Lincoln was in his room, wearing a black suit, he was very depressed. He checked Luna's last message on his phone.
You did everything you could, but you're not god.
He received that message on Thursday's morning. He read it over and over again many times that week, he sighed and smirked a little. He turned to the viewer. - "You know, the fact that someone else knows your biggest secret and tries to help you, comfort you and cheer you up is quite relieving." -He said and he finally sent a reply to her.
Yeah! But I still feel awful.
He got a reply immediately.
Yeah! That's normal, I'd be very worried if you weren't. How's your arm?
- "Sigh…" -
Please try to avoid that kind of comments here. You never know who's eavesdropping. But now that you ask, it's almost healed now, as if nothing happened.
He waited for a response.
Yeah! Sorry, my bad. But that's great! I wonder how does it work, you know what I mean.
He smiled and replied it.
Yeah! Me too. You know, since that day I've been thinking about giving up and just be a normal kid. Maybe I'd give a try to football, you know…
He waited for a response, holding his phone in his hand.
That would be great Linc. It will bring some peace to my heart. But you have to think this carefully. Take your time, don't rush it. It's your call and yours only. I mean, would you be capable to give up on helping people? That's the way you are, with or without your special abilities, that's the way you are. Just think carefully about it. And whatever you decide, I'll support you no matter what.
He read his sister's reply and smiled again, sighing in relief, he turned to the viewer. - "See! Relieving!" -He heard his dad calling for them.
Sorry but we gotta go, dad called us already. Bye sis.
He sent the message and right before leave his room he got a response.
Bye Linc. And again, I'm sorry.
- "Yeah. Me too." -He muttered and went to Vanzilla, where all his family was waiting for him, all of them wearing black. Everyone was sad, but Lincoln was also mortified. 'If I would have been just a little faster.' He thought blaming himself again. They soon arrived at the graveyard.
Today is Sunday, a very gloom Sunday. Royal Woods middle high closed its gates for the rest of the week while the coroners did their work and collected evidence in the crime scene.
But now they've come to say good bye to the murdered kid. The whole school gathered there and were extremely sad. They were in a thirteen years old kid burial for god's sake!
They reached the tomb shortly, but the burial has already started. Both parents were so stressed, sad, angry, and overwhelmed, just as their fifteen years old son, who kept hugging his mom to keep her on balance. The priest talked about the kid.
- "Benjamin was a nice, happy, and strong kid, he loved football and wanted to become a professional Quarterback someday, he was a good student and was very excited for getting into middle high. He always did his best at everything he tried, and failed many times in many things, but he always tried again and again until he succeeded. He always did the right thing to do every time, because his parents taught him to do so, 'always do the right thing, no matter if it's not popular or seems dull, that doesn't change the fact that it's the right thing to do'. He…" -The priest took a moment and gulped. - "He admired Spider-man so much… He also wanted to be… to be like him… he also wanted to help people whenever they needed him… with… without looking for any reward… He… He just… sigh… He wanted to look for other people's sake first." -Those last words nailed Lincoln's heart to the core, he trembled and felt like puking, he resisted it and kept standing there, hearing about this kid he didn't even met, and now he wouldn't ever meet.
The priest finished his monologue and the heartbreaking moment arrived. They started to lower the coffin into the tomb and covered it with dirt. The kid's mother fell to her knees and started to cry her lungs out, yelling for her little kid. Almost everyone started to cry silently, Lincoln looked around and found all his friends, and his girlfriend, she was hugging her mom so tightly, tears all over her face. Seeing her suffering like that hurt Lincoln, it actually hurt him for real, he felt pain on his chest seeing her like that. He was so focused on her that he didn't notice how Rusty went to the dead kid's family and apologized to them, he seemed to be really sorry. Both parents thanked him, but the boy, looked at him with such hate and despise, the next thing that happened made everyone turn and look at them, the boy punched Rusty straight on his face, making him fall to the ground. - "ALL THIS IS YOUR FAULT! YOU SHOULD BE THE DEAD ONE!" -The boy yelled spitting rage to the red-haired boy, who just stood on the ground, crying profusely. Everyone looked all that, and every single classmate there agreed with the boy, they started to whisper and mutter many things like 'It's right', 'it's all his fault', 'he should have died then', 'why did the real Spider-man bother to save him?', the parents asked what was going on and their son told them everything.
