All in Time

Chapter 3

I heard a knock at the door. It's definitely Egbert. I opened the door to see that Nic Cage obsessed doofus.

"Hey, Dave. Let me in your house." he says, squishing past me and into my living room.

"Wow, Egderp. That's quite the introduction you did there." I said with my signature sarcasm.

"Oh, shut it, you. I came to ask you that question you refused to answer earlier." He said, turning around to face me.

"Heh, about that. I figured we could just play some games and eat Doritos or something instead." I panicked. Ok, maybe letting his stubborn ass come over wasn't the best idea.

"Dave" John complained. "We can play games after you tell me what's going on with your sleeping"

"John. I don't exactly want to talk about it." I said, pulling my words out like people did when they were nervous or their patience was running thin. I was both.

"Oh, no, Dave. You promised, and you know how I am about promises. I don't let them slip up you are go-"

"John, I said I don't want to fucking talk about it right now!" I yelled, cutting him off. His expression turned into an apologetic frown.

"Sorry, Dave. I'm just worried about you." He said, twiddling his thumbs in his lap.

"It's fine. I just- I'll talk after I calm down, okay?" I said, rubbing the back of my neck.

He nodded and I sat next to him on the couch. "Wanna play CoD for shits and giggles for an hour?"

"Sure." He said.

I gave us both controllers and fiddled around with my Xbox until it worked.

We played for one hour.

"Ok, Dave. I don't want to make you angry, just please tell me. I want to help you out and be a good best bro."  He said, looking right into where my eyes would be if my shades weren't there.

"Fine. It's my nightmares. They just don't stop. I started taking medicine but it never worked."

He looked a little worried, but stayed quiet. In the silence, I continued.

"Uh, I don't know how to explain this because it's going to sound really weird. Um, how do I do this?" I stuttered.

"It's okay. Just breathe." John said calmly, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"You know how I had a brother, right?" He nods. "Yeah, um, the nightmares are about his dumb puppet. But I could handle those. Ever since last winter, the dreams about my brother have gotten worse. They terrify me. I'm afraid of going back to sleep once I wake up. I just think he's there waiting for me when I least expect it. Even when I'm not asleep, I keep seeing his dumb website for some reason." I blurted out. I didn't care anymore. I was on the verge of tears and there was no reason to stop now.

"Would it be fine if you told me why he scares you? I won't tell a soul." He says with those big, blue, sincere eyes of his.

"Yeah. He, uh, wasn't exactly the best figure to be around. He really liked fighting a lot. I mean, a lot. He'd drag me up to the roof almost every day and force me to strife with him. He's ridicule me if my footing was off. He was insane. He- he-" I started crying. Tears rolled on my cheeks like warm rivers. I hated it. I hadn't cried in a while and especially not in front of someone.

He rubbed my back and I cried pathetically into his shoulder. I subconsciously expected some sort of "get over it", but it never came.

I lifted my head up after draining myself. My eyes stung and I wanted to sleep, but I wasn't going to.

And then he kissed me. His lips were on mine. It was light and delicate, it was obvious he was being careful.

He pulled back and lifted up my shades. I let him. He had seen my eyes before, so it didn't bother me much. He looked me dead in the eyes and said "I care a lot about you. Uh, wow. Spilled myself out, didn't I?"

How was I going to respond without breaking this poor kids heart. I didn't love him like that. I can't just do that to him, though.

"I feel terrible about saying this, but I don't like you like that, John. You are my best bro and you know that, but I can't say I love you like a lover without lying." I said, looking down.

He had look of hurt on his face for a moment. Fuck. I hurt him.

"It's ok. I didn't really expect it either." He said, pulling me into a hug. He smiled. "It's fine. Really, Dave. It's not a big deal."

"How are you reacting so calmly to this? I know if it were me I would have been pretty upset"

"Well, Dave. I'm not you. I don't panic as often."

"Wow, John, that makes me feel wonderful."

"Besides, I'm a terrible person, and you'll come to realize that. I have this one girl in mind. Her name is Vriska." He said, laying down on his back.

"Oh, uh, ok then. I've heard of Vriska. This guy I had to do a project with said something about her. What's she like?"

"Oh, she's just awesome, and also loves Nic Cage movies which is a plus, but she's super pretty. Some people say she's a bitch but I don't think so." He said. Of course he finds a girl that's going to watch Con Air with him.

"Ok, what does she look like? I've only heard about her, I've haven't seen her."

"She has a lot of this blonde hair and blue hair dye in it that's like the exact color of her eyes. She wears glasses, too, so it won't be those awkward relationships where one of them has glasses and the other doesn't."

"John, those relationships aren't awkward."

"Yes, they are. But anyways, she really like Spider-Man, too. She just likes spiders in general. She has like eight pet ones."

"That's creepy."

"Whatever. So, who's this 'guy you had to do a project with', hm?"

"You are such a gossip girl. But fine, his name is Karkat. He's actually not that bad once you get over his weird insults and sarcasm. He also has an abnormal amount of tattoos. It's a little scary, but not really because none of them look like he was drunk when he got them."

"Ooh, a bad boy." He laughed.

"Oh my god, no. He doesn't even seem like one, either. He seems like he's a poster child for his bills, was an angel of a child, and has the best kind of friends except for that one high one he mentioned."

He did, honestly. It was a little hilarious to actually imagine him being anything but a little Moon Pie. I don't use the word "sweetie pie", I use Moon Pie because Moon Pies are better.

"You should go do stuff with him. Like, get to know him. Or talk during your 'project time' or whatever. Just go for it."

"What! I never said I liked the guy."

"We all know you do."

Ok, maybe Karkat wouldn't be a bad friend to have around, I'll give him that.

____________________________________

John sounds like a douche but it makes sense

Heyo. I'm back. I told you.

This is the fastest I've ever posted a chapter.

But seriously I promise Karkat will be in the next chapter.

He doesn't make much of an appearance at first I'm sorry

John also seems kinda bad at first but it'll get better for the Moon Pie

I love delaying character intros

See you shippers later

~Ghostie