It was raining this Sunday in Jump City. Dick stared out the window and watched as the small droplets raced with each other down the window. Dick sighed and moved his spoon lazily in circles, causing the coffee to move along as well. He would rather not be drinking this but he needed something strong. Dick was waiting patiently inside a small coffee house for Raven to arrive. The two had planned to meet for a small get together.

This had been going on the whole week since Vic kicked Dick out of the table. Dick had been shunned by his friends. Roy and the others tried to help fill the void but it was hard since their girlfriends were pretty mad at Dick to. Dick wasn't completely alone though, he had Raven whom he would talk to over the phone or meet in secret. The schedule was tight but the two had managed to pull it off with out Vic or the others finding out.

The little bell above the door rang when the door opened. In stepped a teenage girl who was currently closing her umbrella. Dick looked up and raised his hand, calling the girl over as quietly as possible, not wanting to draw attention or upset the people here who liked the quiet atmosphere.

"Raven, over here."

Raven's eyes wandered over to the back booth where Dick sat. She made her way over to him. She sat across from him and slipped into the green leather booth. A waitress came over and asked if she would like anything. Raven ordered a cup of tea and the waitress gave a short nod of her head before walking off.

"Sorry I'm late," Raven said absently as she removed her coat. "I couldn't get off the phone with Gar."

"What did he want?" Dick asked with interest, picking up his cup of coffee only to set it back down again.

"He wanted to know if he could come over," Raven said. "Kori is being released from the hospital today. The others wanted to come over and greet her but Kori doesn't want company."

Dick couldn't help but feel a bit guilty. "How is Kori?"

Raven sighed. "She's fine. She has been since the last five times you've asked me."

Dick and Raven had spoken with each other five time like this and every single meeting involved Dick asking about Kori's condition. Raven rolled her eyes at the thought. Dick was so full of himself. He claimed he wanted to sever all ties he had with Kori yet he continued to have an interest in the red-head. Raven was pulled from her thoughts when the waitress returned with her tea. After Raven said a quick thank you the waitress walked off.

"You can't keep doing this." Raven said before she blew the smoke away from her tea.

"Doing what?" Dick asked, staring at the purple haired girl.

"This, pretending you don't want Kori in your life when you do," Raven said. "Your like a cat addicted to yarn."

Dick leaned back in his seat and sighed. "I don't wanna talk about this."

"To damn bad because we're gonna talk about it," Raven said, crossing her arms. "You say you want to protect Kori yet by doing this you're only hurting her."

"... She'll get over it."

"No she won't," Raven said, glaring at him. "Kori loves you, and she's stubborn. Do you really think she's gonna give up with out a fight?"

Dick stayed silent, listening to every word. Raven had a very good point. Kori was never one to give up, especially when the odds were against her. She would go that extra length for the people she cared about. Dick decided to change the topic and figured he could deal with that problem later.

"School's tomorrow," Dick said. "Is Kori gonna be there?"

Raven sighed and nodded. "... She doesn't know about the falling out between the group. We didn't want to tell her."

"How do you think she'll take the news?"

"I'm not sure. Kori can be a complex person to read. Someone could hurt her deeply and she'll still care for that person's well being."

Dick gave a short nod knowing what Raven said was completely true. Kori was a loving person and never hateful. It was one of the many things Dick admired about her. Dick groaned, he was bringing himself down that road again. The one where he would go into his own world and dream about Kori and how much he wanted to be near her, hold her and kiss her. Dick quickly shook his head, throwing away his thoughts about Kori. He made a decision and he had to deal with it.

"Oh shit," Raven cursed out load, looking down at the watch on her wrist. "Kori should be getting home soon. I gotta go."

"You want me to drive you?"

"We're not supposed to be seen together, remember," Raven looked outside the window and sighed with relief. It had stopped raining. "I'll talk with you soon, Dick."

"Alright."

Raven gave a short nod before taking out her wallet. Dick held up his hand.

"I got it."

"Thanks." Raven said before grabbing her coat and her umbrella and walking out of the coffee shop.

As she walked out the door Dick couldn't help but notice a girl walk in. She looked to be around his age and was pretty. Not as pretty as Kori, Dick couldn't help but notice that. Dick decided to go talk with her, hoping she could help him with a problem of his.

