stranger things | dick grayson

fourteen

word count: 3.8k

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Holding the bowl of microwave pasta up to her chest, Eleanor walked over to the balcony door where just outside, Kory and Dick were talking about something serious. She ducked behind the blinds and sat down on the chair under the window, chewing slowly so she could listen to their conversation. She cringed ever so slightly after realising she had picked up a few nasty habits from Andrew, her friend from work.

'It starts to give you a license to do things. It was getting out of hand,' Dick spoke quietly, and she knew that was because he didn't want her to hear— he knew she was in his room using his microwave.

Eleanor wasn't going to lie, she was a little hurt Dick was more than happy to open up to Kory than to her considering he had known her longer. It had her questioning whether Kory was teasing Eleanor about Dick liking her simply because she knew that he rather fancied her instead. Once again, childish, she knew, but it was something incredibly plausible.

'You said you trusted the wrong person. What... what happened?' She asked.

'I'd rather not talk about it.'

This caused Kory to laugh. 'Gosh! You are so secretive.'

'You're not exactly an open book yourself you know?' Dick said after chuckling at her comment.

'I don't know who I am. You're afraid to let people know who you are. There's a difference.'

'I'm just still tryna figure it out. That's all.'

Eleanor frowned even deeper. Now she felt like she was just intruding on a conversation she didn't want to hear.

'Well, maybe we can figure it out together,' Kory suggested, causing Eleanor's stomach to drop.

She felt like such an idiot getting upset over something that was, such petty drama such as boys, but she couldn't help it. She had liked Dick from the moment she saw him on that ridiculously cold Detroit morning.

Eleanor continued to sit there as she heard Dick avoid her question and say, 'You should get some rest. We leave first thing in the morning.'

Kory left without another word, not even seeing Eleanor sitting there. Then a few minutes later, Dick entered back into the room, jumping ever so slightly at the sight of Eleanor sitting there.

'Hey,' he said. He glanced down as he grabbed onto the doorframe of the bathroom, kicking his shoes off to the side. He knew she had just heard his conversation with Eleanor, and prepared himself to be asked a multitude of questions.

'Hey,' she replied with a small smile, not wanting to give away her emotions, something she was great at.

'I'm going to go for a shower, you can stay here if you want or...' He gestured around the room as Eleanor rose to her feet.

She shook her head and placed her now empty bowl down on the table as her heart pounded in her ears at his request.

'Actually, I'm going to go to bed. It's been a long day... I'm feeling a bit sore after earlier,' she lied and reached for her bag, jokingly patting her side. She wasn't in any pain as a matter of fact, she had taken enough painkillers to drug a horse.

Dick eyed her movements and turned towards her fully.

'Where did you learn to fight like that?' He asked and crossed his arms, leaning on the bathroom doorway. 'There's no way the Police Academy taught you that.'

'Just picked it up after watching a lot of movies.' She wasn't completely lying, Bruce Lee had taught her many, many, moves that she used all the time.