Miss me? Cause I missed you. I swear it was writer's block and not laziness. I hope you guys aren't annoyed him me.

-"Sometimes I feel like I live in Grand Central Station/ Tonight I'm not takin' no calls 'cause I'll be dancin'." Telephone-

Raven didn't sleep the rest of the night, which pissed her off. Every time she closed her eyes she could feel Dick still on top of her. His hips on top of hers. His lips against her neck. She got out of bed some time around eight in the worst mood of her life. She came downstairs to find Garfield already in the kitchen, extremely hung over. He didn't notice the dark circles underneath of her eyes, which worsened her mood. What the hell good was he if he couldn't even notice when she needed him.

Raven felt resentment for Garfield rising within her. God, he was blind.

"Hey." he croaked staring pathetically into a cup of coffee.

"Hey." she said bitterly turning to pour her own cup.

They both sat at the table in silence. Raven read the newspaper, while Garfield read a battered copy of The Bell Jar. Raven grabbed her purse which had been hanging on the back of a chair. She ruffled through her purse, until she found her sterling silver cigarette holder. It had been a gift from her pre-law professor in college. Older. Italian. Looked like Olivier Martinez. That was one hell of a semester. The memory curved her lips. She pulled out a perfectly straight cigarette from the case. She held it between her lips while she searched for her Bic lighter. Exhale.

Garfield shifted uncomfortably and glanced at her from his book. She knew he hated it when she smoked, not that he'd actually say anything about it. She brought the cig to her mouth again, and watched him carefully while he rolled his neck. Suddenly a hand from behind her reached out and removed the cigarette from her dainty fingers.

Dick stood behind her looking like a God damned Armani exchange model in his Hugo Boss suit, holding her cigarette. He stubbed it out in the ash tray that had been sitting on the kitchen table. Raven scowled at him. It wasn't enough for him to steal precious hours of sleep from her, but now he had to take her cigarette as well.

"Bad for the lungs Kitten." he said. "You look tired. Rough night?"

Raven glared heavily at him. "You have no idea." she mumbled. "

Raven's arm hung on the back of her chair. She watched Dick move into the kitchen to pour himself a cup of coffee. Last night flashed through her mind an d looked back at Garfield. He simply read his book as though nothing had happened which, from his side of the table, nothing had. She drummed her perfectly manicured nails along the table. Every man in to the room annoyed her. Dick with his narcissistic attitude, and perpetually white smile. Garfield with his complete ignorance of what was obviously going on around him.

After what felt like hours, Dick excused himself to go work. Finally she could breathe again.

"Garfield." she said sweetly lighting another cigarette. He replied with a careless "hm." "What would you do if I left you?"

Panicked green eyes flashed at her. She kept her head tilted the smoke filling the space between them. His book fell from his hand and onto the floor. She fought back the smile. Oh she was sick. He got up from his spot across from her, and kneeled beside her taking her hand in his suddenly clammy one.

His cheeks were flushed with panic and concern. "Rae, what's going on with you? If- if there's a problem we can fix it. Whatever I did I'm sorry but we can fix it. I can fix it."

She eyes remained in place and completely stone cold. God, one fucking hypothetical question and he turned into some weeping, quivering, pathetic woman. She had to admit it made her feel better. At least she still had control over someone.

He leaned up, his fingers tangling in her raven colored hair. His lips roughly, passionately forced themselves against her own. She held onto his wrists for balance. He was trying way too hard.

"I love you." he muttered into her mouth.

She pulled away from him slightly, and breathed into his ear. "Shut up."

By the evening, Raven was beginning to regret that stunt she had pulled with Garfield earlier that day. Ever since he had been following her around like a lost puppy. She was currently sitting in the tub, soft bubbles running down her legs. Her eyes playfully peaked over the mound of bubbles, at Garfield who was standing above the sink shaving. A damp towel was wrapped tightly around his waist.

To say Gar was bad looking, would a complete lie. Tussled blonde hair, muscular legs, a tight ass. Give him a surfboard and he could be a suntan spokes model. He just so plain, and predictable, and ordinary. It bored her. He would die for her, which thrilled her...at first. Five years later it ceased to mean anything to her. Once this whole Dick episode was over, she'd probably just let him go.

Raven reached over the side of the tub for the glass of wine that had been sitting on the floor. A wave of water splashed onto the already damp floor. Garfield looked up from the sink, and watched her in the mirror. She tipped back the rest of her wine and decided that she would go out that night, and maybe hook up with someone. She pulled the drain stopper out using her toe, and climbed out of the tub dripping wet. Nude, devastating.

