James picked up your call on the third ring. "(Y/n)! You okay? I thought I said I would call you when I got off?"

"Hi, Jamie. I uh... yeah, I'm fine. Currently. I just..." you sighed deeply, not yet fully prepared for James to freak out on you.

"Is it Rowan? Did he show up today or try to take you? I swear to God if you're just telling me now-"

"Okay chill. And.... mmm... I don't know...? There was a guy."

"A guy?"

"Yes!" you chuckled nervously. "Exactly. And he was... vaguely... Rowan-esque, one could say. So..."

Your unsure reply was met with silence for a few seconds and then a sound of rushing wind. Great. The call was dropped as you heard a key fiddling with your door, and then the door subsequently opening. There stood a windswept James in casual clothing holding the spare key you gave him years ago.

"Well damn. Aren't you like... not supposed to use your powers when you aren't in uniform and working? Oh my God- maybe you're the villain I should be worried about..." you joked tensely. Big mistake, judging by the way he was literally shaking with anger as he shut your door behind him and locked it.

"Don't fuck around right now, (Y/n). Christ. I decide my own hours so I'm on the clock. I have nothing to worry about. You on the other hand..."

"Jamie, please. I don't know if it even was him. I just thought to tell you in case. I can't say I didn't expect you to come." You gestured for him to take a seat at your tiny table where his food sat hot and ready for him. "So just ask away- let's figure this out together so I can go to bed."

James rolled his eyes at your nonchalance and took his seat. You sat down as well and began to eat, praying the night wouldn't devolve into another fight concerning your safety.

"So what led you to believe this guy could be Rowan?"

"Well, obviously I can't say if it was him for sure based on his face, but this guy did have similar eyes. He was also kind of fine though, which I doubt Rowan could possibly be since-"

"I didn't ask if he was hot, (Y/n). Take this seriously."

Your brow shot up at his annoyed remark. He also looked more irritated than you thought was warranted at your comment, but with a dismissive shake of your head, you continued. "Sorry. Anyways, he said his name was 'Oakley'? So Oakley seemed like a normal enough guy at first, but he was being really weird and super flirty with me. And not that I don't feel flattered when attractive people hit on me- but he was not taking no for an answer." James looked pleased that you rejected him, and you had to suppress an eye-roll at the smug expression. "It was super frustrating, and was very reminiscent of how Rowan was with me. So-"

"Wait- Rowan hit on you?" James asked dubiously, and you felt your temper start to flare.

"Jamie! You've gotta stop acting like it's impossible for people to find me attractive! It's getting old real quick. And you literally just said that you didn't wanna talk about this shit and to focus on the main point! C'mon, man."

"Jesus, (Y/n)," he scoffed. "I'm just trying to help here. I don't need you getting hostile when I'm just asking questions to understand the job better."

You narrowed your eyes. "I already told you that he was hitting on me the night you picked me up from the diner. Why is it a big deal now?"

A flash of uncertainty crossed your friend's face for a moment as if he didn't even know why he was asking before it returned to its previous expression of frustration. "You're not always gonna understand my line of questioning because you're not a hero. I just- I need you to cooperate so we can figure out if it was Rowan so I can keep you safe. Okay?"

"Bullshit. You've been acting weird these past few days every time you hear or see someone showing interest in me. Why?"

For a second you wondered if it was jealousy. If after so many years of nothing, he was finally seeing you as someone besides his and his little sister's best friend. His next words shattered any hope of that, but it was fun to dream every once in a while.

"Because you're my baby sister's best friend and I don't want either of you getting hurt," he spat.

His voice wavered as he spoke, but you couldn't bring yourself to acknowledge his uncertainty in the face of your own hurt feelings. Did he seriously just see you as that? Maybe you were too hopeful to think he saw you romantically, but you at least thought he saw you as his best friend now too, not only his sister's.

It was safe to say you'd lost your appetite, so you pushed your plate away with a soft sigh.

"Okay. I'm sorry, Jamie," you said quietly, unsure exactly why you were apologizing but too deflated to think of a different response. "Let's just- can we wrap this up so I can go to bed? I don't feel great."

