Homestuck fanfiction - Wiped Away (DavexJohn) Ch.3

Chapter 3 - Jacob's Ladder

    The time was three in the morning. A week had passes since the incident between John and Dave. Dave hadn't seen either John or Jade since then. The blonde doesn't even dare to go to the cafe. He didn't want to make John hate him even more or cause a scene. So he had been scavenging food at home. He could have just gone to the other restaurant but its right across the street from the cafe and he wouldn't be able to stand it if he caught a glimpse of John. He feared that he would see a glimpse of the hurt expression he carried that day.

    In fact, that's why he was in the middle of the street in the dead of night. Every time he tried to sleep John's eyes would pop up in his vision, like a child waiting behind a door to scare you, except it didn't leave a slight adrenaline rush or a laugh. The pain that reflected in those pair of blue eyes was beaten into Dave instead. It left invisible scars all over his body and they just hung there on his body, out in the open. If anyone could get a flicker of them they could completely eradicate the blonde, destroying everything that was him. Harsh, true, but when you cared for someone as much as Dave does and they leave you behind like a dead animal on the side of the road, it hurts.

    It hurts so much that Dave couldn't get a wink of sleep. During the third sleepless night he decided to go for a walk. He had gone in the opposite direction of John's house, to avoid the pain that was brought with everything that was related to him, but tonight, he would go that way. He decided that he should face it, no matter how much it hurt, to be cool about it. His feet dragged along beside him and he kept stopping to stare at something insignificant, something that shouldn't catch his attention, something that would stall him.

    It took him fifteen minutes to get to John's house even though it was only two houses away. Those fifteen minutes didn't seem like enough time to sum up his thoughts. Any amount of time didn't seem to be enough. He would come up with pages of things to say but end up putting them aside or replacing them with a simple 'I'm sorry'. Of course, what he did couldn't be resolved with a simple 'sorry'. 'Sorry I lied about myself.' 'Sorry I hid my true self from you.'

    His eyes wondered from the sidewalk to the house in front of him, John's house. A light was still on in one of the rooms, John's room, but as soon as Dave noticed it the light was turned off. Now the only thing that illuminated the darkness was the faint street lamps and the scintillating stars. The blonde continued to stare at John's window, hopeful, at least he would like to believe that he felt that way. It's pretty hard to be when you get openly rejected like he just was.

    A few minutes into his staring a flicker of movement filled his peripheral vision. It came from the window next to John, Jade's room. Dave shifted his position and moved his shades down the bridge of his nose to get a better look in the darkness. It was, indeed, Jade staring at him. Her lips moved but he couldn't read them. Her window soon flew open and something was flung at him.

    When Dave picked up the object he noticed that it was a note that contained a piece of candy. He unfolded it, slipping the piece of candy into his pocket, as he read the note:

    "meet me at the waterfall. also, i thought you might like something sweet after such a bitter week!". After reading the note he looked back-up at Jade's window only to see the curtain's move slightly. The blonde became a bit confused by what he had just received. Meet her at the waterfall? 'The' waterfall, meaning I've been to it before, but I've never been to a waterfall around here. I didn't even know one existed. Motherfuck. How am I supposed to meet her at a place I didn't know existed. Unless, she was talking about the waterfall in my dream? The weird part was the fact that only his Bro knew about his dream. He usually never tells anyone about his dreams, only his Bro. So how could Jade know about the dream and how was he supposed to get there? Is she telling him to go to sleep?

    Past all those thoughts, Dave decided that he should try and find a waterfall. He didn't want to take the chance to try and sleep in fear of seeing John's hurt face. He looked around himself for a place to start searching for his destination. It wasn't until he turned around that he found what he was looking for. A thick, dense forest was laid out in front him, somewhat resembling the forest in his dreams, but he knew it was the right one.

A few minutes later the blonde was treading through vines and branches. He cut his path with a sword he brought along with him but it broke in half part of the way. "Cheap-ass shit," Dave cursed and threw it to the side. He made the rest of the trek there while getting scratched and cut by the overgrown vegetation. As he made his way deeper into the forest it became more and more familiar to him. The sounds of the crickets, the rustling of the branches, and the breaking branches underneath his feet. It felt soothing, and before he knew it, rushing water filled his ears.

    Questions took over his thoughts once he saw the waterfall before him. Why was the waterfall in my dream? Why was she there? Are they really my childhood friends? All this Dave went over and more. He wandered about, trying to discover signs on if he really had been childhood friends with John and Jade. That's when he found it, an old tree with drooping branches that brushed against his head as he walked under it. He noticed a carving in the trunk. When he moved closer he noticed some initials: JH + DS + JE + RL encased in a heart. He began tracing the grooves without thinking. This carving seemed familiar to him but he couldn't quite place the reason. His fingers continued to follow the depressions until he got to the "+" between the initials, DS and JE. That's when he realized why this carving was so familiar. Why he had a dream about this waterfall. Why she was in it. It was because he had helped Jade and John carve this all those years ago along with her.

