It was just another dumb day at Alternia High, people clogging the hallways with their dumbass cliques. The large ones blocked the flow of traffic, a huge cause for annoyance as Dave Strider made his way through the masses. His shades were donned as per the norm, sending a half-assed grin to anyone who made an attempt to talk to him before moving on. He hurried and grabbed and apple juice before heading to his first period class, falling into the routine of day-to-day school. Nothing was different, everything routine.

However, the routine was broken as soon as he had entered his English classroom. With a groan he read the substitute teacher's name that had been scrawled across the board in too-fancy handwriting. He spotted the "Miss DeClancey" sitting at the teacher's desk. She wore bright makeup that seemed a bit excessive for a substitute teacher job, here red lips forming a sour pout as she scrolled through something on her iPhone. Rolling his eyes from behind his shaded Dave took his assigned seat beside his good friend Karkat Vantas.

Karkat was wearing his signature frown, observing their substitute from his desk. Glancing over as Dave took his seat the black-haired boy leaned over to whisper (well, kind of whisper) to him. "Can you believe the kinds of people they hire and let substitute these days? Just before you came in she was grinning as she read Breaking Dawn." He groaned. Dave shared a similar sound of distain with him, glancing back to her for a moment before returning his focus to Karkat.

"This class is going to be so useless man, though it may be really funny to see her struggle with whatever material we have planned." The blonde smirked, almost hoping it would be complicated just so they could see her struggle instead of sitting back at the desk with her iPhone. The bell rang before Karkat had the chance to reply and Miss DeClancey was already moving to the front of the classroom. Her wedges thumped against the firm carpet as she walked, finally stopping in front of the white board.

"Alright class. So, I'm going to call attendance and then you all get to work on your vocabulary or something." She said in a high and girly voice, twirling her blonde curls boredly as she checked the paper in her other hand. "Yes vocabulary. Now for the role." She cleared her throat and began calling out names, checking the seating chart as she went along. Finally she stopped, thin eyebrows arching at a peculiar name. "Karkat Vantas?" She called out, blue eyes glancing to his seat.

"Yeah I'm here." He replied with a quiet groan, resting his cheek in his hand.

The teacher moved on, calling out a few more names before frowning just slightly. "Dave Strider?" She called out, her eyes already resting on his face.

"Here." He answered plainly.

"Dave I'm going to need you to remove your sunglasses. You can't wear those in class." She responded to him, holding her hand out like and expectant mother waiting for her child to hand his toy over to her.

After that Dave's bored face shifted into one that was just a bit peeved. "Umm… no. I can wear these, it's allowed." He explained. He didn't want things to get complicated.

"I'm afraid I have to insist Mr. Strider." She said, walking up to his desk with the thumping of her shoes and deliberately pulling them off of his face.

Dave's hands flew up in an attempt to stop her, but it was already too late. "Shit…" he mumbled under his breath nervously as Miss DeClancey's blue eyes looked into his own bright crimson ones.

Her red lips formed a perfect 'o', silent for a moment before her expression turned into a sneer. "Oh, so that's why you refused to remove your silly little shades? You just had to hide the fact that you're the devil's child." She snarled. Her hand was at her neck, toying with a small cross she wore on her neck.

After that Dave quickly grabbed for his shades, accidentally breaking them as he tore them from DeClancey's hands. Clenching his fists he refused to look back up at her to meet her gaze. "Oh, too ashamed to say anything? Well-" she started another sentence but was quickly silenced by a fuming Karkat, standing to face her.

"Just because his eyes are red doesn't mean he's the spawn of the devil you ignorant dumbass! Dave's just as human as the rest of us, and he is most certainly a better person than you and your oh so entitled opinions! You think you're so superior with your fucking cross and religious ideals but in reality you're just a prejudiced dumbass who thinks she's better than everyone else! Also, you're obviously not educated enough to teach a high school level English class, not to mention your choice in literature is absolute shit! You can't judge Dave over his appearance, you don't even know anything about him!" He took a breath to begin another rant, but was cut off by a sharp, but quiet voice.

It was a surprise, stunning Karkat into silence as Dave clenched his jaw, still staring down at the ground. "Karkat shut the hell up. I don't need your help." He muttered dangerously.

"Dave I…." Karkat tried to speak again, only to be cut off once more.

"I said shut the fuck up!" Dave shouted, standing up and glaring at him for a moment, before looking away and storming out of the room.

Miss DeClancey cleared her throat once more, all of the other students not daring to say a word. "Mr. Vantas you need to report to the principal's office for insulting a teacher and for use of foul language." She stated clearly.

"I was just about to leave anyways you fucking idiot. Why in the world would I want to be taught by you?" He snarled at her, grabbing both his and Dave's things and walking out of the room without another word. However once he was in the hall he headed in the opposite direction of the principal's office. He had to find Dave.