---

Kori noticed that it was raining outside as she got dressed. Today was finally the day she was being released from the hospital. She should be happy that this day finally came, but she didn't really care. There were to many things on her mind as of right now and her release wasn't one of them. A certain somebody was on her mind. Fang was on her mind. Try as she might she couldn't get him off her train of thought.

Kori had known Fang for a long time, since around middle school. He was a bully who always picked on everyone, her and her friends included. And even though she was stronger then him, with or with out her friends by her side, she feared him. When she entered high school her fear of him increased ten fold.

And by sophomore year she learned just how dangerous Fang could be. He was a horrible person. Kori hated him for trying to force himself on her during that one day in November. She hated him for trying to shoot Dick and for shooting her in the process. It was because of his actions that Dick broke up with her. Out of all people Kori had the right to be glad over his death. But she wasn't happy at all. She felt sorry for him and even though he did all those things to her, never once did she wish him dead. Kori would have liked to see him in jail, not seven feet under.

Kori shook her head, erasing any and all thoughts about Fang. She was grateful she still had her life and what didn't kill her would only make her stronger. She just hoped this to be true when she went to school tomorrow. At school it would be a sure thing for her to see Dick. They shared classes together, there was no way he could ignore her.

But as of right now a question floated around in Kori's head like a butterfly in a field of flowers. What would happen now?

Kori recalled that Dick didn't want to be with her in fear of Fang coming back. Now that Fang was gone, what would Dick do? Kori wasn't sure. Surely Dick had heard the news about Fang as of now. The information was released in newspapers during Wednesday and it was now Sunday. Kori sighed, thinking that maybe it didn't matter. Even if Dick had heard he still wasn't talking to her. Kori cursed his stubbornness.

"No matter," Kori said to herself. "There's no way he can avoid me tomorrow. We sit at the same lunch table."

Kori nodded to herself, maybe she could get Vic to talk to Dick. Maybe he could convince Dick to change his mind about things. Suddenly there was a knock at the door.

"Come in." Kori said loudly as she zipped up her sweater. Komi had brought her a pair of clothes to change into.

The door opened and in walked Komi. "Hey sis, ready to go?"

Kori nodded.

"Alright then, let's go." Komi said with a wide smile on her face.

Kori rose a brow at her sister's behavior but dismissed it. Once Kori neared the door she walked ahead of Komi. Big mistake. Komi stood silently behind Kori and when the red-head wasn't looking, Komi tripped her.

"Ow! Komi, you jerk." Kori growled as she picked herself up.

Komi laughed. "Oh man that was way over due. Now that you're out of the hospital I can pick on you again."

Kori sighed. At least some things were back to normal. "Joy..."

---

It was a beautiful Monday morning in Jump City. The sun was shining brightly, the way it only does after a rainy day. Kori arrived at school and was instantly greeted by the students there. As she walked the halls people would stop and turn to look at her saying things like 'hi' and 'welcome back'. Kori would reply back to them with a smile on her face but she really didn't feel so good right now. She wanted to see Dick, she wanted to talk to him but so far she had no luck in locating him.

Finally Kori reached her locker. Vic and the others had gone of to their perspective lockers with a promise to meet Kori at class. Once Kori was done picking out the necessary things she needed she closed her locker door and turned around. She was met face to face with flowers. The flowers were moved out of the way exposing the person's face who was giving said flowers to Kori. Kori became face to face with the one and only...

"Elliot...," Kori said meekly. "Hi."

"Hello, Star Angel." Elliot said, wiggling his eyes brows.

"Uh..." Kori didn't know what to say. She would have preferred it if he used her real name.

"Speechless, damn I'm good," Elliot took her quietness as a good sign since by now most girls would have sent him flying away with his ego shot down. "Well my sweet, how are you today? I've heard you have been ill these past days."

"Yeah... kind of." Kori said, looking away, hoping to spot Vic or someone else she knew.

"Star Angel, I just wanted to let you know that when ever you need me all you have to do is call. But first, we need to exchange numbers so why don't you give me yours--"

"Sorry, Elliot," Kori interrupted, her attention else where. "But I have to go."

