Title: Midnight Call
Author: CapriciouslyDoomed
Rating: K+
Spoilers: None.
Word Count: 2,041

If there is one thing you'd hated since childhood, it's the beach. The one place which contains all too reliable sunburns, stinging jellyfish, people stuffing sand down each other's swim shorts as some sort of sick joke. You hate it all. And, of course, you're reminded of this blistering hate every time you wake up and look out your bedroom window; finding nothing but the sandy shores a mere few yards away.

Why the fuck did your dad think that forcing his albino child to live next to this hell was a good idea?

Admittedly, you didn't used to hate going to the beach. When you were younger, you'd go hang out with a little girl who wore bright red sunglasses. Her name was Terezi Pyrope, and the first time she acknowledged your presence was when you dared to step on her drawing. Hell, you couldn't even tell what she was trying to draw in the first place, but regardless, she got upset. Yelling nonsense about the order of justice.

"How was I supposed to even know it was there?" You yelled down at her, as she frowned.

"The court can not tolerate this."

"Can't tolerate what?" You had pointed at the sand next to your feet, feeling your eyebrows come together in frustration. "Seriously, just draw it again. Christ, it's not a big deal."

After a mere hour, you had found yourself sitting next to her, building a poor excuse for a sandcastle, and red as all fuck. Hands, fact, legs... aside from the mess of white that was your hair, it was all a dark crimson. When Terezi saw this, she cackled madly before fearlessly grabbing an innocent crab who happened to be crawling by.

"Karkat! I found your twin." Still grinning, she shoved the red crab towards you. Immediately you flinched back.

"Fuck off!"

Terezi pushed herself onto her knees, crawling towards you with the crab. "Is someone scared?"

It was a mere two weeks before she stopped showing up. Apparently something had happened - something you still aren't really clear on - which caused her to completely ignore you until the following summer.

It also caused her to go blind.

At first you were surprised, but ever since Terezi has shown up in your almost-backyard every July.

In fact, you can see her right now as she drops her towel on the sand. Her red, strangely shaped sunglasses reflect the sunlight, and you have to blink repeatedly for the white spots to go the fuck away. She turns in your direction to wave, and you fight the instinct to flinch back. Fuck, she does this every day and you still get uneasy from it. Like your intestines are twisting into knots against your will.

The rest of the day goes as planned - being summer, you can forget about schoolwork, and focus on the important shit. Like testing how long you can stay in bed before someone complains, and playing with your cool as shit sickles. Which aren't real, but still pretty damn bad ass. Either way, you end up falling asleep early, at least around 6:00 or 6:30.

The slap is quick. Enough to leave behind a sting after jolting you awake, but enough to bruise. Quick and business-like. Your eyes open quickly, and your mouth opens, but a hand quickly covers it.

Terezi's hand.

Because as you force yourself to look up, a bright eyed Terezi Pyrope stares down at you. She looks... serious. Which is weird - for her, at least. You let yourself glance down to realize that she's on top of you. Knees on either side of your stomach, the hand that isn't currently on your face has been planted firmly beside your head for support.

"How the fuck..." You start, but her hand simply presses harder until you're barely able to move your jaw.

After a few minutes of you trying to squirm around in a poor attempt to actually breathe, Terezi finally speaks.

"Are you going to be quiet?" Lifting the pressure, her hand simply hovers above your face.

You answer with your own question, hissing, "Are you trying to fucking kill me or something?"

Rolling her eyes, a smile finally breaks through her composure. Terezi leans back to sit on your stomach, which in turn causes you to get the wind knocked out of you.

"Always so dramatic, jeez."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Worrying about my safety is clearly not an acceptable reaction for a strange person to break into my room at-" you glance at the clock, "three in the- You broke into my room at three in the fucking morning?!"

You can see the second slap coming, and quickly turn your head to the side in advance. Lucky her hand just barely whips past.

"Would you stop slapping me?"

Suddenly Terezi is frowning again. Lips forming a flat line, her voice is equally annoyed now. "Whenever someone is hysteric on tv they always slap them, right? So calm down already."

Ignoring the question of how the hell she even knows that (it's not like she watches television anyway), you skip to your next point. "What do you want?"

"Come outside."

"No."

"Why not?"

Is... Is she fucking pouting at you?

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe the fact that - like most functioning human beings - I need sleep. A concept you clearly know shit about."

Terezi sighs, and that's when you realize the hand that was beside your head has been holding something. A pair of swim shorts.

"Terezi... Why do you want me to go outside?"

She sighs again, crawling off of you to stand next to your bed. "Where do you keep that movie?"

