Chapter Text
Your name is Dave Strider and you disappeared. No, you didn’t ‘go missing’, you honest to god disappeared. You woke up that morning and you couldn’t see yourself in the mirror. You tried to talk to Bro but he carried on as if you weren’t even in the room. As if he couldn’t hear or see you. This would make sense because now you’re a fucking ghost.
Jesus how does this even happen? You think while trying (and failing) to splash water on your face. Is this like some sort of part of being a person bullshit? Like everyone dreams of the day when their kid goes invisible for however amount of fucking time. Like “Hey Steve, how’s the kids?” “Invisible.” “Awesome.”
“Fuck!” You yell as loud as you can (not that anyone hears you) and punch the mirror, that stays fixed. You’re pissed for a lot of reasons. One, because that asshole Bro didn’t notice you never woke up and didn’t come to get you, two, because you have a whole day to do anything but can’t, and three, because you’re fucking invisible.
But you try to look on the bright side. You’re invisible. You can go anywhere and not be seen. And if memory serves you correctly, the cheerleaders at your school have practise today.
You thank god you don’t live too far from school and walk there.
When you get there, you’re almost at the locker rooms before you notice a black haired boy being picked on. You can’t remember his name, but you remember his face.
It was last year, maybe. Yeah, the beginning of last year. You’re at your locker putting books away and he’s pushed against a wall.
He’s a boy in your grade, you think. Ink black hair, blue eyes, always wears this blue sweater with a symbol that looks like air.
He’s pushed and the two guys start picking him. You’re disgusted, and you step in. You try to tell them to fuck off, but it ends in a fight. You win. They leave. The boy thanks you. You never speak to him again.
You look at the same boys bugging him again and once again wish you weren’t invisible so you could kick their asses.
You watch the boy get stuffed into a locker and wait with him until he’s finally let out.
You don’t leave his side for the rest of the day.
***
You learn his name is John Egbert. He’s smart and goofy and smiles a lot, despite being a bit of a loser. He has three friends. Rose Lalonde, Jade Harley, and Karkat Vantas. You learn he loathes cake and loves shitty movies.
By the end of the day, you know a lot about John. However you still find yourself wanting to know more. You want to know what gets him to make that huge toothy grin that makes his whole face light up. The one that makes even you smile. You want to know what gets him to make that face and you wonder if you can. You hope you can.
So you follow him home. John lives in a nice house with his Dad. You add wanting to know why he doesn’t have a Mom to the list.
You watch as he complains loudly about his Dad’s baking and you follow him up the stairs to his bedroom. He’s walls are covered in shitty movie posters and you feel like you’re intruding on his whole life but you can’t tear yourself away.
John does his homework like a good boy then goes on his computer until dinner. He talks his Dad out of baking more cake; however his Dad ends up making cupcakes anyways. John doesn’t have any and you think John’s crazy because those look fucking delicious. After that, he goes back upstairs and spends the rest of the day on his computer. He goes to bed early and you stay with him until you fall asleep on his floor.