John had stayed over at Dave's that night. They laid side by side and cuddled each other seemingly endlessly. Dave's euphoria was still clouding him, and he was more care-free than he had ever been.

And for the first time in a long time, Dave slept soundly. There was the occasional look of pain on his face and mumble that resembled more of a whine, but John's fine-tuned Dave-senses had woken him up and Dave was soon sleeping soundly once again. John was grateful he was a light sleeper, in contrast to Dave, who was quite a heavy sleeper.

John had to wake Dave up early, as he had work that morning, and Jade would kill him if he was late.

Wearing the same clothes has we wore yesterday, John stood at the door with Dave, and kissed him goodbye, promising he would pester Dave after work, and Dave was free to visit him during his work hours for some coffee.

Dave was surprised to find John's lips on his own, and his heart fluttered to the point he was almost embarrassed, his red stained cheeks weren't helping.

"Y-Yeah, I'll drop by." Was all could muster, and John smiled at him, before taking his leave.

Dave's lips were still tingling, and his heart was still hammering.

The feeling soon passed, however. And Dave got down to business.

His apartment was rather messy, and there was a cold pizza that called out to him.

The delights of cold pizza were strange, and Dave never thought such a thing could work until his brother told him to try it, promising satisfaction when he was still very young. That all too familiar painful ache in his chest was there, but he found it much more bearable, especially the past month or so.

He made his way to the kitchen counter, and as usual, his phone was there and he was relieved he had remembered to put it there, when in doubt of his phones location, the kitchen counter was his best bet, and once again the counter came through for him.

But unfortunately his phone was dead.

He plugged it into the white charger by his bed and left it in favour of half-watching TV, until he believed there to be enough power to use it.

He unplugged it briefly to turn it on, plugging it back into the charger once it had finished starting up. He had received several messages from Rose, and his phone went off in that second, and John's chum handle flashed up.

-ectoBiologist [EB] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] at 8.56am-

EB: Jade says hi Dave!

EB: so do I, hehe :B

TG: sup Jade

TG: and John

He then decided to face the oncoming storm.

-tentacleTherapist [TT] began pestering turntechGodhead [TG] yesterday at 21:34pm-

TT: David.

TT: Are you there?

TT: I believe I have been left hanging long enough here.

TGs phone has disconnected! Please try again later.

TT: Dave?

TT: Are you alright?

TT: Dave, answer me.

TT…Dave?

There were 5 missed calls from Rose.

-turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering tentacleTherpaist [TT] at 8.59am-

TG: I'm fine rose

TG: my phone died is all

TT: thank the gods

TT: I was worried about you, you ass.

TG: I figured.

TG: you only call me Dave when you're worried about me.

TG: don't worry, I'm fine, seriously.

TG: John was with me.

He knew his sister was worried, he could see her panicked face within his imagination. Just like last time he didn't answer her messages within ten minutes. She had called a suicide help line and an ambulance, after 6 missed calls and 23 messages, around a week after his brother died.

They found him passed out in his own vomit, bleeding from a small wound in his leg, and clasping a bottle of Jack Daniels. (His brother loved that drink. It was his favourite, there was almost always at least one bottle in the house.)

The wound was self-inflicted, but he made Rose promise not to tell the doctors.

It was also the first time he had turned to alcohol, so he promised Rose he wouldn't and she left him alone on that front, checking up on him around the clock, and if she couldn't check up on him, Kanaya would.

TT: John? Well, give him my regards then.

TT: I wasn't interrupting anything was I?

TT: I would hate to have made you're time together awkward with the ringing of a phone.

TT: I can see why you didn't answer.

TG: rose chill

TG: we didn't fuck jesus

TG: did you have a bet with Kanaya

Silence.

TG: holy fucking shit you had a bet with Kanaya.

TG: there was a literal two minute gap between my message and yours and that's what you did.

TG: not rejoice in the fact im alive

TG: but by making a bet with your girlfriend about whether or not I got laid.

TT: harmless banter, Dave.

TT: I knew you were okay, and you said John spent the night with you.

TT: it was a perfectly valid assumption.

TT: but unfortunately I now owe Kanaya twenty dollars, as she believed you didn't have the gall to have sex with him.

TG: good. I hope that twenty dollar debt hangs over you for days.

TG: wait what

TG: your girlfriend thinks I don't got the cahoneys to get myself some hot ass

TG: I am wounded.

TT: It's good to hear you sounding similar to your old self, Dave.

Rose Lalonde smiled brightly, and kissed her girlfriend, who was reading silently beside her. "It seems we have the old Dave back, or at least, someone strikingly similar." Was all she said, and Kanaya was suddenly bursting at the seams with joy.

