Finally, another chapter. Sorry this is so late (for those of you who bothered to read this). I'm working on the next chapter, and I will soon be done with this fanfiction and can work on another.

Anyways, enough of my ranting.

Enjoy~

-Alley Cat

Dirk awoke. He was screaming. Screaming like he had never screamed before. He shot up in bed, sitting up as he howled.

"JAKE! JAKE!" he was shouting, not even aware of all the noise he was making, blinded by his own panic. Of course, being not the only person living in the apartment, his yelling didn't go unnoticed.

Seconds after he had first shrieked 'Jake', his little brother, Dave Strider, came crashing in. He slammed the door open, looking a mixture of pissed and worried, and said, "Dude, Bro! Why the fuck are screaming at two in the damn morning?"

Dirk had stopped screaming be then. He sat there in bed, staring at Dave uncomprehendingly. He was shaking, in a cold sweat from his dream turned nightmare. His usual hat wasn't on, and his spiky titanium blond hair stuck out.

Without his pointed shades on, Dave could see full view of Dirk's orange eyes with his own red ones. He could see the tears rolling down his pale cheeks.

"Woah, Bro...are you crying?" Dave asked, shocked. Bro had never cried in front of him before, and had always told Dave to never cry. Bro was strong. What could he have dreamt about that reduced him to tears? The younger Strider knew whatever it was, it must be deep and personal with Bro, because his guardian wouldn't cry easily.

Dirk realized that Dave could see his tears, and quickly shrub bed them away, saying, "Uh...never mind, lil' man. Sorry for waking you. Nothing's wrong, you can go back to sleep."

Dave knew that clearly, something WAS wrong, but he also knew that when his older brother laid back down and rolled over, that meant their conversation was over, end of discussion. Taking it as his dismissal, Dave left his bro's room and back to his, laying down and trying to fall asleep again. He eventually managed it, but that one, single question still rang through his mind:

What had Bro dreamt about?

Nearly seven hours later, at around 9 in the morning, Dave awoke again. Feeling sticky and still a bit tired in the hot Texas summer heat, he went and cleaned himself up in the bathroom before going into the kitchen. Bro was already up, cooking for once, still dressed in his boxers and over large shirt.

Wait, over large shirt? Dave looked closer. That shirt used to fit Bro perfectly just four weeks ago. And now it was hanging loosely off of him? Had he lost weight? Certainly, Dave suspected his bro had been getting nightmares for weeks now, causing him to lose sleep (hence the dark circles forming under his usually bright orange eyes). That previous nights was the first time Bro had ever woken up screaming however. Before Dave could think more on the subject, Bro had served pancakes and eggs on a plate and left in on the table for the younger Strider, before retreating into his own room.

Dave sat down at the table, eating nearly all of the pancakes and eggs before realizing something rather obvious: Bro hadn't eaten anything. Still having some food left for a decent meal, he stood and followed his brother into his room.

Walking down the hall, and avoiding Lil' Cal at one point, he spied Bro's bedroom door open just a crack, and peaked through it.

Bro was changing into his day clothes. He pulled off the white shirt he had been sleeping in, and the younger brother was indeed confirmed of his suspicions. Bro was thinner than what he normally was, having lost both weight and some muscle. As he slipped on his white collared shirt, it wasn't fitting him properly in some places. His pants all together were falling off his thin hips as he put them on, and he was forced to tighten his usual belt to nearly the smallest setting just to prevent the pants from sliding off his waist. Pausing after he dressed himself, he stared out the window, spacing out, looking defeated and sad in the sunlight.

A minute passed before he moved, walking out of his room. Dave moved aside quickly, saying as Bro passed, "Dude, if you're hungry, I left some food...", but Bro paid him no mind. He walked down the hallway slowly, sitting in a chair facing a window in the the living room, staring once again stoically at nothing.

Though he was there, his physical form sat in the chair, Dave knew Bro's mind was some where else, thinking of someone or something.

' "JAKE! JAKE!" '

He had been screaming about someone called Jake.

"Who's Jake?" asked Dave, leaning on the doorframe.

"Somebody...really important to me." his brother answered.

Taking it from his tone of voice, Dave said, "Like...a romantically special person?"

Bro nodded.

"Like a fuck-buddy?"

"No, not somebody I would use for my own benefit. Jake was...special, to me. And I still have feelings for him..."

"So why don't you tell him?"

"It's been years since we talked. He probably doesn't even remember me."

"Bet you're wrong..."

"..."

His silence put an end to the conversation. The cool kid didn't understand his older sibling in a lot of ways, despite him being his brother, but Dave did know this:

Bro was falling apart at the seams, because memories of a person called Jake had come back to haunt him.

He had to do something before they destroyed his brother beyond repair.

But...who is Jake?

Yeah, that chapter was a little lame. Hope you liked it though. I will be updating a new chapter VERY soon, I promise.

-Alley Cat