I had brought the gem home, and hid it away in the closet. It was up on the top shelf, hidden away in an old shoe box, so I figured it would be fine. I knew I couldn't show it to Alex or else he'd get suspicious.

Speaking of Alex, we were supposed to have a date night tonight, but he was still at work. He was late, which was weird because he usually never lets work keep him long after his clock out time.

Just as I'm about to go and text him, the door opens. I look up and see Alex looking upset, muttering to himself as he locked the door behind him.

"Hey, babe. You feeling okay?" I ask, walking up to him and helping him take his coat off.

Alex sighs softly. "It was a bad day at work. We were supposed to have this shipment of our products come in, but they never came so we had a hell of a day."

He then looks up at me and allows a small smile to show on his face. "It sucked, but hopefully they'll turn up tomorrow."

I smile slightly and give him a small kiss. "Well, I'm sorry you had a bad day at work. We missed our dinner reservation, so I took the liberty of ordering takeout. I figured we can stay at home and watch a movie instead."

He closes his eyes. "That's right, tonight was date night. I'm so sorry, John. I totally forgot."

I shake my head. "Don't worry about it, we've both had a lot on our plates, we can still have a nice night at home."

He opens his eyes and smiles again. "Thank you, dear. What would I ever do without you?"

"You'll never have to find out." I smile at him before stepping into the kitchen. "I'll get the food ready, why don't you get in more comfortable clothes and then pick a movie."

He nods. "Sounds great."

As he walks into the other room, I take our takeout out of the fridge, putting some of it in the air fryer and some in the microwave. I choose to tidy up the kitchen a bit as I wait for the food to heat up so there wouldn't be too much to clean later.

As I'm cleaning, however, I hear Alex's voice from our room.

"Hey John? What's this?" He asks.

I look at the food and see it's still heating up so I walk into the room curiously. When I get there, I can see John holding the shoe box, the gem out in the open with the lid on the floor. I freeze, not sure what to do.

"Um.. How did you find that?" I ask.

"The shoe box wasn't there this morning, so I was curious as to what was in there." He replies. "Is this one of those gems Cyclone is looking for?"

I didn't answer at first. What was I supposed to say? I couldn't possibly reveal the real reason I had it in our closet.

"It is, isn't it. Why do you have it?" Alex asks. "Don't tell me you're still trying to stand up to Cyclone."

"I have to, Alex, you don't understand." I tell him.

"John, why don't you just give it up? You could get hurt if you keep this up, you know."

"I'll be fine, Alex. I promise I have it all under control." I assure him.

"You can't make that kind of promise, he's a dangerous man." Alex argues back. He shakes his head and grabs the lid, putting it back on. "We have to put this back where you found it, this is not our fight."

"It is my fight, though." I quickly say, causing him to stop and stare at me.

"How could this possibly be your fight? What on earth makes you involved in this?" He asks.

I stare at him for a moment. If I told him, everything could change. But what choice did I have? He was going to find out eventually.

"John, come on. No amount of research is worth your safety, you know that." He says, taking a step closer to me. "Give up your obsession with these gems, and let's get this out of our apartment."

"I can't do that, Alex." I state, fidgeting with my sleeve slightly.

"And why not?" He asks, frowning a bit.

I take a deep breath. This was it. "Well... Because I'm Hyperion." I say, giving him a moment to react.

He doesn't say anything, his face showing pure confusion.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but it's true. I'm Hyperion." I say, taking a step towards him to reach for the box, but he takes a step back, clutching the box closer to him.

He shakes his head quickly. "No, no you're not.. You can't be."

I sigh softly and start to float off the ground, just enough to show I could fly. He looks down at the ground where my feet should be and then back up at me.

"I... You.. Why didn't you tell me before?" He asks, sitting down on the bed behind him.

"Because if you knew, it could put you in danger. I've kept it a secret from everybody, so that you would be safe from any harm." I say, returning to the ground.

He looks at the shoe box for a moment, truly thinking everything through. "This is where you've been running off to every night? This is what you've been doing in secret?" He asks. "I just thought there was something going on at home, and you needed to be alone to call with family or something." He says, before frowning a bit more. "But I guess you already knew that suspicion because of that night you flew down and talked to me on the roof."

"I know it's a lot to take in, but just understand-"

"Understand? No, I don't understand. I don't get why you would keep this from me." He says. "I mean, all these instances.. All the research you've been doing, the incident at the movie theaters, the sneaking out every night- wait, am I the reason you stopped showing up for a year?"

I hesitate but nod. "There was nothing dire that needed me, and I didn't want to lie to you. I didn't want to keep a whole secret identity from you, I loved you too much to do that. But then I had to come back when Cyclone showed up, I couldn't just let him run rampant through the streets." I tell him.

Alex shakes his head. "This is.. Insane."

"I know, I know. And I am so so so sorry I didn't tell you, but everything I did was to keep you safe." I assure him.

"Keep me safe? What about you? You're out there constantly putting yourself in danger and for what? For people you don't even know?" He asks.

"I promise that once I stop Cyclone, I will give up that life. But I need to stop him first."

"But.. What if you can't stop him? I've seen you after a fight with him, maybe this guy is just too strong." Alex grabs my hands, looking at me sincerely. "I don't want you to get hurt. What if you gave up on this?"

I chuckle softly. "Alex, when have you ever known me to just give up on something?" I ask and he frowns. "I'll be okay, I promise. Now that I know what he's doing, and I have one of the gems, I've got an advantage. I'm not going to let him hurt me or you."

Alex stares at me for another moment, pursing his lips together as if in thought. He then sighs and looks to the side. "So there's really no chance I can convince you to stop going after Cyclone?"

I shake my head. "I can't just let him get the gems. If he does get all of them, he'll sacrifice me."

"But maybe he won't."

"I've seen the way he'll hurt people to get what he wants. I don't think he's going to back down if he gets the chance." I tell him and he nods slightly.

He continues to look away from me, clutching the box close to him. He stares, deep in thought, and I sigh.

"Look, I know this is a lot to take in. But everything I'm doing has always been to protect you." I reach for his hands but he pulls away, standing up.

"I'm sorry, I just.. I need some time." He says. He hesitates, but hands me the box before walking towards the door.

"Wait, Alex." He stops, and I bite my lip gently. "Does this.. Change how you feel about me at all?" I ask.

He turns his head slightly and sighs. "Of course not. I still love you, I just.. I need to clear my head. I'm just going to go for a walk." He says before leaving the room.

I hear the front door close and I sigh, looking down at the gem. He was going to have to learn eventually. Everything was going to be fine. Right?

1524 Words

What could possibly go wrong now