Wow so sorry guys. Had tons of family issues, I moved out, I started college classes and so much other shit. I'm back now, though!

Enjoy~

Monday after Meenah and Feferi's party was, as was expected, strained. Dave had avoided their group that morning, settling for hanging around in his math class until the bell rang so he didn't have to see John. John was still irritated, but the irritated and slightly worn out looks he was getting from the others was enough to make him keep his mouth shut. No one seemed up for any sort of cheery conversation; even Gamzee was pretty quiet, and it even looked like he was avoiding Karkat in favor of being around Tavros instead.

It was off setting.

Sollux didn't really want to mention it, so he stuck to teasing Eridan in first period. They were playing dodge ball, their two P.E. classes. Equius and Feferi were the only two of their group still in the game and Sollux was seated on the bleachers, watching Eridan nurse his nose that had finally stopped bleeding. "You really bled a lot, ED."

"No thanks to you," Eridan huffed as he squinted over at the snickering blond.

Aradia, who was on the other side of Sollux, giggled softly. "Yeah, Sol; you could have thrown the ball a little more gently."

"He should have caught it," Sollux shrugged, smiling lazily. He stretched a bit before he frowned. "Man, I can't wait for last period...that's gonna be a blast."

Eridan scoffed lightly. "You mean Strider and John havving to sit next to each other?"

"That's going to be so bad," Aradia murmured. "I saw Dave avoid us earlier; I can only imagine how Jake's class is going to be."

"I so don't want to think about it," Sollux sighed. "Man, every year we have some big issue break out."

"I think we have more than one big issue this year," Aradia murmured absently. She stood up, a hand on her hip as she looked down at Sollux. "I think there's going to be a lot. Anyways, I'll walk you to work today, okay?"

Sollux nodded, waiting until Aradia was out of hearing distance before sighing. Eridan shot him a curious glance. "Wwhat's wwith that sigh?"

"We got in like, such a huge argument after that party." Sollux murmured.

"Oh?" Eridan murmured, a little intrigued. "Wwhy?"

Sollux shrugged. "It's a sex thing."

"She didn't wwant to havve sex?" Eridan offered.

Sollux blinked and looked at him. "How did you-"

"I hear things," Eridan cut in with a small smile. "People talk. So, wwhat wwent dowwn?"

Sollux scoffed. "Can't believe I'm talking to you about my relationship issues. Fuck you, man...she didn't wanna do it so I mean I was cool with that, it just kinda irritated me. We haven't had sex in a month and a half."

Eridan watched Aradia from where he was, watched the girl giggle with Equius and Fef. "...Maybe she doesn't find you sexually attractive anymore?"

Sollux groaned softly, running his hand through his hair and sighing. "Maybe, I dunno. Frankly, it's kind of annoying. But I don't wanna be a douche and get upset over it."

"Are you a sex addict?" Eridan asked with a small laugh.

Sollux paused and considered it. "...Probably."

Eridan scoffed. "Ew."

"Fuck you."

"No thanks, you havve a girlfriend for that-...oh, wwait no you don't."

Sollux hissed under his breath and stood up, throwing an irritated glare over his shoulder. "You're decent for like five minutes, then you're a fucking pain."

"Oh, cry me a rivver." Eridan sighed, rolling his eyes as he looked away.

Sollux scowled; he hoped last period would be interesting.

Jake was used to tension in his class, sure, but only between one or two students. He wasn't used to an entire class full of tense and irritated students, a tension that rose quickly upon John's arrival right before the bell. The entire class was fairly silent, leaving Jake to awkwardly pass out their dolls that he had collected the previous week.

John was a little miffed when Dave didn't even look at him as he sat down, but he shrugged it off, still upset from the party. When Jake handed Casey to John, shooting a small glance at Dave, John sighed softly and looked at Dave. "You want to take her for-"

"No, you're taking her." Dave replied. "I had her last week."

Dave's voice was clipped and it made John frown a little. "Yeah, fine; don't have to be an ass about it, Dave."

"Oh, that's rich," Dave scoffed loudly, probably catching everyone's attention. "Like you're one to lecture people about being an ass." He adjusted his shades and shook his head. "Whatever, man."

