Sequel to the Hero Sidekick, there was another one but I didn't really like where it was going so I deleted it, hehe, anyway, this story is during Caitlin, Will, Layla, Zach, Ethan and Magenta's Senior year which means Warren has already left and graduated, okay?
Good, now on with the story!!
A startled scream escaped my lips as something jumped on me, knocking me out of sleep, I sat up hastily and glared at Henry who was sitting on me, he gave me a quick lick and curled up on my feet as I wiped my cheek with a shudder, turning to look at my alarm clock, six in the morning, might as well get up, I have school today and I fancy a Starbucks.
"Come on, boy, let's go get breakfast," I whispered to the black, fluffy dog sitting on my feet, wriggling my toes slightly so I could escape, the dog let out a whine at the disturbance and leapt off my bed, I smiled slightly and ruffled his ears as I climbed out of my bed and headed downstairs.
Henry ran to the front door hopefully and I sighed before heading back upstairs to get dressed, a few minutes later I was ready to go out and wrote a quick note to my parents in case they woke up and thought we'd been kidnapped, my parents were weird like that.
"Come on then boy," I smiled at the large dog, clipping a leash onto his collar and heading out the front door with a yawn and my bag so I could buy some food and coffee to wake myself up, "my first day of my Senior year today, Henry, I'll admit I'm nervous, Warren says it's really tough."
The dog just let out a small bark as though he was actually listening and understanding what I was saying and I smiled slightly, giving his head a pat as we went into the park and I let him off the leash for a run, picking up a stick and throwing it for him, he let out a happy bark and ran after it as I sat on a park bench and watched him.
He ran back over to me, the stick in his mouth and covered in drool, I grimaced with a slight laugh as he wagged his tail hopefully and dropped the stick at my feet and I grabbed a nearby one instead, throwing it as far as I could with a grin, he barked joyously and ran after it, the morning air slightly chilly as the sun rose.
"You're up before eight?" a deep voice asked from behind me and I turned, smiling as I saw Warren standing there, "what happened? Did you have a bad dream?" he mocked and I glared at him playfully.
"No, the damn dog woke me up," I answered as he put his arms around me and pressed his lips to mine quickly, "what about you? You don't even have to be up this early."
"Bank robbery downtown, I was just heading home," Warren replied as Henry ran back over to us, barking for us to play with him.
"Henry, hold on," I laughed, then faced Warren again, "did you get the bad guys?"
"Of course I did," smirked Warren arrogantly and I giggled, "you want a coffee?"
"Yeah," I nodded with a smile, putting Henry back on his leash, "but he can't come inside."
"Well, I'll go in and get them and you two can wait outside," Warren said with a small smile, putting an arm round my waist, "okay?"
"Yep," I grinned, "I'm a Senior starting today, it seems like only yesterday I first went to that damn high school of hell and you were glaring at Will, then you heard me say I thought you were hot and I embarrassed myself beyond belief, the good old days huh?"
Warren just chuckled lightly, "I can't believe you stayed with me this long," he muttered and I looked up at him with a slight frown, I had grown since freshmen year, I reached his shoulder now, I did, and I wasn't the shortest in the school anymore.
"Of course I stayed with you, I love you," I said softly and he looked down at me with a slight smile, kissing my forehead quickly before going into the coffee house, leaving me outside with Henry who tried to follow him, but I pulled the dog back, "no, you can't go in there," I said quietly, ruffling the dog's ears fondly.
A few minutes later Warren came out of the coffee house and handed me a cup of steaming hot coffee which I took gratefully, mmm, caffeine, I sipped it happily as we headed down the street, Henry stopping to sniff every damn lamppost we past, making me incredibly impatient.
"Henry, this is the sixth lamppost and we've only been walking five minutes," I groaned as the dog stopped at yet another lamppost, "how many times do you have to pee for christ sake? I need to shower and get ready for school."
"Shower?" Warren perked up, looking at me with a smirk and I rolled my green eyes.
"Yes, shower, alone you perve," I growled and he chuckled lightly as I opened my front door and let Henry off his leash, the dog instantly ran upstairs and I guessed he went into my room, "stupid dog," I said with a giggle, "you want something to eat Inferno?"
"Are you cooking?" he asked warily and I scowled, shooting him a glare, one time you accidentally set fire to your oven and they hold it against you forever, Warren smirked and kissed me quickly, "tell you what, I'll cook, okay?" he said and I rose an eyebrow.