TG: yeah, glad to be back I guess

TT: John has been very good for you, I believe I should meet him, and thank him. What was the name of the café he worked in again?

TG: ohmygod rose no

TT: alright, alright.

TT: I'm extremely glad you're okay, Dave. And John has made you happy, it seems, and I really want to meet him. I feel like I owe him for achieving what I could not.

TG: rose wtf are you talking about

TG: achieving what you didn't?

TT: Making you happy, Dave. I could never lift your spirits after what happened, no matter what I tried.

TG: rose…rose no

TG: you were like

TG: you were so much

TG: you helped me when I was a piece of shit. When I was thinking about ending it all, you slapped some sense into my dumb ass.

TT: you were upset, we all were.

TT: though I must admit you and Jake took it the worst.

TG: fuck

TG: jake

TG: has he spoken to you recently?

TT: no, I haven't heard or seen him since the funeral.

TG: …

TG: okay.

TG: anyway

TG: point is you helped me a bunch and I appreciate your intense therapy and motherly worry.

TT: you're very welcome.

-tentacleTherapist [TT] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG] at 09.23am-

Dave got himself dressed with a heavy heart. How selfish could he get? He didn't once think to check on Jake. Not once. He thought about how he ruined Jake's life, but not to make any moves to fix it.

And so, Dave made the biggest decision of the day, and picked up his phone, and dialled the number for Jake English.

No answer.

It didn't even ring.

Feeling somewhat defeated, Dave decided it best not to try again.

Around 10am, he swung around to the café, where he was met by a grinning John and his sister, who was suddenly incredibly happy to see Dave.

John greeted him with a peck on the cheek and a bright smile (He couldn't believe how much he loved John's smiles) and Dave would be lying if he had said he wasn't surprised.

He wasn't sure on their position. Were they together? Could he kiss John whenever he liked? The thought was tempting and he decided he wanted to kiss John whenever he wanted to.

Jade was absolutely buzzing during his visit to the café. John explained that he had divulged the events of last night to Jade, talking about coffee and pizza and kisses and "I'm not okays" that turned into "I'm not sures" and Dave gave a short laugh at the bright girl who was asking all sorts of questions, does Dave think Johns sexy or cute or both? Would he give his butt at least a seven out of ten, just for the hell of it. (She goes on to explain that when she and John got bored they used to rate butts. There wasn't an agenda or reason. Just, butts.)

But then she clears her throat, and she seems so suddenly serious it's shocking. "But, in all seriousness, Dave. Take care of John. He's my brother, I don't want him to get hurt."

He's my brother. I don't want him to get hurt.

The phrase follows you. Haunts you. Replays itself in an infinite loop and you have to stand there, mouth agape for a few seconds, just to think of something to say. Something heartfelt. To communicate how little desire you had to hurt John, how you would support him as best you could and that you understand her love for her brother.

"Of course." Is all that comes out.

The visit continues. You order a coffee, wait patiently for either Jade or John to return from their work to chat to you, and decide to spam John with hearts when you two share a joke about you demanding attention. There is a small part of you that coils in insecurity, you don't want to be too demanding or clingy, but you don't want to be too distant. It bugs you for a while, so you pause your spamming. John is at work after all.

You conclude you will allow John to guide you until you have struck a balance. You absentmindedly scroll through the hearts you sent John, and you estimate you sent over one hundred. You feel bad, but you know Jade would never fire him. Besides, he ignored the messages and his phone was on vibrate, so he devoted himself to the customers anyway. No complaints can be made.

John passes the order he just took to the kitchen and walks over to you, guiding you to the employees lounge.

It is there he proceeds to grab your face and kiss you with all the strength he can muster. You find your world spinning and your fingers in his hair nd it's the most blissful feeling ever and-it's over. All too soon, you try to stop the physical loss from showing up on your face, losing yourself in John was a new experience, and it was ripped away from you all too soon.

"I'll give you as much attention as you need, don't worry Dave! Also..heh, sorry if I overstepped the line. I can give you as much space, too." You shake your head.

"That-that was good. Definitely good. Great, even." You take a few deep breaths to calm yourself down then place a much softer kiss on his lips. "You have my full attention." You say to him. And he smiles, but it's a different smile to his usual ones. This one is so full and warm, and it has the corners of your mouth twitching upwards.

You've always had my full attention, John. You think, but you don't dare say the phrase out loud.

John tells you he needs to go back to work, and you tell him that's fine. He leaves you with a kiss, your lips tingling and your pulse racing. And you aren't really sure if you're allowed to stay in the employee lounge, now you think about it.

Authors note! I'm back! Back to this story at long last. Sorry if it seems slightly different, time has passed. I got my ass dumped and decided wallowing in depression, similar to Dave's was a good idea, but I'm back on my feet now, and I hope to see you all in the next chapter!