Hello there. Thanks to everyone who favorite and followed this story.
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It's almost midnight, the same day Brittany yelled at you. You didn't go out for a round around the city today. It made you feel guilty, but you tried to keep your mind off of it. It hasn't been that hard since you keep thinking about Brittany. You keep wondering how she's dealt with the almost-mugging/whatever-else-which-you-choose-not-to-consider-because-it-makes-you-want to-throw-up.
You make a decision that can or cannot be influenced by the 5 cups of coffee you just drank, but you shrug that off and get out of bed, run out of you apartment and into the hangar. You then open the secret door to a tunnel that leads back into your apartment. You go up the ladder and end up inside your armory. You grab the outfit and your usual weapons (the weapons are more of a cover than anything. You won't need them anyway) and leave your house through the secret passage.
You do the same thing you do every day: Climb to the top of a building and jump from one to another. It's a good thing your city was planned, and for some reason they put most buildings in this area the same height. You get to a point where they start varying too much, though, so you begrudgingly go to the ground. It feels weird to just jog around the city in this clothes. You thank god it's late enough so there aren't many people walking around. There still some, though, and they stare at you, some point, some seem intimidated, a few laugh.
You make it to Brittany's house. You stand close to it, hiding for a while, before you walk to her window, which is in the second floor. The only reason to why you know where she lives is that you followed her two weeks ago. You're not that much of a creep. At least, that's what you tell yourself.
You don't really know what to do. You think of throwing rocks on her window, but that's really ridiculous. You stand there for a full minute before deciding on just knocking on her window. You climb up the side of her house (not that there's something impossibly convenient like in the movies, you're just very good at it).
You make sure the balaclava is in place and that the hood of your outfit is pulled in front of your forehead. You eyes are the only thing visible, basically. You turn your back to the window, half sitting on the window sill so you won't look like you're spying or anything, and knock on the window with the back of your hand. There's a beat before you hear something that sounds a lot like a "What the-?" before someone abruptly opening the window. It's so abrupt that you're pushed forward, but you reassume your balance.
"What the actual-" She starts, but you quickly turn around and press your gloved hands against her mouth. She looks extremely scared.
"Shhh" You whisper. You try to blink as much as possible so she won't recognize your eyes (not that you think she pays attention to them) "Quiet" You tell her, trying to sound gentle while you're thickening and adding a bit of an accent to your voice so she won't recognize it. You knew all those lessons were going to come in handy one day.
You let go of her slowly. She doesn't move at all. After what feels like minutes, you awkwardly cough.
"I just wanted to see if you're… okay?" You say, half affirming and half asking. It's a good thing she can't see you blush underneath the gray fabric.
"You're The Shadow. A super hero" She states weirdly.
"Not…" You cringe "Super hero. But go on" You say. It's a really weird conversation. You're both awkwardly standing in the middle of her bedroom, she's in her pajamas and you're dressed as a fucking maniac, and none of your know what to say.
"How do you know where my house is?" She asks. It's a legitimate question, you think.
"I have my ways" You state. You try to seem comfortable with the whole situation, forcing yourself to get into character and act as confident and powerful as The Shadow actually is.
She sits on her bed and stares at you.
"I should be creeped out." She mutters.
"Probably, yeah" You answer.
"I'm just… Flattered?" She says, and you do a half gasp, half cough of surprise." I mean, you're magical. You save people. And came all the way here just to see if I'm okay. That's pretty awesome" She says matter of factly.
You can't help the wave of warmth that takes over you as she says that. She really is amazing.
"I… Guess". You shrug. You two stand in silence for a while before you open your mouth again. It's already getting annoying to force your voice so much "You didn't answer me".
"Oh, sorry. I'm okay" She says. You must look doubtful because she walks over timidly and stands in front of you, who are leaning on the wall by the window, keeping an overly cautious distance between you both "You saved me. Maybe I'd be… Dead if it wasn't for you. Thank you".
This time, you don't pretend to ignore her, you don't walk away. You stand where you are, still blinking like a crazy person, trying to act cool while you're inside the bedroom of the girl you have a crush on for more than a year.
"Just… Promise me you'll be more cautious next time. I know it wasn't your fault, obviously, but just… Be careful " You say, trying to sound nonchalant.
"Pinky promise" She says, extending her pinky in front of you. You wait a beat before you interwine yours with hers.
For a second, you think about asking her where she was, if it was important, something like that, so maybe you'd find out what she thinks of you (the non-psych maniac-vigilante you). But you realize that maybe that's cause you to blow your cover, so you just step out throw the window, grabbing the window sill and letting your body hover against the wall for a while before launching yourself backwards. You fall to the ground with a thud. You straighten yourself and walk away without looking back.
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It's now Monday. Your first class today is with Brittany, and you're a bit scared. A small part of you thinks she will look at you and exclaim something like "It's you!", even though you took every possible precaution before showing up on her room on Friday.
You sit in the back of the class, and there's still a few minutes left before the bell rings, so close your eyes and try to calm down. You also really tired. Someone enters the classroom, but you don't open your eyes until they sit right next to you. You lazily open them, searching for said person, and you gulp slightly when you see Brittany looking at you.
"Uh. Hey" She says, waving at you.
"Hello".
" I wanted to… Apologize for Friday. It was kinda mean of me" She says, and she does look apologetic. You sigh internally, relieved.
" That's okay.. It was no big deal" You shrug it off.
"I just… You made it look like I can't protect myself. And used violence, to top it all" She says, shrugging.
"Oh… I'm sorry. I really am. I didn't realize that" You admit.
"That's okay. A friend of mine made me realize that sometimes things can get a little bit tougher" She says, and you realize that she's probably talking about you. As The Shadow. " We're still friends right?" She asks innocently. You smile at her.
"Of course we are" You assure her, and she beams.
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I'd like it if someone told me what you'd prefer: long chapter which would take me longer to update, or short ones (1,000 words) that'd take less long. Maybe just tell me around how many words you'd like.
