I write little stories

“What are you doing?” she asked. Her voice was soft, but Adrian still kept his eyes on the rocks he was stacking. 

“Playin’,” he answered simply, hoping that would be enough to send her on her way. He took a deep breath as he stacked the next rock. If this one was steady, it would be the highest he had managed so far - a big accomplishment for the seven year old. 

“Do you want to play together?” she asked, and Adrian paused, wondering if this was a trick. It wouldn’t be the first time someone had invited him to play and then he became the joke. 

“I’m stacking rocks,” he settled on, hoping that his words showed enough disinterest for her to move on and not hurt him. 

“Yeah, I can stack rocks too,” she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, but Adrian noticed that there wasn’t the usual hint of malice like when he was around the other kids. He finally allowed himself to look up at her. She was smiling with a few missing teeth, her eyes were bright, and she was wearing a teal dress, one that matched her shoes, nothing like the mismatched outfit Adrian was wearing. 

“Well, I’m not just stacking rocks, I’m also looking for bugs. My mom said that’s umm…multi-doing,” he said confidently.

“Multi-tasking?” she asked, head tilting to the side. 

“No, multi-doing, I would know I’m doing it right now,” he said matter of factly and she smiled, picking up her own rocks and stacking them. 

“Okay, well we can ‘multi-do’ look for bugs and stack rocks together,” she said, matching his tone, making him pout.

“But I’m doing it,” he insisted, putting his next rock down, making the tower wobble slightly. 

“Do you know ‘together’?” she asked, as if it wasn’t just a vocabulary word from the week before, and Adrian frowned. 

“I’m not dumb, yes I know.” He figured this was where the shoe would drop. She was going to knock over his tower and call him stupid. 

“Okay, then we can do this together, right?” she pressed, and Adrian sat back, taking a moment to look around the playground. All the other kids were running around with their friends. 

Adrian figured it couldn’t hurt to have someone like that, and she didn’t seem to want to hurt him. She was actually being very kind to him.

“Okay, we can do it together, but I have to teach you,” he settled on, and she nodded, watching him do the simple action closely. Adrian was grateful that she let him teach her, even if she already knew how to do it.

Recess every day was substantially better after they became friends. Adrian had someone to stack rocks with, someone to play tag with, and her favorite someone to push her on the swings. 

Adrian wasn’t a huge fan of that last one, but he figured out that when she was on the swing she didn’t mind if he endlessly talked. He also loved watching the way she moved on the swing. It almost looked like she was flying like a superhero.

They were in third grade the first time the two got to have a playdate, long overdue from both of their points of views. Their moms arranged it for them, but all week they talked about that Friday like it was Christmas day. To Adrian, it basically was. Every recess was spent discussing what amazing things they were going to do.

Adrian had already sat out all his video games, Pokemon cards, and all of his Magic Tree House books in order of what he wanted to show her. He had his mom promise to make dino nuggets and mac n’ cheese, with no broccoli this time, and to let them hang out in peace. He wanted no hovering and time to show her all his toys and play.

When she showed up in the morning holding the bus pass from her mom they looked at it like it was the golden ticket to Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. They both walked it up to the teacher, making sure it got to the office, neither of them willing to take a chance on it not being approved. 

“We’re going to be the second to last bus stop. It sucks in the afternoon, but in the morning it’s great because I get to sleep in a little,” Adrian said as they both found an empty seat, Adrian giving her the window seat.

“I’m one of the stops in the middle,” she said, looking around.

“Perfect middle ground,” he said with a smile, as he dug through his backpack. “Do you wanna play with my ‘etch a sketch’ from show and tell today?” 

“Sure!” she said, happily taking it from him. Adrian watched closely as she began making a cool design, much better than Adrian could. “What kind of after school snacks do you have?” she asked, and Adrian's mind went blank.

Absolute, pure panic struck his features. How could he have forgotten the after school snacks! His mom could be making anything right now including ants on a log. Adrian hated ants on a log, but his brother loved it. He hated how he let this slip by. He had planned everything so carefully, and he had forgotten the snacks!

Who cared about dino nuggets when you’re too full from a bad snack! What if she hated the snack so much she never wanted to come over again and this was their last play date? Their friendship would be over before it even got really started.

Adrian wasn’t even aware he was crying until her hand came to his shoulder, refusing to look at her up first. 

“Do you not have afternoon snack?” she asked honestly, and Adrian looked at her, bottom lip quievering. “That’s okay, we can just play till dinner.”  

Adrian immediately stopped crying. The way she had said those words, as if having no snack after school truly didn’t bother her, shocked his young body to its core. 

“I have afternoon snack, I just forgot to tell my mom what to make, so she might make something my brother likes that I don’t like,” he said, wrinkling his nose. 

“Can you keep a secret?” she whispered, pressing herself tightly to Adrian as if they were surrounded by spies on the bus. Adrian took her words like they were the strongest vow as he nodded and moved closer. “I brought candy for us to share in secret.” 

Adrian smiled, she always had a solution ready for him it seemed. She could anticipate what he needed before he could even tell something was wrong, from bringing an extra book to school to lending him a toy for show and tell. She always had his back and Adrian was determined to pay it back. 

They were in fourth grade the first time he really felt he was able to pay her back for all her kindness and worry for him. It had all seemed to happen in slow motion to Adrian. 

The bully’s hands on her, escalating the argument. 

The hard shove that followed. 

Her falling to the ground with big crocodile tears in her eyes as she sat up in the soccer field, maybe fifteen feet from where they first met. He watched her fists ball up and pull at the grass, clearly itching to do something but feeling unable to as the bully taunted her more, other students watching and laughing.

If she was unable to, then it had to be Adrian’s job to do something, he decided. 

The rest was a blur as Adrian practically jumped the bully like a rabid animal. He was screaming, his fists were flying, and it didn’t take long for them to start bleeding. 

But he didn’t stop. Even as they begged.

Hit after hit landed on the bully’s face as Adrian’s knuckles split. He smiled wide, knowing he was protecting her.

He was vaguely aware of all the kids around him screaming, but it didn’t matter because this kid just hurt his friend. He was a bully, and bullies shouldn’t be allowed on the playground. If bullies were going to be on the playground, then he was going to have to handle this himself. 

Two teachers had to pry him off the bully and take him to the principal, all while he kicked and screamed. Their fingers dug tightly into Adrian’s arms, but he didn’t stop, even when they made it inside. He thrashed, trying to escape, screaming for them to let him go or at least let him check in on his friend as another teacher walked her and the bully to the nurses office. 

He screamed and screamed about it being the right thing to do, everyone just telling him over and over again that you shouldn’t use violence no matter what happened.

“He pushed her to the ground!” he yelled, his parents sitting on either side of him in front of the principal. “He hurt her! That’s wrong, he should be in here! Not me! I stopped him!” 

“Adrian, you broke his nose and we had to physically remove you from him. We cannot use our hands to solve problems, you should’ve gotten a teacher so-”

“So it could happen again?” he said, standing up. “He was going to keep hurting her, at least I stopped it-”

“Adrian, that is not your job. You are supposed to get a teacher! We have zero tolerance for violence in this school, you know that,” the principal said, and Adrian could tell that she was getting upset with him. He knew he lost this fight, especially as the principal read out his suspension stipulations, so he threw himself back in his seat, arms crossed. 

It wasn’t until he and his parents were walking out of the school that he saw her, through the nurses window. Adrian was happy to see she was at least not crying anymore. 

Their eyes met and she quickly mouthed, “thank you.” Despite the punishment he knew was coming, he didn’t stop smiling the whole day. He especially felt vindicated when his knuckles were fully healed in the morning, and all signs of the fight on his body were gone. 

In fifth grade, the two spent three whole months independently trying to convince their parents to let them have a sleepover, not understanding why boys and girls couldn’t have a sleepover. But after his dad left his mom his mom was practically catatonic, so her mom let Adrian spend the night. He was sure pity was driving her mom’s decision, but he’d take it. 

He had arrived, sweaty and breathing hard from his bike ride, an hour before the agreed upon time. He knew if he had his mom drive him it would take forever to get her to actually leave so he opted for the long ride on his own, leaving her a note that he left early. His backpack was heavy, filled with his favorite pajamas, his Game Boy Advance with almost all of his games, snacks he had stolen from the pantry, and his stuffed ostrich, Stretch, he’s had since he was little.

He had debated heavily if he should bring him or not, but Adrian had never slept a night without him, and he knew she wasn’t going to make fun of him for it. So Stretch got to come along to Adrian’s first ever sleepover. 

“Hey!” he said, out of breath the moment she opened the door, a smile on her face as if she always expected Adrian to be this early. She was already in her pajamas, clearly feeling the same excitement he was. She opened the door wider and Adrian walked in, pointing up and when she nodded he led the way to her bedroom.

He smiled as they got closer, her radio already on and her room set up for their sleepover. Every single stuffed animal she owned was out on her bed, ready for cuddles, a stack of DVDs checked out from the library, and the tv from her parents room moved into hers for one night only. 

“Nice, I also brought snacks!” he said, throwing his backpack on the ground and dumping everything out. He got on the floor to start sorting through everything he had brought, immediately started to categorize everything he had brought to her. She laughed, falling to her knees next to him as she looked through his games. 

“Oh! You still need to show me your final Pokemon Silver team!” she said, holding the game up and he smiled. He had spent almost every day at lunch since the game came out talking her through step by step what he had done in the game, and she had hung on to every word.

“Yeah! I saved the final fight to show you too, since you’re not going to play it,” he teased, sticking out his tongue. She returned his mean face with a laugh.

“When you buy me a Game Boy or finally let me borrow yours, then I’ll play it,” she said, arms crossed.

“But if I let you borrow mine then I won’t be able to play anything!” he complained, and she laughed and shook her head. Adrian’s heart did that weird thump it had been doing when the two were alone. “But whenever I get my first job I promise to buy you a Game Boy,” he said, hand on his heart, and she smiled at him. 

The smile was…different than normal. There was something shy about it, and it had something that caused Adrian’s heart to skip a beat and a light blush to cross his features before he cleared his throat and turned his attention back to the Game Boy, his hands fiddling with the handheld console as a sudden nervousness came over him.

“You okay?” she asked softly. 

“It’s just my first sleepover, I want it to go well,” he answered honestly, dodging the way she was making him feel, and something changed in her smile. It was more warm, like she understood just how important this was to him. 

“It will go well, we have movies, games, you brought snacks, my mom is going to order us our own pizza, and we’re just going to spend the whole night in my room and the first one to fall asleep is getting their face drawn on,” she teased as she reached behind Adrian to grab a sharpie off her desk. Their bodies brushed as she went back to sitting on her knees. 

Adrian had been running an experiment lately. He never liked the tight hugs his mom would throw him into, he didn’t like the noogies and hits his brother gave him, and he certainly did not like when family members would touch him or pinch his cheeks. However, whenever she brushed against him, gave him a hug, or grabbed his hand to pull him around it was different. He liked it. He wanted it.

He had a hard time describing the feeling. Saying that it just felt ‘right’ felt like a cop-out to Adrian, and saying it felt like home also felt wrong - Adrian barely liked being at his house. With her, it was something different, something unexplainable, something…special. 

He cherished those little brush ups, those hugs, when she’d laugh so hard she’d lean into him like he was the only thing that could hold him up. It sent him spinning in a way that confused his whole nervous system.

“You always fall asleep during movies first, so are you sure you want to challenge me to that?” he asked, snatching the sharpie out of her hands.

“We’ll see about that, Chase!” she said, moving to lean against the back of her bed. Adrian smiled, moving so he could sit next to her. He reached and grabbed his Game Boy. 

“Let me show you my Typhlosion!” he said, turning it on as she pressed herself against him to get a better look. The feeling, as always, was warm and comfortable; two words Adrian almost never used to describe touch.

It almost made him wish he had another friend to talk to about this. About why he suddenly started feeling this way around her. His brother would be no help, he avoided his mom at all costs, and he may struggle with social cues but he knew telling her about it could open a whole can of worms that he wouldn’t know where to even begin with. 

If she could feel how hard his heart was racing, he’d probably lose it. He couldn’t even think of a believable enough lie that would make her not think it was because of her, and that feeling scared Adrian. 

“Oh! My mom wanted to know what kind of pizza you wanted?” she asked, her hand coming to tap his arm, drumming a song against him that he couldn’t hear. Each tap felt almost electric against his body. He looked over at her with a lazy smile on his face, and she groaned, pressing her forehead against his shoulder, he preened at the familiar contact. “Pineapple and ham?” she said with a judgemental groan.

“Yes please,” he answered happily as she made fake throw up sounds and pressed closer into him, making him laugh.

The night was one that Adrian would hold close to his heart for forever, even as they had more sleepovers in his young mind none of them were ever as good as the first one. They ended up watching three movies, talking through most of them, eating so much food and drinking so much soda that they both felt sick and as Adrian laid down on the pallet on her floor his eyes were locked on her hand that hung over the side of the bed. 

