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Griffin enjoyed watching movies. Disney movies, to be more exact.
There was something about it that helped him cope with the fact that he wasn't ever seen. To be able to see princesses and princes fighting off evil and having a happy ending filled Griffin with a sort of comfort that he was never able to look away from.
Griffin’s father wasn't happy that his son enjoyed watching those movies. He was always complaining on and on that during his time during childhood, he was working hard labor and doing manly jobs. Griffin’s father claimed that he was a ladies' man and that women loved him and always recognized him because of how amazing he was.
Griffin’s mother always said that he was lying.
Despite Griffin’s father not liking Griffin enjoying Disney movies, he allowed his son to do it. Because even though he would prefer if Griffin were like Bruce Yamada or Finney Blake - young baseball stars - or even like Vance Hopper or Robin Arellano - the well know fighters of North Denver - he allows his son to enjoy what he enjoys.
And so Griffin does. He re-watches Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs more often than he can count, he cries every time during Bambi, and he begs his parents to never visit a circus every time Dumbo graces the screen. His parents know that it’s Griffin’s escape, so they allow him.
When Griffin isn't watching movies, he’s staring out his window.
He isn't sure when he picked the trait up. Maybe it was the feeling that maybe there would be some prince charming that would come by and sweep him off his feet so he could live a life of luxury and riches forever that enticed him to do so, but he was aware that such a thing would never happen. It was just something that comforted him. To be able to just stare out the window and imagine himself in those scenarios was perhaps just another way that he tries to escape the reality of his life.
The reality that he was invisible to the naked eye. No matter where he turned, or what he did, he was never seen. Most friends would always forget to invite him to things, his raised hand is never seen in the classrooms, and his parents have forgotten to pick him up from places time and time again. Griffin has grown to accept the fact that he’s invisible and decides to take advantage of it.
He’s grown to enjoy the quiet and solidarity. It comforts him.
Anything more gives him a headache.
Whatever the reasoning was, Griffin found himself doing it more and more instead of watching movies. After Peter Pan, Griffin’s interest in the movies dwindled because they were no longer what he cared for. He didn't want to watch movies about happy, healthy families, and he slowly began to grow resentful of people who would end up finding love along their adventures. It hurt him. He blamed it on the fact that it just didn't pique his interest, but he knew why he resented such films.
It was because he himself knew he would never get to experience such things.
One day, he had been daydreaming by the open window, listening to kids down the street playing and screaming with joy and someone setting up some sort of lemonade stand nearby. Saturday was a fantastic day for families of all types to just go outside and enjoy the seemingly never ending sun. For sons to play catch with the other boys, for fathers to gather around a grill in one's backyard and drink beers while talking about the latest football game. Saturdays granted the girls in the neighborhood to step outside in flowing dresses and skirts and ogle at the boys who pretend they aren't trying to impress the watching eyes, and it granted mothers the break they deserve to go to cafes and spas to relish in the little relaxation they get. Griffin despised Saturdays.
While daydreaming, something pointy, yet not harmful, jabs at his cheek gently. He blinks a few times, begrudgingly taking himself out of his own head as he looks around for the culprit of the numb sting in his cheek when he spots it.
A paper airplane.
At first, he plans on ignoring it. Every kid had a period where they loved to craft different variants of paper airplanes and watch them fly in the breeze. Griffin will admit, it was a little odd for the airplane to land in his room (or, in his face, if one wants to be technical) considering people more often than not just used kites on beautiful breezy days, but that doesn't change his assumption. There was probably some kid who got ahold of plenty of pieces of paper and decided to run around, throwing the airplanes around.
He leans down to pick the airplane up, resting his cheek in his hand as he stares at the craftsmanship of the plane, his eyebrows raising in marginal surprise.
The plane looked perfect. Each fold was careful and each crease was made with extreme precision. Griffin tilts the plane in several angles, attempting to find something about the plane to criticize, but there was nothing. Whoever made the plane clearly had some experience making planes or even with paper in general. As Griffin tilts the plane back upright, and then that's when he spots it.
A little heart is drawn onto the top.
The first thought Griffin has is the fact that considering this person didn't leave any creases, graphite, or even any dents in the plane, they had to have drawn the heart on before they crafted the plane, which was impressive. To know exactly what surface of the paper was going to be exposed before folding it was something that Griffin could never imagine himself doing. The second thought he had was the fact that this paper airplane may not have been by some kid tossing them around, but by someone who clearly wanted Griffin’s attention.
