Chapter 8

Nearly two months ago was the last time I spoke to Tim that didn't involve the sentences 'can you please reach this' or 'may I have the TV remote'. And it absolutely sucked ass, but it's done me a world of good. Well, mentally at least. My eyesight faltered about a month ago and Bruce took me to the optometrist. After a lot of tests and large words I didn't understand, the Doctor told me that I have to wear glasses whenever I leave the Manor or do some reading.

It sucks that it happened, but I don't mind the glasses. I think they're kind of cute. My glasses are thick, square and black making my eyes look larger than they are and I truly look nerdy at College with my books in arms and the glass falling down the bridge of my nose. Oh yeah, College. I'm actually doing exceptionally well at it and my grades are excelling. Apparently Tim and I are battling for top of the class, now.

The looks he gives me though, oh gosh it makes me want to cry. I don't sit with him in class, but he does look back to quickly glimpse at me. I feel so bad for what I did but it's really for the best and I've bonded a lot more with the Bats since then. Bruce is like a father to me, even though I'll never forget my own and Barbara has become my own personal tutor and idol. She's incredibly intelligent and it leaves me in awe. She's even taught me what her qualities as Oracle had been and hopefully one day I can follow in her footsteps as the Gotham intelligence. It gives me a good goal to strive towards.

Even Damian has taken a liking to me… I think. He believes Babs and I are clones and likes to refer to it often with a cheeky grin. Dick I see less of, because of his heart-wrenching chase but he is kind to me and encourages me to talk to Tim. I tell him that I can't. Not yet. That was two weeks ago. But now it's gotten to the stage where even Jason has told me to talk to Tim. For someone who supposedly dislikes his adoptive family, he seems to be worried about the third Robin.

I woke up early this morning; I have a busy day today because it's finally time that I spoke to Tim. I miss him. I miss him like hell and I miss his kindness. But I have to do it at the right time so he doesn't explode or yell at me. I decided to look really nice today so I got up and climbed into the shower for awhile and then blow dried my hair and curled it to perfection. My hair has gotten longer and my fringe is gone so I like to put it into a high ponytail so the ringlets fall over my shoulders.

By the time I struggled into my skinny jeans and white tank top, it was time to head down to breakfast. I scooped up my white converse and backpack on the way out, humming a nice tune that I heard on the radio yesterday. I'm in high spirits today, nothing can bring me down. I walked into the kitchen, Tim, Damian and Alfred already there and I took my usual seat across from Damian. "Morning, short stuff."

He snorted and looked up at me from his cereal. "You're merely two inches taller than me, clone."

I shrugged and thanked Alfred as he put my toast with peanut butter in front of me. "You seem to be in high spirits, Miss Livvy."

I peeked up at Tim who was looking at me curiously and I smirked. "It's going to be a good day, Al."

He pat me gently on the shoulder and left us alone to eat and we must've been hungry because no one said a word. Soon after that we were on the way to College and before I knew it, we had arrived and Tim scrambled off ahead of me like he had been the past couple of months. There was still some time before class started, so I decided to pick up a hot chocolate inside the campus which is where I bumped into Cassandra.

"Oh gosh, Livvy! Hello!" She seemed weary to talk to me and I'm not sure how to handle this. We haven't spoken since Tim introduced me to her.

"Hey, Cassie. How are you?" She looked around as if she were looking for someone and I felt really awkward being there.

"Yeah… I'm good. Sorry to be a rush but have you seen Conner or Tim?" I licked my lips gingerly.

"No, I haven't sorry. TT emergency?" She bit her lip in contemplation before shaking her head and heading off. Okay, that was weird and something is up. Oh well, I can't let that get to me today. It's supposed to be a good day.

I went to class in the midst of the crowd and I immediately spotted Tim in his chair, staring out the window. He looked so lovely and I blushed at just the thought. My little crush is getting ridiculous. I took a deep breath and made my way up the steps and into the aisle; he still hadn't noticed.

I sat down with a flop and started unloading my MacBook, then speaking briefly. "The fact that this semester is actually considered apart of English is ridiculous. I mean, do we necessarily need to comprehend the components of Shakespearian or are we just figuring out how to make new words?"

That caught his attention. Tim's head whipped towards me so fast I thought he would suffer whiplash. "Livvy?! You're speaking to me!"

