Tim slips into his window just as the sun begins to rise, grinning from ear to ear. The night was a monumental success, stopping drug deal after drug deal, several muggings and a few assaults. He even helped a cat down from a tree, all he needs now is to stop a bank robbery and a supervillain and he’s basically made it.

  Well, a bank robbery, a super villain, and a costume that doesn’t rip on everything. It’s not completely destroyed but the fight with the mech tore it up, most of Tim’s right arm is exposed and there’s tears all over his torso. Luckily his mask is ok, maybe he can just carry it over to whatever outfit he puts together next.

  He strips out of it, sighing at the dirt that falls out all over his floor, and then changes into more comfortable clothes. He plops onto his bed and stares at the ceiling, putting together shapes and characters from its popcorn texture.

  It’s real, he really is a superhero, and that thought alone pumps his veins full of adrenaline once again. He should probably sleep, but honestly he’s not even remotely tired, and with how exciting everything is he’s probably never going to get to sleep again. Luckily, there’s plenty of juicy gossip that goes on in the house for him to spy on and keep himself busy.

  ***

  Tim wakes up with a groan as his door swings open, Jane waltzing in and jumping onto his bed. He doesn’t remember when he drifted to sleep, but it couldn’t have been more than a few hours ago.

  “Get uuuup.” She hops onto the bed and shakes him.

  “I feel like we've had a conversation about knocking more than a few times.” Tim raises up his pillow and taps her on the face.

  “We’re gonna meet Ro and Alex at the library,” she ignores him, “they’re playing like 6 episodes of Gurenn Lagann on their big projector, and it's nice and coooool.”

  “Right...” That’s going to be something he needs to keep in mind, Tim’s never been fond of the heat, and now he realizes hasn’t felt it a single time since getting his powers.

  “You don’t seem very enthused,” Jane flips over and lies shoulder to shoulder with him.

  “Just not awake yet.” He lies, faking a yawn. “I dunno, I kind of don’t wanna go anymore, I’m tired.” He lies again.

  “Huh? Are you sick or something?” Jane questions and puts her hand to his forehead.

  Damn, that didn’t work at all, and honestly he does still want to go. Issue is, thanks to his powers he now has more important things to do. He lives in a drug hub after all, and even though he got plenty of actionable info before he fell asleep, he’s sure people will say more and give him things to add to his to-do list. That’s not to mention all the other stuff going on too, does he really have time to go and watch anime with his friends?

  Jane enters his vision, her glistening hair falling on his face, making him blink as some rests across him until he blows it away.

  “What are you thinking about?” Jane pokes his cheek.

  “Dinosaur things, you wouldn’t get it.” He shrugs.

  “Tell me about them anyways.”

  “Reverse Uno card, what are you thinking about?”

  “Leaving before it gets even hotter and you get a sunburn on the way to the library.” She flutters her lashes at him.

  “Fine.” He goes to get up but she pushes him back down.

  “What?” He raises an eyebrow at her.

  She narrows his eyes and inspects him carefully. “Weird.”

  “Again, what?”

  “Have you been working out or something?”

  He raises an eyebrow and almost says “oh” before he manages to stop himself. He didn’t pay attention to how his powers affected his human form, but he’s definitely more muscular than he used to be.

  ““Y-yes?”

  “Yes?” Now she raises an eyebrow at him.

  “Yes, I don’t know, why are you paying attention to this kind of thing anyways?”

  She narrows her eyes at him “You suggesting something?”

  “Everyone thinks we’re in love anyways, maybe you finally—”

  She punches him across the shoulder then hops out of the bed.

  “Hurry up and get ready.”

  “Ow.” Tim rubs his shoulder, pretending like it hurts as he glances at her shaking her fist in pain, smugness creeping over his face..

  Tim is pretty confident it is a hot day, Jane at least totally drenched in sweat not long into their walk to the public library. She used to be the more fit of them, and she knows it, so she’s definitely going to notice him not sweating. Luckily, Tim thought about that before they left and grabbed a gallon of water, splashing himself with it as they walked.

  “Ugh, I hate when it gets like this.” Jane groans, “I can’t even touch any of the work out gear at the park, it literally burns.”

  “Yeah I remember that one girl got her arm held to one by some bullies.”

