A/N: I really wonder what y'all are going to say about THIS chapter! I think it's one of my personal favorites and I've been dying to put it up and see what you guys think about it, so please be sure to drop me a line and let me know, yeah?

Stupid Cupid
Chapter 20: Trust Me
By Em

"Trust me…"
- "Truth Serum," Dishwalla

Robin found her standing with Barbara and her date, shaking her head at something Barbara had said with a shadow of a true smile playing on her lips.

"True story," Barbara was saying as he approached.

Raven raised a brow, and Barbara laughed.

"Honest," Barbara insisted. "Ask him about it some time."

"Ask who about what?" Robin asked as he approached.

Raven turned to him, brow still raised and smile still lingering on her lips, poised to speak, but Barbara waved a hand in front of Raven before she could.

"Not in front of me!" Barbara laughed. "He'll totally deny it."

"He'll return the favor, you mean," Raven said to Barbara.

"Tomaeto, tomatoh," Barbara shrugged.

"I think I'm going to skip over this part," Robin said, putting a hand on the small of Raven's back. "Come with me a minute?" he asked, close to her ear.

Raven stared at him for a moment then nodded, drinking the last of the drink in her glass and placing it on the small table near them.

"We'll be back," Robin said to Barbara and her date.

"Have fun," Barbara called after them.

"Where are we going?" Raven asked, as they walked toward a part of the ballroom Raven had yet to go to.

He motioned towards the entrance to the next room. "We've been so concerned with being seen at this thing, which of course is my goal every year, but it's occurred to me that we haven't really enjoyed very many of the entertainments."

Raven heard the music coming from the room as they approached, and when they stepped through they saw the DJ at the back of the room and the dance floor relatively full of couples moving to the upbeat tempo of the song.

Raven raised both brows and turned to him, pausing in her forward momentum. Robin stopped alongside her, and leaned into her so he could speak near to her ear and be heard above the music. "Trust me?" he asked.

She pulled away and looked at him, brow raised. He extended a hand to her and waited. "Trust me," he mouthed.

She nodded and put her hand in his, letting him lead her to the center of the dance floor just as one song ended and the new one began. The new song was still a modern dance number, but it had a decidedly disco edge to it. She pulled close to him to whisper in his ear. "I don't know how to dance to this," she said.

They turned their heads so he could speak in her ear. "Just follow my lead," he told her, pulling back and holding onto her hands as he shifted from leg to leg in time to the music, moving their hands from side to side in rhythm.

As if by instinct, Raven fell into the quite normal habit of tuning herself to Robin's movements, the way she did when they trained in the gym or during fights – acutely aware of his movements and mimicking them in almost perfect sync. She had just gotten used to the side to side movement and met his eyes in surprise, smiling a little. He returned her smile. "Follow," he mouthed to her and, the next thing she knew, he lifted their hands and shifted so one hand was in front of her, the other behind Robin as he walked them in a circle, all in time to the music for a few beats. Then she was twisting at the waist and turning on her heel, dipping under his arms as he turned her. Then they were facing each other with one of his arms around her waist and the other still holding one of her hands at their side, all the while, their feet were moving in time to the bouncy music. By the time the one song melted into the next, Raven had lost count of the moves he was leading her through, but she had decided to just go along and enjoy the ride.

Three, perhaps four, songs later of varying styles and genres (the DJ had shown his diversity by bouncing from top 40's, to disco, to 80's pop) and Raven had managed to follow Robin's lead in each and every one so that no one that watched them would have suspected it was the first time they'd ever danced together. Raven, for her part, was very surprised to find she was actually laughing and breathless. As the last song faded away and the DJ's voice came over the speakers, Raven found herself smiling, still holding onto Robin's hand.

"That was fun," she said, and it wasn't until she realized the music wasn't too loud to speak over that she realized the DJ had slowed things down. The music coming from the sound system was slow and measured, heavy in the piano and rhythmic with a brush type percussion on the drums. As soon as she realized the soft, slow beat of the song and the couples on the floor coming together, arms around each other to move slowly to the beat, Raven gaze brushed Robin's, but didn't stay.

She started to pull away, turning around to walk off the floor, but he didn't relinquish her hand the way she thought he would. Instead, he held tight and tugged a little.

"I'm gonna love you like nobody's loved you / come rain or come shine," Ella Fitzgerald's sultry voice crooned around them.

She turned back to look at him and their eyes met again and held. He stepped up to her slowly, his fingers releasing her hand, trailing over her palm and tracing over the outside of her palm as he neared her.

"I guess when you met me / it was just one of those things," Ella mused.

He hooked a thumb under her palm and raised their linked hands, his other arm encircling her waist and pulling her close to him even as he pressed their linked hands against his chest, over his heart.

"You're gonna love me like nobody's loved me / come rain or come shine…"

His other arm urged her loose arm up, leading it to rest on his shoulder and once there, her arm curled around his neck as if she'd been doing it all her life. His left hand pressed against her back, his fingers pressing against the bare flesh he found there. "Just follow me," he whispered, inhaling the smell of the jasmine and lavender she wore and the heady warm smell of her skin as they started to move slowly.