"What? Since when? Are you okay?" His brows pinched together in concern, but you averted your gaze from his. "I'm sorry for getting so upset with you, you know it's just cause I care so much, and-"

"It's fine, James." He looked hurt that you dropped the childhood nickname, but a part of you wanted him to feel a fraction of the pain you were feeling after his casual demotion of your relationship with him. "So, um, anyways, Oakley said a phrase that Rowan said to me that day he took me. And he asked me questions about superhumans and morality that reminded me of Rowan. Then Angel stopped by and Oakley left. I didn't ask if Angel recognized him because I forgot, sorry."

Your voice felt flat and emotionless even to you, but you knew James wouldn't address it. He was never great with bigger, more complex emotions- especially negative ones.

"Are you... (Y/n), I didn't mean it like that... I didn't- sorry." You looked up to him hopefully, deflating again when he cleared his throat and shoved past his almost apology. "So that's why you think it could be him, huh?"

"Yep," you responded with a short nod, not venturing to look him in the eyes.

"Um.. yeah, okay. This is good intel, I can see why you would think they're similar. Angel wouldn't have recognized him unless he's seen him on TV or online because they've never met before, but I think I'll ask the sidekicks tomorrow and see which of them would like to monitor your shop for a while." You opened your mouth to protest but he continued. "Just go with me and be mature about this, (Y/n). I know you think you're invincible and don't need it, but it's not just for you. It's for your employees, customers, and neighbors- who sometimes I fear you value more than yourself. I'm not even asking you to move in with me right now so this should be a fair compromise."

Frustratingly, he made a valid point. Even if you didn't want protection over yourself, you would never forgive yourself if you put your community in a potentially dangerous situation.

"Okay. Sure," you conceded. "If Oakley comes by again I'll shoot you a text. I'm gonna head to bed now so you can just see yourself out. Goodnight."

You stood and grabbed your dishes to place them in the sink. James didn't move to leave, simply sitting at the table silently. You fought back tears as you ran your dishes under hot water, trying to keep yourself together until he finally left. You moved to walk towards your room when you were done, but Jamie clamped onto your wrist as he sat in his seat.

"(Y/n), wait."

"What?" you asked as you looked down at him, searching his unreadable expression. You weren't hoping for a love confession this time, but rather for him to simply apologize for insinuating that he didn't see you as the best friend you thought you were to him. For him to say you weren't just his little sister's friend. For him to tell you he didn't feel obligated to be your friend solely because of her. Anything.

"Stay safe."

Anything but that.

You didn't even bother responding, simply walking away and closing the door to your room behind you, before crashing onto your bed. A few minutes later you heard your front door close and lock. You couldn't even find relief in your tears now that he was gone, having kept them in for so long that they'd dried up, leaving the heaviness in your heart with nowhere to go.

Well, you could always try to talk it out with someone else. So you pulled out your phone and called up the only person who knew you just as well as James: his younger sister Sarah. Sarah and her husband were the only people who knew your true relationship with 'Megistos,' and they were also the only ones who knew of your feelings for the man behind the mask. Unfortunately, she lived a few cities away from you now, so you didn't get to spend as much time with her as you did with James. She was an extremely busy reporter and journalist for a big news station too, so the calls you could manage were few and far between. That being said, your friendship never wavered significantly, and as you both grew into yourselves you also grew alongside each other.

You pulled up her contact on the phone and smiled faintly at her contact photo: you, her, and James when you were all little, looking sunkissed at some summer festival. The bliss in the picture felt bittersweet in the context of your recent strain with James, so you were quick to press the face chat icon to minimize the photo. The screen didn't offer the reprieve you'd hoped for though, since now you were forced to stare at your sorrowful expression and red eyes you hoped to God that James hadn't noticed earlier. Sarah so graciously picked up a few seconds later before you could start overthinking too hard, and you tried a small smile.

