Page 32 of The Not So Super Hero

N atalia and Nate stepped out of Zane’s apartment. Bailey perked up. They weren’t as long as he suspected, although that was equally worrisome.

Nate frowned. Natalia rubbed her tired eyes.

Their expressions worsened his concern. Nate took notice of Bailey and scowled.

He may have been a tad shorter than Bailey but was built beneath that hoodie.

It made him appear intimidating. Then again, to Bailey most people were intimidating.

He wasn’t exactly a fighter, more like a tall punching bag.

“Do yourself a favor and stay away from Zane,” Nate said.

“Why would I do that?” Bailey asked, wondering when he arrived in a cheesy sitcom.

“If you don’t, what happened the other day will keep happening, but Zane may not always be there. In fact, you should just assume that he won’t be there at all.” With that, Nate snapped his fingers at Bailey like what he just said was a joke and walked away.

Natalia offered an apologetic smile, then followed Nate.

They disappeared down the hall. Bailey briefly worried he missed an opportunity to speak with them, to learn a few secrets.

However, he ultimately wanted the truth from Zane.

It would take time, probably a hell of a lot more than Bailey had the patience for, but when it happened it would make the moment even more special.

Pushing away from the wall, Bailey approached Zane’s apartment.

The air had grown tense and cold, a concerning sensation lingering in the air like the aftertaste of pop rocks.

He reached for the doorknob, wondering if Zane still wanted him to stick around.

Then the door opened without warning to smack him in the face.

“Damn it!” Yelping, Bailey stumbled back while clutching his throbbing nose. At least his glasses were ok, he was going to end up spending all his money on replacing his damn glasses.

“You should know not to stand so close to a door with your luck,” Zane said.

Huffing, Bailey glared with slightly watery eyes. However, upon spotting the sheer sorrow on Zane’s face, he softened. He looked like a child; lost and sad after having lost their most prized possession.

“The talk didn’t go so well?” Bailey inquired, his voice hardly carrying enough volume to be heard.

Zane shrugged, then gestured for Bailey to come in.

Zane’s lack of snark and request for silence was as worrisome as getting lost at sea.

The same feeling from the hall lingered in the apartment, only ten times worse.

Bailey wasn’t even sure what it was from or why it was doing it but his teeth were on edge because of it.

Zane kept his distance. While he wished the boy to be there, he wasn’t sure what to do. He wasn’t the best company right now, yet he wanted Bailey there. No, he needed someone there, for once. Being alone meant being stuck in his own head. Right now, that wasn’t a good idea.

While Zane was mentally fretting, Bailey did the same. Each time he thought he came up with every question he could, another popped up. In the end, he simply wished to ask Zane who he was. A fear bubbled in his chest that he would never know.

Zane didn’t utter a word. Though the TV was on, it felt as if the sound was off.

The idea of sitting around watching TV was not one Bailey felt like doing.

Sitting in that silence, the one that was eating away at their consciousness, wasn’t a good idea.

The very air itself felt almost hostile, and it would not do either of them any good.

The best option was to leave. At least, that was how Bailey felt.

Hoping that Zane would be cooperative, Bailey asked, “Why don’t we go out?”

The moment Bailey asked, he regretted it because that phrasing caused him to go red up to his ears. Zane took notice of his reaction, that frown of his twitching into a smirk for a mere second.

“Uh, like, go see a movie?” Bailey suggested.

“There’s nothing I want to see.”

“Dinner?”

“We just ate.”

Why did Zane make things so bloody difficult? Bailey was going to end up ripping his hair out. Looking around the limited space, Bailey observed the movies and games on Zane’s shelves.

“Let's go to the arcade!”

Zane snorted. “Are you twelve?”

“Close enough.” Bailey shrugged before taking Zane by the hand. Maybe his cheeks warmed at the action, but there was no need to point that out. “Come on, let’s go. Everyone likes a good arcade game!”

“And if I don’t?” Zane didn’t pull his hand away from Bailey’s either.

“You’d be a liar.” Bailey tugged at him, becoming quite surprised at how easily he followed. Bailey suspected some resistance, maybe more arguing or Zane refusing to move, but he put no strength in his legs.

