Is it strange to befriend something that had been trying to scare the wits out of you for the past couple of months?

The door slammed shut to the humble abode of the young boy with the reddish brownish hair. The sun was still out and shining bright but he flicked on all the lights of his house hoping his father wouldn't be home anytime soon. The old man hated it when his son wasted electricity like this. It was no good for the bill but the boy had to do this. He had to or else that thing would easily wander around and catch him by surprise. He was too tired to deal with him that day. The evening went by as usual with getting homework done, watching TV and then turning off all the lights in the unoccupied rooms when his father came home. Unfortunately he was a little careless by nightfall and rummaged in a closet without really thinking for some extra bed sheets while his was in the wash.

"Karkat~" an eerie voice startled the boy and he quickly fumbled to pull his flashlight out of his back pocket. A giggle echoed by his left ear before he was suddenly pulled into the dark little room and the door was slammed shut behind him, trapping the boy in the darkness. Karkat yelped and finally got a hold of his flashlight before turning it on and shining it around him. Standing up slowly he moved his hand to the door handle when he felt a hand on his shoulder, "Boo."

"JESUS FUCK!" the boy cried as his back hit the door and the voice laughed. After franticly grabbing for the handle he finally caught a hold of it and violently opened the door before falling out into the light.

"What the hell are you doing Karkat?" his father snapped as he looked out into the hall and then down at his boy lying on the floor, annoyance written all over his face.

"I uh . . . slipped."

His father just rolled his eyes before mumbling 'good for nothing' and then going back to what he was doing. Karkat sighed and got back up. Hooked around his foot was the bed sheet he was looking for. After picking it up he held the door of the closet and looked inside. On the wall he could see those taunting red eyes and the shadows slowly shifted to reveal a big grin under them. He immediately slammed the door shut.

"KARKAT HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO FUCKING TELL YOU TO NOT SLAM THE GOD DAMN DOORS. I'M TAKING MONEY OUT OF YOUR ACCOUNT IF YOU BREAK ANYTHING," his father shouted from the living room.

The boy just ignored him before heading to his room. His father used to reprimand him for keeping his bedroom light on all night but after seeing that it really didn't do anything he just ignored it. Karkat had even bothered to tell him he'd pay the extra amount on the electricity bill from whatever he had saved up from his summer job so there really was no problem.

"Aw baby gonna keep the lights on all night again?" a whispery voice called from the small shadow created by the boy's desk, "You're no fun at all. Come on you're a high schooler don't tell me you're still afraid of the dark."

Karkat just ignored its laughs as he set his bed.

"Come on. Let loose and let the lights out for a little, let's have a little fun. It can't be good for your wallet."

He glared at the small area before shining his flashlight at the shadow. The giggles moved and appeared behind him from under his bed.

"You know a flashlight doesn't do anything. I'm where ever darkness is. You can't get rid of me kid."

"Can you just leave me alone for ONCE!?" the boy shouted. This thing had tormented for far too long. He couldn't even remember the last time he ever had a day of peace. Thinking about it this shadow being had only appeared a few months ago but the days of torment and living and fear just made it feel even longer than it should have been. It created a whole new meaning to darkness and it appeared that only he could see and hear it. He had learned that the hard way when his father thought he was crazy shouting at the wall for no apparent reason. The Shadow's true motive the boy was unsure of, but it couldn't have been good which made him live each and every day in wary and constant fear for his life.

After a moment of silence he hoped the thing had decided to leave him alone for the night so after a strangely quiet hour of last minute homework he went to sleep with a little less worry than usual.

In the corner of his room sat a small shadow and a pair of red eyes watching silently.

The Shadow was startled from browsing the internet on the boy's laptop the next afternoon when the front door was slammed closed a lot harder than the day before. His father was home early that day.

"What the fuck did I tell you about slamming doors you little brat?" his father immediately lectured.

"What the hell are you doing home so early old man," Karkat didn't even say it like a question. It was just flat with barely any emotion and a hint of fatigue. The Shadow curiously peeked out at the front door to find the boy soaking wet from trekking home in the sudden rain without an umbrella.

"I got a call from your school today. Fuckers whining about how you got into a fight with some other brats."

"They hit me so I hit them back," he replied with a little more bite. The shadow saw a large bruise over the boy's eye and cheek.

"They told me one of the kid's parents wants to file a fucking lawsuit for you stabbing one of them."

"I STABBED THEM!? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!?" the boy pulled up his sleeve revealing bandages wrapped around his arm, the boy promptly tore them off showing under it was a large long cut up along his arm, "THOSE ASSHOLES HELD ME DOWN AND GAVE ME THIS. WHEN I STRUGGLED FREE I KNOCKED THE BLADE OUT OF THEIR HANDS AND IT FLEW AND GAVE ONE OF THOSE FUCKERS A TINY LITTLE SCRATCH ON HIS FINGER. IT WAS SO GOD DAMN SHALLOW A FUCKING PAPERCUT WOULD HAVE BEEN WORSE!"

