Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out! I have a life and stuff, so that sort of got in the way. Anyway, thank you so much for all the reviews and alerts! You guys seriously make me so happy every time you show your appreciation. I wouldn't be continuing this story if it weren't for you people.

I got a question from a reviewer: will I ever write a story about what happened between Gamzee and Tavros?

I hadn't thought of it. I had thought of a Jade/Feferi and a John/Vriska story/oneshot, but those are up in the air. I'm focusing my attention on this for now.

But thank you guys again for being so amazing! I hope you enjoy this chapter, though it's a little shorter than the others whoops

Karkat's eyes adjusted to the lack of light pretty quickly. As he absently moved beads around a mancala board, he watched the others as they partook in their own shitty little entertainment. They had decided to save the Ouija board for the later hours of the night (for a spookier effect or some other bullshit) and split their antics into groups. On the coffee table was The Game of Life surrounded by John, Dave, and Rose. At the newly cleaned off dining room table was Jade trying to teach Terezi how to play Mouse Trap (which, from what Karkat could hear, wasn't too successful). Then there was himself and Kanaya sitting on the floor in the space between with a mancala board. Neither of them really remembered how to play the damned game, so they sort of made up the rules a little bit here and there.

"I don't believe that's a legitimate move," Kanaya commented on Karkat's idle marble shifting.

"Like we're actually legitimately playing the damn game," he replied dryly, continuing to fuck with the colorful stones and trying to discretely glace at John out of the corner of his eye.

"What transpired between the two of you?" Kanaya asked. Apparently he wasn't being discrete enough, "Forgive me if I pry, I am simply not familiar with the details. And I feel obligated to know and assist in any way I can considering both you and John are close friends of mine. These harsh feelings between you two are unsettling, and-"

"Jesus, Kanaya, you talk a hell of a whole lot," Karkat interrupted, "How does Rose deal with you?"

That came out a lot fucking harsher than he meant it. Of all the people here, Kanaya is the one he should be as nice as possible to. There's some unspoken bond between them, as fruity as that sounds, like they're meant to help each other. She keeps him sane, and he keeps her fucking mouth from running away with her. Karkat actually even considers himself closer to Kanaya than he is with Gamzee. Even if the two of them don't see each other for months at a time, they act like it was only yesterday when they last spoke.

"This is not about the condition of the relationship between Rose and me. This is about how you and John cannot even speak to each other without fighting when you two were such close friends when he was with Vriska," Kanaya pointed out forcefully, "Now I would like to know what happened so I can lend my help."

Karkat often feels like Kanaya helps him more than he's ever helped her. It makes him feel terrible fucking bastard when he thinks about it for too long. With all his alone time, though, he always ends up thinking more than he should. He just can't turn off his damn mind sometimes.

He supposes there was that one time where he comforted her when Rose was in a car accident and had to go to the hospital. Despite the fact that her injuries were minimal, Kanaya couldn't calm down. She called Karkat and he got to her as soon as he could. Kanaya's condition scared Karkat. She was always so collected, but here she was, sitting in the waiting area picking at her nails, tapping her foot frantically, and barely speaking. Karkat did everything he could to get good news about Rose's condition so Kanaya would release some of the tension that clenched her whole body.

But he was just doing what anyone would do.

Karkat didn't reply to Kanaya's inquiry. He continued messing with those shitty little marbles instead. He then glanced back up at John, who was laughing at something Dave had just said. Fuck, what did happen between them? It hurt Karkat too much to think about. His heart would actually fucking ache when he did. His stomach would twist into knots and his mouth would go dry and occasionally his palms would sweat. He hated this feeling. It made him tear up and hate his fucking weak ass that much more.

"Kanaya, please," he whispered. Fuck. Damn it. Shit. He could feel himself tearing up, "I would rather just not talk about it."

Kanaya stared at him with a sympathetic look in her eyes. She nodded, "I just want it to be very clear that I am here to help you, alright?"

He nodded. He grabbed the little tea candle positioned next to them and excused himself. He then practically ran to the fucking bathroom.

