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He was short and kinda gruffy, unkept hair and a slouched figure, with furrowed brows that painted an angry face. People tended to avoid him as much as possible and you hadn't seen anyone speak to him since the beginning of the year. You figured with December and Christmas and everything coming up he'd maybe like a friend to spend time with.
So naturally you had to try your absolute best to make friends with him.
"Hi Karkat!" you said to him in the hall during first break. He had a locker in a corner and you used that to your advantage. He kinda just.. stood there and looked at you for a moment, then looked away. He mumbled something that you didn't quite catch.
"Sorry, what? I didn't hear that," to be fair, it was kinda loud in the hallway. Not like there weren't other students around.
"I said.. I don't remember your fucking name!" Karkat nearly shouted. People curiously looked over towards you both. You ignored them.
"I'm Jade, I'm in all of your classes," and he usually sits right behind you in history class.
"Oh," he stood there for a moment, not making eye contact. "Uh... bye." Then he ran off. Cute.
So, he didn't know anyone's name. You definitely planned on changing that.
--
This time you dragged your friend Dave over. You assumed Karkat was just shy, and Dave was pretty quiet and antisocial if he wasn't rapping, so it was probably a good match. Maybe.
"Hi Karkat!" he jumped and dropped his binder.
"Jesus fucking christ, don't do that!" Oops. You pick it up for him.
"By the way, this is Dave!" You gesture to Dave as you hand back his binder.
"Yo," Dave said, not moving. Karkat made a face. "Aren't you that fucking pretentious dude who is constantly taking selfies in class?"
"No," he said. You giggled.
"Oh my goodness Dave, do you actually do that? I didn't even notice!" You always assumed he was just texting at an ironic angle or something. Seemed like something he would do. Karkat kinda looked at you with a face that said "really???". Except there was probably a swear in the sentence he was thinking. Dave said nothing, so you guess it was probably true after all.
You somehow managed to keep Karkat from running away this time, and you walked back to class as a group of three... sorta. Karkat trailed behind but it was progress!
--
From then on, every time you got a chance, you would say hi to Karkat and talk to him. Sometimes you dragged Dave along and sometimes he would have to go by himself. No, you're pretty sure he never actually went by himself. Nevermind.
"Ahh It's pretty cold out today! Do you think it'll snow?" You're excited. Winter was a great time and the possibility of snow made everything all the more exciting. Karkat shrugged.
"i don't know. The colder weather is nice though, I can wear a fucking large as hell sweater and nobody gives me a second glance."
You'd made some amazing progress with Karkat. In fact, you'd made enough progress that you now considered him to be your friend, and you really hoped it was the same the other way around too.
"We should spend the lunch hour outside today then!" you suggest.
"Hell no. I said I liked the cold, not that I liked being IN the cold." Karkat protested.
"Nope, sorry. I already made up my mind! We'll go outside during lunch today." you smiled. He wasn't going to argue back. Every time he did, he lost the argument anyways.
"Fine,"
--
It had started snowing about an hour before lunch. The ground was lightly covered in the delicate white powder, and you absolutely couldn't wait for your date with Karkat. Wait, no not date. It was just a fun little thing. And if it was a date, it would be a friendship date! Yeah.
Dave said he wasn't coming. That didn't really surprise you cause lately he'd been spending a lot of time around the blind girl, Terezi. You think they talked about music or something? And once you heard them talking about how colours smell, but you think maybe you misheard something because that didn't really make any sense.
You found Karkat by his locker. He was putting on a second sweater, and he still had his jacket to put on.
"Wow. It's cold outside but not THAT cold." You were only wearing your jacket and gloves really.
He wrapped a scarf around his neck before replying.
"Being cold really fucking sucks okay?? And there's snow! It's cold!" You giggled, he looked away, embarrassed.
You grabbed him by the arm and dragged him to the side doors.
When you saw the snow, your excitement filled in your heart and you dash outside, leaving Karkat to stumble after you.
