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#anyway just realised my username has had a typo for years
hargr00vy · 4 months
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babes your glow is showing
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Don’t Call Me That Pt. 2
Wordcount: 10,129
A/N:  I thought this part 2 would total up to 10k words, but when it hit 10k, I realised that I was only about 65 percent done. So based on the responses I got from tumblr, I decided to publish this first and then conclude the story later on!
TW:  mentions of r*pe, mentions of torture, mentions of drugging someone (??) , mental breakdowns, vulnerability, descriptions of anxiety
Also, HERE’S MY FAV MEMES!! I’m so sorry that I can’t tag respective meme creators, because I saved them on my phone and some of them I forgot to include your usernames!! I’M SO SORRY!!! And honest to god is wear there were more but i must have lost them im so sorry im so incompetent lmao
memeesss
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You glanced at your phone.
It had already been a week in Hawaii with your friends, and Jason still hadn’t texted you.
Well, you should have expected it, really. Jason was a traumatised, mentally ill man who had been locked away for two years.
Of course he wouldn’t text you first.
You had contemplated texting him over the past few days, typing in an array of messages ranging from a simple “hey” to a whole paragraph, and deleting all of it without hitting send. Did he even switch the phone on? Was he surfing the internet? Or was the phone still there on the shelf where you had left it.
It was driving you crazy.
“Do you have a boyfriend we don’t know about?” a voice called.
You looked up and squinted at the man who was standing up, looking down at you. You were sitting on the beach, a little further away from the ocean where your friends were.
“What are you talking about?” you asked as Alex plopped down next to you.
“You’ve been fidgety the whole time,” he pointed out, combing back his dark shoulder length hair with his fingers, getting sand in them. “We’re on a private beach, and you’ve been fussing over your phone. Who are you talking to?”
“No one,” you grumbled truthfully.
“The girls have been gossiping,” he gestured to the two other girls playing in the water. Your closest friends. It was four of you in that inseparable group.
“Of course they have,” you groaned, “Tell them to SAY IT TO MY FACE, COWARDS!”
You shouted at them, earning you grins and middle fingers from the distance.
“They’re saying you’re in love with someone,” he chuckled, “But they always say stupid shit like that without any evidence. But sometimes, a girl’s intuition is just right, ya know?”
“Stop beating around the bush, Alex,” you rolled your eyes at him despite knowing he couldn’t see past your sunglasses. “No, I’m not in love. I’m just waiting for a text that might never come.”
“Why don’t you text him first?”
“Because it’s not as simple as that!” you flailed your arms, “He’s… complicated. I can’t just text him anything.”
“Girl, unless he’s Mr. Nottingham, or related to you, then it really isn’t that complicated,” he joked.
“Ugh,” you groaned again, falling back onto the cloth you spread out. “Fine. I’ll text him.”
“Atta girl,” Alex grinned, “I’m gonna head back in the water. Join us after. Please?”
“Yeah, yeah,” you waved.
Opening the text window for what had to be the thirtieth time, you finally decided to text him.
You: Miss me yet?
Staring intently at the small ‘sent’ below your message bubble, you waited for it to turn to ‘delivered’.
“Yes!” you hissed. It meant that Jason had indeed switched on the phone.
But after twenty minutes you realised that it didn’t matter if Jason switched on the phone if he didn’t want to talk to you. Cursing to yourself, you decided to join your friends in the water, hoping it’ll distract you from checking your phone every five minutes for a text message that might never come.
After an hour of actually spending time with your friends, all four of you returned to the villa, your mood elevated. Checking your phone, you could have jumped for joy when you saw not one, but four consecutive texts in a row.
Jason: Duck off. Jason: What the duck Jason: WHY CANT I SAY DUCK Jason: I DUCKING HATE THIS
You couldn’t let out a string of giggles.
“Oooh, lover boy texted you back, huh?” Alex peeked over your shoulder. “Gimme, I wanna mess with him.”
He snatched your phone from your hands, surprisingly swift and smooth for a civilian, raising it way above his head so you couldn’t reach it and opened the camera.
“Alex-!”
He threw his other arm over your shoulder and pulled you into his bare chest, crushing you before you could tackle him down. He snapped a picture and sent it.
You froze in horror.
“Why the hell did you do that?!” you yelled.
“Relax, I was just messing around,” he gave your phone back to you.
“You don’t- you don’t understand, you fucking asshole!” you screamed.
“I- I’m sorry,” Alex stuttered, surprised by your reaction. “I was just-”
“Fuck off!” you snapped.
Panicking, you saw the little notification below the picture turning from Received to Read.
No. No, no, no, no.
This was bad.
You didn’t want to overwhelm Jason by sending him photos of your activities, thinking that he might react badly to the sudden surplus of familiarity and sense of being close to someone. Now you were worried that he might start to push you away in fear, reverting back to how he was before, and months of progress would have been all for nothing.
He would probably start swearing at you, or worse- switch off the phone and reject any form of communication completely. You hurriedly texted a reply.
You: I’m so sorry! I didn’t send that, my friend was just messing around.
Expecting the worst, you braced yourself for the inevitable. Instead, he sent you:
Jason: Who the hell is that guy?? Jason: Why are you in your underwear??
Your mouth hung open as you stared in shock at the screen. Because you took so long to recover from the shock, he sent you another message.
Jason: ???
Snapping out of it, you texted back.
You: That’s just my friend. Sorry about that! And I’m not in my underwear, it’s a bikini! I’m in Hawaii.
You waited for him to reply, but ten minutes of you sitting anxiously on the turquoise sofa in the middle of the villa listening to the waves of the beach outside from the open doors passed by, and he still hadn’t.
Perhaps he’s busy- wait. There’s no way Jason would be busy. You tried to coax him into a conversation.
You: You can turn off your autocorrect if you want to swear without hassle. Go to your Keyboard settings.
You plopped your phone on the empty seat next to you and dried your hair.
“Ugh, come on!” complained Natalie, fully clothed and washed, walking towards the open concept kitchen from her room. “You’re getting sand everywhere!”
“Woops, my bad,” you grinned.
“There’s a shower outside on the porch for a reason you know,” she flipped her blond beach waves at you, looking through the fridge.
Alex stood quietly at the kitchen island, now scared to say anything.
You rolled your eyes. “Just don’t do it again.”
“Okay, I promise!” he grinned.
Ding.
Jason: fuck. fuck. fucking fuck. Jason: found it. You: Proud of you, man.
You went to your room and showered, then dried off and put on fresh clothes while waiting for Jason to reply.
Of course, he never did.
Groaning, you had to remind yourself that he was not used to human interaction, and texting would come unnaturally to him. Which meant that you had to be the one to keep the conversation going.
You: Do anything interesting since I left?
You saw him typing almost immediately this time.
Jason: no.
Of course not.
You: Have you been eating properly? Jason: yeah.
God, it was so difficult. You were in the middle of typing something when he replied again.
Jason: yoire not my mom Jason: yoire Jason: YOIRE Jason: FUCK WHY CANR I TYPE
You felt guilty for laughing, but you did anyway.
You: Now that you switched off autocorrect, it won’t correct your typos and misspells anymore. Jason: i fucking knw that. Ive been gone for two yeard not twenty. You: Then why do you sound like a grandpa? Jason: BECAISE YOU GAVE ME A FUCKINF IPHONE!! I USED AN ANDROID!!
Now you were really laughing out loud, so you sent him a GIF of a woman rolling her eyes.
Jason: wtf you can send gifs throug text now?? You: Welcome to 2020, my dude. Jason: im not your fucking dude
Typing a reply, Jason interrupted you once again.
Jason: teach me how to do that
Smiling widely, you found that you couldn’t wait for the next week to pass by so you could go back and see him.
***
“How’s Jason?” you asked the minute you reached the Cave computers, panting from the run down.
“Wow, hello to you, too,” Dick chuckled, spinning towards you on the wheeled chair.
It was a Sunday afternoon, and Bruce and Dick were in front of the computers, discussing a case that had connections to Bludhaven Police Department.
Gone for two weeks, you had a lot to catch up on.
“According to Alfred, he’s doing well,” Bruce answered, “Even started to ask for seconds last week. Now Alfred has been making portions for two.”
