⋆°.*⁺₊·˚

Conspiracies, conspiracies..

𝜗ৎ tags/tw: reader almost gets run over, conspiracy theories/journalism, old murder mystery, mentions of blood/death, not proofread

ও˖ ࣪⊹ pairing: vamp!bruce wayne x f!reader

𝜗ৎ a/n: I'M BAAAAAAAACK oh my god, it feels so good to be writing again I think I wrote 2k words in one sitting LOL, anyways!! uni went well too so i won't need to go back to any exams, which meansss I have the whoole summer looking up at me to write. hope you like this part just as much as the last one!! it's so fun to write stuff like this

─ ⊹ ‧₊˚ Au mlist

It had been a week since you were chased down at night by some creep, and also since you found out that apparently everyone got Bruce wiped from their mind. At first you wanted to talk to him about it, but what would you even say? ‘Oh, hahah! Remember the girl that works at the corner shop? Well, funny story, she doesn't remember ever seeing you!’. Obviously you wouldn't bring it up, he was already extremely reserved, you didn't need him to think you were gossiping with your neighbours about him.

There were a thousand theories running through your mind, but none made sense. Maybe you were hallucinating? Impossible, the receipt from the lamp you bought was signed by him and it was sitting on your kitchen counter. That alone meant he was real, but that wasn't the only proof. You took his coat outside and one of your neighbours complimented it, and that was also very real. You actually loved that coat, but you needed to go and return it to him.

It was as if you couldn't stop thinking about it. About him. He had a strange allure that made you… Sort of obsessed, and you couldn't understand it or explain it, but there was just something between the two of you that felt otherworldly and old. Sometimes it felt like he was haunting your mind.

Then suddenly, an idea popped into your head. You could search him up online! It was a wonder you hadn't thought of that earlier, considering you often searched up people and their lives. 

The first thing you searched for was Bruce's job, unfortunately there didn't seem to be much information. There was a website for the shop, which made sense. It had a whole vintage theme and it included the listings for items on sale, a platform where you could try to negotiate the price of any old piece you wanted to sell, and then a small portion reserved for the shop’s history.

“Funded in 1910 by Sir Wayne, who decided he wanted to finally settle down after exploring the world, looking for loved pieces all over. Wayne’s Antiques has been a family owned business since it was funded! Come by and prepare to be amazed by our lovely, authentic, and well-preserved pieces. We're sure we'll have just the piece for your soul.”

Unfortunately, you didn't get much from that. You were shocked at how old the store was, and the description was a bit odd, but you figured that'd have something to do with the whole mystery and vibe of the place, it was probably framed in that way to give people the sense that the things they sold had their own soul because of how old everything was.

Upon further digging, you discovered an article dated back to 1886 about a Mr. Wayne who had sadly been widowed after his beloved wife appeared brutally murdered in the garden of their mansion. That case seemed to cause an uproar on society because they were a popular and overall liked couple, it was that town’s own murder mystery. You couldn’t read much about it because the article required library access, but from the small synopsis you had access to, it looked like the whole town believed there was a curse on the Wayne’s after what had happened, however you had no idea if this was actually related to Bruce or if they just shared last names, which was highly likely.

You also found an article from 1998 about a supposed investigation on Wayne's Antiques. By what you read, it looked like a journalist found the business weird, he couldn't believe such a private family could maintain their shop and overall life for so long, especially considering no one ever saw Mr. and Mrs. Wayne. But it seemed that eventually the reporter grew tired, stating “I must admit when I'm wrong. This is just a boring family business.”, what's weirder is how this reporter just… vanished not long after this whole situation.

Huh. 

There were a few articles discussing his disappearance, and before you knew it, you went down a rabbit hole. Turns out that reporter had been one of the most influential in your city, he worked for The Daily Planet, until his articles slowly became more conspiratorial than anything else. He then moved to Gotham, where he wrote some pieces for the Gotham Gazette, before also being kicked out, which made him turn to the Globe, where he wrote about some conspiracies with Alexander Knox. The real problem started when he ventured too much in his theories about vampires, people started deeming him as unfit for his job as a journalist, that’s how he ended up returning to your town, where he focused his vampire research… On Wayne’s Antiques. 

Now that was interesting. You tried to access the original article which he posted in a self-made journal, but it also required database access that you did not have at home. Supposedly, that article contained his theories before he eventually dropped the case, and now you really wanted to read it, because vampires? Seriously? He really was losing his mind if it got to that, but either way his disappearance still remained a mystery. Some sources claimed he had finally succumbed to madness, possibly dying in some woods while trying to find “proof”, others thought he probably felt the need to hide after facing so much public scrutiny, but there were some people that truly believed he’d been murdered. By whom? No one knew, but it was clear he had made a lot of enemies throughout his career, so that would be plausible. You decided you’d pay a visit to the library after dropping off Bruce’s coat in order to research more about the weird murder mystery, and about this whole vampire thing.

Either way, the more you dug into this, the more confusing it all got. Even before discovering how old the shop was, and all these weird investigations tied (or not) to his family, you had decided to avoid Bruce for some time, but you still couldn't ignore the fact that weird things kept happening to you. Wherever you went, it felt like there were eyes on you, it was an uncomfortable sensation that sent shivers down your spine. 

Initially you had blamed that feeling on potentially being stalked by the creep that ran after you at the park. You wanted to believe he wouldn’t try anything again after seeing Bruce, but maybe he was still stalking you? The situation was scary, but without any concrete proof you couldn’t do much. If the police disregarded stalking cases with proof, they’d probably just laugh your concerns off.

Either way, you had to return Bruce’s coat, even if you wanted to avoid him for longer. 

Walking inside Wayne’s Antiques, you were welcomed by the soothing smell of old books and reliques that you’d grown to love in the past weeks. However, Bruce was nowhere to be seen, which wouldn’t have surprised you, if there wasn’t a guy sitting on the reclining chair behind the counter, with his legs crossed and feet resting at the counter, while reading a book. This was the first time you’ve ever seen someone else running the store, probably the guy your neighbours know, he seemed to be younger than you and his name tag read ‘Jason’. 

“Uhm… Excuse me?”

Jason lifted his eyes from the book to look at you, he squinted at the coat in your hands before returning to his book. “We don’t do returns.”

“Returns– No, that’s not what I’m here for. Is… Bruce not here today?” Would he know Bruce? He had to, if he didn’t know his boss you’d definitely believe you’d gone insane. That seemed to catch his attention. Jason took his feet off the counter and put his book down to really look at you. 

“You know Bruce?”

“Huh… Yeah? This coat is his, he lent it to me the other day, and I didn’t have the chance to return it to him.”

Jason seemed to be processing the information you’d just told him. What a weird little guy. 

“Bruce gave you his coat?” You nodded. “Willingly?”

“I’d like to believe he did? So… is he here or…? Are you going to take it and give it to him?”

“Bruce isn’t here, he left.” His tone was so conspiratorial that you immediately thought Bruce actually moved somewhere else and left Jason the store.

“Wait what? When did he leave?” Hearing the slight panic in your voice, Jason realised you were the lady Bruce had briefly told him about before leaving, but he couldn’t exactly tell you where he’d gone either. He clearly didn’t prepare enough for this.

“Erhmmm… He’s going to come back, don’t worry. Bruce just had to… Uhm… Prepare for an operation… Yes. Exactly.”

“Oh!” Suddenly you felt silly for immediately panicking so much. “I didn’t know he had to be operated on, is everything okay?”

“Yes! It’s uhm, hemorrhoids.” Jason internally slapped himself for saying that, because even if that were true, why would he ever share that with you considering you were both pretty much strangers? You stared at each other for a few seconds. 

“Oh. I hope everything goes well, I’ve heard the recovery process can be quite hard.” 

“His aren’t that… complicated. Don’t worry! He’ll likely come back in a week. Tough guy that one.” You nodded, honestly just eager to change the topic, because this whole interaction was getting more awkward by the second, and with the theorist in you being fed by the things you read, you just wanted to learn more and unveil this whole mystery.

“So are you part of the family? Bruce told me this is a family business.” This was the perfect time to put what the store’s website claims, and Bruce’s own words to the test.

“I suppose.” The look on your face made him cough. “Er… I mean, I am. Obviously. I am Bruce’s… cousin.” 

You nodded slowly. Initially, you found Bruce to be peculiar, but now you think it might just be a family problem, maybe they were genuinely cursed in those old times.

“Well, I better get going, but tell Bruce I’m wishing him a speedy recovery and that I’m once again, thankful for his coat.” 

Jason nodded, and you were eager to go to the library, but knowing Bruce was going to be gone for another week… You missed him, despite wanting to distance yourself at first. Even if the whole town forgot about him, it seemed you could not. Just the thought of him being away made you feel uneasy, and this was a new feeling. No man ever got such a reaction out of you in such little time. And now that you knew Jason was his cousin, not only did you prove he was real (well you’re going to confirm that by asking if anyone knows Jason, but for now you’ll assume they do), but they are probably close, considering they work together, so… It wouldn’t hurt to try and get a good word in.

“Actually, could you tell him I’ve missed him? I didn’t want to be annoying and call or anything, but… Yeah, I just– tell him…” You stopped yourself. Why were you feeling so bold? He was getting such a tough procedure and you wanted to make him think about you? “Actually nevermind.”

With that you left the store, feeling confused and really embarrassed. Firstly, what was his deal? Maybe Jason was just awkward or an introvert, but he was super stand-offish with you for no reason. Then, you totally made a fool of yourself by trying to flirt with Bruce via his cousin. It was a beautiful day outside, so you decided to take the longer route to the library in order to clear your head, but your mind was all foggy with the whole conversation with Jason. Bruce never even told you he had a cousin, you two weren’t that close and that spark you felt had just been a delusion in your head, which only helped your embarrassment grow. Still distracted, you went to cross the road when suddenly you heard someone catching up behind you. Turning around, you saw Jason, why did he follow you? You took a few steps in his direction, getting back onto the sidewalk.

“Hey– sorry, I found your headphones in one of the coat pockets.” He was about to hand you the headphones, when suddenly his eyes widened. 

“Watch out!” Before you could react, Jason was pulling you towards him, and hauling you both into the wall. Just a second after, an all black SUV ran over the place you had been standing in. If it weren’t for Jason you’d be dead.

“What the fuck…” How didn’t you hear the car coming? 

“Are you okay?” He helped you regain your footing. “I’m sorry if I hurt you when I pulled you close but I saw the car coming toward you in the reflection of that window.” Jason pointed to a window on the building behind you.

“Don’t worry about that, if it hadn’t been your force I wouldn’t even be able to feel anything anymore. Did you see the licenseplate?”

“There was none.” He ran his hand through his hair. “I think we should go to the police either way. Bruce told me you were chased after the other night.”

“Yes, I was. He… Told you about that?” 

Jason gave you a small smile. “He did. You’re very important to him.”

His words caused a small smile to spread through your face. “He’s… The feeling’s mutual”

He gave you a small nod before clearing his throat. “C’mon, I’ll go with you to the police station and then I’ll walk you home.”

“Oh, that’s not necessary-”

“Please, I insist. It’s what Bruce would've done if he was here.”

“What about the shop?”

“Ah, don’t worry about it, I’ll just close earlier.” You walked with him to the store’s front door, where he flipped the sign to ‘CLOSED’, while locking the doors, he cleared his throat once more. “Oh, and uhm, I wanted to apologise if I came off as rude earlier. I’m not good at talking with people.” 

Obviously. You waved your hand and laughed. “It’s okay, plus you just saved me from my impending doom so I think we’re even. I definitely hold the record in this town for ‘person who’s life has been saved by Waynes the most times’.”

“I guess you do. Let’s hope this was the last time.” You could tell his tone held nothing more than sincerity.

After spending hours at the police station to make your claim, you finally arrived home. Jason convinced you to report the guy chasing you too, but just as you’d predicted, after all the paperwork you had to fill out, they just told you they’d look into it but without faces, names, or license plates, there wasn’t much they could do. Suddenly a weight settled in your shoulders. The adrenaline from almost dying had lifted off and now… Now you were terrified, because if you didn’t hear the car that was speeding in your direction, what guarantee did you have about being safe? You suddenly had the urge to throw up, what were you going to do? It was like there were killer ghosts hunting you, maybe you were the cursed one.

Still, you attempted to sleep, the determination to not hide in fear kept you going, and you had a mystery to solve at the library anyways.

After a restless sleep, you got up to prepare for the day. Now you weren’t feeling as dedicated to your research as you had before, but there was not much else you had to hold onto. Without your closer neighbours and Bruce, you were completely alone. Your family lived hours away, and you didn’t want to alarm anyone, the best you could do was face the day with positivity. After getting ready you hastily made your way to the library, thankfully nothing happened on the way there. 

You chose a computer that was nestled in a cozy spot with a ton of bookshelves all around, and then you got right to work. Firstly, you decided to look into the murder mystery. The full article explained in detail what had happened. Mr. and Mrs. Wayne were a beloved couple that lived in a mansion by the woods of the town, despite being rich, they regularly helped the poor and were considered to be very much in love. It was reported that they barely left each other's side, but on that day, Mr. Wayne had to visit town, and his wife insisted she’d stay home. Well, what he had to do wasn’t shared, but after an hour, when he was returning home his horse suddenly fell ill, and according to witnesses, Mr. Wayne started panicking because of the time his wife was spending alone. Everyone thought he was being weird, until they managed to get him home… Only to find his wife laying in a pool of her own blood in the backyard by her favourite flowers.

You had to make a pause after reading that. There was a picture in the article of the crime scene and you could see a corner of the blood, right next to… A bed of tulips. They were described to be your favourite colour, that information made your heart drop into your stomach. This was creepy. No pictures of the wife were allowed to be published by Mr. Wayne, but those who saw her described her as looking otherworldly, as if someone had sucked the life right out of her body. There were no signs of anyone breaking in the mansion, nor were there any indices of a suicide. No weapon was ever found, and no perpetrator was ever convicted.

The town made its own stories up, in order to try and give sense to what had happened. It is said that after his wife’s death, Mr. Wayne stopped leaving his house altogether, falling into a great depression. Then another 34 years go by without anyone even daring to step foot near the mansion, before suddenly, a man with a striking appearance to Mr. Wayne claims to be his son, who was hidden for all these years until his father finally passed away, allowing him to finally start his life outside the mansion’s walls. And that's how the ‘curse of the Wayne’s’ was born, people felt that his scary resemblance to his father, and his parent’s mysterious deaths, were definitely a curse.

This was a creepy story for sure. You didn’t know why but… There was a weird feeling in your gut. Bruce said he collected tulip lamps because they were his late wife's favourites. They're also your favourites, and in the same colour too… Just coincidences. This Wayne might not have anything to do with your Bruce.

Moving on to the article about the shop, supposedly the reporter's suspicions came from the story you had just read. That town was long gone now, but it wasn't far from here. After digging deeper he found out that the Wayne's that own the shop, and the ones in the murder mystery were in fact related. What he wanted to prove was that there was no Wayne family, per se, it was always the same man, a vampire, who must walk amongst the mortals in search of something he couldn't yet figure out, but he main theory was that he was looking for his-

“I was told I'd find you here.” You jumped in your chair and turned back, not being able to finish the sentence you were reading, just to find Bruce standing there with a small bag of pastries. “Something tells me you have not eaten lunch.” He said before offering you the bag. Was it lunch time already? The clock on the computer read 5 p.m. how did the time fly by so fast??

“Oh my god I didn't even realise so much time had gone by.” 

“Then that must mean you are engaging in some insightful research.” He glanced at your screen and you hastily closed all the windows, there was no need for him to know you were prying around about his background. 

Bruce arched his brow at your actions but didn't say anything. “Uh, yeah. It was definitely interesting, at least.” You turned off the computer and got up. “But actually, more importantly, what are you doing here? Your cousin told me you'd only be back in a week.”

“My… cousin?”

“Yes? Jason. He told me you guys are cousins.”

Bruce took a deep breath and closed his eyes. “Ah, yes. How could I forget. Well it turns out the matters I had to attend too weren't as important as I initially had thought.”

“So, did the operation go well? He also told me you had to get your hemorrhoids removed.”

He looked flabbergasted. “My hem– he said that?”

“He did. I'm sorry, I know it's really private information but I was just really worried. Did everything go well?”

The tips of his ears got really pink. “Yes. You don't need to worry. Now,” He cleared his throat and took a step closer to you. “I believe someone has said they've missed me a lot?”

Now it was your time to blush, all your conspiracies about his family completely forgotten. “Oh, I– damn, Jason really can't keep anything to himself, huh?”

Bruce laughed and grabbed your bag as you were standing up so you wouldn't have to carry it yourself. “You did ask him to tell me.”

“Yes but then I said forget it.”

“Well, I think he was trying to play matchmaker.” Your head snapped away, trying to hide your blush.

“Maybe. You don’t seem the type of man to play into the matchmaking of your cousin, though.” 

He opened the door for you, the sun was already and the street lamps would probably turn on any minute. “Really? I think you are misjudging me.”

“So if Jason told you some other client missed you, you’d also go after her?” You asked teasingly, but Bruce stopped and looked at you deeply.

“No. Just you. You will always be my exception.”

Your mouth fell open and your heart did a flip. That was… so intense, but before you could even react, he pointed to the bag of pastries.

“There is a beautiful place I’ve been meaning to show you not far from here. We could go there to eat, if you are not in a rush to go home, of course.”

“N-no I’m not. I’d love to– uhm, we can go.” Bruce laughed at your flustered state before offering you his arm, which you took happily but not after smacking him for laughing at you.

He really wasn’t lying when he said the place was beautiful. It was on a small hidden part of the local park, from here you could see Gotham in the distance, a small speck on the horizon, far from the quiet corners of your town. You two sat on the grass, below a willow tree, and started eating.

“Jason told me what happened yesterday.”

“Oh. I was hoping he wouldn’t.”

“Why?” Bruce turned so you could really look at him, and despite his normally composed exterior, you could see through the cracks, he was clearly worried. “The more I know, the more I can do to protect you.”

“That’s the thing, Bruce. You’re not a cop, you’re just a man, and there’s not much you can do. If I’m not safe from a speeding car, that I didn’t even hear, in broad daylight, I’m not safe anywhere. And the worst part– we have zero information on who’s coming after me, or if these are even coincidences. I just… Need to be careful, I guess.”

“But with me by your side you will be safer. You didn’t hear the car, but Jason saw it. Just… Just promise me that as long as I’m here you won’t wander off alone. Please.”

You looked at him. “Okay. I can promise that. But prepare to be bored of me.”

Bruce shook his head. “I don’t think that’s possible.” His voice dropped an octave and his gaze dropped to your lips. Your heart was beating crazily, and the two of you leaned in the slightest bit. However, just as the moment started, it was gone. He looked away like it pained him, and then got up. 

“It’s getting late. I should get you home.”

Nodding, still shocked, you gathered your things and got up. “You’re right. Best if I avoid any moment where creeps can get me.”

He nodded once and then you made your way back to your apartment together. The almost kiss seemed to break some sort of spell, and you were brought once again to the research you had been making. Were you trusting this man too quickly, without knowing him properly? Questions of the sort haunted your mind until you arrived at your doorstep.

“Hey, Bruce?” You took a deep breath and looked at him, ready to ask him about the investigation, the missing reporter, and about the curse, but you couldn’t gather the courage.

After your prolonged silence he caressed your hand softly, catching your attention. “Yes?”

“Oh. Nothing. I just… I just,” You had to make up a lie quickly. “I was wondering if you wanted to come over tomorrow. To have lunch, considering we both need to work and all.”

Bruce noticed this wasn’t what you wanted to ask initially, but he once again didn’t question it.

“I would love to. Tomorrow we’re hosting a small event at the shop where people can take small items as lucky charms. It always brings lots of customers. I could come by for lunch and then we could both go back to the shop.”

“That sounds super cool! It’s a deal then, see you tomorrow Bruce.”

“See you tomorrow.” He smiled at you, and there was something in his tone that guaranteed there was more to Bruce Wayne than you could even imagine.

dividers by: @saradika

Everyone boos.

Then a voice from behind the crowd yells "how the fuck do you know?!"

Jason Todd x Bruce’s Assistant!Reader | PT: 1

Synopsis: Being Bruce Wayne’s assistant means handling a huge workload that Jason Todd thinks is easy.

Pairing: Jason Todd x fem!reader Summary: Waking up beside you, Jason knows he's exactly where he wants to be. Or—Jason confirms his love for you once again. CW: none A/N: gang lowkey i have been so active on here today but IDC jason todd gets all my love <3333 also wanted to tag @sozzoe for giving me that jason req that i forgot about (and will write eventually) and @batwngs bc Z you literally prompted me to write this :D

Jason knew he’d made the first right decision after his resurrection by asking you out that Tuesday night after book club. Because now, as sleep clings to the edges of his mind, and he finds himself tugging the covers up higher from the morning chill, he knows he couldn’t imagine doing this with anyone else beside him. Anyone but you, at least. Glancing at you blearily, he sees the curve of your bare back, body and face hidden from him from how you’d obviously attempted to cocoon yourself from the cold. “Baby, you can’t do this to me, y’know.” He croons softly, knowing you were awake, seeing as you were no longer breathing in the rhythm he’d grown familiar to when you were asleep. Wrapping his strong arms around you, he tugs you back into his chest, his breath tickling your neck as he nuzzles his cheek into the side of your head.

“Do what?” You rasp, still exhausted, and pat his head sleepily, getting him to lift his cheek off you just so you can angle your head to get a glimpse of him, too. “Look so pretty and perfect.” He says without missing a beat, making you gulp and huff, letting out a breath you didn’t realize you’d been holding.

“Oh, stop that. Jason, you can’t go saying stuff like that.” You grumble, and he only tugs you closer into his chest, practically trying to meld your bodies together, to the point where you can feel his Y-shaped scar brush against your skin. “Saying stuff like what, hon? I speak nothing but the truth.” He deadpans, and makes you turn over, rolling you in his grasp so he can finally get a good look at you.

You avert your gaze, momentarily flustered, and his hand comes up, thumbing at the corner of your mouth, body warm and soft against yours. The look in his eyes makes you melt a little into his grasp, but not without a comment of your own. “Yeah, while I’m literally covered in drool.” You croak, and he chuckles, nodding like it only added to his point. “And? That doesn’t take away from your beauty, sweet girl.” He says, brushing stray strands of hair away from your face, hands coming to cup the sides of your head, like he’s reassuring himself that you’re still here. Alive. Safe and sound and his. You let out a soft breath through your nose, your air mingling with his, as his lips finally slot against yours, not waiting for you to continue the banter. 

