Things grew over time.

Her pumpkins, for example, looked amazing this time of the year. It was almost time for the harvest, something she'd always enjoyed, year after year, from before Sburb when her only companion was Becquerel to now. But her garden wasn't the only thing blooming in the house, as she was constantly reminded by Dave.

Of course, the coolkid himself was too cool to actually flat out say it, but some things didn't need words. First of all, the number of sloppy makeouts had increased dramatically over the weeks. She'd found herself kissing Strider a lot more as of late (not that that was hard, seeing as they'd gone from one kiss to daily makeout sessions), but was still nice. And Dave had a casual charm that could make any sappy eyed girl weak at the knees. She was made of sterner stuff, though.

Not that she protested. She could be doing anything, and he would almost indifferently surprise her with a quick kiss. It was almost infuriating. And yet it was so him. So typical of the cool kid to hide any feelings of his behind the aviators she still had yet to see him not wear.

Anyway, it was probably a good thing they were getting closer. Rose's hinting was becoming less and less obvious. She knew she had a point, and that they were responsible for making as many kids as possible before they died. Rose was on her way with an excellent head start too- she was pregnant. Something she had decided to break to her brother over dinner, despite her frantic protests.

Oh god oh god oh god.

The bitch.

Which wasn't the nicest thing to call one of your best friends, but it made her angry. Why was Rose so desperate to have Dave fuck her into a mattress? She was eighteen going onto nineteen, for fuck's sake. She had a good twenty years in which she could start working on the kids. But nooo. Rose had to pressure her into it.

Whether it sounded naive or not, she had never wanted her first time to be about making kids. She'd always hoped that she'd gift the one thing she could never get back to someone because she loved them. She wasn't the waiting for marriage type, exactly, but she didn't and wouldn't have minded if it turned out that way. It seemed sweet and romantic to her, the way it should be. She'd wait until she knew it was right.

And she did think she loved Dave. She really did. What was love if not wanting the other person to be happy, caring about them and doing what it took to keep them safe, dreaming about them, and maybe even secretly wondering how it would be like with her in his arms?

But she wanted to know he felt the same about her, wanted to know it wasn't about the kids, wanted to know he wanted her because she was her and not because she was a she, the only girl left on the planet for him, before she chose to go further.

If Sburb had never happened, Dave would have been draped in chicks who wanted him because he was cool and handsome and had a smirk that could bring a girl to her knees. She knew that. All she had to offer him was herself, complete with all her flaws and imperfections. She hoped it'd be enough.

The atmosphere around the table was heavy and thick, like thunderclouds on a hot summer day. On the surface, it seemed fine, but the air was static and crackling with electricity.

"You're what?" If she didn't know him any better, she would have thought he was merely mildly surprised.

But no. Dave Strider was legitimately stunned. John and Rose could tell too, in the way that only your closest friends could tell how you felt from the smallest hints. She knew they knew from the quick glance they gave each other. The cool kid rarely showed so much emotion. For a second she wondered what would make him completely lose his cool, but turned her attention back to Rose, who was casually forking linguini with pesto sauce and sprinkled parmesan into her mouth as if she hadn't just dropped a bomb on Dave's head.

"I'm pregnant," She repeated, her face a perfect mask of serenity contrasting her heavily sarcastic tone. "It's what happens when you stick a pe-"

"Hey. I think I'm entitled to a little bit of ohmygodwhat seeing as I just found out my best friend knocked up my sister." He turned towards John, who almost guiltily put the piece of garlic bread he'd been nibbling on back onto his plate. "Dude. Not cool."

" You two should probably get working on the kids yourselves. It's been a long time. The world isn't going to repopulate itself, you know." Rose's voice was dry and vaguely smug. "The linguini's really good too, Jade. Did you learn to cook while you lived alone on the island?"

She felt her mouth go dry, her palms damp. The sudden urge to throw the breadbasket at Rose's smug pregnant face wasn't like her. She opened her mouth, probably to shout something inappropriate and insulting at Rose. Rose, who was smart and clever and beautiful and smug and pregnant and oh god she was going to regret screaming at her probably because she'd just shrug it off and drop some sarcastic comeback and oh god she was hyperventilating.

Before she could, though, John grabbed Rose's arm. "Come on. Don't be like that Rose." He turned to look at Dave, and then Jade, looking rather concerned. "I'm sorry, dude. It's- wait, Jade, are you... okay?"

No, she was not okay. But they didn't need to know that. "I'm fine. Totally okay-"

"What the fuck, Rose."

Dave's classic deadpan voice cut her off. "Why are you doing this? It isn't a race, you know. And you're freaking Jade the fuck out." She stiffened as Rose looked at her, looking slightly less smug and a bit more concerned.

