The Tree in the Forest

Chapter Thirty-One

~~~

  Prom was finally here. You can't quite describe how happy you felt, you just know that it was probably the best day of your life so far.

  Karkat had insisted upon matching. You still got to wear the red tie that you bought months ago, though. He wore red, too.

  Him and Kanaya were going to stop by here where Roxy would drive you all to the dance. Roxy was incredibly excited. She was smiling and hugging you the entire evening.

  When Karkat showed up, you almost ran up to him. Well, not almost, you did run up to him. He looked awesome. You'd never seen him a tux before and you've decided that you love how he looks when he's in one.

  Rose and Kanaya didn't quite match, but arrangements could definitely be made. They had matching sash-things.

  Roxy made you all take pictures. You didn't argue, but you're pretty sure that your face is pink in all of them. Karkat made fun of you for it, regardless of how red his face was.

The ride was short. You normally walked, so it felt weird to get there by car. Roxy waved bye to you all before driving away. She had a huge smile on her face, too.

You walked into the building. You had gotten there early. You sat and waited for the thing to actually start. Personally, you were pretty excited for everyone to get there, but Karkat seemed nervous.

"Hey, what's wrong?" You asked. He looked over, seemingly confused by your question.

"Nothing. Just tired. I didn't think that we got here early, either." He replied. He kept adjusting the sleeves of his blazer, but you didn't think anything of it.

Soon, people began flooding into the gymnasium. The dresses that some girls insisted upon wearing baffled you. This was a high school dance, not your wedding day. Calm down.

Once a suitable amount of people were in the room, the dance officially started. You were able to bring Karkat to the other end of the room and away from the monitors. They wouldn't have been very happy with two guys dancing in a romantic way. The school is weird about that, and you aren't sure why.

You made sure to pull Karkat against you and he didn't fight it. He wrapped his arms around your waist and stood there. There wasn't any music worth dancing to, so you both just watched everyone else until your other friends got there.

Terezi, John, and Vriska were the first of your friends to show up. John spotted you and dragged the two girls over. Terezi seemed happy, while Vriska seemed like she wanted it to be a him and her night to spend with John. She really liked him, so you think she deserves that. She eventually got it and brought John away, leaving Terezi with the two of you, which you didn't mind.

  Terezi looked nice. You'd never seen her in a dress before, which is surprising since you've known her since you were about seven. She had a turquoise dress that went to her knees. Her cane was tucked away safely into the palm of her hand. You hadn't realized that she was talking to Karkat.

  "I feel old," She mumbled. "Didn't really think about my life past this point, either,"

  "I think I've thought about every moment aside from this one," Karkat responded.

  "I haven't thought about any moment besides this one," You whispered to yourself, happy that they didn't hear you. You don't know how you would've played it off.

  Karkat had kept a firm hold on your hand, tightening it when Terezi went to go join a few of her other friends.

  It had been roughly an hour before Karkat dragged you over to the corner.