Julianna’s head felt light as a feather as she laid in Kevin's lap. His apartment was dark, except for the light coming from the television, its luminescence flickering off Julianna's face. As they watched the news, stock footage of the New Haven construction site filled the screen. With his left hand, he played with her soft, black hair, twisting long strands between his fingers down to her scalp like she insisted. With his free hand, Kevin massaged her shoulders, kneading out the knots of stress beneath her skin. Whenever her shoulders trembled again, he stopped the massaging and ran his hand up and down her arm. When the scene on the television faded into news anchors, their fingers interlocked on the curve of her hip. He pulled her hand to his lips and gave the top a kiss. Looking down, he delicately swept away the errant strands of hair that fell into the tears that trailed from her eyes.
“It'll be alright,” he whispered in her ear. The power that roiled inside like a tumult said otherwise. He let the heat the power projected seep through his skin to caress Julianna, hoping the warmth would provide some additional comfort.
Julianna sniffed. “I know,” she said in a soft tone, but he didn't truly believe she meant it.
Most of the channels in New Haven told the same story that sent a pall over the city. Watching it again for what felt like the hundredth time, Kevin grew tired of the stale format on each channel. Two smartly dressed news anchors sat at a desk, their faces thick with makeup, both speaking with low, depressing voices, as if a national figure had passed away. That small square box that floated between their shoulders showed aerial footage of the Modoc Bridge that was taken from a helicopter as it circled the damage. He desperately wanted to pick up the remote and switch the channel or turn off the television completely. Then, he could take Julianna up into his arms and do something, anything, to lift her spirits. But the TV continued to play, grinding her down with its negativity.
The warmth in his lap escalated and Kevin lifted his hands as she squirmed to readjust. The hands hovered over her body, hesitant to re-establish the touch. In the end, he knew it was his alter ego's fault she was so distraught, and guilt consumed him as he realized the irony in providing her with comfort.
Noticing his distance, Julianna reached and pulled his hand back onto her hip. “Don't forget the hair,” she said, voice cracking.
“Okay, Jay,” Kevin replied, interlocking strands between his fingers.
“It's with a somber tone that I say again,” the leader anchor, Gwen Winston of WNHZ began, using the same phrase she had used the past three hours that made Kevin want to send a muscled blue fist through the TV screen. “The damage to the Modoc Bridge has been severe on highway one-twenty-six,” she continued.
The small box over Gwen's shoulder expanded to cover the breadth of the screen. It was daylight when the footage was taken, long after Fiasco had left. The highway was damp from rain. The helicopter panned the charred wreckage in a slow semi-circle and lingered on the blackened hole where the oil truck had exploded upward like a volcano. In the light of day, Kevin noticed how extensive the blast truly was when the char on the pavement extended across nearly all four lanes.
The sear dominated the highway, except the area where he had created the barrier and saved several lives. Those lives mattered little to the media, not when the camera panned down to the web of support structures beneath the bridge that had taken the brunt of the blast. The pillars were blackened, twisted, and melted so severely that it was a miracle they all had not plummeted into the river that night. Since then, engineers had done their best to prop up the bridge in a short amount of time. They used concrete girders that leaned at an angle against the bottom of the bridge, down to the river that had calmed from the downpour, to keep the bridge upright. It was a stopgap until more permanent measures could be taken, but the damage was already done.
Gwen's annoying voice continued to speak over the footage.
“Not only has Modoc Bridge been closed indefinitely to incoming and outgoing traffic, but it is estimated that it will cost the city of New Haven millions in repair costs. This will affect the local economy, as imports will have to take highway ninety-seven, a route that will add additional tax and fuel costs for the foreseeable future.”
“This is depressing,” Julianna said through the frog that choked her throat. She dabbed a napkin at her pink eyes, swollen from tears.
“You want me to change it?” Kevin replied, hoping she would say yes, but she only shook her head in his lap.
