Audrey's POV
It was very late at night and I was woken up by someone violently shaking me. I groaned and I was very close to slapping them across the face.
"Wake up!" The voice hissed.
I yawned and opened my eyes, expecting to see Schwoz or my dad there. Instead, it was— Henry?!
"Henry!" I gasped and turned on my nightstand lamp. "What time is it?" I looked at my phone and it was after midnight. What the hell? "What are you doing here after midnight?"
"It's Ray. How did you not wake up?"
"I'm a heavy sleeper," I replied, truthfully. I jumped out of bed and ran my fingers through my hair so it looked a bit better. "What was so important that made him need us after midnight?" We walked down the hallway.
"I'm not sure. He's not even here. It's just me, you, and Charlotte." Henry replied and we stepped on the other side of the sprocket and entered the main room.
"Hi, Charlotte. Do you know what's going on?" I asked and rubbed my eyes.
She shook her head. "No, I thought you would've known."
The elevator crashed down and Jasper's screaming could be heard. The door opened and Jasper walked into the room.
"Maybe it's some emergency. Like maybe he—" I was caught off guard by Jasper's hair curlers.
"I'm here!" Jasper announced, making an entrance.
I turned back around to face Henry and Charlotte. I pointed to Jasper and said, "That's an emergency."
"Are you— why would— curlers?" Charlotte stuttered. I was incredibly tired. I sat down on the couch with Henry and I rested my head on Henry's shoulder.
"What, you thought my hair was naturally curly?" Jasper shook his head at her. My eyes were hard to keep open.
The tubes beeped which meant my dad was back and he was going to tell us the news. I sat up straight and turned to face my dad. He looked... weird?
"Heyyy." My dad said. I don't know how to describe his tone, but it was weird. "Hello, friends. Welcome. Welcome!" He touched each one of our faces.
"Uh, sure," Henry replied awkwardly, unsure of what to do.
"Yeah, hey. What did you need?" I asked, unsure if it was good of me to ask.
"And now... I wanna introduce you guys to someone very special." My dad smiled, looking around. Someone special? What does he mean? The left tube beeped and went down. A woman dressed in all black came down and the tube went up. Who the hell was she and why was she coming to the Man Cave?
"Who's that?" Charlotte asked me as if I was supposed to know who this woman was.
"I dunno," I replied. I felt angry and a bit sad. Who was this girl? I needed to know.
My dad helped her down the stairs. He then leaned in and pressed his lips on hers which made my jaw drop. Henry, Jasper, and Charlotte both looked at me in confusion and I didn't have the confidence to look at them back.
"Everyone... this is Gwen." He introduced her, still holding onto her hand. He wrapped her arms around her waist and I wanted to throw up.
"Hi, guys." Gwen smiled, looking at us all.
"Um, hey." I choked on my words as I tried to wave without sobbing. I wish he would've told me about her when he first met her. I don't know why he kept this a secret from me. He promised that we wouldn't keep secrets.
I'm not saying he can't have a relationship, if he's moved on from my mom, then fine. But I'm still stuck on my mom and I can't see my dad with anyone else.
Henry pulled my dad away from Gwen. "Hey. Ray, can we talk to you for a second?"
He tried to stay attached to Gwen which angered me. "Hold on, I'd really rather—"
"Just a sec, so sorry." Henry shoved my dad over to the elevator. I followed them and frowned at my dad. He didn't realize that I was upset.
"Are you crazy?!" Henry complained, yelling at my dad.
"What?"
"You can't bring some stranger down here in the Man Cave!" Henry reasoned, looking over at Gwen.
"Oh, Gwen's not a stranger." My dad denied and looked at her talking to Charlotte and Jasper. My body was on fire.
"Well, how long have you known her?" I asked my dad. "Why didn't you tell me about her?"
"Almost three hours." He rested himself on my body.
My eyes widened and I pushed my dad off. "Three hours?! What?!"
He gripped my shoulders. "Ooh, that reminds me. I gotta tell her you're Quick Shot and my daughter and that Henry is Kid Danger. Hey, honey!"
