"Are you ready to go?" Damian asked as he stepped through the door she had opened only to rush back to the bedroom.

"Just getting my shoes!" Raven called out and emerged once again soon after.

"Are they comfortable?" He asked casually, looking down at the white flats that she had picked out for herself just a few days back. They looked nice with the light blue dress and white jacket she'd put on. It was almost funny, actually, now that he realized that the dress matched his shirt.

"They are. Why?" An eyebrow raised in mild confusion.

"Just asking." A shrug rolled off his shoulder before he nodded towards the door. "Let's go?"

Nodding, they both headed outside. It was a warm day, which was unusual for this time of year, but Raven was definitely glad about it. Especially because Damian had suggested walking to this retro diner or whatever. He really tried his best to get her out of the apartment more and she appreciated it, even if it was a bit overwhelming at times.

A part of her felt bad for still using Dick's apartment, despite him saying that she was welcome to stay for as long as she wanted and the fact that the Titans had actually offered her room back at the Tower. But right now, she wanted to enjoy her new life. For the first time ever she had a chance to actually live. She wanted to use it for as long as she could. Try new things. Gain new experiences. Explore new places.

"You seem cheerful today." After a while of walking, Damian broke the silence and brought her attention to him.

"Do I?" She asked, in an almost oblivious tone.

"Did something happen?"

"No. Nothing in particular." She shook her head.

"Well, that's an awful lot of smiling for nothing then." He commented simply.

"Mm. Well, perhaps it just feels nice to smile. You should try it sometimes." The corner of her lips curled into a grin as she teased him.

"Tt." A playful eyeroll. But he couldn't help but smile. Even if it was internal. Seeing her like this warmed his heart. She'd been through so much after all. It was relieving to see she still found joy. And that, in return, made him happy as well. Most days he convinced himself that it was enough too. If she was happy, then so was he. But with every day that passed, he craved to be near her more and more. Despite his better, more rational, judgement, he'd been doing his best to keep close too. He told himself it was to keep an eye on her, to keep her safe, to make sure she didn't suddenly start to turn into a demon… Any and all reasons to keep visiting. Their relationship was different than the one back then. But to what extent? He couldn't quite tell. It was never clear. Partly because they chose not to talk about it. It was never brought up. They just… spent time together. And it seemed to be enough. But was it?

"Here we are." Damian pointed to the diner and opened the door for her once they'd reached it. Walking in, it felt like they'd stepped into the 80s. The diner did indeed look like something out of a movie. It even had a jukebox right on the far side of it. They took a seat and ordered something for lunch. As they waited, Raven kept glancing around.

"So why this place?" She finally asked.

"No reason in particular." He shrugged. "Just thought you might appreciate it, seeing that you like to check out interesting places."

Her lips formed a smile and she held a brief pause before speaking again. "You're always good to me."

"I don't know, am I?" His heart skipped a beat, but visually nothing changed in his calm exterior. Only his gaze averted from her to suddenly start looking around.

"You have been. Ever since I came back. You've always been there. I-" Raven continued slowly, stumbling on her words a little as she grew nervous. "You've done so much for me. I just feel like I haven't done enough for you-"

"You've done plenty, Raven." He was quick to disagree. God damn it, it wasn't the time or place for this conversation. It almost irritated him that she brought these things up now. Couldn't she have chosen a more quiet and private place? However, most of all… It hurt him to know that she thought she hadn't done anything for him. She'd done so much more than she could imagine. If only she could see that.

"It doesn't always feel like it, you know."

If only he could put that into words.

"But thank you. I'm glad you don't think I'm completely useless." She chuckled silently.

If only he could show her that.

"I just want you to know that-"

His head suddenly shot back to her and he interrupted with "Do you want to dance?"

It completely took her aback and she stared at him in confusion for a solid minute, partly hoping for him to reveal he was only joking. "Wait, are you serious?"

"Am I ever not?"

"Well-"

"Yes, I'm serious."