He wondered how she’d react if he just…grabbed her hand and held it all night. Her soft snores alerted Adrian that she did in fact fall asleep first, but he made no attempt to grab the sharpie. Instead he stayed awake until his brain wouldn’t let him, listening to all the noises in the house and watching her fingers twitch slightly in her sleep as he held onto Stretch, imagining what it would feel like to sleep directly next to her instead of her floor. 

In the sixth grade Gut’s regular bullying took a sharp turn. More cruel, more painful, more never-ending. It was then Adrian started to notice something strange about himself. It had happened before too with his split knuckles, but it was no longer a cool trick to Adrian. It was much worse. 

His brother would hit him, pull his arm too sharply, or scratch him with something sharp but before he could show anyone the mark would disappear or turn so faint that it made Adrian look like he was lying.

His mom didn’t believe him at all, especially when Gut pressed that he was lying. 

“Why would I do that?” he’d repeat over and over again, smiling at Adrian when his mom’s back was to them. Gut was always the favorite, Adrian knew that. He had heard and felt countless times that his brother could do no wrong while Adrian was known for being whiny and for stretching the truth, making him the perfect target for his brother. At first Adrian would scream and argue and beg his mom to just listen to him, to see what was happening, but over the months he just shut down. It wasn’t even worth fighting about anymore. 

He wasn’t sure what was wrong with his body, what was making it do this, but it was starting to wear Adrian down.

He would watch her with marks from falling from gym or getting bumped too hard by something, and some of the bruises would last over a week, but for him nothing seemed to last longer than a day - even less if he fell asleep.

It all came to a boiling point one Sunday at her house, he had been hiding out more and more at her house on the weekends to avoid Gut, especially since it was no longer football season and he was around more. She was sitting on her bed, reading a book, while he was playing a video game on her floor, sitting across from her in a comfortable and normal silence. She was hugging her knees, and there was a painful looking bruise on her calf. 

Adrian couldn’t take his eyes off of it. It was a dark angry bruise, with various shades Adrian had never fully seen on his own body. None of his bruises tend to move past a light brown or pink color. It looked painful and like it was sticking around for at least another week, probably longer. If it had been on his body, it would’ve been gone once he woke up in the morning. 

He knew she had gotten it a few days ago during gym, tripping over someone during basketball and hitting the ground hard. She had told Adrian about it at lunch, pulling up her pants just enough so he could see the angry mark.

But now, it looked just as angry as it had been two days ago. 

“How long do you think that’ll be there?” he finally asked, voice cracking slightly. She looked at him confused but once she followed his eyes Adrian watched her flex her leg out and look at the mark.

“I don’t know, maybe a couple of weeks. It was a bad spill.” she said simply, frowning and looking back at her book.

“Mine don’t last that long,” he whispered and she hummed, eyes moving across her page. 

“My mom said sometimes people’s bodies are just different. Maybe your metabolism is better than mine?” she said, finally meeting his eyes. He didn’t like the concern that painted her features once she looked at him.  

“Yeah, maybe,” he said, sounding uncomfortable as he shifted slightly, silently begging her to turn her attention back to her book. Adrian would do anything to not have this conversation with her, the last thing he wanted was for her to not believe him. 

“Is…something going on where you have a lot of bruises?” she asked gently, Adrian watched her put down the book and walk slowly over to him like he was a scared animal. 

“I mean, nothing crazy if that’s what you’re thinking!” he immediately said, trying to pull back the conversation, but it was too late Adrian had said too much already.

Adrian watched as she pulled up his sleeves inspecting his arms for something that wasn’t there. Something she wasn’t going to find. 

“Do you get bruises that disappear fast?” she asked carefully, still holding his arm as if he’s made of glass. He felt a lump in his throat. 

“Sometimes,” he whispered, eyes flickering to hers, afraid she was going to be able to read him like an open book.

“How are you getting bruises, Ade?” she pressed. 

“You’re not going to believe me because you won’t see them,” he murmured and he hated that his voice was shaking and tears were starting to well in his eyes. He hated how easily she could get through to him, like she spoke a language that only applies to him. 

“I don’t need to see them to believe you,” she insisted, her brow furrowing like it was the most obvious answer in the world. It was at those words that Adrian broke. He was no longer able to keep any of it in. It was just so simple with her. She trusted him fully, in a way Adrian didn’t even understand. He couldn’t help but start to sob, trying to tell her what had been going on.  

He wasn’t sure what words tumbled out. He knew he told her what Gut had been doing and through his tears he saw her confused and angry features. He knew he begged her to not tell her mom and he knew she looked long and hard at her closed door. They were 11, and Adrian knew this was too much for them to carry alone, but he couldn't stand another adult calling him a liar, so he begged and begged till she agreed through her own tears. 

“You can come over more, to get away from him. I’m sure my mom would let you spend the night more or if it helps I can come over more. Maybe he’ll leave you alone then,” she whispered, sitting next to him, their bodies pressed tightly next to each other as if she was scared he was going to disappear.

“No, I don’t want you near him! What if he hurts you too?” He said, eyes wide with panic and she gave him the faintest smile. 

“If he’s worried about being caught he won’t do it in front of me and if he does then it’s our word against his to your mom and maybe that’ll help.” She whispered, hand gently rubbing his arm. He paused, thinking about it. He wasn’t sure if Gut would actually leave him alone in front of her, but Adrian knew if his brother tried anything on her he would fight back hard. 

“Okay, maybe that will work,” he relented, his mind still reeling. “You really believe me?” 

“Adrian Chase, I take offense to that. Of course I believe you, you’re my best friend,” she said, pouting slightly through her own tears. And despite everything, despite knowing at the end of the day he still had to go home to his cruel brother and his mother who didn’t believe him, it would be okay because she had his back.

Even if the torment didn’t lessen, the load got a little lighter for Adrian. 

It was once they were in the seventh grade that the best thing in the history of their friendship had occurred.

They finally had a class together, not just recess or lunch, but for once they had the same homeroom and the same math class.

They had to be separated multiple times through the year, but nothing ever topped that first week of school.

During the first week, it had been free seating, so she and Adrian were quick to grab two seats at a table of four near the back.

“What do you think? Next to each other or across from each other?” she asked, placing her stuff on one of the corners as Adrian looked at the two seats. He tried not to think about how everyone else seemed to be avoiding their table.

That would be fine with Adrian at the end of the day, to have her all to himself, but he was starting to become more aware of the fact that despite the fact they were each other's closest friend, she still had friends other than Adrian. It made his chest feel funny to think about how she could one day just decide to not hang out with him anymore or how there might come a time where she chose someone else over him.

“Across from each other might make it easier to talk, but next to each other might be easier to whisper to each other,” he said, scratching his chin, and she laughed at how serious he was taking this. 

“Sit across from me and then in math we can sit next to each other,” she answered, and Adrian quickly moved to sit across from her, smiling widely as he watched her get out her folder and pencil pouch. As if on instinct, she pulled out two pencils, handing one to Adrian as she got more stuff out her bag. 

His heart did another funny flip as he looked at his already messy backpack, a hand me down from Gut. Despite it being the first day of school, Adrian had in fact forgotten to bring pencils. 

“How’d you know?” he asked, leaning forward as he watched her closely. 

“Becuase I know you, silly,” she responded, sticking out her tongue, and Adrian smiled. 

Those words carried him for a long time. 

He wasn’t sure before her if he had ever been known. Sure, his parents tried, and he had his brother but he wasn’t really close to any of them. His parents didn’t understand his interests, and most days Gut refused to acknowledge him.

How lucky he was for that girl to demand his friendship all those years ago as he stacked rocks and looked for bugs - multi-tasking. 

However, once eighth grade hit, there was a stark change in her and not him. One that he noticed immediately, as if he was more in tune with her body than he was with his own. She had gotten taller. Now she was taller than him, something she happily gloated about. Her body had started to fill out, and she was moodier.

One day he had simply poked her, and she snapped at him like he had killed someone in front of him. He wasn’t sure what his face must’ve looked like because immediately after snapping she broke into tears and practically threw herself into his arms. Adrian was very confused but still held her tightly as if he could fix everything for her with a simple hug. 

Adrian’s mom told him it was natural; that she was becoming a woman (whatever that meant, Adrian wasn’t sure) and that the two would be fine. She just needed time to navigate these changes.

Adrian knew from health class what was happening on a textbook level, and he knew girls developed before boys, but as he watched her no longer wanting to do their silly traditions as much, his heart began to ache. She started using the word childish and started suggesting they start new traditions - going to the mall instead of riding bikes, watching dramatic and romance movies instead of animated films, and the hardest one for Adrian was the fact she wanted to invite more friends into their small bubble.

He started pestering his mom about when he’d change too, grow to be taller than her again, and maybe catch up to her in a way that would restore their friendship to how it was. Maybe if he was taller or looked older she would want to ride bikes with him and watch cartoons and have sleepovers again. 

It was all Adrian wanted. 

“Adrian, it doesn’t work that way, you can’t rush it!” she said one night, Adrian planting himself at the kitchen table looking at his homework but making no move to complete it. Maybe if he left it blank she’d help him in the morning before class.

“You definitely can’t rush it, you’re going to be a pipsqueak forever,” Gut said walking behind Adrian as he smacked the back of Adrian’s head. Adrian hissed and glared at the back of his older brother’s head, who went straight to the fridge to grab food, completely ignoring that their mom was making dinner.

“Maybe you can ask her mom if we can have another sleepover soon?” Adrian asked and he heard his mom sigh.

“Adrian, it was fine when you guys were little but too much has changed that I just don’t think it’s appropriate for a boy to spend the night at a girls house at your age.” 

“Come on, Mom. Adrian’s not going to knock her up!” Gut said and Adrian’s face turned beet red as he looked back down at his homework. 

“Excuse me! We do not talk like that in this house! You know better!” his mom scolded, but Gut didn’t care, he just rolled his eyes, grabbed food, and left the two in the kitchen. “Where do you think you’re going? Dinner is almost ready!”

“I’m going to Chris’s, I’ll be back tomorrow,” Gut said as the front door slammed shut. 

Adrian released a breath he wasn’t fully aware he was holding at his brother’s leaving. 

“I just want her back and things back to how they were,” he mumbled, and his mom looked over at him, pity all over her face, making Adrian feel even worse about how he was feeling. 

“She’ll come back to you, honey. I promise.” 

If she was going to come around, it wasn’t in ninth grade. 

Adrian immediately hated high school. He had gotten so used to not having to deal with his brother at school that now with him being a junior, and Adrian a freshman, it was a new wave of fresh hell. 

To make matters worse, high school came with its own league of challenges. The two had no classes together, not even lunch, and there was no recess. The only times they got to see each other was occasionally in the hallway and in the fifteen minutes after the buses arrived before the bell would ring for class. 

His bus always arrived five minutes before hers, so Adrian would quickly beeline to his own locker, throw everything in, and essentially run to her locker - almost always beating her there. 

Some days she’d walk over to him and sit next to him on the ground and the two would talk and hang out, but more recently she had been walking up with more friends. They would already be laughing and talking, a few of the other girls would give Adrian a dirty look when they realized he was there, but Adrian didn’t care because she always looked happy to see him. 

“Your puppy is here,” one of her friends murmured to her as they came up to Adrian. He watched her face closely as she looked at the other girl with almost a look of shame as Adrian’s heart dropped. 

Was he being too much? Was she growing sick of him? Behind his back were they calling him names? 

“Don’t call him that,” she said back softly and turned her attention to Adrian. “Hey Ade, how are you?” 

“I’m okay,” he said gently, looking at the two girls next to her as she opened her locker, her hands moving on autopilot as she watched him closely. “I just wanted to let you know that umm the rest of the week I wasn’t going to be able to meet you at your locker.” 

Adrian immediately hated the words coming out of his mouth. He wanted to take them back, to call that girl a bitch and tell her that she just didn’t understand their friendship. He wanted to say that no one else would ever have what they have.

But the words never come out. 

“Oh, okay,” he hated the look on her face as she looked at him closely. “Are you still coming over this weekend?”

“Of course! We can’t break our tradition!” he said with fake enthusiasm. Her friends didn’t seem to see through it but he could tell by the look on her face that she knew. 

Of course she knew. 

To make it worse, he knew she wasn’t going to let it go. They moved through the rest of the week at an awkward pace, still saying hello in the hallway, but true to his word for the rest of the week, he avoided going to her locker. Multiple times he had to stop himself halfway on his usual path to her locker and turn around to go to his first period instead. 

When Saturday rolled around he was slow to get ready. Normally he’d be up, showered, and ready to go by 8 a.m. even if they weren’t hanging out till noon. Today however, Adrian was moving like it was causing him physical pain, taking extra time on each task as if it would change the plans for today.

He was silent the whole car ride over, letting his mom talk about whatever she wanted, not minding that Adrian didn’t speak up once. 

“What time do you want me to pick you up?” she asked as they pulled into her driveway, the front door already open and waiting for Adrian. 

“Can I just call when we’re done?” he asked softly, not wanting to get trapped by giving her too late of a time. 

“Of course, honey. Are you feeling okay?” she asked, and Adrian smacked her hand away as she tried to check his temperature on his forehead. 

