Sorry this chapter took FOREVER to get up! I had lots and lots of volleyball practice, but it was worth it...we won the championship!!!!!!
Thanks so much to Artemis 96, BerryDrops, cartoonfire, cartoonstar, Crimson Black, Royalfire14, 4ever Singing, caresse345, Koriand'r Grayson, Kory Anders Grayson, FairieAngelx3o, SaoirseWaveglow, and lil love fan for reviewing the last chapter!
Disclaimer: I own nothing mentioned below.
Karen looked better. That was the highlight of Kori's early morning.
She'd left the hotel before everyone was up, grabbing breakfast at a small restaurant downtown. Then she'd gone to the park. Cleaning crews were there, attempting to sweep up the large amount of litter on the grass. What from, Kori had no idea. She sat down in a clean spot, protected from the eyes of the rest of the world by the branched and leaves of the weeping willow she was under. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, willing herself to forget all of her problems, just for a few hours. They could be dealt with later. Then, she pulled out a book from her rather large purse to read.
After an hour, she'd stuffed it back in again, disgusted. Of course, she'd picked out a romance novel. That was the last thing she wanted to read right now. Too much about cheating and breaking up and--
Kori stopped the train of thought. No. Not her and Richard. Never. Well, maybe, but not now, and no time soon. Hopefully not...
She groaned, unable to clear her head. She'd just have to go and talk to him. Richard always knew how to make her feel better, and why not about this? Surely he'd just deny that anything was going on between him and Babs, apologize profusely for not being there this entire vacation so far, and clear everything up with a kiss and a promise for a night out, right?
When she got back to the hotel, everyone was in the lobby, speaking frantically to the woman at the front desk of the hotel. Angelina turned and saw her. "She's here! She's okay!" Now ignoring the confused lady, the friends gathered around Kori and made various sounds of relief.
"We thought you got kidnapped or something! Karen woke up and you weren't there and she woke the rest of us up 'cause Vic and Gar fell asleep playing on Alan's porta-GameStation last night and we were all in the same room so she had to wake everyone up and we went looking for you all around the hotel and--" Wally said, refusing to take a breath until his story was finished. Jenny shushed him embarrassedly.
"Where were you?" asked Vic. Kori shrugged.
"Around..." No one asked anymore. "I'll be right back, I have to go up to the room for something..."
She ended up in front of Richard's room, and, finding it unlocked, walked in. There, on the couch, were Richard and Babs cuddling, asleep. With a sob loud enough to wake both of them, Kori ran out and into her own room, locking the door behind her and ignoring Richard's cries for her. She flung herself on to the bed and screamed into her pillow until she calmed down. She. Hated. Babs. So. Much.
You're overreacting, she told herself soothingly. I'm sure there's a perfectly reasonable explanation...
Shut up. Just shut up. There's no possible explanation for that. She didn't argue.
She stayed like that, curled up on her bed, for quite a while, at least until Richard's poundings on her door died away. A new knocking came to her door. "Kori? It's Rachel. Do you want to let me in?"
"Karen, too," added Karen.
"And Jenny."
"You okay, Kori?" asked Nicole.
"Let us in, Kori, we can all talk then," suggested Angelina. Kori followed their advice, crawling out of the bed to open the door and slinking back in again. In came all the girls of the group (minus Gar and Roy) armed with chocolate, ice cream, and make up. Kori watched half-amusedly as they set their things on the floor.
"Lock the door behind you," she told Rachel, the last one to come in. Rachel rolled her eyes, but did so. Karen handed Kori a bowl of ice cream and a chocolate bar.
"Spill."
Taking a deep breath again, Kori narrated the entire story. She finished with, "I know it seems like I'm overreacting, but I can't help it. I'm so afraid..." Nicole came around and gave her a comforting hug.
"I know Dick better than that. You don't have to be afraid, Kori. He wouldn't try to hurt you on purpose."
