A/N: I thought about being really mean, and not updating this story, just to keep you on the cliff hanger, but, I couldn't do that to you guys. This will probably be a shorter chapter, but you should like it ;}. ~Imoto out

My entire body was in pain, my lungs burned from the lack of oxygen, my limbs were feeling heavy for the same reason, my head was throbbing, and where those chemicals had found my skin, I could still feel the burn eating slowly through layers of my skin. Yet somehow, during all of this, the pain, the struggling to get free, and even the fight to keep my body working without air, I found myself thinking about Gamzee, and how the troll would figure out who I was in the end. How I'd die and he would have never believed that I really did have feelings for him...

Don't think like that! Fight until you can't anymore! Fight!

No, I wasn't going to die, I was going to be fine, and then, I was going to make Gamzee believe me, this wasn't over yet!

It was difficult to move, but I was able to get my legs between the troll and myself and press my feet against his chest to push him away to the point where his grip loosened enough for me to take a breath. Wasn't a deep one, but it was enough to keep me going, and I took the opportunity to sink my teeth into the skin between his thumb and fingers, hard enough where I could taste the tang of iron.

Drawing away with a cry of surprise and pain, I greedily gulped in as much air as I could, my hand flying up to my burning throat as a dry cough forced its way up and out, it felt great to have air, but at the same time, my limbs grew that much more heavy then my head went fuzzy. Thankfully, without coaxing, the wind draw itself around my body and lifted me from the roof, but I didn't rush away, in fact, I looked down at Voodoo and spit out the blood in my mouth right in front of him, taking note of the color. A deep purple. Now that narrowed it down.

Rushing back to my house before the villain had a chance to try and kill me again, I found myself dropping periodically, only to gain my focus a few seconds later and rebalance in the air. While sleep sounded fantastic, I had to get these chemicals off of me, so the second I got into the house, I stripped off my hoodie and shirt, sticking them in the washer by themselves, hoping it didn't eat the metal. Then I was off to the shower, stripped off the pants and boxers, my body worked in overdrive to avoid anymore damage.

But the second I got out, and didn't feel like it was any immediate danger any longer, I collapsed onto my bed, letting the folds of my blankets smother me into sleep.

xxx

As the haze lifted from my mind, I opened my eyes, only to close them again due to the blinding light, what time was it? Squinting in the light, I turned to my alarm clock, where a note had been placed, blocking the red numbers.

John,

You slept through your alarm, so, I figured you needed sleep more than school, I called in for you, just, don't tell dad.

You and I need to have a talk later.

Jane

Groaning, I took the note away from the clock, sighing when it read one in the afternoon, with all that sleep, my body still felt heavy, and Gog did my throat burn, but that didn't keep my attention for long, because my computer screen was lit up, and there were a lot of messages piling up.

Jumping out of bed, I hurried over to the computer finding multitudes of messages from Karkat.

CG: HEY FUCKASS, ARE YOU THERE

CG: ARE YOU COMING IN TODAY OR NOT

CG: OKAY WHAT THE FUCK

CG: WHY AREN'T YOU ANSWERING

CG: GAMZEE ISN'T ANSWERING EITHER

CG: WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU GUYS

CG: EGBERT THIS ISN'T FUNNY FUCKING ANSWER ME GOGDAMMIT

CG: FINE

CG: DON'T ANSWER ME

CG: LEAVE YOUR FRIEND TO WORRY

CG: WHILE YOU SIT ON YOUR PEDASTAL

CG: AND WATCH ME WRITHE LIKE A WRIGGLER

CG: BECAUSE YOU'RE TOO MUCH OF A GOG TO REPLY

CG: I DON'T GIVE A FUCK

Sighing, I rubbed my eyes, then fixed my glasses, not even realizing I had fallen asleep in them till now, clicking the reply box, I hoped his messenger was on silent, else he'd yell at me more.

EB: sorry kartkat, i was sleeping, i ate something yesterday that flared up my allergies and i couldn't breath, so i'm staying home until the swelling goes down, i'll talk to you later, okay?

Hoping his wrath would be subdued with that lie, I grabbed a pair of sweats off my flood and pulled them on before making my way to the bathroom, dreading what I would find in the mirror. I was right too.

My throat was a beautiful shade of black, blue, purple, and maybe even some yellow, but it wasn't just everywhere, no, it was just where Voodoo's hands had been, it was obviously in the shape of hands, and I would have to find some way to hide it from everyone...

Arms, hands, places on my chest, and small spots on my face were a mixture of bright and dark red burns that hurt to even think about, and of course, the ones on my hands burned just by moving a finger, ugh. This was going to be real fun...

Didn't Karkat say Gamzee wasn't at school either?

Maybe I'd go see him...

xxx

Almost a full bottle of burn cream later, I had found a short sleeved turtle neck to cover my bruises, but leave my arms free to avoid the fabric rubbing against any other burns other than the less painful ones on my chest. Then before I left I had chugged quite a bit of milk to help soothe my aching throat, and help me talk, because my voice was barely audible, but hell, I was alive at least... And now, I had to fix something that should have never been broken...

Finding myself at the trolls apartment by the nearby ocean, I hesitantly knocked, hoping he was even home, though, I found myself lucky, because the door actually opened, and Gamzee poked his head out.

"Oh, it's you. What do you want motherfucker?" Coughing a bit, I swallowed to try and get my voice working, praying I hadn't come here only to not be able to talk.

I-I want," Pausing at the burn, I sighed and pushed on through my sentence. "want t-to apologize... I-I said some cruel things to you yesterday..." Raising my eyes to him, I found he didn't look so angry, but his eyes were wide and moving from burn to burn, almost horrified.

"Bro! What happened to you?!" Wincing as he pulled me into his apartment, I stumbled inside, avoiding the shit laying everywhere, trying to think of a good excuse, the news this morning said Voodoo went on to torture some people on the streets after our talk. He shoved stuff off the couch, then motioned for me to sit, and as I did so, he sat next to me, worry never leaving his eyes.

"I-I was downtown last night, a-and there was this man... He was covered in something that was, burning him? I-I tried to help him, b-but I got burnt myself..." Coughing again, I rubbed my throat through the turtle neck, then looked up at Gamzee, feeling tears welling in my eyes from the pain of everything... "T-then, I had an allergic reaction to s-something at dinner, and... I-I didn't think that... I thought... I thought I was going to die..."

Without warning he scooted closer to put his arms around me in a comforting embrace, feeing my heart race, a few tears ran down my cheeks as my mind flashed back to the rooftop, where I laid there, fearing only of what Gamzee would never truly know... "A-and... All I could think of, was that I-I was going to die, and, you wouldn't realize that, I really, really, really, do like you... I-I wouldn't lie about this... " Feeling his arms tighten around me, his head settled on top of my lightly. For a while we were silent, just sitting there with me crying softly, his arms around me keeping me close.

"John, bro... I'm sorry man... I just thought, it was one of Karkat's motherfuckin plots to get me to chill out..." Sitting back a bit, he sighed before carefully wiping the tears from my cheeks his forehead moving to rest against mine. "Please be more careful bro... I don't want shit to happen to you..."