The next morning, they bumped into each other, literally, between classes at the university café. Dick had nearly spilled his coffee on Barbara's top, but the lightning-quick reflexes one develops after spending ten years with Batman helped him to maintain his balance and her to stop herself from tripping over her own shoes.
"Whoa, that was a close call!" He laughed his charming laugh before casually dropping an arm around her shoulders. He kissed her cheek and he felt her melt under his lips.
"Hi there," she said softly, cradling her tea in both hands. She suddenly forgot why she was even mad at him in the first place.
They sat down together at the first available table and stared at one another for a few seconds. Barbara began to gather her courage to apologize and explain her attitude two nights before, having decided that he deserved at least an explanation.
"I'm sorry," Dick said before she could open her mouth.
"You don't have to be sorry," she said quietly. "I shouldn't have yelled like that."
"No, I really am sorry. I should have talked to you about moving earlier. It was wrong of me to assume you would be okay with it."
"Th-thank you. I'm sorry, too."
"You've given me a lot to think about, really, and I'm going to give it some more though before I actually make the move to work with the Titans."
"Really?"
"Really."
The air was clearer and Barbara felt a weight lift from her shoulders. No one could ever accuse her of being a clingy girlfriend, but she still felt relief at Dick's decision to give the move more thought. She didn't want to have to play the 'together forever' card they'd sworn on when they were both young teenagers, especially since she hadn't really considered it to hold much weight now that they were both adults. She loved problem-solving, especially when it came to her relationships.
He flipped through his day planner and scribbled in something for next weekend. His handwriting was completely illegible, even when looking at it from the right angle, so she made no attempt to decipher it upside-down. Instead, she contentedly watched him brush the hair from his eyes while he considered whatever it was he was scheduling. Satisfied, he put down his pen and glanced back up at her.
"You seem… normal today."
"How do you mean?" Barbara asked.
"You've been so quiet the last few days. No laughing, no joking, no Miss Know-it-All. Your heart was barely in that fight last night, and everyone knows how much you love a good ass-kicking. I missed your smile."
Barbara blushed and smiled sheepishly. He was so good at making tensions disappear into nothing. She sipped at her drink, took a deep breath, and opened her mouth to speak.
"Tea?" Dick smirked.
"Yes."
"Since when do you drink tea?" He leaned forward and took a whiff of the beverage. "Mint tea at that."
This was true. She wasn't normally one to drink herbal tea, especially if something caffeinated was an option. Most people in her line of work preferred the extra boost that caffeine gave after a long night's crime-fighting.
"Oh, I don't know… I had coffee yesterday and it disagreed with me."
It's awfully early to be lying again, Barbara chastised herself. Weren't you going to tell him the truth today?
"Well that's no good." Dick frowned. "Are you getting the flu?"
"Probably not. I'll be fine soon, I'm sure."
"Do you want me to take you to the doctor, make sure it's not serious?"
She sighed. "No, I'll be better soon. It's nothing serious."
Dick leaned across the table and squeezed her hand. The loving smile on his lips and in his eyes made Barbara want to kiss him on the spot. She wondered how many other girls were watching enviously. It was one of the guilty pleasures of dating someone so prominent in the public eye, even if she did secretly hate it when he played up the 'local celebrity' thing.
"When are you done class today?" she asked suddenly.
"I'm done calculus at one-thirty. Why?"
"I'm done at two. Can we go over to your place? Is Bruce going to be home?"
Dick shook his head. "No. I think he's at an executives meeting tonight. And I'm sure Alfred wouldn't mind you coming over."
"Perfect." Barbara grabbed her book bag and smiled. "I've got English lit in five minutes, so I'll meet you in the parking lot later, okay?"
She ran out of the café before he could say a word. He smiled to himself, content that he had managed to get things back to normal, and finished his coffee.
"Welcome home, Master Dick. Ah, Miss Gordon," Alfred greeted them as they walked into stately Wayne Manor. "How is your father?"
"He's great, Alfred. How are you?" Barbara said cheerfully.
"Same as always. Will you be joining Master Dick for dinner?"
"I believe I will."
"Very good." Alfred took their coats and hung them in the closet. "I will make the necessary arrangements."
"We're going up to my room to study," said Dick. He took Barbara's book bag and threw it over his shoulder.
"Door open, Master Dick," said Alfred knowingly.
"Yes, Alfred."
Barbara followed Dick up the stairs and down the hall to his bedroom. Dick dropped their school bags on the floor and then dropped himself face-down onto his bed. Barbara smiled and sat down on the chair at his desk, reclining back.
"You alive?" she said, raising an eyebrow.
"Nope. Dead. Dead from school and work." The blankets muffled his voice slightly, but he made no effort to move his head or sit up.
Stretching her legs out in front of her, she stood up and leaned against the edge of Dick's bed. She poked him on the back of the head, but he didn't stir. She did it again and again, without results, until he pushed himself up, grabbed her hand, and pulled her down on top of him. Before she could wiggle herself free, he looped his arms around her back and held her tight.
"You're trapped now, Babs!" he laughed.
"Hey, no fair!" She squirmed and tried to push herself up from his chest, but he only held on tighter. "Let me go!"
"You're not going anywhere!"
"What if Alfred walks in?"
"Pbbbt." He blew her hair out of his mouth. "Alfred won't bother us."
