell.

"Hey Double D and Kevin." Nazz waved, "What're you guys doing over here at 9 AM?"

"Double Dork here wants to hang out with everyone before they leave tonight." Kevin rubbed at his behind, which was slightly sore from being dropped onto the floor. Kevin noticed that both Eddy and Nazz were holding backpacks, "Where are you two going anyways?"

Eddy scoffed, "None-ya."

Double D tilted his head in confusion, "What is-"

"We're going to the mall! Wanna join?" Nazz cheered, to which Eddy snapped his head towards the girl in shock.

"Seriously?! We can't bring them, especially Kevin!" Eddy whisper-yelled. When Kevin raised a hand to flip off the glowing imaginary friend, Eddy gave Nazz an expectant look, "See?"

Nazz huffed with an eye roll, "It'll be fine, you two can get along. Now c'mon! My mom's gonna drop us off."

Eddy and Kevin groaned in sync, watching as their friends walked past them towards the car owned by Nazz's mother.

...

It had taken roughly twenty minutes to get to the Townsville Mall, where Nazz's mother dropped them off at the front of the building.

"Alright. My mom's gonna pick us up here at like... 12 so we got three hours to walk around and stuff. Anywhere you guys wanna go first?" Nazz turned to the group, her wallet and phone in hand.

Kevin looked around the outside parts of the mall, there were not many interesting places to go on the outskirts of the mall, of course, so he shrugged silently.

Eddy perked up, "Oh- There's this cool place I saw online, it was an ad, let's see if they have it here!"

"Sounds wonderful, Eddy!" Double D grinned, "What's it called?"

...

"Okay, new rule; never go into the back of Spencers." Nazz quietly whispered as the group walked along the balcony of the indoor part of the mall, each still staring in shock of what they had witnessed.

"They didn't advertise that in the ad! How was I supposed to know!?" Eddy shouted.

"It's not your fault, Eddy," Double D stated, though Kevin would disagree, "The front of the store was... fine to say the least. Though, I'll never be going there for the time being." The imaginary friend shuddered, haunted by the body parts he had seen on the shirts and pillows.

Kevin threw his hands into his pant pockets, "Whatever, I'm starving! Is there anywhere good to eat here?"

"Yeah, actually! There's this place in the food court that's pretty good, let's go there!" Nazz walked to the front of the group, leading the way.

"Yes, anything to distract myself from what I just witnessed..." Edd whispered.

"Lighten up, flower-boy. It's not that bad." Eddy pat Double D on the back of his shoulder.

"I'm worried for what you think to be worse than that."

...

When they had finished with their food and thrown away the remaining trash, the group began walking around the lower part of the mall. Eddy was still sipping on his soda, Kevin mindlessly glancing at nearby stores to find clothing that he may deem interesting, while Edd and Nazz chatted up idle conversation.

"Oh my gosh, Double D! Look!" Nazz grabbed Edd's face, forcing it to look at a store to her right, Kevin and Eddy looking over their shoulders in confusion.

"It's a Charlotte Russe! I thought they closed- like, forever ago!" The girl cheered, "We gotta go!"

"Ew, no way." Eddy retched, "Looking at all that pink makes me sick. I'm staying out here."

Nazz scoffed in annoyance, knowing Eddy's attitude by now, "Fine, whatever, Kevin's gotta watch you though."

"Kevin's gonna WHAT!?" Eddy and Kevin echoed in shock at the same time, rounding to face Nazz and her mischevious smile.

"Yup. You two gotta stay out here while me and D head in. C'mon, Double D, they got great deals in there!" Nazz dragged Kevin's imaginary friend away with a small "Oh dear" before they disappeared into the racks of clothing.

Despite the loud and bustling sounds of the mall around them, Eddy and Kevin found themselves in an awkward silence. Glancing everywhere but the other's eyes.

Finally, Kevin sighed, long and heavy, "Look, you know as well as I do that I hate your guts, and you hate mine. But, you and I both know if we don't get along, they're gonna be pissed and we'll never hear the end of it."

Kevin made sure Eddy was listening, facing him directly as he continued, "So I'm proposing this; for today, and today only, we get along. For our friends?"

Eddy gave a disgusted look at Kevin's hand as it reached for a handshake, but caved in as he rolled his eyes, hesitantly returning the shake, "For our friends."

The two held the handshake for a good three seconds before it broke at the sound of the two boys fake throwing up, "I can't believe I'm actually going through with this..." Eddy groaned.

"Hey, we're back!" Nazz called out to the duo, Double D following close behind, holding a small paper bag.

Nazz stopped in her tracks, staring at Kevin and Eddy, "Y'know, I was half expecting you two to be fighting right now."

Kevin shrugged off the comment, switching the topic, "What's in the bag?" Pointing to the brown paper bag Double D held for Nazz, who was busy putting away her wallet and phone into the small purse.

"Oh, just a crop top. It was on sale!"

"How much?"

"Mmm... Like, $4."

"FOUR-WHAT!?"

...

As the group continued through the mall, occasionally stopping at a store to venture inside and only coming out with one or two items, Kevin noticed the amount of odd stares they were receiving from the other mall patrons.

There were other imaginary friends walking about the mall, but those were accompanied by actual children, literal 5-year olds. And considering most adults think that kids give away their imaginary friends at a young age, it was obviously weird to see two teenagers with their imaginary friends.

So the question that constantly bombarded Kevin and the group was, "Is that your imaginary friend?"

Instead of properly answering the person, like Double D insisted he does, Kevin would answer with, "Nah, just watching him for my brother." Which Nazz also used as an excuse, much to Double D's dismay. Though, Eddy didn't seem to mind.

...

"That was so fun!" Nazz cheered under the blazing heat of the sun, "We totally gotta do that again!... Or.. not really. It was fun though, right?"

"Nazz, I'm gonna be completely honest with you, I cannot focus on what you are saying right now because of the sun." Kevin rushed out as he used his now removed hat to fan himself, while Eddy already had large beads of sweat pouring down his once shiny exterior, and Double D looked just about ready to faint if he were not given water in the next ten seconds.

"Oh- jesus, hang on, let's go to the shade by the fountain!" Nazz pulled the group to the center piece that sat in front of the mall where her mother dropped her off earlier. Around the fountain were a number of benches that sat beneath large trees, granting shade for everyone.

One by one, each member of the group collapsed onto the bench, graced by the coolness of the shade. Double D happily sighed, "Anyone got water?"

As Kevin reached inside his bag to fish out a bottle of water for Double D, Eddy turned towards Edd, "What happened to those big words you used? Heat got to ya?" He smirked.

"Too hot. Can't think." Double D swayed as he reach across Eddy for the small water bottle Kevin handed him.

Eddy giggled as he watched Double D struggle to open the water, too much sunlight can harm a plant after all. Eventually, Edd had given up on trying to pry open the plastic. He stood up with the slight sway of his dazed state, and began to walk into the sunlight.

"Um.. Kevin what's he doing?" Nazz turned to her friend in confusion.

Kevin, equally as confused, shrugged, "No idea... Hey, Double D! Where are you going?!"

Edd said nothing, he obviously couldn't in such a dizzy state of his mind. Instead, he stepped closer and closer to the fountain, until he reached the very rim of the piece and face planted into the water. Double D kept the upper part of his body submgerged underwater with w loud splash as Nazz and Kevin shouted in shock while Eddy burst out in laughter.

...

Thirty minutes later, now with a much more conscious and soaking wet Edd, Nazz's mother had arrived and dropped them back off at the Cul-De-Sac.

Nazz and Eddy waved goodbye for now to the duo, escaping into their house from the intense summer heat.

Edd and Kevin themselves retreated into their home, being instantly blasted by the AC as they stepped inside.

"Dude, I'm sorry but I don't think I can go out again, way too damn hot right now." Kevin sighed as he face-planted onto the couch.

"No worries, I feel the same." Double D dragged his feet to the armchair next to the couch, sinking into the fabric as he fell onto it, "How about a little rest before we continue?"