"But what if he really doesn't care about me anymore?" she asked desperately, looking at each of her friends in turn. "I've heard so much about how I'm exactly like Babs. What if he wants the real thing? I can't be as..." She wrinkled her nose. "Babs-ish as her." A few girls chuckled a little bit.
"You don't have to worry about a thing, Kori. Dick wouldn't do that. He'd be stupid to. More ice cream?" Kori held out her bowl and accepted another scoop.
"So..." she said, breaking the silence. "What's wrong with you, Karen?" Karen's face darkened.
"It's not important. More chocolate?" Kori shook her head.
"Really, Karen. We've all noticed," Jenny chipped in. Karen sighed and sat cross-legged on the floor, while Jenny, and Angelina did so as well. Nicole and Rachel joined Kori on her bed. The redhead had finally crawled out of the covers, so there was much more space. Karen threw a look at Rachel, who shrugged.
"You know," Kori surmised. Again, Rachel shrugged.
"It's just...Vic..." Karen started, angrily stabbing her ice cream and shoveling it in her mouth. "And that Sarah girl. He keeps flirting with her, and I told him that he should stop, but..." She spooned up more ice cream. "He's a big, stupid oaf, that's what he is. He won't even break up with me for her. But he's cheating on me, and I've seen him at it. I just don't want to end this, you know? We've been together, like, forever. I guess he's just bored." They all ate their ice cream in silence.
"At least you aren't falling apart," muttered Kori darkly.
"But you have a reason to, Kori. For me, it's just a high school relationship. For you and Dick, it's a lot more, you know? Even he wouldn't throw something like that away, and he can be more stupid than V...Gar." Everyone nodded in agreement, but Kori wasn't sure what to say to that. There was another long silence.
"I don't think girl talks are supposed to be this solemn. Anyone got something happy to share?" asked Angelina brightly. No one raised their hands. "Pretty bummed out vacation, huh?"
"You can say that again," commented Rachel.
"What's wrong with you?"
"What else? More relationship problems. I swear, Xavier's group is out to get us. Gar's mad because I was hanging out with Malchior a lot, and I accused him of getting too close to Terra, so now he won't talk to me." She shrugged. "His loss."
"At least you haven't broken up," offered Nicole. "...Roy and I did yesterday."
"WHAT?"
"It just wasn't working out. We're still friends, though, so it's okay." She smiled serenely. "Besides, it would be kind of hard to make a relationship work while I was at college and him still in high school." Jenny frowned.
"Since when are you going to college?"
"I skipped a grade. I was in the senior year last year, remember? I'm really nervous about it, but I'm sure everything'll turn out fine." Rachel snorted.
"You always think everything will turn out fine."
Kori munched on her chocolate thoughtfully. "Maybe it won't, though. At the rate we're going, at least half of us are going to have broken hearts before we start senior year."
"Knock wood!" Karen ordered. They all did so to appease their superstitious friend. Kori hastily revised her statement.
"Broken hearts or new relationships. Hopefully the latter."
After yet another long silence, Nicole said, "Have you ever thought about wrestling?"
"Wrestling?"
"Mm-hmm. The names they make up for themselves are so creative!" She giggled a little bit. "I made mine up when I was little. How does 'Panther' sound?" Angelina giggled along with her.
"That was random. Cheery, but random."
"Nicole, you'd be the last person I'd ever expect to see wrestle. You're too nice. I think track or cross country is more your thing, not a contact sport. Besides, you're really smart. You're just going to throw all that away?" asked Jenny, frowning.
"But it's choreographed. Like dance. Sure, people get hurt, but it takes a lot of skill, and a lot of muscle. And I wouldn't do it for a real job, just...I don't know. I wanted to be a vet...or a scientist. I just thought it would be fun."
"There's a dark side to you we never had any idea about," said Karen jokingly. "But I can so imagine you all buff and muscle-y, dropping people out of the ring with one hand and then posing wearing next to nothing." Nicole laughed too.
