Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Arlo wasn't sure how he felt about John crashing their Safe House field trip. On the one hand, he would provide much needed support for what Seraphina was doing. On the other hand, he was sleeping not three feet away, snoring a bit too loudly to be convincing. John hadn't been lying when he said he'd be uncomfortable with this arrangement; Arlo could feel John's eyes on his back as if the boy couldn't physically contain himself.

It took an hour for Arlo to break. John had been shifting around, apparently having given up on the fake snoring; it was driving Arlo insane.

"What's your deal?" Arlo hissed at John, whose eyes widened comically. "Either go to sleep or stop moving around."

"Sorry," John whispered. "I'm just thinking."

"Think quieter."

John scowled. He rolled to his other side, was silent for a moment, then sat up.

"I'm going for a walk."

Arlo couldn't be having that. What if he went and caused trouble? Arlo wouldn't be able to sleep while John wandered around doing who knew what. So, against his better wishes, he followed John out of the room.

"Why are you following me?" John asked, eyes narrowed.

"Why not?" Arlo replied with a shrug.

John couldn't seem to refute this argument, so he just let out a huff. They traipsed through the hotel, exploring the empty hallways. Eventually, they came across what seemed like a game room. Other than some adults watching football at the bar, there weren't any other people. Then seemed as good a time as any to stop walking, so they took residence at a nice couch.

After a long, uncomfortable minute, John spoke up.

"So... would there be any reason I'd be, like, in danger? Not that there would be a reason, of course, but you know. I'm just curious."

John was obviously talking about Spectre. Seraphina really hadn't told him anything if he didn't even know why he'd be in danger simply by being there.

"You're not very subtle."

John scratched the back of neck.

"Why'd you vote for me?"

"I thought you would be helpful. Seraphina is in far too deep for my liking."

"Meaning?"

"I can't tell you. That'd be betraying Seraphina's trust."

John scowled. "As if you care about that."

Arlo chose not to respond to that.

"Seraphina isn't wrong. She's doing it for your own good."

"Yeah, but I don't care about what happens to me. After everything I've done, after all the shit I've caused, after all the times I've hurt her, she still came back to me. I owe her way too much. I'm not leaving her side again!"

Arlo stayed silent. He tried not to think about how unhealthy that thinking was, but that was John for you. At least it was obvious he felt remorse and wanted to change, so that was something, and, in all honesty, Arlo found that push to become a better person admirable. Though you wouldn't hear him saying that out loud.

"Can you say something?" John said after an awkward few seconds.

"I'm not sure how you want me to respond to that," Arlo said in leu of saying what he really felt.

"Just... fill me in. Please."

Arlo sighed. "Fine, but buy me a drink first."

They ended up sat over a game of cards. They spoke in harsh whispers, although their speech was so scrambled Arlo doubted anyone else would've understood what they were talking about.

"I came in case Spectre decides to show up," Arlo said.

"Gee," John said, "hard to believe you'd risk your own neck for someone else."

Arlo scowled. "So I can't have my own list of people to look after?"

John didn't say anything. He didn't even have the decency to look embarrassed.

"I know you see me as some evil mastermind," Arlo continued when it seemed John would continue to stay silent, "but I'm a person too."

"I don't think you're evil...," John acquiesced. "Just... Well, I don't know much about you, do I?"

"Not for lack of trying, I'm sure."

"It's not like you know a thing about me, either!"

"Although you apparently still feel comfortable enough to trauma dump on me."

John flushed. "Okay, that was one time."

They lapsed into silence again, continuing to play cards.

"I don't think you're that bad either," Arlo admitted. "I'm mature enough to have grown past hating you."

"Yeah," John agreed. "Me too. I think we're both just idiots."

"Perhaps we are," Arlo said with a smirk.

A second later, Arlo chanced a look up at John's concentrated face. His eyes were very expressive, communicating every emotion, and when they glowed... it was beautiful. When Arlo had first seen them, he thought they were quite out of place on a boy with a severely oily head of hair. It was even more dissonant when they glowed on such a maniac as he. They fit him a lot better now, Arlo thought.

By the end of their game, neither seemed particularly inclined to go back to the room, so they decided on heading out to the gardens. It wasn't spectacular by any standard, but it wasn't so bad, either. It was a large expanse of grass with bushes, trees, and flowers, a single stone path splitting things up in two. At the back was a gazebo with a single couch wrapped around the edge. The two of them ended up making their way over there. They sat in a less uncomfortable silence, and Arlo thought he might've even been able to enjoy the night air.

"Are you planning on staying?" he said eventually.

"Uh, I'll probably have to go back to the room at some point—"

"No, I mean are you planning on staying in Rowden?"

"Oh. Well, yes. Fuck yes. I'm helping whether Sera wants me to or not."

"You're an idiot," Arlo said, reasonably.

"Says you."

"I don't know how you managed to come this far in life—"

"Hey!"

"—but you certainly have passion."

The last bit just slipping out, but Arlo wasn't sure he regretted saying it. John paused, obviously not having expected it either. His brow furrowed.

"Thanks? You're... Well, you're a better King than I was."

"What a high bar."

John didn't say anything. Arlo supposed it was a bit of a low blow, but it was the truth.

"I was a pretty bad King. Like, the shittiest."

Arlo paused. "Trauma dumping again?"

"Shut up. Look, you think my reign at Wellston was bad? You should've seen me at New Bostin. To not even talk about my temper, I'm pretty sure 'responsible' wasn't even in my vocabulary."

"You're not a very responsible person."

"No, I'm not. But you are. And maybe if you were less of an asshole, I could've said Wellston was in good hands."

"Thanks?"

"Don't let it get to your head. I still think you were a shitty King. Blyke's definitely better."

Arlo leaned back. "He has a lot to learn, but so do I."

"Arlo? Self-reflecting?"

"Shush. What do you think I've been doing all this time?"

John grew quiet. He was quiet for such a long time that Arlo almost fell asleep.

"Do you think you're a good person?" John asked.

"Sure. Do you?"

"No," John admitted.

Arlo did fall asleep after that, thinking of nothing but John's answer.

"John! Arlo! Get up!"

It was Seraphina's voice; Arlo had woken up first. He blinked lazily, looking around as if being wrapped in John's limbs under a gazebo was completely normal. He glanced up at John's face, which was hardly more than two inches away, and didn't even react. He looked back at Seraphina, face and mind both blank.

John's eyes fluttered open. It took a few second of Seraphina standing there for him to fully comprehend everything. He started and practically shoved Arlo off the couch in his haste to get up.

"Mind your arms," Arlo said groggily.

"My arm hitting your face is the least of our problems, asshole."

Arlo sat up, watching John struggle to regain his ability to walk.

"John," Seraphina said, "you better get yourself down to the front of the lobby so you can catch the next train. And Arlo, the bus is going to leave in five minutes, so I would get to it. And don't even bother explaining why you two slept out here, because I don't want to know."

At the word "slept," John's face flushed. Which was funny, but also a little horrifying when Arlo recognized the implication. Still, it managed to wake him up enough to realize that he had to convince Seraphina to let the idiot stay.

"Seraphina," Arlo said, turning all his attention away from John, "I think it would be beneficial if John stayed on the trip with us. He doesn't have to associate with the Safe House, but wouldn't it be good if he lurks in the vicinity?"

"I'm not going to 'lurk,'" John muttered.

"No." Seraphina's foot shifted, moving her into a more offensive position. "I'm not budging on this. You know exactly why I didn't want him on this trip in the first place."

"And you know what I think about that opinion."

John spoke up. "Stop pushing her, Arlo. She's just gonna freeze you with her ability again."

Arlo looked away.

"Sera—"

"I don't want to hear it. You're going to Wellston."

John took a deep breath and blurted, “Arlo already told me everything last night.”

Sera shifted her eyes to meet Arlo’s. “Why? I told you we weren’t involving anyone else! And you brought in the last person I wanted involved!”

“We can’t do this alone.”

John tapped his palm on Arlo’s chest. “He’s just trying to protect his pride. I forced him to tell me, so don’t blame him.”

Sera shifted her gaze back to John. “What am I going to do with you?”

“Sera.” John had his serious face on now. “I know you said that it’s dangerous for me to be here, but that doesn’t matter to me. I won’t leave you behind, so I’m staying, whether you tell me what’s going on or not.”

After some back-and-forth, Seraphina finally relented. She sighed.

“Fine. What’s done is done. I’ll take all the help I can get.”

Chapter Text

John was supposed to pretend like he wasn't even there. Which was difficult enough, but how was he going to do that when he could barely navigate the park?

jsut got in, he'd texted Arlo, whre are u gusy right nwo?

In line for the Obelisk. Blyke is with us.

obelisk wtf?

Get a map.

And so John had got a map, but that didn't change the fact the park was ginormous. He wandered around for a bit before Sera found him and told him to "drop the hat." Ridiculous. He didn't listen her and just put it back on after she had directed him towards the Obelisk.

It was easy enough to spy on Blyke from a distance, considering the large amount of people, although it was difficult for him to keep his eyes from flickering back to Arlo every now and then. Thoughts of what they had talked about last night kept filtering through his mind. What had compelled him to tell Arlo all that shit? Maybe he had just wanted to get it out, and Arlo had happened to be the nearest recipient. He certainly didn't want to dump everything on Sera, who had more than enough to worry about, so it was as good a theory as any.

It had been a couple boring hours when Arlo suddenly marched over to him from the carousel.

"What the hell is your problem?" Arlo demanded.

John blinked. "Uh, what? I'm doing what I'm supposed—"

"Stop staring at me like some creep!"

"I'm not staring! And anyway, you were looking at me, too."

There had been several times when their eyes had met and John had to look away awkwardly, so there. He wasn't the only one being "a creep."

"That's because you're being weird. It's a miracle no one's noticed how suspicious you are."

"Me, suspicious?"

"You're telling me there's nothing suspicious about someone lurking creepily next to the bathrooms?"

John glanced behind him, where indeed the entrance to the men's restroom stared back at him. It wasn’t like he was next to the women's....

"For the last time, I'm not 'lurking,' but whatever. I'm gonna get a drink."

"Seriously, now? They're gonna be done with the ride soon."

"I'm thirsty. You gotta stay hydrated in the heat, you know."

The drink stand wasn't very far away, so Arlo ended up following him. John had a sneaking suspicion Arlo wanted a drink, too, and thought about being nice and buying one for him. John smiled at the employee, trying for a pleasant interaction.

"Hullo. I'd like a red-cherry soda, please."

"That'll be four dollars."

"Four—!" John gaped. "And you can't, uh, bring that down?"

"What do you think this is, a farmers' market?" Arlo snapped. "Either pay for it or don't get it."

On second thought, maybe John wouldn't be getting him that drink.

"Four dollars is such a scam," he said as they walked away.

"We're at an amusement park."

"Some of us aren't Richy McRich, y'know!"

"Oh, for—" Arlo froze.

"What?"

"I think they might've seen you. Hide."

Instead of immediately trying for a hiding spot, John, stupidly, looked around for the trio, but before he could spot them Arlo pushed him in the direction of the bathrooms.

"Go, quick!"

John opened the door, but then someone rudely shoved Arlo aside and the both of them tumbled inside. One of the people washing their hands looked at them weirdly as they caught themselves from falling. Probably deciding it wasn't worth the effort, that person just ignored them and opened the door to leave. A voice drifted out.

"Hey, I think I saw John head in there..."

"That's Remi's voice," Arlo said. "Get in a stall."

John didn't question it; he went to the only unoccupied stall left and slipped inside. Arlo followed him.

...Arlo followed him?

"Why the fuck are you here?" John hissed, trying to stay quiet as he heard the main door open again.

"I can't be caught either. They'll know I was with you," Arlo whispered back.

"I thought I saw him come in," came Isen's voice, "and wasn't Arlo with him?"

"If that fucker tries to crash our trip again, I swear..."

John was so focused on staying quiet that he nearly jumped when he felt hot breath on his neck. He twisted his head and found himself not two inches away from Arlo’s face. This was almost as bad as that time Arlo touched his mouth.

"What?" Arlo mouthed.

John shook his head. He shifted involuntarily, then bumped into Arlo’s chest. Arlo, being Arlo, didn’t budge, which was good, but also John was now zero inches away from him. He felt Arlo’s every breath and smelled his coffee-scent. It smelled nice. Which wasn't a weird thing to think, or anything. It was just a fact.

"I guess we mistook him for someone else," Isen said.

“Let’s go.”

They heard the door open and close again, and then they were, presumably, safe.

A second past, and Arlo said, “You can move now."

Flushing with embarrassment, John jolted and got out of the stall as fast as possible. Why had that smell of coffee been so alluring? John didn't even like coffee. Besides, this was a scent coming from Arlo of all people. He shook the thought away.

