Hey everyone! I'm really, really, really sorry about not updating! My homework and personal life has made it very difficult for me to just settle down for a few minutes and write, but I promise I'll try to update more often! This chapter is a bit longer than the rest, but I will be aiming to write this much per chapter from now on.
And I'd like to thank EVERYONE that has reviewed so far, and hug all of you for all the positive feedback. I'm really sorry, cliffhangers are what I'm good at! D:
When I arrived at the address Victor had given me, I was appalled. It was brightly lit with neon pink, green and blue lines that snaked across the entire entrance and gave it a psychedelic glow. A sign, situated on top of two large glass doors, lit up with painfully bright pink lights, read 'Club Fever'. In front of the two glass doors was brawny-looking guy, sporting a black tanktop, ripped jeans and sunglasses, even though the moon was already up. Propped up next to him was a sign. 'Costume party, dress up sexy!' was drawn on with glow-in-the-dark chalk.
"A night club?" I wondered out loud, astounded. I had been trying to deny it before, but it was pretty obvious that Starfire was clubbing. I parked my motorcycle, stepping off it and approaching the beefy bouncer. The man eyed me critically, and judging by the lack of surprise on his face, did not recognize me.
"You're here early, buddy. Most folks don't come here until 10." He said in a stony tone. Well, I didn't expect Starfire to be hanging around here, and it's not my fault you guys love partying until 4 AM in the morning. I wanted to say, but I kept my mouth shut.
"I can wait." I replied. The bouncer gave me an incredulous look. I admit, I did probably look like an idiot, standing outside a nightclub at 7 in the night, dressed in a brightly colored Robin outfit. Despite this, he merely shrugged and held out his hand.
"Ten bucks to enter." The bouncer held out his hand expectantly. I grumbled at the insanely high charge, reaching into my pocket and fishing out the cover charge to hand over. He took the money from my outstretched hand and stepped aside from the glass doors, allowing me to enter.
Club Fever was practically desolate when I entered, asides from a lone bartender standing behind a brightly lit counter. A majority of the room was dark, although neon lights identical to the ones outside lined the chairs and counter, providing the room with a blue-green glow. A dance floor was stationed in the middle of the large room, brightly lit with pink flashing lights. Thankfully, the club didn't have its music blaring out yet, though I knew that a few hours from now, I could say good-bye to my hearing.
I sauntered over to the barstool, planting myself on it and leaning against the barstool. The bartender, who had been ignoring me up until then, wiped the area of the counter near me.
"You're here awfully early." He noted. I rolled my eyes and sighed. I guessed that I would be hearing that comment a lot today.
"Yeah, I just like to beat the crowd." I lied. The bartender shrugged and picked up an empty beer glass to wipe down.
"Suit yourself." He mumbled.
As a vigilante, I was accustomed to waiting for hours without even moving a muscle. Hours passed, and I was as still as a statue. At last, around 10, just like the bouncer said, people began filing in. Club music blared out from the speakers above, and a few clubbers were already drunk. A guy that had been sitting next to me took another gulp of beer, even though he was visibly intoxicated.
"Hey buddy, why don'tcha have a drink?" The guy turned to me, his speech slurred from alcohol. I shook my head.
"Nah, I'm waiting for someone." I replied, trying to inch away from him. He cocked his head to one side, interest piqued.
"Oh? I been around this place for a long time, who ya lookin' for?" I hesitated, unwilling to share information about Star with a stranger. But then again, if this guy did skulk around here for some time, he would probably know about her.
"I'm looking for… An auburn haired girl." I started. My memory seemed to have retained a perfect image of how she looked like when I last saw her, and I had no trouble recounting even the tiniest of details. "She has long hair, green eyes and orange, tan skin." The guy took a minute to process this information, but my description seemed to have gotten through the alcohol.
"Oh yeah! You gotta be describing Starfire, the Titan!" He slammed his fist down on the counter in triumph. "Very sexy girl, you her latest squeeze or somethin'?"
"Squeeze?" I stared at him dumbly.
"Yeah, she's a real vixen. Always charms some guy and then brings 'em home." He winked at this. "She never picked me, but everyone gets enough information on how she's like in bed. You got a wide range here." He began listing off horrible things I didn't even want to know about. "Screamer, moaner, submissive, dominant. But they all say the same. She's greaaat." He grinned dopily, and I could barely restrain the urge to shout at him and tell him about how wrong he was. Questions flooded into my mind. Was this really the Starfire that I knew? How much had changed since I left? And mainly… Was I really the cause of her sudden strange behavior? I tried to push the questions and unsettling thoughts back, quietly thanking the drunken guy for the information he had given me.
"Good luck with her, buddy!" He laughed and slapped me on my back, making me wince a little. "Lookee here, she just came in!" He nodded in the direction of the entrance. Sure enough, when I turned my attention towards the doors, I saw her.
She was in the middle of a gaggle of girls, chatting happily with the nearest girl. Her long, straight and red hair was neatly combed and let down, reaching her elbows. Her emerald eyes shone in the dark room, two sparkling green orbs. She wore a small, pure black cocktail dress with a matching black cat-ear headband adorned on her head. The dress hugged her orange skin tightly, exposing her slender and curvy figure. Her gang was loud, their combined giggles and chattering was almost as loud as the music that filled the entire room.
"Star." I breathed, completely taken aback by her appearance. She was still the prettiest, most attractive girl I had ever met, but something about her was off. Maybe it was the gang of rather shallow-looking girls that surrounded her. Maybe it was the overly exposing and immodest dress that she wore. Maybe it was the fact that she remained grounded the entire time, never floating into the air, even when she laughed with her shallow friends.
