Chapter 1

I never wanted this. Never. But I should have expected it. Nothing good ever lasts with me. If I hurt everyone who I know, imagine what would happen to someone I loved? I don't have to. Not anymore at least.

He was short with scruffy black hair and a constant gloom. I know that doesn't sound very attractive, but he instantly struck me. He looked cranky but his short stature made him adorable instead of threatening.

I watched him from across the bar for a while trying to muster up enough courage to go talk to him. But doubt was stopping me, as it always did. What if he didn't like me? Why would he? Who would like a stupid geek like me? I mean, It's bad enough that I have different colored eyes.

I was sensitive about my eyes, as they were often used as ammo for the bullies when I was kid. But that's what kids do with different things. And how much more different can eyes get than one being electric blue and the other being blood red. But that's how I was born. Yup, "Sollux Captor: A freak since day one."

I was jarred out of my revery by a voice. "Hey fuckass, what are you staring at?"

I shook my head and focused on the short, angry guy in front of me, who, sometime while I was daydreaming, had made his way across the bar.

"Huh?"

"What. Are. You. Staring. At. You. Fuckass." He said each word slowly as if I was stupid.

"Nothing much." I retorted, a small smirk playing on my lips. He really was a handful.

He glared at me with his light blue, almost gray, eyes. "Fuck you, you bulge sniffing bitch! You wanna take this outside?!"

"Woa, woa, calm your titth man..." Great my lisp slipped out again. I had tried speech therapy but there was no getting rid of it. Just one more thing used against me as a kid. Turns out now was no different.

"Titth?" he guffawed "You fucking want me to calm my titth? What about I get you a margarita and you can have thome extra thalt with it?" A grin spread across his lips as a scowl came to mine.

"You get any girlth with that? When wath the latht time you had thex?" He grinned wider, obviously seeing he'd struck a nerve. The problem is he struck a nerve too hard.

Without thinking, I punched him in the face, dropping him more out of surprise than a hard punch. Before he could get up I threw a twenty on the bar to pay for my drink and made my way for the door. As I reached the door I felt a hand on my arm. I spun, hands up ready for an attack but the kid just stood there, sizing me up.

"Listen... I went too far..." He said.

"Yeah you did." I said, noting that he had the beginnings of a black eye already forming. I turned away and left the bar, but he followed me out into the street. It was relatively empty, but then again most streets are at 1 in the morning around here.

"Hey listen fuckass! I'm trying to say I'm sorry!" He grabbed my arm again and I flipped, spinning around an pinning him against the wall of the bar. It was easy to do considering how much smaller he was than me. Almost a whole foot shorter than me. I mean I'm not tall, only about 5' 11" maybe 6'. He had to be about 4'10".

"Look. You wanna know why I wath thtaring at you? I wath trying to build up the courage to talk to you. I thought you'd be fun to talk to but you're just like the rest."

he just stared me in the eyes, actually more accurately AT my eyes. My sunglasses had fallen off during the scuffle and he could see my freakish eyes.

"your eyes..." he muttered.

"Oh great, you're gonna thtart on that now too?"

"What? No! Hey! Let me go fuckass!" I obliged him that and let him away from the wall. He patted his clothes, wiping away the dust collected there from the wall. "You're eyes." He said while doing so. "They're... interesting."

My head cocked slightly as surprise took over. Interesting? Really? I'd actually never heard anyone call them that before. He shuffled a bit and looked away, blushing, making him look even cuter.

"Thankth..." I muttered, felling the rush of heat as a blush crept its way into my cheeks as well. "What'th your name?"

"Karkat, your's?"

"Thollux. Thollux Captor."

"Hey listen, Sollux... It's cold and I'm not gonna fancy standing out here all night. Umm... So I thought I'd go home... May-maybe I'll see you here tomorrow night?"

"M-maybe..." He nodded and opened his mouth to speak again but must have decided not to say whatever he was gonna say because he shook his head and turned away, walking to what I assumed was his home. I watched him walk away for a few minutes, letting what had just happened sink in. I sighed and turned to head home myself.