THIS ISN'T REALLY LATE SHHHHH

Labeled

Chapter Nine: Wash Away the Worst of Me

John stared at his reflection, his blue eyes bright and curious and wandering, looking all over the mirror image of himself, from his messy black hair, rosy pink lips and pale cheeks that still held the slightest bit of baby fat, even if boys his age would have already grown out of it. His hands lifted to fix the tie he wore, feeling stuffy and uncomfortable in his suit and messed with the collar, sighing at himself. 'You've got to make a presentation,' his dad's voice told him in his head, and he frowned at it, pulling on the jacket and adjusting it on his shoulders, running his hands through his hair to try and tame it, when there was a knock at his door, and Jade entered, long black hair pulled up and back into an elegant bun, green eyes outlined with black and she smiled, red lips pulled up at the corners. "Having trouble?" she asked, coming over to stand next to him, laughing at his tie-straightening attempts. "Here, let me see. You're absolutely useless. Still spacey from your date?"

John's face turned red and his cousin laughed, turning him so she could fix his suit, brushing off stray dust and hair. "I'm not spaced out because of the date," he said, frowning a little at her. "I'm spaced out because of my date."

Jade giggled. "So, you're spaced out because of Dave? And why? Other than the obvious 'just-got-together' spacey-ness, of course?"

"Because… He, um, doesn't know about all of this," he said quietly, getting Jade's wide green eyes in return, and she bit his lower lip carefully.

"You didn't tell him?" she asked, letting out a tiny "eek" when he shook his head, "John, you really need to tell him."

The black haired boy nodded. "Yeah, I know, but… Multimillion dollar company, and I'm going to run it someday. You remember how well it went the last time I told someone I liked about it. They tried to use me for the money."

Jade nodded. "Oh, yeah…" she sighed softly and helped John fix his hair. "Well, you'll need to tell him eventually. If he figures out your last name, it'll be a dead giveaway. I think it'd be better to tell him yourself."

John shrugged and Jade smiled, bringing her cousin to do the same. "Now, come on, we have a dinner to get to. Don't forget you have to make a presentation, Mr. Heir-of-the-Crocker-Corporation."

Dave sighed, scrolling up and down through his and John's conversation on pesterChum, eyes scanning over the text, every word, and the periods (or lack of them), and sighed, cheeks turning a bit red.

EB: sorry there's some important family stuff i have to go to.
EB: i'll, uh, talk to you later ok?

He wondered what John's family was like for a moment- he had mentioned he had two cousins, twin girls, and he lived with his dad and their in-home maid of sorts. But he never talked much of his home life, of what his dad did, or the random family events he mentioned him having to go to every once in a while, just random talk of school and their next date (which would be tomorrow at noon in Central Park). Dave put his hands in his head, staring at the screen for a moment, and a thought passed by, one that made his stomach drop a bit.

He didn't even know John's last name.

For a moment, maybe he was wrong- no, John had told him, right- but no, he didn't know his own boyfriend's last name. Dave slammed his head down on his desk and groaned. Some boyfriend he was.

"About fucking time you stopped looking like you were going to make out with your fucking screen."

Dave turned his head, staring at Karkat standing in his doorway, arms crossed over his chest and gray eyes narrowed, holding a bag of soda and chips. "You looked about ready to."

"What do you want?" he asked, sitting up straighter and sitting back in his office chair. Karkat threw a bottle of Coke at him, sitting down on his bed.

"You don't have a date tonight right?" the shorter teen asked, opening his bottle of Dr. Pepper.

Dave shook his head. "No. I have one tomorrow at noon."

"Good. I'm staying here tonight," was all he said, taking a drink of his soda and ignoring Dave's confused silence.

"Your dad's not home?" he asked quietly.

"No."

"Sollux isn't either?"

"Nope."

"I'll go get you a blanket and a pillow."

John grabbed Dave's hand and moved closer to him, putting his head on his shoulder, shivering. "It's way too cold out here," he said, cheeks red, looking up at him with a small smile that made Dave's heart skip a beat. "At least you're warm," he laughed, kissing his cheek.

Dave smiled down at John, fixing his scarf and kissing his forehead. "You're warm, too," he said, looking to a nearby bench and pulling them over to it. "We've been out all day. It's going to get dark soon."

"It's okay, my dad knows where I am. I have my cell phone, too," John said, sitting down and cuddling close to Dave. "Do you need to be home soon?"

Dave shook his head. "Nope, my bro doesn't really care. He's never home. Karkat and Sollux might give me hell if they're not too busy with each other," he said, chuckling a little. "I can stay out as long as you can."

John smiled, and put his head on Dave's shoulder, staring at the snow-covered trees with his bright blue eyes, to which Dave had to force himself not to stare. "Christmas is in a month," he said softly. "Well, little over a month. Whatever. Do you want anything?" And when he looked up at Dave, eyes shining and honest, Dave's stomach dropped, and his blood ran cold. He was extremely glad for his shades, otherwise John would see the pain and uncertainty in his eyes, how he seemed to recoil a bit at the question. "I could probably afford it, if, um, you're worried about it."

"See, um, that's the thing…" he started, getting John's confused head tilt in return. Fuck he couldn't tell him now. "I would feel bad if you spent money on me like that," he said, swallowing the nervous, bitter taste in his mouth. His wrist burnt under the black band. "No one does stuff like that for me," he admitted.

The black haired boy smiled, kissing him softly, lips soft and warm, even if he looked beyond cold. "Well, if me buying you something is awkward, I can at least spend part of my day with you. My dad's kind of anal about Christmas, so I can't be out all day. I have, uh, family dinners to get to all the time."