Griffin sits up straight and starts to carefully unfold the paper airplane, and starts to see words inside of the folds. Another impressive thing. This person knew exactly where to write so that the letter wouldn't be exposed till the airplane was unfolded. When the letter is completely unfolded, Griffin reads the words, eyebrows raising slightly in shock.
You look nice today, Griff. :)
That was it. That was the letter. Griffin feels his cheeks heat up exponentially and he sticks his head out of the window, quickly scanning the area to see if he could find the culprit of the letter.
But nothing changed. The girls were ogling the boys, the boys were pretending they were professional football players, and the grown men were cracking lewd jokes with each other. Griffin’s eyebrows furrow, but soon his face lights up.
Griffin had a secret admirer.
But who could that secret admirer be?
Billy shuts his locker and looks at Griffin, who stares at the letter intently.
“What’s that?” Billy asks with an interesting smile, and Griffin looks up to him, processing the question before he shows Billy the letter.
“Someone tossed this to me on Saturday,” He says, Billy’s eyes scanning over the words before he looks back to Griffin. “There’s no name, but I'm trying to figure out who it is.”
“How are you gonna do that?” Billy asks with a light laugh, and Griffin looks back to the lettering.
“There are several ways I can do it,” Griffin says matter-of-factly, causing both him and Billy to giggle softly. “I can memorize the handwriting, I can… uh… oh! I can figure out who has the highest grades in school. The person who made this letter is really smart.”
“Oh, really?” Billy asks, a bit of shock in his tone as he looks away with reddening cheeks.
“Yeah. They're super smart. They know what parts of the paper will be covered before folding it all. See? There’s no smudging at all, and the folds are all perfect. They have to be super smart.” Griffin explains, and Billy nods. Eventually, they part ways when the bell rings.
By Saturday, Griffin doesn't figure out the mystery person, but he’s not all that upset.
Griffin doesn't do much with his days. It’s normally him on the tv, staring out the window, or doing chores. He has hobbies, but his parents always forget to buy him the supplies that he needs for his hobbies. They also always forget about his allowance, so he can't go out and get the materials himself. He’s just accepted the fact that he’s hobbyless at this point.
But, with this new detective work, Griffin feels like he has a purpose.
Griffin stares at the smiley face the person drew on the paper, feeling himself smile in the process. He tries to cover it despite no one being around, feeling his cheeks heat up.
Griffin more than appreciated this gift. He was in love with it. It was the first exciting thing to happen in his life. But sooner than later, he starts to feel bad. The person was trying to get his attention, and here he was, having no idea who it could be. He doesn't recognize the handwriting at all, and a majority of the super smart people in his school all have some sort of crush on people. Doesn't help that a majority of the girls were fawning over Bruce and a majority of the guys were trying to pick fights with Vance.
Eventually, Griffin sets the note aside, careful not to smudge the lettering. As he leans back in his chair though, something suddenly zips by his eyes, and he gasps lightly.
He looks to what lands gently on his floor, spotting another paper airplane. He quickly grabs it and examines it for only a moment. Precise folds, no out-of-place creases, and that cute heart in the same spot.
Griffin practically throws himself to the window and peeks his head out, scanning the area to see if he could spot who tossed the airplane, but he sees nothing. His heart sinks a bit, but it quickly beats back to life when he realizes that he needs to read the new message.
Griffin is slightly less careful with this letter, his excitement getting the best of him as he scrambles to unfold it and read the words within.
Roses are red
Violets are blue
I really like you
I hope you like me too :)
Griffin feels his heart flutter as he smiles. Whoever this person was wasn't all too creative it looked like. Or, at the very least, was trying to be cute but doesn't exactly know how to do that. Griffin thinks for a long moment before he knows exactly who to talk to.
“What, dipshit?” Vance utters under his breath as Griffin stands beside him. Griffin stares at the pinball machine, mesmerized by the way Vance hits the ball around to score more points. When the machine blares with a noise indicating that the high score has been beaten again , Vance lets out a short huff of victory before he turns his body to Griffin. “You said you got a letter?”
