It was getting bad.
Like really bad.
This all consuming desire that had overcome her had to go. She had to end it, there would be no easy way out in the long run; she had to do it now. She knew the consequences, she knew the risks she was taking every moment she kept whatever this was going, but honestly?
The pros definitely outweighed the cons. She knew, slowly but surely, she was becoming addicted and maybe she wouldn't kick the habit just yet.
Because the way that he had her body pressed against the cold stone wall and the way how their bodies fit perfectly together, no space between them, and the way his hot breath washed over her flushed cheeks were the best high she'll ever have.
And she knows that.
She's never been completely sure how it started. They'd only met a couple months ago but how he moved his hands expertly up and down her sides, making her shiver, made her think different: made her feel like they'd known each other for ages or maybe in another life...
Can you see where the problem is now?
When she had first laid eyes on him, it had been at the campus library. She had snuck away from her dorm for some peace and quiet to finish this ridiculous paper for her crazy British Literature- why was she taking that class anyways?- teacher; and usually she would have worked on it in her dorm, but her roommate couldn't seem to get off the phone with her boyfriend. Trust her, her roommate is a sweet girl, but she could only handle so much sweet...
She had searched the entire library for a quiet place to sit, because strangely enough, the library, in most parts, wasn't quiet. At all. She found some cubicles in the back. The desks weren't that big, the chairs were uncomfortable, and some guy a little farther down the aisle had his music a tad too high but it would have to do.
She had managed to get some work done when he had walked over. He dropped his bag at a cubicle diagonally across the aisle from hers and he had smiled at her when she glanced up in reaction to the noise. She didn't know what she was expecting beforehand but whatever it was, he definitely wasn't it.
His bright red hair was a tangled mess and his checks, covered with freckles, were a light pinkish hew. She guessed they were both due to the wind and didn't think about it twice except for the fact that she found it completely adorable.
Wait. Adorable?
Then the next thing she noticed was his eyes. They reminded her of those green apples her mother always had on the kitchen counter back home. She wished to stare a bit longer to take him all in. She hadn't even fully analyzed the mischievous glint that went along with his smile, nor his tall and lean body. He must have been a runner she concluded after. All she wanted was to commit him to memory if she could.
But she couldn't.
She felt her cheeks warming up and she turned her attention back to her textbook and essay.
That didn't last long.
A few minutes later she peeked back up at him. He was hunched over his desk, a hand in his hair and a pen in his mouth; his eyebrows were knit together as if he was trying to absorb whatever he was reading by diffusion. She couldn't help but think that he was the sexiest man she'd ever seen, probably would ever see with her history with men.
Okay so maybe it had been bad from the beginning, but still.
Anyways.
Her ability to concentrate seemed to have vanished into thin air because she couldn't help but sneak glances at him. There was something eerily familiar about this guy with the fiery locks. Was it because of a class? Maybe passing on the way to class? Maybe, though she would never admit this to anyone else, a dream?
She told herself she was just imagining things and again went back to work.
But, again, that didn't last long.
Ugh! That's it!
She slammed her textbook closed, or well, as fiercely as she could in the library and packed up her bags. There was no way she would be able to get any work done, not with all these crazy thoughts- crazy feelings coming out of nowhere about a boy she held eye contact with for 5 seconds.
What was she? 12 again? No.
Once her bag was packed, she slung it over her shoulder and left, doing her best not to look pack even though she could feel Mr. How-the-hell-do-I-know-you staring holes into the back of her head.
She kept walking for a while, the cold December air nipping at her cheeks, nose, and ears. She pulled the collar of her jacket up higher and buried her face even farther into her scarf. So much for getting any of her homework done, she thought bitterly as she walked across the quad of Gotham University to the only on-campus coffeehouse.
Maybe some hot chocolate with peppermint will help, she thought as she walks towards the coffeehouse. Lately she had been becoming more and more homesick. It was weird living away from home and not talking to her mother everyday or sitting down to tea with her and just enjoying each other's company.
When she arrives, she places her order then goes and sits down in one if the big comfy chairs by the fire they have going.
The place is different from the coffee shops in Star City. Instead of being modern and simple, the place has a special charm to it. It's decked out for the upcoming holidays, there's even a mistletoe hanging from the ceiling. In all, the refs and candles and mini tree and menorah in the window, remind her of a cliché Christmas lodge from those movies she used to watch as a kid.
"Artemis?"
Artemis blinks, snapping out of her mini trance and heads back to the counter to pick up her drink. The Barista hands her a candy cane too and says happy holidays before Artemis turns to leave.
It's kinda funny how this small jester makes her realize that she hasn't been home in two months. She stayed in Gotham for Thanksgiving because she really, really didn't want to deal with getting home and back and she had a paper coming up so she used the practically empty campus to her advantage and studied wherever she wanted. Let's just say she definitely kicked ass on that paper.
She pulled her book from her bag and began to flip through the worn pages to find exactly where she left off. She reads Alice in Wonderland every Christmas, ever since her sister first read it to her all those years ago.
It was easy for her to get lost in the book, the story is still as captivating as it was the first time she read it. She felt that every time she traveled to wonderland. It was no surprise that the tale was more interesting than she could ever dream her life to be.
