Musical Hearts, a homestuck fanfic

A/N: so I got this idea from reading the Hetalia Hearts series

I forget who its by but the concept is hella cute, so I thought id share it with my homestuck baes (dat's you)

You were never a heart-on-your-sleeve kind of guy.

To be fair, no one is.

Because everyone's hearts are right in the middle of their chests for everyone to see.

Your name is Dave Strider, and this is the story of how you fell in love with John Egbert.

Your heart is red. Crimson red, to be exact. You wouldn't give a shit, but you gotta differentiate. Karkat's is carmine, Aradia's is maroon, Kankri's is scarlet... There's just a lot of red at your school. You hate how it contrasts to your too-pale skin, and how it matches your eyes. The eyes you never let anyone see.

Accept, maybe, your Best Bro John.

His heart is the most stunning sky blue, with little wisps of white, almost as if his heart was made of the sky itself. You remember the first time you saw that heart; the two of you had the same first grade teacher, and he was the only kid stupid enough to talk to you.

"Your heart is so pretty!"

"Thanks."

"I'm John! Who are you?"

"Pissed off because you're loud as fuck."

"That's a bad word!"

"So."

"I'm telling!"

You looked up from the picture you were drawing of your bro's smuppet kingdom to look this dork in the face. "That's so lame."

He stuck out his bottom lip in a pout, crossing his chubby arms over his chest. "And you think you're so cool?"

"I don't think bro, I know."

"Whatever."

"Dave."

"Hi Dave!"

Even back then you would have sworn that smile would be the death of you.

8 years later, on your first day of being a freshman at Alternia High, John was still glued to your side. Not that you minded. The hand in your pocket silently reached out for John's and brushed against it through the fabric. You sigh inaudibly.

You give John a quick once-over. Someone'd have to be either blind or not into dudes to not think John was attractive. His hair was forever wind-swept, dark brown and soft. He had a defined jaw line, but soft features, and deep blue eyes. His smile lit up his face, and his laughter sounded like bells. He wasn't just attractive physically, either. He had strong morals; he knew the difference between right and wrong, and wasn't afraid to act on it. His world wasn't black and white either, and he accepted anyone with open arms.

You admire John, he's a better person than you; always will be.

You're the asshole with the shitty sense of humour and offensive language. You drive people away before they have a chance to say something and don't even think twice about it. You didn't give a shit about anything or anyone that wasn't one of your few friends. Them, you would die for.

You sit down in your second period science class and sigh to yourself. You don't have this class with John, since he's in AP Chemistry. Dammit. You'll probably fail. You end up dozing off somewhere in the middle of the review and wake with a start when the bell rings. You let a small smile come to your face when you realize you and John have lunch together. Hell yes. Hell. Fucking. Yes.

You head to the cafeteria and see John sitting at a table with Rose and Jade. Kanaya and Rose are holding hands, and you can't help but wonder when their hearts will break. You sit down next to John, across from the girls, who are talking about homecoming.

Jesus Christ. It's the first day of the fucking year and they're already talking about dances. You voiced your opinion, because in no way was it a concern, and Rose told you it was after midterms. Wow. Holy shit. What? A few months? As in too many days from now? Huh. Who knew. You ask why the fuck it's so far back and they shrug. Rose says she is taking Kanaya (no shit) and Jade says she'll go stag. You make a remark about Feferi going stag too and she blushes. Interesting.

John doesn't know who he's taking; says he doesn't really want to take anyone. You say you feel the same, that dances are stupid, and mentally kick yourself in the head. Dumbass, what if he gets asked, or decides to go? Now you're stuck not going. You back pedal.

"Well, I mean, I guess it'd be ironic to go. Why the fuck not."

John laughs beside you, "Yeah, Dave! Wouldn't want to disappoint your fan club by missing such a momentous occasion." He made air quotes around "momentous occasion", just to get his point across, and you roll your eyes behind your shades. "If I go, you have to come with me. If shit hits the fan I'm not going down alone Egbert." John giggles. "Sure Dave. I'll be your life boat~." You blush.