"I'm just saying you guys should sort out any issues you have and hit the sack already, that's all-"

That was it. She stood up so abruptly she knocked over her chair. "This is bullshit." She slammed her palms down onto the table. "What I decide to do and who I decide to do and when is none of your fucking business, Rose. You're smart. So get that into your head."

The stunned faces were almost amusing, but she didn't take the time to look at them, instead choosing to run out of the room. Great. Now she looked like a stupid immature kid.

She stumbled up the stairs and found the nearest door with her hands. She couldn't see through the tears that were dripping down her face. Just a stupid kid, grown up too fast. She saw a glimpse of white before she collapsed on the bed, curled up.

Goddamnit, she hadn't hated herself this much since Jadesprite.

Even with her face buried in a mound of pillows, and the sound of blood rushing through her head, she could hear arguing from the floor below. She couldn't make out the words, exactly, but Rose sounded defensive, Dave sounded aggravated, and John was obviously trying to be diplomatic, and failing horribly as Rose and Dave bickered, completely ignoring him and his attempts at making peace.

It took a while, but the sounds faded away and there was only silence. She rolled onto her side, still clutching her pillow, and was surprised by a hand on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw Dave. She hadn't heard him slip into the room, probably because the pillow and carpet muffled the sound of him walking in.

"Hey. You okay?"

It was a stupid question, and they both knew it, but she nodded mutely out of instinct. "I'm fine." she whispered, wondering if she looked half as pathetically miserable as she felt. She pushed the pillow she was holding aside, and realized she had stumbled into the room they were supposed to share once they got down to sleeping with each other. Oh, great, something to make her feel better.

Perhaps Dave had noticed where they were too, or at least realized the significance of it, because he cleared his throat. "Wanna talk in the living room?"

She opened her mouth, probably to agree, but shut it again. "I'm fine here." It was stupid of her to always try and avoid the unavoidable- she might as well start facing the facts, a bit at a time. Not run away. Jade Harley did not run away from things when she could fight them. She hadn't done so to save her own skin, choosing to save John from the meteor, even at the cost of her own life. Not when Bec attacked them. She hadn't sat down and cried when Dave was bleeding on the floor. No. She dealt with shit and did what she needed to do. It was her MO.

An eyebrow quirked upwards behind his aviators, but he sat down onto the bed instead of protesting. "Fair enough. I talked with Rose- she was trying to spew all her psycho-babble bullshit about how I was trying to ignore the facts and what not, but I more or less told her to fuck off and leave you alone."

"That's not exactly the nicest thing to say to your sister."

"Hey, you weren't too nice yourself, Harley."

She shrugged, still slightly embarrassed. "I'll have to go back and apologize now, I guess."

"Nah. Rose doesn't care. You know that. You're just embarrassed. And if anything, the freaky goth shrink should apologize first."

"But I still shouldn't have called her a meddling bitch."

"You didn't."

Oops.

"It's alright, really." There was a faint smirk on the coolkid's lips. "Although that isn't the nicest thing to say to one of your best friends, is it?"

Touché, coolkid. Jade smiled back at him, even though her face was somewhat flushed. "You're an ass sometimes, you know?"

"Part of the charm, Harley."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." She hesitantly leaned in to kiss Dave's cheek, and he flinched in surprise. "Um, sorry."

"You just caught me off guard." Swooping down, he kissed her softly before standing up. "I have to go. Is that okay?"

"Sure. "

It was getting darker when she slid back into the room. The sun had set a while ago, but the sky was still purple, darkening by the minute. She was starting to get tired. It wasn't too late- it was late summer, and the sun set late around this time of year, but it'd been a very long day and she just wanted to sleep. Relax. Get her mind off of things.

But if that was what she really wanted, why was she slipping back into the room with the huge white bed?

She didn't know. And she didn't care.

The white cotton nightgown fluttering around her knees was irking her, a constant reminder of what she was really hoping for. She clambered back into the bed, smooth, cool sheets and thick, warm comforter immediately hiding her from view. And the pillows- soft and fluffy- she could already feel herself drifting off to sleep. It was just too easy to fall asleep in a place as comfortable as this, and that was without her narcoleptic tendencies kicking in.

She decided right there and then she was going to keep sleeping in this bed, alone or not, as the world winked out and she fell asleep.

It was a while before she felt anything, but somehow she blearily woke up, light flooding her eyes and causing her to flinch instinctively. Her glasses were still on, although they were crooked, and she took a moment to push them up the bridge of her nose before she took a look around. The lights were on, and it took her a moment to notice Dave standing in the doorway, leaning ever so casually in a white t-shirt and a pair of red boxers.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead." There was a grin on his face, and she sleepily turned to the windows, with their curtains only slightly parted, to check what time it was. It was probably not even midnight, but she was exhausted, having just woken up from a few hours sleep. Rubbing her eyes, she managed to yawn out a vaguely coherent sentence that even she could barely understand.

