A/N: Thank you all for the lovely reviews! It really means a lot! Also, thank you to my very lovely friend, Skylar for being my beta. Anyway, without further ado, here is chapter two!
Disclaimer: Homestuck and all of its characters belong to Andrew Hussie.
Your name is Dave Strider, and you and your new acquaintance, John Egbert, have just run god knows how much from some guy trying to beat up John. After you're pretty sure you lost him, you stop, turn to John, and almost shout, "What the hell was that? I was going to tell him to stop!"
John looks at the ground, avoiding your eyes and says, "That happens every day and no one ever stands up for me like that, so I got kind of… freaked out, I guess." He rubs the back of his neck. Goddammit, he is so cute. Like a little bunny. Wait, what? You've only known the kid for a few hours, and you're already calling him cute? Great, now you're blushing. Fuck.
You clear your throat, hiding your nervousness, "Hold on… this happens every day?"
You notice that John is about just as nervous as you are. He's twiddling his thumbs and he's stuttering a little. He pauses, as if he's looking for the right words, but only mutters a simple "yes".
You too are now tripping over your own words, "How… how long has this been… going on?"
"Um, a few years…" he says quietly. You can't think of anything else to say, so you hug him tightly. This startles John, you notice. But after a second, he melts into your grasp and begins to cry softly into your shoulder. You move a hand from his back up to hold the back of his head.
"Ssh, ssh, it's okay," you soothe, playing with his messy hair. 'Note to self; don't bring up the bullying thing around John' you think. His grip tightens on you, showing no signs of letting go any time soon. Suddenly you notice that you're standing in the middle of the sidewalk with a sobbing fifteen-year-old latched onto you like a koala. In one quick, fluent motion, you sweep your hands under the backs of John's knees, pick him up bridal style, and sit on the grass on the right side of the concrete strip, with the weeping boy in your lap. He looks at you like a deer caught in headlights with his huge blue eyes. "D-Dave?"
"We need to get you home. I don't want anyone worrying about where you are." You say in a monotone voice.
"Well," he sniffs, "My dad will be at work for a few more hours, but I should probably call Jade."
"Okay," you have absolutely no idea who the fuck this Jade girl is. "Do you need to use my phone?" you offer.
"No, I have my own, but thanks." He stands up, wiping his tears away with the back of his hand. He pulls his phone out of his pocket and dials a number. You can only hear one half of the conversation, but from the way he talks to Jade, you assume that she's John's sister.
"Jade? Hey I'll be home in a little while; I got caught up talking to… a teacher. Okay. Alright. See you at home. Bye." He sits down next to you and lays his phone on the ground.
"So, this Jade chick, are you and her related or somethin'?" you say to the raven-haired boy.
"Yeah," John replies with a sigh, "She's my sister."
"Oh, okay." You both sit in an awkward silence for a minute or two, until John, who is examining a blade of grass says, "Thanks for what you did back there. I'm really sorry I dragged you into this whole mess."
"No." you state plainly.
"What?" John asks, cocking his head to one side.
"You shouldn't be the one apologizing, I should. And don't say you're sorry for dragging me into this. None of this is your fault, and I stood up for you because I wanted to, John."
"But you really didn't have to. I could've —"
"Don't say you could've handled it on your own. Your passive personality and bruises on your body say otherwise." You add flatly.
"But Dave—"
You shut him up with a firm kiss on the lips. His eyes blow wide, and then he begins to kiss you back. He's kissing you back! John Egbert, the boy you've been secretly admiring all day, is kissing you back! Yes, earlier, you bumped into him purposefully, but that doesn't matter right now. Your hand snakes up to the back of his neck, deepening the kiss. But just as quickly as the kiss began, it stopped. John pulled back, looking extremely flustered. "People are staring at us…" he says, almost inaudibly. You look at his face, which is bright red in color, and say, "Then maybe we should go somewhere more…" you lean in to whisper in his ear, "… private." His face turns even redder, (if that's even possible) a shiver runs down his spine, and he bites his lip as if he was holding back a moan. You were in public, after all. "So, which way to your place, Egderp?" you say.
"We, uh, can't go back to my h-house," John says shakily, "Jade's home."
"Damn. I thought we'd have time for a quickie." The skinny boy is noticeably aroused by this. You store this information in your brain. It could be useful later. "Dude, I'm just kidding. But really, where's your house? The least I could do is walk you home."