“He asked? For seconds?” you gasped. “How?”
“He left a note on the tray two days after you left. He’s been making meal requests, too. Texts Alfred in the morning to let him know.”
“Texted?!”
“Alfred slipped his number on the tray in case Jason wanted anything specific.”
“I slipped mine as well, but he hasn’t texted me yet,” Dick pouted.
“When did he start texting?” you ignored Dick.
“Last Sunday.”
So the same day you started texting him, then.
“He hasn’t texted me,” Dick sighed, looking dejected like a kid who was told Disneyland blew up.
“He’ll come around, Dick,” you offered him a smile, “I mean- he’s already texting Alfred!”
“Yeah,” he lamented.
“Okaaay, nice talk. I’m gonna go see him now, bye.”
You ran to the box, but stopped right before you opened the internal door. After checking your hair with your phone camera, you tried to stifle the butterflies in your stomach.
Ugh, you were so fucked.
Taking a deep breath, you knocked on the door.
“Yeah,” Jason’s muffled grunt answered you.
Pushing it open, your eyes immediately went to the bed only to find that he wasn’t lounging around reading a book like you expected. Instead, your mouth dropped open when you saw him on the floor, doing push ups.
Shirtless.
Jason had changed drastically during the two weeks you were gone. You noticed that he had definitely gained weight, as well as muscle mass.
“Uh, wh-what are you..?”
He stood up, and you swore your heart skipped a beat.
His muscles were much more prominent and defined now, and he looked like he was going to achieve Dick’s physique if he kept it up for another month or two.
“Welcome back,” he simply said before taking gulps from a water bottle you definitely had not seen before.
“Thanks,” you walked over and sat on his bed, “I’m glad to see that you decided to start taking care of yourself again.”
“What, this? This isn’t for me.”
“Huh?” you cocked your head in curiosity.
“I… I lost a lot of muscle mass. My body- it isn’t how it used to be,” he frowned, “And I can’t have you lusting over it when it’s not at its peak.”
“What- what do you-?” you stammered, suddenly getting hot.
Jason merely smirked and then continued his push ups.
You watched as his developing muscles rippled, a thin layer of sweat making his skin glisten in the light. It was amazing how he had progressed so much in such a short period of time. You guessed that he must have just been occupying his days by working out.
No wonder he’s been asking for seconds.
“Enjoying the view?” Jason breathed, pausing with his arms straightened, his head angled upwards towards you.
“No, shut up,” you looked away.
“Here, be useful,” he started, “Sit on my back.”
“What?”
“I’ve gotten used to my own body weight, I need extra resistance,” he elaborated, “Come on, sit on my back.”
“But it’s all sweaty,” you whined, pretending to protest. Definitely pretending- for the sake of your own dignity.
You got up and went over towards him anyway.
Carefully, awkwardly, you sat on his back as you would a park bench. You rested your palms flat against his sticky skin to stabilise yourself. Suddenly, he dipped down without warning, earning a soft squeal from you.
“Fuck, you’re heavy,” he strained, but continued to do the push ups. He was shakier, struggling with the weight, and after twenty-five, he paused. “Okay, I think I’m done.”
But before you had the chance to get off him, he suddenly stood up, throwing you off his back to have you fall on the floor on your ass.
“Jason, you assho-” you clapped your hand over your mouth, realising what you had just said.
Oh, no. Oh, fuck.
He stood towering over you, his jaw clenching as he stared you down with his cold, blue eyes.
“I’m so sorry! I forgot! It was a reflex and-”
“Whatever. I don’t care anymore,” he rolled his eyes, reaching for his bottle.
You blinked. Then scrambled to your feet.
“You don’t care anymore?” you repeated slowly.
“I don’t care if you call me that,” he huffed.
That made your heart swell and melt at the same time.
“I got used to your voice,” he mumbled, expression changing as he looked away. He frowned, as if he was angrily staring at a distant object.
You had just guessed that he didn’t like to be called his name because of a sense of familiarity, but now you were thinking that there was much more to that than what you had originally thought.
“So, I can call you… Jason?” you tested.
“Yeah, call me whatever you want,” he sat on his bed, looking up at you.
You smiled, thankful that you had finally crossed that bridge. “You know, I could get some workout stuff for you? Weights, bands, that bar thing that you can put at your door frame for pull ups…”
“You’d like to see that, huh?” he smirked.
“You flatter yourself too much,” you scoffed.
“How was Hawaii?” he changed the subject all of a sudden.
“It was fun. Beach was great, locals were great, loved the vibe- what are you doing?”
Jason had stood back up and started to walk closer and closer to you, getting all up in your space like a predator finally cornering its prey. You kept on taking steps back until your ass hit the edge of the desk.
Nowhere else to run, your heart started hammering. He leaned in, his hands resting on the desk on either side of your body, trapping you against the table and himself. You looked up and gulped. You could almost feel the heat radiating from his bare skin.
“Are you afraid of me?” he muttered lowly.
“Why would I be afraid of you?” you whispered.
“You tell me,” he said.
“Well, I’m not afraid of you,” you stated.
“Oh really?” he raised an eyebrow. Then, you felt his hand grip your wrist tightly, pressing down on your skin with his fingers. “Your pulse is very fast for someone who’s not afraid of me.”
“It’s because you’re all up in my space!” you argued.
“Didn’t look like you mind when your friend,” he snarled the word, “was all up in your space.”
“My friend? What- oh,” you widen your eyes in realisation, “You mean Alex.”
“Is that his name?”
“Alex is just a friend, nothing more. He’s just someone I’m close to,” you reassured him.
Which then made you think about why you were reassuring him.
“Oh, you were definitely close to him,” Jason growled.
“Wait- are you… jealous?” a smile creeped your lips.
He scowled at you for a few moments, and you could see the little tics in his expression that said he was annoyed. The flared nostrils, the muscles of his jaw clenching and unclenching, the very slight twitches at the corner of his left eye.
“No,” he finally said, taking a step back from you. “I’m going to shower. Since you couldn’t stop staring at me, the invitation is still open for you to join.”
“You know, I’m starting to think that maybe I prefer it when you were broody instead of this. Please go back to your depressive mental state,” you sarcastically replied.
Jason barked out an actual laugh. Though his laugh was odd, like someone who’s only now discovering that humans were indeed capable of laughter, you found comfort in it. It was no longer hysterical and devoid of humor. He was getting better, learning to embrace a connection with someone, and it made you extremely happy.
“Maybe I should,” he answered with a cheeky glint in his eye, “Then that way you can give me more sponge baths.”
He left you alone in his room, flushed and at a loss for words.
***
“I find it very odd that people would yell ‘Batman!’ when they realise you’re there,” you rambled while climbing out of the Batmobile.
You were absolutely drenched from the downpour that had been going on all night. It was 4 am on a friday night and you had just returned from patrol.
Bruce took off his cowl immediately, revealing tired eyes despite the relatively slow night.
“It’s like they’re saying ‘Look at me! I’m here! Please knock me out or hang me upside down from the-’ Bruce?”
Bruce had stiffen, staring at something behind you. You turned around and was shocked to see Jason in the mid-distance, sitting on the ground outside the black box that was his room, leaning against the cool metal.
He himself was staring intently at Bruce, not even sparing you a glance.
You looked back and forth between the two men, sensing a high tension silent conversation.
Then, Bruce’s eyes relaxed and the corners of his mouth twitched upwards ever so slightly in that hardly-there-Bruce-smile.
He gave Jason one stiff nod of understanding, then walked away to the computers at the other end of the cave, leaving you alone with his son.
Jason relaxed as you walked over to him, wringing your hair to squeeze out all the excess water.
“Aw, you waited up for me,” you teased, standing in front of him with your hands on your hips, grinning away.
“Fuck off,” he snorted, “I was bored.”
You noticed him clenching his jaw as he looked at you from top to bottom, eyes lingering longer on the ‘R’ on your left breast.
Ah, it was his first time seeing you in your uniform.
His uniform.
Suddenly, you felt like an imposter in those colors and had the strong urge to rip the uniform off.
You wanted to say something, but Jason beat you to it.
“There were times in that shit hole where I wanted to burn that uniform off my skin,” he grit, “Kept on thinking to myself. I wish I never became Robin. I wish I never met Bruce Wayne.”
