Hey howdy hey! Back for another chapter! This chapter is probably going to be slightly different than chapters previous. It's hard to explain without spoiling things, so you'll see what I mean hopefully.

DISCLAIMER: This is the stuff of which I own none of. It is all Andrew Hussie's Homestuck.

Chapter 18

"Hey little dude, you got those drinks out yet?" Dirk asked his brother while picking up the last throw blanket and shoving it in his hallway closet.

"Yep. Just finished." Dave set down the last of the alcohols and apple juices. "I told Rose, Kanaya, and Karkat that they should arrive around 9:30, just cause I didn't want too much awkward standing around."

This kid is smarter than he looks. I'll have to give him credit for it sometime. Dirk thought to himself and smirked. He walked into the kitchen, admiring the plethora of junk food and drinks laid out for the New Year's Eve festivities. "Alright. Looks good. Thanks for helping out Dave." He gave his brother a pat on the head, to which Dave ducked away from. "So," He said, trying to initiate some form of conversation with his sibling.

"Yeah? What's up?" The younger Strider asked while parking his body on the couch.

Dirk shortly followed, sitting on their old lazy-boy. "Any plans for tonight? You know, this will be the first year you have someone to spend New Year's with?"

Dave seemed to ponder this for a second. "Uh… Not really. I guess I hadn't thought about it. Karks and I don't really need to do anything special. I mean, maybe the dumb little kiss-at-midnight thing, but nothing much else…" He paused, changing his face to a confused expression. "Why do you ask? You've never cared much about my love life."

Oh geez. Here we go again. Dirk hated when his brother played the 'you don't really care about me' stuff. "Look. I do care. I just have a funny way of showing it. Besides, I'm just curious is all…"

The younger blond looked at him and smiled. "Ohhh I see what this is about. You don't know what to do with your evening since you won't have your boyfriend to celebrate it with."

They sandy-haired man blushed and looked away. Damn, this is just further proving his point. "Well, what can I say? I haven't seen him since August! That's a long time. I mean, I know it's for his work, but why did he have to go work in England?" He put his head in his hands, trying to fight back his tears.

Dave sighed. "Bro, look. I know you don't like the situation as it is, but he was so excited to take the offer. I'm sure he won't be gone for too much longer. I know they said a year, but who knows? Stranger things have happened. Well, the others will probably be here any minute now, so we should probably go change. We'll talk about this later, okay?"

"Yeah whatever." Dirk sniffed, wiping his eyes under his shades and standing up, heading to his room to change and try to focus on the party.

Grabbing the bags near her feet, Rose stepped out of the car. She walked around to the front to meet her mom, who was dressed in a flashy pink one-shoulder top and tight jeans. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah." Roxy responded, and the two began the trek up to the Strider apartment.

As they got on the elevator, Rose turned to her mother. "Hey, mom?"

The older Lalonde turned to face her daughter. "Yes? What is it sweetie?"

'Sweetie?' Geez, ever since she got home from the hospital she's done this, acting really nice to me. Though, I suppose I can't blame her. She was probably even more scared than I was that we weren't going to see each other again. "So, I know that this party is suppose to be a lot of fun, but I also want you to stay safe. Can you just promise me that you won't drink? I just really don't want the risk of losing you again."

The elevator dinged, signaling them to get out. They both stepped out and continued down the hallway. "Oh Rose." Roxy sighed. "You're turning into such a good person. Such a strong woman. Thank you for looking out for me. Yes, I promise I won't. I wouldn't dream of it for a while now."

The younger of the two smiled. "Thanks mom. That means a lot." She stopped and gave her mother a hug.

"As long as," Roxy continued as they finished their embrace. "You don't either. Well, no getting drunk, because frankly I don't think I can fully stop you. Yes I know that you like alcohol as much as your poor mother. And trust me, you don't act nice when you're drunk."

