A Year in the Life: Part Eight- The Lalondes

by kaybee613

Rose doesn't know how to feel about high school. She doesn't know how to feel about her family's problems, and sometimes she seems to be the only one trying to be proactive about them. Roxy is in a new environment, and suddenly very unsure of herself, in a way she's never really been before. Maybe they can help each other out, if they can get over their perceptions of the other.

5. Sexuality is Fluid and Junk

"Terezi kind of dropped a bomb on me at the dance," Rose said, trying to seem nonchalant about the whole thing. Dave struggled to maintain his composure, barely having sat down in history class next to Rose.
"Shit," he muttered.
"So when I asked you if everything was alright, you lied?"
"No. You said it yourself, I'm a terrible liar. I told you we strife on the roof."
Rose's eyes narrowed. "You lied by omission and you know it. You assured me you could handle your own, but apparently you're getting sliced like Thanksgiving turkey, and the fact that you couldn't trust me with this is—"
"Rose, can you chill, please? It's under control."
Curse the Strider stubbornness. All of the brothers were like that. Rose was very concerned, but it didn't seem like there was anything she could really do, so she tried to let it go, even though she wasn't sure Dave would admit there was a problem any time soon. She also didn't really want to run the risk of pushing too hard, and alienating Dave to the point that he wouldn't talk to her at all. Rose let out a breath. "Fine, Dave, but if things escalate, you have to promise you'll tell me."
Dave sighed. "Sure." This only put Rose mildly more at ease, but it was enough that she could start class without it weighing too heavily on her mind.

It wasn't too long after that that the group began talking about Halloween, the topic, unusually, being broached by Tavros.
"Hey, guys, my parents are out of town, so I was thinking of, having a Halloween party, at my house maybe?" he asked. Vriska laughed, and Rose frowned deeply at her. The more time she spent with the group, the less she cared for Vriska.
"That's ballsy, Tavros. What happens if you get in trouble?" she asked, voice scathing.
"Ummmm, I don't know… Rufioh's in charge," Tavros answered.
"Ohhhhhhhh, no nosey neighbor babysitting this time?"
"I haven't seen Mr. Boxcars around the last couple days. I think it should be fine."
"That sounds really fun, Tavros," Terezi said, breaking this sort of awkward tension between Vriska and Tavros. "It's been a while since we all had a party."
"I've been meaning to host more!" Feferi said. "I think the holiday season will be better for parties at my house."
"Th- that's okay, Fef, you shouldn't have to host all the time. So, yeah, you guys are all invited over for Halloween."
"Halloween sucks, though," Sollux lisped, glancing at Feferi before quickly amending his statement. "Ah—fine. Sounds like a plan, then."
"Yeah?" Tavros said with a grin. John glanced over at Dave, Rose, and Jade with an equally excited grin.

Roxy was also making Halloween plans. On a break between two of her classes, she called Jane on FaceTime, absolutely beaming when Jane picked up.
"Janeyyyyy!" Roxy sang.
"Hi Roxy!" Jane smiled back. Roxy was glad to see Jane in a better mood.
"Janey, got sit on the other side, I wanna see the boys!" Roxy waited as Jane shifted at the table, and then Dirk and Jake appeared in the frame. "Hey everyone! Okay, okay, I can't talk long but—get this. I am gonna throw a SICK Halloween party. Mom's gonna be gone, and I got some college buds with the hookup." Jane and Dirk were quiet for a moment, leaving Jake to be the one to break the silence.
"Top!" he said. "It's been a right shame not being able to do bugger all together." Dirk shrugged.
"He's got a point."
And then Jane smiled, too, and Roxy's brief moment of anxiety passed. "Oh. Sure, why not?"
"Yesss! Okay, I gotta go, see you guys soon!" Roxy said before racing off to class. She slid into her seat next to Calliope. "Hey Callie. Oh, oh, Callie," Roxy patted the girl's arm excitedly. "Callie, I'm having a Halloween party. You should come."
"Oh, I'm uh… not much of a party person," Callie muttered.
"Please, Callie? I'd love to see you outside of class sometime," Roxy said, not realizing how endearing Calliope thought that was. Callie smiled at her.
"Oh… alright, I suppose I could come."
"Nice!"
"You're throwin' a party, Lalonde?" Travis asked from his seat behind Roxy.
"Yeah, wanna come? It's, uh, BYOB, though," she said.
"Damn, I gotta supply the booze? Well… seems fair. As long as you pay me back." Roxy leaned away from the boy, not at all a fan of what he was insinuating. But she liked the idea of having a huge successful party and maybe having more people on campus who liked her, so she chose to let it go in the moment. Calliope seemed to notice Roxy's discomfort, and squeezed her hand. Roxy blushed in surprise, but ultimately wasn't sure how to take it. She definitely had a crush on Callie, that much had become apparent to her, so she was excited Callie had agreed to come to the party, but even more glad Callie had taken it upon herself to comfort Roxy in an uncomfortable situation. Maybe this party should be Roxy's last hurrah. Maybe drinking so much wasn't really a great thing.