Carrying both his and Dave's things proved to be a bit difficult for the small-built boy, but luckily he had a decent idea on where he was headed. There was a place out behind the school where Dave's Bro and his friends used to ditch or just hang out whenever they could. Karkat had a strong feeling that he would find Dave there.

Sure enough, after a bit of wandering outside Karkat found Dave with his head to his knees, red headphones covering his ears. His already broken shades looked as if they had been thrown against the wall, shattering them even further. After a few moments Dave seemed to notice Karkat's presence because he quickly wiped his face with the sleeve of his jacket, glancing away as he removed his headphones. "Why'd you do that?" He asked in a quiet, but still sharp and stubborn edged voice.

Karkat bit down on his lip, sitting himself down beside Dave. "Because I wasn't going to let that bitch have her way." He stated, not going into too much detail in fear of something slipping. Dave had enough on his plate as it was and he didn't need any more things to deal with.

"I can fend for myself. Just because I was cursed with these fucking eyes doesn't mean I'm useless in defending myself." He muttered, his voice gaining a small edge to it.

"Dave you fuckass, you think I don't know that? And they're not a curse-"

"Yes they are!" Dave shouted, bloodshot eyes snapping over to meet Karkat's. His gaze softened slightly after a moment as he took a breath. "Also, don't do that."

Karkat blinked, legitimately confused. "Don't do what?"

"Stop being like that! You don't give a flying fuck about anyone, so don't go and decide to give one about me!" He shouted back at him, anger and pain rising and bubbling at the surface now. It hurt, giving him false hope that maybe things could be different between them. They couldn't be different and he was a moron. Plus he didn't need special treatment just because his eyes were an unusual shade. Fuck that.

Gulping, Karkat locked eyes with Dave once again as his own voice raised in anger and frustration. "I do give a fuck about you though! I actually fucking care and it's really godamn stupid!" He shouted back at Dave. He hadn't asked for these feelings! He just stumbled upon them one day, and now they just made his life just that much harder and more painful. They only came back around to bite him in the ass.

Dave wanted to scream louder, wanted to make Karkat see just how much his dumb words affected him. Just how much they stung at heart, as dumb and clichéd as that sounds. It just really hurt, and he wanted to get his point across or just shatter his feelings forever. He couldn't take this anymore. Tears were beginning to form at the corner of his eyes again, though he tried to fight them back. "Well why then!? Why the ever loving fuck do you care about me!? Because let me tell you something, I sure as hell don't deserve it!" He asked, practically setting himself up for rejection. He needed the final stab to his heart, just one last push to send him back spiraling down into a deep depression.

"You want to know why I care?! Fine, I'll fucking show you!" He screamed, grabbing Dave by the jacket and yanking him forward into a harsh kiss. Their lips slammed together, Karkat's eyes squeezed shut as he made a dangerously stupid move. After a moment he let Dave go, pulling away with a flushed face- both from anger and the silent confession he had just made. "That's why you stoic fucking little… ugh!" He groaned loudly, at a loss of words.

Dave sat in a stunned silence in front of him, before attacking Karkat with a kiss of his own. Desperate for attention it was almost as harsh as the first one, though now it had more of an emotional undertone. Now that he knew his feelings were actually requited, he wasn't going to let Karkat go anywhere anytime soon. Instead they shared a heated kiss, Dave quickly backing Karkat into the wall behind them.

His back pressed to the cement walling, the rest of him pressed back against Dave as he kissed. Dave was needy for attention, not that Karkat minded in the least bit. The shorter boy reached his arms out, wrapping them around the other and closing what little distance was left between their bodies. Dave complied quickly and easily, their kiss growing more intense.

Soon enough the blonde was pressing his tongue into the other's mouth, allowed entrance immediately upon the silent question. He ran a hand through Karkat's messy black hair, fingers tangling in the locks as their kiss turned into a full blown make out session. Neither boy wanted to pull away, both of them just finally getting all of their pent up emotions out.

It was Kartkat to pull away, albeit reluctantly. "Dave…" he panted, his breath hot as he hovered just inches away from the other's lips. "We've got to stop sometime." He breathed out, meeting Dave's crimson eyes.

"Shit, you're probably right." Dave groaned lightly. His breath came in uneven measures, his heart still racing as it beat against both Karkat's chest and his own.

The two boys were quiet before Dave spoke up again. "Wanna ditch and head to my place?"

"Hell fucking yes."

AN: Hey guys, I wrote this fic on a whim for a great friend of mine who really likes the angst. I wold love feedback, as it is my first HS fanfic.

I recently caught up with the webcomic, and plan on writing more fics soon!

Seriously though, I would appreciate any feedback on the story. I want to grow as an author!

Thanks for reading, and Happy Birthday to my "Dave". ^^

~MagicInTheDark~