A/N- and back to the actual couple. I forgot for a second that everyone came for PBJ, not KarkatxTerezi. Hehe… sorry. Here it is!
"Sollux, are you sure about this?" Aradia asked, as they walked into the old barn. Yes, it was Vriska who had told them about the building, but then it couldn't be that bad. Even she could have been simply trying to help them out, and what was the worst that could happen after all?
"You and Vriska are friend'th, 'thort of, 'tho 'th'he was ju'tht trying to help u'th out." He said, his lisps as bad as ever, if not worse due to the fact that he had stopped trying to hide it in front of Aradia.
"I know. But not only here, but the fact itself." She said, referring to the fact that they had come here specifically to have sex, where neither of their families could find them.
He simply smiled, and placed a small kiss on her nose. She smiled back at him, returning it to his lips. The kiss deepened, and her hands gripped his shirt as she opened her mouth, inviting him inside. His tongue slipped with ease into the warm cave awaiting it. He was placing his hand underneath her shirt, when the door burst open. Waiting was Vriska, as if the couple hadn't seen that coming.
"Well, well, if it isn't the two little love birds. Too bad that you aren't anywhere the same kind of bird. No where genetically similar." She said, and Aradia rolled her eyes.
"What are you up to now, Vriska?" She demanded, taking a step forward.
"You turned down my little brother, and he had to settle for that barely above average slut Nepeta. But with you out of the picture, you'll never be compared to her again, and he can have the social status he should." She said, and two sets of eyes went wide as she pulled out a lighter, flicking it open as a flame appeared.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Sollux shouted, but blue covered lips seemed to care little about his protests.
"You know, barn fires are especially common in the country like this, and there's so much lighting outside. You sought comfort in each other and the barn, trying to love each other through the storm, but alas, God himself brought you up to meet him. It was very sad, and I'll probably cry at the funeral, no doubt attended by the entire town." She said, throwing it into the hay and rushing out. The two lovers ran after her, but found it locked when they tried to escape. They pounded on the door, begging and pleading.
"I'm 'tho 'thorry, Aradia. If we get out of thi'th, I 'thwear I'll kill that bit'th." He growled, slamming into the door. But it was made to hold in creatures much larger than he.
"It's okay, Sollux. I love you, so just sit down, and spend the last bit of time we have left with me. I can't imagine a better way to go." She said, sitting and leaning on the door.
"A…Aradia…?" His eyes went wide, and then closed, as he resigned himself just as she had. He sat next to her, and she set her head on his shoulder, tears falling from her eyes, while a smile sat on her face.
"I love you, Sollux." She whispered, "Good night."
"I love you too. Night." He kissed her forehead, both of them trying to fall asleep before the fire killed them, not realizing that this would likely be the thing that got their murderer off.
"Gamzee, you made an A on the test, and you weren't even there for any of the lessons!" Tavros whined, looking at his low B.
"I just all up and knew the answers, Tav. I suppose I could stop knowing them, and mark them wrong, if that would make you feel better, bro." He said, looking up as if he was truly pondering the idea.
"That would make me feel even worse!" Tavros exclaimed, knowing that Gamzee would actually do something like that, and not taking it as the condescension most people would.
"Aww. Then what do you want me to do? It's easy for me when we study together so much." Gamzee said, frowning a little at his best friend.
"Nothing. I'm really proud of you, it's just that I'd like to get better grades, too." He said, and Gamzee shrugged.
"Don't got any solutions to that one, bro." Gamzee said, "Hey, maybe uncle K can help you out. He was really good in school. At least that's what Karkat told me." He looked at the sky, s if pondering if this were true or not. He did seem to do quite a bit of pondering lately. Not what one would expect from a goofy guy like Gamzee.
"Uncle K?" Tavros had never heard the name, nor known that Gamzee had an uncle.
"It's Karkat's brother Kankri. He's coming over today, which is why Karkat will actually be home today. Karkat complains about him, but I can tell he really loves him." Gamzee said, smiling and walking a bit faster.
"Wait, as in the ex-governor?"
"Yep! Who would have known mean old Karkat would be related to such a smooth guy. And you have to be smart to get into Harvard, like uncle K did."
"I suppose. It'll be interesting to meet someone like a Governor."
"Karkat said not to make a big deal out of it. Like, don't even give him the title. Apparently he's having a hard time with not being able to have the job anymore."
"Oh, yeah. His term limits are up. Either way, I'm sure he's a really great guy." Gamzee nodded. When they walked into the home, Karkat was sitting in his recliner, glaring at another man who looked nearly identical to him, only about ten years older. The older man, presumably Kankri, was talking away, the words so fast they could barely be understood, while Terezi stared into space.
"I didn't know you'd be here, sis." Tavros said, as Gamzee lifted his chair over the steps into the living room. Their house wasn't handicap accessible, but Gamzee had gained a good bit of muscle by bypassing that fact. He did a lot of lifting his friend, and they mostly stayed downstairs, rather than risking a fall to get to Gamzee's room.
"There's something you two should know, and I figured that it might be easier on you if both of us were here. My fuckass older brother just happened to show up today."
