I think this is my longest act yet. Yay! It kind of ran away with itself at the end. Also, next installment will be an intermission and Act 21! (This will probably be more than 35 acts OMFG).
Many thanks to obsessed01616, fangirl4you, LinkinPark X, Kerra-Chan, and two guests named scone and kab for your reviews to the last act!
When Eridan pulled up into Feferi's driveway, she was sitting on her front steps with a beach bag beside her and her goggles around her head as some kind of bizarre headband/crown combination. As soon as he started slowing, she grabbed her bag and bounded off the steps, yelling over her shoulder, "Bye, Mom! Be back later!" Eridan could see Ms. Peixes waving from a window while Feferi popped open the passenger door and climbed in. "Hey! How was your morning?"
"Pretty good."
"Your mom do the whole third degree thing about your brother?"
"Like always."
Fef giggled and dug around for something in her bag. "Nice to see someone hasn't changed!" She pulled out a fuchsia-colored beach towel and unbuckled her seatbelt. She twisted around and draped the towel lengthwise over her seat, sat back on it, and grabbed a bottle of sunblock. "It's supposed to be really sunny today," she said by way of explanation.
"Well, thanks for puttin' down the towel." He didn't relish the thought of sunblock being smeared on his leather seats.
"Yep! I got your best interests at heart!"
He scoffed at that but didn't answer. Sometimes he wondered. He chanced a peek at her as she rubbed sunblock on her arms and neck, trying to decide if now might be a good time to tell her. It would be easy—"Fef, I like you as more than friends, an' I was hopin' you felt the same." But the words stuck in his throat.
"Quit being a creeper," she said mildly.
Maybe she knows already. But if she did know, he couldn't tell how she felt about it. That by itself was enough to keep him silent; if he told her and she didn't like him back, she might not want to be friends with him anymore, and at this point, he would much rather stay quiet and stay her friend than lose her forever. Maybe it was better this way.
The beach was a good half an hour away, but considering it was halfway through October, there weren't that many other cars heading their way, and when they actually got to the beach, the parking lot was maybe a quarter full. In the summer, it would always be packed and they'd have to fight to get their surfboards past the throngs of people in the sand, but the waves right now sucked and all Feferi wanted to do was swim anyway. When they got out of the car, the air had a slight bite to it and a shiver spread across Eridan's skin, but Feferi didn't seem to notice the cold. She hoisted her beach bag over her shoulder, draped her towel around her neck, and awkwardly charged to the waterline, her mad dash impeded somewhat by the fuchsia-colored flip-flops she wore.
Eridan had chosen sneakers without socks. He knew there was no way he was making it through today without sand covering every inch of him, but that wouldn't be so bad if he stayed dry. If he got wet, though, the sand would stick to him and make his car a mess, and he wanted to avoid that if possible. He'd probably have to hose Fef off before he let her back into the car. Still, he flung his own towel around his neck like a scarf and followed her out into the sandy beyond, where she seemed determined to scope out the best place to set her belongings down.
She took one look at him and nearly collapsed with laughter. "You look like a tool! Take that off—it's embarrassing!"
"Embarrassin' you or me?" he asked, flinging the trailing end around his neck for emphasis. "I feel no embarrassment whatsoever." He stood up straight and put his hands on his hips, and the sight had her doubling over again.
"Oh, my cod, Eridan, please stop," she laughed, tears streaming down her face. She reached out to tug at his makeshift scarf, perhaps to unwind it from his neck, but he took a step back quickly and she lost her balance. Before he could even think to react, she'd pitched forward, and, with a shriek, faceplanted right into the sand.
For half a second, he wondered if she'd be mad for laughing, but he didn't have time to wonder for long because he almost fell over himself, crying with laughter. Feferi lay there for a few moments and from under the sand, he heard her groan before she finally lifted her head. His laughter had nearly died away by then and he struggled to contain himself. She was glaring at him with her face covered in sand apart from where her glasses had been (now stuck in the sand where she'd fallen) and sand stuck in her hair, and he lost it all over again. His legs simply gave out and he sat down hard in front of her, chest aching from laughter. She spat out a mouthful of sand at him and that was finally enough to curb his giggles.