His usually grouchy father who gave off a 'I don't give a fuck' vibe actually had a look of horror on his face when he saw the cut. Then it turned into a look of pure anger, "Oh those fucking little- They have no idea who they're messing with."

"Where are you going?" Karkat asked as his father walked past him and put on his coat.

"They want a lawsuit? They're going to get one. I have their fucking names thanks to the principal. Kids these days carrying who knows what to school. Here wait," he pulled out his phone and motioned Karkat to hold out his arm. The boy obeyed and his father took a quick picture, "Did you at least fuck 'em up back like a little bit?"

"I broke one of their arms and might have broken another guy's nose from a kick . . ." Karkat admitted while looking away.

He was startled when his father actually smirked, "That's my boy. Go wash up before you get sick kid. There's some leftover's in the fridge and the first aid kit is in the cabinet. Get some ice on those bruises. Don't wait up."

After giving Karkat a hair ruffle he grabbed an umbrella and left. The boy sighed tiredly and picked up the bandages on the floor before dumping them in the garbage and heading to the washroom. The Shadow followed discretely and watched as the boy hissed when he was taking his shirt off. On his back and chest were more bruises and scratches. He stopped after dropping it to the floor and then looked around as if anticipating something. For once in his strange non-human life the shadow felt like he would impose on the boy if he started teasing him at that moment or even spoke so he just casually slipped out and waited in the boy's room. He had no idea the kid was getting bullied at school, he just assumed he was just grumpy and uptight about everything like his father and thought he would be fun to tease and see what other reactions the boy could have.

The Shadow used to go around and scare kids for fun because they never saw it coming. He never revisited or stayed at a house more than one night. Only Karkat had piqued his interest which was why he was still there. It was amusing to see a different face on the boy aside from a near permanent frown. He practically fed on his faces of astonishment and fear but after seeing that face back there full of despair and hurt well, he wasn't sure what he thought after that. Watching the boy was interesting. He cried at sappy movies, smiled discretely to himself whenever his father gave him attention that did not involve yelling, looked so young and vulnerable when sleeping without those frustrated creases over his face making him frown or scowl. Watching him like that was probably creepy on human standards but then again he wasn't human.

The door swung open and the dark being swiftly slipped into a corner as the lights were flicked on. The boy looked a little irritated as he walked in shirtless and with the first aid kit, "What not going to bother me today or something? Didn't know things like you could actually feel bad for a person."

Wow rude. The Shadow frowned a bit. Yeah he liked teasing the boy but he wasn't uncivilized. He had feelings too. He wasn't a monster. Well technically he wasn't sure what he was but he did have morals.

The boy looked relieved when the Shadow decided not to answer and stay quiet. He then sat on his bed and attempted to wrap his arm by himself. Seeing it a little closer now the Shadow could see that it was a pretty nasty wound. The bandage was poorly done since he was doing it on his own but after fussing with it for a half hour he decided it was good enough and then flopped backwards putting an ice pack over his black eye and another on his cheek. The kid had a rough enough day without another nerve wracking experience so he just left him alone.

The evening turned into night as the boy rested and then browsed the internet on his laptop after putting a shirt on. The rain outside had gotten worse and a clap of thunder startled the boy causing him to yelp which in turn startled the Shadow. Was the boy afraid of thunderstorms? He watched as Karkat frantically checked his monitor for something before looking around his room. Another clap of thunder echoed before a stretch of lightning illuminated outside. Suddenly the room went dark and the Shadow's eyes adjusted. He saw the boy with a face of absolute terror clutching onto his laptop.

"Shit shit shit shit fuck fuck fuck why'd I leave my flashlight in my bag," he scrambled around and winced when he leaned on his arm. The Shadow looked at his laptop screen and found that it barely had any battery left as he used it as a light to get towards his bag. He jumped when the laptop ran out of battery and his light disappeared, "No no no no no no no no no no no fuck oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck no please fuck."

The Shadow watched as the boy jumped back onto his bed to try to get the laptop back on but it was futile so he just kind of curled up and started having a little panic attack. He then moved behind Karkat and put a hand on his shoulder, "Hey."

"NO PLEASE LEAVE ME ALONE OH MY GOD FUCK!" he flailed and crawled further onto his bed all the way to the headboard and held up a pillow as if it were a shield. He shook and tears were openly falling down his face.

"Jesus Christ calm down I'm not going to hurt you!" the Shadow sat in front of him and held his hands up defensively, "Why're you so scared of the dark when I'm literally the worst thing that could come from it? You seem to handle me just fine."