"Days may be cloudy or sunny / we're in or we're out of the money…"

He could feel her heart beating against their palms, her breathing against his neck, the warm thrum of her under his hand at her back. And, as they moved slowly, if he closed his eyes, the other dancers faded away and she was all around him.

"But I'm with you always / I'm with you come rain or come shine…"

He hadn't expected this moment, hadn't even thought to hope for such a thing, ever. In all the times she'd come to these events with him, they'd stayed off the dance floor. But he couldn't deny that whenever he saw two people dancing, he wondered…and when he'd seen her dancing with Speedy that night they went to the club, a part of him had ached. But even then, he hadn't thought to actually wish it were him, hadn't thought he could ever hold her like this, ever feel her so close he could feel the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed, could smell the citrus scent of her shampoo on her hair as it brushed his cheek, the soft warmth of her palm in his. The unanticipated gift of it made him dizzy, but his steps never faltered.

"…come rain, come shine…"

As the song faded away, he felt her hesitation and he stopped moving, pulling away enough to look in her eyes, but not far enough that his arm dropped from around her, not far enough that their hands unlinked.

Her eyes were clouded with doubt, and it pained him to see it – the confusion, the questions. She blinked and opened her mouth to speak, but he smiled and pulled away from her, keeping her hand. "Come on," he said, forcing his tone into a casualness he did not feel. "Let's get something to drink," he said. She blinked again and nodded. He took the opportunity to lead her off the dance floor, still holding her hand.

At the bar, he had just handed her a freshly mixed gimlet when Bruce found them.

"Richard, there's someone I'd like you to meet," Bruce said, nodding in recognition at Raven. They'd seen each other several times throughout the night, so any other greetings was, by this point, needless. "Can you come?"

"Sure," Robin agreed, looking at Raven. "Coming?" he asked her.

She shook her head. "I'd like some air," she told him, which he recognized as the code she always used at these events for needing some time away from the crowds, so he didn't argue.

"Alright, see you in a bit," he told her, letting Bruce lead him off.

Raven watched him be swallowed up in the crowd and sighed. She took a sip of her drink and found the doors leading to the gardens along the side of the hotel just outside of the ballrooms and made her way to them with determination. After that dance with Robin, she really felt like she needed some time to herself.

She stepped out into the cool night air and took several steps onto the patio but stopped at the balustrade next to the stairs that would take her down into the moonlit gardens. She leaned on the granite balustrade and looking out instead. She felt a gentle breeze ruffle the skirts around her legs and looked up at the dark blue sky, dotted with stars.

It surprised her that her first conscious thought once she had enough space to think was to wish that she could call Roy. He would have an opinion about what that dance meant, alright. Of course, she didn't really need him to be there to tell her what he'd think about it. From the moment the music faded away to applause and the DJ stated he'd be taking a break for a few minutes, Raven had been all too aware of what had happened. While they had been dancing, of course, she hadn't really been thinking of much at all, except soaking in all the little ways she was aware of Robin holding her against him. But when the music ended, when they looked at each other, she could've sworn she saw…something.

But maybe he'd just been caught up in the moment.

They'd been having such a great time that day, almost back to the easy camaraderie and near playfulness they tended toward when not in mission or training mode. She had missed that. She had been so involved in whether Speedy was right, in all the ways he couldn't be right, in the troublesome way she was aware of him now, and in the disappointment and hurt and yes, sometimes anger at Robin's attitude since Speedy arrived that she hadn't really stopped to think how much she just missed him.

Dancing had been unexpected.

Unexpected, and fun – at least, at first.

And then the Ella Fitzgerald song had come on and…

He wanted to dance it with her. She tried to walk away, but he wouldn't let her. He brought her into his arms – so gently – and led her. He'd told her to follow him, and it had been so easy to do it. So comfortable and effortless…so familiar and…right.

It had felt so right to be in his arms, to let herself be aware of his movements so she could anticipate where he was going – to be completely aware of the cues of his hand, his body. It was like that when they trained or fought, but she'd never guessed how it would be if they danced.

She'd never trusted anyone the way she trusted Robin, she had always known that, but had never really thought of it in such bald terms before. But it was true. She trusted him to look out for her, to lead her – she trusted him to accept her help, and to let her lead him when she needed to, she knew that too.

Maybe that was why she fell for him, really. She trusted him, and she trusted in him.

She trusted him to accept her, welcome her.

She sighed again and took another sip from her drink, feeling the alcohol burn its warmth down her throat and spread into her chest and limbs. She hadn't consumed nearly enough to feel even the tiniest bit tipsy – which she could thank her metabolism for and, of course, her innate healing ability – but she still enjoyed the warmth alcohol gave her in certain circumstances, such as this.

She loved Robin.

The knowledge had always been there, really, so the realization wasn't nearly as shocking to her system as she might have thought. But the saying of the words, even to herself, even inside her own head, settled into her consciousness with a surprising amount of calm.

What was astonishing, after everything, was that the assimilation into her consciousness that she loved Robin was chased almost immediately by the utterly startling and unwelcome question, 'What about Roy?'