They waited a minute longer and Arlo went out first. He texted John that the coast was clear and to stay in the area because Blyke had broke with the group to go play a shooting game. John found the man in question absolutely destroying the water-pistol game. He yawned.

“You!”

John blinked. In the split second he’d closed his eyes, Blyke had noticed him. So much for all that effort they had just put into hiding.

After everything that had happened, with the Rowden Royals and learning that maybe Blyke wasn't so bad after all, John was glad to be able to relax. Although, after hearing Evie's spooky story, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to get any sleep that night.

"You got the text from Elaine—?"

John’s elbow shot out and hit solid muscle.

“Fuck—! Arlo! Where the hell did you even come from?”

Arlo looked unimpressed. “Did I scare you?”

John tsked. “No.”

They got to Sera’s room and she relayed some instructions to them. In short, she’d be gone on a mission for Spectre and Arlo and John were not to let Remi and Blyke out of their sight. After that, they made their way to their own room.

“Crazy day,” John said conversationally.

“That was mostly your fault, to be fair.”

“What was I supposed to do, let Blyke get his ass kicked?”

He'd almost gone and done that, which would've been disastrous. If Blyke hadn't yelled some sense into him... Ugh, why couldn't he just be a normal person? Why'd he have to have... issues?

“There are more than two options to everything, you know.”

“Whatever.”

Arlo sounded like his dad. That was embarrassing.

“I’d say it’s your responsibility, but we both know how well that’d go over. So yes, I suppose you could’ve just let Blyke be defeated and waited for me.”

John frowned. “That doesn’t feel right, though.”

“So you admit you feel you have some responsibility?”

John kicked at the floor. “I guess...”

Blyke had said that "I want to use my ability help others as much as I can. Because if I don't, then who will?" He was right. Things would never change if John just sat around doing nothing. He had all this power, and for what?

“But you don’t think you should have that responsibility in the first place.”

“Yeah.”

“It’s an interesting dilemma.”

“Oh, fuck you.”

“Just stating the facts.”

John knew Arlo was right, and he hated it. Once again, why couldn't he just be a normal person? Things would be so much easier if he could just be better.

“You know, I almost did let Blyke get beat,” John admitted. “I almost got knocked out myself. I was just so… scared.”

“Of what?” Arlo looked confused, but also genuinely interested.

“Of going, you know, blood-crazy.”

“Ah.”

“No comment?”

“Well, you did end up fulfilling your fear, didn’t you?”

John sighed. “It was a good thing you were there. Everyone was looking at me like I was a monster.”

Arlo paused before the door to their room, but instead of saying something he just went inside.

They started getting ready for bed. By that point John felt worse than he did before; Arlo thought him a monster, which hurt more than he anticipated it would. But this was only natural: John was not a good person, so of course other people would think the same thing.

Isen and Blyke still hadn’t come back yet even after both of them showered, so the quiet amicability between them remained.

“What was up with those Rowden Royals, anyway?”

John rolled his head over the pillow to look at Arlo, who was sitting up with a book in hand.

“They were disgusting pieces of shit.”

“Wow, John. Tell me how you really feel.”

John rolled his eyes. “It’s true! Attacking others without provocation and then getting mad when someone puts them in their place? Typical.”

“So that’s why you get angry? Because someone abuses their power?”

“Yup.”

Arlo paused. Quietly, he said, "I never knew that."

“It’s not like I told you.”

“I do agree with you, though. Abuse of power is disgusting. I’ve been noticing these things more and more… It’s messing with me. High-tiers are supposed to be responsible, and yet I’ve seen so many examples of the powerful doing the opposite.”

“You must’ve been pretty sheltered.”

John expected Arlo to scoff, argue, or at least disagree, but instead he just said, “Yeah.”

John was silent. He guessed Arlo really was self-reflecting; it changed how he thought about the man. He never really thought much of Arlo, never bothered to, so it was surprising to learn that he wasn't just an asshole, full stop. Maybe John already knew this, maybe Arlo had shown signs, but John had just been so angry for so long...

“How did you figure it out?” Arlo asked.

“What?”

“That some elites abuse their power.”

“Er…” John looked away. “I’m a late-bloomer. It’s pretty easy to tell when you’re the victim.”

“Right.” Arlo paused, thinking. He said, "I was always told late-bloomers are doomed to fail. But maybe that's not right. Maybe that's just because they all realized how screwed up some aspects of society are."

"Some?"

"Well, it's not all bad... My aunt is committed to making the world a safe place for everyone. I think most people are like that."

John scoffed. And then there were times like this that reminded him that he was talking to someone who'd always been in a position of power. It was like before Sera had lost her ability... She just didn't get it.

Was there a way to get Arlo to understand without having to go that extreme?

John woke up in a sweat. He ran his hand through his hair and looked around the room: nothing. Everyone was still asleep. He sighed and looked down at his shaking hands. Eventually, he decided he needed a walk and left. He ended up at the gazebo, and because he really had no idea what else to do, he sat down and closed his eyes. In what felt like no time at all, he heard a voice.

“Thought I’d find you here.”

John cracked his eyes open and saw Arlo standing inches away from him.

“What’d you want?”

Arlo sat down.

“I wanted see how you were.”

That wasn't suspicious at all, but for the life of him he couldn't think of an ulterior motive. Arlo wasn't trying to gain his trust to betray him again, right? No—that was all in the past.

“Why would you do that?”

“Say I’m curious.”

“Yeah, okay. Say I was traumatized by people like you. How’d you’d feel about that?”

“Well,” Arlo said, then paused. “I’d be sorry.”

John shifted, uncomfortable. Had Arlo just apologized? That couldn't be right. There was no precedence. But then he remembered that Arlo had apologized before, all that time ago when John was still acting as Joker. At the time he thought it was just Arlo trying to stop him from targeting Remi, but maybe it had really been a true apology.

He licked his lips. “Back at New Bostin, I was betrayed—er, thought I was betrayed—by a close friend of mine.”

“Ah.”

“I ended up beating up half my class, and, well, you know the rest. I have nightmares about it.”

Arlo nodded solemnly. “That’s unfortunate.”

“Well... I deserve it,” John said with a shrug.

“Do you?”

“I mean, yeah, after all the awful shit I’ve done?”

“I don’t think so. No one deserves to be in agony like that.”

“Eh… it’s not really that bad...”

“If you say so. But believe me, it's like torture. You may think beating yourself up is beneficial, but it’s not.”

“That’s profound.”

Arlo shrugged. “Not really. I just have some experience with it.”

John gave him a look. “Uh… What’s that supposed to mean?”

Arlo paused, apparently not having realized the slip. “Nothing. It doesn’t mean anything.”

“Okay, well, if you want to talk about it—”

“I don’t.”

“—I guess I owe you one.”

“You don’t owe me for this kind of thing,” Arlo said softly.

John wasn’t sure what to say to that. What did you say to that? So instead of replying intelligently, he said, “We should probably head back.”

Arlo’s mouth quirked up into a smirk, the bastard. “Sure.”

If John stayed a little closer to Arlo than strictly necessary, no one said anything. And if John felt maybe a less uncomfortable sleeping in the same bed as Arlo, there was no need to mention it.

Chapter Text

Was John embarrassed about constantly texting Arlo? Yes. Did that mean he wasn't going to make a fuss when Arlo didn't respond? Of course not.

blyke droped hsi phoen it was funy

no updtes but did yuo konw evie rlly knows her busg?

were havng fun withot u :)

wish u were heer... not!!

u there?

arlo pls respnd :(

Since much of the group wasn't the most athletic, they soon sat down for a water break. Blyke forced a bottle upon John despite him claiming he didn't need it. It was weirdly nice, though knowing Blyke he might've just done it out of spite. As John drank, he watched Evie take a group photo.

"Let's send this to Remi!" she said cheerfully, but then her face dropped. "Hang on, there's no signal."

"Might be because we're so high up," Blyke explained. "It's pretty secluded up here."

Oh, so that was why Arlo wasn't responding: because he couldn't. John put away his phone, feeling a bit stupid now. He glanced up, noticing Terrence. Wait... No signal? Secluded? His eyes narrowed.

It took approximately 30 minutes for John's ridiculously frequent texts to cease almost instantly. How the man could text about random sights on his bus ride was beyond comprehension.

"Hey," Arlo asked Remi, "have you tried to reach Blyke or Isen at all?"

They had only been dress shopping for maybe fifteen minutes, but this was important! What if John had another freak out? What if something happened, and he failed to use his ability? What if...

"I haven't tried," Remi was saying, "but if you're having trouble, it might be because they're on a mountain. There might not be service up there."

What if... Spectre was targeting John?

Arlo looked back at his phone as if it could help him, the messages app staring at him almost jeeringly.

"You know..." Remi said, "you don't have to stay if you don't want to."

"Right," Arlo found himself saying, "I think I'll leave."

At that abrupt decision, Remi looked annoyed, maybe even a little confused, but she let him go. Arlo fast tracked his way to a taxi.

"Guys, watch out!"

Instead of the sharp aura of the beam, John felt a warm, gentle aura envelop him. He felt safe and protected.

The beam hit a barrier.

Isen and Blyke might have said something, but it was then John finally noticed him, there, behind the trees: Arlo. He arrived to the startled cheers of the Safe House, but his face was grim.

"My ability's been cut," he said, just as another beam hit his barrier. He looked at John, and John understood.

"Isen, Blyke," John ordered, "defend the back. We'll deal with these fuckers."

He didn't bother to see if they followed his instructions. He turned back to Arlo who looked about ready to take down his barrier. John nodded, and the barrier disappeared.

John shot off, kicking the front assailant and sending him skidding into the feet of his friends. Now that John was directly in front of the assailants, he sent out two high-powered beams—that hit a barrier of the opponent's own.

He dodged an incoming beam, but suddenly there was another attacker—and then Arlo was there blocking the knife. John grabbed the attacker and kneed him in the stomach. He turned back to the other assailants. For them, because of that barrier... he needed a distraction.

"Stand down," John whispered.

It happened too fast for him to check if Arlo had heard him: another shot fired and John countered it with his own. Then he made a run for it, rushing behind the assailants. He shot the attacker and punched her to the ground. Another beam took care of the defensive user.

Aura appeared in his senses from behind. He twisted, but a beam still managed to go straight through his ankle. It didn't seem to have hit anything important, but... He fell to the ground. It would be hard to move.

"John!"

Arlo was at his side in an instant, helping him to his feet.

"What were you thinking, attacking by yourself?"

"I—"

Arlo scowled. "Forget it. I don't know what's wrong with you. Let's get back to the others."

If John had the energy, he would've fired back a retort. What was wrong with him? What was wrong with Arlo for going out of his way to help John? Why hadn't he just regrouped when all the assailants had been defeated? He knew that John could handle himself. Whatever, there were more important things to worry about. They stumbled back to Blyke and Isen, John providing cover.

"I think they're trying to stall us," John told the three of them, "so we need to get rid of them quick. We should take out the sniper first."

"Alright," said Blyke. "I'll go down and bait out some shots. You and Isen shoot his ass as soon as you find him."

Blyke took off. Isen turned to John, who had put most of his weight on Arlo. Despite what John had thought earlier, he was still grateful to Arlo for supporting him like this. Not that he would be saying that to anyone.

"Last shot came from that direction," Isen said, pointing towards a crop of trees in the distance. "He couldn't have moved far from there, so let's focus our aim that way."

Isen helped John beam the sniper. It seemed to work since Isen had immediately run over to Blyke to support him. John felt a stab of pain and he sucked in a breath. He paused for only a moment before gasping, "Safe House. Get them to safety. I'll..."—he huffed—"...continue as support."

Arlo hesitated, but in the end he nodded. He turned around.

"Everyone, listen up! Help those who can't help themselves! We're going to go downhill as fast as we can, but don't get too near the fight. Let's go!"

The Safe House shouted back in understanding. Arlo let John down a lot more gently than he anticipated, but then he was gone.

"John," Dylan said as he staggered past with someone slung over his shoulders, "w-what about you? Aren't you coming?"

"I'll catch up with everyone once we take those five out. You guys go ahead first."

"Okay, be careful!"

John took a second to regain focus, the he summoned another ball of aura. He concentrated, trying to figure out where to shoot. Then Blyke started shouting.

"John! Get over here! You can't be there by yourself—"

Something slammed into Blyke and he flew to the side, skidding on the ground. John squinted, and yes, there was someone's aura where Blyke had been. Isen body tackled the aura, and Terrence—no, it wasn't Terrence, it was someone else—appeared. John quickly looked back at Blyke and saw someone on top of him. He sniped them in the shoulder.

But John was losing focus fast. The pain was becoming too much to bear, he couldn't handle it. He tightened the grip on his wound just as he sensed another aura from behind. He shot off a beam, then, summoning all his anger, struggled to his feet and ran.

"Terrence!" he yelled. "You little rat!"

He punched Terrence, knocking him to the ground.

