A/N: okay this one is really short :S sorry about that, but i had to do it like this. it needs to end then and there :) (not the story, the chapter)


"No."

"But mum!" Tavros whined, not sure why he had to justify the reason behind simply hanging out with friends when his father had allowed it already.

"Because I don't feel like unpacking this stuff all alone!"

"You won't! Dad is helping you. Wouldn't there be, uh, too many people anyway?"

"Still! I don't even know who your friends are!" she yelled back, towering over Tavros.

It was unfair to be standing over a guy in a wheel chair, Tav thought, but he was too intimidated to say it out loud.

"What's going on here?"

They both turned their head to see the father standing in the doorway, grocery bags in both hands.

"Tavros wants to – "

"- hang out with his friends, I know" he stated, giving Tav's mother an annoyed look.

"I already allowed it, so let him go."

Tavros smiled, knowing that the argument had just been won in his favour.
His mother always fought with him over each and every little thing, but as soon as his father stepped in, neither had a chance to change the outcome.
His word was final, and luckily, his father mostly favoured his side.
It was rare, that his parents agreed and his father would decide against Tavros.
But whenever that had happened, it had been for a good reason.
His mother simply always said the opposite, of what Tavros wanted, to piss him off.

Without another word, Tavro's left the kitchen, throwing his father a grateful look before leaving the house.
He fished out his phone and looked up Karkat's address.

This was going to be so great!


When Tavros rang the bell at Karkat's house, he was shaking a bit. He was embarrassed by how nervous he was and he wished that he could be a bit cooler, more collected.

They were just going to hang out, chat, play some games, nothing serious…
But he felt as if he was about to be judged and prosecuted in front of the grand jury.

Still deep in thoughts, picturing what would happen with him, Tavros didn't notice Karkat standing in front of him, waving a hand in front of his nose.

"Hey, Tavros, you there?"

Instantly, Tavros snapped out of it and stared into Karkat's gray eyes, blushing slightly.

"Y-yeah, I, uh, spaced out I guess…"

Karkat stepped aside and let him inside a nice and cozy house.

Tavros hadn't actually expected it to be like this, not so clean and tidy.

"We moved the Playstation to the living room, my room's upstairs" Karkat said, shrugging almost as if he wanted to apologize.

"Oh, uh, thanks."

Despite still stuttering a bit, Tavros really appreciated the thought Karkat had given him, and it calmed him down a bit.

When they entered the living room, the first thing that caught Tavro's eyes, was Gamzee, lying on the floor with his legs on the couch, playing an old Playstation2 game upside down.

He was completely absorbed by the game, his mouth opened a bit, and his eyes focused.

"U-uh, hi" Tavros greeted, hoping not to disturb him.

A bit confused, Gamzee turned his head to look at him, pausing the game in the process. He smiled immediately when he saw who the visitor was.

"Hey, Tavbro!"

Gamzee opened his arms and gestured him to come over.

"It's a motherfucking miracle you made it, bro!"

Smiling, Tavros rolled over to Gamzee and watched him continue the game, while Karkat left the room, muttering something about snacks.

For a while the two of them just sat there in comfortable silence, only listening to the sounds of the game.
It was strange, Tavros felt completely comfortable like this.
Of course, he was a bit nervous, but somehow he suspected that it would always be a bit strange to be around Gamzee.
Gamzee was a strange person, but in a good way.
Only one thing scared Tavros a bit.

He couldn't quite tell why, but whenever he looked into Gamzee's eyes, he saw something behind the heavy fog that kept them unfocused.
A sharp mind that was being clouded for a reason…

The screen turned black and Gamzee groaned annoyed before changing his position and sitting on the couch, laughing softly.

"damn, motherfucker… I died."

Tavros frowned.

"I'm sorry."

Smiling softly, Gamzee shook his head and tossed him the controller.

"Why bro? Do you wanna try?"

A confident grin spread across Tavros' face.

"Yeah, I love games" he pressed the square button, starting it over again.

"What game is this? I've never played it before."

"Evil twin. It's motherfucking old, but Karkat and I always play it. He sucks though."

Tavros chuckled at the thought of Karkat throwing a fit about dying, and without any difficulties he navigated the little character through the level.

