FLASH THOMPSON WAS MANY THINGS, MOST NEGATIVE, BUT HE WAS NOTHING IF NOT FORGIVING. With his life, with everything that happened, Diana was both unbelieving and understanding. When she returned home that night with Jesse after spending a few hours at Gwen's, they found the boy dancing by the dinner table which held midnight pancakes. He had earbuds in and didn't notice them come in at first, but when he did, he just sat down and motioned towards the cinnamon syrup.

Flash Thompson didn't say sorry with his words-his father taught him never to show weakness-but he said it in his actions, if only in the smallest of ways. If only to his family.

Diana hadn't even opened her mouth fully to ask before he stood up and retrieved the milk from the fridge and three mugs from the cabinets, setting them in the middle of the table.

"She misses you," Jesse said softly. The first thing any of the three said since they sat down.

Flash took a bite of his pancake, drinking the rest of his mug before replying, pouring more milk as he did. "I miss our old house, doesn't mean we should move."

Diana shivered and took a bite of her own pancakes. She glanced over at the siblings who were looking at each other with an understanding that she couldn't even try to comprehend.

"Where's dad?" Jesse asked, looking around.

Diana and Flash both winced and glanced at each other. In a fortunate turn of events, Harrison never so much as raised his voice at the younger girl, all his aggression being refocused back on Flash.

"Not here," he replied, "He found a new job or something."

"That's good," she hummed, "Getting his life back together."

"Yeah," he mumbled, "It is good." He said it for a completely different reason.

The three finished eating in companionable silence. As the minutes wore on, the tension began to dissipate until neither could feel it in the air, pretending that they didn't know the other was still upset, still reeling.

"Night," Jesse yawned, placing her plate in the sink and retiring into her room.

"Night," the two sophomores chorused before glancing at each other, unsure of what to say.

"Do-do you wanna stay?" she asked, gesturing to her room.

He gestured to the apartment. "Only if you will."

She dropped her hands into her lap. "Maybe? I mean, I won't leave unless I have to."

He placed his hands on the table. "Neither will I."

She licked her lips. "Would you be lonely if I did?"

He leaned back in his seat. "Mom and Jesse are still around. But yeah. You?"

She tilted her head to the side. "I don't know."

He smirked. "But you don't want me to."

She frowned. "You don't want me to either."

He sighed and propped his head up on his hand. "I'm tired, so do you want me to or not?"

She shrugged, leaning back. "It's up to you."

He rolled his eyes and stood up, taking his plate to the sink, and headed over to his room. She bit her lip and followed his lead, putting away her plate and retreating into her own room, staring at his door.

She closed her door, leaving it unlocked, and changed into her sleep clothes, falling onto her bed, ungracefully burrowing under her sheets, shivering. She had been so cold lately and nothing seemed to be working.

There was the sound of the door opening and she looked up to find Flash walking inside, closing the door behind him. He leaned against it for a few moments, staring at her.

"This isn't weird," he said, unmoving.

She shook her head. "We've done this before."

He scoffed. "But we were kids then."

She shrugged. "Not what I meant."

He pursed his lips. "This is weird."

She rolled her eyes. "It is if you make it."

He crossed his arms. "You don't find this weird?"

Instead of replying, she just propped herself up on her hands and pointedly moved to the side, making room for him on one side, rather than letting him stay curled at the foot of the bed. She held his gaze, despite how uncomfortable it was, waiting-daring-for him to move.

With one last sigh, Flash moved forward and fell onto the bed, fitting easily on the queen sized mattress, pulling himself under the covers as well. Diana just looked at him, watching as he took a deep breath, sighing contently.

"Remember your rocket sheets and glow in the dark planets?" he asked, eyes closed, smiling.

She groaned and hid her face in her pillow. "Please don't remind me."

"Planet Diana," he laughed softly, "Where we all just drink hot chocolate and dance the tango."

She whined and kicked at the sheets. "Baby Diana was stupid and couldn't even dance the tango. Planet Diana sounds like an awful place."

"I don't know," he hummed, smiling, "I like it. It sounds simple. Besides, it's your parents' hot chocolate and that shit was amazing. And I could dance the tango, so..."

She didn't even think before she spoke. "I know, why do you think I made it?"

Flash froze. He waited a few agonizing minutes before speaking. "Then it's not really Planet Diana, is it?"

She smiled sadly. "Planet Diana was a place where my best friend could come and be happy because Planet Flash was pretty lame."

He snorted and shoved her lightly. "Planet Flash was amazing and you know it."

She hummed. "Planet Diana was better."

He opened his eyes and shrugged. "Yeah. It was."

"Goodnight, Flash."

"Night, Dina."

º º º º º

"What the hell?"

Diana jerked awake to the sound of a booming voice coming from the middle of her room. She jumped back to the far corner, Flash shooting out like a rocket, trying to cover her from whatever came next because he had to be on his guard his whole life.

