'' Isn't it the worst thing you've heard? Part 1''
They didn't talk for a week, and that was enough so that the tension could be cut with the edge of a knife. She could feel it, his emotions were always easy to detect, his aura shone in different colors, marking the yellow tones representing happiness and joy, emotions that were difficult to achieve for someone who is half demon, whose control over her feelings and emotions contained her powers or these would consume her human side, and unwittingly would be liberating her father to destroy the world that for years participated in her salvation.
She was sitting next to him with the phone in his hand taking selfies for his social media and interacting with his followers, Raven had a book in her hands as she slurped a tea pretending that her mind absorbed every single letter, But she couldn't stop thinking about the moment everything broke down.
Were they too different for it to work? Should she have been surprised when everything went wrong?
She felt his indifference, as he also pretended not to have seen it and she could not blame him. Nor could she blame herself.
Sometimes she wondered what would become of her if she were a normal girl, if her fate wasn't a constant struggle, her worst nightmare ran through her veins and had imprisoned a demonic being destroyer of worlds in a glass resting on her forehead that responded to the name of her father, who was also the murderer of her mother and all the people who were part of her upbringing, What would happen to her if she was still that girl?
She had no right to forget all those people, who died on a childish whim.
She did not forget her heritage, going back to the worst-case scenario, but even with all that she could not help but see more. She glanced sideways at Garfield, who was resting on the sofa with a small smile on his face, tapping into his phone, felt a pinprick of emotion running through his body, his sadness resting between the layers, and she continued to dig as soon as she could contain it.
It wasn't hard to feel his emotions, Garfield was never someone who held back and lived every day as the last. Two drops from different ponds.
When they started dating months ago, everyone in the tower applauded. He was so happy that he wanted to post it on each of his social networks, but Raven had grimaced, because she wanted to keep her privacy to herself; no one should know. She wasn't ready for a public-domain relationship, she wasn't happy that everyone knew about her intimacy, so she wouldn't let him.
Garfield turned out to be a loving boyfriend, he wasn't afraid to touch her in front of the titans, when they watched movies he'd circle her shoulder resting his head against hers, After the missions he'd come over and put one hand down on her waist and smile happily for defeating all those bad guys by placing a kiss on her forehead, every time he had a chance to touch her he did, like she was something he could claim. Raven wasn't used to being touched, her last tokens of affection she remembered had been from her mother, before her life was completely transformed and ended in hell where contact with her father and half-brothers was as painful as the flames of fire, it had made her reluctant to show affection to her friends. She never initiated contact, nor desired to receive it, but Garfield was cut from a different cloth.
She was awakened by that feeling, that emotion of desire that she detected whenever the young man's thoughts moved away from reality, as if he were desperate for something or someone he would never have, and it was not her.
Raven figured it out. She was just hoping that one day she could forgive him, but she had understood, she didn't own his heart and she had grown tired of thinking that it would be Terra's life if she had given herself one more chance and stayed with them, Garfield would sigh every time he appeared in the halls, his emotions were strong enough for her powers to be detected from her room. It was different than what she noticed when they were together.
She remembered how his jokes and good humor could ease her reserved personality, cast his head back laughing like a little boy, as if he had never witnessed gruesome crimes and the deaths were only obstacles that jumped with a smile on his face, but there was a sadness in his eyes that he refused to reveal before her. Maybe his was a masterpiece until the two of them destroyed it.
He gave her flowers and let them die, she'd wanted him to open up, be serious for a few moments and tell her what was hurting him, but he didn't.
She wanted him to sit next to her and have a moment of peace, a space where he would walk away from social media and try to understand each other. Raven felt like she was the one who noticed the internal bleeding, she didn't mention it, and he kept giving out samples that didn't fill her heart anymore, she just felt cold every time he kissed her.
She knew he was doing his best.
Raven hadn't seen him until that breakfast. That morning she rose early, the sun hardly caressed the city, the fog covered the port and from a distance she saw the activity on the dock, small figures loaded the forests, collected the nets and filled containers with products of the sea; That tiny boat that took tourists along the coast of the city was hoisting their fictional pirate flags.
The steam from her tea burned her fingers, but she didn't care. It was a typical winter morning covered by a gray sky like a thick, spoiled soup, and the teenager sat in the chair facing the window in her pajamas, which consisted of a thin fabric blouse, shorts and thick woolen stockings.