“Multiple, actually.” Griffin clarifies, earning an eye roll from Vance. Vance holds his hand out, and Griffin sets the letter into it so that Vance could read it. “Be careful with it, please.”
“Of course, I will,” Vance says in an annoyed tone, his eyes scanning over the letter slowly.
Had it been anyone else, they may have been concerned as to why it was taking so long to read a poem, but for Griffin, he was well aware that this was actually Vance’s faster pace. Poems that rhyme is easier for him to read and comprehend.
“What did you want me to do with this again?” Vance asks, voice a little less aggressive and eyes showing off a thoughtful gaze. Griffin clears his throat.
“I was wondering if you could recognize the handwriting. I know you do that to read things sometimes, so I thought maybe you could do it now. Does the handwriting look like anybody’s you know? A friend or something?” Griffin asks and Vance looks at him with a slight grimace.
“You think friends of mine would write this shit?”
“Well, maybe . How about your boyfriend?” Vance suddenly gets a dangerous look in his eyes.
“Bruce is not my boyfriend.”
Griffin beams an innocent smile up towards Vance.
“How’d you know who I was talking about, then?”
Vance doesn't respond and just leads Griffin toward Bruce’s home.
When Bruce opens the door, his face lights up with a smile at the sight of Vance.
“Oh, hey, Vance,” he says, his voice a little breathy. Bruce’s eyes look over to Griffin and he flashes him a quick grin. “Hey, Griff! What brings you here?”
“Griffin got a love letter from some random fuck and needs us to figure out who it is,” Vance says, looking away from Bruce with a light tint of pink on his cheeks. At any other moment, Griffin would've teased him about it, but with Bruce here to possibly recognize the handwriting, he didn't want to intrude on whatever they had going on.
Bruce gently takes the letter from Vance’s hands and closes the front door, sitting on one of the steps of his porch. Griffin and Vance do the same, both watching as Bruce stares at it.
“I mean, whoever wrote it has really nice handwriting,” He states, both Griffin and Vance staring at him with a deadpan stare. He offers up a pitiful nervous chuckle in return before he looks back to the letter. “Well, most of the girls at our school have really nice handwriting, right? Minus like, Finney, but we all know who Finney’s crazy for.”
Griffin lets out a small huff, thinking back to the girls in his school. Who in the world would like him out of all of them? Grace never looked in his direction, Donna has shot her shot with Finney multiple times, and Lillie has openly stated how she literally has no idea who Griffin is. There were a bunch of other girls like that, so Griffin had no idea who this letter could be from.
“Then again, it could also be B-”
“Bruce? Come inside! You are grounded , remember?” Bruce’s mother says, crossing her arms as one of her feet taps the ground impatiently. Bruce tenses slightly and rolls his eyes, flashing the two an apologetic smile before handing the letter to Griffin. “Say goodbye to your friends and do the dishes like you were supposed to do…” Bruce’s mom’s voice trails off as the door closes and Griffin is left sitting on the porch with Vance.
“So,” Vance starts, looking up at the sky. “Have any idea who it is now?”
Griffin almost feels insulted by that sentence.
“I’ll talk to you later,” Griffin says in a marginally upset tone, unknowingly causing Vance to tense up.
When Griffin stands, Vance does too, placing a hand on Griffin’s shoulder and making the other look at him.
“Hey, dude - don't give up, okay?” Vance says, earning a confused stare from Griffin. Vance lets out a small huff of air. “I know that’s fucking weird coming from me, but I’m being serious. You’ll figure out who it is. Just don't be a bitch and chicken out.”
Griffin stares for a second longer before he smiles and nods.
By next Saturday, Griffin is actively looking out his window. He was going to figure out who it was. One way or another.
He watched as the kids played and the parents chatted and even waved to Robin who was heading to Finney’s house. He checks the clocks often and waits for the usual time to get the letter, yet as the time ticks on, nothing zips through his window. He stares out to see if he could find any potential culprits, but nothing is out of the ordinary.
Griffin’s heart breaks a bit as he watches the sky darken slowly. Kids begin to get called inside by their parents and home lights begin to turn on as the sun no longer provides homes with the light they need. When the final light on Griffin’s street flicks off, Griffin yawns. He looks up at the high rising moon and wonders what it would be like if he were in a fairy tale.
