Red (Davekat)

Pour Your Heart Out

<Guess what time it is? It's Dave time. So be him>

I was confused as all hell when Karkat had said that, but I wasn't about to question it. The way his face paled and the terrified look on it was enough to convince me that something was seriously up.

I knelt in front of him and grabbed his hands, "Hey? What's up? Where do we have to go?"

He just stared at me for a second before clearing his throat, "i-i need to go home..."

Nodding, I stood up and lifted him up with me, "Do you gotta pack anything?" he only shook his head, so I set him on his feet and put shoes on while he did the same. I didn't know what was going on in the slightest, but I was ready to help out in whatever way possible.

Getting him out to the car, I opened the passenger's seat door for him and waited until he got settled in to get into the driver's seat. If I took a few shortcuts and didn't take the highway like I did when we were coming here, we should be there by the afternoon.

I started the car and drove out of the property quickly, getting on the road and driving as quickly as I could without being over legal limits.

"Karkat? What's wrong?" I glanced at him from the corner of my eye as he fidgeted with his sleeve and phone.

"i just... it's kankri..." he swiped a few times on his phone and showed me the screen. I peeked over while I could, but all I saw were some messages from the previous night. It had seemed like something was up. Upon further inspection and a second glance, I saw the most recent message from about six in the morning. It just said that he needed help.

"he never asks for anything. especially not help and especially not from me. he sees it as his duty or whatever to care for me... something must be up.." he seemed so genuinely concerned that I didn't say anything.

"Karkat," I could see him look over at me and I sighed, reaching over to grab his hand, "it'll be alright."

<TiMe SkIp MoThErFuCkErS>

<Also, be Karkles>

Once we had gotten back to my house, I rushed out of the car to get inside. I knew Kankri well enough to know that the idiot was stupid, but he wouldn't fucking hurt himself. I looked back at Dave and he got out of the car, but was just leaning on the side to give us some privacy.

Getting inside, I looked around and saw Kankri sitting at the table with a mug in his hand. He looked at me and it looked like he hadn't slept in forever. There were dark bags under his eyes and his eyes themselves were a little rimmed with red.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO YOU??" my voice cracked a few times, but it was fine as I rushed over and looked him over to make sure he wasn't hurt.

"I-it's n9thing, Karkat. I just didn't wish t9 6e al9ne. I'm s9rry, I kn9w that y9u were with y9ur friends, 6ut Cr9nus-"

"WOAH WOAH WOAH WOAH. HOLD UP. CRONUS??? WHAT THE HELL DID HE DO TO YOU??? DID HE HIT YOU? OR-" I shuddered, not even wanting to explore that train of thought.

"N9! N-n9thing like that... he just. He t9ld me s9mething. 6ut it's t99 s99n and I d9n't kn9w what t9 d9. I'm n9t ready. I d9n't want t9 make this ch9ice... h9w c9uld he 6e s9 selfish? I d9n't want a relati9nship. Why w9uld he tell me these things when he kn9ws that I d9n't? I can't-I'm n9t ready f9r it, Karkat," with that, he threw his arms around me and hugged me tight, face burrowing into my stomach.

Nervously, I patted his head as he pulled back and sniffled. I had never seen Kankri cry once. He was always so calm and composed. In fact, that was usually why I argued with him so much. I hated how together he seemed. It made me jealous. However, in that moment, I wished for nothing more than his normal rants and exasperated sighs as I told someone to fuck off.

"W-hey..." I lowered my voice for him and swallowed nervously, "i'll do what i can to help you, okay? i promise..."

He nodded, seeming grateful as he wiped his nose and stood up to shuffle off and grab a tissue, "6y the way... y9ur friend, Dave, he's 9utside, is he n9t?"

I probably looked startled, so he chuckled reassuringly, "I just kn9w that he's the 9nly 9ne 9f y9ur friends wh9 can drive... i-in any case, he may stay with us if y9u desire. It's getting dark 9ut. Just d9n't stay up t99 late."

I rolled my eyes but nodded. I knew that it wouldn't be easy to get Kankri to talk too much about whatever was bugging him, so I would just wait it out until he was ready.

Walking to the door, I waved Dave inside and he started walking towards me, hands in his pockets. The bright, afternoon sun bounced off of his light blonde, almost white hair. I sighed softly and stepped out of the way as he stepped inside and gave my mess of an older brother a small wave. Everything's going to be all right...

Right?

Not a very structured and a very rushed seeming chapter, but I just needed to get the ball rolling somehow... See you soon~