Another one of my famous Christmas oneshots for my friends! This one is for my amazing Karkat, Juliette. All the love from me, aka Jade Harley~!

P.S. Rated T for a ridiculous amount of language! (Bet you didn't see that coming, huh?)

...

Of all the stupid holidays humans celebrated within the year, Karkat Vantas felt like Christmas was the worst one. All the cliché songs playing on the radio over and over again, the ridiculous amount of people at the stores, but above all: it was fucking freezing.

He didn't exactly love the idea of going to John's Christmas Eve party, either. Knowing Egbert, the annoying music would be playing and there'd be stupid activities to do. No doubt John invited everyone, too, which meant Karkat had to deal with people he never necessarily liked - especially that Strider douchebag.

As Karkat locked up the apartment on Earth he and Gamzee had - eventually - agreed to share, he couldn't fight the smile that threatened to play across his lips as he thought about the one good thing Christmas offered. Mistletoe.

No matter what shit he had to go through to do it, Karkat was getting a fucking kiss from Jade Harley.

...

Once he got to John and Jade's two-story brick house, Karkat banged his fist against the front door and waited. A few seconds later, the mail slot opened and a low voice came from inside. "Who dares enter my evil lair?"

Karkat rolled his eyes and kicked the door. "Egbert, just let me in. Now." He tightened the deep-red coat around his shoulders. "It's too fucking cold for this!"

The slot closed as the door swung open and Karkat found himself face-to-face with the one and only John Egbert, who wore a cheesy sweater with snowflakes on it, and a smile on his face. "Karkat! I didn't think you'd show up!"

"Well, I had to give you your stupid Secret Santa gift," he grumbled in reply, looking down at the present bag in his hand. John pretended to pout at that. "Now it's not a surprise!"

"Right. Whatever." Karkat shoved the bag into John's hand and pushed past the boy into his house. "So where is... everyone?" It took all his willpower not to slip up and say "Harley" instead.

John shut the door behind them and grinned even more. "They're all in the basement! Come on, let's go." He led the troll to a door near the kitchen, and then down the stairwell to the lower level. Karkat's theories were correct: the damned Christmas songs played as loud as can be. "Hey, everyone! Look who showed up!" John announced as they reached the bottom of the steps. Everyone stopped what they were doing to turn and look at Karkat, causing his face to heat up a little as he tossed his coat, scarf, earmuffs, and mittens onto a nearby chair.

"I'd recognize that deliciously-scented flush anywhere," Terezi called out with a grin. The others said their hello's but quickly went back to their previous activities, and when Karkat turned around he realized John was gone, off to talk to Dave Strider. The troll had been abandoned in a cheesily-decorated basement with green and red streamers and a large Christmas tree that smelled more like peppermint than pine.

Needless to say, he was pissed.

Karkat looked around the room before his eyes fell on the mistletoe hanging from the ceiling near the back of the space. And who was standing only a foot away from it, talking to Rose? No other than Jade Harley, of course. Karkat bit back a smile when he saw her. He thought she looked so beautiful in the sparkly black dress with green specks that matched her eyes perfectly. He took a deep breath and started to walk toward her, thinking, Better do this before I lose the nerve.

It all went downhill from there, obviously. As soon as Karkat took his place behind Jade and opened his mouth to get her attention, a hand from behind grabbed his shoulder, turning him around.

Oh, fuck, it's her.

"Showing up late for a party?" Terezi fussed, her grin still plastered to her face. "Shame on you, Karkles!"

Karkat then noticed the two were right under the mistletoe, and his cheeks heated up once again. "Shut up, Pyrope! What does it matter to you?"

Terezi moved closer - too close for comfort - and brushed her nose past her former matesprit's face. "Oh, that wonderful flush of yours," she said, licking her lips. Karkat stayed silent, and Terezi let out a sudden cackle. "What is the reason for it, hmm? Could it be that Karkles and I are under the mistletoe?"

"Does it make a fucking difference?" Karkat crossed his arms, angry that he'd gotten stuck in this situation with anyone other than Harley. "Even if we were, there's no fucking way I'd kiss you."

