Hurt (Jason Todd/OC)

Chapter 3

Jason had gotten more angry and less sad day by day. At first he didn't do much and he seemed... broken... almost dysfunctional. Gentle prompting tended to work but... as he grew more angry the less he wanted to comply with anything anyone said... even me.

Jason Todd is in many ways broken... and I have no idea how to help him. Jason is, beautiful, stunning even when it seems impossible for someone to be beautiful. When he was in pain... he was beautiful, enchanting. When he smiled, it was like the whole world disappeared and there was only him. When he moved my eyes... they followed his every move and my ears hung on his every word. He was a beautiful ghost and I was completely at his mercy.

I sat on the bed watching him sleep on my Saturday off. He looked so tired, bags under his eyes from last nights night terror. I'd managed to soothe him back to sleep but... I wondered how much sleep he actually got. I ran my fingers through his hair gently as he slept peacefully. Even like this... he was beautiful. I knew the moment he opened his eyes, I would be completely at his mercy. Those eyes... they captivated me and captured my heart. I knew that the last week he had been working out to try and maintain his training for robin... and I also knew he wasn't training to continue as robin.

He had started to go out when I was at work and come back around dinner covered in bruises. He wouldn't talk about it and... I hesitated to ask. His anger was building and he began to get snappy and sarcastic. It oozed out of him like oil from his pores. He fought with anyone who looked at him funny when I would take him with me grocery shopping... And now he had stopped talking to me about things.

"You can't just fight with everyone who looks at you wrong Jason!" I argued as we put the groceries away. He snorted and spat out his words like venom. "That asshole got what he deserved." He sneered at the memory of the man who had been eye raping me. I sighed and ran a hand down my face in frustration. "You can't hit people like that!" I said with exasperation and he groaned with his own displeasure.

I laid my head on his chest and slowly let myself fall back asleep to the steady sound of his heart beating beneath my ear and the soft rise and fall of his chest. When I woke he was trying to scoot from under me. I lifted my head and my eyes met his and my heart stopped. Those eyes...

He grunted tiredly as a greeting before climbing out of bed and going into the bathroom. I knew this situation we were in... wasn't something easily understood. We weren't together... We were together in this but not as a couple. Sometimes... it confused me too. I knew we had fallen into odd habits but... it was hard to see him struggle alone... even though I knew having a romantic relationship wasn't what he needed... Holding him sometimes felt like the only thing I could do... and when he got angry... at the world or at an individual I wasn't always sure what to do.

When he came out of the bathroom he wandered over to the kitchen and got a glass of water, using the remote to turn on the news. He froze when he saw Batman's latest chase of Joker through Gotham. After a moment the glass shattered and blood began to drip from his hand as he stared at the tv grinding his teeth. I scrambled out of bed and got a cloth from the bathroom on my way to him. He startled me as he punched the nearest wall almost hard enough to chip the brick. It took everything I had not to cower away from him. I tried to reach for him but he brushed me off. "Jason..." I said softly as I tried again.

I jumped when he slammed his fist down on the island. "Don't touch me!" He yelled in my face making me flinch and stumble back. What to do? What to do... I took careful steps around the glass and grabbed my stress balls from the couch. I stepped up to the wall by the door that I had left empty. I started bouncing a ball hard off the wall after turning on some angry music. He paused and his eyes followed my every move filled with confusion.