"I'll teach you a fucking lesson!"

He punched Terrence again, and his face appeared. Except—that wasn't—

He felt the warm aura of Arlo's barrier once again. He twisted, seeing Arlo running towards him. He looked back at the aura of the new invisible person, who appeared to be holding something... A needle?

"John, are you okay? Be careful, they're disabling—"

"Watch out!"

John jolted to his feet, ignoring the searing pain, and started running again. The invisible person looked very much like they were going after Arlo, now—!

Without much thinking, John phased through the barrier and shoved Arlo to the ground. As he fell, John felt the sting as something stabbed his neck...

"Come in," came Seraphina's voice.

Remi opened the door and said hello. Arlo immediately looked at John, but he didn't know what to say, so he didn't say anything. He'd almost stayed with Seraphina to wait for John to wake up, but it didn't feel right. Anyway, he was pretty sure no one knew what John had done for him, and something told him John didn't want his sacrifice to be broadcast to everyone.

Still, John did look a bit idiotic in his hospital gown. He had very nice legs though... wait, Remi was walking away without him...

"We were just stopping by to check up on you," Remi said. "It's good to see you're finally up. Everyone was really worried."

John blinked, surprised. "What happened after Terrence knocked me out?"

Arlo did the explaining, though he conveniently left out the fact he refused to let anyone else help him carry John back. John had saved him; it was only fair. Remi added that while they had told everyone to keep John's situation a secret, the Safe House would always have his back.

Remi turned to leave, but Arlo hesitated.

"Seraphina, can I talk to John? Alone?"

Seraphina looked a bit skeptical. "Why?"

"I just... need to have a word with him."

Seraphina stared at him for a few seconds before sighing. "Fine."

Once she'd left, John immediately snarked, "How much pride did you lose from that?"

"Shush." Arlo looked around, somehow worried someone would overhear. He leaned in, voice low. "I can't believe you sacrificed yourself for me."

"Yeah, well... Don't count on it."

Arlo stayed silent. He noticed that John's face seemed a lot redder, though he might've been imagining it.

"Why wasn't Remi with you?" John asked.

"Huh?"

"Why didn't you bring Remi with you up to the mountain?"

That idea had honestly not occurred to him. He'd been solely focused on making sure that John was okay. So much for that.

"I just didn't, I suppose."

"Alright."

Arlo glanced at the flowers the Safe House had sent John. Get well soon! they said. He wished he'd sent flowers, but again, it would be weird if he was shown to suddenly care for John.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"Uh, I mean, I'm awake now, so..."

Arlo sighed. John was an idiot. He already knew that, but somehow he was surprised every time new evidence was shown to him.

"How are you feeling?"

"Worse, now that you're here."

"I'm serious."

John's Adam's apple bobbed. "I... dunno. But it doesn't really matter, does it?"

"I'd say it does."

John had an unreadable look on his face. He looked away.

"I'm a bit relieved, to tell the truth. Now I can't lose control. But Sera thinks I was doing better, and... I dunno..."

Arlo thought he had an idea now about why John hated himself. He thought himself a monster, someone who could never recover from their past. Things was, John could recover. He already was getting there.

"You're not a monster, John."

John froze.

"Even Blyke knows that. You're better than you think you are."

John slumped. He still wasn't looking at Arlo.

"Back when I said that, you were silent. I thought..."

"I thought how strange it was. You don't think very highly of yourself."

It was such a strange thing to learn, that John's self-esteem was terribly low. He seemed to be so full of himself at first, especially when he'd throw around his power to make Arlo do what he wanted. But now, he'd seen John sad and broken.

"How can I like myself," John said, "with what I've done?"

"Beating yourself up won't change the past. You have to take some—"

"—responsibility, yeah, yeah." John's eyes finally met Arlo's. He looked so defeated. "I just want things to go back to how they used to be."

"Do you really?"

"Yes. I just want to go back to when I didn't worry about my ability, and I could just hang out on the roof with Sera."

Arlo was conflicted. He knew that things would be best if John just recognized his role in society and understood that he had certain responsibilities. However, he recognized that John didn't want these things; it made him happier to stay out of it. Besides, trying to force John to accept his role had backfired tremendously.

Arlo sighed. John looked confused but Arlo didn't explain himself.

"Recover soon, John. Find me if you ever feel unsafe."

He left, but not before leaving a small chocolate on the table.

Chapter Text

Life after the Rowden field trip was weird. It was weird not sleeping next to Arlo, and it was weird not having an excuse to talk to him. John eventually decided the whole thing would just be a weird memory.

If only. He'd sacrificed his ability for the fucker, even if it was for the best.

Then he had that encounter with Zeke. Dylan had been with him, and John hadn't been about to let him get beat, so of course he told Zeke to back off. He thought that everything would be fine, but... he he hadn't been able to sense Zeke's aura. Even after sitting through all of his next class, he still felt shaky.

Find me if you ever feel unsafe.

It wasn't difficult to find Arlo. Wellston was big, but he had a certain presence, and people generally stayed out of his way. John sidled up to him without preamble, but Arlo must've heard him coming because he didn't react except for a quick glance. They walked in silence until Arlo spoke up.

"Is something the matter?"

John shrugged.

"I assume you didn't come to enjoy my company."

John's expression soured, because Arlo wasn't wrong, but why did that admission hurt? They weren't exactly friends, but they weren't exactly not friends, either.

"Fine, you got me. I met Zeke, okay? He activated his ability in front of me, and..."—he lowered his voice—"I felt nothing. I can't remember ever feeling so defenseless."

After a pause, Arlo said quietly, "I used to feel like that."

"Huh?"

"When you first dethroned me, I'd never felt weaker. I knew, that when push came to shove, you could always overrule me."

It wasn't like John felt bad about having done that... but it didn't seem like Arlo was asking for pity.

"But you stopped feeling like that."

"Yes. I realized that power isn't just about levels. It's about influence and control. It's... why I decided to join the authorities."

That figured.

"I guess I'm not surprised, but like, I thought you were better than this."

"I'm not joining because I think they're flawless; they're not. But I want to change things. Working within the system actually gets things done, unlike doing it… in other ways."

"I don't really care about making a change. I just want to live my life."

"That thinking won't take you very far in life."

"Like I said, I don't care. I just want to be free. Anyway, why do you care?"

Arlo paused, clearly thinking, then said, "Because you saved me."

There was a little flutter in John’s stomach, but he ignored it. "Is this going to be a thing now with you? All's well that ends well, hey? No more worrying about where I fit when I'm at the bottom."

Arlo didn't say anything. He was looking at the ground, contemplating, probably.

"Anyway, it's about time I go to see Sera. She's expecting me. See you later, yeah?"

John walked away without hearing Arlo's response.

After eating with the trio, John and William broke away to go to the dorms. William really wanted to see John's room, apparently. As they turned the corner in the hallway, someone familiar was leaning against the wall next to his dorm's room.

"Arlo?"

Arlo just stood there, silent, as his eyes flickered back-and-forth between John and William. It wasn’t weird at all.

"Oh ho," William said, "another friend of my boy?"

Panic rose in John’s throat.

"Dad, he's not my friend..."

"Well, hello, anyway! I'm William, John's dad."

"Arlo."

"Did you come to find John? Sorry for monopolizing his time!"

The panic from earlier turned into deep embarrassment as John felt his face heat up.

Arlo crossed his arms, probably try to look more intimidating or something. "Aren't you powerless?"

William hesitated. "Uh, yup! That's me!"

Suddenly anger overtook everything. John nearly grabbed Arlo by the front of his shirt, but relented.

"Arlo, what the fuck? Don't be an asshole."

"I'm not?"

"It's alright—"

"No, it's not! This is my Dad, Arlo, so don't be prejudiced for one fucking second of your life, got it?"

"It just surprises me you look up to him, is all. Why not your mother? Surely a high-tier would've been the better one to guide you."

Out of the corner of his eye, John saw something unreadable flash across William's face, but he was too angry to comprehend it.

"My mom left us, so shut the fuck up."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Now move so I can get to my room."

Arlo moved aside, watching them carefully as they walked inside. He didn't even have the decency to look embarrassed.

"He seemed nice," William said.

John snorted. "He's an asshole. Always has been. Power, power, power, that's all he cares about."

John couldn’t believe that he'd started to care for Arlo when the whole time the asshole had been just the same as always. He really should've figured; it wasn't like Arlo had tried to lie about who he was, or anything.

"You know," William said, "you could change his mind. Show him that everyone has something to offer."

John shoved his hands in his pockets. "That seems... hard. He's not a very open-minded guy."

"But he seems to care for you."

"What? Where'd you get that from?"

"I think he was trying to look out for you, in his own way."

John flushed. He supposed Arlo wasn’t the best at showing how he felt. There was a certain distance between them that they'd bridged during the field trip, but once they'd gotten back that same bridge remained unused.

"Do you like him?" William asked.

"I don't hate him."

"No, no. I mean: do you like him?"

"Dad!"

An image of Arlo smiling and holding a bouquet of roses appeared in his mind. It was such a strange scene that John almost laughed.

"It's healthy to move on, John. I know you were devastated about Claire, so..."

"He's just a friend, geez. Next you'll be saying Sera's my girlfriend."

William smiled cheekily. "Is she?"

"No!"

"Oh, alright." William rummaged through his backpack and took out a stack of papers. "Anyway, I wanted to give you this."

He passed the papers over, and John realized it was titled Unordinary.

“A while ago you were asking for another copy. All mine were confiscated, so I rewrote what I could remember.”

“Dad, you didn’t have to do that…”

The door swung open.

“John, about what I said—”

Time stopped as several things happened at once. Arlo noticed the papers. William noticed that Arlo noticed the papers. John noticed that he hated everything, but that wasn’t a surprise.

“Unordinary,” Arlo stated. “Why do you have it printed out like that?”

“Uh,” said William.

John snatched it out of his dad’s hands and shoved it in a drawer.

“None of your business.”

“Did you get it from Seraphina—?”

“Sera got it from me, now leave my room, Asslo.”

“That book is dangerous. You shouldn’t have it.”

John scowled. “Fuck, Arlo! It helped me, okay? It made me a better person.”

Arlo paused. “How could it do that? Unordinary is the reason why high-tiers have died.”

“Don’t you get it? Those people realized that everyone has something to offer. The strong should help the weak, and everyone should be protected.”

“Of course everyone should be protected, that’s why society is the way it is.”

“You remind me of my wife.”

They looked over at William, who was smiling sadly. “She believed in the best of people. It was only through experience that taught her that abilities don’t mean everything.”
Arlo looked confused.

“Society wasn’t built for people like me… Jane wanted that to be different. She wanted everyone to be able to showcase their gifts, even if they weren’t physically powerful.”

“William, I think you misunderstand. It’s not what I want that matters. It’s what’s natural and what works best to keep society functioning.”

“What if we could be better? Wouldn’t you rather have a society where everyone is free to do what they want, rather than having to listen to whoever is more powerful than them?”

“I don’t think that’s possible—”

Knock, knock.

“John, you there?” It was Sera’s voice, thank God. After giving Arlo a nice glare, John walked over to the door and opened it.

“Hey, I got here as fast as I could.”

“Sera!” William called out.

“William! …and Arlo.”

Arlo scoffed. “I’ll see myself out.”

“Yeah you better,” John mumbled. He made sure that Arlo did actually leave before slamming the door shut.

“What did he want?” Sera asked.

“He was just being an asshole.”

“I think he was quite nice!” William said.

Sera snickered. “Arlo and nice? Those are two words I didn’t expect to hear in the same sentence.”

William’s smile turned sad again. “I think he’s just misguided. John, you will help him, right?“

John thought back to what he’d being thinking on the Rowden trip, about his desire to change Arlo’s mind about the authorities. He guessed he did want to help.

“Yeah, Dad. I will.”

Arlo was walking back to his apartment when he decided to take a detour through the flea market. Typically, he never bothered, but he had time to kill and it was nearby. He browsed the vendors, not really looking for anything, when he noticed someone selling jewelry. They were very beautiful and obviously handmade, although that only seemed to increase their value. He stopped by, wondering if any of his relatives might appreciate one.

He had his eye on one particular necklace, which was only a chain with a yellow bobble at the end. It reminded him of John's eyes, funnily enough. He looked up, but the vendor seemed to be avoiding eye contact. It started to tick him off, so he said, “Am I bothering you?”

The vendor flinched. “S-sorry, it’s just… you’re a high-tier, aren’t you?”

“Yes?”

“Then you don’t remember me, but I used to go to Wellston, too. Despite that, I haven’t found a jeweler that’ll take me.”

“Why not? Your jewelry is lovely.”

“Oh, thank you…” She smiled nervously. “It’s because I’m not very powerful, I think. Applications always ask for your ability level.”

It seemed a shame that she wasn’t able to practice professionally simply because she was weak.