“And the bad news does not end there,” the insufferable Gwen continued, pouring salt into the wounds. Air blew out from Kevin's lips, and he couldn't help but think that there was a hidden glee behind her solemn expression. Negativity sold, and the local media was at the trough eating it up like starving hogs. “City officials are meeting at noon tomorrow to discuss the future of New Haven's Mega league team. Not only will the repair of the bridge cost millions, but the construction supplies also lost in the explosion have brought the stadium construction to a standstill.”
Kevin wiped his face, sweeping the warmth over his nose. Everyone involved in the stadium’s construction, which appeared to be half the town given the uproar, were affected by the news. The travel industry that would have exploded with the new team was now just a fading memory. Mega league shirts became worthless overnight, and acted as a stinging reminder of the loss. Citizens who had begun filing for new businesses, such as restaurants and gift stores in anticipation of the new fans and crowds, had their hopes dashed as well.
Worst of all, Josep, Julianna's father, was the lead foreman on the project, and was put on suspension until the city decided what they were going to do moving forward. The stress from that loss of income had descended on her parents’ house, so much that Julianna had spent more nights at his apartment, testing the limits of her Christian values. All the while, he had to hide from the love of his life that it was his fault her home life was now in shambles. It was another lie forced into their relationship by his failure.
“Hero or hooligan?” said Brian, the co-anchor to Gwen. He wore a smug expression as he segued the news story to discuss his alter ego. “Many in New Haven blame Fiasco, the local Mega who botched yet another rescue.” He pompously shuffled papers on the desk, and Kevin seethed inside as the footage switched again to a shaky camera that replaced Brian's smirking visage.
“As you can see from the footage, the Mega held up the oil tanker, trapping it in some net. Then, inexplicably, he let it plummet into the river below. This was followed by a spectacular explosion that damaged the legendary Modoc Bridge.”
“No mention of Talon standing right next to me,” Kevin thought.
It was the same footage they had played since the news of the construction suspension broke, taken by a survivor who was several yards away. The footage was exceptionally convenient for his partner, filmed at an angle that blocked Talon out of the shot by the shadow of another survivor looking on. The image was dominated by the blue light that gleamed off his leather mask, reflecting off his goggles like fire on glass. It also caught his embarrassingly thin frame that did not fill out his costume, and his skinny arms that struggled to hold his net manifestation. Then the image shook. The orange explosion blossomed outward and dropped the cameraman off his feet with a curse word just before his barrier would have gone up. The screen reverted to Brian with his mouth turned up and his head shaking slowly at the camera.
You looked pathetic in that footage. Kevin nodded in agreement.
“I hate him,” Julianna said, as she wiped another tear from her eye. Her tone was full of poison that he did not know she possessed.
“Who? Brian?” Kevin replied. “Yeah, me too. He looks like a prick.”
“No, not him,” Julianna sniffed. He looked down and noticed that her face had hardened around her eyes and mouth. “Fiasco.”
“Oh,” Kevin replied softly. “Yeah. I hate him, too.”
“Good,” she replied.
Tell her about Fiasco now, the voice taunted.
“Ethan said he has access to that network the Megas use,” she started.
“Who's Ethan?” Kevin interrupted.
“Ethan,” Julianna replied in a tone as if he should have known who he was. “The guy always following Warren around.”
“Oh yeah, him.” Kevin replied. “And what did he say?”
She sniffed, using the napkin on her reddened nose. “Well, he said he has access to that site, and he said the rumor is that Fiasco is such a loser because he's ugly and can't get laid. And that makes him go out into the field drunk and high. That’s why he’s such a screw up.”
“Well, what does Ethan know about anything?” Kevin said.
Slowly, anger bled into the well of power Kevin kept inside. The tips of his fingers cooled from the loss, even though he knew what Ethan said was a lie. The MegaStream is coded for Megas and trusted human users. It's possible Ethan was one of those users, but the pacific northwest had already met its quota. Plus, the gorgeous woman lying over his legs proved the lie even further. Kevin breathed out to let the power drown the anger. The heat returned to his fingers, and he rubbed them along Julianna's arm. He was there for her, and nothing else.
Looking down, he noticed how the story Julianna told about Fiasco had made her feel better by the slight smile on her lips. “But I guess anything is possible right?” he continued.
