Gamzee Makara x Karkat Vantas

NEW LIFE

Karkat Vantas walked home from high school, the rain pouring heavily around him. It's a good thing he brought his umbrella... It was Karkat's last year...and even though he didn't WANT to go to that annoying building, his father threatened him to. Not that his dad was around any longer. Cancer had took him the month before, irony, the Cancer being both his and Karkat's Zodiac sign. Karkat decided to make it up to his dad by finishing school.

He may not have been the BEST parent in the world, but he was THERE...and that's all that ever mattered to Karkat.

The teachers didn't mind him being the only living resident at his house, but every once in a while, Karkat would find them whispering about him.

Why couldn't anyone just mind their own damn business?! As long as Karkat paid the cheap bills with his part-time job and kept going to school, there wasn't a problem. Yet everyone was making such a damn deal about it...

'Maybe my LOOKS throw people off?', Karkat wondered. He wore the same shaggy hair as all the OTHER boys in school... Karkat's thoughts were interrupted when he heard a sneeze. He looked up to see Gamzee Makara, better known as The Druggy With The Clown Makeup, standing a little ways from him. Karkat had always ignored Gamzee, because he had a lot of things on his plate already than to deal with some drug addict who would probably stab him senseless.

Gamzee had his head down, his raven-black curly bangs blocking his stoned eyes. The tall young man was shivering, rubbing his hands up and down his short-sleeve shirt to try to keep warm. Karkat almost walked past Gamzee until he saw it... Gamzee had fresh tears pouring down his face.

Karkat couldn't go on, even if he wanted to. What if Gamzee got sick and died? It'd be all Karkat's fault for just ignoring a person who needs help.

Karkat sighed and walked up to Gamzee and held the umbrella over his head. "T-Thanks, bro... F-F-Fuckin' mad weather we g-got here...", Gamzee said, stuttering in the cold. Karkat stiffened. He never thought that Gamzee's voice would be so drugged up...or so SENSUAL.

Karkat shook his head to erase that last thought. The FUCK. He liked girls. Women. "My name is Karkat. Not bro.", Karkat growled. Gamzee smiled an apology and slowly covered his face with his hands. "What's wrong? Why don't you just go home? Why stay here?", Karkat demanded. He didn't know why he was so interested in this druggy.

"...because I don't have any home to go back to Karkat. They took it away." 'They' being the Law. Karkat knew the feeling. 'They' had also been by his place to check if he was still working enough to pay for everything. "How old are you Gamzee?" "Eighteen." "I am too. If they took it, where did your parents go?" Gamzee looked sad, as if he would start crying again. "Ain't got no parents, Karkat. Mom died at childbirth and my pop disappeared and never came back. That motherfucker would probably kick me out anyway for being gay." Karkat didn't flinch at the language or at Gamzee's sexual preference. He'd used the same kind of language at school and everywhere else before his dad died. Now he took responsibility.

And he was going to take responsibility here. Karkat grabbed Gamzee's hand and held it. It was like ice. It was so fucking cold out here, that Karkat did the one thing he thought he wouldn't. Invite a stranger to his house.

"Come home with me. I'll give you a place to stay until you get steady again."

Gamzee looked up in surprise as he was lead to Karkat's house. Did Gamzee really hear him right? This kind young man was giving a complete stranger a home? Gamzee was so happy he started to cry again. He'd never even shed this many tears when his dad left...

Gamzee looked up at the huge house that his new friend and roomate had brought him to. It was motherfuckin' HUGE! The smaller of the two threw the umbrella aside and still grasping Gamzee's hand, lead him to the bathroom. Karkat started the water in the tub, then stood in front of Gamzee and removed his shirt as well as his own jacket and shirt. "W-What're ya doin' Karbro?", Gamzee asked, blushing under his make-up. He did notice Karkat at school, and thought he was so cute...but he wasn't too keen on talking to a boy that could punch his nuts off.

"Shut up. I'm going to help you bathe, since your drugged up ass can't seem to stop shaking enough to do it yourself! And stop with that nickname, you FUCKASS!", Karkat exclaimed, then gasped as he noticed his old self being brought back out. Karkat's tension faded when Gamzee giggled. "You can say whatever kinda bitchtits word you can think of to me...but no. That nickname is cute. I'm keeping it." Gamzee's grin was lost as a washrag was thrown at his face. "Wash that shit off your face. I'll wash everywhere else."

Gamzee prayed to his Great and Powerful Merthful Messiahs that he wouldn't get a hard on while Karkat washed that area.

Gamzee was led to Karkat's large bed while still in his bath-towel. Karkat carefully sat Gamzee down on the mattress as he went to his dad's room to pull out a pair of pajamas for the taller teen to wear. He had to blink back tears, because he hadn't been in his dad's room since his death. He quiclky walked back to Gamzee and started helping him pull on the PJs.

Gamzee was sobering up and he noticed how careful and skillful Karkat was at taking care of someone. Even when Gamzee wobbled, Karkat never faltered. "You're so good at this, bro.", Gamzee noted. He saw the smaller male flinch then look away. "Yeah, well... I took care of my dad a lot during his final hours. He died last month." It was Gamzee's turn to flinch. He HAD noticed that the house was a bit too quiet. Had Karkat really been staying here alone for so long? Karkat finished buttoning Gamzee's pajama top and smiled...but Gamzee saw right through it. It was a lonely cry for help. "Damn bro...I'm so motherfuckin' sorry!", Gamzee exclaimed as he pulled Karkat in his lap and into a tight hug.

Karkat gasped after he was pulled into the taller teen's arms. He hadn't realized how good Gamzee's scent was when mixed with his bathsoap. He slowly put his arms around Gamzee's torso and did what he though he couldn't do anymore.

He cried.

Gamzee listened to Karkat's tears as his own soon followed. Why SHOULDN'T he cry? Gamzee was lost to the darkness of drugs when his dad disappeared. He tried to sober up, but everytime, RIGHT back to the drugs. Gamzee smiled though his tears, feeling so happy. He finally found the motivation and inspiration to get cleaned up.

It was sitting in his arms.