Project Hero

by Briar Prescott

“Oh, okay. See, I should have told you before, in my religion it’s only acceptable to run when somebody’s chasing you.” Law’s looks me up and down. “I mean, I guess I could run behind you if that’s what you need.” “Cool. Thanks. Could you also emulate an angry carnivore, like a tiger or a bear or a T-Rex? It helps if I feel like my life is in danger.” “Man, I’ve gotta go practice my roaring,” he says, and to his credit, he manages to sound like he doesn’t think I’m completely ridiculous.

I pretend to wipe a tear from the corner of my eye. “I thought our friendship was more important to you.” He lifts his hand and lowers it step by step like he’s mimicking the steps of a ladder. “It goes TV, you and then everything else,” he says. “Wow. I’m before hockey? I’m impressed.” “Oh.” He pretends to frown. “I forgot about that. Okay, correction. Hockey, TV, you, everything else.”

“What…” Law opens and closes his mouth. “How…” He shakes his head, but to his credit, he keeps going. “Why would you… just… what?” he finally asks. “You’re gonna have to elaborate on that,” I say. “What was I thinking? What did I mean by it? What is sex?” He just gapes at me in reply. “Come on, Law, help me out here.”

I’m beginning to think I might not be as well equipped to handle this situation as I thought I would be.

There goes my plan of climbing out the window and hitchhiking to Canada.

It takes me a second to put my finger on it, but then it dawns on me—with Law, I don’t feel like I’m the sidekick. He doesn’t make me feel like I’m a hero either, but the thing is, with Law, I don’t really care about being a hero at all. With Law, I’m just me. Just Andy. And with Law, it’s enough.

The inch that separates our naked bodies feels like a mile now.

“So that’s why you were so excited to have us all home. You missed the free labor.” Jane laughs. “That’s it. I endured thirty-six hours of increasingly painful contractions with you just so I would have somebody who’d peel the potatoes. You’ve cracked my evil masterplan.

Falcon always seems to want to do all the fighting for me, whereas Law supports me while I fight.

“I have feelings,” I repeat. “Feelings that are not entirely friendly anymore. I guess what I’m trying to say is that I have unfriendly feelings for you?” So much for my staggering confidence. “I’m not sure anymore if you’re pissed at me or the other way around,” Falcon says slowly.

Man, that’s a cruel and unusual way to find out that the guy you’re in love with does not, in fact, feel the same way about you.

“Did any of that make you want to bang me with undying passion?” he asks and scrunches his nose.

“Anyway,” Andy continues. “I kissed him. It was traumatizing. We’ll continue being friends. Now you kiss me, because with you, I plan to be a lot more than friends.” I can’t help but laugh at that. “Is that so?”

“What?” Andy asks. “I’m only with you because of your money.” “Oh good. I’ve always wanted a gold digger of my own, so you’ve made another one of my dreams come true.” “That is the goal.”

In the end, Andy wins again. But I get to spend the rest of my life with him, so really, I’m the winner here.