A/N: Hi everyone! Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of The Interview. I had a dream after I posted chapter 1 and it's DEFINITELY going into the story lol. For now, here's a little bit of Henry/Piper sibling love. I made their age gap a little bigger for this story. Henry is 17 turning 18 and Piper is about 11 turning 12. Hope you enjoy chapter 2!
Henry's POV
*beep beep beep*
*beep beep beep*
The sound of my watch woke me from my sleep. Funny, I don't even remember coming home from work last night.
"Yeah Ray?" I answered, not opening my eyes.
"Emergency in Swellview Park!" Ray exclaimed. I opened my eyes slightly. He was already dressed as Captain Man.
"K," was all I said. I sat up and wiped the drool from the side of my face. How was I going to tell Ray about the interview? Should I even bother telling him? I probably won't get the job anyway. My mind started racing, as it usually does, and I got up to use the bathroom.
"Henry! Henryyyyyyyyyyyy!" I rolled my eyes. What could Piper possibly need now?
"What?" I asked through my toothbrush.
"What is THIS?" She demanded. I poked my head out of the bathroom and examined the object she was holding. It was a folded piece of paper.
"I don't know, what is it?" I asked, still hanging halfway out the door. She unfolded it and started reading.
"Dear Henry,
Thank you for showing interest in our Hero Mentor position. Please fill out the enclosed application and bring it with you to your interview. We look forward to meeting with you on Wednesday, the 12th.
Bordertown Hero Committee
My eyes went from Piper to the note and back to Piper a few times. I could hear my heart beating in my chest and my mouth went completely dry.
"You're leaving Swellview?" She asked finally. I didn't say anything. "And to become a super hero?"
"N-no," I managed to get out. "It's a mentor program. Like a mentor. For kids. Who need mentors.
"What are you going to be mentoring? You're barely passing school yourself," she pointed out.
"Thank you Piper, for reminding me," I wiped my face and put my toothbrush away. I fumbled with some stuff in the bathroom, hoping that she would just walk away.
"So you're going to take the bus to Bordertown every day after school?" She asked sarcastically. "Mom won't drive you."
"Nah I'll probably just move there to be honest," I said, walking past her and back to my room.
"What do you mean you'll move there?" She asked, laughing slightly.
"I don't know," I said. I just wanted to change the subject. I pulled a sweater over my head and headed for the door. I could feel Piper following me down the stairs.
"Henry, wait," Piper called as I was opening the front door. I stopped and waited for her to continue but she didn't say or do anything. She just stared back at me.
"Umm as much as I'd love to sit here and stare, I have somewhere to be," I said.
"It's Saturday morning. Where could you possibly need to go?" she asked.
"Busy day at work today," I responded. "I'll catch you later okay Pipes?"
"Are you coming back?" She asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Like after work. Are you coming back home?" she clarified.
"Of course I am. Look, Piper we'll talk when I get back okay? I promise." I walked over to her and gave her a quick kiss on the top of her head then left without saying anything else.
Later, at Swellview Park
"So nice of you to show up Kid," Ray said.
"Sorry, my sister was holding me up. So what's the situation?" I asked.
"Reports of attempted kidnapping," he replied, looking about.
"Any suspects?" I asked.
"Nah but we have a description," he replied. I eyed him as he pulled out his phone. "Says here a man possibly in his late 30s, around 6 feet tall, thin-to-muscular build, blonde or light brown hair, blue eyes, dressed in all red."
"Sounds like pretty much every adult here in Swellview man," I said, rolling my eyes. "Minus the red garb, that's pretty specific."
"Shouldn't be too hard to point that out," Ray said.
Well it turns out it was in fact very hard to point out. Almost every man arriving at the park was confronted by Captain Man, and none of them were dressed in red.
"Hey Captain Man," I called out from the other side of the park.
"Yeah kid?" he responded.
"I uh, think it's time we call it a day," I said. We were both dirty and tired after an all-day stakeout.
"Not until this park closes, Kid," he replied. I laughed a little. Seeing Captain Man crawling out from behind a shrub as if he was in the CIA was sure a sight to see.
"Dude nobody's been here in hours," I said, walking over to him. My sleeve was ripped from a thorn bush Captain Man told me to climb through. He claimed I was the perfect size to fit through it.
"What did I tell you when you took your oath to become my sidekick?" he questioned.