"I'm the asshole?" John scoffed, scrunching up his nose as he grimaced. "Yeah, okay Dave. Cause, you know, you weren't being an asshole or anything before."

Dave laughed. "It was a game, John. Get over yourself."

"You know that isn't the point!" John snapped. Already, the other kids were all staring at them, waiting. "You know what my problem with you is."

"I'm not gonna sit through this," Dave stood up and met Jake's gaze. "I'm going to sit out in the hall way until he cools off."

Jake sighed. "Dave-"

"Don't you fucking avoid this!" John shot up and followed Dave, who was already walking to the class room door. He grabbed Dave's arm and yanked him around, blue eyes narrowed angrily. "Don't just try to avoid this or me! I'm pissed off!"

"John, leave him the fuck alone," Terezi hissed from her desk, sliding her baby into Nepeta's lap in case she had to shoot up and help.

John ignored her, ignored the irritated glances all their friends were sending them. He was partially embarrassed; he couldn't believe Vriska was seeing him like this. He frowned at Dave. "You're unbelievable."

"Dude, let me go," Dave yanked his arm back and took a small step backwards. "Fucking calm down. I'm not having this conversation; we all know you're just pissy because I kissed Vriska. Big fucking deal, John, it's not like she was ever going to kiss you!"

John Egbert was not a violent person by nature, truth be told. However, the rage that boiled inside of him, that had been lingering since the party, seemed to take over as his fist connected with Dave's cheek. The blond stumbled back, shades flying off and clattering to the classroom floor as his wide eyes blinked in shock. John was a little stunned too, and Jake was already rushing over to break it up. Dave lunged at John first, and the fight was on.

Everyone shot up, a few startled exclamations flying out as they tried to get closer. Jake was frantically trying to squeeze between them while also avoiding the flying, angry fists, but Dave was pretty strong and John was fast. "David! John! Stop this, now!"

"You fucker!" Dave hissed as his fist landed a good hit in John's rib cage.

John gasped, a little winded, and shoved Dave back as he swung at him again. "Asshole!"

"John!" Jake hissed as he tried to pry the two apart. He glanced over to see Gamzee walk over behind Dave and then he saw Equius behind John. He let go of both angry teens as Gamzee sighed.

"We up and got it, man." He murmured, arms wrapping around Dave's middle as he lifted the blond right off his feet. Dave yelped and thrashed and Gamzee huffed. "Chill the fuck out, bro."

Equius had simply scooped John up and moved him away, holding onto him tightly as the smaller kid tried to break free. "Let go!"

"I'd rather not," Equius sighed, holding John a little tighter.

"Fucking idiots," Karkat hissed from the side. He shot a worried look at Dave and then looked at John. "The fuck's your problem, John?"

John let out an irritated noise. "As if it's all my-"

"Both of you, enough!" Jake shouted, silencing the murmurs and angry breaths. Jake...never really yelled. Ever. He took a heavy, angry breath and shook his head. "I would expect this from any one but the two of you! Really, can't you save your emotional outbursts for outside of my class room?"

"He started it!" Dave snapped, struggling in Gamzee's hold.

"I don't give a bloody damn who started it!" Jake snapped. "I'm finishing it! Principals office, both of you!"

"You're kidding me!"Dave groaned, blinking his eyes rapidly; his pale cheek was already starting to bruise. "Jake!"

Jake looked at Equius and Gamzee. "Take them to the office; I'll be there shortly."

Equius nodded. "Alright..."

"Come on, bro," Gamzee told Dave, already pulling him out of the class.

The other kids all frowned, trying to wrap their heads around what had just happened. Rose sighed and cross her arms. "Honestly..."

"That was so uncalled for," Sollux muttered as he shook his head. "On John's part, I mean."

"They're both being childish," Kanaya murmured as she sat back down. "John has no right to hold such a useless grudge and Dave really should behave just a little more like an adult about it."

"...In Dave's defense," Vriska murmured. "John shouldn't have hit him."

Karkat scoffed as he went back to his seat. "This is about you, and you're not even on John's side."

Vriska shot him a look before she sighed. "They're being stupid...It was just a game. I mean, fucking Sollux and Aradia both kissed other people and you don't see either of them ripping anyone's throat out, you know?"