“Well, I hope he rots in hell for what he’s done to my father,” Julianna said, mirthless. She turned over towards him, and he could see the tears accumulate in her light brown eyes. “I'm glad I'm here with you,” she said. “I don't know how I would get through this without you.”
“I'm your guy,” Kevin replied. He tried to sound strong, to be there for his girl, but inside, his heart had sunk to his feet for being the cause of her discomfort. “I'll always be here for you when you need me, Jay. Always.”
A smile sprinted on her face as she leaned up from his lap to share a warm kiss. When they parted, Julianna's hand caressed the side of his face. She looked at him directly in the eyes, her own shining with tears.
“I love you, Kevin Jones,” she said.
Since she had met his parents, the words declaring her love seemed to come easier to Julianna. Every time she said them, they almost became easier to hear and believe. Kevin tried to smile back at her, but failed in his attempt, shackled by the truth: The pain she felt was his fault alone.
“I love you, too,” he managed to say. “No matter what happens to us, I hope you always remember that, Julianna.”
The colors of the television projected on her face once more when she leaned back in his lap.
“What do you mean by what happens to us?” she questioned. Her eyes studied his face and her brow creased when she didn’t find the answer she was searching for. Her hand went up between them. “You better not be breaking up with me, Kevin Jones, because seriously, I can't take that right now.”
“Of course not,” Kevin assured her. He rubbed her arms with his hands. “I'm just saying, sometimes I just think…”
His voice trailed off. He looked into her brown eyes with her black lashes stuck together by tears and couldn't bring himself to say aloud that sometimes he thought she deserved better. It wasn't often he thought about such things, but the frequency had increased, especially since he became aware of his mother’s ultimatum. The doubt he felt continued to roll like a freight train after he took up the Fiasco name again. The consternation of her face told him that perhaps she sensed what he was going to say, and he knew that the way she nervously bit her lip was a sign that she did not want him to say it.
“Never mind,” Kevin continued. There was an expectant pause as Julianna seemed to wait for him to change his mind.
“Well, I'm glad we're not breaking up,” Julianna finally said with a laugh, giving him a sharp but playful poke into his side that made him squirm. Looking down, her fingers played with a piece of lint on his shirt. “You know you can tell me anything, right?”
His fingers ran down through her hair. “Of course I do,” Kevin replied.
She did not return his gaze, still playing with his clothes, but said, “It’s just, sometimes, every once in a while, I feel like there is more you want to say.”
Kevin's eyebrows twitched from her words. Was it true what they said about women's intuition? That it might as well be classified as a Mega power when they could sense something wrong with their partner? He thought he had done a better job keeping that portion of his life hidden from her.
What is done in the dark will always come to light.
With his thumb and index finger, Kevin raised Julianna's chin to look into her eyes. “There's nothing, Julianna,” Kevin assured her.
Another lie.
“I guess I'll just have to take you any way I can get you.” She waited for a reply again before letting out a heavy breath. “Either way, we've grown too close for me to ever lose you now. I'll always want you in my life, Kevin Jones.”
“You really mean that?” Kevin asked, surprised, but pleased by such a definitive statement.
As comforted as he felt at that moment, the Fiasco in him noticed her use of the words either way. They drilled through the good will of the words that preceded them. Kevin wondered if it was possible that she, too, thought that she deserved better? Or even worse, was Julianna thinking of moving on, using the words either way to leave that path open as an option? The thought agitated the power inside. He couldn't bear to think of the subject any further, unless he wanted the energy to grow into a hurricane, finding it best to keep the thought stored away in case he needed the power boost later. Besides, she was the aggrieved party that night, and not his fragile ego.
“Of course I mean it,” her smile dropped a tear from the corner of her eye that trailed down her cheek. “It's strange to say this. I mean, we haven't even been together a year and I normally don't move this fast. But, I feel like we’ve known each other all our lives, you know? Plus, I've told you more things than I’ve ever told anyone else. We share all this time together and I don't get tired of you. We share all this space, too, and you don’t get tired of me,” she laughed as she nodded toward the hallway. “You practically let me move in here to get away from my parents, even though I know you prefer your time alone. I'm just trying to say that you're the best friend I've ever had, so of course, I've said this before and I'll keep saying it. I want you in my life any way that I can get you, Kevin.”