Your heart shattered at his confession. It was extremely rare for him to bring up anything related to his two year torture, and the previous times were never in such detail.
Realising you needed to say something, you opened your mouth. “I’m so-”
“Don’t,” he cut you off, “You don’t have to say anything.”
Yes, sometimes you knew that he just wanted you to listen.
You nodded silently and went to sit next to him on the floor.
“It… suits you,” he forced out.
“Hmm?”
“The uniform. It suits you. More than it ever suited me,” he grumbled.
“Oh, I don’t know about that. I think your ass would look quite nice in green,” you joked, nudging his shoulder with your own.
He chuckled deeply, nudging you back even harder- hard enough for you to lose your balance and topple sideways, earning another breathy laugh from Jason.
***
Another month passed by, and you found yourself falling deeply for Jason- much to your dismay. You knew Jason wasn’t ready for any kind of intense emotions, and that it would take a very long time before he was.
So you swallowed your emotions down, stifling them and hoping it would go away.
The two of you had developed a pleasant friendship, often bickering and joking around, with Jason teasing you about your obvious physical attraction to him.
He also now occasionally waited outside his cube for you to come back after patrol, never really venturing too far from it, and still avoiding contact with both Bruce and Dick. Only you and Alfred had the privilege to speak to him.
Even then, sometimes you would visit his room but only getting a “I’m not feeling it today. Please leave.”
Understandingly, you would nod silently and leave him alone. You knew he still had his bad days, sometimes not eating his meals.
But mostly, he was getting better, both mentally and physically.
With nothing much to do the whole day, Jason was now obsessed with working out and bulking up. He now had a few simple equipment in his room- mostly weights.
You figured that it was a coping mechanism for him, a healthy outlet to channel all his rage and negative emotions into.
But come on. He was getting even hotter and it was making it extremely difficult for you to stop yourself from checking him out, fantasizing about him when he wasn’t around. Still, you couldn’t complain. Even though he hadn’t reached Dick’s size yet, he was very near to it, and his naturally bigger body frame and build made up for the still developing muscles.
Hell, he was now sporting a six pack.
But you knew that he was still not as well as you hoped he would be. The bloodshot eyes he had was proof that he doesn’t sleep well- and you soon found out why.
It was a little past midnight on your night off from patrol, and you were using your break in the best way you could think of- by sleeping. Something woke you up that night.
A soft knock on your door.
You frowned, eyes still closed, wondering who it was.
Bruce would usually knock twice. Strong, clear, and with purpose. Dick would start pounding rapidly on your door, annoying you intentionally. Alfred would give three soft knocks followed by a ‘Miss?’
Your eyes flew open. There was only one other person in the manor.
Throwing your covers aside, you jumped out of bed and rushed to the door to open it.
Jason stood outside your door in the dim lights of the hallway, frowning and running his fingers nervously through his messy dark hair. He was wearing a t-shirt with boxers, standing awkwardly.
“Jason?” you hated how your voice sounded so sleepy. You cleared your throat. “Are you okay? Would you like to come in?”
He nodded silently, and you made way for him to enter before closing the door behind you.
“Sit on the bed,” you told him while jumping back into yours, sitting up cross legged.
The bed dipped when he sat on it, copying your motion and crossed his legs.
You waited for him to say something, your eyes straining to catch his in the dark. But he just remained silent, staring into space and avoiding your eyes.
“How did you know this was my room?” you asked, starting with a light topic.
“Only one that was locked. I already know where everyone else sleeps,” he explained.
“That’s right,” you realised, “I tend to forget that you’re probably even more familiar with the manor than I am.”
“Did you know there’s an old dumbwaiter in Bruce’s room?” you saw him smirk from the shadows that was casted on his face, “I used to hide in there, waiting to catch him off guard.”
“What? Why?”
“Dick and I, we had a bet,” he recalled the memory, “Whoever gets to surprise Bruce first would owe the other a special favor. Only rule was that we had to have it on video as proof.”
You appreciated that moment, the first time he ever spoke about both Dick and Bruce as a fond memory.
“I won, by the way,” he continued, “But- I forgot to press record on my phone.”
“Oh, no,” you groaned for him.
“Yeah, and Dick refused to believe me,” he chuckled, “That old man didn’t want to admit it either. But I swear- the look on his face when I jumped out while he and some model were going at it- priceless.”
Your jaw dropped, and then you burst into a fit of laughter, tears filling your eyes.
“You- you- you jumped out on him while he was having sex?!” you squealed.
“Yeah,” he grinned, “I didn’t even care that it sort of scarred me, because I managed to catch Batman off guard.”
The both of you laughed, his deep voice mingling with your own on that quiet night.
“I’m glad you’re here, Jason,” you smiled warmly at him.
But then, his smile fell.
“I hate my name now.”
“I’m sorry,” you began, “You said it was okay to call you that, so I-”
“No, it’s fine,” he started running his fingers through his hair again, “It’s just- I don’t know.”
“You can tell me anything,” you reassured, “It won’t leave this room. I promise.”
He looked at you, worry in his eyes. “Okay. Fine. Yeah.”
You waited for him to begin.
He took a deep breath. “I’ve been having nightmares. Almost every night. It’s always the same one.”
“You want to tell me about it?” you prompted him after waiting for him to continue.
“I hate my name because he said it a lot. Joker,” he scowled, “After repeatedly burning my skin for my name, it’s like that’s all he said. In that annoying, high pitched, sing-song voice of his. Jason, Jason, Jason. It made me hate my name. It made me hate hearing it.”
“I- I didn’t know how much time passed when I was in there,” he continued, “But, fuck. It was- it was hell. And the worst part was that I kept on waiting for Bruce. Waiting and hoping for him to find me and save me. I was so desperate. You- I-”
He choked on his words. His eyes were squeezed shut and his lips tight.
You wanted to reach out to him, hug him, tell him that everything was okay now. But you didn’t. You waited for him to collect himself so he could finish telling you his story, just like how he wanted to.
“Anyway, I- despite all that,” he sighed, “That was the only thing that kept me sane. I kept on clinging onto the hope that he was out there, searching. And that helped for a while. Until- until that happened.”
He was breathing heavily now, fidgeting more. Jason was definitely getting increasingly agitated the deeper he went.
“Fuck,” he breathed, “Fuck.”
The moment you realised he was crying was when he let out a sniffle. You automatically took his hand in yours, squeezing it as a form of comfort.
“It’s okay,” you told him, “You don’t have to tell me if you’re not ready.”
“No,” he shook his head, “I need to. I have to. I can’t take this anymore. Keeping everything in, I feel like I’m about to fucking explode.”
“Okay, then take it slow,” you said, “No rush. Anytime you’re ready.”
He nodded, eyes still closed, as if he was afraid of letting you see him cry.
“One night,” he began, “I think- I don’t know what was different- but I think something went wrong for him. Or right? That’s how it was. Tormenting me was fun, but it was also an outlet for him. But at the same time when he was happy, he also tortured me. He came to me, and- injected me with some sort of drug. That never happened before. He made sure that my head was clear whenever he hurt me so that I could feel everything he did.”
“But- he did- and- immediately, I felt weak,” he continued, “I mean, I was already weak. But my head. It was cloudy. I remember everything clearly, but it was like my brain couldn’t process it, couldn’t communicate with my body. I felt like I was looking out through a window that was my eyes- like I was in someone else’s body, experiencing someone else’s moments.”
“He released me,” Jason’s voice was now barely a whisper. “He released me from the ropes, and I fell to the floor. And then he- he- fuck.”
He let go of your hand and started pulling at his hair, rocking back and forth on your bed. He was sobbing now, his shoulders jerking up in sharp intakes of breaths. The only thing you could do was to stay silent and hold back your own tears.
You rested your hand on his knee, giving him a textile connection with reality so he doesn’t fall into his own thoughts.
“You- he- he- ruh- ruhp-”
Your heart sank to your stomach in horror as you realised what Jason was trying to say. It was as if you were plunged into icy water, chills running down your spine at the true revelation of what he had gone through in that cursed cell.
“Oh, no,” you breathed.
