"Mom, dad, I'm home!" I yelled, carelessly letting the door slam shut behind me, then flinching slightly at the loud noise it made.

"Perfect, dear! You're just in time for dinner" mom's cheerful voice sounded from the kitchen.

I kicked off my shoes, leaving them in the hallway (mom was probably gonna lecture me about that later) and entered the kitchen, where mom and dad were apparently making dinner together. It was a fairly common sight in our household. They seemed to enjoy the mundane task of cooking together, an interest I definitely didn't share.

So how's your leg, Ren?" mom asked while stirring something in a pot.

Oh yeah, that was the lie I had told her. My leg, that I definitely hurt. Yup. (that was sarcasm if you couldn't tell)

"I'm fine. It doesn't even hurt" I assured her, shifting my weight to it to prove my point.

"That's good, hun! Just remember to tell me if it starts to hurt or anything" mom replied.

"Will do" I promised.

I then sneaked off to my room, not allowing either of them to ask any more questions.

Time to assess my condition. I appeared to still very much be on whatever drugs the hospital had given me for the pain, so at least that wasn't an issue yet, although I would probably have to take some sort of painkiller later in the evening if I wanted to get any sleep. What was, however, an issue, were the slightly bloodstained bandages wrapped around my body. I guess the hospital did have its reasons to want to keep me there for longer. I'd have to be a bit more careful with fast or excessive movement.

I decided to, with some difficulty, throw on an extra shirt under my hoodie, just in case I somehow managed to open the wound (which honestly would very easily be something I would do), but it should be fine.

Out of the corner of my eye, I then noticed my phone charging on the bedside table. I should probably let Wally know I got home safe and sound. So I shot him a text.

'Hey dude, just thought I should let you know I got home good, and thanks for keeping me company, fr :)))'

I'd check for a reply after dinner.

Speaking of, I heard the clattering of plates from the kitchen. Time to eat. As on cue, my stomach growled. I had eaten way less than I should've at the hospital. The food was just that bad. Like, honestly, how can people stay there for so long without just straight-up dying from the food?

I put my phone back and made sure there was no visible blood on my clothes before joining mom and dad in the kitchen.

"Do you need any help?" I asked.

Mom handed me a salad bowl.

"Put this on the table, will you, dear"

The food was soon on the table and we sat down. Time to try, and fail, to avoid the questions that were sure to come.

"So, heard you were hanging out with a friend. What were you up to?" dad asked.

There it was. The questions. Ugh.

"He's trying to teach me how to skate, so we did that a bunch. But then we went to his place and had a movie marathon" I mean, it wasn't a complete lie...

"What about your leg? How did that happen? Are you sure you're alright?" mom fussed.

"I just messed up on a ramp and the edge was kinda sharp. It's not even that bad, I swear! Basically just a scratch. I've had way worse" I assured, which was true. Like the time I missed a jump while running across rooftops and fell down two stories, landing on a fire escape, which cracked my collarbone. That kind of hurt a lot.

"Just be more careful in the future, please" mom insisted, which was very ironic considering they quite literally raised me to be a criminal. 'Safe' hadn't really been an option in a while.

"I'll try" I promised.

"So any chance we'll get to meet you friend anytime soon?" dad wondered.

No chance. I wasn't gonna let them anywhere near Jason. Well, maybe mom, but dad was way too unpredictable.

"Maybe if you swear to not creep him out" I replied. That was a lie. Like I said, I'm not gonna endanger Jason in any way.

"Like I'd ever to such a thing" dad gasped dramatically.

"Sure you wouldn't"

To be honest, I hadn't really thought about mom and dad meeting my friends. Well, I hadn't really had friends until like a few weeks ago, but that's beside the point. But now that I actually thought about it it was terrifying. Like, maybe if my friends were already associated with other "villains" it wouldn't be as bad, but Jason was just a normal kid and Wally was literally Kid Flash for fuck's sake. The only way they were ever meeting dad was if they somehow found out who I really was, which really wasn't something I ever wanted to happen, and if they somehow were okay with it.

Though thinking I could hide my identity forever would be unrealistic. Everything that can happen, will eventually happen. I could only hope that day wouldn't come anytime soon.

Mom and dad seemed to be done questioning me, and the rest of the dinner was much less stressful for me.

As soon as I cleared my plate I excused myself a scurried off to my room, to safety, away from any chance of more questions.

I checked my phone. Had Wally answered? He had.

Wally:

good :) and no worries I don't mind hanging out lol, now stay safe plz TT

He used a lot of emoticons I'd noticed.

I shot back a reply.

will try, but only cause you asked nicely lol 3

Time to check my bandages again. I seemed to be mostly fine, since sitting at a table wasn't really the most straining thing to do. I was pretty sure I technically needed a shower, but that could wait until tomorrow. For now, it was time to pop a pain killer and go to bed, and hopefully not have any nightmares...