“Wait!!” He shouted, but she was already on her way. Edana walked down the concrete stairs with the anger of their conversation still on her face.

God, what was he thinking? Asking a girl out on a date where you fought villains together? Flirting with a girl when you were a hot and sexy and awesome superhero? Even someone as confident as Edana wouldn’t be confident in being able to get with _him, THE _Torch Marten! He was too cool, too amazing… he had to be himself to get her.

Cullen sighed. He never wanted to have to do this, but… if it was for Edana, he’d do anything. She said before that she admired his determination, his resistance… so he had to prove that he was determined to be the one for her.

“Edana, wait. It’s me.” He moved like molasses, slowly moving a hand up to his mask. He hesitated for a second—this was everything, _everything. _Would he really throw it all away for a girl?

Yeah. Yeah he would.

“It’s me. Cullen.” He said with a sigh, pulling his mask down and revealing his handsome face. He was so humble, so brave. Truly, she’d be moved by his honesty and fearlessness to the point of maybe a kiss. On the cheek, of course. Cullen wasn’t scandalous.

But the way Edana stopped in her tracks wasn’t the way Cullen expected her to. Her legs and arms shook with not fear, not even excitement…but anger?

She turned around with a look that could kill, her eyes scrunched up in pure unfiltered rage he’d never seen on her.

Woah. Cullen took a step back.

“Do you think I’m fucking stupid, Cullen?” Her voice bent like metal with such weird emotion. “Or are you _that_ delusional?!”

She… knew? Was that what she was getting at? But- that made no sense! He wore a literal _superhero outfit._ (Mask, cape, the whole shtick. Made it completely on his own, with Danny’s help. He was pretty proud.) The outfit made his human self practically invisible!!

“Uh- I don’t think you heard me.” He chuckled. Easy mistake to make, not everyone was as smart as he was. “I, the famed hero Torch Marten, am actually the regular teenager Cul-“

She punched him in the face. Unfortunately, his superhero powers didn’t kick in, and he did, indeed, feel every bit of the pain as he fell on his back and rolled over. His face hit concrete and scraped against the rough surface, and he let out a rather manly sound that definitely wasn’t a girly shriek.

“Cullen. You aren’t a superhero. You don’t have fucking powers, and you haven’t ever saved anybody. All of this is _fake_.” Edana spoke with venom as she put part of her weight on his stomach with her platform boot.

‘Fake’. Yeah, right. He’d heard that before. Only in nightmares, though.

“Edana, girl, I don’t think you understand-“

“Shut up!!” She cried, and Cullen watched from the ground as a tear landed near his face, turning the concrete dark. “I… I thought you wanted lessons from me because you _liked_ me. Because we were friends, and… I don’t know. Something else, maybe.” She let out a shaky breath. “But all you care about is fighting villains! You just wanted to chase a villain around, on roller skates of all things!! You’re fucking stupid, you’re going to get yourself _killed_!”

Cullen watched her cry. It was something he had never seen before.

The tough and rough, cool as ice, badass bitch, awesomest woman to ever exist… crying? It didn’t add up. Surely it was fake. Surely it was another of Sable’s illusions messing with his head, making him think things that were untrue, telling him this wasn’t real and that he had to wake up or some _dumb fucking thing again-_

__

__

“Let the real heroes deal with the real villains. Stop playing pretend. Can’t we go back to the rink and be kids?”

Cullen tried to look at her, he really did, but his head hurt. Suddenly, it was like the world was melting. It didn’t feel real.

God, was anything real?

When he came to, he was on Danny’s couch. Not even like he was asleep and just woke up, just _sitting_. He didn’t understand himself sometimes.

Danny was in his old fucking rocking chair he got from his grandma. Knitting, too. God, was he trying to look like his grandma? Wouldn’t bring her back, bud.

“Where’s Edana?” He spoke, but his voice didn’t really work. It was quiet and unused, soft like a baby’s.

“I don’t know.”

“Why’m’I here?”

“You walked yourself here. You don’t remember?” Danny looked up from his knitting and gave him an odd look.

Cullen scowled. “Feel weird. Tired. I should take a nap.”

“You’re taking more naps lately. Oversleeping is a real thing. Maybe a doctor’s visit is in order, instead?” Danny asked as Cullen stood up from the couch, almost falling over, and began walking over to the hallway where his bedroom was.

“I don’t like the doctors.”

“Or dentists, or cops, or teachers, or children, or anyone that has green hair-“

“Shthfuckup.” Cullen slurred. He opened the door to his bedroom and collapsed onto his bed. The room was spinning. The walls, covered in pictures of his favorite heroes and self-portraits of his own flattering image, was more of a blur of color. What was with his head?

“Dissociating is a real thing.” Danny raised his voice so Cullen could hear him, and the warning of a disapproving father was all in his tone. “Maybe a therapist could help. Or a psychologist.”

“Lemme sleep. I have skating with Edana tomorrow.”

“…” Danny was quiet. “She actually called me, told me to tell you she doesn’t want to meet tomorrow.”

“Oh.” Cullen’s heart sunk, and the room got darker. He swore the room was a sink hole, swallowing him whole.

“I’m gonna schedule you an appointment with a psychologist, I think it’s the right thing to do…”

“I just need sleep. I’ll sleep it off.” Cullen buried his head in his pillow. Danny’s voice was getting farther off.

“Cullen, if you ever want to talk, I’m…” his voice blurred into the sound of the wind in his ears.

Cullen sighed. Such is the life of a hero, after all.