He easily pulled Zane to the door, where they both slipped on their shoes and a jacket. Bailey had his keys in hand and Zane’s hand in the other. His heart raced, stomach did backflips, and mind melted into a pile of useless goo.

When they got in the car, Zane asked, “Do you even know where the arcade is?”

“Uh…I can look it up on my phone?”

Zane rolled his eyes, leaning into the seat like he expected it to be a long ride.

Scowling, Bailey took that as a challenge.

He retrieved his phone to search for an arcade that ended up being fifteen minutes down the road.

With a triumphant ‘ha’, Bailey showed it to Zane like he won something.

Zane chuckled when they got lost five minutes later.

“Where the hell do I turn?” Bailey groaned, mentally cursing his phone that was giving absolutely shitty directions.

Zane shrugged. “Shouldn’t have suggested an arcade if you didn’t know how to get there.”

“You know how to get there, don’t you?”

Another shrug.

“The longer we stay on the road, the more likely we are to get into an accident,” Bailey mentioned.

“Turn right.” Seemed Zane wasn’t ready to die just yet.

Bailey snickered, doing as Zane said while feeling victorious at having made him give up the directions.

He continued the directions until they pulled into the parking lot of a large arcade.

They stepped out to head for the doors. Bailey entered first. Zane followed while twiddling with his lip ring.

He kept his head down and gaze on the floor.

He even stayed close to Bailey, behind him like he was trying to separate himself from the crowd.

Games and chatter filled the space, accompanied by joyous laughter and the groans of a recently lost game.

Bailey retrieved tokens for them at a nearby station.

Parents sat in the restaurant area enjoying a pizza as they let their kids have fun.

The arcade was filled with life, booming literally.

It definitely wasn’t a spot Bailey could envision Zane being in, yet there he was behind him, seeming to wait on Bailey to decide what to do next.

Zane hated social gatherings. He disliked crowds more than anything, made him anxious and claustrophobic.

The idea of being squished like a bunch of sardines made his skin crawl.

Everything was too loud. The lights were too bright.

There were far too many people; Zane’s head felt like it was going to explode without his headphones.

However, before he could mention any of that, Bailey spoke up, “Let’s play something I’ll win at. ”

He ran towards the basketball game. For whatever reason, Zane so easily focused on Bailey that the surrounding noise seemed to die down. It became almost nonexistent and though, deep, very deep down, Zane understood why that happened. He merely didn’t want to face it just yet.

“This isn’t a competition,” Zane said, though followed Bailey’s steps.

Bailey was too busy envisioning his win to care what Zane had to say.

He slipped the token in and the game began.

Zane took the machine at his side. Bailey threw the ball haphazardly, trying to score as fast as he could, while Zane started beside him.

Much to Bailey’s displeasure, Zane was good and actively taking part.

“Oh, ok, start being active when it comes to beating me, I see how it is.” Bailey scowled at Zane’s score, that only continued to go up. Unlike Bailey, he took his time, but he had the advantage! He was taller and had longer arms! At least Bailey kept using that as an excuse.

“If I get something good out of it, I’ll participate,” Zane said with his signature grin.

“You’re awful.”

“Thanks.”

Zane won, even if he kept stating it wasn’t a competition. Next, they went for some first-person shooters. Zane was not as active here.

“Take this seriously or we’re going to die!” Bailey exclaimed and a second later, they did exactly that. “We died!”

“You jinxed us.”

“No, I didn’t! You stopped shooting!” Bailey pointed at Zane, who had the plastic gun already back in its holster. His expression, however, said that, yeah, he stopped shooting on purpose to piss Bailey off. “We wasted two tokens on this game and hardly got any tickets!”

“I get a prize out of this either way.”

Confused, Bailey looked at Zane with furrowed brows. Before he could ask why though, Zane elaborated by saying with a sly grin, “Seeing you get riled up is prize enough.”

“I’m going to kill you.”

But Zane’s death never came because there were more games to play.

The two lost count after hours of playing.

Zane’s expression shifted from sour to happy, like Bailey had hoped.

It was far better to see that smile on his face, the one that said he was enjoying himself.

It was better to see those bright blue eyes sparkling with amusement and actual happiness.

Bailey would take such an expression over anything else in the world.