But how could you, honestly? When he pulls back, gaze warm and soft, he doesn’t waste even a moment, rolling himself onto his back and bringing you up to rest on his chest, the blankets covering you both while he massages your back, hands warm and calloused and comforting. Sighing, you relax against him fully, and he hums Can’t Help Falling in Love against the top of your head, his other hand holding you close by the shoulderblades. 

This was all he needed. All he could ever want, something his teenage self had probably envisioned. And now he had it. If that didn’t make him a lucky man, he didn’t know what else could. 

Dividers by @/enchanthings Please do not copy, steal, or put my works into AI.

What's your ring size? ♡˖ ⊹

𝜗ৎ tags/tw: fluff fluff fluff!! sliiiightly sugestive, lover boy jason todd, not proofread, established relationship

ও˖ ࣪⊹ pairing: jason todd x f!reader

𝜗ৎ a/n: im sorry for being kind of inactive lately, ive been sick lately and overall not feeling that good so i took the chance to pick up on some books i wanted to read (and ive also spent lots of time playing the witcher 3 lol, im even thinking of writing something about geralt in the future). hope u enjoy!!<3 oh and the wc for this fic was 2222k which i thought was perfect

─ ⊹ ‧₊ Series mlist

Jason would categorise his life as unusual. Not many people could say they died and came back to life, even fewer could say they turned their life around after being given a second chance. Between all the hatred and revenge plans, he managed to find something more precious to him than his own life. You. Even when he didn't believe in himself, you did. Even when he pushed you away, you didn't point your finger. Even when he felt unlovable, you loved him. Jason got better because of you. Sure, when the two of you met he wasn't out to kill Batman anymore, buuuut their relationship was civil at best.

You're the reason he could attend family dinners, and go on missions, and debrief with Bruce without feeling the tension lingering in the air. But today you were actually the reason he left the house to patrol with Bruce!! And why he was so nervous too.

“Good work today, Jay.” Bruce was leaning against the batcomputer with his arms crossed and a warm smile across his face.

“Yeah–” His voice broke in a high pitched sound and Bruce looked at him with slight concern. “It was awesome. Cool patrol. We should totally repeat it.”

They both stayed silent for a few seconds while Bruce looked at Jason with narrowed eyes. “Jay, are you okay?”

“What? ‘Course I'm fine! Why wouldn’t I be fine? I'm fine. Totally fine. Aren't you?” He was rocking on his heels while trying to avoid eye contact. Bruce just raised a singular brow that told him to stop bullshiting, so reluctantly, Jason sighed.

“I need to talk to you.”

The sigh that left Bruce could have easily come from a small petulant child, and the way he rolled his eyes while pinching the bridge of his nose did not help. “Jason, you don't even live here, what have you managed to break this time?”

“What? When have I ever broken anything here?”

“Should we ask Alfred?”

Jason put up his hands in mock surrender. “No! No, we don't. And I didn’t break anything.” He sighed deeply and scratched the back of his neck. “Have you ever given Selina a ring?”

A smirk took over Bruce's face and he looked to be reminiscing. “Of course I have. Although she sometimes gets ahead of herself so I don't have the opportunity to give them myself before she has already snatched them away.”

“I see… And how did you know they were going to fit her fingers?”

He shrugged. “They're not engagement rings, if it doesn't fit one finger it'll surely fit the other, you just have to gauge the size of her hand. Plus, Selina has so many rings I'm pretty sure she ends up selling them.”

“You're not helping, old man.”

“I think you're just taking this ring shopping too seriously, your girlfriend is a sweetheart, she won't–”

“I'm proposing to her, B.” Bruce's eyes widened and he stayed silent for a while. For a few moments, Jason wondered if maybe he didn't approve. Not like he cared but it would be nice to have his help. and maybe he cared a little bit about Bruce's opinion

Jason was about to start rambling when Bruce took him in a hug. “Oh, I'm so proud of you, bud.”

The hug took him by surprise, and the part of him that craved for Bruce's approval felt warm. It took him a few seconds to return the hug, but when he finally did, he had to keep the tears at bay. Imagine crying because your dad hugged you and told you he was proud. Pffft. “Thank you.” They let go of each other and Jason wiped at his tears while trying and failing to pretend there was just something in his eye. “You're the only one who knows. Well, you and Alfie, but you need to keep it a secret.”

“Of course. Are you sure you don't want to include your brothers?”

“Oh, no. Dick would fold under 0 pressure, Tim has mumbled weird shit that we definitely didn't need to know in his sleep, and Dami spends waay too much time with my girl. I don't think he'd tell her, but I think he would make some things weird and she's smart so she'd figure it out. And the proposal needs to be perfect.”

“Alright, so you need to figure out her ring size right?”

Jason nodded and Bruce sat down at the batcomputer. “Hm. I never really thought about this. You could try measuring her finger while she sleeps?”

“Too risky, she's a light sleeper.”

“Doesn't she have any rings you can use as standarts?”

“No, she can't wear jewellery to work, especially not rings so it's not something she spends money on at all.”

Bruce sighed deeply. “I think we're going to be here a while.”

Plan one: matching rings

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

You and Jason were doing your usual shopping trip together, but this time he whisked you away to the jewellery section because he wanted your help picking a gift for Stephanie since he quote unquote needed to bribe her. She knew he was pretending to be sick to spend more time with you, oops.

“Look at these cute rings, baby.”

He proceeded to point at a bunch of silver and gold rings in a bunch of different shapes and sizes, but you felt like they didn't really match Steph's vibe.

“Hm. I don't know, they're cute but they don't really feel like her.”

Jason tried to show he wasn't panicking at all, his excuse to look for jewellery was half assed at best. “Uhh yeah you're right. But hey look!” He pointed at some cute matching rings. “We could buy these for ourselves.”

“I don't wear rings, Jay.”

“I know, but they have a little bat.” He narrowed his eyes. “Wait.” There were Batman, Nightwing, and Robin themed matching rings. There was even a Flash one! “Why are there no Red Hood matching rings?”

“You're not exactly family friendly, babe. Lot's of people still see you as a scary guy.”

He crossed his arms. “I am pretty scary, but so is Batman. And Wally isn't even a hero here.”

You laughed softly while taking his hand and walking away. “C'mon big guy, let's find Steph something that doesn't hurt your feelings.” The plan was to get you to try a ring to see if it'd fit Steph. Now he was probably going to need to buy her something random just so you wouldn't get suspicious.

Plan 1: busted

Ego: hurt

Plan 2: getting drunk

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

The smell of your favourite meal wrapped around you as soon as you entered your apartment. After dropping your keys on your key holder, you made your way to the kitchen. “Oh my gosh, Jay, what's this?”

In front of you, the table was set with a red cloth, your favourite dish in the middle with a dark red wine bottle next to it. Some candles were also scattered around, mixed with some flowers. Jason was leaning against one of the chairs, hair messy and a towel draped on his shoulder, the corner of his mouth tilted up. “What? Can't I wine and dine my girl?”

You approached him and wrapped your arms around his neck. “Hm, with you looking like that I'm confused as to what my meal is supposed to be.”

Jason's plan: getting you drunk so you'd fall in deep sleep, allowing him to measure your finger without you waking up.

What ended up happening: you two ate dinner and both got drunk, then you were all over each other and at some point his mission became taking you to the bedroom, rings completely forgotten.

Plan 2: also busted (but good outcome!)

Plan 3: comparing hand sizes

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

You were reading a book in Jason's chest, completely relaxed, when he started giggling to himself.

“Your hands are so tiny.”

“Scuse me?”

“You heard me. I bet my pinky is the same size as your ring finger.”

Slowly you put your book down before narrowing your eyes at him. “I am normal sized, you're just gigantic.” He laughed earnestly before putting his hand up to compare sizes. Rolling your eyes, you joined your hand and it did look comically small in his. Then, he shifted his pinky to your ring finger and it was actually a bit bigger. why did none of his plans work???

“Oh my god, I actually also thought they'd be the same size.” You were finding this hilarious, but Jason was slowly dying inside. He was being dumb though, he had an approximate size, it was fine! Even if the ring wasn't the perfect size, it'd be near perfect and he knew you'd be overjoyed. He kissed you while you were still giggling.

Mission accomplished!

Finding your perfect ring

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

Jason had an idea of what you wanted in a ring since the two of you had talked about getting married before, and you told him exactly what you liked, but he wanted a picture to look for online or to commission to a jeweler. He knew you had a wedding board on pinterest because he saw you saving wedding dresses there, surely you'd saved rings too.

So, he obviously decided to create a pinterest account and search your account (he asked to see your account one time just so he'd see your user)! It didn't take him long to find it, but there was no wedding board. Private. Why would you private that one? There were a bunch of silly ones you left public.

With a sigh, he looked around. You were showering, but since you were tired from your shift, you ended up leaving your phone in the bedroom. He knew your password… Jason didn't want to use your phone without your permission, but fuck it, it was for a good cause.

Quickly, he reached your phone and opened pinterest. You had even more private boards that consisted of silly memes regarding your interests and he found that extremely endearing. It didn't take him long to find that board, you saved a bunch of rings but he chose three that were the most similar to the one you told him you liked. Then he screenshotted them and sent the pictures to himself, after that he deleted all traces of ever being on your phone. Now he just needed to get the ring and prepare.

Ring situation: figured out

‎‎ ‎The proposal

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

It was a slow day at the hospital. The sun was setting when you got home, and you were ready to just relax while waiting for Jason.

However, when you got home, there were small candles, all in your favourite scent, making a pathway to your living room. You softly closed the door behind you before taking off your shoes.

“Jay?” You called out to no answer. Slowly you started walking in the candle pathway, careful not to accidentally kick one over. When you got to the living room, your couch was slightly pushed so there was more space. That space was now occupied by a circle of small and medium candles, with Jason in the middle, looking super nervous. “Hi, love.”

“Jason…”

Your heart was in your throat. Before you could say anything, Jason took a step forward.

“There was a time where I thought I had all the time in the world, and that love sprouted from every corner. Then, there was a time where I thought love was a fabricated thing, and that I didn't deserve it. I thought coming back to life was a sick mistake, a way to torture me and to remind me every day of my mistakes.” He took a deep breath and you started tearing up. “I grew up reading love stories, but deep down I never believed I'd get to live anything similar. But then… then I met you. At that library. Five beautiful years ago. I was stupid that first year because I should've made you mine from the moment I saw you asleep over a lecture book, but at least we can thank Scarecrow for pushing us together.” You let out a sound between a laugh and a sob, Jason got down on one knee, box in hand, and called out your name.

“Ever since you came into my life, I've been a better man. I wake up every day happy because I am by your side. Any time I'm sad, I just need to remember your smile and the way your beautiful face lights up whenever you laugh.” You were crying hard now. “Darling, light of my life, after everything we've been through, I want to shout at the top of every building in this goddamn city that I am your husband. That you are mine. I want to start a family with you, grow old, have kids and a puppy and a kitten. I want to give you everything you'll ever ask for, and above all I want to wake up every day to your smile. So…” He opened the small box to reveal your dream ring. “Will you do me the honour of marrying you, and make me the happiest man alive?”

You nodded non-stop. “Yes! Oh my god, yes. A thousand times yes.” He exhaled like someone took a rock off his shoulders and slid the ring on your finger…

It fit perfectly.

e/n: yes my flash is wally west, i refuse the ending they gave him in young justice

taglist: @luceaat @jasontood3904000 @annabelleleefrench @celestialend tysm for the support♡

Comforting Damian ᡣ𐭩 ྀིྀ

pairing: jason todd x f!reader

tags: established relationship (with jason), fluff, comfort, long talks, first impressions, damian is grumpy and needs a safe space, might be ooc

a/n: I've had this idea for a long time, I think it would be super cute if damian sort of felt betrayed by jason not telling him he had a long term relationship, so he just decides to meet you by himself after having a rough day (because after researching you so much he figured you'd be nice)(also reader is a nurse in this because I totally inserted myself into this lolololol). anyways! just needed to air this out

─ ⊹ ‧₊˚ Series mlist

You were exhausted when you got home from your shift at the hospital. Sometimes, you wondered why you chose to be a nurse, especially a nurse in Gotham. The answer was you genuinely did love to help and loved your job, as tiring as it was.

Jason had texted you to let you know he wouldn't be home in time for dinner. Something about family problems concerning his dad and little brother. You hadn't met his family yet, he'd told you everything was complicated and you understood, so you never pressured him into introducing you to them. It was fine, just the two of you living your (not so) quiet lives. Still, he'd shown you pictures of each member and you could tell he loved each one dearly, despite having a really hard time expressing that.

Sighing, you locked the door and dropped you keys in the little flower key holder you and Jason made in a pottery class you two went to as a date. All that was on your mind right now was getting out of your clothes, showering, and eating the chinese take-out you got before going home.

Or at least that was until you heard a soft clatter. You were already half-way into the kitchen of your and Jason's shared apartment, and not only had you been making plenty of noise you were also already barefoot, so whoever this intruder was – and it had to be an intruder because when Jason told you he wouldn't be home, he wasn't lying – knew you were home.

Taking a deep breath you remember what Jason had told you.

"Anyone ever breaks in, first thing you do is grab the nearest gun. Remember you know our place better than the intruder, use that in your advantage."

At the time you thought he was being paranoid (especially considering he hid a gun in each division of your apartment), now you wished he was here. But either way you grabbed the gun under the kitchen counter and got ready to face the assailant.

The soft sound of steps grew louder. You tried your best to stop shaking. Then you saw a shadow, and then...

You frowned and lowered the gun.

A small frowning boy appeared in the corridor, looking super pissed as if you were the one breaking into his apartment. You recognised him from the pictures Jason showed you, it was Damian (supposedly the centre of his family problem and the reason why you wouldn't be eating dinner with your boyfriend).

"Um.." You lowered the gun. "You're Damian, right...?" You eyed him, his mask was discarded but he was still wearing his Robin uniform.

For a second he looked shocked, before quickly masking it with an unimpressed look. "Tt. So Todd told you about us before bothering to say you existed." He approached you like he owned the place, and you couldn't help but feel amused at the fact that he acted exactly as Jason had described.

"Well.. Jason was going to tell you all eventually."

"Yeah right. He still doesn't trust father, or dick, or me. Or any of us." He huffed and crossed his arms. You didn't really understand why this bothered him so much, but you were trying to be attentive.

"He does, Damian. He's just complicated." You smiled softly and sat on your kitchen island. "He gets too lost in his own head with a thousand negative outcomes and..." You shrugged. "I suppose he was scared of your dad's reaction."

Damian huffs at that and looks around the room. During his inspection you notice he has a large gash on his upper arm, and well, obviously you couldn't ignore it.

"Hey, you're bleeding." You were already on your feet, rounding the kitchen island to inspect his injury.

"Tt. It's nothing. I am not like Todd, I can handle my injuries."

You chuckled softly at his defiance before reaching out. "May I take a look?" He stayed silent for a few seconds, but you were being gentle and.. well something about you made him feel safe so he begrudgingly nodded.

You inspected his wound carefully, it was not deep enough to need stitches, but it was bleeding and it was dirty, so you were worried about a possible infection. "Can I patch you up?"

"How can I know you will not sabotage me in any way?"

You raised your brow and bit the inside of your cheek, trying to stiffle a laugh. "Well, firstly, you are carrying a katana. Secondly, you know where I live and who I am without ever being told I even existed. And thirdly, I'm pretty sure you also know where I work so... Even if I were to do anything, not only would I have to deal with you but also with the whole bat family. I really don't want to face down Batman. Or you. You're pretty scary, little man."

That earned you a scowl. "Tt. I'm not "a little man", that's highly disgraceful."

You nodded and put on the most serious expression you could. "No, no, you're right. You're the tallest 10 year old I've met, and I meet lots of them."

He grumbled something unintelligible but started to make his way to your bathroom. You smiled to yourself, his little atitude and the way he walked around as if he'd been here thousand of times was cute.

In the bathroom you patched him up silently, being as gentle as you usually were with your pacients. Damian spent the whole time analysing you, not in a judgy way, just... taking you in. He seemed vulnerable, and from what Jason told you about him, this wasn't an usual behaviour of his at all, still you didn't comment on it.

"Aaaall done. Are you hungry? I bought chinese food." He seemed reluctant once again, but after a few seconds he shrugged.

"I suppose we could eat."

You chuckled softly to yourself and led him back to the living room, deciding you two could eat on the couch. He ate silently, but you could tell he was thinking about something.

"How did you two get together? I couldn't find anything that correlates you two in any way."

You tilted your head and smiled. "You're interested in all that mushy stuff?"

He scoffed like you had just personally insulted his whole family. "Of course not! I am merely interested in how he managed to hide you away, or even be with you. He is quite insufferable."

Chuckling, you lifted your hands in mock surrender. "Alright, if you say so."

"We met a little over two years ago-" He immediately interrupted you.

"He's kept your relationship hidden for two years?!"

That got a long chuckle out of you. "Oh no, no, your brother fought his feelings at each chance he got. We met at the local library. I was finishing my degree so yeah, looots of time spent writing essays, and researching, and studying. Whenever I took breaks and wandered into the romance area he was always there with a classic. One day I was so tired, I fell asleep reading and he woke me up. That's how we started being friends."

Damian looked extremely interested in your love story.

"It was quite funny after that, we just kept bumping into eachother everywhere. The park, the chinese restaurant, the hospital." Recalling those memories made you smile fondly, you genuinely loved Jason, like you never loved anyone before. "Then there was a huge attack at the hospital I work at, from Scarecrow. I don't remember much from that night, just that I was hit with his gas and that Jason was there and saved me. At this point we'd been friends for a couple of months, and I had the biggest crush on him. When the effects from the gas passed Jason was freaked out, he admitted he had feelings for me and spewed his secret identity. Then I didn't see him again for like two months."

Damian frowned deeply, he finished his food in the meantime and made himself comfortable on your couch. "Why would he do that?"

You shrugged. "He was scared, but that made me really angry. There were a lot of boring issues about feelings in the middle, but eventually he came around and we started dating, we've been together for a year now."

He hummed and nodded. "I can see why Todd likes you, but I still don't understand why you like him."

That once again made you laugh. After that chat, Damian asked you lots of questions about the hospital. What it was like working in healthcare, what you thought of the doctors, what were your biggest struggles, etc etc. You remember that Jason had lightly mentioned Damian seemed interested in healthcare, but it wasn't something he was really exploring (since he was 10, but also because he loved being robin).

"Do you think people can change? I mean, Todd used to be more violent and.. well angry. Now he's.. tolerable. Can everyone do that?" His sleepy question got you slightly off guard.

"Well... Yes. I think so. Jason is an amazing example. I think that everyone should be given a second chance, because we never know what paths that person had to cross, or what challenges they faced, that made them be the way they are. No one should be defined by things they are actively trying to overcome."

At that he just nodded silently. Damian had been trying his hardest to fight sleep, he didn't even understand why he was feeling like this. Maybe it was the exhaustion of the day paired with the argument he had with Bruce finally weighing on him, or maybe it was just that he felt genuinely comfortable with you (even if you were technically a stranger). Your voice was soothing and.. he felt at peace. So in just a few minutes, you had a snoring Robin cuddled into your couch. Smiling, you pulled a blanket over him, put away the empty take-out boxes, and took the shower you were meant to take when you arrived home. After that you went back to the couch, scrolling as you waited for Jason.

When you heard the front door unlocking, you softly got up not to distrup Damian and went to greet Jason. As soon as he saw you, he gave you a kiss.

"So, what happened with Bruce and Damian?"

He sighed heavily, leaning his forehead against yours. "They had a fight after patrol. Damian was a bit too violent against a drug lord that was using kids as dealers and Bruce flipped on him as soon as they got to the cave. Basically Bruce told him that everyone deserves a second chance so he shouldn't have done that but then said, and I quote, "You're thinking as an assassin". Dami was hurt, obviously. He feels like Bruce thinks everyone deserves a second chance but him. After that he just left, cut all comms and disappeared. We've been looking for him but no one could find him. Bruce feels awful." Your eyes widened a little, now your evening was starting to make more sense.

Silently, you guided Jason to your living room, where Damian was still peacefully sleeping. "He's been here the whole night."

Jason was dumbfounded for a few seconds. "The little shit found out about you and broke in?" You giggled softly. "He did. I patched him up and everything. Oh, and he ate the extra take-out I bought for you." Jason kissed the top of your head and placed an arm around you. "Ah, 's fine. Kid really has trouble trusting people, he'd never let his guard down like this with just... anyone. Can't say I'm surprised he felt comfortable enough with you, though. Thank you, baby."

And after everyone was notified about Damian being okay, you finally got to rest, not being able to imagine how much your words actually mattered to Damian, and how for the first time in years he was able to fall asleep without feeling haunted by ghosts of his past.

Like lovers do ୨୧ ⁺

𝜗ৎ tags/tw: tooth rotting fluff!!, idiots in love, reader and dick finally come around to their feelings, angst with lots of comfort!!, subtle flirting, banter, swearing, suggestive themes, making out, nightmares, not proofread

ও˖ ࣪⊹ pairing: dick grayson x f!reader

𝜗ৎ a/n: some people requested a pt 2 so here it is!! i think this is my first time writing a more detailed make out sesh so i hope i did it justice lol but honestly this is one of my favourite fics so far! i was smiling sm while writing this, it was awesome

─ ⊹ ‧₊ Like best friends do

Something shifted between you two after that night.

You were the one who said that there wasn’t a difference between sleeping together on a couch and sleeping together in a bed, but there was. Nothing could have prepared you for the pang in your heart when you woke up with your head buried in Dick’s chest, his arm dangerously low in your back, fitting together perfectly like two pieces of a puzzle. Normally, when you two fell asleep on your couch, sure you could be cuddling, but during the night it got so uncomfortable you always ended up in weird positions (one time you woke up to the sound of a thud and found Dick snoring on the floor like he didn’t just fall off your couch), so the intimacy you two shared on that night couldn’t compare to anything you’d ever done together.