Everyone has something to offer.

Was that what John was talking about? The weak should be protected so that their talents could flourish.

Except it wasn’t that simple. The hierarchy existed to ensure peace. Even if it wasn’t fair, it was necessary.

Except… power was abused. There would be peace, if it weren’t for the powerful picking fights and forcing others to do their bidding. As John had proven, the most powerful shouldn’t necessarily be the ones leading.

Arlo sighed. This thinking was going to get him in trouble. Restructuring society? That was a dangerous thing to suggest. He paid for the necklace and was on his way.

Chapter Text

The next day, once again, John and Arlo were walking together in the hallway. Arlo didn't know what this was about, but he didn't ask. Last time it'd been because John felt safe with him, and Arlo didn't want to take that away.

“Hey,” John said, unprompted, “you won’t tell anyone about Unordinary, right?”

“As much as I want to, no.”

Arlo didn't want John to get into trouble, not when he already had a record, and if the authorities had figured out that John had been the one to give Seraphina the book, then there was no point in reporting him anyway.

“Well, thanks.”

Arlo tsked but didn’t say anything. He hated having to look out for the people he cared about—the trio and now John—who went around doing shady activities.

“You know, if you want to read it—”

“I don’t.”

“Ok, ok. Still, I think it’d be an interesting read. It talks about how not all of the weak are talentless. Which is true, you know.”

“…I know.”

“You do?”

Arlo took out the necklace that he had bought yesterday and shoved it in John's direction. "Here."

John took it, blinking stupidly. "What's this for?"

"It's for you," Arlo said, in a rather aggressive tone that told John not to ask questions.

John didn't argue and put it in his pocket. "Uh, thanks."

“The weak aren’t talentless,” Arlo said, “but society is the way it is because order is required for peace.”

John scowled. “You think this is peace? News flash: there’s violence every day.”

“It would be chaos without the hierarchy. Things would be worse.”

“I don’t care. I want things to be fair. I want to be able to live my life without someone forcing me to fit into some stupid hierarchy.”

Arlo was quiet. Either this or what he'd said earlier ticked John off, for John left without a word. That didn't stop Arlo from thinking, though. He remembered that conversation he had with John, right before John declared he was going to destroy the hierarchy. “Not a single high-tier has a choice on the matter,” he’d said. “We enforce this order so that everyone can live as peacefully as possible.”

These things were true; it wasn’t like Arlo had made this all up on his own. So why did it seem like all the evidence pointed to the contrary? Why did so many elites abuse their power and refuse to act responsibly? If hierarchy was natural, then the only solution… was to get rid of the irregular elites.

Oh. That was what the authorities were doing, wasn’t it? EMBER was created to get rid of the elites who didn’t subscribe to the right mentality, but Arlo didn’t think they deserved to die. Certainly not Rei, who just wanted things to be better for people. He wasn’t a bad person.

That left only one other option: the hierarchy was the problem.

Arlo shook himself inwardly. No, he couldn’t think like that. What would Aunt Val think? He needed to get his head on straight.

The day was nearly over. That ice assassin had nearly killed them, so of course it was going to take a while for them to heal, but John was already frustrated with having to sit around doing nothing. The house he was in was nice, but it wasn’t like that made things less boring.

His phone rang. It was from Arlo, weirdly enough.

"Hello?"

"Nice of you to finally pick up," came Arlo's scathing voice.

"What the hell? I didn't do anything."

"I've been trying to reach your for the past hour." Whoops. John must've been too preoccupied with Sera. "Blyke said you didn't return to the dorm, and it's past curfew."

"Something came up..."

"Lies. Did you get into trouble?"

"No!"

"Then where are you?"

Shit. What was John supposed to say? He couldn't tell the truth—he didn't even know the truth.

"It's a secret?"

"Tell me where you are or I get the Headmaster involved."

"You can't be fucking serious."

After a long pause, John realized that Arlo was, in fact, fucking serious.

"Okay, fine. I'm with Doc. Happy?"

"So you did get hurt." There was a sigh. "Look, I can't be your babysitter once you leave Wellston—"

"I wasn't asking you to!"

"—but you of all people should know how dangerous it is to be walking around without an ability.”

"I'm not six."

"You sure act like you are. Call me when you're back at school."

He hung up. John sighed and flopped down on the couch. Sera looked at him curiously.
"Who was that?"

"Arlo. He's being insanely protective, and for what? He doesn't even like me."

Discounting the time he'd said to come find him if John felt unsafe, or that other time William thought Arlo was looking out for him.

“Actually, nevermind," John said awkwardly.

Sera sniggered. "So you're telling me that there is something going on between you two?"

John gave her a weird look. "Are you implying something? Because I don't really like what you're implying."

Sera shrugged. "I have eyes. Even I know what Arlo looks like."

John shifted on the couch so that he was sitting up straight. "It's so unfair! He's, like, a supermodel or something."

"Gotcha." Sera smirked. "I never said he was attractive."

John found his face heating up before he knew it. "Shit." He shook his head. "But that doesn't mean I like him. I mean, he's still an asshole."

"Mm, yeah. But he's getting better, isn't he? I trust him now."

John looked down at his hands, playing with his fingers. "Yeah... I think I do too."

Nearly twenty minutes after John had called Arlo to tell him he’d made it back to the dorms, there was a knock on the door. Thinking it was probably Blyke, John opened it. Instead, Arlo appeared.

“What the fuck? Don’t you live off-campus?”

“I had to make sure you were okay. You are, aren’t you?”

“Yes, God.”

Arlo noticed Sera sitting on the bed. Sera waved.

“Hey, Arlo.”

Something dark seemed to pass over Arlo’s face.

“What’s she doing here?”

“I’m just staying for a few days,” Sera said, “but don’t tell anyone.”

Arlo tsked. “Right. Nor should I ask why, of course.”

“Fuck off, Arlo.” John said. “You know what kind of shit Sera has to deal with.”

“You have to deal with it too, ever since you decided to join the field trip.”

“Huh? I thought you were fine with that. I thought you wanted me to be there.”

Arlo crossed his arms. He seemed to be clenching his fingers.

“I did.”

“So…?”

“So nothing. So room with Seraphina, then.”

He spun around and walked away. John looked at Sera, who shrugged, just as confused as he was.

Arlo felt weirdly tingly after that encounter. His whole body felt hot. Even after walking back to his apartment, his heart was racing. Taking another deep breath, he decided on a cold shower, which seemed to be enough to fix his issue.

He dressed himself and sat down on the couch. Despite himself, he couldn't stop thinking about Seraphina and John rooming together. What were they doing? Were they doing... things?

He shook his head. He shouldn't care if they were boyfriend, girlfriend, whatever. It wasn't his problem. Them being together made sense, after all. They'd been friends for years and been through so much. What did Arlo have in comparison? A betrayal, misguidance, and humiliating fights. Arlo was lucky John had forgiven him, that John didn't hate him with every fiber of his being. He knew that had used to be John's position, and it was only recently that'd been changed.

Arlo sighed. This was such a mess. Was he seriously debating whether John liked him over Seraphina? It was a one-sided battle. Arlo had to get over whatever this was—a crush? Seriously?—and focus on work tomorrow.

Chapter Text

Arlo supposed there were worse people to crush on, but not many, and he'd chosen the one person who almost certainly wasn't into him. The crush itself wasn't altogether surprising when he thought about it; John was hot. Arlo had mostly ignored this, knowing it was a fact but not acknowledging it, but ever since yesterday it had become glaringly obvious.

This was embarrassing. Arlo was supposed to be cool and collected, yet here he was, thinking about how attractive someone was. He was supposed to get over this thing anyway, considering John most certainly liked Seraphina. His first plan was to just avoid the man in question, but this was proving more difficult than anticipated. John was persistent.

He heard said John call after him in the hallway, so he quickly turned the corner, acting as if he hadn't heard. A second later, however, there was a tug on his arm and he turned to see John making puppy-dog eyes at him. It was the cutest thing he'd ever seen, but he had to stay strong, so he pretended to be annoyed.

"Ugh, what's wrong with you?"

John didn't hesitate. "Are you avoiding me?"

"No."

John narrowed his eyes, leaning forward. After a second of examination, he said, "I think you are."

Arlo crossed his arms, going for the impassive look he was so famous for. "Why does it matter?"

"Because, I dunno, we're friends?"

Wasn't it just a week ago that John had said they definitively weren't friends? To be fair, John also looked surprised, so this was apparently as new a development as Arlo thought it was.

"Well," Arlo said, a little awkwardly, "even if we are, wouldn't you rather be with Seraphina? You're rooming with her, after all."

John frowned. "No? I want to spend time with her and you."

It sounded stupid when it was said out loud like that, especially when they were, supposedly, all friends, but it was nice to hear.

"Anyway, I wanted to ask if you were free after school? I want to show you something."

Arlo felt a pang in his heart as he realized what his new internship entailed. It was important, more important than this infantile desire of his, but he really wanted to be around John more. What was he thinking, avoiding the man? That was a plan doomed to fail from the start.

"I'm busy," he said.

"Oh, with work? Aren't you doing that, like, every day?"

"I have to fully integrate myself and consolidate my position."

"Yeah, yeah. You know, you better not get caught. If they catch you speaking out of line, it's over."

"I'm not an idiot."

"Debatable. Anyway, have you been learning anything useful?"

Arlo sighed. Had he ever. "Yes, I learned that I have a lot of messes to clean up and no time to do it."

"Do you need help?"

Arlo blinked. "You'd help me?"

Arlo was used to doing things himself. As King, he had had to organize and authorize everything himself. Maybe he was a bit of a micro-manager, but one had to be when you were in his position. Now that the title had been passed on, he'd been able to relax a bit more, but that didn't mean he didn't have responsibilities.

"'Course I'd help you!" John said. "If I can."

"I've typically done things alone. This isn't necessary."

"Too bad. You better get used to it," John said with a smile.

Arlo felt like something inside him melted when he saw that smile. John was just so committed to the people he cared about... and now Arlo was part of that list.

"So..." John said, "what do you need help with?"

"The trio: they're in trouble, but I'm not sure I can get them out of it. I've tried to get Remi to stop her shady activities, but she won't listen."

“Shady activities?”

“I’m not sure I should disclose it…”

“I’d better be able to help.”

Arlo thought for a second, but John wasn’t the worst person to tell, and anyway he was surprised Blyke hadn’t accidentally blurted it out to him already.

“The trio are vigilantes.”

“Actually? Seriously?”

“I know, I didn’t think they’d be so idiotic—”

“That’s actually super impressive.”

“Don’t tell me you want to join them.”

“Oh, no. Don’t worry.” For that, Arlo was relieved.

John sighed. “I’m such an idiot though. I kept wishing for there to be more vigilantes, but when they actually presented themselves in front of me, not only was I too blind to recognize it, I spent all my energy taking them down.” He huffed. “What a fucking embarrassment.”

Arlo wasn’t sure how he felt about John being so self-abasing. Sure, John was remorseful, but this felt excessive. Besides, it wasn’t like feeling bad about something made the problem go away.

“We talked about this. Beating yourself up won’t change anything. It’s only what you do going forward that matters.”

John gave him a small smile. “You sound like my dad.”

Arlo didn’t say anything for a moment. “I feel bad for acting how I did in front of him.”

In hindsight, antagonizing John’s father had not been his proudest moment; he was still coming to terms with the idea that the weak weren’t talentless. The fact that John hadn’t grown up with high-tier guidance, though, made his worldview make a lot more sense, and as Arlo learned more about the world himself, he didn’t think that was a bad thing.

“Well, good.” John said. “You should tell him that yourself.”

“Can I have his number?”

“Uh, sure. I guess.”

John typed out the number on Arlo's phone, and now he had a contact labeled "William."

"There you go!" John said cheerfully. "Anyway, in regards to the trio, do you want me to physically stop them or something? I don't think that's a great idea. I mean, they can do what they want."

"That's not the issue," Arlo said, although it definitely was. "The problem is that they might die. Elaine told me that Remi had come back with dire wounds, and... I don't want her to end up like her brother."

"Her brother?"

"...he was a vigilante, too. It got him killed."

John’s eyes widened. He remembered when Remi first told him about Rei, about how he was King before Arlo. John had said “Your brother can go to hell for all I care!”

“John?”

John realized he was shaking. Arlo touched his shoulder. “Are you alright?”

John reached up and grabbed Arlo’s hand. He let out a breath. “It’s fine.”

Arlo didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t press. "Well," he continued, "as you can see, it's very dangerous."

"Yeah, but..." John sighed. "Okay, alright. I'll see what I can do."

He checked the time and must’ve realized that his next class was soon.

“Shit, gotta run. See you later!”

They met again after school; John insisted, since Arlo didn’t have much free time because of work.

“The combat classroom is really cool! It was just Sera and me at first getting things ready, but then a bunch of Safe House members came to help us!”

