Sorry this took so long. Like I mentioned before, a lot of stress and I'm just now getting over a super bad illness. Ick. Anyways, I stayed up kinda late to do this even though I should have been resting. I was gonna upload it last night but I was exhausted. Trying not to take forever with updates!

Side note: There's mention of Gamzee's medicine in this chapter which I've called "Soporaxia". It's basically the sopor Gamzee usually eats in the comic. I needed a way to tie it in.

Enjoy~

"Care to run that by me again?"

Eridan wasn't sure he had heard the other correctly. Sollux didn't look so pleased to repeat himself, though, and it made Eridan just a little smug. Sollux hadn't really spoken to him at all all week which, really, wasn't a bad thing. Eridan preferred it that way. However, it was Friday now and Sollux was staring at him in Jake's class, looking both irritated and expectant.

The blonde sighed heavily, adjusting his glasses. "I asked if it was okay if I came over for the weekend, Ampora."

"Wwhy?" Eridan frowned, crossing his arms and glancing at the doll in Sollux's lap.

Sollux groaned. "Because everyone else is meeting up with their partners for this fucking project! Aradia's going to Equius' place this weekend and so-"

"She she told you that you had to come wwith me?" Eridan finished, arching an eyebrow. He was far from amused.

Sollux frowned, running a hand through his hair as he nodded. "Basically. I don't work so it's not a problem."

"I don't particularly wwant you in my apartment," Eridan mumbled, looking away. "But, fine. For the projects sake. Cronus is picking me up from school, wwe can stop by your house to get your clothes and-"

"Already have them," Sollux cut in, gesturing to his backpack. At Eridan's nearly appalled look he added, "Aradia made me, fuck!"

Eridan scoffed and rolled his dark eyes. "Cute, Captor. Cute."

"Fuck off," Sollux snapped, leaning back in his chair. "I've been fucking nice to you all week."

"You havven't evven spoken to me," Eridan shot back.

"Exactly," Sollux smiled.

"Asshole."

"Priss."

"Douche canoe."

Sollux blinked and then laughed, surprising himself. "Douche canoe? What the fuck, ED?"

"Do not call me 'ED', Sol," Eridan spat.

Sollux snickered, shaking his head a little before swiveling around in his chair to look behind him. Karkat and Gamzee had sat behind them today, giving Sollux some sort of intelligent conversation to avoid Eridan.

When Karkat met Sollux's eye he huffed. "The hell do you want?"

"Just saying hi, jeeze," Sollux smiled a little, sparing a glance at Gamzee. Gamzee had been talking up a storm a few minutes ago but now he was pretty quiet.

Sollux wasn't an idiot, of course; he knew Gamzee didn't like him much. Of course they had decent talks, had stayed over at each others' houses and went out together. Gamzee didn't hate him. If anything, and this was the conclusion Tavros had explain to Sollux, Gamzee was just understandably jealous of Sollux and Karkat's friendship. That wasn't too hard to believe considering Gamzee's crush...and the fact that Sollux had taken Karkat's virginity. Sollux was just glad Gamzee had never tried to fight him. Gamzee could fight, most of them knew that, even if Nepeta had kicked his ass. Gamzee had kicked Equius' ass in middle school; no one doubted Gamzee's strength. The Makara family in general was full of scary people.

"You two gonna be together this weekend?" Sollux asked, gaze returning to Karkat.

The dark haired boy nodded quickly. "Yeah. You and Eridan can come over if you want. We won't be doing anything."

Sollux shrugged. "You sure that's okay?"

Karkat sparred a glance at his best friend. "Gamzee, you don't care, right?"

Gamzee looked up, hands busy toying with the doll, and shrugged. "I don't up and motherfucking care, KarBro. The more the merrier."

Karkat nodded and looked back at Sollux. "Then yeah, come on over. Just shoot me a text or something before hand so that way I'm actually awake."

"Sounds like a plan," Sollux nodded, adjusting his glasses.

Across the room, Vriska leaned back in her chair as she glanced at Tavros. The boy was fiddling with their baby again, trying not to make any sort of eye contact. Vriska rolled her eyes and cleared her throat. "So I've got my clothes and stuff for this weekend. I'll sleep on the couch or something."

"Y-you can have my bed," Tavros said, looking over at her quickly. "I...I can, uh, sleep on the couch...you can have my bed."

"If that's what you want," Vriska shrugged. "Rufioh going to be home?"

"Uh, no, I think he's gonna be out with Damara tonight and then gone with Horuss Saturday..." The boy shrugged and gave a lazy smile. "J-just us, if that's okay..."

"Not like we haven't been along together before," Vriska smiled a little and shrugged. "As long as we have something to do, honestly."

"Movies," Tavros chimed in. "While I'm at work in the evening you can watch movies...play online or whatever. You know the password for my laptop so..."

"How late are you working?" Vriska murmured as she reached over to pluck their baby from Tavros' lap.

"Just until eleven," Tavros replied. "Cronus is gonna give me a ride home both nights."

"You start right after school?"

"Y-yeah. Rufioh will drop you off at the house before he goes to see Damara."

"Seems legit, then." Vriska nodded quickly before smiling a bit. "I promise to behave~"

Tavros rolled his eyes and looked away in an attempt to hide his blush. He'd been stressing out all week about this, about Vriska coming over. The girl hadn't been in his house since the day they broke up which was two years ago. Tavros wasn't sure what to do, what boundaries were drawn and which lines he wasn't supposed to cross...

He shook off those thoughts and faced Vriska again. "Just...don't break anything."

When Vriska laughed, the noise reached John's ear and made him tear his gaze away from Dave. He watched Vriska smile and talk with Tavros, jealousy starting to knot in his gut as he breathed in softly.

"John."

John looked back at Dave, head titling. "What?"

"I was talking to you, dude," Dave stated, rolling his eyes behind his shades. "What, Vriska more important than your best bro?" When John hesitated, Dave sighed "Don't...don't answer that. Fuck off, Egbert. Here I was, trying to come up with a good weekend plan for us and you cast me to the side like an old rag!"

"Dave, no, I'm sorry!" John assured quickly, reaching out to grab onto his friends wrists. He smiled that damn dorky grin. "I was listening, honestly I was."

Dave heaved a heavy mock sigh and then shrugged, making no move to free his wrist from John's grasp. "Like I was saying before you blocked me out, Dirk and Jake are probably going to be gone during the days. Jake's got a bunch of teacher stuff to do and Dirk, poor fucker, has a side job to do during the afternoons. He'll probably be back around like, five, and take a nap before he heads to the club."

"Side job?" John echoed, tilting his head as is thumb absent rubbed Dave's wrist. "Doing what?"

"He's just fixing a friends computers," Dave shrugged, shades eyes glancing at the hand wrapped around his wrist. "He was going to say no and everything but the dude's gonna pay him so he figured why not? That's tomorrow, though. Sunday they're renovating part of the club so he's gotta be there around noon."

"He's gonna be a walking zombie," John snickered. "Like how he sleep walks in the mornings? It'll be like that but all day."

"He wanted to do it!"

"Jake didn't tell him not to?"

"Like Dirk would listen."

John smiled and shook his head, finally letting go of Dave's wrist as he grabbed Casey off of his desk. He held the doll in his arms and looked at Dave, who had looked away from him.

Dave had been a little weird all week, though John hadn't realized it until earlier that day. Dave had been preoccupied with some sort of thought the past week, staring off into space or losing track of whatever it was he was talking about in a conversation. John only realized it now because Dave was doing it again, staring. At least...John assumed he was staring at something; the shades made it hard to tell sometimes. The black haired teen leaned back a little and tilted his head, biting his lip in thought. His mind race with possibilities that might be the reason Dave was being so spacey.