He sounded confused, but that was dulled by the sheer relief and happiness that oozed from his lips. I sighed contentedly and brushed some stray hair from his face. "I missed you, Timmy Bird."

My glasses slid a little as I spoke to him and his first reaction was to push them straight back up my nose. "I missed you too, Liv."

The professor walked in then, instructing everyone to hush down and be ready to learn. I could feel Tim's excitement radiating off of him, which made me extremely happy. Aside from the beginning, the class itself was incredibly dull, but you wouldn't know that if you looked at Tim. He was almost bouncing with happiness and always smiling as if the professor was presenting the most fascinating speech in the world.

Eventually the class ended and I sagged in relief whilst everyone was packing up to leave. Tim looked over to me and smirked at my expression. Trying to haul myself out of the chair, I commented, "I thought high school would be the last time that I did Shakespeare. Why did you sign me up to crappy classes?"

"My classes are not crappy!" He tried to sound offended, but the amusement in his voice couldn't be missed.

"Let's be honest. You don't even need to go to college, you're that smart. So I don't know why you chose these dull subjects," I convinced him with a cheesy smile. We left the room and walked out to the courtyard where I looked around with an uninterested face.

Tim asked, "How do you feel about ditching today and just hanging out at the Manor?"

"I'd love that," I replied with a smile. We went to the front of the college where Tim called Alfred who came and took us back home.

Once we dumped our stuff at the door, I looked at Tim who had a calculating look. "Timothy Drake, what are you doing?"

He didn't even reply before he scooped me up into his arms and spun me around. I squeaked a little but held the back of his neck with my hands in case he dropped me. I began to get dizzy but he put me down, but didn't let my waist go. Instead, he leant down and tenderly kissed my forehead which caused my cheeks to burn. "I missed you, Liv. I really, really did. And I'm sorry."

I raised my eyebrows. "You're sorry?"

He nodded sheepishly. "I never meant to hurt your feelings. I was trying to protect from more hounding by the media."

Oh, the kiss. "Tim, it's fine. Maybe it would be better if we stayed as friends."

I started to walk further into the Manor, but he grabbed my wrist lightly. I looked back and tried to avoid being caught in his pretty blue gaze. "You know that's not true, Livvy… That kiss was… indescribable."

I bit my lip and looked down, trying to not fall for it again but I knew that it's easy to crack when it comes to Tim. I felt a forefinger and thumb grip my chin and tug my face up, and I looked to see Tim looking at me tenderly whilst his free hand circled around my waist. His warm breath was on my face, fanning my sensitized skin and then I noticed how good he smelt just from breathing. Good lord. "Maybe… Maybe we can start again. Make something of this, because honestly I couldn't bear it if I lost my chance with you."

My hands were now pressed against his chest and all I wanted to do was kiss him. He's so beautiful and he just makes me melt. Strands of black silky hair fell into his brow and I went to push it away, unintentionally drawing him closer and it got harder to breathe. Well, until we heard someone clear their throat.

I jumped away from Tim, startled by the interruption, to see Barbara standing there and smirking at me. I pushed my glasses back up my nose shyly, and then Barbara stated, "I've got something to show you, Liv. Also, Bruce wants to see both of you so meeting in the cave."

She turned to leave and I speed-walked to catch up with her so I wasn't awkwardly moving with Tim. When I caught up with Babs, she nudged me cheekily with her hip and I lightly smacked her arm which made her laugh. I could hear Tim behind us, my body hyper-aware to where he was and I blushed just at the memory of a few moments ago. Gosh, why does he affect me so much?

We finally reached the cave, which seemed to take longer than normal or maybe I've gone crazy. Bruce was at the computer, his cowl down and waiting for us. He went to speak but Babs interrupted him by saying, "Nope! I wanted Livvy down here first so you can wait."

He didn't look pleased, but allowed her to take control of the computer anyway. My interest piqued. "Did you find something?!"

She didn't even look up while she typed away at the keyboard. "I sure did. There's a website, with a tricky password that allows people to see what the bounty has totaled up to. It grows daily from the looks of things."

I licked my lips and stood next to her whilst analyzing the bland web page. $750, 000. "Never knew I was worth that much cash. Can you trace it?"

She opened up her tracking programs which were hard at work. "I've been trying for a couple of hours. Whoever's hiding this is really covering up their tracks, but with enough time I can probably find out who's posting and who has been looking at it."

Bruce interrupted, "But the computer is taking too long for me so I need you to do something for me."