So naturally, sleeping together became a norm, because after the amazing sleep Dick got all tangled up with you? Yeah, he wasn’t letting that feeling go. Movie nights migrated from your couch to your bed, patrols in Gotham had him crashing at your apartment instead of the Manor because ‘I sleep better when I’m with you’, anytime you had a rough day you texted him so he’d spend the night with you, and so on. It was all under the pretense of ‘best friends’, of course. You never crossed any other lines, it still didn’t hurt any less. There were the days where he had to leave earlier to get to Blüdhaven, and you woke up to a little note on your bedside table wishing you a good day, and then there were the days where you woke up to the sound of bacon sizzling in a pan, only to follow the heavenly smell and find him shirtless in your kitchen cooking you breakfast like it was his second nature. And those were the days that hurt the most, because you wanted that forever, every day, but you knew that this would all come to an end once he found his person (silly you, he thought the exact same thing about you).

There were also the days where you two slept in that ended up with you feeling things press against you in the morning that you definitely shouldn’t feel. But we don’t talk about those days, or how Dick always took a cold shower as soon as he got up.

Either way, the two of you pretended everything was how it always had been, 100% platonic! And life went on, even if it was starting to mess you up a bit, because Dick did not make your life easier at all! He decided it’d be fun to start calling you ‘baby’ and other cute endearment names whenever he got the chance, sometimes you didn’t even know if he noticed because he seemed super impassive, but you noticed, and little sparks of hope started igniting in your heart.

That hope solidified itself when you went to Wayne Enterprises to visit him. It was a regular visit, he told you to drop by since he was in Gotham for the day, then you could go for lunch before he had to return to Blüdhaven. On your way to his office, you found Carl, the guy that tried flirting with you at the gala. You went up to him because one, he was really nice, and two, he left kind of abruptly once Dick showed up and you kept thinking about it since.

“Hey Carl!” He turned to you and called out your name.

“Oh, hi. I didn't know you worked here.”

“I don't, just came by to hang out with Dick later.”

He unsuccessfully tried fixing the stubborn curl that kept going in front of his eyes. “Ah, I see. You could've told me you were dating him when I approached you at the gala.”

You looked at him like he grew a third head. Now you were flustered and confused. “We're… not dating.” An embarrassed laugh escaped you when he looked at you weird.

“You're not dating?” You shook your head. “I'm sorry, I mean this in the most respectable way, but are you blind?” Your eyes widened.

“What–” He interrupted you by saying your name firmly.

“Dick looked like he was about to kill me just because I was breathing near you. I thought he was about to make Bruce cut all business deals with me, honestly I was fearing for my life. He's a pretty chill guy but he looked really menacing.” A shiver went through him. “Are you sure you're not dating?”

You were getting progressively redder. “Yes, I'm sure.”

“Well, does he know that too?”

“Of course he does! We're just best friends. I'm sure you interpreted him wrong.” He looked at you for a few seconds before bursting out laughing.

“Best friends? Oh my god, you two are deep in denial. That's the funniest thing I've ever heard. I don't know what he's waiting for, because if I were him I'd made things official with you way sooner, but I hope you guys figure it out.” He patted your shoulder. “Invite me to the wedding when it happens.” Then he left you there, extremely red, honestly about to explode, while he was still giggling to himself. He was crazy! Dick didn’t look at him like that… Or did he? He did call you ‘his girl’ multiple times that night…

Anyways!! You found Dick not long after and he greeted you with a warm hug and a kiss at your temple. Butterflies. Lots of them. He took you to a nice restaurant, and you once again felt awful for the fact that he could take you to all these fancy places, and give you nice gifts, when you just… didn’t have the money to repay him. He saw you pushing your food around your plate.

“Hey, what's wrong?” You looked up at him and smiled.

“Nothing. I'm fine.”

“C'mon, I know you. Do you not like the food? I can order something else.” You sighed.

“I can't pay for another plate.”

“What are you talking about? When you're with me, I pay.”

“That's not fair though. I never… I can't buy you nice things.” You said sadly and he immediately reached out to grab your hand.

“Sweetheart, don't be like that. I don't want you spending money on me, that stuff doesn't matter. I have the possibility of spending more money and I love to spend it on the woman I lo–” He started coughing profusely and you immediately started getting up to help him before he waved you off. “LIKE. The woman I like the most!” You were so worried about him choking, you didn't even catch his slip up. “What I mean is, I love spoiling you, please don't ever feel guilty about not being able to do the same with me because nothing could ever make me happier than spending time with you.”

You sighed dreamily. “You know, the person who'll get to marry you will be really lucky one day.” He got really red.

“You think?”

“Yeah, you're a sweetheart.”

Dick looked at you with the most loving gaze possible. “I don't think so. Something tells me I'll be the lucky one.” You didn't really get it, but you did hear an older lady telling her husband what a cute young couple you two were.

A few days after that, you were resting at your apartment when you heard the familiar thud of someone entering through your window. Maybe you should be scared, but you knew it wasn't an intruder, and you always left the window unlocked just for him. His steps sounded different though, they were still his but…

“Dick?” You got up from your couch and looked at the window behind you, where he always entered. He was leaning against your wall, panting.

“Hi babe.” There it was again. And if that wasn't enough, he was actively bleeding into your wall.

“Oh my god. You're bleeding, why didn't you go see Leslie.” He shrugged and smirked at you.

“I prefer getting treated by you.” That angered you a bit, he had no right to just dump all of this onto you. Either way, you took him to your bathroom and helped him get the top part of his suit off. There was a large gash across his chest, it wasn't deep enough that it needed stitches but still.

“You're not going to hear the end of it tomorrow morning.” You murmured while cleaning his wound.

“You're mad at me?” The little furrow in his brows hurt you.

“Yes. You can't just come here bleeding all over.” Hurt flashed across his face.

“You're… I guess I wanted to spend time with you. But you're right, I can leave if you want, sweetheart.”

“No, Dick, that's not what I meant.” You sighed. “I'm just not a professional and I'm always worried I'll give you an infection or something.” He handed you the gauze and you started wrapping his torso.

“I trust you, though.” His little teasing tone and the smile he threw your way made you smile and caused your heart to do a flip.

“You, sir, are hopeless.” Maybe all the cute names and the time you were spending together lately were building into something more. Maybe you could even tell him how you felt! Maybe–

“And you are the most amazing best friend I could ever ask for.”

Oh. That snapped you out of it. Best friend. That was all you were and it really pissed you off once again. You were right, Carl was imagining things. Carl, and the lady at lunch, and your friends, and his brothers, and everyone. Suddenly you were mad at him, because despite not knowing about your feelings he had no right to cuddle you at night, and to call you all these sweet names, and to take you out– it wasn't fair.

You nodded and stepped back. “Yup. The feeling's mutual, bro.”

Bro? Dick was flabbergasted. “Did you just–”

“I'm going to bed. Tired. I'll leave your spare clothes by the door for when you finish showering. Are you staying over?” He probably should've went home but he could tell you were mad at him and he wanted to understand why.

“Yeah, if that's alright with you.”

“‘Course. I'll probably be asleep once you're done, so g'night.”

“Good night…” But you had already closed the door before he could finish.

You went to bed cursing Dick Grayson for everything. For being your best friend and for making you fall for him, that was a slow and cruel death. You couldn't take it anymore, the cuddling and the late nights and everything that couples did but that you labelled as platonic. It wasn't to you, it never was. And maybe it was your fault for letting things get this complicated without setting boundaries, but you were so wrapped around your own made up lie, it was easier to keep pretending you didn't wish for more of him every day. Eventually you fell asleep crying silently into your pillow, back facing his side.

When Dick got out of the shower, he found you curled in on yourself at the edge of your bed, the furthest away you could be from his side. Damn. He really didn't know what he did to piss you off so much. He got into his side and tried to sleep, but you were so far away from him, the bed felt empty and cold. His mind kept replaying your conversations from the whole week, since he also thought you were a bit weird at lunch. Maybe he said something that offended you? He was lost, but somehow he managed to fall into a really light sleep.

You wake up the next morning and Dick isn't there, but there's also no smell of bacon and no note at your bedside table. Tentatively, you walk to your living room, where Dick is standing with your diary in hand.

“Dick, what the hell!? That's private.” You basically scream at him.

“I didn't read it. It was just laying here so I was going to take it to your room.”

“Yeah right,” You snatched it from his grip. “Who do you think you are, going around my things?”

“I'm sorry baby–”

“Stop! Stop calling me that. You don't mean it. This has to stop, get out.” You didn't recognise your own voice, it felt like you were watching a really bad movie. Dick got out of your apartment through the door, looking dejected.

Later, you turn on the news only to see a really worried looking reporter.

“It seems Nightwing is losing the fight. Oh my god!” She looked back at where Nightwing was being punched to a pulp by Killer Croc. “No one's here to save him. I think… Oh no…” Killer Croc proceeded to eat Dick and you screamed. He was gone.

Gone

Gone.

Gone..

…

Dick woke up to the sound of you shuffling around. At first he thought you were just trying to get comfortable, but then he heard you mumbling and sniffling.

“No… No, 'm sorry… I'm so sorry… Dick…”

He sat up and cradled your face. A nightmare. “Hey, hey… I'm here baby, it's okay.”

“Come back… Don't leave… No…”

“I'm not leaving, love. I'm here.” He wiped your tears and kissed your forehead. “I'm here, baby. Not going anywhere.” You gasped and opened your eyes.

“Dick..?”

“It's okay, it was just a nightmare.” Immediately you started sobbing, because that nightmare felt so real, you genuinely thought he'd died. He helped you sit up and held you close against his chest. “Shhh… shhh, it's okay, baby. It's okay.”

Dick waited until your sobs turned into hiccuping before getting you more comfortable. His back was against your headboard, your legs were over his lap and your head was on your shoulder.

“Wanna talk about what happened in your nightmare?” You nodded and sniffled.

“I woke up and you weren't here, so I went into my living room a-and you had my diary so I got really mad. We argued and I told you to leave, but then when I-I watched the news you-” You started crying again. “You w-were eaten by Killer Croc.”

“Oh, baby…” He was laughing softly while hugging you tighter.

“‘S not funny. I h-hate nightmares.”

“I know… I know it's not. It's just cute how your nightmare was basically about me being a snack. Pretty good compliment if you ask me.” You laughed and hit his chest.

“Stop. You're so cocky.”

“Mm and you love it. Now tell me what I did to make you mad.” You looked up at him and wiped your eyes.

“What?”

“I know you're mad at me. You've been weird lately and earlier you called me bro, which you've never done like, ever. I don't know what I did, and I want to know what upset you.”

“I don't want to t-talk right now.” He understood you were still recovering from the sobbing.

“Alright, I'll tell you what Alfred told me about nightmares when I was younger. Can I?” You nodded. “After my parents died, I used to have lots of nightmares about them. I felt guilty and I blamed myself for not saving them. Eventually they stopped and for a long while I didn't have nightmares, until one night after patrol I had this huge argument with B. He told me I had to be more careful, but I wasn't having any of that so, I told him I hated him.” He shook his head. “Dumb teen stuff. That night I stormed to my room and then I had this vivid nightmare where I told him repeatedly that I hated him and then had to watch him die again and again, completely helpless. I woke up crying and completely convinced he was dead, so I started running to his room while sobbing loudly, I'm pretty sure Superman heard me too.” The two of you chuckled. “Then I burst into B's room and he was already sitting up, thinking something had happened to me. Seeing he was alive made me cry even harder, I ran to him and hugged him like if I didn't he'd disappear. Not long after that, Alfie showed up and he told me nightmares were a reflection of our fears, and were often tied with our day's events or things that have been worrying us.” He cradled the side of your face once again. “What did I do to upset you?”

You sighed, it was now or never. “You've been calling me baby, and other sweet endearment names a lot lately. I understand it doesn't mean anything to you, but to me it does.” He looked a bit confused. “They have a romantic meaning to me, not platonic. And… And it's confusing me.”

Dick's eyes widened. Could this be it? He honestly didn't even realise he was calling you cute names so many times, he thought he was being slick. Guess not!! But he didn't care, his heart was beating out of his chest. “Confusing you… How..?”

“Dick. I…” You took a deep breath and looked straight into his eyes. “I'm in love with you.” His heart stopped, he stayed silent for so long you started panicking and rambling, fuck you ruined it, didn't you? “You don't feel the same way and that's fine! It's okay, I don't mind, we can just pretend I've never said anything, I just can't go on like this– it makes me think of what I could have, and don't have, and it's too much for me to handle. We can keep being best friends but-”

He did not hear a single word you said. His hand went into your hair and then he was kissing you. Your eyes widened at first but then you melted into the kiss. It was soft and gentle, almost shy, like you two were still in denial. He muttered your name against your lips. “I love you. I've been in love with you for so long.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I'm crazy about you.” Then his lips were on yours again but this time they were hungry and demanding. He shifted you so you were straddling him, this way it was easier to make out. One of his hands was at your waist, ribbing gentle circles, while the other was tangled up in your hair.

Time seemed to melt, you didn't know how long you two spent kissing, you just knew his injury and your nightmare were completely forgotten, and goddamn you were in heaven. Kissing Dick Grayson, your best friend, made you feel ecstasy, it was way better than you ever could've imagined. His lips were soft, and his tongue caressed yours like he was tasting a 5 star desert. Your kisses alternated between soft and messy, and you only stopped when your lips were swollen and the two of you needed air desperately.

“I have… no idea how I… managed to wait so long.” He was panting and you found that the prettiest sight ever.

“I guess you have good self control.” He nodded before flipping you over so you were laying on your back with him on top.

“I did. I'm not so sure about it now.” Then he was kissing your neck, and your jaw, and your face while you giggled, and then your lips again. You had an amazing night making out and talking about all the moments where the two of you were straight up blind.

The next time he went to the Manor, he brought you along, and as soon as his brothers saw you two kissing, Damian made a little victory celebration while Jason and Tim handed him 20 dollars.

“I can't believe you won.”

Dick approached them with you in tow. “Won what?”

“We placed a bet on how long it would take for you to confess your feelings, Grayson. And I obviously won. Tt, these losers don't know how to place bets.” His comment started an argument between the three of them, while you and Dick laughed at them.

Maybe nightmares weren't so bad after all.

Like best friends do ୨୧ ⁺

𝜗ৎ tags/tw: tons of fluff!!, idiots in love, reader and dick are oblivious to their feelings, liiight angst if you squint, subtle flirting, banter, swearing, jealous dick!!!, not proofread

ও˖ ࣪⊹ pairing: dick grayson x f!reader

𝜗ৎ a/n: this is my redemption post from writing #evil dick grayson lololol i had LOOOTS of fun writing this, this is my dick grayson your honour! they're cuties, anyways hope you enjoy<3

─ ⊹ ‧₊ Like lovers do

Being Dick Grayson's best friend meant you got to go to lots of galas. Not that you particularly enjoyed them, but he always gave you a Wayne Enterprises credit card to spend on whatever you wanted for said galas, be it hair, makeup, accessories, shoes, dresses, you name it. How he got those cards you didn't know, but you suspected it involved a lot of sweet talking Bruce Wayne. Either way, now you had a small but nice collection of beautiful floor gowns that fit you like a glove, you never went crazy on your spendings because it made you feel bad (and also because your closet barely fit you inside), so you rotated between the dresses you had and absolutely loved.

Despite all of its privileges, being Dick's best friend was not for the weak. Mainly because he was really charming. Way too charming, perfect even. 

And you were so gone for him.

It actually made you sad to think about, because Dick was just nice. He helped old ladies with their groceries, he talked to everyone like he wasn't a celebrity, hell he was Nightwing, for heaven's sake! Anything that he did couldn't be read into because he treated you like he treated everyone (well, that's what you thought at least, his family would disagree).

So what if the two of you cuddled while watching movies? So what if he had an extra toothbrush at your apartment and you had one at his? What if he didn't let you spend Valentine's Day alone because he knew it made you feel lonely? And every other holiday because your family didn't live in Gotham so he started inviting you to his family's celebrations? Those are totally normal platonic best friends things! Any good best friend would do that. Yup. You had unreciprocated feelings for Dick Grayson and it was fine! 

Let's totally ignore the lovesick looks he throws your way that everyone, but you, notices. 

But anyways! Back to the galas, he once again begged you to come to tonight's gala, he needed a plus one and you couldn't let him fend for himself, as he sadly told you. He was so dramatic. For some reason you even got a private driver to the gala this time! You asked him why that was needed and he said he wanted to spoil you. Okay? Were you his daughter or what? You didn't say no, though! It was really cool being driven to a fancy gala in a fancy car in your fancy dark blue gown. Ugh, you wish you were rich.

When you arrived, Dick was waiting for you at the Manor's entrance. You had told him earlier that week that you were going to wear your dark blue dress (that suspiciously matched his suit colours), and he didn't really seem to pay that much attention, but he was wearing a tie that perfectly matched your dress' color. Huh. You weren't going to say anything. 

“There's my favourite girl!” He gave you a bear hug and lifted you up, making you giggle, and that was enough for you to pretend he didn’t just call you his favorite girl.

“Dick, you're going to crush my ribs. And you're going to wrinkle my dress, which is far more important.” 

He laughed earnestly before setting you down. “My bad, I'm just excited to see you, we haven't been together in what, a week?”

“Yeah, I know. Your life is super boring without me. I'm still mad at you for missing our movie night, though.”

“I swear I'll make it up to you. But c'mon, you can't pretend you didn't like seeing me in the news kicking ass.” He was wiggling his brows.

“Dick, my sweet sweet best friend, you got your ass beat. I'd say you were being kicked badly not kicking. I was praying you'd win the fight, and you barely made it.” He gasped like you just insulted his whole bloodline.

“Excuse me? I was doing really well, thank you very much. I just had a bit of trouble like.. an hour into the fight–” The two of you went in while he rambled about his ‘glorious’ fight, and what movies you should watch for your next movie night.

During the first hour Dick stayed glued to your side. Even when business partners tried to stir him away to pry about Wayne Enterprises, and even when hot models tried to get him to give them a tour (which definitely wasn't about a tour around the manor, and which you hated very much!!). He kept his hand at your lower back the whole time, and he even introduced you to some important looking people. It was nice, especially because he usually dipped like half an hour after the galas started, you understood he didn't do it on purpose but it still sucked.

Well, it was all going pretty well and you were actually having fun until he had to leave you to have some business talk with some random bald annoying guy, and then he just disappeared. Great! Now you were alone and you didn't know where his brothers were either (probably hiding away), so you started to wander like you usually did.

Eventually you got bored of just watching rich people laughing richly, so you settled yourself on the sidelines of the room you were in. You knew Dick couldn't control this, he was kind of working in these galas, but it still tugged at your heart. Sometimes it was too much, the business partners, the people that just wanted to talk to him, the models. Especially the models, because they were gorgeous. And he didn't deserve anything else than drop dead gorgeous, he was literally voted as the most good looking Wayne heir, how could you ever deserve that? Like, that man even picked up modeling jobs just because he was bored sometimes. 

You were so lost in your head that you didn't notice when a cute looking guy approached you.

“What's such a beautiful woman doing all alone?” His voice snapped you out of your thoughts and you looked at him. He was slightly taller than Dick, and he seemed nervous to be approaching you. You noticed how a stubborn curl seemed to fall on his forehead and how his glasses were a bit crooked.

You smiled at the compliment and shrugged. “My company for tonight left me alone so I decided to have a look around alone.” The word ‘partner’ almost slipped you, but you didn't know if this guy knew Dick and you didn't want to start a rumour about a no one apparently dating the Dick Grayson.

“Well, your company is very dumb to do that. I'm Carl Rogers, nice to meet you..” He extended his hand and you took it, replying with your name. 

“It's nice to meet you too, Carl. So, what do you do?”

“I have a small tech startup company. It's nothing big, I got a scholarship from Wayne Enterprises and Mr. Wayne kept a close eye on me ever since. I've actually had the honour to talk to him some times, he's really nice.” 

“Oh, so you also aren't rich rich like everyone else here?” You asked playfully and he laughed honestly. 

“No, not at all. Mr. Wayne actually invited me, I was pretty shocked and kind of scared but I'd be dumb to not come.” So that's why he looked so nervous. It was nice to see someone more of your financial status. “They all laugh so… richly. It's weird.”

“Oh my god, that's what I've been saying! It's like a default setting.” The two of you laughed and started walking around.

“So you're not rich either, huh?”

“Nah, my uh– company is, though. I'm here as a plus one.”

“Ah, I see. I'd also bring you as my plus one, you're more beautiful than all the models here combined.” Okay that flustered the both of you, you could tell he wasn't used to being so bold with women and it was really sweet. You blushed at his compliment, but before you could reply, Dick appeared in front of you.

He had been keeping an eye on you ever since he left you alone, he hated doing that to you but he had no choice. The moment he saw Carl walking up to you, his eye twitched. Carl was a nice guy, honest, and he seemed to have a bright future ahead of him at Wayne Enterprises, did that mean he could just stroll up to you and ride into the sunset? No! And yes, Dick knew that was what Carl wanted. You were drop dead gorgeous, he knew that, and he knew he had no claim on you whatsoever, but that didn't keep him from being jealous. Or from cutting the conversation he was having and pretty much sprinting to you. 

"There's my girl! I've been looking for you everywhere." 

Okay so he was going crazy with calling you ‘my girl’ tonight. 

You looked at him, slightly shocked,  because firstly,  where did he come from? Secondly,  he left you alone and now was supposedly looking for you everywhere? Yeah right. "Well, you disappeared, so I looked for company elsewhere."

Carl looked between the two of you with wide eyes. The Dick Grayson was your company? Oh my god. He never talked to pretty girls, and the moment he did, he chose Dick Grayson's girl! At least it looked like you were with the way he was subtly shooting daggers at him with his eyes. He really didn't want to anger his boss's son.

"You're together?"

Before you could say anything, Dick threw his arm around your shoulders. 

"Yeah, we are, we're even matching, see?" He proceeded to point at his dark blue tie that matched your dress. So he noticed that, huh. It made you think his tie choice wasn't that innocent after all. You didn't see the death glare he was sending Carl's way.

"Aw man, that's cute. I'll uh– leave you guys to it then." You watched as Carl quickly disappeared into the crowd with a slightly concerned look. After he was gone, you turned to Dick.

"What was that?" That was like, one of the weirdest interactions you've ever had with him. It felt like he was staking a claim on you so the other guy wouldn't talk to you..?

"What was what? Anyway, come on, Bruce wanted to talk to you. Says he hasn't seen you in a while and wants to catch up, you know how he is." 

Before you could call him out on evading your question, he was already dragging you to Bruce, who was a bit further away talking to some business partners. As soon as he saw the two of you approach, Bruce dismissed the men he was talking to so he could speak with you in peace. You all made small tall before Dick bolted once again, so weird.

"What's wrong with him today?" Bruce asked you playfully. 

