Over the Months (Homestuck Fan Fiction, GamTav)

Independence

I had come back from visiting Gamzee in the ER. And he wasn't looking too good.

I was in a back alleyway, a place someone had long forgotten. And I was sobbing my eyes out. I didn't want Gamzee to be gone from this world forever. I knew I was being selfish, but surely I wasn't the only one.

I looked up, and through the haze of tears, I saw someone.

There was a young woman, no taller than a girl. She was dirty from head to toe, and peeped out at me curiously from behind the dumpster.

"Who are you?" I asked hastily, wiping my tears away. The girl was thin, dark-haired and dressed in a long, dirty dark green trench coat.

The girl made a cat noise and spoke in a high-pitched voice.

"How did you find me?"

"My... friend... got hit by a car," I said, crying.

The girl smiled sadly. "Your girlfriend, you mean?"

"Boyfriend," I corrected automatically. I then froze up. The last time I had told someone (it was my parents) that I liked guys as well as girls, they had kicked me out. But on the contrary.

"Oh," she said simply, sitting down next to me. "Do you mind if I keep you company?"

"Go ahead," I said quietly.

We sat in silence for a few minutes before she spoke again.

"Do you mind if I sketch you," she asked nervously, "I mean, it's purrfectly alright if you don't want me to, but I'm a bit of an artist and melancholy is really difficult to capture..." she looked at me hopefully.

The cat puns were adorable. I glanced up at her, gave her a quick smile. "Sure." I went back to staring back at the pavement dejectedly.

After half an hour (I didn't feel like moving, and the tears were still dripping) the girl gave a little squeak of approval, causing me to look up. "Done!"

A rough pencil sketch was handed to me. It captured exactly how I felt. Black and white.

"Wow..."

"You can have it, if you want," she said shyly. I immediately pushed it back at her.

"Oh no, it looks amazing. You keep it."

She took it. "Thank you."

She leapt at me with a spontaneous tackle hug. I hurried to catch her, just barely catching what she whispered in my ear.

"My name's Nepeta."

"Tavros," I choked back.

This girl became the main support when Gamzee was in the hospital.