I apologize for not updating sooner, I will not go into making up excuses since I honestly have no reason for not updating other than writer's block and lack of inspiration.

Thank you to those who reviewed, followed, favorited, or simply read this story.

Here's the next chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Homestuck an any way shape or form.

Healed

You wake up, surprised to find your headache and your wounds bandaged. But the confusion doesn't stop deepening there, you also find yourself on top of a bed! Yes, a bed! A cozy heavenly bed! I must be dreaming, you think to yourself and stare straight above to find a white ceiling with a turned off lamp. You release a sigh, great, where am I now? Some idiot found me and picked me up without considering the fact I am a gang member. Well used to be anyways. I'll show them, you smirk reaching for the right pocket of your leather jacket. Sadly, your hand grabs at empty air and touches the bare skin of your side.

You bolt upwards, the hell?! Your thoughts rage, the person who healed you took off your shirt and jacket, it does make sense though that they would need to do that to heal your wounds, but still! Your blade was in that jacket, your gun was taken away by the gang but you still had your handy blade! Well shit, now you lost that too. Oh well, I can still beat the shit out of whoever brought me here, steal a thing or two, then get going on my way, you think and give a satisfied grunt.

You practically throw the blue bed covers off of you and jump on your feet. You look around the average sized guest room, making a quick inspection- whilst also looking for something to use as a weapon of course. Sadly you don't find such thing. The bed you woke up in is sideways & against the northern wall to the door. There is a closet door on the western wall. There is also a brown wood nightstand sitting by the left side of the bed, a simple lamp is at the top. You find a fresh pile of clothes also at the top, though they seem to have recently visited the washing machine due to the fresh scent you can tell that their original user hasn't used them in ages. You raise an eyebrow and scratch the back of your neck nervously, is this for me?...

Huh. You reconsider beating up the person who brought you here. They have shown nothing but hospitality and kindness, they practically saved you! But then again... he/she probably doesn't know who you are. Besides, letting them off the hook would be too soft on your side, especially for an ex-gang member. You decide you'll just change, steal a thing or two, and abscond, no beating people up. It's the least you can do. Boy you've grown soft Karkat Vantas, you sigh, and you still wonder why they kicked you out.

You pick up the black v-neck shirt and fling it on, it's the perfect fit. The dark navy blue jeans on the other hand...

You take off the dirty black ones you had before an put on the new ones. Though the navy blue jeans are meant to be tight fit, they fit you as if they were normal jeans and they are also a bit too long, oh well, it's better than nothing. You decide against putting on your combat boots and just leave them sitting by the bed, you feel more comfortable just wearing your dirty socks. You find a full length mirror pinned to the closet door. You stare at yourself, your face has been cleaned for you -though a few cured scabs from scars remain-, but your hair remains in it's shabby condition. You don't usually care much for your looks, but your hands unconsciously begin to rake through your dark locks of fluffy hair. Your fingers comb your bangs and now you get a better view of your reddish-brown eyes, you stare hard at the bags under them. You release a sigh and turn around to find a girl standing by and open door. How the hell did I not notice?

You stare hard at her, she doesn't move a single inch. Your eyes travel from her long midnight locks of hair hanging at her curvy hips, up to her soft face features. You find her sort of attractive. Oh who are you kidding! You find her very attractive! She has those mesmerizing emerald eyes anyone could fall in love with, she also has a pair of black round glasses hanging at the tip of her nose. She's like a mix of sexy because of her curves, and cute because of her facial features. She stares at you in such a way that you find kind of dearing, almost as if she holds a huge amount of care for you. But you know that look she's giving you isn't actually for you. It's for whoever used to own these clothes.

She snaps out of her daze and smiles almost fondly at you, "Sorry about that...staring I mean. It's just, the clothes you are wearing used to belong to my late grandpa. He used them in his younger years so I thought they might fit you." Her emerald hues are swirling with emotion, a hint of sadness seeps into her tone of voice. You don't know why but for some reason you feel like taking that sadness away, it's an odd feeling considering you just met her. You clear your throat & weird thoughts away, "Ahum, uh were you the one who brought me here?" the fuck, you aren't yelling or cursing her out. What the hell? "Ah yes, I found you bleeding on the sidewalk, you were quite beaten up. Did you get into a fight?" she says walking over to the nightstand to place a tray with a glass of water and a couple of pain killers. She lets out a tiny sound that sounds very much like a small 'eep!' as she turned around to look at you.

