Chapter Text
Dave should have known that something was very, very wrong.
The first sign was the absence of his favourite person.
Karkat Vantas did not follow his two friends on the bus that night. Not like he had done every Tuesday and Friday before that.
The small troll, for which Dave was shamefully pining, was always on time. He knew this because the guy himself had told him that, during a particularly boring night.
«I’m not the sort of douchebag» He had said, with an adorable frown distorting his features. «That tells someone a time and a place to meet, and then shows up ten minutes late».
So when Sollux arrived in front of his empty bus, with streaks of yellow tears on his cheeks, the first question Dave should have asked was “Where’s Karkat?”.
But he didn’t.
No, he let himself be brought into the mess that followed like a fucking idiot.
And all because of a stupid crush.
Karkat Vantas entered his life in December.
It was snowing, and Dave had been working on that particular route for around a week. He was about to close the doors of the bus when a loud voice yelled out.
Not even two minutes later, three horned figures jumped into the machine. The shortest of the group, with messy black hair and nubby horns, had glared at him.
«What the fuck is your problem? You where in that station for two seconds!» His voice was obnoxiously loud, but they were the only ones in the bus, so only Dave suffered from it.
«Dude, I’m just doing my job»
«Is your job being an asshole?» Dave grinned.
«No, that’s just a bonus that comes with my amazing personality» The guy groaned, continuing to glare at Dave, who just kept smiling.
«Kk, just drop it» One of his friends said, a guy with 3D glasses and a lisp. He had two set of pointy horns and an awful haircut. Dave raised an eyebrow.
«Kk?» He asked, focusing on the road while the guys found a place to sit.
«None of your fucking business» And after that, the ride was silent.
He expected not to see the guy again.
What he did not expect was to see the trolls enter the bus on Friday night as well.
When he saw him, “Kk” had sighed and dropped dramatically onto a chair, not speaking to him for the entire ride.
Who he did speak to was the lisp guy, who he discovered was called Sollux Captor. He said he was a tech nerd and a fervent lover of doritos, they immediately bonded on their shared interest in food after that.
Nubby horns was the first one of the three to leave, so he got the chance to ask Sollux about him.
«Oh Kk?» The guy replied, almost surprised by the question. «His name is Karkat, don’t worry about the berating, it’s just his natural mood»
«It must be lovely to hang out with then» Sollux snorten, and smiled.
«He’s not that bad once you actually become his friend, you should try talking to him»
So, the next Tuesday Dave did just that.
That was were thing started going downhill.
The first few time they spoke, he was surprised to think that Karkat Vantas wasn’t such a bad guy after all.
In the first months, he started considering him his friend.
The more time passed, the more such friendly feeling started to breach not-so-friendly territory.
It took him far too long to admit he had a crush on him.
He didn’t tell Sollux, mostly because he wasn’t an idiot, and hadn't spoken to Gamzee enough to trust him with things like that. So all he could do was enjoy his limited time with his crush and then write several pages of pesterlog messages to his sister talking about him.
It was a very precariously kept balance, that Dave did not want to break.
And so Karkat did it for him.
The night had already started weirdly. He waited for the trolls to get on the bus, as usual, and found them in a... worrying state. Sollux had clearly been crying, still intent in drying his eyes, while Gamzee and Karkat wore matching scowls on their face.
«Woah, you ok? Seems like someone’s grandma died»
Karkat gave him a warning look.
«Wait, did someone’s grandma actually die?»
«It’s fine» Interrupted Sollux, who had moved to take a seat far away from his friends. «It’s nothing».
For a long time, there was silence. In the end, it was Karkat who broke it.
«She should have told us!» His voice was hurt, eyes fixated on the windshield.
«Karkat» Warned Sollux, voice still sometimes broken by sobs.
«It’s true!» He argued «How are we supposed to trust her or Terezi now?»
«Because you motherfuckin trusted the spider bitch before?» It was the first time Dave had heard Gamzee talk. His voice was deep, it made Dave shiver in fear.
«Of course not!» Karkat bristled «But Terezi-»
«Terezi did nothing wrong» Sollux stopped his friend mid-sentence. «And we really shouldn't talk about this here».
He knew they were watching him, he could almost feel their eyes on his back.
Karkat mumble something, but did not argue.
Once they arrived at Karkat’s stop, the small troll hesitated before leaving.
«You know what» He muttered under his breath «If she can do things like that, I can break the rules». And with that, he marched right up to Dave and handed him a piece of paper.
On it, scrawled in big, angry letters, there was a pesterchum handle.
«I’ve wanted to give it to you for a long time» Commented Karkat, lightly, while Dave was busy gaping at it.
«Message me» And, after saying that, he left.
Apparently, his friends were even more surprised than Dave.
«Jesus fucking Christ Kk» Muttered Sollux under his breath.
Dave slipped the paper in his pocket, and started driving.
It was only the day after that he found the courage to actually text the guy.
--turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG] at 15:17--
TG: hey man
TG: its Dave
He looked at the red text, hands almost shaking, and waited for a response.
He didn’t have to wait long.
CG: OH, HEY.
CG: I THOUGHT YOU LOST MY HANDLE OR SOMETHING.
TG: nah, I just take good care when I write messages
TG: dont want to look uncool, you know
CG: STRIDER YOU ARE THE TEXTBOOK DEFINITION OF UNCOOL, YOU KNOW THAT?
TG: dude
TG: you cant just say that to a guy
TG: you broke my heart
TG: im bleeding now karkat
TG: im bleeding and its all your fault
CG: HOW CAN YOU BE EVEN MORE DRAMATIC LIKE THIS.
CG: WHERE THE FUCK IS YOUR OFF BUTTON.
TG: I mean you can guess
TG: but I think if I told you you would block me and never speak to me again
CG: YOU WOULD BE RIGHT.
TG: hey there was something I wanted to ask you
CG: ?
TG: were you not…supposed to give me your handle?
CG: WHAT DO YOU MEAN?
TG: last night, you spoke about “breaking the rules” or some shit like that
CG: OH, IT’S REALLY NOTHING.
TG: yeah, I’m not sure I believe that
TG: but go off, I guess
TG: the more I think about it
TG: the more I realise how weird it was
CG: PLEASE.
CG: PLEASE DON’T ASK.
CG: I CAN’T TELL YOU THE TRUTH, AND I DON’T WANT TO LIE TO YOU.
TG: that’s very honorable of you, Kitkat
CG: DON’T MAKE ME REGRET GIVING YOU MY HANDLE.
TG: oh, so you don’t already regret it?
CG: …
CG: FUCK
They spoke for a long time, both of nothing and everything at the same time, and Dave felt incredibly happy.
They kept it up for a while. Meeting on Tuesday and Fridays, and talking the rest of the week.
Then came the day Sollux and Gamzee arrived at the bus stop without Karkat.
The day that changed everything.