"No!" Henry and I both shrieked when he walked over to Gwen.
She turned around to look at my dad with a big grin on her face. Something about her didn't feel right. "Yes?"
"I'll bet you'll never guess who these cuties are." My dad took me and Henry and put his arms around us.
Jasper and Charlotte protested for us but it didn't work when my dad yelled, "Quick Shot, my daughter, and Kid Danger!"
"Dude!" All four of us screamed which didn't phase him.
"It's okaaay. Gwen even knows that I'm Captain Man."
"Ray!" Charlotte screamed with a disapproving look on her face.
"And guess what else?" My dad took Gwen by her hands and stared into her eyes. He pulled her closer and announced, "Gwen and I... we're getting married."
My heart sunk at the statement. Tears. Hot tears welled up in my eyes and I tried my best for them not to drop down my cheeks.
Schwoz entered the room and saw Gwen and he immediately stopped walking. "Heyyy. What's the— happening?"
"Ray's getting married to a woman he met three hours ago!" Henry exclaimed in anger and shock.
"Whaaaaaaaat? And—" Schwoz turned to face Jasper and looked at his hair curlers. "Why does Jasper have those things on his hair?"
"Because his hair's not naturally curly," Charlotte answered and Schwoz gasped.
"Whaaaaaaaaat?"
I had no idea what was going on. First, my dad meets a new girl and reveals our identities and now they're getting married? I could feel the tears go down my face as I looked down at my feet.
***
After everyone went home, I was still wide awake. I walked to Henry's house since I couldn't bear that my dad would just do that to me.
I knocked on Henry's window since I knew he was still awake. He opened it and smiled at me, so clueless about why I was there.
"Hey, Drey. Why're you here?" He looked at his clock and back to me. "It's 1 am. Is something wrong?"
I began to sob my eyes out at the thought of my dad marrying someone else. Henry's eyes widened and pulled me inside his room and shut the window. He pulled me onto the couch and wrapped his arms around my body as I poured my eyes out, wetting his shirt with my tears.
"Audrey, talk to me." He grabbed my chin and lifted my head so I could face him. "Please..."
"It's just—" My sobs were preventing me from speaking. "I can't even stay there, Henry! I can hear Gwen and my dad from my room! I'm not over my... my mom... even though I've never met her, but he seems to have forgotten everything." I paused for a moment. "I'm sorry for coming here... I just had nowhere else to go."
"Don't be sorry. Don't ever be sorry for this." He told me with a stern look and brushed the tears off my face with his thumbs. "If you want, you can stay with me tonight." There was no point for Henry to wipe my tears away because they just kept on coming. "I won't make you go back there, Audrey. You'll stay here with me until everything is situated."
"Am I... being dramatic?" I was desperate for an answer. I am super embarrassed to be acting like this in front of him, I don't cry that much in front of people.
"What? No!" He protested and tighten his grip around me. "I would be upset too if my dad brought home a new girl and declared he was getting married to her within three hours."
I didn't know what to say. I was so tired and I was dying just to sleep. Would it be inappropriate for me to ask about the kiss we shared a few days ago? I was dying for an answer to my question about it.
I kept quiet as Henry rubbed my arm and my sobbing started to die down.
"Promise me something?" Henry asked, drawing circles on my arm.
"Anything," I replied and sniffled.
"Whenever you're upset... or just have something on your mind just come to me, okay? Because I love— because I care about you. It hurts seeing you upset."
"I promise you, Henry." I pulled my head away from his chest. "You know, I've never been scared of dying. But now I think I'm scared of never seeing you again."
"We'll grow old together. You'll never lose me." He grinned at me and then yawned. "Let's get to bed? Are you comfortable sleeping in the same bed as me or would you rather sleep by yourself?"
He was so polite. "I can sleep with you, it doesn't matter. It's just..." I looked down at soaked shirt and shorts since it was raining outside. "I don't think I'll have good sleep with these."
