2 months ago:
"I can't believe you guys started a flirt war online."
Raven grimaced, picking through his selection of wrenches. When she agreed to spend time with Victor in the garage, she should have known the topic would come up. It seemed impossible to hang out with him anymore and avoid the topic of Garfield Freaking Logan.
"We're not flirting," she muttered.
He scoffed. "Sure. Here, trade," he interrupted himself, sliding out from under the car to hand her a tool in exchange for the next size up. "Does he know that?"
She rolled her eyes. Everyone was making a much bigger deal out of this than they needed to. "Yes, of course. It's called a joke." They were pretending to flirt, for the sake of amusing each other. She knew he wasn't interested in her, and he knew she wasn't interested in him.
More or less.
A grunt sounded from under the car. "A joke on social media for everyone to see and speculate about? That doesn't sound like you."
It wasn't like her. Raven was a very private person, still somewhat unused to being endlessly watched. Every one of her friends, Victor included, knew how she despised social media. Yet here she was, borderline addicted to her phone while she waited for Gar's response to whatever stupid thing she'd said to egg him on in their… not-flirt war.
She took her elbows in her hands, hugging her torso. "My agent wants me to up my online presence as the movie release gets closer. Interacting with my co-star is my job right now."
Although she could tell he wanted to say something, Victor hesitated. "Just make sure you guys are on the same page, alright? He's been down this road before."
"What road?" She tried to hide it, but she couldn't mask the indignation in her voice. While she genuinely didn't know what road he was referring to, she could read the criticism in his tone. All of a sudden, she was the bad guy here. For what, stringing Gar along? As if. Making fun of him? While it hurt that someone could believe that of her, she couldn't be surprised about it. She wasn't always kind.
"Woah," he hurried to backtrack, wheeling hastily out from under the car and sitting up. "Raven, I'm not accusing you of anything. There's just stuff about the guy that you don't know about. I'm just saying, be careful."
Flicking her hands out in an annoyed shrug, Raven pinned him down with a hard stare. "Careful of what? You can't say something vague like that and expect me to know what to do with it."
Victor very clearly didn't want to expand on the topic. He couldn't very well warn her off of hurting him if she didn't know what to avoid, though, and she could tell that he realized that. "He… hasn't had a lot of genuine affection in his life. He's been used and lied to and paraded around like a dancing monkey." The resentment in his voice would surprise her if she knew him any less. Victor, she'd discovered, was fiercely protective.
She wet her lips, dropping her gaze to the concrete floor. "What are you getting at?"
More hesitance. "If you like him, you should just tell him."
"Well, I don't," she asserted gruffly. When the silence stretched on for too long, she made herself look at him. He stared back, something sad about his expression.
What was sad was that Raven had realized long ago that each of her friends had experienced horrible things, circumstances that none of them deserved. Dick, Kori, Victor, even her kids in their young age had already been scarred. Gar was supposed to be different, his effervescent presence a token to the happy, careless life he should have had.
But that was optimistic thinking, and she'd also realized long ago that optimism only landed her in disappointment.
"You both deserve to be happy," Victor told her softly.
It took a long time for Raven to accept that she, just like her friends, deserved happiness and good things. She'd been told for so long that she didn't, and she'd believed it. Accepting that didn't negate the darkness within her, though, and she refused to drag anyone down with her. They both deserved to be happy, but that didn't mean they could be happy together. As if he would want her anyway.
Besides, she didn't want him to want her. "I don't like him," she repeated, almost believing it.