I'm back! Meant to update sooner but there was rain for two days so I stayed home and then there was an error or something so I couldn't update yesterday so here I am today. Yay!

Karkat blinked and looked around him. He was surrounded by darkness. Where was he?

"Karkat?" Karkat turned around and froze. Abby was standing behind him. He was about to run over to her but then he saw her eyes. They were blank and lifeless. The eyes of a corpse.

"No…" Karkat backed away and bumped into someone. He turned around and gasped. His parents stared down at him, their dead eyes unblinking. Karkat stepped back and Abby came and stood next to them. They stared at him with their cold eyes and Karkat shivered.

"Karkat…" they whispered. They reached out to him and Karkat took a step back. "Karkat…Karkat…Karkat…Karkat…Karkat…"

"G-go away!" Karkat cried. He felt tears prickling his eyes and he tried to blink them away. "I-I'm sorry! I'm sorry I couldn't save you! I—please just leave me alone! Please!" Abby reached forward and grabbed Karkat's arm. His mom grabbed his left hand and his dad grabbed his right shoulder. "No…please."

"Karkat…" Their eyes seemed to draw him in, to drain him of warmth. Tears were running down his cheeks and he tried to break out of their grip.

"Please…leave me alone! I'm sorry! I am! So just—please leave me alone!"

"Karkat…Karkat…Karkat…"

"Please!"

"Karkat!" Karkat gasped and opened his eyes. Kanaya was leaning over him, a worried expression on her face. "Karkat, you're crying." Karkat wiped his face with his hands and calmed his breathing. It was just a dream. "Karkat, please talk to me. Tell me what you were dreaming about." Karkat pushed Kanaya away and pulled the covers over his head. Kanaya sighed and stood up. "I've left your breakfast on your bedside table. Please eat it." Karkat didn't say anything and Kanaya sighed. After a few seconds she walked out of his room and shut the door behind her.

It had been a week since Abby's death. Karkat had gone to her funeral and met her friends. They all knew who he was and about Abby's crush on him. None of them blamed him for her death. They all assured him he couldn't have done anything to change it. But that didn't change Karkat's opinion. It was all his fault. He'd led her to her death.

Karkat had shut himself in his room. He hadn't spoken to anyone and hadn't responded to phone calls and texts from his friends. Kanaya or Porrim would bring him food but otherwise he would just lie in bed and try not to fall asleep. Whenever he slept they would appear in his dreams to torment him. He wished they would leave him alone.

Karkat peeked out from his covers at the breakfast Kanaya had left him. She'd filled a bowl with his favourite cereal and even put his favourite spoon in with it. Karkat reached over and picked the bowl up. He sat up and nibbled at the cereal. But he just didn't feel hungry. He put the bowl back and lay down and pulled the covers over his head. He shut his eyes and breathed deeply. He muttered to himself to keep from falling asleep. But he was starting to get tired. He bit his tongue and hoped he could stay awake for as long as possible.

"Oh, hi Sollux." Kanaya said.

"Hi. Can I come in?" Sollux asked. Kanaya nodded and he stepped inside. Porrim was sitting on the couch drinking coffee. She smiled to Sollux but Sollux could tell it was forced.

"Hi Sollux. How are you?" she said.

"I'm good. How'th KK?"

"He's hardly eating. He won't talk to me or leave his room." Kanaya said. "And he's getting nightmares. But he won't say what they're about."

"Can I thee him?" Kanaya hesitated, then nodded.

"I'll see if he's up to visitors." She led him down the hallway to Karkat's room. Sollux had been there a few times but Karkat had always thrown a fit and not let him in his room. He'd done the same for his other friends. And he hadn't spoken a single word to anybody.

Kanaya walked up to Karkat's door and knocked lightly. "Karkat? Sollux is here to see you." Sollux and Kanaya waited for him to make a sound but he was quiet. Maybe he was asleep. Kanaya opened the door and peered in. "He's sleeping." she said.