"I can get you something." Henry stood up and jumped off his platform. He walked over to his closet and opened it, digging through his clothes.
He walked back out with a pair of black shorts and one of his flannels. "Here, I hope this works." He handed them to me and I grinned.
"Thank you, Henry." I took off my clothes and quickly got into Henry's outfit when he turned around. I buttoned up the flannel and I told him he could look. He studied my outfit for a bit and then smiled.
"Okay. Let's go to bed now." Henry turned his lights off and got into his bed. I climbed in after him and laid down next to him.
Complete silence.
"Goodnight, Audrey."
"Night, Hen."
***
The next day I was at Junk-N-Stuff with the same outfit Henry gave me last night. I looked like really bad.
I was pacing around the store while Henry watched me. He agreed not to tell anyone about what happened last night, but that didn't explain my clothes.
"Henry?" Jasper asked, taking his eyes off the plant he was trying to water.
"Yeah?"
"This plant is intimidating me."
"Dude, we got bigger problems right now, than... plant thirst!" Henry addressed, shaking his head at him.
"I mean, why would my dad wanna marry a lady he's only known for three hours?!" I exclaimed and stopped pacing.
"Maybe she has a trampoline." Jasper guessed and I gave him a dirty look and the plant growled at him.
"I just don't understand." I sat on the bench and rubbed my eyes. "This isn't like him. He wouldn't do this and he definitely would've talked to me before it."
"Ow, Jasper!" Henry shrieked and pushed Jasper off him. "You got glass in my finger." Henry showed his pointer finger to him.
"I'm sorry!" Jasper looked down at the broken glass on the counter. "I forgot to clean that up when a lady dropped a frame."
"I'll get it out, Henry. Jasper, get the tweezers from behind the counter."
"On it." Jasper rushed behind the counter and picked up the tweezers. He ran back to me and handed the tweezers to me and Henry sat down to me. I began to attempt to get the glass out, which resorted to him wincing.
The Junk-N-Stuff door opened and I looked up to see who it was.
Gwen.
I rolled my eyes at her and continued to get the glass out. Jasper exited the room when Gwen arrived to use the bathroom.
I finally got the glass out of Henry's finger and wiped the blood away. Gwen placed a food container down and we stood up.
"Audrey... I got the feeling last night that you didn't want me to marry your father, Ray."
"Well, I'm glad you got that feeling, 'cuz that feeling is exactly what I want your feeling to be! Ya feelin' me?"
"I'm sorry, one more time?" She stepped closer to me and that's when Henry stepped behind me.
I crossed my arms. "I know my dad. And there's no way that he'd meet you, then ask you to marry him on the same day, unless you— unless you did something."
"Y'know, Audrey, I was hoping we could have a good mother and daughter relationship. But now... I'm sorry that I made you and your boyfriend these muffins." Henry gaped at the muffins and licked his lips. I shook my head.
"First of all, Henry's not my boyfriend. Second, why muffins?"
"Just to be nice. Here, Henry. Do you want to try one for Audrey?" Henry nodded at Gwen eagerly and took a muffin from her.
He started to chew it and I crossed my arms as he enjoyed it.
"Oh man, what is this, banana nut?" Henry moaned, licking his lips as he ate the muffin. Gwen nodded at Henry's inquiry and he repeated his question. "This is banana nut muffin?"
Charlotte came sprinting in while frantically shouting, "Henry, don't swallow that muffin! Audrey, make him spit it out! It's dangerous!"
Confused as ever, I reluctantly listened and began to get the muffin out of Henry's mouth and he was resisting. I shot my eyes over to Gwen who looked panicked and then I knew I shouldn't have allowed Henry to eat that muffin.
Schwoz came running in moments later with Jasp. "Use the soap duster!" Schwoz screamed over Henry resisting me and Charlotte. When Schwoz looked over at me, his eyes widened. I didn't blame him, I looked really bad.
I yanked the soap duster from Schwoz and flipped the switch, sucking the chewed muffin bits into the soap duster. Gwen yanked Henry away from us and yelled, "Hey! Let him eat the muffin!"
