Cancer's Choice

Guilt Seeps In

A/N: Happy 4/13 everyone! I'm updating every Homestuck fanfic in my arsenal in honor of its end. Thank you all for staying with me through this journey, reading what I put out and motivating me to keep doing what I want to do, even if I suck at keeping any kind of updating schedule. All your views, votes, and comments are what inspire me, I love seeing that I can contribute to this beautiful fandom that has done so much for me in my life. Oh, and don't worry, I promise this isn't the end of my Homestuck fanfiction writing career. I'll see all of these fics through to the end, and though Homestuck may be drawing to a close, my love for it and its fandom will never die. I hope you all have a wonderful day filled with memories of good times in the past and new ones of all of us coming together for our final goodbye. Thank Andrew Hussie, thank every person who's ever contributed to Homestuck, whether it became canon or not. Thank the fan artists, the fanfic writers, the cosplayers, rpers, and ask bloggers. Thank all the people who make this fandom one of the greatest ones out there, because there are just so many of them. And of course, don't forget to thank the characters we've known and loved along the way.

So, without further ado, read on my fellow Homestucks!

~*~*~*~*

Your name is Jade Harley and you're exhausted.

After the party and cleaning up the mess left from John's stupid prank, you're wiped. With a long groan, you collapse on your bed.

"You okay, Harley?"

Dave and Rose are still here, everyone else left after the cleaning was done. You're thankful they stayed, you never would've been able to do it alone.

You bury your face in a pillow. "I'm just tired."

"You and I both," Rose sits at your desk, chair facing out to you and Dave. Said Strider is leaning against your door, arms crossed and leg up in a classic cool kid pose. He's such a dork.

You turn your head and look out your window with a sigh. "Do you guys...think I was too hard on John? I got so mad in the moment...I said some really mean things. He looked pretty upset when he left..."

"You know John. He'll forget about it by tomorrow and he'll be here with some apology cake his Dad made for him," Dave says with a roll of his eyes.

Rose nods in agreement. "I believe he needed to hear it. A harmless prank is one thing, but a stunt that requires hours of cleaning and results in several ruined outfits afterwards is another."

You sigh again and bury your face in your crossed arms. Rose comes over and sits beside you to rub your back soothingly. "John knows you love him, Jade. He won't take your words to heart, at least, not in a way that ruins your friendship. Hopefully he'll take to heart the fact that his pranks do have negative consequences."

You sit up and hug her, smiling. "Thanks, Rose. You're right, John will be okay. And maybe we won't have to deal with his awful pranks anymore!" you say with a laugh.

She smiles as well and says with a fond eye roll, "Wouldn't that be a relief."

After that, the three of you decide to relax in your room, playing card games, talking, and watching movies. You all need a break after that mess of a party.

No one wants to say it, but it feels like something's missing. When you're pulling out Sorry! and the blue pieces are left rattling in the container, it tugs at your heartstrings and you bite your lip. Dave deals cards for a game of go fish and he accidentally deals for an extra player. He grumbles at himself as he scoops them up, but it sounds more guilty and sad than annoyed. Rose rifles through the movie cases in your room and you see her hand pause on the section that you know has all of John's favorites in it. You see her shoulders stiffen a bit before she quickly moves and grabs a random classic Disney movie, popping it in the DVD player before joining you and Dave on the bed.