"Not Exactly Normal to Begin With" - Part III
Title: Not Exactly Normal to Begin With [3 of 3; part one is here, two is here]
Author: queenitsy
Rating: PG
Pairing/Character: Will/Warren/Layla, Warren POV
Summary: Warren has a revelation about his feelings for Will, and deals with it.
-This chapter: the actual confrontation with Will, finally.
Spoilers/Warning: The movie, no real detail
My mom's gossip network had been at work at the Stronghold house, too, I think, because Mrs. Stronghold let me in without question. "Will's downstairs, working out," she said.
I nodded and headed to the downstairs rec room to find him. They had to have him work downstairs; when your workout means lifting somewhere around a thousand pounds for a light rep, you can't really leave your weights upstairs. They tend to crash through the floor.
The rec room had a cement floor and warm wooden walls; there was a couch, a TV and shelves of DVDs, and in the back was the weight set and my best friend, who was wearing an undershirt and sweating. I swallowed hard, wishing that just the sight of Will didn't affect me so much.
"Hey," I said.
He didn't answer at first, but he put his weights up and sat up. "Hey," he said.
I froze, and had no idea what to say to him at all.
He finally broke the silence, asking, "So are you and Layla dating now?"
"No," I said. "I, uh… I wouldn't. I mean, I did kiss her, but I shouldn't have… Uh…"
Will shrugged. "Well, I mean, if you like her and she likes you…"
"Yeah, but it's not like that. I mean, it is. I do like her. But you're my best friend and she's your ex-girlfriend, so I wouldn't… I didn't mean what I said earlier, about me asking her out. I wouldn't do that."
"But you do like her."
I shrugged. "I can't help that."
"Well, look," Will said, looking kind of torn, "I mean, if you two really like each other, and the only thing stopping you is me, than you might as well just go out, because you're both my friends, and I'd have to be some kind of jerk to tell you not to."
"Yeah, but I'd be some kind of jerk if I did it," I answered.
"Nah," Will said. "I mean, I want… I want my friends… to be happy. So you should just do what makes you happy."
"It's not that easy," I said.
"You're telling me," he mumbled.
"No, I mean… Um… You wanna sit down?"
"Uh, okay," Will said, and kind of gestured to the couch. We sat down, not too near each other; I didn't want to get too close to him when I was telling him I liked him, in case it got too overwhelming, or, you know, he freaked out and hit me. I'm not saying I couldn't hold my own against Will Stronghold, because I could probably kick his ass, but if he got in a good punch before I was ready he could probably dent me.
"So…" I said.
"Um…"
"I am sorry about before," I said, since that seemed to have worked with Layla. "I mean, I just wanted you and Layla to get back together, and I never would really have asked her out or anything, I just thought it might… egg you on or something."
Will groaned and leaned back against the couch, then reached up to wipe some sweat off his forehead and his hair out of his eyes. My heart may have fluttered, though I'd never admit to that aloud.
"Well, it almost worked," Will said finally. "I mean, I went after her. But she decided she's not speaking to me."
"Sorry about that, too."
"Don't be. If she hates me that much, that's probably for the best."
"She doesn't hate you," I said.
"She-"
"Seriously, she cares about you a lot. She's mad at me for telling you, but she does."
"Then why did she freak out when I started to ask her out again?"
"Because she's crazy," I said. "I don't know, she feels like you're too stubborn, and you think she's self-righteous, and you're both right, but you're also perfect for each other, and if you worked at it-"
"Why's it so important to you, anyway?" Will asked, half-bitterly.
"I dunno, 'cause you're my friend," I answered. "And I want you to… be…"
I want you to be my happy. I want you to be my boyfriend so I can make you happy. I guess I have to tell you that.
Those thoughts kind of filled me with dread. But I did have to tell him.
"You want me to be what?" Will asked, sounding as frustrated as I felt.
So I took a deep breath. "If I tell you something, will you promise not to freak out?"
