"Come on now, (Y/n)," you hear Dave's voice, "get your butt out here."

Ignoring him, you close your good eye, your other too swollen to do anything about. You could feel the dry blood sticking to your skin, some still dripping from your nose. You look down at your bloody hands, you had tried to hide your bloody nose, but it just dirtied your hands. It dripped passed you fingers and onto the ground below. But you now knew it was pointless, so you just let it go. The tears that had once been pouring from your eyes had now disappeared, only leaving the itching redness.

The feeling of something on your head causes you to flinch, but not make a sound. Your eyes fly open to see a blond mop of hair.

"What do you want, Dave?"

You bury your face in your arms, hoping to hide your injuries.

"Man, they really messed you up, huh?"

You let out a sigh when you hear him sit beside you. You look over at him, noticing a bright bruise on his cheek. When he notices you staring, he brushes a hand over it.

"Yeah, I lost to Bro again," He shrugs, "besides, you look way worse than I do."

You hum, shrugging.

"That's how school is, I guess."

Dave doesn't say anything in return, the pair of you sitting in silence. You didn't know how long you had been there, but by the time you had stopped spacing out the sun was beginning to set.

"Alright, let's get you cleaned up." Dave finally speaks up.

He gets to his feet and holds out a hand. You hesitate, before taking it and letting him haul you to your feet.

"Because if I'm going to be honest, you look like shit."

You let out a laugh as you punch Dave in the shoulder.

~~~

"Are you really going to play?"

"Yep, I made some online friends to play with." You nod.

Dave shrugs, "if you wanted to play, you could have joined my group."

"But you guys have all been friends for so long," you sigh, "I didn't want to ruin it."

"(Y/n), I don't think you could ruin anything."

You chuckle at his response, "smooth."

"I'm just being honest."

~~~

--terriblyAce [TA] began pestering (Chumhandle) [CH] at 3:22--

TA: Are you ready to go in?

CH: Yep, all set!

You close the tab temporarily to make sure that everything was set. You pick up the small teddy bear that Dave had gotten you. You look over at the weird floating thing and toss it in.

CH: How long will it take for us to get into the game?"

TA: Shouldn't be long now!

~~~

Dave prepares to enter the game, so close now. The meteor was so close. He quickly pulls up Pesterchum.

--turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering Chumhandle [CH] at 5:47--

TG: Good luck, I'll miss you

--turntechGodhead [TG] ceased pestering Chumhandle [CH] at 5:48--

Without a response, he assumed you had made it into the game and couldn't contact him anymore.

'Thank you for everything.'

~~~

Tears fall down your cheeks as you read your screen over and over.

ERROR

The bright red writing taunted you. You tried to contact any of your friends, but to no avail.

You lean back in your chair, looking up at the sky. Your friend had removed your roof, so you could see the meteor headed straight for you. The only thought you had now was that there was no way to ever see Dave again. You had promised to look for him after the game, but it looks like you'd never be able to keep that promise.

'Thank you, Dave,' you think as the comet descends, 'for everything.'