"Learn to mind your damn business!" I shouted back, pulling Henry toward me.
I had one of his arm and Gwen had the other, pulling him side to side. Henry slipped and fell onto the floor and sat against a small desk with suitcases stacked and a statue on top. Unfortunately, the statue fell on Henry's head and he fell onto the floor.
"Oh my God!" Charlotte exclaimed in fear and we all ran over to Henry.
"I know mouth-to-mouth resuscitation!" Jasper acknowledged.
"I don't think Henry would appreciate that," I replied, kneeling next to Henry and helping him to sit up.
A pair of hands threw me away from Henry while saying, "I need to kiss Henry!"
I looked up at Gwen and watched her run over to Henry. I stood up and grabbed Gwen by her hair, yanking her away from Henry. She wasn't touching him on my watch. Especially since he was unconscious.
Jasper laid Henry back to the ground and began to do mouth-to-mouth and it was very hard to watch. Charlotte and Schwoz cringed. Henry's breathing became normal and he coughed, opening his eyes. I grabbed Henry by his arm and slowly hauled him up to his feet.
"Hen! Are you okay?" I asked, looking at Henry.
Henry didn't pay attention to me. His eyes were on Jasper and he was stuttering, "I love you."
Jasper smiled at Henry but then quickly stopped, realizing what he just said. Henry then wrapped his arms around Jasper who was attempting to get Henry off.
"Aw, you have such pretty hair," Henry remarked, admiring every bit of Jasper.
"Henry!" Charlotte called.
Gwen stormed over to me and shouted, "Great, see what you did?!"
"What I did?" I yelled back. How dare she blame me for all of this! This is all her fault and now something is wrong with Henry!
"Yeah!"
I laughed and rolled my eyes, biting my lip. "If you don't shut your mouth, I'm gonna shut it for you."
Before Gwen could argue back, my dad came running into the room. "Gwen!" He said in awe. "I was just dreaming about the first time we met." He held her hands.
"Hello, my sweet man." She flirted and it was very hard for me to watch this.
"Ray, no!" Charlotte scolded, having my back and I gave her a small smile.
"Quit— quit it!" Jasper cried out, attempting to get Henry off of him.
"I can't quit you," Henry replied, wrapping his arms around Jasper tighter.
Charlotte grabbed my dad's shoulder and spun him around to face her. "Ray! You don't really love her!"
My dad turned around to face Gwen but Schwoz stepped in between them. "Ray, she gave you a bad muffin that—" He was cut off by Gwen and Ray squishing them.
"She tricked you!" I yelled, hoping he would listen to me.
"Yeah, and she tried to do it to Henry, too!" Schwoz added when he finally got free from them.
"Except Henry fell in love with Jasper by mistake!" Charlotte pointed to Henry smiling with his arms around Jasper's waist.
"Aw, my baby's so smart." My dad commented and I wanted to punch him right there.
"Could you please make all of these people leave so we can be alone?" Gwen said in a low tone. I couldn't believe she is doing this right now. The audacity.
My dad paused before saying, "All right, everybody out!"
"Aww." Gwen taunted and gave me a dirty look.
"Come on, let's go!"
"Dad! I'm your daughter! You can't just kick me out like that!" I whined but he ignored me and continued to kick everyone out.
***
We all decided to go to Henry's house. I strolled behind them on the porch and Henry followed Jasper with his arms wide open.
"N—no— nope, stop it." Jasper cried out and opened the door to get away from Henry.
"I love you," Henry responded, following Jasper.
I walked inside the house that was a second home of mine. Before Schwoz could walk inside, Charlotte stopped him by saying, "No, no, no, you can't come in."
"Why can't I go in there?!"
"'Cuz what if Henry's parents are home?" Charlotte reasoned.
"Bu— I can't stay out here by myself!"
"Sure you can."
"No! What if someone tries to take me?" Schwoz replied, hoping for Charlotte to change her mind.
I looked over at Schwoz with a puzzled face. "Who would want you?"
