Every once in a while, Terezi Pyrope laid down and thought. It was one of the things she was best at, considering nothing visible would distract her. Being blind had its perks, after all. Terezi didn't remember much before she'd had her incident anyway, so it wasn't like she had a lot to miss. Really, the only down side was wondering what face matched the voices of her closest friends.
Her boyfriend (though he'd never admit it freely, or make advances in public) pitied her, and she knew it. It bothered her only slightly, because she was very good at detecting when a person was lying. She could easily tell if he did something because it was only right to help the little red headed, disabled girl, or because he wanted to, for love.
Love. The subject crossed Terezi's mind, and she felt her smile widen and pointed, sharp canine teeth, bare. Was she in love with Karkat? She felt like it. After years of friendly arguments, friendly battles of wits, and friendly challenges of strength, Terezi had hoped for something more. She wasn't disappointed; that Valentine's Day, Karkat had thrust a bouquet of red roses into her arms and cried she "better fucking like them". Of course she did. They smelled wonderful, and Terezi was amazed he remembered they were her favorite scent.
Where was Karkat? Busy at Blockbusters? No, Vriska never made him work the front desk on weekends. She learned that the hard way when he screamed at a woman looking to rent a romantic comedy. Terezi chuckled at the memory of Karkat coming home that afternoon.
"She was such a fucking idiot! I mean, everyone on the face of this fucking spherical planet knows good and well that Hope Springs had an ending that was shat out by Meryl Streep's ugly elephant of an ass-mother and dialogue that could have been written by any fuckass with knowledge of the senile, horny and aroused elderly! Jesus fucking christ!" Karkat screamed. It went on for hours more, but Terezi had stopped listening after a while and only continued to revel in the amazingly wide selection of curses Karkat spewed.
She ran her hand over the cool, wrinkled bed cover. She had asked Karkat why he never bothered to make it up and fix it, or at least straighten out the sheets once in awhile. He told her he never cared really, and she couldn't see it anyway, so what was the point? Terezi never answered. She didn't mind the bed either, but she hated when people acknowledged her weakness. All she wanted was to be like everybody else.
Terezi sighed and closed her eyes. Not for the effect, but the feeling of being relaxed. To her, nothing had changed as her lids snapped shut. Every time she decided to lie down and think, which wasn't too often, it made her dredge up all the depressing memories compiled over the years.
Karkat asking how many fingers he was holding up; Nepeta wondering if she saw how amazing the lion exhibit was that one time they went to the zoo; Sollux saying he'd be able to smell like she could after he recovered from the accident; it all cut into her heart, but she never showed it. Ah, the accident. It was the perfect topic for her right now.
She looked back at the memory, not fondly, but...glad it was there in the first place. Sollux was driving, a wise choice considering Terezi's condition.
"Where are you taking me tonight?" she'd asked.
Sollux grumbled something under his breath, too soft for even Terezi's excellent senses to decipher. "What?" she questioned. Sollux shook his head and glared out of his window.
"Ugh, fine, be that way, you ugly mustard jackass!" Terezi whined.
Sollux looked up from the wheel and turned to her with an idiotic grin. "'Mustard jackass'? Where the hell did you pull that one from, TZ?"
Terezi snorted at her nickname and cramped herself against the car door. Without taking his eyes off the road, Sollux placed his palm over her opposite hand, which sat lightly on the arm of her seat.
"It's just a surprise, okay?" Sollux mumbled. Terezi giggled at the appearance of his lisp, which was always there, but barely noticeable until he pronounced words starting with "S". Sollux squeezed Terezi's fist, a gentle comfort and attempt to make her shut up. She took the hint, ever so begrudgingly, but quit snickering. Sollux sighed at the wheel as horns blared around them and he came to a creeping stop.
"What's going on?" Terezi asked, confused. Sollux hated the delay. It was making him nervous. He was already terrified in the pit of his stomach. Something cold clutched his insides and flipped them inside out. What was this- this sudden grip of horror? Traffic had them cornered, which made it all the more difficult for him to hurry and have this whole night over with. Sollux was not the romantic kind of guy, no; he was the kind of guy who got cold feet if he had to wait more than he anticipated. He took it as a sign, a prophecy. He wasn't supposed to be doing this kind of thing at some fancy restaurant, even when he made the reservation weeks in advance. It wasn't right.
Sollux took his hand off the wheel and clutched the outside of his pocket. The round edges of the velvet box felt like a death threat. How stupid was he? Like Terezi would really say yes to him. Like anybody would really say yes to him. There went the entire night with one build-up of cars strewn across the highway. An emotional turmoil swept over his body, reducing him to a frustrated mess.
With a grunt, Sollux slammed his head against the horn. It raged against the opposing cars, joining in the warfare. Terezi nearly leapt out of her skin, but returned to her cool composure. "What the hell, Sollux? Are you okay tonight? Maybe we should just go home," she suggested with an undetectable tremor in her voice.
