Hello Moto. Once again I'm here to bring you the extra 3rd chapter of Harmony. This one was a bit longer than the previous one and will introduce a few more characters, but there are only two more chapters left to finish this story!
Anyway, without further ado, here's the chapter. I hope you enjoy it as much as the previous ones.
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Extra Part III.
Sunday morning.
It was the day after the incident with Raven's father. Gar had decided to get up earlier so that he could have a comfortable breakfast with his girlfriend after having spent a wonderful night sleeping with her curled up in his arms. He simply wanted to get a good start that day before she left the house. What he didn't know was that she was off to continue the endless and blissful secret project with Victor. In the meantime, Gar went to finish the work he had started with Angela the day before. Although he honestly didn't feel like seeing that jerk Edward again, he had committed himself to helping Angela to the end and didn't want to leave her behind with all the work that still needed to be done.
"When's your next day off, Rae?" the musician dared to ask while washing the dishes after he and Raven had eaten.
"This week we'll finish the last project in the studio, so I'm free next week," she answered without thinking much about it while she dried the plates and glasses that Gar passed to her to put them in the pantry later, "plus Vic and I will finish our project next Saturday, so I'm officially free as of Sunday. Why do you ask? Do you have something in mind?"
"What if we went on a little trip?" he proposed straight out, drying his hands and then hugging her behind her back with a playful smile, "I think it's a good way to spend some quality time together, don't you think?"
"That doesn't sound bad at all, Gar," she replied, smiling in the same way as he did, while she turned around and captured his lips in a fleeting kiss full of mischief. Gar's smile widened even more and he did not hesitate to reciprocate the kiss as he lowered his hands to her waist. But Raven stopped him before he could get any more excited, "Hold on, tiger. We don't have time for that right now."
"Who says?" he asked, raising an eyebrow while he smiled with complicity, snatching another smile from Raven. She hit him lightly on the forehead with her index finger after forcing herself to act as the responsible adult, since he didn't seem to want to do it very much at the time.
Gar said, "I remind you, that it was you who started all this Rae. I just reacted and you came and attacked me mercilessly. I think I should denounce you for domestic violence.
"For God's sake, Gar, can't you be serious for even one minute?" she reproached. She tried to look upset, but unfortunately the fact that she was laughing as she spoke wasn't something that helped her performance, "Forget it. Do you have a place in mind or do you want to discuss it tonight?"
"Actually, I was thinking about Dallas," he replied. He separated himself from her so he wouldn't be tempted to keep annoying her or kissing her. Otherwise, they would never leave the house, "It's almost a four-hour flight and going in mid-August is not the best option for tourism, but it has activities we can both enjoy. Plus, I can get the best place to stay thanks to my contacts and I don't think a little extra heat would ruin our fun. What do you say?"
"Are you sure you didn't plan this in advance?" she asked with a sly smile, as she watched him suspiciously while raising an eyebrow, "Because I think it's a good idea. I'm not a fan of heat, but it's nothing I can't tolerate."
"You're the best Rae, I promise you won't regret it!" celebrated the excited musician by suddenly picking her up and twirling her in the air before lowering her back to the ground.
"I'm actually starting to regret it," grunted Raven dizzily as she leaned against the table so as not to fall over foolishly, to which he only let out a loud, funny laugh at her reaction.
After Raven's head stopped spinning, the two rode Gar's pickup truck to Angela's flower shop. There, Raven picked up her motorcycle and left before her mother tried to hold her back. She was assisted by Gar and Edward who sneaked in a barrier to slow Angela down so she couldn't catch her. Then, both men feigned ignorance and began to carefully carry the flowers they were to plant that day.
A week later, Gar and Raven boarded the plane to Dallas. Since they both had enough money, Gar insisted on buying a couple of business class tickets. He wanted to travel comfortably with Raven on the plane, even though she didn't care what kind of seats they had. At the end, she ended up thanking him internally for insisting so much. Thanks to this, she could sleep peacefully with her head resting on Gar's chest while he hugged her from the waist, taking advantage of the extra space.