"In all the years we've been together, how come I've never heard the fact that you can actually cook?" I demanded and he just shot me a grin as he shrugged off his leather jacket and looked in the fridge.
A few minutes later there was a frying pan of eggs and bacon on the oven and I was watching with a grin, aw, my boyfriend can cook, he's perfect, my mom came into the kitchen and greeted Warren sleepily, kissing my cheek quickly as I flicked the kettle on for her.
"Did Warren stay here last night, Catie? I didn't hear him come in," she asked and I shook my head.
"No mom, I took the dog out since he woke me up and we bumped into each other, so he decided to cook for me," I grinned and Warren shot me a glare, "because you know I can't cook to save my life."
"That's an understatement," my mom teased and I pouted as I made her a cup of tea, my mother couldn't stand coffee for some reason, "looking forward to your last year at school honey?"
"Guess I'm kind of nervous," I admitted, downing the rest of my coffee and throwing the cup in the trash.
"You should've seen her on her first day of Sky High," mom smiled at Warren, "couldn't eat a thing, green she was, I thought she was going to be sick, I'm surprised she wasn't if I'm honest, especially with that bus ride."
"Yes, thank you mother," I cut in sharply, "let's leave out in embarrassing tales please, I embarrassed myself in front of everyone that first day anyway, I'd rather not go back down that dark and scary memory lane."
"Her first day of kindergarten," mom continued, ignoring me, "refused to leave the house, clung to the front door like it was her lifeline, wouldn't let go, I had to bribe her with ice cream."
"Mom," I groaned as Warren smirked, "quit with the embarrassing life tales, please, I'm begging you."
"It's my job, dear," she said dismissively, "I'll do the same to Jacob and Raleigh one day, hopefully those days are in the far distant future."
"Daddy! Help me!" I wailed as my father entered the kitchen.
"Is your mother embarrassing you?" he cooed and I nodded with a pout, he grinned and picked me up, "aw, my poor little baby, daddy will make everything better sweetie."
"Oh god, my life is over," I declared dramatically as he put me back in my seat with a laugh, Warren was smirking and my mom was laughing her little blonde head off, "you mention this to anyone Warren and I will hurt you."
"Yes, Catie, whatever you say," the pyro smirked, placing a plate of food in front of me, "and just so you know, I am never cooking for you again."
"Evil," I pouted, eating as my parents left, deciding I'd been embarrassed enough for one morning, "thanks for this Warren," I added and he just smiled slightly, "and sorry about my parents, they're…..embarrassing and weird."
"Not as bad as my mom and Bella, remember?" he shot back and I giggled as I remembered all the times that the two women had shown me baby pictures of Warren in the bathtub, "oh shut up, that was bad, what kind of a mother does that to her own son?" Warren scowled, obviously knowing what I was thinking about.
"But you were a cute baby," I assured him and he glared at me, I just smiled sweetly and put my empty plate in the sink, "I'm going to get ready for school, okay?"
"What am I supposed to do until then?" he frowned and I shrugged.
"Avoid my parents?" I suggested and he glared.
"I'll go home," he sighed, standing and running a hand through his shoulder length black hair, "I'll call you later, okay?" he said, kissing my forehead quickly before leaving and I went up to my room with a slight frown.
"Catie!" Layla called as I approached the bus stop, "excited?"
"Nervous," I answered with a smile, hugging her and then Will quickly, "what about you Miss Student Body President?" I grinned and she blushed slightly.
"Nervous, but so excited at the same time," she grinned, "I mean, I can actually make a difference now, maybe even start making the move to abolish the Hero/Sidekick dichotomy and make us all equals, like it should be."
"I know, Layla, I know," Will said, smiling as he kissed her cheek softly before turning to me, "this year's going to be tough huh?"
"Yeah, ten times the work," I groaned as the bus pulled up.
"I meant you'd find it tough because Warren won't be there," Will said quietly as we climbed onto the bus and I paused for a split second before continuing to my seat next to Ethan, "Catie? You'll be okay with it, won't you?" Will asked me once he'd sat down.
"Of course I will, I don't need him everywhere I go, it'll be strange since he's always been with me in school, but I'll manage," I shrugged, "and he can still help me with homework, it'll be like normal, just without him there."
