"Strider!" karkat snapped, forcing Dave out of his daydream, "Dave, I need your help…"

Dave nearly broke his stoic glare with a smirk, "You need me?"

"I need your help, you prick." Karkat crossed his arms, "Eridan has been pestering me about going to the prom with me, and since obviously Terezi and Sollux are off the table…I need to pretend like I'm going with you to get him off my back."

"What about Nepeta?"

"Can't do that to her, you know she's flushed for me already."

"Jade?"

"Wrong quadrant."

"John?"

"...LOOK will you just do this or not?"

Dave nearly laughed at Karkat's flushed red face, "Yeah, alright, Karkat. As long as we maintain a strict 'no homo' rule about this, alright? I can't have you ruining my vibe with your weird troll mating rit-"

"Wouldn't dream of it, Strider!" Karkat growled, glancing behind Dave at the scarfed hipster behind him. He took Dave's hand quickly. He has to make it believable no matter how embarrassing it was. Eridan stopped to hit on the troll, make one more, pathetic attempt before noticing their joined hands, "Oh, Kar, you've found yourself a date already?"

Karkat quickly nodded, acting proud through clenched teeth, "Uh-yea! I have! We are going to prom together. Yes. As...matesprits."

"Boyfriends. I don't do quadrants," Dave corrected.

Eridan frowned, sighing in disappointment, "Okay well...I hope you have fun or...whatever…" He quickly walked off, allowing Karkat to finally, almost reluctantly, let go of Dave's hand, "Thanks, Dave. I gotta get to class. I'll see you later," With that, a red-faced Karkat rushed away from a flushed Dave.

Dave sighed in front of his mirror, patting down his red and black suit, "What have I gotten into?" He mumbled to himself before going downstairs, yelling a half-assed goodbye to his bro and heading out. He stuck the keys into the ignition of his car, not his bro's, and pulled out, driving to his 'date's' house.

He knew he always thought of Karkat in a strange, unusual way. It wasn't until a few weeks ago that he finally realised what it was. Maybe. In all his years of dating girls, he never thought the way he looked at Karkat was the same way he used to look at Jane or Terezi. It put a new light on his past and gave him yet another thing to think about. Could he still go with Karkat and keep his charade on? Yea...probably. Could go home without the touch of Karkat's lips as they stopped in front of his door and not feel his heart break to pieces? No. Was that going to stop him? Hell no.

Dave ground his teeth, fixed his shades, and hesitantly walked to Karkat's door. He was met with a scowling midget, a whistle wrapped around his neck. Weird.

"Are you...Dave?" The stranger asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Uh-Yea. I'm here to pick up Karkat…"

"I know. Before you do I want to warn you. No-"

"THANKS, KANKRI!" Karkat rushed out, grabbing Dave's hand and dragging him to the car, "LET'S GO, DAVE!"

Dave, confused and flushed red, followed Karkat quickly, opening the passenger door for his 'date'.

Karkat snorted in laughter at the gesture, "No need to be such a 'gentleman' Strider."

Dave smiled, getting into the driver's seat, "Your brother seemed a little worried," he joked, driving away.

"Oh, that's just Kankri. Nobody cares about what he says"

Dave chuckled, letting his facade slowly fade away in front of Karkat, "Whatever you say."

The drive continued in almost awkward silence, at least for Dave. Karkat was perfectly content in silently staring at the human driving him to a, sadly, fake date. Though it was surprisingly him that broke the silence, "How can you see with those shades on? It's dark out, you're starting to make me nervous."

Dave shrugged, tapping the wheel with his thumb nervously, "Guess I've gotten used to it. I don't even notice them now."

"But why? Why have them on in the first place if not for shade?"

Dave gulped, biting his lip, "They were...a gift…"

"What, from your dad or something?"

"A friend...I never met my dad…"

"Oh…" Karkat frowned, "Sorry."

Dave shrugged it off, sending them into a spiral of genuine awkward silence that only lasted a few seconds before Karkat's loud voice broke through again, "Take them off, for once in your fake life."

"Wow, deep."

"I mean it, Strider! Take those damn things off. It's dark out, you're making me nervous." Karkat yelled, turning in his seat to face Dave.

"I've driven before with the-"

"TAKE THEM OFF!"

