A/N: Another songfic, this time based on the song “Invisible Man” by 98 Degrees! It’s a very nice song, but I don’t think I did it justice…this story is mainly rambling on and on about the feelings of a guy watching the girl he loves with another man, yet powerless to do anything about it. The next songfic I write will be much better, I promise. But in the meantime, read and reviewwwwwwwww...

Edit: I made a few changes to the story because I wasn't pleased with it...nothing big though. Reviewwwwwww!!!

There she is.

He felt his heart leap, the way it always did when he saw her. So beautiful. Everything about her was perfect. Small, dainty hands ran absently through the silken tresses cascading down her shoulder in a golden waterfall, caressing her slim back. Pale pink lips pulled back to reveal pearly-white teeth in a dazzling smile worthy of a Darlie commercial. She looked like a goddess today, in her simple black halter top and denim miniskirt that showed off her long, toned legs. But then, she always looked like a goddess. The most beautiful thing about her were her eyes. Sea-green eyes that sparkled with life and vitality, capable of drowning a man in their depths. Heck, he should know.

He was sinking. And fast.

He supposed he looked like an idiot, lusting after the most popular girl in school. But he didn’t care. It was worth all the ridicule…just to stand and watch her from afar. She was talking animatedly with her friends, who were pretty, too, but they were nothing…nothing…compared to her. He wondered absently what she looked so happy about. He saw that she was standing next to his locker. Excellent. He had the perfect excuse; it was his locker, after all. They couldn’t blame him if he just –happened- to overhear some things while he was “straightening out” his locker. Pleased with his idea, he strode casually over to them.

As he drew closer and closer, her voice grew louder and louder, until he could finally make out what she was saying. “You have no idea how lucky I am.” Her voice is so beautiful…like the song of angels. She didn’t even notice him approaching.

“So? So?? Spill!!” squealed her excited girlfriends. He twisted the dial on his locker and opened the door, pretending to put a few books inside, all the while listening intently to their chatter. He was curious; what were they so worked up about?

She took a deep breath and let it out in a conspiratorial giggle. “He’s such a wonderful kisser,” she breathed, her eyes glazing over dreamily. “I’ve never felt this way about anyone before…you know he makes my heart skip whenever he passes by and flashes me that amazing smile…” she sighed.

Her girlfriends giggled and nudged her teasingly. “Oooh, lucky you….”

His heart wrenched. She was talking about him again. The ache in his heart caught on fire, and soon his whole heart was burning, the flames consuming him. With a tremendous effort, he resisted the urge to slam the locker door in frustration. The poor locker door had done nothing. He shut the door with a soft snick and left just as quietly as he had come, before she could say anything else to hurt him.

And if you're feeling down
He'll pick you up
He'll hold you close when you're making love
He's everything you been dreaming of, oh baby

“Krrrrrrinnnnngggggggg!!!!”

The bell rang, signaling the end of another long and tedious school day. He caught up his bag and strode out of the classroom, wanting to head on home as fast as possible. His day had been worse than usual…starting from the minute he’d heard her talking about that guy. Just thinking about it made his heart twist in pain. Yet, a part of him felt detached. That part of him was hoping it wasn’t true…refused to give up hope that someday, someday she would notice him.

That faint hope vanished the moment he stepped out the door.

She was huddled on the ground, her back against an old oak tree, her arms encircled around her knees, which were drawn up to her chin. Her face was buried in her knees, and her long golden hair fell around her softly. He couldn’t see her face, but it was apparent to him that she was crying. Unconsciously, he took a small step towards her, not knowing what he was doing, but he knew that he couldn’t bear to see her cry…

As he was debating with himself whether or not to go up and comfort her, suddenly the decision was made for him when a tall figure crossed his path and advanced towards the huddled figure on the ground. The mysterious figure crouched down and put his arm around her. She looked up; her face was red and streaked with tears. The moment her eyes met his, she threw her arms around him and sobbed into his shoulder. He rubbed her back soothingly, whispering softly into her ear, holding her close to him.

He could only stand there, watching the tall stranger comfort her. He berated himself. Fool. He had lost his chance. Still, his heart kept hoping, perhaps it was just her brother…

Still, brothers didn’t swing their sisters up into their arms and kiss them full on their lips, did they?

He continued to stand there, his eyes glued onto the pair, she still in his arms, lips still melded against his. He stood there, even as they got into his car, and drove away. Only then was he aware of a sharp pain in both his palms, and looked down to see that he had been clenching his fists so hard, his fingernails had cut into his skin and drawn blood. He welcomed the pain…perhaps it could in some way relieve the shattering agony he felt inside.

I wish you'd look at me that way
Your beautiful eyes looking deep into mine
Telling me more than any words could say
But you don't even know I'm alive
Baby, to you all I am is the invisible man
Oh, you don't see me baby

She looked at him silently. Oh, those beautiful green eyes. They sat together in an emotionally charged silence…nothing needed to be said. He stared down at her, unable to believe that she was real. She smiled softly, and his heart leapt with joy. He brought a hand to her chin and tilted it upwards gently, bringing her face, her lips, closer and closer to meet his own, to finally claim what was rightfully his…

“Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnggggggggggggggg…”

With a sleepily muttered curse, he slammed the snooze button on his alarm clock with a vengeance, causing its annoyingly cheerful call to cease abruptly. He snuggled deeper into his warm blankets, trying to resurrect the goddess of his dreams. However, it was too late. No amount of wishing would bring her back. He muttered a low oath and flung the blankets back. Stumbling into the bathroom, he confronted the guy in the mirror and sighed. There wasn’t anything wrong with him really, he mused, looking at his reflection. He wasn’t half bad-looking, actually. He could make a good boyfriend, if she’d give him the chance.