With that, Charlotte shut the door and we walked to the boys. I sat on the couch while Charlotte paced around the room.
"Tell me why Gwen would use tainted muffins to make Ray fall in love with her," Jasper spoke.
"'Cuz, think about it. If Captain Man and Kid Danger are so in love that they can't fight crime, then they can't stop Gwen from doing whatever evil things she wants to do!" Charlotte reasoned.
"Okay, then I think we need to figure out how—
how—" Jasper trailed off as Henry gave him a massage on his shoulders. "Ooh, that feels so nice."
"Also... why are you wearing Henry's clothes?" Char asked me, looking at my buttoned up flannel and my black shorts.
"Well—" I was startled when a "Jaaaasperrr!" scream was running down the stairs. I looked over and it was Piper.
Henry shot up and Jasper greeted her with a, "Oh, hey, Piper."
"Did you go into my bathroom and take my curling iron?!" Piper shouted, desperate for an answer.
"Uh, yeah, but I—"
"Hey!" Henry interrupted and everyone went silent. "Don't you yell at my Jasper."
"He jacked my girly curly!" Piper reached for Jasper's eyelashes and pulled some off and I cringed.
Jasper winced in pain and stood up. "She yanked off my eyelashes!"
"Piper!" Henry shrieked and he looked furious. "You just hurt someone I love!"
"Yeah, and I'm just gettin' started!" Piper grabbed Jasper's shirt and began to flick his forehead while Jasper groaned in pain.
"No, stop! No!" Henry shrieked. This whole situation was pure chaos.
She continued to torture Jasper. "Are you gonna steal my—"
"Piper quit that! No!" Henry complained.
"Now stay outta my bathroom!" And with that, Piper threw Jasper over the couch and he landed on the floor. Piper ran back up the stairs and I looked back over at Henry in shock.
Henry was leaning on the couch for support and I began to worry.
"Henry! Are you okay?" I rushed over to him and watched him fall onto the floor.
"You okay?" Charlotte asked, looking down at his body.
I grabbed Henry's hand and helped him up. He managed to spit out a, "Yeah. I think so." When Jasper came walking up he turned to him and asked, "Oh, Jasper—"
"No more hugging me!" Jasper panicked, stepping backward.
"Hugging you?" Henry asked, disgusted with Jasper's response. "Ewww."
"Ewww?" I repeated and walked over to Henry, facing him. "Wait! Aren't you in love with Jasper?"
"In love with— what?! Noooo! No."
"That's awesome!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands around Henry and he did the same, confused as ever. I was so glad that he was okay.
"What is? How come Henry doesn't love me anymore?" Jasper whined as I let go of Henry's waist.
"I think 'cuz when Piper was harassing you, it made Henry feel really angry," Charlotte explained and we all looked at her confused.
"So?" We all said at once.
"So... when you feel strong emotions, your body released chemicals into your brain."
"Ohh, okay... so like, when Henry felt anger, it drives out his feelings of love?" I implored.
"Yeah, I think that's what happened." She agreed, nodding slightly.
Henry chimed in. "Okay, okay so now, all we gotta do is make Ray like, insanely mad, so he'll fall outta love with Gwen."
"Well, but— how are you gonna get him mad enough?"
"You could pick a fight with him!" Jasper suggested and I gasped, agreeing with him.
"Oh, c'mon, Ray could kill you!" Charlotte disapproved, shaking her head. "You can't pick a fight with Ray!"
"Well one of us is gonna have to do it," Henry replied and looked at all of us.
"Not it!" Jasper and Charlotte said in synch and raise their hands in the air.
"I'll do it." I volunteered and they all turned to look at me. "He's my dad, so..."
"No way. I want to do it. Better me than you."
"No, Henry."
Before Henry could bicker we heard a scream coming from Henry's porch. We rushed to the front door and pulled it open, seeing three boys attempting to drag a screaming Schwoz.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Jasper shouted, shooing the kids away.
"Pick on someone your own size!" I called after them, watching them sprint away.