  “I remember that too.” Jane pulls the gallon away and takes a few big gulps of it before handing it back. “I should’ve packed deodorant.”

  “Yeah, you reek.” He teases and she punches him hard in the shoulder.

  “Ow.” He manages to say and roll his eyes.

  “That’s two.” she frowns at him as they hit the last crosswalk to reach downtown El Cajon.

  “Two?”

  “Two strikes.”

  “This is getting out of hand.” He jokes, making her snort and roll her eyes. “Seriously though, what do you mean?”

  “You’ve annoyed me twice, so two strikes.” She walks backwards in front of him as the crosswalk begins to beep.

  “What happens at 3?”

  “You’re out.” She answers immediately as she hops onto the curb.

  “Wow, that really cleared things up.”

  “Means I'll kick your ass.” She shrugs as they pass under the Downtown El Cajon sign.

  A nice, if not quaint, section of an otherwise awful area, small, old, tiny shops line each side of the street until one half breaks into the Promenade, a little park with small hills and a large fountain. A few workers sweat while putting up a stage in the heat, for a coming band to play on, during the park’s monthly car shows. Classic cars line the streets and the walking area of the Promenade itself for people to come admire. Tim thinks some of the more eccentric cars are neat, but he doesn’t really do machines so, he rarely attends unless dragged to it.

  Across the small park is another street, and across that is the public library. No matter the time of the day, the area surrounding it is totally covered in shade, from the many trees littered throughout its lawn. They make the surrounding area cooler, though Tim notes he doesn’t really notice anymore. Jane doesn’t waste any time cooling off under the foliage though as a much greater prize awaits, the library's industrial strength AC.

  Jane pushes the glass doors open and runs inside, going directly under the air conditioning, stretching her arms out. Tim pauses and watches her for a second, before she turns around and grins at him, grabbing him by his hand and dragging him under the cool air. A surge of relief catches him off guard, he can in fact feel it's cooler. Not that it's cold really, it's just as comfortable as the heat outside, but thinking about it, losing the ability to differentiate temperatures feels almost inhuman in a way. It's, weirdly, not something he wants to lose, especially since he’s always enjoyed the cold.

  Tim t-poses along with Jane, making her giggle, and is about to say something when his hearing picks up something rapidly approaching. At first he thinks it's Rowan trying to tackle him, but the footsteps are too light, plus whoever it is doesn't smell like a dude.

  Tim realizes who it is as she starts to speak, yelling “glomp!” as she reaches him, and he quickly side-steps away. Jane’s face instantly scrunching in annoyance as she spots who it is.

  “Tim-chan!” Cristine yells as she stumbles by Tim, his eye twitching ever so slightly.

  “Don’t call me that.” He says on instinct to the small girl.

  Short for her age, only being at Jane’s shoulder, Cristine is decked out in Japanese merch as usual. Tim notes the long, pink fox tail clipped to the back of her pants along with half her hair being blond, the scent of bleach lingering down to her scalp that Tim can see has mild chemical burns.

  “What are—” Jane starts.

  “Here to watch anime with you guys!” Cristine cuts her off, doing a severely scuffed pose with a leg up, both of her hands together in hearts, and winking at Jane, before she loses her balance and almost falls, Tim catching her and helping her up with a sigh.

  “Thank you Tim-Ch—”

  “I will let you fall next time if you finish that.” Tim grumbles.

  “Don't you live by the rodeo?” Jane narrows her eyes. “How did you even know about—”

  “Tim told me!” Cristine cuts her off again.

  Jane shoots Tim a look and he puts his hands up.

  “I mentioned it in passing! She asked if I was doing anything for the weekend.”

  Jane rolls her eyes, “Kay, come grab me when Ro and Alex get here.” She waves as she walks off.

  “Where are you going dude?” Tim calls after her.

  “Away from you and your pet project.” She waves as she walks deeper into the library.

  “Pet?” Cristine smiles up at him and flutters her lashes.

  “Don’t be weird man.” Tim takes in the deepest breath of his life and rubs a temple.

  “I'm joking! I’d never come between you and Jane-Chan, I’d never be a homewrecker.”

  “We aren’t,” Tim starts on habit, then runs his hand down his face, “why are you here Cristine?”