There, standing in the middle of the room, was Harrison Thompson, looking as if he had just been given a million dollars, then shot immediately after. He stared at the two of them with that look and it made Diana's skin crawl.

"What are you doing in her room?" Flash demanded, hitting the mattress with his left hand, still shielding Diana with his shorter body.

Harrison spluttered. "Ho-Wha-What are you doing in her room?"

"Sleeping!" Flash shouted, "Until you decided to break in!"

"The door was unlocked," he reasoned, motioning to the handle as proof.

"So is the bathroom cabinet, but you don't see me trying to drink bleach!"

Diana tapped his shoulder. "That was a really good line, you're killing it with these lately."

He glanced over and smiled. "Thanks, I was reading a book and the main character made those comparison lines a lot."

"I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks."

"What is going on between you to?" Harrison shouted, shocking the two back to attention, "You're in her bed, did she know? What is going on, are you sleeping together, are you dating, because I don't think that approp-"

"Are you really gonna tell me what you think is appropriate?" Flash scoffed, jumping back when Harrison growled.

"So you are dating," Harrison said.

"No!" the two shouted, Diana going so far as to push herself to the front, feeling exposed the minute she did.

"Please just leave," she said, making a shooing motion with her hands, "I'm tired."

He raised his hands up in surrender. "Okay, sure. But you can't go back to sleep, you have school."

She groaned and fell back on her mattress, looking up at Flash who grimaced, glancing between her and his father who still hadn't left, staring at them with his eyes narrowed, as if it would help him figure out if the two of them were involved.

"Go!" Flash shouted and, fortunately, Harrison left without a fight.

He groaned and fell back on the mattress as well, adjusting his position so he could look at her and convey just how upset he was.

She blinked down at him. "I wanna skip. You?"

He sighed. "Can't. I don't wanna start slipping this early in the year. Besides, you have detention and if you don't show up..."

She grimaced. "Gross. I'm gonna go see Nicky after school when detention is over, so don't wait up."

He raised an eyebrow. "For a session or because you guys are, like, friends, which is weird."

She huffed. "It's not weird. And I think a session, I forget. If he's not there, Rhett will be there, so that's fun."

He blinked. "Who?"

She waved him off. "Long story, I don't wanna talk about it. Come on, I wanna get to breakfast before your dad tells Rosie we're sleeping together."

"Oh shit, right," he said, jumping to his feet and bolting out the door, "Mom, don't listen to dad, we're not sleeping together!"

Diana groaned and fell back against her mattress again, closing her eyes. She didn't want to go to school. She just wanted to sleep.

º º º º º

"Tell me more about Planet Diana," Nicky said, fiddling with his pen as he sat in his comfy chair across from her, reading glasses perched on his nose.

She groaned, leaning back against the couch. "Do I have to? It was just some stupid thing I came up with when I was a kid, it's not a big deal now."

He shook his head. "You know that's not true, you based it around what Flash liked, why? Why, it's Planet Diana, not Flash, why focus on him rather than yourself?"

She shrugged, growing increasingly uncomfortable. She scratched at her arm and head, frustrated. "I dunno. Flash's life sucked and I wanted to be his best friend, so I figured if Planet Diana was the coolest place, then he'd still wanna be friends with me."

Nicky raised his eyebrows. "So you made it for Flash because you wanted to make him feel comfortable?"

She shrugged again. "Kinda? I mean, it's pretty selfish, I wanted him to be my friend."

"But you could have convinced him in another way, forced him even. What you did was take something that should have been exclusively for you and made it about another person. This is selfless, yes, but this is also borderline." He tapped his pen against his clipboard, thinking.

"What do you mean 'borderline?'" she asked, frowning.

He put down his pen and moved his hands, trying to explain. "You see, there's a fine line between taking care of people and disregarding yourself. You have to take care of yourself before you help others."

She frowned, disagreeing. "That's so selfish, though. That's like when you see someone on the ground and you think 'well, I'm having trouble, so I won't help'-"

"No," he said slowly, "No, it's not. Because in that situation, you have the ability to help. What I'm saying is that if you yourself are also on the ground, you shouldn't try to help another person up without getting up first."

"Why not?" she demanded, scratching at her head again.

"Because," he said, almost laughing, "You're no use to someone if you need help yourself. Look, you know how in airplanes you put your oxygen mask on before you help someone else?" She nodded.

"Good. You know why they make you put yours on first? Because you're no use to someone dead. You put it on, now you have air, then you help someone else. If you're trying to help everyone else, then you're gonna pass out, then what're they gonna do? Oxygen Mask Lifestyle. Help others, always do that. Just make sure that you can do it."

She sighed, pulling her knees to her chest. "But I've never been okay and I still wanna help everyone else. Are you telling me I shouldn't?"

He groaned. "No-I-That's not what I meant. What I'm saying is that you should help people when it's healthy for you. If you're trying to help a person and they're toxic and causing you distress mentally, emotionally, physically, whatever? Then you get out of there because you're not responsible for them. Take care of you first."