"Hey, babes, what's up?" she questioned as her bright green eyes analyzed your face beneath thick false lashes, and the smile on her slightly faded red lips slowly dropped as she took you in. Her slightly frizzy, curled brown locks and the fact that she had yet to take off her makeup yet told you she'd likely just returned home from work, but she was still stunning. It was no wonder her husband had first fallen for her, and her mature, witty personality had only sealed the deal. Her fiery spirit probably hadn't hurt either, revealing itself now as her face hardened into something fierce and unnerving. "Who hurt you? If you tell Jamie he'll beat them up for you and then I'll drive over and beat them up myself. Benny'll jump in too- we'll all tag team it."

"Jamie literally cannot do that- he's a hero, Sarah," you chuckled weakly.

"Whatever-"

"And also he can't cause... well..." you trailed off as you mentally recalled how he had hurt your feelings tonight, and Sarah's eyes widened.

"He's the one who hurt you, then. God- what did the man do this time? It's gotta be worse than the normal dumbassery if it made you cry."

"I didn't cry!" you denied quickly, and she sent you a skeptical stare. "I almost cried. And he just... he's been really weird lately so I confronted him and he told me that he only sees me as your friend and that's why he cares so much about me. And, no- this isn't making me upset because he basically rejected me. That's probably part of it, but I'm more hurt that he doesn't even think of me as his friend. Like, I really value being close to him because of him, not just because of you. And it's rough to hear that he feels differently."

Her face seemed to drop more and more after every word, and she let out a groan once you finished. "He's such an idiot, why would he say that? That makes zero sense. I need more context- how did this all come up and how has he been weird?"

"Are you sure you have time? If you wanna shower and have a peaceful end to your day I get it- this is a lot." You secretly hoped she would stay on the call with you, but you did mean what you said.

She rolled her eyes at you as if the idea that you were at all 'a lot' was insane to her. "Please. Benny and I were just gonna have a chill night watching TV. He knows better than to come in between me and my wife. The floor is yours, babe."

She winked at you playfully and you broke into a soft smile at her words.

You proceeded to tell her everything, yapping for far longer than you'd anticipated. It wasn't like you were just rambling on about nothing though- your last call happened about a week before your kidnapping, so you had quite a bit of ground to cover. You told her about the whole kidnapping fiasco and flirtation from Rowan, about Angel's weird attachment to you as well as his strange advances, and about how excessively protective James had been since it all happened. You then informed her of the odd ways in which James had reacted to any and everything regarding your love life lately, and you finally concluded your rant by telling her about the conversation you just had with the man. It was a lot, but it felt good to just get it all out.

At some point in the call Benny, Sarah's husband, shoved his head into the frame and he listened as well. He didn't know you quite as well as Sarah or James had (mostly since he hadn't grown up with you all), but he loved you just as much and he was equally invested in your whirlwind of a storytime. Both of them remained silent as they listened to you, only giving soft hums of acknowledgment and slight gasps when you said something unexpected- the perfect captive audience.

When you finished speaking you looked down at your phone to see both of them sharing a look that you were unable to read. You felt a small pang of jealousy at the interaction, wondering if you'd ever know someone so intimately that you'd be able to communicate wordlessly with quick glances like them, though you couldn't ever stay mad at the two so you shrugged off the short bout of envy with a light smile. You then cleared your throat, asking to be clued into their silent exchange, and their heads snapped back towards her phone as though they'd been caught, making you giggle.

"This is... a lot," Benny stated tentatively.

Your face dropped down with a groan. "I told you it was a lot, Sarah. Man... now I feel bad."

Sarah whacked her spouse and cursed him out quietly before turning back to the camera with a sympathetic smile. "Don't listen to him he's just- I mean that was a lot. Not in a bad way though! Jamie told me a while back that you had an incident with a villain that scared him half to death but not that it was with Rowan. That's pretty insane. Are you doing okay?"

"Yeah- I mean- I think so?" you ventured unsurely before elaborating. "It was obviously scary to be held hostage and I've been a bit jumpy lately, I guess. But he was seriously so non-threatening to me for some reason. Like I just knew he wouldn't actually hurt me."

"I don't know, he's pretty notorious for not caring about death tolls when he practices villainy... you sound a bit too casual about this, babe."

"You sound just like Jamie," you grumbled.