“I’m fine, just tired, okay?” he said, and thankfully, his mom dropped it as he got out of the car. He dragged himself to the front door, knocking lightly as he listened to his mom car pull out of the driveway and started to head home. 

He was really in it now. 

“Hey!” she said, rushing to the door with a smile at his first knock. He fought his own smile as she opened the door. “My mom had to run some errands so it’s just us for a couple of hours and I went ahead and checked out some of our favorite movies from the library yesterday.” 

“Nice,” Adrian said, keeping it simple as he followed her through the house to the living room. 

He took his usual spot on the couch as she started the movie and ran into the kitchen to get them some snacks. He watched as she brought out all of his favorite snacks and drinks. 

“We also have stuff for banana splits and my mom got us some frozen pizzas if you want to stay for dinner,” she said sitting next to him. 

“Yeah, that sounds good,” he said softly, keeping his attention on the movie. 

They last twenty minutes into the movie before she couldn’t seem to stand whatever was happening with Adrian.

“Hey, are you okay?” she asked, pausing the movie, and Adrian tensed beside her, rubbing his sweaty palms on his sweatpants. 

“Yeah of course! Totally fine! Better than fine actually, I’m amazing,” he said, giving a fake laugh, and she tilted her head. 

“Adrian you don’t have to lie to me,” she said gently and Adrian’s face snapped towards hers. 

“Lying? I’m not-“ 

“Adrian, I should’ve stood up for you when Gabby made fun of you. I was a bad friend, I love that you come to my locker in the morning. Please don’t let other people ruin that for us,” she said softly, putting her hand on top of his hand and for the first time in their entire friendship, he flinched.

It was involuntary. He didn’t mean to. And when he looked at her face he wanted to puke. 

She looked like she was about to start crying. 

“Did I do something wrong?” she asked, voice cracking. It sounded almost painful to Adrian’s ears, he felt like his own heart was going to start cracking.

“No! God no! No I’m, this is just-“ 

“Do you still want to be friends?” she asked, and Adrian watched in horror as tears started falling down her cheeks. He had never really seen her cry like this, at least not because of him. Sure they had both cried after sad movies, but this was different. Adrian was making her cry. 

“Yes, of course I still want to be friends,” he said, panic taking over him. “I just I don’t…I don’t umm it’s like-“ 

“Like what?” she cried. 

“Sometimes I just don’t know if you still want to be my friend!” he blurted out, eyes darting around the room. “I don’t know where I fit in with your other friends.” 

Adrian’s eyes finally locked on hers and despite her crying, a smile comes across her face. She looked almost relieved that that was what was bothering him. 

“Adrian, you will always fit in with me. I would tell all my other friends to suck a dick and get lost if you asked me too. You’re my best friend, I love you,” she said, and Adrian’s heart was pounding. 

He didn’t know what to say so he did the next best thing he could think of, he launched himself at her, wrapping her tightly in his arms. She was quick to hug him back as she released a sob. 

“Don’t cry, I’m sorry. I love you too, please don’t cry!” he panicked, and she let out a wet laugh as she squeezed him. 

“Please come to my locker on Monday?” she asked, he could feel her breath on his ear as he jerkily nodded. 

“Of course, always,” he whispered. “But you don’t have to tell Gabby to suck a dick it’s okay!” 

She laughed and pushed them back on the couch so she was on top of him, holding their bodies close together. 

“I will if she’s mean again to you, I promise,” she said, and Adrian smiled. 

After that there were no issues with him at her locker. He wasn’t fully sure if she told her other friends to lay off of him or what, but while they never go out of their way to be kind to him they’re no longer mean to him.

If only those girls were the only bullies Adrian had to worry about. 

In tenth grade, Adrian experienced one of his first (of many) twists of jealousy when it came to her and possibly dating someone (who wasn’t him).

Maybe twist was too strong, he was certainly uncomfortable by what was happening, but he never expected anyone to say anything to him about it. She didn’t owe him anything, but he still couldn’t help the feelings. 

He especially didn’t want to tell her about it. 

Adrian still wasn’t sure why he as a sophomore had to have gym with his senior brother and his friends, but here he was. He also didn’t understand why they cared enough to make his life a miserable hell. He knew the best way to get through it was to keep his head down.

He had tried to get his mom to do something, to tell Gut to leave him alone, but she just kept telling him that boys will be boys. 

Which Adrian consistently called bullshit on, considering he wasn’t walking around the school trying to make other people’s lives hell like his brother was. 

“Hey thimble!” Chris Smith, one of Gut’s closest friends, shouted from across the locker room and Adrian closed his eyes and held his breath. At least this time he didn’t seem to notice him till he got his pants on. He’d take the small win.

He thought maybe if he kept his eyes shut they would go away, pick on literally anyone else, but no such luck as a hand came down on his shoulder - hard.

He tried really hard not to flinch, knowing that flinching would only make it worse. 

“So, you gotta tell me, that girl that’s always hanging off of you - you’ve fucked her right?” Chris asked, grinning at Adrian as he felt his face heat up.

“No, it’s…it’s not like that, we're just friends,” he said quickly, angling himself out of Chris’s grasp, which Chris accepted with a wolfish smile. 

“So, you won’t mind if I…” Chris trailed off, waggling his eyebrows up and down, and Adrian felt something twist in his stomach. Something nasty and hateful and a pure need to protect her from Chris.

“Do what?” he asked, voice unusually tense. Normally he wouldn’t disagree or fight back with any of his brother’s friends - especially since they just go back to his brother, and then Gut will start harassing him even more at home. 

“You know…take her out for a spin, underclassmen are always the best for a quick fuck. They’re easy to convince and easy to dump, plus she’s hot as fuck,” Chris said with a shrug as if she wasn’t a living breathing person with feelings, not just a pussy to fuck. 

So Adrian panicked. Saying the first thing that came to his mind that would possibly deter Chris from going anywhere near her. 

“She’s a lesbian!” he shouted, and then threw a hand over his own mouth as heads turned towards him. “I mean, yes she’s a lesbian but I’m the only one who knows and you know if that came out…I mean if people found out she’d be really upset.” 

Adrian watched as Chris nodded, chewing on his cheek for a second. 

“I get it man, secret’s safe with me,” Chris said, clapping Adrian on the shoulder before leaving him alone. 

Adrian learned quickly that the secret was not safe with Chris. 

They were in her room, Adrian was sitting on her desk, head against her wall as she laid on her stomach on her bed. She was working on homework and he was supposed to bring his over too, but he never did. Frequently opting to just watch her and take in all her little movements instead. To him, school could wait, studying her could not. 

“So, Chris Smith came and talked to me yesterday after school,” she said, and Adrian immediately tensed at her tone. It wasn’t the first time they had talked about Chris or any of Gut’s friends, but he could already tell where this was going. 

“Yeah?” he squeaked out. 

“Yeah, he wanted me to know that he was an ally and respected my choice to be a lesbian.” Her voice was tight as her eyes narrowed at him. 

“Wow, that’s umm…well that’s very progressive of him!” Adrian tried, cringing slightly as she sat up on her knees, eyes not leaving him.

“Adrian, why-” she started, but Adrian was already spiraling. 

“I mean, I would never expect Chris to be that accepting especially considering he’s one of Gut’s friends and he’s called me the f-word like a thousand times. Not fuck or fuckwad, but the other f-word, so it’s just shocking-”

“Adrian!” she said, her face was angry as Adrian fell silent, suddenly more interested in his socks than anything else. In his head he already knew how she looked, nostrils flared, eyes narrowed, and mouth tight. It was rare her anger was at Adrian but it didn’t make it sting any less. “Did you tell him I was a lesbian?” 

“Maybe?” 

“Adrian!” 

“Okay! Yes! I did, but it was because he going to ask you out and all he wanted to do was fuck you and I didn’t want you to get hurt and I-”

“Adrian! I’m my own person, I can make my own decisions!” she said, and Adrian's hands shook as he gripped the desk while looking at her angry face. He wasn’t sure he'd ever seen her this pissed.

“I know! I know you’re your own person, but I didn’t want him to hurt you!” 

“That’s not your decision to make!”

“You want to fuck Christopher Smith?” he yelled back, his own temper starting to rise at the idea of her not being thankful for protecting her from Chris. Chris was friends with his brother, and that had to mean he was at least a little bit of an asshole if he regularly dealt and seemed to like Gut. 

“No! I don’t want to fuck Chris, but you don’t get to tell people I’m a lesbian so I won’t fuck them! Adrian, you realize that’s wrong, right?” she said, eyeing him sharply and he sighed. 

“Yes, I know,” he whined, holding his head in shame. He listened to her shuffle around and he didn’t look up to her hand came to rest on his shoulder. He looked up at her, sniffling and fighting tears. 

He was expecting her to look at him with anger or hatred, but when he met her eyes he was only met with love and acceptance. 

That made him cry harder. 

“Oh, Ade, it’s okay,” she murmured, a hand coming to brush the tears running down his cheek. “Hey, I’m not upset, okay? You don’t need to cry.” He tried to look down, anything to get away from her watching him, but she simply moved herself to hold his face in both hands to make him look at her. Her thumbs brushing his tears away on the apples of his cheeks, if this was any other time he knew his face would be bright as a tomato. 

“You should be upset,” he muttered. 

“Okay, I’m a little upset that now there’s a rumor going around that I’m a lesbian, but I’m not upset at you,” she said softly and he released a shaky breath. 

“You can tell people I’m gay if it makes you feel any better, Gut tells people that anyway but they’d probably believe you more.” 

“No, Adrian. I’m not going to tell people that you’re gay, but you can start by telling people I’m not actually lesbian.” He nodded gently, not wanting her to let go of his face just yet. 

“Okay, I’ll tell Chris tomorrow,” he said, bringing his shaking hands around her waist and pulling her closer. She chuckled but moved so they were in an awkward hug, Adrian’s head resting on her chest.

“For the record, I would never ever go out with Chris or any of Gut’s friends for that matter. They’re assholes and I am totally uninterested. I need you to know and understand that, Ade.” she whispered, one of her hands running through his hair.

“I know,” he whispered, squeezing her tightly against him. He did know, she knew how much that would hurt him, but there was always that feeling, that doubt, that worry that would swim in his head.

In eleventh grade, their weekend tradition of watching movies started to become more difficult to schedule since she had gotten her first job and she ended up working most Saturdays as a hostess at Fennel Fields. At first Adrian had hated the change, it left significantly less time for them to hang out, but unlike him, she was saving for college, so he tried not to comment too much on the lack of time she suddenly had for him.

“You know, they’re hiring for busboys,” she said laying on her bed on her stomach, feet in the air as she chewed on a pencil. Adrian was sitting at her desk, his chemistry notes in front of him as he attempted to study for his final.

“I don’t know, won’t me getting a job make it harder for us to find time to hang out?” he asked, spinning in her chair to look at her, her eyes were already on him with a smile. 

“Not if we tell the manager we have availability on the same days, we could work together!” she said, and Adrian frowned. His mom was on him about doing something after school. He had avoided every club and sport like it was the plague to avoid his brother and his shadow, but working with her would get his mom off his back, he’d earn some money, and they’d get to spend time together. It was a win win win.

“You like it there?” he asked, and he watched her smile grow, clearly knowing she’s already hooked him in.  

“I mean it’s a job, but the money is okay and we get tips sometimes,” she said as she sat up. 

“Okay I’ll apply,” he said and he watched as her smile turned almost devious. 

“Your first training shift is Monday, I already convinced them to hire you,” she said, and Adrian laughed, smiling brightly at her knowing him. 

“What were you going to do if I said no?” he said, getting up and stretching before walking over to sit next to her in the bed. 

“You’d never say no to me,” she said, knocking her shoulder against him, and he rolled his eyes. 

“Yeah unfortunately.” 

Monday rolled around, and the job wasn’t too bad. It was definitely better when she was also working, but he really didn’t mind the tasks. He didn’t have to talk to anyone and after a few weeks carrying the dish tray around got easier and easier.

Their other co-workers didn’t seem to like him much, but they loved her, so they learned to tolerate Adrian. 

But he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t more excited for his first paycheck. He had long decided what he would be spending it on and he was so excited to show her. It was so long overdue that he was completely convinced she’d be fully surprised by it - which considering how bad Adrian was at surprises he was excited to finally be able to pull one off.

He made his mom drive him straight to the bank with the first check and then to the store to spend it. Having just enough to complete a promise.

“Can you drop me off at her house?” he asked, and his mom smiled. It was a small and knowing smile, one that Adrian didn’t quite understand.

“Of course, sweetheart.” 

The whole car ride Adrian felt like his heart was going to burst out of his chest as he imagined her reaction. He hoped she would be excited or happy, but sometimes she wouldn’t react how he’d expect. Like when he showed up at her house close to three in the morning to show her his finally finished English essay that she had helped him with. He didn’t understand at first why she was so angry but as she rubbed her eyes and Adrian’s adrenaline disappeared he had felt a sharp pain of embarrassment and he made a note for the future. 

Anything past midnight and before five in the morning wasn’t okay. 