Karkat hesitantly put his pillow down as he looked carefully at the shadow. He never actually looked at it like this before and he finally noticed how many human like features it had. He had a face like a human's minus the red eyes. He had a whispy lighter shadow for what appeared to be his hair and an expression of concern. It was strange. He didn't even freak out when extra shadow arms moved to wipe the tears from his face and then slowly pull him into the Shadow's lap.

"I mean yeah sure it's one to be afraid of shit but I think you're just scared cause you don't understand it. I mean darkness isn't bad ok. Like yeah I like to mess with you but I'm not going to eat you. I mean don't hate yourself for being scared but you've gotta remember that sometimes the reasons you fear shit aren't gonna be all that logical. Not saying that makes the fears any less legit but it's important to keep in mind I guess. Fear doesn't control you dude, you control fear. Don't let it own you ok man," the shadow gave him a small smile as it kept his arms wrapped around the boy.

It was strange. It was warm. Karkat hadn't been held like that since he was like 5. He looked up at that very human like face and gave it a look of confusion, "What are you?"

"A shadow I guess."

"Why are you comforting me?"

"Hey like I said I don't want to ruin your life. I was just teasing. Having a little fun. Didn't think it worked you up that much. Thought you needed someone to tell you not to freak out after the kind of day you had."

"You've been the object of terror for me for the past couple of months," the boy glared at the shadow.

"Oops."

"But it turns out you're just some dunderfuck of an asshole."

"Whoa there."

"I seriously thought you were trying to find a chance to kill me."

The Shadow panicked a bit when the boy started crying again, "Shit okay I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make it like that. I'm just some shadow dude that doesn't have anything better to do. I'm just a part of darkness what else can I do but find fun in freaking people out. You were different from those other kids so I stuck around that's all."

"You're an asshole," Karkat sniffled as he put his hands over his face.

" . . . I know. I'm sorry," the Shadow held him a little closer feeling pretty guilty about what he had done. He then looked at the boy's arm and remembered the sloppy bandage that was supposed to be there, "Hey do you mind if I fix the wrap on your arm for you? I don't think it being loose like that will help."

He wiped his face and looked at the dark being who had his attention on his arm, "Uh sure? . . . You're really not going to eat me right?"

The Shadow let out a small amused breath as he easily slipped out from under Karkat and sat in front of him, "No I'm not. I don't eat anything and I'm not sure if I even can 'eat' at all let alone eat a human."

He looked at the red eyes that usually frightened him. It was different looking into them this time. They actually looked sincere. It motioned towards Karkat's arm so he rolled up his sleeve revealing the sloppy bandage wrap. The Shadow then untied it then wrapped it up again making it snug. The boy watched quietly and intently. Thunder struck once more and he flinched.

"Are you scared of thunderstorms?"

"No that shit's just startling okay. You just don't expect it. It's fucking loud and then suddenly a flash of blinding light," Karkat scowled but then blinked at the Shadow's silent laughter. He saw the intimidating sharp looking teeth that the being had but it didn't scare him this time.

"You're adorable," it smirked at him.

"Wh- what the hell? Where did that come from!?" the boy flailed a bit once the shadow fixing up the bandage. It just laughed at how flustered he was. Karkat looked away hoping the darkness wouldn't reveal his blush, "So what the hell do I call you?"

"What?"

"You're going to keep sticking around because you find me interesting or whatever right. Do you have like a name or something?" he awkwardly asked.

For the first time ever the boy saw the Shadow give him a smile that wasn't eerie or creepy, "You can call me Dave."

Karkat woke up to the soft sound of the morning rain. His room was still dark and he wondered if the power was still out. Looking at his alarm clock that ran on batteries he found it was 9AM. Looked like he wouldn't be going to school that day since his father decided not to wail on him that morning to get up. With a sigh he turned around to sleep some more but met face to face with a dark face with red eyes.

"Morning sunshine."

"GYAAAAAH!" with a thud the boy promptly fell out of bed.

"Holy shit I'm sorry. Are you okay?" Dave asked with concern as he peeked over the bed.

Karkat groaned with a hand over his face, "What the fuck are you doing in my bed!?"

Before the shadow could answer the door to his room was slammed open and Karkat's father burst in flicking on the lights, "What's going on!? Karkat are you alright?"

Dave disappeared and hid under the bed while the boy blinked to readjust to the sudden brightness. Looked like the power was just fine, "I'm fine, I just fell out of bed."

"Oh," his father scratched his head at the over reacting, "How are you feeling kid?"

Karkat sat up, gave his shoulders a roll and stretched out his neck a bit before making a disgruntled face, "Sore."

The boy was surprised when his father walked over and knelt down in front of him to inspect his face, "You got yourself quite the shiner there. Should be a lot better tomorrow. Why don't you go get organized and I'll go make you breakfast."

"Uh sure," after another hair ruffle the man was gone and Karkat sat there for another minute staring at his open door in awe.

"Breakfast should sound pretty good for you when you're not the one that's going to be making it. What are you just sitting there for?" a voice asked from under his bed.

