𝐈 𝐒𝐇𝐔𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐎𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐎 𝐌𝐘 𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐌.
my father had tried to question me on my way in, but i ignored him.
i was too upset to even think straight.
the very last thing i wanted to do was have my dad act like i'd went out and committed a crime.
why did colby kiss me back?
i shouldn't have even kissed him in the first place.
he probably just kissed me back because he felt bad.
but what if he didn't?
what if he kissed me back because he liked me?
that hurt even more.
i knew i couldn't be with him. he was a fucking villain, in a family full of villains, hiding out.
and i'm a superhero.
if i find a group of villains, my job is to report thtem and take them down.
not kiss them and fall in love.
but i did it.
i didn't care. i knew better and i ignored the warnings.
i knew there would be a repercussion sooner or later. and i didn't want to be with colby just for him to get taken away from me.
being with colby would make me lose everything.
but i also felt like i already lost everything by not being with him.
i loved colby.
i was in love with him.
but colby deserved to be loved permanently. he deserved to be showcased.
i couldn't give that to him.
audrey loved him. audrey was normal. she could make him happy.
and that made me angry.
because i loved him.
and i wanted him to love me. but i couldn't. it was for his safety and mine.
i wanted to kiss him.
but i knew if i did, i'd just fall deeper in love with him.
that would only leave us both with more pain.
i wouldn't be able to look him in the eye the next day.
maybe it was for the better, maybe i could finally leave him alone.
they deserve better.
i've been lying to them about me not being a superhero.
maybe colby will hate me after this.
maybe it's what i deserved.
being a superhero was a gift and a curse.
i loved helping people.
but why did i have to sacrifice my happiness for other people?
colby made me happy.
he would never know that. it was better off like that.
my luck couldn't get any fucking worse.
aria is already involved with jake. i can't even imagine what's going to happen to her.
maybe she'd get fired.
i knew it would crush her.
but leaving jake would do the same.
was i willing to give up being a superhero to be with colby?
would he be willing to give up being a villain?
i didn't know.
and that probably meant no.
«───── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ─────»
colby sat on the couch, miserable.
he hadn't seen cherry since she'd left him alone at midnight and ran home.
it wasn't unusual for her to leave so late.
but considering she left right after they kissed, just confirmed all of colby's thoughts.
maybe it was just in the moment.
cherry didn't like him.
she was upset, she had been for months, and he was the first person to provide her comfort.
he truly and wholeheartedly cared about her, despite having to be evil.
she was a good person.
too good of a person.
colby wanted to be a villain. he wanted to be horrible.
he didn't want to ruin her.
how were they supposed to be together if they were complete opposites?
but he was in love with her. he couldn't live without her.
for a while, he'd tried too.
when he met audrey, she was kind.
he saw cherry in her. that's why he liked her so much.
he had tried to move on from cherry.
he'd realized weeks ago that opposites didn't attract, and no matter how much he wanted them too, they would never work out.
his attempts at moving forward failed.
they didn't work.
because he'd never love audrey how he loved cherry.
and cherry would never love him how he loved her.
a loud knock interrupted his thought process.
his heart stilled, praying it was cherry behind the door.
it was.
hartley grinned, after opening the door. "happy halloween!"
"i love halloween!" cherry smiled, staring at the pair of siblings who sat on the couch.
jake and amy groaned.
"cherry, it's literally 6 in the morning. the sun isn't even out yet. why do you have this much energy?" amy complained.
"i'm excited!"
"we decorated your lawn." aria chimed in.
"i bet it looks amazing." jake complimented.
"it does."
hartley led the group outside.
when amy and jake stood up, cherry spotted colby behind them.
he smiled, and she looked away.
she was right; she couldn't look him in the eye. maybe she'd get over it soon.
she jus couldn't take the guilt.
cherry darted after the group, leaving a frowning colby alone on the couch.
"is it too much?" hartley questioned.
the madden family's entire front yard was completely decorated in a variation of halloween decor.
the trio of girls worked on it the entire night, all of them too excited to sleep.
"it's definitely something." amy nodded her head. "i'm gonna go back inside before someone mistakes me for being fun and festive."
"we need to make cookies together." aria reminded jake.
"i already have everything planned and bought." jake smiled.
"gross, i hate happy couples." cherry returned to the house, the entire group doing the same.
"it's your first halloween!" hartley cheered.
"we should go trick or treating!" i suggested.
suddenly, eva and her husband walked through the door, holding up a crystal ball.
"colby's here. i wanna go home." cherry leaned in to whisper in arias ear.
"you have to tell me everything when we get home." aria said.
colby looked over at cherry.
she instantly looked away, and he began to nervously play with his hoodie strings.
"look who just showed up in the mail!" eva carried the orb.
"hello, my lovelies!" the voice called out.
"what the fuck?" cherry gasped.
"what is that thing?" hartley's eyes widened.
"that's a big ass ball." aria laughed to herself.
"hey! i don't talk about your grandmothers like that." amy said sarcastically.
"grandmother?" the girls questioned.
"yeah, that's right. my mothers spirit is trapped in an orb." eva confirmed.
"they ran out of space in storage, so they sent ber here." vic said, through a fake smile. "the one piece of mail the post office couldn't lose.
"i wish i was stuck in an orb and not here." valentine complained, glancing at colby.
eva noticed this. "don't tell me you and colby are fighting again."
"no." colby laughed. "the opposite."
"what's that-"
"okay, hold up! why is your grandma in an orb?" hartley questioned.
"i thought it was a crystal ball." aria took a seat, disappointment covering her features.
"no, but that'd be funny. glass is the only thing that will keep her trapped." jake explained.
"yeah, her villain spirit is super dangerous. she can take over any object or person. she's basically a blue haired body snatcher." colby agreed.
cherry frowned.
just another villain she wouldn't tell anyone about to make sure colby's identity stayed safe and hidden.
whenever superheroes tried to find where they were located, cherry would give them wrong information and made sure they never found them suspicious.
"remember when her spirit was loose?" eva asked. "none of us were safe. so, whatever you do, do not let her con you into breaking her out. she's just itching to get loose and reclaim her title as the most dangerous villain in the world."
"how could you ditch your grandma and move to texas to be a normal family? the maddens? really?" the grandma orb questioned.
"we left in a hurry. if i didn't have time to bring my favorite underpants, we certainly don't have time to bring you." vic and his wife took a seat.
hesitantly, colby and valentine shared the same seat on the couch; the only seat left.
"okay; i'm gonna go so i don't have to hear anymore of that. i have so much to do before my sunshine club halloween party later tommorow!" hartley stood up. "you do know i invited you all, right?"
cherry immediately stood back up.
immediately, the entire group began to make excuses.
"oh come on, it's gonna be fun! we're gonna bob for apples, and do a witches hat ring toss!" hartley smiled.
"or, we could turn it into a haunted house so terrifying that everyone cries into their cheap, ill-fitting costumes." amy suggested.
"it's a party. we're not trying to send kids home with a stress disorder!"
"well then what are we even doing?"
i turned to face the wall, meeting eyes with colby.
"it's too early for this. goodbye, everyone." valentine immediately stood.
aria gave jake a quick hug and kiss on the cheek, and the group left.
colby frowned.