A/N; so I started up a YouTube channel! I'll attempt any kind of things you guys ask within reason, so please check it out! If my fics get popular I'll do a reading of them, and if you guys have any fics that aren't mine you want me to read I'll do them too, just ask! Last chapter's song was Elective Amnesia by Rise Against, a personal favourite of mine!

### ####

"I was swimming in the Caribbean,

Animals were hiding behind the rocks,

Except the little fish,

But they told me he swears,

Tryin' to talk to me, coy koi,"

-Be John Egbert.

Your name is John Egbert, and gosh do you like Karkat Vantas! Almost as much as you like terrible movies (or other people think they're terrible) and pranking people! Those movies were great, especially Con Air! Nicolas Cage is your idol and you would totally marry him if you ever had that chance. But wait, you were talking about Karkat. You never would have thought that someone could have so much life in them, but he did! At first you were a little worried when you saw the older boy, with that mess of hair and those dark circles under his eyes, which had an oddly haunted look in them half of the time. You had assumed he was simply a hurt child, much like the others your aunt had taken you to see. You hadn't assumed that small smirk on her face had meant anything important, but you were most definitely wrong on that angle at least. There was so much emotion when he spoke, so much power when he shifted around! You don't think you could ever get tired of watching him rage at people, even if the person he was raging at happened to be you. You just really, really liked Karkat.

But that didn't mean you weren't worried about him.

"Hey nanna, isn't Karkitty due to get out of the hospital tomorrow?"

Jane sighed in the driver's seat of the car as they stopped at yet another intersection. Roxy was passed out in the backseat, snoring impossibly loud. You wondered if the people driving alongside your car could hear the racket coming from her mouth. Not that she was any quieter when she was awake, however.

"Yes, John, he is."

"Does he have somewhere to stay?"

Jane glanced at you out of the corner of one bright, almost insanely light blue eye, a tiny frown crossing her lips. "What do you mean?"

"Well, all his friends were…um…"

You had to fill her in on what exactly your grumpy friend had been suffering through, and by the end of it you were even more distressed than previously. There was a short, pregnant silence for a few minutes as the woman paused, trying to process what had actually occurred here. You knew she had heard in passing of the homicide on the news, but obviously she hadn't connected it to Karkat in the slightest.

"Oh…I understand why you want to look after him," came the subdued comment.

"Um…do you think…maybe…he could stay with us? Just for a little while?"

"I don't know if that's a good idea. He is an adult, you know."

"What?"

"I mean, he might not want to stay with us, did you think of that?"

You stopped in the middle of opening your mouth to retort. How was that even possible?! Didn't want to…? But you and Karkat were friends now, and you had to look out for him! There was no way he could possibly manage out in the world with the state of his vision and his clumsy lack of balance. And with that fiery attitude he had…well, he probably wouldn't last very long at all out there. You could just picture it in your head, an angry Karkat running into things, and yelling at people that weren't there…and falling down things…and hurting himself…and not being able to get help even after all that…

And with that last thought and a sinking feeling in the bottom of your stomach, your mind was completely and totally made up. The negotiating was over. You couldn't just sit by and watch him get hurt, what kind of friend would that make you? You'd have to look after him, nurse him back to full health! You turned your head back to Jane, determination sparking in your eyes.

"He's staying with me."

"I'm glad."

That was when you saw the sheen to her eyes and realised that Jane had been holding back her tears valiantly through the whole tragedy of Karkat's recent life. As she parked in the hospital car park and Roxy let out a particularly loud snore, you unbuckled your seatbelt and reached across to wrap her in your firm grip. She returned the hug strongly and the two of you clung to each other for a few minutes, getting a better hold of your emotions before Jane got out of the car to awaken the blonde in the backseat. Unfortunately for your aunt, Roxy simply batted the hands away and continued to sleep away. How could someone snore so loud without waking themselves up in the process? Jane let out a huff and tapped her face a few more times, valiantly making an effort. It was a miracle that Roxy was still employed at the hospital, but you supposed it was because of your aunt. She was probably important to the place, seen as she seemed to do all the work there despite being a volunteer.

"I'm going to go see Karkat. I'll catch up with you later, 'kay?"

Jane gave you the thumbs-up –or at least she tried, seen as Roxy had attached herself to your aunt's arms and was pulling her back into the car to use as a blanket or something of the like. And it looked like she was winning the fight, even though she was a lot thinner than Jane and still asleep during the ordeal. You laughed and returned the gesture before jogging over to the hospital's entrance to go and find your grumpy friend, and maybe save him from himself along the way.

### ####

-Be the memory of that creepy guy.

That boy was getting beaten up again.

