I said I'm not taking any more requests! You can give me some more in... let's say... October. Maybe earlier.

Anyway, I opted out of the haunted house thing and TRIED to make this one a little lighter. I tried. Lots of little girls and boys still get killed, but nobody cares. It's fine. :P

Tavros had sobbed himself to sleep that night. He kept seeing those little white balls falling around him, covering everything his eyes could see, and then he'd start sinking deeper and deeper into them until he felt as if he were drowning in them.

The next day was no better. Scratch paid him a small… "visit", shall we say, and now every bone in Tavros's body ached and screamed whenever he moved.

He groaned from his lopsided position on the floor, covered with stuff he didn't want to think about. G-gamzee, where a-are you? D-did he take you t-too? I'm sorry… I don't know w-why I'm s-sorry, I just a-am… I a-always am… for everything. You make m-me happy sometimes th-though.

Tavros curled up on the floor and began to sing through his sniffles.

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are grey…

"DUDE, CAN YOU SERIOUSLY SHUT THE FUCK UP AND STOP WITH THE WATERWORKS?"

Tavros stopped. "Hm? Where are you?"

"In the room next to you, dummy! Come and find me if you think you're hard enough!"

"U-um. N-next question then. Who a-are you?"

"The name's Megido. Damara Megido."

"I d-don't think this i-is a J-james Bond f-film, Damnedarmor…"

"DAMARA. You deaf, bitch?"

"N-no…"

"What's your name?"

"T-tavros Nitram."

"Listen up, T-tavros, cause I'm gonna be whispering."

Tavros put his ear against the wall. "O-okay."

"We're going to break the hell out of here tonight, okay? Calibitch hasn't been showing up for whatever reason lately—lazy fuckass—so Scratch's been carrying the keys around. Next time he visits, I'm gonna take those keys. Be ready."

"A-are you s-sure you can—"

"Fuck yes! He seriously gets scatterbrained sometimes. And I think he's preoccupied wondering where Calibitch is."

Tavros felt a glimmer of hope. "Okay. B-but, um, c-can we try to find m-my friend G-gamzee? The last I s-saw of him, C-caliborn was leading him away…"

"I'll try and find him. But be warned, he might be dead,"

They were silent for a while.

"C-can I get o-off of the w-wall now?"

"No, dumbass, you have to stay here. Of course you can unstick yourself from the fucking wall."

Nighttime came, as nighttime tends to do.

Tavros blocked his ears and buried his face in his lap to try and avoid the sounds coming from next door. He imagined himself somewhere else. Somewhere far away. Somewhere and safe and comfortable, like… like the hospital room. The sweet, sweet hospital room.

He wondered where Gamzee was for the fiftieth time that day. I h-hope that D-damara finds h-him. A-and then m-maybe I can th-thank him for trying t-to take me out.

He had a fluttery feeling whenever he was around Gamzee, he realized. Or whenever he thought about him. This weird burst of happiness. This weird giddy feeling that made him want to pass out, but in a good way. He wasn't… he wasn't in love with him, was he? But that was the only explanation. And he knew Gamzee loved him—something that filled him with joy. Floaty joy.

Yeah. He was in love with Gamzee.

Now he had something to look forward to when—if—he got back.

He looked up from his lap when he heard footsteps. Doc Scratch was busy shoving himself back into his clothes, not paying attention to Tavros getting up to press his ear back against the wall.

"D-damara, are you o-okay?"

"I… I'll be okay. We're getting out of here. I have the keys. Wait for a second, will you?"

"A-are you really okay?"

Silence.

"It doesn't matter. I'm unlocking my door. Is the coast clear?"

"S-scratch is somewhere else, I think."

"Great. Okay. Hang for a second."

And then a Japanese-looking girl walked in front of his door, bruises all around her neck and face. Her elegant traditional dress was torn and her hair was messed up.

Tavros crawled towards the bars before reaching up to touch one of the bruises. She jerked away, and Tavros froze. They looked at each other for a few seconds.

