Author's Note: I'm going to respond to guest reviews like this, because I really can't think of any other way to respond to them and I do like to let people know that I got their reviews.

Angela'sWerecat: KYAA~! Thank you so much for your wonderful review, you're a sweetheart ^-^ I try to be as articulate as possible, though I'm not always sure how well I achieve that, and I do try not to rush, though normally my chapters are longer. If I wasn't so eager to post this, the first two chapters would be combined into one and I'd still be working on the "second," but I'm impatient and so that didn't happen. I'm so glad you like the plot, it was such a spontaneous idea. I promise I won't give up on it, though. I always seem to be able to write (not necessarily better, but) more when there are people giving me feedback because it makes me feel like a good person (#stupidreason) I'll have the fifth chapter up next weekend, promise~

Guest: He wasn't, to be honest. Robert was actually one of the few OCs I've ever come up with in my life. Not out of desire, either, necessarily. Just out of pure need for a character. Though I agree, he does talk a lot XD I'm not sure yet if I want to put all of the trolls/humans in here. I know that annoys some people and pleases other, so it's kind of a delicate matter. I think I'll probably put some in because their personalities will match so perfectly for the character I need, but not all of them.

Thank you all to everybody who left a review~ :3 I've been lucky not to receive any bad reviews yet, but I welcome those too, just so long as they're constructively negative and not raging-douche negative. In other news, I can't post anything else this week because I have finals and fuck finals but whatever. I can't fail any worse or I'll be held back, so I guess I kind of have to study and stuff, and regardless of how much I love writing or how good you all are making me think I am at it, my parents feel it's a worthless skill and that I need to focus on school more. So, one more week then I can pretty much say, "FUCK YOU," and write all I want.

Also, I lied, I'm not going to respond to guest reviews like this or at all because fuck that shit's exhausting and tedious and if you want a reply, log in.

Rambling over, Chapter Three, my friends!

It took a while longer than I had expected it to for Rob to return. I wouldn't have minded normally, except that he brought a familiar raven-haired asshole with him. His face was apologetic when he explained that I had to be in the room whenever someone other than him viewed my medical history. So when he finally did show Sollux my records, I had the misfortune of sitting right next to him. It was entirely impossible for me to look away as the fear in his expression grew a hundredfold — and believe me, I tried. I busied myself doing nothing and trying (failing) to stare intently at my feet while Robert filled him in on everything else he'd missed. At certain points he looked to me for help, but not because he didn't know what to say; he wanted me to grow some balls and tell Sollux myself. Each time, I looked away and the slightest nuance of disappointment grew noticeable in his voice — or it did if you knew him well enough to tell the difference, anyway. "All in all," Robert concluded, "Karkat S. Vantas has visited this hospital nineteen times in total, all over the span of the past twelve months, this visit included."

Sollux was the image of speechlessness; mouth slightly agape, eyes widened and blank, unblinking. When he finally snapped out of it, he turned to me with glassy dual-colored eyes filled with a bizarre mixture of pity and regret, and a fury that scared me at the same time it staked my heart in guilt. His face was tight and I could see the strain he was putting on himself to keep from lashing out. He eventually managed a tense word of gratitude to Rob, though his gaze never strayed from me.

Desperate to break our eye contact, I clutched the pharmaceutical receipt tighter and started to ease myself off the exam table, saying more loudly than was entirely necessary at the stake of stronger pangs in my chest, "Okay, thank you, I think it's about time we headed home and let you get some sleep. Come on, Sollux." Before my feet were anywhere close to the ground, Sollux slipped his arms under me and lifted me up bridal-style. "Whoa, hey, what are you doing? I'm fine, let me go!" He didn't say anything and I knew I wasn't going to win this battle; when Captor set his mind to something, he wasn't easily deterred. Sighing, I locked my hands together behind his neck so I wasn't as much dead weight.

I narrowed my eyes and untangled a single finger at Robert's hidden grin, screaming at him to fuck off without ever saying a word. Sollux was oblivious as ever and left the room with me held against him. When he got outside, I spoke up again. "I can walk, you know."

"Th'o?" He sounded nonchalant at best.

"So, you don't need to carry me."

"But—"

"No, shut up, asshat. Put me down."

"No." I growled and readjusted my arms around his neck, holding on tighter while he opened the passenger-side door. The car ride was short and soon enough, Sollux had his arms around me once again.

"I already told you, you dense shitsponge, I am perfectly capable of walkin—"

"Shut up." His tone was anything but light; it wasn't a request. It was a straight command. I glanced at his face in surprise; it was blazing with emotion, torn between anger and concern.

"S-Sollu—?"

