An aged and wrinkled Dave Strider walked out to the garden in his back yard, of the home he shared with late husband, passing all the blue and red roses that had grew wildly in their backyard. Dave was pondering the blue roses and comparing them to his long-gone lover, blue roses were incredibly rare and beautiful, just like John, a person like John was rare, so honest, so nice, there was never a single layer of deceit in words, he was kind, and not purposely so, and his honest dorkiness was just beautiful to Dave.
John…had this shine this to him. His eyes sparkled in the light, and his teeth that poked out so cutely when he smiled. His was dark and shiny, but never greasy.
Dave remembered their childhood together, and the week John had moved into his street, and the first time Dave had seen his lover. A young Dave had been peering through his window to see a man setting up a slimer pogo swing, while a young boy enthusiastically clapped and jumped up and down, watching his father work.
Dave chuckled to himself, remembering the first three weeks he had spent watching John fall off the pogo swing as a child. On the fourth week Dave had finally gotten the courage to walk over to John and talk to him, and he at the time didn't understand why he felt so…at peace and happy with John.
The years of their childhood together had been peaceful and happy, they played together, they we're in all the same pre-school and elementary classes together. They sometimes slept over at each other's homes and Dave's brother and John's father often talked with each other, and were almost as close as their young charges.
For a little longer Dave thought back on the early years of his life with John. He soon began to think of his middle school years.
Dave gone over to John's house directly after school, as he had done every day as he had done for two years in a row. The place had become his second home really, it was great to not come home to a brother that wanted to duel with you, but instead to a warm and friendly man who always had some type of sweet good lying around.
"John…I have something I need to tell you…"
"Really Dave? I have something to tell you too!"
Dave's heart spilled with happiness and hopes at that, while a slight blush crawled across his cheeks, highlighting his freckles.
"Y-you go first…"
The corners of John's mouth grew into a wide smile, his teeth poking out cutely,
"You know Vriska right? She's my girlfriend! We started dating today! Isn't that awesome?"
Dave's heart sunk and his stomach filled with lead. All of his hopes had been crushed in a single blow. Dave knew he should have watched out for Vriska when he saw her checking John out, staring at him with her flirty yet evil stare.
"Dave, why haven't you said anything yet? And what did you want to tell me?"
"That's great bro. You two will be great together. And it's not important anymore. Just forget it. I need to go home. Bro wants me home early today."
Dave had spent the entire eighth grade hating himself, he was different from the other class mates, he was in hopelessly in love with his best friend, and just at the time where everybody was becoming a thing, when it mattered who you dated, and who you hated, and everybody was hooking up and growing up, Dave just quit the social scenery. He cut himself off from everybody but John. He still clung to hope.
It was the tenth grade, Vriska had been caught cheating on John with Tavros Nitram. Dave still remembered holding a sobbing John close to him. John was a mess, he wasn't speaking clearly and his crystal blue eyes darkened sadly for the remainder of the three weeks that passed after this event.
"D…Dave..." John leaned into Dave shoulder, sobbing uncontrollably,
"Why...did she cheat on me? I was good boyfriend…I took her out to the movies…and all of that romantic stuff…I loved her more than anything else…"
Dave just barely allowed himself the pleasure to hug his friend, something he had denied himself so long. He felt guilty for even touching him under this circumstance.
Dave had never really had to comfort anybody before, his older brother was away a lot, and his best friend was the sunshine that kept him happy, he had never needed to try to cheer up his friend over anything so serious. He felt a little grateful to be to have witnessed John at his best and his worst.
"Dave…I need you to go…I just can't be near you right now…"
John frowned and let himself free of Dave's grasp and sighed.
"Please go, now," John said looking down.
Dave felt slapped and hurt, but nodded and rose to his feet, casting one final crushed look towards John and left the room. He leaned against John's door and sunk down, whispering,
"I love you bro…"
Dave's walk home was not a long one, lasted six minutes at the longest, but to Dave it felt like hours, every second weighing down his soul and heart, leaving a cold and defeated feeling in Dave's stomach. The cold November air, and leaves brushing past his feet and above his head, added to his feeling of being broken and hopeless.
Dirk sighed as he looked up from his newspaper, watching his younger brother trudge to his room, his face blank and unemotional, if not for the barely visible streak of tears of dampening his eye's.
"I guess it's girl trouble…or well, I've seen the way he looks at John, I should go talk to him…"
Dirk rose to his feet, and walked to the refrigerator grabbing two boxes of apple juice, and walked calmly to his younger brother's bedroom, and knocked before opening the door, he found his brother sprawled out across his bed, crying into a pillow, holding a salamander plush, that John had given him when they had been young, they toy covered in dirt form years of love, while his sun glasses rested on his night table. The older Strider sat at the foot of the bed and pated Dave's back understandingly, and placed the unopened juice box next to Dave's face and sighed.
