I disclaim. Bart/Mia cuteness. At least, it's trying to be cute. It's probably failing. Hehe.
It was a strange feeling, actually.
It wasn't quite hurt, but it wasn't quite . . . Okay.
Bart had-to a certain extent-seen it coming. He'd seen the way they looked at each other the last time he'd visited Metropolis. He'd seen the look on Oliver's face, and the smile that managed to reach Chloe's eyes whenever they spoke. He'd seen the small touches-insignificant, maybe. They were comforting and affectionate, but not overtly sexual-which of course meant that whatever was going on between them was at least at least a little serious.
So when they'd ended up engaged, he'd been a little prepared.
But really. They could have eased him into it.
Not that it really mattered, because he was in love with someone else.
She didn't love him. Yet. But that didn't matter.
They were friends. She was snarky and smart, sexy and fun. She was amazing.
And there was absolutely no reason for her to be interested in him. But he would win her over. All he had to do was be patient.
He, of course, didn't realize the foolishness of that plan until AC pointed it out to him, "You do realize that being patient didn't exactly work with Chloe, right?"
"Yeah, but-"
AC continued, as if Bart had never interrupted him, "If you don't make a move, she won't know you're interested. Waiting, dude, doesn't always work. Sometimes it just gives another guy a chance to win over the girl of your dreams."
"When did you learn so much about relationships?"
"I have been in relationships before, Bart. And, I'm in love. It makes my relationship IQ, like, skyrocket."
"That's just sad, fishstick."
"And this is why you know absolutely nothing about relationships, and I have a girlfriend who is much, much sexier than I am."
"You're just lucky."
"You're just a fool."
Mia.
It was Mia.
She was spicy.
Powerful.
But still fun, youthful.
She and Bart had spent quite a bit of time together over the past year.
Oliver's actual sidekick-because everyone knew it Chloe was more his equal than anything else-fit in perfectly.
She was fantastic.
Bart was pathetic puppy dog-level in love.
They occasionally worked together on missions, they played video games together-she had some mad Halo skills!-they occasionally went on non-dates together. They were non-dates, of course, because they were just friends.
Bart didn't want to stay just friends, not at all.
He wanted, well, more from Mia.
"Hey, Bartman."
"Hey, Speedy."
In an amusing twist, Mia was 'Speedy' even though Bart was the speedy one. But Mia's archery skills definitely proved the codename to be highly accurate.
And frankly, Mia just liked calling Bart 'Bartman.' Though Impulse was still hilariously-and annoyingly- accurate at times.
Except for when it came to women. He wasn't impulsive at all. He waited. It was slightly strange given his personality, but it made sense in a weird way. After all, it was partly self-preservation, and partly . . . who he was. He was the funny one, immature and always flirty.
Most people didn't take him seriously. The team, for the most part, trusted him. And they loved him, because he was family. But they didn't respect him.
He acted within those confines. He was a hero, but he was the hero with the stomach hungry enough to house 100 burritos. He was the guy no one really took seriously. And therefore, he wasn't exactly the kind of guy that a woman fell madly in love with.
"If I didn't know you, I'd say you were having 'deep thoughts.' Should I break out the piggy bank, or are you just going to tell me what has you stuck a million miles away?" Although she joked, she was sincere in her questioning.
Mia genuinely cared about Bart. And treated him as an equal. That meant something.
"Just thinking. You're a good friend, Mia. Thanks."
With a rather confused look on her face Mia asked,"As much as I like compliments, I'd like to know exactly why I'm receiving this one, what's up?"
"Nothing."
Liar. Not that there was any way to prove it. But she'd get it out of him eventually. She was nothing if not resourceful.
Mia decided to bide her time.
She would get it out of him. He'd been acting strangely for a while now. Pretending that nothing was wrong, but obviously something was.
She knew him. She knew who he was, and how he was. And right now, something was weighing heavily upon him.
At first she'd thought it was because of Chloe and Oliver. That maybe his feelings for her had been stronger than any of them had realized. But then she'd simply watched them together. And Bart was still . . . Bart. There was no sadness. No obvious regret. It wasn't Chloe.
The question was, what was it?
They'd had a plan to the waterpark planned for months, but they'd never really had time to go. So given the opportunity to do something, she'd suggested this. She assumed she get him relaxed, and that she'd get him to spill his guts-if not figuratively, then at least literally.
It hadn't worked out that way.
They were both soaking wet, so they'd found a little corner to dry off in. No one else was really around, which was exactly how Mia wanted it. "So, Bart. You've been a little weird lately." She didn't ease into it, she just said it bluntly.
"Um, yeah. I've had a lot on my mind."
Mia made a movement to take off her shirt. "What-what are you doing?"
"My shirt is wet. I'm just changing it. If it bothers you, then turn around. It's not like you've never seen a woman in a bra before."
"True, but you're Mia."
"What's that supposed to mean?" That had hurt. What, she wasn't enough of a girl for him? Ugh.
"We're friends, so it's awkward."
"You've seen me more naked than this before." She finished changing her shirt anyway. Bart had, of course, turned his back.
Way to make it awkward, Impulse.
"I know. But you're all . . . wet."
Oh.
"And you're a girl."
"Yeah, I am."
"You're an attractive girl."
"Um, thank you?"
There was a bit on an awkward silence at that. Bart still had his back turned to Mia.
He turned to her, finally. "Mia, I've wanted to say something to you for a while."
"Say it." Please.
"I have feelings for you."
"I have feelings for you too."
"No-not those kinds of feelings. I'm in love with you." He couldn't even believe he'd said it.
"Oh."
"Yeah."
The silence broke his heart.
"I suppose it's not a big deal. I'll get over it, eventually. And we can pretend that I never said that."
"It'll be that easy for you to stop being in love with me?" She was a bit offended.
"Well, no. But I kinda thought that was what you wanted to hear."
"Not really."
"Okay."
They stood there, behind some random tree in a random corner of the waterpark, saying absolutely nothing.
Bart sighed. And Mia quickly, without hesitation, jumped him.
She kissed him, wrapped her legs around his midsection. She was small enough that it worked.
They eventually pulled apart.
"Wow."
"Yeah, wow."
And they went in for round two.
Hehe. Review?