Kevin said nothing, other than the muffled confirmation as his face was still buried in the cushions before he passed out of exhaustion.

When Kevin woke up to check his phone, he found it was just about 3:30 PM, if not more since Kevin didn’t really check that long. Only three more hours left, Kevin reminded himself as he laid down onto the couch in a comfortable position once again, despite knowing he probably wouldn’t be able to go back to sleep. Rolling over slightly, Kevin caught a glance at Double D, who was curled up on the arm chair while still asleep. The two must’ve been extremely tired from the mall to be sleeping for three hours.

Kevin smiled, with just a hint of sadness, knowing he would most definitely miss his times with Edd. Though, it was for the best, as much as Kevin hated to admit it. With him going into high school for sophomore year, Kevin had almost no time to spend with Double D, much less than what he did when they were kids. On top of that, his parents were growing more and more busy, among other things, which left Double D alone at the house for a prolonged time nearly every single day. He doesn’t deserve to go through that, and despite it seeming like an obvious decision from the start, it was still hard to let go of someone Kevin held dearly to his heart.

It was almost astonishing how ‘soft’ he had grown to Double D. Even if he would feel the same towards someone like Rolf or Nazz, at least they were staying in the Cul-De-Sac with him.

Edd groaned from his position, a sign the imaginary friend was waking up now. Extending his limbs to an unnatural length in order to stretch, Double D took in his surroundings before he fully sat up with brand new energy that was most definitely not there before.

”Hey D.” Kevin kept himself laying on the couch, he was still tired.

”Good afternoon, Kevin.” Double D nodded in acknowledgement of his creator, standing up as he did so, “I’m going to grab a snack, would you care for anything?”

Kevin shook his head, “Nah, I’m good for now.” Edd hummed at the response, exiting the living room as the soft sounds of his legs hitting the tiles.

A notification pinged on Kevin’s phone, prompting the teen to reach over to the coffee table and check it out. He only slightly regretted it as the brightness nearly blinded him, but continued anyways. It was a message from his groupchat, the only members being Nazz, Rolf, and Jonny.

———

3:47 PM

NaNaNazz:

@Everyone

meet up @ my house in 10

pls n thx

😘

———

Kevin rose a confused eyebrow as he sat up on the couch, analyzing the text.

”Ooh, a party at Nazz’s?”

The sudden voice caused Kevin to flinch harshly, even despite knowing who it belonged to, it still freaked him out.

”Jesus christ, Double D, you scare the shit outta me every time.”

”Language, first of all, and second, we should be going now! We don’t make to make Nazz upset by being late!” Edd clapped his hands together, pulling Kevin from the couch and out the front door.

When the duo had arrived at Nazz’s house, they found the front door locked and house empty.

”That’s confusing, didn’t Nazz say to meet here? I figured she would’ve given any information if she had changed plans..” Double D examined the girl’s front yard, which was just as barren as the house itself.

Kevin pulled out his phone, devoid of any new notifications from Nazz, Rolf, or Jonny. He scoffed, placing it back into his back pocket and turning back to the front door, “Nothin’ from Nazz… maybe we’re too early or…”

There was a small piece of paper taped onto the wooden door, just below the peek-hole, and was most obviously written in Nazz’s handwriting.

Gone Fishing <3

Groaning in annoyance at the sudden understanding, Kevin pulled a hand down his face at Nazz’s fairly unfunny jokes. Double D turned to the boy in confusion at his unexpected outburst.

”I know where Nazz is.” Kevin stated as he grabbed onto both of Edd’s vine arms and dragged him away from the house, the imaginary friend protesting each time.

They walked down the sidewalk of the Cul-De-Sac and at first, Double D assumed it was held at someone else’s house instead, but eventually they left the Cul-De-Sac all together. The two traveled down ‘The Lane’, an empty dirt road that was littered with garbage cans and other junk. And even then Kevin didn’t stop walking, not even when he led the other into a large collection of trees that stood tall before the end of the road.

After trekking through the bundle of leaves and trees, Kevin and Edd found themselves in an open area, just at the foot of a mountain or hill or some sort.

Kevin pointed to the top of the cliff, “They’re up there, apparently.”

Following the direction of Kevin’s hand, Edd noticed the faint trail of smoke that rose into the sky and faded away into the ever-growing sunset. If there weren’t any nearby birds or wind to rustle the bushes nearby, Double D could hear the muffled chatter of those already up atop the hill.

Kevin continued to lead Double D to the top, careful of any rocks that stuck out of the side and posed a potential threat.

”Hey, you made it!” Nazz called out to the two boys, catching both of their attention. Edd gasped at the sight before him.

Every kid and their imaginary friend of the Cul-De-Sac was surrounding a fairly-medium sized fire that sat in the center of them, burning on logs of wood that Rolf used to cook some of his meat he brought. They were all seated on either a blanket they had brought or some large wooden log that Edd could only assume Ed had brought over from the forest.

The view was just as a sight to behold, as they were sitting right before the cliff that stood above the Peach Creek water hole, the one the kids would go to nearly every summer in the past years. It gave the scene a nice scent to it, which was made even better with the sun which had yet to set, but it created a lovely pink-orange atmosphere in the sky that Double D could stare at for ages.

At that moment the imaginary friend knew he’d most likely never get to experience something like this after today, best savor every single moment of it.

”Yeah, well, who’s fault was it to NOT tell us you were coming up here?” Kevin taunted back as he found his seat on a bare log, patting the empty space next to him where Double D would sit.

Following Kevin’s unsaid request, Edd found himself seated beside Kevin on one log, the blanket to his right was where Jonny, Jimmy and Sarah were sitting, Rolf and Ed were found on the opposite side of the fire on another log, and to round out the circle Nazz and Eddy were both seated on a picnic blanket on Kevin’s side.

Rolf stood up, a fairly sized woven basket in hand, “Rolf has taken upon himself to gift his fellow neighbors sustenance! Here, mellows of marsh that Rolf has bought because of Nazz-girl!” The teen passed took out a large bag of fluffy marshmallows, graham crackers and ‘Hershes’ chocolate, all of which was apparently requested by Nazz.

Each member of the group received one of each to create their own s’more, and although Double D wasn’t exactly fond of the idea of such a sweet, especially the process of making one, he decided to continue anyway. He had to savor the moment, of course. The imaginary friend watched as his neighbors erupted into conversation.

”Aw man, my s’more fell.” Ed sorrowfully stated, staring at the mushy substance before the fire.

”Yeah, ON MY SHOES!” Eddy screeched, “I don’t even know how much these cost, but you’re gonna pay for it!”

”Eddy! No fighting at the fire!” Nazz chastised from her spot, “Here Ed, you can have my s’more.”

”AAH! Sarah, the fire bit me!” Jimmy cried, seeking out Sarah for comfort.

”Don’t worry, Jimmy, I got ice!” Sarah pat her friend on the shoulder, pulling out an ice pack from… somewhere.

”Plank says he wants another s’more! He already ate his!” Jonny held up his friend, giggling as he did so.

”No, Jonny-the-wood-boy, Rolf has given you the most he can donate!” Rolf said as he sat back down in his spot.

”Hey, anyone got a napkin? I kinda spilled some chocolate on my jacket. Man, it was my favorite too…” Kevin muttered as he attempted to wipe away the mess on his fabric.

Edd smiled at the scene before him, munching on his s’more, knowing he’d probably regret it later.

“Aw, shit-“

”Language!”

”Shoot.” Kevin rolled his eyes at Edd’s constant need to correct his foul language, “It’s almost 6, guys.”

Most people around the now fading campfire began to look downcast, some even checking their phone to confirm the time theirselves. Others, as in Jimmy and Sarah, looked around in confusion, “What’s the matter? Is something happening?”

Nazz sighed, “Yup, 5:52… Um, well it’s nothing bad, Jimmy. We just gotta… leave.”

Sarah raised an eyebrow, “Well you seem pretty upset for leaving, considering we can just do this tomorrow?”

“Not what she means, Princess.” Eddy scoffed, “We’re being dumped to some other home tonight.”