“He pushed me down,” he choked, “Pushed me down and climbed on top. I- I couldn’t even fight him. I was- I was conscious the whole time and I knew what was happening, but I couldn’t fucking do anything.”
Your tears were falling down now, both at the sight of Jason looking so vulnerable and fragile, and at his confession. Not being able to help yourself, you threw your arms over his neck and crashed into his hard body, burying your face in the crook of his shoulder.
His arms immediately wrapped around you, clutching you so hard it was painful as he buried his own face into your shoulder.
“And he kept on saying my name,” he said in muffled cries, “Jason, Jason, Jason. The whole fucking time. And- and I knew. He didn’t do it for pleasure. He did it to torment me. He- he didn’t even- he didn’t even finish.”
Jason sobbed into your skin for the next few minutes, his tears soaking through your night shirt. “But I did. Even though it was painful. Fuck, the pain was worse than anything he had ever done to me before. But- he- I- I fucking came.”
The both of you were sobbing now, his ragged breaths mingling together with your own on that quiet night.
His grip on you was tight, as if he thought that if he let go, you would disappear. So he clung onto you with all his might to keep you there with him as he recalled the horrific events.
“That's what broke me. I was so disgusted with myself. I hated myself. And he- he saw everything and- and laughed. He laughed so hard, I thought he was going to choke and die. I’ve never seen him laugh like that. And I remember every single fucking moment of being helpless on that fucking floor while he- fuck. Fuck.”
“And then he left. He left me on the floor bleeding and I never saw him again. And I went fucking insane. I tried to kill myself so many fucking times. So many times, I lost count. That’s what I dream about every night. His laughs, and his ‘Jason, Jason, Jason’.”
And that was that. That was the story.
The end of Jason Todd.
The both of you cried long and hard that night in each other’s arms. Eventually, you both lied down on the pillows together, underneath the covers.
“Please don’t tell Bruce,” he whispered to you.
Your head was on his chest, his big arms wrapped around your waist, your legs tangled with his.
You smiled at that. Even with the trauma, even with the sense of abandonment he felt, he still wanted to protect Bruce from knowing the truth.
Because the both of you knew that the truth would kill him.
“I promise,” you whispered back.
And then the both of you fell asleep together.
***
“Has Jason been sleeping in your room with you?” Bruce asked you on one fine Saturday morning at breakfast.
It had been about a week and a half since the first time Jason knocked on your door and poured out his feelings to you.
“He gets nightmares,” you tried to explain.
He thought that if he told you everything, the nightmares would stop. But it didn’t. But he then realised that the only thing that made it better was sleeping by your side, having someone there to wake him up from living his own hell in a loop.
“And do the two of you… Just sleep?” Bruce frowned.
“Yes!” you widen your eyes in horror at the insinuation. “Bruce! Come on!”
“I know you have feelings for him, and I’m sure he does for you as well. But I don’t think something like that is what Jason needs right now,” he stated.
“Yes, I know!” you groaned at the thought having that kind of conversation with him, “Jesus, Bruce. I know. I’m just there to wake him up or help him fall back asleep. Nothing more.”
Bruce nodded, deep in thought. “Has he… told you? About what happened?”
You pursed your lips. “Yes.”
“You’re not going to tell me?”
“No.”
“Hmm,” his frown went deeper. “I understand. He will tell me when he is ready.”
“Exactly,” you smiled, hiding the fact that Jason may never tell Bruce what happened. Never the full story.
“He still hasn’t left the manor?”
“No,” you sighed, “I asked him if he wanted some fresh air. Just outside the main door, not even going down the steps. But he refused. Told me to, and I quote, ‘Fuck off’.”
“Well, he’s only just left the cave, and it’s just to your room,” Bruce thought out loud, “It’s still progress. Especially since he’s been talking to you about the past.”
“He only spoke about it one time,” you said, “And then never again.”
“I see,” he hummed, “And you’re okay with him sleeping with you?”
“Next to me, Bruce, sleeping next to me,” you corrected.
“Yes, and you’re okay with that?”
“Yeah, it’s all good,” you assured him, “I can kick him out any time I want- but I don’t want to. He looks like a lost puppy sometimes.”
“An angry lost puppy.”
You chuckled at that and couldn’t agree more.
*** While Jason got the sleep he needed when he was next to you, it was counterproductive on your end. You had never been with anyone before, and definitely had not slept on the same bed with another man.
So to feel his body heat and breaths against your skin, his occasional light snores, it made your mind go on hyperdrive.
Most of the time, the two of you would just lie down, your back against his front, or your backs against each other, or both on your backs just staring at the ceiling- and talked. You would be the one talking the most, of course, about anything you could think of. You would tell him about your day, your patrols, something you read about online, or the current news.
But that one particular night during week three of him sleeping next to you, the two of you were silent. It wasn’t an awkward or uncomfortable silence, but the kind of silence that was pleasant and was better described as a peaceful quiet.
You had your back pressed against his front and his arm was lazily draped over your waist. It was a cold night, and you were wearing just a tank top and pyjama shorts, snuggling under the covers that went up all the way to your nose.
Shifting a bit while snuggling comfortably, you pressed yourself against Jason’s body to get more of his heat. But then, you were met with something poking against your lower back.
“Ngh, please ignore that,” Jason huffed.
Oh.
For some reason, you forgot that Jason was a physically healthy male who was capable of having sexual thoughts and feelings. All this while, you thought you were the only one.
“Are you- uh- is that- uh-” you stuttered, feeling your face flush with heat.
Feeling your body suddenly alert with excitement.
“Yes, it’s my fucking penis,” he grit almost angrily, “What, never heard of an erection before?”
“Of course I have!” you argued rather defensively, “It’s just- I’m surprised, that’s all.”
“Why?” he demanded, “You didn’t think I could get it up or something?”
“No, of course not!” you denied, “It just didn’t cross my mind, that’s all.”
A pause. Then-
“Well,” he sighed, “You wouldn’t have been wrong.”
Your mind blanked for a second.
“What do you mean?” you asked softly.
“It’s my- fuck- it’s my first time,” he confessed.
“Your first time getting an erection?” you gasped.
“No, you idiot,” he snapped, “It’s my first time getting hard since… since… then.”
Oh. Oh, you were an idiot.
“It’s just- after that- even when I was downstairs, alone and safe, I- I couldn’t,” he told you, “I kept on thinking back to that time and- and I couldn’t. I found it disgusting.”
And immediately, like someone doused you in cold water, any feeling of horniness you had when you first felt his erection against you disappeared. You just felt so sad for him, but also angry. Angry that he had to go through all of that, and angrier that there was nothing you could do about it.
“So, why do you think you’re getting it now?” you asked. Perhaps talking about it in an objective manner would help guide him through his thought process.
“Are you kidding me?” he scoffed, “You’re fucking pressing your ass against my dick, what did you think would happen?”
“Wait, what?” your eyes widen, “You’re hard because of me?”
“No shit,” he said, “You’re hardly wearing any clothes, too.”
You shouldn’t feel happy due to the circumstance and context, but there you were ecstatic that he found you attractive enough to pop a boner after so long.
“Fuck,” he sighed, suddenly pressing himself closer to you.
His hand that draped over your waist when to actually grip it. Then, then, he grinded his hard on against your ass.
“Mmm,” he rumbled deeply, “Feels good.”
There. That was it. You were once again flooded with the feeling of heat that pooled at your stomach, a tingling sensation started at your core. Feeling hot despite the low temperature of the night, you clenched your thighs together, needing the slight pressure.
“Yeah?” you whispered.
“Yeah,” he grinded on you again, and then unexpectedly let out a chuckle.
“What is it?” you smiled, loving it whenever you heard him laugh.
“I thought… For the longest time, I thought I was broken. That he broke me,” he revealed, “I thought I needed to get all Wingardium Leviosa on this little fucker.”
“Oh my God,” you laughed and groaned at the same time, “You’re so fucking embarassing.”
He laughed along with you and continued. “But now I’m hard and- and horny. You made me feel like I’m normal again. Like I’m sixteen again, and getting horny over everything.”
Sometimes, we take the normal things for granted. Food, shelter, clothes. In this case, it was a goddamned boner. In a way, Jason’s erection was symbolic- however funny it sounded. Getting your sexual appetite and need back after being so traumatised was a massive leap for many people who had experienced the same thing.