She drank her herbal infusion, poaching on her tongue.
Turned off her father's voice, but her mind was restless and distant. She thought Garfield was probably still sleeping, seeing her consume tea would make him grimace and express how disgusting it is to drink hot flavored water; he would eat his yogurt with cereal and make so much noise until others would be bothered.
'Isn't it too early? ' Damian showed up in a sweaty sport outfit. Titus was walking behind Batman's son with his tongue hanging out of his muzzle, gasping, but he was still wagging his tail when he saw her in the kitchen "Come" He took the leash off his pet.
Damian had grown since he first arrived three years ago. His bones grew so big that Raven felt her pain at the first sprout of growth, his hair was short and dark black like the color of tar, his eyes green and his chin took a square shape; Anyone who saw him without his Robin costume would relate him to Bruce Wayne, it was his vivid image, except for the color of his eyes and the toasted tone, inherited from his Arab ancestry.
"Good morning to you too." After all this time she had to remind Damian of his manners. She drummed her fingers to the rhythm of a loose melody on the table. The marble brought the cold on her skin, it was like touching a snowflake "You want to take a cup of tea?"
He nodded, passing a towel around his neck to keep the perspiration away. His sweatshirt was broad in a black hue matching the pants, probably from a European designer whose surname she could barely pronounce.
They sat in front of each other in silence. They weren't very talkative people, Damian had been one of the few people who kept their emotions and feelings hidden behind an impenetrable wall, trained since childhood to be the perfect soldier and not make mistakes, never give the enemy the chance to use any emotion as a weakness, yet he was the person who understood most possibly because they had no social skills and had pasts from which they could not escape. Birds of the same feather.
Both had made an involuntary connection by saving each other.
There were uncomfortable silences, he was not easy to deal with and preferred to maintain distances before interacting, he had heard the whispers saying how creepy she was and did not fit in the middle of the group, In spite of being a heroine, there was an aura of mysticism and rarity that she couldn't shake off.
Damian turned out to be the least social Robin, keeping his appearances in the alleys of Gotham, patrolling and fighting criminals since he was a child, a stranger. He listened to the news in the online newspapers, testimonies from apparent nearby sources, and home video footage of witnesses as the team ended up with a criminal showing Robin's distance from the Teen Titans.
A few weeks ago, a video had gone viral that showed him after a battle where Damian was wounded, and Starfire came up to help him stand up but rejected her by waving his arm. The others weren't surprised, it was just Damian being him, however, people made it a topic of discussion whether or not Robin was a jerk to his peers, None of them would have found out if it wasn't for Garfield who expressed his dissatisfaction at seeing Robin in trends and not his name, but seeing what was going on, he told the team.
Damian snapped his tongue over the subject and went to his room. The whole drama moved people into twittering on Twitter about Robin's bad behavior towards the team, Justice League even with Batman himself showing blurry pictures of his fight a few years ago with Batman and before you know it Robin was canceled on social media without having any.
Garfield calmed things down by sending a friendly Tweet, but it was too late, and Robin's name was already tainted.
Now Robin was dealing with the constant images and videos taken on missions criticizing what he did. It would be easier if Damian was an anonymous person, but he's the son of one of the most powerful billionaires in the whole world and people were obsessed with knowing who he was dating and how the years made him into someone desirable in the eyes of teenage girls there were constantly photos of his body being on social networks under yellow titles such as: Bruce Wayne's son is already a man, look at his picture, Incredible!
Damian took a hard sip of his tea.
"How was the warm-up? "
He shrugged "I guess good."
He finished taking the last sip of his hot drink and got up to wash his cup.
"Do you have the first edition of David Copperfield?"
Raven raised an eyebrow, now curious. She turned around leaving her cup still soaped and her wet hands dripping on the floor "Have you read David Copperfield? "
He frowned analyzing the cover and back cover. The book was covered by a thick soft green fabric to the touch, had stains and pages fattened with a yellowish tone, plus a permanent old aroma, Raven had gotten it in a used book store and cost her two months' savings, but it was worth it.
Damian nodded and her heart leapt from emotion, but quickly neutralized "Yes. A few years ago."
"What did you think?"
"It was fine."
Frowned "I love your emotion."