    His arm fell to his side as he become a bit dizzy from the realization, a tear dared to slip down his face.

    "Hey, 8oy," a sharp voice said, "Turn around, 8oy."

    Dave did so and nearly had a heart attack.

    "I'm 8ack, 8oy," the familiar voice murmured with a sly smile.

    "Vriska! W-Why are you here?" the blonde mumbled, trying not to show his fear.

    "You should know why."

    She stepped closer to him, which made the blonde step back. His back felt the trunk of the tree. Shit, cornered. The girl's eyes created holes in him, wherever she bothered to stare. One couldn't quite tell since her eyes were entirely white. "And you know what I've come here for, 8oy." Dave tried to move around the tree but he found himself frozen against it, more like stuck in cement. He kept his mouth shut even though something was trying to open it.

    "Open it, 8oy," Vriska demanded, coming even closer. Now she was even less than a foot away.

    "Not. Going," Dave grunted. He jaw was roughly grabbed by the young girl in front of him.

    "Then you should know what's going to happen," she whispered, slamming his head hard against the wall, knocking his glasses off. Dave felt a shiver go through him. Now he was exposed, fully exposed. Hell, he should just be naked now if his glasses were going to be knocked off. Now every expression he carried would easily be reflected to the other person, which turned Dave's stomach into a knot. Tears brimmed on the edge of his eyes. He didn't want to die, not like this. Not when he had something he needed to do.   

    "Go to hell," the blonde said icily.

    "Now, now, don't 8e afraid dying, dear. You could even join your dead sister, Rose!" Vriska said with a cackle.

    "Go to HELL!" he screamed, his upper body rising from place stuck to the tree. He brushed against the girl, who had been turned sideways, but was instantly slammed back into place with even more force.

    "Now, now, don't 8e so afraid of dying," she said and began to hum," Remember what I told you all those years ago. About why not to be afraid of dying? 8ecause the only thing that 8urns in hell, is the part of you that won't let go of your life. Your memories, your attachments, they 8urn them all away. 8ut they're not punishing you. They're freeing your soul.If you're frightened of dying and you're holding on, you'll see devils tearing your life away. 8ut, if you've made your peace, then the devils are really angels, freeing you from the Earth. It's just a matter of how you look at it that's all. So don't worry, okay? It'll all be over soon." She ended the speech with a caress against Dave's cheek. Bile rose up in his throat in response.

"You can at least jo-" her sentence was cut off by a loud gunshot and filled by an agonizing scream. She looked at her stomach and saw blood pouring from it. She quickly turned to the direction of the shot to face the person who shot her. It was Jade holding one of her rifles. She was heaving since she was out of breath. She had run here quickly because Bec was acting up in a way that meant that someone she knew was in trouble.

"Fuck off, you ghost bitch," she growled.

"How did you-," Vriska began to ask but was soon cut-off again.

"Rock salt. Now fuck off!" Jade yelled again.

Vriska quickly followed this command, of course, not having much choice. She disappeared into thin air as quickly as she had appeared from. Once gone, Dave fell to his knees, shaking. He couldn't stop thinking of the past, that moment when Rose had died and the face of the one who killed her. Why now? Why did she have to show up now? Dave thought, clenching his hair tightly. He didn't want to think of those moments. He didn't want to remember Rose's blood on his hands, the cackle that used to haunt his dreams. Perhaps he should have let Vriska kill him so that way he wouldn't feel a choking pain as the memories replayed repeatedly over and over like a broken record.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Dave kept saying quietly.

"Dave! Dave! Are you okay?!" Jade asked her voice shaking as she saw the condition her friend was in. She got down on her knees, laying her rifle down, and reached out her hand to him. "Dave?"

"Fuck, fuck, FUCK!" He screamed, jumping up and running at the thought of someone else touching him.

"Dave!" Jade yelped in surprise, running after him. "Dave, it's just me!"

She chased after Dave who was running off into the deeper part of the woods. A branch tripped her but she scurried to her feet. She continued yelling Dave's name but it didn't faze him. Jade didn't catch up to him until he tripped over something. She quickly wrapped her arms tightly around him, making sure he couldn't get away unless he wanted to drag her along with him. He breathed heavily but didn't move.

"Dave, it's ok," Jade whispered, laying her head against his shaking back.

"I'm sorry," he said, almost inaudibly. "I'm sorry."

"About what?" Jade said quietly and didn't say any more when he felt Dave sobbing.

