Ah, yes. The dreaded Valentine's Day is once again upon you. As usual, your Valentine is in the arms of someone else. Normally, you would let this deter you. However, you are a man now and it's about time you acted as such.
You've finally finished your gift for Karkat. You know by now that he loves romantic things and John hasn't gotten him squat. You'd be surprised if he even knew what today was, honestly. Either way, you're going to give Karkat his gift at breakfast right in front of everyone, including John.
You smile to yourself as you make your way to the mess hall. In your hands is the engraved heart you'd been working on for at least a month. You know he's going to love it. He has to, right? You nibble on your lower lip as you pass by the food line, heading straight for the table.
Everyone is already there. John and Karkat aren't sitting together, but you'd sort of expected as much. Karkat's been avoiding him lately because John hasn't talked to him about his feelings at all. He's not sure where he stands with him, which clearly makes him worried. It angers you to see him so distraught, especially over someone who he isn't meant to be with.
You shake your head and stop behind Karkat, tapping his shoulder. He turns to look at you and so do the others. You smile and hold the heart out to him. "Happy V-Day man."
His eyes widen, a huge grin spreading across his face. "Is that really for me?"
"Of course. Who else would I make it for? You've been helping me out a lot lately and keep me company while I work, so I figured I ought to get you something to show my appreciation." You glance over at John, who looks less than pleased.
Rose smirks, leaning forward in her chair. "Dave, I wasn't aware you had a Valentine."
Terezi frowns. "Neither did I."
You shrug. "I guess it's not really official. Besides, Karkat might have one already." You look at John, who pretends to be indifferent.
This causes Karkat to frown, taking the heart from your hands. "No, I don't think I do. I'd love to be your Valentine, Dave."
Now John looks up, hurt in his eyes. "Whoa, wait a second. What?"
The Latino looks over his shoulder at him. "Is that a problem?"
John furrows his eyebrows. "Yes. It is."
"Why's that?" Karkat hisses back.
"Because you're supposed to be my boyfriend. That's why," he retorts angrily.
Both of your eyebrows shoot up in surprise, the small ginger by your side speaking up in a hushed voice. "I didn't think we were actually..."
The brunette frowns. "You don't want to be?"
"N-No! I-I do! I just... I was worried you were too embarrassed of me..." He murmurs.
John smiles a little. "I could never be embarrassed of you."
Karkat grins and hugs his new boyfriend, leaving you and Terezi to watch helplessly as John steals the spotlight. Vriska glances over, frowning once she sees how distraught her ex-lover is before looking away again.
Once again, you skip a meal.

~

As you expected, Karkat and John resumed their nightly closet visits, leaving you alone. However, you noticed that the gift you'd made him was immediately hung on the wall next to Karkat's bed and the visits were gradually growing shorter with each passing day. This gives you a spark of hope, though you know it's most likely just you being presumptuous and turning nothing into something. A man can dream though, can't he? Just like Vriska's new relationship with Meenah, you can tell his heart isn't in it lately. You've been avoiding both of them at all costs, but it's difficult when Karkat's your roommate.
As a matter of fact, one night, you heard Karkat sniffling as he snuck into the cell. You pretended to be asleep as he silently climbed up into your bunk and curled up at your side. You tiredly slung an arm around him in comfort. He was out of your bed by the time you woke the next morning. You assume John did something to upset him, but you still don't know why he came to you.
As you previously mentioned, Karkat began spending less and less time with John and more and more time with you down in the shop. Just as he would before, he often spends his time reading to you as you work. You find the sound of his voice soothing, which helps you concentrate on your projects. One morning in particular is different, though.
As you walk into the shop, you notice a figure hunched over a workbench, fiddling with something. You almost immediately identify the figure as Karkat. Being as quiet a you can, you sneak up behind him, looking over his shoulder.
You find that he's working on an old lamp. The wire had gone faulty and had been sent here for repair, or at least an attempt. You'd been pretty backed up lately, so you hadn't gotten around to it yet. "Aren't you so sweet as to help with the workload?" You purr in his ear.
He doesn't even flinch. He must've heard you come in. "You've done a lot for me and I've been ditching you for John. I don't think that's really fair. So, in answer to your question, yes. I've been picking it up for you. The problem is that I'm pretty sure I've got the wire fixed, but it still won't light."
You can see the small frown of frustration he wears on his taut little lips. You fight the urge to smile as you pick up a screwdriver, place it in his hand, and rest your hand over his. You move you're hands up to a small screw that had yet to be tightened. "I think this might have something to do with it." He nods, moving his hand in sync with yours as you screw it in. The lamp remains dim, which causes Karkat to pout. Frowning, you unscrew the lightbulb and inspect it. "Do me a favor and grab me a new lightbulb from the closet."
He nods and does as he's told, heading into the closet to find one. You can hear him rustling around, but he doesn't come back out. Furrowing your eyebrows, you take a lightbulb out of one of the overhead lights and screw it in. This time, the lamp immediately flickers to life. Smiling in triumph, you head to the closet, stepping inside the dark room. "Karkles? I got the light to w-" You're cut short by the door slamming shut behind you. You can feel yourself be pushed back against the wall as a small pair of lips make their way to yours, a matching set of hands running up to your hair.
The kiss ends as quickly as it begins. "K-Karkat?" You ask nervously, feeling around for the light switch. By the time you find it and flip the light on, you're left all alone in the closet with a throbbing pain in your heart and a million questions in your head. You don't see Karkat again for the rest of the night.