... This has to be a dream or something. First this girl - the one you see every summer but never actually care to hang out with in person - breaks into your house, then demands that you go outside, before finally throwing all sanity to the wind in order to ask for "that movie".

Grudgingly, you reach over to pick up the DVD case for the film you were watching before falling asleep. She's quick to snatch it away; leaving the shorts to drop to the floor.

Too quick.

"If you want this back," your stomach sinks at her now teasing tone as Terezi stands in the doorway, "you'll come meet me outside."

Growling under your breath, you force yourself to stand up. "First of all, I'm not going outside. I'm going to lay down, close my eyes, go the fuck to sleep, and hope that this entire event was just some horrible, terrible nightmare. Second of all, try not to trip over anything on your way out. I don't need my dad waking up because some idiot made the mistake of walking into a wall."

Turning around to walk down the hallway, she just laughs at you. "'Don't trip in the dark!' he tells the blind girl."

No.

There's no way you're going out there. It's a matter of your principles at this point. If you give in now, what will that say? The entire night would go straight to her head, and inflate that psychopathic ego she loves so damn much.

When you glance outside, it's nearly completely deserted. Some birds walking around on the sand, but aside from that Terezi is the only one there. Which makes sense, so you aren't sure what surprises you about it.

She must hear you open your window or something, because right away a voice yells at you to get a move on.

"If I come out there," you call out cautiously, "it's because I want my movie back, alright? None of that power of persuasion bullshit okay?"

The maniac lets herself nearly fall over with her exasperated sigh. You swear if she could, she'd be rolling her eyes at you. "Yeah, yeah. Stop being a big baby and get out here! Bring those shorts I was holding."

"What? Why?"

"Because if you don't hurry up, I'm throwing your shitty movie into the ocean!"

You don't even bother closing the window before running out.

When you get outside, swim shorts and all, you find Terezi sitting cross-legged on the sand.

"Okay," you walk up to her, trying not to show your disgust at the sand getting in your sandals, "where is it?"

She grins up at you slyly, "Where's what?"

You rolls your eyes at her antics. "Where the fuck did you put my movie, Terezi? Because I swear if it got wet-"

"Calm down! Jeez. It's not in the water. I'm sitting on it."

Immediately your eyes try to gaze at the sand under her. "Why are you sitting on it. Actually, no. I don't want to know. Just get up so I can grab my now sand-tainted disc, go home, and try to forget that this god-awful event ever happened."

Terezi just shakes her head.

She shakes her head like a little five year old who's still trying to deny to her less-than-innocent peers that she still needs to use a fucking nightlight. Your fists clench at the comparison, because holy shit when will this girl every decide to grow the fuck up for once?

Apparently not tonight, because there she is - still shaking her head.

Something in you snaps. You aren't exactly sure what, but there is definitely a snap somewhere deep in your mental state. That's your excuse at least, for what drives you to get on your hands and knees, trying to shove Terezi to the side. Digging your shoulder into hers, you push with more energy than should be capable at this time of night, and it causes you to take a moment to thank God that you got to sleep early. However, it's that pause that gives Terezi the chance to shove you back. And apparently she takes that chance very seriously because the next thing you know you've been knocked onto your side with sand now in your hair as your head hits the ground.

"What the fuck?" You yell at her. There's a different look on her face now, though. One full of determination. One that you might actually enjoy seeing if it weren't for the fact that the only thing on your mind is getting that disc.

"Why are you so urgent anyway, Karkat?" Terezi grins, pushing you over again as you try to approach her. "You never did tell me what's on that disc-"

Propping yourself up with your elbows, you glare. "I'm pretty sure I did. And even if I didn't, it shouldn't matter. It's mine."

"Is it your middle school play?"

"As if!" Shit, no you can't buy into this. You can't let her get into your head. Shaking the sand out of your hair, you stand up and trying approaching from behind. Somehow, it still doesn't work, because when you go to push Terezi out of the way, she unexpectedly leans to the left at the last possible moment. Needless to say, you meet air, and promptly fall with your torso on her lap. You force yourself to turn over, to find a pair of teeth grinning at you.

"Is it porn?"

"God dammit, Terezi!"

"Could the dashing Karkat Vantas have a mysterious secret up his sleeve? Or even on this disc?"

"Stop it..." You groan, throwing an arm up to cover your face.

Terezi pulls the arm away, grin still wide on her face. "I'm just kidding." Leaning down, she gives you a peck on the lips.

When you get home it's eight thirty in the morning. You're empty-handed - you're never trusting a blind girl to find something she hid again - but Terezi has promised to help you buy a new movie.

Which you normally would't mind, except for the fact that she's made you promise to have her over when you decide to watch it.