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hero-deserves-to-be-happy · 6 months

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Double Date [Hero x Brandi and Bebe x Mikhael Fic for OMORI Rare Pair Week 2023]

When Brandi discovers that Bebe and Mikhael have made their relationship official, she asks her friend, Hero, to accompany her on a double date with them in the hopes of convincing her sister to raise her standards. Hero hasn't even thought about dating in years, and though he knows this isn't a "real date," a fun evening out, the company of a good friend, and maybe even a surprisingly deep conversation with Mikhael might just get him thinking that maybe he'll be ready to put himself out there again someday. And, who knows, maybe "someday" might even be closer than he thinks...

Relationships: Hero/Brandi [Intimidating Girl] Developing Relationship and Friendship. Mikhael [The Maverick]/Bebe [Short Hair Girl] Established Relationship. Hero & Mikhael Friendship.

Characters: Hero (POV Character), Brandi [Intimidating Girl], Bebe [Short Haired Girl/Fountain Girl], and Mikhael [The Maverick].

Genre: Slice of Life, Fluff and Humor, Double Date, First Date, Developing Relationship, Heart-To-Heart Chats, Open Ending, Hopeful Ending, Post-Good Ending, Hero Deserves To Be Happy

Rating & Warnings: Rated T for brief depiction of college partying and some mentions of drinking. Implied/Referenced Canonical Character Death. Some OMORI spoilers.

Link to work on AO3. Full text below the cut.

A/N: Thank you so much for supporting our newest contribution to the "Hero Deserves To Be Happy" genre (if that isn't already a genre, it definitely should be)! We think that Hero and Brandi's relationship (whether romantic or platonic) is very underrated and have always been extremely fond of Mikhael x Bebe so we were really excited for the opportunity to write about them for OMORI Rare Pairs Week 2023 hosted by @omorirarepairweek Day 6 Prompt: "Double Date." Thank you for reading! 💙

“Tequila shots?” asked Hero with a concerned expression. Brandi huffed as he took a seat beside her on the rickety metal bench that was one of the only pieces of furniture in the backyard of her sorority house. She quirked an eyebrow at him and his bottled water, then stared him dead in the eyes as she threw back her shot glass.

“I don’t want to hear it tonight, Hero.” As she shook her head, Hero’s face flushed. He hadn’t meant to pry into her business or offer any sort of judgment on her beverage preferences. He had just been a little surprised. Brandi was the one familiar and often the only other mostly-soberface at the wild college parties he often found himself roped into, and while she usually indulged in a beer, a hard lemonade, or a rum and coke, he had never seen her throw back multiple shots of tequila. She always insisted the cheap booze they had at these parties wasn’t worth the headache she’d have the next morning, but he supposed it was none of his business—even if she was his friend and he was worried about her.

Before Hero could begin to apologize, however, Brandi huffed, then shrugged her shoulders. “My sister, Bebe, called earlier—completely ruined my night.”

“Is everything alright?”

“That bozo, Mikhael, finally made it official.” Rolling her eyes, she reached for another shot of tequila from a nearby table.

Hero scratched the back of his neck. “Well…uh…they have been talking for a while, haven’t they?”

“Don’t remind me,” huffed Brandi rolling her eyes. “I guess I was just hoping he’d eventually get bored before he asked her to be his girlfriend.”

Hero sighed. He didn’t know Mikhael very well but from what he had heard from Kel he was so desperate for a relationship that he was actually paying girls to pretend to be interested in him at one point. Hero couldn’t imagine him giving up on a girl who was actually interested in him, but he wouldn’t say that to Brandi.

“I have no idea what she sees in him…” She huffed shaking her head bitterly again. “I’ve tried to tell her he’s bad news, but she never listens to me.”

“Well…you know…the Hooligans aren’t really that dangerous, if that’s what you’re worried about,” Hero tried to reassure her with a gentle smile. “Sure they mildly inconvenience people and engage in some petty theft, a little vandalism, and some bullying, but they’re not hardened criminals or anything like that so I’m sure Bebe is safe—”

“Yeah, I know they’re pathetic,” Brandi interrupted. “It’s not about that. It’s about Mikhael being a moron—running around town in that stupid wig, calling himself ‘the Maverick,’ and acting like he’s in Dragon Ball Z.”