Schwoz stood up and threw a stick before screaming, "Jerks!"
"C'mon, let's get to the Man Cave." I declared, walking down Henry's porch. I'm going to do whatever it takes to help my dad, even if it kills me.
***
I jumped from behind the machine next to the tubes and fixed my shirt. My dad was alone on the couch, daydreaming about Gwen, probably.
"Soo..." I trailed on, walking down the steps from the tube platform. "Henry?"
Henry stood up from behind the couch. "Yeah, Audrey?"
"Who do you think should win the 'Most Attractive Guy in Swellview'?" We stood next to each other and crossed our arms, pretending to think hard about this.
"'Most Attractive Guy in Swellview'?"
"Yeah."
"Uhhh..."
Jasper crawled out from under the monitor and stood up straight. He turned to Henry and suggested, "Hey, what about your dad?"
I glanced over at my dad who was looking around where we all came out from.
"I was thinking the same thing." Charlotte acknowledged as she stepped out of the elevator. We all chattered on agreeing with this situation.
"That's an interesting way of looking at it," Henry commented. "Not gonna lie—"
"Wait, wait, wait a second, you guys." My dad smiled, shaking his head at the ground.
I spun on my heel to face him. "What's up, dad?"
"Just a friendly reminder, I've won 'Most Attractive Guy in Swellview' for the past twelve years, so..." He reminded us. "...it's kinda in the bag."
I looked over at my friends before taunting my dad again. "Well, yeah, but... you're kinda old now."
My dad looked at me with an expression of shock and his smile faded. "I'm old?"
"I don't think I stuttered. What are you? Over fifty?" I teased, biting my lower lip as I gave him a sour smile.
"Fif— did you just use the F word?"
"Hey, look, I'm just saying—"
"I'm 35, Audrey." He placed his hands on my shoulders. "You know that." He pointed and laughed at me, turning away.
I turned my head over to my friends and they were all pointing to their heads. Henry was shaking his head no but I gave him a thumbs up to reassure him. He wasn't that fond of this plan.
I quickly turned back to my dad. "Well, you're starting to lose your hair a little bit."
He immediately turned back to me. "What did you just say to me?"
"Hey, where's Gwen?" I stepped to the other side of my dad.
"Gwen happens to be getting ready to go rob a bank!" My dad informed and I rolled my eyes.
"Or..." I tried to think of an answer that would really anger him. "Maybe she's not goin' rob a bank. Maybe she's goin' to meet some other guy." I sat on the seat in front of the monitor and watched my dad's angry expression.
"She's going to rob a bank." My dad said through his gritted teeth.
I spun around on the chair, smiling to myself. "Or, maybe... she's goin' to meet some guy named Rob... Banks."
"That's stupid. That's not a guy's name!"
"Yeah, it is," I argued and stood up. "Just face it, Dad. Gwen doesn't want you. She wants Robert J. Banks. Y'know why?" I leaned into his ear. "I bet he's way better lookin' than you."
My dad turned around and I backed up. "Not possible!"
"Yep," I replied and walked back to the monitor. "He's probably in his early thirties."
"That's enough!"
"Yeah, I bet he's gonna kiss her soo goooood." I mocked Gwen kissing another guy. "Oh, Gwen, you kiss like a princess!" I watched my dad cover his ears. "Mmmm, your lips feel like hot pie!"
Before I could even react, my dad screamed at the top of his lungs and charged toward me. He grabbed me by my shirt and threw me across the room and I smashed into the elevator and my head began to pound. I could feel my own heartbeat in my head. I couldn't stop now.
Henry wanted to come rushing toward me but I signaled him not to. I looked up at my dad who was raging with anger as he stomped toward me.
"It's not my fault that she likes younger guys!" I taunted, pressing my back against the elevator. My dad grabbed me by my shirt and held me up in the air.
I managed to get down and I started to ruff his hair up, pretending to find grey hairs. "Oh, is that some grey hairs?!"
