Super Heroes

“What is this?” Jacob asked, inspecting the sandwich at arms’ length. He sniffed it, and then took a tiny, experimental bite. “Yum! What is it?”

“It’s bacon,” Lindsey smiled, taking a bite from her own. “Do you like it?”

The little boy nodded, his dark hair falling into his eyes as he pushed the sandwich in his mouth for another bite. Lindsey risked a glance at the little boys scraped knee; he’d fallen over chasing The Green Goblin this morning when he was Spiderman, but apparently the whole mornings antics were forgotten, and the scrape had become nothing but a war wound to be showed off in front of all of his friends.

“I think it’s even better than eggs!”

“Even better than Green Eggs and Ham?” She snickered; this was a on-going joke of theirs, ever since Lindsey had first borrowed the Dr.Seuss book from the library for him to read.

“I do not like them, Sam-I-Am!” He shouted, raising his arms for dramatic effect. “I do. Not. Like. Green eggs and ham!”

“You have him well trained,” A voice started from behind. Lindsey jumped, and then a smile graced her lips. She’d been trying not to think about how he wasn’t here today, worrying that her feelings had become too obvious and she’d scared him off.

“Gee!” Jacob grinned, “I had bacon! Yum!”

“Ooh! Did Lindsey make it for you?” He asked, sitting down beside her. He sat so close that she could smell him, and the smell took her back to the night before, when he had held her in his arms all night.

“Uh-huh,” Jacob smiled, “I’m going to go play with Josh. That pest-y Geen Gobbin is back again!”

Gerard laughed, and we both watched as he skipped off and joined Josh and his mom. Before even a minute had passed, Josh jumped up and they ran off together.

“I can’t stop long,” Gerard said, “I have to help mom paint. But what time do you get finished babysitting Jacob?”

“Six, tonight. Why?”

“Meet me back here.” He started to get up, but before he left he pressed a soft kiss to her cheek. “See you.”

She watched him go, a hand subconsciously raised to her cheek. It was burning where he kissed it – but it was a good burn, it was a craving for more.

For the rest of the day, Lindsey couldn’t concentrate. Jacob had started to get frustrated with repeating himself and snapped at her to pay attention. When six o’ clock finally rolled around, Lindsey couldn’t get out of the house and to the park quick enough.

It had begun to get dark when Lindsey entered the park at six. She was full of nerves, her heart pounding in her chest. She’d never gone anywhere with the intention of meeting him before – she’d just happened to run into him. A tree swayed slightly in the wind, and the sudden rustling of crispy leaves made her jump. She clutched her bag closer to her side and started to walk quickly.

“Linds!”

She turned quickly, panicked, only to see Gerard laughing at her reaction. He closed the distance between them and enveloped her in a hug, smiling into her hair.

“I didn’t think you’d come,” He admitted, his hazel eyes sweeping over the abandoned park nervously. In his hand, he was carrying his sketch book – the one that he had worked in at the park the day before, though it now seemed like an eternity ago.

“The park’s really different without the screaming kids,” Lindsey said, laughing nervously. She wrapped her arms around her stomach, and waited for Gerard to say something, eager to know why he had wanted her to come in the first place.

“Let’s go somewhere else then,” He smiled, and reached out to take her hand. Trying to stop herself shaking from nerves, she took another long look around the park. Noticing her hesitancy, he added “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“Okay,” She agreed, laughing at how he seemed to be able to read her thoughts. She loved the feeling of his hand in hers as they walked out of the park. She loved how they seemed to grip hers as if he was scared that she’d run away, but gentle at the same time. Soft, artist hands.

“So, how was your day?” Gerard asked, glancing through his hair at the girl. She looked at him and he noticed, and not for the first time, the sparkle in her eyes as she spoke. The way she flicked her hair every so often to keep her fringe out of the way, and the fact that he’d never seen anybody else able to pull of that shade of lipstick.

“It was okay, thanks. Jacob found a new favourite sandwich, and got a new war wound from chasing the Green Goblin. Mrs. Smith still can’t get my name right, but Jacob’s one of the loveliest little boys I’ve ever met, so I don’t mind.” She paused, looking around at the street they’d turned into, but she didn’t recognise it. “How about you?”

“It was okay thanks. I was helping my mom paint her bedroom, but Mikey and I escaped to read some comics after a while.” He flicked his hair out of the way and turned to her, grinning. “I’m such a nerd.”

“You are,” She giggled, “But I like it like that.”

“We’re here!” Gerard grinned, stopping outside an old, abandoned house. The windows were boarded out, and the door had a broken, rusty chain hanging from the handle. Lindsey looked at Gerard, her confusion worn blatantly on her face. He smirked at her confusion, and gestured for her to follow him.