To be swept away by a prince or princess and live happily ever after. Or maybe be taken by cute Peter Pan to Neverland where he would make friends with boys who never grew old. As Griffin lay in his bed, he wondered what it would be like to be given a kiss of life. For someone to whisk him away from this life now and give him something better.
As Griffin hugs his cool pillow close and pulls his cool blanket on top of him, his brain begins to turn its gears more than he intends for them to. What if the person lost interest? What if Griffin wasn't fast enough to find out who they were? Two weeks is a long time, it’s easy to have lost interest in someone within that time.
Griffin feels wetness on his pillow, but he just ignores it to spare his happiness.
He wakes up to a knock on the door. His eyes have to blink a few times, his sleep schedule ruined from last night's waiting. He glances over to the door, blurry eyes focusing on the figure standing there.
“Hey, sweetie,” his mother starts, smiling at her son. Griffin smiles the identical smile back to her, and she waves a familiar-looking piece of paper at him. “This came in the mail for you. Your father messed it up while sorting through everything though.” She says, walking up to Griffin’s bed and holding out the paper to him.
Another paper airplane.
Suddenly, Griffin forgot all about the sleep that he didn't get and he grabs the letter. He curtly thanks his mother, who lets out gentle laughter at the urgency, and begins to unfold the letter. He’s upset to see that his father wrinkled it a bit (because no way in hell his admirer would mess up this bad), but pays no mind to it as he reads the contents inside.
Sorry I couldn't give you a note yesterday
I saw you were watching and got very shy.
But I decided to give you the note on this day
So don't be too mad at me, okay?
Griffin takes in a deep breath and grins widely. There was an odd sense of pride inside of him when he realizes that this person didn't forget him. No, they didn't forget him, they just didn't want to be caught. The past thoughts from last night fade and he thinks back to the day.
They had to have seen him yesterday. So he should have seen them too, right?
A lightbulb appears over his head.
Griffin holds the unfolded paper airplane in front of Robin’s face, waving it around a bit at the confused boy.
“Oh, those are the letters you're getting from the mystery person, right?” Robin asks casually, and Griffin eyes Robin up and down, then looking over to an equally confused Finney.
“You walked by my house yesterday,” Griffin starts, and Robin raises an eyebrow as he looks at Finney.
“Uh, yeah. I have to walk past your house to get to Finney’s quickest,” Robin clarifies, tilting his head slightly. “Is that an issue?”
“Well, this person had to have seen me yesterday. Everyone else around my house was completely distracted. You were the only person to have seen that I was waiting for a letter.” Griffin practically accuses, and Robin looks marginally shocked, but a friendly smile graces his features.
“Oh, well, I guess it would look like that. I just kinda served as a distracting for-” Suddenly, Finney slaps a hand over Robin’s mouth and stares at him with a scolding look. Robin’s eyes widen slightly and he looks back with a sheepish gaze. Griffin’s mouth opens in shock.
“You’re working with them?! Who is it?!” Griffin asks, and Finney elbows Robin. Griffin hears a short I know I know fall from Robin’s lips before they both look at him.
“We aren't allowed to tell you who they are,” Finney says, his tone somewhat apologetic. “We would, but they want to reveal it to you. Eventually.” He adds on the eventually in a quiet tone. Griffin huffs. Robin then shrugs.
“You don't gotta worry though, once he tells you, you’ll be happy-” Robin doesn't get to finish the rest of his sentence before Finney elbows him again. Griffin smiles.
“He?” Upon uttering those words, Robin seems to realize his mistake, because he tenses up. “Who is he-”
“Hey, Griff!” Billy gently places a hand on Griffin’s shoulder, startling Griffin slightly. Griffin turns and smiles brightly at Billy, holding up the paper. Billy smiles at it. “Another letter, huh? Who do you think it is?”
“Well, thanks to Robin, I know it’s a guy. So I have to find some guy who’s smart, has great handwriting, isn't the most creative, and somehow knows me.” He states, then playfully winking at Billy. “Kinda sounds like you.”
When the bell rings and Griffin starts to head to his class, Billy stands shocked. He looks at Robin, who shrugs his shoulders with an apologetic smile on his face.
Billy had asked Griffin if he wanted to go to the movies that Saturday, but Griffin declined. He had to be waiting by the window for his letter, by the way. This time, he didn't stare out the window just so that he would actually get his letter on a proper day.
