The Tree in the Forest

Chapter Twenty-Eight

~~~

It was your birthday. You're eighteen and you can't believe how fast everything's gone by. You got accepted into college, though, and you almost yelled when you got the acceptance letter.

Bro told you how proud he was of you and that he was so happy that you were going to college. Bro had never gone to college, so he was happy that you were going.

Rose and Karkat got accepted, too. Karkat was going to the same college as you, but Rose was going to a college in downtown Houston.

You and Karkat felt a little bad for going so far away for college, but your families assured you that they were okay with it.

You had already planned out what you and Karkat were going to do for a living situation. You two were either going to get a dorm together or rent an apartment. Whatever suits your financial status better.

Karkat was sitting with you on your couch. You two always made sure no one was home when you had small dates at the house. It would be awkward if you didn't.

Karkat put his food down and crawled up over your legs and sat his happy ass down on your lap. This is not the first time he's done it, but he didn't do it often. You say your own food down so you could wrap your arms around his waist.

"You're eighteen, Dave. You can vote and get lottery tickets and shit. I still have to wait six months," Karkat said.

  "Yeah, I'm a legal adult now. Ugh, I feel old," You joked.

  "If you said that around my dad he'd go on and on about how you're not old," He smiled.

  You don't know when the makeout started, but it did. These things just kind of happen between you two.

  You always liked how he parted his lips for you. You liked that he trusted you. You always went as slow or as fast as he wanted. It never really made much of a difference to you since it wasn't as big of a deal to you how fast you went.

  Karkat pulled off of you and grabbed your wrist, pulling you up. He guided you to-- oh. Your room.

  He pulled you into the bed and started kissing you again. You kissed him back twofold. You wanted him. You'd realized that as soon as he brought you into your bedroom.

  You know that you got hard at some point. Karkat did, too. There was a lot of flustered clumsiness involved in the ordeal. It was still really nice, though.

  You were happy when you woke up to find Karkat sleeping next you. He was wearing your t-shirt and you doubted that you'd get it back. You could live with that, though.

  You bent down and have him a kiss on the cheek. He moved a little, but didn't wake up. You just let him sleep.

  While you waited for him to wake up, your thought about the night before. You smiled at the thought of it. You didn't know that you'd enjoy seeing Karkat twitch and squirm under your touch, but you do.

You don't know how many 'I love you's you uttered last night, but it was probably innumerable. You meant every single one of them.

You heard Karkat start moving and saw him sit up in the bed. He looked over at you and smiled tiredly. He bent down and pressed a kiss to your lips before laying down again, claiming that his back hurt.

"I didn't hurt you, did I?" You asked.

"No. I'm just sore," He answered. He brought himself closer to your body and huddled into the warmth. You just laid there with him, being a large ball of limbs and smiles and not caring about the rest of the world for a little bit. To you, this is all that mattered right now.

You heard walking in the hall and you wondered when they had gotten home. You could tell by the weight of them that it was Bro. You hoped he'd gotten home long after you two had fallen asleep.

You went to go get water. You had to get it from the kitchen, so you did. Bro stopped you in the doorway.

"Stop it right there, lil' bro," He said, standing in front of me. You knew you had a massive hickey almost directly under your ear, but he knew exactly from who, so it shouldn't have been a problem.

"What?" You said.

"You lost your virginity, huh?" He whispered. Your face went hot and you glared at him, muttering 'yes' under your breath. He just smirked and laughed a little.

"Well, congrats, kid. I know you love him enough and you're certainly mature enough for it. Legal adult now, eh?" He half-smiled at you. You just nodded, still red.

"You know, I watched you grow up, lil' man. You've definitely got some fire in ya'. You're gonna kick life's ass," Bro said.

"Thanks," You murmur. That's all you could manage. You expected to be in trouble, but you weren't.

"Waited longer than I did, that's for sure." Bro said.

"What do you mean by that?" You asked.

"Lost my sacred shit at a party just before I turned seventeen," He answered. You gaped. You thought he'd waited as long as you did. Bro never ceases to amaze you.

"Go be with your boyfriend, okay? Get your water or whatever the fuck and just hang out with him. I'm takin' up all your time," Bro said, giving you a clap on the back before leaving the doorway.

You got your water and went back, just like you were going to do.

"Jesus fuck, took you long enough," Karkat grumbled lightheartedly. You handed him the cup and crawled back into the bed. You two just sat in bed for a while, sharing smiles or kisses every once in a while.

You can't express how perfect this birthday was and how happy you are.

~~~

This shouldn't be unclear but if it is, they fucked.

Karkat broke one of his dad's rules lmao but he honestly doesn't care.

An update about the art for this book: You may have to wait a little while for it. I'm planning to post it a while from now. I'm sorry about that but it's incredibly time consuming and I haven't been able to do it yet. School literally inhaled all of my free time (and I still managed to get shitty grades...)

But enough about that, goodbye!

~Ghostie