  “You invited me!”

  “I didn’t.” Tim says.

  “Yes you did!”

  “No, I didn’t, if I invited you I would’ve said “want to come” or “join us” etcetera.”

  “You're the only person I know who says etcetera.”

  “Cristine, you know Jane isn’t cool with you, you know that.”

  “But I was just marking her with—”

  “Stop, you bit her, plain and simple.”

  “Nu uh!”

  “I almost stopped talking to you for that alone.”

  “You’d never!”

  “Oh my god.” Tim, grabs the ridge of his nose. “Cristine, you weren’t invited, please just go home. Wait... didn’t your mom lose her car? How’d you get here?”

  “I walked!”

  “That’s like a three hour walk.”

  “I know.”

  Now Tim slides both hands down his face, he just wants a relaxing time with his friends, and Cristine is going to make that not even remotely possible. But after that? He can’t just get rid of this poor idiot. Then again, she did hurt Jane, and that makes him angry enough to come to a compromise with himself.

  “Here.” Tim pulls out what little change he’s been able to scrounge up from around the house from his pocket. He was intending to use next week on snacks for himself and Jane at school, but he figures she’ll appreciate this even more.

  “What’s this?” She asks as she takes the coins.

  “Bus money.”

  “Awwww.” She says with a bizarre mix of happy and disappointed tones. “Throwing me out for Jane? You’re so chivalrous.”

  “Yeah, the dragon doesn’t need a knight, it's as much for you as it is her.”

  “So I’m your princess then?” Cristine flutters her eyelashes again.

  “I hate you.”

  “Hot.”

  “Jesus Christ.” Tim rolls his eyes. “Go away.”

  “I'm going I’m going!” She snickers and turns to leave, then spins around while putting her hands back up into hearts. “Kyu kyu beeeeaaaam!” She yells at the top of her lungs, before sprinting off.

  Tim cringes at whatever the hell that was, and hones his hearing onto Cristine. Blood pumping and rapid footsteps getting farther and farther away, Tim’s both relieved and surprised she actually left.

  He quickly finds Jane in the designated “young adult room,” filled with graphic novels and manga, sitting in a corner with her feet up on a table, reading. Tim squeezes into the chair she’s in, squishing her against its arm.

  “Comfy?” He asks her.

  She shrugs, “What’d you say to get rid of her?”

  “Nothing much, just paid her bus fare to get back home.”

  “You had money?” She asks.

  “Yeah, enough for a bus fare.” He chuckles.

  “Shit, I’m sorry Tim, you didn’t have to do that for me.”

  “Eh, it was for both of us anyways, besides I’d do anything for you.”

  “Ugh.” She blushes and laughs, making Tim flush just a little too.

  “Anyways,” He stands up and offers her his hand, “let's head towards the movie room.”

  “Sure.” She takes his hand and pulls herself up.

  As they make their way over, Tim hears some familiar voices and then braces to fake a buckle as Rowan jumps in between himself and Jane, throwing out his arms to wrap around both of their shoulders. His dirty blond hair is long and shaggy at the moment, obscuring his eyes until he brushes it out of his face.

  “Hey losers, wow, you stink.” He teases Jane, who promptly smacks him in the face.

  “Careful, she’s doing strikes now.” Tim chuckles.

  “She has always done strikes, she just stroked me!” He rubs the fading handprint on his forehead.

  Tim snorts, “Don’t say it like that.”

  A shorter, tan boy walks up to them now and waves, Alex, Rowan’s adopted brother and one of Tim and Jane’s oldest friends. Not that Rowan is recent, Tim’s known him nearly as long as Alex and Jane.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Alex is also the youngest of the four of them at fourteen, Rowan fifteen, and Jane and Tim at sixteen, not that you could ever tell at a glance. He’s only Jane’s height but he’s the most built out of the relatively fit friends, and he carries himself with a mature stoicism that makes Tim just a little sad when he thinks too hard about it.

  They used to hang out constantly, problem is, Rowan’s became well off a few years ago, firmly middle class, leading to them moving outside of walking distance. Now they all have to rely on car rides to be able to hang out, an often obnoxious effort, Tim’s family rarely has a car, Jane’s father would almost never give them rides, and Rowan’s family, well—

  “It starts in 10 minutes.” Alex lets them know as he checks his hand me down smartphone, Rowan’s previous model. “We should head in.”