Garfield became noticeably rigid. She tilted her head, the seductress had invaded. He watched her carefully in the mirror. He turned around. Silence. Breathing erotica. "Rae-"

She didn't let him finish. Her legs were around his waist, and his lithe arms were around the small of her back. He lifted her up with one arm carrying her into the bedroom. Her back was against the mattress before she could stop herself. The sheets instantly soaked. His mouth found her neck. His hands tangled in her soaking hair. At this moment she couldn't care less about Dick. Fuck him. I don't care. I don't care. I don't care.

Raven tried to focus on Garfield's hands on her thighs, but Dick's face kept slipping back into her mind. Icy eyes. Rough hands. The devil's grin. Burning, scorching, fear. I don't care! I don't care! I don't care!

Lie to me.

Raven was relieved once it was all over. Garfield submitted to her relentless teasing, as usual. Intoxicating himself in her endless, loveless fucking. It wasn't enough to satisfy Raven. Her need for stimulation, though not always sexual, was frequent. It almost frightened her how self destructive she was. Live life on the edge, go home with anyone, act now- consequences later.

Sometimes Raven thought she was going crazy. She couldn't bare to be any place that bored her or found repetitive. It was like suffocating on conformity.

She rummaged through her closet as inconspicuously as possible.

She dressed as conservatively as she dared. White blouse, jeans, black sweater. It was enough to get her out of the house without any questions. She opened the bottom drawer, where she kept her heavy sweaters. Hidden underneath was a short, leather corset dress. She bought it on impulse over ten years ago, but had yet to wear it out. She sighed, repositioning the sweater to their original stack of secrecy, and shut the drawer. She wasn't feeling quite that adventurous tonight. She planned to wear it before she hit milf status.

All thoughts aside she yanked the black Matthew Williamson Valencia dress off its hanger and stuffed it in her bag, along with a killer pair of pumps. When she exited the closet Garfield was sitting in the wicker chair. Dick's silhouette briefly stormed across her mind. She laid her bag carefully on the disheveled bed.

"Well, I'm going to a poetry reading with Kory." she lied. "I won't be back until late." Garfield was silent. "...So don't wait up for me."

Garfield watched her moves carefully, like a father watching his child at play. Raven hated her father. "Come here." he said relaxing his posture.

Raven could scarcely prevent the annoyed glance she wanted to shoot him. Instead she simply smiled mischievously. "What?" she teased moving closer slowly, showing him who was in control.

When she was close enough, Garfield's hands gently wrapped around her hips and pulled her into his lap. His arms secured around her. "What?" she said again, more annoyed this time.

"Raven," Garfield's voice became husky and serious. "What are you afraid of?"

"What?" her voice laced with surprise, and perplexity. "Why do you ask?"

Pure silence between them. The corners of Garfield's mouth flicked unsure. "Just tell me."

Screaming, choking, can't breathe. Death. Raven's eyes wandered elsewhere. She took a silent deep breath to collect herself. She shrugged. "Nothing. Why?"

It was only half of a lie, but it wasn't enough. Half of a lie was still a lie. Raven was completely aware of Garfield's frustration with her ambiguity with her emotions and the status of their relationship. She was enigmatic, that he knew. She didn't love, that he didn't know. She had secrets, that they both knew.

Garfield sighed. "Well, I was talking to Dick this morning when you were in the shower and he told me last night he heard you having a nightmare. He said you were screaming- and crying, Rae!" He finished passionately, his eyes shining with concern like he would become hysterical on her account.

Raven's mouth hung open slightly at the allusion of Dick. That motherfucker! She knew what he was trying to do. She was suddenly uncomfortable, fearful even at the direction of their conversation. She pulled away from Gar's lap slightly. Her mind tight and preoccupied with burning desire to escape this mental prison.

Garfield continued. He resembled a mother reprimanding their child, for staying out past curfew. Raven never knew her mother. "And it's not the first time, Raven. I've heard it too. Many times. And lately it's been happening more often. I- I'm just worried about you." His tone became soft at the end.

Raven broke from his glance, and just let him hold her in silence. He wouldn't let this go. She mentally weighed effects of telling him. Nothing too risky, other then having to open up to him, which she hated. No. She would only tell him the truth. It would suffice for now.

