Your name is Hal Strider. You were bored and hot as fuck, so you decided to head up to you and your brother's room. Your twin, Dirk Strider, was sitting back in his computer chair.

"Hey Dirk." You say, wandering into the room.

"Hey." He mutters, typing away at his keyboard.

"What's up?" You walk up behind him.

"I was debating whether or not I should ignore you, but I'm bored so I guess I won't." He sighs and spins in the chair, looking at you. "What's up with you?"

"Wow man, that hurt. I'm your brother." You roll your eyes. "But I'm not up to much. It's boring as fuck..."

"Look Hal, we're either fighting or ignoring each other, despite our familial ties." He points out.

"I'd rather not fight right now..." You mutter under your breath.

"Whatever you say, ,it's still boring as fuck." He sounded pretty bored with you.

"Dammit Dirk, I just got out of a fight with Dave. Didn't you hear him yelling?"

Dirk rubbed his temples. "I was buried under blankets and pillows 'cause, damn, do migranes kill. I didn't hear anything." Dirk paused, glancing from his feet, to you. "Are you okay?"

You hesitate. You don't like seeming like the kid that needs someone to protect you. You're strong enough to fight back, at least, you like to believe so. "Sure." You push your redish/orange shades up, hoping that it hides your black eye.

"Hal..." Dirk sighs deeply, looking at you worrily. "You have to tell me if he did anything to you."

"What?" You stare at him. You two faught all the time, though maybe not like you and Dave, or Dirk and Dave do. "I... Why? We fight all the time. You and me, I mean."

"Not physically, unless we're strifing, and then we're on even ground. I stop when you say, and vise versa." Dirk countered. "So, did he hurt you?"

"I'll be fine." You mutter.

"Hal." He speaks your name firmly. "Answer my question."

"Fuck." You curse under your breath. "It's just a few cuts and bruises. Not much..."

"God dammit. I can patch you up, but after stay in our room for a little and lock the door, okay?"

"Fine..." You don't know why he wants you to do this, but you listen anyways. You rub your arm. It's in pain from Dave bending your arm behind your back.

"C'mere." Dirk gets up, starting off towards his dresser and pulling out a first-aid kit. He pulls

over a chair for you to sit on. "Tell me where you're hurt."

"I-It's just my arms and chest really." You stutter, pulling your hoodie off to reveal the cuts and bruises on your arms..

Dirk sits you in the chair and pours disinfectantson the cuts and wrapping them before putting Arnicare cream on the bruises. "Look, if you're okay, I'm going to go our for a few minutes and I want you to lock the door. I'll bring you some ice when I come back."

You frown. "Tell me you arne't going to go pick a ight with Dave..."

He hesitates. "Just lock the door. Promise?"

"Dirk..." You refuse to promise until he tells you.

"Hal." He simply utters your name.

"Don't fight with Dave, please." You beg.

"You trust me, don't you?" He looks you dead in the eyes, through both of your shades.

You nod, rubbing the eye that isn't black. "Y-Yeah."

"Good. I'll be back. Lock the door."

You nod and he leaves before you can say much else. Dirk quickly finds Dave downstairs and does exactly what you thought he would. Several shouted words and crashes can be heard from downstairs, cursing, and a moment later, a slammed door. He takes a moment, wincing, rubbing his busted, probably broken, nose. Dirk ignores his own pain and heads into the kitchen,, getting you an ice pack and returning to knock on the door. "Hal, it's me. You can open the door now."

You hate when your brothers fight. Dave was like a father to you two, or, was, until he decided it was best to abuse the fuck out of you daily. It was more you than Dirk though. It caused a lot of tention in the family. You open the door. "I told you not to fight him..." You mutter.

"Dave's gone." Dirk speaks quietly, like he had someone he couldn't tell. He rubbed the blood from his nose and handed you the ice pack.

"Where is he?" You inquire, taking the ice pack, not too happy. You place it on your head, which was holding a massive headache.