  At the entrance of the library is a wide hall of sorts with several doors on each side before the library proper, and the kids pop into the second one on the left. The library often holds showings of movies and series during the weekends, and the four of them are regulars. Anime has recently become common on the screen with the library's new, younger manager, much to Jane’s delight.

  “Not a lot of people today.” Tim sits cris cross on the floor.

  “Cause it's old.” Rowan walks around in circles, clearly being too high energy to sit at the moment.

  Jane rolls her eyes, “Fuck off Ro, it came out like four years ago..”

  “Anything pre twenty ten is old.” Rowan shrugs as he takes out his phone.

  “Man, that thing really has rotted your brain.” Jane tries to snatch it from him.

  “Don’t touch it with your clammy hands, you’ll—”

  Alex sits by Tim as Jane and Rowan quickly resort to violence.

  “Are you ok?” Alex asks him.

  “Why wouldn’t I be?”

  Alex shrugs. “Explosions seem scary.”

  “I saw it, but it didn’t give me PTSD or anything man, I’m all good.” Tim plops his hand onto Alex’s head and rubs it.

  “Ok… is everything else alright?”

  “Eh, you know how it is, same old same old.”

  Alex nods and then gives a polite smile to the approaching librarian, Miko. She gives Tim and Alex a wave, as she heads to the back of the room where some large closets store a myriad of items. Alex gets up to help her pull out and set up the projector and DVD player, then Miko brings over some comforters and pillows, handing them to Tim. Waves of lavender waft off of them, clearly freshly cleaned.

  “Get comfy guys, looks like you’ll have plenty of room to spread out today.”

  “We’d have less if you picked something new..” Rowan finally plops down in front of Tim, snatching a pillow away then throwing himself to the ground.

  Miko rolls her eyes, “You’re my least favorite.”

  “Is it empowering to bully a kid?” He smirks up at her.

  “You’re not even a favorite.” Jane cuts in.

  “Wooow, what about you guys?” Rowan looks to Tim and Alex.

  “Plead the fifth.” Tim shrugs

  “You’re all my favorites for different reasons.” Alex shrugs along with him.

  “Fence sitters.” Rowan pouts as he starts to scroll on his phone.

  They all lay out the comforters and get comfortable as Miko begins to play the show. Jane and Alex watch the most intently, as Rowan bounces between the show, his phone, and idle conversation. Tim on the other hand is mostly lost in thought about his plans for later into the night. A drug shipment is coming in tonight, and no way will he pass up the chance to sink these supplies. Plus, a classic superhero dock fight? Come on, it sounds like a lot of fun.

  “Hey,” Jane leans into him, “you’re not paying much attention.”

  “Not like we haven’t seen it before.” He reasons.

  “So? What’s on your mind?”

  ‘The future I guess?”

  “Yeah? Did you get to show off to anyone at Arch by the way? I forgot to ask.”

  Tim shakes his head. “The terrorist attack or whatever happened too soon in, I wasn’t there long.”

  “Damn, maybe you can, I don’t know, just walk up and ask for a new tour.”

  Tim shrugs, “Maybe, we’ll see.”

  Jane sticks her feet up and begins waving them back and forth in the air.

  “Do you want to leave?” She asks.

  “Huh? I’m distracted, sure, but I’m...”

  “No, not the library dork.” She rolls her eyes. “Like, the city. this place. California?”

  “Our neighborhood sure, get our own place and all that. The rest? Probably not. What about you?”

  “I don’t know, I don’t really know what I want, not like you.”

  “Don’t want to be my roommate anymore?” Tim feigns being hurt.

  “Shut up.” She nudges him and rolls her eyes. “No I mean like, I don’t have a thing you know?”

  Tim gestures to the screen. “You’re a weeb, could take on all the things that come with that.”

  “I don’t know, I love it, but I don’t want to like... Make it or anything, and I don’t want to do the other shit people talk about, like learn Japanese and move to Japan to teach English.”

  “Why not?” He asks, though a little hesitantly. If it’s something small he’ll encourage her to go, he’d never want to stand in the way of her success, but if she did leave? That’d be pretty devastating..