Each day goes on the same, and you aren't surprised when you get your science midterm back with a big fat F. John offers to tutor you and you just about scream. You nod to him in thanks, and the two of you walk home to your apartment.

When you get to the door you stall. Pretending you can't find your keys, but John knows you and your bro too well; he grabs the doorknob and twists it, looking at you funny as he walks inside. Right. You follow him to your room, tense, looking over your shoulders. Just when you think you'll make it to safety, a hand lands on your shoulder and you almost jump. Almost. The most that happens is a twitch in your shoulders, but you can tell by Bro's face when you turn around that he felt it.

"How were midterms lil man? You better have kicked some ass." You look at the floor through your shades, not moving your head, and pray he can't see through them this close up. You know it's useless though. "Show me." It's not so much a request as it is a demand, and you pull out the Biology test from your back pocket where you had stuffed it after showing John. Bro lets out the Strider equivalent of a sigh and rips it in half. You wince.

"Roof. Now."

"But John's-"

"He knows how this works," Bro looks over your shoulder. "You cool waiting here while I kick his ass or you wanna watch?" You look back at John, who looks between you and Bro for a good three minutes before responding. "I guess I'll come up..." You curse internally. You're going to get your ass kicked and he's going to think you're a loser.

Just like that, Bro is gone and you're holding a katana as you debate whether you could make a run for it before Bro notices. Probably not. With a sigh, you motion for John to follow you and head up the stairs.

By the time you get to the roof, John's a little winded, and you have a knot in your stomach. You've never actually failed a test before, and this was a midterm. Bro was gonna kill you. You tell John to sit on top of the A/C and move to the centre of the roof, taking a readying stance. You see a blur of grey in the corner of your eye and raise your sword just in time to block your bro's.

You hear a shout of surprise from John's direction, and try your hardest to forget he's there. Of course, that means that he's all you can focus on. Your footwork's sloppy as you try to fend off all of Bro's attacks, and he notices, pushing you harder. He backs off and you go on the offensive, lunging at him. He parries it easily and knocks you on your ass. You drop your katana and he points his at your throat. John makes a noise from somewhere behind you and you turn around to look at him. In your folly, Bro cuts your shirt open, drawing blood. You hiss and turn back to him, glaring questioningly.

"Never look away from a fucking fight." He starts back towards the stairwell and you get angry. You pick up your katana and rush at him. He turns around quickly and socks you straight in the jaw, and you skid across the concrete. "You better pass your fucking classes you little shit." He growls, and then he is gone.

John is by your side in a second, checking you for any damage beside the huge cut on your chest. You sit up and wince at the pain. He never cut you on purpose. You fucked up.

"Oh my god Dave, are you okay? I had no idea it was this bad! You told me he never hurt you!" You look up to see John's face full of worry, and you sigh. "Usually he doesn't. I think I really pissed him off." John looks at your chest, which is now fully exposed since your bro cut your shirt in half. You blush, and are thankful that you still have your shades on to hide most of it.

John sighs and stands up, offering you his hand. "Well, regardless, I think he's right. You really need to not fail Biology Dave." You stand up, brushing off your pants. "Yeah, I know. I fucking hate science." John smiles at you, following you back to the apartment. "Well then it's a good thing I love it! Let's get you fixed up and then we'll study."

You sit on the counter, next to the sink, as John pulls out the first aide. He really knows you and your bro too well. He straightens up, holding a roll of gauze, some cream, and antiseptic. You shuffle uncomfortably. "Oh hell no, you're not putting that shit on me. It's the product of the devil." John huffs. "Come on Dave, man up, we need to make sure it won't get infected." You look down at your chest, and at the sight of all that blood you feel yourself getting woozy. Despite your strifes and love for dead things, you've never been a big fan of blood. You quickly divert your attention to John, who, while you were distracted, poured the antiseptic onto a washcloth. "Come on, let's get this over with." You put your hands over your chest, as if to protect yourself, and balk when you feel wetness under them. "... Oh god..." You jump off the counter, looking at your hands. You're going to be sick.