"My dad hasn't made breakfast for me since I was eight. And he keeps like ruffling my hair like he was proud of me or something."

"Maybe he is. Proud his son stuck up for himself and beat up some little shits back. Your pops looks to be the type to think like that. From my stay here I can tell he likes to yell and shit yeah but he probably cares about you a lot to storm out after you got hurt."

"I guess?" Karkat got up still slightly confused and a little deterred by the casual banter he was suddenly having with the thing that used to scare the living daylights out of him.

Once he finished brushing his teeth and somewhat taming his wild hair he went to the kitchen and found the extremely rare sight of his father cooking at the stove. He slipped over to the dinner table and waited. Karkat just watched the man as omelettes and sausages were cooked in silence before it was brought in front of him in a pretty good presentation.

"Aren't you supposed to be at work Dad?"

"I traded shifts," he explained as he sat across from his son, "I'll be working the evening shift since I have some . . . business to take care of later. I'll be back home in the middle of the night so no need to wait up again."

"Okay . . ." Karkat responded with suspicion at the pause.

"So I met with those little shits and their families last night. They look about ten times worse than you so good job. Can't believe you took on five of them by yourself."

"I can fend for myself believe it or not."

"Colour me surprised," the man smirked as he dug in, "Oh by the way no need to go to school tomorrow either because apparently you're suspended for fucking defending yourself."

"My school is just filled with asshats I'm not even surprised anymore."

"School is where the scholarly are at, yeah right," his father scoffed and the boy couldn't help but smile.

"You got that right. No wonder they get such shitty pay."

"I do have to hand it to them for going through with teaching brats like you every single fucking day with that kind of salary. You could pay me all the money in the world and I still wouldn't go through that kind of torture."

"Wow thanks. High school is pretty much a fucking hell hole for everyone there," the two laughed.

The Shadow watched on in curiosity. Was this one of those sentimental human moments? It felt somewhat familiar to him but he wasn't human. An odd feeling arose in his chest and it tightened when he saw the boy with a genuine look of happiness on his face. Confused with the strange new feeling Dave left the father and son to have their moment.

They chatted a bit more until his father had to leave for his 'business' leaving Karkat to be able to do whatever he wanted for the rest of the day.

"So," Dave spoke from the couch's shadow in the living room, "What are you going to do now?"

"I don't know play video games I guess?" Karkat looked at the little area Dave had to stay in to be visible and found it pretty restricting so he turned off the living room lights and shut all the curtains. He turned around and watched as the dark being stretched into a more humanoid form, "Do you . . . want to play with me?"

"Sure. Sounds good. Let's play that Mario Kart game you have. Just to let you know I play while you and your dad are out so I'm pretty much a champ at it."

"Oh my god is that other file yours? I honestly thought it was my Dad's and that he didn't ever play without me seeing or something. It's even named Stabber so I thought it was him. He got all the trophies so I just thought he really liked the game but it turns out it was you this entire time!?" the look of surprise on the boy's face was priceless.

"That's hilarious I can't believe it actually worked and you left it there for me."

"I could never believe my Dad ever playing video games but I left it anyways because I didn't want him to yell at me for deleting it," Karkat frowned when the Shadow burst out into laughter, "Alright I get it I'm an idiot let's just play already."

They were pretty evenly matched with their amount of wins which they of course kept track of. It was pretty fun for Karkat to play with someone else for a change that didn't completely beat him or mock him too often like when he played with his nerd of a friend. After about two hours of competitive racing they decided to just watch some TV. At that point Karkat decided to question the Shadow's new behaviour.

"So what now? You're just suddenly going to act like my buddy from now on?"

"Well going back to scaring you wouldn't be that fun anymore. Especially after what happened last night. I dunno," Dave shrugged, "Nicer to actually interact with you this way though. I can play games without sneaking around now. Plus there's probably a lot of other ways that I can tease you now. For example I can tease you about your terrible driving skills."

"Hey that last race was a fucking fluke. Plus blue shells are cheap as fuck."

"That's just how you play the game. Don't hate bro," Dave smirked at him.

The boy just gave him an eye roll, "So what else do you do when no one's in the house. You're like a fucking freeloader."

"Hey s'not like I eat your food or steal your clothes. I just do stuff like any other bored teenage boys. Go on the internet."

"You use my laptop!?"

"Yes and I have seen your history," the Shadow full out grinned at him and Karkat's face flushed.

"That's an invasion of fucking privacy! Why the fuck do you have to torment me like this?" with a groan his head fell into his hands.

"Like I said, you're interesting so I'm sticking around. You can't really get rid of me either so you might as well go along with the ride."

"What did I do to deserve this?" he whined through his hands.

"You should consider yourself lucky to have someone like me around."

"Yes so lucky to have some shadow being haunt me for the rest of my miserable life," the boy sat back with a sigh.

