It had been two weeks since you had came this fucking close to death, and in that time you had grown extremely close to both Dave and the cat. Finally, it was time to give him up. The cat, you mean, not Dave. You sigh, trying to quench the fear that Dave will ditch you as soon as you were rid of the cat. It had been nagging at your mind, the usual "what if he only wants me because [fill in blank]?". Still, you couldn't force it out of your head. The asshole often excused his visits as a chance to see Flounder, and he had never felt comfortable enough around you to take off his shades yet.

You're mulling this over as you trudge to the park where the two of you first met. It has been a kind of meeting spot for the two of you, oddly enough. In a way, it was sweet.

"Oh, shut up," you mumble, as Sebastian the crab's voice on your iPhone urges you to 'Kiss the Girl'. You go to change the song - you can't be seen with something like that on your iPhone - but pause. A smile breaks out on your face as you remember your awkward first date with Dave. Wait, what? That wasn't a date, Eridan. The smile disappears and you pull the hood up on your purple hoodie. It was the one you had been wearing when you first met Dave, coincidentally. You're not sure if you'd washed it since then either. It kind of still smells like him.

"Mew," Flounder complains from inside the box you're carrying. He's tired of being jostled about. You try not to tear up at the little shit's tiny mew. You're gonna miss him, even though you can't wait to use your nose again to breathe. You might even recover your sense of taste soon.

The park is just as small and cheesy as you remember. The plastic swings are slowly thawing as winter comes to an end, and the thin snow that was there a couple of days ago has melted to reveal all sorts of shit people can't be bothered to throw in a trash can a few feet away. Dave is sitting on the bench, doodling on it in Sharpie. Your heart leaps as you see him, but you don't think about it. Every single time you see him, your heart jumps. Maybe it's an anxiety thing. Or maybe... No, Eridan! You're not allowed.

"Vandalizing public parks now, are we?" you tease, and he looks up, smiling.

Suddenly, a beat-up car rolls up.

"Oh, that's probably Rose," he says, taking the box from you. He brings Flounder over to the car, without letting you say goodbye. Without the box in your hands, you feel a little weak. You stumble to the bench, heart pounding wildly. What the fuck is happening to you? You sit with your head in your hands.

"She can't stay to meet -" Dave breaks off suddenly, striding back over. You notice that you're crying at the same time he does.

He throws an arm around your shoulders, "What's wrong, Erielle?"

You decide to tell him the truth, "I think I'm in love with you,"

There is the longest pause of your life, and then he chuckles.

"Why the fuck are you crying over that?"

"Because I don't want you to leave,"

He takes your chin lightly and lifts your face to his. You realize he's taken his shades off. His eyes are red. Not the kind of red you get from crying - his irises are bright red. It's quite attractive.

"Eridan, what makes you think I'd leave?"

You sniffle, trying to wipe away your messy tears, "'Cause you're gonna freak out that I like you and you'll never like me back and I'll be alone again because I don't know how to make friends without falling in love with them because I'm a fucking idiot!"

"I'm not gonna do any of that, Erielle," his voice is gentle.

"Then what are you gonna do?" you ask, cautiously.

"This," he whispers, and he kisses you. On the lips.

Your name is Eridan Ampora and you'd like to thank your brother for being a complete and utter asshole. You'd also like to thank the park bench that has E.A. + D.S. scribbled on it in sharpie. You'd like to thank Flounder for being the the personification (catsonificiation?) of an asshole, as well as whatever idiotic notion that possessed Dave to write his number on a tragic prick whom he shared a bench with for a night. You'd like to thank each and every twist and turn that led up to this moment, and each and every twist and turn you and your boyfriend will face in the future, because whatever life can throw at you, whatever you'll have to endure, you're gonna go through it together.

A/N - And done! Never again will you spend a week biting your nails at a cliffhanger in this story, never will you cry tears over the delightfully shy Eridan. I'm kidding, of course, I don't expect any of that from you. But, much like Eridan said above, I'd like to thank all of you. If you're reading these words (unless you enjoy skipping to the end of the story and reading the last paragraph first), then it means you've stuck with me through all of my silly fluff. And, as a writer who smiles every time they get an email from this site informing them that another person favourited or reviewed or followed my story, you can't possibly understand how much all of that means to me. Not to be as cheesy as the above ending, but I love you all, and this story is finished thanks to all of your wonderful support. I hope you'll continue to spread your support along to other writers, artists, and plain old enthusiasts, because even a simple gesture like that can motivate them to keep on doing what they love doing.