CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Your name is Dave Strider and lately you've been feeling as dull as the overcast sky.

Something was wrong; a nagging feeling of anxiety twisted in the pit of your stomach and was festering at the back of your mind. What was it? What was it?

You let out a frustrated groan and rolled over onto your side. Lately you have been sending most of your free time in bed. Which was unusual for you, even if the world outside was now covered in a blanket of white. You were leaving for Thanksgiving tomorrow.

You had already talked plans with Dirk and your older brother. They wanted you to come down for a visit.

They wanted to meet Jade.

Speaking of which... Your phone was vibrating in quite an obnoxious way.

You reluctantly reached your arm out to fumble for the buzzing thing. On the screen read a caller ID. "Jade."

You gazed at the name silently for a long while until the call went to voicemail. With a thump, you fell back onto the bed, looking up at the ceiling. With your free hand you ran your fingers through your messy hair, exhaling deeply.

You felt the phone begin vibrating again in the palm of your hand.

Sighing in defeat, you sat up. Yawning, you tapped the Answer button.

"Hey." You said more groggily than you had intended. A light laugh leaked through the speakers.

"Hey, sleepyhead." You could practically hear the smile in Jade's voice. You rubbed the back of your neck absentmindedly. "Are you ready for tomorrow?"

"Yeah, yeah." You mumbled, closing your eyelids. "You could say no, you know. It was my annoying family's idea."

"It's totally fine!" Jade answered cheerily. You 'mmmh'-ed in response. "I'd like to meet your family. You've kind of already met mine." She giggled.

"Mine's' a lot worse."

"Oh, I'm sure they're not that bad." Jade sighed through the phone, a kind of relaxed sound. "I can't wait to see you again." She said in a soft, adoring voice.

"Yeah." I looked sideways out the window. There was that feeling again... "Uh, I'll pick you up tomorrow morning, right? At your place?"

"Hmm. Actually, I think you should meet me outside of Starbucks. There's a lot of people parking around here. For the holidays, I think."

"Kay."

"See you soon." Jade's voice was sweet again. Soft and tender. "I love you."

Those words. Again with those words. "Bye, babe."

You tapped the End Call button and tossed the phone aside. This weekend was going to be a long one...

You tucked your hands into your pockets and turned against the biting wind. Your red car was parked along the road, right in front of Jade's Starbucks. It was quite cold today. At least it wasn't snowing... Though yesterday's storm had left plenty of it to last for a while.

You exhaled, letting out a breath of warm air. Where was Jade?

"Hey."

You kept looking down the road, ignoring the voices nearby.

"Hey!"

"You talkin to me?" You looked up in annoyance. Who...

It was a girl, standing in front of you with a crooked smile on her face. She stuck her hands in the pockets of her jacket, hip jutting out to one side. A silly looking red hat was sitting atop her head. There were what looked like horns and eyes sewn onto. Like a lizard or something.

"Yeah, goofball. Do you see anyone else standing around in this weather?" Her voice had the slightest hint of raspiness.

"Can I help you?" I sighed.

"You're Dave, right? Strider?"

"How do you know that? Who the hell are you?"

She laughed, a loud, nasally sound. "Don't recognize me? I'm Terezi. Karkat's friend. I was at that college party a few months ago."

It took a few moments of thinking for the gears in your mind to click into place. "I think I remember. Your Kitkat's girlfriend, then? You here to see him?" You said, peering into the windows. Sure enough, he was definitely in there. In all his small, scruffy glory.

Terezi giggled, pushing a stray strand of red hair from her face.

"Wait wait wait. Aren't you blind? How did you..."

"Recognize you?" She pulled her red tinted glasses down to the tip of her nose, winking at you with big blue eyes. "I got surgery a while back. It's still not perfect, but it's better."

"Bet it doesn't help wearing hose tinted shades." She laughed at this statement.

"This is true!"

"Well, good for you. Havin' sight and shit." You said, and you actually meant it. Terezi seemed like a nice chick, and in your memory you recall that she was pretty hot, too. Her hair seemed a bit longer, hanging in choppy cuts at her shoulders. "Sorry I didn't get a chance to talk with you at the party."

She smiled; she had a very bright smile, wow. "It's no big. Nice to meet you, Strider!" She held out a gloved hand. Fingerless-glove, nice.

You pulled a hand out of your pocket and shook. "Yeah, nice to meet you Tez."

She burst into a fit of laughter, covering her face with a hand. "You do like to give people silly nicknames!"

You couldn't help but feel your nearly-numb lips pull up in a smile. Her laughter was infectious. "Who told you that, Karkles?"

"Karkles!" She choked in a new wave of laughter, bending over. You felt your shoulders shake in shared laughter. Terezi took a deep breath, beaming. "Hey, kid. You should come inside and warm up. Karkat can make you some coffee, on me." She gestured to the Starbucks behind her, Karkat was peering over in squinty suspicion.

"There's no need..." you started shaking your head but Terezi was suddenly yanking you forward.

"Nonsense! It's fucking cold out here, dude."

"That is true..." You huffed as the door flew open with a jingle.

The moment you both entered Karkat was opening his mouth in greeting, frowning as he saw you.

"Hey yo, Karks! Whip us up some of the good shit." Terezi called to him, to which he grimaced.

