Oh, you the last update was the ending? haha NOPE.

I'm not going to just cut the story off. If there's anything I hate, it's an inconclusive ending. So I'm writing this last little chapter, just to tie things together before cutting them loose. Thank you for putting up with me and my fangirl bullshit for all these chapters. I hope you've enjoyed your ship ride and you'll come back to port of my brain in the future.

Now let's finish this story.

It's the last dance of the night. Just a few more minutes and prom will be over. The night that everyone has waited years for is finally coming to an end.

And you, Karkat Vantas, have never been happier.

You are in the middle of the dance floor, listening to the sweet, slow song drifting through the ballroom and letting the melody carry you away. The music isn't deafening anymore. Now it's just sort of there. So are you. And so is Jade Harley, who is dancing alongside you with her arms around your neck.

You have her pressed close against you, your arms wrapped tightly around her waist. You're looking over her shoulder, watching the crowd as the night slowly draws to a close. All your friends are here. Finally no one is missing. It feels good for things to be like that for once.

Your eyes flicker toward one couple that for some reason seems to stand out in the crowd. One of them just so happens to be your best friend.

Gamzee Makara is dancing with death, otherwise known as Vriska Serket.

Ordinarily you would have expected Vriska to be holding her dancing partner in a covert chokehold, a look of suppressed fear on their face as she forced not to run away. But Gamzee doesn't look scared in the least. In fact, he's smiling. No surprise there. That fucker is always smiling. It's Vriska that startles you.

Vriska is smiling, too. And not in the cold, vicious, I'm-secretly-plotting-your-murder way she always does. It's an actual, warm, sincerely happy smile.

There's something different about her. You just aren't exactly sure what.

Your eyes drift away and end up elsewhere in the crowd. Eventually they locate your other best friend. And Sollux Captor is dancing with...

Eridan Ampora.

Wow.

No idea how the fuck that happened.

Your gaze stays with them for a while. For once in their lives the two of them don't look like they want to kill each other. In fact, they seem kind of... happy.

Eridan's eyes are closed, and his head is leaning against Sollux's shoulder. The desperate hipster opens his eyes and moves his face up by his partner's ear. He whispers something, which makes Sollux's faint smile flicker even brighter. Eridan pulls back to look your friend in the eyes. His face flushes violet, then he leans in and kisses Sollux, who for some reason doesn't flip the fuck out.

You quickly tear your eyes away. Okay, maybe it's better that you never find out how that came into being.

A flicker of gold catches your attention. It looks like Nepeta Leijon has somehow miraculously returned to the dance floor. There are makeup stains on her face, and her hair is all out of order, but other than that it looks like she's survived her brush with eternal sluttiness. She seems to have gone full circle from drunken whore back to her normal self.

And she is dancing with Tavros Nitram.

Well. You really didn't think he had it in him. And-

Hold on. Is that Dave Strider? And he's dancing with... holy shit, it's John Egbert. You can not believe what you're seeing. The rhythm of the music spins you around before you can gawk any further. Dammit. You would've liked to see how that played out.

Somewhere at the edge of the crowd, the main entrance door swings open. Equius Zahhak and Aradia Megido come running in, hand in hand. Equius is soaking wet. You wonder how much he's been swea- oh, wait, Aradia is drenched too. It must be raining outside.

Aradia puts both her hands around Equius's and tugs him into the middle of the crowd. The two of them quickly reassemble and start to dance along with the rest of you, as if they're not shivering and dripping water all over the floor. Somewhere in the middle of everything, ponyboy bends down and kisses his lovely zombie bride. She smiles and nuzzles her face into his chest. Gog, that is so cute.

It seems like everyone is back together again. Even Feferi Peixes and Terezi Pyrope are off in the corner, drunk-lonely-lesbian-slow-dancing with each other. It's nice. For the first time tonight, you are actually happy that you came to this stupid human prom thing.

Something soft brushes against your cheek. Your hand drifts up to sweep it away. Your fingers collide with soft white fur. It's Jade's ear.

Jade.

She sighs softly into your shoulder and tightens her arms around you. She's dancing with you. You can hardly believe it. Jade finally knows how you feel about her. How you've felt about her for years. And now... Now you're here. You feel like you're dreaming.

But, for once in your life, your dreams have actually come true.

You gently stroke Jade's fluffy ears and run your fingers through her soft, night-black hair. She lifts her head from your shoulder. Her bright green eyes flutter open and she looks up at you. Up at you. You're finally tall enough for her to be looking up at you.

Your fingers untangle themselves from her hair and reach up to brush gently against her cheek. You gaze deeply into her eyes, speechless, and she does the same. Then your eyes drift closed as your head falls forward and your lips meet.

It doesn't matter what happened tonight. Everything was still perfect.

And you wouldn't have it any other way.

The End