"John just has to learn," Nepeta sighed.

"Enough gossip," Jake muttered as he scooped Dave's shades up from the floor. "I'm going to go deal with them. You'll all be fine here, I assume?"

"You can't leave us here alone," Terezi scoffed, but she nodded anyways.

Jake shot her a small smile. "I think a class of seniors will be fine." He assured before he left the classroom.

Sollux sighed as he leaned back in his seat, looking at Eridan. "I told you it was going to be interesting today."

Eridan chuckled and shrugged as he kept his eyes on his phone. "Yeah..."

Sollux frowned and leaned over to eye the other's phone. "You've been on that since class started. The hell are you looking at on that thing?"

"Like that's any of your business," Eridan moved his phone away from the other and squinted at him.

Sollux gasped dramatcally, practically yelling, "Eridan, are you looking at porn in class?!"

Eridan flushed brightly. "No!"

"Ampora, gross!" Karkat cackled loudly.

Eridan huffed loudly as he looked back at Sollux. "You're terrible, you knoww that?"

"I'm well aware." He nodded, gesturing to Eridan's phone. "Seriously, what're you doing?"

"If you must knoww," Eridan sighed, shaking his head. "I wwas looking ovver some pictures I took wwith Fef a feww wweeks ago."

"Oh..." Sollux wasn't sure what he had been expecting, really. He shrugged and leaned over again. "Can I see?"

Eridan blinked, surprised, and bit his lower lip. "I...I guess so..."

Sollux carefully took Eridan's phone from him and started to scroll through the pictures. They must have been taken at the park; Sollux recognized the lay out. Fef was in most of them, posed in various places and positions. Sollux actually kind of liked a handful of photos of her posed in the small patch of flowers that grew in the back corner of the park.

However, there was one picture of Eridan. It caught Sollux off guard because in any and all pictures he'd seen from Eridan's previous excursions, Eridan was hardly in any of them. In fact, he was in, maybe, two at most. Sollux knew Eridan didn't exactly like to have his picture taken, however it wasn't like he...was bad to look at.

Sollux could admit that yeah, sure, Eridan was nice to look at.

However, this picture was proving that point.

Eridan wasn't wearing his glasses in the picture, for one. He was sitting in the flower patch, like Fef had been, and a flower crown sat on his head. It wasn't anything...special. Not at all, really. Sollux frowned, though, because Eridan looked calm. He looked relaxed.

Eridan looked kind of happy.

"You're good at this," Sollux stated, handing the phone back as he frowned to himself. "You take good pictures."

"You'vve told me that," Eridan murmured, a ghost of a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "But thanks. They'd be better if I had an actual professional camera."

"Too expensive?" Sollux guessed, leaning back in his chair.

Eridan nodded, scoffing. "Wway too expensivve..."

"In time, man," Sollux offered lightly. "You'd get some damn good pictures once you have a really nice camera."

Eridan smiled a bit. "Thanks..."

At her desk Vriska shifted, still a little unnerved by John and Dave's out burst. It made her sigh and beside her, Tavros looked away from their baby to glance at her. "What's up?"

"It's my fault," She muttered sourly. She ran a hand through her hair and leaned back.

"Not really," Tavros replied quietly, shrugging. "I-I mean...it was just a game. John flipped out...it's kind of a given that you and Dave would go all out in a game like that, you know? Most of us...sort of expected it."

Vriska didn't look convinced, but Tavros was trying to make her feel better. That was a kind gesture, surely one she didn't even deserve. "...I guess you're right. It still bothers me, though."

"Well, it bothers all of us." Tavros admitted. "...I just feel bad for Dave, you know?"

"Exactly," She groaned, hand coming up to pinch the bridge of her nose. "...He really likes John and now John probably hates him. Because of something involving me. And it's not like he liked me at first anyways and-"

"Vris," Tavros cut in, reaching out to touch her knee. "You can't like...blame yourself for everything that happens."

Vriska stared at Tavros' hand on her knee and frowned a little, nodding. "...I know. Thanks."

Dirk was used to running to Dave's school to see Jake when he had a spare moment. He was used to running to the school to drop off Dave's eye drops on the rare occasions that Dave forgot them.