It meant that Jason was healing well.
“Does that make you happy?” you asked.
“Not particularly,” he admitted, “But I’m definitely not sad either.”
“That’s good enough for now, then,” you beamed.
“Yeah,” he breathed.
Another few moments of silence. You could feel it, his cock pushing into you. However tempted you were to push back and grind, you held yourself still.
“Uh, Jason?” you voiced.
“Yeah.”
“Do you want to like, take care of it?” you asked, “I mean. My bathroom is available. Or- there are many empty rooms.”
“No,” he simply stated.
“No?”
“No.”
“It’s kinda poking into me.”
“Just ignore it.”
“Ignore it?” you gaped, “How can I ignore it? You’re literally pressing it into my ass.”
“Well, then do you want to take care of it?” he teased.
You couldn’t argue back. “Fine, I’ll ignore it.”
He chuckled. “I’ll turn around.”
When he made the movement, you suddenly grabbed him by the wrist. “No, it’s fine. Stay here.”
You expected him to tease you like he usually would, make a crass comment, or even a ‘fuck off’.
Instead, he wrapped his arms around you again in silence, and the both of you drifted to sleep.
***
“Do you think this color suits me?” Natalie asked, holding up a floral red dress.
The four of you were at the mall in Diamond District. Now that high school was over, and everyone would be going off to separate colleges in a few months, you tried to spend time with each other as much as you could.
“Any color suits you, Nat,” you rolled your eyes, “You’re hot stuff.”
“Jesus, it’s like you’re shoving it in our faces at this point,” Sarah added, flipping her brunette hair to the side, tight curls flowing down.
“Aw, you guys,” Nat pretended to tear up, “I’m gonna miss you guys so much!”
“Not again,” Alex groaned, “We’ve been through this so many times.”
“I’m gonna be so miserable without you guys,” Natalie continued on, ignoring Alex’s interruption.
“I don’t know,” Sarah shrugged, “I think I’d enjoy New York. I can have pizza parties with the rats in my overpriced apartment.”
You chuckled at Sarah’s joke. Everyone was leaving Gotham except you. Deciding to continue with Robin, you opted for Gotham University- prestigious, old, and most importantly, close to home.
Your phone dinged in your pocket. You opened it to find texts from Dick.
Dick: OH MY GOD. Dick: I’m at the Manor. Dick: Was going to the Cave gym to work out. Dick: AND Dick: JASON IS HERE!!! WHAT DO I DO?!?!
That was new. Jason would usually just use whatever basic equipment he had in his room to work out. The fact that he was at the Cave’s sparring area where all the other fancier work out equipment were was out of the ordinary.
You: Just go. See if he reacts. If he suddenly stiffens and just stay there not doing anything, then leave. If he continues on, then it’s okay to stay- but don’t initiate anything! Dick: OKOKOK
You waited anxiously for Dick’s update. All four of you were now walking towards the food court, but you hardly listened to their bickering. Forty-five minutes passed before Dick texted you again.
Dick: OMG HE TALKED TO ME You: What did he say? Dick: He asked me to pass him his towel. You: That’s all he said? Dick: IT’S PROGRESS OKAY!!
Dick was right. It meant that Dick was now the third person Jason had spoken to. Adding another person to his list of contacts was definitely progress.
You were happy for him.
You:Is he still there? Dick: Nah he left Dick: But WOW he’s looking good. He must have been really going at it. I think he might get bigger than me soon You: All he does now is work out. He’s obsessed. Dick: Yeah I can tell
You decided to leave it at that for now and try to concentrate on your friends, but Dick sent another message.
Dick: ARE YOU TWO HAVING SEX?!?!
You spat out your drink, earning weird looks from everyone.
You: DICK!!!! WTF NO!!
Dick never replied.
***
“Can I ask you for a favor?” Jason asked, his voice breaking the silence of your dark room. The two of you were on your bed, lying down and staring at the ceiling.
“Of course,” you said. It didn’t matter to you what Jason asks for. He hardly ever asked for anything.
“Could you… Take me out tomorrow?” he requested, “If you’re not doing anything else, that is.”
“Uh, sure!” you nodded, surprised. “Where do you want to go?”
“Anywhere,” he shrugged, “It doesn’t matter.”
“Yeah, okay,” you hesitated, “But- are you sure? I mean, you don’t have to go so far so quickly. Maybe you should start with just going to the backyard?”
“No, I’ll be fine,” he insisted. “I’m not a kid.”
“Okay then,” you agreed. “Tomorrow.”
You kept on glancing anxiously at him the next day as he climbed into the passenger seat of your car. He was quiet, but looked perfectly fine.
Switching the engine on, you drove out of the garage and out the large automatic gates. Trees soon surrounded the lonely road on both sides as you descended downhill into town.
“So where are we going?” he asked.
“I thought Robinson Park would be nice,” you said. It was around three in the afternoon, yet Gotham was dark as though the day was ending. It was cloudy, skies grey and wind blowing.
“You’re taking me to a park?” he scoffed.
“It’s more quiet than anywhere else,” you reasoned with him, “Less people. Spacious. Lots of greenery.”
“Whatever.”
Reaching the parking space of the park, you noticed that there were a few cars. Mothers and nannies liked to bring children out to the park around that time. Joggers and teens, college students and retired elderly seeking a little escape from the high rise buildings of concrete and glass.
You turned the engine off and proceeded to open the door, only then noticing Jason stiffening. Looking over to him, you saw that his eyebrows were pulled down in a deep frown, his jaw clenched, his hands in fists on his knees.
You didn’t say anything or make any comment. Leaning back into your seat, you waited until Jason was ready.
About five minutes passed before he took a deep breath, gave you a nod, and then opened his door.
The two of you walked along a path at the park, going deeper inside and further away from your car. There were a few joggers around, some tourists, and some teens taking photos. You saw a group of kids in the distance playing frisbee, and the others were walking their dogs.
An empty bench stood in the middle of the park, overlooking a clearing. You headed there, Jason following closely behind.
“It’s a bit gloomy today,” you pouted, “As if Gotham could be anything other than that, of course.”
You looked at Jason.
He looked like a scared dog being brought out for the first time.
His jittery knees were bouncing rapidly, his wide eyes were darting at every movement, his forehead was covered with a thin layer of sweat, and his breathing was heavy.
“Woah, woah,” you reached out to him, putting an arm on his back. “It’s okay. I’m here. Just listen to me talk, yeah?”
“Yeah,” he gulped.
“Try to calm your breathing,” you instructed, “Deep breaths, Jason. In… out… In�� Out… Yeah, see that’s great.”
“Yeah,” he breathed, now calmer. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay,” you smiled warmly, “You’re doing just fine.”
“No, I’m not,” he strained, “I feel like everything is too big. Too vast. The fucking sky looks like it’s going to crash down on me and at the same time suck me up into a void.”
“And despite all you’re feeling right now, you’re not breaking down or anything, are you?” you tried, “You’re okay, Jason. This is progress.”
“I guess,” he sighed, “I’m just- I’m so used to having four walls and a ceiling. Now everything feels too big.”
“I understand,” you empathized, “Whenever you want to go back, just say the word. Or we can even just go and sit in the car. No problem.”
“Yeah, okay, let’s do that,” he stood up.
The walk back to the car was faster.
“Fuck, I’m so fucking pathetic,” he said, running his fingers through his hair.
“No, you’re not,” you reassured him, “That was great, Jason. Come on, it was your first time outside in two years and a half. Cut yourself some slack.”
“I’m so fucking broken,” he choked.
“Don’t say that,” you scolded, “You’re not broken. And you know what, even if you think you are, we can always fix it. Baby steps. Maybe we can do this once a week. We were out for like, ten minutes? Next week we’ll try fifteen. How’s that sound?”
“Twice a week,” he stated, “I just want to be normal again.”
“Okay, twice a week, then,” you agreed, “We’ll try again in a couple of days, okay?”
“Okay,” he paused, “Thank you.”
“No problemo,” you grinned, “Would you like to stay here a bit longer or shall we go back?”
“Let’s go back.”
“Wanna stop by the diner? You can wait in the car while I ask for a take-away?”
