I snuck back in through the window of my room in the apartment. Everything was still tipped over and destroyed, so I set everything back to its original order, then tentatively left my room. In truth, I wouldn't have been even remotely surprised if no one even noticed that I was back, or if they didn't even notice that I was gone. Sure enough, no one noticed as I got myself a glass of water and something to eat. They didn't notice that I was skinnier, or that I had multiple burn marks on my face, or that I snuck out every night to fight crime, even if Warren, Jess, and Steven told me not to. 

My family didn't notice a damn thing about me, but I guess that was ok. It made it easier for me to disappear to Steven's house, and sneak out as Sunshine, and it meant that I didn't have to put in any contacts when I was just spending the day at the apartment. It also meant that I could pretty much do whatever I wanted to, including going to Mike and Bell's flat when they invited me over for dinner. 

Bella greeted me at the door, wearing a black t-shirt with rips in it, and torn up skinny jeans. I guess that's what she liked to wear when she had a choice. Bell smiled her usually bright smile, over looked the new burns on my cheeks, and let me into her house. She took me upstairs, where the flat was, and gave me a tour. We walked by a room where one of the doors was a crack open, and I was able to see Mike inside the room it lead into. He was sitting on the floor, polishing what appeared to be a collection of marbles. Mike caught me watching him with interest, and smiled at me. Mike winked, causing my cheeks to heat up just a bit, but Bell and I continued on, and the wink was soon forgotten about. 

Eating dinner with Mike and Bell's parents was nice. They were both very friendly, and made sure I ate my fill, which wasn't an issue, because the food was amazing. Bell's mom asked me a lot of questions, which probably should have made me uncomfortable, but I knew that she was just being friendly. I ended up lying about a few things, like describing Warren and Steven when I was asked what my parents were like, and where I lived and stuff like that. Mike and Bell had apparently told their parents about Warren picking me up in his nice car the day that Bell and I skipped most of our classes and had a day out, so the only explanation I was able to come up with for that was that Warren and Steven were my dads. 

Warren and Steven seemed to just be the go to duo for fake parents, since Ty did the same thing I did when he first helped Jess, and didn't want her knowing that he was Shadow-Man. As far as I was aware, Warren and Steven were far from being a couple, and I was actually pretty sure that Steven and Jess might have had something going on. Or, at least, they both mutually wanted something to be going on. However, it was possible that Warren and Steven had something, anything, going on, or at least did in the past. It wasn't my place to say though, and it definitely wasn't my place to ask. So I didn't, and I tried to stay out of Warren and Steven's love lives as much as possible. I did, more or less, have to get involved eventually though. 

I didn't plan on ever really telling Warren and Steven that I said they were my dad's, and I definitely didn't plan on Bell and Mike's mom pretty much setting up an entire dinner date for them all to come over to Warren and Steven's house to meet them. I guess it all kind of happened so quickly that I didn't even realise what was happening until it was over. 

I avoided telling Warren and Steven about the dinner date for as long as possible, but the day before it was scheduled, I had no choice but to tell them. I went quietly down to the lab, where everyone was, and found Jess and Steven bent over some machine, while Warren sat on a table nearby and talked with them. 

"Hey Gill." Warren smiled warmly as I joined him on the table. "What's up?"

"So, I've got something to tell you guys that you might find a bit awkward." I said, as casually as possible. Jess and Steven stopped what they were working on and looked up at me a bit curiously. 

"What is it?" Jess asked.

"So, when I went to Mike and Bell's house for dinner, their mom was asking me a bunch of questions about my family, and she was asking me what they did and stuff. Well, I didn't know what else to tell her, so I told her that Warren and Steven were my dads. I thought it would be fine, and the lie would be harmless, but then she planned a dinner date for tomorrow so that you guys can meet them. So now you guys might have to pretend to be a happily married couple, and that I'm your adopted son, because Mike and Bell's parents want to meet you." I confessed, causing silence to fall into the room. 

I was looking down at my feet while I spoke, and I expected to see a bunch of angry faces when I looked up. However, I just found Warren looking at me with a raised eyebrow and a bit of a smirk as he sipped on a mug of coffee, Jess looking like she was holding back laughter, and Steven looking rather awkward. 

"Alright," Warren said, still looking amused. "I think we could probably do that. Do you think you can pretend to be human for a few hours Steven?" 

"I can try, but I think we all know that I've never been very good at dating." Steven replied, and I could have sworn that I saw Steven's eyes flicker over to Jess then back real quick. 

"Marriage is different. I think you could do it."

"One way to find out I guess."

***

When Mike and Bell's family arrived, I took Mike and Bell for a tour of the house while their parents talked with Warren and Steven. They seemed to like the house, which was nice, and no one seemed to know that I had lied, but I was still really nervous. I later found out that I had absolutely no reason to be though, because Warren and Steven were grate actors. They used pet names for each other, smiled happily at one another, and Warren even kissed Steven on the cheek when he got up to clear the table. If I didn't know better, I would have thought that they really were married. 

After dinner, Mike, Bell and I were hanging out in my room, just talking about random stuff. It was really fun, and I felt really relaxed for what seemed like the first time in forever. We were all sitting on my floor, talking about one of the assignments we got for one of our classes, and laughing about other things. The relaxing atmosphere was soon replaced with the most excited tension I had ever felt in my life, and I wasn't even remotely upset about it. Bell had announced that she had to use the restroom and excused herself, leaving Max and I in the room alone. 

We continued our conversation for a little while, but we quickly fell into silence as the conversation came to a holt. It wasn't awkward or anything, but then I noticed Mike staring at me, and looking like he was contemplating whether or not he should do something. When he saw that I caught him staring, he quickly looked down, and bit his lip a bit. 

"What?" I asked, wondering why he was staring at me. 