  She shrugs, “Lots of reasons.”

  “Hm.”

  “Hm?” She looks at him.

  “You have plenty of time to decide.” He smiles at her. “Most people aren’t as hyper obsessive or sure of what they want to do like I am. We are still but babies, plenty of time to figure it all out.”

  Is he still sure though? He has these powers now, obtained an actual fantasy. Does he still want to go to school to become a paleontologist? Should he? A superhero uses their powers to save and help people, great responsibility and all that, shouldn’t that be his focus now? It’s not like he is giving up a passion or a dream, he’s just switching gears to a different one.

  “I guess.” Jane puffs out her cheeks then lets the air out slowly.

  “Hm.”

  “What?”

  “This really seems to be bothering you.” He knows her well enough to tell how lodged into her brain the thought is. His new super hearing helps as well, her heart rate is rising and he can see her micro expressions clearly, she’s frustrated.

  “Kinda… I don’t want to worry about it right now though.” She leans her head on his shoulder.

  “Ok dude.” He smiles and runs his hands through her hair for a moment, raising an eyebrow at her heart rate raising more.

  “You sure you don’t want to talk about it?”

  “Yep.” She nods.

  The show continues on, and Miko lets more episodes play past the scheduled time, giving the kids some extra time to escape their home lives in calm and comfort.

  Eventually, the only thing left is comfort, as Rowan has sat still for far too long and starts walking around the movie room, getting into the cupboards and pulling out board games, setting them up, then abandoning them just as quickly.

  “Rowan, Robyn is almost here to pick us up” Alex lets his step brother know, making him deflate.

  “Uuugh, Miko, can’t we just live here?” Rowan complains.

  “Alex can.” She shrugs as the boy helps her clean and put everything away.

  “You guys want a ride home?” Rowan offers as he slides some board game pieces over to Alex.

  Jane shakes her head, “Nah, I’m not in a rush, and besides, I don’t want to see your mom if I don't have to. She’ll figure out a way to make the ride worth a day of doing chores for her or something.”

  “Maybe you’re just not grateful enough.” Rowan teases.

  “Yeah probably.” She shrugs.

  “Alright, we have to get going, hopefully we can get together tomorrow.” Alex says.

  “For sure, see you later man.” Tim gestures everyone together into a group hug.

  “Thank you Miko, see you next time.” Alex smiles and nods.

  Tim and Jane wave as they split off, the two of them taking an alternate exit to avoid seeing Robyn and the risk of her co-opting their free time.

  The sun hangs low now, and the temperature drops with it. Jane takes in a deep breath, lingering under a tree before they’re forced back into the concrete jungle of El Cajon.

  Tim isn’t in a rush, not yet, so he leans against a tree and helps her find every reason to procrastinate on heading back to looming reality. It isn’t until night has fully come that he starts to consider saying something, but his hearing picks up something that would tear him away from this regardless if there was a drug bust or not. A familiar whimper and just as familiar voices that have Tim nearly face palming.

  He’s annoyed for a moment but that quickly expunges as the noise of a thud and yelp cause his attention to snap towards the Promenade.

  “You good?” Jane asks, tilting her head as Tim begins to speed walk over.

  “I thought I heard someone yell.” Tim says, glancing back at Jane who quickly jogs up beside him. That’s probably going to end up being as much of a catchphrase as “time to make so and so extinct.”

  “I didn't hear anything.” Jane says as they begin to jog, going up and over a small hill and looking out into a parking lot.

  There they find Cristine, still here for some bewildering reason, and Darik, plus an assortment of his friends. Tim knows all of them, Clark, a short guy with a Napoleon complex, Brad, a football player, Henry, a better off, vindictive kid. Then there’s old... what’s his name, some guy who definitely says some things sometimes, probably. Cristine is backed against a tree by Clark and... the other one, while Darik and the others play lookout.

  “Same old same old huh?” Tim nudges Jane.

  “I’ll owe you a thing if we just ignore this.” Jane groans.

  “You already owe me a thing.” Tim winks and walks down the hill, Jane groaning louder as she follows behind.

  “Great” Henry says, grimacing at Tim and Jane’s approach.