She took a deep breath. "My father, was a very bad person. He was so-angry after my mother died. He..." she kept her voice even. Get it over with. "His favorite form of torture was wrapping his belt around my throat and choking me. And I had really bad asthma, so sometimes the attacks would be so bad afterwards that I would have to go to the hospital."

It was the simple truth. Garfield's shocked silence annoyed her. His pity pissed her off. She was older now. She didn't need his pity or anything else. "Rae-" His voice laced with compassion. The urge to leave consumed her again. She needed to get out of there.

Suffocating. Can't breathe. Too close.

She pushed herself away from him and grabbed her purse off of the bed. "I'll be back later." she said without turning around.

She had to get out of there before she went completely insane.

Losing control.

Getting out of the house, was just what Raven needed. She cherished the second hand smoke that filled the room and her lungs. The pounding of the music was deafening, distracting. She loved it. There was an older gentleman who kept sending her drinks from across the room. She rewarded him, by flashing him her thigh. It was like recharging. Reminding herself how powerful she really was. She sometimes forgot, when Dick was sneaking into her bedroom in the middle of the night and climbing on top of her, and sometimes she felt like Garfield's smothering was draining the life out of her. Oh, well. They weren't there know.

This man looked like a younger Richard Gere. He was at least fifteen years older than her, which would put him in his late thirties to early forties and much too old to be in the club picking up women. Uck, he was like The Situation. Forty year old party boys were not cute. Her plans to get him in bed were already running through her mind. Should be easy enough. Several times he looked like he was going to get up to talk to her, but then relented. He wanted her to come to him. Yeah, right.

Another man was scoping Raven from across the room. Much younger than the gentleman who was unsuccessfully trying to woo her. He was cute. Long hair, adorably unkempt. Possibly French. She could use him. Raven sat up a little straighter making sure her...assets were noticeable. She turned on the bedroom eyes, and casually ran her hand through her hair. The younger man winked at her and she smiled subtly in reply. The older man glared at the other guy, a gesture that went unnoticed by all except for Raven. The man stood up, and began to make his way over to the bar.

She could tell he was possessive and territorial. Dangerous. She had always been attracted to dangerous men, but this was nothing she could handle. Not like-

Raven glanced towards the door, and had to do a double take. She almost fell out of her chair. Dick was leaning against the doorframe at the entrance. His icy eyes shone even under the harsh and blinding strobe lights. Raven's heart began to pound and her stomach lurched. Was he stalking her? All the clubs in Jump City and he had to show up at the same exact one as her. Raven froze. Not afraid. Not afraid. Not afraid.

As she tried to expel the paranoia and panic from her mind, she realized he wasn't even looking at her. In fact he didn't even seem to notice her. Maybe their being at the same place at the same time was merely coincidental, nevertheless she need to make herself scarce and get the hell out of there as soon as possible.

"Excuse me." A deep baritone voice startled her from her reverie. It was the old guy come to hit on her. "I hope I'm not being forward, but I couldn't help but notice you. Are you here alone?"

Raven's eyes kept dashing towards Dick, hoping-praying to whatever God existed that he wouldn't notice her. She barely acknowledged the presence of the handsome and wealthy man in front of her. She was mainly focused on her escape plan. She slid her clutch into her lap, and clumsily stumbled off the bar stool.

"I- I have to go." she told him breathlessly.

He gently grabbed her arm. "Wait a minute." he said as sensually as he could manage, which wasn't very. "What the rush? It's still early and I was hoping maybe we could-"

"No." Raven finished quickly. There were many times in life when Raven was glad that she was blunt and didn't care about other people's feelings. This was one one of those moments. She moved forward again to leave. His grip on her arm tightened and he pulled her back. His flirtatious brown eyes were flaming with belligerence.

He said in a low whisper, "You listen to me you little gutter slut-"

She didn't have fucking time for this. "No, you listen to me you Dean Martin wannabe. Let's skip the theatrics because I already know everything there is know about you. You make six figures a year which makes you think that you are entitled to cheat on your wife, which by the way you'd be a lot better at if you remembered to take off your wedding ring when going out to hit on women much too young for you to be hitting on. Your job is being a dickhead. Your head is a dick and it is required to be attached to your neck. You think that if you buy me enough drinks and get me drunk enough you can drag me to some cheap motel and have your way with my unconscious body, and hope that I'll be too intoxicated to notice that your cock is scarcely bigger than a grain of rice."

