A/N: Chapter two! Sorry it took so long, there is literally no way that I can make these chapters short. I was planning on a three page chapter, but before I knew it, it ended up being around nine pages long.
You can also follow this story at my art and fanfiction blog, which is .com. I'll be posting sneak peeks and updates there from time to time, as well as random art done by me. This story is also on AO3 under the same title.
Enjoy!
Your name is Jake English and you have royally fucked up.
Why exactly did you ditch that date? You honestly don't even remember at this point. All you care about is the fact that Dirk logged off on you, and was currently on a date with your lovely cousin.
Oh, and he also sounded pissed as hell at you.
You felt miserable and wretched. Groaning, you flopped down on the couch, flipping on the TV to the National Geographic channel.
Oooh, the mating habits of Birds of Paradise, how exciting.
You miserably try to focus all of your attention on the TV.
You miserably fail.
Dirk had said that they were on their way to a previous arrangement, with Jane asleep on his back. A sudden thought strikes you. What if he fell in love with Jane?!
Your thoughts continue decline at a steady rate, until you can barely stand it. Groping blindly, you reach over and grab your phone, messaging the only person you know that could help.
Your name is Roxy Lalonde, and once again, you're shitfaced drunk.
Currently, you're writing the fifteenth chapter of your painfully erotic wizard fanfiction. You blame your older sister for instilling such a hobby into you at a profoundly young age.
Your cat, Frigglish, sits on the bed, purring and glancing at you with his four adorable eyes. You grin and pet his head slowly, your eyes heavily lidded and a goofy grin painting your face.
Suddenly, you hear a pinging noise. Your laptop is flashing like crazy, the LED display burning holes in your pupils. You scowl slightly and pick it up.
golgothasTerror [GT] began pestering tipsyGnostalgic [TG] at 4:50 PM
GT: Roxy
GT: dear god miss Lalonde, I know you're there
TG: What do u want jerk
TG: *jake
TG: lol
GT: Would you be interested in visiting me right now
TG: Sorrwy Jake. I'm totes busy rught now
TG: *Sorry
TG: *right
GT: *scowls*
GT: Roxy I know for a fact that you're drunk and writing erotic fanfiction right now and/or doing some shit with frigglish.
GT: I really really need you here now
TG: Fiiinnnnnnnnneeee
TG: I'll be thare in a frw
TG: *there
TG: *few
GT: great!
TG: u better have a good reashun for this Ganglish, or I'm gonna kick ur ass into nxt week.
TG: *reason
TG: *English
GT: There is a very very good reason. Be sure to bring copious amounts of alcohol
golgothasTerror [GT] ceased pestering tipsyGnostalgic [TG] at 5:01PM
You set your phone down, and go down to the kitchen to retrieve your liquor.
That prick better have a good reason for dragging you away from your fanfiction.
=== Hours in the future, but not too many.
Your name is Jane Crocker and you feel absolutely wonderful.
You regain consciousness and simply lay in your bed, surrounded in darkness.
That is, until you hear a loud snore coming from the bed next to yours.
You groan and bury yourself deeper into the sheets. You shift around until you bump into something hard, and you hear a little 'oomph' coming from behind you.
Your eyes snap open as you nearly jump out of your socks. John was behind you, hugging the covers to keep you from hogging them all. You sigh in relief, glad that it isn't anyone else.
Goodness knows how many times you've woken up to Jade or Jake sleep-kicking you. Their nasty habit of sleepwalking became irritating obscenely quickly.
You look at his bed. The covers are tossed around haphazardly, and you sigh deeply. He must have had one of his nightmares again. Ever since you were little, you remember that atleast once a week, John had a horrifying nightmare, one that often left him screaming clutching at the sheets, or whimpering, sweating himself out. He used to go to your father whenever he was afraid, and sleep there for the night. Sometimes when it got really bad, he would crawl into bed with you, and hold you like some sort of toy. You never minded, it was nice to have someone hold you, to feel protected, warm, safe.