"Of course, buddy."
"Don't call me that," I said, which was my instant reaction after years of being honey-d by my mother. Not that Will would ever have called me honey, but buddy was close enough. Funny; even with a crush on him, I had no interest in cute nicknames.
"So what's up?" he asked.
"Uh… well, you know that stuff that Lash and Speed were saying yesterday? About you and me…"
"Look, Warren, they were just-"
"I know, they just… hit a nerve," I said, not letting Will make his point. Of course they were just being annoying; they didn't know any more than I had about how I felt. But I'd started with the honesty thing, and kind of wanted to see it through. At least if Will hated me, I'd know where we stood. It had to beat never being able to go to school again.
Well, maybe not really.
"So? You're not gay, I get it." Will didn't look at me, just stared up at the ceiling.
"Not… quite," I said hesitantly. "Uh, the thing is, I kind of do… uh, have feelings. You know, for you. Like that. And I know that's really weird, but I-"
"You what?" Will asked, sitting up straight and staring at me.
"Look, I know, okay? You don't have to tell me how screwed up it is. And it's not like I'd ever-I mean, you're my best friend! I just, you know… Mom and Layla both said I should tell you, and Mom said it's kind of normal, but I think she was just trying to make me feel better."
"She said that?" Will asked. "What did she say?"
"I don't know. Something about people… You know, humans from all over the world, everyone is different, it's okay to have a crush on your best friend, be honest about your feelings, that crap. You've met my mom, you know what she's like."
"She said that?" Will asked again. "About it being… okay?"
"Yeah, I told her you probably would disagree, but-"
"Oh, thank god." Will collapsed back again. "I thought I was going crazy."
I blinked. "What?"
"I mean, your mom is really smart, she knows all about… people, right?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"Right, so if she says it's okay to, uh, kind of feel something for your best friend… then it would be fine with me. I mean, if you liked me. Which I guess you said you did, unless I misunderstood, in which case I am so sorry to have-"
"Will, are you okay?" I asked.
"It's just, uh, I've kind of… Kind of liked you, too. I mean, for awhile. Like, um, since the summer."
"But you were with Layla then," I said, missing the obvious point.
"Yeah, that's kind of why… I mean, part of why we broke up. We had all these other problems, and then on top of that I'm thinking about you all the time and, I mean, I didn't think I was gay but… I mean, I guess I could be bi. I don't know. I just…"
He finally stopped talking and stared at me. And I was staring back. Because here I was, freaking out over how much I liked Will, and there he was, liking me, too. I guess maybe Mom was right and there was something to that emotional honesty crap. Not that I'd ever admit that aloud, either.
"Oh," I finally said. "That's… I didn't expect that."
"Me, neither," he said. "I'm just glad you don't hate me."
I kind of sort of inched closer to Will on the couch. "I couldn't hate you," I told him. "You're my best friend."
"You're mine," he said, then kind of shyly, "I ended up dating my last best friend."
The thought of Layla almost stopped me, but Will kind of inched closer to me as well, and our thighs were touching, just a little. So I reached over and put a hand on his shoulder. Lightly.
He stared at it, then at me, and then he kissed me. Just a little.
And it wasn't even that weird. A little weird, sure, but I guess that's to be expected. But mostly it was just me and Will, and it felt like something that had been coming for a long time.
"Was that okay?" he mumbled, after he finally pulled away.
I nodded, not sure what to say.
And he smiled. "I don't know what to do," he confessed, after a long, but not too uncomfortable, silence. "I mean, about us, and about Layla… I really do love her, Warren."
"I know," I said, leaning in a little bit so Will was kind of right against me, his head almost resting on my shoulder. It felt nice.
"I want to be with her," he added. "But I want to be with you." He turned scarlet after he said it, but didn't take it back.
"I know," I said again. "Same here."
"And I don't want to hurt her," he said.
"Me, neither."
"So what are we going to do?"