Four hours later.
When they finally arrived at the airport in Dallas, Raven couldn't help but smile. As she woke up, she found that Gar had not only fallen asleep, but he was also resting his cheek slightly on her head. Raven didn't really want to wake him up because he seemed so comfortable at the time. Forcing herself yet again to be the responsible adult in that situation, she had to do so because they were about to land.
"Good mooooorning... beautiful," Gar yawned loudly as he stretched out on the seat to stretch.
"Good morning. How was your little hibernation, Mr. Bear?" If there was one thing Raven was good at, it was being sarcastic. When she didn't do it to offend, express her bad mood or be upset with him, Gar enjoyed each and every one of her comments.
"It was grrrrtastic, Rae," he replied by aggravating his voice while doing his best bear imitation. She just rolled her eyes as the plane landed softly on the runway.
"Okay, Yogi, stop fooling around and get ready to land," she urged, watching the flight attendants give the instructions to disembark the plane.
"Yojojoy, excellent idea Boo-Boo... Ouch!" he complained in pain, frightening the flight attendant who passed by them at that moment. He leaned forward sharply while hugging his stomach after the elbow Raven had given him.
"Oh my God! Are you all right, sir?" asked the flight attendant, gently placing the palm of her hand on Gar's back as she waited attentively for his reply.
But it was Raven who answered in his place.
"Don't worry, he just suffers from chronic idiocy, but I already gave him his medicine so everything should be fine now," said Raven smiling warmly at the flight attendant as she slowly placed her hand on Gar's back. She dropped her fingers one after the other with deliberate slowness causing a chill to run through the musician's body, "Isn't that right Gar?"
The flight attendant could not help but smile amusedly at the sight of such a tall guy, nodding quickly in terror as if his girlfriend were a fierce tiger that would kill him at the slightest mistake on his part. Gar should have expected a reaction like that from Raven (who had in fact controlled herself not to hit him with his first " funny comment " before), but feeling lucky he decided to try his luck with her once more and this was the result.
Maybe it was because of Edward's genes or all the hard work she had had to do for years helping Angela in the flower shop, but surprisingly, Raven was able to hit much harder than she appeared at first sight.
"Well Mr. Comedian, I think you understand that my kicks aren't the only thing you have to worry about, right?" Mumbling unintelligible things, Gar nodded his head and looked at her accusingly while he slowly stood up again. Raven continued, "Excellent. As long as you understand that, we'll be fine.
She expected another grunt or some complaint from the musician. Instead, a smile as disturbing and Machiavellian as that of the Cheshire cat formed on the musician's lips, causing a shudder to run through Raven's body.
"Gar's up to something, I know it," her instinct told her, "The question is: what exactly is our witty and creative idiot planning?"
After that, Raven secretly watched him the whole time they were at the airport. To her great surprise the only thing that stood out was that Gar told her three really terrible jokes that made a kid near them burst out laughing. The kid liked Gar immediately, so much so that he even dared to bump fists with Gar before he left, as if they were both lifelong friends.
"Wow, you have a gift for dealing with kids," Raven said behind his back, as he cheerfully said goodbye to his little new friend by waving his hand effusively. Seeing Gar grin in the pure way that only he knew how to do, it snatched a smile from Raven's face without knowing it, "You'd make an excellent big brother and even a great father.
"I hope so, because I want to have many children. Remember that," he answered sincerely, turning to her with a sly smile and a look full of complicity and mischief, which caused another shudder to run through Raven's body. Only this shudder, no doubt was completely different from the previous one, "You know what they say: behind every great father there is a great and sexy woman."
"Gar... y... you just invented that" was the only thing Raven could think of to say at the time. Deciding to run away on a tangent path, she pretended that she hadn't grasped the true meaning of those words.