Hero chuckled awkwardly. “Well…uh…it’s good have hobbies…and…you know, maybe he’s just…spirited…?” His voice hitched at the end of his sentence, as if he wasn’t entirely sure himself.

Brandi huffed—raising her eyebrows at him before she replied in her blunt, matter-of-fact way, “You’re too nice for your own good, you know? Sometimes people are just morons. You don’t have to reach to find something positive to say about them.”

“I’m not…reaching…” The crack in Hero’s voice implied otherwise. He had always been a bad liar. “I’m sure Mikhael has lots of good qualities. I mean…Aubrey is friends with him.”

“And does she have anything nice to say about him?”

Hero swallowed hard—his face growing warm. The honest answer was no. Aubrey had nothing but complaints about Mikhael even harsher than the ones Brandi had. “You know, Aubrey is not a very…openly…complimentary…person…” he stumbled, and Brandi just blinked at him with a huff.

“That’s what I thought,” she said shaking her head, but she sighed. “You know, as much as it pains me to admit it, the real problem here is Bebe. If she had higher standards and didn’t want to go out with him, it wouldn’t matter how much of a bozo Mikhael is. But she’s so…trusting and naïve.” Rolling her eyes, Brandi frowned, but Hero’s expression softened. He could tell she was worried about her sister, even if she wouldn’t admit it.

Brandi sighed again. “If I was home, I could keep a better eye on her, but I’m not sure what I can do from here…”

With a tilt of his head, Hero patted Brandi reassuringly on the arm. “I’m sure Bebe will be okay, and you know, even if you were at home, she probably wouldn’t let you tag along on her dates or anything anyway.”

“Yeah…I’d have to go on a double date with her and Mikhael which would be awful.” Brandi stopped abruptly—her brow furrowing, as she tilted her head thoughtfully. “I wonder if that would work. Maybe if Bebe saw me with a guy who was actually decent, she’d realize she should raise the bar. I just don’t know who that would be—it’s been slim pickings out there ever since I broke up with Trent.”

“Well…I have a lot of fraternity brothers who would be happy to go out with you. They think you’re…” Hero stopped—thinking of the best way to clean up his fraternity brothers’ penchant for referring to Brandi as his ‘hot friend.’ He cleared his throat. “Very attractive…”

Brandi shook her head. “No, I don’t date frat guys. I already told you. They’re barely a step up from Mikhael.”

“Okay…but some of them are nice…”

“You don’t count,” Brandi interjected with a pointed stare. Hero blushed. He hadn’t been talking about himself. “You’re not a frat guy—you’re a den mother. They just keep you around to do the cooking and cleaning and laundry.”

Hero supposed this was all true. He had basically been begged to join that fraternity, and ever since had been giving his fraternity brothers kind and helpful lessons about how to prevent their house from once again turning into a toxic wasteland. In exchange for teaching them how to wash windows, use fabric softener, and cook food that wasn’t instant ramen, they had affectionately given him the nickname “Mama.” He decided it would be best not to tell Brandi about that, but from the look she was giving him now, he was sure she already knew.

“What about a pre-med major? I have some friends in my classes I could ask. Steven is a really nice guy, and I think he’s here tonight actually…”

Brandi blinked at him, then asked with a blunt, matter-of-factness. “Is Steven the guy currently choking on that beer bong?”

With a roll of her eyes, Brandi tilted her head towards the far corner of the yard where, sure enough, Steven was surrounded by a rowdy group of cheering people guzzling copious amounts of alcohol from a neon beer bong.

Hero sighed. “You know, he’s actually very smart and very polite…when he’s…not drunk…”

“I’m sure,” quipped Brandi, before she shook her head again. “Listen Hero. The goal here is to get Bebe to raise her standards. Drunk party guys are not going to cut it.” She sighed. “I’d need to take someone like you. You’re the nicest guy I know. If I showed up with someone like that, then maybe she’d start thinking she could do better, but that’s not going to happen if I show up with beer bong boy.”

