I would just like to begin by saying this; If you're still reading this, you are a truly special human being. I am sorry for the crazy shit I put you guys through in terms of updating (or lack thereof). I never had any intention of quitting, it just sort of happened that way. The story goes on, though I feel as though I might be writing for myself instead of anyone else at this point, heh. I wouldn't be surprised if I lost quite a few readers. As for you loyal ones, you all deserve like a medal or something. Anyways, enjoy this chapter! Its as crazy as my updating!~


Laughter. The clinking of glasses. What was that smell? Oranges? No, it was trash. Dog barking. Wind howling. Shaking fingers. Fear? Or cold? Fireworks. The color red. Red, red, then more red. Rage. Painful, uncontrollable rage...

But that wasn't now. Now it smelled like warm sugar and coffee beans. He wasn't cold, but warm. He still saw red, but it was the good kind of red. The best kind of red, as the beautiful sound of his name dripped off of her voice. The wind wasn't pushing his hair back, but her fingers certainly were. And her voice;

"Sollux."

"Mom?" he muttered, his own voice thick and heavy. Her scent comforted him, though-made him feel at home.

"Sol."

Sollux finally summed up the courage and the energy to slide out of his trance and open his eyes, blinking as his surroundings came into view. The lights were bright and they made him squint. He felt his eyebrows knit together as he reached up, slowly sliding his fingertips over her soft hand in his hair as he tried to see through the veil of warm light. Wow, she was beautiful. She had that kind of beauty that seemed familiar and sort of like you were never going to get used to it. He'd always seen his mother like that. But, she wasn't his mother?

"Hi, Sol," the inviting voice came again as the lights began to fade out and Aradia's pale face became crisp and clear.

Sollux swallowed his disappointment as he blinked repeatedly, still wincing as he shook his head and removed his hand from hers. The lights weren't on fire anymore, but his abdomen certainly was. He gasped as he finally inhaled, his breath stopping itself as a piercing pain gripped onto his ribs and chest and wouldn't let go. That warm sugar scent didn't smell so good anymore as the pain threatened him with nausea.

"A," he murmured, unable to follow the letter with the second A as he tried to sit up. The pain only tightened it's grasp on him, immediately causing him to whine and clench his weak fingers into a fist.

"Shh, Sollux, you need to lay back down," Aradia ushered, gently pulling Sollux back and allowing his head to fall back into her lap. Sollux himself was busy trying to find a way to breathe without the pain in his side showing him who was in charge here.

"Aradia? What-" he grimaced, hand reaching down and covering his side. "What is this? Where am I?"

"You are in my apartment. Please, do not touch your bandages, and do not ask me questions. I have no answers for you, for you provided me with none upon your arrival," she explained, softly tugging Sollux's hand away from his side.

Sollux looked down, eyebrows furrowing once again. He saw his own bare torso, decorated with those familiar scars that would have made him flinch if the pain wasn't already doing so. He had white wrappings coiling around his abdomen, holding him firmly as the left side slowly darkened with blood over his pain. He also saw his black belt and his blue work jeans, stained with dark marks. He squinted, reaching down and running his fingers over the stains. His eyebrows then relaxed as his eyes widened in shock. It was blood. More blood. He looked back up at Aradia, confusion and fear waltzing within his eyes.

"What did you do?" he demanded, trying to sit up again, only to repeat his previous action by quickly falling back down into place. Aradia moved with him, trying to make sure that he was relaxing himself as she continued to run her hand through his hair comfortingly.

"This was not my doing, Sollux. Please, if you relax, I will tell you what I know."

"Where's Eridan?"

"I am not sure, though I have been thinking the same thing, especially if he has a part to play in this."

Sollux shook his head, biting down against the pain as he tried to sit back up for the third or fourth time now. Eridan wouldn't have done this. Who else could have, though? Who else would he let close enough to him to-

To what? What even happened?

The last thing that he remembered was Movie night. Every Friday night was movie night. No, wait, scratch that! He remembered Mituna, skateboarding? No. It was Eridan that he remembered, comforting Sollux the very same way that Aradia was right now. Hand in his hair, his head on a lap...

"I need to talk to Eridan. I need to get to him."

"You can, and you will, but for now you need to try to take a deep breath and relax."