The stutter brought Dave's attention to "family dinners", and he tilted his head in curiosity, not able to make many more evident emotions. "Family dinners? Not just one?"

John looked stunned for a moment before laughing a little. "My family is full of bullshit drama. They don't get along real well…"

Even if Dave didn't believe him completely, he nodded and kissed him back, hand tightening in his. "Alright," he said, gut churning awkwardly. "We'll spend that day together. Promise." The most painful lie he's ever told, and John's face lit up.

"Thank you, Dave," he said, wrapping his arms around him and kissing his lips again. "That means a lot to me."

Fuck, if now he didn't feel guilty.

Dave spent Sunday sulking in his room and talking to John through the phone Bro finally passed down to him. "Going out more often," was his reasoning, but Dave didn't argue the point. Sollux had tried to come over and spend time playing video games with him, but Bro told him Dave didn't feel good, which was true to extent. Being out in the cold for so long must have gotten him sick, and even though he didn't want to, Monday morning he rolled out of bed and went to school, although he sent a quick text to John and told him he was sick. Smart kid said no kissing then, and he didn't complain.

"I think it's great you finally got a cell phone," John said as they headed off to history, stopping next to John's class and leaning against the wall outside the door. "We can talk on the phone now. I, um, like hearing your voice." He blushed and ducked his head, smiling at his shoes.

Dave smiled a bit down at him, kissing his forehead. "I like hearing your voice, too," he said, squeezing his hand. "I'll see you at lunch." John grinned up at him and nodded, kissing his cheek, going into his class as the warning bell rang. Dave headed off for his own class as Rose- weird, he's never seen her down here this period- walked up to him, lavender eyes looking up at him. "Dave, just who I wanted to see," she said, smiling.

"Yes?" Dave asked, deflated and staring down at her. "Need to give me a therapy session or something?"

Rose smiled even more and shook her head softly. "Not now. After school at that coffee shop, Little Cubes and Tea," she said, walking off before the bell rang. "Ciao, cousin."

"So."

Dave, after adding what seemed like the millionth scoop of sugar to his tea, finally broke the silence, stirring his drink and looking up at Rose. His elegant and quiet cousin set down her tea and looked at him, adjusting her purple sweater. "So this romance I've heard about from Karkat…"

"I knew it. Nothing fucking gets past you," he said, letting his head fall to his hands. "How much has he told you?"

Rose brushed her hair out of her face and behind her ear, adding a bit more sugar to her tea. "His name, age, the basis. Most importantly that he doesn't know you're black banded," her eyes stared at him, intently, narrowing slightly. "You only have three weeks, Dave. Why haven't you told him?"

"It'd break his heart."

"And you think not telling him is better?"

"Well at least he wouldn't be expecting it."

"Dave this is selfish."

"You don't think I know that?"

She sighed, irritated, and glared at Dave, lips drawn thin. "Then why would you do this to yourself, and to him?"

"Because even if I have this damn black band, I'd like to feel like most other people, and know what it feels like to have someone that loves you, like Karkat and Sollux, you and Kanaya. I just… want that, okay?" he said, running his hands through his hair. "I'm selfish and a dumbass and an asshole. You don't need to tell me that."

Rose's look softened and she looked at her reflection in her tea. "Dave. You need to tell him."

"I know."

"Soon."

"Wednesday," Dave said, sighing and staring at his murky brown reflection on the surface of his tea, at the shades staring back at him. "I'll tell him then. Think it through tomorrow and tell him Wednesday."

Rose's hand, surprisingly comforting, reached over and held Dave's wrist, and she sighed softly, thumb running over his band. "Okay," she said. "Okay."

"I need to tell him, Jade."

John spun in his office chair, holding his phone up to his ear and sighing at the ceiling. "I can't keep lying to him. Family dinners every week? I just… Jade I can't do it."

"Well…" his cousin's voice started. "How are you going to tell him? 'Hey, Dave, guess what? I'm heir to a multi-million dollar company, so… yeah. My dad is the president of Crocker Corp, most powerful business on this side of Manhattan-'."

John sighed heavily. "Shut up, Jade. Put Feferi on the phone. She can help me."

There was some shuffling and muffled voices. "Sorry." Jade apologized. "She's dealing with Eridan."

He 'ah'd and sighed. "I think I'll just tell him straight up. I'm John Egbert, son of the Egbert family that run the most powerful business in New York. And… that's it."

"It sounds better than nothing. Are you going to tell him tomorrow?"

"No," John said, running a hand through his hair. "No, not tomorrow. The day after. Wednesday," he bit his lip. "So I have my nerves together better."

He could practically hear her smile. "I'm glad, John. I'm really happy you're doing this."

"Yeah…"

But he wasn't too sure if he felt the same.

Feferi Harley crossed her arms, dark blue eyes narrowed at the boy in the doorway. "Eridan, what are you doing." The darker haired boy shuffled awkwardly, blue eyes staring at the ground. "Well?"

"Didn't V-Vris call you?" Eridan Ampora asked quietly, biting on his lower lip gently, moving a hand to run it through his hair, including the one violet streak. "She said she w-would."

Feferi glared. "Vriska? Why would she call me?" she snapped. "You haven't been messing around with her line of work again, have you?"

"No…"

"For God sake's Eridan!" she said, voice raising a bit. "You expect me to want to forgive you, but you're being tied up with the mafia?!"

"I'm not really-"

Feferi groaned and threw up her hands. "Listen. Eridan, I don't care what you did for her that she would 'call me' to 'talk about you' or whatever, but I'm so done! I gave you your chance and you blew it by getting me in trouble! I'm done Eridan! And I told you- LEAVE ME ALONE."

SLAM.