PS-I listened to Tegan and Sara's "Where Does the Good Go" for pretty much the entirety of my writing this. May or may not be a nice one to listen to hint hint.
Dad's here. Get here quick. Make it convincing.
That's all her message had said. Now Wally was racing across campus trying to think of a good reason for he would show up this late at night. He stopped by a CVS for a moment before continuing to Artemis's apartment. Truth be told he was just happy he wasn't in the doghouse after their...misunderstanding.
What were they even fighting over? Wally had been left in a daze ever since class, and the more he thought about it, the more confused he became. From what he understood, she was mad at him for saying "I love you", only he didn't remember saying it, and he had been asleep.
Women!
He finally arrived at Artemis's only to find the front door unlocked, incredibly out of character for both girls. Stepping through the door, he heard a gruff voice coming from Artemis's room.
"Well, better get ready to meet dad," he mutter as he made his way along the familiar hallway. Time for his big acting debut! "Babe!" His voice rang through the apartment in a singsong tone. "Are you ready to celebrate?"
He walked into Artemis sitting at the head of her bed, arms crossed and eyes never leaving her father. Her father. A beast of a man with frighteningly familiar features. There was no mistaking their relation. Same hair, same eyes, same aggressive air wafting off them. But this wasn't time to get intimidated, he had to get him out of there lest Artemis find a real reason to hate him.
"You," he said as he started toward the man, "could only be Arty's dad. Hi, I'm Wally, and I promise you...I treat your daughter like the goddess she is." He turned around to face Artemis. "Babe, you should have told me he was coming in, we could have made plans! Anyways, this is for you. Happy anniversary."
She took the small box from his hands. "Thanks, babe. But dad was just leaving. He's got a long drive back home, don't you, dad?"
The man seemed to get the hint as he straightened up, eyes dancing between Wally and his daughter. His eyes landed on Wally before he headed towards the door. "I'll show myself out. I'll see you later, little girl."
With that he was gone. Wally stood in the middle of the room while Artemis remained on her bed. Without so much as word she grabbed a pillow from behind her back and brought it to her face. The pillow did little to muffle her screams, but Wally didn't doubt that it helped relieve the stress.
"An anniversary? Really?" She brought the pillow down to give him an incredulous look.
"I figured it was better than a marriage proposal."
"That's not funny, Wally."
"It's kind of funny." He sat down on the foot of her bed. "But the gift really is for you. I kinda forgot to give it to you on Valentine's Day."
She rolled her eyes as she opened the box, but Wally could tell she was anxious. There was only so much that could fit in a box that small, and a Valentine's gift on top of that?Yeah, maybe the proposal joke wasn't as funny as he thought. Artemis brought the item out of the box and her eyes softened. In her hands was a small pin in the shape of a sun with a spear dividing it in two. A tag hung from the clasp with three small words written in elegant script.
Unbowed. Unbent. Unbroken.
"I really hate you sometimes," she said. Her fingers ghosted over the face of the pin. "Whenever I start getting mad at you, you do something to remind me just why I like you so much." Her eyes slowly met his. "It's really annoying."
"You're welcome." Wally scooted closer to her. "Are you ok...with like your dad and everything?"
She sighed. "His name is Lawrence. Don't...don't call him dad." Her attention had returned to the pin, flipping the tag between her fingers. "He had a proposition of sorts, and, as always, mom was at the center."
"Is she alright?" Wally had heard nothing but wonderful things about Paula Nguyen. He was surprisingly attached to her for having never met her. It was probably because she meant so much to her daughter.
"Yeah. I mean she still has a ton of loans out from her medical and legal fees, plus there's her rent and all that stuff. She's hardly in a good part of Gotham-"
"You're from Gotham? How did I not know that?"
"It wasn't important. Anyways it's hardly a good area, and money's tight, so things have been stressful. On all of us. Jade and I help out as much as we can, but it's hard when we're all over the country."
Her legs stretched out over Wally's, which he found surprisingly comforting. It was always reassuring when she would reach out to him instead of him always making the first move.
"So being the all-knowing creep he is, Lawrence shows up and offers to pay for all her bills, finally take care of his wife and mother of his kids. She wouldn't owe him anything. A real gentleman, right? Except there is a catch. I go work for him in the "family business". Collateral of sorts."
"Blackmail."
She smiled. "Just add it to his resume."
They were silent, her legs still stretched out onto his. Her hands still played with her House Martell pin. What did you think it was going to be? Diamonds? She felt as though her world had been flipped upside down recently. Wally, Cameron, Lawrence...
Men!
"So..." Wally broke her from her thoughts. "Are we going to talk about this?"
"Talk about what? I just told you about dad. Damn. I mean Lawrence."
