– tentacleTherapist [TT] has begun pestering turntechGodhead [TG] –

TT: You cannot continue to blow his conversations off, Dave.

TG: what the hell do you expect me to do

TG: just pretend like everythings all happy and normal?

TG: nothing is happy and nothing is normal

TG: nothings ever been normal for us rose
TT: I understand that, Dave. But John does not need to feel like he's done something wrong all because you are butthurt over his naturally oblivious disposition.

TG: shit ok I get that but i cant just act like everythings ok
TT: You can. John needs a friend. And cutting yourself out of his life like this is not beneficial to anyone.
TG: i know
TT: Being his friends, we all are able to provide John with different aspects of our own unique friendships. Depriving him of your own will wreck him. He has come to me for a week now, asking me if you are upset with him. I do not wish to have my neutral ass dragged into your emotional brouhaha.

TG: ok ok lalonde i get it
TG: i will talk to egbert ok

TT: I am glad to hear it.

TT: Now if you will excuse me, I have class to attend to. Then I believe I am meeting up with Kanaya for some coffee.

TG: are you guys dating yet?
TT: We are simply friends and classmates.

TG: i call bullshit
TT: Call it as you see it but I really must depart. Goodbye, Dave.

TG: catch you later

– tentacleTherapist [TT] has ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG] –

You sigh heavily, almost dramatically, as you exit out of your conversation with Rose. You know she's right but god, you don't know if you can will yourself to talk to John as though nothing had transpired between the two of you. For the past week, you've been keeping yourself scarce and John has only attempted to talk to you almost every day. And each of those times, you've humored him for a few minutes before finding some kind of excuse to sign offline. God, what are you doing? You were supposed to be Dave Strider, the cool kid who knew how to treat his friend right. But all you've done is tuck your tail between your legs and run off from the emotional danger that you've set yourself up for. John was supposed to think you were kidding about the whole 'I love you' deal so why aren't you acting more like it? Maybe because you weren't kidding and hell, you've never had to deal with this before! Wearing your heart on your sleeve was way too fucking dangerous...

In the end, you know Rose is right and there isn't anything you can do to try and put off talking to John. Besides, his birthday is coming up and you know seeing him face-to-face is inevitable. And if you cannot handle talking to John online, you sure as hell won't be able to handle talking to him personally. If you ruin his birthday by being a total ass over this, you would never forgive yourself. And so you sit there, in your room, making a silent pact with yourself to give John the best fucking birthday of his entire life. You are John's best bro and you need to start acting like it.

It's April 13th and today is John's birthday. He's turning twenty and you have resolved to yourself that you would make this the best birthday that bespectacled beauty has ever fucking had.

Rose and you are carpooling together in her black BMW M3 Sedan. You admire her taste in modest vehicular transport though you think she's got the money to do better. Whatever, it's better than your own shitty car. The drive there is mostly silent, aside from whatever classical shit Rose has playing from her speakers. You insisted in playing some of your own ill beats but the conversations usually resulted in something like:

"Come on, Lalonde, get the stick out of your ass and let me rock to something I can tolerate."

"You expect me to submit to that when you so rudely went about asking me?"

"From ecto-bro to ecto-sis, c'mon. Just a few songs."

"No, Strider. My car, my music."

And that was usually the end of that. So it was needless to say that you had resolved to fishing your ear buds out of your pants pocket and shoved them into the jack on your iPhone, scrolling through your music and turning it up to an obnoxiously loud volume. Let Rose have her shitty classical music. You have your sick fires you can jam to.

Before you know it, you see the sprawling campus of Prospit University and Rose is making her way to a public parking deck. Your heart beats unnaturally fast and you start to worry your teeth over your bottom lip in a way that is so uncharacteristic of your natural laid-back disposition. Rose glances sidelong at you and reaches out, placing a hand on your knee in a move to silently offer you her comfort and support. You appreciate it but you know that her comfort isn't going to right everything between you and your best friend.

"I don't think I can do this."

"Relax, Dave, you'll be fine. Just be yourself."

"If I were to act like myself, I'd fucking embrace Egbert and elope with him to some sweet island where we'd make fantastic fucking love."

"I wouldn't entertain those thoughts so readily. And certainly don't vocalize them now."

"Where are we meeting them anyway?"

Rose glances around then down at her phone and map of the campus that she had grabbed on her way out of the parking deck from one of those lame 'Welcome To Our Campus!' displays. You would think that the two of you have visited this place frequently enough to get the general layout but jesus christ, did this place have to be a fucking labyrinth?

"Rose! Dave!"

You stiffen as you register that voice, that wonderful sound that you have missed for so long now. Rose is already turning around and you suck in a deep breath. It's go time, Dave Strider.

You turn around and there he is, John Egbert in all his breath-taking glory. That perfect face, that beautiful grin, those derpy teeth that push over his bottom lip just slightly in that adorable overbite that he refused to get rid of, even with the advancements in orthodontics. You are so glad that he's too stubborn to get rid of it. The four of you established years ago that the overbite was apart of John and getting rid of it was like chopping off a limb. Like Rose's knitting, Jade's obnoxiously round glasses, and your own shades.

John is approaching the two of you and you feel sick all of a sudden. You want to hug him, to tell him you're sorry for avoiding him, to tell him that you really did love him and that you wanted to just start over. But you couldn't. You couldn't do any of that except stand there and smirk at him, jerk your chin up at him in acknowledgment and greet him like you always have.

"'Sup, birthday boy." You say without skipping a beat. Rose looks at you with a look of surprise flitting in her gaze. She is glad that you have managed to compose yourself enough to greet him properly. Hell, you're pretty damn proud of yourself too. You think to yourself that maybe you can get over John, that you can be the best bros like always and get over the feelings that he has inadvertently instilled in you.

But then he hugs you and you feel those arms around you, his chest brushing up against yours as he nuzzles his face into your neck and is laughing and greeting you happily, saying how much he's missed you. And oh god, you feel your chest tighten and your heart flutter. You feel so blissfully happy and you just want to stand there forever in his embrace, hugging him back and savoring his gentle touch.

You know immediately that no amount of time can make your feelings fade.