Disclaimer: I do not own Homestuck!

Lovestuck

John: Rethink your feelings on Karkat.

John Egbert was irrefutably heterosexual, at least that's what he liked to think. However, lately he was beginning to learn that things tend to change.

Recently he's been having strange urges, especially around Karkat. Kissing him when he came over for movie nights, after he'd fallen asleep of course (he'd gone through with it once on impulse; Karkat's lips tasted amazing), being protective about him when anyone mentioned his former love interests, and even more recently, the dreams- some more lewd than others. It sent a shiver through John to think about it. "No!" he quickly reprimanded himself, clutching fistfuls of his hair as he bowed his head and squeezed his eyes shut, cutting off his own flow of thoughts. He could already feel himself growing warm.

"John?" He heard his door creak slightly on its hinges as his ectosister called out quietly. He could hear her soft footsteps on his carpet as she entered the room, and he looked up from his hands, pretending he hadn't jumped when she came in as he whirled his computer chair around to face her. He'd actually been debating whether or not to contact Karkat over Pesterchum when his train of thought had jumped off-track, but this distraction wasn't unwelcome. "I wanted to talk with you about Karkat." Okay, maybe not so much of a distraction.

"Yeah?" The Heir of Breath attempted to keep his voice even, but his eyes gave him away as they darted away from Jade then back to her. "What about Karkat?" He cursed himself as his voice wavered on the troll's name. He could see why Karkat thought he was weak. He couldn't even say his crush- no, friend's name, he mentally reprimanded himself, without his voice cracking.

"John." Jade's voice was entirely serious, solemn, even, as she gave him a stare to match. "Everyone but you and Karkat can see you like him, and he likes you. Can you stop with the no homo crap for a little while and admit you love him, to his face?"

The boy's face flushed with his embarrassment at being found out and pointed out so blatantly before he himself had even come to terms with his own feelings. Then again, maybe he did need a little push in the right direction. "Jade!" he protested anyway, frowning, shaking his head. "It's not that easy! I mean, he's Karkat... And plus, the only feelings he's ever admitted to having for me were black! I like him as in what they call redrom, I think..." He jumped, as if startled by the words coming from his own mouth. It was true, though, and he couldn't deny it any longer.

He was surprised by Jade latching onto him with a squeal. "Oh, I knew it! It's okay, John, embrace it, it's part of who you are, and oh, I can't believe I finally got you to confess! Well, to tell me, not confess to Karkat, but you need to! It's a perfect pair, and he loves you back, I can sense it! Well, that and it's been totally obvious to everyone but you, it seems. He's always super-jittery and high-strung around you, it's so cute!"

The Heir of Breath absorbed this information with a stunned expression frozen on his face. He could barely even register when Jade left, giggling to herself about her new shipping discovery, perhaps even considering telling Nepeta. John didn't even really care.

He needed to talk to Karkat.

-ectoBiologist (EB) began pestering carcinoGeneticist (CG)-

EB: hey karkat.

EB: you there?

He anxiously waited several minutes for a reply, twiddling his thumbs, literally, just staring at the screen. He was about to log off and go face Karkat in person if he had to when he finally got the reply he was waiting for. His heart skipped a beat when he saw the gray text in all caps.

CG: WHAT?

CG: WHAT DO YOU WANT, EGBERT?

Eagerly, almost giddy at the fact that Karkat had indeed replied, John's hands began flying across the keyboard to form three words, a silly smile on his face.

EB: hey.

EB: what's up?

CG: I WAS TRYING TO ACTUALLY GET SOME SLEEP ON THIS EARTH THING YOU CALL A BED, FUCKASS. WHY ARE YOU BOTHERING ME?

EB: oh, so you're having trouble sleeping. sorry...

CG: YES, IS THAT ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY, FUCKASS? OR WILL MORE OF THAT IDIOTIC NONSENSE COME FROM YOU NOW? I DON'T FEEL LIKE PUTTING UP WITH YOUR SHIT RIGHT NOW, EGBERT. I SHOULD JUST LOG OFF RIGHT NOW. THIS IS A POINTLESS CONVERSATION.

EB: I don't know what jade was talking about...

CG: WHAT?

CG: WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT NOW, HUMAN? WHAT WAS SHE TALKING ABOUT? UGH, WHY DO I EVEN CARE? I'M LEAVING, I HAVE BETTER THINGS TO DO WITH MY TIME.

EB: no, karkat!

EB: she was saying that, uh...

CG: YOU'RE STARTING TO SOUND LIKE TAVROS. JUST FUCKING TELL ME ALREADY.

EB: ...

EB: never mind.

EB: it was stupid.

-ectoBiologist (EB) ceased pestering carcinoGeneticist (CG)-

John leaned back with a furrowed brow and a deep frown. A sigh escaped his lips. The chance was right there! He could've told Karkat what Jade said, and that John truly reciprocated his feelings. If Karkat even wanted to do the troll quadrant thing while they were dating, John wouldn't even care whoever else he was going out with! As long as the troll returned his feelings, he felt it would be fine.

But he'd chickened out.

He groaned, burying his face in his hands. He was a complete and utter failure. He couldn't even tell the person that meant the most to him that they did. He was starting to think his 'leadership' and his ascension to God Tier in the alpha timeline was all a big joke made to mock him. He sincerely hoped Dave would appreciate that irony.

Think, man, think! The Egbert boy shuffled through his own mind for an idea, any idea at all. He needed to do something to get Karkat from his mind. Without even thinking about it, he was putting on his coat and shoes. It was pretty chilly outside that day, and his feet clearly intended to take him on a walk around the neighborhood. His hands seemed to be collaborating, as he shut his door behind him, not bothering to lock it, since only the people from the game lived in this neighborhood. Almost nobody kept their door locked.

But apparently, according to the resistance met as he was trying to turn the doorknob of the troll hive he'd stopped at, Karkat did.

He stopped himself to look up at the hive nervously. The simplicity of Karkat's hive set his apart from the other eleven troll hives- the ones who'd died had apparently been brought back to life at the end of the game- but Karkat refused to acknowledge that his house wasn't perfect to the others. In his eyes, it represented everything he'd grown up with, minus his crabdad, so it filled him with a bittersweet feeling. John knew this because he'd talked to Karkat about it on numerous occasions, and though he skipped around the subject, John had been able to piece everything together.

The Heir of Breath raised his hand to knock. He waited a few moments before knocking again, then ringing the doorbell, and he heard loud cursing from the other side of the door. It was flung open a minute later to reveal Karkat glaring at him hostilely. "What do you want, fuckass?" he barked harshly.

Before John knew what he was saying, words were falling from his mouth. "Will you go on a date with me?"

Spontaneousness ftw! Okay, so, next chapter will be Karkat's POV-ish. I know for sure the third chapter will be longer, but not so sure about the next one.

Hope you enjoyed!

-Silver