Hero swallowed hard, and his face flushed red. “You…you want to take me? I…I don’t know…” he stumbled, but thankfully she cut him off.

“It’s okay. I wasn’t going to ask. I figured it would be insensitive all things considered. I know you’re not ready to put yourself back out there.”

She paused, and Hero fidgeted with his hands. He wasn’t sure if it was more that Brandi knew him so well or if he was just obvious about it.

“Um…it’s not…I mean it is…but I just meant…” With a heavy sigh, he stopped—running a hand through his unruly hair. “I haven’t been on a date since I was 15. I think I’d be terrible company.”

“Eh,” shrugged Brandi dryly. “Something tells me you’d be better than at least half the first dates I’ve ever been on. I’ve been on some pretty bad dates.” Brandi laughed, and Hero tried his best to stifle a chuckle behind his hand. He felt guilty for laughing. “But I get it. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable. I know you don’t feel right about dating anyone when you still…” She stopped abruptly, but Hero nodded. She didn’t have to finish that sentence. It was no secret he really hadn’t been interested in dating at all since Mari… It just didn’t feel fair to her, to her memory, and to whoever Hero could be with. They all deserved better. He swallowed hard. Maybe someday he’d be ready to put himself back out there, but he wasn’t there yet.

“I mean I hope you’ll put yourself back out there someday…” Brandi continued with a shrug of her shoulders. “If not for yourself then for the sake of the world and all the women out there desperate for decent men,”—she chuckled dryly—“but I just don’t think this is the way to do it. I mean, it wouldn’t be real, and”—she grimaced, gritting her teeth—“Mikhael would be there.”

As Brandi rolled her eyes, Hero stifled another laugh, but his brow furrowed thoughtfully and he tilted his head. “It…it really wouldn’t be real?”

“No, of course not.” She waved her hand dismissively. “We go out to dinner all the time. It would be just like that.”

“But Mikhael and Bebe would think we were dating…Do you really think they’d believe that?”

“Bebe believes Mikhael was in Top Gun,” quipped Brandi. “He was a toddler when that movie came out.”

A slight smile tugged at Hero’s mouth in spite of himself, but he bit his lip. “I just don’t feel right lying to them.”

Brandi shrugged with a lopsided smile. “You don’t have to. It’s not lying if you just leave out some information, and if someone runs with the information they do have, then that’s their problem.”

Hero chuckled and gently teased, “You’re going to be an awesome lawyer.”

“I know,” laughed Brandi playfully bumping him with her elbow, but she tilted her head at him. “You’re really considering it, huh?”

Though his face flushed, Hero somehow managed a nod. “You’re…one of my best friends, I…um…I want to help.”

Brandi’s expression softened, and she playfully ruffled his hair. “You’re really sweet, you know that?” Hero’s blush deepened. “Tell you what: if you agree to do this for me, we can take my car back to Faraway Town for the weekend and I’ll pay for all the gas and everything. You’ll get to see your family and your friends, and you’ll miss out on that awful keg party your frat is hosting. There’s a couple of unpleasant hours with Mikhael, but we’ll pick a good restaurant so hopefully the food will be worth it. Then we come back here and carry on like nothing ever happened—what do you say?”

Hero took a deep breath, but a smile twitched in the corners of his mouth as he met Brandi’s eyes. “Okay,” he said. “I’m in.”

*-*-*

“And then I said, ‘No. No, Mr. Mayor you don’t have to give me the key to the city. It was all in day’s work for I, The Maverick…” Mikhael flipped his hair—upsetting his wig which he swiftly readjusted, shifting in place in his booth at the nicest economically-priced Italian restaurant in Faraway Town. It had been difficult to pick a restaurant in Mikhael’s price range after Brandi had staunchly ruled out Gino’s—which Hero, somewhat guiltily, suspected she had done for his sake knowing that he had taken Mari there on their first date years ago. Hero appreciated her sensitivity but felt guilty for making things more difficult for everyone. After all, Hero supposed it didn’t really matter where they went—it was going to feel strange going out anywhere after all this time and after everything that had happened. Even though he knew it wasn’t a real date, Hero had been worried about it for days and spent far too long trying to pick out his clothes and get ready. He even picked up a potted plant for Brandi to be polite—an orchid which Basil had assured him was low-maintenance. Hero supposed that suited her best. She had always been so independent, strong, and self-reliant. Plus, he thought with a slight flush in his cheeks, it was pretty like her.