But still, she had her own surprises every once and a while.
She hadn't even realized to time until one of the Baristas came over and told her that they were closing and they needed her to leave.
"We open again at 6!" the Barista called after her but Artemis didn't hear because she was already out the door into the cold.
It wasn't snowing when she walked in, but now it was and Artemis can't help but realize how beautiful the campus was when it was covered in an almost fresh blanket of snow. She shuffled her feet and buried her hands deeper in her pockets.
She was turning the corner by the library- it's the quickest way to her dorm- when she's completely knocked down by some giant idiot she assumed. She fell down on her back and her hands fly out to break her fall even more. Her palms slammed down on the cold pavement; pain surged from her hands through her wrists and up her forearms. Her butt was now wet from the snow she landed in and it hurt too and God... could this get any worse?
Maybe that wasn't the best thing to think...
"Watch where you're going, idiot." she snapped, examining her palms and wrists. Damn, they were going to for sore for a few days. "Geez..."
Suddenly there was a nervous chuckle. "Sorry- um- about that. I didn't think that- um- that anyone would, you know, be out this late when it's snowing."
"Have to get home somehow." she muttered.
"Can I at least help you up?" And there's a hand in front of her face.
She was about to tell this idiot standing in front of her to get lost when she finally looked up at him and fuck. Are the Gods working against her today or something? Staring back at her were the same bright green eyes that she saw earlier, of course it would be hot library guy.
"Um..." Artemis wasn't really sure what to say to him so she just took his hand and he pulled her up.
She couldn't tell at that moment if his face was so red because of the cold or embarrassment but she knew that either way, her face was just as warm.
"Sorry. Again." he said, he offered her this innocent smile and she felt her face getting warmer- something that she didn't know was possible.
"It- it's fine." she replied, tucking a loose strand of her blonde hair behind her ear but it just fell in front of her face again. She still wasn't used to this new shorter haircut yet.
"I'm Wally, by the way." library boy said.
"I'm Arte-"
"I know." he said, cutting her off. She must have looked confused because he continued, "We have lab together and Vietnamese Lit. I know your name because our Professor loves to praise your work and you're really pretty too," he paused, "Did I just say what I think I said?"
She giggled- wait giggle? Artemis Crock did not giggle, who was this boy? "Yeah, but I don't mind."
"Okay good, because you are really, really pretty." Wally said with more confidence this time. "So, I guess now it won't be too weird if I ask you out for coffee or something?"
He was nervous, she could tell. He was rubbing the back of his neck and staring at his shoes; she couldn't help but wonder how someone like her would make someone like him nervous.
"Yeah, I'd like that." she smiled.
"Good- um, great actually!" he looked down at his watch, "Shit..." he mumbles, "I got to go, I have this meeting thing across campus."
"Okay," she stepped out of his way. "See you in class?"
"Definitely." He gave her one last enthusiastic grin before he started running off again, and damn, could normal people move that fast?
Artemis was extremely grateful for the fact that when she arrived back at her dorm, Megan, her roommate, had left a note about going out to dinner with some friends. Megan was a sweet girl, compassionate, caring, bubbly, and head over heels in love with this mysterious boyfriend that Artemis still hasn't met yet.
Their dorm wasn't that fancy, just two beds on opposite walls, a dresser (Megan's), a closet (Artemis'), a desk piled high with textbooks and papers, and a big comfy butterfly chair that Megan bought on Black Friday. The walls were painted this ugly off white color, but the two had managed to cover up most of it with posters and pictures. It wasn't much, but it was their home.
Artemis flopped down on her bed and buried her face in her pillow. What exactly just happened? She wasn't too sure why this extremely attractive man was all of a sudden asking her out after knocking her over into a pile of snow on accident; it sounds a little too much like a corny TV or a romance novel, but she could live with it.
Those bright green eyes flashed across her vision again. She smirked, yeah, she could totally live with it.
Wally knew he was running late, and he most certainly did not mean to bump into Artemis, aka the girl he's been crushing on since the beginning of the semester. Of course it has to be a cliché too, the brilliant, beautiful blonde who sat in front of him in class, the one he'd been trying about working up the courage to talk to for months now and when he finally did it was because he practically ran her over? What kind of sick fate was that?
He thought that maybe he would have had a chance to talk to her once the library closed or something; he could walk her back to her dorm and he could tell her how much he liked her even though he'd never said a word to her. He still couldn't believe that the first time they talked she called him an idiot… Wally ran a hand through his hair at the thought; maybe it was because he was one.
But she'd said yes. She had said yes to him when he suggested coffee, maybe all hope hadn't been lost.
When he got to the restaurant that Dick told him to meet at, the place was packed but the hostess got one look at him and causally looked over her shoulder to the tables in the back. He got the message. He took his time walking over, so he didn't draw too much attention to himself, though, he didn't know how that would work since he was the super tall guy with bright red hair that stood up every which way.
"Well look who finally showed up." Dick said when he reached the table and three familiar faces were looking up at him. "Long time no see, man."