"Fine, then." Terezi leaned close to him again and placed her lips right next to his ear. "I'll get that kiss another time." Before Karkat could pull away, she trailed her tongue along his cheek, then walked off with a satisfied grin.

Karkat was beyond embarrassed. He glanced around and luckily, not many of the others had seen what happened, and anyone who had didn't seem to care much. He started to relax a bit... until he heard the sound of a girl clearing her throat. Karkat slowly turned around and saw who made the noise: Rose Lalonde, who was standing there politely with a small smile. And of course, Jade stood with her with a hand covering her mouth, giggling.

Rose's smile fought to grow but she held it back. "So... I see the two of you made up." Next to her, Jade had to shut her eyes, she was laughing so hard.

Karkat stormed off, knowing the kiss would have to wait a little longer.

...

Half an hour later, everyone seemed to have forgotten the mistletoe mishap (except for Karkat, that is). So when he saw Jade admiring the Elf on the Shelf sitting on top of a lamp, Karkat decided to try again. He nervously straightened the edges of his black shirt, then made his way to her side, relieved that he'd gotten that far without an interruption. When he reached Jade, she turned to him and smiled. "Hi!"

Don't say anything stupid, he thought to himself. You're not going to mess up this time. "Harley. I need to talk to you."

Jade shrugged. "Sure!" She leaned against the back of the sofa behind her and waited patiently, until Karkat realized his mistake. "O-Oh. Fuck, um... Not here. I mean, yes, here like 'in this room' here, but not here-here..." He groaned and threw his arms about, then said, "Look, can you just follow me?" as he reached out and grabbed Jade's arm. Karkat didn't want anyone watching to know he liked Jade, so he didn't appear too gentle; however, he didn't want to hurt her, so his grasp was actually light.

"Oh. Um, okay!" Karkat nodded at the girl's response and brought her back to the spot where she had earlier been talking to Rose. As the troll led her, Jade smiled a bit wider and pulled at her arm so her hand slid into Karkat's and their fingers intertwined. Karkat felt it but refused to glance at her, so Jade wouldn't see the ghost of a smile on his face.

They reached the spot and Karkat finally turned to face her. He never released Jade's hand because if all went according to plan, he could pull her forward and they'd be under the mistletoe. Jade looked around curiously, swinging their conjoined hands back and forth. "So! What did you want to talk about?"

"Well... I didn't want to talk, exactly," Karkat muttered as he slowly pulled her under the mistletoe. "I just wanted to... do something..." If Jade knew what was hanging above them, she didn't show it; she just kept a dreamy expression when the troll before her reached out and carressed her hair. This is it, Vantas, he thought as he stepped closer to the girl. You're finally going to feel loved, for once. "Jade, I-"

"HONK. Where have you been hiding this whole time, brother?"

"FUCK!" Karkat jumped away from Jade and glared at the troll who walked up. "Makara, what the fuck do you want?!"

Jade glanced at her feet and pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose to prevent them from falling to the ground. "I-I'll let you two talk alone..."

"No, that's okay. Honk! I just wanted to visit my best friend for a minute." Gamzee threw his arm around Karkat's shoulders and smiled at him. "You know what I love most about this holiday? All the beautiful motherfucking Christmas miracles-"

"Okay! THAT IS IT!" When Karkat raised his voice, everyone around got completely silent and stared at him. Someone even turned the music off but Karkat, oblivious to it all, continued to shout. "Look, Gamzee, I love you and all and you're definitely my best friend, but I just... GOD, I just wanted ONE SECOND alone with Jade! Is that so much to fucking ASK?!"

Before anyone could respond, Karkat pushed through the crowd to the stairs and grabbed his belongings as he walked out. He slammed the front door behind him, heading into the falling snow, and walked as fast as he could to his apartment building. Words couldn't describe how many emotions he was feeling - anger, embarrassment, confusion. Heartbreak. He really thought it would be the day Jade would finally kiss him. But he was wrong.