But her stammering, as well as her face that was as red as a strawberry, completely exposed her. Gar obviously noticed this and his smile widened a bit more accordingly. However, he decided to play along and leave her alone for now. While calling a taxi to take them to their destination, he enjoyed another small victory and the happiness that Raven's response caused him. After all, avoiding the subject didn't mean that she was opposed to the idea, even though it was still too early in their relationship to deal with this kind of thing. At least now, Gar could afford to have a little hope that one day they would reach that point; he just had to be patient and wait for the right time to come.
And if there was one good thing Gar had learned from his relationship with Tara, it was to be patient...
Thirty minutes after she had managed to dodge that uncomfortable subject, Raven could only look in amazement at the absurdly large, obviously expensive and ostentatious property in front of her. The building rose imposingly as if its appearance or the area in which it was standing was not enough to intimidate anyone passing by. On the other hand, Gar simply couldn't stop laughing at his girlfriend's amazement when he revealed that this was the place they were going to stay for the duration of their stay in Dallas.
"You finally showed up. I was beginning to think you'd lost your way, you little bastard," a deep, hoarse male voice suddenly complained. It abruptly pulled Raven out of her stupor, forcing her to look down to see the owner of that voice coming toward them.
He was a slightly tanned man, with an athletic body, deep blue eyes. His hair was dark brown with thick, platinum-coloured bands just above the ears. The man was a little taller than Raven, so his height was between 5'6" and 5'8". Gar was much taller than him, which is perhaps why he was not affected by the severity with which the man looked at him. That being said, it was evident that the man was very displeased with Gar.
Feeling that this was something she should not interfere with, Raven watched the scene unfold by staying out of it.
"I'm only seven minutes late, Steve, it's no big deal," Gar replied simply, downplaying the issue, while the man opened the imposing and ornamented entrance gate with a remote control.
"Ha! I want to see you tell Rita that. Seven minutes is like three days without hearing from you!" the man yelled sarcastically as he smiled sideways, "This is the fifth time she's made me come to see if you'd arrived yet and I'm sure, if I came back without you again, she would have reported you to the police as a missing person.
"Nah, I was counting on you to walk slow enough to give me a chance to arrive here," Gar said mockingly.
He approached Steve with a couple of broad strides and gave him a warm, strong hug accompanied by a couple of loudly sounding pats on the back, which was equally returned by Steve.
"Welcome home, son," Steve finally smiled as he separated from Gar and then headed for Raven, who was watching the scene in moderate astonishment as she smiled slightly.
She knew that Gar was up to something by suddenly proposing that trip, but she never expected that her idiot was planning to introduce her to his parents. Judging by the little smile that Gar had on his face at that moment, she was almost certain that this was some kind of harmless little revenge on his part, since he had met her parents so suddenly and with no opportunity to mentally prepare himself for their tests. Worst of all was that Raven knew she couldn't deny it, because even she had been surprised by the perfect timing of both of them to show up when she least expected it.
"Well, well. I guess you must be the famous Rachel Roth that Gar has told us so much about, right?" Steve asked, looking at her suspiciously as he reached out his hand to her in greeting, "I'm Steve Dayton. At first glance, you don't seem like the type of woman who would take money to date with this fool, so you must be with him for another reason... if it's out of pity or he's trying to blackmail you, then you can tell me with confidence."
"Thanks. Honestly, sometimes I think I should have taken the money, but it's too late now... but I'll keep that in mind for the next one."
Of all the things Raven could have answered at that point, this was an answer that Steve definitely never saw coming. Therefore, he couldn't help but freeze in front of her in shock for a couple of minutes before turning to see Gar with such disbelief, that the poor musician couldn't help but suffer a potent attack of laughter at his father's bewilderment.
One of the things that Gar definitely loved about Raven was her perverse and cruel little mind. It was capable of reversing almost any situation in her favor with total naturalness, just as she did just now. Steve only blinked in confusion at his son's reaction, balancing his gaze between him and that Goth girl, until his brain finally assimilated that Raven had played a trick on him. He felt like an idiot for letting himself be surprised like that, but at the same time he couldn't stop smiling with amusement.
"Damn, it's broken again," Raven added, pointing to her boyfriend as she sighed heavily as if that wasn't the first time something like this had happened, "Do you do refunds? Because I'm sure I didn't drop him on the floor at any time.