It wasn't that thing with Dirk last Sunday; Dave had assured him that Dirk apologized for yelling. It couldn't have been grades because Dave's grades were fine; Jake made sure.

"Hey, Cool Kid."

Both boys turned to look at Terezi who leaned over Dave's desk with a smile. She brushed some bright red hair behind her ear before grinning. "So, Dave, I have a huge favor to ask you."

Dave arched an eyebrow and his lips tugged up into a side ways smirk. "Really, now? What is it?"

Terezi grinned wider before averting her gaze. "See...I kinda haven't done any of the math homework this week and I know you got your assignments back today-"

"For fucks sake, Terezi," Dave scoffed, shaking his head and rolling his eyes behind his shades. "You're terrible. Are you really asking me for homework to copy?"

"Please?" The girl begged, her grin slipping away. "'Tula will tell mom if I don't get those assignments in by Monday!"

"You're hopeless," Dave sighed, already lifting his back pack up and unzipping it. "You're lucky you're special, Terezi. John, mark this day down as yet another day Terezi Pyrope owes me a favor."

"Will do," But John was distracted, now, watching Dave and Terezi interact. Dave was smirking playfully at the girl as he gave her a hard time about her work. John glanced at Terezi before looking back at Dave, and then his eyes widened.

Dave so has a crush on Terezi!

He grinned to himself, biting his lip to stop himself before Dave could see him. That made sense to him! Dave was so distracted because he was crushing hardcore on Terezi! They made out before, if John remembered correctly, and they hung out out side of school sometimes when Terezi wasn't with Vriska. Oh yeah, John could ship it.

Dave handed over the homework to Terezi and smiled. "Make sure you do it, dude."

"You're a life saver," Terezi smiled, taking the papers and winking. "Thanks, Dave."

Terezi turned on her heel and made her way back to her seat, plopping down and grinning at Nepeta. "Told you he'd give me the homework."

"You can't just do it yourself?" Nepeta shook her head, their baby in her lap as she played with the hem of it's olive colored shirt. "I mean, I could help you. I am, you know, in advanced math."

"No way, man," Terezi waved the offer off with a smile. "It would take forever. Besides, I told 'Tula I'd get it done while at your house this weekend. I never told her how I'd get it done, did I?"

"You're terrible."

"Like you don't copy."

"I'm smart enough."

"Ouch."

Both girls snickered then and Terezi leaned back, raking her fingers through her hair. "You sure your mom won't mind me being over? She's still home, right?"

"She won't care," Nepeta nodded. "I talked to her last night. Meulin will be at Kurloz's place and Mom still has to go into the office in the mornings so, basically, it'll kinda just be us. I think Mom bought snacks for us, too. Soda and shit."

Terezi nodded stiffly. "I'm not intruding on your time with Equius, am I?"

"Please," The dark haired girl scoffed, smirking. "He's gonna be with Aradia; he's so fine."

"I honestly was convinced you two were a thing," Terezi stated firmly, shaking her head.

"Ew, no, he's like an older brother to me," Nepeta crinkled her nose as she frowned. "Er...okay, maybe older brother isn't the right comparison. I mean I have kissed him a few times but that was-"

"Really?" Terezi leaned closer, suddenly, her grin wide and curious. "When? Why?"

"J-just a couple times over the years," Nepeta murmured, leaning back a bit. "Just like a...platonic, 'hey i'm sad, you're sad, let's make out for a bit' sort of thing."

Terezi's eyebrows furrowed as she let that settle in. "...I'm not exactly very privy to the whole 'platonic' dynamic. But I get the gist of it...you two are just so close that I assumed-"

"No, I understand," Nepeta assured, waving it off as she shrugged. "Tons of people do it." She pulled on her beanie and glanced behind them, smiling a bit. "...Hey, speaking of dating and shit, what do you think about Rose and Kanaya?"

Terezi glanced back over her shoulder, watching the mentioned girls. Rose and Kanaya were talking softly to each other, Rose holding their baby as Kanaya sketched. Terezi shrugged to herself. "What do I think? I think they should have asked each other back in middle school, to be honest. Like, come on, it's obvious."

"More than obvious," Nepeta nodded in agreement. She sighed and frowned a little. "...I'm sorry but our friends' inabilities to confess to their crushes really bothers me."

Terezi scoffed and rolled her eyes. "You only say that because you've always had success in dating. I mean Karkat and you were like, perfect."

"You and Karkat were perfect, too," Nepeta chimed with a small frown.

"Still," Terezi shifted her body to fully face the other girl and frowned a little. "You've always had total success with your crushes...or at least with telling them. It's not really that easy for most people. You knew Karkat would say yes; Rose and Dave and everyone has has like, no idea. It's scary!"

"You'll never learn if you don't try," Nepeta sighed. She shook her head, then, and shrugged. "Rose and Kanaya aren't as bad as Dave or Gamzee, though, to be honest. At least we know for a fact that Rose and Kanaya will end up together soon this year."

"Gamzee," Terezi echoed, lowering her voice so that said boy wouldn't hear them. "What about Gamzee? Who does he like? ...Is it Tav? I bet it's Tav-"

"It's not Tav," Nepeta assured with a smile. She glanced behind them and then frowned a little. "He's totally in love with Karkat."

Terezi's amused smile faltered and she blinked a few times. "...You're kidding."

"Nope," Nepeta shook her head. "He told Tav and Tav told me. He's like Karkat since, like, freshman year or something."

"That poor idiot," Terezi mumbled, glancing in the direction of Gamzee and Karkat. "Like...damn."

Nepeta nodded slowly, thoughtfully. "Gamzee's already got so much going on..it's not fair."

"What else is wrong with him?" Terezi asked, looking back at the girl.

Nepeta shook her head. "It's nothing. Anyways, the bell is about to ring; let's get our shit together."

That was close, Nepeta thought to herself, shoving her stuff in her backpack. She wasn't supposed to tell people about Gamzee's...problems. Meulin's orders.

The girl's got their stuff together and then when the bell rang, Nepeta skipped over to Equius who was waiting for Aradia to say goodbye to Sollux. She smiled at the boy and tilted her head. "You gonna be okay this weekend?"

Equius hesitated. "I...yes, I will."

"Don't do anything funny." Terezi teased, resting her chin on Nepeta's shoulder and smiling. "Aradia might jab your eyes out if you do."

Equius laughed a little, nodding as he brushed some stray hair out of his face. "I'll behave, Terezi..."

"I know, just giving you a hard time," Terezi smiled before looking at Nepeta. "Ready to go?"

Nepeta nodded. "Yeah. Bye Equius; text me if you need to!"

Equius watched the two girls walk off before taking a deep breath. Aradia was walking back over to him, their baby held gently in her arms as she smiled. Equius slung his, and Aradia's, backpack over his shoulder and smiled back. "Ready to leave, then?"

"Yeah, but do you mind if we stop at the store before we go to your place?" The girl glanced at her backpack on the boy's shoulder and resisted the urge to object. "I wanted to pick up a few things."

"That's fine," Equius nodded as he led the girl towards the door. "Oh, goodbye, Jake!"

Jake looked up from his desk and waved at the two. "Have a safe weekend."

"You say that like we all go out and act up," Aradia chuckled as they left the room. She sighed softly and looked up at Equius. "So, Horuss gonna be home?"

"Yes, but he's leaving early tomorrow morning to do something with Rufioh," Equius murmured idly. "He'll leave us alone, too, so it'll be like he isn't even there. That's not a problem, is it?"

"Nope," Aradia shrugged as they left the building. "That's fine with me...no offense, but Horuss bothers me in general."

