Falling for a Superhero

Chapter TwentyThree-"Not For Your Own Good, but For Mine"

Friday was great. Cheyenne, Mickie and I surprisingly all got along. Hayden and I were still on our streak of no fighting. Everything was just...great...

If you exclude the giant hole that was slowly getting patched together all because I was unfortunately getting used to Dastan and the Proliator's physical absence. I said physical because they were still here...but not where I wanted them.

The Proliator was on the news or on a magazine every other day—if not all of them. It's like the rumors of his injuries caused him to overcompensate with more and more vigilantism he could manage to prove he wasn't vulnerable. 

All the while, Dastan would text me things that represented his "tolerable" side yet chose not to interact with me at all in person.

"Good luck," I told Hayden after school, before he had to leave to the football game. We were standing in the hall with his hands on my waist and my hands played on his broad shoulders. He smiled like a child and looked down.

"Now I know we're gonna win," he said within the smile. I rose an eyebrow.

"Why's that?"

"Because all I needed was your support," he said. I smiled back, feeling an absolute blissful feeling and then he suddenly reached down to kiss me. I stayed in the kiss for a while, feeling our lips mold together without any force. I had even clasped my hands behind his neck. It was our first kiss since the first time and it was so sweet and tender and...surprisingly innocent. He pulled away with a red tint to his cheeks, and we both shared a radiant smile. He lightly tapped his fingers along my waist and started to release his grip.

"Tell Kenneth I say hi," he teased, wiggling his eyebrows. He backed away from me, leaving our fingers as the last touch, and he walked off with his teammates. I watched them punch each other's shoulders and goof off down the hall, but then Hayden froze. He probably just used it as a decoy to tackle his friend into the wall, so I turned around so I could start going home.

"Wait!" Hayden called and when I turned around, he was standing right behind me. "Actually, this weekend, I want you to consider being my girlfriend...After you settle what you need to with Kenneth, just think about it."

I reached up and kissed his cheek as my non-verbal answer: Yes.

As in yes, I'll consider it.

***

"Hurry and go get your bag. I want to leave here no later than five," Veronica said once Sebastian and I got home.  I jogged up the stairs and grabbed my pre-packed luggage off my bed, but when I looked to shut my window, it had already been done and there was a string attached to the bottom. It ran from the window to the closet. Although I should be cautioned, I was not.

I opened my closet and expected something to pop out at me, but, however, there was only an envelope and a lion stuffed animal. I picked up the envelope and opened it. On the black and white striped paper, there was a scribble of handwriting:

"Since I can't be there, Larry can"

Larry? I picked up "Larry the lion" and slightly chuckled. The cute lion had on a gold mask and gold shoes, and a red cape. He was a mini-Proliator. I could only smile at this innocent gift.

I didn't need "-P" to know it was from Proliator. The same echoing words of "I can't" informed me enough. Although it seemed as if our friendship was over, I couldn't help but appreciate his kind gesture out of the blue.

"Who's that from?" a voice suddenly asked and I turned around quickly to see Sebastian. He watched me intently as I placed Larry on the floor with care.