Chapter Text
You met Jade on Club Penguin when you were both 12 years old. She took you back to her igloo and introduced you to Dave and Rose, it was all very exciting. Over time the four of you became the best of friends despite living hundreds of miles apart. Dave caught your attention in particular, the time difference between the two of you was the smallest with you in Washington and him in Texas meaning you could chat at most hours of the day. Rose and Jade where the same, with only a couple of hours difference between them, they spent most of their time online together.
When you were 13, you all decided that Club Penguin was too babyish and moved on to Habbo Hotel but after a year moved on from that as well. In the end you just settled for PesterChum and Skype, being all you needed to keep communication going.
It took a while before you were comfortable giving your full name or even showing your face to your internet friends. Of course once your dad found out you were talking to people online he gave you an hour long lecture about internet safety and how you shouldn’t give away your location or agree to meet up or share pictures of your house blah blah blah etc. etc. etc.
In the end you did all three, but it took years.
Your first video chat with Dave was a little awkward. Puberty was in full swing and your voice was cracking all over the place, your face littered with ache, but Dave didn’t look much better though which provided a sort of comfort. Once the first one was out of the way you began Skyping regularly and that was how you met Bro Strider.
Dave had told you he didn’t have parents, just a brother who acted as his legal guardian. Despite your curiosity, you didn’t press the subject because you had a fair idea on what the answer would be and no story on how someone comes to not have parents is going to be happy really.
During one of your frequent group calls with Jade’s video flickering on and off, Bro had wondered into Dave’s room – get this – shirtless. Now being 15 and not a homosexual you didn’t think you would care at all. Dave blushed red and shoved his brother out of the room, complaining all the while. Rose and Jade, laughed but you were kind of speechless because Bro Strider is really hot, actually, and you noticed straight away. But you shook any feelings away swiftly and forced a laugh because Dave was really not pleased and that was supposed to warrant a chuckle.
It wasn’t the last time Bro wandered into shot, not by far. He did it practically every opportunity he got, especially when Dave was on his laptop or phone out of his room and off guard. You wondered if Bro took his shirt of specifically for his Skype showings or if he just didn’t bother wearing one any time. While it wasn’t the most appropriate thing for a guardian to be doing, something really captured your attention and you let yourself look too, eyes scanning every visible part of Bro you could. In your head, you referred to it as a man crush but you didn’t dare think of anything past that.
The following summer you went to visit Dave in Texas and boy was it hot. Washington is right next to the Canadian border and therefore not all that warm so you really were not prepared for the blistering Texan heat. You slathered your already very tan skin in sun screen on your dad’s orders and carried around a water bottle religiously.
Your dad came with, obviously he wasn’t going to let you go alone, but he stayed at a nearby hotel while you shared Dave’s room. Of course they offered to let your dad stay too but he was much more content spending some time to himself checking out the new and shiny baking stores in Houston’s mall. The apartment wasn’t all that big anyway.
Despite spending a lot of your time out and about with Dave you also spent a great deal of time just sort of chilling in his apartment, watching shitty movies and playing video games. Bro was there most of the time and you got to know the guy beyond him just being Dave’s older brother. He’s pretty cool, if you’re honest: funny and charismatic and dorky in a dad sort of way. It’s not unattractive you realise worryingly after a couple of days.
During the four weeks you spent in Houston you sort of became friends with Bro, even if it was a little weird. Dave didn’t seem to mind anyway. Soon enough it was time to return home, though and say goodbye to the brothers. Dave came to visit you in the Easter holidays – spending the entire two weeks complaining about how fucking cold it was and refusing to take his coat off – and then you went back over to Texas that Summer. Bro didn’t join Dave in the trip to Washington, trusting you and your dad enough to keep his little bro out of harm’s way and despite seeing him across the webcam, it wasn’t quite the same as seeing him in real life. When he picked you up at the airport, he slapped your shoulder and called you ‘lil man’ and you sort of melted a little bit.
Now 16, you had filled out somewhat with your voice not quite as unpredictable and your skin clearing up nicely. You were starting to pay more attention to the girls at your school… and the guys. A couple of years ago you were a strict heterosexual but a couple of years ago you were much too invested in Nic Cage to date. You decided bisexual fit you best and told Dave, Jade and Rose in a rather dramatic Skype where Rose showed you up by coming out too.
Your time in Texas went similarly to the last time you were there with movies and videogames and exploring the neighbourhood Dave knew already like the back of his hand. You ended up spending a lot more time in his apartment though, too riddled with awkward teenage hormones to bother going out.
Not long after arriving home you came to the conclusion you had a crush on your best bro’s Bro. Yeah.
You shoved any and all feelings far far away.
Two years later and college was on the horizon. You didn’t really think about Bro Strider too much. Except, you know, when he was shirtless on camera stull using the same old trick to piss Dave off. Worked every time.
Okay maybe that was a little lie. Your crush on bro had dwindled somewhat but it was still there. It was something you tried not to think about because it was stupid and something you were not supposed to be doing at all.
Dave was going to major in music which you thought was pretty neat. You were more focussed on biology though since it was really fucking cool.
You applied to a few places and got accepted into them all – heck yeah – and after a lot of deliberating you decided to attend college in Houston. To save money you arranged to stay with Dave and Bro. Dave was attending the same college so it wasn’t like you were going to be living alone with Bro because that would be awkward for more than one reason.
