Shadow-Man

12

Gill was very concerned when I told him about what had happened, and very angry. Even after I explained to him that I had told Steven to hit me, he was pissed that Steven actually did. He told me that the next time he saw Steven, if he ever did see him again, he was going to kick his ass. I just chuckled, knowing that Gill wouldn't have been able to beat up Steven, but I took guilty pleasure in seeing Gill be so passionate about defending me. I all honesty, me having to be in a cast didn't actually change a whole lot. All it really changed was that I didn't have to participate in gym, and I was aloud to wear baggy t-shirts because my school uniform wouldn't fit over the cast. Even after I told Gill the upsides, and assured him that I would be ok, he had fire in his eyes.

I smiled fondly at Gill, but then I remembered what Warren had told me about telling Gill how I felt. I wanted to, but, at the same time, I really didn't. Warren was right though, if I didn't tell Gill how I felt, and didn't find out if he felt the same way, I would be wondering about it for the rest of my life. Even then, I found myself frequently thinking about wether or not Gill could possibly like me in a romantic sense. Even if the answer was no, I had to find out.

"Hey Gill? Can I tell you something?" I asked, trying to summon all of my courage. You're Shadow-Man for fuck's sake. I thought to myself. You're a superhero, so fucking act like it.

"Of course. You can tell me anything." Gill told me with an encouraging smile, that somehow made what I was about to do harder.

"I-I gotta tell you something kind of important, and, um, I uh, don't know how you're going to respond." I said, Gill looked confused, and a bit concerned, but he sat in silence and waited for me to continue. I took a deep breath, and then began to ramble. "I, uh, I have feelings for you. Like-like, romantic feelings. I don't know if you feel the same way, like, at all, and it's totally ok if you don't because I love being your friend, but I just had to let you know an find out how you feel. Man, this might have been a mistake, I probably shouldn't have said anything. I mean, I don't know if you would even want to be with me, or anything. but, I had to tell you."

I was breathing deeply by time I had finally stopped talking, since I had said everything very fast, and in one breath. I looked at Gill expectantly, waiting anxiously to see how he would respond. I was expecting the absolute worse. I was expecting Gill to be disgusted with me, to stand up, and very loudly declare that I was a freak, and that he would never be interested in dating me. Realistically, I knew that that wouldn't happen, because I knew that Gill loved me, platonically of course, and that even if he didn't, he could never be that cruel. He just wasn't like that. I was expecting the end of the world, but what I actually got was the exact opposite of what I was expecting.

Without a word, Gill leaned forward and kissed me right on the mouth. My eyes were wide with shock, definitely not expecting Gill to kiss me. The kiss was sloppy, and not all that great if I'm being honest. Gill had his eyes closed tight, with both of his hands squishing either side of my face uncomfortably, and mine and Gill's noses were squashed painfully together. When Gill let me go, my nose and cheeks kind of hurt, and even then I was thinking that the kiss wasn't very good, but it made me very happy nonetheless. I smiled really big, and was feeling an overwhelming amount of relief.

"Thank goodness, I was afraid you would hate me." I chuckled.

"Even if I didn't like you back, I could never hate you." Gill told me. I just smiled fondly at him, hoping that that one smile would successfully convey the overwhelming amount of emotion that I was feeling.

***

"You know, for someone who has three broken ribs, you look pretty happy." Warren told me. I was honestly surprised when Warren and Steven showed up to pick me up, considering the fact that I wasn't exactly able to work on fight or my agility.