Chapter Text
Loud noise, a cacophony of drunk people singing and dancing, the sound of people having loud discussions, and more. The sounds of a great party. Dib's party.
He felt compelled to go in.
The door was the only boundary between himself and his 22nd birthday. The only wall between him and this utter chaos Gaz designed just for him. Half of the people there were old friends from elementary that Dib has long since made up with and Gaz considered to be best friends.
This. This was gonna be difficult, all the screaming and the fact that he didn't know exactly who was invited.
He reached to knock but the door already got slammed open to reveal Tak standing at the door, her hand slammed on the doorframe while her other hand gripped the door to hold it open. Her eyes held his in an expectant gaze.
"Gaz told me to go get you because "He's gonna just keep standing there like a moron".", Tak quoted, doing her best Gaz impression which was, honestly, scarily good.
The man at the door laughed, slowly coming in once Tak stepped aside to allow him in.
He was absolutely right. Chaos. Half of these people he didn't even know. The other half were people he interacted with at Gaz's other parties, usually while he was higher than the fucking clouds. Dib hardly remembered half their last names.
There was Gaz, standing in the living room, watching an aggressive game of Mario Cart going down. She was laughing as she looked around, looking as fashionable as ever.
"Hey idiot!"
His voice called out, hands cupped around his mouth, grinning when Gaz looked over.
L
"Moron."
Gaz made her way over, half-hugging Dib. Neither of them were all too keen on physical contact like hugs. This was more so out of obligation, Dib knew that and smiled nonetheless.
"Interesting party you got here."
"You could say that."
They stared at each other before Gaz looked around before giving out a faint, victorious "aha". His right eyebrow raised as he looked to her trifling in her pockets for some unknown object. She pulled out a tiny box with a bow on the top of it and thrust it into his hands.
"Open it."
It was carefully unwrapped by shaking hands. The bow came off and he held that in his right hand as he slowly opened it. There, inside of this tiny box with ghost patterned wrapping paper, was a tiny locket. He looked back up at Gaz who motioned at him to grab it.
He carefully reached down, grabbing it.
It was beautiful. A bronze locket fit with a shining chain. Flowers engraved on the front of it and he turned it to the back once he felt something on the back. There was tiny writing.
"To my idiotic brother, keep hunting ghosts- Gaz."
Gaz read it aloud, having read it over and over to make sure it was perfect prior to gifting it to her brother.
Dib smiled, his eyes wide with surprise. Amber eyes shifted back down to the locket held in his shaking hands. His fingers reached for the tiny clasp, carefully unlocking it by using the tip of index finger.
Inside of the locket was a beautiful, sparkling sapphire that shined like the stars or whatever else you could compare it to.
It was gorgeousness in a single, small locket.
He rushed forwards, almost dropping the locket and box in his hands as he hugged Gaz in a tight embrace.
"Thank you, thank you!", he practically yelled, smiling wide when he saw Gaz recoil.
"Yeah, yeah. You love me, get off of me you idiot."
Gaz said, but there was no venom in her tone like from when they were children. There was just soft fondness that echoed.
They smiled at each other before Gaz pushed him elsewhere.
"Go meet the other people who showed up."
She said with her eyes just barely opened before she turned to Tak.
•°•°•°•°•°•°
Dib had followed that advice. There was Mr. Dwicky there with whom he's since built a rapport with since when he was younger.
"Heyy!"
Dwicky turned to him, smiling wide with cheesy finger guns.
"Dib!"
He called out, smiling when Dib held out a hand in offer of a handshake. The older man smiled, grasping his hand and shaking it with the grip of a crocodile dragging it's prey into water. Strong and unrelenting, not that Dib minded much.
Firm handshakes were still amazing, and that may be a new sentence from the recesses of Dibs, currently, very empty head.
Joy filled the older man's eyes. He had a tie on, his hair not slicked back but rather loose and all about. Dwicky never did get haircuts very often. His shoes were polished even.
"Happy birthday, man!"
"Thanks, Dwicky."
Dwicky nodded before Dib wandered off to find out who else attended. He was...kind of excited. Everybody gave him high fives and smiles as he walked by.
Gaz managed to round up a surprising amount of people to show up. To be fair, a handful were just there for the party and celebratory drugs. But most seemed to be there to genuinely greet him.
A stark contrast to when he was younger. And he has to say that he's not even bitter about it. Just excited to know so many people willingly came and were being nice about this.