She stood up straight with the thought, frowning. 'What about Roy?' she asked herself. Roy was never actually in the equation, she reminded herself. Roy is make believe. Yes, he's flirtatious and she can't help but realize that at least some of it must be real or he couldn't be that convincing, but she isn't fool enough to believe that just because he is honestly flirting with her he feels anything more for her than friendship. Had he enjoyed kissing her? Sure, he admitted it himself, but she never thought Roy would not enjoy kissing a girl.

Roy flirts with everyone, she decided. And there's that girl he told her about that night at the club. The one he's crazy about.

She frowned at the thought.

So, if she knows all of this about him, why was her first thought after recognizing that she loved Robin to wonder about Roy?

She exhaled and paced a bit around the patio. She couldn't be having feelings for Roy, could she?

'Come on, Raven,' she chided herself. 'Isn't it enough to have feelings for Robin? The one you just realized you could trust and who you found attractive? Do you need to complicate things even more by developing feelings for someone who was just trying to help you out?' She shook her head firmly. Could she be so deprived of emotional attachments that she became emotionally attached to any man who showed her the least bit of kindness?

She scoffed. She wasn't that weak.

Roy was kind, though. She recognized that. And considerate and funny and, yes, even hot. Her expression softened as she thought of the many little ways he'd shown all of these sides of himself to her in the last week. She even trusted him. Not as much as she trusted Robin, truth be told. She knew Roy would always try to help her, but she couldn't help but think that Robin would be there, even when Roy couldn't. She knew there was nothing that would stop Robin from being there for her, but she couldn't honestly say the same about Roy. Not that she thought he'd intentionally abandon her, or refuse to help her or anything of that nature. It was just that in contrast to her certainty that Robin would be there, she only supposed Speedy would.

And maybe that was just about the experiences they'd had together, she and Robin, but there it was.

If she tried to think about it logically, having no other basis for comparison, she had to conclude that was love. But was Roy right that Robin felt the same about her? Yes, he'd always been considerate of her, and yes they'd always been comfortable around each other the way she had never been around anyone else. He knew things about her that no one else did and she knew things about him that none of the others did as well. She'd never thought of it in terms of love though. She had to admit to herself quite a while ago that she was attracted to him physically. She had to admit now that there was something else – something she felt when she looked in his eyes that had nothing to do with an attraction to his physical form, something that reacted not to the power or grace he showed as he fought or moved. Something inside her responded to him in the way she didn't to anyone else, aside from the physical, aside even from the way he treated her. It was almost an ache in the core of her when she heard him laugh, a tug from somewhere in the vicinity of her stomach when he looked at her too long.

Touching him, being enclosed in his arms had eased that pull, soothed the ache and left behind only warmth. Raven had no words for it, except love.

But had that dance meant anything to Robin?

Maybe she had let Roy do all of this not because she thought it would actually make Robin admit to a love for her she wasn't sure he felt, but because subconsciously, she was enjoying the attention?

Not the attention from Robin, actually – she could do without him looking at her as if she was about to betray them any minute and she could definitely do without the arguing all the time and the tension. But, maybe subconsciously, she really was enjoying the attention from Roy.

No…not attention, exactly. Maybe she was enjoying feeling…normal. Just a girl with a lover.

Just a girl who could have someone who wanted to be her lover. Someone who would pick her above anyone else, choose to be with her more than anyone else…

And maybe…maybe she was confused about her feelings for Roy because she wanted to hold on to that.

Would that be so bad, she wondered. Would it be so bad to be in a relationship with someone like Roy?

She shook her head and leaned back on the balustrade. It would be selfish. She'd be using him. He'd said as much when they stopped for Mexican food outside Ojai a few days ago. Of course, he wasn't talking about her but he'd said he didn't want this girl he loved to settle for him, that it wouldn't be kind to him if she did.

No matter how much she enjoyed the way Roy made her feel…No matter what she felt for Roy, she didn't feel for him the way she felt for Robin. Granted, she'd been confused about just what she felt for Robin because she'd never really let herself bring out those feelings and study them, but now she knew. She knew that although she worried about her friends, the thought of Robin in danger made her restless and anxious. The thought of him in pain, just the thought of it, made her breathless like someone had reached into her chest and was squeezing her lungs. When he was in actual pain, she could hear her heart beat in her ears and could feel the blood rushing from her face to settle uncomfortably somewhere in the vicinity of her stomach.

Without a doubt, he was the person she'd choose above anyone else.

The fact that she didn't feel the same for Roy meant that it would be wrong to allow this pretend relationship with him to become a real one.

She'd be using him. Even if she honestly enjoyed spending time with him, she'd be using him if she had a real relationship with him while still feeling the way she did about Robin.

But Roy didn't love her either.

If she allowed this pretend relationship with Roy to become a real relationship, nothing would change except that neither she nor Roy would be lonely anymore.

She frowned because as emotionally inexperienced as she knew she was, that didn't feel right to her and any probing into her own feelings as to why kept bringing her back to the one question she kept shying away from:

What had that dance meant to Robin?