"Where were you! At your boyfriends house? Huh? You little whore!" Kori's sister said coming close to her.

"You should know! You signed the papers!" Kori yelled back. Karen walked towards her and pulled her hair so Kori's head was bent back.

"Listen you little slut, I never signed any papers!" she was cut off by the door bell. Karen answered it. "What?" she asked in a tone cold as ice.

"Um, Kori forgot this in my car." It was Richard. He held out her bathroom bag, filled with her make up, face wash and other feminine stuff. Karen took the bag and looked inside it. "Thanks." She said about to shut the door. Richard stopped the door with his hand. "Can I talk to her?" he asked. Karen looked over her shoulder at the tear drenched teen behind her. "She's a little busy right now." Karen stated then shut the door. As Richard walked back to his car he started to hear yelling noises. He ran back to the door and looked through the window beside the door just enough so he could see, but they couldn't see him. What he saw made him want to go in that house right then and arrest Karen. Karen had just hit Kori across the face and left one of the biggest marks Richard had ever seen. 'How does she keep the bruises hidden?' he asked himself. Then he herd more shouting and saw Karen throw something compact at Kori and walk off. Kori grabbed the small compact and ran upstairs. Probably to her room. Richard ran back to his car and drove down the street to his house.

Kori ran into her room and slammed the door. She locked the door behind her and walked to the middle of the room. She fell to her knees crying. "She did it again." She sobbed to her self. There was a knock at the door. "Kori! Open this door right now!" Kori herd Karen yell.

"Why! So you can hit me again?" Kori yelled holding back more tears. This time, tears of fear.

"Fine I'll say this through the door. I don't want you to ever see Richard again. Are we clear?"

"I can't do that."

"And why not?"

"Because…"

"Because why?"

"Because, I love him." Kori mumbled the words I love him but apparently Karen herd her.

"Honestly I really don't care. Kori, he was just gonna break your heart in the end. Just do what I do and play all the boys. That way you won't get hurt."

"NO!" Kori yelled back holding her sobs in.

"Kori let me say this once and for all; if you ever see him again I will kill you." Karen said in a deadly tone. Kori then herd footsteps indicating Karen had walked away. Kori let out her tears that she had been holding in since her sister came by her door. 'What was with her today?' Kori thought, 'Was she drunk?' she crawled over to her desk and grabbed her cell phone still on the floor. She opened it and realized she had never asked him for his number. She walked over to her closed closing her phone and putting it in her pocket. She got out an old bag and packed some of her clothes in it. Then she packed a tooth brush and hair brush. She zipped up the bag and went over to the window and opened the window and threw the bag out. She then slowly climbed out the window and went down the side of the house only holding on to the rather strong vine going from the top of the large white house to about half way down, (or up depending on how you look at it,) the house. She came to the end of the vine and looked down. "Great." She said sarcastically. She then shut her eyes and dropped. Expecting it to hurt when she landed all she felt was the impact and the tingling from shock. No broken bones, no sprains, no nothing. She quickly grabbed her bag and ran as fast as she could to Richard's house.

When she arrived she knocked on the door and a rather old man answered the door. "Can I help you?"

"Um yeah I'm looking for Richard Grayson." She said out of breath. At that moment Richard came into view and nudged the man aside. "Master Richard?" he said questionably

"It's ok Alfred she's my friend."

"Very good. Shall I prepare a room for her?" he asked motioning to the bag in her hand.

"Yes Alfred, please do." Richard said as Alfred walked up the stairs to one of the many spare bedrooms.

"Look I'm really sorry to barge in on you like this but I had no place else-" she was cut off by Richards index finger on her lips.

"Kori, its ok I saw the whole thing. You don't have to worry. I'll always be here for you, no matter what." He said pulling her into a soft embrace. She let out a few silent tears of relief. She tightened her arms around him as if she was scared to let go. When she let go he wiped her tears away and took her by the hand and led her inside. He took her bag in the other hand and brought her upstairs. He found the room she was staying in and put her bag down on the bed.

"Richard I cant thank you enough." She said relief clearly in her voice.

"No problem, do you need alone time or should I stay with you? Perhaps give you a tour of the mansion?" he asked smirking and raising an eyebrow.

"Alone time is the last thing I need right now." She said panicking a little startled by the notion of him leaving her alone.

