Heyo! Just got back from vacation without internet- here's a present, everything I finished while I was away. I hope you all had awesome holidays, I'd love to hear your stories!

~*Dave Strider*~

I blinked against the light that was suddenly in my shadeless eyes when I woke up, yawning as I rubbed the sleep from them. Looking to my side at the weight on my arm, I smiled at the sight of sleeping John. He was deep in his slumber and I wondered what he was dreaming about because he was slightly drooling on my arm. I wasn't disgusted or anything, I actually found it cute and it kept the smile on my face. This whole scene was so far out of my imagination that I could barely even comprehend that it was real. I was waking up with none other than my Derp cuddled next to me. I would try to convince myself that it was just a dream but... I liked this. I didn't want to believe that this was just a dream because I've dreamed of this long enough, it was about time it became reality.

It was still really odd to think that John was Derp but I was okay with that and more than willing to get used to it. I knew we would both struggle with adjusting to this, last night was proof enough of that, but I hoped for many more of moments like this to counter the hardships. And well, with a dork like John by my side. I didn't see that being so out of reach.

I cursed when my phone started ringing which caused John to stir in his sleep. I reached for the vibrating red device on the end table so I could shut up the dubstep ringtone before the drop hit, knowing it would wake John up for sure.

"What?" I demanded in a whisper, looking down at John to make sure he was still asleep.

"Where are you?" Bro's voice greeted me and I picked up on the worry masked in it. I sighed and ran a hand down my face, angry with myself for forgetting to at least send Bro a text telling him that I left last night.

"Still in bed, slept over at John's."

"Dude, I had the makings for an epic surprise strife all set up and you weren't even here. Do you have an idea how hard I'm going to kick your ass when you get back?" though he sounded more disappointed that his trap failed than angry about me not being there to spring it, I groaned because I knew I was gonna get it.

"Yeah... I'll head back to make it up, okay?" there was silence from the other line before my brother responded almost excitedly.

"I'll be waiting on the roof." the beeping in my ear after he hung up was almost more welcoming than his voice. He was setting something else up, I just knew it.

"Do you have to go?" I looked back down to the boy whose tired face matched the voice he had used and I almost laughed at how adorable his pleading eyes were.

"Yeah but I'll be back later or..." I smiled down at him. "You could come with me." he nodded offhand as he rubbed at his eyes tiredly. I chuckled, counting in my head to see how long it would take before what I said to sink in. I reached eleven seconds before his head finally shot up to mine with a sleepy happy look on his face.

"Oh! Yeah, yeah, that sounds good to me." he nodded as he sat up to free my arm so I could get out of bed.

"I'm gonna go get my clothes." I announced after handing his glasses to him though I left my sunglasses where they were as some sort of show of trust as I left his room. John is Derp… that was getting to be a lot more normal to me, so much that it was really relieving. John is my Derp who loves me and I love him… maybe I would be able to approach the subject soon and maybe ask him out.

… … …

Getting up the stairs to meet Bro on the roof had been somewhat of a challenge with swords, smuppets, and other dolls springing out every step up I took. The strife itself went alright though I was constantly aware of John's eyes following me, watching my every move. Not that I was opposed to that but it did make me a little self conscious- and I'm not saying that he was the reason I lost but… he was pretty distracting.

But now it was my turn to watch him as he cleaned my wounds, having insisted to patch me up like he did when I saved him from getting hit by a car. This time he wasn't upset and guilty about my wounds rather he just seemed to want to help. I made the same argument I did at that time that I could take care of myself but he blushed and came back with 'if I'm going to be a part of this family, I need to learn how to do these sort of things'. I recalled that he had gone with Bro to clean up after me when I busted my hand and… I guess he had a point. He was determined and just… he said he wanted to be a part of this family. That in itself made me shut up and let him take care of me, glad that I didn't need any stitches this time.

"You don't have to be so gentle with about it." I reminded him, his kind movements bugging me since he knew he didn't have to be afraid of hurting me since I was so tough but he just shrugged silently. He was still learning both of our limits and I understood that, I just didn't want him thinking I needed child treatment. Seriously I put up with receiving these wounds; I can take getting them patched up. I didn't like the following silence but I had nothing to say though John seemed to… I just hoped he didn't say it because I could tell what was on his mind and I wasn't really up to discussing it right now.

"So Dave…" shit, he finally decided to open his mouth. Please Derp, not right now. "About last night…" damn it!

"What about it?" I sighed in annoyance which seemed to take away his confidence.

"I don't know, I guess it's nothing." he shook his head dismissively and I groaned in disapproval. I didn't want to talk about that but I didn't want him to think that I regretted it and was pretending it didn't happen or anything.

