This is for The Hero

"So what are you going to do?" Trenton asked.

"About what?" I asked. We were back on the love seat with me laying on his chest. It was the longest we had been around each other if you don't count sleeping in the same bed.

"About the Superstition thing. Are you going to go with your parents?" He seemed worried by the way his voice had changed from our past conversations.

I struggled coming up with an answer. "...I'm not sure." I at least needed some input from others with this. This wasn't a decision that I was to make alone because I always put others before me. Well, mostly. I always tried to be modest.

"Should I?" I asked.

Trenton hadn't answered, but I knew that he was thinking. After a while, I got a little restless. "Trenton?"

There was a second of silence, but then he said, "Sit up real quick." I got up from my position on his chest and looked at him, then he continued. "I don't want you to leave. If you don't feel safe around the publicity, though, you should go with your parents. The problem is I won't be able to see you until you come back to Springside."

"Why is that?" My curiosity got the better of me.

"It's private business. I'll tell you soon."

I nodded, but only because I didn't want to annoy him. Trenton kept most of his business to himself; it made me wonder what was under what he decided to reveal to me. I didn't want to know everything dark and personal, just small things like his last name. Just thinking about this made me feel stupid for not asking him.

"Hey, Trenton. What's your last name?" How I never got around to knowing this? I'll never know.

Trenton opened his mouth, but then closed it in what looked like hesitation. Surely, he didn't forget his last name. Still, he looked like he was trying to remember, occasionally shaking his head. Unless he was coming up with a fake name, he didn't need to be thinking this hard.

"Well?" You could hear the impatience in my voice.

"I can't remember." He looked at me. "I haven't had to use it in a long time."

This kind of angered me, but I kept my cool. "Look, I understand you want to keep certain things to yourself, but your last name isn't something you have to lie about to me."

Trenton's eyes lit up. "I'm not lying. I honestly can't remember. I wouldn't lie about something like that, Shane."

I squinted my eyes at him. "How is that even possible? You use your last name to sign and label everything that is yours."

"I seriously can not remember. You have to take my word." Trenton looked sincere, but I wasn't buying it. Though, I could tell that this was leading to a fight, so I brought down my defenses.

"Okay, fine. Is there anything that you can tell me? I mean, you know nearly everything about me, but I barely know anything about you."

Trenton's facial expression changed. He could definitely see that I was kind of nervous around him. He made a light smile, trying to be comforting. "I'm sorry, Shane. I just don't want to drag you into my problems. Most of what you don't know about me is something I can't let you know until I can fully trust you that you won't say anything and won't get involved."

My eyes trailed down to my lap. Ouch. If a tear came down my face now, I'd be screwed. I couldn't build my walls up now; I just got Trenton here. I can't block him out. I didn't want to instigate anything, but the word vomit let it flow. "You don't trust me?"

"Shane." Trenton said, "Look at me." He maneuvered one hand into my available one and the other bringing up my chin. "With what I have to hide could put you in serious danger. I'm sorry. I really am, but it's all just personal business."

My eyes looked away from him, and I released tension on my back by leaning against the inside of the couch. "What, are you part of the CIA?" I tried to lighten the mood, but something scared me that he might say yes.

He chuckled. "Nah. I couldn't even tell you anything if I were."

I smiled. I looked at Trenton, and soon enough, he looked at me. "I'm fine with it. I'll just wait." I wanted to know more about him. I wanted to pry it out of him, but if it meant losing his trust, I was willing to wait until it was the right time for him to open up.

Trenton smiled. "Thank you for understanding."

"I try." That didn't seem fitting, but it came out anyways. My mind was always looking a hurricane of words to say when I was around Trenton, so it was always a little hard for me to find the right response, usually.

Suddenly, a loud eruption filled the small silence. My dorm room shook, along with everything inside. Trenton got up quickly, completely alerted by the noise, and ran towards the window.

"Do you see anything?!" I asked, feeling off guard by the abrupt noise.

"It's a building close by on the college grounds. The top is on fire, most likely due to an aerial collision. That doesn't completely explain the shaking of the dorm, though." Trenton's voice sounded very worried.

