Chapter Text
This is it. This is the day. Twenty-two years spent preparing for this exact moment and it's finally here. You close the door behind you softly and take a deep breath in through your nostrils.
“Remember to lock the door.” Mutters your sleep deprived best-friend-of-all time-forever-and-always(His title not yours) Karkat Vantas. You nod your head silently and stick the key in the knob for the last time for who knows how long.
“Hurry up, he's waiting for us outside you know?” He hisses at you. Yeah yeah hold your horses, you think to yourself. You put the chain that holds the key back around your neck and tuck it fondly under your shirt. It's go time.
Karkat walks ahead of you. Even though he seems irritated you can tell he's just as excited and nervous as you are. When he looks back at you, you can see the smile he's trying to hide. The two of you make it down the two flights of stairs and step out into the sunlight. He's sitting on the bench waiting for Karkat and yourself.
“Hey guys it's about time!” Eridan smiles and waves. He's actually in a good mood despite waiting for probably a good ten minutes.
“Good to see you up bright and early for once Sol” He chimes at you. You take liberty in yawning as a response.
“I couldn't fucking sleep last night actually,” You say in between yawning a few more times. Eridan smiles at you and gathers his things sitting on the bench beside him.
“I can't believe we're actually doin' this!” Eridan says standing up and slinging his backpack over his shoulders.
“You guys have your bus fare right? There's no time to go back up to the apartment.” Karkat says, making it obvious he has his in his pockets by shaking them. Nervously you reach down into yours and feel it right where it should be.
“Yeah Kar, me n' Sol have ours so let's get goin' already!”
The breeze is gentle today. Sunlight lazily shines through the green leaves of the maple trees surrounding your apartment complex. You're taking it all in. It'll be a very long time until you see this place again. The thought of that tugs on your heartstrings a little.
“ACK!” Karkat trips and starts muttering to himself. Every fucking time. You look at the pothole he always tripped over and snicker.
“Usually it's not so bad y'know? But now that I'm carrying so much shit that actually hurt...” He's over-explaining it because he's embarrassed.
“KK it's okay, I'll save you the humiliation this time.” You tease him. The three of you make it to the bus stop and decide to sit on the warm grass instead of stand.
“So Kar, you have the maps, and our tickets and-”
“I have everything. I triple checked last night and when I got up. We have everything we need to make this work.” Karkat interrupts Eridan and even shows him. He has them separated in plastic bags. You're glad Karkat is so organized.
“Here comes the bus,” You say standing up and reaching into your pocket for the fare. You feel a rush of butterflies in your stomach. One step closer to leaving.
Karkat's scrambling to put his things back in his bag and he looks all over the ground to make sure you didn't drop anything. Clank clank clank. The coins drop down one by one and the driver hands each of you a transfer. The bus is pretty much empty this early. It's like nobody in this city wakes up before 10am. The clock reads 6:45am.
Karkat rests his head on Eridan's shoulder. You feel a little pang in your heart. You're a little jealous of their relationship. You decide it's better to shrug it off and stare out the window. The morning sun lights up your neighbourhood in a pale yellow-orange. Your eyes trail back to Karkat. His deep chestnut hair looks so nice in the morning light. You guess that's why Eridan is a morning person. Stop thinking about it.
The bus drives by the high school you all went to. It's weird to think of how many years it's been since you graduated. Working a bunch of shitty jobs just kind of blurred the years afterwards all together. The money was worth it though. Every coffee served. Every burger flipped. Every computer tune up. You've been working ever since you were legally allowed to. Eridan and Karkat did the same because the three of you shared a dream. You smile to yourself. It was all worth it.
You nudge Karkat back to wakefulness, you need to transfer buses to get to the coach terminal. The clock reads 7:04am.
“Are we there yet?” He sleepily asks you. You shake your head no, and offer to help him up. He takes your hand and you pull him up from his seat. He and Eridan follow you off the back door of the bus and you walk down the street to the next bus stop.
“When's this one comin' Sol?” Eridan questions.
“I believe it'll be here in five minutes. Good thing the first bus was on time.” You grin at your good luck and look down the street at the traffic. Karkat grips Eridan's hand and leans against him. He's still sleepy from the bus ride. You don't know how he is. You're wide awake right now.
“More like one minute,” Eridan watches as the bus drives closer to you.
“Hell that was fast, I guess luck is on our side today.” You snicker and board the bus. The three of you give your transfers to the driver and decide to sit at the back of this bus. The sun is slowly getting higher in the sky. Karkat is awake now at least. He looks at you and leans close to you.
“Are you sure you're okay to do this?” He whispers to you. Eridan pays no mind to it and stares out the window.
“Why wouldn't I be okay KK?” You furrow your brow and wonder why he's asking.
“Well it's just that, ever since Eridan and I started y'know, dating.. I just don't want you to constantly feel like you're the third wheel or anything man I'm just worried that-”
“Karkat.”
“Yeah Sollux?”
“Don't worry about it.”