"I don't know," was the only thing that came from his mouth. There was a moment of silence before he broke it. "Can you fix my nose?"

You cringe at the idea. "I don't know how!"

"Gimme your hand." He held his own hand out.

You didn't give him your hand. Fixing his nose sounded gross. "Why can't you do it?"

"'Cause I'm too much of a pansy and it hurts." He admitted.

You give him your hand. "Fine..."

He puts your hand on his nose. "If it feels crooked or bent, just use your thumb and forefinger to push it together, okay? But be fast about it."

You feel back about hurting him but you quickly bend his noise back into place. He lets out a little yelp, eyebrows knotting together in pain. He shoots you a small smile once your done. "Thanks for that."

You furrow your eyebrows. "I didn't like that."

"It's okay," he smiles at you. "I won't ask you to do something like that again... I don't," He

pauses. "Nevermind."

"What?" You stare at him. "Tell me."

He frowns, burying his face in one of his hands. "I, uh... Don't know when Dave's coming back, but we can make it until he does."

"What do you mean?" You look at him questioningly. "Where did he go?" Dirk didn't answer. "Dirk, where did Dave go... You aren't telling me something."

Dirk bites his lip. "I don't know, Hal... Just... I don't know. I don't know what to tell you."

You wrap your arms around Dirk in a hug, burying your face in the crook of his neck. He encircles you with his arms snugly, pressing a kiss to the top of your head. "It's okay..."

"I hate this." You angrily mutter. "What is Dave's problem?"

"Anger issues, I guess." Dirk shrugs.

"He scares me." You quietly admit.

"I know," is all the taller Strider can manage. Silence settles like dust while you two stand, hugging each other tightly. Finally, Dirk breaks the air and askes, "Do you want to go over Rose's?"

You shake your head. "No, I like it here, as long as Dave's gone."

"Are you sure?" Dirk doesn't look completely convinced.

"Y-Yeah." You let go of Dirk and smile, something you would normally never do.

The other boy returns the smile reassuringly. "Like I said, it's going to be even if- even when he comes back."

You flop on your back in the pile of blankets on the mattress that you call a bed. "This sucks."

Dirk moves to sit on the edge of the bed. "Maybe we should go when he comes back."

"I'd like that..." You whisper. "Dirk?"

He seems to have not noticed you speak his name, and lays next to you, hesitantly. "If we do, it'll be nice. I think I have some money saved up."

"Where would we go?" You ask, turning your head to look at him.

"We could go over Rose's and maybe find a way to get emancipated. After that, if I could get some more money, we could go anywhere." He sounded like a kid, fanicizing about being older and traveling the world.

"Dirk..."

"Where do you want to go?" He cracked a small smile.

"Dirk." You speak more sternly, to get his attention.

He paused. "Hal."

He turns his head and your eyes lock with his orange ones. Ever since you were little, you'd been really pale and had white hair. Your eyes were red, just like Dave's, something you hated, but they had dark marks around them, like black eye shadow, but they were just always there. You didn't have a way to get rid of them. "Why did you tell me not to tell anyone before?"

The other Strider raised an eyebrow at you. "What do you mean?"

"About what Dave does..." You think for a moment. "You told me not to tell people... Why?"

"I... I was scared."

Those words hit you hard. You've never heard Dirk Strider, your twin, your stronger, smarter, better twin, your IDOL, say that he was scared.

"Of what?" You have to ask.

"I was scared that they'd take us away. I thought that we'd get seperated and I was just..." He

searched for the right words, but couldn't find them. "Really fuckin' scared... I thought I could protect you, Hal. I thought I could protect you, but I couldn't. I couldn't and I'm sorry, even though I know it means jack shit."

You stop him before he can say more. "Dirk..." You hug him tightly. "It's okay... I'm not mad at you."

His arms are shaking when he wraps them around you, pulling you tightly against him. He buries his face in your shoulder. "You should be mad. I'm so sorry, Hal."

"It's not your fault." I argue. "I don't blame you for what Dave does."