Smiling, Kori crawled under the covers of her bed, snuggling up. They'd made her feel a lot better about everything. Sure, she was still upset, but at least she wasn't pulling her hair out in frustration anymore. She just wished Richard would get his priorities straight. Maybe she was asking too much from someone who'd already done so much for her.
"Kori? You okay?" asked Jenny. Kori frowned.
"Yeah..." A knock sounded at her door, and Kori, startled, jumped out of the covers.
"Kori? It's me. Can I come in?" asked Richard. The girls were suddenly all over the place.
"You look like you've been crying. Get me a hairbrush and some water," hissed Karen. She smoothed out Kori's hair quickly and then splashed cold water on her face, which Kori blinked out of her eyes in surprise. "Good. You don't want him to know how worried you are about Babs. Now go!"
"Why?" asked Kori.
"Later!"
"Kori? Are you talking to someone?" called Richard from outside. Angelina pushed Kori towards the door, and she opened it. Across from her stood a soaking wet, slightly shivering Richard, who peered over her shoulder and got a shock seeing five other girls in the room. "Um...hey."
"Dick," Karen spat. Kori bit her lip as Richard's shoulders slumped.
"Yeah. Uh...if you guys are busy, then I can just come back later..." Angelina and Jenny crossed their arms, letting out identical sounds of distaste. Richard looked even more hopeless, and turned to leave.
"No, Dick, we were just going. See you later, Kori," said Rachel firmly. Rolling their eyes, the other four girls followed, Rachel tripping Kori on the way out 'accidentally.' Kori fell into Richard, who caught her out of habit. Before she could pull away, though, he hugged her, forgetting how wet he was.
"I'm sorry." He wouldn't let her go, and she started to shiver as well. "I know you don't want to hear it, but I can totally explain..."
"Richard, you're cold," Kori grunted. He released her embarrassedly, scratching the back of his neck.
"Sorry...again. It was raining outside." Kori didn't bother asking what he was doing outside. Sighing, he shuffled to the door. "That's...I just...yeah. Sorry." He shrugged half-heartedly, looking away. Kori wanted to get angry, to yell and scream and point fingers, but she couldn't. He looked so absolutely pathetic it was beyond her willpower to get mad now.
"Whatever," she answered, shrugging back. Her mind was burning with rage, but she just couldn't voice it. "Doesn't matter."
He stared at her pleadingly. "What do you want me to do, Kori? I know you don't want to hear any of that crap. Tell me what I should do about her. Who am I supposed to choose when both of you are..." Again, Kori shrugged.
"Whomever you think is more important." She closed the door on her boyfriend's face.
Thereafter, she resolved to push the matter out of her mind, at least for the remainder of the day. She felt like being alone, and just left a note for whomever, if anyone, decided to check the room to see if she was there. Then she walked downtown, wandering about aimlessly.
"Kori?" She bit her lip, trying to tuck her red hair over her shoulder so she'd blend in more, but it was no use. Someone had already recognized her. Why it had to be him, she had no idea.
"Xavier," she muttered dully, glancing around to make sure people were there. Xavier came up to her and slung an arm around her shoulders, which she quickly wriggled out of. Undeterred, he wrapped it around her shoulders again.
"I heard you and Dick were having problems."
"That's none of your concern."
"So you are?"
"In case you didn't understand, Xavier, that means 'leave me alone.'"
He smirked. "Now, now, cutie. Don't provoke me, or I might just get dangerous again." She rolled her eyes, smacking his arm away. In a street full of people? Yeah right. Still, she was on alert. "Come on, how 'bout I take you out today? To get your mind of Grayson, anyways."
"We're already out," Kori pointed out. Xavier grinned.
"I'll take that as a yes. Where--"
"No."
"No?"
