Chapter 31: The Taste of Maturity (+18)
"It's just going to be really different from now on. A lot of things are happening at the same time, and it's hard to take it all in. I feel like a weight's been lifted from my shoulders, but now another one was put there. Something even heavier. It's just a lot."
Gina still didn't understand what Jason was talking about. He spoke as if he was trying to prevent the end of the world or something, and Gina couldn't wrap her head around it. But if there was one thing that Gina knew, it was that Jason would find a way.
Even when things seemed completely impossible, he somehow managed to make it happen.
"I don't like you talking like this. You're too young to sound like a soldier going into war. But if you need help, then you can always count on me. You don't have to carry the weight of the world alone. You're strong, Jason. Even before you gained your Gift, you were always strong. But sometimes, it's okay to let others help you. Okay...?"
Gina spoke with a mature intelligence that forced Jason to look at her. Gina knew that Jason was the sort of person who never gave up no matter how bad things got, but he had a bad habit of always shouldering things on his own.
Even back when Gina first became a Superhuman, she had once made the mistake of offering to give Jason a part of her salary every month to help his family with their expenses. But Gina immediately knew that it was wrong to do when she saw the heavy glare that Jason gave her.
Gina didn't understand why Jason refused her help back then, but now that she was older, she perfectly understood. A lot of things would have gone sour between them if Gina was constantly giving them money.
Helping them out once or twice wasn't an issue, but it would be an insult to their friendship for her to try and make Jason depend on her.
That was when Gina began to really respect Jason. Even though Jason was younger than her, Gina realized that he was far more mature in his thinking.