Chapter 1

I cracked open a bottle of Faygo and leaned back in a chair. This drink is a miracle in and of itself I thought. I savored it and drank it till it was gone.

I heard a knock on the door.

"WhO Is iT?" I asked to whoever was standing outside the door.

"uM,,,IT'S ME,,," I heard Tavros' cautious voice from outside the door.

"Oh! CoMe oN In bRo!" I say through the door.

Tavros walked in and sat next to me in the chair next to me, "uM,,, hI GAMZEE,,,"

"SoMeThInG WrOnG TaVbRo?"

"oH, uM, iT'S NOTHING REALLY, jUST A LITTLE LACK OF, uM, cONFIDENCE IN JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING,"

"DoN'T WoRrY TaVbRo, EvErYtHiNg iS GoNnA Be jUsT FiNe cAuSe tHeRe's gOnNa bE A MoThErFuCkIn' MiRaClE CoMiN' fOr yA I JuSt kNoW It."

"tHANKS GAMZEE, i'M JUST NOT SO SURE IF GOOD THINGS WILL HAPPEN TO ME, i'M NOTHING SPECIAL, i'M ACTUALLY, uM, pRETTY USELESS," Tavros said, staring at the floor.

I tipped my head so I could see his face, "CoMe oN TaVbRo yOu kNoW YoU'Re nOt uSeLeSs yOu'rE A PrEtTy aWeSoMe mOtHeRfUcKeR," I grabbed the second bottle of Faygo off the floor next to me and handed it to him. "HaVe a fAyGo aNd jUsT ChIlL OuT AnD ApPrEcIaTe tHe mOtHeRcUkIn' MiRaClEs cAuSe yOu'rE A MiRaClE TaVbRo."

Tavros' face got red and he hid behind his hands, "yOU REALLY THINK SO GAMZEE,"

I smiled widely, "Of cOuRsE I Do tAvBrO, yOu aRe oNe oF My bEsT FrIeNdS. i dOn't kNoW WhAt i'd dO WiThOuT YoU."

He peeked one eye out from behind his hands and I could see him smiling from behind his hands.

"tHANKS GAMZEE," he moved his hands. "iT MEANS A LOT THAT I AT LEAST MEAN SOMETHING TO SOMEONE,"

I smiled, "Of cOuRsE TaVbRo."

~====3====~

That night I laid awake in bed staring at the ceiling. All I could think about was Tavros. How his face had turned red, how he had been smiling from behind his hands. How the light lit up his eyes when he smiled.

I turned onto my side and stared at the wall, but I wasn't really seeing the wall. I was seeing Tavros. Funny thing was, I didn't mind. I liked thinking about Tavbro, he was one of the best guys I knew.

I was up all night thinking about him, I didn't get a minute of sleep that night.

~====3====~

The next day I came to school, and it went about as usual. Karkat got into ANOTHER fight. Equius, Nepeta, Sollux, and Aradia sat with me and Tavros at lunch; I slept through most of my classes.

I met up with Tavros after school, but I found him crying at our meeting spot.

"TaVbRo? Oh tAvBrO DoN'T CrY! yOu kNoW I HaTe iT WhEn yOu cRy…" I kneeled by him and hugged him. Tavros clung to me and cried into my shoulder.

I rubbed circles into his back and let him cry while saying, "It's oKaY TaVbRo, It's oKaY."

"nOT IT'S NOT,,," Tavros sobbed.

"WhAt mOtHeRfUcKeR Do i gOtTa bEaT ThIs tImE TaVbRo?" I kept rubbing his back.

"v,,, v,,, vR,,, vRISKA,,," he sobbed.

Anger flared and surged through my blood. I hate that motherfucker. She's caused Tavbro so much grief in the year she's been here. One time she pushed him down the stairs and broke his legs. He's walked with a limp ever since 'cause it didn't heal quite right.

Tavros felt my muscles tense with rage and looked up from my shoulder, "dON'T BE MAD GAMZEE, iT'S NOT THAT BIG OF A DEAL, sHE JUST SLAMMED MY LOCKER SHUT ON MY FINGERS AGAIN,,, aND CALLED ME A USELESS RUNT,,, aND TOLD ME NO ONE WILL EVER LOVE ME,,,"

The anger in me surged again; how dare she! How dare she do this to Tavros. HOW DARE SHE!

Tavros looked me dead in the eyes as he spoke, "gAMZEE,,,, pLEASE CALM DOWN,,, iT'S NOT THAT BIG OF A DEAL OKAY,"

"No bIg dEaL? nO BiG DeAl? HoW DaRe sHe! HoW DaRe sHe hUrT YoU LiKe tHiS! hOw dArE ShE CaLl yOu uSeLeSs! HoW DaRe sHe sAy yOu wIlL NeVeR Be lOvEd dAmN It tAvBrO I'M GoNnA PaInT ThE WaLlS WiTh hEr bLoOd!" I yelled.

Tavros flinched and my anger drained away, "TaVbRo... I'M SoRrY... i wOn't hUrT HeR OkAy?"

"tHANK YOU GAMZEE,,," he buried his face in my shoulder again and cried.

I nodded and kept rubbing his back.

~====3====~

It took us an hour to walk home from school since we decided we didn't want to take the bus. We didn't wanna risk running into Vriska. We didn't want her to see him after he had been crying, and we didn't want to risk me losing it and beating her into a bloody mess.

About halfway there Tavros' legs nearly gave on him, and I carried him on my back like I have done for him so many times.

We were about 75 percent of the way home when we fell into a contented silence with Tavbro burying his face in my mess of curly black hair.

We walked in silence for a little while until Tavros broke the silence with, "gAMZEE, dO YOU THINK THAT VRISKA IS RIGHT AND THAT I'LL NEVER BE LOVED,"

I froze where I stood and nearly dropped Tavros; I was so shocked by what he said. I turned my head to look at him. "Of cOuRsE NoT TaVbRo! VrIsKa wAs jUsT MoThErFuCkIn' TrYiNg tO MaKe yOu fEeL BaD. sHe's jUsT A MoThErFuCkEr pAy hEr nO MiNd oKaY TaVbRo?"

He looked a little sad, but he nodded in agreement.

We talked a bit about school as we headed to my place, not bringing up Vriska's bullshit again.

~====3====~

After a fun evening of just hang out and chillin' with Tavros he went home, and I tried to sleep again. I tossed and turned, but I couldn't get Tavros' crying face out of my mind, the sound of his voice when he told me what Vriska had done.

How DARE she tell him that he would never be loved...

I got up and grabbed a Faygo. I needed to chill, and I needed to chill now.

I slammed the Faygo and paced around the house. How dare she.

I paused for a moment. Why did this infuriate me so much? Tavros was my best bro. As was Karkat. However, if someone had said that to Karkat, it wouldn't have bothered me as much. Maybe it was cause Karkat would have just punched Vriska in the mouth and that would have been the end of it.

Tavros wouldn't hurt a fly unless he had to. Even if it was Vriska.

I threw the empty Faygo bottle away and went back to lay down. I stared at the ceiling for what felt like hours before I finally was blessed by the motherfuckin' miracle that was sleep.