”Eddy, we aren’t being ‘dumped’, this was bound to happen to us anyways. But yes, Jimmy, it seems that this would be our last night together for the forseeable future.” Double D stated.

Jimmy gasped, while Sarah’s eyes simply widened a fraction, “Wait, so you’re all leaving.. for like, forever?”

”Not forever, silly.” Ed laughed, “Being tossed away, like toys when their child gets too bored of them-“

”You make it sound like Rolf didn’t care for you.” Kevin snickered.

Jimmy sniffled, “If it is our last night together as a group, I want you all to know, I’ll miss you!”

”I won’t,” Sarah deadpanned, “…maybe.”

Double D grinned warmly, “While I greatly appreciate the sentiment, Jimmy, I believe it is time for us to leave now.” The imaginary friend stood up to step behind the log, waiting for the rest. Kevin got up with little complaint, not that he was supposed to. Nazz jumped up, “Let’s go back down together! Like a little tour before we go!”

”Yeah, not like I could forget this place.” Eddy smirked, which recieved a sharp shove to the head, something about needing to be more positive on his last day from Nazz.

”Rolf agrees. Come, Ed-boy, we shall lead the path for our fellow friends!” He said as he grabbed a hold of Ed’s hands, dragging the friend along the dirt.

”Plank’s coming too! It’s his dinner time.” Jonny ran much further than the group, getting a confused laugh from both Kevin and Eddy.

Sarah floated to ‘stand up’, even though she rarely even planted her feet on the ground, “C’mon Jimmy, let’s get these losers home.” Jimmy accepted the hand she had offered the boy to help him stand up.

Edd looked out towards the water hole one last time, and for a moment, it felt like he was the only one there. He felt the small breeze that carried his few strands of vines that acted as hair, he could hear the distant sounds of animals nearby and the extremely faint sounds of the city, he could smell that scent of the surrounding scenery that would surely become nostalgic for him in later years.

Double D smiled, turning around to join the rest of the group once more.

Edd let out an extremely nervous sigh, one that was much longer than necessary, as he stared up as his new home. He could hear sounds of Ed and Eddy exiting their cars, as well as their creators attempting to help them, but Edd didn’t focus on that. He focused on what stood before him. His new life, in a sense.

”Welp, here we are.” Kevin hauled the final suitcase from his mother’s car, “Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends.” He waved a hand at the large building before the two. He let out a content sigh, before Kevin turned to face Double D.

”You good?”

”Just.. nerves, I suppose.” Double D chuckled, rubbing his arm slightly. He, too, turned to Kevin in order to face him directly, “Do you think we’ll see each other again?”

Kevin let out a breathy laugh, “I’m not for sure, but I’ll tell you this- this won’t be the last time we see each other either.”

Edd smiled, “That’s comforting, at least.”

Kevin opened his mouth to say something more, but was promptly cut off by Nazz,

”AWWWHHH EDDY!!” She cried, tightly squeezing the life out of her Imaginary Friend, “I’m going to miss youuu!!!”

”Yeah, yeah, I’ll miss you too- You’re getting me wet!” Eddy thrashed in her grip, but once he realized he was getting nowhere, softened his expression and gradually returned the hug. That was something Kevin would’ve never thought to see.

Ed and Rolf didn’t have much of a different situation either, but instead Ed was the one who was looking like he were about to burst into sobs, “And you’ll make sure the chickens don’t forget me?”

”Yes, Ed-boy, Rolf will make sure of it.” He nodded his head professionally, “But, Rolf would like a hug before you leave forever.”

In that instant, the Shepard boy was trapped in a hug from Ed, who had begun to cry out something about missing his creator, and who could blame him? Rolf attempted to return the hug as much as he could, even if he was stuck in a tangle of Ed’s odd tentacle hands.

Kevin chuckled, “They seem to be handling it well, huh D?”

Double D giggled, “Yes, they do.”

The silence between the two became all too much to bear for Kevin, as he tried to think of something to say to Edd before it was too late for them. Kevin sighed,

”Okay, Edd I have to be straight with you, I’m really, really sorry for how I’ve-“

”Kevin, I do not believe the last thing I want to hear before I depart is an apology.” Edd smirked at Kevin, side-eyeing the teen. Double D inhaled quietly, “I’ve told you this before and I’ll tell you a hundred times more, you were a wonderful friend. If I am to be adopted, I’ll be sure to tell the child of you, and what and extraordinary person you grew up to be. I just want you to see you the way I do.”

Kevin didn’t say anything to that, just a simple nod and a small smile, before he quickly wrapped Double D in a hug like the others previously did. At first, it had caught the imaginary friend off guard, Kevin wasn’t exactly known for his hugs, after all. But after his inital shock, Double D leaned into the touch, the two stood there for a good, long moment, trapped in the other’s embrace.

Kevin pulled away, “I’m really gonna miss you, Edd.” He said with a sad smile.

Double D nodded, “As will I, Kevin. If I am allowed permission to write to you, there will be letters from me daily.”

The teenager laughed, “I wouldn’t doubt it.”

”Ah, you’re here!” A sudden voiced called out from behind the group, near the house.

At the top of the wooden porch stood a girl, probably in her early twenties. She had short scarlet red hair with some tied into a ponytail in the back, some covering one side of her face. She wore a green jacket on top of a white crop top and a blue-purple jean skirt with long, black socks. The woman studied the group before making her way towards them.

”So sorry about the delay, I had some things to do around the house before your guys’ arrival.” She sheepishly grinned, extending a hand to them, “I’m Frankie, I’ll be showing you around Foster’s today.”

Edd was the first to take her hand, “Good evening, Miss Frankie! My name is Edd, with two D’s, so if it’s no trouble I’d be fine with just being called ‘Double D’. Behind me is Ed and Eddy,” He pointed to each imaginary friend respectively, “We will be the ones moving in today.”

”Oh, that’s great! We have a friend inside who we call Ed too, but anyways, I just gotta have you guys fill out some papers before we can get started with the tour. Do you already have your bags?” Frankie looked about the bunch once more, finding the three imaginary friends with their few amounts of bags ready.

"We are ready, Miss-Lady!" Ed happily called out, somehow not as sad when Edd had last seen him.

"Nice, c'mon inside, I'll take you to Mr. Herriman's office to finish up the process." Frankie waved for them to follow her, already starting to walk away and back towards the house. Suddenly, she stopped herself from walking and turned on her heel on a complete 180, facing the group again, "I completely forgot! Did you guys want to say some final goodbyes to your creators before we head in?"

Kevin turned to Edd slowly, even though they already had given each other their goodbyes, a second would always be on the table.

As Nazz and Rolf embraced their imaginary friends one last time, Kevin eventually did the same, with a simple yet heart-warming hug that Edd was sure he'd never get to experience for a long time.

When they had parted, Edd met Kevin's eyes, "Goodbye, Kevin."

His creator scoffed playfully, "Goodbye sounds way too depressing, for now, let's just say..." Kevin extended his hand to his imaginary friend, "See you later."

Double D eyed the hand, before smiling and wrapping a vine around the warmth of Kevin's palm, "See you later, then, Kevin."

"Later, Edd." Kevin said as he released Double D's hand, meeting his eyes until it was time to go.

Kevin just watched as Frankie led the Ed's towards the house, with Ed sniffling still and Eddy muttering for him to shut up, Kevin was unsure how the woman would be able to deal with this almost daily. He saw Edd turn around towards him as the doors opened.

Double D smiled, he waved at Kevin. The teenager mirrored the action, exchanging no words.

Kevin watched Edd enter Foster's, leaving the door to shut slowly behind him.

Chapter Text

Double D sighed, laying deathly still on his mattress as he stared above into the metal wires that held up the bed on top of his, where Eddy slept. His other two roommates had left a while ago to enjoy themselves with the provided breakfast downstairs. It had officially been five years of living at Foster’s.

Living at Foster’s Home had its perks, of course, like the food was always well made — in fact it was crafted by the house residents themselves— the roommates were nice, especially Wilt, Edd and Wilt had a nice friendship going, and it was an overall wonderful experience for the Ed’s since they arrived. When they did show up at Foster’s, some described it as a disaster bursting through the doors, mostly described that way by Bloo.