- "GIVE ME BACK MY BABY!" -The mother yelled to Rusty, still crying, she tried to attack him but her husband stopped her and hugged her tightly. Rusty was very scared then.
- "I'm really sorry." -He said again, getting up.
- "Just… Just get out of here." -The man said holding his wife, but the stare he gave to Rusty just had one feeling on it, HATE! Rusty gulped and left without saying anything else, he passed by Lincoln and heard his friend say. - "You shouldn't have come." -He said calmly and loud enough for Rusty to hear him, he turned to his friend and saw a blank expression, he didn't reply and left, everyone was looking at him with despise and anger.
After that, Lincoln went to the family and told them that he was deeply sorry for everything that happened, he extended his hand to them and the boy took it and shook it, it was a strong and firm grip, both kids looked at each other in the eyes. Lincoln saw all the remorse and sadness on his eyes and he felt like crying 'If I just could have been faster', he thought.
When they were leaving, Lincoln asked for a moment with his friends and went to hug each one of them, he took his time with Jordan, they hugged tightly and kissed on the lips, she was crying all the time and Lincoln tried his best to make her feel better, Jordan's dad saw all that and was touched by Lincoln's behavior. - 'He's such a nice guy, so caring and kind. Almost everything I want for my baby girl in a life partner. So bad they're still too young and their relationship might not work in a long term'- he thought.
After the last good bye to Benjamin, people went back home. The Louds were watching some T.V. after dinner and saw Benjamin's dad on an interview.
- "Do you blame Spider-man for this?" -The reporter asked him.
- "Not at all. If it wasn't for him, we'd be burying even more kids now." -The man answered.
- "But the attackers were looking for him. Aren't you angry at him?" -
- "Those jerks were there looking for him because a stupid kid said he was Spider-man in the first place. If I blame someone for this, beside the attackers, it's that kid. I won't say his name because that could put him in danger, and… sigh…" - His had tears on his eyes now. - "And… we… we don't want more death kids… r… right?" -he said sniffing. - "P… please… excuse me." -The man said and left without saying anything else.
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The next day, school was re-opened and all students tried to move on, but it was hard, really hard. Benjamin's locker had a big black ribbon on it, and many students had black ribbons in their backpacks or clothes.
Lincoln was checking his locker and taking what he needed for his first class, he was still thinking about giving up as Spider-man, he felt someone hugging him from behind. - "-Hi babe!" -He said, taking her hands in his, she pecked him on the cheek and he smiled.
- "Hi honey. How are you feeling today?" -Jordan asked him, she had a broad smile and he sighed.
- "I'm still a little sad. Why?" -He said, wondering why she seemed so happy.
- "So bad. Then, as your girlfriend, I shall cheer you up!" -She said with a wide smile. Lincoln smiled back.
- "ALL THIS IS YOUR FUCKING FAULT!" -They heard someone yelling and then a smash against the lockers, they turned around and saw Rusty on the floor, against the lockers, and a boy over him, kicking him repeatedly.
Lincoln felt bad for both boys, but he didn't know which one made him feel worst. He was still angry with Rusty, but he was still his friend, and the other boy, well, he is Benjamin's brother. Lincoln sympathizes with him, he doesn't know what would be of him and his family and friends if something bad happened to Jordan, or Lucy, or his mom, or anyone close to him. And well, he was there when Benjamin was killed, AND HE CAN'T SAY IT!
He went to them and held the other guy by the shoulder, he turned around and looked at Lincoln straight to the eyes, he had tears, he threw himself at Lincoln and started to cry, Lincoln hugged him, Rusty stayed on the floor, feeling miserable, he looked at Lincoln and he mouthed "leave now" to him. Rusty crawled to get away from there and got up to leave, he was crying too, but everyone that saw him leaving just glared at him with despise.