It made his heart flutter, he felt like he was on cloud fucking nine.
Everything was going swell. All until a noise caught Dib's attention and the sound of the room going deadly quiet. His heart that previously fluttered like a butterfly dropped dead and his heart sank, sank, sank.
Dib faintly heard the door creak open, the sound of somebody walking in and a few quiet whispers. He turned around to spot a certain figure in Gaz's foyer, calmly interacting with a few of his peers/past classmates.
His dad stood in the foyer. His father who he hasn't interacted with in 5 fucking years. His dad who hadn't even tried to speak to him after their little argument that got him kicked out at 17 years old all on his own with no connections.
He grimaced. He'd bite, he'd play nice, even if only for a moment out of morbid curiosity as to what the fuck his father was doing here.
Gaz must've invited him. Gaz and his father were beginning to repair their bond meanwhile Dib refused to talk to the scientist.
"...Dib. Greetings."
The professor said, his hand held out in an offer of a handshake, similar to how Dib did with Dwicky earlier. Although Dwicky's handshake was warm, comforting, the eager handshake of a friend excited to see him again. This hand was covered in cold rubber with the smell of long scrubbed out chemicals -that would never leave no matter how much scrubbing you did, Dib would know- and it was a smell that Dib remembered in the worst way.
Two hands met in an awkward handshake that could hardly count as a polite, familial greeting. They did have an audience but people were quickly beginning to leave, feeling awkward at the scene before them. Dib would love to follow in their footsteps, truly.
Dib didn't hesitate in pulling his hand away. He stared at his father who still had those stupid goggles on and even that familiar lab coat. He couldn't even take it off for his son's birthday. Of course.
"Happy birthday. I'm sorry, son, for m-"
The son turned away from his father, ignoring what was about to be said, his face spelling murder as he ran off to find Gaz. That wasn't hard, she was off in a corner, a red solo cup in hand.
"Gaz! What the fuck?"
He hissed out, under his breath. Thankfully nobody seemed to notice the beginning to their heated conversation that surely wouldn't end well.
"What's got your panties in a twist?"
"Dad is here! Did you invite that- that bastard?!"
Gaz groaned, reaching up and rubbing the crease in between her eyebrows. She was quiet, refusing to answer whether or not she did. Dib considered it enough of an answer when she opened her squinted eyes while remaining silent.
"Dib-"
She began her response before calling out after him.
He angrily stormed off, his boots thumping on the ground and past all the confused people. People kept yelling out to him, trying to ask what his problem was. He never stopped for them, making it to the front door and slamming it open.
Dib fished for a pack of cigarettes in his pocket and his lighter, refusing to acknowledge the people walking on the sidewalk, the cyclists riding by, the cars lined up along the road.
He didn't care about them. They didn't matter.
He brought the cancer stick to his lips, glaring down at it as he lit it. Sticking the lighter back in his pocket with a sense of pure annoyance that reverberated through his core. God. His dad came and whether Gaz invited him or not, he was pissed off.
Professor Membrane. Not dad. Or father. The man didn't deserve to be referred to as that. He had the nerve to show up as if nothing fucking happened.
To try and sputter out a meaningless fucking apology that was surely full of holes and excuses. His apology was like a pathetic, moldy piece of Swiss cheese. A sorry attempt at an apology that would make him want to throw himself off a bridge. He'd follow through on it too if his spite and anger wasn't in the way -the sadness and despair hasn't quite kicked in yet you see- and so far he had smoke coming out his ears.
He spent so long getting over that hill. So much advice from Dwicky. So much reassurance from his boyfriend who he didn't have the heart to break up with since Keef was always so sweet and caring even if Dib only got with him at first due to a night of mistaken angry sex and a few misplaced beers.
So many angry Mario cart sessions with Gaz. Yet he was still not over this fucking man who kept insisting on barging into his party with no prior warning.
Hands suddenly gripped Dib by the upper arms, yanking him into an alley. He didn't even have a chance to scream as a knife was held to his neck, pressing and pressing before- slash!
An odd gurgling came from...him? His vision darkened as he hit the ground, seeing a strange man run off with his wallet and box of cigarettes in hand.
Was he dying? He must be. He could faintly see his hand reaching out and (barely) clawing at the ground, scrambling for something, something, anything-
His vision went black. The universe wasn't on his side.