𝔉𝔞𝔳𝔬𝔯𝔦𝔱𝔢 𝔠𝔯𝔦𝔪𝔢 -- dick grayson

𝔦𝔱𝔞𝔩𝔦𝔞𝔫 𝔣𝔬𝔬𝔡 𝔞𝔫𝔡 𝔫𝔦𝔯𝔳𝔞𝔫𝔞 𝔰𝔬𝔫𝔤𝔰

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chapter seven
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Dick Grayson preferred to be alone, his life had been complicated enough, and losing his parents at a young age had scarred him for life. He had a few friends he knew he could count on, and he'd had a couple of relationships in the past, but after what happened with Kory he'd put aside the idea of getting involved in romantic relationships for a while, trying to concentrate on taking care of the three teenagers who lived in the tower.

But, things change.

The moment his hand touched Arabella's for a split second for the first time, it was as if something had been ignited, something he still couldn't understand, and it only frustrated him.

And now he was walking in the direction of his vehicle where the girl was patiently waiting for him, taking advantage of every second to admire everything around her.

They had decided to order take-out, for the moment Arabella set foot inside the restaurant, a wave of emotions swept over her, and those voices she hated so much popped into her head again. So Dick suggested that she wait for him in the car while he ordered, trying to do what was best for her.

Arabella's head turned immediately at the sound of the car door opening to reveal Dick carrying a food bag and two cans of soda.

"Took you long enough." She exclaimed almost ripping the bag out of his hands eagerly.

"I think I liked you better when you barely talked." He said as he entered the car.

"Rude." She whispered.

The smell of Italian food filled the car as both of them opened the plastic containers.

"Which one do you prefer?" Dick asked as opened his soda.

Arabella turned to face him with her mouth already full with pasta, earning a chuckle from the the boy.

"No preference then." He spoke before taking a bite of the garlic bread.

They stayed in silence for a couple of seconds, eating and enjoying each other's company, Dick glancing in her direction every now and then, which didn't go unnoticed by the girl, who smiled to herself.

The tension in the air was thick and neither of them knew what to say.

So, tired of the slightly uncomfortable silence in the car, Arabella spoke.

"Can we listen to some music?"

Dick's attention was immediately focused on her.

"Sure." He said as he turned the radio on and flicked trough the different stations. "Just tell me which one you like better." The girl nodded in response.

It didn't take long for Arabella to hear something she liked.

"That one." She exclaimed and Dick stopped. "What's it called?"

"Smells like teen spirit. It's by a band called Nirvana." He explained and she nodded her head in synchrony with the music.

As the music kept going, Arabella caught up with the rhythm and started humming softly the melody of the song, catching her companion's attention. He looked at how she seemed to enjoy every second of the song, and even though he tried to look away, there was something mesmerizing about the girl sitting next to him.

He finally came back to reality and his attention went back to his food again.

"God this is amazing." She said with her mouth full, earning a small laugh from Dick.

"Swallow first, then talk. Manners." He snickered.

Arabella rolled her eyes at him.

"Cut me some slack, I barely even ate when I was captive." She joked, and as surprising as it sounds, Dick laughed. He had caught up with the girl's sense of humor rather fast, he also noticed she tried to joke about her situation to make it easier to deal with.

"See? At least I made you laugh."

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"Lover birds are finally back!" Jason's voice echoed trough the penthouse, and not even two seconds after he announced the presence of the pair, Rachel and Gar appeared.

"Where we're you?"

"We're you guys on a date?"

"I called dibs on her man!"

"Jason!"

"She's not an object."

"I never said she was!"

"You implied it."

"I'm with Gar in this one."

Arabella felt a little taken back by all the sudden questions, finding it hard to understand what they were trying to say, and Rachel noticed immediately.

"Okay maybe we can continue this interrogation later." She calmed the three boys down and walked next to Arabella. "Now, we are going to her room, or the library, whichever one is more far away from you." She smiled at them and dragged Arabella with her.

"I'm sorry, they can be really annoying sometimes. I'm just glad there's another girl here. After Kory left, living alone with three boys wasn't exactly easy."

"I bet..." She trailed off. "Who's Kory?" She asked curiously.

"She used to live here with us, you know, she was part of the team. She's amazing, you would adore her. We are still in contact and sometimes she comes to visit." She explained to her new friends. "I'm glad things ended up good between her and Dick, otherwise it would be really uncomfortable."

This last part caught Arabella's attention. Things between her and Dick? Were they together?

"They were a couple?" She asked.

"Not exactly. I mean they did sleep together a couple of time, but you didn't her that from me." She said mischievously. "And they would've been great together, but Kory wanted to learn more about herself and her origins, and she couldn't do that staying here in the tower, so she left." She spoke the last bit with a hint of sadness in her tone.

"Oh... well, I'm sure she is amazing like you said, and I would love to meet her sometime." She tried to cheer her up. "Do you have anyway to contact her? Maybe you could invite her over if you miss her so much."

"Hm... that's actually not a bad idea." She spoke with a smirk on her face as she took her phone out of her jacket. "It would be nice to finally get to have a girls night."