Chapter Five: Home Is Where the Hate Is

"I could come with you, you know." Hartley tried to reason as she watched her friend stuff her suit into a borrowed duffle bag. The two girls had come home to the cops surrounding Hartley's Grandmother's house. The civilian was able to convince Celia to call them off, but with the condition that Amy had to leave. She had been permitted to go inside and gather her things under the watchful eye of Hartley.

"No." Amy said with zero hesitation, "Absolutely not."

"But we're best friends!"

"So let me get this straight." The brunette whipped around, "Just because we're "best friends" that means I have to spend every second with you? Live together with you? What's next, you want me to devote my entire existence to you?"

"Well, no, I'll just… I'm just going to miss you, is all." Hartley ducked her head, "You're kind of the best thing that's ever happened to me."

Dropping her bag, Amy huffed and opened her arms wide. The civilian eyed her suspiciously, but quickly gave in after earning Amy's nod of approval. She nuzzled in tight, smiling when she felt Amy pull her in closer. Hartley let out a soft laugh and tried to let go, but surprisingly, the villain held her tighter. Okay, so maybe this was harder for her than Hartley had originally thought. She did her best to take in every single bit of Amy from sight to smell. Most importantly, how comforting her arms were. It was like being protected by a soft, cozy blanket. A ridiculously pretty soft, cozy blanket.

"You know, Hart." Amy cleared her throat, "You weren't the worst person to spend time with."

Hartley pulled back and smiled brightly. Amy quirked an inquisitive eyebrow, hands still wrapped around her best friend's waist. The civilian giggled and responded with, "I love you too." She meant it in a completely platonic way. This time, at least. They were best friends and no one could convince Hartley otherwise.

Amy smirked and leaned in close to Hartley's ear, "I left my number on your nightstand." The civilian whispered, "You are never to call unless it is an emergency, understood?"

"Yes, of course."

"And don't go saving my contact as anything that could get traced back to me."

Hartley squeaked in response, throwing her arms around Amy before they had to part. The wavy-haired brunette smiled shyly then turned around and left completely. Heart pounding a mile a minute, Hartley jerked open her nightstand drawer and dug through it until she found a post-it note with Amy's phone number scribbled on it. The civilian beamed and quickly saved the contact to her phone, promptly burning the note in the kitchen as per instructions on said note. She then ran to the window, waving goodbye as she saw her best friend walking off into the distance.

Thank you, thank you so much.

Okay, so it turned out Amy was much closer to home than what she had originally thought. In fact, the home in question was only half an hour away from Hartley's house. That was interesting information to know. Amy unlocked the door and stomped down to the lair. Her family was all there, stifling through old trinkets and devices, barely looking up when she entered. "Oh, hey sweetie." Eva Madden greeted nonchalantly, of no surprise to Amy.

"Amy!" Jake greeted, sounding relieved, "Omigod, are you alright? Where have you been?"

"Got pretty roughed up, had to lay low until I recovered." She offered, "Anyway, what's the plan for tonight?"

"Well, we were going to take a family trip and release a gas that melts your insides." Vic Madden said proudly, "Turns out I don't have any parts so we're going to have to settle for bupkis tonight."

"Lame." Amy rolled her eyes and marched to her bedroom. She instantly whipped out her phone and smiled at her newest text.

Unknown Number: Burned it💘

Amy laid down with her head leaning off the edge of the bed, her hair cascading down. She quickly saved the contact as "H" and turned her phone off. She let out an uncharacteristic giggle and held the phone tightly against her heart. Then she jerked up and flinged the phone against her bedroom wall. Amy smothered her face into her pillow and let out a scream. Hartley was just a girl and Amy had already repaid their debt. She just hadn't expected Hartley to text her so quickly. Or at all.

Even after everything Amy and Hartley had been through, it was hard to fully trust her. The civilian was a total goody-two-shoes, so who knows what she could do with that number? It was a big risk and having her personal information out there could put her family in danger. So why? Why did she do it? Why did Amy even bother with this girl? She was sweet, nice, and good, everything Amy despised. Though, at the end of the day, she had saved Amy's life. Trust was something that came easy in the villain world. She couldn't even trust her own family at certain times. Yet, here this girl was, surprising her over and over again.

H: I know u read my text.

