Dave glanced up from his book, adjusting his glasses. How many years had it been since they finished the game? How many years had it been since they had been told to return to a "normal" life? How many nightmares had he suffered through?
He glanced over his shoulder, feeling tears prick the back of his eyelids. Something was always going to be wrong in his heart. He could imagine the other, lurking near, begging almost for him to not go...
"You can't end it this way!"
The troll always had a bit of a yelling ability, even when he was trying to be quiet, he still sounded extremely loud.
"I can end this any way I want." He had responded. The look of hatred and worry that flashed through the trolls eyes...had he known before? Maybe, somewhere in his heart he had known but now...
"How many other times do you think you have died?"
The question was a loaded one, as Dave was uncertain of it. He merely shook his head, looking away. "I don't know."
"Let me go with you."
Of course, the question that haunted him. He had allowed Karkat to go with him. He felt like he owed the troll that much at least. But those words...they might has well have meant let me save you.
Dave crumpled the piece of paper in his hand, looking down and letting the tears run down his face shamelessly. No one could see him. The twenty year old was alone. As alone as he was sure Karkat had felt...until the end.
"This is it?"
Karkat looked over at Dave, eyes implorring him to say no. They were having fun. They were doing something. They were...in love? Dave smiled at Karkat, something that was sad. "Yes, this is it."
That was all that needed to be said. In that moment they had been attacked. Dave hadn't understood what had happeened, only Karkat, gasping for breath in his arms. He remembered looking down at the troll, kissing him. Tell him about how much he loved Karkat.
He also remembered feeling the troll's heart grow still. Nothing unsettled him more than the silence. And the rage.
Dave looked up, rubbing his eyes. He remembered the troll, remembered the brief lover's kiss they had shared. The fact that neither had completely survived. He would never forgot, like he knew the others would never forget about the game.
He was more trapped than the others, constantly picking over timelines, trying to see if he could have saved him. But Karkat didn't want to be saved. He done it because he thought Dave would always love Terezi. For Karkat, it had been a suicide mission. No love for him in return, just the cold embrace of death. Karkat saved Dave, but Karkat killed Dave.