Vigilante | ✔

Part XII: Retcon

Eli grimaced at the pain in his leg.

The chill in the late autumn air made it ache long after it had healed. He did his best to ignore it as he climbed out of the bus and made his way down the street. Just a block ahead was the place where he'd be meeting his friends, and Eli figured he could make it that far. Hopefully, the warmth of the diner they were waiting for him in would make the sharp jolts of pain go away.

It wasn't the pain that bothered him most, really. Rather, it was the constant reminder that came with it.

More than a year had passed since the night Eli had last seen Matthew, and every time he closed his eyes he could see the flames shooting up out of the burning warehouse. A long plume of dark smoke rose up and scattered in the wind, leaving an acrid smell behind.

Eli still remembered all too clearly how he'd sat outside and watched the place burn. The blaring of the sirens was faint even as they grew closer. Before he knew it, there were people talking to him and grabbing him with careful hands. His wounds were treated, his family notified and -- very much against his will and despite his many complaints -- he was taken to the hospital. Eli never saw Matthew come out of the building.

As clearly as Eli remembered everything that had happened that night, he preferred not to think about it. He had other things to worry about.

The door to the diner opened and instantly, Eli could feel the warmth of the place. It washed over him as he stepped inside and made him feel a bit better. The ache in his leg was still there.

Collin and Tucker were already seated at one of the booths in the diner and Eli made his way over to his friends. They both smiled when they saw Eli and the redhead pretended not to have noticed the way they had stopped talking in hushed voices. He smiled faintly as he stopped in front of the booth they were sharing.

"Sorry I'm late," said Eli. He did his best not to wince as he sat next to Collin. "I missed the bus." He rubbed his sore leg beneath the table.

"It's fine," Tucker said with a shrug.

"We just got here anyway," Collin added. "So, how're you doing?"

"Fine," Eli said. It was his usual response to a question that he had been asked more times than he could count in the last year.

A waitress approached them and they were all quick to order coffee and, in Tucker and Collin's case, some food. Eli found that he wasn't very hungry.

"So, we were planning on actually getting some work done tomorrow," Tucker said a moment after the waitress had walked off.

"Yeah, do you wanna come over? Maybe get that essay for Professor Miller done?" Collin added.

Eli tried to make it seem like he was at least considering it. He was still fairly certain that he wasn't fooling his friends though. Unfortunately for him, they were smarter than they seemed (at least, when it was inconvenient for him).

"Maybe next time," he said, and still saw Collin's expression fall even though he tried to cover it up. Eli was just glad they didn't press the issue.

Not that they would know what the real issue was.

No one knew about Matthew, or at least, about him being Vigilante. There was no way Eli could tell anyone, even though he knew that it didn't matter anymore. It was Matthew's secret. Something he had trusted Eli with. So now, he had to deal with being the only one that knew Matthew was dead.

Eli wasn't sure his friends could help him get past that. Maybe it was easier to let them think the worst thing that had happened to Eli that night was getting shot.