AUTHOR'S NOTES: CHAPTER FOUR IS HERE!

First off I'd like to give shout-outs to all the people who have followed and favourite this story!

Linda065cliva, Niim42, We will make the world burn, AchicknamedBob, ChibChib, Homestuck Kitten, Sebby'sClosetKitten, SuieetBurri18, and Mobius Double Reacharound. All of you guys rock and I hope I can continue to meet your expectations! This chapter was actually sort of difficult to write but I hope that it's still good. This is a long chapter, which I hope you like!

Any who on with the story!

The sound of the elevator door opening sounded like a groan from the apartment, the decrepit building announcing its age and whether. The final 'clank' rang out like a gong, announcing the battle Tavros was about to engage in. The two males exited the elevator and Tavros slowly wheeled down the hall, Gamzee following close behind. The empty quiet made Tavros' heart sound very loud, and he hoped that Gamzee couldn't hear it. They reached the door to Tavros' apartment, and he reached clumsily into his pocket for his keys. It took him a two tries to remember that his keys were in his other pocket, and he grabbed them into his sweaty hand. He noticed that his neighbours' apartment was quiet for the first time in days, and he wasn't sure if he was glad about it or not.

He hoped that Gamzee didn't see how much his hand was shaking as he tried to get the key into the keyhole. Swallowing in an attempt to wet his dry throat, Tavros managed to get the key inside and took his time in unlocking it. Soon enough the door was opened and the two entered the apartment. The door closed and the apartment was filled with silence.

"Well, here we are," Tavros said awkwardly, gesturing to his home.

The apartment was quaint, albeit not the most spacious of living spaces. For one person, it would have been just fine, but Tavros' chair made it less so. The main room consisted of a space acting as a living room and a kitchenette. The walls were a tan colour, and the carpeted floor was a muddy olive colour. Tavros had a modest TV, and as for seating space he had a worn green loveseat, and a small table with only one chair pushed against the wall. There were three white doors leading to the other rooms: one that led to a small broom closet, one to the bathroom, and one to Tavros' bedroom. It wasn't the nicest, but given Tavros' income, not to mention the building had a wheelchair ramp, he was content with it.

Now that they were inside, Tavros had no idea what he was to do with his new guest. He felt like someone who had been given a kid to babysit and had no clue where to start.

"So um…make yourself at home?" While trying to come up with a plan beyond letting the musician stay with him, he noticed that a considerable puddle had formed where the clown had been standing.

"L-let me get you a t-towel," Tavros said.

"What should I do with these?" Gamzee asked, gesturing to his sopping clothes. A towel would hardly do anything for the sopping wet clothes, Tavros realized.

"Oh. W-well the laundry room is just down the hall, I-I could put them in the dryer for you."

This idea led to another one. "In fact, i-if you wanted to, you can use the shower if you wanted to. It might warm you up." It would also rid the clown of the stench that clung to him, but Tavros didn't mention this -little tid-bit.

"Oh man, that'd be sweet," Gamzee said dreamily.

"It's over there," Tavros said, pointing to the bathroom door.

"A'ight." He traipsed over to the bathroom, leaving a dark trail where water droplets fell off of him and onto the carpet.

"Turn the knob to the right to get hot water."

"Oki-doki bro."

"A-and the towels are in the cabinet under the sink!"

"Got it."

"I-it takes a while for the water to heat up, s-s-so be careful when you-"

Gamzee closed the bathroom door behind him, cutting Tavros off. This irritated Tavros, despite being used to being cut off mid-sentence. Alone for the first time, Tavros let out a sigh. He was making this up as he went, and was relieved that during however long it took Gamzee to take a shower would be time he could spend thinking about what to do next. There were questions he should be asking, things he should be doing. He never had guests over to his home, so his skills as a host were rather…non-existent.

He heard the shuffling of clothes, and the door cracked open.

A long arm stuck out, holding a mushy ball of wet clothes.

"Here ya go bro!" The hand dropped the ball into a pile on the floor, before retracting and shutting the door again. Tavros heard the water turn on, and wheeled over to the pile. He grabbed the laundry basket beside the door and picked up the pile of sopping clothes, plopping them into the basket. There was a small dark circle left in the carpet, but since it was just water Tavros chose not to worry about it too much.

As he rolled towards the door, he realized how risky it was letting a stranger be in his apartment alone. Thoughts of his home being ransacked while he was in the laundry room floated into his head. He looked back at the closed door, listening to the sound of the water shifting, obviously disturbed by the body moving beneath it. He then heard singing starting up.