You didn't realize you had been glaring harshly at her. You shake your head, wow, already scaring people with death glares Vantas aren't ya?, "Uh, yes I did." you reply her earlier question, she nods and quickly walks over to stand in front of you, faces inches away from each other. Her hand shoots up to touch the scars. You remain quiet as she gently rubs her thumb under your bangs, on the scarred flesh. "They healed..." Your quietness is starting to scare you. The girl seems to finish her quick medical inspection and takes her small soft hands off your face, you release a silent breath you didn't know you were holding, you had been staring at her eyes for such a long time without really noticing. Jade smiles and takes a step back. She raises her right hand. You look down at it questionably, then look back up into her emerald hues.

"I'm Jade Harley, and you are...?" Jade says. You look down at her hand and gently push it down with your own, you notice she slightly startled at your touch. "I don't do handshakes." You say simply and stride away from her to get your combat boots. You sit at the edge of you bed and begin to tie the shoelaces of your combat boots. Jade remains standing with her back facing you. She sighs at her reflection, "Um, okay. Well can I at least know your name?" You look up and she turns around to face you. "It's best for the both of us that you don't know who I am." You stand up and sigh as you place your hands on your hips. Jade stares at your left arm. "Will you stop fucking staring at me like I'm some lab rat?"

Jade looks straight into your eyes and chuckles nervously, "I'm sorry, it's just that I never thought kids your age could get tatoos." She says gesturing at the cancer sign drawn on your wrist. You walk up to her, face a few inches away from her's. "A what can't get a tatoo?" You growl. The territory this 'Jade' entered is sensitive. Jade doesn't even flinch, which surprises you as she steadily holds her ground, most would have jumped the heck away from Karkat Vantas. "I said, 'I never thought kids your age could get a tatoo'. Pardon me if I was incorrect, but you do seem really young, I apologize if being called kid offends your sensitive ego. May you please back away now? You are invading my personal space." Your eyes widen at her response, but they soon form a menacing glare, there is no way you are letting this woman win.

"And what if I don't?" You say, your eyed blazing as you lean closer to her face. "For someone who complains about not having enough personal space, you sure are a hypocrite considering you oh so gently touched my face earlier without my permission." Jade huffs, "That's different," her eyes soften, "I was concerned of your health." You snort and back away from her. "Jade, the girl who picks up some random guy off the street without second thought, brings him to her house, cures his injuries, then shows concern for his well being despite the guy being a complete stranger. Huh, you really are a weird chick." You yawn and lay back on the bed with your shoes crossed on top of the bed and your arms folded over your head.

"I could say the same about you..uh-" "K, just call me K." You respond closing your eye lids. Great, now you don't have to see her stupid, ridiculously pretty face. "Well K it is then, as I was saying, you are one weird kid- I mean young adult. The first thing I find in your leather jacket was a knife and-" "You looked through my jacket?!" You snap your eyes open and sit up, this is bad. What if she found- "Relax, I was just trying to look for some sort of background info so that I could contact your family. Anyways, why was there a knife in your-" "Forget about the knife! Was there anything else in any of the pockets?!" You stand up. Jade looks away then back at you "I didn't find much other than some gum wrappers and cigarettes. I threw those away, you're welcome." You huff and look away, "You should have spared me at least a few cigarettes."

"No way, you shouldn't smoke, especially not in the condition you're in!" Jade says with her fists clenched animatedly at her sides. You roll your eyes, "Whatever, I feel much better now, though the bandages are still very crappy and probably won't help much...thanksforpickingmeoffthestreet." you quickly mumble the last part, hey you still have a reputation to keep up...sort of. Oh well fuck it, let's just say you do, you can't allow yourself to go too soft than you have already become.