Raven turned around and finished washing her cup by taking advantage to store the few dishes from the dinner the night before. Okay, maybe David Copperfield can be just ''It was fine'', but it's a book that needs to be analyzed more deeply and had more meaning.
"It's not bad" She froze "In fact, it's a good book, although a little childish for my taste and we all know that David wasn't going to stay with Dora."
She smiled "I have to agree with you. I think David always knew that the right one was Agnes, but he doesn't belittle Dora or that he didn't love her."
Arms around her waist stole the words she was about to say. She looked down, encountering green limbs, which left her quickly to kiss her hair muttering between yawns a greeting.
Looking at him, he was still in his pajamas and judging by his messy hair he had just woken up.
"Hey, Damian, you're all over the internet."
He folded his arms wincing at the sight of Logan, if there was one thing Damian hated was lazy and noisy people, Garfield getting up late and stirring the refrigerator in search of his favorite yogurt was the combination.
"Am I still canceled?"
Her boyfriend smiled with his mouth full of dried cereal "Robin, of course he did. Damian Wayne, heir of Wayne Enterprise, went out for a run with his pet, it was so adorable and hot that you're all over the gossip pages."
He picked up the phone showing a collection of photos of Damian jogging through a city park accompanied by Titus, in some photographs he was shirtless shaking his clothes from his pet's hair, in others he gave the dog a bottle of water to drink, Which drove the internet crazy.
"Worse."
And walked away.
Garfield shrugged, brushing the subject aside. Raven hugged the book on her chest and waited for him to finish breakfast, the silence was a monster that consumed her inside and wanted to break this, but she didn't know how.
She looked at his face, wondered if he noticed it too.
It made her feel like she was crazy, like she saw things that were never there. Raven wanted to know why they were keeping this thing afloat when it clearly leaked from the start, because he didn't see it, because Garfield kept clinging to it, she wanted to ask, but he was never that open.
He smiled at a post and slid his finger down, surely sharing with his followers.
Raven let the relationship go first, before it ended up destroying them both. He didn't love her.
It was a painful but powerful truth and she had refused to understand it until then.
No matter how much her heart was broken, she could not replace anyone or love a person who gave his heart to another. She'd made mistakes in her past, her road to hell had been full of good intentions, yet she wouldn't do that to him, she wouldn't do that to herself, In her time on earth he learned a thing or two about relationships and hers was doomed to failure from the beginning.
The others had known it. When the demonstrations of affection ended, they understood that the story had an end.
Not all couples are like Dick and Kory, who in spite of time and distance kept sticking together, going back to each other at some point; Raven had seen the connection to the minutes of seeing them facing each other, felt the nerves, lust and love floating between the heroes, like a thread that was electrified with every touch. She knew it.
When she was a child she had not believed in love, that of myths and legends that were so tragic and passionate that culminated with the death of lovers, nothing but explanations of natural phenomena, however, she did not expect herself to understand it in a bad way.
Walking down the street carrying the grocery bag for that weekend, they were heavy packed with a collection of products of different shapes and sizes that struggled to escape from the cloth bags.
It would have been a good idea to be accompanied, so I could share the work with someone else. She volunteered to make the purchases trying to get away from the tower, even for a while and did not accept the offers of her companions.
She wanted to be alone for a few minutes, but she didn't expect how difficult it would be to walk the streets with two bags loaded to the brim. The fabric was strapped through the circulation of her fingers, and her limbs were pulling as if she was carrying the bluntest weight in the world. She snorted, reminding herself that she should exercise more in the future.
An apple fell from the bag rolling into an alley and cursed.
'"Girl idiot, you deserve everything that happens to you"
"Shut up."
A figure cleared up next to her and was familiar. Damian was dressed in civilian clothes (which is strange) he wore a sweatshirt three times his size, some loose pants and on his face a white mask that made others think he wanted to get away from a potentially dangerous illness, but he never got sick. She never saw him once.
This covered outfit was given to be nothing more than a disguise so that no images of him would emerge and then she thought about what people would say if Damian Wayne were close to a stranger in an activity as casual as carrying grocery bags. She could feel the annoyance, caution and irritation of her friend, which was normal in him, but this time it was directed outward, towards anyone with a cell phone in their hands.