"You should blame me for not being able to protect you like I promised myself I would... For telling you not to tell anyone."

"But..." You thought about what Dirk said. "If they seperated us... You'd never be there."

"You still might get someone that wouldn't hurt you." He countered.

"I'd rather be with someone like Dave then be without you, Dirk."

The other boy falls silent for a moment before speaking again. "I wish you didn't have to."

"It's okay... We won't hjave to once we leave, right?" You try to lighten things up.

He nods. "Right. Everything's going to be okay, I promise."

"Can... We do something fun while he's gone? We haven't done anything fun in a while." You ask, sounding like a little kid again.

"Sure, whadda wanna do?" He smiles at you.

"I wanna do what I didn't get to as a kid. I wanna go play a video game in a fucking blanket fort, dammit."

He chuckles. "I'll help you build it."

You smile and nod. "I'd like that."

You both hop out of the bed and agree on the living room to build said fort. You grab some pillows and blankets, dragging them to the living room. Dirk does the same, trailing close behind. He puts the blankets on the couch and gets some clothespins, dragging some chairs over to build the fort with. It doesn't take long to build the actual fort, and you fill the inside with blankets and pillows. You make sure that it was set up so you could both see the TV from inside. You were going to play a video game, but you decided to just watch an anime with him, like he always liked. You crawled inside and waited for Dirk to join you.

"I'm guessin' it was everything you dreamed it would be?"

You nod, and smile, but a bit sadly. "I just wish I could be a kid again and do things like I was supposed to."

Dirk reaches over and ruffles your white hair. "We're only sixteen. By like, 40-year old standpoints, we're still kids."

Frowing, you fix your hair. "I don't feel like a kid..." You mutter.

"Most people don't... There's a lot more things you can do now." He adds.

You cuddle up next to Dirk, enjoying the feeling of being next to him, of being in his arms and feeling the warmth that he always gave off. "All I want to do is live another day. I don't want anything else but that."

"When we leave and get our own place... Eventually... I'll take you to do whatever you want, okay?" The other Strider lays down, scooting close to you. "I won't let anyone hurt you anymore."

You wipe your eyes of tears and rest your head against Dirk's chest. "Thank you, Dirk."

"It's no problem," is all he says. He threads his fingers gently in your hair, playing with it.

"Dirk... I..." You fish for the right words, unable to form a correct sentence.

"What's wrong?" He quirks his eyebrows.

"I... I love you," you finally manage to spit out.

Dirk smiles, kissing the top of your head. "I love you, too."

You don't think he quite gets what you really meant. You mean it in more then a brotherly way, but you don't know how to say that to Dirk. You blush, hiding your face.

He gives you another confused look. "What?"

"N-Nothing." You stutter.

"You sure, bro?" Dirk didn't sound convinced.

"I just... I love you... A lot."

"A lot?" He echoes.

"Y-Yeah." You nod your head slightly.

"What do you mean?" He was making this so hard to do.

"Like... I don't know how to say this... Fuck." You curse under your breath.

"Oh." Dirk says, finally understanding. "Fuck. I think I get it."

"Dammit." You hide your face again.

"You're in love with me?"

"Y-Yeah," is all you can spit out.

"Oh, uh..." Dirk can't seem to form words, nevermind a sentence.

"I know you don't feel the same. I'm a fuckin' moron. Shit."

"N-No, it's okay... I just, I've never thought about you in that way?" The way he says that confuses you, it was almost a question. "I mean, it's not a definite no... Just, gimme some time, alright?" He smiles at you reassuringly.

"It's fine," you say. "I'm just... I'm just confused."

"Confused?" He repeats.

"I just... Nevermind." You need to get your emotions under control. You're usually pretty calm, but today, no way. You've been stressed, you can't talk straight. You don't know what to do.

"No," he counters. "It's okay, you can tell me if you want."

"I just don't know, Dirk. I'm so confused. I love you, but you're my brother. Isn't that weird?"

You groan. "I have Dave to deal with, this shit is just too much."