"Oh no, dear," Steve rushed to reply which made Gar stop laughing, feeling a little offended by the way they were both trying to get rid of him, "Even if it's a manufacturing defect it's your fault for not reading the fine print on the contract when you bought it. So I'm sorry, but it's all yours."
"Hey! Don't talk about me like I'm broken or something," complained Gar jumping up and over to the new comedy duo, who had hit it off too fast for his taste, "I was just laughing!"
"That's exactly the problem," they both said to the unison, smiling maliciously without turning around as they enjoyed poor Gar's perplexity at the terrifying synchrony they had, "You should know this already".
Things were definitely not going as Gar had planned, and from the way that Steve and Raven looked at him at that moment, he was beginning to fear what those two might be planning. However, they ignored him and turned to look at each other again. Steve extended his hand to her again and this time Raven shook his hand, keeping the slight sly smile that adorned her face.
"It's a pleasure to meet you Rachel," said Steve shaking the hand of that interesting girl a couple of times before releasing her, "Something tells me that you and I are going to get along very well.
"The pleasure is mine Steve and please, call me Raven," she nodded feeling that they were both on the same page, "and I couldn't agree more with you.
"Great! If you two want, form a club so you two can have more fun together," grunted Gar angrily grabbing all the bags and crossing the property's entrance as he snarled, "I'll go ahead and look for Rita... at least she's more normal."
"What happened to him now?" murmured Steve pointing at Gar while he and Raven followed close behind, letting the gate begin to close automatically behind them.
"He's just upset that his little joke didn't turn out the way he expected," Raven responded with a small smile at her boyfriend's childish attitude, "I guess he expected anything except this."
"I guess some things never change," Steve thought aloud as he shook his head, drawing the attention of Raven, who watched him for a brief moment before seeing Gar again.
"And they don't have to," she added with a sneer before hurrying to catch up with Gar to help him carry the luggage.
Gar refused at first, but Raven ignored his refusal and took one of the bags out of his hands, unbalancing it and making him stop. Steve watched the brief exchange of glances between the young couple until Gar gave in and handed her one of the bags, claiming that he could take care of the rest. Although Raven didn't seem to be too happy about this, she eventually agreed and the two continued to walk side by side. Steve soon caught up with them, but decided to stay away so as not to ruin the moment and to be able to observe them better.
When they finally entered the mansion, a beautiful woman with medium sized and wavy light brown hair, bright jade green eyes and elegant demeanour, pounced excitedly on Gar as soon as she saw him cross the threshold. If he had not reacted in time to release the luggage and hold her in the air, the two would surely have fallen to the ground.
"Son!" said the excited woman smothering the musician with kisses and affectionate motherly care. This made him smile as he took advantage of the fact that he had her loaded in his arms, to make her spin in the air a couple of times while they both laughed.
It was not necessary to be a fortune teller to see the great affection they felt for each other.
"You'd better get used to it," murmured Steve suddenly standing beside Raven, "When those two are together you and I will fade into the background... we'll hardly exist for them".
"Steve, stop scaring her!" the woman reproached him, then patted Gar to put her down on the floor again. She smoothed her blouse with her hands before heading towards Raven with a dazzling smile, "Don't listen to him, my dear. There's no way I could have overlooked your presence, especially considering the wonders that Gar has told us about you. By the way, I'm..."
"The famous actress Rita Farr," Raven interrupted with an amused smile at the mother and son's surprise at the confidence with which she had responded. Between the two of them, Gar's expression was especially funny, since he knew that she was not exactly a film buff, nor did he remember having told her his parents' name at any time, "I'm not a film buff, but I've seen your movies".
"I'm Rita Dayton now, dear, but I'm flattered that someone as young as you recognizes me," Rita smiled as she watched her in an evaluative way.
Raven sensed this, but decided to fake dementia to see what the older woman really intended to do. Rita continued, "I'd like to talk to you a little more if possible, so I have a proposition for you, dear. What do you say if we leave the boys here to settle everything and have a girls' afternoon to get to know each other better?