I shrugged. "I don't know," I said, but it didn't feel that important at the moment, because I was pretty content to sit with Will's head on my shoulder, and not worry.
Things didn't get worked out until school the next day. I hadn't left Will's house until late the previous night, when his mom implied that my mom wanted me to get to bed before midnight. Mr. Stronghold gave me a ride home, and was polite enough not to ask why Will and I had been holding hands when we walked up into the kitchen.
Things at school were less weird than I expected, luckily. Will and Layla and I were able to hang out, and those two were still being weird around each other, but neither one seemed to want to fight. Layla and I flirted a little, and Will froze at first, but then sort of joined in. So Layla flirted with him, a little awkwardly, considering that she'd said she didn't want to get back together with him. And he and I… Well, we didn't hold hands in school, but we were a lot more comfortable hanging out with each other, and I think Layla got the message that everything was okay.
We all went out to the lawn to have lunch together, since it was one of the last days it was going to be warm enough to eat outside. Will was absently playing with Layla's hair, and I was lying on my side, staring over at them.
"You two really should get back together," I mused. I no longer had the obsessive need to get them back together to try and fix my own life; but then again, I no longer really felt like my life needed to be fixed. I was perfectly happy just hanging out with my best friends, knowing that they felt about me like I did about them, even if nothing came of it. It felt nice to be liked. But Will and Layla really did seem to make sense together. Maybe they didn't even realize it, but they complimented each other in a million different ways.
I sighed, kind of wistfully. They did belong together; and no matter what they felt for me, that was clear.
Will glanced over at Layla, who shrugged. "We would," he said. They'd apparently discussed it earlier. "But… where would that leave you?"
I rolled over on to my back. "Over here, like I am now," I said.
"Warren," Layla said, in her What are we going to do with you? voice. I think she picked that up from my mom. "We care about you. We don't want you to be left out."
"But you two should-"
"Why can't we all just…?" Will mumbled.
"Just what?" I asked.
He shrugged, and I sat up to look at him. "I don't know," he said. "Just, we all agree that we like each other, and no one wants to be the odd man out."
"Or woman," Layla said.
"So what do you mean?" I asked. "Like… we all get together?"
Layla smiled. "Why not?"
"Because that's definitely not normal," I said.
"Warren, we go to a school in the sky, where we're learning to use our super powers," Layla reminded me. "We weren't exactly normal to begin with."
"Well, yeah, but… I don't know. Can three people date?"
"I don't see why not," she answered. "I mean, if we all wanted to…"
Will looked over at me, smiling a little. "What do you think, Warren?"
I looked up into the sky for a minute. I had never thought about this. I mean, yes, I liked Will; and yes, I liked Layla. And I did want to be with them-either one. And I did want them to get together again, even though I'd have been a little irritated by being left out. But I never had thought about the three of us together. That had just never occurred to me.
I wondered what my mom would think, and remembered what she'd told me. That there was no such thing as normal, when it comes to relationships.
So I shrugged. "I dunno. It would be weird, but…"
Will nodded, like he was reading my mind. "But worth it," he finished for me.
"Come here, you," Layla said, and held open her arms.
I stared at her in annoyance. "I'm still me," I reminded her. "I don't hug. At least, not in public."
She laughed, and Will kicked my leg and grinned at me.
"After school," he said.
I nodded. "After school."
We looked over at Layla, who just smiled like she knew something we didn't. Or maybe like she'd known something all along.
I only had two hours free after school, before work. We spent them in my bedroom, just hanging out; sometimes kissing, sometimes talking, sometimes just sitting together. Will discovered that he liked sitting his head on my shoulder, and my arm around him, like we had the day before; Layla made herself comfortable lying with her head on my lap and her knees hooked over Will's legs, so she could look up at us.
And it was comfortable. And for the first time that I could remember, I was really content. I wasn't a loner, I wasn't left out, and I wasn't even nervous. It was just me and the two people I cared about most in the world.