"I have no idea, Mr. Wayne. He's been acting all weird the whole night. Honestly, I think he's plotting something."

Bruce laughed softly. "I've already told you to call me Bruce, no need for all that politeness. But yes, you do have a point. I was hoping you kept him grounded today, we wouldn't want him to turn his usual energy into swinging in the chandeliers."

That got a real laugh out of you. "Oh, he wouldn't, I think he has outgrown that."

Then, a very unimpressed and bored Damian spoke up. "Tt, you'd be surprised."

20 minutes later...

Dick was swinging in the chandelier. 

And the fucker was waving at you too! Honestly, you were too tipsy to even care, you promised yourself you wouldn't drink too much but like... Bruce is super rich so he has those tasty and fancy champagnes. You couldn't deny yourself, right??

After performing his acrobatic show, Bruce told him to leave, so a very dejected Dick Grayson made his way to you (still giggling at him).

"I'm being thrown out because of my charming skills." 

"No, Dick, I think you're being thrown out because you could've been the cause of that chandelier falling."

"Like Bruce doesn't have the money to fix something like that." He huffed.

"Yeah, but what would fix your ego from falling?"

He made a shocked sound. "Oh my god, you are brutal. I can't even believe what I'm hearing." That threw you into a giggling fit and he looked at you with the most loving eyes and that fond smile that you couldn't process because of the alcohol in your system.

"Someone drank too much, hm?"

"Just a little." You said before intertwining your arm with his. "Drive me home?"

"Mm.. Why don't you sleepover instead? We haven't done that in a while."

"Dick, I have work tomorrow."

"You could always miss it." He suggested with that little grin of his.

"No, not all of us are like, gazillionaires, okay?? I need to go to work."

Dick rolled his eyes like the drama queen he is. "Ugh, fine. But still, the manor is closer to your job than your apartment. I can drive you in the morning."

"What about my clothes?"

"You left spares for situations like these."

You frowned. "Did I? I don't remember that."

(Because he was the one who sneaked some of your clothes to his apartment and to his room in the manor, hoping something like this would occur)

"You did, but that's besides the point. C'mon baby, we're both tired, it's more efficient this way."

Baby??? Did he just call you baby? Your brain was kind of short circuiting. Dick didn’t even notice the pet name slipped.

"Okay, fine. But just because 'm sleepy and don't feel like arguing."

He was silently celebrating in his head. "Mhm, come on."

Dick gave you one of his shirts to sleep on since apparently you had the clothes situation figured out minus the pjs (he definitelyyyy didn't do that on purpose). Suspicious. Now, you were in his bed while he lay on the floor, insisting on being a 'gentleman'.

"Dick."

"Yeees?" 

"Dick, this is ridiculous."

He lifted his head from the floor, looking at you with the softest of frowns. "How?"

"Because we literally have cuddled while watching movies together. Actually, we have fallen asleep cuddling on my couch, you dumbass. What's the difference from a bed? You're going to mess up your back sleeping on the floor, and how are you meant to go around Blüdhaven backfliping with a messed up back?"

What was the difference? Maybe the fact that you were on his childhood bed, wearing nothing but one of his shirts that completely swallowed you, and a pair of his Calvins. And maybe the fact that you looked extremely in place, and it was so intimate Dick’s heart was doing flips. Still, he looked at you for a few seconds, trying to pretend he didn’t want to kiss you silly. "Huh. You do make an excellent point." You rolled your eyes.

"Of course I do, I'm always right." What he didn’t know was that you were also freaking out. At this point, the little alcohol you had in your system was basically gone, but its remnants still made you feel a little bolder, you just really wanted to cuddle him, and he looked so stupidly pretty looking at you from the floor, trying to be a gentleman.

He chuckled while getting up. "Yes ma'am." Then he plopped down next to you on top of you.

"Dick! Oh my god, you annoying fuck, you're crushing me!" You laughed while trying to push him off you.

"What? Didn't you want me here with you?" He asked innocently while looking down at you.

"Yeah, next to me, not on top of me." You blushed at the slight innuendo and he smirked at your little flustered state.

His voice dropped an octave lower. “Hmmm, you sure you wouldn’t like that?” As soon as the words left him, he panicked. Oh my god. He was going to scare you away!! He was a freak.

You blushed even harder and hid your face with your hands. Ohhh my god, Dick was going to die from a heart attack. How did you manage to be so cute and hot at the same time? “You’re such a freak.” Yup, he knew that.

He gently removed your hands from your face, and you didn't even notice the way he was caressing your wrists. “No, you’re just a prude.” He was grinning like it was his job.

You gasped loudly at his audacity. “No, ‘m not! You’re just a man-whore.” 

That got a genuine laugh out of him. While he laughed, Dick rolled next to you, taking the chance to get you pressed against his chest, making sure the two of you were cuddling. 

“Comfortable?” You nodded and sighed happily before adjusting your position just a bit more. For a while, the only sounds in the room were of your breaths slowing down and synching. 

"Goodnight, Dick." He could tell by your tone that you were seconds away from sleep.

"Goodnight, sweetheart." He whispered, but you seemed to have drifted off to sleep already. (so he snuck in a kiss to the top of your head to make sure you had a good sleep, like best friends do, of course)

Somewhere in a hidden away corner of the manor...

“Dude, how long do you think it'll take them to figure it out?” Tim asked Jason.

“Honestly, I think they could have neon signs on each other's head saying ‘I love you’ in all caps, and they'd still think that's some bff shit.”

“They're hopeless.”

“Totally. I'm almost sure Dickface pulled that chandelier stunt on purpose to get alone with her sooner.”

Damian nodded. “He definitely did. Tt, such foolish strategies. It is clear they are in love with each other, they are obnoxious at this point.”

“Yeah, little man you're right. I bet it'll take them one year until they confess.” 

“Dude, you're way off. I give them like six months.”

“You both are idiots. Grayson sprinted to her at the mere sight of another man talking to her alone, he will not last long staying in silence. I give them two to three months until he confesses.”

“Alright whoever guesses closer wins 20 bucks.” Jason and Tim shook their hands to seal the deal, Damian frowned.

“We are rich. Why would I need 20 dollars?”

“Because 20 bucks are 20 bucks, duh.” Damian rolled his eyes but shook their hands either way.

Love you less⋆˚࿔ᥫ᭡ˊ˗

𝜗ৎ tags/tw: cheating, suggestive, Dick is an absolute douchebag, mentions of reader feeling used, mentions of death, mentions of violence, swearing, hurt/no comfort, reader has no idea she's the other woman :(, not proofread

ও˖ ࣪⊹ pairing: jason todd x f!reader

𝜗ৎ a/n: omg I went crazy on this one. so basically, i've been obsessed with Love You Less by Joji ever since it came out, and one time I was riding the bus to uni (totally about to fall asleep) and i thought 'omg this is so reader who's in a toxic relationship while jason loves her' coded, then I made Dick the villain bc of that whole cheating on kori with barbara thing (which is not canon to me, he'd never!!!!!) but i needed a villain and this made it 10 times messier than if the toxic relationship was just with some rando (then i felt so bad i started writing a cute fic with him that's now sitting on my drafts). ANYWAYS!!! this is my longest fic, so yeah hope you enjoy<333 ALSOOOO this will have a pt 2 where reader confronts Dick heheheh i'm done with my exams and im cooking up a bunch of stuff!!

─ ⊹ ‧₊ Part two

Jason loved you first.

Honestly, he was the one who loved you, period, because what Dick felt for you? It wasn't love. He didn't understand his brother at all. He had Kori, so why go after you? And the worst part was that he knew. Deep down, Dick knew how bad Jason had it for you. Was it all just to taunt him? Just to prove a point?

Jason has been a goner for you since before he even died. You two were in the same classroom and quickly became bestfriends. You were his first love (and he was yours, but you never got the chance to tell him). It didn't take long for you to regularly spend time at the manor. The two of you loved to bake with Alfred. Those were the times when he was genuinely happy, the times when it felt like he had all the time in the world.

During that time, Dick had paid little to no mind to you. He didn't have the best relationship with Jason, and he was starting out as Nightwing, so he was too busy to care about what his little brother was doing or who his friends were. 

Then on the fated day that Jason died, your whole world fell apart. Bruce let you grieve with them, inviting you to the manor a lot, since at that point, you had become a part of the family, and everyone could see you were inconsolable. It was your first time actually dealing with grief, and being seventeen and having your first love snatched away just like that felt like the Universe's personal way of telling you your life was meant for suffering. 

During the three years Jason was gone, you and Dick got closer. He didn't try anything at first. He just wanted to help you move past your grief (while trying to deal with the regret of not being more present for Jason while he was alive). Slowly, he started to get to know you more, and he understood why his brother never shut up about you while he was alive. You were pretty, smart, and funny, and Dick... well, he just loves women, so could anyone blame him, really? After you made peace with your loss, he started throwing a little flirtatious line here and there, started to linger around you, giving you those looks and talks that made anyone feel wanted and special. It wasn't malicious… It was fun to see you so flustered.

But you caught real feelings. And the whole process wasn't fun because you felt like an awful human being for betraying Jason like that. Three years after Jason's death, the two of you started dating. Not long after that,  Jason came back, and you couldn't leave your room for a whole week; no one even bothered to give you an explanation about how that was even possible. You tried to distance yourself from Dick, but the more you did that, the more he ""loved"" you, and that just wrapped you around him even more.

Those first few months of Jason's comeback were awful, for him and for you. He was angry at the Joker, at Bruce, at you. How could you replace him? Out of all people, you were the only one he hoped wouldn't have moved on. And... to replace him with his older brother? Even then, he couldn't hate you, hell it was like the pit made him love you harder. So despite everything, Jason Todd still looked at you like you were the sole reason he was breathing. Like without you, his world wouldn't exist, and you couldn't take it, because now your heart was somewhere else when it always belonged to him.

What messed you up more was the fact that Dick loved being hot and cold. He could go on for weeks being super dry, but as soon as you talked about breaking up, he'd get on his knees and show you just how much he cared for you. He'd be gone for days without a text, get home late beyond patrol hours, disappear on missions with the Titans that were never broadcast, but if you told him you were concerned about where he actually was, he'd gaslight you and tell you how patient he was for you, even with all your feelings for Jason. How he always felt like he was competing with a ghost. How much you hurt him by not trusting him. Did you not love him? Maybe you were cheating on him with Jason, and that's why you were so suspicious. And then he'd leave your apartment despite you crying and apologising and promising you only loved him. Dick was cruel to you, but you started to internalise that you deserved to be treated like that, because firstly, falling in love with Jason’s brother after he died was actually really messy, and secondly, you were so lucky to be loved by Dick. He was making such an effort by actually staying by your side and deciding to love you despite all your gigantic flaws. He loved you! 

You just didn't know that while he kept your "relationship" hidden from everyone in the family, Kori was being invited to the family dinners as his girlfriend

If you so as mentioned making your relationship public and telling his family, he'd flip on you, because everyone was still dealing with the emotional turmoil of Jason returning, and no one cared about stupid relationships. How could you be so selfish as to even want to put that burden on his family? To that, you'd cry and agree with him and apologise without stopping, so he'd kiss you just to shut you up and take you to bed to show you how lucky you were that he loved you. Then, as soon as the two of you were done, he'd tell you he needed to go back to his apartment, and just leave you there, feeling empty and used (on his way out, he'd text Kori about how much he missed her, while you cried yourself to sleep).

Jason found out because he was obsessed with you. He followed you in the shadows when you went home from work just to make sure you were safe. He'd watch you when Dick would leave after arguments, and see how you cried for a guy that was messing with you just because he could. During that time, Jason was too revenge-driven to even talk to you (he had no idea about the amount of times you dreamt of hugging him again), so he'd just silently watch and think about how he could treat you so much better if he wasn't so broken.

It didn't take you long to start noticing you were being followed, and you knew who it was. At first, you just pretended you didn't know, but after a few months of knowing Jason was just lingering on the sidelines, you had enough. You were rounding a badly lit alley when you felt him in the shadows, so you just stopped and turned to him.

"What do you want?" You snapped at him, what he was doing was unfair, and you both knew it.

Jason slowly stepped away from the shadows in his Red Hood armour. He was slightly taken aback at you for snapping at him, and well, figuring out he had been following you.

"What you just did was dangerous, you know. I could be a random thug wanting to rob you." He evaded your question and crossed his arms. At that, you just rolled your eyes.

"But you're not. I know you've been following me ever since you came back. Seriously, what's your deal? Is it fun to just run around after me, while I know you're back, without ever... I don't know, say 'Hey, it's me, Jason, your best friend who you grieved for three years!! I'm back, and I kill people now. We should totally catch up!'. I don’t even know what truly happened because no one has had the decency to explain what happened to me. Did you even die? Did I grieve you just because?”

Jason scoffed at that. He spent a lot of time thinking about what would happen when the two of you talked again, and he liked to imagine you’d cry happy tears and hug him; he never thought you’d be so mad at him. Honestly, you were more hurt than anything, but the last few months were definitely taking a toll on your mental health, so it just turned into anger.

“I did die. I died, and then I got thrown into the Lazarus pit. That’s why I’m here.” His voice got a dangerous edge, and he moved closer to you. “I woke up after getting beaten with a crowbar so badly I felt everything inside me break, and if that wasn’t enough, I was then blown into pieces. Do you know how scary it is to wake up after that? Your mind knows it’s not natural, but your body reacts as if it’s good that you had a second chance. I was surrounded by people I didn’t know, and I couldn’t understand how in the hell I was alive.” 

Your eyes widened in shock. “Jason, I-”

“No, let me finish. The fun part comes now. I ran away from that fucking damned pit and returned to Gotham. I’m not even going to get into what I had to do to come back home. Only to find out that it was as if nothing ever happened.” He laughed bitterly, and you tried your best not to start sobbing. “For so much talk about grief, I think all of you handled it pretty well. I mean, Joker is still frolicking around, so I don’t think Bruce cared too much about having his son killed. Actually, he was so unbothered that he got Tim to replace me. But you’re not better, are you?” You swallowed dryly, and Jason tried to keep his voice steady so you wouldn’t hear it breaking. “When I found out about Bruce, and Tim, and all of that shit, the first person I wanted to run to was you. Only to find out you just waited around to get into my brother’s bed. Which got me thinking that maybe you just became my friend because you were interested in him the whole time.”

You frowned and angrily wiped your tears. “That’s bullshit, and you know it, Jason.”

“Is it though? Is it really? Because I don’t know anymore. I haven’t known ever since I came back. Dick was always Bruce’s favourite. He was always the one who could do no wrong, the best student, the best Robin, the best person in the whole entire world. He was the boy wonder, while I was the street kid who was too traumatised and too violent. It only makes sense you’d get with him, right? Why wouldn’t you?”

“Why do you even care about that, Jason?” You snapped.

Because I love you, and I’ve missed you every day since I came back.

“I don’t. I couldn't care less about any of you. In fact, you could get robbed for all I care. Call up your little boyfriend so he comes to the rescue since he’s so great.” The words felt foreign on his tongue, he knew he was lying.

Your jaw dropped at how ruthless he sounded. This wasn’t the boy you fell in love with all those years ago. Maybe it was for the best that you just forgot about him entirely. You wanted to say something equally as hurtful back, but you couldn’t. The words didn’t come out, and before you could gather the strength to finally say something, he just grappled up and disappeared into the shadows. 

He still made sure you got home safe, he just chose a different path so you wouldn’t figure out he was following you once again

That night, you told Dick what happened over the phone.

“I told you he’s dangerous now. You should stay as far from him as you can.”

“He’s not dangerous.”

“What? Are you crazy? He pretty much told you you could die in a ditch.”

“That’s blowing it out of proportion. He’s hurt. And honestly, I can understand him. It does seem like everyone just moved on like his death wasn’t a major thing.”

Dick scoffed at that. “You’re unbelievable. Are you so blind that you can’t see what he's doing is wrong? Being hurt doesn’t excuse everything, plus were we just meant to grieve forever?”

You stayed silent for a few seconds. “Why didn’t you tell me about the pit?”

That shut him up. “It wasn’t important.”

“It seems important to me. You let me believe he faked his death.”

“I never confirmed that.”

“You also never denied it.”

At that, you hung up. The day after your argument, Dick showed up at your apartment with a beautiful bouquet and a bunch of apologies. You ended up forgiving him. At the end of the day, it was clear that Jason was too broken to be your friend again (and that’s what you told the part of your brain that still lingered on the ‘maybe’s and ‘what if’s of what could’ve been between you two). 

Your life became quite bleak after that.  You still felt like someone followed you at night, and your dreams insisted on having Jason as the main character. Dick kept making promises that were never met, which ended with you in tears. Eventually, you stopped asking about when he was going to tell his family that the two of you weren’t just friends. Eventually, you stopped asking for anything from him. You also stopped asking about Jason, not because you didn’t care, god knew how much you did, but because your boyfriend would get butthurt anytime you did. Still, despite his best efforts, Bruce told you Jason was getting better. That he was starting to make peace with everything, that he was coming back into the family.

What nobody knew was that you were his motivation for getting better. Maybe then you’d finally see Dick for what he truly was. And maybe you’d give him a chance, but that was wistful thinking.

Those were the best news you could’ve gotten, and slowly (and when I say slowly, I mean it took a whole year), the two of you became friends once again. It wasn’t like before, there were clearly broken things inside both of you, and the yearning looks he gave you whenever the two of you hung out didn’t help your scrambled mind.

Dick hated the fact that you had gotten closer to Jason again, not because he was jealous, since, well, he had Kori and that was his actual girl, but – you were still fun, he knew he was being an asshole, letting you believe you were actually together and all that (no, actually he knew he was being an awful person leading you on like that). He saw you more as a friend who warmed his bed regularly than anything else. Which brought a problem! He was 99% sure Jason knew, and he was 100% he still wanted you, so he was scared Jason would tell you or Kori. 

One night, Dick decided to crash at the manor since their mission lasted longer than it was planned, and he was too tired to drive back to Blüdhaven. He was minding his own business, getting something to eat from the fridge. Alone (he thought) in the dark.

“Why are you doing this to her?” He heard Jason’s voice behind him and jumped, didn’t hear him coming.

“Jesus fuck man, where did you come from?” He turned to face his brother, who was in kinda (?) good terms with him, and he looked menacing as hell.

“Answer my question.”

“Doing what to whom?” But he already knew the answer.

 “You’re manipulating her and cheating on her with Kori.”

“Dude, c’mon, we have nothing serious going on. I just see her sometimes, you know my girl is Kori.”

Jason clenched his fists to try to control the rage he was feeling. “It’s serious to her, what you’re doing is plain cruel. What’s the point in making her feel awful to the point she’s constantly crying and apologising to you?”

Dick flashed him a stupid grin. “She’s hot when she cries. Plus, she lets me go a bit rougher on her-”

Jason took a step forward. “That’s enough. You’re being disgusting.”

They stayed silent for a few seconds before Dick laughed. “Don’t tell me you’re still hung up on her.” Jason’s silence was enough. “Aw man, that’s tough. You died, and the feelings stayed. I feel bad for you.”

At that moment, Jason wanted to throw away all the progress he’d made so far and just beat the shit out of his brother, but alas, that probably wouldn’t sit right with you.

“You shouldn’t. I’ll gladly spend the rest of my life loving her, even if she doesn’t feel the same, because she’s the best person I’ve ever had the luck of meeting. I don’t think I deserve her, but you don’t either, she deserves way better than you.”

Jason turned his back to leave before stopping midway. “Oh, and Dick? I’d suggest you stop playing this game of yours. You never know when your girlfriend might find out what you do for ‘fun’. Or the other way around.”

“You won’t say anything.”

“Wanna test that?” Then he was gone, and Dick pondered on it for like five minutes before pretending the conversation didn’t happen.

Well, Jason knew his warning wouldn’t really affect Dick. So, as a precaution.. Just as a little harmless thing.. Jason decided to take pictures of Dick with Kori at family events as proof. Was it a really stalkerish thing to do?

…

Perhaps. But! It was just in case this dragged on far too long, and you insisted on staying with Dick, because he knew that if he were to just tell you, you wouldn’t believe him (Dick also wasn’t that dumb, so he was probably going to feed you lies about Jason so you wouldn’t believe anything about cheating). 

So. When you hung out with Dick, he’d trash talk jason the whole time. When you hung out with Jason, he’d keep telling you you deserved better. You were starting to get mildly annoyed!!! Not that Jason was wrong, you were starting to believe him, but this was getting exhausting.

Your relationship anniversary was coming up, and you begged Dick not to forget about it, and to show up at the restaurant you had a reservation at. 

He forgot, and you had to deal with the pitying looks of the waitresses. 

After an hour, you decided enough was enough, so you went back to your apartment to cry. And somehow in the middle of all your tears and ice cream tubs, you dialled Jason’s number. He was at your door after ten minutes. When Jason saw your puffy red eyes and makeup-smudged face, he immediately hugged you.

“He forgot, didn’t he?” He asked quietly into your hair, and you just nodded.

The two of you went inside and sat on your sofa.

“I don’t get it. He acts like I’m an afterthought, yet he also doesn’t let me go. I’m getting sick of it, but I don’t have the guts to simply ignore his pleading.” You vented to Jason for a while about all the missed dates, the late hours, the just leaving you crying, the manipulation, and how he always made you feel guilty for thinking about leaving.

“I’ve told you this a million times already. You deserve better. He’s an asshole who doesn’t treat you right. He never has.” Jason was being super gentle, but Dick’s venom was getting to you a bit.

“He wasn’t always like this. He’s just been weirder lately.” You both knew that was bullshit, you just didn’t want to believe it.

“I have trouble believing that.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Are you saying I’ve just been a dumbass who has allowed this mistreatment in our entire relationship?” Your voice was rising. 

“No. I’m not saying that, you’re not dumb. But Dick is extremely manipulative to you. I see it in what you tell me and in how he speaks about you, so it’s not hard for me to believe that he keeps making you feel like you’re less than him just so he can keep toying with you.” He stayed gentle through it. Jason just wanted you to realise your worth. But… You weren’t having that, you didn’t want to listen to him.

“You know, it’s funny, because he warned me about this.”

“He what?”

“Yeah. He told me you’d say exactly this to try to break us apart because you’re jealous of him, and you want to make his life miserable, when he hasn’t done anything wrong. He’s just going through a bad phase. He’ll get better, and I’ll be there for him, because that’s what good girlfriends do. And you shouldn’t be trashing on him like that.”