"Are you deaf? Th'top talking." Confusion wasn't a strong enough word to describe the feeling. Subtly obeying him, I tucked my head down into his chest and held onto him, though I wasn't entirely sure why anymore. Eventually, he pushed the door to our room open and set me down carefully at the foot of his bed. He didn't sit next to me, though. Instead, he started walking in circles. He did this when he got upset; when he lost a video game (the occurrence of which was, admittedly, rare), when he missed a show he wanted to watch, when he got a lower grade on an assignment than he was expecting, he always paced in circles around our room, whether I was in there or not. Sometimes it bothered me, but now I was just afraid he was upset because of something I did wrong. Logic told me it was just his bipolar disorder speaking, but fear overrode sense and reason failed in favor of panic, and I couldn't help the dread that spread through my body like venom.

Eventually, Sollux turned to me. "What the hell ith' wrong with you?!" It wasn't enough to call him upset — he was livid.

"Sollux, I just—"

"That wath' rhetorical, dipshit. I don't want to hear your voith'e right now. To be honeth't, I don't particularly want anything to do with you right now, either. But you know what? It'th' two AM and here I am, the firth't time back in my room th'ince I had to drive you to the hoth'pital for a broken fucking rib that I didn't know you could have even gotten becauth'e you didn't th'ay anything about it! I don't give a flying fuck if you didn't want me to worry, I worried my ath' off about you anyway and you th'till got beaten! You should have told me, becauth'e then I would have at leath't felt juth'tified in worrying and I wouldn't have felt guilty becauth'e I know you don't want me to. You're a fucking ath'hole, Karkat—" Oh fuuuuck. He just had to say my full motherfucking name, didn't he. He is seriously pissed. "—and you're my beth't fucking friend! I don't underth'tand why you lied to me! Beth't friendth' don't lie to each other, no matter what, and I—"

"I'm sorry!" My stomach clenched as I yelled to interrupt him and I narrowed my eyes at the pain, but I didn't let it stop me. "You're right, Sollux, I'm a complete shitsucking douchedick and you have every right to be pissed, and I'm really sorry I didn't tell you, but I just... you know what? Fuck it. I'm not gonna make excuses. Not wanting you to worry is really the only reason I didn't say anything. I don't want you to make special allowances for me because you felt like you had to. I don't want you to have to go out of your way to take special care of the piece of shit that I am. But no matter how embarrassed I was of it, I should have told you. You deserve at least that, and I'm a dick for keeping it from you. I won't keep it a secret anymore."

His face softened and he let out a huge sigh, rubbing his eyes from beneath his glasses. He set them on the nightstand seconds later and collapsed onto the bed beside me, still rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands. "Th'orry for yelling, KK. You..." He sighed. "You know how it ith'." I didn't respond.

A few minutes of silence later, I heard my voice come out, cracked from exhaustion. "Sollux...?"

"Hm?"

"We're still friends... right?"

"Of courth'e."

"Okay. Um... can we... c-can I go to bed now?" He nodded, looking just as tired as I felt.

"Do you need help getting up there? Or do you want to just th'leep on my bed and I'll th'leep up there?"

"I think we should maybe do that." He nodded again and stood, walking to the ladder. While he gradually made his way to the top bunk, switching the light off on his way up, I was stretching out as comfortably as I could in his bed.

He spoke from directly above me. "Good night, KK."

"'Night, Sollux."

One long, pain-filled, sleepless hour later, I was well aware this wasn't going to work. I lay debating my options for a while, finally deciding on just asking to switch. "Sollux?" I had hoped he wasn't asleep, but I whispered anyway, so I wouldn't wake him up if he was.

"Yeah?" He sounded tired but awake. Thank god. I would have gladly gone one sleepless night if it meant he got some rest, but I'd rather we both got some sleep.

"Can we switch back? I... can't sleep."

"I know. Me either. Hold on, let me juth't..." Rather than finishing his sentence, I heard the creak of wood that meant he had moved to the end of the bed.

Now came the hard part. The part I'd been dreading since I realized I couldn't sleep in his bed. "Sollux?" Shit, fuck, no! Why is my voice cracking, stop it, fuck! "C-Can you, um, h-help me up?" Oh my god, I'm stuttering, kill me now.

He just chuckled. "Sure, KK." I slid the covers off as far as I could and managed to sit up, dangling my legs off the side and resting my hand over my rib. He felt for my hand in the dark and I led his, one to my knee, the other to my neck. A grunt of effort escaped his lips when he lifted me off the bed, carrying my damaged body to the ladder. I locked my arms tightly around his neck and he managed somehow to get to the top, leaving me to slide onto the mattress. It was a slow process that left him short of breath.

"How the fuck did you do that before?" I asked, clenching then loosening my fists to release the tension in my knuckles.

"I don't know, but if you need anything, don't get out of bed for it — I'd rather go get it for you than carry your ath' back and forth."

"Wow, that means a lot coming from the laziest guy I know," I teased. We laughed a bit before he disappeared into his own bed. I settled into mine and fell asleep in seconds.

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