Rose rolled her eyes, but secretly thanked her. "Yes mother. I promise I won't get drunk." Well, at least Kanaya will be satisfied. With that, they stopped in front of the Strider apartment, which was widely decorated with streamers and colored paper, and stepped in.

"Hi Dave. Thanks for inviting us!" Kanaya said, walking through the door holding a few bags of chips. "Hey Dirk."

Porrim followed in behind her, lugging what Kanaya considered a few too many packs of various alcohols. "Dirk, do you mind giving me a hand with these?"

"Sure thing." The blonde grabbed a few bottles and set them on the table. "Alright. Everyone's here." He grabbed a bottle from the table. "Let's get this party started!" He exclaimed, popping off the first cork.

It didn't take long for Kanaya to see everyone in various states of intoxication. She had decided against partaking in the drinking of alcohol after so many bad memories with her sister. She looked around her, surveying the slight chaos. Well, I would say the worst of us all would have to be Porrim, of course, although Dirk isn't too far behind. He'll give her a run for her money. Of course Dave convinced Karkat to drink too, although neither of them look too terribly far gone. Probably just a bit tipsy. Let's see, Rose is… Oh dear. It seems Rose has found the alcohol and taken it to her liking. Well, I suppose she isn't drunk, so technically she isn't breaking her promise to me. She sighed, glancing over to the last member of the party.

Roxy was sitting in the lazy boy recliner, eating straight from a bag of chips. She took notice of Kanaya staring at her and smiled. "Not much for alcohol are you?"

The raven moved over to the seat next to the older Lalonde. "No, but only because of bad experience. I don't mean to be rude, but why aren't you drinking anything? I figured you would have taken this opportunity to celebrate leaving the hospital and such."

"Well, yes, I usually would. But, two things stopped me. One, recently getting out of a situation that involved me being a bit too drunk leaves a bitter taste in my mouth just thinking about alcohol." Roxy sighed. "And the second is because I promised Rose I wouldn't. Now, she also promised me she wouldn't get drunk, but I suppose she isn't yet…"

The younger girl chuckled. "Yes, you're right. I was just thinking the same thing." She glanced at the television, which was streaming the Times Square New Year's Eve party. Fireworks were going off and music was playing, but it didn't excite Kanaya all that much.

Suddenly, she heard a drink slam down on the table, and turned around to find Dirk raising his hand. "Hey everyone. I has an idea." His speech was very slurred. "Why don't we have a little contest. Who can do the most push ups without…" He took another sip of his beer. "Without falling over. Anyone in?"

Several incoherent words of agreement were said, and everyone but Roxy and Kanaya made their way to the living room, where a space big enough to use was available. This could be fun to watch. Kanaya decided to turn around in her seat so she could get a view of what was about to unfold.

Dirk went first, presumably to show off his 'manliness'. He got down on his hands and into the push up position. He managed to go up and down about three times before collapsing flat on the floor. Everyone burst out laughing, and Dirk struggled back to his feet and grumbled.

Next was Porrim, who Kanaya was pretty sure shouldn't be doing push ups in such a low-cut dress, but honestly, no one will remember anything tomorrow, so who cares? She was even worse than Dirk, only managing about one good one and a half push up before her hands slipped out from under her and she landed on her chest. Once again, everyone was cackling, and Porrim was laughing so hard it took a good five minutes before she even managed to get back on her feet.

Because Karkat knew he wasn't good at push ups, he instead positioned himself under Dave, so that every time he went down he was rewarded with a peck on the lips. Being less drunk than the two adults, he managed about seven push ups before collapsing on top of his boyfriend, throwing them into laughing fits.

"Get a room you two!" Kanaya shouted as she laughed. I don't know the last time I saw Dave do any physical activity. Well, more than his fingers from playing video games.

