I apologize for all the tears and depressing feelings you have all experienced in the previous chapter. Expect lots of drama and depressing situations in the next couple of chapters. I hope you do enjoy this chapter. As always, I do not own any Homestuck characters, they all belong to Hussie. :( Be prepared.

Jade Harley plays with her thumbs as she waits for Dave to walk through those doors, any minute now, with their food and drinks. "What could be taking him so long," she says as she glances down at her watch and then to the theater doors. What if he had no money to pay for the food and they had to kick him out of the theater? Did he get into a fight? Is he in the bathroom with your food? Eww gross. Thoughts cloud Jade's mind as she notices that 15 minutes have passed since Dave first got in line at the concession stand. "I..I guess i'll just wait a little longer."
Soon the lights in the theater dim and the large screen brightens, showing numerous movie trailers that cause Jade to laugh, cringe, shake in fear, or "awwwww." If it wasn't for the announcement that the movie was gonna start, Jade wouldn't have noticed that Dave was still missing. Where could he be?! She quickly rises from her seat and walks quickly out of the the theater, her eyes automatically darting to the concession stand, where only a few people stand. "D..Did Dave leave me? No he wouldn't...where did he go?" Jade begins to wander around the theater, checking the arcade area, the concession stands on the other sides, even the trash cans! She walks around the theater at least three times, eyes darting all over the place, in search of Dave; but what she doesn't know is that the certain blonde haired boy is sitting alone in a bathroom stall with a heavy heart.

Dave Strider sits alone in a bathroom stall, face in his hands, as he tries to figure out a way to tell the girl he loves with all his heart rather unfortunate news. How could he just walk up, take a deep breath, and say, "Hey Jade, I don't know how you're gonna take this, but Jake died a couple hours ago in some random hospital in Hawaii." Fuck, even saying that in his head sounds terrible! "Poor Jade...will Dirk send her back to the island? Well she's obviously gotta go for the funeral...will she ever be okay? I need to come with her! I can't leave her alone! But what if she pushes me away...what if we break up?" Dave knew better than to think of that as a possibility but now that a great tragedy had struck Jade's life, the chances of Jade breaking up with him was pretty high. "Strider, don't lose your cool. Let's just take Harley home and tell her the news on the drive home...then again, she'd probably go crazy and shit and get us into a bad accident! Which would just make matters worse...I need apple juice." Dave gets out of the stall and walks over to the mirrors, examining his appearance. His clothes were perfectly straight, his shades clean and shipshape, and most importantly, his poker face. Dave knew better than to burst into tears at a moment like this and cause Jade's stress levels to rise to the extreme. "Just remain poker face as usual Strider...don't crack. Do it for her..." Dave nods and quickly walks out of the bathroom where he bumps into Jade.

"Oww! Dave! There you are! What happened to our food and the movie already started...but that's okay! Let's go back inside!" She grabs Dave's hand firmly and begins to walks towards the theater but she notices that Dave has his feet planted firmly on the ground and hasn't moved an inch. "Daaave! C'mon! I don't wanna miss any more of the movie!"

Dave sighs and leads her to the door, "I don't feel too good Harley. Why don't we watch it another day? I think it was that damn arcade pizza."

Jade makes a pouty face and follows Dave out the door, "Is everything okay? You don't seem fine and I don't think the pizza is causing this."

Dave's eyes widen and he clears his throat before letting out a chuckle, "Are you implying that I'm lying to you? Me? The person you've known for five years now? That's cold Harley."

Jade smiles and sticks her tongue out at him before getting in the car with Dave. "Can I call Jake when we get home? I'm supposed to call him every night but since we've been having so much fun together, I completely forgot about him!"

Dave could feel the tears pricking the sides of his eyes but he gives his best smile and nods, "Sure you can. I'm sure Bro would let you use our phone and it does have long distance calling."

Jade claps her hands together and leans her seat back so she can look up at the beautiful, pink and orange sky. "Hey Dave?...I'm really gonna miss you when I go back. Sometimes I wish Jake and I lived here. Sure, the climate is different from the island's but I survived!" She smiles, "And Dirk and Jake could finally be together too! That's Jake dream you know? To get away from the island and just be with Dirk forever? He never shuts up about it; but now I can get him back when I talk about you and me!"

Dave nods and tries to zone out all the negative, sad energy that's pounding at his head and heart; he turns to Jade and gives her hand a warm squeeze, "Why don't you consider living with Dirk and me? We have the guest room for you and you wouldn't have to pay for anything. We would never be apart."

Jade smiles and kisses his hand before bringing it to her cheek, where she nuzzles against it, "Davey, i've gotta ask Jake first remember? And I'm sure it wouldn't happen right away, cuz we would need to grab a lot of items back at the island. Maybe it will happen in the next couple of years." Finally the sight Dave had been dreading since the drive began appears, the penthouse building. "Yay! Home sweet home! I'm actually pretty hungry again, do you think Dirk would mind if I cooked something?"

