Disclaimer: I do not own Homestuck or any of its characters. Homestuck belongs to Andrew Hussie.

Meet me at the pier at 8 p.m.

Dirk Strider reread the note in his palm, scanning the single line over and over again. He didn't need to, really, the short message was etched into his memory since the day he found it lying with his mail. The note held no signature, but it didn't need one. Dirk would have recognized that scrawl anywhere. He subconsciously crushed the note, but hastened to straighten it out.

Dirk sighed and leaned over the railing, his signature triangle shades slipping down on his nose. He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth against the too real pain that yes, he wasn't here again and yes I'm still standing here like a fool waiting for someone who probably isn't going to show but no, I won't stop coming because he's bound to show up one of these days, right?

Blinking away the tears that were threatening to fall, the young Strider straightened up and checked his phone. The display read '9:00' in large, neon-green letters.

'Another day he didn't show up...' he thought as slowly began the walk back home.

"Bro, it's eight."

Dirk nodded at his brother and made to get up off of the couch. The blond had half a mind to stay seated- 'He didn't show all the other days, what makes today any different?'- but, as always, a second thought chased away the first.

'Today's a new day. It could be different this time around.'

With that thought on a continuous loop in his mind, the blond walked up to the hall closet and stuck his hand inside. His fingers closed around soft fabric and he pulled, revealing a hoodie. His favourite hoodie. The maroon one with the magenta broken heart on it. The one that Jake got him all those years ago.

Mindlessly, Dirk slipped the hoodie over his head and walked out the door. He didn't even notice that it was raining until he was halfway to the pier.

By the time Dirk reached the pier the rain had eased up into a light drizzle. With his hood finally on, Dirk sat at the end of the pier and watched the small ripples the gentle raindrops made in the water. Offhandedly, he heard footsteps in the background, but he paid them no mind.

"Wow. I'm actually surprised you're here."

Dirk recognized the voice almost immediately, but his body language betrayed nothing. The hand that was gently toying with the note in his pocket clamped shut in a vice grip, knuckles going white with the effort of keeping it from trembling.

The figure let out a nervous laugh before speaking again. "C'mon Dirk, I'm back. Aren't you happy to se-"

"Don't."

Dirk's voice cracked on that single syllable. He took a deep breath and repeated himself, pleased with the lack of a tremor in his voice. "Don't. Just...don't.

The figure was shocked into silence, his eyes darting nervously back and forth as he scrambled for something to say.

In the silence, Dirk's breathing became laboured with the weight of the situation. 'This doesn't have to turn into a shitstorm. I'll be fine if I just sit here, don't look at him, and talk it out. Yeah things will be okay if...'

What little resolve Dirk had was shattered by a warm and heavy arm that was slung across his shoulders. He recoiled away from the touch with a groan and before he knew it he was yelling.

"What the hell, Jake?! You disappear off the face of the earth and then you come back and just expect to pick up exactly where we left off?! Shit doesn't work like that!"

Jake held his hands out in an apologetic manner and tried to calm Dirk down. "Look, Dirk, I know-"

"No! You don't know. You don't know anything! Do you…" Dirk sniffled and wiped at his cheeks, where Jake could see smudged tear stains.

"Do you know how much it fucking hurt to wake up one morning and find out you're gone? How fucking hard it was to go through the days and have to remind myself that 'No, he won't be showing up at Roxy's' and 'No, he won't be coming over so we can study, or-"

Dirk's words were cut off by a loud sob as he sank to the ground. Jake stared at his boyfriend - 'can I still even call him that?'- before crawling over to his sobbing form and wrapping him up in a hug.

Dirk couldn't be bothered to push him away, choosing instead to push his shades onto his forehead and bury his face in Jake's shoulder. The two stayed like that until Dirk's sobs slowly faded into hiccups.

"Look Dirk," Jake began awkwardly, "I know I probably fucked up...no, scratch that, I did fuck up, but I wanna try and fix things. I was gone for a while, so thi-"

"Three years."

Jake blinked in confusion. "What?"

"Three years. You were gone for three years, and you've had me coming here to wait for you for almost half of that time. I'm pretty sure three years is more than a while."

'Shit, I never realized I was gone for that long...' Jake hoped that Dirk took the silence as him being apologetic- I'm really sorry I just...don't know how to say it- and continued what he was saying.

"I was gone for more than a little while, so I'm sure things have changed while I was gone. But I still wanna be a part of your life again. Yours, and Roxy's, and Jane's, and everybody else that I left behind."

"You know that's not going to be easy," said Dirk, pulling his sunglasses back onto his face now that his tears have finally stopped.

"Yeah...but I'll deal with it. I really want to make this work out again. I missed you guys."

"Where did you even disappear off to, anyways?"

Jake winced at the question. "That's… a story for another day," he said with a grimace

The blond narrowed his eyes at the black haired teen holding him but didn't press the issue. "Fine," he said, "but promise me this."

"What's that?"

"Never do that again. Ever."

Jake smiled and nuzzled Dirk's head before pressing a gentle kiss to his forehead.

"I promise."

A/N: First contribution to the Homestuck fandom ^^. It's short, but I'm happy with the way it came out =) Hope you all enjoyed !