Nowadays, whenever John was home, he came to you for support. Ever since your father passed away a few years ago in a car accident (bless his soul), you've been a constant source of comfort and affection for him. You were the only immediate family he had left.
And so you lay there, basking in your older brother's heat. He still held you like a stuffed animal, even though he was twenty four. You reached a hand out to gently stroke his head, which was lying on your stomach. His hair was soft, an unruly mess the both of you had inherited from your mother. You sighed, enjoying the moment.
That is, until he started drooling on you.
Your name is Dirk Strider and you have never been this nervous.
Of couse, you don't show it though. Striders never show their emotions. Striders are the most dope ass shit ever to hit this planet, and you are a Strider. Therefore, you gotta keep your façade up, no matter now fucking close you are to pissing your pants and calling off this whole damn thing.
You can't believe you did that. You simply cannot believe you broke the Strider ironic code of conduct last night by texting Jane as soon as you got home. You cannot believe you acted like a puppy dog, asking her to come meet you today at the small Italian restaurant down the street for dinner.
You walk downstairs into the kitchen, trying to get the date out of your head. You were so fucking nervous it was ridiculous. Striders didn't get nervous. You've dated before, but never once have you felt this way.
Those blue eyes simply refused to leave your thoughts.
The scent of chocolate chip pancakes wafts into your nostrils, filling your thoughts. You manage to forget about the date for a little while, while you trudge to the kitchen in your shorts, grabbing a glass of orange juice from the table. Your brother is standing in front of the stove, flipping pancakes like nobody's business. You try to slide into one of the various stools lining your countertop, and miserably fail, succeeding in knocking the stool over. Quick as a flash, you pick it up and sit down, trying to shovel pancake into your mouth, but missing an inordinate number of times. Dave turns around and smirks at you.
"Seems like someone's got a nasty case of the vapors. Whatcha' wearin for the date?"
The bite of pancake that was making its way to your mouth falls off your fork as you gape at Dave. That fucking prick! He read your text messages, didn't he?
"Bro! What the hell!" you protest, making him chuckle. He leans over to ruffle your already messed up hair.
"I'm just messin' with you man. I heard your weird text tone last night and I saw that Egbert's little sister had texted you back,"
And there goes your cool. Just flew out the damn window. Goodbye, have a nice trip, stay safe, don't talk to strangers.
You scramble out of the kitchen, leaving your breakfast abandoned on the table and ignoring your brother's booming laughs. You grab your phone and turn it on, checking pesterchum. Sure enough, there was a new message waiting for you there.
gutsyGumshoe [GG] replied to timaeusTestified [TT] at 10:23 PM
GG: Of couse Dirk, I'd love to come to dinner!
GG: I'll meet you there at 7:00
GG: Golly! Can't wait to see you again. :B
gutsyGumshoe [GG] ceased pestering timaeusTestified [TT] at 10:24 PM
You nearly fucking swoon at the adorable way she texts. Who even uses words like 'Golly' nowadays? You shake your head, trying to clear out the fuzz that was clouding your brain, impairing your thoughts. Your efforts were futile though.
You've fallen for her.
And you've fallen for her hard.
Your name is Jane Crocker and damn, are you excited.
Jake agreed to drive you to your date after the long talk the two of you had. He agreed that he wasn't actually completely attracted to Dirk. It was just hormones clouding his mind. Damn asshole was actually fine with the fact that you were dating the man he was supposed to go out with.
You step out of the Jeep, smoothing down your blue sundress and straightening the leggings underneath. You grin at Jake, who gives you a sad smile and a small peck on your cheek.
"You look amazing. Go have fun," he says, before racing off round the corner. You chuckle at his abrupt escape. Probably off to go drinking with Roxy again.
You enter the small restaurant, and spot Dirk immediately, sitting in a booth in the back near the window. You grin and walk towards him, your hair bouncing. As you get closer, you notice he seems to be fidgeting, wiping his palms off on his pants. You sit down in the booth across from him, startling him.
