It was two o'clock in the morning, Rose saw on her luminescent clock as she sat up and rubbed her eyes. She yawned, stretching a little bit. Ugh... I hate waking up in the middle of the night... she thought with a sigh. Now I won't be able to fall back asleep... And after a good ten minutes of trying to fall back asleep, it was apparent that she wasn't going to be able too.
Well, since I can't fall back asleep, I wonder if anybody is awake right now? She looked at her phone. She then remembered that she had switched it off. So, she reached over, picked it up, and held down the power button to boot up the phone. Probably not since they're all tired from the dance, but it's worth a shot. It took a couple of minutes, but it eventually turned on. Almost immediately the phone got service and connected to the houses' Wi-Fi. As she pulled up her contacts, she decided to see if Kanaya was up. However, right in the middle of typing "Are you awake, Kan?", she got a text that was FROM Kanaya. Which was odd in general, seeing as she was never up this late. Or early. Whichever you would call it.
"Do You Happen To Be Awake?" The text said. Rose raised an eyebrow. She replied, saying "I am now. Is everything okay?" The text sent, and Rose stared at her phone until the screen shut off. Her mind was racing now with thoughts as to why Kanaya would text her at 2 A.M. She started to worry, wondering if she was hurt, or if something bad happened. To Rose, it felt as if time itself had stopped.
Until Kanaya texted back, in which Rose immediately checked the message. It said "Not Really," which caused Roses' heart to drop. She started to type back, but once again, she was interrupted. Only this time, it was by a call. From Kanaya. Of course, she answered.
"Kanaya, are you okay?" she asked in a slightly panicked voice. But all she heard from the other end was just sobbing at first. "It's okay, if you need to calm down before you talk, then you can."
"I..I'm sorry to bother you, Rose.. I just, I don't... ...I'm sad," Kanaya managed to blurt out through softened sobs and sniffles. It absolutely broke Roses' heart to hear a girl who was always so calm and collected crying her very soul out, even if it was just over the phone. "I just needed somebody to talk too..."
"Kanaya, I'm coming over to your house now, okay? It'll be better to talk in person over the phone. Trust me," Rose said in a comforting voice. "Don't worry, it'll be okay. I'll be there soon." She heard a faint reply from Kanaya on the phone, but then the call dropped. Rose figured that she had ended the call.
Rose got up out of bed and quickly put a casual pair of jeans on. She left her t-shirt on, though. It was a Sunday, after all, so she didn't need any extra clothes. But she did need to freshen up. So, she put some deodorant on as well as a little bit of cologne. Then, once she brushed her hair, she headed downstairs. She made sure to leave a note for the family saying "Left to see a friend, I'll be back later. ~Rose," Just so they wouldn't worry about her when they woke up. Then, she left to her car to head to Kanayas' house.
Now, of course, Rose knew why she was so worried. She had realized that she really, really liked Kanaya to the point where she wanted to hold her hand and kiss her in the softest way whenever she saw her. She wanted to do cute couple things with her, like go on coffee dates, or go to the movies. Rose had never wanted to do this before, so it was a new experience, but it was also frightening at the same time. However, that wasn't the main priority at the moment. The main issue was that Kanaya was upset about something, and she needed comfort.
After what seemed like forever to Rose, she pulled up in the Maryams' driveway. She was greeted by Kanaya, who was sitting on a bench in a hoodie and fuzzy pajama pants. Rose got out of her car, closing and locking it. Kanaya signaled Rose to follow her inside. Once Rose was inside, Kanaya locked the door back.
"Would you like any coffee, Rose? I just brewed some." Kanaya said, walking into the kitchen.
Rose nodded. "Coffee would be nice," she replied. "Do you remember how I like it fixed?"
"Of course." Kanaya attempted to smile. To which Rose smiled back. She got out two mugs; one for her, one for Rose. She poured the coffee into both mugs, then proceeded to pour creamer and a little bit of sugar in the coffee, then stirring it around. The previously black coffee was now a light beige color. Exactly how Rose liked it. She took the mug once Kanaya was done and waited for it to cool off before drinking any of it.
"I apologize for taking so long. I just need to calm down before I speak," Kanaya sighed. She blew on the coffee lightly to cool it down. Then, she took a small sip, determining that it was too hot to drink still.
"You're fine, Kan." Rose replied, taking a sip as well. "Does coffee calm you down, as well?"
"Yeah. Caffeine never makes me hyper. Chocolate milk does, though." Kanaya said. Rose giggled a little bit, finding that cute.
After the two finished their coffee, Kanaya led Rose to her room. Her room was on the bottom floor of the house. Porrims' room was right next to hers, but she was out with her friends Latula and Mituna. Latula was Terezis' older sister, while Mituna was a boy named Solluxs' older brother. Sadly, Mituna had gotten into a bad car wreck one day and suffered brain damage, which made him mentally handicapped. Latula had been dating Mituna for three years before the accident happened, and she still dated him afterwards, determined to help him learn how to do what he used to love to do. Rose thought it was a really sweet thing, since you could tell that she truly loved him. And he still loved her.