"Hey it's ok. No need to have a panic attack, I wont leave you if you don't want." He said calming her nerves a little. He took her small delicate hand in his and slightly squeezed it in a comforting manner. He felt her relax and then he took her to the third story. He showed her all the rooms down to the first story of the house, if you can even call it that. By that time it was around 12:30 at night and they had school the next day. He took her up to her room and made sure she wasn't going to disappear on him like she did at the party. Once he shut the door he went to his room and walked in to the bathroom. He washed up for bed. After he did that he crept into his bed and shut his eyes. A few seconds later he heard a soft knock at the door. He got up and opened the door. Kori was standing there in her pajamas. Richard looked at them and couldn't help but smile. She wore pink loose sweats and a small night gown over them. The nightgown was pink as well and had animals representing the zodiac on in. and below each animal was what it was. (Ex. A picture of a lion, below that would be Leo) when he looked at her face she was blushing slightly and looking down at the floor. Then he realized that all he was wearing was his boxers. Well what was he supposed to do go to sleep like he was expecting someone to knock at his door? He blushed slightly too but brushed it off. "Um, Kori, what's up?" he asked leaning against the door sill.

"Nothing just, well I don't wanna' be alone right now." She said bashfully.

"Kori we have school tomorrow. Why don't you stay in my room if you don't want to be alone right now? I'll just sleep on the floor." She glanced at him then at the bed.

"You know that the bed is big enough to fit both of us comfortably." Kori said looking down as if ashamed she even suggested it. "Kori you don't have to-"

"Have to do what? I'm not going to do anything that I won't regret. Which means, Richard, I'm not going to do anything dirty with you." She said eyeing him as if she didn't trust him.

"I'm not like Roy you don't have to worry. Unlike him I will respect your boundaries." Richard said taking her by the hand and leading her over to the bed. She lay down and Richard lay next to her. They were silent just bathing in the warmth that wrapped them in a flaming blanket. They soon fell asleep. When they woke at 6:00 am, Kori silently walked into the bathroom she turned on the shower and got in. when she got out she walked into the room again. With a towel around her not expecting to see Richard up and putting his shoes on. She gasped and blushed. "Its ok, I wont look." He said laughing a little. She hesitated for a moment then quickly went over to her bag and got out her clothes. She dressed just as quickly. Once she was dressed he turned to her. "So are we a, well you know, a couple now?" he asked bashfully Kori walked over to him, seated herself in his lap and sweetly kissed him. "That would be a yes." She said smiling.

"Hey, Kori, since I just kinda killed my ex can we just keep this on the down low for now?" Richard asked. Kori kissed him again. "Would that be another yes?" Richard asked hopefully.

"That would be another yes." She said smiling. She got up from his lap and put her flip flops on. "We better get down to breakfast; Alfred hates it when I'm late."

"Wait you get breakfast here?" Kori asked curiously and a bit on the shocked side.

"Uh yeah, don't you?" Richard asked

"Sadly no, my sister told me that if I ever see you again she would kill me, literally. I don't think she would care enough about me to feed me." She said

"Wow. Why don't you tell anyone?" Richard asked standing and putting a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Are you kidding me? Then I would get taken away from her!" she said half shouting

"Wouldn't that be for the best?" Richard asked

"No! It wouldn't be! Because I've been moved around enough in my life, Karen has been the only constant in my life. If I told anyone then I would be moved again, only this time it would be alone." Tears were starting to well up in Kori's eyes as she was telling this all to Richard. Richard looked genuinely sympathetic. He pulled her in to a warm strong embrace. A few moments passed, then they herd a knock at the door. They jumped and pulled apart just as Alfred entered the room. "Master Dick, Madam Kori, breakfast is waiting." Kori suppressed a giggle. Richard looked over and saw a grin on her face.

"It's short for Richard." He stated

"I know." She said giggling a little. They both walked down the stairs and into the breakfast nook. They ate breakfast in silence but smiled at each other between bites. When they finished Richard drove them to school blasting the radio and skidding to a stop in his parking spot. They walked into school and found there friends. " Hey Richard guess what?" Roy said as soon as he saw him. Roy walked up to him.

"What?"

"My parents are out of town all this week."

"And?" Richard asked unamused by Roy's little game of words

"My place, Friday, party."

"Count me in."

"Great," he turned to Kori, "And how about you?" he asked

"I guess I'll be there." She said nervously. The bell rang and they all went to there classes. At lunch they talked and laughed then when the bell rang they went off to there separate classes. When the final bell rang the friends said goodbye to each other. Richard and Kori walked to Richard's car and got in. they talked about the day and all too soon they came to Kori's house. They sat in the car for a moment. "I almost hate to leave you here." Richard said with reluctance

"I'll be ok, really." Kori said leaning over and giving him a kiss. She got out of the car slowly. She walked to the door and took a deep breath. Then the turned the golden knob and opened the door. She stepped inside the house and saw the place was trashed like a tornado came through. She slowly walked through the rubble and stopped in her tracks. Her sister was laying face down on the stairs head first coming down the stairs. Kori couldn't see her face but she could tell it was bloody because the pure white carpet was now red. She dropped her back pack and ran at top speed out the door and back to Richard's car which was still parked there just in case her sister hurt her she would have a place to go. She quickly opened the door and jumped in. "call 911" she said in a rushed voice. "What wh-" he was cut off by Kori.