He pushed open the door, ignoring the chain that groaned as the door swung open, and pulled her in after him, leaving the door to swing shut behind him. Lindsey shuddered, suddenly scared and gripped Gerard’s hand as tight as she could. He sensed her fear and pulled her closer to him.

“It’s okay,” he mumbled, “it’s safe.”

He walked through the house as if he lived there, leading her to the staircase. He let go of her hand, and at her sharp intake of breath, he pushed it around her waist, pulling her closer to him as they walked upstairs. They reached the top floor and Gerard let go of her to pull at a thread on the ceiling. Without warning, a set of metal stairs tumbled from above. Lindsey took a couple of steps backwards and watched Gerard closely. She had no idea what was going on, and was starting to get a bit freaked out.

“Come on,” Gerard said, before turning to look at her. “Don’t be scared, Linds. It’s just like an adventure,”

“Yeah,” She nodded, “You’re the Joker and I’m your hostage.”

He laughed, and pushed her towards the stairs. Lindsey looked at him before taking hold of a metal rung gingerly.

“Is it safe?”

“It certainly is. And if it does happen to give way, which it won’t, I’m right here to catch you.”

Taking a deep breath, Lindsey began to climb the ladder, thanking her decision to not wear a skirt. When she reached the top, she pushed open the loft entrance and gasped as fresh air hit her face. She wandered over to the side and peeked over, watching the pavement they had left moments earlier.

A few seconds later, she heard Gerard come up after her, dragging his sketch book behind him. She glanced backwards at him and saw him place his sketchbook on the ground gently. She looked up, over the rooftops of other houses and smiled at the lights of the city.

“I may not be somebody you love,” Gerard smiled, his arms reaching out to gently touch her waist and pull her towards him. “But the rooftop and the stars I can do.”

She looked up, and gazed silently at the stars that lit up the night sky. She leaned against him and gasped at the magic of the moment.

“Thank you,” she breathed, “thank-you!”

She threw her arms around him, never wanting the moment to end. He pulled her close to him, his arms making a safety net for her, and her alone.

“Well,” she smiled as she let go of him, “I may not be somebody you love, but the being with somebody that you don’t have to be afraid to be who you are around, I can give you that.”

“Good comeback,” He smiled, his eyes radiating warmth. He grabbed his sketchbook and they both went to sit at the edge of the building, their legs dangling dangerously over the edge. “Um, do you want to see?”

“Your sketchbook?!” She asked, wide-eyed. “Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

She smiled, and took the sketch book from him, holding it cautiously between her fingers. She flipped open the front cover, and gasped at the picture in front of her.

“Gerard, that’s...” She paused to find the right word, “I don’t even know! It’s amazing!”

He didn’t answer her; his posture seemed to be too tense. It wasn’t like the Gerard she’d gotten to know over the past few days. She came to the conclusion that he was just nervous about sharing his artwork.

As she turned each fragile page, she became more amazed. She couldn’t believe the talent that he had, the pure genius he had hidden from her. She was shaking her head in disbelief, her mouth in a small ‘o.’

She turned the final page of the sketchbook, and gasped. He had drawn her. It was perfect, from her shining eyes to the sweeping fringe that always seemed to be in her way. He’d drawn every line on her face perfectly, as if he’d known her all of his life.

“Lindsey,” He whispered, “I know we’ve only known each other for a few days, and I’m not normally like...this. But I can’t stop thinking about you, from the first time you spoke to me, when I was so annoyed that you interrupted me drawing, but when I looked at you, I couldn’t remember why I was angry. You’re so good with Jacob, and that kid loves you.”

Lindsey chuckled, her voice shaking from nerves as the wind bristled through her hair.

“I’ve never felt like this before. I’ve never felt like I wanted somebody to know me inside out, to let them watch me draw without worrying what they’d think. I’ve never wanted to just hold somebody in my arms and listen to them talk to me all night long. I’m not in love with you, Linds. That would be impossible after three days, but I want to fall in love with you. I want to get to know you well enough that I can finish your sentences for you. I want to show you off in front of my friends and I want to be able to call you my own.”

He turned to her, now petrified of rejection.

“Lindsey, will you be my girlfriend?”

She tried to stop herself shaking as she replayed what he’d just said in her head. There wasn’t anything she could say, so she leaned over to him and pressed a small kiss on his unexpecting mouth. A small shock ran through her body and she put the sketch-book down to one side and pulled his hand from beside him, linking their fingers together.

“Yes.”