Carry on my wayward son,

There'll be peace when you are done.

Lay your weary head to rest,

Don't you cry no mooooor!

What followed was Gamzee humorously attempting to replicate the guitar with his voice, making Tavros smile slightly. The shower amplified the sound, filling the whole apartment with the clown reciting the classic song. For some reason this reassured the wheelchair bound young man, and let him exit his home with a lighter conscious. He rolled out of the apartment, laundry basket in his lap and made the quick trip to the laundry room. It was times like these that he was grateful that his apartment was on the same floor as the laundry room. He could put the clothes in the washer and pop back into the apartment to check to see that his stuff was still there. He then began to try and think of what he owned that was even worth stealing. The most valuable things he had were his TV, laptop, and vacuum cleaner. It was rather sad, the more he thought about it. There was nobody in the room as he wheeled himself in; giving him full range of the room's cleaning machines.

He began picking up pieces of clothing, examining them. He grimaced when he took back his hand and saw that streaks of wet dirt had followed. The rain seemed to awaken the muck and grime that had been sleeping in within the fabric, and was no doubt partially responsible for the clown's stench.

'These things are filthy! How long had he been wearing these?' Along with the grime, the clothes were tattered and full of holes. Under his faded hoodie it appeared that Gamzee had been wearing an old t-shirt in dull purple. The collar looked stretched and worn, and there was a large hole under the left armpit. The hoodie's zipper no longer zipped, due to the zipper head being missing, and the threads were unravelling. The black skinny jeans, that now ran grey with paint, had two large slashes in both knees that looked like they were done with scissors long ago. Judging by the fact that the pants were most likely too small for him, Tavros came to the conclusion that the slashes were made so that movement was still possible. There were no socks among the clothes, indicating that Gamzee wore nothing with his scuffed converse.

Originally, Tavros was just going to put the clothes in the dryer, but now he knew that they were going to need washing as well. But that would only rid the clothes of their filth; it would do nothing for their poor physical condition. He put the clothes in the washer, dumped in the detergent, and set the washer to start. Knowing that the clothes would be safe, nobody did their laundry this late at night, he returned to his apartment.

He opened the door and nearly choked on his tongue, and made noise that sounded like he did.

"Hey man, did you know that your shampoo smells amazing?" Gamzee asked. It seemed that he had taken up Tavros' offer about making himself at home. He was sprawled out on Tavros' couch, flipping through channels and eating cereal from the box. But what caused Tavros' reaction was the fact that Gamzee was wearing nothing but a towel.

Which provided a rather…clear view.

He wasn't muscular, most likely attributed to his eating habits, or lack of them, but he had a good body with some slight definition. Out of his clothes, his nicely tanned skin was more noticeable, the olive colour making Tavros wonder if he was something non-Caucasian. Wavy black hair shinned with moisture as it hung in his face like a sheep dog. Tavros also saw that he had tattoos up and down his arms. They were a cluster of images in muted blacks, blues and purples. The image he could make out the most was a strange goat creature with fins, sugar skulls, and the happy/sad theatre masks. This was also the first time Tavros got to see his face devoid of clown paint.

He had high cheekbones, a strong jawline, a straight rather large nose that should have been unattractive but for some reason was not, and only a slight hollowness to his cheeks that indicated he was malnourished. What stood out most though were the three white lines that went diagonally across his face. Tavros wanted to ask about the scars, but didn't for fear of offending him.

Gamzee yawned and stretched his arms upwards; making the towel ride just a little bit lower, to which Tavros looked away blushing.

"Something the matter?"

"N-nothing!" Tavros squeaked. The meek young man had no idea how he should continue on when there was a man who was practically naked sitting in his apartment eating up all his Lucky Charms.

"Y-y-your clothes are in the washer. They sh-should be done in a while," stammered Tavros.

"Thanks man," Gamzee replied, shovelling more cereal into his mouth.

"W-w-would you like me t-to see if I have anything that would fit you?" Tavros asked, eager to get the man into some clothes.