Roxy spent the majority of that Friday preparing for the party, receiving only an eyebrow-raising from Rose when she came home from school. Roxy assured her that the party wouldn't start until Rose had left for hers, and Rose left well enough alone. Roxy had a friend (yes, thankfully an actual female friend) who was a DJ, and she'd offered to play the party for free. Roxy had busted out the strobe lights from her sweet 16, raided the liquor cabinets for anything she didn't think her mother would notice missing, and bought an obscene amount of pizza and snacks, and when it was just about time for things to get started, she changed into her costume—a Cheshire-cat type thing that she'd thrown together. Before too long, the doorbell rang, and Roxy ran to answer it, finding Callie on the other side.
"Callie! You made it! You look so cute!" Roxy pulled Callie into a hug, careful not to mess up the skeleton makeup that looked like it had taken a considerable amount of time.
"Oh, thank you, dearie," Callie said, blushing a bit. "So, I'm the first to arrive?"
"Yeh. More people should be here soon, though."
As more kids from class started filling the house, Roxy went about her hostess duties, greeting everyone, with a drink in her hand before too long. Things really kicked off shortly after Dirk and Jake showed up, and Roxy had been more or less glued to their side since she did genuinely miss spending time with them. While Roxy was mildly intoxicated, she knew enough to recognize when Dirk was uncomfortable.
"Dirk, youou dun look so goo… you alrigh'?"
"Uh. Not really," he answered.
"Dirk, let's go upstairs for a bit. Get you away from this blasted crowd," Jake said, taking Dirk's hand. Dirk nodded slowly and Roxy's eyes trailed after the boys as they disappeared. Jane hadn't showed up yet, and Roxy tried not to worry as she finished her drink and lost herself dancing with the crowd in her living room. After another moment, Roxy saw Jane coming out of the kitchen.
"Janeyyyyyy~!" Roxy drunkenly made her way through the mob. "Janey Janey JANEYYY!" she stutter-stepped into a hug.
"Uh, hi, Roxy!" Jane sounded unsure. "You know, when you said you were having a party, I didn't think you meant quite this many people."
"Is a college party, Jan. Jane."
"Right…" Jane's voice trailed. Roxy just smiled blithely at Jane. "Uh, Roxy?" Jane was pointing across the room where Callie was standing, looking very out of place.
"Ohhhhhh man! I'm the fuggin' wrost, Jane. Youuuu haven't met Callieeeee! CALLIE! YO CALLIE! OVER HERE!" Callie looked up at Roxy, a twinge of surprise in her eyes, and she shuffled through the crowd towards Roxy and Jane. "Callie, this is my bes frienddd in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD, Miss Janey Crockett. Crocker. Jane, thisss is the coolest tri—chick at Sakaia U, Calliope…" Roxy drew a blank, "…um. Callie, whas… whas your last name again?" A moment of clarity struck Roxy. "Oh, oh, nevermind, I 'member, is Bennett… right?"
"Oh, yes, that's correct! It's a pleasure to meet you, Jane. Roxy's told me so much about you!" It was true, since Roxy couldn't go more than a day without gushing about how much she loved all her friends. But somehow she'd neglected to mention Callie to the others. Jane looked at Roxy a bit quizzically.
"Roxy, are the boys here yet?"
Roxy tried to remember for a moment. "Aww yeh, they're upstairs. Dirky felt jus a teenst bit overwhelmed by the party. YOU ladies… shoul' get a drink," Roxy grinned. "It's a party, guys!" Roxy said, preemptively cutting off their argument. "One drink… inn't gonna hurt ennybody."
"Well, um, I suppose not," Callie answered. "Maybe something small and light." Aww, small and light just like her.
"I've got just the thing for you, Callie. I 'unno wha you want, Janey… you can come mix a drink." It was really an excuse for Roxy to talk about some major feelings with Jane, though. Jane followed behind Roxy as they went into the kitchen, and Roxy managed to pour a glass of white wine for Callie. Oh shit, there were cupcakes. When did they get cupcakes? Did Jane bring those? Somebody had dropped one frosting-side down on the counter. Roxy turned back to Jane, who hadn't really moved at all. "Jane, come onnnnn, pour somethin!"
"Oh, right." Roxy tended to her own empty glass as Jane got stuff out of the fridge. "So how'd you meet Callie?"
"Ohhhhh, we in the same… Lenglish class. And…" Whup, here come the feelings. "Jane. I gotta… I gotta tell ya somethin'. Callie… she's so. Cute."
"She is rather adorable."
"No. Jane. She cute. Like. I wanna… I wanna kiss her cute lil face. I've never felt so friggin' gay in my life."
"Roxy… gay?"
"Psshttt, gay… bi… whatevskies." Was that not a thing Jane knew? Well, now she knew. Roxy grinned, taking her own glass along with Callie's, before both she and Jane returned to Callie. Roxy handed Callie the wine, then grabbed the microphone from the DJ booth. "Yo, lez do some fuckin' shots on the rocks! Rocks like Rox, like me like BODY SHOTS!" The crowd cheered for Roxy and she smiled the biggest smile she could.