  “Better than a cop.” Darik says as he steps into Tim’s path. “Tim.”

  “Hey man! You uh, you guys really need a new shtick don't you think?” Tim points over to Cristine.

  “Look who’s talking.” Clark rolls his eyes.

  “It's not like that Tim.” Brad tries.

  “She was following us around.” Henry crosses his arms. “Been doing it a lot lately.”

  “Yes and this is a very proportionate response.” Tim says, then looks to Cristine. “Get out of here, and actually go home this time.”

  Cristine tries to go but Clark stops her, “Hell no, she’s—”

  “Let her go.” Darik orders, and Clark grumbles in acceptance.

  Cristine mouths thanks as she runs off, and Tim turns back to Darik, who’s creeped closer.

  “You know I’m actually glad to run into you tonight.” Darik says. “You owe me.”

  Tim snorts, “For the drugs?”

  “That I got from Delilah to sell? Yeah, those.” Darik says with venom.

  “Heh.” Tim runs his tongue against his front teeth. “We both know that’s not going to happen dude.”

  “How come? The money ends up right back in your pocket anyways, don’t want you to miss your next hot meal buddy.” Darik smirks as he sees Tim’s eye twitch. “Say, Jane, when are you going to stop hanging out with this hypocrite? He’s more interested in the freak than you anyways.”

  “I’ll kill you.” Jane says flatly.

  “Just saying,” Darik shrugs, “I’ll treat you better.”

  “I’ll smash your teeth in.” Tim says, jaw clenched. “Won’t pay for your dental work either.”

  Jane snorts, making Tim’s anger falter for just a moment as he smiles over to her.

  “Ha, you’re so funny Tim.” Darik frowns at Jane, then motions for his friends to approach. “You know,” he says as he steps forward, “I don’t think you realize the posi—”

  As soon as he steps into her range, Jane decks him in the face, grabs his shoulders, and forces him down into her knee, then throws him towards his friends.

  “I will actually. Fucking. Kill. You, you—” She stops and pivots as Clark and kid number five rush them down, booking it.

  Tim laughs as he turns to join her, keeping pace as they take off into the Promenade, the bullies hot on their heels.

  “We can probably take them.” Tim smiles at Jane as they both slide around a corner.

  “Pffft, there’s five!” She laughs.

  “And?”

  Tim grabs onto Jane’s spaghetti strap tank top and slows her running down a bit, letting the two lead boys get right on their heels, then pushes her into a sharp turn behind a tree, and puts his foot out. Both boys trip and collide into each other as they fall, sliding across the cobblestone of the park’s path. Darik almost stumbles into the pile as well but leaps over them, Tim giving him an impressed clap before Jane pulls him back into a run, laughing all the way.

  With two down, three to go, Jane pulls Tim up some stairs that lead to the Promenade’s church, Henry running right into a kick from Jane that lands square in his chest. He goes rolling down the steps, Tim giving an encore of applause as Darik jumps over another tumbling friend.

  “How did I win a fight against you? Your leg strength is craaazy.” Tim taunts, as he and Jane let the remaining two bullies up the stairs, facing them in front of the church.

  “You’re dead.” Darik pants, his face red with hate as he glares at them.

  “Darik I’ll—” Brad is cut off as Jane runs up and sucker punches him across the jaw.

  Darik reaches for Jane, and Tim is on him in an instant. A super powered punch goes across Darik’s face, knocking him out instantly and sending him rag-dolling onto the ground.

  “Fuck.” Jane blinks in surprise, looking down at Darik then back up to Tim, nodding.

  “Been working out.” He lies with a shrug.

  “We should start—” Jane stops, pointing to the four other boys recovering and coming towards them. They grab each other's hands and book it, leaving the Promenade and continuing into the dark streets of El Cajon. They slip into back alleys and hop fences, quickly losing their pursuers. They finally come to a stop behind a Mexican food shop, Tim leaning on its back wall as Jane leans against him.

  “Hey, think... my dad is at... your place?” She asks while catching her breath. .

  Tim shrugs, “Fifty fifty shot.”

  “I wanna spend the night.” Jane smiles as her breath returns.