"Whaaaisihhhkewked..."

"Lovely to see you're all awake and shit." He sauntered closer to the bed, casually sitting down. "I was thinking..."

"Yes? What is it?"

Jade snapped out of her semi conscious state, to fully alert in just a few seconds. She managed to prop herself up onto her elbows as he leaned forward.

He looked at her oddly for a second before continuing. "I was thinking that maybe there's a reason you're so nervous when it comes to, um, sex." His voice faltered for an instant when he spoke, but he managed to continue on. "Erm, I was thinking...if..."

She looked at him through half lidded eyes. "Spit it out already, Dave."

"I mean, I know it's just a gesture, but-" He reached out for her left hand all of the sudden, catching her off guard, although she let him hold it. "I've been your friend since we were kids, I've liked you since we were thirteen and I've loved you for years. I don't know- you're bubbly and smiley- you never put up with my coolkid bullshit, you're tough and badass and beautiful...

"I mean, I am a guy, and on some level you're probably thinking I'm just telling you this because I want to get in your pants. But I would wait forever for you."

"You're a time traveler. Forever isn't necessarily a long time for you," she quipped, brushing hair out of her face with her spare hand. "But go on."

He sighed, a small smile curling up at the edge of his mouth. "Very true. But I came to show you." From a pocket he produced a small circle. It took her a second to realize it was a daisy tied up into the shape of a ring.

She looked up at him, a grin on her face. "With all the boonbucks and grist we still have left over, you'd think you could make something a little bit more durable."

"Metal doesn't suit you. And anyway, flowers bloom every morning. Gold wears away. Plus, flowers are prettier."

"Fair enough." She let him slip the ring onto the third finger of her left hand. "Does this mean we're married?"

"How about engaged? Or engaged to be engaged? We can't really get officially get married, and either way, it doesn't really matter, does it? Think of it as a promise- I won't be dick about this whole thing."

"Shhhh."

She leaned forward to kiss him, and tentatively wrapped her arms around his neck as she did, slowly pulling him down into the bed with her. He responded, slightly bewildered but willing. He kissed her softly, once, twice, three times, leaving a trail of them down her neck, stopping only to nuzzle the soft skin in the space between her neck and her shoulders.

She in turn brought his head back up to her face, where she kissed him again. His hands snaked down around waist. Hesitantly, she ran her hands down his chest, her fingers curling around the hem of his shirt. Suddenly, she felt hands on her wrists and Dave rolled over so he was lying next to her, so quickly she could only gasp.

"You have got to stop leading me on if you're just going to stop all of the sudden," She muttered, glaring at him through her hair, mussed from their little makeout session. "Seriously."

"What? Do I make you all hot and bothered?" She could hear the smirk in his voice, even if she couldn't see his face properly.

"Seriously though, why'd you stop? I thought I had problems with this, not you."

I don't want our first time to be because I proposed to you. It seems..." His voice trailed off, and she frowned.

"Is that's what's bothering you? That you think I'd be screwing you out of some fucked up sense of obligation?" A frown creased her forehead as she looked at him, but it faded away when he leaned in to kiss her again.

"Maybe. But maybe it's because I don't think I want or need this right now. Sex, I mean. I'm happy with just this."

He brought his feet up to his chest and used his arms to pull the covers over both of them. "Can we just cuddle?"

"Cuddling doesn't seem very cool."

"Fuck that shit."

"Fine." She let him curl up next to her, a small smile spreading across her lips as she felt his arms wrapping around her. She simply lay there until she heard the low sound of Dave's steady breathing that told her he was asleep. Sleep claimed her soon after.

For some reason, Jade woke up suddenly in the middle of the night. She turned over, or at least tried to. Something wouldn't let her move. Peeking below the covers, she realized what it was. Dave's arm was curled around her waist, holding her close to his body like she was a teddy bear. His mouth was right by her ear, and between small, sporadic snores, and the steady deep in and out whistling of his breathing, she could make out vague sounds that sounded suspiciously like words.

A noise, comparatively louder than the others, startled her. She swore he had mumbled Jade, and the thought made her smile. In either case, it was too late to be doing anything else but dreaming. As her mind went under, she felt a warm glow inside her ribcage as he murmured her name again in his sleep.

So many page breaks O_O

But yes, a second chapter after a month! Thanks for the reviews, guys.

Also, just a disclaimer, if there's a third chapter, it will probably have more fluff. And sex. Actual, legitimate smut, not just these two making out. Welp.