Dirk was not used to going to Dave's school because Dave had been sent to the office.

Dirk walked into the front office, offering a wave to the kind ladies at the front desk who knew him well enough from Jake. "Hey, ladies. Uh, here for my brother?"

"Principle's office," One replied, gesturing to the door with a small smile.

Dirk hated principal Caliborn. Or rather, he was pretty sure Caliborn hated him. He took a breath and walked into the office, closing the door behind him. Caliborn was an intimidating man, all dark skinned and tall with broad shoulders. The bald man looked less than thrilled to see Dirk walk in. "Mr. Stider, glad you decided to join us."

By 'us', he was referring to Jake, who stood beside his desk, and the two boys seated in chairs in front of his desk. Dirk recognized Dave, even from the back, and he knew the other was John. He frowned a bit and stepped up closer. "What's the problem here?" He peered over at Dave, blinking at the bruise blossoming on his little brother's cheek. He looked over at John, taking in the busted lip and irritated aura. "Holy shit, did you two get into a fight?"

"They did," Jake nodded, sounding reluctant to admit to it. "They got into a fist fight in class."

"...With someone else?" Dirk asked, tilting his head. "Shouldn't the other kids they were fighting be in here too or-"

"They were the ones fighting." Caliborn cut in. "They were fighting each other."

Dirk sighed and rubbed his temples. Truthfully, he hadn't expected the entire ordeal from Meenah's party to continue like this. Dave had been pissed since he came home after that, yeah, and it was painfully obvious that the kid didn't want to talk about it. Dirk didn't push it, but now he was thinking he should have.

Dirk sighed heavily once more. "Who threw the first hit?"

"John did," Jake murmured.

John flinched, not wanting to look up in fear of seeing Dirk's angry expression. Dirk nodded slowly and looked back at Caliborn. "So, is Dave suspended or what?"

"I'm willing to let this little incident slide," Caliborn stated firmly, eyeing the two boys who were now looking up at him. "But the next time they have an outburst like this, they'll be stripped of their senior year privileges, which means they'll be banned from Prom and other senior activities at the end of the year. Am I understood, David? Johnathan?"

Both teens flinched and replied in unison, "Yes, sir."

Caliborn nodded, leaning back in his seat. "Good. Jonathan, you should consider yourself lucky that we were unable to contact your father. Let's not have any more slip ups?"

John stood up, nodded once. "Okay."

Dave stood up silently and didn't wait for Dirk as he left the room. The ladies at the front office offered Dave small, silent goodbyes, and Dirk hurried after him with John close behind. "Dave, slow down."

Dave sighed heavily and crossed his arms, looking at Dirk with puffy, red eyes. Dirk sighed and ran a hand through his own hair. "Is your stuff back in the class room?"

"Yep." Dave nodded.

Dirk looked at John. "You stay here with him. I'll go get your shit. I'm driving you home."

Even if John wanted to protest, there was no way he was going to argue with Dirk. Nope. The two boys lingered outside of the office as they waited, Dave more silent that ever and John starting to feel his stomach churn with guilt. Jake exited the office after a moment and eyed the two of them before fixing his attention on Dave. "Here."

Dave glanced at the other, seeing his shades being held out to him. He took them and murmured a soft "thanks" before he shoved them in the pocket of his sweater. Jake pursed his lips but nodded, leaving to go take are of his class.

It was just the two of them, now, and John glanced over at Dave. "...Did your shades break?"

"Nope."

"Oh...okay." John tore his gaze away. It felt out of place to talk to Dave, and John was already mentally kicking himself for starting that fight. He didn't have to hit hum, at least...

"You taking Casey or what?" Dave muttered as he pulled out his phone.

John glanced over at him. "Uhm, you wanted me to take her-"

"Your call." Dave murmured.

John forced back a sigh and ran a hand through his hair. "I'll take her..."

"Wonderful."

John winced. "Dave-"

"Don't start with me," The blond stated firmly, eyes glued to his phone. "I'm not going to talk about this with you right now, John."

John leaned back against the wall and rolled his eyes a little. "...Fair enough."