It was the sweetest, most honest affirmation of their relationship he could have hoped for.
“And I promise that I will be in your life for as long as you put up with me,” Kevin chuckled, but the guilt of her pain quickly quenched the joy.
“I feel the same way, and I'm sorry, you're going through all of this now,” he looked away, feeling a peculiar emotion build up. He did not know what to label the sensation, but he felt it burn behind his eyes.
“I'm sure your father will get his job back.”
“I hope so,” she said softly and glanced at the television that had looped back to the beginning of the broadcast.
“Of course he will,” Kevin said, slouching down to look into her eyes. “What else are we going to do with that gigantic hole in the middle of nowhere?”
Her brown eyes fluttered upward before she said, “New Haven’s first-ever waterpark?”
“In this climate?” Taken aback, Kevin's eyebrows checked up. “It’s more likely to fill with rainwater and become the world’s largest mudhole.”
“At least we'd be known for something,” Julianna replied, the widening grin brightening her eyes. “We can even take all that useless league memorabilia, slap an M on it, and call it the New Haven Mudhole.”
“But we still won't have a team!” he exclaimed.
She shrugged. “Then at least we could sell it as a collectible?” Her pink lips parted with a satisfied grin.
Kevin nodded as the two shared a laugh, amazed that she had indeed been paying attention to his infantile but satisfying hobby of collecting anything that could be considered a collectible.
“I really do love you, Julianna Jove.” He said with the utmost sincerity. She was not the only one to whom the words came easier to as time went on, and whatever emotion it was that made his eyes burn compelled him to say it once more.
The power that surged inside sent heat to the hand cupping Julianna's chin before he kissed her again. Her lips felt soft against his, warm and welcoming, making his pulse and heart race, drowning out the noise from the television. His hand moved to the curve of her hips to pull her in. Her arms wrapped about his neck in kind, her soft body falling into him.
It was without question that Julianna had supplanted Warren in his friendship hierarchy. The baying and ridicule from the guys at work did little to change the fact that God had blessed him with the best possible friend that someone like him could hope to claim, a conviction he felt as their hearts seem to beat with the same rhythm.
Yes, but she hates Fiasco, the voice said. And you are the Fiasco in her life.
They parted, and Kevin gently rubbed away a tear from her cheek with the back of the knuckle of his index finger. Julianna leaned into his hand, eyes closed and still smiling. Given all the damage Fiasco had caused to not only Julianna's family, but to the city as well, he could not begrudge her hatred of the Mega. It was probable everyone else in New Haven shared her opinion. He had given up on the idea that the people he rescued on Modoc Bridge would come forward to defend his name to the press—or even Talon, for that matter. The narrative of the event was clear and already written in stone. Through his failures, he had wrecked New Haven's economy, and stripped away the Mega team that would have put the city on the map. The mob had spoken, and it was an anti-Fiasco sweep. Part of him even wanted to join them in the outrage.
Julianna's kind words should have been a salve to his own internal wounds, yet a swell of depression kept the power ebbing through his muscles and veins. It wasn't the hatred for him that permeated the city that hurt. All that acrimony from strangers he would never meet was something he could deal with since he had heard, read, and felt the negative chatter that surrounded Fiasco from the first day he put on the mask. It wasn’t the vitriol spewing from the TV either that still had his power churning like a tidal wave inside. Julianna’s kind words were the culprit. It was the smile on her face even though he knew how she truly felt inside that made the depression weigh heavy on his shoulders. It was those eyes that glistened in the television light, shedding tears that came from the hurt and pain he caused her with his failure.
Congratulations, the voice said. You made your best friend cry.
