It was warm, the thick, creamy, purple liquid that floated from a cold, dying life. A life that had once been so carefree and cheerful. There lied a troll who lived each and every day like it was a miracle, like life in itself was a gift.

Maybe it was too many of those pies that made him that way. But no one would have had him any different.

Gamzee.

He never complained, and helped those he could… or at least he tried. He was a brother to all. He was everybody's friend.

But he was only Karkat's mOtHeR fUcKiN bEsT fRiEnD, as he liked to put it. And the crabby troll always denied it, always told the highblood that he was out of his mind and that he annoyed him.

And now… with Gamzee's blood inching between his fingers and his body lying motionless before him…

The crimson-blooded troll began to tremble as reality sunk in.

Gamzee wasn't coming back, Gamzee was never going to elicit another hOnK. Not ever again.

WHY? WHY DIDN'T ONE OF THOSE DAMN NOOK-LICKERS HAVE ANY PIE FOR HIM? WHY DIDN'T HE THINK OF IT? DAMN IT GAMZEE WHY COULDN'T YOU HAVE JUST THOUGHT THINGS THROUGH FOR ONCE? WHY!

Fingers ripped at raven locks and Karkat clenched his teeth, the red seeping from his eyes and down his cheeks. He wanted to blame someone, blame anyone, anything for making this happen. Yet… as much as he did his heart could only blame himself.

"K4RK4T…" a hand touched his trembling shoulder. Terezi. For once she wasn't grinning, but instead offering her support, hiding teal tears behind her crimson spectacles.

"JUST GET OFF"

"K4RK4T JUST-"

"I SAID GET OFF"

Terezi moved away, she wasn't shocked or hurt, she knew Karkat too well for that. Right now he was hurting and he didn't want anyone to see it, especially not her. The troll sighed and walked a little ways away, to dry her own tears.

A hand reached for Karkat's.

"I SAID GET OFF!"

"sOrRy… BeSt FrIeNd…"

Karkat's eyes flew open, and his mouth fell agape. Those eyes that looked like his, looked like all the rest of the trolls but yet held such love and acceptance in them- those eyes that saw the miracles in everything.

"iTs JuSt, i SaW mY bRoThEr AlL uPsEt aNd I hAd To MoThEr FuCkIN sAy SoMeThInG bEfOrE i LeFt" Karkat couldn't say anything, all he could do was stare at Gamzee and watch his lips, hear his words as he spoke to him.

"iTs AlRiGhT bRo. Im aCtUaLlY hApPy NoW. i DiDn'T wAnNa hUrT nO oNe AnD nOw I wOn't HaVe To. WiThOuT mY pIe I gEt aLl LoOpY aNd ShIt. It HuRt KiLlInG mY bRoThER eQuIuS aNd HiS fElInE mOrIaL yOu KnOw?"

Karkat felt the tears pour from his eyes and still he couldn't say anything. All he could do was lace his fingers with the cold hand grasping his.

"oH bE cArEfUl BeSt FrIeNd, EvErYoNeS gOnNa SeE yOuR bLoOD, i KnOw YoU dOnT lIkE tHaT… hEh rEd sUiTs YoU…" that soft, goofy smile played on his lips. That smile that was so uplifting to see even in these dark times when everything felt like it was falling apart.

If he could've Karkat would've stayed in that moment, just stayed there and Gamzee wouldn't of had to go…

"WeLl ItS tImE tO gO bRoThEr, hAvE fUn WiTh YoUr UnIvErSe SaViN sHiT" Gamzee slowly lifted up his arm, stretching it towards Karkat's face. His thumb and pointer finger bended gently as it approached Karkat. Tenderly he took hold of the red troll's nose and squeezed it gently.

"hOnK"

Gamzee's eyelids closed and his smile faded as his arm went limp against Karkat's face.

"GAMZEE…" Karkat's voice was hushed, red pouring from his eyes. His lower lip trembled as he hugged onto Gamzee's arm.

And he just cried…

He didn't cry because Gamzee was dead.

But because he never got to tell him that he was his best friend.

This fanfic/oneshot is based off of the update "You Let me Down, Slick" which was uploaded on June 18 and honestly I don't really think Gamzee is truly dead (at least I hope he isn't XD) but I happen to like Gamzee and Karkat as a pairing even if it's just moirails and the update also gave me a lot of room to write an angst-y tone for this oneshot so I hope you all enjoyed it!

Homestuck (c) Andrew Hussie