Heyo! No new news to share, just popped in to say,
I do not own the Teen Titans [only my OC]
#**********#
We're all gathered around Robin in the living room, each one of us trying to talk over another.
"Dude, where were you?"
"Are you okay, friend Robin?"
"I tried to reach you telepathically, but you were too far away."
"We were all worried sick!"
"Seriously, are you injured?"
Robin raises a gloved hand to silence us.
"I'm fine everyone. Trust me, I'm okay." He says.
I look him in the eyes; searching for some sort of sign that he's lying. He couldn't just run away for that long and be okay. I remember what Cyborg and Raven had told me about the other times he had left, and how trouble always seemed to come with him. But his masked eyes tell me nothing. Unlike my mask, his eyes are hidden completely, whereas mine are visible behind a clear plastic.
"Cyan, I'm fine, really." Robin assures me. I blush after I realize he caught me staring.
"If you're fine, then tell us what happened. Tell us where you went." Cyborg says to Robin.
Robin looks away nervously for a split second, and then turns to us.
"I went to that small town a few miles up north- Newburry."
I take in a sharp breath, and everyone moves their eyes to me. I start to sweat. They're going to wonder about me; going to ask questions.
"Friend Rush, do you know of this place that Robin speaks of?" Starfire asks me with raised eyebrows.
"U-um-" I stutter.
"Yeah, do you know that place?" Beast Boy questions me.
I rub my neck and turn my eyes toward the ground. I swallow the words that are starting to form in my head.
"You live there." Raven confirms.
I snap my head towards her and stare at her.
"What?" Cyborg says.
"I thought you lived in Jump City your whole life!" Beast Boy says to me.
"That is what you told us the day we met you." Robin recollects.
I try to speak, but no words come out. Raven does the speaking for me, much to my dismay.
"She was lying. She lived in Newburry, before she came here." Raven says without breaking eye contact with me.
Anger boils up inside of me. Raven- she can't do that. She can't just accuse me of lying. I was lying, but she doesn't know anything. She doesn't know that it was for a good reason. I needed to protect myself. She doesn't know anything.
Beast Boy takes a sheepish step towards me.
"But- you said…"
"I KNOW WHAT I SAID!" I roar at him.
Everyone goes silent. As silent as my parents were when I waved my last goodbye to them.
Stop it. Stop it.
Robin takes a deep breath and starts to speak. His words are meant for me, but I don't hear him. Everyone is so far away. It's only me.
I only focus on my breathing. In and out. Suddenly, everyone starts talking again. I need to leave.
"Shut up! All of you!" I lift my head and stare at everyone through a film of tears. "You just don't get it. I lied for a reason. A good reason! I needed…" I glance at the identical worried faces of the five people in front of me. "I needed to protect myself."
Cyborg looks at me. His face is kind, yet scared.
"Protect yourself from what, Rush?"
I turn my back to everyone and start out the door. I'm done talking, and they let me leave. I don't slam the door behind me; I just let it gently close. As I walk through the garden pathway, Cyborg's words still echo through my ears. Protect yourself from what, Rush?
I smirk.
Not from what.
From who.
#************#
The leaves crunch beneath my feet as I walk under the moonlit sky. How long have I been out here? Minutes? Hours?
It doesn't matter. The longer, the better. I'm sure the Teen Titans are still trying to comprehend what I had said to them at the Titans Tower. I'm still trying to comprehend it. I shouldn't even have said anything, but I was too angry to just let Raven keep talking. Now they know something's wrong- either something wrong with me, or something wrong with my past. They're going to keep asking me questions, and now there's nothing I can do. I screwed up.
"Rush?"
I whirl around and see Robin standing near a large flower bush. Was he following me this whole time?
"What?" I say.
He smiles, sits on the bench nearest to me and motions for me to sit with him. I reluctantly take a seat next to him. We sit in silence for a few minutes before Robin speaks again.
"I've never really come out here much. Guess I don't like gardens."
I don't want to talk to him, but I do anyway.
"Huh? Why?" I ask, trying to sound disinterested.
He shrugs,
"I don't know. Bees kind of freak me out. Good thing they don't come out at night."
"And it's getting pretty cold, too." I add.
"Yeah."
I shift uncomfortably as I realize that he isn't going to leave until we have a real conversation.
"Hey, you know that we aren't going to try and dig up all your secrets, right?" He says.
I wish I could say 'I know that', but I can't. I thought that I would have to keep my secrets buried deep, or else they would be found- but if what Robin is saying is true, then I don't.
"You mean that?" I ask, staring at the withering brown leaves on the trees around us.
He turns his head towards me and stares right through my mask.
"We all have secrets, Rush. Cyborg, Starfire, Beast Boy, Raven, me. We all do. And we all share what we want to share and keep to ourselves what we want to. Why should you be any different? You're a Teen Titan, and a friend."
I've never heard Robin call me a friend before. Honestly, I wasn't even sure he liked me. Hearing the word "friend" has been foreign, until I met the Teen Titans. Now I hear it almost every day. They think of me as their friend, but do I think of them as mine?
"I just thought you guys still don't trust me." I tell Robin.
He gives me a puzzled look, as if I said the craziest thing.
"Why wouldn't we? You haven't given us any reason not to."
I smile to myself. He has no idea what's coming.
#************#
Hey readers! I've decided to change the name of this story! Only, I can't think of any good names….
PM me any name suggestions! It would be really helpful! Also, there will be no OC/Robin romance- just good old team bonding!