This is long overdue. I hope you enjoy!


Rachel raced out of the hotel, foxing her hair carefully and adjusting anything that needed adjusting. The doorman shot her a sympathetic smile and she wanted to punch herself. Rachel was officially that whore who has slept with her high school something and was a teen mom. She wanted to kill herself.

She managed to hail a taxi in the godforsaken city and jumped in. Rachel was almost sure she had heard someone yelling after her. And there was only one person who would yell after her at five forty-three in the morning.

Rachel had managed to shake off that feeling and silently willed the taxi to go faster. The traffic was ridiculous, but this early in the morning? Rachel wanted to punch herself. Repeatedly. In the face.

It took almost 20 minutes, but she finally made it home. She half-expected Toni to be waiting up at the door, but found no one. She heard some shuffling upstairs, and groaned to herself. She hadn't made it home before Jack woke up, like clockwork, at six. She was going to be answering some difficult questions from Toni…


It was almost 9. It took two and a half hours to get Toni off her case. That's not including the half hour it took to get Jack ready with her following close behind. Rachel was ready to castrate a certain billionaire for doing this to her again. But she couldn't blame Dick. She was as much at fault as he was.

Jack wanted pancakes with those "blubberies," which neither Rachel or Toni could make. Rachel was ready to punch someone in the face. This morning was just not going in her favor. The diner she wanted to go to had gone out of business and transformed into a bank or something, so they needed to find a new place to eat blubbery pancakes.

The three went to Shannon's, where Jennifer was eating with her latest boyfriend. Jennifer had invited herself into the group, which caused her to explain once again the situation with Dick.

Speaking of Richard Grayson…

He was there. Sitting across the small diner. Staring at Rachel. He refused to stop looking at her, but if he did, it was to look at Jack. Rachel wanted to swear furiously or run away or something, but that just wasn't possible for her.

She excused herself to go to the bathroom, but Richard caught her right before she could get in. Meaning she had to talk to him.

He rubbed his hands casually down the front of his slacks, catching Rachel's attention. "What happened to you this morning?"

"I left," she said bluntly. "Look, I need to pee, so can I-"

"No. You left. This morning. At 5:30. You didn't bother trying to wake me up or anything."

"Yeah. You caught me. Can I pee now?"

"No, Rachel. You tried to sneak out of my hotel room like some one-night stand. You and I both know it was so much more than a one-night stand."

Rachel sighed. He obviously wasn't going to make this easy for her. "Why couldn't it be a one-night stand? I'm fine with being a whore."

Richard grabbed her arm roughly, making her gasp out in surprise. "You are not a whore. Don't ever say that again."

"Okay, fine. Can we just not talk about it? I need to pee, and Toni and Jen are probably trying to figure out what's going on over here. So please can you just let go of me?"

Richard released her arm without a word before staggering back to his table, looking like he had just seen a ghost. At least, that's what Rachel made herself believe. She refused to think she had actually hurt him or anything. She burst into the bathroom and leaned against the small sink. She took several deep breaths before turning on the faucet. She splashed her face and waiting a couple more minutes before deciding she was ready to go back out and face… everyone.

Rachel was literally three feet away from her table when Dick intercepted her.

"If you ever need anything, and I mean anything. Money, clothes, a place to stay, whatever… Just call me. Please." He slipped something into her hand before walking out.

Rachel sighed again. She seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. She glanced at the piece of paper in her hand. Ten digits. His phone number. Rachel hoped she would never have to use it.


The next two weeks seemed to never give her a break. Rachel, Toni, and Jack had ended up staying in Jump for much longer than expected. No one would let her leave. Dick was still next door, tempting her.

Rachel had been gardening when Dick came up to her. He knelt down next to her. With his tight shirt on, running shorts, covered in sweat…

"You doing okay?"

Rachel nodded, eager to get rid of him. "Yeah, fine."

"You need any help with this?"

Rachel risked a glance at him. "You want to help me with gardening?"

Dick shrugged. "Why not? I mean, you don't like gardening."

Rachel scowled in at herself. "Whatever."

She continued to attack the innocent flowers with the rake? Hoe? Whatever it was called, it was killing several flowers. Richard put his hand on top of hers, stopping her movements. She glanced up into his blue blue eyes. Her first mistake.

He leaned down and kissed her softly, tenderly. Hearing Jack call out for Rachel, Dick pulled away slowly, watching Rachel's eyes flutter open and chase after him.

"I mean it. If you ever need anything."

He stood up and jogged back down the patch in between their houses.

Rachel's head cleared up when he was finally out of her sight. Damn! She needed to be more careful with this. With Richard. She couldn't have him back in her life.

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.

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Playlist:

Wild Horses Cover-Elizabeth Gillies

Tik Tok-Ke$ha

Fix a Heart-Demi Lovato

You Da One-Rihanna

Edge of Glory-Lady Gaga

Take a Hint-Victoria Justice and Elizabeth Gillies

Die in Your Arms Cover-Ariana Grande

Sick-Evanescence

Review.

-klrob