Though, he wasn’t wrong, Double D shuddered as he was reminded of the time the trio had slid down the long flights of stairs on a sled, eventually leading to them barreling into the tiles of the Foyer.

However, that was not the point. The imaginary friend redirected his focus to something else, something everyone in the house had been talking about for months now…

”The ‘Creator Reunion Picnic’!”

”A picnic…?” Double D repeated as he stared at the flyer in his hands, before moving his gaze to meet Mac’s, who looked back with a wide smile that seemed fitting for the thirteen year old, “I assume that the name of the event tells me everything I need to know?” He said with a knowing eyebrow raise.

Mac simply nodded his head, “Yup, it’s just when the creators of imaginary friends reconnect and stuff.. Y’know, lemonade, cupcakes, the usual.”

Eddy, who was once toying with one of Bloo's many paddleballs behind him, leaned over and glared at the pamphlet from behind Edd’s shoulder, “So it’s just a bigger version of the ‘Adopt-a-Friend-Saturday’s you guys have?”

”Basically.” The boy stated, to which Eddy hummed in reply. No other words were said before Mac and Eddy eventually left the area, the imaginary friend going to find something to do to cure his boredom and Mac went to hand out more papers probably around town.

Double D watched the two leave, before his eyes began to drift down onto the paper once more. It was bright and colorful, it was sure to catch one’s eyes, which was most likely the point. It included most points that Mac had mentioned before, food and drinks were provided, the ability to adopt a friend was an option, and it was a time to reconnect with an imaginary friend’s creator.

At that simple word, Double D found himself fading into his memories, those mostly about his own creator.

’I wonder how Kevin is doing about now.’ He pondered to himself, a content smile growing along his pale green skin, ‘Perhaps he had achieved his dream of becoming a football star?’ Double D began to absently travel back to his shared bedroom, ‘I wouldn’t doubt that he has a stable life about now.’

He paused, ‘What about Nazz? Or Rolf? Goodness, it would be wonderful to see them again.’ Edd looked back at the paper which he still kept in his hands.

April 17th, the date read on the flyer.

’Well if today is the 9th, then we have… only eight days left?! Why am I hearing about this now?’

When Edd had finished his reminicing of the memory, he found himself letting out a slightly huffed chuckle. That was roughly two days ago, leaving the house a six-day countdown until the Reunion.

Was he ready to face Kevin again? Dear lord did that question scare Edd a bit. He hadn't seen Kevin in five years, how much had he changed? Double D knew that his creator would grow into a sucessful person, or at least one with a fairly simple life.

But those hopeful thoughts did not deter the ever-so-slightly-growing ones from the back of Edd's brain, the ones that thought of Kevin had fallen into a more less than ideal life.

And Double D would hate that.

He would hate to think of his creator, his best friend, in such a position, knowing full well Kevin could never reach such a low with all his talents.

The imaginary friend clenched his eyes shut, redirecting his focus onto something else to shove the accusing thoughts elsewhere in his mind. So instead, he listened to the bustling sounds of the shared house.

Coco was running around the house again, he could tell because her repeated shrieks of her own name would grow louder then fade away and the cycle continues.

Mac had just arrived, judging by Bloo's excitement and Frankie's yell to stop the imaginary friend from crashing into the teen.

Ed and Eduardo most likely sat in the television room, probably watching a horror film as per Eduardo's screams of terror while Ed simply chuckled.

He couldn't hear Eddy, that was sure to be a problem- Nope, Edd just heard Mr. Herriman begin his almost daily lecture to Eddy about something, perhaps another miserably failed prank.

Double D found himself finally able to relax, he had nothing to do today, after all. It was roughly three in the afternoon, there was a warm ray of sunlight that shined through the window, and the room was always kept clean (mostly, Ed's side of the room was an absolute disaster and he refused to do anything about it).

He let his eyes open once again, this time half-lidded with a content smile, Double D let his mind drift. It was always hard for Edd to find a moment of peace, especially now at Foster's, which was why this moment was meant to be savored when it came to Double D.

The sudden sound of approaching footsteps alerted the imaginary friend from his moment, but he could whine about that later. He studied the sound of the footsteps, since by now, Edd had almost every residents stepping pattern memorized. It helped to know who was coming and from where sometimes.

Just as Double D was about to draw a conclusion, the doorknob rattled, prompting the friend to lean up and at least make himself look presentable, even if it was just Ed or Eddy.

"I'm sorry to barge in, but Frankie's calling everyone downstairs to discuss plans for the Picnic, is that okay?" Wilt poked his head through the door, woth a strained and apologetic smile that Edd couldn't help but giggle at the sight at.

He nodded, "Of course, I will be down in post-haste."

Wilt made a sound of acknowledgement before the gently let the door close, with the small click of the knob, before trailing back downstairs to the rest of the house.

As Wilt's footsteps faded, Double D turned to a mirror beside one of the walls of the room, close to the door. He played with his vine-hair, patting out the petal like clothes he wore and looking over his figure.

Edd took pride in his stature, he enjoyed believing he was presentable most of the time and his physique was well liked amongst others, even if he couldn't change how he looked, no matter how many clothes he placed on him.

Sometimes he wondered how different he'd look if he was like Kevin, a human.

With a slight shake of his head, Double D took one last glance at the mirror before he, too, began his trek downstairs.

(small a/n but from this momebt forward the story will be told from Frankie's POV, sorry)

Five Days until Reunion

Yesterday, the entire house of imaginary friends had just gone over the plans and activities that would be hosted at the Creator Reunion Picnic. By far, that was the easiest part of the entire process. Frankie loved Reunion Picnics, she really did, but when it was the most important event for every friend in the house, the time it takes to plan and prepare is enough to wear her out for a week.

Luckily, all of the house residents would be pitching in to help out, letting Frankie to be the one to guide and occasionally run errands herself. With her grandmother... out of the picture, it leaves Frankie with the responsibility to basically run the house beside Mr. Herriman. Besides, she was 28 now, she could handle it.

There were five days left until the reunion, and honestly, they really should’ve started planning sooner. Why they decided to start the preparations just eight days before, she’ll never know. Maybe they were busy? Plot convinence? Or was it that Mr. Herriman cannot figure out how to print and plan events which leaves Frankie to take over? Probably the last one.

The woman sighed tiredly, leaning over small piles of paper, pens, and her single laptop all on the dining table. Currently, she was in the process of admitting creators to arrive at Foster’s, so that she knows who is coming and who their imaginary friends are. And yes, this does include those who come every single year because you could never be too careful!

Frankie was especially excited for Jordan Michaels to arrive, considering he’s missed out on nearly every single Reunion Picnic since Wilt got here, she was sure the red imaginary friend would be overjoyed to have his creator over.

She continued down the list on her emails, muttering out names she knew and pausing at ones she didn’t.

”Oh, that’s new.” Frankie said to no one but herself, stopping at a group of names she hadn’t seen yet.

Most creators had been here before, which was why there were very few cases in which Frankie would have to do a background check on whether or not this person was a creator of a friend, so she basically knew every friend’s creators by now.

But these people seemed new, she had never met them yet. Frankie was close to declining the three applications until her eyes just barely glazed over the column that read ‘Imaginary Friend’. She studied the creators, then their friends, then smiled.

”Well then, Rolf, Kevin, and Nazz…” Frankie muttered as she finally clicked ‘Approve’ before continuing onto her next task.

But unfortunately for Frankie, she must have some sort of bad luck curse since she can’t seem to go a minute without a problem. Frankie groaned as soon as she heard the sounds of pots and pans clattering from behind the kitchen doors, then shooting up from her chair, she began to march towards the kitchen.

”Bloo! Get out of the kitchen!”

"But I'm hungryyyyyy!!"

"Supper is at 5, young man! Get out!"

Four Days until Reunion

After basically living at Foster's for all her life, Frankie learned new and easier ways to get the attention of a large crowd of imaginary friends. One of those methods included learning how to make her hand claps boom louder than each and every conversation in the room at the moment.