"I think that's a good idea," Raven agreed without hesitation, even though every fiber of her body warned her that Gar's mother was up to something. But her rebellious spirit was stronger and drove her on.
After all, if Gar had been able to confront and overcome the unjust trials that Angela and Edward had given him, Raven could confront whatever of the trials that Steve and Rita had prepared for her. Or so she thought.
Her determination was enormous, but it all fell apart when Rita took her to one of the few places that Raven simply could not deal at all... a beauty parlor.
It might sound silly, but she really hated beauty parlors or anything related to them. Both the atmosphere and the smell of hairspray and hair products were very unpleasant to her. This did not make her less feminine, nor did it imply that she did not like to do her nails, lips, etc. It's just that she had her own style and her own way of doing these things.
Obviously her first instinct was to run away from that place, but Rita, realizing her intentions, prevented her from doing so, linking her arm with hers in a steel grip before Raven could do anything. After receiving an intense look from Rita, Raven had no choice but to resign herself to spending an afternoon of torture in that pompous place. While Rita smiled, Raven seemed to be heading for the electric chair or a firing squad wall.
If that wasn't enough, the worst was yet to come...
"Girls, I'd like you to meet the lovely girlfriend of my dear Gar," Rita announced, gleefully drawing the attention of all present to Raven, "Please give her the treatment she deserves. Got it?"
"Of course, Mrs. Dayton," all the hairdressers nodded in agreement, watching Raven in a strange way, which made her immediately alert.
Then three girls led her to an empty chair where Raven indicated that she only wanted to have her hair cut a bit. She made it clear that something bad could happen if they tried to cross the line with her, to which the three women nodded nervously, unable to take their eyes off her cold amethyst eyes. She may have been trapped and surrounded, but she would not be intimidated by any of these women, least of all Gar's mother, who seemed to be enjoying the moment very much.
"Darling, anyone would say you don't like beauty parlors," said Rita innocently as she took a seat in the next chair.
"In fact, I don't like them," answered Raven frankly surprising Rita who was expecting some kind of hypocritical comment or evasion from her, "and that's why I don't go to them."
"And that must have been a problem for your previous boyfriends, right?" Rita attacked aggressively, maintaining a calm and apparently disinterested expression at all times, "You know boys like girls who take a little more care of their appearance and are... more charming. No offense, of course."
"I know, but I wasn't going to change my ways for any of them," Raven honestly defended herself, pretending she didn't realize the ulterior motives behind the comment, "I think it's stupid and unnecessary to force myself to change just to get a man to like me.
"Not even for my dear Garfield would you do it?" Rita smiled slyly trying to corner her once more.
She anxiously glanced at Raven sideways, assuming that she would see a disgruntled expression on the young woman's face. But instead, she only came across an unexpected smile of self-reliance and a look of confidence that she found unpleasant.
"Gar would never ask me for anything like that," Raven answered without hesitation. If she was sure of anything, it was that Gar loved her with her strengths and weaknesses, which he had shown on several occasions during these four months of their relationship, just as she loved him as he was, "and I wouldn't ask him to change for me either. We're both weird, we're both full of flaws, we both have bad tempers, weird tastes and an absurd facility for being misunderstood, but you know what, Rita? All of that is what makes us who we are and we're both fine with that... although sometimes it makes me want to strangle him when he makes his bad jokes or his bad pranks.
"What's your biggest flaw?" Rita suddenly asked, pulling Raven out of the room for the first time since she had started that interrogation, "There must be something about you that Garfield can't stand, because not everything can be perfect in a relationship. Or are you going to tell me that you don't have any major flaws?"
"There's no such thing as a perfect relationship, Rita, that's what makes them interesting," Raven countered defensively, connecting her gaze with Rita's in a defiant way being dominated by her pride, which showed that she didn't intend to let anyone bully her, "I'm very proud, I hate to lose and I find it hard to accept help from others. I know Gar resents that, especially when I don't let him help me, even though it's obvious that I need it. Anything else you want to know or are you already satisfied?