Fiasco of Adventures - Chapter 6- Interlude
Fiasco of Adventures - Chapter 6- Interlude
Fiasco of Adventures - Chapter 6- Interlude
Image by: 2686687
Chapter 1, Part 1, Chapter 1, Part 2,
Chapter 2, part 1, Chapter 2, Part 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Fiasco of Adventures
A Megacosm Story
Interlude
Julianna’s head felt light as a feather as she laid in Kevin's lap. His apartment was dark, except for the light coming from the television, its luminescence flickering off Julianna's face. As they watched the news, stock footage of the New Haven construction site filled the screen. With his left hand, he played with her soft, black hair, twisting long strands between his fingers down to her scalp like she insisted. With his free hand, Kevin massaged her shoulders, kneading out the knots of stress beneath her skin. Whenever her shoulders trembled again, he stopped the massaging and ran his hand up and down her arm. When the scene on the television faded into news anchors, their fingers interlocked on the curve of her hip. He pulled her hand to his lips and gave the top a kiss. Looking down, he delicately swept away the errant strands of hair that fell into the tears that trailed from her eyes.
“It'll be alright,” he whispered in her ear. The power that roiled inside like a tumult said otherwise. He let the heat the power projected seep through his skin to caress Julianna, hoping the warmth would provide some additional comfort.
Julianna sniffed. “I know,” she said in a soft tone, but he didn't truly believe she meant it.
Most of the channels in New Haven told the same story that sent a pall over the city. Watching it again for what felt like the hundredth time, Kevin grew tired of the stale format on each channel. Two smartly dressed news anchors sat at a desk, their faces thick with makeup, both speaking with low, depressing voices, as if a national figure had passed away. That small square box that floated between their shoulders showed aerial footage of the Modoc Bridge that was taken from a helicopter as it circled the damage. He desperately wanted to pick up the remote and switch the channel or turn off the television completely. Then, he could take Julianna up into his arms and do something, anything, to lift her spirits. But the TV continued to play, grinding her down with its negativity.
The warmth in his lap escalated and Kevin lifted his hands as she squirmed to readjust. The hands hovered over her body, hesitant to re-establish the touch. In the end, he knew it was his alter ego's fault she was so distraught, and guilt consumed him as he realized the irony in providing her with comfort.
Noticing his distance, Julianna reached and pulled his hand back onto her hip. “Don't forget the hair,” she said, voice cracking.
“Okay, Jay,” Kevin replied, interlocking strands between his fingers.
“It's with a somber tone that I say again,” the leader anchor, Gwen Winston of WNHZ began, using the same phrase she had used the past three hours that made Kevin want to send a muscled blue fist through the TV screen. “The damage to the Modoc Bridge has been severe on highway one-twenty-six,” she continued.
The small box over Gwen's shoulder expanded to cover the breadth of the screen. It was daylight when the footage was taken, long after Fiasco had left. The highway was damp from rain. The helicopter panned the charred wreckage in a slow semi-circle and lingered on the blackened hole where the oil truck had exploded upward like a volcano. In the light of day, Kevin noticed how extensive the blast truly was when the char on the pavement extended across nearly all four lanes.
The sear dominated the highway, except the area where he had created the barrier and saved several lives. Those lives mattered little to the media, not when the camera panned down to the web of support structures beneath the bridge that had taken the brunt of the blast. The pillars were blackened, twisted, and melted so severely that it was a miracle they all had not plummeted into the river that night. Since then, engineers had done their best to prop up the bridge in a short amount of time. They used concrete girders that leaned at an angle against the bottom of the bridge, down to the river that had calmed from the downpour, to keep the bridge upright. It was a stopgap until more permanent measures could be taken, but the damage was already done.
Gwen's annoying voice continued to speak over the footage.
“Not only has Modoc Bridge been closed indefinitely to incoming and outgoing traffic, but it is estimated that it will cost the city of New Haven millions in repair costs. This will affect the local economy, as imports will have to take highway ninety-seven, a route that will add additional tax and fuel costs for the foreseeable future.”
“This is depressing,” Julianna said through the frog that choked her throat. She dabbed a napkin at her pink eyes, swollen from tears.
“You want me to change it?” Kevin replied, hoping she would say yes, but she only shook her head in his lap.