She nodded. "I understand what you're saying, I just...I don't like not helping. I feel so selfish when I say 'no, I can't'. I understand when other people do it and I support them, but I can't do that for myself."

He smiled sadly. "Well, we're just gonna have to work on that, huh?"

She shrugged, trying to smile as well. "I guess..."

"You'll be okay," he said, groaning as he stood up and stretched, "Hey, so, your session is over, so we have to get out of this room, legally. However. If you wanna stay over and help me with my designs and just happen to bare your soul out to me and I happen to help you, then there's nothing the law has on us."

"Yeah, okay," she said, rising to her feet, "I gotta say, I find it funny that you're a renowned psychologist who actually has a lot of free time."

"I know, right?" he said, his voice a whisper, "I'm so blessed. Really, I am, considering my childhood, I am so blessed."

She smiled. "That's awesome." She refrained from asking what his childhood had been like; they weren't there yet.

"Tell me more about what it means to be a hero of heroes or whatever," she said, following him into his room and sitting on the top of his bed, the only spot that wasn't covered with his various materials.

"Well," he drawled, "We never really get involved. Look at me, I build things, but I've never used any of them past the tests. You do your job and they do theirs, it's a symbiotic relationship."

She nodded. "I like that. Safer for us?"

He shook his head. "Not necessarily. It's a different kind of dangerous. They have the risk of death and exposure, we have the risk of extortion, also exposure, collateral damage...it's dangerous on both ends."

She pursed her lips. "Well, that...sucks. I don't know, Peter always seems so happy to be doing what he's doing, even after all of the fights and cuts and bruises."

Nicky smiled. "It's because Peter Parker has one of the biggest hearts I have ever seen. He wants to do the right thing so much that I think, if given the opportunity, he would jump in front of a bullet for Captain America."

"Very specific," she replied, stomach churning at the thought of Peter getting shot.

He merely smiled. "But I'm not wrong. You, my dear, have quite a heart too. Helping Peter out even after everything."

"It's not heart, it's basic human decency," she retorted, crossing her arms.

He smirked. "I can name twenty people right now who would let someone bleed out if they so much as cut them off on the road. Kindness is hard to come by in adults, I'm glad to see it in a teenager."

She hummed. "It's nice to meet an adult who doesn't think he knows everything."

He clicked his tongue and winked. "I'm a great actor because I do know everything."

She scoffed and moved to pluck a blueprint from his box, raising her eyebrows; this was a new one. She scanned over it, raising her eyebrows when she realized that it was a blueprint for a device that started out as a ring and turned into...

"Is this the glove you were designing before?" she asked, waving the blueprint.

"Uh...kind of?" he said, taking it from her, "I'm still designing the one that needs to be shipped out. This," he motioned to the paper, "Was me just sorta messing around."

"Well, it looks awesome," she commented, "I like the ring into a glove. Maybe a bracelet, though, because then you've already got the base starting at the wrist and it can just move outward."

He blinked at her. Then he grabbed a pencil and began scribbling over the blueprint and into the holes and pockets of the writing, mumbling softly.

"You're kind of a genius," he said, biting the top of the pencil, "You have any other ideas? Hidden in plain sight kind of ideas."

She shrugged. "No, not really."

He clicked his tongue. "Aw, c'mon. You must have some ideas, they're all probably stored on Planet Diana, just go find them."

She scowled. "Planet Diana's old and outdated, if I had any ideas, you don't wanna be searching there. Trust me. It doesn't even fit Flash anymore."

"Well, make it fit," he replied, not missing a beat. When she laughed, he said, "I'm serious. I think it'll be healthy, you can focus on making it actually for you. You can start to figure out who you are and what you want, I know you struggle with knowing what you want because you focus so much on what other people want."

"I don't want to go back to Planet Diana, though," she sighed, "I don't."

"Then make a new one," he suggested, "Just figure out a way to start thinking about yourself for a change."

She frowned, settling onto his bed. "Alright, I guess...I don't really know how to start."

He nodded. "I know. It's hard. Just try over the next few days. Next time we meet up, just tell me one thing that would be on Planet Diana. It could be anything."

She worried on her bottom lip. "Fluffy blankets. I think it'd have those."

He smiled warmly. "Good. Good, see! That's a great start. You can do it, kid."

She felt a smile tug on her lips. Maybe she could. It would be hard, but she could get better. Sometimes, she'd have to go backwards, to move on. Not that she wanted to move on. She just wanted to stay in place. But no matter what happened, she was set to get better.

She had to get better.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

( 07.25.17 )

I don't even know with this ending? Or this chapter, but this was more character development and I'm pretty happy with what I just learned about the three characters, it was a nice turn of events. But still, idk how to feel about this chapter/ending.

I actually came up with the phrase The Oxygen Mask Lifestyle last year and I'm very proud, it helps me remember that self-care is important.

The line about him taking a bullet is actually a reference to the time when Spider-Man did, in fact, take a bullet for Cap. No second thoughts, just jumped immediately.

So...that's all I have to say so thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed!