Hello fanfic readers. This is my first time writing, so please be gentle with the criticism. Feedback is also appreciated.

Doki Doki Literature Club is owned by Team Salvato and I'm not with it or any of its members.

*Beep* *Beep* *Beep*

*Groan*

I reluctantly reach over to my alarm clock to shut it off.

The clock reads 6:30 am

Another day, where I don't feel anything. I don't even know why I do this to myself. I lay in bed for a few minutes, wondering if it's even worth the effort getting through this day. What's the point in getting up, anyway. I don't have anything to contribute to society. I'm just a waste of resources.

"Come on, dude. Don't say that. You have plenty of talents. And there are people out there, waiting for you."

You're right. I have to do it. For them.

I feel something heavy move on top of the covers.

"MIAAAAOOOWWW"

And for her too.

"Hey Nori"

I say as I greet my cat with a few pats on her head.

"Ready for breakfast?"

As if knowing what I just said, she walks towards my bedroom door and moves out of it.

"I guess that means yes"

I drag myself out of bed and open the window curtains to let some natural light in.

Oh and I should probably introduce myself.

Hi. My name is Walter Watts. Nice to meet you.

"Hey, what about me?"

Oh, and this is Mark. The voice... split personality... alter ego? Well whatever he is, he's the voice inside my head. He guides me through my everyday life, making me never feel alone and talking me out of my problems and overall taking care of me.

"That's what I'm here for, buddy"

"Yeah, thanks"

I head over to the bathroom to get my day started.

I stand over the sink and wash my face. I stare into the mirror for a few moments, looking for an ounce of motivation.

"Hey, handsome."

Yeah, that helped. 10/10 motivational speech. I'm feeling better already.

Sarcasm aside, it did help a little bit.

"Alright Mark, it's showtime"

"Gotcha"

A small smile appears across my face. Hopefully, this will be enough to fool people for another day.

I head downstairs to be greeted by a delicious smell.

"Bacon and eggs". I mutter to myself

I make my to the kitchen and greet my dad, who is standing over the stove with a pan in his right hand and lightly humming to himself.

"Morning, dad"

"Mornin' Wally. Sleep well?"

This is William Watts, my father. A tall, handsome and solidly built man with a kind look on his face and a gentle tone to his voice, dressed in semi-formal attire. But don't let that look fool you. Because that same 'kindness' can get even the hardest of people to spill their secrets.

"Same as usual, what about you? I heard you got home late last night".

"Just got caught up finishing a report. I woke up pretty fresh this morning, surprisingly"

My dad works as a detective at the city police department. He's really good at his job and has

gotten quite the praise for it from the rest for our family.

"Oh, and I made you a plate". He lays out a plate of bacon and scrambled eggs for me on the counter.

"Oh, thanks"

I head over to one of the cabinets and pull out a bag of cat food. I pull away from the bag while taking it out because of the disgusting smell that overwhelms my nose. As I pour it into the food bowl, Nori comes from the living room, dashing towards the source of the smell.

"Sorry I didn't get up earlier. I should probably get one of those automatic dispensers"

"Wal, do you see how fat she's getting? She could afford to lose a few pounds", he says with a slight chuckle.

"I wonder if they make treadmills for felines"

"Even if they did, how would you get her to use it? They don't exactly have New year's resolutions"

"I guess I could use some bait and get her to go after it. Wait, why are we even talking about this?"

"I have no clue", he says as he sips the last of his coffee.

"Here, I made you some lunch. And you HAVE to eat it. I don't want it sitting in the fridge again"

"Thanks, dad. I will."

He flashes a gentle smile.

"Well, I'm gonna be heading off. I'll see you after school, alright? Love you".

"Love you too."

And with that, he makes his way towards the front door, grabs his coat and hat and leaves.

As I'm about to sit down and eat, the front door opens again.

"Don't forget to take your pills"

"I know, dad. Bye"

"Bye".

The door closes once again. But just as I'm about to put take a bite of the bacon, the door opens again.

What now? Did he forget his keys again?

"Oh and uh, please don't give anyone a black eye today. I don't feel like getting called by your principal again"

"Bye, dad"

And the door closes once again. I'm half expecting it to open again but I feel relief as I hear his car drive off

"He cares too much for me. I feel like a burden to him"

"Well, he is your dad. It's one of his jobs, isn't it?"

"Yeah, you're right"

I finish my breakfast and head upstairs to shower. After I'm done, I change into my school uniform, pick up my bag and head out.

"Pills"

Oh yeah, pills

I walk over to my locked drawer, open it and swallow the recommended amount of antidepressants.

Hopefully, these will be enough for today.

Before leaving, I grab a breakfast bar from the fridge.

I then leave my house, lock the door and wait patiently on the sidewalk.

"She should hurry up, or we're both gonna be late"

"Cut her some slack, will you? It's not her fault"

"Yeah, I know. I didn't mean anything negative by it"

"By the way, what are you gonna do about her?"

"Honestly, I don't know. Maybe I will confront her when she slips up one day. Until then, I don't know for sure"

5 minutes pass and I'm still standing here.

"I'm bored"

I take out my phone and start going through my Reddit feed.

"They're gonna do WHAT with Ant-Man?"

"Shove him up Thanos' ass apparently"

"How does one even come to that?"

"Beats me. It is Reddit, after all"

I browse more for a few minutes

"Woah, they took a picture of a black hole"

"That quality is worse than PewDiePie's camera"

"Bad joke. Even Dad is better at this than you."

"You try living in someone's mind who has no sense of humor."

"I never asked you to live there."

*sigh* "I wonder if they rule 34'd it"

"The frick? What makes you think that?"

"Dude, this is the internet. If it exists, there's porn of it"

"Yeah, but how're they gonna lewd a black hole?

"They'll think of something. Remember Earth-chan last year? And Wendy's?"

"Shit, you're right"

"Do you mind checking the rule 34 subreddit?"

"No. You know I'm not into that kind of stuff."

"Fine, I'll do it myself"

"Wait, don't you da-"

Before I complete my sentence, my fingers are automatically typing without my volition. He's taken control again.

"Just taking a peek. I'm curious."

After Mark is done with his... activities, I regain control and continue to browse some more.

"How long has it been since I've been standing here?"

"I don't know. 10 minutes. Give or take"

"Uh-huh"

As I put my phone in my pocket, I hear the door open from the house across the street. A girl with coral-pink hair dashes out of it.

"Haahh… haahh… I overslept again. I'm super sorry. I tried to wake up early but-"

Instead of saying anything, I quietly hand her the breakfast bar which she accepts gratefully and begins munching on it.

This is Sayori, my neighbor and good friend since we were children. And the girl I've had a massive crush on since I was 12. She's the kind of friend you won't see yourself making today, but it just kind of works out because you've known each other for so long.

We've always walked to school together, mainly because I don't like walking to school alone but also because I think she's suffering from depression. I don't know for sure, but I've always noticed some symptoms. And starting high school, these symptoms are becoming more frequent. Her skin looks dry which suggests that she may be crying. She's always hungry which suggests that she's been skipping meals. She's also oversleeping a lot.

I don't wanna jump to conclusions. I have wait and see how things play out. But even if she is going through something, she's damn good at hiding it.

"You know, you don't have to wait like this every day. You should just leave without me. I don't want to hold you back."

This doesn't seem like Sayori at all. I try my best to reassure her.

"Nah, I'm not gonna ditch you for something as useless as school. Plus, I enjoy your company."

A small blush spreads across her face. Weird.

We cross the street and make our way to school. As we draw near, the streets become increasingly speckled with other students making their daily commute. Sayori is awfully quiet during this time. She seems to zone out at something.

I decide to break the silence between us.

"Hey, how's your club been doing, lately? Did you get any new members?"

Sayori lights up at the question.

