A/N: To everyone reading, reviewing, favoriting, and following this story, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! Seriously, every time I get an email about this story I get this dopey grin on my face, and it makes my day so much better. And if you guys have any suggestions, feel free to let me know.

Also, still don't own Homestuck...


Nearly three hours, a lunch break, and an awkwardly silent car ride later, we pulled up to my apartment building. We walked up the stairs to the second floor, and I led her down the hallway leading to my door. Vriska made a point to walk on my left side, either to keep me in her vision or to hide her left side from me, I had no idea.

Suddenly, a solid force slammed into my back, causing me to stumble forward slightly, followed by a shrill voice blaring in my ear, interrupting my internal musing.

"Kanaya!" My entire body went rigid when I recognized the voice. Really, I should have known who it was right away. After all, how many friends greet you by just about pouncing on you?

"Nepeta, could you please let me go." Don't get me wrong, the girl was one of my closest friends, but it was hard to hold a bag and be in a death grip-hug at the same time.

"Sure thing!" She released me, and I turned to see a huge grin on her face.

Nepeta Leijon was definitely one of the most unique people I had the pleasure of knowing. With shaggy dirty-blonde hair that reached the nape of her neck, hazel eyes, freckles spotting her cheeks and nose, and a smile that almost always seemed to be on her face, she was certainly a character. Even though she was a short, slightly chubby girl, her bubbly personality alone seemed to fill up any room she stepped into.

"I saw you run out of here last week, and I had no idea where you went. I was gonna ask you, but you looked so worried, and you were in such a hurry!" Nepeta told me, and then noticed Vriska standing slightly behind me. When we spun around her injured side was closest to me, and she had maneuvered herself so that her left shoulder was behind me, and her long hair fell over her left eye. "Hi there! I'm Nepeta, what's your name?" Nepeta, being left handed, thrust her left hand out to shake Vriska's hand.

"Vriska." She replied, raising her right hand, much to Nepeta's confusion. Recovering quickly, Nepeta swapped her left hand with her right, and pulled Vriska into a hug, causing her to drop the bag she was carrying. "Whoa!"

"I should have warned you, she's the huggy type." I giggled at Vriska's obvious discomfort, unable to help myself.

"Hugs make the day better!" Nepeta told me as soon as she released Vriska. That's when she got her first unobstructed view of Vriska, and shock briefly flashed across her face, but she quickly recovered. "So, are you staying with Kanaya?"

"For a little while." Vriska told her as she picked up the bag she dropped.

"Well, then, I can't wait to get to know you. I'll see you around!" With one final smile she turned and walked to her apartment.

"She's… different." Vriska said as she stared at the direction Nepeta had just gone.

"Different, weird, strange, unique, she's heard them all, that's for sure. But she's also one of the most loyal people I know. She's the most kind-hearted person I know. And if you think she's weird, you should meet her roommate." I turned and started walking towards my apartment once again. After a moment's hesitation, Vriska turned and followed behind. I led Vriska to my apartment and unlocked the door, allowing it to swing open to reveal my tidy apartment.

"Geez Fussyfangs, this place is awesome!" She had a grin plastered across her face, the first real smile I had seen since we left the hospital. "How'd you afford such a nice apartment?"

"Well, I did really well my freshman year, and was able to apply for some scholarships. I also held a job all year, so I had some extra money, and I hated my dorm, which was like the size of a shoebox, so I upsized." I told her.

"Must be nice…" She muttered while spinning to see all of the living room/kitchen area.

"It gets a bit lonely sometimes." I stopped walking once I realized what I had just said. I hadn't told anyone else that, and had no idea why I'd just let that little secret loose. Vriska turned to look at me, her head tilted to the side. "Anyway, the bedroom is this way, and you can put your stuff in there." I motioned to the hall to the left, and quickly walked towards it. Once inside I tossed Vriska's bag onto my unmade bed, furrowing my eyebrows in concentration, trying to figure out what was going on with me lately.

"So I take it that means there's no Mr. Fussyfangs?" Vriska's voice sounded behind me. I turned to glare at her, but the look quickly died when I noticed her strutting, really, there was no other way to describe the way she was moving, into the room.

"Uhh…" I realized that I was staring open-mouthed, and I quickly shut my mouth, swallowed, and tried to answer her question. "I mean, no. No guy in my life right now."

"Huh." She said, a thoughtful expression on her face that made me feel a little uneasy.

"Well, what about you? Tavros seems to really like you. Anything going on there?" For some reason I felt the need to turn the conversation away from me.

"Eww! God no, that will never, ever, and I mean ever, happen in this, or any other, lifetime. He's like a brother to me." She pulled a disgusted face, then laughed, as she tried to explain it to me.

Moving to sit on the bed, we talked about other non-important things for a while, wasting time until it was dinnertime. Not wanting to make an actual effort, I asked Vriska if pizza was ok, which she vehemently told me it was, and ordered it. A half-hour later we were sitting at the dinner table eating and catching up.

She told me about her crappy job as a waitress at the local sports bar, cringing as she recalled the multiple times she had been hit on while working. She also told me about her and Tavros playing Xbox online and how they were actually a really good team (or at least I think that's what she was telling me, as I had no idea what half the words she said actually meant). I told her about school, the psychology classes that I loved so much, and the idiots in class that only seemed to be in college for the parties. Once I could tell she was getting bored of the school-talk I told her about the friends I had met, and how I wanted to study abroad one semester, but hadn't figured it all out yet.

