She's Sunshine, She's Grace, She'll Punch You in the Face

Chapter 12: Titus and the Rose Gardens

Marinette looked inside the kitchen to see Alfred preparing dinner. "Wow, Damian! You guys have more ovens then I do back at the bakery."

"Hello, Miss Marinette." Alfred smiles at the two as they enter. "Hello, Master Damian. I take it that the tour of the manor is going well."

"Oh, yes." The bluenette smiles brightly at the butler. "Damian here is going to show me Alfred the cat and Titus after we are done." She looks around the kitchen for a moment. "Would it be okay if I used the kitchen after dinner? I would love to bake you all something."

"I'm sure master Bruce wouldn't mind." He smiles at the girl.

"Awesome!" Marinette spins around gracefully and skips back over to Damian. "What's next?"

"Well I do need to take Titus for a walk. I can show you around outside if you want."

"Sounds great! Where is he?"

"My room. Let's go get him."
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Damian opens the door and Marinette is immediately bombarded with a large and happy Great Dane. The girl laughs for a moment before patting the large dog on head. "Hi there, Titus. I'm happy to meet you too."

Damian smiles fondly at the two as he reaches inside his room for his leash. Clipping the leash to the dog, he leads the two to the back door.

The three of them walk in comfortable silence for a few minutes as they make their way down the stone path to the rose gardens and sit on a bench.

"This is not how I saw this class trip going." Marinette reached down to pet Titus.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Damian asked as he watched the girls features. He couldn't help but to think that she was absolutely gorgeous.

"It's a good thing I guess." She looks into his emerald green eyes. "I thought I would be walking on egg shells the whole time like always." Her bluebell eyes look around to all the beauty before her. "I've learned to keep away from Lila and her posse of followers. All they do is make life hard for me." Marinette's eyes land back onto his gentle green. "But then I met your family. In a span of less than 24 hours you have already brought me so much joy. Sure, my friends bring me happiness but most of the time we suffer together because of Lila." She takes a deep breath. "The class didn't used to be like that though."

"What changed?" Damian didn't like seeing her so sad. He wanted that smile back.

"Lila transferred to the school. Everyone started to believe her lies and when I started to point them all out, everyone thought I was jealous of her." Tears started to form in her eyes. "One day she cornered me in the bathroom and gave me an ultimatum. Either I bend to her will or she would take everyone away from me and make my life miserable." She sniffed before smiling at him. "She almost succeeded but thankfully some of my friends came around. They all know the truth and now she will never be able to fully do what she promised."

Damian looked very angry. "Why would your idiotic class think you would be jealous of her?"

Marinette gave him an awkward smile. "Because at the time I had a huge crush on my friend Adrien. I think they thought I saw her has competition."

Damian's face fell for a moment. "You like the blonde ex-model?"

Giggling, Marinette replied "I did. But I see him more as a really good friend now. Plus, I set him up with my other friend, Kagami. They compliment each other very well."

Damian smiled in relief. "I see. So, are you upset my father got your teacher fired?"

"No, not really. I know that sounds kinda mean though. She was once my favorite teacher."

"Really? Why?"

"Madame Bustier wants the class to solve their own problems. Before Lila came along, that was relatively easy. Our problems could be solved with simple apologies. But that won't work with Lila. Madame Bustier always showed me off as the example. Instead of trying to solve the problem herself like any other good teacher would, she pushed it all off onto me. When Lila and I didn't make up after the first week, all Madame Bustier was was disappointed in me. She said a class president should 'lead by example' and that I should just be friends with Lila."

"Well then she is worse than we all thought."

Marinette nodded. "Yeah, I guess so." She looks over at him. "Hey, I have a question for you." She wanted to change the subject.

"What is it, Angel?"

"If what your family says about you is true, then why do you treat me differently?"

Damian coughs at her sudden bluntness before turning to look at her. "I uhm... I don't know." He gazes down at her hand and gingerly takes it. "You're different, Marinette. I've had plenty of pretty girls try to get my attention but none of them are like you."

She blushes at his sentiment before also looking down at their hands. "So, does that mean you think I'm pretty?"

He looks back up into her bluebell eyes. "No." Damian says softly. She looks to him in surprise but before she can speak again, he continues. "I think you are absolutely, breathtakingly gorgeous. 'Pretty' doesn't even begin to describe you."

Damian watches her go red for a minute before she breaks into a small smile. "W-well you're quite the looker yourself, Damian Wayne." This time it was Damian's turn to blush.

Just then, Titus begins to bark excitedly. "Looks like Father is home." He sighs. Titus really does know how to ruin a moment.

"How do you know that?" Marinette looks around.

"Titus always barks when father comes home." Damian stands up and turns to Marinette. "Come on, lets head back inside to greet him."
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"Welcome home Master Bruce, Master Tim, Master Dick." Alfred greeted each of them.

"Hey, Alfred. Where is everyone?" Tim asked as he took off his jacket.

"Master Jason is downstairs and the last time I checked, Master Damian and the lovely Miss Marinette were in the gardens walking Titus."

"We're here!" The young girl giggles from down the hall, dragging Damian behind her. She slows down in front of the men and catches her breath for a moment.

They all watch in amazement as Damian smiles fondly at the girl's excited nature.

"Mr. Wayne, your house is beautiful. Thank you so much for offering to let me stay here."

"Please, call me Bruce and I'm happy you like it here." He spoke as he carefully watched is son interact with the young girl.

"Has Damian here been playing nice?" Dick raises an eyebrow at her.

"Of course I have, Grayson." Damian rolls his eyes at his brother.

"Blink twice if he's holding you captive." Tim jokes.

"No." Marinette snickers. "He's been super nice, I promise."

"See, Bruce?" Tim points to Damian. "Jason was right, she is sunshine incarnate. I've never seen Damian smile this much."

Ignoring his son, Bruce turns his attention the young teens. "I'm glad you two are getting along. Damian could always use some more friends and it's good to see it being such a nice girl such as yourself."

Marinette blushes at the assessment.

"Dinner will be ready in ten and Miss Selina and Miss Barbara will be here in about five." Alfred speaks up. "I suggest that Master Dick and Master Tim go get Master Jason."

"Sure thing, Alfred." Dick says as the two walk off.