Regenerate | X-Men/Avengers - Pt. 1

Ch. 24

Saturday, March 13th

Rain has transformed Times Square into a grimy mirror. Every year a portion of it floods several yards wide and several inches deep, a puddle that most New Yorkers know how to navigate depending on their level of desperation. Matt and I skirt the edge, getting our toes wet while nearly being elbowed in deeper by the crowds.

"I missed you," I say once we're under an awning, punching him in the arm. "Your girlfriend was annoying."

"Aw." He gives me a damp hug. "We didn't really have anything in common. It was, just something that had to happen."

I should say something reassuring. "Well...you'll find the right girl eventually."

When we enter the crowded, steamy café and I throw back my hood, he gives me a kiss on the forehead. "I've already got the right girl."

"Ew, don't kiss me, you're all...moist."

He laughs and shakes his umbrella out the door. We slide quickly into a just vacated booth where Matt struggles to take off his raincoat, making it whimper and squeak as it rubs over the vinyl seat. The dishes from the last customers are still on the table and when he has a free arm, Matt points to the remnants in front of me. "That's good, I'm getting that."

I push the plate toward him. "Have it now."

"I'm already sick, are you trying to kill me?" He coughs and sniffles to prove his point, then gives me a pathetic look.

"Poor baby. Get yourself some chicken soup."

"Why, so you can eat a steak right in front of me, yeah right." He steps on my foot under the table.

"No, I'm going to order the biggest, sexiest burger on the menu. And a milkshake."

Obstinately, he orders the same thing, and we spend lunch stealing each other's fries.

"So what have you been up to?" he asks. "Destroyed anything in the 'Danger Room' lately?"

"Yeah, sometimes." When I'm not in California. "I babysit a lot too. And you?"

He shrugs. "School. And, you know, Whitney."

More can be heard in his voice. "Really, that's all? Which class are you enjoying the most?"

"Um, they're banking classes." He laughs under his breath. "My econometrics professor is fun, but that's because even he knows the subject is boring."

"So, what do you do when you're bored?" I slurp the last of my milkshake.

"Well, I- you know, I listen to music, play Angry Birds."

I sit back and check the time. "Do you ever write music?"

He goes still as he stares at his greasy plate.

"That's cool," I say, "what kind do you write? I know you like pop. Do you write lyrics?"

He shakes his head and takes a sugar packet. "I don't know how to write music."

"So take a class in that. If it's something you like to do—"

"Nah, my dad would never let it fly." He wipes his nose on a paper napkin and takes a drink of water. Not soda. Water.

"Matt, you're almost twenty-one you're allowed to make a decision for yourself. One music class is not going to compromise your major. Write something so you can play it for me."

Matt smiles quietly, pouring the sugar packet into a small pile on his plate. "You don't want to hear my music."

"Of course I do."