John was beaming, hands moving wildly as he described the ins-and-outs of what a combat class would need. Arlo felt happy that he was happy.

John started describing the moves he was excited about as they walked outside, but then—

“Just leave me alone!”

John stopped, looking over. A second later, Arlo did the same. Zeke was standing over a beaten and bruised Safe House member. Arlo at first didn’t care, but then he realized that he was supposed to be better now. Zeke was being irresponsible, and that Safe House member shouldn’t just be written off as weak. He prepared himself to say something, but John was already speaking.

“Zeke! Don’t you have better things to do?”

Zeke grimaced. He said, "John, what’s gotten into you? Ever since you got back, you haven’t been the same! Don’t you remember? The Safe House was created specifically to take you down! You should be by my side, taking them down!”

“That kind of logic won’t work on me anymore,” John said. “Just leave the kid alone and get the fuck outta here.”

Zeke tsked and turned away.

“John,” Arlo said, “don’t let him talk to you like that.”

“It’s fine.”

“No, it’s not. Maybe enforcement of the hierarchy is flawed, but that doesn’t mean that someone weaker than you can show disrespect.”

John opened his mouth to respond, but then Zeke was rushing him, and Arlo saw red.
Zeke slammed into a barrier, his arm shattering at impact. The barrier shrunk immediately, squeezing Zeke until he was curled up on the ground.

“Is the hierarchy a joke to you?” Arlo spat. “John is your superior—”

Ah, he slipped again.

Everyone has something to offer.

“I’m sorry! It won’t happen again!”

Arlo stared down at Zeke, who looked truly pathetic. Someone like him was regarded as an elite in society yet spent his time beating up lower tiers. He used the hierarchy as an excuse to inflate his ego. He was the reason why Arlo was doubting the hierarchy in the first place, because if it kept producing people like Zeke, then—

“Arlo!”

Arlo snapped out of his reverie and looked beside him. John seemed confused.

The barrier disappeared and Zeke scurried off. The Safe House member glanced up at Arlo but quickly looked away. Arlo supposed he probably looked incensed, so he tried to calm himself down.

“You didn’t have to do that,” John said.

Arlo sighed. “I didn’t do it for you.”

A smile wavered on John’s face. “Okay, I believe you.”

Arlo looked back at the Safe House member, who had stumbled to his feet. People like him were supposed to be protected, right? The idea still seemed so absurd, but whenever he thought about that jewelry maker, it didn’t seem so preposterous. Wasn’t this what Rei wanted?

But, the hierarchy… How could society function without it?

Chapter Text

Sera and John were stuck in Doc's house for the time being. It wasn't like John hated being with Sera, of course, but there was a certain blond he maybe might've been missing.

"I think he likes you," Sera said, matter-of-factly and completely unprompted.

"Uh... what? Who are you talking about?" John asked, knowing exactly who she was talking about.

"Arlo, obviously. I was thinking about how weird he was acting when he found out we were going to be rooming together, and I think it's because he was jealous."

John chewed his lip. John wasn’t an idiot; now that Seraphina mentioned it, the theory made sense. Arlo was strangely overprotective of him and they cared for each other. The problem was…

"Why would he like someone like me?"

Sera poked him. "Because you're cool, and funny, and you inspire people?"

John smiled. "Thanks, Sera, but there's no way he thinks that of me. He of all people knows how much of a fuck-up I am."

"Yet he still chooses to associate with you despite what you've done. I know you've been talking to him more than strictly necessary; you can't fool me."

John flushed. For some reason, Sera finding out about that was embarrassing, even though it really shouldn't have been.

"Okay, okay. But why me and not, I dunno, Elaine?"

Sera snorted. "Elaine's had a crush on him for ages. Don't you think he would've taken advantage of that sooner if he liked her back? As far as I'm aware, she's not even on his radar."

John tried to find another excuse but came up empty. Sera had got him. But... it still didn't feel right. He still didn't think it possible, because why would anyone like someone as fucked up as him? Sera accepted him, but she was probably just the exception. The others may have forgiven him, but that didn't mean they had to like him, especially not to that degree.

"I think it's sweet," Sera said, "Arlo caring about someone other than himself for once."

"He cares about Remi."

"Defending him already?" Sera said with a smirk. "And tell me again that you don't like him."

"Sera!"

John hated that he couldn't refute her. There was just something about Arlo that drew him in. Strangely, even though he was an asshole, he was also fiercely protective of the people he cared about. Remi being the main one, but John was now clearly another. He remembered how angry Arlo had looked when Zeke had dared to try and lay a hand on him.

There was also the matter of Arlo's sense of justice. He believed in the hierarchy not because he liked power, but because he believed it made things better for everyone. And while that thinking was wrong, and maybe he fell into the trap of liking power a bit too much, his heart was in the right place. It was difficult to find people like that nowadays.

"You're thinking about him," Sera said.

John snapped to attention. "What? No, I was just—"

"You have this soft look on your face." She smiled. "I'm glad you're expanding the number of people you care about."

John didn't think he needed more people than Sera in his life, however the trio had wiggled their way in anyway. Maybe he could make room for one more.

John was in a bit of a pickle. He had a ruined suit, see, but this suit wasn’t his. It was Blyke’s. He had two options: find a new suit or live with the shame of ruining Blyke’s suit. John wasn’t too keen on getting on Blyke’s bad side considering he’d just gotten on his good side very recently, so that left option one.

John stood in front of Arlo’s apartment, a bit damp from the rain outside, destroyed pants suit in hand. He knocked and waited impatiently as he heard the soft padding of bare feet on carpet. The door swung open and Arlo looked at him in confusion.

“John? Why are you here?”

“I need help,” John said desperately. “Please. I need a suit, it’s urgent.”

“You need. A suit.”

“Yes. Do you have a spare one by any chance? I can pay you back.”

For some reason this was funny to Arlo.

“Ok,” Arlo said. “What’s the suit for? And what’s with the pants you’re carrying?”

“So, funny story… I ruined Blyke’s suit…”

Arlo full-on laughed this time. It made John’s stomach do little swooping motions.

“So you need a replacement.”

“Yeah. I really don’t need Blyke on my ass.”

“Why don’t you just offer to pay him back instead of me?”

“Oh.”

John was an idiot. Why had that never occurred to him?

“You’re an idiot,” Arlo said, echoing his thoughts.

“Sorry. I’ll… be going.”

John turned to go, but Arlo stopped him.

“It’s pouring outside, you’ll get sick. You’re already wet.”

John shrugged. “I’ll be okay.”

Arlo shook his head. “Just stay here. You can leave early in the morning.”

John hesitated, but the idea of staying in Arlo’s apartment was titillating. He agreed with a hasty nod.

Arlo let him inside and he immediately zeroed in on how nice the place was. John couldn’t imagine how much the place cost, though of course someone like Arlo would live somewhere like this.

“Did you eat already?” Arlo asked.

“Uh… yeah.”

“Good. Come on, the bedroom’s this way.”

“I can sleep on the couch…”

Arlo paused, hands hovering over the doorknob. “Why?”

John’s face heated up. Why? Because John would combust if he had to sleep next to Arlo, but it wasn’t like he could just say that.

“Uh… nothing. Never mind.”

Arlo pushed open the door and disappeared inside. John followed after a second and watched Arlo rummage through a dresser.

“Here,” Arlo said. “It might be a bit big, but you can borrow some of my clothes.”

John took the proffered shirt and pants mutely. This was seriously happening. He was actually going to sleep in Arlo’s bed in Arlo’s clothes.

“What?” Arlo said.

John looked away. “Nothing.”

“You’re welcome to the shower, just don’t use my coconut oil.”

John didn’t bother to ask what that was for. Rich people things, probably.

One shower later and John was feeling a lot better. He hadn’t realized how damp he’d been until the hot water had hit his skin. He looked around for the change of clothes and realized that, shit, he’d left it outside. After tying a towel around his waist, he ventured out of the bathroom. Arlo was in bed, reading a book, and looked up. His eyes widened.

“Um,” John said, feeling exposed, “sorry. I left the clothes out here…”

Arlo shoved his face in the book and John swore he saw a slight blush on his cheeks, but that couldn’t be right. Shaking himself internally, John grabbed the pile of clothes from the dresser and retreated back into the bathroom.

Did Arlo find him attractive? Was that why he’d stared like that? John allowed himself a giddy smile as he changed.

When he returned to the bedroom, Arlo had gone back to his composed self, no evidence of embarrassment left. He indicated for John to join him and John plopped himself down.

Everything smelled like Arlo. It was that coffee scent with a tinge of coconut he hadn’t noticed before. He found himself smiling as the contentedness of the situation buried itself within him.

It was easy to fall asleep like that, Arlo’s steady breathing lulling him unconscious.

John awoke with a start. Monster, his mind screamed, monster.

He let out a heavy breath and realized he was in Arlo’s apartment. He breathed in deeply, taking in the scents, hoping it would calm him down. It did.

He glanced over at Arlo, who was still sleeping. He got up and went to the bathroom to splash some water on his face. He came back to find Arlo sitting up and waiting for him.

“Nightmares again?”

John didn’t say anything as he got back into bed.

“I don’t believe this is normal,” Arlo continued. “Did something happen that caused it?”

“Yeah, the part where I was an awful person.”

Arlo shook his head. “People don’t have nightmares over their regrets like that.”

John chewed his lip. He knew he wasn’t normal, that Keon had fucked him up, but he wasn’t about to tell anyone about that, especially not to someone who had just barely started to like him.

“John…” Arlo said. “Does it have something to do with those readjustment classes?”

And just like that, John was back in the facility. His hands were trapped in handcuffs, his forehead bleeding. Keon grabbed his shoulder and he slapped his hand away. “Don’t touch me!”

Keon jerked back, except it wasn’t Keon, it was Arlo… and Arlo was looking at him with such concern in his eyes.

“H-How do you know about those classes?”

“I read your files at the Bureau.”

John’s stomach dropped. Why would Arlo betray him like that? His eyes burned.

“Why? That shit’s private!”

“I know.” Arlo huffed. “I wouldn’t have looked into it unless I had no other choice.”

Okay. Okay, that wasn’t the best explanation, but there weren’t many that would satisfy John. He would let Arlo explain himself.

“So… why, then?”

“I wanted to make sure the authorities weren’t after you, too.”

“Me too?”

“They’re after the trio because of their vigilantism. They’re planning on expulsion and readjustment… except I couldn’t find much information about readjustment.”

John leaned his head against his palm, steadying himself.

“John, if it’s too difficult to tell me—”

“No. You… should know.” He took a deep breath. “I was assigned to this man named Keon. He has this ability that lets him root through your memories and replay them. He made me remember how Claire had betrayed me, how I had beat up half of my class, over and over again, until I wanted to disappear.”

“John…” Arlo scooted closer. “No one should have to go through that. That’s torture.”

“Call it what you want, but I was a shitty kid, and they humbled me.”

“You shouldn’t have had to go through that.”

John didn’t look convinced. “You don’t understand.”

“I’ve seen you at your worst. You’ve hurt me, physically and mentally, and I’ve done the same to you. Yet here we are, having forgiven each other. Isn’t that enough to prove to you I know what I’m saying?”

John was silent. Arlo continued.

“Maybe you did do terrible things, but you’re here now, and you’re better. Mistakes don’t make bad people.”

John looked away. Then he hugged Arlo.

Arlo froze, unsure of what to do. He’d never been hugged before, discounting when he was very small, and the feeling was very foreign. He tapped John on the back, then realized that John was crying.

“Shit, sorry,” John said, wiping his eyes.

“John…”

John pulled back. “Get the trio out of trouble. They don’t deserve what I went through.”

Chapter Text

The alarm clock rang. John squinted at the window shades, noticed the distinct lack of sunlight coming from outside, and groaned. He shoved his face into the pillow, wishing he could go back to sleep.

Arlo stirred beside him—then suddenly stole the pillow. John glared at him, realized in the same split second that he was still in Arlo's bed, and a flush grew on his neck.

"Uh," said John.

Arlo ignored his stammering and got off the bed. "You're the one who wanted to get up as the same time as me," he said.

"That's only because I didn't know you got up at this ungodly hour."

"It's called being responsible. Maybe you're familiar with it?"

"Shut up," John muttered, finally sliding off the bed. He picked up the clothes he'd abandoned in the corner and sniffed them. They smelled okay, at least for being previously damp and balled up together.

"Did you just sniff your clothes?"

John glanced behind him and saw the look of horror on Arlo's face. Normally John wouldn't be embarrassed about this sort of thing, but that didn't seem to apply when Arlo was involved.

"Uh... no?" John said, slowly lowering the implicating ball of clothing.

"You're an animal," Arlo said with a grimace. "Just wear my clothes. You can return them later."

"Oh, okay. Thanks."