Jordan witnessed all that and her heart melted at Lincoln's kindness, not only with Benjamin's brother, but with Rusty too, but she wasn't the only one, other girls sighed at that situation.
When the bell rang, everyone left, Lincoln patted this guy's shoulder and nodded at him, he nodded back, wiped his tears with his hand, and left.
Jordan went to Lincoln and took his hand in hers; he tightened his grip on her hand and looked at her in the eyes, he kissed her gently on the cheek and they went to their first class together.
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At lunch time, Lincoln sat in his usual table with his friends, Jordan joined them happily and sat beside Lincoln, she was enjoying her time, chatting with the others, but Lincoln had his eyes on Rusty, who was all alone in a table, getting all the bullying from the other students, he was barely eating anything. Lincoln noticed his depression and feared the worst, he kissed Jordan on the lips. - "I have to do something." - he got up, and went to talk to Rusty. - "Hey!"-He greeted him quietly. Rusty didn't even look at him. - "Do you want to eat with us?" -he asked him and he just moved his head no. - "Are you sure?" -Rusty nodded at that. - "Come on Rusty. I'm worried for you" -Lincoln was really worried for him.
- Why do you care Lincoln?" -Rusty asked him, finally looking at him. - "I messed it so bad this time. Why aren't you angry at me? I even wanted to take Jordan from you… I…" -Lincoln interrupted him.
- "Oh! I'm angry at you! As much as everyone else here." -He said angrily. - "But you're still my friend and I'm worried for you. I… I don't want to lose another friend." -Lincoln said extending his hand to Rusty. Rusty smirked a little.
- "Thanks for your concern Lincoln, but I'll handle this myself, on my own, and with my own hands." -Rusty said getting up and taking his tray, he left the cafeteria, his last words made Lincoln worry even more, he went back to his table, ignoring the glares he got from other students. He sat beside Jordan, took her hand, sighed and looked at all his friends, who were glaring at him. - "He's still our friend…" -Liam huffed. - "…Well, he's still my friend. And he's going through a hard time now. I'll do my best and try to help him." -Lincoln said firmly. - "It doesn't matter if I have to do it alone. You can come with me if you want, or you can stay there and be angry at him, until something bad happens and you regret it." -He had a stern look on his eyes. He then kissed Jordan's hand and pecked her cheek. - "I have to do this, but I won't drag you into this if you don't want to. I will never force you to do something you don't want to or feel uncomfortable with. It doesn't matter if it's to support me. If you're not ok with it, you don't have to come with me." -He said looking at her straight in the eyes.
Jordan didn't know what to do or say, she just looked at him with deep red cheeks, she started to breath hard and felt her crotch getting damp. She just kept her eyes on him until…
- "WOW! Jordan, you better keep him, any girl here would do anything for a boyfriend like Lincoln." -Stella said realizing that Lincoln was a lot better that she thought at first. She already had a very good impression of him, but now she thinks a lot better of him.
- "Yeah! I know. I've known it for a long time now. Lincoln has a lot more in him that most people know. And I'm sure he still has things that no one else knows, abilities, defects and secrets." -Jordan smiled widely and kissed him on the cheek. - "And I'll do my best to find out all that and become his confident." -
Lincoln and Jordan looked at each other and kissed on the lips in front of their friends, making them blush a little.
When they were leaving the cafeteria, someone threw a football to them, it was directed at Jordan and it would hit her on the head. Without even looking behind, Lincoln caught the ball with one single hand before it hit his girlfriend, he turned around and saw everybody sat on their places, totally quiet. He held the ball in his hands and spoke. - "I know you all are angry and sad for what happened, I am too. But you can't attack others just because they want to help, neither their friends and family. If anyone of you have a problem with me for what I just did with Rusty, you can come to me and we can fix it any way you want, I don't have a problem with it, but the moment you attack my friends, including Rusty, and hurt them, like you tried to do with my girlfriend just now, then WE'LL HAVE A VERY SERIOUS PROBLEM!" -Lincoln squeezed the ball until it exploded and dropped it. He took Jordan's hand and left, followed by the others.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Lincoln was at his locker, getting some things before leaving, school was finally over, a very gloom day to say the least. Lincoln closed his locker and found Chandler beside it. - "Hey." -Lincoln greeted him.
