Chapter One

A text message, a fall

"Taaaaaaaavroooooooos."

Great. This is just what I needed today.

"Or should I say Torasnore. Seriously. You're so laaaaaaaame."

I failed to fight off a frown. I'd just told my friends I would be bowing out of the trip to the bowling alley that they'd just been planning. Its not like it was something I could even really do since I was stuck in a wheelchair, a fact that Vriska seemed to think was completely inconsequential.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to, uh upset you like that."

"Urg. Grow a backbone. Come on. Lets go before Torasnore puts me to sleep with his lameness."

I watched them go, laughing and goofing off as they left me behind. They always looked like they were having so much fun. Maybe Vriska was right about me being boring. That was fine though, I'd gotten used to being alone. Things had been different when I was just a kid but now the wheels that moved me also bound me. No one wanted to change their plans just because I couldn't do anything they deemed fun. The sigh that escaped my lips was a traitor. Maybe it did bother me more than I wanted to admit.

I turned my chair, spotting another of my friends chatting with one of her acquaintances. She was talking as animatedly as usual, I could see her hands flailing wildly, but his dark glasses seemed to be pointed in my direction. Something about his blank expression set the hairs on my arm on edge. He was always so unnerving. I didn't know him well, we'd never been introduced, but I knew of him through my friends. He was a year older than most of my friends, he and Nepeta had been friends for years. He looked so severe, the total opposite of my happy go lucky friend. I didn't understand it. Even now feeling like he was looking at me made me uneasy.

The wind picked up and the strange boy turned away.

School was out but I didn't want to go home. I would be just as alone there as I was here. The silence there was full of old wounds and empty reminders. I barely saw my father anymore, he worked so hard to keep up with paying for all of my and my brother's medical bills. Once upon a time I would have asked Gamzee to keep me company but he'd been committed a year ago after a night I never wanted to remember. After a night I couldn't forget. There was really only one place I could go to get away from all of those memories.

Up here the breezes were stronger, tugging my unstyled mohawk this way and that. The school's elevator went all the way up to the roof if you had a key to use the thing. It was my favourite place. From up here I could see the bowling alley I would never again go to, I could see the building I'd always called home. Four stories, this was higher than the fall that had taken everything from me. Staring at the concrete below I could still hear Vriska's voice telling me to fly as her little girl hands pushed me off the balcony. Funny, the distance had scared me so much then, when the ground had been closer. Now it just seemed inviting.

Life had been so much easier when I was younger, back before I lost the use of my legs, before my brother lost even more than I. Even a year ago things had been better because at least then I had Gamzee but something inside him had snapped and he was gone until whatever broke was fixed. I was nothing but a burden to everyone and everything was a burden to me. Even the books and games I had so loved in my childhood just reminded me that I was good for nothing more than being a verbal punching bag. The only person who went out of their way to talk to me was Vriska and she only wanted to tell me how worthless and boring I really was. Sometimes I wished I had the guts to remind her that it was her fault I was stuck in this wheelchair but on top of everything else I was nothing more than a coward.

My wheels bumped the edge of the roof, my useless feet nearly dangling over the void.

"What do you think you're doing."

It wasn't a question. I didn't recognize the voice, soft yet commanding. Internally I panicked, the voice didn't sound old enough to be a teacher's but I couldn't think of anyone else who would be up here. Hands grabbed the handles on the back of my wheelchair, pulling me with enough force that I slipped off the seat, unprepared for the sudden movement. I was sprawled across the rooftop, inches from the edge I'd been contemplating just a moment ago.

"Sorry." A large, pale hand came into view, then another to pull me off the ground as if I weighed nothing at all.

"Its uh, okay." My cheeks went hot as I was placed back in my damned chair. The blood refused to leave my face as I glanced up at my companion. The strange boy still wore his dark glasses but with his profile in view I could see his eyebrows knit together in the only emotion I'd ever seen from him. The silence around us was uncomfortable and it took me a moment to realize he was still waiting for me to offer up an explanation. "I um, was just you know, looking."

It was a weak excuse and we both knew it.

"Looking." His tone was flat. The echoes of the word died out as his large hands returned to the handlebars. This time the movement was smooth as he turned me away from my planned fate, guiding me back to the small box that had delivered me here. It was even smaller this time, his frame took up more space than I did. "Next time you go looking bring a friend."

"O-okay."

He wheeled me to the front entrance, towards the orange tinted sun. At the sidewalk the weight on my seat lifted. He took a place beside me, severe gaze on the empty road before us. He looked contemplative as he requested my cell phone. At least I assumed it was a request, it seemed that everything he said sounded more like a demand than anything else. Confused I handed it over, watching him from the corner of my eye. His shoulder length hair fell over his face as his fingers flew over the keyboard. Without another word he handed it back and started down the sidewalk away from me. My face flushed as I stared at the phone that had been placed in my lap. My contact list had been left open on the 'add new' screen and I stared at the name before saving it.

Equius Zahhak.

When my phone buzzed that night I was surprised to find a text message from someone other than my father, who only messaged to tell me he was coming home late.

Equius: D- I know they give you a hard time and call you weak

Equius: D- Your so called friends

Equius: D- But I wanted to tell you that I think

Equius: D- After all that you've been through

Equius: D- You might be one of the STRONGEST people I know

That was it, a series of short text messages that left me more confused than ever. Equius and I had never spoken before today, how could he know anything about me at all. Unless of course Nepeta told him, she was one of the few people that listened when I needed someone to talk to. I could feel the warmth spread under the freckles that spotted my face. Whatever the reason behind his message it brought a fluttering to my heart that I hadn't felt in years. That night as sleep drew its dark curtain there was one face that remained, expressionless yet handsome with eyes hidden behind dark lenses.

((A/N: Hey all~! I hope you enjoy this story, its a comprehensive version of the short TavEq stories I've been working on. This is the first long fanfiction I've ever attempted so I hope you all enjoy it, I'll do my very best. I'm not sure how long its going to be yet but I'll keep going until its done~!

Please feel free to R&R I love getting feedback~!))