  And so looming reality starts to crash down. As much as he wants her to, her spending the night would interrupt his raid. Unless he just tells her everything now, but his mind can’t help but wander to the scent of dried tears on her face...

  “I dunno, Deleeleewhoop is back with Deke so you probably can’t stay in her room, and your dad gets so weird about us sharing a room now. Like I’m the type to try something.” He rolls his eyes.

  “Yeah you could have a girl that adores you in your bed and never make a move.” She frowns.

  “Haha.” He rolls his eyes again as he begins to walk. “Seriously though, I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

  “Worth the risk.” She shrugs.

  “And it's so hot that we’ll cook each other in the morning.” He adds.

  “Ehhhh.” She shrugs, “I... guess.”

  There we go, the heat’s a great excuse, if he pushes that she won’t push right back.

  “Maybe when the forecast isn’t a million degrees.” He offers.

  “Yeah yeah.” She waves, her shoulders drooping.

  Tim tries to cheer her up, making their normal small talk and throwing in plenty of jokes as they reach his house. It works up until Jane spots her father’s car parked outside.

  “Guess I wouldn’t have been able to anyways.” Jane sighs, looking up to the few visible stars in the night sky.

  Sadness radiates off of his best friend, and its nuclear fallout is one Tim is having trouble setting aside. It's possible, no, probably that Tim can just sneak Jane in without her father noticing. He’s probably high out of his mind, with Tim’s super senses it’d be easy enough. Plus, when he’s here this late he’s normally here for the night, he won’t go home and find Jane missing. Even if he tries, Tim can ask Deleelee to keep him busy. She loves Jane and will be more than happy too, they’d just have to endure some blah blah blah about “oh finally going to make it official,” or some equally annoying variant of that.

  No, he just can’t do it. He can’t let an entire shipment of drugs in the city now that he has the power to stop them, he has to sink them. Let these people see him, see his power, let all these damn tweakers that constantly invade his and Jane’s space, that constantly ruin every life around them squirm as their shit becomes rarer rarer.

  “You don’t have to deal with him yet,” Tim compromises, “I’ll walk you home.”

  “Thanks.” She gives him a sad smile and they cross the street.

  Jane doesn’t live far from Tim, only a few blocks down at a large apartment complex. The over priced, run down place is just as much a drug nest as Tim’s house, the difference being, a lot more people using than selling, giving it a more unpredictable air. Still, it's mostly safe for them, most of the blitzed out tweakers avoid them entirely, with a few they’re more familiar with offering a wave. Every tweaker knows Tim’s mother and her reputation, if anyone ever tried to really hurt him or Jane they wouldn’t see the next day. It's an uncomfortable comfort for Tim, his mother’s bloody history makes him sick, but it does keep Jane safe and free to do more than most girls can.

  That aside, the complex needs cleaning up just as badly as anywhere else in the city right? It's so close and Tim won't be running against the clock if he just sticks around here. That means he can keep Jane company for longer, maybe help her fall asleep so she won’t have to be alone? No, no there’s just no way to justify not keeping the drugs out of the city in the first place, as much as it makes his heart ache to leave his best friend all alone like this.

  “Are you ok?” Jane pulls him back to reality.

  He shakes his head and smacks his face a few times. “Sorry just... just hate it here you know?”

  “Yeah, yeah I know.” She says as they reach her door and she puts a hand on his cheek. “It's not too far off you know? Till we’re 18 and we can get some jobs and our own place, far far away from here.”

  “I know.” He grabs her hand and squeezes it.

  She smiles and her look lingers on his face for a while.

  “Hey, can I tell you something?”

  Her heart started pounding, Tim tilting his head at her.

  “Yeah...”

  She lowers her hand and chews over her words.

  “Eh... never mind.”

  “You sure? It seemed important.” Tim looks to her with concern.

  “Yeah, yeah I’m sure. Do you want to hang out for a bit?”

  Tim shakes his head. “Nah, don’t want to risk your dad walking in and flipping out that you have your best friend, who happens to be a boy, over.”

  “Kay… I’ll see you tomorrow then?” Jane unlocks and opens her door.

  “For sure.” Tim smiles and waves as he leaves.

  “Bye.” She fakes a smile and waves.

  “Bye.” He waves back, heart twisting, then heads home for his costume.