"I have to go to work," I eventually groaned, not moving. I didn't want to disturb Will and Layla, after all.
"You want us to walk you?" Layla asked.
"Sure." I shrugged a little bit, and Will groaned and sat up. "You guys can have dinner on me if you want."
"That would be nice," Layla said, and Will nodded. He really only ever eats Chinese for her, which I guess is pretty sweet.
They ended up spending my entire shift sitting in a booth near the kitchen. When I wasn't busy, I sat with them; even when I was, I'd wave as I walked by and brought them tea and noodles to munch on so it looked like they were still eating instead of just taking up a booth.
I sat down to scarf down my own dinner when I was finally off, and handed out fortune cookies as we walked out. Will cracked his and read it aloud: "The will of the warrior resides within you."
"Sounds about right," Layla agreed, and read her own. "You are passionate and wise beyond your years."
Will smiled a little and threw an arm around her. "You rigged these, right, Warren?"
"Nope," I answered, and opened my own. They looked at me expectantly, and I read it to myself.
You surround yourself with those you love.
I looked at Will and I looked at Layla, and tucked the fortune into my pocket.
My first finished Sky High fic. :) Thanks to harmonyangel again for beta reading it. Sorry about the delay between chapters two and three; real life acted up a little. Urg.
After the last chapter, pollyjuiceboy pointed out that the Justice Ladies concept doesn't make entire sense; it works better in my head than I explained it on paper. The short version is that, after the group broke up and Battle turned evil and had to be defeated by the Strongholds, Warren's mom pretty much isolated herself from the rest of the superhero community, to try and protect Warren from the backlash against his father, which meant that Layla and Will grew up together, their parents being good friends, but Warren didn't meet them until high school, and he ended up bitter about his father anyway. But after he and Will became friends, his mother picked up her friendships with Warren's and Layla's mothers. (I might at someday write a fic that actually explains all that in better detail, but anyway, that's what I was thinking and totally failed to convey. Oops.)
Thanks again for reading/commenting (all feedback welcome, of course), and man, I can't wait for this movie to be out on DVD. :)
Author: queenitsy
Rating: PG
Pairing/Character: Will/Warren/Layla, Warren POV
Summary: Warren has a revelation about his feelings for Will, and deals with it.
-This chapter: the actual confrontation with Will, finally.
Spoilers/Warning: The movie, no real detail
My mom's gossip network had been at work at the Stronghold house, too, I think, because Mrs. Stronghold let me in without question. "Will's downstairs, working out," she said.
I nodded and headed to the downstairs rec room to find him. They had to have him work downstairs; when your workout means lifting somewhere around a thousand pounds for a light rep, you can't really leave your weights upstairs. They tend to crash through the floor.
The rec room had a cement floor and warm wooden walls; there was a couch, a TV and shelves of DVDs, and in the back was the weight set and my best friend, who was wearing an undershirt and sweating. I swallowed hard, wishing that just the sight of Will didn't affect me so much.
"Hey," I said.
He didn't answer at first, but he put his weights up and sat up. "Hey," he said.
I froze, and had no idea what to say to him at all.
He finally broke the silence, asking, "So are you and Layla dating now?"
"No," I said. "I, uh… I wouldn't. I mean, I did kiss her, but I shouldn't have… Uh…"
Will shrugged. "Well, I mean, if you like her and she likes you…"
"Yeah, but it's not like that. I mean, it is. I do like her. But you're my best friend and she's your ex-girlfriend, so I wouldn't… I didn't mean what I said earlier, about me asking her out. I wouldn't do that."
"But you do like her."
I shrugged. "I can't help that."
"Well, look," Will said, looking kind of torn, "I mean, if you two really like each other, and the only thing stopping you is me, than you might as well just go out, because you're both my friends, and I'd have to be some kind of jerk to tell you not to."
"Yeah, but I'd be some kind of jerk if I did it," I answered.
"Nah," Will said. "I mean, I want… I want my friends… to be happy. So you should just do what makes you happy."