- "You have to go to the football try-outs. You'd be very useful for the team." -Chandler said with his arms crossed.
- "I don't know Chandler, aren't the try-outs today? In a few minutes?" -Lincoln asked him.
- "They were postponed, due to what happened. The try-outs will be on Friday. Come on Lincoln, what you did at the cafeteria was amazing." -Chandler tried to convince him and Lincoln thought about it, then he got an idea.
- "Ok, I'll do it…" -Lincoln agreed and Chandler said 'YES'. - "But…". -Lincoln continued and Chandler stopped. - "You have to ask Rusty to try it too." -Lincoln smirked.
- "WHAT?! Come on Lincoln! You know what everyone feels about Rusty right now. You feel the same too. I mean, your sister was here when they attacked and…" -Rusty tried to explain and Lincoln nodded at him and interrupted him.
- "And Rusty feels even worse than anyone else, he knows he screwed it, and he needs support to get over with this and move on. Do it as a favor for me. Tell everyone that I told you to do it if you want, but ask him to try it." -Lincoln said firmly.
- "And what if he says no? Will you still try it?" -Chandler asked him.
- "I already said yes. Just ask him to try it and I'll try it too." -Lincoln smirked.
- "Ok, sounds fair enough. I'll ask him to try it soon, ok?" -Chandler smiled and Lincoln nodded. They both parted ways.
Lincoln found Jordan outside, waiting for him, he smiled at her and she smiled back. - "Would you walk me home?" -She asked him and he nodded and offered her his arm, she took it and they walked together, she snuggled at his arm from time to time.
- "How do you do it Lincoln?" -She asked him suddenly.
- "Uh? What do you mean?" -He asked her.
- "How do you do it to be so brave and caring? How did you resist the urge to punch Rusty on the face at the cafeteria? How did you caught that ball without looking back? How do you do it to be so cool?" -Lincoln smiled at her.
- "I wasn't like this before, remember? I was a big coward nerd, always afraid of everything. The only times I felt brave were when I was wearing my old Ace Saavy costume. I guess puberty had a lot to do with my actual confidence and bravery, and well… I realized that… beside my dad, I'm the only male at home, and… well… I know that all my sisters can take care of themselves, except for Lisa and Lily, due to their age, but still… I feel like I'm responsible for their safety, of all of them, even Lori, Leni and Lynn, who are the older two, and the one strongest from all of us. When I got sick a few years ago, all of them did their best to help me to feel better, until I recovered, each one of them took turns to take care of me. We've been always there for each other, but when puberty hit me, I got aware of all the gender differences I have with my sisters, and realized that, despite they're incredibly strong and confident, we're all dependable from each other in many things, and I've always been "The man with the plan", they come to me when they need help with something that they can't solve for themselves, even Lisa comes to me. And I want to be there for them, but for that, I HAVE TO BE BRAVE AND CONFIDENT! So, I practiced and studied, I even took a self-confidence course when I recovered, just to be more reliable to others. Who would have thought that it would help me so much?" -He smirked after explaining all that and Jordan giggled. - "What?" -He asked her.
- "Nothing. Hihi! It's just that you talked with such a passion and love for your family that it's really cute." -She pulled him for a kiss on the lips.
- "Cute? I was trying to look manly." -Lincoln said after the kiss, he faked being bothered.
