You wake up feeling sore and sorry for yourself. With a start, you sit up in bed and stare at the wall, the events of the night before flooding into you. You groan as you realize you had slept with John while imagining it was your student, your short and shouty student that was a good twelve years younger than you. When he was born, you were entering middle school. The thought does not do anything to the attraction you feel towards him but it does snap everything into perspective, like a nice slap in the face. You push thoughts of Karkat and John out of your mind and go about your daily routine.

John left you another note, this one only slightly more raunchy than the last, reading, "dave! last night was hot and just what i needed to get over rose! i'll be home at nine, i'm going to call up jade and see if she has any friends for me! –EB". You sigh in relief, glad the friendship between you two is just that and nothing more. So what if you think of someone else? John sure isn't thinking of you when you're inside him, if this note is any indication. As long as you don't fuck up in bed and shout Karkat instead of John, you'll be fine.

Wait, no, no you won't be because you've got a raging boner for one of your students. There's that problem, rearing its head and dampening your spirits. You groan into your coffee as you walk out to your car, trying to ignore how you're looking forward to sixth period and how you desperately want to see him and how wrong all of this is. But ignoring a problem doesn't make it go away. Driving to school is dangerous with how distracted by your thoughts you are but you make it to the parking lot and into your classroom without crashing into anyone, save a freshman in your second period class who was asking you about music. You didn't reply to her, too consumed by your inner musings to answer who you liked more, Nikki Minaj or Alicia Keys. She leaves you alone when she sees that you were busy and you make it to your room shortly afterwards.

Classes go by and you fall into familiarity. It's nice to listen to the songs your students bring in and you only have to send two kids up to the dean because their songs were only expletives. You end up laughing most of your classes and sharing the song that you connect with in every single class. That song is 'Curbside Prophet' by Jason Mraz. Most of the students compliment you on it, especially when you got up there with the karaoke version and rapped the entire thing for third. Students, both horrified and impressed, give you props on the song as they left. You tell yourself that you'll do the same thing for sixth but not because you want to impress Karkat, no, that's not it at all.

Yes it is.

You talk to Jade over the phone during lunch, laughing with her as you describe what had happened that day. She tells you about how it is in Japan and how she's researching a few formulas that can stimulate nerves that have been dead for years! She says there's a test subject in the town you live in that is going to get the procedure. He's relatively young, only about sixteen or seventeen, but he's been paralyzed since age six. It's a dangerous procedure and he has to be prepared a month beforehand. You tell her that there's a kid in your class that's about that age and is in a wheelchair. She, with a giggle, tells you that that is probably him. You make a mental note to ask Tavros about it when she hangs up with a shriek of, "no! Not that chemical, you dipshit!" You hear the bell wail and sit up straighter at your desk, turning to stare at the door as you wait for your class to trickle in. You're not looking for a mop of black hair and tan skin, nope. Your heart rate does not increase tenfold at the sight of the door opening. And you are so not staring at Karkat as he walks up the steps to his seat. Even though you aren't doing any of these things, you still see the way his eyes slide to your neck.

You definitely see his eyes widen and his skin pale a bit, before flushing dark and averting his rust orbs. Words die in your throat as a sick feeling of dread trickles down into your stomach. A chill cools your insides with fear as you watch Karkat put his head down into his arms. You stutter when you call Kanaya down to play her song, numb as you keep your eyes on the little senior with his head down. You go through the motions but you don't really listen. You don't notice the beat, the lyrics, the songs. All you can pay attention to is your mistake and how you have sincerely fucked everything up. Really, you haven't done something this bad since college, when you got piss drunk and slept with your brother. The both of you had sworn to never speak of it again, obviously, but you still got that same feeling of dread, the one that is freezing your nerves right now.

When you call on Karkat, he raises his head and your breath catches in your throat. His eyes are red-rimmed, though you can't tell if it's from lack of sleep or tears, and he tells you he doesn't have his assignment. You're silent for a bit before telling him that he has detention after school. He doesn't protest against you and puts his head back down, forcing you to move along. When the bell does ring and your students leave, you sit down at your desk and take in shuddering breaths. Okay, your student is going to be coming in after class. And you'd really had no idea how you felt about that. It wasn't like you were going to tell him all about yourself and how it was just comforting your buddy, who'd been dumped. That wasn't proper for a student-teacher relationship. Hell, that wasn't proper for any relationship. You bite at your lip in nervousness, unable to quell the queasy feeling of betrayal that wells up in you when you hear the hinges of the door swing open. You turn to look at the boy who walked in, his thick brows pulled together and his lips set in a scowl. You aren't sure what to say, what to do, so he does something first.