Jason swiped his tongue over his teeth, trying to maintain his calm, because he knew this was the manipulation speaking. But you were pissing him off. He hummed before getting up.

“You really think so?” His voice was dangerous, like it was on the first day the two of you talked after he came back. You also got up and nodded angrily.

“I’m trying to look out for you. He treats you like shit. You don’t deserve that. He’s a douchebag.” You just shook your head.

“I think it’s time for you to leave.”

“Are you serious right now?” Jason was baffled. 

“Yes. It was a mistake calling you in the first place. Please just go.” You pointed at your door. He stood there for a few seconds, processing what just happened before nodding.

“Okay.” He grabbed his jacket. “If that’ll make you feel better. Have a great night.” And then he was gone. He didn’t slam your door, didn’t make a scene. He just left, like you asked. You regretted snapping at him the moment he left.

Jason went home, made a hot mug of tea, just like Alfred taught him, and then he pondered. He was about to be petty, and you were probably going to hate him for a while, but you’d end up thanking him, because despite your outburst, Jason knew it was just a way to protect yourself from the truth you were too hurt to face. So, he grabbed his phone.

You were (depressingly) eating cookies while watching some random youtube video when your phone pinged, at first you were going to ignore it, but then it pinged again and again and again so you decided to see what it was, only to find out Jason was texting you.

Jayjay: I know he probably told you that I’m this sick monster who’s just jealous and wants to ruin your life, but I hope that, despite everything I've done ever since I came back, you can recognise I’m actively trying to change. I can’t promise I’m going to be the same boy that was once your best friend, because there are parts of me that are simply gone. I also hope you know you’re the reason I’m trying to be better, and I’m not going to go into the details of what that entails, mostly because I don’t know the extent of what Dick told you about what I feel. Every single time I’ve told you you deserved better, it was because I knew what Dick has actually been up to. You were probably going to call me a liar, and I know you’ll hate me for this, but please know I just want the best for you. I can’t watch you shed any more tears for him.

Jayjay: [Image Attachment]

Jayjay: [Image Attachment]

Jayjay: [Image Attachment]

Jayjay: [Image Attachment]

e/n: what would be your reaction to receiving the pictures with dick and kori? i'd have a major crashout, evil man dick grayson

part 1, part 2, part 3

w/c: 1538

warnings: angst!!!, arranged marriage, swearing, jason being brooding :((

author's note: im so so so sorry this took so long to come out my lovelies wahhh.. but im feeling motivated so the next (and final) chapter should be coming out pretty soon!!! as always, this is the second chapter in response to this ask from @luceaat - xoxo rin

tags: @theendofthematerialgworl , @wastxedyouths , @leeny-leens , @revesephemeres (you guys commented on the last one so i thought you might like to see this one)

its been almost six months now, since you first met jason. and each day has been more agonising than the last. in the best way possible.

he was still as silent as ever and you'd never actually seen his face considering he was insistent on keeping his armour on, but there was something about his very presence that made your knees buckle. and now you're hopelessly gone for him and you have no idea what to do.

it is early in the morning, the rest of the castle beginning to rise. but you were already wide awake, curled up in your silk sheets. jason had sat in that chair in the corner of your room again like he does every night, however this time you stayed up, watching him. the way his head tilts when he hears a noise outside of the window at night, and the way his shining silver armour clinks with every subtle movement.

you couldn't help but admire him, even if you weren't exactly sure what he looked like. but you had an idea in your head, dizzyingly handsome with chiselled features and those piercing blue eyes oh my goodness! and you can tell even through his armour that he's huge and thick and you wonder if he's just as big down-

"are you awake?"

you are snapped out of your thoughts by the deep rumble of his voice, the vibration immediately sending a flutter through your stomach. you shift under the sheets and sit up against the headboard of your large bed. you nod softly as you look away, fiddling with the hem of the silky night slip you may or may not have worn for him.

he lets out a slight gruff mumble of annoyance or acknowledgement, standing up and throwing open the curtains without his usual effortless grace. "get changed. your father has something to tell you." he grunts out, barely looking at you as he moves to throw open your closet with a loud bang, making your flinch.

dread settles in your gut at his irritation, mind spiralling as you try to figure out whether you had done something to upset him. but you don't dare to ask, simply standing up and slipping into the connecting bathroom silently, the door shutting behind you with a painfully loud click in the tense silence.

you eventually emerge from the bathroom, wearing one of your more expensive dresses that hugs your figure, subconciously hoping to impress him. he barely acknowledges your appearance, simply gesturing stiffly towards the door and following you out of the room.

the two of you walk in a tense silence down the grand strair case, blood rushing to your ears as you try your hardest to stay composed. "did i do something wrong? i had to. he’s never this quiet. he’s never this— this irritated!" you think helplessly as you both make your way down the extravagant hallway towards your father, lashes fluttering as you blink rapidly.

eventually, you spot your father sat at the end of the exceptionally large dining table, sipping a glass of wine with his own knights stood either side of him. jason shuts the door behind you with a loud click, the noise making you startle but you immediately control yourself, taking a seat on the other end of the table with jason stood heavily behind you.

"i have something to tell you," your father begins dryly, looking at you with an unreadable expression as he lowers his glass. "but before you start protesting, know that i have made this decision for not only your best interests, but the whole family's."

with a flick of his wrist, one of your father's knights moves to open the large door at the head of the room, your stomach dropping. out from the door steps the neighbouring kingdom's prince, a pompous blonde man who has made many moves on you despite your obvious disinterest in him.

you hear a sharp exhale beside you, eyes flicking to jason's dangerously still form stood by you who refuses to glance in your direction, his broad shoulders tense with an unreadable anger. "as you already know," your father suddenly says again, tearing your attention back to him and the prince. "anthony here is the son of my good.. friend and has expressed interest in you multiple times.

disgust and disbelief bubbles up your throat as you watch anthony's sickeningly leering smile as he bows grandly to you, his gawking shameless as his eyes practically undress you from across the room. you hear the subtle clink of jason's armour as he shifts closer to you, but the disbelief makes it hard to process.

"father what- what are you suggesting-" you begin to ask incredulously as your voice wavers, eyes widening as you begin to connect the dots. "you are set to marry anthony in the summer. this is not a discussion. it will happen." your fathers says coldly with an almost irritated expression, studying you with narrowed eyes before sighing, leaning back in his chair. "this will be good for you. you won't have to spend all your time with that damned knight." he says dryly, eyes flicking to jason with a hint of disdain.

you can hardly breathe, in dizzying shock that your father had just signed away your future like an auction. "damned knight? jason is more than just a knight he-" you begin to protest, anger immediately burning in your stomach as you start to rise.

"don't."

you freeze at jason's single word, heart sinking as your feel his heavy hand force you back down into your seat, his stupid helmet still angled away from you. you open your mouth to argue back, to urge him to help you out of this but the sight of his closed off stance makes you sag, helplessness taking over your anger.

"but jay.." you manage to whisper, hand instinctively moving to hold onto his gauntlet the way he usually lets you, however this time he pulls away after a split second like he has been scalded, instead gripping the back of your chair so hard it might splinter and still refusing to look at you.

"you- you can't do this to me- i- i don't want this-" you begin to argue as tears sting at your eyes, hands clutched to your chest as you plead to your father, desperation clawing at your throat.

"stop it. i told you this is not a discussion. this is the end of it. jason escort her back to her room and ensure she doesn't leave." your father snaps suddenly, rising from his seat with an angry huff, straightening his gowns and turning on his heel, storming out of the room with the knights, and anthony, in tow.

you sit silently in the chair, beginning to sob in shock as your hands move to hold onto your hair in disbelief. jason grits his teeth so hard his jaw might crack, his silver gauntlet moving to rest on your shoulder hesitantly. "don't you dare touch me." you suddenly hiss out, pushing his hand away and standing up, tears streaming down your face in angry sobs. "how- how can you let this happen? let them- let them do this?" you practically scream at him, hands shoving him away with no prevail thanks to how solid his frame is.

"you think i wanted this? i have no say in what decisions your father makes for you. do not take this out on me." jason snaps back, immediately growing angry as he catches your wrists and holds them up, preventing you from moving. "but- but you didn't even say anything! you just stood there like a fucking statue!" you sob out as you writhe in his firm but not painful grip, desperately trying to free yourself.

"and what was i meant to say? one word against him and your father would have me kicked out before you can blink. you need to calm down." he hisses out as he wraps his metal clad arms around you, holding your squirming body against his chest. you knew you were being irrational, you knew there was nothing he could've said, but you felt so betrayed you weren't thinking straight.

you sob against him, broken hiccups that wrack violently through your body. jason's heart shatters at each of your heartbroken cries, but he remains silent, simply holding you until you calm down.

in actual truth, jason was completely gone for you. the second he set eyes on you he knew he was done for. your pretty long lashes and shy little flush everytime he compliements you. the silk slips you wear that you think you're being discrete about but you're not. the way your chest rises and falls when you sleep like a peaceful deer and the soft yawns you make when you first wake up.

he wants you. he needs you.

but he can’t have you.

you sniffle and hiccup, managing to free yourself from his arms, wiping your cheeks angrily as you suddenly pick up your dress, rushing out of the room without a second glance back, leaving jason stood alone, your salty tears still glistening against the shining silver of his chest.

Love you more ᝰꪑ

𝜗ৎ tags/tw: cheating, suggestive, Dick is an absolute douchebag, emotional manipulation, swearing, hurt/ comfort, angst with a happy ending, Dick got what he deserved lolololol not proofread

ও˖ ࣪⊹ pairing: jason todd x f!reader

𝜗ৎ a/n: honestly I think Dick deserved way worse, but alas!!! i hope you enjoy this read<3 and i mighttt write a smaller fic set in the future to see how reader and jason are doing, but idk yet

─ ⊹ ‧₊˚ Part one

You stared at the pictures Jason sent you for what felt like centuries.

You loved your boyfriend, and he loved you.

Or at least that’s what you desperately wanted to believe until you saw the pictures of them. At the family dinners Dick told you you couldn’t go, at what you assumed was their apartment, at a restaurant (clearly on a date), and kissing like… Like Dick never kissed you. You could just tell by the picture, how tender it was, how much love that kiss had, and how much yours always seemed to lack. Suddenly you felt like the biggest idiot on the whole planet. You were the other woman, and for what?? He was just playing the two of you because he could. Maybe he had fun manipulating grieving people?

For the next few days, you made every excuse possible for Dick not to come see you. He didn’t press much after you told him you were really sick and didn’t want him catching anything. You felt numb and stupid, but at the same time, plans were forming in your head. He created this mess, he wasn’t going to get out of it with a simple ‘fuck you, we’re over’. No. You were going to make him regret ever messing with you the way he did. And what was more precious to Dick than anything else in his life? His reputation, especially what Bruce thought of him.

Jason was worried you’d just ignore what he sent you, since you hadn’t replied yet, but you were just plotting (and maybe a bit pissed with him too).

You: Please come over, we need to talk

Jayjay: On my way.

He was at your apartment in ten minutes. The tension lingered in the air, and for a while, the two of you said nothing. You were both sitting on your couch when you broke the silence.

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

“Didn’t know how. Didn’t think you’d believe me.” 

You turned to him. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“I don’t know. I wasn’t sure and didn’t want to ruin what we had going. I was hoping you’d finally leave him, but you pissed me off when you started defending him so I sent the pictures. They were a backup plan, but… I was petty, I’m sorry.” Jason’s shoulders were tense, like he was ready for an attack, you sighed heavily.

“You don’t have to apologise, I get it. I just wish you’d told me sooner, because I’ve had a hunch that he was cheating on me for the longest time. I’m mad about that, but it’s not really at you, I guess I’m angry with myself for staying and at him for messing with my head when he had another girl.”

“I never understood either.” Jason spoke quietly, stealing a glance at you and at your numb state. He hated seeing you like this.

“Her name's Kori, right?” You asked quietly, he nodded. “That fucker had the audacity to mention her to me multiple times. I want him to regret ever speaking to me.” Jason smiled softly. That’s my girl.

“I’m going to need your help to pull this off.”

“Just tell me what to do, and I’ll do it.”

You smiled for the first time ever since you saw the photos. “I want you to take me to the next family Sunday dinner. The one where he takes Kori with him. And I need her number too.”

Oh, Jason was in immediately.

You: Hey Kori, I'm sorry. You don’t know me, and probably have no idea I exist, but I need to tell you something that concerns us both. Dick, your boyfriend, has been cheating on you with me for the past year. I had no idea the two of you were together, I only found out because Jason told me (he also gave me your number). I think it would be good for us to talk about this in person, so if you’d be okay we could meet for coffee sometime tomorrow. At first I was going to completely crash out at the sunday dinner, but you should also get your revenge, so please help me out taking him down a notch lol

You: And I don’t want you to think I’m lying so here’s some pictures of us together

You: [Image Attachment]

You: [Image Attachment]

You: [Image Attachment]

Sunday arrived and you were feeling nervous. Standing before the big doors of the Wayne Manor never felt scarier. You knew Dick was inside, playing the perfect boyfriend and perfect son, with an oblivious Kori on his side that probably thought she had the best boyfriend in the world. Jason squeezed your arm reassuringly.

“Ready?” 

You nodded and rang the doorbell.

Alfred got up as soon as he heard the doorbell. “Oh! It must be Master Jason.” The butler had a soft smile on his face. “I’m happy for all the progress our boy has been making.” Bruce smiled back at him. “Me too. Jason is really strong, I knew he’d come back to us.” The conversation at the table resumed while Alfred went to open the door. He was a bit taken aback when he saw you, but he quickly masked that and greeted you with a hug.

“Master Jason didn’t tell me you were coming, my dear. I need to set a plate for you.” You shook your head.

“No need, Alfie. I just came for a quick visit.” Alfred arched his brow, but he didn’t have time to ask before you entered the dining room and Dick’s face paled. He had been talking lively to Kori and Bruce but immediately stopped.

Bruce called out your name with a huge smile. “This is such a nice surprise! I haven’t seen you in so long. How’s work going?”

You smiled back at him. “It’s going pretty well, actually, Bruce. I’ve been really caught up in life lately, I’m sorry I haven’t visited in so long.” Then you turned your attention on Dick. “Dick, you’re so pale. Are you okay?” You put up your best fake concerned tone. 

Dick’s mouth opened and closed like he was a fish out of the water. Kori looked at him with what looked like actual concern. “Love? What happened?”

“Aren’t you going to introduce us, Dick?” You asked sweetly and his eyes widened in panic. Kori dropped the act. “Yes, Dick. Introduce us.” 

Everyone else at the table looked confused.  “It seems you won’t talk, so I will.” You cleared your throat. “I’m sorry for crashing your dinner, but this family has always been a really important part of my life, and I think you guys should know why I suddenly stopped visiting.” You grabbed your phone and opened your gallery folder filled with pictures of you two, showing them to his family.

Dick got up. “Shut up.” Kori immediately pulled him back down. “No, you are going to sit there and listen.”

“Everyone here knows how wrecked I was after Jason’s death.” Bruce nodded grimly. “Well, not long before Jason came back, Dick decided it would be a good idea to start showing interest in me. While he was already seeing Kori. I obviously didn’t know about her, I was extremely vulnerable and I guess I was easy to manipulate because I fell for everything he said. I’m not going to go into details, I just need everyone here to know that I was lied to and manipulated for a whole year, while feeling like shit because Jason came back and I didn’t understand, and everything was messy, for literally no reason. I still don’t understand why you did what you did to me, Dick.” The anger in you kept your voice from breaking. “I haven’t visited because Dick made every excuse in the book for me not to come here, so no one would find out we were together, and so I wouldn’t find out about Kori.”

She nodded and got up. “Unfortunately for you, Dick, we both found out. We are done.” Kori started making her way out and Dick went after her, desperately calling out her name while apologising. 

You heard the front door slamming shut and took a big breath. Bruce got up and made his way to you, for a few seconds you thought he was going to lecture you for doing what you just did, but instead he gave you a brief but warm hug. “I’m sorry about what Dick did, especially considering your situation. I thought I raised him better than that. You know you will always be welcome in this family and in this house.” 

What he said made you tear up a little, Bruce always liked you and the two of you had a sweet relationship, you saw him as a father figure (especially because of how much support he offered you after Jason's death). Tim and Damian also got up. “I’m so sorry about this, we genuinely had no idea, if we did we would’ve told you girls the truth.” Damian nodded. “I am very disappointed in Grayson’s actions.”

“I know, guys. Thank you. I think I'm going to leave now, I need some time to process that this just happened.” As soon as you said that, Dick burst into the dining room looking like a mess.

“Why would you fucking do this?! I love Kori, you just ruined my life.” He was all up in your face. You scoffed and took a step back.

“No, you ruined your own life. If you loved her so much, why did you cheat with me? Literally why– I don't get it.” Your voice got quieter. “I never asked for any of this, you specifically went after me when I was at my lowest, just to treat me like shit, while having Kori. You owe me an explanation.”

“I don't owe you shit.”

“You actually do.” Jason made his way over to you. “You owe her an explanation and a shit ton of apologies.”

Dick turned to his brother, his face full of rage. “This is all your fault. This is what you wanted, right? You've been jealous of me ever since Bruce brought you here all those years ago. Couldn't stand me taking your little crush.” Your eyes widened and he laughed humourlessly. “He never told you, did he? God, you're such a mess Jason. He's been in love with you probably since you've met. I saw this coming miles away, he never got over you, probably has been plotting on you since he came back.” 

Jason's jaw tightened. “That's not true. I only wanted what was best for her.”

That made Dick actually laugh. “Yeah right, as if you know what that even is. Y'think she'll ever want you given everything you've done?” He turned to you. “You want an answer as to why I did this? Fine. You were begging for attention. So sad, so broken, so mournful. I pitied the fuck out of you, so in all honesty you were kind of a charity case for me. Plus, if you closed your eyes maybe you wouldn't even tell the difference, and then you wouldn't feel so bad about being the bitch you really are–”

Before he could finish, Jason punched him hard. Everyone stood still for a few seconds, until Dick lunged at him and Bruce immediately got between the two. 

“That's enough!” He snapped. “Dick, go back to your apartment. Jason, take her home. You are not about to fight in my house, especially after what you did Dick. I am extremely disappointed in you.”

Dick scoffed and pushed away from Bruce. “Fine! Fuck this.” Then he pointed at you. “And fuck you especially. I hope you're happy.”

After that whole mess, Jason took you home and the two of you just stayed in your kitchen in silence. The atmosphere was even tenser than when you had reached out after getting the pictures. 

“So…” You cleared your throat. “That went well.” Jason chuckled quietly. “Couldn't have gone better.”

“Jay, what was that whole loving me thing Dick was talking about?” Your hands were shaking slightly, he sighed.

“I guess there's no point in denying it. It's true.” He took a deep breath. “I was deeply in love with you before dying. Like… to the point where Bruce threatened to reduce the time we spent together because I wasn't focusing.” You two laughed sadly at that. 

Your brain had stopped ever since Dick started talking about Jason's feelings, but he just said ‘Before dying’, which meant the feelings went away by now probably. Still, your heart lurched at everything that was stolen from the two of you, and how unfair it all was.

“That's so silly.”

“It is. It was. But um… You just– look, you know I didn't sabotage anything right?”

You nodded and sighed. “Yeah, Jay. I know you'd never do that to me.” 

“I didn't understand why he said you wouldn't tell the difference between the two of us if you closed your eyes.” A part of him wished it was because you felt the same way, the other wished that wasn't true, because somehow that'd hurt more.

You took a deep breath and braced yourself for what you were going to say. He deserved to know, and your past self deserved to get closure. "Jay, when you died I... I dealt with it badly, I wasn’t exaggerating what I said earlier." 

He noticed you were fidgeting a lot with your sleeve while doing anything but maintaining eye contact with him.

"Well, um... Bruce let me spend a lot of time at the manor, mainly with Alfie, we'd cook your favourite cookies, and I'd cry into my dough basically." He chuckled quietly, and you giggled while wiping at some lonely tears. "But I liked to go to your room, it made me feel like you were just out there solving crime, about to come back anytime. One day, I was in your room, my birthday was coming up, and I felt really angry and lonely, so I was just sobbing into your pillow. Dick heard me and came in. He eventually calmed me down, and we started talking about you and about how much we missed you." 

You stopped for a few moments, trying to control the need to cry and the shakiness of your voice.

"He basically said he regretted not being more present in your life, and I... I regret not having told you I loved you. So I told him that. That you were my first love and that it felt like a part of me died with you because I kept waiting for the right moment to tell you, and then you were taken from me."

As soon as the words left your mouth, Jason had to hold on to your kitchen counter. He forgot why or how the conversation even got to this topic. Dick was completely gone from his mind. All that he could think of was that you felt the same way at some point. You had loved him. You had loved him? You were each other's first love. This was definitely worse than you not feeling anything at all.

Whoever was in control of his life must hate him.

He sat heavily in one of your stools, and you immediately touched his arm. "Jay, are you okay?"

"You can't just say that." He wasn't looking at you, and his voice was low.

"Say what?"

"That you loved me."

"But... It's true. I'm sorry, I just never got the chance to tell you, and it's been eating me alive for years."

The two of you stayed silent for what felt like years, everything felt heavier after both of your confessions. Then, the last thing you ever expected happened. You watched as he ran his hand over his face and then proceeded to cry. Not just little tears, no, full-on sobbing that sent tremors through his whole body. This giant of a man, who survived death and who has killed so many people it became routine, was sobbing in your kitchen because you told him you also loved him at some point, and that just twisted the knife of what the two of you could have had if it weren't for his death even more.

You wrapped your arms around him and involuntarily combed your fingers through his hair as he buried his head into the plush of your stomach. 

“Shhhh… It’s okay, Jay. ‘s okay.” 

“No. No, it – it’s not, okay. It’s not fair. Joker – he ruined me. My life. You were the best thing I’ve ever had, and I n-never even really had you.”

The words sank in and in an instant you were cradling his head to your belly and his arms were wrapped tightly around your waist.

“And you fell for Dick.” He murmured against you.

“Jason, I…” Sometimes you wondered if your love for Dick was real or if it was just some sick way of pretending Jason was still with you. No. You pushed that down. “We both moved on. We shouldn't linger on the feelings we had when we were younger.”

Jason stayed silent for a few seconds and you felt him tense up.

“You moved on.” You barely heard him.

“No… We both did.” No. No, this couldn't be happening. Not like this.

He let go of you enough so he could look up at you. “No. You did. You moved on.” 

