The Hunt ⋆ Young Justice (o.h.)

sixteen : hope is a dangerous thing

( CHAPTER SIXTEEN : HOPE IS A DANGEROUS THING )

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"DID KALDUR TELL YOU?"

Hearne's eyebrows pinched together. "Did he tell me what?"

Artemis' eyes widened slightly. "Uh, well, I just assumed because you two were being so awkward, I mean you've went on swims with him for a long time, and he purposely woke up before you did so--"

"It isn't his fault, it's mine." She huffed. "Why are humans so complicated? They want you to not keep secrets, and then you don't, and they won't speak to you. It's so . . . hypocritical."

She sat down on the couch next to her. "It depends on what you told him, Olympia. I mean this in the nicest way, but you don't have a filter most of the time, and you might have said something . . . rude?"

"I didn't!" Hearne took a deep breath to calm herself. "I didn't. Since he was the leader, I went to him, because I knew if I stepped around him, it would anger him--but when I told him, he shut me out. I'm tired of trying to do what others want--of being so wrong."

Artemis sighed. "Trust me, I get what you mean. Well, some of it. But what did you tell him? Kaldur's a very loyal person, to everyone, I've never seen him do this before."

Hearne bit her lip. "I told him a theory I had, about the things we have been facing. But he's too scared to face the truth, and I suppose the truth includes me, too. Maybe he doesn't trust me anymore." She frowned slightly. "Artemis, how do you know if someone likes you?"

"Like, like-like?" she asked, which made Hearne blink in confusion. "Right, you don't know what that means. It's a thing kids made up, to say you have a crush on someone. You can like someone, or you can like-like someone."

"Oh, no! I don't mean in a . . . romantic way, I mean solely as a person. How do you know if someone isn't simply tolerating you?"

"Well, I think I speak for everyone when I say Kaldur doesn't only tolerate you. Remember how he treated us when we first arrived? That was him tolerating, a bit passive-aggressively, but still. He wouldn't want to spend time with you, or include you in things."

She was just going to spit it out, before she cold regret it--Artemis understood these things, she was slightly like Hearne. Maybe she could answer her questions.

"Why do people do that?" she asked, picking at the skin by her nail. "Is that a friendly thing to do? I see it in books, and movies, but I never--I never thought of it in reality. It didn't . . . click in my mind."

"Olympia, have you ever had a friend before?"

She was silent. "Athena always spent time with me."

"Alright," Artemis said, determination in her tone, "once we get Wally's party over with, we're going to do two things. One: make Kaldur talk to you. Two: we're going to have a girl's night." At Hearne's hesitation, she explained it further. "Get popcorn, watch a movie, whatever you want to do."

"Okay." This 'friend' business was complicated. "When is Wally's party?"

"Whenever he manages to show up."

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HEARNE WAS NOT a "birthday party" person. She knew the date of her birth, but she never celebrated it as a child--frankly, she didn't even know people celebrated it at all. When she met Athena, she found out people did. After Athena found out how uncomfortable she was with the idea of a party (even just for the two of them), they made a pact: on each's birthday, they would always buy the other a present, of the weirdest thing they could find, and trade. It made it feel less like a celebration, and more like a tradition.