I leant on the bench and folded my arms, encouraging Bruce to continue. "With the desperation Cobblepot has to murder you, any publicity could without a doubt lure any crook to your location if they want to. Perhaps interrogating someone will help the case, because not every moron on the street has internet access."

I nodded, agreeing with his logic but then Tim jumped in, sounding a little upset. "You want to use Livvy as bait?"

Bruce hesitated before nodding, obviously not thinking of another way to phrase it. I huffed, "It's a good plan. I assume you already have a location?"

"I was invited to a gala this evening, Gotham's richest and most powerful will be of attendance, which means a lot of press. I will patrol the area while Tim and you attend in my name. It's a formal occasion."

Tim cut in again. "I can do the job easy, but what about Dick? He's better at representing you than I am."

"Dick will be there, but inconspicuously. Olivia will probably feel more comfortable with you than Richard." There was no arguing that. Dick's a great friend, but I could cling on to Tim for dear life and it wouldn't be weird.

He nodded, agreeing with the plan. "Do you want the attention focused on Livvy or Tim?"

Bruce looked to Barbara and thought for a moment before responding. "Seeing as how it's Livvy that we need to be spotted, it should be her taking the lead. It might seem odd that her rather than my adoptive son would be representing me, but the tabloids will be too focused on them together than anything else."

Tim and I both blushed, which caused Babs to titter. She calmed down and then perked up with excitement. "This means we get to go dress shopping, Livvy!"

Never thought Babs was one for shopping, but I shrugged and agreed with her anyway. We were beginning to walk up the stairs when a whistle caught my attention. I looked down to see Jason grinning at me. Tim sort of cowered at the sight of Jay, and Bruce only looked confused.

I ran back towards my friend and jumped on him in a hug. Jay and I have become increasingly close since the night at Illusion, even though he sent me into a panic attack. He apologized the next time he saw me though and then told me his full story which almost left me in tears. I still have yet to meet Kori and Roy that he talks so much about. Last time I spoke to him was a couple of weeks ago and he offered to trai- oh!

I let go of him immediately. "You're here to train me?"

He nodded enthusiastically. "Sure am, Honey Bee. You up for the challenge?"

I scoffed. "Oh, please. You're not much of a challenge, Jay."

"You sure? Because I bet you that I can beat the replacement's ass easy." He likes to refer to Tim as 'the replacement' which seems a bit childish, but I guess that's how he copes with things.

I looked over to Tim who looked offended at the name choice. Then my eyes landed on Bruce. "How long until the gala?"

He looked at the clock on the computer. "A good decent 5 hours."

"Awesome. Plenty of time." Babs and I decided that we will go shopping and get ready after an hour and a half of training, and Tim was pouty that he didn't get to spend some alone time with me. Secretly, I was kind of grateful that I wasn't alone with him because I would probably attack him with affection.

I ran upstairs to change and then we used Bruce's gym in the cave. I can say this easily, Jason is a tough love coach. Training was split into thirds. The first half an hour was warming up which was incredibly painful because it was all cardio and push-ups. That kind of thing. Then he focused on my defense tactics for half an hour, teaching me blocking and dodging so a man can't get his arms around me.

I landed on my ass more times than I would like to admit, and my muscles absolutely burned with pain. But that good kind of pain that made me feel healthy. I'll be lucky if I don't have multiple bruises showing at the gala tonight, but it's worth it to know how to defend myself.

In the last half an hour, we worked on my offense, which resulted in my butt getting kicked several more times. Jason was grinning the whole time, and I finally managed to pin him down, which is where he called it quits for the day. We've decided to train four times a week, at varying times which I am quite content with.

I took a shower after that, then headed to the shops with Barbara. I've never really been a picky shopper, so it didn't take too long to find a beautiful dress that would go with my ginger hair. I straightened my hair, so it reached just above my butt and I put some eye make-up on so my honey gaze stood out.

I looked at myself in the mirror, and brushed my fingertips along the silky fabric of my V-neck, long-sleeved lavender dress. I was putting in my clear contacts when Babs knocked on the door and announced that it was time to go. I took a final deep breath in the mirror, before turning and heading out to put myself in the middle of danger.

Twitter: Emily_Ascough

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Show No Mercy:

- Elephant Love Medley from The Moulin Rouge

Show No Weakness:

- Bound to You by Christina Aguilera

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