The Anatomy of a Parody Heart

nervous

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Dan shrugs. It is a helpless kind of shrug. "I don't know. I guess - I guess I didn't want to. Your dad and your sister don't live with you. I didn't want to...bring anything up."

"Bring anything up?"

Enzo wonders if it is possible for his voice to sound more scathing.

Dan runs his hand through his hair again. A nervous habit.

Enzo is making him nervous?

"I didn't want you to have any reason to - to..." He makes a frustrated sound in the back of his throat. "I wanted to talk to you, alright, Enzo?" He turns to him. Glares at him. There is red on his cheeks. "I wanted to be your friend."

Enzo opens his mouth. Closes it. Opens it again. "You wanted to be my friend?"

"Yes." Dan buries his face in his hands. Refuses to look at him. "This is gonna sound so lame, but... I always kind of...admired you, Enzo. You know? Even when I was younger, I would see you and I just...I wouldn't get why people bullied you. If I was you, I don't know how I'd get up in the morning. I'd be depressed. Terrified. I'd - "

"The not-feeling bit kind of helps," Enzo says.

Hesitates.

"You're making me out to be some kind of freaking hero, Carter. But I'm not. Don't you get it? I don't want to be a hero. I want to be normal."

I want to be like you.

"Wanna know something, Enzo?" Dan shakes his head. "Normal isn't all it's cracked up to be. Normal, it's...well, it's boring. You have to fight to get anywhere. Do anything. Normal's hard."

"But people aren't scared of you when you're normal, right? They don't call you a freak or a monster, do they?" Enzo scowls. "They don't have to pluck up the courage to come and talk to you, either, just cos of, you know, the small matter that you don't have a heart."

Dan blanches. "I - Enzo, I - I'm sorry. I'm an idiot. A prat. I - "

"I'll forgive you," Enzo says, "if you tell me one thing."

Dan raises his head.

"Where does my father live?"

Dan looks confused. "I already told you that - he lives next-door - "

"No, I mean exactly. Like - address."

Dan smiles. A half-smile. "You're asking for my address?"

Enzo flushes. "Don't be stupid."

Dan holds his hand out. "Give me your phone. I'll type it in for you."

"What?"

"You know - on google maps."

Enzo's flush deepens. He clenches his jaw. "I don't have a phone."

If Dan is surprised, he doesn't show it. He takes his own phone out instead, types in his address. Then he hands the phone to Enzo. "Here."

Enzo stares at the map. It shows lots of squiggly, green and blue lines, around a small red circle.

Dan's house.

"When do you want to visit him? I presume that's what you're going to do, right?"

Enzo shrugs. Looks down at Dan's phone again.

Dan frowns. "Enzo - whatever you're going to do, don't do something stupid. Alright? Promise?"

Enzo doesn't respond. He presses the home button on Dan's phone and watches the map change into a photo of Dan, about five years younger, with his arm around a little girl. She shares his blonde hair, his smile. 

His stupid ocean eyes.

"That's my sister," Dan says, looking over his shoulder. "Artemis."

"She looks like you."

Dan laughs. "It's the eyes."

"You've got nice eyes."

The words are out before Enzo can stop them. He feels all the colour rush into his face.

Dan smiles. Smiles at Enzo.

Good.

Proper.

"I know."