"Why is that douchbin with you?" He hissed under his breath, eyeing a curious customer that was watching the scene.

"I picked me up a boy. Coffee!" She released your arm, clapping her hands together. Karkat shot a spiteful glare at you, but obliged Terezi's demands. "C'mere." Terezi was grabbing your wrist, leading you over to a table. You sat down next to each other.

"So" Terezi put an elbow on the table, leaning onto her hand. She gave you another of her crooked smiles. "Why were ya' freezing your cute butt off out there in the snow?"

"Nothin' really. I was just waiting for someone."

"Outside?"

"I guess."

"You're a dork." She giggled, nudging me with her shoulder. "Are you free this weekend?"

She was totally flirting. You couldn't really blame her, this Strider is a hot piece of work. Well...cold mostly. But warming up.

"Here." A stiff, furious voice spat next to you, a hand slamming down a cup.

"Thanks bro."

"I'm not your bro." Karkat hissed at you, pushing Terezi's cup towards her. She tossed him some money.

"Keep the change." She winked at him. He rolled his eyes and walked away. You could practically feel the waves of hostility coming off of him.

"So..." Terezi ran her finger across the lid of her cup, looking at me with a sly smirk.

"Oh, yeah shit. Sorry, I'm actually going to visit family in...basically a few minutes I think." You looked outside, suddenly remembering Jade. Still nothing...

Terezi pouted, "Aww boo."

"Well, I might see ya around. You live nearby, yeah?" You took a sip of the coffee Terezi had bought you, the liquid spreading warmth into your chest. "Damn, this is some good shit."

"I know right?" Terezi flashed a toothy grin. "Do you know where I live or something?"

"Kinda. I walked Karks around once." Ah, memories. "The little guy was a lot friendlier at the time."

"Shut the hell up, fuckbag!" Karkat's voice called across the shop, earning a shocked look from the lady in the corner. You chuckled at this and Terezi snickered.

"Oh, that was you? Yeah I remember that." She glanced over at the front doors. "Is that yours?"

"Huh?" You jerked your gaze back to the windows. Jade was standing outside, hair messy in the wind. She appeared to be dragging a suitcase. "Shit. Yeah, sorry. Thanks for the liquids." You moved to stand up but her hand darted out.

"Wait a sec. Take out your phone."

"Uh. Okay." You obliged, and she quickly took it from your hands. She started typing something onto the screen. "Should I be concerned?"

Terezi smirked and handed it back to me. "Call me sometime, cool kid. Have a good weekend."

"Yeah, you too." You said, nodding once and shoving your phone in your pocket. Coffee in one hand, you waved back at Terezi quickly and left the shop. "See ya, Kitkat." He just groaned in response from behind the counter.

"Oh, Dave!" Jade looked up when you stepped outside, eyes bright and greeting you with an excited smile. You inhaled sharply. Being around her was still kind of... exhilarating. She really was a pretty girl. "Sorry I took so long... I was trying to figure out what I want to wear. I wanna look good for your family after all."

"No need, you always look good." I replied smoothly, popping open a car door for Jade to shove her stuff in the back seat. She tossed the goods inside and I walked her around to the other side, opening the passenger door for her.

"Aw, just like our first date." She cooed, smiling at me goofily. I chuckled softy.

"Yeah..." And then we had commenced our migration south for the Holidays. If one would refer to an awkward 'this is my Girlfriend' meet-and-greet with your family a holiday. Well, what's a guy to do.

Luckily the roads weren't too bad yet and the drive down went pretty smoothly. Jade seemed overly excited about 'traveling'. You guess you forget sometimes that she's from an island. A damn island. Honestly, how is that even realistic...

Regardless, she was an excitable girl. Jade wanted to talk about everything, it seemed.

"What were you doing in Starbucks?"

"Have you always lived in Texas? I mean, until now of course."

"Are you actually related to Rose?"

"Do you think your family will like me?"

"Do you have any pets? I love dogs!"

A few hours later you were nearly there. At your old house. At your brother's house... God dammit.

Talk about being mentally exhausted.

Jade was practically bouncing in her seat when we pulled into the driveway. "Is this your house? Oh my god, it's so pretty and big!"

"Yup. There it is." You said half to yourself.

There it was. Looming above you. You were going to be stuck here for three days with your bizarre 'family' while everyone was assessing your new girlfriend. Jade certainly seemed to think this was fine. This was not very fine. Your brothers are kind of pricks. Rose said she was coming down tomorrow, without Kanaya, so that will just add to the excessive snarkiness in the household.

And Jade.

Jade is gonna see all of it. She'll know basically everything now. You wonder if she'll run. Maybe it would be better that way. She was too good...too sweet. You let out a long sigh, running your numb fingers through your hair.

This was going to be a long weekend.

Heyo my peoples. Sorry I haven't written in a while. School and work are annoying as ever and it's SO COLD HERE! Well, anyway, I plan to (hopefully omg) post another chapter on Thanksgiving day. Which is this Tursday I'm pretty sure. I have a break from school so if I dont PROCRASTINATE I should get it out. And then from there I will finally FINALLY start pushing the story where I had sorta kinda planned so long ago when I was starting. I hope y'all are enjoying. Is the writing still good? Has it changed? Give meh feedback 3

Have a good Thanksgiving everyone!