His hands went from his hair to her legs, gently rubbing them through her jeans, slowly working down to her feet. Oh no. A foot rub after work without her asking? He was buttering her up.
"You know what I mean."
Artemis did know exactly what he meant, and she had been dreading this talk for days. What was she supposed to say? Oh it's not you, it's me and literally every other guy I know who's said that to me then abandoned me and more or less emotionally abused me my whole life? Now I know you didn't know, but you really ought to have guessed that.
"Just start from the beginning."
The words poured out like water. "Dad always said it whenever he needed something or was trying to talk us into doing something. Like I could always tell that mom meant it. She was so honest, always look us in the eyes when she said it. Dad never looked at us, or shrugged Jade and I off. 'I love you, dad!' 'Uh-huh.'" The pin had fallen to her lap as she subconsciously brought her hand to her hair. "Then there was Cameron, and ugh he never actually wanted to date me. Just saw it as a way to please his dad and mine. I was just a bonus, but I didn't care! I was like 14, 15 and he was...17? And I had no idea Lawrence was behind it, but I should have guessed. Cam was never around and when he was all he wanted was to make out and have sex. He said he loved me, so he had to have meant it, right?"
She was angry now. Or maybe she really was that torn up over it. Half of her naturally straight hair hung in soft waves, a few strands in perfect spirals. Her hands had already moved on to the other side of her head as they worked mindlessly through her ends.
"And after a while that's all it was. He'd get drunk, tell me he loves me, flop around for a couple minutes and go to sleep. That, surprisingly enough, is when I took to doing it with the lights off. I didn't have to look at him, I didn't have to hear him. I turned off my world, and pretended I was somewhere else where 'I love you' means something. And there you go. All the pieces are on the table. Why I am so warped in the bedroom, and why I don't like hearing you...you say that you love me. Because I honestly don't know if you do mean it, and if you do, I don't know how to react."
Wally didn't say anything. His hands slowly kept rubbing her feet, hitting the exact pressure points that always calmed her nerves. Calloused hands worked up her calves and back down to her toes. There was nothing more calming. But he wasn't meeting her eyes. Artemis had finally managed to look away from her hands in the midst of spilling her guts, and Wally West was still staring at her feet. Typical.
"Or you could ignore me. That's also not an issue I have linked to my daddy issues."
"I'm thinking."
"What? Have I only just now scared you off?"
"No. I just want to word it correctly."
More silence. Ear splitting silence and all the while he worked away at her feet. Artemis picked her pin back up, reading and rereading the credo on the tag. Unbowed. Unbent. Unbroken. Unbowed. Unbent. Unbroken. Unbowed. Un-
"I like you a lot. Go so far as to say that I care about you. A lot. I'm not saying it to sleep with you, because if I just wanted to have sex, I wouldn't have stuck around for so long. But," He pulled on her legs to bring her closer. "I get the honor of making you laugh." He pulled her once more. "I get to make you smile." One last tug. "I get to kiss you whenever I like." He kissed her softly on the forehead, lingering just a moment after. "So trust me. I will never say it to coerce you."
Artemis fell back into her bed. She couldn't help but laugh. "This is like a goddam movie. All we is the quirky romantic song."
"Well, I don't have much at my disposal, but I could always sing." Wally made his way up to lie beside her.
"No thank you. I have heard you sing. Don't quit your day job, kid."
They both laughed and Wally put his hand around her waist. Artemis turned in his embrace to face him, placing a kiss on his chin in the process.
"I'm glad you're not mad at me anymore," he said into her hair. "It was less than enjoyable."
"I was never mad. I just get nervous." Her face was buried in his neck, the spot she loved to cuddle up against most. She could snuggle in closer, and truth be told, it was the best place to situate herself when she was feeling frisky.
"I very much enjoy having you in my life."
"Heh. Don't strain yourself, Artemis. When you're ready."
Sleep overcame the two quickly. They stayed like that all night, feet hanging off the edge of the bed, lights on, still in their jeans and jackets. In the morning Artemis woke to the familiar sound of snoring in her ear, only this morning it was different. Softer. Not actually softer, of course, that guy could wake Sleeping Beauty. There was just something about this morning that was...better. Usually she would turn over shut him up, but instead she turned back to her spot in his neck, and happily drifted back to sleep.
A few more blissful hours.
So I had planned on this being up like 2 hours ago, but I was distracted by basketball and Michael Keaton, so forgive me. Also, it wasn't a cliffhanger!
I can see this wrapping up in about...3-5 chapters? So the end is nigh, my friends. As always, your kind words drive the story and I look forward to them with each update :D
Have a great Tuesday!
~mags