However, he never got his letter that day. Nor did he get it the next. So, of course, he just assumed that the person was busy. People get busy, after all. Griffin wasn't going to hold that against them.
Next Saturday, Billy invited Griffin to go to Bruce’s baseball game, just them two. Griffin declined. He explained that the person probably needed him by the window this time because they feel sorry for not getting him the weekly letter. When he waits by that window, he waits up until he sees all the kids finally get into their homes after the baseball game. Normally, Griffin sees Billy walk by his house. Griffin didn't even get that liberty.
Now Griffin was a bit sad, but every time he looks back at the old letters, he gets a glimmer of hope. Before he gets to bed that night, he hangs up the paper airplanes from the ceiling. He finds that staring up at them helps him sleep.
When the third Saturday rolls around, Billy asks if Griffin wants to go with him to the arcade, only to be declined by an upset Griffin. Griffin didn't even decline because he wanted to wait for a letter, but because he would much rather sulk around in his home.
Griffin felt ignored more than usual this week. Nobody, not even his friends really interacted with him. On Monday, when he asked Vance a question, Vance would pay attention to his pinball and nothing else. He barely even gave him hums of responses.
On Tuesday (which, he’ll admit, was a poor day to pick), he tried to ask Bruce if he could teach him something about baseball. But Bruce was in a snappy mood that day due to a particularly harsh practice by his coach and just completely blew Griffin off.
Wednesday, he tried to ask Finney if he could help him with his homework, but Finney didn't pay him much mind because he apparently had some sort of “space date” with Robin. Griffin will never admit how jealous he was when he saw the joy in Finney’s eyes just talking about it.
Thursday, Griffin waited all the way until four in the afternoon to ask Robin to come to the gym with him (which Griffin never does) to teach him the basics of some fighting. Griffin doesn't remember why he thought it. He just remembers some sort of black van driving around his house and near him after school and felt the intense urge to learn. But Robin’s family was apparently heading to a different state for the weekend and decided to go early. So, of course, when Griffin knocked on Robin’s door, he got no response. Griffin just sat there until he saw the black van circle the block for a third time before he ran home.
Friday, he gathered the courage to ask Billy if he wanted to go somewhere, but Billy seemed the most apprehensive of all. He opened his door with a frown, he barely seemed interested in the conversation, and then just coldly told Griffin no before slamming the door shut.
That one hurt most of all.
Griffin is happy for his secret admirer. Or, well, was . But losing his friends, especially Billy, hurt more than he ever could have imagined. All of his friends mattered to him, but losing Billy was like losing a million dollars. Billy was the person who truly made him feel seen, and Griffin realizes how often he just declined to go out with Billy when the other asked. It made him realize how absorbed he got with those paper airplanes.
Yet, when he got home that Friday night and stared at them with anger, he couldn't bring himself to remove them.
On Saturday, Griffin kept his window closed and watched Disney movies. The usual that he watched. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was played a couple of times. Peter Pan occasionally. But Dumbo is what resonated with him. Watching the poor elephant who had nothing get a friend who helped him become something great. Griffin held his pillow close, gripping it tightly. He wanted that.
No. He had that. He just lost it.
On Sunday, Griffin left his house early morning. His parents wouldn't notice, and nobody was out this early except for Billy delivering papers, so Griffin would be able to walk in silence.
The air was chilly as his feet crunches autumn leaves. He stares at the ground and just thinks about why it was him that was so invisible. Does he wish this kind of life on anyone else? Of course not. But did it hurt that it was him it was happening to? Beyond so.
Griffin is so engrossed with his thoughts that his brain doesn't pick up the sound of wheels pulling up close to him. The van pulls to a stop a short way ahead of him, and before his brain can process what was happening, he was suddenly gripped tightly and there was some sort of spray being sprayed into his face.
It tasted sour and bitter - something that was clearly not supposed to be ingested he’s sure - but he started to feel his body get weaker. The once slowly brightening sky begins to get dark again. The cool air gets warmer rapidly, which makes no sense to his foggy brain. His body struggles, but its strength begins to fade as he tries to open his mouth to call for help. But all he does is ingest a lungful of the spray that hits his brain like a truck.