“...okay.”
***
Jason and you had gone out twice more. Once three days after the first time, and the other a week later. The second time he went out, he lasted twenty minutes, though you were sure he was being stubborn on his part. He looked like he was having a heart attack, but he insisted on staying until he hit the twenty minute mark.
The third time, he was much much better. Surprisingly so. The two of you sat down on that bench for half an hour, with you even leaving him alone for a few minutes to get two ice cream cones.
After that, you took him for a drive around the city. He seemed to be more comfortable in the car, so you went all the way from Robinson Park to Diamond District, and back to the manor.
Bruce seemed very pleased with your update, and you swore you could see him actually smile.
“Thank you,” he had told you. “You’ve done more than I could have ever asked of you.”
“It’s no problem, Bruce. Really,” you reassured him.
“I’m his father. He is my responsibility. It’s my fault he’s even in that state. I wish I could do more for him,” he said solemnly.
“The fact that you understand what he needs is more than helpful, Bruce,” you smiled, “Not many parents can do that. You understand and respect him. That’s enough for now.”
He simply nodded.
Ever since your scheduled outings, Jason had become more and more relaxed whenever he was in the manor. He now walked to the kitchen on occasion to mess with Alfred while he cooked meals for him, sometimes sitting in the living room lounging on the couch while reading. Most of the time, though, he was down at the sparring zone of the Cave, working out.
But at night, he would never fail to knock on your door.
And at that particular night, you found yourself in the same situation again while lying down on your side with your back to his front, for the fifth time.
“You officially have to stop calling yourself broken,” you grumbled, “Because that thing poking into my ass is definitely not broken.”
He chuckled lowly. “You complaining, sweetheart?”
Oh, and yes. Jason now had started calling you ‘sweetheart’. Why? You had no clue. It was just a thing that happened. The look on your face when he first slipped it in was probably a sight to behold.
“No shit, I’m complaining, Jason,” you groaned, “You haven’t jerked off, yet? Not even once?”
“Nope,” he popped the P, “I just… I don’t want to… I don’t want to come.”
You sighed, understanding the situation. He had been disgusted with himself because he had ejaculated when Joker… Well, that. You hated to even think about it, so you always shoved the thought away.
“But unfortunately for me, I still get super horny,” he rumbled deeply, pushing his hips into you even more, “So fucking horny.”
“And then I have to suffer,” you complained.
“I can assure you, blue balls are more painful than something poking into you,” he bickered.
“It’s not that…”
“Then?”
“I get horny too, come on man,” you whined, “I’m a hormonal teenage girl. What did you expect?”
“You get horny too?” he whispered after a pause.
“Uh, yeah,” you admitted nervously. Somehow, the mood shifted, and your heart started drumming against your chest.
“Because of me?” he asked.
“Not you specifically, I mean,” you tried to back track, “You’re… Your dick pressing up against me like that, I mean, come on, Jason.”
“Simple question sweetheart,” he told you, “You get horny because of me, yes or no?”
You gulped. “Yes.”
Fuck, why did you say yes? You could have lied. You could have not answered.
“Yeah?” he breathed. You noticed that his hand was now on your hip, right above the waistband of your sleeping shorts, drawing circles onto your skin with his thumb.
You were nervous. The butterflies in your tummy was not helping you calm down.
“Yeah,” you squeezed your eyes shut, as if to protect yourself from anything he had to say.
“Fuck,” he groaned, gripping your hips and grinding his hard on against your ass even more. And did it… Fuck, did it get even harder?
Afraid of saying the wrong thing, and also out of nervousness, you remained silent. Jason’s chest rose and fall against your back, his respiratory rate increasing. His pinky finger slid underneath the waistband, testing the waters before slowly slipping his hand into your pants.
He went in so slowly, as if waiting for you to tell him no, to rip his hand away, to wrench yourself away from him. But you never did, so he went in deeper, caressing the skin beneath your pelvic bone, his heat just burning into you.
“You’re not wearing any underwear,” he commented, voice suddenly husky.
“I don’t wear them to bed,” you informed him.
“You mean to tell me,” he growled, “That all this while I’ve been sleeping next to you and you never had your panties on?”
“It’s more comfortable that way,” you mumbled.
“Jesus Christ,” he cursed. “Thank God I never knew. Would have been torture, and trust me, I know what I’m talking about.”
“Jason,” you gasped.
“It’s true,” he said, “Damn, sweetheart.”
He went lower, closer to your center.
Your core was tingly, small pulses of electricity buzzed through your body as Jason came closer and closer and closer and-
He slipped his hands between your closed thighs and cupped you.
“Mmm,” he moaned softly, “Warm. Fuzzy.”
“Fuzzy?” you laughed, even though you felt like screaming on the inside. Screaming for more.
“Yeah,” he mumbled, burying his face into your nape, taking a deep breath. “You smell nice.”
Oh, shit. You totally forgot about Jason’s aversion to strong smells.
“I’m sorry!” you quickly apologised, “I can switch to an unscented shampoo as well so it wouldn’t be too strong for you.”
“It’s fine,” he said, “I like it on you.”
He ground his hand into your center harder.
“Mmpf, Jay,” you breathed, “What are you doing?”
“I don’t know,” he confessed, “I’ve never touched a girl like this before.”
“Really?” you widen your eyes in surprise.
“I was kept in a cell for two years, I couldn’t exactly talk, let alone touch, anyone can I?” he quipped.
“Right.”
“Teach me,” he said.
“What?” you whispered despite knowing what he meant.
A pause of silence. A deep intake of breath, a slow exhale.
“Teach me how to touch you,” he purred.
Fuck, you felt like exploding.
“Are you sure?” you asked.
“Yes. If you… If you want to.”
Your mind quickly tried to analyse the situation. Bruce had specifically said that Jason didn’t need any complicated matters in the relationship. It made sense. You didn’t want to overwhelm Jason with any confusion or uncertainty.
But at the same time, you’ve been figuring out how Jason thought, bit by bit. He’s told you many times that he just wanted to be normal again, to feel normal, to do normal things. And this was something that was normal, that he should do, that he wanted to do.
And you knew that he probably would take the rejection even worse.
“O-Okay,” you agreed.
Slowly, you separated your thighs, raising the one on top and hooking it over his legs behind you. Due to your shift in position, you felt the minute Jason’s fingers dip slightly into your folds.
“So, uh, this is my first time with a guy as well,” you squeaked, “But I’ll try to guide you.”
You licked your lips.
“Uhm, well, I guess you can start by running a finger up and down between my- oh! Yes, just like that.”
His middle finger slid down to your opening, and then up again slowly. His movements were uncertain, brushing only slightly against your clit unintentionally.
It was different, having someone else touch you. Somehow, despite the inexperience, it just felt better.
“Holy fuck,” he gasped, “You’re so fucking wet. Do you usually get this wet?”
You felt your cheeks heat up. “No? Yes? I don’t know! I can’t feel it.”
“Shit.”
You let him play with you some more, his fingers sliding up and down, sometimes pressing against your fleshy parts, sometimes circling and gathering your wetness, sometimes just parting your lips. Hell, he even tapped the tips of his fingers on you randomly or brushed into your delicate fuzz. You knew he was just exploring, feeling you for the first time.
And that thought made you smile and sigh.
“Teach me how to make you feel good,” he rasped.
“Uh, so your fingers are wet, right?”
“Yeah. Because you’re leaking all over them.”
“Okay, good. Now find my clit. It’s slightly above your finger, okay, to the left a bit. More. Okay, there! Yeah, right there,” you sighed, finally feeling that delicious pressure.
“Here?”
He tapped your clit.
“Ah!” you moaned, “Yes- but don’t just- nevermind, just gently circle it. Clockwise.”
He obeyed, and hell since when did Jason just obey?
He circled you gently, like you said. But he also went so, so slow.
“Faster, Jay,” you panted.
He went faster, making you groan in pleasure.
“Like this, sweetheart?” he muttered, his voice low and cracking, and sexy, and husky. You’ve never heard him sound like that before, and it drove you wild.
“Yeah,” you breathed, “Yeah, just like that. Fuck.”
“Feel good?”
“So good, Jay. Press a little harder now- fuck. Fuck. Yes, perfect. Just like that.”
