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[As 'lame' as she's been told it is to spend a Saturday night indoors, that's exactly how she's choosing to spend it. She'd been out with a group of people she only tolerated half the time and Dave earlier this afternoon, and she'd gotten the distinct impression it hadn't been a fun experience for much of anyone. And if that was the tone setting for the day, the only place to spend it is on her couch.

Which she's doing with a textbook Dave left lying around, a mug of hot chocolate, and with absolutely every light in the apartment on. What is caring about an electricity bill? Though she perks up a little when she hears a key in the front door]

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[ No, she wouldn't and neither would Rose or John. Dave is the only one that every wants to be anything except what he is. That's part of his deal, creating this persona for himself that he thinks will impress people. So sure, after awhile the persona ends up becoming a big part of him, but the struggle to be moldable enough to impress other people wasn't exactly Dave being himself, considering it meant he hid certain interests, and acted like he liked other things he couldn't give two shits about.

And that bite? That gets him even more aggravated, like somehow he's the bad guy here. (Okay maybe he is being a total tool at the moment), but he wasn't the one to say all of this to Jade in the first place. He ended up having to take a lot of shit for the way she acts, and she can just shrug it off with ease and let him deal with the consequences. None of that seemed fair to him.

None of that was true either, but to Dave at the moment it was all solid fact. ]

Sure...

[ Just one word. One word uttered in a skeptical tone that suggested maybe what they said about her really was true after all. ]

[She knows that, he has to hear a lot of things about her that naturally he wouldn't want to hear even on the best of days, that he likely hears more of it when she isn't around to aggravate circumstances, and a part of her, over time, has started to feel guilty for that. Because she can tell that it bothers him, that it bothered him more when she used to hole up in her bedroom and cry about it, because she couldn't grasp how people could hate her so much for something so stupid.

But feeling bad, and wanting to be someone else were two different things, and when Dave acted like this, like he thought it was her fault, she had almost no patience to be the bigger person and see this from his side.

Which is why she pulls farther away from him at that word. If it had been Dave being cranky about having to give in and admit in a round about way he was in the wrong, she could have over looked it. Because Dave never made being wrong, easy, and the acknowledgement is enough for her, if the grievance is small. But this sounds like doubt, and that sends unease flooding back into her senses. The feel of something being wrong here back to itching under her skin]

What's that supposed to mean?!

[ Great, this was just what he didn't need, a fight with Jade on top of his fight with his friends. It's like no matter what he did Dave couldn't catch a fucking break today, and he's had enough of it. He doesn't want this fight, he doesn't even want to deal with it right now. He realizes that he's also fucked up on this one by being overly aggressive to Jade when she hadn't really done anything, but her lack of caring about the shit he went through wasn't really putting him in a better mood.

It feels like he's the only one that gives a shit around here, and now he's the bad guy for fucking agreeing with her. To Dave, this is all absolute bullshit. ]

It means "sure". Jesus Christ. It was one fucking syllable, what the hell are you getting upset at me for?

[Don't start one Dave, and then you have a 50% chance of avoiding one. And she had cared, she had simply mistakenly lain the blame for his anger on his friend, and had tried to assuage any conflicted loyalties. This...Honestly wasn't at all what she was expecting out of him when he arrived]

It was the way you said it, Dave! Like you didn't mean it. Why wouldn't that upset me?

[Tell her she's reading too much into this because it's been a shit day]

[ He should, if he had any ounce of intelligence in that head he would tell her that he was wrong to say it the way he did and apologize profusely, because Jade didn't need this kind of bullshit laid down on her after what she's already dealt with. Unfortunately, Dave's in such a shitty mood he's not even thinking about the damage he could be doing right now. ]

Yeah, well maybe I didn't mean it.

[ No... Dave. No. ]

[She reels back like he's reached out and physically struck her, breath catching in her throat and eyes wide. There are times, in a general sense, that she'd wished she could be more like Dave when it came to expression. Coherent, sure sounding, and...Hidden about the depth of things people to do her. It would be useful, at a time like this. When it's a full body hurt, and it shows, all the way down to her wet eyes and the ears she now feels self concious about, flattening back against her head in a droop. She has to cover one, with her hand, like if she hides it maybe it'll stop being there and this conversation just...Isn't happening.

She opens and closes her mouth, once, twice, voice small]

Oh...

[Give her a second, she's just...Got to process the fact that you just shattered her life and everything she's thought about it for the past year]

[ And while he's still angry, and still wants to rant and rave and start to say some really nasty things to her, her reaction takes the force right out of him. It's almost as if you can see him visibly deflating as she draws back and covers up her ears. While she might want to be able to hide her emotions, it's the fact that she can't that begins to make Dave realize what a gigantic ass he was just now to her.