"Oh... ok then. I shall--"

Before he could finish Kori walked away. Kori spotted Dick and he was standing all by himself. It was the perfect opportunity to speak with him. His back was turned to her so he didn't see when Kori approached him. She tapped his shoulder and he spun around. They were face to face with so many things that they could have said to each other but neither of them moved or said a word.

Dick cleared his throat awkwardly. "So... you're back in school. That's good."

"Yeah... I guess."

Uncomfortable silence, the worst kind of silence ever.

"Dick, I really need to talk to you." Kori said finally, looking at him with intense eyes.

"Kori, now is not a good time--"

Before he could say another word he was cut off as a girl wrapped her arms around him. She had medium length black hair and hazel eyes.

"Dick, there you are," she said sweetly into his ear. "I've been looking all over for you."

Kori rose a brow and turned her head to the side, looking at Dick. Her gaze was strong, as was her voice. "Dick, who is this?" Kori asked, fearing the worse.

"This is Carry... my girlfriend."

Kori could feel her heart being torn into pieces over and over again. She felt like the world shattered around her and that someone used high heels to step on her heart. Her breath caught in her throat and she felt sick. Really sick.

"Your... Your g-girlfriend?" Kori asked quietly and her question went almost unheard.

"Yeah." Dick answered shortly, avoiding any eye contact with Kori.

"You got yourself a girlfriend while I was suffering in the hospital?!" Kori yelled with venom in her voice.

"It's not like that, Kori." Dick said.

"You unbelievable bastard," Kori yelled while glaring daggers at him. She had lost complete control of her temper. "How could you do this to me?!"

"Kori--"

Dick's sentence was cut short as Kori's fist collided with his face. The punch was so strong it knocked his sunglasses right off and sent him tumbling to the floor. All action inside the hallway immediately stopped as they watched nice girl Anders punch super cool guy Grayson. This was defiantly something for the year books. Kori turned her attention towards Carry who flinched under Kori's glare.

"I hope your relationship with him last longer then mines did." Kori said bitterly as she turned around and walked down the hall.

Kori struggled to keep any tears from falling and tried walking at a normal pace. But she couldn't do it. Once one tear fell another and another fell. Kori quickly ran down the hall and out of the building, ignoring the stares she got from people as she did so.

Inside the building, Dick still sat on the floor, rubbing his face where Kori punched him, with Carry by his side asking him if he was alright. Dick couldn't help but notice that the entire hall was engulfed in complete silence and everyone was staring at him. But then something happened. One student, a boy, broke the silence and pointed at Dick.

"You got knocked the fuck out! And by a girl!"

---

Once Kori ran out of the school and was standing in the school's parking lot she thought back to her actions. Punching Dick in the middle of the hall in front of everyone wasn't one of her best moments, but damn it felt good. She had every right to hit him after what he did. How dare he get a girlfriend after he just broke up with her a little bit over a week ago. It didn't take him long to move on Kori thought bitterly.

She wanted to scream, she wanted to break something. Anything would be good right about now to release her anger. Then, a soft voice spoke to her.

"Kori?"

Kori gasped and turned around. Standing right in front of her was...

"Xavier."

Tears poked at Kori's eyes and she wanted to whip them away but she couldn't. She remained frozen in her spot as she stared into Xavier's eyes. His eyes weren't soft but she still found comfort when she looked at him. Suddenly something inside her broke and she found herself wrapped in his arms, her face buried in his chest as she wept. If their was anyone she could break down and cry in front of, it was Xavier.

Xavier was a bit surprised by her break down and held her close, stroking her hair and patting her bak, anything that would help calm her down. Eventually her sobs subsided and she calmed down.

"You feel a bit better?" Xavier asked.

Kori gave a short nod. It felt good to just let go of all those emotions.

"You wanna talk about it?" Xavier asked.

Kori sighed and brushed her eyes. She gave a short laugh. "Not really."

Xavier took her hand in his and lead her towards the grass. They sat down next to each other in silence before Xavier finally popped the question.

"What happened?"

"Dick broke up with me?"

Xavier was taken back. "He what?"

"Oh, and it gets better," Kori said sarcastically. "Dick has a new girlfriend."

"Kori..."

"It's not all that bad. I got a good punch in," Kori said, trying to cheer herself up. She failed miserably and a few tears fell from her eyes. "I don't understand how he could do this to me."

Xavier wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to him. "It'll be ok."

"How?"