They all nodded before we began talking about what Senior year would be like, not even noticing as the bus flew off the edge of the bridge to fly considering we were so used to it now, we'd all really grown since freshman year, Zach was as tall as ever but had a bit of muscle now so he didn't look so gangly, Magenta had grown and was all curvy and beautiful, Layla was tall and willowy, Will was about Zach's height now, maybe slightly shorter, but with larger muscles, of course Warren's were still bigger, and Ethan, Ethan had changed the most, he'd gotten contacts, grown taller and had gone all lean, he still wore orange but didn't look like a total nerd, he even had a few girls with crushes on him, it was cute.
"Hey Cate, we're here," Zach grinned, using the name only he called me, he wouldn't call me 'Catie' for some reason and I threatened him every time he called me 'Caitlin', so he'd settled for 'Cate'.
I sighed as I got off the bus, smiling at our new bus driver, Tom, who grinned and tipped his hat to me, Layla immediately went somewhere to do Student Body President things and the rest of us lounged around on the grass, talking lazily, laughing occasionally.
"Yay, to the hell of Senior year," I drawled as the bell went, the others laughed slightly as we stood and headed into the school, "see you at lunch guys," I smiled to Zach, Ethan and Magenta as they went into the Hero Support Room and they returned the words as Will and I continued toward homeroom.
"Miss Greeves, Mr Stronghold, glad to have you back," Mrs James smiled as we entered the classroom and we smiled back.
"Good to be back," we replied, heading for an empty pair of seats in the middle of the classroom.
The day was spent sorting out our timetables for the year and having lectures on how important Senior was, about exams, how we'd better be on our best behaviour if we want to graduate, we had some people come in and explain about Hero College where you could learn to become a research scientist instead of a proper Hero, just a lot of things, we had options for our futures laid out and we were supposed to know exactly what we wanted to do when we graduated.
The college idea sounded good to me, but it was in Greece and I'd never be able to survive without seeing my family, friends and Warren everyday, it'd be hell, but being a research scientist sounded like fun, and when you retired from doing that you could easily get a job teaching at one of the Super schools, weather it be an elementary, middle, high or college, you it was an automatic post for someone who'd been a research scientist.
I was more interested in the history side of it, that entailed going over old cases and making sure no mistakes were made and that no innocent person had been put in jail, or solving old cases but the original Villain had eluded capture and was still out there, it sounded like something I wish I could do, but, like I said, I couldn't stand being away from my friends, family and Warren all that time, it was in Greece for christ sake.
With a sigh I headed for Raleigh's school, having promised my parents that morning I'd collect her, I jumped onto the wall easily, Jacob finally leaves this place and then Raleigh has to go here, not a good thing.
I sighed again and laid back on the wall as I waited for my baby sister, watching the clouds roll by innocently without a care, lucky things, too many thoughts were rushing through my mind right now, what I should do when I graduate, if I had to take care of my little siblings if my parents were still working, if I'd get to talk to someone about what I should do when I graduate, I just needed to talk to someone.
"Catie!" Raleigh's happy voice cried and I sat up to see my curly, blonde haired sister running towards me, I wisely jumped off the wall and she hugged me tightly, "can we take Henry for a walk Catie?! Please Catie! Please!"
"Okay, okay, let's go get him," I smiled, grabbing my bag and heading down the street with her hand in mine as she chattered excitedly about her first day, if anyone could make me smile, it was my baby sister, she was always so happy and carefree.
Once we entered my house I heard Jacob playing video games in the sitting room, I threw my bag carelessly under the table in the hall as Raleigh hugged Henry tightly and I went into the sitting room, raising an eyebrow as I saw my eleven year old brother playing video games with a bunch of boys I didn't know and Jocelyn.
"Jacob," I said and everyone froze as they turned to look at me, "what the hell? You can't just bring whoever the hell you like here Jake, the place is a pigsty, mom and dad will flip you bloody idiot."
"I'll clean it, Caitlin, just don't tell mom," Jacob said quickly, then gulped as my other eyebrow joined the already raised one.
"Do not call me Caitlin, Jacob Kenneth Greeves, and you boys better get the hell out, Jacob has some cleaning to do," I growled and the boys bolted, leaving Jacob and Jocelyn, there was mud all over the carpet, popcorn covering the couch and a few pieces littered over the floor, "clean, now," I ordered, then turned to Jocelyn, "you can go home honey, and tell your mom I said hi."
