p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"As the next few weeks carried on, Jason and Roy developed a legitimate friendship. Roy was up to date with all his assignments for the first time in too long to remember. With less focus being put on the studying, now that Roy had shown considerable improvement, the boys spent more time just hanging out as friends. They both thrived socially now that they were spending time with someone else their own age. Roy found that Jason was quick-witted, with a dry sense of humour and a sharp tongue. He'd schooled the younger boy in many of the video games he had in his collection, and though Jason had little experience, he was fiercely competitive and Roy had to employ all of his skill to stay on top./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"If Roy were being painfully honest, he'd laughed more in Jason's company than he had since before Brave Bow passed away, and though Roy was usually careful to watch his words, so that nothing too personal was revealed, he found with Jason he didn't feel that need quite as often. If he let something slip in front of Jay, he was able to get a little nostalgic and look back on his childhood with minimal pain. It was liberating. Jason didn't seem to want or expect anything from him. It was easy as breathing to be in each other's company./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"But of course Roy never completely opened up about his feelings. He never let Jason know just how much he wished he could go back. Roy didn't even let himself dwell on it, it was too painful. He didn't think he would ever be comfortable enough with anyone to share some of his darker thoughts, so of his most damaging memories. But, with Jason, there were moments when Roy wanted to. He often felt that if he had to bare his soul to anyone, he'd want it to be Jay. Roy felt the searing pain of inadequacy every morning when he woke up to an empty house and a flashing light of another voicemail. But he couldn't talk about that. He didn't want or need his friend's pity. Jason was rather tight-lipped about himself, and Roy didn't pry, he knew there were some things that just had to be kept buried. But Jason had told him that he'd had to live on the streets, that Bruce Wayne had taken him in when he had no where to go, given him a roof over his head when he felt like he didn't deserve one./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy understood that feeling to an extent, though he could never contemplate the horrors Jason must have been witness to, maybe even victim of. Regardless, Oliver had taken him in and then acted like he regretted it. He was never around, and in the years that he'd lived in Oliver's house, Ollie had only been present for one birthday. Roy couldn't help but feel he was somehow at fault for Oliver's absence, was he driving Ollie out of his own home? He began to wonder if maybe he didn't deserve to be there at all. On his worst days, Roy wished he'd died with Brave Bow./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Sometimes Roy felt like Jason could see right through him, whenever they were talking and things got a little close to the mark, Jay would give him this look, that was a little sad and understanding but mostly fond, as if to say span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"'you don't have to talk about this now'/span. Roy decided that his life was infinitely better when Jason was around. It wasn't even a startling revelation./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It was a dreary day, the rain was merciless and it pelted against the windows in powerful sheets. Jason and Roy finished up their lunches fairly quickly. Jason's leg was bouncing under the table, his hands were clasped tight in his lap and Roy knew he was stressed. He had a test coming up in his last class of the day and he was nervous. Jason was a dedicated and intelligent kid, no doubt about that. But, his education meant a lot to him, he was banking on it to carve a bright future for himself, he always got jittery before any kind of academic test or exam. Roy'd be lying if he said he didn't find it a little cute./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy placed a hand atop of Jay's knee to stop it jumping. The younger boy glanced up at him, his thick, dark hair fell into his eyes a little and he was visibly agitated. Roy sent him a little smirk that clearly said span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"'dude, chill'/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Fuck. I need a smoke." Jason blurted. And with as pent-up as he was, it wasn't a surprise./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy inclined his head to the door, "Let's go then."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason shook his head immediately, black curls flying with the jarring movement, "Can't. It's storming out there. And we've got just over an hour before school let's out. I'd never dry in time, and there's no way I can explain that away to Bruce. He'd get suspicious."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy pondered that for a long moment, before an idea struck him. Wordlessly he shrugged out of his own over-sized, denim jacket, it was thick and high-quality, and layered with a thick hood. It would definitely stop any clothes underneath from getting damp. And with how much shorter than him Jason was, the jacket - a little large on Roy himself - would swamp him, come to his knees. Jason's trousers were thin and black, they'd likely dry in time, and even if they didn't, you wouldn't tell they were wet by looking at them./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason raised a brow at Roy and appraised the offered garment, Roy simply pressed it to the younger boy's chest./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Just put it on. It'll keep you dry. Oliver's not even gonna be there when I get home. So who gives a shit if I get wet. C'mon."