“And the bad news does not end there,” the insufferable Gwen continued, pouring salt into the wounds. Air blew out from Kevin's lips, and he couldn't help but think that there was a hidden glee behind her solemn expression. Negativity sold, and the local media was at the trough eating it up like starving hogs. “City officials are meeting at noon tomorrow to discuss the future of New Haven's Mega league team. Not only will the repair of the bridge cost millions, but the construction supplies also lost in the explosion have brought the stadium construction to a standstill.”
Kevin wiped his face, sweeping the warmth over his nose. Everyone involved in the stadium’s construction, which appeared to be half the town given the uproar, were affected by the news. The travel industry that would have exploded with the new team was now just a fading memory. Mega league shirts became worthless overnight, and acted as a stinging reminder of the loss. Citizens who had begun filing for new businesses, such as restaurants and gift stores in anticipation of the new fans and crowds, had their hopes dashed as well.
Worst of all, Josep, Julianna's father, was the lead foreman on the project, and was put on suspension until the city decided what they were going to do moving forward. The stress from that loss of income had descended on her parents’ house, so much that Julianna had spent more nights at his apartment, testing the limits of her Christian values. All the while, he had to hide from the love of his life that it was his fault her home life was now in shambles. It was another lie forced into their relationship by his failure.
“Hero or hooligan?” said Brian, the co-anchor to Gwen. He wore a smug expression as he segued the news story to discuss his alter ego. “Many in New Haven blame Fiasco, the local Mega who botched yet another rescue.” He pompously shuffled papers on the desk, and Kevin seethed inside as the footage switched again to a shaky camera that replaced Brian's smirking visage.
“As you can see from the footage, the Mega held up the oil tanker, trapping it in some net. Then, inexplicably, he let it plummet into the river below. This was followed by a spectacular explosion that damaged the legendary Modoc Bridge.”
“No mention of Talon standing right next to me,” Kevin thought.
It was the same footage they had played since the news of the construction suspension broke, taken by a survivor who was several yards away. The footage was exceptionally convenient for his partner, filmed at an angle that blocked Talon out of the shot by the shadow of another survivor looking on. The image was dominated by the blue light that gleamed off his leather mask, reflecting off his goggles like fire on glass. It also caught his embarrassingly thin frame that did not fill out his costume, and his skinny arms that struggled to hold his net manifestation. Then the image shook. The orange explosion blossomed outward and dropped the cameraman off his feet with a curse word just before his barrier would have gone up. The screen reverted to Brian with his mouth turned up and his head shaking slowly at the camera.
You looked pathetic in that footage. Kevin nodded in agreement.
“I hate him,” Julianna said, as she wiped another tear from her eye. Her tone was full of poison that he did not know she possessed.
“Who? Brian?” Kevin replied. “Yeah, me too. He looks like a prick.”
“No, not him,” Julianna sniffed. He looked down and noticed that her face had hardened around her eyes and mouth. “Fiasco.”
“Oh,” Kevin replied softly. “Yeah. I hate him, too.”
“Good,” she replied.
Tell her about Fiasco now, the voice taunted.
“Ethan said he has access to that network the Megas use,” she started.
“Who's Ethan?” Kevin interrupted.
“Ethan,” Julianna replied in a tone as if he should have known who he was. “The guy always following Warren around.”
“Oh yeah, him.” Kevin replied. “And what did he say?”
She sniffed, using the napkin on her reddened nose. “Well, he said he has access to that site, and he said the rumor is that Fiasco is such a loser because he's ugly and can't get laid. And that makes him go out into the field drunk and high. That’s why he’s such a screw up.”
“Well, what does Ethan know about anything?” Kevin said.
Slowly, anger bled into the well of power Kevin kept inside. The tips of his fingers cooled from the loss, even though he knew what Ethan said was a lie. The MegaStream is coded for Megas and trusted human users. It's possible Ethan was one of those users, but the pacific northwest had already met its quota. Plus, the gorgeous woman lying over his legs proved the lie even further. Kevin breathed out to let the power drown the anger. The heat returned to his fingers, and he rubbed them along Julianna's arm. He was there for her, and nothing else.
