Page 49 of Day

Chapter Twenty-Five

Lilith

A week had flown by since the burning school, and shit has been nuts ever since.  Most people were happy and thanked us for helping the kids that day, but there were some whispers about people who were afraid of us. I tried not to pay attention to it. Charles had been right; I had been living a shitty life before, and I was embracing the one I stumbled upon as best as I could.

I only got to hang out with him for about an hour before I had to run and stop a car chase that was coming toward his apartment complex. It was nice to be around someone so familiar, but I kept getting a weird feeling coming off of him, like he wanted to talk to me about something. Every moment he would attempt it, he ended up messing with me about Lilith or something else.  My mind kept worrying over the worst, that something was wrong with his health. He hadn’t said anything to me about any new surgeries, or issues he might have been having, so I made sure to text him every day to make sure he was doing okay.

So far, he’d been good.

Everyone had been good.

Draco tried not to leave headquarters often, and when he did he went out to his property surrounded by all the trees.  He was definitely not a crowd person, so I could tell he was not a fan of the new situation with us. Rose was doing all right; most of them were still in secret about their powers, so the public wasn’t as into them as they were me. Phillip was doing what Phillip did—somehow managing everything like it was no sweat to him. He had let the people of the world know about what we were trying to do, and that was it, not going into details about anything else.

Lilith wasn’t bothered in the least bit by any of it. She danced, did her thing, and that was that.

Every night she slept in my bed, and every night we found a new way to explore each other.

I was hopeful that everything would calm down soon.

In the meantime, crime had almost stopped in the city. Maybe the bad guys were scared that someone was bigger and tougher than they were, or it was the calm before the storm.

So I trained hard.

I worked with Draco on fighting techniques, and controlling my powers more, trying to be prepared for whatever came our way.

Phillip strolled out of the elevator as I was hitting the punching bag while Draco helped Rose on defeating a person with a knife. She was doing okay so far, but really Draco wouldn’t hurt her, so she had that going against her.

“We’ve got a new member I want to introduce to you guys.” His eyes flicked to me with something I swore looked like remorse, but then his gaze turned back to the others. Okay then.

I swiped my sweat rag and water before cleaning myself off a bit and heading toward Phillip.

Rose and Draco were right behind me as the elevator opened again, and I felt my knees give out.

“Charles?”

Why was he here? I didn’t understand.

My lungs felt like they were shriveling up, that breathing was an impossible task right now.

“Charles designed your communicators, and will be officially working with us to create all sorts of gadgets we will need.” Phillip looked at Charles, who wheeled over to him, then at the two standing next to me, completely avoiding my eyes.

“Leon, are you okay?” Rose put her hand on my shoulder. She wasn’t pushing any power in me to influence my emotions, she was just there as a friend.

“Let’s go upstairs and let them talk,” Draco suggested, and Rose nodded.  Draco usually knew what was best, and this time he was right. I had a lot I wanted to say to my friend right now. Phillip nodded at Charles and left with the others. I waited till the door to the elevator closed before letting out a string of curses.

“Dude, what the fuck? Why are you here?”

“I’m joining the team.”  I looked at him like he was joking.

“I’ve been doing some work for the military for a few years, and Phillip had hired me to do your communicators. Since then he’s been asking me to join.  I’m sorry I’ve kept this side of my life away from you, but with your constant pity party going on, I just couldn’t even figure out when to tell you.” He was giving me a serious look and I wanted to roll my eyes.

“I get it, I was a fucking shithead, but seriously? I told you everything about me.”

“And I’ve been there for you through all of it. But you couldn’t see out of your own anger and guilt to see what was right in front of you. You have a good fucking life and every opportunity imaginable! But you wasted away on that crab boat, running from everything. At least now you’ve gotten your balls back and you’re living life for once.” He wasn’t angry but there had been some pent-up issues that were coming out now apparently. I scoffed even though he was right.

“I lost my chance at football—hell, I lost my chance at doing lots of stuff in life. But I moved on. I found my silver lining. I’m a fucking genius when it comes to this shit, and I’ve been living my life the best I can. This is the best I can, doing something I’m good at. Something I believe in. Something I can do with my best friend.”

His last words slayed me. I was being a selfish prick. Again.

I knew words wouldn’t be enough, but it was like he just sucker-punched me in the gut. My legs were swift as I walked over to him and held my hand out for a manly shake. He smiled and quickly slapped my hand.

“Welcome to the team,” I told him, and truly I wished I had said that when I first saw him, instead of acting like a dick to my best friend.

“I’ve got so much shit planned for you guys.” He laughed in an evil genius kind of way, and I patting him on the shoulder.

“I’m sorry I’m a shithead, Charles.” It had to be said. I was trying to not be that guy that ran away from everything; it was hard at times, since I’d been doing it for so long.

“Someone’s gotta keep you off the ledge,” he laughed and started rolling toward the elevator.

“Let’s get something to eat, and I’ll tell you all about it.” I walked behind him and pressed the button for the restaurant.

Time to talk things out with my friend—apparently there was a lot I didn’t know, and I was ready to get to know the real Charles that he’d been keeping from me.

This time when his face lit up about the devices he’d developed for the military that had saved lives, I smiled at him and told him I was proud of him. He hadn’t given up on living when he lost movement in his legs; he kept going and found what he was good at.  This time when the feelings of being a shitty friend arose, I pushed them out of my head. They didn’t belong in my head anymore. Now I was aiming to be a better friend to the man who had stood by me while I tried to drag him down.