Chapter Six

The Strider Brothers

Jane couldn't bring herself to leave the party. She wanted Roxy to wake up without feeling completely disoriented, and even if all Jane could provide was a friendly face, then she would do it, despite feeling quite uncomfortable. Once Roxy fell asleep on her bed (the party having wound down just a slight bit), Jane returned downstairs with Callie, hoping to run into Jake or Dirk, though they would probably be together. Jane's wish was immediately granted, as she spotted Dirk near the front door, the smallest twinge of sadness appearing behind his stoicism.
"Dirk? Are you okay?" she asked, Callie looking on behind her.
Dirk quickly composed himself, glancing over at Jane. "Yeah… yeah. Jake just left," he muttered, still seeming a bit morose, but he let his own emotions drop upon spotting the unfamiliar face. "Jane, you got a shadow there."
"Oh dear! Callie, this is Dirk. Dirk, Calliope."
"Dirk Strider," he repeated, shaking Callie's hand. "Nice to meet you." Dirk really could handle himself as far as introductions went, though Jane was aware he'd struggled with socialization in the past. He was remarkably holding his own as Callie shot off into conversation.
"Dirk Strider? The name rings a bell."
"Oh. I…" Dirk got uncharacteristically embarrassed. "I have a tumblr...I draw art and stuff…"
"Ah! timaeusTestified, is that correct? My… ugh. My brother is a fan of yours."
"What's his handle?"
"undyingUmbrage."
"Oh, really? You seem nothing like him."
"Yes, well, we may be twins, but we could not be more different."
"Well, I'm… it's nice to meet you," Dirk repeated. It was becoming more evident that Dirk was out of his element, surrounded by so many people. "Jane, where's Roxy?"
Jane sighed. "She overdid it. Upstairs. Passed out."
"Wow, it's only...oh shit, it's 2 in the morning. Still. Not like her to take more than she can handle." Jane noted Callie observing the conversation. She seemed unaware of just how serious Roxy's problems could get. "Think she'll feel it in the morning?"
"Very likely. I was just holding her hair back over the toilet 20 minutes ago."
Dirk hummed an affirmative, and peered just over the top of his sunglasses at Jane. She could see what was rarely seen; the emotion in his eyes. Dirk was certainly emotional but he didn't often let people in. He'd built a facade for his entire life, as had his brothers, all hiding behind their shades and cynical humor and walls made of burning stoicism and biting sarcasm. And when they slipped, it was in the name of "irony". Jane had only broken through two years prior, upon meeting Dirk in a math class, and she did it through sheer Crocker stubbornness and tenacity. So when Dirk's eyes met hers, she instantly realized what he was indicating, and gave him a small nod of recognition.
She placed a gentle hand on Callie's shoulder. "Could you excuse us for a moment?"
"Why yes, of course!" Callie chirped, before disappearing back into the main party room. Dirk nodded towards the front door, and he and Jane stepped out, taking a seat on the step.
"So...Dirk. Are you really okay?"
"I can honestly say that… I've been better."
Jane's intuition, though not quite as sharp as Roxy's, twinged. "Is it Jake?"
"Yeah."
"Odd that he left, I didn't even get to say hello."
"Jane?"
"Yes?"
"I...think I may be a terrible boyfriend for him."
"Oh Dirk, honey, don't say that. Did something specific happen?"
"Tonight? Yeah, I… I was overwhelmed by the party and we were upstairs, and he was trying to calm me down. We just… were taking some time, so I could breathe. Laying on the bed in the spare bedroom, and… I did something stupid. I didn't know he wasn't...maybe I should message him."
"Dirk," Jane said, an amount of chiding in her voice.
"I…" she could tell it was a struggle for Dirk not to crack and break down. She almost wished he would. The boy had too many pent-up emotions to possibly be healthy, and it wasn't as if they weren't close already. It would do Dirk some good to let it out and cry for a while. "I kissed him once I was feeling better, and… I don't know, I got caught up in the heat of the moment. Uhm. Let me know if I'm oversharing." Jane gave a curt nod. She was aware of Roxy's college escapades, though it seemed she'd been cutting some of that out in favor of, well, now Jane knew, it was in favor of pursuing Calliope. She'd never heard anything from Dirk or Jake, though Roxy had said something about Dirk not being a virgin, so talk like this wasn't exactly unexpected, though Jane didn't have any exploits of her own to share. "Well, Jake and I have made out before…he always seems a bit unsure but he's never told me no. Tonight I got a little over-eager, I suppose, and started undoing his pants, and he immediately pushed me off! He said that he wasn't sure if he was ready, or if he even would be any time soon, and… I don't know, it just made me feel really terrible, because obviously I recognized that...that kissing so intensely made him uncomfortable, and I kept doing it anyway. Because I'm a selfish asshole. And before we could sort it out, he left."
"Well, to be honest I can't say I blame him, but… just give it time, Dirk. Maybe you can message him in the morning."
"You're probably right… you usually are," Dirk said as he stood back up. "I feel bad, though. For you, I mean."
"Why? You haven't done anything to me."
"You and Jake don't seem as close as you did… before…"
"Oh," Jane mused for a moment, letting herself frown a bit. "Yes, well, he hasn't exactly made it a point to talk to me so much anymore, but I don't blame you for that."
Dirk didn't respond, but just looked into the street, tinted yellow with the fading street lamps. Jane watched him with a sense of curiosity, until he spoke again. "At any rate, I'm not feeling up to the party anymore; I'm going to head home. Need a ride?"
"No… I'm going to stay and help Roxy clean up in the morning… make sure she's okay."
"It's not the cleaning she'll need help with; she's gonna have to face the wrath of Rose," Dirk said, finally letting the smallest bit of levity and humor into his voice. Jane cracked a small smile, and tugged Dirk into a hug before he made his way across the street to his car.

