Staying Strong (Dave Strider x Reader)

Chapter 8

"I've never touched raw chicken a day in my life, it's so nasty and weird." He said as you took over chopping up the chicken breast. He watched you go through it effortlessly, and you were done in no time at all. "You have a stronger stomach than I do.."

"I've also been messing with raw meat longer than you have. It used to gross me out pretty bad too, but after doing it a lot, I got over it." You said softly, looking around at the other ingredients that needed to be chopped up. Carrots, celery, some onions...

It clicked

Chicken noodle soup.

"Aw hell yis!" You put the cut chicken aside and washed your hands. Dave tapped your shoulder.

"Hey, ______? You think I could cut up the other stuff?" You smiled and nodded, taking out a few stalks of celery and showing Dave how to properly cut them.

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You all sat down at the dinner table and enjoyed the soup you had all worked hard to make. Dave and Dirk were probably the loudest eaters at the table, but you guessed they didn't have many homecooked meals in their lifetime.

"Thank you so much ma'am, for dinner, and for teaching us!" Dirk said after he finished his bowl, and Dave nodded in agreement, still trying to get the last of his.

"You'll have to invite us over more often!" Dave said, half-joking with your sister, who sighed softly and looked over at you, and you knew where this conversation was going.

"Well I would love to have you boys over anytime before ________ leaves us to stay with our parents again..."

The table was silent.

Dave dropped his spoon, and it fell with a loud clang into the bowl.

"Y-you're leaving??" Dave said as he slowly looked over at you, and you looked away from him, his words leaving your chest aching.

"Not by choice...I want to convince my mom to let me stay until I graduate..." Dave sighed softly at your words, and ran his hands through his hair. Your sister came to your aid.

"She got the news this morning...she's...not exactly thrilled about the idea of our parents..."

"Really? How come?" Dirk asked, and you interrupted.

"About my 9th grade year, my parents dumped me on my sister to start traveling around the country...They are seldom home, and when they are, they never really talk to me. They talk to all their fancy friends who love to drink wine and eat cheese and crackers and play house like they don't have a bird in the nest anymore..." Some of what you said came off a little more spitefully than you would have liked, but your anger was getting the best of you. You stood from the table and excused yourself, heading upstairs to your room and closing the door. The tears began to well up in your eyes, but you couldn't let yourself cry.

Without giving it another thought, you grabbed your phone and earbuds, opened up the window, and climbed out into the autumn air. You quickly made your way down the tree, and made a dash out of your yard and down the street.

Your lungs were burning, and you finally stopped when you reached your destination. It was an old dance studio that had closed when the owners went bankrupt. You found it months ago, and you managed to break the knob to the side door, and you let yourself in, just as you were doing now.

The place was dusty, but it was untouched from the last time you were here. The owners had left the stereo system in, and even though you preferred dancing with your earbuds in, this time, you wanted to dance unhindered.