~YJ~
002. Love
Rated: K+
~YJ~
All around him, his teammates were falling in love—Wally and Artemis, Connor and Megan. Robin had yet to show any interest in girls and for that, Kaldur was thankful. Being the only one on the team without a girlfriend would have been too depressing. As it was, while he was happy for his friends, it was painful to see them every day when he could never have the girl he wanted. They might be blissfully in love, but he was hopelessly in love with a girl he could never have.
Every time he thought about her, there was a sharp pain in his chest and his eyes would sting. Her and her auburn hair and sea-green eyes, her musical laugh and gentleness. For her, he would have given up everything. If Tula hadn't told him when she did that his affections were not returned, he would have stayed in Atlantis. If she had given him even the slightest sign that they could have been, he wouldn't have given it a second thought. He would have given up his title as Aqualad and fought Garth to the end to have Tula, if she hadn't extinguished his hope when she did. He would've left the team to Robin's yet incapable hands and destroyed his first and best friendship, all for her.
It will not happen, he tells himself. I could never do that to Garth, and Tula…Tula does not feel the same. Garth had been his best friend for as long as he could remember, and if he made Tula happy, then Kaldur couldn't object. He could only sit by helplessly and watch as everyone around them found love, thinking that he was just not meant to find love.
However, watching Batgirl pitch a baseball at a stack of milk bottles, red hair catching the last of the sun's rays and baby blue eyes glittering with excitement, he couldn't help but think that perhaps he was wrong. Maybe there was another chance at love for him. Later, when she grabbed his hand and pulled him off towards the Tilt-a-Whirl, he knew it was true.