A/N Sorry for the delay I cut my foot open ;V weh, Next chapter has been started.

Eridan managed not only to make it home alive after the motorbike ride, but he also had been able to hold back most of his screams. The two pulled up out the front of the apartment building, Eridan practically jumped off the motorcycle and removed his helmet. He found it hard to stand, having to lean on the bike as Cronus turned it off. Cronus's laugh broke out as he got of the bike taking the keys and giving Eridan a smirk.

"Don't like my bike ey kid?" Eridan barley had time to response before Cronus span on his feet and began to head towards the apartment building. It took a moment for him to steady himself but he quickly followed Cronus towards the apartment. Soon enough they were up the Elevator and heading towards the apartment, Cronus opened it up without a word. However as Eridan entered the house he froze, nothing had changed, well except for the fact a rather revealed women was currently dusting the television.

"Hey Cro welcome home!" She stood up straight and crossed her arms as her eyebrow knitted together at the sight of Eridan. She had long straight thin black hair that was tired up in a bun at the back of her head. Red chopsticks were stabbed through the bun, her hair parted in the centre and strand fell down her cheeks. Her squinted brown eyes covering in makeup, just like her plump red lips that were currently frowning.

"And who is this?" She the more she spoke the more Eridan heard an accent of some kind but he couldn't put his finger on it. He could stop staring at her outfit, the shortest red skirt he had ever seen with white thigh high socks. Followed by the tightest white collared shirt with the buttons open low revealing black frilly undergarments, Eridan tried not to stare.

"My kid Eridan saved his ass." Cronus answered casually as he removed his jacket and threw his keys onto the bench. He must have noticed the awkward glance between Eridan and her because he cleared his throat loudly.

"Eridan this is Damara, she's the maid." Eridan had to hold back a scoff nodding instead, he had been living here for just under a month and he had never met this, "Maid". Cronus didn't really pay attention to Eridans face and instead watched Damara with a weird look.

"Also kid I got you a skate thing, Sollux has one, it's on your bed." Cronus's eyes shifted from her to Eridan for a moment, Eridan didn't know what to say.

"Uhh, thanks?" Eridan mumbled, feeling the vibe of the room starting to become awkward he paced towards his room, feeling the eyes of the room on him as he did. Opening the door to his room and placing his bag to the side he spotted it, bang smack in the centre of his bed, a skateboard. Eridan approached it cautiously, analysing its purple and yellow features. It did look expensive and new, not that Eridan knew anything about skateboards he had never skated a day in his life.

"So aren't you just dying to take it out for a spin?" Eridan jumped slightly before peering over at his shoulder at Cronus, who now stood at his door frame with a devilish smirk. Eridan at first was ready to say no but then realised at what exactly Cronus was insinuating. He wanted "Alone time" with the maid, Eridan couldn't believe it, how many affairs did Cronus even have?

"okay…." Was all Eridan mumbled out as he grabbed the board and began removing the packaging from around it, looking fairly dis-pleased as he did.

"Cool, there's a skate park just down the road, I would drive you but I'm kinda busy." Cronus chuckled before leaving the door frame and Eridan pretended to gag. It was so gross, he wished he was younger so he didn't understand what Cronus meant but sadly he did.

He decided to quickly change his clothes into something more "casual" in which was his scarf, skinny jeans, and a very nice looking purple shirt, however he glanced about his room. He was scared his outfit would draw more attention than he wanted so he grabbed the jumper Gamzee had given him and threw it over. Of course it didn't suit him or his outfit but he did look less classy in it, with a nod of approval Eridan grabbed his bag and the skateboard. When he opened the door he could hear what could only be presumed as the maids chuckling coming from the room next door.

"Classy" Eridan mumbled in disgust as he exited his room and checked his phone, deciding to grab a soda from the fridge and shovel two into his bag for later before leaving.

He sighed as he pulled his scarf up under the hoddie to cover his mouth, chuckling at himself knowing he looked a bit seedy but not caring. He inhaled deeply, the fading sent of his father lingered and made him feel safer as he left the cruddy apartment building. He found it kind of hard to carry the skateboard and had no idea what he was going to do with it when he actually got to the park.

Four blocks down the way Cronus had pointed and there it was a wide open park, different from the one he had previously visited. The Grass was slightly greener and the park was divided into two parts, the playground and the skate park. None of these sides where currently occupied so Eridan decided to not ruin the peace, he instead approached a nearby tree in which was between both parks.