"No," Kori confirmed. "You've got to be insane if you think I'll ever trust you again. Rehab or not, I'm not going anywhere alone with you. Ever. So get your hands off of me and go." Insulted, Xavier just shook his head and went on about his criminal (Kori guessed) way, and she on hers. Somehow, though, in the back of her mind, she knew Xavier hadn't given up.
After a while, she got bored and went back to the hotel. No one she knew was there, so she grabbed a pop out of the fridge and settled down on the couch. Ice cold drink. Rich leather couch. Hotel stay.
All coming from Bruce Wayne's pocket.
She felt disgusted all of a sudden, and got up, glaring at the couch as though it had verbally reminded her that she owed Richard...practically her life. She hated it, she hated admitting it, but most of all, she hated herself. Who had come to her aid when her parents had died? Who had rushed over as soon as she'd called to say her sister was trying to steal all of her possessions? Whose house...mansion, more like, had she lived in for the past six months so Galfore's family could move into her own?
It sure wasn't Xavier's.
And this afternoon, she'd been so horrible to him. She should have been more understanding, more considerate. She should have been a better girlfriend, or at least tried.
Maybe...I'm not good enough for him, she thought. How could I be so stupid? Of course Babs would appreciate him more, that's why he keeps running to her. I've never cheated on him, but what about all the fights we've had? Well, we never had any while we were dating before this summer. Is that because he likes Babs better?
Not wanting to sit on that accursed ouch, she set her drink down on the island and slid to the floor. Maybe that was it. Maybe this was all her fault. Of course it was. It had been idiotic to try and blame someone else.
Her door opened, but she didn't bother turning to see who it was. Maybe they would just ignore her, Kori hoped. Maybe they'll just go away. She heard the lock click and was sweeped into the figure's arms. She already knew, without looking, who it was, and she just locked her arms around his neck, wishing she'd never have to let go.
"Stop thinking," he murmured, pressing his lips to her cheek. "This isn't a math problem, Kori, you don't have to solve it. Relax." It was kind of hard not to stop thinking whenever he was around, Kori noted dryly, but she just snuggled easily into her boyfriend's now much warmer embrace, responding immediately when he kissed her.
They cuddled on the couch, all earlier resentment forgotten, at least for now. Richard left for one second to turn on the T.V. and pop a DVD in, claiming he hadn't really been paying attention the last time he'd watched it. Ignoring all thoughts as to what might have distracted him, Kori leaned her head on his shoulder and settled back.
Kori turned her head slightly to glance at the setting sun. Seven? Already?
Today hadn't been quite so bad after all.
Richard was woken by a loud sob, from who or where, he had no idea. His first thought was 'Kori!' But that wasn't possible, she was sleeping right beside him on the...
Babs?
In his sleep-fogged mind, it clicked, and he rushed out the already open door as Babs stirred, muttering his name. Skidding to a halt outside Kori's closed door, he banged on it, yelling for her. He could hear muffled noises coming from the inside, and he was pretty sure they had nothing to do with happiness.
"Kori, please! Open the door! Let me in, Kori, I swear it wasn't what it looked like!" he yelled pahetically one last time. Finally giving up, he inhaled deeply and clenched his fists. He really needed to punch something right now.
Rushing out of the hotel before Babs could find him, he ended up near the alley where she'd taken him yesterday. Remembering the note in his pocket, he decided to find the little old woman's shop and ask her about it. Stopping outside, he heard familiar voices through the walls and couldn't resist the urge to eavesdrop.
"...Stupid old woman! You weren't supposed to tell him that, you were supposed to tell him to leave her at that minute!" Xavier. What would he be doing here?
"I do not expect you to understand," the voice he knew to be the fortune teller's muttered darkly. "Those two were in great danger--"
"Does it look like I care? We paid you to say what WE wanted you to say, not some crackpot delusion about murder! I demand the money back. One hundred bucks? What a rip-off."
"I made him fall asleep! I keep half the money!" the woman shouted.
"Fine," Xavier sneered. "But I hope you know I'm going to tell as many people as possible to never come here. What about customer satisfaction and all that crud? You're pretty bad in the corporate world, you know that?"