"What's that?" Gamzee said, hands on Tavros' wheelchair tightening.
"Well, we wanted to warn you about going anywhere by yourselves in this town." Terezi said, "Especially now that you've made an enemy of Vriska"
"She can't be that bad. I can protect Tav." Gamzee said, his smile more forced than usual.
"That's what my friend Sollux thought. Then she killed him, and my best friend Aradia because they snuck out without telling anyone." Terezi said, her red-covered eyes staring at them.
"K-killed them? But shouldn't she be in prison, then?" Tavros exclaimed, eyes going wide.
"Sometimes it doesn't work like that, Tav." Gamzee said, knowing that he himself should probably still be locked up for multiple aggravated assault charges.
"It was ruled an accident, but I know it wasn't. Vriska came to their funeral, and even cried, talking about how Aradia was her friend, and that it was such a terrible loss. But as she walked away, I smelled the lie." Terezi said, clenching her fists.
"And either way, that bitch is crazy. Literally. Her parents have brought her into the hospital a few times. I personally diagnosed the bitch with extreme narcissism, but they wouldn't listen to me." Karkat said, knowing full well that he was illegally releasing classified medical information, but not really caring if it kept Gamzee alive.
"You shouldn't use such harsh terms, little brother. Especially since it seems that Tavros doesn't like your strong language." Kankri said, and Karkat glared at him.
"This is not the fucking time for one of your lectures, Kankri. I just found out that my son could be killed by a crazy ass narcissist for taking care of his friend, I'm a little fucking distraught!" Karkat yelled, and Kankri seemed to relent.
"You called me 'son'" Gamzee pointed out, and Karkat blushed red, not realizing the endearing term had come out of his mouth.
"Of course. You're a boy who I'm legally responsible for. That makes you my son. But that's not the point. I'll be getting Gamzee his own car, and he'll be driving you home from now on, Tavros." Karkat said, quickly getting off any line of conversation that may uncover the fact that he actually had emotions.
"Karkat, you can barely pay for your own car, how will you pay for mine, too?" Gamzee asked, his normally whimsical voice becoming more normalized, and logical.
"Kankri is going to be living with us for a while, and contributing monetarily." The younger brother said, and Gamzee sighed.
"I'm sorry. I caused this. Tav was fine before I picked a fight with them." Gamzee said, his head handing down.
"Gamzee don't think that!" Tavros said, his voice uncharacteristically loud and dominant. "You've done nothing but help and protect me!"
"But we didn't have to worry about anyone killing you!" Gamzee yelled back. And as his heart rate increased, he started to hear the whispers that came before the voices.
"Gamzee…" Karkat stood, recognizing that look in Gamzee's eyes.
"Fuck!" Gamzee yelled, clutching his head and running from the room, up the stairs where he knew that Tavros couldn't follow him.
He threw his door open, and went straight for the drawer of his desk. Inside was the small caliber pistol Karkat had gotten him for his eighteenth birthday, simply because he was now old enough to own one. He cocked it for the first time, and put it in his mouth, tears streaming down his face.
He only ever hurt people. His father had been right, he was worthless. He'd never amount to anything but a failure. Karkat could barely afford to put food on the table because of him, and was now having to borrow money from his older brother because trouble followed him everywhere he went. No matter how hard he tried, he could never help anyone, but he took so much from them. But he'd stop taking. He'd admit defeat and let the voices live longer than him, if only for a brief moment.
"Gamzee fucking Makara, what do you think you are doing?" Violet eyes looked at him, practically begging him to just leave. To let him do as he wanted.
"I don't wanna hurt anyone anymore, Karkat." He whispered, as the voices grew louder. In retrospect, giving someone who heard violent voices a gun was a bad idea.
"Just take the pill, and calm down. You know they get worse the more riled up you get."
"I don't wanna keep taking motherfucking pills! I don't wanna have to keep drugging myself out of my head because the real me is too dangerous to let him out into the world. It's better to just end both of us right now, before Tav gets hurt." He growled, finger on the trigger squirming.
"It's not the real you, and you know it. If your worried about Tavros, then how do you think it's gonna end up for him. You're his only friend, the person who protects him, loves him. Do you think that they'll just stop screwing with him because you aren't there, because they won't. They'll put all that pent up rage that they haven't been able to get out because you shielded him and he may very well meet you in the afterlife. Just calm the fuck down, and give me the gun." Karkat demanded, and the voices shouted now.
"He doesn't know you." They said, and Gamzee fell to the floor, covering his ears as if that would shut them out. All he did was make it harder for Karkat to get through.
"Shut up! You're the reason all this is happening." He told the monster as it appeared in front of him.
Suddenly he felt gentle arms around him, just strong enough to apply pressure. It was Karkat, rocking him back and forth, like a small child.
"It's gonna be okay, Gamzee. You're just a little shell-shocked is all. Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you." He whispered, the soft side he kept hidden pouring out, because Gamzee needed it. He needed to feel the love that would take away the voices of hate. So long as the love coming in was stronger than the hate, he would be fine.
But what did that say about the fact that he kept having episodes with Tavros. Did the love he felt for the cripple not cover up the hate?