The clicking sound Of Colleen's heels echoed through the empty room, the skirt of her cream colored dress twisting and swaying around her knees. It had been a gift, left for her at the foot of her bed when she had come out of the shower that morning. With an unsigned note to come here.
The restaurant was beautiful, with golden sheets of silk draped from the walls and glass—crystal?—chandeliers. It was a place Colleen could never afford to walk into, let alone eat at, if it wasn't for the girl waiting for her at the center table. Damia was decked out in a short black cocktail dress showing off her long silky legs. Her black hair was curled into loose waves, and a silver chain necklace was almost the only thing covering her chest. Colleen almost tripped over her heels when she saw the woman.
Recovering her cool, the redhead clutched her purse (only holding Abuse's brass knuckles and a cell phone Damia had insisted on buying her) and took a deep breath. She and Damia had gone on dates before. It wasn't a big deal—at least it never was to Damia. Colleen, however, was head over heels for the Girl Wonder and always craved any alone time she got.
As Colleen reached the table, she leaned down and gave Damia a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for the dress."
The raven-haired woman looked away, a blush that contrasted with her brutish personality coloring her cheeks. "Whatever. I just thought it would look good on you."
Grinning slightly, Colleen slipped into the chair across from Damia. "You look good, too," she said, slipping her foot out of her heel and boldly running it up the other woman's calf.
"Someone's in a good mood," Damia commented with a sly grin.
"Gotham hasn't been attacked in 78 hours, and I'm having a secret dinner with Number One of People's 'Most Gorgeous Bachelorettes.' I'd say I'm in a great mood." Colleen flashed a grin that faded as she saw the look in Damia's eyes. "What's wrong?"
Damia focused on a spot past the other girl's shoulder, her face impassive and eyes a stony blue. "We can't do this anymore."
"'This?'" Colleen asked, her heart squeezing tightly in her chest. It felt like a building had just collapsed on her lungs (a feeling Abuse had unfortunately felt a few times before), but the girl tried to keep her voice even. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means," Damia said slowly, still not making eye contact, "that I'm tired of sneaking around with you."
"Oh." The last bubble of hope Colleen held onto popped and it felt an awful lot like her heart breaking. She should have gotten used to it by now, should have learned not to get attached to people. Her parents, foster parents, even the nuns didn't want her anymore, why on earth would she think Damia did?
"Oh?" The brunette asked, like she expected a different reaction. Her eyes finally moved to the redhead, but Colleen was busy looking through her purse, her expression blank.
The redhead pulled out her cellphone before placing it on the table, getting up, and walking away. For once the Girl Wonder was too stunned to jump to action. She wanted the other girl's receding body for a moment before leaping to her feet and following her.
"Hold it," Damia called, "Where do you think you're going?"
Colleen felt the grip on her arm, but was too weak to pull away. Right now she felt like she could collapse at any second. "Can we—" her voice broke, so she cleared her throat and tried again, "Can we please talk about this later? I just… I need a minute, okay?"
"A minuet for what? I just told you—"
"I heard what you said," Colleen cut her off. "I get it. I really do. If we were caught… Damia Wayne couldn't afford that kind of scandal."
Dark eyebrows scrunched in confusion. "What are you talking about? You think that I care abou…" The girl trailed off, running over the conversation again in her mind, suddenly her eyes widened, "Oh, god! Did you think I was breaking up with you? Are you an idiot?"
Colleen blinked, slowly turning back to Damia, "You aren't?"
"No!" And then the girl started laughing, "I'm not stupid. I wouldn't throw… whatever we have away." She laced her fingers through Colleen's, "I just want to be us. Together. In public. I have to hide half of my life, I don't want to hide the rest of it."
Wiping away her tears with her free hand, Colleen nodded with a smile. "Okay," she whispered, leaning in and kissing Damia. As their lips met, the ground shook. Screams sounded all around them. The two pulled apart, shared a look, and ran off into the danger of the unknown.
Because Damia is no better at telling Colleen that she loves her then Damian is at telling Colin he loves him.