"Dave?" You can't even see as you get down on your knees and puke up your lunch in the toilet. When you open your eyes, your throat stings and there's blood from your hands on the toilet seat. "Dave are you alright? Shit, are you sick? Should I get your bro?" You stiffen at that. There was only one time your bro saw you like this, and he had tortured you for months, watching slasher movies and making blood-red koolaid until you couldn't leave your room. "Don't you dare." Your voice sounds strained.

You close your eyes. Breathe. You can NOT let John see you lose your cool over fucking blood.

"But what if you've lost too much blood! Dave, your chest is red!"

You groan, "Don't remind me." You get up slowly, eyes still closed, and turn on the sink, washing your hands until you can't feel the drying blood on them anymore. "John, do me a favour. Grab a washcloth and get this shit off me please." You're pretty sure John is looking at you weird, but you hear him ruffling around and you gasp at the feeling of cold wet fabric on your chest. "Fuck." He apologizes before dabbing at your chest lightly. You'd guess by how long it takes that you bled a lot more than you thought.

You open your eyes, and John is holding what used to be a white wash cloth, now covered in bright red blood. Your bright red blood. You feel your head spin and hear John say your name before everything goes black.

You wake up in your bed, a light pressure around your entire chest. For a minute you think you're suffocating, before you take a breath in and realize it's just a bandage. You open your eyes and find John asleep next to you, both of your glasses on your night stand. You watch his chest rise and fall slowly before shaking his shoulder lightly. He wakes up with a smile, stretching his arms. He looks at you and you can see the cogs turning in his head before he remembers why he's there.

"Oh my gosh Dave, are you okay?! You passed out and I didn't know what to do and I called for your bro and-" You put a hand out to silence him. "Wait, Bro knows?" John nods his head and you let your head fall back onto the bed, groaning out loud. You could already see the koolaid stains in the carpet. John puts a hand on your shoulder. "Dave, you okay?" You close your eyes. "Fine."

You feel him shifting around, and you expect him to get up and leave, but he just turns on his side to look at you fully. "Are you sure? You really scared me! Are you sick? Anemic? I asked Bro but he wouldn't tell me! He wouldn't even talk to me!" You look at John. Bro? Silent? That's weird. You know your bro and if he caught one of your weaknesses he would've been planning your demise right there in front of John. "...Yeah. Where is he?" John looks at you in disbelief, "He told me he was just going to 'watch some shit TV till the brat wakes up', so I guess he's out on the futon. Please tell me what's wrong!" Your hand goes to your chest and you feel the gauze that's wrapped around your entire torso.

"I'm good bro, just... blood loss... I guess." John frowns at you as you get up, pulling on a shirt before you head to the living room slash dining room. Just as he said, your bro is on the futon watching Spongebob. "Thanks for not telling him."

He doesn't even turn around when he responds, "Figured it wasn't my place. Glad to see you up and about again." You blink. Since when is he glad to see you?

"You... Feelin' okay Bro?"

This time he does turn around. "Yeah, fine, why?" You just shake your head and go back to your room, shutting your door behind you.

It's been a week since then, and John is still pestering you about what happened. You figure you'll have to stop pussy footing around and tell him eventually, but right now you have other shit to focus on.

Homecoming is in a week.

Nobody has asked John.

But everyone is asking you.

Well, all the freshman and sophomores. Maybe one or two 'brave' seniors. John is expecting you to go with one of the hundreds (not really) of girls who have asked you, but how are you supposed to tell your best bro that you aren't even into girls? Vaginas are creepy. You don't wanna be anywhere near one, no thank you. You prefer guys.

Especially the guys who have dark, soft hair, and tan skin, and deep blue eyes. If they have buck teeth, and a smile that outshines the sun, and a horrible taste in movies, and a loud, tinkling laugh. Those are the kinds of guys you like.

You sit down on the bus, glancing out the window, when you feel a sharp pain in your chest. Swearing softly, you put a hand over your heart, feeling a spiderweb of cracks. Your lungs plummet into your stomach, and suddenly you can't breathe. Who is it? You look around the bus at the other kids, but no one seems to be reacting to anything. The entire ride home, all you can do is trace the cracks with your finger tips and wonder who it is that you're meant to be with.