You'd seen it happen before, because the guys who liked to attack him tended to do it where you were at the back of the school, trying to up and have a motherfuckin' nap. It was always around here, where none of the teachers lurked, that they lured the thin boy with the mess of dark hair back here to hurt him. Funnily enough, he never seemed to be negatively affected by the constant bullying, but neither was he enjoying it. They'd kick him to the ground, and then when he didn't get up, they'd just up and leave him there in the dirt. He'd stay there for a while, trying to recover, and then he'd simply get up again, not brushing off the dirt, and walk back to whatever class he had. You didn't really get why he did it; you'd be killing those motherfuckers for trying to damage you. But he didn't really seem to care; it was odd.

Yet again, you observed as he was punched, seeing the red of his blood as he spat it aside. A boot sunk into his side and you heard a thump as his body hit the ground. Unlike the other times, the people surrounding him simply cackled at him and continued their torture, and you wondered why the boy wasn't crying out at all. Surely that constant pain was hurting him, and it wasn't like they had soft shoes. Quite the opposite; you could see the dark boots from here. They could even have been steel-capped; you weren't too sure. You looked on with one half-open eye from where you were laying, hearing the jeers and cackles from the boys. It continued on until the shrill noise of the bell signifying the end of the lunch period sounded, and they made their departure. Their loud footsteps receded into the distance, and the boy remained on the gravel, his small body limp.

You opened your eyes fully to stare.

He wasn't getting up this time.

It was so unlike this boy you'd never actually spoken to; to simply not raise his head and get up like he usually did. Where were those disgruntled murmurs you usually heard coming from his mouth? Dust covered his frail-looking body over his shirt, and you felt something odd shift in your stomach and without thinking, you stood and made your way over to him. Now you could see him properly, you were pleasantly surprised at how pretty the boy was. He was oddly delicate, even lying motionless as he was, and you were tempted to touch that face. Look at it, so baby soft…like a miracle…

"What in the ever-loving fuck are you doing to my face, fuckass?!"

"It's motherfuckin' miracles, bro. Have you felt this shit?"

"Why the fuck would I have felt my own face?!"

You continued stroking the boy's face lightly, a silly grin spreading across your face. Seriously, this was the most amazing thing ever. Someone could sell this shit. A scowl reached the other boy's lips, and finally the irritated expression brought forth the opening of his eyes. He squinted at you for a few moments, the harsh sunlight irritating his eyes, and then he opened them fully and you immediately stopped in your tracks. They were motherfucking red. Not a weak brown colour, but full-on, sharp, candy red. It stood out magnificently from the dark shadows under his eyes and the bruises on his face.

"They're red," you mumbled.

He rolled those beautiful red eyes at you, scowling. "And yours are purple. Shut the fuck up, idiot."

You chuckled at him, not paying the slightest bit of attention to his seemingly fearful attitude. "I'm Gamzee, bro. What's your name?"

"Did you not hear what I just said?" He muttered to himself, continuing on for a few seconds, probably grumbling. If you were anyone else you'd probably be bothered by the sheer amount of curse words exploding from those delicate pink lips, but you just grinned at him until he stopped to catch his breath. He seemed to finally understand you weren't really going anywhere until your friendliness was reciprocated, and he let out a sigh, wincing as some ache on his body twinged.

"Karkat."

"Well, Karbro, you look like you might all up and need a hand there."

"I'm fine!"

You shrugged at the adamant reply, standing up- but taking the small boy and slinging him over your shoulder as you did- and glancing around. No one seemed to be around; after all, it was about ten minutes into the class. You didn't really remember what you were supposed to be attending anyway. Did it matter? You began to walk, ignoring the fists landing on your spine. They didn't hurt at all, and eventually he'd give up on the idea that they could. You were lanky, sure, but your height made up for it, and he was so small there was about a zero chance of him all up and hurtin' you, so why even think about it?

"Where the fuck are we going?"

"We're gonna go get you all patched up, don't worry about it, Karbro."

"…Fine."

You grinned, even though he couldn't see it, and continued making your way down the road. He was just slumped across you now, not even keeping himself balanced. That was your job apparently, as he nearly slid off and you kept an arm around the inside of his knees. How could someone be so small?

### ####

After you'd patched him up, he'd simply stayed huddled on your beaten-up couch. Bandages were visible, and you'd taken off his shirt, ignoring his refusals, and he hadn't bothered to go find it. You were kind of glad- to be honest, you'd forgotten where you'd put it anyway. It was somewhere. Somewhere being the key word in that sentence.

"Alright there, bro?"

"…"

You tilted your head to the side slightly, sitting beside him and crossing your legs loosely. His own limbs were curled up on the violet fabric of the couch, and he looked like a small messy ball of bandages and dark hair. It was…cute. Eventually he raised his head, those miraculous red eyes boring into you with an intensity you were unused to. You were entranced by all the emotion dragging through those depths, so much expression in them.