"Can I thtill thee him?" Sollux asked. Kanaya glanced at Karkat, then nodded.

"Just for a little bit." Sollux nodded and walked into Karkat's room.

He was in bed with the blankets pulled over his head. There was an untouched bowl of cereal on his beside table. Sollux crouched next to him and looked at him.

"Hi KK. It'th me." Karkat didn't respond and Sollux was pretty sure he couldn't hear him. He reached over and pulled back the blankets.

Karkat was crying. His eyes were scrunched shut and tears were running down his cheeks. Sollux could tell from his breathing that he was asleep. Sollux frowned and rested his hand on Karkat's forehead. It was hot. He was getting a fever. There was no way Sollux could let him keep doing that.

"Please…leave me alone." Karkat mumbled. Sollux leaned in closer to hear him better. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you. P-please! Just…leave me alone!" Sollux realized he seemed to be talking to Abby. Maybe his parents too. Sollux fingered his charm and stopped. He held it up and looked at it.

"Do you think it could work AA?" he whispered. He pulled the charm off and hung it around Karkat's neck. "Pleathe talk to him. He'll die at thith rate. Pleathe, I don't want him to die. I really want to protect him. Pleathe."

Karkat pulled away from Abby and his parents and curled up into a ball. He covered his head with his arms and sobbed. He wished they wouldn't talk to him. He wished he had done something, maybe things would be different. Maybe they wouldn't be dead.

"Karkat?" Karkat peered through his arms and gasped. He stood up and stared around him. He was no longer surrounded by darkness. Instead he was surrounded by white as far as the eye could see. It reminded him of snow.

Abby and his parents were standing before him. But this time they looked different. They didn't look sad. And their eyes weren't as creepy. They were still dead eyes, but somehow they seemed less threatening than they had at first.

"It's okay Karkat." Abby said. "I'm not upset. It's not your fault. I should have been paying attention." She smiled and stared at the ground. "I'm…really happy you wanted to get to know me." She looked up at him and smiled. "But you still have a whole life ahead of you. You need to go live it, okay?"

"Please Karkat." his mom said. "You have to be strong and keep going."

"We're always watching over you." his dad said. "So you're never alone."

"Please go live a full, happy life." Abby said. "Promise you'll do that? For me?" Karkat opened his mouth to say something but found he couldn't utter a single word. He closed his mouth and nodded. He could feel tears streaming down his face as he did. Abby and his parents smiled. Abby reached out and hugged Karkat. "Thanks for caring about me Karkat. That's more than I could ever hope for." She kissed his cheek and he kissed hers. She smiled and stepped back. "Bye Karkat."

"Goodbye." Karkat croaked. Abby and his parents smiled and waved to him.

"Thee you thoon KK."

Karkat blinked and looked around him. He was lying in bed. His cheeks were stained with tears. He looked around him but he saw no one else in the room. He stood up shakily and walked to the door. He opened the door and stepped out. He stumbled down the hall into the living room. Kanaya and Porrim were watching TV. They stood up when he came in and Kanaya hugged him.

"Sollux?" Karkat asked.

"He just left." Kanaya said. Karkat nodded and sat on the couch. Porrim hugged him and Kanaya sat next to him. He didn't push them away. Instead he stayed quiet and let them comfort him. When Kankri got home he saw Karkat and instantly hugged him.

"I was afraid you were going to die." he whispered. Karkat hugged him back and felt himself start to cry. He buried his face in Kankri's shoulder and breathed deeply.

"I'm sorry." he said.

"It's fine." Kankri said. "We're not mad." Karkat nodded and smiled at Kankri.

"I'm okay now."

Sollux sat in his room and stared at the crescent moon through his window. He rubbed the charm around his neck absent-mindedly. He smiled when he realized he was doing that. He was sure Karkat would be okay now. He held up the charm and smiled at it.

"Thankth AA. You alwayth know exactly what I need."