"You did what?" Wally asked later that day when they were at the cave. Artemis had gone to Zatanna's so DIck went to the cave to talk to Wally. "I told her I loved her." Dick said putting his face in his hands. "You said those exact words, 'I love you' is what you said?" Wally asked taking a seat next to his friend. "Well no I said I don't want to see another person I love die." Dick explained which made Wally raise his eyebrows,
"Why'd you say that? Is she in trouble?" Wally asked and Dick sighed 'good job Dick' he thought to himself. "No she's not in trouble she was just angry the other day and went looking for trouble and she ran into a group of guys who she eventually took down but she got beaten up too. I was just telling her i didn't want her to put herself in dangerous situations. Anyway, After I said that we both stopped yelling and she just looked at me and it's like she knew that I didn't mean it in a friends or brother and sister sort of way so now I have no excuse. I found her later and she didn't bring it up again which I was grateful for because I didn't even know if I loved Artemis or not." Dick said and Wally laughed, "Dude even a blind person could see that you were in love with her."
"Shut up man that's not true." Dick said looking at his best friend like he was an idiot who over exaggerates everything 'oh wait he is' Dick thought to himself. "Dude come on you used to follow her home to make sure she didn't get into trouble you used to leave anonymous notes in her locker and she still doesn't know who they're from. You started listening to love songs like 'beautiful soul' by Jesse Mccartney which was so annoying because it used to get stuck in my head. You are totally in love with her and it was so obvious to everyone except the two of you." Wally said and sat down next to his friend.
"I think you should just tell her again but this time don't yell it at her and make sure she knows that it's a more than friends situation cause it'd be awkward if you told her and she said she loved you back but she meant it as a friend thing, you know?" Wally said and Dick just stared at him before saying, "I'm not going to tell her again. She couldn't get away from me fast enough when I told her the first time." Dick said and then his phone vibrated with a new message from Bruce.
"Listen dude I have to go, i'll talk to you later." Dick said before grabbing his bag and walking over to the zeta tubes. "Alright man see ya." Wally said, getting up and going to the kitchen to make himself a sandwhich.
Artemis sat down on Zatanna's desk chair and said, "He told me he loves me." zatanna gasps and then smiles the biggest of smiles, "See I told you. Artemis this is great, you two would be adorable together. You two are perfect for eachother. What'd you do after? Did you tell him you love him too?" Zatanna asked her friend.
"What? No I didn't tell Dick that I love him because I don't. I don't know how I feel about Dick, and I didn't say anything I just left and then he came and found me and we didn't talk about it. He didn't mean to say it, that was obvious. It was a spur of the moment thing we were both angry and yelling and he just sort of said it, well his exact words were 'I don't want to see another person I love die.' and I just froze and then left." Artemis explained. "Why didn't you say anything? Now he probably thinks that he ruined your friendship." Zatanna told her best friend who ran a hand through her hair.
"I don't know what to do Zee, I haven't stopped thinking about it and I have a funny feeling in my stomach when I look at him and he just makes me feel so…" Artemis trailed off searching for the right word.
"Happy?" Zatanna suggested and Artemis shrugged. "yeah I guess happy is the word." Artemis said and pulled out her phone when it buzzed with a text from DIck. 'Hey Mis, I won't be able to pick you up. Can Zatanna give you a ride to the cave? You can zeta back to the manor.' the text read. "Hey Zee can you give me a ride later back to the cave?" Artemis asked and when her friend nodded Artemis texted Dick back saying, 'Yeah Zatanna can give me a ride, is everything okay?' and few seconds later Dick texted back. 'Okay, cool. Yeah everything's fine Bruce just wants to talk about training or something. I'll see you later Mis.' Dick said and Artemis texted him back saying 'okay, bye.'
"You should tell him how you feel, you should tell him about how he makes you feel happy and all that stuff." Zatanna said to her friend. Artemis thought about that idea for a moment before deciding against it, "I don't think I should. He might not of meant that he loves me in a romantic kind of way. He could've meant a family or friends way." She explained. Zatanna scoffed and said, "Girl, even a blind person would be able to see he's in love with you. You two are so perfect for eachother and you're just too stubborn to admit it." Zatanna exclaimed before lying on her bed and turning her attention to her phone.