But right now, it was only ten in the evening, plenty of time to still be reasonable as he knocked loudly on the door. Adrian was bouncing back and forth on his heels waiting for someone to answer the door. 

Her mom came to the door first. 

“Oh Adrian! I didn't know you were coming over, come in!” she said, letting him in and he smiled, pointing in the direction of her room. 

“Is she in her room?” he asked, cutting to the chase, the box heavy in his hands. 

“Yes, she’s-“ Adrian had already started running up the stairs, taking them two at a time, the gift firmly in his hands. 

“Mom, who-“ she called down, opening her door to be greeted by Adrian beaming at her. “Oh hey! What are you doing here?” 

“I got you this!” he said, forcing the box into her hands, she tilted her head to the side and looked at him and the box. 

“Adrian, you got me a Game Boy Advance?” she said, eyes wide as she walked into her room, Adrian following her in, shutting the door behind him. His smile was wide as he watched her face carefully as she looked at the box. 

“Yes! I promised I’d get you one and I finally got my first check today! I didn’t have enough to get you any games, so I brought a few you can borrow,” he said smiling proudly at her as she smiled softly. 

“Ade, you didn’t have to do that,” she said gently and Adrian shrugged suddenly feeling bashful under her appreciative look.

“I know, but I wanted to,” he said as simply as possible. 

“Thank you,” she said, setting the box on her bed and pulling him into a hug. He was happy for her tight hold so she would miss the way his face turned bright red as he hugged her back. 

For some reason he would think about that hug for a long time, imagining it on hard days. 

Twelfth grade brought a new challenge Adrian was uninterested in dealing with. 

They both had agreed as underclassmen that homecoming was dumb and they’d rather spend the night hanging out, playing video games, and eating as much junk food as possible. 

But Adrian quickly learned prom was another beast entirely. 

This year they were able to work the system in their favor, which meant that they finally had a high school class together. Sure it was intro to art, but a class nonetheless. Neither of them had been particularly interested in taking the course but it was only offered for fourth period which meant not only did they have a class together but they would also have lunch together so it was truly a no brainer in whether or not they would take it. 

It was fantastic, even if Adrian was having trouble with 70% of the lessons. He never really cared much about any of his grades so struggling in art didn’t really bother him. 

In fact, he liked seeing how good she was at her classes more. 

“So, prom?” she asked as she focused on her sewing. Adrian’s fingers were already sore and bleeding from the amount of stitches he had messed up. 

“What about it?” he asked, fiddling with his half abandoned project. He felt his heart rate spike. 

“I don’t know,” she said with a shrug, avoiding his eyes suddenly. “Are you going to go?”

“To prom?” he asked, shifting to look at her closer but she stayed focused on her work. Almost surprising Adrian, she never avoided him like this.

“Yes, Adrian. To prom. Are you going to prom?” she asked, exasperated. 

“Oh, no, probably not,” he answered honestly, and he watched her slightly deflate. “Are you?” 

“I don’t know, I want to go, but I don’t want to go alone,” she mumbled. 

“You could go with Gabby and those friends!” Adrian suggested with a bright smile and she frowned, suddenly not willing to meet his gaze. 

“I’d rather go with you,” she muttered.

“With me?” he yelled and winced as everyone’s eyes flew to the two of them. “Sorry!” he whispered, holding his hands up as everyone went back to work.

“Yes, with you,” she hissed and Adrian’s heart started pounding. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to go to prom with her - hell he’d do anything with her. If she asked him to jump off a bridge he’d follow with a smile and a helping hand. He could do a few hours at prom if it made her happy. 

“Oh,” he said softly, rubbing his hands together and thinking. “What would I…would I drive us?” he asked gently, thinking about asking his mom for the Sebring. 

“I mean, you could,” she said softly, not meeting his eyes anymore. “But I don’t want you to feel like you have to go to prom just because I want to.” 

“No, I…if it’s you I want to go,” he nodded, trying to put as much conviction into his words as possible, anything to get her to believe him. 

“Okay, I can get the tickets for us tomorrow at lunch,” she said and Adrian smiled, assuming that would be the end of it till prom in a few weeks as she went back to her art project, strangely quiet the rest of the class.

Unfortunately, that was not the end of the prom conversation. 

His mother was constantly questioning him the moment he told her. Asking him what color she was wearing, what kind of corsage she wanted, where they were going for dinner before, if he wanted to rent them a limo, planning a time for them to go rent a tux. 

It was endless and it was grinding Adrian’s gears because on the other side of things she seemed too nervous to talk to Adrian about prom. 

“Do we match?” he asked a week before prom at her locker, she had looked at him with wide eyes. 

“What?” she asked as she opened her locker, Adrian noted her shaking hands, but tried to not call attention to it.

“I mean, sorry. Should we match for prom? Like should my tie match your dress?” he asked, shutting his eyes tightly. He hated trying to navigate new social situations, especially when he felt like he couldn’t ask her for help.

“Do you want to match?” she asked softly, and Adrian heard her put her books in her locker. 

“I don’t know! Are we supposed to?” he asked, voice pitched up. 

“Are we supposed to match?” she repeated back, and Adrian threw his hands in his hair, letting out a loud harsh laugh, clearly panicking. 

“Are we supposed to match to prom? Does my tie need to match your dress? What color corsage do you want? Are you getting me a boutonniere or do I need to get that when I get the corsage so we match or does that not matter? Jesus, are we getting dinner too? Do you want a limo or-”

“Adrian!” she said harshly, pulling his hands away from his hair, he was vaguely aware that he was pulling his hair roughly. She grabbed his hand and dragged him into the girls bathroom. He tried to stop her, but he was crying and panicking too hard to do anything to stop her. “Jesus, take a deep breath!” she said as she pushed him into the handicap stall, locking the door behind them. He slid down the wall to the floor, hyperventilating. 

“I can’t breathe,” he wheezed out, hand on his chest as she fell to her knees next to him. Adrian could barely focus on anything outside of her own panicked expression as she grabbed his hands. 

“Hey, you’re okay. You need to breathe, okay?” she said softly, and he whimpered. 

“I can’t, I can’t do it! It’s too much,” he cried out, trying to stand back up, needing to get away from her. She didn’t let him, simply pushing him back into place and pulling one of his hands to rest over her heart. 

“Try to match my breathing, Ade,” she said, and Adrian watched as she took a deep breath, held it, and then let it out. She repeated a few times before Adrian started to mirror her, letting out sharp gasps occasionally when the crying became too much. “Adrian, honey, you are okay. Please breathe.” 

“I’m trying,” he answered, wanting to stop so at the very least she wouldn’t panic anymore. He was somewhat aware that the bathroom had cleared out due to the morning bell going off, but she made no move to bring them out of the bathroom. 

He wasn’t sure if it was five minutes later or an hour when he finally felt like he could breathe again. He was still crying, but at least he didn’t feel like he was going to pass out anymore. 

“Adrian, I’m going to ask some yes or no questions, okay? All I need you to do is nod or shake your head, alright?” she asked softly, and he nodded. 

“Do you still want to go to prom?” she asked, he took a beat, but nodded. She nodded back. 

“Would you like to match? We don’t need to at all and it won’t hurt my feelings if you don’t want to,” she said gently, and Adrian looked at her face, there were no hints on her expression on which way she’d prefer. 

“What would you-” he started to croak out.

“No! Sorry, I mean, no Ade. I’m asking, would you like to match?” He paused and thought about it for a second. He knew Gut matched both girls he took to prom his junior and senior year, so he knew that was probably what they should do. 

He nodded and she smiled. 

“Okay, good. Do you want to pick a color now?” she asked and he nodded. 

“Teal?” he whispered, and she laughed. 

“Should’ve guessed that, okay yeah I can work with that. Do you want a boutonniere?” He shook his head and she smiled. “Okay then don’t get me a corsage okay?” 

He nodded.

“Do you want to go out for dinner?” she asked, reaching behind her for some toilet paper, carefully cleaning the tears off his face. 

“We can,” he whispered and she nodded in agreement. 

“Do you have any other pressing questions before prom?” He started to open his mouth, “about prom, Ade.” She clarified and he closed his mouth, causing them both to smile. 

“Prom is going to be fun, okay? And we don’t have to do it like anyone else, there’s no pressure to follow what anyone else is doing, especially not your brother, Ade. We’re going to have fun, we’ll take some pictures, eat dinner, dance to a few songs. It’ll just be us and whatever we want to make of it, okay?” 

“Okay,” he whispered. Clearly satisfied that he had calmed down enough she stood up, holding out her hand for him to grab. Before letting go of his hand she pulled him into a hug. 

“It’ll be a fun night, okay? No more stressing, and we don’t even have to stay the whole night,” she murmured in his ear as he swayed them a little, holding her tight. 

“Okay,” he whispered, a ghost of a smile on his lips. 

Prom ended up being a blur of fun, one that when his mom asked him how it went when he stumbled in at midnight all he could do was smile and say it was amazing, the best night of his life. 

The whole night Adrian was very well aware of how beautiful she looked, even in his shitty car, and even though her heels made her much taller to him when they walked in. He didn’t care about all the people looking at him, clearly surprised that he had come to prom, because he had her hanging off his arm, his closest friend, his person, just…her. 

By the look in her eyes, he had to assume she felt the same.

He loved every part of the night, from the dinner to her controlling the music in the car to the venue. For once in his life he wasn’t aware of the looks or the anxiety that bubbled underneath the surface of his skin. He loved talking to her all night, running his hand over the fabric of her dress and her doing the same with his matching teal tie. He loved jumping up and down and dancing poorly with her, making her laugh so hard and him beaming as if he had just won the lottery.

That night, it truly felt like he did.

Adrian is not a religious person, but if he was he would thank God daily, hell even hourly, for her and her friendship, her love. 

It was the summer after graduation, and Adrian had been dreading going over to her house. He knew this was coming and had been coming for too long, he just was still in denial.

Denial that she was going to college five hours away and he was staying in Evergreen with no future plans. 

He assumed if he just hid all summer, pretending that nothing was going to change come August it would end up being true. But as he pulled into her driveway and let himself into the house to go to her room he was immediately met with the stark reality that that was truly not the case. 

Spread throughout the room were boxes and her suitcase filled with various items, clearly preparing for her big move. 

“Oh,” he immediately said, hands falling to his side as he looked around. She smiled at him as she ran up to him pulling him into a hug. 

“Adrian!” she said happily, swaying him slightly. He shivered as her fingers wrapped around his curls, his own hands loosely around her waist. “I’ve missed you! You didn’t come over last weekend!” 

“Yeah, sorry I was helping my mom with some stuff,” he answered softly, and she tsked him. He fought a smile as he noticed a framed picture of them at prom on top of one of the boxes. 

“Yeah that’s why when I called your mom said you were at the gym,” she said, pulling back to inspect him. “Why are you working out again?” 

“I don’t know, it’s just something to do for now,” he lied, still not sure how to tell her about his idea to become Vigilante.

It wasn’t that he wasn’t sure if she’d support him, but more that he didn’t want to cause her to worry too much about him yet. Besides, he knew from experience that he was going to have to ask her for help to design his suit and keep it in tip top shape.

“That’s fair,” she said gently, biting her lip. “I wish you had applied with me to college still though.” 

“I know, but it’s okay because in four years you’ll be back in Evergreen, right?” he asked, and she released him fully, walking back over to the bed where she had been packing. 

“I mean maybe, it depends on if I get a job here or somewhere else, Ade,” she said simply, and Adrian frowned as he walked over to sit on her desk, his usual spot. 

“No…you’ll get a job here,” he repeated like it was the most obvious thing on the planet. Her hands froze over the blanket she had been folding and she turned gently towards him. Her expression was almost unsure, like she was afraid of hurting him. 

“Adrian, are you wanting to stay in Evergreen forever?” she asked, walking over to him, hands gently grabbing his. The two had always had casual touches between them but ever since prom there had been an extra charge he felt between them. He found himself wondering late at night if he was alone in thinking about those touches.

“I mean, not forever, but I like it here. I don’t want to leave,” he said carefully and she nodded. 

“I might not want to live here forever, but wherever I end up, you will always have a place there, okay? And I’ll come back to Evergreen too, okay?” she said looking him in the eyes, Adrian smiled at her conviction. 

“When’s your first break?” he joked, not willing to acknowledge the possibility of them not living fifteen minutes apart anymore, and she laughed, one of her hands coming to slap his chest. 

“Thanksgiving, but you better drive up with us and help me unpack. I don’t think this will all fit in my mom’s van. We’re going to need the Sebring.”

“Can I spend the night?” 

“Adrian, I don’t even know my roommate yet,” she said, rolling her eyes, and Adrian chuckled leaning forward so his forehead was resting on her shoulder. He had finally managed to catch up to her in height, but most days he still preferred to be seen as smaller than her, finding comfort in her warmth. 

“Maybe? If she’s cool with it?” he tried. 

“Jesus, okay, maybe. We’ll see after we move everything in,” she relented. 

Even if the idea of her leaving Evergreen stung, he knew at the very least she’d always have a place for him and he would always make sure she had a safe place in Evergreen to come back to. 