"Get off me!" My dad screamed and threw me to the ground, face first. This was not helping my headache, but it was helping my dad.
Henry kneeled down to my level. "You're almost there, Drey. You don't have to do this if you don't wanna. I can do it."
"Hen—" Before I could finish his name, I was dragged by my legs.
My dad hauled me up to my feet and thought that he was better. But, that thought faded when my body collided with the monitor.
I managed to keep my balance and I spun to face my angry dad. "Come on. You ain't so bad! You ain't so bad!"
My dad sprinted towards me, throwing a punch. I squatted down and stepped to his side before his fist collided with my jaw. He fell onto the monitor and regained his strength within seconds.
I was pushed onto the couch and Jasper leaned down to me and said, "This is so cool to watch!" Not when you're being beaten up.
"I'm glad you're having a good time." I sarcastically replied and he pushed me back into my dad's arms. Thanks, Jasper.
My dad had a fist full of my hair. He dragged me by my hair until we reached the stairs and I managed to kick him off.
"She probably makes muffins for lots of guys." I kept going, standing up.
"She only makes muffins for me!" Oh gosh. He was going to hurt me now. He grabbed my arm and flipped me over the back of the couch.
My back ached with pain. I groaned and I felt like I couldn't move and that all of my bones were broken.
"Audrey!" Henry panicked and jumped over the couch to see me. Henry hauled me up to my feet and I was in incredible pain.
I looked around for my dad as Henry kept me stable. I found him holding a blaster and having trouble keeping his balance.
"Ray, don't!" Charlotte cried out, her hand outstretched. She then grinned and yelled, "I think you did it! It's working!" My dad fell to the floor and my heart dropped.
Everyone jogged over to my dad and I walked over, holding onto the couch for support. My dad was hauled up to his feet and onto the monitor chair. He was panting heavily and he shook his head.
"Ah, what happened?" My dad asked as if he had just gotten out of a coma or something. "I was in love.. with a woman, uh..." He snapped his fingers together to remember the name. "Gwen!"
"She gave you a love muffin," Jasper explained.
"Yeah, and then Audrey had to make you really mad so your feelings of rage and anger would overpower your muffin-induced feelings of love," Henry added, looking at my dad in his eyes.
"That makes sense." My dad nodded and kissed the top of my head as the sprocket door opened. "Guys, quick, go hide!" My dad ordered and we all listened.
Well, Henry thought it was a great idea to pick me up and run behind the couch, placing me down carefully. I playfully gave him a dirty look and he shrugs.
"I didn't need you to carry me," I spoke softly as Gwen walked down the stairs. I couldn't help but peek at what was going on.
"Well, y'know, just in case." He whispered back and I smiled at him.
"Okay Ray, I'm about to leave... it should take me about, hmm... twenty minutes to rob the bank," Gwen informed cheerfully and walked next to my dad.
"Aw, that sounds great." My dad replied, trying his best to act in love.
"Oh hey, how do you like my ponytail?"
My dad walked right in front of her. "I love it. I mean it's really cute and just so—"
I gaped at what my dad had just done. He ripped out her ponytail! I covered my mouth to stop myself from snickering.
"You just ripped my ponytail off my head!" She shrieked, looking at the hair in my dad's hand. "You're... you're not in love with me anymore."
I grinned and pushed myself up from the couch. "Yeah, he's not."
"Sorry, Gwen." Charlotte crossed her arms as the others got out of their hiding position.
"How ya like dem muffins?" Henry taunted and smirked.
"And now, Gwen, I'd be honored to escort you to prison." My dad went to grab her arm but she held up her phone with a picture of our superhero uniforms on and a picture of us without our superhero uniforms.
"Look out!" Charlotte called, pointing to the phone.
"She's got a phone!" Jasper exclaimed, adding to what Charlotte was saying.
"So?" My dad had a puzzled look on his face.
"Who cares?" Henry asked, flicking his eyes between Charlotte and Jasper.