Hero cleared his throat pushing the thought away and turning his attention instead to Bebe who was staring at Mikhael positively enraptured. Despite what Brandi said, Hero honestly thought it was kind of sweet how smitten Bebe was with Mikhael. She was perhaps a little infatuated and misguided, but she was sincere and Hero could tell she thought the world of him. How Mikhael felt about Bebe, however, had yet to be seen and was likely the real problem.

“Wow!” she sighed wistfully. “You’re so amazing, the Maverick.”

“I know,” he hummed with a somewhat smug grin.

Brandi pressed her hand to her forehead and shook her head—rolling her eyes for what had to be the twentieth time that night. Hero sighed. It had only been half an hour. Their food hadn’t even arrived yet.

She shot Hero an exasperated look as she reached for her nearly empty glass of wine. “Regretting your decision to agree to this yet?” she quipped through her teeth. Hero stifled a laugh, but he shook his head.

Surprisingly enough, if he was being honest, Hero was actually having a really nice night so far, but he didn’t think it was the right time to tell Brandi that. Perhaps he never would, but he did sheepishly admit, “No.”

“I suppose it is better than that keg party…” Brandi twisted her mouth to one side, and Hero shrugged—his brow furrowing.

“I hope my fraternity’s okay. I made a bunch of food before I left and cleaned up the house and did everyone’s laundry. I even left some emergency numbers on the fridge and twenty bucks.”

“You’re such a mom,” Brandi teased. “You know they’re just going to use that money to buy beer.”

Hero sighed. “I left them a note asking them please not to use the money for alcohol.”

“Oh, a note. That’ll stop them,” Brandi replied with a dry sarcasm. With a slight shake of his head, Hero sighed again.

“Don’t worry about them. They’ll be fine. And who knows, it might be good for one of them to pass out on the lawn. Some lessons they need to learn the hard way, and if they trash the house, you make them clean it up—okay, Mama?” She shot him a lopsided grin, and Hero tried his best not to laugh.

“Brandi…” he began to protest, but she interrupted—pointing her finger at him.

“It’s like I always say—they can’t treat you like a doormat if you don’t let them. Saying ‘no’ every once and a while isn’t going to kill you. I say it all the time.”

“Most of the time,” teased Bebe, and Brandi rolled her eyes.

“Nice to see you’re acknowledging I exist,” she quipped as Mikhael continued to ramble on about “spirit bombs” and his “true form” or something.

“Of course, I acknowledge you. Just because I have a boyfriend now, doesn’t mean you’re not still my sister. You have a boyfriend too—you know what it’s like. You’re not going to forget about me just because you’re with Hero now, right?”

Hero’s face flushed—unsure of what to say and still very uncomfortable at the prospect of lying to Bebe. Future-lawyer, Brandi on the other hand jumped in immediately, “There isn’t a guy in the world that would make me forget about you, okay?”

“Okay but do you think there’s anyone who could make my sister forget about me?” Mikhael interrupted. “And my brother too?”

“Why do you want your siblings to forget about you?” asked Hero in concerned confusion.

Mikhael dramatically leaned across the table motioning for them all to come closer then he whispered, “Because they’re evil.”

“Evil?” scoffed Brandi. “How are they evil?”

“They always want to spend time with me, and they’re always asking me all these questions—trying to keep tabs on me so they can report back to my nemesis and help him thwart my plans. And they keep wanting to play evil hide-and-seek.”

“Hide and Seek?” Brandi repeated with an exasperated expression.

“Evil hide-and-seek,” Mikhael forcefully corrected.

