A/N: This is my first Homestuck fanfiction, and the first fic I've written in a while, so sorry if it's terrible. The title is from the song "Deer In The Headlights" by Owl City.
Disclaimer: Homestuck and all of its characters belong to Andrew Hussie.
Tell Me Again; Was It Love at First Sight?
Your name is John Egbert and you will avoid going to school at all costs. You get bullied every day. Sometimes the bullies switch it up, though. Some days they punch you, some days they make fun of you, and some days they do both. Ever since you were little, you've had a pretty hard time making friends, so you really don't have anyone you can trust, apart from your dad, your twin sister, Jade, and her best friend, Rose. As for the avoiding going to school part, it doesn't quite work. Your dad makes you go and denies the fact that you're being bullied at all. Your sister, however, believes you entirely because she sees it happen every day. Unfortunately, Jade, being the socially inept person that she is can't stand up for you. She can barely stand up for herself. That's how the whole bullying thing started.
You wake up with an exasperated sigh. Your hand slams into the loud, annoying alarm clock that is buzzing in your ears. 'Great,' you think, 'another day where I either have the option of being made fun of all day, or having my face punched in. Awesome.' You stand up and walk over to your mirror and see that you have bruises all over your slender, lanky frame. On your arms, your chest, and your legs. Luckily, the bruises that once covered your face have faded, but the phantom wounds still sting when you run your fingers over your bony features. Ignoring your pain, you stumble over to your closet and get dressed. When you grunt as you sit at the kitchen table to eat breakfast, your father says nothing. He looks up at you from his newspaper, smiles, and says, "Good morning, John. Jade made you cereal. She just left a few minutes ago to walk to school with Rose."
You nod and mutter a "Thanks." to your dad. There's a bowl of cereal on the counter, so you pick it up and sit at the table. You sit in silence, eating your cereal. When you've finished, you put the empty bowl in the dishwasher, pick up your book bag, say goodbye to your dad, and leave to catch the bus.
As soon as the bus parks in front of the school, you see them. You're not sure of what their names are, but you recognize their faces. They're the guys that torment you day in and day out. Luckily, you're able to slip by and go unnoticed. Throughout the course of the day, you don't see them at all, which pleases you. But right before last period, you run into someone. "Sorry," you mumble, piling your schoolbooks together, kneeling on the ground. You look up to see a tall, muscular boy with gorgeous blonde locks falling perfectly over dark aviator sunglasses. "Gorgeous blonde locks?" No, you're completely, 100% heterosexual. There is no chance in hell that you like a guy like that. Well, then again, maybe there is.
"Sorry about that, bro." he says to you, holding out his hand. You grasp his hand and he helps pull you up off of the dirty tile floor.
"It's... f-fine..." you stutter, a blush creeping onto your cheeks. You feel your palms beginning to sweat, so you rub the back of your neck nervously. The blonde boy smirks at you. He holds out his hand again, but this time he wants you to shake it.
"The name's Strider. Dave Strider."
You shake his hand, hoping he doesn't notice how sweaty your hands are. "Hi, Dave... I'm... John Egbert." Jegus, you must really like this guy, whoever he is. You're not exactly sure why, though. "Sorry for running into you. I'm not exactly the most popular guy here."
He smiles slightly, "It's alright, really. I'm new here, so I guess I'm not very 'popular' either."
You smile a big, goofy, derpy smile. You suddenly become aware of your huge buck teeth, so you close your lips and grin awkwardly.
"You're pretty chill, Egbert. See ya around, I guess." he says with a wave, walking to his next class, and you wave back, even though he is no longer facing you. Everyone else must thing you're retarded, standing in the middle of the hallway, blushing and smiling like an idiot.
You're about to get on the bus when you feel someone grab your shoulder forcefully. "Where do you think you're goin', Egderp?" A shudder runs down your spine. "Haven't seen ya all day," he pulls you away from the bus, onto the plush green grass and takes a fistful of your green slime ghost t-shirt, "You think you could get away that easy?" Paralyzed with fear, you can't say anything. "Did you hear me, nerd?" You swallow hard, flinching as his fist rises level to your head.
"Hey!" a voice screams. That's odd; no one ever stands up for you. Ever. "Leave him alone!" the voice seems to grow louder, closer. You open your eyes and look to your left. It's Dave. Dave's the one standing up for you. But why? Before you can finish your thought, Dave is shouting again. "Are you deaf, numbnuts? I said leave the kid alone!" The wall of meat loosens his grip on your t-shirt, and begins to walk toward Dave. You make eye contact with Dave and look at him with a face that says "You have no idea what you're getting yourself into". Dave looks him (you think his name is Equius or something weird like that) right in the eye. "Do I have to repeat myself?" Dave says. You can't take this any longer. You may have just met Dave today, but you can't let him get hurt because of you. Quickly, you run around Equius, grab Dave's hand and make a break for it. You run faster than you ever have in your entire life, the blonde boy trailing behind you. "Don't look back! Keep running!" you say. Dave seems to understand, picking up his pace so you and he are sprinting side-by-side. While running like hell, you notice one thing. Your hands are linked together, rather tightly, at that. And the surprising thing is, you're actually okay with it.
A/N: Thank you for reading! I'll hopefully update this soon! Please review! It takes a second for you, and it makes my entire day! Thanks again! -Katie