"Why did you help me?"

You grinned. "I wanted to."

"That's not a fucking answer, you nooksucking imbecile!"

That began yet another of his rants, and you decided you needed a way to make him quiet. Halfway through another stream of incomprehensible blather with curses mixed in, you leaned over and planted your lips on his. Funnily enough, he shut up immediately, and you drew away, grinning again. He tasted like cherry, and it reminded you of his eyes.

"Wh…what…"

"Instant motherfuckin' silence. Miracles."

He hit you weakly with an arm, but you could see the edges of his lips curling up into some semblance of a smile. Damn cute boy.

### ####

-Go back to being Karkat.

"…Tell me about your friends?"

You let out a sigh, staring up at where the ceiling was. John was lying on the bed with you, and you were talking about whatever crossed your mind. The sheets were cold compared to the other boy's warm hand wrapped in your own. After confessing your background story whilst simultaneous crying your heart out on him, you'd expected him to leave and never come back. But, sure enough, on the dot he had appeared in the doorway, proudly presenting a can of Dr Pepper into your hands. You'd nearly lost it from relief; even if the damn soda tasted like someone had shat in it a few times and then fermented it, it represented the outside world and it wasn't a glass of water or milk. You'd take it any day.

You closed your eyes again, seeing no purpose in keeping them open as you replied to John's question, your voice strong as you travelled down those particular memories.

"Nepeta was the most excitable piece of shit you could ever meet. She was always wearing this stupid blue cat hat…and a tail to go with it. Her hair was always this complete mess, and she looked a hell of a lot younger than the rest of us, probably because she was shorter than me. It was the stupidest fucking thing I'd ever seen, but in a way, it was charming, y'know? For some reason she loved setting people up with one another, and somehow she became the reason most people started dating in our friends circle.

She lived with Equius, who was her best friend and had some crazy obsession with horse dick. He and I didn't really like each other, mostly because he was big on the 'hierarchy' even though Nepeta was lower class along with the rest of us. For some reason he really liked drinking milk and watching horse porn. That's the one thing that sticks in my head when I think of him. He was kind of Legolas-looking, I think, except with these dumb fucking sunglasses that were all cracked and shit from his failed attempts at archery.

Vriska was a bitch. No, she was the bitch. She always had an ulterior motive, and she hurt a lot of people. She was fucking insane, basically. I don't even know why I hung out with her, to be honest. She just kind of appeared, even though she was really, really unwanted. Funny thing was, all these guys were just falling at her feet all the damn time. She wasn't even that hot, but somehow she still managed it, y'know? She was one of those people. But all the girls fucking hated her. She also had this creepy obsession with spiders, which was fucking creepy as hell.

Tavros was one of those poor dumb shitheads who got caught in Vriska's web of manipulation. Would you believe she pushed him down a shitload of flights of stairs and made him paralysed? He spent ages in a wheelchair, and then she would push him off of stairs and things even in the damn wheelchair. He was so goddamn gullible it wasn't funny, but he meant well, I guess. Didn't make him any less stupid, sure, but he was also pretty bad with his self-confidence. He got scared all the time, even if he kept his head up and pretended like he was strong. He even had a fucking imaginary friend, like what even? He had an obsession with fairy tales, which suited him perfectly. What didn't suit him was that damn Mohawk he had. I never did find out what was up with that shit.

And Sollux…

Sollux was the biggest fucking weirdo. Even weirder than the rest of them, would you believe. He wore these dumbass 3D glasses, despite the fact he couldn't even fucking see with them on. His mom was apparently Japanese or some shit, so people kept trying to speak all these Asian languages to him and he didn't understand a word besides 'lisp' and computer code. That damn lisp was the most fucking annoying thing on the universe, but the coding wasn't. It was his one passion. I tried to help him out with the damn thing once, but I gave up after a while. But he was good at it, unlike me. He was my damn best friend, even if his girlfriend was a creep obsessed with dead people. He spent more time with me than with her anyway.

Yeah. So…basically they were a bunch of fucking freaks, with me at the centre."

John giggled and pulled you closer, where your head landed awkwardly on his chest. The sound of his heart beating steadily broke you from your miserable thoughts, and you wondered why it was so damn loud. A hand was stroking your back lightly, and although you wanted to push him away, he was also majorly comforting and you didn't want him to let go. Like ever.

"Karkat, when you get out of hospital, do you want to stay with me and Jane?"

"…Why the fuck not."

"Yay!"

He pulled you closer, and you refrained from lifting your head from the soft, nice-smelling cloth of his shirt. If you did, you'd just be revealing the hot blush you could feel on your face anyway, so why bother?

"You better have asked your aunt first, you damn idiot," you mumbled.

"Way out, in the water,

See it swimming,

Where is my mind?"