I wasn't anywhere near panicking, yet I was disturbed that this happened near me. "Which building?" I got up, worried. The dorms were close to the school buildings, and my view was able to see nearly all of them. I walked up to the window while Trenton made room for me to see.

Trenton pointed, even though it was blatantly obvious where the fire was since the building was close.

My eyes lit up. "Oh, shit." I said in astonishment. "That's the memorial they made for the founder of the school and the famous people that came here." Considering that this school was founded a long time ago makes that building special. I think they said that it was founded in the mid eighteen-hundreds and that many notable people, including a couple presidents, came to this school.

There was a banging on our door, and I jumped. A voice yelled, "EVERYONE OUT. EVACUATE YOUR DORMS AND GET OUT OF THE BUILDING."

I looked at Trenton. "Stay right here. I'll get my car keys, and we'll go to Jaro's." I looked at my clock on the wall, and it read eight thirty-seven. Her and Mina were probably still up.

I ran to my closet to get my shoes, then grabbed the keys next to my bed. "Let's go."

We went out in the hallway to see that everyone else that stayed down this hall looking outward. The guy with the same voice as the one that yelled through our door was banging on other dorm doors. I turned back to shut the door and locked it.

Seeing this guy yelling and freaking everyone out even more than they should, there was screaming and others asking questions.

"Let's go hurry. I don't want to deal with a traffic jam while trying to get out of the parking lot." I advised.

Trenton agreed. "Okay. I'll follow you."

We walked down the end of the hallway and scuffled down the flights of stairs to get to the exit. Everyone was running towards the exit, freaking out with their arms flailing in the air. We walked near the exit, getting shoved out of the way of panicking classmates. Shuffling through the bodies of guys was really hard with my gimp hand, considering I had to push them out of the way in order to get out. I checked behind me to see if Trenton was close.

"Trenton!" I yelled. "You need to get in front of me! I can't move them out of the way!"

He got next to me and scooted past. "Here." he said, "Watch out!"

I needed to get out of here fast before I had an anxiety attack. All of the stress started pummeling me again, and I was going to snap someone's neck if this kept up.

Trenton pushed guys out of the way more efficiently than I did, getting us through the exit.

I got in front of him again. "This way!" I yelled.

We ran straight through the campus, trying to get to the car. We got into the middle of the road, when I noticed a pair of headlights from a truck coming towards us at an increasing pace. I stared, only to be grabbed and brought out of the road. The horn of the truck passed by extremely fast, making me think that it was going to end up hitting someone else. My arm started hurting again, but I pushed that thought aside for a different time.

Trenton let go of me. "Be careful! You're lucky I pushed you out of the way on time!"

Getting scolded by Trenton kind of hurt, but it was understandable. "Sorry. Come on, my car isn't too far. Since my arm is screwed, you'll have to drive. You know how to drive a stick shift?"

Trenton gave me a look.

"Never mind. You don't have a choice." I threw him the keys and pulled his hand with me as I started running.

We made it to my car, and we had gotten in. Trenton put the key in the slot, trying to turn it and ignite the engine.

"Put the gear shifter in neutral and put your foot on the clutch while turning the key." This was probably going to take a while.

"Which is the clutch?"

"Furthest to the left."

Trenton did so, revving the engine, but then it stopped.

"You have to leave your foot on the clutch, Trenton."

He revved the engine again. "Okay, what next?"

"Lift the emergency brake to the right of you and then put it in reverse."

Trenton lifted the emergency brake and shifted into reverse after finding it on the knob, then stepped on the gas. The engine revved, but didn't move.

"Okay, this is tricky. Give it some gas after letting off the clutch a little. Be sure to have your turn ready so you don't mess up. Be careful-"

The engine revved again, and the car bucked and jolted backwards.

SLAM.

My head slammed against the seat. I turned around to look behind us to see that we hit a car behind us. Thank God the airbags didn't deploy.

"Shit." I said. "I need to teach you how to drive my car."

Trenton looked behind. "Oh, shit."

"Don't worry, everyone is in a panic, so no one will notice unless we get the hell out of here fast."

"Shane, I can't drive this thing." Trenton said. Great, it was up to me. Since my right arm was messed up, shifting the gear shifter was going to be a blast.