"I'm fine either way," Gamzee answered casually apparently unashamed of his indecency. Tavros made the decision for him and went into his room to hunt down some spare clothes. Tavros wheeled into his room, glad he no longer had to look at Gamzee's body. Though he questioned why he was so eager to rid himself of the image. Gamzee wasn't ugly, far from it quite actually. In fact, he was wondering what he must look like under his towel-

'No no NO, I am NOT thinking about that!' Tavros groaned into his hands hoping to make the heat in his cheeks disappear. Those thoughts had come out of nowhere, he never thought like that! He shook his head and the thoughts away, and started searching for something his new guest could wear. As he tore through his closet, he realized most of his things wouldn't fit. Tavros was slightly below average height and size wise, and Gamzee being such a giant didn't help matters. After digging all the way to the back of his closet, he discovered a conundrum. What he found would most likely fit his guest, but at the same time he was slightly embarrassed to admit to its existence.

It was a sweater knitted for him by his old high school friend, Kanaya. While she was a successful fashion designer now, this had been made back when she first started getting into fashion, and it showed. She hadn't thought to measure Tavros before making, so it was a monstrous sea of fabric that was like a dress to him back in high school, and still was oversized presently. The sleeves were white while the main part was a bright blue. The main feature was the rather crudely rendered cow on the front, its black eyes lopsided and its fuchsia-pink snout a little too large. Above it was a sun in a gaudy shade of yellow with a wiggly smile on it.

It was most likely the only thing that was going to fit on his guest, but he couldn't deny how dorky it was, no matter his sentimental attachment to it. He was certain Gamzee's impression of him was already bad, so he didn't need this to add to the mix.

"'ey, is that for me?" Tavros jumped and turned to see Gamzee standing over him eyeing the sweater. He had his head bent down so that he was peering over Tavros' shoulder, close enough that he could detect the scent of his shampoo in his freshly washed hair. He was also close enough for Tavros to get a closer look at the man's facial scars, and see that they were even rougher close up. He was also close enough to make Tavros uncomfortable.

"I uh…"

'Oh great,' thought Tavros. The sweater was suddenly snatched out of Tavros' grip, and he tried to play it off.

"Th-th-that's nothing I-" His cheeks were red with embarrassment as his guest eyed the garment. He could only imagine what he was thinking about.

"It-it's the only thing I c-could find," Tavros mumbled sheepishly. "If you d-don't want to wear it I-I understand…"

"What are you talking about Tavbro? This is motherfuckin' perfect!"

Tavros cocked an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"Hell yeah, rain is sweater weather, didn't ya know?"

Tavros was surprised as Gamzee eagerly slipped the sweater on. Gamzee, the homeless musician -apologies bard- who wasn't afraid of angry business men, who bustled on the street in clown make-up and mostly black attire, with wicked scars on his face and tatted up arms, and carried himself like a carefree badass…

Looked very out of place in Tavros' ugly sweater.

"Cosy as fuck," he beamed. His sigh was practically a purr as he started rubbing the sleeves of the sweater and nuzzling his face into the material affectionately.

Tavros couldn't help it, he laughed.

"What's up bro?"

"N-nothing!" Tavros said between giggles. The image of this roguish man nuzzling his sweater like a kitten was too much for Tavros. When he came to his sense though he quickly fell quiet and mumbled apologies. Gamzee still had the towel around his waist, and Tavros knew that none of his pants would fit the taller man.

"I don't I have any pants that could fit," he admitted.

"That's alright bro, I got this." With no warning, Gamzee turned and started going through Tavros' dresser drawers.

"W-what are you doing?"

"Lookin' for some motherfuckin' underwear man. It's gettin' breezy down there." Tavros blushed at that unneeded information as Gamzee made a noise of accomplishment.

"Bingo!" He pulled out a pair of Tavros' underwear.

"Cool you wear boxers too. I have no idea how fuckers can wear those brief things. Shit squeezes more than a fuckin' black mamba. Oh wait, those are motherfucking venomous. Okay, like a Burmese python!"

Tavros blanched when, without warning, the towel was dropped.

"C-c-c-could you please n-not d-d-d-do that in front of me?" Tavros stammered, looking away with a hand over his eyes.

"Oh! Sorry man! Where are my manners?"

'Hiding out on Pluto?' Tavros thought to himself.

"I'll be in the fuckin' bathroom." Tavros heard footsteps padding away, and once he heard the bathroom door close he opened his eyes.

He was mentally thanking Kanaya for making the sweater so long, as it blocked him from seeing Gamzee's behind or any intimates parts. He shook his head and rubbed his temples, feeling the beginnings of a headache. His new guest was becoming more than he could handle, he realized.

