Cronkri: I won't let you down

Chapter 13: Karkat

As soon as Kankri and Co. were out of sight, I turned around and headed back into the house, only to be greeted at the doorway by a very tired-looking man known as my dad.
"Karkat... What are you doing up so late? And why were you running through the halls?" His voice was gravelly since he had just woken up.
I stared at him in silence for about two seconds, maintaining a calm and controlled look.
"I couldn't sleep." Technically not a lie.
"So you decided to run through the halls and disappear outside like that? You woke me, and you could've woken Kankri as well."
"I didn't wake up Kankri. I saw him in his room and went downstairs."
Still not a lie...
"Please refrain from doing such a thing in the future, okay?"
"Yeah."
"Okay. Go back to sleep."
I stepped inside the house and suddenly realized how tired I was. I trudged up the stairs to my room, my legs heavy, and flopped onto my bed, burrowing under the covers before trying to fall asleep.
But I couldn't. Kankri was gone, Dad was gonna find out soon, and I would be hounded for questions on what happened.
I didn't end up falling asleep until around 5:30, and even then I had a few hours of dreams about what my punishment would be for letting Kankri escape with the very person he had been grounded from.

That morning, at a decent hour, I woke up to my dad barging into my room and holding up a piece of paper. He wasn't even fully dressed yet and the look on his face had boiling rage written all over it.
"DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THIS?!" he shouted at me, stomping over and violently handing me the piece of paper.
I held my hands up and flinched, then sighed in relief when he didn't hit me. I took the note from him and read it.

Silas Vantas,

blah blah blah whatever some useless bullshit

Kankri Vantas

I shook my head and handed the note back to Dad. "I've never seen this before."
By now, he was pacing in my room. I hoped he didn't step on something, that'd make for an even worse morning.
"You said you saw him last night, right?"
I nodded.
"What time was that?"
"Like, 12:30, I guess."
"And he was asleep then?"
I swallowed, then answered, "Y-yeah, he was just lying there when I saw him." Dammit. I didn't want to have to lie to him.
"Then he must've left around 1:00... Maybe later. Do you have any idea where he went?"
Seriously? It was obvious! "No, he never told me anything about this."
"He's probably with Cronus." Dad's expression hardened.
"Maybe... Unless Cronus broke up with him or something."
"I hope he does. Maybe then Kankri will see the error of his ways."
I glared at him. "You're wrong."
"Excuse me?"
I could feel the anger building up inside of me at how sick and wrong this was. "You're wrong! Kankri's not hurting anyone by dating another guy, so why are you so against this!! It's none of your business who he dates and what gender they are!"
Suddenly, Dad turned on me, grabbing my shirt collar. "Do you support this?!"
I could feel myself shaking as he spoke. He was scary like this. I looked away from him. "I just know that family sticks together, even when shit happens."
He didn't even care that I said shit. He dropped me kinda forcefully, almost throwing me to the floor. "Fine." His voice was bitter. "But you're no better than he is."
I scrambled back up to my feet and sprinted up to my room before he could do anything else, the beginnings of tears already forming in my eyes.

A few hours later, around lunchtime, I went back downstairs cautiously, wearing my long-sleeved shirt with my zodiac sign, Cancer, on it. Dad never let us wear anything that had to do with zodiacs, so this was my form of passive-aggressive rebellion against him.
"Dad?"
"What?" he called from the kitchen.
"I'm going to Eridan's house."
"Okay, be home before dark."
I guess it hadn't registered in his mind that Eridan lived with Cronus.
I shoved my hands in my jean pockets and sped past him with my head down, then opened the door and walked outside. The sun had disappeared behind some clouds, the cloudy, overcast day somehow fitting the mood.
Once I had reached the Ampora household, I knocked on the door. Mr. Ampora answered it.
"Hey," he said lightly, as if we were old friends. "Eridan's friend, right?"
"Yeah, is-"
"Want me to get 'im for you?"
"No, I-"
"ERIDAAAAN, YA' FRIEND'S HERE!"
I facepalmed.
Eridan walked upstairs from the basement and to the door, then leaned against it and nodded at me. "Hey Kar. What's up."
"Hey."
Mr. Ampora walked away, leaving us alone.
"Kankri's here, right?"
"Yeah, he's upstairs with Cro. Wanna see him?"
"Yeah."
He stepped aside to let me in, then led me upstairs to Cronus's room. I'd never been to his room before since Eridan and I usually hang out either in his room or in the basement watching movies.
Eridan burst into his brother's room without knocking, a look of excitement on his face like he was expecting to catch them in the middle of an intense butt-fucking session or something.
"Aha!"
Kankri and Cronus turned and looked up at us from the bed, both of them fully clothed and sitting on it next to each other. They were watching a movie on Cronus's flatscreen TV that was on one of the walls of his huge room.
"Aha?" Cronus asked, looking more than a little annoyed with Eridan.
"Oh. I just thought... Nevermind. Kar's here."
Kankri perked up and looked at me, a small smile flickering across his face before disappearing completely, replaced by an expression of fear.
"Karkat!" He jumped off the bed and scrambled over to me, grabbing me by the shoulders before enveloping me in a tight hug. "Are you alright? Does Dad know I'm here? Did he kick you out too?"
"Slow the fuck down, I'm fine. I wanted to see if you were, too."
He sighed in relief.
"Yes, the Amporas are wonderful, as I'm sure you know from your friendship with Eridan."
"I dunno, every time I'm here their dad is either drunk out of his mind or hungover."
Both the Amporas growled at me as if they were going to attack, suddenly defensive.
"Okay okay, nevermind. Sheesh, really struck a nerve there."
Eridan calmed down, but Cronus kept glaring at me.
"What about Dad?" Kankri asked. "Does he know I'm here?"
"Well... Yes and no. He never really said he did, but it's not too hard to figure out." I left out the part of the yelling and shaking. He didn't need to worry about me.
He sighed. "I suppose we'll have to figure out how to deal with this situation when the time presents itself." He hugged me one more time.
Cronus stood up, his arms crossed. "Great, great, that's all wonderful. Nice happy family reunion. Now can ya please get outta here? Kanny and I were in the middle a somethin."
I let go of Kankri and Eridan grabbed my arm, pulling me away. "Let's go, Kar. Cro's no good when he's pissed like this."
I turned around and followed Eridan away from Cronus's room as he closed the door. Suddenly, Eridan spun around on his heel and tiptoed to the door, pressing his ear against it and beckoning for me to do the same. We could hear their conversation, and from what it sounded like, Kankri was pinned against the door with Cronus macking on him.