"Hello Dirk!" you say, your voice cheery. He's wearing his signature shades, and his hair is tousled in a messy yet attractive way. You feel your heart do a flip when he grins at you, an honest to goodness smile broadcasting nothing but happiness.
"Hey Jane. How are you this afternoon?" he says, reaching over to take your hand. You give it to him, and he brings it to his lips, pressing a kiss on your knuckles. You feel yourself flush.
What a gentleman.
The waiter comes up to your table and asks for your order. Dirk orders for the two of you, claiming that this place has the best lasagna around. You just have to take his word for it.
"So Jane, since we never got to really introduce ourselves properly due to the little identity mishap last time we met, I was thinking that perhaps you could tell me about yourself." He says to you in between bites of lasagna. You take a bite and moan as the flavor coats your tongue.
"This lasagna is delicious, dear lord, I can eat this for the rest of my life and never get sick of it,"
He chuckles at your antics, taking off his glasses as he does. His tangerine eyes stare down at you, making your heart skip a beat. The candlelight casts shadows over his face, making him look almost surreal, inhuman. It was beautiful. He laughs, a deep baritone sound that sends pleasant shivers down your spine.
"Okay, seeing that you're preoccupied with the Lasagna, I'll start."
"My name is Dirk Strider. I'm twenty-one, living with my twenty-four year old douchebag of a brother. I work at a ziplining course and teach fencing lessons on the weekends. I work at a bar DJ-ing with my brother sometimes. My favorite color is a muted orange. I was born on December 6th. My parents died years ago, my mom dying of cancer, my dad dying of heartbreak. I guess I was too young to remember, but Dave does. He's raised me ever since I was three,"
You choke a little when you hear how indifferent he is about his parent's death. You begin couging, nasty, hacking coughs, thank god you already swallowed your food. Before you know it, Dirk is over at your side of the booth, thumping you on the back gently and handing you a glass of water. You take it gratefully, lungs burning, and take a huge gulp.
Once your coughing has quieted down, Dirk makes no move to go back to his side of the booth. He simply sits next to you, one hand still on your back. You turn towards him, face burning and eyes watering slightly.
"Thanks," you manage to croak out hoarsely. He simply chuckles, pressing a sudden kiss to your forehead. You smile, reaching for the water to clear your stinging throat.
"Food went down the wrong pipe?" he asks you, taking a bite of Lasagna. You nod.
"That sounds horrible Dirk, living without your parents for that long. Did you ever miss them?"
"Nah. Can't really miss someone you didn't really know. I've been living with Dave forever, the poor guy's like a surrogate father to me. At first, we were put under foster care, but as soon as Dave turned eighteen, he claimed guardianship of me. Didn't make much difference anyway, our foster parents didn't really care much for us."
You look down, trying to imagine how life would be like if your parents had died when you were at such a young age. What would happen to you and John?
"Okay Jane, now that I've told you about myself, tell me something about you,"
You grin, clearing your throat slightly.
"Alright then. My name is Jane Crocker. I'm twenty, although, I'm turning twenty-one in about a month or so. My birthday is on March 14th. I live in my father's old house with my brother and two cousins, one of which is dating your brother. My absolute favorite color is light blue. Ummm, I work at the coffee shop down the street part time, and I work at my brother's joke shop sometimes. I also work at the mechanics shop down the street, you know, the one owned by the Zahhaks? You should check it out sometime, they're looking for new employment. My father died two years ago in a car accident, and my mother died of infection a few days after I was born,"
He nods at me, draping his arm around my shoulder.
"Not having a mother sucks, doesn't it?"
You glance over at him; his eyes alight in the muted light of the flickering candle. Nodding your head, you sink into his embrace, enjoying the steadiness and comfort he brings you.
The crisp cool air is a relief as you walk outside. Your dress flutters slightly in the breeze, and your hair has lost all semblance of order. You sigh in pleasure, enjoying the moment.