Xavier paused. "It just will," he said. "Hey, you wanna go do something fun?"

"Depending what it is."

"I can't tell you, it's a surprise."

"What about school?"

"Screw it. We'll pull a Ferris Bueller."

Kori giggled and nodded her head. "Ok, let's go."

---

It was seventh period which meant gym for a large portion of students. Mr. Blood made the boys and the girls separate from each other and told everyone to find a partner to make a two man team. It would be boys against girls in a version of capture the flag. Once everyone was given the order to find a partner, everyone immediately went towards their friends. Roy teamed up with Alain and Wally went with Gar. That left vic who just so happened to run into Dick. Vic looked around and noticed everyone had a partner leaving him with Dick.

"Hey." Dick greeted quietly as he waited in line with Vic for their turn.

"Hey," Vic replied shortly. Silence fell between them and Vic looked over at Dick. Vic was still made at Dick but he missed his friend. "So... I heard Kori punched you out this morning."

During lunch Kori had called Vic and let him know where she was and why. But Vic also heard the students talk about the incident this morning. News spread fast in Jump City High School.

"Yeah," Dick said. "Hurt like hell."

"Well you did deserve it."

"I know," Dick said sadly. "I deserve so much more after what I've done to Kori."

Vic rose a brow. "You mean that?"

Dick nodded. "I don't want Kori to get hurt again because of me."

Vic gave a short nod and raised a brow when he heard Dick chuckle. "What are you laughing about?"

"This," Dick said, referring to the two of them. "This is the first conversation we had with each other in days."

Vic laughed. "Yeah..."

Silence fell between them.

"You know, I'm doing what I think is best." Dick said.

"Yeah, I know."

'So... are we cool?"

Vic smiled. "Frosty."

Dick smiled and nodded, glad that he had got one of his friends back.

"You still can't sit at the table though."

---

Kori was giggling madly along side a laughing Xavier. The two had ditched school and traveled out to the city. Xavier made it his goal to make sure Kori enjoyed herself today and that she did. The first thing they went to was paint ball. Xavier said it would be good for her and that it would help release any negative emotions she was feeling.

Paint ball was fun for Kori and not at all hard. All she had to do was put Dick, Kitten and Carry's face on anything that moved. Unfortunately that wasn't good for Xavier who was hit twice by Kori in the leg. Although paint ball was fun it hurt a lot. Paint ball also took up a lot of time and when they were done with the sport it was already the beginning of lunch.

Once they found a good spot to eat they sat down and took up a conversation while they ate. Kori had asked Xavier where he had been these past couple of days and he coolly replied that he had to leave town a while for family purposes. Kori didn't meddle any further. The rest of the day went by like a breeze and Kori felt a lot better then she did this morning. That's when Xavier's cell phone began to ring.

"Excuse me," Xavier said and he stopped walking. He spoke quietly and after about one minute he hung up. "Kori, I have to go. It's an emergency. I'll drop you off home."

"Oh no that's ok," Kori said. "You said it's an emergency. I'll just take a cab."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, it's ok," Kori said. "I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Sure."

"Xavier, thanks for today," Kori said, a red tint forming on her cheeks. "I feel a lot better now."

"I'm glad to be of service." Xavier said with a smile on his face. He gave Kori a hug before they went their separate ways.

Kori easily caught a cab and was on her way home. Kori checked the time on her watch. It was a little past dismissal time from school, about a half hour worth. Kori leaned back in her seat and stared out the window. Xavier had done a great job at distracting her from her thoughts but now that he was gone all her thoughts came rushing back to her like a river. That's when a certain area caught Kori's attention.

The park.

Kori gulped upon remembering her last visit there. But still, she felt drawn to that area. Something inside her wanted to go visit that part. The reason was unknown to her.

"Excuse me... driver," Kori said to the man behind the wheel. "Can you please stop the car."

The man did as he was told and pulled over. Kori opened the door and stepped out. She turned back towards the cab. "I'll be right back."

The man nodded and turned his radio on as Kori walked towards the park's entrance. She stepped inside and shivered, but not because it was cold. Kori pushed down any fear she may have felt and walked along the path. That's when she spotted someone very familiar standing just inches away from the spot where she was shot.

"Dick."

---

"KORI!"

