Superhero

Chapter 137

Giuseppe gulped as he turned to the rest, the Superhero still in his arms. "Do you think he's okay with us looking at his face?"
"Is he even okay at all?" Jordan piped up. "Because he's been thrown around a couple of times, but he's still out-cold."
"I think we should look at him," Giuseppe sighed and slowly helped the Superhero back onto the sofa. Addison and Felicia helped him prop the Superhero onto his side with his head resting on the propped cushion.
"We should take his hood off, he needs more air," Felicia said and slowly reached up to pull off the hood.
By then, they already knew that the Superhero had black hair and the big reveal made all of them gasp.
"Jeff?!" Everyone exclaimed, almost in unison.
"Oh, gosh, it's Jeff?!" Addison staggered back and fell onto the couch. "Oh... oh darn. I did not expect that. He was always so excited whenever it came to the Superhero."
"Bro was probably enjoying himself as you spoke all about him," Jordan added.
Addison sighed. "Oh, Jeff. It was him all along and I didn't even know."
"No wonder he was always so tired," Jake added. "He went home drained every night."
Felicia turned to Addison. "Do you know how long he's gonna be out?"
Addison shrugged, her shoulders wobbling slightly. "Maybe a couple of hours. But tonight was a lot for him. So probably more than that."
Felicia sighed and regarded Jeff, then went over and carefully pushed the strands of hair away from his pale face. "He'll be okay, right?"
"I hope so," Addison sighed. "Poor Jeff. I never knew it would be him."
Addison quietly ate her meal and the rest proposed to take turns staying awake to look after Jeff. Addison volunteered to go first, but Giuseppe insisted on doing so instead. So did Jordan.
"You rest now, Addie," Felicia said, touching Addison's head. "You have had a long night."
Addison pursed her lips. "Something that I wouldn't be able to forget as well."

Addison's family was worried that she didn't call, seeing how they sent her a mass of texts asking what happened to her, so she replied to some of them and went to bed.
Not that she could sleep much. She ended up writing the day's happenings on some loose foolscap paper too get the thoughts out of her head. She still found it hard to imagine that she had actually came up with a plan to gleefully kill off a few villains. Or villain since she didn't know if Fleurette's people were there as well.
But the fact that Jeff was the Superhero all along... Addison did not expect it one bit. Happy and cheerful Jeff, always tired with dark circles around his eyes, had always Spring Valley's Superhero while she and her friends, Jeff included, had been suspecting her housemates one by one. Jokes on them, none of the Kennedys' tenants were the Superhero.
When Addison realised that it was nearing five, she took the papers with her and went downstairs. She saw Jake sitting wide awake while Jordan curled up in an armchair, and Frida and Freesia sleeping on either side of Jeff's sofa. Apparently, they still remembered Jeff for being the one to rescue them from what their ruthless past owners had done.
"Where's Giuseppe?" Addison asked as soon as she landed on the ground floor.
"He went to bed about an hour ago," Jake said. "Why are you awake this early?"
"Can't sleep," Addison remarked. "Also, is it okay if I burn some papers in the kitchen?"
"Why?"
"Just wrote my thoughts down and I feel the need to get rid of it."
Jake shrugged. "Help yourself in the kitchen. Just don't burnt the place down."
Addison smiled and went to the kitchen, then sighed as soon as she was out of the living room. She made a beeline for the kitchen and went to the stove. She turned the flame on and lit the sheets of fully handwritten papers, then turned it off and went to the sink. Once the papers were almost gone, she dropped it into the sink and watched the last of the paper turn brown, then disappear into ashes.
Just like that barn did...
Addison closed her eyes and turned the water on to flush what's left of the papers into the sink, then sank down on the floor in tears. The whole of the previous day had been a whirlwind. What with it beginning with Fleurette delivering her apologies in the form of fruits, and then her delivering a fruit cocktail made from those same fruits to Jeff, and then being abducted alongside the Superhero, only to find that the said Superhero was Jeff all along.
Addison didn't know what to think of the whole ordeal, especially since Jeff had been her best friend by day and the Superhero had been her guardian by night. Even on the nights when Jeff appeared to her as himself and not as the Superhero before her.
After a few minutes of letting it out, Addison dried her tears and washed her face before going over to the living room to sit with Jake and Jordan. The redhead had awoken during the time Addison was in the kitchen and was now sitting with groggy eyes.
"How long was I out for?" Jordan asked, turning to his blond friend.
"Just about an hour now," Jake said. "You can continue sleeping, ya know?"
Jordan shook his head as he straightened himself and blinked a few times. "It's fine. I'll stay awake with you."
Addison sat down as well and regarded the sleeping Jeff, still unable to believe that he was the one who had been beneath the mask all along.
"How did we not realise?" Addison asked, almost to herself. "How did I not realise?"
Jordan shrugged. "Beats me. I guess he's just that good at hiding it."
Jake nodded. "Yeah. I guess him having those dark circles all the time must've been a hint."
Addison smiled wryly as she remembered the time the Superhero had stolen one of her Itchy-Buns while she had been knocked unconscious by those thugs and Jeff treated her to lunch the following day after he saw her at the laundrette. She didn't once blame the Superhero for helping himself to her food supply, but now she understood why Jeff had treated her to a whole meal. He felt bad for stealing one bun despite how he always managed to be there to save her life.
Even last night. Had he not come, Addison would've just ran off and they wouldn't have been taken. Fleurette was counting on the Superhero to show up to save Addison, and he did not disappoint.
Now, Addison just felt responsible for the whole thing.
But at least she and the Superhero managed to end the whole thing as well.
She just hoped that it wouldn't come back to bite her in the behind.