The pressure built as his fingers did their magic.
“You- you’re surprisingly good at that,” you stuttered, “You sure- mmm- you sure you’ve never done this before?”
“Despite what you think,” he husked in your ear, warm breath tickling you. “I’m very good at following instructions.”
“I can see that.”
“But I’m also good at improvising.”
“Wha- oh. Oh. Fuck! Jason! Oh my fucking god!”
He started pressing even harder, and going even faster, throwing away the slow build you were going for and instead pushing you towards orgasm fast and hard, as if he was determined to prove something to you.
“Feel good, sweetheart?” he purred, “You gonna come soon?”
“Oh my- fuck, yes! Fuck, don’t stop!”
“You want to come for me?” his deep voice rumbled.
“Yes!”
What the hell? When did he learn how to talk like that?
Because with the mix of his heavy pants, his low voice coaxing you, his barrage of pleasure at your clit, you felt the familiar tightening of your core. You threw one hand back and found his hair. Running your fingers through them, you gripped them tight and pulled.
You pulled on his hair as he forced the orgasm onto you.
“Oh my God. Jason, I’m gonna- fuck- I’m- fuck- ah!”
You moaned loudly as you felt your walls flutter, clenching over nothing as you reached your high.
“O-okay, stop, fuck,” your hand went from his hair to his wrist, stilling him. He withdrew his hands from your pants, and went to grip you tight again by the waist.
“Fucking hell, sweetheart,” he groaned, grinding into you. You pushed your ass back, feeling his hardened length against your flesh in your post-orgasm bliss. “Jesus, that was so hot.”
“That was- yeah,” you giggled, “Fuck.”
His face was still buried in your neck. You could feel his lips on your skin.
“Uhm, I can, you know,” you sputtered, “Try to help you out?”
“It’s fine,” he breathed, body still tight against yours, “Just go to sleep.”
“Are you sure?” you asked again, feeling guilty that he didn’t get off. “I don’t mind.”
“I do,” he said, “It’s okay, sweetheart. That was great. I enjoyed that. I told you, I don’t want to come.”
“Okay,” you sighed.
“Go to bed.”
“Thank you, Jason.”
“Fuck, I’m so horny.”
“Jason,” you whined, “Really, I can help-”
“I’m kidding,” he chuckled, “Goodnight.”
You pursed your lips.
“Goodnight.”
1K notes · View notes
cinnonym · 3 years
Text
christmas magic's brought this tale (to a very happy ending)
Written for Day 10 - Game Night / Movie Night of 12 Days of Christmas @supercorpbb
Read on AO3
***
r/relationship_advice – posted by u/anonymous1000 – 13 hours ago
My (25f) crush and best friend (27f) chose a lesbian classic for movie night, how do I react?
Disclaimer ahead: I haven’t used reddit before and am thus not very fluent in etiquette and formatting, but please bear with me because I am seriously overwhelmed by the current situation and would appreciate all forms of help. I’m also typing this in a hurry, because I’m supposed to be in the bathroom, so please excuse typos or inaccuracies. I’ll try my best. But now, without further ado, here goes:
I (25f) have been crushing on my best friend (27f) pretty much since the day we met. For context, that was two years ago, and while we started out on a business relationship, it evolved into a close friendship almost right away. This is mostly due to her, I must admit. She’s the most open-minded person I know and simply couldn’t be “scared away” by my bad reputation (which I inherited). Needless to say, I’m very grateful for her. She’s not only my best, but has also been my only friend for quite a while, before she introduced me to her inner circle. I unironically owe her my happiness (and my life, several times over, but that’s unrelated to this story).
I’d fallen in love before I realised what was happening. Usually, trust and affection come slowly to me, but her I loved almost right away. That’s simply who she is, a person one cannot help loving. Also, she’s very attractive, side note. I used to flirt with her sometimes, in the beginning, before I became aware of the depth of my feelings (this is awkward to talk about, btw, thank goodness for anonymity online), and back then, it seemed like she wasn’t all unresponsive to my advances. Then again, she isn’t very good at saying no to anyone, because of who she is as a person, so maybe she was only being polite? I’m not sure.
Anyway, she had a boyfriend then, and I had to come to terms with my feelings, so I sort of drew back a little. I’d been with women before, so that was never an issue, but I’m uncertain whether she has ever considered women. Her sister is gay, and she is very supportive of her, but we’ve never talked about how she feels. As far as I know, she’s only ever been with men though. Either way, I’m not in the business of making moves on taken people, so I mostly focused on fostering our friendship.
The thing is, as long as I can be close with her, I am sort of okay with being “just friends”. I mean, isn’t close friendship like a romantic relationship, just minus the romance? And minus the physical advantages (although she is a very cuddly person, so that’s nice). And, like, of course, I’d like to mean more to her. Of course I’d like to take care of her every day when she comes home, cook her dinner, listen to her worries, massage her neck, kiss her goodnight. Of course I’d like to be The One to her, just like she is The One to me. But considering that she’s probably straight and not interested in me in that way, I’m mostly okay with just being her best friend.
Or, I was mostly okay with it. But recently she’s… been acting differently towards me. She’s giving me these long glances when she thinks I don’t notice (I do). She’s going out of her way to make sure I’m fine and don’t work too much (it’s a tendency I have, especially pre-Christmas). She’s told me she’s been working on my Christmas gift almost all month (and I can’t for the hell of it guess what it could be). She’s even invited me for Christmas with her family (since I don’t celebrate with mine).
And now today, she chose the film Carol for movie night (movie night is a weekly thing we do, I should have mentioned that earlier, maybe), which is, as you might know, about a lesbian relationship. And I don’t know what to do.
She claims to have chosen the film because it was on a list of Christmas films (and I suppose it does have christmassy vibes), and because it “sounded fitting”. Sounded fitting?? What is that even supposed to mean? She doesn’t know I’m gay, so it can’t be that, unless she somehow figured out. Is she gay and this is her way of telling me? And if so, how do I react? Is this her letting me know she’s interested in me, or am I reading too much into this? Did she even realise this was a lesbian film??
Anyway, she’s calling from the living room, so I need to go. I’ll try to take another bathroom break halfway into the movie, and I’d appreciate it A Lot if I had some reactions in by then, because I’m panicking a little here. Thank you all!
Tl;dr: my supposedly straight friend chose a lesbian film for movie night, and I don’t understand her intentions behind that.
(P.S. She and her boyfriend have broken up months ago. She’s currently single.)
***
r/relationship_advice – posted by u/anonymous1000 – 11 hours ago
UPDATE to this post
First of all, thank you all so much for your quick replies, they’re really helpful. As you might have guessed, I managed to negotiate another bathroom break mid-film (though my friend is currently sulking on the couch, she didn’t want to let me go? :) ?) and am, once again, typing as fast as my fingers will allow. Much has happened.
I’ve mentioned that my friend is a very cuddly person. Today was no difference – as soon as she’d pressed play on the film, she’d already enveloped me in one of her bone-crushing hugs (she’s very strong). Normally, I let myself sink into these embraces, because she really is a phenomenal hugger, but today my speculations were so prevalent in my mind that I could hardly breathe when our bodies touched.
(She noticed my reaction right away, and immediately asked if I’d rather not hug (to which I replied a vehement no), and this really isn’t very important to the story, but I wanted to let you know.)
As the film progressed (largely unregarded by me, I must admit), I noticed several things about her behaviour that seemed odd, though:
One, her heartbeat became considerably faster as soon as Carol and Therese had met on-screen and it became clear that their relationship would be the focus of the film.
Two, she’s been side-eyeing me a lot more frequently than usual (she tends to watch me watch films if she knows the plot already, but considering she probably hasn’t seen Carol before, this seems out of character for her).
Three, and this is… I don’t even know how to feel about this, but… how do I formulate this best…  When the sex scene was playing, I swear she looked at my cleavage and blushed.
I’m sort of ecstatic (because those are hints, right? I can’t be the only one to think that those are hints?) but also very very VERY worried that I’ve totally misinterpreted the entire situation. Then again, all of your comments sound incredibly hopeful and affirming, so I guess I’m not entirely wrong in my assumptions?