"Have I met you before?" Damara asked, tilting her head.

"I d-don't… I don't th-think so but y-you look f-familiar…"

Damara shook her head quickly. "We have shit to take care of. Let's think about this later, if there IS one and we don't get our asses kicked."

She unlocked his door and held a manicured finger against his lips. "Be quiet, got it?"

"Uh… I can't… I can't walk. Can you carry me?"

She groaned.

Damara proceeded to unlock the people around her, who mostly started sobbing or hugging her. She'd peel them off angrily and slap them. They'd then shut up.

"I like y-your persuasive skills," Tavros said, trying to lighten up the mood. She just glared at him.

Eventually, they were all ready to go, and they tried to tiptoe out the door.

"Scratch's room is that way," Damara warned them. "I think he's sleeping now. Try not to wake him up, or we'll all be fucking screwed. Literally."

Everybody nodded silently. They would've gotten out.

And then Tavros heard a buzzing sound.

What is that? he thought. I hope… I hope it's not a bee…

And lo and behold, a huge bee came swooping down and landed on his nose. Tavros screamed, falling off Damara, and Scratch jumped and woke up. Scratch stared at them for a second, and then he picked up a gun and charged at them.

"RUN!" Damara screamed, and everybody madly charged out the door.

Except for Tavros, of course, because paraplegics can't run.

Lucky (or rather unlucky) for him, Doc Scratch decided that the other kids needed to be stopped first. He shot Tavros in the chest and ran outside.

Tavros felt his breath hitch in his chest. Everything was slowly bluurrrrrrrrriiiiing and getting sloooower aaaaaaannndd slllllloooooowwwwwwwwWWWHEEEEEEEEE! I'M COMIN' FOR YA, TAVBRO!

Waaaiiit,, whaaaattt?

Gamzee ran in through the front door. "Whoah, bro, you look like you ain't doing so good!"

"N-no shit," Tavros smiled weakly.

"Wait till you see my motherfucking sweet ride outside! We'll take you back to the hospital and get you fixed up all nice and good, you hear me?"

Tavros hugged Gamzee with as much strength as he could muster and then passed out in the middle of the floor.

Gamzee smiled, then picked him up and carried him to a buggy outside before driving away and leaving Scratch and a bunch of dead little girls behind.

Tavros woke up a little later in the hospital. Gamzee was by his side, wearing a nurse's outfit, and Tavros couldn't help but be reminded of the joker.

"How are ya, bro?" Gamzee asked, taking Tavros's hand.

"I h-have a headache… Thank G-god I'm back…"

Gamzee sighed and sat on Tavros's bed. "I'm really motherfucking sorry I got you in so much trouble. That Caliborn dude talks big, but I managed to smash his fucking face in and he told me where you guys were."

"Oh. W-well, thanks for trying. I m-mean, you w-were there even when the r-rest of my friends weren't, and you t-tried to make me h-happy, and you do m-make me happy, and you d-don't have to do anything e-else to make me happy because I think m-maybe I love you and I know y-you love me and that's enough."

Silence.

"You love me? For sure?"

"Y-yeah. I'm m-more sure about that than a-anything else at the m-moment, to b-be honest."

Gamzee lay down on the bed so he was next to Tavros, and he hugged him. "You're my best motherfucking bro and yeah, I love you."

The nurse came in at that moment and stared at Gamzee. "Uh… why are you wearing…"

"Bitch, I'm in a nurse costume. Get motherfucking used to it. And if you're about to tell me visiting hours are over or some shit like that, I ain't leaving. Absolutely the fuck no. Not just cause my bro needs me, but because I need him right now. Understand?"

The nurse backed out of the room slowly. Tavros smiled, his eyes fluttering shut, and they fell asleep in each others' arms.

I PROMISE THE NEXT ONE WILL BE LESS CREEPY.

I've just been in a creepy kinda mood lately...