- "Yeah! That's what makes you look cute. Your effort to seem manly, when you're still a kid. You want to help everyone you love any way you're capable of, and that's very manly, but you're still a teenage boy, a kid, we're still developing to become men and women Linc. We're not ready for many things yet, still, we want to try some of them." -They arrived at her home. - "My parents won't come back for a while; would you like to come on in?" -She asked him blushing hard. He blushed too but nodded at her. And followed her inside, holding her hand.
Once the door was closed, Jordan didn't waste time and threw herself at him, kissing him passionately on the lips and rubbing his chest with her hands. Lincoln couldn't but follow her lead. He hugged her and rubbed her back, he slowly reached her butt, making her moan a little, she pulled him to her room, and, while making out, they fell on her bed, she was over him, she took his hand and put it over her breast. - "Can you feel me?" -She asked him, she was trying to seduce him, and he, as the teenage boy he was, was falling straight to it, he nodded and she giggled, then she felt Lincoln's boner on her leg and smiled kinkily. - "Let's find out how manly you can be. And how womanly I can be." -She said going for another kiss while taking off her skirt.
Lincoln realized what was about to happen and panicked, he grabbed Jordan by her arms and started to get up slowly, keeping his eyes on hers. - "W… What's going on babe?" -He asked her tenderly.
- "I want to be with you, that's all." -She answered, again trying to take off her skirt, but Lincoln stopped her.
- "JJ, you said that we're still kids a while ago, and now, we're at your room, you left me touch your breasts and are trying to undress. I have a boner that would put to shame all my morning woods together. This seems more like we're about to have sex!" -Lincoln sat her beside him on the bed.
- "So? Aren't we a couple? Aren't we supposed to do this kind of stuff?" -She blushed hard, she was feeling embarrassed and angry because Lincoln wasn't doing what she wanted.
- "Ok Jordan. What's going on?" -He asked her sitting straight and taking her hand.
Jordan started to sob and whimper. - "I… I… I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" -She buried her face on his chest and he hugged her and let her cry. - "All that has happened lately! It's too much!... TOO MUCH! I'M… I'M NOT THAT STRONG!" -Jordan finally broke. - "The last good thing that happened to me was when we asked each other to become a couple. Other than that… It has been… SO AWFUL!" -She kept crying.
- "I know… The explosions at the mall… The attack on the school… the burial… It's been too much for everyone." -He said patting her head, doing his best to comfort her.
- "That… That's not all that has happened to me." -She looked at his eyes. He wiped her tears and nodded at her. - "I… I haven't told anyone about this, not even my parents but… I… I almost…" -She hesitated.
- "What? What is it?" -Lincoln showed his concern. - "Say it, you'll feel better after that." -Lincoln said rubbing her cheek, but she didn't say anything. - "Or… If you're not comfortable telling me, go to your parents, but you have to lift that burden from your shoulders JJ." -he said in a soothing tone and Jordan sighed.
- "N… No… It's ok… I guess… It's just… That I'm still shaken for that…" -She took a deep breath. - "The day before the explosions at the mall, I… I was… a… attacked by a bunch of jerks. Th… They… they were about to… to… to rape… to rape me." -She stuttered and cried more. Lincoln remembered that day, the anger he felt then came back to him in a second, he didn't know that Jordan kept that as a secret the whole time. - "If… If it wasn't for Spider-man, I…" -
- "Don't say it babe, don't even think about it." -Lincoln kept comforting her.
- "A… After the burial, I met with my friends, Cookie, Christine, Paige and Stella and… And we… We agreed that life is short and we promised to do something special by our own and then, share it with the others and… we decided that… Actually, I suggested it and they agreed with me on that… that we'd lose our virginities before the school's year ends!" -She said with a red tomato face, Lincoln wasn't in a better condition. - "I… I want you to be my first, Lincoln. I've been in love with you for a while now and… and… I don't want some stranger taking my virginity by force! I want it to be special! And I want it with you! Please Lincoln, don't reject me! Stay with me, please!" -Jordan seemed desperate and pushed Lincoln on the bed but he kept himself straight and held her, he then hugged her.