With a bitter shake of her head, Brandi reached for her wine. “I know I’m going to regret asking this, but how exactly is hide-and-seek evil?”

“Well, they’ve got these cardboard cutouts of themselves, and they hide them all around the house which makes them really hard to find. It’s horrible.”

Bebe wrapped her arm around him. “That sounds really awful, but Daphne and Bowen are so nice, maybe if you talk to them and tell them you don’t want to play anymore, they’ll understand.”

“I can’t talk to them!” exclaimed Mikhael so loudly that several people in the nearby booths turned to look at them. “They have spies everywhere, and they’ll just use what I say against me. I’m telling you—they are in league with the enemy. Your sister is too.”

“What?” Brandi asked, rolling her eyes.

Mikhael frowned, clinching his fist. “Don’t think I don’t know what’s going on here. You’ve brought my nemesis’s brother down here to spy on me. Well it’s not going to work!” Hero jumped backward in surprise as Mikhael jabbed his finger at his face. “I’m not going to tell you anything. So there!”

“I…I don’t understand…” stumbled Hero.

“Oh my gosh, Mikhael, grow up!” huffed Brandi. “No one is here to spy on you. This is just a date. I can’t believe you actually have a date, but since you do, calm down, put your big boy pants on and stop acting like a toddler.”

“I—I know!” chimed in Bebe in a shaky attempt to diffuse the tension. “What if we ordered this chocolate cake? It looks good right? And everybody likes chocolate cake.”

As Bebe held up the little advertisement set up on their table, Hero watched as Mikhael’s face fell just for a moment and he mumbled, “I…I…uh…” Then he stopped abruptly—letting out a melodramatic gasp and declaring far too loudly for a restaurant, “That cake could be poisoned! We can never be too careful.”

Bebe stared down at her hands. “Oh…” she said quietly. “Okay…”

“For goodness sakes, Mikhael, the cake isn’t poisoned,” hissed Brandi before turning to Bebe. “Don’t worry. I’ll buy you the cake, Bebe.”

“No…um…thank you, but it’s okay. I didn’t really want any anyway.” Bebe paused and sighed before standing up from the table. “I…um…have to go to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”

As Hero watched her go and watched Brandi get up from the table and chase after her sister, he also wished he had an exit strategy. Unfortunately, he did not and was left in heavy, awkward silence with Mikhael.

By the time their waiter came with their food, Hero had forgotten how long he had been sitting there in the heavy silence, swirling his straw around in his drink. He practically jumped at the chance to help the waiter pass out the plates of food, thankful Brandi and Bebe were still in the bathroom so he had something to do to make himself useful.

He was so busy setting the table that he almost didn’t hear Mikhael ask in a voice much quieter than any he had used all night, “Hey…uh…how expensive is this cake?” Mikhael reached for the advertisement Bebe had been holding up before, but when the waiter finally revealed the price, he set it back on the table with a somewhat defeated huff.

Hero bit his lip, unsure of what, if anything, he should say. He didn’t feel it was his place to pry especially since he didn’t know Mikhael very well, but he definitely had some sympathy for him, having once been that broke teenager who wanted to treat the girl he liked to something special but couldn’t afford it. It was one of his great regrets that he had never been able to take Mari out anywhere fancier than Gino’s when she had been alive, and he didn’t want Mikhael ever having to have similar regrets about Bebe.

“Hey uh…if you want to get that cake for Bebe—”

“Huh? What are you talking about? I was asking for me,” huffed Mikhael interrupting him, but there was a flush of pink in his cheeks.

“Oh uh…okay…” stumbled Hero, staring intently at his plate. He hadn’t started eating yet, thinking it was more polite to wait until the girls returned. Surprisingly, he noticed Mikhael was waiting as well.

“Bebe’s sister really hates me huh?” he mumbled folding and unfolding his napkin. Hero could tell he was trying and failing to appear nonchalant. “Do you think it’s because of the cake?”

“No,” Hero replied gently, shaking his head. “I think she’s just…worried about Bebe—just being a protective older sister.”