Dave lets out a pained laugh and shakes his head, "Nah...if anything...food would be good at the moment."

Jade looks over at Dave and notices that his lips are quivering, "Dave? What's going on? Why do you look like death just showed up at your doorstep?"

Dave looks towards the stairs and, without a second's hesitation, pulls Jade into an extremely tight embrace. "H..Harley I love you. I'll always love you okay? Please don't run away and desert me."

Jade stares at Dave with sad eyes and holds his face in her hands, stroking his cheek with her thumb, "Dave is that what this is all about? You're afraid that I'm gonna leave you once I go back to the island? That's silly! I'd never leave you. I'll always be by your side."

Dave gulps and takes his keys out of the ignition, "I hope so Harley. I hope so..." The two walk, hand in hand, up the long flight of stairs; Jade is being her usual happy self, recounting the day's events; Dave, on the other hand, is scared shitless as they both grow closer and closer to the penthouse door. "God...please don't break Harley too much, hasn't she been through enough to last her a lifetime?" Dave thinks as he grabs the door handle and turns it slowly. As soon as they step in, Dave is greeted with a nice slap from a hysteric Dirk.

"DIRK! Why did you hit Dave?!"

Dave turns away and presses his palm to his now stinging cheek.

"You lil' shit...where the fuck have you been all day?! I've left you over 50 messages and you don't even bother responding?! Just because you have a girlfriend now doesn't mean you ignore me or your friends!"

Jade glaces at Dirk and Dave with a puzzled expression on her face, "D..Dave what's going on?"

Dirk grabs her wrist and pulls her over to hallway, "He really didn't tell you? For Christ's sake, you need to know Jade!"

"K..Know what?"

Dave flashsteps over to Dirk and lets out a low growl, "Don't you dare."

"Dave i'm scared...what's going on!?"

"She needs to know the truth! It's not like we can hide this forever! Do you even know how much i'm hurting right now?!"

"Just because your boyfriend died doesn't give you the right to go around ruining everyone else's fun!"

"You lil' shit..." The two brothers begin to throw punches and kicks at each other before Jade grabs them both and shakes them violently.

"TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON NOW!"

Dave wipes the blood from his lip and falls to his knees as he clings to Jade's leg, "Jake...Jake suffered a terrible accident 9 hours ago...he was taken to a hospital in Hawaii..."

"But he died on the way there. He was five minutes away from the emergency room and he just gave up...he's dead Jade."

Jade now looks at the two of them with a mortified look on her face, a face that is mixed with sadness, anger, confusion, and betrayal. "Y..You're just telling me this now? W...Why wasn't I informed 8 hours ago...Jake...my brother...heh...no. Jake is fine! He's always fine! He's wrestled against tigers and snakes and crocodiles...I don't believe you two... YOU TWO ARE LIARS!" Dave stands up and pulls Jade close to his body as she struggles and pounds her fists against his chest, "LIAR! LIAR! LET GO OF ME! …JAKE COME BACK! I DON'T WANT TO BE ALONE!"

Dirk sinks to the ground and buries his face in his lap as he allows more tears to pour out of his eyes. Dave wants nothing more than to grab Jade and his bro and pull them into a tight embrace, comforting them and just reminding them that everything will be okay; but for some strange reason, his body just forces him to stand there and look on with sadness as two of the most important people in his life suffer the greatest pain in the world. The pain of losing someone you love.

That night everyone went to their room early. Dinner wasn't served, good nights were not exchanged; just complete utter silence. Dave had never felt so lonely. He had insisted that Jade sleep with him, considering how she'll probably need a shoulder to cry on or a tangle buddy; but she just pushed him away and walked to the comfort of the guest room. "Poor Harley...you know what, fuck it." He gets out of bed and tiptoes down the hallway to the guest room and knocks a little. "Jade? Harley are you in there?" No answer. "Jade? Please open the door." Still no answer. This is definitely not a good sign, Jade could never fall asleep at a time like this. "What could she be doing in there?," Dave thinks as he wiggles the knob again and knocks on the door, louder this time. "I'm gonna go get the key okay Harles? I'll be back!" Dave quickly rushes over to the couch, digging his hand deep with the sofa, as he tries to locate the guest room key. "Damn couch...aha!" Dave rushes back to Jade's room and unlocks the door as quickly as he can. "Harley don't scare me like-Oh my god Jade!" Dave quickly rushes over to an unconscious Jade and checks her pulse. Slow and faint. "DIRK CALL AN AMBULANCE!"

WHY MUST THE GOOD SUFFER? Short chapter this time guys; Please rate, review, or comment on the story :) I greatly appreciate all your feedback! Please continue to stay tuned for more Love Never Dies. I love you all!

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