"It's... I mean, it's happened in history before." You give him a confused looked. "Incest, I mean. It's happened, but it's not really common."

"Oh well," you give up. "I know you wouldn't like me like that anyways. I'm a little shit that needs someone to protect me."

"I have some feelings towards you," Dirk wouldn't give up that easily. "I think they might be unbrotherly, butmy feels always get so jumbled up. But, hey, it's not your fault for needing protection. If Dave backed off, you wouldn't need it."

You shrug. I just don't know what to do. There's too much to deal with right now."

"You dont' have to do anything." Dirk rubs your back gently. "I know you've got a lot on your

plate right now. Hopefully things will even out."

"When..." You change subjects. "What do you think Dave will come back?"

Dirk falls silent for a long moment. "I don't know, Hal."

You sigh. "This sucks." You stretch, the cuts and bruises on your arms visible. You wince. You were hiding a lot for cuts and things on your chest and stomach, one of which was particularly deep and very bad.

Dirk encircles his fingers around your wrist, pulling your arm gently with a groan. "I'll clean your wounds again tomorrow, okay?"

You nod, hoping that Dirk wouldn't see your bad cut. "Okay.."

"I might have to have Rose take you to a doctor if they don't heal right."

"I'm not that bad..." You grumble.

"We'll see, alright?"

"Alright." You agree, closing your eyes. You want to sleep. You didn't get much sleep, but when you did, all it was was nightmares.

Dirk pulls a blanket over you, and turns the TV volume down. He wraps his arms around you possessivly.

You fall asleep quickly, and stay asleep, that is, until Dave came back home.

Dirk flinches and curls around you when he hears the door open and shut in the other room. He nudged you insistently. "Hal, dude, you have to get up." He whispers.

You groan softly and yawn. "Mh?" You hum. You were pretty sleepy still, but you heard Dave come over into the living room.

"The fuck?" He questions when he sees the fort.

Dirk leaves you in the fort and crawls out, standing to face Dave. A sudden lump in his throat renders him unable to speak.

"What the fuck is this?" Dave demands.

"I assumed you weren't coming back." Dirk ignores Dave's question. "Welcome home, though, Dave."

"It's my house. Of course I was fuckin' coming back. Where the hell is Hal?" Dave searches the room with his red eyes behind his shades. Hal heard the eldest Strider say his name and froze, not knowing if he should say he's there or stay quiet.

Dirk pauses before straightening and taking a sidestep so that he's infront of the enterence of the fort, staying between Dave and Hal. "At Jane's. You look like you needed to cool off. If you want, I'll be out of your hair, too."

Hal holds back a whimper as Dave sighs and pushes past Dirk, walking into the kitchen. "Whatever, tell him to get back here. And take that god damn shit down." He ordered.

"I will." Dirk crawls under the fort until he's faces with Hal, speaking in a fast whisper once Dave's gone. "Go to our room and close the door quietly. Don't lock it. You might want to sit under the desk so if Dave were to come up there, he won't see you. I doubt he'd look. I'll come back to you after I put this away. Cool?"

You nod and scurry upstairs. You try to shut the door quietly, but you trip, causing the door to slam. You curse under your breath and before Dirk would know it, Dave's heading up to see what the noise was.

Dirk was working on putting the blankets in the closet, but when he passes the kitchen and doesn't see Dave, he sprints up stairs. "Dave? Dave, you piece of shit, come here." He spits, full of vemon, trying to agitate him and turn Dave's attention on himself.

Meanwhile, Dave was already upstairs and standing over you, while you were on the floor, one leg bent awkwardly, lying on your back, staring up at Dave. You were so much smaller then him. "I thought you were at Jane's house?" You can hear the utter disgust in Dave's voice.

"I... I mean.. I just..." You can't form coherent sentences and just stammer in fear at the taller, older male.

"Just shut the fuck up." Dave kicks your side hard, making you cry out in pain.