Your heart was beating so fast you were sure he could hear it. 

“What… What do you mean?” Your voice was a barely contained broken whisper.

“I never stopped. The second I woke up in the pit I thought of you, and it made my emotions stronger. All of them. That's why I was consumed with rage.” His gaze shifted between your eyes. “That's why I've made sure you get home every day safely. And why I stayed in the shadows for so long. Didn't want y'to see what I became.” One of his hands came up to wipe your tears. “You consume every thought I have. Every second of every day, it's you. You give purpose to my life. I'm only trying to get better because you deserve a better best friend.” 

You made a sound between a sob and sad laugh, and hugged him while crying into his hair. “Oh Jay. ‘m so sorry.”

“What are you sorry for?” He had been rubbing circles on your back the entire time. “I don't blame you for moving on, I was never angry at you, despite everything I've said. Just want you to be happy, ma. It just hurts knowing it won't be with me, because… despite us not ever actually being together I was so sure…” He laughed sadly. “I was so sure I'd marry you. And I'm sure I did in another life.”

“No, Jay, you don't understand. The whole closing your eyes and thinking about you thing, he wasn't reaching. I can't tell how much of my love for Dick was manipulation on his part and an awful coping mechanism on my end to replace you. Sure, I do have feelings for him, but as soon as you came back, you were always on my mind. Not him. And he knew that, I opened up about all of it one day when I was really drunk, that's why he said I wouldn't feel like such a bitch, because I've lived with guilt ever since you left.”

He lifted his head to look up at you again. “Why did you live with guilt?”

“Because I also thought we were going to get married, Jason! Because in my head, we were together even if we weren't, and even if I was too scared to tell you. And because I was too scared to ever confess my feelings. And because I didn't protect you, or tell you enough times how important you were to me. Because I started having a crush on your brother out of all people. Because me and him finally started dating and I still dreamed of what our life could've been, even though you were gone for three years already. And because when you came back, I felt like… Do you know I tried breaking up with him multiple times when I found out you were alive?”

He shook his head slowly.

“I tried.” You pressed your palms to your eyes. “What Dick and I had was weird, Jay. Really weird. Even before I knew you were back, he already treated me like shit, and I kept trying to break up with him, but he flipped it around so I’d feel bad about it.” A laugh started to bubble up your chest from how awkward it was to talk about all this. “He told me I was cheating on him with your ghost one time. And I actually felt awful, Jay. It was… honestly, I think I wanted to believe I could have a chance at happiness without you, so I just pretended this relationship wasn’t just a glorified fuck buddy with really complicated feelings involved. I just don’t get why he’d do this to Kori, and well, make me feel insane.”

Jason laughed. “He just wanted to be evil, I guess. It served him right, though, I hope he chokes in his ego.”

You nodded and the two of you stayed in each other's embrace in silence for a while, just taking everything in. 

“We’re both fucked up.” 

“We are, ma. But at least I’m already in therapy.” You chuckled at that and sighed.

“You’re right, I need a therapist quickly.” He sighed at the feeling of your fingers softly brushing his scalp. “Not trying to make promises here but…”

“But?”

“When I get my head sorted out, and basically heal from these past four years… I’d be willing to give us a try.”

His head shot up. “You would?”

“Jay, I’ve been accused of cheating with your ghost. Of course I’d be down, silly.”

“But I’m different. ‘m not the same person you fell for all those years ago.”

“So am I. But that didn’t change how you feel, did it?” He shook his head. “Then do we have a deal?” He laughed softly and hugged you tighter.

“‘Course we do. I’ll wait forever if that’s what you need to feel ready to try.”

Maybe your life hasn’t been ideal lately. Maybe the Universe has been sending you a couple of ‘fuck off’s to make your life harder. But right now, in Jason’s warm embrace in your kitchen, you finally felt the peace that has been missing from your life ever since he died, despite the rollercoaster of emotions this day was.

And suddenly, the promise of a future didn’t seem so scary at all.

e/n: ehhh i liked the first part more but whateverrr!! i have a super fun cutesy fluffly bsf!dick in my drafts that just needs some finishing touches and i want to start dedicating more time to itt

Love you less⋆˚࿔ᥫ᭡ˊ˗

𝜗ৎ tags/tw: cheating, suggestive, Dick is an absolute douchebag, mentions of reader feeling used, mentions of death, mentions of violence, swearing, hurt/no comfort, reader has no idea she's the other woman :(, not proofread

ও˖ ࣪⊹ pairing: jason todd x f!reader

𝜗ৎ a/n: omg I went crazy on this one. so basically, i've been obsessed with Love You Less by Joji ever since it came out, and one time I was riding the bus to uni (totally about to fall asleep) and i thought 'omg this is so reader who's in a toxic relationship while jason loves her' coded, then I made Dick the villain bc of that whole cheating on kori with barbara thing (which is not canon to me, he'd never!!!!!) but i needed a villain and this made it 10 times messier than if the toxic relationship was just with some rando (then i felt so bad i started writing a cute fic with him that's now sitting on my drafts). ANYWAYS!!! this is my longest fic, so yeah hope you enjoy<333 ALSOOOO this will have a pt 2 where reader confronts Dick heheheh i'm done with my exams and im cooking up a bunch of stuff!!

─ ⊹ ‧₊ Part two

Jason loved you first.

Honestly, he was the one who loved you, period, because what Dick felt for you? It wasn't love. He didn't understand his brother at all. He had Kori, so why go after you? And the worst part was that he knew. Deep down, Dick knew how bad Jason had it for you. Was it all just to taunt him? Just to prove a point?

Jason has been a goner for you since before he even died. You two were in the same classroom and quickly became bestfriends. You were his first love (and he was yours, but you never got the chance to tell him). It didn't take long for you to regularly spend time at the manor. The two of you loved to bake with Alfred. Those were the times when he was genuinely happy, the times when it felt like he had all the time in the world.

During that time, Dick had paid little to no mind to you. He didn't have the best relationship with Jason, and he was starting out as Nightwing, so he was too busy to care about what his little brother was doing or who his friends were. 

Then on the fated day that Jason died, your whole world fell apart. Bruce let you grieve with them, inviting you to the manor a lot, since at that point, you had become a part of the family, and everyone could see you were inconsolable. It was your first time actually dealing with grief, and being seventeen and having your first love snatched away just like that felt like the Universe's personal way of telling you your life was meant for suffering. 

During the three years Jason was gone, you and Dick got closer. He didn't try anything at first. He just wanted to help you move past your grief (while trying to deal with the regret of not being more present for Jason while he was alive). Slowly, he started to get to know you more, and he understood why his brother never shut up about you while he was alive. You were pretty, smart, and funny, and Dick... well, he just loves women, so could anyone blame him, really? After you made peace with your loss, he started throwing a little flirtatious line here and there, started to linger around you, giving you those looks and talks that made anyone feel wanted and special. It wasn't malicious… It was fun to see you so flustered.

But you caught real feelings. And the whole process wasn't fun because you felt like an awful human being for betraying Jason like that. Three years after Jason's death, the two of you started dating. Not long after that,  Jason came back, and you couldn't leave your room for a whole week; no one even bothered to give you an explanation about how that was even possible. You tried to distance yourself from Dick, but the more you did that, the more he ""loved"" you, and that just wrapped you around him even more.

Those first few months of Jason's comeback were awful, for him and for you. He was angry at the Joker, at Bruce, at you. How could you replace him? Out of all people, you were the only one he hoped wouldn't have moved on. And... to replace him with his older brother? Even then, he couldn't hate you, hell it was like the pit made him love you harder. So despite everything, Jason Todd still looked at you like you were the sole reason he was breathing. Like without you, his world wouldn't exist, and you couldn't take it, because now your heart was somewhere else when it always belonged to him.

What messed you up more was the fact that Dick loved being hot and cold. He could go on for weeks being super dry, but as soon as you talked about breaking up, he'd get on his knees and show you just how much he cared for you. He'd be gone for days without a text, get home late beyond patrol hours, disappear on missions with the Titans that were never broadcast, but if you told him you were concerned about where he actually was, he'd gaslight you and tell you how patient he was for you, even with all your feelings for Jason. How he always felt like he was competing with a ghost. How much you hurt him by not trusting him. Did you not love him? Maybe you were cheating on him with Jason, and that's why you were so suspicious. And then he'd leave your apartment despite you crying and apologising and promising you only loved him. Dick was cruel to you, but you started to internalise that you deserved to be treated like that, because firstly, falling in love with Jason’s brother after he died was actually really messy, and secondly, you were so lucky to be loved by Dick. He was making such an effort by actually staying by your side and deciding to love you despite all your gigantic flaws. He loved you! 

You just didn't know that while he kept your "relationship" hidden from everyone in the family, Kori was being invited to the family dinners as his girlfriend

If you so as mentioned making your relationship public and telling his family, he'd flip on you, because everyone was still dealing with the emotional turmoil of Jason returning, and no one cared about stupid relationships. How could you be so selfish as to even want to put that burden on his family? To that, you'd cry and agree with him and apologise without stopping, so he'd kiss you just to shut you up and take you to bed to show you how lucky you were that he loved you. Then, as soon as the two of you were done, he'd tell you he needed to go back to his apartment, and just leave you there, feeling empty and used (on his way out, he'd text Kori about how much he missed her, while you cried yourself to sleep).

Jason found out because he was obsessed with you. He followed you in the shadows when you went home from work just to make sure you were safe. He'd watch you when Dick would leave after arguments, and see how you cried for a guy that was messing with you just because he could. During that time, Jason was too revenge-driven to even talk to you (he had no idea about the amount of times you dreamt of hugging him again), so he'd just silently watch and think about how he could treat you so much better if he wasn't so broken.

It didn't take you long to start noticing you were being followed, and you knew who it was. At first, you just pretended you didn't know, but after a few months of knowing Jason was just lingering on the sidelines, you had enough. You were rounding a badly lit alley when you felt him in the shadows, so you just stopped and turned to him.

"What do you want?" You snapped at him, what he was doing was unfair, and you both knew it.

Jason slowly stepped away from the shadows in his Red Hood armour. He was slightly taken aback at you for snapping at him, and well, figuring out he had been following you.

"What you just did was dangerous, you know. I could be a random thug wanting to rob you." He evaded your question and crossed his arms. At that, you just rolled your eyes.

"But you're not. I know you've been following me ever since you came back. Seriously, what's your deal? Is it fun to just run around after me, while I know you're back, without ever... I don't know, say 'Hey, it's me, Jason, your best friend who you grieved for three years!! I'm back, and I kill people now. We should totally catch up!'. I don’t even know what truly happened because no one has had the decency to explain what happened to me. Did you even die? Did I grieve you just because?”

Jason scoffed at that. He spent a lot of time thinking about what would happen when the two of you talked again, and he liked to imagine you’d cry happy tears and hug him; he never thought you’d be so mad at him. Honestly, you were more hurt than anything, but the last few months were definitely taking a toll on your mental health, so it just turned into anger.

“I did die. I died, and then I got thrown into the Lazarus pit. That’s why I’m here.” His voice got a dangerous edge, and he moved closer to you. “I woke up after getting beaten with a crowbar so badly I felt everything inside me break, and if that wasn’t enough, I was then blown into pieces. Do you know how scary it is to wake up after that? Your mind knows it’s not natural, but your body reacts as if it’s good that you had a second chance. I was surrounded by people I didn’t know, and I couldn’t understand how in the hell I was alive.” 

Your eyes widened in shock. “Jason, I-”

“No, let me finish. The fun part comes now. I ran away from that fucking damned pit and returned to Gotham. I’m not even going to get into what I had to do to come back home. Only to find out that it was as if nothing ever happened.” He laughed bitterly, and you tried your best not to start sobbing. “For so much talk about grief, I think all of you handled it pretty well. I mean, Joker is still frolicking around, so I don’t think Bruce cared too much about having his son killed. Actually, he was so unbothered that he got Tim to replace me. But you’re not better, are you?” You swallowed dryly, and Jason tried to keep his voice steady so you wouldn’t hear it breaking. “When I found out about Bruce, and Tim, and all of that shit, the first person I wanted to run to was you. Only to find out you just waited around to get into my brother’s bed. Which got me thinking that maybe you just became my friend because you were interested in him the whole time.”

You frowned and angrily wiped your tears. “That’s bullshit, and you know it, Jason.”

“Is it though? Is it really? Because I don’t know anymore. I haven’t known ever since I came back. Dick was always Bruce’s favourite. He was always the one who could do no wrong, the best student, the best Robin, the best person in the whole entire world. He was the boy wonder, while I was the street kid who was too traumatised and too violent. It only makes sense you’d get with him, right? Why wouldn’t you?”

“Why do you even care about that, Jason?” You snapped.

Because I love you, and I’ve missed you every day since I came back.

“I don’t. I couldn't care less about any of you. In fact, you could get robbed for all I care. Call up your little boyfriend so he comes to the rescue since he’s so great.” The words felt foreign on his tongue, he knew he was lying.

Your jaw dropped at how ruthless he sounded. This wasn’t the boy you fell in love with all those years ago. Maybe it was for the best that you just forgot about him entirely. You wanted to say something equally as hurtful back, but you couldn’t. The words didn’t come out, and before you could gather the strength to finally say something, he just grappled up and disappeared into the shadows. 

He still made sure you got home safe, he just chose a different path so you wouldn’t figure out he was following you once again

That night, you told Dick what happened over the phone.

“I told you he’s dangerous now. You should stay as far from him as you can.”

“He’s not dangerous.”

“What? Are you crazy? He pretty much told you you could die in a ditch.”

“That’s blowing it out of proportion. He’s hurt. And honestly, I can understand him. It does seem like everyone just moved on like his death wasn’t a major thing.”

Dick scoffed at that. “You’re unbelievable. Are you so blind that you can’t see what he's doing is wrong? Being hurt doesn’t excuse everything, plus were we just meant to grieve forever?”

You stayed silent for a few seconds. “Why didn’t you tell me about the pit?”

That shut him up. “It wasn’t important.”

“It seems important to me. You let me believe he faked his death.”

“I never confirmed that.”

“You also never denied it.”

At that, you hung up. The day after your argument, Dick showed up at your apartment with a beautiful bouquet and a bunch of apologies. You ended up forgiving him. At the end of the day, it was clear that Jason was too broken to be your friend again (and that’s what you told the part of your brain that still lingered on the ‘maybe’s and ‘what if’s of what could’ve been between you two). 

Your life became quite bleak after that.  You still felt like someone followed you at night, and your dreams insisted on having Jason as the main character. Dick kept making promises that were never met, which ended with you in tears. Eventually, you stopped asking about when he was going to tell his family that the two of you weren’t just friends. Eventually, you stopped asking for anything from him. You also stopped asking about Jason, not because you didn’t care, god knew how much you did, but because your boyfriend would get butthurt anytime you did. Still, despite his best efforts, Bruce told you Jason was getting better. That he was starting to make peace with everything, that he was coming back into the family.

What nobody knew was that you were his motivation for getting better. Maybe then you’d finally see Dick for what he truly was. And maybe you’d give him a chance, but that was wistful thinking.

Those were the best news you could’ve gotten, and slowly (and when I say slowly, I mean it took a whole year), the two of you became friends once again. It wasn’t like before, there were clearly broken things inside both of you, and the yearning looks he gave you whenever the two of you hung out didn’t help your scrambled mind.

Dick hated the fact that you had gotten closer to Jason again, not because he was jealous, since, well, he had Kori and that was his actual girl, but – you were still fun, he knew he was being an asshole, letting you believe you were actually together and all that (no, actually he knew he was being an awful person leading you on like that). He saw you more as a friend who warmed his bed regularly than anything else. Which brought a problem! He was 99% sure Jason knew, and he was 100% he still wanted you, so he was scared Jason would tell you or Kori. 

One night, Dick decided to crash at the manor since their mission lasted longer than it was planned, and he was too tired to drive back to Blüdhaven. He was minding his own business, getting something to eat from the fridge. Alone (he thought) in the dark.

“Why are you doing this to her?” He heard Jason’s voice behind him and jumped, didn’t hear him coming.

“Jesus fuck man, where did you come from?” He turned to face his brother, who was in kinda (?) good terms with him, and he looked menacing as hell.

“Answer my question.”

“Doing what to whom?” But he already knew the answer.

 “You’re manipulating her and cheating on her with Kori.”

“Dude, c’mon, we have nothing serious going on. I just see her sometimes, you know my girl is Kori.”

Jason clenched his fists to try to control the rage he was feeling. “It’s serious to her, what you’re doing is plain cruel. What’s the point in making her feel awful to the point she’s constantly crying and apologising to you?”

Dick flashed him a stupid grin. “She’s hot when she cries. Plus, she lets me go a bit rougher on her-”

Jason took a step forward. “That’s enough. You’re being disgusting.”

They stayed silent for a few seconds before Dick laughed. “Don’t tell me you’re still hung up on her.” Jason’s silence was enough. “Aw man, that’s tough. You died, and the feelings stayed. I feel bad for you.”

At that moment, Jason wanted to throw away all the progress he’d made so far and just beat the shit out of his brother, but alas, that probably wouldn’t sit right with you.

“You shouldn’t. I’ll gladly spend the rest of my life loving her, even if she doesn’t feel the same, because she’s the best person I’ve ever had the luck of meeting. I don’t think I deserve her, but you don’t either, she deserves way better than you.”

Jason turned his back to leave before stopping midway. “Oh, and Dick? I’d suggest you stop playing this game of yours. You never know when your girlfriend might find out what you do for ‘fun’. Or the other way around.”

“You won’t say anything.”

“Wanna test that?” Then he was gone, and Dick pondered on it for like five minutes before pretending the conversation didn’t happen.

Well, Jason knew his warning wouldn’t really affect Dick. So, as a precaution.. Just as a little harmless thing.. Jason decided to take pictures of Dick with Kori at family events as proof. Was it a really stalkerish thing to do?

…

Perhaps. But! It was just in case this dragged on far too long, and you insisted on staying with Dick, because he knew that if he were to just tell you, you wouldn’t believe him (Dick also wasn’t that dumb, so he was probably going to feed you lies about Jason so you wouldn’t believe anything about cheating). 

So. When you hung out with Dick, he’d trash talk jason the whole time. When you hung out with Jason, he’d keep telling you you deserved better. You were starting to get mildly annoyed!!! Not that Jason was wrong, you were starting to believe him, but this was getting exhausting.

Your relationship anniversary was coming up, and you begged Dick not to forget about it, and to show up at the restaurant you had a reservation at. 

He forgot, and you had to deal with the pitying looks of the waitresses. 

After an hour, you decided enough was enough, so you went back to your apartment to cry. And somehow in the middle of all your tears and ice cream tubs, you dialled Jason’s number. He was at your door after ten minutes. When Jason saw your puffy red eyes and makeup-smudged face, he immediately hugged you.

“He forgot, didn’t he?” He asked quietly into your hair, and you just nodded.

The two of you went inside and sat on your sofa.

“I don’t get it. He acts like I’m an afterthought, yet he also doesn’t let me go. I’m getting sick of it, but I don’t have the guts to simply ignore his pleading.” You vented to Jason for a while about all the missed dates, the late hours, the just leaving you crying, the manipulation, and how he always made you feel guilty for thinking about leaving.

“I’ve told you this a million times already. You deserve better. He’s an asshole who doesn’t treat you right. He never has.” Jason was being super gentle, but Dick’s venom was getting to you a bit.

“He wasn’t always like this. He’s just been weirder lately.” You both knew that was bullshit, you just didn’t want to believe it.

“I have trouble believing that.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Are you saying I’ve just been a dumbass who has allowed this mistreatment in our entire relationship?” Your voice was rising. 

“No. I’m not saying that, you’re not dumb. But Dick is extremely manipulative to you. I see it in what you tell me and in how he speaks about you, so it’s not hard for me to believe that he keeps making you feel like you’re less than him just so he can keep toying with you.” He stayed gentle through it. Jason just wanted you to realise your worth. But… You weren’t having that, you didn’t want to listen to him.

“You know, it’s funny, because he warned me about this.”

“He what?”

“Yeah. He told me you’d say exactly this to try to break us apart because you’re jealous of him, and you want to make his life miserable, when he hasn’t done anything wrong. He’s just going through a bad phase. He’ll get better, and I’ll be there for him, because that’s what good girlfriends do. And you shouldn’t be trashing on him like that.”

Jason swiped his tongue over his teeth, trying to maintain his calm, because he knew this was the manipulation speaking. But you were pissing him off. He hummed before getting up.

“You really think so?” His voice was dangerous, like it was on the first day the two of you talked after he came back. You also got up and nodded angrily.

“I’m trying to look out for you. He treats you like shit. You don’t deserve that. He’s a douchebag.” You just shook your head.

“I think it’s time for you to leave.”

“Are you serious right now?” Jason was baffled. 

“Yes. It was a mistake calling you in the first place. Please just go.” You pointed at your door. He stood there for a few seconds, processing what just happened before nodding.

“Okay.” He grabbed his jacket. “If that’ll make you feel better. Have a great night.” And then he was gone. He didn’t slam your door, didn’t make a scene. He just left, like you asked. You regretted snapping at him the moment he left.

Jason went home, made a hot mug of tea, just like Alfred taught him, and then he pondered. He was about to be petty, and you were probably going to hate him for a while, but you’d end up thanking him, because despite your outburst, Jason knew it was just a way to protect yourself from the truth you were too hurt to face. So, he grabbed his phone.

You were (depressingly) eating cookies while watching some random youtube video when your phone pinged, at first you were going to ignore it, but then it pinged again and again and again so you decided to see what it was, only to find out Jason was texting you.

Jayjay: I know he probably told you that I’m this sick monster who’s just jealous and wants to ruin your life, but I hope that, despite everything I've done ever since I came back, you can recognise I’m actively trying to change. I can’t promise I’m going to be the same boy that was once your best friend, because there are parts of me that are simply gone. I also hope you know you’re the reason I’m trying to be better, and I’m not going to go into the details of what that entails, mostly because I don’t know the extent of what Dick told you about what I feel. Every single time I’ve told you you deserved better, it was because I knew what Dick has actually been up to. You were probably going to call me a liar, and I know you’ll hate me for this, but please know I just want the best for you. I can’t watch you shed any more tears for him.