He placed the skateboard down to stop any dirt from touching his clothes, then placed his bag down and got a soda out along with his drawing book and pencil case. Taking a glance about the empty parks and inhaling deeply, he wasn't inspired; he was tired and already sick of his new life. He closed his eyes and gently placed his head against the bark of the tree behind him letting out a sigh. Maybe things would get better; maybe he was just seeing the negative's at least Sollux had hung out with today.

He groaned loudly before looking down at his sketch book, looking forward for some inspiration to draw. Staring at his purple shoes and wiggled his toes under the material and smiled, remembering the exact point in time he and his dad had bought them.

The fancy shoes store down the road, Eridan didn't want to go in but his dad insisted and he had fallen head over heels for the deep purple shoes. He hadn't realised his dad had been staring at the same pair, moments later the clerk was walking over with a pair in his size. His dad had lead him out of the store, and Eridan held the bag tightly and smiled at his father, thanking him deeply. He father would just nod and smile when Eridan thanked him, that smile that was only for Eridan, just for his special boy.

Eridan sniffled suddenly realising the tears dwelling in the corner of his eyes, he didn't feel sad though it was a happy memory. He wiped his eyes and chuckling under his breath for a moment, feeling stupid for getting emotional. His eyes diverted back to his shoes and fiddled with his pen, it wasn't very inspirational but it was a memory. Sniffling with a grin as he began to sketch his shoes over the top of his sketch book, glancing about every now and then to make sure he was alone.

Completely Alone.

Eventually he finished his sketch of his shoes and packed up his sketch book however it was too soon to go back. So he grabbed his headphones out of his bag and put them in, continuing to sit on his skateboard and hugged his bag close. He let his eyes slide close as he rested his head against the tree however he didn't dare fall asleep, he rested.

However what seemed seconds later to him something hit his leg and startled him out of his rest. He clung to his bag and pushed his glasses up as they focused on the person in front of him. Tavros from school was there in his wheelchair smiling nervously down at him, raising a hand to wave at him.

"Hey, Eridan what are you doing here by yourself?" Eridan had to quickly sit up and fix his hair for a second before answering.

"I w-was uh, just my guardian is busy and asked me to leav-ve for a w-while." He stood quickly and slung his bag over his shoulder in a hurry. The sounds of bikes and skateboards could be heard coming from the skate park now and Eridan didn't want to bother the occupants

"That's pretty cool, I have to beg my parents to let me hang out after school hehe." Travos was grinning as if he actually wanted to talk to Eridan. Eridan couldn't help but glance over at the kids on the skate park, merely to realise he knew every one of them. Gamzee was on a purple and black BMX bike, Karkat was on a silver scooter with red handles and Sollux was on a ratty plain black skateboard, and they all lacked helmets.

"So uh, do you live around here?' Eridans attention snapped back to Tavros, as he thought about the question.

"Yeah three blocks away." Why was Tavros even bothering to make small talk with him?

"That's pretty neat we all live pretty far from here but it's worth it, this is a great skate park." his voice was upbeat but had a sad tone to it, Eridan didn't get it.

"I guess…" Eridan lent down to grab the new skateboard that he nearly forgot he owned as Tavros' eyes light up.

"You skate!?" He had a large grin, Eridan guessed he liked watching people skate, wait that was it. Tavros was making small talk with him because he couldn't skate with the others. Eridans heart sank a little as he watched the boy in the wheelchair, he secretly wished he knew what had happened to him or if he was born with his disability.

"No I can't skate I just have a board." Eridan admitted leaning back on the tree as Tavros smiled up at him.

"That's a pretty good board for someone who doesn't skate." Eridan just shrugged in response,

"I didn't buy it, it was a gift I suppose."

"That's awesome, your so lucky!"

"Not really" Eridan thought as he looked down at his feet and sighed, Travros must have noticed because he perked up.

"You should show Sollux that board, he would get so jealous he has been wanting a new board like that forever!" Eridan shook his head. He didn't want to show off to Sollux, mostly because he didn't actually want the skateboard and he didn't want to come across as pompous.

"Come on~' Tavros turned his chair around on the grass and started to make his way towards the others. Eridan thought about running off and pretending he had never been there but didn't want to let Tavros down, or worst make him look like a fool. So he grabbed his bag, soda and the skate board and set off behind Tavros.

"Guys look who I found!" The skating men ignore him at first, however Gamzee stopped as he reached the top of the ramp to look over at Tavros and gave the men a dopey grin.