"Yeah, we recently got a new member. Her name is Natsuki. She's really into ma-". Sayori hesitated for a moment. "Oops, I shouldn't talk about that. And the club's been doing great too. Monika really knows how to handle everything."

Sayori is vice president of the Literature Club. I didn't think she had any interest in literature. And I'm pretty sure she only did it because she thought it would be fun to start a new club, which probably also got her the title of vice president.

"What about yours?"

"Huh?"

Sayori's question catches me off guard. I need to stop zoning out so often.

"Your club. How's it doing?"

"Yeah. I mean there's not much to say about it. It's been the same as it always has…." I take a slight pause. "Full of nerds."

She giggles at that statement. Even her laugh is enough to make my heart flutter.

"Oh, come on. You're not a nerd."

I fish my glasses out of my pocket and put them on.

"How about now?"

"Alright, maybe a little. Why do you have those anyway?

"It helps with my ADHD."

"Oh."

We continue chatting along the way until we reach the school gates.

"Well, I'll see you after school."

"You too."

With that, we both part ways and go to our respective classes. Since I'm enrolled in most of the honors and AP classes, we don't see each other that often. But I try to make up for that time after school. I know what depression does to you and don't want to leave her alone with her thoughts too long. Her mom isn't home that often considering the work she does and her dad is on some business trip. It's just her most of the time.

I make my way towards my locker and get my books for the first period. This is where my day begins.

I head to my first class of the day, AP Calculus. I enter it and find my seat.

"Behind you."

W: "Hello there."

Jay: "General Kenobi."

W: *lightsaber noises*.

This is Jason Briggs. My good friend since middle school and a fellow nerd. We met each other through mutual interests. And by mutual interests, I mean memes. And from there, our friendship took off. He is the complete opposite of me. He's an extrovert, likes to party and is the high school stud. He's also the only person who knows about my depression, other than my dad. And he has always supported me in my cause

.J: "That meme never gets old."

W: "You know what else never gets old?"

J: "Micheal Cena?"

W: "I was gonna say anti-vaxxer's children, but you make a fair point."

J: "That's cold, man."

He slumps into the desk next to me.

"Hey, by the way, how's Laura doing?"

"She's doing okay. We've been spending some together recently, but she seems distant."

"It's probably just a phase she's going through."

I've seen this before. Something tells me she wants to break up with him. But it's still too early to call the shots. And I don't wanna tell him. It might break his heart.

He seems lost in his thoughts for a moment. Until he finally speaks up.

"Yeah, it's probably just that."

Just as he finishes his sentence, the teacher enters the room. Everyone quiets down and the class begins.

The school day is as regular as it can be. Teachers going through their lectures, giving homework. You know, the usual.

Eventually, the school bell rings for lunch.

"Hey, I'm going to the cafeteria. Wanna come?"

"Maybe some other time."

"Alright, have fun."

I pack my stuff and move out of the class for lunch. I get to my locker, put my stuff in and get my lunch out. Then, I start walking towards the library for some "light" studying.

I never ate lunch in the cafeteria. Back in middle school, all the noise and commotion there used to give me regular anxiety attacks. Since then, I've always spent my time in the library.

"Come on, man. Let's go to the cafeteria. It's not healthy to spend this much time away from civilization."

You know how much I hate it.

"Yeah but, at this rate, your gonna lose all your social skills. And you remember what your therapist said?"

I let out a long sigh.

Fine. I'll go tomorrow.

"Good boy."

I enter the library and take comfort in the solemn atmosphere of it.

"This feels nice."

"SHHH!"

"Sorry."

I grab a book from the shelf and take a seat at one of the tables. I place the brown bag on the table and find a BLT inside it.

"My favorite", I mumble to myself.

After spending a good 30 minutes in the library, the bell rings, signaling me to get to my next class. Alas, all good things must come to an end.

The rest of the day goes by as usual. Until the final class, World History. It's the one class Sayori and I have together.

I enter the class to be greeted by the usual sight. However, my eyes are immediately caught by the sight of a red bow near the front row.

I walk over to her

"Hey, Sayori."

Sayori greets me with a smile.

"Hey, Wally. I was wondering when you'd show up."

Our conversation is cut short when the teacher enters the room. I take my seat behind her.

"Alright, students. So, today we're gonna be learning about the Second World War."

Pshhh. Easy. I can afford to zone out in this class.

"A little too confident in our abilities, are we?"

Dude, we just went through this last week.

"That I know. But how much do you actually remember?"

Enough.

"We'll see about that."

Try me.

Suddenly, my hand shoots up with me knowing.

"Yes, Mr. Watts?"

"Wha-?"

"The date, please."

A few giggles come from a few students.

"Oh, uh . . . September 1st, 1939."

"Very good, Mr. Watts. You may sit."

"Thank you."

"Right, so on 1st September . . ."

How's that for an answer?

"Just testing you."

Yeah right.

Half an hour passes and the bell rings.

"For your homework, you have to read the next 5 pages of the chapter."

A couple of groans come from the class.

I pack up my stuff and move out of the class with Sayori.

"I'll meet up with you after school, okay?"

"Yep!"

Sayori starts moving toward her clubroom.

"Come on. Don't want to late to your own party."

"Yeah, let's go."

I've been part of the Digital Literacy Club for two years now. I know, its a mouthful. It also gave us the name, the DLC's. I got made president last year. And Jason became the vice president soon after. I know it's not much and probably sounds really geeky and full of nerds. But it's actually really cool. All the members are really nice and have their own special talents.

I head to the second floor and towards my club room. When I reach it, I open the door meekly.

"Hey, guys."

"Hey, Wally."

One hour later

"Alright guys, I think that's enough for today. I'll see you all tomorrow."

The members say their goodbyes and leave until it's just me and Jay left.

"Alright, let's go."

"Hey, you wanna go shoot some hoops at the court today?"

"Sure. That sounds nice."

"Alright so at 4?"

"Can we bump it up to 5? I gotta do some stuff."

"Alright, see you then."

I leave the clubroom and move towards the Literature club, where I see Sayori walking out of the room with some purple-haired girl. I call out to her.

"Hey, Sayori!"

She looks at me and gives me a small wave. She then says goodbye to the other girl and walks over to me.

"Ready to go home?"

"Ready!". There is some enthusiasm in her voice. Her mood seems a lot better than it was in the morning.

We leave school and start our short journey home. Along the way, I decide to strike up a conversation.

"So, how was school today?"

"Pretty good, actually. Monika asked us to write a poem for tomorrow. So, I'm excited about that."

A poem?

"Aren't those hard to write?"

"Not that hard. A poem is just about expressing your feelings in words. All you have to do is work on the rhyming scheme and word choice. Other than that, it's a piece of cake."

"Wow, you're really confident about it. That's a lot coming from you."

"Hey, meanie."

"Heh, I'm just kidding. It's kind of nice to see you take interest in something else."

Our playful banter continues until we reach our homes.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"SAY IT!"

I can't.

"Man, you say that every time."

She waves me goodbye and heads into her house.

"One day."

I fish the keys out of my pocket and unlock my front door and I'm immediately greeted by a loud meow from the living room.

"Hey, Nori. Did you miss me?"

"MIAAOWW"

'Yeah, me too."

I pour her a bowl of cat food and head upstairs to change. As I'm sitting in the kitchen going through the last bit of homework, I hear a sound from the front door.

"I'M HOME!"

"Hey, Dad."

"Hey, Wally. How was school?:"

"Same as usual. Nothing too interesting. How was work?"

"Another homicide. And we chased a madman in a Humvee today. So, that was fun."

"Nice."

He goes into his room to change. I put my stuff in my room, and head out for some basketball.

"Hey dad, I'm heading out to play. I'll be back soon."

"Just get home before dinner time," He calls out from his room.

'Alright."

I walk to the local park and head on to the court from there. When I reach it, I notice Jay isn't here yet.

I glance at my watch. "Exactly five." This makes my OCD feel good.

I pace around for a few moments until I hear a voice behind me.

"Think fast!."

I manage to catch the basketball he threw at me.

"Don't do that," I reply, clearly startled by his actions.

"Alright, I'm sorry."

I eventually calm down and start dribbling the ball.

We play like this until he sparks a conversation.

"So, when are you gonna ask her out?"

"Who?"

"Sayori, of course."

'I don't know."

"What do you mean, 'you don't know'? You either ask her out or don't ask her out."

"It's not that simple, Jay. She's been my best friend for 15 years. I can't just throw those down the drain."

"I thought I was your best friend." He says with a childish pout.

"You both are." I sigh. "Look, she's the most important thing in my life. And is she doesn't feel the same way, do you know how awkward that would be?"

"Dude, I've seen the way she looks at you. Even a blind person could tell she has feelings for you." He tried to reassure me.

"Don't you think she would've dropped more hints?"

"Dude, girls are like that. They don't know men are dumb as hell…."

"That's offensive." I give him a small chuckle.

He rolls his eyes. "Look, the point is, that there is hidden context between the lines. I learned that from Laura. Do you know how many times I've said the wrong thing to her because I didn't read between the lines."

I ponder for a moment, before replying.

"Even if she did, I'm not the most mentally stable guy out there," I reply, throwing everything he said out the window.

"Dude, don't say that." He made his way over to me and grabbed my shoulders. "This… " He hesitated for a moment, "Whatever you're going through, it's just a bump in the road, a minor setback. I've known you for six years. And I know you'll get over it."

His words flipped a switch inside of me. And I immediately start feeling a bit better.

"Come here, man." I pulled him in for a hug. "Thanks, dude."

"Anytime."

I let him go and he takes a glance at his phone.

"Gotta go, dinner time. I'll see you in school tomorrow."

"Yeah, bye."

As I start making my way back home, my mind starts drifting back to what Jay said.

"I've seen the way she looks at you."

Is he right? Have I been this oblivious the whole time? I mean, come on, I'm the son of a detective. I would've known if there is a hidden context. Right?

What do you think, Mark?

"I don't know. I only know as much as you know. But still, I think Jay's right. There is always something between the lines."

Maybe I should ask dad.

I reach home and take a quick shower. As I leave the bathroom, I hear my dad call from downstairs.

"WALTER, CAN YOU HELP ME WITH DINNER?"

"I'LL BE DOWN THERE IN A SEC."

I quickly change and head downstairs.

"What's for dinner?"

"Meatloaf"

"Alright, what do you want me to do?"

"Just make the ketchup glaze. I'll work on the beef."

I follow the recipe card and mix ketchup, brown sugar and rest of the ingredients into a bowl,

which my dad pours over the loaf and sets it to bake.

In the meanwhile, I decided to ask him.

"Hey, dad…"

He gives me a concerned look.

"Do you think that….. Sayori likes me?"

He lets out a long sigh. "Well, I don't know that much about love. When I met your mother back in high school, I honestly thought it was meant to be. But I do know that if fate wants you two together, it can make that happen."

"Yeah, I don't think fate likes me very much."

The expression on his face softens as he realizes where I'm coming from. "Look, Wally, your mother's death wasn't your fault. Don't let it hold you back. I know what it does to you and it can wreck your life. The only thing you can do is accept it and move on. And make sure anything like it never happens again."

I stay silent for a while. "...How did you get over it?"

"I had you."

Hearing that restored some light inside of me. And a smile spreads across my face.

"Good talk." He pats my shoulder and checks the oven. As soon as he opens, a delicious smell fills the room.

"Grab a plate and dig in".

We finish our food while making conversation along the way. I head up to my room, where I spend the rest of my night catching up on anime and Netflix shows.

I lay in bed, looking out the window into Sayori's room, light seeping out through her drawn curtains until sleep comes to me.

"She's probably working on her poem"

"Yeah."

I close my eyes.

"One day"

"Psst, hey. Remember that embarrassing moment from five years ago?

"MOTHER-"