They stayed in silence until Dirk came back with their things. Dirk ushered them to the car, Dave sitting in the passenger seat while John got into the back with Casey in his arms. They drove off the campus and Dirk let out a breath he really hadn't noticed he was holding. "...So do either one of you feel like explaining to me what happened exactly?"

"No." Dave replied, looking out the window and squinting at the harsh sunlight.

Dirk frowned. "Dave, I'd appreciate it if you took this a little more seriously. You two got called into the office. It's your senior year and that kind of shit can get you in trouble. Like...they can keep you from graduating for stuff like that."

"Wouldn't that be a shame?" Dave mused.

Dirk sighed and glanced over his shoulder at John. "Care for an explanation?"

John blinked and felt his stomach churn a little bit. "...I don't really have one, Dirk..."

"So...you two just decided to be asses and start a fight." Dirk stated as he stared at the road. "Like, you didn't think to oh, I don't know, talk your issues out?"

"Oh, like you're one to talk," Dave snapped as he looked over at his brother. "When you're the one who hides in his room or crashes at fucking Meenah's place when you and Jake get into it."

"This is not about me," Dirk snapped, gripping the steering wheel tighter. "You've been acting weird for weeks, Dave. You stay up all god damn night, you barely eat shit and you don't leave your room half the time. Now you and John are fist fighting?"

Each word Dirk spoke made John feel worse, but the bit about Dave not sleeping or eating hit him harder. A few things clicked into place; it all explained Dave's attitude the past week or so, at least. It explained why Rose had went with Dave, and it made John feel worse.

Fuck.

"I don't want to talk about it." Dave hissed. "Drop it, Dirk."

Dirk caught the warning in Dave's voice. He sighed and let it drop, only because John was there. Dirk huffed and glanced back at John again. "You're lucky I don't get a hold of your dad."

"Please don't..." John murmured. "He's going to see my lip anyways so just...let me do it. Please, Dirk..."

"Ugh, fine," Dirk used one hand to wave it off. "If you two do this shit again, though, you're in for Hell, do you hear me?"

"Sure thing, Dad." Dave muttered.

Dirk stiffened and let out a sigh. "Dave, do me a favor and just shut up."

He started a fight, John knew he did. He kept his mouth shut, settling for holding Casey close. He murmured a soft "thanks" when Dirk dropped him off and trudged into the house, hoping Dave didn't get into too much trouble because of him.

When John left the car Dave grit his teeth and braced himself. Dirk sighed heavily. "...You don't have to be an ass to me, Dave."

When Dave didn't reply, Dirk frowned. "Dave."

"You told me to shut up, remember?"

Dirk blinked and sighed. "Jesus...why are you being so fucking difficult right now?"

"I'm sorry, but since when did you give a fuck?" Dave muttered.

"Are you kidding me?" Dirk snapped as they turned a corner. "I always care, Dave."

"Then why haven't you done shit?" Dave hissed back at him, looking at him. "You said you noticed I wasn't right, well you haven't done shit! You and Jake just fucking ignore it!"

Dirk hesitated, falling silent. Dave huffed and looked away, falling silent as well.

Aradia cradled her and Equius' baby in her arms, listening to Damara argue with Rufioh on the phone from the other room. They'd been arguing for a while now, and while Aradia didn't seem to mind much, Sollux looked deeply agitated.

"Is she going to fucking yell at him all night?" The blond muttered as he looked over at the girl.

Aradia shrugged, glancing down at her history homework. "Probably? They do that."

"Okay, but she's been at it for an hour and a half now," Sollux reminded her as he shook his head and looked down at the math book in his lap. "It's annoying..."

"You're the one that wanted to come over and study." She reminded him.

Sollux rolled his eyes because when he had said "study", he most certainly didn't have any studying in mind. He was hoping for sex or something close to it, Aradia had to have known that. Sollux never needed to study for anything in the first place.

Sollux sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "You know why I came over."

Aradia paused and glanced up again. "Sollux..."

"If you don't want to, then just tell me." Sollux murmured. "Don't sit here and know what I want and then just...ignore it. It kind of leaves me with false hopes."

"It's not that I don't want to," Aradia said softly. "It's just...Damara is here."

"She's always here."

"Still..."

"Do you just not want to have sex with me? I can handle hearing that, I am a big boy."