"Hey bro! who's that you got there?" Gamzee called out waving to the boys as they approached, Eridan didn't know whether to return the wave but decided against it.

"It's Eridan he was sitting by himself so I thought maybe he could uh, join us? His got his own set of wheels." Tavros chuckled nervously as both Sollux and Karkat jumped up onto the ledge of the half pipe to merely stare. Eridan felt there eyes on him, he wasn't close enough to see if they were glaring at him but he had a feeling they were.

"That's cool with me tavbro." Gamzee grinned out, raising an eyebrow.

"Nice jumper." He added with a nod, Eridan stood confused for a moment, Gamzee had given him this jumper.

"Uh thanks?" Eridan simply added before hearing the sounds of skateboards and scooters started up again on the half-pipe. Gamzee smiled at him one last time before deciding to ride down the ramp he was on and join the others on the half pipe. Tavros pulled up next to the ramp that Gamzee had be stationed on, So Eridan scaled the ramp to sit on top of it, not sure of what to do or if he was even welcome.

He sat there in silence listening to sounds of the boys riding, before deciding to reach for his bag and whip out his sketch book. He glanced up desperately for the inspiration he craved but lacked. He began to watch Karkat, how he waited for the pipe to clear before ducking forward and entering himself. Eridan didn't know much about scootering but Karkat looked a little stiff when entering, however he could get up on the other side of the pipe so he was doing way better than anything Eridan could ever pull off.

Gamzee's technique was a lot smoother, like he didn't care if he stacked and by the looks of his semi-ripped jeans he had stacked a lot. However despite his lack of caring and his constant dopey grins at Tav he was able to bunny-hop his way onto the side of the pipe and not fall over, well this time.

Sollux however was surprising, so casual, like as if the descent downwards wasn't even there. However when he came up to the pipe he didn't stop, the metal of the bottom of his board grinned against the half pipe. Using only his body weight he was able to shift both himself and the board to go down again and return to his original place. He looked far more experienced than the other two as if he had been doing to for years.

Eridan felt his hand twitch with inspiration, the casual flowing positions that Sollux constantly pulled off would make great proportion practice. So with a nod he began to sketch, his photographic memory allowing him to capture somewhat of the casual style of Sollux. He was so easy to draw, but why Eridan found it easy was completely questionable.

Around half of an hour later the skating boys were talking a break, by sitting on the sides of the half pipe with their riding gear aside. Gamzee however was in the half pipe chilling next to Tavros who looked up at the other two boys. Karkat was going on and on about the latest news he had obtained from the first day back. A lot sure did happen apparently; someone had a major breakup but then went out with someone else, some people made out and three fights. Eridan guessed that's why Karkat didn't hang out with Sollux today.

Karkat didn't stop there he insisted on letting everyone know things about everyone else no matter how strange and revealing. He reminded Eridan of one of the girls from the movie "Mean girls" he hadn't seen that movie in ages but he was sure one of the girls was 'Full of secrets'. However the only people that were actually listening were Gamzee and Tavros, but even they looked slightly un-engaged in the conversation. Sollux was on his shitty phone tapping away a mile a minute like he did with his school laptop, who could he be texting so much?

Eridan glanced down at his drawings, he had done multiple shots of Sollux however not filled in the details, instead had drawn proportional bases of various stances Sollux had made. At one stage he had even tried to draw Gamzee's bike but realised that it was far to advanced for him and rubbed it out. He decided to take a break also, not that anyone really cared because he was so distant from the others he began to wonder why he was still here.

He reached for his bag and replaced the sketchbook and pencils in his hand for his backup soda and cracked it open. It was still kind of cool and refreshing despite his lack of physical movement he was a little tired, he wondered if Cronus would be done with the maid by now.

"Hey Ampora!" Eridan immediately snapped to attention as he turned to face Karkat who surprisingly enough had called out for him.

"Feferi and her little gang were talking about you, they think you're cute" Karkat sounded kind of irritated as he spoke though Eridan didn't seem to register it as he perked up a little with a small grin.

"Apparently they liked you hipster-ass hair and are considering you for their group." Karkat mumbled the last part, Eridan couldn't help but grin. However he glanced at Sollux who had stopped typing but continued to stare at his phone and Eridan finally spoke.

"That all good, how-wev-ver I'm okay w-with hangin' w-with Sollux." Karkats eyes widened and his mouth dropped open for a moment before he cleared his throat.

"You are going to give up the chance to hang out with the considerably "popular" girls, who may I add will gain you instant protection from everyone and a social standard above my own. Just to hang out with this, no offence Sollux but this guy who is constantly being hunted and sits in a corner?! You could get a seat at the middle table in the cafeteria!"