A few minutes later he responded with, "For forgetting you."

Jade let Dave cry and she cried a little too. She continued to lay her head against his back and stared into the darkness. She could see the faint light of the street lamps and hear the rush of the nearby waterfall but Dave was silent. She let a sigh as her hands moved to hold the back of his shirt. His body had stopped shaking and his hands lay clenched on his legs.

"I missed you," Jade said, trying to ease the awkwardness.

"So, what did you want me to meet you here for?" Dave mumbled after a few minutes.

"I wanted to give you something," she said softly.

They walked back to the waterfall quietly. Jade grabbed her rifle and Dave grabbed his shades but he didn't put them back on. They sat at the edge of the water before saying anything. Jade dug something out of her pockets, which was apparently two necklaces, and held them up towards Dave.

"Here, when we were little we had these made. You had one that had pictures of John and I and John had one of you and me. You left this when you left town that one day and John thought he lost his forever. I was able to find it the other day and I think it will help you two get back to being friends," Jade explained, handing them to Dave who took them gingerly.

He held them carefully in his hands and his fingers brushed off both of them. He opened one of the lockets to see pictures of a smiling John and Jade. The blonde hooked his around his neck while finally eating the piece of candy Jade had given her earlier. He definitely needed something sweet right now. He kept John's necklace in his hand as he stood up. His shades were in his other hand and he soon slipped them on.

"Is John asleep right now…? I saw his light turn off," Dave asked quietly.

"No, he became just as much of an insomniac as you after the whole deal," Jade responded.

Dave nodded and gave Jade a goodbye. He had asked if she wanted to come but she declined. She said she hadn't been here since he left and she wanted to stay a little longer to soak it on. He trudged onwards towards John's house. The sky was turning into hues of purple. The sun was beginning to rise and it made Dave realize just how tired he felt. He had only three hours of sleep since the incident and this night just made his exhaustion even worse.

He reached the house and knocked on the door. No movement. No answer. He tried again, a bit louder, and got the same response. He then tried to twist the door knob to see if it was open. It was. Thank you, Jade. He stumbled into the dark house, being careful not to trip over anything. He could hear Bec beginning to whine in the backyard as he made his way up to John's room. He knocked on it lightly. No response like before. He decided not try again and opened the door. His heart was caught in his throat and he did his best to resist the urge to run out the door and is best to not cry too as he saw John sitting in his computer chair.

"Hey," he mumbled, staring at John who was just moving the mouse to his computer endlessly.

"Hey," John responded meekly, a slight sour tone to his voice.

"I…brought something for you," Dave choked out, hoping his voice didn't sound as horrible as he thought it did.

John twirled around in his chair to face Dave. That's when the blonde's heart pounded the most. He felt it in his ears and it echo throughout the entire room. Even with his shades on he still felt exposed, so exposed that he had to go awkwardly across the room to hold onto something so he wouldn't fall down. He began shaking all over again. He tried to avert his eyes but it didn't help it just made him all the more anxious. Finally, he couldn't take the stare down anymore and just tossed the necklace at John, who squeaked the cutest squeak ever in surprise.

"How…in the world did you ever find this?" John gasped, flipping it over and over in his hands again as if it would disappear. "Dave…"

"I just…" the blonde started for an excuse but he stopped when he realized that he would be lying again.

"Dave…" John whispered again and Dave looked at him. John eyes were watering as he continued to stare at it. He even opened the locket to look at the pictures. "Dave…"

"Dude, don't start bawling on me, shit," Dave said, looking away so he wouldn't start crying himself. He felt a sudden warmth against him and when he looked down John had wrapped himself around. "Ok, fuck, this is so uncool. What are you doing?"

"I missed you, Dave," John said sleepily.

"Don't fall asleep," Dave said.

"I missed you…" John murmured again, his eyes closing.

"You better not fall asleep, fuck," Dave mumbled but it was too late. He felt John slump against him even more and had to hold him up with his arms. John was fast asleep with his arms around him tightly and, oh, god, he could hardly stop the temptation he was feeling right now. The person he had been ogling at weeks before was cuddling against him, asleep. How could he not want to do anything? A brush through his hair, a small kiss on the cheek, sexual intercourse. Oh, god, no. That last one was totally out of the picture. John looked too cute for that but perhaps he would look even cuter…fuck no.

Dave limped over to John's bed and laid him down but John wouldn't let go. It was an iron grip in dead sleep. Dave decided that he would have to lay down then. It wasn't like he didn't want to lay down with John, the cutie. He just wanted to so much that he was afraid he was going to do something perverted and screw everything up again. As he slipped under the covers, moving John with him, his exhaustion hit him again and he didn't even get the chance to think about anything sexual before his mind gave out on him.