"Um," he looks around, scanning the road signs, "We're on Schelby right now, and Schelby intersects with Kingswood down there, so we'll have to go left. I'll let you know when we get close." You begin to walk down a street called Schelby Avenue. You have no idea where in the everloving fuck you are. Well, then again, you did just move here. John seems to have something on his mind. You grab his hand with yours, intertwining your fingers. John looks at you and smiles, a blush slowly inching on the tips of his ears and across his cheeks. His fingers are very slim and long, you notice. "Do you play piano?" you ask, thinking out loud.
"Yeah, actually. Jesus, what are you, some kind of mind reader?"
You laugh at that last comment, "No, your fingers are just really…skinny. And long. I just kind of assumed."
"Well, you assumed correctly, Mr. Strider." John smiles again and squeezed your hand a little tighter. Hm, Mr. Strider; yeah, you could get used to that.
"Hey, John?" you ask.
"Yes?" he says, kicking a pebble.
"So, are we… uh, dating now?"
"We can be if you want." He smiles lightly, scooting closer to you, so that your arms are brushing together.
"I want to," you say, breaking the signature Strider Pokerface, grinning at your maybe-boyfriend.
"I do, too."
"So we're boyfriends, then?"
"That's kind of what dating means, Dave." He chuckles.
"Alright, smartass. But I don't think it technically counts as dating unless one person has been formally asked out to go on a date," you stop for a moment, pick an orange lily from its original setting, (in someone's flowerbed) hand it out to John and ask, "John Egbert, will you go out with me?"
John takes the flower, kisses your cheek, and replies, "Yes, Dave Strider. I will go out with you." He snuggles his head onto your shoulder. You walk like that for a while, John directing you where to go when needed. Eventually, you arrive at John's big white house.
"Wait, oh my god I just had the best idea hold on." You say, fishing a piece of paper from your wallet and writing your cell phone number on it.
"Dave? What are you…?" John's eyebrows rise in confusion.
"Wait, wait. Hey, I just met you and this is crazy, but here's my number, so call me maybe."
"I might just have to take you up on that offer." John walks over to you, taking the piece of paper from your hands and kisses the corner of your mouth. "Well, I should get going; I don't want Jade to start worrying. She goes a little overboard when she's worried."
"Okay. But can I at least get a goodbye kiss?" you ask, innocently.
"Sure thing, boyfriend."
You're a few inches short of being a whole head taller than John, so you lean down and give him a chaste peck on the lips.
"Are you sure you can find your way home?" he asks.
"I will. And I'm sure Bro won't mind if I'm late."
"Alright, just be safe. See you at school." John stands on his tip-toes and kisses you once more.
"See ya." You say as you walk down John's driveway.
~0~
Your name is John Egbert and you stroll into your spacious house, high on life. You see your sister in the living room, so you decide to go over and talk to her.
"Hey, Jade." You say, drawing out each word longer than they should be.
"Oh, hello, John." your sister turns around and instantly notices how happy you are. "What's got you in such a good mood?"
You're as giddy as a schoolgirl so you sit on the couch next to her and say, "You promise not to tell?"
"Yes, I promise, John." She says, aggravated at your childish antics.
"Pinky promise?" you ask, holding up your pinky finger.
"Good lord, John, just spit it out! The suspense is killing me!"
"Okay, well, I'm… seeing someone. As in, romantically." You see Jade instantly become more interested.
"Ooh! Who is it? Is it that Vriska girl?"
"Well, about that… It's actually a guy…"
"HA! I KNEW IT!" Jade screams, "Rose owes me ten bucks!"
"What? What are you talking about?" you have a bad feeling about where this is going.
"A while back, I was talking to Rose and I said I thought you were gay or at least bi and Rose thought you were completely straight. So we made a bet and now Rose owes me ten dollars."
"You bet on my sexuality?" you say, feeling extremely offended.
"Pretty much, yeah. So who is he? Is he cute?"
"His name is Dave Strider, and he's new here. Today was his first day and he moved here from Texas with his brother. And he's not cute, he's HOT."
"Ooh! What does he look like?" Jade asks, clapping her hands together.
"I'll make sure to introduce you and Rose to him tomorrow. Speaking of, I need to call him! Talk to you later, Jade!" you run upstairs to go to your room. From downstairs, you hear Jade say, "Go get 'em, tiger!" You take the slip of paper Dave gave you, put the number into your phone, and call it. After talking for a while, you and Dave decided on a time and place for your date. You're going to get dinner in a small café near downtown at 6 PM on Saturday. You don't think you're going to be able to wait five whole days for your first official date. You'll at least see Dave at school, so that makes up for it. Dating stuff aside, you still can't believe that Jade made that bet with Rose. You'll have to talk to her tomorrow. Until then, all you can do is fantasize about your date. And you do that into the wee hours of the morning, too excited to sleep.