"Are you sure?"
"Well… I've usually got about ten minutes of study time until he swings by with refreshments," he said the last word with a mock British accent, "so I'd say we're good for another four minutes or so."
"Well, okay." Barbara smiled and wrapped her arms underneath his shoulders, hugging him a little tighter.
Dick rubbed the small of her back gently and inhaled the citrus-y scent of her perfume. He was always happiest when they were like this; alone, silent, without a care in the world. It was his favourite method of escapism, and for the first time he realized how much he would truly miss her if he moved away. Suddenly, he was hesitant to even consider leaving her. What he'd said earlier was mostly just what he'd known she would want to here. This, now, was giving those words weight.
"Dick…" she said quietly.
"Yes?"
"Should we get up?"
"Just a minute longer… please."
"Fine."
Barbara could have sworn that Dick had dozed off in the minute between their exchange and the rapping she heard coming from the door frame. Panicked, she jumped off of him and sat straight up on the edge of the bed, looking like a frightened cat. Dick followed suit, rocketing into a sitting position and staring wide-eyed at his doorway.
"Come in," he said, his voice cracking slightly.
Alfred walked in carrying an antique silver tray with two cups of coffee and scones with jam. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."
Barbara felt a slightly judgmental eye on her and cleared her throat. "No, of course not."
"We were just studying!" Dick added helpfully.
"Yes, I'm sure." Alfred placed the tray down on Dick's bedside table. "I've brought my two favourite academics some refreshments. Dinner will be served at seven."
"Thank you, Alfred."
Alfred threw another glance their way, smiled, and walked out the door.
Dick grabbed one of the cups of the steaming liquid and handed it to Barbara. "Here."
"Thanks, but…" she said, biting her lip.
"Sick. Right. I forgot." Dick dropped 2 sugar cubes into his coffee and stirred it vigorously before taking a long drink. He smacked his lips happily and smiled at her. "It's good, though."
"One cup wouldn't hurt, I suppose." She leaned over and grabbed the only mug, pouring a generous amount of cream into the cup. Drinking it slowly, gauging her body's reaction, she decided that she would probably be fine. "It is good."
"Columbian, free-trade, organic. Probably a whole lot of other fancy ingredients, too." Dick winked. "Only the best with me."
"You can really taste the free-trade," Barbara laughed. "So what homework have you got?"
"Oh, I didn't realized we were going to spend our only afternoon together in who-knows-how-long actually being responsible." Dick rolled his eyes and grabbed a scone.
"Hey, some of us actually want to graduate."
"Well what do you have for homework, egghead?"
"I just need to read some poems, delinquent." Barbara leaned over and pulled a heavy-looking literature anthology out of her bag and cracked it open to what looked like a very long poem.
Dick looked over the words before leaning back, frowning. "Nope. None of that for me, thanks."
"I guess it's a good thing you don't take literature, then."
"I guess it is."
He grabbed one of his text books out of his bag and began to take notes, while she sat on a pillow on the floor and silently read.
"I'm, uh… I'm going to San Francisco next week to catch up with the team," he said, not looking up from his book. "You should come with me. It'll be fun."
"I don't know, Dick." She flipped a page.
"It'll be fun. You've never been, right?"
"No."
"Look, no pressure or anything, just come with me. It'll be like a little mini vacation. We can stay at a hotel near the tower. You don't even need to bring your costume if you don't want to." He put his pen down and took another drink of coffee. "But it'll be more fun if you do bring it."
"I'll think about it."
"You and I both know that means 'no'. Please say you'll come?"
"I said I'd think about it."
Dick put down his book and got onto the floor. He stared pleadingly at Barbara until she looked up from her textbook and looked back at him.
"Pleeeeeeeee-"
"You're being annoying," she said, trying to not laugh.
"-eeeeeeeeeeeeee-" He leaned in closer.
"Dick, stop."
"-eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-"
"Okay, okay, I'll come with you!" She said, bursting into giggles.
"-ease?" He cocked an eyebrow and grinned widely. "All right! We're going to have such a good time!"
She sighed heavily as he pulled her closer and planted a big, wet kiss on her cheek. "But only because you asked so nicely."
They continued studying without any further interruptions. When Barbara was finished, she stood up and stretched her legs, taking some time to straighten her hair and clothes, before sitting on Dick's bed and watching him scribble his hieroglyphic notes.
"You could use some penmanship lessons," she noted.
"I've got a system." He tapped the end of his pen against the page, pondering a concept from his assignments. She noticed how tired he looked.
"You wanna take a break? It's been two hours."
"Seriously? Yeah, I'm more than done with this for today. I can't even remember half these formulas right now."
"Great. What do you want to do?"
Dick cocked an eyebrow before leaning forward and pulling her down on top of him.
"Again?" she laughed.
"No… let's do something else." He tilted his head up and pressed his lips against hers.
She immediately pulled herself back up. "Hey, whoa, no! Alfred, remember?"
"He won't be back up until dinner is ready," he said with a sigh. "Come on…"
Barbara pursed her lips and glanced over at the open door. "You sure he won't be back?"
"Positive."
"Good enough." She leaned forward and began to kiss him softly. Her eyes slipped shut as she relaxed against him and she felt his hands rise up the back of her top, rubbing gently and exploring openly.
Tomorrow, she told herself. I'll tell him tomorrow.
