Someone to Stay

Luthor wakes on the thin mattress, breath cutting like broken glass. His chest tightens—pain radiating through his ribs.

Luthor: "Everything burns… everything hurts… why am I still alive…?"

Luthor: “Arghhh—! My head… my chest… uhhh—!”

His hand clamps over his ribs.

Luthor: “No—no—no— I… I killed him… I killed someone…”

His voice trembles, small, tortured. A confession to no one.

The door opens.

Dina: “You’re finally awake!”

She steps in with a tray—tea steaming, sandwiches neatly arranged. She tries to smile, but her heart leaps painfully in her chest.

Dina(Internal): “He’s awake… thank God… I thought I’d lose him too.”

Luthor looks up at her, eyes cloudy with guilt.

Luthor: “You…? Where am I?”

He tries to sit—his ribs scream in agony and he collapses back down with a groan.

Dina rushes forward despite trying not to look too ****.

Dina: “Careful! You’re at one of my uncle’s vacation homes. You were burned, half-conscious—you scared the hell out of me.”

Her cheeks warm. She didn’t mean to say that last part.

Dina(Internal): “Idiot. Don’t sound attached. Don’t sound like you care that much.”

Luthor: “I… I remember heat… his face… and then— the blast…”

His breathing tightens.

Luthor: “I killed him, Dina. I saw the fear. I caused it.”

His tears fall silently—each one making Dina’s chest ache.

Dina(Internal): "Why does it hurt to see him like this…?"

Without hesitation—

SLAP.

Dina: “Stop. Luthor, stop this right now.”

He blinks, startled out of his spiral.

Dina: “You did not kill him. He lost control. He panicked. He blew himself up because he was terrified of what you could do—and terrified he wasn’t good enough.”

Luthor’s breath shakes.

A stabbing pain twists through his side.

Luthor: “Ahh—! My ribs— it feels like knives—”

Dina instinctively presses a hand to his shoulder, steady, gentle.

She leaves it there a heartbeat too long before pulling back.

Dina: “You took the blast for me. The bubble broke. That’s why it hurts. You shielded me with your body. You… you saved me.”

Luthor stares at her, hollow.

Luthor: “I didn’t want him to die.”

Dina’s eyes soften—so much that she looks almost fragile.

Dina: “I know. That’s why I’m here.”

Luthor: “He looked… so scared. I should’ve held back. Should’ve known.”

Dina: “He lost control because of himself, not you.”

She hesitates.

Dina: “Not every fight ends with someone brave. Some end with someone terrified.”

He turns away, jaw clenching.

Dina steps closer, unable to stop herself.

Dina: “Don’t be the monster he imagined. Be the man who saved me.”

Her voice cracks—just barely.

Dina(Internal): “Why can’t you see what you are? Why can’t you see how you looked carrying me through the fire…?”

Luthor shuts his eyes, overwhelmed.

Luthor: “Everything hurts … inside… outside… all of it.”

She kneels beside him slowly, carefully—heart pounding against her ribs.

Dina: “Then let me be here while it hurts.”

He opens his eyes. Looks directly at her.

Something raw flickers inside him.

Luthor: “Why… why do you care?”

Her breath catches—not from shock, but from the fear of saying the truth.

Dina: “Because you saved my life. And because… some people deserve someone to stay.”

The words hit him like a freight train.

Luthor’s eyes fill instantly—he bites down hard, trying not to fall apart.

Luthor(Internal): “Someone to stay… someone to stay…”

A part of him had been waiting he's whole life to hear those words…

He whispers, almost too quietly to hear:

Luthor: “That’s… all I ever wanted.”

Dina’s breath trembles—she wasn’t prepared for how much that confession would stab her.

She looks away, pretending to fuss with the tea so he doesn’t see her blush, or the way her heart is melting and breaking at the same time.

Dina: “Then drink your tea… before I start crying and blame you for it.”

He lets out a small, pained laugh— but something deep inside him, something old and lonely, begins to heal.

Dina sits beside him, their shoulders barely touching, a warm anchor in the storm.

Dina(Internal): “I’ll stay. Even if he never asks. I’ll stay.”

And the room feels less suffocating— because he wasn't alone anymore.