"It's not that easy," I said.
"You're telling me," he mumbled.
"No, I mean… Um… You wanna sit down?"
"Uh, okay," Will said, and kind of gestured to the couch. We sat down, not too near each other; I didn't want to get too close to him when I was telling him I liked him, in case it got too overwhelming, or, you know, he freaked out and hit me. I'm not saying I couldn't hold my own against Will Stronghold, because I could probably kick his ass, but if he got in a good punch before I was ready he could probably dent me.
"So…" I said.
"Um…"
"I am sorry about before," I said, since that seemed to have worked with Layla. "I mean, I just wanted you and Layla to get back together, and I never would really have asked her out or anything, I just thought it might… egg you on or something."
Will groaned and leaned back against the couch, then reached up to wipe some sweat off his forehead and his hair out of his eyes. My heart may have fluttered, though I'd never admit to that aloud.
"Well, it almost worked," Will said finally. "I mean, I went after her. But she decided she's not speaking to me."
"Sorry about that, too."
"Don't be. If she hates me that much, that's probably for the best."
"She doesn't hate you," I said.
"She-"
"Seriously, she cares about you a lot. She's mad at me for telling you, but she does."
"Then why did she freak out when I started to ask her out again?"
"Because she's crazy," I said. "I don't know, she feels like you're too stubborn, and you think she's self-righteous, and you're both right, but you're also perfect for each other, and if you worked at it-"
"Why's it so important to you, anyway?" Will asked, half-bitterly.
"I dunno, 'cause you're my friend," I answered. "And I want you to… be…"
I want you to be my happy. I want you to be my boyfriend so I can make you happy. I guess I have to tell you that.
Those thoughts kind of filled me with dread. But I did have to tell him.
"You want me to be what?" Will asked, sounding as frustrated as I felt.
So I took a deep breath. "If I tell you something, will you promise not to freak out?"
"Of course, buddy."
"Don't call me that," I said, which was my instant reaction after years of being honey-d by my mother. Not that Will would ever have called me honey, but buddy was close enough. Funny; even with a crush on him, I had no interest in cute nicknames.
"So what's up?" he asked.
"Uh… well, you know that stuff that Lash and Speed were saying yesterday? About you and me…"
"Look, Warren, they were just-"
"I know, they just… hit a nerve," I said, not letting Will make his point. Of course they were just being annoying; they didn't know any more than I had about how I felt. But I'd started with the honesty thing, and kind of wanted to see it through. At least if Will hated me, I'd know where we stood. It had to beat never being able to go to school again.
Well, maybe not really.
"So? You're not gay, I get it." Will didn't look at me, just stared up at the ceiling.
"Not… quite," I said hesitantly. "Uh, the thing is, I kind of do… uh, have feelings. You know, for you. Like that. And I know that's really weird, but I-"
"You what?" Will asked, sitting up straight and staring at me.
"Look, I know, okay? You don't have to tell me how screwed up it is. And it's not like I'd ever-I mean, you're my best friend! I just, you know… Mom and Layla both said I should tell you, and Mom said it's kind of normal, but I think she was just trying to make me feel better."
"She said that?" Will asked. "What did she say?"
"I don't know. Something about people… You know, humans from all over the world, everyone is different, it's okay to have a crush on your best friend, be honest about your feelings, that crap. You've met my mom, you know what she's like."
"She said that?" Will asked again. "About it being… okay?"
"Yeah, I told her you probably would disagree, but-"
"Oh, thank god." Will collapsed back again. "I thought I was going crazy."
I blinked. "What?"
"I mean, your mom is really smart, she knows all about… people, right?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"Right, so if she says it's okay to, uh, kind of feel something for your best friend… then it would be fine with me. I mean, if you liked me. Which I guess you said you did, unless I misunderstood, in which case I am so sorry to have-"
"Will, are you okay?" I asked.
"It's just, uh, I've kind of… Kind of liked you, too. I mean, for awhile. Like, um, since the summer."