Her being away at college wasn’t as hard as Adrian anticipated, post her freshman year the two had developed a very solid rhythm for chats and hangouts. If she couldn’t make it up for a long weekend Adrian would simply come down, doing the five hour drive solo with a smile on his face.

It was the leaving that was the most challenging for Adrian. 

But on weekends that it simply didn’t work out that either could go see the other, they would talk on the phone. Which was great because he learned very quickly she didn’t mind him calling her almost constantly on the phone. 

He would ramble about his day, his plans, ask her about school, her new friends. He kept on his radar who she was friends with and how they were treating her. 

Adrian wasn’t the biggest fan of her having new friends, but he kept it to himself and attempted to keep himself in check. It was a struggle, but he understood that if he didn’t come with her to college then he had to accept that some part of her would need in person connection. There was only so much he could do on the phone and on short trips to her.

The two would frequently sit in silence on the phone while she studied and Adrian tinkered or looked at weapons online, sometimes even playing video games. Occasionally one of them would speak up to share something that had happened during the day, but for the most part it felt like their usual after school hangouts, minus the actual school part. Which was always Adrian’s least favorite part, so this was significantly better.  

“Oh hey, I told you about Ethan, right?” she said, and he could hear the smile in her voice. His own smile played on his lips, as he assumed she was about to tell him some embarrassing story about a classmate. He was hoping for something with blood or at the very least public embarrassment.

“The guy that you keep running into at the dining court?” he asked, the phone smushed between his cheek and his shoulder as he played video games. His eyes focused hard on his screen.

“Yes! Okay, so last time I saw him, he asked me on a date and we went out last night and it went really well, Ade! Like really well,” she said with a light giggle, one Adrian didn’t understand but still caused a sharp twist in his stomach. “We got dinner and walked around and talked almost all night. We’re going out again in a couple of days!” she said with a wishful sigh and Adrian’s fingers stilled, dropping the controller harshly. His eyes blurred as his character on the screen died.

“Is he your boyfriend then?” Adrian blurted out, feeling hot anger flash in his voice. He could feel tears starting to well. 

“I, well maybe? He hasn’t asked me yet but I’m hoping he does,” she said, clearly confused by Adrian’s reaction. 

“Well that’s great, I hope you guys have a great wedding and have tons of fun,” he said, hanging up the phone as tears poured down his cheeks.  

He was confused by his own feelings, even more confused by how when her name popped back up on his phone he was filled with instant dread. 

He was spiraling, he knew he was spiraling, as his brain immediately jumped to a future that she had that was completely without him. It would be so easy for her to be done with him, maybe he was just a placeholder this whole time for her. He knew she’d make more friends in college and as painful as it was he knew there would be stuff in her life without him, but this felt different. 

This felt wrong. 

He didn’t answer his phone. He let it ring and ring till she gave up. It made him feel sick, but he couldn’t bring himself to answer. 

He was unsure if any of this would ever feel the same again. 

It was less than a year later. She and Ethan had officially gotten together shortly after that call, and Adrian had pulled back as much as his heart could handle. 

He would wake up and tell himself that today was the day he would go all day without thinking about her, without calling her, without texting her. He never ever lasted the full day. 

She did most of the calling, and Adrian for the most part always answered, especially when it was late at night and he knew she was walking home. He responded gently on the phone and didn't ask any prying questions. Not because he didn’t care anymore, but because he wasn’t sure his heart could handle it. 

He missed her daily, she was always on his mind, but he wasn’t sure where he lived in her world anymore. 

“Hey, do you wanna come up next weekend?” she asked and Adrian frowned, looking down at his sketchbook. He was just starting to workshop ideas for his hero name and suit. He desperately wanted to get her opinion on it but was scared that she would tell stupid Ethan. 

“I don’t know, I'm kind of busy with work and some stuff,” he said, shrugging even though she couldn’t see him. He heard her sigh on the other end and his heart ached. 

“Maybe I can come visit next weekend?” she asked, sounding hopeful. 

“Don’t you have finals or something?” 

“Adrian, it’s February.”

“I don’t know how college fucking works!” he said honestly, and she laughed lightly. Adrian’s heart pounded in his chest at the sound, missing the way she always made him happier. 

“Okay, it’s settled. I’m coming over next Friday. I want to see what you’ve been working on!” she said, and Adrian smiled. He could finally show her the beginnings of his Vigilante basement and get her help on his suit.

It was something he wanted, so for the first time since she had started dating Ethan he gave in.

“Okay.” 

The following week Adrian heard the doorbell from where he was working in the basement. His test suit was ready for her to look at.

He knew it needed improvements, his sewing was atrocious and some of his choices were probably more cool than practical, but it was a start. He just hoped she wouldn’t freak out or try to stop him from becoming Vigilante. 

“He’s downstairs, honey. He never lets me in the basement anymore but the door should be unlocked! Oh my it’s so good to see you, how’s college? Are you still doing okay?” Adrian listened to his mom talk to her as they walked down the stairs, he frowned as his mom didn’t even let her get a word in as per usual. He rolled his eyes as he went to the door, opening it just enough to stick his head out. 

“Okay, mom. I got it from here, goodbye! Thank you!” he said, and she laughed, turning towards his mom. 

“Thank you, Mrs. Chase. I’ll stop by before I go back to catch up some more I promise.” 

“Ugh, no you won’t because we’re going to hang out all weekend,” Adrian said, a smile tugging on his lips as she rolled her eyes, but his mom finally started to make her way back upstairs. “Hey, uhh before I let you in…can you promise not to freak out?” Adrian watched her as her eyebrows narrowed.

“What did you do?” she asked, immediately suspicious of him and he frowned. 

“I didn’t do anything, well I mean. I did but it’s not bad, but I just wanted to talk to you about it in person, but I don’t want you to immediately panic,” he said honestly. He saw something strange flash in her eyes. Something different, it was almost like concern, but closer to fear. What did she have to be afraid of around him?

“You’re freaking me out, Ade,” she whispered, he watched her shuffle slightly, trying to see over him into the basement. “What are you hiding?”

It was now or never. 

He moved out of the way, holding the door open for her, revealing a handful of weapons and his prototype Vigilante suit. Before she could even ask him any questions, he immediately launched into his speech he had been mentally preparing since he decided to tell her. 

“Do you remember how like, when we were kids I’d get hurt, and it would heal really quick or I’d faint and then I’d be fine after like 10 minutes? Well, I think I’m like a superhero - nothing insane like Superman, I’m not like an alien! But I think I can use my healing for good, like I’ve been going to the gym and working out and training and I think I can help make Evergreen a safer place, by becoming the Vigilante and stopping criminals. I mean you know the cops here, they’re fucking corrupt, it’s ridiculous and maybe I can help fix that,” he rambled, watching her as she moved closer to the chest plate, her fingers moving gently across the teal spray painted v shape. 

“Teal?” she said, a smile playing on her lips, and Adrian released a sharp breath, happy she was at the very least not panicking right now. 

“Yeah, it’s the best color,” he answered like it was obvious, face burning at her clear recognition of the teal matching their prom colors. He moved so he could inspect her face closer. “You’re not panicking,” he observed. 

“It’s just not what I was expecting, but your brother is friends with Chris Smith, and isn’t he the Peacemaker or some shit? This isn’t a complete surprise, I guess.” 

“Wait, what were you expecting?”

“Nothing it was just something Ethan had said that was bothering me I guess,” she said cryptically, but before Adrian could even ask what that meant she kept going, “Is this why you’ve been so weird lately?” she asked softly, hand coming to rest on his shoulder. Adrian immediately took the chance to write off his behavior as part of being nervous about becoming a hero - even if that wasn’t fully true. 

“Yeah, I just…didn’t want it to change how you see me,” he whispered, his eyes locked on hers as she seemed to melt with those words. A small sound came from her mouth before she pulled him into a tight hug. 

“You’ve always been my hero, Ade. You know that and if you think this is something you need to do, then of course I’ll support you always. I just want you to be safe and keep me updated, okay?” His heart was beating hard and fast, he almost felt faint at her words. He knew he wanted to be a hero for Evergreen, but actually hearing he was her hero this entire time, it did something to him. He couldn’t help the smile that overtook his features, he was her hero. Her hero and not because he was running around in a costume fighting criminals, but because he protected her. 

“Yeah, of course.” He said, tightly holding her back. “I was wondering while you were here if you could help me with some sewing on the suit? I want to make it so I can pop the chest piece off quickly but I haven’t been able to figure it out.” 

She pulled back, Adrian immediately missed her warmth but let her inspect his suit closer as she hummed. Adrian felt his heart pounding as he watched her touch the suit with such reverence, it made him wish he was wearing it instead of laying it out for her to look at. 

“I’ve got a few ideas we can try this weekend,” she said as she nodded, a smile pulling at her lips. “On one condition.” 

“Anything.” 

“After every patrol, I want a text or a voicemail that you’re okay. Even if all you can manage is five seconds, okay?”

“Deal.” 

It had been a few months since they had spent the whole weekend workshopping his Vigilante costume. He was so thankful she had helped him because of her use of velcro so he could pull it off with ease was unmatched, especially when he was injured or just plain exhausted. He had watched Chris fight too often with his too tight suit to want anything to do with that. He needed comfort and protection and like always she helped make it happen. 

He had also made sure to keep good on his promise. Sending texts and leaving late night voicemails so she knew he was okay. Between working and being Vigilante and her class schedule and Ethan it did mean that the two were talking considerably less than normal.

However, Adrian hadn’t heard from her in two weeks. He knew his schedule with being Vigilante meant he slept a lot during the day, but even then, she still tended to call between classes or send something so he knew that she had seen his message.

He had sent at least fifty unanswered texts and it was beginning to worry Adrian. He debated driving up to see her, just to put eyes on her to make sure she was okay. 

He had never done that before and before Ethan he would have never doubted that idea. She was always happy to see him, but now he wasn’t so sure what his place was.

Adrian would be fine if she was ignoring him in favor of something with school or if he had done something, he would not be fine if something had happened to her.

It was with that fear that after a long patrol on a Friday night that Adrian bought a couple of redbulls and some of her favorite snacks as an apology for just showing up out of the blue. He spent most of the car ride going back and forth from being excited and being petrified that he was doing the wrong thing. 

The last thing he wanted was to upset her worse, especially if she was already mad at him. 

It was always a possibility that Adrian had made her upset in some way, said the wrong thing, did the wrong thing, or simply missed a social cue. Normally though she would take a breath or if it was really bad a few days before talking to him. 

But now standing outside her apartment door, arms full of snacks he wasn’t so sure, but before he could lose his nerve he knocked. 

He heard shuffling behind the door but it wasn’t her, it was her roommate, Kate.

“Oh, hey Adrian,” she said, letting him in. Adrian awkwardly shuffled in, never knowing how to talk with the other girl. 

“Is she here?” he asked quietly. 

“Oh, she didn’t like, call you over?” she asked, tilting her head to the side. Adrian felt his heart pounding, not knowing how to handle this social situation.  

“Uh, no. I haven’t heard from her in a few weeks so I brought some treats and just wanted to put eyes on her,” he said softly and the girl nodded, clicking her tongue as she led Adrian through the apartment. 

“Probably a solid move, considering the state she’s in,” she whispered as they got closer to the door. 

“What do you mean?” he whispered back, eyes flickering to her door. 

“Ethan cheated on her,” she said as she knocked on her door. Adrian felt his entire body flood with anger. How the fuck could anyone, especially some lame guy named Ethan, do that to her? She was amazing, beautiful, kind, and just perfect and that asshole fucking hurt her. 

He wanted to kill him. 

He could, he totally could. He had his suit and his weapons in his car. He could turn around right now, sure all he knew was his name but he could figure it out. 

“Honey, Adrian is here and he came bearing gifts, come open the door.” Kate’s soft voice interrupted his murderous thoughts as he heard a soft groan come from her on the other side of the door. 

Murder can wait, first he needed to make sure his friend was okay. 

She opened the door and Adrian didn’t want to be rude but he had never ever seen her in such a state. Her eyes were bloodshot, hair was a wreck, and her skin was a mess. 

He wasn’t sure how long he stood there looking at her, but it was long enough for Kate to leave the two of them and long enough for her to fall into him, immediately sobbing. The bags of treats awkwardly between them.

“Hey, hey, you’re okay,” he murmured, slowly guiding them into her dark room. She didn’t go far from him acting as if she was glued to his side, just how he did when they were younger. Adrian tried to calm his mind as he took in the complete disarray of the room, the half eaten food on her desk, the growing amount of laundry, and the drawn blinds. It was too much, he should’ve come up sooner. 

His heart ached in his chest - how long had she been sitting like this wallowing in this pain while he simply thought of himself and only himself? 

“Hey, give me one second to set this down okay?” Adrian murmured, pressing a kiss to the top of her head while she nodded and drew herself back, still hovering close to him, as if he’d suddenly leave her if she let him out of her sight. He moved slowly, carefully. He sat the snacks down and moved to hold her in his arms, she immediately held him tightly back. 