He stared at her slightly open mouthed, and his grip on her arm slackened slightly, but Raven kept going. Once she started it was hard to stop. "We both you that I'm way out of your league and way too good for the likes of you. So why don't you take your Viagra and pectoral implants and fuck off, because we're definitely going home tonight."

He stared at her perplexed for another moment before completely releasing her arm. She watched him disappear into a throng of people, before turning her attention back to Dick. Her heart almost stopped. He had left his post at the door. Paranoia and fear washed over her as she quickly scanned the crowd for any sign of him. She wished she had a bloodhound to sniff out his Marc Jacob aftershave. He was leaning over pretty brunette girl, who Raven could tell by this girl's fake i.d. that she was only about seventeen. She was smiling infectiously as Dick leaned into her ear and whispered something. The girl, Becca was it, smiled flirtatiously.

Suddenly leaving had lost its importance as Raven stared curiously at the scene. Raven slid down to the other end of the bar, to get a better view and stay out of sight. She felt totally prepubescent as she had crouched in back of a fichus, spying on Dick and his barely legal soon to be bed mate. She accumulated a fair amount of odd stares, which finally prompted her to slide into a seat about eight feet away from where Dick was chatting up the girl.

His arm was draped casually around the back of her hair, and his hand was sensually sliding up her thigh and disappeared underneath her short dress. She tried and failed to keep her face free of the obvious ecstasy. Raven's brows furrowed in disgust. At least she had the decency to keep her sexual liaisons private. Dick bought her a few rounds of straight Bacardi, which she shot down like a champ. Raven shook her head. She couldn't help but wonder where this girl's parents where.

After awhile Dick and, Brea?, got up. Raven turned around in her seat to keep her face concealed. She could smell Dick's cologne as he brushed past her. She watched them disappear into the bathroom. She stared at the place where they had disappeared. What she felt could not be described as worried or concern, but uneasiness. Something just was not right, she could tell.

The D.J. announced that it was midnight, which meant that all girls got in free. Suddenly a hoard of young women flooded the now packed club. Raven decided take advantage of this distraction to sneak into the bathroom and...investigate. She slid off the chair and tiptoed to the empty, short corridor where the bathrooms where. She stood in front of the door, pressed her hands against it and slowly pushed it open. The door silently lacerated. Raven slid in and looked around. The washroom was empty except for the granite and Tudor style vanity. Raven peaked around the corner to the stalls. She could see Dick and Becca/Brea's feet shuffling around in the third stall. Almost hypnotized by curiosity Raven continued around the corner of the wall until her heel made contact with the tile of the floor. Her heel clicked and echoed loudly. Raven quickly pulled back her foot.

Dick and Becca/Brea stopped moving for a moment. Raven held her breath. The girl mumbled something incoherently, which Dick responded with a low grumble. Raven leaned against the wall and slowly slid her shoes off. For a few minutes all she could hear was the smacking of lips against skin, and the girl's soft moans of subtle pleasure. Then there was the audible resonance of bunching clothing.

"Wait." The girl rejected gently. The bunching continued. "Wait." she said a little more seriously, to no avail. "No, wait!" she said actually scared this time. "I said stop!"

The feet underneath of the door, began to scuffle frantically. The girl screamed for Dick to let her go. There was the sound of a hand against skin. Dick's feet stopped moving for a moment. Raven her the sound of a fist against flesh. The girl whimpered in pain. Suddenly the door of the stall vibrated heavily, and there was a loud banging noise that startled Raven. The girl started crying. The stall shook again, as she was mercilessly slammed into the walls. Dick said something lowly, and the girl continued to cry. More punches. Clothing being torn. There was one last agonizing moan of pain, before all that could be heard was weeping and heavy breathing.

Raven watched the closed door in horror, knowing full well what was going on behind it. This was not the first time since she had been introduced to Dick less than a week ago that she thought that she might be afraid of him. This was, however, the first time she admitted to herself that he was dangerous. He was the most dangerous person she had ever met, and she was beginning to think that he might make good on his promise to destroy her and end up hurting her...or worse!

Raven was for the first time since she was twelve, paralyzed by fear. She wanted-needed to get out of there right now. Her legs didn't get the message from her brain. Then it was silent, sans Becca/ Brea's hysterical crying which echoed off the entire bathroom. From what Raven could see Dick's figure straightened up. Her heart leapt. She grabbed her shoes and as quietly as she could, slid into the first stall, balling up on top of the toilet. The door of the stall next to hers creaked open. Through the crevices of the stall she could vaguely see Dick's figure, his hair wet with perspiration. He straightened his jacket and left as though nothing had happened. Raven waited until she could hear the pounding of the music from the dance floor. When it became muffled again she slid off of the toilet.