Jade smiles and you realize she understood, "You are very welcome. You can keep the clothes by the way. Come on, I'll drive you home." Jade says leading you out the door and closing it gently behind you. "Um about that..." you say as she begins to lead you through the small hallway that then leads to a grand staircase that spirals a bit at the bottom. "I made breakfast, hope you are hungry." at the mention of food your stomach growls, damn this is embarrassing. Jade looks back at you and smiles at your embarrassed face, "Don't be embarrassed, it makes sense that your stomach would react that way, you have been asleep for about a day and a half." Your eyes widen, Jade continues to lead you for a short while until you both reach a dining room that then leads to a ginormous kitchen with an island in the middle. Jade gestures at the high chairs surrounding the island so you take a seat.

The scent of eggs and bacon wafts through the air and your mouth begins to water. When was the last time you had a healthy decent breakfast? You can't remember, it was probably before you became an orphan and a gang member.

The porcelain plate makes a small 'clack' noise as Jade places it on the marble top of the island table. She soon brings her own and sits across from you. You quickly gulf it down, yet manage to do so quietly. You finish in less than five minutes and look up to find Jade looking at you with a surprised expression. She isn't even halfway through the food on her plate. "Woah, does your family not feed you or something?" you sigh and decide you could at least tell her a tiny bit about yourself. "I don't have a family. And the closest thing to one kicked me out, that's why you found me out bleeding in the sidewalk." you say casually taking a drink from the orange juice Jade had served you on a red cup. As you place it down you look at Jade to find her mouth slightly open, "Seriously?! They beat you up and left you there?! Those are terrible people! They weren't anything close to a family to begin with!" Jade says.

You raise an eyebrow, what does it matter to her? "It's alright. I never really like those bastards(save for my friends). I'm better off on my own anyways." you say looking down at your hands which you had placed on the table. Your eyes widen when a pair of lightly tanned ones grab them. You look up surprised and frowning slightly at Jade who has a determined look on her face, "In that case, you can stay with me! After all, this huge house now fully belongs to me-" "Huh?! I don't give a fuck if it fully belongs to you, you idiot! You don't just accept strangers with open arms into your home! There's a lot of dangerous people out there, that including me-"

"K, listen to me! I want you to stay here. Besides, you don't seem dangerous (and if you are I know self defense).My morals do not include abandoning people who no longer have a home. I'm not the kind of girl who passes by someone in need without trying to help them somehow. My grandfather left me enough money to last me for three generations! I could at least do something good with it!" "No fuckass, listen to me, I will not move in with you. Your level of stupid kindness crosses the borderline by a far mark. I cannot accept you offer, don't pity me Jade, I'll be fine on my own." you say standing up.

Jade stands up as well. You both put your palms on the ledge of the table, lean in, and have a glaring contest. "You are staying." "Fuck no." "Fuck yes." "That sounds so fucking wrong." "You started it!" "We're acting like children." "You do look like a teen." "I am eighteen, I'll have you know." "Hah! I'm nineteen, that means I'm older by a year!" "I can do math too fuckass." You say then sigh and stand straight up, pinching the bridge of your nose.

You release another sigh, "You are hopeless." Jade's eyes sparkle like green fireworks as she claps her hands once together, "Yay, does that mean you are staying?" "I'll get a job or something to pay for my expenses." you say making a gesture with a pointed finger at her so that she understands. "You don't have to do that, there is enough money to support the-" she doesn't understand. "I don't give a crap. You keep your money, I'll make my own until I am ready to move out." "Alright, is that a deal then, K?" Jade smiles and takes out her right hand. You glare at it for a bit but you decide to make an exception just this once. You roughly shake her hand, you are slightly worried you hurt her, but she shows no sign of feeling your rough grip, instead she has a wide smile plastered across her face, her front teeth overlaps her bottom lip. You definitely do not think it's cute.

"Stop being a fuckass and smile for once." Jade laughs softly. "Never in a hundred years." you say glaring. "Guess I'll have to try to live over a hundred to see it then." Jade says. What a weird girl.

You have definitely become way to soft. Did the sidewalk really hit your head that hard?

No, you realize, it's this girl who's changing me so quickly.

Hopefully I can make the next chapter longer, thanks for reading. I'll update in about a week.