"Later, okay? We can talk about it later." I stated with an apologetic tone and he looked up at me in surprise before smiling sadly.

"Sure." he nodded before returning to the task of cleaning my wounds.

… … …

Shitty movies and pizza were a great way to pass the time but eventually we got bored and our stiff bodies demanded we get up and move around so we met up with the girls for a game of laser tag. Rose actually took first place because I was more invested in making the game a living hell for John since he doubted my mad skills which was a success but it cost me a few too many hits from my sister. Though I kicked John's ass, I was still teased for having lost to Rose yet oddly enough, I was okay with that.

We went out to lunch before Jade dragged us to the animal shelter where a dog named Bec was being kept. It was great watching the two play together as if they had known each other their whole lives and we officially made Bec our mascot. The lady there told Jade she could take the big dog home with her on Monday since no one was coming for him and the girl shouted in joy and hugged all of us as she demanded that we all come with her to pick him up after school. Just to make her happy, we all agreed.

After that we headed to Rose's house to help her with an art project she wanted us to be a part of. I felt a little awkward being around her mom because she acted like she knew me though I guess it did feel kind of nice. Everyone knew about what my life was like now, about what my parents did to me because they thought I was a demon though they didn't know why. They still accepted me, whatever my flaw they were determined to stay by my side… demon or not, they wanted to be my friend. John even loved my eyes… maybe it was time I opened up and showed the girls.

I listened to the others talk about this and that, trying to find a good moment to intervene but I realized that if I tried to wait like that, I would lose my nerve and I would never speak up. It was now or never.

"You guys know I trust you, right?" I suddenly asked, speaking over the other's chatter. They all looked at me with worried eyes, thinking something was wrong since I randomly said something like that out of the blue. "Don't worry, nothing's wrong… I just want you guys to know that no matter what you think of me, I'll always consider you my best friends."

"What makes you think you would ever be anything less than that to us?" John asked and his sister beamed with a proud smile.

"You're one of us, remember? We infected you. You can't get rid of us that easily." Rose nodded in agreement with a kind smile.

"I know… which is why I'm doing this. There are no secrets in this group, right?" hesitantly I raised a hand to my shades and the others stared at me in shock when they realized what I was doing.

"You don't have to, we're not-"

"I don't feel pressured, Rose." I cut in on her before speaking to all three of them. "I want to show you because I trust you but you can't tell anyone else, got it?" they all nodded and even John who already knew about my discolored eyes seemed as excited as though this was the first time. I took a deep breath before I felt John's hand on mine. I smiled and looked at him for a moment to see him give me an encouraging nod. I held his hand and took off my sunglasses, meeting both of the girls' eyes for the first time with my own. Their gasps weren't of horror or detest but rather of awe which made me feel much better and lightened the nervous stone in my stomach. "This is why my parents called me a-"

"That's so stupid!" Jade yelled with a grumpy expression before I could finish. "Your eyes are unique and very handsome- I don't think they make you a demon at all! I think they make you…" she struggled to find the right word for a minute before throwing her arms toward me. "You!" she huffed and stared into my eyes which made me uncomfortable but I didn't look away from her gaze as she smiled reassuringly at me. "Your parents were wrong Dave, they didn't even know you."

"Red suits you very well, Brother." Rose agreed with a loving smile as she leaned over to wrap her arms around me. She still called me her brother… they still saw me as the same Dave, their best friend. The other set of siblings came over to turn this into a group hug and I happily laughed, sharing the warmth in my accepted heart with my family.

~*John Egbert*~

Dave backed away from his turntables to sit on his bed next to me when he was finished giving me a preview of his new song though it wasn't completed. We had decided to sleep over at his house tonight and he'd walk me home in the morning so I can spend the day with Dad.

"I really liked it! It definitely had some sick beats." I smiled widely at him and he laughed at my words.

"Good to hear though it's not finished yet."

"I can't wait to hear the finished product." Dave nodded and told me that he'd invite me over when it was done so I could listen to it. We sat in silence as I watched him down the rest of his apple juice before looking down at the bed sheets, playing with a loose strand. I felt his red eyes on me, probably wondering what I was nervous about since he knew my nervous habits.

"Nervous?" he asked before shooting his empty juice box into the trash and giving himself a few points. I chuckled, a light blush dusting my cheeks.

"A bit, yeah." I said before looking up at him again, trying to ignore tight ball of nerves in his gut. "I wanted to ask you something."

"Shoot."

"What…" I paused and rubbed the back of my head, trying to find the right words to say. "What exactly are we now?"