Dick watched in horror as Kori fell to the ground. Dick turned his head to the side and saw Fang making a run for it. He couldn't worry about that now. Quickly Dick stood up and went to Kori's side. He dropped to his knees and scooped the unconscious red-head in his arms. He wrapped an arm around her and that's when he felt something wet on his fingers. Dick raised his hand up in horror as he saw his hand was red with blood.

Dick quickly took out his cell phone and called an ambulance. He told what happened and where to find Kori and him. Once that was done he turned his attention back to Kori. She looked pale and fragile.

"Please be ok, Kori." he mumbled as he held her closer.

"Dick..."

Dick pulled away slightly so he could look at Kori. Her eyes were half way open and she looked like she was in a daze.

"Kori..." Dick didn't know what to say or do.

Kori's eyes closed and Dick felt like he was being torn apart.

"Kori? Kori...," he got no response and instantly feared the worst. He checked her pulse which didn't appear normal. "C'mon, Kori, open your eyes. Please stay up... please."

There was no response and Dick held her tighter, wondering where was the ambulance. Tears began to fall from his eyes.

"Please don't die, Kori. I need you... I love you.'

Dick thought back to that day with narrowed eyes. He felt useless and pathetic. There was nothing he could do as he watched Kori bleed on the ground. It was just like with his parents. All he could do was watch.

Dick blamed himself for the whole incident. Had Kori not push him out of the way she would have never been shot. Had he not lost his temper maybe Fang wouldn't have fired.

Fang.

Dick hated him. Ever since their first meeting in middle school. Fang was nothing but trouble and Dick couldn't say he would miss the guy. He wasn't glad that someone was dead but he wasn't sad either.

There was a question on Dick mind. Now that Fang was gone, what will happen with him and Kori?

The original reason for the breakup was the fear of Fang coming back. But he was gone now. Dick shook his head, it didn't matter now. He was with Carry. He couldn't be with Kori now, not after everything that has happened. It was his fault that she almost died and he couldn't free himself from the guilt.

"Dick."

Dick turned around and there she was. The girl he couldn't stop thinking about. "Kori."

Uncomfortable silence.

"So... where's your girlfriend?"

Uncomfortable question.

"I don't know." Dick said. And truly, he didn't care. The only reason why he was with Carry was to push Kori away.

Kori sighed. "Dick, why do you keep doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"This! Pushing me away and acting like you don't care!"

Dick stepped closer to her so they were face to face. Kori gasped as he pulled her into his embrace. Dick ran his fingers on her back and landed on her spine.

"This is your spine," Dick said as he moved his fingers to the left. He stopped once he reached a certain spot. "This is where you got shot." Dick moved his fingers up making an 'L' shape and stopped his fingers once more. "This is your heart."

He stepped away and Kori was in shock. The bullet had missed her spine and her heart by mere inches. She never thought she was in that much trouble.

"Had the bullet hit your spine you could have been paralyzed. If it hit your heart..."

"I could have died," Kori finished. "And is this the reason why you are pushing me away?"

"It's half of it."

"What's the other half?"

Dick didn't want to tell her because he knew she would only fight him if he did. "I have to go."

"Dick, I'm not giving up on us. I don't give up on the people I care about."

With that said Kori walked away. Dick didn't say anything and walked away as well in the opposite direction.

No one ever said life was easy.

-------------------------------------------

BIG THANKS TOO Domiebabe3, FairieAngelx3o, imcalledkitty, Harry Potter Fan 1994, Koriand'r Grayson, Royalfire14, jerseygrl90, Lil-Mz.Sunshine, CERTiFiED02, cryingdove, Karol!na07, Sulan123, Kory Anders Grayson, Agent of the Divine One, SaoirseWaveglow, BeastBoy4pres052, cookiesruletheworld, StraightFromCupid, Ace.04. ToCoOLfOrU, RavenSis, SaffireStarz, BerryDrops, gothchik18, RoseXxxXThorn, titangirl797, xryosakufujix, TerraBB4Eva, Starsoffire AND ... FOR THE WONDERFUL REVIEWS! YOU GUYS ROCK!

SO, SOME GOOD NEWS. I'VE BEEN THINKING AND I'M PRETTY SURE DICK AND KORI WILL GET BACK TOGETHER DURING CHAPTER 57.

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