- "Take it easy babe. Take a deep breath and think carefully on what you just said and want to do." -Lincoln kept his legs together, he was excited too, but made his bet to keep himself calm. - "Do you really think this is a good idea? Are you really ready for this? I know I am not, no matter how much I want it now, when I think about the possible consequences, I know I'm not ready." -He explained.
- "What consequences?! We'd be showing our love for each other." -Jordan said kissing him on the cheek.
- What if you get pregnant?" -He asked her.
- Would that be so bad?" -She asked back, making him gasp. - "D… Don't you want to have babies with me?" -
- "J… Jordan! We… We are 15! Our parents would kill us if that happens! There's still things we have to do before and…" -
- "Don't you love me?!" -She interrupted him, in a fear and anger mixed tone.
- "O… Of course! Of course, I do! And believe me, this is being incredibly hard for me, because my whole body is telling me 'DO IT IDIOT! SHE'S THERE! SHE WANTS IT! JUST TAKE HER! THIS IS YOUR CHANCE!' But then, I think about what could happen, and I realized that you've been keeping many things for yourself for a while now. You're not thinking straight Jordan. If we do it, in a short term could seem what we both need, but in a long term, it could destroy our relationship, and I don't want that. I want this to last for a long time, maybe a lifetime!" -He said and pulled Jordan to sit beside him and took her hands in his. - "Maybe, if it works, we'd have a house together, a wedding, some kids, but we still have things to do before. Think about it. I want to be with you Jordan, I really do, but this is not the right time for that." -He kissed her on the forehead.
Jordan was very confused, she thought she was doing right, but now she's not so sure. She looked at him in the eyes and kissed him on the lips. - "Do you love me?" -She asked him again.
- "Yes! I do." -He answered her, looking at her eyes and she smiled. - "Talk to your parents about what you told me, they can help you a lot more than me, but I still will be there for you, I promise." -He kissed her again and stood up. - "I better go home; I'll see you tomorrow babe." -He left her room and closed the room behind her, he sighed and turned around to leave and… he gulped at her father's sight in front of him. - "H… Hi Mr. Jameson." -He got really nervous.
- "Hi Lincoln, good to see you." -Mr. Jameson said in a calm tone and Lincoln sighed in relief.
- "S… Since when were you there?" -Lincoln asked him.
- "Since the 'I can't take it anymore' part. She… sniff… she didn't say anything." -Mr. Jameson said holding his tears.
- "She needs you, both of you. I'll do my best to help too, but you'll be a better help than anyone else. She's been through a lot lately. I'm sorry Mr. Jameson." -Lincoln apologized, but he wasn't sure what for.
- "For what? You've helped her a lot today young man. I'm really glad you're her boyfriend, most boys would do exactly the opposite thing you did, take advantage. I have to thank you for not doing it. You're a really good boy Lincoln." -Mr. Jameson extended his hand to him.
- "Thank you, Mr. Jameson." -Lincoln took his hand and they shook.
- "I better go and check if she's ok." -Mr. Jameson said going to Jordan's room, he knocked and asked nicely if he could go in, she opened the door for him and let him in.
- "I… have something to tell you dad…" -She started to say and closed the door, Lincoln smiled and left the house, he was heading home when he got a call from Liam.
- Oh! Hey Liam! What's up?!" -Lincoln said cheerfully. - "WHAT?!" -He yelled to the phone. - "Ok, ok Liam, listen, call his parents and I'll do my best to find him ok." -He told his friend. - "Yeah! Well, I told you to leave him alone but no one listened…" -He sighed. - "Yeah! Better late than never, right?!" -Lincoln was angry already. - "Oh! JUST SHUT UP LIAM! Call his parents! NOW!" -He hung the phone.
He sighed and went to the closest alley and changed clothes. 'This is the second time I have to do this because of Rusty this month' he thought after putting on his mask.
