Later, John was climbing into the giant pantry in the kitchen, per Rose's request.
"John, where is the sauce," she called.
"On the top shelf, like I told you!"
"Well, don't scuff up the fucking counters!" Rose was on edge, snarling and grumbling. She needed to calm down. John carefully climbed to the top shelf, grabbing the jar of sauce, and slowly lowering himself and the jar down. Leave it to Rose to choose the most complex dish for our closest friends.
"Rose?"
"What," she snapped. Boy, was she stressed.
"Why didn't we just order pizza?"
"I-" She stopped, a look of increasingly conflicting emotions on her face. She slowly put the wooden spoon she was holding down in the pan. John hurried to calm her.
"Hey, Rose, I'll handle dinner. You just go upstairs and rest. You've been up forever." She nodded, eyes shut tight. She stalked out of the kitchen, walk jerky and unstable. John waited until he heard her footsteps receding to pick up the phone and dial the pizza place.
John had ordered seven pizzas, three pepperoni, two cheese, two hawaiian. He had just gotten started on dessert when the first guest arrived. Karkat Vantas, short, white-haired, angry, walked into the house without knocking.
"You god has arrived, you need not fear, puny shitheads! I come graciously and in peace. For now." John poked his head out from the kitchen, bowl of batter in hand.
"Oh, hi, Karkat!" The loudmouth deflated a little, immediately putting up a wall.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Hello, most gracious and merciful father of our universe."
"You can kick the sarcasm, fuckwad." Karkat squinted at the bowl in John's hand. "What's with the fucking confectionaries all of a sudden? I thought you hated them?"
"I do. I'm not eating any of this. It's for you guys. Rose insisted." Almost as though on cue, a loud thump was heard from upstairs. John shoved the bowl at Karkat, charging upstairs.
"Rose? Was that you? Are you ok?" He reached her room and heard silence inside. That scared him more than noise. He slowly eased open the door so as to not scare Rose any more than she already was. He found her curled up tightly in a ball, arms locked around her knees. John knelt next to her, one hand paused near her.
"Karkat, get me my phone. It's in my room," he said in a soft voice. Karkat came scampering back, phone in hand.
"Call Kanaya. She's the only one who can deal with this. Just call her and say 'Grimdark'." So Karkat did. He heard the phone click as it hit the floor and Kanaya running around, looking for her keys.
"I'll be there in a minute." Kanaya sounded breathless and scared. Karkat doubted that Kanaya would ever drive faster than the speed limit, but she obviously did. It was only three minutes since Karkat called, but there Kanaya was, shoeless, hair still a mess, looking, for all the world to see, absolutely disheveled. She didn't seem to care at all, though. She walked straight to Rose, who'd taken to twitching and muttering.
"Rose. Rose, it's me. It's ok, you'll be alright. Calm down, my love. I'm right here. I'll always be here." Rose curled in to Kanaya, squeezing herself tighter. Kanaya continued murmuring in her ear, wrapping her elegant arms around the terrified young woman. John ushered Karkat out of the room and led him downstairs to explain.