Dave jumped at the demanding tone in the troll's voice. The way Karkat screamed the command sent shivers down his spine. Hesitantly, Dave took his shades off, grateful it was too dark for his bright red eyes to show...maybe. It seemed to be, as Karkat said nothing but a barely audible, and probably sarcastic, "Thank you."

Dave sighed in relief as they made it to the campus. He quickly put his shades back on before going to open the door for his…'date', only to be beaten to it by the troll himself, "I can open a door Strider, I don't have to wait on you for everything."

Karkat lead Dave inside and to the gym, on the way being stopped by an all too familiar face, "He actually fucking showed. But with who?"

"You know, you don't need a date to go to prom," Eridan interjected, walking up to the couple.

"That's just another way of saying nobody would take your sorry ass." Karkat crossed his arms, leaving with Dave as Eridan stood behind, mumbling in quiet agreement.

The couple walked into the gym, greeted by blasting music and semi-erotic dancing. Karkat suddenly thought prom had maybe been polished a bit in the movies. What was supposed to be the endgame to every high school romance turned out to be a slobber fest of sloppy make outs and Sexually Transmitted Diseases...Definitely overrated. After about 2 minutes of trying to yell over music in an attempt to make at least half-decent conversation, The two finally had enough, Dave pitching the cliche line that typically took the night to a 'whole nother level', "You wanna get out of here? Maybe we can find some better music."

"Or no music. Yes, please," Karkat pulled the human away, despite knowing that line straight out of ever prom/party centered romcom he had ever watched.

Dave drove karkat to the nearest waffle house. Not fancy enough to say anything but not shitty enough to ruin anything. Dave opened the door for Karkat this time, waving the troll's protests away as he lead him inside. The couple was sat down, given menus, and left to decide. Karkat silently looked through the menu while Dave desperately tried to come up with a topic of discussion.

"So why did you choose me? I thought you couldn't stand looking at my ''stoic, asshole face'."

Karkat looked up, shrugging. The menu shielded his blush, "I dunno...you're less annoying that John?"

"Is that hate flirting I sense?" Dave snickered.

Karkat's face flushed red, slamming down his menu, "Oh don't pull that shit! I don't do kismesis and if I did it definitely would not be with you!"

"So you're flushed?"

Karkat put his menu back up, blocking the view. He decided to ignore the asshole's insistence. What did he think he was doing? Flirting?

Was he flirting?

A few more minutes of silence left Dave awkward and doubting. This wasn't going probably could have at least made it smoother at prom. Bribing the DJ to play a slow song, maybe one from a romcom. He'd have convinced Karkat to dance with him, to 'make it look real'. Then he'd for it. He'd-

"Hey, Jackass, you gonna order or not?"

Dave jumped out of his daydream, blushing as he ordered his usual.

Karkat rolled his eyes at the human's suspicious behaviour, "Dave, what is it?"

"What do ya mean?"

"What's wrong? You've been acting...off all day."

Dave breathed out a laugh, looking up at his 'date' as he hesitantly drawled out the overused line, "Is it that obvious?"

"Yea, Strider, it is. Do you need to tell me something?" Karkat sat up, ready to pale the shit out of his friend.

Actually, Vantas, maybe there is," Dave looked away,fixing his shades before continuing, "These past few days have been great and...actually pretty education. Like, you really sat me down and taught me something, not only about your dumb romcoms, butt about myself. You were all like, 'Welcome class to Dave Strider 101" And I sat there all like "Uh yea, teach, am I straight" and you flat out denied that all like, "Hell no."

"WAIT, WHAT?

"Now, class, it's time to-"

"STRIDER!" Karkat screamed, drawing every eye to the red-faced troll and human, who was currently stopped mid-ramble. Not that Karkat gave a single fuck. Dave Strider just confessed what Karkat had been denying since the beginning. Laying it all out on the table for both to overanalyze and Karkat to give an answer to. Answer him, you idiot!

"Jegus Christ, Dave...You made that so much more complicated than you had to. I like you too, idiot."

The couple stared at each other for a long time, before Dave started laughing softly. KArkat shook his head in confusion. "The fuck are you laughing for?"

Holy shit...All that pent up anxiety for nothing."