"My son wasted ten years of his life in a toxic relationship that consumed his life and didn't end well. Did you know that?" explained Rita, sighing heavily as she struggled not to look at her as the stylist cut her hair, "that girl only brought my boy headaches and I don't want him to go through that again. So I'll ask all the questions I think are necessary to prevent him from suffering unnecessarily again because of some other woman. I never liked Tara and I still don't like you. Is that clear, darling?"
"I understand... I don't want to see him in a bad situation again either" Raven answered while closing her eyes for a brief moment remembering how miserable Gar was back then, "He just doesn't go with it and he's not someone who deserves to suffer that way either. So I understand that you want to keep him from going through that again, but that's something he has to deal with on his own. Besides, believe me when I tell you that Gar can take good care of himself.
"Why do you talk as if you know that for sure?" Rita asked, looking at her out of the corner of her eye with curiosity, Raven just connected his gaze with hers and as if they were communicating telepathically. Rita understood the words behind that meaningful gaze, "Were you even there when it all happened?"
"Yes, I was there," That was a simple but powerful revelation from Raven, who dropped the atmosphere between them into a deep silence until she decided to speak again, "Gar is an incredible man and the more I got to know him, the more it annoyed me to see him so miserable. Over time we became good friends, then I realized that I was attracted to him and before I could do anything, Gar not only got over his breakup, but also took the first step to move our relationship up a level. I reciprocated and here we are now four months later. So yes, I know a lot about that one, because I was by his side the whole time, first as an employee, then as a friend and now as his girlfriend".
"I see," Rita murmured before closing her eyes and plunging into a prolonged silence that marked the end of the interrogation and encompassed the entire session in the beauty parlor.
At the end, Rita paid for everything without any right of reply from Raven. Then, the two of them made their way back to the Dayton residence in absolute silence until an unfortunate incident forced Rita to speak to Raven again. The car they were in suddenly began to overheat and she had no choice but to pull over to the side of the road and turn it off.
"Steve's car is overheating again," complained Rita, looking visibly concerned while pointing to the temperature gauge on the truck, "I knew that mechanic Steve got was not to be trusted!"
"Can I check it?" Raven asked after seeing the thermostat needle indicating an alarming rise in temperature, even though they were traveling at a low speed and the car was not overexerting itself in any way, "The engine... Can I check it?"
"Sure," agreed Rita, puzzled by such a request, "Although I don't know what you're going to achieve with it..."
Once out of the vehicle, Raven ignored her and opened the hood of Steve's impressive Jeep Grand Cherokee. She checked everything as thoroughly as she could, considering that she did not have the tools to do a thorough check. Rita, on the other hand, only observed her closely while she made her diagnosis.
"When does the car overheat?" Raven asked suddenly without looking at Rita as she prepared to check the radiator. Rita only mumbled a couple of inconsistencies as she did not understand the question.
Raven continued, "I mean, does it only overheat at low speeds like this, or does it also overheat at high ones? Although from what I see here, I assume it only happens at low speeds, right?"
"That's right," Rita replied in surprise at the way Raven had got it right, "How do you know?"
"Because if it happens in high and low speeds it could be because of lack of water in the radiator, but I checked and everything is in order," explained Raven pointing to the radiator and then indicating to her to come a bit closer to it. Rita did it without complaining and followed with her eyes another piece that Raven pointed out, which looked like a small circular desk fan, "it's not the fan clutch either because the piece is new and as far as I can see, it's well installed so it could be the electric fan. Maybe something is impeding the current, the connector could be damaged or it could even be the resistor or the relay... however I don't know how to check it directly".
With that said, Raven pulled out her cell phone and quickly dialed a phone number. Rita watched her talk animatedly to someone before hanging up and dialing another phone number, where she paused to ask for the address of their location before hanging up again.
"What are you doing?" Rita dared to ask as Raven approached her and sat down on the sidewalk next to her.