Jayjay: [Image Attachment]

Jayjay: [Image Attachment]

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e/n: what would be your reaction to receiving the pictures with dick and kori? i'd have a major crashout, evil man dick grayson

I'll be with you, always ও˖ ࣪⊹

𝜗ৎ tags/tw: miscarriage, fertility issues, heavy angst, hurt/comfort, established relationship, not proofread

ও˖ ࣪⊹ pairing: jason todd x f!reader

𝜗ৎ a/n: this has been sitting in my drafts for well over a year, it was technically the first fic I ever wrote but I never posted it. anyways, I've been battling whether I should post it or not, and I decided to. if you're going or went through something like this, just know you're not alone<3

When you met Jason Todd, he swore up and down that he'd never ever have kids. Or get into a serious relationship for that matter, he was far too broken, too hollow to ever give someone what they needed from a partner. At the time, you weren't interested in a relationship either, after dealing with your cheating ex you were pretty done for awhile.

However, time and feelings are a funny thing. Through your mutual friends, you both inevitably kept hanging out, and a friendship formed not long after. You were quick to forget your "no feelings" era, because the way your heart did happy laps every time it saw Jason's smile was concerning. His feelings for you came very much in the same way. Unannounced, agressive and strong, like a bullet being shot.

He didn't have a usual job, much less a usual life, it was not everyday that you got killed and then revived, it also wasn't everyday that you tried to kill your father after coming back. His trauma was a long deep running river that threatened to overflow the tide next to it, but.. With you it was so worth it. You were well and truly, perfect. It made him feel crazy, what sort of spell had you made to get him wrapped around your finger so tightly? He got giddy just hearing your name for heaven's sake! He was a scary vigilante, he wasn't supposed to act like a lovesick puppy.

Despite feeling strongly for eachother, you two battled off your feelings like they were the plague, while everyone but yourselves could see you were totally head over heels. To no one's surprise, you two eventually came around and got together after a few months of pointless fighting against something that was far too deep.

It had been six years from then. Three years married, three dating, and the only reason that Jason didn't propose to you sooner was the fact that he went through a lot of therapy and did a lot of inner work to become the man you deserved, because for you, he was willing to fight the scariest demons his mind posessed.

Now, you were ready to start your little family. One of the things that always worried you was his insistence on the fact that he'd be an awful dad, therefore he would never have kids. But what you didn't know was that as soon as Jason came to terms with the fact that he loved you all those years ago, and that you some miraculous way loved him back, all he could think about was how much he wanted to marry you, and how much he wanted to make you the prettiest mother in the world.

What none of you ever accounted for was the fertility issues. You had been trying for a few months when you started to worry, and there was nothing on this planet that Jason hated more than seeing your devastated face anytime your period came once again, so he always soothed you, whispering "There is nothing wrong with you, love. You're just stressed, we'll have our family one day, yeah? I love you.", while you sobbed into his arms at night.

There was, however something wrong with you indeed. After all the missed attempts you went to the hospital, and the doctors told you what you dreaded to hear. Fertility issues. Low chance of pregnancy. Any pregnancy will be of high risk. That day, you cried so hard you almost blacked out, it was a wonder how all the water from your body didn't get drained. And even then, Jason held you through it all, physically and mentally, because you were sure that if not for him, you wouldn't have persisted for so long. You thanked all that was holy for your husband, because not once did that man utter anything less of loving and supportive words in you ear. Never did he plant a kiss on your skin that was not utterly filled with love and adoration. In your head, you were broken, but to him? Oh God, to him you were the most perfect being on this Earth and he would not let you crumble.

When your period took too long to arrive three months ago, you didn't dare to hope. Honestly, you didn't even want to take a pregnancy test, after all, there had been times where the same happened and you ended up curled in bed crying. But, like always Jason gently encouraged you, and after one, two, three, four positive pregnancy tests, you were overjoyed. It couldn't be wrong this time, and it also couldn't be more perfect. Jason hugged you like his life depended on it and once again, his presence, his touch, it all kept you grounded, it kept you intact under the sea of emotions you were feeling.

The next day he arranged an appointment for you. After going to the doctor's and hearing that you were one month pregnant already, and that so far you and the baby were healthy, you felt like your life couldn't get better. Jason immediately stepped down from being a vigilante, he wanted to be there for every step of his baby's life, and he also would never forgive himself if he ever ended up leaving you two, so he wouldn't risk his life. He got a normal job at Wayne Enterprises, curtsy of Bruce Wayne who had spent the last few years becoming the father Jason needed (he was also overjoyed about becoming a grandfather soon).

Finally everything felt like it was right. You and your husband had a fairly normal life, you were going to start a family, the baby was healthy, the nursery was being made, you had plushies for the baby already, you-

Everything crashed down on what seemed like a normal sunday. It was a beautiful day outside, and you had stayed home, having a very high risk pregnancy and all. You had done nothing more than sleep and talk to your baby, you two even listened to music together (someone had to pass down their superior music taste). That was until you went to the bathroom after lunch. You felt a weird faint pain but didn't think much of it, that was until you looked down and the metalic scent of blood invaded your nose.

At first you couldn't believe it. Surely you were having a nightmare, because this could not be happening. You were frozen on the toilet, barely breathing as you looked at the blood, the very real blood that signalled that your baby wasn't okay. It was too much, and you couldn't move, couldn't breathe, couldn't cry, it was all blood blood blood blood...

Jason arrived home from work a few hours later. Hours? Minutes? You didn't know anymore. All you knew was the blood. The blood and the fact that you remained on the same spot, unmoving, completely shattered. He called for you but you didn't answer. It didn't take him long to find you, and when he did he immediately understood.

"Oh, sweetheart, I'm so sorry." Was what you were able to make out, a heavy low murmur that ricocheted on the walls, embracing you and trying to keep you there. In a second he was kneeling in front of you, cradling you in his arms, kissing your head, talking about hospitals, and what could you do if not let him take care of you? Almost mechanically you got out of the bathroom and got ready to go to the hospital.

On the ride there he held you hand. He held you when the doctor told you that you had miscarried. And most importantly, he kept you grounded when the shock finally wore off and you weeped on the hospital corridor. You kept asking "Why?" over and over again and he comforted you, tried his best to give you the peace he barely had in himself, because for you, he'd carve out pieces of his soul if it meant you'd feel the slightest bit better.

When he told his family they were devastated, and in an attempt to make you feel better, the two of you were invited to dinner two weeks after. Jason assured you that if you didn't feel well enough to go, no one would hold it against you, but you wanted to be away from your apartment for awhile. The nursery was left untouched and you spent too much time in there, like somehow looking at the stuffed animals would make you wake up from this nightmare.

The dinner was going well, everyone tried their best not to mention anything, no one had so say anything when the silent hugs you received said more than what spoken words managed to say. You could see why your therapist told you to socialise, it was really helping to keep your mind off everything that happened.

At some point, Bruce turned to you and gave you a kind smile. "How are you feeling?" You gave him a tired smile and shrugged, but you could see in his eyes that he was also mourning. Everyone was. And suddenly the damn burst once again, and you were repeating 'I'm sorry' over and over again, Jason tried to soothe you and gently guided you to his childhood bedroom.

You didn't even know who you were apologising to anymore. To Jason? To his family? To everyone for ruining dinner? To yourself and to the baby you lost? No one blamed you, but no one was needed for that when your mind existed. Jason held you for what felt like hours, whispering about how none of this was your fault and that everything would be fine. It seemed hard to think it would, but... No matter how hard this was you knew that he'd be there to make everything okay once again.

You would get through this together, like you always did.

Love you less⋆˚࿔ᥫ᭡ˊ˗

𝜗ৎ tags/tw: cheating, suggestive, Dick is an absolute douchebag, mentions of reader feeling used, mentions of death, mentions of violence, swearing, hurt/no comfort, reader has no idea she's the other woman :(, not proofread

ও˖ ࣪⊹ pairing: jason todd x f!reader

𝜗ৎ a/n: omg I went crazy on this one. so basically, i've been obsessed with Love You Less by Joji ever since it came out, and one time I was riding the bus to uni (totally about to fall asleep) and i thought 'omg this is so reader who's in a toxic relationship while jason loves her' coded, then I made Dick the villain bc of that whole cheating on kori with barbara thing (which is not canon to me, he'd never!!!!!) but i needed a villain and this made it 10 times messier than if the toxic relationship was just with some rando (then i felt so bad i started writing a cute fic with him that's now sitting on my drafts). ANYWAYS!!! this is my longest fic, so yeah hope you enjoy<333 ALSOOOO this will have a pt 2 where reader confronts Dick heheheh i'm done with my exams and im cooking up a bunch of stuff!!

Jason loved you first.

Honestly, he was the one who loved you, period, because what Dick felt for you? It wasn't love. He didn't understand his brother at all. He had Kori, so why go after you? And the worst part was that he knew. Deep down, Dick knew how bad Jason had it for you. Was it all just to taunt him? Just to prove a point?

Jason has been a goner for you since before he even died. You two were in the same classroom and quickly became bestfriends. You were his first love (and he was yours, but you never got the chance to tell him). It didn't take long for you to regularly spend time at the manor. The two of you loved to bake with Alfred. Those were the times when he was genuinely happy, the times when it felt like he had all the time in the world.

During that time, Dick had paid little to no mind to you. He didn't have the best relationship with Jason, and he was starting out as Nightwing, so he was too busy to care about what his little brother was doing or who his friends were. 

Then on the fated day that Jason died, your whole world fell apart. Bruce let you grieve with them, inviting you to the manor a lot, since at that point, you had become a part of the family, and everyone could see you were inconsolable. It was your first time actually dealing with grief, and being seventeen and having your first love snatched away just like that felt like the Universe's personal way of telling you your life was meant for suffering. 

During the three years Jason was gone, you and Dick got closer. He didn't try anything at first. He just wanted to help you move past your grief (while trying to deal with the regret of not being more present for Jason while he was alive). Slowly, he started to get to know you more, and he understood why his brother never shut up about you while he was alive. You were pretty, smart, and funny, and Dick... well, he just loves women, so could anyone blame him, really? After you made peace with your loss, he started throwing a little flirtatious line here and there, started to linger around you, giving you those looks and talks that made anyone feel wanted and special. It wasn't malicious… It was fun to see you so flustered.

But you caught real feelings. And the whole process wasn't fun because you felt like an awful human being for betraying Jason like that. Three years after Jason's death, the two of you started dating. Not long after that,  Jason came back, and you couldn't leave your room for a whole week; no one even bothered to give you an explanation about how that was even possible. You tried to distance yourself from Dick, but the more you did that, the more he ""loved"" you, and that just wrapped you around him even more.

Those first few months of Jason's comeback were awful, for him and for you. He was angry at the Joker, at Bruce, at you. How could you replace him? Out of all people, you were the only one he hoped wouldn't have moved on. And... to replace him with his older brother? Even then, he couldn't hate you, hell it was like the pit made him love you harder. So despite everything, Jason Todd still looked at you like you were the sole reason he was breathing. Like without you, his world wouldn't exist, and you couldn't take it, because now your heart was somewhere else when it always belonged to him.

What messed you up more was the fact that Dick loved being hot and cold. He could go on for weeks being super dry, but as soon as you talked about breaking up, he'd get on his knees and show you just how much he cared for you. He'd be gone for days without a text, get home late beyond patrol hours, disappear on missions with the Titans that were never broadcast, but if you told him you were concerned about where he actually was, he'd gaslight you and tell you how patient he was for you, even with all your feelings for Jason. How he always felt like he was competing with a ghost. How much you hurt him by not trusting him. Did you not love him? Maybe you were cheating on him with Jason, and that's why you were so suspicious. And then he'd leave your apartment despite you crying and apologising and promising you only loved him. Dick was cruel to you, but you started to internalise that you deserved to be treated like that, because firstly, falling in love with Jason’s brother after he died was actually really messy, and secondly, you were so lucky to be loved by Dick. He was making such an effort by actually staying by your side and deciding to love you despite all your gigantic flaws. He loved you! 

You just didn't know that while he kept your "relationship" hidden from everyone in the family, Kori was being invited to the family dinners as his girlfriend

If you so as mentioned making your relationship public and telling his family, he'd flip on you, because everyone was still dealing with the emotional turmoil of Jason returning, and no one cared about stupid relationships. How could you be so selfish as to even want to put that burden on his family? To that, you'd cry and agree with him and apologise without stopping, so he'd kiss you just to shut you up and take you to bed to show you how lucky you were that he loved you. Then, as soon as the two of you were done, he'd tell you he needed to go back to his apartment, and just leave you there, feeling empty and used (on his way out, he'd text Kori about how much he missed her, while you cried yourself to sleep).

Jason found out because he was obsessed with you. He followed you in the shadows when you went home from work just to make sure you were safe. He'd watch you when Dick would leave after arguments, and see how you cried for a guy that was messing with you just because he could. During that time, Jason was too revenge-driven to even talk to you (he had no idea about the amount of times you dreamt of hugging him again), so he'd just silently watch and think about how he could treat you so much better if he wasn't so broken.

It didn't take you long to start noticing you were being followed, and you knew who it was. At first, you just pretended you didn't know, but after a few months of knowing Jason was just lingering on the sidelines, you had enough. You were rounding a badly lit alley when you felt him in the shadows, so you just stopped and turned to him.

"What do you want?" You snapped at him, what he was doing was unfair, and you both knew it.

Jason slowly stepped away from the shadows in his Red Hood armour. He was slightly taken aback at you for snapping at him, and well, figuring out he had been following you.

"What you just did was dangerous, you know. I could be a random thug wanting to rob you." He evaded your question and crossed his arms. At that, you just rolled your eyes.

"But you're not. I know you've been following me ever since you came back. Seriously, what's your deal? Is it fun to just run around after me, while I know you're back, without ever... I don't know, say 'Hey, it's me, Jason, your best friend who you grieved for three years!! I'm back, and I kill people now. We should totally catch up!'. I don’t even know what truly happened because no one has had the decency to explain what happened to me. Did you even die? Did I grieve you just because?”

Jason scoffed at that. He spent a lot of time thinking about what would happen when the two of you talked again, and he liked to imagine you’d cry happy tears and hug him; he never thought you’d be so mad at him. Honestly, you were more hurt than anything, but the last few months were definitely taking a toll on your mental health, so it just turned into anger.

“I did die. I died, and then I got thrown into the Lazarus pit. That’s why I’m here.” His voice got a dangerous edge, and he moved closer to you. “I woke up after getting beaten with a crowbar so badly I felt everything inside me break, and if that wasn’t enough, I was then blown into pieces. Do you know how scary it is to wake up after that? Your mind knows it’s not natural, but your body reacts as if it’s good that you had a second chance. I was surrounded by people I didn’t know, and I couldn’t understand how in the hell I was alive.” 

Your eyes widened in shock. “Jason, I-”

“No, let me finish. The fun part comes now. I ran away from that fucking damned pit and returned to Gotham. I’m not even going to get into what I had to do to come back home. Only to find out that it was as if nothing ever happened.” He laughed bitterly, and you tried your best not to start sobbing. “For so much talk about grief, I think all of you handled it pretty well. I mean, Joker is still frolicking around, so I don’t think Bruce cared too much about having his son killed. Actually, he was so unbothered that he got Tim to replace me. But you’re not better, are you?” You swallowed dryly, and Jason tried to keep his voice steady so you wouldn’t hear it breaking. “When I found out about Bruce, and Tim, and all of that shit, the first person I wanted to run to was you. Only to find out you just waited around to get into my brother’s bed. Which got me thinking that maybe you just became my friend because you were interested in him the whole time.”

You frowned and angrily wiped your tears. “That’s bullshit, and you know it, Jason.”

“Is it though? Is it really? Because I don’t know anymore. I haven’t known ever since I came back. Dick was always Bruce’s favourite. He was always the one who could do no wrong, the best student, the best Robin, the best person in the whole entire world. He was the boy wonder, while I was the street kid who was too traumatised and too violent. It only makes sense you’d get with him, right? Why wouldn’t you?”

“Why do you even care about that, Jason?” You snapped.

Because I love you, and I’ve missed you every day since I came back.

“I don’t. I couldn't care less about any of you. In fact, you could get robbed for all I care. Call up your little boyfriend so he comes to the rescue since he’s so great.” The words felt foreign on his tongue, he knew he was lying.

Your jaw dropped at how ruthless he sounded. This wasn’t the boy you fell in love with all those years ago. Maybe it was for the best that you just forgot about him entirely. You wanted to say something equally as hurtful back, but you couldn’t. The words didn’t come out, and before you could gather the strength to finally say something, he just grappled up and disappeared into the shadows. 

He still made sure you got home safe, he just chose a different path so you wouldn’t figure out he was following you once again

That night, you told Dick what happened over the phone.

“I told you he’s dangerous now. You should stay as far from him as you can.”

“He’s not dangerous.”

“What? Are you crazy? He pretty much told you you could die in a ditch.”

“That’s blowing it out of proportion. He’s hurt. And honestly, I can understand him. It does seem like everyone just moved on like his death wasn’t a major thing.”

Dick scoffed at that. “You’re unbelievable. Are you so blind that you can’t see what he's doing is wrong? Being hurt doesn’t excuse everything, plus were we just meant to grieve forever?”

You stayed silent for a few seconds. “Why didn’t you tell me about the pit?”

That shut him up. “It wasn’t important.”

“It seems important to me. You let me believe he faked his death.”

“I never confirmed that.”

“You also never denied it.”

At that, you hung up. The day after your argument, Dick showed up at your apartment with a beautiful bouquet and a bunch of apologies. You ended up forgiving him. At the end of the day, it was clear that Jason was too broken to be your friend again (and that’s what you told the part of your brain that still lingered on the ‘maybe’s and ‘what if’s of what could’ve been between you two). 

Your life became quite bleak after that.  You still felt like someone followed you at night, and your dreams insisted on having Jason as the main character. Dick kept making promises that were never met, which ended with you in tears. Eventually, you stopped asking about when he was going to tell his family that the two of you weren’t just friends. Eventually, you stopped asking for anything from him. You also stopped asking about Jason, not because you didn’t care, god knew how much you did, but because your boyfriend would get butthurt anytime you did. Still, despite his best efforts, Bruce told you Jason was getting better. That he was starting to make peace with everything, that he was coming back into the family.

What nobody knew was that you were his motivation for getting better. Maybe then you’d finally see Dick for what he truly was. And maybe you’d give him a chance, but that was wistful thinking.

Those were the best news you could’ve gotten, and slowly (and when I say slowly, I mean it took a whole year), the two of you became friends once again. It wasn’t like before, there were clearly broken things inside both of you, and the yearning looks he gave you whenever the two of you hung out didn’t help your scrambled mind.

Dick hated the fact that you had gotten closer to Jason again, not because he was jealous, since, well, he had Kori and that was his actual girl, but – you were still fun, he knew he was being an asshole, letting you believe you were actually together and all that (no, actually he knew he was being an awful person leading you on like that). He saw you more as a friend who warmed his bed regularly than anything else. Which brought a problem! He was 99% sure Jason knew, and he was 100% he still wanted you, so he was scared Jason would tell you or Kori. 

One night, Dick decided to crash at the manor since their mission lasted longer than it was planned, and he was too tired to drive back to Blüdhaven. He was minding his own business, getting something to eat from the fridge. Alone (he thought) in the dark.

“Why are you doing this to her?” He heard Jason’s voice behind him and jumped, didn’t hear him coming.

“Jesus fuck man, where did you come from?” He turned to face his brother, who was in kinda (?) good terms with him, and he looked menacing as hell.

“Answer my question.”

“Doing what to whom?” But he already knew the answer.

 “You’re manipulating her and cheating on her with Kori.”

“Dude, c’mon, we have nothing serious going on. I just see her sometimes, you know my girl is Kori.”

Jason clenched his fists to try to control the rage he was feeling. “It’s serious to her, what you’re doing is plain cruel. What’s the point in making her feel awful to the point she’s constantly crying and apologising to you?”

Dick flashed him a stupid grin. “She’s hot when she cries. Plus, she lets me go a bit rougher on her-”

Jason took a step forward. “That’s enough. You’re being disgusting.”

They stayed silent for a few seconds before Dick laughed. “Don’t tell me you’re still hung up on her.” Jason’s silence was enough. “Aw man, that’s tough. You died, and the feelings stayed. I feel bad for you.”

At that moment, Jason wanted to throw away all the progress he’d made so far and just beat the shit out of his brother, but alas, that probably wouldn’t sit right with you.

“You shouldn’t. I’ll gladly spend the rest of my life loving her, even if she doesn’t feel the same, because she’s the best person I’ve ever had the luck of meeting. I don’t think I deserve her, but you don’t either, she deserves way better than you.”

Jason turned his back to leave before stopping midway. “Oh, and Dick? I’d suggest you stop playing this game of yours. You never know when your girlfriend might find out what you do for ‘fun’. Or the other way around.”

“You won’t say anything.”

“Wanna test that?” Then he was gone, and Dick pondered on it for like five minutes before pretending the conversation didn’t happen.

Well, Jason knew his warning wouldn’t really affect Dick. So, as a precaution.. Just as a little harmless thing.. Jason decided to take pictures of Dick with Kori at family events as proof. Was it a really stalkerish thing to do?

…

Perhaps. But! It was just in case this dragged on far too long, and you insisted on staying with Dick, because he knew that if he were to just tell you, you wouldn’t believe him (Dick also wasn’t that dumb, so he was probably going to feed you lies about Jason so you wouldn’t believe anything about cheating). 

So. When you hung out with Dick, he’d trash talk jason the whole time. When you hung out with Jason, he’d keep telling you you deserved better. You were starting to get mildly annoyed!!! Not that Jason was wrong, you were starting to believe him, but this was getting exhausting.

Your relationship anniversary was coming up, and you begged Dick not to forget about it, and to show up at the restaurant you had a reservation at. 

He forgot, and you had to deal with the pitying looks of the waitresses. 

After an hour, you decided enough was enough, so you went back to your apartment to cry. And somehow in the middle of all your tears and ice cream tubs, you dialled Jason’s number. He was at your door after ten minutes. When Jason saw your puffy red eyes and makeup-smudged face, he immediately hugged you.

“He forgot, didn’t he?” He asked quietly into your hair, and you just nodded.

The two of you went inside and sat on your sofa.

“I don’t get it. He acts like I’m an afterthought, yet he also doesn’t let me go. I’m getting sick of it, but I don’t have the guts to simply ignore his pleading.” You vented to Jason for a while about all the missed dates, the late hours, the just leaving you crying, the manipulation, and how he always made you feel guilty for thinking about leaving.

“I’ve told you this a million times already. You deserve better. He’s an asshole who doesn’t treat you right. He never has.” Jason was being super gentle, but Dick’s venom was getting to you a bit.