Next thing Roxy knew, she was throwing up in the upstairs bathroom. Anything that had happened between "BODY SHOTS" and then was a complete blur.
"Ugh. I think… I overdid it tonight, Jane," she muttered.
"That's for sure. It takes a lot to make you get sick."
"Ahah, it was fun though!" Roxy giggled a lit bit. Jane got an odd sort of look on her face. It wasn't a frown, but it was… maybe disappointment? With the sense of disappointment, Roxy felt a pang in her gut (though that might have also been the fact that she was sick.)
"Roxy… do you ever think you have a problem?" Roxy could tell by the way Jane had said it that it had been on her mind for a while. Roxy shifted so she was actually sitting with her butt on the floor, and wiped her mouth.
"I might. I wanna… be better. But is… hard."
"I know…"
"I wanna quit, Jane," Roxy said. And she did. She didn't like that this had become her coping mechanism, and she wanted to shape her shit up and give a better impression to people. She didn't realize how problematic her behavior really was until recently—not just that night, but the fact that she was barely scraping by in class, probably because she didn't always show up sober. But she couldn't get too deep into that thought process, because she threw up again, barely making it into the toilet. She couldn't help but laugh at herself.
"Roxy, you should go lay down," Jane said, wrapping an arm around Roxy's waist. Roxy let Jane carry her down the hall into her bedroom, and when she got on her bed, she curled into the comforter without really thinking about it. "I'm going to get you a glass of water."
"Hmmmmkay!"
But if Jane came back with the water, Roxy didn't remember, because she fell asleep right then.

Rose was not at all pleased to hear that Braiden was going to be her ride to and home from the Halloween party, but as it was, nobody else was available, so she huffed when Dave told her, and accepted it. She hadn't found a good time to speak with her mother in the last week about the issue between Braiden and Dave, as she was out on book signings or vaguely tipsy or just busy, and while she'd promised to spend more time with Roxy and Rose when she got back, Rose was still distressed for the time being, and she needed to talk to someone.

tentacleTherapist [TT] began pestering grimAuxiliatrix [GA]

TT: I hate to involve you in the personal drama of my family
TT: But to be honest, I need a place to vent about my concerns.

GA: I am all ears
TT: Regardless of our current plans for Dave and Karkat, I'm worried about Dave in different regards.
TT: It's come to my attention that "Bro" may not be the best guardian.
GA: How so?
TT: Dave has made some comments to me that, under different circumstances, could be considered just "off-hand comments"
TT: But pairing that with some information given to me by Terezi, things are pointing towards Bro being
TT: Abusive.
TT: And admittedly, that was hard for me to type but it will be harder for Dave to even realize.
GA: Oh
GA: Wow
GA: Is there anything I can do
TT: I don't think so, unfortunately.
TT: Truth be told, I just wanted to talk about it.
TT: To make things better, Bro has already agreed to pick me and him and John and Jade up from the party tonight.
TT: The best thing I can think of is to help Dave socialize more; have more people in his corner.
TT: I know the plan was to get him and Karkat together, but perhaps we should just start with helping them be friends.
GA: Whatever you think is best
GA: Though I DO think that Karkat may have feelings for Dave
GA: He won't pursue those feelings on his own so if he asks for advice do you have anything you want me to avoid?
TT: It's very kind of you to ask, but do whatever you think is best.
TT: And I appreciate you lending an ear.
TT: Part of me wants to discuss this with Dirk but to be honest, I'm not sure if that would actually accomplish anything.
GA: Oh of course
GA: Please know that if you ever need someone to talk to I am always here
TT: Thank you.

tentacleTherapist [TT] ceased pestering grimAuxiliatrix [GA]

Rose let out a sigh. She really wished her mom was home. Well, she'd be back tomorrow, and they would have to talk then. Regardless, Rose was trying to leave before Roxy's party kicked off downstairs, which also made Rose think maybe she'd be better off crashing at someone else's for the evening, so she took out her phone again before changing into her costume.

tentacleTherapist [TT] began pestering gardenGnostic [GG]