Me: Don't be needy.

H: 💘💘💘

Me: Ew.

Me: Can you like, not with the heart emojis?

Me: You know that saying, "Make war, not love"

H: Yeah, I don't think that's how that saying goes.

H: Get home okay?

Me: Hold that thought. My brother is pounding on my door.

H: Good luck💘

Amy closed the screen on her phone and scrambled over towards her bedroom door. When she opened it, she met the anxious eyes of her brother who was clearly about to start ramming the door open.

"What?" Amy asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

"N-Nothing." He shrugged, "You were pretty quiet. Just making sure you were okay."

"Yeah, whatever." She then proceeded to slam the door in his face, but he caught it and barged inside.

"Dude, what the hell?"

"No, you what the hell? Where have you been all this time? We thought you were dead!" He shouted.

"I nearly was." Amy admitted, "There was a lot of blood."

"Well, then you should have contacted us!" He pushed, "When will you learn that you don't have to do everything my yours–"

"Oh, shut it Jake." Amy snapped, "If you were really worried for me, you would have come looking for me."

It was no secret that she and her brother weren't on the best of terms. He had betrayed her many years ago. Yes, Amy was over it, but the damage was already done. It had destroyed any shred of respect she had for her older brother.

"It's not like I didn't want to! Mom and Dad-"

"Oh-ho, do not blame this on Mom and Dad. They would have let you go the second you ask. You are the favorite child, after all." Amy scoffed, "And for your information, Starling destroyed all of my communication devices. So no, I wouldn't be able to contact you."

"You expect me to believe that?" Jake denied, "Just quit lying and admit that you didn't want our help! Maybe if you actually did something worthwhile for a change."

"Oh, so this is my fault now?"

"That's not what I'm saying!"

"No, that's exactly what you're saying." Amy shook her head, "Just get out, Jake."

"Amy–"

"OUT!"

Jake hesitated briefly, but his sister's menacing glare was what finally drove him out. He slammed the door behind himself, making Amy jump. Wiping a few tears from her eyes, Amy looked around before smiling, "Colby." She choked out, "You're here, aren't you?"

Just then, her younger brother appeared next to her on the bed. He instantly wrapped his arms around Amy and wrapped her in a hug, "I didn't want to leave you alone with him." He choked out, "I tried to look for you, but Mom and Dad didn't trust me to go out on my own."

"It's okay." She assured, placing a gentle kiss on his forehead, "I'm just glad to see that you're alright."

Out of everyone in her family, Colby Madden was the one she trusted the most. With the favorite child always getting attention, Amy and Colby were left to raise themselves. In fact, Amy was the only one who knew about Colby's powers.

"I'm all right? What about you?" He asked, looking his sister up and down, "You said you almost died?"

"Yeah." Amy nodded, "Starling got me pretty good."

"Well then… And I hope this doesn't sound offensive at all, but how are you alive?"

The brunette let out a choked laugh and was about to answer when she heard something outside her door. "Later." She whispered, and Colby nodded. The two keps a lot of secrets from the rest of their family and Jake didn't like that. He didn't like being excluded, not being trusted. That was all on him, though. If he wanted to be trusted so damn bad, he shouldn't have done what he did. It was as simple as that.

Her phone suddenly beeped and Amy reached over to go grab it.

H: Um… I think u accidentally had voice 2 text on. I got that whole argument.

Amy's face flushed bright red and she scrolled up. Yep, there it was. Her entire argument with Jake right there on her text history.

H: He's a jerk.

Amy didn't respond, she just stared at the three dots dancing at the bottom of her screen, anxiously waiting for Hartley's next text.

H: Ur amazing. He doesn't deserve U.

H: Not doing anything worthwhile? Lol! Is he blind?

Amy placed a hand over her mouth as she tried to keep in her tears. She was both embarrassed and happy all at once. Then, the next text made her heart sing. They were something she didn't know that she needed.

H: You matter.

Amy burst into tears, the words in the text repeating over and over in her mind. Never once in her life had anyone ever said that to her. That she mattered. She felt Colby lean against her side, knowing he was reading the text.

"Hey sis, who's "H?"

After a long pause Amy smiled at him and whispered the words, "A friend." She wrapped an arm around Colby and squeezed him tight, "A really, really good friend."