A Hero's Secret

fifteen

Dray kept her mouth shut and bit her lips together from the inside. She couldn't tell if she was angry, sad, or maybe even happy to see Lucy.

Wells noticed her lack of response and nudged her.

"Uh, how have you been?"

Lucy watched her internal and then she laughed. "Great, the best actually." She glanced back at Yate. "After I left, I met Nash, broke it off with my ex, and the rest is history." She looked back at the two and shrugged. "But Dray, how the hell did you end up in Hero?"

Dray struggled to keep a neutral face. Her attitude was so similar to the Lucy that was her true sister, the Lucy before everything. "I've been traveling and decided to settle down for a while. We always liked areas like this when we were younger." They met eyes and for a moment, Dray found herself and Lucy floating down the river in a small campground an hour away from their house. They camped nearly every warm weekend as kids.

Lucy grinned. "Looks like you have." She glanced at Wells.

Yate suddenly tugged her away. He paid little attention to the interaction and kept conversation going with their friends instead.

"Sorry, sis. I've got to go. Chat later?" she called over her shoulder, flipping her curly hair in the process.

Dray exhaled slowly. That woman felt different from the one who walked out and she wanted so much to go hug her. It was like she was finally back to the way she used to be—her big sister.

She hastily shook her head. She knew better. Her personality might be back to normal, but Lucy was in too deep to be the caring sister from so long ago.

"I'm not really sure that helped anything, Wells."

He put an arm around Dray's shoulder and pulled her close. "I don't know, it was a start. We did find out that she's been there since the beginning of and possibly before Nash Yate, the bad guy."

"Sure." Dray closed her eyes and rested her head against his chest. "How did we figure that out?"

"Right after she left was about three years ago, right?" He continued after seeing her nod. "Yate moved to town a little less than three years ago. I assume he got into the watch right away and then took over last year."

Her stomach turned on end. "How likely do you think it is that she's involved?" Her eyes opened rimmed with tears.

Wells rubbed her shoulder, but didn't say anything and that was enough to answer her question. She leaned into him, wrapping her arm around his waist and gripping onto the loose fabric of his jacket.

They made a silent decision to wander around the town event for a little while longer. It mimicked the block party, but instead of live music, a live auction spread between the curbs. They walked around the entire event before making it to the crowd of people holding paddles in the air. The stuff being sold was old—just old, not cool old—and held no interest for them. The shouts faded behind as they left for Dray's house.

Wells let go at her front door, but she took his hand and pulled him in.

"Get comfy on the couch," she said, throwing her purse by the shoes she took off and kicked off to the side. "Netflix should be up if you want to pick a movie." Dray smiled at him and left the room to change.

"Crime movie again?"

Dray came back to the kitchen wearing sweats and a loose t-shirt. "I'm always down for crime." She quickly made some air-popped popcorn in a large plastic bowl. By the time she got out to the living room Wells slung himself across the couch, one leg on the living room table and one on the floor. His eyes were closed and his head rested on a throw pillow.

She plopped down next to him, almost on him, and elbowed his side. Having already stuffed her mouth full of popcorn, she smiled with chubby cheeks when he looked at her.

"You ready?" He lifted his arm, remote in hand.

Dray nodded and moved closer. His arm fell around her. The popcorn bowl went in his lap and the movie started, which was indeed another crime film. Those were the best kind to watch.

They enjoyed the first part of the movie quite thoroughly, but it could also have been the fact that Dray barely even stopped to breathe while eating the popcorn. In fact, her heart dropped when her hand grasped at air in the empty bowl. Her bottom lip may have even protruded a bit more than she would like to admit.

Wells watched with an amused expression on his face. He brought his hand to her cheek and dragged his thumb across her bottom lip.

Dray's eyes widened, but a smile graced the features of her warming face.

A chuckled bounced around the room. Wells pulled her closer, landing a short, yet sweet—and definitely salty—kiss on her lips. He backed away slightly and placed another kiss on the tip of her nose.

Finally feeling something other than hesitant, Dray grinned and put another one to his lips. They looked at each other for a moment. Dray felt the wall crumbling down between them. With one more stretch of a smile, they cuddled back into the couch and watched the rest of the movie.

..

[EDITED OCTOBER 9, 2021]

Late update this week because I was traveling and couldn't fit my computer in my bag. :(

Also, I typically don't describe my characters in detail because I like the readers to keep their initial vision of them in mind the whole time, but shout-out to my fav celeb crush Dylan O'Brien for having dark hair and kissing a blonde. ;)