"Um to never tell anyone that I'm your sidekick?" I replied. He sighed.
"Yes, AND that we always protect the citizens of Swellview," he added. "Which means we're not leaving until I'm sure this park is secure." I decided not to fight him on this one so I kept looking around the park.
"Hey, hey Captain Man," I half-whispered. He looked towards me and I pointed to a car that pulled up just outside of the park. We both got closer and crouched behind the stone wall that led out of the park. I peered around the side of the wall. "He's getting out!" I whispered. I covered my mouth out of fear of being too loud and Captain Man did the same.
"Did you hear that?" he whispered. I tried to slow my breathing to hear better. There were sounds of feet shuffling, plastic bags, and coins dropping. I peered around the wall again. "What do you see Kid?"
"Just two guys," I replied, not taking my eyes off of them.
"Can you see their faces?" he asked me.
"Nah, they're wearing masks," I said. I watched their exchanges closely. I heard slight mentions of 'kid' and 'mission' and 'boss.'
"Hey Captain Man I think one of these guys is who we're looking for," I said to him.
"What is he dressed in?" Captain Man asked. I turned back around to look.
"The streetlights make it hard to tell. Brown maybe? No, purple. No it's definitely brown. Or gray actually," I replied. I turned back around to see an unamused Captain Man. "What?"
"Is he wearing any red by any chance?" he asked sarcastically. I peered around to check again but both men and the car were gone. We got out of our hiding places and walked over to where the car and both men just were, trying to find any sort of clue.
"Hey look at this," I said, picking up a receipt. "It's for 'Greg's Ropes and Chains.'"
"Greg's Ropes and Chains? That's all the way out in Bordertown," Captain Man replied, taking the receipt.
"It is?" I asked.
"Yeah, right by that old fishing dock," he said. "Man, that place is nuts….. Well good thing we only protect Swellview." He tossed the receipt over his shoulder and walked back into the park.
"What if someone is in danger?" I asked, following him. He raised his hands as if to say 'oh well.' The thing is, he seemed to be in a pretty good mood, and if I'm going to drop the bombshell on him about my interview, I'd rather not screw it up.
Later, In the Man Cave
"So, you never found out what those guys were up to?" Charlotte asked.
"No not really," Ray replied, not looking up from his "Strong and Handsome" magazine.
"And neither of you are concerned?" Charlotte kept going.
"I think I made myself pretty clear about that Charlotte," he snapped, flipping his magazine closed and tossing it on the table.
"We only protect the citizens of Swellview," I reminded her, still uneasy about it myself.
"What if citizens from other places cause trouble in Swellview?" Jasper asked. I looked at Ray, unsure.
"Well, we, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it won't we Jasper," Ray snapped. "We don't know that those guys were causing trouble. They could be simple men who happened to get lost."
"Yeah, simple men who love ropes and chains and get lost hours away from their hometown," Charlotte added.
"Alright everyone, that'll be it for tonight, you can go home," Ray chanted, almost annoyed.
"You love us," I said, getting up from the couch.
"Yeah, what would you do without us Captain Man?" Jasper added, giving Ray a huge hug against his will.
"Live happily ever after," Ray replied. I chuckled at that.
Even Later, at Home
"Crud," I said to myself. It was already after midnight and I hadn't checked in with my mom all day. She's been getting skeptical with my job lately and as I'm sure you're well aware I get awkward at the drop of a hat, especially when being questioned where I have to lie. I opened the door slowly so as not to wake anyone up. Of course the slower I opened it, the louder it creaked. I decided to just whip it open and shut it fast, to get the loudness over with. I stood there still by the door for a minute to make sure no one was up. Dead quiet. I took a breath and headed up to my room. I ran all the way up there and closed the door behind me, only to let out a less-than-manly shriek seeing Piper sitting cross-legged on my bed.
"What're you doing in here?" I yelled.
"Where have you been?" she yelled back, equally as loud.
"I told you, busy day at work," I replied.
"Yeah well I went to your job and you weren't even there!" She yelled. I swallowed hard but tried to hide it. "You're never there!"
"Shhh! You want to wake up mom?" I asked, changing the subject.
"Mom's not home," she replied.
"What do you mean she's not home?" I asked. "Where is she?"
"Who knows? She went out with her tennis instructor at like 2:00 and hasn't come back," she said. I just looked at her.