"Aw don't be like that. I'm not really haunting you, let's say, I'm spicing up your life," he swore he saw the Shadow do some sort of eyebrow wiggle, "Plus I didn't really think I was terrifying you that much so sorry about that . . . I just thought of it as harmless fun but I guess I went too far. I'm a shadow being sure but I'm not heartless. Well I mean, I don't have a heart because I'm not human but I mean like metaphorically or something. Heartless in the moral sense I guess not the physical one. What I mean is I'm not that bad of a guy you think I am or was."

"Okay I get it geesh. Wow I didn't think you talked that much," the boy gave him a slightly irritated look and Dave just shrugged, "Fine whatever as long as I know that you're not going to kill me then fine. Do whatever you want."

"Fun stuff. Hey can we try that Zelda game or whatever you got last week?" Dave enthusiastically moved over towards the game systems. Karkat blinked at it before nodding still fazed by his very human qualities. He had a face, he could make expressions like concern and joy that weren't creepy, he liked video games, he was just some bored shadow guy. Seeing him up close and casual like this let him see that. Having him around shouldn't be too bad.

The rest of the day passed by pretty nicely. Karkat's father returned by afternoon and after a quick change of clothes he left for work, by evening the rain had stopped. The rest of the meals Karkat had to make for himself and with his bad arm it was pretty hard until the Shadow decided to help him. It followed instructions well and could easily shift in between a solid and non-solid form. The next day passed by peacefully as well. Karkat's bruises were still there but were healing. Moving his arm didn't cause immense pain every time he shifted it any more so by the time he went back to school he was in a pretty okay condition as long as no one tried to attack him again. After saying goodbye to his father and Dave he headed out while ignoring the looks from strangers staring at his bruised face

"Holy crap he liveth," his best friend smiled up at the boy as he sat down beside him in class, "You look like thit."

"Nice to see you too Sollux."

"What no come back? You okay dude? You're crazthy. You could have at leath't told me and AA about thethe kind of thingth."

"Yeah like your stick of an ass could help me take on those asshats."

"I meant like we could have gone to go get thomeone to th'top thothe fuckwadth from almoth't cutting your arm in two vertical peitheth along with making you black and blue," his lisping friend frowned at him.

"Well they didn't. It was just a shallow cut and the bruises are healing. You should have seen the other guys."

"I did. Thome of them came back yeth'terday. I'll admit they do look worthe than you but I don't get why they even bothered to come today."

"Karkat!" a voice called out before Karkat could question why some of his attackers had gotten a shorter suspension than him. Strong arms quickly wrapped around him, "I'm so glad you're okay!"

"Ow. Morning Aradia," the boy winced.

"Oh I'm sorry!" she quickly let go and looked him over, "You're crazy you know that."

"Yeah I know. This asshole said that to me first thing too," he gave a small smile to his other childhood friend.

"Honestly you really should have told us you were getting bullied."

"I wasn't being bullied," Karkat immediately defended himself, "Those pricks are assholes to everybody. I was just the unfortunate victim that day when their so called leader was showing off that lame ass blade he snuck into school."

Aradia was going to counter his stupid argument but then realized Sollux was giving a nasty glare towards the classroom door. Looking at Karkat she saw him give off the same look and she turned around to find one of the guys who had attacked him three days ago walk in. The guy noticed so he walked over to the three with a smile on his face.

"Hey Vantas~ How's your arm?" the guy smugly asked, "That was a pretty ugly looking cut."

"Not as ugly as your face. You know you guys should be in fucking jail for assault."

"Nah man no one has the right to throw us in the slammer. My folks got power you know so me and my buds are free to do whatever we want. You better not try to mess with us cause we're practically protected by the mafia."

Sollux snorted, "Your Dad ith juth't thome offithe worker with a th'tick up his ath. Working for the government ith nowhere near the mafia."

"Shut up lisp-a-lot."

"Hey back off asshole," Karkat stood up and pointed at the patch on the guy's face over his nose, "You can mess with me but you don't fuck with my friends. Wanna take this outside? I'll give you something worse than a broken nose."

"Oh look Vantas has friends! Haha, you just caught us by surprise short stack. We go one on one and you don't have a fucking chance."

"Oh like it will help when five on one got you guys worse off than me," Karkat scoffed making the guy flustered.

Unable to think of a comeback he just grabbed Karkat's collar and held his fist up in the air behind him. Karkat grit his teeth to prepare for the punch but instead found a fist had connected to the asshole's face making him let go of Karkat. He and Sollux looked over at Aradia completely astonished as the class went dead silent. The attacker just looked up at her with surprise.

"What's going on in here!?" their teacher called when he entered. It looked like he saw the part where Aradia had punched the guy.

"He groped her! He detherved it!" Sollux suddenly spat out.

"I saw it too! He did!" Karkat followed up.

