Disclaimer: I own nothing but my own imagination

Summary: Howard Moon is getting a new heart! But he doesn't realise the baggage it comes with. What means life to him means death to Vince. Can he help fix his Wandering Heart? Can Vince let Howard and his fear go? Sad, dark, happy, Naboo and Bollo too! May become romance, may not, let me know what you think!

On with the show.

Heartstrings 1: Wires.

The sky was crying. Large, glinting tears dropped heavily onto him where he lay. In movies, whenever it rained this hard, the star would always be looking deep into the storm grey heavens.

But that didn't happen in real life. Alternately he glanced from the rain washed street, stained orange by the lamppost light, to the desperate figure leaning over him, pleading with him in incomprehensible words.

Every once in a while he stared blankly at the cowering mass huddled a few meters away from him, surrounded by the large bulking figures of the bar's local drunks. For once, miraculously on his side. Or was it ironically, he couldn't tell anymore, couldn't care anymore.

Through the undistinguishable pain, the numbing teardrops from above, and the muddle of his own thoughts, the only thing he was truly aware of was the defiant beating of his heart.

It was weak and thready, but it was the only certainty in those dazed and tragic minutes.

Weakly he moved a shaking and bleeding hand to his chest, thanking and comforting the brave beating.

He opened his eyes again, his surroundings the same, but less focused. A new light now flared on the pavement. Red blue red blue red blue.

The accumulated chaos continued around him, as he leant his head back onto the pavement, eyes fluttering slightly as he really did gaze into the pewter sky.

His hand clutched marginally tighter at his gravely beating heart as his pale blue eyes drifted shut for one last time.

The heartstrings tightened their hold in one final, desperate attempt to keep their owner with them, he had fought so hard, he couldn't die this lonely.

The sky cried for him.

--

Howard Moon sighed. He couldn't quite understand how he'd got to this; he was about to get what he'd been craving for three years.

Howard T. J. Moon was about to get a new heart.

However, for some inexplicable reason, in his mind, this had been seen as much more glorified occasion.

Years ago it was merely a greyscale hope in the sea of black thoughts and memories. Then, gradually, flowers had appeared. And cards. And generally all manner of decorative items had surrounded his imagined hospital bed on this momentous occasion.

Then, slowly over the years, the flowers had disappeared. Lost as loved ones were along with his permanent departure from Leeds.

In the last hour however, his visions of this event seemed to culminate and tumble around his head as violently as the thunderstorm outside ever since he got the call.

'There's a heart here, if you can get here in thirty minutes, its yours.' Of course he could get there, he'd been waiting for nothing more for longer then he cared to count in days specifically. And that was saying something for Howard Moon.

Now that he was here however, it was nothing like he'd expected, in any way.

For a start, he was covered in wires. Wires going in, wires going out. He didn't even know what any of them did! Not that he was going to admit that.

Also, his room was strictly sterilised white with a hint of an inexplicable green-blue tint. Having an altogether nauseating effect when coupled with the nerves.

The nerves. That was the main difference. There wasn't so much excitement as fear, so many things could go wrong.

And, hidden in a part of his mind he rarely conversed with, a positively deranged sense of hesitation.

This was almost almost giving up, although he detested himself for thinking it, for thinking such trivial, unintellectual thoughts.

Damn it all if he was actually even vaguely considering running away from this because he felt guilty for giving up on his heart.

He shook the thought away as the doctors and nurses and other suspicious people entered. He was getting a healthy heart. He was finally going to be fine. Things might finally get better.

--

A strange sense of panic seemed to have descended during the short corridor trip until the team of medical staff around him had practically sprinted him to the theatre. Their voices going from soothing whispers to urgent barks.

His gurney slid smoothly into place and a mask was slipped over his mouth and nose. As his vision fogged over, he looked to his left side where, nearly hidden by a curtain, there was a dishevelled, black haired head turned away from him.

Wires curved almost frantically around the figure, as if trying to hold it together.

As the drugs took effect, Howard vaguely wondered if there was someone else getting a heart today too.

Never once did he wonder where they came from.

--

The next time Howard woke, his chest was tugging almost painfully, as if strings were trying to get away from him.

He was aware of someone screaming, a thrashing sound, before fading back into darkness.

The time after that, he once more woke to screaming, and frantic looking doctors.

"Wha's the screaming?" He rasped uncertainly, reading the doctor's shock of his consciousness as well as the tension in the room.

"There is no screaming, Howard, I'm afraid, we think you're rejecting the heart." Howard's borrowed heartstrings tugged painfully and the screaming increased, but he became oblivious to it.

A shrill beeping woke him the next time; he could barely peel his eyes open through the pain to hear the doctor shout.

"We're going to loose him! He's rejecting it!" He must have been imagining the small pleading sob he heard, the warmth that suddenly pressed over his hand and heart.

He fell into sleep with the astonished gasps of the doctors, the quieting bleep, and the soft pleading as his lullaby.

--

It had been three weeks since he had left the hospital, with the doctor's confused but pleased view on his survival.

"We were sure you had rejected it!" The man mused, and Howard could have sworn he heard a sad resigned noise.

"You were touched by an angel there." A strange warmth hit Howard at the words, and he mentally berated himself for almost believing it.