"But you were with Layla then," I said, missing the obvious point.
"Yeah, that's kind of why… I mean, part of why we broke up. We had all these other problems, and then on top of that I'm thinking about you all the time and, I mean, I didn't think I was gay but… I mean, I guess I could be bi. I don't know. I just…"
He finally stopped talking and stared at me. And I was staring back. Because here I was, freaking out over how much I liked Will, and there he was, liking me, too. I guess maybe Mom was right and there was something to that emotional honesty crap. Not that I'd ever admit that aloud, either.
"Oh," I finally said. "That's… I didn't expect that."
"Me, neither," he said. "I'm just glad you don't hate me."
I kind of sort of inched closer to Will on the couch. "I couldn't hate you," I told him. "You're my best friend."
"You're mine," he said, then kind of shyly, "I ended up dating my last best friend."
The thought of Layla almost stopped me, but Will kind of inched closer to me as well, and our thighs were touching, just a little. So I reached over and put a hand on his shoulder. Lightly.
He stared at it, then at me, and then he kissed me. Just a little.
And it wasn't even that weird. A little weird, sure, but I guess that's to be expected. But mostly it was just me and Will, and it felt like something that had been coming for a long time.
"Was that okay?" he mumbled, after he finally pulled away.
I nodded, not sure what to say.
And he smiled. "I don't know what to do," he confessed, after a long, but not too uncomfortable, silence. "I mean, about us, and about Layla… I really do love her, Warren."
"I know," I said, leaning in a little bit so Will was kind of right against me, his head almost resting on my shoulder. It felt nice.
"I want to be with her," he added. "But I want to be with you." He turned scarlet after he said it, but didn't take it back.
"I know," I said again. "Same here."
"And I don't want to hurt her," he said.
"Me, neither."
"So what are we going to do?"
I shrugged. "I don't know," I said, but it didn't feel that important at the moment, because I was pretty content to sit with Will's head on my shoulder, and not worry.
Things didn't get worked out until school the next day. I hadn't left Will's house until late the previous night, when his mom implied that my mom wanted me to get to bed before midnight. Mr. Stronghold gave me a ride home, and was polite enough not to ask why Will and I had been holding hands when we walked up into the kitchen.
Things at school were less weird than I expected, luckily. Will and Layla and I were able to hang out, and those two were still being weird around each other, but neither one seemed to want to fight. Layla and I flirted a little, and Will froze at first, but then sort of joined in. So Layla flirted with him, a little awkwardly, considering that she'd said she didn't want to get back together with him. And he and I… Well, we didn't hold hands in school, but we were a lot more comfortable hanging out with each other, and I think Layla got the message that everything was okay.
We all went out to the lawn to have lunch together, since it was one of the last days it was going to be warm enough to eat outside. Will was absently playing with Layla's hair, and I was lying on my side, staring over at them.
"You two really should get back together," I mused. I no longer had the obsessive need to get them back together to try and fix my own life; but then again, I no longer really felt like my life needed to be fixed. I was perfectly happy just hanging out with my best friends, knowing that they felt about me like I did about them, even if nothing came of it. It felt nice to be liked. But Will and Layla really did seem to make sense together. Maybe they didn't even realize it, but they complimented each other in a million different ways.
I sighed, kind of wistfully. They did belong together; and no matter what they felt for me, that was clear.
Will glanced over at Layla, who shrugged. "We would," he said. They'd apparently discussed it earlier. "But… where would that leave you?"
I rolled over on to my back. "Over here, like I am now," I said.
"Warren," Layla said, in her What are we going to do with you? voice. I think she picked that up from my mom. "We care about you. We don't want you to be left out."
"But you two should-"
"Why can't we all just…?" Will mumbled.
"Just what?" I asked.
He shrugged, and I sat up to look at him. "I don't know," he said. "Just, we all agree that we like each other, and no one wants to be the odd man out."