"So, did she leave you?"
"…No…he made me leave his house, and Bro…I…screw this shit. I…have a crush on my best friend. Fuck it, its not a crush, I'm in fucking love with him. Yep, that magical firework explosion when they look your way, the fucking holly jolly loving musical feels when you make even the smallest contact. I love him. And he's stuck on that venom sucking whore."
Dave sighed to himself, not realizing he had voiced his thoughts aloud, and buried his face deeper into the pillow, trying to suppress his sobs and cry's, his head aching, and his heart heavy and painful in his chest.
Dirk nodded and stroked Dave's back soothingly, just as he had done when Dave was just a baby, left in his brother's care, after their parents had died in a plane crash.
Dirk smiled sadly, feeling nostalgic of the early days, when Dave was small, and they only had each other, remembering how they had been shunned by the small Texan community, after Dirk and his lover, Jake, had been caught mid love-making, by Jane.
Who had been in love with Jake, became extremely jealous, and saddened by the site, confided in her friend, Roxy, who had been in love with Jane, and out of sadness, at the understanding that Jane could never love her, she became intoxicated and told her cousin Serenity in a long drunken ramble, who told her mother.
From that point on the story spread like wildfire, Jake, who was viewed as innocent and pure, was forgiven quickly, and ended up dating a lovely book worm, who fit the community's ideal partner for Jake, curvy and short, full of femininity.
Dirk on the other hand was treated as the antichrist; his sharp fiery, orange eye's never relenting to the jeers of the neighborhood gossips, he stood tall against the ridicule, in public that is. At home he was a mess, to that day he still had scars on arms, marks of sadness. His parents pretended they didn't know what had happened between him and Jake.
He really wasn't sure what had happened to Roxy and Jane, having heard something about Roxy running away with some English woman named Clara, and Jane marrying a boy named Gamzee, where they ran a sweets store together.
But one day his parents had left for a trip, leaving Dirk to care for their newborn baby. Dirk had just lied the child down for bed, and walked into the bathroom, grabbing the shiny metal blade, and ran it across his arm, hissing slightly at the wound as beads of dark, red blood gathered along the mark. Dirk smiled a bit and wrapped his arm with a towel. He smiled wearily and glanced down at his arm, and tried to remain cool as few minutes passed and the blood flow hadn't slowed by much.
"Shit. Okay. Remain calm. Just wrap it tighter and it will stop bleeding."
Dirk wrapped his wound tighter, but shook wearily and slumped down onto the bathroom floor, the wound eventually stopped flowing blood, but Dirk had passed out on the ground, falling into a deep and heavy sleep, everything dark and distorted pushing his dreams into coma like nightmares.
He was then woken by man, telling him that his parents were dead, and that Dave was going to be put into child custody services until they saw Dirk as fit to raise a child, meaning that he would have to go to therapy.
And Dirk was then woken up by the realization that he had to think of Dave and be there for him, he realized he was all Dave had left, and got help for his depression and was eventually given permission to raise Dave.
Dirk smiled sadly and woke up from his reminiscing's of the past and sighed,
"I understand Dave… you're going to have bring your feeling into the light, love is a beautiful thing, and you're going to have the consequences…but it will be worth it."
Dave nodded; Dirks reminiscing have given him time to think over his options, and he came to the conclusion that he would finally tell John, once he felt better about Vriska leaving him.
The two Striders clung close to each other, and talked, Dirk telling Dave about Jake and reassuring things about love, and they made raps and music together, the night passing slowly.
Meanwhile at John's home, John's father brought John up a glass of chocolate milk and smiled soothingly, placing it on John's bed table and sighed.
"Girls got you down, son?"
John's father patted his back and hummed quietly. While John sighed and buried his face into a pillow.
"Dad…Vriska broke up with me…but…I think I may like somebody else a lot, but I don't want them to know because we're really good friends, and if that was ruined…"
John turned around and faced his father, and cried into his shoulder, while his father sat soothingly beside him and smiled.
"I understand perfectly…," John's father knew exactly what he was talking about, and understood.
John sighed inwardly, panicking to himself,
"I-I like Dave!? I can't…He's a boy and I'm a boy…but still my heart fills with happiness when he's near me…but I can't."
John had finally come to the realization that he was in love with his best bro. Absolutely and completely in love.
For the next few week's John ignored Dave, avoiding him as much as possible, and never looking at him anymore. Dave got a little upset and finally went over to John's house, Dirk smiled at Dave in an eerie way as he walked out of the door.
Dave was greeted by John's father and showed to the living room, where John sat playing the piano, a focused and somewhat sad look was on John's face as he played a slow and nearly welcoming, almost romantic piece, his fingers moving gracefully across the instrument.