---

Luthor lies still, staring at the ceiling—but his mind is spiraling into darker territory.

Luthor (Internal): "What am I supposed to do now? How do I move forward? They all used me… every single one of them. Her too. My own mother, watching from a distance like I was some tool malfunctioning. No remorse. No panic. No love. Monsters, all of them."

His jaw tightens. Pain shoots down his ribs, but it fuels him.

Luthor (Internal): "Fine. If they insist on using me… if they want a villain so badly… then I’ll play the part. But how? I’ve never trained. Never fought. All I ever wanted was a quiet life—no eyes on me. No expectations. No spotlight. But I will not be their puppet ever again. I won’t."

His breathing quickens.

Luthor (Internal): "They have audio, maybe. No video. They don’t know what truly happened. I barely spoke. They have nothing but my name—and she will erase even that. She won’t have her “stain” tied to this incident. She’ll replace me with another poor bastard in the report. Good. Let her bury the truth. That means they won’t see me coming."

His eyes shift to Dina—sitting beside him, fiddling with the tea cup, pretending not to watch him breathe.

Luthor (Internal): "And her… can I trust her? She’s the only person alive who knows I have abilities. If this gets out… if someone posts this online… no… oh God, no…"

He swallows hard.

Luthor: “Dina… can I trust you?”

Dina snaps her head toward him, startled.

Dina: “Trust me? What— what do you mean?”

Her voice betrays both confusion and something else—concern? Hope?

Luthor’s chest rises sharply with nerves, pain making it tremor.

Luthor: “I’ve never shown my powers to anyone. Not once. You’re… the first.”

Dina’s heartbeat kicks up.

Dina (Internal): "His first? Me? Out of everyone in the world… he chose me? Agh— stop smiling, Dina, STOP."

She bites the inside of her cheek, trying to look more serious.

Dina: “Why? I mean— I’ve seen what you can do, Luthor… With that kind of strength you almost seem like The AllCour—”

Luthor whispers, voice barely audible:

Luthor: “All Courage… my father.”

Dina freezes—completely.

Dina: “Wait. WAIT—WAIT WAIT—YOU’RE—?!”

Luthor: “Yes. I’m Luthor Beaumont. Son of Armand Beaumont… and Evelyn Beaumont.”

Dina’s mouth hangs open. Her world tilts.

Dina: “Hold on— you’re that Luthor? The Beaumonts’ kid? But— I thought the whole world already knew—”

She stumbles over her words.

Dina: “Your file said zero powers. Two doctors confirmed it. They made a whole Kibble documentary—six episodes—heatmap scans, interviews—”

Luthor’s face twists with embarrassment and old wounds.

Luthor: “Please… don’t remind me about that…”

A beat of thick silence.

Luthor’s eyes turn downward—shadowed, wounded, burning.

Luthor (Internal): "The documentaries, the interviews, the headlines: “Beaumont Legacy Fails. The laughing. The pity. Both pretending it didn’t bother them, yet refusing to look at me for months. Years of being called empty. Useless. A dead end."

He lowers his head, gripping his chest as pain rips through his ribs—yet emotional pain overshadows the physical.

Dina slowly leans forward, voice trembling with disbelief, awe, and something far more dangerous.

Dina: “Luthor… all this time… you were hiding all of that?”

Dina (Internal): "How lonely were you? How terrified must you have been to hide this from even your own parents? No wonder he broke in front of me. No wonder he’s drowning in guilt. God, Luthor… what have they done to you?"

Luthor breathes out, exhausted.

Luthor: “I never asked for any of this, Dina. I never wanted fame. Or power. Or expectations. I just… wanted to live.”

Her eyes soften—too much, too deep.

Dina: “Luthor…”

She hesitates—one second, two—

then puts her hand gently over his.

He stiffens, surprised by the warmth.

Dina: “You trusted me first. I won’t betray that.”

Dina (Internal): "And even if the whole world came for him… I’d stand in front of him without thinking."

Luthor looks at her hand. Looks at her eyes. Looks at the way she’s trying to hide her shaking breath.

Luthor (Internal): "She stayed. She didn’t recoil. She didn’t run. Maybe… just maybe… I’m not alone anymore."