Wally smiled and slid in next to him; sitting down next to Dick made Wally realize how much he'd grown in the past few years. Dick wasn't the same scrawny little thirteen year old he once knew anymore. His shoulders were broad and Wally was pretty sure that Dick was even taller than him now. Great.
"So how is everyone?" Wally asked.
Megan snuggled in closer to Conner, and the big lug's smile grew wider. Wally still couldn't believe how big the guy was either, Conner was just muscle upon muscle, but it was almost nothing compared to his dad. They looked a lot alike, him and his dad, but besides that it was hard to find many similarities between Conner and Clark Kent
"Good." Conner answered.
"Oh how I've missed your simple one word answers," Wally said, and then he added, "Supey."
Conner's grin disappeared in an instant, Supey was an old nickname from when they were where kids. Don't ask for the story, Wally's not even sure anymore how the name came to be, all he knew was that it stuck ever since then.
Dick cackled, "Panties in a twist, Supey?"
Conner grunted and Megan patted his cheek lovingly. "So why did you call us all here anyways?" she asked.
"It wasn't my plan." Dick said, (this baffled everyone, Dick was always the one to set these things up), glancing down at his phone. "Where is Kal?"
Maybe now's a good time to back track:
Dick, Wally, Conner, and Kal- or Kaldur as he usually went by- have known each other for years, they grew up together. They met Megan when Wally was a sophomore in high school, and ever since then, she had been like the honorary group mother and the better half of Mr. Conner Kent. Saying that they've been through a lot together was definitely an understatement because they weren't just teenagers who found great friends, it much more than that; and they didn't find each other per se, they were more or less thrown together and told not to hate each other.
Wally blinked, "What do you mean this wasn't 'your plan'? You called me and told me that you wanted to get together for dinner…" Then it hit Wally, this wasn't just dinner.
"Kaldur called me, dude, I didn't ask questions." Dick explained.
Wally nodded, he understood, certain things most definitely could not be said over the phone.
They just sat around for a few minutes, catching up on things, waiting for Kaldur to arrive. It's been a while since they've all been together which shouldn't be the case since they all live in Gotham. The city was huge, but not that huge, especially since Megan and Conner go to school with him and Dick- well… Dick has his own chuffer if he wanted so.
Wally wasn't really paying attention to the conversation anymore. They'd gone off on a tangent about city politics and Wally West didn't do politics. So his thoughts trailed towards a certain blonde, he couldn't seem to get her out of his head- not that he was complaining too much about that. She was beautiful and he knew how smart she was, and how her gray eyes had this shine that he couldn't really describe and-
Man, he had it bad, whatever it was.
His train of thought was broken when Megan let out a high and squeaky, "Kaldur!"
Wally's head snapped up to see one of his oldest friends. Kaldur was smiling at them all. Wally gave him a once over; he was still tall and muscular as the last time Wally saw him, but his light hair was cut differently, Wally assumed it had to do with being on the swim team.
"Hello, friends, I'm sorry I'm late," Kaldur apologized.
"Don't worry about it," Megan said, as bubbly and giggly as ever, "We haven't been here very long."
"Oh good," Kaldur paused for a moment then continued, "And I hope you don't mind that I brought a... friend with me."
"You got a date?" Dick asked, his eyebrow arched.
Kaldur sighed and waved someone over from the front of the restaurant, but who was walking over was not the perky yet snarky brunette that Wally had always pictured Kaldur with but someone who he hadn't seen in years. When they finally reached the table, everyone sat in silence, staring dumbfounded at them.
Of course, only Dick could break the tension with a cackle, "Long time no see, Roy."
"Hilarious, Grayson," Roy said. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and Wally noticed that his arms looked weaker. Wally's eyes travelled back up to Roy's face, his cheek bones were more prominent than before like he hadn't had a good meal in weeks. Wally realized that that wasn't the only thing that was off about him; this Roy Harper was different. He didn't seem to stand with the same confidence as before, his shoulders were slumped and he kept shifting from leg to leg.
"Let's just cut the crap," Roy went on to say, "There's a reason why I'm here."
"And why is that, Red?" Wally asked.
"We should sit down for this-"
Roy held up his hands, "I've got this, Kaldur." Roy slid into the booth next to Wally and Kaldur sat down next to Conner on the other side. "I know it's been a while-"
"A year and a half, actually."
"Shut up, Grayson," Roy snapped, "Look, no matter how long it's been. I need your guys' help."
"For what?" Megan asked.
"There's a girl I need you to watch over, I already heard that you have some relations with her." Roy slid a photo over to Megan, she gasped. "I need you to make sure she doesn't get into any trouble. There are some people out there... well, I think you understand the seriousness of this or I wouldn't be coming to you."
"Who is it? The daughter of a mob boss or something?" Wally asked, impatiently waiting for the photo to make it over to him.
"No," Roy said, "Someone you're more familiar with I'm afraid."
Dick finally handed the picture to Wally and once it was in his hands, it took him a moment to process exactly what he was looking at. Blonde hair. Warm smile. Golden skin. No. This was not happening to him. Artemis couldn't be-
Wally dropped the photo, "Fuck."
Confused? Well, that was supposed to be the plan. Thanks for reading!
-Rachel:)