"None taken KK" Sollux mumbled before typing again, however Eridan watch Sollux for a moment, remembering the heavy blow he had received this morning as he held back the temptation to hold his stomach. However he did remember how Sollux could have ran off but didn't and stayed with him until he had recovered, making himself late just for a moron like himself.

"W-well im not to big on the cafeteria food anyw-ways, and it's better to have two against the world instead of one." Eridan glanced away from Sollux and instead began to focus on his feet. He knew that himself and Sollux were slowly being forced into a friendship due to their brothers relationship. Though he felt that Sollux was one of the only genuine people in this town that's not out for themselves and is willing to give someone, like himself a chance.

"That'th nice Eridan but you really don't have to, go hang out with FF and the others." Sollux sounded serious but he immediately stood after his comment and grabbed his board, showing his need to exit the conversation.

"Don't mind grumpy-ass here, his just pissed because he was in Feferi's group until the big breakup last year, it was pretty fucking dramatic, talk of the school since it happ-"

"Why don't you jutht go ahead and tell the world!" Sollux growled, shooting daggers in karkats direction however Karkat chuckled.

"what don't want you new boyfriend finding out, scared he won't want to hang out with you anymore?" Sollux didn't respond instead he went down the half pipe and skated away from the group, towards the grinding poles. The other watched for a second before Gamzee stood with his trademark grin,

"I'm gonna take Tav to the playground." He grinned as Tav just watched his shoes, looking upset as Gamzee steered them away. Wow was what happened to Sollux really that bad? Eridan frowned as he shot a hopeful glance over to Karkat, he wanted to understand.

"You seriously don't know?" Karkat questioned him as Eridan shook his head, karkat gestured for him to come over to him. Eridan grabbed his bag, soda and his board before walking off the ramp and into the centre of the half pipe, there was no stairs and the half pipe was a lot taller than Eridan.

"Toss me your bag then skate up" Karkat called with a smirk, as Eridan frowned heavily and cleared his throat.

"I don't know-w to ride a skateboard" Eridan confessed as karkat snickered as if he already knew before shrugging. Eridan pouted in thought for a moment then smiled, he tossed Karkat the bag which he caught gracefully before scampering off in the direction Sollux had left in. He watched as Sollux skated about, his pervious energy gone as he looked like a sad zombie on a skateboard causing Eridan to frown.

"Hey Sollux come here for a sec!" Eridan called, however Sollux stopped skating as his low speed and glanced over, his frown remaining.

"Come on!" Eridan slipped a grin onto his face, Sollux stared for a moment longer before getting on his board and slowly skating over, his sad look remaining.

"What ith it fithh-face?" Sollux mumbled clearly upset though Eridan knew that he would feel better in a minute.

"Look I, I can't skate and I can't scale the half pipe w-with this skateboard so I w-was w-wonderin', if maybe you w-wanted to use it?" Eridan cleared his throat awkwardly as he revealed his expensive skateboard to Sollux, who started with wide eyes. He looked more excited than a kid on Christmas as Eridan held out the board to him.

"What… are you thure… I mean thith board ith… oh my god…" Sollux swallowed the lump in his throat as he tried to mask his excitement. He had been riding his brothers cruddy old board for years now, it was reliable but still didn't compare to a new board, especially one like the one Eridan was offering him.

"yeah go ahead, I ain't gonin' to use it." Eridan nudged the board forward more, urging Sollux to take it and soon he did. However he simply admired it, took the time to stare all down its features, spin it's wheels, stroke the under belly.

"Thank'th Eridan…" Sollux mumbled as he seat his old board aside and placed the new one gently on the ground, as if it could break at any moment before standing on it. He couldn't mask the grin as he turned around and proceeded to slowly skate on the new board, admiring every second. Eridan chuckled under his breath before turning to Karkat who was waiting with a smirk, he probably didn't think Eridan could get up to him.

Though he was incredibly wrong, Eridan wasn't as weak as he came off and quickly ran up the side of the half pipe and grabbed the edge. Karkat watched as Eridan was easily able to support his own weight and lift himself up onto the ledge. However Karkat brushed it off and handed Eridan his bag, before his smirk appeared again.

"So you really want to know the information about Sollux?" Karkat sounded pretty serious but Eridan nodded, Sollux wasn't going to tell him but seemed alright with Karkat spilling his secrets.

"Well I better start from the beginning."