"Why the fuck is is such a big deal?" Aradia muttered finally. She set her baby aside and fixed her boyfriend with an exasperated stare. "Seriously? Are you like, going to die if we don't fuck every time we see each other?"

Sollux flinched and then sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose. "...No. No, sorry just...You know, if you're not into my...my body or whatever, you're allowed to tell me."

Aradia blinked and then her gaze softened a little. She moved their text books and notebooks out of the way and scooted closer to her boyfriend, kissing his temple. "Sol, it's not that I don't think you're attractive. Because you are. I just...I'm not feeling the need to have sex. I'm just tired all the time and I want to relax, you know?"

Sollux nodded, fighting back the urge to sigh. "I get it...sorry for being a dick."

Aradia kissed his temple again, stroking his hair lightly. "It;s okay, I forgive you. Now, can we finish math?"

"Yeah," Sollux smiled a bit, reaching for a text book again.

"No Gamzee today?"

Karkat heaved a sigh at his brother's question as the two of them walked through the front door. He shrugged a little. "No, he walked home or some shit."

"His dad's home this week." Kankri murmured slowly as he sat on the couch. "I don't think Gamzee's ever been eager to go home to see his dad."

"I invited him over," Karkat looked back at his brother as he went to the kitchen. He pulled a soda from the fridge and shrugged. "He said he was just going to go home. He didn't even wait for me after class."

"Is he okay?" Kankri was already bothered by this. Was Gamzee taking his medicine? Had something happened at home, maybe?

Karkat took a long drink from his soda before he shrugged again. "He was acting weird at the party too. I don't know...he hasn't told me anything."

Kankri watched Karkat disappear down the hall and sighed, fishing out his phone. He dialed Kurloz' number, waited for the other to pick up.

"Yo?"

"Hey," Kankri breathed, leaning back into the couch. "Is Gamzee home yet?"

"Just go here," Kurloz replied gruffly. There were some muffled noises and what sounded like Kurloz slamming his door. "Why, what's up?"

"Karkat mentioned Gamzee's been...acting odd." Kankri murmured. "And your...dad's home, and Gamzee usually doesn't go straight home when he's there. Kar said Gamzee's been weird for a few days and...well I was just a little worried."

Kurloz sighed and flopped down on his bed. "Dunno. Kid's moody. If dad weren't here I'd ask."

"...Is he taking his medicine?" Kankri asked quietly.

Kurloz frowned and groaned softly. "I dunno...I'll check, though. Uh, how're you, man?"

Kankri chuckled softly, a familiar sound to Kurloz that made him feel a little less stressed. "I'm alright."

"Good," Kurloz grunted as he sat up. "Might come over or somethin' this week to get out of the fucking house with Gam."

"You're always welcome here."

"I know."

"Good."

Kurloz smiled a bit and sighed. "Gonna go then. Talk to you later, Kanny."

Kurloz hung up and tossed his phone aside, pinching the bridge of his noise before he decided to go talk to Gamzee. He wasn't anywhere close to being as high as he wanted to be, but he blamed that on his dad's presence. He shook his head and stood up, opening his door and walking down the hall to Gamzee's room.

The kid was lying face down in his bed, his shoes still on and everything. Kurloz scoffed and walked in, kicking the door closed behind him. "Yo."

Gamzee lifted his head and looked over his shoulder at him. "What?"

"How're you feelin'?" Kurloz asked as he sat in Gamzee's computer chair.

Gamzee pushed himself up and shrugged. "Up and fine, bro. Why?"

"You didn't even grab a faygo on your way in," Kurloz scoffed lightly, leaning back in the chair. "You've been all kinds of down since the party."

"Nah, man. I haven't."

"Totally have," Kurloz insisted. He stared at his brother for a while before he crossed his arms. "Take your medicine today?"

"Nope," Gamzee replied, shrugging. "Forgot."

"Gamzee-"

"I'll take it tomorrow," Gamzee muttered as he waved his brother's concern off. "Makes me up and nervous to take it when Dad's home."

"You still have to take it," Kurloz reminded him. "Meulin's paying good money for you to feel okay and-"

"I don't up and need medicine to feel motherfuckin' okay," Gamzee snapped as he looked away. "I'm fine."

