Acceleration

Chapter 23: A Date?

The stress of keeping his friends in the dark about his secret identity had finally let up. Erin was able to leave the hangouts to stop crime and be back in seconds without having to make excuses. The past month has been perfect. Only one of his friends remained clueless about his secret.

Elizabeth managed to ditch Charlie and come up on the group. Despite her protests, he'd been following her since school started.

"Hey guys," she said, clearly tired from her harassment.

Everyone in the group greeted her. Erin felt terror pumping through his veins. Lisa had finally convinced him to do it. Fighting supervillains was nothing, but asking a girl out? That was horrifying.

Ashley sprinted up to the group and smiled. As much as Erin didn't like her, he had to admit she always had a smile on her face. Now that she was here, he could begin.

"Hey, Liz?" He muttered. Her eyes met his and he felt his face flush.

"Are you busy later?"

She shook her head, "I don't have anything going on, why?"

"I was wondering if you'd wanna grab dinner?"

Ashley's face fell, and she butted in, "As a group function right?"

Silence covered the group.

"I was thinking more like a date..."

Elizabeth's face was quickly taken by surprise, before utter joy.

"I would love to!"

"When and where?"

"Let's go in three hours, Buca di Beppo!" She was almost jumping up and down. She hugged Erin before running to her car with Lisa.

"No way she said yes."

Tommy practically jumped on Erin's back.

"I told you she would dude!"

Erin smiled as Marlin hugged him too. He'd won.

"Come on, we need to get you dressed up, man," Tom said as he pulled him toward his mom's car.

Ashley watched as the guy she envisioned her entire life with was torn away from her. Her brow furrowed. No, some gross emo chick with a purple streak in her hair wouldn't steal Erin away from her. Nobody would.

***

Erin's mom pulled up to the front of the Italian restaurant. She had her hands in his hair, making sure it was swiped perfectly.

"Mom, I spent an hour doing my hair, it's fine."

She shook her head, "It's your first date, baby, you need to look your best."

"You said I looked gorgeous back at the house," he joked. She kissed him on the cheek.

"You do baby, get going."

Erin climbed out of the car and saw Liz standing at the door. She was wearing a light blue bodycon dress with a short silver jacket. It shined in the lights of the restaurant.

"Wow, you look..." Tanya's words rang in his ears, "Gorgeous."

"Wow, now I'm blushing," she chuckled. She held her hand out for him to take. A spark jumped between their hands as he took it.

"Electric," Liz laughed. Erin smiled, not admitting the jolt was probably from his powers. The couple got a table and sat across from each other. Liz stared at the menu, while Erin stared at her.

"You wanna share a pizza?" She asked. Erin shrugged.

"I don't care as long as I get to share it with you."

Liz hid her face with her menu. Erin could feel her face heating up from his seat.

"I probably won't eat much though."

Erin shrugged.

"So I have a question," he asked. She nodded.

"What's up?"

"So, we like each other right?"

Liz blushed, "Yeah..."

"And we're on a date."

"Correct."

"Are we," Erin raised an eyebrow, "a couple?"

Liz grinned like a giddy schoolgirl, but something interrupted it. Her smile faltered.

"I have to tell you something..."

Erin's heart dropped. Nothing good ever came from that statement.

"What, do you like Charlie too?"

"NO!" She said loudly. She silenced herself when she got a look from the people over a table.

"He's weird, he's not a good person. You're... amazing."

Erin felt the 'but' moving closer.

"You and your friends have made me so happy for months now and I have you to thank for that."

"So what's the catch?"

Elizabeth took a deep breath.

"Erin, I'm sick."

He was shocked. He couldn't even respond. So she continued.

"It's terminal. Doctors say if I'm lucky I'll have a year."

"I- I didn't know. I'm so sorry."

"It isn't your fault. I told Lisa a while back and she convinced me to make moves on you."

Liz smiled somberly.

"Is there anything I can do?"

"No," her answer was instant, "I didn't even want to date you."

Erin felt his heartbreak. It must have mirrored on his face because Liz immediately rethought her words.

"That isn't what I meant. I mean..." she sighed, "I don't want to get into a committed relationship with you, make you fall in love with me, then die and leave you alone."

Erin couldn't speak. The emotions flowing through his body were stronger than any lightning bolt that could ever hit him.

"I just don't want to hurt you."

A tear rolled down her face. Erin leaned over the table and wiped it.

"I understand. If you aren't comfortable with us being together, we don't have to be together."

"Are you sure?" Liz asked, her voice broken. Erin nodded.

"But... you've been completely honest with me. It's time I be completely honest with you..."

She sniffed, "You haven't been honest with me?"

He shrugged, "Come on, let's go outside."

She nodded and picked her purse up, following Erin into the parking lot. He pulled her into the alley behind the building.

"This is kinda creepy," Liz muttered.

"Just, hold on."

Erin pulled the suit out of his pocket.

"What is that?"

Erin didn't respond. Instead, he sped his body up and pulled the costume on at superspeeds.

Elizabeth looked at him with shock on her face.

"You're..."

"Yeah... I'm Hypersonic."