It was nearing midnight when Dave nudged John in the side. Tavros' brother had told them it was time to start getting ready for bed, but John, Dave, Rose and Jade had never planned on staying. Everyone else started to move around when Rufioh (John thought that's what the older Nitram's name was?) appeared, and Dave stood and stretched out before moving towards Tavros.
"Welp, thanks for the party, man," Dave said, the slightest bit of southern drawl eking out. John smirked to himself a bit, before turning to Tavros.
"Yeah, I had fun, Tavros!" he said, only barely noticing the sudden frown on Tavros's face.
"Are you guys… leaving?" Tavros asked them. Feferi was now standing near them as well, presumably also to say goodbye.
"Yes, my dear cousin Braiden will be picking us up," Rose said.
"Ugh, fuckin' bro…" Dave murmured, and John was thrown back to their late night Pesterchum chat. Clearly something was on Dave's mind, and John guessed, thought it was only a guess, that it may have had something to do with their conversation about sexuality earlier in the evening.
"And I have a curfew, sorry, Tavros!" Feferi said. Late curfew, John thought to himself. Tavros bade them goodbye as the four kids—followed shortly by Feferi—walked out to the curb. Thankfully, Dave's bro was already waiting for them in his truck. It was a tight fit, but they managed, and John gave Feferi a passing wave as they circled back around, while she was climbing into the front seat of a ridiculously expensive-looking car.

John had only barely gotten into bed, settling down around 1:30 AM—he had quite a nightly procedure due mainly to his braces—when he heard a knock on his window. He sat up, alert into his bed, and slipped his glasses back on as he approached the window. There was a small bit of roof outside his window, and a bit of a lattice underneath it, so it was feasible that someone was at the window, but needless to say, it still alarmed John quite a bit. He opened the window to see who it was, and sitting on the roof was Dave. He clambered in, pulling a backpack in behind him before John could even say anything.
"Dave?"
"It's a long story. Listen, I need to crash here for a while."
"Wh- why?"
Dave huffed for a moment, glancing around as he crumpled on John's bedroom floor. His sunglasses were slipping down his face. It was unusual for John to see Dave so flustered, so… emotive. "It's… fucking Bro, dude. I just can't… live with him anymore. It's really complicated."
John shifted his glasses a bit, unsure of how to respond. He certainly wasn't going to turn Dave away in a time of need, but some explanation was certainly in order. "I thought you got along with Bro?"
"Bro's a piece of shit!" Dave shouted, and a look of regret immediately crossed his face. "Just… listen. Listen. I just need somewhere to stay for about a month. Until Dirk turns 18."
John fidgeted again, sinking back down onto his bed. Clearly there was a serious issue, and maybe Dave didn't feel comfortable talking about it. John didn't want to ask, but then Dave spoked again. "Bro does shit…says shit… he straight up leaves for months at a time, on 'business trips'… Dirk does okay because… I think it's because he's older. More resourceful. Me? I can't… I'm tired of fighting, John," Dave said, collapsing onto the floor. Finally, John found his voice.
"Well of course you can stay here if you need to! But… we need to talk to my dad and Jane's dad in the morning. And make sure Dirk at least knows you're here. I… I understand if you don't want Bro to know, but Dirk should know you're safe."
"Sure." The two boys were silent for a while, as Dave unloaded a thin sleeping bag from his backpack and laid on the floor. John threw a pillow at his head.
"Hey Dave?"
"Yeah?"
"Why didn't you go to Rose's? You guys are cousins; it would make sense."
"Please. I can't be surrounded by Lalondes. Especially Rose, she'd psychoanalyze the shit out of me." Dave chuckled a bit, and John laughed too, appreciating the small bit of levity.
"Hey Dave… one other question," John said, feeling his own mood drop suddenly, the moment the question popped into his mind. "Sorry if this is awkward, but… did you ever have a crush on me?"
John heard a long sigh, and a plop as Dave's head dropped onto the pillow. "Yes." John immediately felt guilty for asking. He knew it wouldn't affect their friendship, but it was still an awkward conversation. "Through most of middle school. Bro doesn't like labels, and Dirk is gay… but I never thought about it until I met you. I mean… we were like 12 so of course I didn't think about it, but when I started going through puberty, Bro would say things like 'guess you have to carry on the Strider name', and 'there's got to be one straight cousin, right, little man?'. And… I shrugged it off, because I could fake it. I could fake being straight because you clearly were, and there was no way you were gonna go for it. So I never said anything, to you or Bro. For different reasons. And I told myself that when I got into high school I wasn't gonna stress out about it anymore. There are other issues now. There always are. But… yeah. TLDR; I liked you but thought it would ruin our friendship so I hid."
"So…" John said, thinking on his words for a moment. He was befuddled by Dave's apparent eloquence that he was at a loss to find his own. Dave chuckled again.
"Don't worry dude I'm over it. Don't make it weird."

John went downstairs relatively quietly the next morning, his dad and uncle already in the kitchen. He was sure he looked sufficiently awkward, the events of the previous night taxing on his mind, and both men noticed. John's dad reacted first.
"John, is something wrong?"
"Um… Dad… Dave kind of… showed up at my window last night, and… he needs a place to stay. Just for a while. Until Dirk is 18… next month."
John saw his father falter with the baking sheet in his hand and his uncle look back over his shoulder. John felt a pang in his stomach as he waited for a response.
"Well of course he can stay here." John grinned, a wave of relief washing over him.