"But Damian"- A chuckle of disbelief escaped her lips as she looked around- "No one else is dancing."

"It hasn't stopped us before." He grinned knowingly and extended his hand towards her.

"It hasn't?" She raised an eyebrow, still not believing that this was actually happening. But Damian was absolutely serious about this. Every part of his being was serious, she could sense it. But why? Glancing down at the hand waiting to be taken, Raven thought for a moment longer before releasing a sigh in defeat. "Fine." She held his hand and they both stood up from their seat, heading in the empty corner right next to the jukebox.

Luckily enough, the diner wasn't actually too crowded. But the people that were there definitely caught interest in the young couple walking across the entire place over to the jukebox. It wouldn't have been too unusual had they just gone there to change the song, but no. Still holding onto her hand, Damian's free arm wrapped around her waist and gently pulled her closer to him. Her breath got stuck in her throat. His heart picked up its pace. Their eyes met. Her free hand softly landed on his shoulder. They both were nervous. He could hide it as much as he wanted. She knew he was nervous too. Pretty much everyone was watching them. Raven could practically feel their eyes on them as they started dancing.

"You don't need to worry about anyone else." His voice was low, but gentle.

"I know, but… Everyone is watching."

"Does it matter?" He asked nonchalantly and it made her think. Did it matter? It was just two people dancing. Were they doing something bad? No. Were they doing something inappropriate? Also no. The jukebox was there. Why couldn't they dance? Damian was completely right and… it actually astounded her that it was him, of all people, to do this.

"No." She smiled a little and swayed with him in the rhythm of the song. Eventually the overwhelming sense of curiosity and judgement she felt in the room dispersed and she managed to relax in his embrace. Something about this was familiar. Like they'd done it before. Had they danced before? Was that the reason he asked her to dance? To possibly jog her memory? Somehow the thought of that soured this experience for her.

"Damian?"

"Hm?"

"We've done this before, haven't we?" Her sad eyes met his, "Dance in public, I mean?"

"Mm." He nodded. Although there had been a sliver of hope that she might remember something, he had to admit that it wasn't the main reason he asked her to dance. "Would you believe if I told you it was your idea back then?"

"I would not." She chuckled, but a hint of sadness still remained. "But I suppose, if it was for one of our fake dates, then-"

"Yes, we've done a lot of fake things in the past." A small frown formed on his forehead. "Fake relationship. Fake dates. Fake names. But here's the thing, Raven"- He paused for a moment as he released her from his grip to twirl her around before pulling her back and pressing her close, his eyes looking directly into hers- "You can't fake love."

Those words felt like a lightning strike right through her entire being. Her heart trembled and the longer she gazed into his eyes, the more she realized that he was being serious. That he just confessed his love to her. Finally. After all this time. Finally he didn't dread the word. Maybe it had been foolish of her to wait for him to say it first, but oh was it worth it. She felt like she could scream, skyrocket into the air and sink into the ground all at the same time. The feeling was indescribable. But all she could realistically do was smile at him with the brightest smile he'd ever seen.

"No. You cannot." She agreed with him and it finally clicked. Had he really been so blind to not see that she loved him too? All this time? God was he an idiot after all. Chuckling at his own stupidity, more than anything else, his arms fully wrapped around her as he slowly leaned in, stopping mere inches from her face as if asking permission to kiss her. Still smiling, Raven closed the gap between them and closed her eyes as they shared a passionate and long overdue kiss.

You've done plenty, Raven.

FIN

A/n: So that's it, folks! Finally we've reached the end! And man what a journey it has been. This was my first big project that I've 100% completed and I'm so proud of myself. For some 14 chapters might not feel like much, but this was the biggest thing I've done, both in terms of length and the time it took me to write it, as well as in terms of popularity. The story reached so many readers and I'm thankful to each and every one of you! Thank you all for all the love and support, from the bottom of my heart 3 See you in the next one! Much love!