Dirk didn't like hanging out at his house. It was too empty. His bro was never home, and the big place was too quiet and lonely. He used to blast music, but the police had shown up too many times. So he started staying next door, with his friend Jane, on the afternoons and weekends. He loved Jane. He didn't think it was anything romantic. He had known her since he and his bro had moved in next door. Dirk was four years old, and Jane was three, at the time. She had dragged her father over to the house to meet the little boy with the spiky hair, and to invite him to her birthday party.

Dirk still remembered, vaguely, how she had bragged about icing the cupcakes herself. They were incredibly messy, but delicious. Of course, the assorted toddlers had dissolved to throwing their food around and smashing it as opposed to eating it. But Dirk had been close to Jane ever since then. He was there for her when she was happy, sad, or bored. There to hang out with, to go to the mall with, or as a shoulder to cry on. She, of course, doted on him, always feeding him when he came over, complaining that he was "as thin as a whippet" and that "a stiff breeze will carry him away". He always accepted her food. He didn't have any sort of an eating disorder. He just exercised a lot, and had a high metabolism.

Jane was a different story. Pudgy and soft at first glance, she could still pack a punch. Dirk found that out when he jokingly tried to steal a swipe of frosting from a bowl as she was making a cake. She whacked him so hard on the back of the hand with her spoon, that it bruised. She offered him ice and apologies for days, while he maintained that he had had worse. That was when they were in middle school, and both of them were still a little ungainly. Then, Dirk had sprouted up like a weed, nearly over night. Jane had filled out and grown into her curves over time, found her style, and stuck to it.

Dirk had experimented, dying his hair all colors, growing it out, shaving it off, wearing punk clothing, then excessively bright colors, then all black. One thing that had never changed was his spiked shades. Finally, he settled into just wearing jeans and a t-shirt most often, occasionally adding a hoodie if it was cold or windy. Which it was more often than not, in Washington State.

That particular day, Dirk was staying home. Jane had come down with the flu, and as much as he had tried to plead and convince her father, he had refused.

"Jane told me not to let you in, Dirk," he explained. "I think she's more concerned for your health at the moment. As soon as she's deemed not contagious, I'm sure you'll be at our doorstep again."

He wasn't wrong, but Dirk still grumbled quietly. He slouched and lazily strolled back over to his empty house. He kinda wished that his bedroom faced Jane's. Unfortunately, he wasn't lucky enough to have that cliche working to his advantage.

He just climbed out his window, swinging up onto the roof in a manner that showed careful practice. He still had a couple small scars and memories of broken bones from when he had been learning how to do that. Perch on the ledge, jump to the tree. Skip the one branch that was cracked, stick close to the trunk. Spring to the roof, watch your step on the loose tile, then shimmy up and over. Perfect.

He flopped down on the edge of the roof, his heels braced against the gutter. He had come up on his own once and braced that bit so it could hold his weight. It hadn't been hard hiding these rooftop excursions from his bro. He just played music while he did his homework in his room when his bro was home, and finally he just accepted it. Dirk picked up a tiny pebble from a stash on the roof, and with careful aim, chucked it at Jane's window. It pinged off, and she was there after just a moment. The houses were close enough together where they could hold a conversation like this. Dirk often wondered if he could slip over to her house from the roof. He might have been able to jump the distance. He never had a reason to, though, since he could just go over. He was happy to just talk to her like this, though.

"You look like shit," was the first thing he said. Jane laughed, but it quickly dissolved into a coughing fit.

"I f-" Cough. "Feel like shit."

"You missed a movie in class. And a worksheet to go with the movie." He rolled his eyes. She did the same.

"I'm glad. Those worksheets take all the fun out of the movies!" She sniffled, then stuck her tongue out. She disappeared from the window for just a moment, and there was the sound of a sneeze, followed by vigorous nose blowing. She came back to the window, a box of tissues in her hand.

"You sneeze so loud," Dirk said, a quiet chuckle slipping past his lips. "You'll wake up the neighborhood if you keep that up tonight. Jane frowned and scrunched her nose up at him. It was adorable, even if she was pale and her nose was running. She sneezed again, muffling it behind a tissue. She groaned, sitting back in her chair.

"Dirk, as much as I appreciate you trying to make me feel better, I'm exhausted..." She yawned, and that dissolved into another coughing fit. Dirk nodded sagely.

"Go get some sleep, Jane. We can't have you sick. It's lonely at the lunch table without you," he noted. Jane nodded, and gave him a tired smile before shutting her window and drawing the curtains. Dirk watched the window for a little bit, then climbed back down to his room.

The pounding beat of his favorite song in his ears didn't cover the achingly cold loneliness of the house. He hated it. Jane was sick, he was all alone, and he didn't feel like going anywhere else. He had all his homework done. His laptop was sitting open on the bed next to him, and his cell phone was on his night stand, no new messages. He sighed, turning onto his side, his pesterchum app open. He didn't feel like talking to anyone. He closed it, sighing again. Things kinda sucked when he couldn't hang out with Jane, he decided. She was so bright and peppy and alive. She always had something she wanted to do with him or their small group of friends.