John gathered his things and left the bedroom. Arlo shouted at him that there was cereal somewhere in the kitchen, so John helped himself to some plain cornflakes. Because of course Arlo wouldn't have any "fun" cereal.

"Why don't you get some Lucky Cats or something?" John asked as Arlo walked in wearing his uniform.

"I don't want a cat."

"No, no, like the cereal: Lucky Cats."

Arlo frowned. "Why?"

"Because—" John sighed. "Never mind. Let's just go."

John felt a bit underdressed as they walked back to campus, but Arlo had this soft look on his face whenever he looked at him. John tried not to think too hard about that. Otherwise, he'd do something stupid like tell Arlo he liked him or something.

Arlo insisted on walking him back to his dorm, so they were greeted with the spectacular situation of Blyke bearing witness to John very obviously wearing Arlo's clothes.

"Morning?" Blyke said, his eyes flicking between the two of them. "Did John...?"

"None of your business," said Arlo as he pushed John towards his bedroom. "See you later, John."

John waved like and idiot and then the door shut. He fidgeted with the suit pants in his hands, suddenly feeling awkward.

Blyke turned to him, still looking confused. "I thought you needed the suit for something with Seraphina?"

"I did." John held out the pants, showcasing them. "But I kinda lost the jacket part..."

"What the hell did you do?"

"Uh... stuff."

Blyke looked like he was contemplating asking more, but he ultimately refrained.

"We'll pay you back," John promised. "Sera said so."

"Okay, then I guess it's... fine."

"Great!" John said in a too-bright voice. He left the conversation for his bedroom before Blyke regained his confidence and asked anything else.

John changed but felt weird about just throwing Arlo's clothes on the floor, so he actually folded them—poorly, but still—and placed them delicately on the dresser. He found himself staring at them for a few seconds before realizing what he was doing and hurriedly left for school.

John never ended up returning those clothes. It wasn't that he'd forget, he'd just... put it off for another day. If he slept in them again a couple more times, well, no one would be the wiser. It wasn't his fault, he reasoned. Arlo was as busy as ever, so aside from small talk between classes, they didn't really interact. Which was... fine. It had to be fine.

John and Sera were just getting into the very first combat class when Arlo entered. John blurted, "Arlo? Is this about the clothes?"

Several emotions seemed to flash across Arlo's face before it settled on mild annoyance. "What? No. I just need to borrow Seraphina for a second."

John felt a surge of jealousy. Why couldn't Arlo tell both of them?

"Can't it wait 'till later?" Sera asked. "I'm in the middle of something."

Oh, right, because they were supposed to be leading a combat class right now. How did he manage to forget that?

"No, it can't wait."

"Fine. John, I'll be right back."

Sera didn't return, even when they started wrapping up. John checked his phone; he'd sent a message half an hour ago asking where she was. Sera had just responded that she was in her room, so John made a beeline for the girls' dorm. Elaine answered the door—as usual—and was scared of him—as usual—so John didn't think much when he knocked on Sera's door and started questioning her, but she covered his mouth and told him to be quiet.

"What's going on?" John asked, quieter this time. "What did Arlo tell you?"

Sera was putting clothing into a duffel bag. She folded a shirt as she said, "It's the authorities. They know I'm involved in Spectre and they want to lock me up."

It was as if the floor had dropped out from beneath his feet.

"Th-then, what are you gonna do?" John stammered.

Sera didn't look up. "I'll probably crash with my sister until I can find a good place to hide."

"You mean you're going to leave? And... never come back?"

"Looks like it..."

"Fuck!" John cried. His fists clenched. "Why does this always happen? Whenever we finally get some peace...!"

Sera let out a heavy breath. She looked up at him, sadness in her eyes. "John, it'll be okay. I'll stay in touch, and the trio and Arlo will be here. You won't be alone."

John swallowed. She was right, but... "It won't be the same without you."

"John..." Sera reached out and squeezed his hand. "I'm sorry."

They came to take her the very next day. It made everything feel very real; the authorities really had wanted to arrest Sera... John felt the intense need to talk to someone about it, and that someone would have to be Arlo. He found the man in question in front of the Safe House talking to Remi. Neither of them looked very happy.

"Well," Remi said in an irritated voice, "you're always busy, so why can't I have stuff to do too? Butt out." She bumped into Arlo's shoulder as she left for the Safe House, slamming the door behind her.

Arlo tsked. John came closer and asked, "What was that about?"

"She's mad I'm working for the Bureau."

"Well, she is a vigilante. Isn't that, like, their whole thing?"

Things aren't as black and white as you all seem to think. I can have the same goal as her without going about it the same way."

"No, I get it. I mean, without you, Sera would've been..." he trailed off.

Arlo's gaze hardened. "It was a close call."

"Yeah, I mean... Shit, man. If only I had access to my full ability, then I wouldn't be holed up at school."

"Wellston is the safest place you can be right now," Arlo reasoned. "You still have a year here to go. Take advantage of that."

"It's just... I dunno, everything feels so pointless."

"John." Arlo suddenly reached out to grip John's shoulders. "Please listen to me. If we want things to get better—if we want anything to get better—some of us have to lay low. Seraphina is a wanted outlaw, and the trio already have a target on their backs. I don't want that to apply to you too."

John sighed. He understood where Arlo was coming from, at least to some extent. "Alright, I get it."

Arlo stared at him for a few more moments before letting go. "Good."

That night, John was in bed when he heard Blyke's door open. He almost didn't do anything until he realized that Blyke might not just be going to the bathroom, and, sure enough, when John investigated he caught Blyke trying to leave the dorm in a hoodie and mask.

"What are you doing?"

"Uh... just going out, y'know?"

John raised a brow. "What? Look, if you're going to go be a vigilante, I told Arlo I'd stop you, so let's not make this harder than it has to be."

"You what? Never mind. Look, we're not going to do anything, just survey the area. Get some information.

"Are you fucking with me? That's not how this works."

”How would you know?"

"I guess... I don't. But do you have a death wish or something? Arlo told me Remi nearly died, like, twice."

Blyke looked ashamed. "Yeah, I know, but we're gonna be more careful this time."

John looked at him skeptically. He sighed. "The only reason I'm not calling Arlo right now is because I still think it's kind of cool that you guys are doing this. So don't fuck it up, okay?"

When Blyke didn't return that morning, it was clear that they had, in fact, fucked it up. John called Arlo and got the scolding of a lifetime. What got John's stomach twisting, though, wasn't the lecture but the undercurrent of disappointment; it wasn't a feeling he was used to.

They'd just talked to—interrogated, really—Isen, and now Arlo was pacing in the hallway outside the bedroom.

"I don't know if I can trust you anymore," Arlo said.

John felt all the blood rush from his head. "What?" The words came out quietly.

"How am I supposed to know you'll come through if something else comes up?"

"Arlo, I didn't even promise—"

"Does it matter?" Arlo hissed. "They almost died. Again. If that's not important enough for you, what is?"

Arguments fell through John's head like water in his fingers. "I—"

"I thought you cared about me," Arlo said, and it was like a stab in the heart.

"Of course I do—!"

"Then why won't you understand that it's of paramount importance to me that Remi is kept safe!"

The shout rang out in the following tense silence. John had no idea what he was supposed to say, or even what he wanted to say. The silence continued, then Arlo shook his head. "I don't know what I expected from you."

And then he walked away.

Chapter Text

John sat in his bed in the dark. He held the borrowed clothes in his hands as if they would give him the answers he wanted. They still carried that faint smell of Arlo—or maybe John was imagining it. Either way, they weren't bringing him the comfort that they had originally.

In a word, John felt like shit. He was angry, yes, but also guilty. Was it really his fault that the trio got into the trouble they did? Did he really not care enough about Arlo to want to help him?

So to say that John was in a bad mood the next day would be an understatement. Strangely, he was glad that Sera wasn't there so that he couldn't accidentally snap at her or say something rude. He wasn't even sure if he would've brought up the issue with her because he was feeling so guilty about it. What if she agreed with Arlo?

By lunchtime, he had reached peak anxiety. He abandoned the cafeteria in favor of the rooftop, where he paced relentlessly. Maybe it was the fresh air, or maybe it was the reminder of all the talks he'd had with Arlo up here, but it was then he realized: he needed to calm down. He needed to think rationally.

John let out a long breath and stood still at the fence, gazing out at the courtyard. His thoughts were jumbled, but he tried to wrestle them into something comprehensible.

Did John care about Remi? Sure, kind of. He didn't want her to die, certainly, and he hadn't been lying when he said the trio didn't deserve to go through readjustment. However, that care clearly didn't extend to the level that Arlo wanted, which was wholly unfair of him, now that John thought about it. Arlo was very responsible, and he expected everyone around him to be just the same.

These things didn't change the fact that Arlo was not only mad at him, but disappointed. The trust between them, which had already been fragile, was gone now. How was John supposed to fix this mess? Well, if he learned anything these past months, it was that talking about things was better than just hoping the problem would fix itself.

So, John decided then and there to have a conversation. He searched around for Arlo, and it was like the man didn't eat or something since John found him in the library working on homework. John walked up and crossed his arms.

"We need to talk."

Arlo looked up. In the bright light, it was easy to see the dark bags under his eyes. John cringed a little, thinking about the many sleepless nights he himself used to have.

"Look," John continued, "you were being unfair to me yesterday. It's not my responsibility to make sure Remi is safe. That doesn't mean I don't care about you or even her. Frankly, I think you should let Remi be her own person."

Arlo stared at him. It wasn't a glare, but it was a close second. "You're being hypocritical. Tell me again why you crashed the Safe House field trip."

"That's different. I was trying to help, not stop Sera from doing what she wants."

"Even if doing what she wanted led to her death? If the threat was there, wouldn't you do everything you could to prevent her from going through readjustment?"

"Sera's allowed to make her own decisions. I'd do everything I could to stop these things from happening, but I wouldn't try to control her. That's what you're doing to Remi."

"I'm not controlling her, I'm just..."

"Just what?"

Arlo was actually glaring now. "Do you think I'm wrong for wanting to prevent her death?'

"Stop deflecting. You know what you're doing."

There was a pause.

"What do you want, John?"

"I want you to know that I'll be there for you. I'll support your choices, and I won't try to make them for you."

Arlo stared at him for a moment, then sighed. "I'm so tired. Half my energy is spent worrying about what the trio's doing."

"They're going to keep doing what they're doing whether you like it or not."

"I just couldn't forgive myself if something happened."

John's heart hurt a little. He completely understood why Arlo was being like this, and it was endearing to see him care so much about someone that he'd go this far, but he was basically smothering Remi.

"I know you're used to being responsible for everyone," John said, "but trust us a little bit more. The trio are better equipped to handle things than you think."

Arlo looked skeptical. "They're reckless and Remi's blinded by grief."

...and John was back to being upset. He let out a long breath, trying to calm himself down. "Fine. I don't think I can convince you, but at least don't drag me into it."

"Fine."

Arlo felt a little bad about his conversation with John earlier that day, but he didn't apologize for things lightly, and he still felt he was in the right.

He was at work, now, and remembered how he was supposed to apologize to John's dad. He'd kept putting it off, but now was as good a time as any. Plus, this was sort of like making it up to John.

Arlo glanced at the contact, and, on a whim, decided to search William up on the database. He doubted he'd find anything, but it was worth a quick check.

William's appearance was surprisingly very similar to John. Only their eyes were different. Besides that, William was an author, and... he wrote Unordinary. That was... unexpected. Arlo's eyes tracked down and froze. William was to be executed for republishing Unordinary.

According to the records, he'd republished the book online under the name Untitled. As if that would be enough to put him off the authorities' radar.

How could William be so stupid? Surely he knew the small miracle it'd been that he hadn't been punished the first time around, but a second offense was unthinkable.

Still... execution was a bit excessive. Sure, the book was dangerous, but Arlo highly doubted the William he knew would write it with the intent to lead people to their deaths. Was the punishment this bad because William was powerless? That just seemed harsh.

Maybe it was the excessive punishment that convinced him, or maybe it was simply because it was John's dad, but Arlo didn't hesitate in his decision to warn the man.

Arlo quickly exited out of the database and stood up. Pretending he was using his break to call a friend, he went outside and called William.

"Hello?" came William's voice. Instead of being happy-go-lucky like last time, he sounded... off. Arlo couldn't quite place it.

"Hello, sir," Arlo said, half out of habit and half out of guilt. "This is Arlo, John's friend."

"Oh, Arlo. Yes, I remember you. How's my boy?"

"He's doing well. Listen, I wanted to call you about something important, but first I wanted to apologize for my behavior last time."

"I appreciate it, but there's really no need for that."

"It's just that I've been doing a lot of thinking and I realized that being powerless doesn't mean necessarily that you're talentless."

"Well, that's... that's very nice. I'm happy for you."