Looking down, he noticed how the story Julianna told about Fiasco had made her feel better by the slight smile on her lips. “But I guess anything is possible right?” he continued.
“Well, I hope he rots in hell for what he’s done to my father,” Julianna said, mirthless. She turned over towards him, and he could see the tears accumulate in her light brown eyes. “I'm glad I'm here with you,” she said. “I don't know how I would get through this without you.”
“I'm your guy,” Kevin replied. He tried to sound strong, to be there for his girl, but inside, his heart had sunk to his feet for being the cause of her discomfort. “I'll always be here for you when you need me, Jay. Always.”
A smile sprinted on her face as she leaned up from his lap to share a warm kiss. When they parted, Julianna's hand caressed the side of his face. She looked at him directly in the eyes, her own shining with tears.
“I love you, Kevin Jones,” she said.
Since she had met his parents, the words declaring her love seemed to come easier to Julianna. Every time she said them, they almost became easier to hear and believe. Kevin tried to smile back at her, but failed in his attempt, shackled by the truth: The pain she felt was his fault alone.
“I love you, too,” he managed to say. “No matter what happens to us, I hope you always remember that, Julianna.”
The colors of the television projected on her face once more when she leaned back in his lap.
“What do you mean by what happens to us?” she questioned. Her eyes studied his face and her brow creased when she didn’t find the answer she was searching for. Her hand went up between them. “You better not be breaking up with me, Kevin Jones, because seriously, I can't take that right now.”
“Of course not,” Kevin assured her. He rubbed her arms with his hands. “I'm just saying, sometimes I just think…”
His voice trailed off. He looked into her brown eyes with her black lashes stuck together by tears and couldn't bring himself to say aloud that sometimes he thought she deserved better. It wasn't often he thought about such things, but the frequency had increased, especially since he became aware of his mother’s ultimatum. The doubt he felt continued to roll like a freight train after he took up the Fiasco name again. The consternation of her face told him that perhaps she sensed what he was going to say, and he knew that the way she nervously bit her lip was a sign that she did not want him to say it.
“Never mind,” Kevin continued. There was an expectant pause as Julianna seemed to wait for him to change his mind.
“Well, I'm glad we're not breaking up,” Julianna finally said with a laugh, giving him a sharp but playful poke into his side that made him squirm. Looking down, her fingers played with a piece of lint on his shirt. “You know you can tell me anything, right?”
His fingers ran down through her hair. “Of course I do,” Kevin replied.
She did not return his gaze, still playing with his clothes, but said, “It’s just, sometimes, every once in a while, I feel like there is more you want to say.”
Kevin's eyebrows twitched from her words. Was it true what they said about women's intuition? That it might as well be classified as a Mega power when they could sense something wrong with their partner? He thought he had done a better job keeping that portion of his life hidden from her.
What is done in the dark will always come to light.
With his thumb and index finger, Kevin raised Julianna's chin to look into her eyes. “There's nothing, Julianna,” Kevin assured her.
Another lie.
“I guess I'll just have to take you any way I can get you.” She waited for a reply again before letting out a heavy breath. “Either way, we've grown too close for me to ever lose you now. I'll always want you in my life, Kevin Jones.”
“You really mean that?” Kevin asked, surprised, but pleased by such a definitive statement.
As comforted as he felt at that moment, the Fiasco in him noticed her use of the words either way. They drilled through the good will of the words that preceded them. Kevin wondered if it was possible that she, too, thought that she deserved better? Or even worse, was Julianna thinking of moving on, using the words either way to leave that path open as an option? The thought agitated the power inside. He couldn't bear to think of the subject any further, unless he wanted the energy to grow into a hurricane, finding it best to keep the thought stored away in case he needed the power boost later. Besides, she was the aggrieved party that night, and not his fragile ego.