"Glub off," she grumbled, rolling over and brushing off her knee-length skirt. That was how he knew she wasn't really angry—she'd used a fish pun instead of telling him to fuck off.
Eridan sucked in two deep breaths before unwinding the scarf from around his neck and using it to brush the sand from her hair. "That was kind a' funny, you have to admit."
"I guess," she said grudgingly. She reached behind her for her glasses to inspect the damage. Fortunately, the glass wasn't cracked—the frames were a little bent, but that was easy to fix. She set them in her bag, laid out her beach towel, and shimmied out of her skirt and shirt. "There's an easier way to get the sand off," she pointed out, adjusting her goggles over her eyes. "I'll be back in a bit." She stood up and ran to the waterline, going under as soon as the water was deep enough.
He laid out his own towel and peeled off his shirt to use as a pillow. It was still cold, but now there were trees in between the sand and the parking lot to block the wind and he was right in the sun, so he didn't shiver. He took off his glasses and closed his eyes, but now that Feferi wasn't here anymore, there was nothing to distract him.
He didn't even want to think about Sollux, but his head was apparently in no mood to listen because he was the only thing Eridan could think about. It didn't actually happen, he told himself. I dreamed it. It doesn't mean anything. And even if it did, he's a dick. I have way better taste than Sol Captor.
He sighed without meaning to. No matter what he told himself, doubt lingered at the back of his mind. It'll go away, though. Just ignore it and it'll go away. Besides, there's Fef. But there wasn't. Not until he found the words to tell her what was really in his heart, but that might never happen. But there had to be some reason neither of them had dated anyone else (his fling with Vriska had been a mistake, and Feferi didn't know about that, so as far as she was concerned, they'd both been single for the extent of their friendship). Was she waiting for him to make the first move or was she hoping he wouldn't? It was all so needlessly complicated, and he wished he didn't like her so much. If he cared a little less, it would be so much easier for him to tell her, and if she didn't return his feelings, he could walk away like it never mattered at all. But it did matter and he was afraid of what that meant.
He wished he could talk about it with his best friend, but she was the whole problem. It wasn't fair. He wasn't great at making friends, either, so it wasn't like he could randomly go up to someone else and spill his guts. When all was said and done, the only thing he could do was wait for a better time, for better words.
"Come on, when was the last time we actually did something?" Aradia whined, tugging on Sollux's arm.
"Last Sunday."
"With other people," she continued in the same tone.
"Last Sunday," he repeated. "With TZ. You invited yourself over, remember?"
"Come on, it was her birthday on Thursday! You have to come! Everyone will be there!"
Sollux raised an eyebrow. "Who's 'everyone'?"
"Well, Terezi, for one. I think she invited your friend Karkat, and he's bringing a couple of people, and I asked Nepeta if she and Equius would come and I think she bullied him into saying yes. I invited Kanaya, too, so you have someone to keep you company in your misery! Come on, you're one of Terezi's best friends! You have to come along!"
Sollux closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'll do it, but I won't like it."
"Trust me, neither will anyone else."
That was how Sollux found himself squished in the backseat of Equius's Suburban with Nepeta (who must have weighed all of about a hundred and twenty pounds) on his lap and Karkat squished (although not quietly) between him and John Egbert. Aradia and Rose Lalonde were next to Equius in the front seat, and Terezi was on her way to the same club as them with her sister and her sister's boyfriend. Dave Strider, Kanaya, and Tavros Nitram were also on their way in Gamzee Makara's tiny Focus (he was one of the other rich kids who was able to afford his own car). It promised to be a fun-filled night, and Sollux prayed it was over quickly.