She genuinely felt sorry for him, for Robin was an identity where he had always felt comfortable and allowed him to go unnoticed. Damian always preferred action to conversation, privacy to public demonstrations and didn't ask for recognition; she looked at him sideways wondering what it felt like to be embedded in a family of vigilantes, the weight on his shoulders, to bear an inheritance so great that he could not escape. Raven could relate to that.
She remembered something.
"Weren't you on patrol?"
His eyes turned to the apartment building, a white-colored concrete block; it looked like a residence for wealthy people. She was able to feel his reluctance to talk about the issue of patrols.
"It's no longer so simple" He folded his arms "Every time I fight criminals, I only see the cameras pointing at me. People make work difficult."
Robin's name was currently repudiated, she found it somewhat strange since the reception of the previous Robin was good, and every child wanted to be Batman's helper. Boy Wonder.
She adjusted one of the bags over his shoulder with a grimace.
"You're popular on Twitter."
"Being canceled is not the same as being popular," he snarled. His voice behind the mask sounded thick "Before I can avoid it a new act is already being added to a thread. People have a lot of free time."
She gave herself a few minutes to think "Garfield calls it cancellation culture."
He made a face when she mentioned that name.
"I heard you broke up."
Raven put her head down. It had been three weeks since that conversation at breakfast, the wound was not fresh, but it was still there; she wondered if she had made a good decision. The doubt haunted her every time she heard him laughing with Jaime while they were playing video games and watching him approach other people giving out hugs, but it wasn't so painful anymore. She made peace with not having him in her life.
She was surprised that Damian brought up the subject of her previous relationship, not that he was very interested in the Titans' love life, and when they announced the relationship he put on an expression of boredom. Raven didn't expect any reaction, he never got along very well with beast boy barely withstanding his screams.
They were friends, so he'd have something to say, wouldn't he?
Damian always had an opinion.
"We did," she replied.
They passed by some shops where big posters were displayed announcing discounts, apparently wanting to get rid of last season's products. Jump City was located at the beginning of the summer, the rays of sun burned the skin of its inhabitants and dyed the city of an apparent atmosphere of festival proclaiming in each of the local media the upcoming events and fairs.
A group of teenagers was making their way to a clothing store. One of them pointed at Damian's face with her cell phone, and he hid his face in the sweatshirt, walking faster, holding her arm, and got into a car parked a few blocks away.
He looked back "We lost them."
She had not realized the extent of the people's persecution of Damian. She glanced at him sideways as he took off his mask showing his sculpted jaw, his face was free of imperfections and he looked like something from an old film where he played the gallant protagonist.
In Azarath there was a word to describe how precious and charming beyond words, that beauty that hurt and made you wonder if something like this could exist, she had not found a translation or a word that could describe that feeling, so she left him as he was Arratax sounded in her head when she looked at his profile. Raven knew that Damian was conceived and trained to be perfect, designed, but that didn't stop her from feeling a pinprick of anger, for a demon's daughter, someone with unholy blood, beauty escaping from her hands.
"I hate this."
Raven arranged the bags in the back seat of the car. You could feel the aroma of new leather, the interior is luxurious and well cared for, it was probably a car made to withstand high speeds, last generation, probably exclusive.
"Do you think someone filmed you?"
He put his hands on the steering wheel "I don't think so, but they did take pictures of me."
She grimaced.
"I'm sorry" Raven apologized for all the shit that was going on, even though she had nothing to do with it.
Damian stared at her for a few seconds with a frown, as if he were figuring out the meaning behind her words, measuring whether there was a double intention. He started the car quietly and headed for the Titans' tower.
She looked out, the buildings and houses passed through her vision in a blink of an eye and leaned her head against the glass. She closed her eyes, quietly repeating a prayer taught to her by the monks, a plea for tranquility and new beginnings.
After months of a stormy relationship, a painful breakup and change after that, she needed some peace. For the first time in a month she really felt calm, yet it still seemed to her that this summer had been cruel, full of ups and downs.
She started it by being in a stable relationship, or at least that's how she classified it, if they'd told her she'd break up with Gar, she wouldn't have believed them because everything was fine. What an irony.
"Whatever," he said. His fingers tapped softly on the steering wheel like he was sending out a message in Morse code "It's not like it matters."
Raven bowed her head.
