Around three o'clock the next afternoon Kori pulled into the parking lot of her apartment.
A lot had taken place over the weekend and she was ready to head back to school. She had the windows of her car rolled down, and the music up loud on a popular radio station. She wasn't paying a lot of attention the road, but instead how fortunate she was that she left when she did.
There was breaking news everywhere about what happened at Wayne Manor and she hoped that Richard was safe. She hadn't heard from him yet, but that was to be expected. He had a lot of press to deal with today, and she knew it wasn't right anticipate him calling her in the midst of it.
She pulled up to the parking lot for her apartment complex and took a deep breath in. Being back to school made her face reality and the fairy tale of the past weekend faded away.
She grabbed her purple bag with all of her clothes in it from the past weekend and headed upstairs to the second floor where her apartment was. When she opened it, she saw that it was clean and just the way that she left it. Her roommate Rachel was on the couch reading.
Rachel was a year older than her, and a completely different person. They met in high school, where Kori did drama and was popular. She didn't hang out with the mean group of girls, but just Rachel. Rachel usually wore black, and had a very realistic outlook on life. The two of them worked well together, even if they did clash heads every once in a while. Their one bedroom apartment worked well for them.
" So a nice weekend?" Rachel asked with both eyebrows raised as she looked up from her book. Kori couldn't help the knee jerk reaction that she had, so she grinned widely and said,
" Yes!" She ran over to the couch and without Rachel asking, she told her about the meeting in the park, the date and how she was feeling now. " And I know that he said that he would call, but do you think that he will?"
Both of them knew that Rachel was not the one to ask about boys, but with her large green eyes brimming with emotion and hope, even the negative Rachel couldn't help but say, " I would be very surprised if he didn't."
Hearing those words seemed to give her some hope because she jumped off of the couch and grabbed her bag and went to put things away.
Richard woke up at around noon. It was a bright Sunday afternoon and he was still emotionally tired. Usually Bruce made him get up at seven, regardless of how late they went to bed. He mentally thanked him and then sat up.
Last night kept replaying in his head. He heard voices downstairs and recognized them as the media.
'Probably wondering what he thinks of Bat Man and Robin last night.' He thought and then let out a sarcastic laugh. He got ready in about twenty minutes and did one last check by the mirror and grinned at his reflection. As he made his way in the the foyer.
"There he is!" He heard a man say, and he experienced the flashes that both Robin and Richard were accustomed to.
" Dick, what do you think of his escape?"
" Did you see Bat Man and Robin?
He heard multiple questions and did the normal smile and nodding of the head and gave the usual answers. At about 4 all of the media people had left, leaving Bruce, Richard, and Alfred all alone.
" Tonight we go on a search." Bruce said. Richard wasn't really listening, he was to focused on Kori. " Richard." He said firmly.
" Sounds good." Richard said, hoping that was the answer. Bruce opened his mouth to lecture him but Alfred beat him to it.
" Master Dick, don't you think that you should check up on the well being of Miss Kori. I am sure that she would like to know that you are safe after last night." Bruce looked at Alfred with a look of shock and anger mixed on his face.
" Good idea Al!" He said as he leapt to his feet and made his way up to his room, before Bruce could stop him. He found his cell phone next to his bed and picked it up, dialing her number.
She picked up on the second ring.
" Hello?" She said and Richard smiled.
" Hey." He said.
Kori was folding some clean pants and putting them away and she practically dropped them.
" Hi." She said as she regained her posture and mentally shook herself. " I'm glad to hear that you are alright. I was so worried when I found out what happened after I left." She said quickly. As soon as the words came out of her mouth, she shut her eyes tightly and became embarrassed.
Richard sat on his bed, smiling.
" I'm alright. Bat Man and Robin took care of it."
" Well thank goodness for them!" She said and Richard was happy to hear that she was appreciative of them. They did some small talk about her drive home, and the press that arrived at his house. It was simple talk, but the two of them enjoyed it.
" So what is your schedule like this week?" He asked.
" Not too busy. Just school." She said, hoping he would ask her a more specific question.
" What are you doing tomorrow night?" She smiled.
" Absolutely nothing."
" So, will picking you up around six work?"
" Sound perfect." He gave a side ways grin when hearing her answer.
" I can pick you up at your apartment." He said, " where is it again?" She gave him directions, even though he already knew how to get there. Being Robin meant that he had to know the city like the back of his hand. He hadn't thought about how being Robin would effect their relationship. Frankly, he didn't want to, but for now he wanted to enjoy being Richard, and spending time with the most real girl that he had ever met.
They talked for a few hours, about her family, and her older brother, Ryan, whom she loved, and he older sister, Koma, whom she talked of nicely, but Richard could tell that they weren't close. They also talked about her school and her major. They both noticed that Richard didn't bring a lot of attention to himself, but they didn't really care.
When Richard heard a knock on his door he glanced at the clock and saw that it was 7.
" Wow, it is already seven." Kori said, as it was silent they both knew good bye was coming.
" Time sure does fly when you're having fun." He said with a cheesy smile. She laughed, which was the reaction that he wanted.
" I will see you tomorrow."
" Can't wait."
They both hung up and Richard went to open the door.
" Master Dick, dinner is ready." Alfred said. Richard still had on a big grin as he made his way down the staircase and into the dining room.
" What have you been doing?" Bruce said with an eyebrow raised as he cut into his chicken.
" Talking." He said, taking a seat at the other end of the long table.
" To?"
" Someone." hearing this answer Bruce put down his silverware.
" Richard," he started, " I know that this is a good girl, and I believe that all of you intentions are honorable," Richard rolled his eyes, " but what will you do if you two are on a date and Robin needs to save someone? What will you do when you have to cancel an important anniversary because someone is in danger? Richard, you know you can't tell her."
Richard stared stubbornly down at his plate.
" If you tell her, then she could 'accidentally' let it slip and then our cover would be ruined. Or you could be putting her in danger."
" Don't you think that I have thought about this?" Richard said meeting his eye gaze. "I don't know what is going to happen, but I am going to figure something out." Bruce gave him a sad smile.
" You can't always be the hero."