"Pervert! I saw it. Wow rude. The hell is wrong with that guy," the rest of the class joined in.

"I didn't fucking touch her!" the guy stood up and shouted. The class just gave him looks of disgust.

"Honestly and you had just returned from your suspension as well. Come with me to the office," the teacher gave him a very disappointed look.

"I didn't even-"

"No excuses. To the office NOW. The rest of you please study on your own until I come back," the teacher looked around but gave one last look to Karkat before leaving with the blockhead.

"Holy thit AA."

"I was not going to just stand there and watch an oaf like him about to punch Karkat. Plus I've wanted to punch one of their faces for looking at us all day yesterday as if saying we were next or something, god. And really Sollux? He groped me? If he did I may have just beat him to death."

"Yup you really are your Dad'th girl."

"I'm more surprised with how the class joined in with is," Karkat looked around to the other students who had just gone back to doing whatever they were before.

"Well it'th about time they were taken care of. KK wath right about him not being the only getting bothered by those dickth. They have no idea who our Dad'th are though it'th hilariouth. We're practically mafia yeah right," Sollux laughed.

"Whatever just let idiots be idiots. It's not our job to educate them," Karkat sat back down.

Class resumed a half hour later once their teacher got back. They day went on boringly fine. Lunch was spent closely with Aradia and Sollux in crowded areas to keep away the attackers and afternoon classes went by pretty quickly. At the end of the day Aradia offered to go hang out a bit before they had to go to bowling night with their fathers who were pretty close which was why they were childhood friends. In fact they were quite the 'group'.

Karkat agreed to meet the two at the school gate after getting a textbook from his locker for missed homework. The halls emptied quickly from the students wanting to leave the confines of their everyday prison so he found himself alone pretty fast. Soon he found four guys walk up behind him. Closing his locker he turned around to face his attackers. Their 'leader' wouldn't be back until after the weekend so it was just the four of them.

"What back for another round? You guys like getting beat up that badly?"

"That nerd's girlfriend got me suspended again. You and the rest of our class messed with the wrong person. I have connections. I can easily have all of you kicked out of this school whenever I want."

Karkat just pinched the bridge of his nose, "Look you guys seriously don't know who you're dealing with here. Just back off before you regret it."

Looking up again he saw terrified faces on each of the boys' faces before they turned and ran. He blinked and looked around finding no one or anything really in the hallway. Confused but relieved he headed out to his friends.

"KK did they do anything to you? We juth't thaw thothe guyth run out."

"I'm fine. I don't know what happened but they didn't do anything to me."

"Well they better not if they know what's good for them," Aradia tapped her foot, "Let's not worry about them anymore and go have fun!"

The determined girl grabbed the arms of the two boys and dragged them off. The afternoon was spent hanging out at a fast food restaurant and then looking at CDs before heading off to the bowling alley to meet up with their fathers. Bowling night was usually held at an alley that was used for only tournaments so whenever they went there it was usually empty plus it was a Thursday. There they found the four men already there but with Karkat's father yelling at one of them.

"Your boy's not here again?"

"He's out with his girlfriend like I said before! He ain't got time for bowling nights anymore!" the large 6'7" man shouted back.

"But now our teams are uneven!"

"Dad it's okay. I can't play with this arm anyways. I'll just sit out for tonight," Karkat interrupted.

"Oh you're all here. How was school?"

"Fine. Boring classes as usual oh and Aradia punch a guy in the face," Karkat explained. He saw the tall slender man, Aradia's father, mouth turn up into a small smirk.

"Right okay Karkat you go order the pizza and stuff then while we start playing," the man gave him his wallet, "You can get anything extra if you want this time. Candy bars or shit whatever."

Karkat hesitantly took the wallet surprised with his father's leniency, "Okay."

"Oh KK I want frieth!"

"Root Beer please!"

"Yeah yeah," he left to order as the rest started playing. The teams were split up into Aradia and her father with Tavros' father and Sollux with his own and Karkat's father.

"I don't know why we keep playing like thith. We're going to lothe ath alwayth."

"Come on son it's not always about winning. We're here to have fun!" Sollux's short father encouraged.

"Not like Mr. Vantath plays by teamth anywayth thinthe all he doeth ith try to get perfect thcore like how AA'th Dad get'th all the time."

"And I will get it this time."

"Sure you will Slick," Aradia's father smirked, taunting his boss as she giggled.

"Oh just you watch Droog."

Karkat sat back and watched amused at the plays and yelling. It was comforting and made the junk food all the more delicious. Who knew getting stabbed could turn the things in your life around. The game was about halfway and Karkat's father was somehow getting all strikes exactly like Aradia's father. Maybe today would be the day where he finally got a perfect score.

"See they're here," a voice disgustingly familiar was heard from the bowling alley entrance, "Little fucking Vantas and his nerd possy."