"Thanks zatanna." Artemis said when Zatanna dropped her off at the cave. Artemis entered the cave and walked into the main room finding Wally, M'gann and Kaldur watching a movie. "Oh my God Artemis!" M'gann said when she saw her earth sister. "Hey M'gann." Artemis said and hugged M'gann back. "Are you feeling any better?" M'gann asked and Artemis raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" Artemis asked. "You were sick weren't you?" M'gann asked drawing the attention of Wally and Kaldur.
"Yeah sorry my brain is still a little frazzled." Artemis said and then added, "But other then that I'm feeling better."
"Well that's good, when will you be coming back to the team?" Kaldur asked and after thinking about it for a moment Artemis said, "I should be back next week." Kaldur smiled and nodded his head. "Good, we all look forward to having you back." Kaldur said and Wally said "Especially Rob." Artemis froze for a split second but Wally noticed. 'He knows' Artemis thought to herself. "Well I look forward to being back, I have to go now so i'll see you guys next week." Artemis said before quickly saying good bye and leaving through the zeta tubes.
"Richard Grayson come back here right now!" Bruce yelled at his ward as soon as Artemis entered the bat cave. Artemis flinched when she heard the words that came out of Dick's mouth. "Why should I? It's not like you've ever cared about what I do before."
"Dick please just listen. She is unstable and she needs to be put into a mental health facility where she would be able to get some help. I know you have some stupid feelings for her but I don't want you getting involved with someone who is mentally unstable, you could get very hurt Dick and I don't want to see you get hurt." Bruce said and Alfred, who was standing beside Bruce, nodded in agreement.
"They aren't just some stupid feelings Bruce, I love Artemis and i don't care how unstable she is, i'm not going to just force her into rehab without hearing how she feels first. Artemis is my best friend and I would do anything to help her and that's what i'm going to do, just one step at a time." Dick said and both Bruce and Alfred were silent after that and watched as Dick walked away.
Artemis didn't know what to do so she waited a few more minutes before walking further into the room. "Artemis, welcome back. Can I get you anything?" Alfred asked with a forced looking smile on his face. "No thanks Alfred i'm good." Artemis said and said a quick "hello." to Bruce who didn't respond. Artemis went upstairs and tried to find Dicks room without getting lost. To her surprise when she knocked on the door there was an answer and she walked in.
"Hey. What's wrong?" Artemis asked already aware of why he looked like he could punch a wall but she wanted to hear it from him. "Hey, it's nothing just Bruce. How's Zatanna?" Dick asked,avoiding Artemis's eyes. Artemis looked at him suspiciously and replied, "She's good, a little bored because she's grounded at the moment after she was caught trying to sneak out to go to a party." Artemis said and Dick smiled. "yeah that sounds like zee." They at in silence for a few moments before Dick said "I knew you were there."
"What do you mean?" Artemis asked confused. "You heard me arguing with Bruce." Dick said and he finally looked at her. Artemis sighed and said "I didn't mean to eavesdrop Dick I just didn't know what to do." Artemis explained hoping he wouldn't get mad at her. "I don't care Artemis. I just wanted to make sure you understood what I was saying and that I really meant it." Dick said and Artemis froze again. She started to think about what Zatanna said and she realised that Zatanna was right, Artemis had always been too stubborn to admit her true feelings to Dick and now was the perfect chance.
But when she was about to respond she remembered what Bruce said about her being unstable and how she was going to hurt Dick and she changed her mind and said, "Dick, i'm really sorry to say this. You're my best friend and I really care about you and I don't want to ruin our friendship but I just have to tell you that I don't love you the way you love me, you're like family to me Dick." She saw the Disappointment and sadness appear in Dick's eyes as soon as she said 'i'm sorry to say this.' Dick looked away and the two of them sat in an uncomfortable silence. She had hurt him, Artemis knew that. But she hoped that she also spared him some pain.