Arlo felt something like a warmth burn in his chest. "Thank you, sir."

"William, please."

"Right. William, there's also something I need to tell you. The authorities know what you did, and they're planning to execute you."

There was a long silence at the other end of the line. "How do you know this?"

"Is that important? All I know is that you're not safe wherever you are. Do you have anywhere you can go?"

"I'll figure it out. Thank you, Arlo. Does John know?"

"No... I just learned this information a few minutes ago."

"Okay. If you could keep this from him, I would appreciate it. This fight is between me and the authorities."

Arlo wasn't sure if that was the best decision, but he'd do what William wanted. "Got it. I wish you the best."

"You too. Look after my boy."

This time it was Arlo in the hospital bed. He hadn't been in the hospital as a patient before and it was a strange experience. After that battle with Spectre, however, he was mostly just relieved they'd gotten out alive.

John, though, he was pissed.

"First you get mad at me for letting the trio do something dangerous, and then you go and storm the hideout practically all by yourself!"

"You told me to, quote, 'kick his ass.'"

"Yeah, but not like that! I thought you'd have more support or something."

"It was a special circumstance. We just planned to scout things out."

"That's what Blyke said, too."

Arlo was quiet.

"It didn't go according to plan," Arlo said eventually, "but we got out alive in the end. Besides, how else is Seraphina supposed to get her pardon?"

"I don't want to have to choose between your life and Sera's freedom."

"Just a month ago, that wouldn't have been a difficult decision for you."

John glared at him. "Don't be like that. I'm still mad at you for saying you don't trust me, by the way."

Arlo looked away. "I don't believe that anymore. I was being reactive."

"Is it so hard to just apologize to me?"

Arlo didn't move. He had felt guilty for hurting John's feelings, but back then he had felt that it'd been necessary. Now, however, he was on the other side. He'd apparently done exactly the same thing that the trio had done: enter a dangerous situation, claim to only be gathering information, and then nearly die. Just like the trio, too, he had had a greater purpose in mind.

Arlo looked back at John, whose eyes had transitioned from incensed to misty.

"I'm sorry," Arlo said. "I reacted completely unnecessarily. I do trust you, and you're right that it was unfair of me to pin the blame of the trio onto you. We can't control what other people do."

John let out a breath. "Thank you."

Chapter Text

John had overheard people talk about this Untitled thing in the hallways, but it wasn't until he heard the trio talk about it did he get worried. He was just heading out for a run when he ran into them in the dorms. Blyke asked if he wanted to join them for a drink, but John declined and walked past them.

"Anyway," Blyke continued, "can you believe how fast Untitled has spread?"

"I mean, as expected from a resurface of Unordinary," Isen added. "So many people missed out the first time around. It's only natural they'd flock to it now that it's available again."

John spun around. "Hang on! What's this Untitled have to do with Unordinary?"

"Oh!" Remi said. "That's right, you've read it too! A revised version of the book was leaked online and it's called Untitled."

"Can you show me?"

Blyke led them into his bedroom, and he pulled it up on his laptop.

"It's being reposted everywhere," Isen said. "Guess people learned after it disappeared the first time."

John hadn't believed that the two were connected at first, but seeing the text now... he knew. They really were one in the same.

"Shit!"

He hastened to his own bedroom where he called William. The phone rang out twice dramatically before being picked up.

"John? What's up?"

"Dad! Are you okay?"

"Yeah, perfectly healthy, as far as I know. Why?"

John nearly collapsed in relief. "I—I heard about how Unordinary was republished under the name Untitled. I thought maybe you had something to do with it."

"Uh... nope. First I'm hearing about that. I wonder who was bold enough to do that."

There was something weird in his tone.

"Dad... are you lying?"

"N-no! Nope! Uh, I really have to go now, my editor's calling me—talk to you later!"

The line went dead. John stared at his phone in disbelief.

"Hey man, are you okay?"

John looked over to see the trio standing in his doorway.

"I know we're not that close," Blyke continued, "but you're the one who said we should watch each other's backs. So, if something's wrong, you can talk to us about it. You heard the news, and you started freaking out and calling people. Did something happen?"

Should John tell them? He knew that keeping secrets wasn't always the best option, plus they might be able to help him figure things out.

"My dad wrote Unordinary."

After a moment of shock, the trio all shouted, "He, what!"

"The authorities gave him a hard time when the book first came out, but because he meant no harm, they let him off with a warning."

The trio didn't look convinced, but John didn't put too much thought into it.

"I was checking to make sure he's okay after the leak," John continued, "but when he answered he sounded off. I think he was lying about having nothing to do with it."

"John..." Remi began, "do you know anyone back at home who might be able to check on him?"

That was a good idea. John texted Adrion, asking him to go check on William. A while later, Adrion responded:

I don't see him. Maybe he went on one of his trips again?

can you chekc back in a few days and let me know? asked John.

On it!

"Look at yourself! Do you even remember whose side you're on?"

Arlo walked through the halls, Val's words echoing in his ears. He didn't know what to think anymore. A part of him wanted to side with Val so badly, but the other part of him knew that the things the authorities did... they were unforgivable. He'd grown up his entire life believing that the authorities were the ultimate good. Now, he didn't know anymore. Did he want to dedicate his life to something that produced EMBER?

"Wow, Arlo!"

Arlo didn't react to Zeke's voice.

"Congrats on the recognition once again! I should really learn a few things from you."

Zeke was just a mosquito. He didn't need to react to him.

"You'll really use whatever means necessary to climb the ranks, huh? Your family connections, your boss... you'll even sell out your friends."

Arlo snapped. He activated his ability and sent out a barrier that slammed Zeke into the wall. He stalked forward and grabbed Zeke by the front of his shirt.

"Your time at the Bureau has gotten to your head," Arlo spat. "Don't forget who you're talking to! Show some respect!"

Zeke's lips curled into a smile. "But I am. Everyone in my department has been talking about you. They're calling you a genius who thought ten steps ahead. You let Seraphina go to trick her into giving up Spectre's location, then reaped the rewards. I can't believe even after all that, you still didn't show any mercy. You're even colder than I imagined."

"Quiet—"

"Oh, but why? I'm only singing your praises."

"You know exactly what you're doing, so I don't want to hear another word out of you."

Arlo let go of Zeke and his stupid, smug face. He turned around and saw John standing there, looking confused and bit a hysterical. John glanced at Zeke, then asked, "What's going on?"

"I'm just doing a little disciplining. Don't worry about it," Arlo said, walking past John.

John followed him like a lost puppy, constantly looking at him with wide eyes. Arlo got the hint and they ended up on the rooftop.

"So..." John began, once they'd sat down, "what happened?"

John's eyes were so sincere and trusting, not full of the anger that Arlo had been expecting.

"You don't believe what Zeke said?"

John scoffed. "Zeke's a fucking snake. He just wanted to piss you off. Never mind him, I heard about it on the news. They said that Sera's on the run now after injuring over a dozen people."

"About that: how did Seraphina get her ability back?"

"I'm not sure I can say, but we have a connection who was cooking up a cure. He tried it on me last time but it didn't work. I guess he must've figured it out."

"That's great news, but are you sure we can trust this connection of yours?"

"Just trust me on this one. Anyway, how did the negotiation go to shit?"

"We offered her a deal, and she rejected it."

John’s eyes narrowed. "Probably a shit deal, then."

"We were more than generous," Arlo said in exasperation. "Honestly, it's a miracle the deal was offered in the first place."

"I thought—I thought the pardon was highly likely?"

"At this point, I don't think there's enough information in the world that could get Seraphina a pardon. Val made that clear."

"Val?"

"Valerie. She's my aunt. She was the one who agreed to the negotiation."

"Ah, right. Should've known you had family connections. I assume she wasn't very sympathetic to Sera?"

"Hardly, but she's a top-ranking authority. She can't take a designated terrorist lightly."

John's face fell. "So there really was no chance Sera could've gotten the pardon. At least we got Orrin on their radar..."

"Who?"

"It's a long story. He's the Spectre exec that ordered the ambush on us during the field trip."

"You mean..."

"Yeah, we're trying to get him and the authorities to duke it out."

"Smart."

"I guess, but what's the point if Sera has to hide forever? This is awful."

Arlo reached out to briefly squeeze John's hand. "There's nothing to be done now. She might even get executed if she's caught."

"Executed—?" John's eyes widened. "No. This can't be it, we'll think of something! We get her out of this! You just got a bunch of promotions, so—"

Arlo shook his head. "It may seem like I’m gaining notoriety, but in reality, I’m this close to getting locked up. Val saved me by pretending I planned to betray Seraphina the whole time. She figured out that I had warned Seraphina about her imprisonment.”

And now that he’d warned William… was that phone call going to be on record too? Were they going to figure him out for that as well?

"Shit!" John exclaimed. "Then how are you supposed to get things done if everything you do is going to be found out?"

"I was being complacent. I'll have to be more secretive next time, take extra care nothing gets noticed."

"You better. God, we really are all in such deep shit."

"Except you, technically. Other than what happened at New Bostin and your connection to Unordinary—both of which have already been looked at by the authorities—you're clean. You know, you could join the authorities—"

John snorted. "In your fucking dreams."

"Alright, fair enough. But it's an option. You're talented enough—considering you can restore your ability, anyway."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

They continued chatting, the conversation veering into more casual territory. Arlo complained about all the paperwork he had to do at his job, and John enthused about his combat classes. At some point, the rooftop door opened, and Remi entered. She looked more than a little surprised to see John there.

"I thought I'd find you here, Arlo, but what's John doing with you?"

"I can leave," John offered.

"No, that's alright," Remi said with a small smile. "To be honest, I thought you'd be cursing Arlo out."

John and Arlo shared a look.

"No," John said, and nothing else. Remi looked at him for a few more seconds before she accepted that answer and sat down on the other side of Arlo. She asked about the rumors Zeke had apparently spent all his energy on spreading.

John got a weird call in the middle of the night. It was Arlo, so of course he picked up, but it was requested he come to Arlo's apartment.

"Now?"

"Please, John."

John had never heard Arlo plead before. That was all it took for John to high tail it out of the dorms and make his way to Arlo's apartment. He knocked on the door, but instead of Arlo answering, a young woman with pink hair appeared.

"Do I know you?"

"Who are you?"

John and the lady looked at each other for a few moments. The lady said, "What are you to Arlo?"

"Er..." John tried to peek past her shoulder, but she blocked his way. "I'm a friend... Can I come in?"

A voice sounded out from behind her. "Who is it?"

The lady called out, "Someone who says he's your friend."

She was pushed away by someone—Arlo—who appeared in the doorway.

"Oh, John. Come in."

John did, noting the curious expression on the lady's face.

"This is Kassandra," Arlo introduced, gesturing to the lady. "She's my supervisor."

“Er, nice to meet you…” John said cautiously. Was he supposed to trust this person? She was with the authorities, but she also was in Arlo’s apartment… John supposed he’d have to do some sleuthing.

"She knows about EMBER."

Or Arlo could just say that outright. That would work, too.

"Oh," John said dumbly. He looked at Kassandra, then Arlo. "Why am I here?'

Arlo turned to Kassandra. "Kass, would you mind if we leave you?"

"No problem," she said with a sympathetic smile.

Arlo gestured for John to follow and they went into Arlo's bedroom, the door closing behind them.

"What's up?" John asked, watching Arlo as he sat down on the bed.

"Aunt Val is a member of EMBER."

"Oh, shit."

That was... something. John would be lying if he said he entirely surprised—someone related to Arlo would have to be just as obsessed with hierarchy as he used to be—but obviously this was someone that meant something to Arlo.

Arlo went on. "I spent so long believing she was out there doing good. I didn't believe it when I was first told, but now, with irrefutable evidence..."

John sat down next to Arlo and wrapped his arm around him.

"Hey," John said softly. "I'm sorry someone close to you deceived you like that."

"She's a murderer, John. I saw her murder someone."

John didn't know what to say to that, so he just held Arlo, gently rubbing his arm in up-and-down motions. It just... felt right, and Arlo didn't seem to mind. In fact, he practically curled into John's touch.

"Arlo, don't let this stop you from continuing what you're doing. You said you wanted to change things. Don't throw it all away."

Arlo let out a huff. "Can you... stay with me, tonight?"

John smiled. "Sure."

Arlo wasn't sure how long they stayed like that. He felt himself become putty in John's hold, the comforting touch relaxing him. Eventually, John suggested they head to bed. Arlo reluctantly got up and rummaged around for some sleepwear for John.

"You never ended up giving them back," Arlo commented. He looked up and saw that John had turned scarlet.

"...sorry," John squeaked.

Arlo raised an eyebrow. "It's not a big deal."

Actually, Arlo kind of liked the idea of John having some of his clothes. Was that weird? He tried not to think about it.

John escaped to the bathroom to change. He returned looking just as soft and vulnerable as he had the first time. Arlo's face must've made some kind of expression, because John looked at him in concern.