Dirk rounds the corner and sprints into their room, moving to try and stand in front of you. "Dave. Think rationally here. Hal had no part in this. I'm the one that lied for him. See? If you're going to hurt anyoine, hurt me. I won't fight you. Hurt me." Dirk practically begged for Dave to hurt him instead of you. You hated how Dirk was willing to get killed for you.

"Does it look like I want anything to do with you?" Dave pushes Dirk away, almost knocking him over. He grabbed the collar of your shirt and made you stand. You could only stand on one leg though, since one was in complete pain. "C'mon kid," he taunted in your face. "Why don't you actually try and fight me!?"

"I... I... I"

Dave didn't let you say anything else before slamming his fist into the side of your head. You paractially scream in agony. He's stronger than he looks.

Dirk almost fell flat on his ass when Dave punched him, but caught himself . He surges forward with a closed fist, aiming at Dave's jaw. He wasn't hold back one bit, putting every bit of strength behind it. "Dave, you absolute trash! Look at me!"

Hal fell from Dave's punch and Dave stumbled from Dirk's, furious now. He turned and rammed his fist into Dirk's face.

"Glad I got your attention." The blow from Dave jars Dirk almost making him fall back, but he holds he ground, kicking him hard in the shin before aiming another hit to the older mans cheek. Dirk risks a look at you before returning his attention to Dave.

You look terrified. You hate seeing Dave angry, but Dirk pissed off scares you. You just wanted to slither off and be alone, but those two were blocking the door way. You watched as Dave brough his leg up and kicked Dirk right in the groin as hard as he could.

Dirk whimpers at that as he falls to his knees, hands shooting down to cover his crotch. "Dave... Please, don't hurt him. He isn't worth your time, y'know? He can't fight back. I can. It'll actually be a challenge. If you fight him, you'll look like a coward for fighting someone weaker than you. Fight me. I'll let you do whatever you want." Dirk pleads. That hurt you in a sense. Dirk was begging to take every hit, every punch and kick... Dirk was asking to take all of it, and for what? For you.

"It's almost funny that he needs you to protect him." Dave turns to look down at you. "Aw, scared?" He crouches down and makes you look at him. "Don't make me laugh." He punches you right in the stomach, right where he had stabbed you earlier that day. It hit you so hard, and so much pain shot through you at that one moment that you screamed. You just wanted Dave to end it. Kill you right there. You didn't want this. You couldn't take it anymore.

Dirk was sitting behind Dave, crying, sniveling. He was ashamed at himself for how he couldn't protect you, how all that he could hear was the sound of your scream ringing in his ear. He collected himself and moved to the side, swiping a pocket knife off of the desk and flipping it open. It was small, but it could do some damage. He kicks Dave in the ribs, more to get his attention. It wasn't a hard kick. "Dave. Look at me! I won't hesitate to kill you. You do look weak. Do you only pick on people that are younger, or smaller?! Come the fuck over here!"

Dave turns his attention to Dirk and noticed the tears. "Aw, you cryin' now? You're both still babies. Man up and stop crying!"

Dirk is furious, evidence of the emotion obvious in his eyes. He lunges forward and slashes the knife at his throat, hoping for a direct hit.

Dave grabs Dirk's wrist before he can cut him. "You're getting' brave, kid." He bends Dirk's wrist awkwardly, almost to a breaking point. Behind Dave, you're curled in a ball, sobbing, watching the two Striders go at it.

Dirk gapes, the pain almost enough to knock the breath out of him. He can't move his hand, but he didn't hear the crack of bone, so he lunges forward once more, swiping at Dave's legs with his feet, trying to get on top of him.

Dave uses the momentum of Dirk jumping forward to throw him behind himself, almost at you, breaking his wrist in the process.

Dirk tries to roll when he's thrown, trying to do what he'd always heard to do when you fall, but it doesn't help. He screams and whimpers in pain as he cradles his broken wrist to his chest, shaking as he cries.