“God, you look terrible,” he whispered looking at her face. It was then she finally cracked a mix between a sob and laugh bubbled out as Adrian immediately panicked. “Shit, I mean, fuck okay I didn’t mean it like that. You don’t look terrible, you never look terrible I just meant, I’m worried about you, you don’t seem like yourself. I mean your room looks like my room which cannot be a good thing because you’re supposed to be the one doing better!” 

“I don’t feel like myself,” she said softly, voice cracking slightly as she untangled herself from Adrian. He fought the urge to keep her close as if that would make all her problems disappear as she walked over to her bed and moved under the covers.

“What do I…how can I help you?” he asked, moving to sit on the edge of her bed, his hand coming to sit on her covered leg. Adrian fought his own panic as she sighed, deep and heavy. 

“I don’t know,” she answered and Adrian felt his own panic begin to rise. Truly not knowing what to do to make her feel better. He turned around towards the snacks he brought. 

“I have your favorite drinks, but they’re warm now. But I also have some candy, your favorite chips too. I can also go out and pick you up some real food or even ice cream if you wanted. Ice cream is what they always have after a break up in the movies, right?” he rambled, pulling everything out and lining them up on her desk as something he could at least control in some capacity. 

“Can you…can you hold me, Ade?” she asked as a harsh sob came over her, and Adrian’s hands stilled as he moved the food. It took him a moment, but once he snapped out of it he moved quickly, getting under the covers and pulling her close. She was pliable against him, instantly molding into him as she cried. 

“You’re okay, you’re okay,” he repeated like it was a mantra, like if he said it enough she would start to believe him. 

“I’m so sorry,” she cried, rubbing snot on his shirt as one of his hands rubbed circles on her back and the other weaved into her hair. 

“No, you’re okay, I don't even like this shirt. It’s kind of one of the worst ones I own to be honest, so no harm no foul at all,” he said, trying to put her at ease and she laughed, but it still sounded wrong to Adrian. It wasn’t bright and playful, it was heavy and unearned and it hurt him to hear. 

“No, that I…I should’ve texted you back or told you what happened but I was just so fucking embarrassed,” she whispered harshly. 

“You have nothing to be embarrassed about!” 

“He cheated on me for four months, Adrian and I was too fucking stupid and blind to see it.”

“You guys were only together for like five months,” Adrian said before he could stop himself, and she sobbed harder, pushing herself even closer to him as he grimaced at his inability to fucking read a room. “I could kill him, if it helps,” he murmured, pushing his nose into the top of her head, breathing her in. Even at her worst he had missed her so much. 

“What?” she croaked, looking up at him. Adrian took in her puffy face and red eyes.  

“You know a little Vigilante justice, he hurt you and you’re like the most amazing person on the planet. I’ve killed criminals for way less back in Evergreen,” he said softly, smiling as he imagined the man who had hurt her screaming in pain, begging for forgiveness he would never get from Vigilante. “I could just…make it so he never hurt you again.” 

“You’d do that for me?” she asked honestly, and Adrian blinked owlishly. 

“I’d do anything you asked of me,” he said like it was obvious, and for the first time the whole night a genuine smile played on her lips. 

“I don’t want you to kill him, but if you want to…scare him a little I think I’d be okay with that,” she whispered, snuggling close to him.

“That can be arranged." He was already thinking of various ways he could make Ethan’s life hell. 

Adrian wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing that there were no more college boyfriends to deal with post Ethan. 

He did know that it was a good thing that post college she had moved back to Evergreen, getting an apartment in the city and a local job. Meaning that whenever Adrian had a free moment he was at her apartment. 

Honestly, with or without her. 

He always tried to make sure her fridge was stocked with her favorites, if he knew of a bad day or something was coming up that she was dreading he would do his best to alleviate as much of the stress as he could. 

She never seemed to mind him in her space. Adrian frequently ended up crashing on her couch, sometimes on the floor in her bedroom if the two wanted to have a good old-fashioned sleepover. 

It was the highlight of his week. Before she had moved back, a lot of his days blended together since he was almost always either working at the restaurant, patrolling, or sleeping. She helped break up the boringness of every day.

He tried not to ask too much, she only had a one bedroom apartment so Adrian was careful to not suggest being roommates as much as he’d love that. He wasn’t sure how thrilled she’d be at his suggestion of him crashing on her couch every week and moving more of his stuff over. 

“Oh hey, I got something for you,” she said the moment he walked in. Adrian smiled as he watched her get off the couch with a stretch, her shirt riding up slightly as she walked back towards her bedroom. “Stay there, it’ll just take a second!” 

Adrian locked the door behind him and walked deeper into her living room as he rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet. Ecstatic at the idea of a gift, he was torn between hoping it was the new Pokémon game and a real surprise. 

He was surprised when she came out holding a huge duffel bag. She walked over to him smiling, handing him the bag - it was heavier than he expected. 

“Oh, thank you? I have a duffel bag though, but I mean more than one is always a good thing!” he said and she laughed, placing one of her hands on his shoulder. 

“Adrian, it’s a first aid kit,” she said with a smile and he frowned. 

“I have a first aid kit in my Vigilante room, I do keep it pretty well stocked, but I’m sure I’ll need to replace stuff at some point.” 

“Oh, I mean you can take it home if you want, but I figured we could keep this one here. That way if you ever get hurt on patrol you can come here and I can help you,” she said, looking away from Adrian almost looking shy and Adrian bit back a smile. 

“You wanna stitch me up?” he said smiling, his tone light and teasing. 

“Want to is strong, I want to make sure you’re okay. I don’t like that you’ve been sleeping in your car when you get hurt,” she said and Adrian frowned. 

“Yeah but I heal after a quick nap?” 

“Just because you do, doesn’t mean I have to like that that’s what you’re doing, Ade. I like having eyes on you, making sure you’re actually okay. You tend to let things build till they're unbearably bad.” 

“Agree to disagree,” he said with a shrug and she got a hard look on her face. One he recognized well, so he pouted.

“Adrian,” she said sternly and he groaned. 

“Okay fine! But if I start coming here after getting hurt you can’t freak out because it’ll freak me out!” 

“Jesus, Ade. Fine, deal. But if it’s really bad, I get to freak out a moderate amount.” He smiled gently at her insistence. 

“Okay, you get a 20% freak out,” he decided, and she laughed, hard, leaning against him so he wrapped her arms around her. It was a sweet gift, something he should’ve expected from her but he was still surprised. 

He couldn’t help himself, having her this close was intoxicating, he pressed a kiss to the top of her head. It was soft and not quite new, but carried words neither of them had said yet. 

She squeezed him tighter. 

It was a few months later, and Adrian had started coming over when he was slightly injured. He made sure if it was really bad, despite his promise, to stay away. Not willing to make her cry or hurt her by seeing him bleed.

But she was much better than him at stitching him up. 

However, today he had called her over to his moms house, wanting to show her some new weapons he had gotten his hands on. 

Shortly after he had showed her his new katana they had cuddled up on the couch in his Vigilante basement, not an uncommon place for the two to be. He had just finished completely regaling the whole butterfly saga to her with wide eyes as she laid on top of him. Her hands drawing shapes and patterns on his chest. 

“That sounds so fucked up, Ade. I’m glad you’re okay,” she said softly, her eyes looking up at him from where her head laid on his chest. “I wish Chris had called me when you were in the hospital.”

“Nah, I was only in there for like four hours before I left. Chris didn’t even come visit me! That’s how unserious it was,” he said, as if that made everything okay. Her hand stilled on his chest, holding flat on his chest. He wasn’t sure but it felt like she was feeling his heart beat. His hand played with her hair. 

“Some best friend,” she muttered and Adrian stilled. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“I’m just saying you always say Chris is your best friend, but some best friend to not even visit you in the hospital,” she said tensely, and Adrian’s brows furrowed, not understanding where this was even coming from. 

“Yeah, but I was fine. I’m sure if I was worse he’d visit me,” he said gently. 

“If he didn’t visit you, how’d he’d even know you’d be okay?” she asked, her voice still angry as she pulled herself off Adrian. 

“Wait what’s happening?” he asked, following her up but she wouldn’t look at him. 

“Nothing’s happening, just going to leave you to hang out with your best friend. I’m sure he’s so worried about you right now,” she said, and Adrian wasn’t the best at social cues, but he could tell that was sarcasm. 

“Wait, are you upset that Chris is my best friend?” Adrian asked, head tilting as he watched her gather her stuff. He stood there, hands drumming anxiously against his leg. He missed her warmth, he wanted her to come back and lay with him, but he didn’t know what to do to get her there. 

“I’m not upset,” she said, voice tight and even Adrian knows that she’s lying. He bit his lip, struggling to navigate through this. 

“Then why are you leaving?” he asked, eyebrows furrowed as he tried to catch up to what was happening. She sighed and Adrian watched as she forced her body to relax. 

“I just don't understand how we’re not best friends. Adrian you’re my best friend and it just hurts that after literally two decades you still won’t call me your best friend, okay?” she said, and Adrian moved towards her, but she had already backed away. Leaving Adrian alone in his basement.  

The next time she had crossed his mind in a new way she wasn’t even around. Well at least not technically. 

Finding himself in an alternative universe was one of the coolest experiences in Adrian’s life. Getting to ask himself questions about himself was even better. It was trippy how much he had in common with his alternate self, but in a way it made sense. This universe didn’t seem much different from theirs so far and Chris had said that this place was so much better than their dimension. 

“And is she still one of your friends?” Adrian asked, pulling out a picture of the two of them from the back of his phone case, the polaroid had been there since she had given it to him on a whim when he had helped her move back into Evergreen. Unpacking the boxes the two had found her old polaroid camera, she had them take two pictures together. One for her, one for Adrian. 

It had made Adrian’s heart clench when he imagined her with their picture on the back of her phone. 

“Dude, more like she’s my best friend! Of course she is!”

“Really?” Adrian asked, getting excited. He wondered if he had enough time to meet her alternative universe self. Would she talk the same? Have the same opinions? He wondered if the two met in school the exact same way and if-

“Dude, that's my wife! Of course she’s my best friend, she’s my person. Your person too, right? Did you guys have pizza at your wedding too? We did rootbeer for our toast since we weren’t 21 yet, but-” His alternative self started rambling and Adrian felt like he was about to pass out. 

“You guys got married at 20?” Adrian asked, bewildered. Did this version of her not go to college? Did he ask that of her? How could she be happy with that choice? 

“Yeah, it was the only way we could get housing together our freshman year and we both knew we were going to get married anyway. Why? Did you guys not do that?” 

Adrian felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest or he was going to faint in this suddenly too warm and familiar basement. He couldn’t believe it - his alternative self went to college, not only that but went to college with her. They got married, they had a wedding, they ate pizza and toasted with rootbeer. It was probably the best night of his life and he didn’t even get to experience it. They probably had amazing mind blowing sex with each other and it’s something Adrian could only dream about in the shower. 

“Dude, we’re not even dating!” Adrian said and his alternative self started laughing, causing Adrian to pout. 

“That is such a good joke, man! She would get a kick out of that one, I can’t wait to tell her!” 

“I’m serious! We’ve never even kissed. We’re not dating, we’re not even best friends!” 

“Who the fuck is your best friend if it’s not her?” He asked, head tilting to the side. 

“Chris Smith! The Peacemaker!” 

From there the whole conversation got away from Adrian. He had so many questions that went unanswered and he knew it was more important to make sure Ads was safe, but he couldn’t help but wonder what was the difference between him and his alternate self that made her love him. 

Post their conversation about Chris being his best friend and him returning to the right dimension, she had successfully avoided him. Avoiding him hard core. 

Texts were unanswered, calls went without being picked up, and whenever Adrian stopped by her apartment she was never home. 

He really wasn’t sure how she was doing that last part, but it was making him a mess. 

Every buzz of his phone had him rushing to answer, hoping, praying that it was her. That she finally answered him, only for his heart to plummet when it wasn’t here. He wasn’t sleeping and was having a hard time remembering to eat. He's lucky his friends have been taking pity on him and have been doing like 80% of his job for him. Killing criminals is starting to be the only thing that makes him feel semi-normal. 

He needed to talk to her. He needed to clear the air and tell her the truth, but he didn’t know how to do that if she wouldn’t let him and it was killing him. 

So he did something shitty. 

He figured that if she came back home and his Sebring wasn’t in the parking lot of her apartment she’d assume she was in the clear.

So Adrian had Ads drop him off after work and he waited in her living room. He was at least comforted by the fact that even though she was avoiding him like the plague, the pictures of the two of them and trinkets from various hangouts were still spread throughout the apartment. 

“You’re not my best friend, you’re like my person,” he said abruptly the moment her front door opened. She looked at him with a confused expression so he continued, "It’s a completely different roster, a list of one. It’s always been that way but I was too scared or too stupid to notice, but I swear to you you’re the most important person in my life, you’re the most important anything in my life. If you asked me to quit being Vigilante, I would do it in a heartbeat not because I want to stop but because you asked me and that makes it important.” He rambled, barely noticing that she was moving slowly towards him, a smile itching at the corner of her lips at his confession. 