He obviously was ignorant in the ways of decency and personal space, and had less social skills than Tavros, which was quite an accomplishment. What made it worse was that due to his apparent lack of shame, Tavros was the only one to suffer the embarrassment of the situation.

The young man sighed, knowing there wasn't much he could do about it. He had promised to let him stay the night, the washing machine would be going for a while, and the man was wearing his boxers, so Tavros was going to have to deal with him for a while. Tavros took the time to change out of his clothes and into something more comfortable. Usually he would be in his boxers to sleep, but given his situation he pulled out some rarely used pyjama bottoms and a baggy t-shirt.

He was not expecting what he saw as he wheeled into the living room. Gamzee was lying on the couch, now in Tavros' commandeered boxers, clutching a pillow and staring at the television. The look on his face surprised Tavros. It was the first time he had seen the man without a smile on his face. He wasn't outright frowning, but the blank expression on his face was only intensified by the look in his dark blue eyes. His usually shining eyes were now slightly dimmer, as they stared glazed at the television that wasn't even on. He curled further around the pillow, clutching it tighter like it was an anchor. He looked haggard, with shadows under his eyes like he hadn't slept in days and the lost look on his face made Tavros remember the severity of this man's situation.

If Tavros hadn't offered to let him in he would still be out there freezing in the rain, more worried about keeping his guitar dry than keeping himself out of the rain. The scars, once hidden behind a mask of paint, made him look more severe, marring his otherwise handsome face. Tavros decided that he didn't like it when Gamzee frowned, and was starting to prefer when he was making him uncomfortable with his antics.

Gamzee perked his head up when Tavros cleared his throat.

"So uh…" Tavros scratched his head. "Are you still hungry?" He saw the Lucky Charms box on the ground by the couch.

"I see you've finished the cereal."

"Sorry 'bout that."

"I-it's fine. I was going to reheat some leftover pizza. Do you want any?"

Gamzee nodded, so Tavros went to the fridge. He pulled out the pizza box and pulled out four slices of pizza, two for each of them. He put them on a plate and put it in the microwave.

"What do you want to drink?" he asked as he pulled out two glasses.

"Got any faygo?"

"What's that?" There was a sharp intake of breath that made Tavros look back. The look on Gamzee's face was utter shock. His jaw was slack and his eyes were big as saucers.

"What's wrong?" Tavros asked, voice concerned.

"You don't know what FAYGO is?!" he gasped.

"N-no?"

"Oh Mirthful Messiahs! What hellish life have you endured where you don't even know what motherfucking Faygo it?! Faygo is the shit! It's the wicked elixir man! Fizzy goodness sold by the wonderful dudes at gas stations and Walmarts everywhere!"

"Wait, it's soda?"

"It ain't just soda man!" Gamzee said passionately. "It's the liquid of the gods! Proof of a higher power in the form of carbonated nectary goodness."

Tavros couldn't help but snort at him getting so worked up over a drink.

"Sorry, but I don't have any Faygo, nor have I ever had any."

"I'll get you to try it one day," Gamzee swore. "You need to taste its miracles."

Tavros rolled his eyes.

"If you say so." Tavros peered into the fridge.

"I have root beer, is that okay?"

"Yeah I suppose." Tavros poured two glasses of the drink and put the litre bottle back in the fridge. The microwave dinged and Tavros pulled out the plate of now steaming pizza. Balancing the drinks and plate in his lap, he rolled over to the living room, setting the plate and drinks on the coffee table.

"Thanks Tavbro," Gamzee said, taking a piece of pizza.

"N-no problem," he answered. Tavros chose to ignore the moan that rumbled in Gamzee's throat as he bit into the slice of pizza.

"Sweeeet cheesy goodness," he drew out over cheese filled chews.

"You act like you've never had pizza before."

"Man it's been a long motherfuckin' time. I might as well have never had it before," Gamzee said as he annihilated his first piece, already moving in on the second.

"What do you want to do now?" Tavros asked as he ate his pizza at a much slower pace. Gamzee swallowed his food and chugged down half of his drink.

"I don't know, wanna watch TV?"

"Th-there isn't usually anything good on right now, b-but I have some movies."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah, under the TV." Gamzee leapt up from the couch and plopped himself in front of the television. He opened the cabinet under the TV and began scanning Tavros' video collection. Meanwhile Tavros had pushed himself onto the couch, preferring it to his chair when watching TV.