"Just do it!" she said practically yelling. Richard dialed the number and handed the phone to Kori. She explained the situation and listened to what the people told her to do. When she hung up the phone she rushed out of the car and back into the house followed by Richard. "Kori what's going," he stopped when he saw Karen on the stairs and Kori flipping her over. "My god what happened?" Richard asked his voice full of concern. "I have no idea I was with you the whole time!" She said panicking. Kori started to drag Karen up the stairs when Richard realized what she was trying to do and helped her. Kori gave Karen CPR but nothing happened. Kori started to get hysterical, then Richard stepped over Karen's body and put his arm around Kori to comfort her. She put her head in her hands and started to cry. "What if she's gone? Where will I go? What will I do?" she started to ask rhetorical questions as Richard just held her.

"Kori it's going to be ok. Just for tonight though just incase I better stay with you." He said in total honesty. "Thanks." She said as the paramedics arrived. They rushed into the house and pushed Kori and Richard out of the way. They asked if Kori wanted to ride with them in the ambulance. She agreed. "Hey Kori I'll follow you to the hospital with my car so when you need a ride home…" he didn't need to finish his sentence.

"Thanks Richard." She pulled him into a hug and got into the ambulance. Richard jumped into his car and drove right behind the ambulance, the siren and lights blazing in a fury of panic. Around 11:00 the doctor came up and told the crying Kori and told her they would have to keep Karen over night. Kori agreed and signed all the papers. Richard put his arm around her shoulders and walked her to his car. They drove home in silence. When they got to Richards's house they went upstairs and again slept in the same room. The rest of the week went on like that.

Friday

The school day went by pretty fast. Richard and Kori drove home while talking about the party. Richard stopped at Kori's house and parked outside of it. Kori looked at Richard. "Relax I'm gonna' come and get you at around 7:30 and we can go to Roy's party together." She sighed.

"Ok. Just don't forget me. Ok?"

"Ok." He smiled and kissed her. Kori got out of the car and walked into her house. She dropped her bags at the foot of the stairs and continued up to her room. She opened her closet and started pulling things out putting them against herself and then throwing them behind her. After about an hour of that process she found the perfect outfit. A jean skirt with white sneakers and a white spaghetti strap top. She laid it out on her bed and walked into her bathroom and took a shower. When she got out she dried off and put on her outfit. Then she sat down and straightened her hair and curled bits of it. Then she put on her pear scented deodorant and then put her make up on. She then got her purse together and went back into the bathroom and brushed her teeth. Then she went downstairs and sat down and watched TV. Soon her doorbell rang and she turned off the TV and opened the door to see Richard. He was wearing black sneakers and baggy jeans with a white shirt.

"Looks like great minds really do think alike." Kori giggled and they walked to his car.

At the party

Richard knocked at the door of the 3 story mansion. Roy answered, the music was blaring in the back ground as well as the rainbow disco ball. "Hey guys! Glad you could make it!" he yelled. Kori and Richard walked through the door. Roy followed Kori with his hungry beady eyes. Richard led Kori to the center of the crowd and started to dance. Around an hour later they got tired. "Hey Richard, I'm gonna go get us something to drink, okay?"

"No it's ok, I'll get them." Richard said walking out of the crowd. Kori started to dance unsure of herself when Roy came into view. "Hey Kori!" he said breathing on her face. There was alcohol on his breath. "Roy have you been drinking?" she stopped dancing and put a hand on his shoulder a look of concern crossing her face. "Yep, and it was good!" he said chuckling. And taking her hand in his squeezing it hard. "Ow! Roy you're hurting me!" she said. He then started to drag her out of the crowd. When they got to the bottom to the stairs she got loose of his powerful grip and started to run the other way. He soon caught up to her and grabbed her by the waist and threw her over his shoulder. Every one was too busy to notice the peculiar scene unfold. He went upstairs and opened a door, most likely to his room. Kori was kicking and hitting him with her fists the whole time. He threw her down on the floor he turned and locked the door. He turned and Kori had tears in her eyes. She scooted back still on the floor. "Now, Kori, I finally get what I deserve." He walked over and threw her on his bed. He took her wrists and pinned them above her head and pressed his mouth hard against hers. He started to attack her neck with his mouth. "Roy stop, Please." She said in a helpless tone. But he didn't. he just kept going and pulled off his shirt. All Kori could do was watch as her future was in the hands of a 16 year old guy.

Back downstairs

"Hey Logan!" Richard said walking up to him

"Hey Richard!"

"Have you seen Kori?" he asked

"Yeah, uh last I saw her she was going upstairs with Roy. Sorry man." Logan said putting a comforting hand on a shattered Richard's shoulder.