"You better care." Gwen threatened, grinning at all of us. "Because if I tap right here, it's gonna send a post out telling the whole world that Ray Manchester is Captain Man, Audrey Manchester is Quick Shot, and Henry Hart is Kid Danger."
Complete silence and fear filled all of our bodies. Well, besides Jasper. He raised his hand and asked, "Anything about me?"
Gwen chose to ignore him. "You let me go, and I'll keep your secret. Deal?" She made her way to the tube platform while showing us her phone.
I turned to Henry, unsure of what to do. I then turned to my dad who was also unsure of what to decide.
"Do we have a deal or don't we?" Gwen implored, still showing us her phone.
"Yeah, we've got a deal— for now!" My dad replied and watched as Gwen put her phone in her pocket.
"But someday you're going to jail," Henry added, looking at Gwen with cold eyes.
"I doubt it." Gwen looked up and the tube encased her. "Buh-bye, boys and girls!" She looked up as if something was supposed to happen. She cleared her throat after moments and then yelled, "Off I go!" She raised her arm and stood there like an idiot. "Okay, what words do I have to say to activate the tube suckage?"
"Oh, yeah, just yell, 'diamonds, rubies, lift me... tubies'." I lied, trying to hide my grin.
"Yep, that's it." Henry agreed, hiding behind my head as he snickered.
"Thank you," Gwen responded and proceed to say the phrase. "Diamonds, rubies, lift me, tubies!"
Before she could react, we all started to burst out into laughter and I couldn't help but lean onto Henry for support. Gosh, I wish I got that on video. It was hilarious!
"I will tap this button, I swear I'll tap it!" Gwen repeated, looking very annoyed.
"Just say, 'up the tube'," Charlotte told, trying to contain her laughter.
"Up the tube!" Gwen yelled and she flew up the tube.
"Whew." Charlotte sighed. "This whole thing was insane."
"Yeah, no kidding," I replied and rubbed the back of my head. My head was killing me.
Jasper shrugged. "Well, at least we all learned something valuable."
"What'd we learn?" Henry asked, crossing his arms and looking at Jasp.
"We all learned that no matter how strong love is... anger is stronger." He explained and he had a point.
"It's true." I agreed, nodding my head.
"That's a good point." My dad said.
***
It was late at night and I finished my shower and got dressed. No one spoke about what had happened today which I was happy about.
I was turning on my T.V. for the night when my dad walked inside.
"Drey?" He called out, his voice quaking. The lights switched on and I looked over at him.
"Yeah, Dad? What's wrong?"
"I just..." He sat on the edge of my bed. "I've been thinking of what happened with Gwen and stuff. I'm sorry."
"Why are you sorry? It's not your fault." I bit the inside of my cheek.
"I know... it's just... everything about your mother. I probably invalidated your feelings. You have every right to be upset with me."
Hot tears welled up in my eyes. "Dad... it's not your fault." I quickly wiped my tears as they fell down my face. "I mean, I was upset... but I knew something was wrong. You wouldn't do that because you love mom and you love me."
He pulled me into a hug. "Of course I love you. You're the last thing I've got and I'm going to make sure you're not gonna leave me. Well... anytime soon."
I pulled away and smiled. "Yeah, I know."
"Also... why were you wearing Henry's clothes earlier today! Don't tell me—"
"Gross, Dad! No! Ew!" I rolled my eyes. "I stayed at Henry's last night because of everything. It hurt me seeing you with another girl and pretending that I didn't even exist."
A look of guilt was plastered on his face. "Oh gosh, I'm sorry. I promise this won't happen again. I feel really bad."
"Don't worry, I'm just glad that everything is back to normal." I sighed with a smile.
"Me too. Goodnight." He kissed the top of my head and walked to my door. Before he walked out he turned to me. "So... you and Henry. I see that you guys are getting very close."
My eyes widened and I blushed. "We're just friends! Goodnight, Dad!" I pushed him out of my room and shut the door.
I sighed. What are me and Henry? It's confusing. One minute we're sleeping in the same bed and the next we act as nothing happened. It feels so wrong but at the same time, it feels so right.