I need to go back now (I’ve been here way too long already), but I will definitely keep you updated. It’s so heart-warming to see how invested all of you are!
@everyone who told me to kiss her already: if she keeps this up, I just might :)
***
r/relationship_advice – posted by u/anonymous1000 – 1 hour ago
UPDATE! All’s well that ends well!
Hey everyone, I am so sorry for the late update. I ended up being… somewhat busy last night.
:) :) :)
So, long story short, we’re dating now. And yes, I did kiss her (or she kissed me, I can’t remember exactly. We somehow kissed each other simultaneously).
Long story slightly less short, because I see you hungering for details in the comments (and my now-girlfriend said you deserved to know), here is how it went down:
We didn’t even finish the film. We didn’t even resume the film, after I returned from the bathroom. Because when I did, giddy and ready to Do This, she wasn’t even looking at me. No, she was looking at her phone.
Now, I’ve never seen a person look at their phone with an expression quite as shocked as hers. She was, I’m not kidding, completely frozen (and if you knew her, you’d know that doesn’t happen often).
So naturally I rush over to her, worried as can be, thinking something bad happened, a catastrophe or maybe an accident in her family. And as I kneel by her side, and she still hasn’t moved, I happen to see what she’s been reading on her phone screen.
And it’s reddit.
I’m not gonna lie, for a second I thought it was all over. I mean, she’d obviously recognised us in my post (so much for anonymity everyone, the internet is treacherous), and judging by her expression, well… I assumed the worst.
But then she turns around and she fixes me with this incredibly cute stern stare she has, and she goes: “[My full name]. Have you browsed the relationship tag even once?”
And I shake my head, completely dumbfounded of course, because what does that have to do with anything. But apparently it plays a crucial role, because apparently you all know my girlfriend.
Her username is @supergirlssupercurls and she’s been posting the entire journey of our friendship/romance on this platform. Turns out she loves me too.
:)
She’s also told me to end this with: and they lived happily ever after.
(Let’s hope we do).
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not-poignant · 7 years
Text
So I got a private ask recently basically wanting to know how I got to be so ‘successful’ as a writer, and it’s had me thinking a lot about what success is (and how that’s not a static variable) and how rarely creative folks talk about their failures, if they’re not public. Like if you’re livestreaming your failures, that’s one thing, and I’m sure all of you have caught typos or other things - tiny failures that just annoy or are largely invisible or are like ‘oh u miss that.’ But otherwise we tend not to say ‘oh ha this story got rejected again’ or ‘this publisher actually hates my work.’
My metrics for success have changed as I’ve attained them, and I think I’ll make a separate post about that. To be clear, the first time at age 11 I filled an entire page with Courier text from a dodgy old printer in like 1992, I felt like a huge writerly success. Later, my metric for success was ‘the first comment I ever got on an LJ fanfic.’ Later still, my metric for success changed again. So you know. Shifting metrics. Stagnating measures for ‘success’ for me mean...well, stagnation.
But I wanted to sort of document what I perceive to be my many writing failures, because I’m so grateful for them, and because I’m only here today, considered maybe successful by some of you, because of them.
***
I wanted to go chronologically but like I know my life that well. So here’s just a sampling.
* Sent a standalone novel I was (and am still) really proud of to a local but prestigious publisher about 7 years ago. Got a form rejection letter.
* Sent another standalone novel I was (and am still) moderately proud of to a large-scale m/m publisher. Got extremely favourable feedback from the editor (i.e. of the ‘we will publish this if you make these changes we’re all rooting for you’ type), a list of minor changes to make to the story, made all the changes without complaint, and then didn’t hear back from them for 8 months, at which point they aggressively terminated interest in a fairly crushing manner. (Later discovered I was pretty fortunate to have this happen because of the...climate of that publishing house, but it was still pretty fucking crushing.)
* Have had more short stories rejected for anthologies than accepted. Usually while good friends whose stories I edited got accepted (which is its own kind of depressing lol).
* My worst university class was short-film writing. I am objectively terrible at it. While I never failed the class, it’s safe to say that I am not compatible with short format. I imagine everyone here is not at all surprised. (Weirdly though, I do well with short poems lol).
* My first published fanfiction under a different username got a lot of ‘YOU ARE WRITING A MARY SUE’ type messages. :D Back in the days where snarkily reading bad fanfiction was a thing, and writing a Mary Sue was like...sinning against the world of fanfiction.
* I genuinely thought the first fantasy story I ever wrote was a masterpiece. It was not. I was 14 when I started it. It did however give me the backbones for the characters Augus, and several others. I never finished it.
* I have had one story I’ve desperately wanted to write since I was a child. It failed in its first novel incarnation. It failed in its second novel incarnation. It failed its third graphic novel incarnation (yes, I have attempted a graphic novel! Be grateful your eyes have never had to lay upon it). It failed its ‘short story introductions to the complex world‘ incarnations (a good friend and my primary editor said: ‘too infodumpy.’) It failed its fourth novel incarnation after two years of research.
Currently awaiting a fifth attempt, lol.
* I have, without failure, failed a ‘write every day’ challenge if it’s lasted longer than about three weeks.
* I failed my first two NaNoWriMos.
* Wrote a whole lot of poetry I really adored for a very high level seminar with a poet I respected and admired and desperately wanted them to like my work lol and my first bout of feedback was: ‘80% of this is boring and unreadable. Trash it.’ (The rest was very nice, but given it set me back about 2 months in my development of the project, it hit...rather hard). This poet also gave me one of the most crushing but valuable pieces of advice I’ve ever gotten: ‘You’re not as good as you think you are.’
(Later, on a poem I didn’t like, they left a flippant remark: ‘this is better than you think it is. 10/10′)
* Wrote a YA novel about animal shifters, got about 100k through when I realised it was boring and unreadable. Shelved it.
* Wrote an adult paranormal erotica novel about vampires and shifters (oh how original) and got about 80k through it before I realised it was boring and profoundly inconsistent in tone (a problem I still have, but care less about). Shelved it.
* My ‘shelved novels’ folder has thirty different projects in it. This is not bunnies. This is not ‘ideas. This is ‘novels I’ve researched, written over 20k for and given up on.’ Amount of novels published? Currently zero. Currently a total failure of a novel writer, even if I think of myself as a novelist. More accurately, I am a patreon-supported serial fiction writer. Except the Patreon has been shut down for two years. (Hi, fear of success, thanks for making me think I don’t deserve any income for anything ever).
* My ‘shelved short stories’ folder has over eighty different projects in it. Given I’ve only ever published 4-5 short stories, and had more rejected, this is a terrible ‘failure to success’ rate.
* Don’t get me started on shelved poems, shelved scripts, etc.
***
There were times when varying things in this list made me want to give up writing or actually - temporarily - give up writing. There were times when different things in this list made me convinced I was the Worst Writer Ever, and when I look at The Ice Plague and measure my fears and insecurities against it, I know it’s not without considering that I have failed in the past. Huge projects. HUGE. Statistically, one day I’m going to write a serial and have to stop and go ‘you know what, it’s just not working.’ I have measured my self-worth and my validity and worthiness as a human being against my writing (and art) and then used those failures as tools to destroy myself.
And yet, after those periods of destruction, I have become grateful for the failures. (I’m not even including my art failures here, which is also a lengthy process of having my portfolio rejected for gallery submission repeatedly). Some of them have shaped me or pushed me in a direction that’s more fulfilling. Sometimes I’ve learned to ignore certain types of failure. No shame in shelving a book, I’ll just write a new one, and in that sense, I also can consider myself successful at getting words on a page.
Some things still hurt to think about. And I’m not going to say that I’m really resilient or whatever, because it was failing repeatedly in art that had me quit as a professional artist. Temporarily anyway. At least for 6 years lol.
I suppose the point is that everyone fails. Usually in a more grand way than you’re actually seeing on the surface. Yes, I have hit many success metrics over the years - from writing that first page as a child (that felt as good as winning a short story competition, better even) - but I’ve hit a lot of failure metrics too. More than I’ve listed here.
I kind of like that I have hit so many. It helps me consider whether the audience that hears me is the one that will be the most nourishing. Whether my words are reaching the right people. Whether this journey is towards the polestar, or if I lost my way again, distracted by shiny things as I so often am.
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