You watch Dirk fall and see the knife clatter to the ground next to you. You'd never felt so angry, so furious, so upset in your life. You grab the knife and stop Dave before he could hit Dirk again. "HEY!" You grip the knife tightly. "BACK. OFF! Who do you think you are!? Beating up two kids!? You're a coward! I HATE YOU!" You lunge at Dave, catching him off guard and stabbing him in the stomach, making him scream.

Dirk can only dully manage to realize what's going on. Eventhing seems hazy through the thick, thick blanket of pain and the call of unconsciousness that blackens his vision at the edges. He pants as he tries to sit up, barely managing to witness the specticle before falling back again, eyes falling shut briefly.

Dave falls to the ground as he screams. "What the fuck, kid!?" Dave curses, shouting at you.

"You deserve to die!" You scream, jumping at Dave once more. You slit his throat in one swift movement and fall the the ground, sobbing once you realize that you've done. You killed someone. You killed Dave. What.. Why? How... You'd never answer those questions for yourself.

Dirk feels like he's going to be sick when the stench of blood hits his nose. He knows he has to get up. He knows they have to get out of the house. Shaking, he gets up, the pain in his wrist dulling. He thinks he might be going into shock, but he can't analyze his reactions enough to tell right now. "Hal, we have to go to the hospital. It's okay. Drop the knife. Can you walk?"

You're shaking and holding your head, knife still in hand. You're sobbing and can't even form a coherent sentence. You wouldn't have been able to wake anyways. Before Dirk had came into the room, Dave twisted your leg, practically breaking it. "I.. H-H-How... H-He.."

Dirk manages to pry the knife from your grip. He holds the knife in his own hand, pressing his fingers over the surface of it before letting it go, letting it fall to the ground. He moves to the side of the room, bare foot stepping in blood, almost causing him to trip. He pulls over a computer chair and pushes it to you. "Sit, we need to go to the hospital, okay? They're gonna fix us up."

You look at Dirk. You've never looked so vulnerable before, more like a child. You nod. There was blood coming from the corner of your mouth and nose. "O-O-Okay..."

Dirk pulls you close into a hug with the arm that didn't have a broken wrist, arms heavily shaking as his wrist sends throbs of pain up his arm. He pushes the chair behind your knees, hoping that you'll sit so you can go to the hospital. He knows that they're going to look like idiots when the paramedics come in. He was already trying to think of a cover story for when they go to the emergencry room. It doesn't matter, he though. It was all his fault. He thought to himself that he should have convinced you to leave before.

You sit down, hugging yourself and wiping tears and blood off of your face. "J-Just call the hospital, D-Dirk..."

"What if th-" He stops himself, giving up on the hope that he held. He rushes over to the phone and calls 911. He gives them the adress and tells them that they killed Dave in self-defence and of their wounds. He had lied, sort of, but he had to to protect you. Had to. He promised. He hands up and tosses the phone aside before coming back to you. "They're going to be here really soon." He says.

"O-Okay." You snuggle. It was going to take you a while to get over that. You killed your own older brother, watched him beat up your twin... You didn't think you could take anymore. You thought that if you saw more fighting or blood, you might pass out.

Dirk shakes as he sits next to you, knees pulled close to his chest as the events of the day replayed in his head. He felt like he was going to be sick, again, but he holds it back, hearing the dim wail of an ambulance coming down their street. He already gave them the apartment number and the door was unlocked, so they come in a moment later, stretchers in hand.

You jump when they burst in, startled by their sudden appearance.

The paramedics explain to you that they're going to have to put you on a stretcher. They already checked Dave's vitals and put him in a body bag before bringing the three, or more like two, of them, out to the ambulance.

Dirk climbs into the ambulance with you and the paramedics work in tandem patching up both or your wounds. Dirk reaches for your hand, squeezing it gently before letting go.

You still have a scared look on your pale face. You would never get over the events of the day, the fact that you killed Dave. "D-Dirk... I..."

Dirk turns towards you, tears still streaming down his face, despite how badly he wants them to

stop. "Hal?"

"Wh-What did I do?"