He only continued smashing against the car, unable to do much more than groan at his own stupidity. How had he not seen this coming? Everything was going to go wrong and there was nothing Sollux could do to stop it. He closed his eyes and yanked both of his hands into his hair. He wanted to rip it all out, and even more so to yank his head off. Maybe he'd be like a chicken and live for another five days or something. It would be better than looking at Terezi in this moment, this pure nervous, shaking, pit feeling troubling his body.
"Sollux! If you don't tell me right now, I'm getting out of this car and you can watch me die in the street where I can't see a damn thing," Terezi threatened.
Sollux jerked himself back in his seat. "You want to know what we're doing tonight?! Fine! I was going to give you this piece of shit. But the universe hates me, as is obvious right now by the hugeass swarm of vehicles piled up around us!" He threw the box into her lap. It bounced over her thighs, but she managed to grip it after two or three fumbling and embarrassing attempts.
"I don't know why you're being so melodramatic, dude. It's just a box and it doesn't even-"
Sollux yanked the accursed thing from Terezi's hands. He ripped it open, popped the diamond ring from its casing, and shoved it back into her fingers. Terezi twisted it over and over, feeling and trying to understand what the little thing-
Oh.
"Sol...is this what I think it is?" Terezi asked slowly. She was drawing it out. Sollux felt like she was doing it on purpose, forcing him to listen for more than was necessary, because it pleased her. He was glad she couldn't see his expression; it was of pure angst and worry. He swallowed a nervous lump in his throat, at the same time attempting to hold down his lunch. He felt his skin prickle with heat. There wasn't anywhere to run, no server or chat he could quit and come back to when he had a decent reply, this was now. Now was happening, and now was what scared him the most.
Sollux stared out his window and ended up looking in the car to his left. A couple were cuddled together in the driver's seat, disgustingly enough. Sollux's urge to vomit grew that much stronger. He swiveled quickly and looked past Terezi. Another couple were tackling each other and digging into their partner's skin. That was ten times worse! Sollux straightened himself with a choking cough that left him barely breathing.
"Sollux? I can't tell what you're doing exactly, but you haven't answered my question," Terezi chided. Sollux only grunted and shoved his face into his palms. He didn't have the answers, and Terezi was expecting them. She thought he could handle this, but what if he let her down?
"TZ, just...look, okay? It's a stupid engagement ring and you don't have to like it. I'll take it back if you want and you never have to think about it ever again, alright? Why don't we drive home once traffic clears up and I'll help you move your stuff out. And don't worry about it, I'd dump me too if I were you, so there's no bad feelings," Sollux gushed. He could feel his heart splitting open and head beginning to swim. He slapped his hands down on his knees, which were knotted with a few of his dark brown strands of short hair. He thought to look in the rearview mirror, and tutted at the mess he'd created. His bangs flopped every which way and the rest looked like a monkey picked through his hair for grub.
Sollux turned to Terezi, ready to continue exploding about how she could leave without any kind of remorse, and was caught by a pleasant surprise; Terezi pressed her lips against his and let her tongue dive through his mouth. She has surprisingly good aim for a blind girl, Sollux thought in the back of his head. Soon the rest of the world melted away to a dark blur, and all he could feel was the heat of Terezi folded against him. Almost losing her balance, Terezi clutched Sollux's bony shoulder and worked onwards. Her mouth burned against his like it was coated in molten lava; Sollux was on fire.
Although he felt whole, complete, and like life had been sparked into his corpse of a heart, the kiss was broken as Terezi leaned back into her seat. Her hand left a tingling sensation behind as it tripped down Sollux's arm and into her lap once again. Finally, Sollux got a good look at Terezi's left hand, and how stunning the ring looked on her stocky finger. Tiny cuts of topaz sat in a collective circle around the two and a half carat diamond, patted down against a shining silver band. Terezi toyed with it continuously, showing her appreciation. Thankfully, cars began to gradually pick up the pace and head along the highway, as Sollux realized something.
They were fender to fender, and he didn't feel like there were anymore risks he could take that night. He dropped the wheel, much to the annoyance of the other drivers, and wrapped his arms around Terezi gently.
"You know, you never actually said yes," Sollux recalled.
Terezi pressed her nose to his with a cackle, and licked her lips hungrily.
"My answer should have been obvious, Sollux, but y-"
Screeching rang down the highway. Everything was burned in a flash of brilliant white light, while all Sollux could do in the middle of the road was cover her as much as he could. Protect. Then, the light faded from his world, and everything was dipped into a pit of barely audible screaming, sobbing, and the slow spin into unconsciousness.
Darkness. Silence. No, wait. He could hear faintly. Someone was screeching, another was crying, and one tried to moan her words.
Terezi! Sollux wailed.