In her hands rests a book, she had not been able to finish it during these three weeks, unable to focus her attention on words. She kept the stories of Edgar Allan Poe clinging to her chest, as if to guard the letters.
"Have you read The Raven?"
"I think we all have. It's the writer's most popular story."
Damian folded through the intercept; his greenish gaze fixed on the road. There was something comforting about talking about books while he was driving, an atmosphere hovering over the two, a soft, protective mantle.
"I read it for the first time in the library."
She had to imagine that the Wayne mansion had its own library, after all Bruce Wayne was known to be a billionaire who visited charitable events talking about current issues with powerful people. He may be a playboy, but that didn't make him a fool.
His library probably had first editions and collections that would cost houses.
"What's your favorite?"
He glanced at her sideways, it was a fleeting glance. His brow was still wrinkled in a frown, and his mouth twisted in a grimace, like a pouty child when he was rebuked. Damian didn't like to talk, rarely had he shared with the Titans beyond the missions, so they saw him with a book in his hands, name a certain character or quotes were surprised, But Raven knew it, saw the momentary interest every time he watched her read or made sure she wasn't disturbed.
He was full of surprises.
"Oliver Twist."
His gaze relaxed and for a few seconds his mind escaped, as if flying in a different direction. She didn't need to be empathetic to understand that it was a private memory.
The rest of the journey was peaceful, but Damian gradually became more bitter, spoke less and frowned more, as if a being were returning to his body.
Damian Wayne's exhibition and Robin's cancellation had only made him distant (more than usual), he realized how his friends could find themselves in the tabloids and media for more than missions if they were discovered by his side. Damian Wayne captured attention for his heritage, Damian Al Ghul was destined to lead the world's most powerful league, Robin is the companion of one of the most popular and beloved heroes, who is also part of Justice League, But the Damian who drank tea cups and added brown sugar reading poetry, won prizes at the fair for children and was amazed at the taste of sweets, enjoyed the silences and whispering conversations; that Damian didn't appreciate it.
Raven sighed as the car pulled up in front of the Tower of the Titans.
Back to reality, it was said. She had pretended to be a lonely evening, she wanted to engage her thoughts in something other than that fateful morning, in her failure of love that her father mockingly reminds her of declaring that demons fell in love, that it was her fault and doomed to destroy everything, just like she was meant to destroy the earth.
She had been angry, tired and hurt, and the walls of her room already threatened to drive her crazy. Normally she would be in her room meditating, drinking tea or reading a book, but not anymore.
She needed to get out.
She seriously considered making up an excuse to be away for a while. She looked upon the city, the rays of the sun reflected on the windows of the buildings like lit candles, and the mountains were dyed a pastel pink shade.
The first stars appeared in the sky. It was getting dark.
"Thank you for the ride."
She felt the need to speak, though she knew she would get no answer from Batman's son, so she got out of the car with the grocery bags. "You're welcome."
Raven stopped wondering if she heard, but the car was already pulling away.
In her head everything went well, he called her and replied with a smile, but it was all a montage.
A montage she wanted to erase from her head.
Garfield would knock on her door, offer a smile in peace and feel the world fall at her feet. His heart would pound into his chest, his fingers would itch to get her close, to taste her skin, and how it would feel to say she was his. The worst lie ever.
She sat on the floor of her room facing the window, the city was a dark painting filled with thousands of lights turning on and off. The sight comforted her, sheltered her heart and she remembered why she was doing this.
Raven turned off the light and remained silent, just looking out.
She had been described as a lonely person with whom she was difficult to deal, her past was a chain she could never cut, could learn to wear the chain and share when she weighed the chain. A few years ago, she had said she had a bad judgment, believed that she had not changed at all.
She wondered if she would ever learn from her mistakes.
Love was not for her; she was much better off alone; no one had to deal with a demon's daughter. As much as she hated her father and would ignore each of his words, she recognized that he was right in a sense, people like her were not meant to be loved, for others to give them their hearts.
I could live with that.
After that mission Robin's name echoed on social media, apparently someone had taken a picture of the moment the superhero hit Beast Boy in the stomach after he yelled in his ear. Damian's reaction was bad, he didn't like surprises, so every time someone managed to scare him, he would respond with blows.
That's not what they said on Twitter.