"Let's just say the good thing about being an unconventional girl is that you have unconventional friends," Raven said with an amused smile, "A good friend's nephew has a mechanic's shop in Austin and he's coming to help us. I worked with both of them in a mechanic's workshop for a while."
"But it'll take him three hours to get here from Austin!" exclaimed Rita, alarmed at how much it would cost them just to have the car serviced and repaired. A cost that would surely include the six-hour round trip, "I'm sorry, darling, but I don't think you considered that little detail."
"I did and I have everything under control, so don't worry," she replied without wiping that confident smile off her face, "Besides, it gives us time to talk some more, so if you're going to ask me anything else I'd say now's the time, don't you think?
That may not have been the best way to go about it, but three hours had to be more than enough time for them to understand each other. Or at least that's what Raven expected, although it was all up to Rita.
"I guess it's time for round two," said Rita smiling slightly as she sat together with Raven on the sidewalk, "and since we have time, I want you to tell me a little more about yourself and how a little lady like you ended up working in a mechanic's workshop".
Three hours later.
In spite of the uncomfortable moment they had had when leaving the beauty parlor, they conversed until Bart Allen arrived at the place where they had been stranded. The nephew of Wally West, Raven's former boss at the mechanic's workshop, greeted Raven effusively. Then, they both began to work on the repair of Steve's car, since Bart brought with him everything necessary according to the diagnosis Raven had made previously. While they both worked, Rita watched her daughter-in-law while she thought about all the things her son Gar had told her about that girl since the first time he called her after breaking up with Tara.
There was no story in which that girl was not included and in a way, noticing how her son was getting more and more excited about that mysterious young woman. Rita could not help but feel a little jealous as Raven seemed to be slowly occupying herself with every aspect of her "little" Garfield's life. She even feared that at some point this girl would push him away forever, so when Gar told her that he planned to bring Raven home to meet her and Steve, she thought this would be her chance to test that girl and see if she was the right match for her son. And although it was still too early to determine that, Rita had to admit that Raven wasn't as bad as she had previously believed.
In fact, Rita liked the way Raven had taken control of the situation without getting upset and acting quickly to solve it. Rita would have to continue to evaluate her in the days that remained before a verdict could be made on her, but for today she had passed her little test.
On the other hand, it didn't take Bart and Raven more than thirty minutes to determine what was the real cause of the overheating of the SUV. They carried out all the necessary tests and repaired the connector of the electric fan that was failing. The pins inside were making contact and although it was advisable to replace the whole part, Bart and Raven's repair made it so that Steve's SUV could easily work without problems for a good season.
"Thanks for coming, Bart," Raven said, shaking hands with the young redhead who watched her with fascination, "You've improved a lot since the last time I saw you."
"Well, after Aunt Aline had that accident and Uncle Wally sold the workshop to pay for medical expenses, I had to work to help them. That's how I ended up in the workshop of my uncle's friend in Austin," explained Bart scratching his neck in sorrow, "I learned a lot and after my aunt got better, I decided to stay in Austin and work a little more. My goal is to earn enough money to reopen the workshop in San Francisco again".
"I see you've matured a little too, I congratulate you," said Raven with a proud smile that melted Bart, who just stood there looking at her like an idiot while she playfully disheveled his hair with one hand, "When you get the plug call me and I'll go get it, ok?"
"Of course!" nodded the enthusiastic boy watching her excitedly, "You're always welcome in our workshop. Besides, Uncle Wally and Aunt Aline will come to visit me soon and I am sure they would like to see you again".
"Well, you know how to contact me, Bart," Raven nodded, receiving a huge smile from the young man.
After this, Bart said goodbye to her and started his way back to Austin, while Rita and Raven returned to the Dayton residence. Steve and Gar rushed to meet them, a little surprised to see that the atmosphere between them was not as hostile as before. In fact, the two women returned chatting and Rita's attitude towards Raven had changed a little.
