Please remember the not owning part.

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Fiery Peace

Part 3

Will and I chatted pleasantly until the school bus pulled up. The route had changed so that I now rode the same bus that Will and our friends did. Unfortunately, I didn't think about how I was going to get onto the bus in my wheelchair. As I sat staring at the open doors, Will startled me by reaching down and lifting me up in his arms as if I was an infant.

"What are you doing!" I hissed at him in embarrassment as Zach popped out of the bus and folded my wheelchair down and placed it behind the bus driver's seat.

"What does it look like?" Will asked amused as he carried me onto the bus, "Where do you want to sit?"

"I could have walked such a short distance. I'm taller than you are for Christ's sake," I snapped as he moved towards the back of the bus where our friends sat.

"Nope. I am only half an inch shorter than you since my last growth spurt," Will said way to cheerfully, "Conserve your strength today. The first day will be long for you."

I snorted at Will's words and glared at anyone who was openly staring. This was embarrassing enough without having busybodies that didn't really care about me stare like I was a strange lab experiment. Layla, Zach, Magenta, and Ethan greeted Will and I cheerfully. They didn't make a big fuss about how I was doing, which made me feel better. I would never tell them, but I really appreciated how much my friends were trying to make this day as normal as possible for me. I even caught Magenta giving some of the freshman the evil eye for turning around to stare back at us. She laughed as I caught her eye.

"Way to glare," I mouthed to her privately.

"Thanks for the lessons," she cheekily mouthed back at me.

Once we got to school, I had to be carried up the stairs before I was placed back into my waiting wheelchair. I was however; pleased to see that Will had waited to do so until the first bell when everybody would be in class. Principal Powers was waiting for me.

"Good morning Mr. Peace," she greeted me pleasantly as Will pushed me through the doors, "I am very happy to be able to welcome you back to school."

"Good morning and thanks," I said dutifully.

"I'm sorry that it was not finished in time for your return, but by this afternoon a lift will have been installed so that you will be able to get into Sky High without having to rely on Mr. Stronghold," Ms. Powers informed me much to my relief, "Mr. Stronghold will also be assisting you to and from your classes. Since you and he have the same schedule, all of your teachers have been notified that if the two of you are a little late to class you will be excused until you are fully recovered."

"Oh…um…thank you," I said confused and then thought to myself, "I don't think I'll have problems getting to my classes, but I'm not going to complain about not having to rush."

I was in for quite a surprise. Many of the student body greeted me quite warmly and it was hard to navigate the hallways with all the well wishers that stopped to ask how I was doing. I felt a little overwhelmed. I was welcomed back by students that I had never spoken to in my life. It was enlightening to realize that not as many of my fellow students saw me as "the villain's son" as I had thought originally. This probably had a lot to do with who my friends were and what kind of an influence that they had on me. I had mellowed out a little, but most knew not to fuck with me.

The day went by pleasantly enough and I was not overly hampered in my wheelchair as I thought I would be. However, later in the afternoon the day was starting to catch up to me.

"Let's get you to the teacher's lounge," Will said to me in the middle of gym class as he pushed my chair out in the hallway.

"What? Why?" I said confused as I tried to hamper the movement of my chair, "We have gym now."

At Sky High all the students had extended gym in the afternoon that took up the last two hours of school. It was the place that we were supposed to hone our skills for being a hero or sidekick.

"Warren you're tired. You need to rest and you don't need gym. You are the best fighter there is in the school," Will said as he moved around to the front of my wheelchair and grabbed for my hands so I wouldn't hold the wheels.

"I'm not tired," I protested even though I knew I was exhausted.

"Warren? Please?" Will asked softly as he squatted down to look me with pleading eyes.

His eyes were a very dark blue. I would fry anyone who ever figured this out, but I had always thought that Will had beautiful eyes, just like his mother. Unfortunately, they were eyes I couldn't say "no" to dammit! With a flush of embarrassment we both realized at the same time that we were holding hands. We pulled away quickly from one another.

"Fine," I said not looking up at him, "If it get you off my back I'll rest

"Oh…um…okay lets go," Will said quickly as he flushed crimson.

Before I knew it, Will had me tucked into the pullout bed in the teacher's lounge with familiar looking sheets and blankets.

"Your mom sent these ahead," Will admitted to me sheepishly before he turned off the lights and placed a "Do not disturb" sign on the door.

I didn't fall asleep right away. I was confused. When Will had looked into my eyes and held my hands, it had felt…different. But I wasn't gay. I completely appreciated the opposite sex. There is no way that I cared for Will as anything more than an annoying, little brother.

"Then why haven't you let Will know that you are not interested in him as anything more than a friend?" a small voice in the back of my head asked.

"Shut up!" I hissed to myself silently, "He has never brought it up again so I think that he has let it go. We understand one another enough that we don't have to speak it aloud."

"I think you are lying to yourself," the voice said before I banished it from my mind.

"No I am not," I vowed as I fell asleep.

But my dreams were full of Will. I relived all the moments since I awoke in the hospital. I remember the times that Will left his hand on me a little longer than necessary. I remember the small caresses of my hair or cheek when he thought that I was asleep. I remember how he regarded me with adoring eyes when he thought I wasn't looking. I also remember how he was always there for me. I remember the feel of my hands in his. And oddly, I didn't mind his attentions. Could I be lying to myself? No way. I didn't mind because I knew that Will's crush would pass.

The next thing I knew, Will was shaking me awake so that we could get to the bus on time. I vaguely remember Will carrying me on the bus and sitting me down again before I awoke sometime later in my bedroom at home. Mom told me over dinner that Will had brought me home and gotten me into bed since clearly I was exhausted. She had called Ms. Powers and informed her that I would need to use my gym time to rest until I got stronger.

"Well this sucks. Now I have a naptime," I grumbled.

"Hush Warren," my mom said to me gently, "You are not completely recovered yet. Please give yourself the chance to get better. If not for you, then please, for me."

How can anyone refuse his or her mom? Especially if she asks you anything like mine does? I promised her that I would do as she asked. Not a lot of people realize that my mom is a nurse. She works in the maternity ward with the newborn babies. After the fiasco with my father, Mom was not looked on in a favorable light in the Hero circles. It broke her heart to lose the career that she had worked so hard to establish, but my mom is the strongest person in the world. She divorced herself from my dad, officially changed my last name to Peace instead of Battle, went back to school to start a new career, and fought to make me the best damn hero I could be. Unfortunately, that also meant that she worked long shifts and could be called in at anytime, day or night.

Mom was going to be working a graveyard shift and was worried about leaving me alone for the night. I assured her that I would be fine and even allowed her to tuck me in bed. It's a little embarrassing, but it makes her feel better and to my surprise, I was still quite tired. I fell asleep before my head even hit the pillow.

To be continued.

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