In the middle of the conversation Vriska broke into a huge yawn, which I couldn't help but laugh at.

"I guess it's time for bed then?" I stood up, throwing out the pizza box and the paper plates we had eaten off of.

"Yeah, sleep sounds nice. So, should I take the couch, or…?" She stood too, shifting from foot to foot.

"What? No! My bed is plenty big enough for us to share. And even if it wasn't I'd never make a guest sleep on my couch. Heck, I'd take the couch before I'd let you."

"Are you always this hospitable?" Vriska smirked, clearly mocking my hostess-routine.

"Shut up…" I grumbled and walked towards the bedroom. Laughing, she followed me and went to her bag to grab some pajamas. I walked to my closet and pulled out a long t-shirt and went to my bathroom to change.

Once I was properly prepared for bed I walked back into my room, and once Vriska saw me she stood up and went into the bathroom. I made my way to the bed and situated myself under the covers, getting comfortable.

"Hey, Kan…" I cracked one eye open to see Vriska standing over me, her bottom lip between her teeth. I pushed myself up into a sitting position, worried something was wrong.

"What's up? Are you in pain? Are you bleeding? Do you need me to call the doctor?"

"No, jeez, no. It's just… um, would you mind if I took this side of the bed?" Her question confused me, until I realized that if she were to take the other side of the bed her injured side would be facing me when we slept.

"Sure." I offered her a smile before scooting over to the other side of my bed. Internally, I was a little worried about her actions. All day she had been hiding her left side from view, walking on my left side, and blushing and moving if I ever ended up on her injured side. Closing my eyes, my last thought before I fell asleep was that I hoped that this wasn't permanent. This timid Vriska was alien to me, and I found myself missing the old Vriska.


I woke up in the middle of the night, confused at the worry that shot through my system. I had the strange feeling that I was missing something, and then I realized that I was missing something. The space beside me was empty and cold, and this sent an icy fear through my veins.

"Vriska?" I threw the covers off of me and got out of bed. Noticing light coming out from underneath the bathroom door, I figured she was in there. "Vriska are you ok?" I called through the door. Receiving no response I knocked on the door. "Hey, are you okay?" This time, I heard a small whimper within the room. Starting to panic, I tried to open the door, only to find it locked. "Vriska, open the door. Please." Still no response, I reached above the doorframe to find the small key there, and unlocked the door.

I threw the door open, not quite sure what I was expecting to find. My brain, fueled by Dr. Peixes' warnings about depression and mental breakdowns, had run through some of the worst possibilities while I was calling through the door, increasing my anxiety. The thought of Vriska with her wrists slashed open, Vriska lying on the floor unconscious, Vriska ripping open her wounds and bleeding out. All those visions flashed through my mind, but nothing close to what I found.

Standing in front of the mirror without a shirt on, Vriska was simply staring at her reflection. She had removed the bandages herself, so that her face, shoulder, and side were all fully visible.

She turned towards me, and I got my first look of the degree of her injuries. A slash went from her cheek to her hairline, passing right through the middle of her eye. Scars littered her side and shoulder, crisscrossing in some sort of sick version of a checkerboard. Her arm, or what was left of it, was also covered in scars, some deeper than others.

With a harsh sob, she ran into me, wrapping her arm around me, tears flowing freely into the fabric of my shirt. Tears formed in my eyes as well, falling as the normally strong girl broke down in my arms. I sunk to the floor, my legs no longer seeming to support me, and pulled the weeping girl into my lap.

"I'm sorry I keep doing this." She spoke into my shoulder once her sobs reduced in frequency. I pulled back, staring her right in the eyes. Our faces were so close that I could see the individual eyelashes on each of her eyelids. I noticed her left iris, once such a beautiful cerulean blue, had clouded over, turning a dingy sky blue, the cloudiness spreading over her pupil as well.

"Don't you dare apologize! You have every right to do this as often as you need to. And remember, I'm always here if you need a shoulder to cry on." I told her firmly before pulling her into a tight hug.

"Literally." She murmured into my shirt.

"Huh?"

"A literal shoulder to cry on." She tried to chuckle, but the noise came out too broken to be considered cheerful.

"Yes, a literal shoulder will always be here for you." I smiled sadly, burying my face into her hair.

"You don't deserve this."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Her statement freaked me out.

"You don't deserve to be taking care of some horribly disfigured, hysteric, broken girl." She choked out.

"Vriska." I tried to turn her face towards me, but she kept her eyes downcast. "Vriska, you look at me right now." I firmly demanded. Her eyes shot up, looking into mine. "Vriska, you are the most confident, strong, amazing, beautiful girl I've ever known. You are the person that I've always looked up to. You're independent, and strong, and underneath all that attitude, a really caring person. So don't you dare tell me that you're anything less than that. Because no matter what, you are my best friend, and that will mean more than anything else in my life. Do you hear me?"

"Why?"

"Excuse me?"

"Why, of all the people you know, am I your best friend?" A pleading expression colored her face.

"Because you're Vriska Serket. There's really no other explanation. Because you are perfect just the way you are. Somehow, you always manage to bring out the best in me. And because, for some reason, we fit perfectly together." A blush crept over her cheeks during my speech, and I could feel a matching one coloring mine. I let go of her face, but kept my arms around her frame. She leaned her head into my shoulder, breathing deeply as her sobs slowed to a stop.

I don't know how long we sat there before exhaustion started to take hold of both of us, but just before I lost consciousness I heard her whisper two words: Thank you.