Frankie clapped twice, which was just enough to cease and talking throughout the room. While she always kept a calm and stern face outside, she would always swoon with pride inwardly, it's not like anyone can just grab the attention of such a large amount of imaginary friends.

But enough of that, Frankie had a job to do, "Listen up! We have four days left until the picnic! Mr. Herriman and I have set up a new process to get things done quicker…" The woman gestured to the rabbit, who held a handful of papers beside her.

As soon as Frankie had finished, Mr. Herriman cleared his throat before it was his turn to continue, “Yes, this new procedure will have each and every one of you be separated into groups. Each group will have a different task to complete, for example, one shall be in charge of collecting groceries for the event, one group will prepare decorations outside, and one will be working with me to order out the adoption papers, lest someone decides to adopt.”

At the last example, most imaginary friends groaned, hoping to not have to be stuck in an office filing adoption paper work. Mr. Herriman ignored that, however, and began to list off the names of the three groups.

Frankie smilied at her handiwork. Admitedly, she wasn’t the only one to come up with the idea, but still, it’s the thought that counts. Her grandma would be proud of her, she’d bet.

The groups had been assigned, causing each member of the three groups to gravitate into more recognizable crowds. Frankie couldn’t count who was in each party, she just knew it was a lot considering how many friends lived here. Frankie pulled out another piece of paper, this time it was a schedule. Man, was she really turning into Mr. Herriman right now? She silently shuddered at the thought.

”Now that we’ve got our groups, I’ll be telling what your errand is and when you are to complete it, okay?” She didn’t wait for confirmation, she just kept going. Frankie pointed at the group to the left, “Group 1. You’re on food duty. I don’t expect it to be done today, because the food will spoil, so memorize who your teammates are and regroup when it’s time, got it?” Most friends nodded.

She turned to the class in the center, “Group 2 is on decorations. But since I can’t exactly trust all of you to buy stuff on your own,” Frankie paused to send a glare-smirk at the two in the front, those being Bloo and Eddy, “I will be the one to buy it all, you guys just have to put it up.”

Finally, the woman faced the last group, “And lastly, group 3…” She looked up from the paper in her hands to meet the friends with a solemn gaze, “Filing duty.” At that word, the majority of the group let out a loud sound of disappointment, to which Mr. Herriman scoffed at from the side.

Frankie sighed, “I know, I know, but it’s important, okay? Plus, that job’s easy! Literally, it’s just printing and signing.” She hoped her words would at least brighten their moods.

When nobody else called out to object, Frankie concluded, “Any questions?” Instantly, hands rose from the crowds, but one caught her eye first. She rolled her eyes, “Eddy?”

”Why am I separated from my pals?!” The golden imaginary friend pointed towards the two other groups on the left and right, letting Frankie remember she had placed the Ed’s on different teams, Ed with Group 1 and Double D in Group 3.

”Look, you, me, and probably the entire house know that if I put you guys on the same team, only one of you would actually be doing something. And I know you know who I’m talking about.” Frankie smirked with an eyebrow raise, barely catching Double D from the side smiling widely. Eddy grumbled, folding his arms and backing away, he knew Frankie wouldn’t change her mind.

A new hand popped up, from the same group, “Bloo?”

Bloo poked his head out from behind two other imaginary friends, “Where’s Mac going? Like what team would he be on.”

Frankie paused, she had sadly forgotten about Mac and Goo, who were most likely going to be here at the picnic as well, until the thought of something, “Ah, well I suppose they can just help me out with being a guide around the house, errands and such.”

Coco, who was in Group 1, called out her name in order to grab Frankie’s attention, since she couldn’t raise her leg without falling over, “Coco!”

Frankie turned to the imaginary friend, saying no words but her eyebrow raise and eye contact let Coco continue her question, “Cococo coco cococococo co?”

The woman seemed to consider the question, those who easily understood Coco would let out whispers of agreements and such, but those who still had to get used to the friend’s odd language sat in silent confusion, “Sure, we can do that. Games sound fun!”

Mr. Herriman took the moment of silent to interrupt, stepping beside Frankie so that eyes would be on him as well, “Now then, since the groups are set up and ready, I propose we start with the easier one to complete for today.”

”Which would be?” A friend called out from one of the groups, Foul Larry probably, but Frankie couldn’t tell.

”Why, the filing process of course!”

Group 3 erupted into groans for the second, maybe even third time today.

Three Days until Reunion

“How badly does it suck to be on filing duty, Double D?” Eddy giggled as he asked his friend, who was busying himself with organizing piles and stacks of paperwork assigned by Mr. Herriman.

Frankie sat on the couch in front of the TV, taking a moment to relax before it was her turn to leave for decorations. At some point, she had tuned out the Rom-Com that was playing on the television to simply just zone out on the couch.

”Well, Eddy, it’s actually quite simple. Would you like to try?” Double D countered, and although Frankie couldn’t see his face, she could practically hear the sinister smile that grew on the imaginary friend’s face, which was only proven correct when she heard Eddy shriek and dash out of the room.

There were other imaginary friends in the room, some played board games on the provided tables or sat in the comfortable arm chairs with a book from the Foster’s library. Now that Eddy had gone, Double D was left with Ed, who was cautiously watching his friend continue working with the papers.

”Ed, it’s rude to stare.” The flower-imaginary friend stated, not looking up from his stack.

”Be careful with that, Double D! It might try to suck your brain.” The monster’s voice wavered in slight fear.

”Why, pray tell, would paper try to suck my brain?”

”I saw it happen! To Rolf! He was using papers just like that and before I knew it his brain was turned off!” Frankie could hear the imaginary friend wave his arms around wildly, “I had to put him in hot wax to un-mush his brain.”

”That might just be the consequence of overworking, Ed-“

”I don’t want to dip you in hot wax, Double D!!” He cried, followed by the sound of something falling over, leading Frankie to let out a small giggle even if she couldn’t see what was happening.

”Ed! Please release me! I have work to do!”

”Ahem.”

At Mr. Herriman’s sudden appearance, the entire room froze. Even Frankie allowed herself to rise above the couch cushions to get a view of the rabbit who stood in the doorway entrance. Ed unceremoniously dropped Double D onto the wooden flooring with a yelp, but his attention was kept on the imaginary rabbit.

Mr Herriman turned to Frankie, “Miss Francis, Mac has just arrived.”

The woman raised a questioning eyebrow, “Cool..?”

He scoffed, “Do you not remember that you stated you shall be bringing Mac with you to the store to purchase decorations for the Reunion if he is to arrive?”

Frankie paused, her gaze leaving Herriman’s figure and off somewhere else as she tried to remind herself, “Ohh! Right, I guess I’ll get going then.” She launched herself up from the couch to make her way over to the Foyer, where she was sure Mac was.

”Miss Francis! Please do not forget the list of supplies needed for the event! We need party streamers, table covers, banners, and-“

”And I got it! Seriously, I know what I’m doing.” Frankie said as she passed the rabbit in the doorway, fishing her car keys from her pocket, “I’ll be back by 3, maybe later, not sure.”

She didn’t turn to face back, just waved from over her shoulder as she approached Mac, who was idly conversing with his usual friend group, those being Wilt, Eduardo, Coco, and Bloo. Frankie pat the teen on the shoudler to grab his attention, “We’re going to get supplies, c’mon.” She simply dragged him out towards the Foster Bus, despite his protests and questions.

Frankie was thankful they had grown into a more sibling-like relationship, she would often remember the time as children when Mac had gained a crush on Frankie which lead her to wanting to throw up. Eventually Mac had stopped yelling at her to let him go, and just let the woman drag him into the bus.

Siblings, indeed.

Two Days until Reunion

With the decorations bought the day before, the only thing left to suck out the money from Frankie’s small bank account was the food. Luckily for the woman, the imaginary friends of Foster’s are to help bake and make simpler foods such as the cupcakes, mac n cheese, and burgers. Frankie’s only job at the moment was to purchase the ingredients.

