This day was not going well for Dave Strider. He and his girlfriend Jade were in an argument. She had just gotten her period the day before and was as cranky as ever. And he knew her pain. He knew how she was feeling. He had been through it before.
Today, Jade was over at his house. Bro had work at F.Y.E so it was just the two of them until 5.
Their fight today had started when Jade sat on the couch, curled into a fetal position due to her cramps. Dave, trying to be a good boyfriend, sat next to her, rubbing her back.
"It's okay Jade, you'll be fine. I know your pain."
Jade looked at him with fury in her eyes, shooting up from the couch, chasing Dave into the kitchen. She didn't look like much, but Jade was terrifying when she was angry.
"Just fuck you Dave! FUCK YOU! How could you fucking tell me that you know how I feel?!"
"Jade baby, just listen to me! Don't say those things. Don't say I can't fucking know what it feels like to be a girl, I know your fucking pain!"
She smiled sickly. "You? You of all fucking people?! How could you fucking know what I FEEL?! YOU ARE A BOY!"
Dave stepped back a bit. " Boy…." He whispered weakly.
Bang.
An imaginary bullet ripped through his heart.
"YOU HAVE A FUCKING DICK!"
He backed up more, his back now against the kitchen counter.
Bang bang.
"If you only knew Jade…if you only fucking knew…"
Jade stopped for a second, her expression changing from one of rage to one of concern. " If I only knew what…?" she whispered.
He chuckled darkly. "Wouldn't you like to know."
He grabbed her wrist and brought her to him violently. She whined in pain.
"Jade, you want to know why….?"
"Want to know what…"
He took off his signature shades, looking at her with sad crimson eyes. " Why when we kiss, I don't let you go below the waist when it gets heavy? Why I don't sleep with a shirt on when we have sleepovers? Why I don't go shirtless in general?"
"Dave I don't understand…"
"Why I get so offended when people say I look like a girl?! When they say I have a girly face and girly this and girly that?! Why I won't wear wife beaters in even the worst of heat?! WHY I'M NOT BUILT LIKE BRO?!"
His eyes were welling up. "You don't even know the reason why I have trouble breathing!"
"You told me you had asthma-"
"WELL I DON'T JADE!"
Jade cowered away from him, confused. "Dave, what's going on? What aren't you telling me?"
It was her turn to start crying.
Dave's voice changed. He was never like this. He never yelled at her or got mad, and when they usually got into fights, he always calmed her down, never adding fuel to the fire.
"This isn't even my real voice Jade!"
His voice cracked as he started sobbing, rubbing his eyes and whimpering. He cleared his throat. When he spoke again, her eyes widened. " THIS is my real voice."
He had a girl's voice. It was about the same pitch as Jade's. "Dave…"
Her boyfriend lifted his shirt over his head, tossing it to the ground. His chest was bound, ACE bandages were wrapped tightly around him. Slowly, he began unwrapping it, letting the bandaging fall carelessly to the floor. "Those few days a day when I don't feel well and stay in bed and don't let you see me because 'I don't want you getting sick, babe.'…getting self-conscious over everything I do."
His bandages were gone, his breasts bare and in the open. "This is why Jade…this is why I don't show you who I really am..."
Dave approached her, his fingers tangled in his hair as his eyes stayed locked to the floor. "You want to know something….heheh…only John knows."
Jade shook her head. "Dave, why do you have…those?"
"That's just how I was born… the body of a girl. The mind of boy…"