That doesn't mean he's about to apologize, but it does mean he gets silent, not ready to tear into her any more than he already has. ]

[It takes her another moment to finish processing this, the full scope of what this situation means about their relationship. The more conclusions she draws, the more upset she becomes, but she's also angry. And the anger wins out, when the silence startles her more than him using words any further would have]

...Is that what you say to them when I'm not around? Do you just laugh at me, Dave?

[ This conversation took a turn Dave didn't expect. He should have, considering he was just hinting at the fact he didn't think Jade was normal, but he didn't think that Jade would think he was that much of a douchebag. He's sitting up now, brows furrowing slightly, but otherwise his face is staying impassive.

All he would need to do is stay quiet, reassure her that wasn't the case, but of course Dave being the idiot he is, is going to get defensive the moment he gets accused. ]

You really think I'm that kind of asshole?

I think you're that much of a coward!

[She doesn't mean to say it, not really. She couldn't have said it wasn't true, and that a part of her didn't think it, because that would have been a lie. There is nothing stopping Dave from being more of himself and comfortable with his own image and his own skin, other than him. But she doesn't mean it negatively, because she's always loved him for the whole deal, mess and arguments and all.

And his sitting up, and the furrowed brows, and the defensive tone all make her doubt the last few moments. But, she's also never doubted him before. She's had her insecure moments, sure, when an ex popped out of the word work or a fight got too large. But it was all about their ability to make it work, she'd never doubted the sincerity of his feelings before. And that changes everything]

[ Dave doesn't mind being called an asshole by most people. He's actually used to it, and builds a reputation for himself around the idea that he's a total jackass. It didn't mean he really wanted Jade calling him one, but he could deal with that insult if she did. He didn't exactly have that many problems with that view on him.

A coward, however? That was another matter entirely and the idea that she thought he was one really got to him. After everything he'd done to protect her, John and Rose in the fucking game. The number of Daves that had been sacrificed in the process of trying to protect their stupid asses, the amount of times he'd had to stare death right in the eye just to keep them safe and now she was pulling this horseshit on him?

No. Fuck that. No.

Without a word Dave got up off the couch, and silently walked past her, making sure to avoid any sort of physical contact on his way towards the door. ]

[She sits stock still for a moment, unable to process for a minute that he's actually getting up and just intending to walk out, utterly silent. It's almost as if he hadn't heard her at all, and she gets the startling clarity one only has in hindsight that a line has been crossed. The kind of line you can't smudge away or jump back over like it hadn't even been there. She gets the feeling of ice cold fear running through her veins, and she reflexively reaches out a little, despite the fact that he's well passed the point of being able to touch. But she can't bring herself to call out for him.

Because compounding in the back of her head is a list of all the reasons this is even happening. And it all just boils down to the fact that this is his fault. If he'd stood up for her, no, if he'd been honest with her, all of this could have been avoided. She could have never left her island, always wondered 'what if' while he picked some bleach blonde that fit into his image. Because at the end of the day, the person in this relationship that mattered most to Dave was the image of himself he concocted in front of the mirror. It angers her, but not as much as the fact that because of all of these things, he's taken the thirteen year old boy who used to make her laugh, who sat on a planet catching frogs and helped her make winter clothes so she wouldn't be left behind, away from her.

She's off the couch with her discarded book sailing past his head to snag his attention away from leaving]

Fine, just run away Dave! That's got to be so much better than just saying how you really feel! Real brave of you!

[ That stops him dead in his tracks. He isn't sure if he was planning on leaving without a word and coming back when he was less ready to punch his fist through a wall, or if he was going to try to give one last snappy one liner before slamming the door shut. But after a fucking assault and calling him a coward?

This was bullshit.

Dave stares at the door for a few seconds, making sure he can keep his face in that unreadable pokerface of his before finally half twisting his body around to look at her while shoving a hand in his pocket. ]

Almost as brave as tossing something at the back of a guys head. Who knew you had it in you?

[ And with that little snarky comment he'll return the favor. Pulling his hand out of his pocket and tossing her the keys to her apartment she'd had made for him.

He hesitates for just a half a second, debating leaving on a "Later", but that move? No, there isn't really going to be a later, is there? So he concludes lamely with- ]

Harley.

[ --before finally walking out the door for real, shutting it quietly behind him instead of slamming it like he'd originally intended. ]

[She catches the keys reflexively, the game had only honed the skills she'd gathered on the island, and the fact that he'd thrown them directly at her hand't helped. It feels worse in a way, throwing a book she'd purposely had miss, than a small ring of metal pieces, even if he'd known they'd never land.

The words sting all the same, as she stares down at the keys silently. She doesn't stop him, doesn't say more, even when he says her name. This is what they've dissolved into? She feels like she should have seen it coming, isn't that what the heroine of every bad romance movie thinks?

But she can't. They had problems sure, but nothing to her, that would have justified the things they were doing to each other. That would have made ending it the better option. She sinks back down on the couch, and at the quiet click of the door, rather than a loud slam, the tears finally start to fall. She clutches the keys hard to her chest, knuckles turning white.

She hadn't known she'd had it in her either.]

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