It only got worse when Equius parked between Gamzee's purple car (not the same blinding purple shade as Eridan's BMW, but definitely a custom job) and the Jeep Rubicon that Terezi was climbing out of. She waved, grinning wickedly, and called, "Hey, guys!" She pointed to the two people who were also hopping out and added, "That's my sister Latula and her boyfriend Mituna!"
No. Fuck, no. FUCK, no! He tried to tell himself that Terezi had not just said "Mituna," but there he was, his mirror image waving at him like a loon and several people did a double take. "Can someone please take me home?" he grumbled, slouching in his seat so those gathered outside the cars couldn't see him.
Nepeta practically pounced on him. "He looks just like you!" she said excitedly.
"He should. He's my fucking twin."
Aradia had a hand over her mouth and she looked to be trying not to laugh. "I'm so sorry—I had no idea who Latula's boyfriend was!"
The rest of them piled out of the car and into the night air while Sollux stretched out on the backseat and flung his arm over his eyes. He didn't care if they left him in here all night—there was just too many people and one of them was his twin brother who he loved, he really did, but he didn't really like the guy. It was not funny in the slightest.
The door at his head opened up and a pair of strong hands grabbed him by the shoulders and started dragging. "Come on, fucktruck," Karkat snapped, "if I have to put up with the fucking impending jackassery, then so do you!"
"Fuck my life," he grumbled. "I don't know what you're all pissed about anyway—it's your fucking girlfriend's birthday party."
"She's not my girlfriend and I don't like your brother any more than you do. Jesus, you're both assholes, but at least you're not as much of an asswagon as he is."
Sollux groaned and allowed himself to be marched into the club, where the rest of the party was already assembled.
After they paid the cover charge, he had literally two seconds to breathe before he heard a war cry and, a moment later, someone threw themselves at him in a bone-breaking hug. "Sollux!" his twin cheered. "Good to see you again!"
"Hey." He reluctantly returned the hug as best he could, considering Mituna had his arms pinned to his sides, and wondered why everyone felt the need to attack-hug him. He glanced over his brother's shoulder to note the few people looking at them quizzically and disentangled himself from Mituna's hug. Once he caught his breath, he explained sullenly, "Mituna Captor, my brother."
"Twin purrother!" Nepeta interjected happily.
Oh, my God. That was terrible. "Right. Naturally." Desperate for any way to get the attention off himself, he opened his arms in Terezi's direction and said, "Hey, happy birthday!"
Success. Almost immediately, she was mobbed by well-wishers, and Sollux was able to slink away.
Ten minutes later found him lingering on a couch next to the dance floor but well out of sight of anyone who might feel the need to accost him. He hoped everyone would be distracted by everyone else and not notice him—Mituna had his girlfriend and Terezi and Karkat would probably pretend not to be flirting all night and Tavros pretty much always had his arms around Gamzee and Aradia and Equius would most likely end up snuggled up in some corner before the night was over, so the odds of anyone noticing he was lurking far away seemed pretty slim.
Well, Nepeta might notice his absence, but he wasn't too worried about her. Her shipper heart was probably fluttering a mile a minute with all the couples and potential couples floating around.
In the meantime, he had to think of another new prank to pull on Eridan, preferably before the end of the weekend. Ampora's challenge would not go unmet—he refused to let the bastard win. The problem was, the good pranks he could play involved him having access to where he lived. He had no idea where Ampora parked that stupid BMW of his at night, much less have a key. He didn't want to fuck with the car again—repeating himself would be in bad form. It was also a fine line between clever and cruel when it came to tricks, and he didn't want to cross that line. He was in quite a bit of a quandary, so he let his mind wander, hoping something would come to him.
The club started filling up and he saw Aradia start dancing, oblivious to the fact that she was the only person on the dance floor. Equius watched her, visibly uncomfortable, but Sollux could tell he wanted to join her. Soon, Rose was tugging Kanaya to the dance floor as well, followed by a few people he didn't know and then Terezi and Karkat.