"Uh…" he stumbled, at a loss for words. "Well… we're uh… I don't know, to be honest." his eyes left me in favor of the blanket underneath us so I too looked away, staring down at the blanket bunched up in my fists.

"I know what I want us to be but I just don't know what you want…" I spoke softly and he remained silent, unsure of what to say. I had been getting mixed signals from Dave for quite some time and thinking back on everything... I think he was just scared. I sighed after a few minutes of silence. "I don't like how we are now. I mean, I'm so happy that we're best bros and all but… I don't like how we keep dancing around our feelings." my gaze returned to him with hopeful determination and slowly he looked back at me though turned his head away again with a sigh of his own. My confidence withered away at the other's words and though I tried to ignore the hurt, it crept up me as doubt filled my heart. Maybe I really was just misreading everything... maybe Dave didn't know what to say or couldn't look at me anymore because he was disgusted and was trying to figure out how to turn me down.

After a moment more in silence Dave growled though it seemed more to himself and got off the bed to kneel in front of me, taking both of my hands in his and looking me straight in the eye.

"I love you John." he said with the most sincere voice I had ever heard pass those lips. My eyes widened and my heart fluttered with excitement as a happy smile spread on my face. His eyes, happy as they were, strayed from mine. "Truth is… I'm scared." he admitted as he bit his lower lip.

"I love you too Dave." I returned his sweet words which brought his eyes back to mine for a moment. "And… I'm scared too. But," I took one of my hands back to gently grip his chin and make him look back at me. "We've been through a lot together and been just fine so I believe we can make this work." I spoke with a smile and Dave returned it, knowing I was right. With all the shit we've been through and made our way out of, we could only get closer and… I knew that we were stronger by each other's sides. I would make him realize that I wasn't a weakness to him and fuck the fact that it was sappy but I would be his strength. We could work- we could make us work.

I hesitantly leaned in a little, feeling both of our faces heat up but I only kissed his cheek. One of his hands moved to cup my face to stop me from pulling back too far so he could bring our foreheads together.

"I love you." he whispered to me and I felt my heart beating rapidly against my rib cage.

"I love you too." I whispered back as I brought my hand up to rest over his as his thumb started rubbing small circles into my cheek. Dave slowly leaned in until his lips brushed mine, his warm breath smoothly sliding over the skin on my face. I held my breath, wondering if I'd ever been more nervous in my life than I was right now. I doubted it. The blonde pushed forward to connect our lips and I shivered from the contact and the feeling of the soft lips on mine. My breath hitched and I just about moaned into Dave's kiss. I could tell that he was happy with this and I was too… more than I could ever begin to describe. I pulled back after a while, breathing a bit heavily not from lack of air but from how quickly my heart was beating; I felt as though I'd been running. With his free hand, the other teen took mine and held it to his chest, holding it there securely so I could feel how fast it was pumping.

"That's for you." he stated a bit out of breath.

"All for me?" I asked as my eyes met his. He just nodded before kissing me again, this one was shorter and a bit less of an emotional impact but still just as amazing. I moved our hands to my chest and Dave could feel my heart was beating similarly to his. "Mine's for you too." he chuckled and shook his head lightly.

"Come on John," he pecked my lips once more. "If I'm gonna be sappy for you, the least you could do is come up with your own lines." as he spoke the smile never left his face, showing that he was still happy with what I said. I laughed and laid my head on his shoulder.

"Sorry, I'm just so fucking happy right now. My brain can't operate correctly, it's still trying to wrap itself around this." I said before burying my face in his neck. "It's your fault." Dave laughed lightly and wrapped his arms around me properly.

"That's more like it." he moved to lie down on his bed, pulling me on top of him and I accidentally made a noise of content before lifting my head to kiss my boyfriend.

"Dave... do you want to spend the day with me and Dad?" I asked once we parted and he looked up at me oddly.

"Aren't Sundays your family days?" I blushed at his questioning.

"Yeah but that's..." I buried my face in his chest. "That's why I want you there." Dave laughed softly so I peeked up to see him staring at me with an adoring expression and a warm smile.

"Yeah, I'd love to come." I smiled widely, looking forward to tomorrow even more no. I kissed him again, the feeling of our connect lips still being compared to sparks or fire. I loved Dave and Dave loved me... how could life get any better?

I really hope that made everyone's day because that would make mine. I love you all and hope you killed everyone with your fangirling. Good day and see you next chapter. Can you believe that there's only going to be one or two more- three if I'm nice? Too bad I'm a Ruud, huh? Want to know a secret? Soon I won't be able to use that excuse... because I'm going to be a Snyder. Gold star to everyone who gets what that means.