"Damn, bro, you motherfucking rule at this" Gamzee said after a while and scooted closer, patting Tavros' shoulder playfully.

Karkat had been forgotten, as the two of them enjoyed the game, and while doing so, kept getting more comfortable by the minute.
Soon, they were joking and laughing like old friends.


Bored, Karkat sat in the kitchen, knowing very well that he wasn't really welcome in the living room now. He played a bit Angry Birds on his phone before dropping it and simply rested his head on the table.

This had been a stupid idea…

Gamzee had had the brilliant idea of inviting Tavros over for games, to Gamzee's house, but Karkat knew that would have only resulted in a very intimidated Tavros and an overly horny and eager Gamzee, which would never lead to the actual result his best friend had in mind…

So, Karkat, being the friend he is, decided to invite them to his house, while not disturbing them.

But now he was really bored…

He got up and peered into the living room, where Tavros was beating an endboss from Dark Souls, while Gamzee cheered him on.

"Hey guys?"

None of them turned to him, but Tavros at least had the decency to answer.

"Yes, I , uh, can't pause right now, wait a minute…"

"no it's okay, I just wanted to say, that I'll go buy us some snacks, Ma forgot to buy them…"

Gamzee and Tavros nodded at the same time and Karkat quickly got out of the house.

Time to hit the arcade or something…


After Tavros had died in the game, somehow none of them wanted to continue, and the atmosphere turned awkward pretty fast.
To break the tension a bit, Gamzee offered to watch a movie, not really sure what kind of movie a guy like Tavros would like.

"uh, what movies does Karkat have?"

Gamzee shrugged and glanced through the stacks of DVD's that lay next to the big TV.

Romcoms…

Hundreds of those stupid, sappy, faggy Romcoms, Gamzee thought. Well maybe Tavros liked that…

"Do you like – "

"Oh!" Tavros interrupted him, rolling a bit closer.

"He has Peter Pan! I mean, I, uh, kind of like that…" his voice faded and he felt his face heat up. Damn, that was really embarrassing…

And when he saw Gamzee's confused stare, he swore he would have jumped off a cliff if there had been one nearby.

"I mean, if you don't…"

"Tavbro" Gamzee interrupted him, his stare softening and smiling, "that's motherfucking adorable."

Tavros' blush increased even more and he had to make sure that he had been hearing right… adorable?

While Tavros was still a bit dumbstruck, Gamzee picked up the DVD and put it into the player, pushing Tavros back to the couch and slumping down on it himself.

As soon as the movie started, Tavros was completely absorbed by it.
Sometimes he even moved his lips to the words they were saying in the movie, and Gamzee repeated the same words in his head over and over again.

Motherfucking adorable…

He really was.
The way Tav looked at the screen intently, a soft smile on his lips whenever the man in the green clothes took off to fly, and the way his eyes glistened with emotion was simply adorable and it stole Gamzee's breath.
It was more interesting to see each and every little movement Tavros made, then watching the movie itself…

But when Tinkerbell was dying, Gamzee noticed something else.

Tavros was clutching his legs, as if they were broken wings, and in his eyes the hope of Peter Pan was mirrored.

Believe in it and maybe you can fly…

It broke Gamzee's heart and made his head throb.

He groaned softly and pressed a hand against his head, trying to ease the pain.
It really hurt! Or was he coming down? Shit! No! not now…

"Gamzee? Are you, uh, are you okay?"

He wanted to answer, but the headache forced his eyes shut and he bit down on his teeth, trying to keep a whimper in.
Then he felt a cool hand on his forehead.
It was as if the touch helped him ease the pain…
Gamzee leaned closer, hitting Tavros' shoulder.
At first, the younger boy tensed, but eventually he put one arm around Gamzee's shoulders and gently stroked his hair with the other.

"Gamzee, what's wrong?"

The pain slowly faded and Gamzee dared to open his eyes.
That had been a mistake…

If he hadn't opened his eyes at that moment, he wouldn't have looked up into those wonderful hazel eyes, filled with concern over him, wouldn't have stopped breathing for a moment before doing something that could break everything he had been thinking about for the past days.

He wouldn't have leaned up and caught Tavros by surprise, wouldn't have kissed these wonderfully soft lips.

He wouldn't have been shoved away.

He wouldn't have seen the horror in these hazel eyes…