“He wasn’t always like this. He’s just been weirder lately.” You both knew that was bullshit, you just didn’t want to believe it.

“I have trouble believing that.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Are you saying I’ve just been a dumbass who has allowed this mistreatment in our entire relationship?” Your voice was rising. 

“No. I’m not saying that, you’re not dumb. But Dick is extremely manipulative to you. I see it in what you tell me and in how he speaks about you, so it’s not hard for me to believe that he keeps making you feel like you’re less than him just so he can keep toying with you.” He stayed gentle through it. Jason just wanted you to realise your worth. But… You weren’t having that, you didn’t want to listen to him.

“You know, it’s funny, because he warned me about this.”

“He what?”

“Yeah. He told me you’d say exactly this to try to break us apart because you’re jealous of him, and you want to make his life miserable, when he hasn’t done anything wrong. He’s just going through a bad phase. He’ll get better, and I’ll be there for him, because that’s what good girlfriends do. And you shouldn’t be trashing on him like that.”

Jason swiped his tongue over his teeth, trying to maintain his calm, because he knew this was the manipulation speaking. But you were pissing him off. He hummed before getting up.

“You really think so?” His voice was dangerous, like it was on the first day the two of you talked after he came back. You also got up and nodded angrily.

“I’m trying to look out for you. He treats you like shit. You don’t deserve that. He’s a douchebag.” You just shook your head.

“I think it’s time for you to leave.”

“Are you serious right now?” Jason was baffled. 

“Yes. It was a mistake calling you in the first place. Please just go.” You pointed at your door. He stood there for a few seconds, processing what just happened before nodding.

“Okay.” He grabbed his jacket. “If that’ll make you feel better. Have a great night.” And then he was gone. He didn’t slam your door, didn’t make a scene. He just left, like you asked. You regretted snapping at him the moment he left.

Jason went home, made a hot mug of tea, just like Alfred taught him, and then he pondered. He was about to be petty, and you were probably going to hate him for a while, but you’d end up thanking him, because despite your outburst, Jason knew it was just a way to protect yourself from the truth you were too hurt to face. So, he grabbed his phone.

You were (depressingly) eating cookies while watching some random youtube video when your phone pinged, at first you were going to ignore it, but then it pinged again and again and again so you decided to see what it was, only to find out Jason was texting you.

Jayjay: I know he probably told you that I’m this sick monster who’s just jealous and wants to ruin your life, but I hope that, despite everything I've done ever since I came back, you can recognise I’m actively trying to change. I can’t promise I’m going to be the same boy that was once your best friend, because there are parts of me that are simply gone. I also hope you know you’re the reason I’m trying to be better, and I’m not going to go into the details of what that entails, mostly because I don’t know the extent of what Dick told you about what I feel. Every single time I’ve told you you deserved better, it was because I knew what Dick has actually been up to. You were probably going to call me a liar, and I know you’ll hate me for this, but please know I just want the best for you. I can’t watch you shed any more tears for him.

Jayjay: [Image Attachment]

Jayjay: [Image Attachment]

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e/n: what would be your reaction to receiving the pictures with dick and kori? i'd have a major crashout, evil man dick grayson

pairing: jason todd x f!reader

tags: established relationship (with jason), fluff, comfort, long talks, light mentions of bullying, dealing with guilt, not proof read

a/n: hi everyone!! im sorry for sort of disappearing for so long, but I've been suuuper busy with uni and I'll most likely be gone during january too, unfortunately </3 anyways, I hope you enjoy this sequel to Comforting Damian (this one can be read as a standalone but if ypu want to understandthe beginning better go check the pther one out!!), I might write more in this universe in the future! happy holidays to whoever celebrates <3

Comforting Damian

Small snowflakes fell onto the streets of Gotham outside of your apartment. You always loved winter time, the snow, the cold, the Christmas lights. Even a city like Gotham felt magical during winter, the streets were filled with string lights, Christmas trees, reindeer, stalls selling hot cocoa, and so on, even the crime rates dropped slightly during this time.

The lights from your christmas tree cast a soft golden glow on the living room. You were reading a book, lazily sipping the tea you made earlier paired with freshly baked cookies. Occasionally, the ring on your finger would catch the light just right when you turned a page, and you'd always smile to yourself when it did.

Jason had proposed four months ago, nothing fancy, just the two of you. Intimate. Quiet. Romantic. Extremely you. Time flew by, it seemed like yesterday you were meeting Damian and then the rest of the family. Needless to say, everyone approved of you and loved you immediately, since then, you seemed to be visited by a bat at least once a week.

Dick normally crashed at yours just to piss Jason off since he knew you were too nice to kick him out. Tim and Duke always asked if they could come by before showing up. You and the girls turned boring patrols into girl's nights. They were the loudness in your quiet life with Jay, it was good and you loved being considered part of the family, but sometimes you understood why Jason didn't introduce you to them sooner.

The only visitor who didn't bring any chaos with him was Damian. He grew very fond of you during the three years that passed, mainly because you never once judged him. You were a civilian, so he could come to you with more mundane problems and you'd genuinely help without brushing it aside like Talia, or trying to find a complex solution like Bruce. You being normal provided him even the smallest comfort, it didn't matter if he stayed the night on your apartment munching quietly on food and reading in a little corner, or if he spent it following you around like a puppy asking all sorts of questions, in those moments he allowed himself to be a normal kid like his classmates who didn't have the baggage he did.

And genuinely you loved Damian too, the fact that he had gone through so much at a young age, being raised with violence and death, but still being able to surpass that and help people every day was admirable. You and Jason had even arranged the guest room for him, so now it was kind of Damian's room. There were nights were Jason and him would come back from patrol together, you'd be waiting for them with takeout or a nice homecooked meal, and Jason would grumble about having his girlfriend fiancée stolen away whenever you gave more attention to Damian.

With that being said, when you hear the soft and quiet pads of feet approaching, you immediately know who it is.

"Hi, Dami." You say warmly without looking up from your book.

He plops down next to you and immediately steals a cookie. "Hello. Todd went back to the cave."

"Hm, yes he texted me saying he might come home later today. Did something happen or is it just a case?"

He takes a bite from the cookie. "Just a case. These have far too much sugar, by the way." That doesn't stop him from eating it.

"You always say that, and then you always eat them."

Damian grumbled something while munching quietly, you giggled softly at his little attitude. Placing the book down, you turned to face him completely. "So, how was patrol today?"

You were met with a shrug. "Normal. Not much happened, I guess." Then, Damian proceeded to fidget with the blanket on your couch.

Huh. That was weird. It's not like he was that talkative normally, but something in him felt.. tense. Three years of being regularly visited by him made you understand what the small actions meant.

"I see. You're not involved in that case Jay's working on then?"

"I could be, father asked if I wanted to help but it seemed simple enough so I declined." That was even weirder, Damian always wanted to help out with a case even if it was simple.

"Oh? That's unusual."

"Tt. Why would it be?"

"Well, you always want to help. Even if it's to tell everyone what they're doing wrong." You attempted to joke, but Damian... well he wasn't having a good day.

"I just didn't feel like getting involved in another thing. Why are you making a big deal out of it?"

You tilted your head. "I was just curious because that's not usually like you. I'm sorry if I seemed pushy, Dami, that wasn't my intention. You know I'm here for you if you need." Damian sighed at your soft tone, feeling immediately guilty for snapping at you.

"I know, I'm sorry." The both of you stayed quiet for a few minutes after that, you returned to your reading while Damian looked up into the ceiling, thinking. Diring these moments you knew it was better not to push, but you could tell something was wrong.

"I just didn't have a good day at school today." He finally spoke again, but it was so quiet you barely made out what he said. Putting the book down, you turned to him once again.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He nodded.

"The other kids are... different. I changed schools and I guess I thought I'd be able to make more friends." He laughed like it was a stupid thought. "I feel like they're scared of me, and when I don't feel like that, it's lime they're judging me."

"Okay, I see. Why do you feel that way?"

He sighed heavily. "There is this small group that constantly taunts me. They think I have high grades because my father is Bruce Wayne. Whenever I speak up in class they make these little comments and snicker at me. It makes me feel... ashamed. I have also tried to be friends with other kids but the way I speak pushes them away, even when I try to speak more like them it seems useless." Damian pulled his knees up to his chest. "I tried to speak with my mother about it, but obviously she told me I was being weak. Father told me they were just jealous and to ignore them. But still, I... it hurts being the weird one." He whispered the last part.

Your heart was hurting for him, sometimes kids could be cruel. "I know, but it's not your fault those kids don't want to get to know you. They're just judging you by the wrong conceptions they've made about you, and that's on them, not you. Plus, you have Jon."

"It's not the same. Jon is a superhero too, it's easier to bond when you have a shared aspect in your life. Not only that, we grew up together and our dads are friends, it would be hard to not create a relationship."

"He could still dislike you."

"Tt. Impossible. Jon loves everyone."

You tilted your head. "Surely not everyone..."

"I suppose... I suppose he doesn't lpve Lex Luthor."

"See? Not even superman genes can make you love eveeryone."

You could see him fighting a small smile. "Well, I do like to believe I'm a better person than Luthor."

"Of course you are, Dami. You're a good person."

At that, he stayed quiet. You noticed the change in his demeanor almost instantly, the atmosphere had been lighter than it was when he arrived, but now it was tense again, however you could tell he wasn't mad anymore, he was sad.

"Damian. You are a good person." Your voice was assertive.

"How can you be so sure of that? I mean- Father, Grayson, you, all of you have always set out to help people, and- you told me you always knee you wanted to save lives. I've killed people. I knew how to handle a katana sooner than some people learned to walk. There is blood on my hands that not enough scrubbing can get out. I have thought of being a doctor lately, leave the vigilante life behing and save people the way you do, but how can I be a doctor when people my age fear me? It's like they see the true monster inside of me. It makes me feel like no matter what path I take, nothing will ever erase the mistakes of my past." He was shaking and his voice wavered every now and then, you reached for his hands and squeezed them tightly.

"Damian, you were a child. You had no way of choosing what life you lived, now you do, and you're choosing to go out there every day like your father, your brothers, and me. Bad people don't wonder if they're bad, and they sure as hell don't let bad things they've done haunt them, because they don't want to change. Not only did you want to change, you have and you keep proving every day that you don't want to repeat the same mistakes. That's growth, Dami. And that is being a good person."

He sniffled quietly and you scooted closer before bringing him to your chest. Without any resistance he hugged you and quietly let the tears fall down. You stayed quiet, Damian didn't need words, he just needed someone to be normal with him, to allow him to feel like a kid in the middle of his caotic life.

After he calmed down, you decided to make a fun evening for him. What would he like to do? Obviously cook with you! He loved to watch Alfred cook, and he offered his help lots of times, so you decided to drag him to the kitchen so you two could prepare dinner together. Jason would probably be arriving soon, so it was actually perfect.

"What are we going to make?" He asked curiously while leaning in your kitchen island.

"Your favourite pasta. I'm feeling a cozy meal right now."

His face lit up at the mention of his favourite dish, and you smiled warmly at his giddiness. After that, you two worked around the kitchen like a well oiled machine. You might not be a superhero, but Damian had the same coordination with you when you cooked together, that he did out in the field with Dick, for example.

It didn't take long for you two to finish everything up, and Jason arrived just on time. Looking at the front door and at your man covered in snow from head to tow made you burst out laughing.

"Oh, wow. I get home after a hard day of working out there in the cold, and I'm greeted by my fiancée making fun of me. Great. There's no respect nowadays."

"Shut it, Todd."

"Great! Of course she's making fun of me, you little gremlin are here." He walked over to you, after taking off his snow covered jacket and boots, and hugged you from the back while placing a kiss on the top of your head. "I've told you he's a bad influence, sweetheart."

"And I have told her you are a terrible influence in all senses."

"What does that even mean?"

You point a fork in Jason's direction. "No arguing with my sous-chef." Jason shook his head and you high-fived Damian.

The three of you ate dinner with that comfortable quiet (that was only broken by Damian and Jason's ocasional bickering). After doing the dishes and cleaning everything up, Damian bid his goodnights and went to his room the guest room.

Jason and you were cuddled up in the sofa. "Did he talk to you, baby?"

"Mhm. He wasn't feeling that good."

"Yeah, we could tell during patrol but no one wanted to push him. I figured he was coming here when he said he'd go home early. You know, Dick's slightly jealous of you."

You laughed quietly at that. "Really? Why?"

"He says you took his spot as number one confidante."

"As if that would ever happen."

He shrugged. "I wouldn't mind, even if it was just to piss Dick off. But.. uhm.." Jason cleared his throat, he was blushing hard.

"What?"

"Seeing you with Damian... it uh... It makes me think of you being a mom. Us... having a baby.. And.. You know I never thought of those things but you seem so naturally... maternal. It suits you."

"Aw.. Jay. You really think so?" He nodded. "That's... Stop it, you're going to make me cry. I really want to start a family with you, baby."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Maybe not now but- You understood what I meant."

He laughed and kissed you. "I did. Probably should head to sleep, honey. Goodnight, I love you."

"Love you too, Jay. Goodnight."

And with that, you two ended up falling asleep right there on the couch, with the snow falling steadily outside, and with the comfort of love and of the future that awaits you, inside your apartment.

paring: jason todd x f!reader

tags: established relationship (with jason), fluff, comfort, long talks, first impressions, damian is grumpy and needs a safe space, might be ooc

a/n: I've had this idea for a long time, I think it would be super cute if damian sort of felt betrayed by jason not telling him he had a long term relationship, so he just decides to meet you by himself after having a rough day (because after researching you so much he figured you'd be nice)(also reader is a nurse in this because I totally inserted myself into this lolololol). anyways! just needed to air this out

You were exhausted when you got home from your shift at the hospital. Sometimes, you wondered why you chose to be a nurse, especially a nurse in Gotham. The answer was you genuinely did love to help and loved your job, as tiring as it was.

Jason had texted you to let you know he wouldn't be home in time for dinner. Something about family problems concerning his dad and little brother. You hadn't met his family yet, he'd told you everything was complicated and you understood, so you never pressured him into introducing you to them. It was fine, just the two of you living your (not so) quiet lives. Still, he'd shown you pictures of each member and you could tell he loved each one dearly, despite having a really hard time expressing that.

Sighing, you locked the door and dropped you keys in the little flower key holder you and Jason made in a pottery class you two went to as a date. All that was on your mind right now was getting out of your clothes, showering, and eating the chinese take-out you got before going home.

Or at least that was until you heard a soft clatter. You were already half-way into the kitchen of your and Jason's shared apartment, and not only had you been making plenty of noise you were also already barefoot, so whoever this intruder was – and it had to be an intruder because when Jason told you he wouldn't be home, he wasn't lying – knew you were home.

Taking a deep breath you remember what Jason had told you.

"Anyone ever breaks in, first thing you do is grab the nearest gun. Remember you know our place better than the intruder, use that in your advantage."

At the time you thought he was being paranoid (especially considering he hid a gun in each division of your apartment), now you wished he was here. But either way you grabbed the gun under the kitchen counter and got ready to face the assailant.

The soft sound of steps grew louder. You tried your best to stop shaking. Then you saw a shadow, and then...

You frowned and lowered the gun.

A small frowning boy appeared in the corridor, looking super pissed as if you were the one breaking into his apartment. You recognised him from the pictures Jason showed you, it was Damian (supposedly the centre of his family problem and the reason why you wouldn't be eating dinner with your boyfriend).

"Um.." You lowered the gun. "You're Damian, right...?" You eyed him, his mask was discarded but he was still wearing his Robin uniform.

For a second he looked shocked, before quickly masking it with an unimpressed look. "Tt. So Todd told you about us before bothering to say you existed." He approached you like he owned the place, and you couldn't help but feel amused at the fact that he acted exactly as Jason had described.

"Well.. Jason was going to tell you all eventually."

"Yeah right. He still doesn't trust father, or dick, or me. Or any of us." He huffed and crossed his arms. You didn't really understand why this bothered him so much, but you were trying to be attentive.

"He does, Damian. He's just complicated." You smiled softly and sat on your kitchen island. "He gets too lost in his own head with a thousand negative outcomes and..." You shrugged. "I suppose he was scared of your dad's reaction."

Damian huffs at that and looks around the room. During his inspection you notice he has a large gash on his upper arm, and well, obviously you couldn't ignore it.

"Hey, you're bleeding." You were already on your feet, rounding the kitchen island to inspect his injury.

"Tt. It's nothing. I am not like Todd, I can handle my injuries."

You chuckled softly at his defiance before reaching out. "May I take a look?" He stayed silent for a few seconds, but you were being gentle and.. well something about you made him feel safe so he begrudgingly nodded.

You inspected his wound carefully, it was not deep enough to need stitches, but it was bleeding and it was dirty, so you were worried about a possible infection. "Can I patch you up?"

"How can I know you will not sabotage me in any way?"

You raised your brow and bit the inside of your cheek, trying to stiffle a laugh. "Well, firstly, you are carrying a katana. Secondly, you know where I live and who I am without ever being told I even existed. And thirdly, I'm pretty sure you also know where I work so... Even if I were to do anything, not only would I have to deal with you but also with the whole bat family. I really don't want to face down Batman. Or you. You're pretty scary, little man."

That earned you a scowl. "Tt. I'm not "a little man", that's highly disgraceful."

You nodded and put on the most serious expression you could. "No, no, you're right. You're the tallest 10 year old I've met, and I meet lots of them."

He grumbled something unintelligible but started to make his way to your bathroom. You smiled to yourself, his little atitude and the way he walked around as if he'd been here thousand of times was cute.

In the bathroom you patched him up silently, being as gentle as you usually were with your pacients. Damian spent the whole time analysing you, not in a judgy way, just... taking you in. He seemed vulnerable, and from what Jason told you about him, this wasn't an usual behaviour of his at all, still you didn't comment on it.

"Aaaall done. Are you hungry? I bought chinese food." He seemed reluctant once again, but after a few seconds he shrugged.

"I suppose we could eat."

You chuckled softly to yourself and led him back to the living room, deciding you two could eat on the couch. He ate silently, but you could tell he was thinking about something.

"How did you two get together? I couldn't find anything that correlates you two in any way."

You tilted your head and smiled. "You're interested in all that mushy stuff?"

He scoffed like you had just personally insulted his whole family. "Of course not! I am merely interested in how he managed to hide you away, or even be with you. He is quite insufferable."

Chuckling, you lifted your hands in mock surrender. "Alright, if you say so."

"We met a little over two years ago-" He immediately interrupted you.

"He's kept your relationship hidden for two years?!"

That got a long chuckle out of you. "Oh no, no, your brother fought his feelings at each chance he got. We met at the local library. I was finishing my degree so yeah, looots of time spent writing essays, and researching, and studying. Whenever I took breaks and wandered into the romance area he was always there with a classic. One day I was so tired, I fell asleep reading and he woke me up. That's how we started being friends."

Damian looked extremely interested in your love story.

"It was quite funny after that, we just kept bumping into eachother everywhere. The park, the chinese restaurant, the hospital." Recalling those memories made you smile fondly, you genuinely loved Jason, like you never loved anyone before. "Then there was a huge attack at the hospital I work at, from Scarecrow. I don't remember much from that night, just that I was hit with his gas and that Jason was there and saved me. At this point we'd been friends for a couple of months, and I had the biggest crush on him. When the effects from the gas passed Jason was freaked out, he admitted he had feelings for me and spewed his secret identity. Then I didn't see him again for like two months."

Damian frowned deeply, he finished his food in the meantime and made himself comfortable on your couch. "Why would he do that?"

You shrugged. "He was scared, but that made me really angry. There were a lot of boring issues about feelings in the middle, but eventually he came around and we started dating, we've been together for a year now."

He hummed and nodded. "I can see why Todd likes you, but I still don't understand why you like him."

That once again made you laugh. After that chat, Damian asked you lots of questions about the hospital. What it was like working in healthcare, what you thought of the doctors, what were your biggest struggles, etc etc. You remember that Jason had lightly mentioned Damian seemed interested in healthcare, but it wasn't something he was really exploring (since he was 10, but also because he loved being robin).

"Do you think people can change? I mean, Todd used to be more violent and.. well angry. Now he's.. tolerable. Can everyone do that?" His sleepy question got you slightly off guard.

"Well... Yes. I think so. Jason is an amazing example. I think that everyone should be given a second chance, because we never know what paths that person had to cross, or what challenges they faced, that made them be the way they are. No one should be defined by things they are actively trying to overcome."

At that he just nodded silently. Damian had been trying his hardest to fight sleep, he didn't even understand why he was feeling like this. Maybe it was the exhaustion of the day paired with the argument he had with Bruce finally weighing on him, or maybe it was just that he felt genuinely comfortable with you (even if you were technically a stranger). Your voice was soothing and.. he felt at peace. So in just a few minutes, you had a snoring Robin cuddled into your couch. Smiling, you pulled a blanket over him, put away the empty take-out boxes, and took the shower you were meant to take when you arrived home. After that you went back to the couch, scrolling as you waited for Jason.

When you heard the front door unlocking, you softly got up not to distrup Damian and went to greet Jason. As soon as he saw you, he gave you a kiss.

"So, what happened with Bruce and Damian?"

He sighed heavily, leaning his forehead against yours. "They had a fight after patrol. Damian was a bit too violent against a drug lord that was using kids as dealers and Bruce flipped on him as soon as they got to the cave. Basically Bruce told him that everyone deserves a second chance so he shouldn't have done that but then said, and I quote, "You're thinking as an assassin". Dami was hurt, obviously. He feels like Bruce thinks everyone deserves a second chance but him. After that he just left, cut all comms and disappeared. We've been looking for him but no one could find him. Bruce feels awful." Your eyes widened a little, now your evening was starting to make more sense.

Silently, you guided Jason to your living room, where Damian was still peacefully sleeping. "He's been here the whole night."

Jason was dumbfounded for a few seconds. "The little shit found out about you and broke in?" You giggled softly. "He did. I patched him up and everything. Oh, and he ate the extra take-out I bought for you." Jason kissed the top of your head and placed an arm around you. "Ah, 's fine. Kid really has trouble trusting people, he'd never let his guard down like this with just... anyone. Can't say I'm surprised he felt comfortable enough with you, though. Thank you, baby."

And after everyone was notified about Damian being okay, you finally got to rest, not being able to imagine how much your words actually mattered to Damian, and how for the first time in years he was able to fall asleep without feeling haunted by ghosts of his past.