Kurloz pursed his lips and frowned, sighing heavily. "...Gamzee."

Gamzee rolled his eyes and stood up, walking to his backpack and unzipping it. He unzipped it with a little more force than was needed and pulled out his bottle of meds, shaking them around. "Look, they're right here. I'll take them tomorrow, alright?"

Kurloz sighed again and stood up, walking over and ruffling Gamzee's hair. "Chill, will ya? I'm just lookin' out for ya."

Gamzee moved away from Kurloz's hand and sighed, tossing his pill bottle onto his bed. "...Is there any faygo in the fridge?"

Kurloz nodded. "Yeah, come on."

The two boys left Gamzee's room, their Father's voice echoing down the hall from his room. Gamzee went to the kitchen and grabbed a faygo from the fridge, nodding once to Kurloz before he retreated back to his bedroom. He sat down at his computer and logging into his messenger.

-adiosToreador began trolling terminallyCapricious [TC]-

AT: hEY GAM.

TC: HeY bRo

TC: WhAtS uP?

AT: jUST CHECKING ON YOU

AT: aRE YOU FEELING ANY BETTER?

TC: GuEsS sO

TC: dUnNo ThO mAn

AT: yOU CAN ALWAYS COME OVER YOU KNOW

AT: iF YOU WANT TO I MEAN

Gamzee sighed a bit as he stared at his screen, taking a drink of his faygo.

TC: I kNoW mAn

TC: DaDs HoMe So I cAnT dO mUcH

TC: BuT iLl Be FiNe So DoNt WoRrY aBoUt It

AT: i'M GONNA WORRY NO MATTER WHAT

AT: iT'S WHAT FRIENDS DO

That didn't sit very well with Gamzee and he shifted in his seat. That's what friends did? Then was Karkat worried at all?

"That's a stupid question, of course he isn't."

Gamzee flinched and shook his head, trying to rid himself of the nagging voice in the back of his head. He made a mental note to take two pills in the morning, hoping maybe it would help. He hadn't taken his pills since Saturday morning, after all.

"Dave," Dirk stood in the door way of Dave's room, arms crossed. "What do you want for dinner?"

"I'm not hungry," Dave murmured as he scribbled down a math problem in his notebook.

Dirk sucked in a deep breath. "Yeah, well you're still going to eat, Dave. So what do you want? I'll make whatever you feel like...or we can order something."

Dave set his pencil down and looked at Dirk, shrugging. "How about pasta, then?"

Dirk nodded, inwardly glad that he was getting something civil out of Dave. "I can do that. Pasta. That works. What're you doing right now?"

"Math homework," Dave replied.

Dirk nodded again and hesitated. "Well...I'll go start dinner. Jake will be home soon and you owe him an apology."

Dave frowned but nodded, looking back at his homework. "Yeah, okay. Close the door when you leave."

"Lose the attitude?" Dirk asked as he left, closing the door.

Dave huffed and ran a hand through his hair, groaning when his phone started ringing. He set his notebook aside and grabbed his phone. "Hello?"

"Hey," Terezi purred into the phone. "What cha doin'?"

"Homework," Dave replied bluntly. "You?"

"I'm at Nepeta's house," Terezi replied. "We were talking about you and I wanted to make sure you were okay, man. You okay?"

"Peachy, aside from the headache and the bruises." Dave shrugged to himself. "Yeah, totally good, man."

"So you're terrible, then," Terezi figured lightly. She sighed a little bit. "I'm sorry about what went down. That shit wasn't cool."

"It doesn't matter anymore," Dave muttered. "What are you and Nepeta doing?"

"Homework," Terezi replied, softer this time. "You gonna need the math homework?"

"Nah, doing it right now," He replied. "Thanks, though. If you don't get it done I've got it."

"You're the best," Terezi declared, hoping to somehow boost Dave's confidence. "Gonna go, kay?Love you, man."

"Talk to you later." Dave said, hanging up. He sighed and tossed his phone aside as he heard the sound of the front door opening and then closing. He his frown deepened and he looked back at his homework to finish up the few questions he had left.