"Okay. Switch with me." I opened my door and got out while Trenton shuffled from the driver's seat to the passenger's seat. I sat down, and started the car. I took the sling off, needing to make space between my arm and my body. Though this was going to hurt like hell, I needed to get to a safer spot than the crash landing on campus and get away from the totaled car behind us.

I put the car in first gear and stepped on the gas, waiting for the fun to start.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Oh, my God! Fucking damn it!"

You can only imagine the amount of pain my arm was feeling at the moment. Each time I moved my damn arm to shift, the agony increased bit by bit, soon enough surging through my whole arm. After having to spend twenty minutes in the car, shifting gears, stopping at so many stupid fucking stoplights, we made it to Mina and Jaro's apartment complex. Trenton had offered to shift the gear for me, but I knew that he wouldn't be in sync with my feet on the pedals. My car was really touchy with how precise it had to be.

Tears were running down my face. I had dealt with worse pain, but it still fucking hurt! I pulled up the emergency brake to park the car, which nearly killed me. I groaned in pain.

I stopped the car and took the key out. "Help me out, please?" It came out as a whimper, but I couldn't careless because I was going to need all the help I could get from him. Trenton got out and ran to my side to open the door. He brought my left arm around him and heaved me up against him. He put the sling back around my arm and moved me with him, so he could shut the car door.

"Come on, Shane. Don't worry. We're almost there. Tell me which door to walk to." His voice was soft and very comforting.

"Far left building, bottom right door." I said.

Trenton helped me walk down the concrete to their apartment, taking his time to help me. I didn't really need the extra leverage with him holding my arm, but it felt good and made me feel safer, so I didn't say anything.

We got to the door, and Trenton knocked. I heard some scuffling, then the door opened with Mina. I looked pathetic, but I was wanted to sit and relax.

"Oh, my God, are you okay?" Mina was worried about me for once. Yay, me. It only took a near-terroristic attack to do so.

"Yeah, can I come in? Is Jaro here?"

"Yeah. Sit down, I'll go get her." She left the door and went down the hallway. I kicked the door with my foot to shut it and let go of Trenton to sit down on the couch. He followed suit and let my head rest against his shoulder.

"Are you feeling better?" He asked, whispering.

"Better. Not great, but better." I smiled. Trenton smiled back.

"I swear, you're a trooper, Shane. That's a big reason I like you."

My eyes lit up a little. "Really?" Again, I was pathetic at the moment, but I still had a reason to.

"Yep." Trenton said.

"Hey, if Jaro gets back here, tell her I fell asleep because I over exhausted myself. I'm really tired, and I need to rest my arm, too."

Trenton smiled again. "Can do."

"Thanks." I put my head on his shoulder again and shut my eyes.

"Coco?" I heard Jaro yell.

Trenton let out a small 'shhh'. "He fell asleep. He kind of overdid it while trying to drive here."

"Is he okay?"

"He's fine."

"Okay. Um... Are you planning on staying or...?"

"I guess I'll stay here. He's already chosen to fall asleep on me; might as well stay."

"Okay. Uh... Bathroom is down this hallway. Don't cum on the new sofa, okay?"

"Uh..."

"Good."

If there was any expert at making awkward situations, it had to be Jaro. I was going to let out a laugh, yet I needed to keep my sleeping facade in character. I heard the footsteps starting to fade down the hall, then a door shutting.

"Thanks." I muttered, "I'm tired."

"Same here, but I might have to leave soon." Trenton said.

"Okay. Just stay until I fall asleep."

"Deal."

The joys of catastrophes. Not much good had come out of today. I had to deal with my parents, I was near a plane crash, and my arm still hurt like hell. What made my day, though, was seeing that Trenton could even deal with me at my worst. Through the idiocy of not looking both ways before crossing the street and the unstoppable tears that ran down my face while driving, it was an amazing feeling to know that I could count on him without hesitation, whether I was right or wrong, or strong or weak in any situation. That showed me that I didn't have to worry anymore about liking a guy that didn't share the same for me.

The only wish I have at the moment, though, is to know what Trenton was hiding behind that sky scraping wall he had.