Something happens after that. The man that was grabbing him had abruptly let him go. Griffin felt a sharp pain in his side, but it slowly numbed into nothing. Before he knew it, he was on the ground and someone was holding him. He heard a cry that vaguely sounded like a call for help and he hears nauseatingly loud barks that bounced around in his skull. Griffin blinks a few times, but no matter how many times he does, he can't blink away that haze. He looks up at the person who holds him in their arms, ignoring the several rushing adults around them as he stares.
It was his prince charming.
When Griffin wakes up in the hospital, he was somewhat expecting to be there for a long while, but when he wakes up, he’s told by a nurse that in just a few minutes, he’ll be able to walk out.
When the nurse leaves, there’s another person rushing into the room, and Griffin feels his body bubble up with shame.
“Oh my god, Griff - are you okay? Oh my god, I knew it was just some sort of sleeping gas but - oh my god I thought he poisoned you or something-” Billy’s voice is frantic as his hands feel over Griffin’s face. Griffin doesn't pull away from the touch, but he only feels more guilt grow inside of him. “I thought I lost you.”
“What happened?” Griffin asks softly, voice raspy and throat incredibly dry. He can't help it when he coughs a few times.
“I- it all happened so fast. There was this guy and this van- I saw him following you for what felt like ever . When I saw him stop in front of you, I hid to make sure he didn't see me. But then I saw what he was doing to you and did the first thing I thought of.” Billy says and Griffin tilts his head slightly. A big mistake. His head felt like it was a million pounds. It begins to lean him to the side, but Billy catches him, gently moving his head to its original position. Griffin cant help the pinkening of his cheeks.
“What did you do?” Griffin inquires.
“I drove my bike into him. And kinda into you, but mostly him.” Billy says, and Griffin laughs softly. They both chuckle softly before they stop and stare at each other. Griffin feels that feeling bubble up again.
“Billy… I’m really sorry. For… For everything. I got so caught up in those paper airplanes that I barely paid attention to you. No matter who those airplanes are from, you are my favorite person. You always have been, and you always will be.” Griffin admits, earning a slightly surprised look from Billy. “I know I’ve been a jerk the past couple weeks. You didn't deserve to be completely blown off like that. If you give me another chance, ill make it up to you-” Griffin stops when he sees Billy hold something up.
It was a paper airplane.
Folded perfectly with a cute heart drawn on it with no smudges.
Griffin stares at it with shock before he looks at Billy, who shoots him a nervous smile.
“About that…” Billy says, handing the letter over. Griffin opens his mouth to speak, but the look that Billy shoots him tells him to just open the letter. Griffin swallows hard before he shakily unfolds the paper airplane.
You don’t have to apologize
I know you’re sorry.
Now stop looking at me with those solemn eyes
And let's go watch a movie.
-Billy Showalter
Billy doesn't get to open his mouth to speak before Griffin suddenly pulls him close and presses their lips together.
When Griffin tastes blood, he realizes that one of his teeth must have smashed into Billy’s lip, but when the whole situation hits him at once, he couldn't care less. When they pull away, both boys are smiling wide and Billy is gently wiping some light blood away with his sleeve.
“Is that a yes?” Billy asks with a grin, earning an enthusiastic nod from Griffin.
“I can’t believe that these letters were from you! You- why couldn't you just tell me?” Griffin asks, and Billy rubs the back of his neck with a nervous smile.
“Vance told me to tell you upfront or else I would be a-” Billy looks around to check if there were any adults around. “- pussy . Bruce said that I should just spend a lot of time with you, Robin told me that I should fight for your love, and Finney said I should make it a mystery. I had a feeling you would enjoy the mystery. And I’m glad you did.” He explains, and Griffin was practically bouncing in the hospital bed as he hugs Billy again.
“Billy, you are the best ,” Griffin says, earning a soft laugh from the other. “Whatever we are now, I just want you to know that I never want to lose you.” Billy laughs at the extremities.
“I never want to lose you either, Griff.”
Once Griffin was admitted out of the hospital and given a few days to recover fully from the drug, they eventually go on a triple date with Robin, Finney, Bruce, and Vance (Gwen was there too, but refused to let anyone know who her special someone was) to watch Texas Chainsaw Massacre .
And Billy and Griffin sent paper airplanes to each other every day.