"He...bothers some people," Equius admitted. "Namely, Karkat, for starters-"

"Because he's rude to Karkat's brother," Aradia cut in softly. "...Sol doesn't like him much, either."

"Horuss is just a handful," When they got to Equius' truck, he held the passenger door open for Aradia as she got in. He followed, tossing their backpacks on the floor as Aradia situated their baby in her lap. The truck started up with a roar and then they were driving, Aradia letting one hand dangle out the open window as they neared the shopping center.

"What do you need to pick up?" Equius asked suddenly.

"Snacks," Aradia replied. "I figured that sine you're letting me sleep over, I should be fair and get us some snacks. Soda, chips...that sort of thing."

Equius smiled softly. "That's kind of you."

"I'm a kind person," Aradia shot back with a playful smirk.

Equius felt his heart skip a beat; this was going to be a wild ride, indeed.

"Alright, the both of you behave while I'm at work," Cronus glanced at the time on his phone before looking back at the two boys standing outside his car. "No fighting, yeah? Just...sit in different rooms if ya get sick of each other. I should be back around midnight after I drop Tavros off."

"Havve a good night," Eridan murmured, pointedly ignoring Sollux's presence beside him. Cronus gave a final nod before he drove off, leaving Eridan to sigh heavily and finally face the blonde at his side. "...Don't break anything."

"Just lead me inside," Sollux sighed back.

The two made their way into the apartment and Eridan led Sollux to his room. Sollux wasn't exactly sure what he was expecting when he stepped in side. Maybe some lame posters or an eternally black cave where Eridan hated the world in silence...but that was not what he saw. Eridan's room was average size for an apartment, white walls covered by posters for bands, movies, even a few books. There were, what Sollux assumed, clothes lines strung above the bed, desk, closet and window, but on the lines hung photographs. In fact, wherever there weren't posters there were photos, carefully placed. Feferi was in a lot of them, and Meenah, Cronus, and their other friends. Sollux was in one, too, one hung up above the window. It was an older picture, taken back in the seventh grade when they had all went paint balling for Terezi's birthday. In this picture Sollux and Karkat were coated in neon paint, locked in a playful wrestle. Sollux didn't remember Eridan ever having a camera with him that day.

"You like photography?" He felt stupid the moment the question tumbled past his lips as he set his backpack down.

Eridan glanced at him and then looked around the room, scoffing. "Wwhat wwas your first guess?"

"Shut up," Sollux murmured, sitting down on the bed, glancing at the violent sheets. "I didn't know you were into that. Kinda girly, isn't it?"

"Guess so," Eridan shrugged as he set their baby down beside the blonde. He unzipped his sweater, shrugging it off. "Keeps me busy. It's fun, though I suppose you wwouldn't knoww fun if it bit you in the ass."

"Fuck off," Sollux huffed, looking away. He eyes the posters, a small smirk tugging on his lips. "Still a Fall Out Boy fan? Nerd."

"Don't hate my taste in music just because it's better than yours," Eridan sang, tossing his sweater aside and crossing his arms. "Noww...are you hungry? I'm sure Cro left money for pizza or wwhatevver."

"Pizza sounds fucking nice," Sollux nodded. "I've got some cash so order some sodas, too."

Eridan waved the other off, barely nodding as he walked out of the room. Sollux followed, pausing in the hall way to take a look around. The only bed room was Eridan's. The bathroom was near by, too, and then the hall led to the living room and kitchen. Sollux frowned a little bit and peeked into the living room, spotting the blankets folded neatly at the end of the couch. He frowned again and leaned back into the hall, deciding not to bring it up. So what if Cronus gave Eridan the only room and slept in the living room? It wasn't any of Sollux's business.

Sollux sat himself on the couch, watching Eridan order the pizza. It was a little humorous to hear Eridan's weird stutter as he spoke, a hand on his hip and nose practically up in the air. Sollux snickered to himself and leaned back, raking his fingers through his hair as he waited. When Eridan was done and had put his phone away, Sollux smirked. "And then there were two..."

"Don't get any ideas," Eridan deadpanned, lingering near the kitchen. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair, glancing around. "...I've got movvies."

"Then let's watch movies," Sollux decided.

Really, it wasn't at all as awkward and terrible as he had been expecting, but he wasn't about to tell Eridan that.

Vriska was used to being in Tavros' house, even if it had been a while. Rufioh had dropped her off, assuring her that she was free to make whatever she wanted in the kitchen and that it was good to see her. Vriska was alone now, her and Tavros' baby in her arms as she fed it from it's water filled bottle. It had started screaming as soon as she walked in, nearly scaring her shitless, but the silence now was greatly welcomed. She sighed and stood up, bottle and baby and all, and trudged to Tavros' room.

It was the same as before. Large, with it's light orange walls and sketches littering the walls. Vriska sat on the boy's bed and set aside her baby, pulling Tavros' laptop into her lap. She turned it on and signed in, blinking when the boy's messenger appeared on screen. "He didn't log off..."

Now, Vriska wasn't nosy by nature, but it was different with Tavros. The had dated and, regardless of however messy their split was, Vriska felt entitle to certain information, Or at least that's what she told herself as she began to sift through the boy's messages from the previous night. He had been chatting with Gamzee and for the most part, it was a fairly boring conversation about Gamzee's crush on Karkat. Seriously, Vriska hoped that worked out in the future because it was almost painful to watch. However, one particular message caught her eye.

AT: iT'S JUST GOING TO BE REALLY HARD WITH vRISKA HERE THIS WEEKEND.

Vriska frowned to herself; was she that hard for the boy to be around? She huffed, reading through the messaged between Gamzee and Tavros.

TC: I'm SuRe iT wOn'T uP aNd Be ThAt bAd

AT: i DONT KNOW HOW TO ACT AROUND HER gAMZEE

AT: sHE STILL MAKES ME REALLY NERVOUS

TC: Do YoU sTiLl Up AnD lIkE hEr?

AT: gAMZEE I LOVED HER

AT: wE MAY NOT BE TOGETHER NOW BUT I STILL SORT OF HAVE A THING

AT: tHE KIND OF THING WHERE I CAN'T HATE HER

AT: bUT I CAN'T LOVE HER

AT: tHAT MAKE SENSE?

TC:LoUd AnD cLeAr, BrO

Vriska tore her eyes from the conversation, exiting out of the entire messenger as she frowned. Her stomach felt like it was twisted, suddenly, and she felt a wave of irritation wash over her. With an angry huff she yanked out her phone, sending a quick text to Terezi.

'He's gonna 8e the death of me.'

When Terezi got the text she sighed, shaking her head and slipping her phone back into her pocket. She was having dinner with Nepeta and Melina Leijon; she couldn't be rude. She tuned back into the conversation quickly. Melina was talking about college, from what Terezi remembered, and from what it looked like Nepeta really didn't want to have the conversation.

"I mean you don't have to settle for Beforus," Melina murmured, sipping from her wine glass as she looked at Nepeta. "From what the other parents told me, most of you kids seem to want to go there, if not to a community college before hand. There are other universities out there."

"But I'd rather go to Beforus," Nepeta stated, stabbing her fork into her steak as she looked at her mom. "Jake went to Beforus and he's our teacher."

"Yes, but Jake also attended several universities," Melina stated. She looked at Terezi, smiling. "Are you going to Beforus too, Terezi?"

Terezi shrugged a little. "I was kinda gonna go for a community college before I headed to a University. I'm not entirely sure what I want to do anyways. But, yeah, eventually I'd like to go to Beforus."

"You girls, no, you and your friends, need to branch out," Melina murmured softly. She shrugged and smiled again. "I mean, you kid's won't experience anything if you stay holed up here in this town."

"Maybe we like it here," Nepeta tried, rolling her eyes.

"Yes, I liked it too," Melina admitted. "Me, Regina, Condy and Rosa all loved it here but we eventually branched out. I'm not saying you can't ever come back, but you won't reach your full potential if you-"

"Mom, stop," Nepeta sighed, setting her fork down and shooting her mom a small frown. "The school year just started. I'd like to enjoy it right now before they start pushing college fliers and all that other bullshit at us so just...stop."

Terezi glanced at Melina, watched the subtle hint of irritation settle on the woman's face. Melina nodded, stiff, and stood up with her plate. "I'll be in my room, then. Don't be too loud tonight."

Terezi watched the woman leave and then glanced at Nepeta, nudging the girl's calf with her foot under the table. She smiled a little when Nepeta shot her a questioning glance. "Chill, okay? We don't have to worry about that college crap for a while. And, hey, your mom just wants to help."

"Not really," Nepeta sighed, resting her elbow on the table and rubbing her temples. "She wants me to go to the university she went to. The one in a different state and I really don't want to."

"Why not?" Terezi murmured as she popped a piece of meat into her mouth. "It;s a business school isn't it? You're hella good with numbers, Nepeta, you could go far and-"

"I don't want to do business, though," Nepeta groaned. "I'm a drama kid, Terezi."

Right. How could Terezi forget that Nepeta had been in every school play since the third grade? She smiled again and nodded. "Right...and Beforus has a damn good drama department."

"I can get straight into Beforus with my grades," Nepeta continued, frowning. "...I don't wanna be like Meulin and do some dumb number crunching job and I sure as hell don't wanna be like, no offense, Latula and everyone else who are just now starting college in their twenties."

"No offense taken," Terezi nodded. "Nah, I think we have more motivation than our siblings. We see how lame they are so, we wanna get to college as soon as we can. But, hey, whatever college you want to go to is your choice in the long run, isn't it? Don't sweat it. Wanna be a drama major? Go for it! You're a damn good actor."

Nepeta blushed slightly, looking over at the girl in mild shock. "You...think so?"

"Yeah!" Terezi exclaimed, grinning. "Remember in ninth grade when you were Juliet? You were amazing! Like, how you managed to remember those lines is beyond me but you did it and it was awesome. I cried when you died! And then in sophomore year when they did Grease, and you were just one of the back ground singers? You still did a hell of a job, Nepeta. You're one of the best actors in the school."

Nepeta's blush brightened and she smiled down at her plate. "...Thanks, Terezi. That means a lot."

Terezi's grin softened to a smile and she shrugged. "No problem...now let's eat so we can go up and play video games."

Saturday morning was accompanied by the sound of Dirk's muffled cursing as he made his way through the house. It woke Dave, who had been pressed up against John. The blonde jerked in surprise and then sighed to himself easing out of bed so he didn't wake up his friend. He shuffled out into the living room, wincing at the light and rubbing his eyes. "Shit, Bro, you're hella loud."

Dirk, on the couch and pulling on his shoes, looked up. "Sorry. Dude, shades. The light's gonna kill your eyes."

Dave shrugged, blinking a few times and yawning. "Jake leave already?"

"Yeah, about an hour ago," Dirk replied. "Dave, seriously, go back to bed; it's not even eight."

"I'd still be sleeping if some cave man hadn't been making noise," Dave muttered with a small smirk.

Dirk shook his head and stood up, stretching. "I'll be back later. You and John can do whatever, just don't get in trouble or anything."

"Never do," Dave replied, nodding.

Dirk left a short while later and Dave yawned, shuffling back into his room. John was still sound asleep in his bed and Dave slid back under the blankets, pressing against John's back and inhaling his scent. It was dangerous, almost, and Dave could feel his heart pounding in his rib cage. John smelled nice, like a lingering scent of baked goods from his house and apples from Dave's own body wash the boy had used the night before. It made Dave's breath hitch.

He must have fallen asleep because when Dave's eyes blinked open again, he was face to face with John. Dave blinked, taking in every detail of the boy's sleeping face. John looked so damn good asleep, like a peaceful child or...something. The blonde boy gulped, biting his lip as he managed to reach for his phone and check the time; noon.

Dave had half a mind to wake John up to save himself any more trouble. Casey, it seemed, had the same idea. The doll started to cry, it's pitch making Dave wince and groan. John jerked awake, bleary blue eyes opening as he sat up almost in a hurry, looking around. "Wh-Dave, she's crying..."

"No shit," Dave grunted, pulling his blankets over his head. "Get her, Egbert."

"Fuck off, you're closer," John muttered through a yawn.

"I took care of her last night," Dave replied, voice muffled.

John sighed and crawled over Dave, snatching the baby off of the floor and yawning again. "Where'd you put the diapers for her?"

Dave's hand snaked out to gesture to the closet. Dave stayed under the blanket as Jon went about quieting and changing their baby, trying to get himself to calm down. He and John shared beds all the time but, still, it always got him so worked up. He didn't exactly like it, at least not right now. He couldn't let John see him blushing like some anime school girl.

After a long stretch of silence the blanket was yanked off of Dave, leaving the shirtless blonde to shiver and curl up a little. "Dude!"

"Time to get up," John sang, grinning. "Come on, Dave."

Dave groaned and sat up, sighing. He watched John push on his glasses and smiled a bit, yawning. "Sure we can't just sleep all day, John?"

"I'm hungry," John stated with a small huff. "So...no."

Dave rolled his eyes and slid out of bed, stretching. He caught the shirt John tossed at him, tugging it on and walking to his door. "Let's go, I guess I have no choice but to feed you, John."

John followed close behind with Casey, humming to himself. Dave could never understand how John could have so much energy after just waking up, regardless of time. Must have been an Egbert thing. They both made it to the kitchen and Dave switched on the light, wincing.

"Dude, shades," John hissed, frowning as he set Casey on the counter. "You haven't even used your eye drops today. Go use them if you won't put your shades on."

"What are you, my bro?" Dave scoffed, though his trademark cool kid look was ruined by his squinting. He gave up and nodded, leaving the kitchen and going back into his room. After apply a generous amount of his eye drops, and cursing whatever entity gave him such horrible eyes, he made his way back to the kitchen to see John going through the fridge. "The hell?"

"You've got bacon," John said over his shoulder. "Feel like breakfast for lunch?"

"As long as you make the bacon," Dave shrugged. "I'll make eggs."

The two boys fell to the task of cooking. john, being the little shit he is, would occasionally hip bump Dave and make the blonde stumble slightly. He couldn't help it; Dave was a riot when he was tired and half functioning. Dave would just shoot him a small glare and bump him back. After a while, John smiled a bit. "So, Dave, you like anyone?"

Dave blinked at the stove and then frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean," John drawled, a hand on his hip as he smirked at the confused blond before him. "Do you have a crush on any one?"

Years of emotional control had prepared him for this moment. Dave had to praise himself for not breaking down on the spot. While his heart was thudding wildly in his chest he just scoffed, crossing his arms. "Now how in the world is that any of your business, John?"

"Because I'm your best friend," John stated as if it was obvious. "You know who I like."

"Everyone knows who you like."

"That's not the point, Dave. Tell me."

"There's nothing to tell."

"Liar," John groaned, shaking his head. "Come on, tell me!"

"John, I don't like anybody," Dave urged. "What the hell even brought this on?"

"You've been all spacey lately," John replied as he turned back to the cooking bacon. "Like, totally off in thought. If that isn't love sickness then I don't know what is!"

Dave scoffed, running his hand through his hair and looking away. "Trust me John, it's not love sickness. Just drop it, Egbert, I don't have a crush."

John let the subject slide, shaking his head a little. Dave liked Terezi, it was even more obvious now. John, as a good best bro, had to help Dave out.