You smiled at the gently falling flakes. There wasn't really any wind, but it was cold enough that other people weren't coming outside, so even though it was the middle of the day, it was pretty quiet.
"It's cold, let's go back in." Karkat said.
"Nooooo way! We just got out here! You havent even been outside for a minute yet!" You grabbed his hand, ready to pull him along.
"We're going on a walk, let's go."
The "walk" was more just a trek beside the school than anything really substantial. The thin layer of snow made the grass kinda slippery and you found yourself sliding more than once.
"Hey, are we gonna go back inside or continue to fucking freeze out here?" Karkat said. You attempted to turn around to talk to him but instead you found your feet slipping out from underneath you and you found yourself on the ground.
"Ouch," you said. It didn't really hurt, it just knocked the wind out of you.
You heard a laugh then, and you had to sit up right away to catch a glimpse. Karkat was smiling. You're not sure if you ever really saw that before.
"Don't laugh at me!" You say, not completely serious.
"Sorry," his smile faded a bit. "For somebody so excited about snow, you sure don't know much about how to deal with it. Your shoes have no grip!"
You grab a bit of the snow from the ground then, just enough to crunch it into a bit of a ball. It sticks together nicely in your hand, and you toss it at him. "Don't laugh at me, help me up!"
It hits him in the arm. He kinda looks at you for a moment.
"That was a weak throw." He reaches down to help pull you up. You use that moment to grab some loose snow and toss it in his face.
"That wasn't fucking fair," He scoops some snow up off the ground then pulls you up and puts it down the front of your jacket.
You wished you'd worn a scarf.
"AHhH!" It was COLD. Really cold, and melting.
'You jerk!" You throw some more at him and he chases you with more snow in his hands, ready to put it down your jacket again. Just as he grabs onto you, you lose your footing and pull him down with you this time.
He lands beside you in an attempt not to fall on top of you.
"Ow," you find yourself laughing. He takes that opportunity to sprinkle the snow on top of your head this time. It kinda loses the effect though since you're already laying on the snow and the side of your head couldn't really get much colder.
"NOW I'm really cold," he says, but doesn't move.
"Me too," you say. You don't want to move either. You like it when he looks at you. And you can really see his face right now. You can see his eyes clearly and they're smiling. His face is pretty cute, even this close up.
Then he suddenly leans in and kisses you on the forehead. Then freezes.
You both scramble to get up, and he won't look at you.
"...sorry," he mutters. "Impulse.. I .. gu..es..s.." There is silence between you two for a moment. "I'm an idiot," he says.
"It's okay," you say. "It's not like I hated it.. or anything."
Well you didn't. In fact you were almost expecting it. You feel your face heating up.
You look up at him and his face is red. Whether it's because of the cold or not, you find yourself kinda happy.
"We um.. maybe should go inside now." you say. He was silent, but nodded. Yeah.
You both walk back to the doors very slowly. There is an awkward distance between you two. Sort of uncomfortable even though it seems like its the same distance as before. You aren't sure whether you should run ahead or try to go closer.
You opt for not doing either.
Right as you're about to go inside, Karkat gently grabs your shoulder.
"Jade,"
Your heart starts to beat quickly, because you aren't sure what he's going to say. You don't turn around.
"Do you maybe.. wanna do this again sometime?"
You slowly turn to face him. You search his face but he isn't looking at you.
"Do.. what again..?" you ask quietly.
He hesitates for a moment.
"Everything."
Your heart pounds loudly in your ears. Was he asking you out?
"You know, if you want.." he said quietly.
You let out a breathy laugh. "Of course." You smile gently.
His lip quivered for a moment before he looked at you. His eyes searching your face.
"Then.. is it.. okay if I.." He looked away. "Fuck."
You take that moment to lean in gently and kiss him on the cheek.
"I'll see you in class!"
You then run off with your heart beating loudly at what you just did, and leaving a really red faced Karkat to stand there and really soak in what just happened.
You hope there's snow again tomorrow.