Nightwing: Heartless

Part 12: First Date

He didn't mean to ask her out. He had actually decided against it after talking to Wally, had steered clear of her all week in hopes of getting rid of the annoying feeling in his chest whenever he saw her. But then he did see her, and they were talking, it just happened.

Now he was even more conflicted. He was excited to go out with Willa, nervous, but if he thought about it logically, it made zero tactical sense. She was a normal college student, not a hero, he had no business dragging her into his life, putting her in danger. And what if the date went well? He couldn't tell her who he was, but if he didn't, he'd be lying to someone he didn't want to lie to. That meant best case scenario the date went awfully and they realized all the chemistry leading up to this had been wrong.

But he didn't want that. He wanted to feel her arms around him again, to make her laugh and learn more about her life. He wanted to hold her hand and tell stupid jokes. Maybe he didn't need to make these kinds of decisions yet. Wasn't he allowed a small happiness outside of the Team or the League? Couldn't he enjoy just being twenty one and do normal stuff, setting aside the secret half of his life aside? He could, he decided.

He finished buttoning up his shirt then grabbed his keys and an extra helmet for Willa before locking the door behind him and heading to his bike.

She was waiting for him outside her dorm building, in jeans and a yellow off the shoulder top. She smiled when she saw him and all he could think about was how nice she looked.

"Hi," she said and took the extra helmet.

"You look really nice," Dick said in reply, pleased when she smiled and blushed a little bit. "Ready?" He asked when she was situated behind him, her arms firmly clasped around his waist. He accelerated quickly, remembering she had liked that the last time he did it.

With the way Dick could drive, they reached the restaurant in no time. It was a cute outdoor Mexican place in downtown Gotham, perfect for sitting outside in the afternoon. It had a view of the street where lots of shops were, making it great for people watching.

He had never been here but it had a reputation for awesome food. It was so popular it would have been hard to get a reservation if he wasn't a trained hacker. The hostess led them to their table, beside the gate and small garden, and left them with the lunch menu.

"I've always wanted to try this place," Willa said, "Lia and I love guacamole."

They both looked over the menu, content to sit in the sun. "Question," Willa said after a few minutes.

"Answer," Dick replied.

"How much did last Friday night lower your opinion of me?"

Dick laughed. "Not at all."

She scoffed, "please, I was half dressed with sparkly purple makeup, smelled like alcohol, and was a little more than tipsy the whole time. I'm mortified."

If only she knew what a great time Dick had had that night. "I promise, it didn't lower my opinion of you at all." She stared at him, still unconvinced. "If I remember correctly," Dick started, "you were utterly charming last Friday while I went on and on about how I don't have any friends. I should be the one that's mortified."

Now Willa laughed, "I thought it was sweet. And if I remember correctly, you do have friends, you just don't like making them at frat parties."

"I was wondering how much you remembered," Dick teased then laughed at Willa's offended expression, "I'm kidding, I'm kidding!"

She picked up a tortilla and held it threateningly, "you better be or you're going to get hit with a tortilla chip."

"As long as it doesn't have guacamole on it."