Dave's phone starting ringing, making the blond groan. "Yo, watch the eggs while I check that."

He didn't wait for a reply, hurrying to his room and kicking the door shut behind him. He answered his phone with a sigh. "Yeah?"

"Oh good, you're up," Karkat breathed. "You okay?"

Dave blinked, eyes narrowing. "Why?"

"My fucking 'Dave's crying like a little bitch' senses were tingling," Karkat huffed, rolling his eyes as he laid back in bed. He glanced over as Gamzee walked in, towel wrapped around his waist.

Dave chuckled. "Damn, that must be a super power. How'd ya know?"

"Magic. Seriously, you okay?" Karkat muttered. "John upsetting you? Gamzee and I can bully him if you want."

"Rude," Gamzee laughed.

Dave laughed again. "Just the usual...he started pestering me about who I like, though. Kind of...you know."

Karkat frowned and then sighed a little. "Well, Egbert is an idiot...don't let it get to you. Bad enough I gotta keep up with Terezi and her Vriska bullshit, I hate worrying about you, too."

"I think Terezi deserves more concern," Dave tried.

"You're worse," Karkat deadpanned, shaking his head. "Anyways, Ampora and Sollux are supposed to be showing up soon so I've gotta go. Just wanted to check on you."

"You're such a darling," Dave snickered. "You crazy kids have fun."

Karkat hung her phone up and then looked over at Gamzee. The taller boy wore nothing but his purple boxers now, drying his hair with his towel. Karkat eyed the way the other boy's muscles rippled with the movement, shaking his head a little. Gamzee had a tattoo on his shoulder blade, one Karkat forgot all about most days. He'd begged Kurloz to take him in and get it; Karkat was there. It was a Capricorn, the goat fish thing. It wasn't huge, like Gamzee had wanted before, but it was decent sized. It had a banner underneath of it with Gamzee's last name, 'Makara', inscribed in elegant, curly writing. It was tasteful, as far as Gamzee went.

Karkat tore his eyes away because it was weird to stare at your best friend like that, but Gamzee had already seen. The larger boy gave a goofy grin. "What are you motherfucking looking at, Kar?"

"Your tattoo," Karkat replied as she sat up. "Forgot how much I liked seeing it."

"I always motherfucking forget I have it," Gamzee laughed, walking to Karkat's dresser and pulling out one of the pairs of pants he kept there. He pulled them on and smiled again. "Like, sometimes I see it and gotta motherfucking stare a while. When are Sollux and Eridan supposed to show up?"

"Any minute," Karkat replied.

Gamzee flopped down beside the smaller boy, laying his head on Karkat's stomach. Karkat huffed once, patting Gamzee's wet hair. "No shirt?"

"Nah, bro," Gamzee grinned. "Shirts are lame."

"You're lame."

"You're lamer."

"Asshole."

"Best friend," Gamzee countered, grinning against Karkat's shirt.

The door bell rang, then, and Karkat heard Kankri shuffling around to answer the door. Muffled voices sounded down the hall ad then the door opened, Sollux and Eridan walking in. Sollux scoffed at Gamzee and plopped down on the floor, smirking. Eridan sat down at the computer desk, adjusting his glasses and smiling a bit. "Are wwe interrupting something?"

"Not at all," Gamzee shot Eridan a small frown before smiling lazily. "How'd your night go my friends?"

"Fine," Sollux shrugged. "Watched movies."

"Ate pizza," Eridan added with a shrug. "Wwhat about you twwo?"

"Kankri made burgers," Gamzee grinned, lifting his head a little. "Watched TV and stuff."

"You're about as boring as wwe are," Eridan scoffed, standing. "Kar, can I use your restroom?"

"You don't have to ask," Karkat stated, nodding.

Eridan shuffled out and Karkat smirked, looking at Sollux. "A weekend with Ampora, huh?"

"He isn't as bad as I thought," Sollux admitted with a frown. "Like...he's less annoying at home than he is at school. We actually like the same movies, can you believe that?"

"Uh, yeah," Karkat nodded, fingers running through Gamzee's wet hair. "You're both dweebs."

"Good that you're up and getting along," Gamzee chimed in, eyes fluttering shut every so often. "Maybe you won't up and fight anymore."

"I still don't like him," Sollux muttered. "...You know he's into photography?"

"Yeah, I was in one of his photo shoot things he does when he's stressed," Karkat muttered absently, looking down at Gamzee. "It keeps him busy, he says."

Sollux nodded and leaned his head against the wall. When Eridan came back, he lingered in the door way, holding his and Sollux's baby which he had left in the living room. "Wwe should go do something if wwe're going to be together."

Gamzee propped himself up and tilted his head. "Like what, bro?"

"Park," Sollux chirped. "Passed one while we were walking over here. Let's buy some snacks and go to the park."

"Better than being stuck in my room," Karkat grunted.

Rose knew she shouldn't have been over at Kanaya's. However, Kanaya had asked her to come over and Rose could never deny her, which left her here on Saturday afternoon, watching as Kanaya sketched in her sketch book. Rose loved watching the girl sketch, in love with the way Kanaya held the pencil and the way her lips parted slightly as she got further in detail. Rose adored it.

Kanaya looked up, then, her gaze meeting Rose's and she smiled, blushing softly. "What? You've been staring at me for a while now, Rose."

Rose blushed, caught, and looked away as she rolled onto her back. They were laid on the floor, Kanaya on her stomach as she drew. Rose stared at the ceiling and shrugged. "I like watching you draw, is all. You're very captivating."

Kanaya's blush brightened a little and she smiled again, biting her lip. "You're quite captivating yourself, you know."

Rose smiled again, taking a breath. "If I didn't know any better I'd say you were flirting with me."

Kanaya hesitated, setting her pencil down. She flirted all the time and she wasn't particularly proud of it. Last night it had taken all of her self control to keep from saying anything embarrassing as she and Rose brushed each other's hair, talked and sat around together. It had been nice, maybe even more than nice because it was Rose that was with her. "And what if I am flirting?"

Kanaya's eyes widened a bit at her own words, her blush returning full force. Rose froze and sat up, looking over her shoulder at Kanaya with slightly wide eyes. Kanaya held her ground, though, gulping. "...What if I am?"

Rose hesitated and cleared her throat. "I'd most likely ask you why."

"I'd most likely tell you that it's because I've been trying to find the right words for years," Kanaya murmured, slowly heaving herself up. She shifted closer, scooting her sketch book out of the way.

"Then I'd...ask you what words," Rose replied softly, eyes darting to Kanaya's lips before returning to her eyes. "Words for what?"

Kanaya's heart was pounding so hard she feared it's break right through her chest. Rose was staring at her with wide eyes, body fully facing her now. Kanaya bit her lip and then offered up a soft, hesitant smile. "...The words to explain to you how much I...really like you."

"God, I sincerely hope you're saying what I think you're saying," Rose murmured, embarrassed as she felt her eyes sting a little.

Kanaya came closer, cupping the girl's cheeks and thumbing away the tears that started to fall. "...I...would be honored if you would...be my girlfriend, Rose."

"Oh my god," Rose breathed, wrapping her arms around Kanaya's shoulders. "And here I was worried sick that you'd be repulsed by me asking you the same thing!"

Kanaya blinked, her arms wrapping around Rose gently as she smiled against the blonde's shoulder. "...Rose, I do believe we're both fools."

"I'd...love to be your girlfriend," Rose murmured back, smiling to herself.

"It's about time."

Porrim's voice made both girl's jump apart, bright red in the face. Porrim grinned from the entry way, an eyebrow arched. "Didn't mean to interrupt."

"For Heaven's sake!" Kanaya groaned, exasperated. "Make your self known when you enter a room!"

