My mom let Karkat stay the night that night. When Sollux and Equius left, Karkat came upstairs and sat on my bed. He had called his dad already, so he was fine with it. He laid down next to me and sighed. I looked at him, and he just stared up at the ceiling, seeming to be deep in thought. I put my hand on his, and he held mine, and we both just stared up at the ceiling, thinking to ourselves. I had no idea what he was thinking about, but I was thinking about a lot of things.
One thing I thought about was guitar night. That was Thursday, and it was only Tuesday, but I just couldn't wait. I had written a song for it, and was gonna play Follow You Into The Dark as well. I wanted Karkat to be there, because it was my first night there, but I was scared to ask him. For what reason, I didn't know. I guess I was afraid I'd make a fool of myself in front of him. What if I forgot the chords? That would suck major ass if it did happen. My grip on his hand tightened slightly, and he squeezed my hand, and that relaxed me.
I also thought about my friends. Like...they all came to my house because they were concerned for me. I really love all my friends. Even Sollux, though we were never that close. Equius was so close to me, and I was really his only close friend. Outside our small circle, he had no other friends. Karkat had Gamzee and Kanaya, Sollux had Aradia and Eridan, I had Feferi and Terezi... Equius had no one else. I felt so bad, and I just loved the little guy so much, but in the most platonic way possible. Sollux was pretty cool, especially after today, and he's good to vent to, and go to for computer trouble, but that's about it. Karkat.. I could go on for years about him. He was so wonderful, and kind to his friends, and yeah, he's an asshole, but he's our asshole, and we wouldn't take anyone else in his place. To me, he's what kept this group together.
I looked over at him, and his eyes were closed, and he looked like he was asleep, until he turned to look at me. I smiled at him, and he smiled back and squeezed his hand before letting it go. He sat up, stretched, and sighed.
"Wanna go for a walk? The park's pretty empty this time of day, and the nature trail should help your senses calm down... Don't think it's weird, but I looked up sensory overload when I wasn't with you, so I could help you recover.."
"Aww, Karkat, that's so sweet! Yeah, that sounds nice, but let me bring my hoodie, so I can cover my head if need be."
"Sure, what ever the fuck helps. Don't you dare squeak a word to anyone or so help me Nepeta, I will-"
"Sure you will. Now come on, Karkat, let's go before it gets too dark!" I said, getting up and grabbing my hoodie. I put it on, and walked over to him, stuffing my hands in my pocket.
"I- fine. Okay, let's go." He said, looking down at me and ruffling my hair. I scrunching up my nose at him. I'm about a foot shorter than him, what with me being super short (four foot six! Ugh), and him being tall ( five foot nine). I poked his stomach, and giggled, then walked out with him.
"Mom, we're going for a walk, be back before it gets too dark!"
"Okay, Darling. Stay safe!" Mom called back from the kitchen.
We walked out the door and to the park a few blocks from my house. The park was pretty empty, as Karkat said, so we went straight to the nature trail. He hummed softly, stuffing his hands in his pockets. I looked at him, and I smiled.
Karkat was pretty handsome. He had dark brown eyes, messy brown hair, tan skin, and and a neutral expression on his face at all times. His voice was kinda deep, though not the post-puberty kind of deep. His frame was deceiving. He was one of those guys that looked skinny and weak, but could beat pretty much anyone at arm wrestling. He looked ahead of him, not noticing me staring. I looked back in front of me and sighed a bit. My breath could almost be seen in a little puff of air, it was pretty chilly. I shivered lightly, and Karkat must have noticed, because he put his arm around me. I walked closer to him, wrapping my arm around his waist.
We made it to the end of the trail, and we walked over to the swingset and sat in swings next to each other. I looked at him, and smiled.
"It's been a while since we had a sleepover, just you and me, huh?"
"Yeah, and under some pretty shitty conditions, too."
"Karkat, I'm fine, don't worry."
"You nearly passed out in front of half the god damn school! And you say you're 'okay'" He scoffed, looking down. I sighed, and looked down.
"I'm sorry I scared you..."
"It's fine..."
"Are you sure..?
"Yeah."
"Okay.."
"... Hey, I'm just really worried about you, okay? You're my best friend, and you nearly passed out in front of half the goddamn school, and I had no idea why. Do you know how goddamn scary that was?"
"Yeah... I know, it was no joyride for me either... but i'll get over it, okay? I always do."
"Okay..." And then there was silence for a bit.
"...Remember when we were kids, and we used to play with dolls? And we made them fall in love and get married?"
"Yeah.. what about it?"
"I dunno, I was thinking about it.. Remember when Ms. Sally and Ms. Andrews got married, and out parents flipped a tit, and we were so confused as to why?"
"Yeah, that was pretty funny...what about it?"
"I dunno... I've been thinking about us as kids a lot recently... things sure have changed, huh?"
"Yeah, they really have..."
"The earliest thing I remember is when we were little kids, really little, and you said you had been having bad dreams, and that's the first time I kissed away your bad dreams... And then we just..never stopped doing that... and I remember that time we got in trouble because we were bored, and my dad fell asleep, so we decided it would be a good idea to have a water gun fight... in the living room. My dad was so mad..." He said, smiling the slightest bit.
"We've been through a lot together, you know that? And we can go through more. You're my best friend, and I'm not letting you go, okay?"
"Yeah, I know... I'm not letting you go, either! Because, well... I love you, in the most platonic way, you know that?" He said, his face flushing a bit. I laughed slightly and smiled.
"I love you platonically too. Now, come on. We gotta get home before it gets too dark."
Karkat nodded and took my hand, walking me back to the house. When we got inside, mom called us in for dinner, and we sat next to each other, eating happily. We don't see moments like these very often anymore, but I'm glad this one happened.