"So, where are Porrim and her friends?" Rose asked as she closed Kanayas' door behind her.
Kanaya shrugged. "I don't know, really. They either went out skateboarding, or out to eat. Or maybe they went to vandalize a building again," Kanaya smiled slightly as she sat down on her bed.
Rose sat down next to her. "I see. Maybe we should do that with Karkat and Dave." she chuckled.
"Pft, I'm sure Karkat would love that," Kanaya laughed. To Rose, it was comforting to hear Kanaya laugh at least a little bit. But after a few minutes of joking, it got quiet.
"So, Kanaya... You know you can tell me anything, right?" Rose asked. She nodded, glancing away. "You can tell me everything on your mind that you're willing to share. Just make sure you use tissues if you need to, instead of you shirt."
Kanaya smiled at Rose, but the smile quickly faded when they made eye contact. Tears started to pour from her eyes. "Fuck..." She whispered. Rose was taken aback by that, seeing as she had never heard Kanaya cuss before. But either way, she held out her arms, offering out a hug. Kanaya collapsed into her arms as if she were an old building that's foundation had broken down, causing the whole structure to fall. Rose embraced her, attempting to calm her down in any way. She rubbed Kanaya's head softly, saying "shh, it's okay," over and over in the softest voice she could. But all while Kanaya was breaking, Rose was breaking with her. Seeing her like this tore the Lalonde girl apart, but she didn't want to show it. At least not right now.
After about 10 minutes, Kanaya had calmed down. She couldn't speak entirely, so she whispered an apology. "You said I could tell you everything, and I thank you for that," she smiled.
Rose held an arm around Kanaya to keep her calm. Kanaya managed to collect herself and speak.
"There isn't much, really... But, I've recently been having nightmares about the past. About what happened at Alternia last year... Do you know about it?" Even though she did kind of know, Rose shook her head. Kanaya continued. "W..well, all across the school, fire bombs were planted. They all exploded simultaneously, causing fire to spread rapidly through the school. That's why Tavros is in a wheelchair... Why Vriska has to wear an eyepatch and has a prosthetic arm. Because debris nearly crushed them, and it almost crushed me, too..." She paused. Rose was nearly horrified to figure this out. She couldn't imagine the emotional trauma. "And because of that debris, I have really bad scars on my back that go up to my neck... That's why I wear a turtleneck underneath all of my shirts. It's very hideous..." Kanaya lifted up the hoodie in the back to show Rose the scars from various burns and skin grafts that were done.
Rose was once again taken aback. "Oh my god, Kanaya.. I'm so sorry..." she said softly. Kanaya put the hoodie back down, sighing. Kanaya wiped her eyes. In a single moment, Rose felt the breath leave her lungs. Her heart shatter. She hugged Kanaya as tight as she could, simply on impulse. "Don't think you're ugly because of those scars, Kan. You're beautiful how you are."
"Thank you," Kanaya smiled. "But that's not as much of an issue in the present as my mom is..."
"Is that something else you'd like to talk about?" Rose asked.
"Yes, if you don't mind. She's so homophobic, I can't stand it. I know so many people who are homosexual, bisexual, pansexual, etcetera, and they're no different than she is. Minus the fact that they're open-minded. She had the nerve to almost kick Porrim out for dating a girl. I convinced her not too, luckily, but now she hounds on Porrim for it non-stop. It's sickening because I don't know what I would do if she found out about me." Kanaya ranted. It was apparent that she loved her sister, too, due to the concern in her voice while mentioning her.
It took Rose a minute to realize what she had said. "Wait, Kan, you're gay?" she asked. Kanaya nodded, but raised an eyebrow, obviously puzzled. Rose shook her head. "Sorry, I just wasn't able to tell. How did you figure it out, if I may ask?"
"You're fine," Kanaya smiled. "I figured it out when I realized I really.. Really like one of my friends. Like, a lot. And she just so happens to be a girl. I was in denial for a bit, but then I realized it's how I am and I can't help it. It's how I was born." she shrugged. "The problem is, I don't know if she'd feel the same way, nonetheless if she's gay herself."
"Well, it wouldn't hurt to take a chance," Rose smiled. "You never know. Some people are better at hiding it than others." She didn't care if it wasn't her or not. At least she was helping Kanaya.
"You have a good point. I guess I will, in that case." Kanaya smiled. "Thank you."
"So, may I ask who it is?" Rose said with a smirk, nudging Kanayas' shoulder playfully.
Kanaya blinked, looking at Rose. "You really wanna know?" she giggled. Rose nodded. "Alright. But you can't tell anybody, okay?" she laughed.
Rose laughed as well. "Why would I?"
"I'm just kidding, I know you won't."
"I was about to say, you should know me better than that by now! So, what's her name?" Rose smiled. "I can tell you're stalling!"
"Alright, alright! Her name is..." Kanaya smirked, pausing to tease Rose. Which was obvious. Rose groaned, complaining. Kanaya laughed. "Okay, okay, I'll stop."
"Her name is Rose Lalonde."