"I was going to but then I walked in on this," Porrim smiled again. "About time, that's all I'll say. You going to tell Mom?"

Kanaya blinked, eyes widening. Rose touched her hand, offering her a soft smile. "You don't have to right away. We can think on it. Your mom won't be home for a few more weeks anyways, right?"

Kanaya hesitated, nodding stiffly. "...Y-yes. Let's not worry about that, then."

Rose's smile widened and she stood up, pulling Kanaya to her feet. "Let's go out and do something. I'll get the baby."

Kanaya watched rose leave up the stairs, biting her lip to suppress the wide smile that threatened to make it's way onto her lips. Porrim grinned at her sister, patting Kanaya's shoulder. "You can take my car, just be back by eight."

"Thank you," The younger smiled. Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out to see a text from Vriska, of all people. She scoffed to herself, reading it.

'I need your help'

The second Vriska sent it, she almost regretted it. Almost. She was watching Tavros feed their baby, both of them in the living room with the TV on. Tavros hadn't paid her much mind since he woke up a few hours ago, busying himself with homework and showering. It was kind of awkward, as if he was doing his best to ignore her presence. Which, after reading those messages, made sense. It irritated her, though. Her phone buzzed with Kanaya's reply.

'With What Exactly'

Vriska glanced towards Tavros.

'How do I make him get along with me if he h8s me?'

Kanaya's response was, in a way, what she expected.

'I'm Sure He Doesn't Hate You Vriska'

Vriska sighed and tossed her phone aside, looking back towards Tavros. "Are you going to ignore me all weekend?"

Tavros blinked and then blushed slightly. "I...I wasn't...I mean I figured you probably didn't want to talk to me."

"Dude, I'm here for a reason." Vriska reminded, crossing her arms.

"I thought that reason was because Terezi was gone all weekend," Tavros admitted sheepishly.

Vriska scoffed. "I don't spend all my time with Terezi. I could have stayed home, you know, but I decided to come here. Lighten up, okay?...I'm not gonna bite you or anything. Unless, of course, you wanted me to."

"You're not funny," Tavros muttered, but he was smiling a little. "...Did you sleep okay?"

"Yeah, did you?" Vriska asked. "That couch doesn't look very comfy."

"It's okay," Tavros shrugged, setting their baby against the pillow on the couch. He stretched and leaned back. "...Do you wanna do anything?"

"I'm fine just watching TV all day," Vriska admitted with a tiny smirk.

Tavros nodded, agreeing, and gazed at the girl with a small frown. "...Why do we get along so much better out side of school?"

Vriska didn't have an immediate answer, looking away and shrugging. "...I don't know."

Tavros brushed it off and stood up, heading towards the kitchen. "Want something to drink?"

"Soda," Vriska nodded, focusing her eyes on the TV again. Tavros came back and handed her a soda, sitting down beside her. It was really quiet, save for the noise of the TV, for a while. Vriska glanced at the boy occasionally, a small smile tugging at her lips.

Tavros noticed, blinking an flushing slightly. "What?"

"Nothing, you're just...still the same," Vriska murmured with a light shake of her head. She turned her body to face him, glancing at the clock. "You have to go to work in a few hours, let's play a video game or something."

"You just said you were fine with TV," Tavros reminded, though he still stood up to turn on his X-box. "I've got Halo."

"Sweet," Vriska grinned, setting her soda on the coffee table and grabbing a controller when the boy held one out to her. "I'm gonna kick your ass."

"As if."

"Watch me!"

"Bring it on, Serket."

Equius was never fond of Sundays; they just seemed really slow. He woke up before Aradia, laying around on the couch with the blanket pulled up over his head. Horuss was dead asleep in his room, most likely, and Equius couldn't venture into his own room in fear of waking up Aradia. So, he laid around for what felt like an eternity, listening to cars passing by on the street and hearing the occasional child running around.

Crying from his bed room made him almost chuckle. Their baby was screaming, just like it had the previous four times that night. Equius heaved himself up into a sitting position as he watched Aradia stumble down the hall, baby in her arms and a frown on her face. She caught sight of the male's amused smile and arched an eyebrow at him. "I know, I look like crap."

"Not at all," Equius assured, standing and stretching. "Let me see her. She probably needs to be changed and you took care of her most of last night."

"You mean all of last night," The girl countered, handing over the doll without a complaint. She sat down where Equius had been laying, pulling the boy's warm blanket around herself and yawning. Equius went about changing their baby's diaper and clothes and then sat down by Aradia again, blushing when the girl leaned her head on him. Aradia spoke up, then. "I'm so tired, wow."

"Aren't you always tired?" Equius murmured, glancing at her carefully. "Sollux says you are, at least."

"Well, yeah," Aradia sat up with the smallest of pouts and oh gods, did Equius want to kiss her right then. "I'm always really busy...I'm taking those advanced classes so I can go straight to Beforus, trying to pass my regular science class that I'm terrible at and on top of that, I have to help Damara with everything. I love her, yeah, but my sister is really fucking hopeless. She needs me to drive her places because she doesn't really like driving, she needs me to help her with her online classes because she isn't as good with numbers as I am...and, on top of that I'm trying to manage my love life and I know it...irritates Sol a lot."

"Why do you say that?" Equius was convinced that Sollux adored Aradia. How could he be irritated by her in the slightest?

Aradia ran a hand through her hair, wincing slightly when she caught a few tangles. Equius gestured for her to pause and stood up, leaving the room and then returning with the hair brush. Aradia caught the hint right away, turning her back to the boy and sighing a little as he started to brush out her hair. "Thanks..."

"No problem at all," Equius assured. "Now, what makes you think Sollux is irritated?"

"We...we haven't had sex in while," Aradia admitted with a tiny huff. "I mean I'm just tired...and hardly in the mood or Damara's home or at his house, Mituna's there and it's just weird. We were going to like, a week or two ago but then the baby started crying, which made his and Eridan's start crying so we got nothing done. I know he tries to be there for me but I'm always so busy and hardly get to spend much time with him and it's even worse now with this project."

Equius paused for a second. "Oh...I-"

"No, I'm not blaming you," She assured quickly, reaching back to pat the boy's leg. "Just...I don't have the time right now to balance out my love life and it sucks. I don't want him to...you know, break up with me."

Equius nodded thoughtfully, brushing through the girl's knots gently. "...Do you really think he'll break up with you?"

"Well, no" She murmured back. "...I just worry."

"Worrying is normal," The male nodded. "However, you've got to have trust in your partner. Don't second guess yourself. But, who am I to give advice? I've never dated."

"Any girl would be lucky to date you, Equius," Aradia turned to smile at him. "You're a sweet heart."

Equius blushed and stood quickly. "I'll make you breakfast."

Aradia didn't reply, reaching into the pocket of the jeans she had fallen asleep in and pulling out her phone to text Sollux.

'g00d m0rning'

Sollux heard his phone chime, but it was all the way across the room. He and Eridan had slept over at Karkat's that night and they were exhausted. If their baby wasn't crying, Gamzee and Karkat's was and then...fuck, they were tired. Sollux shifted, pressing closer to the warm body next to him as he yawned. He was almost asleep when he heard it.

"Captor, I swwear I wwill break your hand if you don't get it off of my thigh."

Sollux's eyes shot open and he let his surroundings register. He was on Karkat's bedroom floor, his chest pressed to Eridan's back and his hand resting on top of Eridan's thigh. It must have happened during the night because Sollux very clearly remembered falling asleep a good three feet away from the other boy. The yelp that left his lips as far from manly and he rolled away, sitting up and glaring at Eridan who was now glaring back at him.

"If you wwanted to cope a feel all you had to do wwas ask," Eridan retorted quietly.