"You got a ride home Jane?" you hear Dirk ask from behind you. You turn to him and shrug your shoulders. Jake was probably out wasted right now, and John said he'd be visiting an old friend with Jade. Dirk nods slightly.
"Okay then. My bro's apartment isn't far from here, just a couple blocks. We can walk there, and I'll drive you home,"
"Okay,"
The two of you walk side by side in companionable silence. It's comfortable, not the least bit awkward, just the way silence was meant to be. On a whim, you grab onto Dirk's large hand, nestling your own around it. His eyes widen slightly, but he smiles.
The two of you reach an alleyway, where Dirk begins to turn. You grab onto his sleeve, frowning and stopping him. The dark, dank alleyway seemed a little off to you.
"There's a shortcut Jane. Either we can walk around the whole block, or we can cut through these two alleyways, and we'll be at my apartment in half the time,"
"Are you sure its safe?" you ask, gulping slightly. The alleyway was ominous, and smelled moldy and dark. Dirk chuckles at your apprehension.
"I've taken this path plenty of times before, and nothing's happened," he says. His eyes droop slightly, and he grins, bringing his mouth to your ear, making his voice gravelly, deeper than before, "But don't worry, I'll protect you,"
His warm breath brings shivers down your spine as he keeps his face next to your ear for a moment, breathing heavily. You turn your head so that the two of you are nose to nose, his head craning down slightly to reach your height.
"Alright then," you say, your breath hitching slightly at the close proximity. Slowly, almost carefully, his lips touch yours. They're smooth, warm, gentle. You respond with fervor, full out kissing him. You feel pleasant warmth spread through your entire body, and you realize that you really, really like kissing this boy. Before long, the two of you are making out feverently against the side of a building, your hands gripping at the front of his shirt and his hands on the small of your back.
"GO GET A DAMN ROOM!" you hear someone yell. You turn around to see a woman glaring at you from a second story window. Dirk flips her off, and starts smoothing down his shirt. You adjust your dress, trying to straighten out the crumples, but to no avail. You sigh, and look at Dirk.
A fit of laughter seizes you as you roam your eyes over the contours of his face. Your pink lipstick is faintly smeared across his cheeks, trailing across his cheekbones, his jaw, his lips, his neck. Guffawing, you double over, mirth overtaking you. He trains his confused eyes on your hunched over form.
"Are you…okay?"
You snort loudly, clapping your hands over your mouth in surprise while continuing to laugh. You wheeze slightly as you try to get the words out, your stomach slightly cramping under the force of your chuckles.
"you…hoo hoo….have….makeup….hahah…on….hoo….your….face….hoo hoo hoo!"
His eyes widen comically as he rubs a finger over his face. In the light of the streetlight, he grimaces slightly as it comes away a light pink. He shrugs slightly.
"No point smearing it around now. I should probably just wash it off after I get home,"
You chuckle, your laughs calming down. You follow him into the alley, and automatically sober up. Its dark and smells weird, and never once do you wish to relinquish your tight grip around Dirk's forearm.
You come to the junction between four alleyways. A large space sits in front of you. Dirk heads for the alleyway across from you, taking you along with him. Just as you're about to cross completely through the space, you hear someone speak from behind you.
"What's a pair a' motherfuckers like you doing all up in a place like this?"
The voice grates on your spine, sharp and gravelly. The two of you turn around to find a man sitting on a crate on the other side of the alley junction, one leg hanging down casually. Horrendous paint decorates his face in a clownlike pattern, accentuating his dark hair and dark skin tone. He grins, a menacing thing that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.
Dirk glances back, and grabs your arm, dragging you along towards his house, ignoring the man. You follow gratefully, ignoring the feeling of sudden discomfort you gained as soon as you saw that man.
"I said WHAT'S A PAIR A' MOTHERFUCKERS LIKE YOU doing all up IN A PLACE LIKE THIS?"