As soon as you get home, you flash step to your room so Bro can't bug you and bury yourself in your covers, falling asleep almost instantly with your hand over your breaking heart.

The dance is tomorrow.

Holy shit.

What are you going to do?

You still haven't grown the balls to ask John, and as it stands he's thinking of not even going since he doesn't have a date.

"Nah man, you totally should. You might meet the one while you stand awkwardly by the punch bowl doing your best impression of a Catholic at a strip club." John is laughing his ass off, and you smirk. He agrees to go as long as you do, and you shrug. "Sure man, whatever. It'll be ironic as fuck."

When lunch rolls around and you've grabbed your standard tray of processed cardboard-in-a-bun, you make your way to your group's table. You spot John almost instantly, smiling and laughing while your friend Karkat yells something about the idiots in his Geometry class. Your heart skips a beat and you stop in the middle of the cafeteria. The world seems to slow down as you take in John's appearance. By most people's standards, he's nothing remarkable. To you, however, he is everything. His silky black hair that never seems to want to lay flat frames his olive skin perfectly, and his buck teeth, while dorky, just make his smile that much more magical.

You hear something splatter and snap out of your reverie to find half of your heart in your lunch. Oh. Fuck. Suddenly you feel lighter than air, and you laugh loudly there in the middle of the cafeteria. People look at you weird, but you just ignore them as you make your way to your table. By the time you sit down, John is gone. You shrug it off, making conversation with your friends who find your change in attitude strange. You tell them your heart broke, with an unwavering smile, and Rose smirks at you. You ask why John left and Karkat says something about him not feeling well. You hope he feels better soon, you want to ask him to the dance.

You decide last minute to visit John at his house after school to make sure he's okay. Rose thought it was a good idea. And maybe, if he's feeling better, you can ask him to Homecoming! You smile to yourself. He's going to be so surprised. You decide to just walk to his house, since it isn't that far from the school. When you reach his door and knock, you can feel butterflies in your stomach. His dad answers with a look of surprise and lets you in, directing you up to his room with a wave of his hand. You nod at him and climb the stares.

You knock on his door before walking in when you don't get a response. The lights are off and you can vaguely make out his shape under the blankets on his bed. You walk over to him and sit on the edge of the bed, bouncing lightly as your palms settle against the comforter.

"Hey John, you doin' okay dude? Heard you left durin' lunch cause you weren't feelin' too hot." He makes a noise somewhere between a grunt and a hum, and you continue. "Well, you'll never believe what happened to me today! My heart broke!" You feel shifting under your hands and get up. The covers are thrown back to show John with the saddest expression you think you've ever seen on him since the day you'd met. For the first time since lunch, the smile disappears from your face and you sit back down on his bed.

"John, what's wrong?" He looks at you with dull lonely eyes, reaching over you to pull something out of his bedside drawer. It's sky blue with a bit of white, and your heart stops.

"My heart broke too..." He won't look you in the face, and you reach into your pocket where you put your heart piece after you had cleaned your lunch off of it. Without preamble, you take the piece into your hand and click it into place on John's chest, a soft 'clack' resounding through the silent room. He looks up at you in disbelief, his mouth hanging open slightly. You smile kindly at him.

"You don't have to give me your half, I understand if you don't feel the same way. I just want you to be happy, I don't like it when you can't smile." Tears well up in John's eyes and for a moment you think you've done something wrong but then he launches himself at you, arms going around your neck and lips crashing into yours. He pulls away to put his piece in your chest, and you feel a warmth wash over you as your heart becomes whole again. You and John share a smile before you remember one of the reasons you had come by in the first place.

"Hey John, I got a question for you." He cocks his head to the side, making a curious noise, and you fight not to kiss that look right off his face. "You wanna... Come to Homecoming with me? As my date?" John's face lights up.

"Finally! I've been waiting all week for you to ask! Yes!" You laugh as he hugs you again, and you decide that spending the rest of your life with this derp wouldn't be so bad.

8 years later, on the day of your wedding, John was still glued to your side. Not that you minded. The hand in your pocket silently reached out for John's and you smile as his fingers tangle with yours. You sigh inaudibly. Yeah, you could spend the rest of your life with him.

And now, you were.