There was just one tiny problem: She didn’t even know he existed.

You probably spend hours on the phone
Talking 'bout nothing at all
It doesn't matter what the conversation
Just as long as he calls

He remembered every second of the dream throughout the whole day, kept replaying it over and over again, relishing the way she had looked at him, even if it wasn’t real. He tried to hang on to it as long as he could, wishing he had some way to record the magical experience, for he knew for sure that it wouldn’t be repeated. It was a lot easier to think about the dream her, especially when the real deal was sitting right behind him, murmuring quietly into her hot pink cell phone.

“Yeah, I miss you too. I know.”

“Hmm? Oh, nothing specific...I just wanted to hear your voice…”

“Awww, you’re so sweet…I feel like I could do anything for you…”

The jealousy in him reared its ugly head. He fought to keep it in check, struggled to maintain control, but he lost. Unable to take it anymore, he stood up abruptly, sending the chair flying backwards and crashing into her seat. He cringed. Surely she would be at the very least, highly annoyed with him. He turned around slowly, formulating an apology in his mind. However, soon he could see that no apology was required.

“No, really? Awww. Yes, darling,” she giggled softly into the mouthpiece.

She hadn’t even noticed it.

Instead of feeling relieved, the green-eyed monster in him grew and grew, filling his chest until he could barely breathe. She was so engrossed with her damned boyfriend, even a chair slamming into her seat hadn’t been able to jolt her out of her lovey-dovey dreamland. He felt sick to his stomach.

To hell with apologizing. He turned away and stormed off.

Lost in a love so real, and so sincere
And you'll wipe away other's tears
Your face lights up whenever he appears

“Ahhhhhh!!!”

He nearly banged his head in his locker when he ducked his head in to search for his Math textbook, startled by the scream. He recognized the voice as belonging to her and quickly poked his head out, gripped by an unreasonable fear that something had happened to her.

“Xavier! You’re here!” She threw her arms around the same tall, dark stranger that had carried her away that fateful day, and kissed him passionately. He wrenched his gaze off the pair with a tremendous effort, trying to tell himself he didn’t care, that it was of no importance, and it was none of his business anyway. He collected his books as fast as possible and almost bolted away in his haste to put some distance between him and the lovebirds, but he couldn’t miss the radiant glow on her face when they pulled apart, and he hadn’t been fast enough to miss her low, honeyed words:

“I love you, Xavier.”

I wish you'd look at me that way
Your beautiful eyes looking deep into mine
Telling me more than any words could say
But you don't even know I'm alive
Baby, to you all I am is the invisible man
Oh, you don't see me baby

He didn’t go to class that day.

He was sitting on a broad bough of the same oak tree that she had shed her tears under. Memories of that day flowed into his mind, unbidden, and he let the hurt consume his being. What was the point of fighting it? It was a battle he knew he would lose. He leaned back against the sturdy trunk, let his eyelids slowly slide shut and heaved a long, deep sigh.

He’d lost count of the times he had prayed, even though he wasn’t very religious, that some day she would notice him. He would give anything for just a word, a smile, just some kind of recognition from her…

But his prayers had never been answered. She was everything to him, the light in his sky, the apple of his eye…and yet to her, he was nothing but a nameless, faceless ghost. Spider web cracks fanned out from the hole in his heart, tearing it apart as he realized the truth of the statement. He wondered what he had done in the past life to deserve this torture, seeing the girl he loved beyond reason utterly devoted to another and being forced to endure their PDAs almost every day.

Oh, Fate loves its little games.

I see you all the time baby
Huh, the way you look at him
I wish it was me, sweetheart
Boy, I wish it was me
But I guess...

The bell rung. He opened his eyes and looked down, peering through the dense foliage. From his perch up high in the tree, he observed the students pouring out, each with a life to live, things to do, places to go, while he was just sitting there, just being, just…existing. He felt a strange kind of security in the knowledge that he could see them, but they didn’t even know that he was there.

How ironic.

After a full hour, when he was sure that everyone had left, he tensed, ready to spring down. But as luck would have it, out she came.

With him in tow.

His heart, already patched and mended countless times, disintegrated yet again as he watched her gaze lovingly into his eyes. He resumed his position and waited, eyes never leaving them. The curse of loving her. He couldn’t take his eyes off her, no matter if she was alone or with…him. Sure enough, the stabbing pain returned with full force, making him gasp with its intensity. He wished with all his heart that he could be that guy, but he knew that it was never meant to be. No matter how much he wanted it, he wasn’t in control of his fate. Still, familiar though the pain was, it wasn’t any less agonizing.

I wish you'd look at me that way
Your beautiful eyes looking deep into mine
Telling me more than any words could say
But you don't even know I'm alive
Baby, to you all I am is the invisible man
Oh, you don't see me baby

Finally, they left, hand in hand, and he sprang lightly down with a grace developed from years of practice. Oh, it wasn’t the first time he had watched her from a high vantage point. But she would never know. He realized then that he would have to be content with being her guardian angel…always there for her, always watching out for her, but never seen, never noticed. In that moment of clarity, he understood that she would have no future with him. But he could still be her invisible man.

It would have to be enough.