Now however, he was back at his lonely hut at the zoo. And he was very concerned for his health… His mental health…

It had been going on for a while, strange things had been happening. He would wake up at midnight with the strangest cravings for sweets, bright lights or techno music.

This had escalated into a culmination this morning.

He had woken up and dashed out to the nearest Boots, paid, and dashed home without even noticing what he had got.

Now however, he stared at the offending bottle staring mockingly at him from the coffee table.

The bottle of back hair dye seemed to be the last rung on his journey to total insanity. Well he wasn't having it.

Jerking up violently he swiped angrily at the bottle, sending it flying into the bin perfectly.

Howard raised an eyebrow in appreciation and straightened up, tugging his shirt with satisfaction.

"That was a bit of waste wasn't it?" Howard jumped about ten feet in the air out of his skin. Upon landing he swung around dangerously to stare open mouthed at the couch behind him.

There, plain as you like, sat a skinny, unmanly figure with ruffled jet-black hair. He stood out from the couch shockingly with his outlandish clothes. Howard couldn't imagine how he would have missed him, but he couldn't have just turned up. Could he?

"W-who are you sir?" Howard demanded, a slight shake in his voice.

"I'm Vince Noir, rock and roll star!" The strange person began, standing up from the couch and causing Howard to scuttle back into the door. "And I'm your heart." He stated plainly with a dizzy smile.

Howard couldn't think, there was someone who wanted to steal his heart? And a very unlikely person in every aspect at that.

"Cam down mate, its not like I'm gonna kill you or anything!" Oh god, he was going to leave him for dead then!

"Noooo!" Howard screamed, and he turned to yank the door open before sprinting out of it.

"Hey wait!" Called the freak, and Howard glanced over his shoulder to see that he was indeed being followed.

"Don't' kill me! I've got so much left to give!" Howard yelled as he pelted out of the zoo and down the street.

"Slow down!"

Glancing behind him, Howard saw his pursuer falling behind, and finally bending double clutching his chest.

He kept running. About twenty minutes later however, he deemed it safe to return, besides, his heart was starting to ache in a strange, tugging way.

However, as he rounded the corner to the street he left his pursuer at, he saw the very same determined murderer leaning against the wall panting.

The black haired figure glanced up.

"You!" The man begun, starting to stand up.

"Ah!" Howard screamed again, and begun to sprint away.

"Wait! Oh not a-fucking-gain!"

--

Several more times this happened, until finally Howard waited a full three hours before he returned to where 'Crazy-Heart-Man' had been.

With great trepidation he rounded the corner. And immediately let out an incredulous and angry noise. Unfortunately, this alerted said Crazy-Heart-Man to his presence.

But he was beyond caring, his heart kept tugging annoyingly, and the mad man didn't seem in any state to move anyway.

The raven-haired figure leant in a somewhat crumpled way against the wall, and was panting hard, looking pale and clammy.

"You got asthma or something?" Howard questioned abruptly as he approached to stand in front of the man.

It was only as the dazed figure looked up at him that he realised he had the most vivid electric blue eyes.

"And you can't have my heart." He stated plainly, now becoming slightly worried about this person's mental and physical health as he almost unconsciously clutched his t-shirt over his heart.

"Look, you may not believe it, but that's my heart, did you never think who it was transplanted from? I died and they cut out my heart to give it to you! So now I can't get far away from you for some reason because, you may not feel anything, but when I'm away from you I start dying again!"

Howard gulped. Okay… so this man wasn't a murderer, he was a stalker…

"Look here, you've got the wrong man, yes sir! I'm only for the ladies!" The man on the floor gave an exasperated sort of cry and bolted upright.

However, as soon as he reached a standing position he swayed and coughed violently. Howard was shocked when he felt his heartstrings tug at the sound.

"I don't know quite what's going on, or even if I believe you!" Howard begun stuttering in confusion.

In anger, the thin being swiped Howard's hand and pressed it to his own chest as Howard spluttered.

Soon however, his face had changed from horror to shocked, almost sad confusion.

Though his own heart was beating stronger and more eagerly then ever, there was not a whisper of sound or a flutter of movement from the other's chest where his heart should be.

"How-?" He started slowly in confusion. The small figure was looking away at the floor, biting his lip as his eyes became brighter with unshed tears.

Slowly, both let their hands drop to their sides.

"Look," Howard begun, for some reason feeling the need to comfort the strange, slight figure. "I don't know what to think, but I have a friend who's a shaman, we can talk to him tomorrow. Okay?"

The strange, heartless creature nodded silently and coughed slightly. He begun to take a step forwards, but his legs seemed to collapse from underneath him and he started to fall.

Howard, on instinct, reached out to grab him, only to find that the figure slipped literally through his fingers.

With a very real thud however, he hit the pavement. Both stared at each other in shock. The heartless person turned his gaze to stare in shock at his arm, which was now scraped, but also faintly transparent.

"There was a brief look of horror in the now pale blue eyes, before a tearfully determined look entered them and he pushed himself shakily to his feet.

The look told Howard not to make any comment, so he slowly turned and led the painful way home.

Above them, rain begun to fall from the storm grey clouds.

--

Wow, there you go, a whole new fic, yay! Hehe I haven't written in so long I bet you've all forgotten me, but please tell me what you think, it means the world to this writer hehe!

Thanks for reading, shadowtheo.