Mikhael frowned but wouldn’t look at him. “My sister loves Bebe. My brother too. They say she’s the best thing that ever happened to me. They always want to invite her over so she can teach her how to bake. She’s pretty good at it—wants to be a pastry chef now.” He paused and grinned then quipped, “I mean, she’s not as good as me but she’s alright.”

A smile tugged at the corners of Hero’s mouth, and his expression softened. “Bebe is a really nice girl, isn’t she?”

Though he tried his best to frown and shrug it off, Hero couldn’t help but notice the slightest flush of red in his face. “Well…yeah…I guess…She’s pretty awesome. Everybody thinks so. And you know…I’m awesome too, but not everybody appreciates that…” His smug smirk faded just a little. “But Bebe does… Brandi doesn’t though—faking a whole relationship just to break us up.”

“Wha—what?” choked Hero, though he was sure his blush had given him away.

“Listen, I’m not stupid. I knew from the first time Bebe mentioned it that it wasn’t real,” Mikhael shrugged. “Aubrey says you’re never going to love again.”

With a heavy sigh, Hero bit his lip. “Aubrey said that?”

“Well…I think what she actually said was that she hopes you put yourself back out there because, you know, you’re like a brother to her or whatever and she wants you to be happy, but she knows you won’t.” Mikhael sighed, twisting his mouth to one side. “But I dunno…maybe she’d think differently if she was here tonight.”

“I doubt it,” Hero chuckled awkwardly. “Aubrey could always tell when I was lying.”

“Yeah, but you’re the only one here who’s actually having fun tonight. That doesn’t sound like someone who’s never gonna date again.”

Hero blushed. It felt strange being called out by Mikhael of all people. He twisted his hands. “It’s…not like that. It’s not real.”

“Dude, you got her an orchid…”

“I was just trying to be nice,” Hero insisted hurriedly. “I…haven’t been on a date in a really long time, and I—” He stopped, realizing only then that he probably didn’t need to explain himself to Mikhael, but Mikhael just tilted his head and shrugged his shoulders.

“You wanna date Brandi for real?”

The idea gave Hero pause, as did the fact that a resonant “no” did not immediately come to mind. The truth was he had never really thought about it. If he was being honest, he supposed up until this point he had agreed with Aubrey that he would probably never love again. He was okay with that, but now… ever since she had brought it up, ever since he was actually out at a restaurant on a date even if it wasn’t real… He just wasn’t sure anymore.

“If you do, you already have an ‘in’ you know?” Mikhael continued. “Brandi hates everybody, but she doesn’t hate you so…there you go.” Mikhael laughed before he took another drink of his water, and Hero sighed.

“She can do better than me.” Hero’s eyes widened. He hadn’t meant to say that aloud. He was half expecting Mikhael to laugh or make fun of him, but Mikhael just stared down at his food.

He muttered so quietly that Hero almost couldn’t hear him, “Like me and Bebe…”

As Hero watched Mikhael hang his head and absentmindedly push his food around his plate, something twisted in his chest.

“No,” he reassured him, shaking his head with a kind smile. “You and Bebe are just fine. Here…” He paused, pulling his wallet out of his pocket and handing a 20 dollar bill to Mikhael. “Why don’t you buy her that cake?”

A wide, smarmy grin spread across Mikhael’s face as he took the money from Hero’s hands. “Sucker,” he muttered with a laugh before flagging down their waiter to order two pieces of chocolate cake.

Hero sighed. He supposed it was to be expected. It was Mikhael after all.

Before anyone could say anything more, however, Brandi and Bebe returned from the bathroom, and Brandi let out a heavy sigh and said, “Look Mikhael, I’m sorry if I came off a little too harsh. I’d like us to get along for the rest of the night.”

Mikhael’s eyes widened in surprise for just a moment, but he laughed and shrugged it off, “I guess, I, the Maverick, can accept your apology.”

Rolling her eyes again, Brandi sighed, but she turned her attention to her food. Hero stopped and smiled at her. She was so bold, so honest. The truth was, he admired that in her—he had learned that tonight.

