Dave Strider is in his room hiding from the sun. Thick curtains cover his two windows and the only light in the room comes from the hall, made visible by the crack between the door and the door frame. The blond boy lies on his bed, with his darkened aviator glasses on. He's waiting for the sun to set so he can go for a walk. Bro sits on Dave's bed. Dave reaches out to his brother, only a shadow silhouette to Dave's eyes. Bro put his hand on Dave's head and pull him close. The younger Strider inhaled, breathing in Bro's Axe spray.

"I'll be back by six." Bro said as he exited the room. Dave hears the front door of their apartment close. Dave turned to the wall. Terror started to crept into the front of the Strider's mind. Everyday worse then the day before. Today seemed unbearable. Dave had a secret. One that was slowly eating away at him. The real reason behind his shades. They were not only ironically cool, but they hid his red eyes. They protected his eyes from light. His red eyes had been light sensitive for as long as he could remember, but things have started to change. His eyes were failing. The specialists that the Striders had moved from Houston to the small cookie-cutter suburb in Washington to see had informed them that Dave had maybe a year before he would be blind. Dave was fifteen, going blind, and his only friend was Bro.

Dave held all the secrets in. How scared he was of losing his eyesight. How some days he wanted to curl up and cry. No one else knows. He has to keep that cool fucking exterior, he was a goddamn Strider after all. Bro would flip his shit if he knew Dave showed anything else in public. At home, when it was just Bro and Dave, it was ok. Dave curls up next to Bro and listens to the tv. Bro puts his arm around his little brother. On bad days, Bro lets Dave cry.

Dave thought about his life. Trying to find the good things in his life. Bro was first to come to Dave's mind, the second was his nightly walks. Tears fall unchecked down his cheeks. No one around to see the uncool scene. Dave cried until he was too tired to keep his eyes open and fell asleep.

Dave woke at dusk. He replaced his dark glasses that had come off his face during his nap. He got off his bed. Adjusted his clothes, and searched the darkness for his Axe spray. He sprayed a short blast on to his jacket. It was Bro's jacket. The large jacket, made Dave feel safe, even as uncool as that sounded. The young Strider grabbed his red and white cane. He hated it. What it was, what it represented, and worst of all what it made other people think. They thought he was disabled, helpless even. Two things Dave would never admit to.

Dave struggled with the lock of the apartment for a moment before he heard the click of the door locking. In a few moments, Dave was walking along the street in the gathering darkness. He didn't have a particular destination, he just wanted somewhere to be or something to do. Lost in his thoughts and drowning in loneliness, Dave didn't see the blur of a person coming around the corner. The short blur bounced off of Dave's chest.

"Sorry." The blur said softly. The boy's voice was like heaven to Dave's ears. The boy's eyes went to Dave's cane and then he looked up meeting Dave's shade covered gaze. Those bright blue eyes were all Dave could really make out. "I'm so sorry." The blue eyed boy's voice trembled.

"I didn't mean to scare you." Dave said calmly, his thoughts from moments ago already long forgotten.

"I'm not scared of you." The boy took a deep breathe. "I'm..uh...late for curfew."

"Were you going home then?"

"Yeah. Were you heading home too?"

"Not really going anywhere."

"Walk with me?"

Dave heard the vulnerability in that simple question. The boy sounded scared of something. Deeply terrified of something. Dave knew the feeling. "Yeah, I'll walk with you."

Dave could almost see the other boy smile, as it glowed. "My name's John."

"Dave."

John linked his arm with Dave's, turning the tall blond boy around. "This way then." That smile again. Dave smirked a little, letting the short boy led him along. John was quiet. Dave wanted to hear is voice again.

"Will your mom be upset with you that your late?"

"I don't have a mom, but no, my dad won't be upset."

"I don't have a mom either." Dave offered, surprised at how easy it was to talk to John.

"So you live with your dad?"

"No just me and my bro."

"Cool. I've always wanted a brother."

After few more minutes of walking, John stopped in front of a house, "This is my place."

"What street are we on?"

"Wallingford. Near 2nd. Can you make it home ok?"

"Oh yeah. My place is a couple blocks up. I'll make it." At the moment, Dave's phone buzzed softly. Bro was calling. It had to be Bro. No one else had this number.

"Yeah, Bro? ….on Wallingford. Yeah. Just talking to a cool guy...Cool." Dave returned his phone to his pocket. "Sorry, my Bro calls me on his breaks."

"It's fine. You think I'm cool?"

Dave might have blushed, if he wasn't a cool-ass Strider. "Yeah, you're like the first person to talk to me, since I moved here."

"Where did you move from?" John led the Strider to sit on the front porch of the house.

"I used to live in Houston, Texas." Dave sat next to John.

"That's so cool. Why did you move away from a sweet place?"

"Uh, a lot of reasons." Dave still was reluctant to spill everything about him.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to pry."

"It's ok. Don't worry about it."

John checked his watch. "I should get inside. I have a lot of homework to do. Could I text or call you sometime?"

"Sure. You can text me." Dave said pulling his phone out. John looked up at him questioningly. Dave answered the unspoken question. "My phone reads me texts."

"Oh cool." John said as he programed his number into Dave's phone. John then put Dave's number into his own phone. "I'll text you tomorrow. Ok?"

"That's cool with me." Dave said but thought I'd love a text from you.