The Tree in the Forest

Chapter Seven

~~~

It's finally the weekend. You have been waiting for this since Monday and you don't want to do anything. Sadly, you still feel the need to ask Bro how to deal with awkward crushes.

He isn't home right now, though, so you're able to relax for a while. He probably wouldn't be back until night, so you had a while to prepare how you're going to ask.

You thought about just blurting it out and getting it over with, but you also could just bring it up quietly. Maybe he would actually give you some legitimate advice and not fuck with you about it.

Honestly, you think you could just bring it up and he'd give you some awful tips and you'd be gullible enough to believe them. You just hope he won't do that this time.

The worst thing that could happen with actually asking Karkat is rejection and loss of friendship, but that's the worst case scenario and it might not happen.

The best case scenario is that he'll say yes and you guys can go dance the night away like a pair of stupid penguins. That'd be the day.

He might even laugh and think you're joking when you most certainly are not. That'd be bad. Knowing him, he'd tell everyone about it and it would spread through the school that you asked him out within days. You'd be the laughing stock of the century.

Your mind kept thinking up awful outcomes and you couldn't stop it from doing that. It thought up bad thought after bad thought without changing to any good thoughts. Soon, it felt like your stomach was being hit with a mallet. You were nervous about asking Bro, but you were still going to do it.

After a few hours of mindless TV watching and thoughts killing you, Bro walked through the door.

"Hey, Dave," He smiled as he sat some bags on the counter. He was in a good mood. Maybe that would make it easier.

"Hey," you answer simply.

"I ordered some pizza on my way home. It should be here in a little bit," he said, starting to put the contents of the bags into cupboards. You nodded to show that you had heard him.

  "Okay, I'm going to head to my room for a bit. Tell me if the pizza guy gets here," Bro said after he put all of the groceries away. You agreed and went back to your television watching.

  After Bro was definitely in his room with the door locked, you got up and grabbed a pad of paper and a pen. Time to think of some things to ask Bro and possibly some things to say to Karkat.

  Question 1: What do I do when I want to ask someone out?, you wrote.

  No, too obvious. He'll ask who it is before you can even finish your sentence. You scribbled it out and started again.

  Question 1: Do you know what to do if you want to go with someone to that dance coming up?

  He'll probably still ask who it is, but it's better than saying that you were literally looking to ask Karkat out.

  The doorbell rang through the house, alerting you that the pizza guy was downstairs waiting for his money so he could give you the greasy cheese abomination and leave.

  "Bro!" You yell, shoving the pad of paper under you. Bro comes stumbling out of his room, grabbing his wallet and rushing downstairs, telling you that he'll be back in second.

You take the time that he's out to put the paper in your room and think about what you're going to ask him. Screw it, you're just going to go with it as it happens.

Bro came back in after a minute, carrying two boxes in his arms. You decided to be considerate and shut the door so he doesn't have to. He sits the boxes on the coffee table.

"Have a fuckin' party with it, kid," Bro said. Just before he headed to his room, you stopped him.

"Bro, I was wondering if I could ask you something. And please don't bullshit me about it," You said, really hoping that he wouldn't give you some lame excuse for advice.

"Uh, yeah, sure. Let me go do something real quick and I'll be back out here in a second," He responded. He had the same expression that he had when you asked him about his job.

He came back from his room not long after he left, just like he promised. He sat down on the couch and you clambered up there with him.

"What was it that you wanted to talk about, lil' man?" He asked. You took a deep breath before speaking.

"Uh, I was wondering what I should do if I wanted to ask someone out to that dance that's coming up really soon," I mumbled, barely above a whisper.

"Wait, do you have a crush already? Man, I thought'd take a few years. You're growing up, lil' bro," Bro said, reminiscing on what seemed like the past. You hope you weren't blushing too badly.

"Okay, I won't bullshit you. You just gotta be nice about it. Treat 'em right and make sure you know what they like. That helps in the long run," Bro continued.

"Anyways, after you do that, just calmly ask the question. If they reject you, back off. If they don't, then good for you, bro," He finished. He opened the box of pizza on the table, pulling a piece out and stuffing it in his face, and you followed suit.

  "That's it? I thought it'd be harder than that," You said quietly, taking a bite from your pizza.

  "Well, it's harder than it sounds. It takes a lot of courage. You'll probably get nervous or whatever. You'll stutter and nit pick everything you do, but once you get over that initial fear, it's much easier," Bro explained. Oh god, the fear ate you alive.

  However, the idea that Karkat might possibly want to go to the dance with you far outweighed the nervousness churning in your gut.

  All you had to do was wait for the right time.

~~~

Dave is truly a raging homo.

Also, Bro didn't bullshit him. He gave him real advice. However, Dave has a hard time following said advice.

Dave just wants to dance with Karkat tbh

I also called them stupid penguins because I doubt either of them would really know how to dance

This chapter was mostly Dave fawning over Karkat in his head bc that's what he does. Things are probably going to get shitty soon

Okay, gotta go. Bye my lovelies!

~Ghostie