“Really?” she said breathlessly, but Adrian kept rolling, needing her to understand this. To understand what he was trying to tell her without breaking their friendship. 

“You’ve been my person since we were in the first grade, I don’t look at anyone else the way I look at you. The way I think about you, the way I care for you, the way I want you in my life. Hell the way I need you in my life is completely different than anyone else.” 

“Adrian, but-”

“I love you,” he interrupted softly, his hands moving from her shoulder down to her hands, nervously playing with her fingers, suddenly too shy to make eye contact. “And I know we say that. We say I love you, but when I say it…I don’t mean it in the way that I love my other friends or the way I love being Vigilante or the way I love video games. I mean it in a way that you are just so much a part of me that I don’t think I could be the person in front of you today without you and your amazing influence.”  

“Adrian-”

“And I know this might ruin everything and I hate that, I hate that I have to risk everything because I don’t know what to do if you hear all this and just tell me we’re friends and that’s how it is,” he said. She moved one of her hands to his cheek, wiping away a tear he didn’t even know was there. “I just love you so much it fucking hurts sometimes, and yeah, Chris is my best friend, but you are just…so much more than that. Like calling you my best friend is disrespectful to how much you mean to me, ya know? I need you to know-”

He didn’t get a chance to finish because her lips are on his. 

She was slow and careful, Adrian was clumsy and unsure. He had dreamed of this kiss with her more times than he could count but somehow this was better than anything he had ever imagined. 

Both her hands came to cup his checks, brushing tears away as he released a full body sob against her. She laughed, it was wet and unsure as she pressed more kisses against his mouth and face. As if she had been dreaming about this the same way he had. 

“You’re okay, don’t cry,” she murmured against him and for some reason those words just released something in him, cracking at walls he had been convinced would be up for forever. 

She pulled Adrian slowly back toward the couch and he collapsed down, the shitty futon groaning under his sudden weight as she joined him slowly. 

“I love you too, Adrian. I’ve loved you for a very long time. I just figured…” she trailed off and Adrian looked at her as he sobbed. All the emotions of the confession catching up to him, even with her positive reaction it still was a lot for Adrian. 

“Figured what?” he cried, and she smiled at him. It was weak and watery as if she was about to start crying as her hands came up to his head, pulling him against her shoulder. He took a deep breath, happy to have her close again.

“I don’t know, that you’d never return my feelings. That we’d always just be friends and I’d have to accept that the only way to have you in my life was as a friend - as my best friend.”

“Well you’re my person,” he murmured against her collarbone and she chuckled, her hands playing with his curls. 

“You’re my person too, Ade. Ever since you mansplained stacking rocks to me,” she joked and Adrian pulled away, face confused and upset. 

“I was not mansplaining! I was helping you understand, come on you know I’m a feminist!” he said and she laughed before pulling him for another kiss. This one was more confident and it made Adrian smile against her lips. 

“What does this mean for us, Ade?” she asked carefully, inches away from his mouth, he leaned in for another gentle kiss. His heart was pounding at the fact he could just do that now, kiss her. 

It felt like something had been missing this whole time and the two had just discovered it. His whole body was on fire. 

“Do you wanna be my girlfriend? I wanna be your boyfriend,” he answered honestly, and she smiled as he laid his forehead against her. “Hell, I wanna be your husband, but we probably should go on at least one proper date first.” 

“I love how simple you make everything,” she murmured, hand brushing a curl behind his ear as he tilted to follow her hand. “Yes Adrian, I’d love to be your girlfriend.” 

He watched her smile as if she was debating saying something else, her eyes flickered to his hands. “And your wife, one day, but let’s do that first date first.” 

“Awesome sauce,” he whispered, unable to say anything else out of fear of combusting and she laughed, a full body laugh that made him laugh too. 

All that time, all those memories, all the questioning where he fit in was all worth it if it meant she got her. 

His classmate, his friend, his person, his soulmate.

Just her.

___

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"Ohhhhh," you groan cuddling into the bare chest you had slept on throughout the night.

Chest.

Bare.

Your eyes snap open. Whose chest was this? It certainly wasn't Adebayo's. Or Economos'. So the only other person it had to be.....

Was Adrian.

When your eyes clear a little, you look up at the face that belonged to the chest. Adrian slept soundly, mouth slightly agape as he breathed. Silly goose still had his glasses on and his hair was a wild curly mess from everything that went down last night. He looked so handsome and at peace.

You bit your lip, eyes slowly making their way back down over his body. Was he wearing a robe? It looked like a robe. Two sizes too small but a robe nonetheless. It was wide open for the world to see and showcased everything he normally hid under baggy clothes or his Vigilante suit.

After gazing at him for a few minutes, you drunkenly raise a finger and begin to trace a line along his collarbones. He shifted slightly but never woke up, only licking his lips and going right back into a deep sleep.

Your finger then continues the journey across his body, finding its way to the hollow of his throat and down over his impossibly smooth chest. A smile takes shape on your face when you realize his skin was reacting to you; goosebumps rising underneath your finger along the path it traced. You move down to his abs and feel each one, the curves and bumps feeling both soft and hard.

It's only when you feel the line of his hipbone that he begins to stir and wake up. Adrian lets out an open mouth groan that cracks along the end (which sends a thrill of excitement throughout your body) and stretches. Once settled back into the recliner, he squints and glances down at you on top of him.

"Oh. Good morning," he croaks. His voice is an octave lower than usual and you have to hold back a scream at the sound of it.

"Good morning to you too. How did you sleep?"

"Hmm," he closes his eyes. "Like there was a weighted blanket on top of me. Warm and fleshy."

You feel his arms tighten around you which was a pleasant surprise since he never initiated physical contact like this. "Well I'm glad my warmth and fleshiness felt nice. But I have to pee. Badly."

His arms automatically raised and you got up from the recliner to head to the bathroom. Economos was passed out in the bathtub, much to your disgust, but thankfully he was passed out enough to the point he never woke up as you did your business. From the kitchen you could hear talking, something about quizzing Adrian about spiders and crows. You roll your eyes while you wash your hands. Not even 10 in the morning and he's already being his normal self as if he didn't have a shit ton to drink like everyone else last night.

"No one ever quizzes me about crows or spiders!" His voice suddenly whines behind you. In the mirror he looks pouty but insanely adorable while standing in the doorway. "Are you finished pissing? I have to go too."

"All yours. I'm just brushing my teeth. My breath tastes like shit."

Beside you, Adrian takes out his dick and begins to pee. He sighs in content, even humming a little song as his stream continues. "Do you need a toothbrush? I have extras in my car."

"Ull ooze mefunguh," your finger in your mouth muffled your sentence. When he shoots you a confused look, you take it out and spit out the build up. "I'll use my finger."

"Oh. That's not as effective as a toothbrush though."

"I'll survive. I'm headed home in a few anyway so I can use proper dental hygiene there. But thanks for the concern, Doctor Chase."

He shrugs and zips himself up. After flushing he positions himself by the sink and washes his hands. "Sit on the sink for a second. I need to talk to you about something."

Uh oh. Immediately your mind tries to think of what he could possibly want to talk about, starting with last night. Did you say something? Do something? Oh god, did you guys fuck on the roof? Try as you may, not a single memory of last night's adventures came to mind. But regardless, you did as you were told and sat on the side of the sink where he stood in front of you, his bright green eyes looking you over with concern.

"You hit your head pretty hard last night," he says in a low voice.

You reach up and feel around your forehead. "I did? How?"

He taps a spot on your forehead and you hiss in pain. "Tripped and fell. You were dancing and didn't see a cord on the ground so down you went. Everyone laughed."

".....and you didn't?" This surprised you considering what he was like.

Adrian tilts his head. "No. I'd never laugh at you. Only if you say something funny. But that looked like it genuinely hurt last night. Now where's the first aid–Harcourt! Where's your first aid?"

"Under the sink where a normal person keeps it. Now stop fucking yelling! My head hurts!" She yelled back.

Adrian pulled out the first aid and popped it open. "The first rule of first aid is knowing what you're dealing with. The next is knowing how to handle it."

"Oh? And what are we dealing with? Do I have a concussion?"

He looks directly into your eyes. "I don't think so. You seem to be alert and you're not slurring your words. May I?"

He shows you the rubbing alcohol and you nod. The liquid feels cool on your forehead but it stings at the initial touch, so Adrian starts gently blowing on it like how a mother would blow on a child's cut on their knee. This was oddly touching and it made you wonder where he picked that up from.

"I should've cleaned it last night but I was so fucking out of it," he snorts at himself. "I can just barely remember taking all my clothes off while Ads and Economos doused me in beer. Do you remember that too?"

"I can barely remember cracking open the first beer. Everything after that is just murky waters." You stiffen when he gently holds your chin with two fingers and places a bandaid on the cut. "You have remarkable bedside manners. Have you done this before?"

"To someone else?" Adrian shrugs a shoulder. "No. To Peacemaker maybe but he's not as nice about it as you are. To myself? A lot. But it's not as fun doing it to yourself as it is to someone else. There you go! All cleaned up!"

You look over your shoulder at yourself in the mirror. Your forehead was starting to turn red and you feared that it was going to bruise badly. "Not bad, doc. But you still haven't told me what you wanted to talk about."

Adrian scratches the back of his neck as he puts the kit back under the sink. "Yeah. About that.....you said you loved me last night."

Fuck. "Did I? Pfft, that's probably me drunk out of my mind. I say a lot of shit when I'm plastered."

"Drunk words are sober thoughts."

His voice dropped to a whisper. You could feel his body heat as he leaned in closer, eyes dropping to your lips. When his lips touched yours, it felt like bells and whistles were going off in your head. A train whistle blew. A siren started wailing. It was a cacophony of sounds that you couldn't turn off.

What a lovely mouth he had. His lips moved slowly and sensually with yours which only made you wonder if he's done this before. He had to. With who didn't matter but movement like this only came with practice. And a lot of it. Even when his tongue lightly brushed yours, you knew damn well that he'd been waiting for this since the day you both met.

"You smell like Ivory soap," he suddenly whispers.

"Odd because I don't use that kind."

"I know but I used it on you last night. You vomited on yourself so I cleaned you up. Didn't like Harcourt's body wash so I went with that instead. It smells nice."

He was being so kind to you that you couldn't help but mash your mouth onto his again, this time with more desperation. His hands found your waist and began to massage the bone there with his thumbs. You let out a low moan, reaching for the material that held his robed closed–

"Damn, y'all finished here yet? I gotta take a shit. That dip isn't sitting well with me–" Adebayo stopped at the bathroom door, a big smile creeping up on her face. "Am I interrupting something here? Some kissing and smooching? Perhaps some snogging?"

You pull away and lick your lips. "Nothing to see here. We were just talking about stuff. I'm headed home now anyway. I just need to order an Uber." Hopping off the sink, you peck Adrian on the lips again. "Call me later. We'll talk more."

He beams. "Okay. I get off work at 11 tonight."

"I'll be awake."

You make your way out to the living room to grab your bag but not without hearing Adebayo and Adrian talking in the bathroom.

"Sir, you landed a hottie. One that will actually quiz you on animals too," Adebayo giggles.

"Isn't it great? That was our first kiss and I felt tongue!"

You roll your eyes when the two giggled again.

"Alright now get out. I gotta poop and I'm not doing it with you standing there watching," said Adebayo

"You mean I can't?"

"Fuck outta here, Adrian! Quit being weird and let a woman poo in peace!"

"Okay fine! But I'd let you do it if you asked! Just putting that out there!"

bonding exercise @mcu-binge (nsfw)

wedding crasher @mcu-binge (nsfw)

spider facts and orgasms @amoreselli (nsfw)

baby @coligraven

all tied up @outercrasis (nsfw)

locked in @croworro (nsfw)

when did you get hot @matthsluv

dick move, dude. @jesusfreaaklighter

meet my mom? @moonlight-presence (nsfw)

switching roles @moonlight-presence (nsfw)

worshipped @dyaz-stories

plenty more sharks in the sea @dyaz-stories

when a girl feels good, she’s gonna keep you around @enviedear (nsfw)

going ghost @vigilhoe (multichapter) (nsfw)

it’s so not stalking! @irisnextdoor

jealousy, jealousy @vigilantique

moronsexual @maaneskin

besties? @superbunnyrabbit

harcourt party drabble @superbunnyrabbit

x argus engineer!reader @maple-m0th

spiderman kiss @ameowwwzing

slutty little glasses @lovee-potions (nsfw)

with the suit on @klaustozier (nsfw)

take care @lovebugism (nsfw)

it’s not a date @hisonlyreid-er

[on ao3]

hot venom by startabi (nsfw)

no control by stealsteels (nsfw)

to vigilante or not to vigilante by vigilantx (nsfw)

wow, i can get sexual too by seancekitsch (nsfw)

on being watched by seancekitsch (nsfw)

no promises by murdertoothpick (nsfw)

hold on loosely by generalfoolish

she says that i’m her all time favorite by hollandoats (nsfw)

You do your best to tune him out when he brings them up, but he loves the fucking things, and he talks about them all the time. Whenever a tiny one manages to make its way into the office, someone calls over Adrian to deal with it, because he will happily trap it in a cup and bring it outside, chatting to it the entire time. He talks to them like little buddies.

