As usual Rin was waiting in my room, scrolling through his phone in nothing but his boxers.
"Everything okay?" he asked, noticing the look on my face.
"Fine." I sighed. "Roy is just being persistent."
"You shouldn't deal with him anymore. He's nothing but an arrogant jerk." he scowled. "You are a little too fond of him for my taste."
"Trust me he says the same about you." I mumbled.
"It isn't hard to see." He walked up to me and stroked my face. "I just don't think he is very good news."
I walked over and grabbed pajamas. "I don't know if tonight is the best night. Maybe you should go home."
"No, I want to be here for you."
"Well, I can't really talk about it. It's...business."
"You can tell me anything, Lissa." his eyes held a concerned note.
"It's just, something with the family business. There is this guy that really has it out for me. I don't know how much longer I can take it." I sat down and put my head in my hands.
"What is he doing?"
"Well, you could almost say he was...made to go against me. His boss spent a lot of time to perfect someone who could specifically get under my skin. And no matter how hard I try he always seems to be one step ahead of me. And it's infuriating."
He crawled on the bed behind me and rubbed my shoulders. "Who is he?"
And just like that my walls had to go back up. "No one, don't worry about it. He just knows how to push my buttons."
"You know you can tell me anything."
"I'm okay, really." I turned to face him. "Just a little stressed. Anyway, how was your day?"
"Well this morning started out great. Kinda tapered off at the end. As much as I don't like the guy, Harper has a stare that can shoot daggers."
Or arrows. I thought. "Just so you know, he is here too working on something with Bruce."
"Oh really? So does that mean we should make such a racket he has no choice but to investigate?" he ran his hands over my shoulders, trailing the tip of his finger across my chest.
"That is not what I meant at all." I shoved his hands away with a giggle. "Because Dick is much closer, and is already on alert for any late night visitors."
"You'll begin to notice I have a knack for attracting the people I want to." he pulled me closer and kissed my forehead. "His face would be priceless. He thinks he has you hook, line, and sinker. I think the shock would actually kill him."
"Well, let's not find out."
"Please?" he looked at me with his begging eyes but I pushed down the urge to indulge him.
"I would never hear the end of it, nor would I be able to look him in the face. We go to school with him."
"That would make it all the better."
"No, Javrin."
"You sure know how to spoil a good time." he pouted.
"Don't give me that. I just don't want to deal with him. I see him a lot more than I see you."
"Don't remind me." he grumbled. "Come on, let's get a shower. I can help you exfoliate." he winked at me.
"Get a shower? As in together?"
"Yes, like people who care about each other and have seen the other one naked before."
"I know, but being naked in the shower with you is...a whole other thing."
I bit my lip timidly but he gently led me from the bed to the bathroom. Seeing someone naked when it's dark and you're in bed was completely different from seeing someone naked in the harsh luminescence of a bathroom light. I felt myself trying to cross my arms over my chest as he turned on the water. But he kept his eyes trained on mine and that helped me feel a little better. He stepped in first and I after him. I took a few seconds of solace as I turned away from him to bask in the warm water, even though I felt his eyes trailing down my back.
Despite how intimate and awkward it was, the shower was ultimately uneventful. Besides a quick laugh at the fact he would smell like my coconut milk shampoo it was just a lot of making out. We toweled off and layed in bed together afterwards, each absorbed in our own thoughts. For the first time he actually fell asleep before me and I took the opportunity to get a good look at his features. Without the smiling poker face he put on during the day, he looked quite serious in his sleep. His dark hair swept over his forehead and his eyes twitched in their sockets. I ran my hand along his face and tried to soothe out some of the worry lines I saw on his forehead. I felt a faint stirring in my chest and I really hoped it didn't mean what I thought it might.
The next morning when I woke up he was gone, and Dick was knocking on my door to make sure I was getting ready for school. Breakfast with Roy was awkward to say the least, but Dick did most of the talking for both of us so we suffered through it. The second we got to the school I bolted for the parking lot, looking for Rin's car. Sure enough he was in his usual spot smoking and scrolling through his phone.
"You know it's a tobacco free campus."
"Good thing it isn't tobacco then." he winked and set it in the car's ashtray. "You running from your sleepover buddy?"
"Well, one of them." I giggled. "I actually wanted a second to talk to you. Are you busy tomorrow night?"
"I usually don't plan things. I like to fly by the seat of my pants. Why do you ask?"
"We spend so much time at my house, I thought it might be nice to go over to your house for a change. A proper sleepover, not sneaking through the window."
His face immediately broadcasted that the answer was a no. More than the unease I had expected, I almost saw a twinge of fear. "I don't know, Princess. My Dad doesn't take too kindly to new people. Least of all girls."
"Oh." I tried to keep the disappointment out of my voice.
The bell rang so we both got out of the car. I started walking to the building but he took my hand and pulled me to him. He ran a hand through my hair, giving me one of those looks that made me almost believe being with him would be worth all the trouble.
"But how about we go out tomorrow night? Let me take you out and treat you like a Princess."
"Dad doesn't want me to be seen with you too much. We can't exactly flounce through town."
"Then I'll call up the crew and we'll throw a party out in the middle of nowhere. How does that sound?"
"We don't have to do anything, you can forget it. I shouldn't have asked."
"Lissa." he said softly and tilted my eyes to meet his. "I would love to go out with you tomorrow night. You can see my killer dance moves."
I giggled despite myself. "Will you wear the parachute pants?"
He held his hand against his heart in mock offense. "I thought they were too 'eccentric'."