Raven quickly pulled her shoes back on. She could see the lower half of the girl leaning over the toilet. She couldn't believe what she had just sort of witnessed. It was too Clockwork Orange, it was too insane, it was too unreal. As if to confirm her sanity Raven pushed the stall door open. The girl looked up at her. She was leaning over the toilet sobbing brokenly, mascara running down her red cheeks. Her left eye was completely black, her cheek and arms bruised, and her bottom lip split. There was also a pretty nasty looking cut on her forehead, that looked like it might require stitches.

Raven almost choked on the shock. She stared at the girl blankly before slowly backing out of the bathroom. She needed to leave, now! She rounded the corner to the washroom, where she crashed into a wall of thick muscles. She looked up and stared into the cold eyes of Dick Grayson. He looked down at her almost expectantly. As if he had planned this whole thing just to scare her. No, not scare her: warn her. He smiled at her wickedly. It was like looking into the face of Beelzebub.

Raven took a step back, trying her best to calm her heart and steady her breathing. She didn't want him to know that she was shaking. Raven brushed past him, and exited the bathroom. She needed to get as far away from him as possible. It was as if Raven had suddenly transformed into a linebacker, and she was able to blow through the immense crowd of people in record time. She escaped through the front entrance.

How Raven made it back to her house without obtaining a speeding ticket was nothing short of a miracle. She ran into her house locking the door behind her. She flew up the stairs and into the bedroom where Garfield was already asleep. Raven undressed quickly in the bathroom, washed her face, and brushed her teeth all in a matter of mere minutes. She slid underneath of the cover close to Garfield's hard body and draped his arm over her. She knew she was probably better off getting a koala bear to protect her, but she needed some kind of security right now even in the form of a new-age hippy who had never even been in a fight before.

Garfield woke up in daze. "Babe, are you okay?" I said groggily.

Raven took a deep breath to steady her voice. "Yeah, I- didn't mean to wake you."

He lifted his head up. "You're shaking." he said much more aware.

"I'm fine." she lied. "Go back to sleep."

Garfield had no problem getting back to sleep. He collapsed before Raven's body temperature matched that of their bed. For Raven it was another story. Though her body felt exhausted, fear kept her awake for hours. She listened for the sound of wheels crunching in the driveway, indicating that he had returned. Every little noise was beginning to startle her. The ice machine in the downstairs refrigerator, the heater started up, Buffy purring from the end of her bed.

Well past one in the morning with no sign of Dick, Raven figured it was safe to allow herself to drift. Another short night of dreamless sleep. Thank God. Raven had not a single dream in her entire recollection. Sure she had nightmares, visions of her past and images of her future incarceration in hell, but never dreams of good memories. She didn't really have any good memories to dream about. Good things didn't happen to her. Raven believed that she was a horrible person and deserved to be punished, but she didn't believe in karma. What could she have possibly done at the age of three that was so terrible that she deserved for her mother to die and the subsequent life of abuse that followed. Maybe for her karma worked in reverse. She often times wondered what kind of person she would have turned out to be if her mother didn't die and her father didn't abuse her. What difference did it make now? Wondering was pointless.

The sound of Gar's snore in her ear woke her up some time around three. Raven laid completely immobile, willing her mind to shut off and give her a few hours of peace. Without any luck she let her eyes open. Panic instantly rose in her throat.

Dick was crouched down at the side of her bed, staring directly at her. She was so scared that all of her reflexes shut down. They stared at each other silently, his menace was glow in the dark. Slowly Dick stood up, walked around to the other side of the bed, and left without a word. Him being there was enough.

She hated his presence. Every time he was around her breathlessness overwhelmed her. The suffocation, the isolation, the bodily torture all returned to her. Raven was beginning to think that maybe he was an even bigger threat that she had originally anticipated.

He was the devil.

-"I don't want to think anymore."

I feel horrible that this took me over a month to update and I'm not even one hundred percent satisfied with it. I had like the worst case of writer's block in my life, I had no idea how this chapter should go. I warn you I'm in the college application process so I spend a good amount of my free time writing essays that I don't want to write and reading books that I don't want to read. Plus I'm dealing with the most annoying and least helpful family in America. I know what to do for the next chapter so I'll get that up as soon as possible.

The song is obviously Telephone by (you guessed it) Lady Gaga