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Without waiting for a response Roy got up and headed for the exit. Jason slipped the jacket on and zipped it all the way to the top, following after Roy. He flipped up the hood as they walked out of the door. They joked and chatted as they smoked, Roy teased Jason for how the jacket seemed to dwarf him, but he had to admit he rather liked the sight of it. Jason kinda wanted to keep the jacket, not that he'd ever let Roy know that, but it was warm and comfortable and the extra room was appealing, and he imagined curling up to sleep in it. And when the bell for the final period rang and they stubbed out their respective cigarettes, Jason stepped out of the jacket mournfully, and handed it back to Roy with a smile of thanks./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"They said goodbye softly, barely heard over the torrential downpour, and headed in opposite directions./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"If Roy were being painfully honest, he'd laughed more in Jason's company than he had since before Brave Bow passed away, and though Roy was usually careful to watch his words, so that nothing too personal was revealed, he found with Jason he didn't feel that need quite as often. If he let something slip in front of Jay, he was able to get a little nostalgic and look back on his childhood with minimal pain. It was liberating. Jason didn't seem to want or expect anything from him. It was easy as breathing to be in each other's company./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"But of course Roy never completely opened up about his feelings. He never let Jason know just how much he wished he could go back. Roy didn't even let himself dwell on it, it was too painful. He didn't think he would ever be comfortable enough with anyone to share some of his darker thoughts, so of his most damaging memories. But, with Jason, there were moments when Roy wanted to. He often felt that if he had to bare his soul to anyone, he'd want it to be Jay. Roy felt the searing pain of inadequacy every morning when he woke up to an empty house and a flashing light of another voicemail. But he couldn't talk about that. He didn't want or need his friend's pity. Jason was rather tight-lipped about himself, and Roy didn't pry, he knew there were some things that just had to be kept buried. But Jason had told him that he'd had to live on the streets, that Bruce Wayne had taken him in when he had no where to go, given him a roof over his head when he felt like he didn't deserve one./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy understood that feeling to an extent, though he could never contemplate the horrors Jason must have been witness to, maybe even victim of. Regardless, Oliver had taken him in and then acted like he regretted it. He was never around, and in the years that he'd lived in Oliver's house, Ollie had only been present for one birthday. Roy couldn't help but feel he was somehow at fault for Oliver's absence, was he driving Ollie out of his own home? He began to wonder if maybe he didn't deserve to be there at all. On his worst days, Roy wished he'd died with Brave Bow./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Sometimes Roy felt like Jason could see right through him, whenever they were talking and things got a little close to the mark, Jay would give him this look, that was a little sad and understanding but mostly fond, as if to say span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"'you don't have to talk about this now'/span. Roy decided that his life was infinitely better when Jason was around. It wasn't even a startling revelation./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"It was a dreary day, the rain was merciless and it pelted against the windows in powerful sheets. Jason and Roy finished up their lunches fairly quickly. Jason's leg was bouncing under the table, his hands were clasped tight in his lap and Roy knew he was stressed. He had a test coming up in his last class of the day and he was nervous. Jason was a dedicated and intelligent kid, no doubt about that. But, his education meant a lot to him, he was banking on it to carve a bright future for himself, he always got jittery before any kind of academic test or exam. Roy'd be lying if he said he didn't find it a little cute./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy placed a hand atop of Jay's knee to stop it jumping. The younger boy glanced up at him, his thick, dark hair fell into his eyes a little and he was visibly agitated. Roy sent him a little smirk that clearly said span style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; font-style: oblique; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"'dude, chill'/span/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Fuck. I need a smoke." Jason blurted. And with as pent-up as he was, it wasn't a surprise./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy inclined his head to the door, "Let's go then."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason shook his head immediately, black curls flying with the jarring movement, "Can't. It's storming out there. And we've got just over an hour before school let's out. I'd never dry in time, and there's no way I can explain that away to Bruce. He'd get suspicious."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Roy pondered that for a long moment, before an idea struck him. Wordlessly he shrugged out of his own over-sized, denim jacket, it was thick and high-quality, and layered with a thick hood. It would definitely stop any clothes underneath from getting damp. And with how much shorter than him Jason was, the jacket - a little large on Roy himself - would swamp him, come to his knees. Jason's trousers were thin and black, they'd likely dry in time, and even if they didn't, you wouldn't tell they were wet by looking at them./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Jason raised a brow at Roy and appraised the offered garment, Roy simply pressed it to the younger boy's chest./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;""Just put it on. It'll keep you dry. Oliver's not even gonna be there when I get home. So who gives a shit if I get wet. C'mon."/p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"Without waiting for a response Roy got up and headed for the exit. Jason slipped the jacket on and zipped it all the way to the top, following after Roy. He flipped up the hood as they walked out of the door. They joked and chatted as they smoked, Roy teased Jason for how the jacket seemed to dwarf him, but he had to admit he rather liked the sight of it. Jason kinda wanted to keep the jacket, not that he'd ever let Roy know that, but it was warm and comfortable and the extra room was appealing, and he imagined curling up to sleep in it. And when the bell for the final period rang and they stubbed out their respective cigarettes, Jason stepped out of the jacket mournfully, and handed it back to Roy with a smile of thanks./p
p style="border: 0px; outline: 0px; font-size: 15.12px; font-family: 'Lucida Grande', 'Lucida Sans Unicode', 'GNU Unifont', Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; vertical-align: baseline; list-style: none; margin: 1.286em auto; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.5; color: #2a2a2a;"They said goodbye softly, barely heard over the torrential downpour, and headed in opposite directions./p