A dim golden light warmed my eye lids. As a small breeze brushed past my face, blurred white and orange lights danced into the gold shadows. I could hear the leaves rustling, and feel the grass tickle at my exposed ankles; right above my shoes, but below where my skinny jeans ended. The bark behind my head was hard, but it felt made to lay against. Taking a quick nap in the backyard was one of the many pleasures of renting a house.

Gamzee, Sollux, and Myself were all living together. We were all in our second year of College, and could afford the rent, here, as long as it was split three ways. Dorms were too expensive, and though we were, originally, looking at apartments, Gamzee's parents were filthy rich. They wanted to help him, but still teach him responsibility; so the house was paid for, but we could only stay if we paid some rent. It was quite the Summer Home though; not over-furnished, but still cozy.

Sollux got paid to work on classmate's computers, and do assignments for them. He was, legitimately, the smartest guy I knew. It was like his whole career path was right there, sitting pretty for him to take ahold of. Any place would have been lucky to have him.

Gamzee worked at a local Bakery, called "Pie High". It was ironic, given that he was high, like, all the time. He, also, had a crazy obsession with baking desserts. He was taking general studies courses, but I could almost guarantee that someday he'd realize that he should have taken culinary school.

I worked with a classmate, Dave, at a CD and Book Store, called "Apollo and Athena's". I was taking one coding course with Sollux, but besides that, I just took general studies. I didn't feel particularly good at anything enough, yet, to declare some career deciding major. I could have tried for coding, but Sollux put me to shame. I could have tried to vlog, and make music, but seeing how much work Dave put into everything, it looked difficult. I was really good at ranting though. I had a blog that had a pretty decent following…

"Karbro, why is a motherfucker all up and layin' lonely on the ground?" Gamzee drew me out of my reminiscing.

With eyebrows cinched together, I opened my eyes, and set my mouth in a frown. "I just needed one nook sucking moment of peace from your, increasingly loud, fire spits with Tavros. It sounded like two cats keening over a fish spine. Like you were each taking turns licking a different side with your tongue to claim you were superior, and deserved the fucking 'This bitch is mine' award of a bone. Did it ever cross your ass sniffing mind that maybe you should know the lyrics to a song before you sing it?"

Gamzee walked out from the frame of the screen door, and over to the orange tree I was resting under. Two parts of the wooden fence came together right behind the tree, and made a corner that kept breezes minimal, and sun exposure lower. This was my spot. Both Gamzee, and Sollux knew I would be here, when I needed to clear my head. Gamzee squatted down besides me, and started advising me on the finer points of life. "Awww, Karbro, what's got a motherfucker not seein' all the miracles of life today? You're all up and missing the big picture. Time spent with friends, and laughs, man. They're miracles."

I pinched the bridge of my nose, and sighed deeply. "I'll be inside soon. Can I just have a fucking moment?" I looked down to the grass beside me, and drew little swirls in it, with my finger.

"Sure, Karbro." Gamzee smiled, ruffled my hair, and got up to walk back inside.

I tried, and succeeded, in not raging and pulling at my hair in embarrassment! 'Gamzee!' I screamed in my head. I decided to take a few deep breaths and lay my head back into the soothing, mother-like lap, of the tree. Nature's comforting fingers ran lines of wind through my hair, and the sun kissed my face tenderly. Everything felt so right out here. Maybe Gamzee knew, if at most a little bit, what he was talking about.

I had come out here to think about my future. I had come out here to reflect, but as I closed my eyes, trying to think about tests and rants, I could only feel a desperate need for sleep take over.