"Well, we are related," she deadpanned. "We'll talk more about your bad self-preservation skills later, for now though- I have no clue what's going on in that dumbass I call a brother's head. It sounded like he was jealous up until the whole 'you're just my sister's friend' bit. I wish I was there to see his face and hear his tone."

"I wasn't focused on either because I was trying not to cry, but in the future, I'll pay better attention," you joked dryly, and the couple winced at your pained expression.

"Well, he's a dick for saying it regardless of intention. Listen, he may have said that he sees you that way to you, but every time he talks to me he's always bragging about how you're his best friend now more than mine these days. So something's gotta be up."

Your mood perked up a little at that information. "That's actually kinda reassuring. What do you think I should do though?"

Benny spoke up this time with a wide smile. "Confess! Tell him how you feel! I've seen how he looks at you- especially at the wedding! I think he likes you and he's not sure how to go about it so he just spurted out nonsense that he thinks makes sense but actually made no sense!"

You blinked at the camera in disbelief at his horrendous advice. "I'm not gonna do that. I am literally never going to do that."

"Why?" the couple blurted in unison.

"I just can't. You guys both know how seriously Jamie takes his job. When we were younger I remember him telling me how he never wanted to seriously date anyone cause it would be putting them in danger. He dates for fun occasionally but it's never anything serious, and I could never do that. I want something solid with him. Not that he even likes me in the first place- but still. It would never work."

Sarah frowned, giving Benny another look you were unable to decipher. "I didn't even know that he told you that. I'm so sorry, babe. I always wondered why you never tried anything with him, but that would definitely explain it."

"Yeah," Benny agreed solemnly. "And I take back what I said earlier, too. Do not confess. In fact, I think you should try to get over him entirely. With all due respect to my brother-in-law, that's total bullshit. Plenty of heroes have partners and spouses! Even anonymous ones! So to me, he sounds like a coward. I still think he likes you, but I also think you deserve someone who isn't afraid to call you theirs. Besides... the way he's saying people have to live up to his standards to date you is brother behavior, not boyfriend behavior. Boyfriend behavior would be just... well, just being the one to date you, not the one deciding who you date. Maybe all he's meant to be is your best friend and big brother figure, and that's okay."

"Wow, Benny- surprisingly solid advice from you. You're like some secret dating expert."

"Well, I am a psychologist. But I guess I'm a love expert too. That's how I bagged you!"

"Don't say it like that. You didn't 'bag' me, you..."

You zoned out from their unserious bantering to take in Benny's words. Getting over James? You had honestly never even had the thought. It was always just him for you since you knew what crushes were. But he had a point. If James didn't want to be your committed boyfriend, then you shouldn't keep waiting around for him. You probably weren't ready to just start dating others all of the sudden, but you could try to create a bit of space between you and the hero to help sort out your feelings.

Still, you didn't feel quite ready to just leave these feelings for him behind entirely. The idea was far too daunting when you didn't even know who you were when he wasn't at the center of your universe. You certainly had a lot to consider.

"Hey, guys. Thanks for the advice tonight. I'm gonna think it over some more but maybe I should try to move on."

"Hey, don't let my idiot brother get you too down and in your head, okay?" Sarah smiled. "As much as my inner child wants for you to get together with Jamie and work through this so that we are legally related, I agree with this guy over here and I wouldn't ever want to force something that's unhealthy. Still, I'm gonna talk to him because his behavior is not adding up. But I'm sure eventually it'll be okay!"

You smiled warmly at her reassuring words. "Thanks- both of you. I love you guys."

They shared similar sentiments and sent you sweet smiles before you hung up. Even though you had a lot more to think about after your call, you couldn't deny that talking to the couple had greatly lifted your spirits. You still had to decide if you were going to try to give up on James or not, but at least you knew you had those two on your side.

As you completed your nighttime routine you tried to think about whether or not you really had had enough of pining for your friend, and your mind explored the possibilities of moving on. It honestly would just depend on how James acted around you and if he returned back to normal or if he kept on being the overbearing, inconsiderate person he had been lately. Only time could truly tell.