Secrets Aren't Meant to be Kept

On the News

On the News

Dick brought the book down slightly to look over it at Rachael. She was sitting with her legs crossed as one knee bounced up and down. Her bottom lip was clenched between her teeth while she stared intensely at the book in front of her.

The sight of her in frustration bothered him.

He sat up from lying on his back and scooted next to her. He peeked over her shoulder and glanced at the foreign words in the book. He couldn't figure out where the words originated from or why they were making Rachael frustrated.

His attention drifted away from the book as Raven pushed back a strand of hair that was covering her ear.

Her hair was getting longer. She probably was going to cut it soon.

However, it wasn't her hair that had grabbed his attention; it was the cute, little mark on her neck that he had left. It brought pride and joy inside of his chest. The mark showed that she was his.

He leaned in and kissed it. She pulled back and touched the spot on her neck. Her eyes watched him with surprise.

"Stop," she said, a blush creeping up on her face. "We are in public."

They were currently at the park, sitting on a picnic blanket. He wanted to get out of the Tower and spend a day of relaxation before they had to address certain topics between them. Topics like what Starfire's return meant for them and what had happened with her in the pit.

"Today," he said, "was supposed to be peaceful. You haven't relaxed since we got here. Maybe I should have suggested another activity."

Her expression calmed as her gaze traveled to her book. "You're right. I'm not relaxing. I have turned our date into a study session. I should've chosen another book."

She placed her hand under the front cover of her book and closed it. Her gaze connected with his. She smiled, causing his heart to skip a couple of beats.

"How about we read your book together?"

His heart stopped completely and dropped down into his stomach. He watched in slow motion as she reached for his book. At the last moment, when her fingertips grazed the book, he snatched it off the blanket, where he placed it when he sat up, and tucked it under his armpit.

"How about we do something else?" He suggested with a bright smile. "I know a great place that sells excellent milkshakes and fries?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Sure," she said slowly. "We can-" She stopped and stared off to a place behind him. He turned to see what had grabbed her attention.

As soon as he did, he felt his book being jerk up from under his arms. He turned back and watched in horror as Rachael opened the book.

He reached out to grab it again, but she slapped his hand away while scooting away from him.

"You read romance books," she commented more than ask as she continued to read the content of the book. There was no way she could have guess just from looking at the cover of the book because he always tore the cover off the book before replacing it with another cover.

"Yeah," he answered sheepishly while kicking himself for choosing that book today. He should have fought off the urge to know what was going to happen between the two main characters.

"This is surprising. I thought that you were reading a book on politics or war." She commented, turning a page. "I never thought that you would be reading this."

"Why? Because I'm a guy?" He still remembered the look on his old friend's face when he told him that his favorite book at that time was one of the romance books that his mother liked to read while they were traveling in the circus. Since that day, he always kept his favorite book genre a precious secret.