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Spider-man was swinging around the city, looking for a kid, the more time passed, the more desperate he became, he stopped from time to time and asked people if they have seen a red haired 15 years old boy around, most people answered no nicely, but others knew who was he talking about immediately, and got angry at him. - "Why do you care for that scumbag?" -Someone asked him and he just left, not waiting for any other comment. After two long hours, Spider-man found Rusty on a 20-floor building roof… at the edge. He landed silently behind him and got closer.
- "Once I do this, no one will have to deal with my stupidity ever again." -He said out loud.
- "Yeah! That's right! But then, people will have to deal with the pain from your loss." -He heard someone behind him and turned around.
- "S… Spider-man! What are you doing here?" -Rusty asked him.
- "What it looks like fella? I'm doing my job. Keeping people safe, even from themselves." -He walked to him.
- "DON'T GET ANY CLOSER!" -Rusty yelled.
- "Ok. I'm staying here as long as you stay there, deal?" -Spider-man asked him. Rusty sighed and nodded. - "Why are you doing this?" -He asked and Rusty humped.
- "Don't you remember?" -Rusty started to cry. - "I screwed it so bad this time. I've lost my friends, everyone hates me, my parents don't talk to me, my brother is being bullied because of me. I caused a school shooting and a kid's dead. Everything because I lied about being you." -
- "Well yeah. That… wasn't your sharpest idea. Why did you do it?" -Spider-man asked him.
- "Because I thought that way, I'd get a girlfriend. No matter what I try or do, no girl takes me seriously, it seems that… Rusty is no girls liking, but… Spider-man is ALL girls liking. They're always 'Spider-man this', 'Spider-man that', 'He's so cool', 'I want to know who is he', 'I want to get him onto my bed', 'I want to have his babies' and blah… blah… blah… over and over again. Then I realized, no one knows who are you, you could be anyone, my dad, one of my friends, my brother, you could be ME… And I got my brightest idea so far… If I say I'm Spider-man I'd finally get a girlfriend, or even a harem for myself. And it worked!... For a while." -
- "And then… everything went to hell, right?" -
- "Yeah! And in the worst way possible. Now everyone hates me, not just girls from school, but everyone." -Rusty felt like letting himself fall.
- "That's not true. Most of them are just angry, really angry, but they don't hate you. Besides, there must be someone that stills tries to help you." -
- "Beside you?" -
- "Yes, besides me. Isn't there anyone?" -He asked him.
- "Well, there's one that offered me his help. But he's the last person that should forgive me."
- "Who? And why do you say that?" -
- "Because I've been the worst friend ever. He's quite popular at school, even if he doesn't realize it, he's one of the coolest guys there, the only one above him is Chandler, and just because he's the quarterback. I just don't get how is he so popular now. Maybe breaking his friendship with Clyde helped him, but still, I just don't understand why Lincoln is so damn popular. He's the only one who tended me a hand during all this, despite he's also angry with me. He still tried to support me." -Rusty took a breath. - "But… I… I got jealous of his popularity and tried to ruin it, I spread rumors, I made a few jokes and tried to blame him, I even tried to take his girlfriend from him with my lies. I'm just a big crap bag! And he still tried to help me. I don't deserve a friend like Lincoln." -Rusty had some tears on his eyes. He sighed and continued. - "He's the man with the plan, he has always been. I mean… The week he left us to go to Canada, we… we just couldn't do anything by our own, everything went down for us, not even Stella could do anything to help us, I realized that we were extremely dependents on Lincoln… and I didn't like it, but I blamed him, instead of myself… In the end, Lincoln is better than me for everything… He's a better student, he's a better friend, he's a better brother, a better boyfriend, more popular in general, and even more with girls… AND I HATED IT! AND I HATED HIM!" -
Spider-man was surprised for all that, or rather Lincoln was surprised. - "Well… it seems that Lincoln is quite good… But you don't have to hate him. You said he tended you a hand, why don't you just take it? He's trying to help you because he still thinks of you as a friend and doesn't know what you have done. Be honest with him, apologize and fix everything, you…" -
- "Sorry Spider-man. It's too late" -Rusty interrupted him and jumped off the edge.