"Well dear, we are home now," announced Rita depositing her handbag in her husband's hands and then turning to her again, "No doubt we had an afternoon full of surprises, so Raven should take a bath and rest a bit until the food is ready. Gar honey, what are you waiting for? Take her to her room and then come down and help me."
"As you wish," Gar nodded, taking Raven by the wrist and guiding her to what would be their room while they were in Dallas, he closed the door tightly and before Raven could make her way to the bathroom in the room he held her tightly, "Well, what do you think?"
"I think you're a dirty, crafty, spiteful little bastard!" Raven grumbled, gradually raising her voice as she tried to get out of Gar's grip, but he wouldn't let her.
Apparently that hug was more of a safety grip to keep her from hitting him again...
"Let's go on vacation to make up for all the time we lost together, my ass," Raven continued to imitate her boyfriend's voice as she continued to struggle with him to free herself, "This was all just to get back at you for the bad experience my parents put you through, wasn't it?"
"Easy Rae, easy," whispered Gar as he led her to the bed, where he finished immobilizing her with his body before she could even think of resorting to her infallible, deadly crotch kicks.
When she gritted her teeth in disgust, Gar knew that if he had taken a little longer to do this, he would surely be lying on the floor in pain now.
"I admit that I did it partly to get back at your parents, but it's also true that I want to spend more quality time with you," he rushed to say before she could continue to blame him, "Besides, you were going to meet them sooner or later. At least this way we're even, don't you think?"
"Fine, you win. Now let go of me, I want to take a bath," she grumbled reluctantly. He nodded and moved away from her quickly to avoid her kicking him suddenly. And although Raven didn't lack the desire to do so, in the end she didn't and headed straight for the bathroom, "but I warn you that I'm going to take it out on you when you least expect it.
"Oh come on, Raven!" he complained trying to open the bathroom door, but Raven blocked him in anticipation of his reaction, "You know you're not being fair to me at all".
"Do I look like I care?" she replied from inside the bathroom as she opened the shower key.
"I can't see your face from here!"
"Exactly, Gar," she replied with a funny grin as she heard her boyfriend grunt of discontent on the other side of the door.
"Garfield Mark Logan! Didn't I tell you to come down and help me?!" Raven could hear on the other side of the door Rita's voice and Gar's squeal at his mother's rebuke, "Do me a favour and let that girl have a bath in peace! You'll have time to be alone later. For now, come with me, young man."
Gar tried to reply, but Rita wasn't willing to take "no" for an answer. There was much to prepare for dinner and Steve wasn't exactly good at cooking or general housework without making a mess in the process. Raven couldn't help but laugh at the commotion on the other side of the door, which disappeared when mother and son left the room and Rita closed the door behind them.
It had certainly been a strange first day, full of ups and downs that could easily compete with those of any roller coaster. This indicated to Raven that she could expect the rest of their days in Dallas to be similar to this one. She would have more time to try to connect with Steve and Rita, who in their own way had pleased her. And although Gar's mother had been particularly hostile to her at first, it turned out that she was only doing this because she wanted to protect her son from another toxic relationship.
It was obvious that both Steve and Rita were comparing her to Tara, but she was not like that woman. No matter how long it took, Raven was determined to prove to both of them that Gar had not been wrong to choose her. She knew it wouldn't be easy, but that never stopped her from fighting for what she wanted. And if she was sure of anything, it was that she really loved that idiot who, without anyone's permission, had gone into her life and changed it completely, complementing it and making her feel as happy as she had ever been. That was something she wasn't willing to give up for anything in the world.
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Well, there were no reviews this time, so this part will be shorter. How about Gar's little revenge? How did you like the interaction between Raven and Rita, or the appearance of Bart Allen (Impulse/Kid Flash 2) as well as the mention of Wally West (Kid Flash/Flash) and Aline Hayden (Jinx)? And yes, Wally and Jinx here are married and are kind of like Bart's uncles, I'll clear up their relationship later.
With this said, there are only the 4th and 5th extra chapters to be published. I hope you enjoyed this extra one too.
We will see again in the next weekend with the 4th extra chapter. Until then, take care and keep safe.