She stepped into the Foster’s bus with a purse in hand, mostly containing her daily use items like money and her phone. Frankie fished out the keys to the vehicle and waited for the van to start up. Since she started driving the bus as sixteen, Frankie had gotten used to the repeating noise of the bus’ engine taking about a moment to fire up before she was able to take off.

Frankie gripped the familiar steering wheel, just about to press her foot to the gas when she remembered the bus was far too quiet for her liking. Aside from the obnoxiously loud noise of the bus engine, there were no voices talking. It was then when Frankie suddenly remembered she had invited a few others to go shopping with her.

Groaning at the realization, she slowly turned her head to the side, allowing herself to peer through the dim windows of the bus doors, where she found a handful of imaginary friends walking up to the van, all following behind Mac.

The teenager stepped through the bus as the doors automatically opened, grinning at Frankie, “Geez, couldn’t wait for us to get here?”

Frankie playfully scoffed, “I just forgot you guys were tagging along! Normally I do this stuff alone.”

Wilt had to duck underneath the small frame of the doors, but he paid no mind to it, “I’m sorry about that, Frankie. Maybe we could help you out more often with this stuff. Is that okay?”

”Pff, yeah, that’s fine. Thanks.” She huffed out a laugh as she watched Eduardo, Coco, and eventually Bloo file in after Wilt.

The woman adjusted the mirror that hung above the steering wheel, checking the friends behind her and herself with whatever makeup she had decided to put on herself that morning. After mentally confirming with herself, the bus took off to the nearest mall.

…

”Bloo, could you- augh, can you help me out here?” Frankie grunted out as her vision was blocked by the massive paper bags that obstucted the view before her, unable to let herself walk to the house. She had heard a few of the friends walk ahead of her, some taking the bags of groceries from the back of the bus while some (cough cough, Bloo, cough) simply walked away from the bus without a care.

”Mehh.. My arms kinda hurt from all that walking, sorry Frankie.” She could hear the imaginary friend response, and despite the apology, Frankie could hear the unapologetic tone from Bloo, causing her to roll her eyes and power through it.

Mac, who had previously ran into the house to drop off some bags of produce from the bus before, returned to the lawn to assist Frankie, “I got that.” He said as he took three bags from the top of Frankie’s pile. She huffed out a sigh of relief, mumbling out a thanks to the boy who just nodded before he returned inside once more.

She brought the rest of the paper bags inside with her, Wilt had come back outside for another round of bags, followed by Coco who had Bloo trapped in her beak. Frankie smiled at the bird-plane’s attempt to force Bloo into helping out.

Once inside, she manuvered her way around various imaginary friends along the way to the kitchen, where she found all the previous shopping bags left alone on the counter for her to put away herself. While she appreciated her friend’s efforts, it was still tough when it came to doing things herself.

Frankie grunted as she heaved the few bags in her hand onto the counter, where she began to unload and sort the produce.

Fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy products, you name it, Frankie had bought it all. After all, you’d be surprised how much imaginary friend need to eat on a daily, and combined with a huge crowd of adults? It was basically safe to say that Frankie’s bank account would need at least a month to regain enough money to just go to a fast food restaurant after that shopping trip.

She began to unload bag after bag, fruits and vegetables would be placed onto one side of the counter, closer to the fridge, while other products were placed elsewhere so she could decifer which foods were which.

Frankie had just finished unloading the final bag when she took a step back, strategizing how she could put away what items in which order.

“Oh my, that is quite a lot of groceries you’ve bought, Frankie!”

At the sound of the sudden voice, Frankie lifted her head from the piled up packages of meat to find Double D, who just recently stepped into the kitchen and observing the mess on the counter.

Frankie tiredly sighed, “Yeah.. all for the picnic tomorrow. Sure will take a while to put away just to take out again.”

The imaginary friend seemed to ponder in thought for a minute, before his black eyes met Frankie’s, “Would you mind if I assisted you in this?”

Frankie seemed just a bit taken back by his statement, it was very rare for a friend to simply offer helping out the woman with her chores, which made this moment quite special to her.

She fumbled with her words for a moment, “I- uhm, yeah, sure dude! Go ahead, I don’t mind.” Frankie nervously smiled, “I kinda needed the help anyway.”

Double D grinned, stepping closer to the counter to pick up a plastic bag that held strawberries and blueberries, “Of course! I’m happy to help.”

Frankie quietly giggled, absently picking up a handful of frozen burger patties, “Sounds like Wilt totally had an effect on you. Wonder if that’ll spread to your friends.”

“Ha, oh goodness do I wish they would learn from someone such as Wilt.” Double D laughed, storing away the fruits into the coolness of the fridge, “I’m quite honestly getting tired of having to vouch for Eddy when he gets in trouble with Mr. Herriman.”

”Happens almost daily, yeah?”

”Almost daily.”

One Day before Reunion

Today was the last day of preparations, which meant…

”Decorations!” Frankie cheered, holding a box of old party banners and streamers as she called out to a crowd of imaginary friends, the group listed to set up the decorations from a few days ago. A few groaned, knowing the pains of having to stand in the sunlight while setting up decor, while others happily clapped or cheered along, it was fun to celebrate such an event!

Frankie caught wind of the few disappointed groans in the crowd, “Luckily for you guys, all you have to do today is just put stuff around the Foyer. Tomorrow is when we start the real decorating.” She grinned, putting the box onto the ground for the friends to use. This was her cue to leave to her next task; cooking.

When it came to making food for any event hosted by Foster's, Frankie was always seen in the kitchen. This wasn't new, but what was newer and eternally grateful for was the implemented rule for imaginary friends to assist Frankie in any chore. That would, of course, include cooking.

So nearly thirty minutes in, Frankie found herself at the kitchen counter as she whisked a bowl of pink frosting for the cupcakes, surrounded by the bustling noise of imaginary friends, all creating their own dish.

Once the frosting was done, Frankie made sure to transport it into a plastic tube like thing to make it easier to paste onto the cupcakes. She walked over to another station on the counter and gifted the frosting to the imaginary friend there, who already began working on covering the cupcakes.

As Frankie walked back over to the other side of the counter so she could figure out what had to be finished next, she made sure to check up on everyone else prior. Making her way around the kitchen made herself feel like a head chef of some sorts. It feels pretty nice being the unofficial ‘ruler’ of the kitchen when it came to events such as these.

Over by the oven and stove, one friend was busy flipping over burger patties so they could be placed into the buns later that day.

Frankie found Eduardo holding a large bowl of mac n cheese, hefting it over to an empty area on another counter which most likely meant that bowl was done.

Jackie Khones, despite his nonchalant attitude and small figure, was actually helping? It took Frankie by surprise at first but her thoughts were confirmed when he was found transporting a glass pitcher of lemonade to the fridge.

Even Ed was working, which wasn’t that much of a surprise when compared to Jackie, but to see the imaginary friend slicing berries that would soon be added to a platter of various other fruits was quite a sight.

Frankie smiled proudly, deciding that her next task would most likely be storing the dishes away for tomorrow morning, and quietly manuvering her way around the kitchen to the counter beside the fridge that held plates and dishes that needed to be stored away as so they wouldn’t spoil.

She had just grabbed the second plate of food when a voice, one that made Frankie often want to roll her eyes at everytime they spoke, began to yell and scream around the kitchen.

”I cannot believe this! I should be recieving my daily manicures, not bustling away in a filthy kitchen!” Duchess screeched, and it was certainly hard to miss her. Frankie groaned, she should’ve expected this when she put Duchess in this group.

But, knowing the imaginary friend and her stuck-up petty attitude, no amount of persuasion or pleading would get her to stop. So what would? Ignoring her, was Frankie’s first option until she remembered she was an employee of Foster’s and could not simply reject an imaginary friend’s request. Curse the consequences of working for your grandmother.

Sighing slightly, Frankie turned around to face Duchess, “Alright, fine, we’ll get that done for you in a moment. We have some food that needs to be put away first and-“

”NO!” Duchess interrupted, and at the sheer shrill of her voice, caused Ed to fumble with a bowl of food in fear, “I want it done NOW! I don’t have time for this- this whatever you’re doing!”