Living with the Striders turned out to be a lot of fun, actually. They didn’t have the same strict house rules as your dad did and lived mostly off of takeout food. You shared a room with Dave which wasn’t as bad as it sounds. You managed to fit in an extra bed. It was sort of like sharing a dorm.
Due to your differing time tables, you ended up spending a lot of time alone in the apartment with Bro which wasn’t actually as awkward as you’d first imagined. He was a cool guy. He even started calling you ‘lil man.’ Never ‘lil bro’ though. It made you feel better about your crush.
With midterms fast approaching you began to find yourself locked away in your room more and more. You didn’t know a single fucking thing about biology.
“What the fuck is acetylcholine? Should I know? Of course I should! I’m going to fail so hard,” you babble to yourself. Nothing you’ve been studying for three hours straight has made sense and things stopped going in sometime around chemiosmosis. You’re just sort of staring at your text books and praying you can learn at least some of this before your exam.
“Hey, lil man.” The voice startles you but it’s just Bro. He probably heard you ranting and came to check up on you. “Pizza?” he offers. You heard the doorbell go a while back but you were too busy rereading the line about temporal summation 50 times to bother checking who it was. How do you summate something? You sure as hell didn’t know.
“Go away, Bro, can’t you see I’m busy,” you whine.
“You’ve been in here hours, it’s not good for you.” He sounds a bit like your dad but you pay him no mind and flip a few pages to adenosine triphosphate. “Hey, don’t ignore me you little shit.” He flicks on the main light for the room which is significantly brighter than the desk lamp you’ve been using to study with.
“Jesus, Bro!” you yell and rub your eyes. “What the hell?”
“You’re gonna get square eyes if you keep staring at those book,” he tells you.
“That’s TV, you idiot.”
“Whatever. Come on.” He walks out of the room fully expecting you to follow which you do because you know Bro and he will literally pick you up and carry you to the living room.
“I need to study! I have a ton of exams in a week,” you complain as you slump down on the couch.
He tosses you a pizza box, and yes he actually throws it. Who does that? Bro Strider does that. “Nah, you’ll be okay, kid.”
“You won’t be saying that when I flunk out of college,” you grumble and stuff half a slice of pizza in your mouth.
Bro comes and sits next to you. “I got a surprise for you anyway.”
“Whaf?” you ask through a mouthful of food.
Bro just smirks and flicks the TV on revealing the menu screen of Con Air.
“No!” you exclaim. Bro barks a laugh and presses play. A few years ago you were kind of obsessed with Nic Cage and all of the questionable movies he starred it. The first summer you spent at Dave’s practically all you watched was Con Air. Bro was very aware of this fact, he was also very aware that you grew out of this phase.
About an hour into the movie you’d finished off the pizza and had enough of Nic Cage.
“Can we turn it off now?” you ask but you’re fairly sure you know the answer.
“Nah.”
“I’ll go study then.” You make a move to get up but Bro moves closer and slings his legs over yours to prevent you from getting up because Bro weighs a ton. Having Bro this close to you makes you uncomfortable. He’s really attractive and you never noticed how good he smells. Sharp aftershave with an undertone of musk from what you assume is natural man scent.
“Nah.”
“At least give me the remote.”
“Nah.” He’s starting to get on your nerves even if he is really hot. You don’t look at him because you think you’d break out in an embarrassing flush if you caught his eye right now. You do glance over though and catch sight of the controller in his hand.
You lunge for it but Bro is too quick and lifts it above his head. In the process you knock his legs off of yours but straddle him, ignoring what you’re actually doing. If you weren’t so focussed on getting the remote then you would be mortified.
“Bro,” you whine and reach up higher, grabbing it finally with a cry and victory you settle back down and realise you’re sat in Bro Strider’s lap.
He’s looking straight at you through his shades and you can see the orange of his eyes from this distance.
You let out a little ‘oh’ and glance at his lips wanting so bad to kiss him.
So you do.
You press your lips to his, mindful of your glasses that click obnoxiously with his, and make a little noise you can’t quite place, cupping his face gently in your hands. Just as you’re about to pull away and run out of the apartment out of complete and utter shame at kissing Dave’s brother, he starts to kiss back fiercely. Thick arms encircle your waist and this time you let out a tiny moan because it feels so fucking good to kiss him finally.
When you break apart you bite your lip and wait for him to shove you out of his lap. But of course he doesn’t.
“Bro,” you say.
He opens his mouth to reply just as you hear the clicks of the door unlocking signally Dave arriving home. Shitshitshitshitshitshitshit. You dive out of Bro’s lap and try to look as innocent as possible on the couch. Bro looks about as stoic as ever not at all phased but what just happened. Your stomach sinks a little. Did he enjoy it? It certainly felt like he did.
“I’m home,” Dave calls, having absolutely no idea what he just walked in on.
“Hey,” you drawl in a way you’ve literally never done before. “How is Karkat?”
“Same as always. He called me a moronic bile stuffed piece of shit today, I think I’m in love.”
“Haha, swoon,” you laugh awkwardly. Bro is probably rolling his eyes at you.
Dave gives you a look. “You okay there, dude?”
“Yeah... I have to go study,” you answer, hopping off the couch and heading into your room and out of the way.
Your name is John Egbert and you just kissed your best friend’s brother and you are so totally fucked.