"So what are you doing in my room?" I asked again.
"What did you do all day at work?" she countered.
"I asked you first," I stated, throwing my dirty sweater on the floor.
"Well I thought it first!" she yelled.
"Dammit Piper why does everything have to be a fight with you?" I somewhat yelled.
"Because you ignite the rage inside of me sometimes," she said matter-of-factly. I decided I was done arguing with everyone for the night and opened my door, gesturing for her to escort herself out. She got up and stomped all the way out and into her room.
"Oh don't worry, we'll talk later Piper, I promise!" she mimicked, slamming her door. I sighed but closed my door and got ready to take a shower.
After my shower I knocked on Piper's door to see if she was still up. I opened it slowly and saw her lying down, the dim glow of her phone reflecting off the wall.
"Piper, you alright?" I asked. She shut her phone and pretended to sleep. "I know you're still awake." I walked over and sat on the edge of her bed.
"Get out," she said, pulling the blanket over her head.
"Did you eat?" I asked.
"Get out," she said again.
"Do you need help with your homework?" I asked.
"No, I need you to get out!" she yelled, whipping the blanket off her body. Her face was red and tear-stained, and that stung me more than I thought it would.
"What's wrong?" I asked, unsure of what else to do. I could see her getting tense, but she didn't answer. "Piper." I moved closer to her and tried to wrap an arm around her but she got up and walked over to her desk.
"You're never home. I never see you anymore, and when I do you're too tired or too annoyed to be bothered by me," she said. There it was. Instant guilt. It hit me like a pang and went all through my body.
"I'm sorry Piper, I didn't realize. I just-"
"And now you're supposedly just moving away? To a town that's not even close by. You don't tell anyone about it. You just go," she interrupted. She turned and looked at me. "What's gonna happen to me?" I didn't know what to say. Everything she had laid out on me was true. I don't give her enough attention. In my defense I didn't think she wanted it, but still.
"Piper you're gonna be okay," I said. "Dad will be home soon."
"Wow, you really are stupid aren't you?" she said, putting her head down.
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"Dad's not coming back Henry. He and mom got a divorce," she said, not picking her head up.
"What do you mean they got a divorce? When the hell did that happen?" I asked.
"Uh like a year ago?" she retorted. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "If you took even a day off from work every now and then maybe you'd realize what goes on around here." I couldn't even say anything. How could I be so naive, and so neglectful to Piper who clearly needs me?
"Piper, I- I don't even know what to say," I stammered. "I'm so sorry."
"Whatever," she said, getting back into bed.
"Are you hungry Piper? I could go make you something," I suggested.
"Stop acting like you care," she said. That stung. A lot.
"I do care Piper! I care about you a lot! I love you so much! I just- I'm just not good at showing it. And I'm sorry. I'm so sorry Piper." I didn't know what else to say or do. I just stood there waiting for something to happen.
"Well, unlike your dumb friend Jasper, it takes more than just words for me to believe you," she said eventually.
"Well then how about this," I started. "Tomorrow, I will tell my boss that I can't come in to work. Because I have to spend time with you. Actually, no. That I want to spend time with you. Because you are way more important." She looked at me and squinted her eyes.
"I'll believe that when I see it," she said. I smiled.
"Don't go to bed yet. Let me make you something to eat," I said. I ran downstairs and quickly made her a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and grabbed a juice pouch and a bag of chips (Pretty much the extent of my cooking skills) and ran back upstairs. I sat in her room with her while she ate and waited on the floor by her bed until she fell asleep. I decided to camp out in Piper's room for the night so I grabbed one of her big beanbag pillows and planted myself back on the floor by her bed. A zillion thoughts raced through my mind. My parents. A divorce? Why? Where the hell was my mom? God please let Ray be in a good mood tomorrow. I eventually was taken captive by the comfort of the beanbag and my everso racing mind, drifting off into a deep sleep.
OMG that ended up being longer than I expected. Idk about you guys but I love a good Piper/Henry bond. It just gets me so *insert crying emoji here* lol anyways, the next chapter is the big reveal. Henry needs to ask Ray for the day off AND he needs to tell him that he leaves for his interview the next day. Also, who were those men in the car? Can you say 'drama'? Lol. Hopefully I get more favorites on this and maybe even a review or two? Let me know what you think of the story so far! :)