"Or woman," Layla said.
"So what do you mean?" I asked. "Like… we all get together?"
Layla smiled. "Why not?"
"Because that's definitely not normal," I said.
"Warren, we go to a school in the sky, where we're learning to use our super powers," Layla reminded me. "We weren't exactly normal to begin with."
"Well, yeah, but… I don't know. Can three people date?"
"I don't see why not," she answered. "I mean, if we all wanted to…"
Will looked over at me, smiling a little. "What do you think, Warren?"
I looked up into the sky for a minute. I had never thought about this. I mean, yes, I liked Will; and yes, I liked Layla. And I did want to be with them-either one. And I did want them to get together again, even though I'd have been a little irritated by being left out. But I never had thought about the three of us together. That had just never occurred to me.
I wondered what my mom would think, and remembered what she'd told me. That there was no such thing as normal, when it comes to relationships.
So I shrugged. "I dunno. It would be weird, but…"
Will nodded, like he was reading my mind. "But worth it," he finished for me.
"Come here, you," Layla said, and held open her arms.
I stared at her in annoyance. "I'm still me," I reminded her. "I don't hug. At least, not in public."
She laughed, and Will kicked my leg and grinned at me.
"After school," he said.
I nodded. "After school."
We looked over at Layla, who just smiled like she knew something we didn't. Or maybe like she'd known something all along.
I only had two hours free after school, before work. We spent them in my bedroom, just hanging out; sometimes kissing, sometimes talking, sometimes just sitting together. Will discovered that he liked sitting his head on my shoulder, and my arm around him, like we had the day before; Layla made herself comfortable lying with her head on my lap and her knees hooked over Will's legs, so she could look up at us.
And it was comfortable. And for the first time that I could remember, I was really content. I wasn't a loner, I wasn't left out, and I wasn't even nervous. It was just me and the two people I cared about most in the world.
"I have to go to work," I eventually groaned, not moving. I didn't want to disturb Will and Layla, after all.
"You want us to walk you?" Layla asked.
"Sure." I shrugged a little bit, and Will groaned and sat up. "You guys can have dinner on me if you want."
"That would be nice," Layla said, and Will nodded. He really only ever eats Chinese for her, which I guess is pretty sweet.
They ended up spending my entire shift sitting in a booth near the kitchen. When I wasn't busy, I sat with them; even when I was, I'd wave as I walked by and brought them tea and noodles to munch on so it looked like they were still eating instead of just taking up a booth.
I sat down to scarf down my own dinner when I was finally off, and handed out fortune cookies as we walked out. Will cracked his and read it aloud: "The will of the warrior resides within you."
"Sounds about right," Layla agreed, and read her own. "You are passionate and wise beyond your years."
Will smiled a little and threw an arm around her. "You rigged these, right, Warren?"
"Nope," I answered, and opened my own. They looked at me expectantly, and I read it to myself.
You surround yourself with those you love.
I looked at Will and I looked at Layla, and tucked the fortune into my pocket.
My first finished Sky High fic. :) Thanks to harmonyangel again for beta reading it. Sorry about the delay between chapters two and three; real life acted up a little. Urg.
After the last chapter, pollyjuiceboy pointed out that the Justice Ladies concept doesn't make entire sense; it works better in my head than I explained it on paper. The short version is that, after the group broke up and Battle turned evil and had to be defeated by the Strongholds, Warren's mom pretty much isolated herself from the rest of the superhero community, to try and protect Warren from the backlash against his father, which meant that Layla and Will grew up together, their parents being good friends, but Warren didn't meet them until high school, and he ended up bitter about his father anyway. But after he and Will became friends, his mother picked up her friendships with Warren's and Layla's mothers. (I might at someday write a fic that actually explains all that in better detail, but anyway, that's what I was thinking and totally failed to convey. Oops.)
Thanks again for reading/commenting (all feedback welcome, of course), and man, I can't wait for this movie to be out on DVD. :)