Superheroes 3

5

Arthur knew he was busted the second his dad told him in the morning that they were gonna stay home and talk.

The rest of his family headed out and Arthur would rather be in school right now than hear what his dad had to say.

They took a seat in the living room and he avoided eye contact while he tried to decide his approach.
"Are you smoking weed?" His dad asked.

"Nope." Arthur flat lied.

Niall sighed deeply.
"I know you were high yesterday."

"Why do you ask if I was high then when you apparently already know the answer." Arthur snorted.

"Because I hoped you would be honest with me." Niall replied.

Arthur just shrugged his shoulders and waited for his father to yell at him, except he didn't. For the next forty minutes, he had to listen to his dad's rant about why drugs were bad for him until he couldn't take it any longer. It had been one thing if his dad had been angry at him but he just expressed sadness, concern, and despair. That was so much worse.
"Okay! I promise I won't smoke weed ever again!" He had decided to quit anyway. He didn't like how slow it made him.

"I'm so happy to hear that but I hope you understand that I'm waiting to see if you hold that promise." Niall answered.

"Yeah." Arthur replied.

"I'm so sorry that my ability forced you to do drugs just to have some privacy. It can be a real curse sometimes but I promise that I won't actively try and pry on your thoughts." Niall said unhappily.

"I know you can't control it, Dad, and don't blame yourself for my bad decisions." Arthur sighed.

"Thanks for saying that, son. I will at least try to control it. My friend's kids at least thought about cinnamon rolls instead of assholes when they wanted privacy." Niall smirked.

"I'll change the word." Arthur chuckled.

"I know you've struggled for a while now. Is there anything me or your mum can do to make it easier for you?  You know we both love you unconditionally, right?" Niall said and squeezed Arthur's arm.

"Right." Arthur mumbled. He felt like shit. He knew they loved him. He also knew what a disappointment he was, all normal and boring.

"Arthur, we don't care that you don't have an ability. We love you just the same, maybe even more. You and your sisters are my biggest dream. I never thought I would have a family of my own. My ability made it really difficult to find someone and I had to wait a long time until I met your mum. She's the sweetest of angels. She rarely thinks a bad thought about anything. Do you know how rare that is?" Niall said.

"I can't read people's thoughts, so no I don't know that." Arthur huffed.

"It's very rare. Anyhow, we worried when you were growing up about the abilities you would have and how they might affect you and how they could make life difficult for you." Niall said.

"Well, you don't have to worry about me, do you?" Arthur snorted.

"That's the thing, we worried so much about what kind of ability you would have that we never even considered that you wouldn't get one and how that would affect you. I'm sorry about that, Arthur. Just know that you don't need an ability to be special. You're Arthur! That's pretty special, if you ask me. You're perfect just the way you are." Niall said.

Arthur wished he could believe him.
"Right."

Niall sighed when he heard his thoughts. He didn't comment on it because he didn't want Arthur to feel like he was prying again. It broke his heart that Arthur thought so little of himself. He and Claire had to boost his self-confidence but it didn't seem like Arthur believed a word he just said.
"Alright, good talk." He said instead and petted Arthur's knee.

"I guess you're dropping me off at school now?" Arthur said.

"Since we're already playing hooky today, how about a guy's day? Let's raid your mum's beauty cabinet, put on some face masks, eat ice cream, and watch a movie?" Niall suggested with an excited smile.

His dad was so silly to get overly excited over gunk you put on your face but they hadn't hung out just the two of them in a while and Arthur had actually missed that. His dad was super goofy and embarrassing but he was still his dad, and a good one. Arthur had friends whose parents didn't seem to want to spend time with their kids. His parents were the other way around and even if he felt smothered sometimes he secretly appreciated it.
"Sure."

His dad looked so happy and got up from the couch.
"Come on!"

They headed to his parent's bathroom and his dad opened the drawer.
"Alright, I think I'll go with the peachy one. How about you?"

"Whatever." Arthur shrugged.

His dad handed him a facemask.
"Your mum always makes a point about cleaning your face before you apply these. Here, put some of this on a cotton ball." Niall said.

Arthur did as he was told. They cleaned their faces before they started to apply the masks. His dad was giggling the whole time and Arthur rolled his eyes at him. Since his dad was old and all he figured this was the most fun he had in ages.

"So, any potential partner in your life?" His dad asked. Why did he always have to be so awkward? Arthur appreciated that he didn't assume things at least and used the word partner instead of girlfriend.
"Nope."

"Anyone you got your eyes on?" Niall pushed.

"Not really." Arthur replied.

"Take your time. I have enough to deal with when it comes to your sisters. They think of boys 70 percent of their awake time." Niall chuckled.

"Eeew, Dad! That's so gross!" Arthur whined.

"What? They're teenagers. Of course, they'll think about stuff like that." Niall defended his daughters.

"Yeah, but you hearing them think about it?" Arthur pointed out.

"Well, I get out of there quickly. It's not like I'm enjoying it, Arthur. I'm not perverted." Niall sighed unhappily.

"Still." Arthur said.

"I had to listen to your uncle Harry and Louis when they were younger. That was rough. Still is, to be honest." Niall chuckled.

"They're dirty?" Arthur laughed in surprise.

"My lips are sealed. Let's get the ice cream. Dead Pool?" Niall said.

"Sure."Arthur agreed.

He had a great day with his dad at least until he answered something he was thinking instead of saying.
"Don't do that!" He growled.

"I'm sorry. Sometimes I mix it up, you know? It sounds the same to me." Niall apologized.

"It's not okay!" Arthur shouted and stormed off to his room and slammed the door behind him.

Niall sighed.