He had also learned that Mikhael was full of surprises, and it turned out he had one more up his sleeve. When the two chocolate cakes he had ordered arrived, he gave one to Bebe, of course, but the other he gave to Brandi. Mikhael turned to Hero with an almost imperceptible wink as he handed the cake to a very perplexed Brandi and said, “Yours is from Hero.”

*-*-*

As they walked home that evening, Hero and Brandi hung back letting Mikhael and Bebe walk ahead of them, holding hands and laughing together about who knows what. Hero couldn’t help but smile at them. It was nice to see them so happy.

“Mission failed,” huffed Brandi sarcastically, but her mouth twitched in the corners. “Back to the drawing board I guess.”

“I don’t know…Mikhael’s a nice kid, and Bebe seems happy.”

Brandi sighed, playfully poking him in the arm. “What in the world happened when we went to the bathroom? You’re on ‘Team Mikhael’ now?”

“I thought you were on ‘Team Mikhael’ now,” teased Hero. “You did apologize to him. That was really nice of you.”

“Yeah well, after Bebe told me off for being mean, I thought I should probably try to be a little nicer. I’ve been told I’m pretty intimidating.” She laughed—shrugging it off. “I’d say I’m sorry for taking you out for nothing, but you actually seemed to have a good time tonight.”

“I did,” Hero admitted with a slight smile. “It was really nice. I’m glad you invited me.”

“Yeah, me too. It was nice to see you enjoy yourself again. It’s…been a while.” As Brandi’s voice faded, she shrugged her shoulders. The expression on her face softened. “I know we weren’t really close friends back then, but…I do remember what you were like—back when you were happy. I kind of miss it.”

Hero stared down at the pavement, and his shuffling feet before he mumbled, “Me too.” His face flushed. He hadn’t meant to say that. Brandi, however, didn’t seem to mind.

“Well…you know, if you do decide you ever want to put yourself back out there, you are going to make somebody really, really happy.” As Brandi smiled, Hero’s face grew warm, and he turned away from her. “Even though Mikhael was there, this is still one of the best dates I’ve ever been on. You’re sweet, attentive, a great listener, and you bought me flowers and cake. You’re a good one, Hero.”

“I don’t know about that,” Hero chuckled, scratching the back of his neck. “But I…uh…I did have a really good time tonight. You’re really great, Brandi.”

“Aww…” she teased before patting his cheek. “You don’t have to flatter me.”

“It’s…it’s not flattery. It’s just…I…want to thank you. I…uh…haven’t been on a date in a really long time, and this was really nice.” Though his face flushed, he somehow managed to meet her eyes. “Even if it wasn’t real.”

He turned away and bit his lip again—unable to face that look of confusion in Brandi’s expression.

“Did you…want it to be?” she asked, with as much bold bluntness as he would’ve expected from her.

“I…I…” he choked, the words getting caught in the back of his throat as his twisting hands began to shake. He thought he should try his best to be honest—to be bold like her. “I don’t know,” he admitted, but hurriedly added. “I’m sorry…is that okay?”

Brandi chuckled, but she smiled at him. “Yeah…that’s just fine, Hero. Tell you what…for now, how about we say, some of it was real.”

As her warm eyes met his, Hero felt a real, genuine tugging at his mouth and something warm fluttering in his chest, and Brandi leaned forward and lightly kissed his cheek with a kind, “Thank you, Hero. For everything.”

Then, she ran up ahead and grabbed Bebe right before Mikhael could kiss her and ran into the house. Mikhael started huffing about having had his chance at a goodnight kiss so rudely stolen away, but Hero didn’t even notice. He just stood there, frozen on the sidewalk, gently reaching up to pat his blushing cheek where Brandi had kissed it.

“Some of it was real…” she had said. Hero wasn’t sure what part of it was real and which part wasn’t. If he was being honest, he wasn’t sure he was even ready to even begin to decipher it. But for now, he knew that some of it was real—that he had a wonderful night and that for the first time in a very long time, he felt like he could, maybe, just maybe, be happy again someday. And for now, that was more than enough.

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