Frankie grew a strained and forced smile on her face, gritting through her teeth in mild anger, “What we are doing is preparing for the Reunion Picnic, Duchess. If you want to see your creator again, maybe go wait for me to finish.” With every emphasis on the selected words, it added a sense of order to her request.

Duchess huffed, turning her back on Frankie and sashaying away to her room, mumbling complaints which Frankie had no care to hear about. She just heaved a sigh of relief watching the imaginary friend leave the room. In fact, every other friend in the room seemed to be relieved with the lack of Duchess’ presence.

”Please let her get adopted tomorrow, please.” Frankie muttered as she began to store more foods away into the fridge.

Creator Reunion Picnic

Today was Saturday, and saturdays meant sleeping in to Frankie.

The woman was happily snuggled into her massivle piles of blankets and pillows, safe in the confinement of her bedroom that she was given from her grandma. There was no noise but the soft chirping of birds from outside her window, the occasional lawnmower going off far down the street, and Mac.

Mac?

”Today’s the day Frankie!” Mac yelled in excitement as he threw open the door, causing Frankie to scream, jumping form her position to face the teen that had just ruined her very much wanted sleeping in time.

She rubbed her eyes as she began to process the area around her, still extremely drowsy, “Today’s.. what?”

Mac rolled his eyes, scoffing, “Today’s saturday?”

”…”

”You know, the saturday??”

”Um…”

”FRANKIE, ITS THE CREATOR REUNION PICNIC, FOR GODS SAKE!” Mac exclaimed, there were times he was the one with the most brains of his friends. Those were hard days.

Frankie, now alert and very much aware of the situation, shot up from her bed all while still in her pajamas, “What time is it?!”

Mac’s gaze drifted elsewhere as he remembered, “Eh.. like, nine maybe ten?”

”Shoot! Alright, get out and get everyone ready for some decorating! Time to get this started.” Frankie ushered the boy out of her room so she may ready herself. Frankie slammed the door as soon as Mac was on the other side, before dashing into her closet to retrieve her usual clothing.

“Creator Reunion Picnic, here I come.” Frankie smiled at herself in the mirror.

…

Frankie liked to take matters such as these quite profesionally. She always had found it humorous to treat such an event like the Picnic so drastically and serious. Which was why it was important to show no signs of laughter during this final process.

She held her hands behind her back like Mr. Herriman would most often do, walking down the stairs along side the Rabbit in question, all while wearing a calm expression. It was 2 PM now, the imaginary friends have almost finished, and by almost, Frankie means that there would have to be a quick inspection to make sure everything is right before the reunion.

”How are the decorations?” She asked Mr. Herriman, both in sync as they walked down the marble stairs and into the Foyer.

”All hung and ready, Miss Francis.” He replied with his clipboard in hand.

”The food and drinks?”

”Fresh, not a single spoiled dish.” Came the next reply, “They are all organized onto the correct table.”

”Mhm.. and the adoption stand?”

”Is run by Master Wilt and Master Edd, I entrusted them with the task as they prove themselves more… capable then others.”

Frankie nodded, the doors before her opening almost automatically as she took in the sights before her.

On the porch, lights and party banners were strung over the canopy, and the fence that surrounded the porch had streamers tied around the rails to add more color to the house.

The left side of the lawn consisted mostly of games and chairs for creators and imaginary friends alike. Nobody was there yet, as the time for when creators were supposed to arrive was somewhere around 2:30. There were picnic benches for people to sit and eat at, some board games that were left on a plastic table, and physical ones like corn hole and basketball (Requested by Wilt, since they already have a basketball court).

To the right were the other tables, which consisted of food and drinks. Each table had a different dish, and it never changed. Burgers, pasta, platters of berries, lemonade, and water were all served on the various tables.

At the very end of the the line of tables, near the front gate, stood an adoption stand. There would be adoption papers and any materials required if a family just so happened to want to adopt a friend today.

Frankie just had one last question.

”And how about the four of them?”

”Are you referring to Master Blooregard, Master Mac, Miss Goo, and Master Cheese?” Mr. Herriman asked to confirm.

Frankie fumbled with her words for a moment, “You- You came up with- Nevermind, yes, them. Where are they?”

”Well, Master Cheese has been contained and kept at a neutral state with the… milkshake. Master Blooregard was found inside with his toys once again, Master Mac is, as you will see, over by the food stands. Miss Goo has yet to arrive.”

Frankie nodded, those four would be the death of her. She still cared for them, of course, but good lord did they drive her crazy. She supposed that’s what she gets for being a caretaker for imaginary friends.

(At least she didn’t end up a babysitter like her cousin. Geez, her methods are NOT the greatest.)

Frankie shook her head, releasing herself from her professional-like sona and ready to face the day.

”Alright! Let’s do this!” She cheered.

…

The day was going smoothly, like it always would. Not to boast, but Frankie would like to say that she did a fairly good job this year, almost better than any other she had been in charge of.

Creators began to arrive close to 2:30, but most started to file in at 3. She was most excited to see Jordan Michaels again, it had been a while since her last encounter with the basketball star.

Officer Nina Valerosa had come by, just to grab a few snacks, check on how everyone was doing, and of course see Eduardo again. Those two had a lovely friendship, Frankie would think as she saw the two hugging like they haven’t seen each other in five years (which they haven’t).

When the officer left, Coco’s discoverers, not creators, Frankie made sure she corrected herself, appeared with even more technology than last time in order to find Coco’s true creator. Adam and Douglas were their names? She couldn’t remember.

Sadly, whenever Frankie tried to get close to interact with them, it would leave the woman awkward and confused when the two’s attitudes changed entirely at the sight of her. Thank goodness for Coco, who would swoop in to act like a disappointed mother to lecture the two in her language while Frankie snuck away.

Jordan Michaels finally came! It was around 3:45 when he did, but that didn’t stop Wilt from smiling wider than he ever had before and grabbing his creator into a tight hug. This was his first Creator Reunion with Jordan here, after all. Even Mr. Herriman allowed Wilt and Jordan to have their own bonding time together, considering they hadn’t really gotten the time to actually talk last time.

With Wilt gone to probably play basketball with Jordan, it left the adoption stand vacant and empty. Frankie wondered where Double D was, since Mr. Herriman did say he was the other one to be running the stand. Her eyes caught sight of the stand itself, where the entire surface was barren. No papers, no pens, nothing.

Frankie groaned, “Of course we missed something.” She began to stomp back into the house, passing by Mac and Bloo who ran by while chatting about something Frankie missed until she heard-

“What do you think about him?” Mac pointed elsewhere. Frankie turned to face the two, confusion clear on her face.

”What about who? What are you guys doing?” The woman leaned down to level with the friends.

”Mac’s got this game, right? We just find imaginary friends who don’t have their creators here yet and we take a guess on what their creators were like!” Bloo grinned, Mac nodding along as his friend explained.

Frankie crossed her arms, smirking at the two below her, “Judging a book by it’s cover? Didn’t they teach you not to do that in 3rd grade?”

Bloo sputtered, “This is different!”

Mac pointed a finger at one imaginary friend who ran the table with burgers, “Like him. What do you think his creator was like?”

“Him?” Frankie raised an eyebrow, “Probably a plumber if I had to guess.”

”Eh, I was gonna say a school bus driver.” Bloo rolled his eyes.

”You say that about every imaginary friend, Bloo!” Mac threw his arms up.

”Okay, whatever you say, Mac.” The blue imaginary friend shrugged it off with a grin, “Oh! What about them?”

Frankie and Mac followed Bloo’s ‘hand’ to where he was pointing, finding it directed at a certain trio collected by the Adoption Stand.

Double D was working the booth, like Mr. Herriman had said earlier, while Ed stood to the side and Eddy hung over the front surface to shove his face into Double D’s own.

”Uh…” Mac started, until Bloo cut him off.