"They suit you." I smiled and reached up to kiss his cheek before pulling him towards the building. "Come on, we're going to be late."
"I don't mind, do you?" he took my hand and pulled me to him, giving me one of his smoldering stares.
"Bruce will mind if he gets one more call from the school." I mumbled as his lips brushed my neck.
"What Bruce doesn't know won't hurt him." he whispered.
"Lissa!" I heard an angry shout from across the parking lot. I looked up and saw Dick standing at the top of the stairs, pointing to the building.
"It's the fun police." Rin chuckled before taking my hand and walking beside me back to the building.
We walked in just a few seconds late to class but sat down without incident. He and Stacy flirted emptily while I paid attention to the lesson on alloys. After school I waved to Dick despite his angry glare and left with Rin. He drove us down to a movie theatre on the outskirts of town. It wasn't the best, I knew no one would be looking for Lissa Wayne here. I turned my phone to vibrate as the previews trolled on. Rin was crunching loudly next to me on some popcorn.
"How much shit are you going to get for being here with me?"
"Depends on who all finds out. Dick? He can't do more than yell at me. Dad? I'm toast."
"Why? He seems to like me alright. He invited me out to that press thingy." he propped his feet on the chair in front of him.
The girl in the chair scoffed at him and I knocked his feet down with an apologetic smile to her. "He's just made it clear where he stands on our relationship."
"He be mad if he knew just how crazy I am about you?" he winked at me.
I rolled my eyes as the lights dimmed further and the movie started. It wasn't fifteen minutes in and a few guys walked in the side door, taking seats a few rows behind us. I saw Rin give them a sideways glance. He leaned into whisper in my ear.
"What do you say to blowing this joint?"
"What? Why? It just started."
"Come on, we both know how it ends. How about we go somewhere a little more...private?" he planted a kiss on my neck.
"Fine, but I'm taking the popcorn."
We ducked throug the theatre and climbed into his car in a rush. He booked it down the road, heading further out of town. I wasn't until we passed the city limits sign and hit the long, uninterrupted stretch of highway he slowed down.
"So, why were you scared of those guys?" I grazed on the popcorn.
"First of all, I'm not scared of anything, doll. Okay?" he threw his arm over the back of my seat. "Secondly, I just needed some space."
"Who were they?"
"Just some of my Dad's cronies. He's really important and he likes to keep tabs on me. I don't really do 'monitoring' really well. So whenever they come around I bounce."
"That's it? My Dad has people who watch me sometimes. It's no big deal."
"Yeah, well, my Dad doesn't need to know everything about me, okay?" he scowled slightly and I decided to drop it.
"Hey, whatever gets me more time with you." I kissed his outstretched arm. "So where are we going?"
"Oh, who knows? Don't feel like just taking a drive?"
"Sounds good to me." I turned on the radio while he slid on his sunglasses.
About an hour later we pulled over at a restaurant on the side of the road. We ordered burgers and sat at the booth talking. When the check came around I quickly slapped my card down.
"I'm paying this time."
"I don't need your money, Lissa. I have my own."
"I'm aware. Because you always pay. Let me take care of it this time, alright?"
He rolled his eyes but waved his hand as if saying 'if you must'. While the waitress was off checking us out Rin's phone went off and he reluctantly checked it. "Oh, Angel asked if we wanted to come over."
"Why?"
"Why else? She's throwing a party. We have this little place that we like to go. You down?"
"What time is it?"
"Starts in a couple hours, but it will take us a while to get there."
"I guess I could tell Dad I was staying over at Alex's.." my thoughts started turning wheels in my head.
"Good, you do that. I have to piss." he got up and walked to the back.
The waitress had rarely brought back the check when my Dad called me. I groaned before answering. "Hello?"
"What are you doing all the way out there on 177?"
"Just getting lunch Dad. I told you we were going out to shoot some pictures for Alex's photography class."
"You said in the city, not an hour out of town."
"Well, she wanted to be out here in the hills when the sun went down. She said something about the light looked good. I'm sorry Dad, I didn't mean to worry you. I knew you and Dick were in meeting this evening and I didn't want to bother you."
He was silent for a beat. "What time are you going to be home?"
"I don't know, let me ask." I covered the receiver for a second before putting it back to my ear. "Probably for a while. She said I can spend the night if I need to and I can just tag along to school tomorrow with her."
"Lissa…"
"Please? We're really having a lot of fun. And Dick promised he'd feed the dog tonight." I used the codeword for our nightly surveillance.
"I guess. Just make sure you stay close in case something comes up."
"I will. Thank you, Dad."
"Have fun, Lissa." he hung up.
The second he did I dialed a new addition to my contact list.
"Finch?" Felicity Smoke picked up the call.
"Hey Felicity, I wanted to know fi I could ask a small favor."
"I'm listening." her voice was still hesitant.
"I need my phone to read in a few places tonight on GPS I won't really be. I'd do it myself but I'm away from my laptop. Anyway you'd do me a solid? I'd owe you."
"I think Speedy might not like that so much." her voice made it clear she didn't really approve of his latest treatment.
"Please Felicity? I would owe you big time. There's no one else I can really call with this."
"Appealing to my ego now?" she waited a pause. "Alright, where do you need to be?"
I gave her the addresses and times I needed to be there and she reluctantly agreed to cooperate. Rin had rejoined me but smartly remained quiet. When I hung up he raised an eyebrow in obvious question.
"You're not the only one who can avoid your Father."
"I've had such a bad impression on you." he gave me a wicked grin and pushed me against his car, kissing me fiercely.