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Nick couldn't get a word edgewise, Mari already gone. Left there to just take all that happened in, he looked down at the pillow she threw at him and tossed it to the side, sighing as he got up. "Since eighth grade? Surprised she hadn't said anything sooner…" With a shake of his head, he went out to go find her to calm her down. This was something they needed to talk out.

Nick searched the streets, knowing that she couldn't have gone that far. Soon enough he came to the wall of paper, knowing this was her work. Problem was, he didn't know what to say! "Come on Mari, lets go back to your place. There's a lot we should talk about." He said to her from behind the wall, trying to sound calm as usual despite how worried he actually was.

Nick didn't like either options. He didn't want to let this go, but he didn't want to talk about it here either, the safety of their own home a better place to be. Then again he realized that her mom ate stuff like this up and would be on them in an instant, so maybe it was better to talk it out here. He sat down on the floor, still behind her wall. "Okay, I'll speak my mind about it," With a sigh, he let it out. "Why didn't you just ask me out? I'm not trying to put a blame on you or anything, but I would have said yes if you just asked." He said to her, giving another sigh. "Honestly I thought you only saw me as a friend, so I simply did the same, not wanting to make it awkward or anything. You're pretty, smart, and would make an amazing girlfriend." He said to her, standing up before giving what he saw as the bad news. "Problem is, I don't know what would change. I don't know how to go on dates and with all the crime fighting we do, I don't even know if we'd have a chance to try." Nick rested his back against a wall, looking at her own paper wall. "What do you think we should do?"

"Well sorry for being so dense! We've been friends for so long I just assume it's friendly teasing!" He said back, now getting a bit upset as well. "And of course I didn't try to act upon it! If you said no that would make everything awkward and hard for us to hang out! If I lost you as a friend I would have no one else!" Now he was mad, starting to walk away. "And excuse me for not wanting to take chances!" He was gone, walking home to try and forget what happened. That one fight already made everything awkward, not wanting to even see her face now. Was he in the wrong? Maybe, be she was part of the blame as well.

Nick wanted to be with his dad, out enjoying the outdoors hunting back like the good old days. They'd bring home a buck, mom impressed and his sister grossed out, but it made him smile all the time. But he wasn't around anymore, hunting all the bucks he wanted in heaven.
Tossing his phone aside, he just laid in bed, blaring his music to mute out the rest of the world, remembering when life was actually fun and not constant crime fighting and taking down stupid monsters.

(Because drama always happens in romance x3)

Nick couldn't hear a thing, blasting his music as he watched the world go by in his window. He noticed the smoke but figured the fire department could handle it. However, his feelings toward it changed when his mom barged in. "Have you seen Mari? Her mom just called and said she wasn't home. Everything okay between you two?" He was about to answer until it hit him. She always went to the park to read when she needed to cool her head. That fire was near the park… and she would freeze at the sight of flames… "Oh no…" He ran right past her mom, bolting out the door and towards the park. The fire was out of control, the fire department doing the best they could to stop it. They got almost everyone out… except Mari. "No no no…." He needed to get in there, find Mari and save her… But he couldn't use his powers in public! Struggling to find the solution, it practically came right at him when he saw people trying to help with buckets of water. "Sorry!" He quickly grabbed one and poured it on him, drenching himself in water. Without thinking, he rushed into the park, trying to find Mari as fast as he could.

The smoke was think and making it hard to see and breath, Nick trying to remember where she would go all the time. It was a specific spot, a grassy hill that she loved, but the smoke was making it so much harder to spot it! "Mari! Mari!!" He called out, trying his best to breath in as little smoke as possible. "What in the…" He came across what looked like a cocoon, but it was made of paper. "Paper… Mari!" He picked up the cocoon and rushed out of the park, the layer thin and breaking away in his hands. "You're safe now, I'm getting you out of here." He said as he made it out of the flames, her cocoon now gone. He made his way to the ambulance, letting them take care of her as he got in the back with her.

In a matter of hours Mari was in a hospital bed, bandaged and treated for her burns. To her side was Nick, who stayed there the whole time without a second thought. He was worried, knowing how badly she was scared of fire because of the incident all those years ago.