"Fortune-telling is an art," hissed the woman. "It requires honesty. Had I not been in such a financial--"
"Shut it, will you? Hand over the dough." Almost without warning, the shop door opened and Xavier stormed out, leaving Richard unnoticed. Richard slipped inside the store, but the woman was gone.
"Uh...M.Z.?" He called. No answer. Strange.
There wasn't a lot he could do about it, so he exited the shop, making a mental note to come back later. Gears turned in his head, trying to make sense of what he'd just heard. It was about him, he knew. Or did this woman regularly read wrong fortunes, tranquilize her customers, and then discreetly hand them their real futures?
'Leave her.' Leave Kori.
'Great danger'? 'Murder'? Is that what she meant by someone he loved getting hurt? Someone was going to murder Kori? His heart stopped. This couldn't be right. Yet, it all made sense. If he 'failed' to help her, or let her get killed, he'd die inside. He ran back to the hotel, uncaring about the light rain that was now falling, soaking him. The hotel employees sent him disapproving glares as he dripped water all over the place, but he ignored them. He had to see if she was okay.
"Kori? It's me. Can I come in?" He heard people moving around inside, speaking in hushed whispers. His heart sped up. "Kori? Are you talking to someone?" The door opened, and to his relief, the other people in the room were all people he knew, none of whom were likely to commit homicide. "Um...hey."
None of them looked happy to see him, and he figured Kori must have told them about catching him and Babs this morning. Eventually, Rachel got them out, and Richard was finally able to express his relief. He hugged her, murmuring apologies in her ear.
"Richard, you're cold," she grumbled. He let go immediately, realizing he was shivering. Whoops. Now Kori's clothes were soaked as well. He expected her to laugh it off, like that morning on the beach, but she glared at him. His shoulders sagging, Richard apologized yet again.
"What do you want me to do, Kori? I know you don't want to hear any of that crap. Tell me what I should do about her. Who am I supposed to choose when both of you are..." The minute he said it, he knew it had come out totally wrong. Kori looked even angrier than before, but her voice still came out evenly.
"Whoever you think is more important." She slammed the door in his face, and he staggered back a few steps to avoid breaking his nose. Richard ra his hands through his hair, groaning in frustration. Why did this have to be so difficult?
He lumbered back to his room, showering and changing before he caught a cold. Gar was there, reading of all things. He paused while drying his oh-so-perfect-not hair. "Whatcha doing?" Richard asked slowly. Gar glanced up for a minute.
"Reading." He went back to his book. Richard looked over the title and nearly fainted from shock.
"Hamlet? Who are you and what have you done with Gar? You've never even picked up a Dr. Seuss book before, and now you're reading Hamlet?"
"You got a problem with that?" questioned Gar menacingly. Richard never thought he'd see the day where he'd be scared of Gar, but he held up his hands in surrender.
"No...just surprised. Um...I'm just gonna...go..." Gar didn't stop him as he left. Richard ended up with Roy, Alan, and Wally playing video games, but he just watched. It was a stupid game, one with lots of gore and machine guns. Bored almost immediately and wondering how their girlfriends put up with this, he journeyed over to Kori's room again. Maybe she'd want to talk now.
When he opened the door, though, he found her crumpled on the ground in a heap, holding her head in her hands. Rushing over to inspect her for any wounds, he swept her up, sitting her on the couch. He said something along the lines of "Are you okay?" but he couldn't remember. All he knew was that the next minute they were kissing, and everything was okay. He really didn't care about anything past that point.
He agreed to watching that cheesy action/romance she'd picked out, but didn't plan to pay attention. He'd fallen asleep yesterday night while watching it, so he knew at least half the movie was dumb. But "watching a movie" with Kori never really ended up with them just watching the movie. Fifteen minutes in, tops.
Finally, time alone together.
It would be their last for a very, very long time.