- "Sigh… Jumping off a building, where there's a buildings climber and swinging hero. Come one writer! You can do it better!" -Spider-man broke the fourth wall. (I know, but I just couldn't think of anything else. I'll try it harder from now on, I promise.).
Spider-man jumped off too and went straight to Rusty, who was really expecting to die, he was crying while falling, but suddenly, he saw Spider-man beside him. - "Hi again buddy." -He greeted him and rounded an arm on his stomach and pulled him to himself.
- "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" -Rusty yelled at him.
- "My job kid, I'm just doing my job." -Spider-man yelled back and looked up and shot his web to the building. In the end, Spider-man stopped their fall a few inches before they hit the ground and put Rusty on the floor, but the boy fell down, curled into a ball and started to cry like a baby.
People gathered around them and Spider-man looked at Rusty and felt pity. - "Sigh… you need even more help kid, talk to your parents, and your friends, you…" -
- "YOU SAID YOU'D STAY THERE!" -Rusty yelled at him angrily.
- "I said that I'd stay on my place, as long as you'd stay on yours. You moved, so I did too." -Spider-man said calmly. Rusty tried to attack him while crying, but Spider-man held his fist with his hand and pushed him a little. - "You aren't thinking straight fella. Your death won't fix anything, it will just bring even more pain. You screwed it, yes, now face it." -
- "I've been facing it since the beginning!" -Rusty was flustered.
- "Wrong! You're trying to run away. That's what you tried to do just now. Run away from your problems and your responsibility from what happened. You're just being a coward." -Spider-man was very serious.
- "RUSTY!" -They heard a voice and turned around to find Rusty's mom running to her son and hugging him tightly, his dad and brother pretty close to her.
- "I'm sorry mom. I'm incredibly sorry!" -Rusty hugged her back and cried even more.
- "Thank you very much Spider-man! You saved my son." -Rusty's dad said and shook his hand. Then he went to hug his son.
- "Thanks god you're here Spider-man. I really hope you keep doing this for a long time." -Rocky said and hugged Spider-man, then he joined his family.
Spider-man didn't say anything else and left the place.
That night, Lincoln was in his room, sitting on his bed, he locked the door and had one of his masks on his hands, he checked the video that Stella sent him one hour ago, where Spider-man saved Rusty from his suicide attempt and Rusty's family arrived a little later, Stella added a comment 'You were right', Lincoln didn't reply. He just kept thinking about all that has happened these two days and made up his mind. He smiled at the mask on his hands.
- "What was I thinking?" -He wondered in a loud voice. He put his mask with the rest of his suit on its hiding spot and locked it. He took his phone again and opened his conversation with Luna.
Hey sis! I've made up my mind! I'll keep going with what I've been doing so far.
Sorry if it bothers you. But I just can't quit yet.
He sent the message and waited for a reply, that came in a few seconds.
Not at all lil' bro! It's your call, your choice. I'm proud of you no matter what.
Just remember the promise you made me, please.
Lincoln smiled even more. - "Sigh!... So relieving." -He muttered. He heard his dad calling them for dinner.
Don't worry sis! I'll keep my word! Gotta go. It's dinner time! Bye sis.
He sent his reply and left the room to have dinner with his family.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Captain Stacey was at his office checking the files of the middle high attack and he was watching Rusty's interview again.
- "He got a shot on his arm while saving me." -Rusty said to the reporter. Captain Stacey rewound that part a few times and paused it. He took Lincoln's paramedic report about his wound and read it.
'The kid had a quite big wound on his arm, he said it was made when he tried to climb the fence to get into the school to look for his sister and girlfriend, but we didn't buy it. The wound was clearly a gunshot, and it seemed very recent, as if it was made that same day. We wanted to keep the kid for further attention, but with the commotion, we lost track of him".
Captain Stacey then took a file photo of Spider-man and put it beside one of Lincoln Loud, then overlapped both pictures a few times, looking at Spider-man and then at Lincoln, back and forth.
- "Could it be?" -He wondered, not losing his temper.