As if she had heard me, which was impossible with the terrible music surrounding us, Starfire's head jerked up to meet my masked eyes. Could she recognize me? I could only stare back at her green eyes. Her smile dropped and she immediately stiffened. Ah crap, she probably recognized me. Starfire said something to the nearest girl in her gang and immediately backed out, running out of the club. The remaining gang exchanged quizzical looks, but they quickly shrugged and continued their high-pitched laughing.
I immediately jumped out of my seat, pushing past the sea of people and eventually made it to the exit. I pushed open the glass door, running past the bouncer.
"Going so soon, eh?" I could hear him say in a monotone voice. I ignored his comment, dashing past a line of cars that had parked along the curb. Starfire was only a few feet away from me, but she never looked back.
"Starfire!" I called out. Eventually, I made it to her, slowing down to a walking pace. Now that I had a good look at her, I could tell that the years had been kind to me. I was at least taller than her now, even if it was by a mere inch or two. "Hello, Starfire… Long time no see?" I tried to coax a few words out of her. She refused to meet my eyes, instead staring out at the path ahead of us.
"Please, I wish to be alone." After all these years, her voice retained its soft and feminine tone, but the pain seemed to have made her lose the joyful ring it used to have. "I do not wish to speak with you."
"Yeah, I can see that." I suppressed the dry edge in my voice. "I'm… Visiting Jump City, Bludhaven's been a bit quiet lately." I said conversationally, but she didn't respond, instead speeding up her pace. I easily matched it, my eyes still on her. "Please Star, it's been three years, why won't you talk to me?" I pleaded. Something in Starfire seemed to snap, her eyes starting to glow dangerously as she rounded on me.
"Talk?" She repeated. "Talk, as in talk about how you never fulfilled your promise to respond to our messages? Talk, as in talk about how much has changed, and it is your entire fault? And shall we also talk about why you decided to visit us now, instead of one, two years ago?" Starfire inched closer to me with every word she spat out, pointing a finger at me in an accusing manner. "You, Robin, are as they say, an idiot, and the reason for my suffering! I do not wish to speak with you!" We were nose to nose now, although her eyes slowly began to lose their glow after she was done with her screaming, though they remained angry and narrow.
"Star, whatever it was, I'm sor-" I began, but was cut off by her.
"No, you are not sorry." She snapped, starting her finger-jabbing again. "You cannot possibly expect to appear in Jump City one day, apologize for what you did, and expect forgiveness!" Her shouting was quickly drawing attention, and we were so close together, and the feelings I had bottled up inside were near bursting point…
So I did it. I did something my younger, teenage self would have shunned; I did something that I never thought that I would've had the guts to do. I closed the distance between us, cupped my hands around her face, pressed my lips against hers and kissed her. Of course she was surprised by my sudden action, suddenly shutting up and stiffening. The kiss only lasted for a moment, ending with her pushing me off.
When I opened my eyes again, I was surprised with what I saw. She was floating. Her feet were only a few inches off the ground, but she was floating. Even Starfire seemed astonished by this, gazing down in wonder. It only lasted for a second though, and she quickly dropped back down to the ground, glaring at me the entire time.
"You… You clorbag!" She screeched, venom behind her every word. I still didn't know what clorbag meant, but the word hurt me nevertheless. "It is wrong to cheat on your mate!" Star started ranting about adultery and infidelity, throwing her arms wildly around in the air.
"Wait a minute, my mate? Star, what the hell are you talking about?" I was thoroughly confused by her words; did she somehow read a false news article about me? There were an awful lot floating around on the internet… Starfire looked back up at me, her eyes still burning with hate.
"Barbara Gordon? Your girlfriend, something we were not?" She said bitterly. I blinked once, then instantly understood everything. Star's strange behavior and her resentment towards me… All because of that?
"Star, you've got it all wrong." I said quietly, attempting to calm her down. She narrowed her eyes.
"How so?" I drew a deep breath.
"Babs and I, we weren't together." The look of hatred visibly died down in her eyes, but she remained stiff. "We were just friends, and she visited me often when I was in Bludhaven. A lot of people thought we were dating, and the press had a field day with this. But we're not together, Star."
"So she is not your girlfriend?" Star asked slowly. I shook my head.
"No, she's not my girlfriend." I echoed. "I've never had one."
Starfire digested the new information slowly, crossing her arms and looking down at the ground. Eventually, she nodded and resumed swiftly pacing along the sidewalk.
"Don't you have anything to say?" I asked, jogging a little to catch up to her. She looked over her shoulder to give me an unreadable gaze, then stopped at her destination: The T-Car. What Vic had told me really was true; she was unable to fly.
"Please, Robin, I wish to be left alone." She said sadly, stepping into the car and slamming the door shut in front of me. My shoulders slumped in defeat and sudden fatigue as she drove the car off, hopefully back to the tower.
"Well, that went wonderfully." I muttered dryly, starting my long walk back to my motorcycle.
Ugh, I'm not very happy with this chapter. Hopefully the next chapter will be much better. No worries, it'll come up soon, I already have a good idea on what'll take place. To answer a few questions in your head, yes, [ spoiler alert ] BB and Raven will soon make their appearance. To everyone who has remained subscribed to this story despite my long hiatus, thank you very much! I'll try to update more often from now on.
Hey, I'm also thinking about starting another multi-chaptered story, a high-school AU story. No worries, I won't bother too much about cliques and all that, but I was just wondering about it... Can I have your thoughts on it? :D