He could hear Dirk and Jake talking, but their voices were muffled by the door so whatever was being said, he had no clue. He kind of didn't want to know; it was probably about him, anyways. Nothing he really wanted to hear. It was probably about how he was a brat, how he was a trouble maker or something along those lines.

...He winced, holding his pencil a little tighter. No, no Jake and Dirk wouldn't say those sort of things. Those were things his mom and dad would say, not Dirk and Jake.

Dave sighed and tossed his pencil aside, getting off his bed. He ran a hand through his hair and left his room, making his way to the kitchen. Jake, who had been babbling away about whatever, fell silent when he saw Dave. Dave gave Jake a small, apologetic look before he went into the kitchen. Dirk had his back to him, busy working on the pasta, and Dave wrapped his arms around him and pressed his face into Dirk's back.

Dirk stiffened and blinked, frowning softly. "Dave-"

"I'm sorry I'm such a trouble maker," Dave muttered into Dirk's shirt. "Sorry..."

Dirk relaxed a bit and sighed, shifting around until he could hug Dave properly. It was a little awkward at first but he smiled a bit, shrugging. "You're not a trouble maker; you're just a teenager. It's fine...just no more fighting at school, okay little man?"

Dave nodded and stepped away from his brother, taking a breath before he went over and hugged Jake, too. "Sorry for today."

Jake sighed softly and smiled, ruffling Dave's hair. "No worries, Dave. Although, the next time you and John decide to go at it, at least do it in another teacher's class room."

Dave scoffed into Jake's shoulder and nodded, stepping away. "Yeah, totally. Will do."

He felt a little better, but the bruise on his cheek still stung and his stomach was still twisted up at the thought of seeing John tomorrow.

"I can't believe you," Rose sighed as she crossed her arms from where she sat on the foot of John's bed. "Really, John."

John was lucky his dad wasn't too mad about the fight. He was luckier that his dad had let Rose come over when Rose had showed up out of the blue. John sighed as he leaned back against his head board, shrugging. "I know. I'm an ass."

"A complete ass," Rose nodded, tilting her head. "But I'm glad you realize it this time around. You feel bad?"

"I feel awful," John mumbled, sighing as he fiddled idly with the shirt that was on Casey, his free hand holding the bottle for the doll. Casey was making little suckling noises, something that made John cringe inwardly. He shook his head and continued. "I shouldn't have been so mad."

Rose nodded in agreement. "Exactly. It was a game, John, and everyone knows that Vriska and Dave are the type to go all or nothing in a game like that. It shouldn't have been so shocking."

"I just felt like...you know. Like he was doing it to make me mad," John murmured, staring down at Casey. "Like he was rubbing it in my face that the cool kid Dave Strider could kiss the girl of my dreams. I was mad...and then he said he was gay."

Rose frowned a bit. "That's not a problem for you, is it?"

"What?" He blinked and looked back up, shaking his head. "No, no way. I don't care about that. It's just...I felt stupid when he said that, and I guess that's why I felt even worse today at school. I had no idea...you know? Dave never...I mean...it wasn't something he brought up to me."

"It's not something he's entirely comfortable with," Rose admitted. "He doesn't talk about it much, which is a little ironic if you think about it. He's been around Dirk and Jake, and the rest of our friends, long enough to know that we aren't going to shame him for it...but It's hard for him. It's hard and the way it was blurted out at the party definitely didn't make it any easier."

John sighed and nodded, pulling the bottle from Casey and wiping some water from the corner of the doll's lips. "...I figured that he'd tell me something like that."

"He didn't want to make anything weird between the two of you," Rose told him. She smiled slightly. "He worries, John."

"I know," He nodded. "...Dirk was saying Dave hasn't been sleeping...and other stuff. He hasn't told me anything...I feel like a shit friend, Rose."

"Well, then the only thing you can do is apologize to him." Rose told him. "That's why I came over; to get you two to apologize. Everyone's worried about this little fight, John. We've all been such good friends for years, now."

John nodded slowly and set Casey aside, taking a deep breath. "'l'll apologize to him tomorrow...I don't like fighting with Dave."

Rose relaxed entirely and smiled wider. "Good, I'm glad. Now, what's your dad making for dinner?"

Rose, playing the love therapist. Good, good. This seems shorter, im sorry guys. Next chapter will be longer! Review!