"Nothing. It's just that you actually look really nice with the burns on your face." Mike told me, looking a bit awkward, and I had a feeling that he wasn't telling me the truth. Or at least not all of it. 

"Yeah?" I asked. I was actually a bit embarrassed by the burn marks under my eyes, feeling that they made me stand out. Specially because, as it turned out, when my skin healed over, the new cells that were generated were almost golden. I figured it was because my DNA itself was glowing gold. 

"Yeah, especially since they heal all yellow and stuff. Is that just something that happens with burns?" Mike asked.

"I guess." I shrugged. 

"Do you think I would look good with gold scars?"

"I think you look just fine now, and I must ask that you don't start burning yourself in an attempt to get cool scars." 

"You think I look good?" I felt my cheeks heat up, and then Mike looked at me in awe. "Whoa."

"What?" 

"You're cheeks are like...glowing yellow."

"Th-they are?" I asked, panic rushing through me as I hurriedly touched my face, as if that would do anything. Hiding your new found powers and superhuman genetic makeup was hard to do when you didn't know the extent of the powers and stuff. So, as it turned out, I blushed gold. 

"Don't cover it up." Mike reached up and grabbed my hands gently, pulling them away from my face. "It looks really good." 

Mike's face was so close to mine, and he was looking at me in such awe, that I couldn't help it as my blush grew. I couldn't look away from Mike, so he and I just made heavy eye contact, the air in front of us thick, and heavy. I felt like I was burning up, and that I couldn't breathe, but I didn't really want too. Something about the situation made me feel guilty as I thought about how I had just kissed Ty goodbye for the last time only a month before. I couldn't bring myself to pull away though. In fact, I actually leaned in when I saw Mike start to lean forward, meeting him in a kiss of our own. 

"Can I kiss you?" Mike asked very quietly, only a few centimeters away from my face. 

"Yeah." I breathed out with a slight nod, and Mike pressed his lips against mine. 

It was soft, slow, and gentle. Completely different from mine and Ty's first kiss. During the kiss, Mike and I found ourselves scooting closer to one another, until Mike was in my lap. The kiss didn't get anymore heated though, just closer. 

***

Mike and I started dating, which was really nice, but it made me feel really guilty. I wished I could have told Mike and Bell about Sunshine, but I couldn't. Especially when being Sunshine became increasingly more dangerous. I became more reckless, and began to care less about my own safety and health. I was in a really bad place mentally, and it showed. So much so, that Warren began to ask questions and get concerned about me. 

He and I were sparing, and he beat me down easily. I held back when sparing with Warren after finding out that I had the super strength, but I should have been able to beat him anyway, and I wasn't. Instead, I was lying down on a wrestling mat, with my face smashed into it, and Warren holding me down, about to fall asleep. I did endup dozing off a little, and I was jerked out of my sleepy stupor by Warren letting out a concerned hum, and getting off of me.

"Are you ok?" Warren asked, sitting beside me, and looking down at me worriedly. I didn't bother trying to get up, or even really sit up. 

"No." I replied, for the first time, honestly. I felt Warren place a hand on my hack, and I just lost it. Everything, everything, just hit me with the force of a freight train, and I sobbed. My cries were loud, and ugly, but I didn't care. I didn't care at all about how I must have looked to Warren, or if Steven and Jess heard me from the next room, or the fact that my tears were ripping my face to shreds, or even if I just cried myself to death right there on the floor. 

"Let it out. It's ok kiddo." Warren told me, rubbing my back, and scooting a little closer to me. I rolled over on my back, and covered my face with my hands. "Tell me what's going on Gill. I'm worried about you."

"Everything's just too much. I-I feel like I'm losing my mind. I'm still trying to get over Ty, I have new powers, and all new DNA that none of us understand, I don't know how to be a superhero, I have a new boyfriend now and I love it but I feel guilty about it, my parents don't care about me at all, and this morning I couldn't find one of my socks so now I'm only wearing one." I sobbed. Warren listened to my fast, probably mostly incoherent rambling, and waited until I was done to start gently carding his fingers through my hair. I began to ramble again, but Warren was quick to softly shush me as he grabbed onto my hands, and moved them away from my face. 

Warren helped me sit up a bit, and moved me so that I was cradled in his lap like a small child. It seemed a bit weird, because I was seventeen and not a newborn baby, but I didn't struggle, or say anything against the comfort. In fact, I turned my face into Warren's chest, and continued to cry. Warren continued to run his fingers through my hair, and rocked me slightly. 

"Let's start with one thing at a time ok?" Warren eventually asked. Then, without waiting for me to respond, Warren reached down and pulled my one sock off of my foot and tossed it to the side. "There. Now you're not wearing any socks so you're feet are even. Now, let's tackle the next thing. Tell me about this new boyfriend of yours and why you feel guilty about him." 

"It's Mike. You met him when you and Steven were pretending to be married. When we all went up to my room, Bell had to use the restroom, and he kissed me. He and I are boyfriends now, which I really like. But I feel awful about it, because I have to keep secrets from him, and it's only been a few months sense Ty died. I don't want him to think that I'm forgetting him." I confessed, finding it impossible to keep it all in anymore. 

"Gill, you having a new boyfriend, isn't you replacing, or forgetting about Ty. I'm sure Ty is never going to think that you forgot him, or anything like that. There's a difference between moving on, and forgetting. As for you keeping secrets, what kind of secrets are you talking about?" Warren asked.

"Like, my real parents, and Sunshine."

"Well, I understand why you wouldn't want to tell him about your parents, though you should at some point, but, why are you keeping Sunshine a secret?"

"What?"

"Why do you have a secret identity? What would happen if people knew that you were Sunshine?" 

"Because if I didn't, then- then..." I didn't have an answer.