Ads found one just this morning crawling across her keyboard, and summoned Adrian to deal with it, and now that you’re on lunch, he’s rambling about his spider rescue of the day.

“He was so cute!” Adrian says. “Just a tiny, itsy-bitsy guy, like the one from the nursery rhyme. He had thin little legs, but he was quick. I almost didn’t catch him before he scrambled off!”

“I’m glad you got him,” you say weakly, and you mean it, because if you knew there was a spider loose in the office right now, you might have had to feign a stomach virus to go home early.

“The little guys are so adorable,” Adrian says. “I mean, not nearly as cool as the big ones. Did you know—the biggest spider in the world eats birds?”

“That is not fucking true,” says Judomaster as he comes into the break room, making an immediate break for the snack cabinet where you keep a stash of Flaming Hot Cheetos in stock for him. “It might be called a Goliath birdeater but it does not actually eat birds. It eats other bugs and worms. Sometimes frogs. They liquify their insides and suck them dry like vampires.”

Your stomach churns, even as Adrian’s eyes light up with excitement.

“Vampire spiders?”

“Spiders can fly, too,” Fleury reminds him on his way out of the room. “Using electricity. And make milk.”

“Right!” Adrian says. “We learned that from a spider facts article! Even though I already knew that, actually, I’m a spider expert. I totally knew about the vampire spiders too, by the way. But—I didn’t know that you can buy spider milk at Whole Foods, did you know that?”

You’re still stuck on the fact that spiders can fly, and liquify the insides of their prey, two facts which you really did not need to know, because now you’re going to have a nightmare about a giant, flying, blood-sucking spider.

“That is also definitely not true,” Judomaster says bluntly. 

“Fleury said it was,” Adrian argues.

“He’s as much of a moron as you are, then,” Rip says, munching on a Cheeto.

“Why do you know so much about spiders, anyway?” Adrian grumbles.

“Because,” Rip says. “I have a pet tarantula.”

Adrian stops, his jaw hitting the floor. “No you do not.”

“Uh, yeah, I do.”

“Please let me meet your pet spider,” Adrian begs. “I take back everything I’ve ever said about you being tiny and annoying. Oh my god, what’s his name? Your spider? What’s his name?”

“Her name is Ruth.”

“Oh my gosh, I’m sorry,” Adrian says. “I should not be assuming your spider’s gender. That is so not feminist of me—”

“Females are bigger,” Rip shrugs. “And they live a lot longer.”

“I totally knew that,” says Adrian, who absolutely did not know that.

“You have…a tarantula…named Ruth?” you say faintly.

“CanImeethercanImeethercanImeether—”

“I’ll bring her to work tomorrow,” Rip agrees.

“FUCK yes,” Adrian cheers.

You feel your hands start trembling, and you move them under the table to hide it.

You work black ops. You cannot admit to your coworkers that you have debilitating arachnophobia. 

Looks like you will, in fact, be faking that stomach virus, because if you showed up to work tomorrow and a tarantula crawled across your desk, you might actually throw up everywhere, or have a heart attack and die.

“You okay?” Ads asks you as she sits down next to you. “You look like you’re gonna be sick.”

Apparently, you don’t even have to try that hard to soft-launch your fake illness. You try not to look grateful that someone else started your little white lie for you.

“Don’t feel very good,” you say weakly. “I think I’ll go home early.”

Ads feels your cheeks with the back of your hand. “You are a little warm.”

Yeah, from embarrassment, you think. Adrian’s excited smile quickly drops into a concerned frown.

“I can drive you,” he offers immediately. “You shouldn’t be driving if you’re sick, it’s dangerous.”

“I’ll be okay, Ade,” you say softly. “It’s just a headache.”

“What if you’re having a stroke! Or you have a brain tumor! Or—”

“Or she’s tired, and she needs some sleep,” Emilia says as she enters the room. “Go home, kid. Take tomorrow, too, if you need.”

“Thanks,” you say softly. You stand up slowly, and Adrian scrambles out of his seat to help you up.

“Let me walk you to your car, at least, and carry your stuff,” he says, taking your hand and walking you through the office, making a pit stop at your workstation. “Just your bag at your desk, right?”

“Adrian, you don’t have to—”

“I want to,” he says. “Please.”

“Okay,” you give in. “Yeah. Just my bag. Thank you.”

He holds the door for you as you walk out to the parking lot, and opens your car door, too, tossing your stuff into the passenger seat. 

“Do you need anything else? I can run to the store and get you some medicine or soup or ginger ale or—”

You feel terrible for making him worry. He frowns as he looks down at you, rambling off a grocery list of things you might want or need, and you just—hug him. He stops talking and wraps his arms around your shoulders immediately, returning your embrace. 

He’s never touchy with anyone else, but you are, and he’s never minded. You listen to him talk too much, he accepts your affection. When both of your cups are spilling, the other one is there to catch the overflow.

“I promise, if I need anything, I will call you,” you say, your nose smushed into the fabric of his shirt.

“Okay,” Adrian says quietly, and when you look up at him, he pats you on the cheek fondly. His hand is so big it covers almost your entire face. “Feel better. Quick. Economos doesn’t like it when I talk too much. He’s a sorry placeholder for you.”

You smile.

The next day, you wake up early and stare at the ceiling for a long time, thinking about whether you’ll be able to suck it up and go into work. Then you think about how much shit you’ll get from the entire team when they find out about your stupid phobia, and you shoot Emilia a text and tell her you’ve got a fever.

Not a minute after the start of the work day, Adrian texts you.

Harcourt says you’re still sick?????? Are you dying?????????????? 

Please don’t do that it would ruin my life actually 🧜🧜🧜

You feel a little guilty for making him worry.

I’ll be okay. Don’t worry about me. I hope you enjoy meeting Ruth today.

NOOOOOOOOOOO you’re gonna miss Ruth 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭

While you might not have Adrian yapping away in your ear, he texts you. All day. Nonstop. Your phone buzzes, and buzzes, and buzzes, like he’s filtering his stream of consciousness right through to you, riddled with far too many emojis. There’s no such thing as an inside thought with him.

You have a fever, right?

I’m googling your symptoms 🔎

According to 18th century witches, you might need to try bloodletting

Do you have any leeches? 🐛🐛🐛

I could probably get some for you at a pet store let me look it up

The office is freezing I think it’s because you’re not here 🥶

Like one less person’s body heat, you know?

But idk it’s never that cold when Ads is out sick

You just make me feel warm I guess

That’s weird I should probably get that checked out 🤔

Harcourt is yelling at me for being on my phone ☹️

You snort at that one. Get off your phone, then!

But I’m talking to you!!

The updates are nonsensical and constant, just like Adrian’s usual ramblings throughout the work day. You start to look forward to whatever batshit crazy thing he’s going to say next.

Then comes the jump scare—Adrian texts you a picture of him holding Rip’s tarantula, and you shriek and nearly drop your phone. The thing is massive, taking up Adrian’s entire large palm, and—you felt his hand on your face only yesterday. That spider is literally as big as your head.

“Fuck no,” you whisper furiously, and you instantly delete the picture. But Adrian just keeps chatting, text after text coming through one after the other.

She is so friendly and nice and fuzzy

Maybe Judomaster doesn’t actually suck that bad

But I asked him if Ruth could stay in the office and he said no 😕

This is still like the best day of my life

Well

It would be

If you were here too

Something about that last message gives you pause. You have no idea how to respond, so you just…don’t. You let it sit for a few hours, and take your impromptu “sick” day to get some chores done, like tackling the pile of laundry that’s been building up in the corner of your bedroom for an embarrassingly long time, and just…relax. Plop down on the couch to watch some mindless television, take a midmorning nap to catch up on sleep after your last long, exhausting mission.

Around noon, you’re scrolling through a food delivery app, considering what to order for lunch, when you’re startled by a loud banging on your front door.

“What the fuck,” you mutter, and when you get up and look through the peep hole, you’re even more confused. You swing the door open. “Adrian?”

His fist is still raised in midair, where he was pounding on the door, and he looks at you with wide eyes. “Hi!”

“Hi,” you say slowly. “What…are you doing here?”

“I came to check on you!” he says brightly, holding up a brown paper bag. “It’s lunch time, I brought you some soup!”

“You left work and drove all the way over here to check on me?”

“Harcourt told me I could,” he says. “I think I was getting on her nerves. I thought about just climbing up your fire escape and peeking through your window, but I decided that would be creepy.”

“Good call.”

“So this is me, uh, checking on you. Making sure you’re alive. I mean, I knew you were alive, because you’ve been responding to my text messages, obviously. Except the last one! About Ruth! Did you see the picture? I thought maybe you were sleeping, I know you’re not feeling good—”

“I—what—” You pause. “There’s a tarantula at work, and you’re here instead?”

“Well, you’re more important than the tarantula,” Adrian says. “She was cool, and all, but you’re way cooler. Listen—I was in line at the deli waiting for this soup, for like, forever, and I have to pee so bad can I please use your bathroom—”

You laugh. “Oh my god, yes, why didn’t you say anything! Go!”

Adrian shoves the paper bag into your arms and makes a beeline down your hallway. 

You take the soup into the kitchen and place it on the counter, then pull out some bowls.

“Are you gonna stay for lunch?” you call down the hall.

“Sure,” he says. “Oh my god, look at you!”

“Look at me?” you ask, and you look up as Adrian comes into the kitchen holding one of the tiny paper cups you keep on the bathroom counter. He shoves it toward your face.

You shriek and leap backwards.

“Oh my god oh my god get it out of here did you find that in my bathroom I am never going to be able to go in there again fuck—”

Adrian just looks at you, bewildered. “What—”

“The SPIDER TAKE IT AWAY—”

His eyes go wide when he realizes what’s going on. “Oh! Okay.” He doesn’t say anything, just immediately walks to the front door and lets the spider loose in the grassy area near the parking lot, several yards away, while you watch, tense, from the window.

When he comes back inside, you’re still clutching the windowsill, and he’s looking at you curiously.

“You work black ops,” he observes.

“Uh huh.”

“And…”

“And I’m afraid,” you admit. “Of…spiders.”

Adrian stares at you.

“You can’t tell anyone,” you say quickly. 

“Why?” he asks, confused.

“Because Chris will call me a pussy until the end of time if he finds out about this! I’ll never, ever live it down—”

“No, I mean—why are you afraid of spiders?” he asks, genuinely. “Spiders are so cool!”

“They are not cool. They are freaky looking and apparently some of them can fly and liquify the insides of their prey and that is fucked up—”

“How come you never said anything?” Adrian says, frowning. “I talk about spiders all the time. I would have stopped if I knew it was stressing you out, or making you uncomfortable.”

“It’s embarrassing,” you whine. “I don’t want anyone to know. That’s why I called out today. I’m not sick, I just couldn’t be in the office at the same time as Rip’s tarantula. I wouldn’t have been able to keep it together.”

“I won’t tell,” Adrian says. “I promise.”

“Thank you,” you say gratefully. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m afraid of ghosts,” Adrian offers. “And demons. I generally do not fuck with paranormal or witchy shit. I think it’s terrifying. Chris thinks it’s goofy. I’m just trying to make sure a blood curse doesn’t fall upon myself or my family.”

It’s your turn to stare. “O…kay. Thank you? For sharing.”

“No problem,” he says easily. “Everyone is afraid of something silly. And I will protect you from the spiders, if you protect me from the ghosts and demons.”

You smile. “That sounds like a deal.” He grins. “Do you mean it? You think I’m cooler than Rip’s tarantula?”

“What is Ruth gonna do to protect me from the demons?” Adrian scoffs. “Her brain is so tiny. Not that spiders aren’t smart, but—” He cuts himself off. “Sorry. We just established the fact that you don’t like spiders, so I’m gonna shut the fuck up about spiders.”

“You can talk about spiders all you want,” you say softly. “As long as you stick around to take care of any creepy-crawlies for me.”

“I can do that! I’ll need to run home and grab some stuff from my mom’s, though, if I’m gonna move in and be your spider bodyguard. You don’t have a guest bedroom, though, right? I guess I could sleep on the couch—”

Your eyes widen, and your face goes hot. “Um—wha—I did not mean move in. I mean. You’re skipping over a couple really big steps there, Ade. Maybe…we start with dinner?”

“Dinner?” Adrian repeats, confused, looking in the direction of your kitchen and pointing. “But I just brought you lunch—”

“I mean,” you interrupt. “Dinner, like. A date.”

Now Adrian’s eyes widen. “Oh! Oh. I would…like that. Yes. We should. Get dinner.” He looks at you with blatant shock. “You really want to go on a date with me? I never shut up.”

“Well, yeah,” you say shyly. “I like it when you talk.”

“I like you,” Adrian says. “When you talk, or when you don’t talk and you just listen to me, or you hug me. I don’t like hugs from other people but you do it right. You don’t squeeze too tight, or make me feel trapped—”

He stops talking when you do just that—hug him just the right way, gentle and firm, not too tight. He pats your head, like he always does, and he smiles.