“Of course I mean it,” her smile dropped a tear from the corner of her eye that trailed down her cheek. “It's strange to say this. I mean, we haven't even been together a year and I normally don't move this fast. But, I feel like we’ve known each other all our lives, you know? Plus, I've told you more things than I’ve ever told anyone else. We share all this time together and I don't get tired of you. We share all this space, too, and you don’t get tired of me,” she laughed as she nodded toward the hallway. “You practically let me move in here to get away from my parents, even though I know you prefer your time alone. I'm just trying to say that you're the best friend I've ever had, so of course, I've said this before and I'll keep saying it. I want you in my life any way that I can get you, Kevin.”
It was the sweetest, most honest affirmation of their relationship he could have hoped for.
“And I promise that I will be in your life for as long as you put up with me,” Kevin chuckled, but the guilt of her pain quickly quenched the joy.
“I feel the same way, and I'm sorry, you're going through all of this now,” he looked away, feeling a peculiar emotion build up. He did not know what to label the sensation, but he felt it burn behind his eyes.
“I'm sure your father will get his job back.”
“I hope so,” she said softly and glanced at the television that had looped back to the beginning of the broadcast.
“Of course he will,” Kevin said, slouching down to look into her eyes. “What else are we going to do with that gigantic hole in the middle of nowhere?”
Her brown eyes fluttered upward before she said, “New Haven’s first-ever waterpark?”
“In this climate?” Taken aback, Kevin's eyebrows checked up. “It’s more likely to fill with rainwater and become the world’s largest mudhole.”
“At least we'd be known for something,” Julianna replied, the widening grin brightening her eyes. “We can even take all that useless league memorabilia, slap an M on it, and call it the New Haven Mudhole.”
“But we still won't have a team!” he exclaimed.
She shrugged. “Then at least we could sell it as a collectible?” Her pink lips parted with a satisfied grin.
Kevin nodded as the two shared a laugh, amazed that she had indeed been paying attention to his infantile but satisfying hobby of collecting anything that could be considered a collectible.
“I really do love you, Julianna Jove.” He said with the utmost sincerity. She was not the only one to whom the words came easier to as time went on, and whatever emotion it was that made his eyes burn compelled him to say it once more.
The power that surged inside sent heat to the hand cupping Julianna's chin before he kissed her again. Her lips felt soft against his, warm and welcoming, making his pulse and heart race, drowning out the noise from the television. His hand moved to the curve of her hips to pull her in. Her arms wrapped about his neck in kind, her soft body falling into him.
It was without question that Julianna had supplanted Warren in his friendship hierarchy. The baying and ridicule from the guys at work did little to change the fact that God had blessed him with the best possible friend that someone like him could hope to claim, a conviction he felt as their hearts seem to beat with the same rhythm.
Yes, but she hates Fiasco, the voice said. And you are the Fiasco in her life.
They parted, and Kevin gently rubbed away a tear from her cheek with the back of the knuckle of his index finger. Julianna leaned into his hand, eyes closed and still smiling. Given all the damage Fiasco had caused to not only Julianna's family, but to the city as well, he could not begrudge her hatred of the Mega. It was probable everyone else in New Haven shared her opinion. He had given up on the idea that the people he rescued on Modoc Bridge would come forward to defend his name to the press—or even Talon, for that matter. The narrative of the event was clear and already written in stone. Through his failures, he had wrecked New Haven's economy, and stripped away the Mega team that would have put the city on the map. The mob had spoken, and it was an anti-Fiasco sweep. Part of him even wanted to join them in the outrage.
Julianna's kind words should have been a salve to his own internal wounds, yet a swell of depression kept the power ebbing through his muscles and veins. It wasn't the hatred for him that permeated the city that hurt. All that acrimony from strangers he would never meet was something he could deal with since he had heard, read, and felt the negative chatter that surrounded Fiasco from the first day he put on the mask. It wasn’t the vitriol spewing from the TV either that still had his power churning like a tidal wave inside. Julianna’s kind words were the culprit. It was the smile on her face even though he knew how she truly felt inside that made the depression weigh heavy on his shoulders. It was those eyes that glistened in the television light, shedding tears that came from the hurt and pain he caused her with his failure.
Congratulations, the voice said. You made your best friend cry.
Chapter 1, Part 1, Chapter 1, Part 2,
Chapter 2, part 1, Chapter 2, Part 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
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