HOMEWRECKER ▻ JASON TODD

▻ 10 | OPENING UP

OPENING UP
[JASON'S APARTMENT ⇆ 11:30 PM]

HER MELODIC LAUGH BOUNCED OFF THE WALLS OF HIS APARTMENT, with them both recalling the simple details of their first date while their bodies remained intertwined together in the comfort of his bedroom. Jason's chest was overfilled with glee at how easy he found it to grow happy around her company, his arm pulling her over to his body and her hand grazing over his shirt clad torso in an endearing way. He glanced down at her full head of dull colorful hair now, still finding the fading color scheme to be a look on her, earning a secretive smile from him which was quickly wiped when she abruptly brought her head up to look him in the eye.

            "I know we were having a moment and all." Zoë carefully sat up in the bed, not wanting to disrupt Jason's level of comfort as the sheets crinkled underneath her criss-crossed legs while his eyes lingered over her seated figure. "But you never told me what you said you would." He wanted to deny her request, tell her that it wasn't necessary but one look at her face and he just couldn't bring himself to do it. Besides, how bad could opening up to someone be?

            "Alright, alright." Bringing his hands down, he pushed his body upwards into a seated position and pointed an accusing fingers at her, wiggling it for emphasis. "Okay, I'm just forewarning you right now that this won't be a pretty story by any means."

            If Zoë held enhanced abilities like a certain devil of a man, she would've been able to note the increased heart rate from Jason -- his nervousness masked under his usual cool exterior when he feigned a cough for dramatic effect. Jason's back was pressed up against the rough surface of his bedroom walls when he arched his eyebrow at the intrigued purple-head, awaiting a response from her uncharacteristically quiet character.

            "I'm all ears." Zoë gave him a friendly shrug as she laid on her stomach, palms flattened against the sides of her face while she waited for him to begin his tragic story.

            "I should be dead." Jason curtly explained, taking a short pause to let his words sink in but continuing once he noticed her look bewildered at his statement so he opted for a better route. "Okay, let me rephrase that. I died but I came back to life due to this big green toxic puddle of weird magic." He waved his fingers in the air, putting emphasis on the weird part.

             "I'm not doubting you but I'm doubting you, Jay." Zoë's brows were knitted together when she shook her head in disbelief at his explanation, not sure if he was making it up on the spot to cover his real story or if he was truly forced to endure all that torture. "It all just sounds so-"

             "Unbelievable?" Jason playfully offered, his long fingers running through his dark hair as he struggled to continue on with his tale. "Yeah, imagine how I felt when I came out of the Lazarus Pit -- which is the big green toxic puddle, by the way. All my memories were hazy while it felt like my body was on fire and my mind was tripping on LSD or something."

            "Shït." Zoë murmured under her breath, her teeth grazing against the skin of her bottom lip while her mind was growing to trust him on the story that fell from his lips. "That sounds...horrible."

            "That's not the best part. You want to know why I died?" By now, the boy's anger was rising and the girl was sat up once again when she took notice of the way his voice sadly shook at the end of each word he spoke. "Because I was idiotic, I trusted a certain someone to come save me. I thought I could rely on him but I was wrong. The Joker, my lucky killer, murdered me and boy, did he make sure that I craved death in my last dying moments. It hurt so bad." Frustrated tears threatened to spill out at the rim of his eyes but he put a pause to them before Zoë noticed their existence.

Jason took his shirt off, making Zoë question if he was really implying that after what he told her but when he took a hold of her hand and placed it over one of the many scars -- she understood. She had always just assumed that it was one he got from his patrolling duty but now she knew that it was from a hit too hard, a bit that would continue to torment him all his life.

"Jason..." Zoë sadly called, removing her hand from the past wound and wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him into a hearty hug. "I'm here now."