Lastly, Rose decided to stumble out. She looked at Kanaya, giving her arms a quick flex and flashing a grin before getting down on the ground. She only managed about four weak push ups before she rolled onto the floor, giggling like a little school girl. By this point, everyone was laughing until they cried. Genuine belly laughing. Rose got off the floor and brushed herself off, walking towards Kanaya. "So," she giggled. "How'd I do?"

Her breath definitely smells like alcohol. Well, nothing I can do now. "You did wonderful Rose. Good job." The raven smiled. If I can't keep her sober, then I can at least keep her behaving nicely.

"Hey everyone. It's about 10 minutes to midnight!" Roxy announced as she sat in front of the television.

The younger Lalonde perked up. "Midnight? Already? Okay then."

Before she knew it, Kanaya found herself with her lips locked with Rose's. The blonde's lips tasted like alcohol, and although Kanaya hated the thought of it, it didn't taste all that bad like this. Their lips melted together, the raven savoring every moment. The blonde grabbed onto Kanaya's shirt, pulling her even closer, their upper bodies now with no space between them. The raven was loving every second of it. Well, until she realized where she was. Oh God. Roxy's watching. She's probably so concerned. She probably hates me now.

With that, Kanaya pushed herself away from the tipsy Rose, who stumbled backwards, grinning. Kanaya looked over at Roxy, who glanced in the young Maryam's direction and smiled and winked before turning her attention back to the television. Kanaya groaned, knowing how much she has probably embarrassed herself.

As he looked around and noticed everyone having fun, eyes glued to the tv as midnight approached, realization suddenly hit Dirk. Even in his drunken state, he sulked around the party, deciding to sit on the couch, hands holding his head. This is just great. Everyone is having fun, and all I can think about is Jake. God I miss him. I wish I could see him, if only for a moment. He sniffed, trying to keep his tears back as he took another swig of his beer.

With only about 2 minutes to midnight and Dirk just wanting to go to sleep, his younger brother came up to him, holding some sort of square shaped object. Or three square shaped objects, Dirk couldn't really tell.

"Hey, Dirk." The younger Strider came up to him. "I have something for you."

The sandy-haired man attempted to swat his brother away, only to have his hand glide through the air. "I don't want anything. My evening is fine just as it is. Let me be sad in peace."

Dave came closer, still gripping the square object. "No, dude. You're gonna wanna see this. Trust me. It's worth it." He shoved the square-ish, rectangle-ish object out towards his brother.

Reluctantly, Dirk grabbed the object, which revealed a smiling face adorned with glasses. "Hey chum. It's been awhile hasn't it?" A british voice spoke on the other end.

"Jake?" Dirk rubbed his eyes, making sure it wasn't a drunken haze he was seeing. "Is that really you? I mean it sounds like you, but I can't really tell."

The tan man gave a chuckle. "Yes, it's indeed me Dirk. I figured we have spent the past three New Year's together, this one should be no different, even if I can't be there physically, and it's technically tomorrow here."

The older Strider smiled, wiping away a tear. "It really is you. You're seeing me in such a bad state, huh?"

"It's expected, honestly." Jake sighed. "Well, I can't talk long. This connection is bloody terrible. I just wanted to say this: I love you Dirk. Don't forget that. No matter what happens, or how long I am gone, I love you. I don't know how much longer I'll be there, but you'll be the first to know of my return. But for now, goodnight my sweet prince, and happy New Years."

The clock struck midnight, and everyone was cheering, but Dirk wasn't paying attention to any of it. "I love you too Jake. I'll talk to you soon. I promise."

Without another word, the connection cut out.

For those of you who didn't understand (which makes sense since I did a poor job of explaining it) Jake works as a wildlife preservationist, and took a job working near his hometown in England for a few months. He doesn't have much chance to video chat or anything like that due to bad connections, so he and Dirk attempt to make do with phone calls.

Also, I know the time jumps in this were a little weird, but I kinda wanted a get-to-the-point chapter that was a little bit shorter.

Otherwise, I hope the rest of the chapter was enjoyable to you. See you soon.

~Jane