Dave was awestruck, and enchanted by his friends ability, lost in the music and feel, he vaguely noted how the piece sounded almost loving, he felt himself unconsciously wanting the song to be for him, John saying that he loved him and bringing him into a sweet and passionate embrace, with slow and sweet music, for him and only him.
As John's fingers stopped their graceful movements, Dave was abruptly sent back into reality, thankful for his large shade's as a light blushed colored his cheek's, barely visible under the rim of his sunglasses.
John stepped up from the piano stool, smiling a bit as he gave a mock bow, his teeth poking out cutely as he grinned widely, pleased to have seen that Dave was at least a little impressed, and hoping he would forget how bad he treated Dave.
Dave clapped, somewhat sarcastically, but also quite sincerely, appreciating the song much more that he would like to admit.
"Mr. Egbert, would you mind if I spoke to John alone?"
Dave said taking off his sunglasses, his bright red eyes staring at John, every single emotion he hid, barely containing all the emotions and feelings he had held behind for years.
John's father smiled knowingly at Dave and then exited the room, leaving John and Dave alone together, this fact causing Dave's heart to pound slightly as he sat down, gesturing for John to sit down next to him on the small couch.
Dave nearly panicked and chickened out, but swallowed his growing fear and nodded slightly as John sat down next to him.
"John…I…am in love with you. I understand if you do not love me back. Just don't leave me if you don't feel the same way…"
Dave, despite his urge to pull his shades back over his eye's and run to cry in his bed, Dave sat completely still, his eyes glued to the floor, out of fear that he may look up and see a hateful glint in John's eyes, directed at him.
"Dave…I…think I…love you too…"
Dave actually smiled, and nearly began to cry, as John wrapped his arms around Dave tenderly and kissed his cheek, with a goofy smile. The sad and tense feel that had washed over the room, had been lifted and Dave felt the happiest he had ever felt in years. Tears streamed down the boys cheek's as they held each other in a warm and loving embrace.
Dave continued walk around in his garden and think back on his John, the aged male sighed and looked down, he knew his time was coming to an end. That he would finally be seeing his lover again, where they would meet and be in one another arms once again. But not just yet, he had a small time left, and he was going to spend it thinking about his love, the one person that lit up his world like no other. He began reminiscing the senior prom.
Dave had brought tickets to the prom for him and Dave, and Dave laughed a bit to himself thinking of how everything had played out in his life, his cousin falling in love with and bringing a girl to the prom, and her getting drunk and them being found making out in front of the school.
The cheesy blue streamers hung around the room, which the sweet almost cat like girl, Nepeta, if Dave was remembering her name correctly, kept playing with. Red and white balloons floated to the ceiling.
While the short but muscular boy, Equius, tried not break anything.
And Vriska and Tavros, danced together all night, Tavros looking a bit overwhelmed by Vriska's less than modest choice in clothing.
Dave's friend, Sollux, was dancing with some bubbly woman, while Eridan and Aradia, stared at the two with jealous glares, Eridan longing for the both, in a confusing mix of emotions, and Aradia's eyes trailed over the bubbly woman's backside.
Karkat and Terezi, held close to each other, Karkat's head resting on Terezi's shoulder during the slow songs, although, it was amusing and somewhat aggravating during the fast songs she would grind against him, and everybody in the gym.
Jade and Derik, danced together most of the night, Derik giggling at Jade's clumsy and adorable dance movements. The two really loved one another when it came down to it.
Dave and John had been sitting close to each other most of the night, simply staring at each other lovingly and holding hands, despite John's protest's at Dave's no dancing policy. Dave was able to bribe the DJ into playing 'How do I live without you' as the last song of the night and the John's eyes lit up when it began playing,
"Mr. Egbert, may I have this dance?"
John jumped out of his chair, and smiled, resting his head on Dave's shoulder, and wrapped his arms around Dave's waist, as they swayed to the music, slowly.
And, on the final note, Dave kissed John on his lips, passionately, blowing away John and the small crowd that had gathered around them, some clapped and some looked away in disgust, but either way that single moment belonged to them and only them.
Dave continued walking in their garden, and plucked a single blue rose, not caring about the pricks to his hand. He smiled down at the rose, and whispered,
"Only a little longer and I will have you in my arms, forever and always…"
Dave's thoughts traveled onto the starry and clear night he proposed to his beautiful lover.
"Hey John, lets watch a movie, anything you like…"
The night went smoothly, with John picking Con-Air, his love for the terrible film having never truly died. The two cuddled on the couch, and kissed noses and all of that romantic stuff. The two were happy to be in each other's presence, the feeling of love illuminating the room.