"No, this is bullshit. I'm fine, and I'm not going to-"

"Sollux, please, just relax," she urged, though her voice was just as smooth and calm as it was when he first woke. She always seemed composed, though. Just like his mother...

The thought of her immediately took his mind off of his stubborn nature, forcing him to purse his lips. He blinked, eyes falling as he gave in and laid back down. The pain wasn't as intense as it was before, but it certainly wasn't going away any time soon. Sollux figured that it was the least of his problems, though.

He focused his concentration elsewhere, looking around. Her apartment was as he remembered it, but a bit darker. Everything was done up in a dark wood and a deep red velvet. She had candles burning everywhere, along with a stick of incense. Full, green plants provided a bit of color to the room, though not much against the maroon walls and the black lace curtains. He returned his attention to her, and felt a bit better as she smiled a lovely smile down at him.

"I know that you are not feeling too well, but I am glad to see that you are well enough to at least put up a bit of a fight. You would not quite be Sollux if you allowed things to be easy, would you?" she teased. He snickered in reply.

"I guess you're right there." He paused a moment. "What time is it?"

"It is one in the afternoon," she answered, immediately forcing a panic back into Sollux as his eyes widened.

"Shit. Is it Monday? Eridan is probably freaking the fuck out. Where is my phone?" he asked, looking around without putting himself through the torture of sitting back up again. He didn't see his bag. In fact, her apartment was just as spotless as always.

"You did not have it on you."

"What?"

"I said you did not arrive here with it. Or your wallet, or your keys. You showed up on my door step, breathing like you had just sprinted a marathon while you gripped your side. You had a copious amount of blood on your hands, not figuratively speaking. You went on for a moment about how you were more tired than he was, and then you passed out."

"More tired than who?"

"You did not say. I had to clean you up and wrap the bullet wound on your left side before I sat here with you until you awakened."

"What? Bullet wound?!"

"I believe so. It looked very much like you had been grazed to me. Not too bad, but enough to make you bleed. I am not sure that all of the blood was yours, though."

Sollux just stared at her. He wasn't taking all of this in very well. How could he? None of it made any sense to him. One second he was being comforted by his boyfriend, the next he was being comforted by his ex-girlfriend. What the hell, was he dead or something?

"Why was Eridan stroking my hair?" he asked. It was Aradia's turn to look confused.

"Pardon?"

"Eridan. I was at my parent's house, and he was comforting me."

"I am not sure, Sollux. Is that the last thing you remember? Being with Eridan?" she asked, fingers raking through his hair gently. He blinked, nodding as his hand moved absentmindedly to his side.

"Yes."

"What were you talking about?"

"I don't know. Work, I think. What time is it?"

Finally, Sollux saw a look of fear and concern flicker in her eyes. She bit her lip, fingers curling softly in his hair.

"It is one in the afternoon. Sollux, I think that I should take you to a hospital. I am not qualified to-"

"No," he interrupted, shaking his head as he finally took on the pain and sat up, holding himself up by propping his hand against the soft couch cushion. "No, no hospitals. I've been to enough of those. I need to talk to Eridan."

Aradia didn't fight him this time, allowing him to push himself up as he gripped at his side. Her hands did hover around him, though, just in case he needed any kind of assistance. She spoke as she looked over him as he moved.

"I do not think your mind is where it needs to be, sweetheart. In fact, I think that it is a little-"

"Broken? Out of wack? In need of maintenance? Thanks, but I already knew that. Also, I'm not your sweetheart. Ending the sentence with a pet name doesn't make the sentence any less insulting," he snapped, pulling away from her. This forced another groan to escape his mouth, his hand shooting down to his side as he bit his lip hard.

Fuck, this hurt like hell! How could he have been shot? Was he mugged or something? Once again, he looked at Aradia for answers, though her sad expression only distracted him. He slowly relaxed, his expression fading from angry and stubborn to guilty and willing.

"AA, I'm sorry. I know you've done nothing but help me, and you totally didn't have to. Especially since I just showed up at your door, bleeding and half out of my mind. That must have been awkward. I just-Eridan has the answer, and," he began, only to pause as he looked around. "Hey, what time is it?"

Aradia sighed, running a hand through her dark curls as she rose from the couch and began to make her way across the room.

"I am calling your boyfriend, Sollux, if that will fix you."