Garfield was a beloved titan, as much as his peers rolled their eyes when they saw him doing live on their social media and posting everything that happened to him was not a world opinion, his more than five million followers lived for each of his interactions, So, they didn't react well to the image.
Garfield tried to calm the situation, But the photograph of Robin's fist crushing his stomach and the justification he gave was enough for his followers to believe he was some kind of martyr and make petitions gathering signatures so that the Boy Wonder would no longer be part of the Titans.
"OMG… Robin assaulting another of his companions, what a surprise'"
"Beast Boy is a love. He doesn't deserve this''
''We should all cancel Robin. I don't understand how Batman can have him as a partner, and even the Titans, he just shouldn't be there''
''Beast Boy is a very calm person, he's never bothered anyone, but Robin treats him very badly #JusticeforBeastBoy''
The hashtag became a worldwide trend with the video going around the world. The Justice League intervened saying that Robin is just a boy and that his action did not reflect on the Titans, and Batman found himself contacting Starfire.
Damian rolled his eyes away from the situation. In the last few days he was quiet, spent his days training or patrolling being invisible, a shadow appearing to save them and disappear in smoke.
In the few moments he was in the tower he was absent when he heard any comments about social media, Starfire had suspended the posting of photos on the tower or other titans, as well as the mention of a certain team member.
Garfield protested, but Kory's frown was enough for him to nod.
Being around Damian had only caused her emotions to overwhelm her.
The teenager was a tide of anger and frustration, she felt it in his veins, like a monster waiting for a provocation to come out. His emotions were there, deep down he was affected by the situation, had something else to show besides latent anger.
She was not mistaken when she said that inside he is a noble and generous soul, she still believed he was that person, but sometimes she would like to do more than just scratch the surface.
Interrupted her meditation by paying attention to his blade by tearing apart a hologram. He was not wearing his uniform, only a pair of shorts and a loose T-shirt revealing his arms, his frown falling drops of sweat and holding the sword stronger than necessary. The last time he was like this was after a discussion with his father about a mission.
"You've been gone five hours, Damian."
He didn't pay any attention. "It's okay. Ignore me."
Raven was not in the mood to put up with Damian's mood, could normally bear his rough edges and understood that none was easy to deal with, however, this time she preferred to walk away.
She headed for the exit.
"Are you still reading Edgar Allan Poe?" He frowned.
She was struck by surprise, took a few moments to understand his words and process a response.
Was he stopping her?
"Yes" She turned. He looked into her eyes but bowed his head and the sword swung in his hands without purpose. "I almost finished the stories."
Damian sighed.
He ran a hand through his hair. His face is covered with sweat, small drops descended on his forehead and he put the sword in the holster; he walked towards the controls and for a minute she thought he would reschedule the program from the beginning, but he took a book out of a backpack.
Raven wanted to look away, she sensed it was a book she planned to read, but the title made her look back at the play. She recognized it wherever she saw it, she'd been looking for it for days on the internet sighing disappointed at the price.
The first edition of The Raven had been sold out, yet the price was enough to make her pocket hurt. The book is dark, of a worn color, on the cover a raven on a pillar with the title barely standing out from a yellowish shade, and its pages thickened over time.
"How?"
He shrugged "Family Library."
Oh.
"Keep it" He paused "If you want it… "
Only Damian could make accepting a gift sound like an order. She made a mental note not to underestimate his detective skills, however, by her lips slipped a smile against any thought of exhaustion about the behavior of the younger Wayne.
He handed her the book, while he was away with the sweat on his forehead with a towel. She stared at the work passing one hand across the cover feeling the softness of the paper, as well as the relief of the title and the dust accumulated between its pages, as if it were awaited by Raven for a long time in the most hidden place in the world.
"Thank you very much, Damian."
He did not respond, but she could feel his shoulders relaxing and the tension seemed to leave his body. The emotion came to her like a wave on a quiet day, a softness that invaded her spirit and almost let out a sigh.
There was something intimidating about the scene, Raven holding a book leafing through its pages like devouring its contents, Damian drinking water and wiping sweat from the body.
They had a good relationship, they went through a few moments of roughness when they met and that is that the circumstances could not have been worse, but they were forged since then. She begged him to stay away, now she just wanted to keep him close.