The sounds of horrible acting, and the noise of occasional smooching, and the fireplace crackling, and occasional howl of winter air from the outside, filled the room, the heat from the fireplace and the extra coziness of the fleece blanket over them, kept them warm, but the fact he had John in his arms, snuggling into him, warmed Dave's heart beyond anything.
"Okay Strider, you have him here with you, just ask, it's been seven years. Just get it over with."
Dave's heart pounded in his chest as he pulled a ring out of his pocket, as 'How do I live without you' played on the TV, and grabbed John's hand, sliding the ring on John's finger.
"John…will you marry me? I want to spend my life with you, you complete me and bring my life into focus. I have never been happier in my life, than in the last seven years."
Dave pulled off his sunglasses, and smiled, a small tear of joy, flowed down his cheeks, that were colored a soft pink hue. Staring into his lovers eye's with a bright smile.
John smiled a bright and cheeky smile, his teeth poking out adorably, almost enough to melt Dave's heart right into a puddle, and John held closer to Dave and smiled.
"Nothing would make me happier, Dave…"
Dave's mind wandered to the wilting red rose bushes, they never bloomed much, except for on two days, their anniversary of their wedding and the day John died. But the Blue roses bloomed even brighter than ever on those days. Dave smiled thinking on their honey moon.
Dave and John's clothes were pulled off quickly and with gentle vigor, the two being bare in front of one another for the first time. The two were going to fully connect, body and soul, they were the only people in the world in their eyes, that so lovingly and tenderly at each other.
Dave pressed John into the silky satin sheets, his hand ghosting over John's chest sweetly, as a soft kissed was placed on lovers light rosy lips.
The arms intertwined, and kisses and pants were exchanged, the taste of each other's mouth on their lips, every touch bring an even more evident burn of passion, love and lust glowing in their eyes.
Sweet and beautiful harmonies were created as the bodies joined together, each other's moans musical and glorious to each other's ears, the soft melodies growing in length and noise, their noises blending together, their bodies, and arousal, and love for each other lit up and heated up the room, every touch creating a sparkling energy between them.
The two both came into climax and held each other close, the night being over, and the two sleepy and unable to keep their eyes open, they feel asleep in each other's arms, the burning energy gone, now replaced with a relaxed and loving air.
Dave smiled and laughed remembering their life at home with husband, the thunderstorms, were John would get scared and the two would lay in the bed with the lights off, as the storm raged outside, they would cuddle and not even see the lightning, and focus on the beating the of their hearts rather than the thunder.
Or how every Christmas they would hide small presents in the tree, and eat candies until they were sick and slumped over each other on the couch.
And the one Christmas John got intoxicated off of chocolate covered cherries Rose conveniently forgot to inform them that they were alcoholic candies. This led to quite an interesting evening for Dave.
Dave fondly remembered the Halloweens were he would cover himself in fake blood and jump out at trick or treaters, and scare them halfway down the street, where John would proceed to follow the children and give them candy, laughing and telling them to pay no mind to Dave.
Dave began to tear up remembering how John was diagnosed with lung cancer so many years ago. Dave had noticed as his lover would keep getting sicker and sicker, and every time Dave offered to take him to the doctor John would brush it off as a cold, and when John finally gave into Dave's worries, it was too late. John was in stage four lung cancer, having less than a month to live.
John refused to stay at the hospital, saying that all he wanted was to go peacefully in the house he shared with his lover, in his lover's arms when he died. And John did just that. He continued on with his life, his smile never fading, he knew it was time to go and that he would be re-united with his lover once again in Heaven.
It was honestly harder on Dave that it was on John, watching him fight to eat during the last days, listening to the wheezy gasps and moans of his partner, and on the final day, John was happy, and peaceful, spending the day with Dave, holding tight to him as he breathed his last breaths. John died in his sleep with a content and loving smile on his face.
Dave approached the end of the Garden where the blue and red roses grew wildly together, in a large circling arch; the red roses began to bloom as Dave walked in the arching area and grabbed a few more blue roses, and lied down on his back, laying the flowers on his chest and closing his eyes tightly.
"John I will be there soon, I am out of time. And have not been this happy in so long, for I get to see your face."
Dave fell into a deep, sleep, the deepest he had ever felt, his dreams replaying his life with John, the warm sun beating on his face, barely holding a torch to the warmth in his Dave's heart, his sleepy and dying mind comforted by the thoughts of his one and only love.
When Dave opened his eyes again, he was in a field in front of a white old timey home, and here was a man with shiny black hair and a smile that his teeth poking out cutely. John, his lover, his friend, his life. John walked off the patio with a grace and elegance he had lacked during his life when he was living, and approached Dave with arm out stretched towards him.
"Welcome home Dave. I missed you."