TT: Hi, Jade.
GG: oh hi rose!
GG: whats up?!
TT: I was just wondering if it would be alright if I spent the night at your house.
TT: Roxy's having a party and I don't think it will be a good place to sleep tonight.
GG: oh yeah sure, no problem!
GG: hehe, kinda funny
GG: youre gonna be here and jakes gonna be there
GG: but didnt tavros say anyone could spend the night at his place?
TT: Yes, but I'd feel more comfortable staying with you.
TT: I don't really know Tavros that well.
GG: yeah me neither
GG: i guess thats fair!
TT: Alright.
TT: Thank you, Jade.
GG: no problem!
GG: see you later :)

gardenGnostic [GG] ceased pestering tentacleTherapist [TT]

Despite their best efforts, the kids still arrived late to the party, mostly due to Braiden getting lost on the way to Tavros' place, and Dave seemed more physically uncomfortable around Braiden than Rose expected. His body language was all different, shirking and closed-off even more than usual, and he was sort of curled up on the window side of the passenger seat, putting as much distance between him and his brother as possible. Something drastic had happened.
When they arrived at the party, a round of "7 Minutes in Heaven" was happening, with Vriska at the helm. They were instructed to file into the lines according to gender, so Rose and Jade crossed the room to the girls' side, both of them feeling rather uncomfortable. Kanaya sort of scooted over to make room for Rose, and Jade stood by Feferi at the end.
"Alright, everyone, it's time for 7 Minutes in Heaven!" Vriska called.
"Vriska, please, this is so ridiculous. Besides, what the fuck has this got to do with Halloween?" Sollux asked, sounding as annoyed as Rose felt.
"Shut your lispy mouth, asshat. You don't have to play, but there's always the chance for some alone time with the freaky girl of your dreams. I have taken the liberty of putting all the ladies' names into this hat, and all the boys' into Terezi's. Tavros, if you would do the honors?"
Rose couldn't really stand all the assumptions being made. "What a bunch of heteronormative crap," she whispered to Kanaya.
"Um, Aradia...?" Tavros read off a slip of paper, and Aradia was whisked away.
"Rose?" Kanaya asked.
"Sorry if my comment was off-putting. I just get frustrated by assumptions," Rose muttered bitterly.
"Are you…? Sorry. Sorry, that was about to be a very rude question."
"Please, don't apologize. If the rest of that question was, 'a lesbian', then the answer would be yes."
Kanaya didn't say anything, and Rose blushed a bit as Vriska announced the boy that would be joining Aradia was Equius. Okay. Everyone immediately lost interest in the game, and Vriska, seeming to have accomplished whatever she was after, didn't argue to keep their attention. Rose followed Dave's lead into the kitchen, where they, along with Jade and John, took a seat at the table.
"Man, was that awkward," Dave muttered.
"Yeah," John started. "There was something awkward about that. Did you see how everyone reacted when Equius' name was called?"
Dave and Rose made eye contact for a moment, Rose understanding what he meant more than John had. "I believe Dave meant the nature of the game itself." Dave looked like he'd made some sort of decision in that moment.
"Yeah, I just mean," Dave said, still an amount of hesitation in his voice, "I don't see why it even has to be split by gender—listen, all I'm saying is not everybody is into the opposite gender, and we shouldn't assume that."
"Dave, are you… are you gay?" John asked.
"Man, I wouldn't say that. I'm into girls, but I wouldn't mind dating a guy. I 'unno." Rose was impressed by Dave's honesty, particularly with John, when she knew he had a hard time talking to him about those sorts of things.
"So… you're bi?"
"Don't try and put a label on it, Egbert. I'm just saying, people are attractive. Why limit myself to one or the other."
John took a moment to process the information. "Okay, Dave, I guess that makes sense." Rose smiled at him. That certainly could have gone worse. Well, she supposed she may as well come clean to John, too, though perhaps more subtlely.
"It seems a certain propensity for a… lack of heterosexuality runs in the family, dear cousin."
"Yeah, Lalonde, I know. You're gay as shit." Well so much for subtlety.
"What?" John asked, surprise in his voie again.
"Dude, Rose is the biggest lesbian to ever lesbian."
"Dave! Try having a little tact!" Jade chimed in. "You're going to give John a heart attack."
"Wait, Jade, you knew?"
"Yeah… we all knew about each other except for you."
"To be fair, John, I only drug it out of Dave recently," Rose said, "and that was only due to uncanny knowledge of his mind through familial bonds. And Jade has been having her own problems."
"Jade, you're not straight either?"
"Well… I don't know! I've been doing a lot of reading and I don't really know about sexuality! But the romantic spectrum is a whole different thing, and I think I might be aromantic! I don't know for sure, but that's how I feel right now."
"So… what you guys are telling me is that I'm the only straight person out of the four of us?"
"Yeah, I guess," Jade answered.
"Guess you're the token straight friend," Dave smiled. "And… don't look now, but I'm pretty sure most of Karkat's friends aren't quite straight either." Rose couldn't help but notice this, and wondered just how much Dave had observed about Karkat.