"Arlo, I know this is difficult, but you're going to get through it."

Arlo's gaze dropped, then suddenly his face was being lifted in John's absurdly gentle hands.

"It's okay if you're not feeling great right now," John said. "You don't have to be strong if it's just us."

Arlo stared at him, noting his lashes and the yellow hues of his eyes. he was so invested in the view that he didn't even notice that John was getting closer until he felt warm breath on his lips.

Then John kissed him. It was gentle and incredibly sweet. Arlo responded instinctively, his mouth moving of its own accord.

It was over in a flash. Arlo blinked owlishly, staring mutely at John. John smiled sheepishly. "You didn't move away."

"Idiot. Why would I do that?"

John's mouth opened and closed. Arlo took the opportunity to connect their lips again. It was longer this time, more needy. Arlo's hand slipped up to cup the back of John's neck.

They broke away. John had this goofy smile on his face that Arlo wanted to frame and put up on his wall.

"I didn't think—" John stammered. "I mean, there were signs, but—"

Arlo huffed a laugh. "And here I thought you had a thing for Seraphina."

John made a face. "She's my best friend. I never thought she was... attractive."

Arlo found himself smiling. "But I am?"

John rolled his eyes. "Fishing for compliments, are you?"

"Me? Never."

John laughed. He reached out to lightly grip the front of Arlo's shirt. "Does this mean I can cuddle with you in bed now?"

"I—I suppose."

John grinned and tugged Arlo towards the bed. They tumbled under the covers, and John immediately wrapped his arms around Arlo, spooning him.

"In all seriousness," John said quietly, "I hope I can help you deal with everything better."

Arlo closed his eyes, feeling safe and comfortable. "You already do."

Chapter Text

John awoke, pleasantly surprised to find his arms cradled around Arlo. The two of them had shifted during sleep, but much like that time under the gazebo, their limbs had entangled. At least it was on purpose this time.

John pressed a soft kiss to the back of Arlo's neck. Because he wanted to, and because he could. It was incredible, being able to do that whenever he wanted, now. He was going to take full advantage of that fact.

Arlo stirred, slowly turning over to face John. There was a complicated expression on his face, which was fair, considering the two drastically different things that had happened yesterday.

"Hey," Arlo said.

"Hey," John replied. "Are you okay?"

"It was a lot to process, but I feel a bit better. Last night wasn't... entirely unpleasant."

John grinned. "Oh, really? I wonder who's responsible for that."

"Don't be so full of yourself," Arlo said flatly, but his lips quirked into a smirk. "Come on, get off me. I have to get dressed for school."

John begrudgingly extricated himself, sliding to the edge of the bed so he could better sit up and watch Arlo change. Arlo, however, didn't seem to have the same idea; after he grabbed his clothes, he started for the bathroom.

"Aw, aren't you gonna strip for me?" John whined, using his best puppy-dog eyes.

"Don't be vulgar," Arlo scolded, his tone a stark contrast to his blushing face.

John grinned again. "Sorry."

Arlo rolled his eyes, then turned and locked himself in the bathroom.

Ah well, it was worth a shot.

After Arlo finished his morning routine, they left the bedroom and saw Kassandra sleeping on the couch. John was a bit shocked and abashed, but Arlo looked touched. They walked past her into the kitchen, and Arlo rummaged through the fridge.

John peeked over Arlo's shoulder and saw the assortment of ingredients lined up on the shelves. "Are you gonna make her breakfast?"

"It's the least I can do for her," Arlo said, taking out an egg carton. "Want to help?"

"Uh... I'm not the best—"

"Surely you can make bacon and eggs."

"Oh, well, sure."

As the food crackled on the stove, the two of them fell into an easy conversation about nothing in particular. It felt homely and domestic, something John would've never associated with Arlo. He could almost imagine this happening every morning.

"So are we, like, boyfriends?" John asked, apropos of nothing.

Arlo paused. "Yes," he decided.

John beamed. He leaned over for a kiss, trapping Arlo against the counter. Arlo reciprocated immediately, his hands gripping the back of John’s shirt as the kiss deepened.

"Well, good morning, boys."

John stumbled back, nearly tripping over his own feet. He glanced at Arlo, whose face must’ve been just as red as his own, then turned sheepishly to Kassandra. She was grinning.

“How are you feeling, Arlo?”

Arlo cleared his throat and busied himself with flipping the bacon. "I’m feeling better. Thanks for being there for me, Kass.”

Kassandra waved her hand. "It'd be irresponsible not to. Besides, I'm sure John was very helpful, too."

John coughed. "I'm not sure what you mean."

She chuckled. "Don’t worry about it, it’s none of my business. I’m glad you two are happy."

They had breakfast together and then separated. John and Arlo made their way back to the dorms, and this time Blyke didn’t even question it. He just kind of sighed and went back to brushing his teeth.

During the morning classes, John felt like he was floating. He couldn’t stop smiling, couldn’t stop thinking about how lovely Arlo was. Even the boring lectures of the day didn’t dampen his mood.

It was still the middle of class when the loudspeaker crackled awake. "Attention, all students! Please report to the auditorium! We have some important announcements to share!"

In the rush to the auditorium, John looked over the heads to find his tall blond friend—no, boyfriend—and snagged a seat next to him. He pecked Arlo on the cheek before anyone could notice. Arlo pretended not to react, but John knew it had an effect.

At that moment, a severe looking, older woman with lavender hair walked onto stage. She stood at the podium with a smile that was too corporate to be genuine.

"Good morning, everyone! It's wonderful to see so many fresh faces. My name is Madame Sylvia."

Her speech went on for a while, detailing all the changes she was going to make to Wellston. It didn’t sound good, to put it lightly. It was safe to say that John’s good mood was ruined.

"Let's all work together to make Wellston a wonderful place and restore it to the powerhouse it once was! Meeting dismissed."

Arlo stood abruptly. John scrambled up to follow him out of the auditorium. "Arlo... What does this mean for us?"

"Ultimately, it means nothing. Keep your eyes on the goal."

The goal… what was his goal? John had been so focused on the present that he hadn’t thought about the future. He thought maybe his goal was to support his friends: Arlo and Sera both wanted to bring about change. He could act as a sleeper agent and be ready to help if needed.

In his musings, he hadn’t noticed that Arlo had whispered something to the trio. He watched as they sped away down the hall and out of sight.

"What's going on with them?" John asked.

"Nothing you need to worry about. Just get back to class."

"Er... okay."

Arlo was being weird. John gave him another look before heading back to his classroom. It wasn’t long before people started realizing hordes of authorities were standing guard outside the building.

A loud boom sounded out from across the school. People started running, the teacher trying helplessly to get people to evacuate in an orderly fashion.

John didn’t investigate. He stayed with the crowd and followed them to the main entrance, where they were collecting students. He was curious about what was going on—did it have to do with the trio?—but he knew this wasn’t his fight. He stayed where he was.

There was no time to play the long game. Arlo shoved all his silly happy feelings in the recesses of his mind so that he could concentrate on what was happening in front of him. John would be waiting for him.

Arlo had convinced Farrah to give him a vest and a walkie-talkie, and now he was running around trying to get rid of as many officers as possible. Using the information they gave him to triangulate where the trio was, he turned the corner and saw the three of them blocked off by officers. Blyke and Remi were attempting to blast through the combined shield of the maybe five officers but not having much luck.

Arlo raised his hand and sent out his barrier from the side, hitting the officers and slamming them unconscious into the wall. The trio looked up in weary surprise.

"Arlo! You decided to help after all!" Remi exclaimed.

Arlo nodded stiffly. "You need to get out of here."

"We’re trying," Isen said, "but these cops are everywhere."

"Then I’ll come with you. Let’s go."

Was this going to ruin his chances with the Bureau? Maybe, but he didn't really have a choice if he wanted the trio to get out. He'd figure something out.

The four of them started running down the hallway. With Arlo’s help, they were able to overpower the various groups that managed to find them. They rushed down stairs, used Isen’s ability to avoid anyone they could, and went for the exit. It was right in sight, when—

Farrah appeared. Her eyes locked onto Arlo. "How disappointing. To think you would turn out to be a traitor."

Her hands burst into flames. Suddenly it was obvious why her voice had sounded familiar—she was an EMBER agent he’d seen on the tapes the trio had taken.

"I could say the same to you," Arlo said. He preemptively summoned a barrier around himself and the trio. "The people would be devastated to find out that EMBER was hidden among the Bureau all along."

"I see..." Farrah said with a shake of her head. "So instead of coming to the Bureau for answers, you've decided to side with these outlaws. I really took you for someone with more sense than that." Lightning crackled around her as she readied her stance. "None of you are leaving here today!"

Arlo raised his hand and sent out another barrier, but Farrah jumped clean over it. She slashed at his defensive barrier, cracking it. Arlo coughed, feeling blood trickle out of his mouth. Just then, Blyke and Remi sent out their combined attack. It forced Farrah to jump to evade it, but Arlo was ready. He sent out another barrier that took her by surprise and slammed her into the wall.

"Did we get her?" Remi asked as they stared at Farrah in uneasy anticipation.

Farrah stirred, and then she slowly rose. She was regenerating.

"How do we get away if she can keep healing up our damage?" Isen asked desperately.

Just then, a horde of officers rounded the corner, coming at them from the opposite side of Farrah. They must’ve heard all the commotion and figured out their position. Arlo thought Farrah would depower and go back to her original ability, but she didn’t. The officers looked confused at her flaming claws, but they were professional enough not to stop their assault because of it.

"We're not going to be able to escape at this rate," Arlo said through clenched teeth.

Blyke tsked. "Then we'll just have to make our own exit!"

He powered up a beam and blasted a huge hole in the wall. Remi looked outside and called out to the rest of them. "I'll clear the landing!"

"We'll be right behind you," Blyke said. "I'm gonna get these guys off Arlo."

Remi jumped out, and Arlo heard the loud crackle of electricity as she crashed onto the pavement and electrocuted anyone in her way. Isen followed her, but at that point Arlo was more concerned with what was happening in front of him. The officers kept attacking his barrier, leaving no room to let up. He wasn't able to move because he had to concentrate on keeping the barrier up.

The hall lit up as Blyke summoned a blast of energy that sent the wave of officers flying back. Arlo heard Blyke send out another two beams, but then—

Farrah slashed at the barrier. It cracked completely, and Arlo felt something inside him break. He barely registered Blyke swearing and trying to get his attention as he suddenly felt incredibly sleepy…

The last John had heard, the trio had gotten out alive and managed to escape somewhere safe. Of course, the news didn’t depict it like that, but John got the gist. Arlo, however…

That idiot! Arlo had spent all this time and energy telling John to lay low, to not let the authorities know what they’re up to. Yet, he’d gone and exposed himself as a traitor. Hypocrite, much? Of course… if he hadn’t helped the trio, there was no telling if they would’ve been able to escape… but it was the principle of the thing!

The official story was bullshit, of course. The news made it seem like Arlo was on the side of the authorities the entire time, but John didn’t believe it for a second. Arlo had obviously helped the trio escape but got caught in the process. That led to him leaving the school for some reason, abandoning John with no text, no call, no nothing. John couldn’t think of a reason why Arlo would just ghost him, but it had to have something to do with the authorities. John refused to believe otherwise.

So, as soon as he was able, John sped over to Arlo’s apartment. He knocked, waiting a few anxious seconds before the door opened. Arlo looked at John like he was a stranger, but John tried not to put too much stock into it.

"Arlo! Where have you been? Why did you leave school? Why haven't you been answering my calls?"

Arlo raised an eyebrow. "I didn't realize I owed you anything."

John felt like he'd been punched, like that time Zeke had beat his ass outside the dorms. "Don't be stupid. You're my—!" John swallowed. The word boyfriend was stuck in his throat. He didn't know why.

"Look, I don't have time for this. I have to go to work."

Arlo tried to push his way past John, but John didn't budge.

"What's going on with you, Arlo? Why are you being like this?"

"I really have no idea what you're talking about. We're not even friends."

John's stomach dropped. "What... What do you mean?"

"Don't act so surprised. We've barely had a conversation together."

"Do you really not remember?" John asked desperately. "What about all those times you told me you wanted to stop high-tiers abusing their power? That you believed the powerless can be talented, too?"

"Don't spout that ridiculous nonsense. Get out of my way."

John reached inside his shirt and yanked out the yellow necklace Arlo had given him all those weeks ago. He held it up in front of Arlo's face. "What about this?"

There was absolutely no recognition in those eyes. Something inside John broke.

"I'm not sure what this is, but I really do have to get to work now. Don't come to my apartment again."

This time, John let Arlo go. He stared hopelessly at Arlo's retreating figure. Everything that they'd done together, from their late-night talks to their lively banter, was gone.

Arlo didn't remember him.