"Leeeeets seeeee…" Gamzee hummed to himself as his finger hovered over the spines of the various DVD cases, brows furrowed in concentration. After apparently scanning over all of them, he sat back on his haunches, arms crossed with a pout on his lips.

"I can't motherfuckin decide!" he exclaimed with a wave of his hands.

"I'm just gonna pick one at random." He decided. He put a hand over his eyes and waved his hand back and forth over the DVDs. Tavros watched in amusement at the dramatic display his guest was putting on, all for picking a movie. Like a viper striking its prey, Gamzee's hand shot out and pulled forth a DVD.

"Okay let's see what we've got." Gamzee looked at the title.

"So Tavbro, in the mood for Peter Pan?"

"Yeah!" said Tavros happily. "Actually it's my favourite movie."

"Sweet! Let's put this bad boy on!" Gamzee took the movie from the case and slid it into the DVD player.

"Hey you got popcorn?"

"No, sorry."

"That's fine bro." Gamzee glided into the kitchen and went immediately for one of the top cabinets.

"Where are you…?" Gamzee mumbled to himself as he dug through the cabinet. Tavros was about to ask him what he was doing when Gamzee pulled a box from the cabinet.

"Here you are!" he said as he walked back to the couch.

"How did you know I had Captain Crunch?"

"The same way I knew you had motherfuckin' Lucky Charms." Gamzee plopped onto the couch, and consequently on top of Tavros' legs.

"Uh Gamzee?" Tavros asked awkwardly. Since he couldn't feel his legs they didn't hurt, however he still didn't want his lanky guest sitting on top of him.

"Alright, hold on a motherfuckin second…" It took some manoeuvring, but after some rearranging they ended up in a semi comfortable position. Gamzee had somehow curled his long legs under him like a cat, with Tavros' legs in his lap, and the box of Captain Crunch between them. Tavros did not like it when other people touched his legs, and this position was pushing it for him. But there was no other way they would both fit on the couch, and since they were just in Gamzee's lap and he wasn't actually touching them, Tavros was willing to endure it.

"Mind if I use this?" Gamzee asked, pointing to the blanket draped over the back of the couch.

"It alright."

"Thanks man." He grabbed the blanket and draped it over his shoulders. He also reached over and wrapped it around Tavros' shoulders as well. Tavros made a gauche noise since this made them sit closer together, enough for their shoulders to touch.

"Um…Gamzee?"

"Yeah bro?"

"Aren't you ya know…uncomfortable?"

"Why would I be? Wait, are you?"

"No, no, no! It's just that, well we're kinda close together, and I just thought you'd like-"

"Oh I'm fine man, I don't mind," he reassured Tavros. He scrunched down further into the couch, burrowing under the blanket and closer to Tavros.

"You're like a motherfucking space-heater you know that?"

"N-no I didn't know," said Tavros meekly.

"Well you are, but it's cool. I hate the cold…" He said that last part very quietly, and Tavros thought he saw a look pass over his face. But just as the look came it was quickly gone, replaced by his usual grin.

"Here we go bro," Gamzee said pressing 'play' on the remote.

Tavros found himself at ease for the first time since he's returned to the apartment. For some reason it felt natural for them to sit there, watching movies and eating Captain Crunch from the box. He'd only known him for a day, and yet it was like they had been friends for years. Tavros was so comfortable he wasn't even embarrassed of his squeaky singing voice as he sang along to the songs he'd memorized years ago. It seemed Gamzee was familiar with the movie also, as he joined in the impromptu sing-along with the bourbon voice Tavros remembered from that morning.

As the movie reached its climax, the hectic events of the day finally caught up to Tavros. His eyelids felt heavy, and despite fighting the sleepiness, he found himself nodding off. As his eyes shut at last he slumped over, his head resting on a bony, but somehow comfortable, shoulder as he drifted off to sleep.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

PHEWWWWW FINALLY IT'S DONE! Sorry it took me a while to update, school stuff gets in the way not to mention I went to Gencon this weekend! (Totally awesomesauce btw!) If you don't know what Gencon is, it's a gaming convention here in Indianapolis that also has comics, anime, videogames, and a bunch of other stuff. I was cosplaying as Gamzee and even got to be a part of a Homestuck meet-up and photo-shoot!

If you're interested in seeing those pics they are on my DeviantArt account here:

Once again thank you to all you guys reading this and I will try and update as fast as I can!

Follow and Favourite, and reviews are nice too! If you have any questions or suggestions ask away and I will answer!