”I think, in order of Ed to Eddy, it’s comic book artist, flower shop owner, and snobby rich dude.” Bloo proudly proclaimed.

Frankie and Mac were ready to object, but were unable to find the words to do so. It somehow, someway, actually fit.

”Wow. I didn’t know Bloo could do that.” Frankie stated with wide eyes.

Mac nodded in agreement, “Yup, I totally agree.”

”What’s that supposed to mean?!” Bloo shouted.

Frankie left the conversation, remembering that the adoption stand needed adoption papers. She made her way over to the bickering Ed’s, not exactly able to pick up on their conversation just yet.

”Hey guys,” Frankie began in order to grab their attention, “The adoption papers aren’t at the stand yet so I was wondering if you guys could go into Mr. Herriman’s office and grab them for me? Its probably on his desk.”

Double D smiled, shoving Eddy off the table while doing do, “Of course! I was just about to ask you about that, funny enough.” He grabbed his friend’s hands, taking them into Foster’s to complete Frankie’s request.

Frankie decided to stay behind the stand in case, Mr. Herriman would get upset to find nobody working the booth if nobody were there.

”Hey Frankie.” Wilt approached, with Eduardo trailing behind who gave a smaller “Hola Frankie” after. Coco followed as well, she just simply didn’t say anything.

”Oh, hey guys. Need something?” She smiled up at the towering imaginary friend.

”Sorry, no, we just came to check up. Jordan just left, by the way.” Wilt pointed his one hand to the gate, somehow showing that his creator had already gone.

”Oh, was it fun to catch up with him?”

”Totally! Last time we saw each other it was more of a.. awkward kind of situation? Not that seeing Jordan is awkward, it’s just with the context of how we met, it was more or less kind of-“ Wilt was quick to correct himself, but Frankie made sure to interrupt before he went on an apologizing spree.

”Wilt, its fine. As long as you had fun.” Frankie grinned, to which Wilt let out a tiny sigh of relief at.

“Coococco-coco-co coco cococo co.” Coco said to her two friends, grabbing both their and Frankie’s attention.

Eduardo nodded, turning to Wilt for confirmation, “Si, I want to go to the corn holes.”

”Sure, we can go play.” Wilt nodded happily, “See you later, Frankie!” He waved goodbye to the woman before disappearing with his friends into the crowd of people.

Frankie sighed, already getting tired? Maybe she was just bored. She never did have an imaginary friend to keep her company, after all. With nobody to talk to yet, she began to entertain herself with questions. Odd, yes, but it did the trick.

Where was Goo? Wasn’t she supposed to be here by now- Oh, wait. She’s over by Mac, got it.

Is Cheese still okay inside? I really don’t feel like checking, in case he might escape.

How much food is left? Do we have enough for everyone? I’m kinda hungry.

I wonder who Duchess’ creator was. If they’re as bad as Duchess, then I really don’t wanna know. What if they’re nicer than Duchess? That’d be weird.

Do I have enough money to go shopping again? Maybe I’ll have to ask Mr. Herriman for chore money. Ugh, the cycle never stops. Do I get paid for working here?

Who are these new guys? Have I met them before?

At the last question Frankie asked herself, her eyes focused on a group of three standing at the gate. They didn’t move, nor did they go for the food. They seemed to be looking for someone. Frankie began to pick apart the group by appearance before she decided to welcome them.

The first she noticed was a woman, probably younger than her if she was correct. Pale skin and long blonde hair, she looked like the embodiment of ‘High school cheerleader’. Her hair that grew to her waist was actually tied into a high ponytail, while her bangs rest on her forehead. She wore a simple necklace along her neck with the only charm on it being the letter N. Her outfit was just a simple pink-white croptop and a blue jean skirt that reached her knees with sandals on her feet.

The man next to her seemed to be of the same age, judging by the height and features of him. He wore a red baseball cap, backwards, might she add, that covered his mildly long ginger hair. He wore a simple zip-up hoodie with some sort of symbol on the front, probably for a sports team with black jeans and converse.

Finally, the last one was also a man, who looked a lot older but also the same age as the other two at the same time? He had surprisingly blue hair, was it dyed? It was long though, long enough to be tied into a small, low ponytail in the back. He wore a yellowed collared shirt underneath a large pair of blue overalls, which had faded splatters of paint and dirt. An interesting profession, this man must have. Out of the three, he looked the most curious to see the sights around him.

”Hello there! Welcome to Foster’s Home Creator Reunion Picnic!” Frankie greeted the trio, who turned to meet the woman. She stuck out an inviting hand for one of them to take, “My name is Frankie.”

The girl stepped forward first, a warm smile worn on her face that could very much rival Wilt’s, “Hello, I’m Nazz, that’s Kevin and Rolf. We’re here to meet with our imaginary friends..?”

Frankie hummed, “I don’t have my paperwork with me at the moment, I got some friends getting them for me right now, but if I may, have we met before? I’ve never seen you guys here at the reunion?”

The ginger, Kevin appearantly, answered, “Yeah, it’s our first time at one of these reunions, actually.”

”Oh, how fun!” Frankie grinned, “Well, we’ve got games, food, drinks, whatever you’d like for you and your imaginary friend. By the way, who are your imaginary friends? Sorry to pry and all, but usually I memorize who-“ She sheepishly smiled, nervsouly hoping that she hadn’t made the wrong first impression.

Nazz smiled, “Oh yeah, all three of them live here, it was E-“

There was a loud crash, silencing the girl from completing her sentence. At the sound of the boom, Frankie stood up straight and found herself staring directly at the front porch of Foster’s, where she found a very much broken sled splintered around the yard.

She groaned, excusing herself as she went to investigate. Frankie found scattered blank adoption papers and was quickly able to piece together the cause of the mess. Frankie began to pick up any stray pieces of paper that weren’t stuck under the broken wood. She made a mental note to disgard any ripped or damaged papers or Mr. Herriman would make sure she never heard the end of it.

When the wood started moving, she began her lecture, she didn’t care if the Ed’s didn’t see her, she knew they could hear her.

”Seriously guys? Why the sled? Didn’t we take away your sled privledges, Eddy?” Frankie scolded, “You could’ve really hurt someone, and yourselves nonetheless!”

A shimmering hand poked out of the piles of wood, waving off Frankie’s concern, “Lay off of it, Frankie, it was fun! Right, Lumpy?”

At the mention of his name, Ed’s head poked out of a different side of the wood pile, he happily smiled, “I almost flew off!”

Double D groaned from further in the debris, “I think I broke something..”

Eddy, stepping out of the mess and dusting himself off, rolled his eyes, “We’re imaginary, Sockhead, we don’t have bones.”

”I beg to differ, also, stop calling my head a sock.”

Frankie sighed, setting the clean adoption papers onto a nearby table so she could lift the bigger pieces of wood off of the body of Double D, who sagged in relief at being freed. He instantly shot over to Eddy, “Never do that again.”

Eddy stuck his tongue out in response, causing Double D to recoil in disgust.

Frankie was just about to say something more, probably another demand about them needing to stop causing such a hazard for the house, until a scream cut her off.

At first, Frankie thought someone was hurt, or at the very least screaming in fear at what they had witnessed. But when Frankie turned her head, she saw Nazz shaking with excitement, her eyes locked on them.

It took Frankie a moment to realize, but when she did, all she could do was smile and step away.

As Rolf and Nazz sprinted towards their imaginary friends, quick to trap them in a hug that made up for the five years without seeing each other, Kevin stayed behind. His eyes stayed on Double D the whole time.

There was a moment of silence between the two, despite the bustling sounds of other people and imaginary friends conversing and such, but it was still so quiet.

Kevin’s smile grew wider, the gravity of the situation finally getting to him.

Double D wasn’t too far behind, his grin bigger than ever before.

Edd took the first step unable to move further than than in his excited state. So instead, Kevin was the one to run up to his imaginary friend.

There was some sort of nostalgic feeling to hugging your best friend that you haven’t seen in five years, and yet, Edd relished in it.

Kevin was here. He was going to savor as much as he could.

They were finally reunited.

The E(n)d