Her heart was forming new strings around him, handled by the worst puppeteer she'd ever met in her entire life. She put that feeling away before it came up, it was just excitement for the gift and nothing else.
You want to take advantage of the boy. Her father's voice roared in her head, a tone of mockery and the smile disappeared from her face, Are you that easy, you filthy witch? Demons devour love, feed on feeling, and make it worse. We are made for this, ungrateful. When are you gonna learn?
Raven frowned at that.
She stared at the book, it was so beautiful that in a few seconds it became a sign of uncertainty, a reminder of the fate of all this. She wanted to return it, just like the little injection of feelings that shook her heart and nip it in the bud like a rotten thing before it branches off elsewhere and she couldn't do anything, just cry in the dark at the end.
She watched Damian, the boy was at the height of his reputation, each of those people who took the time to write comments against him hated him, repudiated his image and wished him out, as Damian Wayne was no better, the world was leaning at his feet and was haunted by magazine photographers starving for an update on the life of the Prince of Gotham's son, So much so that it affected the teenager's personal life by avoiding going out, and when he did, he tried not to be recognized on the streets. She felt that people should see him beyond titles and flaws.
Do you want to ruin this one too?
"What is it?"
He put the towel aside and came over. When there was something that aroused his curiosity, he demanded an answer and was content with nothing but the truth, she felt exposed and overwhelmed, perhaps it was because of her father's voice that no matter how much it cost her he was right, she never learned from her mistakes.
Put an end to it before the prologue is written and ends badly.
Raven retreated in one step, then two, but Damian continued to approach.
"What is it?" he repeated.
She opened and closed her mouth like a fish, unable to utter a single word, but what would she say? what if this was just a nice gesture and she was confusing everything, she didn't want to ruin a friendship by a prick of confusion.
She Looked into his eyes. In a second her whole mind lit up completely and she realized that that feeling was not unknown, his green eyes brought her hope and strength in the moments when the world was falling apart even when they were just getting to know each other, they had seen so many bad things, they could have opted for a life of pain and destruction, but here they were waiting for the best, that kind of familiarity embraced her and made her entrails turn.
The feeling was not new.
They were inches away. She raised her head squeezing her lips out of sheer nervousness, wanted to divert attention to whatever it was, but Damian's eyes were demanding, being empathetic she felt his anxiety about knowing what was going on, It was almost as if he was calling her and emitting a magnetic force that made it impossible to lie to him.
She embraced the book on his chest "I…'
"You're all over social media, Wayne"' Jaime stopped dead. He appeared holding a cell phone and showing the teenager casually conversing with a waitress in a restaurant; the latino exchanged a glance between the two and scratched his hair, insecure "I'm sorry."
Damian frowned and rolled his eyes as he processed the words. He collected his belongings with angry grunts, probably tired of all the media scandal surrounding his life.
He made a grimace of discomfort.
"Brother, everyone is linking you to the waitress and all the girls are suffering," said Jaime. He had pretended that the words were a mockery, but no longer knew if his friends would take it as a joke, in any case, not that he had a sense of humor; he would swear that he was not welcome "Rae, you should read the comments."
She looked away from him.
Raven shrugged "I'm not interested."
"I don't want to know anything!" Damian put his backpack on his back and walked to the door in strides "I can't order coffee anymore" he snarled.
Garfield showed up with his tablet accompanied by Conner "Look what they did to Robin…"
Damian pushed him, and he slammed the door so hard he sent a draft of air. Beast Boy backed away issuing complaints, the device almost slipped between his hands like butter.
Conner laughed, gripping his stomach, mocking his friend.
"What's wrong with him?"
Raven sighed.
Sometimes she was surprised at how dense the three are, Jaime could be calmer, but as for the feelings and what his companions experienced, he was totally unaware of it, while Garfield only saw the truth if he came face to face and danced to it.
About Conner, well, she doubted he saw anything but his own vanity.
"He's frustrated," she said.
Garfield and Jaime exchanged glances, finally shrugged, while Conner continued to mock his friends for a reason that eluded her knowledge. She was used to people reacting like that when she spoke, as they related it to her powers and her mysterious aura, they assumed that she saw something that others did not, in some cases it was real, in others the problem was them.
Raven stared at the book.
The gift in her hands, the beating of her heart, the fire in her cheeks, which would burn to ashes.
She wasn't meant to love.