Dirk freezes, his muscles taut and pulled back. A sudden feeling of fear strikes the pit of your stomach, making you feel slightly sick. You've heard about the gangs that traverse the alleyways of the city. You've heard of the horrible things they do.
A hand slips behind your back as Dirk turns around, slowly inching you behind him. You stand there frozen, gripping his arm.
"What's it to you asshole?" Dirk responds to the man on the crate. The man simply grins.
"That's a MIGTY fine girl you got there. You mind SHARING HER? I see y'all got your MOTHERFUCKIN SMOOCH ON already."
Suddenly, your date becomes the most menacing thing ever. Quick as a flash, he grabs something black out of his pocket, and before you know it, he has a collapsible katana held in his hand, pointing straight at the clown-man. His body is taut, in a defensive stance that hid you from your opposer.
With the speed and agility that wasn't apparent based on his skinny frame, the clown sprints towards Dirk, stopping a few feet away. He's wearing a deep purple hoodie with a strange design on the chest, and swinging plastic clubs at his sides. He looks incredibly docile…..that is, until you look at his face. Your heart seizes in terror. His face is terrifying, with large maniacal bloodshot eyes, and three scars that stretch vertically under the ruined makeup.
"Awww mother fucker I WAS GOING TO LET YOU GO if you had just given me the girl. TOO FUCKING BAD,"
The clown charges forward towards Dirk, club raised. Dirk shoves you back towards the alleyway. He raises his katana, parrying the hits that the clown throws. Back and forth, slash and club, the two men go at it, each skirting around the other. You sink into the shadows of one of the branching alleyways, and take out your phone, your breath fast and airy. This is a good time as any to call the police.
A lispy voice picks up.
"Hello, thith ith emergency thurvices. How may we help you?"
You tell him your situation in rapid fire, and give him your location.
"Okay ma'am, we'll be on our way. Thay calm,"
And with that, he hangs up.
You stand next to the wall, panicking and watching Dirk fight. The juggalo has a large gash on his leg that dripping blood, but it doesn't seem to be slowing him down.
Suddenly, Dirk stumbles slightly, losing his balance. The clown takes this as the perfect opportunity, and clubs him on the head. You hear a grunt as Dirk falls, blood arching from his temple.
You scream his name.
Dirk stands up again, his glasses fallen, blood streaming from one side of his forehead. He seems unbalanced, wavering slightly. The juggalo grins menacingly.
"Does that hurt motherfucker? DOES THAT FUCKING HURT? Hit you RIGHT IN THE FUCKIN THINKPAN, right where it fucking HURTS THE MOST."
He hits Dirk on the head once more, sending him to his knees crying out in pain. He slashes at the clown's feet, making the clown scream out obscenities as blood arcs off of his shins.
Sirens echo in the distance, and you turn around, looking down the alley. A police car is parked at the end of it, two officers' ducking out.
You turn back to the fighting men, only to find that the clown has fled. Dirk is hunched over, clutching his stomach. The hilt of his katana is in his hand, pointed towards you.
The hilt.
Just the hilt.
Pointing towards you.
Shit.
He removes the hand that's on his stomach, and you feel sick. Blood is gushing from the wound, staining his shirt the sickly rusty color. He looks up at you, his eyes wide. One is swollen shut.
"Jane?"
As he says your name, he coughs, blood dribbling from his lips. Hot tears spring out of your eyes as you rush forward. Right as you reach him, his eyes close, and he collapses.
A high pitched keening noise surrounds you, a noise that you later realize is your own hoarse screaming.
Jeez, I have a nasty habit of ending my chapters with someone blacking out or fainting. The first chapter of Decrescendo ended the same way.
And thus, the villian arc is revealed. I'll reveal more about Gamzee in the next chapter.
Please read and REVIEW. I'd love to know if there's anything I can improve or anything I should keep on doing. I'm only fourteen, so theres plenty of room for improvement. Don't be afraid to criticize a bit.
~Reaper