"FUCK. NO!" Karkat's father screamed when he messed up his roll and broke his strike streak. His finger had slipped when he heard whoever had insulted his name. He turned to yell at whoever made him mess up but stopped when he saw Karkat stand up in a defensive stance facing his attackers who were also with their parents. He walked over and stood in front of Karkat with an arm held out a bit protectively while glaring at them, "What in fucks name are you asshats doing here."

"Mr. Vantas," one of the parents said in a distasteful manner. He was wearing a suit so it looked as if he had just come from work, "We had no means of contacting you so we had one of our sons to follow yours as he left school. I apologize for the unorthodox method but it was the only way I could get to speak with you again."

"There's nothing to talk about. I told you to drop the lawsuit before you regret it and that was that."

"Now now you may think that but we are thinking of our children and we cannot allow your dangerous son to continue going to the same establishment along with our own," beside the parent that looked like he was representing the rest stood the 'leader' of the group who had his arm in a sling and a grin on his face. His group stood near but a little wary staring directly at Karkat.

"Excuse me? My son is dangerous? Your kids are the ones who attacked mine! I should be the one sending lawsuits or making your kids leave the school because you let him bring a fucking knife on campus!"

"No no sir, your son was the one with the knife. Of course he got it from you the irresponsible parent. I've heard you are never without a blade on your person and such a bad influence would of course rub off on the child."

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" Karkat shouted at them.

"Hey now no one's allowed going around talking shit about boss," Tavros' father stood up and stood beside Karkat's while cracking his knuckles.

"You honestly have no idea who you're dealing with," Aradia's father smoothly stood by them along with Sollux'.

"Oh I do. I have done my research and all of you live below mediocre lives with meager jobs. It's a wonder how you're even supporting your families," the man blatantly insinuated. Karkat's and his father clenched their fists at the same time.

"Hi am here! Sorry for the wait!" a new person entered.

"Ah looks like our extremely knowledgeable lawyer has arrived," with a smug look he crossed his arms.

"So sir who were the folk you wanted me to educate before aiding you into sending them into trials."

"I believe it was us Dice," Karkat's father was the one smirking now as the lawyer's eyes widened at the sight of the four men before him.

"Oh my god. Uh s-sir. Ladies and gentlemen p-please come over here for a moment," he smiled nervously before gathering the attacker's parents into a huddled circle a few feet away and panickly whispering to them, "Sir you do not want to start something with these folk. They will over power you immediately and win any case! The boy's father is the 'Spades' Slick Vantas the head of the Midnight Crew mafia with his three main men 'Diamonds' Droog Megido, 'Hearts' Boxcars Nitram, and 'Clubs' Deuce Captor! Yes on the outside they have small jobs but during other times they manage their group and it is a very powerful one! If you start anything with them your lives could be completely turned around from what you have now and ruined entirely! Sir I warn you now back away."

The attackers overheard the conversation and all looked back at the Midnight crew with shock. Boxcars rolled his shoulders and smirked. Confusion settled in once the five boys started screaming and pointing towards them.

"What? What's going on why are you all screaming?" the parents turned around trying to calm their children.

"B-Behind Vantas! Big d-dark monster!" the 'leader' frantically cried.

The parents looked up and saw nothing. Karkat and his group turned around as well and just saw empty bowling lanes.

"Your kids are all a bunch of liars. You should re-educate them and make sure they stay away from my group's kids before I decide to have them shipped off to another god damn country. Their idiocy is dangerously too high of a level to be near these kids," Slick stated as they all turned back around except for Karkat.

He thought about the words the boys were saying before looking down at his shadow and finding a pair of red eyes look up at him where the shape of his head was sitting. It winked at him before he turned back around with wide eyes.

"We're not lying there's seriously something like possessing that kid or something! We saw it at the school too!" one of the others shouted.

"That's enough young man we're going home now," his mother hushed him.

The leader's father then faced them utterly embarrassed as the others were ushered out, "I am deeply sorry for the actions of these children and for my own. It will never happen again and I will make sure of it that they do not bother your son or his friends ever again."

"Yeah you better. I don't want to hear another fucking thing from you again. I don't care if you do want to talk to me you don't go following people around and then ruining their near fucking perfect score," Slick's eye practically twitched as he loomed over the parent in a very intimidating and mobster like stance. In the background the rest snickered quietly.

The parent bowed and then started pushing his son out. The 'leader' looked back at them with a glare. Karkat and Sollux returned with two middle fingers, Aradia pulled the bottom of her eye down and stuck her tongue out. Behind the kids Dave rose up and waved at him with a wide fanged grin making the 'leader' yelp and run out ahead of the rest.

"Fuck I was so close to that perfect score!" after crying out Karkat's father sat in his chair and angrily started stuffing a piece of pizza in his mouth.

"You'll get it next time Slick!" Deuce encouraged.