You numbly watch as he walks to his normal seat and sits down. That's all he does; sits there without a smile on his face and without a word in your direction. You don't have any words for him either, so you aren't one to comment on his silence. You turn your gaze to your computer, where Pesterchum is open, and your brows draw together. There, onscreen, is a message from Carcino. You glance up towards Karkat, where he's hidden in the desk with his hood up and his backpack in front of him. You don't how to punish him for something when he's so upset in the first place. You simply don't. Let him stay in your room for a bit, you think that that is punishment enough. You turn back to your computer, where the Pesterchum window blinks incessantly at you. There are another few messages, all of them long and filled with curse words. The familiarity, the fact that you can deal with this sort of thing, brings a smile to your face. God, you'd actually missed the few days without a word from your crude Internet friend. Carefully, almost reverently, your fingers settle on your keyboard and you begin to type.

- carcinoGeneticist [CG] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] at 13:35 –-
CG: HELLO, MY INSANE HIPSTER DOUCHEBAG INTERNET-DWELLING LIFEFORM THAT I BEGRUDGINGLY REFER TO AS MY "FRIEND".
CG: I HAPPEN TO BE STUCK IN FUCKING DETENTION WITH MY PRICK OF A TEACHER AND I'M GOING TO EXPLAIN TO YOU THE DISGUSTING REASON WHY I'M IN SUCH A FUCKING PREDICAMENT.
CG: I WALK INTO CLASS TODAY ALL HAPPY AND HUNKY DORY, FUCKING FANTASTIC, WALKING ON GOD DAMN SUNSHINE ECSTATIC, LIKE NOTHING COULD BRING ME DOWN.
CG: THE REASON FOR SUCH A VOMIT-INDUCING BEHAVIOR IS THAT MY TEACHER, DESPITE HIS UTTER DOUCHITUDE, IS A COMPLETE HUNK. SO MUCH SO THAT I WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO LANDING EYES ON HIS FUCKING FANTASTIC BODY. Y'KNOW, UNTIL I CAUGHT SIGHT OF *THAT*.
CG: A FUCKING HICKEY. A MOTHERFUCKING *HICKEY* ON HIS NECK.
CG: NOW, I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE THINKING. "carcino why the hell are you freaking out over a fucking hickey dude its not like you were dating your teacher right"
CG: AND I WOULD HAVE TO SAY YES, YOU'RE CORRECT, I'M NOT DATING OR BONING MY TEACHER, DESPITE HOW MUCH I MIGHT WANT TO.
CG: BUT I STILL SOMEHOW FELT LIKE A FUCKING DISGUSTING PIECE OF SHIT, UNWANTED AS MY WEIRDLY FISHY FRIEND CALIGULUS.
CG: BUT I'M GETTING OFF TOPIC HERE.
CG: WE HAD AN ASSIGNMENT TODAY AND I FORGOT TO BRING IT, DIDN'T EVEN OFFER ME AN ALTERNATIVE OR ANYTHING SO I ENDED UP BEING PUT INTO DETENTION.
TG: wow doesnt that sound scarily similar to my current situation
CG: WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GOING ON ABOUT NOW, GODHEAD.
TG: alright im gonna break tradition here and tell you what i work as
TG: because even if i dont its gonna take you two seconds to realize it when i start telling my story
TG: so im a music appreciation teacher right and this one kid in my class doesnt bring his assignment so i gave him detention
TG: hes right in front of me and hes got his head down but i dont have a fucking clue what to do now because hes a sweet kid and hes insanely cute
TG: i know what youre gonna say carcino "GODHEAD YOURE SUCH A FUCKING PEDOPHILE EW"
TG: i know i got your quirk wrong it was for ironic purposes
TG: but yeah thats my predicament here
- carcinoGeneticist [CG] blocked turntechGodhead [TG] –-

What the fuck. That was the weirdest thing you've seen carcino do and you've known the kid for years, talked to him for just as long. You glance up at Karkat to see him staring at you with wide eyes, the orbs filled with something akin to fear. You tilt your head a bit, lips pursed in confusion as you wait for him to say something. His mouth is hanging open, gaping like a fish, and you have to stifle a small laugh at the sight. There's something hilarious about him looking like that. But all hilarity about the situation leaves when he speaks, finally, his voice a croak of despair that leaves your heart thudding against your ribcage with all the force of a raging bull.

"Godhead?"