After a while of moping about, Dirk got up, grabbing his skateboard and hoodie. He went outside, boarding up and down the road as a distraction. He kept going further and further until he found himself at McDonald's. He went in, got a meal, and sat alone, his skateboard propped against the table. Once he had finished, he boarded back home. All in all, he had killed about an hour and a half.

Still nobody to chat with, still no texts. He drew a little bit, still bored beyond belief, but didn't like any of it. He deleted the files, and threw away the paper drawings. Looking at the clock on his laptop, he decided it was a plausible time to get ready for bed. He took a shower, brushed his teeth, went through his normal routine on autopilot. He almost climbed out the window again, so used to going to talk to Jane before bed. Then he realized she was probably still sleeping, and shut the window. He flopped into bed, a little too warm for sheets at the moment. He just set his glasses on top of his laptop and closed his eyes.

After a dreamless sleep that seemed to last no time, his alarm was going off. He smacked the snooze button a few times, like he always did. He was not a morning person. After the third or fourth time, he finally shut it off and rolled out of bed. He went down the hall, splashing water on his face. Then, he slinked downstairs for a cup of coffee. He liked it strong and black, with maybe a spoonful of sugar. He always joked that he liked his men like that, too. Nobody laughed after the millionth time he told that joke. Jane still grinned a little, though. It may have been pity, or genuine, he couldn't tell. After two piping hot mugs of coffee, he felt a little more awake.

He went through his morning routine, putting on music again while he did. He washed his face, shaved, and checked for pimples. He was all good, and ready to go. He walked outside, and waited by Jane's mailbox, wondering if she felt good enough to come to school today. When her father came out and told him to get along to school, Dirk accepted, and walked to their school.

The day went by, Dirk still kind of on autopilot. He was too bored. He supposed it wasn't healthy, sharing too much of his life with Jane. But then again, he could barely remember not living next door to her, not sharing almost all his time with her. It was like he was missing an arm.

As he was walking home from school, his phone went off. He checked. It was a text from Jane.

"I hope you got my homework for me. I'd hate to let my grades go down." He sent a text back quickly.

"You know I've got them, Crocker. I've done this every time you got sick since, what, third grade?"

"You drop that sass, mister, or I won't let you come over. Roxy texted me and said you were moping and sighing all through school."

"That is a load of shit. I was not moping nor was I sighing. You need to remember to not trust Roxy for gossip, Crockpot."

"Oh just get over here, you jerk. :B"

Dirk chuckled, strolling over to Jane's house. Her father opened the door.

"I told you that you would be over here as soon as she was feeling better," he commented.

"I never doubted you, Mr. Crocker," Dirk shot back. He bounded up the stairs two at a time, then calmly opened Jane's door. She was at her desk. She still looked a little pale, and clearly still had a stuffy nose. But the color was starting to return to her cheeks, and she was bright and chipper as she turned to him.

"Dirk! That was fast!" She got up and hugged him around his middle. He patted her head, smirking.

"I was almost home anyways. It's not like I rushed here or anything." Wow, Dirk. Tsundere much? He wanted to punch himself. He absolutely rushed. At least a little.

He pulled the homework out of his bag, handing it over to Jane. She took it and flipped through the assignments.

"That's it? Huh, light work. Okay, go ahead and get comfortable." Dirk was already in the process of stretching out languidly on her bed. The two worked quietly, music quietly playing out of Jane's speakers. Dirk smiled. It was a remix he had made for her of one of her jazzy swing songs. He still liked that one. It had a good beat, and fit together well.

After maybe an hour of work, the two had finished. Dirk rolled onto his back, resting his head on his book. He was beyond glad that it was a Friday. He stretched a little, and Jane spun her chair around, and propped her feet up on the bed.

"How about a movie?" she asked. Dirk had almost known the question was coming. They watched a movie every Friday night. It had become a tradition. Homework, movie, dinner, then maybe another movie or a video game, and then Dirk went home.

"You know it." He would bet money that he knew which movie she wanted to watch, too.

"Citizen Kane?" she asked. Nailed it. They watched it at least once a month. He was tired to hell of it, but god damn if she wasn't so cute when they watched it. Always pointing out little nuances about lighting and symbolism, or about film noir in general. He loved that. She got so passionate about it. Her face flushed, and she gestured and bounced up and down a little bit when something exciting occurred to her.

"Sure," he said with a smile. The two went downstairs to use the flatscreen. Dirk stretched out on the couch, his arms over the back. Jane put the movie in, then sat down, tucking her legs under her and hugging a pillow to her chest. She had the box of tissues balanced on the arm of the couch next to her. Dirk patted her head affectionately, and she smiled at him, hitting play. Almost immediately, the Crocker commentary started up. Pauses to blow her nose only came when there was a lull in the movie, or a tidbit she had already shared. Dirk just smiled, watching the cinematic masterpiece and listening to the girl next to him.

Author's Notes:

Okay, so this is my FIRST published fanfiction! Woo!

I hope people like this. I'm hoping to get chapter two up either this weekend, or in a week. We'll see how things work out. Now, I'm not GUARANTEEING smut in the next chapter. I'm not even promising it.

But there may be, who knows.

If anything, it'll be softcore and timid.

Stay tuned! :B