"Glad we got that over with," Karkat sat across from his father and munched on some fries. From the corner of his eye he saw his shadow shift unnaturally making him remember who it was that was scaring his attackers. He stood up pretty fast which startled his father from the sudden action, "I'll be right back."

Without further explanation he headed to the washrooms and locked the door so no one could walk in. Turning to face away from the lights he looked at his shadow and put his hands in his pockets as he watched it form to a different shape.

"Sup Karkat."

"Hey . . . Thanks."

"What for?"

"You're the one that scared the douchebags at school right? And then you scared them just now so it looks like they'll definitely be leaving me alone from now on."

The Shadow shrugged, "Yeah well you can say I'm making up for scaring you for the last couple of months. You got me to stop making you scared of me so I might as well get rid of the other things bothering you in life as well."

"You didn't have to."

"But I did."

"That's why I'm thanking you fucknuts," Karkat couldn't help but smile at the Shadow.

Something tightened in Dave's chest when he saw that soft smile on the usually scowling face. He looked away hiding what felt like heat rising to his cheeks. He wondered if something like him could even blush but he tried to hide it anyways, "No problem man. We're something like buddies now right? So yeah anything for a bro."

"Two days of Mario Kart and now we're bros?" he laughed. He needed to stop that. Dave wasn't sure if he could handle that much sudden cuteness all at once.

"You got a problem?"

"No it's fine. As long as you don't scare away my friends."

"Nah they seem cool. Unless they start acting like those other guys I won't be doing anything to them I promise. That girl has one hell of a punch though. I don't think I'd want to get hit by her."

"Yeah Aradia's tough but wouldn't you be able to just turn into the state where everything goes through you?"

"I might not make the transition fast enough with that kind of speed she has when mad."

"True."

"Anyways I got your back from now on. The only one allowed to tease you is me," Dave smirked at him, "Alright you should go back to your friends before they start wondering why you're in here for so long. Well of course if you'd rather stay and chat with me that's fine with me too."

Karkat fought off a blush appearing at the smirk the Shadow gave him before leaving and hearing the quiet whispering snickers behind him. He sat back down trying to ignore the smiling shadow under him.

"Alright I may have missed the last one but the rest will all be strikes. I'll at least beat my own high score. Take a look Karkat this is how you do it so you can help us win for next time we do a team game. Boxcars try to get your damned kid to come next time. The one he's dating is one of Snowman's girls and there's no way that's going to end well."

"He'll do what he wants to do," the large man frowned at him.

With a small smile of comfort the boy sat back and relaxed. Perhaps this was a turning point in his life. Things looked like they were turning around for the better now that he had his own little guardian following him around. The Shadow kept his eyes trained on the boy's face. He wondered what the new strange feeling inside him was whenever he saw that kind of look on Karkat.

"CAN YOU STOP!"

The entire class turned to look at the back of the room the next day at the boy who had suddenly shouted in the middle of class.

"Mr. Nitram!" the teacher looked at the boy who was missing from bowling night the other day, "Is there something the matter? Do you not like my methods of teaching now?"

"Uh. N-no, ma'am."

"Then do you have a problem with anything else?"

"N-No."

"Then I recommend you do not disrupt lectures again," with one last glare the teacher went back to the lesson.

Karkat looked back at the childhood friend that he no longer saw very often due to the scary girlfriend he had. It was odd to see him suddenly make an outburst like that since he was usually such a quiet person. A blush of embarrassment spread across the boy's face as he tried to pay attention to class again. Turning back around he saw his pencil moving on its own accord with darkness wrapped around it coming from the shadow of his arm. He quickly put his hand on it to avoid suspicion and read the message being written in his notebook.

whos shouty you seemed to look at him longer than the others

Karkat smirked at the two small red eyes peeking at him from the shadow of his hand.

WHAT ARE YOU JEALOUS?
uh no whats with all the caps i was just curious dude
HE'S TAVROS THE ONE WHO WAS MISSING IN OUR GROUP LAST NIGHT. ONE OF MY OLD CHILDHOOD FRIENDS.
old?
YEAH HE STOPPED HANGING OUT WITH ME AND THE OTHERS BECAUSE OF HIS GIRLFRIEND
wow rude
YEAH IT WAS JUST WEIRD SEEING HIM YELL LIKE THAT. I DON'T REALLY CARE BUT IT WAS ODD.

Dave left Karkat alone to pay attention to class as he slipped through the shadows towards the back of the room. In the shadow of the boy who had shouted out the dark being looked up to see a very faint outline of something blue hanging in the air. It looked like a boy with glasses with a hand over his mouth trying to hold back a laugh. Tavros looked towards the outline and glared at it mouthing the word 'stop' before going back to his notes.

The air shifted a little and Dave could see the shape clearer before it whispered 'you're no fun' into Tavros' ear. The boy just ignored him so after a pout the air spirit or whatever disappeared. It looked like this kid had a little friend following him around as well. How interesting.