But as Karkat stepped in front of his building, he heard the sound of footsteps running through the snow and a girl's voice calling out for him. "Karkat, wait! Wait a second!"

Jade.

She had followed him. As soon as Karkat left the party, Jade had grabbed her blue jacket and run after him, despite Dave's opinion to just let the troll go. When he heard her voice, Karkat smiled but never turned to look at her, never acknowledged her presence, never slowed his pace. Because as he opened the apartment building's front door, he got an idea. Karkat was halfway up the stairs when the door opened again and Jade started climbing them close behind. "Karkat! Karkat, please, wait!"

Just a few more feet, Harley, Karkat thought as he stepped onto his floor and headed to a window near the center of the hallway. I promise, you're almost there. Soon, Jade reached the same floor and saw Karkat standing by the window with his back to her, looking outside at the white snow. She ran to him, standing directly in front of him, and tried to catch her breath. After all, she had been running the entire time.

"Karkat," she gasped, trying to make eye contact. "Why did you run off? You could have talked to me another time, you know-"

"You don't get it!" Karkat moved his attention from the window to the girl in front of him. He wondered how loud he was shouting, because even when his earmuffs slightly muted all sound around him his voice still sounded loud. "I needed that alone time with you today, Jade. I needed it at that exact time in that exact spot! And now, there's only one other place I can have that moment with you!"

Jade frowned in confusion as she looked at him. "Where?"

"Here." When the words escaped Karkat's lips, Jade frowned even more before understanding. She glanced above her and noticed that mistletoe was hanging from the window's lintel. She looked back at Karkat with wide green eyes until Karkat grabbed both of her arms and pressed his lips against hers.

It may have only lasted a few seconds but the two could have stood there forever, Karkat's hold on Jade's arms still solid. Jade stood there in complete shock, eyes still wide before they slipped closed and she smiled, kissing him back. Her dog ears perked up immediately.

Once they both had to breathe, Karkat pulled away from Jade quickly but never let go of her. "Listen to me right now, fuckass. I don't know if you feel the same way - hell, I don't even know if you feel this way at all! - but I need you to hear my side of it. I can't get you and your annoying little personality out of my mind, and whenever we talk I want to slap myself afterward because I know I probably said something fucking ridiculous. But you need to know this: I love you, Jade. Don't you get it? I fucking love you, and although you'll probably say no, I need to ask anyway."

Karkat released Jade's arms and took her hands in his as he gazed into her eyes and whispered, "Jade Harley, will you be my matesprit?"

For a moment the only sounds were the loud poundings of both their hearts as one blushing face stared at another. Eventually the silence became too much for Karkat to handle and he rubbed the back of his neck, feeling his heart break more. "O-Okay, then. See? I fucking knew you'd say no..."

"Karkat." He looked back at Jade and she pulled him into another kiss, much softer and slower than the first. Karkat played with Jade's dark hair as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Neither wanted the kiss to end, but eventually Jade broke it so she could respond.

"I love you, too, stupid," she said with a smile. "And I don't know why you took so long to ask!"

"So... is that a yes?" Karkat automatically wanted to slam his head against the wall for having to ask if that was Jade's answer, but the girl just giggled and rested her head on his shoulder. "Of course it's a yes, Karkat."

Her smile was clearly contagious since Karkat smiled, too. He smoothed the back of her hair, knowing that now, everything in the universe made sense. His existence was not a mistake at all; he was destined to meet this girl, to hold her in his arms like he was doing at that moment.

And as the grandfather clock at the end of the long hallway struck twelve, Karkat placed a chaste kiss on the top of his new matesprit's head. "Merry Christmas, Jade Harley."

...

Aaah, it's done! *collapses onto bed from fatigue*

I put way too much thought into this oneshot because this is kind of my Homestuck OTP (shh!). Plus, lately my Jade side has experienced a lot of heartbreak so I lost my connection to her, and it was hard to write for her. That's why this was mostly Karkat's P.O.V.

But now it's done! I hoped you all liked it, and I hope you ESPECIALLY are happy with it, Juliette!

Okay, guys. See you when I upload my next oneshot!

~Bree