Page 73 of Peaches

“What’s that, Lex?” Grace’s voice responds in a deep male tone.

“No, it’s fine, come in, please, don’t you worry,” Trudy says in a hushed whisper as she opens the screen.

“It’s that power can be innocent!”

Well, I can’t say I’d argue with him on that!

I step over the threshold and Trudy takes my bags. I thank her quietly, not really sure why I’m whispering, as I peer into the living room and take in Grace, bent down on her knees, talking to someone in a large armchair that has their back to me. She looks up briefly, gives me a smile, and then glances back at who I’m assuming is her brother in front of her.

“Truth is meaningless. People of earth believe that I am their savior,”he says in a spot-on Lex Luther voice. I walk towards the scene slowly, mesmerized that this guy can remember these lines and actually sound damn near identical to the character.

Glancing down, I see the protector Grace spoke of just a moment before as she grips a Green Arrow figurine in her hands, and I can’t help but smile. Me, I was more of a Superman fan, that is if I had to pick one superhero at all.

Comics were never really my thing growing up, remember the F and fairytale bullshit I couldn’t wrap my brain around, but one glance up at the room around me and I find it is definitely Archie’s thing.

The front room serves as more like a make-shift bedroom than anything else. Well, that, and a shrine to all things DC. Honestly, this guy had to be collecting his entire life with the amount of memorabilia in front of me right now. Walls are lined throughout with shelves meticulously organized by category and I quickly scan them trying to take everything in.

Batman. Wonder Woman. The Flash. Superman. Aquaman. Captain Marvel.

You name it. He has it!

And at the center of it all is Green Arrow. Hell, the guy looks to have every single thing ever made for the superhero. It’s a little disturbing, but honestly, totally cool as shit as the boy in me wants to run over and look at it all, but the man, the one that is smart enough to know I don’t want to spook him, makes myself calm down as I slowly continue to stride forward into the room.

I know how I feel when something messes up my routines, my habits. I get angry as hell because it causes my ADHD to rear its ugly head, and not in a good way.

Remember, walking on eggshells, misplaced anger. They’re real, as hard as I try and hide them. But this guy is dealing with a disability way more complicated than mine, so I’ll shut up now and save myself from looking like an inconsiderate ass later.

As I look down the closer I come, I see her brother is dressed in Green Arrow pajamas that my four-year-old self would be insanely jealous of.

“You’remysavior Archie,” Grace whispers with emotion in her voice in response to his statement moments before. I see as she tries to hide the tears welling in her eyes. The sight of it laced with the tone of her voice gets to me and I clear my throat in response, attempting to hide my own feelings that, up to this moment, I didn’t know I had.

The action gets her eyes to raise as I notice Archie sits up alert in his chair. She puts her hand on his, an attempt to calm him as Trudy comes to my side.

“He’s in a good way,” Trudy whispers, calming my nerves a little. “You’ll be fine.”

It pisses me off because neither of these women should be comforting me right now. I’m here to help them. But I realize, as I stand in the living room designed as Archie’s bedroom, that that’s what they’ve always done. That’s all either of them have ever known. They’ve carried this world by themselves all alone and worried more about others than they’ve ever gotten the luxury to worry about themselves.

Kinda like my mother.

“Archie,” Grace states almost hesitantly as she hands him the Green Arrow figure in her hands. “I have a friend I’d like you to meet.”

“Any psychotic ex-boyfriends I should be aware of,”Archie says in a different voice than earlier. One I can’t place, but I know is from something I’ve seen before.“You have no idea!”He responds to himself, sounding a lot like Alfred fromThe Dark Knight.

Holy shit. This guy’s amazing!

Grace motions for me to come forward and I comply as she stands, and my eyes fall on a male version of - Peaches?

She said brother, but hell, I didn’t know they were twins.

“Archie, this is Brett,” Grace explains, but her brother looks everywhere but my eyes. I feel like I am being rude as I attempt to get into his line of sight, thinking maybe that would help, but Grace shakes her head and places her hand on my arm telling me to stay where I am.

“Brett is going to be staying with us while I’m here.”

Not going to lie, I kind of feel like I’m meeting the man of the house, and I guess in retrospect, I am. Even though his eyes don’t meet my own, I find myself sweating, breathing shallow, and worried I’m going to say or do the wrong thing and blow my chance with Grace all together. I’d be more at ease if her dad greeted me at the front door the first night I attempted to take her out with a loaded shotgun, and that’s saying a lot.

Needing to know this is OK. That being here isn’t a huge mistake. I bend to where Grace was previously squatting and try my best.

“Hey Archie,” I begin. “It’s nice to…”

---