He couldn't believe that he went to hide in the fucking bathroom. Look, it's fucking stupid fruit ass Karkat who can't deal with his own feelings. Fucking stupid.

But he didn't cry. His face was red and his eyes were puffy, but he just wiped the water that threatened to fall from his eyes with the back of his hand and blew his nose on a bit of toilet paper. Fuck. He decided to take a piss to validate his restroom visit. He prepared the toilet before unzipping and wielding his dick. He examined it briefly as he urinated. It wasn't too big, actually. Only about four inches. Erect, though, it grew to more like nine inches. He was always really self conscious about this. Pretty much every time he took a leak he would think about it. Which was stupid. And the last fucking thing he should be worrying about. Yet here he was. Thinking about it.

When he revealed this weakness to Eridan (the pair of them had had a small fling a few years back), he was told, "Don't worry about it, Kar. Some people are growers, not showers,"

He realized suddenly that he's spent an abnormally long time in the facilities. He quickly wrapped it up and emerged to find the group sitting in a circle.

"You want ice cream, Karkat?" Jade asked, about to shovel a spoonful of the frozen treat into her mouth, "We realized that there were perishables in the fridge that we should probably eat. You want something?"

Karkat moved closer and replied, "Uh, yeah I fucking guess. Whatcha got?"

"John can show you," Jade said.

John jerked is head towards her with a mouthful of ice cream. Obviously, the poor fruit was not aware that she would pull this. Again. He recuperated pretty quickly, though, and said, face still full of creamy frozen heaven (Wait. No. Shitty frozen douche treat. Yes.), "Yaa, comm wit mee," he stood and began to move toward the kitchen.

"Didn't your dad teach you some fucking manners, Egbert?" Karkat shot. Whether John heard him or not, Karkat couldn't tell. He followed anyhow. Lady jumped up and trotted behind them in hopes of getting some extra food.

In the kitchen, various containers were set out on the counters. John watched him awkwardly as he examined each of them, then finally decided on partaking in the ice cream, the damn sinfully delicious and irresistible asshole.

"I'll get you a bowl," John offered when Karkat had made his final decision.

"Why are you being so fucking nice to me?" It kind of slipped out. That seemed to be happening a lot that evening.

John looked at him. They stared at each other for a while, like he was trying to formulate a good answer, "For our friends, dude. I don't want to make this more painful than it has to be,"

"Then maybe you shouldn't have made it painful as fuck to begin with, fuckass. Ever thought of that?" Oh god, his mouth was running away. There is goes. It's already ten miles away. Movin' at the fucking speed of light. Halfway across the globe. Fuck. He had no control over where this shit went anymore. Jesus, what a shit pickle he was in.

"You don't know anything about what why there's a problem, so stop," John's temper was rising, "Let's just get through the night, okay?"

"No." And there it goes again, "No, I don't know anything about why you started being a complete dick. Please, John, explain this bullshit to me, because I would love to know. I'm all fucking ears, Egbert, I got all night."

John's face started to flush with anger, "Stop it, Karkat. Our friends don't deserve to be in the middle of this."

This pissed Karkat off, "I don't know what fucking delusional happiness hole you've been living in for a year, but our friends are already in the deep shithole middle of this. In case you haven't noticed, they were kind of forced to pick sides from the motherfucking get-go. And that's not fucking fair," Karkat could feel his ears getting a hot with the argument, "And besides, this isn't even about them. It's about how you abandoned me, which I can't even conceive any fucking good reason for, so you know what, Egbert, fuck you. Fuck you for running away from your problems and for running away from me," he stormed out of the kitchen. He snatched his jacket and scooped up his shoes and walked out the front door without bothering to put either of them on.

He might have heard voices calling him, but he didn't give two shits. He couldn't be there anymore. Even if he slept in the fucking lobby all night, there was no way he could be in the same area as John "Soul-Crushing-Heart-Stomping-Douchebag-From-Hell" Egbert a second longer.

He just wanted to go home.