Hero (l.s) DISCONTINUED

I

"Lou," Harry called from the kitchen down the hall, "Do you want granola?"

Louis groaned from his bedroom. Harry took that as a 'yes,' and proceeded to add granola to both of their yogurt bowls. It was six o'clock in the morning and sunlight glowed upon Harry's face.

Louis crept down the hallway and into the kitchen, wearing a large jumper and light grey boxers. He made his way over to the table which Harry had set for the two of them and dug into his breakfast.

Harry was rummaging through the cabinets trying to find the slow cooker that he swore they purchased a month ago. Sighing heavily, Harry gave up his search momentarily and sat down with Louis.

He had to admit, Lou looked cute as fuck wearing his jumper. No, no. They weren't together. Lou was devoted to his girlfriend, Eleanor. But, Harry was devoted to Louis and that's how things were. He would never tell his best friend about the times he imagined them kissing or showering together. They were already making breakfast together- sleeping together, well, only sleeping.

"I'm popping over to Eleanor's for a bit," Lou began, pursing his lips with a look of...dislike? Harry's heart fluttered but, he regained composure to hear what else Louis had to say.

"I wouldn't go out tonight, Haz. I'm going to El's and even that's a risk. You know," his voice lowered an octave, "with that...Inferno out and about."

Harry had to stifle his laughter. As if the Inferno was actually dangerous.

Harry would know because he was the Inferno, the man who could shoot fire out of his palms. He had been meaning to tell Louis the first few months they had moved in together. But, then he realized he could be putting his best friend in danger and the thought of losing Lou was unbearable.

Instead, Harry nodded solemnly, shoving a spoonful of yogurt mixed with strawberries and granola down his throat.

"Don't you think that Mr. Arctic is the bigger threat?" Harry implored between mouthfuls of yogurt.

Lou suppressed a smile, which was odd. Mr. Arctic was Harry's arch nemesis, basically if Elsa from Frozen were a man and wore an iron suit. Unless it was another material that Harry hadn't discovered yet.

The villain was probably an alien and had found a material that wouldn't shatter with extreme temperatures. Harry didn't bother with the physics of it, he knew that the suit was impenetrable and that soon enough it would hurt him.

"No, no," Louis mustered, sipping some orange juice.

"Mr. Arctic is better than the Inferno! That fire guy destroys everything he sees!"

Harry shook his head in disbelief. But, Louis was always taking the villian's side. It was probably because he worked at an ice rink and could handle the cold. Probably also because he thought all of this was surreal.

Because it really was, surreal that is. He didn't know how he came to possess his powers, there was no freak accident that he got into and he most certainly didn't get bitten by a bug. One day, Harry woke up and suddenly, he could light things on fire.

He didn't mean to destroy everything he touched, really. But, when Mr. Arctic was caught selling illegal weapons labeled as 'freeze rays,' Harry knew he had to stop him.

So, he could shoot flames out of his body, explode himself and reform, burn objects with his gaze and cling to walls? He was still an ordinary twenty something, wasn't he?

"Maybe," Harry muttered hesitantly, "Inferno doesn't want to hurt anyone he just accidentally hurts people when justice calls?"

Louis laughed aloud, taking his bowl to the sink and washing it out.

"We sound so stupid," he responded, his voice echoing across the room.

Harry forced a laugh too.

"Yeah," he agreed, "Come on! We sound like a bunch of nerds."

Louis smiled at Harry, placing his dish in the dishwasher. Usually Lou was too messy to help clean up but, something seemed to be up.

"What's wrong, Lou?"

Lou looked into his best friend's eyes with such fear that Harry didn't know what to say.

"Sometimes," he whimpered, "I feel like I'm doing the wrong thing? What am I doing, Haz? What am I doing?"

Harry stumbled forward and clutched his friend tightly.

"You're putting away the dishes, Lou," Harry whispered, chuckling at his own joke. Louis smacked him softly on the arm, his touch lingering for a moment to long.

"Get off me, fuckwad."

And then, the moment was gone. Harry cringed, going back to the table to clean up the mess he had made.

Despite the fact that he slept in Harry's bed most nights (Louis claimed he had nightmares but, Harry couldn't tell if he actually did or if he liked the way they fit together like pieces of a puzzle. Most nights, he figured the former), Louis hated the thought of being gay. In fact, if there was a hug that lingered too long, he would snap and go back to his regular moody self. His sentences mostly started with, "No homo but," and ended with some sarcastic comment about how he just wished someone would fuck him against the kitchen table.

Harry couldn't tell when Louis was being serious or not, so he kept his mouth shut.

"So," Harry said, trying to smooth over things, "Where are you taking El?"

He hated how jealous he sounded; how bitter his mouth tasted when he formed her name.

"Small restaurant upstate," he said lazily, making his way out of the kitchen.

When he was certain Louis was out of the room, Harry cursed aloud.

Mr. Arctic's lair was upstate. Harry would be upstate, checking on Mr. Arctic as he did most every couple nights.

Harry just hoped Louis didn't get in the thick of it.