Jade stopped and looked as the Raven tuft left the apartment and the door filled the room with a deafening slam. Her eyes had shot open wide and they remained this way until Dave's head slowly turned back towards her as she leaned across from him against the wall of the narrow hallway. In an instance it seemed they had been so close but yet this was the farthest they'd ever been.

Of course he took a guess of how Jade felt. Her confusion was noticeable in her envy green eyes. It was just his mind rambling on how exactly he was going to explain all of this. It was as if he should have said, Oh hey I've got a boyfriend who's probably a whore. By the way he sometimes sleeps here. Oh yeah that would have been the perfect thing to say. It was as if he somehow didn't know what to say.

"Dave, who exactly was that?" Jade's tone wasn't as disappointed nor upset as he'd expected. Infact she sounded genuinely curious. But her fists that balled against her hips gave away the anguish and sadness she was internally compacting in her chest. She had probably gone into a mild shock when Karkat slammed Dave beside her just moments ago.

The hallway grew silent and uncomfortably began to shrink, seemingly bringing Dave closer towards Jade in a way he wasn't sure he could handle. "Dave?" Her voice was softer. Dave hadn't noticed but Jade had began looking at her toes and her black long curls shielded her face from him as she seemed to shrink against the wall.

Plip.

There it was. A single tear dripped onto her shoe and yet it was followed by several more. And there stood Dave, unable to speak let alone move. But he somehow found it inside of himself to mutter something. "Jade, I can explain-" THUD.

Jade's body went limp as it sunk to the ground, and to Dave it looked as if the weight of gravity fully smashed her onto her knees and finally to the ground all together. As she collapsed his eyes shot wide and for a moment he had no idea what to do or let alone what was happening.

And as Jade slipped her head to the floor, her eyes closed. The light of the room slipped from her view and her breath steadied from the short gasps from her silent crying to long and drawn out heaves. The ground was so cool against her cheeks. It was as if an icepack was finally administered to her pounding head. And all she could think about was sleep.

Dark. Cold. Sleep.

But it seemed a sudden shake as the light faintly reappeared. It was in small circular blurs and slits that seemed to expand and then disappear again repeatedly. Pudum. Pudum. Pudum. Ugh what the hell was that noise? It was her head.

Rolling over, her palm met her forehead and she then realized she was covered in water. No, sweat. Why was she...? Did something happen with Dave last night?No that couldn't be. She remembered everything up to...Oh that's right. She had remembered her sudden collapse to the floor. And yet she had no idea why it had happened.

Her vision was a blue but she figured it was just the fact her glasses wheren't on her face. She extended a hand and reached behind her, hoping to find a nightstand. But instead she touched something warm and silky with a few ridges. What was that? Rolling over, she paused as soon as she was met with a mop headed Dave. His eyes where closed and his glasses had been removed. (Assuming they where with hers. Somewhere.)

The sun beamed in from the silken red curtains and they reflected Dave's face in such a way, her heart dropped what seemed to be six feet under. Her eyes took in every single feature of his face. The way his freckles seemed to be little tan gems sprawled across his cheeks and shoulders. The way his lips parted in the middle so he could breathe. And his breath was coming out so slowly. It was as if he was frozen infront of her and it made her ache to reach out and brush against him one more time, but she refrained; fearing it would wake him up.

GOOD MORNING LISTENERS, TODAY'S WEATHER IS RAINY FOLLOWED BY A BRIEF THUN- bzzt.

"Nnn...Fucking alarm fuckhissssst." Dave's voice drifted in and out of coherence as he put his face back into his pillow, which was soaking in drool. Dave Strider drools in his sleep. Jade murmured in the back of her head as she softly snickered. Since he was awake, she didn't see the harm in taking her index finger and brushing it over his forehead to brush the golden locks from his view.

"I'm glad you didn't choke on your own vomit last night." Jade cocked her head, she couldn't say she knew what he was going on about. Dave lifted the blanket up, and there lay Jade in one of Dave's spare shirts and shorts. "I don't know how but you threw up all over yourself last night and in the hallway. I had to figure something out." Tick. Tick. CLICK...DAVE STRIDER TOUCHED MY NAKED BODY. Her cheeks rose about 20 degrees in temp and she pushed his shirt down as far as she could to cover her legs.

"I didn't touch you like that. I also didn't take pictures or anything else. But I did wash your clothes and I did charge your phone." Jade was still speechless and she tried to form words. "Does that at least mean I earn a 'Thanks Dave for taking care of me' kiss?" Kiss. He wanted a kiss? Jade shook her head in disbelief. The infamous Strider wanted a kiss from her. HER. She couldn't help but sigh a tad in her mind as she contemplated what would have happened last night if she hadn't knocked herself unconcious. If that's what happened.

Jade didn't remember, but Dave could have told her every detail. From the way he picked her up from the floor and held her in his arms as if she was the most precious artifact on the planet. And to him, she was. But he had no clue on just exactly how to say it. From the floor, he took her into the bathroom and layed her in the shower. He took the time to undress her and lay her down with care as he turned the shower on warm to relax her. She would make small noises here and there. Her nose would crinkle if soap fell against her eyes, and he knew to wipe it off for her.

He sat beside her and washed her hair for her. The black lucious locks slipped through his fingers with ease as he worked in shampoo and conditioner in sync and let it all wash out and down the drain with smell of sickness and alcohol. Her eyes stayed closed and as the water dripped down her forehead, and the smallest of drops would fall from her lashes and to her cheeks like a shortcut. It was something that caught him off guard as he held her upright in the waters downpour.

She never put up a fight with the water or when Dave picked her back up in a towel and carried her to his room. He sat her down on the red satin sheets that covered his bed and placed her head upon the pillows at the head of the bed. After a few minutes of assuring himself she was asleep and alright, he receeded to the hallway to clean up the vomit that was almost staining his carpet. Although he was wrist deep in cleaning, he stopped and pondered just exactly wh y he wasn't feeling bad that Karkat had left. He just...didn't care.

But when he looked into her freshly lit morning face, he saw someone he knew he could trust. And possibly more, but time would only tell.

I'M WAKING UP. TO ASH AND DUST. I WIPE MY BR-

"Hello?" Dave had rolled over to grab his phone before things got sentimental and sappy. But as the voice on the other end spoke, quick and eratic. Surprisingly it was a female. "Dave, we need to talk. It's about Karkat..." Fuck.