"Fuck off!" Sollux hissed and then he flinched, lowering his voice because he knew Gamzee wasn't very friendly when he was woken up. "It was an accident."

"Sure," Eridan shook his head once and then glanced at the bed. His gaze softened and he gave the smallest chuckle. "Aren't they cute?"

Still irritated, Sollux rubbed his eyes before he spared a glance at the other two. Karkat was practically on top of Gamzee, his head resting on the larger male's chest as Gamzee slept soundly. Sollux gave a slight scoff. "...No wonder Gamzee can't get over him."

"Sad, isn't it?" Eridan mused, yawning. He turned and moved his sweater from the floor, picking up his glasses.

Sollux had to search for his glasses, moving aside Gamzee's backpack and cursing when a bottle fell out of the open pocket. The orange bottle made the blonde pause, blinking a few times as he lifted it up to look at it. "...Soporaxia?"

"Sopor," Eridan muttered, frowning as he came closer. "...Didn't Gamzee say those wwere allergy pills? Sopor isn't an allergy medication."

"What the hell is is?" Sollux grunted, eyeing the green pills inside.

"It's...sort of like an anti-psychotic," Eridan replied carefully, glancing over his shoulder at the sleeping Gamzee. "...None of our business, Sol. Put it back."

"You think Gamzee's crazy?" Sollux asked as he put the medicine bottle back into Gamzee's backpack.

"None of our business," Eridan repeated as he stood up, walking over to the bed and giving it a hard kick. "Wwake up, you twwo!"

Sollux flinched, a little frightened of a roughly woken Gamzee. Gamzee grunted once, his eyes cracking open as Karkat heaved a loud groan. "Fuck off, Ampora."

"Be nice," Gamzee muttered, his voice laced with sleep. He stretched, watching Karkat roll off of him before looking at Eridan. "...Why you up so motherfucking early, Bro?"

"I'm pretty sure it's noon," Eridan replied.

"Fuck you," Karkat grunted, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "Those god damn dolls were crying all night and you come here and wake me up this god damn early. You wake Gamzee up this early. He needs his sleep!"

"I'm fine, KarBro," Gamzee yawned, not making a move to sit up. "Get to up and spend more time with you."

Karkat rolled his eyes as he got off his bed, yawning. "Get up, Gamzee; we can go make lunch."

"Carry me," Gamzee grinned, opening his arms wide.

Karkat scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Get up here."

Gamzee groaned and sat up, not bothering to make a grab for his shirt he had discarded the night before. Sollux eyed the boy's tattoo and then followed the two out, dragging Eridan with him down the hall. Eridan huffed and swatted at him, irritated. They came to a halt in the living room, all eyes falling on Kankri who was lying on the couch, breathing heavier than normal. They hadn't seen Kankri at all yesterday and seeing the older boy now was almost a shock with the state he was in; he looked terrible. Karkat was by him in an instant, kneeling by the couch. "Kankri, what the fuck? Are you okay?"

Kankri coughed a few times and nodded. "Yes...I was out while you four were out, last night."

"We know, you didn't come home till right before we fell asleep," Karkat replied. "What were you doing?"

"I was running errands," Kankri murmured as he sat up, chest heaving. "I uh, ran around a lot. Shouldn't have with the way that breeze was, yesterday."

Sollux and Eridan stood awkwardly as Karkat sat his brother up more. Gamzee left the room, coming back with an inhaler in his hand that he took over to Kankri. "You need to up and take this with you, Kankri. Can't up and stop breathing."

"Thank you, Gamzee," Kankri breathed, taking the inhaler from the Makara.

Karkat sighed, shaking his head. "Idiot. Take your inhaler when you need it; you aren't invincible like Dad."

"Go make yourselves lunch," Kankri muttered, waving them off.

Sollux and Eridan were more helpful when it came to food, getting things out for Karkat so that the shorter boy could make lunch. Sollux caught sight of Gamzee swallowing one of those green pills when no one was looking and, despite his nagging curiosity, he didn't say anything. Karkat made sandwiches and soup, Gamzee whining that he didn't "Up and like soup".

"Get over it," Karkat grunted, shaking his head.

There was a knock on the door which made all four boys look over questioningly. Kankri stood up, taking a deep breath as he walked over and opened the door. Cronus Ampora stared back at him, a lit cigarette between his lips. He grinned, but his grin faltered when he saw the inhaler clutched tightly in the young man's hand.

"Shit, sorry," Cronus rushed, backing up and dropping the cigarette, stepping on it to put it out. He looked back at Kankri, apologetic. "Shouldn't have even come over with that, Kanny. Sorry."

"It's fine," Kankri murmured, shaking his head. "Come in. The boys are eating."

Cronus stepped inside, glancing at Kankri with a slight smile. "You look kinda pale."

"I've just got to rest," Kankri huffed, irritated now. "I'm fine, really, Cronus."

"Okay, okay," Cronus held his hands up in defense, frowning.

Kankri's irritation faltered and he sighed, crossing his arms. "...Thank you for putting that cigarette out, though."

"Of course," The taller male smiled softly. shrugging a little. "Don't want to make you sick, Kanny. The boys behave?"

"They were fine," Kankri assured. "They didn't even argue with each other, from what I saw." Of course, he left out the fact that he had hardly been home at all to validate that statement. "How's work been?"

Cronus was a bit surprise at Kankri's question, mainly because Kankri hardly ever took interest in his personal life. He reminded himself that, most likely, Kankri was just being polite. He smiled and shrugged, sitting on the couch. "Been okay. Tiring, really. Extra hours and all that jazz. What about you? Still doing those online classes?"

"Yes, but I should be done withing the next month or so." Kankri replied as she sat down beside the other.

"Good, that's good," Cronus smiled. "Proud of ya."

Kankri smiled a little and gave the smallest chuckle. "Thanks."

Karkat eyed the two and leaned closer to Eridan and the others. "Eridan, your cousin has been hitting on my brother for years. Can't he take a hint?"

"I think it's your brother wwho can't take a hint," Eridan whispered with a small scoff. "I don't think he'd know flirting if it hit him in the face."

"No kidding," Sollux muttered, shaking his head as he took a bite of his sandwich. "No offense KK, but your brother's a bit of a dummy."

"No shit," Karkat groaned quietly.

Gamzee chuckled a little as he slurped his soup. "Poor Kankri."

Kankri glanced at the four whispering kids before looking back at Cronus. The darker skinned male was watching the four boys converse, the smallest of smiles tugging at his lips that made Kankri tilted his head. "What are you smiling at?"

Cronus barely heard him at first and then he shrugged, whispering, "I like seein' Eridan with friends that aren't Meenah and Fef." He stood up when he saw Eridan and Sollux finishing up their food, stretching. "Ready to go you two?"

"Let us get our things," Eridan murmured as he and Sollux made their way down the hall.

Kankri stood up as well, stuffing his inhaler into his pocket. Cronus smiled at him, a sheepish action. "Thanks for watching them."

"Anytime, like I said before," Kankri shrugged, stepping back as Eridan and Sollux came back in.

"See you two at school," Sollux said over his shoulder, waving.

"Don't kill each other," Karkat called.

Eridan scoffed, holding their doll under his arm. "No promises."

"If I'm missing, you know who killed me," Sollux added as he was pushed out the door by Eridan.

The door closed behind the group and Karkat scoffed under his breath. "How much you wanna bet they're gonna be fairly good friends by the end of the year?"

"That'd be something," Gamzee scoffed back.

"Give it time," Kankri shrugged, sitting back down on the couch. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, looking at Gamzee. "Do you need any clothes washed tonight before you go home tomorrow?"

"Nah, man, I got clean stuff in Karkat's room," Gamzee assured as he set his soup bowl in the sink. "Thanks though, Kankri."