Someone sat down on the sofa next to him and he turned to look. Dave Strider was sitting there, his left ankle resting on his right knee, his sunglasses still on despite the dark of the club, and his phone out, reflecting in the sunglasses. Sollux wondered if he should say something, but decided against it. If Strider wanted a conversation, he'd start one. Still, he expected to see John Egbert trailing behind him—aside from at their apartment building, the two appeared to be inseparable.
"My brother's a bit of a dick, too," Dave said abruptly.
Sollux blinked. "Mituna's not bad."
"Neither is Dirk." Dave shrugged. "There's a personality clash there, though."
He nodded and settled back. "Not too far off." He looked at his hands for a moment. "Where's John?"
Dave let out a snort of laughter. "Creeping on that Nepeta chick, probably. I decided to leave him to it. She's got that huge fucking horse of a friend to watch her back, so if John does something stupid, he'll have whatever's coming to him."
Sollux grinned in spite of himself and glanced to where Equius had been standing, watching Aradia. He was gone now. He moved his gaze to the dance floor and ice flooded his veins.
He stood up, watching as Aradia smoothly extracted herself from the grip of some strange guy only to have him follow her. Kanaya left Rose to put herself between the stranger and Aradia and looked to be telling him to back off, but the guy grabbed her arm and yanked her to the side, out of his way.
Time seemed to slow down for Sollux. Without conscious direction, his feet took him to where the guy was getting closer to Aradia, and he must have been crazy because he grabbed him by the shirt, spun the guy to face him, and sank his fist right into his jaw.
He had a good five inches on this guy but maybe about ten pounds. Still, he'd put every ounce of strength behind the swing, and even if it didn't do any serious damage, it was enough to send a drunk scurrying into the corner, obviously thinking Aradia to be more trouble than she was worth.
A hand appeared on his arm and he turned and there was Aradia, looking shaken but otherwise unharmed. All of a sudden, time sped back up and he was hit by a wave of nausea. He left the dance floor, speeding up as he went, until he was running full-tilt out of the club, past Gamzee and Tavros and John and Nepeta and his fucking brother and Equius was following him and he was pretty sure Aradia was behind him too but now he was out of the door, turning right and sprinting down the sidewalk until he got to the side of the building. He braced his hand against the brick wall, legs trembling before finally giving out, and the next thing he knew, he was puking his guts out in a patch of grass next to the club.
This is so fucking humiliating. At least the night air was a welcome relief from the stifling club. Then Aradia was crouching in front of him, carefully avoiding the vomit, cupping his face in her hands. "Sollux. Sollux, look at me."
His eyes met hers.
"You okay?" she asked softly.
He nodded slowly. "I don't think I ever hit someone before in my life."
She chuckled softly. "You did fine. I'm glad he didn't try to hit you back. If he'd broken your nose, your pretty face would be ruined and then what would you be good for?"
A smile tugged at his mouth.
"I apologize," Equius's deep voice said from behind them. "I should have been watching for you."
"That's not your job." She turned back to Sollux. "Can you stand?" When he nodded, she helped him to his feet. "What I want to know is where the fucking bouncers were. They're the ones who are supposed to watch out for shit like that."
"Can we go home now? Please?" Sollux asked, well-aware that he was whining but not caring. His fist was throbbing and he wasn't convinced he hadn't broken his knuckles. His delicate hands were made for typing, not punching.
Aradia laughed softly. "Yeah, we can go. We should say goodbye first. Call a cab. I'll pay," she added. She kissed his cheek gently and let go of him. "I'd wait by the door if I were you."
While she was inside, he did as she bid and called a cab. It arrived fifteen minutes later, about ten seconds after Aradia said goodbye to everyone and kissed Equius full on the mouth. She hurried outside and herded Sollux into the cab, and it wasn't until the door closed next to her that he felt truly able to breathe again.
*lets out huge breath*
Okay. I'm cool now.
Poor Sollux... he would totally be the guy who flies to defend their friends and then go into shock afterwards!