"Warren too?" she grinned teasingly and I laughed.
"I guess," I smiled as she left, wishing Jacob good luck before I turned on him, "did you even go to school today?" I demanded coldly and he looked at his feet, I sighed in disappointment and placed a finger under his chin, tilting his head up to look at me, "Jake, you have to go to school, I just had a day full of people telling me about my future, there are so many options, but if you don't try baby, you won't get those options."
"What kind of options?" he asked and I just smiled as I shook my head.
"Doesn't matter, now clean, and I won't tell mom and dad if you promise to never skip again," I bargained and he nodded rapidly as he ran to the cupboard under the stairs to get cleaning supplies and the phone rang.
"Hello?" Raleigh chirped happily as she answered it, then her green eyes lit up, "hi Warren! Oh, Catie's right here, Jake was really bad, you'll never guess-"
"Rae!" I laughed, taking the phone and pointing outside, "go and play outside with Henry," I ordered and she ran outside happily with the dog on her heels as I put the phone to my ear, "hey," I said into it, brushing a loose strand of my dark blonde hair from my face.
"Hey, so what did Jacob do?" Warren asked.
"Oh, it's nothing, Rae's just trying to stir up trouble," I said dismissively, "today was hell Warren," I whined, getting his attention off what my little brother and his sister could have done, "they kept talking about options, I don't know what to do when I graduate, I know what I want to do but I don't know if it's practical."
"Well, what do you want to do?" Warren said patiently.
"You know that Hero College? I want to take a Hero History course there, but it's in Greece," I said quietly, sitting on the hall table with a sigh, "and I don't think I'd be able to be away from my family, my friends that long, away from you," I added in a whisper, inspecting my shoes.
"Catie, if it's what you want then go for it, don't hold back because of us, your family, your friends would say it, as long as you're happy," Warren answered softly, "as long as you don't find some Greek guy, I'm sure I'll cope."
"Well, graduation and all that's a long way away," I said, forcing brightness into my voice as tears filled my green eyes, "we'll worry about it later, but how was your day? Kick any bad guy butt?"
"Nope, been very quiet."
"Too quiet," I said in a 'creepy' voice and he chuckled slightly, making me smile softly, "it was weird today, Will kept asking if I was okay, weird huh?"
"I, uh, kind of asked him to look out for you," Warren muttered and I sighed with a roll of my eyes, "I did because I don't want you getting hurt or hit on by any guy who thinks just because I'm not there they can make a move, Catie," he said quickly and I frowned slightly.
"Warren, you just have to trust me, if I go to Greece then you can't place tails on me, I can take care of myself, I just like having you there to help," I teased lightly but he just sighed in response.
"You really are considering it, aren't you?" he asked quietly and my smile fell as I looked into my lap.
"Yeah, but I'm not sure, they've just piled so many options into my head I feel like it's going to explode, why does the damn college have to be in Greece? Why can't it be in Maxville?" I bit out in frustration, feeling angry tears well up in my green eyes before I gulped them down, "but like I said, graduation and all that's a long way away, I'll think about it later."
"You sure?" Warren asked warily and I laughed lightly.
"Yeah, I'm sure, think about the big, scary future of mortgages and bills and jobs later, right now, I'm going to get money off my parents and love it," I joked and he chuckled softly, making my smile reappear, if Raleigh couldn't put a smile on my face, Warren always could, I leaned back against the wall and closed my eyes, "I love you, Warren."
"I love you too," he whispered and my smile grew.
"So-" I began but the front door opening made me stop and I turned to see my parents, "hey mom, hey dad," I said absently and they waved to me before going into the kitchen, McDonalds bags in their hands, "hey, my beloved parents have McDonalds."
"Uh huh, I guess I'll talk to you later then," Warren chuckled and I grinned.
"Yep, call you later Inferno, bye," I said and he returned the favour before we hung up and I went to the kitchen, "thanks dad," I smiled as he handed me a cheeseburger and fries.
"You been thinking about what you want to do when you've graduated?" mom asked me and I groaned.
"Mom, I've just talked about it all day at school and got really stressed out, I've just vented all frustration to Warren, do not bring the frustration back, mother," I said sharply, taking a bite out of my cheeseburger so I wouldn't have to speak.
Stupid life after high school and growing up.
And there's the first chapter, hope you liked and please review!!