"I'm gonna go text Dave real quick," Karkat murmured, nudging Gamzee. "Make sure his John-lust hasn't killed his sorry ass."

"Poor dude," Gamzee cooed mockingly.

Karkat sauntered back to his room and sat down, snatching up his phone and sending a quick text.

'ARE YOU ALL GOOD, STRIDER?'

When Dave read the text, sitting comfortable on his couch as John did whatever in the kitchen, he rolled his eyes behind his shades.

'Yeah, I'm good. Thanks MOM.'

Dave set his phone aside and fixed his eyes on the screen of the TV, eyeing the movie that was playing with a heavy frown. "...I thought I told you no shitty Nic Cage movies, Egderp."

"Con Air is not a shitty movie," John called from the kitchen, huffing adorably. "And I put it on before you even woke up so don't whine. We can watch one of your lame action movies when it's over."

"My movies are lame?" Dave gawked, looking at Casey who was propped up beside him on a pillow. "Casey, did you hear that? Your dad's insulting my movies."

"Oh, so now I'm the dad?" John snickered. "Finally warming up to the role of mom?"

Dave ignored him, settling back into the couch as he watched Dirk rush in from the room. The older blonde glanced at the two before settling on Dave. "Jake should be back around six, he said. He'll be tired so you two behave. I won't be back till morning."

"You're gonna die at work." Dave declared firmly. "Renovating now and then working your normal shift..."

"Meenah, too," Dirk chuckled as he padded into the kitchen. He pulled an orange soda from the fridge and grabbed his keys from the counter. "Behave you two. Don't start fires or anything. See ya."

"Bye!" Both teens called as the older Strider practically ran out of the house.

John strolled over to the couch, a bowl of popcorn in his lap as he sat by Dave. Dave yawned and pushed his glasses off, rubbing his eyes. John shot him a a slightly distressed glance. "Your eyes bugging you, Dave?"

"Didn't use the drops," Dave shrugged. "Can you go get them for me? And a clean shirt, too."

"Yeah, sure," John set the food aside and trotted to Dave's room. He came back and handed over the bottle of eye drops, waiting as Dave used them. when the blonde was done, John tossed a shirt to him.

"Thanks, man," Dave sat up straighter and tugged off the shirt he had slept in, tossing it aside for later. He was a bit uneasy about changing in front of John, even though he did it all the time, and had to force back the blush that threatened to stain his cheeks. John wasn't looking anyways.

Oh, but John was looking. He always looked at Dave, and he meant that in the least homosexual was as possible! Dave was just...pretty in a manly way. He had skin like a girl, really pale that looked smooth. There were scars that littered Dave's back and shoulders, though, and they had been in eight grade when John had seen them by accident when he walked in on Dave changing. They were from bike and skateboard accidents, Dave had told him, and John had believed him.

John tried not to look, though, because now that he thought about it, they looked nothing like extracurricular injuries. He figured, though, that Dave would tell him if it was anything important. Best Bros told each other all of the important stuff.

Dave pulled on his shirt and reached for is phone. "I need to make sure Terezi copied those assignments."

John's shipping mode went into action. "Yes, you should text her. Text Terezi."

Dave paused, eyeing the blue eyes boy for a second before looking down at his phone.

'Hey, did you copy the homework I gave you?'

Terezi replied a few hours later as she sat, upside down, on Nepeta's couch.

'JUST D1D. Th4NKS!'

Nepeta had made sure she did it, after all. Speaking of Nepeta...

Terezi let out a long, drug out whine. "Nepetaaaaa! Are you done with those cookies yet?"

"I'm bringing them right now, chill," Nepeta called, coming in a few minutes later with a plate topped with steaming cookies. She nudged Terezi's head with her knee until the other girl was sitting up, smiling at her. "There, happy now you cry baby?"

"You're so sweet," Terezi cooed, taking the plate from her and winking.

Nepeta blushed slightly and moved their baby out of the way so she could sit down. "Cookies before dinner...terrible."

"They'll be gone before your mom gets home, trust me," Terezi cackled.

Nepeta shook her head and smiled, leaning back into the couch as she ran her hand through her hair. "Equius texted me earlier. I guess Aradia's worried about her relationship with Sollux."

"Why?" The red head asked as she bit into a chocolate chip cookie. "Her and Sollux are like, joined at the hip."

"Apparently not," Nepeta shrugged. "Aradia's having trouble balancing her love life with her school life."

"Yeah, that'll cause issues," Terezi noted idly. "They probably haven't had sex in a while, either. That'll cause problems."

Nepeta's nose crinkled a little. "Sex shouldn't be something that causes problems...it shouldn't be a main function of a relationship, i mean."

"It's not," Terezi assured quickly, eyes widening a little. "It's just like...when you start doing it, you wanna keep doing it. Sorta. It's hard to explain...you know what I mean, don't you?"

"...No," Nepeta admitted softly, glancing at her lap. "I'm kind of a virgin, Terezi. I-I mean I've made out before but...that's all."

Terezi blinked in surprise and set her cookie down. "Hey, that's not a bad thing. I just sort of...assumed. You and Karkat didn't...?"

"No way," Nepeta frowned as she looked back at the other girl. "We made out, that's it. Did...you and him...?"

"Yeah, a couple times," Terezi murmured. "Sorry just...Karkat always gave me the impression that he liked sex. He's slept with Sollux once, me a lot while we were dating...I kind of just assumed." She smiled a little and bit her lip. "It's...really not that big of a deal. To me...I think it's better when you love the person you're sleeping with. Like...Karkat. Sure, it was nice but I mean...no where as nice as when I slept with Vriska. It was...way different with Vriska. I really loved her so it all felt so much more..intense. Real. With Karkat it was kind of like...two friend's trying to just get off."

Nepeta blushed and shifted, pulling her knees up to her chest as she stared at the girl. "It kind of weirds me out, to be honest."

"Sex does?"

"Yeah..."

"Why?"

Nepeta hesitated and shrugged again, averting her gaze. "...It's like...totally giving up the last thing that's entirely yours to someone. Sharing it...I mean what if they like...don't want it after, or they sleep with you and then toss you aside? Or it means the world to you and nothing to them? And then just letting them see so much of me..."

Terezi smiled softly, running a hand through her hair. "...Can I be honest with you? I uh...kinda figured that you slept with Equius. You know, since I thought you two were dating..."

Nepeta laughed a little, a higher pitched laugh than usual. "I don't think I could ever have sex with Equius. It'd be...you know."

"It'd be like if I slept with Dave," Terezi nodded in understanding. "I mean yeah, I kissed Dave, but I could never sleep with him. It'd make things majorly awkward!" She smiled again, reaching out to ruffle Nepeta's hair. "Don't think too much on the sex thing. Do it when you're ready; it's better that way, anyways."

"Thanks..." Nepeta murmured, leaning into the girl's touch a little. "...Wanna watch a movie till mom gets home?"

For all of them, it was a long weekend that was packed full of surprises. Everyone kept their little discoveries about each other to themselves, though, all aside from Rose and Kanaya. They flaunted their relationship like it was the greatest news on earth Monday morning, relishing in the exasperated, collective, "It's about damn time" that came from all of their friends.

Well, got Rose and Kanaya together finally. Was gonna stretch that one out a little longer but I really couldn't help myself. ...I'm gonna have so much fun with Nepeta and Terezi... heh. Ah, and now Sollux and Eridan know about Gamzee's medicine, hmm, I wonder...and poor Kankri. Weak lungs. Anyways, everyone is slowly progressing...and John, being the little shit he is, may try to play match maker. Who knows? Come back next chapter for more emotionally distressed teens and exasperated siblings. Review!